Technical Difficulties

Technical Difficulties...that seems to be the theme for this week. MY HORRIBLE Charter Internet is down, they won't come repair it and I have ATT coming Wednesday to set my DSL back up. I should have never left ATT...lessen learned! Be Back soon

Merry Christmas everyone!

Challenge Sketch...

Just a quick layout I did with a friend last night...It's this months sketch challenge with my meet-up group. Since it the holiday's....we didn't have as many participants as normal...but it was alot of fun!

Christmas Advent Calendar

I was a bit late completing this project, but I will have it to use year after year...so I guess that makes up for it! It's a Christmas advent calendar...but I went ahead and made it for the entire month...to include New Year's Eve. You can add the days as they go by counting up to the event, or start with them all on and take them off as the days go by.

click the photo to enlarge it and see more detail

Quick Project

I saw this idea from a gal on 2peas and just thought it was cute and the perfect thing to hang on the fireplace this year. I white-washed a unfinished 16 x 20 frame from Micheal's, covered a piece of posted board with some Martha Stewart 16x16 sheet paper, and cut out Katie's hand and foot for the deer. It was fun to make and I like the change for the holiday.

Ho...Ho...Ho...

Off to school they went this morning

...for the final day before Christmas break!

Girl Day...

I'm off this morning to me weekly scrapbooking group. Today is our Holiday party and crop! We've all been looking forward to it for awhile now...I think it will be alot of fun. We're bringing snacks and a gift for an exchange, can't wait to see that people come up with. I hope to post some pictures later...for now, I'll leave you with a photo of our mini- tree. We've down-sized this year, since the kids are older & we are lazy (LOL)!

Let the countdown begin!

ONLY 2 MORE DAYS...


till the girls get a well deserved break from school!- Ivy loves any time-off from school, and Katie is just mentally exhausted from her 1st semester in high school.

As the week comes to an end, I am wrapping up my teacher gifts (literally)!
This year with the help of a friend's idea...we dissected a Starbuck's drink carrier and made a pattern from it. We then each reconstructed 12 of them from poster board for our girls teachers.

We covered each one in coordinating printed scrapbooking papers and embellished them a bit. They hold one of those nicer disposable coffee 'On-the-Go' cups with lid, 2 packages of cocoa and a bag of homemade Carmel Popcorn! (it's yummy)

Twas the night before Christmas - SCRAPBOOKIN STYLE!

Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree.

I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me?

~

Could it be cardstock or chipboard or lace?

Or a Cricut, I said with a smile on my face.

~

And that's when I hear him, "Hi Santa," I said

"You know...good little girls should be in their beds."

~

"I know I should Santa, and now I've got caught

But I was just so excited To see what you brought."

~

"Well, let's take a look in this room where you work.

He shook his head quickly, and left with a jerk.

~

I heard him exclaim as he put it in gear,

"You've got enough crap, I'll see you next year."

Do you Fiesta?

Would you love to have 4 NEW sets of Fiesta Ware?

Just go visit Ravings of a Mad Housewife & leave her a comment on your color choice, for your own chance to win!

I am still alive...

Friday night I had a crop at my house with 5 friends...it was ALOT of fun.
Saturday morning I woke up with a killer headache & vomiting...and I was in bed all day.
Sunday I've moved from the bed to the couch...but I have been able to eat and drink today, so that's been nice. My entire body is sore from yesterday...I'm just glad it was only me. It seems my guests from Friday night are all fine. My first thoughts were "oh no...something was bad that I served them". Hopefully I'll be back to my normal self tomorrow. I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Only 10 more days till Christmas!!!

What kind of tree are YOU?

You Should Have a Pink Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays represent a time of friendship and sharing. You're happy as long as you're spending time with the people you care about. You are passionate about the holidays, and that start of the holiday season makes you very excited. You sometimes go a bit overboard in your celebrations. You just can't help it! Passionate, easily excited, sweet, giving, love, friendship, sensitive, caring Your pink tree would look great with: More pink! You should spend Christmas Eve watching: The Muppet Christmas Carol What you should bake for Santa: Rice krispie treats with red and green food coloring

What Color Christmas Tree Should You Have?

Quickie...

Just a quick layout from a 1hour sketch challenge tonight at Just Scrappin.

This one is for ELLIE!

I've belonged to an website for quite some time, with a gal who's daughter has an inoperable brain tumor. A group of ladies are putting together an album for the mom and lil girl "Ellie" as a Christmas present. I was delighted to have the opportunity to participate with them. This is one of the layout I made to send...

I'm all done...

I finished up my part of of a swap this week. We did ATC (artist trading cards)
with a theme of "holidays"...we each picked from the list, I did St. Patty's Day. I kinda struggled to put an ideas together at first, but in the last minute rush to complete and mail them by the deadline...I think they turned out pretty cute.

Christmas is coming...

I've been shopping for my girls the past couple days, wrapping up a couple finally swaps for the year and getting ready for Christmas. This year we talked to the girls about the Christmas tree, and we all agreed to down-size from our normal one. We got a 4 ft tree Monday, and put it on a small table in the living room, that will allow for small presents on the table and bigger ones on the floor. The girls really liked it, and we are going to decorate it tonight!.

Something else the girls are LOVING this year....those advent stockings! I've bought some small thing to add to their days...earrings, lip gloss, spray glitters, nail products, etc...they are so excited to dig into those stockings each night!

I can post too many photo's right now, as several of my current projects are gifts...and you never know who's eyes are peeking around here...LOL!

So I leave you with a photo of Chris (my wonderful hubby) acting up after carving the Thanksgiving turkey!

The stockings are hung...

Yesterday I got my advent stocking hung up...and my girls were so excited! Who knew they'd be so interested in my crafty project! So the bickering began, and we decided Ivy would do odd days, and Katie would do even...to check what is inside each days stocking!

A good Day...

Turkey Day

Hope each of you have a safe and fun "Happy Thanksgiving" with friends and family!

this is a lil paper piecing guy I made (several of)...coming to a project near you soon...lol!

Advent Stocking Swap

I recently participated in a swap on 2peas...we each made 24 stockings from felt and put a lil goodie inside each one. They were alot of fun...I made #2

Challenge yourself...

This layout is the last of three I finished over the weekend. It is a challenge also - for Rockin R Retreats...using a cute lil sketch. I didn't bring alot of embellishments to the crop - so I felt a bit limited when completing this one, but I still like it pretty well. The entire page are photos from Ivy's 4th grade awards assembly on the last day of school last year...her LAST DAY of ELEMENTARY school!!!

one more...

here's another recent page I completed over the weekend at the crop...

Working away...

This weekend I got to attend an all day crop with friends in Burleson. I was there for almost 12 hours..I only completed 3 pages, but did make good progress on several banners I am working on for my mom. The page below I did at the swap for a challenge in a local group I crop in. It was using a sketch.

Finished at last...

(click the photo to enlarge)

I've been working on a Fall Tag Banner, similar to the Halloween one I posted, except I did the entire thing this time. The halloween banner was a swap on 2peas. I finally finished it up this weekend while my kids were gone...it was sure nice and quiet to be able to work.

My favorite tag is the last one...a spin-off of the infamous "hand turkey" from our childhood. Katie's favorite tag is the turkey leg...lol...I used the indie art cartridge that had a bone on it and just made my own turkey portion and used a scalloped punch to make the "bite" portion of it.

Busy Week...

This week have just flown by for me. Tonight was the last football game of the season....so that brings a welcome break for us. Winterguard will start up - but no competitions until after the holidays. Last weekend I got to spend a day with my favorite lil man, Ethan. I leave you tonight with a picture of him riding in Uncle Chris' truck!

My squatter now has a family!

I knew after taking the photo of my recent squirrel squatter - that she was pregnant or a new mother. The babies finally emerged for the 1st time this weekend. They are already pretty good size...but still small and oh so CUTE! We think there are 2, but possibly 3. We've all been having a great time watching them out the window.

click the photos to make them larger

Fright Night

This is a 1st for the Palin house...we've never let the kids dress as anything scary for Halloween...but you know how that goes, the youngest always get away with more-LOL!

Katie went to a Halloween party with friends, as Miss America...she loved the sash I made for her.

Ivy was beyond thrilled that I bought her some face paints...she just insisted that she needed some blood!

And we can't leave out my littlest pumpkin...SASSY!

Spook-tacular!

I made some bus treats for my guard gals. Tonight is our last home game, our annual Thursday night game and SENIOR night! I thought I'd make them something festive this week.

Our Trip...

Over & Out

We are up bright and early this Friday morning - which we conveniently have NO SCHOOL. We're Odessa Bound - for Area UIL Marching Band Competitions. We perform 3:15pm on Saturday afternoon. Until then we will be driving and practicing, practicing and driving! It will be great....but a long trip.

There WILL of course be TONS of pictures when I get back!
Till then - silently cheer us on...the kids would love to make state.

Her {BIG} day

(click photo to see full size)

Here she is...wearing her mum and heading off to school.The last day of the 9weeks, all but one CBA test behind her for the quarter. In just a bit more than 24hours - we'll be on a bus together, headed to Odessa for the Area competition.

Homecoming Parade

The Central homecoming parade was Monday night, but with all that has been going on here, I haven't had an opportunity to get the pictures up until now. It was alot of fun and the turn-out was impressive. Since we will be in Odessa instead of attending the Homecoming Game, Ivy wore her mum to the parade and pep-rally! Katie will be wearing her mum tomorrow....pictures to come!

Tonsil Time

Today was the day for Ivy to get her tonsil's removed. She was actually a bit excited-lol. In efforts to not scare her, we kinda down-played the upcoming experience. Katie did tell her this past weekend she would feel bad a couple days...but she was abit unprepared for what was to come.

We arrived at 6am to check in and get prepped. We weren't due in surgery till 7 - we luckily got the first spot of the day, but we did have a bit of time to kill. As you can see - she was not nervous.

She wasn't feeling quite as well - when they brought me back to recovery. She was crying - a typical reaction for some patients waking up from the anesthesia. I guess being a surgical frequent flier myself - has help prepare me for the several surgeries my kiddos have had. I'm at least calm and patient - and can understand what they are going through.

We got home about 9am...talk about fast! She's glad to be home, resting on the couch, snoozing on and off while watching some cartoons.

We're heading to ODESSA!!!

Yup...we did great at the Regional competition Saturday....we received all 1's (perfect score) and we will perform at the AREA competition Saturday 10/25.

That's Heavy

Only a couple weeks ago I became aware that TEXAS is one of the few states who do Homecoming Mums!?!? WOW - do the others not realize what they are missing out on?- lol

Why wouldn't every state participate in this fine tradition? 5lbs. of ribbon and trinket draped from your chest? Doesn't it sound fun!!!

I personally had my 1st {and last} mum in JR high...good ol' Lamar (ugh!) One teacher told us all we sounded like cattle and made us remove them until class was over. It didn't really bother me then, but now, as a mother...if someone said that to my daughter, I'd probably smack them around! - I never even mentioned the statements to my mom - as it was probably among some of the nicer things a teacher had said to me - LOL ( ok lol for me & you, but my mom is probably still not laughing)

ANYWAYS...this week is HOMECOMING for my daughter's High School - and thus the need for a mum! Katie is VERY excited for the event of this next week. Monday is the homecoming parade and community pep-rally, the game is Friday - we play Colleyville-Heritage **BUT** we are hoping to miss the ENTIRE thing...you heard me correctly...We're hoping to be on a Charter Bus heading to ODESSA for AREA Competition for UIL 5A division...we will know after today!

Introducing BOO #2....

Ok - as promised, here is the second set of Boo letters.

Total Lift...

This idea I've seen various places over the past few weeks. I just had to have a set to call my own. I actually made 2 sets...but couldn't decide which I liked better...so I've kept them both for the time being. I'll post a photo of the second set tomorrow, this is the set both my girls like best.