Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Homemade Christmas Gift = Nightmare!

But it actually turned out great and I hope my mother in law enjoys it and finds a place for this massive bad boy!!! If you notice how the letters are not perfectly aligned just tilt your head a little to the right and left or up and down for that matter and it will look great. And remember it is Sam's fault not mine! :) Sorry the picture is a little dark and there is a terrible glare!



Want to make your own? Click here for the tutorial. I mean did you seriously think I came up with this one on my own.... Ha! The only difference is I used black vinyl and my Blessings block is actually 26 inches long. Not to mention hers is much cuter I know!!! Now I am on to make one for my own mom. I just didn't have enough time to make 2 before Christmas and my mom wanted a new bedspread for Christmas. But since my mom only has one grandchild you just might see my face along with a face for each of their other children and children-in-law on these bad boys! haha. We are blessings right??????? FYI: I used the Alphalicious cartridge for the letters and the Sweethearts Amoureux Cartridge to make the scrolly.

P.S. Do you know what it is like to take pictures of an 8 yr old, 6 yr old (Ethan you are 6 right?), 4 yr old (Logan 4???? I know I am a terrible aunt!), 2 yr old, 1 yr old (nearly 2), 11 month old, and a 3 month old!!! A crazy time! Can you even imagine a group shot... I bet you are picturing crying, some silly faces, and maybe even some hitting???? You are right!!!! Here is "the good one" just for kicks!


Happy crafting to all and to all a good night!!!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN!

And this cute boy can't wait!!! He loved Santa! I will post more pictures as soon as I receive the jpeg file! Here is just one that I caught with my own camera!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

JOY Wood Letters






I finished these this morning... Now I just need to hang them. Normally I put the letters on a little shelf in my "dining area" (definitely not a room), but the J won't stay up... thinking about taking a wood saw and cutting of the bottom to make it straight! Lately I have been having issues with Mod Podge!!! But I learned a great trick when using it: brush on a little bit of water onto your paper! Worked like a champ! I used the same paper line as my countdown calendar (see post below). And now I am working on a paper wreath using the rest of the paper. So fun! All of the supplies were found at Michael's!!!!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Christmas Countdown Advent Calendar




Once I uploaded the picture above I realized I never put the border on the bottom! So I went back and added it on. But this picture was the clearest so I wanted to make sure to keep it on!




I am FINALLY done with this project, and I am pretty darn excited about it! ha! It was challenging at times to come up with embellishments to use but it is done! I do need to replace the red star because it is to heavy and won't stay on when hanging on the wall! I am just going to go buy a cheap wood star from Joann's paint it and attach that for #24 instead! I wish I would have taken step by step pictures so if any of you wanted to make your own you could! But here is a blog that kind of helped me. I did do mine a little different but you can get the general idea there. If you google Christmas Cookie Sheet Advent Calendar you find a ton of other blogs that offer tutorials. Also, one of my favorite craft blogs, tatertots and jello, has a tutorial here. The materials I used were:
- cookie sheet (I got mine at Target for 4 bucks but the dollar tree has a mini one. I feel however that the mini one would be very difficult to fit all 25 pieces on it, so splurge on a more expensive, larger cookie sheet ;). And make sure it is magentic!!!)
-spray paint. I think mine was creamish?
-magnets (I bought the thick, round, black ones because the magnet strips you can buy and cut to size just weren't strong enough)
- 4 pieces of scrapbook paper (3 must be 12x12) one of the peices (the striped one is just for a border so you don't need much. I cut the Christmas tree paper down to 8.5x11 and printed a 5x5 table from word onto the it. The top piece with the snowflakes is just cut in half and glued onto the top and bottom of the cookie sheet. I also rounded the top and bottom corner of the paper with my little "rounder tool thingy". The red dot paper was 12x12 but I cut of the sides to fit into the cookie sheet and maybe a little of the top and the bottom so there was enough room for the title! Then I glued the striped border on to the top and bottom of the red dot paper. You also could use ribbon here instead of paper. Finally, I glued the Christmas tree paper onto the red dot paper. Hopefully this makes sense)
-embellishments galore -- Buttons, ribbons, scrapbook Christmas embellishments, mini cookie cutters, jingle bell, oranment, etc. !!!
-spray glue -- I used elmers's
- cricut for the 25 days of Christmas or pre-made chipboard letters (if you want them glittered spray the elmer's glue on each letter and pour the glitter... Lesson Learned by Yours Truly: DO NOT HOLD THE LETTER IN YOUR HAND WHILE SPRAYING THE GLUE!!! ;)
-glitter (I love Martha Stewart Glitter) I used the colors blue topaz and garnet.
-Apigator or other tool that can punch a hole through metal
- jewelry wire
-ribbon to tie a bow at the top (wired ribbon is best and is 60% off at Michael's right now--Christmas ribbon that is)
-and stickers for the numbers! I also saw people who spelled the number out but I just used the numbers.
I think that is everything!!!!! If you do make one send me a picture. I would love to see it! And if you have any other questions just ask!!! More crafts to come later tonight or in the morning!!! And if you have made some things do share!!!

Monday, November 29, 2010

The Elves



"The elves" came to visit us today. They left us cookies, a poinsettia, and a reindeer stuffed animal for Jackson. It is so funny how just yesterday I was saying I needed a poinsettia for a gift my sisters in law gave us. How perfect! Now to explain the whole "elves" thing.... Sam's family has a tradition where during Christmas time the elves mysteriously stop by and leave some kind of gift and usually a treat. The elves always leave some kind of note. Our note this morning said that we really need to enjoy the holidays. And that Jackson needed to sleep through the entire night!!! (Wishful thinking!) The elves always sign the note sincerely, the elves. They also visited us last week. We were all over Sam's parents house of Friday and "the elves" brought all of the grand kids a Christmas movie. The elves just simply ring the doorbell and run away. Maybe you can start this in your family. Maybe you can "elf" a friend or another family member! It really is a lot of fun because you just never know when the elves might drop by!!! Do you have a family tradition that you just love? Let me know! P.S. I know the elf in the picture above looks kinda creepy... sorry!

Soap





I recently ordered these (clean hands soap) from a friend who was in charge of her super Saturday. I think these are just adorable. I would love to make the monogram one! Go here for the free download and directions! I promise I will try to show you the things that I have recently made later today. I can be creative and don't just copy people all day :)!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Free Subway Art


I still haven't posted the subway art that I made but when I found this tonight I had to share with the 1 person (if I am lucky) who reads my blog!!! Go here for free printables that you will just love! The best part is I just decided to add this color blue to my Christmas decorations this year. I will be posting all of the amazing things I am working on early next week!!! So fun!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Another Silhouette Give Away!!!

Another blog that I recently started following is giving away a silhouette to one lucky follower! Become a follower and enter to win! Go here for more info: http://www.theidearoom.net/2010/11/giveaway.html

50 Free Holiday Cards

Get 50 free holiday photo cards from Shutterfly by going here http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

Monday, November 22, 2010

Another Amazing Giveaway!!!

Jen from www.tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com is hosting an AMAZING giveaway this week. She is giving away a Silhouette!!! If you have never seen this machine you have to check it out! It allows you to create so many fun things! I have dying to get one every since my friend told me about it a few months ago. Head on over her blog and become a follower ! Then enter to win! Good Luck!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Amazing Give Away


Of course I am not giving it away.... I just don't have these kind of connections. But go to one of my favorite blogs to follow and enter to win this amazing Christmas Subway Art! And if you or I don't win then lets get together and make our own! Go here for my info and a chance to win: http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2010/11/giveaway-three-subway-art-craft-kits.html

P.S. I will be posting pictures of my Christmas Advent Calendar soon! It is adorable!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Christmas Crafts for Sale


I am thinking about selling these for Christmas! If you are interested in buying one let me know and I will send you the price! It is a shadow box filled with jingle bells. It is backed with scrapbook paper and has a vinyl sticker attached to the glass. The sticker only comes in red, black, and chocolate. No green.... sorry!

Thanksgiving/Fall Wreath

First off.... Sam stated he hates the color of the yarn which I kinda agree with! He also said this is not related to Thanksgiving in anyway! How rude! So maybe more of a fall wreath???? I don't know! It was fun doing something new! Next time I am going to use colors I love like like brown, cream, tiffany blue, etc.!!! Sorry for the blurry picture by the way! For instructions on how to make this go here: http://calebdanielle.blogspot.com/2010/10/diy-yarn-wreath-with-felt-flowers.html

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Monday, October 18, 2010

Riley's Farm

Momma and baby!

I can see it now... Hayres and I at the hospital together awaiting the arrival of our first grandchild from these two cuties! haha

By the end of the day he was a sleepy boy

Friday, September 24, 2010

Amber's Wedding!









My younger sister was married on August 14th! Can I just say how happy I am that it is over and that they are still married haha! It was a ton of work! I think I worked harder on this wedding than my own! So 2 Keife girls down and 2 to go! Can't wait till we are all married!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010



Here is the latest update on our cute little boy! He is smiling at cooing like crazy! He really is a sweet and happy baby almost all of the time. He is a cat napper and loves being cuddled. At his last doctor's appointment he was in the 90th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference, which means he is perfectly proportionate (even though everyone thinks his head is large!). He enjoys all of his shopping trips with mommy, grandma, and auntie Daylemarie and Nicole. I am sure he is secretly hoping for a sister so he doesn't become momma's shopping buddy for life! :) We are just loving every minute with our precious boy. He has brought so much joy into our lives!


Happy Easter!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Birth Story!








WARNING: Reader Discretion is Advised!!!! (Especially if you are currently expecting!) :)

Ok here is what some of you have been asking for....
January 12th, 10:30 a.m.: (At this point I have been dilated to 3 cm and completely thinned out for a week.) My mom and sister take me to my doctor's appointment. It was Sam's first day of school for the new quarter and I was having crazy contractions all morning and thought it would be best for someone to come with me just in case they send me to the hospital. I met with Dr. Rodrigues for my 41st week check-up! Yes that is right I am now overdue! My blood pressure sky-rocketed to some crazy high number that I really can't remember, so he sent me straight to the hospital. He said once your blood pressure goes up, it usually doesn't come back down so lets just get this baby out! I thought great! 1 day earlier than my scheduled induction. I was pretty happy!

11:00 a.m.: We arrive at the hospital, only to be greeted by snooty nurses! We were already off to a great start! The nurses acted like I was bothering them... I thought, "Wow, aren't you getting paid?" So annoying. I finally get one of those tiny room across from the nurses station, which was no coincidence seeing how lazy this group of nurses were. And there I stayed until they wheeled me into some freakish delivery room. More about that later. They hooked me up to the monitors and there I sat for a looooonnnnnggggggg while!

1:30: Sam arrives. He left school early. And at this point we are questioning why.... still nothing happening.

2:00: Pitocin: A girls best friend and worst nightmare all at the same time. They started out with a very slow drip increasing it every 30 minutes. I was feeling pretty good. Took a couple of pictures! Life was great. But I was starving. Sam was trying to sneak in some candy behind my bed-- very annoying!

3:30: Contractions are getting pretty intense...

4:00: Dr. Chong comes into the tiny room to check me! 4cm! Wahooo! Then she breaks my water.... holy crap so painful! I need an epidural at this point. The pitocin was so strong that my contractions never came back down. They just said off the charts. For all you moms you can imagine how terrible the pain is when a contraction gets that strong, and imagine what it is like to have 1 contraction lasting 30 minutes! I might have said just 1 bad word at this point! But I was still feeling like this whole labor thing really isn't all that bad! By the way... the nurse told me I couldn't have an epidural because it was too early. So I told Dr. Chong that and she was ticked and ordered it for me right away! Thank you Dr. Chong!

5:00ish or thereafter: I got an epidural. Most painful part was when they injected the medicine into my back. Most annoying part: Not being able to move my legs. Why did I not realize this would happen?

5:30: Catheter: Dreaded this for 9 months and it was as bad as expected. The nurse didn't wait for me to be numb... She just stuck it in... well after 4 tries! Terribly painful.

6:00 hour: I was a six and feeling dang good... the whole leg thing is really driving me insane though. Started to question if I would ever feel them again!

A long time later they finally check me!

10:45: 8 cm!

11:00: "Um, I really need to push." Well we just checked you so we will check you in about 45 minutes. What part of I need to push did they not understand!

11:45: Nurse checks me! Wow you are ready to go. "Ya I was ready at 11:00 freak!" Uh... these are mostly just thoughts in my head. So she has me give a couple "practice pushes" alright you are ready to go back to delivery.

12:00 a.m.: They wheel me into the dungeon... no lie! I felt like I was in a foreign hospital for a while! Creepy! 12:00-1:45 a.m.: Push my little heart out! So exhausting. About 12:45 they realize Jackson wasn't making it past this bone... then my brilliant mom says at about 1:30 maybe you should take out the catheter... wow it worked! Two pushes later and he was past the stuck point... (The nurse was supposed to take this out before I even started pushing! At this point I am a bit ticked!) 1:47: Dr. Chong arrives. They have to use the vacuum to assist. I am feeling like a failure. For some reason they thought they baby was sunny side up... they thought this until the moment he came out! I don't understand that! Whatever! 2:05: His head pops out with his shoulders.................WARNING: STOP NOW IF YOU ARE PREGO!........ and i tear up to my butt through 3 layers. That is right people-- a 4th degree tear. I thought the highest was a 3rd degree. I was like oh crap this is bad. Now the real nightmare begins... 2:05-3:50 Dr. Chong sews me up. I was shaking uncontrollably. My blood pressure sky rocketed--- I freaked out. Then realized the machine was broke! Yay! I bleed out what seemed like half the blood in my body. My mom told me a few days later she thought I was going to die! She just watched the massive amount of blood move closer and closer to her very pretty boots... good thing the had high shoes on! I mean there was blood on the walls, footprints down the hallways, it was everywhere! Well over a hundred stiches later I finally held my little baby, well for the second time, but the first time I couldn't even really hold on to him because I was shaking so bad and was so weak. Labor and even pushing was less painful than I imagined. Put tearing was absolutely terrible! I was so sad that I couldn't even hold him on my own right away. I remember not even being able to open my eyes once he came out, and when I did everything was so blurry! But he was finally here, and I was elated! Jackson James Wolfe was born at 2:05 a.m. on Wednesday, January 13, 2010. He weighed 9 lbs 4 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long!


5:00 a.m.: We finally get into a large nice room! By now Jackson pooped the black tar up his back! haha! I tried to breast feed him... really this was a stupid idea! I was soooooo tired! Then he falls asleep and the nurse comes in to bathe him! Are you serious! Poor kid is screaming! Then I get him back and he falls asleep again in my arms .... too cute!

I think we slept about 2 hrs max... well Sam slept and I stared at Jackson!

Visitors, visitors, and more visitors. No sleep at all!

Thursday 4:30 a.m.: The nurse tells me that Jackson has jaundice but to not worry because his levels are very low! Ok I won't worry then. (This is strange for me!)

Thursday afternoon: His levels sky rocket and we are staying another night. Jackson has to be in an incubator all night. He cried the entire night! My mom stayed with me so Sam could go home and sleep. She stayed up all night holding Jackson's little hand. She was the best! I was hysterical!

Friday morning: Dr. announces that he is going to be in the hospital a few extra days... I lose it! She said it like it didn't matter! I cried and cried and cried. The nurse works out something and he gets to go to pediatrics so I can spend the night with him. But only one parent can! What? I have a 4th degree tear. I can't do this on my own... Another blessing... they made an exception and Sam can stay but we can't share a bed... Gee... just what I wanted-- to get into bed with the man who did this to me in the first place! haha By now Jackson is actually enjoying his stay in the incubator. He was now under 3 lights! And one of them made a noise that was obviously very soothing to him!

Saturday morning: He gets to go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't be happier. I think we were packed up and discharged within 15 minutes! Life was great. I felt very grateful and humbled. I was rather angry just two days before and had to do some repenting!

Now we are home and life couldn't be sweeter! He now weighs 9 lbs. 7 oz. He has gained 1 lb. back since we left the hospital. He is my little chubber! Jackson got pics done yesterday. My little angel boy was very cooperative though. I was shocked! I felt so bad that Jenolyn came all the way down. But she did get a few cute ones, which I will post as soon as I get them.