Blog Book

I just received one of my blog books.  I say one because I have two volumes for this year, and the first one hasn't come yet but I can't wait to share...  (In fact theses pictures are terrible but I still just had to post them anyway because I was too excited.  I was having a VERY hard time trying to hold the book open to take pictures.  I grabbed something to help hold the page down but it wasn't heavy enough to hold the page from slipping, YET I kept trying to use it...)

I have them printed on the premium paper.  The limit per book using premium paper is 160 pages, so that's exactly what I have in each of my blog books.  I choose the standard portrait books.  I feel that the bigger sized books just make it too easy to have pages torn because the page is larger and a little more awkward.  (Just my preference).  I also do the hardcover image wrap because dust covers just rip and fall off with all the looking at the books.  The image wrap is like a permanent dust cover.

I have my own system to keep continuity to the book.  I use stitching in between different posts on the same page.  I use the same font for all of the dates.  I try to keep a full page "favorite" picture every few pages.  I really like having the full page pictures to give your eye a chance to rest from all the posts and reading...

 

Some pages have multiple posts.  When I first did a Blurb book and had them place all the posts I didn't like how a small post would use an entire page.  OR how some of my favorite pictures weren't given a big space.

 

I really should've taken more pictures because these just don't do my book justice.  I needed a little helper to hold it open.

For my kids' books that I give them for Valentine's -(found HERE), I do all pictures with no text in the book except for the entry page.  I slurp their folder into a photo layout Blurb book and just arrange them in Blurb's layouts.  I also put full page pictures every few pages as well.  On the entry page is where I try to do a little write up about them for the year.

In the blog book I have this written on the copyright page ...

The cover page I put "Lived, Blogged, and Loved every moment!"

Anyway, just thought I would share with all of you.  I have had quite a few questions about Blurb, if this didn't answer it just email me again.

My Juggler

Sunday I was busy trying to get a few things ready for church and I told Jacob to entertain the little girls so that I could get things done.  The next thing I know, he is juggling for them as they stand there mesmerized.  Well, of course I had to stop for a minute to take pictures.  Jacob can't hide from the camera when he is concentrating on juggling balls.  He is really good... 

  

Thanks for the entertainment Jacob!!!

Gym Lessons

It's a new year and I'm trying to get my old body back in shape.  I headed to Lori's class this morning and after a few minutes of listening to her and getting extremely exhausted, I thought of this "so true" life lesson that my friend, Cumorah had shared -

"Every week, the masses flock to Lori's Ultimate Conditioning class. We line up in the hallway awaiting the moment we can make a mad dash to set up our station with weights, a mat, a step, a band, a medicine ball.  And then chat until Lori takes her place at the front of the class. She steps up with her spikey hair, itsy bitsy shorts, and rippled physique ready to push us to our limits. {I'm pretty sure we all attempt to do exactly what she says, hoping that someday, our bodies might, in the slightest, resemble hers.}

Every week, it's a new workout. Something totally different. Always taxing. Always sweat inducing. Always high intensity. And always exactly what we needed. During the class, Lori will instruct us over, and over again that quality is more important than quantity. She constantly coaches us that, if we can "only get 5 of the 8 reps in, but those five are awesome -- then great! I'd rather have you do five right, then 8 that are crap. Don't worry about what your neighbor is going to think if you can't do them all - because TRUST ME - they don't care what you're doing, they're too busy worrying about what they're doing!"

I've heard this every week for the last four months, and the magnitude of it just hit me yesterday. It's soooo true! How often do we try to do it all - just because we're worried about what people will think if we don't? How often do we think that every move we make, is being scrutinized by others - who really, truthfully, honestly, don't care nearly as much as we think they do. The world really doesn't revolve around us. Our world might, but the rest of the world does not revolve around our mis-matched children, our shortcomings, our failures. I think I've spent a lot of my life fretting, and aiming to impress, when really - the only person who cares, or who is affected, is me.

So the moral of the story is - live your life - FOR YOU! For your kids, for your husband - for the people who matter in YOUR life... and not for the people you think are watching, or judging, or scrutinizing - they're too busy trying to live their life to really care.

And thanks to Lori for the sore muscles, and the validation to live my "five-rep" life!"

Thanks for the lesson Cumorah, now to remember and apply it!

Little Mommy

So Jerrica has clung to Kaylee's side since she was born.  Kaylee has always been like a little mother to her.  If Jerrica gets in trouble with me she will run off crying for "KAYWEE...."  Kaylee helps her with any need that she has, plays with her and totes her around on her hip.  However, I noticed today that Jerrica has grown, and Kaylee has not, and that makes quite a load to be toting around.

    

I'm sure grateful for Kaylee's help with her little sister.  She is going to make such a cute little mommy someday!

Snowflakes

We LOVE to make huge paper messes, unleash our creativity and decorate our house by doing THIS. 

I like the deer in the headlights picture of Nathan. 

Ashley can't seem to stop making them.  She has made a TON.  Some may say that she is wasting paper ... I say it is entertaining her and so it is well worth it!  She has made some for her preschool teacher, and filled envelopes for both grandmas (which I need to mail).  I smiled as she had me call my mom one day to warn her not to make snowflakes because she was going to mail her some for her windows.  Good thing we called, I'm sure my mom and dad were planning on making some that night :)

LOVE her concentrating tongue in this one....

 

And then the admiring of Nathan's snowflake ... "Nathan is good at snowflakes like me"

The Tone FHE

We did this FHE a while back and I left the lesson out to share on my blog.

We talked about communication and emphasized the tone that we use in our voices.  We discussed how just by changing our tone can cause different responses.  I cut the following page out so that each family member had a short phrase that they could say using a nice tone and then a sharp, ugly tone for the same phrase.  The kids had fun hamming up their parts and we had a good discussion about how JUST the tone can COMPLETELY change the outcome of a scenario because your tone sets the tone of the conversation.

I then read the following poem -

 

The Tone of Voice

It’s not so much what you say
As the manner in which you say it;
It’s not so much the language you use
As the tone in which you convey it;
“Come here!” I sharply said,
And the child cowered and wept.
“Come here,” I said –
He looked and smiled
And straight to my lap he crept.
Words may be mild and fair
And the tone may pierce like a dart;
Words may be soft as the summer air
But the tone may break my heart;
For words come from the mind
Grow by study and art –
But tone leaps from the inner self
Revealing the state of the heart.
Whether you know it or not,
Whether you mean or care,
Gentleness, kindness, love, and hate,
Envy, anger, are there.
Then, would you quarrels avoid
And peace and love rejoice?
Keep anger not only out of your words –
Keep it out of your voice.

~Author Unknown

We finished off with a fun communication game where we had to sit back to back with a partner.  I know the FHE went over well because we are still using the phrase, "Watch your tone" and "Try a different tone in your voice so that you can get a better response" and the kids know exactly what we are talking about.

Peanut Butter and Birds

Jerrica made a peanut butter pinecone for the birds ... she wanted them to fly down and eat it in her hands.....

 

The birds didn't come....soooo we tied it on a tree branch and Jerrica STILL thought that we needed to wait by it and watch for the birds to come and eat it.

  

The birds didn't come while we stood there by the pinecone ...

BUT a couple hours later when we looked out the window ... WE SAW a bird pecking at her pinecone ... and I wish I would have gotten a picture of Jerrica's JOY on her face seeing that bird eat her pinecone ...

She thought that we needed to immediately make 10 more for the birds...

Fishbowl Snowman

*My friend made an awesome tutorial for this but I can't figure out how to post a Word Doc, SO email me and I will send you the instructions.  mymixofsix@hotmail.com*

You take this

And invert it into a fluted bowl-

Don't put a fish in it though, use white lights.  The fluted edge makes it possible for the white light's cord to come out.  Be sure and use white lights that have a white cord because if you don't the green cord will show through.  Kim said that they used a strand of 50 small white lights.

Use a men's sock to cover and hold the fish bowls all together.  Cut a small cord in the back for the cord to come out the back of the snowman.  The fleece scarf will then cover the hole and disguise the fluted edge.

Then decorate however you wish with buttons and fleece.  They are really cute!  The pictures don't do them justice.  They are fun plugged in at night or even unplugged during the day.

Anyway, hope that answers all the questions.  Thanks again for making them for me Kim!!!

Random

I almost ate an entire loaf of French bread with this dip over the holidays and I had three different people call asking for this recipe.  So I thought that I would share it here.  It's Aunt Racquel's recipe and it's divine.  I have had a lot of artichoke dips, but for some reason this just tops them all.

I'm sooo excited that the Friend magazine is doing the cute little posters again this year.  They are fun to post on the fridge each month.

Speaking of our fridge, my mom sent a cute magnetic snowman to go on our fridge.  BUT our fridge isn't white and the snowman just didn't look quite right.  Our door to the garage is magnetic and our little snowman has been fun on that back door.  Thanks mom!

I like to decorate with snowmen for the month of January so Mr. magnetic snoman is perfect.  I also put up the light fishbowl snowmen that Kim made me last year and decorated our little holiday shelves.



I noticed today that Target has some fun Valentine things in their dollar section for the kids mailboxes next month.  I grabbed some of the pink hot chocolate packets.

AND one last bit of randomness, a bloggy friend suggested this cute book series.  We checked them out from the library and .... they are sooo fun.  They are filled with rhyme and funny scenarios.  You can check them out here -Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee

And that is another one of my random posts filled with a little of everything!

Random

I almost ate an entire loaf of French bread with this dip over the holidays and I had three different people call asking for this recipe.  So I thought that I would share it here.  It's Aunt Racquel's recipe and it's divine.  I have had a lot of artichoke dips, but for some reason this just tops them all.


I'm sooo excited that the Friend magazine is doing the cute little posters again this year.  They are fun to post on the fridge each month.

Speaking of our fridge, my mom sent a cute magnetic snowman to go on our fridge.  BUT our fridge isn't white and the snowman just didn't look quite right.  Our door to the garage is magnetic and our little snowman has been fun on that back door.  Thanks mom!

I like to decorate with snowmen for the month of January so Mr. magnetic snoman is perfect.  I also put up the light fishbowl snowmen that Kim made me last year and decorated our little holiday shelves.



I noticed today that Target has some fun Valentine things in their dollar section for the kids mailboxes next month.  I grabbed some of the pink hot chocolate packets.
AND one last bit of randomness, a bloggy friend suggested this cute book series.  We checked them out from the library and .... they are sooo fun.  They are filled with rhyme and funny scenarios.  You can check them out

And that is another one of my random posts filled with a little of everything!

My Ash

I have been doing quite a few photo shoots lately.  Today Ashley came skipping in from preschool as I was setting up for a shoot.  I asked if she would come stand in so that I could get my white balance and settings all set.  She was MORE than happy to oblige me because she had JUST picked out a new ring and crown from her preschool treasure box.

I used her to get all my settings then off she skipped and in came a sweet little newborn.  I didn't even think anything about the pictures I had taken of Ash until I sat here tonight looking at the newborn shots.  I usually just delete, delete, delete the test shots.  BUT I loved looking at my Ash with ALL her fun expressions.  She really has such a fun personality.

 

   

The other day we were at Target shopping.  A man dressed very nicely with a goatee reached in front of us to grab something off a shelf.  Ash told him, "Wow, you look very impressive!"  He looked down at her with a smile and thanked her for the compliment.  I looked down and asked her if she even knew what impressive meant.  "Yes, I do mom.  It's when you wear really cool clothes and you look really cool."  Of course this made the man smile even more. 

Interesting to note, she has never told me that I look impressive :(

CSN Stores

Blogging is fun because it's an easy way to journal, to keep in touch with friends and relatives, to meet new friends, AND to be able to do reviews.

SO, when CSN stores contacted me again to do a review of a product, I was thrilled of course.  They have everything from TV stands to board games.  Speaking of board games, we still haven't got this yet...

and guess who does have it ... that would be CSN Stores.  They really have sooooo many products to choose from.  If there is anything you have your eye on, go search for it at CSN Stores. 

Stephen thinks that it would be fun to have a deep fryer... 

I think that he needs to realize that his wife is already getting a little too round in the middle and would benefit more from...

Anyway, go check out ALL the products.  Look in the TV Stands storage section for some great organization containers and furniture to get organized this new year.

Stay tuned to see what Stephen and I end up reviewing. 

Is there anything YOU have your eye on right now?  If you could buy anything online TODAY what would you want?

Pictures

We have LOVED puzzles over this vacation.  I love to sit there and chat with whomever is helping.  They are trapped there and have to talk with me! 

Now on to pictures and camera questions - First off my new camera is a Nikon D7000.  We had issues with each other at first, BUT I think we are good friends now.

At the end of the year I put up and take care of all the 2010 pictures on my computer so that I can start fresh with 2011.  I have a little system that I do for each of my kids and each month during the year.  At the end of the year, I print up my favorite pictures to hang on my collage wall and around the house.  I even make a 2010 favorites folder.  I make sure pictures are backed up on hard drive, online and on disc.  Then I order my Blurb books.  I finished my blog book using my own template and just ordered it over the weekend.  I love the continuity and use of space by using my own template.  I will post pictures when it arrives.  I now need to finish the kids Blurb books this week.  They are really quick to put together because you slurp their folder into Blurb which takes just a couple minutes and then you can arrange pictures around.  Last year I gave them their books as a Valentine's gift.  It's funny how the kids don't see a lot of "their own" pictures until they get their book. 

If you want to try a Blurb book you can use this coupon code for 20% off - SAVETWENTY.

What do you do with your pictures?

Happy NEW Year

 

We had our Chinese food dinner.

We did some of our hour packets.

We went to the Mason's for a fun evening.

We ate way too many treats and appetizers.

We left our four older kids there to spend the night.

We had a WOnDerFUL NEW YEarS EVE!