Happy Birthday To Me & My New Year Resolutions....

Hello Everyone! I just figured I would do a quick Birthday post. My birthday was yesterday but Chris and I celebrated it on the 28th by going to Five Guys & to the movies to see Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Yesterday we really didn't do much, because little man was really sick. He's been sick with a cold for about a month, but the night before he started throwing up mucus. :( We took him to the doctor & they have him Amoxicillin for a left ear infection he has, and he was given his first inhaler for the wheezing in his chest. Even though we had money in the bank account, we ended up having to borrow money from Chris's mom because his medications were so expensive, and we don't have insurance. Because we didn't get approved for "Obamacare" the state is sending us papers to fill out for Medicaid for Christopher & I'm hoping they approve it. That way they will pay back 3 months of medical for Christopher, which means we'll be reimbursed.... $390 for his medical costs from September, which will allow us to pay back Chris's mom.
Now I know how my parents felt when they didn't have insurance for me, and I was always going to the doctors. Luckily Christopher only has to go to the doctor 2-3 times a year (one of those times being his yearly check-up)

Anyways....
So Chris and Kevin got me some alcohol. Regular Vodka & Blueberry flavored :)
And Kevin also bought me a cheesecake. :)

And Mom got me a "scrapbooking" rolling cart, with 3 baskets on it. Right now though I'm using it for my stock pile! Makes for much easier storage!

And because today is 12.31.2013....
I have for you my "New Years Resolutions"... however these are goals that will be tracked through out 2014 for all of you to read and keep track of.



1. To work out my knee, and to have better control after surgery
2. To finally be able to put in applications and to get a job.
3. To become better at couponing and saving my family money
4. To go on vacation as a family
5. To become better organized.
6. To appreciate what I have in front of me, instead of feeling sorry for not having what I want.
7. To start putting money aside for a home of our own.
8. To get my car started.
9. To get Christopher ready for Pre-K
10. To spend less time on my computer, and spend more time with my family*** This one is by far the biggest. This year alone I spent 17 hours a day, 7 days a week on social media :( I'm not proud to say it, and it has not helped my family life. Here's to a better year!




2014....
Here we come!


New Post Tomorrow, With new Blog Colors, And a New MOTIVATIONAL January Quote!


-Mel

Merry Christmas 2013!

Little Man & His Big Gift--- A Bike!!!!

We had a blessed Christmas! Lots of Fun. Lots of Laughs. Lots of Food. & Lots of Love.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and I will leave you with some photos of the festivities! :)

Christmas Eve. Listening to Chris & I reading 'Twas The Night Before Christmas'

Gifts came from Little Man's G.Pa & Lola Anderson

Blueberry Pie

Cherry Pie

Santa Arrived!

Merry Christmas. Silly Photo Of Me

Mrs. Clause :)

Christopher's big gift from santa--- a bike!

Daddy & Little Man putting together a castle

My presents from the hubs! Kickin' Ass & Lookin Beautiful in 2014!!! :) 

Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Christmas Eve!!!!!

Hello Everyone & Happy Christmas Eve! In a little bit I will start baking my Cherry Pie & Making Moms Blueberry Pie. I'll be making my Pumpkin Pie in a few days. I have all the presents wrapped and ready to go. The presents from pop and grandma susie won't be here until the 26th, so those I won't wrap until they get here. I ordered those gifts on the 20th with Amazon Prime 2 day shipping, and unfortunately they still aren't here. That's the only thing I loathe about Christmas time. :( They guarantee delivery, and you never get it on time.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! In a few days I will be uploading a video (of course all of you that are on facebook with me, will see the video tomorrow!)

Merry Christmas!!!



Love, Mel

25 days of Christmas--- 5 days to go + Record a Story....

Hello Everyone! I cannot believe that Christmas is sneaking up on us so fast!!!! 

I finished a few Handmade gifts today ( I cannot say what they are, just in case family is being sneaky ;))

Tomorrow we'll be finishing up the rest. 

Because of shipping costs, my G.Susie and Pa, and my Pop gave us money to go and get Christopher's gifts this year. Amazon is amazing when it comes to Prime, and free 2 day shipping is hard to beat! 

I ordered him 5 things that he can open up on Christmas day from them! :) I can't wait till I see the look on his face! 

This year instead of just taking photos, I'm actually going to video it, and put it on facebook for everyone to see. It may take a little while for it to upload... but oh well ;) You guys will get to see his reactions!!! Especially with his big gift--- a bike!

Actually this entry is about "Twas the night before Christmas"

In September I bought a recordable "Twas the Night Before Christmas" book for $4 on Amazon! These books usually run around $20 so I was super excited. This gift he will actually open on Christmas Eve, about an hour before his bed time. Chris and I are going to record it probably tonight or tomorrow. He has two other recordable books. "Frosty The Snowman" from his G.Grandma Susie and G.Grandpa & "A Charlie Brown Christmas" from his Grandpa Anderson and Grandma Aileen. We thought it would be nice for him to have one from us, so that he can hear our voices too! :)

It will also get him ready for Santa to come. When he goes to sleep, we'll put out the Christmas gifts for "us". The ones for Chris's family don't come in until we get ready to open presents. Nicole and Bryan and William will be down Christmas Eve this year, so it'll be exciting to also really get to share Christmas with them! :) Karl is also here this year, (he was down last year too, but this year he's guaranteed here lol)

I will be back on Christmas Eve!

:) 

 -Mel

25 Days of Christmas and only 1 week left....

Hello Everyone! 

Today marks 1 week left until Christmas! And I couldn't be more excited! We'll be sending out boxes when Chris gets paid (which is the day after Christmas this year) So my pop, G. Susie and Pa, Dad, Chris's Dad, Chris's Grandparents and my pen-pal Becca will not be receiving their gifts until AFTER Christmas, but they will still get there nonetheless. 

I have a few last minute gifts to wrap, but other than that, they are all complete! :)

Today I figured I would make my annual "Christmas Wish List"

I would love to have a Flat Iron

A Fleece USC Blanket

Happiness for my family

And of Course... I want to be close to family and to visit.

This is all for today!

-Mel

25 Days of Christmas, 8 Days until Christmas, Snowman, Santa Glove, and Coaster Crafts Just in Time for Christmas...

Hello Everyone! It has been a few days, but I have 3 Christmas Crafts that are Easy, Cheap, Fun, and Quick to do. If you need any last minute crafts that you want to do for relatives, especially if you have children, these would be really cute to do! :)

Here is the Snowman that has taken me like a week to get posted. *laugh out loud* I used my cricut for this snow man, but really you can make it without it, I just like even circles.

If you have a cricut: The bottom circle is a 5 setting.

The second circle is a 4 setting. And the top circle is a 3 setting. (That's how many inches they are)

The hat I cut out on my own with black construction paper, and I outlined it with glitter.

The scarf was cut out of red construction paper and outlined with glitter. 

And the arms were cut out with brown construction paper (and I did them in the shape of tree limbs)

The smile was done with black pen in dots. And of course I used pom poms for the hat, face, and buttons of the snowman. 

Brown pom poms for the eyes. Orange for the nose. I did not have black pom poms, so I used navy blue. And the hat has of course, two green and one red pom pom. 

I used a "glue pen" to glue everything together except for the pom poms which I used glue dots, because they held on better. The glitter pen only took 10 minutes to dry :)

I also hole punched the top of the hat, and put ribbon around it so that it can be used as an ornament, or just to hang.

Here is another VERY QUICK, and simple craft you can do! I traced Christopher's thumb and the "cluster" of his fingers to make a santa glove. So the glove in itself is the size of his hand, and a nice memorable keepsake.

I used red construction paper for that. 

I cut out white construction paper with a little "design" and used a glue pen and attached it on top of the red glove. I used a glitter pen for some decoration and to separate the white and red.

I cut out two black circles, and glue dotted white pom poms. You also could glue buttons down.

I punched a hole in the top and tied some yarn, perfect for an ornament. 

Pictures are always a great gift for Christmas, but sometimes the wall runs out of room for frames! 

Instead of ordering these, I made them myself (well actually I had help from my husband) and they weren't horribly difficult to do. 

These are photo coasters! 

SUPPLIES: Felt (we used black because it's a "neutral" color.

Scissors (for the felt) & pictures if they're not sized correctly.

Tile: Any size, I did 4 X 4 (and Chris cut them to that size)

Mod Podge: To glue the photos, and to also add a shine.

Clear Acrylic Coating: To act as a protect-ant, and for shine.

Tacky Glue: To glue the felt to the back of the tile.

Okay... so I printed 4 X 6 photos, and I had tile that was 4 X 4 so I had to measure and cut my photos to size so that they would fit, however; If you have an instagram, and want to use those photos, they will fit perfectly when printed out, no measuring required.

I also had to trim the felt when it was glued so that it would be even.

I mod podged the tile, and placed the photo on it and let it dry. After that I modpodged on top of the photo with a foam brush in even coats. It dries clear.

I sprayed a clear acrylic coating so that when people use them for a drink it will protect the photo underneath.

COST: We got our tiles on clearance at Lowes for 18c a piece (we bought 25). 

The photos cost about .09c to print each (but it depends where you go)

Mod Podge for a medium bottle costs about 2.98 at Michaels, but you can use a coupon on it.

The Acrylic Coating (we didn't pay for because my MIL had some) usually costs about $6 at Michaels (but again, you can use a coupon on it)

The foam brushes are usually on sale for 20/$1 at Michaels (which is when I usually stock up)

Felt: I got a big piece of felt at Michaels cost about $1.99

Tacky Glue: $3.98 at Michaels but you can use a coupon.

So approximately: $22.70 without coupons, and tax. Or .91c for each tile to make. which is EXTREMELY cheap, considering shutterfly charges quite a lot for these coasters.

So these are the crafts for the day.

I'll come back tomorrow with my Christmas List! :)

-Mel

25 days of Christmas Countdown, 14 days until Christmas, Receiving Christmas Cards in the Mail...

Sorry everyone! I will have to do the Snowman Craft tomorrow... Little man is to sleep for his nap right now, and it is in the room he is in! So today I'll just be talking about the cute Christmas Cards I have gotten in the mail.
A lot of people don't do Christmas cards anymore. They'll send a facebook message, or an email.... but our family is traditional--- and we really love Christmas cards. I collect all the cards we're ever given. :) This year, as you guys saw, I made my Christmas cards.
Here are some Christmas cards I have gotten from two friends of mine, Amy & Ashley :)

Our First Christmas Card: From Ashley & Her Beautiful Family

From Amy & Clay

See you guys tomorrow with our Snowman Craft!!! :)

-Mel

25 Days of Christmas Countdown, 17 Days until Christmas, Craft of the day: Scrapbooking Layouts...

Hello Everyone! Today I'm going to show you a couple of Christmas Scrapbooking layouts that I made from our extra Holiday Photo cards. :) Enjoy! 

This is the scrapbooking layout I made for Christopher's 1st Christmas. I used 2 different pieces of scrapbooking paper that I had from a Christmas Paper Pack. the green is a 12 X 12 piece, and I cut the red squares and pasted them in opposite corners. I used these colors because they went with our Christmas Photo Card from 2010. For the words "first" and the numbers "2010" I used Recollection stickers. Cornering the photo are 2 Christmas bells that are also from the Recollection sticker collection. The lights up top are also sticker embellishments (however I cannot remember which brand they are) The top says "We wish you a Merry Christmas" and it is a chipboard sticker, along with the "Christmas" sticker that completes the words First Christmas 2010. I also added a pretty Christmas wreath in the corner.

This is another scrapbooking layout I did, but this one was using last years Christmas photo card. I'm thinking of entering this one in the fair next year! 

I used a paper pack for these, 3 different pages. There was the red. The striped red and white. and then there was the red and white with birds and flowers design. The red is 12 X 12. I'm unsure of the dimensions of the other pieces, because I didn't measure it... I did it by eye. I glued the red and white striped first, and then the red and white with design last. I then added our Christmas card photo. Outlining that is some Gold Ribbon that came in a Christmas Kit I got a couple years ago. That kit also came with the Ornament and Snowflake sticker you see on opposite corners. The 2012 was use with Recollection Vellum Stickers. On the Ribbon is a beautiful sticker I received in a bag of stickers I bought earlier this year from a lady selling them on a site for cheap. It has music notes and it says "we wish you a merry christmas"

On the top is Merry Christmas with different stickers that came with that pack, and that was by Recollections as well.

I usually match my colors by the photo so that I know they match. :)

Tomorrow I will be showing you a kids craft that my little boy helped me with! A Snowman! :)

Until tomorrow...

-Mel

25 Days of Christmas, 19 Days till Christmas, Snowman Door & A Christmas Card + How the Grinch Stole Christmas Quote to end the year....

19 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS

Hello Everyone! I have finally caught up with my Thankfulness Posts, and Now I'm Excited about the 25 days of Christmas! :) (I have missed a few days and I do apologize) Each day (and there may be some skipped in between, depending on what I do) I will post about a craft/project, or something Christmas-y that little man, Chris and I have done :) It may give some ideas on what to do for Christmas, or gift ideas... or just so we can have FUN posts for December. 

I want to start off by saying that Christmas and Winter are my favorite time of year. South Carolina isn't feeling very Christmas-y at this point in time though-- and tomorrow it is supposed to be 80 degrees :( I can only hope for snow. Next is that this year will be special. A remembrance Holiday. My mothers favorite Holiday and time of year as well, last year we went out of our way to make sure her Christmas was the best & all of the family was down. We even hosted a Christmas party & invited all of their friends and neighbors and our family to eat and be merry. I know in my heart that my mother knew that she would not survive another Christmas. She felt it in her bones. So this Christmas... Is in remembrance of her spirit. 

Also to note, I will be putting my Christmas List in here for all to read & some may think that my Christmas List is a tad bit "strange" this year. --- More on that later.

As you can see: I have also updated my blog!!! :) 

Also 1 week before the new year I will be posting 5-10 things I want to REALLY accomplish in this New Year. Unlike a traditional "New Years Resolution", these will be things that will be documented, and shared, and really, truly goals that I am putting my mind to. :) So here we are: DECEMBER!

Our Snowman door :) I got this idea from PINTEREST (If you click this link, it will send you directly to the idea)

One of the Christmas cards I made this year! All of them are different! :) I can't wait until I send these out in 2 days! 

HOW TO MAKE: I used two different types of paper. 1 piece of green cardstock. 1 piece of red peppermint candy paper. (I'm sorry but I do not know the measurements :( but you can easily cut these out. I used glitter glue to outline the green from the red to make it a little more "sparkly". 

The rest was Recollections stickers. The candy canes & Christmas Tree :)

Okay everyone! I will be back tomorrow to show you guys some pretty Christmas Scrapbooking Layouts you can make with past Holiday Card Extras!!! :)

Oh... and to not forget...

Here's a new quote for the month of December! :)

-Mel

Catching up on 30 days of thankfulness: Days 24, 25, 26, 27, & 28...

Day 24

I am thankful for my bread machine! My mother left me many wonderful recipes to cook in it! :)

Day 25

I am thankful for a nice comfy bed to lay on! So I can watch movies & eat icecream :)

Day 26

I am Thankful for my sisters! Although they're 20 years older than me, I still love them dearly, and appreciate them.

Day 27

Thankful for a comfy couch to sit on! While I wait on my pumpkin pies, bread & rolls to finish baking!

Day 28

FINAL DAY!!!!! I am THANKFUL to be THANKFUL! <3 Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 

Stay Tuned for a December Entry filled with CRAFTS, FAMILY, & CHRISTMAS!

-Mel

30 days of Thankfulness: Day 21, Day 22, Day 23- Thankful for Music, Christmas Decorations, and Books...

Day 21

I am thankful for music. 

Many of you know that I use to be a Music Major in college, and even wanted to become a professor one day with it. I love all sorts of music, and I love creating music. I sing, I can play the clarinet, I can play the keyboard/piano, I can play the flute, I can play the violin, and I can play the Xylophone.

Day 22

I am thankful for Christmas Decorations!

I love this time of year, and it was BY FAR my moms FAVORITE Holiday! She loved the decorations, She loved the baking, but by far she loved the family all together. I know Thanksgiving this year won't be the same, but I would love my Christmas to be just like how the Christmas with her always was--- with family.

Day 23

I am thankful for books.

They open your mind, they give you an imagination, they let you explore worlds you otherwise would never have.

 See you guys tomorrow! :)

-Mel