Christmas Projects!

Well hello there! Still snow on the ground here. I have a love/hate relationship with snow. I love staying inside…having a reason to not go anywhere. But I hate taking the dogs out!! It’s freezing!! Brrr…

We’ve been making some homemade Christmas gifts the last few days. Last night we made some salt dough ornaments for the first time. They turned out pretty good. I think if we try it again, they’d be a lot better!

We haven’t decorated them yet!
ornaments

My sweet helper!
photo 2
He has more flour on him then the counter! 😉

We also made some other ornaments…these are always my favorite. The hubs and I usually make these, but I decided it was the boys turn this year!

Each ornament has a picture from both the boys. One side is Atticus and the other is Bonus.
image image_1

I’m not sure if you can tell what the pictures are…let me just give you a hint and say that there are dogs in each picture! LOL I kept this ornament for our tree. I love how these turned out. We made 3 today and will make 3 more tomorrow. We will probably make extras, it seems every year I forget someone and always wish I’d made a few extras to hand out. This year I want to be well prepared! Stuff like this will be fun to look at 15 years from now when the boys are 19 and 20!! That means I’ll be 45! Oh lordy!

Well…Juno is giving me an earful…I should take her out one last time before bed and get to sleep myself.

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Hey Stranger!

Hello stranger! Long time no see, huh?! I have been busy around here. I’m not 100% finished with everything yet, but I will say that the majority of it’s done. That definitely takes a lot of stress off of my mind for a minute. I’ll probably enjoy a day off tomorrow…we’re supposed to get some snow and ice tomorrow through Saturday. It’ll be nice to get snowed in with my 3 guys for the next few days, but it’ll also give me a chance to get caught up on emails and get a head start on January DCC issue. This month we put out two December issues and guess what….one of them is FREE! They are both available on the iPad/iPhone and we will have the PDF available soon! We also brought our sketch challenge back this month. Make sure and check that out above, if you’re interested in entering! We have a $25 Two Peas in a Bucket gift certificate available to whoever is chosen!!

Have you been doing Elf on the Shelf? This is our first year and it’s so fun! I think I enjoy it more than anyone in our house. The boys are starting to understand it, but they’re just not sure about this pesky elf right now. We started it December 1st and the boys named our little elf Mushroom. Yes…Mushroom!! Here’s a few pictures from the last few days.

photo 1

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It’s fun trying to figure out what to do next. I’ve started a folder with ideas from Pinterest, so hopefully I won’t run out of ideas before Christmas. I think it’s a fun tradition to start…I would have loved it when I was a kid. I’d love to see what Elf on the Shelf ideas you have!! Leave me a comment if you’re playing along this year.

Today is my mother-in-laws birthday. I made her this card.

photoI thought I’d do a Christmas/Not so Christmas birthday card since her birthday is in December. I wish I would have taken a picture of the inside. I placed a little Christmas tree with jewels inside and had the boys sign their names. It was really cute and she loved it!! We bought her a plant (I don’t remember what kind…but it was pretty!) and two poinsettias. So the card went well with the gift. 🙂

Well…it’s getting late and I need my beauty sleep. Hope you all stay warm!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I hope you all had a safe and joyful holiday with everyone you love. We had a great day today and ate way to much yummy food. We started out going to Jeremys moms house. She lives 1/2 mile from us, so it was nice to have a short drive this year vs. 5 hours last year. She always makes a delicious spread and this year was no different. She made a new cheesecake dessert that was super delicious. After leaving her house we headed to my side of the family. My grandma isn’t doing so well…she has battled cancer for a while now and things aren’t looking so well for her. She looked amazing tonight. Her spirits are high and I’m so glad that we we’re able to make it to dinner. Most of the family was there and the food was awesome. (I love to eat….Thanksgiving is on top of my favorites list.) My step-mom Kim and sisters Chelsea and Lindsea cooked most of the food. It was totally different then what we had at Pam’s house, so it was nice to have a variety. It was so good. I will be hitting Kim up for a few of her recipes!! All in all we had a great day. I’m so glad I had the chance to hang out with my grandma. I really wanted to get some pictures with everyone, but we were all so busy talking that it totally slipped my mind. I enjoy spending time with that side of my family and really should do it more.

We have one more Thanksgiving tomorrow. I’m going to Grannys early to help her get it ready. I’m trying to really help this year, so eventually I can take over. 🙂 That’s exciting and scary to me all in one.

I’m so thankful for so much in my life. I have the best husband and kids that anyone could ever imagine. I love them so much. I have a roof over my head. I am thankful for that every time I take the dogs outside and I’m freezing!! We have great friends and family that I’m thankful we could enjoy lunch/dinner together today. I am so thankful for all our DCC contributors. We are getting better and better everyday and it has so much to do with these ladies. They are so talented and love what they do. I don’t know how we got so lucky finding them, but I know I am grateful for everything they do.

There’s so much more that I could ramble on about…but I’m so tired. I can barely keep my eyes open. Again, Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you to everyone who takes time to read my posts. I am also thankful for you. What are you most thankful for this year? I’d love to know.

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Hey There!

Hey y’all! I’m here to catch you up on the last few days. Here we go…

Not much has happened!

Haha Kidding! No…but seriously. Nothing to exciting has been happening. We got some ice/snow and pretty much stayed in the house for the last 3 days. We’ve been baking, doing puzzles, working on the magazine, more baking, and playing Wii. It was really nice to get that family time all to ourselves. I love winter…as long as I don’t have to go outside.

Thanksgiving is in a few days. I am excited! I love Thanksgiving. It’s hard to believe it’s already that time of year. On another note…I haven’t bought one Christmas gift yet. That stresses me out a little bit…but this won’t be the first year it gets done at the last minute. Luckily the kids don’t really want anything super big this year. It should make for an easy shopping experience. Last year I did most of my shopping online, but since I’ve waited so late this year I doubt I’ll be able to do that. Bummer!!!

Here’s a few pictures from our week.

photo 1 photo 2 photo 3 photo 4

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!!! Talk to you soon!

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Am I Committed?

Hello!!! How about this blog everyday thing?! Geez…talk about slacker. Believe me, I do think about blogging everyday. But just like tonight…it’s 1:52 am and I’m just now blogging. Luckily, I’m not dead tired and thought I’d write a quick post before crashing. By the time I actually finish this post, it’ll be 2:30ish. -Yes…my tiny boring posts usually take at least that long- So…I know I’ve gotta get back on track, but at the same time at least my blog is not updated once a month like it use to be. I am blogging pretty regularly and that was what I wanted to get in the habit of doing. Is this an excuse not to blog everyday like I intended? NO! I am still dedicated to fulfilling my commitment…but life happens. So, I missed a few days. Big deal…I’ll get back on track. I just don’t want to beat myself up about it.

Anyhoodles…The weather here has been a little chilly to say the least. I’m sure there are other places packed with snow and no we haven’t gotten any YET! We are supposed to get snow tomorrow and guess what I’m doing? Bridesmaid shopping. Yes…My friend Morgan is crazy!! Do I think it could wait until the weather was better…sure…but I am also looking forward to a day with the ladies and no kids!! Girls day! I am a little excited to try a formal dress on….Besides shopping for my wedding dress, I haven’t tried on a formal dress since high school…granted I was about 30 pounds lighter and had a tan…lets hope my experience doesn’t turn out depressing. LOL  Either way I’m sure it’ll be fun. And probably motivating for me to get back on the exercise train. Lord knows I need to lose about 10-15 more pounds. I’d be happy with that.

I was going to post a few pictures before I closed this post, but my phone is being wacky and won’t email my pictures. Dumb phone!! I will let you know how our dress shopping goes tomorrow. Enjoy your Sunday!

BTW…It’s 2:25 am…I was pretty close to my estimate.

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Hello.

Hello readers. I’ve been busy lately…working…training the pup…mom/wife stuff. I just finished working on DCC for the night. I’m almost finished with the Free Holiday Issue and then I’ve got lots of work ahead for the other December issue. It’s a little overwhelming, but I’ll get her finished! I’m getting excited about Thanksgiving coming up next week. We won’t be hosting anyone at our house this year! Yippee! I can just relax and eat! I am going over to help granny cook on Friday. She’s going to teach me how to make her famous Thanksgiving dinner. Someone will eventually have to take over one day and I don’t want it to taste any other way! I love my grannies cookin. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. You get to eat all you want…all the family gets together…and you don’t buy gifts for anyone! I really wanted to run a 5k this Thanksgiving, but my lazy butt has not ran in over a month. I’m ashamed to admit that, but it’s true. I do however plan to start back up and stick with it.

I’m off to take the dogs out. We’re under winter weather advisory and expecting ice….it makes potty training a puppy extra fun!!

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Meet Juno!

Hello….are you ready for some puppy cuteness overload? Meet Juno…she is the newest member to the Shock family and we are all in love! She is the sweetest and most well-behaved puppy ever. Sure, she has that little puppy whine every now and then, but overall she has done very well. I had prepared myself for much worse. I thought the first week would be a nightmare. Given we are only on our 3rd day and yes, it could indeed get worse…I have a feeling it will continue to go smoothly. She is such a great dog and I believe we are lucky to have found her.

Here’s a few pictures of sweet Juno. I will only spare you a few out of the 100 I’ve probably taken. 😉

This is Juno on our way home Saturday.
Every worry I had about getting a puppy flew out the window
when I saw her sweet face in person.
I LOVE her.

Juno.Car

Here is Juno’s first Instagram photo that
introduced her to the world!
Look at her markings in this picture.
Aren’t they beautiful?!

Insta.Juno

Juno loves Mister B. She wants to be on the couch
as close to him as possible. He is eating it up too!
Bonus loves animals more than any kid I know.

Juno and BubLast, but not least….Here are my loves.
Everyone getting their bonding time in with Juno,
even Lucy! Lucy has done so great with
the new puppy. Very proud of her.

FamilyPicSo…there you have it. I know everyone who reads this will be having puppy fever! I was really worried about adding to our household, but I am so glad we did. Jeremy reassured me that everything would turn out fine and so far it has. We couldn’t be happier with our newest member to the Shock home.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Be prepared to see a lot more in the future!

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Hair Problems?

Oh my word. I think I over did it today. I just sat down and my back and legs are so tired! At least the house is clean, last load of laundry is in the dryer, I’m 3/4 done with the DCC Holiday Issue, and tomorrow we get our new puppy! Oh yea!!! How great will this weekend be?! The boys are staying the night with GramGram tonight. I’m leaving bright and early in the morning to meet the lady with Juno. She is in Northwest Arkansas and was nice enough to meet us about 1/4 of the way. It knocks about an hour off the 4 hour drive. I’ve got the crate ready, a blanket, pee pad in case of accidents or car sickness (Lucy gets extremely car sick…hoping this one is a better passenger), collar and leash. I hope I’m not forgetting anything, but no worries. I’m just so ready to go…I hope I can get some sleep tonight. I hate when you are anxiously waiting and you lay in bed all night just tossing and turning! Super annoying!!! Maybe since I’m so worn out from house work and running around today, I’ll sleep like a baby. I can only hope.

OH! I wanted to share something with you guys! Lately, I’d say within the last few months, I’ve had oily hair. Not really all over…just at my roots. It’s like I could wash my hair, blow dry it, and it seemed like my roots were never washed. It was extremely annoying. My hair has never been that way. I couldn’t even wear my hair down, because I was afraid it was so obvious that it was embarrassing. So…what do I do? Well first I switched shampoo and conditioner thinking that would solve the problem. Wrong! It didn’t do anything. I was bummed. I gave it a few weeks and by this time I was fed up. What did I need to do? Buy some pricey shampoo? As much as I love professional shampoo, it’s just not always in my budget. For my last attempt I went straight to Pinterest. Why didn’t I think of that 2 months ago? I searched and searched and read other people’s blogs and websites. One thing came across and was reasonably priced so I decided to try it. Others had said it worked well for them and at less than $5 a bottle I wasn’t losing much by giving it a try.

Here’s what I tried.

NeutrogenaLet me just say….I freaking love this stuff. It works amazing!! I seriously could not be more impressed for it to cost a whopping $4 and some change. It says on the box to only use about once a week. It’s definitely not a shampoo you want to wash every day with. After one wash, I could tell it worked wonders. I waited a few days and gave it another wash and it is 100% back to where I wanted it to be. I am so happy to be able to straighten my hair and not pull it up in a bun or pony tail because my hair is nasty. Thank you Neutrogena!!

Here’s a picture from today after I straightened it.

HairI’ve been growing my hair out for a while now. I think the last time my hair was this long I was in 6th grade. Maybe elementary school…I don’t know. All I know is my hair finally feels good and I owe it all to Pinterest and this shampoo. Well and Jeremy….he actually bought the shampoo for me! If you’ve had hair problems like me, check this product out. I was skeptical, but it really works. It really gets all that build up that can leave your hair feeling gross and takes care of it in a jiffy. I found it at Target, but I’m sure most retailers carry it. It was a little hard to find, but just keep looking! It’s there somewhere.

Well, I better try to get some rest before my big day tomorrow. The boys are really looking forward to seeing their new puppy! I will make sure and post pictures tomorrow. Have a great weekend y’all!!

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Playing Catch Up!

I didn’t blog last night! Oops! I didn’t finish working until 10:30 and then I cooked Jeremy a late dinner. He had an appointment at 7 that lasted about 3 hours, so it was a late night for him at work. After I cleaned up the kitchen, we went to bed and it didn’t take long before I was out. As my eyes were closing I thought to myself, “You didn’t blog!” It was already to late though…I was exhausted.

I have a lot of stuff to do today, but as of right now I’m hanging out between chores watching cartoons and thought I’d write my post to make up for yesterday. Atticus had a wacky day yesterday. He was so moody and it seemed like nothing would make him happy. He thought he was having the best day ever until I told him we couldn’t eat at Sonic for dinner. Apparently I ruined his entire day!! He cried and threw a little fit for about an hour and finally fell asleep in the car as we were heading home. I knew he was tired, but I still don’t think that’s an excuse to act out all day. Let’s just say I’m glad he got some good sleep and is in a better mood today.

Both the boys are grounded from everything electronic today. They’ve gotten really bad about fighting with each other, so I took away what they love most. Wii and iPads. They spend too much time on them anyway and have been playing really good with their actual toys since the grounding. They are really into cars right now. Hot wheels and such. It’s nice to see them on the floor playing and not with their face in an iPad. I guess I need to put stricter time limits on the electronic usage throughout the day.

I’ve got a hot bath running and I need to fold  some laundry. We need to hit up Wal-Mart today and grab some things for the new puppy!! Only 1 more day. Today is Lucy’s last day to be the only dog in the house. I hope it’s an easy transition for both of them.

Look how beautiful she is. Talk about best dog ever. I can only hope Juno is half as awesome as Lucy.

LucyLou

Hope you have a fabulous Friday!

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Work Overload.

Work…Work…Work…I feel like that’s all I’ve done today. I guess I should feel accomplished, but honestly it just makes me feel behind! I guess I did get a lot done today, but not everything. I’ve got a few more jam-packed days ahead of me, but I can’t complain. I’ve decided this is what I want to do and I should be grateful to have made that decision. Most people hate their job…I really quite enjoy mine! (Most days!) We are working on a Free Holiday issue for Die Cut Crazy! I’m excited to get that finished and get to work on the other December issue that will also be coming out.

I’m trying to get most of my work finished before the weekend. It would be nice to not have the worry of work around me while we’re trying to get to know our new puppy!!! I think we’ve decided on the name Juno for our new family member. Jeremy is pretty set on that one and I don’t hate it!  I am really excited and anxious about getting her. Puppies are a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I’m sure it’ll go smooth, but I like to worry about ridiculous things. (kidding, but true.)

I’m getting pretty tired and still need to jump in the shower. I think I’m done working for the evening and I have another full day of it tomorrow.

Enjoy your Thursday everyone. I will try to enjoy mine.

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