Brixton Lane

December Daily Foundation

2012-12-03T12:08:00.001-08:00

Ugh! I apologize for the poor picture quality. I'm having problems downloading the pics from my camera this morning so these were taken on my iphone. Anyhow, last week, I showed you the album {or journal} I chose for this years December Daily. Well, I'm the most indecisive person. I could easily blame the pregnancy but eh-I'm always like this. With the journal I was going to have to put my favorite things on hold {like transparencies and pocket pages} and I couldn't bear it. So, in came the backup...a 6x6 chipboard album from Maya Road.

It was obviously a plain chipboard album and I wanted just a simple cover so I made a stencil from a punch I had and painted on a few white snowflakes. I also LOVE the look of a doily so I handstamped a sentiment in red and that was pretty much it. Easy!

On the inside cover, I downloaded a blank 6x6 calendar and embellished it. I plan on writing in all the activities we have planned for this month as well as a few of the highlights.

Along with the front page, I did a pocket page filled with gold confetti. Today I will be working on the front title page. I'm planning on writing out a December Manifesto. Today, I'm also planning on finishing up the remaining 10 foundation pages I have to do to have everything prepped and ready.

Here are some pics that I will be including in my December Daily this year. I'm ahead of the game in terms of photos because we set up so early this year and jumped right into our December traditions.

I'll be back later this week with some more pics of my DD.

{DIY Elf Letterhead}

2012-11-24T11:15:00.002-08:00

Do you have an Elf who visits your house every Christmas? We do! His name is Elfie Elfgrin and he likes to cause to mischief. He's a quirky little Elf we picked up at Michael's about four years ago, not the more common Elf On The Shelf. He's a fun little guy though, he's tagged a long on a lot of our family traditions over the past few years and has since suffered a broken leg and some bumps and scratches. Needless to say, our kiddos have such a fun time with hima dn anxiously await his visit every year. Here are a couple of pics from last year...

A little Lego building with some friends.

At the beginning of the season, Elfie Elfgrin always brings us a recipe for North Pole breakfast. he also brings a little something for each of the kids. Last year, it was warm fleece blankets to wrap up in. This particular visit, he got all caught up in the lights as he was rushing to get the table set up for us.

Last year, we also created a special letterhead for Elfie Elfgrin. Just something fun. This year, I may be doing everything on the computer as my daughter is now old enough to recognize our handwriting, even if I try to write backwards and with my left hand :)

I uploaded a version of this letterhead to SCRIBED. If you are interested in downloading it, feel free. You can find it here. Enjoy! And, let the mischief begin!!!

December Daily 2012

2012-11-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

Back in 2010, I started a December Daily album and never finished it. I wish I had taken time to sit down and even just put together something simple. This year, I wanted to dedicate time to making one. The main reason is because this is the last Christmas we'll have as a family of four. This time next year, we'll have another little baby boy crawling around making mischief :) So, documenting this year has become very important to me.

The Plan: I put a lot of thought into this. I wasn't quite sure whether I just wanted to include a few extra inserts into our Project Life album or if I wanted to dedicate an entire album to December Daily. I decided to go VERY simple this year. My thought is to add a picture and some journaling and that's basically it. Not a lot of embellishment, just the story.

Yesterday, the kids played quietly for a bit while I got started on the cover of my album. I recently purchased a journal at Target, it has an embossed cover and lots of pages to use up. I also browsed their ornament section for something for the cover of the album. I added the silver ornament I bought at Target for $1, a couple of doilies and a Christmas 2012 tag from Elle's Studio.

The first page, I left open to decorate as a title page. The next page I plan on using a velum envelope to create a pocket page for our double sided Christmas card. I'd like to be able to pull it out so that we can see both sides of it. In the short time I had yesterday, I was able to get about 4 pages completed. I'm still not quite sure whether I want to document our daily happenings or just our our December traditions.

Now, that I've kind of described my simple process, let's take a look at how I'm organizing everything...

This is my little craft corner in our small office. I love this desk because there's SO much storage. Most of my Project Life supplies are help within arm's reach to make quick documentation capable. I also have a larger closet in this room which I am able to store all my punches, more paper, Cricut cartridges and more. For my December Daily work, I organized everything in containers and will leave them on top of my desk so I can access everything easily.

These containers store everything from stamps to embellishments. Not as pretty as some of the organization I've seen on Pinterest but that's not my goal. My goal is functionality and this works for me.

Back in 2010, when I was organizing for that project I put together a couple of ready made kits so it would be easy for me to grab the products that I love and wanted to include. Here are some of the contents of those kits.

So, there you have it! A short rundown of how I'm planning on approaching my December daily album. I'll be posting more as I go along. If you want to follow my progress, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram , you can follow my December Daily Pinterest boards here or simply follow my blog :)

Ava's Workshop 2012

2012-11-19T15:07:00.001-08:00

Many of you have been following the story of "Ava's Workshop" for a while now. But for those that haven't, you can catch up by reading this post here. This remains one of my most popular posts to date, I'd like to think it's for the good that's happening in her heart but I think it may be for the cute thumbprint cards. Either way it's fine with me, the more people that read her story the more people may be motivated to make a difference in this world.

I've been asked several times through my Facebook friends or Instagram friends why we decided to begin "Ava's Workshop." It was my daughter {then age 5} who decided that she wanted to take matters into her own hands and help keep homeless people warm during the winter. She makes all the crafts and mommy and daddy help with all the other details {invites, set up, baking, packaging, purchasing, distributing}. My motivation behind it is not only to teach our children to give back but also because we know what it's like to not have much. A few years back, we hit a rough patch financially and without the help of our family and the kindness of strangers, we could've easily ended up homeless. We had so many people who reached out to help us, making an investment in us. We are simply taking that and making an investment in others. Besides, it's become a fantastic family tradition and a GREAT way to jump start the holiday season.

This past weekend, we held the third annual "Ava's Workshop" fundraiser. We decorated the house, we had Christmas music playing, the fire was burning and the crafts were all neatly priced and displayed. The kids worked tirelessly on their crafts for weeks in advance and we finished up all the baked goods that morning. Here's a look at our lovely day...

The tree and all the decorations went up last weekend. Much, much earlier than normal but it's been nice having it all done.

There's obviously a lot of prep work that goes into "Ava's Workshop." Much of this I do with the kids but Daddy jumped in to help and give me a break this year. Yay, daddy!

We set aside a couple of afternoons specifically for "Workshop" crafts. We play Christmas music, the kids favorite is anything from "The Chipmunk's," and we paint, glue and color. It makes for a great family day.

This year, we decided on the thumbprint trees and reindeer. These are always big sellers, mainly because the guests who spend the most money are usually grandparents. :)

Easy, just stamp the thumbprint and once it's dry decorate the little trees any way you want.

The baked goods we sold were rice krispie treats, brownie pops {like cake pops} and pretzel hugs.

All the cute packaging is from Target's Dollar Spot

Here are the kids, all set up and waiting for their guests to arrive.

Handpainted cards are always a big seller!

Another big hit are the die cut Christmas tree tags. People have bought them to use as gift tags or even to hang on their child's tree. The kids have so much fun decorating these with glitter glue, paint and buttons. This craft kept them busy for a long time.

This silly boy has to jump in the donation bin, every year.

At the end of the evening, she counted up all her donations. She was able to raise $145.00. Yay!!!

The next morning, we took the kids to Target and Walmart and filled our carts full of blankets, hats and gloves.

Here's the annual pic we take after we buy all the goodies. I'm trying to document how much they are able to buy with each passing year. Last year, they were able to fill 12 bags so we surpassed our goal by 4 bags! This year, we found cheaper prices on blankets and gloves so we were able to buy more of those. In addition to that, we had great friends who donated cash, knit scarves, hoodies and brand new t-shirts or our cause. These bags were full!

My word! These little ones are crazy! We tried to pile all 16 bags onto the stairs to get the perspective of how much we had but even then I still couldn't get them all in :)

On Sunday afternoon, we had organized an event with another member from our church where we packed 150 brown bag lunches and 100 blessing bags and headed downtown to pass them all out. We had about 150 people or so show up to the event, which is HUGE considering how small our church is. I think people were looking for a way for their family to give back this Thanksgiving. After we packed up all the lunches and blessing bags, we divided into carpool groups and headed downtown to distribute everything.

This is the first year that we allowed Ava to get out of the car and help hand out the bags she put together. She's only 7 and we never wanted her to feel scared or intimidated. When we pulled into the parking lot downtown to hand our lunches and bags out, she asked if she could go this time. We agreed that she was ready and allowed her to help distribute. Later that night I asked her what her observations were and she said "there were WAY too many people wearing short sleeves, they were SO cold and we didn't have enough blankets to hand out." So, her efforts will not just be centered around the holidays this year, she wants to continue. There are WAY too many people to help. I love her kind heart. I hope this post gave you some fun ideas of some ways you can either give back or even just some fun ideas of crafts to do with your family. :)

{Long Time, No Post}

2012-10-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

Oh, where to begin...there's so much to catch you all up on. I guess I'll start with the most recent. We've been busy as usual, getting started with a new homeschool year. Getting schedules in order, gymnastics classes to attend, choir rehearsals to go to and AWANAS groups to participate in. The newest venture, keeping my schedule busy is starting up another fundraiser for my hubby's next trip to Haiti. We had money set aside for his next trip which was supposed to be last Spring, when the time came, he didn't feel his heart was compelled to go. We instead "invested" in someone else who we thought would benefit from a trip there. We offered our funds in order for this person to go.
So...we are now left trying to scramble and raise funds quickly as his deposits due within the next two weeks. EEK!

Anyhow, we started a FB page for our fundraising efforts. Every Sunday, I will be posting handmade holiday wreaths in hopes that we will raise enough to send him back to Haiti. Here are some pics of the recent wreaths that have been sold. 100% of our proceeds go straight to this purpose. This time around, his trip is to include building a new school at one of the local orphanages. Since most of the buildings were destroyed in the quake of 2010, there's been A LOT of rebuilding.

Please follow our FB page at https://www.facebook.com/#!/TheDecoratedDoor. We'll be posting pictures and videos from his past trips as well. This is a cause that's VERY close to our hearts, please visit and help us spread the word. Thank you!

Benjamin's Star War's Party

2012-07-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

This little guy desperately wanted a Star Wars party for his 4th birthday. He and I fought back and forth for a few months on it. Mommy said "it's too violent." and Benjamin said "it's so cool." Mommy gave in :) The only stipulation was no scary "Darth's" allowed. The party supplies you find at Party City were, in my opinion, too violent. I wanted to go as close to vintage as I could. Today, I'm going to share the decorations with you. The food, favor and games will all be in another post. So, here ya go...a look at Benjamin's vintage inspired Star Wars party!

A look at his invitation. I bought the invitations and the printable from AndersRuff. All the colors were based off the invitation. So cute, right?

We put our chalkboard out on our entry path to welcome our guests. Here's a shot of the birthday boy all dressed up in his Star War's gear with his pool noodle light saber. He's ready to party!

This is the sign I made for the front door preparing our young "padawans" for training ahead.

When guests came in they were greeted with a name badge, signed by Yoda himself and we had the Star War's soundtrack playing.

Here's a peek at his "birthday mantle." This is a biggie in our house...if it's your special day you get special decorations. For Benjamin's mantle we had his birthday photo with all his "loves", some of his daddy's vintage Star War's figures and books. We also had a chalkboard which read "The Force Is Strong With This One." My all time favorite photo of him and his sister, taken when we brought him home from the hospital. The photos that are clothes pinned to the pom-pom garland are all from his birthday photo shoot with mommy. This was a HUGE hit with everyone at the party-so much fun!

Here's a peek at the snack bar which we named "Admiral Ackbar's Snackbar." This was a small table with a few snacks, some waters and the kid's bento box lunches. Oh, and Han Solo frozen in carbonite a.k.a. jello. But...we'll save that for another post. Let's take a look at the decorations at the snack table...

I made the tissue poofs, hung silvery star garland and paper fans from the ceiling. I also made the "Admiral Ackbar's Snackbar" sign which was simply glued to a gray and white paper straw and stuck into a rice filled tin bucket from Target's Dollar Spot. I used some muslin fabric as a backdrop and to tie in the Jedi robes that each child would receive.

This was by far my favorite part of planning the party. We had so much fun coming up with the foods we were going to serve.

The outdoor decorations were kept very simple. The tables were covered with gray table clothes and topped with Star Wars wrapping paper, which were used as table runners. Here's another example of how I used the tin pails from Target. Each one was filled with rice to help with weighing down the tablecloths. I loved the silver stars which I added for some height. I personalized them a bit by using the printables once again.

Here's a quick shot of the tables and my sweet lil' birthday boy :) Stay tuned for another post featuring the foods we served, the games we played and the crafts I made :) If you have questions, please feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer them all for ya!

Random Projects

2012-07-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

The weather here in Southern California has been very tropical. I feel like I'm living in Hawaii, or maybe it's just wishful thinking. Really warm and humid. Today we were supposed to have thunderstorms. But, if you live in California, you know that's highly unlikely. We kids were thrilled with the 5 drops we got today. They were prancing around and thought it was the coolest thing that mommy let them swing in the rain. So, since it was "raining" and kinda too hot and humid to really do anything, I figured a few projects were in order.

Project #1: Organize Benjamin's Trains

These things seriously take over the entire playroom. We have every kind of train from Thomas' to Chugginton. We also have every kind of track known to man; plastic track, Duplo tracks, wooden tracks. Too many if you ask me! Finding these baskets really pushed me along in finishing this goal They were on clearance at Michael's $3.99 per basket. I've been eyeing these for a while and hoping they'd get marked down. That was good enough for me! Easy and cheap, that's my kind of organization! Neat and tidy!

The rest of the playroom, that's another story! Just keepin' it real people :)

Project #2: Photo Canvas Wall Art
I took this picture back in June for our Father's Day photo shoot. It was such a genuine moment between these two that I wanted to some how get it hung up on the wall in their bedroom. I had the photo printed at Costco and decoupaged it onto the canvas. I still need to add some paint because the canvas ended up being a bit larger than the actual photo. It still looks awesome and is perfect for the space I'm thinking. I'll save that for another day though.

Project #3: Fabric & Hoops

Since we're on the subject of hanging things on walls, here's another project. I've had these embroidery hoops left over from Ava's birthday party last month. I wanted to add a bit more whimsy to the walls in their bedroom and kind of tie in the colors from the picture above. I had this fabric on hand, which is exactly what I had in mind. I'm thinking of adding a few flowers or embellishments too. I love that Benjamin's totally okay with sharing a room with his sister. And, I love that he's so secure in his boyhood that his ENTIRE room is decked out in pink and turquoise. I know he'll outgrow it all soon enough and want the Star Wars room we promised him. But, for right now he wants to be with his "sissy" and that's all that matters.

Oh, and just because he's on my mind and I find him to be completely breathtaking...my dapper dude. He's mildly obsessed with bowties and I'm mildly obsessed with him.

This is another lil' project of mine {no, not the boy}, 94 days of summer. One photo everyday. This was from day 2, obviously :) I plan on compiling all these photos into a book for the kids to remember our summer vacation. Hopefully, it's one I can finish. Do you have any fun projects you're working on?

Our 4th

2012-07-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

Our fourth was just delightful. We actually started celebrating on the third when David got home from work early and we started decorating the kids bikes. Avi was way into it making sure that every inch of her bike was covered and Benjamin was into to it for about two minutes and then moved on to something else. Go figure!

We managed to get one picture with him on his decorated bike. Silly boy!

All set and ready for the parade.

The next morning, the kiddos woke up, had "patriotic toast" with strawberry jam, blueberries and banana slices and got ready for the parade with church. This year, our church decided to have a float in the local parade. Families were given the chance to either ride on the float or walk, bike or skate alongside it. Once I mentioned the words ride bikes in the parade, the kids were all about it! Hence, the bike decorating.

Here's our church float. We had a 50's theme. It was awesome, the top of the float was decked out like a 50's diner, we had some fun songs on repeat "The Chicken Dance," "The Limbo," and "The Hand-Jive." There were kids and a few adults dancing on the back of the float and several skating alongside. The kids were REALLY excited about seeing the float but they still wanted to ride their bikes. David allowed Benjamin to climb up onto the side of the truck, he was in heaven!

Here's a shot of the entire group, too fun!

This was the end of the parade. Next up,head home to start the homemade vanilla ice cream.

This girl LOVES all things sweet! If we're not careful she'll eat until she gets sick, this one.

Once the ice cream was started, it was time to make the pizza. The menu consisted of gluten free pizza on the grill, small salad, TONS of appetizers like fresh figs stuffed with gorgonzola cheese and topped with honey-SO good! For dessert we had homemade dairy free vanilla ice cream and root beer floats.

The start of the pizzas, the gluten free dough gets really sticky so little hands helped with flouring the dough. Pat, pat, pat...what a mess!

Some pizzas cooked in the oven and some...

cooked on the grill.

This is the GF veggie pizza. I wanted to get a picture of the steak and gorgonzola but it was gone in a flash!

After we stuffed ourselves full of yummy pizza, we set up the sprinklers for the kids. It was a chilly day, at least by California standards. The water play didn't last too long, so they set out on their second bike ride of the day. Watch out for this bike gang, you don't want to mess with them ;)

After our bike ride, we packed up the troops and headed to find a spot t watch the fireworks. We were running behind, so we found a spot just outside a local elementary school. We figured it would work for this year. Next year, we plan on getting there a few hours early and setting up on the grass, picnic and all.

Our little family, ready to watch the fireworks. My poor Benjamin was not havin' it this year. He just turned four and this is the first year, he was scared. Avi was another story...all about the fourth!

It took me a couple of days, to recover from our fourth. But...we did make some wonderful memories. I hope your fourth was as sparkling and fantastic as ours was.

{Red, White & Blue}

2012-07-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

Urgh! So frustrated right now, I had this entire blog post typed and ready to save. I hit the wrong button and poof, gone!!! So, here's a condensed version...

Having a 4th of July party? Here are some last minute awesome ideas to make your 4th really POP!!!

Source: getcreativejuice.blogspot.com via Jess on Pinterest

Source: i693.photobucket.com via Jess on Pinterest

Ice cream party...I'm all over it!!! This is great. We're making homemade, old-fashioned vanilla ice cream for our dessert, cannot wait!!!

Source: sunset.com via Jess on Pinterest

This is beautiful if you're having a sit down dinner. We're planning on having sprinklers and the kids pool set up, so I don't think anyone's going to be sitting down :) I just love the crisp whites in this set-up though.

Source: karaspartyideas.blogspot.com via Jess on Pinterest

I die!!! This is SOOOOO cute!!!

Source: janiegore.blogspot.com via Jess on Pinterest

This set-up is really similar to our backyard so this is something we could totally do.

At your get- together or picnic, cute but subtle patriotic clothes are a must, right?

Source: polyvore.com via Jess on Pinterest

I love this retro inspired look. The polka dotted dress is my favorite!

Source: polyvore.com via Jess on Pinterest

A bit more causual but just as cute!

Source: cassiesclosetinc.com via Jess on Pinterest

Super cute for the little ones!

Source: via Jess on Pinterest

Patriotic mani/pedi...so doing this today!

One last pin...

Source: alittlecrafting.blogspot.com via Jess on Pinterest

Have a safe, fun and FABULOUS 4th!!!

{A Great Start}

2012-07-01T23:08:00.002-07:00

Summer's off to a great start! A. finished up school on June 17th so we've had couple of weeks of relaxing and sleeping in. In our case, sleeping in until 8 a.m. is a HUGE deal ;) Lately, we've spent a lot of time playing in the backyard. On our "summer fun" list was trying a slip n slide for the first time. B caught on real quick. He tried everything from drinking the water to stepping on the sprays.

I've been practicing my photography a lot these past few weeks too. I've had the chance to snap some shots of my favorite friends and their families. The best part was getting to be a part of my friend's vow renewal. She asked if I would shoot some pics for her, I was honored. Here are a few of my favorites...

She had planned a surprise vow renewal for her and her hubby's 5th anniversary. Ha! I caught them having a quiet moment together and grabbing a hug before the "service" started.

{The vows}

{The Kiss}

Shortly after, we celebrated Father's Day. That morning we went on a short hike to the creek where Daddy taught the kiddos to skip stones. I think it's images like these that we will cherish when we get older, the images where the kids are being themselves.

On our hike, we found these awesome trees. The kids climbed and played for a while. It's so funny to me that we can live in an area and not know areas like this even exist. Needless to say, we've had lots of fun scouting out new places for mommy to take pics :) Here's my lil' gymnast, climbing away.

A wonderful and busy start to summer. This coming week will be be AMAZING as we celebrate the 4th of July!

{A Downward Spiral & Looking Up}

2012-06-13T10:02:00.001-07:00

Life's been quite an adventure lately. I won't go into all the details, just that in the past couple of months my health has taken a downward spiral. We weren't quite certain what was going on. I was tired all the time, having hormonal issue {crazy mood swings, shortened cycles, bad headaches} my hormones were raging so much that the past two months I thought I was pregnant. I AM NOT pregnant!

The exhaustion was almost unbearable, trouble getting breaths in and rapid, irregular heartbeats. So, needless to say when you're not feeling well for month on end, the last thing you want to do is the things that make you most happy. Those things become a chore, basically everything's become a chore. It takes all my energy to get out of bed in the morning. But, I've got two little ones and I HAVE to get out of bed, I HAVE to school my daughter {thankfully she's done on Thursday}. I HAVE to clean the house, I HAVE to feed my family, I HAVE to go to parties, events, church. Life just goes on.

The most important thing for us was to find the root cause of all the symptoms. I figured it was perimenpause. After all, I'm not getting any younger. So, I made and appt. with my O.B. and with a wellness doctor, whom I trust A LOT. I saw my wellness DR. a couple of weeks ago and after listening to my symptoms and talking with me for over an hour, she definitively said it's severe adrenal fatigue. So, basically because of the lack of sleep, lack of proper nutrition, stressful situations {like the one we encountered back in 2010} and lack of daily exercises, my adrenals are so overworked and exhausted they're shutting down.

Well, that's kinda depressing! Here I am thinking I'm doing something great by putting everyone first, feeding the kids first, giving them the food off my plate when they want more, playing with them or on the computer instead of exercising, grabbing a cup of coffee {or 2 or 3} to get me through the day. Homeschooling this year was also another stressor. Once again, I'm thinking I'm doing a great thing by taking that on. Well, low and behold, December rolls around and she gets very comfortable homeschooling. From that point on, until April it was a fight everyday to get the work done. There were lots of councils with her teacher and we agreed that more creative teaching was required on my end. Thanks you GOD! Definitely an answer to prayer. The matter was trying to figure out what type of learner she was and what type of teacher I was going to be for her. Needless to say, we're about to finish our first year {in two days} and the sense of accomplishment we both feel is OVERWHELMING!

Okay...so where I am going with this? It's all coming down to a change in lifestyle. Better nutrition, more exercise, such much needed supplements to heal the adrenals, lots of love, lots of laughter and lots of deep breathing. Oh, and one fantastic thing...apparently the adrenal glands repair themselves the most between the hours of 7 a.m.- 9a.m. So....sleeping in until 9 a.m. nearly every morning. I'll take it! I will probably be posting more frequently as I'm resting throughout the day {still tiring VERY easily} Throughout this entire issue, I've learned to look at my life differently. I am more thankful for the time I have with my children, I love every second I spend with them. Try not to laugh too hard when I tell you, I honestly didn't know what was wrong {with heart palpitations and lack of breathing}, I honestly thought i could die. Every day I wake up I try to remember to live my life like it were me last, I carry my camera everywhere in the hopes of documenting for the kids. I'll post more on that in another post. In the meantime, if you'd like to see some pictures {because of the lack thereof} in this post, head over here. https://www.facebook.com/#!/BrixtonLanePhotography

{Benjamin's Star War's Party Sneak Peek}

2012-06-04T09:26:00.001-07:00

Here's a little sneaky peeky of Benjamin's Star War's party we had back in May. Full post to come soon...

{Racing & Rambling}

2012-05-01T21:48:00.001-07:00

Well, I've had a difficult couple of days. As I'm sitting here, my babies close I am content. On Sunday, our Pastor spoke about faith; comparing it to running a race. Sometimes we hit hills and need an extra boost in order to make it to the finish line. In some ways, I'm finding myself hitting that hill. You see, I have a fun little paper shop on Etsy. I started it when my son was born because I felt like I needed an outlet, being a stay at home mom and all. As my business grew, I found what I wanted it to be. I went through a couple of name changes and I really evaluated what was going to be the most productive.

Fast forward to this time last year. I discovered photo props! A easy, fun way to make a few extra dollars to help put the kids through art class and/or gymnastics. I was one, among many sellers on Etsy selling mustaches on a stick. We all share one common idea but have different ways of implementing that idea. I am a very honest person, would never copy another person's work, not even a thougt about it. Worked well, up until now. I've got a copycat on my hands. My photos were copied, my ideas, my words basically cut and pasted into someone else's listing. Someone else trying to pass my work off as her own. This is SO upsetting to me on SO many levels. This person has consumed my energy, my happiness and my pure joy over the past two days, I'm tired of it. I've allowed someone who has no integrity make me question my own. I handled everything well, I stood up for myself, my beliefs and my work and that's about all I can do.

My Etsy shop has been "my baby" for a while now. I've nurtured it, helped it become quite successful with just under 1,000 sales in the three years I"ve been open. I've taken time off when I've needed to. I took several weeks off when Ava got her tonsils removed, I worked extra long hours right before Christmas so Santa could buy some extra gifts for the kids. There was one time, a couple of years back when the only source of income we had was my little Etsy shop. I have really come to rely on it.

Now, I'm seeing that as life is becoming more and more hectic and the children are changing so rapidly, I want to be 100% mom again. I want my children to be where I spend all my energy. I want it to be with them that I spend all my extra hours of the day with. My energy is better focused on them rather than some copycat Etsy seller. They deserve my energy, they derseve 110% of my attention. So,that being said, I am taking a brief hiatus to focus on finshing that race. Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement as I continue up this final hill.

Random Bits Of WITL

2012-04-26T07:57:00.004-07:00

I've been pluggin' along on my "Week In The Life Project." My hope was that I'd have time to post my pictures here each day but that's not realistic for me this week. Life's been crazy busy. Among the normal things like schooling, errands, motherhood, party planning, have come things like HUGE orders from my shop, helping out a friend in need and being there to listen when someone needed to talk. All good things!

I've been keeping up with the picture taking. As a matter of fact, I'm doing such a good job that my kids keep asking "why are you taking pictures of me doing this or that..." Here's a peek at what we've been doing over the past couple of days...

Working

Playing

Cleaning

Learning

Party Planning {B's excited about getting his invites from Shutterfly}

Praying {Perfect spot for quiet time}

Snuggling

And...lots...

and lots of dancing!

Yep, that pretty much sums up our life right now. I love it! And, because we all know how valuable our children are, please check out my friend Marta's blog. She's got a challenge for all of us. I love Marta's heart, such a sweet person.

Week In The Life-Sunday

2012-04-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

This year I decided to participate in Ali Edward's "Week In The Life." project. It will definitely be a challenge for me as there's a lot of documentation that goes along with it. I will try to capture bits & pieces of our everyday life, even the mundane. I started mine yesterday, as for our family it was a special day. I wanted to make sure it was documented to look back on years from now. Let's get started shall we...

Early wake up...I was up by 4:30 a.m. showered and eating breakfast by 6 a.m. Not a usual occurrence in this house.

By 8 a.m., we had transported and unloaded all the items we needed for our "service project" at church.

By 8:30-we were ready to head into church. We set enough items for 150 people to fill blessing bags for the homeless. By the end of both church services, everything was gone! I'm sad I didn't get a picture of the empty bins but we were too busy getting cleaned up.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day. Ava wanted to be right by my side throughout the entire event. The kids were part of it from the very beginning so it was important that they see the fruits of our labor.

After a stop at the local taco shop for lunch, I had some time to play around with my new camera. I've been saving up for a new DSLR and ended up buying a Nikon. Now, it's just practice, practice, practice shooting off auto. Not too bad.

I have a feeling the kiddos are gonna sick of me real fast :) I am obsessed! The fact that this camera can capture that exact moment is so awesome.

I had to squeeze in a little camera time with my little guy. Post bath babies are the best! Our attempts at "fishy faces." His better than mine.

This is how it's gonna work. This week, I'm collecting pictures, documents {i.e. love notes from kids, receipts} and other memorabilia and next week I'll be putting everything together in an album. I'm trying to keep everything really simple. Are you doing "Week In The Life?" If so, I'd love to see your posts, leave me a comment with a link to your blog.

{HELLO Monday}

2012-04-09T12:56:00.001-07:00

This past week was spring break and our family escaped for a mini vacation.

We said...goodbye to our close friends as they headed on a mission trip to Haiti.

and said Hello to...

One long car ride from San Diego to Solvang. Thinking up fun games and singing songs.

Hello...yummy meals that I didn't need to cook or clean up after.

Hello...California coast.

Hello...newborn mini horse. Just two days old.

Hello...future veterinarian

Hello...cute children in a very large shoe!

Hello...sweet family!

{Giveaway Winner Is...}

2012-04-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to all of you who entered the Thirty One giveaway. And, thank you to Alison for offering such an awesome bag! Onto the winner...I entered all the info into Random.org and it spit out number 14...which is MAUREEN!!!

Have a very blessed Easter!

{Saving $ At Target}

2012-04-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

Last week, Target had a big sale on toys and I'm a sucker for a good deal. This time around money was tight because we're taking a trip and needed to be careful with our budget. So, Monday night I headed to Target with a bag full of coupons ready to score some deals. I seriously had so many coupons, I was stopped by a couple of people wondering where I got them all.

I scored all this for approx. $130. I was able to stack coupons on a lot of this so my prices got as low as .99 for some. Most of the things I bought will be for my kids birthday's, however I was able to purchase some gifts for my nieces and nephew as well. Here's a quick run-down on what I paid...

My son is currently obsessed with the Playskool Star Wars figures. They are much more durable than the figures for the older kids. Stacking my coupons, I was able to get these Star Wars toys for about $26. That's a great price considering one vehicle/figure set usually runs around $21.

On this trip to Target, I also picked up an Easter dress for myself. I found it in the clearance section for $12.99. I also picked up a shrug style sweater to go with it. I had a coupon for the sweater marking it down to approx. $12.00. $24.00 for a new dress and sweater, I'll take it. It's beats the dress I was looking at at Old Navy for $39.99 and I bought a sweater too!

Cootie game $2.00

My Little Pony train toy $14.00

Belle Story Tellers Set $11.00

I headed back the next day and had to pick up the play-doh set for $2.99. Too good of a deal to NOT make a second trip! Anyhow, I didn't get a chance to give you a complete run down on the prices, but you get the idea.

Here are some sites I visit for great deals:

1) Target Savers-I love this site because not only do they give you great tips on sales but they also give you Target markdown schedules.

2) Passion For Savings-A great site for couponing. It's easy to navigate and she provides links for everything.

Here's how I find good deals:

1) Following the sites above. Sometimes they provide sneak peeks of what's going on sale prior to Sunday's paper coming out.

2) I always clip coupons

3) I match the coupons against the weekly ads

4) Always try to find ways to stack my coupons. By visiting other sites like coupons.com

Do you have any tips on couponing that you'd like to share? Let us know how you save money for you family

Don't forget to enter our current giveaway, you can find the link on the right side of the page>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

{31 Giveaway}

2012-03-30T14:57:00.002-07:00

One of my favorite things about blogging is the chance to give something awesome away and introduce companies with a purpose. Let me introduce you to my sister-in-law, Alison. She's an independent consultant with Thirty One Gifts. Not only do I love Alison, I also love that the company Thirty One is named after Proverbs 31, how AWESOME is that?

Alison's kind enough to give ONE lucky reader an Organizing Utility Tote in Awesome Blossom. The colors of this bag; yellow, grey and brown are perfect for spring and summer. I'll tell ya, Alison gave me this bag earlier in the week and it's quickly become a favorite. It has TONS of pockets and space.

We're heading out on a road trip with our kiddos next week and this bag is the ultimate accessory. Honestly, it's perfect to put in between the kids carseats, fill it with some activities a few snacks and their sippy cups and we're good to go!

Here are some other uses for it: mobile office, gym bag, diaper bag, emergency kit, put in car to keep you organized, pool tote, scrapbook/stamping tote, cleaning supplies tote, teacher bag, sports bag.

{My niece carrying all her softball gear in her tote}

What do you need to to to be entered into the giveaway?

1) Head on over to Alison's site, look around.

2) Come back here and leave me a comment letting me know your favorite "Thirty One" gift.

Want more than one chance to win? You can...

3) "Follow" my blog {just let me know you're a new follower in your comment}

4) Blog, tweet and/or Facebook about this giveaway. Leave a comment for each.

I will pick the winner on Friday, April 6!

{Project Life Freebie}

2012-03-28T08:17:00.001-07:00

If you liked the journaling cards and title cards I used on my last Project Life layout, you're in luck! Today, I'm sharing those with you!

So here's your... Project Life Freebie! Click here to download.

This set includes:

1) 3x4 journaling card
2) Two inch "sweet" heart circle
3) 4x6 title card "My Loves"

These designs were created by me. They were designed for PERSONAL use ONLY. DO NOT try to re-sell. Thank you! If you decide to use these embellishments, send me a picture I'd love to see how you put them to use.

DON'T FORGET: I'll be hosting a giveaway THIS Friday. Make sure you stop by, you won't want to miss this.

Project Life Tuesday

2012-03-27T20:59:00.002-07:00

Today, I'm scrambling...it's been a VERY busy day so this will be quick.

Four quick & simple layouts this week.

Left side is a 8x8 layout with a 5x7 photo. We had so many activities throughout the month of February so I listed a few of the highlights. I also added a tissue paper heart she made in her class.

Layout #1:

An 8x8 layout with a 5x7 photo of Ava holding up the art project I organized for her class.

Layout # 2: Front

A tissue paper heart Ava made in class. And, a list of our favorite February activities.

Layout # 3

Here's a photo of the main layout. There will be some journaling to go along with this page, just haven't completed it yet.

A peek at how they will all lay in the album.

Layout #4:

A 4x6 photo of the kids and I when we went to the Humane Society and made Valentine's for the animals. That was such a highlight for the kids. I saved one of the Valentine's that Ava made and put it in one of the pockets.

This week, I used a lot of my own designs. I will try to post a freebie to share with all of you at some point tomorrow.

{Friday Night Organizer}

2012-03-26T11:04:00.001-07:00

As a child, I remember organizing...A LOT. I remember setting aside days to rearrange my bedroom or organize my dolls or books. I'd take up entire Saturday's reorganizing my closet. Rearranging my clothes by color and rearranging my books from largest to smallest. Call me strange, but if you needed to borrow a large picture book from me, I knew right where to find it. ;) So, you can imagine my delight {pure delight I tell you}, when I caught my six year old organizing her books...on a Friday night...when we should be watching a family movie...snuggling on the sofa.

I went in to find this...her sorting through her piles of books. She was sorting; fiction, non-fiction, chapter books...I asked her what she was doing "making my books into a library." She proceeded, "we need to label each section..." Here are the steps she took to creating a library for her and brother.

1) Take everything off the shelves.

2) Yell at your younger brother every time he pulls a book from the pile.

3) Stick all the labels on the shelves, after all they are stickers and what six year old girl doesn't like stickers.

4) Have mommy come in and finish the project because you're too tired to finish it yourself.

After everything was labeled to her liking, I went to get brother ready for bed. When I came back I found her doing this...

Standing on her desk, taking a photo for her "blog." By this point, I was dying I could hardly take a picture because I was laughing so hard. Then she hopped down on the desk in an attempt to get an even better shot. Hey-a blogger's gotta do what a blogger's gotta do. right?

Like mother, like daughter. Now, if I can get her to give up her Friday night's to cook, do the dishes, dust, do the laundry, clean the bathrooms, organize the playroom...we're in business. She can document it all on her "blog." :)

Catch up with me tomorrow for "Project Life Tuesday." There may just be a freebie for you!

INSTAFriday-Week 1

2012-03-23T13:52:00.001-07:00

I-Phone is new to me...just getting the hang of it all. I thought I took a lot of picture before...Gah!!!!

Friday mornings mean time with my sweet boy! The girl's got choir practice at school so my boy and I play on the playground. Nothing better than a little early morning visit to the slide and swings, yeah right. I'm guzzling the coffee...

Stormy Saturday so we lit the fire and everyone had to choose a book {even if they couldn't read the words}. She determined that's for sure!

St. Patty's Day: Leprechaun visit. He wrecked havoc on my house. The kids loved it!

After church on Sunday, our friends took us out for breakfast. It was the sweetest thing...they planned breakfast, prepared an entire speech about the reasons they chose us as their daughter's godparents and gave us this sweet little plaque which now resides in our family room. So thoughtful and of course, we happily accepted.

Sunday, we also took an impromptu trip up the our local mountains. After the storm on Sat, we knew there would be a bit of snow but there ended up being a foot of snow. The kids were freezing and we were unprepared but it was totally worth it!

This little guy always sneaks into our bed in the middle of the night. It's alright as long as I'm not being kicked in the throat, in which case he's sent right back to his bed.

Start of my Project Life for the week.

Grading papers and prepping for a day of conferences for both kiddos.

Morning snuggles with Daddy. This is the only time he'll snuggle with us. He's usually on the go.

A special treat for getting good news at parent/teacher conferences.

Dinner prep happened to be quite colorful. A favorite dish filled with fresh veggies, black beans and sausage served over white rice. Seriously, the kids love this stuff...

Happy INSTA-Friday! Have a wonderful weekend!

{Project Life Tuesday}

2012-03-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Oh boy! Life's been a whirlwind lately. I'm barely catching my breath from Valentine's Day and here we are mid-March already. So... as I'm sitting here watching "The Voice," I thought I would pop in to share another page I did in Ava's Project Life album.

Journaling: "This morning we went to the Dr. Seuss breakfast at your school. You wanted to dress up like your favorite Dr. Seuss character so...Cindy Lou Who is was! We fancied up your hair, dressed you up and headed out. We enjoyed pancakes, eggs and bacon as a family. Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!"

Embellishments: Felt flowers {K&Company}, Sticky pad {Target}

I also did a small 8x8 page to add to her book. I had a series of photos we took together, I printed a 4x6 and used it as the focal point on this page.

Ava's such a sweet, kind hearted little girl. I love that she has a silly side to her as well. Seriously, I have maybe 10 photos printed. They are all so cute and all capture her goofiness. I will probably add some to our family albums as well.

So glad I was able to squeeze in even just a couple of pages. I feel like I accomplished something!
I 'll leave you with a photo collage of our St. Patrick's Day festivities. Ava made a trap but that sneaky leprechaun escaped. He ended up leaving green footprints all over the kitchen and bathroom. The good thing? He set up a sweet tablescape for the kids to wake up to, complete with their own little treasures.

Ava was convinced she would trap the lepreachun, she even left some little "pots of gold" {rolo candies}. Her prediction was that the leprechaun would reach for the gold, hit the sticks, the plates would fall and trap him! The sweet thing was that she even poked little air holes in the plates so he could breathe. Like I said, she's a very kind hearted girl.

{Spring In Threes}

2012-03-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

I'm so ready for spring...the sunshine, the blooming flowers, the Easter bunny. Can't wait for it all! So...we got a jump start on our decorating. Simple spring mantle. Bunting courtesy of Target, gotta love it!

Our entry buffet-very symmetrical I might add. I have a slight obsession with everything being in threes. Threes just feels right. All iron cloche's were purchased at Michael's and designed by me. Oh, and look at that sweet little Easter bunny in the front picture. My sweet girl modeling her Easter bunny ears when she was 10 months old. How do they change so fast?

Take a bit of green moss, a handful of fake eggs, clip on a butterfly and you've got yourself some mighty cute spring decor. Threes again...

Our new dining table got a bit of decor too. Another iron vase. Look at the little birdy resting on top. Another set of threes... ;)

Spring...all about three things: sunshine, flowers and birds. Ha! I just realized there's three eggs in the nest!