Singing and Santa and snow!

What a busy couple of weeks it has been! Gabe had a 2nd Grade Christmas production at his school on the 19th. All the second graders did a wonderful job and were so cute. We saw our friends there and their daughter Madison sat with "her Drew" for a few minutes.

How cute is she!!!

The lighting is terrible in the school gym so my pictures didn't turn out too well but you can see that Gabe was happy to be there. They had worked so hard for weeks on their songs and we were so proud of them.

Another night, just as we were putting Gabe to bed the doorbell rang. Jeff opened the door and look who was standing there with candy canes for everyone!

That was such a special treat! (Don't tell Gabe but it was Wayne, our neighbor from a few doors down! He had been playing Santa at his church and thought he would surprise the boys!) He came in and handed out his candy canes and even took Gabe's letter that we hadn't mailed yet. Gabe wasn't sure what to think of it all but he was so excited.

Then the boys got out of school for Christmas break. And then Gabe got the flu. Poor guy. He has to take meds that he can't stand. Can hardly get them down. He's finally getting better but he's been so pitiful.

And then it was Christmas Eve! The boys made Christmas cookies so they could leave some for Santa. Gabe got his own bowls of icing since he was sick.

After they finished making cookies, Drew and I went to my sister's house for dinner and exchanged gifts with family. Since Jeff and Gabe couldn't go, we Skyped them and opened gifts together. It was fun. The boys got a cool "Nerf"-type shot gun that cracks open and ejects the shells just like a real shot gun. Even Jeff has had fun playing with that one! We had a wonderful dinner of ham, mashed potatoes and lima beans. And of course the traditional birthday cake for Jesus for dessert!

Then everyone finally got to bed for the night only to get up at 6:00am to see what Santa brought.

Drew got an Ipod Touch! He thought he was getting a new Ipod Nano but Santa had other plans. His best friend got one too so they can use "Facetime" and watch movies.

Gabe got lots of Iron Man stuff including both movies.

Here was the Christmas aftermath.

And we got a white Christmas! Sorta. It started snowing late Christmas Day and this is what we woke up to on Sunday.

 We measured about 4 1/2 inches on the deck. The boys didn't play in it. They had gotten money and gift cards for Christmas that were burning a hole in their pockets (this includes Jeff!). Once we knew the roads were okay, we made our way to the mall and Lowe's Home Improvement. The little boys got new Lego sets at half off. And the big boy got a new set of drills with a free battery.

Here are me and the little boys putting together lots of Star Wars Lego sets.

I hope your Christmas has been all you wanted it to be and more.

Inspiration overload!

If you haven't been following Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas this year, you are seriously missing out! He's out-does himself every year and this time is no different. Today's tag is my favorite so far. So beautiful! Check it out!!

How "joyful" is this?! Click HERE to go to Tim's blog and see all the tags!

No way!

Has it really been almost a month since I blogged about getting away for the weekend?! Yikes! I want time to slow down. It's moving way too fast for me to keep up. Speaking of time flying by, my oldest is about to turn 12. I can't believe it. I know that 12 is still so young but at the same time, how can he already be 12!?!?

Anyway, let's get caught up on the past month. When last we "spoke" I was at my sister's house in VA for a little "me time". I returned so refreshed and stress-free (other than a cold/sinus infection. Yuck!) Then it was time to begin thinking about Thanksgiving.

This year, Wendy decided to have Thanksgiving at her VA house with both sides of her family. It was a wonderful weekend. The food was amazing and the company was fun. We ate, played games, ate, stayed up late, ate, and shot guns. Oh, and we ate some really good food!

This past Friday night was the last crop night at my LSS. It will be closing soon. I'm so sad. I have known Traci, the owner since she opened 4 1/2 years ago. It's been such fun to work for her, teach classes, and make many new friends. I hope we don't all lose touch. We made the last crop night a party. Lots of people brought food. Several were there from the time she opened that morning until midnight. There was good food, drinks and lots of laughs. Oh, and we all got a little scrapbooking done! Thank you, Traci for all your hard work. It was truly a special time for me and a privilege to get to work for you and with you.


Now it's time to think about Drew's birthday. He will be turning 12 and he can't wait. I can't believe I will have a teenager in only one year. Scary. But he's a great kid, doing well in school and growing up everyday. For his birthday, we are going to take him and a few friends to see Harry Potter, then have cake and open presents at home. I'll be sure to post a few pictures.

After that will be Christmas. We decorated the house this past weekend and most of my shopping is done. Yay! I need to begin signing Christmas cards (handmade again this year) and wrap a few things. It certainly feels like winter around here. Temps are in the 40s.

On the 16th, Jeff will have knee surgery and then be home for 8 weeks. He's not one to sit around and do nothing. This should be interesting!

That about catches you up on the Patterson's. Hope you are having a wonderful Holiday Season!

What I'm doing this weekend...

regenerate, renew - reestablish on a new, usually improved, basis or make new or like new

from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

Hope you have a wonderful, renewing weekend too!

Sewing with Amy!

Hello Bloggers! I have been playing with my newest toy - the Janome Sew Mini!! It's so easy to use and lightweight. I keep it under my desk and just place it on my desk when I need it. Love it!

So here is a little something I made last night. I got the idea from watching ScrapTime videos from CHA-Summer. I noticed that lots of scrapbook companies would make garlands out of die cut shapes such as circles or butterflies and stitch them together to form a long chain. They would hang them all around their booths to display their newest papers.

So that got me to thinking.... I could do that same thing with holiday shapes! So I used my Cricut to cut out several different leaf shapes. I used a pattern paper and two different cardstocks. I stamped the yellow cardstock leaves and embossed the dark brown cardstock leaves. I decided to back my garland with a ribbon to make it a bit sturdier.

I'm currently working on a Christmas garland! I'll post that one when it's done.

Playing catch up!

Hello Bloggers! Wow. Didn't realize it has been so long since I last blogged. Let's see... in the last month we went to the county fair (I was a bad scrapbooker - I didn't even take a camera!), went to see Mary Poppins for Wendy's birthday, helped with the church Fall consignment sale, attended a neighborhood block party, went to Disney, had my 17th wedding anniversary, and went on a field trip with Gabe's class to the Schele Museum. So it's been just a little busy around here.

I did remember to take my camera with us to Disney.  Our first day we went to the Magic Kingdom and stayed all day long. We had so much fun! And the day ended with a surprise visit with Mickey and Minnie!

A few of my favorite moments.

And a few of my favorite places!

I also had my camera with me on the field trip to the Schele Museum. This was our first time there and it was very fun. The kids learned about the Native Americans that first lived in this area in a very interesting presentation. We also go to see Pirates and all kinds of animals.

Next up is Halloween! Drew will be going shooting with his uncle instead of Trick or Treating this year. Jeff, Gabe and I will be participating in Trunk or Treat at the church. We are really looking forward to that! I'll be sure to post pictures!! Before next year, hopefully!

Things I've been working on

Hello Crafty friends! I've been keeping busy at my desk here lately with some reviewing, recycling and  remembering. First reviewing: I am doing another Cricut class at my lss so I have been reviewing my notes from last time. If you are in the Charlotte/Concord/University area, join me Monday night at 6:00 at Scrapbooks & Etc for a lesson in how to make the most of your Cricut Expression and Cricut Create.

Next recycling: I am also creating a brand new class for my lss. It's an altered book and matching card class. You will learn now to take apart an old book, recycle the covers and make a card to match. It makes a wonderful gift for teachers, co-workers, friends and family. You will never look at an old book the same again!

And as for remembering, I scrapbooked a 12x12 2 page layout! Yay! Can't hardly remember the last time I did that! It was so fun and got my creative juices flowing again. The layout was about the first day of school this year. My 6th grader and his best buddy were so excited! To read more about that adventure, go to THIS POST.

Well, I'm off the the lss to make some cards for Operation Write Home.

Go create something today!

Never forget.

Sounds and Images from 9/11.

http://www.allproudamericans.com/sounds-and-images-from-9-11.html

OWH Sunday Sketch Challenge - finally!

Hello Crafty friends! I am finally participating in the OWH Sunday Sketch Challenge again! It's been a while since I have done it. Hate it when life gets in the way. So, here is the sketch:

And here is my card!

I have had these sheets of vintage looking labels with different themes for a few years now and didn't know what I wanted to do with them. (You know, one of those things I just had to have but didn't have any plan for!) When I saw this weeks challenge I knew it would be perfect for these labels. Plus, it gives me a head start on this year's Christmas cards! Yay!

Enjoy!

More Tags!

Just a quick posting of more tags I have made. These will be posted in my Etsy store soon and available for sale at my lss, Scrapbooks & Etc.

Clicking on any picture should enlarge the photo. Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think!

School days, school days, it's the golden rule days!

School started back today! Yay! I still can't believe that I now have a middle schooler. How can Drew possibly be old enough to be in 6th grade? Wasn't he just born about a week ago?!

Anyway, today was the first day of middle school. Drew's best buddy, Gabe L. will be dropped off at my house and I will take him and Drew to school every morning. They were both over-the-top excited this morning! Here is a picture taken this morning of the two 6th graders.

Here is their self-portrait taken in the car waiting to go into school.

Drew and Gabe L. have been the best of friends since the first day of preschool. They spent 2 years in preschool together but haven't been at the same school since. So, they are so excited to not only be in the same school but have 2 classes and lunch together! I'm am praying this will be a wonderful year for them both.

My Gabe started 2nd grade today. He is NOT excited about it at all! But he hopped right out of the car this morning and went into the school all by himself. Here he is with Drew and Gabe L.

He has a good teacher and assistant and his class isn't far from the doors so she doesn't have to walk too far to get to his room. We already know of several people he in his class that he knows. He's a little nervous because he doesn't have his big brother there this year. Again, I'm praying for a wonderful year for him.

Thanks for visiting!

Shooting stars, fishing and floating

School starts back next week. 7 days to be exact. I could tell you the hours and minutes but that might sound like I'm counting down. Wouldn't want to give that impression! (wink wink!)

Jeff is on vacation this week so we had the opportunity to take one last mini-vacation before school starts. We spent 4 days at the New River. It was wonderful and relaxing and we didn't want to leave. The first night there was all stayed up late to watch a meteor shower. Wasn't much of a "shower". More like a drizzle. But we saw some impressive ones. And it was just fun to sit out under the stars and wonder at God's amazing handiwork. We don't do that often enough.  This pic was taken at some point over the weekend, not the night of the meteors.

The next day, some friends came up for the day. We played in the river and went fishing and had dinner. Then they had to head back home. Hopefully they will be able to come back and stay longer next time. The boys all had so much fun playing in the river.

We all went fishing the next day. No one caught anything but river weeds but we still had fun. Jeff probably spent more time fishing than anyone. He never used to be into fishing but this year he even bought us fishing licenses'. I have enjoyed it as well. It's actually very relaxing and something we can all do together. The boys like to switch between fishing and throwing rocks in the river. What is it about water and rocks that boys just can't resist? Drew and Gabe spent a long time just throwing rocks, sometimes at each other, mostly at the reeds and grass growing out of the river, sometimes at the rapids. I'm sure the splashing wasn't helping Jeff catch any fish but they were having fun so no one seemed to mind.

We also went on a quick float trip down the river. Wendy drove Drew and the floats a short distance down the road and dropped them off, then came back for me, Jeff and Gabe. It was only about a 10 minute float trip down the river back to Wendy's house but it was fun. We went over some little rapids, got stuck on some rocks and saw some wildlife. Wendy and David are going to investigate a longer trip soon so we hope to do that next time. This was more of a "trial run" for the boys. Gabe was very nervous about it at first but after about 2 minutes he was loving it.

Here is the blue heron we saw all weekend long.

Hope you have had a wonderful, fun-filled summer.