Here’s the stove in our new kitchen before…

And after…

I love good deals.  I always shop the clearance racks of Target.  I shopped at a different Target…one closer to the new house.  The clearance wasn’t completely picked over like the one here in Parker.  I got some great baskets for the girls’ new bathroom.  These were on clearance for $2.48 marked down from $9.99!

There were a pair of woodpeckers in the new yard yesterday.  I love that we have wildlife in the new place.  We’ve seen squirrels there too.  The kids were pleased about that.

Here’s another view of the backyard.  I can’t wait for the leaves to come out!

And then one last picture.  Of Skits.  He is getting so big.  He is starting to look more like a dog and less like a puppy.

We were at Burger King yesterday and the girls noticed they had crowns with Twilight New Moon pictures on them.  How exciting!  He he!  Even tho I would NEVER let them watch it in a million years until they are like at least 13 they still know what it is…cause their Mom is obsessed with it! ;D  So here they are in their crowns.  They said Bella was “watching” you! ;D  This photo was also taken with my phone.  Not too shabby for a camera phone. Oh.  Notice Laney has her front two teeth missing.  That is a recent event as well.

Does anyone know what THIS means….

That is CORRECT we found Dunkin’ Donuts in Colorado!  A little bit of a drive as they are all in Colorado Springs.  But better than none at all.  We had an errand to run in the Springs on Saturday so we made a pilgrimage to Dunkin’ Donuts as well.  Grabbed a dozen donuts and some coffee beans.  We were all happy campers.  It’s an east coast thing. ;D

We got snow.  Again.  Not much.  Just enough to annoy me.  We didn’t get our traditional 70° weather in January.  Not even our usual one day.  It has been cold.  It feels too much like Maine for my taste.  Peh.  Here are the girls shoveling the driveway.  Can anyone tell me what is different about this photo???

Today it was warm enough for the girls to venture outside.  Not to mention it was warm enough for me to get out there with them for some photos. ;D

The girls made a fort in Ava’s room today.  (I did not help them.) It turned out really well!  They want to sleep in it tonight. ;D

I love having the girls home on break.  It reminds me of when they are home for the summer.  I love them and miss them when they are at school all day.  Can you tell they have been good and not fighting?  If so I’d want to be shipping them back to school asap!!!! ;D  Wink wink!

I am still sick.  Yes it has been well over a week now.  Yes I did go to the dr.  Today.  Not much they could do for me.  Did a strep test.  That’s not it.  I think he felt sorry for me considering it is so close to Christmas.  I got some meds and hope they will help but I’m not holding my breath.  Being sick stinks in general but especially during Christmas.  I have presents to wrap.  The house is a mess.  Ugh.  Oh well.  I’m listening to Christmas music on my computer and to the sounds of the kids and Corey (he’s working from home today) and I have it pretty good.  I just wish I felt better.  While I was out braving the snow, going to the dr office, I went to the store and got food for Christmas.  So we won’t be having pizza.  Ha!  Corey wanted ham.  I wanted chicken.  Believe it or not the girls wanted steak!!!!  So I splurged and got filet mignon at Safeway.  I got a great cut!  Can’t believe they wanted it…they are definitely MY kids…if they were Corey’s they would want seafood. ;D He he!

I noticed today how quiet everything was with the snow falling.  Quiet and peaceful.  I took a couple of photos of my festive flag out front on the house with the snow falling.  It was just so quiet.  I love that.

paper, photo mask, postage stamp, date stamp, alpha letters Jen Maddocks Designs
Remember Word Art Ali Edwards

Last night I was feeling creative.  I had some paper I had just gotten from Gina Miller that I knew would go perfectly with what Laney was wearing yesterday sledding.  So I made a layout. ;D  Here she be!

Layout credits here.

So Laney put her tooth under her pillow and waited for the Tooth Fairy.  And the Tooth Fairy in this house is a bad Tooth Fairy and sometimes forgets.  Sigh. I woke up this morning and thought of it right away.  I didn’t hear the kids up so I thought I was ok.  I slipped into Laney’s room and she looked like she was still asleep and so I found the tooth and exchanged it for a dollar.  She woke up just after the exchange.  So I thought I was safe.  She told me the Tooth Fairy forgot to give her money and I asked her to double check.  She did and was happy to see the dollar.  I thought I had gotten away with it but when it all came out she revealed to me she had been awake earlier and downstairs.  She had also been “faking it” when I thought she was sleeping and said she felt her pillow moving when I was taking her tooth.  Another sigh.

“Mom.  Are you the Tooth Fairy?”

“Yes.”

“You ARE!!??”

“I’m sorry Laney.  But yes I am.  Are you okay?”

“Yes.  But what about all my other teeth?  And Ava’s teeth?  What happened to those?”

“I took them.”

“Where did you put them?”

“It doesn’t matter.  In a special place.”

Ava emerged and we told her.  I asked her if she was okay.  “Yes, I’m fine.  And I don’t believe in Santa either.  Because he’s Lauren’s grandpa!”  Apparently a friend of hers at school has a grandpa that looks just like Santa.

“Well.  Since we are talking about this do you want to know the truth about Santa?”

“Santa’s not real either???”  Laney exclaimed.

“No.  Not in the way you think.  There was a person who existed called St. Nicholas who passed out gifts to children.  But there is no Santa.”

This conversation continued on for awhile.  I could tell Ava was totally fine.  I knew she would be.  I could tell Laney was completely devastated.  I knew this was going to happen as well.  Insert another sigh here.  So.  In order to help out the situation, because at this point Laney was pouting…something she is very good at…I reminded her the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas (and Easter).  She immediately said, “JESUS!”  I told her she was right.  I told her that even tho things like Santa are fun and we could still pretend and have fun, that Santa was actually a distraction from the real reason of Christmas.  After I explained it, she was okay.  Needless to say I had no intention of this happening this morning.  In a way I was very sad and also glad.  What do you do in your family with Santa and the Tooth Fairy?  Do your kids still believe?

Last night it started snowing.  I was looking at the snow and loving it but I really needed to go to bed.  Corey suggested I go out and take some photos.  It was midnight.  And cold.  I didn’t want to go out.  But I did.  I was freezing.  And LOVING IT!  Do you ever feel that way about something?

On to the next thing…there is a new digi kit at DDE.  It’s called Crisp Fall Day.

Here are a couple of layouts I did with this kit.

And last but not least…if you have stuck with reading this entire post…I made it on to the next round of the My Scrapbook Art Ultimate Artist contest with this layout.  Total surprise…and looking forward to the next challenge which is being revealed tomorrow!

I put together a layout of some of the photos I took of Laney out in the snow yesterday.

grunge frames, wings, grunge alpha, acrylic flower, buttons, circle stamps JMDesigns
flower, acrylic brad Embrace Fei Fei’s Stuff + Paislee Press Designs
circle stamp Circle It No.2 Anna Aspnes
journal circle stamp Journaling Brushes-n-Stamps Katie Pertiet