Halloween 2009

I must admit it, I have a secret wish - I want to have an all-out coordinating family Halloween costume some year. You know, one with a theme where we all coordinate. I could be Dorothy, Cory could be the Wizard of Oz, Hunter dress as a flying monkey and Gabe could be the cowardly lion or the tin man.....or we could go with a theme from music - like The Beatles, or maybe a nursery rhyme....A girl can dream, right?

(In fact, I saw the CUTEST family costume last week - "No More Monkey's Jumping on the Bed" - the 2 kids were dressed as monkeys, the dad was a doctor and the mom was dressed in an apron holding a phone. You know - "Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!")

Anyway, Gabe was totally determined for months and months to be the "Red Power Ranger". So I gave in and let his dream of being a silly super hero win over my need for coordinating celebration....I was a bit sad, but he was THRILLED. He loved his costume and I got to avoid forcing Cory to dress up.

Hunter wore Gabe's old "Buzz Lightyear" costume and felt pretty cool to get to wear his brother's costume. It was a little big, but he's getting used to hand-me-downs, and he enjoyed it.

And then for the first time since we've had the boys I dressed up. The boys picked out a witch hat and wig for me and I pulled together a few black items of clothing, a fantastic witch cackle (if I do say so myself) and a wicked witch was born. I enjoyed it and I'm pretty sure I'll need to dress up again next year.

Happy Halloween!

Project 365

Since we got home late on Halloween and didn't have time to carve our pumpkins before trick-or-treating we decided to carve them for FHE Monday night. The boys actually used Mr. Potato Head pieces for their pumpkins and then Cory and I used actual knives. I was SO impressed with Cory's. He doesn't normally join us in our carving - and he attempted a pattern and everything. I was impressed! Gabe asked several times what Cory was carving and he told him "The Grim Reaper". The last time Gabe asked he said, "Oh yeah - you already told me - it's 'The Grim-Shaw". (To those who are local this is funny with so many "Grimshaws" that live in our ward/neighborhood.)

I haven't had roasted pumpkin seeds in YEARS - since I was probably 4 or 5 years old. Gabe asked about pmpkin seeds after seeing them in a magazine article and so we gave them a shot. YUM! I have been snacking on them now and LOVE them. So far they haven't made me sick either, which is awesome.

The boys and I had to run to Walmart and saw all of the Halloween stuff on clearance. They were THRILLED that there were some Star Wars costumes on clearance for just $3.00. Sadly they are HUGE on the boys, but they'll have some fun in them I'm sure.

We weren't home when the pest control guys came and sprayed our house/yard. I asked the technician to just leave the bill on the counter. Well he did - but he left a little "friend" with it. It startled me and completly freaked poor Gabe out. We sure laughed about it later and hid the plastic bug toy around the house for others to see.

This was a BIG day at our house. Hunter's first day at preschool! Brings a bit of a tear to my eye....but it's just a 1 day a week and he is going to LOVE it!

Our good friends the Smiths blessed their little baby Cade in their home. It was great to share that time with them and some other friends. And the food they served after - YUMMO! So glad to have great friends close by.

Another BIG day for our family. Uncle Coby's mission farewell. We headed up to Logan to hear Coby speak and spend time with extended family while we celebrated Coby's big decision. We're SO proud of him and all he will be doing these next 2 years to share the gospel with the people of California!

Digital Scrapbook Day - FREEBIE template

HAPPY Digital Scrapbook Day! All over the world people are celebrating the fantastic hobby of Digital Scrapbooking. It's even known as "INTERNATIONAL" Digi-scrapping day. As you can see from my last several posts, I've been busy scrapping away this weekend. I decided to put together a little digi-template for anyone who is interested. I created this based on a layout in the current Creating Keepsakes magazine (which I can't seem to find right now to give exact credit to the creator....sorry about that). I used Crystal Wilkerson's October products in this layout.

DOWNLOAD FREEBIE HERE.

Hope you all have a great Digi-Scrapping Day and get lots of fun scrapping done. All of your favorite digi scrapping sites are (most likely) celebrating with contests, freebies, give-aways andfantastic sale prices. So enjoy!

Bella Gypsy layouts - AWESOME new collection!

One of my last scrapbooking posts....

My buddies at Bella Gypsy have been designing up a storm. Their Digital Scrapbook Day products are so awesome! Check out the (GIANT) Plenty of Personality collection . It's so great!

Here are a couple of layouts I did with some of the boy collections. You can buy the kits in a boy collection, girl collection - or all together. (I'd go with all together - they are all great!!!)

Libby Weifenbach's NEW products

Libby Weifenbach has a couple of cute new kits releasing today too (it's quite the scrapping weekend!)

Fra-Gee-Lay - fun, bright colors for Christmas time. (I heard several places that this lime green is HOT for Christmas decor this year)

All In A Day's Work - great graphics for chore charts!

Fab-u-less - This kit was released last week, but has super cute images for a weight-loss journal, or for things about eating healthy/loosing weight. This layout is using the freebie template by ChrissyW @ Elemental Scraps.

NEW layouts and products from "The Ettes"

"Child of My Child"

"Sweet & Sassy"

"A Very Good Life" (this is one of my favorite kits ever!)

This weekend is "International Digital Scrapbook Day" and so there are amazing kits and products coming out all over in the industry. The Ettes have some GREAT stuff releasing in their store this weekend. BIG kits full of awesome products! Check out their GREAT stuff starting Friday, November 6th. And stay tuned for more great Digi Scrapbook Day stuff!

Project 365

I didn't get these posted Sunday night - but I'm still sticking to my goal of posting my Project 365 pictures each week. So here you go:

Monday: The boys were so excited to try a recipe called "Be Bim Bop". We had read a book from the library about a Korean meal and it included a recipe for the food in the story. We made that for dinner and then headed into town for "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs for FHE."

Tuesday: I don't have an official picture for this day. This was the crazy day when my mom and I decided to hop in the car and run to Disneyland. I wish I had taken a picture of me running around like a lunatic.

Wednesday: We drove to Anaheim and ended the day @ Mimi's Cafe for dinner. The boys enjoyed their "Mimi" Mouse pancakes. The boys still didn't realize where we were or what we would be doing the next day.

Thursday: DISNEYLAND! It was so fun to see the boys faces and their excitement. After we had told the boys what we were doing I told Gabe - "All I want today is for you to make sure that everytime you realize how much fun we're having I want you to tell me that you love me and give me a hug." All day Gabe would wrap his arms around me and my mom filled with hugs and love. It was all decorated with Halloween decorations - it was AMAZING! What a completly magical day & trip!

Friday: California Adventures and another day at Disneyland. We ended the day with 2 fireworks shows @ Disneyland. Another great day full of awesome memories. Friday was also Cory & my 11th anniversary. It was so odd to have an anniversary and be several states away from each other (did I mention he didn't come with us?) We'll celebrate later together, but we love each other. He gave me some beautiful flowers when I got home. Thanks sweetie!

Saturday: We drove home from California today just in time for Trick or Treating. There weren't many trick-or-treaters that came by our house, and the boys didn't go to too may houses either - but it was a good holiday. I dressed up for the first time in years (as requested by the boys). Gabe was a Red Power Ranger & Hunter was in typical "hand-me-down" mode and wore Gabe's old Buzz Lightyear costume. It was fun that my mom - "Nana" got to see the kids during the holiday. Truthfully though, we were exhausted at the end of the day.

Sunday: EXHAUSTION - nothing but pure exhaustion. That meant my favorite Sunday dinner - scrambled cheesy eggs. We added orange cinnamon rolls (that were for Halloween) and oranges. A totally orange meal.

Project 365

Monday - I took Senior pictures for Madison Wray, our neighbor. We also had spider-hot dogs, bones & eyeballs (mac and cheese w/ peas) for lunch.

Tuesday - Pictures for Mindy's dental office. This stressed me out more than almost anything ever has. I was already worried about it but a few seconds before we took the pictures I asked what the picture's size needed to be. I knew it was going to be in a phone book. She said, "It's the back cover". THE BACK COVER OF THE PHONEBOOK!!?!?! Anyway, they didn't turn out great (because I am NOT a professional photographer, and we were going to originally take them outside, but it was pouring rain and we had to do them indoors @ their office). Anyway - after taking some mediocre pictures I came home and fell apart because I felt bad they hadn't turned out. Sorry Mindy...I tried...

Wednesday - We went to dinner with the boys @ Rusty's. Gabe wanted shrimp and boy oh boy - he got shrimp. We joked that they were as big as his head. He so kindly held them up to my head (or in my hair....) to show me how big they were. Silly kid. Yummy food.

Thursday - While I was on the phone with my childhood best friend (Jana) Hunter couldn't keep himself entertained without making a mess of cereal all over the kitchen floor. I guess catching up with a great friend was worth a few minutes with the dust-buster. (We found out earlier that a mutual friend of ours from high school - Ben Hill - had died in a plane crash on Wednesday.)

Friday - We had Gabe's friend Jase come play for a good part of the day. Gabe & Jase were friends from preschool last year and Gabe asks about him all the time. I aws glad they could catch up and play together. We made "donut hole eyeballs" as a treat while they played.

Saturday - Gotta love the annual "Livestock Festival" parade. The highlight - after the parade of farm equipment and tractors is the massive flock of sheep being herded down main street. It was kind of a boring parade this year, but we still had fun together. (note to self - sit on the other side of the street for the next parade - the blaring sunlight was a bit much for my head).

Sunday - while we were reading bedtime stories Gabe insisted that he was "SO HUNGRY". I would have felt sorry for him if he'd eaten better for dinner (we're struggling with meal times - any suggestions?), but since he was already ready for bed I told him if he was really hungry he could have a cup of carrots. He tried proving his point that he was really hungry and took me up on my offer. But not until he had already used the carrot sticks for "vampire teeth".

So there you have it - another fairly uneventful week @ the Ellis home.

Great Quote!

"If I had my child to raise over all again:
I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger paint more and point the finger less.
I'd do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch and watch with my eyes.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging".

~Diane Loomans

Scrapbook layouts

Several of these kits are coming out on Monday @ Elemental Scraps, but I thought I'd post the layouts today to give a little "Sneak Peak".

Madi - These are pictures I took of my neighbor Madison Wray. She is such a beautiful girl, so smart and on-the-ball. She also comes from a wonderful family. She was a Beehive when we moved here and it's hard for me to believe that she'll be graduating this year!

Kit: Bella Gypsy - "Better Left Unsaid" @ Elemental Scraps (Available 10-26)
Template: ChrissyW - Coming soon in the Elemental Scraps November Mega



Kit: Bella Gypsy - "Silence I Can't Ignore" - @ Elemental Scraps (available 10/26)
Template: Bella Gypsy - "Sketchology: Passive Agressive" - @ Elemental Scraps (Available 10/26)





Kit: By Bella Gypsy "Falling For Him" @ Elemental Scraps
Template: Freebie from ChrissyW (if you are a newsletter subscriber and will be available to purchase @ Elemental Scraps 10/26)



Kit: by Libby Weifenbach - "Can You See Me Now?" @ Sweet Shoppe
Template: An older one (no longer for sale) by Janet Phillips






Kit: by Bella Gypsy & Connie Prince - "Say Cheese" @ Elemental Scraps
Template: by ChrissyW "Sample Pack #11" @ Elemental Scraps