T'was the Night Before Christmas Tradition

After putting on our Christmas pj's, we drink hot cocoa, watch Christmas Story, set out milk and cookies with a letter for Santa and take a before picture of our tree. It is now 10:15 and the girls are fast asleep. Sara will be home shortly after spending the night with her boyfriend and his family. I am sure we will be up early so I am off to wrap a few more gifts and get finished for the night. I want to wish all my friends and family a Merry Christmas!

Radio City Christmas Spectacular Show and more

My mom surprised my girls and I with tickets to go see The Rockettes and the fantastic Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall. Also to my surprise, My Aunt and 3 cousins also joined in on the fun. We decided to take the ferry over to NY and the girls we are so happy. We took a bunch of pictures just on the ferry alone. I even got a few good ones of the Intrepid Museum. After docking we took a bus directly to Radio City where we watched street dancers, ate hot pretzels and took some more great pictures. Adeline was already working in NY so she met up with us and we headed into the Music Hall. It was so beautiful! We got 3D glasses to wear in the beginning of the show... that was really cool. The show was absolutely amazing. The Rockettes have to be the most perfect dancers. The girls were so thrilled with the show especially with Santa. After the show, we went to a fifties restaurant; Stardust, and had some dinner and the waiters and waitresses took turns singing. That was a great time as well! Since it wasn't windy and just cold out we decided to walk over to Rockerfeller Center to show the girls the Christmas Tree. Absolutely beautiful. Emma and Victoria wanted to ice skate with everyone. I told them they need to learn first. lol Finally we got back on the bus to the ferry and back home to NJ. Thanks mom for a great night! Take a minute to look at the slideshow below for some fun pictures.

NYC at Christmas Time 2008

Taking a Christmas Card Picture....

isn't so easy when you have a dog that doesn't want to look at the camera and gives a little growl here and there. Needless to say the girls couldn't stop laughing. After about 40+ pictures taking I got 1 - 3 decent pictures to choose from. Check out the slide below to see some of the fun they had. tfl and Happy Holidays!

Easy Christmas Card Picture... NOT!

Happy Thanksgiving

We are heading over to my mom's apartment for the day. Mom, Dave and my Victoria have been preparing since last night. I can't wait to start the fun! I hope everyone has a happy and healthy Thanksgiving Day! No matter how you celebrate or who you are celebrating with, ENJOY!

All Wrapped Up

How cute is my "Lil' Old Man" Max?!!! All he wants to do is sleep, eat and have someone pet him. He has been overly spoiled this past week. Sara, my 16 year old, had her tonsils removed on November 3. So he spent as much time in bed as she did. When they weren't in bed, they were veggin' on the couch. He loves to be warm so Sara decided that he should be wrapped up in my blanket. tfl

Halloween Pictures

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween this year. The weather couldn't have been more perfect here in NJ. No coats!!! I hate when the kids have to hide their costumes under winter coats, kinda defeats the purpose of dressing up. We got lucky the past 2 years. The girls had so much fun and to my surprise they were all pooped out by 6:30 and in the shower by 7:00. We lit the fireplace and I made them a camp out in the living room and they were out cold by 9:30.
Here are my monsters:
Victoria is a Vamptessa and Emma is Morticia (?) from the Adam's Family.

Here is Sara as a referee and her friend at their TIGS Halloween party.

HELP! My blog is a mess! RAK to whoever fixes it

The other day I posted some pictures of me and my little ones and a picture of my cousin's dog with my dog. Well the whole right side moved so far down and I can't fix it. I even edited my post by removing 2 of the pictures and a small paragraph, but still no good. Any Blog Experts out there? Help me please. My email is daughtersare3@yahoo.com . I will give a RAK to whomever helps me fix he problem. Thanks :)

Some Assembly Required {SAR} Challenge

Each month {SAR} has a Creative Challenge. They also pick a random winner for a terrific prize. September's Challenge is to alter a lunch pail or a similar container to win a fantastic prize. Go check out their lunch pail gallery and enter before midnight Tues., Sept 30. http://alter-nativefun.blogspot.com/2008/09/lunch-munch.html

Here is my take on the challenge:



Supplies Used:
Stampin' Up 3 Punch Tin
Stampin' Up Bella Rose Designer Paper
Stampin' Up Love and Happiness Green Olive Rubons
Stampin' Up Fairy Tale Ribbon Originals
Stampin' Up On Board Blossoms & Basics Chipboard
Stampin' Up Scallop Punch
Stickles Clear

I also made 4 cards and 6 tags to start. I just have to embellish them.

Use Your Stash Blog

Corey and Kimmie host an awesome blog called Use Your Stash. It is a blog that gets you to use supplies already in your stash to make room for new goodies. They post 2 challenges a month and put up an inspiration challenge on the weekends. I so wanted to scrap this weekend's challenge but was so busy with football yesterday and cheering pictures today plus all the running around we did in general. Take time to check out their blog... you won't be disappointed! Just click on the picture below.

TIGS Teenagers and a Pizza Guy

Sara had a group of friends over to celebrate going back to school. What a great bunch they are!!! They all belong to a club called TIGS. Basically, TIGS is against drugs, alcohol and racism. Sara went away to camp with this group and kids from all over the state over the summer. They are very active in the community, with the elderly, troubled teens, and foster children. I will be doing a post this week about this wonderful club with more details. Anyways, they decided they wanted to order pizza from a local rest. While waiting for the delivery, they decided to make the "Pizza Guy" a hat and poster and cheer for him as he entered our yard. They also took pictures, sang to him and gave him a cupcake. He even got to keep the hat and poster. lol He said that they made his night since it was his last delivery for his shift. I don't think he knew what to think. It was so funny that I had to take a few pics. The kids said they did this at camp and couldn't resist doing it once more. The kids ages ranged from 15 - 18. They started arriving at our house around noon and left around 10:30pm. I think we ended up with 14 total before the night was over. They were all so good that I invited them back for a November 1st Halloween Bash.

Peachy Cheap's Deal a Day

This site is so great! Each day they have a new deal. I forget who introduced me to this site... hmmm. Anyways, Go check it out.... Maybe you'll find the deal for you!! You can also see my favorite places to visit and click on the link directly.

http://www.peachycheap.com/index.php

Designs By Vanessa Giveaway

Go check out Vanessa's fun giveaway. She has an etsy store as well. Leave a comment to be entered in her drawing!

http://www.designsbyvanessa.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-first-birdiehootie-blog-giveaway.html

Blog Candy - Who Wants Some?

Go check out this blog and leave a comment... who knows, you may just win. Secretly, I hope I am the winner. lol

http://scrappininmysparetime.blogspot.com/2008/09/little-blog-candy-anyone.html

First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school. Sara is now a junior, Victoria is in 3rd grade and Emma has finally started kindergarten. I say "finally" because she has asked me all summer, "How many more days until school starts?". Emma went for only 2 hours as a get to know the teacher day, while Sara and Victoria went until 12:20. Today is the first full day of school. I thought Emma would be a bit nervous today, but no.... she went right in with no problem. I think it bothered me more then her. I also think she is comfortable knowing that her cousin Nicolas is in her class and Victoria and Mark are also there. Mom and Aunt Buster came to see the kids yesterday before they went in. The kids love that!!! It is so sweet of them to take time for the kids - always! The worst part is that Victoria and Emma enter and exit school on total opposite sides of the building. So far I have been lucky to get a parking spot in the middle and we walked Victoria to her line then I took Emma to hers. When the weather gets cold out, I will use the drop off zone in the morning. It is so quiet in my house right now... not sure what to do about that. I will be venturing into the girls bedroom to clean and throw out a bunch of stuff while they're not home. I don't want to waste anytime. For all of you with kids, I hope your first week at school goes well.

Emma by her door - very first day of school ever!!! WooHoo Emma


Here is a picture of Sara and her Tinkerbell backpack:


Victoria and Emma outside of school:


Emma and Nicolas waiting online to go into class:

Our New Born...

Mark has been calling Sara "Our Newborn" since the day she was born, well she turned 16 in February and is quite the little lady now. Today was an exciting day for her. After getting a 94 in June on her written driver's test and completing 6 hours of driving lessons today.... She received her driver's permit!!!! We are so proud of her. She is super excited! Mark took her out this afternoon for a bit but they made each other a bit nervous since it was her first time driving our van. He took her out a few times in our 1992 Tracker which is way smaller and had no problems. I plan on taking the girls to the mall tomorrow to get the first day of school outfits since everything new they have is long sleeve and it will be too warm for them to wear on Wednesday. Sara has begged me to let her drive. Reluctantly, I said ok because we have to go on the highway but there are no lights and everyone should be in work by the time we go at 11am. I will be on top of her with my eyes not my mouth as not to make her nervous but her sisters will be with us and I have to make sure they keep quiet as well. Wish us luck... LOL

Greatest Love of All is Our Children

On Saturday, August 23, my cousin's threw a surprise birthday party for their dad. Even though the invite list was limited, it was like a mini family reunion. I have 29 cousins and most of us have 2 or more kids so you can imagine how many cousins are in total... never counted. We had a great time and the weather was perfect. My uncle was so surprised. I enjoyed playing with the kids and watching them all get together and do their fun things in their own little groups. Some played baseball, basketball, catch, tag and some of the girls helped wait on the aunts and uncles. Then it was picture time! We were actually able to get a picture of all the second cousins (above picture) and then we were able to get each family together and take their pictures. I love my family but Kids are truly the greatest love of all! (FYI - If you click on the picture, you will see a large view of it)

I have a Winner!

Do you wanna know who it is? I bet you do. This is a random winner from the motorcycle poll. First I would like to thank everyone for their opinions. The vote was 9 - 5 with Picture #1 as the favorite. I also love the way the black seat looks. The handmade seat is so sweet but the black one flows so nicely! Mark likes the handmade seat better, but since I don't ride anymore... I guess it is just my opinion and it's HIS motorcycle. kwim Victoria was kind enough to write down every ones name who left comment by Friday and the winner is......




PATTY BARTLETT you are the lucky winner! Please send me your new snailmail so I can send out your prize by the end of the week. Thanks for playing... btw - loved your vote for #3! lol

FYI - Even though Victoria wrote your name with your vote that had nothing to do with winning, she just picked Patty's name out of the hat.

Thank You COREY!!!

Corey, my sweet friend, has given me this award, or tagged me I guess, so I am doing what I need to do! First of all, I have to say thanks for visiting my blog and tagging me. Now for the rules:

*If you are tagged, you must first post the rules:
* Write 7 strange characteristics about yourself. They interest us all!
* Tag 6 other people at the end of your Post.
* Visit everyone that you have tagged and leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they have been tagged.

#1: I have 7 tattoos and have 3 more planned for dh, Mark, to do for me.
#2: I love the beach and ocean but I hate the sand.
#3: I had gastric bypass surgery to lose weight 4 years ago and have gained back at least 30 pounds - Yikes
#4: I love to scrap but am too lazy to clean and reorganize my scraproom.
#5: I had my first daughter before I was married, then got married bought a house and had 2 more daughters.
#6: I never drink coffee and have water or ice tea every morning when I wake up.
#7: I am a procrastinator when it comes to life in general... slow moving until I really want something done on my terms.

Watch out - You're gonna get tagged!

Kelli ksspecials.blogspot.com
Marti home6saidwhat.blogspot.com
Lindsay lindsays-creations.blogspot.com
Leslie lesliefarmer.blogspot.com
Marjorie marjorieinhawaii.blogspot.com
Patty bartlettx4.blogspot.com

** Don't forget to leave a comment on my blog under "motorcycle addiction" before Friday noon est. to be entered into a drawing for a RAK. Have fun and get blogging!

Motorcycle Addiction and Leave a Comment Contest

OK, My DH, Mark is so addicted to his 2006 Dyna motorcycle. My husband has put in so much of his time and effort to make this the bike he wanted. He owns a 1980 Sportster which he has played with and added his touch as a first time bike, but this Dyna is his baby or as I call it "his girlfriend". I want to know your opinion! Do you like the motorcycle with the black seat for two (which I haven't ridden yet) or do you like the motorcycle with the handmade Jack Daniels seat? This has been an issue in our lives and I personally don't wan't to ride with him on this motorcycle as it is much stronger than the 1980 Sportster and I know better now. lol This poll reflects the looks of the motorcycle. I will let you know what my opinion is in about 6 days when the poll is done. Thanks for playing! Oh by the way, if you leave a comment on my blog, I will put you in a drawing for a RAK! The poll is for my dh. He actually wants to know what you think - go figure..... Since I don't know how to do a poll yet... put your vote on my blog and I will put all your names in a hat and have Victoria pick a winner on Friday, Aug 22. Picture #1 is the black seat and Picture #2 is the handmade seat. Go for it! Thanks for your opinion!!

10 Wonderful Years of Marriage

Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary. On the 4th we will be together for 22 years. WOW time goes by so quickly. I made the first layout in May 2006. That is a picture of Mark at our wedding. The second layout is part of a mini album I did and that was our 20 year (dating) anniversary and 8 yr wedding anniv. Some people say I am nuts because I like to celebrate both, but I am proud of how long we are together. I think both dates are extremely important. We have had ups and downs like everyone does but in the end; we are together, happy and have 3 beautiful daughters to share our lives with. I knew from our first date that Mark was the one. We are soulmates. We always know what each other is thinking and sometimes finish each others sentences. He works so hard while I am home trying to find a job. Our goal this year is to sell the 3 family house Mark's family has owned for 46 yrs and purchase a house down the shore by the water. The song "You're Still the One" by Shania Twain is definitely our song. Happy Anniversary My Love. I will love you Always and Forever.... Kimmarie

Bracket Mini Album of Van Saun Park/Zoo

I made this Bracket Mini Album for Victoria and Emma. It is filled with a bunch of pictures I took at Van Saun Park and Zoo last week. I purchased this great mini album kit from http://www.damboisedesigns.etsy.com/ . I have many items from here and have not been disappointed yet. You can check out Deb's blog as well. http://sayitwithletters.blogspot.com/ . You can view the entire album at Creativity{unbound} where I feature a mini album every Tuesday. http://creativityunbound.blogspot.com/2008/07/tuesday-mini-album_30.html tfl

Van Saun Park and Zoo

Yesterday I decided that since the weather was just perfect we needed to get out and run around a bit. I surprised Emma and Victoria and took them to Van Saun Park. After getting ready, I packed us a nice lunch, drinks and snacks and off we went. They were so excited to go see all the animals. One part of the zoo is screened off and filled with budgies (parakeets). I bought each girl a feeding stick and they got to hand feed the birds. Emma was a bit nervous but not Victoria, she had 2 and 3 birds feeding at a time. Of course, I had to take a ton of pictures. After lunch we looked at the last few animals and headed over to the gift shop where they each got a pair of safari binoculars. Emma is thrilled with them especially after Victoria taught her how to use them. Next we took a ride on the train around the zoo and you can never go here without going on the beautiful Carousel. Victoria rode a dragon and Emma chose a mountain goat. I guess you can ride a regular horse anywhere. lol Outside the zoo, they have 3 parks... one for toddlers and 2 big kid play areas. After about 6 hours of fun, it was time to go home. I told the girls that I haven't enjoyed them this much in a long time. No fighting, no pushing and for me no yelling... it was heaven! Since they were so good, I told them that we can go back once a week and they were so happy.

Van Saun Park and Zoo

Altered Photo Box for Mom

I made this for the Design Team I am on at http://www.creativityunbound.blogspot.com/ where you can find all the info on this project. I usually do Mini Albums on Tuesdays but Kelli and I decided to switch. You can see more pictures below in the slideshow. tfl

Use Your Stash Challenge

I am cutting this one close. There is a challenge over at Use Your Stash and the contest end by midnight tonight. Well here it is 9:21 pm est. The contest was to use your stamps. I had two boxes I got when I bought wallets about a year ago and held onto them because I knew they would eventually come in handy, and they did. My two little ones love to keep little treasures in their room and one of the things they collect are seashells. So I came up with this brainstorm today to use these boxes. They have a magnetic closure on the side. The boxes are a shiny black paper so I tried to find my Stazon White ink but no luck. I decided to use Stampin' Up Whisper White but I only had the craft ink and 2 hours have passed since I stamped this and it is still wet. ugh! lol I lined the inside with a light blue pp that resembled water to me (not sure of the manufacturer). Next I stamped these adorable characters from Stampin' Up Fishy Friends set with SU Black Ink. On the cover and binding I used the Stampin Around Sandy Shells with the SU Whisper White Craft Ink. The final touch was to stamp cherish in SU Black Ink from SU Warm Words set on the same blue pp with SU dimensionals. If you have time, you should stop in and check out the challenges/contests that Corey and Kimmie have at: http://useyourstash.blogspot.com/ tfl

Mini Albums

What can I say? I just love 'em! I always worked on 12 x 12 layouts and felt so pressured by myself. I would stay up all hours of the night just to try and get a page done. As much as I like or dislike my layouts that was not worth it. Now I can get a complete album done in one or two days depending on my day. I was asked to be on a design team (first for me... which was very exciting!) and my job is to make a mini album each week. These little albums have so much meaning for me and I am able to get the meaning across to my kids without much journaling which I like since my printer is not working. Above is the cover of Victoria's 7th birthday acrylic album and top view. You can view all the pages at http://creativityunbound.blogspot.com/2008/07/tuesday-mini-album_08.html . This is where I share my minis each Tuesday. Angela is the owner of the blog and is a wonderful person. We have a great design team but we need to get more people to visit us. If you know anyone who is into scrapping, please forward this link to them. I have done at least 4-5 minis since being on the DT - you can look at the older posts at the bottom of the page and look for Tuesday Mini Album for my other creations. I hope you enjoy looking at my album as much as I liked creating it! Love, Kimmarie

TGIF

Good Morning! I can't believe it is Friday already! Yay, tomorrow we are going to Sandy Hook Beach.... we can't wait. The weather has been so unpredictable lately and it seems like everytime with think it is going to rain, we put off our plans then it doesn't rain. I decided to take a chance and bring the girls to the Secaucus pool on Wednesday. It actually felt a bit chilly while we were there but as you can see from the pictures, the girls had a blast! Sara's friend (my "other" daughter, Jaimie) tagged along. She is so great with my little ones. The girls made up nick names for each other.... They kept the first letter of their name and added ermie to it. So we have, Sermie, Jermie, Vermie and Ermie. They actually got me calling them by these names... LOL Yesterday, the weather was perfect so I took Victoria, Emma and Victoria's friend Gabby to the park then back home to go in our pool until dinner. Victoria and Gabby both had to leave to go to cheering practice so Emma had the neighbor, Ashley come over to swim. All in all, it was a good day. I hope you all have a great Friday. No humidity again so more outside fun in the pool today! Sara has to go to work at recreation, today is splash day.

Monday...Monday

Good Morning! Here is a picture I took on July 1 of Sara, Victoria, Emma and our newest addition, Max. I adopted Max on Sat, June 28. I got him from a shelter down South Jersey when I was visiting family. The shelter people said that he is 7 yrs or older but can't be sure because his teeth are in very poor condition. He was exactly the kind of dog I have been looking for. He doesn't shed, he is house trained and hardly ever barks. It took him the entire week to get comfortable and happy but he finally came around on Sunday. He is running alittle and playing more. He will only eat Caesar food which is completely fine with me.... I am just so happy that he is eating! I made a vet appointment for him for the 18th. He has to have some teeth removed and other dental work as he has gingivitis. He will also have to go on antibiotics. Everyone has fallen in love with our little old man. He loves to go on long walks then come back home and lay in bed with Mark, my dh. Mark trys to get him riled up a bit and finally, Max started to fight back a bit. He is so cute! Bathing him is so easy... that's Sara's job and she loves it! I think Max feels right at home here and knows that we love him. Victoria and Emma each take turns walking him and holding him in the car when we go to the pet store. Sometimes I think Max gets exhausted just by all the attention he gets around here.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. This is a picture of my 5 yr old, Emma and our newly adopted dog, Max. We had a relaxing day. Mark made a delicious bbq and Sara had some friends over. Victoria, Emma and I played a few games. When it got dark, Mark set off some fireworks and we watched the Macy's fireworks on tv in between. I just finished watching the fireworks that were going off at Giants Stadium. So nice, I could see them from my Florida room window and didn't have to on the stoop and get eaten by mosquitos. Tomorrow's plans are up in the air as it is suppose to rain on and off all weekend. We may hit the shore if it turns out nice, if not we may go to the fair at Giants Stadium with my dad. Well I am off to bed now. Sleep well....

My First Real Blog

I have been trying to find time to start my own personal blog, but there never seems to be any extra time. Well I decided now is the time even though I can be doing laundry or putting away clothes that have been in the basket for 2 days now. I can't vacuum because one of my daughters is still asleep. I guess I could dust or clean the bathroom. Nah, I will just try and figure out this blog. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share with me. I hope you can stop by often and let me know what you think. My goal is to share my personal life and my creations with family, friends and visitors.