The BEST and WORST of 2009!!

Wholly Guacamole!! WHERE did the time go??

I had a lot of fun compiling this year's BEST and WORST!! It was a very sweet and great reminder of all of our blessings! I am STUMPED that Barnum and Bailey have grown so much!! Especially compared to last year's BEST and WORST post!!

In keeping with tradition, I will begin with the WORST of what we endured this year! Mainly on the medical side but Praise the Lord it wasn't much!

Barnum's Doggy Door entry gone bad!







Barnum's Broken Collarbone!!



Bailey's Oral Surgery! (If you think your child has teeth problems...CONTACT ME!! My babies start going to the dentist the second I see their teeth under the surface! Upon discovering Barnum's difficulties, I lost LOTS and LOTS of sleep and shed MANY, MANY tears. I was confiding to my sister in law who replied, "If you are going to get this upset over some baby teeth, you have a LONG 18 years ahead of you." She was SOOOOO right!! Seriously, I've been there...email me!!

Bailey's SECOND surgery!! PE Tube placement. Clearly, he enjoys the effects of anesthesia.

Barnum's Adenoid & Tonsillectomy which involved complications and a 3 night, 4 day hospital stay!! SOOOO NOT FUN! However, he is now doing VERY well! His moderate hearing loss and sleep apnea are MARKEDLY improved!! NO REGRETS!!

Poor little Boo was on constant O2!

Lastly, Bailey losing the fight with a cupcake in the back seat!

Now entering the BEST of 2009! We had an incredible year!

A Buzz and Woody for EVERYONE! (Currently, however, One Buzz has had a wing amputated, the other is missing all of his stickers and an arm, one Woody is a bilateral foot amputee and hand amputee and the other is missing his Sheriff's badge. The Strong Man constantly assures Barnum and Bailey that these toys can still live a full life.)

Our 1st garden! It was a GARDEN OF PLENTY too!! We are looking forward to next year's!!

Mommy and Barnum's last minute SUPER, SURPRISE TRIP to SIX FLAGS in DALLAS!! We got to have an A-W-E-S-O-M-E time with our cousins!

Summer fun in the fountains!

A FIRST, second, third and so on and so forth Trip to THE MOVIES!! Taking your munchkin to the movies is the MOSTESS FUN EVER!!! It is seriously one of my favorite things!!

Bailey being CAPTAIN of the SHIP!

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND in ME!!

Fun at the Museum!! Where are you Children's Museum?? We MISS YOU!!

Welcoming the UNBELIEVABLE blessing of Family to town!! We gained another Aunt and Uncle, three cousins and GRANDPARENTS!!

Reeling 'em in!! I kid you not, we went through FOUR fishing poles. Papa, we need new sturdy fishing poles!! And YOU and GRAMMY to come fish with us!!

The Summer of Gobbles. (Barnum's words, not mine!)

The Bearded Lady was the lucky recipient of a last minute ticket to U2!! It totally ROCKED!! And I mean ROCKED!!! From this point forth, I will never miss them when they come to town!!

A New Church for Mother's Day Out!! It is going great and we are SUPER Thankful for our LOVING teachers!!

Horseback riding lessons on Lilly!!

Free junk food at Fall Festivals!

Turning FOUR! Where did my baby go??

SANTA!!

Turning TWO! Seriously!! Where did my BABY GO???

Loving Powdered Donuts when you turn TWO!!

Lastly, these two gentlemen, The Strong Man and I would like to wish you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2010, We're Ready for you!!

BTW, how will we be abbreviating 2010? 10? 010? Get back to me on that!!

A How to guide for Christmas Cookies

A How to Guide for Christmas Cookies (with a 4 year old and a 10 days away from being a two year old!)

1. STRIP 'em down to their skivvies!
2. Provide Already baked, Pillsbury Ready Bake Sugar Cookies; Pillsbury Easy Frost; and sprinkles and candies of their choice!
3. Let 'em go!

Here is Bailey enjoying the process. Actually, I think he is screaming for more icing on his fingers!!

Bailey's Masterpieces:

Barnum is cheesing it up for the camera while showing off his edible art.

A close-up of Barnum's masterpieces:

The Aftermath:

Whatever you do, let your littles decorate AND EAT (until they make themselves sick!) Christmas Cookies EVERY YEAR!!

Dinner Outta da Box

TYOHC is almost over and I promise to reveal pics of all that I made. Not because it is awe-inspiring or jaw dropping but so you can see what I have been doing for the past 3 weeks!!

We will be having "Christmas Eve & Christmas" with The Strong Man's family on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. After that....a total reveal!!

Meanwhile, our circus has been quite busy! Travels, A White and FREEZING COLD Christmas, Family, a Birthday Party!! (My Bailey has turned 2!) and more Travels. The only meal we could return home to was a box of Annie's Macaroni and Cheese!

Barnum was over the moon that he was allowed to be Chef while Mommy was downgraded to Sioux Chef.

Just look at him go!!

Does it speak to his culinary skills or my lazy skills that the poor lad can fix himself a box of Macaroni and Cheese?

Is there a New Year's Resolution to be had?

Accordion Box and Herb Gardens

THANK YOU Organized Chaos!!


This has been THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER and I have only gotten ONE gift!!

This AWESOME Accordion Gift Purse and stunning Rosemary Christmas tree!! How clever is The CEO? VERY!! She filled the gift purse with ROSEMARY RECIPES!!

(This photo courtesy of FTD.com)

This gift was wonderfully creative and made me SO happy I had to share the LOVE!! Organized Chaos linked to TWO great tutorials to make these Accordion Gift Purses happen. Stampin Inspirations and Wendy Smedley's Blog.

Here is my version of the Accordion Gift Purse. I used my very favorite "GRACE" paper from Close to My Heart.

Notice how mine looks more like a box?? That is because I cannot read directions and missed the steps for the purse handle. Thankfully, it could still do the job for which it was intended.

I was BEYOND excited to share the love of a Rosemary tree and recipe holder. I made my two accordion gift holders and then loaded up Barnum and Bailey to hit the local greenhouse, Plants for All Seasons. The GO TO Greenhouse in our neck of the woods!!

We strolled in, asked where we could find the Rosemary Christmas Trees and headed that way. They had a gorgeous line up of all sizes!! Unfortunately, they started at $30 and I only had $10!! Ten Smackareenos for TWO Rosemary Christmas trees. My Christmas Cheer was sucked right out of me!! I CAN'T spend $60! This is TYOHC!! (The Year of Handmade Christmas)

The sales lady was extremely understanding and helpful. She whipped up these two herb gardens ("with a hearty, winter flowering plant!" :) I got the biggest chuckle out of her saying that!!) in two seconds and I ended up spending $10! ( I had the clay pots and potting soil at home)

I used the cricut to bust out some mini plant markers and then hit my two favorite cooking sites Food Network and The Pioneer Woman Cooks for Rosemary, Basil, and Thyme recipes. If you are interested in the 3 x 5 recipe cards I placed in the holder please just shoot me an email. I'll be happy to pass those along. It will save you a good TWO HOURS!!!

Now imagine big red bows tied around the clay pots!!

I didn't take a picture of the finished products!! SORRY!

Although my dreams of sharing the love of a Rosemary Christmas tree came to a screeching halt, I was still pleased with the Teacher gifts and pleased to share an economical gift idea!

Once again...THANK YOU ORGANIZED CHAOS, STAMPIN INSPIRATIONS and WENDY SMEDLEY!! Please go and check these ladies out!

Photo Tile Coasters

2009, the year of "Handmade Christmas." I am sure those receiving gifts from me are thrilled by this announcement! HA HA! Just because it is the year of "Handmade Christmas" doesn't mean it is the year of LAME-O Christmas.

Because I highly suspect not to find Barnum and Bailey's Great-Grandparent's cruising this blog, I feel comfortable in posting their gift all over it. Not that Great-Grandparent's CAN'T cruise the web. These particular folks just don't. However, that doesn't stop their Great-Aunt Mary! I know you're out there!! :) (83 years old in case you were wondering!!)

I got the idea for these photo coasters from The Graphics Fairy's awesome tutorial! She is an uber talented and uber generous blogger!! Please go and check out her sites!! The Graphics Fairy and The Background Fairy!

I am going to show you a summary of the process but PLEASE let her tell you how to do it!! She does a great job!!

I designed (OK!! The Strong Man) designed our pictures in Microsoft Publisher. Then they were printed on a LASER (MUST BE LASER) printer. Next, I gave them 3 coats of OMNI-GEL Transfer and let those dry. They were cut to scale and here they are soaking in water.



Unfortunately, I used SUPER DUPER THICK HIGH GRADE paper and was forced into a million SERIES of soaking and rolling! After a month, I ended up with these:

The Omni-Gel Transfer BLOWS MY MIND!! It is such amazing stuff!! I ended up with perfectly transferred images!! Finally, I just lined up all of my coasters, sponge brushed a little Omini-Gel onto the coaster and the back of the image and glued them down!!

This one is still a little wet but you can get the idea!

Love it or Lame??