JYC Dec 30

Journal:
Cripple Creek Ice Festival, Feb.
[middle son]'s Birthday, March
[oldest son]'s Chicago Trip, April
Camping, May
fun with Grandma, June
Scout Camp, July
[middle son]'s first day of 3rd Grade, Aug.
[youngest son]'s first day, Sep.
Branson, Oct
Snow Fun, Nov.
Together, Dec.

JYC Dec 29

Journal:
a stunning view of the city from the zoo's wild lights - Dec 29, 2009

JYC Dec 28

Journal:
It's easy to indulge at Christmas, so much to do, and see, and make and buy... Some things good, some things great, some stressful, but all a part of the season. But my favorite Christmas moments involve snuggling and reading by the lighted tree, laughing and playing with the kids, quietly sipping tea and listening to soothing music in the falling snow. And really, I want that part of Christmas to last all year. I guess I need to work at that. Finding the time to indulge in the real Christmas spirit.

JYC Dec 27

Journal :
Every Christmas Eve, and on other nights in December, our bedtime stories come from the Christmas Book Basket. Favorites vary from year to year. The Polar Express always holds a special place, and this year [youngest son]'s other favorites have been 'Baby Jesus' stories.

JYC Dec 26

Journal:
It may have been a bit cold, okay a LOT cold, but the sledding was fun and the boys were fearless and fun.

JYC Dec 25 - Christmas Day

Journal - Christmas day at home - present opening, a big cheerful brunch, family together for dinner, and our three wonderful, happy boys. Merry Christmas!

JYC Dec 24 -- Merry Christmas Eve!

[Dear Santa]
Our now annual trip on the Pikes Peak Santa train is one of our favorite days of the year. This year we got to go on Christmas Eve! It was great to see you! Come by our house tonight! Love - Merrick & Family

JYC Dec 23

Journal reads:
While Santa fills the kids' stockings, Scott and I have the fun of filling each others' stockings. Finding the right goodies for fun and practical stuffers can be a challenge. Last year, a visit to the Looney Labs games website yielded good results. This year has been a bit more difficult, I've got some ideas, and of course, a stocking isn't a stocking without chocolate.

JYC Dec 22

Journal:

Tomorrow Nana and Papa arrive and the snow arrives, too! The gifts are mostly wrapped, the house is mostly clean, and we are nearly ready to dive in to the holiday. Today I snapped some pics of the boys to finish mom's gift.

JYC Dec 21

I really need to break out my Silhouette more often! I'm really happy with this!




Title:
It Wouldn't Be Christmas Without
Journal:
* the Willow Tree Nativity set (love that camel!)
*home baked goodies and sweets
*Boy scout provided fresh wreath on the door
*paper chain *special stockings
*all the photos from Christmases Gone By

JYC Dec 20

Baking with the kids is such a part of the holiday season! Cookies and candies, and especially our annual gingerbread house - I don't bake it, I buy it premade and the kids cover it with candy and sweets.

Dec 19 JYC

And another, on the topic of Christmas foods



Journal:
Once again I've decided on a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home, which once again means a lot of cooking! I've got our Christmas Eve tradition of appetizers and desserts to do, plus brunch and a big dinner. For Christmas Eve I'm planning to do Summer Sausage, Cheese and Crcakers; sausages and meatballs in the crockpot; crackers, cream cheese and smoked salmon; fruit and dip; and fried tortellini... I think. Christmas brunch is set. Scott's made a request for blueberry coffee cake, cheese grits and sausage. For dinner, we've invited the family down - but I'm still not sure who is coming. I'm making a big ham, macaroni, stuffing with andoulie, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, with Bourbon Pecan pie for dessert. I'm hungry just writing it all!

Dec 18 JYC

I am far behind in posting these! Sorry!


Journal reads:

We finally got to trim our tree today! We had to go to Youngest Son's play in the morning and wrestling practice in the afternoon but the evening saw it done.

We saved the world!!

WOOHOO!!

A friend came by this afternoon and we found ourselves breaking out a couple of boardgames.

First, we tackled some Stonehenge

If you don't know Stonehenge, there's one game board and set of pieces with many different gameplay designs created by a variety of game authors. We've only played a couple. Today, we tried Magic of Stonehenge.

It's a bluffing game, and one I didn't totally figure out the best tactics for until well into the game... OOPS, so I seriously lost. But still it was good. Plus trilithons are great in any game.

We snuck in a quick game of Kids of Catan with our 4 year old who had tired of his distractions. After the game he was ready to go back to kid stuff.

After that, we decided to tackle some Pandemic.
Now, Pandemic is by far one of the best games that I've played in a long time. HUGE FAN. (Generally a huge fan of Z-man games). And until today, we've never won! (We, because it is a co-op game).

Yes, dear readers and friends, I have many times allowed you (and the rest of the planet) to be decimated by unstoppable pandemics. OOPS. But today, WE WON! And it was a TRIUMPH.

So I 'wasted' my afternoon on board games and I have no scrapping and not much blogging to show for it, and yet it ROCKED. So, good enough.

Oh my poor neglected blog...

Sorry I've been missing, folks!

As I'm sure was the case with many of you, the holiday rush swept in and swept away my good intentions to keep things up! I will shortly be back with updates on my Christmas journal.

In the meantime, here's a fun little gift that I made for my mom:

The album is a Close to My Heart Memory Creations Showcase, the Papers are Daisy Ds, the embellies are K & Co and the Alphas are mixed but mostly K& Co.

JYC Dec 17

Today's prompt was about finding the gift, my journalling was sort of about a gift I once received.

Reads "today - December 17, 2009, then - December 24, 2001, who: Mom and Marybeth, the details: I came home from my trip to Florida a little sad that there would not be much of a Christmas at home - only to find the elves and decorated and left gifts!"

JYC Dec 16th

I don't really remember what today's post was about something about gift traditions but that's because WE GOT OUR TREE!!! Hoooray!

Reads: "Here it is, December 16th and we are finally getting into the spirit! We headed to Lowe's this afternoon to buy a Christmas tree! It's so late in the season the trees were 50% off! We got a great deal on an absolutely beautiful 7 foot Noble Fir. I put our lovely, fresh, Boy Scout wreath onto the front door and pulled out one of the decoration boxes, too! It's starting to feel Christmassy in our house! Better late than never!"

JYC Dec 15

Today's topic was about gratefulness -- I got a little sappy and non-specific but oh well....
"You know the song in the movie 'White Christmas' about counting your blessings instead of sheep? When I was a little girl, I didn't much like that song. As I've gtown older, I've found a new appreciation for it. Christmas truly is a time of blessings : the gift of friendship, the love of family, the togetherness of the cold and dark season, the hope of the coming year, and especially the true Christmas Spirit in your heart and life"

JYC Dec 14

This did not come out as focused on topic as I would have liked but there it is....

Reads "This year I promised myself I wouldn't spend fruitless hours on shopping, and really I haven't. We've done most of our shopping online. In addition to the gifts we're giving to friends and loved ones, we've made an effort to support the causes close to us. In the last year, our life has been touched by Spinal Muscular Atrophy in a friend's twins -and MDA has been high in our hearts. Also, some of our favorite local sites are facing budget issues - Rock Ledge Ranch and Cheyenne Canyon Park. Also, Catholic Charities has been getting some attention."

JYC Dec 13th

Today's prompt was to do with Christmas music (and I was in the prompt, woohoo! and yesterday, too! Double woohoo!)

Anyway, I didn't do a page about music, though I did pay it a little homage with the title of the page 'Upon a Midnight Clear"...

Reads " We set out to drive around and look at Christmas lights but the most spectacular display of the day was put on by Mother Nature - the Geminids"

Also Note- the photo isn't mine, I snagged it from Flickr.

I actually have more to say on this topic - We saw some beautiful lights as we drove around and had a lot of fun with my parents for the evening. When we finally left is was good and dark and the meteors were just starting. My oldest was awake for the first couple, but he soon joined his brothers in dreamland and I got to enjoy the long, dark drive home watching the skies. It was so cool! When I got back into town I was so disappointed with all the light-pollution that I drove East of town and came in from the other side so I could keep watching the meteor shower. It was a totally fantastic show!

JYC Dec 12th

Today's prompt was to do with Christmas past.

Reads " Dec 9th, 2005 [Middle Son] while listening to 'Santa Claus is Coming to town' points out "But you're not being good for goodness sake! You're being good for the presents!" Nothing got past that kid!"

JYC Dec 11th

We still have no tree!I don't even know when we'll get it! I'm kind of hoping to get it over the weekend and decorate Sunday. We'll see!

JYC Dec 10th

Every year we make a chain of paper. When [oldest son] was little, it was a Christmas Countdown chain, when we moved here we started to make one to reach all the way down the bannister of the stairs. Here's this year's in progress - modeled by [oldest son]. [middle son]
made most of this one!

JYC Dec 9

Hot cocoa - every snowfall the boys are clamoring for their hot chocolate. I buy it in bulk, they tinker with it adding marshmallows, cinnamon, mint, etc. I hope this winter tradition gives them a "warm" memory!

JYC December 8th

"Today is a snow day from school. The cold is bitter - the wind chill has been hovering around -15F. The kids, nothing daunted, headed out into the cold with boots, mittens and sleds. They weren't out as long as they might have been in warmer weather, but they were smiling and laughing while they were out. The cold won't stop them!"

JYC December 7th

I am so behind this year! We've put off Christmas prep while we're having the house painted and the new hardwood floors installed - they work is nearly done but we've done NO decorating! I'm behind on shopping! The baking - barely started! It's all sneaking up on me! I'm trying to remain calm but there's a lot to do! I need to:
*get out the decorations *decorate * buy a tree *decorate the tree *work on the shopping *work on the wrapping *work on the baking *invite everyone to Christmas dinner *plan Christmas dinner *shop some more *Find time for all the fun!

JYC Dec. 6th

"One year when I was little, I had the misfortune to be missing my two front teeth when the Christmas Season came around. To this day, I cringe when I hear the song "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth!" All that season, strangers thought they were clever to joke about it, and my family teased me far too often! It was a rough season! Especially since one of those teeth coming out was Jason's fault! I was so mad at him!"

Baby, it's COLD outside!!!

The last couple of days have been CRAZY cold! We're talking windchills of 10-20 degrees below zero! But that didn't stop our boys from taking advantage of their snowday from school to get outside.


It's been lots of fun! They're back at school today, even though it's not really that much warmer! More Christmas journal pages will be posted later today! Having fun!

Do you like free paper? Me, too!

check out the Urban Swank blog, they're doing a giveaway!

Some lucky winner (could it be me? could it be you?) will be receiving 50 of their lovely papers.

Ornaments

I've done a ton of Ornaments today! All kinds of fun! (some of them I started a few days ago and had to leave to dry but there was lots of working on them today!)

Dec 5th

Today's topic was Advent calendars and counting down to Christmas, I've journalled on this topic a lot the last two years... so today is a little off that topic.
"Christmas is coming quickly, and I feel left out of it! We can't decorate or really get ready until all the house work (the painting and new floors) are done! I can't wait to be... Merry"

Dec 4th

Since I journalled about Breakfast with Santa back on the 2nd, I'm skipping the 'perfect Christmas' prompt and getting a Weather topic in today :)

'Snow angels, snow balls and snow men - all a part of the Christmas spirit! As long as there's not too much snow or those freezing cold nights - like the year we drove to Kansas City in the -20oF night. Our car gave out and Uncle Larry had to come and rescue us! I got to ride the rest of the way to Grandview in his car. But Christmas and cold do go together!

Dec 3rd

Another day of Journal Your Christmas - today's topic is Christmas Cards :)

Journalling reads:
My cards are made - Ninety Six of them! I'm really pleased with the way they look, now I just need to address, stuff, fill-out and mail them! the first few have appeared in my mailbox from family and friends and I need a new way to display them.

Dec 2nd

Today was our annual Breakfast with Santa. The weather was terrible but it was worth the drive to see [middle son] and [youngest son] light up with excitement! Always Fun!

Dec 1st

Christmas is coming, with its annual bustle and rush. The world is 'Dressed in Holiday Style' and all the excitement is looming. There's no slowing the rush of day, but I can slow myself down, and give myself a gift - a gift that has become one of my favorite holiday traditions. It's time, again to 'Journal my Christmas.' I will take and make time to breathe in the Christmas scents, revel in the Christmas sounds, and capture my days in a Journal of my Christmas. -- M, 2009.

Journal Your Christmas

On December 1st, I'll be beginning my third year of
Shimelle Laine's Journal Your Christmas class.

Each year has been a journey, and I treasure those journals. Daily prompts give guidance in topics and ideas for new pages. I work in 8x8 inch albums. I do fall behind sometimes on the prompts but I have finished each class with a sense of comfort and accomplishment and a feeling of 'taking back' my Christmas.


I can't wait to start again and to share it with you.

We hosted a lovely Thanksgiving for friends this year! It was loads of fun.

I made this beautiful bird (I even brined it, first time for that!)


My dear friend brought along this adorable turkey!
But, of course, for the food, for me -- the most important was the dessert! And I made this pecan pie, and seriously, it was LOVELY. Best pecan pie I've ever had! DELISH!

After the great eating, we broke out a couple of games. We got in a game of Ca$h n Gun$, always lots of fun! And we snuck in a Z-man B-movie game, Silent but Deadly Night (which I got for Christmas last year but hadn't played til now! Nothing beat Skippy the Wonder Christmas Puppy!

As the evening wound down, we got to play some Lips and Beatles Rock Band on the 360.

It was overall a really nice holiday.

Ninety Six

That is the number of Christmas Cards I've just finished making. I still need to 'make them out', address, envelope and send them but I'm feeling pretty accomplished in getting them all made!

Got other holiday projects in the works, too!

It's Elf Yourself time again!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards