Swine Flu...

Zoey has the Swine Flu! Yep, that's right, she has the Swine Flu AND an ear infection (and the both tubes are still in place, I thought they weren't supposed to get ear infections while they had tubes?) Anyways, this explains why she was so grumpy and didn't sleep well while we were in Tulsa over Christmas. I'm still trying to figure out when and how she got sick but all I know right now is that she is sick! This is really putting a damper in my schedule this week and I was really hoping to get around to blogging some but I think this is all your going to get until our Internet is installed at our new apartment sometime next week. Yep, we're moving this week! Once the Internet is back up I'll tell you all about our amazing White Christmas and all the fun we've had the last few weeks. Until then,... I hope everyone stays Healthy and Happy and enjoys the New Year.

Day 11, 12, 13, and 14

I guess I didn't do as good this last week as I did the first week posting every day. Oh well, at lease I'm getting it done! Let's see...

Day 11 (Friday)
I had my work Christmas Party. It was at a restaurant called La Duni's. It was really yummy and a nice evening. I do have to say my favorite part though was the fact that my husband was able to go into work early that day and was able to join me at the party. It was also nice because my friend, who watched Zoey for us, kept her over night so we didn't have to worry about picking her up and had a very nice, quiet night!

Day 12 (Saturday)
This was a very busy day! It started with me waking up early and driving half way to Houston to meet my sister on the side of the road to pick up Nativity costumes for my Ward Christmas party this weekend. It was a nice trip because I didn't take Zoey with me! Amy and I met at Woody's in Centerville and got to spend a little time together before we had to head back home. She also brought some Christmas gifts from the family. I got to open her gift to me and it was amazing! She made me her very own 'Amy's What Not to Wear' book! I don't dress that well and we always loved watching the show together. It is so totally cute! I had a bunch of errands to run and went visiting teaching in the evening.

Day 13 (Sunday)
This was a very nice, relaxing day! The only thing on my to do list was make 4 dozen cookies for my cookie exchange at work the next day. My amazing and wonderful husband offer and actually made the cookies for me! It was amazing! I actually got in a nap and was able to go to bed at a decent hour while he stayed up and made 4 dozen cookies for me! They were very yummy too!!!

Day 14 (Today, Monday)
Today was the beginning of my extra crazy days at work but I survived!!! The fun part of work was we had a cookie exchange. Everyone loved it who participated! I came home with a ton of cookies and they were all so yummy! After work I went to the outlets and did some shopping I needed to. While I was at Lane Bryant to get me some jeans (my only pair got a hole in them) I was in the dressing room and my zipper pully thing fell off my pants, then BOTH of the buttons on my pants popped off!!! I knew my pants were getting worn but I had no idea it was that bad! Luckily I had found some pants that I was going to buy and the ladies were nice enough to let me wear them out of the store. I was SO embarrassed, but I got some new cute jeans now!! So, Zoey is in bed, I'm vegging on the couch and I'm about to crack open the cookies I brought home and eat them all!!!

Oh, we kept up with the books each day and Zoey is getting really good at unwrapping them. Tonight she opened Elmo's 12 days of Christmas and it reminded me of a song that I discovered this year that I like. Below is a youtube clip of 'The 12 days of Christmas' by a group called Straight No Chaser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

Ok, so I can't figure out how to upload the video, maybe I'll have Clay do it for me when he has a chance. But click on the link to see the video.

Until next time, Enjoy -

Day 8, 9, 10

Let's see, it's much harder to remember what I've done over the last few days. I should be better about keeping track of this each day. So, what have I done the last few days... Day 8, Tuesday, I know I worked! Beth and I went to dinner and had some nice 'mommy time' without any children. It was a really nice evening! Wednesday, after work I sat around the house and worked on a few more Christmas Gifts I had to make. Tonight was really fun! My friend Danielle had a birthday party for her son Evan who turned 4. It was at Pump it Up and we had a blast!

I can't believe how grown up and independent Zoey is becoming. After I went up and down the slide with her like, a million times, I was brave enough to let her try it by herself (I think I was more scared then she was!) She did really well at climbing and loved to slide down.
It was a pretty high slide but it didn't phase her!
After we spent 1 1/2 hours playing we went to the party room for pizza and cake. Normally I cut up her pizza for her but she didn't even give me a chance. She jumped right in and ate it just like all the other big kids around. She did spill her drink though, guess we need to practice some more with big kid cups! She loved the pizza and the cake was really yummy!
Here's a video of her on the slide. I can't even count how many times she went up and down!


I'm really happy with how well Zoey did at the party seeing how the party started when I usually put her to bed! She was up 2 hours past her bedtime and the only time she threw fits was when we changed rooms or activities.

Well, work has been crazy this week and I have tons going on the next few days so I think I'm going to get some things done and then call it an evening and get some sleep. Enjoy -

Thank You!!!

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to my friends that helped and voted for my friends daughter. She didn't win but because she was in such close place for second the photographer has decided to give them a print as well. I know I promised some of my amazing cards to those who helped so if you voted (and commented on my original post) then e-mail me at missyscraps at hotmail.com with your address so I can get your cards sent to you this week.

Day 5, 6 and 7

I'm never as good at blogging on the weekend because my schedule gets all turned upside down.

Zoey got a few more cute Christmas books we enjoyed reading the last few days. Saturday I ran a bunch of errands and we spent the evening at my friend Danielle's house. We go once a month and hang out and play games with her and her husband, David. We really enjoy going over there and the kids love playing together.

Sunday we went and spent the evening at Jay and Jenn's in Allen. Dallas turned 12 and was ordained to the Priesthood. Clay's parents and sister from Tulsa came in town for this event and we all had a wonderful dinner and birthday celebration.

Today, I missed work and slept almost all day. I haven't been feeling well for the last week or so and I just couldn't get out of bed this morning. I slept almost all day and now I have millions of things I should get done but I think I'm just going to go to bed early. I'm feeling a little better but I know I have tons to do and lots coming up so I think I just need one more good night of sleep so I can survive the next few weeks.

Hopefully I'll have a better post for you tomorrow. Enjoy -

Day 4

Today was a much better day then yesterday. I felt like I accomplished a lot at work and Zoey and I had a really nice evening. For my advent activity we went to the Nativity exhibits at The Colony bldg and the Carrollton bldg. When I was growing up my Family was in charge of the Nativity Exhibit down in Katy and so I really appreciate all the time and work that goes into putting the display together. We went to The Colony bldg and they had a nice display and they has a children's room that I really liked. I dressed Zoey up as good as I can and snapped a few pictures.

She started crawling on the floor. I guess she decided she wanted to be one of the stable animals!
They also had a little craft for the kids. It was a manger ornament. Of course, with Zoey, ours didn't turn out exactly right but it was fun because she loves to color.
Like my mom, I collect Nativities (I think I'm somewhere around 40 or so). This is like a Nativity I would love to own one day. It looks much brighter in this picture but the clothes are like real paper/cloth that are stiffened. I'm not sure how to really describe it but I really like them and want one like this one day.
I saw this and absolutely fell in love with it, "Are you part of the Inn crowd, or are you part of the Stable few." I'm so going to use that quote on something one day!
For Zoey's book for the night she unwrapped another Nativity one (as you can see, I really like anything Nativity). I got this one at Mardel's ( a Christian book store/Homeschool/Teacher supply store). It's got a pocket on the front that has little Nativity pieces that you can put on each page where they have a felt section. She really liked the book and played with it for quite awhile.
I'm also really excited because I'm going to put this book in my Sunday bag to keep her occupied during Sacrament.
Well, I'm going to work on some Christmas gifts tonight and go to bed early. Enjoy -

Day 3

First off, I just realized that my last post was my 100th post! Cool hu!

Well, today for Zoey's book she wasn't a very willing participant. I had to work a little late to get caught up at work and she didn't take a nap at the babysitters so by the time we got home she wasn't in the mood for much. We did open a book, it was a Nativity story one. I read the first two pages before she started grabbing and throwing it! Lets just say she was put to bed early tonight!


For my advent activity I did was I was supposed to do last night. Because I had a really long day at work and then a tough time with Zoey I wasn't in the mood for anything more then sitting on the couch and do nothing. So, I watched the Forgotten Carols by Micheal McLean. If you haven't read the book, heard the music, or watched the DVD I would highly recommend it! I remember when I was younger the first time my Dad read us the story. We were going to read a chapter a night (it's kind of a lengthy story) but we all got so into the book after the first chapter we made him keep reading. I can't remember if we actually finished it all in one night but I know we defiantly didn't stop at just one chapter each night!!! The music is amazing and the story is wonderful. Tonight was actually my first time to watch the DVD and I really enjoyed it (I personally love the book more, but that's just me, I like to read when I can). Anyways, I still feel like I'm coming down with something and I hope this cold or whatever it is goes away soon, I don't have the time, energy, or money to be sick.

To see what I've done, click below:
Day 1
Day 2

Day 2

Since I don't have my advent calendar actually made and displayed I'm allowed to change the activities for each day right?!!! I started feeling a little under the weather last night and I'm still not feeling well. My plan was to watch the Forgotten Carols tonight but I don't have the energy to stay up and watch it. So I'm going to count the Christmas tags/cards I'm going to make with a friend tonight to go on some blankets the Relief Society made at our last activity. We're going to deliver them this next week.

For our book today, Zoey unwrapped one that I got at the Dollar Tree! I haven't actually read all the books I wrapped but this one turned out pretty cute. Some of the rhymes were a little bit of a stretch but we enjoyed it. Since the book was called "A Letter for Santa" I had Zoey write Santa her first letter ever! Ok, so I wrote it and had her color on it.
Look at me! Two days in a row, I'm really on a roll! Hope to see you tomorrow.

To see my previous posts, click below...
Day 1

Do It For Me!

Ok, so my friend had her daughters pictures taken by this cool photographer and she's having a contest where you vote on your favorite picture for the month. If you please go to this website (http://squaresvillestudios.squarespace.com/) and vote for JOSIE (she's the first picture). If you come back and comment that you voted then I will send a mini Christmas card collection, I'll even send them off this next Monday so you'll have them in time for Christmas! This offer stands for each of my friends who helps me out! The contest is only until the 5th so hurry on up and go check it out.

Free cards from me!!! Just let me know by commenting here that you voted!

Isn't she just adorable!

Day 1

Before I start with my Advent activity for the day I wanted to share my Christmas decorations with you. I have an entire closet full of Christmas decorations, it's the only holiday I have decorations for! I own about 40 nativities, I have enough ornaments to fill 5 trees and I have an entire large storage box full of just Christmas crafts and ideas of things I want to do, one day! This year though, this is my only decoration...

I bought this tree at Wal-Mart after Christmas a few years ago for $2.50, it's a great tree though!
This is the only Nativity I put out this year. It's perfect because Zoey loves it and has already spent all day playing with it.
My favorite part of all Christmas decorations it the lighted tree with all the other lights out. I think it's just so pretty and peaceful. I put up so few decorations this year because we're moving the week after Christmas and I really don't have the time or energy to deal with more this year. (I know I'd be putting Christmas up at that time anyways but now I'll have that time to pack other boxes instead.)

So onto our activity for the day: I didn't put out any of my nice ornaments because this is really Zoey's first year with a tree and though she did well today I'm still not sure how well it's going to turn out. I also thought it would be cute for Zoey to decorate some ornaments! I love all the foam activities you can find at the craft stores so I got these cute wreaths and Zoey had fun putting the foam stickers on a few of them (we only got 6 made)
I've also decided this year to start a tradition where Zoey gets to unwrap a new Christmas book each day leading up to Christmas. Today, of course, was out first book. She did a great job unwrapping it and she loved sitting and reading it oh, 5 times or more!
The book was about Humphrey the Camel who lost his beloved blanket. Throughout the book he does everything he can to get a new blanket and at the end he wraps baby Jesus in his new blanket. So, to make the book come alive I showed Zoey how to wrap Cookie Monster in her blanket. It was so much fun to spend the afternoon playing with Zoey. The best part was she didn't ask for Dora once while we were doing our activities!
Well, my goal is to do this every night with what I've done, we'll see how well I do! Good Night -

Yeah, I know

So, it's been too long since I've blogged. I have a ton of stuff I want to catch up on and I might still so if you see park pictures in the middle of the cold winter you'll know it's just me catching up! Anyways, instead of getting overwhelmed with all I should have done I'm just going to start now with where I'm at and be satisfied with that! I'm SOOO excited for Christmas, it's probably my favorite holiday. I have bought all the gifts I need and only have a few more that I need to finish making. I wanted to make an advent calendar for myself but I haven't gotten around to it. I do have a list of what I wanted to put in each day so I'm still going to go ahead with all my plans even if I don't have a cute way to display it on my wall. So, that's what I'm going to post about everyday this month (hopefully). This of course will be in between work and taking care of Zoey and all the other things I have going on. December will be by far the busiest month I've had in a while, work is CRAZY busy and I have tons of Holiday things going on and we're moving at the end of the month (just to a smaller unit) and I'm so totally excited! Anyways, on to my Advent activity blog... (see above)