Pile-O-Leaves....

***CAUTION: PHOTO HEAVY***

I have no idea how a simple pile of leaves can provide such enjoyment...  

but these photos of my munchkins show that it is possible.

Some things just need no explanation.

ONE. HAPPY. MAMA.

(I forgot to adjust my shutter speed on my camera, so some of them came out blurry...but I did some heavy alterations and I think it cleaned 'em up.  Gotta Love Photoshop!!!! **or piknik in my case!)

I did a Layout!!!

Below is my layout that I did for the Sketch Contest at My Creative Sketches.

Now, since I have been unable to use my computer, I have had time to scrap.

{{{ A LITTLE BIT ANYWAY }}}

Here is the sketch that Inspired me by Kim Keane:

And here is the layout that I came up with. 

I stayed very true to the actual sketch...as I usually do.

( I think if a person takes the time to create a sketch, then the layouts should reflect that.)

Here is:

"They are Sisters"

The best of friends...and the worst of enemies.

Either way... they are always there for each other.

Most everything I used is from Prima with the exception of the little frame which is Crate Paper and the little black crystals in the corners which are zva.

There are several techniques used in here...

inking, painting, stickling, hand stitching,doodling, distressing,

 and even fussy cutting.

I have other layouts to go with this one by the super talented Nic Howard...I am thinking about doing a  wall collage to go in their bedroom :)  I don't think I ever showed these or thanked Nic for them, so I want to do that now...

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL WORK WITH MY DAUGHTERS!!!!!

Here are the ones by Nic:

***************************************************************

I love my layout and want to thank Kim and the team over at

 My Creative Scrapbook for the inspiration!!!

Thanks for stopping by and visiting me today!  

Have a great Day!!!

Merry Christmas!

To all of you from the Willis Home!

We had a very RAINY Christmas week, so I got very few photos that are "share quality".

I did get a few though...so here ya go...

This is Skye and Dayne wearing the critter hats that I crocheted for them. Dayne's is a reindeer and Skye's is a puppy.  I made these for the kids as one of their presents, but I gave them to them early to wear to all of our family gatherings.  Let me just tell you...These little hats were the talk of the town!  LOL.  EVERYONE wanted to see them and oooed and awed over them.  

Here are all 5 of them getting ready to open

 the family gift that Homer left for us. 

Homer is our Elf that stayed with us this holiday season. 

He left Christmas Eve night and left a couple of very sad kids...but made up for that with a farewell gift...

He left us a Snack Pack for a Family Game night!!!

LOVE THAT ELF!!!  

There were 7 giant chocolate bars, 7 packs of Cracker Jacks, a full bag of peppermint kisses (..MY FAVORITE!!!!) two 6 packs of St. Arnolds root beers and a $50 Playstation network gift card.

Oh...and 2 beers for Joe. :) 

They all got excited about this gift from the coolest elf EVAH! (wink wink)

Here they are all getting ready to open a gift from my friend Sheila.

She made them all their own fleece blanket and gave them all a shirt.

>>>The ugly bag that Aubrie's blanket is in is my fault!

I put the packages under my tree too early and Miss LuLu tore into her gift!!! AGH!  

SO, I quickly put it into that bag before anyone noticed and all was well :)

Aubrie didn't much care about the ugly bag though...she just wanted what was on the INSIDE.

She LOVES her Peace Sign Scarf and Peace Tie Blanket from Mrs. Sheila!

She is my Little Hippie!!!!

Here is Christmas Morning breakfast.  The kids all wanted pancakes and bacon...so they got it!

I also tossed in some Whipped Cream, Blueberries and Strawberries for extra yumminess!

Here they are getting ready to sit down for our Christmas Dinner.

You see Aubrie is wearing her hat?  Well, as cute as it is, I made her take it off because I am a mean mommy and require proper table manners...even on Christmas Day! 

Now, there are other highlights of our Christmas...but I will save those for their own post. 

How about a little teaser to think about...

two words...

NERF WARS!!!!!

Head on over to the Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog and Check out my post today!

Love that Shirt!!!

I did this layout of Skye using Momenta products, a little misting, stitching, and painting...

THe little pocket above the pic holds my journaling about the significance of THAT SHIRT! LOL  She wears it every time it is clean...straight from the dryer!  She is a nutty little munchkin!

New Challenge is up~~~~!!

Head on over to the Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog and check out the latest challenge! 

it is going to be super fun and EASY for all to participate! 

Oh...and check out all the gorgeousness that the DT has created!  

It's Blog Hopping Time!

  Welcome to the last RRR Blog Hop of 2011!

If you arrived here from  Heidi's beautiful blog, then you are on the right track!

If not, then head on over to the Really Reasonable Blog

and start from the beginning.

This month, Bonnie sent us a BEAUTIFUL assortment of ribbons to create with.

This pack...the "Winter Whites" as she so appropriately named it, is so stunning that it took my breath away the moment I saw it!

It was so beautiful...I almost wanted to put it up on the shelf and just gaze in awe! LOL...but I couldn't resist the temptation to create something beautiful!

I decided to create my monthly bow with the wintery whites and add a touch of blues.  

The blues added just enough of a splash of color to make it interesting, but not too much that it took away from the wintery effect.  

Don't you just LOVE that peacock blue double ruffle ribbon!!!!

I also used some acrylic snowflakes from Imaginisce to accent it and achieve the wintery look.

I thought the winter whites were simply gorgeous, and I KNOW that you will, too!

Now it is time to head on over to Dawn's Delightful Blog to see what she has created for us today!

And Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Elf on the Shelf...

They are popping up in EVERYONE's homes!  I see them all over facebook, and people are talking about them in the stores. 

I had no idea what it was until I talked with my friend who had one for her daughter.  Once I understood the concept, 

I decided I should get one for my munchkins. 

Well, Skye reinforced that one day when she says to me..."Mama, why hasn't an elf come to our house? Everyone has an elf except us. 

 Does that mean that we are bad kids?"  

"NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!  That does not mean that at all!" I told her.  It just means we haven't found our elf yet.  He is probably hiding somewhere in the house.  Those little guys are pretty mischievous you know."   She giggled and said..."I bet he is hiding in my room.  It would be pretty hard to find him in there."  NO KIDDING IT WOULD BE HARD! 

I took that opportunity to 'pursuade' her to clean her room and maybe she will find him. (Horrible I know...but it worked!!)  

So, I took that cue and set out to find our own "Elf on The Shelf".  

Unfortunately, NO ONE in our area had one with the book!  

They are so popular that the stores can not keep them in stock this year!

OH NO!!!!!  What am I going to do now???

Well, I will tell you what I did.

I improvised!

I called my friend and asked her if I could borrow just her book so that I could read it to the kids, and I found ONE...yes...ONE plush elf that I could buy alone.

Not even kidding about the popularity of these little guys!

Well, last night was his first night with us, and the kids named him Homer.

Now, I knew Skye and Dayne would love having him, but Aubrie, Chance and Tamon surprised me with their interest!   That is all they talked about last night until bed...was their elf and the things he might do each night while they are sleeping.  Of course The older kids know...but they said it is fun anyway because it is like a game.

Chance said...instead of "Where's Waldo" it is "Where's Homer?"

They are playing along and even encouraging Skye and Dayne to "Believe".

I love that my kids are so great!

So, last night, Homer did not report back to Santa. 

He had a long trip to get here, so he rested and will report back tonight.

This morning, Chance came INTO MY ROOM at 5 am to wake me up to tell me that he found Homer.!!!!!!!  LOL.  He also said that there is a note with him.  I said..."Did you read it???"

He told me what it said, and that he liked it and that the kids would love it. "Mom..you had a good idea." 

AWWWW...seal of approval from my 13 year old! 

When the other 3 got up...they FIRST thing they did was start looking for Homer.

I sat down at the computer to check emails and this is what I found on the desktop...it was a "CLUE" left for them from Tamon. I don't quite understand it...but I thought it was sweet that he is even playing along! 

Where is Homer?

In a case

Where Christmas isn’t marry

Where else for you to find me

But in a place

That Christmas is most tharey

The camera is the only to see

Aubrie was the first to find him after about 15 minutes of searching.  I told her not to tell Skye and Dayne, but to maybe help them out with clues. 

She did and they FINALLY found him!

He was perched on one of the branches of the Christmas tree....

Homer had set up my camera on it's tripod and took a few pics of himself!  See the remote button in his hands?  That mischievous elf!  


I think we are going to have fun with Homer this year.  :)


I did get a little layout done last night, too. 
I saw the sketch on the Prima blog and COULD NOT RESIST. 
Here is the sketch for this month:

And here is my take on it:

"I Do Believe"

I stayed pretty true to the sketch.  I used a circle for the shaped background, though.  I loved the background paper that I chose and did not want to cover it completely with that larger shape.  Where it calls for 3 photos, I used one larger one that I cut into 3 sections.  Skye in one, then Santa, then Kylie. 

If you look closely, you will see the tiny bell up on top of the pic...it is there to represent the Christmas Bell.  Skye told Santa that She can still hear the bells ring! OMGoodness...to stinkin' cute, I thought!  I just had to scrap it.   Here are a few close ups:

 I added the pocket behind the picture for my journaling.

The bell and the music notes to represent the jingling.  I cut the music notes from my cricut with plain black cardstock and then covered them all with Glossy Accents.  That stuff is flippin' AWESOME!

I truly love this layout.  I think it encompasses the sheer innocence of childhood...and the fact the we ALL need to believe in something!

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Keep an eye out for more of Homer's adventures!  

Have a Fantabulous Day!

Believe in the Magic...

Do you still believe in the Magic of Christmas?

I do.  

Well, not in the same way as I did when I was a kid, of course.

But I do still believe in the magic.

I see it in the faces of the children when they see Santa for the first time, or see the magnificence of outside lights all lit up, and when they get that one special gift on Christmas morning.

Christmas is my favorite time of year for many many reasons. 

One of them is depicted right here in this photo...

This is Skye with her friend and they are both chatting it up with Santa...telling him all the things they want for Christmas. 

I loved that I caught this...The look on poor Santa's face! LOL..

These 2 girls bombarded him and he had no chance!  

They booth took over the conversation and he didn't get a word in edgewise!  

Oh...the wonderment of two 6 year old girls! LOL

I actually caught several pics...but I really think this was my favorite!

Dayne wanted to go with us, too.

I DID NOT make him...he asked if he could go. 

Tamon and Chance stayed at home with the Grinch...I mean Joe.

Aubrie and her friend Ally went too, but their pics did not turn out so good! LOL

This is the photo I got of Dayne...

He looks like he was forced to do it! LOL...

I think he was just a little be nervous and changed his mind once we actually got there. 

Y'all help me come up with a caption for this one! LOL

And here is Skye alone...

Today was my birthday, and I don't think I could have spent it better than this! 

Love the photos and the time spent together!

When we got home, it started raining like crazy, so we spent the rest of the day curled up on the couch watching Christmas movies and sipping hot chocolate.

YUM! 

Can't WAIT to scrap these photos!

Hope your weekend was fantastic!

And...since I can't send you all Christmas cards...Here is your virtual card handmade by me! LOL