Holiday Break (not really a BreaK) ~ Renee' and Kim

With the Holidays Fast Approaching 

Renee' and I will be taking this opportunity 

to spend time with our Families, 

HUG our children a little bit more,

and Pray for all of you during this Holiday Season.

We will be posting sporadically till after the New Year but REST assure we will be coming back in the NEW YEAR with many more, 

CrafTs,

CardS,

and Funnies.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Renee' From Illinois and Kim From TeXas.

DeeP ThoughTs by KiM (Not ReaLLy DeeP)

All I have to say is I hope I am dead before an asteroid slams into earth.  Just read this article from MSNBC and they talked about these asteroids that are coming pretty close to earth.  At some point I am sure we are not going to be able to dodge one.  It is a CRaZY game of Dodge Ball and these balls will hurt.  

Thanks MSNBC for giving me a disturbing feeling today. Oh wait maybe it is because I slammed my finger in the pantry door this morning before I was really awake.  I was sure awake after THAT!!  LOL

Or could it be that my son is home sick again today but is not really sick because his fever is gone.  But because of it not being 24hrs they will not let him back in school.  I have CrAzy Boy who has been locked up in the house for two days healthy and going to drive me to the brink of insanity...But he's so cute and I love him to BITS.  :)

Ugh that asteroid that has come close to earth has begun messing with my computer mouse that keeps loosing connection while I am trying to catch up on Blogging to you all.  

At the End of the Day...Asteroids FreeK me OUT!!! ~Kim from TeXas

November Card Swap

This month we focused on all that FUN Holiday/Christmas/Winter lines of paper and stamps that come out each year.  You look at them and think "it would be great to make some cards/scrapbook with this paper or stamps"  Well that's just what we did...Take a look at our final products.

If your interested in joining our Card Swap monthly newsletter email us your email address and we will get you on the monthly letter.

NOVEMBER CARD DETAILS

THEME: Holiday, Christmas, Winter

CARD SIZE: 5 1/2 X 4 1/4 (if you choose to make a different size please include an envelope.)

COLORS: Red, White, Green, Burgundy, Blue, Silver, Brown...any holiday colors you can think of. 

STAMP: Please incorporate some stamped image/words etc.

PAPER: Must use a heavy card stock base for the card. If you are using a dark color card must put in a light color for people to write on the inside.
EMBELLISHMENTS: Get creative use all the bells and whistles you have to create some great dimension. 

DeeP ThoughTs by KiM (Not ReaLLy DeeP)

As many of you know I have curly hair (cause I have not told you a million times)...I am also not one of those women who use a whole lot of Beauty Products. Get in Get out.

I am a mom of boys, we camp, get dirty, and there is no time for me to spend hours in the bathroom getting all "gussied up."

Enter my Neighbor A who has introduced me to home Keratin Hair straightening treatment.  Yes you can have straight hair for 30 days done at home. UGH So much time spent for unknown results.  Well here we go...I will be trying this home treatment in a week or so after I get my hair done this week. You will hear all about it..I may even include pictures.

The next thing I need to try is the EYE lash thing.  These women out here have some CRaZY long eyelashes...That's what I need.  LOL

Still have not been to a food truck yet.  :( They need to drive closer to where I live.

THANK YOU to the Mystery person who for the past few years sends us these FABULOUS Brownies from Fairytale Brownies.  I still have no idea who is sending these but that person knows my new address and that I have moved to TeXas.  HUMMM??  How do I solve this mystery?

Off to Date Night Company Christmas Party with the H tonight.  Then an all day Lacrosse tournament early Saturday morning. Saturday Evening out at the Neighbors and Sunday a day to finally rest.  

My Popcorn addiction has spread to my oldest...Ugh he has left some here next to the computer...I musst Nottt eattt ittt.  Maybe if I spit on it I will not eat it..UGH.

Hope you had a wonderful Weekend...Did you do anything FUN??  Tell us about it.

At the End of the Day...I kinda like the mystery of the Brownies ~Kim from TeXas.  

Renee's X-Mas Tree Craft

Here is a fun craft that is fun to do and is pretty easy! It will liven up your Christmas decor and is all the rage in the stores right now. All you need are a few simple materials.

Materials:

Ornaments

Hot glue

Garland
A green floral cone

How to:
1. Take the tops off of the ornaments and throw away.

2. Take ornaments and push them in to the floral cone.

3. Take ornaments out and put hot glue around the outside of ornament. Insert it back into the cone and hold until the glue takes.

4. Keep putting the ornaments in and gluing as you go. I used ornaments that were all the same size.

5. When finished you will have a lot of empty spaces that need to be filled.

6. Take the garland and cut pieces big enough to glue and stick in the spaces that are left on the cone. 

7. Hold the garland in place just like the ornaments to ensure that the glue takes.

Follow these steps and this is what the end product looks like. You can vary this project in many ways by varying the ornament size or color, the garland size or color, or by changing the material you choose to put in between the ornaments. I have seen bead garland and pine used.

Peace out for now: Renee~from Illinois

~3~ ChatteR from Renee' & KiM

A Big Thank you to Grace is Overrated for letting us link up to her weekly and share our answers to her doodling journal pages.  I will be linking each page from her site so if you want to print them out and follow along click through the links.

Renee' and I will be answering these Cool Journal Doodling pages weekly.  On to Page 3. (Click "Page 3" to view the blog post from Grace is Overrated for the actual print out.)

Today's To-Dos

One thing I've already done:

Kim: Walked 4 miles

Renee: Drank two 32 oz. diet cokes, yes I'm an addict

One thing I'll get to before quitting time:

Kim: Finishing a few more blog posts

Renee: Work on another craft project I've started

One thing I'd like to get to but won't stress about if I don't:

Kim: the 50 Million things still To DO on my To Do liSt

Renee: calling and making appointments for various things

Last time I stayed out all night:

Renee: Wow! Can't even remember. Probably when I earned my first Master's degree and went out with a friend until about 4:30am. Obviously, before kids!

Kim: After College partying in the city watching the sun coming up on the lake front as I am Driving Home from the Bars.

Last time I drank Champagne:

Renee: My wedding???

Kim: Last Christmas Mimosas 

Last time I blew bubbles:

Renee: Last summer with my littlest guy

Kim: A few years ago when my kids were young

Last time I danced:

Renee: Yesterday. I love dancing. Even if it just for a minute.

Kim: When I went out with the BUNKO girls and danced.

Last time I sang:

Renee: Yesterday, Christmas carols

Kim: In the Car this morning.

1 thing I'm really good at:

Kim: Organizing people to do things.

Renee: snoring

1thing I'm not so good at"

Kim: Math

Renee: letting the stress go sometimes

1 thing I'm learning how to do:

Kim: Blog, get more readers and to get more of you to comment.  

Renee: eat better, slowly.....

Lightning Round

# of Keys on my keychain:

Renee: 3

Kim: 1

I know what each key is for: Yes or No

Renee:Yes

Kim: Yes

# of people I see if I look outside right now:

Renee: Can't see outside, I am in a place where there is no windows at the moment

Kim: NONE :(

3 Lovely things:

Kim: Well I have an issue with the word LOVELY (of course I do right??)not a word that I use to describe anything. "Gee dear that was Lovely don't you think?" YEP not happening...so mine will be things that I think are EPIC (see this post to read about why EPIC)

1. Monthly Club Kits (blog post coming soon)

2. I am going on Vacation soon

3. Our BLOG :)

Renee:
1. Babies' laughs
2. Babies' smiles
3. Wonderful scenery like something majestic looking

In 1998 I was:

Kim: living in Illinois and had not met Renee' YET...

Renee: married a year and living in Naperville

Three Unnecessary items in my purse/bag/desk:

Renee: a couple of kids' toys, a random magazine, old notes that I have not gotten the chance to throw away yet

Kim: Receipts, 50 million club cards that I don't use, coupons that keep expiring on me.

I was born before the invention of:

Kim: CD Player maybe even a tape player

Renee: a lot

If only I would be_________Right now.

Renee: in Maui, oh... that's right, Kim is going to be there soon....:)

Kim: employed

I Love____

Renee: "ditto" Kim

Kim: MY FAMILY!! and you too Renee'

Tell us your favorite answers...Renee from Illinois & ~Kim from TeXas.

A is for Annoying...Phrases & Words = Nails on a Chalk Board

Many of you know that I REALLY HATE the phrase:

I am going to be true to myself

or

Be true to your self

or 

any version of that pertaining to being true to your self or anything!!

It goes back to years and years ago when the Bachelor was first on...I think it was in its first or second season when people actually watched it because it was new.  On one of the shows someone (don't remember who exactly) said "I need to be true to myself"or some version of that.  

H and I looked at each other totally annoyed because that was the dumbest thing I have heard.  REALLY? Head Tilt. We had a long conversation about how that we did not like that saying and thought it was a DUMB thing.  

Fast forward a bit...we now start hearing it more and more on television....

Fast forward a bit more...It is now in this cool new song Too Close by Alex Clare that is totally ruined and I can not listen to because I can not sing the line "Got to be true to myself"  UGH

Now fast forward to Sunday NFL Football and the Stupid NFL football commentators just spewed out of their mouths...He has to be true to himself....BLAH BLAH BLAH.  H and I stop dead in our tracks....Did he just say that??  UGH they have infiltrated FOOTBALL!!  

I Ask is there no where this phrase will not go?  Now listen tell me how much you start hearing this and I too hope you will partake in my PAIN I receive from hearing this Phrase UttereD!!

And those of you who are my friends please do not try tormenting me in person by using this in our conversation...You may find my drink in your lap after I begin Vomiting.  LOL

Now if this is not bad enough....

My dearest older son has recently begun using this word "EPIC".  Head tilt  Really?  A few months ago he would utter it in occasional conversation...Mom if this happens it would be "EPIC." OKaY...odd choice of words but let it slide

Fast forward a few weeks ago...Epic has become the word my children utter about anything that we "Oldies" would have considered COOL....It is now EPIC.

Over the holiday weekend I kid you not I have heard EPIC on TV shows...Because H and I would point it out to each other...TV COmmerciaLs now are using the word EPIC.

AnD YES they have Infiltrated NFL FootBall once again with the NFL Make it EPIC Marketing Campaign.  

Now at this point I don't have the pain associated with the word EPIC as I do with the phrase "Be True to MYselF."  but if it continues I can't guarantee that I won't projectile vomit at the word EPIC if it becomes too over used.

What other words or Phrases do you hear in the media or people say often enough to invoke a pain in your Brain?  Please share them with me so I am not alone.  

At the End of the Day...I hope to bring you into my Phrase/Word pain every time you now hear "be true to myself" and "Epic" ~ Kim from TeXas.

Mod Podge Fall Leaves! Renee's Family Fall Craft

I don't know about you but my kids love Fall! There is something about the cooler air, the leaves changing, and the smell in the air. This fall when my kids collected all of the fun leaves that were changing I decided we would save them. I read online how to press and preserve the leaves with mod podge. Genius!

The kids, hubby, and I went for a special "leaf" hunt. The kids picked out some of the leaves they like the best. 

When we got home, we put the leaves between pages of newspaper for a couple of weeks. I did not put any books on top of the newspaper although I made sure that the leaves were laying flat and were not exposed to the light. 

When I took the leaves out of the newspaper a couple of weeks later, the leaves were dry but not brittle.

This is a picture of the leaves when I took them out of the newspaper.

 

I put the leaves on a scratch sheet of paper and poured some of  the mod podge on the paper.  My son brushed on a layer of mod podge to each side. We waited for the first side to dry before turning them over and brushing the back. 

The end result is beautiful. The mod podge seems to bring back the vibrant colors that were lost when the leaves dried out. This is a fun activity that the kids really enjoyed. I would definitely recommend trying this out next fall!

Later for now! Renee~from Illinois