Shutterfly Christmas Cards

This year I used Shutterfly for our Christmas cards. I was VERY happy with the deals they had on their site and how easy it was to make adorable Christmas cards. They even have a special offer for bloggers where you can post a blog about their site and cards and get 50 free cards. Guess what this post is all about? :)

I chose to do Christmas cards here but anyone can do holiday cards here or here

Got all that? Good!

Seriously though I loved how our cards turned out this year and there are always coupon codes online for Shutterfly.

I also use Shutterfly for photobooks as Christmas gifts (it's a yearly tradition now). Family members, please pretend to be surprised. ;)

Our family should have received their Christmas cards already but I don't want to post pics of them yet and ruin the surprise (just in case). They are filled with lots of A&E so you know they are cute. :)

Friend & Fun

A couple weeks ago a friend of A&E's from MDO spent the day with us while his mom had to run his brother to a doc appt. It was quite interesting to spend the day with three 3-year-olds. They had fun but I am thankful for "just twins". :)

Dress up was a huge hit



Playing ring around the rosie



Picnic lunch


Quiet time (which did NOT result in naps lol)

Our Thanksgiving

We had a good Thanksgiving despite really missing Andy. We watched the parade (well what they showed of the parade minus commercials, interviews, and shameless plugs). We baked cookies with Pilgrim Andy. We colored turkey place mats with Kylie and Sierra for dinner. Then we all napped to prepare for the feast. It was a pretty lazy morning and we stayed in our pjs until time for dinner.

Taira invited us over for dinner so we made the long trek across the street in the rain. ;) Thank goodness for rain boots and umbrellas. Our weather was CRAZY yesterday!

Coloring the place mats for dinner





Baking cookies with daddy




Yummy turkey cookies




Dinner with the Navarros


Playing pin the hat on the turkey

Happy Thanksgiving

from our family to yours!


From our family to yours!


p.s. That is a pilgrim hat on Andy. :-D

Dress Up

A&E are very into dressing up now. We got a great deal on some fun costumes on clearance after Halloween. You never know when you'll see Woody, Buzz, Darth Vader, Optimus Prime or even a dinosaur walking around our house!

Not feeling the love

A&E talk about daddy being in Iraq for work and we talk about how some mommies go and some daddies go to Iraq but I assure them that I won't be going to Iraq. So when we were talking to Andy, Avery suggested I could go to Iraq and daddy could come home for a little while. Umm thanks kid. She thought about it and said that would make mommy sad so maybe she and Evan could go to Iraq for a little while. Then she asked for the keys and said she was leaving.

At school today, they talked today about what they are thankful for and each listed one thing. Evan said he is thankful for his daddy. So sweet! He was really missing Andy today and had him on his mind. Avery said she is thankful for her cat..... We don't have a cat. lol I realized later that she means the stuffed cat that she sleeps with at night.

Totally not feeling the love around here....

It's getting close to Turkey Day

This is what A&E tell me every day now. I don't think they quite "get" Thanksgiving but we are talking about it and did a few things already to celebrate.

We made a handprint turkey card for family.


It's funny because they did this as their art activity at school today so they should have been pros!

We also made a Thanksgiving turkey for Andy that lists the things we are thankful for and he has one to send back to us to hang up. They can't wait to get the one back from daddy.

The real thing

Okay this is really how Andy spent his birthday. lol I sent him a couple packages to celebrate with goody bags and cake in a jar to share with his friends. I also sent his roommate a package of decorations so he could surprise Andy and decorate his room. I think they all enjoyed it.

The decorations





His "party"

How Andy spent his birthday...

Here is how Andy spent his 30th birthday!

First we played Don't Spill the Beans


He was a sore loser when he lost so we had to talk about how we don't pout or cry just because we lose. ;)


So we cheered him up by watching a movie and having a lollipop


Seriously though I did send him some things for a little bday celebration and he promised to email me the pics to post here. :)

If you are free, thank a veteran

We all know the saying about "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading this in English, thank a Veteran" Since both adults in our household cover that, you are welcome. ;)

Seriously though I hope you take some time today to thank someone that is fighting for your freedom and making sacrifices for you every single day. I just happen to live in the middle of that life right now so Veteran's Day is especially close to my heart this year.

I found this fantastic poem online!

The Soldier: - By Charles M. Province
It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
If you can read this message thank a teacher,
If you are reading it in English of your own free will THANK A SOLDIER!
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.
To all the brave men and women who have dedicated or given their lives
to protecting this country and it's freedoms:
Thank you.

And in case you needed a history lesson check out this site

"Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good."


Thanks to all the men and women who are out fighting for our country or who have served in the past.

Thank you Andy for all that you do.












Normally I would insert a sappy youtube video here but I just couldn't sit through them this year. Too heartbreaking. You'll have to supply your own. ;)

A&E's Message to Daddy

30 Reasons

For you that don't know Andy is turning 30 (it is Nov 10 in Iraq already). Since he is finally 30 we are trying to make his birthday special even though he is "so far away" (as A&E would say). I am having a great time pointing out that he is now 30! He has been giving me such a hard time about it since I had my birthday back in April.

Here are the top 30 reasons we love him. Good thing 30 is a nice even number that we could split up easily. :)

Evan's
1. He plays army guys with me.
2. He plays games with me.
3. He gives me hugs.
4. He gives me kisses.
5. He plays basketball with me.
6. He spins me around.
7. He watches tv with me.
8. He plays on the computer with me.
9. He plays hide and seek with me.
10. He hugs mommy.

Avery's
1. He gives me kisses.
2. He plays with me.
3. He swings me on the swing set.
4. He spins me around.
5. He is big and can reach anything.
6. He pushes me on the see saw.
7. He kills spiders.
8. He has big arms.
9. He has big legs.
10. He can hold me.

Traci's
1. He's hot!
2. He's brave.
3. He's strong.
4. He's smart.
5. He fills up the gas tanks.
6. He makes great pancakes.
7. He has crazy good organizational skills.
8. He is a great provider.
9. He helps with laundry.
10. He is good at pretty much anything he does (this is a love/hate thing lol).


I hope you enjoy being 30!

No you're eyes are not deceiving you, I did make sure that every 30 stood out. ;)

Oh so crafty

Once upon a time, I was kind of crafty. Not like Martha Stewart crafty but I liked to try new things. That was pushed aside when I had kids and focused all my attention on keeping 2 other humans alive and healthy. :) Seriously though I bought a sewing machine a year ago and it is still in the box. One day....

So I did pull out the crafty idea when I saw these cute art displays for kids in a store. I just couldn't bring myself to pay $25 each for them though so I went to Michael's and bought the supplies to make my own. A&E even helped me paint them.

We started out with 2 boards, clips, paint, and stickers.




This is what we ended up with!



They love hanging up new art work in their rooms!