24 Olive Street

Oh What Fun Daily Dairy Kit // Noel Mignon

I can't believe we're nearing the end of 2016! And despite the fact that I have many, MANY unfinished crafty projects that I've resolved to finish I'm ready to see what 2017 has in store! But before heading into the new year I wanted to share my December projects using the Oh What Fun Daily Diary Kit from Noel Mignon. This kit was full of so many adorable holiday cards and embellishments and I had a lot of fun creating my pages.

In addition to the pocket pages that I created with this kit, I also updated my Christmas recipe album I created 2 yrs ago (see more about that here). Every year I add a few new recipes and old favorites that I come across. I don't decorate every single recipe card in this album, some are just printed recipes that I slip into a pocket. My favorites get a little more attention :)

I also like to add a photo here and there like the one from Christmas Eve with Santa's cookies on our new grinch plate and Santa bottle. The photos break up the book a little bit and add a bit more interest. You can see more on the Noel Mignon blog here.

If you have a few holiday projects that need finishing there are still 2 of these kits left!

Now bring on 2017!!!

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Buddy the Elf // December // making memories

Do you ever notice that when Thanksgiving is later in the month you feel more rushed to get the Christmas stuff done?? Specifically the decorating??

I'm not totally behind. I have most of my shopping done...which also includes birthday shopping (my oldest has a birthday right after Christmas) and doing the shopping for both sets of grandparents. I do most of the shopping since shipping costs can be obscene if you don't have Amazon Prime or sites aren't offering free shipping. Although, honestly, I've done a ton of my shopping online. Plus, as my kids get older it's a little trickier to shop for them.

Of course, sometimes shopping online is a pain...like when you order a ceramic cake plate and the morons wrap the entire box in bubble wrap...except for the bottom. Oh yeah, totally broke. So I ended up going to the store anyway. Sigh...

We got to see some reindeer. Beautiful animals. No we couldn't pet them :( If you're local to Spokane they're over at Ritter's so you should go check them out! And check out this adorable fairy garden they had there...

I've been wanting to make one for a while now. They had such cute little things for it, too.

And arent't the the cutest measuring cups??? I sure hope Santa was listening when I said I really, really wanted those ;)

Haven't seen Santa yet but I'm thinking that will happen very soon...maybe this weekend. We'll also be heading up to Green Bluff this weekend to cut down our Christmas tree. Always so much fun!

We've done the decorating outside...although, I still need to string the lights from the inside bedroom windows. Maybe this weekend.

I have one small tree up. It's a small 4ft white tree that I'm making a Disney tree this year. I'll share pics when it's done. Once that went up Buddy the Elf made his appearance in our home (my thoughts on the whole elf 'thing' here). I had one very excited 3 yr old :)

She kept walking by him & talking to him (we've never told her to talk to him...totally her personality!). She came up to me at one point & said "I tell him Merry Christmas!" Oh man, the heart and imagination on that one. I just love it!

I haven't started any of my December Daily yet but I've been taking pics (the one above will go for day 4 for sure). And I've been working on the cover which is almost done.

I'm pretty happy with the progress! So I'll be sharing that very soon.

Speaking of Christmas albums, I shared my recipe organization for all of those yummy holiday recipes over on the Noel Mignon blog yesterday. Here's a few pics...

You can see more over here! I'm off to get some cleaning done in preparation for more Christmas decorating...really hoping to get that finished in the next day or 2!

scenes from Christmas

Popcorn & cranberry garland & candy cane treats (thank you Pinterest!)

One very excited 2 yr old :)

Waiting in the van while hubby & son scope out seats in church

(making a toddler sit in church an extra 45 min before Mass starts makes for a very crabby toddler...waiting the van is much better!)

Lots of snuggles on Christmas Eve

(and a little one that did not want to go to sleep!)

Lots of singing...karaoke style!

This had us cracking up!!! hehe

RC helicopters for the boys

One of my favorite gifts that I've wanted for-ever!!

My very own huge Toblerone. Thank you Santa!!!

Tucker in a rawhide-induced coma (in case you didn't know, Santa brings treats to doggies, too!)

Marshmallow guns = FUN!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday filled with joy...and maybe a few fun presents :)

Buddy the Elf // 2013

Buddy arrived at our house on December 3rd (along with an Elf on the Shelf ornament). And since then he's gotten into some fun Christmas spirit around our house :)

He doesn't really do naughty stuff like some of the elves I've seen around the web...he just likes to have a little fun (usually with treats or decorations we have around the house!)

Hey Buddy...no fair getting into my favorite candy!!

One night we left out a scarf and boots for Buddy. The next day we found him on one of our wreaths in the window...on the outside of the window!! It took a while for the kids to find him that morning! I guess he liked the new scarf :)

Buddy likes to try & decorate...but he's not very good at it!

...and sometimes he gets a bit tangled up!

Finding him on a zip line was a fun surprise for the kids one morning.

And they just couldn't figure out how he was hanging there!

One morning we found him taking a nap in the bathroom.

Needless to say that bathroom was off limits for the day per my son. Cause that would just be weird! haha

And my personal favorite this year so far...

Buddy had a snowball fight with Buzz, Woody & Jessie last night :)

Now I've seen other elves doing this & they pulled out some 'snow' (powdered sugar) and mini snowballs (mini marshmallows) but I guess Buddy knows me well enough to know that I wouldn't appreciate the mess ;)

Buddy has a few more days with us & then it's back to the North Pole!

holiday cruise

Last night we headed over to Couer d'Alene, ID to go on the "Journey to the North Pole" cruise. I had found - excuse me, my husband found! - a great deal on groupon (for 1/2 off!).

Addie has been a little sick since Sunday night but we already had reservations (you know how that goes!) and she managed to make it through alright.

It was very cold. We spent part of the ride at the top of the boat and part inside. The lights were pretty neat. The Grinch was at the dock with all of his holiday grumpiness ;)

The only bummer was that since this was the first time we did this we didn't know that when we got to the "North Pole" we were supposed to head to the front of the boat to hear Santa and his elf do their little thing & read off the names of all the kids who were on the nice list...my kids made it :)

(Got this photo of Santa as the boat was pulling away.)

You would think that some of the adults could have moved toward the back so the kids could see. I mean, that is one of the main parts of the cruise.

Despite that it was still a fun cruise filled with Christmas lights and hot chocolate :)

After we headed over to Texas Roadhouse...since, for some reason, Spokane doesn't have one??!! Still trying to figure that one out!

Their Christmas decorations cracked me up...

If we do this again next year I'm definitely going to try and do it a bit earlier in the season...when it's not quite so cold!

Today we're going to hang out at home, eat some Christmas cookies & finish up some projects...including Christmas decorations, a vanity I'm painting and my December Daily :)

decorating

I promise, Copper's not sad. That's just his normal 'forlorn' look. haha We've always said from the day we got him that he has such an old, distinguished looking face. As soon as I snapped this, I took the garland off and he got an ice cube or 2...my dogs' favorite treat :)

I've been slowly but surely getting the house decorated for Christmas. It's been a slow process this year...sometimes I find myself overwhelmed with everything that has to be done (school, housework, decorating, shopping, sports, etc).

The tree is decorated...no tree skirt or star on top yet (need to trim that top branch) but it is decorated nonetheless!

Buddy the Elf arrived the other day, along with an Elf on the Shelf ornament :) You can go here to check out my post about this whole 'elf' thing.

Our elf doesn't really get into michief but he does find himself doing some silly things...like having a tea party with Snoopy or hanging out on the front window wreath...on the outside! hehe

I've pulled out some much loved Christmas toys/decorations that Addie has had so much fun playing with :)

Addie & I enjoyed a newly cleaned basement/craft room...and so did the doggies :)

They always have to be under foot when I'm crafting. Always. I swear, they're like 2 huge puppies! haha

We've had some frigid temps the last week which has made it difficult to get some of the outside decorations done. I normally use stakes to hold some lights in the ground around the border of my flower beds but the ground is frozen so that's a no go :( Normally I like to get this stuff done before Dec 1st but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Oh, and I tripped in the garage & got a huge goose egg on my knee. The things I do to get this house decorated! haha But it's getting there!

Photo quality - bad

Photo content - awesome :)

Addie came downstairs after her bath & noticed some of the lights I had worked on. It was so adorable to hear the excitement in her voice..."Yook daddy!! Ih Soopy!!" (I bought a new Snoopy inflateable for our yard...one of her favorites and my all time favorites!)

I also did manage to whip up the 1st batch of Christmas cookies...

...but not after buying one of my favorite non-homemade Christmas cookies.

As much as I love homemade, I have to buy these at least once during the Christmas season :)

And we've made homemade hot chocolate multiple times & watched countless Christmas shows & movies. It's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

window shopping

The Christmas season...my favorite time of year :)

When we saw this Addie yelled "MEE MEE!!!!" She loves Mickey & Minnie for sure :)

It's sometimes hard to stay on budget when you see something so cute!

Willpower, willpower, willpower...

Scoping out things for a certain little 2yr old's list for Santa.

...and for myself ;)

I better see some Ghiradelli in my stocking this Christmas! haha

Olivia wants a karaoke machine for Christmas so we've been doing lots of reasearch online.

Vintage Mickey & Minnie mouse wrapping paper, bags & other goodies??!!

Yes please! I got one roll. I'm sure I'll be back for more.

I need more wrapping paper like I need a hole in the head. But it's just so cute!!

Prank gift boxes?? Too funny!!!

I really wanted to get a couple but $10 (for 2) is a lot to spend on something I'll only be able to use once...cause after the first time the 'surprise' won't be a surprise anymore!

There's not too many Christmas DVD's that we don't have. Thinking Muppet Christmas Carol might be the new one for this year.

Scoping out things I can make for myself. Shhhh...don't tell ;)

Burlap poinsettas are definitely a project I could tackle!

I love these boots. Maybe Santa could bring me these for Christmas in a size 9. He reads my blog sometimes ya know!

I just hope he uses my redcard so he saves 5% ;)

And lastly, this is how we do our shopping...

Relaxed, leg up, popcorn in hand!

Is there any other way to shop??!

2013

Another year has come and gone! 2012 was a great one for us and I'm looking forward to what the next year has in store for us.

Christmas was a lot of fun just hanging out, opening presents, playing with new toys, watching movies, eating yummy food.

my new wreath :)

new sleeping bag & Skylanders Giants from Santa

some of Addie's favorite gifts - blocks & books

And Santa never forgets the furry members of our house! It's just not Christmas morning without a destroyed dog toy or 2 :)

Lots of books & games for Christmas this year (love getting used games at Gamestop!)

Daddy had a little fun with the Justin Bieber wrapping paper :) hehe

Evidence of a great Christmas morning! We spent the rest of Christmas vacation hanging out, playing with toys & games, and heading to the mall so I could use a gift card we got for Williams Sonoma.

i {heart} Williams Sonoma.

One of the things I bought was a panini press. I've been wanting one for quite a while now. And, of course, now the kids want panini's all.the.time!

We also celebrated my oldest daughter's birthday this week. Eleven. Holy cow!

We headed out to the mall after school to spend a gift card she received for her birthday, then to Red Robin for dinner & a birthday sundae & home for cake & presents.

Red Velvet cake...a request of the birthday girl :)

So do you make New Year's resolutions?? I don't. I can't say that I ever have.

Of course, I have goals & things I'd like to get done, finish, complete. I'm a list maker & make lists throughout the year.

I do have goals for this year. Get more organized. Get my etsy shop back up and running (because it has been very neglected over the last year!), craft more, scrapbook more, get some bills paid off, work on a better garden for this year.

I would also like to blog more. And if you've stuck around reading my little blog - thank you! I have lots that I would like to share this year!

Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

It's 2 days before Christmas! I know I've been a bit MIA on the blogeroo. I know I mentioned in this post that my little one had a trip to the ER.

Well, turns out a week (and another seizure) later she actually had a UTI that was causing her fever to keep spiking. It had originally turned up negative at the ER and the lab screwed up and didn't notify her pediatrician that the results were actually positive. I hadn't checked into it because after a few days her fever started coming down and since my other 2 kids had been sick, one of them also with a fever, I assumed that she just had some kind of virus.

Then less than a week later it spiked again & her doctor looked into her lab results at the hospital. After 2 days on antibiotics she finally started feeling better.

Check out these red cheeks when her fever spiked out of nowhere in the middle of Toys R Us...

I was praying she wouldn't have a seizure in the middle of the store but I also didn't want to leave in case she had one in the truck. So I dosed her up with Tylenol & Motrin & walked around the store til she cooled off a bit.

Let me tell you, febrile seizures are scary shit. There's nothing like seeing your toddler shaking uncontrollably all while she's drooling & her eyes are rolling back in her head. It feels like it lasts an eternity. And now that she's had a few she will be more prone to them for the next few years so I need to watch her when she gets a fever & try to attack it with medicine before it spikes.

We also have an ultrasound scheduled for next week to see if her UTI was caused from reflux into her kidneys. I guess there's a small chance of that since she's so young.

Sooooo....

other than that, this is what we've been doing the last week or 2...

Having lunch with daddy. Mmmm...gyros!!!

Teacher gifts - peppermint fruit dip with an apple. They all seemed to love them!

I picked up my new glasses...turquoise of course!

Snow!!!

We also had some high winds that knocked out some of my lights. Boo :(

We've been making lots and lots of cookies, some that were sent to the grandparents :)

L-R: (click on the name for the link) Iced Soft Ginger cookies, Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter cookies, Cinnamon Toffee Pecan Oatmeal cookies, & Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. I also made some Mint Chocolate Cookies that aren't pictured...we were too busy eating them :)

Couple notes: I was trying to stick with drop cookies & cookies that would package well since I was shipping some of these out. The cinnamon toffee pecan oatmeal cookies were very good but as much as I love cinnamon it was a little overpowering. Next time I'll decrease the cinnamon chips just a bit. Same with the mint cookies, I'll decrease the peppermint extract just a bit next time. I also found some Andes mints already cut up in the baking section so we didn't have to chop a bunch for our cookies.

They were all very yummy!!

And since we sent out a bunch I'll be making more this weekend so we have plenty for ourselves and the big man in red tomorrow :)

I also want to make this layered jello. I've always wanted to make it but it looked too intimidating. But Pioneer Woman makes it look doable so I'm gonna give it a try!

I have lots more recipes pinned on my cookies & Christmas treats boards.

My oldest daughter has her own list of 'treats to bake'...

I think she's overreaching a bit this close to Christmas but we'll try!

I've been pulling out my ebelskiver pan several times this week.

Chocolate chip ebelskivers. I served them sprinkled with powdered sugar. Mmmm....

Seriously, everyone needs one of these. My step-mom got us this one year for Christmas. It's something I would have never bought myself but I love it! They're a lot easier to make than they look and super yummy! I've been using recipes out of this book. I really want to try these lemon marscapone ones. Oh man!!

Lots of elf-capades going on...

Wrapping lots of presents...and using the tubes as lightsabers!

I'm soooo behind on my December Daily. And Project Life. And there's still a bunch of decorations that didn't make it out of their boxes. But that's ok. My kids are finally all healthy for Christmas and we can spend the next few days together enjoying the season.

Merry Christmas!!!

Buddy the elf

I'm going to confess something here.

When the Elf on the Shelf came out...I thought it was weird. And if I'm being totally honest here, I still think it is. A little.

But I have given in and jumped on the elf bandwagon. Cause all of those dang pins on pinterest just looked like so much fun!!

So I thought I'd share my 2 cents worth on this whole elf thing and how we're incorporating it into our home.

First of all, let me tell you that I love Santa. I love the excitement & magic that he brings. I love watching my kids' faces light up on Christmas morning every time they realize 'he came! he really came!!' Listening to them tell me how they were sure they heard jingle bells and footsteps on the roof. I love being able to encorporate Santa and Jesus into our Christmas season. That the reason Santa visits us...to celebrate the most important birth of all time. I love this post...I agree with pretty much all of what she says.

So...to the elf. This package arrived last week from the North Pole...

Along with this letter...

You should also know that my older 2 kids are 8 & 10 so it's a bit different for us than if they were little. Our elf 'Buddy' likes to check things out at night but isn't a 'naughty' elf for the most part. Although he did steal one of my cookies on the first night :)

For us the elf is just a bit of fun for the Christmas season. Something to look forward to every morning.

But we do not believe that this little elf is 'watching us' or running back to the North Pole every night to 'report' to Santa. I know a lot of people do the elf on the shelf that way and that's great but it's a little creepy to me.

I don't like to believe in Santa that way anyway. I don't threaten my kids & tell them 'Santa's not coming if you're not good'. My kids are taught that Santa believes that all children are inherently good. And that we all make mistakes but what makes us a good person is learning from those mistakes & trying to do good.

Santa will always live in this house no matter what age my kids are. There will always be magic, giving & the true spirit of the season.