One Little Word for 2011

But first, to finish 2010.  More on the word later!  Happy New Year!

I {heart} Ana!

Ana White, that is.  If you haven't met Ana and browsed her awesome site, well then!  Get right over there and check it out.  I never would have thought that my cute husband and I could build our own furniture, but we've built two beds and a coffee table!  We even got to brag about it HERE.

Check it out! You won't be sorry.

I'm in!

Inspired by Amy, I think I'm going to take the 21 Days to Getting Organized Challenge on A Bowl Full of Lemons.  Who wants to join in?

I'm a pretty scattered and chaotic person by nature, so this should be interesting! Thanks for the idea, Amy.

Settling in...

You may have heard by now that we've added two new family members to the Rawlings clan:  kitties Max and Ruby.  We recently lost our sweet PJ to old age, and decided that we wanted another kitty.  Well, one fun-filled day at the animal shelter later, and we came home with two!  They are sweet, kid-friendly kitties and get along so well. 


Max (Maximus, Maxie Boy, Maximillian...)  A soft-spoken, muscle-bound, cuddle-bug.




Ruby (for the record, MY kitty...isn't she pretty? She thinks so.)

I'd love to write more, but I think I have a litter box to scoop.

As promised...

Here is our Santa photo.

Visit to See the Bass Pro Santa...Now With Less Santa!

Last night we decided to brave the crowds and take the girls to see Santa at Bass Pro in Manteca.

When we got there, we thought, "Great--no line!"  Well, there was no line because Santa was at dinner.  Ooops.  So, we headed over to Red Robin a little bit ahead of schedule, but not before grabbing a seven o'clock "Bass Pass" (think Disneyland Fast Pass, but with bass).

If you're going to wait somewhere, it might as well be a very TASTY somewhere.

Am I right???

Lots of this...

 A little of this...

A little of that...

Snuggles betwee Tic Tac Toe.

And...why, hello there Diet Coke.

You know you're in trouble when you get your bacon cheeseburger and two mintues later, wonder, "Who just ate my burger???"

"Danger's my MIDDLE name."

Finally, it was time to head over to Bass Pro and kill some time.  Red Robin was just too quick and snappy (my inhaling of my burger didn't help either).

Bass Pro...

...home of Power Bait.

Remote control monster trucks...

...and chocolate fish.

And here is the point where my camera battery died.  Yes. It died.   So no Santa photo for you...yet.  Once I get the online access code, look out! 

Spicy Molasses Cookies ...or how my ADD is getting really out of hand.

Just a while back (read: a year ago), I told a friend of ours that I was itching to try Pioneer Woman's Spicy Molasses Cookie recipe.  However, the recipe called for Cardamom.  Not having any Cardamom on hand, I skipped to the spice aisle of my friendly neighborhood Raley's.  Cardamom, it seems, costs a pretty penny! 

 I mentioned this to the friend, and she happily declared that she HAD some Cardamom already and kept it on hand for her father in-law's tea (oooh la la!).  This friend works with my husband, so the next day, she brought a bit of Cardamom to work in a little baggie.  My husband is not what you'd call a rememberer of things, so the Cardamom sat on his desk for a bit, then it lived in his truck for a while. 

 Finally, it made its way to me.  Being the fickle gal that I am (read: ADD), I had pretty much forgotten about making any spice cookies (spice cookies?  what cookies?  where?).  Also, I'd have to trek back to the store to get molasses and heavens--it was all the way over THERRRRRE.  Anyhow, one year and approximately 364 harassing "Got cookies?" emails later ( I kid...it was 363), I've managed to produce said cookies.  They're nummy.  If you like Cardamom.

Look out, we're getting handy up in here!

This summer, using wonderful plans from Knock-Off Wood, we made a daybed for the girls' playroom.  Adrian did the building and I did the painting and finishing.  We liked it so much that we decided to move it into the girls' bedroom and make another one for Rachel.

  We LOVE the fact that you can store toys and clothes underneath, and it also takes up less room, lengthwise. 

Also, the adorable wooden letters above their beds are courtesy of Kelli Ferguson at Dwelling. 

Playing with Photoshop

It's high time I started honing my photo editing skills. I have a lovely copy of Photoshop and I've yet to scratch the surface of what one can do with a photo. Trying to enhance your subject without making them look "unreal" isn't the easiest task!



Charlotte, SOOC (straight out of camera)





After running an action or two...




Another version

I've been lurking on several photo action sites, drooling over actions and before and after samples.  However, if I was just willing to devote the time to learning the ins and outs of Photoshop, I wouldn't need to buy them from someone else!  

Having said that--go check out these wonderful freebies!

 

What I ended up making on Shutterfly...

Voila!  Here's this year's Christmas card, courtesy of Shutterfly.  Fellow bloggers, if you haven't seen this deal yet, you're missing out!

We've been stuck in the house with icky ear infections and colds, but we snuck outside for a bit yesterday for a quick little photo session:

and you know we had to have some fun with Sabrina's wreath!

On my wish list this year...

...is one of these babies.

Silhouette-SD

It connects to your computer, and allows you to make countless wonderful things!  From the Silhouette site:

What Can the Silhouette Make?

The creative possibilities are endless with the Silhouette.  To view projects created by other Silhouette owners, visit the official Silhouette Flickr Group. 
 

The good news?

One of my VERY FAVORITE sites, TATERTOTS AND JELLO, is giving one of these away!  Go HERE for details.

My Christmas Wreath!

Awhile back, we gave Sabrina and Wayne Charlotte's old bed frame and mattresses so that her little Michael could have a big-guy bed.  Every the gracious recipient, Sabrina asked what she could do for us.  Knowing how crafty and talented Sabrina can be, and seeing the ribbon tree that she made for her mom last year, I knew exactly what I wanted ...a ribbon wreath! So we met up at Michaels, Sabrina helped me pick out the ribbon, and then she cranked out this beauty with her own two little (glue-burned) hands!  It's perfect!  Thanks Sabrina!

An long-overdue outing.

My best friend Jen lives in Sacramento, and try as we might, we just don't get our girls together as often as we should.  And grown-up girls only outings?  Fuggetaboutit!  They rarely happen.  Well, we managed to get our acts together last Sunday and met halfway at the Modesto Build-a Bear and BJ's brewpub for lunch. 



This sweet gal had a terrible coughing fit after inhaling some of the stuffing from the machine.  Build-a-Bear is a hazardous job!  It made me think of old cotton mills.  Give those folks some masks!

Giving our new friends a bath.

Classic Rachel pose.  Everyone's spotted owl needs some basic black heels, don't you agree?

Little Katherine just has the best smile!

I wish this wasn't blurry.  Love the looks on their faces.

We had a great time and look forward to getting together again soon!