Ornamental

I have decided to start a Morrison tradition. For a sentimental girl it's all about traditions. Growing up Christmas was a HUGE deal in our house. Our tree was no picture perfect tree found in Southern Living. Instead, it was a tree covered in icicles, colored lights, and meaningful ornaments. To this day I still remember my favorite ornament. A hot pink crocheted ball made by my great grandmother. So in honor of "that" tree, I've decided to create my own sentimental tree with my little family. Each year I'm going to get a family personalized ornament. Where better to start this years search than Etsy? After about an hour of searching I found THE ornament. It was perfect! A little bit of elegance with personality. I placed my order and waited patiently for it to arrive. I got a big surprise once I received the ornament. For some ungodly reason I put 2013, not 2012. I swear pregnancy zapped every brain cell I had, and I didn't have that many to begin with. Being that the ornament was personalized, I would be receiving no refund. I'm optimistic, I looked at the bright side- I don't have to buy an ornament next year. It would be my luck I'd get prego and be due before Christmas so I'd have to get another ornament with the new babies name. Back to the great ornament search.....after another hour of searching I found another ornament. And here is the final ornament purchase for this year.

Notice the year is correct? It only took two attempts. This ornament is much different than the first one I chose, but I love it! It's so fun and so appropriate for our little family.

Thankfulness

What am I thankful for? Many times I have to ask myself this question, just to put myself in check. As a human, we always want more. We want a bigger house, we want a better car, we want cuter clothes. But do we not have enough as it is? At what point do we reach enough? My grandmother told me a story last week of how she had to quit school in the seventh grade so she could go to work and help support her family. In seventh grade I hadn't even started my period! I wasn't even classified as a woman, I was still a child. Mentally and physically. And honestly I don't think I fully grew up mentally until I had a child of my own. I can not even begin to imagine working at thirteen/fourteen years old. That made me stop and think, "I have WAY more than I deserve."

• I have a God who accepts me and forgives me as a sinner. A God I can call on at any time, any where. A God whose love is so abundant. 
• I have a husband who loves me unconditionally. He fully accepts my crazy antics and wild outbursts. He has a sense of humor like none other and he is an wonderful amazing extraordinary father. 
• I have a happy, healthy child. A child who has completely changed my world. Definitely for the better. He has changed me from a wild child to a intraverted mommy. He is my ray of sunshine. He is a new love I have never felt. A different kind of love. I love my husband, but I loooove E. 
• I have a family I can count on and depend on. My mom and dad are my rocks. They are what I strive to become every day. The picture perfect example of what parents should be. All four of my grandparents are still alive. Who can say that? My brother and SIL live out of town, but when they come in town we pick up right where we left off. This usually includes LOTS of laughs. I have a sister who has given me some of the most amazing nieces and nephews on the face of this Earth. Those kids love E so much. I love watching them all play together. E is so mesmerized by them. Not only is my family amazing, but so is Chris's. I was blessed with wonderful in-laws. 
• I have a roof over my head. Many times I think that roof is going to burst at the seams. Another pleasant reminder that I have WAY too much stuff. 
• I have a job. A job that is flexible. A job that allows me to change people's lives. I feel like when I leave work I made a difference. I have amazing coworkers. I might not be making a butt load of money, but I am happy, as well as thankful. 

These are just a few things I am happy for. I could sit here and list all night long, but I'm afraid you would bore from it. 

Since Chris has a jacked up abnormal schedule where he is not able to be home every night and is gone for twenty-four hours, he misses many family functions. So when we actually get to spend time together as a family for the holidays, it calls for a photo op. 

Family picture time.....YAYYYY! 

Check out that solo front tooth.

SNAGGLE

That sweet little hand holds my heart.

The parents I look up to so much

The brother, SIL, and son Boomer 

Did I mention Boomer ate E's pacifier for lunch?

Cat in the Hat Invitations

I've been planning E's birthday for the last THREE months. And it's finally almost here! I (with the help of E) decided on a Cat in the Hat theme. E loves watching Cat in the Hat in the morning while he takes his bottle. And I loved thinking of all the cute things I could do with Cat in the Hat. So Cat in the Hat it is. I looked online for invitation ideals. I knew I wanted a picture of E involved and not the typical picture invitation. I also wanted a cute saying on the invitation. After numerous google searches, I finally found one. And being the cheapo frugal shopper smart girl that I am, I realized I could make them myself. Wahooooo!

Cat in the Hat Invitation

So here is my rendition of the Cat in the Hat invitation I found above. 

My list of supplies:

Red cards (5x7)

Blue chevron designed paper (found a template online)

Blue card stock

Cat in the Hats printed off the internet

Red and white gingham ribbon

Roll scrapbook tape

Scissors

First I took the red cards and cut a V in them. Then I glued the side that wasn't connected and the bottom down, making a pouch. 

Next I took the blue card stock and cut them into smaller rectangles. Then I cut a matching V like the red cards. I did the same with the chevron patterned paper. So the blue card stock should be a smaller version of the red cards, and the chevron patterned paper a smaller version of the blue card stock. They should stack as follows: red card, blue card stock, and then chevron paper.  

After I attached the three pieces together I cut all the cats out and made a little bow with the gingham ribbon. I attached the cat to the three-piece pouch with scrapbook glue. 

Next it was time to create the actual invitation. The invitation was done on the same card stock as the holder. I took a few sayings I saw off invitations online and put my own spin on them. 

Here is the wording I used: 

For the picture I had a helper (Nonnie). She took the pictures and created the three pictures in one. The 4x6 picture will fit perfectly into the 5x7 pouch. She ordered them via Walgreens and an hour later they were ready. That's my kind of service :)

Finally, I put them all together and this is the finished product. 

I felt making them myself made them super special. 

And so much love was put into them. 

Withdrawal

I am having some serious blogging withdrawals. It has been TWELVE days since my last post. Life has been crazy the last couple of weeks. Between Halloween, birthday parties, fall carnivals, Bunco, and all the  mommy in betweens this sister has been beyond busy. Did I mention our family celebrates seven birthdays in the month of November?! And E's first birthday is December 1 (which I am so not mentally, emotionally prepared for). As if attempting to schedule Bunco into this crazy schedule wasn't enough, I am the host of November's Bunco.  Being a "host" consists of letting everybody know of the date, buying the gifts, and making a meal. Needless to say, my plate spilleth over. 

The Bunco party was last Wednesday and it turned out with no hitches. Well maybe one small one, or two. I was under the impression that the tables were brought by the same people every time (this is my first year in this Bunco group), well apparently you have to make that request. One of the girls called and asked if she needed to bring her table and I told her no because I had a card table and assumed the other "table" girl would bring hers. When my co-host arrived she asked if "table" girl was bringing her table. My response, well I assume, I thought that was part of the Bunco protocol. Thirty minutes before everybody was supposed to arrive I texted table girl and low and behold she was tableless. Yikes! Thank goodness my useful mother lives about five minutes away and she has a card table. My wonderful dad hand delivered the table. Only problem, there were no chairs. Well there were chairs, they had just been left at my parent's house. Why would I need a table and no chairs? See where I get my ditziness/no common sense from? It's genetic. Good ole father traveled the few miles back and picked up the chairs. What would I do without these people I call parents?! 

Two weeks from Saturday is E's first birthday. I have many mixed feelings about this HUGE event (which I will be writing in length about later on). I have tons to do before the party, but I am so excited.  I handmade E's invitations. Partly because I am super cheap/frugal and partly because I love crafting and partly because I thought it would make them super special. I will be dedicating a whole blog entry later this week just to the invites. They're that awesome :) 

I have so many wonderful things to blog about in the weeks to come. And I am so excited about these next few weeks. Between Thanksgiving, E's birthday, and Christmas I am bursting with excitement and so much on my mind! Stay tuned........

Yoda Man

There's a Yoda on the loose! Only the cutest Yoda you have ever laid your eyes on. Me, being the crazy girl that I am, couldn't just dress my kid as some cute little, fluffy farm animal. Instead we journeyed down the Star Wars path. This was E's first Halloween and boy did he have fun. He loved seeing all of the trick-or-treaters. He even got caught sticking his little hands in the candy bucket. And surprisingly he kept his ears on the whole time. I think he "accidentally" forgot about them. We ended up ordering pizza and having the whole family over as well as some of our good friends. I think this might possibly be a new tradition. Last year was the first year and it has seemed to stick :) E loved having everybody on his home turf. 

Trick-or-treat, smell Yoda's feet.....

E and his little buddy Dylan the frog

It didn't take E long to find the candy bucket. 

E loves suckers

Officially ELEVEN months old. 

One more month away from TWELVE.

OH EM GEEEEEE!