Recently I found more motivation to get off the rest of the post-baby weight. I stumbled across my diabetes scares me post.

Most of the actual baby weight from Anna is gone now. But since I became pregnant again before all the baby weight from Caleb was gone, there’s a bit more to lose yet. Stephen and I have started using the P90X program for exercise. For the most part, I like it. We’re not that far into it though so we’ll see as we get farther.

My weight is still in the danger zone as far as PCOS and insulin resistance issues are concerned though. That’s definitely motivation to get the rest of the weight off!

We’re driving to Michigan next week, and Anna needed a warm hat. It was a perfect excuse to use my new sewing machine (which surprised me by arriving on Christmas Eve!).

We weren’t planning on going, but God provided the money for us to go in a rather unexpected way. We’re thankful, and really excited to be able to go!

New pajamas for everyone

Trying to snitch Mommy’s coffee (it was closed!)

An apron so Caleb can help in the kitchen, and a new John Deere shirt for Samuel

Looking way too grown up

1 ¶ And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 ¶ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Luke 2:1-20

I’m so excited – I’m getting a new sewing machine for Christmas! The machine I have now is a workhorse, but needs repair. A local repair shop’s prices are so high that I just decided to save for a new one instead.

(By the way, it really bothers me that so many things are disposable like that now. Why do repair costs have to rival just getting a new item?) Anyway. . .

It’s a computerized Singer with a ton of different stitches. I can just imagine all the fun things the extra stitches could be used on. :O)

It was fun to add up the money and a gift card to see if there would be enough to buy it – from Stephen, the kids, my grandma, a piano student, etc. It probably won’t arrive until early next week, but I’m getting really excited about it!

Anna’s been playing with her hands and sucking on them, but now it’s official. She really is a thumb-sucker.

We tried to get a casual Christmas picture yesterday, but it just didn’t happen. There were a lot of laughs and giggles. We didn’t get great results, but it sure was fun trying.

If you think these are funny, just imagine the video. Caleb was fascinated with the tripod. For some reason, the video is corrupted during the parts where he’s shaking the camera. Can’t imagine why that would be, though!

(Note to self – save the crackers until you’re done with pictures)

The expressions on this one make me laugh every time I see it!

We did get one good photo of Anna – probably because she’s still too little to run away!

A few months ago, we got the boys bunk beds. We decided to let Caleb try sleeping in the bottom bunk with Samuel tonight. He promptly fell out of bed. We heard the thud, then quiet, and then Caleb started crying. Sam whipped the door open and yelled, “Call for emergency! Caleb’s been hurt!” I have to admit – I laughed. Those two are a riot!

(Kit is “Be Merry” Digital kit by Cherie Mask from Two Peas in a Bucket. I didn’t use a lot of it because I didn’t want the background picture of our cookies to be hidden)

Susan asked if digital scrapping is easy. Personally, I think it is, but that may be just me.

All you need is a program you can edit the photos and backgrounds/elements with, the digital sets/backgrounds/elements/etc, and a place to have them printed. Well, and a book to put them in.

Personally, I prefer digital. It’s so much easier (and faster!) than cropping and cutting by hand. I also love that photos are easily resized. Digital is great because you can just click and drag things around, and if something doesn’t fit, then just resize it. I can do a digital layout in a half hour (or less, if I already know what digital set I’m going to use with it), and it’s much fancier than I ever was able to do with paper. It’s also nice to just click “Save” and be able to walk away from it, without leaving the dining room table an absolute mess.

The program I use is Photoshop Elements. I already had a copy on my computer, and it’s wonderful. I’m not sure I would go out and buy it just to scrap with, but that’s more because I like to keep costs down as much as possible.

There are tons of free digital sets around the internet. There’s even more that you can purchase, but the free ones have been more than sufficient for my needs. Here are my favorites:

ShabbyPrincess.com – hands-down my favorite. Free sets here, stuff for sale here.

Two Peas in a Bucket – digi kits here. Sort price low to high and all the free ones are first.

Scrap Girls

DigiScrapDepot.com

For printing, there’s a ton of places out there too. I haven’t used any of them, though Scrapbooks Please looks really reasonable. The books I mentioned in my last post I had printed at Office Depot as color copies on card stock. It suited my needs for that particular project, but for a traditional book I’d get it printed on photo paper.

So there you have it. A long answer to Susan’s simple question. :O)

Wow – it certainly wasn’t my intent to quit posting so much. I’ve been busy crafting, and it’s been fun.

Every year, our nieces and nephews get pajama bottoms from us for Christmas. Well, actually our entire immediate family gets new pajamas – we open ours on Christmas Eve and then sleep in them that night. It’s a lot of fun. It also means that I’ve had 9 sets of pajama bottoms to sew. Samuel helped me pick the fabric out this year. It’s kept me busy, to say the least.

I’ve also been doing a LOT of digital scrapbooking lately too. Last year we gave our parents a “starter” scrapbook of the past year. This year they’ll be getting more pages for their books (I can say that here because neither set of parents reads my blog, lol). I quit scrapping for a while because we don’t have a good place for me to leave a project for very long. Then I discovered digital scrapping, and I’m back at it. I can do nicer layouts in a fraction of the time I could do before, and I can save them midway through if I need to stop. It’s wonderful!

Caleb just ran over to me with his fingers on his lips to tell me to hush. Guess I’m typing too loud. Silly boy!

Jewelry orders have kept me pretty busy too, but I’m so thankful for that! The jewelry is so fun to make, and the income is a big help too. I’m working on a butterfly necklace and bracelet for a friend’s little girl right now – hopefully it turns out as cute as it is in my mind! My mom and Stephen’s mom’s bracelets both need birthstones added too.

Samuel has also been helping me make Names of Jesus garlands for Christmas gifts. I made one a couple weeks ago (the picture at the top of the post), and I love having the reminder of the real reason of Christmas hanging in my living room! There’s a tutorial to make the garland at The Homespun Heart. She also has instructions for one for Easter too.

Hopefully as projects get completed things will slow down around here, but at least it’s been enjoyable!