and these are the things around our house:

advent calendar printed and hung over our dining table from here.
totally copied melissa’s christmas book tradition!

the kids made a gingerbread house with grampies… i am so impressed with this trader joes g house! so much detail and soooo cheap! heehee and so adorable. sigh. i love it.

elsie went to her BFF’s birthday party and saw santa! 🙂

she knew it was daddy and kept saying, daddy, yucky. 🙂 she has since recovered. 🙂 thank goodness. she also has the ‘ho ho ho’ down. so cute!
and this isn’t christmas but who could resist birthday cupcakes?

we still haven’t gotten our tree, hopefully sometime this week. christmas cards are halfway addressed…shopping isn’t nearly done..but hey, i am just proud of myself for following through on the book reading and advent calendar. 🙂

it’s his birthday.. we already had a nice morning of coffee and breakfast.. just the 2 of us and els…it’s grey and it’s raining so we are hanging out and are about to watch a movie. 🙂 going to LA later to run some errands. going to cook him a nice roasted chicken with roasted veggies. totally our kind of day. going to have pinkberry tonight.

this year has been such an adventure for us…and next year we have so many new things planned. i am so giddy to see it all unfold and he’s such a great person to share these things with. happy birthday chris! love of my life and BFF. 🙂 heehee

these pics were taken before thanksgiving. the day after we bought the beloved boots.

her speech is so stinking cute right now. starting to say so much more.. little sentences. so many new words daily. her newest is yoook! (look!) this started when she discovered christmas lights on houses… now everything out the window is yooooook! yoooooook! i wuv it. 🙂 elsie has such a great memory too! i love the things that she recalls! the other day at starbucks, a lady was in front of me in line…els stood behind her.. and the thing that was in elsie’s eye level was this lady’s jean logo. elsie went up to point at it but i stopped her 😉 she was so excited to discover this because they are the jeans i wear. i guess i never thought that all day when she’s following me.. she’s staring at that logo! ha! we started pulling our christmas stuff out yesterday.. and she is so giddy. i can’t wait to experience christmas with her this year! on sunday we lit the advent candle at church.. and on stage is the nativity scene. els was enthralled by baby jesus.. she went right up and was ready to scoop him up. 🙂

check out those yellow leaves behind her! my street is amazing at this time of year. i always say i am going to take pics but by the time i get out there all the leaves have fallen. 🙂

this month i had the pleasure of scrapping some layouts for this site.  some of the product were some that i wouldn’t normally scrap with.. and at first i was stumped.. but then once i got going, i felt like they were me after all! 🙂 

and my 2peas layouts. the theme was journaling. mine all had intentions of being pretty mushy… i don’t think i got exactly how i felt down so i will try again. that’s why journaling is not my strength. 🙂

and something i made for the layout of the day yesterday.

this month’s garden was spectacular- if i can say so. 🙂 all the gals did such a great job.. especially all the christmas goodies. they are so inspiring!! we’ve already gotten started on some projects here… i will take some pics later!

have a good monday. 🙂

so yesterday after school caleb sees me purging my current paper stash (this isn’t all of it.. this is the stuff i keep ON the desk.. my currents) i try to keep it under 10 inches 🙂 other manufacturers are under my desk (KI, AL, etc) – this pic is the after purged version. the before was scary. (scarier) ha.

anyways, he starts calling dibs on papers. and starts scrapbooking. i find an old cardboard box and give it to him and he turns it into a mailbox and starts passing notes with me for like an hour. SO SWEET. this was the last note for the day.

sigh. i love that kid!!!!!!!!!!!! he must get the letter writing from his dad. they know how to make my heart melt! that’s all i ever ask for for gifts- the written word. 🙂
SO anyways… i have this huge stash of “scraps” here.

most pieces are at least 1/2 a sheet. some sheets only have one little square or circle or strip cut out. i haaaaate to just throw this away. any takers? it’s still good stuff.. i just don’t have room. if anyone wants it for 9 bucks for flat rate shipping, i will gladly send. some manufacturers are: AC, Hambly, Fontwerks, Scenic Route, Basic Grey, Imagination Project, My Mind’s Eye and soo much more. there are even die cut sheets and letter stickers/rubons that are incomplete but still SO useable. i will pack that box full of stuff. if i get 2 takers i will split it. let me know. i just love my supplies and can’t just THROW them away. i want someone to love them for me. 🙂 and you know…it’s gotta be good stuff.. i used it at one point! ha! 🙂 i just can’t keep it all.

ETA: i split it in 3 and am waiting for one more payment. thanks for your interest! i definitely know where to put my scraps up next time! and i won’t feel so guilty throwing them away! thanks you guys! (and don’t worry.. i have so much stuff.. there will be more up before you know it)

wants to be a country girl. not as in country music. but live in the country— at least in a place that has cranberry filled lakes (did you know they were called bogs??!–hehe-thanks readers) and lush trees that change colors… maybe a few inches of snow every now and then… but miles of traffic free roads… smog free views… a place where my kids could run free in the yard and come in with muddy faces and treasures of sticks and stones. i have a love/hate relationship with the whole Hollywood thing here…the pace of it all…it’s go go go.

but i would sure miss my pinkberry and dots.

this was taken at some big oceanspray event — and elsie really wanted to wear lots of stripes that day. and apparently isn’t used to other people taking her picture besides me or dad. 🙂

this is my 333th blog post! who knew i had so much to say?!? 🙂

chris has always said that it’s toughest right after thanksgiving. that’s because the rest of december goes by in a whirl… and the new year will be here before we know it.
waking up this morning was one of the hardest things to do…one of the things that makes it so hard is that cam, my 9 year old… stands next to my bed and i could only imagine what goes through his head. 🙂 just looking at us.. waiting for us to rise… wondering why his parents are not morning people. it’s humiliating, really.

mom was here for thanksgiving. i can’t believe this photo. this was her little girl years ago!! and now they are practically the same height! oh my! it’s always so hard to say bye to mom when she leaves 😦

we attempted our christmas card photo and that wasn’t so great. 🙂 is it a surprise that the girls were the ones who cooperated??!

elsie looooves rubber boots. she always kicks off her shoes and tries them on when she sees them in stores. SHE MADE ME BUY THEM! LOL HAHAHHA 🙂 she’s also really into cowboys, horses, cowboy hats and boots. it’s going to be a cowboy christmas in the waters household.

we ended up finding an outtake to use so off to work on our cards. getting an early start this year! sorta! 🙂
hope your thanksgiving was filled with lots of goodness.

so last night at the library.. caleb (my 6 year old) checks this out. he comes home and devours it. i cannot believe that a) he picked it (so cute)   b) that in this totally crazy digital 3d world, this 1950’s book captures his heart   c) that my baby who didn’t know how to read this time a year ago now does. sigh. I HAVE SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR!!!!!!!!!!!

totally random candid pics… they are so my life…
i’m thankful for this crazy clan….

(taken on the night of cam’s birthday.. table all done up ala birthday style) love that when they get along, they GET ALONG. i’m so thankful they have each other. i was pretty much an only child growing up… and these kids will have something i never had. these ties.. cords..so many memories. i think that’s why i like the show brothers and sisters so much. despite all the craziness in that household.. (i know it’s just a tv show.. but it’s good stuff.) : ) i can’t believe i will be a sally field one day and i know all i will want are these babies coming home for visits. i will miss them.

and this little munchkin. finding her place in the family so quickly and going with the flow of crazy schedules and such. she has everyone wrapped around her finger and i couldn’t be more proud of the big kids. (this is the influence of big brothers— watching toy story on the PSP) ahhhhh. 🙂 tough life.

and my husband. who works his tail off 24/7.. who puts up with his wife’s hobby and lives with it in his bedroom..steps over all the piles of jamiekcc&e all over his house…who watches my crazy shows with me… who eats the food i give him without complaining…who would do anything for his little/big family. i’m so glad that when the munchkins are older and have moved on.. he will be there with me…to keep the sally field-ness in me in line. 🙂

happy thanksgiving everyone. 🙂

is 9 years old today. at 7am on 11.18.98 he came into our world with a head full of hair and skin so fair. this morning (as he does every birthday morning) we woke to "IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!" yelled nice and loud. we usually drag ourselves out of bed to do all the usual birthday fanfare.. but this year, ol’ mom and dad couldn’t do it.. we threw out the…"why don’t you bring your presents up here?" and much to our surprise, he squealed, ‘YEAH!!!’ and all 4 of the kids piled into our bed and dug themselves under our covers. ( i totally love that!! )
we actually celebrated yesterday with his BFF and had a great day. they watched the nightmare b4 christmas in 3d at the el capitan. then they  bowled and each of the boys got a strike! love that! he opened ONE present (what self control) and waited till today to open the rest.

hollywood is sooooo innnntteeerrresting.

i don’t think she realized this was a lollipop. 🙂

i can’t get enough of this boy’s sweetness. he takes care of business at school… looks after his little sister like crazy…is a fanatic over clean socks… is early to bed and my 725 am alarm clock…rule follower…baseball player…video game guru… memorizer of all the old testament books in the bible (he set out a goal to do this one day and did it)…embarrassed to take pictures but will amuse his parents every now and then…can draw really well…good at math…saves his money… is a homebody…he still loves to be with his family and likes to be tucked in at night. and as he just gets older and older…i hope his priorities don’t change 🙂 he’s a great boy. 🙂

the big kids had a 4day weekend so we lounged around and played clue, went to the park and had avatar marathons! lovely in our 85 degree november weather!!! but back to the grind today and els is not well. she’s only been sick maybe 5 times so it is unusual to see her lethargic, coughing, teary eyed, drippy nosed, but happy. what a trooper!

i feel like i haven’t been getting the camera out much lately. trying to do that more. she cracks me up with the things she comes up with. today it was using the boogie board as a pillow and tucking herself in under the living room rug. (so dark- but i love it!)

oh how she loves her baby. but this is what happens when mom tries to sleep in on a saturday morning.

someone’s getting a new baby for christmas!

happy wednesday! can’t believe the week is halfway over! can’t believe thanksgiving is next week! yumma yumma!