Cute Cards with Kim

We will make 4 Valentine Cards.

Wednesday, January 21st

10:30 a.m. and again at 6:30 p.m.

Cost of the class is $18

You will learn several techniques and learn how to use the score-it.

Because it will be my first class I just might have a little surprize for you!

I spent all day at FKS making that awesome Christmas Album. Nancy has the patience of a saint to have put up with us all day! Making a great project with friends....priceless.

The Valentine Card Samples are at the store awaiting final approval. I hope to see some of you at my first class! I'm hoping to find some help to take pictures of the cards and post them. Stay tuned...

I went out to a dinner and show with my oldest friend. We've been friends since we were 3 and 4 years old! I was 3! We saw the movie "Valkyrie". If you are a WWII buff you will like it. I wasn't sure about Tom Cruise playing the lead but I was pleasantly surprised.

A Very Merry Christmas!!!

Let's all take time to remember the true meaning of the day.

What a busy week! Last Saturday Mike and I went to his firm's Holiday Party at the Renaissance Hotel. It had a beautiful 3 story tree in the middle of the hotel.

Last Sunday our daughter was Mary in the Church Christmas Pageant, "March to the Manger". This is a big event at our church and it's standing room only for the 2 services. It was very emotional for Mike and I seeing her holding a real baby. It seemed like yesterday when she was in 1st grade and was the angel.

Greg had surgery Friday and everything went great. The doctor was not surprised by anything he saw and fixed the problem. He said Greg will be able to play baseball, which is his passion. We're not sure when, but we've learned to take this one day at time. He's walking slow but each day he feels better. He helped me make a roast today. I think he's getting bored!!!

I went to our neighborhood Cookie Exchange Party. A great time was had by all! We all bring something to eat, a Christmas themed gift or ornament to exchange, and of course the cookies! I feel so blessed to live in such a great neighborhood. We all get along and look out for each other. It 's the reason we built onto our home instead of moving.

The decorating has been done now for a while and I'm finishing my cards today! Tomorrow it's onto the wrapping!

As I look at my latest post I realize one of the pictures is a little out of focus! I also would like to know how to turn my pictures around so you don't have to look sideways!

My choir of Santas are sitting across one of our mantels.

The nutcrackers are on display.

When we added onto our home I added a gingerbread tree to the hearthroom. I love seeing it as I work in the kitchen.

The big tree is our family tree. It has all the ornaments given to the kids over the years and all of my ornaments since I was young. This tree holds 2 ornaments that were on my parents first tree. At the top are two little ornaments that Mike gave to me each time I found out I was pregnant. I always found out at the beginning of December! Each time I cried! The hormones were really kicking in! We have ornaments from every place we went on vacation. Under the tree is train board my dad made with love and Greg's trains which were given to him by my parents on his 5th birthday. As I hang each ornament I am reminded of a precious memory.

P.S. I love Christmas trees. We have 7 trees plus 4 minature trees. I know, I'm nuts!

Many of you have asked me how my son is doing. Well, today we saw the doctor and the disc in his back has gotten worse. So-o-o-o-o he is having surgery Dec. 22nd. The surgery now a days has become an out patient procedure and a very tiny incision. They will be taking off the protruding section of the disc. We have prayed for him and the doctor and we feel our prayers are being answered. It will be a wonderful day when he is without pain and able to play baseball again. And yes, the doctor said that he will be able to! I admire Greg, he will have endured 2 surgeries in 14 months and through it all has maintained straight A's in his classes. I sure got lucky having such wonderful kids!!!!

Knowing I didn't want to stay home alone today and think about his surgery, my friends, Susan and Suzette, took me to Main Street St. Charles for lunch at and a little Christmas shopping. Love the Flower Peddler! We had a blast. Left at 11:00 and didn't get home until 4:00!!! Are they great friends or what???!!!!

This has been a busy week! I especially love teaching preschool this time of year. We went on a field trip this week to the Magic House and saw Santa. One of my children asked for a turkey for Christmas. At school on Thursday a student came in the room saying Merry Christmas to everyone! Another child asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told her a pair of brown shoes and a pretty ring. She told me that I could choose 5 things! I have a feeling Mom asked her to choose her top 5 wishes. They are so precious !!!!

I also learned this week how wonderful it is to be an American and living in the U.S. An uncle of one of my students and I were talking at the Magic House. Their family came to the U.S. when he was 11 years old. He was born in China and his family left China because of the bad treatment of the people. They went to Vietnam and lived there and Thailand. They came to America because of war in Vietnam. He told me he never has fear here because of what he lived through. As a child growing up he lived through bombs going off around him and shaking the ground. He remembers walking in the streets and the dead bodies all around him. He never has fear because he has seen the horrors and lived through it! Wow! It puts our lives in perspective! I went home thanking God for the blessings he has given me.

I'm reading a great book for Christmas called "The Purpose of Christmas" written by Rick Warren. It helps me focus on the true meaning of Christmas throught the craziness of the season! Back to decorating!

P. S. I am officially a nerd!! My daughter read my profile on the blog and told me that I am such a nerd!

All the Thanksgiving decorations are put away except for the Fall dishes. Mike and I went back and forth to our storage unit, where I keep all of our holiday decorations, putting away Thanksgiving and Fall and getting out Christmas. After three trips, all the containers are all over the house. Last night we had a wonderful dinner, just the 4 of us, using the Fall dishes, before Greg went back to school. Boo-Hoo! Only 3 more weeks and he's home for a month! Steph has told me she will help decorate this year!!! My have times changed. I'm thrilled to have the help. I thought I would be able to work on card stuff and my Christmas cards this afternoon. Little did I know, for the first time, the eye doctor was going to dilate my eyes! I'm having a little trouble focusing. Maybe by tonight! Sorry if this entry has misspellings and grammar errors. I'm having a hard time reading what I type!

Happy day after Thanksgiving! I hope you got all kinds of great stuff at FKS. LUCKY! I have never been able to go to Black Friday Sales in St. Louis because we are at Mike's family in Southeast Missouri. We've had a good time catching up and seeing people at the high school basketball tournament that went to school with Mike and his brothers. I love spending uninterrupted time with my guys and they love spending time with their cousins. I hope everyone has a safe trip home. When we get home I am taking down Thanksgiving decorations and start working on the samples for the January card class.

The tree is up, not decorated, but standing. Got the lights to work, with the help of a friend, except for one grouping on the tree. I'm just going to hang a string of lights on the tree and forget it! Put up the hearthroom tree and used the stand that rotates. Way cool!

Steph was excited to have her first Thanksgiving with her 1st classroom. Greg arrived home from school today. I am so thankful to have everyone sleeping under one roof tonight.

Hope to see some of you at FKS tomorrow. I love spending my turkey bucks! I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

We put up a new Christmas tree yesterday. I thought it would be easy but of course it wasn't. First we put together the train track and I had to run to Lowe's to get felt to go under the board so it wouldn't scratch up the floor! Went home and put the felt on the board. Went to put the board together and discovered three of the tracks were broke! Went to 2 stores trying to find the tracks! Bought parts to fix the track. Fixing the tracks was not as easy as I was told! Mike and I finally fixed the tracks. Y-e-a-h, now I can put up my new tree. Wrong! I bought a new tree stand that rotates my new tree. Got the tree in the stand and after screwing 6 screws into it I start to put the tree together. When I put the 2nd section on, the tree started to sway! Mike helped me take the tree apart and look at the stand. W-E-L-L, we figured out the tree's truck is too big for the stand and the trunk didn't go all the way down! We finally used the tree stand that came with the tree and I put the tree together. I love my new Christmas tree even though it won't rotate but I still haven't figured out how to connect all the pre-lit lights!!!!

Only one more day until my son comes home from college!! I can't wait until everybody is under one roof!!!

I went to FKS today for the Christmas open house. I left with a bag, well really 2 bags, of stuff to make Christmas cards and layouts. I also got the coolest tool by Zutter. It is a corner rounder for chipboard and acrylics! Sue had a great demo on different ways to make acrylic tags. The Christmas music and wassel put me in the mood. I was inspired to go Christmas shopping after I left.

I can't wait to start teaching card classes at For Keepsakes Scrapbook Store! The classes will be the 3rd Wednesday of the month with the exception of May (it will be the 2nd Wednesday)! I will offer the classes at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. I start January 21st!! The theme will be Valentine's Day. I'm working on the designs. When they are finished I'll give you a sneak peek.

The first day of my blog. Wow it took forever to figure it out!