this could take all day

a small venture

 (This post will be at the top all week. Scroll now for new posts.)

In the sidebar there on the left are two photo albums. One called "Gift Card Purses" and the other "Gift Card Envelopes". If you are planning to give gift cards to anyone this Christmas, read on and then click on over!

You see, we're making some of those Gift Card Purses and MOPS next week and while I was designing all the kits, I had a crazy idea to make some myself to sell to friends and family. When my friends saw what I was doing they were excited, and told me I had to make some more "manly" envelopes as well. So I put a quick design together for those.

And then I sold a whole bunch. Which was really awesome because it helped us with the Christmas budget this month! A friend invited me to sell some more at a retirement home her Grandmother lives at,and since my inventory was low I spent a weekend making a bunch more.

Unfortunately, the retirees were sweet and lovely and didn't buy much. So now I've got this inventory. Why not throw them up here and offer them to you my dear sweet readers?

Purses are $4 each, 2 for $7 or 3 for $10.

Envelopes are $2 each or 3 for $5.

Shipping is $1.00 total. Order as many as you like, shipping will only be $1.00.

I don't have a fancy shop setup, so I can take a paypal payment or a personal check. Over there on the right, under my picture, is a "email me" button. Just click that and let me know which one(s) you'd like, where to ship them, and how you'd like to pay, and we'll make it happen.

And just for fun, to see if you've read this far, leave a comment letting me know your favorite design (purse or envelope) and on Sunday I'll draw a winner to receive a free gift card purse! (Winner's choice based on the inventory at the time.)

Thanks for indulging me!
 

December 8

 

Gran sent Daisy two little Christmas books and a sweet note. Like most kids, she loves getting mail. (I'll save the note for the album, too.)

  
 
Ran some errands to finish our Christmas shopping and get evelopes for our cards. Taken with the cell phone, Daisy pushing this little cart was too adorable! 

December 7

 

 

Daisy made a little paper horn in Sunday School and ran around the house today shouting: "Jesus is Born!" She'd get mad at me if I didn't follow it up with a loud "whoo-hoo!" 

December 6

 

 

 

Daisy and Darin putting up some outdoor lights. God bless 'em.

 

Our poor chipmunk boy.

 

 

And time for Daisy to share some love with our patient. Hopefully he'll be back up for some holiday fun next weekend!
 

 

December 5

 

Dani does her best to help cheer up Darin. Poor guy had an awful reaction to his pain meds and had to cut them out. Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon!

  

Could she be any cuter?

 
 

 

We helped our little buddy MJ celebrate her first birthday. Daisy was very into helping MJ open her presents, so it bodes well for Christmas morning!

 

Daisy and Darin put the rest of the ornaments on the tree. Back there she's playing with an ornament I got way back when I was a baby. Made me smile on the inside.

 

 Before dinner Daisy was flipping through her Bible book, so I took the opportunity to read her a few pages of the Christmas story. I LOVE these times together.

pony ride

 

Yesterday Daisy got her first solo ride on a horse! 

  

You can read about her first ride here, and her second here.
  
 

I was pretty freaked out when Josh lifted her up there, got her settled, and then walked to the front in order to lead the horse. What?! You're not going to hold onto her while she's up there?! On that giant animal?! Josh!!!!

 

But I guess Josh knew what he was doing, cuz Daisy was a natural. She just held on and let her body sway back and forth with the movement of the horse.

 

Thanks Mr Jazz for being so kind and gentle with my baby on your back. And thanks to you too Mr Josh. I think she had a great time.

 

Like mother, like daughter.   

December 4

 

With a little "snowman soup" kit from MomsConnect, Daisy and I enjoyed a little hot cocoa party this afternoon. Marshmallows, a mini candy cane, and a hershey's kiss made the cocoa extra fun. Oh yeah, and the cool Christmas mugs added to the charm too!

 

Daisy and I thoroughly enjoyed our experience at Down Home Country Christmas this year. (Remember all the fun from last year?) We left Darin (recovering from wisdom-teeth removal) and Dani (sleeping soundly) at home and made it in time to grab some food and hear the band. The minute the music started Daisy was a dancing fiend, sometimes literally running laps around the room.

Her two friends from last year were back and the three of them found some awesome seats up front. We love hearing the Konzelman family perform!

 

 

  

 

 

 

December 3

 

Christmas decorations have begun to emerge and Daisy found my teeny-tiny nativity set. The story I explained went something like this:
"Mary and Joseph are Jesus' parents. When Jesus was born he didn't have a crib so they put him in a bed called a trough (where the animals got their food). The angels told the shepherds about baby Jesus so they came to visit them. And some other guys came to visit Jesus and bring him some presents."
Not too shabby for a two-year-old explanation.

 

My two favorites while she was playing:

1. she lined up four or five of the characters, stood back, and pretended to take their picture.
2. she had the wise man present baby jesus with the present he was holding and said, "happy birthday jesus".

 

I was feeling a bit nostalgic about how fast my baby is growing, so I attempted to freeze time a little with the help of my camera.

  

Darin helped Daisy hang the first ornament on the tree (the baby shoe she received her first Christmas in 2007), and she consequently lost interest in the project.

(ps: Most of our activities are happening in the evening, and the lighting in my house is terrible. Consequently, lots of these pictures are likely to be blurry and grainy. Oh well, still capturing memories.)
 

 

the camp auction

Every year around late November the camp staff box up the unclaimed lost and found and prepare it for donation. And every year before its sent off, we all are invited to rummage through and take what we can use. Last year Darin did some rummaging and found a few keepers, but this year, in order to keep things a little more fair and a lot more fun, the bosses decided to do an auction.

Basically, it ran like this: anything you wanted got thrown in a bin. Most bidding prices started at 25 cents and depending on how many people were interested in the item, prices went up from there.

But the best part? All monies collected for the stuff is heading straight to World Concern and the people they serve. It made it a lot easier to keep upping the offer in a bidding war, that's for sure!

And check out all the great stuff we came home with! For $15 we got shirts and sweatshirts, flat irons (yup, a pair), hats, swimsuits, a pair of kids keens, and an overnight bag.

 

A majority of the lost & found items were in kids sizes, so most of this stuff is for my nieces and nephews. (I hope they don't mind wearing used stuff, but seriously, a Roxy sweatshirt? A Billabong sweatshirt? Good stuff here people. For $15! That went to charity!!)

But I have to say I'm pretty stoked about the hat and flat iron I scored. Not too shabby a deal for me either!

 

Of course, it wasn't an i-pod shuffle found in the pocket of a jacket "purchased" for $7 (happened to Allison, lucky girl), but I'm pretty happy. Can't wait for next year already!

December 2

 

This evening we made a quick trip to the library. I love that they have all their Christmas books out on top of the shelf. We picked up a few couple ones to enjoy over the next few weeks. 

December 1

I've been seeing lots of folks around the internets doing lovely projects in order to document the holiday season. Like the pioneer of the project, Miss Ali Edwards. Or a simpler take on the idea by Miss Stacey Julian.

But before I went and invested lots of time and money, I wanted to see if I could actually keep it up and take a photo each day. So this blog is serving as my expiriment in documenting our December. If I do well enough, in January I can take it here and turn it into a fun album.

Here we go...

 

We spent the morning at home doing chores, so I promised Daisy we would hit the park after nap. It was cold and got dark way too early, but we had a delightful time running around.

 

The advent calendar was carefully assembled and hung last night, and Daisy spotted it excitedly at the breakfast table this morning. I think it's gonna be torture to her to wait until after dinner every day to get to open her present. But we're hoping this helps her understand how long we have until Santa Clause arrives.