Snow day!

We got lots of snow this weekend, and we took the kiddos out to play today! Malichi loved it, as usual. I think he could stay out all day, and he wouldn't care if he got frost bite! Kinzie, usually doesn't last so long, but today I think we were out for about an hour and a half! The kids had so much fun. There is a huge pile of snow in the yard from the plow that they went sledding down. Here are some of the cute shots I got!





I am sooo proud of my girlie! She's potty training and she is doing wonderful! She has been wearing panties since last saturday. No more diapers! Yay!!!!!!! It feels so good to have NONE in diapers. Kinzie is loving getting new big girl panties! We still do pullups at nap and bedtime, But other than that it's all about the panties! We even had 2 days last week where we were gone ALL day, and she made it through both days with no accidents! :) So proud of her!

Last week I went to Kindergarten registration for Malichi. I can't believe my baby is going off to Kindergarten in the fall! I can't believe that we considered possibly sending him this past year either! I am so glad we had this extra year together! And with the way his first year of preschool went, with all the changes, and going through FIVE different teachers, he just needed one more year of preschool. He is excited to go to Kindergarten though! And the best part is that Waconia is open enrollment for next year! Apparently they haven't had open enrollment in a long time. So, I was so happy to hear that. All his friends from preschool and mom's club are there, and he'll have so many more opportunities there than in Norwood.

And on a not so happy note... I had a bra fitting..... and guess what.. I am a TRIPLE D! No flippin' way. I am soooo not excited about that. NO WONDER I have such a hard time finding bras that fit me! My goodness.... we need to save up for that reduction. For real!

Oh yeah.. I forgot to post last weeks little impromtu valentine shoot we did:
Malichi was so not cooperative! I think he's quite sick of being mommy's little model! But I did get some cute "sick of taking pictures" pictures.




And Kinzie...always happy to pose and show off a little attitude! Especially when mommy bribes with suckers or bubblegum!

Got me some Lisa Loeb!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so...anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE me some Lisa Loeb!!! She is amazing! I love her! She gets my foot tapping, and my creative juices flowing when I listen to her! I even had her sign my pink purse when I went to her concert!
So I treated myself to a few Lisa things today:



And I even got my babes some Lisa:


I can't flippin' wait for this stuff to come. I love getting packages and this one will be especially exciting for me!!!!!!! :)

I have been trying to find this shirt from Delias. It says "I love boys with glasses" with a big heart on it. I want it. I have to have it! I saw someone with it on at the German restaurant that we went to for Nate's birthday. I asked where she got it, and she told me Delia's but they no longer carry it! :( I found it on ebay and bid on it, but I wasn't the winning bidder. So if you find it anywhere...TELL ME!!!!!!! :)

If you haven't heard about the big grab bag event at MDM yet, you better get over there and check it out! For only $2.00 you can pick up Grab Bags from me, Holly, Toni, Nancy, and Kimberly! They are packed with lots of goodies that are worth WAY more than 2 bucks! But they are only available until Saturday night, and after that the items inside will go up in the store for regular price.


Get them Here!

And last but not least, the ASPCA charity kit is up! This is from Holly's site about the kit "The digital scrapbooking industry has always been a generous one. We give to many charities and have compassion for so much. It's time we expressed our compassion and act as a voice for those that cannot speak for themselves, animals. The ASPCA is an organization based in the United States. ASPCA stands for The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. All proceeds from this collaborative charity kit will go directly to this organization." Click HERE if you'd like to donate or purchase the kit!!!

Off to get my babes to bed. Later...

sick of being sick!

We've ALL been sick at our house. It's been a looooong week. Kinzie started it last week with her 102.5 fever, and she is just now finally getting better. Then I started getting sick Monday night. I haven't much done all week because of it. We had to miss out on playgroup, school, ECFE, and our Sprouts class this week!!! I am going stir crazy! I am so glad we are all starting to feel better! Our plan for tomorrow is to go for lunch at Noodles and Compay with Kim, a good friend of mine, and then go play at Edinborough park. It will be so good for the kids to get out of the house! And well, I get to eat at Noodles! So I am all for it! Let's hope we still feel good in the morning!

I am trying to catch up on some stuff tonight, so guess I can't say I haven't gotten ANYTHING done..

Check out my little stud muffin! Isn't he just handsome!!!!





And my little spunky one:





and her cheesy fake grin:

I did manage to get this new product out in the stores this week! I have had this in the works for a LOOOONNNG time! So glad I've finally got my mojo back, and can crank out some new designs!!!!!

You can get it here or here

And finally...I got a page done!!! :) This one was for a weekend challenge over at My Digital Muse to take a self portrait and scrap it. Here was my take on the challenge.


well, enough blogging for tonight. It's time to fold laundry while I catch up on some Dr. Phil and Oprah! :)

I am in love....

...with my kids' new rooms! I have spend much of the week repainting/redecorating their rooms, and I LOVE THEM! My friend Kristie helped me with all the painting! Thanks Kristie!~ :)

Malichi's room:





Malichi's room was like a greenish gray before, and it was just so dark and boring. I love it now! So cheery! :) I still have to get stuff for his walls to put up. It's a little bare right now. I am thinking a trip to Ikea will be in order! :)

Kinzie's room:






I repainted a bunch of Kinzie's stuff to match the new colors in her room, and they turned out so cute! :) I got some white letters spelling her name to put above her bed too. I am going to alter them, and make em all cutesy first though!

I am so glad their rooms are DONE! :) 24 starts tonight, and I am so looking forward to relaxing and watching the 2 hour premier! I definitly need some down time!

Christmas Layouts

Look at me being all on top of things!!! I've actually gotten Christmas photos scrapped only a couple of weeks after Christmas! Yay me! Now just to get back to those Halloween layouts! :)
Here is what I've been busy with:

Our Tree:

(credits:
Background paper: IOD figgy pudding kit from DST
other papers: Holly McCaig's Fall Velvet also from DST
stitching: Holly McCaig
Vintage Labels: Holly McCaig @ MDM
Corduroy Alpha (recolored): Me (Shannon Lee Designs)
Frames: Nancy Comelab @ MDM)

Home for the Holidays:

Credits:
papers: Meredith Fenwick
Stitching: Katie Pertiet
Shadow frames: Nancy Comelab @ MDM
flowers: Shannon Carlson and Holly McCaig
Journaling paper: Catrine
Pinned Ribbon: Natalie Braxton

Christmas Eve:

Credits:
Tree, stickpin, snowflake brads, striped paper: Blissful Holday by Shannon Carlson (Shannon Lee Designs or MDM)
alpha: MissTiina Designs
flourish: 2peas
background paper: Meredith Fenwick (recolored)
Ribbon bow and scallops: Gina Miller

Share the Spirit:

Credits:
Nancy Comelab photo frames @ MDM
Corina Neilson and Kimberly Gurrusso Little Man Holiday
postage stamps and brush from Victorian Christmas kit- Shannon Lee Designs and MDM

Notice a pattern? I used Nancy Comelabs new shadow frames ALOT! I love them! They make a multi-photo layout so easy! If you haven't seen em, you can check them out here!

So tonight at the dinner table Malichi says to me "mom, let's pray". So I say, "okay, you say the prayer". He folds his hands and proceeds to pray, "Dear God, please bring us lots and lots of presents, so we might like them. Bless you. Amen"
Do you think he might have gotten too much of SANTA this year! :) It was too cute!

I so am glad Christmas is over...although I am keeping my tree and decorations up so I can still enjoy them for a little while longer!
We had a wonderful (but long) Christmas! The kids were so spoiled with new toys!

Besides being busy with Christmas, I was getting ready for the big opening atMy Digital Muse! Yay! I just love it there! I love the other girls that are a part of the team! I am learning so much about photography, which is great, because that is what I want to really get focused on and really learn my camera. I haven't been able to participate as much as I would like to, but hopefully now that the holidays are over, I can jump in!

And my little Kinzie.... she apparently does not like her bed. We find her sleeping in random places, the floor, toyboxes, on top of her toys... (note the last post where she was sleeping in her toybox). Well this is how I found her today! :)

Oh well.. at least she's still napping!

SWEET!

TOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!

So I just got an email today that my Beady Trims are being featured on Dishin' the Digi-Coast 2 Coast show on DiScTalkRadio. I have to admit. I had not even heard about this show/site before, I believe it just opened. But I is awesome. I am listening to the show right now. If you haven't heard of it, check it out HERE!
It's awesome!


Tis' The Season....

Christmas is coming up waaaay too soon for me. I've got my decorating done, got MOST of my gifts bought AND wrapped. Got my cards sent out already. So really, I don't have a huge Christmas "TO DO" list, but I just feel like we haven't had time to enjoy the season. We haven't had snow to play outside in. We've been so busy that we haven't had time for our christmas movies and hot chocolate. We haven't had time to just RELAX. So that is my goal this week and weekend is to spend some relaxing time, enjoying the season, and my family.

Here is our tree this year. (Thanks MOM!)


Life....

I have been having some issues with getting Kinzie to take her naps now that she is in a big girl bed. She likes to get up and play instead. She is sooo not ready to give up her nap yet! And neither am I! By 5:30 she is just a monster if she hasn't had her nap! But today, I was VERY pleased to go into her room a little while after laying her down for her nap, to find her actually sleeping.....

Though not in her bed....she WAS sleeping! :) It was sooo cute. She took the cover off of her toybox bench, crawled in, and went to sleep!!

Elf Yourself! :)

You gotta check these out of my kiddos!

Malichi
Kinzie

Cute eh!?
One of the girls over at MDM pointed me in this direction!:) Office Max has a whole bunch of cute, fun games and stuff for the Holidays! You can do do your own at www.elfyourself.com

I've been wasting "work" time, playing with all of the fun stuff :)

Time to get back to work!

Oh yeah... the Dec. 10 day Challenge started today at MDM. Check it out! :)

been a while...

Things have been super crazy and busy lately. I haven't blogged in quite a while! Sorry for that!

If you haven't heard the news.... Plain Digital Wrapper is moving it's store over to My Digital Muse! Yay! I am so excited about this. I will be selling my designs there now, as well as my own store, of course.

I have a million things on my to do list before Christmas, and not enough time to do them all! Blah!

So off to work on my list.. Just wanted to share the fun news! :)

THANK YOU!

Click HERE to download the freebie!

Click HERE to shop my store at Plain Digital Wrapper!

In case you can't read the coupon code from the image it is shannonthanksYOU

HAVE FUN!

Holiday Cards

I've got some new holiday cards out!

You can get them at both PDW and Shannon Lee Designs!

Just wanted to let you know about my new goodies. Nothing else interesting in my world today! Oh wait, yes there is! One thing- I am going to buy myself some accessories for my camera tomorrow! Yay! FOR SURE, a tripod. I don't even have one yet! And maybe a backdrop stand, and I don't know what else! :)
FUN!

So sick of being sick!

Uugghh! We can't seem to get healthy in this house! In the past 3 weeks, I have had the stomache flu 3 times, Kinzie has had it once, Malichi had pink eye, and now today I went in to be checked for strep. Both Aaron and I are sick. Sore throats, colds, earaches. Yuck! Life really needs to get back to normal. I don't have TIME for anyone to be sick!!!

So I haven't been able to talk about this yet, cause It was a surprise for my mom. Her boyfriend, Randy, asked me to make a scrapbook for him to give to her for her birthday! AND he wanted the last page to have a ribbon on it, with the engagement ring he got her tied on. He was going to propose to her!!! What a cute idea huh? So she got the album on Saturday, and when she got to the last page, he asked her to marry him. She said "YES"! So congrats, Mom, if you are reading this!!!!

Hmm... let see.. not to much else new here! Although this is exciting- I am doing this months Grab Bag with Tiffany Brady at PDW. Be sure to check it out. I believe she will be putting it up on Thursday!

Off to finish my Grab Bag goodies!

new schtuff!

I have been busy working on these 2 new kits! Yay! Finally some new stuff!

Get Blissful Holiday----->

Here

or

Here

Get Victorian Christmas------>

Here

or

Here

Give some Love!

This is something I think EVERY school needs to do......
There was an amazing show on Oprah today. Lisa Ling did the story, who by the way, I LOVE! She always does the stories that really need to be told, and I think she does a wonderful job. Anyway..The show was about something called Challenge Day. You can find out more about it

HERE

.
They did this Challenge Day at a school in Missouri. These teens absolutely amazed me. It was such a powerful approach to changing the schools our children go to. These High Schoolers had the opportunity to get a glimpse into eachother's worlds, eachother's lives, and see how the things that go on in their school affect everyone. Bullying, racism, judgements, cliques, everything. I was blown away by these students. There was no anger toward each other. No hatred. Even when the student who got up and talked about how he would make racist jokes towards his peers, all of the students that those jokes where aimed at, raised their hands with the "I love you" sign. These students, and even teachers got to participate in all of these trust-building, and eye-opening excercises. They really just got to learn that they really are alike, and all have the same emotions, and feelings. They got the opportunity to open up to peers that they probably would have never otherwise even spoke to, and find support and friendships in people they maybe thought hated them. Just getting connected to the people they share their time with EVERY day, but yet still feel alone. They got to being to learn RESPECT for ALL people. It was amazing how a concept so simple could open up these students to communication and connecting with one another.
It makes my heart break to know that since August of THIS year, there have already been more than 50 school-related shootings, stabbings and other crisis incidents nationwide. It makes me scared to send my kids to school.

It hasn't been that long since I have been out of High School, and I remember how difficult, painful, and lonely High School was for me at times. I can't imagine what these challenges could have done for our school. Maybe our school could have been more connected. Maybe I could have had more friends that liked me for who I was. Maybe I could have had some sort of peace sharing a school with Robert. Maybe I could have opened up and accepted everyone in our school. Maybe peer pressure wouldn't be such an issue. But most of all, maybe I would have been able to be more of who I really was.

AHHH.....

Feels good to be getting some catching up done! Got some Lisa Loeb on, which always gets me in the mood, (to design that is) and I've got my Dt. Coke with Lime, and I am ready to work for the night :) Aaron has the kids downstairs so I can concentrate. Though I can hear them jamming out to some music downstairs anyways :)
We have this new plan that he will take the kids after supper 2 nights a week for me to work, and the other 3 nights will be family time. It's a good plan for me to spend some time on the computer working without feeling guilty about it! And I have some peace. It's all good!

OH YEAH... and I am all caught up on my kids' scrapbooks!!! YAY!!!! Now it's just trying to scrap pictures as I take them! :) I just printed about 130 12x12 layouts!!! HOLY MOLY...that was a big chunk of change to do that. BUT I am all caught up on printing too, which feels awesome! :)

off to work on some designs....

Catch up time!

Whoa.. I haven't blogged in a while! It's been a rough week. Kinzie is all better (after having the flu) BUT then, of course, I got it!

But lets back it up a bit....

Halloween:

The kids had an absolute blast Trick or Treating! This is the first year that we have actually gone out Trick or Treating! We always do something fun, but it usually a Halloween event somewhere. I am so glad we took them this year though. They just loved it. And not even just for the candy. In fact... I think they have already forgotten that we have the 2 buckets full! :) They were just hilarious! Malichi kept forgetting to say Trick or Treat; so the people would come to the door, and he would just stand there with his back held out and open to them, and not say anything. I was a little embarrassed! :) My boy usually has such good manners!Hehe!
And Kinzie, she was just cute. She would say "Tri-Treat, Happy Ween, and Taint You" to everyone. It was so cute. And then they'd put some candy in her bag, and apparently they didn't give her enough, because at alot of the houses, she'd grab into their bowl and dig out a little more :) Luckily she's only 2, and everyone thought it was pretty cute! So, we had a blast and we were only a LITTLE numb when we got home! :)

Sickly me:

So we get home Tuesday night, and later in the evening I started to feel sick. Woke up at midnight with the full blown flu! :( I am sure Aaron LOVED to clean up my puke! nuff said about that. I was just plain sick.


Back on track:

BUT now I am feeling MUCH MUCH better! I am feeling all ambitious and want to paint the kids' rooms this weekend, but Aaron said...yeah not so much! He wasn't up for it. Oh well I guess... I have plenty of catching up to do anyways!

I have a few new designs in the works that I am SUPER excited about, and hope to get some major progress on them this weekend! Watch for some fun holiday stuff soon!

BIG GIRL:

We moved Kinzie to her big girl bed yesterday!!! Not sure if I am excited about that or regretting it!!! :) She was very ready though. She was super excited once we got it up.

She didn't like it so much once she actually had to go to bed in it though. :( She DID not want to be in there. We tucked her in and left the room, and she just cried "Wanna go crib, wanna go crib"! I never would have thought she would be crying to go in her crib!! I guess it will just take a little getting used to! :)


and a TOOOOOOT:

I saved the best for last... I was invited to be a part of the My Digital Muse Team! Yayyyyyy!!!!!! I am so excited about it. You can check out their site in the link on the side :)

And speaking of photography, I had my very first shoot yesterday!! YIKES! I was pretty nervous. It was for family, so that took some pressure off, but I was still nervous! We did them outdoors and the weather was beautiful! It was a little too sunny out, so the lighting was a bit harsh in some of the pictures, and there was some shadows on some of them, which I was really bummed about. But I think I still got some good shots. I spent most of last night proofing them, and I think they are all ready! I hope my cousin like them!!!!

almost halloween....

So Kinzie is feeling MUCH better today. She is back to her normal old self. Wanting to eat all day, fighting with her brother, being bossy. She is a little crabbier than normal though.

But since she was feeling good today, we took some photos of their Haloween costumes. They weren't the most cooperative, so this is the best I got. There are some more on my

Flickr Gallery

if you want to check those out :)



Aaron's work is having a Halloween party tonight so we are bringing the kids there tonight. Last year they had a lot of fun, so I am excited to bring them again. Although I don't think all the cookies and candy are such a good idea for Kinzie today, and she is NOT going to be happy if I don't let her have any!

my poor girl.

Poor baby girl is sick today. We had ECFE this morning, and she was fine all morning. But she started vomiting really bad at ECFE. She's so pale, and weak. I finally got her to sleep about a half hour ago, but every so often she sits up to throw up, and doesn't even open her eyes. I don't know if she's even awake, but she's still puking :( I am really hoping I can get her to keep down some pedialite so that she doesn't get dehydrated. I don't want her to get so sick she has to go in for IV's like last time! That was rough on her.

So much for my productive day that I was planning on having! I was going to tackle a bunch of things on my mile long to do list! Oh well. It'll have to wait till tomorrow I suppose! Oh darn!

On another note, we went out for my Birthday this past weekend! I had a blast. Steph and Adam, Nate and Joan, and my cousin James and his girlfriend all joined us for dinner and the show at the Comedy Club. It was so nice getting out with some friends, and family, and just having a good time, kid free! :) Mom and Tiff stayed back at the house and watched the kids for us (with no heat!).

Our boiler went out again, and it was freezing in our house again. On Monday night it was so cold that we all slept in the living room. All 4 of us. Not the most comfortable sleeping arrangements but it was the warmest room in the house, since it has the fireplace. We closed off the room by shutting the pocket doors to the dining room, and then we put blankets up to cover the other entry. It actually worked pretty well to keep the heat all confined to the one room. We had a LONG day on tuesday though hanging out in there all day until we got the heat back. SOOOO, our boiler is now FIXED and I am really *hoping* we don't have any more problems with heat!

So...nothing to exciting, but I thought I'd update my blog anyways...

By the way if you haven't entered my contest at www.shannonleedesigns.com, be sure to do so!!!!!! Deadline is Oct. 31st! :)

busy week!

We've had a busy week! I haven't had much time to "catch up" with things online! :)

I have been scrapping like CRAZY lately though, and this week I managed to get completly caught up with my kid's albums!!! Yay! I have done about 130 layouts in about 6 weeks or so! Not lookin forward to the cost of printing all of that! BUT.. I am sooooooo happy that I am caught up so I can start to scrap the pictures I have just taken. Now to get onto my AMM, growing up, and family albums!

Yesterday we had Kinzie's first laser treatment with the new Dermatologist in Minneapolis. It went SOOOO much better than her last treatment at the old clinic.
I had to give her tylenol w/codeine a half hour before the treatment, which I was nervous about cause it makes me unbelievably sick. But, she did fine with it. I couldn't tell if she was loopy from the medicine, or if it was just cause she's kinda loopy anyways.. but she was just being really funny when we got to the clinic. She did really well letting them take pictures, and look at her birthmark. Last appt. she freaked out and wouldnt let anyone touch her or look at it, when we went in for the new patient exam. Right before they did the treatment, they did one spot on my wrist and on Aaron's so we could see what it feels like for her. It was like a little puff of air, then a sting, then it burned a little. A little painful.

Kinzie cooperated so well. We layed her down on the table, and she just layed there looking at Aaron, as he held her arms, and I held her legs. They covered her eyes, and started the treatment. She didn't even cry until about the third "zap". And then it only lasted about 30 seconds or so. And as soon as we took the gauze off her eyes, and Papa picked her up, she calmed down quickly. She was pretty groggy afterwards from the medication. And today her cheek is super swollen, and purple where they did the laser. But it doesn't seem to be bothering her at all anymore.
It is so hard to watch her go through it, but I am *hoping* she is young enough, that she doesn't remember it. I am so proud of my brave little baby! :)

I am looking forward to Tomorrow night. I am getting together with some friends and family to go out to dinner and go to the Comedy Club for my birthday! Yay! I don't think Aaron and I have been out together without the kids in a LONG time! It will be so fun! :)

Baby girl just woke up crying. Gotta go cuddle her :)

Get a good laugh....on me! :)

Okay, be prepared to laugh. I figured out how to put the video clip on my blog!
Now people get to see a side of me I wouldn't normally show...but it is just to damn funny not too! I can laugh with you, at me! :) It is a little sad to watch. But don't worry, I am not traumatized! I am OK! :)

So, you know...I am a 24 year old, wife and mother of 2. I am an adult. I protect my kids when THEY are scared!!! But from this video, you wouldn't know it!!!! You would probably think I am about 12 by the way I handled it!! Seriously, people were looking at me like, come on... really? It's not that scary!

The first part of the video you can't see anything. We were on the hayride and it was too dark, but you sure can hear me. Aaron had his arm around my shoulder and the video camera was right next to my face, so you can hear everything. My breathing, my crying, my hyperventilating! You can hear my brother laughing at me in the background! The second half is AFTER the hayride. I was okay for a minute, and thought if I don't talk about it, I will be fine!!!!! Well then I lost it. I couldn't even talk about it without crying about it!!

I used to love this sort of stuff, but as you can clearly see from the video... I can't handle it anymore..if there is a chainsaw involved!

shannon