the.amanda.sewell

Time seriously flies by too fast. It seems like only yesterday that we were *worried* about Y2K and such and now here we are headed into 2007. I am so excited because as my kids grow - they are becoming more and more interesting and fun. I am also excited because new years always make me feel more motivated to be a better person and to make something out of myself. I have had the goal to be published for a long time, but I have been letting the "no" responses get me down, and I have been letting myself slack off and forget about my goals, but this year, I want to make myself a better person and accomplish some of my goals. I am tired of my bad attitude and my big butt and I am going to work on them both. And, I am going to work on submitting to one design call a month, whether that be with SU or whomever. I want you all to hold me to it each month -- check in with me and make sure I am behaving. M decided he wanted to play video games for a bit, and no doubt that is how...

Ah the joys of a Saturday, you get to sleep in, eat a big breakfast and play all day . . . well, except in my family. The kids woke up bright and early this morning and we skipped the big breakfast and opted for cinnamon rolls (pillsbury), juice and fruit. Then we decided to get some of the stuff done that we have needed to do (like put beds back in the right rooms, and strip off all the sheets from the guests we had, and clean up the toy mayhem). And finally, after all of that got done -- it was time. E and J have been wanting to test out their new bikes all week. I have been so busy trying to keep up with the chores around the house that needed to get done, I had not been able to take them yet -- but today, they got to go. Picture1: Getting ready to go. Picture 2: Man to man talk about this bike riding thing with dad. Picture 3: E figuring out how to push the pedals. Picture 4: I think I can, I think I can. Picture 5: E does it all by herself. YAY!

Training is not going so well for us here. Dobby just does not seem to get it. I am not sure what to do at this point since he just misses the concept completely and I am so frustrated with all his piddling and pooping on the carpet. So today I just decided that if he is going to act dumb and pee on the carpet all the time and not even try to make it outside, then he can wear a diaper. Any ideas on housebreaking him would be greatly appreciated. I love him to death but seriously he is the dumbest dog ever. Oh, and that is the funny part, DH wanted a poodle cross because poodles are smart . . . Bwahahahahahaha! It brings new meaning to "pampered pooch" eh?

I am behind with sending out my Christmas cards this year, so I thought I would post this cool idea so those of you who have to send some still can use it, or if you are not a mega procrastinator like me, you can remember it and save it to use next year. TIP of the YEAR: Use your aquapainter to "lick" envelopes when stuffing cards for any occasion. It makes you not have to taste it and it works AWESOME!!!! So, there you have it! Here is a of what I am sending out today -- a few days late, but better late than never . . . *grins* You can see the Lily Kate Card I made here. This card has handsome hunter stamped with canvas layered on a white background. Then I stamped and embossed the holly from SU "Happiest of Holidays" and then layered that on white after cutting it out. Then I punched three holes and set three eyelets (all using my silent setter from provocraft and done while my kids and hubby were sleeping -- that thing is a Christmas miracle if I have eve...

It has been a very busy past couple of days. My mom and my sister, V, arrived on the 20th. My mother in law, father in law and sister in law arrived on the 23rd. Needless to say, in my 1600 square foot home, we are a packed house. My kids are sleeping on mattresses on my bedroom floor. It is crowded, but quaint and comfortable. We had a chance to go look at the lights at the Mesa Arizona Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We got to go to Zoolights at the Phoenix Zoo. We got go see Ballet Arizona perform "The Nutcracker" and we got to have lots of fun family meals together, and some family game time. It has been interesting as usual. Family is rarely boring *smiles* M is putting together some last minute items and my mother in law is sewing together our pajama pants because we got busy doing other stuff and I kind of neglected my yearly task. The children are nestled all snug in their beds with their new pajama pants on . . . J is asleep an...

We went to Zoolights in Phoenix. We had planned to go on a Friday night, but then it rained all day Friday (rain in Phoenix, the nerve). We ended up going Saturday night, which was MAYHEM! They had a place that you could park and take a shuttle to the zoo. Well, one look at the shuttle line up and we knew we were walking -- much to the dismay of M's parents. Poor things. My mom did not fare so well either. It was a workout for her. We had pre-bought our tickets so we just had to go pick them up at "will call" and then walk up to the gate, rather than wait in line at the gate (one major bonus if you saw that line). Once inside, it was still a little crowded and crazy. We took the kids for some carousel rides, and then walked around the zoo. We got to see the talking giraffe (which was a giraffe they made that had someone walking around and you could tell that someone your kids names and such and they would say hello (as the giraffe). A really cool idea. Then w...

Okay, so bazillions of you are asking for a tutorial on how to do the star book ornaments, and because I love y'all so much -- here it is (sorry some of the photos are a bit blurry, I am tired and was in a hurry, so they did not come out perfect -- but Merry Christmas all the same): Ingredients: *1 (or maybe 2 if you want variety) sheets of double sided 12x12 paper *2 squares of cardboard (panty hose cardboard is about the right thickness) cut into 2 inch x 2 inch squares (sometimes I add an eighth of quarter inch on these, try it once one way and if you prefer it a little bigger, go ahead and make it bigger) *adhesive *ribbon *beads (the cheap ones from walmart that are a little big big and ugly -- but not in this case) *terrifically tacky tape (or similar) *Any embellishments you may want STEP 1 Choose which side of the paper you want to use for the cover and what will be used for the inside. Cover your 2 inch squares with the paper you choose for the cover -- (Remember you can ...