Can 2007 Really be almost over??

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. Seems like it was only yesterday that everyone was freaking out about it being 2000. I hope 2008 will be even better than 2007. We have a lot coming up this year. First is my new job that I start on the 14th of Jan. Then our birthday grand slam. 5 birthdays in 1 week. YIKES! My FIL and MIL turn 60 this year. I turn 30 this year. My IL's celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Lots of big celebrations this year. I hope to take the family back to Disneyworld sometime this year too. I am sure before I know it we will be saying goodbye to 2008 too! Time sure does fly faster the older you get. Here are a couple pics that I took from our trip to the snow the other day.

I hope you all have a safe and fun New Year's! Love the Pealer's!

Winter Wonderland Contest @ SWG

It’s a Winter Wonderland at Scrappin’ with Grace and Flair Designs for the Month of January. So grab your coat and hat and bundle up becuase things are gonna get Frosty in here.

The winner will be the person who has the most points at the end of the four weeks. That person will receive a prize package (details to follow)


There will be 4 challenges during this contest:

Challenge 1 will be posted Jan 1st and due Jan 6th @ midnight PST
Challenge 2 will be issued Jan 8th and due Jan 13th @ midnight PST
Challenge 3 will be issued Jan 15th and due Jan 20th @ midnight PST
Challenge 4 will be issued Jan 22nd and due Jan 27th @ midnight PST

Here are the rules for the Winter Wonderland Contest.

1. Sign-ups will be taken on the www.Scrappinwithgrace.com message board until Jan 7th at midnight PST! (please sign up under the sign-up thread) However, your first challenge will be issued Jan 1st!

2. Once you have signed up, your first assignment will be given to you on TUESDAY Jan. 1st…and you will have until the following SUNDAY to complete the assignment. All assignments will be due at midnight PST the following Sunday

3. You will be judged during this contest. You may drop your lowest score…which also means you may skip 1 week during the contest… (giving you a zero…which you would want to then drop)

4. You will be required to use product from Flair Designs for 1 of the challenges and also 1 of the extra credit assignments. If you do not have any of Flair Design products you may purchase them in our store.

5. You can earn “extra credit” throughout the contest and will be given 1 “extra credit opportunity” each week! This will be worth 5 extra credit points! Please note that extra credit is not mandatory! So watch out for these opportunities…they will be given at different times during the week and will never be the same thing.

6. No one will be eliminated during the contest! The person with the highest score at the end of the contest will be our winner! We will determine the winner by adding all of the scores together and subtracting out the lowest score.

7. Assignments will always be due on Sunday at Midnight PST! Please keep in mind that everything will be run on PST. You will receive your scores back no later than Tuesday at noon PST.

8. New layouts only please.

So are you ready to bundle up and get your scrap on? WE will see you on the boards at Scrappinwithgrace.com

Crop tonight at SWG

Come join us at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com for our Crop tonight.
Each hour from 6pm-12am CST you will be issued a challenge ...you have 1 hour to complete that challenge and upload to the correct gallery...if you complete the challenge your name will go into the prize drawing for that hour...so we will have a winner EACH hour during the crop (how fun is that!!!)
Also we will have a grand prize winner! So lots of chances to take home some fun prizes!

We will be playing bingo at 7pm CST...this will be the challenge for that hour...so the winner of bingo will win a prize...:)

I hope many of you will come and join us...I know it is an insane time of the year...but if you can...we would love to have you here

We need YOU!

Scrappin with Grace is looking for it's next Design Team Coordinator. If you are interested please read on.

We would like to post an opening for the DT Coordinator. The challenge will run from today to Jan 6th 6 pm PST. We are giving you the choice of creating one of the following. Please post your image into our gallery...http://scrappinwithgrace.com/Gallery/DT-Coordinator-Applications

Create a layout answering one of the following questions:

Tell us what is your special dream is?

Tell us something that makes you unique?

What is your favorite saying/quote?

You will need to create an account at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com so that you can PM Kristina the owner the following.



1. Why do you think you would make a good fit for SWG DT Coordinator?

a. Why do you want the position? What about the position entices you the most?

b. What can you offer to SWG as the DT Coordinator? Be creative.

c. How often are you online?

d. Show me your creativity. List one new idea for the site and tell me a little about it.


2. Past Experience?

a. Do you have any prior experience as a design team member, or coordinator? Give examples of a frustrating situation and a rewarding situation?

b. Do you have computer knowledge? How well do you know a computer? Give examples.


3. Are you committed currently to other sites/blogs/stores?

a. What level of commitment is at those sites?

b. Do you feel it will affect your commitment to SWG?


4. Why do you scrapbook?

a. Give me three reasons on why you scrapbook?

b. Do you want to be known in the scrapbooking industry?

c. Where do you mostly scrapbook? At home, with friends, weekend retreats, etc?

d. Do you attend CKUs, or other similar events?


Please link to your blog, your work, scrapbook resume, whatever you have….

We hope to see your application!

Big Changes for me!

Well the start of the new year will be something of a whirlwind for me. I will be having a bunch of new things in my life to get used to. First and the most exciting for me is that I am the New Special Events Coordinator at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com. I have already lined up new sponsors and have the next two contest mapped out.

Second is I will be starting a full time job sometime after the start of the new year. I have not worked in almost 7 years so this will be a big adjustment for me and my family. My dear hubby will now have to learn how to style my daughters hair. I don't think he has ever done a ponytail in his life. He gets to be a full time WAHD.

And in addition to all this fun, January is our biggest birthday month for our family. We have 5, yes 5 birthdays in 1, yes 1 week. So that will just add on to all the madness of the new year.

I hope you all have your shopping done and your presents wrapped. I am off to do some holiday baking here in a little bit. Merry Xmas if I don't get a chance to post before Tuesday.

Merry Xmas from the Pealer's

I gotta thank Scott at CMK for showing me what Jib Jab had this season LOL.

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Yay Its Friday

Love Fridays! Especially ones where I get to go have fun later. Tonight is my Bunco night. Maybe I can escape the job dread for a couple hours LOL. Well since I have two yes TWO interviews next week I think that calls for some shopping tomorrow. Ya know I just can't wear that velour sweat suit to my interviews now can I? Macy's will make me happy! LOL . Anyways here is a LO that I completed last night. Papers are from Tinkering Inks's new Beloved Line.


Have a great weekend everyone!

ACK!!

Ok so today has kinda been big for me on the job front. I got a letter from the credit union saying I passed the test. And I also got a call for a job interview for Monday back at the University Hospital where I use to work before kids. This honestly scares the crap out of me. I have friends who still work there and they heard they were only doing 7 interviews and hiring for 6 spots! So I am excited and scared at the same time. I have not worked for almost 7 years. I am not really ready to go back full time but right now I have to do what is best for my family. Even if it means giving up field trips and art day. So please keep your fingers crossed that things work out the way they are supposed to. Whatever that may be!

Lastly I leave you with a pic of my pajama clad kiddos in front of our big tree

Just a little something

Well I guess I am not the only "artist" in the family. The other day my son who is 6 almost 7 was busy drawing in his notebook. This is what he brought me when he was done



Its hard to see but he wrote "For Mom" in pink bubble letters. Does he know his mom or what. Heart Headlights, flaming hearts down the side. Not to mention he picked some of my favorite colors.

I have some projects I am working on but can't share yet. Maybe in a couple days. Hope you are all having a great week so far.

Oh yeah I got the new Tinkering Ink Beloved Collection and Piggy Tales Ba Ba Black Sheep in my mail today. I cannot wait to play with those lines!

New Tinkering Ink Contest at SWG!!

Here are the details


This month at SWG the design team is working with Tinkering Ink! We think that Tinkering Ink is such a wonderful company and their products are just over the top…so in honor of Tinkering Ink (our December Sponsor) we have a contest that will challenge you and fill this season with some scrapbooking joy!

Starting on Dec. 12th and going through Dec. 23rd we will be issuing 1 challenge per day! Simply complete as many challenges as you can on the dates that they are issued and upload to the SWG gallery before midnight CST on that same day for it to be counted!

Daily challenges can range from making a certain amount of cards or tags to making Home décor (and of course everything in between). You will also be required to use Tinkering ink products on 4 of the 12 challenges…so head to the store and pick up your tinkering ink products if you are in need! As always, we offer great prices on all of our products!

The Scrapper that completes the most of the issued challenges (and uploaded the same day that they are issued by midnight CST to the SWG gallery) will be our grand prize winner! *if there is a tie between 2 or more scrappers then it will go to a vote that will be open to the SWG members. The scrapper with the most votes will then be the grand prize winner.

However, after the grand prize winner is announced… it doesn’t end there for each challenge that you complete your name will go into a random drawing. We will pull out a winner out during the Dec. Crop (Counting down the last Friday in the year to midnight!) which will be held on Friday Dec. 28th (the last Friday in 2007) from 6-midnight CST!

So what are you playing for:

Our Grand Prize winner this month will win: The entire line of Yuletide

For each challenge you complete your name will go in the hat...at the crop we will draw out 1 name and the winner will receive the beloved line (only paper)

So what are you waiting for…head on over to SWG and get ready to add a little extra joy to your holiday season!
http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com

Baby it's Cold Outside

Sounds like a great day to stay in the house and scrap. That is exactly what I plan to do, well at least for the most part. Yesterday I cut up a bunch of papers so Jamie could make a paper chain. She was so proud of it. She hung it up on her window. Now Jeffrey wants to make one today. So I guess I will be cutting up some more xmas paper. Good thing I went on a xmas paper binge this year. I NEVER buy xmas paper really unless it is Basic Grey LOL.

So do you want to see my favorite layout ever? I haven't been able to post it here because it was in the Scrapstreet ezine last month. This is of my kiddos at Jeff's cousin's wedding over the summer. Jeffrey was the ringbearer. I did this layout originally for a challenge at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com. My Buddy Annette and I had to make up our own challenge. Everything had to be black and white and circular.


I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! XOXOX

Just a quick Update

Well the weather has finally gotten nasty here. Last night the power went out, and around 1:15 am it came back on. So I woke up and went to go find a battery backup for my alarm clock. I reset the time and the alarm so I didn't oversleep when it came time to wake Jeffrey up for school. So as soon as I get comfortable one of the smoke detectors started to beep. Ours are hardwired into the house with a battery back up. So once again I get out of bed to go reset the dectector hoping that will fix the problem. Thankfully it did but then I could NOT fall back asleep. Our bedroom faces the side where all the wind hits the house. So all I could hear was the rain being smacked up against the house. Now I can sleep thru a nice peaceful rainstorm but not when it is gusty. And my dear sweet husband is completely oblivious to it all. So I try to hunker down with a pillow over my head. I finally fall back asleep like an hour later. I guess that is all part of being a mom LOL!

Ok well I finally have a LO to share with you all. I did it for the Monthly challenge over at http://www.cropaddict.com/. We were challenged to do a Layout of one of our holiday traditions. The scan makes it a little blurry but I am still happy with how it turned out.



Here are a couple pics of My favorite girls and me from the Xmas party last weekend


I hope you all have a great weekend filled with lots of scrapping!!

I had an AWESOME weekend.

So you all know that my kiddos went off to their grandparents for the weekend. We went and picked them up yesterday. They really did have a great time and did NOT want to come home. My parents are currently living in a house that is in the middle of an orchard. My kids had a ball picking persimmons. Or as Jamie would call them Cimmamins. It was so cute. Here are a couple pics of them in the orchard from yesterday.

This is what Jeffrey and my dad did all day Saturday. This thing turned out to be about 6 feet long. All made out of scraps from my parents house they are building.


SO now I have even more great pics to scrap. Speaking of scrapping I got 2 layouts done this week. Not sure how much I like the first one. It is the Rockstar Layout of Jamie. It just didn't come out the way I pictured it in my head. The bling doesn't really stand out the way I hoped it would. Oh well.




The other one is a gift I did for xmas so I have to wait to post it. I also got great news that I won the Cosmo Cricket Contest at http://createmykeepsake.com/ for my Jamie Layout that I posted a couple weeks back. http://npealer.blogspot.com/2007/11/happy-friday.html

Have a great week everyone!

Counting Down the Hours...

Until I can ship my kids off to my parents for the weekend. I know it's probably horrible of me to be so excited about it. I know they are looking forward to it (my parents and my kids) as much as I am,so that makes it easier. LOL. I have a busy weekend that will be very nice kid free. Tomorrow marks the start of the crop at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com ,Then Saturday I can sleep in. We have a dinner/xmas party for sorority Saturday night. No, not your typical college sorority, more of a women's group. It is the group that I belong to that raises funds for the Diabetic Youth Foundation. So that will be a nice grown up evening out. I even splurged and bought me some dark red satin heels to go with my black cocktail dress. They are cute! I will have to take a pic and show you all. Then Sunday Off to pick up the kiddos at my parents. I have a ton of new scrappy stuff sitting here that I want to play with. So hopefully I can post some new layouts this weekend. Have a great weekend everyone!

Lastly I leave you with some pics of Jamie watching Charlie Brown's X-mas Tree. Its neat to see your kids enjoying the same holiday favorites that you did as a kid growing up.

Big Crop this Weekend!

I am so excited!! Scrappin with Grace is having a huge crop this weekend. Come join us as we travel the islands to collect stamps for our passports! There will be games, challenges and a ton of fun. Come join me at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com/

I finally finished decorating my entire house for Christmas. I have all 4 trees up. Yay! I have a bunch of homemade scrappy gifts that I want to get done. I worked on a few last night. Christmas will be here before you know it. I am gonna have to get real organized because Christmas marks the start of my busy time. The Birthdays will be coming in full force as soon as Christmas is over.

Here are a couple more pics to get you in the Christmas mood.

Now on to Christmas!

So where you one of those sale crazed shoppers that went out for Black Friday? I was, but there was NO way I was getting up at 4am to get me a deal. With me still trying to get over being sick, getting up that early and going out into the cold just seemed stupid to me. So I slept in a bit then got up and went and hit the stores. I got a good chunk of my shopping done which was nice. Only took me 12 hours LOL. My body was paying for it today. Things are tighter this year when it comes to how much money I can spend on Christmas. It is a bummer because I love buying gifts for my family and friends. I know I know, it's not about the gifts and it's the thought that counts, but it is still depressing. I guess there is always NEXT Christmas. LOL.

While I was out shopping yesterday I hit up a new scrap store in our general area. It is probably about 40 minutes from me. I have been wanting to check it out since it opened earlier this year but I have not ventured to that side of town in a while. I sure am glad I did yesterday. This store is huge! The owner carries a little bit of everything you could want. PLUS she is supposed to start carrying the ATG adhesive I use. Now that is the most awesome thing ever. I currently have to order mine online and it is a PITA! So now I need to find an excuse to hit that side of town more often!

Today was all about the decorating. Still have lots to do. We started out with letting the kids each have their own Christmas tree this year. Ask me in a week or two if I regret this decision. An almost 4 year old with a tree in her room could be a disaster. LOL Either way Jamie had a ball decorating her Princess tree. Here are a couple pics of that.



Jeffrey got to decorate a tree too. You think he is proud or what?



And Last but not least here is the last Layout I got done. Being sick has not helped my Mojo but I have lots more pics and new supplies that I want to attack. So hopefully you will be seeing a bunch more Layouts in the near future.

I've got the Bestest Best Friend!!

You know why? Because she bought us floor seats to see Celine Dion as my Christmas gift this year. Ok Ok I know some of you are thinking Celine Dion, why? You know she is one of those people you either love or hate. Well we love her. We saw her in Las Vegas last year and it was awesome, even up in the nosebleed section. I can't wait to see her 8 rows BACK! So thank you Steph, I love you!

On another note I flunked as a mom this week. I was sitting in the cave yesterday when I got a phone call. It was a recorded message stating my son had missed school that day. Whoops! Yea I thought he was off all week. Nope his break officially started today. Oh well what are they gonna do? Nothing.. They were only minimum days this week. And I would have realized I was wrong sooner if our phone had been working. LOL. The phone company came out yesterday to fix the line because we weren't getting incoming calls. It's probably all for the best anyways because he has been hacking all over the place. I just as soon have him stay home and rest.

Now on to Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a great holiday. I will be busy in the Kitchen tomorrow making my annual Thanksgiving Dinner.
XOXO

Wow It's been a week!

Not only since I blogged last but seems like a lot has happened since last Tues morning. Let's see where do I begin. Tuesday afternoon I met up with Ali and the kids to go to Folsom Zoo. It was a great time. I hadn't been there since I was 12. Everything was going great and then BAM! I came down with the flu that night. Temperature and all! NO FUN. So I basically stayed in bed from Tues afternoon to Thurs morning. Here are a couple pics from the zoo.

The Girls

The Monkeys


And Ali got this great shot of JJ and all of her static LOL

Friday we had our Parent Teacher conference and Jeffrey is right where I thought he should be. He got all A's and 1 B. Plus he is reading almost a grade ahead. That's my boy!! Friday night I was feeling a little better so I went to Bunco. Probably should have stayed home because I now have laryngitis. I sound horrible. Nothing better than sounding like a strangled cat every time you open your mouth.
Today I managed to clean up the cave. It is much improved. I got rid of a ton of stuff that was just collecting dust. Organized it a bit more. Now if I can get back to feeling better I might get my scrapping Mojo Back! We have a crop coming up at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com and I need to get some altered projects done. I can see them in my head, I have a clean scrap space now I just need the energy.
On another note, My dear sweet hubby has been trying really hard to find a new job. This is a big deal because he will basically be starting a new career. We just can't rely on the housing market here in CA to see us through. So maybe if you can send some positive thoughts his way we would appreciate it. Plus, My dear sweet friend Heather just had her first baby last Tuesday. I have not had a chance to talk to her with the week being the way it was, not to mention she wouldn't be able to hear me. LOL But I wish her and Mor best of luck on their new journey as parents!
So I guess that is it in a nutshell. Luv Ya!

Got me a Rock Star!

Both my kids love music. And someone, I believe my mother bought Jeffrey a guitar a few years back. The thing has seen better days. It is missing at least 2 strings but that doesn't stop my kids from rocking out with it. So the other day I was sitting in the cave when I heard my dear Jamie belting out a tune accompanied by her guitar playing. I knew this was gonna be a Kodak Moment. I had to act quick because once she sees the camera she will stop what she is doing and start posing. Makes it hard to get those great candid shots. So I very quietly grabbed my camera and turned it on. Thankfully it is not one that makes one of those obnoxious sounds when you turn it on alarming everyone you are about to take a picture. I snuck into the hall and click!! The first pic wasn't the greatest. I was too far away and she was kinda around the corner too far. But as always the posing continued. Here are a couple shots I got of my little Rock Star!





Maybe I have the next Hannah Montana on my hands LOL!

End of a Season

So today was Jeffrey's official last day of the soccer season. I was very proud of him. He did awesome job this year. This was his first year playing and I am pretty sure he loved every minute of it. Here are a couple pics from this season.





And one of his his little sis who sat at every game with minimal complaint!


Ok so maybe she isn't watching the game in this pic and I SWEAR she was not pulling out her hair LOL!

Now on to baseball season where they are already taking sign-ups. Geez you would think you could get a little break in between before you are writing out the next check. Oh well the things we do for our kids.

Happy Friday!

So yesterday I went and met a great friend for coffee. I don't see her nearly enough! And I would not be where I am today with my scrapping without her. She is incredibly talented and introduced me to so many techniques as well as my love for stamps and card making. So thanks KP! I hope you have an awesome B-day and a ton of fun at the Expo this weekend.

Do you ever feel really creative but just don't have enough time in the day to use it? That has been me this week. I have bought some new supplies that I want to use. Plus there are some great challenges on ALL the boards I frequent. Is it ski season yet?? Because if it is that will make things much easier. How you ask? Well that means the DH will be up in Lake Tahoe for 2-3 days at a time leaving me here home alone in my scrap room.

Here are a couple Layouts that I have managed to get done this week, The first one is one I made for the Treasure Hunt at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com/

And this one is for a Cosmo Crickey Contest over at CMK


I have a bunch more LO's that I want to get done. I snagged some great pics of my cousins myspace page of my other cousin's wedding. I wasn't able to attend so I might make a mini album of some sort.

Just a little TOO much fun!

I had a blast at the concert, so much so that I was paying for it the next day. Oh Well it was worth every minute. Adam is still HOT HOT HOT! This has been a great week for me. I won the "Hit your Mark" LO challenge at http://www.cropaddict.com/ . It was a total surprise to me. There was some great layouts to choose from. Glad I was not one who had to vote.



So yesterday I ventured into one of my LSS and fell in love. I was pleasantly surprised to find the new Prima Iron Orchid papers there. I LOVE these. Look at them! Yum-O





Plus I also bought me some American Crafts Metropolitan Collection
http://www.americancrafts.com/subcategory.php?id=25&sub=122

Now this particular LSS always has a great selection of products, but they don't usually venture away from the standard paper companies. So it was very nice to see new products from a different paper company than who you usually see on their shelves.

Now to just find the right project or picture to use with my new papers.

On another note I have 1 project done so far for the treasure hunt this week at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com/ Need to get a few more done so I can get those codes and win me some treasure Matey! Have a great day!

Maroon 5 Concert tonight

Ok so today is my Half Birthday! Not that its really important, I don't celebrate it. BUT today is the Maroon 5 concert. Yea!! Steph and I are off tonight to go see them. I cannot wait. I mean hello talk about sexy!


So I am off in a bit to get my nails done. Got some more projects done for the treasure hunt over at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com. I will post those tomorrow. So happy half birthday to ME!

The Treasure Hunt is On!

What a great way to start the month. I have been more than inspired using the Paper Trunk products this month over at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com/ Treasure Hunt! Just in the last 24 hours I have made 3 cards, 1 altered frame and 1 12x12 layout. Here are a couple of the items I have made for the treasure hunt.

I hope you are having a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by. I am sure I will have even more new projects up soon!

Exciting Day for Me!!

Ok well first off I am so excited because my first ever pub is being published today. You can find my LO at ScrapStreets Ezine here http://www.scrapstreet.com/magy2/07nov07/fixtures/chic.htm

I love this layout, one of my favorites that I have ever done.

Second today is the start of the Treasure Hunt at http://www.scrappinwithgrace.com/ . This is a fun contest sponsored by Paper Trunk http://www.papertrunk.com/ I can't wait to get started. Stop by and join in the fun.

Third here are some pics of my Kiddos from halloween