Introducing the Christmas Angel to you!

Alright friends and family- I can't express to you how excited I am that God has put this, "The Christmas Angel", in my own two hands not only for myself but to share with others! I know you all know who the "Elf on the Shelf" is whether you do it or not is another story, but this my dear friend is something that you will want to do! We as parents have an amazing opportunity to instill values and principles into our children and the Christmas season is the perfect time to do so. Its about a precious story, the birth of Jesus, which is the greatest example of love and how we can show love! We can use this angel and story to focus our kids on giving rather than receiving, the true meaning of Christmas, no matter what the age! If you would like to purchase one directly from me for $29.95, plus shipping unless you live in my surrounding area then I'll hand deliver it! If you choose to order from them directly, www.yourchristmasangel.com, please let them know who shared this fabulous new family tradition with you! Just put my name, Tiffany Fuller, in the "how did you hear about us?" box when checking out! We can one angel at a time restore the true meaning of Christmas and teach our children valuable lessons- the gift of giving!

back at it...

Well it looks like almost a year has past since I blogged away!  Well guess who is back and ready to conquer the world?  Well maybe not the world, but surely gonna try to stay on top of blogging...only time will tell, but in the mean time check out my little angels from ZOO BOO!  I know I know it's almost Thanksgiving, but never fear I'll get to that too!

A sneak peak of Miss Kirby

She has arrived...12/27/11, 1:19pm, 6.15lbs, 20" long, and PERFECT! We are in LOVE! The boys ADORE her and want to always love on her...We feel so blessed to have our lil' family- two monkeys and a princess! Praise the LORD for healthy-happy little ones that we get the honor of raising!

Here are some of her pics from our newborn photo session, check out her blog to get a peak http://blog.natalieblazeiphotography.com/2012/01/kirby-elle-houston-newborn-photographer.html- more to come, but gotta wait...

November socials

So I am SO behind on blogging- my computer died and well...I'm not sure how much longer it will live! I need to get an external hard-drive and free up some space on the computer before it's brain bust! :)

So...November is a month that I really don't change things up, in fact we do the same thing every year in our class! An annual Potluck Thanksgiving Dinner, which is always a HUGE success! The very first one we ever did was in our craftsman's style home, which was very small, but cozy and we transformed the living room into a "dinning hall"! The second one we did was at the Richard's house, which is a very spacious and perfectly decorated with place settings! The third one we did in the church cafeteria area because our class was busting out of the seems in folks homes! That was not my favorite place to do it because it wasn't cozy, the kiddos didn't have toys to keep them busy, but it worked for the time! Note to self: if you do have to do it somewhere like that please make sure to stress to the parents of kiddos to bring toys with them! Everyone was well behaved, but you can only stay so long and visit and then kiddos "find" things to do...This year we hosted it at our house! We have truly been blessed with our home- it isn't too big and it isn't too small- just right: a playroom and a very open concept, plus kinda central to all! I decided that afternoon about two hours before everyone arrived to move our living room furniture into the dinning room and set up a family friendly eating area! We had several couples bring folding tables and chairs and set those up and was pretty much able to get everyone into one room! Well...some kiddos were still running around in the playroom, which looked like Disney spit up in! It was so much fun, very COZY, people visited, people ate, and people laughed!

Now...what we do is our class budget takes care of the turkeys and then everyone else brings their favorite side dish, which amazingly works out perfect every year! So don't stress you won't have enough, because you've got your "growing" food (turkey) and then a bunch of really good side dishes from bread to pumpkin pie and green bean casserole!

Happy Thanksgiving and gobble gobble up some good ole fashion fun- just sitting around the table and chatting with those you share life with, LOVE!

Christmas- what?

My personality is to be a rule follower- that's just the way I am, so with that said I have always waited till the day after Thanksgiving to put up my decorations, but so many of my friends did this weekend and I'm calling them crazy, but also jealous cause I kinda want to, but I can't because of my OWN RULE!

BUT one thing that can't wait till after I give respect to the turkey is ordering my Christmas cards, because who doesn't love getting them that first weekend afterwards to jump start the season! Me! Me! Me! So go check out my super talented friend that designs cards from Christmas to wedding invitations, Little Bears Designs, and order away! OVER the TOP customer service and quality that you can't pass up! Also, she is having a giveaway that ends TONIGHT, so check out her blog for details and who knows you could win some FREE cards, but more than that you'll be introduced to a Mommy that loves her kiddos and designing cards!

sewing along

Let's just say I have been inspired lately to sew- so many things to sew! Let me just start by saying I don't truly enjoy the cutting the fabric, pinning it, or gosh...I guess I really don't find much fun it the whole process, but when I'm done I forgot all the the steps I didn't like to do, because I love my finished project (usually) and want to do it over again- kinda like childbirth or not?

Thus far this month I have sewn a ruffle bottom onesie (gift), a ruffle bottom pant (gift), a long sleeve belled sleeve and ruffle collar onesie to match the ruffle bottom pant (gift), and made two bows (gifts)! Check them out and note the source of the patterns for your reference! Now I've gotta get a sewing for Miss Kirby because she's gotta have a matching outfit like her BFF, Hannah! They are gonna be two weeks apart- so we think, but we shall see what GOD does! Check out the post on her Mommy's shower I co-hosted!


So the bow (my first hair bow) I made on a clip and then attached it via the clip to a headband for while she is little and then she can take off once Hannah has some hair to clip it to! The onesie just helps tie it together, although I wish I would of done the sleeves in polka dots and the ruffle around collar in the paisley, but its done and I think it turned out cute! I was pretty impressed with myself, if I do say so myself! Now the pants were my FAVORITE and I think Kirby may end up with way TOO many ruffle bottom pants, because they were pretty easy to make and HOW CUTE are they (statement)!


Now this bow was for Miss Laurel, Ashton's girlfriend, to match her Halloween pumpkin outfit! In order for me to get a picture of it clipped to someone's head, I had to bribe Archer with some candy corn, but he would ONLY do it if I did not get his face in the picture, because he said BOYS were NOT suppose to wear ONLY girls! I laughed SO hard and got my picture! NOW...if you read this blog don't tell Archer that I wrote about this- I just may get into trouble!

Oh dear...I forgot to take a picture of the ruffle bottom onesie, but check out my inspiration! It was too cute with LOTS of pink and baby leg warmers to coordinate, which I just bought at Target!

Moving party

...so we have a couple in our class that are moving and there has been an evite sent out in round up tons of folks to offer help! So I thought why not turn this into a party, "Helping Hands Help Others"- now I am not planning this since I have prior commitments, but here are my thoughts and ideas for those that are wanting to do something like this-I forwarded my ideas to the group planning this in our class and they were gonna run with them...

The earlier the better, send out an evite at least a month prior to moving date, so that folks can mark their calendars, especially this time of year- people calendars get crazy with holidays approaching!

Set the time for as early as possible 9am is usually good for those people helping, because lets face it- it is their Saturday off! Have plenty of drinks: water, Gatorade, and any other hydrating drinks for during the move! As soon as folks start arriving put them to work (people should NOT expect breakfast, but do mention in evite that drinks, snacks, and lunch will be provided, so there are no surprises)- no need for standing around- get the "party" started! As far as instructions for those being moved, PLEASE make sure all your belongings are BOXED and ready to be moved- nothing worst then arriving and having to pack up lose ends or even worse move them- it takes too long! Once the house is emptied out then as the "host" hang out snack packs to those people helping to take with them for the drive in between houses to refuel before unloading!

SNACK packs- what are these? Well, fill up a brown bag with a bottled water, banana, and a trail mix with a little thank you note enclosed! Make sure the trail mix is a good blend and make sure to have nuts in there that are high in energy! Bananas are good because...

Bananas Provide Energy (click link for reference)
Because of the abundance of vitamins and minerals, bananas are a great source of natural energy. Eating only two bananas will give you enough energy to exercise or workout for an hour and a half. Bananas are also ideal for eating during that midday lull when you feel tired and sluggish. Instead of drinking caffeine or having a sugary snack, bananas provide a level of energy that lasts longer without the dramatic crash caused by caffeine.

NOTE: enclosed in or on bag (just an idea): Here is a little mix for the trail between our old home and new one for you to refuel- thank you for blessing us with your help and time! Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.

Once everyone arrives safely at your new home immediately start unloading and make sure to brief everyone where things are to go before hand! Soon lunch time will be approaching so this is where you gather those non-lifting helpers and start making lunches! You could do either sandwiches, chips, fruit, and a cookie, or order pizza and call it done! Make sure to get plenty of paper goods, so you don't have to worry about washing anything! At this point those that would prefer a soda, whip those out and make sure that everyone STOPS to eat! You should be pretty much nearing an end at this point, so wrap up the kitchen mess and finish unloading!

If you are "hosting" this move, please bring in some welcoming flowers for the new homeowners as a special treat! Who is the HOST of this event: someone in the class or group that is the "social" planner that put the evite together, put the snack pack together for the movers and movees, and coordinate/bought the food!

QUESTION: who pays for the food and drinks during the move and snack bags- the ones being moved, unless you take up a collection from the group or have a class budget that could assist in the event! (just my thoughts)

Questions or comments- leav'em and I'll answer them! Thanks