December 2011 Scrapbook Weekend

My website is down! So here are the cropping details!

Take some time for you this holdiay season or finish up those holiday projects!

Join me at the Jameson Inn in Carmel. The details are:
Saturday December 4th, 9 AM until Whenever! $40 fee (includes lunch, dinner)
Sunday, December 5th, 9 AM - 5 PM. $30 (includes lunch)
Care to stay overnight? Rooms with two queen beds are available for $79.

Email Kristy at kristyataylor@gmail.com if you'd like to sign up!$50

On Vacation!

Here we go again, adventuring the 17 hours (over 1,000) mile trek to Fort Myers Beach. Grandpa's Suburban loaded with kayak on top, enough pool toys for ten kids, beach towels, bathing suits, and the seven of us (our five plus grandma and grandpa Mathews). We leved Thursday middle of the night as soon as Seth arrived home from work. Seth took off driving the first part while the rest of us slept. Then in early a.m. grandpa took over driving! The kiddos slept until around 8 a.m.... and then woke up ready for the anual stop at McDonald's for the big breakfast! Myles just made a comment a week or so ago about how much he looked forward to waking up in the car and eating breakfast at McD's. It's truly the small things like this that make the car ride so easy-going for the kids. Dane was a fantastic car rider. I thought for sure he'd be tearful and misearble the entire trip. However, he slept and was cooperative (we'll see how this compares to the ride home!). Myles and Elliott enjoyed the movies, Nintendo DSi's, coloring books, markers, and snacks! We arrived to Fort Myers just shy of happy hour! We unpacked what little things we needed for the night and morning, then headed out for dinner to the Upper Deck. This place had a great view of the marinas and boats, live music, and yummy pizza. After this we picked up a few drinks and sat out front our hotel looking forward the week ahead. Saturday morning we played around the hotel (Pierside) in the pool and beach. We then went down to our condo for the week (Kona Beach Club). We unloaded our stuff! The kids played at the pool and then the sand and then the pool. Dane isn't so sure about the pool. He won't get in quite yet. He does enjoy the ocean. Myles and Elliott are little fish jumping in nad out and in and out.

Scrapbook Saturday Layouts from 2010

(to see the layouts without the sliding, simply click on the picture, a new window should open up, and then choose gallery, you will then be able to scroll through without the sliding)

Above is a slide show of the layouts for the Scrapbook Satuardays at Logan Village Mall! All of these layouts were showcased during the Saturdays meet ups! This wonderful program is about to begin again, if you are interested, please email me at kristyataylor@gmail.com. The first Scrapbook Saturday is this Saturday, January 8th from 10:30-Noon! You do not have to be there the entire time, just simply show up sometime between 10:30 and Noon to complete the technique. The fee for the year is $25.00. This includes one 12x12 page each month. If you like to do two-page layouts, you can pay an additional $5.00 per month! Questions, please call 317-937-8940 or stop on over this Saturday at Logan Village Mall (10th and Logan Street in Noblesville).

Christmas 2010

December was filled with holiday cheer as the kids anticipated the arrival of good ole St. Nick! What's funny, is they enjoy the though of Santa Clause, however, they don't dare sit on his lap or even write him a letter stating what they want! Actually, Elliott did write a letter to Santa at school, and the teacher mailed it off. So in Elliott's mind, she already wrote her letter!

Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma and Grandpa Mathews. The kids loved their presents. Myles got a huge lego Harry Potter castle set and Elliott go her very own pink Nintendo DSI! And of course I was spoiled, again, by my mother! She's so sweet and gave Seth and I each an envelope with some money. This will sure be spent well towards the new house! Dane got a neat toy he can place is cars on and they go around in circles. Elliott also loved her chocolate in her stocking. Myles got his very ow art bin filled with his very own markers, crayons and pencils.

Christmas Day was great, too. The kids awoke at a whopping 8:00 am. I remember as a kid waking up at the wee hours of 4am! Dane was entranced immediately with his Train Table, he ripped off the paper and didn't move the entire time. Santa worried for nothing about the fact Dane only had one gift to unwrap.... it didn't seem to bother Dane one bit! Myles and Elliott hurriedly opened their presents with joys, screams and excitement! Seth surprised me (with shopping on Christmas Eve Eve) a fancy wine opener and some socks. Santa brought Seth some new aftershave and jeans.

Christmas afternoon we headed to Ft WAyne for a little holiday surprise for Kathy (we showed up a day early). We spent the evening at the Taylor household in Fort Wayne and had Christmas with Seth's family on Sunday! We got a garage door opener, yeah! Myles was super thrilled with his Harry Potter Wii game and Elliott enjoyed her clothes and trinkets! Dane got a super cool Little People winding thing he can put his cars down and they go around in circles! Dane really enjoys playing with cars.

Sunday night my prayers came true... Grandma Taylor decided to come home with us for the week. With closing on December 29th and only about three boxes packed, I was a little frazzled! Grandma Taylor does so well with the kiddos, she cooks, she cleans, and shge entertained the kids so I can get some boxes packed. I am sure thankful she gave up her week to spend with us!

December 2010

Taylor Sledding Event!


Where to begin on this month. Well, let's start with putting up the tree. Wow, what an acitivty. It was a true family event! EAch and every person enjoyed hanging up the lights, ornaments, garland and a few extras! Of course the tree didn't stay pretty for very long! Dane enjoyed taking them off all the way up until he could reach. No sense in putting the stuff back on, he would simply pull off again. And after the fourth time the tree fell over, the ribbons and garland came off! This month was extremely special for all of us, we had a wonderful holiday celebration with each of our familes. The kids ended a fantastic semester of school! Elliott is making wonderful progress learning her letters and numbers! Myles of course simply enjoys recess! He does pretty well in school. It is so awesome to have a child that truly 'get's it!' Myles is able to think rationally and draw his own conclusions! The end of the month was fantastic as we approached our closing on our new home... will have an entire post of it's own! Enjoy Decembers photos!

November 2010

Elliott turned six on November 1st, oh my I can't believe she is six-years-old. The house made great progress this month. It is so exciting to live so close to the construction! We can see changes daily - and I mean daily! There are always pods of people working diligently to construct our home! Enjoy the candid collage of photos!

October 2010

October was super busy in the Taylor household. The house (finally) broke ground, I started classses with University of Phoenix, and of course the three kids were super active. I don't think Dane ever sits still for more than a minute! Unfortunately at the end of the month, I decided to pull my scrapbooking website offline while we adjust to all the changes in our lives! Enjoy this collage of photos taken throughout the month. We had fun celebrating Elliott's birthday in Fort Wayne at the end of the month! Elliott enjoyed her birthday celebration with her girlfriends and their dolls!

Time sure flies.... I cannot belive my last posting was in August! Okay, I vow to make a better attempt at updating my blog! I know many of you like to read about the crazy things we do! It has been so crazy the last several weeks, I can barely keep up with my own life!

Okay, so here is a compilation of photos from the month of September. This month, Elliott joined Girl Scouts. This is huge because it marks the first time one of our childrent actively wanted to participate in something withoug pushing or prodding! Yeah!. You will see in one of the photos Elliott at a Girl Scout function.

This month also was a trip to the orchard, so happy for this time of year. I do enjoy summer very much and hate to see it go, however, the changing of the seasons (all except winter) are enjoyable!

Dane and Seth are creating an extra special bond, I guess they are making up for the entire first year of Dane's life since Dane wanted nothing to do with anyone but his mamma!

Myles recieved an excellent mid term of all A's and B's. I do hope this momentum continues throughout the school year!

I finalized my paperwork to begin classes in October to go back to school to obtain my teaching certificate, yeah me!

Seth and I celebrated 9 years of marriage on the 22nd. Yes, it is hard to believe that we have been married for almost a decade! It's been good, bad, and everything in between. A huge milestone for us this month was finally getting a committment to lend a mortgage so we could get started on our new house! We are choosing to build a home in the current neighborhood we live in (right now we live in my brother's house). We are super excited about this adventure as it means we will again have our own place we can call home. This means finally being able to hang things on the walls, painting, and so much more. We are building a two story house on a walk out basement. We will have three bedrooms and a few other rooms to spread out in!

American Girl 2010

This September we headed up north to Chicago for our annual visit to American Girl. Who would of thought six years ago when we made our first trip, it would have evolved into this wonderful yearly trip. Elliott was super excited about choosing a big doll this year. On the days leading up the trip, Elliott wouldn't even bother looking at the Bitty Baby stuff in the catalog, only the big doll stuff! And sure enough while at American Girl, it as straigt to the big dolls. Elliott chose Lanie, the girl of the year! And Lanie was adorable with her blond curls and green eyes. If we hadn't cut Elliott's hair a few weeks before they'd very much resemble each other! Elliott had a ball picking out clothes and acessories for her doll! And of course Grandma and I enjoyed watching her excitement. This is why we do what we do each year.

This year we stayed downtown Chicago, which was amazingly priced at only $35.00 a night. We were minutes from Michigan Avenue and shopping! The hotel had a very warm pool, and we all enjoyed swimming. It was nice to see Dane hadn't forgot how to swim! We enjoyed a nice dinner at a mexican restaurant just steps from our hotel. We visited Aunt Perce's new condo - which has an amazing veiw of downtown Chicago. She can even see Lake Michigan and lots of buildings!

We did some major walking (as always), I think Dad's pedometer registered 10 miles. It is super easy to do this in a day in Chicago. I

My litter tuber

Finally at the last boat ride of the season Elliott decided to try out the tube! She was a little hesitant at first, but it didn't take her long to put thumbs up and go fast!

Peek a boo baby....

Danes loves his peek a boo! Give him an object to place his head behind, he will enlighten you with his smile and playfulness.

First Day of School

My little girl, Elliott, started Kindergarden today. I can't believe it... she's gone all day everyday. She has begun her life long adventure and she will now evovle into a wonderful person (hopefully) with a mix of home and external forces! Elliott was more than ready, and to be honest, so was I! I love my time at home with Elliott, however, she will excel in the classroom socially and academically! The days with her her will be super quiet! I think Dane will miss her as much as I do! Myles of course was as brave as ever! A bit nervous, but ready to take on a new year in 3rd grade!

My little swimmer!!!

Since the beginning of summer, Dane has been eagerly kicking and paddling! One of the neighbors let us borrow this little ring, and Dane went off on his own! We've spent lots time this summer at the pool, very few visits have included a camera! So, I was able to capture this photo via a cell phone of a person at the pool (thankful for technology)!

My new Picasso

Dane's first painting! He actually did so good, I kept it! NOw if only I can find a frame large enough it will make a cute wall hanging!

Enjoying lunch outside

The pool in the neighborhood isn't finished yet, so the kids have played outside in the sprinkler and baby pool - which is why you see them in their swim suits! This particular sunny day, they are all enjoying a snack outside with the babies! Myles and Elliott enjoy placing the slide in the pool for some adventure.

Thanks to grandma and grandpa Mathews we have a great table. And thanks to our grand neighbors, the VanFleets, we have four chairs! It's mismatched, but who really cares. And the patio is right off the kitchen so it's easy to place the high chairs outside for the babies. Oh and the umbrella is a beach umbrella, however, it is providing shade! The babies sure enjoy sitting outside (the baby girl in the pink hat is Reagan, the neighbor girl I baby sit - Dane's first love!)

Read on back

I updated some posts in the first two weeks of May, so for all you loyal blog readers, check on back for some fun insights to our everyday lives!

Dane's belated Birthday gift!

So, my punctuality for Dane's birthday gift isn't the best, but this one was totally worth the wait! I actaully did get Dane a gift in April, but returned it (it was a toddler climb n swing playset, but it was too wobbly and felt unsafe)! And today I was at the right place at the right time. I got a heck of a deal on this brand new power ride on toy! It was the floor model and last one at Wal Mart! And the kids were instantly in heaven! And why, you ask, did I get this for Dane knowing that he won't be able to drive it for a few years? A few weeks ago, we were at the neighbors and Dane took a ride along in one of the power wheels, and LOVED every minute. Dane was grinning ear to ear. So I made a mental note, ask Santa! But when this deal came to me, I just couldn't pass it up! And I could totally justify it since I had just taken back Dane's original birthday gift! And once home, it was an instant hit with all the kids!

Sans training wheels!

Myles finally took the plunge and attempted riding his bike without training wheels! Yeah! And now we can't get him off the bike! I'm so proud of him for building up the courage to attempt such a large task! Yeah for him! He was so happy and loved every minute of it!

Hunter's Crossing day at Victory Field

Hunter's Crossing is our neighborhood we've lived in the past two years! In this time we've made some great friends! We all decided it'd be fun to take a trip to a baseball game! And we did have a great time. The kids (and Seth) enjoyed hot dogs, Dane enjoyed walking around the lawn area, and I enjoyed people watching! At the end of the game was a nice show of fireworks, and Myles stated this is the best Summer vacation ever! It is great to know he is already off to a great start!

It's all about the presentation

While I was looking forward to returning from vacation, there are some things I am not thrilled about returning to, and that is cooking EVERY day. My dad did most the cooking on vacation, he did a great job! And for that I was spoiled! Now back at home, it's back to cooking. And there are few things that make it fun and easy. Like for tonights dinner I used tortillas and made mini taco bowls. The kids find things like this unique, and I find it food tastes better when the presentation is better! What's funny about this (I should of taken a photo of this, too) is how Elliott prepares here food! She has a special place for everything and often times she hads a 'ta da' to the plop of the spoon, and she always looks at her plate with happiness after she has placed everything. So, I must say again, it's all about presentation!