After Christmas Craft

Who doesnt love crafting??? Who doesnt love a good deal??? Who doesnt love CRAFTING and a GOOD DEAL all in one???
I cant take all the credit for this project. A friend of mine, Megan, posted pictures on Facebook of the wreath that she made before Christmas and I just LOVED how it turned out. I made our Winter wreath about 4 years ago and I knew it was time for a new one. I could not wait to try and make a similar wreath to Megan's but I knew I was going to wait until after Christmas so I could take full advantage of the 50% off sales.

Here is my inspiration, Megan's ornament wreath:


Megan used a wire hanger as her form. She added a bow she made with ribbon to cover the hook.


I did not have a wire hanger, but did have a wood wreath that I picked up at the dollar store in the fall to make a fall wreath but never did. The day after Christmas I went to Target to check out the sales. Since this was the first time making this wreath I wasnt sure how it would turn out so I didn't want to spend a ton of money on the ornaments. I knew I wanted to do red and silver and found the perfect ones IN THE DOLLAR SECTION!!! Yes, the dollar section and they were 50% off!!! I bought 3 tubes of each color for a total of $3 on the ornaments. I couldnt wait to get home and start crafting. (I actually went back and bought 1 more tube of each color a few days later in case I needed more and they were only $ .25 a tube!)
I covered the wreath with silver ribbon (that I have had in my Christmas stuff for the past 4 years). Then I basically just started gluing the ornaments in place. There was no real science to it. I am a perfectionist and wanted it to be perfect but there were several times I just gave in and put them where ever they would fit. I realized that I needed smaller ornaments to fill in spaces and to break it up a little. Good thing I have TONS of little ornaments that I put in vases. I just grabbed my silver, red and frosted clear ones and went back to work.
I am really happy with how it turned out, although there are several spots that bother me. Maybe I will get inspired again and add a few more ornaments before hanging it up next Christmas.
Here is my finished product:



What do you think??? I still have to add a ribbon at the top but I will deal with that in December :)

Whats in a name?

Before we found out that Carson would be having a baby brother, we (or I) decided that this baby would be named BEFORE going into the hospital. If you didnt know already, we had a hard time naming Carson before he was born. Every time we talked about names, I just could not picture our son being named that. I kept thinking "what if it's the wrong name?" or "what if I pick this name then change my mind later after everyone already knows?" When I went into labor (5 days early) we still were very unsure about what we were going to name our new precious baby boy. At the time, the choices were Carson James or Hunter James. Boy am I glad we picked Carson! Hunter is a nice name and I like it, but just not sure I can picture my son being named Hunter.
That brings us to naming this baby...
There is 1 criteria that has to be met in the naming of our children... one of their names must be related to a family name somehow. My brother, sister and I all have names from family members and Greg's middle name is his dad's name. Carson's middle name is James just like Greg's. Since we already honored Greg's side of the family I really wanted to use a name from my side of the family. Do you realize how hard it is to find a name that flows with Szymanski??? And to make matters even harder, it also had to go well with Carson. Immediately we were faced with "rhyming" names. I have always liked the name Bryce, but Greg thought it sounded like a nickname so I suggested Bryson. We both really liked it, but did not like how is sounded with Carson. Ok, back to the drawing board! What about Spencer? When I was pregnant with Carson, Spencer was a name that was always on my list, but never really considered. Greg liked it so that became #1 on our list. Now we had to find a way to use a family name with it. My dad's name is Stephen and that would be quite a mouth full of S's if we did Spencer Stephen Szymanski so it was back to the drawing board. Then I had an idea... what if we used the initials of my dads name??? My dad's side of the family is Jewish and a way to honor family members is to use their initials instead of their full name. (If I have this wrong, then i'm sorry. This is what I grew up hearing, or maybe I thought I heard it) Since Spencer and Stephen both start with the same letter, it worked :) Now I wanted to see if I could find a middle name using the same initial as my dad's middle name. That part was easy for me... Noah.
Ok, so I think I have explained way too much in this blog about how we came to the conclusion of our new baby boys name. We ordered new personalized Christmas stockings (super cheap after Christmas) so I guess it is official now...



Spencer Noah Szymanski!

Before Christmas Fun

Winter Break started at 11:01am on Friday the 17th and boy was I excited. My mom and sister were flew in that morning. Greg and Carson went to pick them up since I had to work and then Greg brought them up to my school. My mom and sister have never seen any of my classrooms or schools since I started teaching. It was nice to show my mom around and introduce her to some of the awesome people I work with. My plan was to get some copies made for the week back to school, but once they got there, I was ready to pack up my things and get home.
That afternoon/evening we stayed home and relaxed since my mom and sister had gotten up at like 4:30am to make their early morning flight. The next morning we headed to my cousin's house for a "Christmas" breakfast. Carson was excited to see Jordan (my cousin's 7 year old). Jordan and Carson got to exchange presents and Carson was just in LOVE with his new remote control train. He had to have it open right then and there. He did not put it down until it was time to go home, and even then he had to hold it in the car. When we got home Carson ran in the house to show daddy (daddy had a cold and stayed home to rest) and he had to set up the track that came with the train. That train kept him busy for the next several days.
I dont really remember what days we did what, but the the days leading up to Christmas were full of fun, shopping and spending lots of money. We took Carson to the gym, went to Glendale Glitters, made gingerbread houses, outlet shopping, saw Santa, went on a train ride, date night with the hubby, baked cookies, lots of shopping, pedicures and lunch with my sister, painted ornaments, "snow" at Desert Ridge (an outdoor shopping center) and church on Christmas Eve. Here are a few pictures from all of the fun leading up to Christmas:

Breakfast and gift exchange with The Politz Family (Jordan ran off before the picture)


Carson playing with his new train


Once we got home, he set up the track


Making Gingerbread houses




Glendale Glitters




Walking around the neighborhood looking at the lights before bedtime


Train Ride with Mimi


Sitting on Santa's lap


Painting Ornaments (made from salt dough and cookie cutters)


Running in the "snow" at Desert Ridge


Shaking the keys and singing Jingle Bells at church


After Church


Reading 'The Night Before Christmas'


On Christmas Eve we went to the 5:30 church service and then came home and had a delicious dinner, lamb, roasted potatoes and asparagus and noodles. Carson got to open 1 present before bed, his new ornament. I found the perfect ornament at Hallmark, Mickey Mouse on a Choo Choo. Carson loves it. Then we got our jammies on, left cookies out for Santa and read 'The Night Before Christmas.' Carson was so excited for Santa to come.
I will update more tomorrow with all of the fun from Christmas day.

Shutterfly Holiday Cards!

I love Shutterfly. I have ordered Christmas cards from them in the past and I have never been disappointed. They have so many cute cards to chose from. It always takes me several days to decide. I have also made a few calendars. I made each set of grandparents a calendar of Carson's first year and my mom still has hers in a drawer.
After Greg and I were married I made a super cute desk calendar for my desk at work. I got so many compliments on it. I really should make another one :)

I just took at look through all 274 sample holiday cards to choose from and it is hard to pick a favorite. Since we havent taken our family pictures yet, it is hard to pick one to go with the colors but I am really in love with this card:



There are also over 700 Christmas Cards to choose from as well. I will be taking a look at those later on after Carson goes to bed :)

Shutterfly is giving away 50 FREE holiday cards! Yes, you heard right, FREE!!!!
Now, if you love Shutterfly as much as I do, then click here to check out this amazing offer!

Survey Says...

I was tagged so now I must fill out this lovely survey. Megan over at Meg & Tom Plus Brayden is an east coast friend of mine. I know Megan from playing field hockey and lacrosse with her in high school and Greg graduated with her. Now we are bloggy and facebook friends and we love sharing crafts and talking about our adorable little boys. Well here you go Megan... this one's for you!!!

1. If you could be friends with any fictional character who would you choose and why?

~Hmmmmmm I would say Carrie Bradshaw and Charlotte York from Sex and the City. LOVE all the fashion and getting to live in the city

2. What is the best date you've ever had? (It could be with the person you are with now or someone from the past)

~It's hard to think of the best date... it's been so long since I have been on one. I would have to say our 1 year wedding anniversary. We stayed the weekend at an amazing hotel and ate some of the best food ever that weekend.

3. What was the last good book that you read?

~This is not something you usually hear from a teacher, but I dont really like to read... I do enjoy children's books though

4. Someone gives you a hundred dollars and tells you that you have to spend it today - on yourself. What would you buy?

~WoW $100 on me?!?! I am going to have to take Megan's answer and say a manicure, pedicure and massage (if there is money left after the mani/pedi)

5. If you could travel anywhere in the world what would your top 5 places be?

~Italy
~France
~Greece
~Australia
~London

6. What are 2 or 3 items on your "bucket list"?

~Thats a tough one... I guess I would say travel. I would love to make it to any of the places on the list above.

7. If you could live the life of one TV character who would it be, what show are they from, and why?

~Charlotte York from Sex and the City. Amazing clothes, great job (in the gallery), finds her true love and has a beautiful family.

8. When you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner in a few weeks what will you say that you are most grateful for this year?

~I am thankful for my very supportive family and friends. I am also very thankful for my husband, son and my bun in the oven :) I don't know what I would do without my husband and my days are so much brighter when I hear my son laugh and giggle.

Now I need to tag a few people to complete this survey. Since my blog is not so popular I only have a few followers. I will tag Kara @ Mine for the Making and hopefully she will fill out the survey and tag a few of her followers :)

Here are your questions:

1. If you could be friends with any fictional character who would you choose and why?


2. What is the best date you've ever had? (It could be with the person you are with now or someone from the past)

3. What was the last good book that you read?

4. Someone gives you a hundred dollars and tells you that you have to spend it today - on yourself. What would you buy?

5. If you could travel anywhere in the world what would your top 5 places be?

6. What are 2 or 3 items on your "bucket list"?

7. If you could live the life of one TV character who would it be, what show are they from, and why?

8. When you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner in a few weeks what will you say that you are most grateful for this year?

YAY I WON!!!!!

Kara, a teacher and mommy friend of mine, is super crafty and has an amazing blog over at Mine for the Making . Kara has offered a few giveaways over the last few months and of course I have entered all of them. Last week, Kara had a 200 Reader Giveaway and she was giving away some super cute Fall Blocks. Well guess who the winner was?!?!?!?

ME!!!! I am so happy to win (I never win anything) and I can't wait to put those super cute fall blocks with all of my scarecrows and leaves that I already have out.

Thank you Kara!!! You have totally made my day :)

Long weekend in Maryland

Carson and I flew to Maryland Wednesday night ans stayed until Monday morning. We had a great time visiting family and friends.
Wednesday night, Carson was great on the airplane. He was such a big boy and sat in his seat the entire time. We played games, read books, colored, ate snacks and watched movies. Carson was so excited to go to Mimi and Pop's house. As the plane was flying into Baltimore Carson was looking out the window saying "there's Mimi's house" at any and all the little lights he saw. When we landed it was midnight so we couldnt wait to get back to my parents house so we could go to bed. Carson slept in until 11:30 Maryland time so we got a late start on the day. Our only plans for Thursday was to go to the pumpkin patch so we ate breakfast/lunch and got ready to go. I really wanted to take Carson to Butler's Orchard for all of the fun stuff they do, but since it was during the week, none of the fun activities were going on. We decided to go to a different farm where we could also pick apples and they had animals for us to see. Carson really enjoyed all of the pumpkins and couldn't decide which one he wanted. He tried to pick up several that were way too big for him. When we finally found one small enough for him, he carried it and "threw" it in the wheel barrel. Then we were off to the orchard to pick some apples. Carson had so much fun finding the good apples and picking them. As he picked them he said "turn, turn turn" and he would turn them until they came off of the tree. It was so cute. Too bad for me, my camera died shortly after we started :(
We ended up picking enough apples to make an apple pie and even had a few extras to snack on.
Thursday night Carson and I went over to my best friend, Kara's house to see her and those 2 little cuties, Evan and Landon. They were not feel well, but that didnt stop me from cuddling on them and Carson had fun playing with their toys and he even helped me feed Landon.
Friday was not a very exciting day, we just went shopping. Friday night, my other bestie Cari, dragged me to the high school football game. Some her her co-workers were going to be there so she told them she would go. Cari teaches middle school Spanish so she saw several old students who were now in high school. Let's just say I was ready to leave after 5 minutes. Games are not them same 10 years later.
Saturday was another lazy day. I did some more shopping with my mom and got to eat some Rita's Italian Ice :) Then it was time to start getting ready for my 10 year high school reunion.
The reunion was nice, but definitely not was I was picturing. I know the planners did their best with what they had to work with, but it was a little dull. Oh well, at least I can say I went.
Sunday was a long day... we decided to drive to Salisbury to visit my sister. It was probably not the best idea to be driving in the car all day the last day in town, but oh well, it was nice to see my sister and her boyfriend. For those of you who know what Salisbury is like, you know that there is NOTHING to do there. We went out to lunch and then took Carson to the zoo and park. The Salisbury Zoo is not like any zoo you have ever been too. This zoo has about 5 animals and and lots of trees. Carson did have fun hanging out with Tyler and wanted Tyler to carry him around. There is a very nice park at the end of the zoo and Carson had a lot of fun playing. By this time Carson was tired and ready for a nap so we headed back to Samantha's apartment to drop her and Tyler off and then head back home. Carson fell asleep after a few minutes and slept about 2 hours. Once we got back to my parents house I had a long night of laundry and packing. I needed to make sure everything was done before I went to bed because our flight was at 7am and we needed to leave by 4:30am.
The next morning, we woke up at 4am and headed to the airport. Carson started out in a great mood. It wasnt until about hour 2 of the 5 hour flight he started flipping out. He no longer wanted to sit in his carseat. It probably wouldnt have been too bad if it hadnt been a full flight. Carson had to sit on my lap since he wouldnt sit in his seat and that got old quick. I finally got him back in his seat for the last hour and we watched movies and ate some cookies. When we landed, Greg was waiting for us at the gate. I was so happy to see him. I was exhausted. We got our bag and headed home. Carson and I both fell asleep in the car. Carson slept for 2 hours once we got home and I slept for about an hour. Bed time came early that night and Carson was in bed at 7 and I was in bed at 7:30. I slept for almost 10 hours and boy did I feel good this morning. I did have to go back to work today though. It was a long day and I am glad it's over. It will be another early night tonight.

I will leave you with some pictures of our trip:

Fun on the airplane :)




Pumpkin Patch






Uncle "Deedle" (Daniel) helped Carson get an apple that was high in the tree


Picking apples with Mimi


Salisbury Zoo
Carson and his buddy Tyler





"Flying" with Aunt "Mantha" (Samantha)