I have something new releasing this weekend!  Thought I’d catch you guys up to date before then…. just to get the awkwardness out of the way. Heehee!

SO…. December Daily…. yeah.

It’s not an EPIC fail per se, it’s just a work-in-progress.  That’s what I’m telling myself so I don’t feel so guilty.  I actually have all my photos taken and on my computer!  I just need to print them and get them in the book.  So I’m taking an incomplete right now, but I can come back and finish it for later!

Since we last spoke- we decided to start the new year off with a clean slate, literally!  We converted our pantry door in to a chalkboard, cleaned out our guest room and converted it in to an office/craft room for me, had a huge yard-sale and cleaned out the garage and rented a giant dumpster and started chucking things.  It felt GREAT!  Our house is clean, de-stashed, open and airy and I love it.  It’s like a weight off my shoulders.  So that’s been taking up a lot of my time.  I’ll try to post pictures of my new office for you soon!

I’ve also been working on a new collection.  It actually contains TWO full kits- along with all the extras- and it’s releasing this week.  It was a major undertaking but I’m super happy with it and I hope you like it!  I’ve got some cute little freebies to go with it too!!  I’ll post more about that on Wednesday but until then- here’s a sneak peek and if you want to enter for a chance to win one of the kits- head over to Scrap Orchard and leave me a message!!

Whew- it’s like ripping off a band-aid. I’ve been feeling so guilty about dropping the December Daily ball that I haven’t had the courage to come face the music but now that it’s over- it’s not all that bad!!

I fell behind a little last week so I’m printing up all my photos at once today!  I thought I’d do a little “recap” for you guys!!

Day 7

Today was all about Pippy [our new kitten Pip Squeak].  She likes climbing our Christmas tree (it’s her new favorite nap spot).  All the tree jiggling actually broke the top of the tree and our star was hanging upside down.  We tried to fix it a few times but as soon as Pippy gets back in the tree, it falls over.  This morning, we woke up to find Zakkey perched on top of the tree, holding our star up-right!  It was all fine and dandy until the next morning when he moved and the star fell over again.  Oh well- he tried!

Some of you may remember that last summer we lost our kitten, Fred.  She never came home and I’m hopeful that someone picked her up and is giving her lots of loving.  We decided to get a new kitten to help fill the hole in our hearts.  Zoe went with me to the shelter and she picked out Pip Squeak.  Even though she looks like Fred, they couldn’t be more different.  Pip Squeak is very independent and has a bit of a wild streak.  She also doesn’t like me.  To make matters worse- she DOES like my husband!  I can’t even chalk it up to kitty aloofness because she’s all about DH and DD. She just doesn’t care for me!  LOL   Ya can’t win’em all.

Day 8

We took Zoe to ride the Polar Express train in Williams, Arizona.  The night before we left, she was very concerned about what was going to happen to Zakkey.  Since we can’t touch him, she knew we couldn’t pick him up to bring him with us.  So she put her pink car out and told him to make sure he was in the car by the morning so he could come to Arizona with us— That’s my Zoe!  She’s all about the loop holes.

The Polar Express was truly magical.  I found myself tearing up quite a few times.  Zoe had the most wonderful time and really enjoyed herself.  She can be so serious sometimes so it really warmed my heart to see her being a “kid” and getting caught up in the magic of Christmas.  When Santa stopped by our seats, he handed her this bell and told her it belonged to his reindeer Comet.  Her eyes lit up and she was so honored to have one of Comet’s bells.

Day 9

We were packing up to head home and Zoe called out to me “Look Mom!  Zakkey and Barbie got married and got a baby!”  I looked over and found one of Zoe’s Polly Pocket dolls tucked in the front seat with Zakkey and Barbie.  This Zakkey— I don’t know about him.  At least they “got married” before they “got a baby”.

I love our tree.  The last two years, we haven’t been able to decorate the tree with all our ornaments, because we’ve had crazy kittens who like to climb it, but even without all our special ornaments, it is still beautiful and makes my heart happy every time I see it.

Day 10

I had a blast putting Zoe’s hair up for our Christmas in Who-ville Holiday Party.  At first she wasn’t too keen on it, but once all her friends came with their own crazy who-hair, she really got in to it.  I love this picture of all of them!

I’m working on Day 11’s picture today.  I am really loving this book!!

Ack!  The time got away from me yesterday and I didn’t post my pictures!  I did take them though – so all is good!  Yesterday, Zoe found Zakkey enjoying a romantic carriage ride with one of her Barbie dolls!  She thought it was hilarious!  She really got a kick out of it.  I wish I could totally take credit for this idea but I saw it on Pinterest.  If you’re looking for Elf on the Shelf ideas, it’s a great place to find some really silly and creative ideas!!  I have a board with some of the ideas I found.  If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

After Zoe got home for school and things settled down a bit, we set up our little village under our tree.  It really is one of my favorite decorations in the house.  Zoe loves playing with the people and moving them around.  In fact, not long after I took this photo, she moved all the people and the cars over to the “lake” so they could all have a picnic.  I took another photo of it but I haven’t had a chance to grab it off my camera.

I have two photos from today but I’ve only downloaded one.  Zoe played a Christmas song for me and it really made my day.  I could listen to her practice piano all day!

I’ll be back tomorrow with the other photo from today and hopefully the photos for tomorrow too!!