2010 Card

Year In Pictures New Year's Card

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Name Ornaments

I have always loved the way name ornaments look,ever since I first saw them on Days of Our Lives at Mrs Horton's house family Christmas tree. 


Last year I decided  I could do something similar with vinyl on glass ornaments but had no idea how crafter's transfered the vinyl so nothing happen.


 So when I found out one of  my son's teachers was Awesome at Vinyl Wall Art. I decided to ask her if she could show me what I needed to do. So on Tuesday I bought some transfer paper and vinyl and when she arrived today once she was done teaching Junior she showed me what to do.


I really hope my hubby's family likes how the name ornaments turned out because I think they turned out great.


I used my Cricut Create machine set at medium pressure and medium speed at 3/4 inch size except for my name which I set the size at 1 inch. I used my  Cricut Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge tall ball font.

VIA Survey of Character Strengths

Jessica Sprague had this survey on her blog site and I thought it was interesting.  Here is the link if you decide to take it as well. http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx Here are your scores on the VIA Survey of Character Strengths. For how to interpret and use your scores, see the book Authentic Happiness. The ranking of the strengths reflects your overall ratings of yourself on the 24 strengths in the survey, how much of each strength you possess. Your top five, especially those marked as Signature Strengths, are the ones to pay attention to and find ways to use more often.

Your Top Strength

Capacity to love and be loved You value close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.

Your Second Strength

Gratitude You are aware of the good things that happen to you, and you never take them for granted. Your friends and family members know that you are a grateful person because you always take the time to express your thanks.

Your Third Strength

Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness You expect the best in the future, and you work to achieve it. You believe that the future is something that you can control.

Your Fourth Strength

Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way. You are down to earth and without pretense; you are a "real" person.

Your Fifth Strength

Kindness and generosity You are kind and generous to others, and you are never too busy to do a favor. You enjoy doing good deeds for others, even if you do not know them well.

Strength#6

Appreciation of beauty and excellence You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

Strength#7

Leadership You excel at the tasks of leadership: encouraging a group to get things done and preserving harmony within the group by making everyone feel included. You do a good job organizing activities and seeing that they happen.

Strength#8

Fairness, equity, and justice Treating all people fairly is one of your abiding principles. You do not let your personal feelings bias your decisions about other people. You give everyone a chance.

Strength#9

Love of learning You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

Strength#10

Perspective (wisdom) Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and to yourself.

Strength#11

Social intelligence You are aware of the motives and feelings of other people. You know what to do to fit in to different social situations, and you know what to do to put others at ease.

Strength#12

Zest, enthusiasm, and energy Regardless of what you do, you approach it with excitement and energy. You never do anything halfway or halfheartedly. For you, life is an adventure.

Strength#13

Bravery and valor You are a courageous person who does not shrink from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain. You speak up for what is right even if there is opposition. You act on your convictions.

Strength#14

Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty You excel as a member of a group. You are a loyal and dedicated teammate, you always do your share, and you work hard for the success of your group.

Strength#15

Curiosity and interest in the world You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.

Strength#16

Industry, diligence, and perseverance You work hard to finish what you start. No matter the project, you "get it out the door" in timely fashion. You do not get distracted when you work, and you take satisfaction in completing tasks.

Strength#17

Forgiveness and mercy You forgive those who have done you wrong. You always give people a second chance. Your guiding principle is mercy and not revenge.

Strength#18

Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.

Strength#19

Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith You have strong and coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe. You know where you fit in the larger scheme. Your beliefs shape your actions and are a source of comfort to you.

Strength#20

Creativity, ingenuity, and originality Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible.

Strength#21

Humor and playfulness You like to laugh and tease. Bringing smiles to other people is important to you. You try to see the light side of all situations.

Strength#22

Caution, prudence, and discretion You are a careful person, and your choices are consistently prudent ones. You do not say or do things that you might later regret.

Strength#23

Modesty and humility You do not seek the spotlight, preferring to let your accomplishments speak for themselves. You do not regard yourself as special, and others recognize and value your modesty.

Strength#24

Self-control and self-regulation You self-consciously regulate what you feel and what you do. You are a disciplined person. You are in control of your appetites and your emotions, not vice versa.

Shutterfly's Holiday Card Promotion

I love that I get to take part in this Awesome promotion that Shutterfly is offering to Blogger's to be able to receive 50 free Holiday cards. I have been using Shutterfly since 1999, I love their quality and how easy they are to use.


I would like to share a few of the project's I made with the help of Shutterfly.


In 2007 I created our Family Christmas Card:


In 2008 I created our son's Birth Announcement


I also order pictures and this year I went one step further and decided to venture into photo books. So I order a couple this month. Can't wait to see what the printed copy looks like since they are both Christmas presents.


Well since I can't seem to figure out how to add the projects to this post I will be adding them separately.


Here are the links to my Top 3 services that Shutterfly offers:


http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards


http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/photo-christmas-cards


http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars


If any other Blogger is interested in this Great Promotion here is the link: 
Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up:http://bit.ly/sfly2010
I recommend y'all check this out and have fun creating your cards. I know I will.

Ash and Junior Photo Book

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Junior's Birth Announcement

Ribbon Sky Baby Announcements

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Our Family Christmas Card 2007

Red Wrap Holiday

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Recipe for an Army Wife

1 1/2 cups patience
1 lb. adaptability
3/4 cup tolerance
1 tsp. courage
Dash of adventure

Combine the above ingredients. Add 2 tablespoons of elbow
grease. Marinate frequently with salty tears. Pour off excess fat.
Sprinkle lightly with money. Season the mixture with international
spices. "Knead" the dough until payday. Bake 20 years or until
done. – Author Unknown
Serve with Pride!

Girl Scout Swimming Badge and Pool Party!

KMS 6th Grade Girl Scout Troop worked on their first badge as a Cadette today. The Girls had a great time and learned a lot. They also had fun time taking pictures Underwater with our FujiFilm Waterproof Camera. I think the pictures turned out great.

Town & Country Days 2010 and Junior Coronation!

Today is the start of the 11th Annual Town & Country Days.

Each year girls completing 4th & 5th grade can participate in the Junior Coronation. This year there were 9 girls that had their names in the running they each got to pick a envelope in the envelopes were freebies to local establishments and in 3 of them there were 3 white slips : 1 for the Junior Queen and 2 for a Junior Princess.

Well Ashllie picked an envelope with a White slip that read CONGRATULATIONS!! You are a 2010 KERKHOVEN Princess. Thank You for participating. Enjoy your year.

My sweet girl will be representing Our small Community in Upcoming Events through out the year and will be Riding in the Royalty Float in Tomorrow's Parade. We are so Proud of her this a Dream Come True for our daughter.

It just goes to show that no matter what cards life deals you can make dreams come true.

Water Fun!

This free picture collage customized with Smilebox

1st Scrapbook Page made with SmileBox.

Customize your own digital scrap page

Crafting Bargains at Big Lots

We drove up to the VA in St. Cloud which is 160 miles Round Trip from home and before we left we made a couple stops.

We stopped at Big Lots and I was able to buy several Cuttlebug Disney Embossing Folders and Cutting Dies. Thanks to the Peas from Two Peas In A Bucket for the enabling posts :). From them I was able to find out about all these great deals that Big Lots had. I spent $32.21 and bought 15 items total which in my opinion was a awesome amount for Ashllie and myself to have tons of fun making crafts this Summer.

Here's the pictures of my Cuttlebug Loot.

Mother’s Day Extravaganza: The New 16 GB Apple iPad Give onThe www.TheThriftyMama.com

I just entered this contest and so should you. What a great Mother's Day gift this would be.



The following is one of the giveaways that will be posted every hour as part of my Mother’s Day Extravaganza celebration in conjunction with my BlogFrog community.

Today has been an incredible day for giveaways hasn’t it? Here’s the last one, and it’s a good one. This giveaway is sponsored by TheThriftyMama.com.

One lucky reader will win a new 16 GB Apple iPad.
How to enter:
1. Just leave a comment on this blog post.

For Extra Entries:

2. Start a new discussion in The Thrifty Mama community, and leave a comment here with a link to that discussion.

3. Spread the word about this giveaway on Facebook, 4. Twitter, or 5. your blog and leave me a separate comment showing me where you did this.

See all giveaway rules, guidelines and disclaimers for the Mother’s Day Extravaganza here. Winners will be announced Tuesday, May 11, 2010. The winner of the 16 GB Apple iPad may receive their prize in the form of a $500 gift card.

Cricut Cake

I recieved my early Mother's Day gift today. Hubby bought me a Cricut Cake Bundle from HSN and I can't wait to use it. I still need to buy or make a cake to try it out plus I ordered the Cricut Cake toolkit and it still isn't here so I just want to wait on that as well. Here a few pictures I took of my New Kitchen Toy :=)

The 1st Cricut Cake Box which said that my Cricut Cake was number 176 out 1425.



The back of the box:



The back of the box with the Cricut Cake with in the protective cover:

My poor Blog has been Neglected again

Yeppers poor thing . I feel bad that I haven't kepted up with this concept of my life but it feels like ever since Kevin came home from Iraq I have let it go.

I do have pictures to share maybe I should start with that.Stay tuned they will follow shortly.