BLACK FRIDAY HAS NOTHING ON THIS...

you know what i'm THANKFUL for?

MANY, MANY, MANY things.

i'd list them ALL right now,

but i'm a little busy soaking up TIME TOGETHER,

and being THANKFUL.

so how about i share one of my thankful things right now- ADOPTION.

ADOPTION has changed/blessed/made my life what it is today.

my sister is adopted and i'll say it over and over and over again:

our family is immensely BLESSED because GOD had plans for HER to be in our FAMILY.

now that you know that,

 i'm sure you can imagine HOW emotional/overjoyed/prayerful i got over this:

my college roommate/dear friend/LEAH and her awesome husband BEN,

recently shared the ways the LORD is leading them to ADOPTION!

and you know what would make them (and me) so THANKFUL?

YOUR HELP!

it's easy really.

they have an

ADOPTION AUCTION

going on now through december 8th.

there are REALLY GREAT things up for grabs,

starting at REALLY GREAT prices.

i'm sure you've seen advertisements on DEALS around town tomorrow.

personally i vote for you to go ahead and start some christmas shopping TODAY!

AND while you are at it,

you are raising money to bring a PRECIOUS BABY into an INCREDIBLE HOME.

seriously, GO!

there is beautiful jewelry,

christmas cards,
personalized shirts,

monogrammed hooded towel,

name notecards,
fabulous gifts,

and MUCH more
starting at FIVE DOLLARS!

WHO WANTS TO TRAVEL TO THE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS?

click HERE to win tickets!

"DIid I catch a NINER in there?" -Tommy Boy

09-09-09
NINE.
my favorite number is 9.
evan's favorite number is 9.
adelaide's birthdate is january 9.
i'm really hoping bebe's birthday is december 9.
still trying to decide what should we do to celebrate 09-09-09.
a trip to the grocery store and a library story time were on the agenda,
but somehow a day with this neat of a date seems to call for something more!
any suggestions???
leave your ideas in the comments,
the best one will win a package of NINE treats from me!

"BE SURE TO PUT YOUR FEET IN THE RIGHT PLACE...

...THEN STAND FIRM."

-Abraham Lincoln

somewhere between the painted toenails and the relaxation,

i'm pretty sure our sixteenth president would be quite proud of these feet.


**on a side note, these little feet will be moving into a big kid room before long.

can you imagine my excitement if i win a canvas from small words to adorn the walls of the "girly girl" room that is in the works?
or if i win one of these adorable flowers from joy's hope to put on that big girl's head?
or maybe these adorable personalized notes from doodle bugs that would match the new big girl room?
or a cute big girl bag from tried and true designs?
you too have a shot at winning this or many other fabulous prizes,
on fabulous k's website this week!

EVERYONE LOVES A GIVEAWAY...

...so make sure to check out these great giveaways going on now and enter!

first up is a fun blog i just found out about myself,
FANCY SCHMANCY DESIGNS.
i love her motto- "because every home needs a few more polka dots."

click on the link above to go to fancy schmancy's site and have fun browsing. then enter to win this personalized adorable cake polka dot plate.

also up for giveaway is a complete blog design for you or a friend from REDBUD DESIGNS.
(adelaide's cute, chubby face is not included)

sharon designed our christmas card and adelaide's birthday invites and does super cute blog design too.

TIDBITS...

just wanted to spread the word about a couple of tidbits you might find of interest:



adelaide's favorite photographer, lisa woods of now and then photography, will be in the dallas area for one day only next week. if you are interested in getting incredible photos taken on may 6th, check out lisa's dallas photo shoot. she has two openings during the day on that date.




the breast cancer walks and all they are about are incredible. i'm very excited several friends will be participating this year. cassie is doing some fun things as she works on her fundraising. check out her giveaway going on now, or find out to enter the raffle for a night in a texas rangers suite.

AND THE WINNER IS...

thanks for all the suggestions.
you made me smile!

the winner of the "GO FOR THE GREEN" contest is...
congratulations to ABBE!
(and her little man, AVERY, whose shirt inspired the words for the plate)be watching your mailbox in case a leprechaun delivers
a yummy treat wrapped in shiny green foil.


an honorable mention goes to
EVAN for, "never iron a four-leaf clover, because you don't want to press your luck."
and JIM with, "let your sham-rock!"
(it was rather hard not to show nepotism when your own family members are that funny.)

GO FOR THE GREEN... A GIVEAWAY!

while i like all holidays, i had never before decorated for st. patrick's day.

i usually stick to putting out more general touches of "spring" decor and easter items.

but easter is coming late this year,
and after all green is my favorite color,
so for the first time ever i put out a few st. patty's things.

nothing much.
just a shamrock ceramic candy dish, cute green placemats from anthro,
fun festive napkins, tied some green ribbon here and there.

but now i've reached a dilema.
i have my write plate ready for writing,
but i don't know what to write.

that's where the giveaway comes in...
leave a comment with what you would write on the plate for this holiday.
it can be clever, funny, sweet, a quote, whatever.
i'll choose my favorite entry friday at noon.

if i pick your idea, you will receive a bag of these melt in your mouth st. patrick's day kisses.
they are dark chocolate with creme de menthe filling and wrapped in the shiniest green foil.


(ps- thanks to zoe, a 10-year-old with the coolest kiss collection,
for the awesome picture of the item up for grabs!)

"MOMTESSORI"...

ATTENTION:
all mommas out there
(and early childhood teachers too)

check out this blog!

http://momtessori.blogspot.com/

back in '99 laura beth (the "momtessori" blog author) and i worked at camp together.
she was the camp activities director and i got to watch first-hand
as she came up with many creative ideas.

now here she is spreading her creativity again.

and if you read this soon

click here to enter her first momtessori giveaway
(hurry... she's drawing a name on wednesday)

“WRITE IT DOWN IN YOUR OWN HANDWRITING.”- Eugene Ormandy

once upon a time, there lived a girl who loved to write and doodle.

she joyfully drew hearts. and flowers. and swirls. and squiggles.
she learned to write at an early age and wrote her name everywhere.
on pieces of paper. on all her belongings. on the backseat in the family station wagon.

of course her handwriting evolved over the years.

she began with a rough scrawl.

then came the perfectly formed straight letters in her handwriting book at school.

those were followed by 80's bubble letters and huge loopy letters.

NEXT CAME ALL CAPS. then all lowercase. Then back to a nice mixture of both.

over the years she eventually returned to forming perfect letters like she had done as an elementary student. only this time as a teacher instead of a student, and with a slight curl on the end of each character.

somewhere out of all of this came the handwriting she uses today.
these days she happily forms letters using her very-most-favorite pens.














she also enjoys watching her daughter take the first steps to developing a scrawl of her own with her writing utensils.
















and as happy as the girl was writing and doodling, from time to time she found herself thinking how great it would be if she also had the option of typing something in her own handwriting.
thank goodness jennifer filled her in on a place she could do just such a thing. now her wildest handwriting dreams have come true thanks to amanda!











*check out fonts for peas to download fun, free fonts or get info. on making your own handwriting font!

AND WE HAVE A WINNER, OR TWO!

i LOVED reading ALL of your snow memories.
some of them took me on a trip down MEMORY LANE.
some of them made me THINK ABOUT snow in a new way.
some of them just SIMPLY made me smile.
thanks for ENTERING the contest and SHARING your stories!

and now the WINNERS of the garland giveaway have been drawn...

JESSICA (high school sweethearts) is the winner of the christmas tree garland
and AMY (beyond normalcy: life with twins) is the winner of the mitten garland.
CONGRATULATIONS!

you girls can email your address to annaleealphabet@yahoo.com
and i will send the garlands your way!

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE A CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY!

when i was growing up i could entertain myself for hours with scrap paper, scissors, and glue. i loved to set up shop working on craft projects and creating. my grandma hazanne called this my "creative corner." i guess some things never change. i still love to create and over thanksgiving i got to do just that. the girls set up a "creative corner" that exploded pieces of felt all over my parents' house. we made felt garlands on which to hang christmas cards. we got the idea here and decided to try to make our own version of the cute garlands.


i made a red and white tree garland to hang the christmas cards we receive. i also made a pastel mitten garland for adelaide's room and hung our family's cards from christmases past on it. these garlands have made our rooms festive during this winter season.











but these decorations couldn't even compare with the winter decor God sent yesterday. we got the most fabulous surprise in houston... snow!


it was such crazy, festive weather and i loved it. adelaide and i stayed in our jammies most of the morning. she talked to baby julie while i drank hot cocoa (recipe here). then we ran christmas errands with mel, and got to sit by a fire with witt (let me clarify that the bow is to make him look like a precious christmas present not a girl). later that night, evan and i went on a date night to ikea. we brainstormed ideas for our future house (that we move into in about a month)! at the end of the night the hard-working attorney fell asleep by the fire while watching a movie, but i was still wide-awake.


so what did i do? i set up my "creative corner" and make 2 more garlands to give away to some blog readers! i have to say i love how these turned out. both are whimsical, bright, and funky. even if they don't match your holiday decor i feel certain you could find some place to enjoy them. the tree garland is 9 trees long and the mitten garland is 8 mittens long. both are strung on thick jute and have mini clothespins on the back of each shape to hold photos or cards.











if you want to enter the giveaway just leave a comment telling me your favorite snow memory by 12:00 pm (noon) sunday, december 14th (you don't have to have a blog to enter, just leave your email address instead). i will draw two lucky winners and mail them each a garland on monday. merry early christmas to you!

ANNOUNCING THE WINNER FOR "THE GIVEAWAY IS RIGHT..."

thanks for playing along at home!

i wrote all your names as entries,
dropped them in a bowl,

tossed them around a few times,
then had my lovely assistant pick 3...


congratulations REBECCA, TIFFANY, and TRACY!

please email me at
annaleealphabet (at) yahoo (dot) com
and let me know-
1) the exact wording of the phrase you would like me to make,
2) large or small lettering
3) your color choices (or assorted)
4) your background color choice (black or other)
4) the address to mail them to


and for the rest of the WONDERFUL TEACHERS:
i really wish i could do this for all of you,
but at least i do have a consolation prize.
i can't mount and laminate letters for everyone
but i would love to cut out letters for you and
you can just mount them and laminate them yourself.

please email me at
annaleealphabet (at) yahoo (dot) com
and tell me-
1) the exact wording of the phrase you would like,
2) large or small lettering
3) your color choices (or assorted) for the letters
4) the address to mail them to


***the sooner the better because we will be out-of-town soon
and i want to get you your letters before school starts!

COME ON DOWN, YOU COULD BE THE WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY IS RIGHT...

it's the first day of august.

all you teachers out there are immediately thinking
about how this is the month you will go back-to-school.
but don't worry there is still more summer fun to be had...
including a giveaway for your own personalized bulletin board words.

this is the first fall since 1984 that i won't have a "first day of school." it is bittersweet.
it is oh-so-sweet to be staying home with my favorite student ever.
but i will definitely miss smelling all the new school supplies,
labeling everything, carefully shopping for a first day of school outfit,
looking over a class list while dreaming of what the year holds,
and meeting eager, new faces.

now, let's get onto the giveaway...
while the die cut machine is an incredible invention,
i have always been partial to cutting out my own letters.
this fall i won't be frantically cutting out my own words
to hang on my classroom door, in the hallway, and on each bulletin board.
so instead i would love to cut some words out for one of you!
it's just a little way to say i am thinking of all of you accomplish
and truly admire and appreciate what you do.

here is an example of some words i did for kristin's new classroom in kansas.
i will cut the winner's letters out from whatever colors of construction paper you choose,
mount each word on white paper, then black (or other) background paper, and laminate.
you will also be able to choose small (app. 4" total height) or large (app. 6" total height).

to enter just leave a comment on this post before the school bell rings at 3pm on august 4th!

things to include in your comment entry...
*what you teach
*your favorite part of the first day of school

and if you already have something in mind, you can also let me know...
*what phrase you would choose if you win the personalized words