Christmas Wish Lists... Me first!

Its that time of year again... where i begin drooling over oodles and oodles of etsy goodies that I would just LOVE to have for myself and or the kids... Ill spend the next 4 days putting together the ultimate etsy wish lists for me and the kiddo's :) and maybe daddy too....

My favorites!
#1: Missy Industry: I WILL have this skull ring someday... and this Misfit necklace... does that count as two? Well... as long as they come shipped in the same box - its only one.... right?

2: AuntDedesBasement: This necklace holder would be SOOOOO amazing in my bedroom. Must. Have.

3: TieMeUpAprons: Omg. Omg. OMMMMGGGGG. I need this for baking. Eating low carb now I do a lot of from scratch dessert baking.... and I NEEEEED this. Need. Not want. Need. Its Kawaii. And Cupcakes. and a Panda. Enough said.

4: ReLovePlanet: Unicorns? And Rainbows? On a slouchy pink hoodie? duh.

5:Elsiegeneva - Crochet Hook Case - another NEED since they're all sitting in a wamart bag right now... would be nice to have a little organization for my new hobby!

That concludes my top 5 Etsy wish list Christmas goodies!! If anyone of you would like to do a review & giveaway here at the blog/facebook I'd love to host you!

Wordless Wednesday: Stockings were hung by the chimney with care

Stocking I made for us :) Pink tattoo for Dixie & I, black tattoo for daddy & natural tattoo for Izzaq & Zavery. I LOVE Them.

Mentoring Monday: A Wonderful Life

Another Mentoring Monday post by Aymee! 

A Wonderful Life

      As we come off the heels of Christmas approach New Years, it is time to reflect. Adam and I have had a pretty trying go at it leading up to Christmas. On my end: it all started with failing my class. Then had a Clark Griswold jelly-of-the-month-club moment at work. Then I forgot my phone in my car overnight, which wouldn't have been such a big deal if my husband wouldn't have been locked out of the apartment building all night in the Minnesota winter, and had to sleep in his car--a situation in which people have died. More drama at work; then, the day before Christmas Eve we developed a substantial leak in our apartment from the roof. A steady stream of apple-juice colored water was making its way down my window and wall, and soaking the carpet--the carpet where our Christmas tree and presents were.

Figure 1: Making the best of it: love is all you need.

      In the Thurston household, we have a Christmas Eve tradition of watching It's a Wonderful Life over cocktails. This year, it couldn't have been more therapeutic. Before he left for work one night, Adam turned to me. His eyes looked beaten, his voice broken. “Could it get any worse?” Yes darling, yes it could. We have a healthy, smart, beautiful daughter. We're not making bank…hell, I wouldn't even say we're “comfortable,” but we're making it financially. Work is rough, but at least we have jobs. We may have had to live like ducks for a day, but we have a place to rest our heads at night. Sadly, and hardest to swallow during the holidays: we are away from our family. But we have “family” in our friends--and no man is a failure who has friends.

Wishing everyone the best this holiday season,

Love, The Thurstons

A Christmas Story

I was outside this morning sipping my coffee as ZaQ shoveled the drive... scraped the windows of the car and brushed off the 3 inches of powdery fluff... and i thought wow, what a pain in the butt... Then in an instant felt so selfish... Can you imagine what it was like to not have cars? I bet THAT was a pain... bitter cold... either walking or riding a horse in foot after foot of piled up snow... below freezing temperatures... etc.

Once upon a time my Great Grandma Burton told me a Christmas story... she had lived through the Great Depression & two major wars... THEY had it tough... She told me the story of how they literally had next to nothing... One very special Christmas for the was the year they traded food with the neighbors... They pulled out potatoes that they had buried in their cellar... and the neighbors walked two miles in the snow to bring them carrots... together they were able to have a real meal... yep, of carrots & potatoes... and it was a feast... the two families were so happy to be together and eat... and that was it. No presents... no giant feast of Prime Rib with all the fixins, no pies, cookies, or candies... no toys, no new clothes, or fancy electronics... just potatoes and carrots. Sometimes I feel like we have become so far removed from how tough things can get, that we forget to appreciate the things that we have. We complain about the smallest of things... Can you imagine if our generation were the ones living through the Great Depression? It makes me wonder if the human race would even survive... So I ask you on this Christmas Eve... be thankful for what you have... and even more thankful for what your about to receive tonight/tomorrow... be thankful for your friends, family, and good food.... because we really do have it so great... Even in the worst of circumstances... its still so much better than what it was.

Favorites Friday: Toddler Toys for Christmas!

All I want for Christmas is.... A WHOLE BUNCH OF STUFF FROM ETSY!!! Im nuts about handmade goodies... duh, and i LOVE keeping Christmas as handmade as possible... so here is a list of goodies we want to get for the boys for Christmas! (or have already gotten and recommend)

#1: HandmadePretties - Rock and Roll Giant Fleece Ball $50.00
#2: JugieBeeCrayons - Guitar Crayons set of 10 for $6.99
#3: BabiesLoveBlankies - Royal Skull I Spy Bag $15.00
#4: HootNAndy - Tattoo Memory Game $30.00
#5: ThePolkaDotTotSpot - Groovy Guitar Large Cloth Jingle Ball $14.00
#6: DeniseJacobsohn - Soft Guitar $28.00
#7: EnchantedDandelions - Silly Sprout Bean Bags $4.25
#8: LittleMetalMisster - GuiTag Blue $20.50
#9: BabyBooFelt - Rainbow Skulls Squeaker Block $9.00

**We love hosting giveaways, if any of you awesome sellers want a Tuesday feature for a review & giveaway contact us at rockerbyebaby@gmail.com for more details!
Thanks!

Wordless Wednesday: Making Ornaments

Some of you heard last week, but the other day we learned that one of the boxes that got left behind, was the ornaments box :( Now, this breaks my heart... and I was super upset about it, but I am moving forward... so Im not going to mention that it had zaq's 30 year old first baby ornament, the boys' first ornaments, all 4 of my collectors edition Nightmare before Christmas stockings, etc. etc etc. Im not going to mention any of that stuff... it'll make me bitter. *head/desk* Anyways... in an attempt to pull out of the funk I was in, I loaded up the boys and we headed to the craft store for supplies... paper, glue, paints, "blue balls" as Izzaq said... and clips. Rushed back to the house... and made our own ornaments. It was lots of fun, and here is a sneak peak into what we did. I have more to make but when I finish, ill take a picture of all of them together :)

Note to Self Saturday: Xmas Success!

Ohhh what a day... Cali may not be "home"... and Christmas sure doesn't feel the same when its 70 & sunny... but it sure went off without a hitch! We spent Christmas Eve at the Settimis house and it was amazing... such great company... amazing Prime Rib... and BEAUTIFUL baby girls ;) (which only helped to make me want a little lady even MORE!!)  But the boys were great... they had a ton of fun... and we were able to stay until almost 11pm!! My boys are usually melting down by 7pm and ready for bed! So that was definitely a nice treat...  we finished off the night with champagne & exchanging presents with hubby after the kids went to bed. It was perfect. I was the luckiest girl in the world! He got me a brand spankin new sewing machine, and  bad ass camera, lol Cannon Rebel XSi... two lenses and a case. *dies* I have had SO MUCH FUN taking pictures... and was so happy to have it for xmas morning... its everything i could have possibly wanted and MORE! He definitely earned the #1 hubby award, lol.

i got him a new grill and a bunch of other randomness...

hes doing a wonderful job at being excited... though a feel like a total failure next to his gifts. lol

The boys had a ton of fun opening gifts... the kitchen & felt food has been a HUGE hit. But I think izzaq's favorite is the Melissa & Doug Birthday cake... He has been with it for like 6 hours! (yay for creative play - click photos to zoom)

My girl Ailie @ Baby Boo Felt has been so generous in helping us build our felt food collection... Not sure how likes it better, the boys or myself... but I just cant wait to start buying more :)

Zavery's favorite toy was probably the Mater truck. He loves it so much he even slept with it last night, lol

 

After presents there was a TON of playing... lots of snuggling... and then finally napping... kinda. (i think they were just too excited) Daddy took a good nap though... *good job daddy* while zaq napped and the boys pretended to, I started prepping stuffing. Zaq's mom makes the best sausage, rice & bread crumb stuffing... and for Thanksgiving zaq took a crack at making it... fail, lol So for x-mas it was my turn... I must say (and he will agree) i did a much better job... but it still wasn't Nana's stuffing...

Zaq was in charge of the rest... he likes cooking and holidays make it lots of fun for him to prepare the meal.

(notice the Vikings apron he got from santa... i think santa is even COOLER now that i know he shops on etsy!)

For dinner zaq made big fluffy squishy yummy rolls...

a HUGE bowl of mashed potatoes... (and this makes me laugh)

 Healthy Organic milk... with about 3 sticks a butter, lol

and of course... a christmas "roast beast"...

With all the playing and eating... there was bound to be lots of snuggling... Zavery went over and plopped himself right onto the floor with his "b's" it was the cutest thing in the world...

Then after some snuggling with daddy it was time for bed...

The day was great... I couldnt have asked for anything more... and now today the countdown to Santa has switched to the countdown to Nana and Papa... The should be here in about 8 more hours! Not much time left seeing as the started the 30 hour drive yesterday! We are really excited to see them... its been about 4 months :( Hope everyone else had a great holiday! Be sure to leave some comment love, id love to hear all about your day!

Favorites Friday: NIghtmare Before Christmas

omg omg omg... ive been counting down the days to this post!! I am a HUGEEE Nightmare Before Christmas junkie... I have Knicknacks... toys... clothes... a jewelry box... an NBC inspired Christmas tree w/ ornaments & a Nightmare Stocking for all 4 of us and oh so much more... So I have been waiting patiently to make this Favorites Friday nightmare... as an excuse to do one last NBC Etsy search before Christmas. :)

*click photo to enlarge*

#1: BlackRose1151 - Felt JACK ornament form NBC. i have these & i love em.
#2: SmarmyClothes - Purple Metallic Nightmare before Xmas Dress. Smokin Hot ;)
#3: FabulouslyFierce - Nightmare/Jack Pillow Cover.. reconstructed from a tshirt, super cool idea!
#4:PoppysGardenGate - Nightmare Retro Apron... LOVE IT! Cute little lace edging... totally want one ;)
#5: IchigoBlack - Insanely adorable size s/m tattered Nightmare dress.
#6: Vindrewski - 9 NBC Buttons for $4.30!? Thats a steal!!
#7: Mellika - Could this be any cuter? Nope... adorable NBC shirt & tutu.
#8: BlackWidowDIY - Try to say that she is not the hottest girl in the world, you cant, lol Oh, the pants rock too... lol
#9: ImaginationEmporium - "Whats This" Inspired Nightmare Charm Bracelet

Wordless/Full Wednesday - Wish Upon a Hero...

Thanks again to EVERYONE who helped out with the big donation to these families in need. Dunno what Im talking about? Take a second to read up here... its totally worth it. Want the short story? lol I went on WishUponAHero.com picked two pregnant mama's that need MAJOR help... and pooled together all the finest ladies to contribute... And after everyones help - this is what we came up with... two GIANT boxes full of diapers - detergent - soaps - wipes - clothes - blankets - prefolds - toys and so much more... They are going to be SO happy and thrilled to get this goodie box.

Thanks to all the shops below for committing to help me out with this...
it really means the world to me :)
Baby Boo Felt
Brooke Van Gory
Rockin Green
Glamasaurus
Monkey Snuggles Mama
Heathens Hearth
SaraSophia
Tracy
Concertina
FentonSlee
Brookiellen
NanceAttack
RockyTheZombie
EllisFan14
Elaine's Semi-Homemade Life

P.s. if you think we are still waiting on your items, please let me know!! I want to ship asap :)

LIVE GIVEAWAY! Free PinUp Girls Christmas blanket!

Hey guys! Most everyone has expressed their love for this Christmas Pin Up Girls blanket....


I had one left in the store, and I think its only right to pull it out and give it away. I could discount it in the store, but thats not near as much fun as this is gunna be :) Its a live giveaway... and Im gunna make you work for it :) The blog has been kinda lagging lately - so we gotta price it up with something fun... You MUST Retweet the "tweet" below at least once for your comments to could... then below... comments. i ONLY want to see facts about you and your family... you can give as many as you want... doesnt matter... just be sure EACH FACT is in a separate comment... once the comments reach 500 (we have gotten close, but never reached 500!) I will draw a winner!

TO ENTER:

You must TWEET THIS MESSAGE:

{FREE Unisex Christmas PInUp and minky Baby/Toddler Blanket @RockerByeBaby just RT and comment to win! http://bit.ly/84VEWe}

Comments: (example)

My name is Amber Zrust.
I have 3 babies... Izzaq, Zavery & my husband ZaQ. ;)
My Kids are eating Peanut Butter and Jelly right now.
..... and so on and so on...

Everyone got it? YAY! Now ready..... set.... go!

One More Thing... Be kind for under $1.00

So - I had a thought while I was talking to a friend :) Obviously not everyone can do big donations... and sometimes even $5 is just too much to spare... I know this, Ive been there. And some of you readers are in that spot right now... scraping change together for ramen... Spaghetti Spaghetti Peanut Better Spaghetti... I remember. But I also know that many of you in that spot still want to help out... Karma right? Do good things? Good things happen? Well, I had an idea of how you can help for the price of a stamp.

There are TONS of people on Wish Upon A Hero just asking for cards... to feel needed and wanted and loved...
So do this and get the kids involved... Pull out some random construction paper... glue... crayons... whatever randomness you can find... and make some holiday cards. Write a sweet little note... a message... a quote... a poem... anything inspiring... and send it off... It will make someones day... you & your family get to do something nice... and no one breaks the bank :) Everyone wins...

Some random wishers I found:
http://wishuponahero.com/wishes/?id=464083
http://wishuponahero.com/wishes/?id=463861
http://wishuponahero.com/wishes/?id=464053
http://wishuponahero.com/wishes/?id=464023
http://wishuponahero.com/wishes/?id=463957
http://wishuponahero.com/wishes/?id=463945
http://wishuponahero.com/wishes/?id=463885
http://wishuponahero.com/wishes/?id=463867

Just search "Cards" in the wish search to find more :)
Im gunna do this with the boys this weekend... I think it will be alot of fun... and another life lesson taught on sharing :)

Love you all :)
Amber

p.s. Please let me know if you do it! I would love some photos to put up on the blog of everyone making their christmas cards!

Something to be thankful for...

So - let me start this out with saying I hate Thanksgiving... I hate the holidays... and it hate it all even more being so far away from family... When I was 13 my parents split... then my grandpa died about a week before Thanksgiving... But the time Thanksgiving had actrually rolled aroun we were so tired of Ham, Turkey & casseroles that we actually made Turkey Taco's & burritos for dinner that year. Let me tell ya, it made it hard to be thankful that Thanksgiving... But every year it gets a little easier... instead of being angry... instead of crying... now I just spend the week a little sad... trying to make the best of the day... and get it over with as fast as possible. But, Im always trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel. And this year... it was easier to find that flickering light... the store has been super busy... thus I have busting my butt and staying distracted... this year I did a big push for Black Friday... worked all wednesday and half of Thanksgiving just trying to get ready for it... and biggest kicker to a good Thanksgiving? Hubby did it all!

The day started out with me totally screwing up some Blueberry pancakes... lol the MIL was missing the boys and always made them Blueberry pancakes in the mornings when she had them, so she sent a box of mix in a goodie box last week to make for Thanksgiving breakfast :) I totally destroyed the first two... "thankfully" daddy stepped in and took over... doing a MUCH better job than I did.... either way... the toddlers ate them. We didn't have a "who's was better" contest... but if we did, I probably would have won. lol



After breakfast there was lots of snuggling... watching the Macy's parade... dancing to Yo Gabba Gabba... watching movies...
and prepping dinner... yes... while wearing grown man butt drop zip up feety jammies.

it was nice... after that the babies napped... we hung out... daddy watched football while I took photos and listed all the new goodies you now see in the shop, well... whats left of them... :) And then when the boys got up we started putting together the tree...

I love my tree... its big and full... 9ft tall... Full of pink purple and black glitter ornaments... Skeleton hands made by me with cute little matching bows added to them... handmade skulls from etsy.. and awesome dark pink and purple damask ribbons and matching tree skirt... oh, and lets not forget the lineup of Nightmare Before Christmas Stockings ;)

I suppose if you have to do Christmas... you should do it up right, lol And in this family... that means lots of skulls, pink, black & glitter, lol
Finally - the feast was ready... it was about 3 days worth of food for zaq, myself and the boys... aparently you can't make thanksgiving dinner for just a couple people, lol It was amazing... He hit a total of 3 out of 4 things right on... The turkey was possibly the best I had EVER had... and a close second was the home made mashed potatoes.... i was actually excited to eat it the next day... the rolls... so warm and yummy... the stuffing? FAIL! lol it was dry, crunchy, hard... and sadly... it all ended up in the trash except for what we tried to eat, lol He did SOO great though. I was proud...



So thats it guys... Thanksgiving turned out to be a pretty decent day after all... But just like Brooke said in her blog... Im thankful for my friends and family every day... and every day I kiss on them and love on them... and tell them thank you every time im thankful.. I don't need a day called Thanksgiving to be thankful... let alone a day dedicated to food and football... and family when their not doing one of the other twothings... I just need my friends & my family... every day... and for them to love me like i love them.

Favorites Friday: The Mustache!

This weeks Favorites Friday? The mustache! Im gunna give you a ride around etsy for all the best mustache gear... a mustache ride if you will... lol



#1: UrbanAntix:
"A Mustache painted on each side of cup to have 2 disguises for each cup. A mustache for each mood." Too funny right? Sip in style...

#2: LIttleAngelsJewelry - "This hilarious and bold Dali Mustache Necklace measures 2" (if you want bigger or smaller or different shapes let me know) Handmade with Acrylic" There are tons of other mustache necklaces out there... but dont be fooled! This shop claims to be the Original!!

#3: Undies: "Gentlemen prefer blondes but scoundrels prefer girls with mustache undies. And we wouldn’t have it any other way, really. Attract the wrong sort with these hand-screened mustache undies printed on black 100% cotton briefs." Lol... remember that mustache ride I spoke of? Need I say more?
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
#4: RADROBOT "Do you support moustaches as much as I do? Well, now you can finally voice your feelings with this classy one-inch button." HAHAHA - love it... i must say, theyre are some bad stache's out there... but some good ones too... I mean where would Hulk Hogan be without his? lol SUPPORT THE STACHE!

#5: TheBoldBandana: "All our apparel is hand printed by us using only the highest quality equipment and eco-friendly soy based screenprinting products." Yay! Its fun... its funky... and its eco friendly!! we love all of these things :)

#6: SprocketBox: "Vinyl Mustache + Mirror = New Mustache = FUN!!" omg - my sis would love these... FAVORITED! might have to add these to her xmas present :)

#7: SallyEnglandDesign "The delightful Mr.Moustache pillow comes with four interchangeable velcro moustaches (Fu Manchu,trucker,gentleman,& salt 'n'pepper!) and a clear plastic storage pocket on the back!" love... lovee... loveeeeeee... too friggen funny!

#8: Sirenaconjersey
Could this tote possibly be ANY cuter? No... i dont think it could.

#9: CathyPeng - "My mustache kitty design has been hand screen printed in a dark chocolate brown ink onto a pair of teal and brown American Apparel baby rib flat bottom panties." So, Im not gunna get personal and explain why i LOVE these... im just gunna let you think about it ;)