my new sling

Thank heavens for the little things in life...I ordered this baby sling from Etsy, the shop is called "Small Wish." I love this thing so much. It helps me get through each and every day. My little punkin' snuggles in there (he's in there right now!) and I just fly around the house like crazy. I think this would be a great gift for any mommy with a newborn.

another snowy day

Why does it take 30 minutes of preparation for approximately 10 minutes of play in the snow?

things Zoe and Parker need for snow play:
2 pairs of snow bibs/pants
2 heavy coats (the kind you don't wear in the car because you can't buckle a car seat around them)
4 mittens/gloves (also need extra pairs for wet mitten exchange)
4 pairs of socks (2 on each foot)
2 pairs of snow boots
2 scarves
2 hats
2 undershirts + sweatshirts, pants, and sweaters
1 potty break (Z)
1 diaper change (P)
5-6 tissues for runny noses
2 cups hot cocoa
mini marshmallows
blankets for warming up after playing
PBS kids or Noggin shows- time to relax after all that playing/dressing!

mini pebble pictures

So I am late as can be posting about these but I still think they are worthy of sharing...

I made these for my female family members for Christmas. These were just an "add on" gift, I like to make something homemade for them to accompany their regular presents. They are smaller versions of the ones I made for Paul's secretaries and other office ladies last year. I totally copied them from Becky Higgins, actually she made the 8x10 size and I changed them to be these 5x7 versions. I think they are so cute. They are super easy and believe it or not, I started making them last summer! Zoe loves to help me decoupage the pebbles so it was an activity we did together. Assembling them was easy, just cut everything and glue, glue, glue. You can probably find directions with exact measurements on Becky Higgins' blog, just remember she made them first in 2007.

crummy creations

I have been keeping a small basket on my desk for a while that holds teeny scraps of ribbon and paper, maybe a random sticker or brad. It's not that I am too lazy to put them away or too distracted to throw them away. It's just that I hate to throw away scraps I used in recent layouts or projects. I figure I liked them enough to use them once, they aren't trash worthy. About once a month (or so) I clean out my basket and make cards with the scraps. Surprisingly, they usually turn out really cool. Most of the supplies match (since I used them in a previous project) and it forces me to be creative. I thought I was so ingenious until I recently saw in a professional organizational book that another scrapping lady calls this her "crumbs" basket. She does the same thing! I guess great minds think alike. Hee hee! So don't throw your crumbs away either, unless you just can't stand the mess, they might just be worth a card or two.

OK, sorry about the bad lighting in these photos and the fact that they are showing holiday cards... these are two of my latest "crummy" creations using leftover holiday paper (punched in tiny squares), snowflake stickers, and a couple rub-ons, and my own printing.

Jan. 20

Wow! Was yesterday awesome or what? I love all the pomp and circumstance of the presidential inauguration and of course I am super excited about our new president. I hope, I guess that's what his goal was, to inspire hope! Barack, you do ROCK!

On a slightly more gossipy note, what the heck happened to my Sting-man? I watched the Neighborhood Ball in the hopes of having a little Sting-love moment and I swear if he hadn't been singing, I would not have recognized him! He was singing my favorite song, "Brand New Day." I honestly thought it was Robin Williams or Billy Crystal, I am not kidding. Of course, my husband, who incidentally does not get my Sting-love, thought it was so funny. I told him he'd better watch out, Pam Anderson might appear next 40 pounds overweight and with jet-black hair! My threat didn't work, he was still laughing as we got ready for bed and I was reliving my shock over Sting's appearance.

reality check

Nothing snaps you back into reality faster than trying on your old jeans after you have a baby realizing you haven't lost as much weight as you thought you had.

busy me

My little photobug, Parker, took this picture. He was very proud. Things I have been working on:

• getting tax info together
• laundry, lots of laundry
• still putting away Christmas decor (where did it all come from?)
• Zoe's birthday party to be at the end of the month
• Tanner's birth announcements
• thank you cards/notes
• catching up on house cleaning
• cleaning out 2008 files/shredding documents
• did I mention laundry?
• giving lots of kisses to my kiddos
• putting maternity clothes away
• shopping for my hubby's birthday
• watching lots of tv (staying up with baby, nothing else to do at 3AM)
• supervising the kids while they ride bikes in the basement
• reading the Twilight series of books (love these!)
• changing lots of diapers, lots and lots

crafting goals

I just spent some time looking over my 2008 crafting goals. I had planned for each month a certain number of layouts to complete. I kept a tally of layouts and cards that I finished. I am pleased to say that I surpassed my goal for the year of 122 layouts. I actually created 174 scrapbook pages! Woo hoo! It was so cool to see my progress each month. I didn't count the total until just now and I am really surprised. I am currently working on a plan for this year. I also made 177 cards (100 of which were my Christmas cards, that was kind of a mass production operation, but I feel like it still counts!). I made 13 mini albums and I premade 27 pages for Tanner's baby scrapbook. Wow, I still can't believe I did it! Having it all written out and planned really helped me stay on track and not feel bad if some months I didn't get to craft as much as others. I kept the list right on my desk so I could tally as I finished each project making it easy to do. My word of the year last year was "simplify" this year's word is "enjoy." I want to make sure I am enjoying everything, not rushing to get things done or feeling obligated to do things I don't want to do. I am going to go enjoy reading my crafting notes from last year... 174 pages! Yes!

Aww.... so cute

Just lovin' these three, a lot.

Happy Birthday Zoe!

Can it be that she is really 6 years old today? I swear it seems like yesterday that she was staring at me with those bright newborn eyes and I was scared to death wondering how I was going to take care of her. This little girl is a true light in my life, always there with a homemade picture or card for me, always wanting to craft or bake with me, eager to be a "girly" girl with me, and a singing and dancing machine. I am blessed to be her mommy. How did I get so lucky?