Friday, February 16, 2007

Love Monkey Stamp

The monkey stamp is made by Rubber Soul. I have the "Monkey Birthday" clear set (so I can make "Monkeyed Around and Missed the Date" belated birthday cards) which I found online HERE. Of course, I bought mine at Stampin' Cat. After years of resisting the lure of stamps, I was quickly sucked back in. Oh well!

Enjoy!

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Here's to simple Love Monkeys



I like to make my children's Valentine's cards each year. This year, I only have one in elementary school, and I sort of forgot that V-Day was coming up. I remembered in the nick of time and made these at about 7:00 the night before. YAY for simple! (and lovin' the fact that 8yo boys really aren't that picky....at least mine isn't....).

I was having so much fun that I decided to make some Love Monkey Valentines as well. Last year, I decided at the last minute to have a Valentine's Day potluck dinner with some of my friends and their families. We all had small children, and it was a school night, so there was no going out. This year we decided to make it a tradition. Again, it was a lot of fun!

I hope that you enjoyed your Valentine's Day. Have a Love Monkey on me!
Smiles!
Dianne

Monday, February 12, 2007

on blogging and witty cleverness

I had the grandest of plans for my blog in this new year. I would be witty, clever, wise and entertaining. People would flock to my blog in droves and put links to my blog all over the 'Net. Ah well. Such is the realites of life. When I have time to blog, all I can think to write are the more banal details of my life. Things like: "Today I did the dishes. Again. And changed diapers. Again. And went to McD's/BK for french fries for my 3 yo who won't eat much else. Again. And.....yadda yadda yadda. Just not very interesting, I'm afraid. My life revolves around being a Mom.

That's not to say that there aren't some amazing moments about being a Mom. Like when your nearly teenage daughter comes to you for hugs and wants to just talk about her life. Or when your 8yo reads to you instead of the other way around. Or when your 3 year old's whole world lights up just because you walked in the door. When only Mommy will make things better and restore justice and balance to the universe. When your three year old who has struggled with expressive language for more than a year suddenly starts talking out of the blue and you understand what he is saying and can acutally have a conversation about things that are important to three year olds. When your twelve year old daughter wants you to arrange it so she can dance with the boy she has a crush on at the church "Let's learn to Swing Dance" youth activity. When everything is mostly picked up and quiet and peaceful and happy. When you are playing games and laughing and creating family inside jokes. Those are good times.

But are they clever and witty enough for a blog? Does that even matter? My blog first and foremost should be for me, right? I'm learning that just taking the time to write, to write anything really, helps me grow and practice my skills and to remember the moments that were breathtaking, frustrating, infuriating, tiring, beautiful, precious and wonderful. Just writing something can make a difference somewhere, somewhen. Writing something simply has to be enough.

And that's the other side.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

A Layout

Remember my post last November about "the Busy Season"? Well, here is a layout from that day. (And, as soon as I change some settings, I'll link you to that post....)

That's all for now!