Over The River...

I've been dreaming of my Grandmother's house at night. I know that house very well. I know where my father's teenage Chuck Taylor footprint on the sheetrock is hiding under wood paneling, left from when he and my uncle were building the house with my Grandfather. I know the patchwork pattern of the tile my Grandfather used in the downstairs basement shower that became my bathroom shower when I attended Oregon State. I know the heating ductwork where he put his "Hello My Name Is" nametags from the various events he attended as a chemistry professor for Oregon State. I added my own to the collection. I know which rooms my Dad slept in as a teenager. I know the blue room upstairs with its light blue paneling and light blue shag carpet; that was my Aunt Lila's room. I thought it was the most beautiful room in the world when I was a child. I know where Grandma kept her tools. I know the Gardening room, the Wood room, the Bike Room (where I hung my bike on the same bike pulley sysem my Grandfather used to hang his bike--the same bike he once got a speeding ticket on as he raced across the Oregon State Campus), and the tool benches in the garage--left pretty much as my Grandfather left them when he lost his lymphoma battle when I was sixteen.

I'm seeing different parts of the house in my dream. The room divider in the living room where my Grandma stored knickknacks. The drawer that housed all of her Pyrex. The drawer that housed all of the cookie sheets and cake pans. Every thing in the kitchen was custom made by my grandfather to her specifications. I see the knife slots for each individual knife, the sections in the drawers for kitchen utensils separated by size and function, the drawers for her linens and tablecloths, the cupboard with the cookie jar and the corny poster that said "My Grandma is the best by far, for she has got a Cookie Jar!" (I loved that poster!) on the inside of the door, the under cabinet fluorescent lights. I see the double closet that still held many of my Grandfather's clothes and also his filing cabinets in what became the boys room. I see the storeroom under the stairs that held the old games and toys my brother and sisters and cousins played when we came to visit, the shelves with my Grandfather's photo developing chemicals, all labeled neatly and out of reach of most children, the cheerleader megaphone he was gifted with at some point in his collegiate teaching career. And even though they were long gone after his death, I remember the shelves where his duck hunting buoys stood in neat rows. I remember the smell of water and the rubber that hung in the air around them. I remember his little office where he refilled his shotgun casings. I remember that was something scary to me as a child, and I didn't stay in that room for long---just long enough to take a butterscotch candy from the dish on his desk. I liked to think he kept them there just for me.

I remember my Grandmother's sewing closet. I remember the beautiful draperies she made for each room of the house. I remember that I thought there was nothing she couldn't make. I now have one of her ironing boards. I've had it for years now. It's heavy and awkward and most current ironing board covers don't really fit it; it's heavy plywood with heavy metal legs. The original cover had a blanket material as it's padding. Sometimes think a more modern board would be better for my needs, but then I remember that her name is written on the board beneath the cover, so it would be set aside for her at the store she bought it at originally. When I use that ironing board, I feel connected to her. Connected to my past.

We moved a lot during my childhood. My father was in the service, and moving often is a part of that life. My grandmother's address was on our luggage as our permanent address, just in case we were ever sepearated from it. That started when we moved to Germany in 1974. I moved into her house in 1989. I lived there until I got married in 1992 (interrupted only by a VERY brief stint sharing an apartment with a friend). During that time I connected with my Grandmother more than anyone else in my family did. This house held my roots and my history; her house was my roots in a very real way. Everywhere I went in that house, I was surrounded by a part of my history; it was one of those houses where nothing every really changed. I like to pretend that it's still a part of my family, even though it was sold per the instructions left by my Grandfather's trust.

We've lived in our house in Albany for four-and-a-half years now. This is the longest period in my entire life where I had the same address. In the 14 and a half years we've been married, we've had 10 different street addresses. That's a lot of moving! In fact, I think I still have at least one box in the garage that was packed a couple of moves ago. (I'm working through them--I just did a couple of boxes last week). Fortunately, my children have settled in here easily. They are planting the kinds of roots I never was able to. I marvel at that sometimes--and I'm grateful that they are building good friendships and relationships--that they are well-known at their elementary school and well-liked by their teachers. It's good for me too--I'm building my own friendships and relationships. We are all making our own roots.

Where are your roots? Do you have friends that date back to your kindergarten years? Or are you having the chance to build your own roots today. Whether we move all over or stay in the same places, we all have the chance to "bloom where we are planted" (to paraphrase Mary Englebreit). We can make our own roots or we can find a way to be content without them. Either way, I'm grateful for the dreams of my grandmother's house. I was happy there. I like remembering all the bits and pieces that make up my connections and my roots. And when I'm exasperating my children by wanting things just so--like my Grandmother did (I used to have to vacuum the carpet in straight lines--and then spend the rest of the week walking around the edges of the room so that I didn't mess up those lines) I remember that I come by my quirks honestly. I have connections to my roots.

Here's to connections!

And that's the other side.

Happy Independence Day!

Love that we have our freedoms! Take a moment today to be grateful for the freedoms we enjoy here in America!

More later!

The Magic Number

C, my 4 year old is AMAZINGLY savvy at recognizing symbols. He calls McDonalds "Ba-Ba" (sing it to yourself---"Ba ba ba ba ba....I'm Lovin' It!) and has for about 2 years now. It was one of the few things he would say that we could understand when he was just forming words. Once he sang it to us, that is.

Nowadays, he recognizes cars that are like Daddy's (Hondas--w/the big "H" symbol. All Honda's are like Daddy's car, even though the big boxy things are nothing like our 11 year old Accord), spouts off random letters when "reading" signs and can choose between Burger King ("cheeseburger") and McDonalds ("ba-ba") depending on which toy is available at the time. Never mind the fact that all he eats are the french fries.

But every number is "Seventeen." Looking at a clock, he'll tell you "It's Seventeen O'Clock!" If he's tired, he'll say, "It's seventeen o'clock--time for bed!" When he wants to go home, it's..."Seventeen O'Clock." He's the proud owner of a Finding Nemo book from Goodwill; one of those fun books where you push the button that goes with a picture in the story and a sound will play to support the action. This morning he came to us pointing at the price tag and saying, "Seventeen Dollars. Look, it's Seventeen Dollars."

Thank goodness it wasn't! And I hope the batteries run out soon. Well, after he's had Seventeen hours of fun.

Before and After

Before:

After:

Still getting used to it. It's the shortest I've had it since I was a Jr. in High School. I've got one uneven chunk on one side I'll be getting fixed this week. So far, I like how easy it is to take care of. I'm still figuring out the rest.

Some of my recent projects

I'm teaching two classes this weekend at Stampin'Cat (well, just one, since no one signed up for one of my classes). Here's some pics:

This is my Coaster Album for my Paper School class this month. Paper School is a year-long series of classes I've developed (well, am developing, since I just had a rough plan for the year after about May) where we combine a mini-lecture about some papercrafting topic (we've done Color Theory, Tools, Storage, and so on) with a MiniBook around that month's theme. In June we're discussing storage/organization of all the papers and stuff our kids bring home at the end of the school year. The MiniBook focuses on some aspect of your child's year at school; in this case this was a Kindergarten field trip for my middle child.

Here's the back:
The other class was an altering class using really ugly coasters from the Dollar Tree. This was fun for me--I punched shapes from product packaging to act as protectors for the photo. I sanded the edges to make them stand out, and then painted them w/my new Ranger Paint Dabber in white. I like things like this; there are a lot of different techniques here--paint, sanding, modge podge, and I used my QK to punch some foam letters. I'm trying to use my QK and Sizzix more to see if I can justify moving up to an electric die-cutter. So far the QK is winning! (and I haven't used either enough to justify the cost. I just don't think of using die-cuts when I work).

That's all for now! Enjoy!

School's Out!

And now the bickering begins! Whew! They've not been out of school even an hour and I've had to send them to their rooms! Time for a schedule! The fact that my oldest DD has entered the wonderful world of pms doesn't help things either.

I leave you w/a picture of my cutie patootie youngest and what he was last studying at preschool.


Are you sure I just can't lock 'em in a closet for the next 10 weeks? (just kidding!)

Has anyone seen Nemo?

We are having a "Finding Nemo" crisis here. C brought me disc two of the two disc set (he's broken disc one finally) sometime yesterday, and now we can't find it anywhere. He REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY infinity wants to watch it. And we can't find it anywhere. Not the disc two, not the copy we made to watch in the car, nothing. He's been asking for this movie since yesterday morning, and it's getting ugly around here.

Please, if you find Nemo, let me know...asap!

Um, yeah. Catching up.

So.

Yes, I'm still here. Things are busy. Aren't they busy for you? I read an article recently in Domino (at least I think it was Domino) about how we are ALL crazy busy, so quit complaining and thinking you are special. That was the gist of it. Made me think about my complaining about being busy like I was unique in the world about my busyiness. Not so, my friend!

My parents have arrived safely. Spent some nice time w/my Mom this week while my Dad was in Portland for training. Now I'm gearing up for a busy week with 3 classes at Stampin' Cat, 2 school concerts (for two different children) a dress rehearsal for my own concert next week at church, as well as a Girls Camp Kick-off for me and DD on Saturday BEFORE two of my 3 classes. Plus my laundry is overflowing, despite the fact that I've been faithfully doing 1-2 loads daily ala Fly Lady. And I have some dishes left over from yesterday. DH did all the cooking and 95% of the dishes. These are some overflow dishes that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher, and I pretty much promised DH when we got married that he wouldn't have to wash dishes by hand if I could help it (since he hated it so, and it doesn't bother me). Plus I still have pound cake, fresh strawberries and real whipped cream I could have as a treat (if I wanted) when the dishes are done.

Tonight, we take our first foray in to the world of Letterboxing. Kinda looking forward to it. Go to http://www.letterboxing.org for more information. Should be fun for all! I want to get more active as a family, and this seems like a nice way to ease into it.

Speaking of getting active, I tried out my Mother's Day shoes this morning and easily walked just over 2 and a quarter miles. I've been barely making 2 miles, and suffering from some ankle pain from an old injury. Not so today! Lovely shoes, and I feel like such an athlete! I'm gearing up for a 5K walk that our church will sponsor in August. Plus I consider it my HBP medicine. I started walking on Feburary 7th--barely making a mile and a half. Now I'm easily doing 2.25 miles in the same time frame. Plus I'm off my meds for high blood pressure and loving having more stamina. I'd love to say that I'm melting away the pounds, but that's not so yet. Probably has something to do with the chocolate I can't stop eating....I've got some strong opinions about the weight loss racket, but I'm saving that for another blog post.

More later! Bye for now!

This is what 37 looks like

Happy birthday to me! (April 30). This is my fav. self portrait for my annual April shoot.

Enjoy!

I've been Tagged!

My first tag in the blogosphere! I'm so excited! I was tagged by Lindsay, an online friend of mine who made it pretty far in the recent MMIdol contest (yay Linds!). So in my first official tag, I'm to come up with 7 random facts about me and then tag seven others.

Here goes:

1. We've lived in our house in Albany for just over 4 years now. I'll be 37 later this month, and this is the longest span in my entire life where I've had the same address. Yep, about every two years I get a little restless. No, we have no plans to move anytime soon.

2. I was a contestant on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" in April, 2000, during it's heyday, when it was on 4 nights a week (or something like that). Yes I met Regis Philbin, No, I didn't get into the "hot seat". We had a carryover contestant who took most of our air time. The only other guy who beat me in the practice rounds was in the chair when our filming time ended. He carried over. Statistically speaking, if we'd had the 4 "fastest finger" rounds that were considered "average" for the show, instead of 2, I'd have had a chance at it. Oh well. It was still a cool experience, and one that takes people by surprise when I tell the story.

3. I was on the fencing team at my Junior College. I was the top female fencer on the team. I really loved it, and kinda wished I'd kept up with it.

4. I graduated from highschool 6 weeks after I turned 17. I graduated from Jr. College 3 days BEFORE I turned 19. I ended up going to school for 8 years. I got my AAS, two BS degrees and 9/10ths of a master degree. We won't go into why I didn't finish my masters degree. It's still a little raw.

5. I have 3 kids. Their ages are 12, 8, and 4. I like even numbers.

6. I was once a Mary Kay Sales Director. I lived in a pink bubble and loved it most of the time.

7. I can sing in 5 languages.


Lindsay also added 7 random scrapbooking facts. I liked that idea, so here goes:

1. I started my own online scrabooking store about 3 and a half years ago.

2. I own more Basic Grey patterned paper than any other manufacturer.

3. I was skeptical about how wonderful Bazzill cardstock was. Then I got some. Now I have a lot.

4. I teach scrapbooking and papercrafting classes at Stampin Cat Studio. Lovin' that. I designed a year long series of classes this year called "Paper School" I give a "lecture" on some aspect of scrapbooking and then we make a mini-book using whatever technique or information I taught about. Coming up with 12 different, easy--yet somewhat challenging--MiniBooks that are chock full of products has been a little tricky. Still I really love working there.

5. I've been scrapbooking for about 11 years now.

6. I'm unhappy when I don't get to work on something papercrafty 'cause my life is too busy at the time.

7. I love to empower women through creativity. That's why I teach classes.

Okay....who to tag.....let's try: Tanya, Amy, Kenny, Shell, Karen B. Cami, and Colleen

Ciao!

I'm just going to quit making promises....

Every time I talk about blogging more, and making the promise that I will blog more, I don't. So I'm going to quit making promises.

That business of my Dad's I referred to? It was a job interview. He got the job. I found out on Thursday last week. Spent a good part of Thursday and Friday looking at rental opportunities for my parents. Sunday got the assignment (which I gladfully took--wait--is "gladfully even a word? It is now!) to go check out the 2 houses they'd narrowed their search to. These houses are in Lebanon, OR, about a half hour away from where I live. So Monday I went to take pictures. Called 'em up and made my suggestion on which was the "better" house. (both houses are new, so really, it's all subjective). Monday night they asked for more pictures of the house that I suggested. I said gladfully--Sure! Tuesday morning I found out that my best friend dislocated her knee at the beginning of her exercise class and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance Monday night. Could I watch her kids when she found out when her MRI appointment was? Sure! I said (still pretty gladfully, I mean, she is my best friend). Right after I drove through a raging hailstorm and rainstorm on I-5 to get to the house (which is exactly 30 minutes from my house) I get the call that her appointment was in 45 minutes. Um, Gulp! I rush in the house, take 126 pictures in about 15 minutes, realize that I'm not going to make it back in time to pick up the kids at my gf's house, and call to find out where I can get the kids. Make plans to meet them at the hospital. FLY down the freeway back to Albany, and arrive at the hospital just as Grandma is parking the car. GF is in hospital, kids are still in car. Whew! I made it! I keep them for the next 6 hours. Gladfully.

I'm also busy with church meetings this week. Last night was my quarterly Women's group meeting. Tonight is a rehearsal for a special musical presentation I'm singing at. Tomorrow is a meeting for the yearly girls camp (I'm doing the Crafts w/another girlfriend). While I enjoy these activities, and believe in serving my church, I'm doing these things not so gladfully. I'm also teaching at Stampin' Cat this Saturday, which means I need to have my kits packed and ready, a spiffy color handout w/instructions and pictures (this is something I like to do), AND have the projects/samples done for NEXT month's classes. I also have to get my "lecture" (this is for my year-long Paper School class) done. Plus I'm late for two swaps. This is why I don't often swap. Sunday I go out of town for my yearly scrapbook retreat at Seaside, Oregon. I LOVE this retreat, and I LOVE the gals I go with. I really want to be organized though, and not haul all my scrapcrap w/me. The last time I literally took just about everything I own, 'cause I didn't know what I was going to work on, and wanted to have options. I only made one mini-album for my mom. I used something like 6 pieces of patterned paper, and a set of stamps. And for that I hauled EVERYTHING? Not this time. So that means along w/the service to my parents (gladfully done), service to my gf (also gladfully done), service to my church (mostly gladfully done, but less than the other), planning and executing my class, samples, and handouts (love this, I mean, after all it's my job and I'm good at it. It just ALWAYS takes more time than I think it will), I have to go through my pictures and plan what I will actually use for my Sunday/Monday and Tuesday retreats. If I didn't REALLY want to scrap, I'd just take a couple of books and plan to do nothing! (quite gladfully!, too, I might add). And I didn't even mention the fact that I'm on "Baby Watch" for some fabulously dear friends having their first baby. They've invited me to the delivery room to be Mom support. (Her due date was last sunday, so it could be any day now.) I LOVE that. That I'll do VERY gladfully!

Ah well, I'm sure my busy life isn't much different from anyone else's busy life. Just feels like a lot right now.

So I'll keep plugging away. Gladfully. And then it'll be next week, and something else will start the whole busy process again. 'Cause that's how it goes. It just does. And the best thing we can do is try our best to do the whole thing gladfully. As my Mom likes to say, "When you change your attitude, you change your circumstance."

And that's the other side

Some Pics

Here's me and my Dad. It was so great to see him, even if it only was for a couple of hours. Yes, Joel, H, and I are all wearing green. No, it wasn't planned, nor did we have our holidays mixed up. It was just one of those random family things.

And here's my lovelies in their easter finery. I had to laugh at myself when we got to church 'cause there was one other little boy in the EXACT same shirt and vest combination. And then I found out that 2 more moms had purchased the same shirt and vest combo for their sons. What can I say? We all have excellent taste!

Enjoy the day!

Let Me Sum Up

In the last couple of weeks I:

Survived a mostly stay at home Spring Break. I'll post pics later of some of our activities, which included:

• taking care of 3 guinea pigs and 3 bunny rabbits, now forever known in our family as "The Wonderpets"
• Seeing "Night at the Museum" for the second time at the $1.50 movie theater
• Going to Beverly Beach at the Oregon Coast with cousins
• Multiple Cousin Sleep-overs
• Nintendo Throwdown w/some of my kid's friends

There's more, but that's a good start.

Also, my Dad showed up unannounced from Flagstaff, AZ on Sunday, April Fool's Day. He had some business in Portland, and just decided to drop by. My Dh and kids were perfecting their AFD jokes so when Joel said, "Your Dad's here!" I decided to prove that I wasn't so gullible and retorted, "No he's not! You're totally Lying!" which was immediately followed by, "Oh! Hi Dad!"

I've also been developing some new classes for Stampin' Cat. I'll show pics of those when they are downloaded as well.

We've also had some pretty successful potty-training days. I'll spare you the gory details, but it sufficeth to say that C is turning four this sunday, and I totally expected that he'd be wearing diapers up until he started Kindergarten. Lots of fights, little interest. But not anymore! Tee-hee!

April is my birthday month. I'll be taking my self-portrait this April like I've done the past 2 years. I'll also do another yearly portrait of my kids. Love April! I've set a goal to post more regularly in April as well--I won't say every day, but I will tell my loyal readers that things should be a little more interesting around here!

That's all for now!

The Other Night...

I dreamed about Emily Falconbridge. I've never met her, in person, but I've read about her all over the blogosphere, and I've seen her work in a number of places. She was trying to get to Ali Edwards' house (who lives in Eugene, Oregon, about an hour south of where I live), and she was lost and getting a bit upset, and having the pregnant mommy ferocious hungries. She had her daughter with her. I got her some food, helped her find Ali's address, and even offered to babysit for her, telling her that it was okay that she leave her daughter with me, a total stranger, because we belonged to the same church. She was fine with that. At that point the dream sorta morphed away, with Emily happily on her way, and me babysitting her daughter and feeling all happy to help out someone in need.

I think I've been reading too many blogs.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

My hair is getting really long. I mean really, really, long. I haven't had my hair this long since the birth of my first child. I realized yesterday that I don't know how to have long hair anymore. Now for some backstory.

One of the things on my master list of "Things to do before I die" was to grow out my bangs. I had bangs from the time I was ten years old or thereabouts. The exact timeline is fuzzy, but the fact remains that I had bangs for well over twenty years of my life. I longed for the luscious, free-flowing no bang look. The pull it back in a ponytail ease. The no need for curling to look good, thus avoiding the occasional curling iron burns on the forehead. But alas, every time my bangs got long enough to hit the corners of my eyes, or fly into my eyes when the windows were open as we drove along, I said "Enough!" and cut my bangs again. Finally, after my third child was born, I decided to let my bangs grow at least to my jawline, not matter what. If I couldn't stand them when they hit my jawline, if I hadn't adapted to liking them at all, I'd cut 'em again. But at least I would have grown them out enough to satisfy my list.

Now, about three years later, I have no bangs. My hair is down to the middle of my back. I like it most days. I cut it myself. Partly because I can and partly because I don't want to pay $30 to get an inch trimmed off then ends when they get all yucky. I'm kinda daring myself to see how long I can get it. Sorta of like the end of Thelma and Lousie when they drive off that cliff, I'm heading into the gray area between nice-looking long hair and hair that's just Too Long. I'm thinking of letting it go a few more inches and then donating it to Locks of Love.

But back to my first paragraph: I no longer know how to have long hair. I don't style it. I don't even really own the battery of styling products I used to have. For a long time I didn't even have a hair dryer--I just let it air dry. The longer it got, the more of a problem this was. One Sunday morning, while facing the reality that I was going to church with wet hair and not being happy about it, I seriously considered using the reverse switch on my vacuum cleaner to dry my hair. Seriously. I ended up steaming it mostly dry with my flat iron. When I told this story to my best girlfriend as she dropped off her kids for a little service daycare, she laughed with me. And brought me a new hairdryer when she came back from her Dr's. appointment. And I was grateful.

So I don't know how to have long hair anymore. I'm usually putting it up with a hand-carved wooden hairpick I bought at a craft show or it's in the universally acceptable pony tail (which Entertainment Weekly tells me is now "out", so I'm not sure if I should keep wearing one or just stick with my hairpick). When it's down it's in my way. It's hot and sweaty. It doesn't feel right.

What it all comes down to is that I am craving change in my life. My hair is a metaphor. I love where I am and who I am but I'm ready to build on that and have something else. I'm subscribing to Domino instead of Better Homes and Gardens (although I still sneak peeks at that one when I'm at the library). I'm looking at short haircuts online. I'm going to see how long my hair has to be before I donate it. I'm walking close to two miles every day and looking to carve out time for a daily Pilates routine. I'm going to bed earlier and sleeping better. I'm actually having some success avoiding my much loved sugary/fatty foods. I've been 99% caffeine free for about 3 weeks. I want new CD's to listen to. I'm ready to let go of all of the books I've been hoarding over the years (that's what the Library is for, isn't it!?) so that I can have less clutter around me. I've done the initial purge of my closet and am ready for more. I've given away the baby crib and most of my baby stuff. I had a big clearance sale for all my local friends who wanted cheap scrapbooking supplies. I'm learning all I can about photography so I can start that as another stream of income. We are ripping out the dingy carpet in favor of new hardwood floors. I bought the big Scotch ATG 714 tape gun to replace my beloved Tombow adhesive. IKEA is coming to Portland this summer (which means it'll be about an hour and a half away instead of 4 hours! Hooray! My van has seats that fold flat!) and I am ready to chuck all my furniture and embrace a more Swedish way of life with funky cool stylish (but cheap!) things I can buy flat-packed and put together myself. It's almost as if, at 36-almost-37-years-of-age I'm ready to grow up and have the confidence in myself to back that growing. Going back to my word of the year: I'm ready to DO.

I'm ready for a change. I'm just not sure how to bring it about. Yet. But the fact remains that I am DO-ing, and am ready to DO MORE.

And that's the other side.

Blah....

Feeling rather blah blecky right now.

I sent out about 25 emails to all of my friends that like to scrap/papercraft to invite them to a super clearance sale (mostly I'm just SICK of looking at certain papers and stuff) clean my house (w/my hubby's late night help) and no one came. I also invited the same 25 people to come to a crop at my house tonight. These are the same people that have been asking about a crop for a long time now (I used to have them monthly, but people moved, had conflicts, etc., so I stopped). I think two people will show up tonight. I'm pretty much wallowing in self-pity right now.

It's a good thing we cleaned up our Family Office (we don't have a family room, we have a family office) because DH is going to be ripping out the nasty carpet in our living room over the course of the next two weeks. This will culminate in the install of new hardwood floors in our main living area, the entry way, the eating area, and the kitchen. I'm very excited about this! (the old carpet was truly nasty, and on days where the house was closed up for too long, made the house smell like a combination of old dirt and someone else's sweat. Not pleasant). All of the furniture (piano, antique German armoire {or der Schrank}, 10 ft couch, dining table, chairs, bookcases, tv, etc.) will have to be piled into the office area for a short time while the floor is installed. The plan is for this to happen during spring break, when I'll take the kids and go away for about 5 days. We bought enough flooring (at 97 cent a sq. ft, I might add) to hopefully do the office area too, but that will wait for a bit.

But back to the blahs---after a couple weeks of C working hard to get negative attention (and he does get PLENTY of positive attention, so we aren't sure where this mischievous, PITA streak is coming from ) I was really looking forward to some fun with my friends. I was really hoping to move some of this scrapbooking stuff! Ah well, you've heard the sayings of "the best laid plans...." and what night. When I set this up, I wanted it to be something fun for my friends---I don't want anyone to feel obligated to come. I can't have it both ways.

Still, if you want some Bazzill and SEI buttons for $1.00, or some Urban Lily or Pixel Decor papers for 25 cents a sheet, or a few Bazzill Mono Mini Albums for $1.00, let me know!

And that's the other side.

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!

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

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.

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!