Tiff and Company

Growing

2010-08-22T16:27:00.001-04:00

It's August. Which is almost over. Wow. And my last blog post was mid-March. It really doesn't feel like it was that long ago. But it has and I have to say... we're having a baby! Hubs I decided to expand our family and Brayden will have a baby brother in a few more months. Very exciting times. Summer has been crazy-busy, a little emotional, very stressful, action packed and full of manual labor and house remodeling. All that basically means my crafts and blog quickly fell to the bottom of the priority list. So for now I have to bid this blog farewell. I hope to get back to things next year after I get to know our new family member.

xoxo

Randomness: Photography, Me, Knitting, Luck

2010-03-17T22:33:00.017-04:00

I had a strange feeling this weekend. An odd sensation of.... fitting in. I don't fit in. I have never fit in. My hairdresser even said "so you're normal now?". Um, I've been called a lot of things in my life and normal is not one of them! Very awkward feeling. It started when I was watching Pink's behind the music and started thinking about why I don't have short punky platinum hair. Quite the opposite of my shoulder-length natural dark reddish brown hair (complete with side swooped bangs a few layers). Boring. And I'm loving all the ruffles and rolled flowers on clothes these days. I have broken through my all-my-pants-are-black phase. I need to get rid of the wedges and get back into some sexy heels and trendy tops. I want to stand out in a room, not fit in. External changes to come! When did I become boring anyway? Being Thirty-something? Becoming a wife? A mother? Post childbirth weight gain? Who cares!? There is no excuse and it must be changed! (picture found at pinkspage)

So, now that I have that off my chest... lets talk about cameras. And how I started collecting them!? My love of cameras and photography is changing and sort of becoming an obsession. I was on etsy.com this morning scouting out antique cameras. I decided until I get a bigger house and a place to put them all, I better stick to working, functional cameras. Thus... my new fisheye lens camera (picture courtesy of lomography.com and read more about the camera here):

I bought this at lomography.com and it just came today. Can't wait to play play play this weekend! How fun. I bought the underwater case for it too. Heh heh. If you go to that website, make sure you click on the "what the hell is lomography" link! And what I have learned so far... I have no clue how to freaking load a roll a flim. Yes. You read that right. I have never loaded a roll of film before, sad but true. I had disposables for trips and stuff in my younger years and then it was all digital. Kinda crazy, eh?

Just for my own entertainment, here is my recent Etsy favorites list. It's funny how my tastes and what I'm into change monthy. So I decided I'm going to post my favorites time to time.

And I started a new knit project as a belated bday gift for a buddy. I got an adorable ruffle scarf pattern from cosmicpluto.com and absolutely dreamy yarn! The yarn is Malabrigo Merino and its just so user friendly and soft and doesn't split. It seems to love my needles. I will buy it again!

Today is also St. Patty's day so there is a lot of green beer drinking, Irish wishes, clovers and lucky talk going on in the world around me. I don't believe much in luck, however I am very lucky for all the wonderful things in my life. So, maybe I do believe in luck after all. Happy St. Patricks Day to you!

Project Life

2010-03-15T22:05:00.000-04:00

I'm finally getting around to posting about the big project life album! This kit is huuuuuge, easy and a perfect way to document our 2010. Print 'n stick! I have quite a few buds that want "something" but don't have time or care to get in to scrapbooking (ditto for digital) that this would be perfect for. Can't wait to show off my book to them because they will love it and want one!

However, I am behind in my journaling. As long I keep up monthly on the pictures, its quite simple to go back in time and catch up on the writing. So far, so good for first quarter :o)

The top row of pictures on this one have two pics side by side on a 4x6. That way I could utilize more pics on this spread and get use out of the vertical ones!

I decided not to use all the stickers that came with the kit. My book is rather random. While it will be chronological, its not a photo-a-day. I did that last year with a digital kit and it almost killed me. Well, not really but it was definately a lot of work and very time consuming. I forced myself to finish that book through June. (you can see that here btw which was also inspired by Becky's kit last year that I couldn't get my hands on)

Becky Higgins is also working on a school kit. I will buy one. Even though we're two years away from school still :o)

December Album

2010-02-14T15:04:00.002-05:00

I know I know... Christmas was a looooong time ago. I finished the December album the second week of January and am JUST getting around to posting it now. This was from the Jessica Sprague/Holiday in Hand class (and inspiration from Ali Edwards).

I wanted more "chaos" but it ended up being a "clean" album. I didn't like it at all... until it was done. Now I love it. Next year's will be different... if I do one next year. It is a long way away after all....

Valentine!

2010-02-14T15:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Hubs and I don't really celebrate this holiday. But, since my babe was born, I started making little ornaments every year. And ta da... here are this years:

I made them with some inspiration from the House of 3 girls and these Rhonna Ferrer frames. Printed frames on acetate... very cool and oh so simple. But, I really like my fabric ornaments too. Here are the 2009 ornaments:

Here are the very first ones that kicked of this new tradition in 2008:

Year Three

2010-01-30T14:20:00.004-05:00

Weeeeeell... A few weeks ago I decided I didn't like Brayden's Third Year album. So four months in, I totally started over. I'm happy with it now! The first one was too grown up... I needed something kinda cutesy-cool. He is only going to be three after all. We have the rest of his life to do kick @ss things, so cutesy it is.

The digital scrapbook kit is from Katie Pertiet/Designer Digitals. The long pics are 2-page spreads. I went with one spread for each month on this years album. This is SO much easier than the 365 days of Brayden! And I think I may use these wee bots for the 3rd birthday party this year. Yes, his birthday isn't until September. And yes, I know I'm jumping the gun. I have a tendency to do that :o)

In review... here is Brayden's first year, and second year "365 Days of Brayden" book over in the Shutterfly Gallery.

2009 Year at a glance

2010-01-16T14:08:00.002-05:00

I downloaded a cool freebie from Paislee Press that I used for this layout. I was too lazy to format it myself and had I not downloaded the template or got some inspiration from her awesomeness... I would have never made this:

Blog & Knit Obsession

2010-01-06T19:20:00.002-05:00

Almost a week into the new year... and I haven't done much of anything. And that... is flippin' fabulous! I have been laying low and focusing on things, chores and goals around the house in the next few [winter] months. My bedroom is getting a make over and Brayden's room will get getting a big boy full size bed (so I've been charging a lot lately... there goes the first goal of the new year out the window).

I am happy to report that my blog obsession is back! Fourth quarter of 2009 I didn't read many blogs. None really, and even ignored my own. Everything seems to inspire me again, which is good and bad. My day isn't complete until I at least glance at the following sites:

A Beautiful Mess blog/Elsie Flanigan - great online personality & just looove her style, not to mention the extraordinary eye candy she posts!!! and be sure to check out her shop
Becky Higgins blog just because of the huge 2010 scrapbook project called "project life" - you'll be hearing and seeing a lot more about that in the near future
Shutterfly's new blog for photobook ideas and photo tips (one of my goals is to get back into book commenting in the Shutterfly Gallery, need to kick my Guru status up a notch!)
My recently discovered We Heart It website... awesome and always unexpecting
And check out this collection a day project from Lisa Congdon - very, extremely very, cool (is that a sentence?)

I have knitting at my lunch breaks at work and while watching Prep & Landing and Despereaux for 3,000th time! My 13 year old nephew actually wanted his Aunt Tee Tee (me) to make him a hat. Of course! I was very excited by his request. But as I knit it, I keep thinking he's going to hate it. Which is fine, I'll save it for when Brayden gets bigger then. And Auntie Gail's belated Christmas Mochimochi Land stackable pup. I gave him to her for the holiday even though he looked like a pet rock at the time - her words, not mine ;o) The ears, tail and 2.5 feet are ready, only 1.5 feet to go. I named him Leo. Pup two and three will be Lance and Lexi. I will post Leo next week.

Speaking of knitting... I need friends on Ravelry and my name is Tiffany719 so search me out! I have a few projects posted on there too and hope to get that updated soon. The camera and I need some QT with some of my current projects.

Hello Two Thousand Ten!

2010-01-02T15:34:00.001-05:00

Hello and welcome to a new year! I totally fell off the blogging wagon in December. Things got a little nutty. Well, I won't lie... they got a lot nutty. But here it is, January. 2010. Very cool.

The holidays were much less chaotic this year. Brayden was less work and less crabby. Next year should be a blast with him (he'll be three). I hope you enjoyed your holidays and rang in the new year with health and happiness!

My crafts have been suffering too with the holiday schedule and I didn't get to finish two Christmas gifts in time. So, that's whats on my plate now. That and a house overhaul. The second I woke up on New Years Day I started cleaning and organizing and haven't stopped. And looking at the new "to do" list, probably won't stop, oh... until about May! :o)

I know I always say I will write more soon and share projects and stuff, and never seem to get that point... so here. Today's project was editing some photos to be framed 12x12 for above our bed. This orangey tone matchs the new duvet cover Santa brought me :o)

Charlevoix MI

Ft. Lauderdale by the Sea FL

Myrtle Beach SC

Ixtapa Island, Mexico

These are all photos from our trips in the last three years. I almost bought new art and went "why?" so this project totally makes me excited. They don't look like much here but against a blue wall with my new orangey, blue & green theme, it will look very cool. Can't wait to get them framed and up on the wall. And just for the record, the huge picture that used to hang there broke. Thanks to Brayden. My wild two year old.

My hobbies will all be picking up a little bit during these winter months. We'll be home more and there is no presure or time contrants. Which makes crafting so much more enjoyable. I'll be back in a few days to share some ideas and goals for the new year ahead... note I said "goals", not resolutions. I suck at resolutions and gave those up a decade ago. So happy new year to you. I hope you feel as satisfied and excited about the future as I do!

Sorry!

2009-12-14T19:03:00.001-05:00

Boy oh boy... I have no idea what happened. One minute I am chipper and so stoked about the holidays and the next minute I'm saying "next week is Christmas?" over and over and over again in my head! Argh!

I was doing great staying on top of the holidays "to do" list, and that has definately tapered off. I haven't worked on any presents which consists of two I'm knitting and a bunch of gnome ornaments to finish. Hubs in very helpful with the gift card purchases and the money gifts for all the beloved kiddo's in our lives though. That helps.

This week at work we visit a local nursing home and Santa passes out little gift bags and us elves run around with cookies and milk and we purchase/donate lots of games and DVD's and miscellaneous odds 'n ends. Friday we have a half day for a holiday social and play time. Good stuff. I work for such a generous man and company :o) Quite a few meetings on the work front too which is not normal for me but it's aaaaall good.

Nothing fun to show off but this Santa picture:

Brayden disliked Mr. Claus. Again. It was quite comical. I'm honestly surprised we even got that photograph!

I will try to get some pictures of the recent crafts and gifts posted soon. I know how boring blogs are without any eye candy! :o) I have my scrapbook to share and the ornament swap which has been SO much fun!

Be jolly!

This year... I love you!

2009-12-01T19:57:00.012-05:00

Hello December. I know we haven't gotten along in the past but this year I will put my petty stress and everyday life drama aside. I have big plans for us this year. BIG plans. And so does my husband. Which was odd and totally without my influence. Be jolly and bright!

Today... I met my husband nine years ago today. At 5:15pm today to be exact. It was a blind date set up by my old next-door-neighbor Pat. I only agreed because I trusted her. She's so cute. And I figured a blind date would be a good story for the girls at work. Because I was bored. Her friends had a thirty-something year old single son. Three weeks later he left a tooth brush at my house. After a year and a half of nasty fighting we finally gave in and accepted that we obviously wanted to be with each other. Then we built a house. Got married. Had a baby. Started a blog. Bliss ;o)

So December... We have a decent social agenda. Not too much like in the past but enough to be the typical holiday nuttiness. Working on quite a few handmade Christmas gifts. I get to start my "December Daily" album of our entire day-to-day events. This weekend we're doing a family photo shoot. Next week we're going to see Santa Claus. Which... will be a total nightmare and will bet $100 I don't get a Brayden and Santa picture this year. I have to try.

Here's my 2.5" tall ga-nomes for the ornament swap. I will mail them before the week is through. I can't wait to get my ornaments from other people! :o)

My son got a shot today. He screamed... and then it was over. Until later when it was bathtime and he saw the bandaid and started crying again. It was so cute (and extremely funny). Poor guy.

December... this year, I love you.

Oh, and look at this awesome idea for Thanksgiving cupcakes from my recent inspiration obsession... Elsie Flannigan! I will have to do that next year. How cute.

Thankful Randomness

2009-11-24T19:00:00.001-05:00

Today I am thankful for this face. Just as I was yesterday. And will be tomorrow. This face completes me.

Check out the flickr group for my ornament swap. Cute. Mine are completed. I need to get some photos and then bag 'n tag 'em and they'll be ready to ship!

I came across this camera bag today. Want! And have you checked out photojojo lately? Oh the cool things... I want one of everything!

I'm already thinking about my 2010 projects. Oh boy. I bought this project life kit from Becky Higgins for starters. I also think I'm going do a "my favorite things" digi album. It's Paislee Press and Taylormade colaboration kit that purchased a year ago on oscraps.com. Time to use it! The blogs I usually stalk are all doing a "I'm thankful for..." post every day and I've recently realized that my favorite things and things I'm thankful for... aren't all that different. :o)

Thanksgiving will be nice. The weekend will start out with date night with hubs and a few martini's. I realized today that our anniversary is next week.... December 1, 2000... our blind date. Seeing both sets of parents on turkey day. Low key. My nephew is turning 13 and will be over for a slumber party Thursday and Friday night with some additional company/friends over. Sunday... me time. Should make for a nice holiday kick-off. Maybe I'll even get the tree up. Maybe.... Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Be thankful... for EVERYTHING. Every little thing.

A haircut and holiday stuff

2009-11-22T08:42:00.001-05:00

My blog has been ugly lately so I just want to throw some pictures up. And nothing too excited because I only have ohhhh, about three minutes. So here we go...

1) I'll be working on my ga-nome (thats how I say it) ornaments for the holiday swap:

2) One of the six different gift tags I made for Christmas (printed on sticker paper):

3) Nothing-fancy-but-in-your-face prompts for the daily december book. Right on the kitchen counter. I'm excited for this December project (this from the Jessica Sprague class):

4) I gave my son a HORRIBLE hair cut:

5) 24 hrs later I had to buzz it. HAD to. I was/am sad. I miss his golden curls:

6) I made this for friend and her newborn:

7) I am in love with all things vintage lately. Colors and styles. And Elsie's "a beautiful mess" blog is the only thing I stalk anymore. She is adorable. Love her stuff.

8) The ga nome photo shoot was inspired from this print on etsy.com. Got the ornaments and two of the three hats done :o)

Holidays, values, goals?

2009-11-19T21:37:00.001-05:00

This week is Jessica's Holiday in Hand class and I just got done skimming about twenty blogs that had posted links in the forum to their holiday values and goals (to get some ideas for my own). Very inspiring ladies and cool stuff as usual from Jessica but I can't wait to make the album this weekend! I'm hoping to be able to incorporate my Eve Johnson holiday album too. Guess I will find out soon enough. Last year Ali Edwards had a great Daily December album which my friend made (and made me jealous) so I had to hop on the bandwagon this year!

So enough of the cuteness and back to the values... the goals... I got nothing. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Every year I say I'm not going to stress out. Every year I say I'm going to spend quality time at home. Year after year I say I'm going to cut back on the spending. Be more organized. Go to church. Relax. Enjoy. Ugh. Seriously? I suck. Every stinking year. However, this year something is already different and it happened before I started this class, and this thought process. I had a ball shopping for Brayden... got the Thanksgiving, Santa visit, gnome photoshoot (I'll explain that more in a couple weeks), Christmas Eve and Christmas day outfit all set. And Christmas crafts... I've knitted two hats, started knitting two gifts, made vintage Santa gift tags for presents, working on holiday cupcake picks, two hybrid holiday albums and I am in my first Christmas ornament swap on swap-bot.com. My husband has been singing and playing holiday tunes since 11/1 and I'm actually not annoyed by it. I also head up a lot of the holiday functions at work and get frustrated... but nope, not this year. Twilight zone? Perhaps.

Again, my values and goals for the holidays... are the still the same. And I will probably fail at them. This year I will laugh when I do though. That's going to make the difference. I have realized that 2009 was a great personal journey for me. Ups and down. Insides and out. Hurt feelings. Changed feelings. Budgets. A ton (a TON) of friends struggling with the economy. With health. With life. Emotional. Motherhood... huge learning curve. And I've rediscovered quite a few things about myself. It may have been an extremely hard year, but I think in the distant future that I may look back and say it was a great year. A great year that taught me a lot.

In an atempt to not make this post a mile long... possibly too late for that... I'll wrap this up and say that have no specific holiday values or goals. I will see my family and friends and love them. I always value my husband (yes, even when I want to strangle him) and my son (the two furry boys with pointy ears too). I have a feeling I will relax this Christmas for the first time ever. And enjoy it. Lots of fun crafts, love to spread, et cetera, etc cetera. No bah humbugs out of me this year. I haven't mentioned Brayden much... he's two now so there will a ton of fun to share with him. Maybe that is what put the extra spunk in me this year?

Now back to the class real quick... the album will be grand! The class is fun. And it got me to thinking about 2009 as a whole. In its entirety. And now I am already looking forward to 2010. My only newyearsolution will be the same as always... be a better person. And thank you to everybody that inspires me... even though you have no idea who you are. Oh! That should be a blog post, eh? :o) I hope to blog all my crafts and album updates through December. We need some fun eye candy on here, don't ya think?

Thank you, and good night.

Shutterfly Stuff

2009-11-11T06:32:00.005-05:00

I am very giddy about about the holidays. Very odd for me... I'm telling ya, something is totally out of sorts! But it's all good. Been knitting and making ornaments and planning a gnome photo shoot... fun fun. More on that later. For now, I want to talk about Shutterfly. First, check out my most recent artwork photobook. That was so much fun for me to make!!! It was just a few pieces that I had from the college years. Can't wait to get the book in my hands and see it in person.

Next up, "Shutterfly Party"! Shutterfly partnered up with houseparty.com for some photobook fun. Kind of a hands on "how to" gig. It worked out pretty cool. I hosted a party with about ten ladies, served lots of munchies (lots), made a pitcher of cosmo, had all the freebies (bag, pen, free 8x8 book coupon and set of 12 holiday cards) for guests and put every one of my photo books on display. One friend brought her laptop and my neighbor hooked me up with their wifi so I did a quicky demonstration of the new Simple Path book along with the traditional Custom Path book. Short, sweet, simple. A few guests didn't seem too into it but everybody loves freebies. And a few other girls were totally stoked about it. I thought it worked out well... nice and low key.

Shutterfly launched a new blog! New, clean and a bit fancier. Easier to navigate and find things you're looking for. Aaaand... I'm on it! Here is my first blog post regarding Simple Path books. It was funny when I first went on the blog and saw a five-year-old version of me in a Halloween costume on the home page! (look for the flapper)

So there you have it, my Shutterfly love slathered all over my blog :o)

Well...

2009-11-02T17:44:00.000-05:00

It's November. I feel like yesterday morning I woke up and went "woo-hoo! the witching season is upon us" and today, it's gone. Poof. And I have holiday brain. Me? Who took my bah out of my humbug I ask? Strange.

The last two months have been a test. I'm sure of it. To see where my cracking point is. I'm ok now. Suddenly. And Halloween was excellent. Up until Friday I didn't feel like my favorite day of the year was here. I never even decorated. No pumpkins. Nothing. So sad. So very sad. But then it was Devil's night and I went to my annual Halloween extravaganza. My friends always decorate so dang cool. They should start their own "Halloween- how-to" blog.

My dear friend added one to their gang last week! They had a bouncing baby boy. Oh... so sweet. Those lil wee miracles just get me. We're going to do a photo shoot next. Can't wait. Maybe next weekend so I'll be sure to post pictures.

And then there's Brayden! We had his Boo Bash at daycare... and it was lame. We volunteer to decorate our trunk for trunk-or-treating and pass out candy but due to the nasty weather, it was held indoors. Thus the lame part and all I did was chase around a maniac Ewok. Good times ;o) But Saturday made up for it. He was a trooper. It started off pretty rocky but with my friend Brian's help, it got better. He figured out the door to door gig but then he wanted to go to EVERY door. By then, we were done. He walked right up to scary masked people too. I was shocked by that. The Wicket hood was only on for half of the walk. Better than not at all!

While trying to catch up, I'm trying to keep this short. And its not so short. I feel good today. November. Monday. Sanity. Holidays. Plans. Santa. Looking ahead to the last two months of the year makes me happy. It usually makes me crabby. So there, I did at least update to say hey and post some pictures. I'll talk crafty and photography soon. I will blog more in November! xoxo

PS... What happened to spell check on blogger? I don't see it. Drat.

Year three...

2009-10-14T06:29:00.000-04:00

Please forgive me! The blog hasn't gotten much love of late. Life has been... has been.... AAAAARGH! September was NUTS and October hasn't started out so great. And that's all I have to say about that. I got my house painted last week though. That was annoying but so happy its done now. Everything is so clean and new. However, it's very blue. And I have a lot of bronze, burgundy and gold things (and dark furniture). Time for some redecorating! But I did need some color in my life. I'm so... so... monochromatic (aka boring!)

And have I mentioned... HALLOWEEN is coming! Woo-hoo! One of my partied got cancelled though... booooooo. But that's ok, we have the boy's festivities all planned out, a devils night party for us grown-ups and trick or treat plans. Very exciting/excited.

I started Brayden's 3rd year digi book. It will be MUCH simpler than the 365 days of Brayden book. Holy schmoly! That was work. It's very cool though. I just don't have it in me to do it again. So this years book with a 2-page spread for each month, pick a few favorite photos each month and keep it clean and simple.

Here's the title page:

Left side of September:

Right side of September:

And the left side of October:

Very green... for some reason?

Lots of knitting plans in the next week and I need to start on the annual Christmas gifts (Shutterfly calendars for the grandma's and things like that). I wanted to make some fabric ornaments too, but we'll see how far I get on the current project list.

A Couple of Virus' and a Boo Bat!

2009-10-04T10:47:00.004-04:00

I did it! I completed Boo Bat. Woo-hoo!!! I bought the pattern the SECOND it came out [last year] from Mochimochiland. Just finally made him! But, he's not mine. He's for baby Aidan who will be born sometime the week of October 26th! Quite fitting, doncha think? I thought he was going to be too complicated for me but it went pretty well shockingly enough. Next... pile-able pups and start a project for mother's Xmas present. I LOVE crossing projects off my list and it's been a while since I have. Eek. Any who... here's Boo Bat! :o)

So, on to less exciting things... Brayden had two virus' on two separate occasions in the last month. His father landed in the hospital in between those two virus' with Rhabdomyolysis. Yes, that is very strange. Extremely strange (of course he was no where near that scary stuff you will read in that link). Dave gets deathly ill the week after my boy brings a virus into the house. It's been going on all year. The doctor's think I'm insane but my hubs is spleenless and he picks up these viruses instantly. And that diagnosis? Seriously? But I'm the insane one. So I currently live with a 41 yr old that acts like he's 8, and a 2 yr old that acts like... well, he is 2. Did I mention I've been sick? Apparently that doesn't matter... and mother's around the world are laughing at me... "been there, done that... 8 million times, with 5 kids!".... it's all good ;o) Or at least, it will be. Here's my sickly lil guy:

The Second Birthday

2009-09-14T18:51:00.007-04:00

I finally have some fun stuff to share from Brayden's party! Last year I did a "monkey do" theme based on a digital scrapbook kit and this was the year of the monster! I did the same thing and found the perfect digi kit.

The invitations (printed at shutterfly in 4x8 along with matching thank you's)...

And the bday boy...

The cupcakes (MUCH easier than last year's)...

A birthday banner...

We had some monsterous goo (aka Yoda Soda) and pizza. We kept it extremely simple. I made some resin monster magnets for the treat bags and cupcake picks. And the birthday boy had a tee to match. You can check out the full photo book from the party here. Brayden gets overwhelmed in crowds but he did excellent and had fun. Opening gifts is the least fun part... I know, it'll be easier when he's a little older :o) My pictures were horrid... still don't know to use the new camera.

And now... now I can focus on cleaning my house, knitting, and getting out the Halloween decor! I've been feeling a little overly stressed and emotional... and today, I feel good. Ready to conquer fall. Bring it.

Shoes and a Birth Day

2009-09-04T06:16:00.005-04:00

This was September 7, 2007:

This was August 16, 2009:

I can't believe how much time has passed so quickly. A lot has changed. A lot. I love that little person more than I ever thought I could love anything. It's been a glorious two years. He makes me glow. Yes, even when he's screaming or throwing a tantrum ;o) Happy 2nd Birthday baby.

Last weekend I was doing some Fall shoe shopping. I hit up Macy's in and popped in to Designer Shoe Warehouse. Then I went on the Internet and hit up Rocket Dog, Zappos and Endless. I have the best luck with Endless. I ended up laughing. Really hard. While searching through thousands of "shooties", boots and clogs, every time I loved a pair I would sit back and ask myself "How fast can you run in these in case of an emergency", "Can I stand at a party for four hours holding my 33 baby without discomfort?", and "Are those too high?". Are those too high... if you knew me, you'd realize how absurd that question is. And my feet went up an ENTIRE shoe size during pregnancy. I have thrown out/gotten rid of 25 pair of shoes. Breaks my heart. It was an enlightening moment to realize even shoe shopping has changed drastically in the last two years.

Miscellaneous Sunday Morning

2009-08-30T08:07:00.006-04:00

I still don't like my header. Third one this week. I think my original one was very understated in black and white. Maybe that's the problem? These new ones are too bright for me? What do you think? This picture is from our overnighy mini-vaca with the inlaws a couple weeks ago. My boy loved the horse's! I just realized that hubs looks really gray in that picture.

So let's talk about life for a minute. My life. It has just been inside out lately. I think I need to fire some writers and hire a few new ones. I need some new material and storyline. The soap opera drama that has been surrounding me lately is a lot to process. A lot of people close to me are going through some really crazy and highly stressful things. And in my personal space, I am an emotional wreck. But, that's a whole story in itself and I'm not ready to talk about just yet. All of a sudden the 5-year plan drastically changed. Dreams blurred. Goals are evolving. I feel different. It's just a transition and I need to find my new path. And I will. It's my new personal mission and it's already started.

Speaking of writers, have you seen Watchmen? I LOVED it. I heard some horrid reviews when it was in theatres but I'm going to assume those people had no idea what they were getting in to. It is not a super hero movie! It's dark and twisty. I thought it was done really well. I didn't read the graphic novel it before the movie so I can't make that kind of review. I want to watch it again :o)

Nothing is new in my crafty world since two posts ago. I am down to ONE week until my baby boy turns two! This week will be nutty. The house is dir-taaaaaay. Eeek. Decorating will be easier and less involved than last year. It's all good.

My grandmother, aka Oma, is in town for two weeks. We're off to visit her for the day. I love when she comes to town. I love watching her watch Brayden. It's a generation thing. And I'm very happy to report that both of Brayden's Great Grandmother's will be in attendance at his birthday party. Very cool.

I haven't been a good Shutterfly Gallery Guru lately either. I need to focus on that in my free time this week. I always chuckle when I say that... free time. There is really no such thing. I like it that way. If you're reading this and don't know the "guru" background, check out this book.

Hyper Parent?

2009-08-25T20:44:00.002-04:00

I found a mommytimes email in my inbox today which led me to this article on hyper parenting and went "oh boy, another title to add to my long list of what I'm doing wrong in every one else's eyes". To my surprise, I am somewhat of a relaxed parent according to this list. Take that you you you... you know who you are who thinks I am an overprotective freak of a parent! Some of these main points don't relate to me since my precious wee one is just about to turn two.

Now my beloved hubs is another story... I think he may be into this hyper parenting! Honey, you need to read this. Twice.

I have 1, 4, 8 and 9 down pretty good. I certainly need to work on 2 and 10... respect and accept. Now I have to quit typing and go give him kisses.

Crafty goodness. Finally!

2009-08-23T15:18:00.004-04:00

I soooooooo need this Halloween cake stand set from Fancy Flours! Cool. Cute. Fun. Useful. Shall I go on? :o) Aaaaand... I finally got around to taking some pictures of all my current projects. So here we go...

This is my Berroco diddy bag that will become my yarn storage bin. It's smaller than I thought it would be so I'm not going to felt it. And I made a pact with myself that if there is no room for more yarn, then I don't need any more yarn. I have a feeling I'll end up with two of these. The yarn is more reddish than this picture shows.

Mochimochi's boo bat is cute and a fun knit. Highly recommended. He will get his own post when he's finished:

This is the future cat hair collection blankey for the foot of my bed. Dante (the black cat) sits in the same corner at the foot of my bed, thus... pile of black cat hair on my cotton duvet. Randall isn't too bad but he is less restless if he lays on something. So maybe he'll toss 'n turn less through the nights if he has a nice blankey to cuddle with. I tried to match my room with a lt blue and dirty light sage but the colors are definitely off. It will work though. It's better than the bright purple afghan I usually use during the winter months. I love that blanket, but definitely doesn't match to keep out on my bed full time.

Next we have the cocoon. I had this homespun yarn that I LOVED (one of the first yarns I ever bought when I learned to knit) and wasn't sure what to do with. Well, I have found thee perfect project for it!! Its soft, fluffy, shiny, fuzzy, colorful (muted) and very earthy. This picture, from a seller on etsy.com, was the inspiration and goal. Isn't it precious? My friend Angela is having a baby soon so we'll be doing a photo shoot at the hospital so I picked it back up just this week! I have very busy fingers lately.

And then there's the d*mn knit hat I may never finish. Urgh. I will finish it. I HAVE to finish it. Before the first snowfall! Yes, I had to swear... I am very mad I never finished it!

I bought pretty yarn, a wool blend and kid seta. And some other blue satins yarn (not pictured). Apparently I was feeling "blue" on my last two shopping trips. All of these are for some gifts coming up in the next few months. So I can't tell ya much more other than that.

I finally found some time to cut the cotton webbing and designer fabric strips for the key fobs. And... Um... I injured myself. Stupid sharp rotary cuter. Next week I'll pull out the iron and get to sewing. I love trying to make new things!

I find Chickpea Sewing Studio's blog very inspiring and creative. Usually she's all about sewing but has been knitting a lot recently. My first project on 2010's to-do-list are these mittens. Stunning. In a dark smokey gray. Nice, warm, woolly. Looks a bit out of my league, but I will try try try!

One last statement... OCTOBER IS COMING! OCTOBER IS COMING! I already picked out our Halloween costumes, got the social calendar all figured out with parties and tricks 'n treats this year and now need to figure out something for the boy. I hung an Autumn wreath on the door already too. I know... it's bad. But I just want it to be October year round!

Photos!

2009-08-18T17:49:00.005-04:00

I've been taking lots and lots of photos. I still have NO clue how to use my camera though. I suck. I make it work of course... but I just know there are cooler and easier things to do with it. I just need to spend the time to figure out. Ah ha ha... time... like I have any extra time laying around here. I need to read a few blogs, a manual, and re-read the handout from the photo class I took a few months ago.

Here's a few recent shots I've been playing with. Apparently I've been in a "burnt edges" mood.

This one wasn't with the new camera but isn't he just too angelic. Heh heh... angelic. Well, he looks it in this picture anyway! :o)

Kickin' Crafty *ss!

2009-08-15T08:13:00.003-04:00

I am on a roll! Aaaand.... probably just jinxed it. My goal for the week was to get all the paper stuff done for Brayden's 2nd Birthday. The invitations are mailed. The thank you's are ready. The cupcake sticks are just about finished. I neede to finish up the two birthday banners, make the resin magnets for the candy goodie bags and the iron-on for the birthday's boys shirt. Yes, he is going to match his party theme. Too much? Maybe. But it's fun. It's moments like these that I can hear my husband's voice saying "I married Joan Jett. Now I live with Martha Stewart" in my head...

I hooked up with my wonderful neighbor Kay on Thursday. She is letting me borrow her sewing machine so I can make some key fobs. I am excited to get that rolling. For a second (just one), I thought about making my babe's Halloween costume. We'll see.

And in the yarn projects... I have a ton going! The cats are getting a little blankey for the foot of my bed (I'm tired of the cat hair on my duvet) and I just bought a bunch of yarn to start two different Christmas gifts! I have the red diddy bag that I haven't picked up in a few weeks. And Baby Aidan's Boo Bat and the cocoon are on top of the priority list! He'll be born in October :o)

Speaking of the Boo Bat (which I ordered from mochimochiland)... I am now a pro at knitting teeny things in the round. Well, maybe not pro. I had never joined pieces together like I had to just do to the bat feet. And pick up stitches in the front and the back and then knit them in the round!? Aack! But it was fun to learn something new. I had to watch a refresher for kfb too. I was very out of touch. Have you been to knittinghelp.com? Their videos rock! That is where I learned to knit and hadn't been back to visit them in a long time! And tis the season to start thinking about the stinkin' ear flap hat again. I HAVE TO FINISH THE HAT! If it's the last thing I ever do.

My niece is over and we're going to do a senior photo shoot! Yay! She'll be the perfect model! I'll shoot in the house with a backdrop for a few and then in a couple of weeks we'll hit the outdoor. I've been frequenting a few blogs for senior picture ideas. I have no clue how to use my camera... but this will be good practice. And fun. As long as I get a handful of good shots, I'll be happy.

And lastly, I updated Brayden's 365 scrapbook. Only 23 more days left! Can you believe it? I can't. My teeny tot is not so teeny. [sigh] Have I mentioned October is coming? I'm sooooooo excited!

I can't believe I'm about to post a photoless entry. BORING! Sorry... I'll do better next time!

Recent Interests

2009-07-29T17:14:00.000-04:00

Here's some random things that have caught my attention lately:

I found some TruBlood (from HBO's True Blood series)

Sloths are adorable

Bite your tongue = happiness

I want to make this Christmas hybrid album (paisleepress)

Lego's in your kitchen (buy me the containers, ice pop mould or shakers please!)

Afghanistan photos... wow

Photoshop shortcuts you should know (I [heart] faces)

Adorable handmade dresses for little girls (Heather Ann Melzer)

Knit a tiny fish (Mochi Mochi)

My new camera strap

Awesome Star Wars birthday theme (I'm going to use the Yoda soda for Brayden's monster theme and call it monster goo)

Recycle Crayons!

Favorite crafty blog (Be Different...Act Normal by Lorie)

This blog makes me want to sew and knit... BAD (Chickpea Sewing Studio)

Good old fashioned celebrity bashing on wwtdd.com

Quicky

2009-07-26T22:29:00.004-04:00

Ok, so I've noticed people doing bullet point blog posts because they are trying to be quick and brief. So I'm totally crookin' their idea:

• Work has been busy! Makes for some really fast days.

• Last road trip of the year complete. I partied like a rock star one night... well, not a rock star but definitely blew off some steam and it was sort of low key. And it rained for 3 days of the 3.5 day trip. But we made the most of the half day the sun did come out. Good laughs and good company :o)

• I discovered Brayden has a good sense of direction and remembers things. Dave took him for a walk the first day of vacation and then he knew where to go for the rest of the week. At the end of the block is the beach and pier. He saw it once and the rest was history. One of those everyday things you don't notice everyday. He's getting so big.

• Way too much on the evening agenda's this week: Dave has softball tomorrow, I have a dinner date after work Tuesday, need to bake Wednesday, another dinner with people I haven't seen in almost 20 yrs on Thursday... and the weekend is packed. Ugh.

• I am ready for Fall. I know all of you summer lovers want to smack me after that statement but its my favorite time of year and the social calendar frees up a little bit. I have one goal for Fall... more QT with Brayden and less babysitters!!!! Although, we're entering terrible two's... so maybe I will need more sitters....

• There has been zero play time for my new camera. Huuuuuuuge bummer.

• There has been some other stressful things going on behind the scenes but I'm focused on happy thoughts. Happiness is a choice and I'm choosing it right now ;o)

• Crafts have been sort of put on the back burner again. They just seem to be the easiest thing to move up and down the priority list. And they are always still there when I get to them. So its all good.

• I started planning Brayden's 2nd birthday party and I'm happy to report that both his Great Grandma's will be there again!

• It was an epiphany… when I realized that I drink and socialize more when I’m not crafting and creating. So, I’m going to focus on getting crafty here real soon!

• Brayden got his hugest boo boo ever. First big injury was at Grandma Judy's when he was walking across the brick pavers around her flower bed. He slipped and really scrapped up the inside of his forearm. The second was when he was throwing a fit on the computer desk chair and bounced his head off the book shelf... ow. Major bump and and a little cut with blood. And the most recent when he was on the sidewalk in front of the house with Grandma Shirley and stopped to look at a crack, lost his balance, sandal got stuck in the crack, and caught the concrete with his forehead. It was an extremely large bump with a scrape on it. I thought it would be black and blue and green forever but not even a week later, its almost gone. He also found and picked the scab... ew.

• I just realized the paragraph above would be a good blog post on his blog. With pictures of course!

Hopefully I have time to make/post a list of links tonight of things that have interested me or made me laugh in the last few weeks. And that's a wrap for now. I have a ton more to say but I'm disorganized and pressed for time. Aren't I always?

Weekend FUN! ;o)

2009-07-20T06:10:00.007-04:00

Wow what a weekend! Spent the afternoon downtown and saw Kid Rock in concert Friday. That guy is a great entertainer. I had a blast at the show, and hanging with friends, and talking to strangers... good stuff. We also stayed in a hotel built in 1907. It was awesome and very charming. Small, but what do we need space for? The next morning we had breakfast, hit a casino, picked up the baby and was home and showered by 11:00. The rest of the day was pretty low key. A favorite for me.

I finally finally finally made it to the zoo! YAY! I tried to get there a lot last summer and never made it. Short trip of course with Brayden. And I got to play with my new camera. Which worked out pretty well I think. Like the giraffe... he was sooooooo far away from me. And look at that tongue... gross! :o) Good 'n fun. We didn't get to see too much but I have the next two trips already planned out!

And lastly, I always try to hide and keep my birthday pretty low on attention scale... thanks to Facebook, um... yeah... no low key about it. Pretty darn funny though (on a lot of levels). My mother wouldn't let it go either so she showed up with a lemon meringue pie and Beth popped in with the girls. I'm not sure why, but I honestly do not care about birthdays. Mine anyway. Other people always seem to make them a big deal but I couldn't care less. My husband loves to celebrate his birthday and I already starting planning Brayden's! But it is just another day to me and now its over... except they're going to sing to me at work today. Now that is just embarrassing. And I'm supposed to be watching the sugar too... not helping people! NOT... helping...

Craftiness Agenda

2009-07-08T20:57:00.002-04:00

Wow...I haven't posted in awhile! Two and a half weeks to be exact. My bad.

Quick personal recap: I partied like I was young again last week, Thursday. The next day baby was very ill. Bad combo. We still wend to the party at my in-laws Saturday because I didn't know what was wrong - there were no symptoms other than a fever. And... the party was a disaster. He gets soooo overwhelmed with people and everybody wants him, talk to him, play with him and he just totally freaks out. Totally. Then we walk away, and he's fine and laughing and we're stomping ants out front. And this is going on despite his purple puffy eyes from crying and getting sunscreen in them and the fever. We go back to the party, total meltdown. Now repeat that statement fifty more times and that was my Saturday afternoon. I get so flustered, frustrated and annoyed too... then I'm apologizing to guests for my crabbiness and lack of socializing. So, mental note taken. The rest of the weekend was low key taking care of the sickies and got into the doctors office Monday afternoon. He had a virus that causes sores in his mouth (similar to the hand/foot/mouth virus infants and toddlers get). Poor guy. We're all better now... well, still extremely moody but we're on the mend. Hubs had his own issues this week too... We'll talk about that later!

So... on to some crafty goodness! Let's talk yarn first. I bought some Berroco Hip Hop in Red Spyda to make a Diddy Bag. I want something cute to store my yarn in... and since the green bag didn't quite work out... I started over. I'm about 1/4 done I think. Next, I'm making Boo for my friend Angela's baby due in October. In a nice burnt orange. And speaking of Boo, you should read mochimochi blog. She is so very crafty.

I just ordered a key fob kit from everythingribbons on Etsy that I am most excited about. Now to find a few designer fabric sample packs... and of course I love all things Amy Butler so that's what I'll be shopping for. Now to learn how to sew... ;o)

Just finished up and ordered what used to be called my "365 Days" project in a photo book. It ended up being Jan-June. You can see the pages in a slide show on the right. It's my first "soft cover book". Can't wait to see it. And I am current-ish on Brayden's 2nd year book... I really need to kick that up a notch too these last two months. Speaking of photo books, Shutterfly has a book challenge going on right now if you're interested. I couldn't enter since I'm a Gallery Guru.

I have a ton of interesting blogs and photography links to post but I'll save that for a rainy day when you are bored. One last thing to check out is Brayden's 2nd birthday party theme. Last year I based the entire party around a digital scrapbook kit: invites/thank you's, place mats, decor, the cake, gift bags, magnets for the kiddos, etc., and turned the house into a jungle. This year we are going for monsters (since he's our little monster and all)! And to my surprise, there aren't a lot of digital monsters out there, but I did find this kit by katef on pickleberrypop and loved the colors. Time to start planning and digitally creating!

Oh, and I enrolled in a free class on jessicasprague.com that started this week... and I'm four days behind :o(

Brayden's 365 Book

2009-06-21T13:53:00.002-04:00

I was on a roll in digiscrapland... not quite caught up on Brayden's 2nd year scrapbook but I made a HUGE dent... so I just had to share! Only 2+ months to go until this book will complete the 365 day circle!

We had a looooong week and very busy weekend. But I found time to scrap because the boys were playing so well together today for Father's Day. And now the baby is napping. Ahh... Sunday, glorious Sunday. Dave liked his new father's day photo book. The grandpa's liked their mini albums yesterday also. Its those moments that make me realize why I do all of these things (because sometimes I do wonder)!

I hope everybody had a wonderful weekend wherever you are and Happy Father's Day to all the good dada's in the world! :o)

Road trip and some new projects

2009-06-17T19:53:00.001-04:00

Well, let's see where to begin... I was sick for two weeks and then took off for a nice 4-day weekend. Which was perfect! Great drive, the baby was well-behaved, weather was wonderful... but I still wasn't feeling well. So the overall trip was very low key. Got some great pictures so a Shutterfly photobook is in the works. I didn't get any QT with Brayden either. Too busy, in and out, run run run, and the grandparents! I don't even think I ever put him down for a nap or to bed. But that was helpful since my energy was running on empty. Short work week this week too and a totally slammed weekend ahead... so I'm looking forward to next week to get back into the swing of things and live my life to my idea of normalcy.

And I have to share this personal story: A couple weeks ago I was rocking him to sleep and totally had meltdown. Like huge tears and couldn't catch my breath meltdown. While my beautiful son was drifting off into slumberland my mind went on a wild tangent... "what if something happens to me and he never knows how much I love him? How will he know?". Strange thought of course but then I just kept focusing on the "how much I love him" part. I mean, I love my hubby and we talk about it all the time. We are lovers, partners, family, a team, et cetera... but this love for my baby is unreal. Different. We all hear the love stories, the movies, the poems... to love somebody so much it aches. It's true! I suppose most mothers already knew this level of euphoria and I just never knew it existed. So back to the question on hand... how do I express this to my little man? I don't know that I could even express this on paper to write a letter and put it in the safe or with a will or something. Any ideas?

Ok, So just a few fun things to report... I'm signing up for Jessica Sprague's free photo editing class. I may not learn anything but it'll be fun. And maybe I will learn a few new tips and tricks to help me edit faster. I also decided that I'm making my friends baby a bat. I bought the Boo pattern off Mochimochi awhile back and never made it. Seeing as though it'll be an October babe and all! Last night I started making this bag in a bright red 'n purple wool yarn (since my stupid green bag didn't work out).

And... um... have ya seen Ryan Reynolds? I've seen everything he's been in since his "2 guys and a pizza place" show... and here is why!!!! Sheeeeeeesh... ;o)

Icky and Sicky

2009-06-04T18:51:00.000-04:00

It's officially been a week. The tingly throat started last Thursday. Friday was the full blown gig. Saturday I couldn't breath and was all sinus-y. Sunday I was hit... coughing (from the throat tickle, not a real cough), sneezing, sore throat and just all around wore out. Eeek. Back to work all week and it's been rough. I don't get sick. Ever. I caught a cold when Brayden started daycare and that had been my first illness in half a decade. Well, with the exception of walking -pneumonia the summer of 2006. I was just run down then (wedding planning, wedding shower, my birthday, camping and partying like it was 1999). Needless to say... being sick isn't that big of a deal, it happens and I'm muddling my way through it, but it just makes me angry! A few days is fine but now an entire week and no signs of being healthy yet? I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and just feel fine but its yet to happen. This weekend perhaps? Pleeeeeease? A few other ailments and very strange happenings this week too but I don't want you to freak out on the TMI front... so I'll stop there.

Ok, so now that I'm done whining... does anybody want to buy me a Barbie? Pretty please? I want Aphrodite!

And... I have been knitting! Yay! However, remember the hat class? I wanted to start a few new things in the next couple of weeks but to follow my newyearsolution, I have to finish a couple of projects first. So I pulled out the hat! And low and behold... had to rip out 23 rows. ARGH! No big. Its a fast knit and I need the practice. It wasn't exactly a small whoopsy that nobody would notice. I'm thinking I totally missed a row and then the non-public side was public. And how I did not notice for 23 rows is beyond me. I guess that happens when you knit with a 1.5 yr old in the room maybe? And the infamous green bag... IS DONE! [please insert loud applaud here] aaaaand.... it didn't work out. I'll show you some pictures next week. I doubled the patterned and flew by the seat of my pants on the height and underestimated. By half. Yowza. But felting was FUN! Love that. I will felt again! I'll post some pics next week.

Ratatouille anyone? Do you like that movie? It's Brayden's new fave... and I don't like it. Remi of course is adorable but the movie as a whole bugs me. Its slowly growing on me since about the 24th time I saw it (this week). I'm coming around to tolerate it in hopes it doesn't stick around long.

Knit/Crochet Project Poll

2009-05-31T08:32:00.001-04:00

Gail wants me to make her a Pooh Bear like this. But I'd rather make some Pile-able Pups. So here's to hoping for a cute Christmas present for her perhaps! Yes, I'm planning ahead as my "project list" is sort of lengthy. So... I couldn't decide so you're going to decide for me! Check out the poll I posted over on the right and place your vote!

Bizarre week...

2009-05-29T22:44:00.003-04:00

My beloved little guy won't sleep all of a sudden! I was watching Brayden over the weekend because I thought something may be brewing but nothing ever came up. I definitely didn't get enough rest over the weekend since we had company three times (one of which was Angela and her babes - happy bday, again!), went to an engagement party (yay), celebrated my niece's 17th birthday (she slept over) and went out to the bar one night. Then Monday night happened... Brayden woke up at 2:30am and would not sleep! We tried everything. Every little thing. Finally I gave up, went downstairs and we turned on the TV. I took him back up after just a few minutes and rocked him back to sleep at 5:00. Once I'm up, I'm up. Oh well. Tuesday was daycare day and more of the same oddness that night. It's not that he's crabby, and I have no clue what is waking him up, but c'mon already baby... we can't play all night. Wednesday night it took me two hours to get him to go to bed, and I'm still not convinced that he's feeling great but he's been acting fine. Hubs wasn't feeling well either and went to bed at 7:30. And we all know how fun men are when they are ill. Good times (I say that with love honey). Next thing I know, it's 3:00am and there are two fire trucks and a huge fire SUV RIGHT in front of my bedroom window. What the... ??? Five firemen came out of the clubhouse after watching for quite some time. So after all that excitement, I laid in bed for 2.5 hours and couldn't get back to sleep. Thursday night, sore throat. Are you kidding? I don't get sick. Ever [knocking on wood]. Guess I'm just run down and my body must be busy doing something else ;o)

Great news on the crafty front! I'm dying to knit knit knit! I think my good friend being preggo started it. I pulled out the ski hat I never finished and did a few rounds on the infamous green bag (you know... the one I started two Christmas's ago). I want to make something like this infant cocoon and a stripey hat like this I found on Etsy. And ya know, that cocoon... I don't even know how much I love the cocoon or just the beautiful baby itself! My sis-in-law (SIL is "schwägerin" in German I just learned) found thee cutest cocoon pattern with big wooden buttons on it. I have to wait to see the sex of the babe before I can start yarn shopping though. And something like this... just looks so natural fibery... gorgeous. Decisions, decisions...

I did make Angela and my niece some Oreo cupcakes last weekend. They were so simple and yummy. Just Cool Whip for frosting. Mmmm...

And Shutterfly books... I'm making progress. Slowly, but any progress is good progress! I still have my art book that is half done too from last summer. I'm on a mission to finish up all these lingering projects. They are starting to make me batty! Oh wait... I was already batty...

Finally a somewhat low key weekend on my hands. I really need a break so it couldn't come at a better time. Just a few errands, visiting with some friends Saturday night and visiting my parents Sunday. All with my babe, all weekend long. Life is good.

Memorial Day Weekend!

2009-05-22T17:09:00.001-04:00

I made a dent in my photobook list of to do's and posted a new one in the Shutterfly Gallery (if you are husband, don't click there). I started another new book that I'm not entirely ready to tell you about yet... but you can peek at the quick page album I bought called "In Retrospect" by TaylorMade + Fei-Fei's Stuff. The vacation book is also in the works and its going to be extrememly simple. Just like a huge bundle of chaotic pictures scattered throughout.

Next month I'll be baking again so that always makes for a fun post. Life has been so very hectic... thus is May. Every stinkin' year... blur.... but I am itching to bake, knit and get some other crafty things underway. So I think I'm starting to bounce back from whatever that lull was these last couple of months! :o) AND... I'm very happy that I'm getting caught up on project 365! Check out the "life 365" slide show on the right. I just added EIGHT new pages! Yay!

Happy Memorial Day! I'll be thinking about all the hero's this weekend...

I'm a trustworthy and safe adult

2009-05-16T13:21:00.004-04:00

I forgot to note in my last post that I love comments. Thank you for those of you who leave me comments! :o)

Totally out of the blue, I must confess... I open potato chip bags upside down. It drives my husband insane. I don't know why I even do it, but I also don't understand what the big deal is? Which led me to other strange things I do like read magazines backwards. Back to front. Odd? Perhaps... just recent observations I've noted. Speaking of magazines, at the back of parenting magazine they do a top ten list of different topics in each issue and this one was "top ten ways your life isn't like a reality show":

your morning weigh-ins are mercifully private
no hope of trading up to a multimillionaire, housecleaning husband who lives to give foot rubs in wacky wife-swap episode
you drive a Ford, shop at Target, and drink Diet Coke all for the live-long day but no one gives you a damn dime for product placement
you endure hours of grueling photo shoots but they're all at Sears and come out in wallet size with a faux-nature background
the only extreme home makeover you're getting is courtesy of a 5-year-old with markers
you'd like to see Top Chef make three different dishes (one kid food, one vegan for your tween, and one that actually tastes good for you) every single night
you really did marry your big fat obnoxious fiance (and what's worse, no one paid you!)
you never get voted off... even if you beg
you're surrounded by "real" housewives but like you, they haven't shaved their legs in days
you know what not to wear, but nothing else fits since you had kids

My BFF's daughter, Jillian, drew a picture for an assignment in her first grade class that I just had to share. The assignment was about "trust". Draw a picture of an adult (your parents and non-parents). So with this I present... [insert drum roll here]... ME!!!!

I got teary eyed when I saw it. Isn't it adorable? Aunt Tee Tee is a safe and special adult in one young mind out there. I don't spend too much quality time with her either so I was also a little surprised. Very cool. Maybe her parents speak highly of me when I'm not around too?

Aaaaand... we're back

2009-05-12T18:20:00.010-04:00

I forgot about vacation after I was home for about two and half hours. Amazing how that works. We had a great time. The weather was perfect. Some people may say the weather sucked but I wasn't hot, wasn't cold, didn't have to worry about the baby as much in the sun, and came home with a healthy glow. And ohhhh how I love the mighty ocean. Then I got home sick. As always. There is nothing better than planning a trip, stressing about the to do's, I hate packing, leaving work, the airport (Brayden was excellent on the plane btw), the weather, the room, et cetera... and then live through it all and be so very happy to be back home. It's really an odd cycle when you think about it. I took just under 600 pictures and most of them are bad. Oh well. I still got the ones that count I suppose. A Shutterfly photobook will be coming to a blog post near you soon! Driving from Myrtle Beach to Fayetteville NC was going to be a highlight so I could see where the SC fires were, but we drove around Conway so I didn't get to see anything. Hubs and ma wouldn't take an alternate route on the way back. Hmph. Our room was GREAT but the pool area sucked (it was awesome for Brayden though and Dave wants to stay there again, but I don't know that I do). All in all, the trip was fast and furious, fun and exhausting. Vacation? Not really... just a destination change. The two best parts of post-vacation... your own shower and your own bed - heavenly.

Next year I'm going to have a Kentucky Derby party that looks like this and we're going to drink Mint Julips (or eat these) and wear big hats. Check out these Derby photos.

Spring cleaning is about to start. I got into it a little before our trip but need to focus on a few things so I can get rid of this "yick" feeling I have around the house. The yick feeling is the mountains of stuff. I don't deal with clutter well. At all. My crafts are behind. My photo piles. The constant amount of laundry.... I mean there are only three of us. Ok, so Brayden's laundry needs to be done almost daily but still... there are only three of us!? Sheesh. Once my house is in a little better order, I vow to make my hobbies first priority. My blog seems to have turned into my personal sounding board instead of a place to be crafty. I have a few things to show off, a few things to talk about, a few things to work on... I miss my hobbies. And blogging.

Tons of other things going on behind the scenes too in the personal aspect of things. More on that later. Dave started softball so I'll be hubbyless every Monday until the end of October. Which... I've learned to like. A lot. Not even sure why but it's Brayden and my night now. We lounge. We play. We watch movies. We laugh. And we're in our yammies by six :o) And it means we won't make any social plans on a Tuesday. Perfect.

I've decided to extend mother's day into the week a little bit so happy mother's day to you! Crafty posts coming (I know... I sound like a broken record, but I can feeeeel it)!

I'm still here!

2009-04-26T22:17:00.001-04:00

I have been a very bad blogger, bad Shutterfly Guru and a bad digital scrapbooker lately (which is frustrating). But lately, I just want to hang out. Is that lazy? No, I don't think so. But I did at first. A lot of friends are going through some very rough times. Part economy. Part life... money, illness, divorce, personal tragedies, job market (lack of), people losing their houses... it's a really long and depressing list. I've just been really focused on things I'm thankful for (more than usual) and have been trying to relax and just "be". Thus, I've been a bad blogger, guru, and my hobbies are all currently collecting dust. But that's ok... and it took me a few weeks to figure that out that it was ok. So I'm good. It's just where my head has been lately.

Switching gears... check out these Earth Day photos in honor of Earth Day last week. They simply amaze me. They are cool, interesting, emotional and educational. The pollution ones take your breath away though. Woah. I went on that site to see if they had any wildfire pictures from South Carolina and I stumbled upon the Red River crest photos which were also just amazing. I wanted to look up the earthquake in Italy also. Needless to say, I've also been thinking about natural disasters (and I guess not so natural since the SC fire was an accident) and our green earth a lot lately too. It goes far beyond the sad economy and the quickly rising crime rate right out my front door. I just realized that in addition to the people that are close to me, a big part of my "unsettling" feeling lately is because my heart aches for millions of people... that I don't even know.

Here are a few things I just want to share just to lighten up this post... I'm going to make these for Dave for Father's day, yummm. I just LOVE the hostess with the mostess. And is this just INSANE or is it me? Funny stuff. Adorable post from the Pioneer Woman. Vicki Howell had a great earth day post on her blog. THIS is my favorite new blog read. Love it!!! Oh, and I got caught up on my tapings of Grey's... I cried and cried and cried when that little girl died. And in closing, I did nothing but a lot (A LOT) of laundry and packing and cleaning out closets this weekend. Oh, and watched quite a few awesome storms. We're off to the beach this week and very excited... so we'll see ya on the flip side!

Happy After-Easter!

2009-04-13T20:36:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend. It's still really cold here but the weather was gorgeous despite the chill factor. Blue skies and fluffy clouds....

My husband and I headed downtown for opening day Friday with a small group of people. I had fun with the camera. I'm way in the back on the left of the group shot and those are Michelle's fingers in that one... funny ;o)

On a totally different note... Brayden got his first haircut over the weekend! I was very sad but it sooooo needed to be done. He had these short short bangs, but the top of his hair was about 3" long and the back was straggly and starting to curl... eek! I'll let it grow back out but now it should grow nice and even and I can just trim up the sides and back as needed.

And Easter... was actually nice and low-key. We headed to my parents with my in-laws. My brother and SIL and the kids were there. Very low maintenance day... which is totally my style. My mother however would probably strangle me reading the "low-key" statement seeing as though she worked her butt off and still spent some QT with all of her grand kids!

The warm weather will be here soon. Dave and I used to go to the Kentucky Derby every year which is always the first weekend in May, and when we returned home, the nice weather finally began. So here we are... mere weeks away from the nice weather!

Oh, and I made a book to celebrate being a Shutterfly Guru for one year. Click here to see the book.

Fabulous Weekend

2009-04-05T09:41:00.004-04:00

I had/am having the best weekend! We had some low-key company Friday night after a dreadfully long and hectic week. The week really sort of put me in an ugly place for no reason other than total exhaustion was taking over. I'm feeling myself again now!

Here's my favorite picture of my friends kids and I doing a self portrait. It's always a pleasure to see them and it took us 3 months to finally sit down together! We had a few good laughs as always. Brayden LOVED Gracie. Loved. It was crazy and odd. Usually he needs the 3-5 minutes of being ignored before he warms up to company but he ran right up to Gracie and gave her one hug after another after another. Gracie is a hugger too. It was so cute. I didn't get the "shot" though =o(

The baby and I both slept in the next morning and we changed the plans and had breakfast at home, ran some errands and waiting for the afternoon plans to begin. Which consisted Dave having his annual fantasy baseball draft over at Paul & Debby's. Dave loves that stuff. So him and the boys hit the road at 4:00 and my friend came over with her 3.5 year old, Brenna, and the baby, Kaelin who is 4 mos. I didn't get to spend any time with the baby which is a bummer but I need to go visit them without Brayden for that sort of QT. Every time I do something with Brayden now I notice how "beastly" he is ;o) He is being nice and sweet, even though he's "tough". He's a big boy and 100% all boy! And then we have the dainty pretty flower in her cute pink shiny mary-janes and adorable fluffy polka dot skirt all polished. Funny. Brayden is such a cute and nice boy but polished... he is not. Rough 'n tough 'n dirty (and a little wild and loud... like his mother). All in good fun. It was great to see them too and with the three kids, we didn't have time to talk about life... which was actually a nice break I think. Then we watched Tinkerbell and went to bed. I love that movie. Speaking of, have you made your own fairy yet?

And today... is sunny. The teaser before snow hits later or what? I have homework for the photo class though so I'm actually looking forward to the chaos that is supposed to happen later. I'll be out playing in it. And we decided to visit Great Grandma next weekend and cancelled some more running for today... which opened up a window for some more quality time with my babe and work on a few projects. I have the he said/she said album done so I'll get that photographed today and then I need to dive back into my artwork photo book and get some pictures of that. Should make for a fabulous day. I need to clean... but the dirt will still be there later this week I decided! I haven't given any attention to the Shutterfly Gallery lately. Gotta get my Guru responsibilities back to the top of the priority list too! Maybe I can give the gallery some love today too.

Paci's are enchanted magic

2009-03-25T21:59:00.006-04:00

Woah what a week! It's been busy and constanting unfolding and evolving! And... I haven't stopped cleaning since I woke up Saturday morning. It feels so wonderful to be so productive in just a few short days. It helped that we had a handy man to the house Tuesday which forced me to do some major washing that wasn't on my list of to do's. And did I mention that I'm in love with the handy man? I am handy you see... but there are some projects that I figure I'll mess up, or just flat out uninterested in doing myself. Dave is very handy around the house in his own regard but not in a "handy man" sort of way. Anything utilizing power tools is my gig. My husband also has a theory that if he can't afford to have something done, it's not getting done. So this guy we hired did a bunch of stuff around the house - perfectly. Nothing you'd notice, but I definitely notice because I dealt with these things a million times a day. He also quoted us an awesome price to paint. Yay! Since we're stuck in our house for a few years until the economy turns around, there needs to be some major modifications so we are well on our way.

I just had to post that picture of my boys. We had a "teaser" break in the weather last week. Now I'm freezing again. Ug.

Brayden... is... a... beast!!!! Wow. I still smother him with kisses even when he's yelling at me or throwing his milk across the room but I can not believe how different he is since we took his pacifier away!? It's insane. He's a totally different child. Is this a phase? Will this go away? Will he ever nap or go to bed at a reasonable time again? Will he ever just be happy for hours on end again? Does any of this even have to do with the paci or is it just a TOTAL coincidence? Woah... is all I have to say about that. It's been eight days of total chaos beyond our comprehension. We underestimated the calming and soothing power of the paci... wow.

Tomorrow we have conferences at daycare, then inhale some food, and then I'm off to my photographsy class! I am SO excited! I've been trying to take this class since last summer and it's finally happening. My friend Suzi is going with me. I should have some fun photo's to post in the next few weeks.

I also am almost complete with the "he said/she said" mini scrapbook. And loving it. Hopefully I can get that posted this weekend. Although... the weekend will be insanely busy, but I will try! Oh, and I discovered I have TWO followers. That excited me for whatever reason so I added "followers" over there on the right if you'd like to follow me. Please... follow me? Ah ha ha haaa... I'm such a nerd.

One more comment before I go... it is official... I am obsessed with Twilight. I watched the movie twice last weekend and am now listening to the audio book and frequenting the author's website (Stephenie Meyer). Obsessed. Seriously ;o)

iPhone Love

2009-03-20T22:49:00.005-04:00

Oh my goodness... why didn't I get and iPhone sooner? Man, that thing is the best toy EVER!!!! However, I'm hoping a little bit of the novelty wears off because I am so very ATTACHED to it. Same reason I'm scared to get a laptop... life? What life? If it's not on the screen, it's not happening. I am such an addictive personality. What is cool is that I can keep up on tweeting, facebook updates and my google reader without spending an hour or two in front of the monitor upstairs. Away from the family. Or away from hubby after the baby goes to bed. Now I want hubby to get one. I have his email loaded on it, and next comes all the sport apps and... no. Get your own ;o) It is actually user-friendly enough for Dave. You know, the guy who had a pager (no cell phone) and never turned on a computer in his life until about 7 yrs ago... yeah, that guy. I think he would even love the iPhone without any frustration.

And speaking of baby, I was very sad the other day when Brayden and I had an entire conversation and it just hit me!!! Right then... I realized that he's not a "baby". He's still my baby, and will always be my baby... but it was a very emotional moment to realize it - he's a big boy! He understands me. I understand him. Even though what he is saying is in no way even remotely similar to English. He's very independent. And aggressive... eek. And nosey. Boy oh boy... that's a trait he got from his daddy. Sheesh. Funny though. Gosh how I love that little thing. I also recently noticed that I tell him I love him about ten times a day. Is that too much!? ;o)

I have been very productive in my scrap booking world! Yay. Brayden's baby book came Wednesday and boy is it cool in person! You can see it in the Shutterfly Gallery. And I ordered 18 more 12x12 prints for his 2nd year album (which is officially half done as of 3/7... where does time go?). Order scrapbook page prints from goodlifephoto... inexpensive and fast! :o) I'll post pictures of the book next week. I also started working on the he said/she said album I bought from Eve Johnson... its so fun and so totally cute! That will be a blog post too when I get it complete. Check out the updates on my project 365 over on the right too (or click here)!

Woah... March. Seriously?

2009-03-09T20:01:00.004-04:00

What a wet weekend... Lots of flooded basements around these parts.

Great but busy weekend overall. I visited with some friends newborn baby, Kaitlyn... so sweet. She slept on me the entire time. I love that. Party Saturday [without Brayden] at my SIL & BIL's and boy did I have fun. I haven't "sat" and drank and talked so much with the family since, well... since before I was pregnant! It was my FIL's birthday, Gail's birthday aaaaaaand my babe turned 18 months. One and a half years old... woah. Seriously.

Which leads me back to Friday night and my friends older son who will be two at the end of April - what a good boy. A busy and self entertained boy. I like to blame things on my son's age but it has now occurred to me that my lovely babe does stand up to his new nickname - "beast". We say it with love and endearingly and he is the cutest beast ever, but he just trashed their house Friday night. Moving things, throwing things, went through EVERY toy Ty had (while Ty sat there quietly playing with his Mr. Potato Head), their cupboards, et cetera. Mr. Busy Body... and I'm not even going to comment on dinner with some other friends last night. The boy was in rare form... I think our eating out is going to be minimal the next few months.

Creative front... Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. No knitting. No scrapping. No painting. Nothing Digital and now I'm 2 wks behind on project 365. But I did make Gail cupcakes for her party Saturday. And they were pathetic. The frosting wasn't stiff enough so all the flowers were blobs. The fancy cups I bought didn't work out. And my hands are very warm when I'm decorating so that never helps. Ugh. But Gail loved them so that made it all worth it.

Last week we got a new kitchen table... oh how I love it! I will miss the pub table but I love the look around the house, the room looks bigger. I think the height of the table and chairs before broke up the view across the room or something. And eating WITH Brayden at the table for all the meals has been great. He's been excited about it too which I find adorable. My husband was making fun of me and my "taste" when table shopping and had to remind me of my first kitchen table... which was a card table. It was a fancy though, really. It was supposed to be temporary... but lasted four years. That's a picture I need to go dig up from the old photo albums...

Brayden's Bathroom

2009-03-01T19:18:00.004-05:00

Well... the bathtub looks the same wtih the overflowing abundance of colorful, foaming, squirty bath toys, but the rest of it is really cute now. I didn't want to take down my fancy mirrors so I left them up and worked them into the theme of things. We added some monkey accessories, installed a glass shelf, monkey rug, shower curtain rings and added some wall clings for some extra fun. I changed out the light bulbs too its super bright. I can not find the tissue holder though... I checked three stores and its out of stock online. Errrr... But for a simple facelift, I thought it turned out cute.

New Videos

2009-02-28T08:11:00.006-05:00

This was so funny. Jillian got Dave a little laser pointer for Christmas and he pulled it out the other day to play with the cats. Well, Brayden wanted in on the action:

And this is Brayden's first rock video :o)

Back to Knits

2009-02-25T20:08:00.001-05:00

Suzi and finally picked up those knit hats... and only did one round. We decided its too hard to fit everything into one lunch. And the hat project needs concentration which we don't have when we work on projects together :o) Another knit class is coming up though so now we're determined to get the hats done. We have to find out if the schedule is going to work for all of us though. I also did a few rounds on the bag I started LAST January and I'm ready to start working on the flat bottom. I have to get it done... I've procrastinated on it long enough! Sort of like the baby book... I will sing and dance when I can post the finished product!!!! Soon...

Switching gears here... I know it's no secret that I think my son is the best thing on this green earth but I was looking at him last night and he was just cracking me up and I swear he gets cuter and cuter every day. Which is pretty hard to do because he is so adorable. I know, I know... I'm his mother. Monday night he did something cute too that sort of shocked me... I grabbed the big green watering can out of the garage and threw it on the counter and he ran over and was trying to get it. I handed it to him and he took off with it. There I stood just watching him to see what was he was so excited about and he was watering my big plant! There was no water in it but it was funny. He has only seen me water that plant less than a handful of times.

Life has been hectic lately but I have high hopes for a highly crafty spring and a ton of household "to do's" to cross off the list. I plan to post a project list soon. So that's it for now... I think of a million things a day to blog about and then stare at the screen thinking "what was I going to write about". I really need to carry a notepad around with me.

Zodiac

2009-02-20T21:09:00.011-05:00

I was having a cocktail and just happened to notice a magnet on my fridge... a magnet that has been there a few years, but haven't read since I received it. I'm not even sure why I read it tonight but it made me laugh. My girlfriend Vicki gave it to me for my birthday a few years back and she is a fellow Cancerian:

Element: Water - view the world through feeling
Stone: Moonstone (totally me), Pearl, Peridot
Colors: Pale colors (if muted dirty colors count, its me), cream, white (I can't wear white)
Attractions: Pisces, Scorpio, Aquarius (I married a Leo)
Personality [which is where it gets good]: They have a talent for non-verbal communication which is reflected in the way they arrange their home putting emphasis on the bedroom and kitchen (I can slightly see where this is me). They require an unusual amount of psychological support, and it must be given in private, regular and satisfying (TOTALLY true). Without it they become nervous and irritable (all my best friends know this to be true). They love a quiet evening alone with friends (the best times are a quiet night with a small group). Expression and release are very important to them (uhhhh... have you met me?). They are also particularly persuasive in the private sphere (not the place for comments here).
Notable Cancerians: Julius Caesar, Rembrandt van Rijn, Kathleen Turner, Mike Tyson, Meryl Streep, Nelson Mandela, Helen Keller, Princess Diana, Bill Cosby, Woody Gutherie.

Funny stuff. Speaking of funny... my two new favorite photos are of the four men in my life (when Brayden was sick and passed out on dada) and my little rocker. Must have been my mood but everything my boy has now is guitars, flames, skulls or superheros!

Tomorrow will be a busy day... dentist appointment at 9am, pick up a friend for a cocktail lunch, wedding at 2pm, drop my babe off (for an overnighter), and go to a wedding. Add in personal things, and some QT lovin' with the boys... and tomorrow will be nuts! Good nuts... but lots of nuts none-the-less.

And... crafty world... I FINISHED THE BABY BOOK! Woo-hoo!!!!!! Two years in the making [insert big sigh of relief here]. I started that when I was four months pregnant. My tastes, style, knowledge, et cetera, have changed. A lot. It's an interesting book. A little too "typical scrap booking" and chaos for me, as I prefer simple layouts and more cohesion throughout, it's still cool. And I spent a LOT of time on it. I'm happy its done. And BTW, if you're reading this... I think you are so cool! xoxo

Working Mother Syndrome

2009-02-19T20:13:00.001-05:00

I don't get depressed about my job often. Actually, never. I love where I work. The company itself. The people. Including my wonderful boss. Yes, I said I have a wonderful boss. He is some one to look up to. Now we know nobody is perfect, so I won't say perfect, but pretty darn close to it. But anyway... Wednesday and Thursday morning was rough getting to work. My boy wasn't feeling well. I left him home with my mother Wednesday with a 103.2 fever. It was awful. I had already spoken to the on-call doctor at the hospital and she said to just get him in to the office before the day was through. I was off to work, waiting for the office to open, and scheduled the first appt available which was after lunch. So I worked for four hours and took care of the doctor deal and still spent most of the afternoon and evening with Brayden. He was tested for the flu and that came back negative, we did find a left ear infection but were still thinking there was a virus at large. The evenings were... rough. But not that bad. Ugh... breaks my heart to see my boy not feeling well. Any little bodies being attacked like that. Dada is home tomorrow so we can skip daycare. Awesome support system in place... and for that, I am very fortunate. And thankfull! Everyday.

My heart is also broken for some other reasons... for my friends. I have a few girlfriends that are really going through h*ll. H*ll on earth. Life... hurts. At times anyway. I won't go into any amount of detail, but... it's sad. You really never do know anyone. Your best friend, your spouse, your family... It's pretty crazy when you really sit back and think about it. Nobody ever said life was easy, but is it really that hard? It can be. I pray that soon... they will be happy again. I truly believe that anti-happy is only temporary [in most cases].

I got in trouble

2009-02-15T08:11:00.007-05:00

My mother comes to my house once or twice a week to watch Brayden and sometimes she does my laundry [insert big smile here]. The other day I noticed I hadn't seen one of my favorite lounge tee's but didn't think too much in to it or spend too much time looking. I usually lay my lounge wear on the bed for after work but when I wore this particular shirt, I would hide it so my mom wouldn't see it. Well... she saw it. I bought it last February at the Kid Rock concert. Do you know the one? Black tee? "You never met a..." written on the front? And some "mother" word on the back, along with a word that rhymes with duck, " like me"? Yeah, my mother took it. She says she's going to give it to Brayden when he's 12. Ugh. The funny thing about the shirt is that when I bought it, it was a joke. Chrissy said "you can't buy that shirt, you're a mom now" and Dave was like "I don't think so"... which made me want the shirt more. Just one of those stupid things and nobody has ever seen it besides my hubby. And now my mother.

My diet has been going well this week (2nd week in)... woo-hoo! Can't wait to see the progress on Monday. I only weigh on Mondays. I did have pizza last night but I made diet martini's using Chrystal light instead of drinking a ton of Juicy Juice. Yes, I said diet martini's ;o) Wayne and Annie were over. We had a fun evening just sitting around talking and hanging out. I miss them so that was a lot of fun. I did a snow angel when they were leaving. I like to do one once a year. I missed one year... when I was pregnant.

We have a wedding next weekend so I'm off to go shopping today. I hate shopping and I'm not looking forward to it. I haven't had to get fancied up in the last year and a half so I have nothing post baby weight that fits! Huge bummer...

I am ALMOST done with the baby book (Brayden's first year)! I am so, so, so happy. Only four more pages so hopefully that will be my next blog post later this week.

Update: The diet crashed today when I drank chocolate milk and ate a huge order of chinese food. Dress shopping bummed me out. But you'd think that would make me NEVER eat again...??? I did get a dress though! :o)

Valentine's 2009

2009-02-11T21:21:00.006-05:00

I haven't blogged in ages... and I have a ton to say!!! On personal level, on a crafty level, on my diet and the new cats, etc!!! I'll try to catch up this weekend. For now... I wanted to share Brayden's Valentine's and here they are...

A little funkier than last years and 25% smaller. They were quicker and easier to make than last years (the 2" circle was much easier to embroider than the 3" heart). My little cupid... oh boy... I could just squeeze him and hug him for hours and hours and days and days. He's starting to get a little attitude these days... and we can't help but to just laugh!

Ok, so Facebook... is insane. I grounded myself from it for a week and wouldn't you know it, I'm over my new obsession! Phew... and I decided I miss twitter. But... let's rewind in time to when I was so stoked I was going to take that cool photography class I found. The people that run that photography studio were all over Facebook. All over my friends pages and friends of friends so I had to contact him and ask where he went to high school... and sure enough. Love the huge Facebook universe to find somebody that grew up in the same square mile. Fun stuff.

PS ~ My friends had their healthy baby girl Valentine's Day! Gosh how I love those tiny miracles. I still haven't seen my neighbors new babe... I HAVE to go visit soon!!! a) because I love those tiny miracles, and b) I want the gift off my counter (its been there forever)! :o)

Commenters... I Love You!

2009-02-01T13:06:00.004-05:00

The last few weeks I've actually received comments on my posts (see previous posts)! Yay! I have no idea why these things excite me so but my best guess would be reassurance. I think it reassures me that some body some where is actually reading my blog and has an interest in what I'm doing. I love living in the online world whether its just another way to connect with family and friends what I'm up to, or the excitement of a "stranger" leaving me some positive feedback. I'm silly about this stuff but did I already say "YAY!"? :o) Joey and Heather... you are my biggest fans and I love all your wonderful feedback and comments! Big hug to you "commenters"!!! I know a few of you family/friends read it too, but there is just something about getting comments that makes me happy. And PS to Heather... can't wait to see you and meet the new babe in a few weeks. Best wishes for an easy and healthy delivery!! (I was laughing hysterically when I typed "easy")

I got a few pages done in all three scrapbooks I'm currently working on (see slide shows at the right). The "everyday 365" challenge is just that... a challenge. I'm having a hard time keeping up on it and we have a lot of year left! Suzi will keep me in-line though. Her and I get so excited about a project and lose interest. We are enablers off one another. It's bad, but funny. But anyway... the first picture is one of Suzi's spreads and the 2nd one is mine from last week. I mixed up the template a little bit. I think Suzi plans on changing hers by month.

So at least I have a few things accomplished in my crafty world. I have to finish up the knit hat this week. It's getting top priority! I also got a jump on Brayden's Valentines. Hopefully those go quick since I got the hard part done. I'll try to post a progress photo this week.

I guess that's all I have for today. Last week pretty much drained the life out of me... baby that wouldn't sleep, happy hour, busy work load, messy house, weekend events... phew. Aunt Gail is coming over tonight so we can go watch the first half of the game at the bar. And then we'll be off 'n running through another week with more social activities! Happy superbowl Sunday!

Dante & Randall

2009-01-25T13:42:00.006-05:00

Well, it was a spur of the moment thing, so here we go... INTRODUCING... [insert drum roll here]... Dante!

And Randall!

They got their names from the movie Clerks. One of my all time favorites. So, it was Saturday morning and I just said "let's go to the pet store" just like I did 2 wks ago, and wouldn't you know it... we came home with two cats. Randall is a big boy but very skinny weighing in at 12 lbs. He is two. Dante is a little guy at 8.2 lbs and 1.5 yrs old. They were given to the shelter on the 6th and put on display at the adoption center at the pet store on the 13th. Apparently the previously owner lost his job and was moving and couldn't take them with him. They had a ton of new kitties coming in but I like the big guys (and these guys aren't old) because everybody wants the kittens. They have been with us for 24 hrs now and they are good loving boys and very well behaved. And as my husband already stated, our house feels like "home" again. Apparently we need chaos and constant movement in our personal space ;o)

Haven't been crafting much... busy work week, happy hour/babysitter Friday night, getting new pets, visiting my God son for his birthday, and my Niece was over with a girlfriend last night. Hopefully today I can give project 365 some attention (now that I have fun things to post!) and get that knit hat finished! I also need to work on Brayden's Valentine's. Maybe I can get crafty later tonight.

Finally Knitting Again!

2009-01-17T17:37:00.001-05:00

Wow it's been a while. And I missed it! I started knitting a few rows on the never ending bag. You know, the one I started LAST January!? The bag is going to be my yarn collection bag. I have to keep going around and around for one more ball of yarn, and then do the bottom. Felt. And wa-la! We're past the half way mark. And then last night was knit class. Hat knit class with my sister-in-law and friend Suzi. It was a blast. I loved it. I'm excited about the hat itself and I laughed my butt off! Now there is homework... so I will be knitting a lot this week to finish the hat before the 2nd half of class on Monday. I told Gail I will definitely take another class at this shop in a couple months... it was a hoot. And I learned a ton of new things! I love new things! The teacher was so funny, she says "well it's easy to learn new things when you don't know much". She was funny and had that quick-witty charm about her. I never had a "kit" before either... so you buy a bag and it had the yarn already broken out for you along with the pattern. It's neat to be working on the same thing with other people too. Makes it interesting.

Aaaaand... I'm watching it snow. Again. Hasn't stopped since 9:30 this morning (and now its 5:30). Its gorgeous though. I just went to get the mail and wanted to wander around the block but wasn't fully dressed =o( I'm too lazy to do it now. Date night got cancelled too. Brayden was up all night with a huge fever. Its the teeth. The drool. Two bath's and 4 outfits later... poor guy. But, it's been a great QT day today. Love snow days and quality time with my boys. Now... to get back to photo editing, making bug's valentine's, and knitting.... :o) I'm already losing interest in our 365 daily life book. That can't be good.

Today's snow

2009-01-10T19:33:00.005-05:00

Holy snow! LOVE days like these. Went to breakfast, all over town erranding, home by 11am to watch it snow, watch it snow, watch it snow... company cancelled too so after I showered, I put lounge wear on. What a great Saturday. Well, minus the one part where we went into the pet store and I started crying. I've been fine all week but as soon I went into the pet store and headed toward the kitty adoption window, I lost it. It was so cute... this woman approached me while I was standing there crying holding Brayden to see if I was ok so I had to explain that my cat just died. Ugh. It was bad, but funny. Sort of ;o) But that did tell me that I'm definitely not ready for another pet.

I've been scrapping a TON lately. Feels good to be getting caught up. One of my goals in '09 to finish up all the lingering tasks! Check out the mini slide shows on the right and you'll see a few of the work in progress photos. A few of the projects are Shutterfly books and a couple digital scrap books. The newest project is my life day to day. I mean our house and day-to-day things. Each page spread will be one week of the year. It all started with this 365 kit album that I couldn't get my hands on, so Suzi and I decided to tackle the task digitally. Check out the first page below (and I'll have the first week up next week, since I'm still living week one).

Happy snowy weekend and I hope you enjoy your Sunday! :o)

BIG day tomorrow

2009-01-04T12:14:00.003-05:00

Ok, holiday are a memory. And they were nuts... phew. Feeling human again after the loss of beloved Smokey. Back to work and real life tomorrow. New day. New week. New year. I need routine again also. Tomorrow will be a big deal.

I have my projects in order and finally started scrapping again. I left off on January in Brayden's first year scrapbook and got 8 pages done this weekend :o) I posted pics off on the right. I have to redo the cover and the first page. I decided they were ugly. His 2nd year book is up-to-date (the 365 book also on the right). There is the 365 day kit that documents "every day" events. It went on sale on new years day and sold out. So I'm in holding pattern. And... there is the Jessica Sprague writing gig (see previous posts) that I'm also going to start tomorrow. My so called knit-bag-yarn-holder that was started LAST January is high on the priority list too. I want that done. D-O-N-E. I have a knit hat class to take in 2 wks with my SIL and buddy Suzi which is just for fun. I've never taken a class like this before.

Sooooo... with all of that said, I'm going to hold off on the photography class again. They have been filling up so I'm assuming there will be one in the Spring like originally planned. I'm thinking of fun goals, like my crafts and hobbies, and the house desperately needs some "face lift" type of work (list in progress), throw in wedding showers, etc... I just need to lay low and stick to home. Ahhh... home.

Operation lose-a-lot-of-weight starts tomorrow too. Me and the Wii fit board are going to become very good friends these next few weeks. I feel good. Emotions sorted out, plans rolling through my brain, and lots and lots of goals (list in progress here too). Happy new year everybody! I'm looking forward to another year of life, another year older, and of course there is always the unexpected. Good or bad, it's all part of life! :o)

And a personal and very sincere THANK YOU [and a BIG hug] to all of you who sent your love our way for our precious Mokey-moke.... xoxo

Kitty in the sky

2009-01-02T18:54:00.004-05:00

Smokey Lee: January 16, 1999 (adopted at the age of 3) - December 31, 2008

Very sad and looooong week this week with my lil furry son being sick, and now no longer with us. He had cancer that was spreading in his abdomen area which was causing fluid build up. The fluid was getting into his lungs and had a hard time breathing. The fluid also pushed on his stomach making him think he was full which is why he wasn't eating or drinking. He also had a virus but that wasn't what was causing his illness.

The last 24 hrs have just made me realize how much of my day, every day, he really was. I figured he has slept with me about 3,500 nights of my life. I gave Brayden a bath last night, and Smokey wasn't there on the counter supervising. I got out of the shower this morning and he wasn't sitting on the shower rug to meow at me. After my husband leaves for work, I whisper-yell at him "Smokey! Do not wake your brother, come here" and put him back in to bed. All day yesterday it was just like he was just napping somewhere, and he was going to come out for some lovin' any minute. Walking in the house... with no more door greeter [big sigh].

Smokey went in to the vet on Monday and stayed overnight since he was so dehydrated and ran all the tests imaginable along with some x-rays. Tuesday morning he was talking and purring and eating and we thought everything was going to be ok until he crashed. That afternoon we transferred him to a specialist for an ultrasound and a few more tests where we discovered it was cancer. We took him home for our last evening and morning together. I made a little book of recent pictures that I will keep with his ashes up stairs... aaaaaand I can't get the stupid book to post properly. Click here to go see it.

Rock Star Album & Handmade Gifts

2008-12-28T10:53:00.007-05:00

I totally blew off my mother-in-law for church today. Ugh. I can't believe I totally forgot. She called the house to see if I had left yet and I'm staring at my husband going "left for what?" I wasn't feeling so hot last night and actually got to sleep in until 8:00 today (which I really needed), the cat is very sick so that was in the back of my mind (I thought we'd be going to the vet this morning), I haven't worked in days... so I have no idea what day of the week it is... and I just totally flaked out. I'd personally be highly annoyed if got up early, got dressed and waited for somebody to pick me up... I'm so sorry ma!!! =o(

My first attempt at making gifts was fun! Here are the 2" tin magnet sets I made for the ladies at work. Three 1" resin magnets of glittery scrap paper and a snowman picture of Brayden from last year. It was cute and simple and they loved it! :o)

Then there were the necklaces... I made one for each grandma's, my friend, and Gail. The one of Smokey's eye was for me. I buy the bezel cups with the bail attached... so I didn't really make that part. I also bought little jewelry boxes for each charm. The chains were too dainty for the weight and size of the charms when all was said and done, but it was too late at that point.

And I just realized that I didn't take any pictures of the gift card boxes I made =o( That saved some time, effort and energy and they were pretty cool! I will definitely do that again next year and make them a tad prettier!

My husband love, love, loved his rock star album! That's from the little kit I bought on jessicasprague.com. He said it was the best gift he's ever gotten. Dave was very inquisitive about it too... "when did you have time to make that?", "did you make that at home and I didn't notice?", "why did you decide to get me a Barnes gift card?", et cetera... it was cool. So the album is now on display, the CD is in his car, and I've caught him flip through it twice...

Merry-After-Christmas!

2008-12-27T19:36:00.002-05:00

Merry-After-Christmas everyone! I love that deep sigh the morning of the 27th, followed by a "I did it!" Another holiday season over. And then in the background my husband is yelling "you are NOT taking the tree down today, it's staying up for another week"... ok, ok then ;o) He's so funny. I did take the cards down already though and will get the holiday photos in a book tomorrow. I love my Christmas refrigerator! Every year I say I'm going to buy one of those cool card holders from Pottery Barn... and never do!

So, the holidays were good. Brayden had zero interest, which I figured my beloved 15 month wouldn't. We do not use TV as a babysitter by any means, but one thing I brought up, and my husband has agreed a few hundred times since... we are never leaving home to go hang out at some one's house without a Shrek or Monsters Inc DVD again. Ever. Just for that hour of not chasing him. One hour. Pleeeeeeease? It wasn't that bad, but lesson learned for future reference.

Brayden received a letter from the North Pole a few days before Christmas! How flippin' cool is that!? We're talking postmarked and Santa's writing... It was legit baby! I knew my babe was special, but that was just too cool!

I just wanted to post this picture because I loved the wrapping. One box was for mes, and the other was a very cool book about the history of Santa Claus for Brayden from my boss. My son is turning out to be just as spoiled as his mother! ;o) His God-parents were over last week spoiling him, both sets of Aunt's/Uncle's, my girlfriend Sue (EVERY holiday he gets a card with cash... we're talking every!)... and there's the grandparents which I won't even get started on! Yeah, he's pretty popular.

It's been fabulous spending time with hubby and Brayden! I have two more days off of work this week, but hubby will be working when I'm not, and vice versa. But the QT with my boy is the greatest!!! I get in very weird funks when I don't spend enough time with him so this is just what the doctor ordered. Now I am getting my thoughts in order, my house in order, life, and lists... oh the lists... the list of house chores, the list of crafty projects, the personal priority list, the list of phone calls to catch up on, and the list of us and our goals for 2009. I'm ready though... bring on the new year! I'm very family orientated at the moment... which is good and bad. Good for the four of us who live here but I've been neglecting the universe outside of my bubble. I needed to do that for a moment though... to regroup. And I am! Then I can take a deep a breath and deal with the world around me again, and those in pain and stress and broken hearted, and the economy issues, and.... I'm ready for the birth of a new year. Clean slate? Not necessarily, but it's still a great sense of "new".

The eve of Christmas Eve

2008-12-23T06:37:00.000-05:00

Well, today is Friday for an entire week of work. The bad news is... that I have plans almost everyday. I really need a mental health day, or three. I broke down into tears at work yesterday out of frustration. Here I am, a grown woman... I don't know what that was (besides horrible and embarassing). Ugh. Today is a new day though. The Eve of Christmas Eve. Oh! And my brother's bday! Happy bday brother.

A couple of cool cuteness to share... here's one on the mochimochi blog. She's so funny and creative. I want to grow moss now. And collect some antique forks. Still absolutely loving the photos on boston.com. I don't get to spend enough time on that site. At all. I could share a million things but I'll stop with just one more, check out the digital frames below. Aren't they adorable!? I found them through thompsonfamily blog. Brayden loved playing outside BTW ;o)

In the next week or so I hope to get a future project list together, and get some actual past projects posted here. I never do that. I'll have a few Christmas things to post too.

So in closing, I wish you a merry and bright holiday season! Be jolly!!! xoxo

Yay Joey!

2008-12-21T12:34:00.002-05:00

I'm so happy to see that you left me comments on a couple blog posts! Nobody ever does! Yay! That made me smile!

Sunday, Glorious Sunday

2008-12-21T12:13:00.006-05:00

The weekend is going well. I haven't been feeling so hot but the house is clean, the Christmas festivities went well, my son is napping and I'm still in my pajama's at noon... all is good.

Last night was fun with two families over to the house for the xmas gift exchange. Presents are boring since we just give all the kids cash. It's like the big hoorah is over in 2.2. After that, all the kiddo's were messin' on the Wii fit board... good times and good laughs ;o)

I got a few,... 6 to be exact... scrap pages done and ordered twenty-one 12x12 prints today for the 365 photo book. $3.30 for a 12x12 print at goodlifephoto.com which is AWESOMELY cheap!!!! The rest of the pages are uploaded and added the slideshow over there on the left. Here's a 2-page spread:

I should be wrapping presents and making cookies but why? Actually, I think I will make the cookie dough today. My husband is at the football game, did I mention that?

My photo class that I couldn't take in October is now available in January. I'm stoked! I thought I would have to wait until Spring. Very cool.

I'm waiting to see what this scrap kit is about on Becky Higgins blog. I think I'll be buying it but it's like a big tease... making me wait until January first... hmph.

The weather sucks. It is soooooo flippin' cold! And windy. And the snow is blowing everywhere. Good day for me to stay in and enjoy home. My favorite place. The place that I don't spend much time, and if i do, it's usually chaos or I'm sleeping. So... with that said... today really rules. Just wish I felt better physically. Oh well... can't win them all! I better go before my boy wakes up... Have yourself a jolly Sunday!

Feeling... better ;o)

2008-12-16T21:54:00.008-05:00

Tree up (ornamentless)... check

Christmas cards... check

Handmade Christmas presents... check

House in somewhat reasonable order... check

Elves trashed the house again this year... check

Bacardi & Diet... check

Lots of snow... check

Holiday chaos... check

Christmas spirit... check

It's about flippin' time! I got a few things crossed off the "house to do's" list. Feel's great. All in the last 48 hours BTW. At work we take donations and purchase gifts, personal and group gifts, and head out to a local nursing home. A fellow employee dresses up like Santa, a few others pass out cookies and milk... And somehow, I ended up with the duty of heading up this task force. And every year... I b*tch and moan and stress out about it. Stupid. I know. Well, I walked out of there last night after the annual humbling experience and the Christmas bug bit me. Perfect!!! Just the reality check I needed. And it felt sooooooo good to be able to do something so nice for others. Its one of those teeny-weeny-tiny things... that makes the world a better place. And I've been having a real hard time lately... with the world. Keeping a grip. Accepting the world around me. Watching my friends [trying to] deal with the world. And life. Everything just feels so... so out of control. It's such a scary and unsettling feeling. But I'm trying to come to terms with things, and its working... for the minute ;o)

On to happier thoughts, let's psycho babble about some crafts. I made thee cutest magnet sets for the lady friends at the office. And I made my own gift card boxes which I found the idea from heatherbailey.com. Cute blog by the way. Edited and cut out cute cute cute wallet size Brayden & Santa pics for every xmas card! And theeeeese... are the things that make me happy. And keep me sane. These things all happened in between trying to fix my broken flip camera, the computer virus, the stove blowing up, my disk drive not working (still), the hand held vacuum dying, my son's fever/lack of sleep/sprouting more teeth, my husbands root canal/follow-up visit/crown appt, xmas parties, juggling the babysitting schedule, doctor appointments, mom chores, work, and after-work-work-functions... just to name a few. Phew... tis the season!

In closing after that mouthful of psycho babble, my son is absolutely the cutest & silliest thing on this green earth, I found my Christmas spirit, and I'm feeling remotely human again. Oh, and I really miss knitting. Can't wait for that class next month! And I'm really fiening to sew. Fiening! Serously. Weird. Seriously weird. Is fiening a word?

3-Day weekend, and still no holiday decor

2008-12-09T22:31:00.003-05:00

Christmas is two weeks away... and I still don't have the tree up. Ugh. How annoying. My three day weekend... was nuts. Way too many unplanned events happened last week and it was a very, very odd week so by Friday night, once Brayden went to bed, my husband and I looked at one another and our night was over too. I was dysfunctional at that point. The week kicked my *ss... mentally, physically, emotionally...

Next thing I knew, I was enroute to Joann's at 8:30am in a blizzard (dumb). And then back out in it a few hours later headed to a family slumber party/social outing. Talk about a blur. And Sunday... well lets just say when I'm out drinking, I should really eat something. Anything. Sunday hurt. It wasn't physical though... I was just sooooooo tired. Come Sunday night when my babe refused to go to bed still, and it was 9:00, I was so very thankful that I had Monday off of work. That was... until Monday happened.

At the mall by 8am. Walked up, got the Santa pictures, took them to the film development place (I love that I get the disk too), waited our hour (of chaos but the grandma's were there to chase my adorable beast), and got back home by 11. Brayden wouldn't sit on Santa, as you can see by the pictures, but it wasn't a freak-out, it was just his mood. He wanted to run wild and free! Or... cling to mumma. So playing with some furry stranger wasn't going to happen at that moment in time. I love the pictures. He'll hate them when I have them blown up poster size for his high-school graduation. So anywho... morning was chaos, the boy napped for an hour and off we went s'more. I actually enjoyed the next part though... outdoor mall, in the snow, and xmas music blaring overhead and cool decor everywhere... then my babe had his 15 month doc visit. Poor thing... three more shots. But that's it for awhile. Then I received a call that my friend had her baby! YAY! We love babies! And then another friend came over in need of a formal and then it was time to head back to work.

So... 3-day weekend, my house is still a pit of dust and clutter and chaos, no decorating has happened yet, and zero productivity on the creative/crafting front. Did I mention Christmas cards... I'm sooooooo behind. I've never been this chaotic about the holidays before. Ever. And I don't like it. I'm a control freak you know!? And I... am... totally... out... of... control...

And I'm IMing my BIL, he's helping me trying to kill this stupid virus!!!!!! Urgh....

I saw this quote the other day and thought it was fabulous: When you stop believing in Santa ... you get underwear. -Unknown

Snowy Saturday

2008-12-06T12:15:00.003-05:00

Just changed up a few things on the blog. How does it look? And why doesn't anybody leave me comments. Or subscribe to my feed or follow me. [sniff]

Anywhosie... Its snowing like a mother! I was at Joanns before 9:00 this morning and came home and cancelled all the other running my hubby had planned for me. Sweet. The drive was terrible and scary. Thus... free time to update the blog and print some other stuff that I was getting behind on, work on the xmas card list, et cetera... good snow day! And a party tonight. Which I should actually be packing up an over night diaper bag and a bag for Dave and I... but this is more fun.

I got my kit from Eve Johnson and its sooooo cute. Can't wait to get started on it (January fun). I got about 10 handmade gifts complete for presents but I can't post any of those yet =o( I feel the need to knit, but who has time! My SIL signed me up for a class in January to make a cool fun/funky hat for myself. She's also working on a scarf for me that looks like this, but white. Drop stitch... hmm... I think I did something like that. Once. Who knows.

So now I'm going to make some nachos for lunch and then unload and charge the cameras... have a great [white] weekend! xoxo

New year [already]

2008-12-04T19:37:00.004-05:00

Our computer has been hit. Urgh... makes me so mad. And frustrated. I'm going to back-up all the files and replatform it. Problem is... WHEN!? I have about negative 6 hrs a day of free time. I'm already a zombie lately and can't function on a day to day basis as it is... but I have to fix the computer. So, I will continue to get behind on the Christmas shopping, and decorating... tree? What tree? And manage to get to the social functions while the house crumbles around me. We have a few other external and emotional things going on, and I'm pretty sure I'm just a big ball of nervous stress these days. Work has been exceptionally busy too... and this is our slow time. I am NOT complaining about work so do not read that wrong! :o) I love work! And being busy! And I pray every morning that I get to continue coming to work. I'm just having a real hard time keeping it together lately. But... it's December. It'll all pass.

Update to previous post... the snow melted and it was a wet and gloomy day Monday. And I forgot I had an after work function so I didn't get home until eight...

On a happier note, my friend will be giving birth to her 2nd child in the next couple weeks. As will my neighbor. Which is so exciting. Babies make it all better. Lil miracles. I'm looking foward to a few days off of real life for the holidays. THREE weeks from today. Sheesh...

I did actually accomplish one Christmas gift last night... but I can't post it since its a secret gift(s). I never finished my Jessica Sprague class either. I plan to give that some undivided attention in January. Speaking of January and the clutter that my mind is, I'm very excited for a new year. HUGE to do lists... on a personal level, like weight loss competitions, a million fixer-upper projects around the house, crafts crafts and more crafts, some photography and photo book projects & classes, planning a spring family vacation... and plan an entire year ahead. These last six months have drastically changed our "life" plans so I'm exited to focus on the new plans. I love new years for that "fresh start" feeling. And then by the time that novelty wears off, its my birthday in July and another annual "rebirth". Vicious cycle, but cool at the same time.

I had a million and one things to blog about this week, and here I am typing away... haven't mentioned anything I wanted to (because I can't remember what they were) and now I'm just at a blank. So, with that said, check out this cute little kit I bought and then look at these amazing photos (and read some of the stories). I'll be back this weekend with some video and picture updates. Toodles....

Ohhhhhhh...

2008-11-30T21:15:00.005-05:00

...the weather outside is frightful!

I hope its snowy tomorrow after work so Brayden and I can go out and play!!!!

Thanksgiving came...

2008-11-29T15:02:00.004-05:00

and went!? Wow was that fast. I'm thankful for a million things every day, but its nice to focus on bigger things for a minute. I love Thanksgiving for that reason. And of course four day weekends rule... however, I have nothing accomplished and there's only a day and a half left. Nothing. Today is gorgeous! The sun is shining bright, which shows ff all the dust in my house. I have tons of clothes to go through for good will (my entire closet and Brayden's). Haven't cleaned, done laundry, crafted, this is the first time on the computer... so much for my "to do" list. I'm going to burn it tonight after I have a beer with Lisa.

Chance was over for the last two nights (birthday slumber party). We had fun and goofed off a lot. And now I'm beat. Chance and Brayden are funny together.

I made a cutesy hanging calendar I'm going to share/send to my fellow Shutterfly Gallery Guru's. So I'm off to do that next. Then I'm going to order this kit. I need it. It's so cute! I was going to order a Christmas journal but I decided I wanted that instead. We may try a Christmas photo shoot with the boy tomorrow. I have a ton of pictures to upload and some video's to post. Hopefully I can get some quality computer time tomorrow. So, short and sweet hello's for today! xoxo

Sea of Love

2008-11-24T18:39:00.000-05:00

I made this last weekend and bought a cool frame for it!

I cry everytime I hear that song (Cat Power remake on the Juno soundtrack). And I cry whenever I think about how much I love my little guy. So, this was very important for me to make. Its in an 8x10 frame. Now I need to find it a home. Probably in my bedroom.

Cute, Cool, Funny!

2008-11-19T20:14:00.004-05:00

The cutest thing happened to us last night. Well, let me rewind in time for a minute... over the weekend Brayden was being a beast and was having a fit because I was changing his diaper. I looked at him and said "do you want to ni-night?" and he nodded yes. THAT was a first. I couldn't believe it. So I finished up and grabbed magic green blankey and dropped him in his crib. Last night was another weird happening... usual after work routine of dinner, clean-up, bath. He ran around nakey for a few minutes playing and then I put his yamma-yams on and was really whiney and moody. He looked around the room and spotted paci so he went to pick it up, on his way back over he grabbed blankey too and stood next to his chair (the rocking chair). Dad picked him up and I said he's going to go to sleep so I sat down with him and he fell asleep in about 2 minutes. It was only 6:10!!! Mind you we get up at 4:00 or 5:00. He's getting so big.

Click here to see a few pictures of my book for the jessica sprague class. It was so funny, I recognized a fellow Shutterfly Gallery Guru's picture on the class forum so I sent her a note. Niki has been writing her heart out but didn't do the binder. I have the pretty binder but haven't done any of the writing assignments that started last Thursday. We were chuckling that together we're the perfect A+ student. I'm reading and keeping up on things and will print out the descriptions and do this when I can put 100% into it. Right now isn't that time. But its still fun and exciting. I'm going to take another class. It's fun.

And in closing... and changing the topic drastically... this was a funny quote from that tacky website wwtdd.com that I used to read a lot: "When asked about then-husband Brad Pitt leaving her for Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston told Vogue magazine, "what Angelina did was very uncool". In other words, she continues to talk about the past and blames Angelina. It's much more likely Brad Pitt woke up one day and realized he was Brad Fucking Pitt and he was married to the chick with the big nose on Friends."

Things to write

2008-11-17T18:36:00.006-05:00

I haven't had time to do my jessicasprague.com writing assignments since Thursday, and I've thought of a million things to say when I sat down to update the blog... and here I sit, staring at the whiteness of the screen... ugh... I hate that.

But... I do remember three things to share. One is the mammothmen on twitter. Two is... I can't remember. And three is look at my advent calendar! I remember seeing a ton of cute cute hand made calendars and the thought crossed my mind to make one. But time is not on my side right now. So, I saw this at Target and it was the last one. I LOVE it. It's about 2' tall. I can't wait until December 1st now. But, Brayden is so little... I'll have to fake it this year. Next year will be more fun w/it. And I'm going to make a calendar like this for my desk at work. Isn't it so cute?

So... today was was... Monday. I woke up with a stiff neck. Waking up in pain is never pleasant. Once out of bed, you move wrong and your eyes start glistening with dismay from the overwhelming unpleasantness as you realize this could be the best you're going to feel all day. Sad. Miserable. Painful. Then a few other un-noteworthy events, Brayden got a diaper change and then we were rocking and snuggling in the dark, and I got piddled on. Piddled sounds small and cute ~ it was the opposite of a small and cute mess. So after I got cleaned up and changed, and re-changed him and cleaned him up... I sat back down with him in my arms, realized now he's WIDE awake, looked at the clock and it wasn't even 5am yet. It was going to be one of those days... it was a long day but not as bad as anticipated.

Off to edit some photos now, then I need to work on a crochet critter, and get some much needed rest after a busy and sleep-free weekend. Did I mention that I remembered once again this weekend why I shouldn't drink? I got to spend a little QT with buddy though, and play Wii. Which I definately don't do enough. After my nephew comes over for a slumber party next week, I'm moving it into my room!

Week in review

2008-11-12T05:51:00.002-05:00

Monday - parent/teacher conferences. My baby is the cutest, most intelligent, very advanced, nicest, social and sweetest baby ever... which I knew, but just figured we thought those things because we're his parents. It's awesome to hear that from a woman who spends her days with a million kids (and has 4) tell you that yours truly is the diamond in the rough. And then of course all the teachers like us so they all tell us the dirt around the office. Which isn't pretty BTW. The economy is hitting home there too. So very sad.

Tuesday - haircut. Found the perfect stylist and salon. Finally. A decade and a ton of money and searching later!!! And its only two miles from my house. He was awesome. And bluntly honest while looking at my overgrown frizzy green hue'd hair. He laughed at me. We laughed. He said "what happened" and I explained that I'm WAY overdue for a cut and was blond two weeks ago. I don't know why I can't just get a cut every 2-3 months like a normal person. You know all the women in the world with pretty hair are all the women who get cuts every 8 wks religiously. So happy, healthy, bouncy, shiny hair. You know them... you see them at the post office, in the malls, out at dinner... gorgeous hair. I want gorgeous hair, but... I can't even remember my last hair cut. I have to go back tonight to tip him though. They don't accept tip on credit cards... ugh. I had TWO DOLLARS in my wallet.

Wednesday - well, Wednesday didn't happen yet. Plan on just working, doing a Target run at lunch and then tonight I need to focus on my online class. I'm already behind and it's only day three! I had to resize all my pages in photoshop because my book wasn't the same. Jessica had an awesome blog post today, read it! :o) Hubby and I will probably lay in bed and watch a movie after that.

Thursday - cocktails. We're going out to dinner and having company and then it's almost the weekend baby! And I have no idea what's on tap... I think we have plans...

Oh, and I contacted a seller on Etsy to make me a hat 'n mitten set for the boy. Check this out! Sure, I could make that. But why!? Let's calculate the hours of which I have no free time, and the yarn is like $20 a skein, I'd need two = just order the dang thing! Save me a lot of time and money!The yarn is being spun as I type. How fancy-cool is that!? We're getting a red, black, grey and white mix to match the new winter coat and Croc boots.

Tossing around Brayden's Christmas photo shoot in my head... and visiting Santa. Fa la la la la, la. La.

Wedding Photo Book

2008-11-09T18:06:00.012-05:00

Well, my list of projects is HUGE and a bit overwhelming... but I got a book done today! I'm so happy. Here it is... two years later!

Click here to view this photo book.

And this week I will be focused on crocheting a hippo (I want a hippopotimus for Christmas....) as a top priority project. I need to get that done before December hits :o)

Stunningly Emotional

2008-11-09T06:50:00.012-05:00

Weekend updates... I started a new crochet animal for a gift, which I need to get cruisin' on. I worked on Brayden's 365 Day scrapbook too. Not sure why I started his 2nd year book when I didn't finish the first year yet. This is Anna Aspnes' cool dude quick page album from Designer Digitals. Here's two page spreads of the picture a day album:

My babe has been feverish all week along with a nasty cough. I hate coughs... I always thing bad, bad things about a cough. But I think its all part of the teeth. We have four molars that fully broke through. So... the fever, the sniffles, the drainage (which equals coughing). Poor guy. So that's why our weekend was pretty low key.

I'm getting excited for all the holiday crafts/gifts on my "to do" list too. And there's a FREE class that I signed up for on Jessica Sprague's site. It starts today and I'm very excited about it.

And lastly on a personal note... I'm generally a highly emotional person. And wear my emotions on my sleeve. And lately, boy oh boy I cry a lot. Sometimes when I look at Brayden... I can't breath. He takes my breath away. Every emotion tickles every nerve ending throughout my entire being. My eyes get all watery, and I just can't breath. It's simply stunning to love something so much but yet, you can't quite explain it...

Trick or Treat

2008-11-03T06:11:00.009-05:00

Brayden had a blast on Halloween. He actually wore the hood to his costume which made me happy. He got a bit fussy and high maintenance after seven because he was sleepy so we had to leave abruptly.

I'm sooooo happy I took Friday off. I wouldn't have survived my weekend after a crazy-busy week. A 3-day weekend was just what I needed to keep my sanity. My husband surprised me and took Friday off too.

I finished a knit squirrel for baby Andrew and met him Saturday. Soooooo adorable. My husband just gave me the look walking out of the hospital. The "no, you can't have one" look. ;o) I'm done baking for awhile now too. And I'm ready to get busy on a few digital scrapbooks/photo books too. And then I must focus on a few Christmas presents I need to make.

New Blog... Again

2008-11-03T06:00:00.002-05:00

Hi kids. I'm moving my Shutterfly site back over to Blogger and have a new online identity ;o) It'll take me some time to get this up and running so please be patient. :o)

Halloween...

2008-10-26T17:03:00.006-04:00

...is so much fun! we did the boo bash at daycare with the trunk or treating which was cool. they did dinner, and outdoor movie and treats. brayden actually wore his monkey costume the entire time. i was stoked about that.

last night was the annual halloween party at brian & lisa's. they do the coolest decor and stuff. so fun. so cool. good time as always. here's a small clip of the end of the evening. a little more low key than usual but that's fine with me. getting home soooooooooo late after too many cocktails... well, it really hurts. not sure if i'm just getting old or still adjusting to momhood.

we went out today and got pumpkins. brayden picked out his own. exciting week ahead... a friend of mine will be having a baby on the 30th! a halloween baby... how awesome! and i have a 4-day work week so brayden and i can spend some qt together and prep for our first offical trick or treating adventure.

It's only been five days

2008-05-06T05:45:00.001-04:00

I don't know if I can keep up the photo a day gig. You'd think that would be a simple task to take a photo and upload it (to Jessica's website). But sheesh... not as easy to keep up on as I thought. I'm going to try to post 2 days at a time for the rest of the week just to see if that helps. I like the photos that are more of my everyday. So here is yesterday's for 5/5.

I have jury duty today so I'm bringing the camera... we'll see if I find anything to take a photo off.

May 2, 3 & 4 - A Photo A Day

2008-05-04T13:24:00.001-04:00

Here's my daily pictures for the weekend:

Haven't had ANY time to do anything crafty latey। Bums me out. But that's ok for now... I'll catch up and get going again soon. I hope ;o) I posted a new scrapbook in progress slideshow over there.

Photobook posting finally worked!

2008-05-04T06:24:00.001-04:00

It worked! I tried a few different things so I'm not sure as to what exactly I did. I'm code-stupid but it had something to do with ending the text paragraph before the slide show window...??? And then hit publish and it was jacked up again =o( One more try. I'm going to copy this into a new post again... that seemed to work the first time.

So, I'm going to go in order and post my VERY FIRST digital scrapbook. Which took me a LONG time to complete. It was for my friend's bday. She's the mom in that one commercial where she keeps her kids living in the digital camera... ah ha ha... so I got all her pics from one of her birthdays to the next. :o)

Click here to view this photo book.

A photo a day in May

2008-05-01T21:39:00.001-04:00

Jessica Sprague started a gallery on her website about taking a picture every day, beginning in May (here is the original post on "risk" that ended up with this idea). So here is my picture for today:

I took a couple of pictures of things around the house trying to avoid too many of my favorite guy pics... but I couldn't picking this one. Let's call this Oprah and some drool. ;o)

Typeracer

2008-04-26T08:37:00.001-04:00

This is funny! Try this typeracer game. It was a little addicting.

I can not figure out how to post the cool Shutterfly slide shows for my photobooks. It says that I deleted my book or something goofy. I better contact them. I'm NO good with all the code and stuff =o( Another thing on my list of things to do/learn :o)

I've recently discovered a blog called goodyblog and found this write up about that new movie Baby Mama. Cute!

Its the weekend... YAY! and I'm supposed to be showering while the baby naps so I better get going!

Oh, and new project... I will make a little portfolio of all my old school projects that I've been hanging on to. I need to start throwing some things out. I don't have much, just a few paintings and renderings.

I'm Famous!

2008-04-23T19:39:00.001-04:00

Well, not really but you can click here to see me in the member spotlight on Shutterfly!!! Very cool. ;o) The digital scrapbook that got me noticed is called Smokey. I couldn't figure out how to do the cool preview thing =o(

The Lauderdale By The Sea vacation book is in the works and here are two pages I have set up. That right page needs a journal tag stapled to the left of that top frame with some text, or something along those lines:

I am SO bad on keeping my digiscrap notes on where I buy what so I'm trying to change my ways. So lets see, I finally used two beachy kits that I purchased 2 yrs ago: Winter Surf kit by Kellie Mize and Distressed Beach Overlay by Lauren Bavin. I also bought a template kit of Katie Pertiet along with pin up frames 2 & 3 and some sea shell elements. I'm really drawn to Katie's stuff. There are some beach days overlays of MaryAnn Wise, steph's digital paper tears, pretty ribbons of Natalie Braxton's (these are really pretty)... and lots of stitches from every where! My stuff is all just compiled in one big blob on my computer. And the truth is, I'll never organize it. But from here on out, I will stay on top of these things as I make future purchases.

Things you say to babies

2008-04-21T06:16:00.001-04:00

I bought a Glamour magazine to read on an airplane 2 weeks ago. That's one of my favorite parts of travelling to pick up a Vogue or Cosmo or some mag that I don't normally read. But anyway, with a 7 month old on my lap on the plane, I finally got to flip through it last night ;o) I saw this and thought it was cute:

THINGS YOU SAY TO BABIES
THAT YOU SHOULD SAY TO YOURSELF:

YOU LOOK SO CUTE IN THAT OUTFIT.

OF COURSE YOU CAN RUN AROUND NAKED!

LET'S MAKE SURE TO PUT LOTS OF
SUNBLOCK ON THAT DELICATE SKIN.

YOU AR SO BRILLIANT AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE!

I LOVE THAT SQUISHY BUTT.

Speaking of babies... check this quilt out from Ticche & Bea. I'm so going to have one made!!! I'm bummed because I've given a lot of Brayden's clothes away to goodwill already and threw out a lot of stuff that was stained and over worn. I kept most of our favorites though. I heard about these quilts being made out of your old baby clothes and considered making one myself. And then I reconsidered and thought that I could cut it out and have my friend put it together for me (she makes quilts). And then landed at "I'll buy this"... simplicity. Very cool.

Ambitious

2008-04-17T22:07:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since I blogged. I should be sleeping. But I couldn't. I wanted to blog. I fought the urge. And the urge won. I just got home yesterday from a very exhausting, but truly exhilarating, Lauderdale by the Sea vacation with my beloved seven month old son. My head is racing with thoughts about how awesome the ocean is. And sunrises. How grand it was to spend eight days in a row with my boy. I learned a lot about him this last week. How fortunate I am to be able to do such wonderful things and go to such great places. I can hear my my husband in my head when I overheard him telling the baby how lucky he was to go to such a fancy condo on a beach when he was just a few months old and how he did not even get on an airplane until he was 20 yrs old. Which then made me think of all the people who have never vacationed or just can't. And then I thought about how wonderful my husband is, and my mother (she was with us on our trip), and our families...

Next thing I knew I was all anxiety stricken about my baby being soooooo ready to crawl. Any day now... any... day. I have a lot, and I mean a lot, of cleaning and baby proofing to do. You would understand if you saw my house.

That thought quickly passed when I started thinking about 2008 so far. Talk about stress levels! Not mine. But it is mine. My life drastically changed, which was a simple change. But I need help with self improvement since I gave birth. Got that fat frumpy mom thing going on and I can't tolerate that! The house needs some attention too. We also have some new goals for the next two years. My buddy Angela said she tries to be proactive instead of reactive. I want to try that. My home needs changes. I need to focus on my husband a bit more. I have a lot of friends going through some really, really tough times. Add funerals and some really f'd up things... my friends, friends of friends, family, acquaintances, et cetera. 2008 has really been an emotional year. A lot of things have really been put in perspective. Life. Maybe all of this started over a year ago (I was pregnant) and is just coming to a head now. The only thing I'm sure of day to day is that I've lived a hell of a lot of life so far. A fun life. A pampered life. A good life. A crazy life. A blessed life. My sister-in-law giggles at my new outlook "its really not that big of a deal in the big picture". I say that to myself at least three times a day lately. And now petty day-to-day things seem to be dwindling away... which seems to make me laugh more. I always laugh, but I laugh more now.

So right before my brain went into overdrive I had just got done reading about what Full Sail's new Master's and Bachelor's Degrees programs were. And then I started thinking about how and when I can go back to school. Can I do it with a baby? And all these new goals for our future? And money? And free time? Four nights a week 8-11:00? Or maybe get a degree online? And then I thought about writing a book. Everyday I think about writing a book! But then I wonder which book I would write because I want to write about four or five different subject matters. And what do I know about writing a book? And when am I going to start knitting baby Dunia's pink owl toy? Am I ever going to finish the very first project... the knit bag to keep all this yarn in!? I should be scrap booking. I have to catch up on Brayden's first year book through March but the Florida book has to come first so I can use my free Shutterfly book which expires mid-May. So yes, I'm going to make an entire scrapbook in the next few weeks. I missed my Shutterfly Guru gig while I was gone. I have to hop back in to that tomorrow night. Can't wait. I feel bad I didn't make it to any of my Godson's basketball games. Vacation rocked. For the first time in my life I unplugged. No cell phone. No email. No work email. No personal email. On our honeymoon 1.5 yrs ago we went to the cyber room every day to dink around on the computer. Funny now that I look back. And boy oh boy was that a fabulous trip. Back to how fortunate and spoiled I am. Which then led my thoughts to our wedding... which switched gears quickly to "I can NOT believe that I haven't uploaded the Florida pictures or burned all my mini videos DVD yet!!!!!"... and then ended with a list of people who I need to get on the social calendar. And I need to wrap the baby shower gift for Saturday. Did I get a card for the communion Sunday? I already have one for next weekend so I think I got one for this weekend. Do I have wrapping paper? Should I be a photographer? Maybe I should take a photography class. I forgot to call Joann's today to find out about the fondant class. And I'm not happy about Brayden's doctor's appt tomorrow. He's going to be mad at me for dragging him in there and I just got back to work today after 6 days off and have to leave work early tomorrow. Part-timer... ugh.

I have never been ambitious. And for some reason I am now? Strange. So there you have it... nothing out of the norm. Just a bunch of psycho babble, my new ambitions and my awkward randomness keeping me awake. Did I mention a lot of psycho babble? ;o) And honestly... I think I only covered about 55% of what my head is seriously thinking. My fingers are fast... but not that fast!!!

Now I have to check my mega millions and lottery tickets from 2 wks ago. For all I know, I'm a millionaire. I need some rest and it's 11:30. The baby will be up in about 5 hrs. Speaking of work, I love my job. I love my new job too... mumma. And I have three of the most gorgeous men in the world in my bed right now... hubby, baby and Smokey. But for some reason I'm sitting in front of my flat screen typing. wtf?

Elvis has... wait, he didn't leave...

2008-03-31T20:52:00.002-04:00

Here's Elvis... in parts. He is finished and he is adorable, if I do say so myself ;o) But I am WAY too lazy to go take a picture of him right now and upload him. However, I took pictures of his head and yarn a few weeks back... so we will post those for now. Yes I know... lame... Don't you just love his yarn? I love the colors and it was a 70% wool and I liked working with it. So I bought another ball in different colors. Because I needed more yarn. Because... ???

NEXT project... My friend had lil baby Dunia early so my idea to make the baby something for her birth sort of went out the win-der. So thats next... new project!!! And I'm not even going to go add it to that dumb list I made. Have I mentioned that I hate lists? Seriously. So anyway, I looked for some cute blankey patterns and then decided to make an animal instead. So then I looked for patterns and couldn't find anything remotely resembling the image I have in my head. So, I thought of a seahorse... too hard. Then big fat bunny... but I'm so over bunnies. No offense Elvis, I love you, and the transgender Easter Bunny too... did I even tell you that story? Another time perhaps. Or a fat 'n whimsical owl... so I asked my hubby and he said owl. I want it to look something like this plushy, soft 'n pretty 'n whimsie... It will look absolutely nothing like that but the idea of that is what's in my brain.

And the Shutterfly Guru gig... really has me stoked about digital scraping again. I lost it, and now it's back. I have a million and one new ideas in my head! Yay! I love creative things. I talked to my friend Beth the other night too... she got into paper scraps when her daughter was born so between talking to her about her stuff and the 'fly photo books gallery... the juices are flowing again!

Ok, it's way past my bedtime (please note we've gotten up at 4:30am the last 2-3 days)... bye!

Eggs

2008-03-29T19:16:00.001-04:00

This post is for my buddy, and my buddy only. Although... I was probably going to post them anyway. So yes, I'm dorky enough to take a picture of my eggs every year for myself but now I am going to post them. My friend makes fun of me with all these silly things I do. And then she has to listen to all my psycho babble and venting about how I stressed out I am that I don't have any free time. Vicious cycle... ;o) So... here they are!

I thought they were cool all marblized like that Martha style. However, next year I'll know that too much oil is bad... dye the eggs a lighter color to get a better top coat color, etc. Mother and I got the hang of it at the end (the last 3 eggs). And then I was so mad... my week wasn't the best and busy to boot, so I never had time to make deviled eggs... =o(

Shutterfly Gallery Guru

2008-03-28T05:48:00.001-04:00

I am so freaking excited!!! Shutterfly contacted me earlier this week about their new photo book community and asked me to be part of their gallery team. Yep, that's me... a Shutterfly Gallery Guru. And the word guru just makes me laugh. Saying it, reading it, typing it... just one of those things ;o)

You can view the main photobook gallery here. Very inspiring for those of you looking for the perfect keepsake or gift! You gotta love the digital world and technology! Click here to see my personal profile and gallery. Oh, and a new update... I GOT MY NEW CAMERA! Now I just have to figure out how to use it!

YAY! Did I mention how excited I am?

Cake!

2008-03-27T06:18:00.001-04:00

Well, the cake class is complete... and ended up being very stressful =o( I think real life just kept getting in the way and I also had to miss one of the four classes due to illness. Every time I had to make a cake and/or frosting was extremely inconvenient... just not enough hours in a day or days in a week... and did I mention all the CHAOS that goes on day to day? I've been really wiggy lately. But anyway, it was a lot fun at class with Linda and Suzi but I'm a little bummed that the overwhelming moments outweigh the overall "fun-ness" of the entire experience (the last month as a whole, not just class - that was the fun part).

Despite those statements, I am confident that I can make a cute cake... mothers day, fathers day, Brayden's birthday (which was the goal), cupcakes, husband's birthday party, et cetera. So we will see!

You can click here to see our cakes!!! We didn't take photos of the scary psycho and psychedelic clowns from last week. Now I really wish I did. They were frightening!!!

Snowman Scrapbook Ornaments

2008-03-23T20:31:00.001-04:00

Here's my simple little photo frame ornaments. Just a little something I've never done before. They were made from a beautiful black & white and silver glitter scrapbook paper. I think next time I'll just make some mats in a 4x6 size for photo frames which would be cool. Here's a close up of all of them here!

Elizabeth

2008-03-23T20:14:00.001-04:00

Today is Easter - happy Easter! And I'm very sad to say that I had one goal today - and that was to finish Elvis (the crochet bunny). Today started at 5:14am and I was 45 minutes early to 8:00 mass, because mass is at 8:30. My mother-in-law and I just laughed, just another for the story book. I made and decorated two cakes, had a fussy & high maintenance baby boy (which is rare and odd), picked up Grandma and managed to get to the family Easter gathering, got the kitchen clean (we're talking CLEAN and every millimeter is germ free)... and... my back hurts. And... I have a husband. I swear I saw him today. Oh yes, he took care of mr. fussy-pants for 2 hrs while I made cake. AND we drove in the same car, twice! Ugh... we need to work on some QT. Not tomorrow night. Out-of-state company Tuesday. Cake class Wednesday. Thursday I'll need some Bacardi. Aaaaaaaaaaand, I just decided I'm not leaving my house next weekend!!! Cancel EVERYTHING! ;o)

Ok, so enough of that rant. I actually just wanted to post pictures of Elizabeth. I love her! She is the knit bat. I love her colors. Her shape. Her very simple face. I ended up using the original wings... after making a million other wings trying to find the perfect ones. Funny. Anyway - meet Elizabeth!!! You can see bigger pictures of her if you click here. She is officially my 2nd completed project. Owen, of course, will forever hold a place in my heart since he was my first completed project ever!

Letter to Brayden

2008-03-21T06:11:00.001-04:00

I accomplished one thing last night that wasn't necessarily part of the crafty list. I made a letter for Brayden's baby book. It was a few sayings I've heard or seen, things I believe in and live my life by and boy oh boy was it hard to summarize into one small page. So here's the letter. Now we have to get dad to write one:

You can see it bigger here... the letter

And just as a side note, I bought this: olympusamerica.com I can NOT wait!!! I'm so stoked!!!! The only downer was that the last model they had came in kick *ss orange. I ended up with hot pink. Cool, but not the same. Have a great Easter!

Project List Updates

2008-03-20T12:03:00.001-04:00

Lunchtime!!! And I have nothing to eat. Darn it. I need to diet anyway...

Ok, so we made a little bit of progress on the list:

Snowman scrapbook ornaments/frames (scrapbook paper)... check
Elizabeth the bat (knit)... check
Elvis the bunny (crochet) - 60% complete
Legwarmers - are not even on the radar
My knit bag - same update as the line above
Baby Digital Scrapbook - same update as the line above
Cake decorating class - 75% done (pathetic looking cakes)
Baby book - NEEDS to be at the top of the priority list!!!
Sewing class - ???

New items on the list:

Brayden magnets - glass bubbles
Make Brayden-print/pattern fabric (not sure what I'll do with it yet)

I made a teensy bit of progress. I have pictures of Elizabeth, the ornaments, and Elvis [in progress] to post. Hopefully I can do that tonight or tomorrow.

Happy Easter to you! xoxo

Bad week

2008-03-13T17:01:00.001-04:00

Last week we were on the crafty highway moving right along... and that came to a skreetching hault!!! Really [socially] busy weekend. Brayden wasn't feeling all that well, and then Sunday night I got hit. So this entire week has been taking care of bug, and trying to sleep. Oh, and work. Good news is the baby now feels better, but I'm a wreck. But that's fine... I'm just glad he feels better.

I was dying on Monday while trying to make my 7 frosting colors thinking "this is supposed to be fun"... and then whipped out the cake Tuesday night... and couldn't go to class on Wednesday. Suzi ended up being sick too so the teacher told Linda we can catch up early next week. And now all the stuff is done for class next week (threw the cake in the feezer) so that is cool!

Then there is the hubby... who is getting mad at me for having this relationship to the internet (which gets more attention than him) along with the crafts. I was put on crafting probation until I get the taxes done, the new car seats installed properly, and something else that my medicine head is keeping me from remembering at the moment. I'm going through creative withdrawels being sick all week... and then when I feel better I have to do what? Ok, he does make a good point (don't tell him I said that... we need these things to get done asap)... the house is a flippin' wreck. And when the house is a wreck, everything is a wreck:

house in shambles = life in shambles
organized house = organized/stress-free life
happy house = happy family

I have high hopes and time to make up for next week though! ;o)

Make a cake... & eat it too!

2008-03-07T22:13:00.001-05:00

I went to the first of four Wilton cake decorating class (level I) on Wednesday and what a riot! It's going to be a blast! Suzi and Linda took it with me. By the end of the night, my head was spinning and I was stressing out... homework, supplies supplies supplies, cha-ching cha-ching cha-ching, grocery list, et cetera. And I'm going to have time for this sh*t when!? Ugh. But, I got it all figured out after a bit of planning and organizing and now I'm so very excited! So cake baking and making TONS of buttercream frosting in 7 different colors is on the agenda as soon as I get to the grocery store to buy the goods! I'm going to make a cake and eat it too! And have I mentioned that my husband thinks I've totally fell off my rocker? Something about having a baby just chanelled Martha right through me!!! (and I check her website & blog every day)

Elizabeth (the knit bat) will be posted at some point this weekend. After making a million different wing types... I decided to just put the original ones on. I'll get pictures up soon. And Elvis is coming along fabulously... the crochet bunny. I love the yarn and he's just so cute already (and all I have is a head so far). And my project list below is incomplete. I forgot about Brayden's baby book. I really need to push that up on the list of priorities and better go update the list.

Mmmm... buttercream frosting... ;o)

I made a snowman (and a project list)

2008-03-04T17:11:00.001-05:00

It's not crafty... but I just had to share! So here is my wonderful snowman!

And a few more pictures here... http://picasaweb.google.com/braydensmomstuff/Snowman Isn't he beautiful!? ;o)

I decided to make a list of my projects and crafty-things-to-do and finish them one by one, in order, because I have zero control and I keep starting new things. I'm making myself nuts at this point. I also need to get some pictures posted because I know blogs are BORING without pictures (not that anybody is reading my blog anyways!) So here goes:

Snowman scrapbook ornaments/frames
Knit Bat/Elizabeth (in progress)
Crochet Bunny/Elvis (just started)
Knit legwarmers (just to get rid of some yarn I bought)
My knit bag (to hold my knitting stuff, which I started after xmas!!! I'm never going to finish that thing)
Baby Digital Scrapbook (can't finish it but I need to get it caught up through Februry - see prior post)
Cake decorating class (scheduled and starts tomorrow)
Baby book (just added because I forgot about it)
Sewing class (want to try to make a bib & some applique onsies Martha style, and maybe some plushies... I'm really drawn to plushies and softies)

That's a start anyway, and I certain that I'm forgetting something. But that will do for now. My husband thinks this new crafty me.. is totally jacked... funny.

Craftless Weekend

2008-03-01T11:14:00.001-05:00

Another Saturday morning... and I was walking into Joann Etc when the store opens. The snow didn't even stop me today! Once again, reminding me how different my life is with a baby. I used to be hungover and sleepy on Saturday mornings. Out by nine? I don't think so!!!! And if I'm not waiting for the doors to open at Joanns... my husband, son and I are walking into Babies 'r Us. Funny... how things change.

So I went to the craft store thinking I was going to knit something for Easter or make some bunny ornaments (similar to the Valentine's in a prior post) but I ended up wondering aimlessly through the scrapbook aisle (each aisle multiple times). Ended up with scrapbook paper, paper punches, ribbon and some cute little embellishments... forgot glue... ugh...

The knit bat (Elizabeth) finally received some more love. I have made about 12 wings in the past week and I think I finally have it figured out. I can't wait to finish her and get her some pictures posted. These posts are boring I know... I need to get some pictures posted of these "projects" I keep referring too. Maybe I can do that tomorrow night. I know these posts are lame without pictures... but I figured nobody was reading them anyway.

Here's a couple pictures for some amusement. This is where I found my cat last weekend. It was so funny that I couldn't be mad!

The baby scrapbook

2008-02-26T18:53:00.001-05:00

Elizabeth hasn't gotten much attention since I decided I didn't like her wings (the knit bat that I'll never finish now). I couldn't find a pattern for new wings either. Hopefully can dig deeper this weekend. So I've been focusing on the big "scrapbook in progress" in the mean time! The slide show over to the right are the pages I have done. The two December pages are not "mates"... the missing pages need a little more tweaking and I haven't been feeling the creative scrap juices flowing lately. I need to finish up December, get to the January pages, and now February is over! Hopefully I keep it up through the summer.

This is my favorite page for Thanksgiving. I bought this "organic" kit at www.theshabbyshoppe.com (I copied the layout from digital scrapbook mag).

I've also been reading a lot of blogs lately and finding some really good and inspiring things. Oh! I loved this website http://www.thisnext.com/ and here was a blog that I actually remember the address for http://www.hostessblog.com/ - check out the party theme page. Very cool sh*t!!! I have to start writing things down so I remember them. I found a fancy treat on there to that I will definitely make for the next party. Mmmm... treats...

Well, I suppose that's all for now. Let me know what you think of my scraps so far... xoxo

Progress on my bat

2008-02-22T11:16:00.001-05:00

Well, Elizabeth was done being knitted last weekend and I found a few mintutes here and there throughout the week to weave in the ends and sew her up last night. But... I don't like her wings. At all. So she needs new wings, more bat-like wings. That will be my mission this weekend to find a wing pattern and try something different so I can finish her up. Her color is great... a nice dark grey, navy and purple. Not sure what other animal I'll use that yarn for. She is the same pattern as Owen but I made her skinnier, and the wings longer, and ears smaller. I forgot how I made Owen's ears so I had to make up new ones for Elizabeth (I guess that is why all those fabulous knitters out there take good notes - live and learn I suppose).

Sleepless week with my beloved 5.5 month old... glad it's Friday!

Nothing Exciting

2008-02-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

Nothing exciting going on in my crafty world this week. I hope to finish Elizabeth this week (she's a bat). Basically just altered Owen's pattern and will make my own ears (I did that for Owen too... pattern called for felt eyes and ears but I wanted him to be all fibers).

I bought a beautiful self striping wool yarn I'm dying to use. I'll probably make a bunny with it and felt it. I like felted critters but for a toy, that won't hold up for multiple washings.

Still working on a mini-movie of our little Brayden clips too. That's been fun. Hopefully I'll have some time to work on that too. And I haven't called to schedule cake decorating class yet. Real life keeps getting in the way. And my poor scrapbook just keeps getting pushed down the list of priorities. I have December, January and soon-to-be February pages to catch up on.

So like I said... nothing exciting in my crafty world. Lots of "want to" going on but just not enough hours in the day.

Cupid's Army

2008-02-13T20:39:00.001-05:00

Another project complete! These are bug's valentines.
I started out making a ton of these little guys and by the time I tried a few different things and techniques, a lot of them went to waste (and I was waaaay too lazy and time restricted to make more). That was a bummer because I had intentions of mailing these out =o( Maybe I can get something done by next Valentine's! So with a lot of trial and error under my belt now, the next time I make some sort of ornament, I think it will go much smoother and quicker!

These are about 2.5" wide, 4 different pics, 2 different ribbons, and 2 different fabric backs. And who knew that I could embroider!? Although, you can definately tell which ornaments were made first... major improvements by the time I was almost done.

So, I hope everybody likes our Valentine ornaments. Here are few more pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/braydensmomstuff/CupidArmy. We hope Cupid is nice to you today! ;o)