Playin' with my iPod!

I got an iPod for Christmas! I didn't even know I wanted one this much!



Now I'm trying to sift through thousands of songs to see if I want to pay $.99 for some, or $9.99 + for an album, or $1.99 for a video, or $$ for a game or $$$ for a movie or...

You get the point.

My first purchases have been...strange...to say the least. I gotta load 'er up, but I have no idea what to put on there. The latest and greatest? Billboard toppers? Old classics (I can dig through mine and DH's cd collections.)

I want to find music to walk to (more exercise -- Yay!), and music that I just want to hear cuz I like it. Unfortunately, 90% of the music I've listened to in the past 5 years have been for toddlers and early elementary schoolers.

Tips for successful iPod integration are being accepted...

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have a wonderful and happy holiday.

Catchin' up

What a week! We surprised the kids with a trip to the pet store to choose a new pet (they each got a guinea pig), and we left with the cavies AND two chinchillas! (Crazy, impulse purchase!)

I also received an early Christmas gift -- a Craft ROBO!!! (The original Wishblade machine)

We're all struggling with a horrible cold or flu...I can't shake one before I come down with another!

My 8 yr old drew this cute self potrait. She's taking ice skating lessons and incorporated ice skating into her picture...too cute!



All in all, things are going great, and I feel truly blessed. If I don't make it back by Monday, happy holidays!

Santa's Number

Here is Santa's Number. Have your little ones give him a call!

Santa Claus
1-800-972-6242

So, what's so hard about scrapbooking, anyway?

Today I was wondering why some people have trouble journaling. I never have trouble journaling. Never ever. Honestly, I don’t understand why anyone would.

I suppose it could be tricky to do some special sort of journaling, poetry, hidden messages, etc. But it is very easy for me to look at a photo or group of photos and write down the story that the photos tell me. I suppose the only difficulty would be if I totally forgot any details about the photo.

Anyway, I realize it is truly challenging for some people to journal. But for me, if scrapbooking only consisted of gluing some photos to paper and writing down my thoughts or memories surrounding the photos, I could scrapbook 5 layouts a day or MORE!

So, what makes it so hard? It’s the artistic aspect. The rules of design. The millions of papers, cardstocks, and embellishments. The pressure to make the layout “publishable” (even though I don’t send in layouts for publication). The thought that if I shared my layout on a blog or message board or gallery, people would look at it and go, “Ew!” or “I could do so much better than that.”

Should…that…even…matter?

I

    think

            NOT!!!

Maybe, just maybe, I should just glue some photos to paper and tell the story behind them. In its simplest form, isn’t that what scrapbooking is really all about?

Remember Corduroy?

The little bear stuffed animal who wore overalls with a missing button? I used to love that book as a little girl. Here's my Kindergartener's rendition of Corduroy. Too cute!