6-16-07 PhotoHunt : Hair

My daughter's hair is naturally soft and somewhere between wavy and kinky. So combing her hair (especially after I washed it) was a harrowing experience. She was already dealing with some other issues (rampant eczema and allergies), so I finally decided that she deserved some relief wherever I could provide it.

My hairdresser doesn't like to put chemicals in kids' hair when they are very young, but I threatened to do it myself at home, so she finally caved. She gave Alexis a texturizer, which is like a relaxer, but you don't let it straighten the hair too much so it retains some of it's natural wave.

As a scrapbooker, I naturally took along my camera to document the event. :)

This week’s theme: Hair


Before


After the texturizer was rinsed out


Smiling because it doesn't hurt like @(#$*!! to get her wet hair combed out


Getting blown dry. (I think I'm gonna like this!)


Yay! That went so WELL!




And after a trim and some curls...a cute little hairdo!

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Random Me

About a year ago (Maybe May 2006), I signed up for an 8 week course at Big Picture Scrapbooking called Random Me A to Z, based roughly on the book by Amy Krouse, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.

I started the process, but the class called for some pretty specific, hard to find, Scrapworks albums and page protectors. It didn't take much to derail me (no supplies and a busy period at work was more than enough), so I didn't finish the project.

Lately, I've decided to review my unfinished BPS classes and see if it would be fun for me to work on them. For now, I'm a little excited about my A to Z project. I've decided to use a completely different album format, but I'll follow most of the project guidelines.

Cathy Z. taught a similar class at CKU. I didn't attend the class but have seen some sample pages. If I had it to do all over again, I might have used Cathy's format, but for now, I'm just happy to be doing a paper-centered craft. :)

I don't want to jinx anything, but...

My physical therapy is going so well! Aside from the part that my insurance isn't covering it (well, they're making it go toward my deductible), it's really working well!.

I'm still taking 3 Motrin and 1 muscle relaxer per day, but the stretches and the physical therapy are really, really helping. I feel so much better. My condition was considered chronic since it has been going on for over a month (I'd been to urgent care 3 times and asked for xrays the last time at my husband's insistance), but I think I'm on the mend. The physical therapists warns me not to do too much too quickly (I still feel a burn after I've been sitting at the computer for a while, and I still feel stiffness or tightness in my lower back), but I'm so releived that my condition is improving!!!

PT update

(Cross posted on my yahoo group.)

On the first night of PT, the therapist took it easy (not too deep tissue massage and sono heat treatment). A couple hours after I returned home, I started feeling more sore, so before bedtime, I took one of each of my meds (I had been weaning off of them). At 2 in the morning, I woke up in horrible, horrible pain -- worse than I had felt the whole month my back had been bothering me. Also, my whole back was in throbbing and piercing pain...not just my lower back or my hot spots.

For hours I tried everything: heat, ice packs, laying on the floor, kneeling on the side of the bed. My stomach was killing me, too, so I took stomach medicine, but it didn't help. I think that what I thought was stomach pain was just more radiant pain from my back. Finally, at 6 AM I took another round of meds so I could get some peace. I knew I was going to oversleep and make the kids late for school, but I didn't care at that point; I just had to have relief.

I spent most of that day in bed (DH took the kids to school [late] that morning), but I continued to do my stretches throughout the day. The next appointment was much better, but I think it helped that I started taking the meds regularly, again.

Both therapists said that it would be a good idea to have my back x-rayed to rule out the possibility that there's a problem with my bones. Ugh. I think that I feel improvement, but could it just be the meds masking the pain? Who knows?

Physical Therapy tonight

I start physical therapy tonight. For some reason, I'm very nervous. I feel like calling in sick.

I would like to do something crafty.

I've been knitting. I think I need some paper-based fulfillment, though.

Maybe I should go back through my many Big Picture Scrapbooking class files and try to finish (or even start?!) one of the many classes I signed up for over the past year.

I start physical therapy for my back on Wednesday. I can't wait! I really feel like I want to exercise and get the kinks out, but I don't want to do the wrong exercises and make my back worse!

Memorable Memorial Day

So far today, Johnny (hubby) and Alexis have had a trip to the emergency room, and I've had a trip to urgent care. Memorable indeed!

Johnny had some kind of infection in his finger tip and under the nail. It was filling with pus and was excrutiating. He tried "popping" it. Nada.

I've had terrible back pain for about 3 weeks now. I went to urgent care 2 weeks ago. I ran out of my Rx's and went back today with Johnny in tow so he could get his finger checked.

We get there, sign in, fill in paper work, and we get a call from Alexis, crying, telling us she hurt herself.

Alexis went to her friends bday party. She was in her bathing suit, running from her friend's sister who was spraying a hose. Alexis backed into a hot grill. Ouch. She has a second degree burn that's about 3" in diameter on her rear.

While we're in the pediatric ER, Johnny shows the nurse his finger and asks if he can wait till tomorrow to have it checked out. She says he needs to get to the ER now because it's infected. Slice. Squeeeeeze. Slice. Squeeeeeze. "Son of a ...!" A tetanus shot later, and we're out the door.

Back to urgent care for me. My back is worse than I thought (worse than the P.A. who saw me last time thought). Three more Rx's, a shot of anti-inflammatory, plus an Rx for physical therapy, and I'm out the door.

Oh, and today is my sister's bday. Happy Birthday, Laura!!!

5-26-07 Photo Hunt: Colorful

This is a picture of my daugther's Kindergarten classroom. It's a couple of years old, but when I think of "colorful", I think of all the wonderful primary colors that filled that classroom. I volunteered weekly, so I have a lot of fond memories of this colorful room.

This week’s theme: Colorful

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Reading suggestion:

Make your own.

Read this in a knitting Yahoo group I belong to...

The famous Olympic skier Picabo Street (pronounced Peek-A-Boo) is not just an athlete... She is now a nurse currently working at the Intensive Care Unit of a large metropolitan hospital. She is not permitted to answer the hospital telephones. It caused too much confusion when she would answer the phone and say,

Picabo, ICU.

Kitten fun

I was looking through emails from a year ago, and I came across this link that I shared with my scrapbooking yahoo group. It's still cute a year later. :)






kitten vs. frontrow from mattcoats on Vimeo

Click this link if the embedded video doesn't work.

5-18-07 Photo Hunt: Cooked/ing

Here's a sausage and chicken stew I made a few weeks ago. It was soooo good; perfect for a wet, chilly day. Makes me want some right now. I ate mine with a little hot sauces and sometimes a little rice. Nummy.

This week’s theme: Cooked/ing

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ETA: Here's the link to the recipe for anyone who's interested!

Ouch!

I know I haven't updated in a while, but life has been SO hectic!

Right now, unfortunately, I am suffering from back pain. :( A Dr. friend of mine scared me into seeing a doctor (my boss and husband have been trying to get me to go all week) by mentioning meningitis to me.

Fortunately, it seems I am "only" having back spasms, so I've been subscribed 800mg Motrin and a muscle relaxant. I hope I'm feeling better soon, because this is really painful!

More updates soon. I promise! :)

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my 40th birthday. Can I get a "whoot! whoot!"?! :)

Love this!

You gotta try it.

Play the desktop blues

4-20-07 Photo Hunt: Steps

I searched the photos I had saved on my hard drive already for this week's Photo Hunt theme: Steps. All I could come up with was this photo taken about 7 years ago. It's the side of Woodlawn Manor, the historic site where I got married.

This week’s theme: Steps

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Visual DNA

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

4-13-07 Photo Hunt: Hobby

This is a really BAD photo of me from 2003 at the Great American Scrapbook Convention. I'm pictured with a really nice, talented lady named Katherine Brooks who is the author of several scrapbooking and card making books, and we're holding a couple of cards I had just made in a workshop she taught. Paper crafting is one of my favorite hobbies.

This week’s theme: Hobby

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Paperkins (or "Putting stash to good use")

Anyone who scrapbooks (or who scrapbooked a few years ago) remembers Paperkins. The little paper doll templates that you could trace to make and dress paper dolls. Then they started selling little kits with pre-cut pieces you could modify and place in themed settings, etc. I'm not sure if they are even sold anymore.

Well, I bought several of these a few years back. My daughter loved them and put several together. The other kits joined my growing piles of stash in my closet (garage, basement, floor, etc.).

I decided to pull them out and turn some into cards for the sick children at the Hugs and Hope site. Alexis (now 8 yrs old) caught the fever, and she's putting several together, too. Here's my first. (I'm a little rusty with the glue stick!) Her official name is "Hang in Hilary".

Wheeze!

Ugh! I just cleaned the kids' guinea pig cage. It's been way too long since I/they cleaned it thoroughly, so I had a lot to clean. I have bad allergies, and my throat is itching, my chest is tight, and my eyes are watering and stinging.

But at least the cage is clean, the two little piggies are happy, and my family room is habitable again. LOL!

4-6-07 Photo Hunt: Clean

This week’s theme: Clean

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Do you ever feel like there’s not enough time for extra-curricular stuff?

I have four kids, but my stepsons are teenagers: one is away at college and the other is staying with his grandmother. My youngest two are 6 and 8, and they require a lot of my attention (is this the norm?).

I try to do some extra stuff: hobbies (scrapbooking and knitting for example), PTA (I built our first website and setup and maintain the Yahoo group), and sending happy mail to sick kids. I work full time at a job that is sometimes crazily busy and at other times not-so-much.

I just don’t seem to have time for it all. My house…well, I thought I would be a better housekeeper once we owned our own, or once the kids got old enough to help, or once…heck, it’s just not happening. What’s a person to do?

Advice welcome! :)

3-31-07 Photo Hunt: Water

This week’s theme: Water

My kids love the pool and beach, so I have a ton of water pics. I chose this one because I like how the water is in mid-air, and Christopher's face is squinched up in anticipation of being doused. (Click photo to see it larger.)

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Have you created lately?

I came across this great quote while blog surfing.

Have you created lately?

"The woman who works with her hands only
is a laborer.

The woman who works with her hands and her
head is a craftswoman.

The woman who works with her hands,
her head and her heart
is an artist."

---St. Francis of Assisi

Another butterfly dishcloth

I finished a different butterfly dishcloth today. I'll post a pic soon.

**ETA Here's the second butterfly dishcloth I made. Again, I scanned rather than take a photo, so the image quality isn't the best.



To get the pattern, you have to join the Knitted_Kitty_Dishcloths Yahoo group. Learn more about it here.

I need to get back to my Afghan KAL. Work is starting to get stressful (my job has peaks and valleys), so I think my new knitting hobby will help de-stress me. I love the meditative quality of knitting.

My son started getting sick last night and woke up with a sore throat. He felt a little better after meds, but then threw up. Then he felt even better. LOL Now my throat is starting to hurt, and I think my glands are swollen. Ugh, I don't have time to get sick!

Free Iced Coffee Day - March 21st

Dunkin' Donuts Puts Winter "On Ice" by Heralding First Day of Spring With First-Ever Nationwide "Free Iced Coffee Day"
Dunkin' Donuts Restaurants Across the Country to Offer Free Iced Coffee All Day on March 21

 

Another dishcloth

I whipped this one up yesterday. I scanned it (rather than take a pic), so I don't know how well you can actually see it.

It's a coffee cup. Can you tell?

Knitted Dishcloth

I posted this on my other (less fun and crafty) blog and wanted to share here. I finished my first knitted dishcloth on Friday. I learned a new stitch: the yarn over (yo). It creates a lacey effect by putting a hole in your knitting.

I made many mistakes and had to frog (undo) many rows many times and start the row(s) over. That usually happened within a row or two of the mistake, but when I was almost finished, I realized that I made a huge mistake about 30 rows earlier. Since this is my first dishcloth, and I'm still learning and practicing stitches, I decided to leave the mistake in.

Also, I didn't have size 7 needles when I started the cloth, so I used size 8, which makes it harder to see the pattern in the cloth. So, I've uploaded 3 photos: 1) the cloth, 2) the cloth with the butterfly pattern sketched on it, and 3) #2 again, with my "mistake rows" identified. On my mistake rows, I must have reversed the right and wrong side of the cloth, or either I repeated a row and garter stitched on both sides(???).

Here's the cloth. Kinda hard to see the butterfly since the stitches are so big:




So, I've outlined the butterfly LOL:




And here, in pink, you can see the rows that I knitted wrong (oops!). I think it just adds to the charm, don't you? ;)




Anyway, I'm glad to have completed it. Now onto something else!

Bridge to Terabithia (possible spoiler)

My husband and I took our kids (6 and 8) and their friend (7 yrs) to this movie last night. The commercials and the synopsis on moviefone.com led me to believe that this was a sorta light-weight Chronicles of Narnia movie.

NOT!

I would never have taken my kids to see this had I known the plot. My husband said it was so depressing. He was depressed for a while after the movie LOL. My kids liked it, except for the ... depressing part. My son (6) was afraid he'd have nightmares, though.

I guess they can't tell too much about the movie and twists in the commercials and trailers. It just seems like the advertising is so misleading. Even the Disney channel and the interviews and the million airings of the "Keep Your Mind Wide Open" video misrepresent the film. I'll have to be more careful in the future.

P.S. 7 yr old friend said that she had seen the movie before, but she hadn't. I thought that since her mother let her see it and she enjoyed it, that we would all like it. Oops!

I could do this all day...

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Countess-Palatine Wendy the Unhyphenated of Lardle St Earache Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

She left me in stitches

My 8 yr. old ran into a tree while sledding. She now has 8 stitches, a big swollen eye, some other scrapes and cuts, and corneal abrasions.

She's worried that the kids at school will not want to be around her because her eye is swollen. She's also worried that some kids will say mean things.

I'm not even sure she'll go to school tomorrow. I'll wait and see how she's feeling when she wakes up.

What an eventful President's Day!

Will it snow?

Will we get 1-2 inches of snow and 1/4" of ice? Or 4-6 inches of snow and 1 inch of ice? Or not too much of anything?

I vote for lots of snow and little or no ice (no fallen tree limbs or power lines downed by the weight of the ice).

It's just starting to flurry now, but we're forecasted to get a wintry mix over the next 2 days. Brrrrr I'll be in front of the fire tomorrow!

Snow day!

Even though we didn't get much snow, the schools were closed today. I imagine that other parts of the county got more snow than we did. As you can see, we didn't really get much. Here's a shot of my son's tracks through the backyard. He showed me which tracks were his and which belonged to "a deer or a rabbit".



Even though I didn't see him make these tracks, I can totally see him making a lap around the house and leaving his 'mark'. ;-)

It's been a while!

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. Either I have been very busy, or I just haven't had anything blogworthy to say. I think it's a little bit of both!

Cliff Notes version of my week:

Work, work, and more work

Even more laundry than work, it seems

Registered the kids for ice skating again (I registered them at the LAST moment. Fortunately, they added a section so both kids got in). They both did great. Alexis has moved on to the next level, but Christopher is taking the first level again. I'm glad because he was one of the best ones in the beginners' class. LOL

I've been practicing knitting. I'm a total novice, but I got a lot done this week -- I finished two scarves. One was nearly finished already and the other wasn't even halfway done. But I think I've mastered knitting, purling, and the garter and stockinette stitches. Now on to increasing, decreasing, gauge, ribbing, and reading a pattern so I can make something more complex.

I bought this cool Prismacolor portfolio on clearance at Michael's. Regularly $29.99, but I got it for $3.00. That's a 90% discount. What a steal!



I worked out at Curves three times this week! Yay me! I joined a couple of months ago but fell out of the groove after just a couple of visits (work got really busy so I couldn't get away during the day). But I'm back in the saddle! I got lots to lose (how did THAT happen???) and my health to consider. Gotta do this!

OK, that's a really long list for a Cliff Notes version. So I'll quit while I'm ahead. Happy Monday!

1-27-07 PhotoHunt : Silver

This week’s theme: Silver

My favorite silver object right now is
my two-tone gold and silver ring from Tiffany's.
This was a Valentine's Day gift from my husband in 2006.

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.
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Snow!

We got about an inch of snow yesterday. It's the first snow of the season. I hope it's not the last (it has been so unseasonably warm!). I didn't get any photos, either. But I did make several roaring fires in the fireplace (love that!!!).

I'm off to work on my Library of Memories photo storage assignment. I'm determined to stick with the class and start getting layouts done.

I'm SO tempted to take some more classes (some GREAT ones coming up). Should I? Or should I concentrate on LOM for now?

Decisions, decisions...

Yahoo!

I just completed a roll call on my scrapbook-related yahoo group, and I wound up deleting a lot of people who didn't respond to the roll call. This group used to be thriving (under different ownership LOL).

I would love for this group to be hopping, again, with lots of layout shares and inspiration, as well as camaraderie, bonding, and friendship. We're a small, intimate group of online friends right now. If you'd like to join us, and share your scrapbooking fever, let me know!

I think I found my “word”.

I’m not up-to-date with the blogs I frequent or the awesome scrapbook newsletters that I subscribe to, but I know that everyone is abuzz with Ali Edward’s “one little word” idea for 2007.

I have waited until the right word spoke to me…the word I could embrace for an entire year. The word that would reflect how I want to live my life – this year and beyond.

I have chosen the word “serenity”. There are other goals I want (and need) to meet in order to reach a state of consistent serenity, so I think this is the perfect word for me.

Here are some definitions I’ve found. I like them all!

-Serenity: (n) peace, peacefulness, peace of mind, repose, ataraxis (the absence of mental stress or anxiety)

-also: (n) repose, quiet, placidity, tranquility (a disposition free from stress or emotion)

-noun 1. the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness.

Serenity now!

Podcasting

I have been having a lot of fun with my iPod (Christmas present). I've been locating and downloading podcasts (I would conveniently ingore references to podcasts in the past...I would just flit them away, like a fly buzzing a little too nearby.) Now, it's like a whole new world of fun!

I have even downloaded scrapbooking podcasts and scrapbooking video podcasts. Like the podcasts from the (recently departed) Scrapbook Answers Magazine.


This is so much fun.

Monday humor

A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller.
He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack.

"Miss Whack, I'd like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday."

Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay, he knows the bank manager.

Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral.

The frog says, "Sure. I have this," and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed.

Very confused, Patty explains that she'll have to consult with the bank manager and disappears into a back office.

She finds the manager and says, "There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to use this as collateral."

She holds up the tiny pink elephant. "I mean, what in the world is this?"

(You're gonna love this)

(It's a real treat)

(A masterpiece)


The bank manager looks back at her and says...

"It's a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan. His old man's a Rolling Stone."

;)

Good news

I am Scrapstrong!



Whoo hoo!

I ams scrapstrong by virtue of Stacy Julian's A Library of Memories class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. You can be scrapstrong, too, by shopping here.

Photo Hunt

Ugly who?

I'm in my new jammies (bought them trying to start a new Christmas Eve family tradition) and watching the Ugly Betty marathon on Soap Net. I'm crackin' up!

I'd seen it before, but I didn't tune in regularly...that might have to change. I can actually identify with Betty an itty bitty bit (maybe even more than that lol).

I think (I hope) there's a little bit of Ugly Betty in each of us. Not necessarily the insecurities, but the big heart and the incurable good spirit and creative vibe.

Changes are coming...

Stacy Julian posted that they are finally unveiling [their] big surprise at Big Picture Scrapbooking!

For now, all I see is this:


And I don't know if I can stay awake long enough to see the site come back up, again.

The Library of Memories class starts this week. I can't wait!

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year! Greetings to 2007.



Farewell to 2006. We'll miss you. You were a good year.

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!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The turkey is in the oven roaster, and I'm about to start the potato salad. I should have made the potato salad last night, but I was sooooo tired!

I'm having 8-10 people for dinner, so I need to set a plan and schedule for getting all of the dishes cooked and prepared. I know, I know, I should have done that long ago, but I'm keeping the day casual...I don't want to stress out. I just want to enjoy the day!

Here's my menu:
Turkey
Ham (small, pre-cooked, packaged ham)
Stuffing
Mac and cheese
String beans
Greens*
Corn
Sweet potatoes*
Mashed Potatos (tentative)
Potato Casserole
White and Brown rice
Crescent rolls
Potato salad
Tossed salad
Apple pie*
Sweet potato pie*
Ice Cream (Vanilla, Chocolate Rasberry, and Egg Nog*)

*My sister is bringing the asterisked items.

Happy Feet!

I just saw an adorable movie with my 2 kids and 2 of their friends. I think my husband and I enjoyed it more than they did. The music and 'dancing' were great...had me wanting to dance! Now I'm home checking out the trailers so I can listen to the musinc and see some more dancing!

Two great big thumbs up!

Oh, goodie, goodie!

Today is my son's 6th birthday. (In the words of the illustrious Stacy Julian, "Yippy Skippy!") I was recently blog surfing and came across this post about kiddie goodie bags (what great timing!) Goodie Bag Idea. I thought that this blogger had some good points about sending stuff home that kids might actually use and enjoy, so I borrowed some of her ideas and made my son's goodie bags.

Each bag has a little notebook, decorative pencil, a curly straw, and some stickers. I made a label with each child's name on the computer, and my son decided which classmate would get each bag.



I put a Happy Birthday sticker on Christopher's bag.



He and his 8 yr. old sister helped to stuff the bags. They made sure that the boys didn't get girly stickers or a girly pencil (that was funny to watch!). 25 bags later (plus 2 extra -- just in case), and a tray of 30 cupcakes, my son is a happy camper.



When we walked in with the goodies this morning, the kids Ooohed and Aaahed. I can't wait till Christopher comes home to tell me all about his little classroom birthday celeberation.

Whew!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated this blog! So much has happened...Alexis's 8th birthday (her "best birthday EVER"...a simple brunch at IHOP with one friend who spent the night, immediate family, aunts, grandpa, and a cousin); Halloween (cheerleader and a black Power Ranger were this year's costume hits); Election 2006; being asked to be Co-Commissioner next year for the community chearleading program; work, work, and more work. Whew!

Today, I am grateful for...
The beautiful colors of a Maryland autumn. I am loving the yellow-orange and red leaves on the trees, especially when they line both side of the street as I'm driving along. I love autumn colors. They feed my soul.

Introspection

I recently began reading the blog of a male scrapbooker. I don't know any male scrapbookers, online or IRL, so that alone made me want to stop and read his blog. He posted about two types of scrapbookers, one who scraps for the memories and one who scraps for the memories with the hopes of being published. His post had more to it, but that part struck a chord with me. Here's my response that I posted:

"Well said. I'm the type that wants to capture memories, but I was exposed to SB message boards and idea books when I first started scrapbooking (7 years ago). I feel the pressure to design the perfect, publish-worthy page, but I don't have the technique or skills to create that type of page. The result? I feel paralyzed and get no pages done at all. "

In addition, I have years and years worth of supplies that I've collected and not used. With each new tool, embellishment, kit, etc., I thought "THIS is what I need to start getting my pages done!" But it's not the products. It's the pressure I feel to pick the perfect colors and create the perfect design for every layout.

So, what I'm going to do is this: I'm going to scrapbook 20 layouts in one week. I'm going to do them just for me...I'm not going to post or share them with anyone. But they will be done. That's my personal challenge.

I'm the first "Volunteer of the Month" for this school year!

The PTA named me the volunteer of the month. I helped create the PTA's Yahoo group, and I moderate and maintain it. In addition, I created the PTA's stand-alone website from scratch, and I'm in the process of adding the option to join the PTA and pay for membership online.

I was so surprised and extremely touched when I read the newsletter naming me Volunteer of the Month. I defintely have to scrapbook the write-up about me that appeared in the newsletter! (Sounds like an ideal Book of Me entry!)

Curiously Feel Good Music, and other catch-up stuff

I can't believe it's been a week since I have posted to this blog. I've been very, very busy with work and home life, so I haven't been crafty lately. Although, I have devoured my PBD system, separated and stored the templates, and absorbed as much of the idea book as I could.

This week, my son's wound re-opened after the stitches were removed because a couple of curious kindergarteners poked his wound. Long, frustrating story.

I chaperoned a field trip to the National Zoo this week. Chilly outside but a wonderful trip. I'll post a photo or two soon.

I substituted as the coach for my daughter's community cheerleading squad at Saturday's game. It was a little scary, but the girls did great. Several parents thanked me afterward, so I think I did a pretty OK job.

We bought my son the Curious George DVD a couple of weeks ago. When I ran across this video, I just wanted to post it here. It's kinda 'feel good' music. I can't wait to show it to my son tomorrow. Enjoy!

What a week!

I have so much to blog about. Too much! I'll try to give a brief overview.

Thanks to Katherine Brooks' blog enabling, I purchased the Pages By Design system during a huge Deluxe Designs sale. Since the sale was so big, it took a couple of weeks for the package to arrive. I'm loving looking through everything and can't wait till life slows down enough for me to use it!

My 5 yr. was chasing his sister at their grandma's house. He slid and fell full-force into the corner of a wooden microwave cabinet. We spent Friday night at the ER getting five stitches in the gash on his forehead. Everyone says, "Well, he is a boy!" so I guess I have a lot more accidents, bumps, bruises, and stitches in our future. (No pics 'cuz I was too embarassed to carry my SLR camera to the ER! If I can figure out how to get the pics off my cell phone, I'll be set.)

Today, my husband had to get some electronics, and he surprised me when he came home with an awesome new portable DVD player and a new webcam. I have a portable DVD player that's a few years old, but he said when he saw it, "I knew you had to have it." Is he sweet, or what? I used to teach free online scrapbook/cardmaking classes through a yahoo group, so he got me a new webcam with a stand. I'll have to find a new use for this new webcam since I don't teach anymore!

Here's the DVD player (the pic is from Sony's website):



Here's the webcam (from Logitech's website):



So, hopefully, I'll actually have something crafty to post here soon! Layouts or cards or something! Peace out.

Let me introduce you to my leetle friend...

Me and my friend here are going places. She is the DC14 Animal model Dyson vacuum cleaner. Cyclonic. In a word, she "RAWKS!" It's ridiculous how much dog hair she picked up on the area rug in the family room. Let's not even get started on the hidden treasures in the living room and stairs!

My weekend cold stopped me from doing all the vacuuming that I wanted to (I actually like vacuuming with this thing! And that's saying a lot because I hate house work.), but I hope to get to the upstairs tomorrow. I'm almost afraid to see what's lurking in the carpets up here!

What is THAT?

I imagine that's what my tummy is saying right about now. I had bread for the first time in two weeks. I couldn't wait to bite into it...I've been feeling so deprived! So I gobbled up a piece of Ledo's pizza. It was tasty in my mouth, but moments later, if felt like I had lump of play doh on my stomach.

Ugh. :-P