The mint walls are driving me crazy.

We’re renting, and our landlord has given us permission to paint if we’d like to.  We’ll definitely be painting the master bedroom (we already bought the paint), but we don’t want to invest too much time and money in repainting the house.

Still, the mint walls in the living room aren’t really up my alley.  Solution?  See what we can do to work with the mint walls.  I pulled up Photoshop yesterday evening to create a decor board and see if I could make the mint walls work with the other elements we have in that room.  I think I got it.  Here’s what I came up with:

There are four elements in the room that won’t be changed:

1. The mint green paint.

2. The gold silk drapes (which belong to the homeowner).

3. The piano.

4. The brown upholstered furniture.  I’ve been designing around these two pieces for years.  Yes, I know we could slip cover them, but we’re working on a tight budget.

The remaining furniture can be painted:

5. The small media cabinet and the side table will be done over in French White.  This will give the room a much more modern and fresh feel.

6. This is the part I’m not sold on.  Our TV cabinet is a solid oak piece that’s a little dated.  I think a greyish tone on the body and a dark stain on the top like this would bring it more up to date.  Jason prefers the idea of looking for a free piece on Craigslist to customize.  I think I might agree with him on that.

7. This is my vision for The Four Pound Wonder, a piece my Dad found at the local tip when we lived in England.  He paid £4 for the old wardrobe, which has been outfitted with shelves for linens and silver and the like.  I’d like to do it over in a subtle metallic finish like this, and replace the [again, dated] stained glass with hammered metalwork.  The metal finish would coordinate with the gold curtains and with the frame around our Bayeux piece (seen here).

8. This guitar photo is by my friend Melissa; she took it on a trip to Mexico last year.  I gave it to Jason last Christmas, and we haven’t put it up yet.  It is printed on metallic photo paper, and that, combined with the colors, ties it in with this room beautifully.

9. The accessories are from ZGallerie (Love!) and will be supplemented with thrift store finds in white, green & [subtle] gold.  (I’ll probably put the florals together myself, too.)

And that’s about it.  The decor board looks crowded, I know, but so does the room; that’s not about to change.  We have too much furniture for the space, which I think is another reason it’s driving me nuts.  I believe tying it all together with a conscious design and giving it some style will help relieve the feeling of clutter and too-tightness, since moving pieces out isn’t an option just now.

So what do you think?  Have you ever had to work around something that just didn’t sit right with you & make it work?

One of my very favorite blogs, Young House Love, linked to this quick little style quiz at Ethan Allen today.

How surprised was I when I clicked through the series of photos that appealed to me and was presented with my results?

Very.

Metro?  I’m metro?  Uh, no, I’m a suburban girl, through and through.  Right?  But then, I started exploring their sample rooms for this style, and I quite liked three of them.

Yeah, I can do Metro.

1. Look at those white vases.  I know the whole “white grouping” thing is so popular as to be almost overdone these days, but I really am drawn to it.

2. The woven bench.

3. Lots of neutrals with splashes of color.

4. Geometric patterns.

The only thing missing is a certain measure of softness…something cozy.  I’m reminded of homes where I babysat as a teenager, when I was chilled after the kids had gone to bed and couldn’t for the life of me find an afghan or a quilt to cuddle under on the sofa.  Add a little coziness (and a personal touch or two) to these rooms, and I think they’d be close to perfect.

Have you stumbled across The Bright Side Project yet?

A couple of weeks ago, I saw it popping up on several of the blogs in my Google Reader, so I clicked over.  As it says in their FAQ’s:

The Bright Side Project is a website dedicated to daily giveaways.  Each day we feature a brand or product we think will add a little sunshine in your life.

Not only this, but The Bright Side Project is dedicated to supporting independent artisans.  They offer prizes both from well-known companies (E.L.F. Cosmetics!) and from etsy sellers.

Was I tempted to keep this wonderful site to myself?  Of course!  But that wouldn’t be in the spirit of the site, now, would it?  So hop on over and win something wonderful!

Last Sunday, after much agonizing over subject matter and scouring the internet for inspiration/patterns, we carved our pumpkins.

There were vampires…

…and skulls…

…and Buzz (Go Jackets!)…

…and even Count von Count, who declined to be photographed for this interview.  (All of the patterns were found on the internet, and I did not save links – sorry!  Except for Buzz…I created that stencil myself.)

You’ll notice I didn’t take too much care with the photography, because certainly, I would set these on the front porch soon enough for a quick photo session, as usual.  Yeah…did I mention the whole flu thing?  By the time it occurred to me to do anything about the pumpkins, it was Thursday.  I attempted to pick up my jack o’lantern, and my fingers went through its bottom.  Oh dear.  Upon closer inspection, we found that all four pumpkins were covered inside with a nice layer of mold and fuzzy, white “hair.”

We moved them out to the front porch, anyway, hoping we could at least light them on Halloween night, but by the next morning, they were caving in.  Since we haven’t set up a compost bin yet, they’re currently awaiting the garbage truck.  You should probably be glad I didn’t take pictures.

Jason and the boys are currently out for Round II of The Great Candy Grab.  Round I ended with shivers, followed by a halftime with a giant pizza and the first half of The Sorcerer’s Stone, our usual Halloween night movie.  The boys donned hoodies under their costumes and hit the streets to see what else they could haul in.

How about those blasters?  I saw this tutorial linked on Geek Dad this week and immediately sent it to Jason.  (Not that I couldn’t – or wouldn’t! – make them myself, but he did ask what he could do to help.  He had fun with it, and he rarely gets to be involved in the Halloween costuming.)

In an effort not to pass Hamthrax H1N1 onto the entire neighborhood, we decided to leave our candy out on the porch for the neighbors.  In an additional effort not to let the first three kids get all the candy, I did this:

The boys are back, not-so-patiently waiting to restart the movie, so off I go.  Once they’re in bed, Jason and I will cross our fingers and hope AMC is showing some wonderful old Vincent Price movie.

Have a safe and spooky Halloween!

Today, the one I’ve seen several times is “Hamthrax.”  Heh, cute.

Whether you go all clinical (like we have around here), calling it H1N1, or can’t quite let go of the original, media-hyped Swine Flu! (OMG, PIG Flu! Like Bird Flu, only with hooves and a funny snout!), we seem to have welcomed it into our household this week.  The evidence is there, and I can only say we’ve been blessed with a pretty mild case.  It’s sure a lot more mild than the flu I had while pregnant with Nicky nearly ten years ago.  Now, that was a flu to write home to the sty about…*

But back to the Hamthrax H1N1.  Nicky came down with A Fever Sunday night, so of course he stayed home from school the next day, and I cancelled my Monday trip to Costco and my volunteer time at the library.  (Mondays = excitement. Yeah.)  Kalen skipped happily off to his first grade class.  (From my car in the school parking lot.  I’m not quite ready for him to walk to school alone.  Give me a few years.)  Nicky watched some movies.

Tuesday morning at 2:00am, Nicky’s Fever broke.  He stayed home, though (that pesky “24-hours fever-free” rule), and The Fever returned mid-day.  We watched the Real Star Wars trilogy.  That evening, Jason and I came down with Fevers (both of us), chills (me), and a sore throat (him).  Wednesday through Friday found me missing the school bus stop in front of our house in Georgia desperately, as we took turns getting a surprisingly healthy Kalen to and from school.  It also found the remaining three of us holed up in the living room with an odd assortment of The Today Show, Jason’s work lap top (he’s still contracting = no paid sick time = EARN, Baby!), Phineas and Ferb, books, quilts, pillows, The Deadliest Catch, and I really can’t remember what else.

Everyone seems to be improving in time for at least some of us to hit a street or two for Treats tomorrow night.  (Sans adult-sized Jedi robes for Jason et moi.  *Sob*  The sacrifices one makes for illness.)  My pesky Fever lingers on.  It’s little more than an annoyance, causing wooziness whenever I stand up long enough to, say, load the dishwasher, take a shower, or walk into the school to pick Kalen up from his after-school Nature Club.  Given its obvious efforts to keep me from accomplishing anything beyond becoming addicted to the adventures of Sig Hansen and crew, I’m tempted to christen our version of h1n1 The Sloth Flu.

See?  It even sounds less menacing.  The Sloth Flu.  Sloths are slow.  (Who among us has ever seen a sloth race at the county fair?)  Certainly we can all outrun this pandemic before it gets off the ground.

*Yes, yes, I know this flu can be very dangerous and deadly.  It hasn’t been for us, though, and we are grateful.  Seriously, that ‘99-’00 (I had it over The New Millennium New Years, for crying out loud!  And our anniversary!  And I was pregnant!) flu really knocked me for a loop, so that’s my basis for comparison.

So, each week, I see this graphic on a couple/few of the blogs I frequent, and today I think, “Hey, that’s just what I need to eek out a blog post today!”

• I now have first-hand proof of the validity of the “wait until your child is free of symptoms for 24 hours before sending him back to school” rule.  Nicky’s fever broke at 2:00 this morning, and as much as I wanted to send him to school, so he could participate in his final drum circle group, I did the right thing and kept him home.  Several hours later, he looked miserable, and the thermometer registered 101.
• The house is still a wreck, but Jason took down the LCD TV mount the previous tenants left behind (which was  likely only making him feel deprived, anyway) and replaced it with framed artwork.  Awesome.
• The art (a tea towel from Bayeux, which my mother thoughtfully had framed for us), inspired me to clean off the mantel underneath it and spookify at least a little of the house. (Sorry about the shoddy photo.)

• My toes are cold.  (Surprising to no one who knows me, I’ll wager.)
• I think I might just try NaBloPoMo again this year.
• The black light bulb we put in our front porch fixture every year always makes me think of Space Mountain.
• Bench Monday makes me happy.

A couple of weeks ago*, Jen and John from Cake Wrecks came to town on their book signing tour.  I just had to go.

The coolest part was not the book (although it’s nifty, sturdier and higher-quality than I expected, and has lots of content not on the website), nor was it the cakes present at the event (although they were awesome), nor was it how incredibly geeky-cool and funny (duh) both Jen and John are and how I would love to be friends with Jen (can’t write about that too much, ‘cuz I don’t want to look too internet-stalkery).  No.  The coolest part?  Jen and I were wearing the same shoes.

Now, I suppose one could interpret this in a [limited] number of ways.  Coincidence springs to mind.  I, however, chose this completely unscientific interpretation: that by nature of association, I now have some small level of cool.  Argument: Jen is cool.  Jen wears low-top raspberry Chucks.  I wear low-top raspberry Chucks.  I am, therefore, cool.**  That I am cool to a much lesser extent is a reasonable assumption (especially since I’m sitting here blogging about whether or not I’m cool) and is perfectly okay with me.

No, really, the event was a blast.  Quite crowded, but fun.  Jen and John are naturals in front of a crowd and are troopers.  Not only did they sign all of those autographs, I heard them having actual conversations with people as they came up to the table.  I’m sure it’s tempting to just smile and sign, but they seemed to be having a good (albeit tiring) time.

Even the folks at the adjacent coffee shop got into the spirit:

*This was before John’s hospitalization mid-tour with horrible, ICU-level pneumonia and infection, poor guy!  I bet Jen was a wreck.  Ouch…that pun wasn’t intended & probably isn’t original in the slightest, but I think they’d like it, so I’m leaving it.  Anyway, it looks like John is home and doing better now, although he still needs some healing time.  Happy, healthy thoughts to John, everyone!

**Hush, math nerds.

I have been scatterbrained and completely unfocused on doing anything fun and creative lately.  My blog has been withering, the posts have been piling up in my Google Reader, I haven’t done a scrapbook page since leaving Atlanta, the crochet hooks are cold and lifeless.

The final straw?  I forgot 12 of 12 yesterday.  I love 12 of 12.  It’s no Bench Monday, but it does make me happy.

The solution?  I’ve given up on Project 365 (one less thing to think about on a daily basis), and I caught up on my Google Reader, which has inspired me to at least get blogging again.

Balance.  Isn’t that always the key?  It is for me.  Funny that using that particular key also happens to be one of my biggest challenges in life.

All of this is not to say that life has been boring or that I’ve been unfulfilled – quite the opposite, in fact!  We made the decision upon moving here to refrain from participating in any time-consuming extracurricular activities for a while.  This has resulted in an unprecedented amount of family togetherness.  Board games and garage saling and letterboxing, dinners with all four of us gathered around the table…these are incredibly good things.  The boys and I walk back and forth to school most days (a new experience for us all!).  They play on the playground after school while I chat with other moms and [hopefully] form some new friendships (…and thank Heaven for my friend j., who provided me with a built-in amazing friendship and support system and tour guide, all in one.).

On top of all of this, I desperately need what is usually the first thing to fall by the wayside – creative outlet.  Something that’s all mine, and mine alone.  My feet on a bench.  My hook in some yarn.  My hand on the mouse.  My fingers on the keyboard.  That’s all I need…a lot of one, or a little of each.

So, since I spent yesterday morning ironing shirts, this morning calling doctors in Seattle (requesting appointments) and Atlanta (requesting records), and the afternoons on the school playground, I dedicate this evening to me.

Oh, to have the energy of a six-year-old when I don’t feel my best!

Kalen has a stinker of a head cold.  Sleep last night was intermittent, and given the paranoia reasonable concern about germs these days, we decided a day home was probably best for everyone involved.  The kids at school would have less exposure to the nastiness Kalen’s carrying, and he would have less exposure to potentially worse viruses while his immune system is run down.  Win-win.

Today has reminded me a lot of when he was in preschool.  Cuddle time on the couch, PB&J’s in front of a movie (old-school Pooh Bear, complete with blustery days and little black rain clouds!), and coloring.

There is one notable difference between four-year-old Kalen and six-year-old Kalen when it comes to coloring, however.  The stories…the really, really destructive nature of them, to be exact.  I was just treated to an hour-long (at least it felt that way – perhaps it was only about five minutes) explanation of certain “Vulture droids”* in various stages of exploding.  Pre-explosion, impact of missiles and other droids/ships/somethings, actual explosion and/or crashing into what I observed to be a flame-engulfed planetoid of some sort.

He didn’t start the explanation in a seated position…this was only after a lengthy dancing/jumping/arm-waving speech that had me nodding and “uh-huh-ing” in a confused, sort-of-listening manner.  (I’m sorry, after a while, I just have to tune it out.)  Once I pulled him in for a hug and explained that perhaps Daddy would find this much more comprehensible, after all, he’s the Mythbusters-style explosions addict, the Vulture Droid Annihilator gave me the same sort of “uh-huh” before settling into the chair to expound a bit more.  Touché, kiddo.

Incidentally, it was the bottom center photo that clued me into what he really needed, besides a semi-listening ear and a hug or two.  Another difference between four-year-old and six-year-old Kalen: he now understands it when I explain the need for nap time when he’s sick.

*And with this, we have proof that the boys’ Star Wars knowledge has officially surpassed my own.  Sigh.

One of my least favorite types of blog post is that “Ohmygod, I can’t believe I haven’t posted in so long, I’msosorry” post we all seem tempted to do now and then.  Soooo let’s just pretend I didn’t just say that and move right along, okay?

Seriously, though, inspiration has been lacking.  I’ve been completely distracted by the house (and, yes, life).  My favorite sister, upon being asked what I should blog about, promptly replied, “Me!”  Mmkay.  I did ask.

Yep, that’s her!  The J.D., the soon-to-be Esq. (only two more months until we get confirmation she passed the Bar!), the soon-to-be Californian (again).  You can tell by her windswept, carefree look that this photo was taken before she began law school, and indeed, I snapped it when I visited her on my birthday weekend in 2006.  A few months later, she would move to Virginia and start the three-year Stress Fest that is law school, followed by BarBri, followed by The Exam Itself, followed by the Yeah-Right-I’m-Supposed-To-Wait-Patiently?!? period of post exam deflation.  (Hmm.  Methinks the girl deserves a break.)

To the surprise of no one in the family, Heather did head out to California to take the Bar Exam in July.  It’s been obvious to all of us since the family moved away from SoCal in 1991 that Heather would be back eventually.  There had been some discussion about staying in Virginia after law school, but really.  Heather out of California always has a temporary feel.

So, January it is!  The road trip begins then (sadly, not for me – the munchkins require me here).  I wonder if she’ll let me blog it?

As promised last month, this 12 of 12 comes from the gorgeous state of Washington.

It’s not that I forgot yesterday was the 12th.  I didn’t.  It’s more that I can’t find the battery charger for my trusty point-and-shoot, and I’m trying to figure out how to use this beautiful digital SLR* Mom gave me…and that I forgot to take it with me when we left the house, so there are no photos of the gorgeous state itself.  Doh!

What could be better than waking up to your husband making coffee??

…waking up to your husband making coffee and pancakes!

[Insert very large chunk of time, during which we were doing errands, having lunch out, etc.  It was a time rife with fabulous photo opportunities.  Darnit.]

The boys had very specific Halloween costume requests this year – easily granted with a coupon and quick trip to the party store!

Our change of address cards came this week, so I’ve been spending a few minutes each day addressing envelopes and wishing charities had discovered our move and sent us those return address labels I always have way too many of.  Except now.

Very serious business, these video games, no?

While the boys searched for Arks or Grails or whatever Lego Indy was obsessed with at that particular time, I worked on consolidating packing paper and checking out some NCAA action.  Yes, I chose to watch football.  Without my husband in the room.  Even though Georgia Tech played two days earlier.  What’s happening to me?!?

During the game, our new neighbor brought us some beautiful Yellow Pear Tomatoes from her garden.  Aren’t they cute?  (Jason, the tomato guy in the family, says they taste great, too.)  We have cool neighbors.

Still a long way to go on the unpacking…

…a looooong way… (but we found some Ewoks!  They’re not as helpful as you’d think, based on their industrious portrayal in Jedi.)

And we continue to fill boxes with garage sale and donation items.  Hurrah!

We downloaded this WiiWare game yesterday – so much fun!

Coffee and World of Goo.  Now, there’s a romantic evening!

*The time stamp on this camera was way off, and I don’t really feel the whole calculate-the-difference vibe today.  You may eagerly anticipate the return of times for next month’s 12 of 12.  Hey, I’ve gotta keep you coming back somehow, right?

Slow and steady, right?  Isn’t that the fable’s answer to getting ahead?

Oh, good.  We’re right on track for winning the Get Your House Unpacked marathon.  Woo hoo!

It’s been more challenging than we anticipated, figuring out each room’s use and finding ways to house the odds and ends we have.  Our garage sale pile is growing (again, slowly but steadily), but we do want to keep some of our stuff.  Garage sales, trips to Ikea, Craigslist purchases…bit by bit, we’re organizing and storing.  Stay tuned for some updates in that arena!

As a placeholder, how about one of my favorite Bench Monday shots to date?

Of all the words I don’t like to hear my kids say, there’s a certain four-letter one that really gets my goat.  Any guesses?

It’s the c-word.

Can’t.

Can’t is a four-letter word.  It’s the most limiting word in the English language.  It drives me nuts.

At the park near our house yesterday, the boys decided to make an attempt at a great tree.  It has a long, low, horizontal trunk, perfect for beginning climbers.  And Nicky and Kalen are definitely beginners.  For some reason, the climbing that comes naturally to so many kids has never been something they’ve been interested in.  They’re actually pretty timid about it.  A few seconds into the process, I heard shrieks and that dreaded c-word.  Kalen was clinging to the the trunk, unable to move forward or backward in his panic.  (Which, honestly, was rather hilarious, given the fact that he was about two-and-a-half feet off the ground.)

After helping him back off a bit, we strategized, and I informed him that he was not giving up, and he was not to use the word “can’t”.  And what do you know?

Less than a minute later:

Look at the pride on that boy’s face!  Love it.

Nicky began, and right off the bat faced a huge problem – this tree has been climbed by thousands of children, and it is slippery.  His shoes are old, with zero tread, so I suggested removing them.  The look on his face as he processed his mother suggesting shoe removal at a park was priceless.  (I’m a stickler for shoes and socks at playgrounds.  One too many run-ins with mulch and sandal-wearing feet.  Ouch.)

Toes make great grips.

I know a lot of you have heard of it: Project 365.  I’ve seen blips and blurbs about it, on blogs, on Flickr, and I must admit, it intrigued me.  Taking a photograph a day for a whole year?  Sounds easy enough!  Then I thought about it.  It really is quite a commitment.  Goodness knows, I’ve nearly forgotten my Bench Monday shots now and again, and that’s only once a week.  Not only are we talking about a commitment and follow-through in general…it’s a commitment to be creative - if only a teensy bit – every single day!

Ooh, now there’s a challenge worth pursuing!  Daily creativity feeds the mind and soul, right?  So, I decided to jump in with our first day in Seattle.  It should be an interesting documentation of our first year here, don’t you think?  For those of you who read my blog through an RSS reader, please click through just this once, and you’ll see a Flickr widget on the left, streaming my photographs.  Just wanted to let you know it’s there.  (And if you want to receive my 365 in your reader, here’s the RSS feed.)

As for the rest of life…moving in is going a bit slowly, but as soon as today’s chiropractic visit catches up with my body, I’ll be hitting it hard again.  I’m loving our house, and I’m beyond excited about fitting everything into place, decorating, and making it ours.

Happy Bench Monday!

Did we make it to Seattle?

Did the movers get here with all our stuff?

Do we have too much of said stuff?

Have we gotten any unpacking done?

Is it just beyond great to have the family back together again?

Okay, I’m beat!  The movers came and loaded up all our stuff yesterday, and the resulting adrenaline crash has been something else.  As I’m in a very uncreative (and tired) mood, this month’s 12 of 12 is a collection of photos of things that are not here.  Welcome to my Not 12 of 12.  (My apologies for what I fear is a rather boring series of photos.  They’re the result of an exciting process, I assure you!)

1. My parents’ garage is Not full of boxes and furniture! (They are so excited at the prospect of actually parking in there again.)

2. The top of the driveway, where my car is Not parked.  (Where my car Is parked: Seattle!  Jason took delivery of it last night – woot!)

3. This is Not the kids’ sandbox.  The porch no longer says, “Welcome, small children live here.”

4. Welcome to the spot that does Not house our grill and outside garbage cans.

5. This is Not my yarn; it’s all Mom’s!  She does Not have to share stash space with me.

6. This corner does Not house the old English wardrobe Mom and Dad used for their linens.  Now it’s home to the old leather chair we found at a garage sale last week.  (The wardrobe’s moving with me!)

7. Not my closet.  (You can tell by the absence of elfa.)

8. The wall my desk was on, where I am Not sitting while I post my 12 of 12.

9. These are Not the boys’ beds.  I mean, well, they are beds (camping cots), and the boys are sleeping on them this week, but…  Ack, you know what I mean.

10. The playroom is Not housing a train table, but there’s so much more room to run around!

11. …and I do believe these are Not all of the boys’ toys!

12. Now that our bicycles are Not taking up this whole space, we have a much better view of the water heater, dehumidifier, and crawl space entrance – thank goodness!

Stay tuned for next month’s 12, which will be brought to you directly from the great state of Washington!  Happy 12th, everyone!

Tomorrow at this time, most of our stuff will probably be packed on the moving truck.  I wonder if the whole moving thing will hit me then.  Or will it be when we’re getting on the plane?  Or will it be in a few weeks, when we don’t “come home” from Seattle?

I have been a packing fiend the past few days.  I didn’t realize quite how much stuff we had scattered through Mom and Dad’s house, but it’s all done now, except for a few key entertainment things: the Wii, a bin of DVD’s, the lego bin, my computer.  Easy enough to finish up this afternoon and evening.  (And in the case of my computer, probably late tonight.)

This may be my last post before we hit Seattle, so here’s a proper Bench Monday send-off:

The tape gun and I are very close friends now!  We have a lot in common.  You need to keep us fed to keep us working, and neither of us works as well out in the humid garage as here in the nice air conditioning.  It bites when it’s in a bad mood, though.  I don’t tend to bare my teeth that often.  (I hope.)

As I was lying in bed last night, a list of people began forming in my mind.  These are the people without whom this move might not have happened.  I think I’ve thanked them all profusely in private, but they also deserve a public hip-hip-hooray:

Mom and Dad: Duh.  Hello, they offered up their home long before the thought would have occurred to us.  They rearranged the house, gave up grandparental spoiling rights for a few months, and allowed us the greatest gift of all: choice.  Because of them, we had the choice of following our dreams when Jason was laid of.

The G Family: Who have put Jason up rent-free since he got to Seattle in early March.  They gave up their privacy and their guest room (a special Thanks to all their other visitors during this time, who were displaced to couches and play rooms), and they provided transportation to and from the airport, great advice, and amazing friendship.  Also to their boys for being our boys’ built-in, ready-and-waiting friends in a new place.

Jason’s Mom and Dad: Their basement/garage has been our storage area since December, when we started getting the house ready for market.  Like my parents, they have also been extremely supportive of our decision to move so far away.

My Swister: She told me it was okay if I couldn’t afford to come up for her law school graduation in May, which was incredibly selfless and made me more determined than ever to be there.

The R Family, here in the ATL: Heather keeps me sane (and sometimes simply identifies with and validates my insanity), their pool kept us entertained, and the whole family are the best friends we could ask for.

The O Family in OKC, and the E Family in Wyoming: They provided housing on our drive across country, and they both gave me awesome birthday celebrations, too.  Not to mention, they’re simply great people & friends!  (Best of luck to the O Family with your own move this weekend!)

The June Mommies: They keep me sane, too, and are an amazing gift.

Our Awesome Realtor, Cheryl: She worked hard and was so helpful in selling our home.  She had an emotional interest in doing the best she could for us, and it showed.

Dave Ramsey and his Total Money Makeover: We’d been following his plan for nearly two years when this thing began, and without that plan, we would have been in much more dire straits.

Everyone Else: Who has prayed for us, visualized us in Seattle, bit their tongue if they thought we were nuts, and loved us.

…and last but definitely not least, Jason, Nicolas and Kalen: Jason made the biggest leap possible outside his comfort zone in moving three thousand miles away, not knowing how long it would last, and never having lived apart from family before.  The stress has been unbelievable, I know.  The boys have handled this thing with amazing grace for nine- and six-year-old kids.

To all of you (and to anyone else I’ve forgotten in my current scatterbrained state):

…none of the above!

I promised an update last week on the house hunt.  Unfortunately, we went back and forth (mostly in our own minds), and nothing was settled when the end of the week rolled around.  We Jason commenced hunting again over the weekend, and as of today we’re happy to welcome The Sprinkle House into the family.

During the hunt, Jason and I took to nicknaming all the houses we were considering.  With the odd naming convention in the Seattle suburbs (Every street is numbered!  Like for miiiiles out into the suburbs.  It’s weird, I tell you.), we couldn’t keep them straight.  So, we had Aimee’s house (my early favorite), the Pink House (which was taupe, but apparently photographed poorly), the Bathroom House (you don’t want to know), etc.  This little yellow charmer was quickly dubbed the Sprinkle House, because the listing mentioned a “sprinkle system” in the front yard.  The missing ‘r’ tickled me, and the name stuck.

So The Sprinkle House will be our home for the next year, at least, as we settle in on Seattle’s Eastside.  Jason gains possession a day or so before the boys and I fly in.  The plan is coming together.*  It still doesn’t seem real, and I wonder when it will start to sink in.

Tomorrow the car carrier comes to take my little car.  Tuesday, the movers come to take all our stuff.  The following Monday, the boys and I get on the plane.  The sinking in should happen somewhere in there, don’t you think?

*Go ahead, say it.  You know you want to!

Boy, it’s humid in Atlanta in August.  I know, I know, it’s a given, but I really do forget just how bad it is out there when I’m happily ensconced in my air conditioned home.

This morning, we had a playdate with our neighbors…from our old neighborhood, that is.  Their oldest son is Kalen’s age, and they were in the same Kindergarten class last year.  These boys have so much fun together, and they were troopers this morning!  I needed to replace the logbook in one of our most popular letterboxes, so I recruited them to accompany us on a mini-hike to take care of it.

Of course, I took my camera…and you know it’s Monday.

So today, I did my part to educate friends about Letterboxing and Bench Monday.  Both make me happy!

Getting together with friends we don’t see often enough makes me even happier.  Thanks for a great day, guys!

In the midst of writing this post last night, I ran downstairs to see how the veil was looking under Mom’s ministrations.  When we found it the day before, she said she’d see what she could do for it.  Later that evening, I saw it soaking in a bucket with some Oxy cleaner in it.

Well, the oxy stuff didn’t do a thing.  Mom’s next thought was, “Well, it’s ruined anyway, and it’s cotton and nylon*…”

Bleach.

Yep, she soaked it in water with TWO CUPS of bleach.**  Two words: Go, Mom!

It’s perfect.  Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!

*I asked her how the hell she knew it was cotton and nylon.  Answer: Mom was a home economist and worked in a fine fabric store for years.  The woman knows her fabrics.  I tend to forget just how well she knows them

**Disclaimer: I’m not going to advise you on whether or not bleach is safe for any of your fine fabrics; it’s most definitely not my area of expertise.  Please don’t put bleach or any other cleaner on a beloved veil or fabric item of your own without researching the fabric and potential consequences.

Don’t you just love it when the Bride and Groom pass out miniature bottles of bubbles after the reception?  Don’t they look beautiful as they run toward the waiting car in a sea of pearlescent, floating spheres?

It’s especially beautiful if, like on our wedding day, there are snow flurries intermingling with the bubbles.

Of course, it never occurred to us that the soap in the bubbles was perhaps not the best substance to let coat a veil made of expensive French lace hand-pieced by the mother of the bride…and that perhaps we should have sent it to the cleaners with the gown, rather than folding it up in tissue for nearly twelve years without a second thought.  Until yesterday, when Mom and I pulled the boxed gown and accessories down out of her closet, so I could pack them up to go to Seattle.

And found this:

I do believe I resembled a guppy for several long seconds after finding the veil in this state.  I’m not often speechless, as those who have met me in person can attest, but this did the trick.  You see, I loved my wedding gown.  It was great.  But I loved my veil.  I vividly remember going to the fine fabrics store with Mom and picking out the lace, the price of which nearly stopped my heart.  We spent quite a long time figuring out the absolute minimum we would need to buy for Mom to hand piece into the correct shape to give me a mantilla-like effect.  And it was beautiful.  I have always said I didn’t know if I’d hang onto my gown forever, but that the veil would be an heirloom.  We made it removable from the headpiece so future brides could wear it with whatever headpiece they wanted.  There was thought put into it.

And here it is.  Woah.  Okay, yes, I know, it’s not that important.  Except that it is, to me, just a little bit.

So, to the purpose of this post, a Public Service Announcements for brides everywhere:

When you take your wedding gown to the cleaners, have them clean the veil, too.  You never know what might have gotten on it.

Oh, and as for my veil?  Surprise!  It has a happy ending.  Tune in tomorrow…

(Right, Barbie?)

Tomorrow, we’re meeting a friend and her daughter for lunch.  Maybe I should backtrack…

Last week, Mom mentioned that she’d like me to take all of my sister’s and my old Barbies with me when we move.  Um, I don’t really want all my Barbies, but I really don’t want to get rid of them, either.

Then it hit me: what am I saving them for?  When I was a little girl, I kept them looking so nice – I lost almost no shoes, I kept their hair combed – all because I knew that someday my daughters would want to play with them.  Well, that’s certainly not going to happen.  My boys couldn’t care less (they just like to race the Corvette alongside their dumptrucks), and even if they wanted to play with the dolls, I don’t think I could watch them play rough with the toys I kept so carefully for so long.

Did I mention the friend I’m meeting tomorrow has a daughter?  Who likes Barbies?  *Lightbulb*

So today, Mom and I played Barbies one last time as we set up for a fashion shoot.  I decided to give all of them to Haylee, and relive my memories of my favorite childhood toys through my camera.  Ready to climb in the time machine with me?  Instead of a Delorean, we’ll be taking the pink Corvette…

Let’s start with a night on the town with Ken and Crystal Barbie.  She was my favorite.  I remember removing her from the box.  That dress!  That stole!  And the earrings had crystals in them!

Next, a trio of favorites.  On the left is Twirly Curls Barbie; she belonged to Heather.  Twirly’s poor neck is beyond the help of any chiropractor – her hair is so heavy that her head lost the ability to stay upright years ago.  In the center: Kissing Barbie.  This Barbie has a button on her back that pushes her lips out – she really kisses!  She came with a little tube of “lipstick,” and letters and envelopes to S.W.A.K.  The envelopes quickly ran out, though, and the backs of our hands got the brunt of the kissing.  On the right: Golden Dreams Barbie.  If this outfit doesn’t scream, “Bridging the gap between the 1970’s & 1980’s!” I don’t know what would.

Next, make way for Western Barbie and her horse, Dallas! This beautiful lady also has a button on her back, but instead of kissing, she winks at you, displaying a nice, heavy swath of blue eyeshadow.  Stylish!

Barbie wasn’t always out riding the range.  When she hit the city, she did it in style!  Here she is in her ‘79 Dream Vette.  (Complete with mobile phone and television in the dash.)

So we know Barbie winks, kisses, rides and drives.  Did you know she can also rock out in the most 80’s way?  Yep, in the mid-to-late-80’s Barbie fronted her own band, Barbie and the Rockers.  One year Heather and I saved up ALL of our money to head down to Toys R Us and buy their tour van.  What could be cooler than a purple splatter-painted camper with its own working tape deck?  Absolutely nothing.

Now what Barbie girl worth her salt would have such a fine collection of dolls without the threads to go with them?  Our girls were oh-so-fashionable back in the day.  Take a gander at this 70’s halter dress.  And how about the Sergio Valente denim duds?  Don’t you miss the 80’s?

The very best Barbie clothes, however, were not to be found on the shelves of the toy store.  Pattern makers have always capitalized on our love of fashion dolls, and Mom provided our dolls with the greatest array of fashion choices.  My favorites are the two outfits on the left – how awesome are they?  (The house dress…meh.  However, it brings back so many memories, I can’t not love it.)

And of course, Barbie had to be prepared for her wedding.  Here we have a double ceremony, complete with bridesmaid.

Once I got old enough, I started following in Mom’s footsteps and making my own outfits for the girls.  Most were still held together with straight pins when I found them in storage, but these two are great.  I didn’t even realize until I found them that I’d known this much about crocheting at such a young age!  I forgot it somewhere along the way…

So tomorrow, all these ladies and gents, vehicles and animal, clothes and accessories get passed to the next generation.  I’m excited to have them once again fulfilling their purpose, rather than sitting in boxes in the basement.  Thank you, Barbie, for the endless fun.

As I promised on Twitter last week, I can finally reveal my latest crochet project.  Saturday was the shower for some dear friends, who are due next month with a little girl.  Since I have so few opportunities (that is to say, no opportunities) to dress little girls, I had to go for a garment.

Pattern: Lacy Cardigan by Hilary Mackin, Sue Whiting
from The Big Book of Weekend Crochet
Yarn: Knit Picks Risata
Hook: 3.5mm (E)

I’m very happy with it, although I didn’t find the pattern too easy to read.  I got it done though, and it’s adorable, and that’s the point!  The yarn matches embroidery on the little dress I picked out for her, and it was a dream to work with.  It has some stretch to it, and it created such a nicely-draping fabric.

Today, the baby fun continued when I drove out to meet a good friend from high school and her new baby boy.  She and I had lost touch for a number of years (12!) before we met again at her baby shower this summer.  Talking today, it was like we’d just been hanging out together last week.  Good friends like that don’t come a dime a dozen.

Remember the Sólás Caomh blanket?  That was for Little Baby Thomas:

Babies are so cooperative when they’re napping, aren’t they?  Thomas, like both of my boys, was born prematurely due to preeclampsia.  He is thriving, though, and ate like a little piggy while I was there today.  (And his mommy is doing well now, too.)

He continued napping long enough for us to grab lunch…

…and then woke up to let me capture my favorite photo of the day.  I love the look on Monica’s face.

(How freaking adorable is this baby?!?)  Of course, when Thomas heard about Bench Monday, he got really excited and begged his Mommy to play along.

The hunt for our new sweet home is on!

Dozens looked at online…school districts, pricing, Google street view…narrowing it down…

Several visited…Jason’s favorite has been rented out.  My favorite doesn’t have a washer and dryer (we left ours behind when we sold our house).  One was painted throughout in bright lime greens and pinks (which, yes, we could redo, but why when there are so many other choices?).  Getting a few more out of the way…

We knocked it down to two today…

Jason’s calling the leasing agent about the one we think we want.  Which?  I’ll share later this week!

So, anyway, yeah.  Jason has a job!  I’ve gotten over my initial shock and awe, and it’s time to get down to business.  The big to do list looks something like this:

• Find a place to live
• Find a way to get Aimee, boys, and household goods across country

We’re taking a divide-and-conquer approach.  Jason is handling the former; I am taking the latter.  It makes sense, given our locations, but it is weird not to be there looking at houses with him.  If we were buying, I’d make the investment in airfare to get out there and be part of it, but we’re renting, he knows what I like in a home and what areas I prefer, and I trust him, so that’s one cost I’m happy to avoid.

The move (my half of this deal) is going to involve packing, lists, quotes, organization.  Yep – my cuppa!  I knew there was a reason this thick little spiral notebook called to me from the clearance corner of The Container Store last weekend.

It already has a couple of different lists:

Things To Do in Atlanta Before We Leave: officially withdraw them from the school district, visit my friend and her new baby, replace a letterbox we’d taken out of its hiding place for some first aid, etc.

Prepare For Move: sort toys for Goodwill vs. Seattle, go through every room of the house and gather our items, decide when and how the three of us will get out there, etc.

Things To Do Upon Arrival in Seattle: Get new drivers’ licenses, register the boys for school & schedule IEP meeting, register the cars, change address with USPS, design and send out moving announcements, etc.

So much to do!  And I’m excited about every bit of it.

As if Bench Monday weren’t enough…

…from now on, Monday will hereafter also be known as the day of the week Jason was offered (and accepted) a job, setting the wheels in motion to move the boys and me out to Seattle.

Happy Monday!!!  We’re moving to Seattle!!!

One bright, beautiful Saturday morning (today), a Mom (me) dropped her wonderful boys off for a weekend of fun with their grandparents.  The mom decided to visit some Wondrous Garage Sales and Well-Stocked Thrift Stores on the way home.

Cash in hand, she stopped at the first Garage Sale and fell promptly in love with this beautiful chair and its partner:

The chairs were each marked $2.50, which seemed to be an amazing deal!  After chatting with the Garage Saler for a while, however, said chairs were lowered – to $2.00 each.  How could the mom pass up such a deal?

She couldn’t.

Several garage sales later, the chairs remained her only purchases.  Enter the Well-Stocked Thrift Store, which had this fun chair sitting out front, priced at only $6.00:

A quick chat with the Store Owner quickly resulted in another $1 markdown.

The end.

And that, my friends, is how I ended up at home today, giddy and happily planning the future lives of my three new chairs.  (Betcha didn’t know you could fit three chairs in a Civic, eh?)  Which I picked up for a total of $9.  Total.  $9!!

Just wait until I get these guys to Seattle and find new fabric and paint for them!

The tips and tricks have been flying in the Jessica Sprague class I’m taking!  Over the past week, I’ve been more and more excited by learning the little things I’ve missed out on by self-teaching.

Kalen helped with this one – titling and colors.  (Hint: photo fun, whether with a digital camera or in Photoshop, is a great way to distract a cranky kid!  They love seeing photos of themselves!)

Believe it or not, Jason snapped this shot with his camera phone.  These were my Mother’s Day flowers from him.

Selective coloring – I’ve done this before, many times, but this technique is much easier.  Well, by easier, I mean it allows me to mess up more often, with less frustration.  How could I not love that?

And now, my favorite…

This one just may get printed and framed.  What do you think?  Office?  Guest room?  Living room?  Although we tend to have browns in our living room…I guess I could change the tone.  Thoughts?

Happy Bench Monday!

Jason’s interview went well this morning – keep your fingers crossed for us!  He thought his freshly-polished shoes deserved a spot on today’s bench, and I was more than happy to share.  You should’ve seen the rest of him.  He cleans up nicely.   (Darnit, I should’ve taken a picture…)

This month’s 12 of 12 has a special “guest” – Jason (aka my husband, for those just dropping in for the 12th) is in town!

10:46 am – Checking my RSS before heading downstairs.  Anything look familiar?  The Secular Parent was particularly good yesterday.

11:32 am – Angus is so camera-shy for me, I was determined to get a shot of his face.  (Outtakes are all of the back of his neck or his rear end.)

11:39 am – Dad is going through his Naval records, compiling them so Mom can put them all into a scrapbook.  This is his appointment to Commander.

12:28 pm – Mom and Jason (there he is!) disscussing the fun genealogy finds she made the night before.  Apparently, some of our ancestors were once arrested for picking peas on the Sabbath.  Yikes!

1:44 pm – Jason gearing up for his interview today – positive visualization and all that.

1:45 pm – Did I mention Jason’s in town?  *blush*

2:08 pm – Over at the in-laws’…can you see the fawns lying in the tall grass?

2:17 pm – Like father, like son!  (Both of our boys sit like this all the time, too.)

4:12 pm – Like mother, like son!  I forget how much they look alike until I take a photo like this.

4:36 pm – Kalen taking advantage of Daddy being in town, and the wide open floor space, for some wrestling!

4:37 pm – Nicky joins in the action!

8:51 pm – Jason polishes his dress shoes for the aforementioned interview.

Even with everything else going on – Jason coming to town, Kalen’s birthday, the Jessica Sprague class – I’ve still managed to find some scrapping time.  After all, I’m completely frustrated with the poorly-written pattern I’m using for the baby gift I’m crocheting, and I’m not feeling patient enough to deal with it.

So here we go.  Apparently, we (my mother, my father-in-law, and I) took a LOT of photos in March of 2005.  Still working through them!

As Nicky’s fifth birthday approached, I asked him if he wanted a bicycle.  Standard, five-year-old boy birthday fare, yes?  Oh no, he wanted a desk!  Somewhere he could sit and write notes.  Hey, cool!  An elfa desk it was.  (I was, after all, a happy employee of The Container Store at the time.)  The sketch for that one is this month’s free template from Karah, an awesome designer and all-around really cool gal.

One of Mom’s friends and her husband always hold a huge egg hunt & spring party out on their farm for all of their friends’ kids.  Hay ride, egg hunt in the field, moon bounce – fun!

Continuing the egg hunt theme, here’s my interpretation of this week’s PencilLines sketch:

Today, I participated for the first time in the Sketchy Thursdays scrapalong at Diana’s blog.  The true challenge in this for me was to use busy, bold paper.  It’s not at all what I usually go for, but she specifically said to use the paper we’ve been avoiding!

There we are…a week’s worth of layouts.  I’m whittling down the 2005 photos slowly, but surely.  I could have them all done in about three months, but since I’m counting on us moving sooner rather than later, I’m aiming for the end of the year.  (Credits behind the cut.)

New Desk
Template by Karah Fredricks (BlueFlombingo.com blog)
Papers by Amanda Rockwell for ScrapArtist.com (Crushin’ On My Little Man)
Grids by Amy Wolff (Gratitude)
Paint Border by Karah Fredricks (Fancy-Schmancy Frames 4)
Large alpha by Grazieli Niclass, aka Lili of ScrapArtist.com (Urban Letters)
Small alpha by Birgit Kerr (Little Bits)
Fasteners by Shabby Princess (Happy Go Lucky)
Screws by mgl Scraps (365 International)
Font: Pea Madsen

Egg Hunt on the Farm
Background paper by Amber Clegg (Tranquility)
Frames by Karah Fredricks (Stuck Together: Too Many Pics)
Title work paper by Karah Fredricks (Pink Lady Mini Kit)
Dots by Karah Fredricks (Tide Pool)
Fonts: Aragones (title), Pea Carrie, Pea Chelsea K Script, The Blue Cabin

Neighborhood Egg Hunt
Sketch/template by Gudrun of 3ndyPapir.no for PencilLines blog (#142)
Green background paper by Eva Kipler (Life Is Good Bonus)
Watercolor paper by Eva Kipler (Fresh Fusion Bonus)
Green paper in title (desaturated) by Jady Day Studio (Blooming Friendship)
Flowers by Amber Clegg (Tranquility)
Ribbon cluster, binder clip & light blue paper by Sweet Tomato Designs (Ordinary Moments)
Corner art by Katie Pertiet of DesignerDigitals.com (On the Corners)
Fonts: Pea Righton, Sophie MF, A Yummy Apology, Cream and sugar, Freeze!, Girls Are Weird, Mr. and Mrs. Popsicle

All Tangled Up
Sketch by Diana (Design by Diana blog)
Papers by Karah Fredricks (Fruit Salad PP)
Paper behind journaling by Amy Wolff (Barely There 3)
Corner-rounding brushes by Jessica Sprague
String by Sweet Digi Scraps (Joke’s On You)
Fonts: Do I Like Stripes?, Elise, Pea Crystal

We’re coming to the end of the first week of the Photo Editing course I’m taking at JessicaSprague.com.  (This was the free one I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.)  Verdict?  Oh my wow.

Short review: If you want more photoshop skills, take a class from Jessica.

I’ve been using Photoshop Elements for digital scrapbooking for about three-and-a-half years now, and I think I do okay.  The problem is, I’m self-taught, through trial and error, so I’ve missed a lot along the way.  This class, which is called “Frame-Ups and Special Effects” is backfilling a few things I missed, and introducing me to new ways to use some products I’ve skimmed over in the past.

Some of the things I’ve done for class this week:

This is really simple, just adding some word art and a frame to a photo I took in Wyoming, when Jason and I were driving across country.  However, I’ll admit that putting the elements on the photo hasn’t really occurred to me before.  Lesson 1: Thinking outside the box (or frame, as it were).

This next assignment is the one that had me bouncing in my seat when I completed it yesterday.  This is a photo taken on the same drive across country, in the little town of Collyer, Kansas.  This is the town my grandfather was born in.  His grandparents settled there after the civil war.  Unfortunately, it isn’t a particularly thriving community anymore, but a number of my ancestors are buried in the town cemetery, so when I noticed that we’d be driving right by on our way across Kansas (I mean literally – the freeway is practically adjacent to the cemetary), I begged Jason to stop.  This is the Catholic school house:

Yesterday’s lesson involved applying textures over photographs.  I’ve used textures – on paper.  Again, putting them over photos hadn’t entered my brain.

Such fun!  One of the ladies in the class was doing great things with textures over her wedding photos.  I can’t wait to get going on that one of these days…

Today, Jessica showed us TTV (Through The Viewfinder) textures, which are supposed to give the feel of photographs taken with antique cameras.  In honor of Kalen’s birthday yesterday, I decided to play around with a photo of him when he was teensy.  (He was only a day or two old here.)

The texture is by Steffen Jakob, and I only altered it by using the Dodge Tool a bit over Kalen’s face, to reduce the graininess a bit.

Obviously, I’m having fun with this.  I can’t see making many of my pictures look antique for the scrapping I’ll be doing, but the wheels are beginning to turn as to how I can apply some of these techniques subtly for effect.

Happy Birthday, Kalen!

When Kalen realized that his birthday dinner party was approaching quickly, he began making plans.  “We have to make decorations!  Can I have a banner, Mom?”

A banner?  Sure.  I’ve been wanting to make a pennant banner for a while anyway…and wouldn’t it be neat if it were a permanent one that we could hang up every time one of us had a birthday?

Of course, it had to be made out of materials on hand, but hello, we’re living with my mother!  Being a lifelong artist and craftsperson, she’s always a good great phenomenal resource for this kind of project.

She and I are also a great brainstorming team, and she manages to turn my ideas into great end products.  Some felt, paint, and ribbon (plus a few days of work) later, and voila!

Behold our two-sided Family Birthday Banner, courtesy of Grandma Wanda!

The letters are done in Aunt Bertha, which I think is such a fun font for a celebratory banner.  Thank you, Mommy.

I took my Errand Helper (aka Nicky) along with me to knock out some to-do’s today.  Library, vitamin store, etc.  Most importantly (and most enjoyably, thus saved for last) was a trip to Barnes & Noble and Toys R Us, so he could pick out birthday presents for his brother.  As we left the house, I said to Nicky, “It’s Monday.  Help me look for benches!”

So he did.

He loved that I was being sneaky, taking a photo in the book store…but not enough to climb up on the little bench with me.  He thinks it’s silly, but I guess it’s a good, “Mom” kind of silly.  I’ll take that.

After a week away from my computer, what do you suppose the first thing I did was when we got back to Mom & Dad’s house?

Okay, the first thing was to sit and chat with Mom and the boys for a while.  (Dad’s in Anaheim for the Barbershop Harmony Society Convention – his chorus took 12th place!)

What do you suppose the second thing I did was??

Oh, well…that’s right, the second thing was to carry my luggage upstairs and sort of get a start on unpacking it.

But the third thing – the third thing I did was to boot up Photoshop!  Yep!  Had to get a layout done for last week’s PencilLines sketch before today…

I’m sure most parents forget just how little their kids once were.  (At least, I hope most parents do…if they don’t, I really suck.)  Doing all these layouts from 2005 is really tugging my heart strings.  Kalen’s not even two years old yet in these photos, and Nicky’s less than a week out from his fifth birthday.  I don’t often get sentimental about the boys growing up, but sometimes the realization of how much they’ve grown in such a seemingly short amount of time hits me all of a sudden.  I won’t even begin to think about what the next few years are going to bring!

Credits:

Sketch by Anna Bowkis for PencilLines Blog (#141)
Background paper by Aja Abney (My Wish For You)
Scalloped Circle by Amy Wolff (Gratitude)
Green paper by Faith True (Arbor Day)
Blue paper by Abish Allen (Everyday Moments)
Alpha by Grazieli Niclass, aka Lili of ScrapArtist.com (Urban Letters)
Button and flowers by Bohemian Art (Fresh & Fun)
Swirl border by Karah Fredricks (Fancy-Schmancy Frames 4)
Fonts: Scrap Round, Pea SuperAmy

The boys and I are home after our lovely staycation at our best friends’ house.  They hit the beach, and we spent the week puppy-sitting and making use of their extended satellite TV, cozy reading chairs, and neighborhood pool.  It was a good deal all-around.

Of course, Monday meant that I could take advantage of a new-to-me bench…

Tuesday, the boys each had a swimming lesson with the neighborhood’s swim team coach.  This young woman has such a way with kids!  I hadn’t been able to get Kalen to do anything resembling a stroke before this day, and look at him swimming right to her!

Nicky also made great progress in the pool, and he got the hang of side breathing.  He can now make it all the way across the short width of the pool without putting his feet down.  This kid has come a long, long way in just over a year.  I’m in such awe of him.

I also spent an awful lot of time reading (Lynn Kurland – one of my favorites!), and I got a start on that baby gift I mentioned before.  No details until after the shower, but a little sneak peek can’t hurt, can it?

We really enjoyed our little faux vacay, and it was made even better by the knowledge that Jason will be coming to see us next week.  He flies in Tuesday night to spend a week and celebrate Kalen’s birthday.  We’re all so excited.

Tomorrow, the boys and I are heading out to house- and dog-sit for a week, so I’ll be on a scrapbooking hiatus.  No worries, I have crocheting to do!  There’s a certain baby gift I need to get moving on…

Since I knew I’d be going through Photoshop withdrawal next week, I knocked out a couple of pages today.  First was today’s challenge at JessicaSprague.com – to scrap a screenshot.  I adored Jessica’s sample, with a Google Map of her house, so I ripped it right off.

We bought our first house in 1999, so all of the photos are in printed snapshot form.  Of course, this means they’re also packed away.  Once we get to Seattle (and I find them, and I find time to scan them in), I’ll finish this layout right up.

The second layout, since it’s Friday, was for a DigiDare.  This week’s Dare is to scrap a chaotic situation.  With two young boys, it just fell to me to choose which situation.  (You know I have a few to choose from.)  How about a two-year-old eating?  That should fit the bill.

The tricky part of this one was to scrap it in a chaotic style without losing focus on the photographs.  I’m pretty happy with it.  (And, BTW, how freaking cute is that spaghetti-covered boy?)

Our First Home
Scraplifted from Jessica Sprague’s “Hello Home” at JessicaSprague.com
Map from Google Maps
Green paper by Tamra Burwick (The DigiChicks CT Thank You – Creative Sparks)
Ribbon by Danielle Engebretson (Vintage Winter FF Add-On)
Glitter swirl (on flower) by Bohemian Art (Fresh and Fun)
Swirl on title art by Birgit Kerr (Swirl It Up)
Remaining items from Sherry Ferguson’s  Zippity Doo Dah kit
Fonts: Bauhaus 93, DJB Rebecca Script by Darcy Baldwin

MessMaker
For DigiDare #139Circle paper by Sarah Jones & Frame by Karen Lewis (both from TheDigiChick CT Appreciation Kit – Creative Sparks)
Blue paper by Chris Geiser (Here Comes the Sun)
Darker kraft paper by Lyndsay Riches (Recycled – An Earth Day Kit)
Light kraft paper by Faith True (Arbor Day Kit)
Stitched border by Jady Day Studio (Blooming Friendship)
Messy Stitching & green-bordered tag by Wimpychompers (Cool Cats)
Tags & screws by Flergs (SYTYCD Week 1)
Paint splatters by Flergs (Rough & Tumble Add-On) and by Wimpychompers (Cool Cats)
Alpha by Grazieli Niclass, aka Lili of ScrapArtist.com (Urban Letters)
Fonts: Pea Soniablu, Cry Kitty, Canker Sore

(And it makes a great background color!)

First things first.  What did I find in my inbox yesterday morning, but a request to use this layout of the boys with my dad on the Creating Keepsakes blog!  Of course, I gave my ecstatic permission, so here it is.  I even get a prize – how nifty is that?

Now, over at JessicaSprague.com, it’s birthday week!  A freebie every day, a free photoshop class in July (you have to sign up this week!), and challenges every day.  Well, you know how I love challenges to get the creative juices flowing, right?

Yesterday, we were to use one of the suggested movie posters as inspiration for a layout.  I was so inspired by the poster for A Mighty Heart that I pretty much lifted it straight off the page to scrap the pictures from the first Preeclampsia Foundation Walk-A-Thon I hosted.

I love this format for displaying lots of photos.  Today’s challenge was to do a layout completely in neutrals, with just one added color.  I decided to use this picture of Kalen to document the boy’s freaking hilarious giggles.

(Credits, as usual, behind the cut)

A Mighty Effort
LO inspired by “A Mighty Heart” movie poster for challenge at JessicaSprague.com
Black paper by Bohemian Art (Fresh & Fun)
Alpha by Grazieli Niclass, aka Lili of ScrapArtist.com (Urban Letters)
Swirl by Birgit Kerr (Swirl It Up)
Font: Century Gothic

Contagious Giggles
Background paper by Karah Fredricks at BlueFlombingo.com (A Fresh Start Mini Kit)
Grid by Amy Wolff (Gratitude)
Frame by LivEdesigns for JessicaSprague.com (EZPZ – PhotoFrame)
Paper Swirl by Chris Greiser (Here Comes the Sun)
Alpha by Lyndsay Riches (Recycled – An Earth Day Kit)
Fonts: Century Gothic, DJB Meta2 by Darcy Baldwin, Digs My Hart

As I approached my 30th birthday a few years back, I began to get really excited.  It wasn’t just for the party…

…but more for the number itself.  I was so excited to leave my 20’s behind!  Most of my friends dreaded passing into a new decade, but not I.

It’s not that my twenties were bad.  On the contrary, I had a wonderful time in college, met the man of my dreams, had a great marriage and two healthy children.  What I would not miss about those years, however, was the attitude from some people who had long ago left that age behind.  I cannot tell you the number of times I heard a variation of the phrase, “Oh, well, you’ll understand when you’re older.”  By the time I’d reached 28, I was well sick of it.  I suppose the fact that I look younger than my age doesn’t help, but I was convinced that I would stop receiving those patronizing comments once I was in my thirties.

And I did.  Who knows why – perhaps it was my own attitude that staved them off.  Regardless, I find myself happily ensconced in the middle of a decade that sees me neither a young, inexperienced girl, nor yet middle-aged.  I am looking forward to my forties just as happily (although not at all wishing the intervening years away), because I see that there is nothing as ineffectual in life as wishing you were in the past, or younger than you are.  I cannot wait to see what the years ahead bring.

“My Big 3-0″ Layout Credits ~

From the DST Birthday Glitz Kit:
Background paper by Michaela Ferkul
Journaling strips by Baers Garten Designs
Flower by “tlee” (cannot find TOU for this designer in the kit – if you know who it is, please PM me!)
Ribbon by Pamela Gibson
Green paper (on title) by Laura Burger
Green glitter swirl by Birgit Kerr
Balloon by Gina Marie Arzaga
Staple by Kim Hill

Tag alpha (recolored) by Wild Dandelions (525600 Minutes)
Cards by Wimpychompers (Cool Cats)
Flower jewels by Cinzia Loosemore (Beauty Add-on Freebie)
Fonts: SnapITC (title alpha), Times New Omen, Pea Sue’s Print

When Nicky professed an interest in science last month, my mom had a great idea.  She combed the internet for at-home, kid-friendly science experiments and compiled them in a binder.  Last week, we experimented with various salts and sodas as mummification agents.  (On apples.  We draw the line at mummifying anything from the animal kingdom.)

Today, the boys chose to make ice cream in plastic bags.  Fun, right?

And it was fun…for the first two minutes, which is about how long it took to put the ingredients in the bags and zip them up.  Then the shaking began.

(We wrapped the bags in dishtowels to protect the boys’ hands from the ice.)  Unfortunately, to make ice cream takes a solid 10-15 minutes of vigorous shaking.  They didn’t last 30 seconds before they lost their smiles.

About 12 minutes later (12 loooooooong minutes later!), we didn’t have ice cream, but we did have milkshakes!  Both boys declared this success enough.  After all, ice cream drunk through a straw still tastes like ice cream!

Ah-ha!  The smiles have returned!

And, since this was a science experiment, of course we all learned a few things.

The boys learned why salt makes ice melt and why that energy cools the ingredients to make ice cream.  They were reminded that NaCl is the chemical symbol for table salt.

I learned not to try this experiment again until I know they’re old enough to handle shaking a plastic bag for ten minutes without extended whining and moaning.  In fact, I’m sorely tempted to invest in an ice cream ball.  I also learned to check my stock of half-and-half before doing this again, so I have enough to make some for myself!

…and I haven’t left the house.  I think I’ve successfully documented all the deck’s built in benches now.

Happy Bench Monday!

It’s so much fun to be going through these pictures from 2005 – so many of them are of the kids playing down on the floor.  They don’t spend quite as much time down there these days, although the Legos and trains are still a pretty good floor draw.

My parents have always kept the boys for overnights on a pretty regular basis.  I love that our kids have such involved grandparents (on both sides!).

The quote reads: The simplest toy, one which even the youngest child can operate, is called a grandparent. ~ Sam Levenson I love that!

One of the most brilliant toy inventions ever is the laundry basket.  Oh, you may think it’s meant for the hauling of clothing to and from the laundry room, but no!  It is, in fact, the ultimate automobile (or train, or covered wagon, or what-have-you).  Laundry assistant is a secondary pursuit for the sturdy laundry basket.

Don’t you love how Nicky is unabashedly sitting right on his baby brother?  Kalen looks like he can’t decide whether to sit back and enjoy the ride, or bring the uncomfortable seating arrangements to my attention.

(Credits behind the cut)
Best Weekend —
Based on sketch by Becky Higgins (Creating Keepsakes, April 2009, #22)
Paper and elements by Lisa Whitney (A Beautiful Mess)
Fonts: Baby Bowser, Times New Omen, Pea Bethany

Going Somewhere? —
Background paper & cross stitching by Amy Wolff (5255 Collab Kit)
Brown stitching by Amber Clegg (Tranquility)
Red paint, road sign, & brad by Wimpychompers (Cool Cats)
Yellow glitter by Kari Q Designs (Today and Everyday)
Paper alpha by Birgit Kerr (Noteworthy)
Red alpha by Madame Wing (Eight Days a Week)
Frame by Scrapkitten Designs (Everyday Delights)
Date stamp by Darcy Baldwin (Save the Date)
Metal tag & ring by Jessica Bolton (Glenda)
Fonts: Engravers MT (on tag), Pea Righton, Bosshole

I set to work on the latest Digi Dare yesterday afternoon (main components of the challenge – one word title and one photo containing only one subject).  Looking through my 2005 photos, I found this one of Nicky with his listening equipment.  His occupational therapist at the time, Ms. Yolanda, had determined that he was a prime candidate for a program called Therapeutic Listening to help with his Sensory Processing Disorder.  Nicky continued with TL for many months.  I don’t know how much it helped, and how much was the other forms of therapy or simple maturity, but he did show improvement over that year.

(Credits behind the cut)

Today I finished up another baby blanket.  This one’s bound for the NICU, to warm some little baby while he or she is having feedings.  I needed something mindless to work on while the boys and I watched the original Star Wars trilogy last week, and j. had sent me a great skein of bright orange yarn, so this was born.  I’m halfway in love with it, just for the colors.  I’m so tired of pastel baby clothes and blankets, I swear I’ll never make anything pastel for a baby again!

For DigiDare #137
Background paper by Amy Wolff (Barely There 3)
Grid stamp by Amy Wolff (Gratitude)
Frame and butterfly by Lori Musser of Page Frocks (Paper Dreams)
Green-painted cardboard by Christine Smith (Nothing Girly)
Scrolled rub-on by Amber Clegg (Tranquility)
Photo wrap and charm by Amanda Rockwell for ScrapArtist (Crushin’ On My Little Man)
Paint scratches (recolored) by Wimpychompers (Cool Cats)
Glitter (recolored) Kari Q Designs (Today & Everyday)
Main alpha by Madame Wing (Eight Days a Week)
Tag alpha by Shabby Princess (Happy Go Lucky)
Notebook paper by Birgit Kerr (Easy Living)
Tear by Carina Gardner (Siri kit)
Button by Jady Day Studio (Blooming Friendship)
Font: DJB Meta2 by Darcy Baldwin

My apologies in advance for what was a really boring day, apparently!  I enjoyed it, though.

1:54 pm – Oh cripes! While I’m opening the blinds in the boys’ room, Indy reminds me that today is the 12th.  Better get the camera out.

2:35 pm – Here’s what I was working on all morning…a pentagonal baby blanket.

2:35 pm – Here’s what the boys are working on.  Apparently, Artoo has a new gig, and Anakin’s lost his head over something or other.

2:38 pm – Giving a drink to the azalea Dad transplanted last weekend.

4:35 pm – To the grocery store.  Whee.

5:01 pm – Coming home, noticed Mom’s new roses are looking quite nice.

7:30 pm – Boba Fett?  Boba Fett??

8:12 pm – Making applesauce while the sounds of the Endor battle rage in the background.

8:55 pm – Returned to the living room to find a battle victim.  (Incidentally, the second night in a row he’s fallen asleep during a Star Wars movie.  He was ticked when he woke up this morning and realized; can’t wait to see what he’s like tomorrow morning.)

9:46 pm – Laundry to fold.  Like I said, not the most exciting of days.

10:07 pm – Reading during thunderstorms is nearly impossible when you live with a scaredy-cat of a dog!

10:58 pm – Reading is put aside completely when extra-loud crashes of thunder wake up a sleeping kiddo.

Happy 12th, everyone!

With my parents out of town for the week, it was just the boys and me for dinner.  I got a sudden craving for homemade pizza this morning.  The only problem is that I’ve never found an easy pizza crust recipe I love.  It always turns out dry and crumbly.  I’d rather stay away from complicated (or complicated-to-me) recipes, but I may have to bite the bullet one of these days and actually try one that uses yeast.  We had Bisquick on hand, so I did a quick search and went with this recipe.

(Yep, the crust was dry and crumbly again…maybe if I brush it with egg white before baking?)

I always mean to try those great “fooled you!” recipes on the kids – you know, whirring up the veggies in the blender and hiding them in foods they love – but I never follow through.  I’m quite lazy when it comes down to it.  We’ve recently discovered, however, that Kalen actually likes fresh spinach.  I prefer spinach as a salad green (don’t really like lettuce), and Nicky likes green salad of any kind.  A-ha!  Spinach pizza!

I made the sauce in the above link, with the additions of rosemary, oregano, and thyme, because it was so much cheaper to buy the generic crushed tomatoes, rather than the brand-name “Italian Style” can.  Someday, I’m going to grow my own tomatoes and can Italian Style Crushed Tomatoes of my own for making tomato sauce.  Heck, maybe I’ll just make the sauce and can that!

On top of the spinach leaves, we sprinkled oregano and garlic powder.  Then came the cheese, a little black pepper, and the pepperoni slices.  Yum!

Unfortunately, while the cheese was perfect, the edge of the crust was over-done (crumbly!), and the inside of it doughy.  Mom’s pizza stone broke a few years ago.  Once I’m back in my own kitchen, I’ll take the advice at the above link and heat my pizza stone in the oven beforehand.

Fortunately, the boys were thrilled with it!  They handled the crumbling crust with grace and enjoyed every bite, even with the dreaded veggie layer.  Nicky suggested that perhaps we should leave the spinach off next time, just to see how it is, and I suggested he get used to the spinach, since he likes having pizza without a veggie side dish!  (Mean ol’ Mom!)

Kalen (my picky eater) said, “You were right, Mom!  I didn’t even taste the spinach at ALL!”

Once a week this summer break, for as long as we’re still in Atlanta, the boys and I are heading over to our dearest friends’ house and taking full advantage of their neighborhood pool.  The advantages to this plan are many:

1. Good times with good friends
2. Building on the boys’ few swimming skills
3. Sanity time for Mommy
4. Something to look forward to at the beginning of the week
5. New victims for Bench Monday shots

Happy Bench Monday!! Notice there wasn’t enough room on the bench for the Mommy feet.  My cellulite and I aren’t that disappointed.