Searching...

I'm looking for a poster sized print of Rene Magritte's "The Tempest." If anyone knows where I can buy one or even if they exist, please let me know.

stuff

Totally overslept today, so I'm not going to be making it to church. We'll probably watch one of the local ones on TV instead. Matt had to work, so he's gone already. Hoping to get off a little bit early tonight though.

Yesterday I spent about 3 1/2 hours straight doing dishes. Can you tell I've been sick? Thankfully, Matt had them all rinsed and stacked in the sink and all along the counter or it would have taken the whole day. I also washed and dried 4 or 5 loads of laundry. And there are still a couple more loads waiting to go in today.

This is one I got quite a while ago via email, so I'm finally responding...

1. What is your occupation? Full-time wife, mother; part time scrapbooking consultant
2. What color are your socks right now? barefoot, as usual
3. What are you listening to right now? Autumn babbling as she reads books to herself
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Kroger brand chex cereal
5. Can you drive a stick shift? No
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? today, dark red or pink
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? ummm...prolly Matt on his way home from work last night
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? yup
9. How old are you today? 26
10. Favorite drink? with alcohol: wine or margaritas, without: water with lemon
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Ummmm...not really into sports. Probably baseball or soccer
12.Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes
13.Pets? One insane dog and six fish
14.Favorite food? right now, anything I can't have like chocolate and pizza :-)
15.What was the last movie you watched? The Departed--did not like it.
16.Favorite day of the year? Thanksgiving probably
17. What do you do to vent anger? Give the silent treatment to the person I'm mad at and clean the kitchen very loudly slamming pots and pans and doors and anything else that gets in the way.
18.What was your favorite toy as a child? probably my strawberry shortcake bike
19.What is your favorite fall or spring? both
20.Hugs or kisses? Both
21.Cherries or Blueberries? Blueberries
22.Do you want your friends to email you back? well, since I'm replying via blog, I guess that wouldn't make much sense
23.Who is most likely to respond? no one. see above.
24.Who is least likely to respond?
25.Living arrangements? little house--just the right size for us
26.When was the last time you cried? day before yesterday
27.What is on the floor of your closet? shoes
28.Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? NA
29.What did you do last night? Made dinner, put a fake kit together for Pub Calls
30.Favorite smells? Fresh baked bread or Autumn's hair after a bath
31.What inspires you? A clean house, creativity, and my family
32.What are you afraid of? illness
33.Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheeseburgers (hah! when was the last time I had one of those?)
34.Favorite dog breed? Goldens, though ours is trying to make me hate them
35. Number of keys on your key ring? I think 6?
36.How many years at your current job(s)? NA
37.Favorite day of the week? They all run together right now. Traditionally, Sunday.
38. How many states have you lived in? 5, one twice: Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Indiana, Virginia, Georgia
40.Ever driven a motorcycle or heavy machinery? No

for all of you sitting in winter storms right now...

...I couldn't resist :-P

when we're not reading

we are drawing. on anything that holds still long enough.

this is autumn just out of the bath, wearing funny clothes and actually writing on paper for once.

check out the tongue action. hmmmmm...does she take after her aunt or is it just my imagination?

I SOOO don't like this one:

My Fortune Cookie told me: You have forgotten something very, very important. Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

Tagged

are you…

1. a cuddler? most of the time
2. a morning person? no
3. are you a perfectionist? at some things
4. talented? maybe
5. in your pajamas? yes
6. left handed? No.

last:

1. friend you saw: does Matt count?
2. phoned: my mom
3. sent text: to Matt
4. received text: work pix from Matt
5. message over myspace: don’t use it
6. instant message: too long ago to remember

last night:

1. wore: khakis and a striped shirt and matt's jacket
2. last night was: sleepy
3. got any plans: sleep

favorite:

1. number:8
2. colour: reds at the moment
3. season: Spring

currenty:

1. missing: friends
2. needing: a few more hours of sleep and a coffee
3. wanting: to not feel sick anymore

q’s and a’s

q: first thing you did this morning: forced myself out of bed and checked email
q: last thing you ate: salad and a little reduced fat ice cream
q: do you have anything bothering you? being sick, Autumn being sick, Matt being sick
q: what’s the last movie you saw?: Running with Scissors. Hated it.
q: where is the last place you went? Out for dinner last night
q: do you wish upon stars? no
q: are you a friendly person?: depends
q: where did you sleep last night?: In bed
q: what color shirt are you wearing? still in my pjs--light blue
q: when was the last time you really cried? Sometime over this last couple weeks of being sick
q: what was your last thought before you went to sleep last night? Sl-e-e-e-e-p-p-p-
q: what are you about to do? get dressed, take some meds, and get Autumn up
q: if you could drink anything right this second, what would it be? A sugar-free caramel latte from the local coffee shop
q: what’s your job position called? mom
q: what’s your favorite month(s)? Down here, March.
q: what was your elementary school’s mascot? didn't have one
q: what’s your favourite bottled water? dasani
q: what were you doing at 9pm last night? washing dishes
q: did you attend your high school prom? didn't have one
q: did you go to someone else’s prom? nope
q: do you prefer coffee or tea? coffee!!
q: something red within 5 feet? autumn's little people barn
q: how much french do you know? nada
q: ever crash a car, been in an accident? Yup to both
q: do you look good in yellow? ICK!!
q: do you sing? when I'm rocking Autumn
q: ever sing in public? only in church and only quietly there
q: least favorite color? orange
q: how many driving tickets have you had? none.
q: do you own your own house? nope
q: at what age did you/do you want to get married? got married at 23
q: have you ever been married? Yes
q: how many kids do you have/want? have 1
q: do you like anyone right now? My family

literacy

It's not that she doesn't like dolls, or stuffed animals, or blocks, or any of her other toys. But she goes through phases with them. For a few days it will be her toy duck that is the favorite, or maybe her cabbage patch kid.

But the one unfailing favorite is BOOKS. Autumn "reads" all the time. She loves being read to, but she also reads to herself. Gathering a pile of books she'll climb up in a chair and sit there, paging through them and reading out loud in a language of absolute gibberish. All day long. And it never, ever fails...as soon as I clean up all the books scattered over the living room, they're right back on the floor again.

ugh

I was up all night with an earache, upset stomach, and too much congestion to breathe unless I was sitting up.

I closed all the doors to the bedrooms and bath and gave Autumn some snacks, some juice and a bunch of toys and spent most of the day on the couch. This is one of the few times I actually wish we had cable tv instead of only cable internet.

And Matt came home from work sick, too.

Autumn is still sick--runny nose, coughing, moody, etc. but she's certainly got her energy back. Far too much for us to keep up with her. The house is just falling apart around us as she goes through the kitchen cupboards, the laundry hamper, the shoes in the bottom of the closet, and the trashcan and pulls everything out and all over the house. But I'm too tired to do anything about it.

Oh, and if you're trying to call (Ceil ;-)), please don't be upset when I don't answer. It hurts to try to talk and I don't have a voice right now anyway.

Still sick

Both of us. Really nasty colds and viral pink eye. Lovely. So we're stuck in the house. I haven't left the house since Friday morning when I took Autumn to the doctor and I hadn't been anywhere in the couple days before that because she was sick. Stir crazy? Yeah, you could say that.

I've been too out of it to really do anything around the house either. Mostly just trying to sleep a lot. I've gotten a little bit of scrapping done (other blog). But that's about it.

Had to keep Autumn in bed with us last night so that I could keep her head elevated. She was coughing and gagging so much I didn't know what else to do. The humidifier in her room doesn't seem to be helping all that much. Neither does the prescription she's on. The only place she's happy is in the bathtub.

Here's a very sad picture. She looks terrible and her nose is all swollen and red, but she's happy cause she has her raisins and juice.


Oh, and totally totally random...I was looking for someone's email address and came across this website today. http://www.guysnamedkim.com/GNK/gnknews.html Told you it was random.

Sick again

seriously, i wonder if she's EVER going to be not sick. every time she's finally getting over a bug, she comes down with another one. poor thing. congested and can't sleep because whenever she lies down she coughs till she throws up. she's had cough suppressants and has a vaporizer running in her room and i've cuddled her and tried to let her sleep with me, but she's just so miserable. only place she's feeling okay is in the shower. so i let her take one for about 45 minutes this morning. but eventually the hot water runs out and i can't leave her in there all day.

Slamming head against wall repeatedly...

...or at least it feels like it. I've spent 8 or 10 hours over the last two days attempting to upload and/or print photos and NOTHING WORKS!!!! ARGH! First the computer wasn't cooperating. Matt fixed that problem, but now the websites I'm attempting to use keep bumping me off before they've finished loading. ARGHHHHHH!!!!!

So for now, I admit defeat. I may just have to save them to CDs and mail them to people. (If the CD drive decides to cooperate. We're running a laptop on restore disks for a desktop and there's no telling what things will decide to work and what doesn't. )

cuteness

I've seen a couple different people with these purses lately. One of many things I wish I could make. They're just so cute...though this pic isn't the greatest, cause you can't see the peach. :)

here's the link http://shop.littlearth.com/

Book Suggestions?

any good ideas for read aloud books? i want to pick out a couple to do this year, as we're cutting down on tv, etc.

Pics update

for those here over MLK day...I promise I will send pics out to you soon. We have the laptop back (sort of), but I've been running around like mad trying to get ready for the class I taught this weekend and haven't had a chance to work on uploading them. I'll send out a link as soon as I get a chance.

Pure Joy

just fyi

I'm posting pretty much daily over at my scrapping blog, but still haven't been able to get pictures up here, so it's pretty dead.

If you're not into scrapping though, you'll be bored stiff at my other blog. Just warning you! :)

Family Photo Shoot

This morning. Here a few shots...

p.s.

still no laptop, so still no photos

Memory Works

Just a quick plug for Memory Works. If anyone local wants me to do a party, just let me know. And if anyone far away wants to hold a catalog party, that would be great too. :)

Congrats!

To D and R on the birth of a healthy baby boy. William Israel. 7lbs, 5oz, 20in.

Life equals...

...biscotti.

At the moment anyway. Lots and lots and lots of biscotti. 16 recipes of it, to be exact.

Yes...

...i'm a bad blogger. sorry. no time plus no laptop equals no blogging. or at least very little. i've posted a couple times on the scrapping one, but even that is minimal. i promise more when we get the computer back.

autumn's latest favorite things to do:

• climbing in the empty cupboard next to the fridge (very small, but very deep) until only her feet are showing. then, while she's laying there in the dark she sings to herself.
• pulling out all of my rubber stamps and "organizing" them all over the office--putting them in rows all with the same side facing out, stacking them, whatever.
• pulling ALL the toys from the toybox and throwing them around the room. as a result, the toybox temporarily has a big bungie cord wrapped all around it, sealing it shut.
• getting hurt--we're going through a very accident prone period I guess. toes closed in doors, falling off of everything, walking into the bookshelf, slipping and banging her head on the floor, climbing into places and getting stuck, poor girl is covered in scratches, bruises, and bumps.
• playing with clothes--she's developed radar for finding clothes everywhere and pulling stuff over her head. sometimes i'll find her with three extra layers on.

Ikea and other things...

It was an Ikea day today. We have been planning on going for about a year. And finally, we went. We were really looking for some organizational stuff and for an armoire type thing for our TV. We were not successful looking for the latter, but we did get some organizational stuff, some magnetic boards (I've been wanting some for ages), an area rug (WAY on sale!), shelving and a table top for Matt's office, some Christmas presents for Autumn, and some pretty ornaments.

I also finished a big project today that's been in the works for the last couple of months. (Definitely the biggest scrapping project I've ever completed.) Hopefully it will be a hit. Should know soon. :-)

Our house is stuck somewhere in the middle between fall and Christmas decor. Since we're not doing Thanksgiving here it's kind of confused.

Teeth

Autumn's molars are really bothering her. She's been running a mild temp the last couple days and wants to be cuddled lots. One molar is through in the back. And it's sharp--when I tried to feel it, she chomped down on my finger and left a mark. The rest of her gums are all swollen and angry looking. Poor girl. :-(

Update on Autumn

• She's a big girl! At her last Dr.'s appointment she came in in the 95th percentile in height and just above the 50th percentile in weight. She's not a very big eater. It's kind of funny though, 'cause it looks like we might have a tall one on our hands. Guess she must have gotten my family's genes there. ;-)
• She talks NON-STOP. Most of the time it's still just babbling, but it never stops. She talks to all of her toys in this funny high-pitched voice that she uses just for them. (Sometimes when I put her down for a nap, I'll hear her in there talking and playing happily for HOURS.) She "reads" all of her books in another funny voice that is reserved just for books. And then she talks to us...a lot! It's gotten to the point where she's learning a new word at least every day. Yesterday was "shoes"--she loves the "zzzz" sound at the end of the word, so it's more like "shooozzzzzzzzz"hen she says it, but it's still very easy to understand. (She loves playing with them, so it's really not surprising that she figured out how to say it.) She says "outside" now, and she's also attempted repeating "I love you," but she can't quite manage getting all the sounds in the right places. If Matt or I make any sound at her, she tries to repeat it--it can be very amusing.
• She still sucks her thumb and rubs her belly button or her ear (depending on which thumb she is sucking) a lot of the time, especially when sleepy. We can no longer put her in onsies and actually fasten the snaps on the bottom, because she has to be able to pull up her shirt to get to her belly button or she gets really mad.
• She is incredibly destructive--nothing is safe! And the house can't be kept neat unless she's out of it. Lately she just wants to get out everything and spread it around, so there isn't any floor showing through the mess. Maybe it's her way of getting back at me for removing all the carpet and making the floors slippery.
• She loves music. And she's figured out how to turn on the TV and the DVD/CD stereo. She'll get the music going and just bop all over the living room. (We need to get an entertainment center to get everything out of her reach. )
• She loves her daddy! One of her favorite times of the day is when Matt gets home from work. She greets him at the door with squeals of delight and just can't wait till he changes and plays with her. She loves to "wrestle" on the floor--which means basically that she throws herself at him in WWE-style bodyslams over and over again.

Sitting here with my english muffin and a cup of hot chocolate that replaced my coffee this morning (it's that kind of day). Overwhelmed with how many things there are to do today. But they're mostly nice things. Like planning when to have a Memory Works open house. How I'm going to decorate for Christmas. Pondering either block painting some canvases or creating a series of collages to go along the top part of the side wall in the living room (I've never done either before). Contemplating teaching a mini-class at my cropping group next month. Lots and lots of scrapbooking to finish. Christmas presents to make. Thanksgiving presents to make (my family). Figuring out what to use my Michael's 50% off coupon on (I think I want a Cropadile). Thinking about applying for two new design teams in the works. Need to make a list of things to take to NC for Thanksgiving. Need to figure out when and where to take photos for our Christmas cards (which I am, once again, not making this year). Oh, and trying to figure out how I look as a redhed.

Well, not really. Just got the red highlights back in again after a year. Except there are more of them. And they're redder. But I LOVE my haircut. :)

Yesterday: got caught up on kitchen chores, got my hair done, got presents for the two people we have in our Thanksgiving name exchange, bought Jenn's bday gift, ran errands, got two more projects upoaded to sassacraft, bought a (cheap, temporary) rug for the dining room, planted all the rest of the iris and elephant ears, and went out for lunch.

I'd better go since Autumn will be up soon and I need to get at least one thing done first, so the morning won't be a total wash. Oh, I don't know if I mentioned it here, but I've got an Etsy shop now. Though there's not much in it at the moment. I will be listing some gift card holders sometime soon. If I get some decent pictures ever.

See Matt's blog for our opinions on the election. He words it a little stronger than I would, but yeah, we're pretty much in agreement over the whole thing.

Anyway, I'm up again (as I have been all week) at a ridiculously early hour 5:00 ICK! I think I'm going to try to get a little more sleep in a couple minutes, but wanted to give a quick update.

The living and dining rooms are completely painted! YAY! This has only taken me about forever, but I'm very pleased with the results. And all the carpet from the rooms is up and out of the house. Thankfully. It was nasty! And the floors really really make the house look better. (Except for one spot, but I can live with that.)

Thinking about Christmas stuff already. I can't wait to start decorating. We're planning on going with an actual theme this year and using all retro-looking red and silver stuff. Should be fun. I just bought two pounds of glitter. In case you don't know, two pounds of glitter is a whole stinkin' lot! Going to use it to make ornaments, etc.

Trying to get myself organized and figure out how to start selling Memory Works products. I'm very excited about them, but mostly just because I want to use them myself. ;-) They really have nice stuff. You can check out my other blog for all the stuff I just bought. The BG Fruitcake line is great! I want to do an open house and I would like to do it before Christmas, but I just don't know when we'll fit it in. Hmmmmm.....

Autumn's talking more and more all the time now. She uses a few phrases and quite a few words. Of course, most of the phrases are only recognizable if you're spending a LOT of time with her. The two new words yesterday were "bath" and "outside". Clear as a bell. And then she wanted to say bath over and over as I was putting her in the bath and outside while she pointed out the window.

She loves making us happy. She's also really getting into "helping" with things. She loves to put the wet clothes in the dryer as I hand them to her and then to close the door. Last night she had to clean up the floor where she spilled some milk (on purpose) and then proceeded to wander all around the room wiping up invisible "spills" from the floor. And she's always walking up to me and giving me things that she knows she shouldn't have so that I can put them away. Things like coins or my stamps or things like that.

Oh, and she loves Reagan's kennel. When we're out in the breezeway for any reason, she follows us out and then climbs in the kennel and drags all her toys in there. So when I let Reagan in at night, I always have to take out a bunch of toys before she can get in.

Okay, time to try to go back to sleep.

A Little Republican

Life...

...is keeping me from blogging much right now. Autumn has the chicken pox and is absolutely miserable, so she's pretty much taking up all my time. Also, the laptop isn't really working, so I'm stuck with the old SLOW desktop. All that to say, don't expect much in the way of posts for a while.

one girl demolition team

This is an all too common scene in our house. Whether it's the books from the shelves, the laundry from the basket, the toys from the box, the trash from the wastebasket, the toys from the bathtub. You name it.

If there is a quiet moment in the house you can bet there's a little girl making a big mess. And feeling oh so proud of herself. Check out that grin. :-)

Silly Girl

Today:

-I'm putting together a big crate for Reagan and the moment I get it finished Autumn walks into it and begins to open and shut the door. She thought it was a great Autumn house.

-She's sitting on the couch flipping through my Martha magazine. And I glance over. She has stopped flipping the pages and she is now licking the page and saying "mmmmm." It's a full page picture of cookies.

-She took the top tray off of her high chair and carried it around the house. Occasionally stopping to put it down and sit on it.

-She's taken to dropping things into the bathtub. Today I found two printouts of scrapbooking stuff and the TV remote. Thankfully the bathtub was otherwise empty.

Random Review #2

Sugar Free Raspberry syrup. For a while we were getting sugar free raspberry italian sodas from the coffee shop as an occasional treat. then while i was in ohio i picked up some of the syrup and now we make them at home with club soda. very good. and 0 calories.

More Ohio Pics

Ohio Pics

Somehow I didn't get a whole lot of decent pictures from the trip...but here are a few (though still not very good). Love the one with the funny face on the stairs though. ;-)

Random Reviews #1

Genisoy Soy Crisps. Very good. A lot like eating those flavored mini ricecakes except they actually have protein so they stick with you. Favorites so far are the ranch and Matt likes the apple cinnamon. Autumn LOVES all of them. And this week on sale at Kroger for $1.50 a bag. Try them.

Ohio

Had a great time in Ohio. Expecting chicken pox to hit our house in 1-3 weeks though. Will be posting some pics at some point soon.

The Hit Gift

More Birthday Pictures