Mud Baby

and believe it or not, i did actually get that outfit clean...after about 4 times through the washer.

sneak peek

don't have time to upload them now, but here's a sneak peek of yesterday's photos...

enough already

first week of spring, right?

80s?

yup. 80s today. 85 tomorrow, 87 on Sunday.

enough already!

my little brother (one of them)

these pictures really didn't turn out well, because it was incredibly dark, but here's Tristan right after Rigoletto ended. he played Marullo. it was really good and i was really proud of him. and the costumes were incredible. :-)

Kicking!

Playing with Daddy

yup, this is in our yard

amazing how early these bloom here. :-)

Grandma's Shoes

at the park (again)

Seems I've hardly been home at all lately. And in a few minutes we're heading out again--this time to South Carolina. Then home again tomorrow, and Monday back up to Atlanta. :-)

Almost a week in Ohio in April and probably more than a week in Indiana in May. I think Matt and I have decided NO MORE TRAVEL in June and July. No idea if we'll actually be able to stick to that, but it's the plan. Need to spend some time at home for a bit and get some things done around here. Then beach week in August.

I've got to schedule in some more classes and I have to find a bigger place to hold them, as well.

Oh, and I'm going on a 4-day retreat in April too. AHHHHHH!!!!!

I'm not really complaining, because all the travel has been good and stuff we wanted to do, just feel like home is falling apart. kwim?

and in other news...

...I'm being published! One of the major scrapping magazines has requested one of my layouts and a set of cards. I've been so excited I've been just bouncing off the walls. :-) Very cool because one of my major goals this year was to get something published somewhere. Never thought it would be one of the big ones though--or that they would want to do both a layout and a set of cards.

Not only that, but it's one of the few magazines that actually pays for work instead of reimbursing with product. So I think I'm going to use it to buy paint for another room in the house, since it's totally unbudgeted money.

No idea which month it will be published or anything like that, but I'll keep you posted.

Sleeping Photo Shoot

At the hotel. Loved the way all the white looked with this cute little outfit from beth. Autumn's cheeks were extremely chapped. Pink, pink, pink.

Last Weekend

Sadly (and completely unlike me), I didn't take many pictures at all over the last weekend. But I do have a few. We had a great time up in NoVA. I'll post more later (we have company)...but here are a few pics...

Snow for the first time...

Autumn and Layla

Driving the "choo-choo" at the park.

"Horsh! Horsh!!" (Autumn's version of horse.)

one more...

...just because I love them...

autumn and reagan

as close as they can get to each other without very bad things happening...

This is why all the books must come off the shelf.

another bad hair day fairy

"Helping" to make the bed...

fairy having a bad hair day

sneak peek

125...

...that's how many they say they need...

...that's how many, as of two minutes ago, I have finished...

...still have to do the insert cards, the invitations are done...

...for the moment...

I love...

...Pottery Barn.

If I had the money, that is all I would use in the house.

Always loved PB, but just realizing again after paging through the latest catalog.

sleepless

though I don't know why. But it's been that way the last couple nights. So, as I'm waiting for my Advil PM to kick in, I figured I would blog. It's been a while since I've been on here.

What's going on?

Autumn's growing up incredibly fast. It freaks me out daily. She's still absolutely obsessed with books. (Big Thank You to G'ma K. for the new ones the other day!) I have been horrible about actually taking pictures lately--need to work on that.

The buttons for my next wedding invitation project came in at Hobby Lobby today. I need to pick them up tomorrow morning. And then it's on to making 150+ 3D paper daisies... Crop on Friday night and all day Saturday should help with getting that done. Still need to play with ideas for the reception card. LOL--no getting paid for this time around though.

Matt's been working quite a bit, and still enjoying his job (most of the time). Some days (like today) are hard though...getting home near 12 last night and having to leave a little after 6 this morning.

Oh, I won a GDT spot for the month of March at this cool little Canadian ribbon club: www.savvynsassy.com So that's cool. I love ribbon. :0)

Very spring-y weather down here. Warm. We had lots and lots of rain today, but it's still really warm. Oh, and a bunch of tornadoes hit the area. Several people died. Somehow, all the storms went right around our town though. It looked weird on the news, severe weather all the way around us, on every side, but not much of anything here...just rain. Bunches of rain.

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.