My old friend self-doubt...

Here is my Deck of Me card for this week. The theme is funny ha-ha. What do you find funny. This was easy! Owen and Morgan. They crack me up. This was taken at the Uptown Art fair earlier this month. I can always count on one of them to make me laugh.
This is an all digital layout. I took a picture of the actual printed card with the date stamp but it didn't turn out well so I just posted the digital layout file. The corners are rounded and I stamped the date in the lower right corner. It smeared though!

On Sunday my mom was visiting for a bit and like a true toddler Owen was showing off. He was running and shaking his head while screaming ah-ah-ah. Well, as you know it's difficult to run and shake your head without losing your balance. Especially when you are under 3 feet tall and walking is a new skill. So he had fallen down several times already. But kept getting back up and doing it again. As he was going past the coffee table (round glass) he fell and bumped the table. He didn't hit it hard but grazed himself between the eyes just enough to make it turn purple and swell immediately! I ran and picked him up almost before he was down and it was there instantly. It grew to about the size of 1/2 a golf ball and looked awful. This was of course shortly before we were leaving for dinner and church! He would not hold still for ice so we did the best we could with that while Morgan checked the What to Expect book. We decided he was fine except for looking like a vampire from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! These pictures show the slight bruise between his eyebrows and the blue around his eyes. I didn't get a picture of the swelling. I think I'm okay with that!

As for the self-doubt title... three weeks ago I embarked upon a new diet. Or a change for the better health and fitness wise. Exercise, water, no more junk. I've been lifting weights three times a week and getting regular cardio exercise on the other days. Walking, running, biking etc. I've been eating well and keeping track of what I eat. Not calories as that usually discourages me. But just a journal of what I'm eating. I'm trying to follow the Abs Diet. But not be a slave to it. And I'm keeping track of my weight and measurements. I weigh myself and measure every two weeks. Morgan puts the scale away so I can't get on it every 5 minutes. This Sunday I weigh and measure. And I'm worried about it. That I haven't lost inches or pounds. My clothes feel the same. The first week I lost 2.5 pounds. Then my "time" of the month happened and that put a damper on my efforts. But I didn't gain and I kept at it. So reason would lead me to believe I am doing well. But I want to see results. And I'm doubtful. I keep telling myself that regardless of what the scale or the measuring tape say I'm feeling better and it's good for me. But I'm a results oriented person. And I need to see some!

look what I made!

I love sweet potatoes and so does Owen. So I decided to make so fries for us for lunch. And I didn't use a recipe!! I just cut them up into sticks, tossed in a little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and salt. Then I baked them at 400˚ for a while and then when I felt they were good and baked I turned on the broiler to crisp them up.

Before After

Owen loved them. And there are even a few left over for daddy to try!

Recently I finished this book. It's an historical fiction novel about F. Scott Fitzgerald and the first love of his life. It is fiction but based on real people and real events in Fitzgerald's life. It was an enjoyable book. If you like historical books and fiction (Pam!) I would recommend this one. It's a fast read.

And here is a picture of my red sunflowers. Trader Joe's has had sunflowers the last few times we've been there. They have a large selection of flowers and they are not outrageously priced so I've decided I need to have fresh flowers on my dining room table all the time! Last week we had regular sized/colored sunflowers. This week we found huge ones dyed red. The picture is a little retouched but pretty accurately portrays the vivid color.

Today is a rather rainy/humid/dreary day in MN. Owen and I went to Crafty Planet in North East Mpls. today to look at fabric. It's a little craft store but they have an awesome selection of fabric. I was looking for some Amy Butler stuff to make some place mats for my dining room table and found the perfect stuff. I'll post a picture when they are done!

Happy Birthday...

to my Mom! Today is her birthday! We will be having a celebratory lunch. Our family usually gets together for birthdays. Which isn't difficult, we have a little family! My uncle was delighted when Morgan and I got married as he now had a male comrade to balance out the estrogen a bit! And with Owen that just helps even more!

My mom requested a cube like the ones I made for my sister and Morgan. Here are the layouts I did for hers.

I had planned to buy two cubes so I could do one for myself but Wal Mart only had one when I went to get them! So I will have to check for one the next time I'm there.

On a sad note, Dick Blick is no longer carrying the little easels that I love so much. Supposedly the company that makes them is not making them any more. That's just dumb. I had wanted to make a little something for The Girls for a back to school gift and the easel was part of it. When I went to get them they were all gone and the kid talked to the manager who told him they were not being made anymore. I know it's a silly thing to be all bummed out about but I just love those little easels!

And lastly, thank you to everyone who commented on my post the other day about mac & cheese. Some of you brought up very good points. And thank you for the ideas as to how to jazz up mac & cheese! Owen used to eat whatever we put in front of him. And now he's becoming more selective. He likes pasta. And the other day he was totally into carrots. Which he wasn't a couple weeks ago. I guess I just have to remember that he IS a little PERSON. And people are quirky. Heck, with me as his mama if the only thing he's quirky about is food, then it will be a miracle!

Do good mama's make mac & cheese???

Yes, the organic kind. You know how before you become a mama you have all these ideas about what you would do?? Well I had lots of them! Like cooking for my child. Where I got this idea I do not know! Because I am not a cook!! I can cook. I have cooked. I can make edible things. But I don't enjoy cooking. What cooks do with food I prefer to do with paper, fabric, paint or just about any other material. I am not patient with food. Thus feeding Owen on a daily basis can be interesting. Especially with vegetables. Those seem to require more substantial teeth than what he currently has or be cooked to the point of mush and that equals messy. I'm not into messy. Yes, I know, you are wondering how I ended up a mama! So today we are having organic Arthur shaped Mac & cheese and carrots. And I'm certainly not saying that children who get regular mac & cheese do not have good parents. I just wanted to be able to feed him good, nutritious food. Not junk. And that is a hard thing to do. When you aren't a cook. I wonder if Rachael Ray could help me?? Probably not.

The 2P's challenge for today is: Share how scrapbooking/card making has effected your life in a good way?
Simply put, creative outlet=stress relief. As I've mentioned before and you can gather from my posts I am not a one craft person. Which makes me wonder why I spent so much time denying my creative drive in order to go to school to be a teacher. Yes, it requires creativity but it of a completely different variety. Which I am glad I have and spent time developing. However, I often think of all the wonderful art classes that I didn't get to take. All the art forms I didn't explore that would have been so much easier to do so in college.

And now I'm off to check the mac & cheese and steamed carrots. Oh, Owen does have homemade bread on a very regular basis. Thank goodness for a husband who loves to bake and cook!

There's a mouse in the house!

Sunday after we dropped Morgan's bread off at the State Fair Creative Arts Building (he's entering bread!) we stopped by the consignment shop to look for jeans for Morgan. While he was looking I browsed the children's stuff and found the cutest costume for Owen for Halloween! Now I'm not really the store bought costume sort of mama. My mom made our costumes and I plan to make Owen's too. But I hadn't decided what he should be and it was too cute to pass up. Here he is checking himself out in the mirror. We tried it on him in the store and he did this same thing in the three-way mirror!

The cuteness of it and him together, sealed the deal! And it's well made and super soft. I couldn't have made a better Micky costume myself.

And then I found these. For $1! Yes, you read that right. ONE DOLLAR! All leather, hardly worn. Red shoes. Not too red, just the right red. I love red shoes. I don't know why. And I didn't know they were $1 until the lady rang them up. I was going to pay $13 for them!
And my creation for the day is this shirt for Owen. I've had the t-shirt for a while now and finally got around to drawing the whale and doing the applique.
And now I'm off for a nap to see if my stomach can work itself out! It's been bothering me for two days! And no, I am NOT pregnant!

DOM Week 33...

This weeks DOM challenge is 10 minutes. Do the card in ten minutes. No theme. Whatever comes to you. I had just finished my workout and put Owen down for a nap. I set my timer. Picked a piece of light blue cardstock and then dug out the pattern papers from my scrap bin. The circle punch was on my table so I punched a few circles and glued them to the edge of the CS. I still didn't have a theme going but then I remembered the page I had torn out of Runner's World. An ad for Asics. My running shoes. So I grabbed that and punched the award circle and glued that on. Then all the water I had drank earlier hit me and I had to run upstairs for a potty break. Whilst in the bathroom I saw my shoes sitting there and decided that would be a good "stamp" for my card. Ran back down with the shoe. Inked the tread and rolled it on the card. It was still a little boring and the picture of the shoe from the ad wouldn't fit and look good so that was no good. Then I remembered reading the insert of Morgan's new shoes (also Asics) which told about the Asics name. It's a latin acronym which translated means " a sound mind in a sound body." I grabbed the insert and cut out the Asics word. Glued it down. Wrote the translation, stamped the date and was done!

A little art...

This is Posy Painting 1. I've been on a painting kick lately. I'm not sure why. I've been inspired by some collage work I've seen and some pieces I saw at the art fair. Particularly Mary Beth Shaw. If you like collage she does some interesting work. This is 6x6 on canvas paper. Acrylic paint, paper, and ink. Last night I bought a set of artist's acrylics. A small starter set. I just have cheap craft acrylics which are chalky like. So I decided I wanted to try real acrylics.

This is the layout I finished in the most recent circle journal I had.
The word was relax (as you can see!). Instead of doing 2 separate pages I decided to make it one big layout across both pages (I'm really stating the obvious tonight, aren't I). Anyway, I printed words, relating to relaxing and beginning with each of the letters in the word, on transparencies, painted the edges, and layered those over pattern paper. Then I stamped the letters with big foam stamps and paint. Hopefully the transparencies will stay stuck down. They aren't the easiest things to adhere since they are transparent.

And the 2P's challenge for Friday is: Do you feel more creative in the morning or evenings?
Well, I used to be a real night owl when it came to creating. But since Owen I try to go to bed at a reasonable time. So I try to be creative between 8 and 9:30pm and during nap times. Prior to Owen, especially during the summer when I wasn't teaching, I would stay up real late working on things. I miss that sometimes but I'm also much more creative and productive now than I used to be. Mostly because I have made more of a habit of doing creative things everyday.

And lastly, tomorrow (as I'm writing is Thursday night) is our six year anniversary! It seems like just yesterday. I will try to scan a picture from our wedding and post tomorrow. We don't have big plans. Nikki is babysitting Owen while we go to dinner. Morgan wants to go sing Karoke but I'm not to keen on that! And I'm sure I spelled that wrong but I can't find it in my online dictionary thing right now and I don't care.

Creativity...

The thing about creativity, at least for me, is the way it feels. It manifests itself like a bit of agitation. A wiggly feeling in my tummy. Like all the ideas are churnning in there wanting to be free. To be created or worked out. And sometimes there are just too many. Too many to get out all at once. And I'm not a one craft person. You know what I mean? I don't just sew. Or stamp. Or scrap. And a lot of times the ideas for one leach over into the other. Like food on a plate touching and then mingling and then becoming an entirely different dish. How peanut butter and chocolate got together and made a peanut butter cup. And if you don't love those, well, then there's something seriously wrong with you. (My father-in-law, who I think the world of, is one of those people. And I just don't get it!)

So that's me in a nut shell right now. Churning with creativity. In a mortgage office!

And Here's 10 random things about me. Read this on Bonnie Rose's blog. Thought it would be fun to share since it's my blog, the one place where it's all about me! At least once in awhile....

1. I am not quite 5 feet tall. Although my license says I am. Because the lady asked me (when I was 16) how tall I was and had already written down the 5 when I started telling her. She said I was close enough. And ever since then, I have been!

2. When I was really young and heard a siren I would run to my grandpa's chair. He was usually sitting in it, but if he wasn't I jumped up in the chair. It was the safe place for me when I heard sirens. I don't know how it started or why but I just remember running to him and the chair. It was always in the same corner, until they moved, and it was a good place. When I hear sirens now I still think of that safe place.

3. I don't like mouth noises. I dislike being around people who chew with their mouths open or who slurp. It drives me nuts. And here's the kicker. Morgan makes a lot of noise when he eats. I don't know what the deal is with his mouth but he claims the food needs air. This is complete BS. AND there are several other members of his family who are noisy eaters too. Holidays are a trip for me. In more ways than one.

4. I was the president of a sorority when I was in college.

5. Before I decided to be a teacher I wanted to be an attorney.

6. I have always wanted to be famous so I could be on the Tonight Show. I loved Johnny.

7. When I was younger (before college) I wanted to be a Rockette. I remember telling someone this, a girl in my class, in probably 5th grade, and she said "You know they have to dance naked, don't you!?" I was a bit mortified. However, my dream to be a Rockette died. Due to random thing #1.

8. I'm very proud of my mom. She's been through some crap in her life but has never played the victim. I learned that from her. It could be why I'm not a sympathetic person.

9. I never thought I'd be a mama. Really. I didn't. Morgan knew this from the beginning. I told him if I changed my mind I'd let him know. And I did so I told him. And now we have Owen. I don't change my mind a lot. Ask any previous student of mine. But this time I'm glad I did. It's the best change of mind and heart I've ever had.

10. I love to dance. I spent years dancing. And I wish I hadn't stopped.

11. (just to be different!) I love art. All kinds of art. And I believe everyone is creative in some way. They just need to find it. It kills me when my mom says she's not creative. Because it's just not true. And then there is my sister who fakes it till she makes it and you'd just never know. We've all got a little perfectionism in us. I love you both!

And on another note. Last night Morgan went out to move our cars. We have a single car garage and a single lane driveway. So he was moving his car out, pulling mine up, and pulling in behind me. Mine was on the street from when he moved it to get out when he went to work. Clear as mud, right?? Anyway, he gets in his car to move it and notices the back door passenger side window is broken. Some (insert a lot of expletives here) broke into his car in OUR DRIVE WAY! While we were home! (more bad words) I'm still mad about it. I can't believe people sometimes. I mean seriously. Why would someone come into our yard while we are home and try to break into his car. First of all, mine was right one the street! His is a wagon. A wagon! Who breaks into a wagon! The only thing in it were his crappy ski poles. And they didn't take them. So now we have to have it fixed. Luckily we have full glass coverage. I thought the deductible was going to kick in so we'd just end up paying it. Which I was even more mad about.

So rule #1 don't break into someone's car! Duh??? People have to be told this stuff! I just don't get people. #2 don't do it in their driveway like 20 feet from their house! #3 Seriously, there have to be rules about this stuff??? What is wrong with people!?

Okay, I'm done. Breaks over.

DOM Week 32...

Can you believe it's week 32 of the year!? In a couple of weeks The Girls will be going back to school and I will not have Nikki to call in the middle of the day to say "hey, whatchya doin'??" But there will be conference calls. At least in the beginning.

Here is my card for this week. The theme is Quiet.

I had just finished up a layout in a circle journal today and had a piece of heavy weight pattern paper left over that was just about the right size. I didn't really know what I was going to do yet so I just started by cutting that paper to size. I had been using foam stamps and paint with the circle journal and also a painting I'm working on so I picked those up and it just worked out.

I try to do all of my DOM cards out of my scrap bins. I don't like to throw paper away, even the tiny pieces, so I try to put them to use on my cards.

This is a picture of the collection of cards all together.

I keep them on a large book and they hang on a hook under my book shelf. I like to flip through them periodically when I put the previous week's card on. I keep the current card on the tiny easel which sits on my work table.

I have a bunch of other things I wanted to post and write about today but Owen took a mini nap this morning so we've got playing to do!

Hello Monday!

I don't really have a good topic today. Just a bunch of stuff. So first I'll start with my new camera bag. It's a Crumpler Six Million Dollar Home. I had been looking for a new bag for my SLR. I was using an old LowePro fanny pack that the minolta film camera was in. It served the purpose but was not the least bit attractive. I am not a fanny pack toting kind of girl. It's against all the rules of fashion. We saw the Crumpler bags at National Camera a couple weeks ago and decided that I would save some money and use my gift certificate from the photo contest to buy it. This weekend they had a tent sale! So the bag was 30% off and then I used my gift certificate and only had to use a bit more cash to pay for it. I also got an extra memory card for 50% off! It took me forever to decide what color to get. And I probably would have gone with the brown bag with green inside but they didn't have it in the bigger size. So it was between red with a blue inside and a dusty purple/blue with bright orange inside. I stood there and looked at them forever. And finally called Morgan to have him weigh in. He said red. Which I was leaning toward because I didn't like the orange inside of the other one. I think red was a good choice. It will work for both of us. I would imagine that Crumpler sells lots of bags to women because they are the most stylish. The other bags are not so attractive. I think you should be able to find a bag that is attractive and functional. So now my camera is cozy in a nice red bag.

Yesterday evening Morgan, Owen and I went for a bike ride. Or rather, I biked, Morgan roller skied. Morgan is a cross country skier and in the off season (which is a lot of months in MN lately!) he roller skis. If you've never seen this before it's rather interesting. And lots of people haven't so he gets a lot of looks. Last night one little girl yelled "HEY YA'LL!! LOOK AT THAT!!!" As she pointed to Morgan rolling by on the street. And then I started to pay attention to all the looks he got. And it was a lot. Even dogs were staring at him! He didn't have his poles with him yesterday but it's even more interesting when he does. He left them at home so as to try to equalize our speeds. I'm certain his goal is to kill me with exercise. I am trying to keep up with him while pulling the trailer with Owen in it! UP HILLS! LOTS OF HILLS! And after like the 5th big hill I got pissed. First, Morgan has a tendency to take the long way. Sometimes we get lost. This time it was just the LONG HILLY WAY! I like a good workout but when my heart rate monitor reads 170 and I can't pedal because I can't feel my legs I get pissed. I had to walk up a couple of hills which seemed a bit harder because of the wobbly legs! Owen is a good passenger but he's getting heavier! We finally got up a big hill and Morgan says, "I guess I take this way for roller skiing because I like the hills!" GOOD FOR YOU!! I also mouthed some expletives (so Owen couldn't hear) and made a hand gesture to show my gratitude.

I feel better for having done the work I just wish it wasn't always so darn hard! And I can handle a good workout but Morgan just likes to add a level of difficulty to it that I wouldn't other wise choose!

Digital layouts...

As I mentioned a few posts back it was my sister's birthday the end of July. She's rather difficult to shop for as she has most of whatever she wants. But I did manage to find a great bell for her bike with a kitty and crossbones! But she asked for a cube like the one I made for Morgan for Father's Day. It's an acrylic cube that measures 3 1/4x3 1/4 and you put pictures in it. So I made digital layouts for each side. Here are the ones from Annie's cube. I used a bunch of things from different kits so I cant credit them all but if you want to know where something came from I can find out!

On another note, it occurred to me tonight that there is a reason God wants children to have two parents. Because hopefully what one of them doesn't know, the other will. Morgan was working on his speech tonight (for toast master's) and was having a hard time because his foot was itching. A lot. So he stomps up stairs mumbling about this itchy foot and I told him to try some calamine lotion or some hydracortizone cream to which he replied "I am". So he's sitting in the kitchen applying a very generous amount of calamine lotion to the bottom of his foot and as I walk by I ask him if he washed it first. Nope. Of course not. Why would he do that!? And it just made me think that there is a reason for two parents. Which then reminded me of a story I got in e-mail one day about a little boy asking his mom how she got to be so smart. And she tells him you have to know a lot to be a mom. And then there's something about having to pass a test (I'm not good with details!). And the boy responds with "so if you don't pass the test you get to be the daddy!" Yup. I think so too. Now I mean all of this in the lightest of heart. I was raised by a single parent who knew enough for the daddy part too! And sometimes it's mamma's who don't know much. My point is that Morgan and I both have an important part in the parenting of Owen. And mine tends to deal with common sense!

And finally the 2's challenge for Thursday is: Share a little bit about your favorite store you often shop for scrap items. And what keeps you going back.

My favorite place right now is Scrapbooks Too, in Bloomington. I don't get down there too often because it's a 20 mile or so drive but it's a great store. They have a ton of papers and other fun stuff and it's all organized so well. They also have lots of fun sales and classes. It's where I took the Donna Downey Class. The people who work there are very helpful and the woman who owns the store is nice. Now if they would just carry some more Autumn Leaves stamps and Fontwerks I'd be happy as can be!

A whole lota me cards! *** EDITED***

I had fallen shamefully behind on my Deck of Me challenge cards. So I spent the last couple of evenings working on them after Owen went to bed. Morgan has been engrossed in the Harry Potter book (he finished last night) so I've had very little company and plenty of time to work on them! I am totally caught up but the one for this week is still drying on my work table so I will have to post it tomorrow. *** EDITED*** THE LAST ONE IS AT THE BOTTOM!

Week 25 a picture that means something to you.
Week 26 daughters (This was hard since I don't have daughters! But I am one.)

Week 27 Junk Mail. It wasn't exactly junk mail. I used clippings from the Art Fair book that came in our MN Monthly magazine. We went to the fair this past weekend. I will post pics from that tomorrow.

Week 28 Goal for the week. You can't tell in the picture but I used some stickers that were acrylic because they looked a bit like water!

Week 29. Define perfection.

Week 30 Blessings. Next to each one is a little rhinestone.

Week 31 No RegretsWoo Whooo! I'm all caught up!

When good mamas get over protective...

On Friday Owen and I went out to the nature center in Elm Creek Park to pick up my picture and prize from the photo contest. We went in a stood around waiting for someone and finally rounded up a girl who "sort of " worked there. She wasn't all that helpful but found another girl (again, not so helpful) who told me to go and get my photo off the wall and bring it back so I could sign that I had taken it. I did as instructed and when I returned neither girl was there. I wasn't surprised. The desk person returned a minute later and helped me though. A nice lady that we had talked to on the way in while she was coming up the walk. So we got the picture and the prize and left.

As we were going to the car there was a car parked next to mine with a "weird" guy sitting in it. He watched up coming up the walk and I just felt a bit uneasy about him. This is not uncommon for me. I think lots of people are weird. I don't mind it too much when I don't have Owen but I try to keep aware of my surroundings and the weirdos when he's with me. So I unlocked the car and put the picture down, Owen in his seat and all the while watching the weirdo. Who was right next to my car. And to be safe I decided to lock the doors. I pushed the lock button the clicker and absentmindedly threw the keys on the front seat like I frequently do after I get in the back seat with Owen. Then they will be where I need them. I forget about the weirdo, the doors are locked after all, and buckle Owen in a get his water and a toy and make sure he's all comfy and situated and then shut the door. With the doors locked. AND THE KEYS AND Owen INSIDE!!! Which I realize when I pull the driver's door handle! Crap! (I say this!) Smile at Owen and run back to the nature center and tell the nice lady that I need her to call the police as I've just locked my keys and my son in the car! She promptly calls and then comes out with me. She gives me a hug and tells me she won't come close to the car because she doesn't want to scare him. So Owen and I play peek-a-boo while I try to be calm and wait for the police. As I'm waiting the weirdo comes out of the nature center with the first girl who "sort of " worked there. Just an oddly dressed teenager picking up his.... I don't know, sister, girlfriend, friend. Whatever! Why can't teenagers dress normal!?!? And they look at me like I'm the weirdo standing outside my car playing peek-a-boo with my son. And I want to scream "This is your fault you FREAK!" But I don't because it's not his fault. It's mine. I've locked my son in the car because I'm a little paranoid.
It seems to be taking the police a long time to get there and I contemplate breaking the window with a rock but also contemplate the consequences of this and while I'm doing my thinking and peeking the lady comes out to say the park police are on the way, 2 of them, from the beach area (not too far) because the city police are farther away. Did I mention the nature center is out in the boondocks!? And she also tells me they do lock out all the time. Which I find comforting because when Morgan locked O in the car I got there before the city police could get it unlocked and I was 15 miles alway! A minute later the park police pulls up, gets out, gets the tools out and says he'll have me fill out the paper after. Good thing, because I'm pretty sure Owen is starting to wonder what the heck my problem is. And he's thrown his water on the floor and is looking a little warm. It was 82˙ out that day. Luckily we were mostly in the shade. As the officer starts getting the door ready to insert the pole thing Owen starts to cry. But I keep playing peek and talking to him and about 30 seconds later the door is unlocked! And then the other officer pulls up. He says hi to Owen and gives him a McGruff baseball card and a whiffle ball! And I get Owen's water and give him some kisses and he is fine.
I have to sign my name stating they are not liable for damage to the car (there wasn't any and I was contemplating breaking the window anyway!) and he needs my id, which I'm sure he used to check and see that I wasn't a wanted felon (I'm not) and then we get on our way.

And after this whole ordeal I thought about all the what-if's of the situation. If the desk lady had been there in the first place I would have been out before the weirdo got there. How if the girls had been helpful I would have been out before the weirdo got there. How if teenagers dressed normal I wouldn't have thought he was a weirdo! If I had put the keys in my pocket. If the kid really was a weirdo and tried to hurt us. But the reality of it is that I was trying to be protective and safe. And I really just need to put my keys in my pocket! And Owen is okay!

I wrote about this incident in the journal I keep for him. And I'm sure when he grows up and reads about all this stuff he's going to think Morgan and I were nuts! But we're even now. We've both locked him in the car!

Not so little anymore...

Last weekend we got together at my mom's house to celebrate my sister's birthday. She is 27. Which I just can't believe. That's how old I was when Morgan and I got married. I remember being 27. In my mind she is my little sister. She always will be. So it's odd that she's an adult. Not that this just happened. She's been an adult for a long time. But she will always be my little sister no matter how hard she tries to be the older one!Owen also got a present on Saturday while we were at my mom's. We hadn't seen my uncle since before Owen's birthday and he brought a belated gift for O. He LOVES it! It is not motorized (thank goodness!) but makes all kinds of noises that Owen just loves. He can get on and off all on his own too. He hasn't quite figured out how to drive it yet but he's working on it.

We also played some ladder ball. Owen helped Miranda sort out the balls. I didn't play though. I just took pictures.

And here is a picture of the full moon from the other day. I don't remember which day it was.

And the 2P's challenge for today is What do you do when your in a journaling slump. How you do get out of it?

I am not much of a journaler. I guess I consider this my journal. And when I can't think of something to write about on my own I usually just do the challenge. Or I go through all of my recent photos in iPhoto and pick out a few to share and write about those. And then there's always Owen or Morgan or my goofy girlfriends who provide a constant source of material to write about! Nikki and I just had a good chat about how useless husbands can be when it comes to housework! That's a good long post all by itself!

Thank you Sarah & Thoughtful Friday...

Sarah honored me with this award on Wednesay!
The rules for this award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links to those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.

I nominate the following people for this award:

Noelia
Alli
Emily
Pete
Lily
Jody
Sandra

All of you shine a little light into my day and I appreciate that!

I got the book The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule from the library today. It was finally my turn on the list!! One of the quotes in there that I really liked was this:

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. -Albert Einstein

Happy Friday!

New hair!

Last night I finally went to get a hair cut. I haven't had one in about 9 months. I tend to be very lazy with my hair. And I don't like getting it cut. But I'd had enough of the weight and length of it and had been thinking about it for so long that I finally made the appointment!

Here's a before with it down. I never wore it down like this when it was long.

Here is how I usually wore it. Pulled back and twisted up. Or pulled back in a barrette.

And here is how it looked after I had it cut!

And the back.

And this morning I washed it and let it air dry and then took the curling iron to it a bit and it looks basically the same as when my stylist did it! I still have the option of pulling it back but I can actually wear it down and feel good about the way it looks!