5 Random Things

I was tagged to offer up 5 random thoughts about me. I am WAY late catching up on things but here they are:

1* I have not left the house without having all ten fingernails perfectly polished since 1987.

2* I cannot now, and have never been able, to do a cartwheel.

3* I would like to have "whip" on my summertime cafe mochas but until I lose another clothing size I am too embarassed to ask for it at Starbucks.

4* I delivered three babies without any pain medicine, not as much as a Tylenol, by employing a mind over matter technique.

5* The remnants of a birthmark on top of my head have left me with a small spot that precludes me from ever parting my hair on the right.

Ta-da! Now you know 5 random things about me!

ONE-derful!

That's our baby. It seems like minutes ago she was born and now she's 1. "Where does the time go" always seemed like a question old people asked. Now I am asking it all the time. Really -- where does the time go????

My View of the Weekend

This is what I stared at every "spare" moment Saturday. This is my trusty Singer, circa 1968. I had a stack of window treatment projects to finish this weekend. Most were hems of sheers -- there was some tweaking of other projects -- tedious and boring stuff.

I can only assume you have to buy a new construction something or other to actually walk into a home center and find ready-made window treatments that fit without the aid of the handy Singer. Over the course of 3 moves in 5 years I have hemmed, and hemmed and hemmed some more.

I am not a seamstress -- actually I think sewer is even too generous. I can run straight seams and even an occasional "zig zag". And they tell me the new machines are fabulous. They come with computer discs now and if you attach the button to the machine they will make a perfect sized button hole. And apparently everyone can embroider with them now that it has been made so easy.

But I won't part with my 1968 Singer. It is the machine of my childhood. It seemed like every night once all four of us were in bed my Mother would work on her projects. The whir of this very machine helped put me to sleep night after night. Until sometime on the 70's when she upgraded to something "fancier".

The 1968 model needed new gears 10 years ago, it survived our basement flood last month and the buttonhole attachment kit is actually long gone. The instruction booklet is likely to disintegrate soon I have used it so much. But I really can't replace it. It doesn't have a computer disc or an overlock mode or anything like that. But every time I load the bobbin and thread the needle I can see my Mother doing the very same thing.

Every time.

Cousins

I have just finished LOs about 2 of the cousins. They are 2 years old and full of energy and excitement. My brother takes great pictures and has captured them in classic form that I just had to scrap.

It's a busy week around here. I am working nights. Our Nanny's daughter delivered twins the other day two months prematurely. And of course all the regular stuff.

But doing these pages was a great exercise for me. I like the products very much and I never scrap anything about boys.

I wish I could get the hang of scanning and stitching 12 x 12 LOs -- but I can't. I just tried again and it is not going to happen.

So here is this page from a regular old digital camera picture. The paper and cardstock letters are all by Doodlebug.

And here's another one...

This is cousin Anders . Another photo by my brother. I have really tried some different things for me on these pages --- lots of patterned papers and actual photos of BOYS!

This is a Junkitz Collection with Bazzill CS and a metal license plate -- CK Handprint font.

Counting Down Saturday Pages

Here is the last Saturday. The baby was really scooting around to get places. Today I think I would definitely says she is CRAWLING! (She's got the right, left, right, left rhythm working for her.)

It's hard to believe she's moving around so much. It's hard to believe I only have 2 more Saturday pages to scrap and she will be 1.

Invitations

This is a sample of the baby's first birthday invitations. Eaach one is a bit different in color and pattern.

The papers are BasicGrey from the Lollipop Shoppe Collection. I hope the cutting edge papers of 2005 don't look hopelessly out of date when she's 10 years old!

We had a busy weekend. Took the girls to Manheim, Pennsylvania for a party to celebrate one of Joe's high school friends getting his Master's Degree. I went to my first every Stampin' Up party and NEED to order a load of things. It was back to work tonight -- and it was terribly busy. All that and I'm taking the kids swimming in the morning.

AND the baby is about to turn 1 -- I can't even believe it.

Back in Business!

Big news here. The basement is finished! The new drywall is up, both rooms have been painted, the new carpet is down and we have been busy "moving back in". It's so good to see my stuff again. And the kids are thrilled to have access to all of their toys.

Guess this means the scrapping projects are moving from the kitchen counters back downstairs.

Lots of scrapping shopping going on. I pre-ordered QVC's Card and Scrapbook Kit -- it's already on the way. (Boxes of junk as my DH refers to them...) And I'm headed to my first Stampin' Up demonstration ever this afternoon. And by tonight I will have finished the baby's first birthday party invitations.

I'll post one.

Determination

Some days I believe it is someone's idea of a joke that I have a 3 year old with enough DETERMINATION to fill the bodies of several adults. She is smart -- she is stubborn-- she is verbal -- she never forgets anything -- and she knows exactly what she wants. She is quick to fly off the handle and slow to settle down. She will defy me. She will look me square in the eye and disagree with me. She knows her own mind and that is good and bad.

I hope her iron will serves her well in this lifetime. I have to remind myself over and over her personality isn't necessarily a bad thing even if it is exhausting and exasperating.

Because when I look deeply into those eyes I see myself staring back. A 40 pound version with a head full of ringlets but those eyes are mine -- and that determination --well, guess where she got that???

Saturday Page

Here is our Saturday Page from today. A birthday party at a swimming pool. A real crowd-pleaser.

Other than that, the bad luck continues. The new basement walls are up, but the one AC unit was leaking all over the floor. We now have a new AC pump. Could we ever catch a break????

Baby at the Beach

We took a road trip this week. We loaded the triple threat into the SUV and headed for the beach. It was the first time the baby had been up close to the sand and surf.

It is quite an undertaking packing their food, drinks, sunblock, diapers, pull-ups, big girl panties, clean clothes, beach towels, and pajamas, but I got it done and off we went.

It is not the least bit relaxing to spend the day at the shore with our kids. But the 3 year old declared. "she could spend all day in the ocean". The 2 year tentatively explored the water and ran free on the sand. And the baby was occupied for hours with a simple shovel and a bucket.

Less than five years ago we were married on this very same beach.

Wow.

How Cute Is This???

This is the altered clipboard I made on the final night of CKC Pa. Mind you -- I am at least 27 years behind in scrapping photos -- but Hillary and I selected this quick and easy project to do at the Saturday Night Send-off Crop.

So the convention is over, I have a few (!) new purchases, and some giveaway goodies. I am armed with a little more knowledge and I am inspired to really get some things done. If I execute just a fraction of what I'd like to do I'll be way ahead of the game.

I am also vowing to take the LOs we made in our classes and match them up to some photos. Those would count as FINISHED pages!

And BTW, my replacement camera is here. I am back in business.