Author Archives: carrievoris

Crafty Tuesday

Posted on by
Reply

Taking a moment away from my crazy project (that is due today to the client…well, technically tomorrow, Wed., so really tonight, before I go to sleep – argh!) to show you what arrived on my doorstep for my birthday last week.

Ready for it?

My lovely friend Kim sent this to me…

Filled with this yumminess…

And I’ve only been able to steal a few minutes away to use it for two measly little Teacher Appreciation cards for Em’s teachers last week…

I am so dreaming of it and lusting after all the fun my new tote and I could be having.

Meanwhile it sits on my craft desk mocking me, willing me to come play.

Must…Return…To…Stupid…Work…Project.

The force is strong with this one. I have a feeling the cute little pink and brown tote may win this weekend. I hope it does, at least.

I also hope you all have some craftiness to share so I can sit whilst I’m brain dead tomorrow and enjoy a little blog surfing.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted on by
Reply

Just want to wish all the Moms in my life a very happy day today. I started to write to each of you, and realized that I was writing the same things I did last year, apparently I still feel the exact way. So it has been done.

But three people I didn’t thank last year that I really should have…thanks to my one true love, J., for venturing into the land of parenting with me. And thanks to my girls. I wake up every day and am so thankful that I get to be a Mom to the two of you!

Have a happy day ~ wishing you some Mother’s Day spoiling!

Yeah, Me!

Posted on by
Reply

I just got an award from my doctor.

He exclaimed while looking into my ear, “Wow! That is a rager! The worst ear infection I’ve seen all season, by far!”

I am a bit of an overachiever. If I’m gonna do something…I’m going to do it well!

No wonder it hurts like crazy. Off to get medicated. Have a great weekend!

Kids Say The Darndest Things ~ Friday Edition

Posted on by
Reply

My friend Christina has started a little Friday fun by jotting down the funny things her cutie little girl has said over the week, and since I’m all about themes, and topical days (it gets me out of a jam when I don’t have time to find real stuff to write about!) I thought I’d join in today.

I’ve been saving a couple funny things Em and Ad have been saying and I really want to get them down somewhere so I don’t forget them.

So here goes – my funny Valentines…

——————————

Addie’s funny words and phrases:

ahind = behind, as in “Mama! Look ahind you! There is a puppy!”
yook = look, as in “Yook at me, Mama!” Must also grab my chin and turn my head towards her when saying this.
musbash = mustache, as in “Do I have a musbash, Mama?” Said every time she takes a drink of something, not always a milk mustache, either.

——————————

Emma’s funny phrases:

knick-knack name = nickname, as in “What is your knick-knack name, Daddy?”

And, the other day she asked me – “Mama? Is Addie pushing your buttons right now?!”

——————————

And a couple of funny stories from Addie and my “day out” together the other day:

Addie: “Mama? Can we go to the puppy/kitty store (what she calls PetSmart)?”
Me: “Sure. I have one more errand to run, and then we will stop, ok?”
Addie: (sighs) “Ah, Mommy. Do you know how happy that makes Addie?”

(I tell them all the time when they do something *nice* – “Do you know how happy that makes Mommy?” but it sounds very funny coming back at me!)

And one more…

We were going into a bathroom at a store and an older gentleman was coming out and held the door open for A. and I. Then, later when we were leaving the store, he happened to be leaving as well and again, he held the door for A. and I.

Me: “Thank you so much! We are just going to follow you around all day so we can have the doors held for us.”
Man: (chuckles) “No problem. I’m just doing my duty.”

So A. and I continue down the street and all of a sudden she starts giggling…

Ad: “Mama…he said It’s my DOODY!”
Me: (kinda clueless at the moment) “Yes, it means like a chore or a job.”

And then I see her face and she is snickering at the word, because she thinks the man was referring to poop.

Where on God’s-Green-Earth does that girl come up with this stuff? Never in my life have I ever used the word, “doody!

My girls seem to have missed the memo that says that only boys laugh at bathroom humor.

Fun ~ Theme Thursday

Posted on by
Reply

Make sure you stop over to Stacy’s for Theme Thursday today, our theme being FUN, and she just returned from Northern California (one of my favorite places in the whole world) so I’m sure she will have some very FUN photos.

As for around here…well, it hasn’t been so much fun. Although my birthday was very fun, we have all been kind of lying low again this week. The camera has been on hiatus still and we are all just trying to get back to normal. I did think about the theme earlier this week and thought for a moment, “Hey, Ad and I should just go out and shoot some photos…” and then I got busy doing nothing something again, and never got around to it.

BUT, thankfully my little Em is totally like her Daddy and can not bear waiting to give a present until the appropriate time. When we picked her up from school yesterday she handed me my Mother’s Day present and pleaded with me to open it.

“But, Mama! Miss MarieRose said that you can open it before Mother’s Day! Can you open it now?”
“Can you open it now?”
“How about now?”

Finally I gave in and opened it when we got home. She was so very proud of her craftiness. (HEY, I totally should have saved this for Crafty Tuesday…)

If you can’t tell – it is the most adorable little purse. When you open the clasp, it looks like this…

Doesn’t that just melt your heart?? Oh, my.

We have been reading the Junie B. chapter books after we put Addie to bed at night. I have so waited for this day…reading REAL, FUN books to the girls – I’m not sure who is having more fun, Em or Mommy.

And then inside the purse, was this…

And she was so proud that she glued the little “sticks” into the shape of an “M.”

I do believe this can be claimed as my favorite Mother’s Day gift. Ever. It is so sweet and fun.

Think of all the “advice” you get before you have a child – “it is the hardest job you’ll ever have,” “that first year will really rock your world,” “sleep now, while you still can,” “watch out for projectile vomit,” etc.

Why doesn’t anyone say how much FUN it is to be the center of someone’s world. Even if it is only for a few short years?

A little apology…

Posted on by
Reply

To my sweetum girls –

I had clearly forgotten how much pain is associated with a simple earache.

Owwww…

Not that I ever told you to “buck up” or “you’ll be ok” because I kinda figured ear infections weren’t exactly a picnic – but now? I get it.

All I want to do is stand around whining and crying, too (and I probably would if it didn’t hurt so much to even talk).

Also, remind me that those gross, homeopathic earache drops that I try to foist on you to make your ear “feel better” – they just make matters worse. I still have pain, possibly more, plus I feel like I’m under water and can’t hear out of one ear, and add to that a constantly “drippy” ear. Ick.

So I’m sorry. Now I know. Not that it gives you free rein to whine and scream all night, but I promise to be a bit more understanding next time.

Love you,
Mama

Crafty Tuesday

Posted on by
Reply

I have two measly little “cards” – technically I think they are more like gift tags – to show this week. I have spent every available “free” moment working on my project due next Monday. Between that and the plague that has descended upon our house, unfortunately crafting has been pushed very low on the priority list.

Em and I did make these little ladybug cards for her friends Kate and Chloe who both had birthdays last week. The girls were at Em’s party and have apparently become as obsessed as she has with the ladybug hunting. So we found some fun bug books for their adventures and used a bunch of my scrap paper for the ladybug tags.

BUT my sweet friends were very good to me for my birthday and I have some fun new scrap stuff to play with!

I have imposed a self restriction (since I’m a bit of a paper fiend) on buying any scrap materials.  And it really isn’t just paper either, I have drawers of embellishments and the ribbon…my heavens, the ribbon drawer is ridiculous.

Plus, not only that, but we don’t have any really great scrap stores out here. No Archivers. (Oh, how I long for thee!) No Arnies.

But leave it to my “peeps” to pull through for me. My friend Michelle gave me some very fun embellishes…

How cute is the bikini one?!

And my friend Kimmer sent me a packet with this fun included…

The sticker letters are great and those are JEWELS! Hmmm…do you think I could possibly find some sort of girly photos to include those on? And she sent some amazing paper…

You can’t see in the photo very well, but there is all kind of “bling” on these papers. The green paisley actually has glitter paisley and little jewels embedded on it. It is tied for my favorite paper. (Although I’m really into polka lots right now, too!) But the green is tied with my other favorite paper…

Yeah – brown, pink and cream. Three colors that look so yummy together! And check out the name of the paper – White Chocolate Bunnies. So appropriate.

It’s incredible how well Kimmer knows my style to be able to pick out paper that makes me so giddy, I want to run into my room and start scrapping immediately!

So stay tuned for some good stuff with my new inspirations…I’m not even going to say maybe next week, but soon! Probably very soon because I can’t wait.  How about anyone out there? Any fun stuff this week??

Alright, alright, alright….

Posted on by
Reply

Fine.

Yes, it is my birthday.

Yes, I purposely did not broadcast it in hopes that it would just pass on by this year. (But thanks Kim and Vic!)

I’m officially closer to 40 than I am to 30. Blech. That stinks.

Normally I would say that you are only as old as you feel…but I think I’m getting sick, and I have a raging headache from bickering girls, so right now I’m feeling a little old.

I did have a great birthday weekend, however. J. has contracted the plague that took over our house last week and still managed to hang in all weekend and we had a really good time.

Saturday night we did dinner at a mexican place near our house and I had my Cinco de Mayo margarita. And…got carded. Niiiice!

Yesterday, we tromped all around this really posh new outdoor mall that just opened really close to our house and had an amazing lunch at Porto’s Cafe & Bakery – one of my favorite places – that we don’t get to go to nearly enough.

And I got a bunch of fun presents from J. and the girls, despite the earlier ban on birthday gifts. The girls picked out a new watch for me and a very cool locket (I can’t find the locket in the store – but on this page it is the red one with the heart over on the left of the Best Sellers page. It is so cool, it folds out and is a butterfly!) AND, most importantly…we have a Roomba again. Sweet, sweet Roomba.

I’m sure you all recall my infatuation with the Roomba – and with having hardwood floors throughout the entire house – it is a serious lifesaver. The one we got last year had to be replaced due to some malfunctioning parts that were not (unfortunately!) covered under the…ahem, warranty that you get when you buy a Roomba remanufactured. (As in…there is NO warranty.) But thankfully J. was able to get it taken care of since he bought it with the good ‘ol AmEx.

So I had put off buying a new one because I was not going down the remanufactured path again…and probably would have continued to just haul out the vacuum everyday (does anyone else need to vacuum daily??) but my saving grace of a husband, who thankfully isn’t very good at listening to me when I tell him NOT to do something, got one for us. It has already cleaned the entire downstairs (it is waaaayyy better than the last one we had, quieter, faster, lasts longer.) Tomorrow I shall let it loose upstairs.

And then, (yes, there is more!) while I was getting the girls ready for bed – my sweet husband cleaned the kitchen and emptied the dishwasher.

*sigh*

My least favorite chore – and the one room I HATE to wake up to dirty, all taken care of. So the girls were in bed by 7:45pm, we had a little down time last night, everyone slept through til 8am this morning. It was heaven!

And sweet little voices singing “Happy Birthday” to me this morning. And lots of fun cards and presents in the mail, phone calls and messages, and an amazing lunch with my friend Michelle! I guess it really was a good birthday.

Maybe I should stop not telling people it is my birthday, and try to sneak in more birthdays throughout the year….

————————-

Edited to Add:

You know that song in the Sound of Music – “I must’ve done something right”?

That had to have been written for me, because seriously, I must have been a SAINT in another life to deserve my amazing husband.

He just brought home dinner, an armload of flowers, (really – like roses, and two other mixed flower bouquets – all the rooms have fresh flowers now!) and the most amazing carrot cake I think I have ever seen or tasted. It is a little maybe 5-6″ round cake, but it must weigh 7 pounds.

Oh, and he did baths and getting the girls ready for bed tonight. (Cue the choir of angels – Hallelujah!)

Smitten doesn’t begin to describe what I feel for him. I think I might love him. A lot.