We’ve got ants!

Posted on May 11, 2010 by carrie

E: “Daddy! My ants came today! 50 of them!”
D: “Um…aren’t we generally trying to keep ants OUT of the house?”

The Ant Hill was one of Em’s purchases with a birthday gift card. We anxiously awaited the arrival of the ants through the mail, and once they finally came, Em studied the instructions to make sure the ants got into the Hill with no incidents.

And we’ve just been waiting for them to get accustomed to their new surroundings.

They’ve provided hours of entertainment already…

…and have even inspired this week’s creative writing entry for Em’s homework.

Clearly it is the most exciting thing going on around this place.

Crafty Tuesday

Posted on May 10, 2010 by carrie

I had very good intentions of using some of our unscheduled weekend for tackling my ever-growing mountain of fabric that is beckoning me, begging me to create some new stuff. But instead, we did nothing. It was wonderful, but doesn’t give me much to show-off today.

I did put together an art purse for one of Em’s friends last week. I am loving these little bags, Jen! Thanks so much for putting the pattern out.

I actually made this one a little bigger than the ones I made for Em and Ad.

I wanted to put a bigger tablet inside – and markers and stickers. Avery really liked it and her Mom asked me to make some aprons for her girls, so it was a success I think.

And that is all I have to throw out today. But before I go…a few inspirational birthday gifts I got last week. Check this out…

Yes, that is the back of my iPhone. HOW cool is that? My friend Vic “borrowed” a photo from me and had the skin made from Gelaskins. I love seeing my babies every time I pull out my phone.

Emmy picked out this for my birthday…

Yeah, I think she is telling me something. Our oven has been on non-stop for the past week and looks like it will be on most of this week, too. Might have to try out a cupcake or two in there somewhere.

And Addie picked out this one…

God love those girls. They know what their Mama likes. This book has…well 101 projects that I can’t wait to try!

What sort of projects did you try this week?

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted on May 8, 2010 by carrie

“When I’m a mom, I am never going to do that to my kids!”
“I will never tell my kids – ‘because I said so, that’s why!'”
“I’m not going to do what my mom/dad/parents did to me!”

Ok all you Moms out there, tell the truth. Think back to before your adventure in motherhood, and tell me you didn’t say a version of one (if not ALL) of those statements to your own Mom, or at least think it on occasion?

Oh, I said them all. I was going to be an enlightened, understanding and ever-so patient mom. I would never snap at my children or yell in frustration or tell them, “go find something to do, or I’ll find something for you!”

And then? Well, then motherhood came and slapped me upside the head. And I was so surprised when something I swore I would never say to my children, slipped so easily out of my mouth.

Now I’m not so surprised, but I have found that I am much more enlightened on what it takes to be a mom. My mom? Now I can look back and see that she did a pretty amazing job. Her “way” seems to be a pretty darn good way of doing things. And also? Being a mom is hard work. Every single day. And my Mom has been doing it for 38 years, and for three kids.

So today I not only send you wishes and gifts of love, Mom – but I also give you thanks for providing me an example of a good Mom to live up to, and a rough draft of a “Mom Handbook” to try to follow.

And when my girls tell me, “When I’m a mom I’ll never…,” I will just smile and know someday they too will figure out the Mom secret. Because I think you can only really fully appreciate something after you’ve lived a bit of it.

To all the hard-working moms, and especially mine, I hope you have a beautiful day and can truly relish in the awesomeness that being a mom brings. Love to you all.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Weekly Wrap-up (x2)

Posted on May 6, 2010 by carrie

Helllooo there! You been wondering where the heck we have all been? Besides the occasional Crafty Tuesday or Dipy Thursday we’ve been a little absent, but definitely not idle. So what has been happening?

-We’ve been entertaining.
Nana and Papa stopped in for a little weekend visit. It was great to have them here and Papa had a whole new (upright) view of LA, since last time he was dreadfully ill the entire time. I think he may have seen an entire part of our house, that he had completely missed, too. Plus, we got to take Nana to the aquarium and Papa to the Jay Leno show, so it was a packed and fun weekend.

-I’ve been finding missing persons.
When your parents tell you “if we are not back from our walk in 30 minutes come looking for us,” just hand them your phone with the GPS. Trust me.

About 45 minutes after Nana and Papa left, I got my shoes on. After about five minutes of driving the route they were supposed to be on, I get a phone call. “We are sitting on the curb…” about 12 blocks from where they were supposed to be. Now granted in giving them directions I may or may not have forgotten to mention the crazy street where the name changes. I only wish I had my real camera, I really don’t think the iPhone truly captured the moment.

-I’ve been celebrating.
Yeah, another one of those pesky birthdays popped up this week. I didn’t even need to “milk it” though. My sweet girls and Jam brought me Starbucks and breakfast and showered me with awesome gifts and love. Emma climbed in bed with me and said, “Happy Birthday, Mama. I’m so glad you had me.” Huh. Okay…

Anyhow, I got tons of good wishes, phone calls, a terrific lunch and I was even serenaded (complete with ice cream cake!) by Em’s entire first grade class. It was a very good birthday. Thank you all for thinking of me.

-I’ve been certified.
Or made certifiable, maybe? My friend Jamie and I took the C.E.R.T. (Community Emergency Response Team) training through our fire department. It was three nights last week and three nights this week. I may drive J. crazy with all of the stuff we need to do to make our house all emergency-proof, but at least I feel prepared in case some sort of emergency does happen.

-We’ve been appreciating.
This week we’ve been appreciating all of Em’s teachers and staff, and next week it is Addie’s school. So we’ve been making all kinds of signs, notes, picking flowers, baking goods, etc. I still maintain that teachers have one of the hardest jobs, ever. Makes my job look like a piece of cake most days. So thank you to teachers everywhere.

-We’ve been field-tripping.
Finally Addie got a field trip that Emma didn’t get to go on. And Mommy got to go with her. She is always asking “When are you going to come help in my class, Mama? When do I get to go to a field trip? When can you stay at school with me?” So we got to go see a Max & Ruby theater show this week with her class. She thought it was all very cool.

Is it any wonder that we have all been just falling into (or near) the bed each night?

This weekend, we have almost nothing on the docket and I have been promised two days of a bit of pampering. The weekend has never looked so good. Hope yours is terrific as well!

Dipy Week #15 ~ Stuck!

Posted on May 5, 2010 by carrie

Ok. I admit this one (from me, at least!) was a bit of a stretch. I didn’t have a single idea all weekend for our theme and we have already done the theme friends, so we couldn’t even play along with Melody and Megan today. I told Kimberly, “Um, I am just stuck! Hey, let’s just throw stuck out there and see what happens.”

Well, what happened was Kimberly came up with a very clever, colorful and graphic photo clearly depicting a great stuck. Me? Well, I was running around a little like a madwoman, not even thinking of my beloved Thursday post, until Addie was trying to keep up with me yesterday and sneak through the bars of the gate in the courtyard.

Yes. Through the bars. She likes to slide through without opening the gate.

And then she called out, “Oh, Mama! I’m getting so big! I’m almost stuck!”

Stuck? Wait. Hold the gate! I’ll go get my camera.

So no pins or glue around here this week (although you’d think in our house there would be, right?), just my little girl getting too big and “almost stuck!”