Crafty Tuesday

Such good intentions yet again this week. And a daughter who is practically begging me to scrapbook with her.

Yet I have not even a little card to show.

I have this great series of photos of Addie that I did play around with and did a digital storyboard. I know there is something creative to be done with this…I’m just not sure what yet. Some sort of photo collage for her room perhaps?

As always click for the big version (and I think the color is better in Flickr – of course!). Oh my stars – how sweet are these photos, though? I’m sure something fun and creative will come to me if I keep playing with the photos.

Or maybe, just maybe…my crafty friends have some inspiration for me this week? Anyone?

Graceful ~ Best Shot Monday

You finally give in. Allowing your long, willowy legs to be still and rest for a few stolen moments.

I watch you lying there with your hair sprawled across the pillow, your arms tucked up under your chin, and your tutu bunched up around your middle, as your eyelashes flutter closed. I think you look even more graceful asleep, than you do dancing.

Find out what is gracing everyone else’s life over at Tracey’s today.

Blissfully Quiet Friday Afternoon

I think I did the impossible and wore the girls out enough to make them (gasp!) take a nap today. It is blissfully quiet around here at the moment. Addie didn’t even protest when I was marching her upstairs to the impending doom a nap usually signifies. She did tell me (a little too whiningly) “but I don’t think I am tired for a nap!”

Right before she rolled over and put her head down. An hour and a half ago.

So how did I do it, you ask?

The beach. Eight glorious hours at the beach yesterday.

Our friends are renting a house on the beach, so we crashed in on them for the entire day.

The girls dug a hole to China –
A hole to China

Explored the tidepools in search of some sealife –
Beach Explorer

Tried to hide from the camera –
No more photos, Mama!

And just contemplated life –
Taking a moment

Now if Mommy could just learn to reapply sunscreen on herself as often as she does the girls. I have some weird little sunburnt “patches” and sunburnt lips. Yeah, ouch! But, oh so worth it.

Addie was not having her photo taken, though. And finally Emma asked if she could take a picture because “Addie looks so cute all there by you, Mama!”

How we knew it was time to end the fun –
Just about done with the beach

All tuckered out.

We are on recovery mode from the busy week this entire weekend. We’ll see you on Monday.

Summer Fun ~ Theme Thursday

Well, helllloooo! Looky here – summer is nearly over already! Can that really be true? Is next week really August already? Yikes…double YIKES!

Stacy’s challenge for Theme Thursday is to post some Summer Fun. Our summer has been one long batch of fun and we are in fact (probably as you read this) at the beach again today. But I did catch some fun photos of Addie this week as she was playing in the pool/sprinkler, and watering my plants – our everyday Summer Fun around here.

A little water for you...

...A bucket on the head for me!

Well where do you wear your bucket?

I’m a big girl now.

Last week I was reading the Sunday paper…um, ok. So really my version of reading the paper = I just scan the front page, maybe the Image or Home section, and then move onto the real reason for the Sunday newspaper, the ads.

Anyway, I was looking through the Target ad (really the only ad that matters) and suddenly it struck me and I blurted out, “Hey! Do you realize we never have to buy diapers or pull-ups ever again!”

J. looked up from his paper (he was more than likely reading the “real news” or at least the Sports or Travel section) a little surprised at my outburst. “Um. Yeah. I hope not, at least.”

Clearly not as excited about my revelation as I was. But Addie has been full-on in big girl panties at night for well over a month with not one accident. I’m beyond proud of her! She decided that one night that she was a “big girl, not a baby, Mama!” and we have not looked back since. I’ve said it before (and I’ll say it again because it bears repeating) the “magic” in potty training is just being patient until the kid is ready. Because anything up to that point is just wasted energy.

I actually had planned on putting a pull-up on Addie while we were on our cruise because I figured she’d be tired, in a strange bed, and hadn’t been doing the underwear at night thing for very long before we left, and I didn’t want her to have an accident. But…I forgot to pack them. So, by default we slept in underwear the whole week and didn’t have a single problem.

The night we got back into town, we had been at the airport/traveling for well over 12 hours that day and she had fallen asleep. J. carried her upstairs and put her on her bed and I wrestled her out of her clothing, trying not to wake her up, to put jammies on her. (She had been playing in the airport and plane all day and um…ewww. ) I figured she had had a lot to drink, but hadn’t hit the bathroom, on top of that she was extremely tired all of which could potentially be a recipe for disaster.

So I tried to put a pull-up on her but as soon as I got one leg in, she sat straight up, wide awake and exclaimed, “NO, Mama! No diapers! I need my big girl wears!”

I tried to explain to her that I thought she might have an accident because she hadn’t gone to the potty. She slid off the bed and marched into the bathroom saying the whole way, “NO I won’t. I need my big girl underwear!”

Finally Mama got it through her thick head, we are not going back from where we came. We are done with any thing that has to do with diapers.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we are completely problem-free. We had a little funny incident while on our picnic yesterday:

A: “Mama! My underwears gottasome problem!”
E: “Oh, I think she has a ‘bushie,’ Mama.”
M: “A what??”
E: “A ‘bushie!’ When your underwear goes up your bottom kinda?”
M: “A wedgie?”
E: (Peals of laughter) “Yeah! What did I call it?” (More laughing…)

Yeah. I think a “bushie” is something entirely different.

Always with the tongue...

Crafty Tuesday

I had such good intentions this weekend, I even had a few hours off, but alas I was only able to complete one layout for our Crafty Tuesday. I have decided that I am going to try to tackle the “big events” of 2007 and 2008 (oh, and maybe a few from 2006, too) and get them done before summer is over. I’m talking Christmases, Birthdays, maybe some vacations.

I think this one falls into my “big event” criteria…a layout focused on Em’s year of preschool.

Crafty Preschool Layout

I wanted to make sure that I got her first “class photo” archived. (Obviously I blurred out the photo – it is actually a pretty good photo – but I don’t have everyone’s permission to post their photos.)

I was inspired by some school-type embellishments that I got recently. I love the notebook paper and I used one of the library cards and tucked it behind the photo with the names of the kids so we would remember who they were, looking back.

Hidden craftiness

So that is all I have for the week. Do you have anything good? Leave a comment so we can come visit you, too.

The greatest device ever?

Finally.

Saturday J. got his hot little hands on his very own (working!) iPhone, so now I don’t have to be all hush-hush about how amazing mine is any more.

FINALLY!

If you recall, J. waited in line for the phones on the Friday they came out. He got mine without any problems, but had many (many, many) problems with his. He had “bought” a phone, but since they were out of stock he had to wait for it. And even though they were getting more in stock all week, his phone was actually being shipped to him, so the store wouldn’t just give him one of the incoming phones. When his phone finally arrived, it was DOA. The girls and I tried to take it back to the Apple store for him but were only given an appointment for Saturday to bring it back in.

The guys at work were taking bets on whether J. would actually show up on Monday with an iPhone or not. As you can see, they lost. I was the only one who bet that he would indeed have one. (So pay up, boys!)

Girls in concert - iPhone pic

So on to how much I {heart} this phone.

  • The photos above…taken with my iPhone! (Pretty good quality, for a phone, eh?)
  • Traffic check, and mapping of an alternate route home from the aquarium the other day…done with my iPhone.
  • My ever expanding to-do list, always with me…on the iPhone.
  • My iPod that always seems to be dead -now it isn’t needed…I have my iPhone.
  • Can’t remember the name of a song?…wait, I have my iPhone. (Wicked cool program, it’ll listen to a bit of the song, figure it out, and bring it up on iTunes, so sweet.)
  • Surfing, blog reading, shopping, even writing my blogs…can do it all on the iPhone.
  • Check my calendar while dropping off Em’s friend to plan the next date…yep, it is all there, on my iPhone.

We are merely scratching the surface here, my friends. It is really indescribably cool. J. said to me tonight, “How can you deny that it is the coolest device, maybe ever?”

I can’t.

Floating ~ Best Shot Monday

I hardly took any photos last week. The days were filled with plenty to do, and this week is proving to be very busy already just looking at the calendar, but I still don’t quite feel myself. I don’t know if it is the vacation hangover, the dog days of summer, or what…but I seem to just be “floating” along.

Must be why I enjoyed taking the girls to the aquarium this past week so much. I was totally feeling the “vibe” of most of the animals there.

Floating ~ Best Shot Monday

Sea Dragon

Float along over to Tracey’s for more BSM photos.

The Punishment

After our fly-induced commotion earlier this week, I am hoping for a little reprieve for the last bit of the week.

This parenting stuff is hard.

And, I’m afraid I gave you all a false impression – it appears you may think I “handled” the situation calmly and with something resembling responsible parenting.

Yeah. About that. Here’s the rest of the story…

E: “No. My tennis racket.”
M: “Go sit on the steps. Now.”

I was a little flustered. I had NO clue how to handle this one. And honestly, I handle about 90% of the discipline around the house because I am with them the most, I just didn’t want to be the one to do something.

So, Emma was sent back to the step (and was there much longer than just five minutes!) while I called J. and told him that we had a situation. He told me to tell her that “Mommy and Daddy would discuss the punishment when he got home and he would see her in the morning.”

Nice. Very smooth. And it put the fear of DAD into her for a change. She went to bed without a peep.

We gave her two punishment options:
1. Give up TV and books before bed for a week
or
2. GIve up seeing the Space Chimps movie at the theater this weekend
(Both things we knew she would not want to give up and would indeed be punishments.)

She chose option one. So tonight we did bath and she went straight to bed.

The thing is…it is really hard to cut out our little reading time. For me, I mean. I really missed it tonight.

Not only that, I want to know what Junie B. is up to.

This is what our little Junie B. was up to today…terrorizing her little sister, of course.

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