Verbally Challenged

while waiting for dinner – playing with his new Nemo cell phone (love that Disney store).

“Daddy all my wishes come true”

Um yeah…where does he come up with this stuff? Really.

I’m off to find the new toy that says that.

Happy Holidays to whoever is out there reading this! I know that it’s a little delayed but I got caught up in all of the family stuff that goes along with holiday celebrations!

We had a fantastic time this year and man if our families aren’t generous! Unbelievable. We have a lot of cleaning up to do still since I was out of commission yesterday. Nate had to do everything – and I mean everything! I woke up with a stomach flu that rendered me unconscious (well almost) on the couch. Fortunately it was one of those 12-hour deals and today I’m back!!!

I took tons of pictures over a two-day period and want to put some of the better ones up on Shutterfly. I’ll link everyone to them once they’re up. Many of the indoor shots are blah because I used an flash because of the low light, that’s about all that I can do. Ah well, memories were still captured at least, right?

So in addition to getting caught up on housework I really need to get scrapping. Nate bought me a new genesis trimmer for Christmas and get this – he ordered it LAST YEAR for Christmas. They take about a year to get because each one is handmade – it’s beautiful! Yep, I just called a paper cutter beautiful. I have three assignments that need addressed. I’m waiting on supplies for one of them though and have a feeling that Fed Ex may be delivering that box today!

I’ll off to work and play with my boy! Have a great day everyone! Photos coming soon – I promise!

Oh it’s getting close, one more day and ol’ Santa will be arriving. Are you ready?

It has been nuts around my house but I’m doing the fun things now. Enjoying stacks of WRAPPED presents, eating BAKED cookies and listening to awesome music. Ah the music. THAT gets me going.

Topping my music lift:

Burl Ives….I LOVE that man!
Harry Connick Jr. – everything he does just rocks!
Michael Crawford singing O Holy Night…sounds sappy but I get teary eyed at the end EVERY time…when does THAT go away?
Kenny Rogers/Wynona Judd singing “Mary did you Know”…I’m SO not a country music fan but this song is really really cool.
Dean Martin…smooth man…he’s smooth…really.

But I’m not entirely ready for Christmas Eve. I’m still working on my Christmas Eve brunch and getting out my pretty Christmas dishes (LOVE the Potterybarn holiday collection)…organizing everything. But it’s nice to be OUT of holiday panic mode and INTO the “I can do it stage”…I’m there!

Enjoy!

Whew. I’m taking a much-needed break IN A CHAIR with back support! I swear that I’ve been standing all day. Wait, I sat down to fold my laundry – does that count?

So I discovered something today while running around my house for the third day in a row – cleaning, straightening, BAKING, folding – Nate and I ARE NOT PIGS! Go figure! We hired a cleaning gal to come every other week because I needed some help maintaining. I’m constantly wandering around the house saying that we need to modify our lifestyle, pick up after ourselves and stop buying things. But today – after THREE days of staying home I made this discovery. You see, normally I’m working at my folks’ office 2-3 three days a week. Liam comes with me and hangs out with his cousin, playing stuff…he has an absolute ball there. I consider it a vacation from the house because the work isn’t intense or stressful – it just gives my mind something to do. And then Liam and I have playgroup one day a week to do the whole toddler socialization bit and then we my My Gym class on another day. Add in grocery shopping, a few other stops, and exercising – there is my week. My realization, I have no time to clean!!! Heck, I didn’t even mention my scrapbooking jobs/obligations – another major time killer but I wouldn’t give them up for ANYTHING!!!!

So really, Nate and I are not slobs…I’m just too dang busy to keep up! Whew, that feels better. And seriously, I have done more in these three days than in three months. Really. It feels good. I think that I need to stay home more often.

Some things that I’m digging right this very second:

The movie “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” – just finished watching that while sketching out a few layout ideas.

The band Coldplay – I’m listening to them now that my movie is over and the song “Fix You” gets me going – love that!

The new MAMBI paper that I’m playing with – trying to get a few things to groove.

New photos that I took this morning while putting out more decorations – that’s always one way to jump start MY creativity! And how about this crazy little dude…he really liked dancing around with the beads!

Naps – and the fact that Liam is taking one right now. Naps give me a little bit of freedom or ME TIME – major plus!

M&M’s – and they’re Christmas ones! I’m not a HUGE fan of them normally but right now they’re hitting the spot BIG TIME!

And finally, snow. I’m in for the night, it’s still a little light out and I’m enjoying the view from my studio. The woods are so pretty!!! Natural inspiration.

That’s it for right now. Back to work for me!!!

It’s beginning to look a lot like winter in my neck of the woods.

It looks lovely and very cold outside. The inner child in me still wants to go out and play (for about five minutes) before heading back in for some cocoa with marshmallows! Maybe I’ll just skip the playing and go right for the marshmallows! Liam still needs some snow boots. Last year he got the whole outfit, the snow pants, boot, coat, and mittens – and only wore it a few times. I’m not sure what I want to do this year. Snow gear is practical, when you use it – but right now it seems to be a waste of money. Maybe I’ll see what target has in the way of boots.

So with this snow comes decision. Do I bother going out today for a gym class this morning? I hate to miss them because I have to make them up – and I already have three to make up because he was “interviewing” at a Montessori school. I also need to grocery shop – not high on my list of things to do right now. I need to check out the news and see what’s going on outside. Perhaps I’ll just call it a family snow day and we’ll just stay inside and bake cookies – my stomach sure likes the idea of that. OR I can curl up on the couch with my new book…

Not what you expected, eh? Do you Sudoku? My mother-in-law was super kind in sending this to me earlier in the week. We both are into this. It’s all about numbers and making them work – some of the puzzles are super challenging and just plain mind numbing. But for a gal obsessed with numbers (just ask my husband) who also had a minor counting OCD issue awhile back – this is the perfect fit! Cool stuff!

Thanks Marybeth for the book!

Stay warm everyone!

WARNING! This entry is a bit of a photo overload – but I’m a sap when it comes to Christmas traditions – needing to remember everything (and then some). We went back to our little Christmas tree farm that is fairly local. I like that it’s small, and quaint, and Liam can just run through all of the trees.

So here is Liam being Liam. Running through the trees, playing in the branches – thinking that it’s the coolest thing ever!

And here is Liam being the wanderer that he is.

This is Liam “building something out of snow” – but really he just tries to eat it. Nice. Then he complains when his hands are too cold – daddy lets him tuck his hands in his jacket to warm up and gets to cuddle.

These shots show our tree and what a great help Liam is!

Finally, the parent shots!

So that was our day yesterday. The tree is up in the living room but not decorated. We like to give it some time to warm up and settle. Hopefully we’ll do it tonight! I’m off to enjoy the football game and warm fire – before finishing an assignment.

Happy Sunday all!

I live in a cluttered, dusty, unorganized world right now – and it’s stressing me out! It’s not always like this, well, maybe a little. We’re undergoing renovations right now. We have ceramic tile in our entryway, laundry room and kitchen. It’s being torn up and replaced. Sooooooo…I’m shuffling around piles of crap that I don’t even need, tripping over stuff that I don’t even want and dusting off garbage that I shouldn’t even own. So why am I doing this? Really, why? If you know why PLEASE let me know. I need to purge – BIG TIME!

Chaos – don’t deal well. Change – not well there either. Lack of control – major/see a therapist going to jump off a bridge bad. Seriously, ask my husband who has been dealing with me, a raging lunatic, for the past week. I can’t even stand MYSELF!!! Nate, you’re a saint.

Heck, I need to lighten up. I know it, you can tell me.

On another home improvement note, my second floor bathroom is also under renovation. Nate is doing this one, brave soul. The poor guy hardly gets enough time but he’s working on it, slowly. He has made serious improvement this week and I’m happy to report that paint has gone up today. The color? A lovely shade of The Incredible Hulk – seriously it is THAT green. Not sure what I think of it now. I’m all about the bold color (and my house shows that), but the green is a bit…well…green. We’ll see what happens. With a blackish slate floor, sink base and bamboo curtain it may be ok – emphasis on the may. I picked the color – it didn’t look hulky at the time.

OK…so here are some photos just to give a visual. Now I don’t have the hulky bathroom yet..I’ll keep you in suspense on that one (yeah…like you’re dying right now). But here is a photo of my powder room with the completed tile (this comes off of my entryway).

Loving the new tile! It’s much darker and will hide all of the dog beast dirt a lot better!

Now…the scary stuff. Here is my laundry room with just the backer board down. Tile will be installed tomorrow (disregard the color in there – it’s funky in the night light with the flash). Then there is my kitchen taken in two parts. It shows the old tile. I should add that it’s cracked in many places due to stupid home depot installation only THREE years ago! And yes, they’re paying for the new stuff. The photos also feature the loving crap piles everywhere. See Liam’s lovely blue wiggles pillow on the counter? Nice.

So there is my home improvement hell.

Now I can’t leave on a crappy Nellie negative note…not a good thing. So let me show you a couple of things that are making me happy these days. I’m trying to see the good through all of the dust in my house right now (and let me tell you folks, it’s hard)! I bought these funky stars from Pier 1 just the other day. They’re hanging out on my dusty dining room table. You put tea lights in them and they’re pretty festive!

And then these little faces make me happy. They need homes and before I get lynched by the fam I should say – not MY home – just A home. I’m just admiring them from a distance.

Night kids!