Friday, September 30, 2005

Sisters Love



just messing with that doodling fad that has come over from the art journal craze. I feel like it needs something else. I suppose if I were just going to give in completely, I ought to have Prima flowers on there somewhere. LOL!

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

It's Official

I no longer have a baby. I have a toddler instead. I just watched her walk away from me, her little knees picking up and her feet stepping like she was walking across a movie theater floor, pulling them out of stickiness. She's speeding up. She no longer pauses between steps readjusting her equilibrium--she just goes. It's not running yet, but I think she'll be doing that very soon. When she falls, she just stands back up. It was just two weeks ago today that she learned how to stand in the middle of the floor for the first time.

She's still chubby and adorable and babbling. she still nurses and wears diapers. But she's not a baby anymore.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Happy


I've been grumpy lately. Can't say it's "that time" because I haven't had a "that time" for 21 months (and that makes me happy.) so my sweet husband brought me home a present this evening. You are free to be as jealous as you like. For informational purposes the chocolates are from Fawn's Fudge Factory (Home of the Cow Pie and Roll in the Hay ;) ) truly at least as good as See's.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Warning: Gushiness to Follow

I married a dreamer. He calls himself an "idea man." And he has ideas. Unfortuanately, they are always million dollar ideas, as in it would take a million dollars to make work. Needless to say, we have to let them go and nothing ever happens with them.

About a year ago though, he had an idea that wouldn't cost us anything. It would just take a lot of work to make happen. So he started planning. He worked out the details. Then he started making it happen this summer. He has worked very hard and smoothed out a lot of bumps, and tonight his dream is going to happen.

Cherie Call will be playing a house concert this evening. She is a Deseret Book recording artist from SLC and a fabulous musician. She'll perform this evening in one home and then tomorrow in another. Bascially, a house concert is what it sounds like. A musician comes into a home and puts on a small concert. Someone has to be host and invites friends and family to come listen and everyone pays a small donation to the artist to pay their expenses and time. It's a pretty cool idea and I'm very much looking forward to the concerts.

Steve is hoping that these two house concerts can steamroll into a series of concerts in our area hosted by different people and featuring many different artists, known and unknown. I think he can make it happen.

I'm proud of you, Steve.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

They Finally Got Me

I have never been very tempted by the Swiffer. The idea of a broom that I couldn't use unless I bought particular dust cloths really repelled me. I could just see myself doing cost per use averaging, "it cost me 50 cents to sweep my floor today. I had better just skip it tomorrow." I'd be pulling out the old broom and letting the swiffer sit. Because a swiffer doesn't just cost $20 the first time you buy it, it cost something every single time you use it. It's really a slam dunk product for the company. Once they get you to buy the broom, you're hooked and they will get money from you as long as you use the product.

Of course, then they had to come out with fancy new products in the swiffer line. I thought the deep ridges clothes were kind of cool. Sadly, those are the kind that I would have to use in this house, what with the dirt from seven feet and the dog hair. The Swiffer Jet is pretty cool too. A mop without a bucket is always a handy thing. It intrigued me, but never really temped me. I have a mop that is basically free to use sitting in my closet right now. I paid $5 for it two years ago and cost per use is sitting under a penny.

Oh but then Swiffer had to come out with that stupid vaccuum. And about the same time I got an area rug in my living room. Right now I have to get out the broom and vaccuum every day to keep my livingroom floor clean. Besides the fact that my full sized vaccuum is hard on my woven rug, it's akward and a pain to break out every day. Now that Swiffer vaccuum thing would be perfect. I could dust mop the floor and vaccuum the rug with one shiney new, lightweight pretty toy. It would be easy. I would do it every day. My floors would be pretty and shiney and the Millenium would be ushered in.

See, I need me one of those vaccuum things. Oh and while you're buying me one, could you pick up one of those Mr. Clean mop thingys so I can mop the floor around my toilet without having to get down on my knees? thanks.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

More Bubba Stories

This morning Matt found a flashlight. It's one of those big ones with lots of light. He's turned off all the lights he can reach so he can play with it better. He said to me, "turn off the light, so I pretend my hand is a duck."

so I turned off the light and he set the flashlight down and ran right over to the wall. With his little hand an inch away he brings his fingers and thumb together "quack, quack." then he giggles and runs off to turn off all the other lights.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Just Sharing

my favorite layout of the moment (click to make it bigger):

Friday, September 16, 2005

Yes, I'm going to discuss the red couch again

When we were at the furniture store buying the Red Couch, there was another couch there that tempted me. It was sleek and low, with blocky lines and Italian leather. It was red too but a more orangy red and not quite so bright. It was trendy and modern looking. It looked hip and cool. It was also $300 more than the couch we bought.

I was having a hard time deciding between the two couches. Steve was so cool. He just said, "get what makes you happy." And I almost bought the leather couch. The hip one, because I wanted to be hip and cool.

As I stood there in the middle of the store contemplating both couches, I said to Steve, "The canvas couch is more who we really are but the leather couch is more what I wish I was." and that sweet man just said "well then get the leather, because you should never let anything hold you back from what you want to be."

But we came home with a canvas couch with big fluffy cushions and soft lines anyway. it's a casual couch. a fun couch. a cuddling couch. And you know what? I don't miss that leather couch. I love my big, comfy couch. It's so nice to curl up in. It fits with my life and with what I need a couch to be. What I need myself to be.

Because sometimes, what you wish you were isn't really right. I am a jeans and t-shirt sort of person. I'm very casual and a home body no matter how much I picture myself in a sleek house with dinner parties. It wouldn't be me and I wouldn't be comfortable there.

It's hard to get comfortable with yourself and accept who you are. I'm learning. I never thought I would learn something from a couch though ;)

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Pretending

last night at dinner Matty pulled the neck of his shirt up over his nose: "I'm a Boobah!"

he's a crazy one. He also likes going around saying listen to this and then breathing heavy or saying "Luke I am your father" in the deepest voice he can wrangle out of his throat.

His daddy found a Darth Vadar mask at Wally's. guess what Matt's going to be for Halloween? ;) Steve's trying to talk me into letting him be "Darth Bubba" which would involve the mask paired with plaid flannel and overalls.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

The Reason God Invented Valium

After two sessions and 4 dozen frames, we finally have the annual family photo. the one that was supposed to be done back in July. I have learned that I really need to get a remote for my camera before next year. I have also decided that I need to be able to take photos in burst mode on my timer. oh, and that I need a magic power that lets me freeze them all in place so they stop turning their heads right before the shutter snaps.

They ran around and Matt was upset that we wouldn't let him wear a hat in the picture. Then he found a big rock and dubbed it his nose rock and of course, he wanted his picture taken with it . . . up by his nose. Marilla kept trying to shield her eyes and since this little trick was what ruined the last set of pictures (that and the fact that she was wearing a dress and didn't sit like she was wearing a dress) we jumped in to nip that in the bud.

pictures were taken and then they got to explore. We went up to the hill that's a block from our house. It's a fun place for the kids to run around and look at stuff. they threw rocks and scuffed their feet in the dirt and generally acted like wild hooligans, in other words, they acted pretty normally.

Here's the result, one picture out of 48 tries:

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Pondering Life's Great Mysteries

Why is the difference between too hot and too cold on shower faucets always less than 1 milimeter's movement on the knob?

Why is it when you don't need something you can name exactly where it is and in the case of pens or cotton balls, have excess amounts that fall on your head when you look in cupboards for that thing you need right then that until the moment you needed it you knew where it was but now that you need it not a one can be found?

Why is it the clothing industry thinks that if you have size 18 hips you must be 7 feet tall?

Why is it children will be having a roaring game of race or tag inside but the moment you send them outside the game is over and they suddenly become bored?

Why is it so easy to fall asleep on the couch when you are tired but when you get up and take yourself to bed you lay awake for an hour trying to fall asleep?

And the big question of the day:
Why is it that even though I have known for a month that I would be teaching a lesson today at church I put off preparing that same lesson until the last minute?

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Evil Mommy

last thursday I cleaned my children's rooms for them. While they were at school and couldn't watch me do it. They thought I was being nice. They thanked me and everything. Gave me hugs. smiled. If I could do an evil laugh it would fit in here right about now. tsk, tsk. they just don't know. They have not yet learned that the last thing any child should want is for Mother to clean their room.

Because you know I tossed. A full garbage bag for each bedroom. Toys have disappeared from the shelves, paper work from school that was being saved for who knows what reason have melted in ether. Puzzles missing pieces vaporized. ah yes. Mom cleaned, hoping all the while that the hard work was actually going to get her somewhere, that the rooms would in fact stay clean and be easier for the kids to clean.

But that's the big joke. It does not, in fact, work like that at all. Somehow, their rooms look exactly the same as they did before I put all that work into them. So, really, the last thing any mother should want is to clean their kids rooms for them. Someone had to learn a lesson from all this, I suppose.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

And She's Off!

Rilla is reading. Really reading. I think it's clicking for her. I knew she was getting very close to being able, so I checked out a Dick and Jane book from the library. I love Dick and Jane for early reading. The often repeated words are great for helping her have success and early recognition of high frequency words. The stories only introduce one or two new words each time, so she gets more confident the more she reads the book.

We have been reading Dick and Jane together two nights now. After I'm done helping her, she goes on to read some by herself. It's so cute to listen to her as she reads words she knows and carefully sounds out the ones she doesn't. Sometimes she does a wild guess but we slow down and I encourage her to sound out each letter to be sure she gets the word right.

I love that she is reading now. I love that she wants to read. I hope that she develops the same love for books that the rest of us have.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

How Amy Got Her Groove Back or Creative Blocks Suck

So I mentioned that I had scrappers block for two months. It was horrible. I avoided my desk completely. But I have broken through it and I don't see it ever happening to me again like that. why? because I've given myself permission to scrap how I want to scrap.

I know, I know, not a big deal right? You just do what you like and heck to everyone else, there's no wrong way and all that. However, this new way is totally backwards from how I had been scrappping, so it wasn't just a matter of deciding it was ok, it was a matter of discovering what worked.

Anyway, a few months ago as I was doing my pages for the Power Team contest, (the evil, evil contest! sorry Jyl) I had an epiphany about inspiration. I had been trying to see layouts in art work and advertising because, well, that's the fashionable way to get inspired these days. It wasn't working for me so well. One day I was thinking about how I had really wanted to be an architect in high school and how I still really loved to look at buildings and then it hit me. I could use architecture as my inspiration.

It worked. I picked up a copy of Architecture Digest and read through it with a sketch pad next to me. I had page layouts flying through my head. it was amazing. I was getting ideas just from my other ideas. I sketched out everything I thought of whether it would make a good page or not. And then I started translating them into pages and that's where I hit a snag.

See, I just went digital in march. I was still used to having a stack of 4x6 photos to scrap. 4x6 photos that I carefully composed and seldom wanted to crop in any way. So all my layouts had to be based on that size of photos, but my sketches weren't like that. my creative side was arguing with my scrooge side (which is pretty dominate since I've given it free reign over the years.) Creative said I needed to be printing out the pics myself in the sizes I needed. Scrooge said it was too expensive and I needed to be ordering pics online at 12 cents each.

As soon as I gave Scrooge the boot, my mojo came back. It's been fabulous liking what I'm doing again. even the pages that I can honestly say are not my best work, I still like. They are ok and that's fine. I'm enjoying the process again. It's fun to start with the design and not the photos. I flip through my sketch book looking for a design that speaks to me, one that I would love to create at that moment. Then I go find pictures that fit, edit and print them up, and I scrap. And I like the results.

when all is said and done, that's the miracle: that I like scrapbooking again. It's a great feeling.

Monday, September 05, 2005

List for the day

I'm listing out my to do's because I know it won't happen unless I do:

1. clean house
2. make children help clean house
3. try not to let #2 drive me to insanity

see, not a long list.

Sunday, September 04, 2005

call me crazy

I don't know if any of you remember how I was after I lost the Power Team contest. I couldn't scrap for two months. i was thinking of changing my hobby. it lost all it's fun for me. I swore I would never do that to myself again.

which is why I think I'm nuts for appying for another design team. This one is a new product manufacturer. Scuttlebutt says they have worked in the scrapbook industry and have designed some really cute product. I like the terms of agreement for the DT. cash for pages is my way of thinking ;) so, just for the heck of it, I'm going to go for it. I also hope I can do this without getting too worked up and emotionally involved. I guess this is my test for taking myself a bit less seriously, a test to see if I can persue higher levels in the industry as a page designer without losing myself in it.

It will be interesting.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

The Unexpected Is Always Expected


this is what I found in my sugar bowl last week. It's a toy compass. It doesn't work. It does, however, fit inside the sugar bowl and that's the only explanation I have for why it's there. Because it fits . . . .

In all senses of the word. This is Bedlam after all.

I guess I'm shallow

I don't get network televison. we would have to buy cable or satilite and I can't see spending that much so our kids can zone out in front of Spongebob. So we basically arent' getting much news lately. and I like it that way! I like not having to see the networks revisit the same horror stories over and over. I like not knowing how low human beings can sink when they are desperate. I like not seeing the images flash across my screen.

I don't like being emotional. I don't like crying. I will shut myself off first. I'm not seeking out news from the Gulf Coast because I don't want to see it. My heart aches for those who are hurt, who are missing, who's lives have been ripped to pieces. but I don't want to see it.

On the way home from Ut this past weekend we drove past a wreck. There was a full sized semi laying on it's side and then behind it this compact car without a back end. it was gone. just not there. they cut the doors off the front and I could see the air bag inflated in front of the steering wheel. The trailer was smashed and there were brown boxes leaking out the cracks in the twisted metal. We drove past this at 70 mph. I could hardly breathe.

This image replays in my mind at odd times and my chest literally aches thinking about the possibility of someone being in that back seat. I don't want more awful images in my head. I guess that means I'm shallow, but it's how I deal.