Catching up a bit...

I haven't been able to keep up with my blog too much because we've been busy and Owen doesn't let me sit still at the computer for too long! I'm also a little addicted to Facebook!

Here are a few pictures to share. Owen enjoying some chocolate pudding last week. He loves his pudding.

Just a snap shot before bed last night.

My six dollar decorating project in Owen's room. I bought the black frames at Ikea for $2 each. The robots are a font I found at Scrap N Fonts. In PSE I colored them and added a drop shadow and printed out on cardstock.

Here is my new haircut! I decided yesterday I was tired of it and had 7" cut off!

Morgan is off for three days. Today we had the furnace and ducts cleaned and the faucet in the bathtub repaired. There goes our Christmas money! I'm hoping to get an Advent wreath made and maybe some other projects done. Like my September and October pictures edited and printed and my Week in the Life project done.

Thoughtful Friday...

"I'm as happy as a tornado in a trailer park!" -Mater (from Cars)

It's currently 9˚ here. Yes, you read that right. 9˚. For my Celsius friends that's -12˚. Which is darn cold! We're going for a high of 26˚ today. Wooo Whooo!

I don't think we'll be playing outside today. Especially since O is in just a diaper. Any ideas for fun activities with a 2 1/2 year old would be greatly appreciated. He's really into videos and TV lately and we need to get out of that mode!

Also, I'm planning to make an Advent Activity calendar so any ideas you have for fun, thoughtful, nice activities for Advent... please share. I will make a list of them and share once I have a bunch.

Have a great Friday!

Ugh...toddlerhood...

Owen has been a bit of a challenge lately. In our toddler class we've talked about this thing called the spiral of development that children move along. On the left side (there's a visual chart) is when they are in disequillibrium and on the right is when they are in equillibrium. There are ages that correspond with the sides. 2 1/2 is on the disequillibrium side. Super. Most days I can tell.

Yesterday we took a trip to Ikea with Mimi. It was a nice trip. Despite the challenges that Owen presented. Mimi got a new table for her kitchen and I got a couple Christmas gifts and a some picture frames and a few odds and ends. We had lunch there too. I love Ikea. I love the carts (3 choices of carts) and how all the wheels rotate. Not just 2 of them. Owen likes to spin in the cart. I love all the neat stuff and how there are full apartments of displays. The bathrooms have really cool Dyson hand dryers. I love the prices. I love the cafeteria. They even have bibs.

Last night I worked and then stopped at Toys R Us to look at train tables. I got a set of Cars cars for Owen for his Christmas stocking. Not sure about the train table idea yet. We've got a budget to stay within for Christmas gifts. Then I went to Archiver's to browse and get some cardstock. I also found a cute idea for Christmas ornaments. I'll share when I have a visual. Then I came home. Owen is always excited to see me. Somedays I'm not as excited to see him. I feel bad about that. Sometimes evenings are challenging and I don't look forward to them. It would be nice to be able to spend some time with Morgan after Owen goes to bed but by the time he's in bed and asleep it's already 10pm and we are both tired. So we talk for a few minutes and go to sleep. Last night I came out of O's room at 10. Washed up, grabbed my book and read for awhile and then went to sleep. Around 12:30 Owen woke up crying and hollering. I went in to try and settle him but he wasn't having it so I left him to work it out. I was so tired I just didn't have the energy to deal with him either. So I went back to bed. Unfortunately he didn't work it out himself and continued to get upset and gag and hack and then throw up. Morgan went in and got him. Then I got up. He ended up in our room watching TV. He finally calmed down and stayed in our bed to sleep. And now this morning he was mad because dee-dee was dirty. So dee-dee is in the washer and he is watching Sid the Science kid and eating crackers. I'm hoping today will be a better day. And because I don't want to wallow in all the things that are on my mind and causing me anxiety lately I've decided to do a list of things to be thankful for. So here goes.

I'm thankful for:

• Being able to stay home with Owen.
• Morgan helping to keep the kitchen clean.
• Spending time with my mom and Owen.
• Facebook
• Good friends
• My uncle and his friend coming to fix the tub faucet today and install the bathroom fan.
• having a job.
• having a creative outlet.
  

I also wanted tell all of you thank you for your kind words and support on my last post. THANK YOU!!

Believe it or not...

Fridays are my least favorite day of the week. By Friday there is little to look forward to in the day. We've been to Target, we've had lunch with Mimi, I've worked two days, Naunee has been over, toddler class was two days ago. There's just not anything to do. This week the weather has been wet and gray. That does nothing for my mood either. It also means we haven't been outside much. Morgan also tends to get home late on Fridays and by the time he gets home I'm well beyond my tolerance for being a SAHM.

This week has been particularly annoying for me in the SAHM dept. I'm feeling a little.... not unappreciated, I know what I do is accepted and appreciated, maybe just a little useless. Not in anyone else's mind but my own though. Sometimes I just have difficulty keeping in mind the importance of what I do. I guess sometimes I feel a little bit like nobody special. I don't have an important job (outside of my home). I don't make a lot of money. No one notices if I don't shower or wash my hair for several days. I'm not popular or famous. And I know those things are not what is important. And it's a lot of vanity to even worry about it. But somedays or weeks I just feel a little less interesting than I want to. It also doesn't help that a lot of my accomplishments during the day/week are undone so quickly! Especially my cleaning efforts.

For instance. This is how I like the kitchen to look. It looked like this when I went to work on Monday. And a few other times through out the week. But when I came home after work on Monday it did NOT look like this. I really think Morgan has a subconscious aversion to a kitchen this clean.

Some of you are aware of my little obsession with glittered and sparkly things. One of my favorite decorations for fall are my little glittered pumpkins and gourds. This year I found these apothecary jars at Michael's and thought they would be lovely for the buffet in our dining room. One has some of the glittered pumpkins in it and the other is waiting for some candy.
On the other side of the buffet is this pumpkin and little vintage looking glass turkey dish. I found the little turkey dish at JoAnn's for $2.

Yesterday I finished up the calendars for the craft fair on Sunday and then bought the easels before book club. I brought a sample for the girls to review. Maggie liked that it was bigger than last year's, BJ liked last year's better. And Lisa thought they were great. (Lisa is my new best friend!). Nikki was mumbling something to Maggie to the effect that they should all get one as gifts for Christmas. Especially since they already have the easel!!

I have some fun tags I made for the fair and a few more ideas that I'd like to work on. We'll see how it goes. My creative juices have been fairly cooperative this week and PSE has been cooperating too.

Here are a couple of layouts I finished up earlier this week. I'm mostly happy with how they turned out.

And now I think it's time for me to go because Owen has climbed onto my lap and wants to type too. He likes to see the green light on the caps lock. So while I'm typing all the sudden everything is in all caps. Toddlers are so helpful!

Cleaning...

I think I've mentioned before that I enjoy cleaning. It's therapeutic for me. I like things in order and clean and tidy. I like to know where everything is. I don't like to search for things. It took me awhile (and some therapy) to learn that people have different tolerance levels for messes. Morgan and I have different tolerances. When I cook I clean up as I go along. Morgan doesn't. He claims it's because he's in a hurry. But I think it's just not how he works.

Most days I spend a lot of time putting things back where they belong. My stuff, Morgan's stuff, Owen's stuff. All the stuff. I'm the one who knows where the stuff is. Or at least I'm the one who is always asked where things are. "Have you seen my keys?" "Have you seen my wallet?" "Have you seen my phone?" "Have you seen my shoes?" I rarely have to ask these questions because I KNOW where my stuff is! I keep telling Morgan to put his stuff in the same place so then he knows where it is. Sometimes he does, lots of time he doesn't. And I'm always accused of moving it! And sometimes I do. Because I think shoes should go in the closet! Silly me!

Anyway, yesterday I had the kitchen nice and clean. Dishes done and put away. Counters and table wiped up. Floor swept. Then I went to work. When I came home all my efforts were undone. I think Morgan has a subconscious (or not) desire to foil all my cleaning! He did wash up the dishes he used and sort of wipe the counters. But as I mentioned we have different ideas about what is clean and I have work to do.

I tend to be a little obsessive at times about the state of our house. This week is one of those times. Other weeks I can let things go a bit. But lately that's not the case. So today I'm tidying up and obsessing about germs. Lucky me!

A busy Monday...

It's been a busy Monday around here. While I'm still in my PJ's I've accomplished the following already today (in no particular order):

1. Got out of bed. (This is a big deal for me as a lot of the time I'd just rather stay cozied up in there!)
2. Fed Owen 2 good meals and a snack. I've had a few bites of good meals.
3. Finished putting plastic on the rest of the windows in the house. That 3M indoor window insulation stuff ROCKS!
   
4. Washed dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.
   
5. Cleaned all the toys out of the tub yesterday. While Owen didn't have a bath yesterday he had fun throwing all of his bath toys into the tub while I was in it.
   
6. Made the bed.
7. Harvested some crops on my FB farm. I love that application!
8. Played with Owen. Chase, get you, Mama Dat? Read some stories.
9. Put O down for a nap.
   

I've got the following this to accomplish:

1. Sew up the curtain for the bathroom.
   
2. Take a shower.
3. Clean the bathroom.
4. Sweep the kitchen floor.
   
5. Work on the 2009 calendar I'm going to sell at a craft fair this weekend.
6. Go to work.

And whatever else comes my way!

*****EDITED*****
I got all the things on my list done! Go me!

Happy Birthday to my honey...

Today is Morgan's birthday. My birthday week is officially over! Happy Birthday honey! I love you! You are a great husband and a wonderful father.

Owen and I got Morgan a guitar for his birthday. While O is sleeping I'm going to hide it and write clues so it's like a scavenger hunt. I would have given it to him this morning but he gets up way too early. He's hoping to come home a little early from work today but Fridays are busy for him so it may not happen. O and I may bake a cake today too.

It's also snowing today. Which I'm sure Morgan is happy about. He didn't get much skiing in last year because of our lack of snow. Maybe this year will be different.

The challenge on 2P's today is: What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think back to being 18? Ick! Seriously, just ick. High school was my least favorite time of my life. I didn't feel like I fit in and I didn't like a lot of the people in my high school and I just wanted to get out of there. Despite my dislike of the number 35, I'm happy with who I am and my life. I guess that makes the icky parts worth it.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thoughts on a rainy Thursday...

Random thoughts for today...

1. Why does Morgan need to make such a mess in the kitchen?? There are 5 knives, 1 vegetable peeler and a zester on the counter right now. Who uses that many knives to cook!?
2. Now sure how O and I are going to survive a rain day today. He's playing with stuff in the sink right now. (The knives are on another counter and not within his reach!).
   
3. I'm going to make soup today. The recipe made me anxious just looking at it! I can put furniture together and follow complicated computer directions but recipes give me the hives!
4. I love facebook.
5. Morgan put some of my birthday cupcakes in the freezer. He didn't think I'd be able to eat them all. I love a good challenge!
6. Morgan's birthday is tomorrow. Owen and I have a little surprise for him!
7. I'm having a hard time reading the book club book for this month. It's non-fiction, kind of long and a little boring.
   

And I'll stop there! Hope you have a great Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday...2 1/2 years old today...

Hooray Hooray it's election day!

Owen and I went and voted this morning. It's a lovely day here in MN so we walked to the school where we vote and then went to the park. Owen was a little irritated about voting. He thought we were going to "boat". He kept talking about boats and such and I kept telling him we were voting, not boating. Which of course just made him mad. But then I told him we could go to the park after I voted and that seemed to perk him up. It was nice to get some fresh air. This is one of the trees at the park. I've taken very few pictures this fall so I took my camera with me to see if I could capture a bit of the warm fall weather we're having.

I am so thrilled for today to have finally come. In the 17 years I've been of voting age I don't think I've felt anticipation for an election like I do for this one. First for it to be just plain over and second to find out who wins. In MN we've had a particularly vicious senate race going on between Senator Norm Coleman and Al Franken. It's practically overshadowed the presidential race. And I'm not big on publicly advertising my vote I can say that I did not cast my vote for either of them. I chose the independent man, Dean Barkley. He's a long shot (which surprises me) but I have hope that neither of the mud slingers will get elected.

Both Morgan's mom and sister tried to change his mind on his vote yesterday. I find it interesting that neither of them bothered with me! Morgan and I can talk politics and have frequently during this election. While we disagree on some issues and candidates we always hear the other out and respect the others decision because we know it's an educated and thought out decision. I don't think either Morgan's mom or sister gave Morgan that same courtesy yesterday. They basically approached him with the thought that his choice was the wrong one and he was making a bad decision. Both of them have made their choice based heavily on one issue with little consideration of other issues and also for fear of what the "other" candidate might bring. This is just not how Morgan or I think or approach things. We both tend to be optimistic regardless of which direction the election goes and we also try to examine a broad range of issues. I believe in any election it is the choice of lesser evils and a person has to decide who they believe is right for what they believe is important. I guess that is what Morgan's mom and sister did but I got the feeling that their decisions were not as informed as they could be.

Happy voting everyone! And may the person who wins to the best they can with what they've got!

Oh boy 35!

Today is my 35th birthday. To be honest I can't believe I am 35. Turning 30, which feels like just yesterday, really freaked me out. And here I am 35. Which I definitely don't feel like I should be. The odd part is that 30 and beyond has been the best part of my life thus far. I am older and wiser and feel more confident in myself. I have a great husband and good friends and family that loves me and a wonderful little boy. Lots of people do a list of things to do before they turn another year older. I contemplated a list of that sort but I couldn't come up with 35 things I wanted to do. At least things of significance. So I decided on a list of 35 things I am thankful for. I'm going to have Morgan take my picture later today and then I will do a layout about the 35 things with the picture. It's my way of letting go of the number and embracing all of what my life has brought and what the experiences of it have taught me and appreciating all that I have.

Here are a couple of pictures from previous birthdays. My mom had one of my 18th birthday. I forgot to bring it home with me though. But I had to look at the number on the birthday cake to determine how old I was! I thought I looked about 13.

This was my 4th or 5th birthday. I can't tell for sure. But I know there are little gnomes on that cake!