Charlie's 1st birthday: a little peek

Oh my goodness... you have to see the photos that our friend Josh took at Charlie's birthday party.
Oh. my. goodness.

Click here to be amazed.
And while you're there, check out the other beeeautiful work he does.

How lucky are we to have a super-talented photographer friend? Wow.

Hopefully, I can convince him to give me a few of the photos so that I can share the party details with you later.
Thank you, thank you, Josh!

almost wordless wednesday

Last weekend, we were listening to Christmas music while decorating the Christmas tree. (Specifically, Chris Tomlin's Christmas CD. So good, FYI)

I turned around to grab some ornaments, and when I looked over at Avery this is what I saw:

Are you kidding me with that?

Somebody's Daddy is a worship pastor.

Oh, my heart...it just hurts with love for her sometimes...

really?

This is what happens when you leave your camera around my brothers and sister for a few days.

...And this post is what happens when crazy pictures end up on a blogging mom's camera.

Oh yeah. They're on the blog. 
That's right.
Yes, that's you.
Running across the pool cover.
Looking cool on the blog.

FYI: There approximately 55 photos like that on my camera.

20 of them are of my mom sleeping.

Poor Mom.

The thing that really kills me is about these pictures is the props they used.

They actually spent time looking for props.
Time that might be spent doing more... constructive things.

And yes, those two goofballs dress up like that for every holiday.

                              

Don't think I won't be grabbing a camera or two at Christmas this year.

counting the days

This Christmas, I decided to make an Advent Calendar.

If I'm really honest, I'm more crafty than I am creative.
There is a distinct - and very important - difference between the two.

Creative people come up with brand spankin' new ideas.
Crafty people copy Creative people's stuff.

I'm definitely not creative.
But I am a pretty good copy cat.

And thanks to Al Gore's super-cool invention, I can be inspired by Creative people all over the world.

So without further adieu, I bring you a few souvenirs from my cyber trip around the globe:

I found a few made out of round tins.
Nice.
And some made to open like drawers
Cute. 
Then there was the banner kind.
Nice and cute...
And of course the pie tins
super nice and cute.

I saw about a zillion-and-two cute ways to create an Advent out of fabric too, but I didn't even entertain the thought that I could copy any of them.
I just lovingly gazed at them and stashed the ideas in my mental files for another day.
A day when I learn how to sew... without someone standing over my shoulder telling me EXACTLY what to do.

It took me awhile to make a decision, but here's what I finally settled on:

Instead of the traditional round tins, I chose square ones that I bought from a store on Etsy named Lilian Olive.

The process went something like this:
I painted a 16 x 20 canvas.
I used Cosmo Cricket's line of Christmas papers named Jolly By Golly to cover the tins.
I found a few odds and ends to embellish the tins with and then put velcro on the back of the tins to adhere them to the canvas.
I added a little ribbon to hang the canvas with and... we were ready to roll.

Each box has an activity that we will do during the nights before Christmas. Most of the activities are free, (local parades, making cookies, looking at lights, watching Christmas movies) but some are things we will do around town (storytime with Santa, a living nativity, etc). All the activities are things that we will do together as a family.

I'm soooo excited about it.
Way more excited than anyone else in the family is.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that Charlie would be happy if I let him play with the toilet paper for 25 nights straight.

So - anyone else make an advent this year?

Dear Santa...

Yes, Avery, there is a Santa Clause.

And if you really want

www.amazon.com

a mommy crocodile
a baby crocodile
a room full of birds
and

you may just get it.

Maybe.

Well - maybe not the birds or crocodiles, but definitely the corn.

And possibly the obnoxious Barbie guitar... Because it's better than a room full of birds.

Santa's Day Job

We took Charlie and Avery to their first college basketball game last night.

Charlie was mesmerized by the sights and sounds.

I was mesmerized by this man:

You can't see him super well because I was trying to be sneaky about taking his picture, but I'm pretty sure it's Santa. With a rockin' braided rat tail.
Oh yeah.
That's niiiice.

(Hmmm...I hope my Paparazzi skills don't land me with a giant lump of coal in my stocking this year...)

12 months

He's one.
Officially.
I can't believe it.
12 months old...

It seems like yesterday that I was heading to the hospital to have him... (Running late for my C-section - of course. Because I can't be on time. Ever. Ugh.)

From the first moment I saw him, my heart melted into a big puddle in the floor.
He was beautiful and perfect.
It took exactly one look into those sweet blue eyes for me to fall completely and hopelessly in love.

He was a little part of me, a little part of David, and an amazing gift from our Heavenly Father. I felt like the luckiest girl on earth.

(November 2008)

His sweet, laid-back disposition has always made caring for him so easy. Even the nurses in the hospital mentioned his easy-going nature.

(November 2008)

The sleepless early days quickly turned into routine-filled months. And - in nothing short of light speed - those precious, live-changing months became our first year with the sweetest little boy I know.

(May 2009)

Watching him grow and change has been such a blessing.

His little blue eyes are constantly taking in the world around him. There's nothing sweeter than watching my little guy experience life's simple moments for the first time.

(September 2009)

(August 2009)

And you can't deny the incredible sweetness of those smooshy toes.

(September 2009)

He loves to cuddle, loves to play, and reaaally loves to eat.

(September 2009)

And there's just no one on earth can make him giggle and smile like his big sister.

(May 2009)

His quick smile makes my heart jump.

(August 2009)

I just plain adore him.

 

(October 2009)

Happy Birthday, Little Man.
You are a joy.
How thankful I am for you!

I can't wait to see what God has in store for you!

(November 2009)

Bossy McBossersson

Avery's newest obsession is Max and Ruby.

We've watched Max and Ruby's Halloween precisely one meeellion times now. And we'll probably be watching it all the way through Christmas, Valentines Day, and Easter.
'Cause that's how we do things around here.

I've gotta tell you, on a scale of 1-10, Max and Ruby is like a 8.5 on the annoying scale for me.
Not as annoying as Dragon Tales (because not many things in the universe are more annoying than Dragon Tales), but considerably more annoying than Diego.

Every time I am forced to watch Max and Ruby, I think,
"Poor Max.
Why can't Ruby just leave him alone?
Micro-Manage much, Ruby?"

Then something happened.
The other night, I came across this video from August.


It's looking like I may have a little Ruby on my hands.

It's funny how one 58 second video can have the power to change a simple children's cartoon into a stunning documentary on life with a three-year-old.

those terrible three's

When did this little sweetness

turn into this?

There's something to be said for the rumors circulating about the terrible three's.

Don't believe me?

Ask the family of three and all of the employees of a certain sub shop that we visited for dinner last night.

Evidently, something as simple as asking a three-year-old to eat their sandwich meat can turn into World War III...Complete with weeping and gnashing of teeth, scraping of the tongue, and fake vomitting noises.

Lovely.

This is going to be a fun year.

why ask why?

Why is talking to yourself considered a bad thing, but humming to yourself considered totally normal?

Why can't someone give Michelle Duggar some new shoes?

Why are french fries so good? And why can't I stop eating them?

Why does watching "The Biggest Loser" make me want to stuff my face?

Will I ever get the guts to paint my armoire (a.k.a. Big Brown)?

Why won't my kid sleep in her own bed?

Why is Dora's t-shirt so tiny?

Why can't my floor stay clean?

Why do I feel compelled to buy this pink swiffer - despite the fact that I already have one?

Why won't people leave me the heck alone about P90X? Yeah, it's great. Yeah, it's awesome. Yada yada yada...blah blah blah.


Why does my Dave Ramsey Envelope money always run out before the end of the month? The last week of the month lasts forever....

sweet baby girl

I made this banner for my friend Ari who just gave birth to a precious little baby girl.

I found scrapbook paper at Michael's to match the colors of Ari's baby bedding.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the banner says, "sweet girl".
Banners are really hard to photograph...especially when your camera is STINKY.

I made the circles with the Mini Monograms Cricut Cartridge.
The inner circles are 5 inches and the outer are 5 1/2 inches.

Making the circles the right size can be kind of tricky. I do a lot of pre-cutting with scrap paper to test sizes beforehand. As a result, it takes me for.ever. to do one.

While I was making this banner, I had an epiphany: a little bit of wisdom from the paper-crafting muses. It went something like this:

Um...Genius... It would save you a lot of time and paper if you would just make templates out of scrap paper beforehand and label them with the sizes. 

My muse is kind of a jerk.

Well, Paper Crafting Muse. That's novel idea, but one that requires forethought. And planning. And organization. Things I'm not so good at these days.
So, that's not going to happen.
Thanks, though.

How much longer can I use the "sleep deprivation" excuse for inability to function and lack of sanity? Any ideas?
 

our best laid plans

We had big plans this weekend: a little yard work, hanging out with friends and family, and a trip to the Pumpkin Patch.

Events devoid of puking, barfing, or vomiting of any sort.

Life has a funny way of going exactly the opposite direction than you've planned sometimes.

Charlie started Puke Fest 2009 late Friday night and the party is still going strong.
Very strong.

The first time your kid pukes, there's this little part of you that hopes and prays that it was just a fluke.
You ignore it.
You pretend everything is totally normal.

Somewhere in the back of your mind you worry that it's something more serious, but admission of sickness is the most certain way to make sure that it sticks around. Saying, or even thinking the word, "virus" is the quickest way to quarantine yourself to "The Sicky House".

So you put a happy smile on and go about your day like it won't happen again.

But then it does.

All down your shirt.
And into your shoes.
While you're eating lunch at a Mexican restaurant.

Leaving you no choice but to quickly scoop up your kids and rush out of the restaurant before it happens again.

...and with the realization that certain feminine undergarments have the unbelievable ability to hold a lot of puke.

So - We didn't get any yard work done this weekend. We didn't hang out with family or friends. And poor Avery didn't get to make it to the real pumpkin patch on Saturday.

Instead, she and David headed to the little church pumpkin sale down the street while Charlie and I de-pukified ourselves.

Thankfully, she's three and her pumpkin patch frame of reference is limited. She didn't seem to mind at all that there was no playground, corn maize, hayride, or petting zoo at this pumpkin patch.

She excitedly brought home her 4 pumpkin picks and showed the "Mommy", "Daddy", "Charlie" and "Avery" pumpkins to Charlie and me.

Then she and Charlie watched while David and I scooped out the insides and carved happy faces on each one.

Sure, it's early.
Sure, Halloween is still 10 days away.
Sure, they're going to rot waaaay before then.

But Avery had fun.

And sweet little Charlie managed to keep a sweet little grin on his sweet little face between puke sessions.
Because that's just his way.