Thursday, October 1, 2009

Scrapbooking Updates & Recent Layouts

* Ali Edwards' Yesterday & Today class starts tomorrow. I am ready to start working with old photos & my new typewriter. Part of our pre-class assignment was to think of 12 stories we want to tell; I have a list going of my topics, mostly stories that I have been putting off because of one reason or another. I am totally ready to embrace this class and finish all the assignments on time.

* I'm still working through Cathy Zielske's Me: The Abridged Version class, also through Big Picture. I have about half the photos I need, almost all the journaling is finished, and my paper blocks cut and inked. I have been slowly, but steadily, working on this project, and I am very proud of what I have written. I will share when I'm finished.

* Scenic Route, one of my most favorite scrapbooking companies, has decided to call it quits. I am so sad to hear another industry leader is going out of business. My poor hobby is not doing so well during this recession, that's for sure.

* I haven't posted any layouts in the past couple of weeks, so I thought I would share:























































{all layouts inspired by Ali Edwards}

I am going to finish watching Eastwick and then I'm off to bed.

Peace.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Our Weekend Away.

Evan, Jack, and I made it home safely last night after another long drive... over six hours! We made a couple of stops, but it really wasn't too bad. Evan was so helpful with Jack during the drive... he would make faces at Jack and talk to him, which Jack loved. He also handed him his toys & would pull his car seat shade down if the sun was in his eyes. Ev is such a good big brother.

Today we just hung out at the house, relaxing and I did a ton of laundry! Mark got to spend some time with the boys:

Jack got a bath before bedtime to help soothe him a bit. He is teething & was seriously crabby tonight. He did great going down for his naps today, but bedtime was a challenge. He just wants to be held while chewing on his thumb. Baby Tylenol does help, but I think his nice warm bath before bed gets him calm & sleepy the best:


All Evan wanted to do today was stare at a screen... the tv, my computer, Mark's computer, or Mark's phone. He wanted to play the Wii, Starfall, and watch Charlie & Lola. I got him distracted with other things most of the day, but he did manage to snag Mark's phone while Mark was in the shower:


Evan also got to spend some time today (and last night) playing with my new toy:


... a real working typewriter! I wanted one for Ali Edwards class through BPS (which starts Thursday!), and my mother-in-law was nice enough to track one down for me:


Of course Mark had to have a turn on the typewriter, and he typed "Hello World", which is a coding phrase. I think it's used when you are testing out new code you've written, to make sure it works properly. Dion, Mark, or Roy: feel free to comment if that isn't right...

We attended Evan's pre-school pot luck last Thursday. This was the only photo we took because my camera was turned on by a certain three year old, and when we arrived at the park it was almost dead. I was so disappointed! But, I was e-mailed some photos of Evan and his friend Ryan by Ryan's mom, which is great! I just wanted to have some photos of Evan playing with his new pre-school buddies!

... and I got my hair cut last Wednesday? Tuesday? I don't remember... but I like that it is so low maintenance!

Evan, Jack, and I visited with my in-laws on Sunday. We had a yummy lunch & played with them for a bit:

Thank you for the typewriter, Debbie!

Saturday my parents, sister, and I took the kids to the Puyallup Fair. This was Evan's third trip to the fair, the other two visits were last year. Evan was so disappointed Mark wasn't going to be there to go on rides with him, so I was worried he wouldn't want to do anything when we go there. I was so wrong! He was a little nervous at first, but once my dad started taking him on rides Evan really got into it. We went through 48 tickets in a little over an hour (thanks mom & dad... and Terri!), then we ate some yummy fair burgers (which were so overpriced) & visited some of the livestock. It was a really fun afternoon:


Instead of waiving to us, Evan was showing us his numbers.

While we were walking back to the car Evan was so tired so he was in the stroller, and my dad was carrying Jack. He is such a great Grandpa!

Evan and my dad going down the big slide.



My dad & I were waiving at Evan and he gave us a thumbs up in return.



We also went to a birthday party for Jayden Saturday evening, but I was too busy monitoring Evan & holding Jack to get photos... another bummer. Evan had a great time, despite having to share his friend with others, and he got to eat a super delicious cupcake. Sometimes being a mom means putting down the camera and enjoying the moment!

Peace.

Monday, September 28, 2009

In Puyallup...

The kids and I are in Puyallup for one more night... we were too tired to make the long drive tonight, so we will take off tomorrow morning, after lunch with Auntie Abby :-)

Abby & I are watching Brothers & Sisters... have a fantastic Monday.

Peace.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Diapers, Laundry, & the Boys.

I guess I haven't posted because we've been up to.... the same old thing. I've been taking a ton of photos of this little guy:


Jack has also been leaking through his diapers at night (and during nap times), so we have made the switch to gDiapers. They are kind of a disposable/cloth diaper hybrid which are supposed to be great at night & I feel a little better because they are environmentally friendly & they come in cute colors :-)



Evan has really been against having his photo taken recently, so this post is very Jack-heavy. I feel bad that I don't have more photos of Ev, but he's been uncooperative.


Solid foods are still a struggle for this little guy. Sweet potatoes and oatmeal:


...but he sure loves his Bumbo:


Jack has been teething like crazy, so he's been a little crabby:


But Evan still loves him to bits:


I think pre-school is wearing Evan out, because bedtimes haven't been a problem that last few weeks:


We have been playing endless rounds of Hi Ho Cherry-oh, Chutes & Ladders, and Candyland. Evan loves to play games, and these three have been on the top of his list for the last month:


The amount of laundry I have been doing is borderline ridiculous:


... and the boys have been playing together like crazy:


Evan has been taking pictures (or "pitures" as he would say) with our camera, and he captured this image of me making dinner last night:


And this little boy melts my heart every single day:




I hope to post more pictures of Evan tomorrow or Friday... if he lets me take some!

Peace.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Today I love...

Little boys who love each other:


Clean Laundry:


Big smiles from a cutie patootie:


Big blue eyes & bug pacifiers:


Evan's first day of soccer practice:





Little boys & big boys playing at the park:







Football games & spending our Saturday as a family:

(Doesn't Evan looked thrilled? He was happy for about 20 minutes, and spent the next 3+ hours kind of whining and being grumpy. I explained to him that we don't always get what we want, but I'm not sure I got through to him...)



(After the final WSU touchdown, to tie the game late in the 4th quarter, Evan was not happy with how loud the stadium got. He plugged one ear with one hand, and held up his other hand to "stop" the crowd from being loud.)


(Final score: WSU 30, SMU 27. Go Cougs!)

I hope everyone had an equally relaxing & enjoyable Saturday :-)