V Day Card Swap

So I am participating in a Valentine's Day Card Swap, which I am very excited about. You make cards and exchange them with other artists from all over. I still have one to make, but here is my progress thus far.

Paul will be out of town for Valentine's Day, oh well. We have a baby V Day party at a friends and will celebrate then. I used to love when my dad would come home from work on Valentine's Day with the stack of Hearts filled with chocolate for all of us kids and a big one for mom.

Reading Time!

When Tate was crying for hours on end, never wanting to be put down, resisting sleep whenever we tried, I never thought that ONE DAY he would walk into his room, get in his chair, get a blankie and book and give me the sign for "night- night".

As frustrated as I can be as a new mom, that smile keeps me going and melts my heart.

How quickly can I jump into bed?

Ahhhhh...Sunday night. Tate in bed, house relatively clean, and laundry in the dryer. Is 7pm tooo early to get into pjs? I think I will borrow Tate's portable DVD player and watch my "Alias:The Final Season" DVD in my bed. Heaven!

I was able to escape today and head to Archivers to work on Valentine's Day cards. I will post pics later, as they are part of a card exchange that I am participating in.

Quilt update: The center square that I had to redo due to poor measuring skills is finished. Yea!! It seems so easy and so hard at the same time for a first time quilter :)

Friday!!!

I am so happy to be close to the weekend! This is Tate in his Oatmeal box, one of our latest creations. I saw this cute idea in a magazine where you grind graham cracker crumbs and use them as play dirt for play trucks. We didn't have graham crackers, so we poured lentils and oatmeal in and Tate thought it was better as a sand box.

We are so lucky

Have you seen the movie "The Constant Gardener"? Blew me away. I thought it was going to be some dull drama, but it was an amazing film that is still sitting with me.
Here's the description, because I find it hard to describe:

In a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) is found brutally murdered. Tessa's companion, a doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa's widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), will leave the matter to them. They could not be more wrong. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his late wife's infidelities, Quayle surprises everyone by embarking on a personal odyssey that will take him across three continents. Using his privileged access to diplomatic secrets, he will risk his own life, stopping at nothing to uncover and expose the truth - a conspiracy more far-reaching and deadly than Quayle could ever have imagined.

Besides being an riveting plot, you see Africa and the conditions in which they live there. You see raids, you see lack of food, you see people desperate for health care, as well very modest living conditions.

I went to bed in total amazement that I have a warm, non dusty bed to lay in and I can go to sleep without the worry of being killed in the night. Boy--this film blew me away...

Here is the trailer: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/constant_gardener/trailers_player.php?IGNMediaID=1193695&playerType=playlist

Kowabunga!!

When Tate goes down our stairs to the basement, he throws himself on the floor at the top, turns around and then flattens like a rat to slide all the way down AS FAST AS HE CAN while going "arggggggggggggggg!"

I guess that is one way he expends his crack baby amounts of energy while it is freezing outside.

I had time to scrap this weekend. Here are pics of 2 pages of my "She" album, inspired by Creating Keepsakes class.

Also, I am still hot cocoa obsessed and made a card for my friend, Jen, in Denver who has mounds and mounds of snow. The template for the card can be found at Mirkwood designs: http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/templates.htm --a great site by a pretty creative person.

Hot Cocoa

I love hot cocoa. It has that same visual appeal to me as cupcakes--I may not even need to eat/drink either to enjoy them, but I just love what they look like in my scrapbooking, cardmaking etc.

I had some today and felt like poop cuz my sugar levels are all out of whack. Yea--almost passed in Target yesterday...seriously, not being overly dramatic or anything! Luckily I had half a turkey sandwich in my car that I dug out and ate like a pig, or like a teenager devouring an afterschool snack. I STILL have those at 3pm daily. But when I skipped this daily bite to eat, "Walleye Vision" and severe dizziness as I was trying to shop for diapers for my ginormous kid. My dad suggested looking for them in the geriatric aisle.

Tate is in the bathtub and I am frantically typing, savoring my 10 minutes of alone time that I get each night. If I wasn't 100% sure that his bathtub water had little kid pee in it, I would jump in after him to relax. I guess I'll wait and take one later...

I hope everyone had a good MLK Day. More later with pictures!

I don't know how to TAG

There is this blog I go to regularly by this woman who is kind of a scrapbook celebrity. She always has the cutest things in her arsenal of creations as well as on her blog. This TAG-thing was on it and I wanted to fill it out and I "Tag" Mom and Uncle Jim to post on their blogs...

I know someone is supposed to tag me first, but I am initiating it for Mom and Uncle Jim. :)

Here it is:
A= Available~ to Paul only
B= Best Friend~ I have many :)
C= Cake or pie~ cupcakes!
D= Drink of choice~ water, hot tea and coffee
E= Essential item you use everyday ~my planner.
F= Favorite color~ blue (deep, yet vibrant blues that blend into black, like the sky at night)
G= Gummy bears or worms~ WORMS.
H= Hometown~ not sure, I move too much
I= Indulgences~ coffee, chocolate, art supplies, falafel, getting nails done
J= January or February~ February (I love V Day)
K= Kids and Names~ Tate (or Stinky)
L= Life is incomplete without?~ quiet time
M= Marriage date~ Sept 6, 2003
N= Number of siblings~ 4 (1 sister, 3 brothers)
O= Oranges or apples~ both, but I love oranges in winter
P= Phobias or Fears~ something happening to my family members
Q= Favorite Quote~ right now: “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.”
R= Reason to smile~ I'm in pjs and relaxing
S= Season~ Fall, no contest
T= Tag 3 or 4 people~ Mom, Uncle Jim, Ursula!
U= Unknown fact about me~ eeee..don't know!
V= Vegetable you don't like~ peas! That is probably the only one.
W= Worst habit~ picking at my nails
X= X-rays~ lots! teeth, arm, jaw
Y= Your favorite food~ all, but I particularly like fresh veggies, freshly cooked meal with good wine eaten outdoors
Z= Zodiac Sign~ Cancer Crab

Some Scrapped Pages

Here are a few pages that I scrapped this weekend. The first is the result of searching for the perfect spring dress. The HUGE sales at the mall were my inspiration and I STILL left empty handed. Ok, maybe I did find 2 shirts at Banana Republic, but that wasn't what I was looking for! I couldn't pass up 60% off.

The second page is from Tate's 1st birthday celebration in Indiana Beach. If anyone watched the Simpsons this Sunday, I think they based that episode off of Indiana Beach. Hee Hee!

QUILT UPDATE: Each day I do a small portion, making a small goal each day and actually accomplishing it. And even though I like math, it has been the biggest challenge on this project. I keep forgetting if you need 16 inches, you actually need 16 1/2 inches to allow for the sewing space... "seam allowance" I'm told by those experienced! I suck at making quilts.

Lo Mein for Christmas

Here was Tate at our Christmas Buffet Lunch in Iowa. He loves his Pad Thai and his Lo Mein!

And thank goodness for the DVD player.

This is the only we got through travelling and staying in a hotel... Sad, I said I would never let him be a tv addict.

Christmas Luncheon with the Schwartz Family.

Don't eat 5 day old Pork Tenderloin

Warning: the following entry might be slightly offensive.

"I just made oatmeal in my pants!" running out of the room... "Are you serious?" After checking on him... "I didn't get any on my underwear 'cuz it stuck to my butt cheeks." And while on the "pot" telling me this, then starts dancing and singing "I'm bringing sexy back!" by Justin Timberlake.

Happy Creative New Year!

Here are some creations I have been meaning to post. The first is of my brother, Mike when he was in a band--they have since broken up and he is is working with another kid on an acoustical project. The second is a canvas collage I made for my sister for her bathroom as a Christmas present.

I did creative projects most of the weekend that I wasn't feeling ill--we all have colds. Wash your hands people, wash your hands!! I'll post more pics later.