A little photo shoot...

A fun little collage of some shots that I took the other day.

Note to self: Iron the white sheet before using it as a backdrop.

Mr. Clean is my Lex Luthor...

I did not inherit a cleaning gene from anyone. Possibly because it is missing in our genetic code - is it the Swedish side? I don't know. But I am not a naturally creative cleaner. I can see a product and think, "Hey, that sounds good" but it doesn't actually work like it does on the commercials. It must be partially operator error.

I remember how shattered I was when I found out those Scrubbing Bubbles guys didn't actually come out of the bottle. *&@#% Fraudulent advertising. Because I still had to do all the scrubbing - and there were no sparkles residing in my tub. Just the dull gummy ring to scrub over and over and over and over... well you get the picture.

I was mildly interested in the whole organic thing - vinegar, baking soda, club soda, etc. But that requires a major chart of where to use what. Again, the genetics conspire against me.

I will say that I have found my secret weapon. Microfiber. I don't know how it works - but I spent maybe 15 minutes on my glass shower walls last night - and they, dare I say, sparkled. We have hard water, so that's no small accomplishment.

I *heart* microfiber! If I have another child, I would seriously consider naming them Microfiber. Well, at least as a middle name. Jehosophat Microfiber Campbell. Has a certain ring to it, don't ya think?

UR 2 Cre8ive!

Taking this class from Stacy Julian at Big Picture Scrapbooking... liking it a lot so far. One of our assignments is to paint our toenails in a fun way. My girls LOVED this assignment!!

The flowers are Heidi Swapp rub-ons from my friend, Susan... they stuck better to my toes than to the layout I tried using them on last night - LOL!

Now... I'm not sure yet what the candy is *for*... but as if I needed an excuse to try the new Hershey's Kissables. Aren't they cute? They look like little SORRY! game pieces. I don't think they'll be replacing M&M's any time soon, though. The glass vase is pretty cute, too, I think... it's part of the King Street Trio from Southern Living At Home. Love that stuff!!

It's Official...

I am now in the Custom Invitation business. My neighbor, Rachel, who secretly covets all my scrapbooking supplies, asked me to join her in this venture a few months ago. It's kind of like when you see the kid who owns the basketball and you have to ask them to join your game...

Thanks to my uber-talented friend, Sara, for drawing this logo for us. We still need to add a web address - but that's after we actually create a website.

We just had our first gig - 35 invitations for the Cardiac Health Symposium. To quote Rachel "Sounds like a yawner to me."

I think we may have actually made $70 or so on the job. Of course, if you back out the actual man hours - it would mean that we made about $4.33/hour. While that is more than I made making clown cones at Baskin-Robbins in 1986 - I don't think that this is going to be a fast-track to the Millionaire Club. But we can chalk this one up to learning experience.

Things I have learned:

• An HP Photosmart printer is NOT the correct printer for a high-volume utra-thick metallic cardstock job (but if you leave the printer settings for Automatic paper - you get a really cool grey ink color over silver metallic paper - probably couldn't have produced that effect if I had meant to do it that way)
• You can charge 3.50 per invitation and a corporate client won't laugh at you
• Some people have no idea how to word an invitation - thus the need for professionals like us
• My children don't really care about the Cardiac Health Symposium either... they just want to play Candyland NOW

The next American Idol?

Just a quickie - but I had to write this down somewhere...

After waking up, Riley proceeds to take off her night-time diaper and put on a Pull-Up for the day... this is her theme song today... (I am not making this up!)

I'm wiping my bottom, whoa-oh!
I'm wiping my bottom, whoa-oh!
I'm wiping my bottom, whoa-oh!
And don't it feel good?
Yeah, all right now

If you're having trouble with the tune... it's from "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves.

That kid cracks me up.

They say it's your birthday...

We celebrated little R's 3rd birthday today! She was so cute in her yellow dress - yellow is her favorite color, you know. She was SOOOO excited when people started arriving, she was a fabulous hostess and a good time was had by all!

On a lesser note (HA!) the Seattle SEAHAWKS won their playoff game - so it's off to the next round. Go Seahawks!!

Thank goodness for technology... the guys were able to record the game via DVR and still sing "Happy Birthday" and watch her blow out her candles. I guess this ain't your Mama's birthday party no more.... tee hee.

I am exhausted. It was a whirlwind. The girls rooms are utterly destroyed. But the toys and dress-up clothes can wait for another day to be picked up. I'm going to cuddle my 3-year old darling baby girl and marvel at how *old* she's getting. *sniff*

Tagged!

I got tagged by Karen... *smooches* to you, friend...

4 Jobs You Have Had in Your Life:

1. Baskin-Robbins clown-cone designer
2. UW Athletic Dept gopher
3. Receptionist/office assistant
4. IT Manager for Office Furniture Dealership

4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:

1. Pride and Prejudice (A&E original miniseries)
2. Chocolat
3. How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days
4. The Princess Bride
   

4 Places You Have Lived:

1. Norfolk, VA
2. Seattle, WA
3. Gig Harbor, WA
4. Covington, WA

4 TV Shows You Love to Watch:

1. Gilmore Girls
2. Crossing Jordan
3. Alias
4. CSI
   

4 Places You Have Been on Vacation:

1. Hawaii
2. San Diego
3. Europe
4. Greece
   

4 Websites You Visit Daily:

1. Scraptalk
2. Two Peas In A Bucket
3. Creating Keepsakes
4. Various blogs (notably Karen’s)
   

4 of Your Favorite Foods:

1. Chocolate Chip Cookies
2. Teriyaki Steak
3. Taco Del Mar burritos
4. Showering Rama (Thai Peanut Sauce, bok choy, and chicken)

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now:

1. Anyplace sunny and warm
2. Hawaii
3. San Diego
4. Did I mention Hawaii?
   

4 Bloggers You are Tagging:

1. 13lisa/Lisa
2. jennylilac
3. Lara
4. Rosy

That's it! I am finished... off to clean my house for my 3-year old's birthday party tomorrow!!

Soundtrack of my youth...

Like gag me with a spoon...
Totally tripendicular...
He's such a babe...

If you recognize any of these phrases, then you might relate to the song list below.

Mirror In The Bathroom... The English Beat
Ship Of Fools... Erasure
Oh L'Amour... Erasure
Love Plus One... Haircut 100
What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)... Information Society
The One Thing... INXS
Too Shy... Kajagoogoo
I Melt With You... Modern English (still my FAVE)
Always Something There To Remind Me... Naked Eyes
Ceremony... New Order
State of the Nation... New Order
A Million Miles Away... The Plimsouls
Love My Way... Psychedelic Furs
The One I Love... REM
Blues Before and After... The Smithereens
Blister In The Sun... Violent Femmes
Don't Go... Yaz
Only You... Yaz

My best friend from high school, Shelley, just sent me a CD with all these songs. How is it that we spent nearly every waking moment together and I have hardly any photos? Well, at least my girls will have photos aplenty to document their embarassing hairstyles, poor fashion choices, loser boyfriends, and other teenage memories. Hmm... on second thought, maybe less is more.

To my favorite Valley Girl, I send my undying love, and like, come back soon, ya know?

I miss you, Shell! I've got to fly South for the winter and come see you!!

Doos and Dont's

Me (trying to soothe fussy girl): We can write Mac-n-Cheese on the grocery list. We can even get the Scooby Doo kind if you want.

Fussy girl: First we'll get the Scooby Doo and then next time we can get the Scooby Don't.



Even in the midst of tantrum... she's still got it.

Mindless drivel - or should I say drizzle?

Perhaps it the rain. Perhaps it's just that my brain is fuzzy from holiday overload and persistent lack of sleep. Perhaps it's something deeper, more existential, stemming from some long-awaited angst resolution, or even the solution to the sock-disappearing-from-the-dryer-mystery.

No, I'm pretty sure it's the rain.

If you have never been through January in Washington, you may not have an accurate picture of the pure torture of 27 grey and dreary wet days in a ROW. At least we cleaned out the garage and I can get in and out of the car in relative comfort - it's just unloading the cart and doing the carseat thing at the grocery store that leaves me with that limp, slightly crumpled feeling.

So - I made some cards today. With bright fun Lollipop Shoppe paper. Just looking at them makes me happy because A) they're such fun colors and B) hey- I got to make some cards!




Book club tonight - the annual *Selection Party*. I think we should create some brackets, make it a round-robin tourney or something. Maybe throw in some darts? Or arm wrestling? How does a group of rational, overly polite (because we don't know each other very well) women, start with 50 or so book choices and end up with 11 finalists? It's a mystery. (movie reference thrown in for Karen's benefit) Here's a wish that we will end up with a really fun list of books for 2006! Fyoooooooooooooosh!

Back to life, back to reality...

back to school you go! I hope T has a good day back at school. She was a little hesitant to leave, we've gotten into such a lounging routine around here, it was work to get dressed and get out the door this morning for R's tumbling class. Good thing my friend Rachel called me and woke me up - or we wouldn't have made it.

This photo is of T and her cousin, Paris. The cousins came from California for Christmas... I can't even believe how quickly they grow up when you only see them once or twice a year!

On a completely different topic...

There are good and bad things about your kids being able to read... yesterday, in the check-out line, T was reading the tabloids (and I include People and Us in that category) and informed me that the baby may keep Britney and Kevin's marriage together.

Oh, good.

Just what I wanted my 5-year old to be thinking about.

A whole new realm of teaching opportunities has arrived. Gotta get in the game - and fast!



And something else - completely unrelated... my little R in her favorite Hanna dress. Those curls are so cute (if I do say so myself!)

She's potty-training... which means some days are better than others. Today, we're not bringing our *A-game*, unfortunately. Definitely 3rd string prospects at this point - with a load of laundry to prove it. Oh well - that's what I get for blogging!

She will be officially 3 in 13 days... and we already have the temper tantrums and irratic behavior to show for it! Hooray! But on the flip side, she's got a firm grasp of language, is starting to learn her letters, loves to sing and dance and play... and is usually pure joy to have around. Except during those tantrums. More teaching opportunities. All I can say is... keep those Hershey kisses coming!

Where does the time go?

The past month seems like a blur. Certain days passed by in slow-motion... but overall? Blur. It was basically a good blur, but a blur nonetheless.

I'm working mentally on an "Intentions" layout, inspired by Ali. I've got some journaling points, now I just have to put them down on Bazzill (a synonym for paper, surely).

What I've got so far:

• De-clutter and simplify
• Eat healthier
• Work out (but I'm seriously going to do it this year - the gym membership has been paid)
• Remember birthdays
• Laugh more
• Take better care of my skin
• Spend more quality time with my family
• Enjoy my scrapbooking time and not stress about submissions

Here's to a happier, healthier me in 2006!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

On this, my birthday eve, I guess I am dreaming of a White Birthday. Not that it's convenient to have snow and slush and ice clogging up the thoroughfares of our fine community. But, I will endeavor to perservere. tee hee.

I do love how fresh everything looks under a new coat of snow. The weeds are invisible. The fairly untidy patio is sparkling. At least for a little while, we can pretend that things are perfect underneath the blanket of white.

I love how the tree branches are highlighted with powdery outlines - crystalline and ethereal - like something from Narnia.

And I love how fresh it seems in the eyes of my girls. How snowball fights are just good plain fun and a snowman doesn't have to be perfect to be perfect.

A long December...

when there's reason to believe maybe next year will be better than the last.... I love Counting Crows - such a mournful voice he has in that song. And yet, it fits my mood once in a while. A little introspective. A little hopeful. Definitely reminiscent of things in the past. That's me.

Could have titled this post something cute about SNOW... since we are enjoying our first blanketing of the white stuff today. The kids LOVED it!

Digi is DIVINE!!!

I have been going crazy downloading digi kits and playing with them to create a calendar for the grandparents for Christmas! So much fun! I can not really imagine switching over from paper to purely Digi... but I can definitely see where these tools can come in handy.

And yes... the red dot is supposed to be there... 4 year old humor.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I think I am looking forward to this Thanksgiving more so than any other in the past. Our little family seems to be thriving right now - we're healthy, happy, and having fun together.

Taryn had her first big school program last week for Thanksgiving... she tried so hard to be brave. She stood up on the risers, sang the first few words of the song, and then lost it. But - she did manage to stay up there the entire time instead of running away - PROGRESS!

The kids were so cute in their costumes... and then they served us pie and apple cider. We took T out for ice cream afterwards to celebrate her nice work. She got her report card and we had our first teacher-parent conference - so we have ARRIVED in the wacky world of public school life. It's for *real* now... we're playing for keeps!

Have I got enough pink and green paper?????

It started with MOD. Well, actually, it started with Aunt Gertie's Garden. And then the MOD. And then some random Carolee's, Reminisce, Bo-Bunny, etc.

Well - just when I was about to hold off on the Little Red Scrapbook kit this month - it was the new MM Brooke line - which is - don't hold your breath - *pink and green*. But I couldn't resist - especially the embellishments. The ribbon is gorgeous - and the velvet letters are so fun. *sigh*

The only consolation is that I could actually make Christmas cards out of this stuff... at least for my scrapping friends.

Christmas cards.

Ugh.

We'll see how that goes. I've been so tired this past week - and I've got lots of school volunteer commitments coming up - Cookie Dough distribution is tomorrow. Thanksgiving program on Friday. Parent-Teacher conferences next week. Book Fair next week.

I think I'm still down from going to Char's Memorial Service. It was great to see Kim, Eleanor, Christie, Josy & Matt... but not under those circumstances. I dread going through that with any of our parents. It's just so sad. And draining. Even if you know they'll be in heaven. But the earthly wrap-up just isn't fun at all.

**********ETA: My latest pink and green layout********

I've been tagged...

Yay! I feel like I have *arrived* in the blogging world. Thanks, sara*w!

names you go by
1. cat
2. Mom or mommy

2 parts of your heritage
1. Swedish
2. Irish

2 things that scare you
1. Snakes
2. Hearing noises when I'm home alone

2 of your everyday essentials
1. Shower
2. Hugs from my family

2 things you are wearing right now
1. New moss green pants... still not sure about them
2. New green earrings that I bought for the Pubster dinner - but did not actually wear there

2 of your favorite bands or musical artists (at the moment)
1. Sugar Ray
2. Jeremy Camp (LOVE that voice, dude!)

2 favorite songs (at the moment)
1. Baby, It's Cold Outside (Ella Fitzgerald)
2. Walking on Sunshine (by Aly and AJ - hee, hee... my girls' CD)

2 things you want in a relationship (other than real love)
1. friendship
2. lively conversation

2 truths
1. I worry that I'm too obsessed with scrapbooking
2. I like TV far too much for my own good and yet don't watch too much because I'm scrapbooking

2 physical things that appeal to you (in the opposite sex)
1. great smile
2. sense of humor

2 of your favorite hobbies (besides scrapbooking??)<--- yes, that's the obvious
1. shopping
2. reading

2 things you want really badly
1. to get published in a magazine
2. to be in shape

2 places you want to go on vacation
1. Cayman Islands
2. Maui (with the kids)

2 things you want to do before you die
1. be a grandparent
2. be in shape ;-)

2 ways that you are stereotypically a dude/chick
1. I *heart* pink (<--- copied straight from Hanni's and sara*w)
2. I *heart* shoes

2 things you are thinking about now
1. Christmas shopping
2. Christmas cards

2 stores
1. Target
2. Pottery Barn

I'm off to tag Alissa Fast and Kate Thaete... hee hee...

Would you admit to being one of these people?

So sad that I actually look the best in this shot!

Note to self: If everyone else is holding their children, follow suit.

A life less ordinary...

I found out last night that one of my dear friend's mothers has passed away. We knew it would happen sooner than later - CANCER. I hate how that word strikes fear and loathing into my heart. And I am so sorry for their family's loss.

My earliest memories of Char were from Senior Year in High School. She made lunch for me one day when I came over to their house. She was such a sweet and fun-loving lady. I remember seeing her at the various art festivals around town with her beautiful watercolor paintings. She was so very proud of Matt and all he had accomplished. And she was always so gracious to me when I would visit her home. She will be missed.

Here is a bit from her memorial in the newspaper:

Charlotte Patricia Eldridge died November 4 after a valiant struggle with cancer. She was preceded in death by her firstborn, Katherine Elizabeth. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Dean, her three daughters, Wendy, Paula and Terri, son Matt and daughter-in-law Josy, foster daughter Michelle, brother Paul, and sisters Anne and Barbara.

The family is blessed with 11 nieces and nephews, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild. Char was an artist who loved to paint watercolors during the early morning hours. She was a member of the Peninsula Art League and the South Kitsap Art Association