steph's stuff

ready or not ...

 

Winter is here. Although those leaves on my burning bush aren't giving up just yet.

Today was just a beautiful, quiet, peaceful day. Huge fluffy snowflakes drifting down all day long. Almost put me in the mood for Christmas. :)

the duh in dad

We had a very busy weekend - tons of stuff going on, an amazing concert that we attended (photos and post on that very soon), and lots and lots of scrapping assignments finished.

But, honestly, the best part of the weekend came on Saturday morning. Tom and Andrew were wrestling on the living room floor - this is what they do 90% of the time, by the way.

And, as they were wrestling, Andrew was trying to figure out how to spell "Dad." He's learning to read and just totally fascinated by the idea that you can tell how to spell a word even without seeing it. All you have to do is sound it out and you can figure out how to spell it.

So, he's wrestling with Dad and sounding out the word "Dad." And it goes something like this.

"duh." "aaa." "duh."

"duh." "aaa." "duh."

"du-aa-dd."

"d-a-d."

"I got it! D.A.D. spells "Dad"! And we all woohooed right along with him!

And then he turns around to me and says, "Hey Mommy! There's a "duh" in Dad!"

As I hysterically laughed myself almost right off the couch, I couldn't help but reply, "Yes, honey, you are so right. There's a duh in your Daddy!"

It's that time again

It's that time for me to make you think. For me to make you consider new possibilities. And for you to consider digi scrapping. You know you want to. :)

It's quarterly sale time at Designer Digitals. Everything in the store is 30% off and you don't need a coupon. Follow that link and it will take you directly there. 

And for beginners, a fantastic way to start is buy using templates. Here's an example of what you can do with a template. All credits here.

    

So, come on over and check it out! Peek around in the gallery and the forums - tons of inspiration. You know you want to. :)

heritage

I'm working on a heritage project right now. The first time I've ever done an entire album of older photos. It's really neat!!!

The only thing I'm struggling with is that my baby photos are old enough to be considered heritage photos for this project.

Doesn't do much for the ego. :p

homebody

 

All supplies from Designer Digitals. Credits can be found here.

I spent a bunch of time this weekend digi scrapping. Loved it!

I am really such a homebody. Luckily, so is Tom. There's no better way to spend a rainy, cold, wet fall weekend than sitting at home on your couch in your sweatpants while snuggling beautiful and funny kids, reading good books, eating good food, and watching football. Suffice it to say, this was a fantastic weekend because that's pretty much all we did. It was cold and even snowy outside at one point and we were all warm and cozy and together inside. I was almost ready to break out the Christmas music!

I can't believe how fast November is flying by. We just get busier and busier from now until the first of January. And it's a bit of a conundrum because this is the busiest time of the year, but it's also the time of the year that I like to savor the most. I want less busy and more savoring. I'm going to put my thinking cap on and try to figure out how to do this. I also want to scrap more than any other time of the year. Probably because it helps me remember the details. I'm still deciding what type of December album I want to do. I loved doing the Daily December acrylic album last year, but I also loved doing Jessica Sprague's digital album last year. And this year, Ali has templates available and some other amazing digital products at Designer Digitals. Decisions, decisions! I'm thinking I'm going to have to do a hybrid album so that I can combine my two loves.

And, I do have a giveaway coming! I know I've mentioned it a few times, but I'm just waiting for one more item to arrive and then I can show it all to you. It's going to be fun and for the holidays. :)

back on the wagon

Today is all about being back on the wagon.

• back on the taking care of my house better wagon
• back on the counting to 10 when the kids misbehave wagon
• back on the stop the yelling wagon
• back on the scheduling wagon
• back on the remembering that it's okay to be assertive wagon
• back on the remembering to spend some alone time with my honey wagon
• back on the stop the procrastinating wagon
• back on the it doesn't matter what other people think of you wagon
• back on the remembering my priorites wagon

• back on the weight watchers wagon.

 

(And oh my gosh, I could eat 5 of these packages at one time!!! They are soooo good!)

anyone like cleaning?

I have a house waiting for you if you do. :)

Between Tom being sick all weekend, me being sick since Sunday, the elections, and lots of work piling up, my house is trashed. And it happens so darn quickly. We cleaned all day Friday and it was spotless on Saturday. Four days later and every single room is just trashed. Sigh.

So, besides cleaning, I have two of the three rugrats home with me today because of parent-teacher conferences. I'm thinking of using the slave labor to my advantage in my cleaning adventures. :)  Some little dude lost his Nintendo yesterday because he didn't listen to Mommy and I might just have a way for him to earn it back. *insert evil mother laugh here*

That's all from here today. Have a good day!

Witnessing history

   

Last night was incredibly inspiring. So many thoughts are running through my head this morning - among other things, how much I like John McCain and how his speech gave me chills and filled me with new respect for him - but above any other thought, I keep coming back to one thing.

How amazing is it that this is our first family? In my lifetime, Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered because of the color of his skin. In my lifetime. And now, just 40 years later, this country has come full circle and elected Barack Obama to the presidency. We are witnessing history. That issue alone fills me with inspiration and hope. I have hope that my children will grow up in a world where skin color doesn't matter.  

election day + bribe

I don't get into my political views on my blog. I tend to be very vocal among family, but I just don't see any point about getting into it here.

But, there is one thing that I'm passionate about. And that is our right to vote. Whatever your political views are, it is your right and, in my opinion, your obligation to vote. No matter how long the lines are.

And to bribe you a bit - here's a sneak peek at a December project for ScrapSupply. The December newsletter is going to be AMAZING!!

 

***ETA: Oh, and I forgot! Emily's current events class is holding a mock election for the 2nd - 8th grades at their school. The school even issued IDs so the kids could do register beforehand and learn more about the process. Emily gets to man the polling station today and she is sooooo excited. I just love that she's so excited to learn about the political process. :)  Are your kids' schools doing anything like that?

Darth Vader, a pink lady, and a witch

 

I didn't realize it, but the kids matched this year. They must have picked up on my need for good photos. :)

Darth didn't last very long. He got his light saber taken away for fighting with too many clone troopers, and then he couldn't hold his voice changer (gotta have that if you're Darth, ya know?) and his candy basket at the same time, and then the mask kept slipping off. But, fun was had by all and too much candy has been consumed and that's what it's all about, anyhow.

Now, we're onto November. Holy cow! November???? Hang onto your hats because before you know it, it will be 2009. This time of year seems to fly by.

Back with more tomorrow. I seem to have gotten Andrew's head cold. Might have something to do with yesterday's crabby post. LOL! Sorry 'bout that. ;)