holiday frustrations

sooo... i was starting to make my kids' halloween costumes . phoebe is going to be a princess (at the request of my son!) and marek is going to be a "bad" knight. i was highly disappointed in the selection of fabric in this hell hole town! i went to hancocks and found nothing for her princess hat (unless i wanted orange and black) and didnt find anything at all to resemble marek's chainmail material. so went to the lob. they were just a smidgen better and i got stuff to do her hat BUt nothing for the chainmail...and they actually told me to try to buy the costume instead of make it! obviously i dont wanna buy a CRAPPY costume otherwise i would be a walmart fighting the crowds for another horrible costume! i cant justify a trip to the city right now just to see if a few stores might have the fabric im looking for (although the day without children would be nice) if anyone has any kind of suggestions im completely open to them...sigh...why does everything have to be so stinkin complicated>??!!
and ive cut my christmas cards already...getting ready for the christmas card crop-im actually excited about cards can u believe it :)

halloween party invitation

so here it is...im pretty proud of it! although its not an original idea and cammeron actually made me an example to use :) i stamped where and when stuff on the inside using my awesome new ctmh stamps (mmm stamps!) i didnt make a ton so it didnt take me long but even if i did make alot of them its a pretty easy one to mass produce. i was so excited to get them going and now i have a list of supplies for the actual party...i cant wait ...now i have to make costumes (sigh) a mini martha stewarts job is never done :) 

Party day

so this was Phoebe's first birthday...went pretty well i guess. Stayed up til 3am decorating and icing the cake-why do i do that EVERY year?! i always think its gonna look like crap but in the end it looks pretty good i think (for an amateur) got a few good pix (phoebe was not very co-operative) neither was her brother on his first bday...all he wanted to do was play with the balloons-he didnt care what was in the packages! When we gave her the cake to dive in on she was very polite...just dipped her finger in there and licked it off-i got antsy and grabbed her hand and smooshed it in there but that didnt phase her. she just went back to dippin her finger again. got some great presents so thank you everyone who came..cute clothes fun toys yummy cake...cant ask for more right?

 

after crop hangover

thats what i feel like today...after running around like mad the past 3 days - its finally over...im a little disappointed in the amount of pages i got done...but the quality is by far getting better. now i just wish i could do quality in a short amount of time! i feel like i couldve utilized my time better but i spent alot of time helping others and socializing :) i feel though that i got to know a friend better this weekend so its a good trade off-got a new croppin buddy out of the deal too! now its crunch time and on to phoebe's 1 yr birthday party. i feel so completely unprepared for it all- and maybe its bc im procrastinating the whole thing..like maybe it wont happen if i dont make the decorations or something. that sounds dumb but i dont know why else i would do what im doing which is NOTHING! :) anyway back to the old grind

i luv parties

it used to be "i love to go to parties". The kind where the bass would vibrate anything that wasnt tied down-flashy lights-abandoned warehouses-sketchy people. those kind. NOW it the kind that involve cake pans and wilton icing colors. balloons streamers and fun curly ribbon! (isnt it crazy how much kids change your pov?) im having a ctmh party today and i was worried about what we are gonna eat and drink! btw its gingerbread cake with cream cheese icing...couldnt think of anything fun to drink (that didnt involve vodka!) so were just drinkin coke and water. but the main event is phoebe's first birthday party. Im not sure when exactly i lost control and started planning birtday parties MONTHS in advance. i know it wasnt mareks first party (although you can see symptoms of extreme OCD in the pictures of the table) but now its just way out of control. NOW i make all of my kids birthday cakes and most of the decorations myself (who needs hallmark right?) Everything is theme related. cookies punch cake even the wrapping paper and presents are theme related (my son turns 5 in january and i already have his superman party planned!) whats wrong with me?? why do i obsess over events that may never be remembered? i guess its bc i always wanted parties like this...and i had a few (my favorite was the one we had at the Eagle Arcade...anyone remember that?) and maybe its bc i want my children to know that their birthday is their special day. and that its special to me too. the day they came into my life and changed it forever. wow now im getting teary :) im sure ill post pix of the glorious event (sept 23rd) ill enlist the help of the midnite birthday squad (just me and cammeron...some squad huh?) this week ill be really busy with last minute touch ups. so i prb wont blog much...not that youll miss me or anything (my 4 readers!) and next weekend is my giant crop (3 days of scrappin fun!) and then ill be totally busy the whole week b4...just know that every nite ill be up til midnite stuffing goodie bags and wondering if my wrapping paper matches my table decorations well enough...and how the HELL am i gonna make my homemade birthday banner look the way it does in my head??
so ta-ta for now

garage sale find

went to a garage sale at the end of my grandparents street yesterday. they had a bunch of old things and random chairs and stuff. the best thing there though was this HUGE trunk sittin in the driveway. it was beautiful it was all lined with green paper and still had the box that sits inside. and i love that old smell. when you thumb thru an old book and inhale the scent from the paper. that smell. bought it for $10...i really wanted to know if there was a story behind that trunk. all the guy told me was that he thought it was prb 100yrs old or so..now its part of our family-to store blankets and handmade doilies from grandma...

Fall's on its way

...and im excited! my favorite time of year...i have so much going on this month im having a hard time keeping it all straight. This Saturday at 2:30 is my Close to My Heart party. So if any of you out there have any orders for me you better turn them in or come to my party! :) Its Lori's last party so before she joins the "private"sector again so lets make it a good one. (im making pumpkin bread to get us in the mood!) Then the following weekend is her last BIG crop. Everybody who is ANYBODY is going to be there! (i know i will) I think she has 3 seats left...itll be packed and well have awesome goodie bags and prizes-gonna get some cropping done while im there for 3 days *i hope* then the next weekend is Phoebe's first birthday party...I cant wait for her party but i CAN wait for her to actually be 1. She's already acting like a 1yr old (except for the whole walking bit). I found a pair of booties that she wore alot when she was born yesterday *tear* I cant believe its been a whole year! Oh well time marches on...

FINALLY!

today i finally got my scrapbook area going! so instead of seeing books in the living room, pictures stored on the fireplace and under endtables, and a constantly growing stack of paper and embellishments on my kitchen table all of that will be back in a place where only i have to look at it! :) its not totally done yet but its a good start-wouldnt have happened if CAMMERON hadnt been nice enough to get rid of a table that nobody wanted! :) so thanks for that! hope i can be more productive now with my own creative space! hope to get some pictures by the end of the week so i can knock out some more pages...stay tuned for creative GREATNESS!

...and here's Charlie!

Isn't he beautiful? Jen's so lucky to have a healthy baby boy. He was born on Sept 1. I was lucky enough to get this cute picture that looks like hes smiling :) Momma's doing fine and big sister Clara is in for a big adjustment. This lucky baby already has 2 nicknames-we were taking an informal vote in the hospital room...Mani-pooh or Man Cub. I think Man-Cub won out. It was hard to leave yesterday. I could've stayed all day and not put him down once! Can't wait to see them all again!

It's Alive!

Hmm. What's this do?