Simple Stuff

Evan commented that he likes that my layouts "aren't too complicated."  Of course, he isn't the one who spends a ridiculous amount of time over at my scrap table flipping through magazines and sketch books, rifling through patterned paper, digging through drawers of letter stickers, and agonizing over every cut and every photo placement.  To me, scrapbooking is slightly complicated! 

What he meant was that he likes how my layouts aren't busy.  I don't use a ton of embellishments for a couple of reasons:

A.  I don't have very many.  Those of us on a Total Money Makeover can't buy those kind of things.

B.  I think a lot of embellishments, die cuts, lace, punches, etc. take away from the star of the show - the photos. 

C.  I don't have the skills yet to know how to utilize a lot of embellishments effectively. 

Take this layout that I did on Monday night as an example:

My list of ingredients is pretty basic.  I used ivory cardstock as the background, 3 patterned papers (one from Cosmo Cricket), a chunk of ribbon by Pebbles, a paper flower by Bazzill, a flower shaped brad, and Thickers letter stickers by American Crafts. 

The design is super-simple and I wrapped my handwritten journaling around the design to keep it from being busy with an added journaling block. 

What do you do to keep it simple with your scrapbook layouts?  Thickers are my go-to product....what is yours?

Project Life Tuesday - June Week Four

Welcome once again to Project Life Tuesday! I am taking a photo every day in 2010 and putting them together in an album to create a unique keepsake of this year for our family. Be sure to check in on what others are doing with their project over at The Mom Creative!


Sunday, June 20th - We went to visit my parents for Father's Day and Isaiah headed straight for the sandbox they built for him.  In honor of Father's Day, I had to share this photo of Isaiah with his Daddy.

Monday, June 21st - Just when I thought he might be crawling forever, Micah started pulling up on things.  Oh boy....

Tuesday, June 22nd - Evan put a Diet Pepsi in the freezer and then forgot about it.  In case you've never done this yourself, this is the result.  However, it is a great way to get your husband to clean the freezer!

Wednesday, June 23rd - Isaiah loves to bust out his Bucket o' Soldiers and "play guys!"

Thursday, June 24th - I know there are moms out there whose living rooms are always neat and tidy.  Mine is not one of those.

Friday, June 25th - Bubbles.  One of life's simple pleasures!

Saturday, June 26th - My boys spending a lazy afternoon in the pool at Grandma's.  They work too hard, don't they?

Well, apart from the solo photo of the soda can, its another week full of photos of my kids.  So much for trying to shoot more variety, huh?  :)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good - Isaiah made 8 successful trips to the potty today on Day #1 of potty training!

The Bad - He did have two accidents.

The Ugly - One of those accidents was an enormous butt explosion that occured in my bedroom closet not 10 seconds after I uttered the words, "Well, Mommy really has to go potty so I'll be right back."

Thank God for my SpotBot carpet cleaner!

All in all, a good start. 


And now for something completely different:

Naked Week

Got your attention with that title, didn't I?  Don't worry; I don't plan on mixing things up this week by going au naturale on my weekly trip to Walgreens.  Based on recommendations from my good friend Sarah and others, I have declared this week to be "Naked Week" for Isaiah with a goal of being mostly potty training by the 4th of July!  Sarah calls it the "Naked and $75" plan for potty training.  The naked part is where you let the potty trainee run around without the security of a diaper for 4 days straight in an effort to encourage them to use the potty.  The $75 part is for any carpet cleaning needed for accidents!

I have heard a lot about the success of this method, both from Sarah and some other experienced moms I have asked about potty training.  I'm a bit nervous at the prospect of a naked toddler running around my house for the next few days, but if it means being able to say good-bye to diapers, I'm willing to give it a try. 

Unfortunately, our boot camp is going to be interrupted on Tuesday when the boys go to their babysitter while I have an appointment with my rheumatologist (more on that later), but hopefully the other four days of the week will be all I need to get Isaiah to use the potty!  Wish us luck!

Playing Fetch with Sammy

Traditional "Fetch" is overrated in the mind of my toddler.  Why would you want to throw the ball and just stand there and wait for the dog to return it to you?  It's so much more fun to play it this way, don't you think?



Isn't it great how kids can take something so simple and turn it into such a giggle-filled game?

Take That, Rachael Ray!

The ever perky Rachael Ray is famous for her 30 Minute Meals and for good reason.  Time is always limited in family life and the ability to make a meal from start to finish in half an hour is a wonderful skill to have.  The same concept can be applied to scrapbooking!

As I've mentioned previously, I am usually a really slow scrapper.  I monkey around with my photos for a while, flip through sketch books, dig through cardstock, and otherwise putter about in my scraproom.  Scrapbooking is very time consuming for me so I get really excited when I am able to whip out a layout I really like in no time flat.

Such was the case with this layout, "Lucky."  Start to finish in 30 minutes thanks to the Little Yellow Bicycle "Lucky Me" collection!

I ran into the same issue with my Xyron as last time, but I was able to cover up the big spot where the paper ripped off with a little orange embellishment to pick up the hint of orange in Micah's shirt.

For the title, I used a sticker from the "Lucky Me" collection plus a little paper flower by Bazzill. 

Not bad for 30 minutes! Ready to take the 30 minute challenge, fellow scrapbookers?  Challenge yourself to complete a layout, start to finish, in only 30 minutes.  Don't make it complicated, stick to simple cuts and designs, and you might be pleasantly surprised.  Hint - Use a collection of papers to make sure they will coordinate.

Do you have any tips or tricks to scrapbook swiftly?

Small Victories

Isaiah went pee and poopy in the big boy potty tonight!  Evan called me at work and put Isaiah on the phone so he could tell me himself and I could tell he was so excited.  No telling what step this really puts us at on the whole potty training journey, but I'm thrilled that we've at least started in the right direction.  Way to go, Isaiah!

Any advice or tried and true methods for potty training are very welcome!

How to Get Your Husband to Clean the Freezer

We were lying in bed the other night when all of a sudden, a strange noise came from the kitchen.  Ever the guardian of our safety, Evan went to investigate, but could find nothing amiss. 

Fast forward to the next morning when I open the freezer to start preparing lunch and I discover this:

A strange brown slush had attacked my freezer!

It was all over the ice bin as well as the door.

Poor blueberries.  They took a direct hit.

So, I did a little investigating and soon discovered the culprit hiding in the ice bin.

A ha!!

After finding the sinister soda can, the following phone conversation took place:

Me: So I found out what made that weird noise last night.

Evan:  Oh yeah? What was it?

Me:  Well, I opened the freezer door just now and it's covered in splattered brown slush.  Any idea how that might have happened?

Evan:  Huh?

Me:  Did you happen to put a Diet Pepsi in the freezer last night and then forget about it?

Evan:  (pause)  Oh shit. (maniacal laughter here)

Me:  Yeah, I'm not cleaning that up. 

Evan:  But I thought taking care of the house and cleaning up was your department?

Me:  Mopping up after your stupidity isn't in my job description.

Moral of the story:  Stick to water. 

You can tell a lot about a person.....

....by looking at their Netflix queue!  I'm pretty sure ours will speak volumes about us.  Check out this screen shot of DVDs sitting at the top of our list:

What can we learn from this list?  Let's see.....

• Must not have HBO otherwise these losers would have already seen that entire season of True Blood.
• Must be 20-somethings who are trying to re-live their own childhood through their own offspring, hence "The Gummi Bears."
• Said offspring must also enjoy "The Muppets."  Otherwise, assumptions about the age of the parents could be slightly off and they are actually creepy middle aged folk who enjoy watching puppets sing with the likes of Phyllis Diller.
• Clearly, this Netflix customer has a touch of a dark side lying beyond that "Bolt" and "Gummi Bears" exterior.  Such choices at "Death Sentence" and "Book of Eli" clearly illustrate this.

Ummmm......correct on most points!

What's on your Netflix list? Anything you particularly recommend?  How about something you're slightly embarrassed to be renting (like Gummi Bears, perhaps)?

Project Life Tuesday - June Week Three

Welcome once again to Project Life Tuesday! I am taking a photo every day in 2010 and putting them together in an album to create a unique keepsake of this year for our family. Be sure to check in on what others are doing with their project over at The Mom Creative!


 Sunday, June 13th - Micah created his first painting tonight to be hung in my scraproom along with his big brother's painting. He was really more interested in trying to put the canvas in his mouth.

Monday, June 14th - How does one even create a caption for this photo? I'm open to suggestions!

Tuesday, June 15th - It's been raining for several days now and today it rained hard. All day long. I had to fight really hard to resist the urge to nap.

Wednesday, June 16th - A sunny day!  I took the boys to the park a couple blocks away so they could play and I could practice with my camera.  I only took 112 photos!  Here are a couple of my favorites.

Thursday, June 17th - Evan and Isaiah were checking out a Toy Story 3 app on the iPod Touch.  Isaiah lit up like a Christmas Tree!

Friday, June 18th - Toy Story 3 came out in theaters today and we honored the occasion with a viewing of the original Pixar masterpiece! 

Saturday, June 19th - At the last minute, I decided to bring Isaiah to his movie today instead of waiting until next week.  He was as well behaved as I could have hoped and I was so proud of him!  To round out our date night, we went to Culver's for junk food and frozen custard.  It was an amazing evening out with my son and we had so mch fun together.

Word on the street is that it's going to be raining for pretty much this entire week, so send some sunny vibes my way!

The Right Stuff

Fellow scrapbookers, let's chat for a moment.  Do you have a huge stack of photos just waiting to be turned into a layout?  I know I do.  I went to my scraproom the other night to "just do a quick layout" and 40 minutes later, I was still trying to sort through the piles of photos I had sitting there.  After I put my eyeballs back in their sockets, I figured I would just start with the photos from the farthest back.  I'm backed up all the way to February, people.  Anyone else behind??

Anyway, I grabbed a few photos from our trip to the Circus in February and got cracking.  30 frustrating minutes later, I threw the photos, the scraps of pattered paper, and cardstock on the floor in a huff.  The photos just weren't "doing it for me."  I couldn't envision a design for this page and all the cuts I had made didn't get me anywhere.

Do you ever have this problem - where you try to scrap a set of photos only to find you can't?  How do you approach your scrapbooking?  I try to put my albums together in chronological order, but clearly I cannot create layouts that way.  I ultimately changed direction and grabbed photos from our photo shoot in March and I had this layout finished in no time.

I guess I just needed the right stuff!  Jenn's photos clearly tickle my scrapbooking bone!

Crying in the Carseat

The other day, I was loading the kids into the car to head to town and meet up with Daddy.  We were on a tight schedule and absolutely had to be out the door at a certain time or I would be late for work.  As I was trying to shoo Isaiah toward the car, he suddenly decided he didn't want to ride in his carseat.  He immediately started to tell me he wanted to ride up front.
Isaiah - "Momma, Isaiah drive!"

Me - "Oh baby, Mommy has to drive today.  We're going to meet Daddy!"

Isaiah - "No Momma.  Isaiah drive!  Please!"

Me - "Isaiah, you need to ride in your chair.  When you're a big boy you can ride up front."

Isaiah - "No Momma!  No chair!  Isaiah drive!"

Well, you can see where this is going.  He screamed the whole time I had to wrangle him into his carseat and continued to wail for half the drive to town.  I asked him several times if he wanted water/Fruit Loops/army guys/phone or any number of things.  The answer was always "No."  When I asked if he was crying because he wanted to ride up front, he always answered, "Uh huh."  The poor boy just wanted to ride up by Mommy, were the big boys sit.

As my frustration increased along with the decibel level of his screaming, I heard another voice in my head say to me, "Are you really so different?" 

Huh?  How am I like this toddler wailing at the top of his lungs? 

Isaiah had his heart set on something he wanted.  He had decided he wanted to sit up front, that he was ready to sit up front, that he deserved to sit up front.  When I told him he couldn't, he cried because he was being denied something he was so certain he was entitled to. 

I had my heart set on landing that teaching job.  I wanted that job, I was ready to have that job, I deserved to have that job.  When I did not get that job, I cried because I was being denied something I was so certain I was entitled to. 

Yikes.

How often do we do this?  We decide we want something and that we deserve to have it.  We say to God, "I've earned it, Lord.  I'm ready!"  When it doesn't happen, we have a tantrum just like my toddler and scream at our Father for denying us what we are so sure is rightfully ours.  I didn't let Isaiah sit up front because it is too dangerous for a little boy to ride in the front.  If we were to get in an accident, the airbags would kill him if they deployed.  A loving, responsible parent would not allow their two-year old to ride of front.  It's as simple as that. 

Of course, no amount of explaining that to Isaiah would have made a difference.  His mind was so fixated on what he wanted, on his desires, that no reasoning was going to help.  When our Father doesn't allow us to have something we so desperately want, we refuse to accept reasoning.  All we can see is our own selfishness and we are blind to why we are denied our desire. 

When we ignore his plan and just do things our way, we are going to get hurt.

Here's the key.  A loving and responsible parent wouldn't allow their toddler to ride up front.  A loving and responsible God, our Father, will also choose not to allow His child to do something they are not ready for, that will put them in danger.

Who are we to decide what we are ready for?  What we deserve?  Isaiah knows nothing about airbags and the danger they pose to him.  He just needs to trust me to take care of him.  We need to trust that our Father is also taking care of us.  Sometimes we're just going to have to sit in the carseat and cry for a while, but we'll have made it safely to our destination.

Will you allow me to pray for us for a moment?  Pray along with me as you read this, if you are comfortable.

Father in Heaven, so often we are so sure that we know better, that our desires are so much more important that your will.  Enter our hearts, Lord.  Remind us that your way is the best way and help us to listen to you as you guide us in your way.  Grant us patience to follow your timeline and help us to trust that you are taking care of us.  We do not know better than you, Lord.  Work in our hearts to remind us that you will never forsake us. 

Reality - Part Two

Last week I wrote about things in my reality that might not be apparent at first glace.  Except for that whole not making the bed thing.  That's pretty obvious if you set food in my house.  And the ants.  And the laundry.  And the dried up Play Doh. 

Ok, we're getting off track here.  The point is that nobody is perfect and no pretty blog design, playful banter, or flawless photos are going to make someone perfect.  What is exciting is that there are just as many amazing and happy things going on behind the scenes are there are unmade beds and unfolded laundry piles.

So, in the spirit of truly representing reality, here are just a few of the incredible and crazy happy things that are part of my world (in no particular order):

1. My baby has the most gorgeous blue eyes I have ever seen. 
2. My fridge, pantry, and freezer have food in them.  Lots of food.  Even when we say, "We really need to go grocery shopping," there is still food there.  I am so blessed to have that kind of security in my life that I know my family will not worry about going hungry.
3. I have a husband who will fight for me.  I have witnessed this first hand when I was very sick and I wasn't receiving treatment in a prompt enough manner for him.  Those little girl dreams of the white knight who will come rescue you?  So true....only in our reality the ogre/witch/evil dragon is actually a surgeon's office/Charter/telemarketer. 
4. We are this close to paying off our second credit card since starting the Total Money Makeover!  Can I get a "Woot! Woot!!"
5. There is a lot of laughter and silliness in this house.  I love it.
6. I live only 10 minutes from American Players Theater and I get to usher for every single show this year.  My heart skips a beat just thinking about it.
7. I love Jesus and He is a daily presence in my life.
8. I no longer have to wear maternity clothes when I am not pregnant.  Big fan of that.
9. TOY STORY 3. 

Sorry.  I'm a little pumped to bring Isaiah to see that movie.  You know, it's for the kids. I mean, it's not like I would get all jazzed about going to see a cartoon.  I'm a grown-up, after all.  Right?

Not fooling anyone.  Got it.  Are you Team Woody or Team Buzz?

Stopping now, I promise.  Have a wonderful day and take a moment to look around and count all your blessings and maybe share some here!  I'd love to hear about them!

Baby Food - Carrots & Ricotta Cheese

Looking for a quick and easy baby food recipe to whip up?  I've found this one to be a really successful recipe that's easy to prepare and the ricotta cheese adds a nice boost of dairy and fat that Baby needs. 

Carrots & Ricotta Cheese

•  10 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

Steam carrots until very tender, but still brightly colored.  Puree in food processor, avoiding adding any cooking liquid if at all possible.  You want your final puree to be a little thicker than usual. 

Add the ricotta cheese and stir!

What you end up with is a sweet, creamy baby food that my Micah absolutely loves.

I spooned this mixture into an ice cube tray to freeze.  The recipe above will get you about a couple trays worth and it thaws very nicely.  I've got a wonderful baby risotta recipe coming up soon, so I hope you'll joing us again for that one!

Learning the Ropes

Thanks to the resources from Pioneer Woman Photography and good, old-fashioned tips from my friends Marissa, Jenn, and Emily, I am slowly starting to learn more about how to take better photos.  For the first time, I am shooting out of either AUTO or the Running Man (what's the official name for that?) Mode with my DSLR camera.  It's certainly not a mac-daddy camera and it's already a couple years old, but I have loved every minute of shooting with it.  And now that I actually kinda sorta somewhat know what aperture, shutter speed, and ISO are, it has opened up a whole new world of options.

For example, I shot this photo of Evan's cousin's little lady at a family gathering last weekend.  I was using Aperture Priority mode and used f-4.5.  I have no idea what my shutter speed was at, but I think the ISO was set at 800. 



Of course, the "Seventies" action from The Pioneer Woman made a big difference there.  Here are a few more of my favorites from that afternoon.  Enjoy!









I'm really excited to keep learning more and more about how to actually use my camera.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll get to the point where I can shoot in manual mode!  Of course, the Catch 22 of this is that the more I learn about how to take good photos, the more I'm going to lust after better lenses and a better camera.  Bad Sarah.

Birthday Wishes

It's that time of year again!  I get to reveal the list of goodies I have been adding to for months now!  Of course, those of you who are not related to me by blood or marriage are in the fortunate position of not being required by law to hook me up with a birthday present.  Yay for you!  In that case you might just want to skip on over this post and perhaps re-visit an old favorite.  How about that fun day when Romeo and Juliet unexpectedly turned up naked in my classroom?  That was a good time.  Or maybe you're more in the mood to chuckle at the Old Spice commercial from the Olympics or perhaps you'd prefer to point and laugh while trying to figure out why we would decide to undergo this whole crazy money makeover thing in the first place.

Or maybe you'd just rather read The Pioneer Woman.  I understand.  I love her too.  Maybe she'll even be featuring a photo of Marlboro Man in chaps today.  Those are my favorite.  Don't lie....you like 'em too!

If you're still here, I guess you must be saddled with the burden of shopping for me, so allow me to help.  Behold!  The List!

Remember, I'm doing this for you.  I'm all about trying to make your life easier.  I won't cry all that hard if you figure I really don't need a birthday gift this year because, quite frankly, I probably don't. These are just some ideas in case you want to file them for Christmas or perhaps to celebrate my retirement from my non-existant job in 65 years.  Strap in, because I've been compiling this list for months.  You've been warned.

Note:  If you're using a feed reader like Google Reader, hop on over to the actual blog.  The photos are going to be all wonky if you stay put.  Thanks!

Now that I've had a taste of photo-editing, I just can't get enough.  I'd love to use this program to play more!  Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

Speaking of photos, this book comes highly recommended - Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera by Bryan Peterson

I really, really, really want this software, but the irony of having to budget for a budgeting program makes my head spin.  Ouch.  Check out "You Need a Budget."

I'm pretty sure this is the only way I'm going to work out.  Ever.  I'm trying to convince Evan to use his airline miles from his trips to China to get me one, but so far I don't think he's caving in:  Nintendo Wii with Wii Fit Plus. 

I suppose I could also get my lazy butt to try out one of these: The Biggest Loser Workout, Vol. 1; The Biggest Loser: The Workout - Last Chance Workout, The Biggest Loser: The Workout - 30 Day Jumpstart.If I'm going to do it right, I guess I'd need hand weights too, huh?

All those photos need to be stored somewhere and my dinosaur desktop computer is starting to complain.  The solution is this External Hard Drive! Got it for our anniversary!  Thanks Evan!

I'm a self-proclaimed Gleek.  And every Gleek needs this on their shelf: Glee: The Complete First Season.  And these wouldn't suck either: Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers, Glee: The Music, Volume 2, Journey to Regionals.  Aw, heck.  The only thing I own already is Glee the Music, Volume 1.  All the rest is fair game!  Like I said....I'm a Gleek.  Glee is my world.  I've actually considered trying to trick Isaiah into go to bed early on Tuesday nights because his bedtime interfers with Glee.  Too bad it stays light so dang long now.  Rats.  Thank God for Hulu!  (No, I do not have DVR.  I haven't quite entered the correct century just yet and I have to watch shows when they are actually on.)

My copy of this broke.  Can I please have a new one?  The Reduced Shakespeare Company: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged!

Don't let the naysayers tell you that gift cards aren't good gifts!  These are especially valuable for wackos like me who are in the middle of a Dave Ramsey intervention.  Cash just makes us want to make a payment on our credit card.  Crazy.  Great choices:  Archiver's, Old Navy, Target, Snapfish, Kohls, Amazon

I love these:  Petite Original Necklace by Lisa Leonard designs or The Key to My Heart necklace by The Vintage Pearl (Key #1).  A gift certificate would be great too! 

**HINT:  Custom orders take a few weeks!!  Please include both my children.

And I love these:  Gold Peacock Earrings by Brooklyn Thread, Collage Earrings by Tweak Boutique.  (The Tweak boutique earring selection changes all the time but there are lots of gorgeous styles to choose from.)  A gift certificate to either of these stores would be amazing also!

And I want to marry these:  Camera bag by JoTotes or the Lola Epiphanie bag by Maile Wilson (a total splurge, but so GORGEOUS!)

This could make for a fun (and cheap!) date night - Scrabble Diamond Anniversary Edition

A pedicure!  I don't care where it gets done or by whom, but I have ugly feet.  Seriously.  Hidious.  Get me a gift certicificate to The Foot Shack run by Dirty Sal out of a cart in a back alley.  I don't care.  Something needs to be done about these feet though.  They're almost as embarassing as my eyebrows.  Talk to Sadie at Modern Image Salon if you're interested in hooking me up with a remedy for that issue, but our poor monthy budget just didn't have room to keep this expense.  The small squirrels that have taken over my forehead will thank you.

You know how I feel about the Sneaky Chef. - The Sneaky Chef to the Rescue and The Sneaky Chef: How to Cheat on Your Man (In the Kitchen)by Missy Chase Lapine

You also know about my girl crush on The Pioneer Woman.  This book is for when I feel like doing some serious sinning - The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond

And while we're on the topic of books, I found one to help me reduce my grocery budget!!  I'd love to dive into Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey by Joanie Demer and Heather Wheeler.  I already love the blog, The Krazy Coupon Lady, and I'm antsy to learn more from the book.  I'll need to stock up on butter for all those Pioneer Woman recipes.  Then I'll need a gift certificate for SPANX to hold in all my jiggle.  Who am I kidding?  I wear those now!!

As for books to read for fun, rather than to cook or shop from, here are a couple of the titles on my wish list:  Plan B by Pete Wilson, The Girl Who Played with Fire - Kindle Edition, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Kindle Edition, The Secret - Kindle Edition, Forgotten God - Kindle Edition, Crazy Love - Kindle Edition, Strong Women, Soft Hearts - Kindle Edition.  I love my Kindle, by the way.  It seriously rocks my world.

This is a scrapbooking gadget I have had my eye on for a while.  It makes stickers up to 2.5 inches wide!!  Ok, so that kind of stuff excites me and it's my list, so I recommend gettin a Xyron 250!  I am also still pining away for the Cricut Expression, but from afar....

And this....this just looks like a whole lot of fun: Zoku Quick Pop Maker

I'm a greedy little buggar, aren't I?  Thank you for loving me despite this.

In the spirit of blowing out candles and making wishes, I'm curious.  What's on your wish list?  Is there something you're dying for that didn't make my list that should have (and don't say an iPad....everyone wants one of those).  For that matter, what's the coolest birthday/Christmas/Whatever gift you've ever received?  Anything that particularly knocked your socks off?