Short Update

I think at one point I mentioned doing a 365 photo project...hmm...maybe not :)  It just doesn't seem to fit into my schedule.  My camera is my friend and I need to use it some more.  This weekend it will see some use.  It's Pinewood Derby time!  Both kids have worked really hard on their cars.  Brianna was especially excited that her car came in 3rd instead of last.  Last year her car was very slow....of course not as slow as Charlie's.  This year Charlie's did pretty good.  I am going to be making the trophies that will be passed down in the adult/leader division.  Charlie's idea is to make them UofL and UK....since UofL is on a losing streak and UK is doing so well.  I personally don't follow basketball at all but I'm sure there will be a few people offended.

I made some progress on cleaning my craft stuff up.  My living room and dining room both are gigantic messes.  I got about 15 minutes into tackling that problem today and Oliver decided to wake up.  So not a lot got done....AND I didn't take pictures of my craft projects.  Some people are so good about doing that and showing them to the world....I definitely need to work on that. 

Below is another one of my photos.  This one is from Christmas.  Hopefully I'll get around to posting those craft projects tomorrow.

It's been a few days...

Yes, I haven't updated in awhile.  I've been busy!  Last Wednesday was a really bad day for me, and after sulking all day Thursday, I finally somewhat recovered on Friday.  Friday night, Joey and I spent several hours working on his Valentines cards.  He picked out everything and was a huge help.  What I kept wondering was why I make these cards so complicated....I have so many to make yet instead of making a 5-step card, I end up with a 20-step card.  Oh well....I'm pretty proud of Joey though since the cards look pretty good....especially for my first attempt at a Valentine card.  I'll have to take a picture and post later.  It took me the rest of the night to finish cutting out the pieces he'd need and doing the stamping.  Now he can put them altogether. :)  Friday I also went to Joann's....I got some great 12x12 paper for $.25 a sheet.  YAY!  On Saturday I was really lazy most of the day.  Took Joey over to his friend's house to spend the night and turned in Breezy's cookie order form....so now everyone that wants some Thin mints will get them shortly.  After that, Breezy and I watched some movies.  She REALLY wanted to watch Paranormal Activity...so we did.  I will have to admit that I didn't find it scary or creepy in the least bit.  Some of the things they did just didn't make sense.  I don't think Brianna was really scared either.  Oh well...it's being sent back to Netflix today.  I spent that night working on Brianna's Valentines....she also did an awesome job picking out things for hers.  And I was really happy to finally get some time to do some crafting. :)

Unfortunately I spent all of Saturday night feeling like I was going to be sick so I didn't get to sleep until early morning...and then slept until noon!  I spent last night making a lot of progress on the cub scout invitations. YAY! 

Now its time to get some things done before Oliver wakes up from his nap.

It's been a day...

Well, let's see.  I'll start with the good news.  I am a part of the Scrappers Delight design team!  YAY! This is very exciting for me and I am really looking forward to showing off my completed projects. :)

On other crafting news, I am hoping to finish the kids' Valentine's this weekend and get pictures up for viewing.  I think they are going to turn out so cute!

Right now I am sitting here watching The Biggest Loser and listening to Charlie and Oliver playing.  It is the sweetest sound to hear Oliver laughing.  Life just doesn't get any better.  Unfortunately, the whole night didn't go that way.  For the most part, all I can say is....KIDS SHOULD COME WITH INSTRUCTIONS!  When I got home from the grocery, Oliver just decided to have a fit.  I don't know if his new tooth was bothering him, if he was hungry, or what, but boy it was exhausting.  Nothing was calming him down, and after 30 minutes when I did get him calmed down, he started all over again for some reason.  When Charlie got home with Joey, Oliver was fine.  So maybe all along he just missed his Daddy. 

Other than working on the kids Valentine's, I seem to be a little lacking in inspiration.  At the same time, I'm watching The Biggest Loser wondering where my motivation has gone to work out.  On vacation I think....but it all needs to come back.  It all comes down to, ultimately, feeling like doing anything takes time away from my family and taking care of them.  I need to get on that laundry!  It's amazing how fast it piles up when there are 5 people in the house and you don't do laundry for 3 days.  It will get caught back up again...I just can't leave my husband home alone again.

Well, I think I will be finishing the show and then heading to bed.  Maybe I'll have some inspiration in my dreams :)

Quick post

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Originally uploaded by amp41080

This is going to be a very short, quick post. I have every intention of persuading myself to get in the shower! Dinner needs to be started in the crock pot and I'd really like to also have time to go through some of the ribbon and other craft supplies I picked up from my mom this weekend. I can't wait to make something! In the meantime, here's a picture of Oliver from his one year album. It's darker than I intended but that's what happens when you stand in front of the window and block the light! So, it's not as good as intended but it is what it is. Tonight I have BUNCO! YAY! Maybe I'll get lucky and win (but probably not). Charlie is attending the Special Needs Bible Study without me but I'll join him halfway through. Brianna will be going to a Girl Scout skating party which she is super excited about. Poor Joey has nothing to do...which is probably just as well since he was having a lot of stomach cramping last night and has been sleeping most of the day. I'm really hoping he isn't coming down with something. Okay, this is me officially kicking myself in the butt! Time to get moving!

I missed my little boy!

I had a really great weekend. And to make it even better tomorrow is MLK day so Charlie will be home!!! YAY! Brianna and I spent Friday night scrap booking for 5 hours. It was a lot of fun, especially since we got Chinese food and I actually managed to make progress on my pages. I found a HUGE lot of stamps on EBay (over 140 stamps) and purchased them for only $20 (incl. shipping). I got the box over the weekend and opened it today. WOW! I got such a great deal. There are stamps in there from some of my favorite companies, not to mention that some of them are new and still in sealed packages. Separately they easily would have cost me over $350...so I'm very excited about that. Now I have to get some jewel cases and ez mount foam so I can store them all. It's time to think about redoing my craft area/business space.

Saturday, Brianna and I headed to Dayton, OH for the weekend. It was the first time I've left my little baby boy alone overnight. That was REALLY HARD for me to do. Oliver seemed to do okay alone with his Daddy. Brianna I went shopping with my mom and she got all kinds of new stuff (and so did Joey, Oliver and Charlie...oh and I got a new jacket), and we also visited with little Kaylee when we went to pick up my sister. My itty bitty niece is so cute. She was a little upset to be away from her mommy when I held her but that's to be expected. I can't wait until she gets a little bigger. She's definitely changing already...so much more awake than she was a few weeks ago.

After that we went to dinner at Uno's, where I used to work as a teenager. Not a whole lot has changed. I got one of their signature dishes and it tasted exactly as I remembered. It was yummy. Then we headed over to the Victoria Theatre to see the Muse Machine's annual production. This year...Singin' in the Rain. It was awesome! Would you believe they actually made it rain on stage? That was the coolest live special effect I've ever seen! I can never get past the immense amount of talent in region.....high school and middle school students...who knew that kids that young could act better than some adults? Some of the kids that actively participated in Muse Machine over the years have made successful careers in performing arts....even on Broadway! It just amazes me. I cannot say enough good things about them. Brianna absolutely loved the musical as well. She cannot wait for next year's production.

After we got back at nearly midnight, Brianna, my dad, and I sat in the living room watching horror movies. Brianna just loves them, as do I. It was 2am before we finally ventured off to bed....and we didn't get up until after 10am. It was the first night of sleep I've had where I haven't had to worry about waking a sleeping baby or wondering if the baby will sleep through the night, etc. I got an actual straight eight hours of sleep! WOOHOO! As if that wasn't exciting enough, Brianna made everyone breakfast using her new cookbook (received at Christmas) and with a little help from my mom. I will have to say she did a fantastic job. I am so proud of how independent she's becoming.

When breakfast was over we got ready to go. I packed everything up. It was a little sad to think about leaving because I really do miss my family some days since I live so far away. On the other hand, I think my relationship with them has been closer because of it. Not to mention I was missing Oliver terribly and was just dying to get home to him.

We had lunch at The Chop House in Dayton with my mom and her friends before heading back home. It seemed like the drive took forever, and then when I got home, Oliver was napping. Ugh...so I had to wait even longer for him to wake up so I could see if he missed me. I'm not sure he was quite awake when he first saw me. But he did like all the attention I was giving him. We got a great video of him walking with his walker. He was so proud of himself. He gets the biggest smile on his face whenever he uses it. And even more exciting, tooth #2 is finally starting to poke through his gum!!!! It's about time he gets tooth #2.

Well, I really need to be getting to bed. I'm whooped! I'm glad I got to spend so much time with Brianna. It was a great bonding experience.

A better day

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Originally uploaded by amp41080

Today was a much better day where Oliver was concerned. Yesterday he was so mellow. Today he was his happy, smiley, bouncy self that I love so dearly. I cannot believe my little baby is a year old. Not only did he wake up this morning happy and smiling, but naptime went well with less than 10 minutes of crying. He woke up happy from that too. Then tonight, I gave him his bath, pajamas, bottle, and then straight to the crib. He cried for less than 5 minutes. If someone had told me before how well this whole "cry it out" stuff works I never would have believed it. But to any mothers out there, don't be afraid to try it! I am finally able some time to myself before bedtime. Now I just need to work on getting him to bed earlier to allow me some time to do scrapbooking and cardmaking.

I found some great deals on clearance stuff over the last couple of days....things that will add to my business....not to sell but to make awesome cards!

Well, it really is getting late and I have a lot to do tomorrow before the regularly scheduled Cub Scout meeting. Also, I have been trying to use my camera. Here's a picture. It will be better when I have a better lens. Oliver is such a cutie. He says "Excuse Me!"

Being a parent isn't easy!

Last night was a really rough night...

It started on Sunday night when I had an epiphany. Oliver has begun to literally scream everytime I walk out of the room. I have seen it happen to countless kids I've babysat for in the past. Mom and Dad leave and baby is super upset. They always calm down within a few minutes, and having witnessed this, I thought no big deal. I can certainly handle this with my own child. Oliver didn't develop a serious attachment to me early. This is something that has creeped up in the last couple of weeks. Charlie has been trying to console him if I leave the room, but it doesn't work. If I go to switch laundry, start dinner, even go to the bathroom, he just screams....and I mean really cries - full tears and all. At bedtime, he has recently started waking up screaming around 11pm. I'd pick him up and fall back asleep instantly. I'd rock him and snuggle with him thinking that was all he needed. I'd lay him back down and as soon as he realized I wasn't holding him...commence screaming again. Seriously...after dealing with that for a few weeks and not being able to sleep until 1:30-2am, I can't take it anymore. So, Sunday I fed him, got him to sleep and he went to bed. 11pm, as if on cue, he woke up. I got him up, hugged him, rocked him, and he fell asleep. I laid him down and he instantly woke up. So I let him stay in the crib and cry. I checked on him occasionally, which actually just made it worse. Hearing how he'd cry when I left the room made me feel like I was abandoning him. Part of the problem is he wouldn't lay down, so I continually would lay him down. Well, his resolve was stronger than mine because after nearly 3 hours I gave in, picked him up, put him in bed with me, waited for him to fall asleep and then moved him to the crib.

So last night, I started earlier. I fed Oliver, and while he was still awake, put him in the crib and walked out of the room. He cried so hard and I really did feel like the worst person in the world. He sounded like he was going to throw up he was crying so hard. How did I not see his attachment to me getting this severe? I wanted him to love me, but I never wanted him to want ONLY me all the time to the point where he won't even let Charlie hold him. Leaving him in there was so hard. Charlie put earphones in my ears and told me it would be ok. After 45 minutes of straight screaming, he finally started to settle down, and did finally fall asleep all by himself. I then continued to cry and cry and cry. How could I have done that to my baby boy?

I was dreading getting up this morning, but my fears were put to rest by a big smile from my sweet baby boy. Oliver was fine. He has been a little more mellow today but that's because he's tired and he's also ready for lunch as I type this. So off I go....time to feed him and then naptime. Hopefully tonight will be a little easier for the both of us.

Drama, Drama, and more Drama...but at least I made progress

Well, this is how my evening started out. I got up to get myself something to drink when I tripped over a baby toy, screamed, made the baby cry, and then the baby tripped because he was paying attention to me instead of where he was going! Seriously...I'm glad everyday is not filled with this kind of drama. But the fact is that life is full of drama. A teacher from high school used to say "Variety is the spice of life" so I suppose that drama is what gives life its variety or spice. If there were no ups and downs we'd be stuck with plain old monotony and what fun would that be?

Other drama that has occurred for me today has been trying to find information on starting up my business. I spent hours (and I do literally mean HOURS) trying to figure out what needed to be filed where, as far as legalities are concerned. I have decided to go the route of sole proprietor simply because at this time I don't think I should invest the money it would take to incorporate unless I actually start making money. So then I sat here trying to find out how you obtain a business license in Kentucky. The information was no where to be found! It was so unbelievably annoying! Come to find out, the reason the information isn't there is because you don't need one. Can you believe it? It would have been nice if that information would have been posted rather than having links looped together saying "obtain business license". All I need in Kentucky is to register my business name in my county and complete a Sales and Use Tax form for the state which acts as a seller's permit. Once I get that I'll be able to shop around and buy my supplies wholesale. So there was actually progress on the business front. Next I have to fill out the forms and get them filed. While I'm waiting on responses from the county and state, I plan to work on making the samples. I have decided to make kits for the kids to make their own Valentine's cards for their classes. I am also going to make invitations to the cub scout Blue & Gold banquet so if you get one, I made it!

My weight loss also made progress. I was down to 207.5 yesterday which is a big deal. So far I'm down 14.5 pounds since September which is slow, but at least it's progress. Only 57 more to go....but I'll be satisfied with even 35 more by the end of the year. I still need to find time to do my new Biggest Loser Wii game. I will make an honest attempt to get up at a decent time in the morning and get that accomplished.

Snow Day

So I wake up this morning and look outside and there is a teeny bit of snow on the ground. We're talking maybe half an inch and then I find out school is cancelled. I mean, seriously?? School cancelled?? No ice, no mounds of snow....oh well. It just throws my whole day off having all the kids home. It means Oliver won't take a good nap and I'll be driven nuts all day. I love the kids, I really do, but they were just home for 2 weeks straight and I was really looking forward to the break. Not to mention Joey was having a really good week so far. He was behaving so well and his reading was also going well. And this means that they will tack on an extra day at the end of the school year. Ugh...

On the plus side, if it keeps snowing, I'll be able to get some good winter pictures of the kids. I'm not sure how I can get Oliver in the snow without him freezing to death but I'll figure something out.

Yesterday was a pretty good day for the most part. I have decided that my colors will probably be brown and pastel green. I worked on my logo a little bit last night but I was interrupted by a baby that wouldn't sleep, so I didn't get very far. I'll try to work on that some more today.

I have two cabinets in the kitchen left to clean out and then I'll have an organized kitchen!!! I am so excited I can barely contain myself. Next week I move onto zone 3 which I think involves the kids rooms. The extra bedroom will be the biggest challenge since that will involve transforming it into Oliver's new bedroom. I'm looking forward to making him a place to play. It will also double as a playroom for the other kids. And in the process, I'll get to put up all of my pictures and things all over the house.

I haven't made much progress on the weight loss front. Of course I haven't exercised much either! Today I really need to change that. The kids have put themselves on the Biggest Loser Wii game and I need to knock them off in the challenges! I've had my breakfast for today so I suppose its time to get a shower and get moving. There are plenty of things I can do.

Baby Steps

It is amazing what you can accomplish with baby steps. I have spent the last 6 days shining my sink as Flylady suggests and it has really made a difference in my attitude toward things. It has given me motivation to declutter my kitchen, which is almost done. I have done it in small increments. Normally I wouldn't have even started if I couldn't do the whole thing...it's my 'all or nothing' mentality that I simply cannot seem to get rid of. What I have realized this week is that by doing it in small steps over several days I am seeing a difference and I didn't have to devote half a day to see it. Laundry is caught up, kitchen clean...I'm just feeling really good at the moment.

Not only have I been doing good at these baby steps but my husband (who is the greatest ever!) has noticed and is making a considerable effort to help me keep it up. For example, two nights in a row when he's done the dishes, he has cleaned out my sink afterwards so that it's still shiny in the morning. And oh how good it feels to see that shiny sink in the morning. What I love the most though is having a husband that loves me enough to do this for me. He has no idea how much I love and appreciate him.

I did take my camera out yesterday to take one year pictures of Oliver...needless to say they did not come out well. I think I was standing in front of the light from the window on many of them causing them to be dark. Ugh....I suppose I'll just have to start over, which is better than spending hours in Photoshop trying to fix them. Friday will probably be a good day for that. They have predicted several inches of snow so I'm sure the school district will cancel school, which means I'll have the kids home to help me. AND since it is supposed to snow, the snow will reflect all that light making LOTS of light in my living room which equals good pictures. So here's to hoping all that falls into place. :)

This is harder than it looks!

Keeping up with a blog, or rather finding time to keep up with it is hard! When I decided to do this to help keep me on track in the new year, I had no idea how hard this was going to be. Right now I am looking around my room at all of the other things I should be doing! Grrr

So far this morning I'm doing good on the to do list. I have emptied the dishwasher, shined my sink, ate breakfast, and am now enjoying my coffee. And during all of this I've been laughing at my silly baby boy. He really is quite the character. Soon it will be time for Sesame Street though and he always looks forward to that. I just love that show and find it very entertaining. I've always like silly, corny stuff and jokes so I love the show. Oliver does too. The other two kids made it off to school without incident and I'm just praying for a good day for them. The most shocking and surprising thing about today is that we got a teeny tiny bit of snow and they didn't cancel school. I think that's an accomplishment for the superintendent.

While going through Joey's papers last night and then checking online I have definitely noticed that his grades are falling. He's getting lower grades on projects simply because of neatness (he's drawing in the margins of all his papers). His spelling is also terrible because he doesn't apply what he knows. His teacher has told us she knows how smart he is but for whatever reason he just doesn't want to take the time to do good work.

I'm not sure when I'm going to get a shower today. I've gotten so used to having the older kids home to watch Oliver that now I can't remember what I used to do! Oh well. It's a new year and time to start some new routines. I need to start getting up before he does and taking care of it before he gets up. It really would make doing other stuff so much easier.

When it comes to my cards, I did create many designs to use for various occasions. Now I am trying to work on doing the wording and trying to put them all together. The hardest ones will be waterfall cards. They are very time consuming to assemble but are really cool once done.

Well, coffee is gone so that means I need to get on with my day. I have an ambitious to do list so I need to stay motivated!

Long Day

Today feels like a Monday for me. The whole day is dragging by.....unbelievably slowly! Charles is off working overtime, which is good for the bank account, just bad for me. After nearly 2 full weeks of all three kids I'm about to go out of my mind. I desperately need a break. Dinner is started...CHECK. Still need a shower in today, but I'll get to that in a minute. After shower I'm going to spend some time working on the website thing. My mind has been so focused on the cards. I know what I'm going to make and sell, I just can't seem to decide on patterns and designs and such. There are too many good ideas in my head, but I know I need to just start. So I've decided to redirect my focus to making my website and then I'll proceed with project making.

I did manage to check a few things off my to do list. The accounts are all balanced and up to date for cub scouts. I am the treasurer and handle all the financial stuff. It feels good to have all that done for now. All I have left to officially finish that is a trip to the bank on Monday. I also succeeded in getting 2 whole cabinets cleaned out in the kitchen. YAY! I made a lot of space and got rid of many things that needed to go. Dishes are done, laundry is done, and all that's left in the kitchen is to make my sink shiny.

I just talked to Charlie and he's leaving work around 6pm so it'll only be another couple of hours until I get to see him. I really hate giving up my weekend for him to go work. I look forward each and every day to the time I get to spend with him. It might sound cliche, but he is the best thing that ever happened to me. I just miss him and can't wait for him to return home.

As for taking pictures, I have yet to whip about my camera and take some shots. There just always seems to be so many things to do! I must remedy that sometime over the weekend.

Ok, time to go...many more things to do with my day.