So, if I ever went missing...

I was thinking about this, after reading on my "separated at birth sister" Karla's blog, that she is going to take a little blog break. SHe has a bunch of stuff going on right now, and needs to cut back. As I have recently found out, I am not Superwoman, so it is a tad encouraging to hear others say the same. So, I made sure to let her know that she should just type in a simple "This is KArla and I am alive..." message, so we wouldn't worry.

I mean, really wouldn't you just wonder if someone abruptly stopped blogging? Ronda and CHanel have both checked in on me recently and I gotta' tell you, it was nice to know they missed me! My pal Brown English Muffin (aka BEM) and I joked about checking on each other as we ventured into basements and garages to exercise... you know, just in case we never made it back up the stairs. It was comforting as I made my way through that rigorous 3½ minutes on treadmill. (see post on 11/6/2006 for that one...) It was good to know BEM had my back, just in case... LOL.
So, as many of you have attested to, you grow into friendships with your blog pals, and you would wonder, neigh worry, if they just ceased to post... (and don't you love the use of the word neigh? I feel like a student who just got a bonus on the spelling test for using it in a sentence!)
So, what would your call to the cops be? What would you say? How would you describe some of your blog pals?

"Hello, police, this is Jude. I want to report a missing person."
"How long have they been gone ma'am?"
"Well, she hasn't posted in about three weeks, so..."
"Huh? Posted what? Bail?"
"WHAT? No, she hasn't posted on her blog, ya' know, web log"
The officer, now sensing he is dealing with a not so normal person says, "So how long have you known the person?"
"Well, I've been reading her blog for months, we e-mail, and..."
The officer growing frustrated, "So, describe her..."
"Well, she has sparkly eyes, she touches them up somehow in Photoshop, but I don't remember exactly how, her kids are adorable, they were sick a few weeks ago, but are better now, so I know that's not the problem, and her Layouts, well, she is just so talented. Her word for the year is "CREATE' wasn't that a great choice? Her husband recently surprised her for her birthday... there's a great page about that one in her archives, she loves fontwerks stamps and 7Gypsies stickers, like me, and she just sent me the loveliest RAK last month..."
"No, lady, I mean like how tall is she? What was she wearing when you last saw her?"
"well, I don't know how tall exactly, she is sitting in most of the pictures, and she wears pajamas alot, so there is no telling what she was wearing that day."
Now the police officer clearly thinks he ought to start filling out the involuntary commitment papers, "SO, lady, are you saying this woman is your dear friend, you 'converse' almost daily, talk about your lives, your work, etc. and you have never actually met?"
"Well, yes... but we did reach the ultimate point of blog trust. Ya' know, that 'okay, I know she is not a weirdo' trust, and exchanged addresses. DO you think you could just check?"
"Well, okay ma'am...but this is highly unusual"
ANd later that day, you find out, via a call from the officer, "Okay. I have located your 'friend' and she wanted to me to say...thanks sooooo much for checking on her. your dear blogging friend's internet was down, because her dog chewed on the cable cords, while she was making her card for the emily falconbridge challenge, have you done yours yet? And then there was the AliE newsletter one too. What did you do for yours? Did you get the new HS bling yet? SHe is still waiting for hers, her son went poopy on the potty, she made the Design Team, the new CK rocks, LOST is a repeat again this week, that new recipe stunk, and (officer out of breath)ma'am, that was all I could take... SHe said to give you her phone number, and if you wanted you could call her."
You are clearly flattered, you have been given ultimate trust... the phone number... and you are so happy your blog pal is alright.

So, this was just a test run, there are little pieces of many of you in it, and yeah, I would totally call and go through all this with some officer if you disappeared.
Why?
Cause you scrappity bloggers rock... you are
Sweet, you share LO ideas, and love it when someone "scraplifts" you.
You know all the great online stores and kit clubs.
You e-mail me to "check in " if I am absent too long.
You make me laugh about things like trips to Target and burnt dinners.
You are encouraging. ("have you lost weight in those new pictures?" And we all know i love a good lie about that! )
Keep secrets... (wink, you know who you are!LOL)
I have also found that my blog friends, are a diverse group, and i mean in many ways. We have different scrap styles, yet love to see each others work. We all raise our kids differently, yet I have never heard a "tsk tsk" over those differences. We listen openly about each others faith, and since most people argue about it, that is a miracle right there!LOL. We are different races, ethnic backgrounds, etc. yet we each see beauty in the sparkly eyes and smiles we take self portraits of. We love different music, yet still listen to the tunes we share in the audio link. (new rule Adrienne, no WHAM allowed!LOL) Politics are not argued, and we all pulled for Chris Edwards to win, just cause we knew the scrap pages would be so dang cool. (just kidding!) So, yeah, though people laugh when I say things like "Well, I have this friend who..." ANd then they ask where I know them from... and that launches into the whole long blog explanation, but its okay, cause I think blogland is a good place to be from...

And by the way, I am 5'10"...

Here are my cards for the Emily challenge. (please someone pick up Ronda, Beth, and Nicole, off the floor... they are fainting at this being done so early!!LOL...)

I chose the symbol I saw that truly changed my life just over 5 years ago. And it is so ironic that I picked this and then have had the two WORST days ever with my boys... literally. I mean loud, disobedient chaos... I am just trying to remember that I also chose the word "EMBRACE" as my word for the year, and not choke, or even runaway... Really, I know every kid has bad days, today just seemed to last longer...

Ok, so I am a slacker...

I have been a blog posting slacker, a blog reading slacker, and even a household chore slacker... BUT... in my defense, (the three best words in the english language!) I did hurt my back last week. I kept telling people I felt like an old football player saying this, but I really do have an old injury from my soccer playing years, that I apparently re-injure from time to time. It is ridiculous really, I mean, all I did was pick a toy up off the floor, and wham... twisted the ol' back, and I am hunched over like an old woman. It is usually fine in a couple days, but this time it took more like 5-6. Then, I realized last night that, as tempting as it is normally to just sit and veg out in front of the TV, it is even worse when there is a gloriously warm heating pad there to make you all toasty... so, yes, I was very lazy, and that blasted TBS sucked me in again with the "movie - I - have - seen-100x- but- am- still- watching- it-again" 10pm movie. Stinkin' TBS...

I am normally very organized, have laundry done on specific days, things put away, etc. I knew I had clearly become the dire opposite of my normal self when Micah asked me this morning if I needed help tonight with the laundry... Talk about LOL... He was being totally sweet, not condescending. He just realized if I was still hurting, and couldn't lug around laundry baskets, he would have to keep looking for socks in the unfolded laundry. So, he offered to help... something that, for some reason I look at as failure on my part... It's like, "heck no, I can do the laundry and manage this house, hunched over or upright!" But, since I just put away the last of the laundry from last week TODAY, I think that is an incorrect assumption on my part.

I must admit, I am a little grossed out by the crunching of cheerios under my feet in the dining room as well...

So, no more hurt back, no more heating pad, back to my old self... I will be folding laundry tonight while I watch HEROS... LOLOLOLOL

Here are my, late as usual pictures of the Emily challenge: This week was "I am..."
I liked what i picked, but I don't care for how the card came out... I am forgiven carries so much meaning to me...

It means...
I will start each day fresh, new, and with a positive outlook.

It means I will not, and cannot judge others.

It means I will be forgiving of others.

It means I will be thankful.

It means I will be a person of grace and love.

Clearly, I struggle with consistency on these, but still I am thankful I am forgiven...

So, I am forgiven... but I am not loving the way this card turned out! LOL...

FRONT:

BACK:

Birthday Party x 3

Well... we have officially survived the Party Circuit... Just call me "Paris" I guess... though oddly enough, I was at all parties fully clothed, had no "way too long"hair extensions, and no one paid me for my presence. Have I been gypped?

Actually I am referring to the fact that we had three... yes THREE birthday parties today. We started out at Chuck E Cheese (which I must admit, we call "Chuck E Sneeze" ) at 10am... onto another at 1:30pm... (and we passed the time in between at ACMoore... great buys in there today) and then we came back home where Lincoln and I power napped for 45 minutes and sped off to a Gymnastics Center for the third. I can honestly say, I am no longer a fan of Birthday cake and I didn't even eat any. (Just kidding, all were lovely parties, and Lincoln had so much fun!!)

Mind you I started the day off in sleep deficit because I had some friends over to scrap. We stayed up until 2am. It was a small gathering, because I honestly think I would scare some people with all my stuff. Really, do you ever feel like that weird lady with all the cats? Only, you don't have 19 cats, you own 500 sheets of PP and mounds of adhesive?

But... I digress. WE had a great time scrapping, talking and eating. My friend Kim knocked out like 12 pages... after declaring herself a "novice". Jen and I dutifully referred to her as a "sandbagger" all night. I worked on and am nearing completion of my Holiday ALbum... I know, it is a tad late, but remember, I had puking children over Christmas!!

So... here is my card for the Emily challenge. (I cannot keep typing out her last name, it's long, and I can't type.)

This week's question was "What is powerful to you???" At first I thought of love, then prayer, then God... but then I settled on time. Time is so precious. I also remember reading somewhere about Time being a level playing field to everyone. Each day everyone gets 24 hours.

So, I think time is powerful. How we spend it, waste it, abuse it and lose it...

What will you do with your playing field today????

Tick Tock...

Copycat...

Okay, I saw this on Beth's blog, and had to go check it out! It is a weekly challenge for the new year from Emily Falconbridge. You use a deck of cards and the prompts from her blog to make a weekly little mini LO... I LOVE this idea. So, yes, I had to copycat Beth and do it too... I was a tad bit over excited when I knew Nicole and Ronda were joining in too... So each week look forward to seeing their cool creations... and mine will be here, but there is no guarantee as to my own coolness levels... Here is my first one, the prompt was:

Something you are Proud of...

The Front...

The Back...

Gotta run... I have two little boys who need my attention... :)

Huck Finn'd...

So, here are some photos of Lincoln and his new favorite possession. Yes, it is a mop. He got a little broom/mop set for Christmas, and was highly disappointed that is was just a "fake" mop. I, being the exceptionally perceptive mother that I am, saw yet another opportunity to "Huck Finn" my child. In case you may have forgotten, in the Huckleberry Finn books, Huck gets the others kids to paint a fence for him by making it seem like such a fun job. I like this thinking, and have implemented it in many situations around the house. Hence, I have two little boys who now think getting to wipe down the potty, wash dishes and do laundry are special fun jobs. The conversation goes like this...

Lincoln "Mom, can I put the clothes in the dryer?"
Mom "Well... I don't know. I mean I really like to, and it IS a big boy job..."
Lincoln "Oh please Mommy, I will do a good job, see my strength?" (flexes muscles)
Mom "Ok, just this once, we'll see how you do..."
(and before long Emerson is in there too going, "I wanna help")


And that is how two boys came to love the privilege of bringing me their dirty clothes, loading the wash machine, and having me chuck wet clothes at them to go in the dryer. Now, if you should choose to start using the Huck Finn methods around your own home, here are some helpful tips...

1. Make it like going to the laundry room is something just for Mommy.Literally do NOT let them come out with you for a while. You think I'm kidding... whose kids let them pee alone? Anyone? Nope, and do you know why? They know we do not want them in there...so simply apply the peeing/showering principle to other areas.

2.Act like its your most fun job,and you really do not want to share it. The proof of this is the fact that any child can have a toy sitting for 6 months, they don't play with, like it or even notice it...until another child picks it up and deems it "fun". Then they want it...badly. Again, apply the principle. (this is more technically termed, "Toyous-i-want-itis")

3.Do not give up the whole farm! This is very tempting. Seeing the interest, you hand the reins over quickly. DON'T. You must hold back part of the chore in order to keep the Huck Finn method working. Examples: I do not let the boys put the laundry detergent in the machine yet. I swear I think they are holding their breath for that day. I do not let them wash dishes, only dry, and on occasion rinse. Remember to err on the conservative side, or BOOM... you will be whitewashing that wall all alone again.



So, that takes us to the mop...
I saw how clearly saddened Lincoln was by the "fake" mop. I told him IF he was a very good boy all week, we would go find him one at Target. So, we went, and there it was...a lovely silver mop...about as manly a mop as I could find. And it was on sale for $5.58. Sweet. The best part... the look I got from some lady who heard Lincoln say...

"Oh, thank you Mommy. This is the most beautifulest mop I ever had seen."

I think she thought he was drugged. But we came home, and after waiting three days (another helpful trick) we broke out the mop, and together we mopped the kitchen. He was adorable. He loved it. He worried about getting it all clean. An hour later he even tried to declare that the floor was dirty again. Sweet... Mopping = Fun. (But in accordance with the Huck Finn methods he was not allowed to fill or dump the water...yet...) :)

And, lest you think I am a horrible mother... Here are some pictures that my little man took with my camera. He took a bunch, and I was really surprised and proud of the funky angles, objects, and subject matter he chose. Here are a few favorites...

This one his beloved blanky, just in case you were wondering what the mass of tangled silk was...

AEzine challenge

Here it is... my word for the year. Ali Edwards challenge this week was to pick a word you would claim as "yours" for the year... Mine is EMBRACE...
and here is a mini album to keep near my work area (or move about the house as needed!!LOL) to remind me... I already put it into practice last night... I gathered all my supplies and headed into the living room to watch The Apprentice with Micah and make this...
Was hauling my stuff out to the living room a pain? yep...
Was working on my little floor table more challenging? uh-huh...
Did I make about fifty trips to get more stuff that I'd forgotten? Oh yeah...
BUT... I embraced some time with husband, he watched me create this and was so sweet and full of compliments. So... was it worth it??? TOTALLY... (sorry i flashed back to my valley girl lingo.) So embrace is good... both figuratively and literally...
Here is the book...

So, I don't like purple... no hate mail please.

Yes, its true. I do not like the color Purple. Sorry. I do not want any e-mails from the "Purple Lovers Society of America" or anything either. I forgot to mention this in the last post with my New Years predictions, rants, and general stuff... I have read and been told that PURPLE is the **NEW** hot color for 2007. Okay, first off, purple is not a new color, I think its been around a while. Now, SHMURPLE... that is a new color. It should be out for the hot color of 2008. The shades are still being tweeked. (um yes, that loud clanging is the note of scarcasm... :) Honestly I think I am not a big purple, lilac, lavendar, whatever shade, etc. fan because I refuse to wear it myself, hence, it finds no place on my pages, decorating, etc. But I love hydrangeas... I know, that is so hypocritical, and now the "Purple Haters Society of America" is going to be all mad at me... oh well. I'll roll the dice anyway... Here is a new qoute for the new year... it may explain the whole purple/hydrangea/ thing...

"Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."

Here is one of my favorite little holiday photos... I needed to interject that red and green in here...

And here is one of my new toys... Staple had these for $50...I had been wanting one for trips and such, and this was a good, inexpensive choice. I was a tad disappointed because the guy in the store and the HP website made it sound as if you could crop the photos from the LCD screen... nope. But, it will still be fun for parties and such...

And finally, on the mushy mommy front... The other day, Lincoln's holiday partying caught up with him and he crashed at nap time. After a couple of hours,I went to wake him up. No luck. I didn't want him to sleep the day away, so I finally went in and picked him up. He was so big and heavy, I was a little surprised. So I brought him out to the big easy chair and just looked at him... and bawled. I could not believe how big my little boy felt. I could look right up and see a picture of him on the wall at 6 months old. That was helpful for the full emotional breakdown. Really I just couldn't help but think... how much longer will he even want me to hold him like this? How many more times do I get to put lotion on him after his bath? How much longer will he want to take a nap with me? Soon, mommy won't be wanted in many of these ways at all... and that hit me like a ton of bricks... so I cried and held him, held him, and cried...for a long time. Now, tonight I couldn't sleep, and when I came in here the new AEzine was in the e-mail. As I read the challenge for the week, (which is to pick a word for the year that will inspire you, etc...) I immediately thought of the word EMBRACE... I want to embarce many things this year in a more passionate fashion... My God, My husband, (and if he is reading this he is thinking of passionate in a whole different sense than I intended...LOL.) Anyway, and also my kids,my family, my friends. I want to embrace time with them all, make memories, and enjoy them more. Embrace. It is a good word. So, be on the lookout in 2007 for me embracing lots of things, including you all... but not purple...

Happy New Year!!!

Hello all! I am finally all better, relatively speaking... :) The boys are on the mend too. Thanks for the well wishes for our speedy recovery!!

Despite the illnesses, we had a lovely little Christmas. Lincoln discovered on December 23rd that there were gifts involoved with Christmas... He thought all the presents were for his cousin's Birthday or others...LOL. Then he started to look at the tags, saw his name, and said,

"Are some of these presents for us? Do we get presents at Christmas?"

I just said, "Maybe..." Darn, we had a good run of complete and utter ignorance to the "overchristmascommercialization" for these last few years. I think next year he may actually ask for things...GASP! No, really, it was all good. They were great. Being sick the whole week stunk because I had all these cool crafts and projects that I wanted to do with the boys, and well... let's just say they have watched their TV quota for 2007 already. What else is a sick Mom to do in desperate times?

Here are some Jude insights for 2007:

Scrapbooking:

1.I said it a while back on Toya's blog, but here it is again... FELT is the new chipboard. It will be all over, not only as flowers, but soon Heidi Swapp or Elsie or some other gal will have a whole line of self adhesive felt letters,brackets, etc... ANd I will be hypnotically hitting the "click to buy" button in a bizarre on line shopping frenzy.

2.The hand written journaling "phase" will become a more common trend. More people will realize how even if they don't write like Ali E or a computer, it is cool to use your own paws once in a while.

3.That little bird we keep seeing everywhere, he will finally be out... sorry pal, its time to go south.

4.Stamps, stamps, stamps... They will be used more and more, some for the good, some for the bad... please, I beg of you all... NO TEDDY BEARS stamped on LOs...

Personal Goals:

1.I will keep up better with my prayer life, and personal journals... Cause I am such a dolt when I am spiritually lazy, and the journals... well I am so vain, I think that, of course the writers of my memoirs will want some good source materials. ( I am thinking of starting the first entry like this... "Despite what photos look like, I weighed a mere 115 lbs and resembled Heidi Klum in 2007...)

2. I will keep my house cleaner, and more organized...

3.I will hire a maid.... (see #2)

4.I will be in shape again... I saw fat near my armpit area... HUH? What is that? Now I have fat armpits? That is just fundamentally wrong, and I will be hitting the weights with a vengence in the New Year. I must prove to these armpits who is boss...

5.I will stop being so sarcastic....

Yeah right... did you really belive that? heehee... Happy New Year to all...

Here are some pictures...

This is our traditional Christmas Eve German dinner... I also make apple pie, but we skipped it this year. (Potatoe PAtties, Green Beans with Bacon, Sauerkraut and kielbasa.)

My little men on Christmas morning... got their milk, sat by the tree, looked cute... :)

And Lincoln says... Happy New year... :)