Manda -
You have been so crazed lately, and on top of it all you haven't been getting the rest you need to make it through the week. Take a break! I know you have a long weekend ahead of you - and you need to enjoy it. Focus on fun projects and only work on the cleaning/housework crap a little bit. Take a deep breath and just relax! You deserve it.
Sure, there are plenty of things that "need" to get done - but they can wait a day. Today is for you. Catch up on some of your fun projects, enjoy a little creativity. Lounge about in your pajamas 'til noon if you want to and don't let the mess around you get to you. Things are going to remain crazy for the next month or so, so enjoy a little solitude while you have it. You work hard at work and at home and everyone deserves a little me time occasionally. Take yours.
Love,
Manda
Friday, October 10, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
My Wonderful Husband
Look what showed up for me at work last week! They were the best kind too, the just because I love you kind. These pictures were taken about 5 days after they showed up, and a week later they still look perfect! They're my new favorite kind of flower: Peruvian Lilies.
Ignore the terrible mess on my desk, things have been a little busy lately with event weekend last weekend...things are much cleaner when I don't have an event going on!
Monday, October 6, 2008
[somewhat reluctantly] Jumpin' on the [Holiday] Bandwagon...
Alright, I know I was just bitchin' about the holiday crap out and about in September....but seeing all that stuff has got me thinking about my holiday plans or rather holiday craft plans.
1) Christmas Cards. I typically send out about 50 cards a year. In the past I have created 50 different hand made cards to send out. This year, I am planning on designing 1-2 cards and creating multiple ones. I need to start thinking about what I want to do and watch for sales on supplies.
2) For various extended family members I typically design something for them. Last year I did a set of handmade cards for each person, this year however; I am feeling more digitally capable and am thinking more along the lines of personalized recipe cards.
3) Each year I create 5 handmade photo calendars, it's a lot of work to find 12 months of pictures to use, get them ordered (in the right sizes) and design 5 pages of each month. I might go for a similar look, but I like them all to be a little different. One of the 5 is for me, and I might try my hand at creating mine digitally this year as well. Yikes!
4) I like to come up with a craft project that the little guy can do/help with to make for his Aunts, Uncles and grandparents. Last year we filled little glass ornaments with paint and I let him shake them up to create unique patterns. I then used puff paint to add "2007" to them. They were super cute - I have no idea for this year!
So, that's 4 big projects that I need to complete, at least I have the ideas down so it should be easier to start thinking about what exactly I want to do for them.
Do you get crafty for the holidays, go store bought or do something entirely different? Do share!
1) Christmas Cards. I typically send out about 50 cards a year. In the past I have created 50 different hand made cards to send out. This year, I am planning on designing 1-2 cards and creating multiple ones. I need to start thinking about what I want to do and watch for sales on supplies.
2) For various extended family members I typically design something for them. Last year I did a set of handmade cards for each person, this year however; I am feeling more digitally capable and am thinking more along the lines of personalized recipe cards.
3) Each year I create 5 handmade photo calendars, it's a lot of work to find 12 months of pictures to use, get them ordered (in the right sizes) and design 5 pages of each month. I might go for a similar look, but I like them all to be a little different. One of the 5 is for me, and I might try my hand at creating mine digitally this year as well. Yikes!
4) I like to come up with a craft project that the little guy can do/help with to make for his Aunts, Uncles and grandparents. Last year we filled little glass ornaments with paint and I let him shake them up to create unique patterns. I then used puff paint to add "2007" to them. They were super cute - I have no idea for this year!
So, that's 4 big projects that I need to complete, at least I have the ideas down so it should be easier to start thinking about what exactly I want to do for them.
Do you get crafty for the holidays, go store bought or do something entirely different? Do share!
Buckle Up?
I have a three year old son. If you have children, you understand just how curious they are at this age, additionally they pick up on things easily and like to try out their new-found skills/language immediately and frequently. This being said, I have a problem.
When we hop in the car, we buckle our little man into his Graco car seat with the 5-point (recognized as the "most safe") harness. This involves two straps buckled between the legs and a plastic thing snapped on his chest. About a week ago, as we were hopping out of the car at home he stopped me as I tried to unbuckle said plastic chest piece. "I do it Mommy." I figured, why not let him try...and try he did. Not only did he try, but he succeeded. "Great," I thought, "now he can free himself." I wasn't too worried, I assumed he knew that we only took it off when we were getting out of the car.
Fast forward a few days.
It's about 6:45 a.m., I am sipping my coffee and driving to the Day Care, little man safely strapped in in the back seat, or so I thought. At the stoplight just before his daycare, I felt a tap on my arm. "Hi Mommy." I spun around, there he was, leaning as far forward as he could, no shoulder straps on. I flipped on my hazards and jumped out. The part that goes between his legs was still securely in place, but the chest harnass was open. I strapped him back in, and drove into the day care parking lot and told him to do it again.
It took him about 5 minutes, but he did. He pushed down on the top button of the chest harness for about a minute and wiggled it out. From there he just pulled at it until the bottom one came loose. Then he was able to slip his arms free from the shoulder straps. How I didn't notice this as I was driving, I'll never know. But he was so quiet about it, as if he knew he couldn't be caught. (After he got out the second time, I made it clear to him that this was NOT OK and NOT SAFE and to NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. But you know kids, they don't tend to listen.
I think part of the problem is the amount of room he has in the back seat of my vehicle. It's an SUV, he's right behind the driver and I have the seat pretty far forward. Far enough so that he can't kick me if he tries. He doesn't have that kind of room in Dad's car. I also can't quite see him in the rear view mirror, unless I stretch a little, so it's not like I could see what he was doing.
When I pick him up tonight, I will tighten the harness one or two times tighter then I think it comfortably should be - and hopefully with a little less room to move he will be unable to free himself from his safety belts. If not, I don't know what to do.
A car seat is supposed to be safe. Supposed to keep them strapped in and should be (in my opinion) "child proof." The child locks are on on both back doors, in case this situation arises again.
I am also hoping that as soon as he's in his winter jacket he'll be bulky enough that he won't be able to wiggle his way out. But once the shoulder straps come off, he's pretty much free.
Have your kids ever learned to do something that affected their safety? Please share!
When we hop in the car, we buckle our little man into his Graco car seat with the 5-point (recognized as the "most safe") harness. This involves two straps buckled between the legs and a plastic thing snapped on his chest. About a week ago, as we were hopping out of the car at home he stopped me as I tried to unbuckle said plastic chest piece. "I do it Mommy." I figured, why not let him try...and try he did. Not only did he try, but he succeeded. "Great," I thought, "now he can free himself." I wasn't too worried, I assumed he knew that we only took it off when we were getting out of the car.
Fast forward a few days.
It's about 6:45 a.m., I am sipping my coffee and driving to the Day Care, little man safely strapped in in the back seat, or so I thought. At the stoplight just before his daycare, I felt a tap on my arm. "Hi Mommy." I spun around, there he was, leaning as far forward as he could, no shoulder straps on. I flipped on my hazards and jumped out. The part that goes between his legs was still securely in place, but the chest harnass was open. I strapped him back in, and drove into the day care parking lot and told him to do it again.
It took him about 5 minutes, but he did. He pushed down on the top button of the chest harness for about a minute and wiggled it out. From there he just pulled at it until the bottom one came loose. Then he was able to slip his arms free from the shoulder straps. How I didn't notice this as I was driving, I'll never know. But he was so quiet about it, as if he knew he couldn't be caught. (After he got out the second time, I made it clear to him that this was NOT OK and NOT SAFE and to NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. But you know kids, they don't tend to listen.
I think part of the problem is the amount of room he has in the back seat of my vehicle. It's an SUV, he's right behind the driver and I have the seat pretty far forward. Far enough so that he can't kick me if he tries. He doesn't have that kind of room in Dad's car. I also can't quite see him in the rear view mirror, unless I stretch a little, so it's not like I could see what he was doing.
When I pick him up tonight, I will tighten the harness one or two times tighter then I think it comfortably should be - and hopefully with a little less room to move he will be unable to free himself from his safety belts. If not, I don't know what to do.
A car seat is supposed to be safe. Supposed to keep them strapped in and should be (in my opinion) "child proof." The child locks are on on both back doors, in case this situation arises again.
I am also hoping that as soon as he's in his winter jacket he'll be bulky enough that he won't be able to wiggle his way out. But once the shoulder straps come off, he's pretty much free.
Have your kids ever learned to do something that affected their safety? Please share!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Friday Letter
Dear School Picture Photographer,
This week the school pictures you took of my three-year-old son at his day care came in. You know the boy who always has a snotty nose and won't sit still for more then a minute without food or his favorite show (which varies from week to week)? He's the kid who runs away from me everytime I pull out the camera and refused to look cute for the lens. Anyways, the second I pulled those pictures out of the envelope, I smiled from ear to ear and became "that mom." The mom who is running up to other parents shoving the pictures of my kid under their noses saying "look how cute my kid is!"
The pictures you managed to snap of my little man are perfect. You did a great job either getting him to sit still or making him laugh and just merely capturing a moment in time. However you got him to pose to look so adorably handsome in all of his pictures I will never know, but thank you. Thank you for taking the extra time with my son to capture the perfect picture for me to remember how he looked when he turned three.
Sincerely,
A very satisfied customer
This week the school pictures you took of my three-year-old son at his day care came in. You know the boy who always has a snotty nose and won't sit still for more then a minute without food or his favorite show (which varies from week to week)? He's the kid who runs away from me everytime I pull out the camera and refused to look cute for the lens. Anyways, the second I pulled those pictures out of the envelope, I smiled from ear to ear and became "that mom." The mom who is running up to other parents shoving the pictures of my kid under their noses saying "look how cute my kid is!"
The pictures you managed to snap of my little man are perfect. You did a great job either getting him to sit still or making him laugh and just merely capturing a moment in time. However you got him to pose to look so adorably handsome in all of his pictures I will never know, but thank you. Thank you for taking the extra time with my son to capture the perfect picture for me to remember how he looked when he turned three.
Sincerely,
A very satisfied customer
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