Project 52 v2012: Week 4

January 22-28, 2012

It was pretty much a regular week for us.

We went to the library while Harrison was at preschool and got our “regular” study room. We love this room as it has two large windows looking out into the neighborhood surrounding the library.

 

 

On Friday, we had a birthday party for a friend at Build-a-Bear-Workshop. Elizabeth chose the Lil’ Coconut Cub, a cute little pink and black plaid outfit and some little silver shoes. She named her bear Emma Grace – which is the name of another friend (she names all her animals after friends or family – I think it’s sweet).

On Friday night, Brad and I had the cocktail party for Lettermen’s Weekend at UALR. While we were at the event, Mimi (what they call my sister) stayed with the kids. She’d asked us to leave the keys to the van so she could take them for ice cream. As you can see, they were already ready for bed when she said, “Late night ice cream run!” They were so surprised and loved it! Uncle Chris and Sam came over right after we got home – and Uncle Chris took each of the girls for a ride in GrandDaddy’s Corvette. They loved it! And then they all piled in Mimi’s new car and went for a ride, too. They didn’t get into bed until about 10:30, but they were all asleep almost immediately.  Fun memories.

Thank you notes

I made some thank you notes for Bitsy to use for her birthday gifts. When Elizabeth saw them, she wanted to make one to write a thank you note for a gift she was recently given. The ones I made used Ripe Avocado as the card base and Rustic Cream for the die cut. Here is Elizabeth’s – love it! (I love stamping on patterned paper)

All supplies are Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted:

• Cardstock: True Black
• Patterned Paper: 2009 Bitty Dot Basics (Hibiscus Burst)
• Die: Mat Stack 5
• Stamps: Half & Half (bracket) Sending a Big Thank You
• Ink: Fresh Snow; Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)

She lined the inside of the card with a lightweight white cardstock so she can write her thank you note.

Project 52 v2012: week 3

Week 3: January 15-21, 2011

Well, we had a pretty boring week this week! And therefore, no pictures. On a good note, I have been keeping up with everything in my calendar – just a sentence or two per day. We (the girls and I) along with Mom at her office and Brad at his office are all taking orders for Girl Scout cookies. Monday was MLK Day so Brad was off work and I went into the office. On Tuesday, the children and I took a friend from church to the grocery store. Her anniversary was Thursday and she wanted to cook a nice meal for her husband. Due to some various health issues, she isn’t driving much right now. It was a great opportunity for me to show the children how we serve others. We had so much fun helping her. Wednesday was the usual AWANA for the kids, basketball for Daddy, grocery shopping for me. I think I had a touch of food poisoning on Thursday in the middle of the night. Katherine and Annie had a Girl Scout sleepover on Friday night – they were very excited. And then on Saturday, Harrison had a fun pirate birthday party for a friend. All the kids, and the birthday boy’s parents, were dressed like pirates. So much fun!!

Red icing…don’t worry!  But I did joke he must’ve been doing an Ozzy Osborne impression.  Silly thing!

Project 52 v2012: weeks 1 and 2

Once again I am doing a photo a week – or something like that – to document the goings on in our lives. My 2011 photos are already in my Project Life album, though not all the journaling is written (it is on my blog). So here is version 2012 and I’m looking forward to doing it! I’m changing it up some – mainly because I bought a fun new little point-and-shoot Nikon that I can throw in my purse for easier on-the-go photos.

Week 1: January 1 – 7, 2012

This photo was actually taken on December 31 – it is our last photo for 2011, but I also like having it be the first photo for 2012. We are looking forward to the new year with our traditional apple cider toast.

This week marked the return to AWANA after the holiday break and it was Crazy Hat Night. I thought about it several times over the break and couldn’t come up with anything for the kids’ crazy hats when inspiration struck while driving down Hwy 10…make them out of ball caps and Christmas ornaments. So, here they are. Harrison had just woken up (we were in the cry room at church) and he looks it! Nin is being silly, she’s not really mad or bored. They were a lot of fun to make (hot glue, ornaments, fishing line) and were pretty cute, too.

Annie spent the night with Boop on Friday and the rest of us went to Shorty Small’s to celebrate Elizabeth’s ninth birthday (her choice – she wanted their fried cheese). She and Katherine had fun trying to blow the wrappers off their straws.

Week 2: January 8-14, 2012

Elizabeth saved her Christmas and birthday money to put toward an iPod Touch (8GB). We ordered it from Apple’s website so she could have it engraved, “I’m a ROCK STAR” (so funny!). We ordered it on January 5 and it arrived at our house on the 10th. Pretty good for something coming all the way from China! We logged in to Apple every day to track it.

Annie got her hair cut! The kids take turns going with Boop to get their hair cut and this month was Annie’s turn. She wanted to go short. The little bob perfectly suits her pixie personality! She’s very happy with it and has gotten quite a few compliments on it as well.

Someone got to bring Cubbie Bear home from AWANA this week. Um, Harrison, I don’t think Cubbie wants all those barettes in his “hair”!

The Girl Scout Cookie Rally was this week at a local pizza and game place (not Chuck E. Cheese). Obviously it was more about the games and NOT about the food. Cheap frozen pizzas taste better than the food at this joint. Annie had a wonderful time playing Skee Ball – and is actually pretty good for her age.

Brad and I have discussed a new (bigger) TV for our room as part of our Christmas gift from my parents and his mom. I was in Sam’s on Friday and saw this one – called to talk to him about it and we decided I’d go back on Saturday morning to get it.  42”, WiFi capable (read: Netflix without having to take my laptop to our bedroom…I can watch Bones in bed after everyone is asleep!!). We love it. The kids think it’s like a theater.

And…I’m just a little behind on coupon stacking and clipping. Spent time Saturday getting everything organized. On the back corner of the table are the stacks left to be organized and clipped. I ended up with 15 of most inserts over the past two Sundays – with three inserts in each of those two weeks…yeah, “just a little” behind.

Review: About.Me

 

I'll be honest, I signed up for about.me and promptly forgot about it. At first I thought, "Great, one more thing to keep up with, one more place to go."  But no. I was wrong. I can just point people to about.me/theshoe and they can see my Linkdin profile, some basic information from my Facebook and my recent tweets on Twitter (I'm not that active on Twitter).  I can link to my blog.  If someone wants to connect with me I can just refer them to my about.me profile and let them connect to their heart's content.

If you sign up with about.me right now, you'll get 50 free (shipping not included) MOO business cards with a link to your about.me profile page.  And the business cards will look like your about.me profile.

I think I'm going to like about.me more than I thought I would and I think I'd be able to use it more than I thought as well.  I'm going to give it a chance.

this was provided as part of a review for bzzagent.com. I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are expressly my own. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a fight.* (*as they say on Michael Feldman's Whad'ya Know?)

Heart of the Home

When I think of the "heart" of a home, I think about the dining table -- where some families gather to begin each day together (if their schedules allow) and others gather at the end of the day to enjoy a family meal. Family game nights are often held at the dining table. And in my home, school (aka The Shoe Academy) is held at the dining table as well.  Our table is truly the heart of our home. 

When we moved into our house in 2000, Brad and I did a lot of shopping at the now-closed Arkansas Grand Showroom in Choctaw. Our dining table and chairs were among the several purchases we made there. And can I just go on record as saying, "Brad, you were right," (I've said it to him, but I'd like to get it out there for the entire world to read) "cleaning the grooves in that dining table? A total and complete pain in the behind. If I had it to do over, I'd choose another table. But at the time, we were 7 years into infertility issues and I was thinking there never would be children...and so I wasn't thinking about cleaning crumbs and yogurt and ketchup and peanut butter and jelly and syrup and little grains of rice and Rice Krispies and sprinkles and...whatever else...out of the grooves of the table. I was thinking about how I loved the stain color and I loved the style and...well, I just liked the table. But you were right."  Anyway...fast-forward to 2009. Saw a counter-height table for the first time. I was in love. I homeschool - do you know how much bending over I do? You don't?  Well, a ton. Counter-height appealed to the homeschool teacher in me. Counter-height appealed to my casual-style self. And a bench? Yes!! That appealed to my Walton's-loving self.  (farm table with long benches instead of chairs? I'm in!!!).  I have looked and looked for a set I like. And I finally found it. I stalked it for a couple of months...until it went on sale...and then jumped on it. I bought it a few days after Christmas and it has received the "we love it" Seal of Shoe Approval. Every single time we sit at the table for anything - breakfast, school, lunch, dinner, games, crafting, work (for me) - someone says, "I love our new table!"

Annie and Harrison sitting on "their" bench, Elizabeth at the far right (only her forearm in the photo) preparing to put on a table cloth (she's such a little mother).  And yes...concrete floor that still needs to be painted. Someday when I can get my kids out of here for a weekend, maybe we can make that happen.

Now the fun part, buying new table linens!!  I love table linens. But let's don't talk about that. I have seven tablecloths that I use year-round and a few holiday specific ones. Look! There's a squirrel!!!! (did that distract you from looking at my table linen hoarding?)

So, we are excited about the new "heart" of our home. C'mon over and we'll sit and visit over a cup of coffee.