this guy...

I just want to squeeze him all the time..even when he's saying "I want dat!" or "It's MINE!" repeatedly in the checkout at the grocery store, clutching a new toothbrush or head of broccoli or cars underpants...

He is so very, very aware of Christmas this year. He has been talking about it for months now, he is counting down with our felt advent calendar, he knows what happens on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and knows why we celebrate it, and has memorized pretty much every Christmas song on XM channel 4. And he sings them. continuously. and asks where Santa Cwaus is over and over and over. like today in the checkout line.

Funny that I actually thought we would have one more year before having to get up with kids at 4 in the morning to open presents. I have a very big feeling this guy will be awake far before he is supposed to be, and he will not stop with his Houston-ness until he's allowed to open presents.

New BFF

Haven't even been scrapbooking lately - been figuring out how many different brads I can make with my new itop - loving, loving this!

Here are some I've made out of a map (then I put Glossy accents on top for a hard finish), newspaper, and a ribbon scrap (with a teeny, tiny felt heart). You can seriously make brads out of anything! I'm thinking comic book pages would make great brads, old dictionary pages, notebook paper, photos, old baby clothes...

Two Much Fun

Just getting around to working on these...so many photos of H's birthday that I can't decide. So I'm working on a mini, which will make six minis I'm working on simultaneously.

Kind of disappointed in the fall TV. Relying on CBS to help me out, considering I'm boycotting NBC after they (basically) canceled Chuck. Seriously? Does it all have to be reality and drama? What happened to the good old sitcoms?

Jealous?

I've had a little bit of time free up lately to do things like oh, chores, scrapbooking and blogging, due to H going through a Daddy-only phase. I'd be lying if I didn't admit I'm somewhat enjoying this phase - especially in the middle of the night :)

Recognize Someone?

Well, I'm barely recognizable - hey, late scrapbook night after a long, hot Saturday and no makeup -

but, yes, that's The Heidi Swapp. I took a class taught by her last night, and she is exactly like you'd think. Awesome, bubbly and just so dang talented.

Lucky me! Now, I'm off to finish my Summer Days album from last night and play with my new super-cool brad maker from Imaginisce. I literally could not wait until this thing finally came out.

Scrapbooks Etc.

So exciting! One of my layouts is one of the inspiration pieces for the Make It Yours gallery for the Scrapbooks, Etc Feb/March 2010 issue. I just love that article. I love that they give you new page designs and ideas on how to alter them and make them your own.

GCD Studios

Wow! Head on over to the GCD Studios Blog - they always have amazing products and awesome ideas. I got to work with Heidi Sonbul this month as a product tester for GCD Studios. Um, LOVE Heidi. Not only is she an insanely talented artist, but she has such a cute personality!

Scrapbooking From the Inside Out

I've been MIA for a while because I've been scrapbooking like a crazy woman! I had the opportunity to be the June guest designer for Scrapbooking From the Inside Out. What a great mission they have and a wonderful community full of awesome scrapbookers!

so needing vacation right now

Recent page I did reminiscing about a vacation past. It's been a while.

don't you love it when that happens?

Way back in October, I followed Houston around to get a week in his life on camera. I just decided to get to scrapbooking it, but I could only remember a few things he did that week by looking at the photos. A few days later I found a document on the computer - I actually documented EVERYTHING he did that week - but had forgotten! What a great surprise. I just printed it out, added it in a pocket behind the page. I was even more surprised when I took 20 minutes to read it. He was so different just six months ago. We were trying to get rid of the morning nap, switching to soy milk, etc. Seems like YEARS ago.

Happy Easter

Wait, what? YOU actually let Houston hunt for eggs with CANDY in them? Ummm, no. They were empty. Poor guy. But he had a really good time hunting for them all afternoon outside and inside. And then hiding them for Pa only to get irritated Pa was taking so long and finding them himself.

totally obsessed with clutches

Been MIA for a while. My niece and nephew have been visiting and Miss K and I have been sewing like crazy!

Found this pattern and I can. not. stop. making. these.

Soccertot

Kicking a soccer ball around in the yard.

key lime cupcakes

Experimented this weekend - made these key lime coconut cupcakes with key lime frosting. I wish I wrote it down. mmmm mmmm tasty delicious....I had two - um, Saturday, and one Sunday. I won't tell how many R had...

Here's the frosting recipe, though. I did write that down once I got what I liked. And then I rolled the tops in more coconut. They were very tropical. Kind of like we were on vacation. sort of.

1/2 c butter
4 c confec sugar
2 T key lime juice
2 T milk
2 t grated key lime peel

spring wall art

Quick and easy project I did recently. The paper I had been saving for a long time, b/c I thought was way too pretty to cut up. Perfect for a little girl's nursery! (hahhahahaha! - we all know very well we will never have any little girls around here. just boys. lots of loud, smelly boys. :)

hello, spring.

Last year we - and I mean me - totally redid our backyard. Got rid of the desert landscaping and planted a ton of new plants. Well, I wanted to grow my own lavender for sachets and lavender cupcakes, so I planted a little bitty plant and thought it was dead most of the year. A few days ago, I went outside and saw these lavender blossoms. It's huge!

Love Machine

Such a loving boy. We are so lucky. He is pretty rough, though- lately he's been pulling on the back of our heads and mashing his lips into ours. You have to watch out if you're watching TV or something - he'll love attack you. Seriously.

Vintage Baseball

Robert's vintage baseball league. They wear the uniforms and play the rules of the game from the 1800-somethings. It's actually a pretty cool thing he does. He gets exercise and H gets to watch Daddy play ball. I'm sure he really appreciates this photo from the last time he played. (No, neither of the guys in the top photo are Robert.)

What to do when your show is preemted for the Oscars?

I made this little album last night because Desperate Housewives wasn't on! Yes, the show is getting a little boring - but now that we know Edie is getting killed off, you know you have to watch it! (and we all know it's her crazy husband) Hmmm...and I make fun of my mom for her crazy-plot Lifetime movies.

It took me about an hour to do, just found some super old scraps at the waaaay bottom of my needs-to-be-cleaned-out scrap box. Used some leftover chipboard circles and found a chain on the tag of some Victoria Secret yoga pants Robert got me.

serious carb coma after this weekend

Robert's birthday was Saturday, and of course we had more than our share of cupcakes.

Thursday ABCs

Happy Thursday!

Right now H is obsessed with the alphabet and counting things. He likes to point out the letters in store signs and billboards wherever we go, and we have two sets of fridge magnets he likes to play with. (and throw at people)

Anyway, he's pretty good at them now, recognizing them, saying each letter and what words start with them, I think except for Q and K - those are pretty hard.

Sorry for the video quality. Still figuring that out.

18 month photos

Handy Manny

Thanks to Grandma J, someone is all suited up and ready to throw his tools at everyone.

Happy Valentines

So yesterday was Dad's birthday, and of course being the selfless, very modest guy he is, he absolutely wouldn't tell me anything HE wanted to do for the day, but insisted we do something fun for Houston.

So considering there was no rain (shocker, this is the desert, you know) we decided to go to the Railroad Park. As we know, he is totally, completely a maniac for choo choos.

Houston was doing pretty well on the kid train, until we went into the tunnel, where all the parents started screaming when it was pitch black (why anyone would do this who has small kids, I don't know) but then he decided oh, no, this was not much fun at all.

Oh, and a note to dad: Happy 60 years. What a difference you have undoubtedly made in my life, and it's so wonderful to watch your relationship with Houston develop. We love you a lot!