The Little Things

19 Goals

I realized the other day that I am halfway to my next birthday--39! So I decided to jump on the to-do list bandwagon and make a list of 19 things to do before I get there. (Seems that most people would have chosen 38 things to do before age 39 starting on their 38th birthday; since I'm already halfway between, I'm giving myself half that number--seems fair to me!). Here goes:

1. Invite our neighbors across the street over for dinner. They are always so thoughtful towards the boys, bringing them cookies and all sorts of other treats and alwasy taking time to come over and talk to them.

2. Treat myself to a facial. I've never had one, other than a 10-minute mini-facial earlier this year and I must say that it felt really nice!

3. We talked about this when we all gathered together at Halloween, but I want to make sure it happens: a movie night/cocktail hour for the kids/adults on our block.

4. List one of my photographs for sale on etsy.

5. Once a week, make sure to include myself in a picture, or take a self-portrait (so easy using the iPhone).

6. Write at least one blog post per week.

7. Upload all of the scrapbook layouts I have pictures of to 2Peas.

8. Start & finish the scrapbook of our trip to Maui in March 2010.

9. Make nine digital scrapbook pages and print them.

10. Exercise consistently using my Tracy Anderson Method DVDs. I was on a roll a few months ago but a trip and a lingering cough got me off track.

11. Bake baguettes. I purchased a fancy baguette pan a few months ago and still have not used it. I have King Arthur Flour and their very effective KAF Instant Yeast--I just need to get to the actual baking!

12. Apply to be on a scrapbook design team.

13. Have dinner at Next or cocktail at The Aviary. Or get really crazy and do both!

14. Post a picture on Clickin Moms Serious Critique board.

15. Work through one photography book. Either Understanding Exposure, Learning to See Creatively, Photographing Children Photo Workshop, or Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots.

16. Sew something. Most likely the first project (napkins) in the Freckled Nest Home Ec Sewing E-course.

17. I've been putting it off for years now, but I need to make that appintment with the oral surgeon.

18. Move along all of our unwanted stuff, via eBay, Craigslist, my Newcomers group, Goodwill, recycling or the garbage. I'm read to be rid of all the extra stuff.

19. Read Parenting from the Inside Out. I just read Sibling Without Rivalry and it was so helpful. Wanting to learn even more about how to become a better parent.

Onward!

8 minutes

That is how long it took to dry my hair this morning. Just eight minutes. And it's not that my hair deserves those few minutes right now. I haven't had it cut in at least six months and I haven't colored it since March (so I have some serious roots showing). 

But I rarely give myself those eight minutes to take care of myself, to feel better about myself. Instead I give almost all of my minutes to the boys or the house or to nothing, and walk around embarrased of my shaggy hair or messy ponytail. I realize today that I can take that time for myself. The boys can watch a few more minutes of TV or be left to survive each other without my supervision. They'll be fine and I'll feel more put together. And it only takes eight minutes.

I Did It -- Layout a Day (LOAD) May 2011 and a Blog Hop

31 scrapbook layouts in 31 days!

I've been wanting to do this for a while now, although it took signing up for Lain Ehman's class to get it done. And honestly, it was better this way, to work through Lain's awesome daily prompts and challenges, rather than try to do it on my own.

Just this month, I:

- used a black & white photo on a scrapbook page for the first time (and I've been scrapping since 1999!)
- finally started on the newborn pictures of my younger son, who is now almost 2 1/2
- scrapbooked about myself (more than once!)
- scraplifted
- made a page with a purple background (a color I don't typically use)

Scrapbooking everyday helped me find my groove. It was easier to start, and finish, a page as the month progressed. On the other hand, it's hard to scrapbook a page every day. Hardest for me was justing finding the time. I often started my page at 10 p.m. after the kids were in bed and the house was somewhat picked up. (Somehow I was able to ignore the laundry pile which continued to accumulate at its normal speed.) And although I tried some new approaches to scrapbooking, I didn't spend much time using mists or punches or even stamps. I was just trying to get the page finished and uploaded so I could go to bed!

The best thing about the class, though, is the community that develops in the Flickr group. I haven't posted many layouts online so I hadn't really experienced how wonderful it feels to get positive and constructive feedback on my pages. And I loved looking through the day's layouts and leaving feedback myself. So many beautiful pages and talented scrapbookers to be inspired by. And all of this happened daily. It was awesome! I highly recommend Lain and her LOAD class. I believe she offers it twice each year. Every scrapbooker should try it at least once!

This is my favorite page from the class. It also happens to be my Day 31 layout:

You can see all of my layouts in my Flickr photostream. 

Some of us from the class are participating in a blog hop today, so you can see read more about LOAD and see more scrapbook layouts by visiting the following blogs:

Danielle - ecoscrapbook - http://ecoscrapbook.blogspot.com/
Lain - Layout a Day with Lain Ehman - http://www.layoutaday.com/
Jennifer - at the blue barn -  http://atthebluebarn.blogspot.com
Katrina - Capture your 365 -  http://captureyour365.com/category/blog/
Abbie - Happie by Abbie -  http://www.happiebyabbie.blogspot.com/
Lisa - Gettin' Creative - http://www.goesturbocreative.blogspot.com/
Christina - She's a Crafty Pumpkin -  www.christinacostain.blogspot.com
Caroline -  Pouring Over Pictures -  www.pouringoverpictures.blogspot.com
Kathleen - Taking Pictures, Enjoying Life - kjplusthree.blogspot.com

The start of summer

It's the first day of June today, and it really feels like summer. Greg is finished with preschool. The weather was sunny and perfect. First, we took the dog for a walk around the block.

He's almost 13 but still so fun.

Then we went to the park. I bought four sand shovels this year in an attempt to prevent arguments over who gets to use the shovel--because there never seem to be enough. We have six in our sand toys bag now, if that's not enough, then they are going to have to share!

We had plenty today.

The boys were hard at work digging holes and filling them with water.

Greg made a mud cupcake.

Greg had so much fun playing with Dog. They went down the slide together and separately, and climbed and bounced. It was very sweet to watch.

I even remembered to bring a soccer ball and we actually kicked it around a little bit.

Joey crawled through the play structures and slid down the slides.

 

And as if it couldn't get any better, the ice cream truck pulled up!

Love how happy they are. The perfect start to summer!

Farmers Market Fridays

I look forward to every Friday during the Farmers Market season because it's a given that we're going to walk downtown and spend the morning enjoying our little town. It's not quite a mile to town from our house, so it's the perfect length whether I push both kids in the stroller or Greg walks or rides his trike. 

If we're lucky, we'll come across a garage sale along the way. Like last week, when we found a pirate hat & map! (Greg has worn the hat at some point every day since!)

 

There are only  few vendors at our market, but they make up a the perfect assortment for us: three produce vendors (we have a favorite), Great Harvest bread (for sweet treats and the best challah), I Have A Bean coffee (for iced coffee for me), some weeks there is a guy making fresh little doughnuts, some weeks there are more bakeries, and there are a few other booths (that for the most part don't appeal to us).

This week Greg was excited to get a pumpkin. We actually saw more there last week than this week, but we did pick up a small pie pumpkin and a teeny tiny pumpkin.

And now there are apples!

Einstein Bagels is across the street and we were hoping for pumpkin bagels, but it was too soon. That's OK, the boys were happy with chocolate chip bagels, which they ate while hoping to see a train. 

We often hit the park for an hour or two, but this Friday we just worked our way home (it was getting to be time for lunch before we had to take Greg to preschool). Love these unscheduled, easy days! 

4 Simple Things: #1 complete!

So a few weeks ago I set four small goals to complete by the end of the year: 

1. Complete the Eiffel Tower LEGO I received as a Christmas gift a few years ago.

2. Complete the photo editing class I also received as a Christmas gift.

3. Complete the scrapbook of our amazing Hawaiian vacation (in March).

4. Finish listing (my ever-expanding list of) items to sell on eBay.

Setting those small goals has really helped me focus. I've listed three things on eBay since then. And, with lots of help from Jeff, the Eiffel Tower LEGO is built! It was challenging and so fun to build. All 3,428 pieces! We found a reasonably safe place to display it our bedroom and it brings us a lot of joy to see it everyday. Hurray for goals!

 

(Not quite) The first day of school

So it wasn't technically Greg's first day of school, but it sure felt like it at the open house today! Greg had a great year at his first year of preschool last year, so we were both excited to pull into the parking lot and get back to his school. A big change this year is that Greg is going to school in the afternoon instead of the morning. But other than, he is in the same classroom as last year and has one of the same teachers. I'm thankful for those constants that make the transition back to school a little easier.

Greg spent most of the afternoon playing all around the classroom--a craft, the blocks and train set, the food and kitchen, the water discovery table, and a little dress-up. Then he picked up his clipboard with a checklist of places to visit around the school, and off we went! First stop: the playground, of course!

 

 

We were the only ones there at first, and Greg was glad when some new friends joined us.

 
 Then we rode the elevator downstairs & back up, had a drink from the drinking fountain, visited the washroom, and headed back to the classroom for more fun. More dress-up (when he looked at himself in the mirror he said, I'm Justin Roberts!):

And then more time at the water discovery table. There were small nets, plastic fish, measuring cups and the water was dyed blue--lots to do!

  

After a while, it was time to go. And on the way to the car, he let me take a first day of school photo (I almost never ask the kids to pose or smile). Here's what I got:

 

One of the cutest pictures ever! We're off to a good start! And to celebrate, we went into town for a cookie and a chocolate milk, and a new book. A great afternoon for the two of us. And a great year ahead for Greg.

Today

It's a conservative guess, but I think Joey said the word "balloon" 325 times today. First when we got out a small bag of party balloons, blew them up, tied some, let others whoosh around the room, and tried to keep them in the air using our noggins and knees. Then this afternoon, since Greg had popped all of the party balloons, we got out the water balloons. I lost track of how many I filled up, but Greg filled up his big dump truck a few times, so it was a lot! You may have already guessed, but oh my does Joey ever love balls and balloons. Oh my. 

I applied for a job today. Part-time, very part-time hopefully. I'm unsure about a job. But I put myself out there, so we'll see. I came home and Jeff had taken the boys for haircuts. I had to fight back the tears when I saw Greg. He has a super short buzzcut. Actually he's almost bald. I don't like it at all. I feel like I failed him for not getting him in for a haircut sooner myself. We tried. We were there, waiting for an open chair a few days ago. But my mom called and was sitting in our driveway wanting to drop off their cat Murphy before they left for vacation. So we scurried home without haircuts. It's not really my mom's fault. It's my fault. I didn't get them back there. Jeff tries so hard to help, but I just hate how Greg looks. It's just hair, right? I can't wait for it to grow back. 

(from Jeff's phone, not sure why it's sideways) 

Joey tried to go potty today, for the second day in a row. He so wants to be like Greg. Yesterday he did go a little bit. I was so surprised. Today he just practiced. It's sweet that he wants to try, but I want him to stop trying to grow up so fast!

Wish I could post a few pictures, but my card reader crapped out on me and I'm waiting for a replacement to come in the mail. Seems like there was more to note from today but I'm too tired to remember. 

4 Simple Things (inspired by @elsiecake)

I read darling Elsie Flanigan's list of four simple things she would like to accomplish by the end of this year, and I was inspired to do the same. Here is my list of 4 Simple Things:

1. It was either two or maybe even three Christmases ago that my brother Robby gave me the gigantic Eiffel Tower LEGO. I finally dusted off the box a few weeks and got started--the first two legs of the tower are finished. But I really want to finish it by this Christmas. Maybe I could even decorate it with some lights!

2. I have been de-cluttering like crazy and I have several huge piles of stuff to sell of eBay and/or Craigslist and/or giveaway. Because I want these items out of the house, I need to push myself to get all the items to sell listed on eBay. Also, having this task hanging over my head prevents me from working on more fun & creative projects when the kids are sleeping. All items to be sold will be sold by the end of the year, otherwise I will just donate them!

3. I really want to learn a little something about editing photos. Every once in a while I will adjust the colors, but that's it. My mother-in-law purchased an online photo editing class for me as gift (I'm thinking it was last Christmas--I have a bad track record with gifts, don't I?!) and I need to make the time to work through it and learn the basics. 

4. The other project I really want to complete is the scrapbook of our trip to Hawaii (in March!). It's sitting on my project table, has been for a month, I bet, and I need to finish it so we can enjoy it, and so I can move on to other less daunting projects. I am happiest when I am to regularly complete projects. 

Excited to get started!

New Music 6/22

Recently purchased:

The Drums "Summertime!" As recommended by the Stumptown Coffee/Ace Hotel in NYC.

Jack Johnson "To the Sea"

A couple songs by Janelle Monae ("Tightrope" and "Come Alive" as recommended by "Rolling Stone")

LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver" (after reading a New Yorker article about frontman James Murphy). I think I already had "This is Happening".

A single by MIA (never listened to her before): "Xxxo"

The new album by Justin Roberts: "Jungle Gym" (Awesome for the kiddos!)

And of course we had to get the bootleg download of the Pearl Jam concert we saw at Madison Square Garden June. THE BEST!

And tonight: Sia's "We are Born"