Feeling compelled...

...to enter this fabulous contest! I have recently learned to love kits and this one's a beaut..you could win it for FREE!

Click on the pic to check out the deets.

Will update soon, E is home after dental surgery and I'm about to take off for a walk. Hit a number on the scale last Wednesday that I was hoping never to see again...let's just say an "8" was involved *shudder*

LOTS of rummage...yipee!

Crazy weekend, starting with Friday morning...up at 6a to shower & get kids ready early...had MOPS. Up late the night before making a salad for our Caregiver thank-you luncheon on Saturday...bringing it in Friday saved me a trip Saturday morning...

Cropped until midnight, finishing up this LO and completing another...



Up at 6a AGAIN on Saturday, to hit the first of the April-October Ann Arbor Antiques Market. I woke up at 4:40a and turned off my alarm, deciding I needed sleep more than rummaging, but woke up at 6a anyway (!) so I showered & headed out early.

Some awesome finds...a tin toy stove to start a display collection (Debbie Bliss inspired that, I believe), wooden blocks (from 50 cents to $3), a printer's tray to decorate a la AE, two vintage tennis rackets for a display down the stairs to the "man cave," some vintage tennis photos for same, and two mesmerizing paintings that I would love to know the origin of...


I couldn't stop looking at them, or thinking about them, so I had to have them. The second one is damaged. There is a big gouge out of the one girl's red hat, and damp or water-stain marks around a couple of toys in the window. They are rather large, about 18" x 24", quite darkened by time, but I am loathe to try and repair them lest I lower their value. Considering I got the pair for $48, any higher price would be interesting, but I don't think Antiques Roadshow is coming to town anytime soon.

After rummaging, I met the fam for lunch, then took Tess to a birthday party at the movies...I had the dubious task of sitting through the Hannah Montana movie. Now I have a couple of questions for Disney:

1. Nuns in an English boarding school? Didn't think I'd catch that, did you?

2.Are there really 5 year-old fans left to their own devices to discover Miley's secret? That was just disturbing.

3. What was the casting description for Travis? Must look 12 but have a voice like a 40 year-old? Did his voice change after you cast him? Where did you find him, Sundance? Are they cloning Robert Redford now? Obviously I was disturbed by the young man they cast in this role...

4. If that's Miley's Grandma, who were Vicky Lawrence and Dolly Parton playing on the TV series?

5. Thanks for reminding me that Brooke Shields and I are old enough to be Miley's mom. You guys really need to deal with the Dead Mom issue, BTW. That wasn't really a question, more of a commentary. Being a mom and all.

Thanks. You know where to reach me.

Easter and then some

Survived spring break week (barely). So nice to have E back home (even if he got to go to work all week...yes, even all day Good Friday).

Too much candy for Tess, though. I'm glad she's at my MIL's with E & her brother. Three! meltdowns! before! breakfast! (not including the jellybeans at 6:30a).

The Easter bunny came by at 6a to leave jelly bean trails from each child's bedroom door to the spot where their Easter baskets were located:

Luckily, she (I'm convinced the Easter bunny is a she...c'mon, give us ladies one holiday, right? Santa's got his and I've never seen a female leprechaun, we can't be witches only...besides, who REALLY goes and fills those baskets? Can I get a what-what...)

SHE put Tess's basket in our room, so that I would know when she was up (see 6:30a, above) and feel some of her excitement, not like Christmas 2007...ahem.

Grandma wanted a picture of the dress she made for Tess & her AG doll, we got it but not without (another) tantrum and sour face (AFTER the photo was taken, thank goodness):
I would have preferred that she comb her hair (and the doll's), but as we had just experienced Meltdown #2, I let it go. As Tess so wisely noted, "her hair matches mine!" Somehow I don't think Grandma is going to appreciate that...

Lil Guy got a very nice basket, too, and I got a nice photo of the both of them. Rare, believe it or not. Tess cannot be in hug range without squeezing Ben until he smacks her.

I had to move fast.


Hope you are having a bright, sunny Easter weekend too.


Peace out.

Crap.

I called E in Colorado this morning and told him he's never. allowed. to take a trip alone ever. again. Here's a little summary of little things that went wrong and drove me over the edge this weekend:

1. Ben didn't nap Saturday.

2. He woke up at 4 a.m. ready to roll. Uh, no.

3. Alarm went off at 6:30a so that I could get ready for early church before waking Tess; she had to sing in both services for Palm Sunday.

4. Sunday evening she swallows a metal marble from the Mousetrap game. Yes, she's SEVEN. I have no idea why she thought it would be a good idea to even put that in her mouth. Ben, maybe. Tess, uh, no.

5. Call 911 in a panic, they send an ambulance, she's fine. We just have to wait until it passes. Lovely.

5b. the only bright spot: I am not charged for the ambulance visit (apparently you only get charged if you ride).

6. The other bright spot in my weekend was the fact that Tess was supposed to go to a friend's house at 1p today and sleep overnight. In fact, Tess's only question before the ambulance arrived was, sniff, "will I still be able to sleep over?" sniff... The friend's mom called this morning; they are out of power.

So now I have Tess's friend visiting and sleeping over here tonight.

At least Ben is napping.

And I made brownies.

Charmed, I'm Sure

I was on FIRE with this project Thursday and Friday. This is the most fun scrapping I've had in a while. The idea just came to me and I couldn't let it go...ever since I found Cindy (fellow Friday Night Cropper) throwing away slide protectors (gasp!)...I KNEW there was a mini-mini journal in there somewhere...



Lots of other LOs in my SIStv gallery...I've been on fire generally in that department. I know it will wane once again, but I'm enjoying the ride for now.

E's out of town for a 4-day weekend. I'd call it an "exchange" trip for my trip to SIS Live at the end of June, but he has not arranged childcare for me (as I have for him that weekend), so I've come to think of it as more of a "retaliation" trip.

My only bump with not having him around was getting both kids out the door early (8a) this morning, so that Tess could sing in BOTH Palm Sunday services. After Ben woke at 4a last night. He NEVER does that, except that he did not nap yesterday (kids out front with sidewalk chalk on our driveway, kept him up) so at 4a he was all. done. He wanted to have major conversation with me, but after 20 minutes of trying to rock him (only to have him pull back and start on a new subject with me), I put him down and walked out.

Of course when I went to get him up early this morning, he was passed out like a little drunk, arms in the air, nothing would wake him except for some gentle shaking and calling and conversation. Payback time, baby!