Why Not?

Happy Thursday!!!

Thank Ewe

a Thank-you card

Cartridge: "Just Because" Cards

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

Hello Handsome.

I shall call you Jiminy and we shall be the best of friends!!!

I have fun plans for us! Just you wait and see!

So, last month on my birthday, Kyle, the most handsome studly beast of a man there ever was, told me my birthday gift from him was that I could get a craft cutting machine (cricut or silhouette) and to do the research to figure out which one I wanted. We couldn't get it right away, but he had a little bit set aside for it and said we could save for the rest. There were things I liked about both brands but when I was looking at the cricut site I saw that I could get a reconditioned machine for $49.99! It is the original, smaller machine (cutting mats are 6x12) but after much thought and discussion I decided it would suite my needs perfectly and should I need to print anything larger, then my mom could print it for me on her Expression Machine (which is also on sale right now, FYI). Because I chose the smaller machine, we had some extra moolah to order some things to go with it: computer software (to design even more things!),tools, cutting mats, vinyl, paper, etc.... AND, my mom is willing to share cartridges with me!

So, most of my stuff arrived today (still waiting on the software) and I am so excited. It feels like my birthday! So excited about the fun stuff I can make!!

Happy Thursday!!!

Laura Kate Lately

(I've decided it's not fair that Shepherd gets a post written to him every month and Laura Kate only once a year so I've decided to start every once-in-a-while writing a "Laura Kate, lately" post - havn't decided how often I will do it. But more frequently than once a year.)

Dear Princess,

I have decided that 3 years, is the hardest and the most fun age yet (as I say that, flashes of potty training, teething, weaning, and diaper rash ran through my brain, but I'm still going to stick with it.) Lately you:

• Have wanted to snuggle more with me than ever before in your whole life (excluding nursing)
• Have told me you loved me more than ever
• Have told me you didn't love me, for the first time. Quickly followed by tears (mine. then yours) and a very fast apology and an I Love you SOOOO much from you.
• Told your dad you loved him more than me. Not that this was a surprise, but kind of a shock to hear out loud.
• Have laughed more at yourself
• Have said some of the funniest things I have ever heard a 3-year old say ("I think I forgot my mind")
• Have learned more and remembered more about the Bible than any 3 year old I've ever known. My favorite is to hear you talk about is Namen and his "leopard spots".
• Have loved to play and spend time with your friends.
• Have had more tea parties than the Queen of England
• Change clothes multiple times daily... more than a refluxy newborn
• have developed more and more opinions about things.... like what you wear, what bows you wear (or won't wear) in your hair, when you should get dressed and when you should or should not take a nap or go to bed (too bad you don't have the privilege of setting the schedule in our home)
• push boundaries like nobody's business, you have really developed a liking for the word "no" (too bad there are consequences with that choice).
• have "fixed" and "made better" more imaginary boo-boos on more babies and animals
• have exploded into the world of imagination and creativity. You truly amaze me with your dreams, ideas, thoughts, visions, and vocabulary. You easily can make the ordinary come alive in extraordinary ways.
• absolutely adore your little brother and love to do anything you can to help me with him.
• have given your daddy more imaginary hair cuts than I can count!
• are still an excellent night sleeper, sleeping 11-13 hours every night
• Still take a 2-3 hour nap most days (most.)
• Still think your Daddy is the best part of your day (I don't blame you, he's the best part of mine)
• Still think your Grammy owns Toys 'R Us
• L-O-V-E your "princess" dress-up shoes and like to click around the house in them all day
• Start dance class on Friday!! Tap and Ballet!
• still love any project involving markers, glue, and especially PAINT!
• brought proud tears to my eyes when you brought me two articles of clothing and asked "do these match?"
• filter everything, EVERYTHING through your little princess brain right now. I think you have a bracelet around your mind: WWPD? (What would princess do?)From ballgowns (wink wink Grammy), to tiara's, to high heels, to wands, to fairy bread, to tea parties, to "proper" speech, to Fancy Nancy, to your Royal Household....you, my little one, take the crown.

Most of all, my brilliant and beautiful one, it is a JOY to watch you explore, develop, learn, discern, grow, challenge, create, and love. You are one of a kind - there is no one quite like you on this planet and I am so glad I get to be the "queen" in your world. You just might be the MOST loved little girl in the whole world.

Wreaths

I made these wreaths a few weeks ago!!

There's a great tutorial on yarn wreaths and felt flowers here.

School, Dance, and Beestings....

Kyle and I have officially decided to keep LK home this next year and not put her in her Parent's Day Out preschool. This is for several reasons, the main being that this is her last year before her big Preschool year and if I'm going to keep her home, this is probably the year to do it. I'm going to be working from home a little bit and loving on my boy, so we've decided to keep our girl home as well. It will save us some money and I'm looking forward to doing some fun learning and projects at home with her.

Since she is going to be home all week now, we thought it would be fun for her and good for her to have a social outlet outside of the home. So we have been looking into dance classes. Originally we were just going to try a 6-8 week community class to try it out and see if she liked it. But Kyle found a great deal at a studio right down the street from us the we would essentially pay a little bit less than we would for the community class/month. PLUS we had a coupon for the Registration Fee.....and you know how I like saving money.

So today, Laura Kate and I went to see the studio and meet the teacher. She will be in a 3&4 year old tap/ballet class. We loved her teacher and Laura Kate loved seeing the wall with big mirrors. She cried when we left because she wanted to stay and dance.

When we left, we went to Once Upon A Child to look for ballet slippers and tap shoes. While we were trying on tap shoes, LK started crying and screaming. I caught a glimpse of her arm and saw a bee stinging her! A BEE! Stinging MY baby! INSIDE the store. I flicked the bee off, and pulled out the stinger. I hugged and hugged her while she cried and cried and all the moms in the store stared at us. So I quickly gathered two pairs of shoes, brought them to the checkout and explained to the girls that there was a killer bee on the loose in their store. While we were paying (and crying and and crying and screaming), I noticed her arm had swelled so so big and was very red and purple. The girls at the store got wide eyed, the manager came out and gave us ice and suggested we go to the doctor.

So we hurried out, called the pediatrician, headed to their office, and called my SBOAM to fill him in. Dr. G. was out of the office,which my girl with the bulging bicep was NOT happy about. We saw another doctor in the office (who was wonderful) and by that time, the swelling had gone down significantly. So after a dose of benedryl and ibuprofen, a good long nap, and snuggles with her daddy, she was fine....other than not wanting to put her tap shoes on at all (I think because the ones we hurried out of the store with were too small and because that's when the bee stung her. Pray she comes around on the tap shoes...going back to the scene of the crime tomorrow to find a bigger pair of shoes).

But, the night ended with a greatly improving bicep and with sassy pants sleeping in her "new" pink ballet shoes.

Happy Thursday!!!

Under Construction//Fall Look

I'm going to be trying out some new looks on the little bloggy-poo for Fall! Bear with me while my fickle brain makes up its mind!

Shepherd is 5 months!!!

(I have finally named the elephant: Chester Fleet)

Hello there, little rooster,

Today you are 5 months old!!! Time continues to fly by and you continue to grow and change and develop. Other than the Mohawk falling and now looking like a rooster, you have developed so many other things like rolling, bouncing, singing, and boxing. Here are some other things:

• I guestimate you weighing around the 18lbs mark. We'll know more in a month at your next doc visit. You have definitely grown taller as well, but don't know yet how tall.
• You still wear size 3 diapers and we started you in overnight diapers that help you sleep through the night.
• You are still wearing some 6/9 month clothes and some 12 month clothes. We were blessed with a several box fulls of hand-me-downs this month!
• You are sleeping 11-12 hours every night, WAY TO GO SHEP!
• You eat cereal twice a day, and in a few days you will 3 times a day getting you ready to start some yummy veggies and fruits!
• You started sucking your thumb. Just like your sister you have just about eliminated the passy all-together and just stick to your thumb.
• You are growing teeth already! None have popped through yet, but the way you are drooling and gnawing it could be any time (or it could still be months and months). Rest assured, you will never be as dramatic about it as your big sasster. She takes the cake on that one.
• You are one little rolly polly. You easily roll on to your tummy from your back and side to side, but you have forgotten that you know how to roll from your tummy to your back. You'll remember soon, I have no doubt. Because you know how to roll from your back to tummy, there is nothing I can do to keep you from being a full-out tummy sleeper now. Just another reminder you belong to the Lord and not me.
• You LOOOVVVEEE to watch Praise Baby DVDs. You will sing and dance right along to them. Oh, how I pray, little one, that you would praise Him all of your days.
• You love to bounce and play both in your jumperoo and exersaucer. The bouncy-seat and swing are, as we speak, in the front room ready to be put up in the garage until a future baby needs them. sigh....you are growing up so fast!
• You. Love. Your. Daddy. You love to snuggle with him, talk to him, box with him, laugh with him, anything with him.
• You still think your big sasster is the funniest of all. You are fascinated watching her twirl by you all day singing and playing and talking and playing.
• You are the happiest baby I have ever known. Such an easy, snuggly laid back baby. You are so loved.

The Many Faces of Shepherd

Saving Money, woohoo!!!

Today, I went grocery shopping for groceries for the next 3 weeks, as well as stocking up on beef for at least the next 2 months.

I went to Kroger for the majority and Albertson's for the beef.

At Kroger, total coupon/savings: $63.94

At Albertsons, total coupon/savings: $66.25

Total amount spent was less than $250.

Total savings: $130.19

I am slowly getting the hang of this coupon thing. I really like saving money. I feel like I am using the gifts the Lord has given me to serve my family. I Pray every time I "coupon" that the Lord would help me be creative to save money. I hope to get better and better.

I Love Lucy, I tolerate Lucy

Growing up, my favorite tv show was I love Lucy. Seriously. I loved it. So much so that in high school, I named my cat Lucy. I loved Lucy more.

Saturday would have been Lucille's 100th birthday. That's really something.

Organized Crafties...

Today, I organized.....

Before

Before

After

After

Whew! I'm gonna sleep well tonight!!

Gumball Mosaic

Before I get to my project I just need to get something out there....

....

Ok, I feel better....don't you?

_________________________________________________

so onto my project for today....

Awhile back I saw this beautiful gumball mosaic....

and I decided I wanted to replicate it for my girl's room....

So when my sister gave me an amazon gift card for my birthday.......

.............. I ordered 5lbs worth of gumballs.

So I got them in the mail in a big bag and then sorted them out by color.

I decided to do a picture of something that wouldn't require me to be so symmetrical.... I went with a whimsical umbrella. I used an old frame that I painted white and a piece of cardboard that wasn't being used as anything for the backing. Then, I got to hot-gluing....

Overall, I am pleased. It looks a little bit more like a mushroom than an umbrella than I would like. But I really like it for the most part.

Aunt Carrie and Jackson (and some other people)

Look at that sweet little face and those teeny tiny little fingers and those big bright eyes....Ah, I love being an aunt. a lot. Have I mentioned how much I love being an Aunt? It makes me want to have more babies. I know, not for a little bit. But just look at that sweet little head of hair! Doesn't it make you want to smell it and inhale that sweet newborn intoxicating smell??? Bottom Line: I love babies. and I love being an aunt. (did I mention that part already?)

So there were some more people in the room other than me and Jack. Including my sweet nephew Cohen. He is preparing me for when Shep is mobile. Boy, can that Cohen-boy move!!! He is so funny and is fascinated by his little cousin Shepherd, and he is ALL-boy.

Also in attendance, Sassy Pants, in all her 3-year old glory, Papa, Grammy, Aunt Sassy, my little Rooster boy, Uncle Joel and Aunt Ashley, and my Studly Beast of a Man.

We also got to spend a lot of time with my "other" little brother Geoffrey and his sweet wife Sarah and baby girl Berkley.

We had a lot of fun meeting Jackson and just getting to be in the same room as one another. I am so so proud of Joel and Ashley and how quickly they seem to have acclimated to parenthood. It seems they were born to be parents. Jackson Andrew Wood is one blessed little boy to grow up with such great parents.

Here are some pics from the day....