Daleks & Geekery

I am such a geek, and I am totally proud of it! Recently I started watching the newer Doctor Who series, and immediately fell in love. Today I ran across this video of inflatable Dalek toys, and I want one!!! Who cares if they are meant for preschoolers? I can squeeze in!

Dex

I just realized I never posted any pics of my new baby! I am most definitely Dexter's person - he follows me everywhere I go. I love him very muchly! :)

Eh?

Blog troubles... I tried to redesign but what you see is NOT what I put in.

Back to the drawing board...

Well, It Snowed

Granted, we did not get the massive dumping of snow that the northeast has - but for this part of the world, one inch is a big deal, and a six to eight-inch snowfall will be talked about for years. The sub-freezing temps have kept it around for a week, and I must say I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Braeden had multiple "accidental" crash & burns.

I admit that the getup is a little goofy, but you can't exactly buy snowsuits in the South, so a little redneck improvisation is called for.

Snow cream! Never had it before, but made it this time. So good!

Sooooooo pretty!

Sizzle surprised me by hanging out with us for a while.

Jeff & B made several attempts at sledding without a real sled, and eventually gave up.

Snowman attempt. They quickly got bored with this, too.

Don't know if you can tell, but this kid had a seriously runny nose!

After failed attempts at sledding and snowmen, the boys decided to build a fort - which was, in my book, a seriously cool thing to do. They packed snow into a large Rubbermaid container to make the blocks.

There are always unexpected side effects to redneck improvisation. In this case, Jeff bought B a set of adult-size rain pants to keep his legs dry. The pants were way too long, so he rolled them up and used small bungee cords to hold them in place (yes, you read that correctly). The mesh lining on the underside of the pants collected a ton of snow, and the poor kid was carrying around about five extra pounds of white stuff on his ankles!

When it was all said and done, we had two very entertained boys. I wanted to be out there with them, but that's the thing about working from home - you don't really have an excuse not to show up when the weather gets bad.

Christmas Eve

Jeff had to work Christmas Eve, which stunk, but I made up my mind that Braeden and I would have a rockin' good day, just the two of us. The night before, B helped me pick up the house so that I wouldn't spend all day Friday fretting over it. Just before bedtime, I put Mulled Cider in my brand-new slow cooker (thanks, Mom & Dad - the thing is fabulous!), so that we woke to a deliciously spicy aroma Christmas Eve morning.

We started the day with waffles and the Charlie Brown Christmas specials. Braeden was given the uber-important task of taping down the presents I wrapped for his cousins. We took turns playing video games on the XBox for a while, then I threw a casserole in the oven. While that cooked, Braeden helped me mix up a batch of Peanut Butter Cookies.

Next on the agenda was the highly anticipating Decorating of the Gingerbread Village. Santa kindly consented to let Braeden open this particular gift early so he could play with it Christmas Eve. We also made a special trip out to buy extra candy to make the village more colorful.

First, we laid out all the ingredients on saucers:

Then I mixed up the icing (such messy stuff, that!) and started to piece together the houses. Braeden's job was to decorate them however he pleased, and he did a wonderful job.  

We wrapped up the evening with Jim Carrey's version of A Christmas Carol (a bit frightening at first, Braeden said - but I convinced him to watch it all with me, and thankfully he did not have nightmares!) I got so tickled at him - he was worried about the time. We kept up with NORAD's tracking of Santa off and on all evening, and Braeden feared that Santa wouldn't come if he didn't go to bed soon - but I couldn't get him to go to sleep once he went to bed! Finally I crawled in bed with him (fully clothed, with an alarm set in case I crashed myself), and waited for him to drift off into Sugarplum Land. The moment he quit fidgeting, he zonked, finally leaving me time to get presents under the tree and tidy up the house for Christmas Day.

To be continued...

Yeah.

I'm still here. Still busy... still crazy. :)

Trick or Treating

I hate being so busy that I miss the good stuff. :( I have a test Monday so I didn't get to take B trick-or-treating. Thankfully, Peepop stepped up and took over for me. Instead of buying two costumes (one for school and one for trick-or-treating), I insisted that Braeden choose a mask-less alter ego. Somehow we convinced him that a cop would be perfect (it helped that he already had the blue button-up and black pants), and all I had to do was find him accesssories. Of course, that warranted a trip to Toys R Us, which is always a plus in Bebo's book.

The school party was a hoot, too. I could not believe how much candy he came home with!

Note to self: Christmas bags should be filled with novelty items instead of candy!

Must get some sleep now. Happy Hallowe'en!

October Update

I figured since it's been more than a month since my last post, I should maybe oughta give an update. All three of my readers are probably hanging on the edge of their seats. 0_o

School is the predominant insanity in my life, so I'll start there.

Holy crap.

I knew from watching Jeff go through this program that third semester would be tough... but I didn't know the sheer volume of work would leave me seriously considering some sort of anti-anxiety meds. No kidding. I'm such an anal-retentive overachiever that I think everything has to be perfect, and so nursing school is driving me nuts. I'm not perfect. I'm not even close. My clinical skills leave a lot to be desired, and I'm having to work so hard to keep my classroom grades up to what I think they should be. It's stress like nothing I've ever experienced before. That business degree was a cakewalk compared to nursing.

But ... (cue cheesy disco music) I ... I will survive ...

Moving on to lighter matters...

Braeden is flourishing. Excelling. Blossoming. Hmm... what other words can I use? We were so excited to hear such good things about his teacher, but I never dreamed he'd be doing this well. The school sent home a letter last week inviting him to be in what amounts to a Gifted & Talented program (though they don't call it that anymore; I suppose it's too politically incorrect a term). He was chomping at the bit to start, and Jeff & I were so pleased that he's been considered. So what if it turns out not to be a good fit for him? I know he's doing well and working hard and that's what matters.

It's not just this new program, though. Turns out he is also a very good reader. I wish you could hear him. He reads with such expression; it's just not common in 7-year-olds. (Yes, I'm biased. Everybody else says the same thing about him.) In fact, his teacher says that the kids in his class love to listen to him read, and even try to mimic his reading style. Tickles me to death - what could be better for him than a love of books?

Even better, his teacher told Jeff this past week that the kids adore Braeden. She said he's kind and sweet to everyone.

Be still, my beating heart.

Seriously, folks - that is the thing that we have tried to drill into his head about school. We want him to do his best and work hard, but what matters most is that he is honest, hard-working, and kind to others. I gotta admit - I was a goober growing up, and never won any popularity contests. To hear Bebo tell it, nobody ever plays with him. Turns out that's not exactly the case, and while I don't necessarily want him to be the coolest kid in school, I also would like to spare him the misery of being the un-coolest. If he grows up to be that person that everybody loves because he loves them right back - well, that's just fine with me.

One more piece of news. Buddy, our sweet old dog, never came home. We don't know what happened to him, but it's safe to assume by this point that he's gone on to doggy heaven. Oscar, our most recent canine acquisition, is not working out so well. He's too hyper to be loving and destroys everything he touches. I really don't know what we're going to do about him. Part of me thinks it's just a puppy phase that he'll eventually grow out of, but we've had a dog before that only got worse the older she got, so I'm not holding my breath.

Anyway... we have talked for some time about what kind of dog we would get when Buddy died. We had been leaning toward a golden retriever, but weren't sure we could handle the expense involved. Those dogs ain't cheap.

Enter Jeff's dad.

The man knows everybody in his town. Never met a stranger, ever. One day he ran into a lady who told him that she had a retriever that she couldn't really care for any longer and didn't know what to do with him. To make a long story short, Jeff is in West Virginia tonight, picking up our new dog. (That she gave to us. For free.)

Here's what I know about him. He's got papers (and still has his testicles, so we might do a little breeding). He's two years old, is a strawberry-blonde color, and is very, very affectionate. John picked him up and he rested his head on John's shoulder in the Jeep most of the way home. His name is Phoenix, though we're considering just calling him Nick for short. Jeff has reserved naming rights, since Braeden or I have named all our other pets.

I am so excited about this dog. I have missed Buddy terribly. He was the best dog I've ever had, and a near-constant companion for me. It seems lonely, not having him hanging out in the office with me while I work. I really hope Nick will be that companion for me. Besides, I think he'll be wonderful for Braeden.

Jeff is bringing him home tomorrow. I'll post pics soon. And since it's late and this post is plenty long enough, I'm going to sign off for now. 'Night!

Cards!

More cards!

This one was quick & easy - I stamped with SU!'s Baroque Motif swirl, added the sentiment, and embossed. A quick punch with a Martha Stewart border punch and a ribbon and I was finished!

The color is bad on the next two, but they are basically the same concept. I used Basic Grey rubons and some paper from an ancient black-and-white paper pad. And I dragged out the Cuttlebug - again!

The only thing different here is the ribbon and the sentiment. I used SU!'s scallop oval punch and a paper piercer to gussy up the edge a bit.

I made this one for Jeff. Another CB embossing folder, more ribbon, a scrap of striped paper, a CB diecut, and SU!'s Birthday Wishes stamp, colored with the SU! markers was all I needed. It wasn't difficult, though I'm not sure how manly it was!

This last one did not photograph well at all - that's actually purple, and the black is not that washed out. The stamp is from SU!'s Twick or Tweet set. Are you surprised to see more embossing? lol  Oh, I also used my Martha Stewart score board to add the embossed border on the edge of the card. That is quite possible the best $20 I have spent on scrapbooking supplies - the time it saves scoring cards, the "neatness" factor, and the ability to do some cool scoring lines like I did here make it totally worth the moolah!

One Stamp, Seven Ways (and Counting)

Stampin' Up! makes this gorgeous background stamp called Bella Toile. I may not be the girliest person you will ever meet, but I looooove toile prints. They're so lovely and elegant, but dressed up right, they can be cute and fun, too. I decided to see how many different things I could do with the same background stamp. My office is a disaster to prove my efforts, too! Here's my first seven - and I'm sure there will be more to follow!

7th Birthday Letter & Scrapbook Page

Every year I write Braeden a birthday letter. This year, I'm five months late. Oops.Can I be excused, given how wild the last year has been?

More Cards

I've had great fun making cards lately. There is less of a mental block than when I try to paper scrap; perhaps it's because I don't have to worry about destroying a photo if I mess up. I really needed to be doing a million other things, but I can't seem to quit playing. :)

This is a card I made for my niece. I lurve it. Stamping, embossing, stickers, ribbon - mucho fun, this one. Plus it's nice to make a girly card every now and then.

This was for my nephew. I printed the dinosaur, did more embossing (lately I cannot get away from my Cuttlebug), a lot of distressing, and dragged out some letter stickers that I'd been hoarding for ages.

On to more serious stuff... I saw an interesting tutorial on making "patent leather" paper. It involved a whole lot of embossing powder and an embossing folder. It sorta worked... the lines were more cracked than raised, but I kind of like the look. Not sure I'll do it again, though. It's a lot of effort for a little bit of paper.

Last one... possibly my favorite. I was playing around with the Watercolor Trio stamp set from Stampin' Up. I wanted to use it for a card and had a complete mental block as to what to do with it. Tomorrow I'm going to mass produce some in a watercolor version for church, but I truly love this black-and-white one I made for my own use. Black-and-white can be so romantic and elegant and even sexy that I gravitate toward it quite often. (Notice I used another Cuttlebug folder. They just add so much subtle dimension!)

That's all the cards for now. Braeden and I went for the last round of school shopping. I bought him two pair of shoes and some clothes for the year. Gotta take advantage of Tennessee's tax-free weekend, you know. We had a good time; I let him pick his shoes and he chose these crazy Skechers that light up neon green. He loved them. "Mommy," he said, "I am going to be so cool in these shoes!" How could I have possibly said no to that? :)

Tomorrow is church, then Monday is Braeden's first day of school. As soon as I drop him off, I'm picking up a rental car and taking my car to the shop to get it fixed from its encounter with Grandma. Then I'm off to Chattanooga to run several errands before (hopefully) making it home in time to pick up B from school. Gonna be a busy day, and I am totally looking forward to it.

'Night, y'all.

End-of-Summer Project Rush

Summer vacation is fast winding down, and I find myself scrambling to get everything done before the craziness of the school year begins. May I share?

First, my dad's birthday card. He turned 62 this year, and though I've never ever teased him about his age, I decided I would this time. The inside reads "Who knew the senior citizen discount could look so good?"

Second, I am trying to get as much of Braeden's 1st grade book done as possible. I'm literally a full year behind! His kindergarten album came in a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn't be happier with how nice it looks. As it turned out, the pages did not need to be complicated; in fact, with the 8x8 format, simple looked better. This is a good thing, because I don't have to give it too much thought. My color scheme is set with green and purple, and I'm using the same fonts and calendar elements as I did for the kindergarten album. Easy-peasy! And yes, I do scrap such mundane things as school supply lists. :)

Moving on to the second grade... Tuesday night we met his teacher, Mrs. Parsons. Every single person we have talked to has fallen all over themselves to tell us how wonderful she is. Jeff & I were so impressed with how organized she was; Braeden surprised us both by remembering almost everything she said about things that would happen this coming year. (He did get a few details wrong, though - she told us there would be homework everyday but Friday, and Bebo thought she meant only Friday. The look on his face was priceless when I explained that he was a little confused!) Anyhoo, the color scheme for this year is a sky blue and royal purple combo. I like it, and I'm crossing my fingers that I can manage to keep it up as the year progresses. With a little luck, I can print a book with both first and second grade pics sometime next summer. (By the way, purple is their school color, which is why I always use it. And if you're wondering, the fonts are Learning Curve and Print Clearly, both of which can be found at 1001fonts.com.)

One more thing for now - my kitties. Jeff has taken to calling Sizz "Big Kitty," but the kittens are not so small anymore. It's actually time to get them neutered, at which point I expect them to explode in size and quickly catch up to Sizz. Incidentally, they are still trying to nurse poor old Sizzle! (You did know that Sizz is a dude, right? So are the kittens. Yeah. Who knew - cats have gender issues?)

And that, I suppose, is all for today. More to come soon, I hope. :)

Cricut Projects

On my last trip to Mom's, I got an upgrade! Bye-bye, Baby Bug, hello, Cricut Expression! (My old Cricut only cut 6x12; the new one cuts up to 12x24. It's a die-cut machine. If you're confused, look it up. lol) Anyway, I've had fun playing with it and thought I'd post a few of my recent projects. (Okay, really I'm just posting because Mom said it's been too long since I added a new post.)

This is my latest project. I make cards for church, and they have to be pretty simple. I used the new-ish Preserves cartridge. It has so much potential! (Also, as a side note, it turns out that lightly inking the edges of the die cuts make a huge difference in the appearance.)

I made this for my friend Aimee's new baby. I didn't have an especially good excuse to buy the Robotz cartridge, but I also couldn't help myself. It's just that cute.

More Robotz. See what I mean about cute???

Speaking of cute, how is this for the squeeee factor? I think we are going to use these designs in the nursery at church - though I'm just going to pencil it on the wall and paint it in rather than cutting it out with the Cricut. They come from the Create A Critter cartridge. Complete preciousness.

And finally, a card that generated a lot of giggles with my friend Lauren. I didn't make it for any particular reason besides wanting to play with the new Sugar and Spice Cricut Lite cartridge. I was determined to use that bookplate, and the friendship rub-on was the only thing that fit. This prompted Lauren to ask if my friendship was like a fungus, to which I said yes, it is. Kind of like athlete's foot. You think you've gotten rid of it but it just keeps coming back. :)