Gimme Some Sugar!

It's been a while since I posted any of my creations, but I have been working on them.  While I still have to figure out the best way to blog about my creations, I figured I'd go ahead and share my latest anyway!  This page was actually really quick to make.  (I spent more time photographing it and uploading than it actually took to create it!)  I was able to squeeze it in while LO napped upstairs.  I'd been holding onto this picture from SIL's wedding, confident that one day I'd find an opportunity to make a page with it.  Today was that day!

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Created for a sketch design challenge

I'd had this felt title for a while.  Came in handy for this project!

The "admit two" ticket was perfect for capturing the feel of the vintage photo booth at SIL's wedding.

Thursday: Meetup, PD & lil slicky

Went to a playgroup today in Maxwell Park. Funny, it's the Berkeley Moms grp, but most of the meetups seem like they happen in Oakland...and most of the people seem to live in Oakland as well. Anyway, I was glad we went. Even though we were about an hour late, it still turned out to be worthwhile. Sarai loved the real-sounding drum set they had, and I had a nice time chatting with the 2 moms that were there. The hostess was candid about the neighborhood, and the other mom was eager to know more about our house search, family, and my take on the Berk schools. It was my first playdate at a random person's house, and it definitely wasn't as scary or awkward as I had imagined in my worst fears. Just moms in young families with similar concerns: settling down, careers, neighborhood, etc.

Later, I had to do a PD (ugh!) at the ACOE. It wasn't tooo bad, thankfully. Left S with Sis D while Nylah and I made our way down the 880. The meeting was THREE hours! That seemed so long when I got there at 4, but thankfully it went by pretty fast.

After a full day, I was ready to wind down. When we had come upstairs to go to bed, I told Sarai to grab our book so we could prepare to lie down. I put my phone on the charger and went to the bathroom. Little did I know, she had a plot up her sleeve. I knew it when she came over to the bathroom door, and ever-so-slowly, closed it. I almost yelled out, "Put my phone down!" haha, because I knew that that was exactly what she was doing. When I came out, there she was on the bed, the bluish light from my phone illuminating her sharp little face. As M would call it, her "slick spirit" at work!

Wednesday: Cleaning, chili, and (no) Caravan

After a sort of slow start to the day (didn't really get to "tasks" until after 10), I somehow managed to get everything important done. I washed the sheets, straightened up our room, and did 3 loads of laundry, including towels. I realized that I don't have to put so much pressure on myself, and that's one of the benefits of being a SAHM. I'm able to focus on a few things a day, and that's ok; in fact, it's great! Less is more. I didn't have to stress over "how much can I get done around here today?" Instead, I just did what felt "natural" and before I knew it, everything was done. Moving in the flow of things...makes me think back to my labor, lol.

One neat thing today is that I finally made a meal that I'm really proud of! Using Corrinn's famous chilli recipe, I decided to use the crock pot and see what would happen. I mixed chili beans, pinto beans and kidney beans, canned corn, ground turkey, taco seasoning and ranch powder, and the result was delicious! I was especially proud because even though M had already eaten a bowl of nachos, he still ate the chili and cornbread (which Sarai loooves!) and said "that was really delicious and tasty" after it was all done. I even go them both to try sour cream in their chili, and cheese. M hadn't heard of it, but I was glad he was willing to try it.

It was very nice sitting around the table for dinner together. Nylah was in the moby. S asked M "Daddy, what's *your* favorite color?" "I like red, purple and gold." "Aw, purple is for girls!" she protested. LOL.

Thought of going to the the Caravan tonight, but M dissuaded us. It was raining, cold, and the "stop" tonight was in a rougher neighborhood. Probably not a good mix for trying to handle 2 teeny ones at night.

Monday: lovin' being at home

I like staying at home. As I was heading up the stairs today, I had a surge of happiness hit me as I realized I don't have to return to work anytime soon. I really appreciate being able to stay home with the girls and have home and family be my primary concern. I do wondering sometimes, though, if I should be doing more. I watch how hard M works and I feel like I should be helping him some more, somehow. But then I remember that providing him a warm, welcoming, comfortable and clean home is important in keeping him emotionally well. And that regularly preparing food for him to eat for breakfast and dinner and take with him for lunch is also important for his physical health and performance. And that my happiness is important to him as well, and since being at home is helping me to be happy, that it is something to celebrate and for me to embrace without worrying about why I'm not worrying more!

He's off for a "Turnaround" trip to DC. Left tonight and will be back tomorrow, so it's just me and the girls tonight. We ate spaghetti and managed to clean up a bit. I'm really working on teaching Sarai the meaning of where something "belongs." I can tell that when she *knows* where something goes, she's much more likely to put it back there, so I plan to maximize that and make it into a little "system" for us.

Two things I want to start doing while I'm home is 1) weekly meal planning, probably on Sundays, or maybe Thursdays before shopping on Friday mornings. This would include making a list of what to eat and what to buy each week, week by week. And secondly, more scrapbooking. I made Nylah's "name" page today and was pleased with how it turned out. Along with that, I must start planning how I will spend that $3,000 before it's too late. So glad I got a Smash book to help me keep my thoughts for that organized...now on to using it!!

Our First Real Day Out

It's 5 o'clock, and phew! It's been a full day! Determined to leave the house today, we set out getting ready at 830 to go to an East Bay Moms meet-up at the park, and then to the Mom and Baby pilates class some friends and I were planning to attend in the afternoon.

I must say, Monclair Park is really nice! It feels almost like a regional park, with big beautiful, healthy looking green trees, a pond, and a variety of activities for families to enjoy. The crystal clear blue sky today and fresh chilled breeze really helped too. The whole experience there was just "fresh."


Well..

with the exception of one part...when Sarai decided to pick up pieces of something and throw it into the pond. That was the problem. But that it was duck poo...well that was pretty disgusting. We took off running (laughing) to find a restroom to wash her hands.

The pilates class was nice; the reception staff lady was very accommodating and the teacher was young, friendly, understanding. Can't say I got much exercise in, between nursing the baby and trying to keep sarai from hitting Anaiah with the ball, but it was still nice to bein a class setting anyway.

Sarai had a couple fall-outs at groc out, but thankfully she came home and went to sleep with a lesser level of protest than I was expecting. I was afraid of the all-out tackle needing to be used, but she went to bed. Crying, but got under the covers fairly easily.

And then this online review of the church. I still don't get what gives some random guy any clout or legitimacy when reviewing churches, but apparently he has an audience, and I guess that's all that matters in the way of publicity these days. M just had to tell me that he mentioned me, specifically, in the article. And as much as I hated to care, I did want to see what he said. All it turned out to saw was that I had glistening eyes for my husband, and that that said more to him than anything else. Also said something about maybe I didn't know my husband's entire vision but I was still in his corner. Kinda weird. I still think it's lame that this random guy gets to characterize (/caricature) churches however he wants and that people will listen and probably be influenced by it.

Life at home...

It's been exciting being at home full time again. I'm glad to have my days open, free and clear of many responsibilities. Rather than a set-in-stone place I have to be from 9-5, I'm able to simply make a list of to-dos for the day and go through it as I see fit. So, at the suggestion of a friend, I'm going to start actually blogging about my days "at home."

So far today, I've been in a really creative mood, researching a bunch of stuff online that might actually help me get this craft business rolling. I've been browsing craft faires where I could put my things on display, books like Craft, Inc. that will help me make sure I'm covering the basics, and ways to get my hands on a copy of Artful Blogging without having to pay full retail price.

This stuff takes time! I guess I've gotten used to expecting a concrete "end result" when I'm working on stuff, because I feel a little under-accomplished for the day, even though I did do a whole bunch of brainstorming. Thought about how I could make a mark with belly bouquets as one of my major, unique products. Made a bunch of lists: stuff to look into at the craft store and the book store. Got inspired by the DearCrissy.com website, then of course started looking up ways to jazz up my blog. That's the area that scares me most, because it just seems to take so much time, and great photos--a skill that I do not have. Anyway, I'll have to worry about that later. First I have to have content!

Besides my crafty stuff for the day, insurance paperwork and flexible spending account reimbursement have been taking up my day. It requires a whole filing and retrieval system to make this thing work. But I will say, I'm not doing so bad with that! Off now to fax that paperwork and claim my $1,464 reimbursement!

Happy B-Day

A jewelry box I altered as a birthday gift. I love doing banners!