Favorite Things

This is the first in a series of posts on things that I'm currently loving.  There have been so many things inspiring me and making me happy lately that I just have to share!!

First up - new scrapbooking products.

With the latest CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) show just over, new product is flooding the marketplace, and I am drooling.  Here are some of my favorites that have been released so far:

Cosmo Cricket has done it again - so in love with:
Tiny Type Letter Stickers
Material Girl Papercrafting Kit
and their new Garden Variety line, especially:
Sweet Pea paper
Sunshine paper
Elements

Cardstock from Prima, especially these:
Apricot Tree Shabby Chic
Love Letter Pastiche
and their new stickers, especially these:
Strawberry Cardstock Stickers

Pink Vintage Sew On Buttons by Jenni Bowlin
(and the cream ones, the green ones, and the red ones too!!)

Isabelle paper by Anna Griffin

Spinach Honey Puffy Thickers by American Crafts

Botanique Lovely Flair Embellishments by American Crafts

Sugar Rush Take Note by Basic Grey

Origins White Tracery Doilies Paper by Basic Grey

If that's not inspiring enough to get scrapping (or shopping...), check out May Flaum's CHA favorites here:
Trinkets & Treasures
Paper & Stickers
Ribbons & Trims
Tools & Things

Happy crafting!

Act

My word for 2010 is "act".

My word in 2009, change, was perfect for me.  It was a combination of being both passive and active.  Being pregnant, I knew there were definitely going to be some big changes happening to me that were out of my control, but there were also changes I wanted to make happen.  There was a lot of thought that happened around those changes I wanted to make, but not as much action as I would have liked. :)

My goal for this year's word was to have something much more active and vigorous that will encourage me to really take action - to focus on the things I want to do the most and then DO them.

I'd also like this year's word to be more a part of my daily life.  I did think about my word fairly often last year, but there were long stretches that passed without thinking about it at all.  This year I'd like my word to be with me every day.  I'm still figuring out how I'm going to go about accomplishing that, and will post more once I've worked it out.

If you'd like to read more about the one little word concept, you can see my post from last year here.  If you have a word for the year and are willing to share, please leave a comment.


I am SO glad to finally be feeling better and to actually have some energy.  Hoping to do lots of posting over the next couple weeks, so stay tuned.

Still Recovering...

This has to be one of the worst colds of my life.  I hope to be recovered enough to be back in the next day or two. :(

1 Year, and Life, the Unexpected

Needless to say (from my lack of posting), this week has not gone as expected.  The cold I came down with last weekend took a nasty turn during Sunday night that left me home most of the day from work on Monday, and feeling slightly less miserable the rest of the week.  Chris also caught the cold last weekend so he's been miserable as well; and to top things off Ada got her first ear infection on Tuesday.  Poor little thing had a fever off and on most of the week, has not been very happy (I think the medicine took longer than normal to kick in), and is definitely not a fan of Tylenol or the pink bubblegum medicine we all so fondly remember. :)  She has been such a trooper; lots of time spent snuggling and napping this week.  Luckily we are all recovering, and are having a quiet weekend at home in the hopes that we'll all be good as new on Monday.

Due to my cold and Ada's ear infection I didn't get to sewing on Tuesday; super bummed about that and can't wait for next month! :)  On a happier note, Thursday marked 1 year since I started my blog!  I'm so glad I decided to jump in and just do it; I love that I have so many memories recorded I otherwise would have  forgotten about.  And as of Friday Ada is 8 months old; hoping to get her 8-month picture taken this weekend if she's up for it. :)  Hope everyone else is in good health and having a wonderful weekend!

Me Time

We (Ada and I) just got back from a family gathering at my sister's.  Ada was so wiped out she fell asleep on the 5 minute drive home, and I was surprised to find Chris napping as well - yay!  Totally taking advantage of it and having some quiet me time on the computer. :)  I've been working on so many posts in my head; hoping to find time this week to get them written down and posted!  I'm working on Christmas photos and hope to have that post up by sometime tomorrow evening.  Tuesday night is SEWING!!  Can you tell I'm excited?? :)  I'll be working on finishing up a few Christmas gifts (not sure why I chose to do so many homemade gifts the year I had a baby...Chris would probably say it has something to do with that slight problem I have of biting off way more than I have time for...but, it's been super fun and very satisfying!)  So hopefully I'll get everything finished up so I can post pics on Wednesday.  And the new year has me thinking about resolutions, cleaning and reorganizing, and especially my word for this year.  Still thinking on it, and hoping to post on that later this week as well.  Wow, there, I probably did it again (the whole overcommiting myself thing), but doesn't putting it in writing mean I'm more likely to get it done?  Let's hope so. :)  Off to enjoy my free time; don't forget to check back tomorrow! :)

Christmas Eve

Snow, snow, and more snow!!  We weren't sure it was actually going to happen, but it snowed A LOT.  Our neighbor stopped by and plowed our driveway for us on Christmas Eve, saving us hours of shoveling - YAY!  My sister's road hadn't been plowed, so she put on her boots and hiked to the end of her road and we picked her up to bring her to church and then to our house.  We had been planning on hosting my whole family Christmas Eve, but due to the threat of the snowstorm we rescheduled for the day after Christmas (Saturday) instead.

We had a quiet dinner and since it was just the three of us (Ada was napping), we ate in the living room in front of "It's a Wonderful Life".

Chris drove Jenny home around 9 (luckily her road had finally been plowed!) and then we opened a few gifts before heading to bed.

Looking so cute in her Christmas dress. :)

Once she spotted this package under the tree there was no stopping her from crawling across the room to pick it up over and over again. :)

Finally time to open it.

Tasting the wrapping paper...

and the tissue paper...

and her new car.

Totally tired out baby sitting with Papa.

Highlights from the rest of Christmas should be up tomorrow.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Seven Months

Ada, at seven months you:

Are SO very happy, every day (which makes US so happy!)

Are full of energy

Are belly-crawling (and you are fast!)

Love remote controls and phones (mostly just eating them) :)

Also love eating Kleenex, paper, and anything else you can get into your mouth before we catch you

Get into whatever you can, you love to explore (and we love watching!)

Love watching a good movie; a lot of the time you'll completely ignore whatever we're watching, but sometimes you get completely entranced - laying on your belly, arms crossed in front of you and totally zoned in on the tv

Love chewing on shoes.  Your favorites are your own (leather Robeez); I have to keep them out of sight when I'm putting your socks on. :)  Sometimes you bend right over and chew on them while they're on your feet!

Have growing hair that sticks straight up from your head - and I totally love it

Have beautiful blue eyes

Are still so snuggly in your jammies

Don't like carrots, but are okay with sweet potatoes

Totally love your oatmeal (we make it at home)

Love daycare (so thankful for Jessica and her girls!)

Like being read to, and you help flip the pages

Like playing with your cousins and other kids that are around the same size as you

Are very observant; everywhere we go people comment on how much you watch what's going on around you

Still look so much like your Papa

Love to talk - lately your favorite sounds have been da-da-da-da and ma-ma-ma

Still love blowing raspberries

Are so completely loved little one