Alas, Little blog, I am afraid you are in hold mode this week.
Reason: My brain is in the same state as my house---a chaotic disaster. The girls are traumatized as many of their toys are packed away in boxes. I actually drank my own chocolate milk from a Dora sippie cup this morning because I couldn't find the other cups. We move into our "winter bungalow" (okay, a temporary apartment) this weekend, and then I promise, I'll give you the attention you deserve.
I have such coolness to share, especially about the trip Mom, Camille and I took to the Hadley School for the Blind in Winnetka, IL. However, it would be dangerous to attempt such a feat until my brain and my life is settled a bit.
The End.....for now.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
$9.58
You know how I feel about the color brown. I love, love it. And you know how I feel about Starbucks. Yep, feel the love.
So, you can imagine why my heart skipped a beat when this brown Starbucks mug jumped right off of the shelf and into my hands.
Warm fuzzies. Just looking at it gives me warm fuzzies.
If I live to be 105 years old, like my Great-Grandma Kate, that means I have approximately 74 more years to drink coffee in the morning and hot tea at night. That is 54, 020 times to drink from this beloved brown mug. 54, 020 warm fuzzies for the bargain price of $9.85. Plus a free raspberry scone which I got because I purchased the mug ten minutes before closing. This means that each warm fuzzy feeling I get costs approximately .01 cents, (one hundredth of a cent) not counting the scone.
And add the pink ribbon from my scrapbooking stash to create my favorite-est pink/brown combo, and the warm-fuzziness doubles in intensity.
You get the idea.
$9.58 that goes a heck-of-a-long way.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Scrap Happenings
Yesterday, I attended my 16-hour, purely blissful scrapbooking benefit for the Make-a-Wish foudation. If I had a really hip scanner that could scan in my 12 x 12 inch layouts AND an operator that could use it, you could see some of my creations......but, I do not. So, you'll have to take my word for it and trust that I got some quality scrapping time in.
High points:
It was a benefit for a great cause.
I am nearly completed with Camille's pages from the NICU. Yeah, and thanks for reminding me that I am four YEARS behind on my scrapbooking. Just so you know, I sometimes scrap out-of-order.
I spent time in good friendship with Camille's TVI, Carrie, and a new scrap friend, Jen.
In fitting with the theme of the day, I saw one of Camille and Sammy and Hannah's NICU nurses, Amy Jacobson. As I walked in the door, I heard this voice say, "What are YOU doing here?!" and it was Amy. Amy took care of the kids when they were as critical as critical can be---one-on-one nursing care with constant ventilator care, multiple, multiple medications, IV's and central lines, tube-feedings, incubator care: life-on-the-line kind of care. She was fabulous and still is a NICU nurse, thank goodness! At any rate, it was like seeing old family. Loved it.
I got to talk to my niece, Brookie, via phone, while I was at the event. I was scrapping pictures of her first holding Camille, a.k.a. Shaniqua, and just had to call and chat. Brooke is still teaching in St. Louis, and we don't get to see her often anymore; we miss her so. But, guess what?? I found out I get a Brooke-fix in a couple of weeks as she will be in Lincoln and promised to come to Omaha to give me one of her spectacular hugs.
And...before the day even started, I had a wonderful phone chat with Sis...uninterrupted 45 minutes...a rare gift these days.
Oh, and I scrapped pictures of Camille actually laying inside of the infant-sized Cubs stocking-hat that Uncle John gave her in the NICU....she was so small! It would be even sweeter if the aforementioned Cubs were still in Series contention, but then, "There's always next year."
Oh, and I made two cute-as-can-be Halloween cards that were free make-and-takes at the event as well as another card.
The low point: There was a raffle with about 40 items in it, and you could put your tickets into the containers only for the items you wanted a chance at winning. Throughout the day, I accumulated about 25 raffle tickets, spreading my items out among about five things I really liked. Of course, in keeping with tradition, I won absolutely nothing. A good reminder of why I do not gamble and why I should never start.
But look at all of the good things that came out of 16 hours!
High points:
It was a benefit for a great cause.
I am nearly completed with Camille's pages from the NICU. Yeah, and thanks for reminding me that I am four YEARS behind on my scrapbooking. Just so you know, I sometimes scrap out-of-order.
I spent time in good friendship with Camille's TVI, Carrie, and a new scrap friend, Jen.
In fitting with the theme of the day, I saw one of Camille and Sammy and Hannah's NICU nurses, Amy Jacobson. As I walked in the door, I heard this voice say, "What are YOU doing here?!" and it was Amy. Amy took care of the kids when they were as critical as critical can be---one-on-one nursing care with constant ventilator care, multiple, multiple medications, IV's and central lines, tube-feedings, incubator care: life-on-the-line kind of care. She was fabulous and still is a NICU nurse, thank goodness! At any rate, it was like seeing old family. Loved it.
I got to talk to my niece, Brookie, via phone, while I was at the event. I was scrapping pictures of her first holding Camille, a.k.a. Shaniqua, and just had to call and chat. Brooke is still teaching in St. Louis, and we don't get to see her often anymore; we miss her so. But, guess what?? I found out I get a Brooke-fix in a couple of weeks as she will be in Lincoln and promised to come to Omaha to give me one of her spectacular hugs.
And...before the day even started, I had a wonderful phone chat with Sis...uninterrupted 45 minutes...a rare gift these days.
Oh, and I scrapped pictures of Camille actually laying inside of the infant-sized Cubs stocking-hat that Uncle John gave her in the NICU....she was so small! It would be even sweeter if the aforementioned Cubs were still in Series contention, but then, "There's always next year."
Oh, and I made two cute-as-can-be Halloween cards that were free make-and-takes at the event as well as another card.
The low point: There was a raffle with about 40 items in it, and you could put your tickets into the containers only for the items you wanted a chance at winning. Throughout the day, I accumulated about 25 raffle tickets, spreading my items out among about five things I really liked. Of course, in keeping with tradition, I won absolutely nothing. A good reminder of why I do not gamble and why I should never start.
But look at all of the good things that came out of 16 hours!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
The week in review
Okay, I know. I have officially entered the kingdom of Blog Loserdom. But I have my reasons, which I will articulate with my "Week in Review.
* The house went on the market, officially. Though I whined about the staging thing, it was worth the effort. The house turned out looking so clean and fabulous that we thought twice about actually putting it up for sale. I painted walls. Bill spray-painted old furniture black, which looked suprisingly fabulous! We shampooed. We shooed away dust bunnies. We decluttered. It was like a version of "Trading Spaces" without the trading. It all resulted in....
*....the house selling. 10 days after being put on the market. Okay, knock on wood.....termite inspection and appraisal pending, the house is sold. And we have to move out on October 31st....eeeek!!
* Have decided we will probably build a few miles south. Nifty neighborhood with cool playground for the girls and a neighborhood pool to boot. Which means....
* Need an apartment for several months. Eeeeek! Browsed one today. Four peoples in a small space in a Nebraska winter. Anyone care to join us???? I didn't think so.
* Unrelated.....Boogies and sore throats. Let me clarify that: LOTS of boogies. Camille and I have both been sick. Not too fun to be a laryngitic mother of a two-year-old who is impossible to talk over on a good day and a four-year-old who happens to rely heavily on verbal information.
*Speaking of two-year-olds. Wow. What happened to my sweet, innocent Liv? Seriously---whoever has her, give her back. STAT. Pronto. Seriously....this is not funny. The old Livvy that I birthed does not take off running outside of the donut shop, leave her shoes in the parking lot, and throw herself screaming on the sidewalk whilst mother tries to navigate Camille with white cane in tow towards the van. But this new and not-so-improved version seems to have a flair for the dramatic, which can't possibly be genetic.
* AND.....DRUMROLL....Camille is starting to read. No joke. She's known her letters for quite some time now, but today, Carrie, Camille's Teacher of the Visually Impaired, was at the house and had supplied a new "D" book, which Camille had never seen before. She opened the book and rightfully predicted that Camille would read what was on the page. She pointed to the words as Camille read something to the effect of "I see a dog" or "This is a dog"...can't remember exactly. Made my day. My week. Now, with the writing thing not going so well because of visual motor difficulites, we just somehow have to get her as interested in her Braille as she is in her print.....
*Oh, and even better than that, though one of our favorite caregivers of Camille's at K4J has left her job there, she wrote us the dearest note describing her true friendship with Camille. A genuine friendship between a 22-year-old (at least that's what Camille says) and a 4-year-old that has blessed Camille and our family in the most special way. Thank goodness Miss Elizabeth wants to continue to be a constant in Camille's life and in ours. Only Miss Elizabeth would endure more readings of "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" than Bill and I combined. How we love her so!
And finally, I am painfully going to endure an 18-hour scrapbooking benefit for the Make-a-Wish Foundation on Saturday with Carrie. Okay, so it will be pure bliss. Can't wait.
* The house went on the market, officially. Though I whined about the staging thing, it was worth the effort. The house turned out looking so clean and fabulous that we thought twice about actually putting it up for sale. I painted walls. Bill spray-painted old furniture black, which looked suprisingly fabulous! We shampooed. We shooed away dust bunnies. We decluttered. It was like a version of "Trading Spaces" without the trading. It all resulted in....
*....the house selling. 10 days after being put on the market. Okay, knock on wood.....termite inspection and appraisal pending, the house is sold. And we have to move out on October 31st....eeeek!!
* Have decided we will probably build a few miles south. Nifty neighborhood with cool playground for the girls and a neighborhood pool to boot. Which means....
* Need an apartment for several months. Eeeeek! Browsed one today. Four peoples in a small space in a Nebraska winter. Anyone care to join us???? I didn't think so.
* Unrelated.....Boogies and sore throats. Let me clarify that: LOTS of boogies. Camille and I have both been sick. Not too fun to be a laryngitic mother of a two-year-old who is impossible to talk over on a good day and a four-year-old who happens to rely heavily on verbal information.
*Speaking of two-year-olds. Wow. What happened to my sweet, innocent Liv? Seriously---whoever has her, give her back. STAT. Pronto. Seriously....this is not funny. The old Livvy that I birthed does not take off running outside of the donut shop, leave her shoes in the parking lot, and throw herself screaming on the sidewalk whilst mother tries to navigate Camille with white cane in tow towards the van. But this new and not-so-improved version seems to have a flair for the dramatic, which can't possibly be genetic.
* AND.....DRUMROLL....Camille is starting to read. No joke. She's known her letters for quite some time now, but today, Carrie, Camille's Teacher of the Visually Impaired, was at the house and had supplied a new "D" book, which Camille had never seen before. She opened the book and rightfully predicted that Camille would read what was on the page. She pointed to the words as Camille read something to the effect of "I see a dog" or "This is a dog"...can't remember exactly. Made my day. My week. Now, with the writing thing not going so well because of visual motor difficulites, we just somehow have to get her as interested in her Braille as she is in her print.....
*Oh, and even better than that, though one of our favorite caregivers of Camille's at K4J has left her job there, she wrote us the dearest note describing her true friendship with Camille. A genuine friendship between a 22-year-old (at least that's what Camille says) and a 4-year-old that has blessed Camille and our family in the most special way. Thank goodness Miss Elizabeth wants to continue to be a constant in Camille's life and in ours. Only Miss Elizabeth would endure more readings of "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" than Bill and I combined. How we love her so!
And finally, I am painfully going to endure an 18-hour scrapbooking benefit for the Make-a-Wish Foundation on Saturday with Carrie. Okay, so it will be pure bliss. Can't wait.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Frozen Rocks
So this is what I found when I opened our freezer door two days ago. Evidence that Livvy has been at work again.
"Are those really....."
Yep. Rocks. Ice-cold, frozen rocks. Rocks that used to be a part of the little fountain that bubbles and gurgles to bring peace and harmony to our home....or something like that.
Perhaps the fact that there is no bubbling and gurgling because the rocks are in the freezer explain the extremely terrible twos that our house endured in the past few days.
Perhaps I'll try putting those rocks back to see if both Livvy and I wake up on the right side of the bed in the morning.
Hmmmm.......
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