My Thanksgiving Dinner Contribution

It is Wednesday morning, and it has just occurred to me that I have no Thanksgiving plan. Actually, I don't host, so I have it easy. I am responsible for making my Nana's dressing, though. No pressure there, right?? At least I don't have to make the pies. My mom makes them. One day I will have to master pie crust -- it just won't be this year!

I have not even done my shopping yet. I cannot believe I am this ill prepared! I am usually a little more on top of it, but not this year. I think I am in denial because everything is coming up so quickly. I host Christmas every year, and a week after that is Emma's birthday. And I haven't even planned her perfect 5th birthday party yet. UGH. OK, back to the task at hand...

I have to hit the grocery store. I have to wash, chop and saute. Then we are off to lunch with my mom and Aunt Kelley. Then we are back home for a little down time, I will make the kids dinner, the sitter will arrive and Brandon and I will leave for a movie with friends this evening. I am not entirely sure how all this will play out, but I think I can get it all done. I can always finish up in the morning.

Hopefully you are all more prepared than I, and you will be able to enjoy your Wednesday. Maybe next year I will look back on this post and it will remind me to be more prepared. But probably I will have forgotten all about it and still be in the same rush I am this year. Oh well, at least I work well under pressure. Have a stress-free Wednesday and a very Happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones. Because really, that is what it is all about. Love to all!

My Very Unconventional Thankful List

I was not going to do a blog about all the things I am thankful for. For one, it would be long. And maybe a bit boring, because I am sure it would echo every "what I am thankful for" post out there. So I am mixing it up a bit. These are all things that I am thankful for, but they are not the typical things you would expect. So, without further ado, here is a short list of a few of the weirder things I am thankful for. They are listed in no particular order of importance.

• That Pottery Barn Kids does NOT sell the Star Wars sheet sets in King Size. If they did, I am fairly certain that it would be only a matter of time before my husband dragged them home.
• My husband's total acceptance and understanding of my crazy irrational fear of clowns. In a very understanding manner he eloquently and effectively explained to Emma why we cannot bring home the child-sized Gymbo clown doll from Gymboree. Thirteen times.
• Paper and fabric and all of the great designers out there that make them.
• Book, books, books.
• Appointment calendars, without which I would be a complete mess. Oh, OK, an even bigger mess than I am now.
• My gorgeous Kitchen Aid Mixer (in Claret). My kids love to make cookies, and nothing whips them up faster. I can't tell you how many hand held mixers I have blown up trying to mix cookie dough. It just doesn't work.
• Music - a special shout out to Coldplay for being Emma's bedtime music since day one and Jack Johnson for being Aidan's bedtime music from day one as well.
• Emma and Aidan's sleep-overs at CiCi's house. This occasional treat is the only only good night's sleep I get. Thank you, thank you, thank you CiCi!! My mom rocks!
• The color pink because it is Emma's favorite and she is so passionate about it.
• Toy Story and Toy Story 2 because of how much Aidan loves them.

OK, so there it is. A very small sampling of things that I really appreciate. Of course these things can't compare to my family, God's grace, my friends, good health, etc. You know, all those usual things I wasn't going to mention!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Catch Up

I cannot believe it has been a month since I last blogged. Where did October go? Where did the majority of November go, for that matter?! Only 10 days (well, 9 really) until December. How is this possible. Maybe I would be more productive if I did not waste so much time pondering where all of my time has gone! Here are a few of the things I have been up to this last month:

My darling girl finished her first season of soccer. I may have mentioned in a previous post that she scored THREE goals at her last game. I am so proud of her! This was her first team sport and she worked really hard. Here is a picture of her after she received her medal at the post season soccer party.

This is the beautiful pink soccer ball cake that my ridiculously talented mom made for the team's party. Of course it is pink, and of course it is complete with little pink ladybugs she made with icing. Seriously, is there nothing my mom can't do?? And did I mention it tasted great, too?

Aidan wanted to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. We found this extremely cool costume at The Disney Store. It even lights up! He loves the costume now, but he almost didn't wear it. It came with the purple hood thing that Buzz wears and Aidan did not care for that part of the costume. For some reason he thought he had to wear the entire thing. Once he found out he could go sans purple hood thing he was elated! I love my boy to infinity and beyond!

Emma made her mind up about her costume a year ago. She LOVES Wonder Woman because she is a Princess and a Super Hero. I don't think I need to point out that my mom made the entire costume, including the cool tiara and bracelets. Not shown are her super cool red boots and her golden lasso. We could not find blue fabric with white stars so she just appliqued them on. Emma is my favorite Princess Super Hero. I am fairly certain that given a cape and a nice tiara, my girl can save the world.

I have managed to do a couple of small shows recently, but I decided to limit myself in this area as of late. I love doing shows, but there is always so much work involved to get ready. And with holiday orders, it just has not been feasible to do as many as I would have liked to have done.

The girls and I got together last weekend for craft night. It was so much fun. Eve worked on a few scrapbook pages and Lucy and I made frames. Jen couldn't make it, but she will be here for the next one on the 29th. Lucy will likely still be out of town for that one, but we are getting together again in early December. We are thinking about making these darling little cupcake bath bombs that Little Birdie Secrets was kind enough to share with the world. I think they will make fun little stocking stuffers and I know my kiddos will love them. They beg for bath ice cream every time we go to The Makeup Bar. If they are pretty easy to make I will let them whip up a batch themselves. They love to cook and they love to craft, so this will be right up their alley. I will make sure to post our results, no matter how they turn out!

Mission Organization: Day Four

This was a great Monday. Still is, I suppose, at least for another 4 1/2 hours. I made it to my MOMs group and I was even on time. I finally remembered to bring my friend's very belated baby gift. Emma had a great time in her class. Aidan and Brandon hung out and had fun playing with Aidan's "guys."

When we got home we had lunch, after which I promptly dove into Aidan's room. I got all of his toys organized in their bins, organized his closet and new dresser drawers, finished the "summer to fall clothing switch" and thoroughly cleaned the room. It looks so nice! It is really easy for him to choose which toys he wants to play with as well as put them back.

None of this would have been possible if not for my kids playing so well together today. I just love it when a plan comes together. Tomorrow I will tackle Emma's room. I hope all of you had a great Monday as well!

My Soccer Star

Emma's last soccer game was today. I am so proud of her! She played her best game yet. She scored three goals and really hustled out on the field.

Yesterday, driving home from her Saturday game, she asked if she was really supposed to take the ball away from the other girls, because that was not sharing. It has been a tough concept for the girls to grasp because we taught them to share and play nicely their entire lives.

All of the girls played so well. This was the first year for all of them, and it was amazing to watch how they improved week to week. This has turned out to be a great experience not just for Emma, but for all of us.

Organizing: Day Three

Today was so productive. Insanely productive one might say. I don't have the pictures to prove it yet, but I hope to have some posted in the next couple of days.

The dresser finally found a new home in Aidan's room. Of course there was an issue with the tip kit, and I will have to finish it up tomorrow once that pesky drill charges. Oh, guess I had better plug it in. Anyway, one of the straps is attached, so it is not dangerous tonight, but I do want to get the other on tomorrow before my little monkey tries to climb on it.

I moved my fabric bins and labeled them even though they are clear so I can easily see what I have. I did a ton of laundry, sorted out some of the kids' summer things to make way for fall fashions, completed two nap mats and a blanket, and started another blanket for a baby gift. Yep, I am feeling pretty good tonight.

As always, thanks to Brandon and my mom for all of their help. Without them I would not have had such a productive day. I am a long way from organized, but I feel I am really on my way!

Organzing: Day Two

DISCLAIMER: Okay, so I know it has been a few days since my last post, but I am counting this as my official second day of organization because it is the official second day I have worked toward my goals. So these posts probably won't be daily, although that would be ideal. I will do my best!

Whew, now that I have that outta the way, on to what I accomplished! First, I painted a dresser for Aidan's room. I know that may not sound like much by way of organizing, but it is. It has been sitting in my overly-crowded dining room for how long now I cannot precisely recall. So it is moving out of there tomorrow, hence freeing up space. Also, I will now have a better place to store Aidan's clothes.

Tomorrow I will install the anti-tip kit I purchased and move the dresser into his room. And I will make the drawers look great. I predict they will stay that way at least until I leave the room. After that, I make no guarantees.

The best thing about this dresser, other than providing storage for my little boy's things, is that it is recycled. It is Brandon's old dresser. A new coat of paint and new hardware, and it looks great! I will post a picture tomorrow after I get it set up.

I also got rid of the batting that ate New York. Temporarily anyway. I am going to keep it at my mom's house, crammed in a closet, for the time being. At least it is gone from my poor overworked dining room.

I have come to the conclusion that I am literally drowning in paper. There is paper piled up all over the place. It seems every flat surface is covered with the stuff. A lot of it is the stagnant stuff that I mentioned last time. I am doing my best to wade through it, shredding when necessary and bagging all of it for recycling.

The paper seems so innocuous, but it is a crafty foe. Once I have it under control, here it comes, sneaking up on me again, slowly at first, so that I hardly notice it or pay it any mind. In a few days I have a pile on the bookcase in the entryway. Then it creeps onto the island. I move some of it to the roll top desk, with intentions of sorting and shredding, but you know what they say about good intentions. Life is busy, and I tend to go all Scarlett O'Hara, vowing to think about it tomorrow.

I realize now that it is a daily chore, and with this I will struggle. I hope the recent purchase of a handy-dandy compact filing unit will help. It contains 43 folders, one for each month and one for each day of the month. My ultimate goal is to immediately file away any paper that enters the house in this unit. If I can make it a habit to do this and check it every day I think it will immensely cut down on the paper mess.

Lastly, I worked on my website today. I have decided to just feature my children's products. I have removed all of my stationery items. I still love to paper craft, and I will still occasionally list some things in my etsy store as well as continue custom orders for my regular clients. I must say that I feel really good about this decision. I am very excited to be adding lots of new merchandise and pictures, and I hope to have it completely updated soon.

I will try to post some pictures of my progress tomorrow. No promises, because I never know what the day will bring. Here's to a productive Thursday. And to all the kiddos, have a fun and safe fall break!