paulabarber

This *might* have happened at Jason's Deli.

Preface:
We were sitting in a booth.
And if you have eaten at a Jason's Deli,
you know that the bench seats for the booths
are designed with the back in the middle, and
then a seaton each side, so that you share the seat
with the people in the booth directly behind you.
And they aren't connected to the floor.
So they move.

Dad is at the salad bar.
Noah is sitting on one side, me on the other.
Keira in a highchair on the end.

The Story:
Lady behind Noah after sitting down and scooting the seat:
     "OH, I'm so sorry.  I didn't mean to scoot you."
Noah to Lady:
     "That's ok."  (giant cheesy grin)
Noah to Mommy:
     "Mommy!  That Lady is so nice.  She said she was sorry
     for scooting the bench.  It's ok that she scooted it.
     Wow.  She is REALLY nice."
Mommy to Noah:
     "Yes, she is nice.  She wanted you to know that she
     didn't intentionally scoot you up to the table."
Noah to Mommy (loud):
     "Yeah, but she sure must have a big boonie!"

(Insert serious Mommy red-face here.)

(and yes, boonie IS my 4-year-old's word for bootie, in case you didn't get that.)

A little Child's Play.

January was my first month to write an article for the
Scrap Supply newsletter.  My topic for the year is called
Child's Play.  Over the course of 6 installments, I'm hoping
to cover ideas for scrapping with your child,
kids' room decor, special albums to make for your child. . .
just all sorts of kiddie projects. 
And, of course, I'll be doing this along with the help
of several of the SS team members. 
(they SO rock, by the way!)

This month, Noah and I worked on coming up
with his Valentine design to recreate in mass here in a
few days.  This is what we came up with:

I just love these Maya Road chipboard coasters. 
They worked perfectly for my little
automobile-lovin' guy's cards. 
Then, I took photos of him while he was
making them and created this layout:

And then finally, I wanted to make a calendar
for Noah and Keira.
A place where we could schedule crafty play-dates
so they could see them coming. 
This Heidi Swapp calendar album was perfect:

 

Now, we have just got to get busy and make
about 20 of those Valentines! 

Have a great weekend.
Paula

Mickey/Minnie Autograph Books

These cute little autograph/journaling books are
my first class for Heart in Hand Scraps.
And it's FREE!
You'll just need a Cricut and the Mickey Font cartridge.

So if you have Disney plans in your future. . .download it NOW!

What I learned during the past 9 days.

1.  NEVER read the Pioneer Woman's blog while detoxing.
     Especially not her recipe for mashed potatoes. 
     Definitely not that.

2.  Newman's Own Salsa makes just about everything taste better.

3.  Trying to detox on the weekend is REALLY hard.
     Especially when the in-laws want to take you out to eat
     and they choose a restaurant that is pure TEXAS.
     You know what that means, right?  ALL meat.
     (I did have some seriously yummy smoked corn on the cob, though!)

4.  Eating healthy isn't really hard, if you stay at home.  :o)

5.  Day 2 of Detox stinks, but after that, it is not bad at all.

6.  My hubby is ornery.

7.  I can do this.  I CAN do phase two as well,
      but I might take a few days off in between.

8.  I feel SO MUCH BETTER when I eat this way.
      SO MUCH BETTER!

9.  And finally,
      I learned that Cadbury Mini-Eggs hit the shelves
     at Kroger's on January 6th. 
     And they put them in a basket ON the check-out counter. 
     Not just at the counter,
     but ON the counter. 
     Right where you set your purse.
     To make sure you don't miss them.
     And that just happens to be the day
     I went to shop healthy.  SO now you know.
     CME's are in the stores!!  (and that, my friends, would be
     the entire reason that I need a few days off before phase two!)

    

5-6-7-8 Dance

This is my layout from the Feb. 2008 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.  It was part of the "Scrap your Passions" article that featured all 10 of the 2007 Scrapbooker of the Year finalists. 

I was so excited to create this layout.  I had been wanting to scrap about our dancing for a while.  Now, it is one of my favorite layouts, ever.  And THIS is how it is supposed to look.  In the magazine, they photographed it with the pages put together backwards. 
Ugg. 
It happens. 
But still.
Uggg.

The journaling reads:
Dancing is my passion. I started taking dance lessons in 1993 as a way to get through a breakup in college. After a few lessons, I was introduced to a competitive couples dance circuit. My competitive nature and need for self-expression could not resist. I was in deep.

Five years, two partners and many Championships later, I began what would become my lifelong dance. Kris and I spent 6 years competing together. There were countless hours of coaching and practice, numerous injuries, fights, tears, rhinestones and trophies. And it all added up to two lives that were meant to be together. I believe that we will return to dancing a little later in life, when the kids are older. I feel the pull. . .my heart is dancing still.

Some of you had asked to read the journaling. 
Let me know if you have any questions, and
thanks for looking!

Detoxers!  How we doin?
Only ONE day left!!!!!!!

Crafty but not Scrappy. And Day 5 of Detox.

I haven't been very scrappy lately.
Not since Christmas.
And I need to be scrappy, but just haven't.
So, since I don't really have anything Scrappy
to share with you, would you just look at what my
hubby made!

It's a vase.  I just love how the stems will show through
the middle.  LOVE IT! 
It needs some fresh flowers.
I should pick some up at the store today. 
But his ability with a lathe just amazes me.
And then there is this:

He knows that I love containers.  All sorts of containers.
So he made this for me for our Anniversary.  And just look inside!

Yep, lots of embellies can go in there.   Isn't he just the best?

And while I have been being un-scrappy,
I have picked up myknitting again. 
It seems to be a winter thing for me.  Anyway,
I finished up a couple of hats that have been in the works
for a bit.  This one for Keira:

And this one for some unsuspecting recipient:

Both are from the book, Itty Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson.
I adore this book.

I decided yesterday that I must get scrapping. 
I went into my room and I was going to make something.
I just had to.
So I started this:

It's Dashing.  It will be my first attempt at cables. 
And I just love fingerless gloves, so I hope they turn out.
But, not exactly scrapping,
huh?
I don't think these are going to land me in the HOF this year.
Nope.
Keep my arms warm, yes. 
HOF, no.

I'm certain that next weekend will help.
I get to go to CKC-Houston and spend a couple of days
with my dear, sweet friend,
Stacey Kingman.
She inspires me so.
Yes, that will surely get me scrappin'.
Surely.

And finally, it's day 5 of Detox. 
(and apparently, really-long-post-day)
So far, so good.  Beth peaked my interest in Spagetti Squash.
I must admit, I had never had it,
let alone tried to cut one in half.
Jesh.  I think a circular saw would be the tool of choice for that job.
But, I got it open and cooked it and
ummmmmm mmmmmm.
Was it ever good. 
I even tried to pawn it off on the kiddos as being
'just like regular pasta'
but only one of them bought it.



Thanks for the temptation, Beth!

How are the rest of you doing?
Or are there any of you left? 
;o)
Tonight is cheat night for me. 
Sushi and Popcorn.
Oh, I'm going to be so bad. . .and it is going to be SO good.
Ok, maybe not REALLY bad. 
I'm getting brown rice on the sushi
and no butter on the popcorn,
but still.

Hump Day.

Day three of Detox.  If you made it this far ladies, you should be starting to feel normal again.  I went to bed last night feeling just awful. Headache, crabby, yuk!  But, I woke up feeling really good.  Hopefully I'm over the hump.  Hopefully.  Check in and let us know how you are doing, even if you haven't stuck with it exactly.  That second day is tough.

So far my 'other' resolution is going well too.  I've backed up all my photos onto my external drive, after reorganizing them a bit.   I've got the first 6 months of '07 uploaded to Snapfish.  Once I get finished scanning my machine for whatever attack it is under (eyeroll, don't people have better things to do?), I'm going to get back to uploading.  Plus, it is giving me somthing to focus on other than food.

:o)
happy hump day!

Detoxers Unite! or, why are there so many egg yolks in my trash can?

I've been recruiting fellow scrappers to Detox with me all over the internet.  I think rather than me trying to post on 3 or 4 sites, we'll just move our little Detox club here, to my blog.  That way, we can all root each other on, share recipes, complain to each other, and so on. 

If you haven't seen one of my many Detox posts, this is what we are doing.
Phase one of the book, "The Fat Smash Diet" by Dr. Ian Smith.
It's the book used on Celebrity Fit Club, if you've ever watched that show.

This will make the 4th time that I have done this.  The first time, I lost 9 pounds in 9 days.  And I have never really gained it back.  Maybe the 2 pounds that I gain and re-loose on a regular basis, but otherwise, I have been just thrilled with the results.  And I love how it makes me feel.  Not only the "cleansing" aspect, but getting back into the habit of eating 5-6 smaller meals a day.  I feel so much better when I eat this way.  I don't go through the mid afternoon energy crash that I do when I only eat three meals.

Anyway, even if you didn't start with us today, feel free to join in anytime.  Some of us may continue on with the next phase of the book, so don't worry if you don't start at the same time.  And if you have questions, ask away.  I'm hoping this will help make this a fun process so that you will all want to join me and detox once EVERY quarter, all year.  :o)

SO, Detoxers, introduce yourselves. 
I'm so excited that we have such a great support group here.

OK, I'm back.

It was a long break.  But I needed it.
Christmas was wonderful, followed immediately by a weeklong trip to visit family.  We got home on the 2nd to a house full of Christmas disaster.  I think I'm finally just about finished cleaning up.  And the laundry is almost done.
Almost.
If my family would just stop wearing clothes.

I'm looking forward to 2008.
I'm starting it off with a Detox.
Once a quarter is my goal.
Clean out the ol' system of all the junk that I put in there.
And to help keep me mindful of how I WANT to be eating.
It looks like I may have a group of ladies joining me too!
Fun in numbers!!  Woohoo!

And photos.
2008 is going to bring organization to my photos.
I have had a constant upload to Shutterfly going for the last 3 days straight and I've only gotten Jan-April of 2007 uploaded so far.  This is going to take a while.  I have 4 years worth of photos that I want to upload.  Then, I'll be backing them up to my external hard drive, copying them to DVD, and then I'm going to do it.
I'm really going to do it.
I'm going to take them OFF of my computer.
Do you have any idea how many photos are on my machine?
I've uploaded over 2000 just for the first 4 months of 2007.
And that's after going through and deleting a bunch first.
Yeah.
Not good.
But I'm going to take them off and see if my computer will start working a little
faster.  It is so bogged down, and I just can't IMAGINE why!
(insert sarcastic smilie here.)

Hitting that delete button is going to be scary.
I might need a support group or something,
But I'm going to do it.

I have to share a couple of photos of the kiddos.  These were taken in Mississippi on our Christmas trip.  I was playing with my new lens that my dear, sweet hubby surprised me with.  I'm in love!

Happy Monday!