April 12

The 12th of April happened to be on a Sunday this month. And it also happened to be Easter. The weather was just perfect for celebrating Jesus and hunting down candy hidden in plastic eggs.

JT woke us up not-too-early. He might have been cold. I turned the heat off the day before and I guess it got chilly overnight. It was 60 degrees in the house when we got up. Ooops. We had JT find a few eggs that were hidden around the house as soon as he got up. Then we noticed that the Easter bunny had left a basket with MORE goodies outside in the yard. (There are always bunnies in the backyard... they just don't usually leave such nice presents.)

Easter bunny left a pair of rainboots, a Charley Harper puzzle, Not a Box, a handmade bunny, and more candy. I hope that bunny got to see how much JT enjoyed everything in there.

We had to drag JT kicking and screaming away from the candy and off to church. He did look awfully cute in his green gingham shirt and vest throwing a tantrum on the floor. The church service was a tear-jerker and a half. There are some amazing voices at our church. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place.

When we got home, Nana and Pawpaw arrived. Nana made me a basket with lavender plants, "dinosaur eggs", and chocolate bunnies. Right up my alley, I tell ya. Oh, JT got a basket, too. It paled in comparison to getting to play with Nana and Pawpaw all day.

I made an Italian chicken salad I discovered on Simple Mom that was delightful. I'm not normally into ham, so you won't find me cooking one up for a holiday dinner. We spent the afternoon goofing off and playing at the park. Then we had Nana's carrot cake. I had requested it because it went with the day's "theme". (Bunnies, carrots, get it?) Sometimes I make these odd requests of her just to see how far she'll go for me. And from the resulting carrot cake? I can tell, this is one Nana who will go the distance!!

The bummer of the day was that JT developed pink eye that got worse as the day wore on. Here he is late in the afternoon listening to Pawpaw read Go, Dog, Go:


If that doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what will. Poor little thing. So off to urgent care we went. He was the only kid in the place and the staff went gaga over him in his cute little outfit. It made the whole adventure less painful that way.

When we got home, Becka stopped by with some pineapple upside-down cake... more yumminess! Then it was off to the bath and bedtime for little sickly.

Here is the photographic evidence of the whole day. It's the first 12 of 12 where I actually have decent photos. I would like to thank my lovely family and the sunshine in the sky for that!

an encounter

Oh look, a girl.

I think she's trying to talk to me. Look away, appear busy...

Shwew, she's walking on by. That was a close one.

Easer Bunya

A couple months before each holiday, I start thinking, "this would be a good holiday to make my crafty holiday." I dream up all the possibilities, fill my inspiration journal with pictures of cool things I could make, and maybe even sketch something cool. And then life happens and it never transpires. The holiday gets nearer and I end up doing the same thing as last year, or very little to nothing to note the special day.

This year I wanted to make JT's Easter bunny. Easter is a good time to make something crafty, right? It's just one bunny. I should be able to knock that out, yeah?

Well, I did it!

JT calls him "Easer Bunya".


He's a little wonky and a lot whimsical. Which is my way of saying, "look, it was an experimental first attempt at making a softie."

But never mind that. JT went running to his Easter basket and pulled Easer Bunya out first thing! He got a lot of love until JT realized there was also chocolate in the basket...

It fills my heart when he loves on Easer Bunya.... and then asks for candy.

ba'ketball

JT loooovvves basketball right now. His dada got him a hoop that we have in the house for now. But as you can see, he has a bit more to learn about good sportsmanship...

yes. deer.

A few Fridays ago when I was home part of the day, I noticed these two deer in our backyard.

I figured they were just passing through, so I yelled for JT to come quickly!

They ended up staying out there almost all day. They laid down and were comfortable as could be in our yard. Total craziness here in suburbia!

March 12

Another month, another 12 pictures on the 12 of the month! Looking at these layouts together makes me think "wow these days sure pass quickly." It's like a blur. I guess that's why it's worth taking the pictures - so you can look back and remember.

If you draw conclusions from this layout you will think that our mornings last half the day, my toddler has his own blackberry, and I don't water my plants until they are pretty much dead. And you'd be right about the plants. :-)

let your sham rock!

leprachaun09, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. We played outside all evening, except a short break to eat dinner. The weather was amazing. Looking forward to lots more days like this. Playing at the park gets to be old hat for us... but wow, are we lucky to have a park RIGHT HERE. JT loves it!

challenge #3

Happy Friday the 13th! Again!!

And now for the last of the challenge layouts from the all-weekend crop. Sunday's challenge page was to (1) use some of the paper we got as a gift at the crop, (2) embellish with a tag and eyelet or brad, and (3) cut a photo into a silhouette. The silhouette was my contribution... for which I'd like to send a shout out to my friend E who totally rocks the silhouettes!

I think I broke a lot of design rules on this page, but I was running low on sleep at this point. I think 2 photos is ok, but using 2 cupcakes was wrong. Feels like it should have been one or three. And the tag isn't worked into the page very well. But then I look at that drooly-faced, bald-headed, big-eyed baby and I don't care one bit about design. :)

challenge #2

The second challenge from the all-weekend crop was (1) to use paint in some way, (2) experiment with alcohol inks, and (3) to make an embellishment out of felt. The felt was my idea. I've been toting around a stack of it and never getting inspired enough to follow through on it. So, challenge it is...

I am quite pleased with my stitched owl. Of course, I predicted that John would say, "What does an owl have to do with these pictures?" Men. Owls are hip and trendy. Roll with it.

Today is the 12th! I am taking pictures all day today for 12-of-12. Hopefully a layout (probably digital) will be heading your way soon.

friends don't let friends...

At our all weekend Scrap Happy crop, we like to play games between the 3 of us. I mean, if you don't want to put yourself out there, you should just stay home to do your scrapbooking, right?! As the shirts say, "friends don't let friends crop alone."

Each day we each issued a challenge for one layout that day. That means one layout had to contain all three challenges for the day. Friday's challenges were (1) to use only paper from the scrap bin, (2) stamp an element for your page, and (3) hand-write your title... like old school scrappin' days!

Here is my take on the first challenge:

You should have seen the girls squirm when I stapled the sheep to the page... they may both need therapy after scrapping with me. Haha!

I've got 2 more challenges... but you'll have to wait another day to see more. Toodles...

20 months

JT turned 20 months old yesterday. Oi. He is such the little boy these days. At 20 months, JT...

• is talking up a storm: deer, apple, 'nana (banana), penya (penguin), TRUCK, car, buh (bus), boo (moo, for cow), barn, gong (gone), dardonne (dinosaur), tertut (triceratops). He also says octagon and ambulance... impressive, eh?
• runs everywhere, all the time. 'un! he says!
• loves to hide.
• is obsessed with books. He definitely has his favorites. Though we did recently adopt a Richard Scarry book about trucks and cars. A book with PAPER pages - a big step for him.
• has days where he eats constantly. Which means more growing... which means bigger clothes. I'm kinda looking forward to shorts weather in that respect!
• counts. "Un, two... pi (five)" I think he said "nine, ten" the other day. But I don't know where he got that high up... so maybe I misheard!
• knows that airplanes fly in the sky and the sky is blue.
• has conversations with his parents. One or two words from him... a few words from us... one or two more words from him... etc.
• likes to grab a toy to take upstairs when we go for a diaper change or bath.
• loves to splash in the tub. Really likes throwing the soap bottle from a distance for the biggest splash possible.
• rides his bike by scooting along with one foot or pushing the bike from behind. Not getting the pedals bit yet.
• watches Cars like a boy in a trance. He knows almost all the characters by name.
  
• points out all the cars, trucks, and buses on the road. Also points out flags and counts how many (see counting above).
• likes when I play pretend games where his toys eat his food or his dino-shaped chicken nuggets walk around. hehe.
• is now sporting big boy hair because Mama got tired of the rat's nest of long hair we were always dealing with.

I wish I could actually sum him up for you. He is such a joy to be around. I am loving the silly games, laughter and conversations these days. Just don't make me think about potty training...

holiday mini album

The last weekend in February was my annual get-away scrapbooking weekend with my sisters-in-law. That weekend always brings me joy, joy, joy. And completed projects!

I present, our holiday adventures. Weighing in at 5 by 7 inches, and about an inch and a half thick... sandwiched between delightfully see-through acrylic covers... tada!




Click the photo to see more of the album. I still need to add some journaling on the last pages, but wow, does it feel good to get a project out of my head and onto paper (and glue).

I love this little album. We had some great times and great pictures in December.

listen

Since we're a month and a half into 2009, I thought it would be a good time to post my resolution/one little word for the year. I didn't make any resolutions this year. I decided those could actually get in the way of my one little word, so it's just one word this year.

Listen.

Why? I feel like every year I try to take on more and more... do more and more... achieve more and more. This year I just want to pause and be present. The next 5, 10, 20 years are going to go so quickly and bring so much change. So for this one year I want to be still and LISTEN to my heart, to God, to my friends and family, and the wind in the trees.

I constantly waffle between feeling like I've "arrived" in my career and that it's exactly where I'm supposed to be... and feeling like I'm avoiding some other calling because there's too much risk. I'm not even sure what this "other calling" is. In this year, I'm going to work hard and do more listening than talking at work and see where it takes me.

In the past couple months, JT has started talking more. I have spent so much time trying to figure out what he's trying to say. I want to take this year to make a habit of listening to him. As he grows up, his patterns of communication will change. I want to be present enough in my relationship with him that I am able to hear what he's saying, however he communicates it.

socializing

JT is becoming more interested in playing with other kids. For now, it's really more like "near" other kids. So last weekend we subjected him to an entire weekend of play dates and social activities. May as well jump right in, eh?

On Saturday he had a play date with Reagan... his gal pal from WAY back. She used to help him out with binky patrol before he developed fine motor skills. hehe. As you can see, he had a great time.

Saturday night was a party where he got to play with Ally and Annabel. Again, more playing near other kids. Sunday morning he had a meltdown at the church nursery because they had the nerve to change the rooms around and disrupt his usual surroundings. He got through it and had an ok time playing with the other 12-24 month olds.

Sunday afternoon we went to Zane's birthday party. JT LOVED Zane's toys. He has cool trucks and ride-on things. He played near all the other little boys and had a great time. Sharing may be an issue... he had a LOT of possessiveness over the Cozy Coupe car.

So definitely... let me know if you want to schedule a play date for your kid to play near my kid. If you have a Cozy Coupe, even better. :-)

only a mother

About this time every morning, we partake of the breakfast ritual. I'm greeted by this face. I love this face. It makes me laugh every time I look at it. I'm laughing now.

You're probably thinking... run.away.now. Or... only a mother could love this child.

What do you think? Would it be less freaky if he didn't have red hair?! lol.

Yes, this is going in the "pics to show girlfriends" file. Heeheeeeee!

the 12th

February 12-of-12, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

Hello blog! Here's what we've been up to lately. Peace out...

recharging

I took today to recharge. The pace has just been exhausting lately.

Last Monday I picked up the lens I've waited a few Christmases and birthdays to get. I took it out for an adventure today. Not great photos, but I wanted to get a feel for taking pictures with a new lens. I hadn't realized just how comfortable I'd gotten with my 24-70 until I changed to the 70-200.

And just to certify what kind of woman I am... I also stopped today and exchanged the backpack camera case I got for the bigger, more expensive one that will also carry a laptop. I will pinch pennies over a handbag, but price is no object where the camera is concerned. I can't say I'm surprised at myself... I also wonder who buys jewelry anymore, because I sure don't. Let me think, tech gadgets or diamonds? Gadgets!

It was nice to spend a couple hours alone with my camera and sipping coffee while reading a book for nothing but pleasure. I don't often get to do that these days. Heck, I can't even eat a meal without numerous interruptions. (Which reminds me... I need to make a reservation for Valentine's day, because I am eating sushi with my husband and not being interrupted except for drink refills.)

For dinner, JT and I had Thai food with our buddies Carol and Mike. It was good to have time to chit-chat and catch up with one another. Once again, the pace of life has been keeping us from doing this.

And after some time by myself today, the best part of my day was hanging with JT. He fills my heart to capacity with joy and love.

pining for spring

pining for spring, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

In just a few words...

- I'd rather be editing photos, but I have testing to do tonight.
- I'd also rather be digi-scrapping.
- Winter retreat with the youth group was fun... can't wait to share pics and tell the story.
- Excited that Lost and Friday Night Lights are on this week.
- Spent time with JT on Monday... love that kid! He rocks my world.
- Facebook is fabulous.
- Can't wait to read Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. My reserved copy is available at the library now!
- Got a new camera lens... can't wait to try it outside the house.
- Looking forward to staying home this weekend and a few more to come.
- Loving the thick layer of snow on the ground. White is the new brown!

on the 12th

Because there isn't enough to do in my life, a new project! On the 12th of every month, I'll take pictures and scrapbook them. I'm following along folks on the 12 of 12 blog. I'm excited to have a year's worth of these. Later...

18 months

At 18 months, JT

- is somewhere between 18 months and 2T in clothing
- weighs about 27 lbs.
- hugs and kisses everyone goodnight
- says goodnight to Mama at least 3 times any given night
- still loves his yobaby yogurt
- says, "Mama?!" I ask, "Yes, JT?" He says, "Truck."
- knows a lot of words and animal sounds
- blows on his food when it's hot
- says "brrrr" when he's cold
- loves going bye-bye
- sings Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star... "up above," he sings
- dances like a cross between Night at the Roxbury and Barney
- asks for the "Elmo" podcast every evening
- loves the race car track toy the most of all the Christmas presents
- doesn't mind going outside even when it's cold
- isn't fond of wearing his mittens
- says "no, no, no" when you ask him what the Mama says
- pinches his belly with the toy pliers and says "OW!"
- has a bit of an issue with throwing food and utensils at mealtime
- captures our hearts more and more every day