Friendly Competition

Yesterday, Husband and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary! Painting with a Twist was super fun AND we decided on Copeland's. We can take the kids to Outback sometime and still use the coupon ... we are not taking our kids to Copeland's. Good choice, Amanda, thanks for the push :)

So, we have TWO of the same paintings. My question to you, which do you prefer? Please leave a comment with your preference.

Three Pairs the First:Three Pears the Second:The place was very full - about 50 of us in all. Husband was the ONLY male. We plan on taking my in-laws there (and leaving their poor aunt to babysit, because you have to be 21 to go). I'd love to see my father-in-law painting.

We had a wonderful day. He bought me a beautiful pendant necklace with blue topaz and peridot stones (and cookies). We got family pictures (which were a bit of a disaster), but then we got the greasier most delicious burgers in the world for lunch.

Another Attempt @ a Crafting Blog

OK, so I am ::trying:: to actually maintain a crafting blog. Again.

I would really like to get on some design teams, so I can work with free stuff! Basically, stamp/craft companies "hire" you to be a "design team member" and "pay" you with their products - stamps, paper, tools, embellishments, etc. Companies want you to have and maintain a blog, so you can use their products and tell the world about them, so I really need to make the new craft blog a priority if I want this to happen!

Also, you know, if I'm discovered and acquire fame in the stamping/crafting world, then I could actually design stuff and make real money. That's not a goal I have written down, but, you know, I'm not going to turn it down should it arrive :)

So check out my new blog ... and tell you friends.

MelissaInk

Of course, I will still be updating What Today Looks Like with all my mamahood misadventures!

Also, congratulations to our old neighbors, A. & G. Baby Girl L. arrived on August 4 and looks simply adorable. Look for her birth announcement on MelissaInk within the next week or so. (Oh, and her name does have my stamp of approval ... something I know her mother and father took into serious consideration ... ha ha.)

Non-Sleeping Baby

Ugh, this baby will not sleep today. He screamed bloody murder on several occasions but is still wide awake. I thought his teeth were bothering him, so I offered him some teething tablets and Tylenol. He still screamed. I gave up and hauled the kids to the mall - Moose screamed anytime the strolled stopped. Geez, kid.

I bought some new shirts and shorts for the boys - more things that they can slide in and out of (if I have to button Bean's pants one more time ... seriously, if you cannot button and unbutton them yourself, then you have no business wearing them). Scored some good deals at The Children's Place and JCPenneys. Also picked out some new luggage. It's green (which was my top requirement, practicality was very secondary). Please note that Moose, despite being 11 months old today, maxes out most 24-month clothing. I found some footed PJs in 3T for him to move into next.

The dog is also driving me crazy. She is barking more often and it seems to have gotten higher pitched. I am ready to kill her.

I laid the baby down AGAIN. He is screaming AGAIN.

In wonderful news, however, I won some blog candy of my own. Last week, I won a free print from Bird's Red Bean Dream store. I picked out several more prints and have been on the lookout for some frames, but I haven't found the right ones just yet. She's a fellow Air Force spouse, something I learned after my big win :)

Also, in wonderful news, I won some Copic markers blog candy from Marianne at her I Like Markers blog. It's $80 of great Copic stuff for FREE! I am really looking forward to the glitter pins and multiliners. I'm not a very experienced Copic user, but I'd love to learn!

I can't believe my luck lately.

Now, as much as I love my print and Copics, I would gladly trade them for a happy, sleeping baby. I don't know what his problem is today!

Oh, and Happy Birthday, Nx :)

T.G.I.F. & Stuff

OK, so I did take some Earth Day pictures with the kids, but I haven't gotten around to downloading them.

On Wednesday, the kids and I headed to the Thrift Shop on base. We consigned some things there in March. Funny thing, I can't remember a single thing that was dropped off there ... but I did pick up $25! Currently, our garage is overflowing with stuff for a garage sale the first week in May. I'm sort of dreading all that work, but I am looking forward to reclaiming some the garage space. Hopefully, we'll also have some extra moolah to look forward to as well.

I've been lazy about encouraging Moose to self feed. At six months, I introduced Bean to the sippy cup and to a self feeder (it's a mesh bag with a handle, you can pop ice cubes and fruits and veggies in it and they gnaw on it). Moose occasionally sees the sippy cup, but he still doesn't have it figured out at all. I gave him the self feeder yesterday with an apple and today with an ice cube. He seems to enjoy it, but he seems to mostly enjoy banging it up against things and seeing what noises it makes. Bean was also receiving more solids at this age - Moose gets one or two jars a day ... most days.

Tonight, I'm stamping with a friend. I'm signed up for six swaps (and in some of those I have a two or more spots), so I have lots of crafting to do. Tonight I'm working on 4x6 recipe cards and two greeting cards. Lots of fun work ahead! Husband will be enjoying an evening with the kiddos.

Easter Fun

This morning Bean and I had a special project to work on. It's featured in this month's issue of All You. It looked easy enough, and we scored a big stash of jellybeans yesterday (2 for $1 at CVS, if you need to know).

Well, first we had to sort the "assorted" jelly beans by color:Bean did an excellent job of sorting the jellybeans by color. He was entertained and quiet for a good 15 minutes. He was perfectly content to sit there and sort them. He didn't even try to eat them, and he was quick to point out when one fell into the wrong container. Sorting is this kid's zen. Also, I should note that there were probably twice as many pink jellybeans as any other color. Poor orange had the least amount.

So, after the sort was done, we put them in the vase ... sorted by ROY G. BIV color, of course. We're first-born, it's in our nature:
Later in the morning, we made it to Walmart and got some flowers.
I set the vase on top of the egg plate. Bean says that it is beautiful.

*The egg plant is the ceramic project I glazed on Valentine's Day. I also did the eggs.

**Yes, I still have Valentine's Day placemats out. I really like them and they match my kitchen (which is black and white with red accents), so I plan on leaving them out till I get tired of them.

***I downloaded pictures from Bean's actual day of birth and our trip to Indiana, so I'll post those in the near future.

****Oh, and the stroller went together in minutes! Super-easy. We've tested it out twice now, and I like it. It strolls similar to my old one. I'm secretly hoping to still score a jogging stroller at a garage sale this summer. It would be nice to have both options - but I'm not going to push my luck by spending his money on another new stroller ;)