THE QUEEN OF QUIRK

it just...happened

Yesterday was a loooong day. The choir concert didn't start til 6 and the chubkins are usually in bed by 7, so it was kinda hectic at the end. They didn't get in bed til 9.

But Lara loved being "on the stage" as she's been calling it. We all filed into the auditorium and found our seats at the very back of the theater (seriously...3 rows in front of the guy that does the thing that runs the thing). When the kiddos came on stage, we started waving at Lara til she saw us and her face was PRICELESS. She was sooo excited to see us. Mia stood up on the seat and waved and waved. This is how many kids there were. Can you spot Lara?

Of course you can't. ;) I have no idea what my cam was doing, but this gives you some perspective on how far back we were. The performance was called "Our Colorful World"...I think. The kiddos sang Colors of the Wind, It's a Wonderful World, Purple People Eater, etc. Lara's class sang a song about oranges.

And I love this one...HA!

I have no idea what she was so scowly about, but I'm sure it was the fact that she was super tired and her patience was wearing thin. It was a sweet show and we had a good time. Since we got home so late, we just slapped some quesadillas together and rushed the kiddos off to bed. We all woke this morning feeling under the weather. Lara has a sore throat and cough, Mia still has her horrible hacking cough thing, Noodle is swollen and puffy and cranky. Needless to say, we skipped school today in order to try and rest up.

I, however, scrapped.

The coolio kits I bought from Kristina Contes arrived (along with a sweet note that absolved me of my stalker qualities at CHA. YESSS!). I ordered some photos from Shutterfly and as soon as those got here, I got to work. I made a mess, my hands are covered in glue and ink and they are sore, sore, sore. Holy beans, I've missed paper scrapping! I finished the top album and I assembled the bottom album. Still waiting on photos to slap in there.

You can grab KC's kits HERE. I seriously had so much fun.

While doin' all this scrapperiferoo, though, I realized my tools are a bit dated. Not "so last season" dated, but old dated. My poor little circle punch can barely cut through a sheet of Hambly. BARELY. And that's if I punch it over and over again about 20 times and then rotate the punch while it's clamped down. SICK. So, I bought a Crop-a-dile today. Since it's so nifty and handy and multi-functional and lime green, I think it will be a good addition to my stash.

So, that's been my day so far. Just scrappin' and drinkin' joe and enjoying the sunshine. I hope everyone's havin' a rockin' Tues.! Ciao, all.

no fear

Well, today at daycare, Noodle apparently had no issues. She waltzed right in there, plopped herself down at a table of toys and set to work. As much as I miss her during the day, it's so nice when she doesn't flip out about being there. I have to go pick her up in about an hour, so we'll see how she was the rest of the morning. Mia is home sick today with a wretched cough, and tonight we have Lara's choir festival thingy that she's singing in. Hopefully Mia will be better this evening. I secretly think she'll perk up when we tell her it's time to go to Sissy's show. :) Lara's pretty excited about being on the stage. The kiddos have been practicing for weeks and she's been jammin' out to her rainbow-flavored tunes for 2 months now. I'm sure we'll be able to sing along with the performance just like every other parent there! :)

ETA: According to the teacher, Norah had a wonderful time and played really well with all the other kiddos. As soon as I walked in the door and she recognized me, though, it was a different story! She saw me, screamed "MOMMY!!!" and by the time she had run across the hall (about 30 feet) to where I was standing, she was in tears. She was still smiling, though! I don't think she quite gets what we're trying to do. We'll see on Wednesday if she is as willing to part with me. She was clinging to me pretty tightly all the way home today...Wednesday should be interesting. :)

I also wanted to show off some layouts I've done for SMJ and paislee press.

This one is using Liz's yummy new Lark paper pack and the tab is from her Emporium kit. You can see the full credits HERE. I also used Meredith's Antique Font which I just love!

This one is using Shabby Miss Jenn's new Vintage Fairie Gardens collaboration kit with Dani Mogstad. So pretty! There is also a really cool brag book that you can get, too!

I also want to show off my new banner in my store at Oscraps...it's from some new stuff that I have coming out soon. :)

My old banner was all about my freebies....and well, since I don't do just freebies anymore, I thought it was about time for a change. :) I'm going to try and get some more work done while I can. Today's gonna be a pretty hectic day with one kiddo sick,2 kiddos to pickup at 2 different times, work to do, a concert to see and a baby to drop off at the babysitter's. :) I hope everyone is having a fabulous Monday!

And one last thing...

Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you!!

hello, sunday

Thanks so much for the sweet comments on Thursday! I think I was just shocked at how quiet my house is with ZERO kiddos in it. I went to the daycare at noon to drop off Noodle's lunch and she totally flipped out. She was due for her nap and just went bonkers when she saw me. So, I brought her home early. (I know!! I'm a wuss!!) But we had a lovely walk back home and then she passed out as soon as we got in the door. I think next week we may try half-days. She's just not ready to play all day without a nap. :) Friday was a pretty low key day. I cleaned pretty much all day so that our house would be picked up. I hate having a dirty house on the weekends...I start to feel guilty and then I get in cleaning mode and before you know it, the whole weekend has passed and we've done nothing fun! So, since the house was all clean, I made a roast and some brownies and we had a really nice dinner and then we had brownie bottom sundaes afterwards. :)

On Saturday, we wanted to get out of the house. Picking a place to go isn't easy, though. Most of the castles and fairs and good stuff won't start or open for another month or so, so we were limited to what we could do. Plus yesterday was dreary and windy and 40 degrees and we wanted to be indoors so we chose the National Space Center in Leicester. :) There's actually lots to do and see in Leicester. But yesterday, we chose to go the spacey route. (Next time we go, we'll be hitting downtown and then we'll take in the Jewry Wall and its museum.)

From the outside, it's not very impressive, but the displays inside were really cool and the kiddos liked it immediately. Also, if you make a donation to them, your day ticket turns into a season pass! How cool is that?!?! :)

Lara, sticking her arms through from behind the display she's standing in front of in the picture above ^

Noodle loved all the lights and displays

Very cool and interactive and thorough

My fave shot of the interior

Lara and Noodle playing with the Leicester bus GPS tracking system. Very neat.

Me, playing with the infrared camera in one of the displays.

Noodle, putting a puzzle together while we watched a video about voyages to Jupiter

The center is built around a rocket tower..this is from the second story, looking up.

Colin, checking out the engines, propellers and what-have-yous

So happy with this shot!

me and Mia

The tip top of the interior of the tower

From outside, after we were done visiting. When we first drove up, Noodle started yelling and going bonkers about this place. She screamed "MO BUBBOS!!!" which we're assuming is a Dora reference about "bubble bridge" in one of the episodes. SO CUTE.

Colin and his girlies

After we were done, we headed back home and did some grocery shopping and then came home, ate dinner and after the kiddos went to bed, we watched Braveheart. All in all, a very good Saturday.

Today is pretty laid back. Colin made us French Toast for breakfast and we've just been hanging out. I've been putting together my resume/CV and it's amazing how all those things you do in your life can seem so short when listed on a piece of paper. Though, it feels good to get this done. I've also been designing a bunch. A lot of new goodies will soon be released. I'm thinking of going the "grab bag" route again...you guys seemed to like that idea a lot LOL :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! I'm off to get some more work done. Ciao, all!

not today

Most days, there is the pitter patter of little fat feet.

Most days, a chubby baby yells at me from across the house for more milk.

Most days, someone is trying to get into the cereal boxes...and succeeds.

Most days, there is a mighty battle when nap time approaches.

Most days, there is a song or dance or some display of silliness.

Most days, there is a search for bear.

Most days, there is an owie or a boo boo to kiss.

Most days.

But not today. Today there is none of that because the Noodle has her first day of daycare and I am a sad, distracted mess of a mother.

The house is quiet.

sigh......... 

the black pit

I'm not sure what possessed me....insanity perhaps...to go through my huge box of photos today.

Back when I was a traditional paper scrapper, and back in the dark ages before I owned a digital camera, we used to print out all our photos so I could lovingly put them into scrapbooks. Since I started digi, these poor photos have gone by the wayside. Forgotten forever in a sea of neglect and dragged to the surface, every now and again, by the tides of my weak motivation.

So, I purchased a Memory Dock photo box and it arrived yesterday and today I thought it'd be fun to go through all my photos and get them neatly stacked away in cute little cubbies. Wrong, sister.

So very, very wrong. Although it is a total blast to go through all these moments in time and laugh and laugh and laugh....the sheer amount of photos is overwhelming. And I'm not sure if this box that supposedly holds a thousand photos is going to cut it. I gave up on trying to sort them by event and then by person. I just gave up and tried my best to put them in little piles by year alone. And even that was hard.

And, to top it all off, I have a hard time distinguishing between my baby girls. That's so sad!! Not so much with Norah...but with Lara and Mia, fugetaboutit! Not only do they look exactly the same, but even I look the same in a lot of the photos. So I have to rely on the background, the interior of the house we were shot in, my weight...it's pathetic!

And during the weekend, I failed to mention the really big upset.

Lades and Gentlemen, I blew up my sewing machine.

There. I said it. It sucks, but I did it. I plugged that American sewing machine straight into my British wall and it popped so loud I though I'd gotten hit by a truck. And then I did that graceful dance we all do when we &$*%# the pooch. I stomped around my house throwing benign, blunt-shaped objects (like pillows and blankies) and yelled at myself and called myself a thousand ugly things. The only good thing is that all you lovely, wonderful, amazing people who bought my grab bag have made my life just a little bit easier in the "I NEED TO PROFESSIONALLY REPAIR MY SEWING MACHINE AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT WILL COST ME" department. :) THANK YOU!!

And ya know...blowing up the sewing machine didn't really upset me too badly (although I do have things I want to finish, hence the blowing up part). The real clincher was when Photoshop decided it didn't want to work anymore. grrrrrrr...

So that's my Tuesday, in a nutshell. Now I've gotta figure out how much my sewing machine's gonna cost me. I need to figure out what the heck is up with my Photoshop. And then I have to clean up my floor because I have cornered myself and I can't get out. :)I sure hope your day is better than mine! :P

28 is really great! ;)

Just a bit of silliness. ^
Ok, I've handed out enough prizes, sent enough emails, and described enough products to last me a lifetime! :) Holy beans, my hands are tired! These are all the ladies who won something:

comment#9 barbara, comment#8 jenny, comment#35 geoi, comment#36 scrap evangel, comment#17 mandy r, comment#37 lacie, comment#49 laura, comment#31 michelle adams, comment#40 kim, comment#7 michelle b, comment#15 jana, comment#22 SMJ, comment#11 jenni, comment#38 chengie, comment#13 teresa, comment#43 gina, comment#3 sandy, comment#32 connie, comment#2 jaime, comment#14 lor, comment#23 kirsty b, comment#27 sara

I have emailed everyone and you have either received a GC, gift, or instructions on how to get it. Sorry the emails are not a personal as they usually are...I was in a rush. I didn't yell at you or anything, but I didn't ask about your grandma and her corns, either. Next time, though. Promise! ;)

Thank you all so much for playing along! I had a lot of fun and it was nice to get to "chat" with all of you! And thank you for all the birthday wishes!

Ok, so let's get to the weekend rundown:

Friday was busy, busy, busy as I dealt with the grab bag goodness and the outpouring of GC's from other designers and just trying to keep my ducks in a row. Hit the sack sorta early and got super jazzed about Saturday at the Portobello Market in London. Probably should have gotten more sleep than I did...but at the time I didn't know just how long and tiring that Saturday was going to be! :) You might wanna tinkle and grab a snack before you settle in for the day to read this gargantuan post.

We drove to the nearest "park and ride" so we wouldn't have to pay so much for the train. As soon as we were on the tube, I realized that this was the first time the girls had been on the tube. Commence clicking!! :)

Noodle was bored out of her mind:

We navigated our way to Portobello Road which is located in Notting Hill and made our way through the neighborhood to get to the market which was packed. And considering this thing is in the street, that's sayin' somethin'. Poor Noodle looked at everyone's knees all day. By the end of the day we hated the stroller.

I didn't get much...I wasn't planning on it, though. Browsing through junk and treasures is a pretty good way to pass the time, so I was pleased as punch just to be there. However, I did find some goodies for myself (and maybe a friend *wink*). I got antique copies of Emma, Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park, The Wind in the Willows, and A Midsummer-night's Dream. I am a true fiend when it comes to antique books. I like them just short of crumbling. :) After we browsed the antiques, we came to the foodies area and stopped to poke our nose in and see what we could find.

One man stopped in front of this big pan and said, "That's looks delicious." The cook replied, "Odelay. Stick around. It gets better." And then he winked. But how?!?! HOW could they get better?!?!

Across the street, we found a piggy. One of our family rules dictates that we must stop for any and all porcine-related paraphernalia and pay our respects.

SALUTE!!

I loved this tent. The olives looked absolutely amazing and the woman was too cute. And I loved all her ladles and buckets.

While I took this photo, Colin was at a baker's stall getting the most heavenly thing I have tasted in a long time. She appears shortly in her own portrait.

We shimmied on up the road and found this:

Then we took an excruciatingly long and maddening tube ride to Westminster. The Circle line was closed, so we had to circumnavigate. Got lost, didn't care, way too tired, went an extra stop just so we could sit for 5 more minutes. But we finally got there.

We unpacked the tarts that Colin bought at the market, and lo and behold. The Treacle Tart, Ladies and Gentlemen. If you have not tasted one of these, you are truly missing out. If you like honey and if you like tarts, this is the treat for you. It was baked by a genius at POPINA. I just ordered some and I can't wait til they get here. I am going to stalk the postman til they come.

Don't really know what's going on here, but Lara's face is priceless.

Just to orient yourself.

So we turned a 180 and walked past Big Ben and headed for Westminster.

Although there are lots of sights around Parliament, my favorite is St. Margaret's church. I could look at it all day. I don't know why I'm so enamored of it...it might be the blue dollop.

Yes. Yes, it's definitely the dollop.

We carried on towards Westminster. It was closed for the day, so we just admired the exterior.

Stopped to snap a sweet pic of Lara.

The first rest during a very long day.

Taken from the front of Westminster looking towards St. Margaret's and Big Ben. If you notice, Noodle has a shoe in her mouth. This was the general theme of her day. Unbuckling the shoe, throwing the shoe, chewing the shoe, hugging the shoe, taming the shrew....wait...

Had to take a peek at the Tudor dolls in the Abbey Shop window.

Stopped to snap a shot of Colin and Mia.

Stuck my camera through the gate to take this. Almost got arrested. Well, ok...I didn't almost get arrested. But I could have. That's the point.

Walked back past Big Ben and across Parliament bridge. Turned around to take this. This kinda sums up what most tourists see of London. Big Ben and a bunch of crap. I should know. I live here and this is all I've seen. That'll change, though, as soon as the weather gets nicer. LOTS of shows, museums, faires, and restaurants to visit.

Ok, so the sun was in my eyes. That's the only excuse I have for this sorry excuse for a birthday photo. I really was having a good time. I promise. I don't know what I was thinking about at this point...probably the fact that I gave my last bit of treacle tart to Noodle and I wanted it back... The kids look dang cute, though.

Talk about tooting your own horn. He even played "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", which is Noodle's favorite song. We got all excited and she couldn't have cared less. Classic.

The "reggae" singer in the tube station. He was singing "No Woman No Cry" and I use the term "singing" loosely. But he was jolly and peppy enough, so he got points for that. A large group of drunks was singing along with him just behind us, so that added to the parTAY flava.

It was a very, very long day. After the tube ride to our car (1 hour) and the car ride home (hour and a half), we decided there was no way we were going to cook dinner at home. But we weren't about to spend a thousand dollars on take-out because the dollar is so bleepin' weak right now, either. So, we decided to go to the bowling alley since they have good burgers and we can pay in pesos dollars. So, we're sitting down and I look over and Lara and Mia are holding huge rifles that go to an arcade game, we have given our baby Sprite because that was the most benign thing they had, and on the big screen we're watching a documentary about truck drivers....in a bowling alley. My pre-birthday day was now complete! :)

On Sunday, I got my wish and slept in for as long as I wanted. Colin made us lemon pancakes and we had a little lunch party later in the day. He made this cake. I was so excited, I almost cried! He worked his little fingers to the bone and did such a good job! :)

It was a happy cake, to be sure. I had an Egyptian themed birthday. I got The Ten Commandments and Cleopatra on DVD as well as an out of print book (Silent Images) I've been wanting for 4 years. I saw it at a Tutankhamen exhibition forever ago and haven't forgotten about it. And neither did Colin. :) So, we watched Charlton Heston part the Red Sea yesterday and hung out with the kids. The best birthday yet, I'd have to say.

whew!

Thank you so much for all the sweet and utterly uplifting comments! You all are amazing!

We ended up having a pretty awesome/laid-back weekend. Love those! I'm in the process of getting all the gift certificates straightened out and then I will do the drawing. I also have to edit the photos from London and I'm also advertising my revealed grab bag products. Lots of good things being juggled right now. As soon as it's all done, I'll have one heck of an update! Until then, I'll leave you with my grab bag pieces. They are on sale now at Oscraps!

You can purchase all of these new products HERE. K, gotta dash! Be back in a bit! :)