It's About that time...

...when I start freaking out about leaving my babies for a few days to go on a trip with my husband...

It's right about now that I start worrying about tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, plane crashes, and allergic reactions to foods that I've never been introduced to before...

It's right about this time that I begin my to do list of writing letters, going over our will, checking with our friends and family to be sure they are still 10000% committed to my girlies should anything happen to us while we're gone...

It's also about this time that I start madly cleaning my house b/c I know that my inlaws and other friends and family will have full reign and I do NOT want them knowing what is REALLY in the back corner of my closets or the fact that I may or may not have cleaned behind the toilet in awhile...

In addition to all this, I start feeling pudgy...I feel this way regardless of the fact that I "treat" myself to ice water and salad instead of my Cadbury eggs that are piling up in the stores where I have willed myself to let them stay...but it may have something to do with the fact that my hubby can lose pounds by just "thinking" about a diet and only eating half of the Papa John pizza...again, whilst I eat my yogurt and granola...yum.

The good news, is that all this worry and fretting makes me incredibly tired by at least 11pm, and so I go to bed much earlier than ever before...which in turn means that I can awaken at an earlier hour without knockin' off anyone's (aka Italian Stallion) head in the morning for "showering too loud"!!! 

The large white snow flakes falling all afternoon convinced me that I'm ready for some sun however...so if I must invest in coverups, so be it...

by the way, anyone have some "fantastic reads" they'd like to share...I'm planning on taking at least half a suitcase of reading material...that's MY idea of vacation!!!

It's a good thing there wasn't any duck tape...

and YES, I am fully aware that it is ducT tape and not ducK tape, but you may well know that we, over here in the Italian household, don't bat an eye at using different sounds for different letters...i.e. Sweetpea (back in the day) always wanted "a yittle yick of the frosting" and Little Munchkin (currently calls her Grandma, Damma b/c aparantly, the G sound isn't to her liking)  So there you have it...

So, what's up with the ducK tape?  Yes, well, when you are confined to a small area (aka the car) for lengthy periods of time without another adult available...you TOO would dream of duck tape and the wonders thereof...

I can't say that I didn't "daydream" using some of the silvery wonder to put across many 'a face when whines and complaints came spewing forth...

After the craziness of doctor visits at the beginning of our spring break, and we became more settled into our week, I took the opportunity to head back "home" to visit the family up north...We spent a total of about 9-10 hours in the car over a 48 hour span of time...it wasn't the WORST of times, but it wasn't the BEST of times either:)

But, we're back now and school has started and we're back into the full swing of things...minus the fact that I managed to get a cold somewhere over the weekend and would be happy to just stay under warm blankets until spring would like to make an appearance!!! 

I suppose I could have called this post: Spring Break in pictures...but, what fun would that be if I couldn't lament about duck tape first? 

Here's what we did this week anyway:)

Started off with that crazy coughing spell and time with poor little Peanut

Next we decided to put it all behind us and get hair cuts...Sweetpea is such her mother's daughter and could not/would not cut her hair short...and yet, she soooo wanted the "look" of something new...bless her heart...she ended up with about 2 inches cut off (if that) and we just humored her to say that she looked so different and we could totally tell that she got it cut...Peanut, on the other hand...she got hers chopped...no inhibitions on that girl...uh uh, no way...

The majority of the week was spent up and down from the basement...down for my hubby and up for all of us (except when the girls wanted to "help") Which I am positive that my awesome Italian Stallion loved!

We're finishing off part of our basement...because 2 play rooms just ain't cuttin' it apparantly...NO...not really, well...kinda...At some point we will slowly start to pack up the main floor play room and turn it into who knows what, but hopefully this new space will be the new "growing up" rec room for our family...I'm watching my girls grow taller and though boys aren't necessarily on the radar...yikes...I know it's coming...just still trying to utilize our house to make the most of family time!

We did do a quick run to COSI and Spaghetti Warehouse ( Daddy's choice ) and the girls had some great play dates with friends that they don't often get a chance to play with...

Lastly, we headed up north and got to see all the cousins and I got to see my brother and sister and my other sister (whom I totally forgot to get pictured with..sorry Teen!)

please note that I tried, oooohhhhhhh I tried to fix myself up in this picture and it just wasn't cuttin' it...I gave up...and I'm just living with it...bushy eyebrows, no make up, flat hair and all...At least my brother feels "tall"...I still look like the OLDest...not so much fun I must say...

Currently, I'm battling a cold and am on the countdown to my 5 day getaway with Italian Stallion...I hope to have fashion options posted soon...but that would mean that I'd have to go out and SHOP and then SPEND MONEY..so we don't really know when that will actually take place...

Until then, I'm still trying to declutter, keep Peanut on the breathing/not coughing track, and attempting to keep up with new soccer schedules as they've now come into the line up...

Spring has GOT to get here soon!!!

oooooo I almost forgot...I did splurge with some extra CTPhoto moneys to get this little beauty:

Hopefully it will begin to replace my 50mm/1.8...since I still own the crop frame camera (because I really wanted the video feature that wasn't offered on the full frame D700) I needed a wide angle lens...the 50 is beautiful, but I still had to back up soooo far to get all 3 of my girlies in a picture..this baby does wonders!  I still have lots of control with aperture, etc...It was about $100 more than the 50mm...AND, it's out of stock everywhere...the camera stores love me here however and called me when they found ONE floatin' around in their storehouse...I RAN to the store and picked it up...MUCH FUN!

An Update, a Woe and a Thought....

I figured that after that last post, I'd better update at least a bit:)  Thanks for your patience!

Peanut is still coughing, although not as much as before.  The inhalers seem to be calming her inflamed breathing airways, but the source of the cough is still an unknown and quite viable.  We are heading back to the doctor's today to just see if we can get some more answers.  She broke my heart the other day saying, "Mommy, I get scared at school when I cough b/c I am scared that I won't be able to stop." 

It's mostly the nighttime that is causing the difficulty, but I know that she is tentative when playing during the day and mindful of anything that could cause a coughing spasm.  So, that's where we are...the chest x-rays were negative for anything (which is great!) but still leaves us with questions concerning everything else.

In other news, Itallian Stallion took the week off and has been working his tail off on house stuff.  He and I are still trying to "get in shape" for our trip coming up...and I must admit, passing up my delicious jelly beans that are calling to me in my candy dish on the hutch...well, it's about doing me in!  Not to mention that my favorite chocolate of all time: THE CADBURY EGG is out in large quantities at the store and beckon to me as I push my grocery cart in between the lettuce and avacados...

Ohhhh, they beckon...and I hear them...and I MUST look the other way...it is a sad, sad, sad day for me.  Woe, Woe, Woe...

Okay, I know it's pathetic...I'm addicted to the chocolately mass of goo and sugar!  If any faithful friends want to stock up for me and keep them at YOUR house, I'd be happy to come "visit" once we return from our trip...because at that point, the rubber tire around my middle is welcome back home in it's place around the top of my jeans if it means I can down some of that cadbury goodness!

I read a book last night (while counting the coughs of poor Peanut in the wee hours of the morning) and I must say that I was actually surprised at the ending.  Normally, you can figure out how a book is going to end within the first 3-4 chapters...especially if you tend to read the same genre and stick with similar authors (as yours truly happens to do)  However, this book,  Jane Austen ruined my life,  although there were some unrealistic aspects to the story, I found it interesting how the main character clung to her "hero" in her search to "know" Jane...how often I do this with characters in stories...I want to "live" how they live so that I can "feel" what they feel, to get lost in the story...I wonder, if I put that much thought and heart into reading The Book, if I would "live" and "feel" much that same of my Savior...hmmmm?

Anyhoo...looking forward to a good week with my hubby and girls...I'll keep you posted as I'm able...Have a good one!

Breathe In...Breathe Out

One nebulizer treatment, albuterol inhaler, flovent puffs and a chest x-ray tomorrow...and with that, the hope that they will figure out what is causing the breathing difficulty and the dag-gum coughing that WON'T EVER STOP!!!

Do you get the feeling that I'm a bit perturbed by the fact that my little Peanut has been coughing for about a month...and the fact that we dealt with this same issue right around Christmas time for the same amount of time?

I'm grateful...beyond thankful that we have somewhat outgrown the croupe...that awful barking that completely seemed to obstruct her airways causing me to dial 911 on occasion b/c I couldn't get her to take a full breath...

So the fact that we are just dealing with this rattling cough...well, as I said, I'm thankful...

at the same time...the awakenings in the night, the tired little girls in the morning, the tummy aches from hacking so much...all this has just had it's toll.

The doctors are baffled at the moment...is it asthma? is it allergy? is it reflux? is it sinus? we've tried every remedy it seems based on her symptoms and yet the "cure" doesn't work on that particular symptom and so we are dumbfounded and bewildered as to what to do next...

in the meantime, we're inhaling through air chambers and downing the Triaminic, adding vicks to our feet and sipping lots of water...

Adding to my "day"...(since I'm in this mood of "woe is me") Little Munchkin has decided that naps are a thing of the past...and though she can make it without a nap on occasion, she is QUITE the cranky and ornery and stubborn little thing when this happens...today was no exception.

I knew the doctor needed my full attention...so did Peanut, who is trying to "control" her cough in the office.  Little M doesn't see it that way and is determined to throw back her head and have a full on temper tantrum...now, had I NOT been in the presence of the doctor dealing with a boatload of information about mycoplasma walking pneumonia swabs and other words about which I have no comprehension, I would have been able to deal quite sternly and readily the issue at hand...

she's a smart one that Little Munch...when she sees an opportunity...she runs with it...and RUN she did...

Long story short, however...by the end of the conversation and Peanut is getting ready to exit the office with the doctor, Little Munchkin seized the moment to slam the door...the problem with this being that Peanut's fingers were within the door frame...

you know what happened next...

If you want to know what will bring a stubborn 3 year to her senses in a split second...have her cause pain and uncontrollable crying from her elder sister WHOM SHE ADORES...needless to say, I then had TWO little girls bawling in the office...

One in my arms, the other sniffling along with her bag of ice and my eldest bringing up the rear carrying the prescriptions and X-ray procedure papers...

All in a days work I tell ya...

I do have a picture from the office with Peanut and her breathing treatment, but at the moment I can't figure out how to get it off my phone...so you'll just have to trust me:) 

Thanks for listening!

Time Management Girl...to the...uh....rescue?

Italian Stallion and I have a joke around the house...

He likes to call me Time Management Girl and then sing a little jingle similar to "Toonces the driving cat" from SNL...

Basically, the idea is, if he calls me "Time Management Girl", it really means I have no such skill...

and truth be told...he's right...

This is an area that I have always struggled with...

In high school, I was the one up into the wee hours of the night studying b/c I figured I'd have enough time to study if my plan was to start studying by 7pm...which NEVER started until 10pm in reality...

As a teacher, I planned and planned and had FUN planning...only to always run out of time and pushing my schedule further out into the future in the hopes to accomplish all things "fun and teachable" before the end of the school year...

Fast forward into life as a wife, mom, photography, housekeeper, friend, sister, daughter and lover of reading...

Let's just say that I start out my day with GREAT expectations...

I awaken (always with the intent to get up with I.S. because, of course, I would have gone to bed before 1am right? that was my time management plan...but no...not happenin') and so I drag myself out of bed as the minutes slip by and I stumble downstairs to begin my workout...only to be distracted by lunches that need to be made, breakfast needing to be fixed, a shirt that suddenly needs to be ironed, shoes that can't be found, apple juice that needs to be poured and last minutes things that can't seem to be remembered the night before (again, I have NO IDEA where they get it)

And so, once the older two are out the door, I again look at the clock and realize that I am now an hour and a half OFF schedule...you'd THINK that the TIME MANAGEMENT GIRL would then formulate a plan in which to tackle those priority items and get herself moving...

yeah, well...no...

then I grab my coffee and do my "5 minute" email check, which often turns into 30 minutes and then I realize that I'm 2 hours off...

so I scramble through a workout, in which I remember laundry that was supposed to be put in and so I press the pause button and head to get the laundry...

on the way seeing dirty dishes left near the couch...so I go to pick them up and put them in the sink...

only to realize that the dishwasher needs to be emptied...and so I empty it and then fill it back up...

and see that the garbage can is full...so I pull out the bag and see that I could probably stuff more things into it...

so I go upstairs and start grabbing garbage cans to dump into the bag...only to spot dirty clothes left on the floor...

and then I remember that I originally needed to get the laundry going...so I drop the garbage bag and pick up the clothes...then to see that the bathroom has been left a mess with towels...

so I go to check all the other bathrooms to make sure that there aren't any other towels laying around...only to see mirrors filled with toothpaste spit (ahhh motherhood)

and so I go to grab the glass cleaner to wipe them down...I head back out to bring the towels to the laundry and trip over the garbage bag...which I pick up and head back downstairs getting into the kitchen to remember once again that I left the laundry upstairs...

by this time, my workout p90x has gone into complete sleep mode and I still haven't showered and storytime starts in 40 minutes...and I live 25 minutes away from the library...

I'm bringing out my old underroos...

And adding this super power cape to it...

Italian Stallion has now begun to tell me that whatever amount of time I "think" it's going to take me to accomplish something...just mulitply it by 5 and I should have a good "schedule" to follow...so if storytime actually starts at 11 and I have to leave by 10:30...I should actually be getting up by 5:00 am in order to get everything finished before heading out the door...

GREAT! 

drowing in my own distractions,

Mamarazzi

Booty!!!

So...

In the midst of sporadic photography opportunities, crazy crafting, cleaning house and eating jelly beans...I've been doing some other stuff...

You see...in order to not embarrass myself nor my husband (NOT that I actually worry about this concept very often, seeing as I tend to draw attention to my idiosyncricies regardless...and really, I don't tend to do much to "enhance" the beautification process of my being in general...) HOWEVER, upcoming special occasions behoove me to at least "consider" the potential of my outward appearance and "upkeep"...

That said...Italian Stallion and I have the opportunity to head south...somewhere...in just a short while...I don't really know where it's located and at this moment (for reasons you will comprehend momentarily) I am too whipped to get up and find it on my girls' globe in the playroom...


Ahhhhh, motivation...

However, it requires me to do this:

and run on this until my behind and legs basically feel like need to be removed from my body...

Don't get me wrong...I'm all for a healthy lifestyle and staying in shape...but, there is a difference between THAT and trying to "Look good"...after this trip, I"m opting for the "feeling good, but still eating my jelly beans and chocolate every once in awhile" RATHER THAN the "attempting to look good and squeezing into jeans when all you really have to do is just purchase the next size up"

Here's to burning calories and sore body parts!!!

"thppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppt"

I am NOT having a temper!!!

ahhhhhhhhh, the joys of parenthood...

No matter how many books or so-called "manuals" I read on parenting...there is no "guidebook" specifically for Sweetpea, Peanut and Little Munchkin...

as, I'm positive there are no guarantees for any other child on the face of the earth either...

I can only read The Book, love them, pray for guidance, expect great things and help them to achieve that heart which then melds into their behavior...

...however, it's moments with Little Munchkin that sometimes put me over the edge...

Her latest thing is whenever I have informed her that she will NOT be getting her own way...she stares at me dumbfounded for a moment as if she can't quite grasp that her queen-ship will not be receiving her request...in the next moment, she stomps her foot and replies,
"I am soooooooo mad at myself"

Which translates to ,"I am sooo incredibly mad at you Mommy that you will not let me have my way!"  Of course, in her little brain, being mad at "herself" is a way of showing emotion (which we allow to a point) but not necessarily getting in trouble for being disrespectful! 

When pointed out that she is stomping her foot with her hands on her hips that she is not allowed to have a temper, she replies quite pointedly, "I am NOT having a temper"...oh, you could've fooled me there sweetie!!

She just woke up (as I'm writing this at nearly midnight) with a bad dream..."Mommy, you were wearing a HAT! and you wouldn't take it off"  I reassured her that Mommy doesn't wear hats so there's really nothing to be nervous about.  Where she gets the trepidation about hats, I'm not sure, but nevertheless, it woke her from a dead sleep. 

Daddy came in as soon as he finished brushing his teeth to calm her down even more...to which she replied, "Daddy, what is that smell in my nose?  did you eat candy?"

I need to write down more of her sayings because I know that sooner or later they will be gone...until then though, we will laugh "behind her back of course" at them...

In other news...Peanut lost something...

The tooth fairy left her 10 dimes in a little sac under her pillow...apparantly dollar bills were difficult to "carry" this time around (that or perhaps the head hauncho fairy didn't have any on hand and had to dig around in the couch cushions and in the washing machine looking for coins)  At least, that's my "guess" as to what happened...

And Sweetpea...well, I love this girl to pieces, however I am discovering that she is more and more like me...and that my friends, isn't necessarily a "good" thing.  I'm having to forfeit over to Daddy on many 'an issue' that have come up lately...it's funny how the things that irritate you about others are sometimes the very things that YOU have in yourself!  I've been eating some major humble pie lately...it's none too tasty either...

those are my parenting woes at present...and if "that's" the worst of it...well, to be honest, I've got it pretty good right now...

I'll be posting soon over at CTPhotoMemories (this week sometime) about my 3 month old photo shoot...I got to cuddle a little baby and remember way back when tempers and loose teeth weren't even on the radar...

have a great week!

If you're stoppin' by...

You may have noticed that I changed things a bit...

I know...I'm a few weeks early for spring, but in my crazy state of "ignoring the obvious" (see yesterday's post) I decided to waste some more time and change things up a bit...

I think I will take this opportunity to share with you a few read aloud books that my girls have LOVED and I have LOVED reading to them...

I have a thing about books...I can't seem to get enough...I go through them like water, but at the same time, once I race through, I find myself going back to just savor a little bit more.  I'm not a huge non-fiction reader...although I have been reading a couple or 4 non-ficiton books lately, just to tide me over until our trip coming up in April...

And speaking of that trip...I have a book bag full of books that I want to take...it's a serious challenge b/c they are "due" back before we leave...so I am hoping to do the whole "renew" or reserve them on a different card scenario to make sure I have them...but, it's literally killing me to have them sitting in the corner of my music room and I won't let myself touch them...

hmmm..perhaps THAT'S the reason I can't seem to sit still...(again, read yesterday's post)

Okay...so here are some good reads for kids (I suppose girls in general...but what do you expect...we've got lots of estrogen around here!)

*Princess Academy:  We loved this book.  I read it myself first and couldn't put it down.  I remember starting it at 10pm and finishing around 2am...it has a very earthy, rugged voice to it...but this underlying hopefulness and in the end you just find yourself smiling...

* Clementine Series:  I completely laugh out loud with this little girl.  She's endearing, the parents are commited and accepting...I just love it to pieces!!! We've read all 4 books, and listend to them on CD at least 10 times each...they are ALWAYS on at our house.

*All of a Kind Family:  I wasn't sure about this one at first...it's an older book and it's about a Jewish family.  It touches on all sorts of traditions and foods and language that I'm unfamiliar with, and yet, it was wholesome and funloving.  My girls loved how the sisters were together and each one of them (even Little Munchkin) chose a sister that she identified with the most.

*The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: Okay, let me just say it right now...I cried in this book.  It reminded me a lot of the plot from Hitty, her first hundred years...but, at the same time, I completely got caught up in this book as well.  To watch this little rabbit's character just grow was sometimes heart-wrenching, but, sooo worth it in the end!

These are just our most recent reads...my girls are independently reading these books:

Sweetpea LOVES Boxcar Children...can't seem to get enough

I just reserved a bunch of these books from the library in hopes to get her into a different genre here for a little while: It's called the My America series...Sweetpea is not my die-hard reader, therefore books need to be "drunk" not chewed...I'm going to try the My America instead of Dear America...although, I've got a good Titanic Dear America one in my bag...so we'll see what she chooses...

Peanut likes Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series right now

but, she's also been back into the American Girl series with Molly and a few fairy books too...

Little Munchkin is still stuck on the Gruffalo (although, we had to take it back to the library today)

 she's also into anything princess related...so we've been diving into Julie Andrews books, disney princess books (of course) and Fancy Nancy..just to name a few:) 

And WHAT, you ask, am I reading???

Oh my...well, the books that I'm saving for our trip are big ones...especially for the plane...the first is Francine River's sequel to Her Daughter's Dream that I read last fall..

.

I unexpectedly found an author that I'm learning to enjoy...she does "semi-biographies" of past historical authors and such...I read this one a couple of weeks ago..and discovered that she wrote one about Jane Austen and Mozart's sister...

Other than that...I've been doing lots of blog reading and trying to sift my way through Ann Voskamp's book...her's is a difficult read and taking me some time to get through...

Anyway, just a little book sharing post today...enjoy your wednesday!

Someone stop me...it's not like I don't have laundry to do...

I"m seriously starting to question my grip on reality...or my sanity...or, well...let's just say I have NO time management skills whatsoever...

Maybe it's OCD or maybe it's ADD...and I don't mean to poke fun at those diagnosis one bit...

Because really...when the house is quiet and Little Munchkin is taking a nap...wouldn't you suppose that would be the most opportune time to get house cleaning completed or editing finished on the computer...or maybe work on getting dinner started or cleaning the bathroom...

Apparantly, my brain doesn't work that way...instead it says, "Holy cow, I've got this cool idea...let's go down to the basement and see if we have enough "materials" and let's do another PROJECT!!!" 

And then I end up with this:

It's called a Lens Pet...I found a scrunchie that my kids don't use anymore and then got out the button box and some felt from Little Munchkin's felt board...and    WaLa...this is what I got...

I sat here at my desk and sewed this little number up in about 30 minutes...well, that after I had tried to locate materials throughout my house...

People...it is apparant that I need help...somehow I must teach my mind how to focus and stay on task instead of going after every whim that enters my head...good grief!!!

So, now you KNOW what I'm thinking...I've got all sorts of other lens pet ideas in my head and trying to figure if I have enough buttons to last me....I guarantee you'll find me at Joanns tomorrow with a few coupons in hand...

Honey...come home soon...I need some distraction...or rather, someone to help me stay focused:) 

love,
Mamarazzi unleashed and running on adreneline...

YAY...the week got here...

I have that a little backwards...I know...

It wasn't that this weekend wasn't INCREDIBLE...it just turned into the NEVER-ENDING WEEKEND by Sunday night...

It started off with an awesome Worship retreat:  Faith, Footers and Foundation with our new Creative Arts pastor...and I soaked up his passion for Christ...I wrote notes as he shared his heart and then we headed into more of a vocal training session...all this after bacon & eggs and hangin' out with a bunch of creative/artsy people...and it was just a perfect start to the day...

Then...I got to teach at my Snap-shop for the afternoon...you can read about it here  But, it was just soo great to get back into the "classroom" type setting again...so much fun!

About 15 minutes after all the ladies left, I had to quickly reapply some make up and head out the door to church, it was my weekend to sing...I got to sing this song with the band...and I just love it...I could only find this utube video with the song included...

And then I woke up the next morning (Sunday) and had an awesome worship time with them all again for the remaining two services...

Italian Stallion had to get packed up as he's heading out this week...my eldest has school testing this week...Peanut is still workin' on losin' that 2nd front tooth...and Little Munchkin...

Well...I'll leave you with this today...

She told me, "Mommy, I not sleepy...I don't need a rest..."
I replied, "Alright sweetheart, go into the playroom and just have a quiet time and I'll come get you when quiet time is up..."

This is how I found her 20 minutes later:

Yep...this is me, savoring my moments once again!

the post in which i can't make up my mind and you get to read about it:)

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Life is full of them...everyday...seemingly every moment...

brown or black, jeans or sweats, brush your teeth or chew some gum, eat a hershey kiss or scarf down a snickers bar...(Yes, I make THESE types of decisions...please don't judge me based on my dental skills and abilities)

being "decision-making challenged"...I struggle...and I mean STRUGGLE with coming to conclusions about things...

oh sure, I THINK about them...I think and then TALK AND TALK AND TALK about them too...I can list for you pros and cons and more often than not, I can talk myself OUT of anything as well...

In the midst of my "Crafty February" which has now seeped into March, I have yet again come to another crossroads with regards to another "project"...

Now, let us not forget that I'm about to teach a Snap-shop/workshop this Saturday...I still have Cds to burn, a camera strap to make, name tags to print and treats to fix...I'd also like to finish that scarf I started and I probably should keep my CTPhotoMemories blog and facebook pages running...I have to edit the Cranel Longevity Awards Luncheon that I attended and I can't find my jewelry making stuff to fix a pair of my earrings...

And then BAM...another "idea" floats in my head and I'm running around in circles again...

I'm not good at compartmentalizing, and therefore I feel the urge to "get it out on paper a.k.a the computer" as soon as possible...

What is this "idea" you ask?

Yes, well...it was brought to my attention the ability to print, in book form, your personal blog...(this is where the crazy sets in)  You see, we're heading to Nevis (don't ask where it is, b/c I don't know...it's just somewhere VERY warm and I get to purchase some "pretty tops" to wear)...with this knowledge comes the fear that always presents itself with regards to me leaving my children behind for a few days...

THIS is where the whole idea of "printing out the blog" comes in...Now, I COULD just give my password and info to my "peep" and give her instructions that upon any untimely death (on my part) she should find all the necessary information in order to create these "keepsakes" for my children's well-being...

But, THEN...I get all excited about the whole Project life idea and Month at a Glance Family yearbooks...and if you don't know what that is all about, it's basically the whole take a picture a day concept and journal about it...but I can't do it everyday, so I do the "monthly" version....and with my love of photography, I love the idea of keeping up with my scrapbooks in a less time-consuming way. 

What to do?  Money doesn't grow on trees ya know...at least not in our yard and all these "projects" cost something...the incentive is that they have "sales" going on right now until March 9th...so if I "act now" I can take part in the discounts...

I just don't know which route to take...

There are numerous other things on my mind, that probably would have made MUCH better blog posting topics, but in this speck of a minute in this time that I call my life...I snipped out this topic to blog about...not my study of Isaiah, or my heart for my dear little girl in Honduras (whose name is Cindy btw and I'll have MORE about that in the days to come), or my nervousness about entering the "teaching" scene again this weekend...NOPE...

THIS dear friends is my quandry at the moment...

Well...that and whether I should eat the leftover cookie dough that is sitting in the fridge...hmmmmmm????