On some meds again...

sure hope I get to be on some meds again... (sung to the tune of On the Road again)

Before you completely discount and roll your eyes at my lack of humor...consider this:

Somehow I have contracted, yet again, some sort of "larengit-bronchit-cough varient-chest hurt-lose your voice so you sound like an 80 year old smoker, but a starbucks white chocolate mocha with a tad of cinnamon dolche makes it feeel a leeeeetle bit better-ITIS"

Don't know where I got it...girls are healthy...family was semi-stable in the health department over vacation...

who knows...I'm starting to wonder if my super "don't get sick powers" are wearing off...Dad always said it's a mind game and if you don't THINK you are sick, then you aren't...

However, I am starting to think that there might be some faulty reasoning in that conclusion:(

And so...there you have it...I do NOT feel like going to the doctor yet again for something that they'll deem, "well, you're sick and there's really nothing we can give you so just wait a couple weeks and come back if it doesn't go away" 

In other news...we "might" have found a breeder for a new pup come spring time.  Did I mention that we were looking into dogs?  I think we've settled on the Golden doodle or Labradoodle or some such DOODLE variety...

Mainly, because of a few things:  I don't want another purebred dog (just too many medical issues to deal with) I want a dog that has low to non-shedding tendencies (finding dog hair in diapers when Sweetpea was a baby was just a little too much for me, not to mention the constant vacuuming..and we all know my stellar housekeeping skills) However, we LOVE the Labrador/Golden retriever personality...that, "doy-dee-doy", happy go lucky, I want to follow you everywhere you go but if you throw a ball I'll go and get it and never stop loving you!" WaLa- DOODLE...

This breeder has been incredibly kind...she owns 8 dogs...the grandparents, parents and sibling dogs...We were supposed to get one of the pups borns last week, however, it was this dog's first litter and believe it or not, she only had 1 pup (it was already spoken for) And so, now we wait until spring...

In the meantime, I've stocked up on Ceasar Millan books and have begun reading them...cover to cover...hopefully by spring I'll be psyched up enough to think I could actually BE THE PACK LEADER!

I'm already looking forward to the weekend...basketball starts up for Peanut and I get to use my new lens to take some pictures of her in action:)  Hope you are healthy and settling in for the winter months ahead:)

Recap of 2011

I've been a little lax in writing lately...it's not for lack of "material"...rather, just my lack of memory skills in order to recall what I actually "wrote" in my head while I was driving or showering or while trying to pick stickers off the hard wood floor that my 4 year old thought looked "pretty".

I thought I'd do a little recap from the year...and end it with a video montage of the month of December:)  I hope you enjoy!!!

JANUARY

January began with a slam DUNK!  Little Munchkin got the whole potty training under control well before Mommy lost her marbles:)  Many "prizes" were had and we were on our way to a year filled with princess panties:)

FEBRUARY

February was a large travel month for Italian Stallion and thus began more travels than we had originally thought...it is always accompanied by many tears with the girlies and new found grey hairs found on yours truly...but, we managed...and not only managed, but excelled:)  Although, much encouragement was given by my awesome hubby...and in the month of Feb., the form of "you can do it" came in a bouquet of roses and reminder, once again, why I married such an incredible man!

MARCH

I have 2 pictures for March...one is a reminder that we still haven't finished what we started even though we PROMISED ourselves that we wouldn't do that to ourselves again...so much for new year's resolutions...our basement pretty much looks the same as it did when I took this picture only 3 month into the 2011 year.

Secondly, was our crazy medical scare with Peanut and all her breathing issues during cold season...after breathing treatments and x-rays and hospital visits galore...we are now convinced she has a type of cough-variant asthma that is triggered by any virus that attacks her bronchial tubes...basically, she gets a really bad cough and we now have a better understanding of how to control it:)



APRIL

Ahhhhhh April...thus came one of the most fun and relaxing trips Italian Stallion and I have ever managed to take...we were whisked off to Nevis somewhere in some islands down south...we danced, we drank, we sat pool side, we spa-ed, and walked the beach...it was wonderful...

MAY

May was our trip to Williamsburg...the moments where all the girls dressed up in "time-period" clothing and left Daddy out in the cold (not that I think he minded all that much, but we're going to pretend that he WISHED he had a pair of knickers and some nice, high, white socks...and a wig...with a ponytail...)

Anyway, it was also the month that we started to get some "fruits" from our garden...that lettuce was delicious...but, I should have realized then that it wasn't going to last...with the rain and colder weather and my lack of motivation to get out there and actually DO something in the dirt, ummm my busy summer schedule of sunbathing by the pool, yep, and that darn weather...well, it wasn't going to be a good crop season!

JUNE

June brought blueberry picking...pool membership (complete with tennis lessons from daddy) and...did I mention the pool? Although I don't have pictures from the pool...not until later...wanted to at least focus on the fact that my baby turned FOUR this month as well! 

JULY

We were able to re-engage our awesome dogsitting skills and watched another Yorkie again for a bit this summer...my girls fell in love once again (and yes, we will more than likely be getting a dog in the 2012 year...there I said it...)

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER

The Patio was finished and ready for Labor Day weekend...this long awaited project was finally completed and we thoroughly enjoyed it...until the cold fall settled in and we headed back indoors to that beautiful unfinished basement...ahhh projects:)

Oh...and school started too:)

OCTOBER

October was SUPER fun with halloween and just the fall weather...we love our neighborhood!

NOVEMBER

November had all kinds of fun stuff...Sweetpea turned double digits, Thanksgiving, a trip to Tennessee with my brother's family...it was an all around FUN month!

DECEMBER

Not to be outdone...in came December...with Advent activities galore and enough sweets to realize that I look nothing like what I ventured out to look like last summer...which is right in time for New Year's resolutions:) 

As I looked through my umpteen pictures from this year and reflect over the fun of CTPhotoMemories and the incredible people I've met and friends that I've made...I'm just in awe again of this beautiful life that I have been given...Thank you Jesus!

My last "photo" is just a little video montage of the entire month of December...I pray that 2012 is just as filled with laughter, happiness, lessons learned and family!

Look what's coming...

Okay...so if you remember a little while back I was all excited about our "lego" tradition and that "need for a buffer"...anyhoo...LOOK what is coming out in January:)  Not only will my girlies LOVE the whole "put it together" idea like they do with puzzles and the like...BUT, they have a PET shop...with little dogs...

The "lego people" are more polly pocket-ish rather than the normal Lego people...but, I'm okay with that:) 

Just thought I'd pass along the good news:) 

I have a black eye:(

So, in my rush to try to make donut snowmen and reindeer, create NorthPole cupcakes and Milano cookie treats...clean my house, make it to the Christmas Sing a long and school parties WITH all the treats...and then change little Munchkin into clean clothes because she managed to get frosting everywhere...

yes...well, in my rush...I FORGOT that I had put the metal chairs that normally sit at our island in the kitchen, into the laundry room.  I did this because the legs broke on one of them and it looked silly to just have one chair...and, I was in a hurry so I dragged them into the laundry room...

I forgot this as I stormed into the dark room and bent over quickly to check the washer to see if any of Little Munchkin's clothes might be ready to switch to the dryer before everyone got to the house...

It was at this time that my eye/head collided with the top, metal ball on the chair back. 

I think I've mentioned before that I have a fairly high tolerance for pain...however, in that moment, I immediately put one hand over my eye and crawled out of the room.  My head was throbbing so badly that to speak caused more pain...so I just calmly whispered to any one of my girls as I leaned up against the pantry door..."Um, Mommy is hurt...she needs help...now...I need help...please someone get me ice...it would be so appreciated."  I said this in such a monotone voice that I think they thought I was kidding...

I'm going to assume this since it took FOREVER for one of them to actually GET what I needed...apparantly, Wild Kratts trumps Mommy, even when she's down for the count...bummer for me!

I finally got that much needed ice and decided to forego the rest of the cleaning and just pass it off to Italian Stallion when he got home...I took my leave on the couch and prayed that my eyeball stayed in it's socket so that I could at least enjoy eating all the many treats I had prepared earlier that day. 

Needless to say (as I'm seeing cleary and am able to type a semi-coherent blog post) my eye is fine...the swelling has gone down and the normal skin-tone coloring has returned to most of the area surrounding my eye.  It is still painful to touch, so I skimped on any makeup today:)

I can't believe Christmas is on Sunday...(good thing I know photoshop:)  But even with my black eye and the burn on my wrist (that's  a whole other story too) I'm still enjoying all the preparations and festivities...hope you are too!

Pinterest...how I love thee:)

I know many people now that are addicted to this site...

not mine...rather...Pinterest...(good grief, I can't imagine anyone being "addicted" to MY site for heaven's sake...we're lucky if I get post up here once every 2 weeks or so...it would be a SAD addiction to say the least...but I'm getting off track...)

We celebrated the last school day of 2011 today...and with that comes school sing a longs...fun treats...goofy games and "teacher gifts"...

Seeing as I am often up WAYYY later than I should be, I tend to spend time looking for more ideas to keep me up even longer...it's a never-ending cycle...

A month or so, ago, I saw this idea and thought it would be fun...so I "Pinned" it and kept it in the forefront of my mind...so that when "today" came, I was ready to get started...

All you need is:
*a shadow box
*a piece of heavy paper (card stock, old Creative Memories scrapbook pages, etc)
*box of crayons (i got the box orf 48 just to be sure)
*glue (I used Elmer's stick glue)
*a sharp kitchen knife
*ribbon, if you want:)

Basically, I just traced the letter on my paper, lightly with pencil...Then I put glue down in about a quarter of the "O" and started laying crayons in there as I'd like to see them...I then drew, with pencil again, ON the crayon where I needed to cut off the excess.  I'd take once crayon off the glue at a time, cut off the ends, and then stick it back in place.  Just did that all the way around...

I put ribbon around the edges because the paper wouldn't fit to the edge and I wanted to cover it up. 

That's about it...it took about an hour (but that's because Peanut wanted to "HELP" me do it...and as you know, sometime the "helping" makes for a longer work time:)

But it turned out like this:

With Sweetpea's teacher, I figured with being a 4th grade teacher, she'd need something other than crayons...I thought about doing this same thing with pencils, but I'm thinking that a kitchen knife ain't gonna cut it (Pun Intended)

I've always loved Alphabet Photography, but have often been frustrated with my inability to "see letters in nature"..I try, but it just ain't happenin'...so, I tried to be creative...

After a couple cups of coffee, the idea hit me around midnight:)  I just started making letters out of school supplies...then I'd take pictures of them and spelled out Sweetpea's teacher's name...I used her little Mary Janes for the first letter just so she felt like it made it bit more personal...

I'm telling you...it's AMAZING what you can put together in photoshop:)
Here's what it looks like in the frame:

I stole lots of ideas from Pinterest for this last day of parties:)

So...all this to say...if you haven't discovered Pinterest yet...you might want to check it out...

Pippa I am NOT:(

Today, I am failing miserably...as I have recently endeavored to emmulate the fashion sense of Pippa Middleton...oh to be savvy and chic...

But, as I donned my oversized snowman earrings and snowman pin the size of the palm of my hand...gifts given from zealous students throughout the years...

Well...in the words of my 4 year old, "Mommy, you look amazing!"

So, I won't be gracing the front of People magazine, nor will I snag a whistle or jealous eyes from Kardashian lovers...

but today...my babies will think I'm the coolest ever!!!

What to do when you don't have a buffer...

Um...excuse me?  What in the world are you talking about with a post title like that?

Here's the way I see it...We are a household of girls...(minus daddy, but for this story/analogy/whatever you want to call it, he doesn't count...no offense sweetheart, but in order to count for this you have to be a child)

You see, we have drama...D.R.A.M.A. in our house...pretty much daily...oh, we've got the tears, the roller coaster of emotions, the "that's not fair" and then some more tears...

We've got the happy too...but, the tears are what get me...it's as if the world is coming to an end as we know it...because someone's hair is out of place...

Now, had we a boy in the mix...who may happen upon "drama" at certain times of growing up...there would be a point where you'd say to the young lad, "hey, mary, quit the crying!"  He'd probably look at you shocked, and then smirk and realize that he needs to get a grip...and in the midst of "sisters", he'd be the buffer...

You don't do this with girls...you don't DARE do this with my girls...it just makes things worse...

Well...as you can imagine all these hormones can have a toll on everyone...especially Daddy...

That's why we let him go grocery shopping at 8pm on weekdays every so often, while we try to get showered and in bed...

It's also why we've decided that amidst our princess dresses, dolls, polly pockets, calico critters, and all things pink and purple...we'd throw some "manly" legos into the bunch.

We bought our first lego set 2 years ago while in Chicago...it's a Christmas set (and since we have so many traditions already, why not throw another one in the pot)

Italian Stallion went out and purchased Christmas set #2 this afternoon and we got to work on it immediately...we had just finished the first set on Sunday...

It just goes to show you that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink...

Oh, Italian Stallion had the booklet of directions out...he was all into the sorting and the calculations of how things go together...what he failed to remember, was that he was working with daughters that were birthed from his wife...miss A.D.D. and high hormone levels herself:)

So while he diligently tried to keep us on track...

We sorta went off and did our own thing...oh sure, we had to take things apart a million times before we got it right (because we just tossed those directions aside)...we had fun...especially playing with the peoples:)

 Sweetpea and I made this one strictly by looking at the box:)  ha ha Daddy:)

 We make sure that we get "hair" for the people and then designate who is who...see me...the one with the camera???

Since we don't have a "brother" to be our buffer...we hope that by introducing things other than jewelry and stuffed animals, that maybe some of that...I don't know...LESS DRAMA will rub off...

So far, we've managed to create large messes on our family room floor and frustrate Daddy with our squealing and not following the directions:) 

He may not admit it though...there are moments...and it is quite fun!