Cards, cards, and one more card

This card is from the inspiration sheet for the "Eat Cake" set. It's so much cuter in person than this image or the one on the inspiration sheet. This is a great birthday stamp set. Although this card only used two colors, it's got several little details that make it adorable. There are the tempting turquoise stripes on the Happy Birthday strip. We stamped the confetti image all over the green galore cardstock in green galore ink. Those little touches add so much depth and texture to the card. I love the staples, but others don't. I think the card looks great with it, but it could easily be left off.

Card Creations

These are samples of the cards we created this weekend using a template. Each card has it's own unique feel, even though the same color cardstock was used for each card and the same basic layout principles were used. "Worm Wishes" turned the template sideways. "Winter Chill" moved the image from the right side of the card to the left, with sentiment on the bottom left corner. The cardstock was precut for the girls; they could choose whichever image they wanted to use for their card. These are samples that I created as inspiration for the stampin' girls.

Favorite Foto Monday

Need I say more?

Well, I'll say more just because she's so darn cute! I'm trying some new things w/ my camera, but to no avail. I'm not one to enjoy practice makes perfect, so I tend to give up and go w/ automatic settings on my camera. I'm pretty sure this picture was taken in automatic mode, but I did play around a lot today with some manual settings.

It was FREEZING here today, but I didn't realize how cold it was until M and I were both dressed and ready to go out. I was too stubborn to just stay in, so we went to a local church to swing for a few minutes. She loves her new glasses--more to play with than to wear, so I just let her goof off with them for a while. She enjoyed swinging. The slides were wet, so we'll attempt those on our next outing.

I had some great pictures of M feeding herself, but I want to begin choosing my favorite picture each week. I think this one takes the cake!

My stampin' girls made GREAT cards this weekend. I'm going to take pictures this week and post them so you can see what I do besides mother little M, and wash 7 loads of laundry in one day, and cook a wonderful dinner (I just had to put that in because I never cook!).

We had a fun weekend. H and I got last minute invitations to a symphony concert w/ some friends--ate someone else's wonderful cooking, listened to fantastic music, enjoyed an evening out. It felt like a real date! The three of us, plus little M's boyfriend, went to our friend's 2nd birthday party. It's always fun when our kids get with our friends' kids and chaos ensues. I loved watching M play with and around her other toddler friends. I really enjoyed visiting with my own friends.

I think that's all! Don't forget to check out http://picturethis.clubmom.com/ for other great pictures this week. Tracey has been doing an educational series on lenses, etc, for camera buffs. She's very informative. Take a moment to read her posts.

Baby M returns

Yes, we're having those moments of major push for independence. Yes, we're saying "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO" and pursing our lips together so that no one can force feed us anymore. Yes, we're throwing our cup down in protest when we don't get what we want.

But, tonight something magical happened. M was so tired (SOOOOO tired) and so grouchy. I decided to put her to bed 30 minutes early and possibly face the punishment in the morning. I put her pajamas on as she screamed and kicked her feet and wiggled around the changing table. As I held her, I reached into her crib for her special lovies and her paci. I decided I'd try to rock her for just a few special minutes before I put her down. (On a side note, she's NEVER been a rock-me-to-sleep kind of kid) We snuggled into her rocking chair and held each other for nearly half an hour. Ahhhhh, to feel her weight in my arms. To feel her gentle breath against my neck. To smell that sweet baby smell. To have my sweet, sweet baby back for a few minutes. I can't tell you the joy. I will always remember those moments tonight.

Then she cried and cried in her sleep. I KNEW something wasn't right (usually if she cries, she's sitting up and it gets loud and louder and LOUDER), so I went to check on her. She'd pooped in her sleep, so I had to get her up and change her. Wouldn't you know she peed while the diaper was off?! Then I had to turn the lights on, change her pajamas, change the changing table cover, and on and on and on. Luckily, she handled it well (maybe it was moment of rocking-reconnection that helped!) and let me hold her for a few more minutes before putting her back down.

I'm glad it's Friday and we get a few days together. We're taking it easy this weekend. All three of us need some rest. H was a true friend this morning. A friend of ours was super sick and needed H to take him to the ER. H left the house around 4:45. I single-parented the morning shift, which is no small feat--my hat's off to single parents! Luckily, thankfully, our friend is doing fine now. I'm glad H was able to take care of his buddy. H is so kind--he even made black cherry jello and took it to him during his lunch hour today. Trust me, to H, that's some serious special treatment.

Let me know what you're doing this weekend. How do your time with your families and friends?

And some other stuff...

I've had a few funny experiences at school the past few days. Because I'm not committed to sharing one aspect of my life with you, I'll share these stories.

I have several special needs students in my classroom. They are sweet, sweet boys who bring lots of challenges and rewards with them. One day this week, my class was "auditioning" for a play. Their assignment was to stand on a stage and state their name, age, teacher, and what they want to be when they grow up. The other teacher and I heard lots of funny things. After all, they are 7 and 8 years old. The time came for one of my ASD students to have a turn. He has a very quiet, deep voice, so he is difficult to hear when he's 6 inches from your face, much less in the middle of a stage in an auditorium. The other teacher asked him to speak up. Instead of speaking up, he just leaned forward (closer to the edge of the stage) and repeated his name, age, and teacher. When the other teacher asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, we had no problem hearing him say, "RICH!" I can't tell you how much I laughed!

PUBLIC NOTICE FOR PARENTS OF ALL 7 AND 8 YEAR OLDS! 7 and 8 year olds are notorious for repeating everything you say at home at the most inopportune times. Be careful little ears what you hear!!!
I had a parent in the room today. As I was monitoring the students as they worked on an assignment, one of my students said to me (in a not quiet voice mind you) "My momma said if I bring home another F she's gonna beat my ever-loving rear end!!" My response, laughing, was "Well, I guess you'd better work real hard on this test so you don't make a F!" Ah, the joys of being with 7 and 8 year olds all day.

There is great dialog over at: http://karianna.clubmom.com/karianna_spectrum/ if you're interested in reading about special needs (particularly ASD kids) kids and their parents. It's been very enlightening to me as a teacher to learn more about the struggles that the parents have at home and their concerns for their children. It has given me a new perspective when I deal with the parents and their kids in an educational setting.

Let me know you've stopped by. I'll be posting more soon.

Favorite fotos, part II

Even though M is only 15 months old, she's having a MAJOR independence streak. She says "NO!" and shakes her head. She wants to feed herself. As you can see, she's very talented at getting the food everywhere except in her mouth! I love the photo of M with the jewel in her mouth. The older children at the birthday party were enjoying ring pops (suckers on a ring), but we wouldn't let M have one. She didn't realize they had something different from her--she just plucked the ring off the top of the cupcake and sucked on it!

Check out a great blog for photo tips and tricks: http://picturethis.clubmom.com/

Favorite foto Monday

Well, she's a little sideways. I'm not savvy enough yet to figure out how to rotate her. On PSE, she's upright!

I have two or three favorite photos this week. I'm off to grab the others.

Jumping in feet first

Well, this is it. I'm in. I have a confession: I'm a lurker. I've been lurking for months now. But I'm ready to de-lurk and move out on my own.

I couldn't decide what to write about: wife? working mom? mother of a toddler? teacher? stamper? wanna-be-photographer? So, I've decided to write about it all. Whatever comes to mind or not. Whatever seems important in the moment.

One of the main reasons to create this is to link some of my favorite pictures of M to another blog that has a favorite foto each Monday. I want to be able to link my favorite pictures! I'm not sure how to do that, but never fear, I'm going to figure it out.

I'm off to attempt to upload some pictures. I'll be posting more soon.