So this week has been busy and crazy!!! As you saw in my last post, I had a class scheduled for yesterday - the most adorable altered book ever!!! We took holiday Golden Books, unbound them, added scrapbook pages between the originals and bound it again - so darling. I'd been anxious to get the class example done - and found out my products for the class wouldn't arrive until the MONDAY before the SATURDAY class! Trauma! So my intention was to whip it together once the stuff arrived. It got here Monday and I started organizing it into the four story categories - so the papers would coordinate (Frosty the Snowman, The Night Before Christmas, The Poky Little Puppy's First Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) then when I got home - I was rushing to get the kid's dinner before our Scout leaders came over to introduce us to the Webelos Program. As I'm showing my masterful cooking skills, I pulled the boiling water off the stove and proceeded to pour it into a Cup-Noodles container held in my other hand - problem is - I used a pot I don't usually use - and the handle is shaped weird - therefore - the boiling water rushed down my left hand and for the rest of the night I went from hand in ice to crying when I took it out. I couldn't work on my book and I got so frustrated! I didn't go to bed until around 1:30 that morning because I just couldn't find a way to sleep with ice on my hand. I finally got a bag of frozen green beans and slept w/ my hand on a towel all night. By morning - surprisingly it wasn't as horrifically painful as the night before - but I still had to be careful. Well - I did get the book done and photos taken for examples - and my class started to really fill up. I was up late every night this week - because I also did a second example book - as well as prepping 27 kits of four varieties. Not an easy task. To top it off - I had a Silpada party and girls' night Friday evening. But on the morning of the class - I had 2o of the 27 spots filled and when I arrived at my store - exhausted at 9:30 am - I saw the most beautiful sunrise . . .

My class went fabulously - and by the time I left . . . I had just one full kit left and two books that had been taken out of kits sold to people who had their own books. Not bad - we'll see if those were sold after I left. Hope so.

Now - after that huge push to the finale - like when I'd go home after a semester at college - my body is shutting down. I'm so tired!!! I slept through not only Dan trying to wake me up this morning - but church as well. I fully woke up and got out of bed around 11:30 - so needed!

So this week I've had to re-tell my idiot story of how I happened to pour boiling water over my hand - and I tried to take a photo - but none of them showed enough discoloration to justify the sympathy I'm craving - so I scratched that. Instead I've talked a lot to Emery about her burn - some of you have shown interest in her healing and current status. Well - here she is . . . (you can click on the photo for a better look)

Beautiful as ever - with this huge scar across the entire top of her hand. For those who don't know - in the summer of '06 she and Harrison were goofing off on the treadmill and she slipped - landing behind the treadmill with her hand somehow crushed between the belt and the back of the treadmill. Without the quick ninja skills that he's now developed (sure!) - Harrison didn't turn it off right away and the belt continued to burn the entire top of her hand off. She had a horrific burn as well as fears of broken bones. Fortunately - the bones weren't shattered at all. But that started months of medicating, dressing and protecting her open wound. And lots of discussion on the decision for a skin graft - which we still feel isn't necessary. Sweet little girl - she doesn't think much of it - the thing she hates the most is when people ask what happened. She's just sick of explaining it - but the scar itself doesn't bother her. She was a sweetie when I got burned - and my pathetic injury is nothing compared to what that little girl went through at 5 years old.

So my skin started peeling off yesterday - and the pain is gone - just a slight sensitivity - and a desire never to make Cup-Noodles again!!!

What I've been working on

Altered Little Golden Book Class

Desktop Calendar Class

Been A While

So - I haven't had much down time to sit and write a thoughtful entry . . . and haven't had the energy to write a mindless one either. But right now - there are (7) 10 year old boys, one 8 year old girl, one 4 year old boy, and one 2 year old boy upstairs - playing in harmony - in celebration of Harrison's birthday - we're a few weeks late - remember I said I hadn't had much time lately - well . . . we kept forgetting to plan a party - so we finally nailed it down and here they all are. Surprising to this mom - it seems boys don't want planned party games or structured activities - they just wanna hang out and play. Also surprisingly - they are all doing well together. This doesn't happen very often. Even if you get the sweetest, best behaved group of 10 year olds together - this never happens. I'm waiting for the blow . . . and thought I'd throw in a blog update while I wait . . .

Here goes -

Harrison's now 10 - and a blogger - check out the link to his creativity - sometimes he totally amazes me!!!

Emery's as sweet as ever. Only thing is - I find traces of nail polish in odd places. Like on the underside of my bath rug - pretty sure it was on the other side during the covered up incident - and besides notes that she talks to much - she's doing great in school.

Jack and Aidan got horrible hair cuts today. I know I need practice, but man oh man - I let it get so shaggy until I break down and pull up the courage to do something about it. I need to do some trimming tonight.

Dan's fabulous. He cleaned our bathroom today. I have a mixture of feelings - first - I'm totally grateful and in awe and relieved . . . then I'm totally offended. Yep - wondering if he's just fed up with the layers of kid toys, soap scum and hair spray residue so that he can't stand it anymore. I try to suppress the latter feelings with the joy of a clean, non-sticky surface. I don't deserve this guy.

I saw New Moon last night and although I was much more impressed than the "after school special-esque" first installment, I was still totally not into Edward. He's just not the guy. Oh well - the effects were cool and the fight scenes were great.

So now that the party boys are playing "WARS" - I fear for my breakables and smaller children. I better go make sure all are in tact.

Coolest - Night - Ever!!!

Whoa - it's late, but I had to get on and share . . . tonight we went to the Lion King - took Harrison, Eme and Jack. It was amazing - beautiful - spectacular. After the show, we got to go back stage and see costumes, props, etc . . . a once in a lifetime opportunity. Jackson was in awe all night. On the way to the car he said he wanted to stay there. Had to explain that even the actors went to a hotel for the night - no one stays there to sleep. I'm sure he would have loved sleeping next to Pride Rock. In his words, "Mom, Pride Rock is awesome!" I'm sure standing next to it made an even bigger impression.

Very cool night!

Favorites Right Now

Aidan's "I wub you. too. mommy"
Edamame
Regarding Annie
Finished Projects - both for the store and home
My Calvin Klein Jeans - in an acceptable size even!
Taylor Swift - what a cutie!
New Moon Trailers - I'm giddy w/ excitement
TMZ - total guilty pleasure!!!

Potty Trained (at over 4 yrs old!)

Remember how frustrated I've been off and on for over a year and a half - with failure after failure of good-intentioned, patient beginnings to potty training Jack???

Well - he's done - potty trained - dry through the night - no messes done! I love it!

You know what it was? Just his own desire - that's it - something that cannot be coaxed out no matter how shiny the prize! The deal was . . . he'd get a BIG Lego set when he was potty trained - then a date w/ mom was added - then other incentives along the way - but all those things spurred nothing until he'd turned 4, decided he was a big boy, and his 2 yr old brother was asking to go potty consistently - and pooped in the potty w/ a HUGE celebratory mom dance! So Jack decided it was time. We put the incentives into place . . . he got a, um, ehem . . . pee ball every time he went pee and one taken away when he had an accident - colorful ping-pong balls - and when he filled up the jar, he'd get the Lego set and a date w/ mom. THEN - completely separate, when he went poops, he got to choose a little something out of the prize box. Worked well - but only AFTER he'd decided it was time to work on things. The jar was filling up for an entire week before any pooping occurred - but he finally was forced to face the fears - he'd been showering and when he emerged sans clothing - he needed to go - and since he didn't have anything to catch it . . . well, he got on the potty and realized it wasn't scary after all. No problems after that! So - after filling the jar - we went out and he got a HUGE Lego set and graciously allowed Aidan to join us for our date to Red Robin - we were then supposed to go to the Zoo to finish off our date, but he opted to get straight home and have me help him assemble instead of waste all that time at the zoo. So I'm a very happy mommy - I'm wagering that Aidan will be trained within 6 months - if not sooner. We're not doing anything to push it or refine it . . . just letting him go if he asks. The Lord knew I'd need an easy time of it after Jack - thank heaven!

Here we are at Red Robin!

Facebook Fears Confirmed!

As you can see . . . It's been QUITE a while since posting . . . my life's been busy, hectic, crazy, full and downright frenetic . . . so there were plenty of reasons I steered clear of those "you gotta join FB" comments coming from all sides of real life and cyberlife. So - all my fears have come to fruition - the far too many email notifications, the time commitment to learning the ropes and the pure OCD behaviors I exhibit when I want to do something well. So . . . jumping in has been hard for me - and still - not so sure about it - but I do LOVE seeing people I haven't seen for ages - decades even. Am I really THAT old? Yes . . . I am.

So - as I try to commit to my blog - and FB - and not forget my husband, kids and oh yeah, my business . . . don't laugh at me when I'm not thrilled about it.

It's a love/hate thing -

On a positive note . . . check out THIS site . . . I had my Blog published into a hard-bound book - a "journal" if you will - justifiable as following the Prophet's council, right . . . anyway - I love it - THIS will be my first entry in my next published Blog book - no wonder I took a Blog break - it was my subconscious saying I was done - complete - finished - after all, it was being published with a back cover . . . wasn't my intention, though . . . so I hope to get back to good blogging, I mean, journal writing!

Also - been working on getting all my negatives to disc and organizing my photos - thought these were cute!!!

1998 & 2008 - I'm still trying to convince him that I can be fun!