Spot of Tea

The Evils of House Cleaning

So, house cleaning is one of my least favorite things to do.  It wasn't too bad when there was only me to clean up after.  Add a hubby who doesn't get that you can put things away or put them in the sink or in the trash rather than leave them sitting around the house.  Then add a 7 year old girl that changes her clothes every five minutes and follows her dad's lead.  Then the 4 year old boy that is such a boy adding dirt, mud, grime, cars, tools and such all over the house.  I spend most of my house cleaning time taking care of other people's messes before I can even get to the "cleaning" part of it.

I keep telling DH, DD and DS that I am not the maid, I am the mom.  They all think this is very funny.  Then they get upset when their stuff starts disappearing because I've told them repeatedly that I'm going to start throwing things away if I have to keep picking it up ... and then I actually do it.  I usually give the stuff to Good Will or Salvation Army but it is out of my house.  We are about ready for another round of this today.  Yikes, can't stand all the stuff that everyone has left about in the living room.  It is like a huge collecting spot for all the junk.  Time to get out boxes and bags and start packing it all up.

Thank goodness we are all starting to feel better, finally.  Doctor appointments now for "Wellness Check-up" can happen possibly before school now.  Just one more thing to do this week.  I'd like to go camping this weekend, even for just one night.  Need to have the house cleaned, all the laundry done and all the school stuff sorted and ready so that when we get back we are ready for school to start.  Gotta get a move on.  We'll see how much I can complete today.

Birthday Boy

DS turned the big 4 yesterday.  Wow, how did my baby get to be 4 years old so fast???  We didn't have a party, just a little dinner with ice cream cake.  He loves ice cream cake, who doesn't?  Now my DS is ready for preschool this year.  I can't believe that he is going to be off without me for half a day four days a week.  Seems like just yesterday that I was waddling around waiting to have him.  Now he's getting to be such a big boy.  Even got his hair cut on Friday and has lost most of the "toddler" look now.

My aunt was visiting from Las Vegas yesterday too.  We got to see her for a few hours.  The kids loved seeing her.  DH, DS, DD, my dad, my neice, my aunt, my uncle and I all visited my mom's grave site to put flowers on it.  Hard to believe that Mom has been gone an entire year.  I still have many days that it's hard to believe she is gone at all.  But I know that she is not suffering anymore with the MS and that does give me some comfort.

School shopping is almost complete.  Just need to finish the actual school supplies and shoes now.  I will have to get winter coats, boots and snow pants in a month or so but I've still got time for that.  Glad to have it done now since taking the kids shopping with me is not the funniest thing to do.  Especially since I am not all that fond of shopping to start with - the exception being scrap and/or craft supply shopping.  The kids are getting excited about going to school.  I am very excited for DD to be going back since her boredom and crabbiness is wearing me out.  I am seriously thinking that year round school would be so much better.

Friday Fun

Wow, it's already Friday night.  Where did the week go?  Tonight was "homemade chicken nugget" night.  The kids like these even better than mcD's which is pretty high praise indeed.  I think part of the fun is that they get to shake the chicken breast pieces in the bag of bread crumbs, italian herb mix, and shredded cheese.  We bake them in the oven and they are crunchy, tasty, cheaper and better for you than the fast food joint ones.  Add carrot sticks, chocolate milk and a few tater tots and we had a yummy dinner.

Worked on a few pages in my art journal this morning.  I found some chalk ink pads in my stash that I didn't know I had so, of course, I had to check them out.  Red and purple.  They blend ok, not as well as I had hoped but it'll still work.  I'm going to add some vintage paper and stamps maybe tomorrow.  Then I'm going to doodle and journal.  I'll probably upload them to the Cloth Paper Scissor gallery and show them off here too.  I did some fun work the other day on a page but forgot to take pictures of the entire process. Ugh.  It's my "brownie" page, including the recipe.  Love my brownies.

The kids are sooooo bored, especially since they are still on "take-it-easy-you-are-sick" mode.  DS was watching TV and making such cute faces.  This morning he was watching some program on Disney and making all these funny faces.  So cute.  When I came home from work this evening DH and DS had gotten their hair cut.  My two men, looking pretty good.  DD and I got hair cuts earlier this week too.  It was that type of a week.  I think I'm going to go shorter and edgier with the next cut.  Just a little.

I think I'm having a mid-life music crisis.  I enjoy all types of music - classical, pop, rock, R&B, 'alternative', punk, jazz, techno, whatever.  The older stuff is really appealing at the moment.  But so is the new stuff.  I just can't figure out what I am enjoying the most.  Genius on iTunes is a really fun feature and gives me some pretty interesting playlists.  Fun, fun, fun.

Returning to Normal

I've been out of it for a bit lately.  Sick kids.  Hubby sick.  I'm sick.  Taking care of a house full of sick people is exhausting.  I haven't been very creative, active or anything.  Still tired beyond belief but starting to feel better.  Last night DD only woke up once coughing and gagging.  DS was a couple of times.  I had to sleep sitting up on the loveseat for most of the night.  I think colds/viruses in the summer are so much worse than in the winter.  Add allergies to the mix and we've had a couple of rough weeks here.

I have been scribbling in my "Creativity Notebook" the last two weeks since I haven't had the time or energy to work on much of anything.  I have some ideas floating around that I am anxious to work on.  I follow this amazing photographer (Catcherofdreamz) on Twitter that has so many inspiring shots from Glam Nation Tour at Tower Theater.  There are a few that I really want to do some mixed media work with and the very talented Catcherofdreamz said she would be honored if I did.  I am always so tickled and thrilled to find such lovely and nice people out "there".  So now I have these purple and gold sparkly, shimmery decadent ideas in my head that I need to jump into.

Did accomplish a little bit this past week.  Car is running again.  Yeah!  So glad to be back on the road again.  Also got some school shopping done but not completed.  DD has most of the basics now - jeans, undies, socks, camis, and a few outfits.  DS got a few pairs of jeans and a couple of school shirts.  Now I just have to finish it all up.  I'll be doing most of it myself, except for the shoes.  Since I know what size is fitting and working at the moment for both of them and when I take the family we come home with a Wii.  Yeah, a Wii.  And here I kept saying I didn't want to have any video games at our house. Broke down when my computer started having issues after kids played games on it while I wasn't home.  Would rather have them playing on the Wii than on my computer and getting it all full of junk.  So we will see how that works out.  Think I'll enjoy the Dance Party game once we're all feeling better, should be great exercise.

Checking out some interesting music lately.  Loving Collective Soul's latest work (2009).  Now playing on my iPod, along with Adam Lambert, DepecheMode, U2, Journey, Poison, Kiss, Queen, Cher, Toby Keith, REM, The Wombats, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Veronicas, Keith Urban, Peter Paul & Mary, Violent Femmes, Kansas,  and some other "oldies".  Kinda freaky to hear songs from my high school days being played on the local OLDIES station.  But they are still great to listen to.

Summer Days

 Gorgeous day out yesterday.  Not too hot, breezy and beautiful.  Kids and I were outside most of the afternoon and early evening.  I had my camera with me which means I got a few good shots.  I was thinking that I need to get the kids in for "formal portraits" soon but I think a few of these might just work.

I love that the light in the afternoon and evening is starting to take on that golden glow of fall.  Gives such great light for taking photos.  I've got to get a batch of photos uploaded and ordered soon.  After going through a bunch from the last few days I'm itching to get scrapping and creating.  The kids are growing so fast that they seem to change right in front of my eyes.  DS is getting so tall and starting to thin out a bit.  DD can seem so sweet and lovely.  The next minute she has that "ugh, what" look on her face.  You know, 7 going on 15.

I've been playing with the settings on my camera too after doing some photography how-to reading.  The field of depth is always a trial and error thing with me but after reading and trying some of the tips I think I may have it.  Love the macro feature on my camera.  Hoping that one day I'll get the grown-up version of my Canon A520, one of the SLR's.  I still have more to learn with this camera yet so I'm not in any rush.

Sick Kids, Simple Goals and More Art

DD is still in the unwell category.  Took her to the docs and was not surprised to find she has a throat infection and has to be on an antibiotic and cough medicine.  Being sick in the summer is not very fun, for anyone.  The biggest issue is not getting any sleep because she is coughing all night.  She is certainly feeling better and her throat is looking better.  She wants to go play with her friends and in the pool but I have to tell her no.  Can't wait for this to be over.

 I have been working on my 4 Simple Goals (idea from A Beautiful Mess ).  I love that these goals are activity oriented rather than "goal" oriented.  Because of my first goal (Spend time actively having fun with the kids each day) we have added Daily Dancing to our evening ritual.  We pick some fun, funky and danceable music then make a 30 minute playlist.  Once it starts playing we jump, twirl, dance, strut, giggle, laugh and shout for the next 30 minutes.  So much fun.  The kids love it and so do I.  Wears them out a little bit, I get extra exercise and I'm meeting my goal.  Love it. 

I've been working on more art stuff too.  Some fun mini art pieces for the 100 Day Challenge at Cloth Paper Scissors.  This is really helping me get into an "artful" mood each day.  I also get to use up some supplies leftover from previous projects.  Also have another 5x7 canvas board that I'm working on, sunset and sunflowers.  It is inspired by a drive I took recently where the sky was an amazing, shimmering red above a field of sunflowers.  Gorgeous.  Hope this piece turns out as well as I picture in my mind.

4 Simple Goals

Love what Elsie Flannigan is doing over at her blog - A Beautiful Mess - with 4 simple goals.  Decided that it is a good opportunity to do a bit of focusing on what is important to me.  Here are my 4 simple goals.

1.  Spend time actively having fun with the kids each day.

2.  Do something special for my husband each day.

3.  Notice three things during my walk each day that I normally wouldn't.

4.  Hand-write a note or letter to a loved one once a week.

My reward for each of these goals is contained within the goal itself - having fun with the kids, a happy hubby, enjoying nature during my walk, connecting with loved ones who aren't near.  Yes, they are pretty simple goals.  Yes I do the activity some of the time but not daily (or write letters weekly).  But they are things that will make my life happier and richer.  Sometimes I get so caught up in what needs to get done that I forget to fully engage in the moment.  Or I don't take the time to reach out.  This all goes along with my "simplify" frame of mind so there it is.

Simplifying, Art / Craft / Paper Storage and School Supplies

It's that time of year again.  Seems I get this need to clear out the entire house just before school sets in.  Not sure why but it happens every year, even before I had kids.  I have found that this year is more about simplifying and finding a balance between want and need.  With two kids and all of their things and stuff the space is limited.  Since we are still working on the upstairs remodeling we've gone beyond limited to cramped in the extreme.  I am also trying to sort out stuff for a rummage/yard sale before the end of summer.  Ugh.  I am at the point where I'd like to pitch most things into a huge dumpster.  Makes me crazy that I can't find things when I need or want them.  And when did I ever need a juicer and a food processor plus a food processor that can be used as a juicer????  The stuff we have amassed is stunning.  Now some things I remember needing or wanting but when did we let it get this nuts.  My espresso machine used to be out on the counter and used all the time.  Then it was regulated to once or twice a week.  Finally it disappeared into storage in the utility room.  Yikes, and all the tea stuff that I love but don't use much anymore.  Time to simplify and get to the point that we have what we need and the things we really love.  Maybe then I'll be able to breath easier.

And mentioning things we need and things we really love ... I have soooo much scrapbooking paper, paints, embellishments, found items, ephemera, inks, stamps, etc.  Not as much as some people I know but more than enough for me and what can fit in my house at the moment.  I need better storage.  I would like a better place to work and keep my things.  It is difficult having my 'studio' -  if you can call it that - in our little galley kitchen.  I know that when the upstairs remodeling is completed I'll have a studio setup in one of the rooms up there.  But that is still a long way off.  So I am looking for good ideas on storing 12x12 paper, paint bottles, bunches of tiny to medium goodies I've collected, inks, stamps and a large array of scrapbooking and crafting tools.  Seems like I finally get things figured out then I get more things and I've run out of space again.  Someday I'll have a lovely, sunny room for my studio where I can create all day if I feel like it.  Sigh, but it is not today.

We have made a good dent in the school supply shopping list over the summer.  Only a few more items that are on the list from school.  I still have to do the bulk of school clothes shopping.  It's for both kids this year, for the first time.  Can not believe that my baby will be starting preschool in September.  Part of me is stunned that the years have flown so quickly.  Part of me is happy and looking forward to a few moments of time for myself.  And a very large part of me wonders how he and I will manage this new phase.  He has been all excited to be picking out school supplies and school clothes.  I think he is ready to go but I'm not sure if I am.  This is the first year that DD is concerned about going back to school.  She is usually bugging me about how long before school starts and is counting down the days.  Now that she has friends outside of school and the possibility of having a teacher she doesn't know she is asking what happens if she doesn't like school this year.  I'm hoping that it is just a phase and once school starts she'll be just as thrilled as she has always been.  Only time will tell how this upcoming school year will turn out.

Cameras, Mixed Media and the Evils of House Cleaning

My camera is on the fritz.  I either need to replace the poor thing or it just needs a new set of batteries.  I've been recharging the same sets of batteries for years.  I'm hoping that all I need to do is get a new set and the issues will be all better.  If not then I'll be on the market for my first SLR camera.  Probably a Canon Rebel.  We'll just have to wait and see.  You don't realize how much you use something until you don't have it to use.  DS has been having a good time with my tripod though.  He is playing photographer and getting "action" shots.  It has been a very interesting experience to watch DS play at directing these little photo shoots.  Most of them involve his bikes, cars and a few imaginary motorcycles.  My favorite so far has been the black & yellow Big Wheel falling off the porch in an "action moving" photos.  Maybe he'll be an amazing photographer one day.  He's very good at directing all of us - showing and telling all of us exactly what he wants.  Hard to believe that he's only going on 4 years old.

I've been working on some fun mixed media stuff recently.  The mini art for the 100 Day Challenge at Cloth Paper Scissor is giving me a chance to try new stuff in tiny form.  I've also been working on 5x7 canvas boards.  I've also started a couple of shadow boxes that I'm excited about.  Then I've also got a few new wooden plaques I'm looking to work on.  May even try some felting.  Keep reading about how fun and easy it is.  Could be something fun that I can do with the kiddos and use in my crafts.  Always fun new stuff to try.

 
I hate house cleaning.  But it must be done.  But why is it so awful and evil?  Most of the complaint is that it is endless.  I feel like I am cleaning the same spot over and over and over every few hours.  Which, considering I have a 3 year old and a 7 year in the hot summer time, I am actually doing.  Wet bathing suits, drippy popsicles, major staining Kool-aid, sand, bugs, dirt - all the wonders of summer.  And the bugs this year are sooooo bad.  Ants are every where and so are the spiders.  Two of the kids, and my, least favorite creepy crawlies.  I do need to steam clean the living room and strip the kitchen floor again.  Too much fun.

Cameras, Art and Summer Colds

Camera decided to have issues today.  Not really sure if it is the camera or that none of the batteries are any good.  Trying to take some photos of projects, the kids playing and some yummy looking veggies.  Blah.  I have been wanting a new SLR camera and trying to save up the money.  Don't have enough yet.  Hopefully it is just the batteries.  I'll try charging them again and maybe even purchase a new set.

I did get a chance to take a couple of photos of my latest mini art piece from the 100 Day Challenge at Cloth Paper Scissors that I'm participating in.  Not sure what I'm going to make or do with these 3x5 goodies but I'll figure something out.  I've also been playing with my Silhouette the last few days too.  Cut out a few items I can't wait to throw into a few mixed media projects.  Gates, windows, fences in a variety of colors and in different sizes.  Also cut some fun accents for a travel mini album class.  Too cute.  That class will be lots of fun.  Also gathered some mis-matched child tea set pieces.  I've got an idea for a cute shadow box / mixed media project with the tea set pieces, photos, fabric scraps and some other treasures.  More project ideas roaming around in my brain than I have time to do at the moment.

 

It has been sooooo hot the last few days.  I am not a heat / hot weather person but having a cold makes it worse.  DD has a runny nose, sore throat and minor coughing the last few days.  And I just got rid of my sore throat.  Thought it was allergies but since DD has the same thing it is probably a cold.  Maybe spend a bit more time outside and burn it out of us.  DS will probably get it next.  Yuck.  Hopefully the kids only get it for the two days like me.  Heard that there is also a stomach bug going around.  That we don't need to get.