about two weeks behind

went to my digital stash for a quick post-halloween layout. sometimes i play around with the pictures, digtal papers and fonts as a way to help with the paper version. on paper i might doodle the arrows in.

font:depressionist3 and journal, downloaded from the internet
paper:part of the robyn england "my roots" kit from scrapartist.com
pumpkin: oogeleyboogely kit, also from scrapartist.com
cool overlay: from a site named "tasty tattoos" that I just stumbled upon one night, {not sure if that's the full name. going to check it out again later.}

Found: Kiwi Spoons

Just had to post these two pics here...there is a story and an "I want to remember this" memory behind these that I am journaling in my head as I type this, but more on that later. Are these not the cutest spoons ever? The design is ultra cool modern, ergonomic, they are fun and easy to hold and frankly, I don't know why they don't make more spoons and other utensils like this.

:)

It Was Sunny, So I Left My Coat Home...

Just reflecting on the term "bad day".............

Like my cute/ugly/weird little green guy? {mcdonalds happy meal toy}

It was sitting on my desk today and I think his look just sums it up so far today.





Prior to today I thought the worst day ever was the time that I had to walk into my kid's school attendance office to drop-off and sign them in while in my jammies and with toothpaste still sticking to my zits from the night before. But today I laugh at that one.

Because it was way worse today, and yesterday didn't run all that smoothly either now that I'm sitting here looking at my "when printers go bad" prints.

What?????

{big sigh here}

So little girl brings home an assignment for a family tree project the first graders are doing....I was so sure I had all the pictures ready to go....set up a collage on the photo editing software. Ready for printing right ---- right up my scrapbooking alley, right?, sure, except its not supposed to look red!

Printer issues + me not being really techie = big frustration. We eventually had to cut up some already printed pics {but not the ones I would have choosen, ya know} Made it to school with one minute to spare before the bell rings. Whew.

Today we missed the bus again, however we were good with our time, we would have made it before the school bell, but then on the way out the door little girl slips down the front steps and really hurts her shin badly. At the same time I was shutting the door and she was falling I hear what sounds like a big crash coming from inside the house. My mirror and wall shelf from the entrance wall just collapse??? Just fell off the wall?? I'm like what the heck??? Deal with that later.

After about a half hour of calming her down and getting her to try going to school we walk into school [waaay late] but they get what happened and we agree to go ahead with the day I sign her in, go through security check point at main office. I leave, she waves bye bye. What a trooper. {I heart you sweet little lady}

Not one hour back home I get a call from the nurse's office. She needs to be picked up, her ankle is really hurting her. So I get me and the baby back in the car. If you have ever gone to pick up [or drop off] your kid at school nowadays you know that every in and out needs to be documented in the office. Our school now also has a camera and buzzer installed at the main entrance so they can see who is coming in the building and they have to unlock the door. Back in the building, Back to the nurses office, run after two year old who's screaming down the hallway. She is sitting in the nurses office smiling and with an ice pack on her ankle. I say I feel real bad, I thought she would be alright, nurse says don't feel bad, its okay.

Then I get "spoken to" about not signing in at the main office. {geesh, people didn't you just see me an hour ago and didn't you see little wild man make a run for it at the first hallway????] YOu called me to come here, remember??? See, this is where I start to loose it. Cause she is walking fine. Okay, a little limp, fine enough. So we head out, I have to stop at the main office to sign in / sign out again, on the way out she says "but mommy I'm missing the author read her book" she is about to be in tears, I can tell. Today was visiting author day -- It was author and illustrator, Suzanne Bloom -- they had a really fun morning planned she really wanted to stay and now this. We get to the sidewalk. I asked why she thought she needed to come home? She says it was because she couldn't sit with her legs folded and that she bumped her leg while she was in the class room. The teacher said she needed to go home. See, this to me did not really mean she needed to be sent home. It meant she should choose another sitting arrangement. But I guess teachers see it differently.

So I huff and puff my big annoyed self back to the van with a little boy who does not want to get in the car.....there's a struggle for the keys.....he wants to play "open car" I just want to get home. He pulls on the key rope I have, I pull him in the car determined not to let him win. {way to go mom} And now for the really bad part -- what coud make this trip worse?? was it the empty gas gauge? knowing I only had 6$ to work with?

No. It was this....I wish I took a picture of it....the key bent at a 90 degree angle. hmmm. I touch it with the hope and wish that it would just go back into shape. It snaps off. yea. NICE.

No extra key with me. No chance of fixing the now broken metal. Hubby at work -25 min away, with little flexibility in leaving to go save his flustered wife. It will be funny later when I think about it I'm sure. But as I was sitting in the car looking at the thing I was wondering .... if I just had me some duck tape and a paper clip and maybe knew how to start a car without the key I could get meself out of this mess. Where was my McGyver mojo?????

The irony here is that before leaving the house I thought "its so nice a day, no coat for me." hahaha. Had I brought my coat along -- the extra key was in that pocket.

I mean the rest was just downhill ---I went through my whole purse and car glove compartment looking for the extra key. Then I decide I just can keep the kids in the car in the school parking lot so.... back through the 13 levels of major security clearance. Ring buzzer. Look at camera. "Yes, can I help you?" "Um, yes, I um need to use the phone in the office." "Just a minute." Assistant principal comes to door. He has no idea what is happening so I tell him I just need to use the phone -- office lady sees me "You're still here?" I show her the key "oooooh" she says, then says "you need to sign in and out first" Wow. {i'm all over that list today} I guess If I have to make a positive comment I'm sure glad she does her job well. Because on the day something really whacky is going on I know she will have that sign in sheet!! You can tell she is puzzled so I fill her in a little more. I have to call my neighbor. And thank God, I mean really, really thankyou! she was able to come get us.

So here we are at home, without our car, and one seriously broken key.

That is one fine day huh? I know, I know, this is nothing compared to other awful, horrible things but I just had to vent. whew.

Now how to explain this all to hubby???? He is not going to believe it I swear.

bye now.....off to fix a shelf.

Coaxing Nature

I'm so behind in posting for halloween and those cute shots of the kids and other things that have been going on.
But that is all my own fault -- I get very distracted when I'm online. The blogs, oh all those creative blogs to read. The art sites. The inspirational and thought provoking sites. The "challenges" type of sites. Those I am going to have to do, I also just want to get in on one for the sole reason that they just seem like the perfect fun thing to do to help get out of the paper scrapbooking rut/hiatus. Doing the digital LOs is much easier. And so I think I am only going to allow mega-blog readin only once a week or maybe weekends when I have more time. The projects looming in my brain start knocking around again until I do something productive. But first.

~~~how I like to waste time, ahem, I mean "how to waste time productively 101"
Yesterday we had fun coaxing a squirrel onto our deck {science and nature time}
We photographed the squirrel. {more science blended with a photography lesson}
We went outside for fresh air {recess. phys ed.}
Came back in for lunch and got ready for an afternoon of running errands.

So that encompassed my w h o le morning. yawn. I know. The the little guy thought it was very fun.

I wasn't really sure the squirrel would come back for the second round of peanuts {of course he did} I noticed him hanging out on the deck ledge and then slowly making his way to the nuts.

I decided to grab the camera as he was just too cute and furry. I had to open the sliding glass door and the screen door to get a decent shot. For a moment I thought this might scare him off, but it didn't. I paused and waited and then he froze. Then for a split second I had a when animals attack visual. I thought, "what if this open door {so close to the nuts by the way} invites him in?? what if he attacks?" I decided to deal with the when nature goes bad moment if it happened.

It didn't. His main focus was the nuts. He briefly stared at me then went about his business.
Locate food.
Make sure location is secure. {just a lady with a shiney thing in her hand}
Hold food.
Sniff.
Run.
Dig hole for food.

Then I waited......and waited....and waited....he was so quick the first time that I only got a back shot of him. I waited some more for his return. Finally he trotted up the stairs again for more. Got that second shot. But again he was fast.

This episode reminded me of the movie Over the Hedge. Which the kids and us loved. Hammy is my favorite for sure.

Then, totally unrelated.....
I love how this one lonely leaf is just hanging on so I snapped that pic before the next big wind comes blowing in around Rochester.

Off to lunch with grandma.