{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments over at SouleMama for all to find and see.

Fastest, cheapest dog or toddler toy ever!

It took me longer to make the tutorial for this than it took to make the actual toy! So gather some supplies & entertain someone smaller than you!
I originally made this tutorial not too long after Easter, but I was having problems with photos & Blogger, so I put it off. So maybe you don't have any easter basket celophane sitting around. You can buy this stuff, too, if need be. Other things that work: the rinsed out and dried bags from cereal boxes and chips. Go see what you can find.

(I apparently am still having difficulties with Blogger and photos. But since I'm not winning any blogging awards anyway, I guess done is better than perfect, and I present to you my humble work.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments over at SouleMama for all to find and see.

Heavy Artillery

I had a rough week. My 38th birthday, my 20 year high school reunion, and PMS all within 4 days of each other. It's been very emotional and otherworldly. I had this feeling of not being stable in time. I spent yesterday in a fog - I thought I might just be hungover. And I was, but not in the alcoholic sense.

My adorable husband bought me a Cannon Rebel T3 for my birthday. It was an extravagence, and on my wish list for years. I didn't use it for 24 hours because I couldn't quite believe it was mine. I let the girls have turns on it yesterday (shhh! don't tell Hubby!), because I like to see their perspective on things. I got a lot of pictures of the carpet, or me with undone hair and a double chin, but I got some beauties too. Like this one:

This one punched me in the stomach. This is me: going through life popping bubbles with a hammer. Doing the job, totally enthusiastically, but it's just too much. I work SO HARD at everything: raising my children, budgeting, volunteering at the school, teaching, organizing my little life. I end up exhausted and wondering why the heck things aren't working perfectly since I work so hard at it. Well, my friends, my choice of tool is the problem. Twin A here could've used a chopstick, or heck, her finger, to do the same job. She would have popped the same amount of bubbles, but with less exertion and less danger.

I get it. I'm putting down the hammer. I'm going to try to not work so hard. I'm figuring out when my fingers will work just as well. Here's to another day of handing the kids the camera. (Shhh! Don't tell Hubby.)

{this moment}

Practicing with my birthday present: a Cannon Rebel T3! Squeeeeee!

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments over at SouleMama for all to find and see.

Story Telling Blocks

aka. one long time wished for project completed - in 15 minutes!

I've wanted some of these story telling blocks for a long time now. There are some beautiful ones out there. But as you know by now, I'm cheap. Plus, I wanted to "do it myself." (gee, where do my kids get it from?) One evening a couple weeks ago, I was purusing OnePrettyThing while the kiddos were eating dinner & found Teach Besides Me's tutorial for making these things. What was best was that she listed all the phrases she used, so I didn't have to use any brain power trying to think of clever words. One of the things that has stopped me from making these in the past has been buying the blocks. I either forget when I'm at the craft store, or they are way more expensive than I thought they would be, so I planned to come back with a coupon. Looking at Karyn's blocks, they seemed to be smallish...just the size of the cubes inside the blocks that my kids happened to have spread all over the floor that very minute! So I grabbed nine and a sharpie. While my girlies were munching, I scribbled away. They were so interested, they couldn't wait for me to be done and take a picture. Since the blocks' creation, they've been played with by my children and several others we've had over. I'd say they're a hit AND something crossed off my "someday" list! Crafting win!

(P/S - I realize the photo is upside down. I have been having such difficulty with this shifting of photographs with Blogger lately. (Fine on my computer, upside-down or sideways on the blog...) It has been hampering my bloging actually. SO in the interest of having an imperfect post up vs. not ever getting any post up, no matter how perfect, I'm leaving this upside-down-yet-understandable photo up. Thank you for your understanding!)

Who got a makeover?

That's right, I did! The twins brought out their stash of nail polish, face powder, and lipstick and did their mom up last night. We were trying to keep cool, enjoying the evening temperatures outside when they pounced on me. I had on four layers of lip stick/gloss by the time they were done, the most prominent layer being bright, bright pink. (Sorry, no photo of that.) The best part, while my nails were drying, they took turns giving me a massage! Now THAT made my day! It was the most fun, least fighting, and most positive interaction I've had with them in many a day.

Happy Summer to You!