Super Mom strikes again!

When we were eating dinner last night, Matt and I noticed that Porter wasn't really using his right arm, which is unusual for him. Also, he's been crabby since Thursday, when he was pushed off the couch by a certain 3-year-old sister of his. Plus, his right elbow was all bruised and funny looking... So, Porter and I got to make a field trip to the Urgent Care place last night.

Poor guy, he dislocated his elbow. He still managed to charm the entire staff, though.

At least I wasn't wearing my 'Super Mom' shirt this time, like I was when Betsy was nine months old and had to get stitches in her FACE. Although, Porter was wearing 'I Do All My Own Stunts' when he fell down on Thursday. I'm not convinced that that's when he hurt his elbow, because he was using his arm fine until Friday afternoon, but since he's a 1-year-old boy and his father's son, we may never know.

So, they took X-rays (his bones are cute) to rule out a fracture, and hooked Porter up with the World's Tiniest Sling, which is still a little big for him.He didn't want to use his arm last night, I guess because it still hurt, but he's actually doing a lot better today. We'll take him to his regular pediatrician on Monday or Tuesday to be sure, but I think he's going to be fine.

And you thought the $4 suede boots were a good deal.

Matt's parents went back to Utah today (sad face) so in the afternoon, I did a little shopping (happy face). I had seen Hobby Lobby's sale ad which said that ALL of their stickers, papers, and rub-ons for scrapbooking are 50% off this week. Hobby Lobby's prices are quite reasonable to begin with, so I definitely wanted to stock up.

They had some new patterned papers in from We R Memories Urban Window collection - I got some of the Diner papers - Hello gorgeous, where have you been all my life?! I've never used We R before - they seem to be big into the boho look, which I'm not huge on but like in small doses - but I really, really loved the bright colors on a white background. I also liked some of the Restoration prints, in soft muted greens and grays... will work nicely for a potential Hall of Fame layout... hmmm...

Anyway, all that patterned paper, plus a bunch of cardstock (I know, I know, I have a lot of cardstock already, but at twelve and a half cents a sheet, you woulda bought some too) and some of those 7Gypsies stickers... came to like 5 bucks. Have I mentioned that I love Hobby Lobby?

Then we headed around the corner to Old Navy, because I had some returns. I decided to kill some time by checking out the clearance sections... and HOLY COW did I hit the motherlode! They had just marked down a bunch of stuff to 97 cents each. Most of it was mini-skirts and tank tops, which I can't wear, but I found some good stuff. I found some capri pants - they are literally the cutest capri pants in the entire universe - so I bought 5 pairs, in 3 different colors and 2 different sizes. Because they were NINETY-SEVEN CENTS EACH.

I also got a couple of cute T-shirts; then I headed over to the register with my loot. Lo and behold, the girl at the register was in the process of marking down MORE stuff that she was about to put out, so I got a maternity (NO I AM NOT PREGNANT I AM JUST PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE) blouse and jacket for, you guessed it, 97 cents each. And saved the cashier from having to walk over to the rack to hang them up again. All in all, I bought 9 things, and spent a whopping total of $9.25 (yes, that includes the tax). When I got home, I added up all the tags and found out it was, like, $200 or something.

Am I a dork, to be so excited over a good sale? Probably. But I'm a well-dressed dork.

I'm also excited because there's a new episode of NCIS on tonight. Woo hoo!

Just playing catch-up...

It's been a really busy (but fun) week. My cardstock class went really well. I only had 2 out of the 3 ladies actually show up, but I really had fun teaching them. Both of the ladies were beginner scrapbookers, so I was able to share a lot of my 6 years' experience with them. (6 years??!! Holy cow, has it been that long?) I did get to watch the NCIS premiere on tape, and all I can say is, yay for Tony being in charge, and boo, hiss! to Gibbs' new pirate look.

Matt's parents flew in on Wednesday night, and boy, are their arms tired! Har. Matt and Wally spent the weekend working on the patio for our new house, and I spent the weekend cooking. I've made Moroccan chicken stew, risotto, pecan pie with real whipped cream (none of that Cool Wip nonsense), black bean soup, zucchini soup, biscuits, a cake, and an endless stream of zucchini bread. They brought several arm-sized zucchini from their garden, so I've been making and freezing little mini-loaves to feed the kids for breakfasts. I think I have somewhere between 10 and 15 in there now.

Our neighbor kindly let Matt and Wally borrow his tamper and his tile saw to work on the patio. We gave him some zucchini bread as thanks.

On Saturday, Connie and I hit up Half Price Goodwill Day. I got some sweet stuff, including an awesome pair of suede boots for four bucks. I was pretty happy about that. Saturday night, we went to the Relief Society broadcast (because next week is General Conference - man, it always sneaks up on ya, doesn't it?!) I love hearing the Prohpet speak to us and tell us how great we women are. It's a fun contrast to Priesthood session, where it seems like the men always get chastised. I like to tease Matt about that one.

I taught the Relief Society lessonon Sunday - my first time teaching in the new ward. Have I mentioned how much I hate it when I ask questions and people don't respond? I'm sure that they are just too shy, but I always end up feeling kind of silly. It always makes me think, I should do a better job of responding when someone else is teaching. Even if I don't have any super profound insight, it does beat the sound of crickets chirping, don't ya think?!

Yarr.

Apparently, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/4018055.htm
Who knew?!

Today is also the season premiere of NCIS.
http://www.cbs.com/innertube/player.php?vid=107918&cat=107484
Apparently it's the "Season of Secrets" or something. Ooh, dramatic. It's a good thing that CBS isn't at all known for creating misleading promos for this show.

And it's also ALSO the day that I am teaching a class at Scrapbook Corner. 'Crazy for Cardstock' this time: I'm trying to show how you can create awesome layouts using only cardstock and some adhesive and tools. Kind of fits in with my whole greater philosophy of use-it-or-lose-it, thrifty scrapping. I have THREE people signed up to take this class, which means that it will actually be worth my while to teach it. I'm pretty excited, and the VCR is all set up to tape NCIS.

It really was a nice day for a white wedding.

So, I've finally finished the pictures from Emily's wedding. (I know, I know, the wedding was over a month ago...) And we're back to Chatterbox. Now that I think about it, I used Chatterbox on almost every wedding page (and it was all CHA new releases). This was kind of the wrap up spread, with all the pictures from the reception and other leftovers. With all those photos, I still didn't have a lot of room for journaling. I think I'll just print off the relevant blog entries, instead, and slip it in a page protector.

I don't remember what Em was laughing at in the 'Human Chair' picture. It appears to have been something Mike was saying. Anyone? Anyone?

I just noticed I've been using a lot of brown backgrounds lately. In this case, at least, it's appropriate since they are the Browns.

I'm kinda bummed, though. I got a new Cutterpede trimmer - replacing the one I've had for 2 years, the ruler is really broken this time, I already fixed it once - and I seem to have gotten one of the ones that doesn't cut straight. I had heard that that happens sometimes. Now I'll have to go back to Hobby Lobby... oh darn.

It's cuitans for you, pally. Cuitans!

*said in best '30s-gangster voice*

So, this is Sewing Project #2: Operation Block the Intense Late-Afternoon Sun (And Stop the Neighbors Seeing In, I'm Sure They're Nice People and All, But Still). I got some sheer white material at JoAnn's for, like, $1.99 a yard, and cobbled these together. I'm not sure if I like the cafe rings at the top, or not - I'm thinking about sewing some little ribbon loops, instead. (Come to think of it, JoAnn's has those new American Crafts ribbons by the yard... stop! Bad scrapper! Stop!)

I still need to do the ones for the living room, although I think I'll try doing the top differently. They're not anything fancy, after all, but still it's nice to feel like I'm somewhat competent, after the Hammer Pants.

In other news... It's only one more week until the NCIS season premiere! Oh boy, I can't wait. Of course, I am scheduled to teach 'Crazy for Cardstock' at the Scrapbook Corner that very same night. Which only goes to show that I love scrapbooking the most! (Don't think I won't have the VCR all set up to record it, though.)

new addiction

I think I love American Crafts almost as much as Chatterbox.

You probably can't tell from the scan, but those rub-ons are silver. And they include a bunch of swirls and flourishes along with the letters.

Celebrate

Happy birthday Matt
Husband's thirty-two today
I let him sleep in.

Kids enjoyed the cake
Some genius gave them ice cream
Wasn't MY idea.

Presents were unwrapped
I gave him a preppy tie
and a white dress shirt.

Pants turned out okay
Matt thinks I think he's pudgy
They're a little loose.

Happy birthday, too,
to fabulous Luv2 girl
lovely BethieO.

Pride has a color. And it's PLAID.

So, I got my check from Primedia a while back. I was pretty excited, because I wasn't expecting to get it until October. I got $50 for my page, "I Feel Pretty," that will be in the Nov/Oct issue of Simple Scrapbooks.

So, I turned around and bought something I've been wanting for a really long time. I finally got a sewing machine! I got the Janome Sew Mini, which was on sale from Hancock Fabrics (with free shipping, even!) I got it last week, and it's adorable. It's a tiny little sewing machine that only does straight stitch and zigzag, which is just perfect for someone inept like me.

The weird thing is, the daughgetr of a woman who can make three bridesmaid dresses in one night, doesn't know how to sew at all. I mean, I've never sewed anything. Fortunately, I've watched my mom make enough prom dresses that I at least understood the basics. And my little machine is very user friendly. I think what always scared me off in the
past was using the foot pedal - I don't know, inretrospect, why that was so intimidating to me. But I also didn't learn how to drive until I was out of high school.

Anyway, Matt's birthday is on Sunday, and I really wanted to make him something. So I went over to JoAnn and got a few yards of plaid flannel. I already had a pattern for pajama pants, and that's what I made him. As you can see. And I am inordinately proud of myself.

Hopefully, Matt won't notice how crooked the seams are, or how I made no attempt whatsoever at matching the plaid. He doesn't have to know that a 2-hour pattern took me three days, or that the first time I did the outside leg seams, I messed them up and turned them into M.C. Hammer pants. (Can't touch this.) It will probably escape his scrutiny that I did a lousy job cutting the pieces out, so the edges are all choppy. Or that I didn't want to deal with making the drawstring out of flannel, so I just bought some twill tape instead. If he's a smart man, Matt won't point out that since they lack pockets and a button fly, these pants are actually inferior to the adequate number of pajama pants he already owns.



But I made something! I've never made anything before (not counting the kids). I think I'll be able to live off the pride of that for a long time.