Remember Today 12.30.10

{remember} how obsessed this guy is with how tall things are: is it taller than you, is it as tall as Daddy, is it 6000 feet, someday I'll be 6 foot 10 (sorry, honey, not with your genes).

Today he built a Lego tower taller than me (and ultimately taller than anyone we know), and was super proud of himself.

A {not so} Typical Summer Day

Perry is off for the next week, so we are soaking up family time like it's rays of sunshine.

freshly made apple cider donuts

a bowl full of fresh picked deliciousness

nature trail walk

I believe in serendipity

Sometimes it feels as though
all the planets align
in just the proper way
to allow our dreams
to take shape
and our hopes
to take flight.

Sometimes all it takes
is a touch of serendipity
to bring the right people
together
at the right time.

And it's all happening.
Right here.
Right now.

I can hardly wait.

My favorite song of the moment

and this video is even more amazing

the way i feel today

do you ever feel
so filled up
by the feeling of
possibility
that your heart feels
like it will burst open? 
and when it does
it will spill out all
your hopes and dreams
right onto the floor,
but before they hit the floor,
your dreams will sprout beautiful
butterfly wings and fly
into the sunset filled sky,
and as night falls
and the sky darkens
to reveal the stars,
your hopes and dreams,
the possibility
of your potential,
will dangle from delicate strings
strung on the glistening stars.

Do you ever feel this way?

This is how I am feeling today.

It. Feels. Wonderful.

I need...

• more hours in my day
• some chiffon or rayon fabric to make these:

• 
  
  to learn to draw
• black foam core board to make this:

• to design and sew an apron for myself
• this book

• 
  
  these tools

• 
  
  this lens

•  E6000 glue

What the . . . ??

I have a mini-album idea I want to jot down here so I won't forget. Gotta use this blog for something! The album will be called wHat ThE. . .??? and it will contain all the wacked-out things my youngest does. Here's a taste of the content:

The one that started it all:

After Logan gave Maddox his old "i-pod", Maddox thought the best way to really make it feel like his own was to *customize* it. Yup. With lots of red and orange paint. Tell me again why I keep these paints within his reach?!

And then there's this one:

Just days after getting his haircut, Maddox thought it wasn't quite to his liking. So, {snip-snip} he added his own signature style. I'm not even sure his dad has even noticed it yet, or maybe he's learned to just keep his mouth quiet about such things!

And then tonight:

and:

We go into the bathroom to brush teeth, and I can't see the toothbrushes anywhere. Gee, wonder why Maddox has that smirky grin on his face. Ahh, clever boy decided we didn't need the old traditional toothbrush holder anymore.

I'm sure there will be plenty more content for my little album, and I'll add it here as it comes in!

today i...

1. made a fabric covered journal
2. made flowers out of dryer sheets
3. made a new art journal out of boxes from our recycle bin (think crackers, waffles, cereal, etc.)
4. made a mini journal from a kleenex box
5. made sculpey clay animals with the boys
6. nearly finished a layout with MLS product
7. started a layout that uses a bandana as its background
8. started an art journal page

all in all a very productive day.  just wanted to make a note of it.

i'm in production mode, and want to savor every bit of it.
i know it won't last.
not being pessimistic,
just realistic.
it's just how it goes...

oh, and i threw an UNO's deep dish pizza in the oven and called it dinner!

Time flies (and a touch of creative ADD)

photo credit: dictybloke @ flickr

Has it seriously been over a month since my last post here?  Shameful. Really.  It's not because I have nothing to say.  It's not because I've been too lazy (ok, maybe just a little), but I've been busy: crocheting, scrapbooking, cleaning and organizing, schlepping the kiddos around, testing (this one's top secret, sorry), and just doing the general living thing.  And time is not my friend lately.  It's too easy to get lost in a sea of blogs bouncing around from one to the next, or surfing for songs at Playlist (check out all the new tunes I've added to mine--lots of new-loved artists!), or researching html gobbledy-gook to make my blog look better, or adding some layouts to the CK gallery (that's how I spent the better part of tonight).  It's all too easy, and then I look up at the clock to find that it's nearly midnight, or it's already time to fetch Maddox from school.  Yes, time is not my friend lately.  There's simply too much to do and not enough time to do it all in.

And as if that wasn't enough, I can't seem to focus on any one project.  I want to do it all--mobiles, flowers, embroidery, sewing, scrapbooking, photo organizing, blogging, designing, cardmaking, crocheting, banners.  All of it.  And often I find myself flitting from one thing to the next and really accomplishing absolutely nothing at all.  Not to mention the utter disarray of my stUdio.  A fabric drawer partially dumped on the floor--an organizing session derailed.  A slew of projects and scraps strewn across my work surface.  A rug littered with pens, papers, thread, and itty bitty bits of paper.  Yup, I am an utter and complete mess.

Someday I'll get back on top of things.  Someday.  But for now, I'll just sit here at my computer, listening to my tunes, and dreaming about what I want to be when I grow up (that's a post for another day!). 

Here's a line from a Jason Mraz song that I really like: What a beautiful mess this is, It's like picking up trash in dresses.  And I'll just leave you with that.

100 Things I Love

Some blogging friends have created lists of 100 comforts. They have inspired me to do the same, so in honor of Valentine's Day, here are 100 things I love (in no particular order):

1. hugs from Perry just when I need them most
2. smiles on my kiddos faces
3. walks along the beach in Maine
4. the Marginal Way in Ogunquit
5. hot honey vanilla chamomile tea with two vanilla creamers
6. ice cold Newman's Own lemonade
7. climbing into bed after a long and exhausting day
8. the sound of the dishwasher running on a rainy day
9. a clean house
10. eating a dinner that I didn't have to cook
11. lots of time to create
12. reading a good book for long stretches at a time
13. sleeping late b/c Perry got up with the boys
14. the smell of rain in springtime
15. the smell of sunscreened kiddos in summer
16. the smell of fallen leaves in autumn
17. the smell of burning wood coming from a chimney in winter
18. Jelly Belly jelly beans
19. any candy, really
20. free time to spend however I want (usually creating)
21. overhearing the conversations my boys' have when they're being kind to one another
22. creative sparks of energy
23. time to play
24. Maddox's drawings
25. watching Camden play hockey
26. listening to Logan play his guitar
27. sunflowers
28. my boys' excitement over holidays and birthdays
29. love notes
30. my camera
31. a smile from a stranger
32. pilates
33. girlfriends
34. color
35. a brand new calendar
36. the smell of a new born baby
37. the sounds from a new born baby
38. yarn
39. long phone conversations about nothing
40. my sewing machine
41. rainbow order
42. a snowy day with no where to go
43. new crafting supplies
44. anything homemade
45. blogging and reading blogs
46. listening to good music
47. a fully stocked pantry with lots of meal options
48. feeling connected
49. remembering
50. that deep down happy feeling
51. photographs
52. my laptop
53. footy pajamas
54. slippers
55. pajama days
56. snuggly morning wake ups
57. pretty fabric
58. belly laughs from the boys
59. laughing until I cry
60. t-shirts and blue jeans
61. seeing Perry in a t-shirt and blue jeans
62. singing along with the car radio
63. making lists
64. lots of checkmarks on my list
65. organizing
66. hearing my cat purring in her sleep
67. filling the house with fresh air after a long New England winter
68. turquoise and lime
69. the view out my stUdio window
70. movies that make me cry
71. scrapbooking
72. crocheting
73. knitting
74. waking up happy
75. dinner out with Perry
76. Target
77. nice people
78. making all the green lights
79. monkeys
80. owls
81. watching the boys sleep
82. my stUdio
83. the warm sun on my face
84. museums
85. a visit to the city
86. airplane flying
87. being alone
88. getting a new magazine in the mail
89. feeling inspired to create
90. getting comments on my blogs
91. a long soak in a hot bath
92. anything lemon flavored
93. my ATG tape gun
94. pens with blue ink
95. chocolate in the house when I'm pms-ing
96. things of old
97. changing seasons
98. traditions
99. freshly painted nails
100. blankets

Well, there it is 100 things I love (could also be termed 100 things that make me happy). I'm thinking this should be done every year. I last wrote such a list about 6 years ago when my middle was just a baby. Of course, I can't find it now.

Check out my sister's list, and my friends' ones here and here. So what's on your list?

Snapshot Saturday 2.13.10

He:

• got his 4th perfect spelling test in a row
• has a penpal in CT
• "works out" in the basement flipping himself upside down on the exercise bar and running on the treadmill
• takes a llllooooooooooonnnggg time to do his homework
• plays songs by ear on his guitar
• still asks me to pick him up once in a while

He:

• ran 3 miles on the treadmill
• is getting sad that hockey is almost over
• scores a goal (or 2) in hockey nearly every week
• gives me a run for my money
• loves his Daddy dearly
• loves to "tustle" (basically wrestling his brothers to the floor)

He:

• draws amazing people and inspires me to draw more
• calls me boss (you bet, boss), and Miss Michelle (ok, Miss Michelle) when I ask him to do something
• has the naughtiest mouth: stupid, idiot, freaking
• kisses me lots & pats my back when he hugs me
• prefers to draw over playing video games (bless his heart!)
• crawls into the kitchen cupboard to draw and calls it his office, sending mail through the sponge holder

And just like that, a new purpose is born

During the first year of each of my boys' lives, I took a monthly photograph of them with their teddy bear in the rocking chair in their bedrooms. I paired these pictures with the goings-on in their little lives and the milestones from that month, and created scrapbook pages of their first years. I love the snapshot these pages gave into their lives, and can now remember many of the pieces of their babyhoods because of it.

The other day I got to thinking about how I have lost touch with this blog. {Remember Today} is hard to keep up with on a daily basis, and because of that, this blog seemed to lack a real purpose. And as I recently preached to my sister, (who just began her blogging journey here), your blog needs to have a purpose, otherwise, you just won't use it.

So here I am, ready to breathe new purpose into this old, dusty blog. I'm calling it *Snapshot Saturday*, and it's where I will document the goings-on and milestones in the boys' lives on a weekly basis. These days are so fleeting, I can't believe how fast they're already growing up. Every day older I get, time seems to pass even faster. And since I can't stop the hands of time from ticking away, at least I can capture the ordinary (and sometimes extraordinary) in the days of our weeks.

two-ten-twenty-ten

Today is my birthday. I actually turned a year younger today. In the days leading up to my birthday I somehow got it in my head that I was turning 37. This morning Logan asked me how old I was today. "37," I replied without hesitation. Camden happily piped in with, "No, Mom, Dad's 37. You're 36 today. Here's a calculator; do the math!"(he knows his Mom so well with the calculator bit!) So today I turned a year younger. I think I may have unlocked the key to the fountain of youth!

Here're some highlights of the day:

• waking up at 7:38 am because the boys had been mouse-quiet all morning
• loads of happy birthday hugs and kisses from the kiddos (I love how my birthday is more exciting for them than me)
• receiving these precious cards and gifts from the boys (you know I will be saving those coupons for the most desperate of times!)
• finding the playroom totally cleaned up courtesy of the boys
• spending some time sitting on the couch in P's office crocheting while the snow fell outside
• lots of birthday greetings on Facebook
• phonecalls from family and friends
• a 2-hour phone call with my brother on some philosophies of life
• yummy calzone for dinner
• this birthday cake
• watching The Time Traveler's Wife with P (the book was so much better, of course, but watching the movie made me fall deeper in love with the book)

Yeah, it was a darn good day. Full of all the things that matter most: love of family and friends, a bit of creative time, and a clean playroom that I didn't have to scream my head off to get!!

Resolutions revisited

Wow, this month has absolutely flown by. Sometimes I have so many thoughts in my head: projects to do, techniques to try, writing topics to explore, books to read, crevices to clean out. There is never enough time in the day (even when I extend my day into the wee hours of the next day!)

Here's an update on my resolutions, because after blogging here about them, I feel like I have a certain amount of accountablity, and because accountability helps keep us on track with our goals, right?!

1. Doodle more--ehh, not so much
2. Read more---read The Glass Castle, started The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, and have a piles of crochet, knitting, living creatively, drawing, and design books on my nightstand and throughout the stUdio
3. Create more--created 8 layouts so far this year, not monumental but it's a start, working on something creative everyday: knitting, painting, cards, sewing
4. Open an etsy shoppe--signed up for an etsy account; still working out that little problem of what to sell
5. Get organized, clean out, simplify, declutter--came up with a list of 52 projects for each week of 20-ten, checked off four so far
6. Be more efficient, so that maybe I can get to bed at a decent hour--it's a work in progress :)
7. Blog more--oh, how I've missed this happy little place {I've still not lost hope that I will catch up my 2009 blog posts}-- this one is just not working out, yet
8. Do a photo a day, this one is destined to fail, just being realistic here, but I'm ok with that bit of imperfection: some is better than none at all--resigned to creating a layout a month recapping our month in one way or another.
9. Sew more, got a cool new calendar that will help me with this one--I've definitely been using my sewing machine more, though not just for fabric.
10. Knit more, and maybe something besides a scarf!--working on two scarf projects; thank goodness for that parent pick-up line!, and knitting group starts tonight.

Well, January is off to a pretty good start.

A day in the life

I know I should be going to bed because it is after 1am, but I've decided to *slurp* my 2007/08 blog to blurb for printing, so while it loads I have time to post a little Day in My Life. I like to document the details of our life; someday I know I will love looking back on them. Here goes:
7:30 wake up, take shower and get dressed
8:00 give boys breakfast, make lunches, pack backpacks
8:30 hustle L & C out the door to bus stop
8:45 take M to swim class and knit while he swims
9:30 help M dry off and change
9:45 go to grocery store and do weekly shopping
10:45 unload and unpack groceries
11:00 eat lunch with M
11:30 brush M's teeth and pack him up for school
11:45 pick up carpool friend and drive boys to school
11:55 sit in looping line and knit
12:10 go to music store and pick up lesson book for L
12:25 pick up contacts at eye doctors
12:35 return books to library
12:45 volunteer in L's class for writing block
1:30 head home to pick up house, organize stUdio a bit and talk with sister while she drives home from work
2:15 drive to preschool to get M and friend
2:25 sit in VERY long looping line
2:53 drop of carpool friend and head to BJ's
3:35 back home to unload again, give M a snack prep dinner and wait for buses
4:00 L arrives home
4:05 C arrives home
4:10 oversee homework, dish out snack, make dinner
5:00 play Lego builder game with boys, and get up periodically to cook dinner
6:00 dinner is taking far longer than I thought to cook
6:15 rush through dinner so L can go to guitar lessons
6:35 clean up dinner dishes and reorganize game cupboard with C & M
7:00 head upstairs for showers, jammies, brushing
7:30 read books to C & M
8:00 talk with L as he gets ready for bed
8:15 retreat to stUdio to finish organizing, blogging, emailing, blogging, writing, sketching, blurbing, and blogging this post.
1:25 brush teeth, wash face and collapse into bed

One more thing

before I head to bed:

You are the artist and your life is your art.

Aren't those amazing words to live by?

My One Little Word

Possibilities.

as in no limits,
anything is possible,
the sky's the limit

Our aspirations are our possibilities ~Samuel Johnson

If we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. ~Jamie Paolinetti

Live a life inspired. Dream with possibility.

You are your possibilities. ~Oprah Winfrey

Nothing expands possibilities like unleashed imagination. ~William Arthur Ward

Stop thinking in terms of limitations and start thinking in terms of possibilities. ~Terry Josephson

We all have possibilities we don't know about. We can do things we don't even dream we can do. ~Dale Carnegie


So, my word for 2010 is possibilities. If you want help choosing a word to be your companion in 2010, to fuel your fire, to keep you on track to being the best you you can be this year, check out Christine Kane's short video and Word Discovery Tool.

Remember Today 1.5.09

{remember} M crawling into the dryer, completely into the dryer, to get his pajamas tonight. Went to get my camera and he climbed out before I could get back--he's onto my camera antics.

{remember} finally outsmarting the chill in my stUdio by plugging in the space heater. I couldn't take another night of crawling into bed, too cold to create, and rotting my brain on Mtv's Jersey Shore (of all things--hey, if you're going to rot your brain out, this is the quickest, most efficient way to do it!).One night of that is plenty for my lifetime.

{remember} realizing that I am not taking enough photos this year--none yesterday and today.

Remember Today 1.4.09

{remember} how genuinely happy Maddox was to be going back to school after the holiday break, and how thrilled he was to have his teacher back from a medical leave ("I saw a blue sweater when I walked in the door, and I looked up and it was Mrs. Wentworth!!" He was so cute describing their reunion)

{remember} how Camden didn't want to go back to school, and when his bus was a tad late, he used the time to try to convince me that he could do his learning at home and see his friends on playdates--nice try, bud!

Remember Today 1.3.09

{remember} getting this little one up on skates for the first time. This is the one and only photo as I had my hands full holding him up the entire rest of the time!
{remember} the boys finding the joy in saving money--I hope they are starting to learn that money that burns a hole in your pocket usually doesn't buy anything worthwhile.

{remember} receiving these little treasures from my Auntie--she thinks she gave them to the boys, but really they're for me (maybe I'll share...have to think about it)
{remember} the first family game night of 2010--some Connect Four, a bit of UNO, and the latest Neddo craze: Scrabble (don't mind our lame three and four letter words!)

Hello 2010!

Ahh, I just love a new year, don't you? The fresh blank page of a brandy new calendar itching with the promise of the possibilities that lie ahead. Possibilities is my word for this year. It is hard for me to narrow it down to just one little word; I've several others I want to pay close attention to this year: create, dream, learn, love, live {in the moment}, time, efficient, do, organize. But possibilities holds so much... well. possibility. So yes, 2010 will be a year of possibility for me, filled with dreaming and wishing, big scoops of creating, heaps of learning, loads of love, a spattering of efficiency, and hopefully a sprinkling of organization.

Here's what's on my list of goals for 2010 {and in absolutely random, stream of consciousness order!}:

1. Doodle more


2. Read more--I think I'll start with this one:


3. Create more


4. Open an etsy shoppe--yikes, that just kind of slipped out here; I would love to do this, but have no earthly idea of what I'd sell.


5. Get organized, clean out, simplify, declutter


6. Be more efficient--so that maybe I can get to bed at a decent hour


7. Blog more--oh, how I've missed this happy little place {I've still not lost hope that I will catch up my 2009 blog posts}


8. Do a photo a day--this one is destined to fail, just being realistic here, but I'm ok with that bit of imperfection: some is better than none at all.


9. Sew more--got a cool new calendar that will help me with this one.


10. Knit more--and maybe something besides a scarf!


11. Wash my face EVERY night--I know, ick, but I'm horrible at this.

I'm keeping this open b/c I know more will come to me, probably tomorrow morning in the shower.

Just two more random things:

1. Two sites I'll be keeping an eye on in 2010: notebookdoodles and A Collection a Day
2. And I really, REALLY want one of these

Here's to a year filled with possibilities! Happy New Year!!

Remember Today 1.1.10

{remember} catching half an early episode of Grey's Anatomy in the middle of the day and stopping to watch it while sipping a steaming mug of chai--it's all about the little things.

{remember} the excitement in my little guy's face as he watches the Bruins score the winning goal in overtime of the Winter Classic.

{remember} the possibilities that a new year holds.