CREDITS:

Digital scrap items in the header, layouts and sidebar are by Miss Mint at PeppermintCreative.com or Jen Wilson at JenWilsonDesigns.com

Monday, August 11, 2008

We're Home & There's Lots To Do!

We're home from Oklahoma where we were visiting Brian's parents. It was fun and I got a ton of cute pictures. While I was away Miss Mint was busy putting out new products! I came home to three new kits (including the new freebie) waiting for me!

This layout uses the new "girl" kit Patchwork Princess. You can see it's got plenty for boy pages, too! Aiden & MaryAnn blowing bubbles in their front yard:



This page uses the Hey Dude boy kit. LOVE the moody, rockstar colors!



I'm still sorting through pictures and I have another designer who probably thinks I'm dead that I need to scrap for!

In Other News: I delayed my bead order a bit so I could add some new shell colors and a few other things. I learned how to do a double-chunky style but I'm afraid I won't have any time to take pictures and get the new earring colors & styles up online before the end of the month. Also coming are some fashionable professional jewelry displays that I am ordering for use as personal jewelry organizers. I have some of the larger displays but the new smaller sized displays are resonably priced and make a great gift for women in your family that are difficult to shop for. I'm anticipating they'll be a big seller at the craft shows. Of course my friends are welcome to stop by and take a peek. Seeing what friends have purchased is really helping me know what to send to the shows!

For The Grandmas: Aiden is suddenly a whole new kiddo. It's only happened in this last week or so. He's gotten so much more demanding and a lot more vocal. Two days before we left town Aiden FINALLY said "cow" and "moo". (You think the easy words would come before "outside", "Major" and "bad dog" but whatever.) When we got to Brian's parent's house, we got a big kick out of how he kept calling their cats "cows" and mooing at them. We should have enjoyed the humor because after only a few corrections he was saying "cat" and meowing when we asked what sound they made. Then it happened - he learned a new animal name and sound every single day we were there. On top of it, he would hear us say a word, like "excited", and then instantly repeat it. Is it possible that his vocabulary could increase so rapidly? I know I should be expecting that "language explosion" sometime around now and wow, explosion is a good word to use. I felt my jaw drop today when I decided to teach him "sheep" and "baa" while he was sitting in his high chair eating a snack. He listened and then looked straight at the Leap Frog fridge farm toy, with it's blue sheep, and I could see how much he understood but just couldn't say yet. Impressive connection. The human brain is amazing and seeing it acquiring language in action is really interesting to me!

What I don't understand is why the child I never ever EVER hit, smack or spank is hitting and smacking me! Seriously, I don't even allow myself to yell at him and spanking children is forbidden in our house. I've been really surprised by his frustrated aggression but I know it's normal and I'm thankful for well-written parenting books. Strangely enough, by the end of the day he's always extra cuddly and wants to be held after landing a few good kicks on the changing table or whatever other infliction I've patiently endured. I'm glad I keep my cool. It helps to know hugs are coming! I can't imagine how frustrating it is to be a toddler.

The best part of today were the Mardi Gras beads Michell brought over. Aiden loved playing with them at Nana's house (shiny & irresistible? pirate treasure?) and he was THRILLED with the two dozen strands he "found" today while playing. He turned his yellow plastic construction hat upside down, filled it with the beads, dumped them out and started again. He seemed agitated when I tried to wear them and removed them as fast as I could put them on. He had more fun flinging them around and trying to unknot the inevitable tangles. Our house looks like we hosted a madri gras parade in the hallway & playroom with the worst-aiming bead throwers ever! I'm anxious to find him a little treasure chest for all of his pirate loot! LOL!

2 comments:

MaryAnn said...

We loved having you visit. The house is way too quiet without Aiden's cute sounds and new words. However, the cats are a little more relaxed and are following me around instead of Aiden. Give him a big hug from us.
Love ya!
MaryAnn

Isaac and Maren said...

Love the layouts! Of course, it's easy to make them look good when your kid is so cute!!