NEWS!

New stuff is coming soon to Peppermint Creative! The promised sale will be on and you can see the new kit, paper pack and embellishments! I am just itching to post my new LO's here but you'll see them soon enough. (A new freebie kit is in the works but we don't have it yet so I'm not sure about it's release date. All I know is it has some great stuff for girl pages!)

Want a sneak peek AND a Mint Freebie? Get over to the Shutterfly blog to see their feature on Miss Mint! The downloadable Easter page has some "new" papers on it I haven't seen before. ;)

Before I go, here is a page I scrapped using Jen's products with pictures of Aiden actually wearing his sunglasses:



He is SUCH a ham!

This Kid Is Hilarious!

While hurrying to get ready to leave so we could meet up with friends this afternoon, I desperately grabbed this orange pair of sunglasses for Aiden to play with. They kept him still long enough for me to get his diaper changed and us out the door. I didn't bother taking them away when I strapped him in the car seat, since he was having so much fun playing. When we got to the park, he was still mouthing the frames and inspecting the dark tinted lenses. I kept playfully putting the sunglasses on Aiden's face, which would make him laugh and then he'd take them off. Then suddenly it hit him - he realized what they were! With real intent, he took the sunglasses off his face and began trying to put them in his hair!!! (I can't imagine who he's learned this from...LOL!) Luckily I had my camera with me and got a picture:



The other moms I was with thought it was soooo funny! Honestly, he spent a good five or ten minutes trying to get these shades to sit just right on his head! Children are alarmingly observant, aren't they? Geez, I wonder what else he's picked up...

Something Productive

It's the good girls who keep the diaries; the bad girls never have the time.
~Tallulah Bankhead

Does this count as a diary? If not, I don't mind falling in the 'bad girl' category. LOL! ;)

You can tell my days have not been filled with scrapping. I have been up to other things! Lots of projects going on around here. First, the stove guard and knob covers are on, thanks to the super-handy stud I married! (Love you, babe!!!) Mr. Handyman also installed a second shelf in the very top of Aiden's closet so I have been working to re-organize all of his clothes, box up the things he has outgrown and store them up there. I thought this was going to be sooooo easy to knock out in one afternoon. Boy was I wrong! Not only do I have to schedule this work around nap times, when Aiden needs the room still and quiet to sleep, but my littlest handy man keeps running off with hangers, boxes and other items I'm trying to put away.

It has been fun to pull out some of Aiden's clothes for next year and go through them as I hang them up. I try to buy things a year ahead and I'm finding that I will need to pick up a lot of summer clothes, both for this summer and for next. I have tons upon tons of winter stuff but not enough in the way of shorts and tees. Darn.....guess I'll have to do some shopping!!!!

Hey, we had burgers and shakes tonight at Culver's! A very packed and crowded Culver's. They were really good. Too good.....I'm sure we'll be stopping in often enough to wreck all the hard work I have been putting in to slimming down! (Can I brag?? I have been wearing my size 8 jeans this week. SIZE 8!!!!!) I set a goal to be back in these jeans by May, but secretly I wanted to be in them by Aiden's birthday. They're not my exact pre-pregnancy size but close enough for now!

Earlier today, while I was trying to put things in the top of the closet and Aiden kept either running off with things or climbing to the top of the step stool, I decided to set up his play tent for him. It's this adorable blue & orange camping style tent that is just too cute! He seemed to like it, so long as I wanted to play along with him. Here is a picture I took:



He looks terrified! It's my new camera. It does this THING where it shoots a beam of red light when you press the button half way down to set the focus. Luckily it usually makes Aiden look up, and then I can quickly press the button for a no-delay, fast shot. Unfortunately, I get a lot of deer-in-a-headlight looks like this!

I think I forgot to mention the new camera. The focus mechanism went out on my other camera. It will still take pictures, but most close up and normal range shots are blurry. I called about having it repaired and found out it would be half the price of a new camera. I like my new PowerShot but it doesn't have the same cool charge-and-upload-at-the-same-time feature that my Casio did. I really like how much I can customize the settings on this model, though. I called Kelsey for a crash-course on ISO settings so my shots will be more crisp. Hopefully I will have some new photos soon because I am getting caught up and running out of things to scrap!

I Learned Something Today

I'd like to say I picked up this piece of wisdom at church but I spent most of the time in the hall with Aiden today. He saw a few of his little friends fussing and being taken out so he decided he wanted to join them. He was SO PROUD of himself when he climbed the stairs up to the nursery on his own. I did a good job of not hovering and letting him climb at his own rapid speed. Seriously, the look on his face when he reached the top was amazing! And then he promptly pulled a folding chair on top of himself. (At this point I wished I could stop time with one of my involunatry gasps or that I could at least move faster when everything seems like it's going in slow motion.) Aiden was fine - not a single bump, scratch or bruise on him. I, however, probably lost all the progress I made today with letting Aiden be more independent as I scooped him up, hugged him close and inspected him for the concussion and internal bleeding I was certain he had sustained.

Alright, back to what I learned:

Today Brian told me that women don't understand the influence they can have over men. Specifically wives over their husbands. I believe that you create your own happiness and that it's as simple as identifying what you want, understanding the actions and behaviors it will require and then working to achieve it. I want Brian to feel like the guy on a pedestal that I think he is. I want him to know how greatful I am to be staying home with Aiden. I want him to know that I appreciate every dollar he brings home and I am going to work to make sure they're managed wisely so our long-term goals can be reached. I hope he realizes that on the days when he walks in the door and I'm frustrated, that it's only temporary and I need a hero to rescue me and help with the baby, no matter how impatiently I may word my request. In short, I want to make Brian feel loved, appreciated and adored. And I think in doing so, our husbands can't help but adore us for making them feel like rockstars!

Women are powerful. That's what I learned today.