I played around on my new hoover for about an hour today. Love. it.
It vacuums.
It mops.
It dries.
This is a good thing.
Our entire house is hard flooring (hardwood, tile and stone tile). My numero uno all time worst cleaning chore is mopping. So this takes care of that. I stand there and hold the handle thingie and it scrubs.

What's your take?
Mommy and daughter coordinating outfits.
Example...

Cheesy or funky-cute?
Or you could just order the material and make them yourself.
That is if you can sew.
So that wouldn't include me.

::my birthday boy::

I love you for

• your courage to travel to another country to live and pursue your dreams;
  
• your belief in me;
  
• your listening ear;
  
• your ability and eagerness to find solutions to my problems;
• loving our children unselfishly;
  
• your gorgeous hair and face;
  
• your confidence and self-respect;
• taking care of yourself
• saying "take it easy today --give yourself a break";
  
• working to take care of the family;
• supporting me in my business ventures;
• making me feel like your true cherished and valued companion;
  
• your way with words;
• making me feel proud to have you by my side. Now and forever my soul mate.

Happy Birthday Bobcat.
I love you more each year.

Looking forward to the fourth.
Didn't get any pictures of Luke and I at the zoo. I forgot my camera but that's okay because I realized today that my batteries didn't work anyway and I wouldn't have been happy to discover that after lugging around the camera for hours. Luke loved his ice cream cone and train ride and feeding the goats.

I didn't do too well on the spending part of self-discipline. I "invested" in one of these. I've spent a fortune on hard-wood cleaning mops and swiffers and stuff and decided it was time to take the plunge with some serious cleaning tools. We've got this stone tile kitchen floor which holds on to food like it expects a famine. Maybe this will do the trick.

This picture was last year. Luke and I on the fourth watching the works. (The elements used for this pages are from the Celebration Kit at The Sweet Dream Shoppe Designs found at EBB Creations. Grand Opening: July 4! I just love that cute little stick pin and oh those yummy papers!)

::glass blowing and imports::

Mike and Suzie were my pleasantly chatty booth neighbors at the Artist Show this evening. Since Mike had been in the neighborhood since the eighties I learned all about the history of some of the residents. I also learned a lot about glass blowing, which was his artistic medium.

Suzie filled me in on the specifics of importing goods from Mexico.

I had a few interested stoppers-by but I learned this was probably not the best venue for custom digital scrapbook selling. Which is fine really, I did meet some interesting people all in all and it was nice to sit and chat in the cool evening breeze and listen to some nice music while watching the neighborhood crowd gather.

Because of the comments I did get though I came away with a renewed ferver for scrapbook design and a passion for learning more about making digital kits.

Rob is engrossed in the Argentina/Mexico match. Which is apparently a really good one.

I'm looking forward to taking Luke to the zoo tomorrow while Rob stays with Leila (my Lukie time).

I'll leave you with some cuteness. Happy Sunday!

::self-disciplinarian::

I'm gearing up for the Artist and Vendor show in our neighborhood - Saturday. Mainly it will be cool to hang out with others in the neighborhood...get to know who lives where.

I'm working on self-discipline. I've recently discovered I need it in so many areas...

• eating (I've been snacking out of boredom recently);
  
• computer time (oops, here I sit);
• spending (I'm not too bad but have a weekness for certain lovlies); and
  
• getting upset at Lucas when he doesn't do things as quickly as I think he should. No excuse...just look at that face.
  

::it screamed, "scrap me"::

I just love this song by Mark Harris called Find Your Wings and since hearing it the first time, I knew I had to scrap it of course. So here are the pages I came up with for both Luke and Leila. They are both 6 months here.

(The elements used for these pages are from Emily Powers' For Her Flirty at
The Sweet Dream Shoppe Designs found at EBB Creations. Grand Opening: July 4!)

It's only for a moment you are mine to hold
The plans that heaven has for you
Will all too soon unfold
So many different prayers I'll pray
For all that you might do
But most of all I'll want to know
You're walking in the truth
And If I never told you
I want you to know
As I watch you grow

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage
To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings

May passion be the wind
That leads you through your days
And may conviction keep you strong
Guide you on your way
May there be many moments
That make your life so sweet
Oh, but more than memories

It's not living if you don't reach for the sky
I'll have tears as you take off
But I'll cheer as you fly

::happy daddy's day::

and husband's day (your children will thank you).

Today consisted of:
Banana pancakes with raspberry jam.
Rob and I listening to Stan Van De Berg, hand in hand.
Orange popsicles (oranges from our orange tree - now that's economy).
Visit to this place.
World Cup highlights.
Cous cous and roasted chicken.
And lots of "fla-vahs". Leila's first word.

::and a partridge in a pear tree::

It happens once an hour at least. I glance over at Leila and she is making "mmm this is tasty" motions with her mouth. Our eyes meet. She is fully aware that, as so many times before, within a split second I will be lurching for her with diget extended and poised straight for her mouth. She acts quickly and twists her head around, away from my reach while simultaneously placing a "let's have a little game" expression on her dissapearing face. I catch her ankle, dive for her mouth and discover...

1. carpet fuzz (x100);
2. an earring back;
3. day old cheerios;
4. a nail hanging kit;
5. a piece of one of Rob's book covers;
6. and one roly poly critter.
   (not all at once)
   

Not being entirely sure what is going to come out the other end keeps life intriguing.
Some days it's, "Let's just concentrate on keeping them alive."

::official artist::

I'm on a creative team: the fabulous Sweet Dreams Shoppe team of Emily and Angela (Grand Opening July 4)!

I get to create stuff with yummy goodies. Now that is gonna be fun! (Available soon at EBB Creations)

UPDATE:

Here's the first layout. This kit is so much fun. Love the frogs. I made a frog brush from one of the papers...

Frugality plus humor minus the wierdness that might go along with it equals Wantnot.net.
I love this new blog. Check it out.

::radio-flyin::

Since Leila was born Rob has been taking Luke out on Saturdays to spend time with him and give me a break (yes, I've pretty much got it made that way). Yesterday though I really craved some time alone with my little boy. It was like the olden days when he was my little buddy all day long, just Luke and mommy. After a memorable walk and park play he tagged along to Target, we bought him a trike, and he was a diamond the entire time. Once he looked at me so sweetly, as if to say, "Mom, it's just you and me!". A lengthy outing with my Lucas -on our own- will be a weekly tradition from now on.

Here is Leila in her first wagon experience.

If it wasn't pathetic how bad both Rob and I are at putting things together, it would be hilarious. It took us two hours to put this
together this afternoon. Luke almost made it to the end of the driveway before he was done with it.
True story.

Home Improvement Update.
Estimate on Air Conditioning $9700 (we live in an OLD house) complete new system would need to be installed...this includes $3,000 attic access opening)
Estimate on new windows ...brace yourself...$17,985 (and that's only because labor is "free")!
How about let's shop around a tad.

::monk-e-mail::

My hilarious sister (sorry, she doesn't yet have a blog but I'm working on her) sent me one of these. Made me laugh out loud. The wig was great Ang. Give someone a smile in their e-mail box.

::one step beyond::

Leila took nine steps in a row today! I have a feeling "busy" is going to take on a whole new meaning for me really soon.

Rob brought back these little shoes from England for Leila's little feet:


Rob and I have a running joke "ours are better in England" he says, for...well...everything.
But he might have a point with the baby shoes. These are pretty sweet on her little walking feet.

I've discovered this flower:

which is called a sun-star (a South African native spring flower).
They are easy to maintain. Which is key for me. A nice by-the-sink-to-cheery-up-the-dishes-chore flower.

I bought these yummy little guys today:


wax tarts. My choices: Sweet Honeysuckle, Rain Song, Peach & Sweet Berries, Fresh Cut Roses, Ocean Water and Buttercream. Mmmmm.

Coming out of a really sweet, albeit HOT weekend. It reached 94 degrees today.
No air conditioning in our house! Eeek. But it's next on our list as of today. The estimate men are coming out tomorrow. It's do or die. Pretty unbearable really. However, I ran into a woman from Florida today and she was mentioning how wonderful it is that it cools down here in the evenings. It is beautiful right now at 64. So there is relief. Anyway, air conditioning is still the way to go.



Luke's wave. This is a very good thing.

::memory artist::

I put together this brochure for the table I'll have at the Summer Street Festival. It will probably cost way more to print than $ I'd end up making so I may just skip it. But I'll post it at my new blog MemoryArtist.com.

Ali came up with the term LifeArtist which I think is cool but that's God to me you know? So I thought I'd call myself a memory artist. So there it is.

Leila weighed in at an even 19 pounds and is pretty tall for ten months at a length of 30. We waited over an hour in the doctor's office but met a delightful little boy named Owen who asked all kinds of curious questions like "what if we all had the same voice?".

Luke says "down" to get off his chair with very little prompting. He is an excellent ball-bouncer, which we're told is a 5 year old skill.

Leila continously takes Luke's glasses off and tonight she managed to break them. It's been time for a new pair for a while anyway. But that's a chore for tomorrow. Flex frames.