Painting, as if...

As if, I didn't have enough to work on right now...I started another project.  What is wrong with me?  I'm in the middle of scrapbooking 2008 for crying out loud.  I'm now working on March pictures. Yet, I have started another project that could hinder my momentum. I started painting stuff.

This is my 'work area' - hahaha!  Because 110 is to hot to do this outside right now, so inside the family room will do just fine.  In this picture, I'm sanding a kitchen chair.

The kitchen chair in it's original color on the left and the kitchen chair after I painted it on the right.

I also repainted this white bench, which coincidentally Greg made for me several years ago.  If you would like a custom made bench for yourself, please send your check for $813 made out to us.  hehehe!

Did I mention I had a helper in painting this bench?

I can just feel you itching to tell me how brave I am for giving my 3 year old a paintbrush and red paint. I am brave but with some clear instructions and a lot of trust, this 3 year old proved himself worthy of a big job.

Ta-daa - all done!  "And I helped" (quote from the little girl in the old shake and bake commercial, hahaha!)

Children's Museum of Phoenix

We took Nathan to the Children's Museum of Phoenix last weekend. Had I known it was 3 floors of total coolness, I would have paid for our admission instead of going on Target sponsored Free Friday...when EVERYONE else in Phoenix went.

Attendance was so high, that we had to wait our turn before we could enter the museum.  Sidewalk chalk was provided as a means to pass the time.

The first time Nathan drew this, it was on a magnetic board and he erased it before I could grab the camera.  Nathan calls his drawing "a big-strong-boy" - so glad we were able to get a picture.

 
Can you see the body, arms, legs, eyes, nose and mouth?   I'm so proud of his 3 yr old creativity! He clearly gets it from me.

Inside the museum, Nathan was able to play with a mock race car. We showed him where the spark plugs connected to the distributor cap and he was all over it, connecting each one by himself.  He clearly gets this keen interest in cars from his dad.

In the future, if you see recycled materials serving as a track for balls on our fridge, you'll know where I got the idea.

 

Next, Nathan is on a platform, dropping a ball onto a larger track and watching the ball travel around the room.

"WALK DO NOT RUN through the noodle forest!" yelled the Museum worker, over and over and over.

Sooo...note to self and others: Don't go on Free Friday, just pay the $6.00 admission to get in, it's totally worth it! :o)

Fantasy Football Draft

Good thing no one is waiting with bated breath for me to post the Picture of the Day, because this one dates back to a week ago on Sunday when Greg hosted a live Fantasy Football draft.  It was an interesting event to have this size a group, all working quietly, picking their players. This was no rowdy affair - it was more like being in a library...which is an oxymoron because the focus was around football!

Laugh.

I just worked on this scrapbook layout - February 2008. That's right, it's current 2010.  What of it?  Even though the picture is out of focus, I love it.  It makes me happy...and sad.  Cause that sweet little baby face is gone.  Gone!  It's been replaced by a temperamental 3 yr old's face, who has - on occasion been known to give me a dirty look and evil eye!

January 2008. Scrapbooked.

My life is not as it used to be.  That being said, I'm behind on scrapbooking my one and only child's life.  I think about the moments I'm failing to record on a daily basis.  DAILY.  It makes me sick.  I've been on the warpath for months to do what I can - when I can.  Unfortunately, it's slow going because life continues moving along.  People, events, organizations all demand my time and my calendar gets booked, then I'm too busy. I still capture moments in pictures but I lack the time to scrapbook.  It depresses me.  Sorry, I know I'm ranting like a crazy person. I just thought I'd share my recent accomplishments of documenting when Nathan was 11 months old - Jan 2008.  That's the timeframe of where I last left off in scrapbooking his life.  Ugh.

Initially, I tried to work quickly.  I'm not trying to impress or create a wow factor here, just trying to get the pictures and timeframe documented.  I selected paper & elements that aligned with the season that the pictures were taken.  No time to color match clothes to paper and all that nonsense. 

These were taking to much time to complete, 1-2 hours. No wonder I wasn't getting any traction.  If I was ever going to catch up, I needed to simplify.  Selecting multiple pieces of paper was slowing me down, so I reduced the paper to just one small piece behind the pictures, leaving a  3" white border.

It took about 45 mins to complete which was still to long.  I needed to really minimize what I was using in each layout, less elements and less time spent building them.

Now we're talking.  It took about 15 mins a page to complete the layouts above.  So that's my format for success as I try and blow through the last 2 1/2 years.  One piece of paper and 1 element on a solid white background, which will also keep uniformity throughout the book (if I ever get it done).  Wish me luck - please - I need it. :o)

So tired.

Nathan was so tired after church on Sunday, he couldn't eat lunch.  He held on to one chip and lay his head down.  This kid passed out.... and then the adults enjoyed a nice lunch!

No Parking.

If I had to use a picture to describe my friend, Lynn, it would have to be this one right now.  This is her car parked right by this sign.