Thursday, November 27, 2008

I've been posting...really!

Ok, so I am just too busy to realize what it is that I'm doing.

I've posted twice to the WRONG blog!! It took Bree to tell me that I was posting on our challenge blog over at Scrapping Across The Universe! Duh!!!!

Anyhow, life has been crazy in our home. It seems to be the new NORMAL for the month of November. However, Rob is away for the weekend and I am hoping to get a little me time in the evenings.

We have been so busy meeting deadline after deadline, that I can only find the time to read blogs and that is just about it.

Crop Suey has been buzzing lately. We have participated in our first craft fair and it was an absolute success. We have another one coming up next week and it promises to be a success too.

It's too much to get into the million and one things that have been occupying my time, but needless to say I am still here and reading all y'all's blogs (yeah, that's good English)

Our dog, Toot, has turned out to be an amazing dog. He is so well tempered and I am so happy with the way he lets the kids tote him around all day...and I do mean all day. Robert thinks he is his best friend and should go everywhere with him, and Reese thinks that he is her new dolly and should go for naps in her playpen. Through it all Toot just lets them have their fun. What a great dog.

Also, we put up our Christmas tree today...it was fun and a fun "posed" picture time!




We also have a tradition putting the angel on the tree, this year it was passed onto Robert. What a thrill to see his face when it was now HIS job!


Until next time,

Camille

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Things they are a changin'...

Well, I haven't posted for awhile and if you read my last post you know why.

We got our puppy on Tues and have been busy with him ever since...in a good way. He is the most amazing dog...only a couple of accidents in the first 24hrs and none since.

We decided to kennel train Toot. That means in the kennel whenever we are not taking him out with us or when we go to bed. I was very nervous the first night (remembering our horror experience with our last dog who barked incessantly for 1.5hrs every time we put him in there). We put the kennel beside our bed to deal with the barking quickly and...

...to my amazement, he only whimpered once at 5 am when he had to go pee and then we didn't hear from him again until 8:30. Praise God! Then I had the energy for day two, and it went very well.

We attempted our first walk on day three, that was NOT such a success. Toot (who has been given a couple of other names -Reese calls him Tookie and Robert calls for him by saying "Oh Tooooooodles" (like in Mickey's Clubhouse). It's nice to know that Toot has taken on a better connotation for me. The walk was a challenge because our 3 lb pet did not want to come...it was more like a drag for the first 50 feet, then it became a walk-drag! He is a quick learner though and will get it before long!

All this dog stuff has kept us around the house a little more than usual and so....my mind has been brewing! I have a place downstairs to create, but tend to stay away from it during the day because there are no toys downstairs for my kids to play with. Then I had an idea...what if I just took a small corner in my closet (which just happens to have an empty space in one corner after some careful rearranging!) With that thought, I approached my husband who...said yes right away. I was almost disappointed because I had so many great arguements to support my request!
Anyhow, I went and purchased a small craft table (Bree has the same one), my husband put a shelf up in my closet (I mean, my new creating space) and am in the midst of organizing everything. I will take some pics when it's all organized -give me a couple of days!!
I am so happy, it's a small space and I find I work better in small spaces. I like close and quaint. Although I have many open spaces in my home, I always tend to gravitate toward the chair in a corner or something cozy and confined! Call me weird, but I find it comforting to be nestled in my closet...now I can create in it too!!

Anyhow, so there's my week and, since I will be housebound a little more than usual puppy training my closet is sure to become an organized inspiration corner quickly. What else do you do with all that time? (ok, I know I need to train the puppy and tend to my children, but I really can find a few moments in between to organize!)

...everything would be perfect if I could only put a computer and printer in my closet...

Later,
Camille

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

He's finally here...

So, our new puppy was supposed to join our family on Friday and ended up coming to us today.

Rob had the day off and we wanted to have a "family" day. We began running errands, then we thought of making the drive to the breeder and picking up our puppy early.

You know the giddy excitement that you get when you are not sure if you are doing the right thing, or when you know that the suggestion that was seemingly impossible starts to take shape and become possible? Yeah, that's what happened to my husband and I.
We looked at each other and said "Should we?" and our answer to each other was "Why not?"

Then as we were driving out of the city my DH says "I feel like we are making the biggest mistake in the world!" I wanted to choose to ignore the statement...then realized I couldn't.

Well, it turns out it was his version of cold feet. We made the trip, picked up our puppy and now we are a family of 5!

Here is TOOT, yes that name won out. I am not all that excited about it, but I am sure the name with grow on me (with time...like several months...or years...)


The kids are super excited and Reese even likes him (she REALLY does NOT like dogs)


Whenever Reese sees any dog she says "Doggie no eat me!" Well, when she wakes in the morning and realizes that Toot is here to stay, she will have to begin loving him -right now she is tolerating him.

So, here I am now, potty training TWO -Reese and Toot. What fun! I'm sure there will be stories to tell on that issue in the near future!

Camille

Monday, November 10, 2008

We're getting a puppy...

After talking about it for months, we've finally made the final decision to get a puppy. We've decided on a Bichon Frise! It's a small lapdog and suited to our lifestyle.

This is not our dog (we need to choose from three remaining male puppies), but they all look pretty much the same.

Now, if I had my way...we would be getting a chocolate lab or a German shepherd. I love big dogs, but my DH is stretching himself to agree to a dog at all. That means one thing...I'll take what I can get.

I grew up with at least 2 dogs at all times. Now, I welcome a dog in our home. We've been preparing the kids for the arrival...we are going to pic it up this Friday!

That brings me to the issue of the dog's name. I love to give my pets original names. I had a tabby cat called Carrot, my rabbit was Wadsworth, our first dog was Duke. So, I've been carefully considering names. Two that I really liked were Dash or Porter. Then my husband threw a third name into consideration...prepare yourself for this one... TOOT! Yes, you read correctly!

He told the kids that it would be our puppy's new name and they thought it was hilarious. When we asked Robert what the puppy should be called he automatically said "Toot!" When we asked Reese what the puppy's name should be she said "Bambi!

Now, I am stuck struggling against "Toot". REALLY...who calls a pet TOOT?

I can see myself calling the dog to come in and my neighbors wondering where my sanity went? Really, I need to convince my family that Dash is a much better name than Toot.

I'm thinking that I may need to threaten something very serious in order to win this debate...maybe to never cook another meal (don't know if even that would work!)

I'll post pics of our new addition once he arrives...I'll also let you know who won the name game!!

Camille

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

We've found Robert's ears!

Today Robert decided that he was due for a haircut. After a year of growing it out, he had finally had enough.

Here is the before pic:


So, off Rob went to the barber, Robert in tow. I was a little nervous that it was going to come back REALLY short...and I had good reason. When Robert walked in the door, I had a new son.

He is really happy with the shorter "do".



We've decided that he looks younger, but we still love him just as much...maybe even more!

After a year of "longer" hair...the 'boarder is gone. I cannot wait to see what comes of this hair style...

What a fun evening!

Camille

Monday, November 3, 2008

When the cat's away!

Rob is gone to a movie tonight with Bree's husband. We (in theory) have an evening for working/playing.

I've made a cool layout with the Crop Suey Cream n' Sugar Kit. It was funny, when I took these pictures, my DH says "why are you not taking pics of Robert playing with the Hot Wheels track?" The true answer, which I did give him...was that they were for this LO.

Here it is:


The journaling reads "There is no substitute for Robert -it's all about Hot Wheels! It's hours of fun."

Enjoy, and check out the great new November kits at CROP SUEY!

Camille

Sunday, November 2, 2008

it's Sunday and I'm three for three!

Wow, it's been awhile since I blogged three days in a row! It seems life has been a little crazy, but I'm grabbing the bull by the horns and taking control.

With the time change last night, my kids were up early this morning. Robert came into my room at 6:15 asking if it was time to get up yet...of course the answer was NO!!!
Then, we could not make them stay in their rooms more than 30 minutes before they had exhausted reading "EVERY" book in their library and entertaining themselves. It was a much earlier morning than I had anticipated!

So, the new kits are up at CROP SUEY and they are selling like hotcakes. If you want one, better buy sooner rather than later, get yours first. And when you do...send us your LOs or altered items and we will post them on our blog. WE are working on a forum and gallery and they will hopefully be up and running before Christmas.

Also coming soon to Crop Suey is a loyalty program -you can earn points on your purchases toward free product. We LOVE giving away free stuff to all of you ladies who keep us inspired.

Here's a LO I made after our trip to Drumheller, Alberta. It's "Dinosaur" land. It's where they have found a massive number of dino fossils over the last few decades. It also has huge museum which the kids absolutely loved.

I believe this trip fueled Robert's love of dinosaurs. Now, even Reese walks around the house telling my that she is going to be a Parasaurolophus one day...of course Robert is going to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex...is there any other dinosaur a little boy can be?


The journaling reads: "Deductive Reasoning: 1. Robert wants to be a dinosaur. 2. Reese wants to be like Robert. Therefore, my kids will be dinosaurs!"

Enjoy your Sunday...your day of rest (or of scrappin'!)

Camille

Saturday, November 1, 2008

My Scrappin' Across the Universe challenge LO...

I found the time to do my LO for Scrapping Across the Universe before the deadline.

I had so much fun doing it because I love the picture. Reese and I were cuddling during a trip to the park on a very chilly autumn day...
We probably should have stayed home but the slides and swings were calling. The page just came together nicely. I like subtle little things in my LOs, there are two hedgehogs hugging just left of my pic...that makes it special for me.

Here it is:
Enjoy the first day of November...the countdown to Christmas begins today in our home...

Only two weeks until we can start turning on the Christmas lights (that we thankfully put up in the warm weather!!)

Camille