Boo!

Happy Halloween!

God- how I love love love LOVE Halloween. The costumes. The spooky stuff. The candy. Oh yeah- chocolate, chocolate, and more CHOCOLATE.

I did take my little goblins out trick or treating tonight, and they had a blast.
First up, we have Lord Vader himself. Cody is going through a Star Wars phase. Or rather- a Dark Side phase. He actually told me the other day that he only likes the Star Wars with Darth Vader in it. He saw a Darth Vader sleeping bag online and said 'Oh man, oh man, oh man- I have to have that!' So, of course, a Vader costume was a must this year.

His friends thought that it was the coolest costume- and they even asked where his light saber was (at home- the whole 'no weapons at school' rule, ya know). The light saber lights up, so we made him carry it while trick or treating. That's the only problem with the all black costume- it's so hard to see him, especially since he kept taking off and running for the next house.

I'm kinda surprised- it rained here, so we only did two blocks instead of our usual three or four, and Cody didn't complain when we said that it was time to head back. He did complain when I made him put his candy away for the night, however.

Ah- Clifford. I love Clifford. Clifford is cute. Clifford is big. Clifford is red. I'm not all that fond of the hat on this costume, but we dealt with it. Out of all three, Evan seemed to have the most fun of all.

I also realized that I just might be raising a spoiled brat. That little light bulb lit up right around the fourth house, when Evan screamed at his brother. I think it was his 'get out of my way, road hog' scream, but I can't be positive. His 'get out of my way' scream sounds a lot like his 'I'm so happy, I could just die' scream.

It didn't take Evan long to catch on to the whole Halloween concept. He had it all figured out before we even left home. Well- sorta. He knew that if you said trick or treat, you get candy. He walked around the house repeating 'tih tee'. It was the only time that he said it all night- after that, it was more along the lines of 'Candy!' and 'Mine!'

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea... Dylan has been my problem child. Oh- not tonight. Tonight, he was good. He didn't yell or scream, he didn't wander a mile up ahead, he stayed with us and remembered to say 'thank you' when we left.

But the weeks before Halloween? He wanted to be a ghost. Insisted on it. Had me make him a ghost costume and everything. The week before Halloween, he comes up to me and says (all determined like) 'I no wan be ghost.' *Sigh* I had to find him another costume to wear.

I tried Mickey Mouse. No go. He wanted to be Clifford. He insisted on it, no matter how many time I told him that he wouldn't fit the costume. While packing up at the apartment, I came across Cody's old Spongebob costume. Well- part of it. There are some black shoe covers somewhere, but I couldn't find those (nevermind that I've been washing the darn things every two weeks for the past two freaking years even though they haven't been worn since 2003). I only had the Spongebob top, which is enough to satisfy a three year old.

After we found Spongebob, he got into it. I mean- he really got into it. We have a stuffed Gary doll, and Dylan's been attached to him for the past two weeks. Dylan told me that Gary was going to be a pumpkin for halloween and he was going to be Spongebob. I'm glad that it was raining today and I could get away with telling him that Gary doesn't like water, otherwise I probably would have spent today trying to find something orange so that I could make Gary a pumpkin costume (the things that we'll do for our children).

Pumpkin Guts!

Yes! I just spent the last hour elbow deep in pumpkin guts! Well- ok, so I wasn't exactly 'elbow deep', luckily- my boys enjoy getting their hands all dirty like that. Cody and Evan were elbow deep in pumpkin guts- me? I was watching from the sidelines, camera in hand.
We had fun while doing it though, and that's the important part. Now, Cody wants me to roast him some of the seeds (blech- I don't like roasted pumpkin seeds). I will, once Evan goes to bed (in about ten minutes- thank God for small favors).

Oh- and yes, the pumpkin was painted before we carved it. so it has sunglasses on oneside and a carved out spider on the other. I'd have carved an unpainted pumpkin, but there's a problem when you wait until the day before halloween to buy your pumpkins.

The store sells out of them. Sooo- this is the only pumpkin that we'll have this year, which is fine by me, because guess who has to take the rotting things to the garbage? Yeah. Me.

And it's supposed to rain some time tomorrow, and I'd rather just deal with one small pumpkin than three water logged, rotting ones. And yes, I realize that I could avoid all this if I tossed the darn things the day after Halloween, but then again- anyone who mentions that obviously doesn't live with three little boys who think that Halloween is just the best holiday, EVER (outside of Christmas, of course).

Oh- and chances are, you won't have to face Darth Vader and his light saber, either.

Fall From My Window

When we moved, we went from a 'townhouse' (read: apartment with a superiority complex) with only a set of sliding doors in the living room (NO windows) to a house with this huge picture window in the living room. I love this window! Especially what I can see when I look out it.

This is the view out my window, as of Friday afternoon. What I want to do is take pictures of the view every month, so that I have this entire year of pictures.

I love fall. The colors are gorgeous, the weather is perfect, and there's just something about the smell of burning leaves. Now- if Yankee Candle would come out with a burning leaves scent, I'd be all over that candle. And yes, I know that I'm weird.

Today was Cody's last day of soccer for the season. We got his team picture today and he got a medal (they all did) and a token for a free treat from Dairy Queen.

Dylan keeps changing his mind about his halloween costume. First, he wanted to be a ghost. So- I made him a ghost costume. Now- he's decided that he doesn't want to be a ghost, and instead- he's now going to be Spongebob (thank God Cody was Spongebob a couple years ago and we still have the costume). He's at that age where he attaches himself to things. Right now, he's attached to a long sleeve tee shirt with a mummy on it that my mom bought him, his plastic pumpkin bucket, and his Gary doll (Spongebob's pet snail). Oh- and in his plastic pumpkin bucket?

His Spongebob costume. How he managed to fit it in there, I do not know. But it's there.

Announcing The Creative Team!

It was a hard decision to make- as everyone who applied was talented. But- I could only choose four ladies, and went with these four:

Ays

Becky

Jennifer

Misty

These ladies are awesome and I'm so happy to have them on my team!

Celebrate Our Debut At The Digi Chick!

This is going to be fun! A free collabortive kit, a chat, lots of challenges! I hope to see you all there!

For more info- check this thread out!

Oh, My Aching Back!

I hurt all over. Today, we finished moving our stuff out of the apartment. In three hours- I cleaned and packed five rooms and three closets. Luckily (for me, anyway), Mike and his friend Ed loaded up the trailer. I'm not even upset about it. We've been in the new house for over a month (we've been putting off moving out of the apartment completely), so *this* is home and the apartment is just the place where we used to live.

I spent the morning working on a new kit that I'm hoping to have available for my debut at The Digi Chick. Oh, I'm so excited! This new kit- which will be titled "My Favorite Things"- is going to be sooo awesome! It has my favorite color (purple), my favorite patterns (dots, circles, paisleys, florals, stripes and argyle), and some of my favorite elements... Once I decide what those are. Definitely ribbon. Probably some rick rack, I'm even considering putting some brushes in. (And if you are looking for a preview- you'll just have to wait! As my five year old says, 'Nah, nah, neh, boo boo').

Oh! And before I forget, I have to tell you all about a conversation between Mike, my three year old, Dylan, and me.

Me, to Mike: I'm tired, my back hurts, my feet hurt, and this is the first thing that I've eaten today. So, I'm sorry if I'm a little cranky.
Dylan, to anyone in general: I cranky!
Me: I know, Dylly boy, I know.

Aside from all that, the only bad thing that happened today is that I lost the stone from the opal ring that my parents' bought me for my 21st birthday. I'm heartbroken over that- I haven't taken that ring off (except during the third trimester of each of my pregnancies) for over six years. My pinky finger feels naked without it. *Sigh*

Little Goalies, Lasagna, and Lost Balls. Or, A Recap of My Saturday

Ah- Saturdays. They used to be such lazy days.

Then- my son started soccer, and the face of Saturday changed forever. This morning, we were up early because Cody had soccer team pictures and a game today. Wonder of wonders- he actually PLAYED today! And wouldn't you know it, Mike decided that today would be the perfect day to sleep in and skip the game.

We arrived at the same time that Cody's friend did. This is the friend who plays on the green team (Cody is on the orange team), and since the orange and green teams always play each other, they are always together. Which is good. What isn't good is that Cody and his friend tend to hang at the back of the pack, talking. Today, however, Cody just got out there and played. He was running, he even kicked the ball once! He was also cheering his team on, yelling 'Kick the ball, Dan!' and 'Go for it!' He was so cute. Today, they tried it with goalies. First, he tried to be goalie for the other team, then- when he was goalie for his team- he sat, and walked around, and sat some more... Luckily, when the ball was headed for him, he stood and watched the ball at least.

After soccer, we headed to my parents' house for lunch. Lasagna! With garlic bread! An afternoon of chatting with my mom, while the boys and my neices watched Robots and played outside. It was fun- until we were getting ready to leave. Cody had brought his soccer ball with him, and while we were getting things ready to go... we couldn't find his ball. Uh oh. It's just the perfect size for my parents' three dogs to play with. We searched all around the yard. We looked in the manure spreader (decorative), wagon (also decorative), sleigh (yep- you guessed it, decorative). We looked in the fort part of the swingset, every toy box, in the shed, in the garage, inside all five cars, in the power wheels pick up truck that they were driving around earlier, in all three boats, in the house, under the porch, under the ramp, under the dock, in both fire pits, and under all three picnic tables. Then- we grabbed my mom's binoculars and started searching the far side of the pond. No ball. We looked for over an hour! And, just as my mom said that she'd keep her eye out for it, and that we should get going, I spotted the ball.

It was inside an old walker that belonged to my boys' when they were babies and that my parents still had. It was on the porch (where we looked), in plain sight. AND WE MISSED IT. (and, for the record, we did ask Cody and his cousin what they did with the ball and they couldn't remember.)

I should probably scrap this, but right now- I'm too darn tired.

Creative team update: I've received some emails from a few ladies. Thanks so much! Keep them coming! For more information, click here.

Creative Team Call!

I'm looking for four people to promote my kits by creating layouts and posting in galleries around the web.

Starting in November, my kits will be available at TheDigiChick.com. I want as much exposure as I can get- so I'm looking for a few good layout designers to help me out.

Team requirements are simple. Team members will receive two kits a month, FREE. They will be required to post one layout per kit (2 layouts total) to the Digi Chick gallery, and then send me the link to the gallery post, via email. Team members may create as many layout as they wish and post where they wish, after posting the two layouts to the Digi Chick gallery. Please note that my creative team members will NOT be part of The Digi Chick staff.

If you are interested, and think that you have what it takes, please send me an email at mommymonster@gmail.com with the following information:

1. Your name and email address
   
2. If you are a Digi Chick member, your Digi Chick screen name
3. A sample layout, no smaller than 600px wide, using my free sample from The Digi Chick: Blue Eyes.
   
4. A link to your online gallery (preferrably the one that you use the most).
   
5. Why are you interested in joining my creative team?

I want to get the team going as soon as possible- application deadline is Wednesday, October 26th, with me making the announcement on my blog (hopefully) on Friday, October 28th. Hope to hear from you soon!

Sister Rights

Being a sister, I should have dibs on any good information that happens in my sister's life, right? Especially if she were to, oh, I don't know, meet any members of any famous bands like, oh, let's just go with RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE!

My *lovely* sis met the lead guitarist from Rage Against The Machine. Did I hear this from her? NOPE! I heard it from our mother. I mean, sheesh! I told HER when I met Disturbed, she could at least have said 'Hey, dear sister of mine, guess who I met today?' But, oh no!

I really need to have a chat with that girl. I have sister rights to this information. Now I'm wondering just how, exactly, she met him. Looks like I'll be waiting up for her to get home from work so that I can grill her.

Consolidating

I've decided that I don't really need two blogs. Scrapbooking is as much a part of my daily life as my boys are, so I've decided that from now on, I'll be including the ramblings about being the only female member of a household full of males here, right alongside the ramblings about digital scrapbooking.

I really like DiD, plus- it gets many more hits than Life with Boys ever did. That, and I think my readers deserve more updates to this blog.

So. Here I am. Maybe if my back didn't hurt this much I'd actually have more to write about.

Check Out This Chick!

I have a routine in place. I get up, get dressed, and sit down to check email, check my boards, and have my coffee and a smoke (yes, it's a bad habit I know). A couple weeks ago, I go through this routine.

Except that there's nothing happening on the boards that I was checking out, so I decided to head on over to The Digi Chick to see what was happening there. I hadn't been there in a while (simply because I've been busy moving- no other reason). I just happen to look up in the right hand corner of my screen and see Private Messages: 1 unread. I check it out and...

*thud*

That's me, on the floor. I read it again.

*thud*

This is getting ridiculous. I take a few deep breaths (eyes closed, didn't want to fall out of my chair again). I tell myself that I must have misread the PM. I mean, it couldn't possibly be saying what I thought that it was saying. So- I peek. Yep, it was saying what I thought it was saying. This time- no thud. Only me getting up out of my chair so fast that it flew across the room, the sound of a herd of elephants running through the living room, and the sound of me tackling my still sleeping husband, screaming 'I'M GOING TO BE DESIGNING AT THE DIGI CHICK!'

Poor guy. He really had no clue what hit him.

So- check it out! New designers! (and I'm one of them!) Check out the downloads section to see samples of our work. Our first kits will be available in the store starting in the first week of November. :)