Grumpy Old Man

I have always called Noah my "little old man". He is a funny little man that is always keeping me on my toes with very wise and witty remarks, shortly followed by a remark to remind me he IS only five!

For some reason, the ice cream man chose this weekend to make his debut in my neighborhood. It really isn't the best of weekends to make a person want to go run, screaming, to the ice cream truck, but I figured this thought was contained in my head. Apparently not.

I was sitting in the living room this afternoon, folding laundry, when I heard the unmistakable jingle of the Mister Softee truck off in the distance. I kept folding, waiting for Noah to run screaming, " MISTER SOFTEEE MISTER SOFTEEE!!!" down the hall. As the music reached a crescendo, signalling the arrival of the frozen confection gods, I saw no sign of Noah. The truck passed and barely-audible, I heard him grumble in his room, " I don't know WHY the ice cream truck would come today. It's not a very good day for it!" I giggled and continued folding my laundry.

My neighborhood is set up kind of weird, so that the truck usually has to pass by our house twice ( lucky me) during his run. Sure enough, about thirty minutes later, I heard the truck pass again. Still no frantic activity from Noah's room. Again, in a low grumble, I heard, " Well, this is just ridiculous! ( he pronounces it rid-ic-uh-lus) WHO buys ice cream on a day like this!??"

He never came out of his room. He just continued happily building his GeoTrax village and, I assume, commenting on the state of the world.



**this picture was taken a few weeks ago.. but I thought it was appropriate to illustrate this post

Career 101

Excerpt from recent conversation with Noah:

NOAH: " Mommy, college is where you go to learn your job."
ME: " Yes, sweetie, you are right. What do you think you might like to go to college to learn?"
NOAH: " I want to be on the Today Show!"
ME: " Oh, great. You want to be an anchor like Meredith or Matt?"
NOAH: "Nooooo! I want to be Al!! " (Roker)

For some reason a Paul Simon song is now stuck in my head....

" If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can calllll... meeeee Al!!!
Call me Al!!"

Sorry for the randomness...

A Berry Special Day!

Noah is only five years old, so he thinks that everyone gets a theme for their birthday. Back in January, when I had my birthday, he asked me over and over what kind of birthday I was going to have and I finally convinced him that I wasn't having a theme or a party.

About three weeks ago, Noah asked DJ, " Daddy, are you going to have a Star Wars birthday?" DJ answered, " No, son, that's your thing." Noah responded, " Well what kind of birthday are you going to have?" DJ's reply?? " Strawberry Shortcake. I want a Strawberry Shortcake party." Noah was apalled and tried to tell DJ he couldn't have Strawberry Shortcake because that's a girl's party. DJ argued that he could have whatever he wanted!

Fast forward to today- DJ's birthday. All I can say is, "Be carefull what you wish for!"

A cake decorator I am NOT.. but he got the point!

sporting his "berry" awesome hat:

Even Noah got into it... he made this card with Strawberry Shortcake on one side. It says, " From Noah, To DJ, Happy Birthday 36"

This side has a strawberry on it and says, "Happy 36 Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party!"

I love you BERRY much sweetie.. I hope your birthday was BERRY special!

Smurf that.

Oh, wait, wrong cartoon....

Spring Picture

Back in December, I lifted and idea I saw in the gallery at Two Peas in a Bucket. Someone made a decorative quilt-like picture in a frame using squares of Halloween-themed patterned paper. I took the idea and made a Christmas picture and loved it so much, I made another one for Valentine's Day.


Still loving the basic concept and ease of the project and armed with a new challenge from Regina's Bitten By the Bug to use the "Spring" cut from the Stretch Your Imagination Cricut Cartridge, I made a nice spring picture to put in the frame in my entryway today. ( as always, click on the picture to see a bigger version)

Music and Lyrics

Music is my therapy. Music moves me. I can completely lose myself listening to or playing a piece. It's very therapeutic to get caught up in the music and clear everything else from my head except for the music surrounding me. I also write poetry, although I haven't written a poem in years. For this reason, I am also moved and fascinated by lyrics.

For no particular reason other than I was listening to my Ipod yesterday and reminded of the lyrics I love most, I wanted to share with you the lyrics to two songs. If you know me well, you know I have an unhealthy obsession with Bette Midler. She's ballsy, she's unbelievably talented, she's hilarious and is also a small woman with a HUGE personality! I love that about her! One of my favorite songs of hers is the classic, "The Rose". The music and lyrics are actually by Amanda McBroom. I have always wished I had thought of these lyrics myself.. they are beautiful:

The Rose

Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger
An endless, aching need.
I say love, it is a flower
And you, it's only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance.
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
That never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long.
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong.
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snow
Lies the seed that with the sun's love
In the spring, becomes the rose.

The other lyrics I want to share with you were written in the early 60's by Bob Dylan. I have the recording by Peter, Paul and Mary and think the message is as important today as it was in the 60's and find it a little sad that, forty-five plus years later, the lyrics are still applicable to the world in which we live.

Blowin' in the Wind

How many roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man?
How many seas must the white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind.
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind.
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind.
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Noah Squared and Tale of Two Hats

I am just finally getting to scrapping my trip to Texas one year ago. Today, I finished two pages which covered our visit with my grandparents. Noah is named after my grandfather, hence the name, "Noah squared".

Supplies used for "Noah squared"- blue patterened paper and star by Basic Grey- cupcake collection, butterfly punch by Martha Stewart, ruby Stickles on butterfly, chipboard letters "noah" by Close to My Heart with red Making Memories paint, scalloped journalling "sprout" by Jillibean Soup.

Supplies for "Two Hats"- pink and green patterned paper by K& Company, blue patterned paper by Basic Grey- cupcake collection, font cartridges used- " A Tale of"- Alphalicious and "TWO HATS"- Storybook. pink and green rhinestones- Colorbok, crown rhinestone- Darice.

Bunny Pillowboxes

Krista Norman made the cutest Easter pillowboxes and then was kind enough to share the instructions with me. She used the Wedding Cricut cart and I don't have that one, so I found a template online for a pillowbox at Carolyn's Stamp Store and then made the bunny with the Doodlecharms cartridge per Krista's instructions. She used Design Studio to alter his ears to make them "floppy" and I followed suit because I thought the floppy ears were adorable! The box is filled with Easter M&M's and I made them for Noah, Zoe and my nieces and nephews. Very cute!!

Happy Spring!

Good sign: my bulbs peeking up through the mulch in the flower bed.

Bad sign: the snow falling outside currently.

Stupid groundhog.

Strawberry Favor Bag

One of my friends' daughter is having a "strawberry" birthday party. She is supposed to come over next week to make invitations. Today, I decided to try out my new Hello Kitty cartridge and made a cute little favor bag and added the strawberry cut from Hello Kitty. The tag and the bag are cut from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More.

Another Digital Layout

This is a lift of a traditional layout in my CK magazine, April issue. It looks much better side-by-side as it is meant to be a two page layout, but I can't get the two pictures to post side by side.

Background paper, polka dot paper and striped paper are all from Raspberry Road Designs - Clovis the Clown. The notebook paper is from Shabby Princess- Promise, "play time" tag, blue binder clip, red file plate, blue brads and "fun" sticker are all from Raspberry Road Designs- Clovis the Clown embellishment pack. The star tag is from Red Wagon Elements by Raspberry Road Designs and the buttons are from Color Your World Elements by Raspberry Road Designs. The fonts used are, CK Ali's Hand_Official for journaling, KidTypeRuled "Pre-School", Papyrus "Days to" and Perpetua Titling "Remember".

Smithville Park

Last weekend, we had nice weather and took advantage and went to Smith's Woods in Smithville. There is a nice playground there and trails that lead through the woods and past the historic Smithville mansion and village. We spent a good part of our day there and had a really nice time. Zoe loved seeing the ducks, geese and dogs being walked along the trail. Noah complained a lot, but we picked up a trail map and mini-Magellan was happy the rest of the way.

this look just screams, "mischief!":

Through the Eyes of a 5-year-old

I thought I would tell the story of what sprang forth from Noah's mouth last week with a digital scrapbook layout.