Learning New Things

While never-ending scrapbook project(s) are coming along. (You may remember that I embarked on a journey to get everything scrapped, which included about 3 years worth of pictures.) That project is coming along. 2007 is virtually completed, 2006 still has a long way to go, 2008 is kind of hit and miss, and 2009 is about half-way done. It seems like a lot still to be done, but it is progress.

Along they way, I purchased a ScrapRack when I was at the scrapbook convention. Well, I actually started my purchase. I say started because I have added to the contraption about 3-4 times since August. It's a very cool thing because almost every piece of scrapbook "stuff" is filed almost neatly in it. That project took a long time, but I am feeling a little more in control of my stuff (instead of it controlling me). I also found a bunch of stuff I had been looking for, had forgotten I had or just plain needed to get rid of.

So, since that is almost done, I have tackled another project that has been sitting in my inbox for weeks and weeks. Molly convinced me to sign up for a digital scrapbook class to learn how to use Photoshop. (I have had that for almost a year and cannot figure out how to use it.)

During my week off, I finally got started on it and wa-la. This is what I did in the first lesson. Pretty cool, huh? It's a 12x12 scrapbook page. I will probably never print it out, but I did learn quite a few things about Photoshop. The photography world should beware....here I come.

More of CBT's Birthday

I'm sure I've mentioned before that we tried to really set Christopher's birthday apart from Thanksgiving. There was the spend-the-night party a week before and then the day-long celebration on the date. There was the remote-controlled race and more cake. It was an awfully cute little birthday cake that Mama Grace got for him.

I had a few funky candles and for the second time this year, CBT was blowing out candles.

With only nine to blow out, he handled it quite easily.

After the singing and cake, it was back to play with more of his birthday toys. He loves NERF guns. We are now the proud owners of a NERF tommy gun. He is quite the special ops guy for a 9-year-old.

I think all-in-all he had a good birthday.

RC Races

I have to admit that it took a bit to put 2 and 2 together. The fact that RC stood for Remote Controlled...well, RC just wasn't part of my lexicon. But after CBT's birthday that all changed.

After the course was carefully set and the timer was ready to go, the races began. There were actually a series of races - one with each of the cares. The best cumulative time would win.

The competition was fierce and, of course, we had hurt feelings.

Concentration was key....

...but, form was also helpful.

We all participated....CBT, JST, Aunt Carol and me. It was actually a lot of fun once we recovered from feeling like we were treated unfairly.

It was a good day for a birthday. (Did I mention this was actually Christopher's birthday? We tried to make as much of it as we could since it falls so close to Thanksgiving.)

In the end practice paid off and you really could control that car.

The score tabulation became quite involved and the timer/scorekeeper had to sit to keep from overloading.

In the end, the competition was close except between 3rd and 4th place. James won and I came in last. A very distant last. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my trying to keep everyone having fun. I'm not afraid to let others laugh at me....especially, when I've done something ridiculously funny.

CBT's Birthday

It seems that once a week is working for me right now I'll go with it. After this post I will have you caught up to just before Thanksgiving. Well, you sort have part of Thanksgiving already, so maybe this gets you to the middle of Thanksgiving. But, as usual I digress.

Christopher was a Thanksgiving baby. He was supposed to be a Christmas baby with a due date of December 23rd. Thankfully (at least I think so), he was born the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in 2000. (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that everyone was at our house for Thanksgiving that year since I couldn't travel.) I went into labor early (for the second time) and announced to anyone that would listen at the hospital that I was not going home until I had Christopher. (I wonder where his strong will comes from.)

All that to say that often his birthday gets all mixed up with the Thanksgiving festivities or traveling. This year, we made a plan to have his party before Thanksgiving so it absolutely would be separate. You must understand that his parties are in the planning phase for a good six months before they occur. We agonize over all the details. He handles picking the theme and planning all activities. Unlike his older brother who has had most of his parties at a venue, Christopher always wants his at home so he can control events.

After several close calls with Stars Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman, the Army theme won the day. He carefully picked the decorations and the plan for the cake. Yep, he even decorates his own cake. Has for years. He threw me a curve ball this year, though. Usually, I just have to get icing of his choice on the cake and then he decorates. This year? Camouflage, of course. Have you ever tried making icing that is black, brown, gray and various shades of green? A challenge to say the least.

The red stuff on the lower right corner? It's a rocket from a rocket launcher on the left hand side. It's all the flame/fire that comes from the hit. He really doesn't leave out any details. The men were carefully positioned to look like a real battle. (Just ignore the turkey candle holders in the middle of the table. We got them off before it was time to blow out the candles.)

I love Luke's face in the background of this photo. Have no idea what they were saying or why he was reacting this way.

Did I mention it was a spend-the-night party? Did I mention that at 3am, I had to get up and make them turn off the light? Did you know that when you have an army theme, you have to play war for hours on end?

I think they had a really good time and they seemed to be in pretty good spirits when they left. I cannot be held responsible for what they were like after they got home (exhausted) and the sugar from the doughnuts kicked in. I had to reward them for protecting the homefront.

Another Book

Honestly, where does the time go? I have some cute CBT birthday party pictures to share and some others, but I just haven't had a spare minute. That seems to be a common theme among all the other mothers I speak, too. Another common theme? That our kids all think we're cranky. I met a woman yesterday whose son I also just met made it is goal to let me know mom had been being cranky. I re-assured her I understood the difference in our definition of cranky and the mom definition. It was our little secret.

One thing I have been doing more of, even though I really don't have the time, is reading. I have come across several, really thought-provoking books. The one I just finished is The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian.

Parts of it just made me sick, others made me think. It really made me want to protect my children from all kinds of things. I highly recommend it.

More light-hearted fare soon. I hope you all are enjoying your Christmas season.