Picture day..... not so much

So, this is G on picture day....

Yep, at home with me. With a fever of 102.2. And an ear infection. Poor g..... So, thanks to all of you who called, emailed, commented, smoke-signaled your opinion. (For the record, most of you thought he should be photographed in his stylish head gear. He has it off right now because it's making his fever worse!)

I had all these visions of posting some great blog-read today.... but the kiddo hasn't slept at all (minus a small nap, in which I was able to get in my c25k workout - wk 6, day 2!!)

Oh, and in other ear news today..... My niece A has an ear infection and walking pneumonia and is on her way to a 2nd set of tubes in her ears. And the Everything's daughter P has TWO ear infections and has been advised not to get on a plane (they're supposed to be traveling on Thurs). Seriously, it's an epidemic!

Okay, he has reached super pissed off status now. I'll be back tonight (I hope!)

Picture day at school - a poll

So, Mrs. Director stopped me on Fri as I was leaving the kids' school, to ask me if I wanted them to take off G-man's helmet for picture day on Tues. Picture day? She points to a poster (that I had obviously missed)....

So, what do y'all think? Part of me thinks - this is him right now, leave it on! The other part of me says - take it off, it doesn't match his outfit. ;) As you know, his helmet is black with Oklahoma State decals on it - making him a billboard for our love of orange. But right now, on the day before pics as I'm brainstorming what he'll wear... I'm thinking a brown polo shirt and jeans. And that doesn't 'go' with the helmet....

Helmet or no helmet!??! Leave me a comment and tell me what you think!

In other school news, Big Sister started "annsitioning" (in her words) to the big kid class over the last couple wks, but today is her first full day with the almost 4-year olds... Mr. Fix-It dropped her off and she cried and cried! Not like my outgoing little girl at all. She told me over the weekend that she'll miss Mrs. Teacher. "But mom, I love her soooo much." Awww...

And I like Mrs. Teacher, too, but is it wrong that I'm somewhat happy to be starting new with a teacher that doesn't know about this note that was sent home last month:

Big Sister is in her back-up clothes today because she was asked several times to leave the skirt of her dress down, but she wouldn't.

When I asked Big Sister why she had on sweats.... she said, "Mom, I kept showing the kids my panties!" with a big grin. Geez.... I thought we had until college to worry about these things. Or at least high school....

Be on the lookout for: pics of a semi-homemade big kid room! We finally finished Big Sister's room over the weekend and it looks amazing! I'll post pics of it (and G-man's semi-homemade nursery) really soon!

Pink & green & dots - a giveaway!

Y'all know that I simply adore all things personalized and especially if they feature cute color combos (pink/green, blue/brown, aqua/lime) and extra points for dots!

So, again, try your luck at beating me (you probably have a good chance, as I haven't won anything yet!) - just get here before 2/26.

Spring shopping alert!

Oh, that evil Gymbo is at it again! They know exactly how to talk to me and reel me in.... They sent me THE. cutest. Easter outfits for Big Sister and G-man. Just check out this precious dress:
Mrs. Everything - we're going to have to get your sewing into full gear (sometime... when you have time for that... ha!) and try to come up with a recession-proof version!
And wouldn't little G-man look adorable in this.... minus the hat, of course, because by then he'll be helmet free and we'll want everyone to be able to stare at that perfectly symetrical, round noggin of his. Especially at the price it came. More on that later. maybe.

BUT.... something I'm definitely planning to buy, just as soon as I can get myself to a Target.... how super-duper cute are these nautical flip flops?

Ahhh, makes me want to ditch that upcoming mtg and head straight there now. Big Sister has on a tshirt with anchors today.... we're feeling the nautical vibe. And it has nothing to do with my desire to scoop up my family and leave town (and all our problems!) and jump on a boat to paradise. Well, maybe it does...

Dallas Giveaway (and a quick C25K update!)

How cute is this, y'all? It's a fun PINK giveaway from a fellow Dallas blogger (although a far more seasoned one that me - I should take some notes!) Here are the details:

A PINK Cupcake Giveaway!
So what can you win?
500 Cupcakes - An enormous collection of cupcake recipes!
PINK Silicone Cupcake Trivet - A Sur La Table favorite of mine!
Hot PINK Cupcake Liners - As seen in my Valentine's Day Red Velvet Cupcakes!
PINK Sparkling Sugar - For fabulous, pink, sparkling cupcakes!

You have til noon on 2/24 to try to beat me out of this one!

And thanks so much for all the encouragement for today's jog. I needed it! OMG. That was the hardest thing I'v done since.... recovering from my 2nd c-section. Mr. Fix-It said he could hear me breathing from downstairs! But I did it! And now I'll need to decide.... whether I move on to wk 6 next wk or do a refresher course on wk 5.

C25k: The dreaded week 5

In January 2007, my (then new) friend Sasha shared with me the world that is couch to 5k (c25k, if you're hip!) Since then, I've been telling her (and anyone who will listen) how much it has changed my life.

At the time, Big Sister was 13 months old, and I was still carrying around 12 lbs of my baby weight. I was getting more depressed by the minute, when Sasha sent me the spreadsheet she created for c25k. (We're totally 2 peas in a pod because I create spreadsheets to keep everything organized... I guess I have my accountant father to blame for that!)

The c25k program takes you from any athletic level (like couch potato, for example) to jogging a 5k in 9 wks. Okay, realistically, it took me more like 15 wks to complete it... and mostly because I spent a month on wk 5. But by that summer, I was not only down to my pre-preggo weight, I was actually more toned than before baby and I felt great! I kept running until spring of 2008, when I hit 20 wks pg with baby G-man.

I have started back up.... and even though it's MUCH harder to find the time to jog with 2 crazy kiddos, than it was with 1.... I'm trying to just be proud of anything I'm able to do. That being said, tonight I have the third jog of week 5, which is 20 min of straight jogging

Please send me your strength.... your ipod play list (I like anything with a good beat, or any kind of rap/hip hop - sometimes those elicit lyrics help, somehow?! I know that sounds crazy).... anything that could help!

And if you want more info, let me know.... because Sasha started the revolution and we can help get you started!

Giveaway with Southern Charm

Y'all know how much I love etsy. I tell people all the time that you can find ANYTHING you'd ever want there. And if you can't find it, it probably wasn't all that great anyway.

This giveaway comes from my very, very first follower! She has a cute shop on etsy and makes these darling signs! I'm going to win, but you can go to her blog between now and Feb 25th for a chance to beat me You'll get to customize the colors and text on a sign (I love, love custom stuff!)

Visit her blog:

http://myflipflopz.blogspot.com/2009/02/giveaway-time.html?showComment=1234924380000#c3084451482884451222

Winning something like this is super semi-homemade, don't ya think?

My Big Fat Check

Yep, it's on it's way! And I usually use it at Starbucks for guilt-free caffeine! All of you know about this, right? If you love online shopping (and trust me, if you're a seriously time-starved working mommy like me, I know you couldn't live without it), then you simply must be on Ebates. If not, well... you're screwing yourself out of guilt-free coffee. Or shoes. Or pedis. Just go here and sign up. (But first email me and I'll send you my ebates referral email and we'll both earn an easy $5!)

Seriously, y'all, every little bit helps. My last check was over $25. Don't ya just love free shopping? Especially during a recession! ;)

Semi-homemade baby pics

Okay, I think I might have told you that (because of this damn recession), I decided to do semi-homemade 6 month pics for baby G-man instead of professional pics. (Big Sister and a super preggo me had some amazing professional pics done last summer by Kristie at http://www.kristieclarkphotography.com/, but we'll have to wait for spring for more!)

Anyway, I had a vision for these pics.... G-man in just a diaper and cute knit hat with ear flaps.... natural light on our back patio... those big baby blues... I found an amazing artist on etsy to custom knit the hat, exactly how I pictured (which makes it semi-homemade, yes?) for $11, including shipping. If you're ever in the market for something like this, check out Mighty Mama at: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5715905

She has tons of cute stuff for babies, toddlers, mommas! :) And she's really easy to work with, super accomodating.

Anyway, I can't find my PSE tutorial on how to edit to make his eyes "pop" with an intense blue. Anyone know how? I'd love to do that! Guess it shows that I've spent the last 3 years taking photos of a brown-eyed beauty! Now, I messed around a little (what an amateur!) with this photo, but I just need to find the time to edit the shoot we did yesterday (which - FINALLY! - included some pics of him in his baptismal outfit)...

Semi-homemade Valentine's

I love holidays. I always have these grand schemes of what I'd like to do to celebrate them... just creative touches here and there. And about half the time, those actually come to be. (Okay, so half might be a little generous... didn't I mention I work full time?) ;)

These Valentine cards are by no means some of my best work, but I think they made the cut, considering what we've had going on. My main objectives: custom, cute and cheap. I grabbed these foam gift tags at Michael's when they were on sale for $4 (for 30). Each kiddo had their own Valentine and it was attached to the foam tag - then Big Sister's had a Jolly Rancher sucker (she picked).

Big Sister's:

G-man's:

Then I did 10 teacher/director gifts for under $5. These cello bags are from the $ section in Target... then I added a couple bags of candy.... then curly ribbon to tie on the Valentine pic. It's not much, but I think it looks like more than $.50! And I added a sweet (but short) handwritten note for the teachers.

And here's the Valentine card we sent out to immediate family.... I'm not crazy about how this one turned out (I should have made the picture of the kiddos sepia instead of blk/wht), but... I'll tell you this much. Baby G-man's helmet has his name on the front and what a pain! I'll have to black it out on every picture before I post it. Love that.

And what's next on the semi-homemade front? G-man's 6 month pics, which we'll hopefully take on the back porch on Sun afternoon. In nothing but a diaper and a homemade knit hat. Not made by me... but homemade by a lovely gal from etsy. (I heart etsy! More on that topic to come!)