Embrace The Camera

I'm hopping aboard the "Embrace The Camera" train.
The challenge from Emily of The Anderson Crew: get in front of the camera rather than being behind it.
I attempted to document a couch wrestling session with the boy. Am I happy with the way I look in this photo? Not especially, but I wouldn't trade this moment for anything. Ever try to hold a camera steady while a 2 1/2 year old attacks you? Didn't think so. heh.
Jellybean tried to get in on the action but alas, she is too little to get up on the couch, not that she didn't try.
I hope that my children will remember the day to day fun we had and that they won't remember a time when I was ever too busy to wrestle.

If you'd like to embrace your camera, link up here.

Alphabet Love

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One thing I wasn't prepared for when becoming a mother was how much your child's obsessions can seep into your own tastes. My son is absolutely crazy for anything that has to do with the ABCs. We therefore own dozens of alphabet themed books, flashcards and yes, we have a few alphabet posters. I find myself inexplicably drawn to alphabet items of all sorts. By this point I have amassed quite a list of items that either I would like to own because I like the way they look, or because they would make my son's head explode if I were to purchase them for him.

Up top is the last one I found that I feel I must have. It is "alphabetty" a color yourself poster by Summersville.

Here are some more of my faves:
1. Woodland Forest Friends by Potato Patch
2. Alphabet Eye Chart by My Sweet Prints
3. ABC Blue and Green Pillow by Pillow Factory
4. Animal Alphabet by Giraffes and Stuff

Here are a couple of the posters we currently have hanging in my kids' rooms:


5. ABC Poster by Enna
6. Now I know my ABCs by Sugarfresh

Are those enough for you? If not, I'm sure I can provide a few more.

Fortunately, the ABCs are not my son's only obsession. He also adores clocks. Stay tuned for a future post featuring all of the clocks I've been coveting.

Clay Gift Tags

I've decided that this year will be dubbed: "The Year of Gifts" I'm not very good at remembering birthdays, but this year I have vowed to not only remember the birthdays of my friends and family, but also to work on buying truly thoughtful gifts that they will hopefully enjoy.
Because a gift isn't truly finished until it is wrapped in a pretty package, I decided to try my hand at some clay gift tags. This project has already made the rounds about the "blogosphere", but it's still a fun project; one I had a lot of fun doing. I found this tutorial and had it marked for more than a year before I decided I had to try it.
I didn't need to purchase many materials. I bought two colors of clay, some gold acrylic paint, and some small cookie cutters. I did decide to order a metal stamping kit (the one recommended in the tutorial) so I could stamp the small letters. Now that I have it, I'm thinking of trying my had at some metal working in the future.
Besides those materials, I found some popsicle sticks, a toothpick and a small plastic rolling pin from my son's play dough set.
Here are the results. I think they turned out cute and I can't wait to give them away on gifts. I'll be giving out a few today.


Happy Valentines Day!