snowflakes...

Last night as I roamed the World Wide Web, I stumbled upon a really phenomenal site. If you have a fascination with children's books illustrations and all things Christmas as I do then Robert's Snow for Cancer's Cure will be pretty close to nirvana for you too. Hurry over and look through all the snowflakes. You're sure to find one designed by your favorite illustrator and maybe you'll even find a new favorite illustrator while you're there. Good stuff.

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

In my work room anyway.

I need to raise all my work surfaces to high boy bar top height. Lately work has been quite a challenge. You see I have an unruly, quick handed octopus who has a terrible case of selective memory and hearing that lives under my desk. He is cleverly disguised as two really cute little boys, but in reality, he's a little genetically mutated monster that LIVES to shred any and everything I'm working on at the moment! It's karma, I know it is, but really, I couldn't possibly have been THAT bad, right? Here's a picture of one half of the mutation in disguise:

Anyway, back to the looking like Christmas in my work room. I am working on Christmas designs and have snowmen scattered all about and a stack of drawings to turn into various dolls, ornaments and graphics. All the while I'm swatting tentacles and trying to keep on track. (Rainy weather is the worst when you have two little boys that can be entertained for hours by a sandbox and 47 various baseballs, golf balls, and soccer balls.)

and there was blood...

Yesterday Caleb took his first tumble down the stairs. To set the stage for you, the three of us were downstairs folding laundry. Once the basket was full we all made for the stairs. Logan headed up first with his stack of clothes, I was right behind him with the basket and Caleb was right behind me, bringing up the rear. As I was putting the basket down to turn around, grab Caleb and shut and lock the gate, Caleb decided to cop a squat at the head of the stairs. Well, his little bum was hanging about an inch over the top step and that's all gravity needed to get the child rolling. That is rolling down the longest stretch of stairs on our stair case. He came to a stop on the landing, face up and temporarily dazed. I flew down the stairs to scoop him up and survey the damage and there was blood! Coming from his mouth. and his chin. and the screaming was blood curdling. The first thing I did was pry open his mouth and count teeth. All there, however he wouldn't let me wiggle them to make sure none were loose. We went to the kitchen and started cleaning him up and he started to calm down. Logan fetched the "boo boo pig" from the freezer and tried to show Caleb how to hold the BBP to his wounds. So cute. While Logan was giving instructions on the proper use of the BBP, I was able to wiggle some teeth. Nothing wiggled. PHEW! As it turns out he cut his lip just a little bit and some how scratched the under side of his chin. Thankfully these little guys quickly forget the pain and heal lightning fast too. I had nightmares myself, about me falling down the stairs while holding Caleb and Logan falling down the stairs with a wire hanger, Lynn falling down the stairs with a fork and knife, etc. Needless to say, I need a nap.

my day with boys...

khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!...

Are you picturing Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise shrieking in dismay at a totally Beyond the Thunder Dome-d Mr. Roarke? Well, that's the image that sprang to mind as I was yelling, "M*&%$#F$%^#*@ Shhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrpppppiiies!" A blue sharpie to be precise. A blue sharpie wielded, once again, by my three year old. This time the carpet in his bedroom was the victim. I am on the hunt for AModex Stain remover as recommended by the good folks at Sharpie.com. I think I'm going to have to call the company direct and buy the biggest industrial sized container they offer. I should probably be checking to see if they're a publicly traded company and buy some stock while I'm at it.

my big birthday boy...

Seems like just yesterday my friend, Tammy, was introducing me to this guy named Lynn and his friend Jason. I was 16 and still in high school and he was 19, in college and in a fraternity. He was a scruffy, skinny soccer player who smoked menthol cigarettes (WTF?). As far as I was concerned he was NOT my type. However, he was a hoot to hang out with and would work well as a summer boyfriend. After all, he drove a really nice car and could buy beer without being carded. HA! As it turns out, my "summer boyfriend" stole my heart and now, here we are FOURTEEN (fourteen?!!? I'm feeling age sneak up on me...) years later, married almost seven years with a three year old and a soon-to-be-one-year-old. Happy 33rd Birthday Lynn! We love you THIS MUCH, Amy, Logan and Caleb.

On a separate note, I finally took pictures of my newest Lolly Kate pattern. Take a peek. I also worked up a pretty versatile ornament pattern last night. They are simple, stitched panels that can be left as flat ornies or you could stuff them with polyfil and dried spices for little holiday sachets. I haven't come up with a clever name for them yet, but they are available finished and in pattern form!

pink ribbon challenge...

In case you've been under a rock, October is national breast cancer awareness month. Take a minute and sign up at The Breast Cancer Site. They provide free mammograms to low-income, inner-city women. While you're at it, visit www.komen.org for information on early detection and screening.

The State Fair of Texas takes place during the month of October too and we took the boys out this weekend. The weather was beautiful and the funnel cakes were tasty as usual. We wandered through the livestock pens where we saw TONS of cattle. We looked at lots of John Deere tractors, shiny new horse trailers and handmade cowboy boots.

We HAD to see the midway because my husband has a penchant for rickety, tetanus causing carnival rides. That and our three year old is a budding adrenaline junkie. Thank God it's only a once a year thing.