lit*chick

busy with busyness

I finished Washington Square on Sunday night. Wow. A pretty short book, but thick on language. A wonderful character study of a father, daughter, aunt, and the daughter's suitor.  I can't wait to discuss it at our next book club. Have been reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo (Because of Winn Dixie, Tale of Despereaux) aloud to the kiddos.  Love her stuff.

Yesterday was one of those days with a lot of motion and nothing to show for it. I prepped some dinner for later this week, scrapped, read some, straightened up a little, cleaned out some of my closet. I wasted a good couple of hours at the library trying to find the remaining books on KWB's reading list. I only found 2 of the 12 I was looking for, not good library mojo.

This morning, our cleaning lady came - I love Tuesday afternoons. The house is totally clean for about 15 minutes and it smells nice and fresh. Then my imaginary bubble get burst by sweaty kids and their crumbly snacks. But for that 15 minutes, my house looks AWESOME!

Our usual pace of life is pretty low key. I say no to a lot of stuff. I don't take the boys out of the house for errands - they don' t enjoy shopping and I don't enjoy shopping with them. So, additional activities get me all keyed up. About one week every few months it all hits at once. This is that week: it's  Miji's birthday later this week, her twin girls have a birthday on Friday, I have a lil scrappin road trip on Saturday, and all the normal stuff. Add in some school supply shopping, the a/c is still broken, the window guy didn't show up and tomorrow is August.  So I feel busy, or whatever. (Not a fan of the word busy).

I'm off to thesaurus.com to find some alternative words for busy. (how about involved or bustling?) Hope everyone gets to read a little something this week. I'll be finishing up Rainbow's End in the next couple of days. Then I'm going to rest my mind with a children's book - The Higher Power of Lucky which won the Newberry this year or last?  And yes, I'm still reading Dancing Girls of Lahore. One of Miji's birthday gifts will be my finishing that book...

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Winner part deux

Yay Miss Joni. I'll email you for your addy.

Some of you may already know that I LOVE sushi. Could easily eat it everyday. I love Korean food (spec. when Miji or her  mom are cooking). Thai & Chinese - also good.  What may come as a shock(or not) is the Owen also loves all these foods. His favorite, of course, is when Miss Miji cooks Korean. We went over there last night for dinner (Big Daddy K & KWB went to Transformers movie). The Owen barely touched his pizza, instead he came over to my plate which was chock full of homemade Korean goodies. He grabbed my chopsticks and proceeded to eat shrimp and peas.  Can you say Fine Motor Skills Rockstar?

If Janice's proudest moment was laundry day, mine was chopsticks night.  Finally I have a foodie.  Miji was ready for him to marry her daughter (her and I as inlaws - what could be better?), while I just had visions of being able to meet him in obscure restaurants when he is an adult. I also think we may have found a way to keep the Owen at the table - it took him about 10 minutes to finagle a few peas onto his sticks.

As always, I would like to get some scrapping or reading time in this weekend.  I submitted layouts for consideration with a monthly kit club to become part of the design team. I am excited and hopeful for the outcome. I think I should hear in a couple of weeks. I've had a big creative boost since joining the SIStv site and have been stretching myself to try new things. I think the kit club design teams would be a great opportunity and a good pace for my schedule. So we'll see.

Thanks to all who participated in Free Book Friday. Spread the word - it will probably be a couple times a month. No set schedule - I'd like to keep you guessing.  Also, please continue to share what you are reading. I am a nosy bookworm and love to hear about other people's reading experiences.

Enjoy the weekend.

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Free Book Friday

Okay - because I'm starting late I'll extend the hours. Leave me a comment sometime before  midnight tonight. Winner will be selected randomly by the Owen - as everything he does is random. Here is the prize:

I think this falls under the historical chick lit category. Like a decaf skim version of Birth of Venus, etc...

Lots happening around here. During lunch yesterday, I snuck upstairs to shower. The Owen came up rubbing his cheeks saying "Look, I'm shaving". I'm thinking , "haven't we done this before?". But apparently not, as we haven't used PEANUT BUTTER as shaving cream ever. Yes, his lunch was smeared all over his hands and face. So for the rest of the day I caught a whiff of Jif everytime the Owen was near.

We also had an international playdate with Miji's cousins from Australia. Super cool kids! Very polite and fab-o accents. I could listen to them talk all day.

I actually finished a book! (small victory) I read through The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood.  Besides making me want to learn how to knit, it turned out to be a little more weighty than I had thought upon picking it up. I totally related to the creative therapy aspect, as the women's stories unfolded.  And I found out the author had lost her young daughter which gave the book some more depth. Recommended for sure.

Have a great weekend. Don't forget to leave me a note below.

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child labor law-ndry

Question: is it illegal for 5 & 3 year olds to work folding several loads of laundry?

Answer: I don't really care because it is nothing short of a MIRACLE and they VOLUNTEERED.

I tossed 3 loads onto the couch this morning, ready to be sorted and folded. Caleb & the Owen eagerly began folding too. Folding being the loose term for making the clothing into as small of a bundle as possible without it losing its shape.  Apparently, they were motivated by what all boys are driven by - competition. They were trying to see whose pile of clothing was bigger. (Never mind that it was predetermined by the person who wore the most clothes)  And then I heard myself utter words I had never thought I possible: "STOP FIGHTING OVER THE LAUNDRY!".  They were having a tug of war with the last piece of laundry because they loved it so.

This very well may be Janice's proudest moment. Raising up young launderers to carry on the tradition - we will leave no stain untreated!

Here are some pics so we can remember fondly this momentous occasion:

cheering themselves on

sock matching

and the big FINALE.

Oh, and yesterday was soooo nice. I enjoyed a fabulous sushi lunch with Miji followed by wandering aimlessly amidst aisles of paper and housewares. I could totally live with every piece of dishware being mismatched. It's too hard to pick just one pattern, dontcha think?

I read through some of C.S. Lewis' Letters to Children last night and was struck by his ability to completely relate to the children while not talking down to them.  Much like the Narnia series, his correspondence was filled with warmth and truth. A lovely collection if you are a fan - and even if you aren't.

Lots more going on here, but I'll save some for tomorrow.  And tomorrow is another Free Book Friday!

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A Couple of "Me" Days

Today was a me day at home - finishing some laundry and preparing for a me day out of the house.  I managed to read some more of Washington Square last night. I was reminded again of how worthwhile reading the classics can be - such wonderfully descriptive language and subtle sarcasm. I'm really loving it.

My hubs decided to take a few days off this week. So tomorrow I plan to scrapbook (out of the house, of course), have a nice quiet sit-down kind of lunch, and get a pedicure. My feet are in dire need of some pampering - too much barefeetness. This also means we'll have a Janice Friday instead of Wed. It should give us a couple extra days to clear out the pantry in prep for her arrival.

I also wanted to highlight Michelle's layout of chick lit books. When I saw this on the sistv website, I knew it would be a great resource over here - and good eye candy from the talented mizzm! So from across the world, New Zealand to be exact, I present a book list in the form of a scrapbook layout. What could be better than that?

Thanks Michelle for allowing me to post this here!!

I'm off to read now..

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A Scrapalicious Weekend

Date night was great.  The restaurant was a total surprise and was sooo super yummy! lookie here: Roy's.  Our next ladies night out might have to be at Roys. I had edamame, sushi, and a trio of fish presented by the chef.  Really fabulous! Afterwards, the weather was nice and it was early so we didn't want to go home. We went to the park near BWI and watched the planes land.  A lovely evening. Way to go Daddy K.

In between date night and church (&sleep), I managed to get some scrappin done for the challenges over at SIStv. 

  this covered 3 challenges at once. It was based on a sketch, used 3 different fonts in the title, and used up the rest of my purse stickers.

this was for 2 challenges - use something transparent and do a self portrait using an office supply.

combined the use some circles challenge with the wanted poster challenge.  I won the wanted challenge!! thanks elly!

Here is the winner of the book cover challenge I hosted, congrats to kate:

(yes those are peppercorns on her title) inspired by this cover:

Sending you out A Thousand Splendid Suns this week.

It was totally fun and I got to play around and create stuff out of my box. Sadly all this craftiness did not allow me to crack open a book.  I can feel some serious reading coming on soon. I also have a lot of catching up with household chores.  And of course, the kiddos are having a weekend hangover. Fighting every 2 minutes about swords and other related nonsense. Asking for snacks every 3 minutes.  Asking for computer time every 5 minutes. Just generally uncooperative. Another normal Monday here.

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Saturday scraps

What a lovely day here! The weather is perfect. We had a relaxing morning. Igot to go to the grocery store alone. I've been hanging out over at www.scrapinstyletv.com for the day of scrap challenges. There are some really fun ones - totally inspiring as usual.

My challenge is  "You CAN judge a Book by its COVER". I know I'm guilty of buying & reading books simply because I love the cover. Well, besides reading it, you can get inspiration from the design, the title, colors, pictures, whatever. Do a layout with a specific book cover in mind. Then post your work over at SIStv and link it to my challenge thread on the message board. You have until Sunday night at midnight e.s.t. to post. I'll choose the winner and they will receive a copy of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini.

Here is my example:

titled " girls, sisters, friends" -  my mom & aunt in 1950. I used a new silhouette stamp I got from a poppy ink kit.  The size is a 6x12 (my first) -- lovin how easy it is!

Here is my inspiration:

Love love love this cover.

I also managed to do eliseblaha's paint challenge:

with a picture of my sweet Caleb.

Get on over there and check it out. I'll be on and off the boards over there. It's date night tonight - woohoo!!

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TGIF

All finished with VBS and will hopefully be resuming normal activity soon. The kids had a blast - KWB was weeping because it was over, Caleb was coloring some extra crafts I brought home (just like him to keep the party going) and the Owen recharged his battery watching Curious George which means NO nap!  It's not totally over - there is a program tonight for the kids to sing the songs they learned. But I'm all done! We had really great teenage girls helping in the craft room - they were motivated and organized and fabulous workers.

Just for grins, here is a look at my pantry before we threw out some of the snacks that were disgusting (i.e. the strawberry milkshake oreos - i don't think the middle is supposed to peel away like silly putty):

Thanks mom for stocking the bar(s). I think we'll be set for a while.:)

Miss Joni asked me what my 5 star books are and I'm sure they are pretty standard. I read a lot of 4 star books, but they have to be unbelievably good to get my 5. My all time favorite is  Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. I also gave the big 5 to Kite Runner, Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and To Kill a Mockingbird. That's it for my top 6.

I would love to get some reading and scrapping done this weekend.  I have missed several scrapbook challenges at my fave sites so I need to get back in the groove. I will be hosting a scrappin challenge over on the SIStv site tomorrow. There will be a hint on the mb over there later tonight - but here is the sneak peek for you now:  you'll need to go find a book with a cover you love (it can be one you own or you can find one online). This should be a good time (prizes are involved), so you should come on over there tomorrow for all the fun & games.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

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Wednesdays with Janice

Okay, so right after I hit publish last night I found the Owen like this:

laying on Daddy K, thumb sucking, nigh nights holdin, snorin, all worn out. He didn't wake up when I changed his diaper, put on his pjs and carried him up to bed.

Today: Craft room chaos. Lots more glue. The kids loved vbs - it was beach day so everyone wore bathing suits and during outdoor time there was a giant inflatable water slide.

Picked up my niece. Dropped everyone back at my house with Grammy. Ran out to do errands close to home. Back to pick up Caleb for speech.  Then more errands with Caleb before getting home at 5.  Pancakes, bacon & fresh corn on the cob (that would be mine)for dinner.  Then baths. When the kids get in bed, I'm sneaking out to the bookstore to wander aimlessly among the shelves.

Since I missed the onslaught of Janice goodies, I took a looksie in the pantry and found every kind of bar (granola, milk & cereal, chewy granola, trail mix, oatmeal, & South Beach) - no joke! Plus the new product of the week is Oreo's filled with strawberry milkshake creme.  Sounds good in theory, I'm not so sure about the execution. I'll take a pic of my stuffed pantry tonight and post tomorrow.

Hoping to read, scrap, or sleep tonight. Leave me a note and let me know what your reading and what you think about it so far...

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a little pick me up

I am shredded. I realize it is only day 2 - but the vbs craft room is a killa.  200 kids + glue + paint + markers + sand + scissors + foam + more glue = me done. I realize I'm a wimp. One of the other workers in the room is my pregnant friend. She is still looking fresh & upbeat. I am looking wilted & wiped.

Apparently only Caleb and I are feeling the pain - we napped together today.  The Owen is all amped up from his rockstar status among the preschool set. Karl William can't stop talking about every detail. All of this is GOOD! Just tiring. Really tiring. Can't function properly tiring.

So imagine my delight when Miji & the girls (her twins) stopped by to give me this:

All of them in one book. The mother load. Her $2 find at B&N. A dream come true. Unfortunately, I'm too tired to lift it. When I regain my strength I'm going to carry it upstairs and put it next to my bed so I can read Miss Jane whenever I want.

That is my little bit of happy on a day that kicked my butt. The other happy thought is that tomorrow is a Janice day. :)

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