Two funny things. And some New Year's resolutions.

Or maybe I should call them "embarrassing things" that happened over the Christmas/New Years' week.

1. My uncle had a brand new camera. He was holding it. And as I was giving him a welcome/hello hug, it flew out of his hand and fell to the floor. And it's broken. He'd taken about 6 pictures with it. And even though the camera's demise was not all my fault, I was still embarrassed.

2. We were on our way to a New Year's Day party. All five of us. We don't travel light. So I was carrying either child or a bag plus the veggie tray we were bringing. As our host opened the door, I was approaching the steps and somehow the handle of the tray detached from the bottom part which held the veggies and dip. Everything fell all over the sidewalk! Tomatoes rolled into the bushes. Cucumbers and carrots got stuck between the cracks of the sidewalk. And the dip's container cracked open and leaked french onion dip everywhere.

3. We got the Middle Bear a Plasma Car for Christmas. He likes it. But the Little Bear (the biggest brother) always seems to get to ride it. Anyway, I ride it in the basement after they go to bed. It is seriously the most fun toy in our house.

The Christmas Card I Should Have Sent…

I had great ideas about Christmas cards this year. We actually purchased a new camera so we could take better pictures. And the pictures are better. But the poses...and the photographer...still the same!

I've gotten so many beautiful cards from friends this year that I couldn't help considering bucking the tradition of sending the prettiest, perfectly styled family and send the funniest card.



Nothing says ‘Merry Christmas’ like a scrunched up newborn face and two less-than-enthusiastic kids.

I actually had a whole list of outtakes from attempted Christmas photo shoots to share, but I decided they might embarrass all my boys someday. (So I'll just share them with relatives instead!)

I still don’t have my [actual] cards. Maybe after Christmas I'll get them sent out.

I guess I should have started earlier. But this is the card I thought I should have sent. Maybe I'll write a Christmas letter that I should have sent and share it here, too.

CSA Mystery Vegetable Answer.

Did you see my post on our CSA experience yesterday?

What is this?



Well, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer.

The Cons of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

We joined a CSA this year.

Have you heard of a CSA? CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It means you pay money to a farm at the beginning of a growing season and each week you receive produce (your share) from that farm and/or surrounding farms.

I liked the idea of getting locally grown, in-season food. I thought it would be fun to try new recipes and new vegetables. The quality of vegetables and fruits was great.

However. It was not cheap. So I didn’t want any of it to go to waste.

But some of it did. There are apparently some foods I just don’t like. In fact, no one in our family likes them.
Case in point: Beets.

I tried cooking them numerous ways. The final way was trying to make ‘beet fries’. I won’t even bother linking to a recipe so you can try it. They just are not worth making. I ate some of them. But they did not taste like fries.

How Alarm Clocks are Ruining my Sleep

Something ridiculous that happened at our house last week. At least twice.

Our two-year old, aka "The Middle Bear", has an alarm clock in his room. My husband Greg and I like it there since we often want to know the time.

The Middle Bear likes to play with it. In fact, he often (inadvertently) sets the alarm.

Well, as you probably know, alarm clocks default to midnight (12:00 am) as the alarm setting. And of course, this one was set to the default setting.

The *Six* Love Languages

Have you heard of the five love languages? If not, Google it.

Maybe you have even read the book about the love languages?  My husband and I talked about them before we got married. It seems like a standard pre-marriage counseling topic.

You’re supposed to identify one or two of them that speak of your personality…as in how your spouse can love you best.

But you know what? I love all of them. I love to be loved through each and every single one: quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. I can’t identify which makes me feel the most loved!

Skinny Jeans: They're Not for Everyone.

I think I’m one of the only women my age not wearing skinny jeans. When they were first popular (five years ago?) only the junior high girls in the youth group at our church wore them. And I was a pharma rep then. Skinny jeans wouldn’t have been appropriate work attire.

Then I was pregnant. Skinny jeans wouldn’t have fit. And they [probably] didn’t sell any maternity skinny jeans in my price range.

Reasons Why My Husband is the Greatest

Even though I haven't been crafting much (I've been busy with a few custom crocheted hat orders), I still want to share at least some of my life via this blog.

About two weeks ago, my husband called to say he was going to be late coming home from work (I appreciate when he calls with that information, that way I don’t spend the next half hour debating with our two-year old if that was Daddy coming in the garage or a big truck going past…)

….but he also told me he would now be required to work mandatory overtime (50 hours per week plus every other Saturday at the office from 9-3.) And he works 30-35 minutes from our home, so that means he has travel time on Saturdays, too.

(And bear with me, I realize this isn't that much and that lots of people work on Saturdays. And also please understand he already works from home most Saturdays.)

My reaction? As I sat holding my baby during normal evening fussy time, amid a living room strewn with various toys, I cried. 

Keep in mind, post-partum hormones may have contributed to this less-than-stellar reaction…along with lack of sleep.