Catching up on finished projects!

Now that I'm coming out of my knitting haze, and can think clearly enough to post, I thought I'd better try to catch up on the happenings around here!

This letter M was a custom order for an Etsy customer. I have a love/hate relationship with custom orders. I absolutely love them, they're fun, they're challenging, they sometimes make me think outside of my usual ideas. I HATE...not knowing what they'll think. I'm my own worst critic, and so I spend a few days wanting to curl up fetal style, waiting until I hear that they liked it. (or, in my worst nightmare, that they hate it) Luckily, the news has always been good thus far :)

I will say I was REALLY happy with how this turned out, and so was she!

Ice Ice Baby

ice
Originally uploaded by sarah.cupp07

This was actually the beginning of December. I'm just now getting around to blogging it. But really, it applies through most of December. Seems every weekend we've had ice, freezing rain, snow, sleet, or a combination.

As much as I love winter's pristine beauty....this is getting old.

Where am I? What day is it?

Ah hah! Thought you'd got rid of me forever eh? Sorry guys, I'm back! :)

What kept me away so long? Family tragedy (thank God, for once, no!) Exciting happenings? no. Running away and joining a commune? nah.

Just...busy? December was a lot of knitting. A LOT of knitting. And some crochet, and making ornaments, and a custom order from an Etsy customer, and some other things that just somehow sap time from me. And before I knew it, I had my auntie pestering me for a blog post ;)

But I've MISSED my blog, and reading all of my blogs, and spending an hour aimlessly browsing through pictures on blogs, with no real purpose or intent ;)

Alright, enough of that, time for a real post!

Turkey Volume Guessing Man!

Since youtube won't let me imbed, you'll have to settle for one of my favorite audio clips...ever.

It seemed appropriate today:

http://www.zianet.com/area51/mst3k/814/tvgm.wav

Bonus points to anyone who knows its origin. =)


Happy Thanksgiving you turkeys! Drive safe, eat well, and let's all check in later to report our new waist girth! (and for those of you insane - er, motivated - enough to head out at the butt crack of dawn tomorrow, like my husband, I'll be thinkin' of ya! ...and by thinkin' of ya I mean curled up in a semi-coma-like state in my bed.)

Our first attempt at "organized" sports

- mine in the middle -

I blame the following events entirely on the child's mother. My people are not an athletic people. We seem to create breed of human that is either A. a crafty, artsy breed. or B. freakishly smart - physics, neurobiology, computers and the like. I can't think of any of us who really excelled in sports. We DO them, grudgingly. Some of us may even willingly and intentionally exercise, but that's as far as we go. Let's not get carried away. So this...is all my fault. The fact that he WANTS to play, all dad. The fact that he plays the way he does, ....sorry 'bout that!

- before practice started, open space + little boys = run! -

- none of the children have faces!! or...I'm just learning photoshop, and didn't learn how to blur until midway through these pictures -

So, soccer. 3-5 year olds, indoor. (its Illinois...in November. I don't think the kids would care. We parents, however, do better in a climate controlled setting.) Now I knew, this would be a mess. His first attempt at sports (aside from the disaster that was gymnastics, we never went back.) and...being prone to his father's attention span ;) the odds were not in his favor. He actually did quite well...until....

- Foul? Off sides? -

So we wrangle him back to his side, only now, we add help.

- I'm watchin' you punk. -

So now dad's standing guard. Ready to go should 'flash' find something else to do. And he does...

- dad's on it. -

Why does he keep running? because he's just following the ball. The other team was kicking, HIS team was listening to instruction. Duh! Drop these losers and head over to the fun side! ....at this point, a trip to the hall was made, with a chat about staying with your team, and listening to coach, or you would find yourself in the car on the way home. Much to his dismay.

Ok, things are looking better. I'm 97.3% sure he's not LISTENING, but he's sitting. On his side. We'll take it.

...crap.

I'd pay money to hear this conversation. In all honesty, I think was being very nice, and telling him how to do something. But I'm convinced he was offering money and candy if he'd just stay put. But....

we made it through. I was only 20% bothered that mine was the only "runner" while all the other kids stood, listened, and participated. Maybe 45%. Give or take. But he was thrilled to get a shirt. ....That he can wear until he graduates from high school. We might hit the sewing machine and see if we can't hem that bad boy a bit.

That's my boy! At least he'll be smart!

NaBloPoMo - No Mo'

In case you haven't noticed, or - like me - just can't keep track of days, I missed posting on Friday. *sigh*

In my defense, I was having a lovely time with Steph and Rob (Eddie's sister and her husband). We went to their aunt's for pizza, put the kids to bed, chatted for a bit, and a bit after 11, they decided to head home while the kids were sleeping, rather than the next morning. (Anyone with small kids knows, 4 hours in the car is best done with sleeping kids) I helped them get ready (aka, I had the very important "hold the baby" job) ;) and they hit the road a bit after midnite. Well....that made it Saturday. So even though I planned to post, alas, it was too late.

So then I sulked. Because good intentions don't write blog posts. But oh well, snuggling softly snoring babies always wins.

Uber Thursday

Thursday is boring post day! Hurrah! (no comments about EVERY day being boring post day around here!)

I have uber cute pictures of my uber cute son with my uber cute nephew. Except....my uber stupid computer doesn't want to uber-find them. I promise, they're cute.


My SIL and BIL got here today, and it was the first time I got to SEE the new babe. ....He's uber cute! As is his big sister. He's also uber cuddly. And he smells nice. And he's soft. And he has teeny tiny socks. And...and....and....swoon.

So between the excitement of long lost cousins (ok, they really saw each other not too long ago, but ask them and its been EONS) and new baby, and going out to eat with long lost cousins, everyone was uber-pooped tonite. Including me.

Goodnite uber-readers!

Talking Cats...

No, I'm not posting the video. I'm sure you've seen it. I was looking for it to send it to a friend, and tried google-ing "talking cats video" thinking that would solve my dilemma. Not so.

Did you KNOW there were so many talking cat videos on the internet?? (I should have known, it IS the internet) But holy cow! ...and not even the one I wanted.

So go ahead sometime when you're having trouble sleeping, google 'talking cats' and spend the next 4 days watching them all. Enjoy! :)

Sometimes you're just too tired...

...to even eat your snack.

This was a couple of nights ago. Zach pulled his usual "I'm HUN-gryyyyyy" complete with pitiful whine and pouty lip. We've learned this is nothing more than a ploy to get out of bed. So every so often we'll let him come down for a piece of bread. (keep in mind, he's NOT hungry, he's hoping to stay up later, so bread)

Normally he'll eat his slice of bread, and we go on our merry way back to bed. This time...the poor kid crumbled. :) I'd tried to wake him twice to eat, and he just kept muttering "I'm just eating my bread", without even opening his eyes. If I tried to lift him, "I'm just still eating". I'd sit him up, remind him to eat, and before I got 10 feet away, he'd be losing the battle and on his way down.

But he held the bread.

He did finally give in, and let me take him back to bed. Poor kid. You know he's pooped if he's too tired to EAT. ...he gets that from his mother.

Lumpy

Bah...we went out for pizza with some friends tonite - a lovely time - but I ordered some pasta bake thing instead (I'm not a huge fan of their pizza. Shh! Don't tell anyone, its a sin around these parts!) I'm convinced the pepsi and pasta have created some chemical reaction, swelled to double their size, and now its sitting in my stomach like a lump. Ugh...


I feel like I need to walk 10 miles. Oh, except for the fact that its November. In Illinois. And very windy. And dark.

....scratch the walk.

I'll just go do more of this...

I have an idea...

I'll be back in a bit....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back! With this:

My prototype if you will. Its a bit rough around the edges, but the basic idea is there, and it works! (forgive the off colors...that room is INSANELY yellow light, and I'm still learning photoshop....)

And if you haven't caught on (understandably!) its a placemat. More importantly, its a placemat for Zach. I was wiping the scum off - er...wiping the table down after dinner, and thinking to myself how disgusting milk dribbles are when you apparently miss some from the night before. And how I have a tablecloth, but that's in the pile of laundry to go in next because its dirty. And buying more tablecloths won't help, because I still don't want to strip and replace it every day.

(yes, my thought processes are lengthy and complicated!) :)

After all that, it finally occurred to me - PLACEMAT! *smacks forehead* duh!

I can make a dozen of them and just toss them in to be washed when he trashes one. With a placemat to take the brunt of it, the table will survive another day! Hurrah!

And just for kicks, I made it double-sided. I used some fabric I'd bought from jcasa a few months back. They were a couple of the larger scraps, and I've been wanting to use the tractor print to make SOMETHING for the boy! He loves that tractor fabric!

So, its a bit rough, but not bad for a fast attempt at 9:30 at night. =) Next version will be a bit bigger, and not so wonky (I hope!) but all in all, I'm pretty pleased with it.

A Good Sweater

Let's hope this posts, dunno what happened last nite. It supposedly posted, but wasn't there this morning and was hanging out in the "draft" section. Weird. ANYWHOO!

Today was the day. The day I've been dreading for weeks. The day that could have ruined all of my hopes.

Family Picture Day.

Why dread such an ordinary task? Wellllll, I'll tell you!

A. I officially and literally LOATHE pictures of myself. I don't care what pep talk you give me (because people always try) I *cringe* looking at pictures of myself. I'm (generally) ok with myself in person (though there are definitely cringing days!) but I'm SO. NOT. photogenic. Even a little. At all. None. I have this bizarre shaped head/face that does weird things in pictures, and the double chin pops up, and my hair looks insane, and my pores are huge, and, and, and ...and it ruins my life. Every stinkin' time! ;)

B. I have a 3 year old son who thinks no human should ever sit for more than 2 minutes at a time. What a waste! So I had fears of him either running off camera, or having a major meltdown/tantrum.

BUT....they went really well! My head is still strange, and he did run off camera...twice...but he was easily bribed with pieces of candy cane. I'm not against bribery if it means getting adorable shots of the boy! :) And OH! was he adorable!

I got to have a peek (this is the photographer friend I work for, so of course I got to have a peek!) and there were some cute ones! Since the last successful picture was Christmas 3 years ago, when Zach was 3 months old, I consider this a victory! *phew!*

That's me, happy, because I will have photographic evidence that I was at one time, in the same room with my son and husband. Because up until now, there are maybe 5 pictures with me IN them.

Hi, my name is Sarah, and I have fuzzy hair and a weird shaped noggin.

See? See how it gets oddly narrow? ugh...Yes, I'm strange, I'm aware. :)

The other good news, and the reason I look so artsy-fartsy above, is my new sweater. I love my new sweater. I'll buy 10 more like it. In the same color if I have to. I don't care.

I

Love

This

Sweater.

See? See how wonderfully black and forgiving it is? See how it makes me look decent even though my husband felt the need to take this picture at a 40-billion degree angle? *love* (the sweater and the husband)

After pictures, I stayed to work for a few hours. I was a bit bummed because Husband and The Boy were going to a friend's house for homemade soup, cookies, and a football game. (only 2 of those interest me, I'll let you guess)

Well, much to my delight and surprise, she sent home a container of homemade beef vegetable soup, peanut butter/chocolate chip/peanut cookies of some sort, rice krispie treats, and sweet rolls. YUM-MY. Zach and I had the soup and rolls for dinner tonite while Eddie's at work. Yum. So so good. And I didn't have to cook. Even better!

I'm trying to keep myself occupied to keep from devouring the other 2 rolls. I'm not sure what they're actually called, I call them sweet rolls, they're those yeasty/knot rolls that I love. We used to make them at Thanksgiving, they were one of my mom's "things". (Woman would throw a tantrum about store bought rolls at any major holiday) I might have to pull out the recipe and make a batch. Or 10. *shrug* :)

Well, my new sweater and I are headed for the couch. We may or may not be joined by a buttered sweet roll and some Pepsi. I can't say for certain, but pictures are over and I can always hit the gym on Monday to make up for it, so the odds are in my favor. ;)

Just Barely

But it is Nov. 2, so it counts. 10 minutes to midnite, and here I am.



I'll see you tomorrow! :)

National Blog Posting Month

...apparently. I was over at tree fall where she made mention of doing NaBloPoMo. WTHeck are you talking about?

That's what I said! So, I looked into it. Apparently November is National Blog Posting Month. Who knew? Well, ok....apparently A LOT of people knew, judging by the site. So the idea is, you 'sign up' to post EVERY. DAY. for the month of November. Every day? EVERY DAY??? Do you KNOW how many days are in November? 30!! 30 days!

Now, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but me posting every day is normally about as likely as me....building a particle accelerator. (I leave that to my cousin Justin, no kidding) So anyway, the odds are not in my favor, but I thought it'd be a good challenge. If he can build a particle accelerator - and other I'm sure useful things I can't spell or pronounce without help - I can manage a month of posting. See, I THINK about posting every day, I usually HAVE something to post, its just sitting my scatter-brained self down, and holding my attention long enough to load some pictures. :) Thus, I thought it'd be a good challenge. Making me actually blog what I'm already considering blogging! :)

So...fingers crossed! Let's see if I can do this!

...oh and the picture? Just because I feel weird posting with no pictures in a post. And just to prove that sometimes, there's no point arguing with a 3 year old boy....

Well, why not

Normally I skip these, because...I think they're dumb. There I said it. I'm blacklisted from the internets. ;) But I don't need to know what color, actress, fruit, or animal I am. But...for whatever reason, I found this on another blog and did it. (I know what reason, if I do the dumb quiz, I DON'T have to work on Zach's penguin pj's and realize what a nightmare they are and that I'm apparently pattern inept!)This was pretty good though, so go ahead, waste your time and try it! :)

you are mediumauqamarine #66CDAA

Your dominant hues are cyan and green. Although you definately strive to be logical you care about people and know there's a time and place for thinking emotionally. Your head rules most things but your heart rules others, and getting them to meet in the middle takes a lot of your energy some days. Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it. Your outlook on life is brighter than most people's. You like the idea of influencing things for the better and find hope in situations where others might give up. You're not exactly a bouncy sunshine but things in your world generally look up.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Getting there...

*ahem* notice anything to the right there?


(Is it sad I had to stop and think "wait, is my right their right?" yes you dummy!) =)

Yeah, see the suddenly LOOONNNNG list of bloggers? Yup. That's right, I finally realized I hadn't updated my blogroll since I started my blog. Every time I found a new blog (oh, about every 2.3 hours) I'd add it to my favorites. Done. Then later, I can go back to it....often. :) But apparently, its just too taxing to my poor gray matter, to actually go into blogger, add it and click 'save'. Oh, the exertion!

But that list, is painfully short. My list I READ is...not! egad it grew! When I wasn't looking! I didn't even add them all yet, I know I missed a few in my race to copy paste while Elmo was on.
Round 2 will come later, I think I hear my brain sizzling....

So...go! Read them! Love them! uh...add them to your blogroll. :)

Family Fun Day...Part Deux

Hello All! Remember a long, long time ago, in a far away blog, a certain blogger hinted at a follow up post to the tractor extravaganza? Well, here it is!

I was just building anticipation...uh yeah, anticipation. Right. (Its not that I started it, and... forgot) *ahem* MOVING ON!


So after we (I'd) had about all the tractor we (I) could take, we headed over to Lagomarcino's. Lagomarcino's is a family owned joint. They are KNOWN for their handmade chocolates, candies, and ice cream. ...My husband considers it a grave shame that I grew up in the area, and before this day, had only been...ONCE. With some friends from high school, I think. But now? NOW, I've been twice.


But I discovered something. I LOVE this place! Like, hide in the bathroom and wait quietly, hoping they'll lock up and leave me there, love it.

Let me show you why *I* love it -

First, its adorable, look at that awning, and awesome sign. You'd think I'd get a better picture of the sign, but apparently...no.

Come on in! And join me in staring at the floor. I love this floor. If I had a zillion dollars, I'd have this floor.

....I don't.

The booths are original (ok, EVERYTHING is original)

And those Tiffany style lamps, that were made to match the tile floor (I read that on the menu)

The soda counter. I mean, how can you mess up with a place that has a soda counter??

Ok, the light is cool, love the light, but LOOK at the ceiling. If I had a zillion dollars, I'd have that ceiling.

....I don't.

Zach enjoying himself in the mirror. I enjoy him in the mirror as well.

Now, let me show you why Eddie loves this place -

Gee, can you guess which of these was his lunch? If you've met my husband, this is an EASY answer.

Ding Ding Ding!!! You win! And as you can see, his son takes after him!

I will say, I'm NOT a fan of vanilla ice cream, just seems like wasted space. BUT, this vanilla ice cream won me over! Its super delish!

And now, why Zach loves this place -

OHHHHH yeah baby!

Decisions, decisions, decisions....

Candy pumpkins it is!

Zach's eyeing some John Deere candy-related item. I'm eyeing that huge chocolate case to the left....

Dude! Move! I can't see the chocolate!

And, for the record, we bought the MOST delicious caramel apple there that day! We made the mistake of buying "one to share". Pfffft! That was a dumb idea! Trust me, next time, we'll buy 2. They're so good you find yourself giving your spouse the stink-eye if they come too close to your half. "What's mine is yours" does NOT apply here.

I give....

*ahem* ok, the moving hasn't gone EXACTLY as planned. There was a problem when I realized the cable won't reach to the other side of the room. an intelligent person would have seen this issue in the beginning, not 30 minutes into dismantling the computer. Hmm...so, I had to re-think the blog-fast. I'm back. I missed you.

So...I'm intermittently typing this from "work". I feel funny calling it "work" because A. I enjoy it (hah!) and B. uh...I'm sitting here blogging.... And my boss would be ok with that. Because this computer takes about 7.9 minutes to open a file, and 12.4 to save one.


Ok, Ok, that's a slight exaggeration. ...slight. So I click "open" choose my file, switch over to blogger, write my life story, and about the time I hit post, my picture is ready to go! (seriously, I just counted, 28 seconds last try)

Ok, so what's new with Sarah? Not a lot. If you've been a reader of this blog....you...knew that. Smart aleck.

I do have some pictures I want to share with you (family fun day part 2, our trip to the pumpkin patch, plus random "isn't my son the cutest thing on earth?" until you want to hurl from over-exposure to his stunning grin pictures) But...I'm at work. No pictures. Sorry dudes.

I'm mainly just popping in to say hi -




......while I






.....wait for





.......files to






.....open.






.....or save.





....either is





....a lengthy





.....wait.





Alright, that's all from me! Back to chillin' with my Jimmy Eat World CD and get my order done and go home, maybe watch some COPS, and crash.

Have a great weekend! Make sure you do something fun! :)

I haven't forgotten you...

Hello Blog! Hang on, let me clear those cobwebs off...

Better!

I haven't forgotten you, I did a stupid thing and decided my next blog post would be pictures of my newly arranged den of filth and clutter - er, uh - I mean...office/craft room. heh heh...heh.

My intent was good and wholesome. See using my logic, I was excited to get it done, and that excitement would speed the process, and then I could share my glee with you all! Cue the sunshine and birds chirping!



Except - its not done. And I'm not even talking major renovations, no paint, no big projects, just a couple new bookshelves and re-arranging things. And...its not done. Why you ask?

Simple, there's no paint, no big projects. I'm still staring at white walls, and old carpet, and a problem with windows/vent layouts that keep foiling my plans. So no matter what I do, I'm just not feelin' it. I've moved things 3 times, and still don't "like" it. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, amongst other things ;)

BUT...it does look better. Good enough I *might* even open the door when we have company over. Just might. Let's not get carried away here! Before now it was "that room" that you'd see them walk towards, panic, sprint over, throw your body across the doorway panting, while saying "that? that's...nothing, let's go into the KITCHEN!!" praying they didn't see anything.

See, I LOATHE clutter, it makes me insane, I can't think if there's clutter. But...I'm horridly prone to it. I'm one of those "start a project NOW" people. Who cares if there are 3 others out, I thought of it and I have to do it NOW before I lose my inspiration.

Now, normally, this technique works well. The juices are flowing, you're excited and inspired and things come about easily. Project is finished, you have an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, and off you go!

...then you have a 3 year old. :) And 'inspiration' is always interrupted. ;) And somehow I'm still trying to adapt. You'd think I'd have caught on by now, but - apparently - I'm a slow learner. To compensate for this flaw, I try to keep it contained to one room. In hopes of preventing my husband from having a heart attack. ...I'm not sure it works.



oh dear...I just thought of a new layout...I think I'm moving bookshelves again!

My Favorite Nephew

Ta-Da!!

Isn't he the CUTEST? He's my favorite nephew, hands down!
(true, he's my ONLY nephew, let's not get hung up on technicalities!)





Mr. Caden arrived safe and sound on Tuesday. And from all reports is doing fantastic. Poor mamma had to spend the day on magnesium sulfate. If you or anyone you know has ever had it, you know that my SIL deserves some kind of award for that one. BUT...everyone's doing well now.

Oh, the super cute little girl? That's Miss Annie B. (Her name's Anna, but though an evolution of nicknames, I ended up with Annie B, and it stuck. I'll call her Annie B until she's 14 and rolls her eyes at me and says "that's the stupidest name ever, would you stop it" and I'll say "I'll think about it Annie B." then she'll storm off to her room.) hah =)

Annie B. is my favorite niece. (yes, same rule applies, still my favorite) And she's cracking me up with the "ok....I'll kiss him, but that doesn't mean I have to like him" expression on her face! =D

Congratulations Rob, Steph and Anna!
We love him already!

Waiting...

I am anxiously awaiting an email, so I can show you all my newest favorite thing.

I've checked it 57 times this morning, as if that would make it show up faster. Hasn't worked yet.

No worries, it'll be here soon! =)

Family Fun Day - Part 1 OR How to amuse a 3 year old boy

I think I might change the name of my blog to "I take too many pictures". Seriously. I wonder if there is a program, or a patch, or something. Onward!

So, this was technically last week, but its taken me this long to sit down and sort through the uhm...large quantity...of pictures I took that day. I blame the manufacturer, who on earth thought it would be a good idea to give ME a memory card that holds 300+ pictures. I was set up.

So, if you're ever in need of a GUARANTEED happy 3 year old boy, I've got your answer!

The John Deere Pavilion, heaven on earth if you're a 3 year old who loves tractors.

we didn't even get inside, he just RAN around for 5 minutes before we could coax him to the door.

Have you ever had a deer stop in front of your car and just STARE, stunned and unsure where to go next?

mhmmm.

We did this about 57 times.

..and then on to another...

There was virtually no "sitting still and smiling so mommy can take a picture"

It was more "Good luck lady! I'm busy!!!"

....and on to another...

...and...on to another...

Neat, sign says its a Self-Propelled Cotton Picker. but...

I'm almost positive its nickname is "Self-Propelled Arm Eater"

It just seems like one of those warning stickers with a hand in the tines seems appropriate.

Then we stopped in the store. Its insane.

::whistling innocently:: just taking pictures of my son playing.

Ok, ok, I was trying to take pictures of the store without looking like a LOON! =)

Its actually amazing, but still insane. So much green and yellow, and the emblem of the deer on everything.

This...just made me laugh. I know, its fertilizer. But seeing as it got so much news when people were stealing it to make meth, it just strikes me as odd that kids can play with a tank of anhydrous ammonia.

We did eventually get him out of there. How you ask? The promise of ice cream. Part 2.

**the spacing is all messed up on this post, sorry its so cramped. I've tried fixing it 1,000 times, and blogger and I are about to throw down! If you know the trick to getting blogger to cooperate, I'd loan you my firstborn in exchange for said information!**