Monday, September 29, 2008

crafty halloween threads

This is what I do for fun.....make Halloween shirts and pants for some of my favorite kiddos!









Sunday, September 28, 2008

you gotta love the scary guys

I think I have an unnatural obsession with Halloween. I love it......I even wrote about how much I loved it last year.

Sadly, this year most of our time to get ready for Halloween I will be in bed. So we had to start early to get in the spirit......almost as early as the stores crazily display their Halloween goodies to buy.

So it is no surprise to anyone that my kids are equally obsessed with the holiday. They love seeing anything with pumpkins, skeletons, witches, ghosts, anything halloweeny. We actually watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in July because the kids begged to see it. And they love to go to Walmart, Target, Party City, etc to see all of the Halloween "Scary Guys". And the gorier, bloodier, and creepier the better. Yes, I do realize this could become a problem. The last time we went to Party City Kaya BEGGED me to buy her a huge skeleton (if you must see it, click here) that covers a ceiling. I even draw the line at some Halloween treats. Can you imagine having something like that in your house? It would have to be year-round too, I'm sure.

But the funniest thing about this is that Kaya loves her "scary guy" she got for her birthday. She kisses it, puts shoes on it, takes it outside, has tea parties with it........the list goes on and on. I figured it would be her favorite present but it was still priceless to see the excitement glow out of her eyes when she pulled her skeleton out of her bag!








I had told my neighbor about Kaya's love for scary guys so she also got her a fun gift for her party. Poor tired Kaya was wobbling around, about to fall asleep, until she opened her skeleton straws and skull necklace......that woke her up for a party! Wouldn't that make most 2 year old girls happy on their birthdays?




I just hope this is the scariest guy Kaya will fall in love with. I'm a tad worried about who she may want to bring home to meet mom and dad a few years from now....

Saturday, September 27, 2008

making a list, checking it twice

Honestly, I logged on to write this post before I turned on The Office episode that aired last night. I have laughed inside my head about a dear friend of mine and her lists before I saw Ryan on the show "listing things" too.

This friend of mine has often said, "I'm gonna put that on my list." I thought it was just an expression that she used when she disliked a person or heard a phrase she especially loved. I always felt honored if I made a comment that ever made it to the list.

So, the other day, while we were having brunch at another pal's house, she pulled a journal out of her purse to check on one of her lists. I died laughing. I said, "I didn't know you really kept lists." But what was funnier was when she told us the list she was looking for......People I'd like to punch in the face. I think the top two were Paris Hilton (understandable) and Ellen Pompeo (which she annoys me too).

Luckily, my friend got me the perfect birthday present that day. A journal---a delightful, brightly-colored, slim vertical journal. A journal perfect for making lists.




So this week I started making lists. And my friend is right, making lists is therapeutic. Here are some of the things in my journal....A list of things I want to complete before my surgery, A list of friends I want to send handwritten notes and pictures to, A list of books I want to read, A list of shows I really shouldn't watch but do anyway, A list of topics I want to blog about. Maybe a should make a list of things I want to list about.

Friday, September 26, 2008

transforming clothes

I absolutely love iron-on adhesive for fabrics. You can transform clothes immediately.

I got started on this kick again once I realized that Kaya had no fall clothes. So I went through Zander's old clothes to start putting "girly things" on for Kaya. I will post those outfits later.....I do love them!

But as Zander watched me make things for Kaya he wanted me to make an outfit for him. So he removed his pants, yep I just took them right off of him to transform them, and found a white polo shirt of his and made him his Louisville outfit.





I did think he looked like a cute little coach!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

my baby girl is two!

I truly can't put my mind around the fact that Kaya is already two! Well, I can when she is really bossy and says "NO" with a purpose.

Here she is in some of her 2-year photos. Unlike her brother, she is quite the ham and loves to be photographed. She thinks she's beautiful and wants the rest of the world to think so too. At least she has mom as her biggest fan who agrees with her.










Tuesday, September 23, 2008

fun in a box


You have to admit....this does look like fun.



You may be wondering why we have such a huge box in our house.

Well, Zander and Kaya's brilliant mother decided to get 500 balls (yes, you read that correctly, 500) to put in their inflatable ball pit for Kaya's party. It actually turned out to be the perfect amount but I'm sure I'll be cursing those crazy little balls for years to come as they appear all around our house and yard.


The kids have a blast playing peek-a-boo and hiding in the box. They both fit in perfectly. I even crawled in it a time or two.





And after all of the fun of peekaboo and remodeling their box "house", they need to take naps of course.




I've been debating when to get rid of this monstrosity of a box.......but don't have the heart to break it down for recycling after the fun it has given the kids and the laughs it has gotten out of me.
So, I guess the box stays. For a couple more weeks at least.

Monday, September 22, 2008

happy birthday to kaya

goodbye pappaw

Since my last post, life has been emotionally and physically challenging. The pain has been draining and the postponement of the surgery was bringing me down. (Good news though about that, it did get moved up to next Wednesday so I only have 9 more days to wait instead of 30 days).

But the night of my last post, we lost a wonderful member of our family. Matt's Pappaw passed away quickly and surprised us all. He was one of my favorite people in the world and I miss him so much already. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to physically make the trip to the funeral but I mourned here at home while Matt has away. Now I'm trying to figure out how to answer the questions from Z and K. They have asked me, "What is wrong with Pappaw?", "Why are you and Dad sad?", "Do we have to be sad when we go to Kentucky next time?", "Where did Pappaw go?". So if any of you have any tips for dealing with death questions from a 2 and 3 year old please let me know.

The last time I talked to Pappaw last week he told me, "I sure wish I could come to Kaya's birthday party." I did go ahead and have they party, since Matt requested me to go ahead and have Kaya's special day since I couldn't travel. But I think the best part was that I felt Pappaw was with us there in spirit for the party in the backyard.

Goodbye Pappaw. I loved you from the moment I met you. Thanks for the wonderful memories.





Wednesday, September 17, 2008

sometimes life isn't fair


Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.

-Carl Jung


Thanks so much to all of you for your support, emails, and help concerning my medical condition. I could finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. My surgery was less than two weeks away. The pain medication could keep me holding on until then.

So I thought.

A couple of days ago I got a call that the surgery had been postponed. Not for a day, not for a week, but for 3 weeks from the original date. I was devastated. I'm sure my doctor can't believe I am actually geared up and ready to have surgery..... I also don't think he can believe the severity of pain I'm in and how each day just drags on.

I was so upset the day I got the call that Matt called and pleaded with the doctor to please move it up some for me. We still haven't heard if that will happen but just the fact that my husband was so sweet and attentive to my needs makes me feel better.

So, until I hear anything else I'm gonna pray for patience and that the pain will subside enough to let me get through the next month without being miserable. But even though I'm trying to stay positive, I just want to shout out, "Sometimes, life isn't fair!"

Monday, September 15, 2008

seven simple pleasures (part 7)

I had a wonderful day with my family on my birthday. It was a simple day of being together...

The kids help make my morning coffee


See what close friends I am to my blogging readers......this is craftykorisa as soon as she gets out of bed


Sweet kisses from zander and kaya



It was my idea to have ice-cream cake for breakfast
(maybe that is why the kids were so wild.....more on that later)
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After our morning drama we finally made it to the children's museum. We loved our 4th visit there, of course!






After we got home and the kids went to bed, Mattie made me a wonderful meal. Happy Birthday to me!