To work with your hands

Rite of Passage

This picture says it all....

He is MAN now!  He has licked the brownie bowl clean all by himself!  Sean informed me that licking the brownie batter bowl is a rite of passage for a boy... so Connor is officially a man - at least in the "chocolaholoic" world.  Love this moment that Sean captured of us two... fighting over the spoon.  That's my boy!

Been trying to take pics of moments like this one lately.  We have been having some fun days with just the "McD 3" - soon to be "McD 4."  Trying to take in these last precious days ... but at the same time eagerly awaiting her arrival!  (Sean says I am so over-prepared that all I have left to do is order her text books for her freshman year in college!  He isn't far from the truth!  so sad how "type a" I have become!)

We have been having slower days - now that the heat is unbearable for this pregnant mama.  Doing alot of things around the house - in the a/c.  (on a side  note -right now our thermometer says 106!)- Been nice to take it slow for a while... but definitely hard with an active 3 year old!

We celebrated Connor's 3rd on the 4th a few weeks ago.  Had a nice family party that was kicked off with an Old Fashion Hometown Parade in McKinney.  The kids enjoyed waving their flags.  Connor's favorite part of the day was the cupcake - for sure!!!  And yet another rite of passage!  His first 2 birthdays, he wasn't interested in the cake much... We couldn't get him to enjoy it quite like he did this year.... SO here's to our 3 year old enjoying life in so many ways! 

May has come and gone!

Where have I been lately?  Not in blogging world apparently!  We have been in summer full force now for a month or so.  Since this spring, we have been busy around here embracing summertime!  I haven't scrapbooked in a month.  My goal is to be caught up before "sister" arrives (end of July probably is what the Dr. says now!!!!)

May

May brought beautiful weather and comfortable temperatures.  We spent lots of time outside - at the park and with friends and family.  Here are a few highlights:

• "Mickey the Turtle" - Thanks to Popa and Grammy! 
• "All Things Pink" - Surprise from my two girlfriends Kara and Julie and their kids. 
• Connor's last day of "school" with Memaw - He sure has grown up and learned so much this year!
• Sean hiked the Grand Canyon - rim to rim- with his Aggie buddies.  So proud of him!
• Connor and Elizabeth to the farm and the beach with Grandmother and Granddaddy!  fun!

• Memorial Day Celebration with the Kriels - Connor decides that if his little sister is as cool as his cousin Olivia, he is super excited about being a big brother! 

Blogging helps me to be a little bit more "accountable" to someone in regards to my goals for "working with my hands."  I need to document these last few months as "the McD 3" well.  I know once Baby Girl joins us, it will be hard for me to go backwards in my scrapbooks.  So, now I have said it... and you all know that is my "goal!"  We'll see if i actually stick to it! 

School Buses, Rock Stars, and Dirt!

I have been working on getting caught up with my scrapbooks (I'm through Dec 07 now!).  I realized that having this blog has encouraged me to write more than I usually would.... So, when I sit down to a layout, a lot of my journaling has already been done for me - right here.  I just print out my posts and use bits and pieces that apply to each layout.  I have been just handwriting them directly onto my pages, but I also plan to use some just printed out.  One of the big reasons that I am so passionate about scrapbooking is because it provides me a way to tell my family's story.  I didn't realize this adventure in blogging would help me so much with that love! 

Three huge hits around here lately:

FIRST.... Visiting Uncle Jeff at his school and seeing his SCHOOL BUS!!!!

Connor loves school buses right now.  Uncle Jeff invited him to come to his school on a day that he would be driving his kids to a track meet.  Connor's favorite parts of the morning were opening and shutting the door, honking the horn, and pointing out to us that this was a very "old" bus!  Guess that is all Plano ISD trusts "Coach McDonnell" with! ha!

SECONDLY.... Connor has finally mastered his guitar playing skills standing up.   Watch out American Idol Season 20!  We have a ROCK STAR on our hands!

And LAST... DIRT!!!  We have been learning about the word "patience" - SO to help understand what it means to "wait quietly for something" we planted some beans in some cups to wait for them to grow.  We have had a ball "patiently waiting" for the roots to spread, the stems to shoot up through the dirt, and now the leaves to grow. 

Today, we tried to trick Daddy and made pretend dirt that we got to eat at lunch (with oreos and chocolate pudding).  We even added some of our mint plant from our herb garden.  Connor loved sharing that we "ate dirt!"  Can you tell which one is our "edible variety?" 

Now I am off to some more scrapbook pages and I think there is another cup of "dirt" calling my name!!!

Our "Snow Day"

I am thoroughly convinced that God has a sense of humor.  If you aren't convinced for yourself - consider Texas weather!

Several days ago, I stood in the backyard realizing that I had too many layers of clothing on ... I could feel that I was starting to get a little sticky... It was 80 degrees.  Therefore, spring was on its way.  I packed away most of Connor's winter clothing and started to prepare our wardrobes for warmer days.  Then God reminded me that I have no idea!  Ha! 

Tuesday morning we woke up to 3-6" of snow blanketing our neighborhood.  What a fun wake up surprise!  Sean made arrangements to go into work later so that we could play outside with Connor for a while - despite a really sad choice of snow clothes to bundle him in (since I had been so eager to pack away winter!)

Connor was intrigued by the snow - but in very "Connor" fashion had to assess the situation before diving in.  He was amazed to say the least, but the lack of gloves made our outside time come to an early end.  We watched the white covering from inside the rest of the day.

Then came the funny part.... By 10:00 a.m. or so, the snow was  melting  and by 3:00 it was almost all gone with temperatures back in the "springtime" range - around 65!  Connor stepped outside after his nap with the most perplexed look on his face and said," Where did the snow go?"  This picture was a real double take for me...Sean standing in the back yard in his shorts and t-shirt.  That is a normal thing on most days - but it shouldn't be normal today - after 6 inches of snow this morning!

We won't forget this day for a long time.  It was a funny day.. full of little life lessons:

1.  Don't pack away winter until May!

2.  Snow is the coolest thing for a 2 1/2 year old boy- with or without gloves on.

3.God enjoys giving us little "treats" that make us smile and scratch our heads at the same time.

Pretty sure that we only had one day of snow because us silly Texans would have no idea of what to do with it for much longer than a few hours!

I think I will keep my eyes open for more of His sense of humor around me.  I hope you can see some too!  Have a happy "The Snow is all gone Day!"

I'm not "THAT MOM" yet

Finally feeling back to myself again .... and loving it!  Lots of you have been gently "reminding" me that you check my blog to see if I have posted anything recently.  Told Mom the other day that I have been busy - just not being very creative - not doing anything "blog worthy." Other than putting together some customer's scrapbooks, I haven't scrapbooked for myself in ages!!!

Here is a gift wrapped order I just dropped off this week - My customer was excited about giving this baby album to her daughter at her shower this weekend...

I have been "working with my hands" - just with a different slant ... More of Mama Work than anything else! 

The big news around here has to do with a certain little man who is getting potty trained.  I have always promised myself that I would NEVER be "that mom" that takes pictures of my children on the potty.  Every scrapbook retreat I have been on, there is always at least one mom who is doing a full 2 page layout with her child being the star on the "throne."  NOPE - not me... not gonna do that to him (I have stopped myself several times from taking that picture - reminding myself how he will feel in about 15 years when I pull out that page! ha!)  BUT yesterday I couldn't resist taking this one.  This is "capturing life" in my eyes:

Guess what - Mickey is getting potty trained too!!!  Way to go Mick!  I didn't coach Connor to do this at all - Just found him sitting there encouraging him - and later informing me that Mickey earned a treat too! 

Another funny bathroom moment:

Hmmm... I bet you can guess he has seen someone else do this.... Another moment that I stumbled across.  I have been doing a lot of sprinting around the house to find the camera lately! 

So, I guess that I will be doing a  bathroom layout with these two photos.  I'm not quite "that mom" yet...but close enough!

My mom, sister-in-law Whitney, and I have a pseudo-scrapbook-retreat planned for this month.  Don't know if we will really get much done, but we thought it was worth the try.  Our plan is to camp out in Mom's scrapbook room on the farm and have Granddaddy babysit as much as possible - but also have a "rotation" set up for the three of us to help out with the kids - a couple hours at a time - while the other two of us keep cropping.  We'll see how all that works out .. and I will let you know.  We can at least get some work done while everyone is in bed!

More to come later in another post: The best ever story I have heard about why you should scrapbook!  Brought me to tears with a total stranger yesterday - I can't wait to share this story!

A Taste of Christmas

What kind of mother am I?  I realized last night at our Life Group Christmas Party, that I have never introduced Connor to the fabulous invention of the CANDY CANE!!!! Check out how he tried to eat it! 

We had a ball with our Life Group "family".  We played some fun games with the kids and then our friends Kyle and Jenny shared "What God Wants from us for Christmas" by FamilyLife with the group.  The kids enjoyed helping open the boxes and put together the nativity. 

I found an activity for us all to do together - Kind of like musical chairs, but with gifts.  We all sat in a circle and passed a large wrapped gift around.  When the Christmas music stopped, whoever had the gift got to open it.  To everyone's surprise, it was another wrapped gift!  The older kids caught on pretty quick, but they still had fun unwrapping all 6 boxes!  The last gift was a box of candy canes to share with everyone.  I think this would be fun to do at a family Christmas gathering too - WIth any kind of surprise treat at the end.  With adults, it could be one "big" gift that they really try to fight over!

By the end of our evening together, toys were covering the floor (along with some crumbs too), there were lots of sticky candy cane coated fingers, and evidence of presents being opened, and everyone had a sugar high - All a bit like Christmas day - right? 

It reminded me how fast this season flies by.  In 8 short days, we will be cleaning up another round of crumbs and empty boxes.   I'm so thankful for those crumbs and boxes!  They are proof that we are enjoying Christmas together with friends and family - proof that we have been blessed in so many ways... Especially with sticky candy cane fingers.

A Step Back in Time

Last night we took part in an old fashion Christmas caroling.  We actually did none of the actual singing...but we we had the pleasure of being "caroled" to by a 4th grade Girl Scout Troop. 

My in-laws recently moved to historic downtown McKinney...a charming neighborhood... most of the houses were built at the turn of the century.  The old stage coach line is said to have passed right by the back of their garage. This picture is the house on "move in day."

  We enjoyed talking to a neighbor of theirs last night - she joined us for the caroling.  It was neat to hear her thoughts on the old neighborhood- opinions about "the way things were" and how our modern neighborhoods have neglected the art of "neighboring." 

One of the things she pointed out was the general architecture of the houses - and how the old houses all have huge wrap around porches.  These porches had several purposes - one important reason being the need for a place to cool off during long Texas summers... But even more crucial - it was a place to socialize - to share a glass of iced tea with your neighbors, hear the latest news, and just plain be together. 

We participated in a piece of that togetherness last night - as our family piled out on the old front porch and listened to the girls serenade us with Silent Night and Rudolph. Even though Wynne found out about the caroling through a neighborhood email chain, and we knew our house was next in line by a "heads up" cell phone call,  it still felt like we had stepped back in time a bit - slowed down a lot - and just were "neighborly." 

On our drive home, I thought about  that taste of an old fashioned Christmas.  I want the next thirteen days to have that same feeling - despite so many modern day distractions.  How can I make our family Christmases feel slower, calmer, more about togetherness?  It will be a challenge - since our calendar seems like it filled up overnight, and there are so many "we have tos" on our list.  I'm going to try at least!  You too - slow down... what would your grandparents have done throughout December?

For you, Mom

Mom told me recently that she has missed my blog - getting to see what I am up to.. So, this is for you, Mama! (and anyone else interested in my crazy day-to-day life!)

I have been putting a lot of time into some different custom orders for Out of the Box.  I finally put the finishing touches on a big order for two scrapbooks for a customer's Aggie sons.  Lots of "Aggie" mess all over my office!

Been trying to capture everyday life in December. Ali Edwards is doing a mini album she has titled "December Daily" - including a little piece from every day this month.  Oh, I wish I had seen this sooner... I may just go back and make up things for the days i have missed ! ha!  Here are a few of our "December Dailys."

Love watching Connor with his Little People Nativity - so gentle with the baby Jesus. 

Here's a preview of our Christmas card this year... Another thing I have been working on getting together.  We get very few "cheesy grins" like this one from our little man!

Two things I MUST scrapbook soon - or at least journal before I forget about them...

1.  First of all - visiting Santa this week.  This photo is priceless.  He really was thrilled to be there - just not showing it on his face!  I must write this story down for him to read someday.

2.  Then a big day Saturday - Connor moved to his BIG BOY BED!!! Definitely a scrapbook worthy event for him! 

Okay, Mama.  Do you feel a little more "in touch?"  Hope so!  Love ya!

More on Mini Albums

As I get out my Christmas decorations, there is always one little goodie that I am extra excited to display.  Several years ago, my mom put together a mini album for me titled "O Christmas Tree."  It tells the story of our family tradition of cutting down our tree each year.  There are  pictures dating back to my childhood .. all the way up to Sean and my first tree as newlyweds.  I love to look through this tiny flip album to remember this fun tradition.  This year, I will add pictures of Connor's first experience at the tree farm.

The possibilites are endless with mini albums.   As I have been preparing different treats for the season, my mind has been racing with ideas for several different little albums.  Here is a small list I have compiled of tradtions that are "Scrapbook Worthy." 

• Ornament Album - this is one I really intend to do this year - Sean and I have collected ornaments from all our travels.  I want to take pictures of each ornament and journal about where each one is from.. along with any fun stories (ie:  sand dollar from our honeymoon, cable car from San Fransisco, Mickey Ears from Connor's trip to Disney)  Connor will enjoy searching for each ornament - And some day when these ornaments are handed down, the stories will also be passed along with them.
• Santa Album- each year's picture from visiting Santa.  This little album could even include wish lists from each year too
• Baking Traditions - Sean's mom always makes special sugar cookies.  I have learned through the years that there are special "steps" in this tradition.  Do you have any holiday baking traditions?
• Family Picture - Does your family do a family picture each year for your Christmas card - maybe include the picture and the card you sent each year.
• Christmas Decorations - What are you favorite decorations?  Snap a few pictures of your house this year and display them in a mini album so you can remember year to year how you adorned your home.
• Christmas Cards From Friends - I have done this for the past several years.  I made a scrapbook layout with pictures of all our friends.  It is fun to look back and see how all the families have changed.
• Travels - Does your family go on a traditional trip during the holiday season?  My family has gone skiing for several Christmases.  Last year, I made a mini album of our time spent on the slopes, making snowmen, and all our celebrating in the lodge. 
• Opening Stockings- This could be for young and old alike.  Our family enjoys filling each other's stockings with silly gag gifts.  It would also be fun to have pictures from each year of the kids with their stockings on Christmas morning.

Any other ideas of traditions that deserve their own mini album?  I'm sure I have forgotten something!

I will be selling several different mini albums in my Etsy shop next week (my Virtual Open House is Dec. 1 - 8th).  Some are actual scrapbooks in which you can write directly on pages, and several are just little flip albums that hold 36 4x6 photos. 

These small albums make great gifts for grandparents!

Highlights from the Holiday

What a wonderful four days!  Loved every moment of it.  Here are a few highlights from our Thanksgiving Weekend...

• Mimi invited the "Indians" to our Thanksgiving feast this year!  What wonderful dinner guests they were! 
• Gratitudes around the dinner table - included Uncle John's and Daniel's safe return from Iraq, our newest family member, Olivia, old friends, family, and health.  Even received two letters from our absent family members from far away - Michael emailed us all Thursday morning from his ship in France, and Daniel and Erin sent a card.  Mom and Dad read their list of thanksgivings to us all.  Connor was thankful for "Jesus and grapes."
• Friday was our Aggie Football Day - We beat Texas!!!  Whoop!  Went to March-In to see Samuel.  Connor and Jake wore their A&M Jerseys and rode in the wagon.  Uncle John and Sean also matched!  oh, how cute! :)
• "Just the Girls" Friday afternoon for lunch, shopping, and crafting(the boys watched the football game).  We had a ball together!  Even sweet baby Olivia joined in on all the fun!
• Saturday turned out to be a rainy cold day - But it was my favorite day of the whole weekend.  We played inside, watched Christmas movies together, and did a project with the boys.  Lots of hot cocoa by the fire ... Just good old fashion quality time!
• Sunday morning, we headed to the Christmas tree farm to find the perfect tree.  Connor even helped Daddy cut it down.
• On a side note, mom put together a scrapbook of all our family Thanksgivings through the years... since 1978.  She had the album sitting out during the weekend.  It was fun to see different people taking the time to look through the book and reminisce.  Great idea for any occasion or tradition.  I have some plans for several small books this season - maybe Santa pictures from each year. 
• This Thanksgiving was a memory made!  Now, off to laundry and maybe even some Christmas decorating today!