Smella

My brain hurts, my body hurts and I'm completely exhausted. I can barely keep my eyes open to even write. Today was a crazy day but very fun. I finished up some odds and ends at the office first thing this morn, then met Kate at Northpark Mall for some trend spotting and product development work. I love this part of my job but this is why my brain hurts tonight. We worked through so many awesome ideas. We have a lot of work ahead of us and I still need to go through some old notebooks and e-mails to search for random ideas and such but at least the process of our next launch has begun.

After my day fun, Ben and I loaded up the kids and went to my friend Penny's house for dinner (an hour late, mind you). Penny became a friend of mine as a customer when I owned the scrapbook store. She and her husband have 3 kids - Mitchell, Allison & Michael. We haven't had the opportunity to get our families together in over a year, so I was really looking forward to catching up while the kids played. We all had a great time until about 5 minutes before we waked out the door to head home.

Ella (2 yrs old) came pulling at my shirt and looking very distressed, had me follow her into the playroom where I was greeted with a smell that immediately told me something that something was amiss. She pointed to a lovely patch of you know what. I immediately thought, oops...the dog had an accident on the carpet...only Penny and Greg don't have a dog. The next 30 minutes were spent with me on my hand and knees with the Bissell Green Machine scrubbing the carpet and Ben hosing Ella down in their bathtub. What a way to end the night. Penny and Greg now have a permanent reminder of the Smiths' visit - until they get new carpet anyway. Nolen made me laugh. As we walked out to the car, he exclaimed, "Hey, Mom. Now we have 3 names for Ella... Ella, Hella (a name we use when Ella not on her best behavior) and Smella!"

To blog or not to blog..

This is the time of year that, like millions of others, I reflect on the year behind me and set goals for the year ahead. There are the standard superficial resolutions...lose weight, do more, stress less...those I make every year. Then there's the resolutions that I have to follow through with...spend more quality time with my precious family, scrapbook more, sleep more. Then there's the relatively unimportant decision that I must make...to blog or not to blog. I hate doing things half-way and since the my initial blog entry, I've written a whole zero times. How pathetic. So, I have to commit to this blogging thing once and for all. I really do like it. Here are the reasons I think it's valuable:

• Writing is healthy.
• Journaling everyday life will provide a written history to pass on.
• Writing helps me be more creative.
• Writing calms me down - makes me more reflective.
• It's just fun!

Okay, so from here on, I will be a blogger. I may not do it everyday, but I'll at least try. I certainly am not short on topics. I have a very crazy life.

Childrens' Laughter

My husband went camping last weekend and left me alone with the three children I gave birth to. I won't lie...I was scared. It seems so silly - I am the mother, afterall. But I work and he stays home so I just wasn't sure how I would manage. I put away the computer. No e-mail. No work. Just the kids and the house. I actually found it relaxing and rejuvinating. It was nice to focus on a different kind of work - laundry, dishes, dinner - not that I don't ever do those things - but this weekend it was my "job".

I folded laundry in the bedroom to the sounds of laughter. Real laughter. Children's laughter. The kids next door had popped in the backyard and all the kids were jumping on the trampoline. While listening to their screams of excitement, I remembered why I love preserving memories, because as my mama puts it, these are the days.

With only one picture left on the camera, I snapped the picture below...An ordinary Saturday morning to remember.