thoughts of the nonsensical

I haven't been wanting to post because I like pulling up my blog and seeing the word "PEACE" stand right there at the top. But write, I must, because there's been some things going on and I want to share them with you.

Max
I found a t-shirt I would have dressed him in everyday this week....

This adorable shirt is from -here- I would probably buy one of everything from this etsy shop if I could.

He's such a happy little guy all the time that when he's not (like now that he's been teething this week) it just makes us all miserable. We've been a whiny snappy bunch. It's not been pretty.
But his two front teeth have broken the skin so that's a plus, I wondered if he would ever get teeth.

I've been after him with the camera all week trying to get a picture of them, but he's a quick one. Or he tries to eat the camera, or yesterday he was smart enough to just blow on it to fog up the lens. That one was great. But I captured a picture of those elusive teeth...


Since it's been a bit whiny around here we've been walking around like this


It's hard to be a baby though, dontcha know?


Organizing
I'm a paper hogger. So is Adam. This leads to disasters in our house. Piles of paper everywhere. Forgotten correspondence, bills almost late, things I mean to send to people and don't, outdated receipts and forms. My recent (and most challenging) project has been trying to get rid of the paper clutter- I've broken it down into simple tasks and it's already been helping.

Mail- When it comes in the house, it gets separated (this is hard because now we get mail at TWO houses) into categories - important needs dealt with today, needs filed, needs dealt with but not immediately, fun stuff (includes magazines, catalogs, letters, cards) and junk (which goes immediately into the trash). Then I deal with it accordingly.

Magazines and catalogs- This is one of the specifics out of the Mail category, but is a huge issue for me. I get at least one catalog a day (check out the new PBK if you haven't, it's fabulous) and subscribe to a couple magazines (probably half a dozen) and so that alone causes a build up of piles. I love looking through magazines for ideas for decorating (especially now that I have decisions to make!) and crafts and recipes and inspiration and so I hate throwing any of them right into the trash. Now each afternoon during nap time I flip through as many as I can while Max is asleep - rip out pages if anything is necessary to keep and then throw it out. So far this week I've thrown out each day's hoard, plus additional ones so I'm whittling down what I have.

Binders- What do I do with the ripped out pages? I have a series of binders. (I used to kinda do this but it's so great I'm expanding my collection this year) My most used binder is my recipe one. I used it almost everyday. I have plastic page protectors in there that I slip recipes into and I have it separated by category: Appetizers, Side Dishes, Main Dishes, Breakfast, Desserts, etc. It's perfect to use because I can just wipe down the pages if they get something on them (which they often do) and I can just throw away stuff I don't end up using and replace it with a new one.
I also have a binder for Home Ideas (would be super helpful right now if I could find where I packed it), Crochet Patterns, and General Crafts. This year the new binder I'm adding is a Home Notebook. I read about it on the Gidget Goes Home blog where she talks about her binders and have been putting one together this week. I've been taking the other binders and organizing them, paring down what I don't and won't use.

Craft supplies- I have a lot of paper craft supplies. Wallpaper samples, scrapbooking paper, scraps of cardstock, card making supplies, etc. Hanging around. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be going on a card making binge that will free up some of this stuff. I'm also planning on finishing the Disney scrapbook from our trip in 2007 (yes, that's two Disney visits ago) because I've been wanting to start Max's scrapbook but will not allow myself to have two going on at the same time. I'm hoping that will allow some of that stash to disappear.

This has nothing to do with paper, but it falls under the organizing category

Max's stuff- Babies have a lot of stuff. I got out Max's next set of clothes (he's in 12month stuff) and in the process opened a whole Pandora's box in his closet. So out it all came and back in it all went in a much better appearance. It was also time to pack up some of the toys and things he's too big to use now, so that was one box, and I've been putting up some of his Christmas toys to get down in March when we are bored of what he has now to play with.

Cooking
We've been adventurous cooks around here lately. Well not too crazy, but you know outside out box. Adam got a bread machine for Christmas so we've been playing around with that, we haven't gotten our favorite yet, but it's been fun to try new things.

I decided the other day to make a whole chicken in the crock pot. I've made turkeys loads of times in the oven, but for some reason a chicken has always been intimidating. Except for the grossness that comes with getting the skin off, it was great. And there was a lot of meat (we're still eating it in different things three meals later) and so I feel like it was totally worth it.

Along with the chicken I made fresh green beans. While I was snapping off the ends (yeah, in my living room, Max had a rough day and would scream when I left the room) Max thought it was awesome to sample them. He also liked them once I cooked them. Adam however did not.



Crafting
It's been slow this past week in the crafting department. I wish I was motivated to do something long term (and well enough to actually sell) but I just get into slumps where I could care less about things. But then I realized, Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I found some awesome tutorials and ideas for decorations (I don't have any) so I'll be working on those. This constituted a trip to Joann Fabrics today to take advantage of their yarn sale. Horray for new yarn!

I'm still working on a few lingering projects from the pre-holidays (luckily nothing that was supposed to be in the mail for them) and so I'll just keep plugging away at those.

I've also been having a bit of numbness and pain in my hands and fingers which is becoming bothersome. I'm assuming it's a bit of carpal tunnel since all I've been doing is painting and crocheting and typing for hours and hours a day. So that's been slowing me down a bit too.