It's an Infographic Christmas!

Inspired by my love for infographics, I came up with a Christmas photo card design that combines the best of two worlds: a photo card with a newsletter! Highlight your favorite moments of 2012 and showcase your beautiful family at the same time.

Love the modern and simple look of this. Completely customizable and available in my store now.

Discipline

So maybe this is a bit ironic of a post to follow my Thankful post, but today was a very frustrating day. My eldest son, now five, drove me nuts at the doctor's office. He was well-behaved until he got frustrated with the iPad. He couldn't beat a level in Mega Jump so he banged it on his forehead in frustration. While I can appreciate his frustration, he needs to find a better outlet for it. I took the iPad away and made him go back to reading magazines in the waiting room. He then proceeded for the next FIFTEEN minutes to ask for it back. In his most annoying whiny voice. Complete with big crocodile tears. Our conversation went something like this:

D: I won't do it again. Can I please play it again?
Me: No. What you did was unacceptable. You cannot play it now.
D: I'm sorry. Can I play it now?
Me: Thanks for the apology. But you're still not playing it. The answer is no.
D: But I waaaaaaaaaaant to play it. I wannnnnnt to. Pleassssssse.
Me: The answer is going to stay no. Quit asking.
D: I wannnnnnnt to play. I wannnnnnnnt the iPad. I won't do it again. (repeat ad nauseum)

I tried ignoring his requests, after asking him to stop asking. I took away tv time, computer time, and told him he was going to take a nap as soon as we got home. I ran out of things to take away. I was very frustrated with his lack of listening. I don't go back on my word. He can earn back privileges for good behavior, but it has to be consistently good behavior out of the goodness of his heart, and not for the sake of earning privileges back. I guess this is what I'm doing wrong. Because the kid just won't take no for an answer. He badgers me until I get so frustrated that I end up just as upset as he is. How do you stop your children from badgering you when you give an answer?

Thankful

This year has been really a very blessed year. Nothing in particular, just everything has been wonderful. I've been really blessed and I'm very thankful. I've been trying to convey that to my children so that they grow up with an attitude of appreciation as well. It's sometimes hard when you're 3 and 5 though. The boys grabbed a flyer from the BX for holiday toys and they circled ALL the toys when I asked them to find ones they wanted to ask Santa for.

My birthday boy and his brother opening gifts on Thanksgiving

So here's the main things I'm thankful for this year: Drake, Link, my wonderful husband, my supportive and loving family and friends, a loving and forgiving God, my creative outlet in the form of my business, my wonderful customers, food, shelter, and comfort. I have them all in abundance so I'm very blessed indeed.

Our Thanksgiving feast: cranberries, mashed sweet potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, devilled eggs, mac 'n cheese, turkey, and dinner rolls.. Yum!

Hope your thanksgiving (and year) were just as blessed.

Potato Stamp

So I know this isn't a new idea by any stretch of the imagination, but we had a lot of fun with it. We created stamps from potatoes (I had red fingerling potatoes in the house as I am obsessed with roasted potatoes).

What we did: Mommy carved a heart into a few potatoes, then poured some different colored paint into plastic-coated disposable plates (I suppose you could be fancy and use palettes if you have them!), then let the boys go to town.

Perfect indoor craft for little hands, especially if you have a toddler (like me) who lacks fine motor skills. We ended up with quite a few lovely sheets of hearts, so we wrote a short message to Daddy and tucked it into his deployment bag.

Yay! I'm thinking these would also look great this time of year with leaves carved into the potatoes or snowflakes.

Thanksgiving Printable

So there's an awesome (atleast in my not-so-humble opinion) free Thanksgiving printable up over at A Bird and a Bean. You can go check it out HERE. 

Since I created it for Erin as a contributor and I want it to remain on her website before I post it on my own, I won't post a photo here but will tell you that it's a fun, hand-lettered chalkboard inspired design. Fun! Go check it out. You won't regret it.

News

So I have a piece of exciting news... I'm going to be a contributor to another blog. For a wonderful person whom I just happen to love! I love their blog too, so it's win-win! I'm going to be filling in the role of "free printables" so I can't wait to show you all what I've been working on. I'm really excited for it. As soon as it's up I'll let you guys know so that you can go check it out for yourselves.

Anyway, today is Link's first parent-teacher conference. I can't wait to get some feedback. I know that he's been learning a lot (colors, shapes, numbers, etc.) but I want to know more. Since he doesn't have all the words to tell me, our typical ride home consists of me asking how his day was, "Good," and what he did, "Um...play...paint."

Yesterday, for the first time I think, he used an adverb. We were snuggling on the couch watching Polar Express (that movie creeps me out, anyone else?) and it was snowing. He turned to me and said, "I really want snow." I was blown away! This kid hardly ever forms complete sentences and hardly ever uses I and then even threw in an adverb. If it had been within my power I would have made it snow right there and then for the kid! I'm excited to see all of his progress.

Tis the Season

So I'm way behind (big surprise, I know) with holiday designs. I just don't feel right putting out holiday/Christmas designs yet. But since everyone else is, and I risk losing business, I had better hop to! With that being said, I've posted a few in my store.

I really love the rustic feel of this one with the modern spin on typography (it's got some great fonts). Another one of my recent listings:

 

It's got a whimsical feel with the swirly Christmas tree, fun ornaments, and bright colors like coral and aqua blue. Check out my store soon for more additions.

Back into the Fray

So a lot, and I mean A LOT, has happened these past few months. I've been incredibly busy and preoccupied but here's a rundown of things:

1. I quit my daytime job so I can devote more time to my family, including my son who has speech dysarthria and has numerous doctors / therapy appointments

2. My dysarthric son had ear tubes in/adenoids and tonsils out. They seem to be working wonders. I know some people are on the fence about tonsillectomies, but this child no longer has sleep apnea nor snoring. It's improved the quality of the sounds he can produce as well. Win-win!

3. We went to Disneyland Paris and Legoland Deutschland. They. Were. Amazing. Love the memories that we created and maybe one of these days I'll post some information/tips/photos.

4. I realized that I'm frustrated by the lack of information out there about children with speech dysarthria (if you google it you'll find it's mostly in older patients, particularly stroke patients, who have had some sort of head trauma). I'm frustrated that we're not sure what we're in for, nor how far Lincoln can go, and that there's just NO ONE out there. Then I realized, hey, I can blog about it. I can be the start. There might some other mother out there that's just getting the dysarthric diagnosis for her child and she might want to find some answers (I have none) or atleast some camaraderie (I have plenty). So if I start rambling about my child and his speech / motor delays, you know why. :)

Well, those are the main points, I think. I do plan on becoming more active in my blog. I really enjoy reading other blogs, reading comments, etc. so I hope that I can get back into it. Like everything else in life, I think I'll just have to make time for it.