Cute cute!

My friend, Jennifer, has an etsy shop with some cute tags/journaling spots. Go take a look for yourself.

It didn't happen.

My to-do list is untouched. Okay, I did change the sheets and do some laundry. But the whole day changed when the guys who are painting the trim on our house showed up to power-wash. They took down all the storm windows and I was struck by the desire to clean the windows. All of them.

I have never cleaned windows before. Well, I've cleaned the inside of windows, but never the whole shebang. Until today.

And I want a medal. I had to get up on the big ladder to clean some of them but the result is worth it. Suddenly the entire world is incredibly in focus. Our windows have been upgraded from cable to HD. Even a neighbor told me they caught her eye.

After I finished the regular windows, I attacked all the storm windows. When they go back up, they will look fabulous. No more cobwebs and leaves stuck in them.

Did I mention that I haven't even done the insides yet? First I need to scrape off all the paint splatters from the previous owners. And then I'll shine them up. Do you see why I'd like a medal now?

Getting back on track.

The last month of life has seemed just plain crazy. I can't seem to properly focus, the weather sucks and I'm just not getting done what I need to get done. Since today's Monday, I'm going to do my best to shake off the February blahs (a few days earlier) and cross some things off the list.

I keep Post-it notes above my desk with work-related tasks on them. I'm determined to knock several of them off today. We spent the weekend decluttering our house, so I'm hoping the sleekness of our fresh-smelling home will help me concentrate on work for a few days.

I do have a few announcements to make: I decided last month to no longer teach classes at Eclectica. I love the store and the people, but the time commitment was just too big for me right now. I'm also leaving the design team at ScrapGal at the end of this week. It's another place that I absolutely love (and I'll still be visiting both E and SG) but again, I'm trying to pare down some of my commitments.

That leaves me freer to promote my photography business, which is what I love, love, love to do. I still have not found the right words to explain how transcendent the experience is for me. So I'll start gearing up for a hopefully busy spring (I've got a preschool shoot all next week) and a crazy fall again. I'll still be on the design teams for Hambly and Cupcake Scrapshop. And I hope I'll have more time to submit to the magazines. I keep missing deadlines all over the place there.

And of course, there's always the house. More to come on that front.

I've drawn up a list for today to keep me focused. Wish me luck!

Page 24!

More of the beautiful Margret.

Man. Where have I been?

I said on Sunday that I would post some scrappy goodness, and I have been scrapping but nothing I can show yet. I'll get there. I promise.

This week is flying by, what with checking out wallpaper samples, taking care of kids, checking on the lunar eclipse last night (too cloudy here) and setting up photography appointments. And of course I have that long list of stuff that I really need to do but just haven't gotten myself organized enough to tackle. Like pulling together all the tax info.

So I hope by the weekend I can post a few things, and there may be some kind of random drawing for a box of supplies I need purge....

Scrappy day.

Yesterday John declared it a mandatory Family Fun Day and so off we went to the Children's Museum, McDonald's for lunch, home for a short while to clean out our cars, then to see Bee Movie at the bargain theater. After that it was dinner at our favorite Chinese buffet (with a side trip for me to say hi to some friends at Eclectica, which is next door). We got home right about bedtime, but since we had bathed the girls in the morning, we got into our pajamas, read books and sent the kids to bed.

John says the most amazing thing about the day was nobody cried. At all. He's right. Totally amazing.

Today is going to be an at-home day. I told John I needed to scrap (which is true -- I have some obligations; it's not just scrapping for fun!) so he is handling domestic duties while I play. I mean work! Work work work. I'm just so swamped with work.

So I should be back later to post some scrappy goodness.

Lucky me.

We ask each other a lot of questions here at Lambert's House of Love. This week, I've been asking my family to tell me what makes him/her a lucky person. I hope someone asks me that question today. I found these on my kitchen table today.

This morning I took Margret to school and stayed there so I could save seats for the Black History Month program. John was more than happy to wait at home with Audrey until it was closer to program time. They arrived just in time and Audrey spilled a few beans in letting me know that she and Daddy bought surprises for Margret and me. But she didn't say exactly what.

I caught Margret as she came in the auditorium/cafeteria and she happily spied us right away. Each grade did a presentation and song and, as usual, I got a little teary. I totally love kid performances. Even when it's not my own kid. I loved the First Grade peanut song. I loved their hats. John left after Margret's group and he told me later that he hated to leave because he was enjoying it so much. Richland rocks.

He missed the Fifth Grade finale. They spoke about civil rights leaders and sang a Harry Belafonte song I had never heard: "Turn the World Around." It's lyrical and spiritual and beautiful and the mere thought of those lovely, earnest children singing the song has my eyes damp again. And because the Internet is the greatest thing ever, I was able to find a clip of the song. I hope you listen to it and let it soak into for the day.

Bathroom poll.

The bathroom is giving me a major headache. Check it out and answer my poll. Please.

Valentine sweatshop.

I have been cracking the whip on Valentine-making today. Audrey has school tomorrow and I think she should probably take in Valentines for the other kids. I'm not even sure how many there are and I don't know their names, so I'm just having her make a bunch and write her name on them. Some of them she writes correctly; others she does a mirror image of her name. Not just backwards. All the letters are written backwards, in backwards order.

Margret's Valentines are due Thursday but I made her finish them tonight. We've been working on these since last Friday and I'm so over V-day. And it's not even here yet. Margret did a nice job on hers and I think she really gave some thought about what to do for each kid in her class.

And yes, I know it would have been much cheaper to go out and buy Valentines, but there's something I really love about homemade ones. Especially ones made by my girls. Under duress.

Not much to say.

John and I spent about 42 of the last 48 hours working on our bathrooms and things are not going exactly as we'd like. So I probably have about two more days of working on it. Sigh.

Tore up from the floor up.

John and I had the rare chance to date each other last night. So we tossed the kids through a friend's backdoor and squealed on outta there in our minivan. After driving toward the movie theater we quickly picked Pei Wei for dinner and had lots of uninterrupted conversation. The night could have ended right there and I would have been happy.

But it gets better. We went to see "Juno." I pretty much want to go back just so I can memorize all the hilarious bits of dialogue. And then John and I can act out scenes in the kitchen. 'Cause that's pretty much what we do.

Page 73!

Scrapbook Trends picked up a layout that I love; it's one I did for Cupcake Scrapshop last year. And it has the sweetest pictures of my Margret.

Card book.

I finally got around to completing my own Christmas card book (read more about these here) yesterday. I used Basic Grey paper and Making Memories stamps and rubs for the cover. The hardest part was figuring out exactly how to punch all the cards to get them to fit. A little trial and error and now I have it down.

We're good.

I had phone calls from anxious long-distance relatives this morning and I am happy to report that all the tornadoes passed us by last night. The paths seemed to be to either side of us, thank goodness. I only heard one instance of very heavy winds and that was short. So we are safe, and ready to get on with the day. My thoughts will be with all those who suffered damage and loss of life. It's always a punch in the gut to see how unrelenting nature can be. And how random.

Remain calm. All is well.

Actually, it is not. Tornadoes are blowing through our area right now. Margret's school (and all city schools) let out at 12:30 today and it was beautiful, sunny and 72 degrees. Around 5p the skies turned dark and I turned away from my beloved HGTV to see what the local weather guys had to say. They said to get your dang shoes on and put your ID in your pocket and take cover!

Okay, he didn't say "dang". But it would not have surprised me.

Mostly he scared the crap out of Margret, who has inherited her dad's capacity to worry excessively about weather. John had not arrived home yet but I did make the girls get shoes and socks on. John showed up and drug (dragged?) our mattress in the hallway while Margret continued to freak out. Audrey just complained about having to wear shoes. I tried to make everyone eat something before we had to batten down the hatches for the next big cell moving through. I figured if we were going to be sitting around with no power for two weeks (like last time) I wanted our bellies to be full.

It rained very hard (and the tornado siren continued, as it had since about 5) and we got into our hallway. With our mattress, flashlight and weather radio.

Fortunately, the storm moved to our east and we decamped. But there are several more storms coming tonight, and tornadoes have been spotted and have done some damage. I hope everyone in this area stays safe tonight. I'll report back in the morning.

Just because.

I am a legend at Kroger.

After a manic day of rearranging two different rooms yesterday, we had to get up and going to prepare for our Superbowl Party today. We started an excellent tradition four years ago: the Half-a-Superbowl Party. We invite only people with kids, because that way they can go to a party in a house with other kids and not have to worry about their kids getting in the way of any super-serious game watchers. We make lots of food and the kids get their own tv to watch while the game is on in the den. Then at halftime, which is just about the time for kids to take their baths, everyone goes home. It is fabulous.

This morning I had to get cooking, so I asked John to go to Kroger. And he did, because he is a saint. I also asked him to pick up 20 lbs. of cube steak so I could make Marlboro Man sandwiches. They didn't have that much in the meat counter so he had to go to the butcher and ask for it. "What do you need that much meat for?" was the reply. He mumbled something about having a crazy wife. So while John finished shopping two or three butchers worked on the order (John cut it back to 18 lbs.). A small crowd of workers had gathered when John got back to the counter and one of them said, "Yeah, that's him" and pointed. We are so the cube meat family now.

I'd really like to take some of the prepared meat back to the guys and show them how great it is. But that might be kinda weird.

Still. It was a lot of meat. I ended up only cooking about 12 lbs. and still had leftovers (guess what's for dinner this week?). I put the rest of the meat in the freezer. It'll keep.

I did get lots of compliments from my guests (also on the baked beans) and the kids ate chicken nuggets, fruit and brownies. No complaints there. Another I love is that that we had 11 kids here (0 to almost 7) and nobody fought over anything. I think they like having their own space. At the very least they like having their own tv to watch:

Cupcake sneak peek.

I usually forget to post my Cupcake Scrapshop projects until later in the month and by then the kit is sold out. But this month, it looks like you can still get your hands on one (and don't forget to check out the extras, too.). The design team gallery won't be up until the 5th, but I'm giving you a sneak peek to tide you over. And let me be clear about something: this kit is gorgeous.

This is so late.

It's the cover page for my planner with my word(s) for 2008. And I could make excuses, but let's just leave it at that I finally found time for it this morning. Now I've got to go catch up on a bunch of other projects, too.