I miss scrapbooking. I still make albums for other people and can do a whole book in less than a week since I don't have the emotional attachment totheir pictures but it's not the same as doing my own pages. And Lord knows I love it but I just can't be one of those 8-11 pm girls that revels in her quiet time after the kids are down for the night. When my kids go to bed I'm not far behind. I guess I'm more of what you'd call an ADD scrapper. Yes, ADD as in A.D.D. About two or three times a year, I'll go into my office and spend the day and crank out as many layouts as I can....ususally about 3 or 4. Oh, to be one of those people that uses their circle cutter on all their pictures and puts them on white paper and then peels off stickers to spell out their title...drawing some lines on the paper to journal right on the page. I am not THAT person. That person is caught up. I am NOT that person. That person can go to a weekend crop and do 28 layouts. I AM NOT THAT PERSON...oh, but how I wish I were. Or, do I??? Anyway, on my ADD scrapping days, Hubby watches the kids and I only come out if I hear glass breaking or a siren. Why only 2 or 3 times a year? My office looks out into the back yard and it has to be nice enough to play outside on these days (it's always nice in Atlanta) and also because I keep having babies and always seem to have a 2 year old. And as much as I would like to say my office is baby proof...it ain't!! Not even close. Right now, it's not even mommy proof. In fact, fire hazzard is more like it. In the past year or so, I've become less of a "Scrapbooker" and more of a Scrapbook Supply Collector. I have a problem that there is no 12 step program for. Hello, My name is Christi and I'm a paperholic. Anyone with 2000 pieces of patterned paper either needs therapy or a retail space. Now, our basement is awesome. Not that big, but that's the beauty of it. I have my space, hubby has his office where he works from home and there is a playroom for the kids. There is a wart on this swan though and that is that since it is small, there are no walls (interior, silly) and the space is divided up and defined with furniture. My space is in an alcove so I just need a back wall which is made up of a large ikea cabinet which I use for storage, next to the back of the armoire that faces the playroom and a bookshelf on the end that offers more storage for me. I'm quite happy with what we've done but I still yearn for the traditional craft room...Pottery Barn style. It's a want, not a need and as life goes on, wants seem less important. For me anyway. I'll get there one day but for now, I'll enjoy my ADD days when I can and enjoy my time with my almost 2 year old because he will be our last. But, now that the time has changed and we're spending more time inside in the evenings, I hope to get things back in order. In my little pea brain, it'll go something like this: I'll come home from church this weekend, pre-plan the meals for the week and put hubby in charge of dinner and bath time. Since it's Thanksgiving, there is no school, Wednesday night activities at church or basketball parctice, I'll have every night free to baracade myself in my office and knock it out!! A little soft music on the radio and stream in an interesting talk radio show on my laptop and hear grown up people say words. Ahhhhh. The baby can go down at 7 as usual and the other boys can stay up. I'm suddenly aware of the fact that I'm going to have what I need most of all this next week.....TIME!! It's what I ask for for Christmas every year!! (Yet oddly never seem to get) I realized the other day as I waved at my neighbor, I pass her house 58 times a week. Not 5 to 8...FIFTY EIGHT!!! That's just carpool (two kids are in two different schools at two different times), church and basketball and doesn't even count grocery shopping, doctors appointments and other errands. So, in a couple of weeks, maybe things will be different. I'll either be organized and have things in order or I'll just start keeping my stuff in my car. It's where I am most of the time anyway!!

This Thursday 13 is Totally Random

I won't drink milk out of plastic cups even though it comes in a plastic jug.

I know where Alton Brown lives.

Red is my favorite color but if I were a crayon, I'd be Yellow.

I've killed a deer.....with a gun, not my car.

I used to work for Lancome.

I once listened to the same song over and over for 3 hours.

I've been to the David Letterman Show.

I nursed my three boys for a total of 31 months and the girls are still lookin' pretty good.

The first thing I do when I come downstairs in the morning is turn on the radio to 107.5 WJZZ.

I was on top of the South Tower of the World Trade Center 5 days before it fell.

I know Steve McCoys real name.

I can drive a tractor and a fork lift.

I've participated in defensive driving excercises for Alabama State Troopers.

Ahhhhh, Fall.

Occasionally, Niblet and I will drive through the grounds of the outdoor Y and look for deer early in the morning on our way to take him to school. On one particular day, I spied with my little eye, a fence at the end of a road blocking access to the wooded area behind and further up the drive was another tree that was a brilliant, firey red. Sooooo, being the frustrated wanna-be photog that I am, I filed it away for a few days until the leaves had peaked their fall color and I forced my kids to put on the appropriate colors for our upcoming photo shoot. My boys are great about letting me take pictures of them but this was the first time I had actually dragged them to a different location. By the way, I wasn't totally happy with Niblet's blue sweater but we pick our battles, don't we??? So, here is yet another slideshow of my kids. If you turned down the annoying song that plays over and OVER again (only option) then turn it back up b/c the pics are better with music. If the slideshow is over, click the X to start it again and the other X to take away the review bar...it's totally worth it becasue my kids are just that stinkin' cute.

Happy Halloween...a week late!!

I've been meaning to post Halloween pictures since Halloween night and never could seem too get to it, so...here they are. B. was a Rescue Fireman, Niblet was Superman since he had already been Spiderman and Batman and NayNay was a Lion. He wouldn't let me paint his face like he did last year so I was a little disappointed but he still had a blast. We tried to pull him aorund in the wagon but he wanted to walk. Somehow, I ended up pulling the big kids and they were so cute cuddled up in the blankets. Oh, they're just growing up way too, too fast.

Tick Tock

Well, I saw the first Christmas comemrcial on TV the other day and I have to admit...I was absolutely giddy!!! (We've already started playing Christmas music in the car!!) And , not only do I absoluteley LOVE Christmas, I love the whole Holiday season, which for me, starts October 1st and runs to the end of the year. Without fail, we decorate the collums on the front of the house with cornstalks, pumpkins and mums, a couple of halloween things, then November 1st, the Halloween things disappear to be replaced by more Fall things. One of our newer traditions is to make a Thanksgiving Tree for the front door (even though there are quite a few Christmas things already up inside). The trunk is wrinkled and shaded brown paper decoreated with colorful leaves where each of us (on our own color) name things we're thankful for. Candy always makes the list!! I think I'll do this with the kids in my Sunday School class this year.

Then the day after Thanksgiving we put out our huge, tacky blow up Santa and make the annual trip to the tree farm to cut down the perfect Christmas Tree and take the hayride to the pond for cocoa and roasting marshmallows. Sigh...So, now that we're into November, it occurs that not only will Christmas be here before we know it...it'll be over. The plan??? To relish every moment and squeeze as much holiday fun into each and every day as we can. Starting tomorrow. Who knew having a bunch of kids was going to be so hectic??? Ho Ho Ho ! ! !