Housekeeping

Hi.

The past couple weeks have been somewhat of a blur of activity, a scramble against time, an endless to do list. Hence, I am feeling the need to catch you up on all of the things.

First, I re-did my blog! Did you notice? You probably did, since it looks very different from before:

(The ghost of Pointsies past.)

I was feeling a little change and I also updated my shop to match. I'm not sure I'm completely finished with it all yet, but so far I am enjoying the new look.

Speaking of my shop, I've been working hard at getting some new winter products all up in there! I've been pastel-ing/printing/photo-ing/changing out of my sweatpants and into jeans two minutes before the hubs gets home (you know I got the hots for you Brian) like a mad frazzled woman these past few weeks and I'm excited to share my new pieces! Here's Papa and Mama Cardinal hanging out during a snow fall. Available in two print sizes, or as notecards.

Check out more over in my shop! 

So I'm hoping now that I have everything all updated for the holidays I'll be able to devote a little more time to writing in this space. Then I can keep you in the loop on important things like that time that I wanted to make chips and cheese in the microwave but then I realized we didn't have any chips so then I made them with water crackers instead but then I realized we didn't have any salsa so instead of chips and cheese with salsa I ended up with crackers and cheese with barbecue sauce and it just tasted really bad but I ate it all anyway.

It's important that you know about these things.

43/52

More outside fall pictures! It's getting chilly these days, and the days of huge puffy coats that slip and slide all over the place are upon us.

Sheepdogs and sheep on Halloween night

Halloween at our house was a fun time this year. Unfortunately the hubs had to work, but my mom and sister came over to help the girl and I celebrate. Paisley was dressed up as a large fluffy dog, which she mostly enjoyed! (When she wasn't falling over because her peripheral vision was being obstructed.) We trick-or-treated at a few houses in the neighborhood and it was generally a success - little miss sheepdog mostly just stared down whoever answered the door. I think they all might have been intimidated into giving her treats. When we got back she was content to carefully sort her candies in various containers for the rest of the night. The longer she doesn't realize that candies are something to be consumed and instead uses them for her entertainment and organizational purposes, the better.

By the way. I was so worried this year about running out of candy! I didn't want to spend a lot of money so I only bought one bag but LAST year we DID run out of candy (although I think it was because the ever so generous hubs was handing it out by the fistfuls) and then a little girl shouted out to her friends, "THIS HOUSE DON'T GOT NO CANDY!" I was so mortified that I turned off all the lights and ducked down below the window, dreading anyone else that might find out about us and our lack of treats. Then when the hubs got back from rushing to the store for MORE candy I switched back on all the lights, flung the door open eager to redeem myself to the neighborhood kiddos, but the rush was basically over and we had lots of leftovers that we couldn't seem to unload on anyone.

SO. As I was saying, this year I didn't want to run out of candy so I firmly declared that there would be only one piece of candy handed out to each kid that came to our door (my favorite being a zombie ninja). 

And I don't know if there were way less kids this year or we are just not getting our ratios of candy to kids right, but we had so much candy left over. So. Much. I texted the hubs to inform him of our situation and he was all, "Way to go Mrs. Stingy!"

Please to enjoy my fuzzy phone pictures.

42/52

This week is kicking my butt and I have a feeling next week will too. But I did find some time to play out in some crunchy piles of leaves with the baby girl, and was able to snap a couple great shots. She wasn't quite as thrilled with playing in the leaves as I thought she might be and mostly just wanted to eat them instead, or swing.

Whatever floats your boat girlfriend!!!

41/52

Here's a pic from this last week! It's becoming near impossible these days to get baby girl to both look at the camera AND sit still long enough for me to take the picture, so this mama takes what she can get. (In this picture Paisley thought the game was that she should stand up as soon as I sit her down so that I turn into a crazy person because we're already running late but I just want ONE! PICTURE!)

I had a particularly mom-ish week this week if you were using a mom-o-meter to rank your week. Which I usually don't.

Amidst the usual attending play dates, trying to keep up with the laundry and dishes, cleaning poopy diapers, wiping milk spills off the floor, changing sheets, wiping noses, and standing in the doorway until she falls asleep, there was also sorting of summer and winter clothes, shopping for cheap winter jackets and snow boots, being the nursery backup lady for the women's bible study this week at church, and picking her up early from a sitter because she didn't seem to be feeling well. I've been feeling quite motherly through it all but then the biggest jump on my mom-o-meter happened yesterday while walking through the parking lot at Target and a passing bird pooped on my head. "UGH!" I said and felt my wet hair, while trying to look at my reflection in my car window. I couldn't really see much so I figured it couldn't be too bad and I'd take care of it once I got home in front of a mirror and a sink.

But by the time I had loaded the girl and the groceries into my car and then drove home to meet my mom and brother who were dropping things off at my house and then quickly made dinner and then ate dinner and got Paisley ready for bed and read her some books and waited in her doorway until she fell asleep and did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen and living room and cleaned out the litter box and got some laundry started, I had forgotten about the bird dookie.

Until late that night when I was brushing my teeth about to go to bed and I noticed...a small, thin, whitish streak in my hair.

"What in the...OH."

But I was too tired to do anything about it then so I just went to bed, resolving to change the sheets in the morning.

I don't know why I equate being "mom-ish" to being too busy to remember that a bird pooped in my hair and then too exhausted to take care of it once I did remember, but I also kind of do know.

Recent Work

I realized I hadn't shared any of my recent pastel work for awhile. But don't worry, there is plenty of it. I'm creating new pieces almost every day during baby girl's nap time and I'm starting to develop a problem.

I don't know where to put them all.

Currently in my art studio (which just a few short months ago looked like this...just look! So clean! So shiny!) the floor is covered with random pastels and illustrations. All over the floor, the desks, and any other surface that is flat. There's a small space in the middle of the floor, which is where I sit down to work.

And although I generally work well in chaos, I need to come up with some type of solution.

Soonish.

But here are a few that I have been pleased with:ALSO! Some house keeping. I re-did my about page. It's been long overdue - the picture of Paisley was from when she was like a week old, and the pictures of Brian and I were from like 2011 or something ridiculous and ancient like that. I updated with some pictures that the lovely Erin from Erin Bell Photography did for us, which I am in love with. I would have put them all up, but then my blog would be so slow to load that you would stop wanting to be my friend. But seriously, if you are looking for some quality photos for your family (or wedding! she does those too!) check out her work!

40/52

I realized after lunch today that I had no picture to post of Paisley for this week. And since we are about to have a busy weekend, I decided that the most logical thing to do was to have an epic photo shoot all throughout the house before naptime. I followed this girl everywhere and documented her while she "swept" the kitchen floor with her little broom, and while I wiped her booger face clean over and over (outstanding allergy season for this baby girl - her sneezes are explosive), and while we played tackle tickle attack on the bed in the guest room.

Once I deemed her sufficiently worn out I put her down for her nap and came out to this very computer, to this very spot, to this very moment, to look at the many, many photos I had taken.

All were blurry but two.

And only one was cute.

And so here you are! Boogers and leftover pizza sauce face, mid tackle tickle attack.