Close To My Heart Blog Hop

Welcome to the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop for February!

All artwork on the hop will feature February's SOTM, "Piece of Cake". If you have come here from Debra's blog you are on the right path! This is so simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! If you visit all the blogs you will see over 70 examples of CTMH artwork.

This month I will also be randomly selecting one person to win the card and the 6 tags from this blog hop! There are two ways to enter the contest:
1. Leave a comment.
2. Become a follower of my blog and then leave a comment stating that you are a blog follower.

This stamp set is so darn cute! Love the Veranda paper packet.

The card inspired me to make some matching birthday tags. I used a wide variety of embellishments: ribbon, liquid glass, sparkles, markers, and 3D foam.


Thanks for taking a peek at my blog hop this month. I hope you took a moment to enter the contest.

Now hop on over to Jen's blog for more stamp of the month artwork.

Toddler Bed

We finally were able to get Shane a toddler bed on Friday. It sat in his room for a couple days,while he continued to sleep in his crib that last two nights. The last few days were just to full to start the transition. Finally this morning we were able to take the crib down and put the bed in its place. He has been super excited about it all weekend long. Nap time today was his first time sleeping in it. We went over the "rules" of the new bed: No getting out of it and no playing with toys in his room. Though we imagine the no getting out of it will fall by the waste side at some point, but figured we should start lofty and go from there. He was so darn tired from being sick, not sleeping well last night and from no nap yesterday that he just crashed. He didn't make a peep, or even call us once. Let's just hope tonight goes as well, but so far so good.

Shane "helping" to put it together.


He was being so goofing after we got it all set up this morning, that I could get a good picture of him on it.

Wordless Wednesday

Toddler Time

Kenny and I were talking one night and come to the conclusion that there is a such thing as "toddler time". It goes something like this:

When a toddler takes a 2 hour nap it only feels like he has been sleeping for an hour tops.

When a toddler watches TV quietly and happily for 30 minutes if feels like barely 10 minutes has gone by.

When a toddler throws a tantrum for 10 minutes it feels like an hour of whining, crying, and yelling.

When a toddler has been sleeping past 7am Monday through Friday, it is guaranteed that that said toddler will be up before 6am on Saturday and Sunday.

When you take a toddler on a 2 hour car ride, it feels like you've been in the car all day long.

Toddler time is a tough thing to deal with. It makes for long days and short moments of peace and quiet. Though I think at some point when my toddler is all grown up I may miss toddler time. Then again, maybe I won't.

Knitting Class

I learned how to knit this weekend! Well, I learned how to cast on, knit and purl. I hear from there I can make anything. My first project is a beautiful diagonal scarf pattern. So far all I've done is practice knitting and purling, but I hope to start this week on the actual project.

When I went to bed last night I kept seeing the needles move in either the knit stitch or the purl stitch. At least that way I hope it will stay with me. I don't want to forget how to do it.

Thanks to Nona and her patience in teaching me what to do and for checking in on me through out the evening. You can join me at Nona's knitting class, too. Check out her blog for more details about the class next month on Saturday, February 20th.

Toddler Torture

I wanted to share this perfect example of my life with a 2.5 year old son. No matter how much patience you have, sometimes it just doesn't matter....

Toddler Group was coming to an end on Tuesday morning of this week. And like every week at the end of Toddler Group, Teacher Kris gives the kids a hand stamp. They get them on each hand and even on their belly if they want. It's quite the hit with Shane and he loves showing Daddy what kind of stamp he got when Daddy gets home from work.

As class ended, Shane took off to play in the car area, without stopping to get his stamp. After gathering our things, I reminded him that he needed to get his stamp from Teacher Kris now or he wouldn't get one. Right after that Teacher Kris asked for any kids that hadn't received their stamp to come and get one. I asked Shane if he wanted a stamp today. He said "No". I instantly thought this isn't going to end good. But was going to stick with what he wanted, no matter what I thought he was going to want later on. I got down and explained to Shane one last time, if we left school we won't be able to come back and get a stamp. Again he told me he didn't want one. As we headed out the door, Teacher Kris asked if he wanted one. The answer was "No". I quickly again mentioned we wouldn't be coming back to get one after we walked out the door. He was okay with that.

We got settled into the car. Shane had his blanket, snack, toys, etc and seemed happy as a clam. As I turned around to back up the car, Shane looks at me with a smirk on his face and points to his hand. I instantly knew what he wanted, and clarified to him that he chose to not get one today. At that point he lost it, a full on tantrum! When I said we weren't going back he escalated he tantrum to out of control. As I continued to stick to my guns and attempt to explain to him that he made the choice to not get a stamp today and that next week he could choose to have one, he continued to scream and cry.

By the time we got home, he was somewhat settled down, but continued to point to his hand and ask for a stamp. Which would start the tantrum all over again, when I said he couldn't have one now. When Daddy got home that night, he had no stamp to show off and in his Shane way explained to Kenny what had happened. By that point he seemed to be able to tell Kenny about it without losing his mind and even told him he didn't want one next week either. I can't wait to see how that goes.

Man, Oh, Man! On a daily basis I feel like I can't win with that kid. No matter how much patience I give him or have, or no matter how clearly I lay out the expectations or follow through on things, I seem to lose every time. I know this is just a "phase", but I can't wait to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Because the "terrible twos" may just kill me off!

Wordless Wednesday

February Card Class

Join me for February's Card Class on Tuesday the 9th from 7-9pm. If you'd like to RSVP for this class send me an email or leave a comment with your contact information. We'll be making the following 3 cards for $7.

Who's Refrigerator is This?

Recently my non vegetable and fruit eating Husband read an article in Trail Running magazine about being less acidic in your body and trying to be more balanced or have your body be more alkaline. The article explained all the benefits to this and that basically you needed to cut the "crap" out of your diet and eat more "whole" foods like fruit and vegetables. Not rocket science or new news to most of us out there, but for whatever reason this article hit home for Kenny.

In turn amazing things have happened at out house. The first evening of this change he ate a big bowl of broccoli. Never in my almost 8 years of knowing him have I seen him eat broccoli!!! The other day I called him at work and could tell that he was eating. I asked what he was eating, you may want to hold on for this one, carrots! He has gone to the grocery store with me the two weeks to help pick out the fruit and veggies he wants. Our refrigerator has never ever looked like it does now. There isn't room for all the vegetables and fruit that we've been going through. I can't say that he so far loves most of what he has been eating, but I'm super proud and happy to see him try celery, apples, broccoli, etc. It's a great example for Shane and I'm super happy to add more of these items to my diet as well.

Wordless Wednesday

Valentine's Day 3x3 Card Workshop

Tired of those boring store bought Valentine's Day cards? Want to send your kiddos to school with something way cuter? How about sending cards to your friends and family this year for Valentine's Day? What ever you may need them for, these fun, and super easy to make 3x3 Valentines Day Cards will be perfect for all kinds of uses.

You can make them in a set of 12 for $5 or a set of 24 for $10.

WHEN: Wednesday, February 3rd at 7pm

If you would like to join me for this workshop, just drop me an email to RSVP.

This idea was "lifted" from the very talented Vicki over at Wizard's Hangout.

Potty Power!

Right before nap time on Friday, Shane decided he didn't want to wear a diaper and wanted to wear underwear to bed. I thought, "uh-oh", this can't end good, but went with it. Shane ended up with no nap on Friday, but we did end up going with it and have been potty training all weekend long. I can't say that I was planning on doing this quite yet, but Shane decided he was ready, so we figured we better be ready, too!

I've been super impressed with his potty training so far. He had zero accidents on Friday (1/2 day of training), 3 accidents on Saturday, and 1 accident on Sunday. He even has managed to go #2 in the potty. And woke up completely dry from nap today, as well. We've tried hard not to ask him if he has to go, instead trying to let him figure out when he needs to. He has done a great job announcing "pee" and running to the bathroom on his own. We even did a few errands this weekend. The potty rode in the back of the SUV and we had him pee in it before heading into a store. No accidents out in public, as of yet.

There have been a couple times I just wanted to throw the diaper back on him and preserve the "simpleness" that comes with it. Or maybe I just want to stop him from growing up. What ever the reason may be, we've kept foraging on. Sooner then later my little baby is going to be out of diapers. And preschool isn't much further away either. They really do grow up fast!

Water, Water Everywhere

Shane has an odd love and hate relationship with water. He wants to play in the water faucet all day long, splash in puddles till he freezes from the cold, and pour water into container after container. BUT if there is any mention of washing his hair, water becomes the enemy.

He has gotten to the point that he hates having his hair washed so bad, that it is the first thing he asks when he wakes up, if his hair needs to be washed today. We can't seem to find a way to make the hair washing situation not as bad. Eventually we figure he'll realize it isn't worth the fight he puts up (and man, he can put up a fight!).

Last week, I took Shane and Dahlia to the best mud puddle road around! We went there last year and they had a blast splashing. This year I don't think I had ever seen Shane so extremely happy about what he was doing. I was kicking myself because I didn't have my camera. He was just giddy with joy from kicking, jumping, splashing and walking in the huge puddles. I poured almost two inches of water out of his boots on the walk back to D's house.

It's a love hate kinda relationship, that tends towards the love until you pour it on his head!

Wordless Wednesday

Bald Eagle

On Christmas Eve while my Dad was out taking a walk, he spotted a young Bald Eagle (we know he is young because he doesn't have a white head yet) laying in the grass next to the road. After he got back home he called the local wild life authorities in the area so they could be aware of it. Since they are a species of importance and also that their feathers are very value to Native American tribes. After the call was made we all went down so that we could have a closer look at such an amazing animal.

It appears that the big guy flew right into the power line, cracking his wing right in half and giving himself quite the jolt. His claws were black from being "fried". He didn't make it through this experience. When my Dad found him he was dead and the wild life people came to pick him up.

You don't usually get a chance to see such an impressive animal up close, I wanted to share the pictures I took.

Blog Candy Winner Is....

I used the true random number generator and got #3 -- which is Lori Miller. Congrats Lori. I've contacted you via email. When I get your address I'll put them in the mail.

Thanks everyone for taking a peek at my cards and leaving comments.