Confessions Of A Scrapaholic

Random Celebrity Sighting

I'm not sure if he actually counts as a celebrity, but guess who I saw walking through the mall today?

Sanjaya! I haven't watched American Idol since Season Two, but even I know who he is. I won't lie. I was rooting for him, crazy hair and all. He is from Seattle after all. :) I didn't get a picture of us together because:
    a) I'm not that much of a nerd
    b) My camera was charging at home
    c) Zoë almost ran him down pushing her stroller, so I doubt he would have stopped anyway

There you go. My little bit of randomness for the day.

Can you tell that I am stalling right now? I need to go upstairs and fold laundry and pick up the house for Zoë's train cake decorating play date tomorrow. It should be fun. Zoë is SO excited. I will post pictures tomorrow along with the amazing cake recipe. It is the best vanilla cake I have ever had in my life and I made it from scratch!

(Now picture my mother falling out of her computer chair as she reads that last sentence). Hehehe.

My Grown Up Christmas Wish

Firstly, get your mind out of the gutter! Not that kind of grown up Christmas wish.

I have been waiting for almost four years to get this Christmas present: Good Christmas photos! Any good family photos really. I've been so frustrated with Zoë not looking at the camera lately. (OK, all of this year). Well, she seems to have turned a corner. The other day she actually asked me to take her picture. Um, hello? OF COURSE!!! It's a Mommy's dream come true. We have never ever gotten good Christmas photos. Last year, in all the family chaos, we didn't take a single family picture. This year I made it a point to take some, and look!

Zoë is looking at the camera and smiling. That is all the present I need. That is not to say that is the only present I got. Apparently I was a good girl this year. Lookie what my darling husband got me.

Ooooh, ahhhhh. It's pretty. It's sooo pretty. It is actually from Zoë and Kelly. He asked her what I would like for Christmas and she said, "Mommy likes computers and pictures and cartoons and Josh Groban." I think an iPod Touch fits that bill. I can use it with my computer, to look at pictures and to listen to Josh Groban. Oh, and Zoë can use it watch cartoons. I may never get it back.

I downloaded and episode of My Friends Tigger and Pooh for Miss Zoë to watch and an episode of Samantha Who? last night. I had never seen that show. It is really funny! I may just have to download the other episodes to watch on my cool new iPod. (Yes, I have a perfectly good television, but what is the fun in that?)

For more Christmas goodness, check out the family blog. :)

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

I am not much of a snow person. I like to look at it, but I don't like the cold weather and I especially don't like driving in it. What I do like is waking up on Christmas morning to snow, and even a couple days before Christmas. I grew up in Spokane. It's what I am used to.

I still haven't adjusted to Christmas in Seattle. There is no snow, just rain. And seriously, who dreams of a rainy gloomy Christmas? Anybody? Raise your hands.

Yep. That's what I thought.

It's not just rain that weirds me out though. I don't really like celebrating Christmas in California either. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my Dad and Victoria, but celebrating Christmas on a bright sunny 75 degree day is just not right! There needs to be snow!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and it does not even remotely feel like it to me. It could be that I am still sad about Aphro and am not terribly in the Christmas spirit, but I think it is the rain. It can't be a lack of Christmas music. Zoë has been listening to "While by My Sheep" sung by Junior Asparagus over and over and over and over again for days. You'd think she'd get sick of it, but no.

We have been having a great time with our elf, Flea. You can read more about him here. Yesterday he brought Zoë some Magic Reindeer Food from the North Pole. (Because you know he flies back there each night, using his elf magic, to report to Santa). Have you seen this yet? I would say this is the MUST HAVE digital scrapbooking item of the season. Seriously. How freaking cute is this?!? I can hardly stand it. I made some for my little nephews as well. I can't wait for them to receive their package tomorrow.

I only wish this had come out a week earlier. I would have made Magic Reindeer Food for all of Zoë's little classmates in a heartbeat. It is just SO FREAKING CUTE! Did I already say that? Love it.

Bittersweet

Yesterday was Zoë's Princess Tea Party. She was unbelievably excited to have her friends over. I am thrilled that she has little friends now. She was so lonely this summer, but no more. She adores her classmates. And now she knows they can come over to her house to play. I see many play dates in my future. :)

The day before the party we picked up some tiaras and rings for the girls to wear. We also bought princess plates and napkins. It was all very exciting. Zoë could hardly wait to get home and test it all out. LOL! I stayed up late decorating for the party using this awesome collection from IKEA. Add to that some Disney princess music and we were set.

Can I just say again how much I love having a little girl? And how much I love dressing up? Granted, I didn't actually put on a princess dress, but I was wearing a tiara (along with the other Mommies). My digital scrapbooking buddy Cathy attended the party with her daughter Sofi. It is so fun when you get to meet online friends in person. I am glad that our girls like each other so much. Zoë's classmate Emi also came to the party with her mommy. I think that Cathy and I are going to try and convert her to digital scrapbooking. (Emi's mom that is).

I digress... Here is a picture of our little princesses all dressed up. (If you look closely you can see our new paint color and hardwood floors. I will post more pictures of the house soon).

Now how cute is this? The picture turned out blurry but I don't even care. It is just completely darling and makes me smile. The girls took out every single dress-up item in Zoë's possession and spread them out all over her room. Then dressed up. Love, love, love it. They can come over anytime and play dress up. Love it.

Now for the sad news. We had to put Aphrodite to sleep yesterday. The animal hospital called after Zoë's party to tell us that her blood work came back showing a urinary tract infection and kidney failure. That in itself could possibly have be treated with aggressive antibiotics and by flushing her system out, but the ultrasound also showed quite a bit of scar tissue in her kidneys, which means that Aphro had been dealing with this condition for quite some time, and pollups (probably cancerous). The doctor said that he could aggressively treat her but that Aphro would always be prone to infection and would never fully recover. That is not something we wanted our sweet girl to go through, so we said goodbye.

Zoë is handling everything quite well, better than me really. She went with us to the hospital and said goodbye to Aphro then said, "Can I have a snack now?" I am actually glad that she isn't upset. She is dealing in her own special way. Today she asked me if Aphro was in heaven. I said yes. She thought about that for a second then asked, "And Jesus, Mary, and The Angel of the Lord are taking care of her?" I said yes. That seemed to make her happy.

Zoë also has a new favorite toy. Cathy and Sofi brought us both gifts when they came over yesterday. Hot Cocoa Body Wash for me (love it) and a Hello Kitty doll for Zoë. Zoë has named her new kitty "Princess Aprodite" and played with her all afternoon. Thank you Cathy and Sofi. Truly.   

A Long Crappy Day

It started yesterday really. Aphrodite has been acting weird for a couple days. (That is one of our cats, in case you didn't know that). She has been going potty in the house which she never does. I thought she was just being a brat because she didn't like the new leather furniture or the hardwood floors. But then I noticed that she wasn't being her normal affectionate playful self.

Enter the mobile vet. She examined Aphro and said that she seemed slightly dehydrated (not great, but not terrible) and that she had lost 1.5lbs. since her last exam (not good) and that her temperature was low (extremely bad). She drew Aphro's blood to run some tests then showed us how to give her an IV. Frankly, I could have gone my whole life without knowing how to do that.

We got Aphrodite's test results back this morning. It was a lovely way to wake up, let me tell you. Aphro has acute kidney failure. More specifically, they were the worst test results the vet had ever seen and she was shocked that Aphrodite was still alive. That is so not what I wanted to hear.

We got dressed and took Aphro to the animal hospital. There she shall stay for the next five days while they pump her full of IVs and antibiotics. Her illness came on so suddenly that we are hoping that they can flush all of the toxins out of her system and she will recover. In the meantime, our holiday travel plans are on hold.

OK, so obviously I am really emotional and in a bad mood today. (I'm sure the cranky pants post tipped you off). It didn't get better after we got back from the animal hospital. Zoë no longer naps. She has messed around in her room the last four days instead of napping. I went to Nordstrom and Best Buy to pick up gifts that I now need to ship out tomorrow, and both items were out of stock. I then went to yet another mall to pick up gifts that were supposed to be ready yesterday and they aren't. I have to go back tomorrow. %$#@!

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow is Zoë's Princess Tea Party. The thought of the party cheers me up. The knowledge that I now have to go clean the house (at 10pm) because I had to cancel the housekeeper today does not.

Digital Goodness

I love making gifts during the holiday season (digital gifts). Not all the gifts mind you, that would be way to much work. Just a few that I know will brighten someone's day. Last year it was Shabby Princess Calendars for the grandparents and Address Books for my aunts and uncles. This year I had to take a different route because my sweet darling daughter never smiles at the camera. Would you believe that I do not have enough pictures of her smiling at the camera to fill up a twelve month calendar?!? OK, I take that back. I do not have twelve calendar worthy pictures.

Speaking of that, I purchased the Heather Ann 2008 Calendar Toppers and one by Dani Mogstad as well. If you would like one of them just leave me a comment. Somebody might as well get some use out of them. They are darling, but simply not going to work for me.

I did find something that would work for me though. Have you heard of Something Blue Studios? I stumbled across them a few weeks ago and am so happy I did! They make high quality magnets of all shapes and sized. I will show you one that I made, since I am 99.9% positive that the people receiving it don't read my blog. (Can I just say, I am not feeling the family love?)

My order should be arriving this week. I will give you a review of the finished products once I have them in my hands. I am especially excited about the 2"x2" magnet options. How cool would teeny tiny layout magnets be? I haven't ordered any yet, but my mind is filling up with all the cute possibilities.

I also finished up gifts for Zoë's preschool teachers. I bought Starbucks gift cards for each of them and put them into customized travel mugs. I completely spaced taking a picture of the finished mugs in my rush to get out of the house on Thursday (so not a morning person) but here is the insert. I started with a template by Penny Springerman and tweaked it a bit. I think they turned out pretty darling. (Can you tell I am loving the Get Up And Scrap collection lately?)

That is not all! I have scheduled two play dates at our house during the holiday break. I'm not one to simply pick up the phone and call all the parents of Zoë's little friends. I am not a phone person. I would rather make cute little invitations. At midnight. (Crazy person...I know). They turned out darling though. Here is one of them:

I think that about covers it. No, wait. I also made Christmas cards for Kelly's Grandma and my Mom. Those I won't post pictures of. I don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone receiving the cards. :) I think I am pretty much done with the gift making. Now all I need to do is finish up my 2007 DVD so that I can send out the grandparents packages. Whew!

New Holiday Outfit

For my blog that is. You like? I still need to create some festive tabs but my pillow is calling me.  "Maegan... come to bed... Maegan... you need to sleep..." I also redesigned Zoë's blog and our family blog today. I think that may be a record for me. The creative holiday juices were flowing, and they haven't been flowing for a good six months.

I will post more tomorrow (or later today, I guess). So much has been happening but I have spent every second of computer time putting the finishing touches on Christmas gifts. Unfortunately the ol' blog is usually the first thing passed over when to-do's start piling up. I am sure you have no idea what I am talking about. ;)

When It Rains, It Pours

Especially in Seattle.
Dude.

It has been a teensy bit wet the last few days. ;) Thanks to all of the family that called, and friends that emailed to check on us. We are doing just fine. You sure know how to make a girl feel loved. One of the nice things about living on the eastside of Seattle is that we are on high ground. It has been raining really hard but there is no flooding to speak of near our house.

*  *  *  *  *

Now, on to the main event. If you will recall we went to Spokane for one purpose last weekend: Princesses on Ice. Sure, we could have gone in Seattle, but we wanted Zoë to attend this fabulous event with her Grammie and her Nana. Zoë has been talking about this for months. Literally months. I made the mistake of telling her about the tickets in September. Oh my gosh, she was beyond excited.

Since we were going to Princesses on Ice, we had to dress the part. Am I wrong?  Nope, didn't think so. I won't lie. I bought Zoë and outfit just for the occasion. It wasn't just her though, we all dressed fancy and wore tiaras (the ladies anyway). What else does one wear when they are going to be in the presence of royalty?

When I dropped Zoë off for her sleepover with Grammie the night before the show she said, "Grammie, you have to dress fancy. Do you have sparkles?" I love that kid.

Traveling with Nana certainly has some perks. We were able to park right near the doors of the arena (in handicapped parking).  We were escorted to the front of the line by the kindly security guards. And Zoë rode in style on her Nana's lap while we looked for The Princess Academy.

Don't even get me started on The Princess Academy. If you do attend POI do not even waste your time.  We waited in line for 45 minutes to walk through a room with five of the princesses dresses (not the princesses mind you, just the dresses) and ended up with a picture of Zoë and some random royalty. There was not a single princess to be seen anyway. I was less than pleased.

We made it to our seats just as the show was starting. I could not have asked for better seats. My Aunt Mary was able to order them through her office and we were in the THIRD row. The view was amazing. Despite being so close to the ice, Zoë took turns sitting on each of our laps because she couldn't see over the people in front of us (being three feet tall and all). It was completely magical. Seeing her little face as she watched the princesses ice skate actually made me tear up for a second. (Totally sappy I know, and I hate sappy).

The highlight of the show for Zoë was of course when Ariel came out. The girl is obsessed with all things Ariel. Here is a little video clip to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

It was too dark to get any decent pictures during the show, but here are a couple we snapped during intermission. It really was a day to remember. Zoë wants to learn to ice skating now. Fortunately for her there is a rink nearby. Hopefully I still remember how so that I can hold her up! It's like riding a bike right? Once you know how you never forget?

Zoë and Mommy

Zoë and Grammie

Zoë with Daddy and Grandpa

Zoë with Mommy and Nana

I did a little head swapping on Nana. Can you tell? I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I do have a photo edited/fixing question for you. I took the picture below while we were visiting my Dad and WSM in California. It is the best of the series taken (people wise) but the worst exposure wise. I have no idea what happened but despite my efforts to fix it, cannot. Does anybody have any recommendations? I would love to use this in some sort of Christmas gift, but am starting to loose hope. This repair is just beyond me.

Home Safe and Sound

Just a quicky post to say that we are home safely. Seattle is having crazy rain today but I'm not complaining. I'll take rain over snow any day. That being said, Zoë and I may just have to swim to swimming lessons today. LOL!

Blackberry Blogging on the Road

We are on our way home from Spokane. We decided to brave the pass and head home as planned. It actually hasn't been that bad. We almost turned around and went back in Cheney (about thirty minutes outside Spokane) because visibility was terrible and it was snowing sideways. Thankfullu it cleared up until we reached the pass. Going through the pass at thirty miles an hour is kind of rough going, but at least it is open. I won't lie, I am blogging to distract myself. Don't misunderstand me, it's not Kelly that I am worried about. He is a very capable winter driver. We both are. It's everyone around us that freaks me out. Seattle-ites freak out when there is the slightest hint of snow. Our trip to Spokane was really fun. I will post more later when I can include pictures. That is the bummer about Blackberry blogging. That and not having spell check...