2013: A Review

Happy Early New Year!  I really can't believe it's (almost) already a new year, seems like we just got last year started.  Anyhoo, here's a little recap of how my 2013 went!  And I owe this little post to Joy at I Can Say Mama; I'd never have put this together on my own!

Gained or lost weight?  Gained.... like, the doctor said go on a diet.

Predominant feeling in 2013?  Hmmm, feelings are tough.  Any given day is a roller coaster of emotions.  But, predominantly, I guess the feeling for 2013 was complete and utter chaos!

Predominant feeling for 2014?  I predict the chaos will follow me right into the new year, but if I could wish for it, I'd have nothing but complete and utter peace in 2014.

Something you did for the first time in 2013?  I'm not a "try something new" kind of person, but I did, for the first time ever, give an injection.  My aunt, who has diabetes, began a new medication and I was the lucky person who got to give it to her.  It's an epi-pen type thing, very fool proof.  I passed the torch to my mother in December, though.

Something you did again in 2013 after a long pause?  No clue.  Oh!  I started "digital scrapbooking" again!  Sort of.  I was really surprised to see that I hadn't worked on any of our family photos since May 2010!  I am waaaaaay behind.

Something you unfortunately did not do in 2013?  Sadly, I did not stick with my little line-a-day idea that I had at the end of 2012.  Better luck this year!  Nor did I manage to read one book a week.  So much for those New Year's Resolutions I made!

Word of the year?  Yes.  Sadly, it will not carry over into 2014.  2014 is going to be the year of big, fat NO.  Sorry people.

City of the year?  Evansville, the most travelled to city anyway.

Hair longer or shorter?  Shorter, then longer.

More or less money spent?  Probably more.

Highest mobile phone bill?  I think the highest was around $220, we have four lines and the husband continuously goes over his data plan.  Yes, we've had many fights about it.

Hospital stays?  Zero, thank goodness!  Unless you count one out-patient procedure?

(Fallen) In love?  Still in love.

Most called person?  Casey.

Whom did you spend the most beautiful time with?  My kids.  They drive me crazy, but there's nothing better than being home with them.

What did you spend most of your time with?  I probably spent more time sitting in the waiting room while the kids did therapy than anything else this year.  Or, possibly, more time sitting in the car in the student pickup lane at school!  It'd be a toss up between those two.

Song of the year?  Oh, gosh.  This is a tough one.  The funny side of me wants to pick What Does the Fox Say, because I do have that one on my playlist.  But, really the song of the year has to be Lorde's Royals.  Patty and I both love it.

Book of the year?  This reminds me, I didn't complete my one-book-a-week resolution in 2013!  Bummer!  But, I guess my book of the year would have to be....hmmmm.  I read a handful of "classics" that I found for-cheap on Amazon.  I can't pick just one of them as book of the year, so I guess all things Signet Classic, will have to do.

TV show/movie of the year?  Oh, this one is beyond tough for me.  I am a tv-a-holic in desperate need of a 12 step program.  Like, seriously.  Hmmmm....  I'm going to pick X-Factor.  This was my second year watching the program and I absolutely love it.  Oh, but I really liked the Dancing with the Stars cast this year too!  And who can forget about Survivor, my all time favorite!  See, serious tv problem.

Insight of the year?  You can't be in two places at once, but multitasking is almost the same thing.

Three things you totally could have done without?  1. Lack of Facebook Etiquette, maybe it's just that I don't feel strongly enough about anything to leave a disagreeing comment on one of your personal posts, but there was a time this year when a lot of people thought it was more than appropriate to voice their views on my Facebook posts.  2.  Weight gain ;-}  3. Too hot summer days.

Most beautiful event?  My children's birthdays.  Hands down.

More short-sighted or more far-sighted than 2013?  About the same, I think.

The most dangerous thing you did?  Ha!  I don't live a dangerous life!  Unless you count posting my opinion on Facebook, that has proven to be quite the taboo lately.

The most expensive thing you bought?  I ordered an expensive Fossil bag, but returned it because it was absolutely huge!  So, I guess the Silhouette Portrait was the most expensive purchase of my year.

The most delicious meal or food you ate?  Oh geez, another thinker.  We make these little cookies every Christmas, we call them Secret Kiss Cookies, and they are to die for yummy.  They are the highlight of my Christmas candy season.  Sadly, I have not made them this year.  I am taking my doc's advice to drop ten pounds seriously, and having those little yummies in the house would be diet suicide.

The best party?  If it had cake, it was the best!

The most important thing you wanted to convince somebody of?  Regardless of diagnosis or family status, I believe kids are able to achieve great and wonderful things.  They just need a little push, a little guidance, and their own cheering section.  Get your pom-poms ready.

The most beautiful present you gave to somebody?  Hmmm.  I don't think I gave any profoundly insightful presents this year.  Sorry, folks!  In fact, I got more than a little irritated when someone made a remark about getting money, instead of the gift I put a lot of thought into purchasing.  I predict, next year, a lot of folks will be getting a lot of nothing.

The most beautiful present that somebody gave you?  My kids are the gift that keeps giving.

The most beautiful sentence someone said to you?  My kids saying "I love you, mommy".

The most beautiful sentence you said to someone?  I tell my kids on a regular basis, "You can do it.  I know you can."

How will you celebrate New Year's Eve?  I want to be snuggled up on the couch watching tv.

What will you have for dinner?  Maybe, pizza.

What drinks will be in your glasses to clink?  Ha!  Pepsi.  Whoopsie, I have given up caffeinated soft drinks since I first wrote this, so now I will be having a nice glass of Sprite to celebrate the New Year!

Will you ignite any fireworks?  No, not even if it's legal.
- I think there are states in the US where it is not allowed to ignite private fireworks on New Year's Eve so for all of you who are not allowed (or other countries where this is not allowed): What is a special tradition you normally do on New Year's Eve every year? Will you do it this year, too?

What are you going to wear? Comfy or glamorous?  Pajamas, totally comfy.

Did you have any resolutions for 2013? And how about 2014?  I want to make my doctor proud, and lose weight in 2014.....along with all the other foolishly optimistic people!  I want to read more, and get caught up with my family photos, too.

What are your wishes for the new year?  Good health, and happy hearts.

In one word: 2013 was...  Pivotal.

Meet the Lollipop Critters

 

The Girl Scout Christmas party was a raging success!  It was such a blast we ran out of time and sent the Lollipop Critters home for completion.  But, here's a little picture of each critter and how they turned out. 

I used dum-dum suckers and I think they would have been cuter with a little bigger, rounder sucker.  I'm now wondering if Tootsie-Pops would have worked? 

I was a little disappointed with Santa, he just looks a little rough around the edges.  It's probably because I just unrolled a cotton ball and glued it on.  I'm sure giggly girl scouts could have had way more fun gluing on the cotton for his hat and beard! 

But, those googley eyes really make these little critters pop, don't they?

And I did shrink them down quite a bit from the original version, so maybe next year we'll make the full sized ones instead!  Happy Holidays!




Update: November 29, 2015
I've gotten a handful of emails requesting these cutting files since posting these little critters, and I rarely check my email so a handful of folks have been left waiting for a reply that never came - sorry folks.  I've uploaded the SVG files to Dropbox and you can access them via this link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k9ap80dwuvm2h6w/AAAuy2imBdxGGyPd2cXkv0xSa?dl=0  If you use the link and are able to use the cutting files, please leave a comment so I know it's working.  Happy Holidays!

2013 Letters to Santa

The kids were out of school again yesterday from the lingering snow/ice we've had the past five days.  So, they really caught me off guard when they wanted to write their letters to Santa. 

See, I like to have cute paper for those oh-so-special letters and well, I just wasn't ready yesterday morning.  But, being the go-getter he is, JT simply grabbed a sheet of copy paper from the printer tray and got to work.  I had to write the letter for him, and he busily copied it onto his own paper.  I transcribed Patty's letter and put it on the table for her to copy.  She's one smart cookie, though.  She said, "That's a lot of words!"  And just what did she do? Simply folded my paper and put it in her envelope!

I'm trying to be proactive this year, so I scanned their letters into the computer this morning and printed a copy to mail to Santa.  Yes, I keep the original; I'm sure Santa doesn't mind.  If you want to really mail your letter, go to the Santa Claus Museum's website. 

I'm not sure if this is new, or I just never noticed it, but there is a print-at-home feature on the website!  I opted to do this and now I am ready for Christmas Eve!  I'll still mail their letters, I like the idea of their Christmas wishes being a part of a Santa Claus Museum they could visit one day with their kids, but this year I'll put a note saying please don't send a reply. Save a tree, save a stamp.  Note: be sure to do a "print preview". I had to adjust the bottom margin so that Santa's signature wasn't cut off the page! 

If you're sending your little ones letter, it must be received before December 21st, a Saturday this year.  I'd get that letter in the mail no later than December 18th!  Merry Christmas!

In other news, I took to the internet to find an additional copy of our The Night Before Christmas story book.  See, we got that book for Patty's first Christmas, found it at the old Walmart in Henderson (they now have a Super Walmart), I'm pretty sure Grammie purchased it for her, and never would I have thought to buy more than one since Patty was only four months old, little did I know that I would be pregnant with JT only two months from that Christmas. 

Anyhoo, I took to the internet last night thinking I'd find a copy on Amazon.  Uh, no.  I did finally find it on Barnes and Noble.  For $142.67!  Wow.  I'm keeping our one treasured copy under lock and key, the kids will just have to fight over it when I'm gone!  I had to pull it up again this morning to share the link and the price has gone up to $157.67 over night!

Sometimes, Kids are Whiny and Annoying

My friend shared this link on her Facebook page:  How to Raise a Kid Who Isn't Whiny and Annoying.  I liked it so much I blog-stocked it all the way to it's original post on LyzLenz.com.  And, I think I like the original title, Pinterest Stress AKA White Girl Problems, better than the Huff Post title.  And I find it utterly amusing that, in the four or five articles I read, this mom and blogger refers to herself as white and/or middle class in nearly all of them.  But that's not what I was inspired to write about.  I love that she writes, "I don't care if that kid took your toy, get it back yourself, that's street justice."  That line is in the Huff Post copy, in case you read both.  I never think of street justice as a white girl problem, but something about that line really wheedled it's way into my brain. 

I think it must have been the snow day.  Yesterday was our first snow day of the school year and I had to exercise the mom-arm-of-justice at least once before lunch time.  I had actually taken note that Patty and JT were playing really well together.  I guess I'm terrible since I never really take note of what they're actually playing, I'm just happy they're in the same room (a room I am not in) doing something other than sitting next to one another playing their kindles.  Apparently they were playing a home made version of Candy Land using the round, plastic counters from Joann's teacher section, spread out in a long line on my bedroom floor.  I guess they had found one of the little gingerbread men from the game, but hadn't bothered to look for the actual game board.  Really, they should get bonus points for creativity, or something.  Anyway, during her turn, I gather that Patty had taken too many jumps.  I don't know how they were determining the appropriate number of jumps, but she'd taken too many and JT was upset. 

Later, my two little darlings had liberated all the Little People from a draw in my dresser (because that's where I've been stashing those little plastic weapons for years now, I refer to them as weapons because it's like a bomb attack when you step on one in the middle of the night).  What I could gather through the tears, boiled down to not sharing of the Little People Train.  My first thought was to instruct the crier to "take the toy back" just like Lyz says in her article.  Of course, this conflict was more of a hoarding of the toys and not a "she took that from me!" moment so I said they had to divide the train, since we do have two different trains to begin with.

Anyway, something about her article and the kids bickering yesterday made me think of something else.  Do you have random thoughts pop into your head, or is it just me?  I mean, I was literally making the turn into the school parking lot one afternoon when this popped into my head.  I guess it makes a little sense, it was the scene from Footloose where Ren is trying to leave the school parking lot and Chuck is harassing him from his truck.  I tried to find it on YouTube, but gave up after scrolling through the first nine pages of clips.  I know you know the scene I'm talking about.  Chuck says something like, "I thought only pansies where neck ties."  And Ren says, "And I thought only ass holes use the word pansy," and then drives away.  Gosh, I love Footloose.  When I watched the movie a few weekends ago, I tried to imagine how a teen might react today, some thirty years later, and I see that teen crumpling under the words of the bully.  And that's not what I want my kids to do.  I want my kids to stand up for themselves a la Ren with a witty come back and a movie star smile.

I hope my kids are never victims, and I certainly don't want them to grow up to be bullies.  But, I want them to grow up with enough self confidence to stand up for themselves, whomever the bully may be.  So, why do I feel like kids are no longer raised to do just that?  We've probably all told our kid, when the other kid takes his toy, well just let him play with it for a while and you can have it back when he's finished.  No!  That mean kid just took your little angel's toy, shouldn't you be encouraging Lyz's street justice?  At home, I'd probably say yes, but else where I'm just not sure what the right answer should be.  This also makes me think of The Pioneer Woman and her kids who ride horses and herd cattle.  I mean, my kids can't even ride bikes without training wheels and her kids are chopping down trees and immunizing cows!  Talk about feeling like a parental failure!  And then I must mention that my blogging friend Kristi recently wrote about having her own curling iron at the tender age of nine, and I just can't imagine giving Patty her own curling iron, like, ever.

I want my kids to be gracious, and thankful, and kind, but not at their own expense.  I don't want them to be whiny or annoying or inconsiderate, but that's really just human nature.  I don't want them to fall to pieces every time a friend says "I'm not going to be your friend anymore" and those moments have already started, in kindergarten and first grade.  And I know this is only the beginning of the pressures they will face in their young life.  Oh how I dread the day when they want to sign up for their first social media product or have their own cell phone or their drivers license. 

Sadly, I don't have a miracle formula or sage advice to share.  My kids have a serious case of the gimmes, which I have been trying really hard to squash.  I repeat myself, a lot, when it comes to rules of behaving in public, eventually they'll become the model kid I want them to be, right?  But, most of all, I expect my kids to do the right thing, especially when I'm not watching over them.  I just hope their "right thing" and my "right thing" will always be the "same thing"!

Labels CAN Be Limiting

I don't feel the need to share or comment about everything posted by The Friendship Circle, but yesterday's article is worth passing along.  The title alone, Labels Can Be Limiting, had my full attention. 

I 'm not particularly fond of labels of any kind, period.  I think labels are basically useless and serve no purpose other than to check a box on a piece of paper.  If you didn't already know, I'm a think outside the box kind of person.  I strongly feel that labels play no role in reaching a goal or solving a problem. 

Articles like this strenthen my resolve and give me hope.  I hope it does the same for you! 

Silhouette: DIY Reindeer Lollipop Card

Do you call it a sucker or a lollipop?  I call it a sucker, but the tutorial where I got this idea refers to it as a lollipop so I guess I better do that too.  Maybe it's a regional thing becase the tutorial came all the way from Australia!

So, as I browsed Pinterest last night I came across the Pin for these really cute Reindeer Lollipop Cards from a blog called Missy Mac Creations.  Lately I've been looking for two things when reviewing craft projects: 1.) things I can make with my new Silhouette and 2.) things that will be a Girl Scout friendly craft.  And these little lollipop cards fit the bill perfectly!  With one exception.  The template is a PDF.  That means the Silhouette can't cut it out.  But that's where Photoshop comes in really handy!

First things first, you'll need to head over to Missy Mac and download the template.  I opened the template in Photoshop Elements, which let me have each of the designs (Santa, reindeer, elf) as an individual "page".  Then, I simply deleted the background, cropped the image as tight as possible, and saved it as a .PNG file.  A .PNG file will keep a transparent background.  To make life a tad easier I went ahead and duplicated the image and flipped it so they were mirrored.  It's just easier for me to do that step in Photoshop.



Next, I opened the .PNG file in Silhouette Studio.  Here's where you'll want to find a good tutorial on using the "trace" feature, if you're not familiar.  I got really lucky that I didn't have to do much to get a "cuttable" line for these Lollipop cards.  I selected "trace outside" from the selection menu. 

Then, I used the circle tool to make a cuttable circle for the nose and the tiny little hole for the sucker stick.  I also added a line and made it "perforated" where the two halves will fold.  I did a test cut on a piece of card stock and all went well!

I also wanted to be able to use Dum-Dum suckers, so I rotated and duplicated the card so I could have two per 8.5x11 sheet.  I was able to get three Santas and Elves on one sheet, but the Reindeer antlers would only allow two per sheet.  I'm so tickled with how this turned out!  And I'm even happier that I didn't have to use a pair of sissors!

I would love to share these cuttable files with you.  But, sadly I'm not savy enough to know how to upload these so that you can download them!  I did share them with Missy Mac in the hopes that she would pass them on to you!

Update:  I received an email from Missy Mac and sadly she couldn't open the file!  But, she did say I could share!  If you're reading this and have a Silhouette and would like the cutting files, send me an email and I'll try to figure out if those files can be sent by email!   meetthecottons@gmail.com

I Love My Silhouette, I Loathe My Silhouette

I invested in a Silhouette Portrait about a month ago and have had very limited luck getting it to do what I want.  Basically, I think it should do one thing and it has consistently proven me wrong.  Really, I read raving review after review before I received the thing in the mail.  But, then, all I found were tons of folks having similar problems and one very entertaining YouTube video about how much a lady hated her Silhouette.  I really did have an "oh crap" moment thinking I had just tanked $140 down the drain. 

But, me and my can-do attitude just could not accept defeat.  I scoured YouTube and the Internet for helpful videos and tips or tricks to make this little electronic cutter do what I wanted.  I had two main issues to overcome:  the new software to make the thing work, and getting the paper off the cutting mat after I cut something.

I have been a happy Photoshop Elements user for about six years and the Silhouette Studio software pales by comparison.  Like, seriously doesn't hold a candle to Photoshop.  But, just like learning to navigate Photoshop, well, you have to learn to navigate the Silhouette Studio.  It does get easier and YouTube will become your very best friend because there are tons of tutorials to help you.  I've never spent much time on YouTube, but I'm now a happy follower of several YouTube channels and have several tutorials saved in the "watch later" category. 

The second hurdle is the cutting mat and how sticky the darn thing is.  Don't even think about cutting stuff out of regular ol' copy or printer paper.  Thin paper just sticks to the mat and rips when you try to peal it off.  Not only is it a mess, it's a frustrating mess to deal with.  I found a recommendation on a blog (I don't know where) that the Cricut cutting mat is less sticky and works in the Silhouette machine.  The thing to keep in mind is the size of your Silhouette.  As far as I know there are two Silhouettes, the Portrait (which is less expensive) and the Cameo.  The Portrait can only handle cutting shapes that are 8 inches or smaller, the Cameo can do 12 inches or smaller.  I think they can cut things that are 10 feet long, but I am no where near cutting any project that large.  I ordered my 8.5"x12" Cricut cutting mat from Joann.com.  I completely agree with that blogger who said the Cricut mat is more user friendly and less sticky.  It's still too sticky for plain copy paper, though.

When I searched for the Cricut mats I saw that the Cricut tool kit was also on sale at Joann.com and I went ahead and ordered it.  I really didn't want to invest any more money into this fiasco because I thought it was the worst possible idea.  But, the special tools definitely make life easier when trying to get the paper off the cutting mat.  That little metal spatula is a god-send.

So, I'm slowly growing to appreciate my Silhouette and what it can do.  I really like the print-and-cut option and see limitless possibilities for it!  If you're a paper scrapbooker, which I have never been (I'm all digital) you'll probably be head over heals for your Silhouette.  But, it's definitely taking me a little longer to fall in love!

Damn-It, You Can't Close the Commissary

I tried to leave this as a comment on The Military Wallet, but just can't get the comment to post!  I thought maybe the comment was too long, but shortening it didn't help.  So, I'll just post it here instead.  You'll probably want to read the article on The Military Wallet so any of this will make sense.

I can't imagine these closures will become reality for pretty simple reasons.  First, people live on military installations.  Second, military installations can go on lock down with zero prior warning, which means no entering or leaving the installation. 
As long as there are people residing on a military base, the military should be required to provide the basic options available to those who reside in the civilian world.  Can you imagine being a mother living on base with a young child on 9/11?  She would have needed a place where she could easily get food.  Same goes for single soldiers living in barracks.

I agree with previous comments that there is some mixup between commissary and post exchange (or px).  Fort Campbell has had two commissaries in the past 15 years and neither have had a "mini mall" of vendors setup right outside it's door.  But, the PX has always had these, making the PX very much like a small shopping mall in the civilian world, complete with fast food court.

As for saving money by shopping at the commissary....I don't think the figures make sense.  You do drive a great distance, in some cases, to save a buck on that gallon of milk.  Plus you're paying a surcharge, which is less than my areas sales tax, but just barely.  And you can't forget to tip your bagger/carry out person.  I also agree that many items are priced higher at the commissary, things like toilet paper and laundry detergent, while other things are basically the same price as Walmart every day of the week.  How is the commissary selling "at cost" when Walmart sells the same can of cat food at exactly the same price?

I would love to see our elected officials take the biggest hit with these impending budget cuts.  Let them clean their own toilets for a change.  I told my husband just last week, as we sat waiting for our retired ID cards, "You know, 15 years ago when I got my first ID card, there was a little ticket machine and a person called out numbers indicating it's your turn.  Today there's flat screen televisions on every wall, one of which has a fancy number display telling us who's next.  How much do you think those things cost?" 

The simple fact is, the civilian world has managed to stay current, pay employees, and make a profit.  Why can't the military do this as well?  Maybe the solution should be as simple as privatizing the Commissaries and PXs?  Would Walmart have closed it's doors one day a week to save money during the furlough?  No, they would have cut back hours each day to cater to the needs of their customers rather than inconveniencing shoppers to suit their own twisted purposes.