kellicrowe

trophy mommy

Trophy Mommy.

This is what my kids made for me when I was away at CKU. Daddy helped.

So I am off scrapping my little heart out and I call home. All three boys are busting to talk to me. Each conversation goes something like this: "Hi Mommy! I miss you. I love you. Daddy let us play in the rain."

Then the next squealer would get on the phone. "Hi Mommy! Guess what Daddy did today? He let us play in the rain!" Etc. Etc. Etc. That was better than the first night when I was there and they put Max on the phone. I was in a scrapbook store on my cell phone. Max, upon hearing my voice, burst out into loud sobs. All the Mommies within 20 feet of me could hear it. No one came to get him off the phone for what seemed like forever. They said he seemed happy until he heard my voice.

So 1. he didn't even notice I was gone 2. let's not let that happen again lest we want a sobbing Mommy. So on my way home, I call to give the team a heads up. Max gets on the phone, "Mommmmy! We are making you a pwesant! It is a secwet! It is a tropheeeey!" David in the back ground says, "Max, you block head!"

Did Daddy let you watch Charlie Brown too?

So I arrive home to happy family. I am presented the trophy. Did I act like the World's Best Mommy? No sir. I fell far short. I acted like a tired, cranky lady with no energy or interest in playing...or even being very nice. The judges conferred and let me keep the title...and the trophy. They should get trophies. But they will take a handful of M&M's just the same:) kelli

my entry into stacey's cj

Let me just say, for the record, I am super bummed about these scans. This looks so much better IRL. Not because I made it - but because of the fun Wild Asparagus papers and ribbons. Having said that, I like how it looks IRL:) This is for Stacey Kingman's Circle Journal "Words Worth Repeating." (I just had such a funny thought - what if I had pretended to do an entry about something so not related to the topic and then posted it?:) First of all - the CJ Stace put together is really amazing. Lots detail. Lots. So here is the main page I did. It asks: "What do Yoda, Ward Cleaver, John 3:16 & W. have in common?" Answer written lightly at the bottom...and upside down a la kids paper menus where the answer is so cleverly hidden just right there in front of ya...Answer: they all said words worth repeating. So I made 4 little books to keep all the quotes in. I counted - 60 quotes stuffed in these. Here are a few pages that I thought would scan well. There is a special thing too. HIDDEN in one of the books is a scrapbooking celebrity autograph. YES. See, so the game continues. Let me say this - NOTHING NEEDS TO COME APART to find it. Ya hear? Don't go taking anything off that is attached. I did try to scraplift elements from the other entries in mine. So if some things look familiar - they are 'posed to. For almost every quote, I put a few words as to why I like it:) So here you go Stacey. It is getting shipped out to Marlene in the morning. Hope you like it. Just remember - looks better in real life. kelli pS - for the record - I do not know how to control where these pictures land exactly...just the size. And they never look the same when I preview the message as when I post it. Just an FYI because I wouldn't want you to think I like them all un even like this:)

John David

John David. Isn't he cute? On Father's Day by his new grill. He makes me feel normal and safe. That is no small order some days. I hardly ever do a LO about him. Never done a blog about him. I have noticed a lot of LO's lately about kids on 2 peas. About kids as the "center of my world". About kids as the "one I love the most". Hmmmm. For me, on this planet, this is the one. The one I love the most. Yep. Maybe not always like the most. But most days, yes on that too. Kelli

PS -EGADS! I can not believe this....John David will not read this....you know why? I forgot to tell him I have a blog. Like since April have a blog. WOW. I talk so much. How did I leave that out? I wonder if I really forgot....or just selected to leave that information out. Maybe because he would think it is silly. Hmmm. Wait, he already thinks I am silly...so no harm there.

my containerized life, part 1

Ahhh. I just need a few more containters and it will be perfect. There are still a few items not in there. Like the giant tub of Play-Doh items that goes on the floor. Isn't it pretty? It makes me happy to just go and look at it. The pantry had a few moths living in it - so unlike the critters at Stacey Kingman's home who all get Biblical names and love - we killed...I mean "took care" of the moths that were there. They like cardboard...a lot. So no more card board in the pantry. All containers from nirvana...I mean, The Container Store. The moths also seemed to like rice and ziplock bags and nuts. But just by putting all 6 boxes of my Jiffy Cornbread mix into these containters - it feels a little more "home made" when I serve it up to the fam. After all, it is not from a box. It is from a lovely container in my pantry and was baked. See how containers can change you life? I am just the kind of person that needs to open a closet, cabinet etc and see order. You would think I'm a very neat person. Not so. I am messy. Really - place a paper on the counter and I suddenly have 20 things on top of it. Visual is how I like to refer to it. So I am neat behind closed doors and drawers in my home and messy in the general living are. I'm a puzzel all right. Actually - I need to know that there is a PLACE for things to go. A home to return them to. And that home should be rightly labeled. Did I mention all the containers have to match? Yeah, that will be part 2...the toy closet. Speaking of things being visually all over the floor..... k ps. So I am cleaning out the Pantry this week. SO, I felt the urge to clean out every area of my house all at once. It was a need. All at once. John David, I am sure, has a swollen lip from biting it. I went through some of the toys and pulled out stuff to give away. Max has played with the give away toys for over an hour BY HIMSELF (huge). Here he is, diaper clad, dumping the toys out of their containers all over the floor. Maybe he is gonna be visual too.

church clothes

Church clothes. 

We don't have school clothes at our house (most learning takes place in PJ's or a costume around here) but we do have church clothes. Clothes you are supposed to take off when you get home. Clothes that Mommy shouldn't have to wash each week because you really only had them on for a few hours. Clothes that stay cute enough to pass down from one brother to the next. 

 

Did I mention you take them OFF when you get home? Clearly I didn't say it to Maxwell last week. Here he is in all his WET cuteness in his church clothes. Out of the van, around the back of the house and right into the kiddie pool. Wet head to shoe covered toe. Now, maybe if I hadn't paused to take a picture, then he would have really understood that this is not what we do in church clothes. But like everything, I DID take a picture and followed it up with a stern, "Don't do that again." Sometimes I even ask them to repeat the act so I can get the picture and then try to employ the "Don't do it again." I can see the mixing of signals. I get that. But it isn't like I am trying to write a parenting book. (If I did it would so have a chapter on the reason you DO NOT let your child take the bottle to bed and a step by step guide to sanitizing a crib after your child has discovered how to take off his soiled diaper and smear it on everything he can touch from said crib) 

 

So here is cute, wet Maxie. Ya think when I show him the scrapbook page on how cute I think he is at this moment it will also undermine the wrongness of it all? Yeah...probably. kelli OH YEAH, notice that there are just bangs on the right side of his head? We noticed that too. "I cutted it" It could have been worse..ref. pics of me at 4 1/2.

ribbon

Ahhhh, ribbon How do I like thee? Let me count the ways... I like ribbon in a box I like it with a fox I like it here or there I like it anywhere I like ribbon you see What has come over me? No applause on the poetry Please Ok - so I got ANOTHER thingie to hold my ribbon at Crate and Barrel. I like this. But it doesn't really have a home in my craft room. It isn't in the right color family at ALL. I put my big strips or "bought it by the yard 'cause a spool would be sooo much $" ribbon in there. Oh...I still have the jars of ribbon a la Allison Kimball. It makes me happy just to HAVE it. Weird. Hey - it's not like I'm obsessed with shoes or something I could actually wear....Do you know how much ribbon $50 buck buys? Well, actually, less than one who doesn't buy ribbon would think. I remember seeing Shelley L's Lo on ribbon. I remember thinking - "that seems like an odd thing to collect." DUH. I just didn't know what I didn't know.

So, my ribbon, much like my blog, serves little purpose except for me to look at and be happy. 

happy birthday maxie!

Happy Birthday baby boy! Max, this morning, goofing around on the steps. (He likes to climb up the outside of the steps - if you have boys you know what I am talking about) Phone call from Grandma. It was nice to have a real one because we sure pretend to talk to her a lot on that plastic phone. Today we are going to ship a package, going to the book store, Starbucks (my kids love it more than I do) for a treat, then driving crazy far away for Max's best pal's b-day party at Pump It Up. Max kinda thinks the party if for him too - I SO hope this goes well!! We threw away the pacifier this morning. No pacifier, a day out of high sensory input and then crazy Friday ATLANTA traffic all the way home. I gotta be strong. Can not stop and buy a new one on the way home. He wanted to just put it on the drawer even though it has a hole in it and he doesn't want to put it in his mouth. Oh, and we have been practicing holding up 3 fingers this morning. Not so easy when you ARE three to do. He would be excellent at telling people he is 5. Five fingers - now that is an easy amount to claim. Three, not so much. So Happy My Kid's Birthday. Hope you get to eat sugarie carbs and jump on huge inflated things today too! kelli ps - 10:52 am - that is the very reasonable time he came into the world. I got 4 minutes till then. So I guess three years ago I was asleep right now.

nashville stars cj group

Here are the ladies from my Nashville Stars (Unite) CJ. Some of the self portraits are a little blurry - but have you SEEN my arms? They are only so long. Most of our group at dinner - minus Michelle and Bradelynn who were working on dorm stuff:) It was very fun to meet everyone. No one looked like I thought they would. All Audrey's have brown hair in my head for some reason. KelliDarrSuperstar and Bradelynn were the only two I knew I'd recognize - KelliDarrSuperstar (see, we really do call her that) ships to Bradelynn who ships to me. So I had seen their faces and their work. We are from all over the country. Michelle - I could just listen to her talk and crack up. I don't think this Southern girlie has ever heard an accent like that in real life. VERY northern. Oh, and being in a CJ with Jenni Bowlin is just the best;) Naw, just put that pic up there by accident and decided to leave it. (She begged me for that pic with her................naw, once again...kidding. Now, if Michelle had said that with her supper fun accent - you'd be rolling on the floor right now. Anyway girls, it was great to get to meet you all. It will make working on each of your CJ's even more special. Super & B - sorry that I already did your CJ's before the "special meeting" it could have been really something. Oh well. kellicrowe ps - what is WITH these pictures not lining up? I MUST have straight lines. Crooked is like wire hangers....NOT ACCEPTABLE.

simple pleasures

My entry into Terri D's CJ "Simple Pleasures" for the Nashville Stars Hope ya like it Terri! It was actually not easy for me to do - I just kept cutting up that KI & Chatterbox!! I wanted it to be like a warm sunshine quilt... No - that is not REAL stitching on there. But I did it with REAL INK. Anyway - I will post it on 2 peas in the morning - but I thought it may look better here. I do NOT know why I couldn't get it it match up. Whew! Kathran - this little baby will be coming you way in the next 24 hours! 

daddy diaper

Daddy Diaper 

Oh, I'm printing this one out as I type. Def. going to scrapbook this one:) So...on Father's Day we went to late church, out to eat...and then home. Max wanted to get into the kiddie pool on our back deck. I was helping him out of his already wet clothes (from just jumping in in full church attire) when I saw his diaper. He patted the DUCT TAPE and said, "Daddy did it." Of course, Alex had to see right away. "Cool." I'm not complaining. John David always had diaper duty in the hospital - ya know, when the diapers are really bad. He is ok with changing Max whenever. I guess no one at church saw it any way. Just funny. At least the duct tape was handier than the staples! kelli

7:47 am June 21

7:47 am David turned 8 this morning. This is a blurry pic of him at exactly the time he was born 8 years ago. I walked into his room and he was sitting there. Waiting for me to come in and take the picture...like every year. "Do I look 8?" "Do I sound 8?" I said yes. He said he didn't think so. Of course, I think he looks huge. A long way from the 4.5 pounds when he was born. The phone rang - he said, "Do you think that is Grandma?" It wasn't. The next time it rang it was:) He gets to go to the toy store to spend some of his birthday money today. AND Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits for breakfast. Why do I take the picture of him at exactly the time when he was born? I was there, of course. But I was asleep when he was born. And when I woke up I think my first words were not about my new baby....but something to the effect of "I feel like crap." I didn't get to see David until he was about 12 hours old. My first thought was...he looks just like me. I still think he does....more than anyone else does. My first. The one who made me Mommy. Happy Birthday David!

max finds his pass

Max. 

He found a pacifier in the pen drawer yest. How did it get in there? He hasn't had one in about 2 weeks. He was so excited! He showed it to me in sweet, little cupped hands. 

 

"WOOK! I found a pass! Wook, Mommy! Wook, a gween one!" I said, "We should throw that away." He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "I need tag" (blanket) and ran upstairs. Then I found him here. Asleep. Dangling at the top of the stairs.

alex looses another tooth

Alex. He came running up to me with tooth in hand yest. 

 

Something about having a sofa pillow in his mouth and then the tooth popped out. So now he has both bottom teeth missing and one top tooth. Pic is blurry - but he kept asking me to zoom more. He cracks himself up sticking his tongue through the hole. AND, the Tooth Fairy remembered to leave the cash THIS time. Nice. k

happy fOdder's day!

As Max would say, "Happy Fodder's Day!" 

 

No - I didn't take this picture. My fab friend Holly did:) 

Love it. 

John David and Alex - his little mini me in appearance. Mommy's mini me in personality. 

 

I hope everyone has a super day and thinks of their Dad - whever they are. 

 

Our day: breakfast cartoons (sleeping in for Daddy) 

snack

church at 12:30 

lunch at a new awesome rest.  (I had fried pickles!! Only in the South, baby!) 

home 

kids in the yard 

cleaning out the van 

JD pick up his new grill

 and then nothing 

pleasant lovely nothing. 

The idea of nothing to do would have killed me as a kid.  I love it now a nothing to do day is our family favorite.

today I scrapped

I scrapped today. Just for me. No tags. No swaps. Not even a CJ. Nope. It was great! 

 

Here are a few I will post on Monday morning at 2 peas. Why wait until then when they are already scanned in and ready to go? Well....You get more praise that way. I can't believe I said that. But it is true. Between 8:30 am and 9:30 am. I am pathetic...but I know it and admit it. I have no plans to change it. Anyway - the Darf Bader turned out a little Lisa McGarveyish (love her). The Summer 05 is based on an ad I saw. 

 

The whole house is clean - except the basement where the kids played as I scrapped. My craft room looks like my CKU suitcase threw up in there and then a small, contained in that room tornado swooped through and swirled around those previously gastro-containted items of that humongouso CKU bag. My hubby walked in last night and saw the room. "What happened here?" I said, "Honey, the important thing is that no one got hurt." And isn't that so true? 

Kelli & Kelli & Kelli

Ok - So I have two friends named Kelli...AND NO - I do not mean me, myself and I...although those girls are a hoot! I have one of my college roomies - Kelli Scott (she is now married and is Kelli Shipman but not to me....forever Kelli Scott....even when she named her son Scottie...which makes him in my head Scottie Scott....still) THEN I met a new friend. Kelli Darr. KelliDarrSuperstar to us girlies in the Nashville Stars Cj...and to just about everyone she met at CKU. So, the KelliDarrSuperstar is in my CJ. I didn't really ask her to be my friend. I just picked her. There was no choice involved on her side. She drove me around with her celeb scrapper friends from Nebraska (yes - they scrap there!) and took me to Nirvana....ScrapIt! in Nashville. People...I was a happy girlie there. Serious joy. I went twice. Got the big discount there - twice. THEN I got to have my Shake Up Your Style workshop with Superstar. 2 hours one day and like 3 the next. I think my style might have gotten a little more shaken had I not chatted it up with her so much. Even if she did snag all the good chatterbox papers for her LO. She didn't tell on me when I couldn't seem to cut the papers in Juilie Scatagaria's class the right size. OH - the pictures. Isn't Jennifer McGuire so cute? And tiny. Us also with Julie Scat., Amy T and Pamela from Bazzill. (They played a game with us one night and our undorm - such good sports:) Superstar kept jumping in the pics - seriously - I just wanted her to TAKE the shot. But no - insisted on BEING in each one. Actually - I forced her to be in them. The black and white pic is from a color one - Kel, in case you need an 11x14 to keep on the mantel of us. I converted it to b&w because it made my teeth look whiter. So Superstar, thanks for being my pal at CKU. And for introducing me to your friends - they were so fun...when I wasn't freaked out that Becca was going to have to be hospitalized....yeah, good times. AND - to the other 3 of you that read this...I think i am counting me in that ....just because it looks like I am posting to myself - it isn't me...it is KelliDarrSuperstar commenting on how fab I am....although, you just may never really know:) kelli

patricia and me at cku

Patricia & ME! We didn't get to spend the whole time together - but some:) Yes, she is very very pretty - and I still like her:) AND funny! I can't even tell you what she said that still cracks me up whenever I think about it. It wasn't bad - I'm just not gonna repeat it. So I was in my tiara and boa - what all people crop in -right? I actually heard it was celeb night at the crop and wanted to blend. OK - really, I'm in my PJ's and a tiara and boa for my undorm. Some pics of us around the hotel. With Becky Higgins who is pregnant with a little girl. Patricia almost made that one shot..... Then, at breakfast on Sunday morning, I look into my bag and find a picture of Jolie Kingman. I tell you - these pictures of Stacey's have gone all over the place with me! (Yes - I made copies) I carry them more than my own kid's pictures. AND the whole time Patricia's tooth hurt. But really, that gave me a chance to do most of the talking. So it all worked out. Patricia - ya gotta blog, baby! Everyone is doing it. AND you actually have an interesting story to tell. I want to hear more about it and about you! kellicrowe

freaking out about cku

That is CKU - M. I keep calling it that. IS it because I want people to know which one I am talking about? OR IS it because I like associating myself with the M...Masters? Hmmm. I've never even been to a crop. Now 5 days of classes and crops. I'm freaking out...a little. 5 days away from my family. I'm just not the kind of person who needs get aways. Maybe if I got away more...I'd be better at it. But I don't. I could. But I don't. I love to stay at home. I like for everyone to be all together at home all the time. AND I don't want to cook. Is that SO much to ask for? 5 days. What if I miss something? What if someone looses a tooth? None are loose right now - but still. I KNOW it will be great. I KNOW. Ok guys - no one do anything cute until I get back - 'kay? k

my craft room

On any given day...this is what it looks like. 

 

Note pink robe on right over chair from scrapping at night. 

Note white robe over chair on left from scrapping in the morning. 

Blue tab adhesive thingies everywhere. Still old schooling it here with blue tabs. 

 

I totally fussed at David the other day. He is so creative. He loves to draw. But then I find these awesome works of art...that he loved making and are really important to him...with piles of stuff stacked on them. Well, we can't have that! I fussed like a good mommy to get him to tidy it up. 

 

Then I go down to the craft room. My creative space. Here there are pages I made with stuff stacked on them. 

 

Tree. 

Apple.

 

 David is much like me - the process of making something is almost...sometimes...more fun/valuable/rewarding than the finished project. He, more than me, has ideas in his head and just has to get them out. So. A little more understanding on the creative mess for David. A little more fussing at myself to tidy up. 

 

Can anyone find the Dymo Label maker in the picture? Any Cul-de-Sac gals see my CJ ready to send out? 

Stacer - see any card you made for me? And yes - the other side of that opened cabinet is full of paint too. 

We are crafty, messy people here. k

atc cards

ATC? ACT? APR? I get them all confused. Here are 3 of the sets I am making for trades. Some of the Cul-de-Sac Gals are trading them. I am making a flower named after each of these ladies I am trading with. (I know - the HUGE honor;) The white one with pink in the middle is the Marlene flower. Mar lives in OH Canada! and I just think of her as a bright bit of fun pink with snow all around. I now know that it isn't as cold where she is as I had imagined...but the impression of Mar up there going, "Lots of show, eh?" is now forever in my head. The one with the yellow stitching is the Angel flower. Angel lives out west and I just imagined that things are colorful but a little spiky out there. Not Angel...she isn't spiky at all. The one out of Basic Gray is the Stacey flower. Bright and cheerful. These are from TX - but can grow anywhere:) Ok - I still have to do the Kristy, the Tiffany (a blue flower of course) and the Patricia (which is pink of course). They are lovely and in my head. I used the Stacey flower for my ATC cards for the Nashville Stars trade at CKU - M this week. See girlies - I AM working on them. SLLoooooOOOOOOoooooooowwwwllLLyyyY. k

ps - funny - for the trade at CKU we are supposed to # them and sign them and date them and only trade them...never sell them:) HEHEHE! I just can't imagine there every being a time where there is are conversations like: "Wow - you have a 045 kellicrowe Stacey flower card?! That is a low number! How did you swing that?" "OH, a kellicrowe original Tiffany card? Wait, the number is 522...yeah, the real value is on the ones below 500. Man - you got so ripped off." "Mommy - please, for my birthday, can we have a kellicrowe trading card party???? Pleeeeeeaaaaase?" heeheeheeehee

scrappy shirt

Ok - so I made this to look cute for CKU-M. 

I used a shirt from Old Navy and some of those fab. iron on rhinestone letters from Micheal's. I started with the A - in the middle. Then I added the "R" and the "P." This made me laugh b/c I had just made a spark-ely shirt that said "RAP" for myself. Not really my preferred type of music. Although, I do like the pre-rap (or rap light) from High School days. I am still 2 Legit 2 quit. '

Anyway, then I added the "C" and the "P." Funnier because I had a shirt that read "CRAPP." My bad word of choice. AND misspelled...how me:) Hubby walks in as I add the "Y"...a less smart man might have fallen for the "Honey, did I spell Crappy right?" So, this is my shirt...with the funny-only-to-me story of how I made it. OH - self portrait. Me - trying to look like I have on makeup...which I do not. Trying to not look sick...which I was. Trying to not have extra chin-age...which I do when I look down like that. But I just felt too goofy to ask previously mentioned smart hubby to take a picture of me for this. Here is the "Grandma Rocks" jacket I made for my Mom for Christmas. And here is my mom:) Yep, she is the spiky hair, jacket wearing, cool & newest music playing in the car kind. She is gonna hate that I posted her picture here. k

angry gingerbread men

I find the best stuff in David's room. I think he thinks he finds the best stuff in my craft room.

 

Well, I used Abbie's flower punch and then had a few punched flowers left over. David, who plundered in my scrap supplies today, found them. Then I find these two, angry gingerbread men on David's floor (where he keeps all his creations strewn around the desk but never on it). 

 

Then I notice they are the flowers I punched. They are way cuter the way he decorated them than what I would have done. Note to self - ask David why they are angry.