starts and stops

Lots of starts and stops these days. Hubby is on a retreat and it's been me and the boy since Thursday afternoon. He's getting older, they do that don't they? Giles is learning more and more about expressing himself everyday. LOTS of days that expression involves weak knees, wailing, flailing, whining, crying and fit throwing. Fortuately he's a quick turn-around. Nothing lasts for very long, but it sure does come rapid-fire. He's still a ball of cuteness and personality that will keep me laughing- and that, fortunately, is what the memories I have are made of.
Right now it is IMPOSSIBLE to eat solo. Maybe that is just the way it is with kids? It is with mine. He can have just polished off a meal and see me or Mike working on something in the kitchen and it is as though he's just walked in from a long stint of malnourishment. I mean, really? Of course I have huge desires for him to only eat when he's hungry and trust his built-in, God-given hunger radar.... we'll just keep working on it =).

I think I may be pushing it here, but since I see pumpkins in the stores already and magazines are landing in my mailbox just bursting with fun fall decor ideas... I just had to make a simple contribution to our home decor...so, I did. For less than $5, here ya go. And to give credit, well, I can't. I saw this somewhere last year and made a mental note, but that's as far as it goes. It was in my mind- in picture, but not really all the minor details, like where the heck I saw it!
To start, I looked for a grease pencil and all I could come up with was a black crayon. So I made a few sketches of how I wanted my letter B to look. Decided I had what I wanted and went to working up an outline of the letter. Once that was done, I used black acrylic paint and filled in the lines. I think I did two coats, maybe three in some spots, but I really think it was two. I let each coat dry before applying the next. I finished it with a sealer so that the weather would not rub off the paint as easily.

outline
mid-way

finished and ready to go!

It was a fun project. I can't decide, should I add polka dots or just a big dot on either side of the B? Still mulling that over...

Alabama kicked off the football season with a fine start. Winning the first game of the season is always such a morale boost. Tonight AL plays Florida Int'l. It's a PayPerView game, so it's off to Mike's parent's to catch a little of the game. With it being only me and little, we won't stay too long. But it's that time of year... exciting Saturdays, packed Boulevards and cars EVERYWHERE! It reminds me of roaches scurrying around... seriously. That's what I thought of today at one of the major intersections while I was waiting for the light to change. Kind of a weird thought considering how much I LOVE football games/weekends and how much I DETEST roaches... but, nonetheless, it was a fleeting thought.

Last weekend while watching the AL game I finished my wedding album. Yup. Got married in '01 and picked '09 as the year to start and finish, all within 2 days, the whole album. I got motivated when some friends from church were talking about scrapbooking. We decided to get together at my house once little was asleep last Friday. It was a totally different experience than I had in my mind that scrapbooking would be. I had ramped up my anxiety about starting. I mean it's got to be just perfect, right? Well, once I realized that was certainly not the case, it got a lot easier! It was so much fun we got together again at my house last night! So that is two scrapbooking sessions in a week! Last night I started Giles' first scrapbook. His baby book was my first priority and that is finished- or at least up to the present. And now I have 8 pages in his scrapbook under my belt. That is a good feeling and it turned out to be LOTS easier than I expected. Little happies.

Hope the Tide Rolls in the right direction tonight, hope that Mikey is able to find peace and comfort in a weekend spent with the Lord, hope his travels tomorrow are safe and hope that my friend who is missing her daddy on his 67th bday is at peace with the fact that his bday party this year is happening in the most spectacular way---- he's partying with Jesus! Love you Elise!

Later, peeps!