Friday, April 25, 2008

Favorite Friday??

It's been pretty quiet on the blog this week. Sorry about that. Not much fun stuff to share around here. My mind is overflowing with not fun/uncrafty things and it seems to be stealing any creative motivation I had left. Maybe this should be called whining Friday today! I figured if I wrote about all this junk maybe it could get out of my head and I could do something fun this weekend! Here goes...

This week we (Sydney) kicked the pacifier habit. It's gone better than I expected but she sure doesn't sleep as much as she used to. Our mornings now start at 7 and nap time is barely over an hour, if she sleeps at all. I know that doesn't sound that bad, but she used to sleep until at least 8 and take a 3 hour nap everyday. My late night crafting is going to have to stop so I can actually get some sleep!

One of Sydney's gymnastics coaches approached us at class on Wednesday about trying out for their competitive team. They usually start at 3 but she thought Sydney has what it takes to start now (she turns 3 in August.) This is not at all what I had in mind when we started gymnastics (we go to a parent/child class just to have fun, work on coordination, and spend time with other kids.) But she absolutely adores it and she has improved so much in the few months we've been in it... I'm totally torn on this one. I know it seems ridiculous to start a (less than) 3 year old on something like this, but if she is having fun and loving it, is it really so bad? Do I sound like a scary pageant mom?

I am so sick of living in clutter and mess. It seems to be overwhelming me a lot more than usual. My sister and I are planning a garage sale this summer, so I have been sorting through everything and trying to cut back. It probably doesn't help that it has been cold and rainy all week so we can't get outside much.

It's supposed to snow all weekend. Enough said.

Is that enough complaining for you?? Guess I'm having a little pity party today!

So, here is the one creative idea I came up with this week. It's not much, but it's all I've got. I have a theory about kids and coloring books. Once they have colored on about 25% of the pages there is absolutely no appeal to them anymore. I can't really say I blame them. Think if all your past projects were laid out in front of you every time you went to work on a new one. I also despise the look of a big pile of ratty old books. Where all these coloring books even come from is beyond me. I can't say I recall ever purchasing one. Regardless, they look junky and never get used. So I attacked them with my exacto knife, cutting out all the clean pages. Then I punched them with my 3-hole punch and put them into a binder. Nice and neat and the pages can be removed as soon as they are finished. My ratty pile of coloring books is much more condensed without wasting anything, and the cast-offs are headed to the recycling bin!

P.S. I had some rather boring pictures to accompany all of this but blogger is being a pain today and wouldn't let me load them. So, if any of you actually read through all of that without pictures you are wonderful! Leave me a comment and I'll draw a name on Monday for a little giveaway! And thanks. I think I feel better now!

16 comments:

becki said...

I hope you guys don't get as much snow as us. I looked outside my window at 8am..no snow. At 10 we had already had 5 inches, and now close to 13. Here's to hoping tomorrow it will all be gone. Good luck with sifting through stuff for the garage sale. My sister and I are doing the exact same thing! I guess that's why I've also been gone on the blog front. Have as good of a weekend as you can!

Anonymous said...

It doesn't sound like we will be getting any snow up here, so for the 1st (and probably only) time I am happy I no longer live there! That is wonderful news about Syd, even though it's a tough decision. It just shows they see lots of potential in her! She must be one flexible little girl. (don't we wish we could be that flexible at our age! ha ha)
Have a good weekend!
P.S. It was great seeing you this week. Need to get together again soon.
Rachel

Hello, I'm Sally. said...

Oh! The Pacifier! Good job! We need to do the same thing with Violet. I'm dreading it and also looking forward to it at the same.

I'd be leery of doing competitive gymnastics, I've heard it can be hard on growing bodies.

I'm about ready to recycle all our coloring books, maybe I should give the binder idea I try first!

Hope you have a good weekend, despite the snow.

Amy Jo said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling like clutter and mesiness is driving me crazy. Good on the pacifier!! Yeah for Syd!! Tough call on the gymnastics...don't know what I'd do. And good idea on the coloring books. I don't know where they come from either. I think they multiply in the drawer - all on their own. I hope you have a happy weekend. :-)

Shannon said...

Ha! I was gonna comment before I even read about a giveaway! But regardless, I am normally just a salker on your blog, and I love all the crafty things you do! I think a case of the yucks have been going around, but it sounds like you have it undercontrol! And i love, love, LOVE your coloring book idea! That is some serious genius right there, i tell ya!

Amanda Jean said...

sorry you are having a crummy friday. I read every single word, no photos required! :)

I remember when we took Zach's pacifier away. I was scared. to. death.

and about the coloring book idea. PURE GENIUS!!! my coloring books haven't been thinned out in YEARS. this one may require a before and after photo for me. thanks for the wonderful idea. I'm so excited to try it.

and one more thing...I am pretty sick of the clutter in my house, too. I am (mentally) gearing up to get rid of crap. I hope that it goes beyond the mental stages pretty soon.

enjoy your weekend!

Stephanie said...

I know about the clutter...I dont even want to go NEAR my sewing room right now.
Hope your Friday gets better.

G'G'ma said...

I don't have a coloring book problem but I sure have a recipe problem. Pages and pages from newspapers, magazines and foodtv. Wonder why I even saved some of them. Guess they sounded interesting at the time!!Must have a bonfire. Oh, can't do that, we're not allowed burn. Recycling then.

Stacy said...

I will be at your sale with bells on! I hope that Sydney will get back in her old sleeping pattern. If not, call me and we can commiserate.

Anonymous said...

Hmm, gymnastics, I guess if it were me I'd wait till she's a bit older to do more than once a week for fun. Biscuit is almost the same age and I can't really imagine her getting more serious about any one activity at this point. That said, of course you know your kid and if you want to go for it, fantastic. We want a video :) Also, spring cleaning must be in the air--everyone is annoyed with clutter. I just thinned my bookshelves....off to the thrift store tomorrow.

Raesha D said...

Good job on the paci, Miss Sydney!!!
And that is a fantastic idea about the coloring books!!! Miss S's room is overflowing with them and I bet I could condense them to one or two binders. I am definitely going to do that:)

Anonymous said...

Rox - I feel your pain....we got over a foot of snow down here Friday and were teased with 75 + degree weather on Wed and Thurs. BUMMER!! I think Syd would do great in gymnastics. I work with a lady who's daughter started at two and now she's in seventh grade and is beautiful to watch.
Keep your chin up! Love ya! Wendy

Katherine said...

Sounds like your Sydney is growing up! I remember going through a tough bit when my oldest kicked the pacifier habit and it affected his sleeping patterns initially, but then we got back into a good groove again. Hope you still get some good crafting time without having to pull late nighters....

Oh, yuck! More snow? Some kind of spring, isn't it?

Hope you have a great weekend.

Linda said...

We got more snow, too. Bleh...
Good idea with the coloring books. Once those are gone you could just print coloring pages off the internet as you need them, too. It might be fun for Sydney to pick out which pages she wants to color on line and then help to print them out and color them.
As far as the gymnastics goes, if she is having fun and wants to do it, and you feel ok letting her do it, then I say go for it. If it ceases to be fun for her, then re-evaluate the situation then.

Breanna said...

Sorry about the snow, yuck! My take on the gymnastics~ do what you think is best, and if it feels good, keep going. If not, do something else! We've tried a bunch of things here, and some last, some don't. The clutter is getting to me too. I've donated 13 bags of junk this week, and feel like I could do another 130.I just can't stand it anymore!

Hope your weekend is fabulous.

Elizabeth said...

I can't believe it's still snowing somewhere! Your coloring book idea is a good one. I agree with Linda about the gymnastics...see how it goes and if it stops being fun then you can always cut back.