Would I be a hypocrite...

... if I told you that I was reconsidering my stance on Pinterest?

For those of you who don't recall my earlier post about it (and are too lazy to click the link to go read it), I determined a while back that Pinterest was not for me.  My two main reasons were that it would end up wasting a bunch of my time (already have Facebook for that!), and that it would probably also feed my "green-eyed monster" (meaning, I would start coveting the things that I saw, rather than being content with what I have). 

However, since I've started sewing, I've been thinking that it could come in handy.  I've come across quite a few neat projects that I'd like to attempt and it sure would be handy to have a place to "pin" them all in one spot (right now I have a few pages tagged as "favorites" and a few pictures saved to my computer, etc, but it's a bit cumbersome).  So I was thinking of starting a Pinterest account, just for keeping track of sewing ideas.  At least that's my goal.  I feel okay with my decision (despite my previous opinion), because before I felt that I didn't have a purpose for using it, so it would be a bit frivolous.  Now that I have a purpose, it seems okay.  Does that make sense?  However, I know that I could easily get caught up in it, so I will have to be careful to limit the time I spend on it.  Please feel free to check in with me from time to time, to keep me accountable. :)

Glare-off - round 3!!

Emmett has made it to round 3 of the glare-off competition!!  Thanks to everyone for voting so far.  Emmett promises to thank you by giving you his trademark "glare" next time he sees you. ;)

Head over to Mommy Shorts to vote again today!  I'm not crazy about the caption they put with his picture today, but I don't have any control over that.  I guess that's what happens when you enter an "evil baby" contest. 

Yesterday people were able to submit suggestions for captions, and mine actually got used today, but not for Emmett's picture unfortunately.  Mine was "which kid eats their animal crackers head first?", which I thought was cute, and just a little evil.  It was also inspired by Annika, when she was a baby.  I gave her a bunch of animal crackers on her high chair tray, and when I looked again, she had bitten off all their heads (she was about 18 months old at the time).  Seriously, there was just a line of headless animals, and she gave me this big grin. :P

Just a side note: Emmett is not evil. He is actually a very well-behaved (but very curious!), happy-go-lucky little boy.  Seriously, I could not ask for a better baby.  He just occasionally glares at people.

1000 gifts: #93-100

Thanksgiving was yesterday, and I have so many things to be thankful for.  Here's just a few from the past week...

a new haircut that makes me feel pretty and confident (definitely the change I needed!)

chatting with a friend on the phone (it's been years since I've really "chatted" on the phone - I forgot how fun it can be!)

beautiful weather for the outdoor wedding we attended on Saturday

two delicious Thanksgiving dinners with both of my families

a fun little photo competition (please go vote for Emmett at www.mommyshorts.com if you haven't already!)

making things with my sewing machine (my first attempt at a little baby toy didn't work out very well though, so I'll be spending some time with the seam ripper and trying again!)

homemade cookies

doing crafts with Annika

Glare-off round 2

Emmett made it to round 2 of the "evil baby glare-off" tournament, so if you have a minute today, pop over to Mommy Shorts and vote for his picture!  Thanks!!

Evil baby glare-off tournament

I entered Emmett in an "evil baby glare-off" tournament (I know, what a terrible mother I am, hee hee :P) and he made it to the final 32 (there were almost 200 entries!).  Please, if you have a moment, head over to the Mommy Shorts website and vote for his picture today, so he can make it to the next round.  Thanks!!

You don't want to mess with this kid!!!

Giving thanks, Annika style (or "an easy Thanksgiving craft")

I wanted to share this neat idea for a simple Thanksgiving craft to do with little kids.  It's very simple - just look through some magazines, flyers or catalogues with your kids, cut out pictures of things they are thankful for, and glue them onto a paper.  I can't take credit for the idea - it was a craft Annika did in preschool yesterday.  However, when we were walking to the car after school, the wind blew a few of her glued-on pictures right off the page (anyone around here will remember how windy it was yesterday!).  So I told her that we would find some new pictures when we got home.

The picture they did in preschool only had 4 pictures glued on (one in each balloon), but once we got going, we just kept cutting out pictures and glueing them on.  It was actually really fun looking for the pictures and talking about them with Annika.  She really wanted to cut out a picture of some mascara (we were looking at a London Drugs flyer), but I told her "you don't even use that."  She replied "But you do, you put it on after your shower every morning."  I had to laugh at that - I guess she was thankful that I took the time to put on mascara!  Anyway, we settled on the nail polish instead, because she loves painting her nails.  I also had to laugh that she was thankful for Coke, since we never even have it in the house.  I don't even remember the last time she would've drank it.  I guess that just shows you the power of branding. :P

Anyways, if you're looking for something fun to do with your kids this weekend, I recommend this!

By the way, if you're wondering about the "God" reference and the prayer at the bottom coming from a preschool, Annika goes to a preschool that is run by a Lutheran church.  So far we have been really happy with it, and they haven't taught her anything that doctrinally conflicts with our Mennonite beliefs! ;)

Time for a change

I've had pretty much the same haircut for quite some time now.  Sure, it's changed a little, an inch or two longer or an inch or two shorter, but it's just variations on the same theme.  So I decided it was time for a change.  I want to grow my hair out longer (not sure how long, just "longer"), but since that isn't an instant change, I decided to get bangs.  Here's the before:

I forgot to take an actual "before" picture, so this is another picture from our Chicago trip

And here's the after:

I really like them (at least so far!).  It will be a little more work styling in the morning, because I have a funny cowlick in the front that I need to tame down with the blowdryer and flat iron, but I think I'll be okay with it.  It's a good "season" (calendar-wise and in my life) for it right now.  I wouldn't have wanted this in summer, because it's not very beach or lake friendly, but it should be okay now for fall and winter.  We'll see how I feel next summer!  Also, it's a good season in my life for a change right now, because the kids are fairly settled into the routines and I have the time to spend a little bit more time doing my hair.