file under: when good boys go bad or, mama forgot how tall you are...

(click photo to view a larger version of the crime file)

holiday shopping help: deal of the day...

We're all aware that it's a tough economy and that the frenzy of Christmas shopping and excess may not be as possible as in years past. Even knowing that the true meaning of Christmas is not in how many gifts one can give or amass, it's easy to get caught up in the slick advertising, the enticing sales, the "please, Mom?" and go a bit overboard.

Early bird sales can help, internet shopping linked with free shipping deals, shopping early. All good strategies. Lately, I've been seeing some really great sales and offers in unconventional places. Groupon is one of those spots. It's a site with a daily deal per city (although you don't need to live in that specific city to take advantage) for goods or services at, many times, incredible prices.

I took advantage of one for the first time today and, if you are thinking about custom photo albums as holiday gifts you might want to take a look:

$100 worth of Picaboo albums for $35!
If you buy the deal, it's good for one year and can even be applied toward shipping and handling. Enjoy :-)

I have no affiliation with Groupon or Picaboo, just thought it was too good of a deal not to pass along.

maybe there is a resemblance after all...

G is a miniature version of his dad, right down to that oh-so-cute dimple on his right cheek. Whenever we are out as a family, people stop us just to comment on the striking resemblance between father and son. They look at me and say, "Well, maybe he got your eyes? Maybe." He may not have gotten much, if any, of my appearance but he did inherit a couple of other things.

From an impossibly young stage, he took to raising one eyebrow in expression. Classic mom.

Then, there is his love of books.

I've been reading to G every day since we arrived home from the hospital after his birth and there is no denying that he is an early bookworm. The past month or so, he has been determined to teach himself how to flip though his board bocks page by page and about a week ago, he got the hang of it (mainly he'll get them right side up...ha). He'll flip to his favorite pages in his favorite books, hold them up to one of us and grunt for us to read to him. You've got it, buddy!
And something else he learned this past week? Clapping! He knows the word "clap" in both Greek and English and will clap if we ask him to or along with us. Love it! 10 and a half months is SO much fun.

giveaway thursday...

I've been reading Beth's blog, I Should Be Folding Laundry for awhile now and had to share this fun giveaway on her blog today. Click on the link and hurry on over if you want a chance to win a very fun, chic dSLR camera strap slipcover from Eclectic Whatnot's Etsy shop!

Comments close at 11:00 pm CST on 11/11/10

If I win, I think I might just step out of my box a bit and go with this one:

So what are you waiting for? Go here now -----> Giveaway

merry and bright, a bit early...

I've sent Christmas cards out to my family and friends nearly every year since college. While I was still teaching paper craft classes, my cards were a major, multi-day (ahem, multi-week) production of sampling designs, cutting stacks of cardstock, setting up an assembly line and spending hours upon hours in my craft space hand-painting, stamping and/or attaching embellishments. I'd like to think that people looked forward to receiving those cards and that some even realized and appreciated the work that went into them.

In the years post-teaching, my focus shifted away from card making and to scrapbooking and as it did, I dropped homemade cards from the Christmas frenzy. Instead, I selected *gasp* store-bought cards with a design and message I really loved and made sure to include personal, handwrittten notes.

As most of my friends got married and started having children, the cards in my mailbox changed from traditional folded cards to photo cards of adorable kids and families with bright smiles, dressed in their holiday best. I have watched those kids grow through yearly cards when time or miles have not allowed me to do so in person. I looked forward to the day when I would have a family, a child, of my own to share in photo greetings.

This is finally the year.

A few weeks ago I started browsing though designs on digital photo printing and hosting sites and found cards I really like on all of them but, particularly like so many of the selection on Shutterfly that I'll share some favorites here.

1) This one because I have a wee bit of an obsession with monograms and have taken to collecting every "B" I can get my hands on since marrying Mr. Boom. I think it's more suited to families with more than one child (therefore more photo variety) but, I have to include it among my favorites:

2) I love the elegance and simplicity of this design - perfect for letting a photo really shine: 3) And, this one. A touch of non-traditional color, yet clean and simple:
So, which will it be? I honestly haven't decided yet and, there are even more designs in consideration though, one major factor remains...that elusive, perfect photo! Wish me luck in getting our little monkey all dolled up on a day with great weather, the perfect surroundings and the ability to coax a great smile or wondrous expression. Or, at least in finding a studio to do it for us!

If all this wasn't enough, there is the little matter of G's birthday being on Christmas Eve. Though the celebration will be small, I still want there to be invitations involved and for him to have a proper 1st birthday party. We are determined not to have our little guy's special day lost in the holiday shuffle!

Required disclaimer: I have received compensation from Shutterfly in the form of holiday cards in return for this review and post. However, I am a Shutterfly customer and had planned on ordering my cards with them before this offer came along for their good quality and customer service. The end.

{nearly} wordless wednesday: quad vision...

That crazy looking bag of plastic heads is not leftover from Halloween. Part of my new job required me to become a CPR/AED/First Aid instructor and that is what the Actar manikins look like disassembled. A little freaky, no? Try being the one snapping together heads and torsos and then tearing them back apart a few hours later. Just weird.

This CPR stuff is exhausting. Teaching chest compressions to novices over and over? Taxing on the body. Add that to a night of almost no sleep because some little person decided to wake-up eleventy-billion times and you have one tired Mama.

mom friendly meals monday: slow cooker chicken in a marsala herb sauce

I came across this recipe in a post by one of my favorite food bloggers, Stephanie Cooks. Though I've used her original recipes many times and certainly trust her ingredients, I prefer chicken thighs in the slow cooker over breasts, wanted a thicker gravy and to get more than one meal out of this. Here is my adapted recipe for 4-5 servings. We'll get two meals out of this, feeding myself, hubs and baby G (who loved, loved, loved it!).

Slow Cooker Chicken in a Marsala Herb Sauce
Adapted from Stephanie Cooks

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1, 14.5 oz. can reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup marsala wine
1 packet Knorr Garlic and Herb sauce mix
1 tsp cornstarch

1) Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker (I used our 6 quart). In a bowl, mix together chicken broth, wine and sauce packet. Pour over chicken. Cook on LOW for 8 hours.

2) Remove most of sauce from slow cooker, place in saucepan over medium-high heat. Mix cornstarch with a small amount of water until just dissolved. Add to sauce pan and stir with a wire whisk. Let boil one minute. Sauce will thicken to a loose gravy. Serve over chicken while still hot.