We're Positive for Strep! Yuck!

Jamesy was sick all weekend so I took the boys straight to Dr. Wil on Monday morning. They both have strep! He's been home from school all week so I've had all my boys home! It has made for an interesting week. Thank goodness it's a short week and I'm not hosting Thanksgiving dinner. The boys will be healthy (well, at least not contagious) for the holiday and I am thankful for that.

I'll leave you with a few pictures I took of Grant a couple of weeks ago at Joe's Farm Grill. We went to lunch with an old high school friend that moved to Gilbert. It has been great chatting and hanging out with her. Hugs Des!

P x P x P = Jaiden's 7th Birthday!

What did you do today? We went to Jaiden's birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza! I have to admit I was full of anxiety as we drove down the highway. I was not looking forward to 10,000 square feet of screaming kids. To my surprise...it was dead! I don't know why and I'm not going to tempt the gods by asking. It was great. Jaiden enjoyed herself. In fact, we all did. Her mom did a great job on the cake and cupcakes. Unfortunately, Grant wasn't feeling himself so we had to leave a bit early.

So, I've been really interested in working on my photography. I really want to create memories for my kids. I've been taking pictures but didn't delve into Photoshop until today...here's what I came up with.

Jamesy Day

Yesterday was Jamesy's birthday. I call it Jamesy Day. We had a blast. It's really crazy to think that I've had this incredible boy in my life for six years now. What would I ever have done without him?

James got an mp3 player for his birthday loaded with Johnny Cash, Taylor Swift, and James Taylor. He is walking around the house with his headphones on singing every other word...it's priceless.

James in his classroom with Mrs. Hinderland

Sweet Baby James being GOOFY!

Hi pretty girls!

Grant is getting his play on at the play
ground

Mom's Boys

The Homeboys

Sprial Notebooks at the Ruffled Feathers Craft Night

We had another late night meeting of the minds and boy did we rock it, puppet! This was a great project for beginners. The best thing about these books is that they are not time consuming at all. You can make them as simple or as detailed as you like. They are great as gifts journals, you name it.

Here are a few shots of the amazing spiral notebooks the girls created. How spunky would you feel journaling in these fun journals?

Holy Schnepf!

We go to Schnepf Farms every year in October and love it. What a fun place to let the kids get dirty and be kids. This year we decided to go on Halloweena (in normal land that would be a typo but here it is perfectly acceptable). What better way to celebrate, right?

It was AWESOME! The Farm had candy at all of the vendors so the kids got to trick-or-treat. Here are all of the super spooky things we got to do:

• walk around the farm and enjoy the agriculture...big beautiful sunflowers, pumpkins, peach trees. It felt so good.


• ride roller coasters, swings, slides and tricycle races


• roast yummy marshmallows and make s'mores- my kids' favorite thing to do


• eat dinner at the d-lish Farm Restaurant


• take home scrumptious Caramel Apple Pie!!!

Needless to say, Peter, John, and Tink had a blast and the parents did too!

One More Day 'til Halloweena!

That's what we called it when I was little. I haven't thought of that word for years and it just popped in my head the other day. What an amazing day. I don't have any bad memories about this spooky holiday. I can remember years when it rained and we couldn't go outside. I remember years that were not as exciting as others. But NEVER have I not loved Halloweena. Here are the reasons why I love "Halloweena":

1. I won't even begin to recall each costume. I don't think I could even tell you half of them because my memory is SO bad. What I do know is that this crazy special holiday never involved store bought costumes or treats made without love. My mom made this holiday (most holidays actually) over the top special. It's a gift she possesses. She would stay up all night long hemming, stitching, glue-ing, and pressing. We would wake up to these amazing feasts of fabric. Because of her vision, I was the most beautiful Cinderella there ever was or has been. Robin was the most juicy set of grapes, the truest Dorothy, and even Barbie and the Rockers back when she had more fans than Hannah Montana.
2. It was never about candy, what we would get, who's costume was more expensive, or how much candy we could eat. Well, hold on....I'm sure it was like that last one at least a little!But looking back the best part was walking around the neighborhood with friends holding treat bags and pillow cases. It was the excitement we felt when we were finally old enough to go around the block instead of just staying in our cul-de-sac. It was about carving the pumpkin setting it on the porch for all to see. It was about checking out the spooky houses and getting that funny feeling of fear in our tummys.
3. It was about crafting. It's no wonder I am a crafter. My earliest memories of crafting stem from this haunting holiday. It wasn't just about the cauldrons and witches brew though. It was about leaves and the beginning of Autumn. It was about baking yummy treats and coming home to after school snacks.
4. Remember having to check the TV Guide for your favorite shows? I remember getting this old flashback and power reading it to find out when "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" was coming on. And then, I would hound/irritate my mom until the day of.

I've been trying over the past years to really pass on my love for the spook. I think that I've succeeded. The kids beg to go to the halloween section of Target. We walk around the block to see all of the tombestones and monsters decorating the neighborhood. They have been SO patiently waiting. And now...tomorrow...it all comes out and we get to have the spookiest day of the year!

We're going to Schnepf tonight. I'll post tomorrow with some super duper shots of Peter, Tink, and Brother John. I wish you all a...

"Happy Halloweena"

Hugs-Amanda

Kids Say Funny Things!

Mr. Duff and I bought a deep freezer today! Yay me. I have been struggling with freezer space since the dawn of time. I have to rearrange everytime I go to the market and it's a big fat pain. Since I've become more of a "buy when it's on sale" kind of girl, the freezer has just gotten too small. I am SO excited! So, we started straightening the garage so that the freezer would have a nice new home and ended up really cleaning the joint! We had our mini helper sweeping and laughing. It was great.

We ended up finding a car cover that had been purchased eons ago so we covered the fast car with it. We'd looked for that stupid thing so many times. I was kind of irritated that we found it actually. I was hoping to get Mr. Duff a new one for Christmas...oh well.

I know, I know...where is this crazy story going. Hang on!

So, we get ALL done and we start calling Grant to come in the house. He ran from us as usual and we all laughed. Then he said while pointing his finger to the car "daddy, fast car hiding."

We DIED laughing!

Totally off topic but completely "blogworthy" as my friend Rebekha Pailliotet would say, I found a SUPER cool site today. It's called lollychops and I will be using her printables often this holiday season. She has a rockin' printable tags, cards, and recipes.


Then, I found these gorgeous single serving pies in a jar! Check it out. Lollychops has printable gift tags for the jar lids.

...vaseline

Isn't it just creepy? The texture, the smell, the never-goes-away residue?? Ichkkk.

So, Grant and I were at a friend's house today and Grant kept going upstairs. Well, he came down and had vaseline all over his fingers. I wanted to vomit. Thankfully I was relieved from duty just in time....

Me "Hey, remember that vaseline song?"
Her "Yeah" as she breaks into Stone Temple Pilots, "flys in the vaseline we are.."
Me "Not that one..." And I started to sing.

Can you guess which one I was singing? Well pickles, who the heck knew there was more than one song about the grossest substance on the face of the planet??

Saving Money with Coupons

Lately I've been really enjoying getting back into coupons. I think it's beyond "saving money" and more like a game. I enjoy the rush I get when I save more than I spend. Here are two sites I visit regularly to save:

http://mycouponlady.com/

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/

spook⋅y

spook⋅y  /ˈspuki/
Spelled Pronunciation [spoo-kee]

–adjective, spook⋅i⋅er, spook⋅i⋅est. Informal. 1. like or befitting a spook or ghost; suggestive of spooks.
2. eerie; scary.
3. (esp. of horses) nervous; skittish.

This is Grant's new favorite word. Both of my boys have inhereted my passion for all things that go bump in the night. "It's bananas" as Rachel Zoe would say. When we pull into Target now, Grant says "Mom, go see the spooky!"

In the spirit of my favorite holiday, here are a few [spoo-kee] shots.

http://domesticbliss-domesticbliss.blogspot.com/

http://www.kmckaydesigns.com/

Okay, so this one isn't spooky, but man....it's HOT! It's from the photo shoot for InStyle. I will for sure be making that mag a priority!

P.S. As a reminder, I {heart} Edward.

Life Uncommon

Don't worry mother, it'll be alright
And don't worry sister, say your prayers and sleep right
It'll be fine lover of mine
It'll be just fine
Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend you strength to that which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And you shall lead a live uncommon
I've heard you anguish
I've heard you hearts cry out
We are tired, we are weary, but we aren't worn out
set down you chains, until only faith remains
Set down you chains
And lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lent your strength to that
which you wish to be free from
Fill you lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon
There are plenty of people who pray for peace
But if praying were enough it would have come to be
Let your words enslave no one and the heavens will hush themselves
To hear out voices ring out clear
with sounds of freedom
sounds of freedom
Come on you unbelievers, move out of the way
there is a new army coming and we are armed with faith
To live, we must give
To live
And lend out voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend out strength to that which we with to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead...
Lend out voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lent out strength to that which we with to be free from
Fill you lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon

Jewel

Jamesy and His World Record

So, Terry was playing around with our new web cam and here's what he came up with...

I {heart} Chick Nights!

I had the girls over Friday night for a little impromptu crop/craft session. Kelly, Kate, and Heather made it over and we had a blast. It never ceases to amaze me how great I feel after I get some girlfriend time. We helped Kate work on a SUPER cute recipe clipboard. I'll bug her for a picture because she did such a cute job. Kel worked on some insanely simple and fun cards that I learned how to make from Heidi Swapp. Here's her tutorial. I have these on hand at all time!



As always, Heather lended her inspirational hand and helped beautify all of our projects.

Thanks Girls for making me realize yet again that I NEED girly craft time!
Hugs to All-A

Grandma's House

Elisha visited from Texas to pick up Madisyn this week so we all went over to Grandma Sue's house to visit. Here are a few cute pictures from the day. The kids don't get to hang with their cousin very often, so it was a big event. They made pizza for lunch for us all!

Back Update: So, I've been going to physical therapy twice a week for my back. There's still a lot of pain, but it tends to be during the second half of the day. My specialist appointment is Tuesday so I'm super excited to get that out of the way. Maybe he will be able to tell me what's wrong and how to fix it! =)

Tu-Tu Cute

Here's a picture of my latest tutu on a friend of mine's daughter...so adorable! Sign up for my tutu class next month to learn how to create your own tutus!

I took the plunge...

and created a new meetup group! I'm super excited and nervous at the same time. The group I created is called Ruffled Feathers Paper Crafters. I have a vision that we will all meet often to create altered projects and that everyone will {love} the group.

I am hoping that I am not the only person in the world (okay, Queen Creek)looking for paper crafters to hang out. We shall see though. I will post more about this soon.

On another "plunging" note, my handsome boy, James, starts KINDERGARTEN (gasp) on Thursday! OMG-so nervous that I will drive in the wrong lane, park in the wrong spot, get yelled at, embarrass my kid, not be good enough for the women in the PTN, embarrass myself, and everything else that is associated with school. Oh, the memories I have about the horrible experiences. I hope my son has better luck with the education system than I ever did.

If you love Taylor Swift OR Coldplay, you've GOT to hear this!

I saw this on Ali Edwards blog and can't stop listening.

Random-ly Blogging

From James Lipton, host of Inside the Actor’s Studio:


1. What is your favorite word? heart


2. What is your least favorite word? Ugly


3. What sound or noise do you love?My boys calling “Mommy!”


4. What sound or noise do you hate? the sound of anger



5. What is your favorite curse word? loser



From JL’s Uncle Jessie Meme:
1. A song/band/type of music you'd risk wreck & injury to turn off when itcomes on the radio?Anything that my husband likes to listen to...we have a polar opposite taste in music



2. Best show on television? ER (reruns count, right?)



3. Favorite movie? Say Anything



4. Favorite room in your house? Dining Room (craft table)



5. Best concert? Taylor Swift with Jamesy.

6. Brass or strings?Strings

8. If you could have anything put on a t-shirt what would it be? Be nice.

9. The best part about being your age? Feeling like I can check in and fix my mistakes.



9. Favorite Girl Scout cookie? Tagalongs



10. Poker or gin or bridge? None

11. Shower or bath? Bath

12. Favorite pajamas? Loose, cotton, shapeless, comfy.

13. Nightmare job? Anything that wouldn't allow me to watch my babies grow everyday.

14. A talent you wish you had? Sewing like my mom

15. Dream vacation? Anywhere tropical...Fiji has always been a dream of mine.

16. What’s on your nightstand? Sudoku, pretzels, and glasses.

Grant-ISMs

Okay, so this weekend the fam went to Arizona Grand Resort to play in the water. Grant went to Grandma Sue's house to hang out with his aunts and g'ma while Terry and I played with the big kids. By Sunday I was missing him so much that we sat around the breakfast table and talked about all of the Grant-ISMs we could think of. I'm going to try to capture them all again so that they are documented and I can look back on this and tear. My big boy got his hair cut today too...OMG! He went from infant to toddler with every shear.

Here it goes:
*Peder-Pan (his favorite movie-he asks for it 5 million time a day)
*Oh-tay (okay)
*Wub-Youuuu (Love you)
*Too-tie mommy (Cookie Mommy)
*No Mama (often used when I say no first)
*No wan it (Don't want it, used with a pushing away motion of the hand)
*Daddy Tatch (Dad and Grant love to play catch together. Grant loses the ball in wind up typically)
*Tum-On (Come on!)
*Ouh-Hide (Used to get Daddy to take him out to play ball)
*Ready, Set, {insert running, then wait 3 seconds while he runs ahead}, GO!
*Wun, Two, Free, Four, Fibe, Sits, Seben...(up to15! This kid rocks with numbers)

Friday Blues

So every Friday I get the blues because James leaves me for a few days. I know I should be happy that it's the weekend, but life's just not the same without him. Terry and I drove James to his dad's this afternoon. When we got home, I made oven fried chicken with mashed potatoes. I was needing some comfort food.

Update: Last week I wrenched my back and just haven't been the same. In fact I was in pretty severe pain until Wednesday. I'm now going to physical therapy and have an appointment with an ortho specialist to see what the heck is going on. I get this "muscle spasm" thing every so often, but this time was definitely the most pain I've felt. I've got to get down to the bottom of it.

On a lighter note, my girlfriend (take a bow Michelle Marshall) had a super idea. Instead of buying chipboard books at the paper crafting store, she suggested making a mini book out of the kids old board books! So...I started mine tonight! YAY! It's super cute and I can't wait to post pictures of the finished product! The paper I used is from My Minds Eye which always seems to make me happy. Click here to see the paper line. I've also been dabbling in the distressed ink arena and I'm having a blast doing it! I heart Tim Holtz!

Also, I'm hosting another "Altered Letter" class at my house in a couple of weeks. See August 2008 archive for pics. Give me a shout if you're interested. The more the merrier
Hope everyone is well! Thank you for all the well wishes!

Me A to Z

All about ME...........
A – Age: 31
B – Bed size: Queen
C – Chore you hate: Laundry
D – Dog’s name: NO D-O-G. I'm highly allergic.
E – Essential start your day item: tinted moisturizer
F – Favorite color: Green
G – Gold or Silver: Silver
H – Height: 5′9.5" Terry says he's taller...it's a sticky point
I – Instruments you play(ed): none
J – Job title: CEO of Duffville
K – Kid(s): Jaiden, James, and Grant
L – Living arrangements: My dream house in the QC
M – Mom’s name: Dawn
N – Nicknames: AJ and Mandi
O – Overnight hospital stay other than your birth: Apendectomy and my boys births
P – Pet Peeve: people that scream at their kids and embarass them in public
Q – Quote from a movie: "She's gone. She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen." Lloyd in Say Anything
R – Right or left handed: Left
S – Siblings: Robin, Sarah and Matt
T – Time you wake up: when my kids do...usually by 7
U- Underwear: MYOB
V-Vegetable you dislike: raw onions, cucumber, raw tomato, radish...I could go on, but whatever.
W – Ways you drink your coffee: with CoffeeMate
X-rays you’ve had: teeth, back, arm
Y – Yummy food you make: Beef Stroganoff, Tacos, Chicken Casserole
Z – Zoo favorite : Giraffes

Now pass this on to 3 other friends that you want to get to know better...so here goes! I'm tagging:

Heather
Michelle
Meg

why is he the way he is?

Sometimes I sit and watch Jamesy sleep. I wonder what he's dreaming about in that grown up brain of his. I feel sad that such a little man lives with so much weight on his shoulders. I wish I could have done better by him. I know that he is what he is because of his experiences. Gosh, I love him!

Nine Reasons Why I Adore My Little Man:

1. He looks past all of the small stuff and cares for people for what they really are. We went to the pool a few weeks ago and he was the only boy who made friends with kids that had Downs Syndrome. He saw past everything. I was so proud

2. He LOVES Johnny Cash. He runs around the house singing "MY NAME IS SUE...HOW DO YOU DO?" What 5 year old has impecabble taste in music?

3. Jamesy is loyal. Once he makes a friend, it is a friend for life and he will do anything for them!

4. He is confident! For that he is eager to try new things. I love that about him.

5. He likes to smell good for the ladies. It's the cutest thing to watch him put on "man spray" so that he can smell good. I love that he spikes his hair too!

6. He has more personality in his pinky than most people have in their WHOLE body!! It just oozes out of him.

7. Everything just comes naturally to him!! WHY? I don't know . He's just that kid. I love that about him.

8. He's such an amazing brother. He protects Grant, Jaiden, and Chelsea. He wants them to be near him always. He has a heart of hearts.

9. He's a lover not a fighter. This kid begs to snuggle! He will love on me forever. He wants to snuggle in the morning, snuggle in the evening...and everything in between. He picks flowers for me and offers to make me breakfast. He's gonna make some husband!

Grant the Great

How did we make such an incredible little man? He's a talker, man. He won't quit. It's so great to finally be able to hear what he has to say. I'm making out about half of what he is saying, but it's better than nothing, right?

He says:
Mama, Daddy, Baba, Juicy, NO! (shocker), peas (please), hi-hen (chicken), too-tee (cookie)...and a million other words I can't figure out yet.

Oh, and by the way...I STILL think he's gonna be my south paw. {fingers crossed}

Stay Tuned-

James "Rocks the House" Plank

So, James started basketball on Tuesday. He joined a team with his tumbling coach through the YMCA. He did great at his first practice. His coach said that he was a little intimidated by the class size, but did a super job. His coaches have donned him a new name...James "Rocks the House" becuase he is such a go getter. I couldn't be more proud!

On the same note, Jaiden finished up soccer a couple of weekends ago and did great! Her team took second place...by ONE game!! They would've otherwise been undefeated. She had a great coach this season and signed up for the next round. GO Coyotes!!

Lu-Hoo-Zu-Hrrr

I just realized that other than our holiday cards we didn't share any of our amazing photography!! So, here are a few of my favorite shots taken December 2008. There were so many to choose from, it was hard. A sincere thank you again goes out to our brilliant artist, Rebekha Pailliotet.

You've been Duff-ed!!

{Here we come Taylor!}

WE GOT 'EM!!! Jen and I have been patiently waiting to get tickets to take Jaiden and James to see Taylor Swift and she got them this morning!!! SO rad. I can't wait to stand on the seats and belt out or favorite songs. I can't wait to watch Jamesy scream at the top of his lungs for her. (Sigh)

James favorite song in the whole wide world for those of you who don't know or haven't heard him sing it is "ihatethatstupidoldpickuptruck"...lol-Picture to Burn.

Feeling Charmed?

Here's a sneak peek of our March project. This mini book is called Charmed. I'm really excited about this book because we introduce a new technique from Ranger Inks involving Alchohol Ink. Sound scary? It's actually easier than you think! I'm crazy about the papers and colors in this book. Heather and I have incorporated areas for journaling to capture those unforgettable moments. Can't wait to share the rest! If you'd like to participate in this class, please let me know as soon as possible. I've tentatively set the date for March 12.

My Super Awesome Unique Fabulous...oh yeah and fun...day with Meg

I was so excited and happy to work on this project with Meg. She is in a wedding next month and went to the bridal shower Sunday. So Saturday we got together and worked on this awesome shadow box for the bride. The bride and her fiance got engaged in France, hence the theme.

I was so proud of Meg for thinking of this totally special gift for her friend. It was super fun and she did a great job!

I {heart} you!

Happy Valentines Day!! Today we went to Jaiden's last soccer game of this season. It was good. Those kids really get out there and play! Then we went to Grandmas and Chuck E Cheeses to celebrate.

In the spirit of love and passion here is my latest project. This is part of a mini book that I created to celebrate "Just the Beginning" of my little G-man! I am passionate about crafting and crazy in love with my munchkin!

P.S. Photography by none other than Rebekha Pailliotet

Strep!!

Yuck! So bummed. We were going to go to a Valentines Day party with all our friends tomorrow! I ran James to the doctor this afternoon because he's been complaining of a sore throat. And this kid's not really a complainer when he's sick. Anyhow, glad we went. But SO sad we're missing out on all the fun!

On another note, I am emotional today because I had to sign my baby up for KINDERGARTEN today!!! I can't believe he's been growing for 5 years already. Craziest thing. I'm not typically the emotional mom. I'm not a gusher and I thought that since he's already been in preschool for two years that this would be a cinch. Then I pulled up to the ginormous (only a word in my vocab, I know) school and got so depressed. Pretty soon I'll be screening girlfriends! No wait, that's already happening.

Here's James new school. He starts Eduprize in July 2009!

{A Little Creative Inspiration}

Here are a few pics of my latest project. Heather and I created a Valentine mini book kit. We had a "Girls Night" last week and had such a great time! The book was a huge success. Check it out. I am just crazy about it.

{the Nursery}

Here is a picture of the bedding in Grant's room. It's called "Latte" by Glenna Jean and I L-O-V-E it!

And because I can't leave anything untouched, here are the wall plaques I made to match.