The Paper Dollhouse. And Felt Sugar Cookies WIP

Well, it has so far been a very busy week. I spent the weekend out of town on a Scrapbook Retreat- at a place called "The Paper Dollhouse." It was Wonderful! It was relaxing, productive, and a much needed break for me! It is a beautiful victorian house that as Evan put it "looks just like a dollhouse!" We scrapbooked all day, until about 2am, slept there in our own room, and got up to start all over again. The food was FABULOUS. We had three meals a day, plus a dessert after each mealtime, and traditional tea time at 4pm. The food was so delicious and I was always satisfied and full. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, and in fact we plan on making it an annual trip. I would go more often, but without two incomes, and with two kids under 2, that's not going to happen for a while. So an annual trip it will be! From Friday at 2pm when we checked in until Sunday at about 3pm when we checked out, I completed an entire 8.5x8.5" album consisting of 40 pages for Ardyn's Birth. I then moved onto a 12x12" book and got about 15 pages done in that book. Everything was wonderful! The first floor was all scrapbook space, dining space, and the kitchen, foyer, and a sitting room. The second floor consisted of 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and the maid's quarters... and the 3rd floor was all scrapbook supplies! If you needed adhesive, it was just a flight of stairs up. There was also a Michael's and a Hobby Lobby within 15 minutes. Ahhhh. Heaven. We spent the weekend in pajamas, slippers, and comfy clothes... with no makeup, and sometimes no bras. It doesn't get better than that!

When I got home on Monday, our new cleaning lady (who is actually my age, so I feel silly calling her a lady) came over to finish up the house. She does a WONDERFUL job, doesn't mind cleaning when we are here, and is just all around great. I am so happy! Evan and I started to make our decision as to Which Kitchen we will be getting for Ardyn for Christmas, and picked out the one we liked the best, both for looks, price, and reviews. We wanted a wooden kitchen as they seem to last through generations. We picked a pink one, even though we know there will be a boy coming next, I really wanted her to have something that was pink since EVERYTHING we buy her seems to be "gender neutral" and because if a boy wants to play kitchen, he will just have to be okay with a pink one... and with sharing with his big sister. Because she is all about mixing, stirring, and tea right now (she says "tea" and serves tea to everyone) I will be making her some felt cookies and cakes for Christmas also, and a cupcake Apron from some towels that I got at Target last Valentine's Day. I started on cookies this evening, and also made her a donut just for fun. She wandered around saying "Cookie!" all night and counting from 1-3 with the cookies. Everyone is so surprised, but she knows how to count to 3. I have to start her with one, but she very clearly goes to two, and then to three. It's totally adorable, and I need to get it on video.I need to get some more felt, as this is just some wool felt that I had in my stash downstairs. I want to make some gingerbread cookies, as well as some more like this with lavender frosting. I would also like to try my hand at making some linzer cookies like these, some star shaped sugar cookies, and some cupcakes like these. Just to get started before Christmas.

The house looks terrible. Every night. And every night, I pick it up. And then we start over. Our new mattress came today (the one that we received as an even exchange on our Sealy that was less than 2 years old and defective.) We got a King Sized Restonic Imperial Plush Pillowtop. And Wow. Is it freaking awesome. I can't wait to sleep tonight. My hips and back were really getting painful, and my belly was waking up with cramps in the morning. I can't wait. This will be so much better than the bed that was all messed up.

Tomorrow night is Mother/Daughter Grey's Anatomy night and I am hosting. Mom, my sister, me and Ardyn... and Evan will be here too. We are ordering Pizza, Pasta, and breadsticks from Pizza Hut and will be watching the Elmo Saves Christmas DVD with Ardyn, followed by the Grey's Anatomy Episode. I am disappointed because tonight I missed Dirty Sexy Money because it wasn't on, Damn CMA awards.

I am hoping tomorrow to make a trip to grab up some bias tape for Ardyn's Toddler Apron, and some more felt, in addition to some longer beads.

Well, more later, right now I am off to pick up this mess!