an update of sorts... a week in the life.

You might be wondering, "What has Melissa been up to?"  Or maybe you've asked yourself, "I don't really care about Melissa, but I've really been curious to know what her kids have been up to these days..." or maybe you are just a big fan of that great guy I am married to and want to know how he's been? (back off, barbie. he's taken.) 
Well, if you've been curious, today is YOUR LUCKY DAY.
Here are a few things that are note worthy (or not so note worthy, but I'm going to talk about them anyway):

::: Remember how I got braces... again?  I won't even tell you what time this is for me.  You might start hating.  Let me just say this to all you pubescent teens out there (oh, yes I did. I just wrote the word "pubescent" on my blog)---WEAR YOUR RETAINER. To you men/women who just got married and feel a little insecure about wearing your retainer at night, b/c you don't want to look like a 15 year old to your new spouse---who cares?!  WEAR YOUR RETAINER.  And, to all the rest of you... if you have a retainer, PUT IT BACK IN YOUR MOUTH. Seriously.  Go grab it and we'll all sing "Kumbayah" together.
No, really, I just wanted to make a little public service announcement.
Having braces isn't as fun as it seems.  I have to limit my Oreo intake now.  I have to use my super sonic skills to move my face when Cal and Tillie start flailing their bodies... One blow to my mouth will make all my teeth fall out.  They are THAT loose and now all connected with chains.  If one goes, they'll all go. Honestly, it's not so bad, but it's not like there's a party in my mouth.

One day when Aaron came home for lunch, we were talking about his day over Doritos and sandwiches.  I asked him what was on his docket for the afternoon.  He proceeded to tell me about some of the procedures he'd be doing---things like fillings, extractions, crowns, bridges and then mentioned that he was going to be putting braces on a patient.
I stopped him and said (with a mouthful of cheesy Dorito goodness), "Hey, when are you going to put braces on me?"
He replied, "Why don't you come in today?"
"When?"
"How about now?"
"What?! I'm eating my lunch. I haven't even brushed my teeth yet!" (shows you my commitment to healthy hygiene)
"Well, finish your lunch, go brush your teeth, and then come into the office..."
"What am I going to do with the kids?"
"Bring them."
"Well, what about their naps? I mean, how long will it take?"
"About 30 minutes. They can sit in there with us and watch a cartoon and then can go down for naps when you get done."
----------ummmm... okay?  That's the story.  No real prep.  Very spontaneous if you ask me.  Who said I wasn't an adventurer?  Bite me.

I was nervous about how the kids would do, but they happily surprised me.  They were pretty darn good. I kept debating whether or not I should have them put red/white/blue bands on in honor of Memorial Day, but in the end opted for clear (seemed like the mature thing to do).  I know.  I'm regretting my decision too.  Oh well.  Here I am right after they pulled those AWFUL mouth-stretcher-outers off of my face.  And the next shot is to illustrate how delightful our children were during our stay.

 ::: Tillie is still in love with all things PRINCESS, if you hadn't received the memo.  Her Nana and Papa gave her this outfit back at Christmas.  She's still a fan.  Her favorite pastime these days is to have me turn on a collection of Disney songs that Aaron compiled for her and little Jaylie.  She loves to just sit on a chair near the computer (where I play the songs) and just sing her little heart out.  It might just be the cutest thing ever. 
Here's a shot of her by the back door.  I'm such a big fan of this girl.

 

::: Not to be outdone by her sister, Calvin is pretty fun too.  Here he is pre-buzzed hair.  

 

This boy...  Where to begin?  I can't believe that he is already SO different from his sister.  He is a natural comedian.  He does things purely to get a laugh.  And, what?  He's only 16 months.  But, don't be fooled, he's a SENSITIVE kiddo and gets frustrated so easily.  If he doesn't get his way, he's devastated and starts SOBBING.  But, literally, two seconds later, he's all smiles and laughing.  It's quite a sight.  What's crazy is that he sounds just like his mom.  ?!?!  Oh dear.  This can't be good.
Don't believe me?  Okay, here's proof.  These next shots were taking in about 1 minute 30 seconds.  No joke.  I just kept snapping photos. 

back to being a happy camper. even playing nicely with his sister.

Funny, but then sometimes, it's not so funny.  But, overall, he's a keeper.  Gotta love a little drama here and there.

::: Design work.  I love that I get to create stationery orders on occasion.  Sometimes I wish I were doing more with it, but then once I get a big order, I remember why I'm glad for the little steady stream of work I have been able to maintain.  It's fun to keep my feet wet, but I'm glad it's not taking over my life.

Here's a zoomed in version of a recent print for our shop:

 
I just love that Elizabeth Mitchell song (click the link to hear a snippet of the song).  Whenever there is a sweet moment in life, it seems like I sing the lines in my head.  So, I finally decided to make a legit print with the happy sentiment.

Custom orders are a fun thing too.  A girl contacted me to create this little elephant family of 3.  She and her husband are expecting their first baby this next month and I'm going to be doing their birth announcements.  I love doing things like this!  She needed to write a ton of thank you's for the baby showers she'd had, so we went ahead and did these first.

Standing up to the island in Cal's bedroom when using my paper cutter is SO great.  I love the light he gets in his room and the curtains my mom made just make me happy every time I look at them.
Since I've been trying harder to document the design work I do, I decided to take a few photos...

since my sister and I are teaming up, I wanted to create a new little logo for the back of our cards.  here's what we've come up with for now.

And here's Tillie be-bopping around while I'm slicing and dicing.  She's crazy AND fast.  In case anyone was curious.

Since the lighting was pretty okay, and I had my camera out, I decided to take a few shots of our new business cards we created in time for Quilt Market.  They are two sided and I think they turned out pretty fun.

::: And Aaron?  Here's the outlaw himself. 

He is always so good to take care of our "land"---even though he has major allergy issues this time of year.  He had the clever idea to cover his nose and mouth while mowing/weed whacking and it made such a big difference!  Awesome.  I don't know what I love more, the fact that he is out there working hard, or the fact that he looks so good doing it.  He's definitely a keeper too.

::: Much more to come.  My mom came for a quick trip and just left today.  She helped with some crazy decisions like how to do shelving in the closets for our new house.  Yes.  If anyone in my life is qualified to offer such advice, it would be my professional-organizer-mother.  It was wonderful having her here.  And, speaking of the new house, it's coming along swimmingly.
More to come on all that and more.
Wishing you Peace, Love, and clean kitchen floors.