Baby in a boxing match.... in a cave.













I took this picture of Little Guy yesterday.

Yes I know I am biased, but I think he is as cute as a bug! He is 6 weeks old.

To take this photo, I laid him down on his sister's black furry coat (um, she doesn't actually HAVE black fur, I meant her winter coat, silly!)

I found that the coat made a good picture taking background.

The People at Swingline Staplers are Probably Peeved

Guess what this is.... it's a stapler that doesn't use staples. So is it okay to still call it a stapler?

It works by punching the paper and doing a foldover technique that holds the papers securely together, but without any staples...which makes it safer for children and pets...not to mention, we never need to buy staples or refill a stapler again! (YAY!) I want one, or several.
I just love things that are well - designed.

Maybe we can call it a papler?
"Hey, Bob...can you hand me that papler?"
Hmm.

If you have a suggestion what this should be called, post a comment!

Click on the picture to see this item at UncommonGoods.com

and if you think that's neat, check out these mugs. The Bill of Rights is imprinted on them. As if that wasn't exciting enough (LOL!) when you add your hot drink, you can watch your civil liberties disappear from the mug. My husband says it would be soooo much funnier if it wasn't so close to reality. Would love to hear your comments! Again, click on the picture to see more details.

ps...add yourself to my frappr map!

Couldn't help but chuckle
about a post on a job board for artists.
I don't mean to be catty, but I found this really funny.
How many errors can you find in this sentence?

"Looking for compatent artist to help illustrate book cover for Novel."

I'm not even going to try to explain this one...
the perfect website for those who love or hate cats!

Stuff On My Cat.com

Little Man watching his favorite TV show, Oobi, on Noggin.
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The many faces of Little Man, with his mouth full of Oreo cookies, and asking for more while spraying black cookie crumbs
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my mom and I played a game of Scrabble (she won)
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Laser all ready for the fiesta
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Laser struttin' his stuff, one of the best pictures I have of him so far. He is a Shetland Sheepdog
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Little Man enjoying playing with a blue balloon before the birthday party
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CAKES BY SHUPAN
The cake on the left was DD2's 12th birthday cake, the one on the right was DD1's birthday cake, both done by Cakes by Shupan. Beautiful huh? They tasted just as great as they looked, too! Shupan asked me some questions about what the girls like, and I told her some decorating ideas that they had, and Shupan went into action! Great to work with, located in Lawrenceville GA (Gwinnett County) they do cakes for all occasions. The girls were thrilled!
Contact Shupan Abraham at Cakes by Shupan at 770-682-6630 to order beautiful cakes for your next party or special occasion!.

I had a 'fun' night last night, trying to keep the girls' hyperactivity down and the baby quiet so DH could catch some zzz's (he has to work all this week, including holiday and has to get up really early). Little Guy had gas pains, spewed on me, was fussy in general. I had only a bit of light from the closet to illuminate the bedroom while I changed his diaper...come to find out the extruding was still in process...3 diapers in 5 minutes. I gotta get more sleep or I'm going to go insane.

My mom holding her newest grandbaby, Little Guy for the first time.
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Here's an update on what's going on here, since I haven't been posting much lately.

YAY! Luana started a blog too. I hope she will have fun doing it. She has a newly opened gift shop in Loganville called My Simple Indulgence. It is next to a Gymboree and a coffee shop. Her store is beautiful! It is only 10 minutes away, no matter where you are, so be sure to visit!

I spent last night in the recliner so now my neck is stiff. Little Guy was fussy so I gave up all hope of sleep and watched Letterman's Late Show. He needed a bottle about every 3-4 hours...Little Guy, not Letterman.

Wow, that was an old type joke, wasn't it? I blame it on seeing too many Marx Brothers movies lately on TCM. Unfortunately, I am interrupted too much and too busy to watch whole movies. I get bits and pieces of the dialog. But in a Marx Brother's movie, just a little bit of Groucho's dialog can keep me giggling all day.

These are from Cocoanuts, from my memory so probably not exact...

To a good looking lady:
"Let's lodge with my fleas in the woods...oh wait, maybe it's let's flee to my lodge in the woods!"

and,

To an older society dame:
"Is it true that your husband plans to divorce you as soon as he recovers his eyesight?"

Eyesight, that reminds me...my glasses broke, (just the frame) and I will get my new glasses next week. Be sure to check in for 'before' and 'after' pictures. My old glasses are round and very late 80's styled. My new glasses will have a geometric shape that should work well on my face.
For now, I am stylin' in my broken glasses with tape holding them together. Really classy look. (sarcasm).

It has been great having Mom here from Savannah. It has helped me so much. Trying to get caught up on things, but I think the first thing I have needed to get caught up on is - rest.

This morning, we'll get the Parker House Roll dough rolled out and baked. I did get the cake baked last night, just need to put the glaze on it today. I'll take a picture and post it later (probably tomorrow).

Terri sent me some copies of the book I illustrated,
What Really Happened During the Middle Ages.
It was so exciting to actually see and hold the hardcopy of the book. I got misty and almost cried looking at it and thinking about how proud my Dad would be if he was still alive, but the girls broke in with, "Aw Mom, you aren't gonna cry, are you?!?" So that kept me at the misty level.
I gave my Mom a copy...she is enjoying it. I autographed her copy and we had a laugh about that.

~Have a Happy Thanksgiving~

Take lots of pictures and send me some!

My mother has been visiting.

Here is a math equation:

Mother Visiting = No Blogging
hee hee...

Today in preparation for our Thanksgiving meal,
I will be making Tunnel of Fudge cake from the Pillsbury Cookbook - it is really good,
like a brownie with walnuts Bundt cake. If I don't have time to make it,
then I will just make devilled eggs. If I get time, I'll add it to the recipe blog so that thou might
partake also...verily I say so...hmm

Definitely we'll have pumpkin pie - I told my husband that I could have any meal for Thanksgiving,
I wouldn't even need to have turkey, as long as I had pumpkin pie. To me, without pumpkin pie,
it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving. He felt that he could forgo the pumpkin pie, but he'd HAVE to have the
turkey and stuffing.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Of course the important thing is getting together with family and friends, but
is there one food thing for Thanksgiving that really makes it - "Thanksgiving" the holiday, for you?

I was just interviewed for an article on personal blogging and
bloggers in Gwinnett that will be in Gwinnett Magazine within the next
couple months. They are also going to
interview Ashley McClure (Discovery Toys) about her blog...heads up,
Ashley! LOL

The magazine's photographer might come to the house to get a picture of me...I can just see it now...I'll be working at the computer, blogging...baby slung over one shoulder, toddler hanging on my leg, a bottle dripping formula onto the floor - piles of books, magazines, CD-roms scattered around me, dog barking and doing his 'pee-pee' dance...

oh Lord, what have I done?!?

Mental note: keep ego in check. hahahah

Thanks to everyone who has 'signed' and put themselves on the map so far -
SEE IT HERE and please add yourself if you haven't already

I think it is so fun, and wouldn't it be great if we could have someone from every
U.S. state on the map?

I took Little Guy (AKA PorkChop) to the pediatrician today.

It was just a well-baby checkup.
He now weighs 12 lbs 11 oz and has grown about 3 inches!

I knew he had grown a lot, because I had to adjust the shoulder straps in his car seat.
Good thing no video cameras were rolling or I would have been caught on video cussing while I dealt with those annoying straps!

The pediatrician says he is in the 97th percentile.

Even though he is only a little over a month old, she says I can start giving him a little bit of rice cereal in late afternoon/evening to help him sleep through the night. Because he is a big lil guy, he needs it. She said she had just seen a 2-1/2 month old that was the same size as Little Guy.

I found out this morning that somehow, all my images and files that are Word, jpg, or gif have defaulted to Kodak EasyShare documents (arghhhhhhhhhhhh!) ... I went to open up a document in Word and it was all gobbledygook.

Sounds like today's project for my husband.

I want to do a primal scream but he's asleep so I'll hold back and just scream here in my blog...bgushshsoshfshooisskfkkkkslslslslpfffffffffffffffleffff!

I am also nagging my daughters to get up. I have been nagging since 7:30 am. Child care experts would say don't nag and just let them miss the bus.

Experts have a lot of free time on their hands. LOL!

Bringing back a good old blog post from September 2004:

What happens when you:

1) have nothing to do

2) own a sharp knife

3) have a large lime

4) own a patient cat

5) drink too much tequila

6) and it's football season?

=============

Today I went for a one hour massage with Dawn at Simply Massage Therapy in Lawrenceville GA. It was my first massage ever. The question is, would I go back, is it worth the time and money?
Oh yes it definitely was!

You know, I hurt my back a couple of weeks ago and I have been getting better, but
this was a great help. Dawn was very professional (yet personable too) and explained everything she was going to do before she did it.

She does massage also for pregnancy, senior citizens, and medical massage. If you are in the Atlanta metro area, I recommend you check Simply Massage Therapy out! But even if you don't live near here, her site has a lot of information about massage therapy in general so it's worth a click. :)
http://simplymassagetherapy.com/

probably wondering, "when is Mommy going to give me my bottle?"
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Here is Little Man, the curator of the Dixon Museum of Art in Snellville, Georgia pointing out the fine details of this particular pencil art piece by Darla Dixon.
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I just found out the book I illustrated is being sold at Exodus Provisions.
It is really exciting to see my name as illustrator on books. I don't think I will ever tire of it, it's such a natural high! Well, I guess you had to be there LOL

We just bought a new digital camera and the shots that follow are from me experimenting with it. I will be able to have a lot more pictures of artwork in progress for the blog and pictures of the kids because of getting it.

I found it very easy to figure out, which was one of my main concerns about getting a new digital camera. I bought the Kodak EasyShare v550. You are seeing the back of the camera here. No, that's not me in the picture...I wish! LOL

Click Here to see the front of it.

It has a 3x optical zoom and an awesome lens.
I can shoot video with it too! The round thing at the bottom is the docking station which makes transferring the pictures from the camera to the computer extremely easy. The docking station also recharges the camera. The viewing screen is really large and clear. Comes with 32 MB of memory, when most have only about 16.

It is barely smaller than a deck of cards yet it has all the features of bigger cameras.

It makes picture taking almost idiot-proof, which is why it's the camera for me! LOL

Click Here To See Kodak EasyShare at Amazon.com

Little Guy ("PorkChop") at 1 month old with Little Man (big brother 27 months old. You can see how proud big brother is, and I love this one because Little Guy actually has his eyes open in this shot
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Little Guy, AKA "PorkChop" sleeping. He likes to sleep in his car seat or in a bouncy seat in the house..shunning the $70 bassinet with amenities such as vibration, teddy bear mobile, music and lights.
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Another cute one from Lori. This one really hits home for me lately!

Where in the world are you? I'd love for you to add yourself to my map!
Stand up and be counted :)

A good one from my customer and friend Mark L....thanks Mark!

-----------------

A husband was in big trouble when he forgot his wife's birthday.

His wife told him, "Tomorrow there better be something in the driveway
for me that goes zero to 200 in 2 seconds flat".

The next morning the wife found a small package in the driveway. She
opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Funeral arrangements for the husband have been set for Saturday

I haven't been posting here because the other day during an early morning bottle feeding, I pinched a nerve or basically yanked a muscle in my back...the final straw to my back muscle was when I lifted up the baby in my arms while getting out of the chair, so I have been practically unable to do much of anything the last couple days. It was what I would describe as excruciating. (I still worked on artworkyesterday when I felt better, though! I never give up as long as I can move an arm...lol)

I am doing better now, have been using frozen veggies to ice down the muscle! Hey, I knew buying vegetables would be good for me someday, even though they usually tend to just sit in the freezer and never get eaten...I guess they are just here to impress guests?!? LOL!

From what I hear, it isn't the 'one' thing we do that pulls a muscle, even though we think the action that results in the major pain was what did it to us, it's actually the accumulation of all the things you have been doing, and I have been getting very little rest and very little good posture lately...so there ya go.

I hope to be on here more often now if I can.

Darla
http://darladixon.com/

Family Watchdog
http://www.familywatchdog.us/Search.asp

This site enables you to do a search by address to see if there are any sexual offenders living in your neighborhood. The map is very interactive, you can look at a graphical map or you can get aerial photos. What I thought was especially thoughtful is that it shows where the schools and playgrounds are, as well as where the registered offender works.

What I don't like is when people use this information to harass a neighbor who might have been convicted of one of thes crimes. I think it should be just used so parents and caretakers of children can just be aware - something they should do anyway!

Although convicted, the people did do their time. They're not my favorite people in the world, of course...but at least this shows the people who are staying registered. There are tons more who are not registered, and I think they are the ones that should really scare us.

I have seen interviews of sexual offenders where they have said they want people to know, that knowing their neighbors know about their history, they feel that they might be caught if they try anything, so it helps to keep them from backsliding.

So use the site for your education, to become aware, but please do not harass people if they are living peacefully and lawfully now.

Chitika is a new interactive affiliate thing that you can use in your website AND/OR blog - I am new to it, so I'm not sure if there needs to be a sale or if it's just by clicks. I think it's just by clicks.

It is free. I am trying it out. What I like about it is that you can have control over how it looks. You can change the text color and the background colors so it will match in with your site, AND YOU test and set the keywords for it so it will show items you think will do the best. It is free so why not give it a shot if you have a website or a blog?

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT CHITIKA

See it in action in this blog, below right, or in another blog where you can see I have made it appear with pink background to match the blog closely. http://onlineshoppingdiscountcodes.blogspot.com/