gettin' outta dodge

This is a good picture of us. It's cold and snowy and we're all so tired we're always staring off into space, eyes glazed over. Although this little one is definitely the cutest tuckered-out one of the bunch - mom just looks old (which is why she is not pictured). In fact, I shouldn't even be writing this. I still have work to do, it's nearly midnight and it'll be the fourth night in a row that I hit the sack in the morning. But, halleluia, we're blowing this popsicle stand in just over 24 hours - for blue skies, sandy beaches and rest, glorious rest. I can hardly contain myself.

Liam, interestingly, is perhaps the most excited of all and he has no idea what's in store. "When are we going to Florida, mom? When are we going to Florida?" Not soon enough.


Liam's getting old enough that he really wants to pack himself. But left to his own devices, we'd be transporting five plastic dinosaurs, a couple sleigh bells, a cap from the milk jug, toilet paper rolls and a pair of mismatched socks. I'm sure we could construct an outfit out of all that in Florida. But, um, I'd rather not have to think that hard. So, I decided to try making a visual list like the one I saw recently on one of my favorite blogs. It was incredibly fast and easy to draw up, and it was therapeutic to do something that was not work. I have missed being creative this week. I can't wait to see what Liam pulls together with this little packing list tomorrow. Should be interesting!


Before I go back to work... here's the other creative memory of the week. My friend Ann sent me this fun idea she saw on the CraftSanity website. Basically, you collect all your broken crayons (we found a lot!), take off the paper, arrange them in paper muffin liners in muffin tins and heat in the oven. (Much clearer directions can be found here.) Liam was very enthusiastic about unwrapping the finished crayons from the liners and remarking on the beauty of each. We had planned to group 3 or 4 and wrap and give to his friends for Christmas, with a little homemade paper booklet. But, per Liam, they are all too pretty to give away. I figured I'd give it a week and he'll forget he even liked them. Plus, disk-shaped crayons with ruffled edges? Not the best writing implement. Cute, colorful and creative. But, not so practical.

That's okay. I'm quite sure we'll be dreaming up plenty to do with shells very, very soon...