Month: October 2016

Ah.  Remember these?  Vintage Raptor!  She was just 18 months in this pic, the same age as the babies are now, and I thought she was sooooo grown up.  I thought it was hilarious that she swiped her friends “phone” and jumped in her brand new cozy coupe.  (Side note: might need to look into getting one of these!  I’ll bet it would blow Xander’s mind.)  But the reality is that it’s kind of scary to think of Kate being old enough to drive, especially in the age of cell phones.  Talk about things I’m not ready for!

I know that there are apps that you can use to track your teen’s location (I *might* have one on my phone that I’ve used a time or two when I’ve gotten hopelessly lost) but those always seemed kind of helicoptery to me.  I mean, either you trust your kid or you don’t, right?  (Friends with teenagers, feel free to point and laugh at my naiveté.)  At the same time, the stakes are awfully high.  Motor vehicles are the leading cause of death for 15-19 year olds in the United States.  So even if you trust your teen, it would be super helpful to have some objective information to help them improve their driving, right?

Check this out.  My brother-in-law and his wife created a product to do just that.  I know this is a bit outside the realm of what I usually post about, but I think it’s a really cool product so you get to hear about it anyway.  lol.  Basically, you pop it in your car (it’s super easy to install; RaptorDad and I had tester units) and then it tracks data on your teen’s driving that you can access on your smart phone.  Actual useful stuff like how hard your teen is breaking, or how fast they’re accelerating.  It can also tell when your teen swerves a little, you know, like when they look at their phone or are messing with the radio.  And it gives suggestions to actually improve your teen’s driving.  Win win.  I love that it’s framed as a positive with suggestions for improvement as opposed to a “gotcha” mentality where you’re just trying to catch your teen making a mistake.

Kickstarter Link

Here’s a link to their kick starter campaign where they have a great video that explains more about the product and its features.  I would love it if you would go check it out!  The more safe drivers on the road, the better.  In fact, maybe I should leave RaptorDad’s installed in his truck.  😉

Ah September, don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.  I was sick, Kate was sick, and there was just not enough consecutive napping going on from the babies.  All that to say that I didn’t check too many things off my list completely, but I did make a lot of progress on some ongoing projects.

1.  Scrap February 2015.  I got absolutely zero progress done on this goal.  Whoops.
2. Finish June, July, and August for 2016 Project Life.  Even I knew this goal was insane, but I did make some progress.  I finished June and I only have one more week of July to go.  Of course now I need to add September to the list.  😉
3. Decide on Halloween costumes.  Partial success.  Kate has decided that she wants to be a fairy so we procured some wings.  She already has a dress that she wants to wear so I think we just need to figure out some accessories.  I have no idea what to do for the babies though.  Suggestions?
4. Scrap 10 current (non Project Life) layouts.  Well, I got 5 done.  I need to figure out a way to get these babies napping at the same time!
5. Work on Xander’s stocking.  I got Xander’s stocking almost finished and I was feeling pretty good about then.  So I decided to pull out Mia’s.  Oh my, hers had almost nothing done.  :/  So I put Xander’s aside and worked on Mia’s.  lol.  I’d say that it’s possible that I can finish one, if not both, in October.
6. Finish hand towels.  I’m so stinking close!  I’m on to the dreaded backstitching.  The end is in sight!
7. Make FALL letters.  Well, I bought the letters.  lol.  Baby steps.
8. Organize DVDs.  Nope.  ::sigh::  I really am a terrible housewife.
9. Finish felt letters.  Yikes.  I didn’t even pull these out.  Rolling this goal over to October.
10. Figure out something for family pictures.  I didn’t figure out anything for family pictures, but as the babies are turning 18 months in a few days I’ve decided to embrace my tardiness and do a Half Birthday cake smash.

I did get a lot done, I just didn’t get the satisfaction of crossing many things off.  I also created a fairly elaborate badge workbook for our upcoming Girl Scout camping trip, and photographed/ printed/ laminated a “Me Book” for Mia.

On to October Goals!

1.  Scrap February 2015.  Ugh.  I just need to sit down and power through.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…
2. Finish July and August Project Life.  I’m stuck on the last week of July which was our family vacation week.  Since I’ve already scrapped a bunch of the pics, I’m a bit tired of working with them.  I need to either buckle down and get it done or just skip ahead.  Or maybe a bit of both…
3. Halloween Prep.  I need to finish Kate’s costume and decide on and create costumes for the babies.
4. Finish Xander’s stocking.  RaptorDad ordered me some new beading needles and I found a new season of the Great British Bake Off on YouTube.  Bring it.
5. Hand Towels.  My thumb is about to fall off from holding the embroidery hoop.  My goal is actually to finish these today!  If not today then tomorrow.  Or you know, the next day.
6. Felt letters.  I feel like these are a goal every month…  Le sigh.  Must.  Finish.
7. Cake smash pics.  Hmm…  They’re a bit old to do them just in diapers.  I’m going to have to ponder further, but I want these done this week.
8. Onesie Papers.  Not sure what to call these really.  My mom is hosting a baby shower and she wants to have little paper onesies for the guests to write advice on.
9. Survive Road Trip!  Kate is off this week for Fall Break so we’re taking a road trip!  We’re going to San Antonio (which is about an hour and a half from us) for 2 days.  RaptorDad has to work so I’m flying solo with the kids.  Don’t worry, I added wine to the packing list.  😉
10. Fix buttons.  I have 2 super cute dresses that need minor button repairs before I can wear them again.  I’m still nursing the RaptorTwins and I think it’s a bit more wear and tear than most designers expect on largely decorative buttons.

Hopefully as I finish some of these things I can photograph some of them and put them on the blog!