Cosmo Cricket

Early Bird Layout & a Hard Knocks Giveaway

I love the Early Bird collection. The chipboard came in yesterday and we are shipping full speed! Look for your orders soon!

This is my daughter Kate as a baby. During labor, as she was starting to crown, I asked if she had red hair like her brother. The doctor said it was brown and everyone in the room..... in unison.... said, brown? However, she is definitely my child! Same personality, same interests. (By the way, she's Eric's baby too..... just didn't want to be misunderstood again. lol)

We didn't know who she looked like until my sister-in-law, Tami, told me she was a funny looking baby. This comment made me look into Tami's baby photos. We all laughed hysterically when we saw them. She and Kate could have been twins!

OK, now for something funny! Lindsay sent me this email one day. I thought it was so great that I saved it...... usually I delete all his emails.  :)  If you grew up in the eighties, I think you will love it. If you raised a child in the eighties, I think you'll appreciate it. Enjoy!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning...... Uphill.. barefoot...BOTH ways...... Yadda, yadda, yadda.
 
I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
 
But now that.. I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a Utopia!
 
I hate to say it but you kids today...... you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!
 
There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter, with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!  Stamps were 10 cents!
 
Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our butts! No where was safe!
 
There were no MP3's or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up!
 
There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone...'cause that's how we rolled dig?
 
We didn't have fancy Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either!  When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your Bookie, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!
 
We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'.. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!
 
You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your bum and walk over to the TV to change the channel! There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats!
 
And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove ... Imagine that!
 
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!

Some things not included by this author that I remember, and my kids don't are:
Corded dial phones. You had to dial the number, it took about a minute and then you had to stand next to the phone the whole time you were talking on it.

No itunes. I always hated that if you wanted one song on an album you had to buy the whole TAPE. And, to do this, you had to whine and plead and beg to get your mother to drop you off at the mall, something she didn't want to do because she knew you would be wasting your money and flirting with boys.

Typewriters. My family did not have a computer until my junior year of high school. I typed all my papers. I used whiteout.

Dot Matrix Printer Paper. When we did get a computer we also got a printer. Do you remember having to tear off the edges and tear the sheets apart from each other?

Renting VCR's. For special occasions, like birthday parties, you got to go to the video store and rent, not only a video tape, but also the VCR machine.

Tell us your favorite 1980 hard knocks memory and you could win a Flirt Album, Everafter Paper Crafting Kit and an Early Bird Paper Crafting Kit.

My Mother's Day Layout! Done!!

Finally, I got it done! Here it is. Have you noticed that I am totally in love with paper ruffles lately? I used one page from the Flirt Blackboard album for the heart and filled it in with pics from my childhood. I choose the picture of myself holding Abby because I am also pregnant with Jack in this photo. Eric took the picture and it's always been one of my favorites.
OK, so by now you all know that I am a truly insane person! But, you also have to know not to take me too seriously! Right?!?!

Anyway, I am the middle child of 5. I am the comic relief. It is a rare occasion that I would post anything that I didn't think was funny. So, I hope you have found the humor in these stories about my inner psyche. Here's another one! But I will only tell you if you promise to laugh!!

I learned to be a liar from my mother! She was a liar too. Only to protect her children of course, but my mom did some crazy stuff.

Five days after I had my baby, Kate, I got Bell's Palsy. If you don't know what this is, you can do a google image search. But, let me tell you that I went to bed looking normal and woke up looking like I had had a very severe stroke. The entire left side of my face was paralyzed. My left eye could not close at all..... not even to blink. I had to put gel in it to keep it moist and tape it closed at night so that it wouldn't dry out. I have sensitive skin and the tape would leave this red rash square all around my eye just to draw your attention there in case it wasn't noticeable enough.

My mouth was normal on one side, but the other side, turned downward into a frown. If I smiled (something I do a lot) it would pull my entire face over to the other side! I couldn't even say Bell's Palsy because my lips didn't work right and I couldn't say B's or P's. So, if you haven't gotten the picture yet, let me tell you, it was dramatic!

After being diagnosed, I went over to my mom's where she was watching my two babies. My mom looked at me and completely straight-faced said that it was hardly noticeable. She continued saying that people who didn't know me previously would never know that anything was wrong at all. She maintained her story the whole three months I had the illness. We laugh about this all the time now......... in fact, if you spill grape juice down your shirt at a family get together, you are likely to be told that it's hardly noticeable..... just ask mom.

Just a reminder...... this is a funny story! I laughed the entire time I went through this ordeal...... well, after the first day. We made lots of jokes about my "half-hearted" smile and the fact that no matter how tired I was I could always keep one eye open! The way I see it, you can laugh or you can cry, but life goes on either way and laughing is more enjoyable!

And now for a very long and serious PS:

I never stopped to consider how my story yesterday might appear to many of you who don't have all the details and background, until I received this comment from Kat:

I don't know what to say about this story. I cringed when I read it, I really did. How could you do that to your child? How can you BRAG about your lies? My daughter had problems too, but I didn't lie or cover them up. As soon as I realized there was a problem, I tried to find out how to help. My child is my child, I wouldn't dream of comparing her to others, what do they matter? I'm just glad that things were found out and your little boy got the help he needed, goodness know what would have happened if he hadn't.

For those of you that felt the same, or those that are just curious, here is more information than I initially planned to share..... and probably way more than you ever wanted.

I come from a very long line of undiagnosed dyslexics. They include my father, brother and sister and all had delayed speech. So, when Ethan didn't start speaking on time, I was told by family members not to worry.... that it was perfectly normal in our family. However, I was worried enough to come clean at the 18 month doctor appointment and you know what I was told? Not to worry. That boys often develop speech later than girls.

Fast forward to Kindergarten. Despite countless hours spent by myself and the preschool teacher, Ethan did not know any letters....... not even E for Ethan. I was again worried! I had grown up watching my brother be teased by his peers, including myself, being called stupid and worse. I scheduled a private meeting with his soon-to-be teacher. She told me not to worry, that she would give him any extra attention he needed.

Fast forward to the first SEP (parent/teacher conference). I was told that "my bright child was beginning to fall behind." I was told that with a little support from home, we could catch him up in no time. The recommendation? Flashcards.

We did flashcards until the next SEP. They hadn't helped at all. This time I was told that I was failing my child. That he was really struggling. I told the teacher we had been working so hard at home, but it just wasn't helping. She replied that she had taught for many years and that she knew when kids weren't supported at home. That she was amazed I wanted her to believe we had worked so hard when my son couldn't even read his own name. That she had to find his homework folder, scissors, glue bottle for him everyday. I left quietly and broke into tears the minute the door closed behind me. That is when I began lying/cheating with the school.

Now, all this is behind me. I don't want sympathy. I just wanted to give a little more explanation into my behavior. I hope you'll understand.

Maybe someday I'll write a book about all my experiences with my son and his struggles...... until then, any of you that have children in similar situations, please check out, Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz and your local branch of the International Dyslexia Association for help.

Mom Layout and Lesson

Between the opthamologist, ENT and orthodontist, I still haven't gotten my Mother's day layout done! But, Danielle sent me this beautiful one of her and her son using our Everafter collection.
Any mom can relate to the bond that Danielle talks about in this layout. It's that bond that has made me do SOOOOO many crazy things. And for some reason, many of them happen at doctor's offices. Maybe that's because that is where you spend a large portion of your life with small children!

To protect my son, Ethan, I became a liar. There, I said it. I admitted it. It's totally true!

Ethan is dyslexic, but I didn't know this or anything about it until the end of first grade. Dyslexic children almost always have delayed speech development. This was true with Ethan. He didn't actually say a word until after his second birthday.

Well, my next door neighbor had a baby just two weeks older than Ethan and so I was painfully aware that my child was behind hers. But, being his mother, I was convinced he was the smartest, most beautiful and most perfect child ever made and I didn't want anyone thinking otherwise.

I lied to my friends. I told them that he said lots of words at home, but he was just shy around people. I lied to my doctor.  When asked at his one year appointment if he said at least 12 words, I said that I was sure it was close to that many.

When he got older I lied to his school teachers. In kindergarten and first grade, he couldn't learn to spell or read his name and so I made a little card with his name written on it that he could use to match up next to the names on the coat racks, homework folders, etc.... so that he could find his. I made another little card that I glued into his pencil box so that he could copy his name down.

They expected him to be able to read the color words. On the first day of first grade, there was a paper on his desk with shapes to color. Each shape had a color written on it and the child was to fill in the shape with that color. Right in his classroom, I showed him the color word on the crayon label and told him each crayon had a word on it that matched up with a word on the paper. In short, I taught my child how to cheat.

I might still be lying now, but his first grade teacher eventually realized, not only could he not read, he couldn't rhyme, he couldn't remember his friends names, he couldn't clap syllables and he couldn't remember sequences (the days of the week, months of the year, alphabet in order)..... I couldn't cover all that up!

Just so you know, when I learned that Ethan was dyslexic, and that lying wasn't actually going to help him, I got him the real help he needed. Now I can brag honestly! Although he still can't spell, remember sequences, or recall particular words.....he is in the sixth grade and reading on a high school level, and that's the truth!!

Mom Lessons and Tag Project

Check out this fun project by Lisa Falduto. Lisa is a great friend of mine and her project reminded me of another lesson I have learned being a mom...... how to be resourceful. Notice how Lisa used tags from her daughter's clothing as the base for her album.

I love this because I am naturally frugal and resourceful (it's hard for me to spend money), but being a mom has made me even more that way. Mom's have to sacrifice for their kids. They have to extend the family money as far as possible. In short, they have to be creative! I have made worn out bath towels into cleaning rags, pillowcases into children's skirts, extended pant legs with bead and ribbon trims, even washed a sauce, that didn't turn out edible, off of some chicken to re-make it! GROSS, but hilarious, don't you think?

But, the funniest story Eric and I could think of about mom's being frugal comes from his childhood. His family, of nine, had just moved to Idaho from Iowa. They didn't have a house yet and so they had moved in with his aunt and uncle and their five kids. His mother was hyper-sensitive to the fact that it was expensive for their relatives to host them.

So, one morning the kids were having corn flakes for breakfast. Everyone had had one bowl when Eric's brother, Jason, decided he wanted seconds and poured another. Well, Shirley (Eric's mom) freaked out, snatched the bowl from him and dumped it back into the box. What she didn't know was that he had already poured the milk! Nobody can remember what happened next. I wonder if they all got seconds.

Mom Lessons NSBR

As you can see, I don't have my Mother's Day layout finished yet. But, I wanted to take some time during these weeks leading up to Mother's Day to celebrate moms. People ask me all the time how "I do it." Meaning how do you manage four children, a business, and everything else. Well, the short answer is less than gracefully!

So, my motherhood celebration will not be sappy and sweet, making mothers out to be perfect angels and motherhood to be a heavenly bliss. No, this celebration will be honest, messy and completely sincere. Here goes installment #1!

One of the things I have learned being a mom is that your complete and absolute love for your child can turn you into a raving lunatic. This story takes place almost 8 years ago, over the 24th of July, a statewide holiday. For the past couple days, my baby, Kate, had been sick. We thought it was just a cold, but after two nights of no sleep and her mood becoming unbearable (constant screaming at the top of her lungs) I took her to the Insta-care clinic. The entire way there she screamed at the top of her lungs and with no sleep for more than 48 hours you could say my nerves were more than a little frazzled. Add to that the worry for a sick child and the responsibility you feel as a mother to care for and protect and make better.......in short, I was in no mood to be trifled with.

So, I walked into the packed clinic (don't forget, it was a holiday weekend) and headed straight to the counter to sign my name on the waiting list. Well, the girl behind the counter says something to the effect that the wait would be more than an hour. I told her that would be OK and started signing my name. She continued saying that my screaming child would bother the waiting patients and it would be better if I took her to another clinic since they were so crowded. I told her I was sorry, but that there weren't any other clinics less crowded and if my child was a problem, maybe they should move her to the front of the line so that she wouldn't bother anyone..... then I continued signing my name. This made her mad. Very emphatically, she told me that I simply could not stay in the clinic.

This is where the raving lunatic part comes in! I looked her dead in the eye and told her just as emphatically that I would not leave, that if she wanted me out of the clinic she and several others would need to physically remove me from the premises and that I would not be responsible should they be injured in the process.

Let's pause for a moment to consider what could make a level-headed, generally kind woman of 27 with no history of verbal threats start saying such things. Sleep deprivation? Maybe. Fear? Maybe. Having a really bad day? Maybe. But there is one thing that definitely will........ someone threatening her baby..... perceived or otherwise!

Needless to say a doctor overheard my rant and within 5 minutes he and two nurses were examining my baby and giving me handouts on parenting resources, shaken baby syndrome and post-partum helplines. It turns out she had a simple ear infection. A prescription of antibiotics and numbing drops had her.... and me..... feeling better in no time.

Cosmo Cricket is Moxie Fab

Hey Everyone! Can I tell you that I just love Cath Edvalson? She is so wonderful to work with! I can't think of a happier more pleasant person!

Go check out her blog today for a HUGE Cosmo Cricket giveaway. Oh, and if you weren't lucky enough to win Early Bird on our giveaway last week, you better hurry........ I mean, I don't want to send you away from my own site....... but RUN...... what are you still doing here reading this entry?!?!?

Oh, you can come back here after if you like. :) Depending on how my day goes, I have a great idea for a mother's day layout I may or may not get to.

Jam Jar Gift

One of my favorite things about spring is strawberries! I love them not only because they are tasty, but because they are pretty. I love to make strawberry jam and look at it in the shiny jars when it's done....... it's such a beautiful color.

Making jam makes me feel connected to the simple yet good things in life. I always have to share a few jars. Usually this means just sealing them up and giving them away, but this year I thought it would be fun to decorate them.

I originally planned Girl Friday for the paper, because it's my favorite and Early Bird won't be in for a couple days still. However, when I went down to my office, I saw the Lil' Man papers that seemed perfect for the homey feel I wanted the jars to have. What's more, the Lil' Man Ready, Set, Chipboard has these stars that make the perfect toppers for the strawberries, which are just punched paper hearts. Even the tag is from the Lil' Man element sheet. Hmmmmm, Lil' Man and strawberry Jam...... who would've thought!

Flirt Album Template Wall Art

Have you seen the Pottery Barn Kid's artwork made up of buttons? Well, Danielle and I have and it's super cute. But, if you would like to make your own, less expensive version, do what Danielle did. She simply traced our Flirt Blackboard album to use as a template and filled it in with cut circles from Lil' Man along with some buttons. Not only did she save money, but she was able to personalize the project. Look how cute!
Now, for a tidbit from my personal life:
Today is a very exciting day, I just got my last tooth..... you know that one that was behind all the other teeth....... clipped into the wire on my braces. It will be painful, but it will be straight! I am so excited..... only 9-11 months to go!!!

3 Random Things

Good morning everyone! I have a feeling you are all here awaiting the announcement of today's winner. Well, we will get to that, but I have a few other things to share as well.

Random thing #1. Today is Earth Day. I posted last week about how Cosmo Cricket has gone green, so I won't spend anytime about that today. However, I do have an Earth-y story to share. On Saturday morning, my daughter came downstairs very excited saying that I had to come see something. She continued that it was real, not plastic and she knew this because she had seen it move it's head. I went upstairs to see what she was talking about. There was a huge goose standing on my neighbor's roof. It did look like some type of plastic decoration, but she was right it did move its head....... not only that, it flew over to the roof next door...... honking the whole way! I have never seen anything like this before! Here's the pics.
Random Thing #2. I changed a few things on the blog over the weekend. First, I joined Twitter and you can see my updates in the side bar to the right. I don't really know how this is going to go yet. It could be terribly boring!

Second, you'll notice a new header. Eric put this together for me...... and for all who want to know, it was Eric that drew that happy little toaster. Early Bird is a collaboration between the two of us. Starting with Snorkel and Girl Friday, Eric and I developed a new work arrangement that seems to be just perfect. After we've come up with an idea, Eric starts by illustrating some characters or icons. Once we have characters, I take them and begin working some of those design elements into paper, adding more as needed. Eric continues drawing elements for chipboard, borders and element cards. Then, magically, we have these fun lines that are different from anything either one of us would do alone.

Random Thing #3. Now, the moment you have all been waiting for. The lucky winner today is Barbara Eades, please email your address to kristen@cosmocricket.com for your prize! If you are not Barbara Eades, please don't feel badly. We love everyone who commented..... and probably even some of you who didn't!  :)   I actually read all the comments as they came in. I was excited for stores that have such loyal customers! Oh, the store that Barbara shops at is Scrappuccino in Greenbrier, TN. Congratulations Scrappuccino, we'll be sending you the Early Bird collection!

Early Bird Blackboard Box

Since I can't return my cut up proofs anyway, I decided to use them up making this darling box. I originally made a version of this box with Girl Friday for Lindsay to teach out in the bay area this weekend. I meant to photograph it for the blog before it was shipped, but it just didn't happen, and can I say I'm kind of glad because it is so fun in these papers too. If I had the photo of the other one, I would never have made this!

PS: I have loved reading you comments about your LSS. I love that there is so much loyalty and such great stores out there! The contest is still open so, if you haven't entered your LSS and yourself for some free Early Bird, check out our previous post!