2008 in review

with 2008 out the door and 2009 pushing it's way in, it's time for me to sit down and reflect on 2008 and plan for 2009.

we'll start with what i did in 2008:

sent the little dude off to pre-school for the second semester of the 2007-2008 school year
hired a part-time in-home nanny
worked on a ton of projects for st. jude
got a pet
took the little dude to the dentist for his first visit
opened an etsy shop that i've since neglected (but hope to add to in 2009)
did a few small projects around the house
took a trip to minneapolis
planted a small garden with the little dude
lost my 1st nanny due to a move out of state
took a trip to new york for the national stationery show
watched my little dude graduate from his first year of pre-school
got braces
bought a business
licensed a few of my designs
signed on with a distributor in canada to sell my products
sent out the biggest order in marzipan inc. history
took the little dude to swimming lessons for the first time
launched my new business
re-designed my marzipan inc. website
watched the baby turn 1
fixed up a desk for my office
sent the little dude off to his first official year of pre-school at the JMKAC
got a new camera for my birthday
started my photo of the day posts
took a trip to chicago (and the renegade craft fair)
went on many field trips with the little dude
got some new glasses
started a facebook page for marzipan inc.
got brave with my wardrobe
preserved a piece of the little dude's artwork
joined twitter
took a trip to minnesota to see one of my best friends get married
got a new baby
and another
took a transformer and a shy dragon trick-or-treating
added another thing to my to-do list
voted
watched as the world elected an amazing new president
got some new windows in the house
started using flickr
watched as the little dude turned 4
got snowed in way too much!
got a new haircut i'm not too fond of
had my 500th post on this-here blog
had a merry christmas

i'm sure there's a lot i'm missing, but that's about all i can handle right now. i'm happy with how 2008 went, but i'm super stoked to see what 2009 holds. i have lots of plans for the business(es) and hope they come to fruition. my list of plans for 2009 coming soon!

december 31, 2008 - photo of the day

christmas recap

it's a little delayed, but i wanted to make sure i did a post about our christmas.


the baby really got into opening his presents this year; even more so than at his 1st birthday. with each present, he would squeal this funny little squeal as soon as he got it open.



the baby had a strange obsession with putting gift bags on his head.


if you ask the little dude what his favorite present this christmas was, he will quickly answer that it is his new vacuum. he had a toy one that broke last year and has been asking for a new one ever since. we figure if he's going to be running the thing around the house all day, santa may as well bring one that actually does something. so santa brought a real big boy vacuum. the little dude's response: "i didn't know that santa had a black vacuum that was just my size!" i told him that santa has everything....i may regret that someday!


the big present of the year was a joint gift for both boys. the little dude is obsessed with playing with kitchens everywhere he goes. i swore i would never get one for the boys, but then i came across this adorable wood version that is definitely gender neutral. the little dude thinks it's a "boy kitchen" because it's made of wood and it's green.


i was trying to take a shot of this sans kids, but they just can't stay away from the thing! i guess that's a good thing.


i love the adorable little knobs


but my favorite part are the precious little wooden mushrooms that come with it! awe.


another hit of christmas was a cars computer from my brother and sister-in-law. they got it for the little dude, but the baby plays with it ALL THE TIME! he loves that thing!


the baby has been obsessed with babies for awhile now. it's one of the words he says the best. he got a baby doll from santa and i found him sitting on the couch reading to the baby the other day. too cute!


one of the things i'm most proud about this christmas is the little dude and his generosity with his toys. in order to make room for the new ones, we went through all the old ones and he helped us decide which ones he could give to other little boys who didn't have toys. the pile filled our entire kitchen island! what a great kid!

december 30, 2008 - photo of the day

holiday photo

i didn't plan on being away this long, but illness and general busy holiday stuff have gotten the best of me. (more on that later) i wanted to stop by and post a photo of the boys from christmas. i love their matching sweaters. it's a small issue between me and the hubby. he doesn't appreciate the matchy-match, but i believe that since i don't have a little girl to dress up in cute outfits that i should be allowed to dress the boys alike on special occasions. it's not like i do it on a daily basis. it was suggested by a family member that if he didn't like it i could dress them in pretty pink dresses instead! i thought that was a good idea!


i couldn't resist posting this photo of the boys with their two cousins A & E. i cannot tell you how perfect this photo is. the looks on each child's face is priceless. the oldest wondering when he could be done. E has a look on her face like "someone needs to control that kid NOW", and then of course, the little dude trying to control the baby dude. it just captures each of their personalities to perfection.

hope everyone had a great holiday! i'll be back with more holiday goodness soon!

december 29, 2008 - photo of the day

december 28, 2008 - photo of the day

december 27, 2008 - photo of the day

december 26, 2008 - photo of the day

december 25, 2008 - photo of the day

december 24, 2008 - photo of the day

december 23, 2008 - photo of the day

black and blue

the baby fell down yesterday and i could tell he hit his eye, but couldn't really see anything at the time. a few hours later it started turning black and blue. just below his eye and a little bit in his eyebrow. poor baby.

500

i just realized i missed my 500th post! i knew it was coming but, of course, got caught up in holiday activities and totally missed it. total bummer. so, in honor of my 500th post i'm going to hold a (late) little giveaway! leave me a comment letting me know why you visit this little blog of mine, what you'd like to see more of, or what your favorite post(s) has/have been. in return i'll send one lucky recipient (chosen randomly) a crappy re-gifted holiday present. haha! just kidding! i'll send the winner a set of each of my non-holiday magnets from my shop. that's $48 worth of magnets!


since it's so close to the holidays and so many people are out of town until the new year, i'm going to keep this giveaway open until january 5th at 8:00 p.m. CST.

december 22, 2008 - photo of the day

december 21, 2008 - photo of the day

sorry i'm super late today!

december 20, 2008 - photo of the day

2008 christmas card

i'm pretty excited about this year's christmas cards. they were a test for a new line i'm going to be introducing over at fin+roe in the new year. they're going to be pretty pricey, but i think they're well worth the expense. i'm most likely going to roll them out into the baby announcement category first and then add to the rest of the categories including christmas for 2009! here's a peek if you haven't already seen them. if you can't wait to get your hands on them until i get around to uploading them to the site, you can contact me at fin+roe and i can help you out!


this is the front of the card. (our names are blurred out at the bottom) the top has a 2.25" magnet attached which is completely removable. once removed, the same image is on the card itself.


this is a closer view of the magnet itself.


here's a peek at the back of the card.


one of the greatest things about this design is that the back/edge of the magnet contains information too! if this is was used for a baby announcement, the baby's name, birth date, length, weight, could all be added so that you can toss the card and keep the magnet! in the case of our holiday cards, i just went with the boy's names, ages, and the year.


the other side of the magnet contains my copyright information......so no stealing my ideas!

december 19, 2008 - photo of the day

mint

yesterday i met my new best friend. mint.


this website lets you view all of your bank accounts, investments, etc. in one place! it has a million other features like finding ways to save money, budgeting, and even has an application for your iphone. (not that i have one yet.) i'm someone who likes to know how much money i have at all times. while i do like to splurge, i've always been relatively good with my money. one thing i've been horribly bad at is investments. i contribute to them, but then i never look at them. i have no idea if they're making or losing money. it's horrible. but with this site, there's no excuse. if i go to check my bank account, my 401k information is right next to it! i'm so stoked about this i can't even tell you!

i'm not going to lie, it took quite awhile to get it all up and working. you need to have log-in and password information for every single one of your accounts. if you already have these, great. if not (like me), i had to go to all of our investment's websites and create them and then go back and plug them in. but once you get the info, you're done. you don't need to enter it again. it's all done now and i feel so great about what's to come! now i can go and play with all the fun tools they have available!

oh yeah, did i mention it's FREE! yes, totally free. i'm in love.

*thanks to my hubby who sent me the link! (of course he would send it to me rather than do it himself because he has no clue where any of our money is.)

....and again.

once again we find ourselves in the middle of a huge snowstorm. my hubby's work decided not to open until noon today because of it, so he spent the morning snow-blowing. somehow i have the feeling he would have rather been at work!


snow that stuck to the outside of our window. it's VERY windy outside.


after 15 minutes of snow-blowing, i went out with my scarf to tie around hubby's face. since it is still snowing and really windy, his face was freezing off. doesn't he look so handsome in my scarf?


the kids LOVE watching daddy and the snow-blower outside.


and here's a photo to show just how much snow we have. i'm only leaning out the front door because i don't actually want to step outside. that's poor hubby in the distance taking care of the sidewalks. and of course it's all still coming down, so there's more to come. we're supposed to get anywhere from 11"-22" in the next couple days.


this is how my hubby looked after about an hour of snow-blowing. poor guy....by the time he got done, everything he started with was already covered in over an inch of snow again! he looks so happy.


and look at this hat! what a guy!

december 18, 2008 - photo of the day

new do

i got my hair cut this morning. it didn't go as expected.

this is what i told the hair dresser: "i'd like it a little shorter, maybe just above my shoulder. i also need it to be able to be pulled back in a ponytail since that's what i do pretty much everyday."

this is what i think she heard: "i'd like my hair WAY shorter, maybe right around chin length. i'd also like a pony for christmas."

needless to say it's WAY shorter than i imagined and doesn't even come close to being pulled back into a ponytail. at least she left my bangs alone and didn't screw those up too!

just in case

we understand how busy everyone is around the holiday season. many people don't send holiday cards, not because they don't want to, but because they don't have the time. that's why we designed our line of new year cards! you can make it look like you didn't send your holiday cards on purpose!

the designs include our signature pick-your-own-color-and-pattern options, as well as a great design that allows you to feature a photo from each month of the previous year; a year in review of sorts! we’re excited about these new additions to our line and hope you will be too!

scoutie girl preview

a few of my favorite items from this week's scoutie girl post! go check it out here to see this week's theme and the rest of the items in the feature!

december 17, 2008 - photo of the day

what a coincidence

so if you happen to follow me on twitter, you know i've been whining a LOT about the weather here in wisconsin. it's been frigid cold and we've already had enough snow for the year in my opinion. it just so happens that my studio is in the basement of our house. while there is heat down there, it's minimal and gets very, very cold in the winter. my assistant and i often complain about how cold our fingers are when we're working.

after another day of complaining on twitter about how cold i was in my studio, my assistant came in this afternoon with fingerless gloves for both of us! that girl deserves a raise! maybe next year i'll break down and buy a space heater!

december 16, 2008 - photo of the day

december 15, 2008 - photo of the day