Time really does fly when you’re having fun! Today I celebrate the one-year anniversary of becoming a Heritage Makers Independent Personal Publishing Consultant! Signing up as a consultant a year ago was my 30th birthday present to myself, and it has truly been a gift that keeps on giving. Prior to becoming a Consultant, I was one of those people who would have sworn that I’d never sell anything or do in-home “parties”. I’d been asked to do everything from Pampered Chef kitchen goods to Lia Sophia jewelry, but always declined. I was fine hosting parties and earning the free hostess goodies for the many different direct-sales companies, but none of the products or companies ever impressed me enough to sign on the dotted line. Then I found Heritage Makers.
Having made a couple of digital photo books with “other” companies (Creative Memories and My Publisher) in the past, I was familiar with the concept of “digital scrapbooking” and already keen on the idea as a whole. When I went to pick up an order of my scanned photos from a gal in my MOMS Club, she had a table full of Heritage Makers books sitting there and I was instantly in LOVE! I was immediately taken by the amazing quality, striking digital art and variety of sizes and designs. I asked her how I could create books like these… and more importantly, how I could help others make books like these, since I was not going to be able to help but tell everyone I knew about these amazing Heritage Makers products! I signed up to be a consultant the next morning. The rest, as they say, is Heritage Makers history!
The “gift” of Heritage Makers that I gave myself last year has continued to give… I’m building a successful, home-based business that has, at minimum, paid our truck payment every month for the past year and helps keep me at home being “mommy” to my two beautiful boys; I’ve met countless amazing people at the in-home Workshops that my hostesses hold, and I hear their amazing stories and see their beautiful family photos; I’ve seen how the power of story can bring families together and get them talking about happy times and memories that had long since been forgotten; I’ve developed and honed some useful personal skills such as public speaking, designing presentations and displays, marketing, time management and organization, and fostering ongoing client relationships; I’ve created some beautiful, heartfelt, meaningful books and projects for my family and friends; I’m learning things about my family and heritage that I would have never thought to ask if not for HM’s Story Maps and emphasis on getting the STORY behind the pictures of our lives; I’ve helped people preserve and archive their precious family photos by getting them scanned and uploaded to their HM accounts… and so much more.
Heritage Makers is one of the best choices I’ve ever made. I am so proud to be the Heritage Maker of my family and I’m honored to help my friends, family and clients become the Heritage Makers of theirs.
March 16, 2009 - Being silly at home :)
After picking up Quiznos sandwiches for lunch and on the way to Auntie Heather’s house for the afternoon, the following conversation ensued:
Ayden: Mama, are those my chips in that bag?
Mama: Yes, these are your Sun Chips.
Ayden: Oh, are they the cheesy ones? What are they made of?
Mama: They have some cheese flavor on top, but they are really made of grains.
Ayden: (increduolous) BRAINS!?!?!? Why are they made of BRAINS?!?!?!
Mama: (Grandma Gail and I were laughing hysterically at this point) No, my Sweet! I said they’re made of GRAINS - with a “G” - guh, guh, GRAINS - like the kinds of things that farmers grow in their fields! NOT brains, you silly boy!
Ayden: Oh, I thought you said brains.
It’s all relative. In the life of a young family, with the youngest just turning 20-months yesterday, a monumental event can be defined thusly: Owen pooped on the potty like a big boy! Heck of a way to celebrate turning the big two-oh (months, that is!). To be honest, Patrick and I haven’t even given a thought to beginning the potty training adventure with Owen yet. The only attempt has been the pre-bath ritual, after the boys have stripped down to their birthday suits and run from one end of the house to the other, of each taking a turn on the potty before getting in the tub. Owen always eagerly climbs up, but had never actually deposited anything in, if you know what I mean. In fact, what usually happens is that once he climbs off the pot, he generally gets chilled and ends up peeing on the carpet before getting into the tub or shower. Cue simultaneous screaming “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” from mommy and daddy. Until yesterday… when I went into to his room to get him after his nap, he greeted me with a loud “toot” and said clearly, “Potty!”. So off we went! And sure enough, he went!!! Hooray! A monumental achievement in the life of one little boy! Ahhh, the things that excite us and we find blog-worthy as parents. Charming, isn’t it? 
Yes, my boys are definitely of the 21st century! They both know YouTube by name and have their favorite clips that we have to watch, like clockwork, daily, in the same order, while doing the same silly little dances, anticipating the end of each clip moments before the last note, only to then promptly request a “Replay” or onto the next clip! So sad, I know. Their current favorites are maddeningly inane, though admittedly catchy and you’ll find yourself singing them for the rest of the day (week? month? beyond?). Oh, and endless thank-you’s (NOT) to Auntie Heather for sharing them with us! Enjoy!
Here’s the Christmas card that we sent out this year. I designed the card using one of the many templates offered by Heritage Makers as my starting point. The photos were taken by Christy Andrea, a friend of mine from the local MOMS club. Enjoy!
OK, so I have some e’splaining to do! It appears this site has been “post free” since just before Halloween - tsk tsk! So hang on tight, here’s the holiday season review!
Many thanks to the Clough clan for the hand-me-down Halloween costumes again this year. We received two costumes, one monkey and one pirate. Ayden was originally quite sure that he needed to be the monkey… after all, it came with a “banana” accessory! Owen looked entirely adorable in the pirate garb, though the hat kept falling down over his eyes. We did manage to teach him to say “Aaaargh!”, like a pirate though - very cute! However, since we received the costumes in the middle of October, the novelty of the monkey (and the fact that it was actually a size or two too small!) started to wear off, and Ayden decreed that they would swap costumes. And so, come Halloween, we actually had Ayden the pirate and Owen the monkey. It worked out beautifully 
Late October and early November also found us trying to keep up with the massive volume of leaves that were falling all around our house. Trees definitely have their pluses on a property - aesthetic, privacy, SHADE, climbing structures, bird-feeder hangers, fruit, etc - but they also have their minuses, LEAVES being the main one. It was a nearly impossible task, but the boys had fun “helping” me, each with miniature rake in hand
Let’s see… with the sale of the duplex in Troutdale, we found that we actually had TIME to spend on our OWN HOUSE on the weekends, rather than expending countless hours and dollars on someone else’s home! Ayden insisted that we begin our home improvement efforts in his room, as he’d been requesting for some time that we paint his walls blue. So not only did he get blue walls, but he also got a ceiling fan installed (no easy feat, since there wasn’t a light fixture in the middle of the room where we wanted the fan - it sure is nice having a handy and capable husband!). Ayden has since decreed that Owen wants green walls. And so it will be.
Ayden has kept our schedule very full with his swimming lessons twice weekly, and variety sports class and pre-school-syle classes on Tuesdays. He’s had a blast doing all the craft projects and proudly presenting them to us once they’re done. The icing on the cake is that when we get home, he then gets to choose where in the house the project will hang. Many of them have ended up in Owen’s room… he’s very sweet to his little brother (or Ayden’s trying to tell us something about the decor in Owen’s room!).
The second weekend in November, between rainshowers, a friend of mine from the MOMS Club came to the house to snap some candid family photos for us to use for our Christmas card. We were SO happy with how the photos turned out! She really managed to capture everyone’s personalities and some sweet family moments. Thank you Christy!!! :-) In late November, the California contigent of our family arrived for Thanksgiving! We knew that my Nanna and Grandee were coming for the holiday, but it wasn’t until relatively last minute that we learned we would finally have ALL of my mom’s side of the family together for the Thanksgiving holiday - I can’ t even remember the last time that happened. It was a wonderful, though far too short, vist with the family. We spent a good portion of the time scanning old family photos to have them digitally archived for safekeeping, and also to put to good use in some Heritage Makers storybooks that we’ll be collaborating on.
It’s hard to believe that nearly a year has passed since Owen’s surgery at Legacy Emanuel Hospital - but having been a patient there for “more than 5 days” scored us tickets to the hospital’s annual Christmas party. The party was complete with live music, face-painting, SANTA CLAUS, raffles for presents, unlimited Krispy Kreme doughnuts and other munchies, arts and crafts, and it was staffed by the friendly faces of the hospital that we got to know during our stay (and I have since gotten to know better as a member of the Family Centered Care Committee that I have participated in monthly since Owen’s stay). This was the first official “talk with Santa” for either of the boys and Ayden took it very seriously, asking specifically for a crane and an excavator that “scrapes up the road”. Lucky for him, Santa knew exactly what he was talking about, and both items appeared under our Christmas tree this year
As I’m sure most everyone has heard, northwest Oregon was hit with fairly unprecedented snow over the past two weeks - bringing most Christmas preparations and festivities to a grinding halt. Ayden’s last swimming, sports and pre-school classes were all cancelled - and he was supposed to get his certificates :-( We also had countless MOMS Club events and activities planned that all had to be scrapped due to the impassability of ALL the roads in the metro area. The silver lining to this cloud was that it really allowed us to slow down and have a relatively relaxed Christmas. No last minute paniced shopping trips, no masses of presents to wrap into the wee hours of the morning, no babysitters or evenings away from home for holiday parties, and no travelling around from home to home at Christmas to make sure we saw everyone in the family. Instead, we just stayed home and enjoyed the day and eachother. It was wonderful. On Christmas morning, my mom, Heather and family, and Stuart and Chelsea arrived (all with very little in tow, since no-one had had a chance to shop due to the weather - and yet, nobody missed the presents!) to spend a lovely day with us, complete with a delicious Christmas dinner, and Chelsea’s famous white chocolate cheesecake! I have to say that Ayden did ask after his Grandma Kelly and wondered why we didn’t get to see her… though I think we’ll be doing a couple of belated Christmas get-togethers with the family members we missed on Christmas day in the days/weeks to come. I have many photos of the huge snowfall we had here, as well as lots of Christmas shots which I’ll put in a gallery of their own - but not tonight. Check back soon. For now, that’s the holiday wrap up, wrapped up!
With Owen’s 18-month mark just around the bend (November 17th to be precise), he is growing and developing at an astonishing rate now! Every time we turn around he’s doing or saying something new… we literally can’t keep up anymore. In fact, at dinner a couple of nights ago, as I fed Owen his last bite of dinner, he very clearly announced “ALL FULL!”… as Patrick’s head snapped up in astonishment and asked, “Did he just say ALL FULL???”. I had to shamefully admit that Owen’s actually been saying that for about a week, though I had neglected to mention the accomplishment to his Daddy… there are just so many little achievements like that these days that my head is just spinning as I try to keep up! A few of the more noteworthy items Owen has added to his vocab of late include: tractor, truck, book, Emery (said “Emreeeeee”), happy (said “ha-peeeee”), Halloween (said “hah-weeeeeen”), blanky (said “bah-keee”), welcome (said “weh-coh”, though with the proper tone and inflection - and he often follows his own “thank you” with a prompt “weh-coh”).
There is no trace of baby left in Owen… he’s all boy now (except that he still loves to suck his two fingers when he’s sleepy and he has to have his special white blanky at bedtime!). And having big brother around is both good and bad… Owen loves to imitate Ayden - whether it’s yelling “NO NO NO!” in a very obnoxious, bratty 3-year-old tone of voice, climbing a tower of couch cushions that have been stacked into a pile 5 feet tall, or hiding from Mama under Grandma Gail’s bed when I’m searching the house looking for them. I’m fully aware that this mimicry is just the tip of the iceberg and will continue for many many years. Oy vey!
Owen has also become rather obsessed with cows - I think largely due to a YouTube video that both he and Ayden can’t seem to get enough of. Dancing Cow! Whenever the laptop is open, Owen points to it and emphatically says “MOOOOOO! MOOOOOO!”, which translates into “please play the Dancing Cow video from YouTube!” Both of the boys get HUGE grins on their faces and start to dance as soon as they hear the first note of the song. Owen even knows the video/song so well, that about 5 seconds before the end, he’s already doing the hand-sign for “more” and asking us to replay it!!! I kid you not!!!
Ayden is feeling like quite the big boy these days, since he’s taking 3 classes through the local Parks and Rec program. He’s enrolled in a swimming class (the second in the series), a “Kids Sports” class (which is basically a variety sports class where they do a different sport each week), and a “Play, Learn & Explore” class (designed to be a pre-school style one-hour class). None of these classes allow for parent participation, so he’s been forced to be Mr. Independent. This didn’t go so well for the first week or so (lot’s of crying and separation anxiety), but I stuck to my guns, and though heart-strings were tugged almost to the breaking point, I left him to fend for himself and stand on his own two feet. I’m glad I did, because he’s absolutely thriving in all three classes and looks forward to going each week with uncontrollable enthusiasm!
Since we’re already nearing the holiday season and it seems like the toy commercials are already ramping up, Ayden has seen his fair share. The other day he came to me and said, “Mommy, if I had a Candy Castle I would be SOOOOOOOO happy!”. First of all, I have no idea what a Candy Castle is, and secondly, how does he?!?! Well it didn’t take long for me to see my first Candy Castle commercial and to learn where Ayden got the idea. Since then, we’ve received literally dozens of toy catalogs in the mail, which Ayden goes through and tells me each item that would make him “SO HAPPY” if he had for Christmas. Seriously, where does a three-year-old get that idea???
Patrick walks through the front door as he arrives home from work.
Patrick (to Ayden): Yo Dude! How are you?
Ayden: Crackin’ like a villain!
Patrick: What?…. Oh! You mean, “Chillin’ like a villain?”
Ayden: Yeah! I’m chillin’ like a villain.
Patrick: Yes, but you’re supposed to say that when I ask, “What’s crackin’?”
Ayden had morphed two Patrickisms (Chilin’ like a villain & What’s crackin’?) into his own Aydenism, “Crackin’ like a villain!” Patrick and I were hysterical!!!