In looking back at the albums and projects I’ve created, it looks as though I’ve been using Shutterfly for all my photo printing needs for about five years. In that time, I’ve created four holiday cards, one birth announcement, one Father’s Day coffee mug, two photo albums (both close to 100 pages each), and two calendars. I can’t say exactly how many actual prints I’ve ordered, but I know it’s well over 300 in the last 3 years (at one point, we  prepaid for 300 prints to lock in an extra low rate, and I know we took full advantage of that print plan). And in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be using Shutterfly to order this year’s batch of holiday cards and calendars. I usually choose cards with just one photo spot, but maybe this year I’ll try one that will allow me to include three or four photos.

So, needless to say, I’m a pretty big fan of Shutterfly. I find it very easy to use, and I like that the photos I upload are stored there even after my projects have been completed. I can always go back and order more of a particular print or project (with the exception of calendars, which expire after time) without having to re-upload the photos or start the project again from scratch.

Now the only thing left for me to do is to dress up the kids, take out the camera, and hope I can get a shot or two of their sweet, smiling faces. Let the holidays begin!

But, sadly, it took me months to put this idea into action at our house. First, I couldn’t find the muffin tins. Everywhere I went, it seemed they only had the six sectioned pans in jumbo muffin size. Perhaps that’s what others are using, but they just seemed way to big for my little guys. Then, back in July, I finally found the pans I’d been looking for, but summer was just too busy, and I quickly forgot all about them after I washed and put them away.

I don’t know what made me think of it today, but it suddenly came to mind that I had those pans just sitting in the cabinet. And today seemed to be just as good a day as any to try them out for the first time.

milk, shredded cheddar, sliced black olives

berry blue Jello, sour cream (for dipping), cheese quesadilla

Maybe not the greatest lunch in terms of covering all the nutritious food groups on the pyramid (do they still use a pyramid these days?), but it was a big hit with both Tiny and Buba. By the time I thought to take pictures of them eating, they had already devoured the quesadilla and olives.

Both of them pretty much finished their entire lunch (not all the sour cream) and had seconds of the quesadilla and olives. In hind sight, it probably would have been better to replace the shredded cheese with a fruit or vegetable, but I threw this all together at the last minute and think I did pretty well for my first time.

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Thanks so much for all the Birthday wishes for T. He loved all of his gifts, and was especially pleased with the picture frame and photo for his desk. Buba and Tiny managed to keep all of the birthday secrets to themselves (although I did have to cut off Tiny one night at dinner as she almost spilled the beans about the Sesame Street tee), and I was quite impressed!

(selected by True Random Number Generator at RANDOM.ORG)

Congratulations, Dolli-Mama! Your copy of Humpty Who? will be sent to you shortly. And thanks so much to all of you who participated in the giveaway. Stop by again soon!

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I’m not talented enough to know how to post the graphic from RANDOM.ORG here on my blog. I tried to cut and paste, but this was all I got.

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 33
Result: 10
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(selected by True Random Number Generator at RANDOM.ORG)

Congratulations, Chantal! Your copy of One and the Same: My Life as an Identical Twin and What I’ve Learned About Everyone’s Struggle to Be Singular will be sent to you shortly. And thanks so much to all of you who played along!

You can learn more about Abigail Pogrebin and follow her blog by going to her website.

So, I guess I’m looking for advice regarding the whole potty training experience. In particular, I’m just not sure how to introduce the potty and teach Tiny (and perhaps Buba too, although he doesn’t appear as ready as she does) what its purpose is. How will I get her to understand that that is where I want her to do her business instead of in the diaper? And how do I get her to have successful experiences on the potty?

And then there are the worries to address. For example, I’ve heard once you stop diapers, you should never go back, but what about naps and nighttime? Tiny is not even close to the smallest pull-up size, so won’t we have to continue to use diapers for naps and nighttime?

I suppose there are parenting books out there that address this process, and perhaps that is where I should begin. But in the meantime, if you’ve done it and you have a book recommendation and/or advice to pass along, I’ll gladly take it.