The Taylor Mailer

It’s no coincidence that I’ve added three clients to Facebook just this past month. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

A FUN new campaign in progress…I wanted branding for the new Iowa Hospice Foundation to match the existing “volunteer materials” I did, but I wanted to differentiate the campaign because the foundation is a separate entity and will have it’s own website, etc. And, of course, it needed to be vibrant as a stand-alone piece too. Since I emphasized teal with the volunteer campaign, I decided to utilize Iowa Hospice’s other color – pink – for the foundation materials. I altered the logo by adding a new yellow flower and bumped the font size on FOUNDATION. The volunteer package subliminally stated “Volunteer with a purpose” on the front cover, while this brochure says: “Give with a purpose” in “barely there”, light lettering.

The campaign slogan is:
Every donation creates a story.
Give hope.
Share peace.
Show love.

The brochure highlights stories from actual beneficiaries of foundation money. Matching newsletter below. Website coming soon!

My sister and her husband Daniel went to Paris to visit their inlaws [a halfway point between Madagascar and the States]. Most of you know, Sarah and Daniel have been serving as missionaries in Mada. I fell in love with this photo of her…A Rainy Day in Paris.

Maddox got invited to a fun neighborhood Halloween party, hosted by his friend Kylia – his little girlfriend Willa was there as a seaworld trainer. And his friend, Emory from gymnastics, was an ornate princess. Yes, all girls in our neighborhood…PJ went trick-or-treating at the mall

It was 80 degrees for Halloween this year, which was a nice change. Maddox roasted as a dinosaur for his afternoon party, but perfect evening temps made trick-or-treating WAY more enjoyable. And checkout the sunset below…a gorgeous ending to our Saturday night.

We got Maddox a “cheetah” costume two months ago for Halloween. Two hours before his Halloween party, I realized, it no longer fit! I asked Maddox what he wanted to be, and he said “Daaaaawg”. [Dog]. So, the “fam” headed to the Halloween Superstore to look for some puppy-garb. Marcus/Maddox braved a line that wrapped around the store as people scrambled for last-minute costumes, while I grabbed Toddler T-Rex costumes for Mads to try on. Costume number 4 [size LARGE] finally worked! He was the cutest little orange dinosaur you’ve ever seen. Complete with a ROAR!

Marcus is traveling this week in New York and called me at 4:30 this morning, asking if I’d seen his textbook. Apparently, he’d misplaced his Finance Workbook for his MBA – poor guy, as if he doesn’t have enough to worry about! The next phonecall came at 5 am – a client on Midwest time needing an ad resized. At 6 am, I heard Maddox wailing. Thanks to my bargain TARGET diapers, he woke up wet – his jammies were drenched, so I changed him AND the sheets, then gave him a bottle, hoping he’d snooze a bit more. No go. He was up for the day. At 6:15, I gave him his vita-gummies and he was ENERGIZED, doing this fake belly laugh and running around the house. I was trying to put contacts in my eyeballs and get dressed for the day when I heard a “PLUNK”. He had dropped our home phone into the toilet and was reaching for it in the toilet water. [DISCLAIMER": Maddox is teething, which adds to the crankiness, dirty diapers, and general "unease".] At 6:30, I changed dirty diaper #1 and gave him a morning bath. Before I could towel him off, he ran, skidding across the tile and made a beeline for my “giftwrap” drawer. Pulling out all the giftbags he could, he tore the matching tissue into tiny pieces while finished brushing my teeth, oblivious to any of this. By the time I was done, Maddox had made his way to the lint trap in our dryer, getting lint all over the clean/dry clothes and floor. At 7 am, he had completely destructed our house – all toys were out [but unplayed with] and literally, our last bowl was broken. [He has also discovered how to open the dishwasher by himself]. I vacuumed up the lint and swept the pieces of bowl with Maddox tugging on the hose and trying to steal my broom. Getting bored, he started pulling out tupperware, towels, and anything he could reach in drawers. THEN he wanted to go outside, which seemed like a great idea to get away from breakables. So, at 7:15, I changed him for a THIRD time [dirty diaper] and put on his new gray sweatsuit. By 7:20 we’re out the door and he’s pulling his wagon to the street. When I tell him to turn around, he throws a fit and sits down with a thud, landing in a muddy gutter. So, I go inside to change him into ANOTHER sweatsuit and get the “muddiness” out of his diaper. Throwing “stain-stick” on his pants, I started a load of laundry [wasn't planning on running the washer today] and took him BACK outside to run around. It’s simply AMAZING how much damage a 13-month-old can do in approximately three minutes. For those of you who know me well, I am NOT exaggerating like the old days. I don’t even have the energy to exaggerate. The weird thing is this: the “old Abby” who used to “pledge and dust” our wood floors once a day in Ankeny would be horrifically mad and frustrated by our disheveled house, but all I can do is laugh and enjoy my “high-spirited toddler. This phase won’t last forever and phones/bowls can be replaced. And I will eventually look pretty again. I shouldn’t even take the time to write this post, but I want it documented for the day Marcus says, “Let’s have a third child.”  Yah right…it’s fun, but not that fun I have no idea how in the world I’m going to handle a 2nd child?!? I’m not one of those supermoms, unfortunately. Feel free to start praying now…God can do miracles.

Vote for Maddox to be the next GAP model. http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/ Enter Baby Boy ID: 711310351

Our church group went rollerskating on Wed. night. I was BEYOND impressed by Marcus on his blades. I was aware he took figure-skating lessons as a kid, but to be honest – I thought it was a lot of hype. And for some reason, I had never seen him blade before. The lights went on, the music turned up, and Marcus started skating circles around Maddox…backwards, sideways–with dance moves! I posted videos to Facebook. I was AMAZED. And Maddox looked even more impressed. They had so much fun together. And the skating rink was really cool – outdoors with the fresh air blowing through – we are in California after all

Maddox helped me make rice crispy bars today – he put the marshmallows into the pot [he ate a few and threw some onto the floor] and topped the gooey mess with candy-corn. He didn’t want his fingers to get sticky, though. He’s a “clean freak” like his grandpa VL…haha.