One of These Guys Turned 5 Yesterday

Here's a hint: it is not the 6'5", 230 pound quarterback with a rocket arm.

The Foamerator

I'm always on the lookout for something fun and easy to occupy the kids during those periods of time I like to call "the witching hours" - those pockets of time that if left unplanned will ultimately result in the boys rolling on the floor fighting while Riley scales the kitchen pantry in her never-ending quest to eat everything not nailed down. I saw this craft in Family Fun magazine, and so this afternoon we made "bubble snakes". Aside from occasionally inhaling the bubbles, everyone had fun making them and playing with the bubbles, and it did eat up some of the witching hours. Now if I can just find something to occupy the remaining 8 hours, I might survive another Monday.

Better Than a Quidditch Stick in the Eye

I'm missing most of the hoopla surrounding the new Harry Potter movie because my kids aren't old enough for the books or movies, my husband has no interest in Harry Potter, and the chances of me getting out to see the movie on my own are about as likely as me riding my flying broom to the theater. Luckily, one of my favorite fabric designers and all around craft genius Heather Bailey has gotten completely carried away with Harry Potter mania, and has created several recipes and crafts to indulge in all your wizardry desires. The one I'm most likely to try is her recipe for Butterbeer, which I always wished I had a frosty mug of while reading the Harry Potter books. Now, if she would only get to work on an invisibility cloak...

Where are Those Frickin' Dwarfs Now?

This is one in a series of photographs by Dina Goldstein titled "Snowy", and I love it. Haven't we all felt like this at some point - like "This is NOT the Happy Ending I signed up for!". I'm a fan of this very theatrical style of photography, and although I feel several in her series go to far and unnecessarily reinforce some negative stereotypes, I think this one is brilliant. My favorite part about this photo is the fact that the prince is watching polo on the TV. Typical.

Lake Effect

We're back home from a quick weekend vacation to Lake Michigan. We rented an adorable cottage in Sawyer, MI that was a short walk to the beach and Warren Dunes state park. We managed to pack quite a bit of activity into a short amount of time - shopping, swimming, hanging out at the beach, long walks, cherry picking, wine tasting, and just meandering through the area. Traveling with 3 kids under 5 is tough, and we were all sleep deprived, but even with tired, hyped up kids we were able to have a great time. And even better was the fact we were able to take Ani with us, as we're pretty sure she would not have survived the sounds of fireworks on the 4th here by herself (I'm started to suspect she did a couple of tours in 'Nam, just judging by her behavior during thunderstorms and firework displays).

Everyone had a favorite part of the trip - Casey loved cherry picking, Connor loved the campfire we built (he had a weird Beavis & Butthead moment I wish we had captured on tape where he just stood transfixed by the flame and repeated "fire" over and over again in a slightly demented voice), and Riley loved the beach where she ate sand by the handfuls. I mean, alot of sand - to the point that I was concerned about how much sand an 18 month old child could safely consume, as I was pretty sure she had exceeded that mark. And I think Rob & I could agree that our favorite part was the few moments we stole Saturday night after the kids finally went to sleep and we sat by the fire pit and talked uninterrupted and ate smores (a special dark chocolate version I had saved just for us).

We really loved the area and are planning to return again. There was plenty we did not get a chance to do or see, and although we all could use a vacation to recover from our vacation, I'm already feeling the effects this morning of the wonderful memories we made our first weekend at the lake.

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When Good Costumes Go Bad

What happens when you wear 3 different Halloween costumes all at the same time, add a mullet wig, a toy saw & drill, and alot of attitude? If you're me, you get a free hour to cook dinner in peace.

Who's Your Daddy?

They say a good man is hard to find. Not so, I say. I found one 12 years ago, and according to Casey, "He's the best!". I know this is a day late, but I hope all the dads out there had a great Father's Day yesterday. Keep up the good work, gentlemen.

Butterflies are Free

Actually, they cost $5 for shipping and handling. But now our butterflies are free in the "Great God Almighty, free at last!" way. Casey received a butterfly habitat from his Nana for Christmas last year, and I promised him when the weather was good enough we would order the butterflies. He reminded me last month it was warm enough, so we sent off for and received our live caterpillars in the mail. We watched them turn into chrysalis', and then hatch into painted lady butterflies. We released them yesterday, and were all surprised at how fast they flew out of the tent - I was only able to catch this one little guy with my camera. We really enjoyed this project, and all the supplies came from Insect Lore. Looking around on their site it appears they have some neat stuff (except the spider kit, which I think should be outlawed. Aren't we all trying to keep spiders out of our house? Ick.), and I'm considering ordering some more.

Some random business:

*Thank you to everyone who has offered sweet comments to me about my etsy shop. It is so hard to tell if what I'm doing is any good (I like it, but that doesn't mean anyone else on the planet will!), so hearing that you like it too makes me feel good. And I lied about not being able to do yarnwork in the summer. I made a baby cardigan over the weekend that will up in the shop this week. So cute. If you are expecting a baby you should beware. 

*We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last week, and look - Momma got new bling! I was so surprised by his beautiful and thoughtful gift that I almost fell out of my chair at the restaurant when he gave it to me. Ten diamonds (one for each year!) set in white gold. Sigh. He's a good man. I think I'll stay married to him for at least another 10. :)

Etsy Bitsy Shop

You may have noticed the little square of pictures on the left side of my blog and wondered, "What the heck is Etsy?". Etsy is a wonderful website that allows creative folks to sell their handmade items to folks who like to buy handmade items. I like to think of it as a craft fair you can browse in the middle of the night in your pajamas. I had been hovering around Etsy for awhile, just looking at all the cool stuff other people were making and selling, and then I finally decided to open my own shop. I've been reluctant to really promote my shop because I didn't have that much for sale, and also because I didn't have a whole lot of confidence in my work. A few recent sales, such as the purse in the above photo that sold in less than 24 hours, have rebuilt my lacking confidence. 

My store is still "itsy bitsy" compared to some others who have hundreds of items in their inventory, but I hope to add things as I sell them, and I'm open to making custom orders and so I try to keep myself available for that. Right now my shop mainly consists of items I have sewn, but I plan on adding some of my knit and crochet work in the future (I have trouble doing yarnwork in the warm months - it has always felt like a cold-weather activity to me). I am really enjoying designing my own items, like handbags, and then making them come to life. And its funny because I'm finding that my photography skills are heavily influencing my designing - like I see how I want the item to look in a photo and that provides the basis for the design. 

If you're looking for a unique gift for yourself or someone else, please check out Etsy. Even if you don't buy from me (Especially if you don't buy from me, because if you're reading my blog I probably know you and would feel weird selling you something instead of gifting you with it for your next birthday. But if you wanted to pass the word on to friends I don't know...) I think it's really nice to support a community like Etsy that is providing a space for people to market their talents. 

Summer Begins

It is rainy and gloomy here today, which is providing an opportunity for us to catch our breath a bit from a busy weekend. My parents came in on Friday afternoon and met us at the annual neighborhood camp-out. Scheduled on the last day of school every year, the neighborhood association sponsors the camp-out on the soccer fields in the neighborhood, and it's a big party complete with games, food from local restaurants, a DJ, fire truck tours, and a "camp-in" movie projected on a big screen after dark. Families are encouraged to pitch a tent on the field and spend the night. We had a blast, and Casey & Rob braved the night in our tent (Casey reportedly slept like a rock, snoring all night in the tent). 76 families participated this year, making it a huge success. 

We spent the rest of the weekend having a great visit with Nannie & Grandaddy. Riley showed off her newest tricks, which include bringing you a book, holding her arms up to be placed in your lap, and allowing you to read her two pages of the book before swinging her legs off your lap and taking her book to another lap. I'm not sure why she does this, but it usually takes 6 or 7 turns to get through a book, and it's pretty funny. 

The only problem with starting summer off on such a high note is it leaves me trying to live up to it for the rest of the season. I've got a long 3 months ahead of me trying to come up with fun activities to occupy our time that compare to this past weekend  - maybe I'll just put up the tent in the backyard, plug in the iPod, and let the kids paint each others' faces. 

Every Last Scrap

I recently hemmed a long linen dress and was left with close to half a yard of really nice material. I couldn't just chuck it, so I used it to make this little top for Riley. I also had just enough red linen left over from making myself a dress from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing book to make her a little pair of capris to make it an outfit. I just winged it on the top - no pattern, and I adapted the Huck Finn pants pattern from Ross' book to make the capris. I was inspired by katie did's floral collar tutorial for the flowery accents on the top & pants. She wore it for the first time the other day and much to my surprise she left the flowers alone (I was sure she would relentlessly pull at them, and yet I was determined to sew them on anyway). It also felt good to make her something wearable from leftovers from other projects - I felt very efficient! Nothing like getting all dressed up to do a little yard work:

Making His Mother Proud

Casey's last songfest was yesterday, and at the end he & his classmates sang a song about what they want to be when they grow up. At the end they each held up a sign declaring their career plans. After reading Casey's sign, sandwiched in next to future doctors and firemen, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry:



Watch out American Idol 2022!

My #1 Fan

My Aunt Dot who lives in Georgia, is a loyal reader of my blog (so perhaps a better title for this post should be "My Only Fan", but anyway...) and has been since I started writing it. I know when I've gone too long between posts because my mom will tell me that Aunt Dot has mentioned that she's been checking every day and there hasn't been anything new in a while, and I take the hint and get on it. Really, this is the reason I write the blog. With 3 kids and our crazy schedules and ALL of our family living out of town, it is an easy way to stay in touch and share how the kids are doing and growing. Also, I'm too lazy to scrapbook, and so this is an easy way for ME to keep track of how the kids are growing and all the silly things that happen everyday. And if it gives our family out there a little chuckle now and then, that's a bonus.

I hope Aunt Dot has had a good chuckle recently, as she has been in and out of the hospital a few times in the past month. She is so thoughtful and sends sweet little gifts for the kids - the jackets the boys are wearing in the photo are from her. So, for Aunt Dot, we're thinking about you and sending you well wishes. Thanks for being my #1 fan.

Some Days

Some days you have a little cold. Some days you can't take a nap and you're very tired and you don't feel well. Some days your brothers get to go outside and play, and all you can do is stay inside with your blanket and watch them. Some days are better than others.

Morning Coffee 3.0

I've had a tough week here, both physically and creatively, and found myself in need of a serious pick-me-up. I headed over to Sur La Table armed with my gift card from my Mom's Club secret sister (thanks Lauren!) and went right to the coffee & tea department. I think it has been firmly established by this point my love for all things hot and caffeinated, and so I knew something from that section of the store would definitely fill the "pick-me-up" need. The lovely saleslady patiently discussed several products with me, and after a little thought I purchased a Bialetti Moka Express espresso maker and a can of LavAzza Italian espresso. These, combined with my handy-dandy mini milk frother, have made a near perfect latte for the past two mornings. I'm actually preferring my version to the one I usually order from Starbucks - I read that the Italian espresso is smoother and I have certainly found that to be true. 

You may officially consider me "Picked-Up". 

Cinco De Mayo

I didn't take this photo today, as today we are all stuck inside battling the croup/seasonal allergies, but I thought that the image of the kids wearing flip-flops and eating popsicles was certainly festive enough to say "Happy Cinco De Mayo". 

P.S. This was Shiny's first popsicle, and she devoured it like a pro. Nothing like a few older brothers to show you the ways of summer living! 

What Are the Odds?

50-1, apparently. As the horses were walking from the paddock to the track, we asked each of the kids to pick a horse as we read out the names. "The bird one" was Casey's pick, and at 50-1 odds we never thought he'd have anything to cheer for as they came down the stretch, but along with everyone else, we were shocked as Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby. We may have to plan ahead next year and have Casey make his pick in time for us to place an actual bet.

'Ol Blue Eyes

My best friend had a baby last month, and I was lucky enough to visit him & take his photos when he was about two weeks old. I did do a little work on this photo, but I swear his eyes are really that blue - couldn't you just die??!! He is as sweet in person as he is in this photo, except when he's giving his mother fits at 3am.

It had been a little while since I'd had a newborn session, and I was reminded why I love them so much. At 2 weeks old, they pretty much stay in the pose you place them in, and when they are as beautiful as this little man it is almost impossible to take a bad photo. Plus, you don't have to worry about carrying candy in your pocket to try and bribe a smile out of them.

It Has Come to This

Within the past few weeks Connor has figured out how to free himself from the confines of his backwards pajamas at night, and so I woke to find him "au natural" in his bed every morning last week. That also meant that I had to wash all his sheets, blankets, and animals every day last week. Yesterday morning was the final straw, and I pleaded with Rob to find some solution to this situation as there was a strong possibility that I would lose my tender grip on sanity if I had to do another load of pee-soaked bedding. And so, it has come to this. Duct tape. A quick google search of "what to do when child will not keep diaper on" resulted in many suggestions that we had already exhausted - backwards zipper PJs, pull-ups, snapped onesies, etc. Except for duct tape. So now before naps and bedtime, Connor gets his "special diaper tape" applied around the top of the diaper (please don't rush to call CPS, the tape is applied to the diaper only, we don't actually tape it to his body). This is truly our last solution, and so we can only hope that he outgrows this phase before he gets strong enough to pull the tape off. We may have just bought ourselves a few years of psychotherapy ("You see doc, it all began when they duct taped my diaper to me...") but at least we've also bought a few more weeks of sanity (and less laundry).