This Never Happens

So, I have a three and a half year old. When he was first born I read Eat, Pray, Love in the middle of the night as a way to keep me awake to nurse (because back then I was paranoid about sleeping through that. With subsequent babies I've learned to just drag them into bed, plug them in and get back to sleep as quickly as possible).

Then about 6 months ago, after a particularly harried day, the fella took over and I left the house, parked the car at a Sonic and read a whole book. In one sitting. It was a book about making a small crafty business work.

So that's two. Two books in three and a half years. That's just sad.

Well, over the past two weeks, I conquered #3. I didn't do it in one sitting or in the wee hours. I read a few pages, even a chapter at a time. And I completed Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver and it was delightful. It's all about the interconnected nature of everything - animals, plants, people, weather, love, death. The whole of everything is connected. It was beautifully written and so very readable, which, I mean come on, it had to be for this milestone to get reached.

And you know what I've found? It makes me sleep better. I read a chapter almost every night and it just helped me to calm and settle and quiet before bed. When I finished my chapter I laid the book down and eased into sleep. Revolutionary.

Normally I either craft or zone out to junk tv until I collapse. Don't get me wrong, I do love me some kids-are-in-bed-tv-time, but often I end up asleep on the couch with a headache and a crick in my neck. This new way is better.

So...help me readers! What should I read next???

Sneakity Peekity

Coming soon...
Happily Home Thrown.

Big News x 2

Big news #1 - There's a bulldozer in our back yard.

All morning the boys have been perched on the dining room window watching it dig. Then we went to the zoo.
And when we got back, the workmen were at lunch, and the bulldozer and giant hole were left unattended.


Big News #2 - It's like 70 degrees here today.

We want spring. Bad.


Now the workmen are back and are filling up the fabulous hole. Eli's helping.

Big news #3 - we can flush our toilet again.

Stuff Yaya Makes - Sea Fairing Edition

This is a new little segment I'm calling, "Stuff Yaya Makes." Yaya, as you may know, is my mom. She came to join our little slice of chaos in December. The boys love having her just downstairs because she's always good for a snack, a laugh, or an extensive craft project.

So, from time to time I will highlight some of her best creations, which, I might add, are all crafted from items she nabbed from our recycle bin.

Continuing the nautical theme that she and the boys are so fond of, Yaya's latest creation is a kid-sized sailboat. Complete with sail, flags, and rudder, this vessel is ready to brave the open waters, were there any waters near our landlocked location. And also, for your sadistic pleasure, you get a little glimpse of what Thursdays look like around here. Four kids make one fine mess, and have a grand time at it.



See that thing Eli's sitting on? That's another Yaya project. Saturday morning while the fella and I were still wiping crusties out of our eyes, she and the boys were playing cars when she whipped up that crazy racetrack.



Ahoy and good night.

Yaya is also finally represented in the Cast of Characters on the sidebar, as is the wee one, expected in August.

Go Pack Go!

I must confess, I wasn't following the football playoffs. I made a concerted effort at the beginning of this football season to do a little research, find a human interest story, or a team with a special history that makes me become a super football fan in love with one team.

I learned that the Denver Broncos have a player named Champ, and that was enough for me. I decided they were my team.

Well, not at all surprisingly, other distractions prevailed and my zeal for football waned.

So, I wasn't even sure who was playing in the Super Bowl.

Until the past few days, when this little number: ...began getting featured in treasuries more than daily, and orders for it enjoyed a noticeable bump.


So, I'm officially cheering for the Packers on Sunday, the 6th (that's Super Bowl Sunday, for those of you as oblivious as me), since they've been throwing a little business my way. Hey, they scratched my back, I'll scratch theirs by cheering for them...helping them in no actual way.

If you know a crazed Cheese Head who would love to deck out their wee Packers fan for the big game, send them over to my shop. To get your gear in time, orders must be placed by Sunday, January 30,2011.


Go Pack Go! (That's what they, I mean we say. We Packers fans.)

Photo Take Over

I got it in my mind to do a photo collage on our living room wall.

I went through all the framed photos I had on hand, and lo and behold, my beloved second born was criminally underrepresented.

Criminally.

So, I scoured my photo files. There were way too many good ones, what with the adorable children and the new fancy camera.

So, 90 prints of various sizes,

coupla hundred bucks in new frames,

and about a blue million little metal frame tabs later...


Too much?

Baby Geekery

A lovely Rabbi friend of ours and his delightful wife recently welcomed baby boy Amitai Peleh. The fella was giddy with excitement at an opportunity to use his Hebrew geekery to craft them a baby goody.

Well, he geeked. I crafted.

The Hebrew reads:

Jonah 1:1 - "And it happened that the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amitai."

Can't wait to meet the sweet wee Amitai!

And...Just to Keep You Guessing...A Recipe

(source where I stole this photo and I don't vouch for the content of the site)

This morning I made delicious cranberry muffins for my brood + 2. We have our Thursday crew here today - two extra cuties hang out while their Mama, my friend, is at work. We have loads of fun.

Some of my fave blogs (one in particular that always makes me drool) post photos and recipes for the yummy goodies they cook.

So I thought I'd share mine from this morning with you:

Ingredients:

• muffin mix from box of muffins
• can of cranberries included in box
• 1 cup water

Mix and bake according to directions on box.

And man were they delicious! Don't be intimidated by the complexity of this recipe. If I can do it you can do it!


And, some more Thursday fun:


Embracing the camera.


That's sweet-E. She's part of the Thursday crew around here.


Have I mentioned that I love my new camera? I took these myself of myself. The first two I just held haphazardly and clicked. Then I realized I could swivel the lcd screen to see what I was shooting. Genius I say.

I put that last one on facebook and got all kinds of buzz about my "new" nose ring and that this shot inspired a few people to go out and get one. I say go for it! But I think what looks different about me is not the "new" nose ring I've had almost a year, but the absence of my glasses. I couldn't see a thing, but I think the shot was worth it.

Ah, vanity. Good stuff.

Sneakity Peekity

I'm finally sneak peeking this one. It's been in progress since Amos was born or just before. Counting chickens before they hatch not withstanding, it will be completed within...hmmm...a reasonable time frame from now. That's as specific as is safe to assume.

Amos is enjoying my revived interest in this project because that means there is stuffing to be played with. It's provided hours of entertainment for him. That boy loves the fluff.

It has been somewhat therapeutic for me to work on this one. While progress is slow and painstaking, there's something soothing in wrestling with this one. Turns out a third pregnancy can be a bit taxing, and this one is doing a number on me. As an already rather emotional being, being further marinated in the hormone soup required for the making of people is proving a bit tough. So when I find a quiet moment, I turn to this project and hunker down, and then I don't have time to get mired down in the other stuff.

Stay tuned for a reveal of the finished product!

At the Farm

The boys and I went to a great little (free!) historical museum today. It has two working farms - one from 1860 and one from 1890 - complete with a blacksmith shop, homes, barns, cabins and all sorts of animals.


The boys ate it up.


I love that little sign. In case you can't read it, it says, "please do not."

This was the perfect outing for today because Dizzy is currently obsessed with a little book about Baby Farm Animals. He brought it to the farm and had me read to each set of animals the page about them in the book. And he would show each animal its picture in the book.

Boogie's favorite farm animal was the cat.

It did all sorts of cool tricks.

We followed it around...


And it followed us all over both farms.

It was a lovely outing and it made me realize how much I love farm yard critters. I want to be a farmer. As a vegetarian, it may be less like a farm and more like just long term large animal refuge, but that'd be ok.

Gone Fishing

Yaya is a three-year-old's hero. She and the boys pretend that her room is the ocean and that her bed is a pirate ship. In support of this fantasy she has crafted costumes and props worthy of any Broadway production. They have pirate hats, eye patches, and telescopes for spying land on the horizon. She's made an anchor and a dingy for exploratory trips to land. And of course, fishing poles, complete with reels and line and safe hooks. And things to catch.

She is a three-year-old's hero.

For the Love of Sleep

The fella recently turned me on to a hilarious blog called The Pregnant Chicken. Specifically he pointed me in the direction of a particularly funny post entitled Hide Your Baby Please. It tells the tale of a woman whose beloved husband and children are all hounding her to have a 4th baby and how she ain't havin' it. It's hysterical.

The husband tries to sway her by having her go peek in on her little angels while they're sleeping, and I must say, that one would have done me in. I do it every night. And, you see where it got me.

Lately they've been so yummy dreamy, I'm struck dumb by the pure sweetness of it all.

Dumb enough to take pictures.

There they'll be in blissful, undisturbed, slumber...and there I come with the flash bulbs. Geez Ma.

Dizzy's bedtime antics have been quite theatrical. Last week he slept two nights in a rubbermaid tub because he was a Jack in the Box.
Obviously.


And last night, he requested a tail and slept under the train table - a perfect dog house.

This little pup didn't buy it when I tried to sell him on the idea that his whole room was like a big doghouse. No dice.

A Good Idea

Mama V had a good idea. She suggested some of those goodies from the Baby Magic post yesterday should be for sale in my shop. Well, as it happens, a few of the items featured are in fact available in my shop. Imagine that.

For starters, I decided that the Georgia shirt would be good, not only for those named Georgia, like sweet Georgia Marie, but for proud wee Georgians also.

Know a Georgia peach who would look lovely in this shirt?Well, you can get it here.


And remember these:
Well, the options for personalized burp cloths are endless. I usually personalize them with baby's initial(s), like so:


And they're each quilted. How fun is that? You can find them here.

That concludes your dose of shameless self promotion. Thank you.