Pop Art

Remember back when you just had one kid or even two and you had the time and attention span and forward thought enough to plan elaborate craft projects for yourself and for your kiddos and how amazing you thought you were and how all the other moms secretly hated you?

Well those days are clearly gone. Now I have mom-guilt for not engaging everybody in as many projects as I used to and now when we get into a project it's on the fly and we usually have to wing it with the wrong supplies and ingredients. 

And whereas I used to come up with all creative projects myself now I can't even remember to put on my pants unless somebody on Pintrest did it first. 

All that to say, crafts in the 3 child household happen a little differently, but they're happening, 

none the less. Ok, maybe a bit the less.

 

Exhibit A: 

Bubble painting.

Yes these were the wrong ingredients and the end result:

was cool but not amazing. But Amos love love loved the process and we all engaged in a crafty moment and that is something to celebrate.

Also something to celebrate: Hazel who has been barfing (on to me) for 24 hours is asleep and the boys are playing happily outside. The non-engaged moment is also an important part of the 3 child home. Believe it.

Big Proud Day

I remember when I posted about when Eli hit this milestone. I couldn't have been prouder of him then and now I'm as proud as can be of sweet baby A.

He wrote his name!

This kid loves letters and is really good at them. He can identify all of them, spell all of our names and knows what words start with what letters.

I credit the foam bathtub letters.

He's been able to write his name with sidewalk chalk for a while but yesterday, with only a few dashes to guide him, he wrote his name. Lots.

Proud Mama!

Peek of the Week - May 4, 2012

Take a Peek!

What's Peek of the Week you ask? It's our semi-regular Friday feature where we hear all about what cool things you other crafty families and blogging types have been up to. Tell us about your projects, finished or in-progress, a funny kid moment, a personal accomplishment or just something that made you smile.

Each week I'll get the ball rolling by sharing a Peek from our week and then invite you to do the same by linking up to your own post.

If you'll refer back to yesterday's post you'll know why my peek this week is just cute pictures of Amos (that qualifies, you know. It doesn't have to be rocket science).

In short, I'm tired. Too much to do this week. Too little time. So, enjoy the cutest little second son around. 

You'll also notice the new blog look. I'm not a fan. But since my clever little mustache background came from a sight that was suspected of malware (upon further inspection google says they're fine), and caused a scary waning message you may have gotten when you came to visit HHS, that was reason enough to scrap it. I'll keep sprucing, but for now it'll have to do. 

So, let me live vicariously! What have you had TIME to do this week? 
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.

Peek of the Week - April 20, 2012

Take a Peek!

What's Peek of the Week you ask? It's our semi-regular Friday feature where we hear all about what cool things you other crafty families and blogging types have been up to. Tell us about your projects, finished or in-progress, a funny kid moment, a personal accomplishment or just something that made you smile.

Each week I'll get the ball rolling by sharing a Peek from our week and then invite you to do the same by linking up to your own post.

This week I offer a twofer. First, an installment of Stuff Yaya Makes. The children and Yaya have a separate life I often know nothing about. I'm so happy they have the magical world of Yaya to explore. Apparently sometimes they enjoy a little show called Mike the Knight. I've never seen it, but I hear Mike does right, so I'm on board. 

Eli likes to take on the persona of Mike. The Knight.

So Yaya made him a steed. Complete with faux fur tail:

Second, a Pintrest idea that was a huge slam dunk:

Take pans of baking soda, drop food-colored vinegar into them and watch the bubbly goodness happen. That's science people.

Oh, speaking of pinterest...
Have you read my nationally, nay...internationally run Associated Press article about crafters and pintrest? Yes, the where where I, my awesome crafty buddy Kristen Cunningham of Sewtastically Made, and my other bff Martha Stewart and featured?

Well, you can find it in several reputable news sources, but my personal fave is this one from the Winnipeg Free Press because
a) It's Canadian! That's international baby!
b) They use a huge picture of my fabric decoupaged eggs as the header of the article

Am I insufferable yet?
Well, then you chime in and share your cool stuff!
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.

Embracing Amos

Or should I call it...Amos Embracing Me?

I am the one he loves the best. I hope I keep that title for all time because it comes with some pretty sweet perks.

For one, he's a really good kisser.

Also...a great conversationalist. 

Best snuggler ever. 

I am one lucky Mama.

Oh! - and if you didn't see yesterday's 

post about Happily Home Sewn's

 VERY. EXCITING. NEWS. - click here! 

I'm still kvetching! (I love that word)

Embracing the Camera with the Anderson Crew today.

Must Consolidate

There's just too much cute.

In order to save your index finger all that scrolling, I consolidated. 

You're welcome.

Dizzy has become somewhat elusive. Four year olds don't have time to pause to get their picture taken, much less collage worthy multiples. I mean come on.

Compliments of the Lazy Blogger.

Almost Famous...

This post is nothing but gratuitous celebration of the wonder that is Famous Amos. 

Gra. Tuitious.

He's just so darn yummy.  There is no. one. sweeter.

See?

I mean, resist that. 

I couldn't do it.

This kid keeps us in stitches. Yes, his "spirit" has gotten him on the hot seat at school, but I wouldn't trade an ounce of that sass that makes him so famously him. I like my men with a dash of mischief, and he's got it in spades. Never lose it Amos. Just try to use it for good.

Mama loves.

Halvsies

We've had lots to celebrate around here. Two, count 'em TWO of our kiddos had half birthdays in February.

If that's not a reason to eat cake, well I don't know what is. 

 

Yes. I let 6 month old Hazel eat cake. I have made cakes for all my babies' 6 month birthdays. When Eli was 6 months I was a first-timer and didn't let him eat his cake. But, as tends to happen, I got a little less...shall we say...cautious, with my subsequent children. Amos and Hazel - I let them eat cake.

 

Amos partied hard with cake and m&ms because his half birthday falls on Leap Day, so he won't see another for 4 years. He practiced blowing out the unlit candle for an adorably long time. 

Two and a half, but at least 3 years awesome.

I couldn't resist.

Amos, I'm so proud of you and so so sorry to the 14 year old you, but I just couldn't resist.

Compliments of the Lazy (and inappropriate) Blogger.

Spring is in the air. Beathe Deep.

Can you smell it?

Yes there's still snow on the ground, and yes...
darn it, yes...
it will snow again.

But it's getting closer.

Spring. Will. Come.

So, as is our tradition, we crafted up a peachy spring wreath. We started with hand and footprints of the two babies who were home at the time (Eli was in N.C. with the fella). 

 Look at bitty Hazel back there eating her puffs. Precious kitten.

A little cardboard circle and some tissue paper...

 and one bath to occupy the 2 year old. Just crumple and glue.

What? You don't craft while your kiddo bathes? Just watch that your hotglue gun doesn't fall in the tub!

The kicker is the chalk cloth backdrop. You'll never guess where I found the idea. Yup. Pintrest.

See:

 Donchya love it? Here's the source.

Aside - if we ever buy our house I'm getting a pretty front door 1st thing. This door is fugly.

 

So, take note weatherman. Our door is ready. Bring on the spring. 

Embrace the E.R.

Lemme walk you through it.
Sunday evening...
The Fella, Yaya, and Eli turned in early to rest up for their 4:00 a.m. departure for the airport.
I stay up watching the Downton Abbey finale.
Nary a symptom to warn me.
Amos wakes up scary wheezing, barking, short of breath.

If I didn't have Nurse Yaya downstairs to whip out the stethoscope and tell me he's breathing enough, there would have been an ambulance in my driveway. 

So I called the Kaiser line and they had me scurry him to the closest E.R., which thankfully is just a stones throw away.

As soon as I carried Amos through those double sliding doors they got him in a bed and no fewer than 8 docs, nurses, respiratory specialists, and the like descended upon him. Thank my lucky stars.

Diagnosis: Croup. Sever Croup. That wiley minx. 

He was scared to bits, but with a quick epinephrine nebulizer treatment and a dose of steroids, he was on the up and up within minutes.

They kept us for 4 hours to make sure things didn't flare back up again.

That put us right at the 4:00 a.m. mark, so the fella had to wake Hazel up and bring her to me in the hospital. The fact that I had both our sets of keys threw a wrench into things. Yaya came to fetch them. Eric brought me Hazel. And then off they went to the airport.   

Thank goodness Monday was a holiday. We spent most of it just like this.

Happily Amos made a grand recovery after we rested up on Monday. He and Hazel and I are enjoying our little week as just the three of us. He likes being the big man around here.

Sending this over to Embrace the Camera:

I Forgot to Peek

But Hazel didn't...

Whew! What a week. So, for brevity's sake (we'll see)...bullets:

• The Flash Mob is just 4 days away and things are shaping up quite nicely. We have a training session on Sunday and then it'll be here. Yipes! If you wanna join, all the deets can be found under the Valentine's Day link at the top under the header photo. 

• My etsy shop blew up this week! I average 2-3 orders a week usually and this week I had 8! Lots of fun little projects for sweet little babies far and near. So lovely!

• Thankfully...I am brimming with energy lately. I started running at New Years (gasp) and have stuck at it and actually enjoyed it. I find that the pay off is lots of extra energy, which I need...in spades. I'm lousy with energy and I love it. I used to collapse into a nap everyday while the kids napped, but now I cook up fun little projects, tidy up, or fill orders. Who woulda thunk?

• I'm addicted to Pintrest. Have you noticed?

• Amos has been giving us...well, more accurately, his teacher...a run for the money lately. Surely not:

That sweet little nugget has been pushing the buttons of his exasperated preschool teacher so much that for the last three school days he's been the preschool version of suspended. You see, he's taken to rabble rousing at naptime. He's instigated a little mob of his own amongst the 4 other pupils in his 2-year-old class and that has gotten him the boot. The current "solution" is that when he disrupts the class at naptime, we get a call and have to come pick him up early. It's no kind of punishment. He lights up like a Christmas tree as soon as we turn into the Principal's Office.

That's right. The Principal's Office.

So, we scheduled a conference for Monday to see if we can come up with something better.

That boy is as sweet as they come, but he does enjoy malfeasance for malfeasance's sake. That's for sure. It makes him giddy. And it makes Yaya call him "Amos the Menace".

In a good way.

So, long story, well...long...life is a delight.

Embrace Your Face

 We're all snuggles around here lately. I may have ruined Hazel for ever napping in her own bed again...but come on...who cares.

So for my Embrace the Camera post this week...

Extreme Close Up Snuggling

And in case you missed it a few posts back...

 Get the salts.