Hello Kitty Birthday Bonanza

I suggested to my daughter that this year we could have her birthday party at a fun place this year, like a rec center or goofy golf and whatnot kind of place. I was excited at the thought of not cleaning my house and making food for everyone and not cleaning up any mess when it was over. Win-win, right? Well, she said she wanted a Hello Kitty party at our house with a pinata in the backyard, because that would be pretty and fun. So I get out the broom and dust rag and cookbooks and got to work. I made the pinata and was quite proud of myself until I burned a couple of good sized blisters into my hands with the hot glue gun (it is a dangerous tool, people!). In the end we had a lovely party with all sorts of family and friends. And now I have an entire year to figure out how to persuade her to agree to a party elsewhere.

When Summer's Beginning To Give Up Her Fight

It happens every year and I always think next year will be different. Summer is ending and I've forgotten to savor every minute of it before the nasty winter comes barreling in. We got so caught up in getting ready for school and not having enough work and repainting our kitchen cupboards (still not done) that summer has sailed right passed us. We didn't get to go camping this summer and we got such a huge, lovely tent last year. Totally missed the state fair. Couldn't quite fit in that trip to Michigan to visit relatives, and watch the wonder on Willow's face when we cross state lines, because it's more magical there. But there isn't time to mourn the death of summer because there are school field trips, birthday parties to plan, and a million other things I need to do this fall. But before it's too late, maybe we can squeeze in a couple of more nights catching lightning bugs, or go see daddy's band play one more time.

Walmart Lovelies

I just can't stop looking. This website makes me simultaneously want to spend all my free time at Walmart and never go there again.

Really?

So, Willow was playing with her cousin recently and he was telling her about bad guys, the bad guys that his dad catches at work (he's a cop) and Willow says "Bad guys? I thought God washed all the bad guys away! Are they coming here?!!"

Really?

Hyperventilating

Comfest starts in seven days. I need at least three weeks of preparation. Shit.

Ribbit

My husband found some wee baby frogs at a job site this week and they have now taken up residence in my living room in a HUGE aquarium. It started off as one tiny frog (think the size of a nickel) and he thought it was just SO cute that he had to bring it home. So we made a little habitat for it in a five gallon bucket and it really is just so cute. The next day he brings home two more. "They were right by my truck. I didn't want to run them over, so I brought them home." So the next day here he comes with a giant plastic container with FIVE, count 'em, five more frogs. We had to borrow a large aquarium and make them a little frog jungle. They really are very cute and the kids are getting quite good at bug catching to feed the frogs. But seriously, one more frog and it's either them or him. Anyone want a frog?

Strawberry Fields Forever

Last night Willow had her second sleepover with her best bud Finn. This time around we let them do all sorts of magical grown up things that she had been asking to do, like go to the park after dark and catch lightening bugs, have cookies and milk right before bed, and watch a movie AFTER bedtime. Well, you will be glad to know it was all a smashing success. We caught thirty lightening bugs with the help of the neighborhood kids. They learned about dunking cookies in milk, after which I heard, "Mom, why didn't you ever tell me about this? Do you keep ALL the good secrets?" And three Scooby Doo videos later when I had to tell them that, seriously, it is time for bed, all I
could think was, you guys were so much cuter

last year when your little four year old brains couldn't stay up past ten. It was MIDNIGHT! My five year old can now stay up until midnight. It's all down hill from here.

p.s. we let all of the lightening bugs go, except for the one that got smushed in the lid. oops!

Fancy Pants Recycled Crayons

We have added something new to our etsy shop that I'm really excited about. We had a bunch of old broken crayons and turned them into new fun crayons! What a fantastic idea! I know other people have done this too but I love them none the less. They are the perfect thing to pull out of your purse with some blank paper while you are waiting with your kids somewhere or running errands or whatever. My daughter thought I was magic when I showed them to her. And who wants to throw crayons away? So far we have transportation, sports, flowers, cat and mouse, and hearts. Come check them out!

My Oldest Friends

Not too long ago, while cleaning out my grandfather's barn, I came acrossed these two lovely ladies, which I haven't seen since I was five. My grandfather, who was a carpenter, passed away a couple of years ago and we have started to go through his barn. It is full of mainly tools and wood and half finished pieces of furniture, but amidst all of that, tucked into a corner were my favorite dollies in the world. I remember going out to the barn with him to watch him make all sorts of magnificent furniture. Apparently at one point I left the dolls there and he tucked them away. I can't describe the joy I felt when I found them. It felt a little silly, but I LOVED these dolls. They were my security blanket for so many years. I'm sad that they have an air of neglect about them. I want to know how to clean them without hurting them further. Dirt or not, I'm so pleased to have them back.

Party with a Purpose

Comfest is quickly approaching and I can't wait! Since becoming a vendor a few years ago I don't get to enjoy comfest like I used to, but I love it all the same. Thousands and thousands of people coming together to enjoy music and such. It really makes our growing metropolis feel like a community. But.... now I have to step up production in our little shop and hope to God that business picks up from last year. I have high hopes that everything will work. And maybe the queens of comfest will put our booth in the grass this year! And maybe we'll be able to hear the music!

Graduation

Willow graduated from preschool. The bigger she gets, the harder time I have believing that she was once a tiny baby that came from me. She is so grown up with her own ideas and plans (because my ideas and plans are ALL WRONG). She is already planning where she wants to go to college so she can study worms and potato bugs. She informed me that she is ready for her own phone and her own kitten. She knows the boy she is going to marry. And so on and so on. But for today we are just going to celebrate the end of preschool and not focus on all of the plans she has made for the future. Congratulations my little Graduate!

p.s. How DO you flip a picture?

Yay for Charter Schools!

Yesterday was election day and our school system had a levy on the ballot. It was quite cheap, only $22 a year for a hundred thousand dollar house. And it was going to save our school system from the depths of despair. And it didn't pass. I am SO disappointed. I had a feeling this would happen, however, and we signed Willow up for kindergarten at a lovely charter school. But our school system will no longer have sports, clubs, or school funded recreation of any kind! No band! When I go to the grocery store I won't be able to hear the marching band in the field practicing. And they were good! The music has died, and it is your fault! (if you live in my neighborhood) What the hell is wrong with you, community?

So Tucker wakes up this morning with a runny nose and I immediately slip into neurotic mode. SWINE FLU! I was certain for a while it was swine flu and we are All Going To Die. I didn't use to worry about crap like that, but ever since I had the kids I freak out at the drop of a hat. I'm still not convinced it isn't swine flu but I suppose it is highly unlikely. We haven't really been around anyone, unless it was that evil child that sneezed as we walked by him in the grocery store. And we haven't been to Mexico. It almost makes me wish for the good old days of SARS and bird flu and even a little MRSA. Those certainly weren't pandemics. Or were they? Anyhow, we didn't get them. Tucker will be fine but why couldn't he have gotten sick last week when I was blissfully unaware of the nasty swine and their dirty flu?

Old School Volcanoes

Willow is very interested in science and math, and while I go slightly catatonic, or completely fall asleep, while discussing these subjects, I want to encourage her in them. So we learned about how to make a volcano! We used colors and made play dough and had big foamy messes that were fantastic and somehow educational at the same time. We started with a small vase and poured in two tablespoons of baking soda. We added a quarter cup of vinegar with food coloring to the baking soda and had a good sized explosion with that mixture. And that was SO MUCH FUN that we decided to make play dough and make a big volcano to explode.

Play dough - 6 cups of flour

2 cups of salt

2 cups of water

4 tablespoons of veg oil

food coloring

Just mix it all together. That's it. We covered a 2 liter bottle and added more baking soda and more vinegar and had fantastic explosions. It was a great project that took up all day.

Lovely. Just Lovely.

The other day I was down to one kid for the day and thought I would lay down for, seriously, like five minutes. All of the sudden I hear, "MOM! MOM! MOM!". I open my eyes and see my two year old son holding his foot precariously in front of my face. It was COVERED in poop. I snapped to attention very quickly and thought OH, SHIT. I followed him into the hallway where I found his pants, diaper, and the rest of the poop. What on earth would have posessed him to take his pants and diaper off and paint his foot in poo? My daughter never did this. I've heard stories about kids doing this, but those were bad moms and unruly kids. Certainly not something that happens in my life. But, there was the pile of poop in front of me as proof. I shall never nap again.

And the Cheese Stands Alone

We have been promising to take Willow to Chuck E. Cheese for months. She completed a workbook for school and this is the reward she requested. And so a few nights ago, we headed out. She invited the love of her five year old life, Finn. I was particularly excited, seeing as how we hadn't been there in over a year, and I'd forgotten much of what happens there with children in tow. We ordered pizza and it took over an HOUR to get it. There were maybe five or six other families there. An HOUR for one pizza! But they have fantastic pizza so it was okay. When the pizza was gone, we headed off to the games. The chaos that ensued cannot very well be described. Kids pulling parents in different directions, dirty diapers and no spares, tokens and tickets flying every which way. After spending close to $40 in a bit of pizza and a LOT of tokens, we claimed our prizes which consisted of two suckers, a piece of laffy taffy, a 3 inch puzzle, and two balloons. Mr. Cheese, it was worth it, but you win again.

So the kids have been getting a little stir crazy being cooped up. To shake it up, I try to add another dimension to our living space. This week we covered the coffee table with some heavy duty paper. I used rosin paper from the hardware store. I have no idea what its original purpose is. Then I let the kids have at it with crayons, markers, stickers and whatever else we have around. It amuses them to no end for about a week. After taking it off I like to cut a couple of especially cute squares out of it and frame it or display it somehow.

In My Life I Love You More

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to witness the sweetest moment I've seen in ages. My dear friend K asked my husband to play guitar while he serenaded his adorable girlfriend J and proceeded to propose to her. It seemed like the kind of proposal that is more myth than real. We lit candles for them all along a pathway in the woods (which promptly blew out because it was extremely cold and windy) and waited for them to stumble across the secret rendevous spot. He sang(in my life, the beatles), he proposed, she said yes. It was heartwarming to witness and I feel lucky to have been a part of it. I hope they have a fantastic life together.