MommyCoddle

Yes, kinda like that

Emma drew this picture of me a few days ago, and as I looked more closely at it, I thought, "yup, pretty accurate." Well, except for the detail of two children swimming around in my tummy....But otherwise, feeling huge, sporting some puffy hands and a dark hole of a belly-button. I never get that cute little out-y belly button when I'm pregnant, instead mine turns into a giant dark crater. However, it has become the megaphone between my children and the baby, so I guess I shouldn't complain.
But I do appreciate that Emma gave me a pretty good hair day in this picture, a smile and pretty slim legs...but if I was wearing a pair of maternity jeans that I was constantly tugging back up to my waist, then it would be really accurate.

I went to the paint store over the weekend and picked out some colors for the baby room. Standing in front of that wall of paint chips--I realized again that I really like color--lots of colors. But I had something in my head and I came pretty close. I also realized that I'm influenced by the names of the colors: "quail egg" is what Dan is going to paint the baby crib. I love the color and I really love the name. Our crib is a hand-me-down and has now been in service for probably five children.  The wood is definitely ready for a refresh.

I probably could have stayed in that paint section for an hour or two just watching other people make their painting decisions. I watched a pair of teenage girls who were picking out bedroom paint, pull shades of color off the wall that looked more like streetwise lipstick shades than a color you'd want to be surrounded in while you slept.  And a husband and wife pulling out card after card of taupes and  orangey-tans, looking for a color to match their living room carpet.

I think they should consider hiring paint counselors, stationed around the color chips. I'd volunteer.

weekend love

::finally taking advantage of our membership::

::catching clouds (and tasting them)::

::coming face to face with an oversized Blue Crab who spontaneously clicks his giant claws at you::

::all the bathtime fun, without the hair-washing. (and good seats for the mommies)::

::thinking back on summer nights in the patio::

::seeing God's proof of the importance of a little pruning::

::the blessing of living in a place full of beautiful pictures::

::watching her tromp around in tall rubber boots, and sled in a dress and tights--minus the sled::

(the extended version)

 

 

afternoon indulgence

As I type this, my children are fighting over their "privacy". (or "privatee" as Mary calls it.) If either one of them comes remotely close to entering the other's space--they demand their privacy until the other moves on. Who knew that doing a puzzle or reading books to your dolls required so much personal space.
Anyhoo....
A little afternoon indulgence with the girls yesterday, pictured above--hot chocolate and marshmallows all around. Sometimes I need these little parties to make it from post-naps to when Dan gets home from work.

I was totally overwhelmed by so many of you who offered to hunt for wooden bowls for me. I will definitely get back to your emails. I'm really behind. I'm hoping to have a little email-fest this afternoon during naps.

I realized the other day, that I need to stop reading my bloglines in alphabetical order. I'm doing a great job of keeping up with those at the beginning of the alphabet, but P-Z? I need to work on that.

And the fabric is going to.....Dana. So Dana, email me with your mailing address and I'll pop it in a package.

Okay, last thing in this completely distracted and random post. I found this site through flickr the other day, and they have some pretty interesting photo gifts. I love this and this (although with my new bandsaw skills, and a little modpodge, I might be able to do this myself!). They also send out a newsletter, which I subscribed to, just to get more emails in my inbox. (no, not really.) But the two I've gotten have had some great pointers and links.

Yay for Friday. Have a restful weekend everyone!

up for grabs

I was so in the mood for some good thrift store shopping yesterday. It's been awhile since we've gone to our local thrifting haunt. But, I guess everyone and their sister and their children and their children's classmates, had the same idea. The place was horribly picked over, most likely owing to the "50% off red,white and blue tags" President's Day sale. Since my children aren't school-age yet, I often forget these little holidays and the fact that the stores and restaurants will be swamped with shoppers.

What I  REALLY have my heart set on finding are some wooden bowls. I feel like that's a simple enough request--nothing fancy, but wood, please. I zeroed in on some from across the store yesterday, thinking I had scored, but when I picked them up, I quickly realized my "wooden" bowls were actually plastic look-alikes.

I did manage to find this cute piece of fabric. It's a nice heavy cotton, and the background is a really rich chocolate brown--this photo seems a little faded. But once I got it home, I decided it was more than I needed. The piece is table-cloth sized. I don't know the exact measurements--but there's probably a couple yards there. I'm going to keep half for myself and the other half is up for grabs.

You know the drill: leave a comment that let's me know you're interested in it. And I'll draw a name in the next day or two. (and sorry, but I have to keep it in the US, not much room in my budget for overseas shipping....sorry.)

The Snow Birds Keep Giving

I guess since Kristen blogged about it yesterday evening, it's safe to show you her new fabric project. Kristen and I have been dear blogging buddies for a long time and if you haven't visited her blog or website, you are missing out on some amazing inspiration. She designs her own fabrics, which she sells by the piece, and she also sews them into bags, pouches, dolls, etc. Not to mention the fact that she's starting to sell her dress designs in Australian shops, too. The fabric that I have from her is hands-down my favorite fabric in my stash. And knowing my nature, it will probably sit in my stash for awhile before I have the nerve to cut it up.
Apparently, when Kristen saw my snow birds she was taken with them and decided to create a new fabric design based upon their chubby little profiles:

I swiped this pic from her blog, so it's pretty blurry. There's a better picture here....
She's going to print it on a stone cotton or natural linen....and eventually it will be for sale on her website. 
Kristen, I love it. Those chubby birds are feeling very full of themselves, and I can't wait to get a piece for myself....(she and I already have some diaper bag plans in the works--one more thing to cross off my list!)

Speaking of lists, I am slowly crawling out of last week's mandatory blog break. Really, the only thing I got done...well, I didn't get anything DONE, but I'm very close on the biggest project which was the family calendar. I'm in the tweaking, caption-checking, file converting, send it to the printer phase now. But I'm breathing a little easier with the hard work behind me.

Oh, and I guess we did make progress on something else...but we have since regressed back into separate rooms. The girls had two rocky nights together sharing a room--which I was prepared for. Dan may not agree, but I think putting them to bed is a little easier, despite the tennis match that goes on while I stand between their beds. I get one tucked in and turn to the other for tucking, meanwhile the tucked in one pops up for a drink of water, which while I turn my back, makes the other pop up for her drink of water. If one gets an extra hug and kiss, the other needs an extra...and on and on.

The first two nights were punctuated by Mary waking up many times and finally just sleeping in bed with me and Dan for a few hours. Which broke Emma's heart: "But I'm so used to having Mary sleep in my room now, I can't sleep without her!"
It had been four hours, folks. But I loved the sentiment.
Two days after starting to share rooms, they both came down with fevers and colds...so we've temporarily moved Mary back into her crib for the sake of good, healthy sleep for both of them. But we're not giving up. I'd rather be working on this transition now, not in ten weeks.

I feel like I could just ramble on and on in this post, but I'm going to bite my lip and save it for tomorrow. See what happens when I spend a week away? I did peek at blogs, and I only think I broke down and commented a few times. And I also flickr'd a bit in the evenings...but it was much-needed...

Alright. Good to be back. Until tomorrow....

cat nap

not sure where the rug ends and the static-y kitten begins in this picture....

Anyway, I'm forcing myself to take a blog break this week. Must. Walk. Away. I have a few things breathing down my neck, that need attention--the 2007 calendar that I have to put out for my dad's side of the family. Yes, I realize it is mid-February. Thankfully, we thought of this last year and added a few cushion-months, which I have easily used up. It involves collecting pictures from 15 children, 45+ grandchildren, a handful of great-grandchildren, things I've dusted off from the family archives and turning them into a bound 12-month (or 14) family calendar. It's a project.  A fun one. But a project.

And did I ever tell you all that I got the "job" for the local farmer's market? I'll be designing a blog and blogging twice a month for them. I'm really excited about it. But have to get to work. They want things in place by mid-March....yikes.

And this little guy, along with some other goodies are patiently waiting to be boxed up and shipped across the ocean to our mini-swap partner--a little elephant-loving cutie.  Thankfully, they all just got back from a vacation and are just behind as me..at least I still hope so. My husband wasn't too fond of this elephant design because of its skinny trunk. But he told me I could get away with it being a very modern elephant. I hope our swap partner likes it??!!

oh yeah, and I'm 30 weeks pregnant and feeling a bit of pressure to get ready. All mynewborn baby clothes are boxed up in the basement in our Wisconsin house, which I honestly thought would have sold by now. (but we have very good prospects at the moment). I have no crib bedding, no car seat, no clothes for the baby, especially if its a boy...and at the moment, I can't even think what else you need for a baby, but I know there are other things...oh and I'd really like to give the room a fresh coat of paint and some curtains. Phew...I think I'm nesting.
Not to mention the fact that my sweet little two year old has been paitently waiting for her transition to a big girl bed--which we've been talking about since Christmas. Today we went to IKEA and got her and Emma matching comforter covers and bedside lamps for reading at night. So this week will be the big transition, not only out of her crib, but into sleeping in the same room as her big sister.  And can I tell you how excited I am about this? My two little girls nestled in beds together in the same room. Stories together at night, the idea of them giggling under the sheets after we turn out the lights??!! You experienced mothers of sleep-together-siblings are probably rolling your eyes at my naiveness (which is a word, I just looked it up).

So, now looking at this list, I think I should take a three week break. No, kidding. Really, I'm not stressed out about, I just know something has to give and blogging really is what needs to give for now. Although it is very hard for me to see those little numbers tick higher and higher beside your names in bloglines each day. I may have to visit just a little. Maybe, as my reward for things accomplished. And I know that not everything will get done in a week, but you know..priorities, man.

So have a lovely week. We're getting big snow storms on Wednesday, supposedly. The perfect excuse to stay in doors and gets things done!

Must.Walk.Away.

snow birds

We got one of my favorite kinds of snows last night--the kind that you don't know is coming...I peeked outside the window in the middle of the night (during trip one of three to the bathroom--ahh, pregnancy) and there it was, falling in big fluffy flakes while we slept, unaware.
This morning, cheerios and granola was barely consumed before my real-life snow birds were outside (with a myriad of my mixing bowls) to get their first real snow fix of the winter.

So this little clutch of birds is my new little venture with power tools. Actually, the jigsaw was the only high-powered tool, the rest was done by hand. I didn't buy anything new for this project--and used only scrap wood and paints that I had in my stash. I was waiting to show them because I really NEED to make babies for these girls. Can't you just see a little line of miniature baby birds in row behind them? But, I just haven't gotten the chance to get over there to the workshop, so for now they'll be single ladies until the chicks come along.
I'm not sure yet what I want to do with them...but I'm thinking I'll definitely try some more, in different colors. Maybe a sweet little row of them on a shelf in the baby's room? I don't know...but their simplicity and chubby-ness makes me smile.

Also making me smile is repurposing my gaiam countertop bag dryer as a mitten and hat dryer beside the wood stove. It's perfect. This little kitchen gadget is worth every penny, even if it only serves as a bag dryer. It makes reusing those ridiculously expensive ziploc bags so easy. Thanks to my grandmother, the queen of saving, reuse and recycling, for the inspiration.

Random Announcements and a question:
A miniswap flickr photo pool is here to post pictures of your swapping stash.

The recipe my sister used for the Mushrooom Artichoke soup at my mom's birthday lunch is here. She couldn't find the called for mushrooms, so she used 8 oz of baby bellas and 1.5 pounds of plain white mushrooms, instead.

Could someone please tell me the HTML code so that I can just use a one word link back to my blog on my flickr pictures instead of the big, long link address? thank.you.   

tree of life (or something)

My mom celebrated a big birthday number this weekend, so this is a little gift I whipped up for her. Really, its not a family tree--maybe more like a "tree of life" or something--all the people who love her and are part of her life as she turns the big 6-5. 

My siblings and their spouses are on each of the branches. And each branch gets a leaf for the children in that family. If I'd thought of this idea earlier than the day before we celebrated, I would have liked to have done the names in embroidery--but the flu and lack of time, caused me to have to go with paper and my sewing machine for the initials.

And my oldest sister, who still lives at home with my mom, gets a little canary on her branch--just like the one she has at home....
And the tree still needs a suitable frame, but that is coming...
I also knit a turtleneck/neck gaiter kind of thing for my mom, too. Using a yummy, soft brown yarn. Of course, I used no pattern, eyed the size without measuring, and ended up with an overgrown piece that could have fit around my waist. So now the question is felt it? rip it out and start again? or cut and stitch it up? (would that even work?)

Even with all my homemade gift glitches it was still a fun day with family. My sister made a yummy mushroom and artichoke heart soup and killer chocolate cake, and I kicked in some bread bowls and homemade rolls.
And once again, its monday and I'm playing reclaim my house. Do I write about this every Monday? Probably. I'm always recovering from the weekend it seems. My homemaking skills usually shut down on the weekend--then (sometimes) Sunday night hits and I get this cleaning surge....today it didn't hit until this morning:
I'm on my fifth load of laundry. (yes, I'm THAT behind....)

Did I really just say that?

okay. these are the words that just came out of my mouth: "girls. you can jump on the bed. but PLEASE put the knitting needles on the floor."
Do you ever do that--say something to your children in your "mother-voice" and then a few seconds later, reflect on what you just said and realize how absurd and funny it is? Yup. One of those moments.

Well, my plan was to show you my new project today, but I've had another little idea of something I want to add to them. So, today will just be partial mystery shots.

*(and for the record, I always use both hands when I cut, and I do keep my thumbs out of the way.)*

And if you're up for something gross...this is what we dug into yesterday. Hannah, are we doing this right--because really it felt like an archeological dig site. My husband is missing his wedding band (I think it's gone, folks.) and I couldn't throw the bag away until I had searched it. No ring, but six cents, a Barbie band-aid, a few paper clips and lots of dog hair. Again, those knitting needles came in handy.