Wolfie "entertains" at the Dentist's office today

     I took the boys for their appt. with the hygienist today.  Wolfie didn't stop talking, even while he was having his teeth polished.  When he entered the waiting room, he removed his coat and loudly stated, "I'm Wolfgang, I'm 5 1/2 years old and I'm about to shed my skin."  Then when he was sitting down in the hygienist's chair, he admired all of the gadgetry and announced, "That's quite an operation you've got here."
     What a weird and wonderful kid!

Some celebratory randomness

     We have been celebrating some random holidays around here, in addition to real holidays, like MLK day.  I used The Sneetches to help explain the idea of equality/bigotry for MLK day,as well as some basic intro to who MLK was.  Unfortunately, the book I wanted from the library did not come in on time, so we will learn even more about him when the book arrives.
    We also celebrated the birthday of Rubber Ducky, Ernie's bath time pal (Sesame street, Of course).  Here was our centerpiece.

Today was Winnie the Pooh day, so we read all our Pooh books, snuggled our Eeyore and Piglet dolls, baked a honey cake and set a trap for a Heffalump.  Wolfie was very disappointed that he did not catch a Heffalump.  He is determined that "Heffalumps are non-fiction, NOT fiction!"

     Tonight we wrapped up an "invisibility cloak" (an old sheer curtain) and left it for the boys to find.

I anticipate crying when Wolfie realizes people can still see him, but we will hope for the best.  He has been reading Harry Potter with Dad, and loves it.  He makes up stories about being "Doogie the Dugong" and being discovered by McGonagle and Dumbledore while lost at sea.  They rescued him,brought him to Hogwart's where he is cared for by Hagrid.  He is learning to "swoosh and flick" his wand in his little flipper so he can make spells for creating sea grass to eat and fill his "squishy little belly".  He has advanced past Manatees into dugongs.  This is a Dugong for the uninitiated.

In other news, I made some really excellent Chinese noodle soup when we were watching Kung Fu Panda.  The noodles were 5 kinds of awesome, so pure.

Tomorrow is "Popcorn Day"   which may or may not be an international holiday.  I wonder how we will celebrate that?  Performance art???????

  

Holiday craft cavalcade!

     Now that gifts have been given, I can post some of my family's Christmas crafts that were given as gifts without spoiling any surprises.  Matt, Grandpa Jay and Jas did some crafting this year, which made it even more fun.  Unfortunately, not all of the crafts were photographed, but this will give you a taste.  I loved that some of my friends responded to my homemade gift post last year with posts of their own, chock full of new ideas for me to steal  to inspire me!  I hope they do it again!
     I got acquainted with crochet via this little baby Cthulu doll I made for my bro-in-luv.  I later modified this into a Cthulu cup cozy for my sweet Lovecraft-lovin' husband too.

I crocheted a winter headband with a flower for my big haired daughter (must be nice to have too much hair for a hat)

She, in turn made a cute headband for herself by following some tutorials online during a sleepless new baby night.

  I got my knitting going too and made a sock monkey cup cozy for my other brother-in-love.  I was able to use some yarn given to me by a super-knitter that I work with, you should see the stuff she knits!

For their wives, i made up some glass pendants, upcycling some glass marbles I had and photos from magazines

I made my Mom some embroidered napkins for her to use when she is hosting Mahjong.  These were actually a birthday gift, but it falls during the holiday season, so it is fair game!

I used some recycled denim to make a little bib for Olivia.

Matt made Olivia some Onesies using freezer paper stencils of some drawings he did.  She looks soooo cute in them!

He also painted a canvas playmat for the boys.  I love the concession stand and car wash!

Even my Father-in-luv joined in, making Vladdie a double rainbow for his train set!

Lastly, all of us chipped in to make "Treecycle",  a 3-d tree about 3 feet tall made from recycled boxes and magazines.   It has ornaments made from the handles of chinese take-out boxes.  Wolfie sewed the packing peanut garland all on his own!  Vladdie put the popsicle stick star on top.  The little tree is made out of one folded magazine.

That's all the crafting that I took pics of.  We had a lot of fun making things together.  It is so nice to think of the people you are making them for and remember fun times you had together.  It is as if the supply lists should include "love" in them!

2011...

     I know resolutions get a bad rap, but I love them.  I love taking stock, setting new goals and trying to meet them.  Not that I meet all of them, mind you (still don't know how to juggle after several resolutions to learn to do so).  However, this year, I don't have any major ones to declare.  I suppose that is a good sign and it does fit in with my recent trend of just not doing a lot of things I normally do, simply because I don't feel like it.  Is that a sign that I am getting old?  or maybe wiser, godforbid.
     I am going to keep going with a few things that I have been doing, but feel I can continue to improve in.  First there is my commitment to  reducing the amount of plastic in our lives, especially in our kitchen.  I have made really good progress, using mostly glass, stainless steel and cast iron.  I recently replaced my aging coffee maker (Thanks to a xmas present!) with a metal percolator and love it!  It has been slow going, as I try to get things used, repurpose them or wait and request them as gifts, but progress has been made.
     I want to keep up with reducing my family's exposure to known carcinogens in cosmetics ( Please watch the story of cosmetics by clicking here, you'll be glad you did ).  We have made great strides in this, but have room to improve-- perhaps a challenge to me to craft a natural old-school barber type aftershave????  Our family now uses castile bar soap for shampooing and body washing, eliminating a lot of products/packaging.  Coconut oil from the grocery store is our go-to moisturizer.  I even made a nice deodorant from coconut oil, baking soda, cornstarch and a few drops of clove and rosemary oils.  Having such weird skin issues this year really prompted these changes, but learning more about what is in so many products has made me glad to do it.
     I hope to improve my knitting and aim to knit Matt a pair of socks.  I hope to make my crafting and d.i.y.'ing even more ecologically sound by using second-hand supplies (anyone got any yarn they don't want :)? ) or repurposing supplies.
     I plan to step up my debt reduction/saving and continue to be frugal despite my desire to spoil everyone rotten.
     I will try not to buy anything I don't actually need, or can get used, etc...
     I aim to be easier on myself, take things a little more slowly (by my standards) and to say "no" a lot.  I hope to create situations for our family that result in less punishing and more redirection and praise.  I plan to continue to let my husband know that he is "sooooo my boyfriend" and my partner in crime.  I hope to be a good example and source of support to my daughter in raising her daughter, not a critic or kidnapper.  I will continue my role as household clown for the amusement of my tenants, and our northern neighbors as the drapes are rather sheer on those windows.
     I will learn to juggle.     :)