kirstencan

A Poem

Taking Over In The Night
By Princess*can 8 years old

When the boys go to bed, I sit and play.

Then Dad takes over.

So I get in my PJ's and get ready for bed and say good night.

Then books take over.

I read and read until 9:00.

Then time takes over.

I turn off my light and say a prayer and cuddle my dolls.

Then thoughts take over.

I think of Star Wars and the Clone Wars and the Headless Horseman.

Then fright takes over.

I stay awake, too afraid to sleep until 10:00.

Then sleep takes over.

Then dreams take over.

I sleep and dream and sleep and dream and sleep.

Then the day takes over.


***********
I'm signing off for the week - thought I'd leave you with this poem that Princess wrote last week.  Have a great holiday weekend!

Big Red Canvas

In our re-arranging adventure, we discovered that we have a lot more wall space to fill (formerly occupied by bookcases).  That's kinda fun.  We weren't sure what to do with it at first, but started thinking that a Big Red Canvas might just work.  So one day I bought one and did a red base coat on it with acrylic paint.

Soon after, I had my boys help me do another coat (in the garage).  This time with other colors mixed in.  I encouraged them to use a lot of paint.  They enjoyed it, and only one shirt was ruined.

I'm thinking it works.  At least, I'm happy with how it turned out, and that's all that matters, right?  There is still room for some smaller prints, too.

Another cool thing about re-arranging things is that there is more space for a couple of cool things that were formerly in weird, too-high places.  Like Eva's awesome print and our globe. (And is our thermostat set in the stupidest place you've ever seen or what?)

Something else I'm loving - my new tree curtains.  From Urban Outfitters.  They were actually sold out of the curtains, so I bought a 'tapestry' and cut it up.  Easy peasy.

It looks so great in the morning.
 

Tweet!

This week, my book club had an ornament exchange.  We drew names, and I thought that the friend I drew would appreciate a handmade ornament.  After two tries... I got an acceptable (I think) bird ornament from the book Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted gifts. 

I used some inexpensive red dotted fabric with some prized folklore fabric for the tummy.  I was going to make a 'nest' for it with this little round paper box, but as I was getting ready to go I found this cute little Daiso packaging set that I had stashed away.  Complete with nest and cellophane. 

The box even matched, but you can't tell so much in the bad lighting here - I was literally walking out the door.

I felt much better about presenting my wonky handmade bird when it had proper packaging. Is that silly?

Exactly what I wanted.

After dropping off my donations at a thrift store, I walked in to browse for a few minutes and immediately found this:

This lovely little side table.  It's just what I was looking for.  I love the legs, aren't they gorgeous?  We're doing a little living room re-do.  Nothing huge, just some paint, and moving bookcases and things from room to room - more on that later.  But I needed a side table.  Preferably one that can hold books (because we never have enough book storage), and preferably vintage.

This.  Basically I wanted THIS!  And I found it!

And did you see the drawer pull?  Perfect.

*sigh*  I love when that happens.

Streamlining and a question:

I've lightened my load.  For years (9?) I've been carrying around this big ol' planner as a wallet.  I've never even used it as a planner, but the size and weight were helpful to me - so I could easily tell when it was in my bag (am I the only one who does this?).  I've been thinking about a new wallet for a while, a real one, and when I saw Katie's it was love at first sight.  It has just the right amount of pockets (so that I had to streamline what cards I carry, but not too much - and I needed to anyway), but the best part is the clear vinyl window in the back for my driver's license, and the keyfob.  Really, it's a great design, and very well made.  There are more in her shop, too, if you're in the market for one.

So that made me streamline my whole bag.  This is what I carry with me now: wallet (I got the cute birdie one), tissues (in white cozy), lip gloss, embroidery hoop, and green pouch (which holds little scissors and all colors of floss that I'm using for my current project (currently just red).

Yeah!  It's working for me.  And much lighter to carry.

**********
And I have a question for you lovely intelligent readers out there:  Know of any really fabulous board games for the littluns?

See, up until recently, Thomas really couldn't play board games.  We'd try now and then, but he wasn't ready for the turn taking thing, the following the rules thing, and the NOT destroying the game thing.  Now he is.  Suddenly, he's playing Memory and Candyland like a pro.  Woo hoo!

But meanwhile, he's destroyed most of our 'little kid' board games (I even had to buy a new Candyland this week). So I'd like to get a couple for the family for Christmas.  I was thinking of Charlie and Lola's Pink Milk game (we're fans), and I've heard good things about Cranium's Cariboo.  There are also some lovely Eric Carle games, and Thomas games, etc. 

So let me know if you guys have found a winning game for your family! Do share!

Birthday Day

Thank you for your birthday wishes for Thomas!

He opened his birthday shirt in the morning and was way excited about it, which made me happy.  I made it using fabric from a vintage He-man sheet (and stitched it up at dance).  I thought it would be fun to go 'digital' this year.

He showed it to everyone.  And on the way to school he was telling the neighbors to 'Say Happy Birthday to me!'

And he loved the Darth Vadar gift - one of his friends was a little scared of it, though!

The decorations were simple. I had bought this Star Wars panel fabric at Hancock's months ago - since you can't always find it - and put it on the table.  I'll turn it into throw pillows for the boys at some point probably.
 

The other decorations were some red balloons, and the birthday buntings.

The cupcakes were a total rerun idea - side sprinkles (like Monkey's) and Star Wars cupcake picks (I think this is the third time I've made these!).  But hey, none of the guests had seen them, so rock on.

I planned just an hour for the party.  While there are some amazing and involved ideas for Star Wars parties (if you haven't checked out this site, you should), I wanted to keep it simple.  At this age, Thomas mostly just wanted his friends to come over and play, so I didn't plan a lot of activities.  I was thinking four 15-minute segments:  play-doh (each kid got their own mini tub and a vinyl mat to keep), pin the x-wing fighter on the Death Star, presents, and cake.

As you can see, the Death Star was properly annihilated.

Anyway, nothing took as long as I thought, but that was okay.  I figured any extra time would be spent in the playroom and that's what happened.  They all got along so well, it was awesome.  And really?  You could tell they just wanted to play, instead of playing organized games, so it was great.

He had a great day.

(And for those who are curious:  I think I spent about $20 on this party.  The kids went home with Star Wars coloring books, crayons, playdoh + mat, and candy.  I got the paper products (black plates and cups) at the dollar store, the Darth Vadar napkins and goody bags I got (unopened) at a yard sale for 25 cents each, the coloring books were from the dollar store, too, and the crayons were 25 cents at a back-to-school sale in July.  Yup, I think ahead.  The vinyl was a remnant cut up, and I spent about $1 at the copy shop.   Not too shabby.  Oh, and the Darth Vadar cutout was only $20 at a party store - and we counted that as a gift - to put in his room after the party.)

Now we are six

A big day.
My little guy - on the verge of being a big guy.

(I love his chin.)

Happy Birthday to my Thomas - I love you so.  I'm so glad that I get to be your mom.  So very glad.

And I hope you like the life-sized Darth Vadar cut-out we got you. :)

(And thanks for checking up on him - turns out he had an ear infection, but is doing just fine since taking antibiotics - so bring on the Star Wars Party this afternoon!  More on that this weekend, I'm sure.)

Dance Moms - the good kind

We've all heard about the bad dance moms, the pushy competitive ones, but did you know about the good ones?

One night a week, I get to sit and wait for Princess during her dance class.  I like to take advantage of that hour, so I sit and stitch, usually.  Some Mondays I'm just so grateful for a time to sit. Especially after a Long Day.

One week, the mom who usually sits by me just plopped down in her seat and said 'Oh, I've been waiting for this all day.'  I loved that she said that, I felt the same way.  I look forward to it, too.

This mom sits and crochets washcloths.  She's made about 16 just this semester!  When I asked her what she did with them all, she said she gives them away for birthdays or if someone's had a bad day.  I had had a bad day that particular Monday, so I (half jokingly) mentioned that - so she finished tying off the one she was finishing and handed it to me right there.

 

Beautiful, right?  I made her a tissue cozy soon after in return (and printed off this washcloth photo - but I'm not sure she got that :).

Now, nearly all the moms who are there when we are bring some sort of project, and everyone's always curious about what everyone else is doing.  I'm helping one mom get set up on etsy.  The crochet-ing mom started bringing extra cotton and hooks, and is teaching anyone who wants to learn how to crochet.  I've got some holiday stitching to do, but come January, I'm going to try.

***
p.s Eva did a little interview with me on her blog last week - in case you're curious.  I had to take a self-portrait for it (yikes!) but you can get a peek of our new living room wall color.  Y'know, if you're bored.

Invitations - check.

Thomas turns six this week!  In honor of the event, he's having his first ever 'friend party'.  Yikes!  After Princess' party in June, he started saying 'Then it will be MY birthday and all the BOYS will come!'  So yeah, we knew we had to do a party for him this year.  But it will be small-ish and short-ish.

And Star Wars (of course).

Here are the invites I made and sent out last week: 

(They're lightsabers, for those of you who aren't In The Know).

My mom found the idea here and sent me the link - could there be a better invite for the target audience of 4-6 year old BOYS?  Nope.

I made an extra one to keep in the memory box, but Monkey had to have it.  And he had to have an envelope for it - 'Because I'm invited, too!'

p.s. after I published this, Thomas woke up with a mean fever.  Darn it!  I hope he gets better REALLY soon - his bday is Thursday.

Morning update - he woke up without a fever.  So, no school, but I think we're good.  Whew!

I need a few more eyes...

Monkey's bear (AKA Supermask)needed a cape.  I took five minutes to run upstairs and quickly make one.  When I came down, I found that Thomas had been busy, too:

He hollowed out one of his (Gluten-free) loaves of bread!  Quite thoroughly!

You can't leave them alone - ever!