kirstencan

Return of the Bandanna Pants

The other day, I made some more bandanna pants for my boys.  I love bandanna pants.  So light and summery, so fast to make, so inexpensive, so cute!

I last made them two years ago for a camping trip, and two of those pairs are still alive and well and being worn.

But some days, all your summer shorts are in the laundry, and you just need new ones, right?

Pretty sure these will be the boys Fourth of July outfits.

I can spot these bright red shorts from one end of the street to the other - excellent for keeping an eye on my boy who likes to visit all the dogs on our street.

I let them wear the pants before I washed them, so they look a little stiff here - I generally don't do that - and what do you know, they played in a hose, got soaked, and their skin turned colors.  That's what I get.

Anyway, if you haven't tried making kids' pants (you should!  So easy!) check out bandanna pants - they really do only take a few minutes and two bandannas, and once you see how easy they are, you can make pants out of whatever fabric you want.

Tutorial here from Stefani.

Now does anyone know of any great bandanna sources (not Walmart).  I got these from Hobby Lobby for $.99, but I'd love some different colors without paying much more for them.

Old quilt finds new home

I picked up this beauty of a quilt at a yard sale this morning.  It is in really great condition, and entirely hand-pieced and hand-quilted.  I think the pattern might be called 'Grandmother's Flower Garden'?

I was checking it out and asked if it was indeed hand sewn, and the answer was "I don't know, it was a gift" and that I could have it for five dollars.

Well, I think the person who put the hours and hours into this lovely gift would be horrified by the price tag (besides the fact that they were selling it!), but would hopefully be comforted by the fact that it is appreciated by the buyer.

Not sure what we're doing with it yet - it may be a summer quilt for my daughter's bed.  It has a lot of different pinks in it - very pretty!

I couldn't very well leave it there, now could I?

I thought this day would never come!

Today was the first day I've been able to hang my laundry outside this year.  Hooray, hoorah!

After the cottonwoods were finally done 'snowing' and after three weeks of rain, the weather went straight for temp's in the 90's.  We kind of expected that, and no complaints here - at least we're under 100!

I have three lines in my backyard, and my awesome IKEA rack which can hold a whole load by itself (and is especially great for dishcloths, kids' tshirts, cloth napkins, underpants and socks).

I love hanging my laundry outside.  I love having the excuse to take a few minutes in my backyard under the cottonwood trees and hang or fold laundry, several times a day.  I love watching the kids play behind/under the flapping sheets.

I love that it's better for the earth, too.

Now where did all my clothespins go?  I ask that every year.  I really need a clothespin bag, I guess...

p.s. Go read Molly's post about hanging laundry, too.

EDITED TO ADD:

The first load dried very quickly on the line - the second one?  I had to take it in nearly dry... because of a thunderstorm. 

Aaaannd.... we're back.

Saturday mornings so far

I haven't shown you my yard sale scores from this summer yet!  There have been a few Saturdays I've gone out - most of them rainy, of course.  I haven't found any crazy amazing finds (yet), but plenty of moderately cool ones, which is happy.

The day before Princess' birthday, I found her a New In Box metronome.    I was wondering if I should get it or not when I peeked in the box and saw that it was cherry red!  Also, the price tag said $37, but the lady sold it to me for $3.  So that was good.

That day I also found some New In Box Freaky Little Girly Pet toys - for less than $1, and some manga.  Really, I should have wrapped this stuff up for her birthday...

Then I found this set of knitting looms for $1.  Now I need to figure out how to use them... Princess has tried crochet, but was having a hard time - I think this might be easier for her.

Last weekend I came home with only these three boxes - but I had a lovely morning listening to music and driving around downtown neighborhoods that I normally don't go to (and only spent $7).

See that box in the middle?  I'll bet you could only find Gocco stuff at the yard sale of a blogger.  It's a fabric kit!!!  I need to pick up a few more bulbs, though.

And we've been having fun playing the Lego Creator game with our little Lego Maniacs - although somehow there are always more people (clones) than we need - and some casualties.  Pretty sure that's not how you're supposed to play...

Speaking of clones... I stopped by one yard sale recently because I saw that they had lots of boys' clothes.  As I'm looking around I find a Star Wars clone costume.  One of those cheesy ones that I just won't buy for my kids (at least not full-price), that nearly every boy in our neighborhood had last Halloween (and still wear regularly for Star Wars battles).  Mask and all, I couldn't turn it down for less than $1.

I was driving home with my box of clothes wondering exactly how on earth my two boys were going to share the costume, and then when we unpacked the box... somehow there were TWO costumes.  I swear I only saw and picked up one, but I'm loving that somehow it multiplied in the box. ;) The boys dress in costumes often, so it's fun to have more stuff to throw in the dress-up box.

Let's see - that's the interesting stuff, but I've also picked up some clothes and books, cool letter stamps, and an outside table for the back patio (kinda seen here - last photo).  We'll eat outside more when it stops raining!

I have more on my list to look for this summer - what are you looking for?  Or have you found anything awesome?

p.s. I just noticed this is post #600!!!  A nice big round number, eh?

Long week...

...but we're almost done with it.

It's just been a tiring week.  Really slow and mellow, but tiring.  It always surprises me how much more quiet and calm it is when Thomas is sick.  I can definitely tell he's almost better today - if you know what I mean. :)

This week we've watched the rain.  Lots and lots of rain.  I think that maybe there's been one day in the past 2 weeks that didn't have a thunderstorm.  I think it even still rained that day, though.

We've picked (and eaten!) lots and lots of strawberries. From our garden.  I don't usually blog about our garden, but Aaron has such a green thumb, and we're lucky to get a lot of food out of it. 

We've eaten a lot of popsicles.

It's been the kind of week where the poor sick boy conks out sound asleep on the floor before 7:00pm - in the mis-matched pajamas he hadn't taken off since the night before. 

Heck, we've all been in our pajamas half the day anyway.

We've been woken up in the night - by both of the boys.  One because he's sick, and one just because.  Those kind of nights - they show up here and there, don't they?

All week Thomas has woken up before 6:00am, too - those mornings show up here and there, too.  Not my favorites.

We're tired.

Lots of vitamin C and hand washing to make sure no one else gets sick - it's worked so far!

To keep one kid still, we've all watched lots of movies - including introducing the kids to Castle in the Sky and Pokemon from the library.  I think I'm going to regret that last one, but it was slim pickin's at the library that day...

We got an awesome package from my pal Lori.  She made me this super cute bag!  I love it and have already used it - thanks, Lori!

Among the included goodies is this awesome hand-quilted coaster.  I love hand-quilting - it looks so cool.

She even made this doll quilt (!) and pillow for Princess' dolls.  Princess was thrilled, she says they 'needed' (ha!) a new quilt and especially a pillow. 
I just love the ticking stripes.  So pretty!

And here's a shot of Molly all snuggled up- for Aidin!

Thanks so much!

And now I'm going to get moving and make some pigs-in-a-blanket for dinner.  I haven't made that for years - but it's been that kind of week.

I might make cookies, too...

Dance teacher gifts

My daughter's dance recital is this week and this year has a 'Circus' theme.  I thought it would be fun to make a brooch for one of her teachers (who owns the studio) out of curled up carnival tickets.

I had the idea in my head, and it turned out pretty close - which is good, but it's one of those projects that I'm not sure is cool or totally stupid.  I used a giant vintage button for the middle.  It's not really meant to be an 'everyday' accessory - just for the recital.  Hmmmm....

This morning I whipped up two super fast drawstring bags for her dance teachers - to hold the 'Dancing Waters' (get it?) Bath and Body Works stuff that we found on sale this weekend - yeah!

The bags would be better slightly bigger, but I used a fat quarter that I had in my stash (that kinda matched) and got two bags out of it, so I'm calling it good.

And now to pray some more that Princess doesn't get sick this week and can actually attend her dance classes, dress rehearsal, and recital!  Aaron was sick last week, Thomas picked it up this weekend, and I'm just hoping that if the rest of us get it it's NEXT week!  She's worked so hard and knows her dances so well - she really wants to perform! 

Off to make some more orange juice!

DAISO!

One of the things I was really looking forward to doing while in San Diego was stopping by the local DAISO store - it's like a Japanese dollar store - kinda.  Cuteness galore, and everything is like $1.69, $3, or $5.  There are only a few in the U.S. and I live nowhere near one.  Jen once sent me some DAISO goodies - and I was hooked.

Anyway, the shopping expedition just didn't happen.  That was only okay because I knew my mom was going to San Diego the next week and would go shopping for me - she knew how much I wanted to go and even looked at DAISO pictures on flickr to see what I wanted!

She not only shopped for me, but she called me when she got there and kept me on the line the whole time - so she could describe everything and I could make choices - how cool is that??!

So here's a little show-and-tell of Japanese cuteness: 
First up - bento boxes!

When I thought that Thomas might be in public school for first grade, I was planning on getting him a bento (or more likely a Laptop Lunchbox).  They go really well with kids with food allegies because you can pack non-sandwich lunches really easily.  Not to mention that you can make them all cute!

Since he's homeschooled now, these are for picnics - still fun!

Here's Princess' bento - in French of course!

I wonder if Japanese to French is as cool/funny as Japanese to English...

Here's mine:  I wish it is a good day today.

See why I love this stuff?

These are little cupcake wrapper type bento dividers to keep foods separate.

Don't get me started about my love for this stationary.  It's so amazing.

My faves are the DonutBear notepad, Happy Elephant (soursour), and this stroll bear: Every day is weather of the stroll.

Wise words, Stroll Bear!

Here are some really awesome coloring books/Japanese workbooks.  The kids love them.

Here's most of the loot all together.  I had the best time digging through the bag when my mom got back in town! 

I got a couple of little drawstring bags for the kids' bentos - and can't wait for some picnicking now!

Thank you, Mom!

(How awesome is she?)

Princess turns 9!

We only do 'friend parties' every other year - but that doesn't mean that you can't do special little details, right?  And I love special little details.

So how do you make a birthday awesome for a really cool girl who's turning nine?

*You fancy up her birthday crown with some embroidery and leave it near her croissant-with-nutella birthday breakfast.

*You leave her a note that sends her on a birthday treasure hunt.

*You make a birthday shirt!  She is learning French and is into all things French (I blame ballet) - so this year I thought I'd make her a 'neuf' (nine) shirt.

*You make paper party hats for her dolls - and slip them on while she's sleeping - so they can surprise her, too!

*You make a fairy ring cake - with toadstool cupcakes (inspired by Cathy!).

- and try hard to not let her little brother sneak a cupcake until after she blows out the candles.

*Two words:  roller skates.

*You let her talk on the phone to aunts and grandmas as long as she wants.

*You bring her cake outside and invite the neighbors to help sing to her.

*You can let her snuggle up and watch Return of the King after her little brothers go to bed.

*Oh, also, if you can arrange to have her piano recital and a dance performance on the same weekend, that's good, too.

All in all - a very sweet birthday for the most amazing nine year old I know.
Happy Birthday to my Princess!

Surfer Girl

I just have to say how proud I was of my girl when we went to the beach.  I think I've mentioned that she's not the physically daring type, and just doesn't scramble up trees and across monkey bars.  That's okay.

So, even though she's always been comfortable in water, I was still amazed when she grabbed the boogie board and went right in the ocean, caught her first (small) wave, rode it in, squealed with delight, and ran right back out!

The boys got chances to try it, Aaron and I got a little board time, but when we got back in, there was usually a little girl hovering just waiting for her turn again.  She also had a great time going out farther with her uncle and catching a few bigger waves.

That's my girl.  I have so many memories of boogie boarding in Hawaii - the first when I was about her age.  I just loved watching her out there.

(And now I have "Surfin' Safari" stuck in my head - again! It makes a very nice soundtrack to this post, though).

Okay, that's all my posts about our vacation, I promise - but not about my girl, because her birthday's this weekend and she'll be NINE!  Whoa.

So her birthday shirt is done, off to prepare a few more surprises - and wait for the UPS man.

The Logistics of Vacation

Kids with Autism don't deal well with change.  Which means that often they don't travel well either.  At least, mine doesn't.  To prepare Thomas for our vacation, we read some books about vacations and the beach.

 

We talked about how we were going to be in the car all day - and sleep at a hotel.  We realized halfway to California that we'd forgotten to warn him about the sound the ocean makes.  Again, we were pretty sure he'd love the beach, but you never know - so then we talked about how we couldn't wait to hear the sound of the waves, etc.

Because Thomas is on a gluten-free, dairy-free, etc. etc. diet, the travel food situation is much more complicated.  Eating out is really hard for us.  On the road, we made sandwiches in the car, and then stopped for dinner at the first IN-N-OUT Burger we saw.  Because they have gluten and dairy-free burgers (protein style) and fries!  Fries are the really exciting thing here.  Thomas was way excited to get 'restaurant fries'!

My brother and his family live in San Diego, and had told us about a cool pizza restaurant that had gluten-free pizzas on the menu - so we made a point of going there one night as well - what a treat! The last time we took everyone to a pizza restaurant we had to sneak in a GF pizza in my purse!

We booked a suite with a kitchen in our hotel, for the same reasons.  We ate breakfast at the hotel lobby (bringing Thomas' gluten-free frozen donuts or muffins with us and picking up a banana in the lobby for him), lunch was usually sandwiches in our room, and we cooked dinner all but one night.  The little kitchen had plates, pans, dishwasher, etc.  The freezer was actually the most useful - we were able to keep Thomas' GF bread, donuts, muffins, and the frozen pasta sauce and stir-fry that we'd brought for dinners in there.  And once, a few peanut butter covered knives that I left dirty in the sink magically disappeared to be replaced with clean ones in the drawer.  I love maid service.

The kids each packed a few small toys in their own bags, and I packed crayons and a new coloring book, Nintendo DS's and some Playfoam (our new replacement for Play Doh)for downtime at the hotel.  They also took their favorite snuggly toys for sleeping.  We'd planned on staying all day at the beach, but it ended up so much better coming back to the hotel for lunch and some quiet time before going back to the beach.

The suite ended up being a good idea anyway - having another room meant there was another place to go to if you wanted to chill.  We weren't all crowded in one.  Plus, when one of the boys got up extra early in the mornings, Aaron or I would get up with him and go to the other room  - which meant it didn't wake up everyone else!  Sweet.

A surprise for the kids was a day at Legoland.  It was awesome.  I can't say enough good things about that place.  I was so glad they listed nutrition information for their restaurants on their website!  Turns out, Thomas could have a burger (no bun) AND fries there, too!  So I knew in advance I didn't have to bring food in there for him - which was SO great.  We were able to stay in the park for about 5 1/2 hours, which is WAY more than we've been able to stay  at places like that in the past.  Thomas did great and loved the roller coasters - his laugh was hysterical and contagious.  He loved Miniland (with entire cities made of Legos on display) best of all.

We picked up a special pass for special needs kids that allowed us to skip the lines and schedule our rides, but we never even used it.  We went at such a perfect time, the lines were very short!  Thomas was a little overloaded by the end, so that's when we left - but we all had a great time there!

(Lego Guggenheim museum!)

So, yeah, a little more thought and effort went into this trip than a lot of vacations, probably.  I'm always so jealous of families that can just pack up and go without a lot of planning ahead of time - but the planning was worth it for us!