it's baaaaaack - and we're Making!

a Making Things Monday catch up =)

because, you know - I had all this free time on my maternity leave to make stuff. (HA.... HAHAHA!)

(and of course- let's not forget my biggest MakingThingsMonday - Monday December 21st, I made this!

but really - I got some cute things made in the 5-minute snippets I had free (lol)

things like a pacifier leash (for pacifiers that Ms Mack won't take... she only takes a wub-a-nub at this point, whenever she does take a pacifier...)

and this dress (pinterest inspired!)

(that Ms. Mack wore to our Thursday BF Group's Easter "Party")

And then I finally made Ms. Mack's shadow box (much like Button's, on the left!)

On my weekly trips to Michaels (oiy vey - it's probably a good thing I came back to work! lol) I got these sweets and painted them to girl up the nursery (which she's not even sleeping in yet with Button. LOL)

So that's what I've been up to the past few months...  (I've got some crochet projects I'd like to work on - like wrist-warmers for E's teenage adopted sisters, maybe if I start now they'll be done by the time cold weather rolls around again! lol

One time...

(Spring Cleaning Post)

... I spent two hours at Walmart.  I was only returning two pairs of shoes for Button (we needed a bigger size!!) but I was blissfully ALONE in the store... (ha - this mental note was made BEFORE having two kids, when Button was just a year old! LOL)

I spent those two hours just wandering the aisle, appreciating the quiet and empty cart, not worrying about what little hands can reach and pull off the shelves...

(I might as well have been frolicking through this field...)

~ * ~ * ~ * ~      ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

With each holiday that passes, and with it cute little glitter clothes pins and colored paper straws and personalized metal buckets/cups/bags, I am more and more afraid I'm becoming That Mom...

The mom that other moms roll their eyes at, when she arrives the day of the Valentine's Party with homemade heart-shaped personalized cookies for all the kids (and teachers!) or rolls up the day before Christmas break with  handmade mini-thumbprint ornaments for all the teachers... 

But I love to make!

 I love to craft! 

 (do we all remember how crazy I went for Button's first birthday party?!)

also - HELLOOOO Making Things Monday (aka series that I totally dropped the ball on...)

While I might have totally lost the free-time to shower now with two kids, I hope to always be That Mom that comes up with cute things like pink Rice Krispie treats (made with pink marshmallows! Also - that was my lazy holiday... with a newborn at home, it was thrown together last minute!) and personalized Christmas gifts that show the teachers/directors how much they mean to us!

Because I love to be throwing this shit together at 11pm the night before, and then watch the teachers squeal with delight over their salt-dough thumb-print ornaments... 

Regular Programming: Makin' Mucho!

Monday Makin' here a day late (trying to keep up with the "regular" series... ha)

it's just gonna be a flood of pictures, projects, and maybe some approximate dates I did things...

Firstly - after seeing on message boards how someone had created their own living locket (kind of like this company's) but through separate vendors on Etsy, making it less than HALF the cost of that company's finished piece - I decided to do the same!




This picture kind of sucks, it more shows how the whole piece looks hanging together...

The individual components can be seen better here: (all prices incl S&H)
1. a Rose gold locket (with chain) ($9)
2. (a second option rose gold toggle chain) ($8)
3. CHARM: music clef with rhinestone ($0.65)    I've been playing piano for nearly 25 years
4. CHARM: "LOVE" ($1.50)     I just loved (ha, get it!?) this charm
5. CHARM: black camera with rhinestone ($1.50)     my hobby/second passion to piano
6. CHARM: swarovski birth stones (December + July) ($1.30total)     Button's birthstone, and Baby#2's birthstone (since she's a RCS, there's no chance she'll be January lol)
7. CHARMS: floating pearls-qty5 ($2.50)     The pearls were just pretty, filling out the rest of the locket
8. large rhinestone angel wing ($4)     For my angel baby...

So for a total of $34.67 (add'l $6 in misc S&H) I got a living locket necklace that would have cost
from that company:
Locket   =  $20
Toggle Chain  = $22
Reg. Chain   = $22
(3) charms at average $5/ea = $15 total
Swarovski Birthstones (2) = $10 total
(best comparable) angel wing dangle  = $8
TOTAL: $97 !!!!!

so yea, that was awesome...


I also have been enjoying my adult coloring book (no no noooooo not a XXX coloring book!!! *I don't think they make enough shades of "Flesh" crayons for that!!!)

This kind of adult coloring book:

Very therapeutic, yet really time consuming (I think it took a few weeks' of 5-minute sessions to finish this one!)


And a really awesome Monday Makin' production is:
HOMEGROWN KALE!

We've had kale salad, kale chips (recipe here), and kale smoothies! (no smoothie recipes - I just wing it!) ((ok the "we" only applies to that first one, I've been the one making - and eating - kale chips and smoothies!))
We have 4-5 heads going in our garden right now - and for just a few small plants, we get at least 3-4 salads' worth each time I pick - weekly!



And here's a peek at the big project that's been on going for a number of months now (currently re-crocheting the hood as the first came out big enough for a bowling ball...)

The pieces before assembly... ... ... ... and the pieces being assembled!

What goes on Mondays again?

oh yea, "Making things!"


and um... either I've stopped documenting all the Making (which is partly true) or I've totally stopped making as much (which is mostly true) but I've got a few old projects I never shared!

and I mean old - like, Valentine's day goodies for Button's daycare class
(check out the first pic - version.1 of the strawberry jelly heart pops for the teachers... something with how I re-rolled the dough for the top hearts, and they shrunk back in size after I cut them... lol
the final product came out much nicer, and looked great wrapped in plastic and tied with ribbon!)

Or how about the boot cuffs I crocheted this winter (and even though it's almost July - they can nearly be worn again like when it's almost 60 degrees and rainy on Sunday)

Or more interestingly, the cowl I just finished crocheting for this coming winter (as I layer my few maternity tanks and tees under cardigans) - no pictures taken yet, but it looks pretty AND warm!

And I'm actually working on the first panel for a baby sweater!!! And it's in cream, so it'll work whether the tech was correct in her prediction or not! ;)
I've never made actual clothing before, or anything that had to be pieced together - so I'm hoping to get alot of input and advice from my mom next week -

we'll all be together in CO for a large bi-annual family reunion for my dad's side of the family!

*And we all?
entails:  Parents, Sister (and family - husband + 2 girls), Brother (and family - wife and 21month old)

aaaaaand we're all sharing a house!
Should be veeeeery interesting, considering SIL is the crazy one from Christmas time who wouldn't let bubbles touch her daughter's skin, and who pulled a honey nut cheerio from out of her daughter's mouth because she didn't want her eating "high fructose corn syrup"
(also - they're pregnant again as well and due exactly one month before us!!!)

what's convenient is that they (brother and SIL) are renting a 5-passenger sedan while there, and parents are driving up from TX with a 7-passenger van, so between the two vehicles we can seat all 10 adults and 2 carseats (which is really awesome - because for us to rent a third vehicle would cost over $400!!!)

except now - it may become an issue because, even though bro and SIL are flying in a day earlier than everyone else, they may spend a day during the reunion week to go visit friends.  In their car...

whatever.

we'll walk to the hotel for reunion festivities.

or run shuttles with the parents' big van...

now I'm purposefully being the laid-back one when bro and SIL are crazy uppity "DON'T FEED MY BABY HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP" people...
lol

very interesting indeed...




(the previous Making Things Monday crafts/entries:)
1. Ben's playroom art wall
2. Jack-O-Laterns, delicious meals, and a shelf  (*STILL NOT HUNG!)
3. Birthday Board Reminder
4. Christmas Chargers & Paper Trees
5. Crochet has begun: hats!
6. Pinot's Pallette Paint Nights!
7. a Crayon Box for Button

A Milestone (of dreams) and Makin' Things this Monday (6w1d)

So end of last week, I had my first bleeding dream (I sat in the bathroom Friday morning and noted in the blogger app so I wouldn't forget to post about it - good thing I did too! I just now saw the draft and was like, OH YEAAA!!!!)


So in the dream, I guess I was a little ho bag, sleeping with like 4 guys and realized I was around CD15 (FW!)
Cue the dream freak-out...
But then I got my period/started bleeding and I was like,  whew! ... wait...

Wasn't I already pregnant???


and this baby-making business is still exhausting... Friday night I fell asleep while putting Button to bed... I laid him in the crib, and I curled up, cramped on the glider (he would whine when I stepped out of the room... *sigh* it's something he pulls like, once every few weeks...) and he's laying in his crib kicking his monkey toy that's attached to the bars...
I didn't realize 45 minutes had passed (and Button still wasn't sleeping!) until I stirred and checked the clock!

Oh and more crazy dreams: I was, I think, going to some large indoor rodeo (I think it was AT my parents' church?!)

It morphed (like dreams do) into a circus, and all of a sudden I'm like, doing trapeze from the audience, swinging around on some rope.  There were 1-2 "mean girls" I recognized from high school, complete with frosty pink, nearly lilac, lipstick and chokers - awesome 90's gear!

Something like the "ring master" invites me to join the circus...

The same night, in another dream, I'm watching TV from a couch, and my sister and an hasidic Jewish woman (it was a speech therapist from my actual job!) are on a nearby couch, I think flirting!


All that to say - when I fall asleep (usually on the couch around 9:30) I get some crazy wack-a-doo dreams...



A quick Monday of Making Things: this thing being a craft/crayon/marker box for Button... (started as a Converse box with some leftover paper from the crazy Circus Birthday Bash planning last year)

I taped (meticulously) four pieces of patterned paper together, and then (painstakingly!) traced out a design of fold- and cut-lines...

I taped (on the inside, and again on the seams) everything down (lazy woman's hot glue...) and with a few trimmings here and there, my pattern worked!!

I think it came out pretty cute, and I'm excited to put it in his desk!

 (considering this was on my to-do list and sitting on the guest bedroom for a number of months, it maybe be a few more days/weeks until it actually gets moved to his desk in the playroom... lol)

Spring Cleaning Continued!

My Blogger spring-cleaning continues this Monday - remember that old series about making shit that I once started and continued quite sporadically?
(P.S. I will never not think of Cher in association with "Sporadically"... Never.)

I've discovered (like, last fall discovered) this fabulous place called Pinot's Pallette.

Get this - they provide the aprons, the paint brushes, paint and canvas (and the cleanup!) and then let you DRINK while learning to paint trying your best to replicate the instructor's artwork!

I've gone once on a Girls' Night (for which we brought a small buffet of food and half a case of wine...)

What's really awesome is they walk you through, step-by-step (as seen in pictures) so you too can paint like the pros!

I loved my first visit so much, that I dragged E back for a date night (after which, he totally admitted he really liked it!)

It was a perfect seasonal canvas - of which we now had two of... (der, didn't really think that through...) so we gave one to my SIL!

After hibernating all winter, I'd learned that Pinot's has begun Brunch Sundays - they provide not only all the materials and instructions, now they provide the bagels and Orange Juice! (must bring own champagne!)  And so Dee and I have a brunch date for Sunday March 29th had a date YESTERDAY to paint this lovely beaut:

(which, if you haven't noticed, is going to match my living room perfectly!)

I didn't LOVE this painting as much as I thought I would...

And even though it matches the living room, it's a shame I don't really love it (I mean - the three "two-petal" flowers on the left look like they have teeth...)

I DID sneak a photo of a painting in the bathroom that I want to try and duplicate on my own... having been to three classes now, I can understand a lot more about the "layers" that may make up a background, and the mixture of a few basic primary colors to get all different shades...

(also because - there's supposedly only "Four ((3 now!)) tickets left!" for this class, and I'm not sure who I can get to commit to come with me... working hubby now for a brunch date!)

Mucho Makin'...

Another one of my "regular" (HA if there is such a thing for me...) series, is Makin' Things Monday! (Best alliteration I could come up with for my craftiness... deal with it.)

During the first installation, I showed off Button's "artwork" (a.k.a. the daycare teacher's artwork...)

(I have more artwork I'll have to rotate through as the seasons change - you know, the footprint scarecrows and hearts each have an appropriate season! And the first time he came home with some green paint under one of his toenails I thought, EWW FOOT FUNGUS?!?!)


During the next installation, I got half-way through refurb-ing a shelf that I brought with me from my parents' in Texas (who knows if it was any special shelf or just some junk sitting in their garage they thought they'd get rid of and I wanted it... LOL just ask E how I am with "family heirlooms" - we just rearranged the nursery the other day, and I packed away (an honestly UGLY) little ceramic night light - it's stained and chipped! - but it got packed away because my mom bought in 1982 when my older brother was born!)
Anway - so the shelf is "halfway" because, while it's painted the bright fun colors for the playroom (where Button's "artwork" gallery is located), it apparently doesn't have the right hanging hardware, according to E and so it sits and waits for him to re-fit it with hardware... (I have a feeling I'll end up doing it myself out of impatience this weekend... I AM WOMAN hear me DRILL!)

In the third of the series came my first P!nterest creation - The Birthday Calendar REMINDER!

In the most recent blurb (because really, they'd become little tags at the end of a larger post about travel, or engagement parties attended, or play dates we'd gone to) I continued the P!nterest kick:

 My chargers and my paper tree!


Most recently (ok in the last month or so...) I ambitiously decided to make a hat for Button! (This after mom re-taught me how to crochet during Christmas in Texas (and that after she had first tried to teach me just a few days after Button was born - yea, that brain wadn't absorbing JackShit...))

After a slight rough start (actually, a few rough restarts) I got the hang of it, and then decided the pattern I'd found and was following would be too small.

And so, accidentally created a hat for a grown adult (you're welcome E!)

Version 2.0 of Button's hat came much better (and gave me good practice!)

He loves to wear it doesn't pull it off!

And with that good hat practice, I've begun making these:

My Lent addition (instead of giving something up - although I guess it could be considered giving up my free evenings? lol that's a reach...) is crocheting baby hats - preemie & newborn size - for both our church's donations they're collecting this month, as well as for donations to our local hospitals (hopefully I can find a day during the week to get them delivered...)

I've made the two above (after a false start and loss of one hat - it's horrible, I'm not even going to show you...) and one more not pictured (yellow with green brim strip) and I've got probably 4-5lbs of yarn to make more!
(weird that yarn is measured in lbs - but I mean these suckers... I've gotten three hats out of the blue so far, and barely used half of it!)

How about you?

Making anything (even if it's just dinner!) this Monday?

[Texas] We Survived...

I'm alive! I'm here!

And I have a good reason for radio silence!

We survived 9 days in TX with my family for the holidays (I use the term "survived" mostly because of my INSANE SIL who:
... carries around an epi-pen for her 15-m.o. daughter.  Who isn't allergic to anything, but she carries it "Just In Case..."
... scrapes the poop out of her daughter's DISPOSABLE DIAPER into the toilet before throwing it away
... threw out barbs such as, "oh well we try not to give her too many [food] pouches, there's just SO much sugar in those things" after we gave Button one
... scrubbed out my mom's tub (Bathtime Central for both babies while in Texas) after Button's bath for her daughter's hygiene.  (No, Button wasn't covered in shit going into the bath.  Yes, we used soap and baby wash so you'd think the tub would be just fine?)

And that's just scratching the surface.  On top of it all, she speaks (unnaturally) in the highest, softest "Babyiest" voice ever.  Even after her daughter's in bed for the night...

But I'll admit it was kind of fun (yet still awkward enough to make one squirm) to witness E poke and poke at her:
(scene background: BabyGirl developed dry skin and eczema (me thinks because of the fact that my SIL wouldn't put ANY. LOTION. on the poor girl after any of her baths as an infant... no joke).
The skin got so bad recently that BabyGirl developed a staff infection! And so is seeing a dermatologist (dude I didn't start to see my derm until I was almost 30 years old!) and is now using these heavy, fancy expensive creams (again, which SIL only dabbles on little spots as "needed."))
Scene:
Crazy SIL: We don't really give Babygirl bubble baths - we only use soap every 4 baths.
E: Why don't you give her bubbles? Button loves it!
Crazy SIL: Oh we just don't, she has to have special shampoos and lotions.
E: ..... and why does that mean you can't give her bubbles?
BIL interjects: Oh, the shampoo is like, $20/bottle-expensive...
E: ....soooo why not use just a drop or two? even the smallest amount will make a good amount of bubbles...
Crazy SIL: [squirms and fidgets] WE JUST DON'T DO BUBBLES!

So she didn't really scream that last part, but yea - it was fun to watch E twist and jab at her and her neuroses...

Anyways - outside of surviving, we celebrated Christmas and New Year's there (and sadly, I celebrated E.T. midnight which was 11pm local time, and then went to bed. wahoo)

Ben got a BigBoy haircut (to go with his first day - today - in the Toddler room at daycare, I cried a little bit - They have these little tables and chairs they sit at for snack time.. BAGELS this morning!)

(BTW - if you can't tell, Button LOVES getting haircuts... /sarcasm)

We flew back on New Year's Day (hence why I went to bed "early" the night before!)

 Ben slept on the flight and loved exploring the airports!

After we picked up my car from the long-term lot, we slowly pieced our family back together, picking up this dog there and that dog here from their respective sitters...

                                            *****

Oh and it's MONDAY!
Some things I've made (not-so) recently:

Cheap chargers from Michaels (prob about a buck a piece...)
some good 'ole chalk board paint...
Finished Product: "Tis the Season" written on the red one
    interchangeable once the season is over with "Bon Appetit" on the gold one

And my other Christmas Craft this year:

(Thanks P!nterest, for sucking up all of my free time and money...)

Shakin' and Makin'

it's Monday.

I'll probably make stuff tonight:

and by "probably" I mean I may end up cleaning the kitchen, organize the chaos that is in the guest bedroom (gifts, wrapping- and tissue-paper, tape, scissors.  ALL OVER) sit for a minute to breathe, and find myself in bed with my latest NookNook... but we'll see.

But here's some stuff I've recently Made.  

maybe even on Mondays:

I'm the worst.  THE.  WORST.  at remembering birthdays (I mean, really - aside from those easy to remember - obviously MY family, and for some reason my MIL (Dec 1st).)

It was awful - we went to visit my sister and her family this past spring.  About a month or so after Niece #1's birthday.  Other mutual family were also with us - and had brought small gifts for Niece #1 and Niece #2 (7yo and 6yo respectively).  And Niece #2 turns to E and I and says, "Hey - did YOUUUU get [Niece#1] anything for her birfday?!"

OMG what a call-out...

And then as Niece #2's birthday passed on Oct 29th (and on Halloween I realized I'd forgotten to send EVEN A CARD) I said ENOUGH.

And took to p!nterest.... =)

 Got my E's power drills out (let me hear you, women who can wield a drill!!!)

I made a list (ahead of time and with E's help) of aaalll the birthdays I wanted to remember...

listed per month...

I have to say, I think it came out pretty cute! (pardon the yellow lighting...) 

Here's to never forgetting another birthday!
(and avoiding future embarrassing call-outs by 6-year-olds!!)

Catching Up... Kind of

There was this nice and neat list of stuff to post about, all ready in a drafted post... but since blogger just decided to DELETE that list.. (THANKS BLOGGER!!!!!!) it's going to have to be mostly by memory, triggered by the pictures I had queued up!
(but seriously, EFF YOU blogger...)

So here goes, the last few weeks (months?!) in a nutshell:

We found Ben's costume (despite all wishy-washy day dreams of making a costume from scratch, one worth of a Pinterest-home-Page-Pin!) at Walmart!

(Ben had lots of fun shopping, and in fact tried loading half the toy aisle into his cart...)

We spent weekends with cousins at our favorite play gym - and it's our favorite because they serve Starbucks!!!

We prepared for Halloween WAY early... (like, I started buying candy the end of September - no it didn't last - and we carved on only the second weekend of October... I'll spare you images of the sad sacks our pumpkins turned into after the gorgeous late summer weather we had that wilted our leering Jack-O-Lanterns...)

Mickey pumpkin for Button!

I road-raged my ass off to get to Ben's daycare in time for his Halloween parade (I made it to the middle of the parking lot, discovered the first batch of Infant 2 kids had gone - started to cry when I thought I'd missed him ((seriously Kate? It's just a Halloween parade!)) then jumped for joy when E mouthed to me from his spot on the parade route (around the little enclosed playground...) "He's in the second group from Infant Two - haven't come out yet!")

 (cutest thing, his hesitancy at the whole she-bang, and then the shy smile when he realized we were there watching..... #meltingheart)

I cooked some awesome Food.  On Fridays.  (and also throughout the week...)

yummy Pasta Carbonara! (E hates peas, remember?! and so his looked really plain and not colorful...)

I had a half can of condensed (evaporated? I confused the two...) milk left over from the cream carbonara sauce, so I'd decided to make caramel sauce out of for some caramel corn! Well, the only microwave popcorn we had was kettle corn, so I had to even pop corn the old fashioned way...

I horribly burnt the first batch (see pic) as the oil was WAY too hot... but you can see (pic 2) I finally got the hang of it!  (I ended up eating just a few pieces, bagged the rest - and promptly threw it all away a week later...)

Some ground beef, Italian-seasoned bread crumbs, and spinach made for some yummy stuffed shells - Button couldn't get enough!

Also -

I wore clothes.  

On Wednesdays.. (and also throughout the week!)

My new favorite outfit:

(The plaid shirt is actually E's couin's... borrowed. I'm probably going to just offer to buy it from her at this point... lol)

I started making some really cool shit.  (and still haven't finished it... But I totally lay that blame on E - he said he didn't trust the hanging hooks that were currently on the shelf and insists they be replaced! I'm still waiting for him, weeks later...)

And you remember the groom whose Montreal Bachelor Party ended up with just one attendee and his bro-in-law?
Well we dropped Ben off (for the night!) at Grandma's, and went to the wedding where we made friends with our table-mates: laughed about kids eating poop (theirs!) and kids getting tongued by dogs (ours!) and got deliciously toasted.

It was fun.





There.

You're caught up.

See you next month!!! =P

((just kidding... I was serious about the whole I'm going to try to stop sucking at blogging! thing on Friday!!))

((and I also just remembered/found pictures from our Pumpkin Patch visit! I'll have to continue with Halloween 2014 next post, cuz I also just found pictures from the KICK-ASS cookies I made for Button's party...))