tap tap tap.... is this thing on?

I had one guess. One. (and thank you Michelle for that one guess)

I give up.

Are you even out there people. Jeez.

I'm done pouting because I am over joyed to tell you that this:


Became this:


Is it not beautiful?

And guess what else?!?!



My husband MADE IT. I know I am crafty, but the sheer amount of math that it took to determine what wood to purchase had my head reeling. (Math and I, are. not. friends.)


We recently bought a new mattress and up graded from a double (yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard you gasp and ask out loud 'what were they thinking'?!?) to a king (and we will never look back). Our previous head board was only as big as a queen, so we had to come up with another solution.



And what a stunning solution it is.

If you are looking for me I think you know where you'll find me. Curled up in our giant bed with the sheets pulled up over my head (so the girlies can't find me) and probably thanking my lucky stars that I found a man who is so much better at math than I am.

Hallelujah!


and good night.

Ya know?

So Kevin has been busy in the last three or so weeks.

I'll give you a hint:


That is a bunch of 2x4s, a couple of 2x12s, some 2x10s and a smathering of other pieces of solid pine (and please, ignore the mess that is the rest of our basement).

Any guesses as to what this is in its rawest form? (and if you know you don't get to guess...)

Any guesses on how many band aids Kev's gone through in three weeks? (I kid, he is super safe and wouldn't need band aids, ever... no really.)

I'll give you a hint. It is wicked heavy. Wicked I tell you.

Doing my part to "green" my daughters

Do you read a million blogs like me? Do you need one more?

One of the newer blogs I read is Greening Sam and Avery. I love her blog because she focuses on simple activities and crafts to do with her children (who are about the same age as mine) that focus on getting out into nature and caring for our earth. She is a very passionate naturalist and is sharing her ideas for all of us who may not be like minded. I mean I try to live by reduce, reuse, recycle. Try.

Each month Abbie presents a challenge for her readers. In August it was camping. That wasn't going to happen. This month she as asked her readers to make something new out of something from your recycle bin. Although I have a larger project for some glass jars I rescued from the recycling bin, but who knows if I'll get to that in time to meet the deadline. So today, when an idea for a VERY simple craft and reuse hit me I thought of the Greening Challenge.


I emptied this small plastic spice jar today.

So I had Madeline clean it out and we dried it really well. See that part with the holes on the right? I threw that back in the recycle bin.

Then Madeline filled it up with dried pinto beans.

See?

We only filled it a third of the way because:



The shake is just so much more satisfying in person. Promise. Lydia loves anything that makes noise. She shook that can for ever and carried it around under my feet as I cooked dinner.

It is a tiny little project I know. It took all of 10 minutes. That is my kind of project.

So go check out Greening Sam and Avery and let's hope there is more time in my life for her wonderful activities!

mg

Craft Fail

So last week Madeline and I attempted the always popular fall leaf craft.

You know, the one where you iron leaves in between sheets of wax paper, then hang them from the windows where they catch the fall sun and the fall colors sparkle in the rays.

I think I may have built this craft up too big in my head.


Madeline was totally uninterested until we broke out the leaves.

Then she just wanted to pull them apart. I did manage to save this one leaf from her frenzied tearing.

So how is this a fail you ask? Let me tell you! The wax paper didn't melt. We tried both sides of the paper, just in case I had messed it up and ironed it backwards and as soon as you lifted the wax paper, the leaf just fell out.

So what did I learn from this project? #1- Test a craft before attempting it with a 2 1/2 year old. She wasn't disapointed or anything, but I think she questioned my sanity. #2- I have no clue which side of wax paper has wax on it! #3- leaves smell very bad when ironed.

This is not my first, nor my last craft fail. Honestly I am just proud that I attempted a craft with my 2 1/2 year old just two weeks after bringing home a second baby! Go me!

I'll let you know how the next craft project turns out... that is if I can work up the nerve to try that again.

mg

Finally

When I found out I was pregnant in 2006 I bought a needlepoint stocking. I had grand plans for that stocking and I started working on it that December. I got about a third of it done before life got busy with work and Madeline's birth that spring. I thought I could pick it back up and finish it with out any problems before Christmas 2007.

Christmas Day 2007

As you can see I was still only about 1/3 of the way done with it on Christmas Day last year. So Madeline didn't have her stocking last year, not that she noticed.

This year is a different story. Two years after I started this stocking (almost to the day) I finished it. Here it is!

Isn't it wonderful?!? If you don't think so, then don't tell me. I don't want to hear it. I think it was worth the hundred + hours I estimate it took me to make it.

Madeline digs it. She loves that Oli is on her stocking.... b/c the cat totally looks like Olive.

We may not be having another baby just yet, but I really should start working on the next stocking. You never know how long it is going to take to get a second stocking done!

mg