The mouths of babes

I turned what was my tablecloth closet into a little house for the kids and hung a curtain over the doorway last week. Sammi likes to peek out of the curtain and say "see ya next time!"

This afternoon she was asking for a yogurt. She ran over and opened the fridge and discovered she couldn't reach the yogurt. "You're bigger and Daddy's bigger and Sammi needs to get bigger and bigger so I can get the yogurt!"

Last week I noticed she was counting to 13. "Sammi! You can count past 10." "Mommy! We do things at school - playing, singing, counting." D'oh to mommy, eh?

This morning at the mall we saw the Easter bunny sitting there all alone so we went over to have a little peek (we will have to go back for photos when we have Jack with us). Sam, in typical three year old fashion, was clutching ALL THE THINGS including a hairbrush, a play blow dryer, a sea shell, and some stickers. She quickly handed them over to me "mom, hold these" so she could wave hello and shake hands with the bunny.

My children call each other "newb" all the live long day. When she gets tired of it she will yell at Jackson "I AM NOT A NEWB! I AM SAMMI GIRL! YOU ARE JACKIE BOY! HE IS GRINTY BOY!"

My dad is trying to sell a truck so it's sitting in my driveway. It's driving Sam crazy. She asks me every day if "Uncle Christen" (aka Uncle Chris) is coming today to get that truck. She also quickly informed him that his new mustache "was ugly" and that he "needed to turn that loud music off right now it's breaking my ears."

And when I was singing Do you wannnnnna build a snowman, she informed me "there is no way we can build a snowman with no snow mom."

Bossy little corker, isn't she? :-)

Flea Market Sundays

It was still so cold at the flea this morning I just wanted to scream and cry and have a tantrum.  It's almost April for goodness sake!

I picked up a few things anyway.

Another foil egg.

A feed sack.

A handmade crochet tablecloth with a big ugly stain. I am not sure what to do about it? I don't generally buy or wash this kind of stuff.

And a really awesome round mirror. But taking pictures of mirrors is IMPOSSIBLE and my foot hurts. Heh.

P.S. To celebrate 100 items in the Etsy shop the code TENOFF gets you 10% off orders of $5 or more through April 4, go shop since it's too cold for garage sales still! :-)

I asked my husband to

My husband's parents are coming to visit in two short weeks.

If you know me then you know that means we must FIX ALL THE THINGS we never bothered to fix in the last two years in the house before they arrive.

So I asked Dave to fix the bathroom ceiling. About two years ago the paint on our ceilings started falling off everywhere. (Only three years after we completely remodeled the house for goodness sake!)

Once he started scraping off the loose paint it was like there was no end to it. It just kept peeling off. Huge sheets of it.

In every.

single.

room.

in.

here.

I guess the upside is the bathroom ceiling looks great? LOL (Except we have a really poor taping job in several areas including that back bathroom wall, do not look closely.)

Grant 18 months

 Ah, 18 months. You've arrived in a flurry of very curly (?) hair!

 I can *almost* taste having two much more independent little people. Half way to two!

Here we go!

Dear Grant,

At 18 months you are:
*INSANELY stubborn
*having temper tantrums
*obsessed with buttons, cords, electronics, phones, the hanger hook in the van, lights, light switches, outlets (lord let those child proofing things work for awhile), plugs, etc
*I am refusing to cut your hair. I do not know why, but I am, so you are a bit hippyish in the hair department.
* Walking and trying to run
*climbing into the fort and going down the slide
*my very best eater
*ahem, ALWAYS eating or asking for food
*Saying "want it" or "want that"
*Saying other things too - hi bye mom dad what why (but surprisingly not eat)
*trying very hard to be part of the sibling pack
*leery of anything new (even mommy with no glasses)
*only sleeping through the night about 60% of the time still (COME ON KID)
*Still having a bottle at bed time (Mom and dad are clearly slackers this time)
*a crazy ass hair puller (and yes you do it on purpose when you are mad)
*sporting a mouth full of teeth
*you chewed gum yesterday. Gum you found somewhere in the pantry. I looked over and you were all chewing it like "WHAT? Dude I chew gum all the time mom!"
*Still pretty huge, we see the doctor tomorrow for stats but I think at least 30 lbs and nearing 3 feet tall I imagine
*wearing a 2T and heading to a 3T quickly
*A mimicker - you will mimick anything
*a bath HATER, no water on the head thankyouverymuch
*becoming helpful - putting dishes in the sink, trash in the can, bringing me your shoes and your jacket, climbing into your car seat (but NEVER wanting to put the seatbelt on)
*A kisser! you make this lip smacking sound for kisses
*Always on the go, impossible to get a decent photo of
*halfway to two big years old!

My sweet, adorable, crazy, loud, intense, lovey baby boy.

Love you littlest dude,
mama

Under the big top

On Friday Jack came bounding into the kitchen asking if we could go to the circus while it was in town.

I debated for a bit. It wasn't in the budget, I am sort of iffy about circuses because of animal welfare, and I was not at all sure the little kids could sit for that.

In the end I decided why not? So off we went.

It's the Moolah Shrine circus. We used to always go to their parade with Jack but then they moved it to the dead of winter in March and it's way too cold to go now.

I have to say I was wildly impressed.

These bears are incredible. I mean a bear riding a bike? Yes please! (It took my human child 9 years to learn to do that!)

The bears also danced to gangnam style.

At intermission my kids were starting to get a little nuts. We decided to leave and we were on our way out the door when a shriner gifted us with tickets to a private suite. He said very kindly "it has a private bathroom and carpet and the kids can run around. It will help a lot."  So off we went to check it out. It was AWESOME. The kids were still crazy though. LOL

These two were quick change artists. They changed clothes like 400 times in the center ring. It was amazing. I still cannot sort out how she was doing it all. AND? Its the perfect job for Sammi! Sparkles and many outfit changes? Sign her up!

By now half the free world has heard about these lovely elephants. Later that afternoon they made a break for it. They walked out the loading dock door and smashed up some cars while trying to walk through the parking lot. (Not viciously I don't think, I think they are just huge and were trying to walk.)

They were allowed to rest the remainder of the time here.

I will say this - as an adult I was watching all the other stuff going on while people were performing. The sort of hidden men in black stuff - spreading sawdust on big cat pee, the moving of props, etc. I did NOT see this circus being in any way mean to those animals. In fact when the big cats didn't really seem very cooperative they just worked around it. I still have all sorts of mixed circus animal feelings though.

These motorcycle riders were also amazing. They crammed four riders going around and around in that little ball.

The finale is when this crazy dude lit himself on fire...

and was shot out of that big crossbow. That is a flaming him in the sky there. LOL

Under the big top was a LOT of fun and I won't hesitate to return next year. (When hopefully Grant and Sam are a bit better at sitting there.)

Accomplishments

Look how much spinach I have eaten! LOL (I put the coke can there so you can judge the size of that bag.)

As part of our budget lock down I am working really hard to eat up every single thing we buy. This giant bag of spinach was at GFS for $3 (I know right?) and I ate nearly the entire thing by myself.

Yumm!

Busy week coming up here on the blog this week, hope to see you then.

Flea Market Sundays

 This is all I've got this week - an antique lobster bowl. (The tail is a handle.)

I don't eat lobster. Or serve lobster.

But it sure is pretty.

Happy Sunday.

Food, Frozen, Flying Geese, Frustrations & Fabric

I bought myself 6 yards of this fabric on Ebay. The seller thinks it might be 1970s Liberty Lawn.  (It's not marked though.) It is SO, SO lovely and light.

 

 I bought it with the idea of making a really super soft, lightweight, wholecloth quilt.

 Is there a batting that is really thin and light that isn't poly? Warm and natural is too heavy for what I have in mind and I think I might need to internet order some.

Speaking of internet ordering - we are members of the Disney movie club. We ordered Frozen through them. I paid for that movie more than two weeks ago. Everyone in the free world has had it since Tuesday. Us? Still.not.here.

I am so mad about that actually. We paid a premium price for it through them and my kids are DYING for it to get here. I cannot watch Let it Go on Youtube one more day of my life. WTF Disney Movie Club????

 I am two days away from having the quilting done on the flying geese quilt. It is so heavy (all those seams!) that I can only quilt six rows a day before my shoulders start to complain.

It also only takes about six rows before I get so sick of arguing with my sewing machine.

I did something completely unlike me and went on Ebay and bought myself a Bernina 440QE.

Oh yes I did. Just like that. I am driving the huskystar into the ground doing all this heavy quilting on a machine that is not made for it and the poor thing gets more broken and awful with every day.

My poor Ginty  is SO frustrated right now. He is really having communication DRAMA. He wants me to know things, lots of things! and he is having epic tantrums over my not understanding these very important things. 

His receptive language has really exploded the last two weeks. He has started getting his shoes and his jacket to go bye bye. He has started putting his dishes in the sink. He has started occasionally telling me he "want that." But oh boy. The drama. I am regretting not teaching him any sign language like I did with the other two.

One thing he has no drama over is food. It's funny how with Jack I was completely insane about what he ate. I exposed him to all these great healthy things ever so slowly to be sure of allergies. I strictly forbade candies and all that crap.  Sammi has always been a pretty picky eater (I think she has texture aversions.) But this boy? He eats food man. Any food really. Lentils? Yes please! Today he already eaten his lunch when he spotted me eating mine. He came right over and discovered I had honey mustard. So he dipped everything on my plate in the stuff (even the berries) and ate it ALL. The entire plate.

And yes, I let him eat whatever he pleases. My days of caring about a lollipop are long gone. Sorry Jack. (I am sure now I deprived you for no good reason. LOL)

So, that's what is news here.

Other than my pondering taking the kids to the circus tomorrow. Jack is asking to go so I think we will do it. I am sort of against circuses because I am not so sure it's the right thing to do in terms of animal rights, but see the above lollipop nonsense. I should just let the kids enjoy the circus once or twice and get on with my life.

Right?  :-)

Thank goodness it's Friday! Happy day to you all.

A day late, a gold coin short

 

Despite my intense crabbiness yesterday I did attempt the annual leprechaun photo. I didn't try very hard though because I was not in the mood for the children's crap. Or perhaps as my aunt pointed (more accurately?) the children were not in the mood for my crap. LOL

 

 This one is a corker.

 The best I could get. I think Sam looks almost exactly like she did last year.

 I bought that sheet to sell then realized I was crazy. It is perfect for this photo.

 The little bit of decorating we did.

 As I was taking it down this morning Sammi says "why you taking down the celebration?"  "No more 'leckrechauns'? What's next?"

I don't actually know what's next, Easter seems a long way off.

Deeeep breath.

Last week Jack was on spring break.

 

Five solid days of listening to the commotion (fighting) of the children.

 

Then Friday and Saturday Dave spent two solid days on the roof repairing it. Two solid days of 24 hour childcare for me.

 

I do nothing but cook and clean and referee and work my small business right now. My stupid arthritis in my foot is hurting from doing too much. I haven't done a single creative thing in weeks. I cannot afford a baby sitter. I haven't even read a book! I don't even have cable anymore so I can just sit and veg out with Tim Gunn.

 

And then this morning. This morning! My two smaller children took turns screaming and crying and having one INSANELY intense tantrum after another. For hours.

 

Over.the.edge.man.

 

Sammi never naps anymore but I have forced her into her room so I can regroup. (Jack always used to have quiet time in his room so I could refocus. Sammi refuses to stay in there but I have to figure out something. I cannot go on like this much longer without a moment where I can think! I cannot solve a single one of their problems without some regrouping time.)

 

Anyway.

 Today's costume is Elmo.

 Grant was curious about this one. (I was surprised she put it on, she used to scream that she HATES THAT HA-HA, which is what she calls Elmo.)

 And then the fighting started again.

I've picked up a few things for the shop that I am on the fence about selling:

 feedsack duvet cover;

 vintage duvet cover;

 supremely cool whole cloth tied quilt;

what I think might be an antique silk velvet carriage blanket. One side is the most gorgeous raspberry pink and the other is that Victorian red.

 An old dry cleaning tag cautions one to brush it with a fur brush. (God this thing is so heavy and so soft and so fabulous. But what would I do with it? Seems dead wrong to cut it up. It would make the most lovely Easter bunnies though. Must get confirmation on what it is and what it is worth.)

And another whole cloth quilt in super fun and funky flowers. They are pink and purple and yellow on an aqua background. I cannot for the life of me get a good photo of it.

I have been selling everything I pick up and I simply cannot decide what to do with these...

Alright I am off to regroup for a minute.

Cheerio.