Things have been a little quiet around here. I can’t seem to put into words how I have been feeling lately. Well, without sounding like a crazy person anyway, so I won’t even try. So instead I’ve just been taking it easy and telling myself “tomorrow will be great”. (Not that every day isn’t great. Which I guess is the point. Do you ever feel sad for no reason?) Anyway, the weather has been really nice this week so we have been enjoying a lot of afternoons in the yard. Today we went for a long walk. That was nice.
I’ve been working on quite a few projects lately. Maybe tomorrow I’ll share a sneak peak of them all. I also somehow managed to get the house clean and keep it clean for more than 5 minutes. If that isn’t a miracle I don’t know what is.
It’s been a little quiet around here lately. I haven’t been feeling well and every time I sit down to do pretty much anything, my brain just stops working. (It’s made work interesting, that’s for sure.) So here I am, curled up in bed with my favorite blanket, drinking ginger ale that my sweet hubby brought home for me, wishing I didn’t forget my cough drops down stairs and finishing up some freelance work before I can go to sleep. I’m not sure how easily sleep will come tonight though. I’m worried about a certain little baby girl, and praying that she will be safe until she finds a home where she can be loved and taken care of the way she deserves… {sigh} Some things you just have to leave in the hands of the Lord. Hopefully I will be feeling better tomorrow. Feeling better is always nice.
The difference between nine months and ten months is pretty incredible. This little mister has FOUR teeth now, can stand up on his own and loves chasing his sister around the house with his walker toy. It’s been a busy month! My favorite thing right now is how excited he is to see me when I get home from work. His little face just lights up. Of course, if I don’t start feeding him within 30 seconds that smile quickly turns into crying. He’s still nursing like a champ (The teeth have made that interesting) and he loves eating solids. His favorite food is noodles, but he IS a kid of course. He also likes rice and beans, and strawberries.
Only two more months until he is a year old… {sigh} I’ve already started thinking about a miniature birthday celebration for my miniature man. I love him.
I’m pretty excited about this book I got for Christmas from my sister-in-law. I really don’t think I have to explain to you all how great it is for kids (and adults!) to get outside. Even when it’s cold outside, it just makes our day so much better to get out there. This book is a nice reference, it has a section for each month, with enough season appropriate activities for every day.
So we’ve decided to try and go outside every day this year, at least for a little while. I’ll be posting a summary of our adventures here once a week. Maybe it will inspire you to get outside and enjoy the fresh air more often! I think it’s funny that it’s only the 5th and we already have 6 days. We started a little early :)
Day 1
This was a beautiful day! We ran around in the yard and enjoyed the pretty weather.
Day 2
It was dark by the time we got home (and cold!) but we bundled up, stuck both kids in the stroller, and went for a walk to look at the Christmas lights in our neighborhood. Juniper did NOT want to go home.
Day 3
COLD COLD COLD! We just went out for a quick run around on the back porch.
Day 4
It was too cold to go outside today, so instead we looked out the window with the binoculars I found in our basement.
Day 5
It was a nice day so we went for a walk. I let Juniper decide which way she wanted to go, so of course we went towards any house that still has Christmas lights up!
Day 6
Today was beautiful again. During Flynn’s nap, Juniper and I went outside and had a picnic. Then we went exploring and played in the leaves. We stayed out for more than an hour it was so pretty!
I had a lovely birthday this year. Shaun and I went out to dinner yesterday (Kid-free! Thanks Oma!) at El Maquey and ate some yummy mexican food. I’ve got a nice big stack of new crafty books just waiting for me to read them. (A combination of Christmas and birthday gifts.) And of course, a new half-pony half-monkey monster to keep me company. What more could a girl ask for?
Well, I had so much fun with last year’s birthday list that I decided to make another one this year! You can’t really tell from this photo, but that card it TINY! I’m surprised I was able to fit it all on there! Man, imagine this list when I’m 85!
1. Paint my dining room chandelier
2. Sew myself a dress
3. Bake a cake from scratch
4. HOMEMADE CHEESECAKE
5. Do a “1 Photo an Hour”
6. Start a compost and plant a garden
7. Spend time outside every day
8. Organize all of my “scrapbookables” (Yes I made up that word…)
9. Sew a quilt
10. Learn how to use my camera
11. Finish the kitchen (as in painting)
12. Write in my journal more often
13. Go camping
14. Build a play area under the deck
15. Finish my saved games
16. Read 6 books
17. Get family photos taken
18. Knit mittens
19. Do one act of service each month
20. Make a budget and stick to it
21. Finish my Personal Progress
22. Learn how to drive standard
23. Go on a thrift trip in the city
24. NOT chop all my hair off
25. Finish my studio
26. Send birthday cards to my family
27. Sew doll clothes for Juniper
I was having trouble coming up with the last one so I asked Juniper “What do you think mommy should do this year?” and she said, “Umm… make a dress for mine dolly!”
This blog is being guest posted on by Crystalyn’s evil genius husband. Now I know what most of you are thinking: “Hey, I know her husband, he’s not evil, and he’s defiantly not a genius!” Well, I have always taken the Columbo approach to my evil geniusing: Make em’ think you’re a bumbling idiot and generally nice guy, then when they let their guard down, bam! I couldn’t help but notice I have a doomsday device pointed at the white house. Of course a good phase one of any world domination plan is to develop a reputation for humorous sarcasm which frees you to speak openly about your conspiracies without anyone taking you seriously, thus making this post possible. Unfortunately for the would be conquerors of the world this post focuses on how to make a half pony half monkey monster to please your mate. Hybrid animals can make a wonderfully unique birthday or anniversary gift that really says, “I love you in the way only an evil genius can.” Not only are they hand made and good at demonstrating your near godlike manipulation of genetics, but they also show that your love is more important than details like morality, or animal rights.
The first step to creation is of course destruction. If you want to create a utopian society you must first get rid of the imperfect one that’s already there, it’s just taking up space anyway. For our little project it’s the monkeys that need a little help in this department. They need to be split in half. You’ll notice I said monkeys as in more than one, for your creation to be a true 50/50 split of pony and monkey you will need at least two monkeys to balance out the size advantage of the pony. Now there are several ways to split a monkey in two. Other evil geniuses might tell you “if you can’t do it with style it’s not worth doing.” But as for me I prefer simple direct and efficient. Any large blade will do. Yeah sure a good old fashioned guillotine would be great but it’s not worth the investment if you are only going to use it once. I used an industrial grade paper cutter, not too fancy but it got the job done.
Next it’s time to combine your bisected monkeys with your pony. For this you’re going to half to use science. Practically any since will do so long as the average person has no idea how it actually works. Atomic radiation is classic but played out, lighting is great for that old school approach, in a pinch you can even use magnets, no one seems to know how they work. At this point your decision will most likely be limited by funding and resources. I mean we would all love to do our monster making with particle accelerators and black holes but who can really find the time to covertly break into CERN or highjack a space shuttle. I was in a hurry so I used the always handy microwave. Now here is where all the wannabe poser evil geniuses get into trouble, they see the movies and think “Oh, I can just throw some random animals into some random tachyon field and bam: mutant monster!” If it were that easy every ones wife would be putting hay and bananas in the blender on February 14th in a despite attempt to feed their gift. No, you have to bite the bullet and use your years of evil genius education to calibrate the microwave to precise specifications insuring that the monster is properly mutated without being cooked or accidently transported through time. I was in a rush so mine came out sterile, which is probably for the best.
So there you have it, a perfect one of a kind monstrosity to impress your loved one. But before you run and get your monkey net here are a few things to consider before giving this gift.
1) Just because you sole mate likes monkeys and ponies doesn’t necessarily mean she will like a half pony half monkey monster.
2) Is your lover expecting a new pet as a gift? A monster is a big responsibility, many monsters have unusual and often evil diets, will the neighbors be uptight about a few missing children?
3) Does the apple your eye actually know that you are in love with her? This is huge, if you have been loving from afar and plan to use this kind of gift to win her heart all I can say is it won’t work, trust me, I know. This is a gift for established relationships only!
(Don’t I have the best husband ever?! He even took cell phone pictures of his creative process because he knows me so well! And if you are curious.. watch this music video. I’m warning you though… that song will get stuck in your head.)
Guess who is nine months old now? (Well, this post is a few days late but whatever) It’s funny how when you are pregnant, nine months seems like FOREVER, but after the baby is born it seems like no time at all. Flynn is one extremely curious little guy. He is far too interested in exploring to sit and have his picture taken. He enjoyed his first Christmas very much, lots of wrapping paper to tear up and try to eat. He is FAST. It’s ridiculous how quickly he can crawl around the house. Any time he gets even remotely near the stairs, his big sister grabs his leg and drags him around the living room. (Which he loves, of course!)
He is definitely not a little baby anymore. I miss newborn Flynn and all his sweet cuddles, but nine month old Flynn sure is an awesome little guy. I can’t wait to meet grown up Flynn and see what kind of man he turns out to be. (I’m kidding, I can TOTALLY wait.)
This past Friday my sweet little girl turned three years old. Three. She’s grown up so much in this past year, it’s killing me. She’s the most energetic and sweetest kid I’ve ever met. I am so grateful to have her in my life.
We woke up to a pretty surprise today, our first snow! So fun! And yes, those are socks… I don’t own any gloves yet ha! We celebrated our first snow day by building our very first fire in our fireplace. Perfect for warming up after the inevitable snow ball fight.
After lunch, I got some time to work on my latest project. I’m having so much fun hand-quilting these clamshells. If you can guess what I’m making, I will mail you $10.
Eight months just seems like such a long time, except for when I think about how old this little man is. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long at all. When I look at him I can’t help but think, who is this enormous baby baby crawling around my house?! (He’s wearing a size 12month now, and even fits into a couple of 18month pajamas…) So when is this eight month old the happiest? When he’s sitting in a cardboard box of course! Gosh he’s cute.
