 |
|
  Perhaps a lovely Easter gift? I think these are positively adorable and since I have four little guys I have a wonderful excuse to get all of them. What little boy wouldn’t want to ride an alligator or tame a zebra or elephant? Anwyn is more into the blue spotted pony.  I think Fox might just have wavy hair.  He has always had a bit of a cowlick.
I was told by someone that I have not posted nearly enough pictures of Fox. So here they are.
 Anwyn kindly modeled my new branch necklace.  I'm thinking this will be perfect with a white tank or t-shirt. This is my bit of spring I can wear now without freezing. I’m excited for my spring wardrobe to come out. Usually what happens is that the weather teases me for about a week, and I think that winter is over so I pull out all my spring things just in time for the temperature to drop about ten degrees and I am left freezing cold and wishing for a thick wool sweater that has now been packed away. But boy I sure look like it should be spring! So, I am making myself wait and to tide myself over until then I have magazine clippings all over my walls of tanks and cardigans in navy, red or buttery yellow stripes because more than anything I want to add stripes to my closet. The fault is all Coco’s. This past weekend, my mom, sister and I watched Coco before Chanelwhich I thought was a perfectly delightful movie (though I think Caitlin thought it got to be a bit slow.) In one scene, Coco is dressed in fisherman’s stripes and that was it. I have been seeing and dreaming stripes ever since. Really, who wouldn’t want to be as classy as Coco?  Most of my wonderful loot.
The library book sale happens only once a year and on a grand scale. I mark my calendar and wait with great excitement for it to come round. They have loads and loads of culled library books and most of them for only a quarter. That is how I come home with a stack of 28 books for a mere $7.00! I can’t find an adult book worth reading to save my life, but the kids’ books are pure joy for me to look through and this year I came home with a lot of poetry books. I have a list of some of my favorites. As I dug through the poetry section I was so hopping to find some books by Douglas Florian and as luck would have it I got two, Beast Feast and Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs. He has others that I have read and are just as endearing. If you can get your hands on any of his books, they are a real treat to read.  Beast Feast  An excerpt from Beast Feast.  The pictures are super clever and the kids get a kick out of the poems.  This is an excerpt from Lizards, Frogs and Polliwogs.  A very fun little box turtle. This is one that, though I own it already, I bought because I just couldn’t pass it up we love it so much. I’ll have to bestow it upon some worthy soul who’ll appreciate it as much as I do. Hurry, Hurry Mary Dear by N.M Bodecker is a most delightful poem about a woman rushing about to get all the jobs done about the house before winter sets in. Her husband sitting in his recliner would help but he is sooooo busy. And in the end she’s had enough. The pictures are most charming.  Mary at one of her endless jobs. A rather macabre tale of a foolish fly and a cunning spider. The illustrations are most apropos, done in the dark Victorian Gothic style of the old silent films. To me there has always been something creepy about those old silent films. The poem is an old one originally written in 1829 by Mary Howitt but this particular illustrator is Tony DiTerlizzi. This has been one of Athan’s favorites and seeing that I read it almost every day, I pretty much have it memorized.  A cautionary tale of a vain little fly and a cunning spider.  Here is our vain and easily deceived little fly.  Poor little fly.  This is my favorite of the two. Here are some lovely ideas for your Valentine’s cards. I adored her work so much that I got two of these for myself and plan on framing them for my guest bedroom. Visiting her site again, I saw some new works that walls might not be complete without. I’m totally loving the Eiffel Tower and carousel. And how fun is that super hero one?  This looks like a Paris street scene.  Here are our Valentine's decorations. Valentine’s Day is a simply delightful holiday for a month when one is wanting some cheering up, chocolates, and a dinner out. So here is a project you can do to brighten your very February windows. All you need is an iron, wax paper, and some crayons. Take two sheets of wax paper and sandwich crayon shavings between them, whatever colors you would like, and iron it. To protect my iron I put paper over and under the wax paper. Now you have a lovely, large piece of “stained glass” from which to cut your hearts. String them together with a needle and thread and hang them in your windows. Happy Valentine’s Day.  Some of the hearts we hang singly.  This is truly a great CD. If you don’t have this CD, you should. The songs are beautifully done by three very talented girls from Canada who sing harmony in these folksy, bluegrassy songs. My two most favorite on the whole disc are Long Time Traveller and The Devil’s Paintbrush Road. I’m planning on getting 40 Days but I have to say I think this is their best. Amazon has all their CD’s with listening clips should you want to sample the music.  Anwyn at work. The kids love doing projects and sometimes it sounds like too much mess to bother with but once in a while I let them do something besides coloring in a coloring book. So the other day I let them cut up magazines and glue the pieces on paper. For Anwyn, I made a house that she had to decorate. She cut out lights and beds to put in the rooms and wallpapered the the upstairs in pink. It was just the kind of house Anwyn would love to live in complete with a glittery chandelier in the foyer. The boys had ponds they had to fill with fish but did not stick with the project quite as long as Anwyn.  Here is the front door and some lovely landscaping.  Here is the house but as you can see not all the rooms are filled. It is a work in progress.  This is the upstairs bedroom wallpapered in pink.  I'm afraid this is all that's left of the jacket. I find it a bit ironic that my post on organizing is being written last minute. I’m not so sure that I’m that great at organizing. It’s just that it’s easy to organize when you don’t have anything to organize.
My mom said I live a spartan life. I like to get rid of stuff, actually I LOVE to get rid of stuff. It’s almost a hobby I have. And there is little I regret having gotten rid of. I guess there is the lettermens jacket. That was Eric’s and that is still a sore subject around here. But other than that… I first practiced this method on my mom when I was still at home because she was, as she said herself, a pack rat. I got rid of lots of her junk this way and yes, she does know about it now (at least she will after she reads this post). In fact, I think she said she was thankful I had done it. I would take all the things I wanted to get rid of and stuff them in a big garbage bag and then stuff the bag in some dark hole never to be found by my mom. If she wondered where a particular item had wandered off to; an item I thought needed the ol’ heave ho, I could quickly produce it. “Why here it is!” I would keep the bag around for about three months and if she never asked for an item from the bag the whole thing went to the Goodwill, never opened again. That’s the rule of this game, if you never yearn for another thing out of the bag you have to get rid of all of it without peaking. Otherwise you may find yourself longing for the collection of rocks you painted in second grade or the bright yellow smiley face teapot. You know the kind of things I’m talking about. I generally skip this step and ship it all to the Goodwill. I should probably employ this method more around my house and we might not be short a lettermens jacket.  Milk glass candles. I also sprinkled some white feathers around them. The Christmas decorations are down and I could almost cry because the house seems so empty. I love seasonal decorations, especially in the winter. I don’t know if you have ever seen milk glass in the antique stores. Vases, cups, plates and all of it for a dime a dozen. If you should come across some vases, buy them and fill your fireplace mantle with them. You won’t regret it. Put little votives in them and you will have the most lovely wintry mantle ever.  All my clocks We are all pretty cozy here awaiting the new year. The snow is coming down steadily and I have a new sheep skin rug on the floor in front of the fireplace which has fast become the favorite spot in the house. I think Eric has decreed that everyone has to stay up till midnight. We’ll probably play games and drink champagne and shout in the New Year.  Happy New Year! 3 COMMENTS | |
 When the hair just isn't working...  I buzz it off. He is the third baby to have his head buzzed. While I like baby hair, scruffy greasy hair is not cute and neither is male pattern baldness. I am never so attached to their baby hair that I won’t buzz it off at the slightest sign of one of these characteristics.
 This chalk definitely fulfills my need for color, and on black it's just amazing. I have always loved those kitchen chalkboards, messy though they are, and I finally made one for myself. Heaven only knows what I’ll find to write on it but it sure does look cool. That’s all that really matters, right? I finished putting on the last coat of paint last night. I’m an impatient person and wanted it on my wall today. Fox was asleep so I quickly drilled holes in the board, slammed a nail in the wall and got it hanging. Unfortunately it is now 11:30 and I’m still in my pajamas. I just hope someone doesn’t knock at the door. They wouldn’t understand. Though I’m still in my bathrobe, I got a lot accomplished. I really do have to get dressed, though, as you can see from the board I have a children’s craft party here at 1:00. My dining room will soon be filled with small children sprinkling glitter and glue all over the room. What fun!  Here are some of the creations. I bring to you the humble snowflake. I forgot how fun these can be to make. The kids and I had a blast doing them. I discovered the key to making a good snowflake is in the fold. YouTube had some good and easy how-to videos. These are some of the flakes I made and it you look carefully they are actually animals. But lest you think I was clever enough to come up with this idea, here is the site.  This is the giraffe and you can see a bit of the ram. |
    |
|
|
|
