Loving Without Fine Print

One month into the year - how am I doing on my 2013 theme / idea / goal?

Better than I had been, but not nearly what I was hoping for.  I think I'll need to break it up and give myself some more specific guidelines, or smaller goals.  That might help me to focus better.  I'll have a smaller bite to think about for tomorrow.

Hello, Cupcake!

Sick, still sick.  Well, not sick like I'm contagious sick.  Just sick like "I've been sick for six stinking weeks and I still have this annoying cough and I can't sleep and I'm so weak and atrophied."  Pretty pathetic, I know.  I'll quit complaining now.

But it made me not want to go to the store to get a gift for my adorable niece.  She's also Angel's bestest buddy, so we couldn't just be dorks and not get a birthday present.  And I know myself well enough to know that if I give a rain check, it will never rain.  I'm so bad at getting around to things once I've put them off.  Bad procrastinator, me.  (Or is that a good procrastinator?)

So we gave the little gift the Angel picked out when we were in the store a few weeks ago (a four-year-old is better at forward thinking than I am!  For shame!), and then I made her a hat.  I don't know if she'll wear it, but we sure had fun making it.

(tried to lighten it so I could see the stitches better)

Yes, it's a giant crocheted cupcake.  That you wear on your head.  But four-year-olds can be silly and cute that way.

We kind of invented it as we went along.  Imagination and a healthy (cupcake = healthy?) understanding of real cupcake dimensions came in handy.  That, and all the cute cupcake hat pictures on etsy.  I say that "we" worked on it because Angel had to try it on every few minutes.  I needed her as my head model so that the finished product would neither be too big and sloppy, not squish one's brains out.  A fine balance, indeed.

I started on the chocolate-brown brim.  

With brown, Chain eleven, turn.  

Single crochet across - only in back loops (10 stitches).  That makes the ridged look reminiscent of fluted cupcake papers. 

Turn and repeat until it is snug (but not tight) when wrapped around head.  I think we did 40 rows?  But it goes fast.

Join last row to first (to make a tube) with sliptitch.  End and weave in ends.

Pink frosting

Double crochet around top edge of brown cupcake base with pink.  (Did I single crochet the whole thing?  It's a possibility.)  

Work in a spiral, decreasing evenly as you go to make the domed shape.

End off at the top (when the opening is too small to be able to work in anymore), but leave long ends.

Again, at the top edge of the brown cupcake base, double crochet a pink ruffle.  Work two double crochets in each stitch to make the "frosting" spilling over the edge of the cupcake.  This also hides the joining between pink and brown.

Crochet a "cherry" in red yarn.  I'm really didn't think I could do a sphere, but David cheered me on until I figured it out.  It's not that hard, but I won't deprive you of the challenge.  And I don't really remember.

Add a bit of stuffing to fill it out.  Do this before you close off the end, or you'll be poking stuffing in with a toothpick.  Don't ask how I know.

With a yarn needle, stitch the cherry to the top of the hat, hiding the last bit of hole.

The pink "frosting" looked a little droopy until she put it on , but the grins were about as perky as they come.  What a cutie!

Marshmallow Snowmen

We finally got out and played in the snow.  Every day, as the twins woke up and squinted out the window, Georgie would say, "Still.  Snow."  And Freddie would croak in with, "Need.  Build.  No.  Man."  They were dying to make some snowmen, but the snow was too powdery.  And Mom hasn't wanted to go outside.  Too sick.  Can't breathe in the yucky air.  But not today.  Finally!  We built maybe a half-dozen snowmen before the gloves got too wet and the toes got too cold and we had to come in for hot cocoa.  Looking at these faces watching me make lunch, I decided that they needed something more exciting than just PBJ (again).  So I made more snowmen.

It was nothing complicated or time-consuming, but I did get good-mother points.  Large marshmallows, a bit of food coloring (orange for the "carrot nose" and blue for the dotted mouth), toothpicks (for stability, arms, and painting on food coloring), chocolate chips (for the eyes), and a bit of frosting to hold on the eyes.  Easy. 

They loved their marshmallow snowmen!  And it made me feel like a crafty Mom (which I really am not).  I'll take all the bonus points I can get.

Trent arranged them on the plate as if they were having a snowball fight.  At our house, they probably were.

I hope I remember to go play in the snow with my kids more.  It's good for all of us.

Stinky Inky

I was over visiting with Trent's parents, and my dear mother-in-law wanted to write something down.  She grabbed a red pen, but quickly realized that it was leaking and threw it out.  A few minutes later, little Georgie came over to me with a wild look on his face.  He held his hands out to me, and they were bleeding badly!  I jumped up and rushed him to the sink so we could figure out what the damage was.  Turns out that he had retrieved the leaking red pen from the garbage, and got red ink all over his hands.  Grateful it wasn't any worse, I cleaned him up as best I could.  It wasn't until later that I saw the rest of the red ink.

It was all.  Over.  My. White.  Jeans.  I know, I know.  Mothers of many children (or at least of young children) should not wear white anything.  Anywhere.

I went home quickly and tried to remedy the situation.  I tried the hairspray trick, and it lightened the red (turned it bright pink, actually).  I tried two other solutions, washing well between.  There is definitely less ink on my white jeans now, but it is still there enough that I can't really wear them.

To someone else, they might just be pants.  But I only have two pair of jeans (and one is a worn, thrift-store find), and a couple of scruffy pair of sweatpants.  This loss constitutes a major portion of my wardrobe..  And I liked those jeans.  They fit.  Sigh.

I do like being a mom, even at times like this.  Really.

Picture Shelves

Just had to snap a shot of how the picture shelves are turning out.  I've wanted to have a black-and-white display of original art here.  Because I can.  It, like the rest of life, is a work in progress.  Must get more frames.  Must frame what I have.  Must get more art.  I put our new Family Home Evening Chart up for a splash of color.  Let's be real.  I haven't put a hanger on the back of it to really hang it on the wall, and the picture shelves are the only place where it will be high enough for the twins to not play with it.  But it looks good there.

Here's a close-up of the framed works of  two of my favorite artists: Ben (Corvette on the left) and Chris (Aslan on the right).  I think my kids are amazing.  Moms are supposed to think that, you know?  

But I'm right.

Family Home Evening Chart

We have Family Home Evening (most) Monday nights.  I like to involve everyone, so I give out assignments, but I often run into complaints.  "I had to say the prayer last week!"  "Do we really have to sing that song for three weeks in a row?"  So I made a chore chart.  I had this idea a couple of years ago, but... life trumps crafting.

I took a random piece of plywood and had Chris cut it square for me when he was complaining that there was nothing to do.  Then I covered it with red wrapping paper and duct-taped it on the back because I couldn't find the Modge-Podge.  It's here somewhere, I know it is!

I cut out a circle that was about the diameter of my stretched rubber bands, and marked twenty evenly-spaced dots around the perimeter.

The Angel helped me hammer small nails at each of the marked spots.  She really bad wanted to hammer, and was only partially mollified by handing me nails.  Yeah, I can see her swinging that thing.  Watch out.

I made labels in the shape of arrows on the computer for each person and each assignment.  I worked much faster now because the twins were up from their naps.  Glad I got the hammering done when I did!  I glued each arrow pointing to a nail.

I didn't get a picture of the rubber bands that I strung between two nails: a person and a job.  The whole thing looks like a giant string art.  It's fun and I like it.

So does Georgie.  Happy kids, and more organized family night!

Doll Hair

I didn't finish writing about the dollies I made the Angel for Christmas.

This is how I did their hair.  First, I read and studied this tutorial.   It has everything you need, and much better pictures and instructions than what I have here.  I  wrapped yarn around a book.  I taped the sides of the top and snipped it off at the bottom.  Then, I sandwiched the hair between two strips of waxed paper.  I made two wigs for a more full hairdo.

I sewed down the middle of the hair on the sewing machine, then carefully took off the waxed paper and tape.  I put on the wig, and hand-stitched it to the head along the machine stitching line.

The Angel was disturbed when I poked pins into the dolly's head.  She's already scarred from a hot cocoa spill, and now head surgery.  Poor thing.

I stitched the hair down lower, to make sure that her head stays warm even when she's upside down.  The second wig was stitched on just the same way, except that I didn't sew it lower.  I liked the full look.

And here are the first two dollies, all happy, warm, and full of personality.  They are Fern (the brunette) and Virginia (the blonde), Trent's paternal and maternal grandmothers.  Angel wanted the brown-haired dolly to be a boy, and before they had their dresses on (because that's how we know their gender, evidently), the two dollies had already spent some time hugging and kissing each other.  What a fun imagination she has!