Crafting for those who are NOT certifiably insane

Like I said, in times of trouble, I look to crafts to distract me.

Cool Mom Picks just posted this. It's cute, but the price tag is completely uncalled for.

Am I the only one who thinks Cool Mom Picks has really gone off the expensive deep end lately? I find myself not even bothering to check that site because the things they feature are crazy. I did buy their featured Valentines to raise money, but that's about it. I used to check every day at least once a day. Now, though, I fear they've gone crazy, so I just don't bother.

Well, that pillow is cute, but I'm going to challenge myself. I believe I can recreate it completely free with fabric from my stash.

So stay tuned and let's see if I'm actually motivated enough to do it.

Wordless (day after) Wednesday: Getting A Leg Up

The day she was born, the midwife swaddled her and put her to bed with me. We noticed that TheBaby worked her left foot loose. We thought it was cute, but reswaddled her. She did it again.

To this day (3 months later), she insists on getting her left foot out of every swaddle and only then will she go to sleep. I snuck into the room to get that shot while she slept.

It's (the day after) Wordless Wednesday.

Spider owl?

I just love the items in JooSweetie's Etsy shop and now there's more cuteness. I first saw her jewelry a while ago. It's so cute. From there, I found her super cute dolls. I also found her bibs which I adore (including a bunch of military-themed ones).

Although, I must tell you all that I have never bought anything from her store because I find her prices a bit high. Still, I can drool at the cuteness from afar.

Today, I found that she has owls.

There's
a ninja owl
Clark, Super owl
and of course, Wonderowl
Elektra, the assassin owl
Batowl
a pirate owl
and Spiderowl.

Aren't those the cutest things? I'm so in love.

I like...

I'm not one of those fancy parenting bloggers who gets free stuff to try and share. So I don't have reviews to offer you, but I do have some things that I like.

I'm on a quest for lunch bags/boxes for the kids for camp.

These snack bags are far too cute.

My favorites are

• the blue dog
• the pink cat
• the hippo ballerina
• and the cow
• the bee is on sale

This one isn't a snack sack, but it's my very favorite lunch box from that site. The price is actually pretty good. Usually, these sites have insanely expensive products that I'll drool over, but never dream of buying (Posh Tots, anyone?). The lunch box the girls really wanted at Target was $15. This one is $13.50. You have to figure in shipping (free shipping over $100, but there's no way I'm spending $100 on my quest for a lunch box), but even when you figure in shipping, the price is pretty close to what you find in stores.

While there, I saw some really cute back packs.

Among my favorites are

• dogs
• monkeys
• more monkeys
• poodle

In the end, I'll probably wind up buying something cheap and decorating it myself (those snack sacks gave me some great ideas), but hey, I can drool.

UPDATE
Oh my goodness, I can't believe I just found a Last Unicorn lunch box. Forget the kids. I want that. I also want the Muppet Show one.

How evil is it that I want to send my Jewish kids to Jewish camp with this lunch box?

When I told dh that this exists, he said, "THAT'S what we need to get them." Ha ha ha ha...NO.

Oh my goodness, these are so freaking cute. I'm leaning towards those right now.

Although, my girly girls would LOVE this.

Oh boy! This is gonna take a while.

For no particular reason

see more cute dogs and puppies

We're off to see the Wizard...

to ask him why the freaking munchkins can't make their absolutely adorable shoes in sizes that fit my kids (or hell, even me).

At Kohl's last week, I annoyed the husband by drooling over these clogs. It doesn't help that I'm forever complaining about the price of children's shoes and how I would never spend more than $10 for most shoes. Then those pop up and I was almost willing to actually entertain the idea of getting them--at full price. Alas, they stop before sizes into which my children can actually fit.

While searching through Kohl's website in an attempt at sharing the cuteness that is those clogs with you, I came across yet another pair of munchkin shoes that are too freaking cute.

Alas, dear readers, please, I beg of you, in the future, NEVER let me search the internet for things to share with you.

Since those Kohls shoes are from Stride Rite, I headed over to their website to look around. You know I won't pay much for children's shoes, you should know I have never shopped there. I did once order two pairs when Amazon had a huge sale, but the pair for TheBoy was too small and the pair for me (yes, I can fit into kids' shoes) was a very different color than it appeared, so both were returned and I got a refund. I don't have much experience with Stride Rite, so when I looked around, the sheer cuteness almost knocked me on the floor.

You all suck! I want to share with you, but instead, I fall in love with things I will be forced to drool over from afar because I will never spend that much money on kids' shoes.

But damn it, these are some of the cutest shoes I have ever seen.

Let's not forget these, these (which are available in my size), and TheBoy would love a pair of shoes that are very much like his daddy's.

Who decided to let me have kids? I was a shoe fiend when mine were the only feet with which I was concerned. With three wee ones, I have the opportunity to hoard 3 times the cute shoes. Is there a 12-step program for this?

My love of felt food is unending

My obsession with felt food is well documented. So when the Opinionated Parent offered an extra entry for Lilly Bean felt food (my very favorite) if I blog about it, I jumped on the train to selloutville.

They're giving away some super-cute felt food from Lilly Bean and I want it!

What the heck is Bah-Bux and other mysteries revealed

Here's the story behind the mysterious Bah-Bux. FTR, I had TheBoy say it for my sister today and her guess was "Mailbox."

Yesterday, I heard his car door close and told the kids, "Daddy's home." TheBoy went running to the open front door. That's when I heard him yell, "Bah-Bux," over and over again. Dh came in and TheBoy just kept saying, "Hi, Daddy. Bah-Bux."

That's when I asked Girl1 to translate for her brother. "He said, 'Starbucks'," she told me.

At that point, I jumped off the couch and ran to my lovely husband who held two Frappacinos in his lovely dear sweet hands.

Bah-Bux=Starbucks
Yes, my toddler can correctly identify not only the Starbucks logo (he will yell that when we pass one on the street), but also Frappacinos as well.

Here's more cuteness from my son.

Today, while donning only a shirt and socks, he announced, "Bye bye. Go out." I told him, "You can't go out without pants." To which he pointed to his bare legs and replied, "Ma-gin-erry pants." I didn't get it at first, but then he said, "Soos too," and pretended to put on shoes. Only then did I realize "Ma-gin-erry," is Toddlereese for, "Imaginary." I was quite impressed.

The other night, we got home late and dh put the big kids to bed. TheBoy was sitting on the couch with me starting to doze off. So I figured I'd buck tradition and just let him sit up with us until he fell asleep. Of course, he got his second wind and was wide awake. He tried everything to avoid bed. At one point, I told him, "You need to go to bed now." He said, "Nooooooo," in a sing-songy voice. He then looked up at me, reached towards my face and said in his cutest tone, "Pwetty eyes." He got another 10 minutes and lots of cuddles for that.

Tonight, I snuggled with him before bed and I told him, "You're beautiful." He said, "Boo-tee-full." Then he smiled, looked up at me and said, "Mama too."

You see that puddle over there? That's where my heart just melted.

Oh and he's funny at bedtime. He must say the Sh'ma. Well, someone has to say it. He's usually too busy covering his eyes to even try. If you forget it, though, he will yell, "Ma. Ma," while covering his eyes. He sleeps with a toy zebra. He has recently taken to covering his own eyes with one hand and covering the zebra's with the other while I say the prayer.

Atah meiveen?*

or
At meiveenah?**

Those of you in Israel, correct me if that's way off. The big kids and I are using a CD I found at the library to try to learn Hebrew, but unfortunately, that leaves me guessing at how the heck to spell things using the English alphabet.

How funny would that be if I screw up the title asking if you understand!

Today, the boy announced, "Bah-Bux." I've heard him say it many times and previously, I knew exactly what it meant, but for some reason, today, I couldn't figure out what he was saying.

Luckily, he is not an only child. I was able to ask his biggest sister to translate and she did (she speaks TheBoyish far more fluently than we do). We learned that trick years ago. That was one of the wonderful things about having twins. When we couldn't understand one, we asked the other and she would translate. The rare exceptions often involved a 2-year-old Girl2 with a very puzzled expression on her face, her hands out to her side (in that "I don't know" motion), her head shaking sideways to indicate, "No," and the announcement, "I do not know," in her sweet little voice. We used to joke that she was a cyborg because don't, can't, won't and the like were all absent from her vocabulary.

So, now, take your best guess. Do you speak Toddler-eese? What do you think Bah-Bux translates to in English?


I'll come back after Shabbat and post the whole story behind it. Until then, take your best guess. FTR, Bah-Bux is an English word.



*"Do you understand?" in Hebrew
**Feminine form of the same question

Thursday Thirteen: 13 things I sent my husband

My husband was active duty military until very recently. The first time the military took him away from me (which was before the September 11th attacks), I made him a little box filled with trinkets to remind him of home. That box now lives in our son's room, but ever since I started doing these TT's, I've wanted to post about that box. Today, I have my chance.




Thirteen Things I sent my husband


1..... A ruby slipper earring to remind him, "There's no place like home."






2..... A shell we collected from the beach when we got married. He was gone for our anniversary, so I sent him that to remind him that I'd be thinking of him on that day even if we couldn't be together.









3.....Oh the foreshadowing! This is actually a pin I had from Operation Desert Storm. I included this to remind him that he was always on my mind. I had no idea that the future held another "War" and more deployments to frightening places.






4.....Corny as hell, I know, but I sent him a key because he had the key to my heart.








5.....I sent him this star to remind him that I made wishes for him on stars all the time.









6.....I did this drawing back in middle school. It was actually done on a book cover. I always liked it, so I saved it all these years. I sent it to him to remind him that I missed him.








7.....This is an angel earing I had. I sent it to him to remind him that I was praying for him.








8.....(not pictured) It's no longer in the box, but at the time, I included a burnt match that I had used to light the shabbas candles in his absence. I explained in the letter sent with the box that it was also a promise of the shabbas candles we would once again light together in the future.

The rest are fortunes we had saved which I included in the box. They're not pictured, but I'll share the text.

9.....You make people realize that there exist other beauties in the world.

10.....You have the ability to adapt to diverse situations.

11.....Good luck bestows upon you. You will get what your heart desires.

12.....Follow your heart's desire.

13.....Stop searching forever. Happiness is just next to you.

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Next on my list of craftiness

I love these work of art clips for holding children's artwork. That would be ridiculously easy to make from things we already have lying around (although I'd probably buy some more clothes pins which are endlessly useful anyway). I do believe that will be next on my list of things to make. Hmm...that could make a great Valentine's Day gift for the big kids.

I also wonder about making one right here for the office. We already have a cork board, but that clothesline could be useful for paperwork we need and having it in plain sight would be a great reminder so that I don't completely forget it. Right now, that would be a great way to keep track of our paperwork for taxes.

One could also be useful in the entryway. It could hold the mail and maybe then I could find my dining room table from under Mail Mountain.

The possiblities are endless.

Britain has much cooler people than we do.

Screw this. I'm moving.

This is hysterical. It absolutely made my day. My niece sent me a version of this and I cracked up.



And this little girl (from the same show) is absolutely phenomenal.



While she didn't win, she did get a record deal.

File under "I want."

We're planning for a move in the next year or so. The girls have made both my husband and me aware of what they do/don't want in their new bedroom in their new house. One thing they want is their bedroom the same color. Um...not gonna happen. I regretted painting their room light blue from the moment I did it. We knew I would paint a mural and thought blue would be the best backdrop. We were wrong.

Regardless, I'm adding Chalkals to my wishlist for the girls' new room. They may look like ordinary wall decals, but they can actually be written on with chalk.

Do they still make chalkboard paint? If so, I could do something like that with stencils. Still, I thought those owls were awfully cute. And given the name of this blog, wouldn't these be perfect for my office?

My kids are amazing.

First off, sorry I've been gone for so long. Rosh Hashanah started Wednesday night then we had Shabbat right after that. I've been thinking about blogging. I just haven't done it until now.

As for my offspring, some days, I want to drop kick them out the window. Some days are filled with whining and bickering and hair-pulling (that last part would be me in response to the first two). Other days, however, are like yesterday.

The Boy woke up from his nap while I was folding laundry. So Girl1 went in to him while Girl2 stayed out to help me. I heard Girl1 singing the ABC's. After a few rounds of that, she switched to "Twinkle Twinkle." Suddenly she stopped singing, the door opened and her head popped out. "He said 'ABC' when I started singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." I encouraged her to try to teach him his ABC's. The interactions that followed cracked me up.

She proudly announced when she got him to sing, "ABC," "EF," then "G" (repeatedly) and "L."

I overheard her actually reviewing the letters and their sounds with him. That made me smile.

Then I heard her tell him, "Listen, you spell dog D-O-G. Will you spell dog? Come on, you can do it." That made me giggle.

I'm so glad that they get along so well. I've been so blessed by the fact that my girls are fabulous with their brother. Yes, my twins bicker amongst themselves, but overall, they get along well together. But they've never known life without the other. I wondered how they would act/react when a new one came along. I have been absolutely floored by how sweet and loving they are with him. And his tenderness towards them shocks me too. He can be all boy. He tends to be much more aggressive and even more sinister than his sisters were. Yet, today, at the mall playground, I watched as he spotted one of his sisters, climbed down off the slide, ran over to her and hugged her out of nowhere.

His first steps were to his sisters. And they were quite content to stand there cheering him on for as long as he needed.

I want to know what I can do to foster this. Please don't think I'm playing super mom. Much of their interaction seems to be quite by luck. I don't know that I had much if anything to do with it. But I do want to find a way to help them continue to be friends. The love and understanding I see between them is absolutely amazing.

Screw the Girl Scouts! Motherhood has better badges.

Through an older post at the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog, I found these merit badges: Mama Merit Badges. I want some!

Here's a list of my very favorites:

Breastfeeding
Travel
Tantrum (I really just love the story of the kid who wants to catch a lizard and tape it to the wall)
Shopping (How about doing your monthly grocery shopping at super Wal-Mart with 3 in tow? OMG, I swear she's psychic...or maybe she reads my blog)

I have no clue where I would put those things, but I WANT THEM.

Random link Wednesday

There's oh so much I should write, but instead of tackling any of that, I'll leave you with this:

I Do Dog Tricks

Type in a trick (stand, speak, sit, etc) and he'll do it. Make sure you try, "Kiss." That's my favorite.

Random link Friday

That is one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Watch all the way to the end. When you think it can't get any cuter, it does.

I also came across the remix version:

Random link Monday

Ooooohhhh, pretty pictures!

Majeak Ann

Thanks for the mamaries

My son did the sweetest thing today. At bedtime, I sat down to nurse him. He latched on, sucked for about 3 seconds, came off, looked at me, signed "Thank you," said "Tank," and went back to nursing.

sigh


It's times like these that I love everything about motherhood.

Photographs and jewlery combined? Bestill my heart!

Why have I never seen these before? I don’t want one. I want them ALL.

Smoy Photocuffs

I particularly like these:

• Kid Smoy (sure, I want these for the girls, but I want a few for me too)
• No one would see this belt 'cause I keep my 3-baby-birthin' belly covered, but I love that it holds a bunch of photos.
• You can't tell from the photo, but these are glittery. Ooohhhh
• I want one of these in just about every color.
• I've strayed from the look since I had kids, but these are very punk rock. Although, I'd probably alter them a bit.