Looking good, but needs a gnome

If not a gnome, some other little nicknack, maybe a little red mushroom, an owl, or deer...


I started this little moss terrarium a couple weeks ago after reading through this post, which has lots of cute pictures and great information throughout. I found this jar at a thrift store, and thought it would be perfect! Kade and I took a walk to collect our little specimens.... rocks from the road by our house, 3 different kids of moss, and a cute little lichen... baby fern??... that I had to practically climb a tree for. Surprisingly, the hardest thing to find was soil. We finally used a stick to dig a hole in the hard pebbly ground, and a couple inches down was some nice damp soil. We carried everything back home in our pockets, with our hands stained green and dirt under our fingernails.

That was the fun part for Kade. I can't wait to see it in a couple more months, once it starts really growing. Once it was all put together (I think maybe I used too much soil?), I excitedly showed it to Kade, who shrugged his shoulders and said, "it's not doing anything. It's bored."
I think maybe a little miniature character to live in this mossy forest would spark his interest and imagination. Any ideas where to get such a thing?

I'm thinking it would be REALLY fun to make these for Christmas presents... I just don't know if it's the kind of thing certain people would appreciate. I know some that would, but a few I am not sure of. I don't want them to think, "thanks so much for the old jar of dirt and weeds". Some people might not get it, you know?

OK, so my terrarium isn't looking that beautiful yet, but here are some I found on Etsy which I am SO tempted to buy! I want them so badly! I could cover every windowsill, table top, and bookshelf with these... there are even ones to hang up on a wall or wear around your neck!! Take a look at some of my favorites:

Terrarium Pendant from WarmCountryMeadows
Vintage casserole dish terrarium from madebymavis

Hanging Terrarium from TheOakLeaves

***Thanks for all the Spider-Monkey love yesterday!! The guy is going to pick it up tomorrow, and I'm so excited for him to see it that I might just scream and throw it at him as he comes through the door. Or I could wrap it in 15 layers of tissue, newspaper, wrapping paper, kraft paper, plastic wrap, duct tape, and 4 boxes... just to build up the anticipation. "HAHA! You thought you were finally going to see it, but NOPE, it's the Sunday comics!!! How crazy is that?!?!?" Or, maybe I'll just casually say, "what? Oh yeah, that thing I made for you. I had forgotten. Here ya go," and then sit back down at the computer to look at the new LOLcats.

Sometimes it's good to keep secrets

The giveaway ends TOMORROW!!! You still have time to enter, just click here!!

I love hiding places... little corners and nooks, closets under the stairs, crawl spaces under bunk beds, secret diaries with combination locks, old boxes with hidden compartments... I don't know why, since I'm not the kind of person who has anything much to hide. I guess it's just the knowledge of being the only person to know about something. That if I DID have a secret that needed a safe haven, I would know where to put it!

That is what sparked the idea for this guy.


On the outside, he looks like an innocent plush buddy, a little pillow to decorate your bed or sit on your shelf. Or even to cuddle with!


But, he is hiding something. He's got a secret, and as you can see by the look on his face, he'll watch after it faithfully, day and night.


Are you dying to know his secret? Fine, I'll show you. Just don't tell anybody!


He's got a concealed pocket! It's perfect for all your special little treasures that need a safe spot. Maybe some extra spending money, notes from your best friend, pictures, who knows what else! This owl is a faithful keeper, and I hope his new human loves his secret as much as I do!

10 things I do for fun...

...which may or may not be considered fun by anyone else:

1. Sew. Doesn't matter if it's a project for me, for my shop, for a customer... it's fun to have something to work on!


2. Listen to music. Right now, I LOVE Regina Spektor!



3. Scrapbook. I like to go slow (hmm maybe that's why I haven't even completed my wedding album yet...). I take a long time looking at all my pictures, finding ones that inspire me to scrapbook at that particular moment, look through hundreds of saved files of layouts to glean ideas, go through all my papers to find just the right ones, re-position all my photos again and again... it's like therapy for me!



4. Drive. Sometimes when I've had a long day I like to go for a quick drive by myself. I turn my music way up, drive down to the park less than a mile away from my house, maybe take a sketchbook or cell phone, and hang out by myself for a while.

5. LOLcats. http://icanhascheezburger.com/ ... I'm probably too addicted to that site.



6. Call a friend. 'Nuff said.

7. Surf the internet. I am a pro! I usually like to read craft sites, other blogs, news, helpful "tips" websites about sewing, parenting, cooking, etc.

8. Play with my kid. Just yesterday I went down the slide 4 times :) I also think it's a riot to play puppets with him- he can carry on 3 characters all on his own- talent. Building tinker-toys, train tracks, marble tracks, and watching Peter Pan... it's fun to be a kid.


9. Letterbox. Have you ever heard of it? Stamps, treasure hunts, navigation, clues, secret hiding spots, sneakiness, adrenaline, determination... you must try it!


10. Sleep. Yes, this is fun to me! Sleep isn't something I take for granted. It's a real treat when I get a good block of sleep in. (Maybe this means I'm just lazy? No, I would be lazy if I slept all the time. WANTING to sleep, and rarely getting to do so, is not lazy at all! Just... pathetic!) So comfy, so warm, and I feel so great when I wake up! Sounds like a pretty good idea right now... goodnight!

"And that's when I re-neckulized that hippomapotomases were vegimaterians."

It's funny sometimes, trying to decode a 4 year old's language! "Re-neckulize" is my son's new word. It's a mix between "remember" and "realize" and he uses it for both, quite frequently. Also, he's been adding "ma" into every word that has five syllables or over.

OK, it's time for a little thing I like to call...

FRIDAY FAVORITES!

Friday Favorites is a compilation of a few things I have found during the week that I think you should see too!

I will start out with this:



These Camp Out Invitations by skgpapers are the cutest things ever! They are really tiny... made out of matchboxes, and the mushroom bead comes off so the recipient can use it for something else! They are like a mini diorama. Love them!

This polka dot wallet by ZiaZia is so unique and fun... I love everything in her shop! I really like the "messy artistic" look that she has. I can't do messy on purpose like that, wish I could!



1) how to they get up in the tree like that?
2) this was me earlier this week... except I was on a chair, not up in a tree. And, the spider didn't leave, I caught it in a jar. I think it's a black widow. I tried to take pictures and send it to What's That Bug, but I don't think the pictures were clear enough... they didn't reply. Now I don't know what to do with the spider! I hate squishing things, but I have this silly irrational fear that if I let it go, it will find it's way back to me for REVENGE... da da da DAAAA....



The Story Matters is a brand new scrapbooking challenge blog that looks like it could be a lot of fun! I need to catch up on my scrapbooking. I love looking at all the challenge blogs and gleaning ideas for my own layouts, though I usually lurk instead of actively participating.


Mario Bros Theater... poorly filmed, but funny :)

Now I'm off to finish some new sock monkeys to put in the shop next week, work on a wholesale order, and complete bunches of BabyBuddies! Happy Friday to you all!

Mostly fluffy stuff

I thought it might be fun to do a post of all the pets that I would love to have!

Now, I LOVE animals, all animals, but there are a certain select group that I would put in my own personal zoo. In my bedroom. I would get a quadruple King Size bed and cuddle with all of them at night, and they would be my best friends :) Besides that, there are many, many animals out there that need rescuing. Not just cats and dogs! Maybe some day I'll be able to give some of these guys a loving home.

Mini potbelly pig - Pig O' My Heart

Sugar Glider - Out of Love Sugar Glider Rescue

Platypus - I can't really adopt one, but the Healesville Sanctuary is wonderful!

Friesians have always been my favorite horse breed! GORGEOUS!!!!

Newfoundland - So many huge drooly dogs in need at Autumn Acres

The Flash and Thelma Memorial Hedgehog Rescue

Wallaby - A friend of a friend rescued one and had to cuddle it like a baby for 2 months! Oh, the torture!

I don't know what these are really called... I call them miniature monkeys. And they are cute.

If we ever get into our own house, at least two of these animals will be MINE! For now, I'll stick with Clark and Lex, my betas, and Slayer and Ninja, my frogs. Not so cuddly, but just as lovable!

By the way, today was my first day at my nanny job with the new baby, so I guess I'm in a really "aww that's so cute," mood. But I think you got that point already!

It's 1:30 AM. Why am I still up?

I'll tell you why!

First of all, it started with a certain 4 year old who needed to use the bathroom at midnight, right after I finished watching "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" on TV, and layed my head down on my pillow. On cue, I hear bare feet padding down the bunk bed ladder.

45 minutes later, plus 2 more bathroom trips, 6 times up and down the ladder, a few sips of water, 7 denied requests for chocolate milk, 3 monsters vanquished, 1 fan adjusted 2 times, and some stern words, he is asleep. Or so I thought.

I wait up for 10 minutes to make sure he is fast asleep. Satisfied, I climb back in bed, pull the covers up, set my alarm, and close my eyes. Immediately I hear the footsteps again.

"WHAT is it NOW?!?!?!?!"

"I just wanted to say sorry,"

*sniffles a few muffled sobs* (Not me, I don't cry until later in this story.)
*lots of hugs*

"Thank you for apologizing, honey. It's OK. I just want you to stay in bed so I can sleep."

"Oh, ok. Goodnight. Love you mommy. Sweet dreams mommy."

That was the last of it. My brain, though, had been tricked into thinking it was going to get to sleep one too many times. Not anymore! I have passed that point of being sleepy tired, and gone into the zone of insomnia. I am tired, yes, but my body has to torture me and make me stay awake until I am a walking zombie.

I got online, looked at some blogs, searched for some scrapbook inspiration, and edited some pictures. Somehow, I ended up on YouTube. I am going to embed the video that I saw here, because I will need to see this again. Some day I am going to be depressed or stressed, and if I can just pop over here and watch this, I'll be OK.

Once in a while, something strikes me so hard that I just crack. It doesn't necessarily have to be really funny- once it happened because I saw a dead deer on the side of the road. (Which usually makes my cry). I laugh so hard that I don't even know if I'm laughing or crying anymore. My eyes are blurry with tears. I snort, I squeak, I gasp, I choke, I hiss, I make the weirdest contorted faces. I literally can't breath sometimes, and I laugh without making a single sound, until my face turns blue, and I gulp in air like I had just been underwater for 20 minutes. It is uncontrollable, and at times extremely inappropriate. (Try church, during a long solemn prayer). I just can't help it. Rather embarrassing!

This video did that to me. I was worried I would wake the neighbors up. Seriously. Something is wrong with me. Doesn't it feel good to get all that emotion out, though? I'd rather have a laugh attack than a good cry (only because a good cry requires something bad to happen, usually, and I'd rather die laughing than find out my cat had been ran over), and I end up feeling equally better after each one.

Without further ado, the one that almost killed me:

Don't what?

Kade bent over and started writing, very determinedly. With precise motions, he traced the letters in the sand. I tried to ask him what he was writing and he shushed me halfway through, saying, "it's not done yet."


Finally, he finished the last letter. He stood proudly behind his statement and asked me to take his picture. I asked what it said, and he replied, "don't hurt me on the beach," bobbing his head up and down and shaking his finger accusingly at me with each syllable.


"oohhh......" I replied. I was a little concerned. What did he think, exactly, would happen to him on the beach? Was he scared of sea-shell gleaning strangers? Wet dogs running wildly with their leashes trailing behind them? A killer whale beaching itself for the sole purpose of swallowing Kade whole?

"Honey, no one's going to hurt you on the beach! Or anywhere! Why would you think that?"

"Nooo, not me! My words. I don't want people to step on them and ruin them. So I wrote, 'don't hurt me on the beach.' Did you get the picture? Ok, lets go."

Fevers, rain, seahorses, and pirates.

It is fast becoming a family tradition of ours, that one of us is sick for every vacation or holiday. It never fails, wheee! Two days before our recent vacation to the Oregon coast, Kade came down with one of his fevers. When he gets these sudden miserable fevers, it could be a day or it could be two weeks before he is well again. Ya never know. Usually daytime is alright, but in the evening his temperature rises to 103+ degrees.

So, we had to decide whether to stay home and waste the reservation, or go. We went. For the first evening, Kade was too sick to do anything. Hooray for portable DVD players and chocolate milk boxes!


We couldn't have gone outside anyways, because it was so stormy that evening and through the night, that the cables holding our tarp over the camping chairs snapped! Thank goodness we were in a yurt, or we might have had to pack up and leave. Yurts are great. Power, heat, floors, beds, protection from the weather, a door that locks... along with most of the charms of real camping: campfires, sleeping bags, and sneaky raccoons.


After the first night, Kade's fever went away for good. The bad weather stayed. So we headed into town for the day and visited the aquarium. Have you ever petted a sting ray? I can now say that I have! They feel soft, velvety, and slimy all at the same time. So much cuteness! Kade was entranced by all the beautiful fishy displays. He really liked the huge spidery looking crab. To me, it seemed like a scene from 1000 Leagues Under the Sea. It was dark, and those crabs were moving very slowly and creepily. I could almost hear the music of doom working it's way up to the climax, in which this crab captures my son and holds him for ransom.


Here are a few of my favorites that I was able to get pictures of:


I wish I could remember the name of this next little sea creature. It's method of getting around is so funny, I need to share it with you! It's a fish that doesn't swim!! I need to use more exclamation points!!!!




After the aquarium, we went to the little (deserted) touristy part of town and visited a glass blowing studio, thrift store, and a pirate shop. Kade got his picture taken with a couple scallywags, stood at the helm, steering the ship and avoiding certain demise, and followed in the footsteps of an old pegleg pirate. It was a good day.


Tomorrow, I'll take you to the beach.

I've been a bad blogger

.... a bad, bad blogger!

However, I feel blessed that too many exciting happenings have been going on lately for me to even think about blogging! And now that I have some spare time, I shall share all the excitement with you. One thing today, more later.

Last week, I took Kade to visit a few local preschools. After seeing them all, I asked him which one he liked best, because you know, his opinion is important too! He told me which one, and I was so relieved- it was my favorite too! It was closest to home, nicest facility, best price, perfect schedule, etc. Upon me asking Kade why he liked it best, he replied,
"well, she gave me a yellow sunshine sticker to put on my hand, and I saw a really cool camera that I want to play with."

Oh, priorities!

Well, this little guy is now enrolled in preschool for next fall!

PRESCHOOL! That means I almost have a school-aged child.

***gulp***

I never thought of myself having actual kids. Only babies. Kids are only for old people, right? One of the most shocking "he's growing up" moments for me, was the fact that he has a list of supplies to bring for the classroom on the first day. I know, it doesn't make sense why that makes me go, "awwww!!" This is only preschool, for goodness sakes! Someone needs to slap me or something. I can see myself swirling uncontrollably into the life that is homework, show and tell, bullies, lunch money, girlfriends, sports, and book reports. Suddenly it feels like high school graduation is not that far off.

And it all starts with this piece of paper before me, asking for 10 glue sticks, a box of kleenex, and a sack of gummy bears.

I can see you shaking your head at me right now. Go ahead, I know I'm crazy. I probably need help of some sort. Just feel free to laugh at me, I can take it! At this rate, I'm going to need an ambulance standing by for me when I have a heart attack the first time he rides a school bus.

But, I'll be fine, I just need to take it one box of smelly washable markers at a time.

1,393,602

That's how many projects I have to finish! Ok, not quite that many. But close. It seems like every time I finish one project, I take on 3 more. I can't say no! Or is it that I don't want to say no? I like doing things for people, I need to do things for myself, my house, my family, I feel obligated to do things for other reasons.

I know I'm able to say no. For instance, all those telemarketers that call me 10 times a day. The last one was for "Celebrity Meats". I usually just hang up without saying anything, but sometimes I like to let them get excited and think they're going to make a sale, before I give them the bad news. I let him go through his whole speech about how convenient it would be for them to deliver all my meat needs right to my house, every week. Then I told him I was a vegetarian (I'm really not, anymore, but I would like to be!). All he could think of to say was, "Well. Thanks for not yelling at me. You have a very pretty voice. By." I think he said that thing about the pretty voice because the first thing he said at the beginning of the call was, "Aww, hey! Is your mommy home? Can I talk to the grown up?"

Back to saying no... I think I really like having so many projects to work on! I get bored working on the same one, so it is good being able to switch gears and do something else for a while. It sure makes for a cluttered house at times, though. We live in a 900 sq. ft. duplex, and there is no special room for these things. The living room and kitchen end up also being the scrapbooking room, sewing room, school room, and office. Luckily my husband doesn't mind eating dinner on the couch!

Did all you mothers out there in internet land have a happy mother's day?


We went to Carkeet Park in Seattle. Bubble Man was there, with thralls of children running after hundreds of bubbles bigger than their heads. Kade was my tour guide through the kids area. He was born for this job, I think. I don't know where he gets some of the phrases I hear coming out of his mouth!

"Come right this way, we are on the best adventure of your life!"


"Careful over the Bridge of Awesomeness. It actually is supposed to wiggle like that, you know."

"Step on over, crawl through the Tunnel of Darkness! You go in this side and come out that side! And, it used to be.....a......TREEEE!!!!!!! I cannot believe it!"


"Now be careful and step on these rocks. Don't put your foot on the ground because it's lava! And that means it's hot!"

"Finally we are to the ULTIMATE POWER FISH SLIDE!!!!" (Insert echo microphone and strobe lights here)


On our way back to the car, Kade tripped over a rock and scraped up his palms. Something like that always happens, right when he's the happiest, right when I am thinking, "that went well." As soon as the screaming was over and bandaids were applied, all was calm again.

Next, we had a campfire, complete with hot dogs and smores. There is something about campfires... listening to the warm crackling, staring into the dancing flames, having family around... it was like a mini vacation! Makes me really excited for our "'real" vacation in a couple weeks. I can't wait to play in the ocean, and to sit at a campfire way past dark, with a blanket around me, with nowhere else to go.

Lessons Learned

It's amazing how much you can learn (or be reminded of) in one day!

• Even if the forecast says sun, it looks like sun, and feels like sun, bring an umbrella for the six random 10 second hail storms you will encounter within as little as 30 minutes.
• Being charged by a big fat squirrel is a LOT scarier than you might think. Seriously. Although he probably only wanted food, I was sure he was going to latch onto my face and scratch out my eyeballs. Luckily, a toddler with a french fry distracted him for me.
• Don't laugh, don't even crack a smile, if your kid gets lost in the vast, 4 story, intricate play system in McDonalds! That desperate face peering out of the plastic bubble 30 feet above you, crying in a tiny voice that sounds like it's at the bottom of a swimming pool, "I can't get out of here! Heeeelllpppppp!" may seem cute, but the other mothers will shoot you "the look." Directing a dyslexic 4 year old through the maze when you can't even see them is no less difficult than directing a blind monkey through an active mine field. Especially when, "the girrrrls! Are chasing me!!! I don't thiiiink I really liiiike it!!" happens. It all turned out fine, though. Within 2 minutes he was out, without me having to come up there and get him, and as a bonus, he still had all his clothes on! He stumbled over to me, wiped his forehead, collapsed into my lap, and said, "Phew. That was a close one. Those girls were chasing me. I didn't like that. But, I do like girls."
• This one I knew already, but I have a knack of forgetting until it's too late. It is a never failing Murphey's Law of motherhood that if you even whisper quietly a comment such as, "Wow, I'm surprised he is being so good right now," that child will immediately grab a handful of snack food from the bowl in the waiting room, throw it at the grumpy old man in a nice suit seated across from him, and scream, "MY MOMMY IS A BANANNA! I DON'T LIKE BANANNAS!!" and then proceed to ram his own head repeatedly on the coffee table. My friend just leaned over to me and said quietly, "you know you're not supposed to say that until we leave." And the grumpy old man in the suit? He stood up, dusting the chips (haha) off his shoulder, "harrumphed" dramatically in my direction, and stomped out into the showroom.
• Even if you spend 2 weeks preparing your child for what should be a simple, quick, easy, painless procedure, that doesn't mean he will be cooperative! In fact, the procedure did not even get done. What should have taken 10 minutes to complete took 3 hours to decide to give up and try again another day.
  

Although yesterday was quite a challenge for me, this sweet little face can still melt my heart.


I love him more than anything.... temper tantrums, defiance, frustration and all. None of that puts a damper on the happiness he brings me every day.

Listen to some music!

Here are a couple of my favorite mellow, relaxing Indie songs.
I hope you like them!

Need some color?

This guy makes me think of Popsicles and sunshine!

One of my favorite things: Cherry blossoms

Custom sock monkey! It makes me happy to think that a little baby will be cuddling this guy soon!

BusyFingers BabyBuddies newest member, the bluebird!

Rainbow Twizzlers make everything better, especially icky medicine!

All aboard!