Projects!!

Sitting around the house for 3 weeks is a real treat [/sarcasm]. It made me realize that

a) I am sick of looking at the same stuff on the walls, day in and day out, for 6.5 years

b) My walls need serious touching up in places

c) The bathroom door and linen closet door are embarrassing - chipped, dirty. They need painting. Bad.

d) The arches were never painted. And they're nasty dirty. Why did I never notice that?

e) My dining room chairs could use a facelift

So I made a project list. I had Chris dig out the original paint so I can take it to HoDe to get all shook up. I brought home a mountain of fabrics from JoAnn in hopes of finding one we liked for the chairs. And I took stuff off the walls and started moving it around.

Here are some photos:

Chair before

With the fabric we've picked

And since I am a total copy cat, I stole Frills, Fluff, and Trucks artwork display idea and put that up

Then I reframed some embroidered Holly Hobby pictures that my great grandma made for me that hung in my (HH themed) bedroom when I was a little girl.

Since they were not a typical size, I would have had to custom frame them. No thanks. I worked w/ what I had

they were awful. Falling apart and frankly, ugly.

I sanded them while I wore a mask because I was pretty sure they were painted w/ lead paint.

Then I rubbed some wax on them in a few areas, painted them a vanilla color, and once they were dry, I sanded them to distress them. The wax really helped! After that, I took some tea ink and rubbed it over the frame and wiped it off w/ a damp cloth. When that was dry, I sprayed them with a clear coat that crackled, to give it an old look.

I cleaned up the glass, mounted them back in, and voila!

Normally I wouldn't put something like that in my daughter's room (I am not a cross stitch sampler or embroidery on pillows and blankets type of gal). But I always loved these as a child and thought it was neat that she could have something from her great-great-grandma.

And finally, I did this for our room. The rest of our walls will be done with some photos that I took once I blow them up and print them. I saw this on a blog and I wish I could credit the person, but I can't for the life of me recall which blog. I remember the blogger saying that she was inspired by something similar she saw at Restoration Hardware. The skeleton key is mine and its for my hope chest. The frame is a cheap IKEA frame that I spraypainted black. I used grosgrain ribbon to hang it.

Stay tuned....more projects to come this week. AND a baseball themed birthday party this weekend!!

A Special Valentines Day

How did you spend your valentines day? My valentine and I spent 8 hours sorting and putting together all of these sets of legos. Romantic, huh?

About a year ago, the kids had friends over and the younger ones dumped all of our carefully-sorted-in-separate-locked-bins lego sets into one big pile. Since then, no one wanted to play with them. Finally, enough was enough.

I sat down with Aidan and started by slowly grouping them. I finally sorted them into colored piles and we went from there. But the only way to figure out which set was which was to assemble everything. So we set to it. And some of these sets are nothing to shake a stick at.

Here are a few...

And what's left as of today... 5 castle sets

If anyone dumps them into a big mess again, they will be flogged. Regardless of whose child they are :)

No Kissing Allowed

Friday night at dinner, Elliott asked if he could always live with us, forever. I explained that there will come a time that he will not want to live with us anymore - he'll want to go live his own life as a grown up, especially if he has his own family. And besides, I wouldn't let us live with us forever. Its not healthy. He said, "ew! I don't ever want to get married!" Aidan said to him, "you'll have to kiss a girrrrrrlllllll!" And Elliott was all, "ew! ew! yuck! i don't want to ever kiss anyone! yuck!".

he he he. I will remind him of this in a few years.

Art by Norah, age 6

Some recent stuff that came home with Norah. This first one is her and daddy standing in front of our fireplace, with our current heart garland behind them. She even included the 2 brown orbs I have holding it in place! And she depicted the swirly PB candleholder that's on the wall above the FP, as well.

A funky, colorful owl. I think this is super cool.

Norah's Hospital Adventure

On Thursday after school, Norah said she had a tummy ache. I asked if she felt like she was going to puke, and she said no. About 30-60 sec. later, she said, "maybe I will puke." And so it began. And did not stop for 48 hours. Poor bean. She couldn't even lick an ice cube made of pedialyte without losing it. She had nothing left and was still wretching :(

On Saturday, when she walked toward me and staggered and started to fall, I knew it was time to take her in. So off to CHW we went.

It wasn't a pleasant experience for her to get an IV. The first attempt didn't take because she was so dehydrated. She screamed things like, "that huuuurts sooo bad!" and, "why are you doing that to me?" and, "please stop hurting me. why are you hurting me?" It was awful. Torture.

But as you can see, it worked wonders. This is her right after the IV cocktail was started...

and about 40 minutes into it...a totally different kid.

Am I Martha, or what?!?!

Kidding. I have been in the kitchen all day, though. Making the pops (prev. post) and a cake. No special occasion, except that I felt the need to try to make a yellow cake from scratch before I make one for Aidan's birthday in a few weeks. I'd hate to make one and have it be dry as sand. I am not much of a baker, because I am not a huge dessert person (salt. mnnn. i love salt). But now that I have kids, I have been baking more. But especially, I am not a cake person. Carrot and cheesecake aside (oh yum), I could never eat cake again and be perfectly content. So anyway....I tried this yellow cake recipe from Bakerella. It didn't let me down. It was quite good and not dry at all. But the best part of it? The frosting. Ohhhhh... heaven on cake. I iced the cake with this swiss buttercream from Smitten Kitchen. I forgot to put my butter out, so the consistency of the frosting wasn't as smooth as I'd have liked, but it was still yummy. If you are like me and don't care for those gritty, sweet frostings, then try this and you won't be disappointed.

To make the cake fun, I made another rainbow cake. This one was prettier than our first, though.

Ready to go in the oven!

Uh, yeah. I'd never present a cake that looked like this to anyone but my immediate family. Its so homely and I enjoy making cakes funky or pretty. However, by this time it was 8:15pm and I really did not care. So I slapped it on, dumped on some jimmies (sprinkles for the freaks who have no idea what I mean), and we were good to go!

The middle of the funky cake. I am getting low on my food coloring gels. So I used what I had: purple, green, blue, yellow, orange, and teal.

Valentines Goodies

Last year, the kids and I made these crayon hearts for their classmates as valentines. This year, I decided that I'd make marshmallow pops, put them in small cello bags, and attach a small valentine card to the ribbon. I didn't want to purchase cards, because lets face it --they are pretty lame. A friend directed me to some free printable ones and I decided on these cute ones from Secret Agent Josephine. I printed them in B&W and had the kids each color theirs. They are super cute!

The marshmallow pops, in vanilla (pink, which actually tastes like those Carnival cookies. Remember those?), and chocolate. Mnnnn.

Get Fun and Fancy! With Nancy!

Norah got her hands on Mama and Daddy and made them fancy.

applying lip gloss to daddy's nails

posing with mama

this is her "rock star" look, according to her :)

We are the champions....again!!

Go Aidan!!!

Last year (with Darth Taiter) he took 3rd in the pack, but this year, Aidan won 1st place for his den in the pinewood derby race.

The trophy and winning car (the car is a spin-off of the Milwaukee Brewers, obviously)

Floating Hearts

They're nothing fancy, but the kids love holiday decor. So I made 3 of these strings of hearts, featured on One Pretty Thing and hung them in a few places throughout the house. They would have had more of a cool effect if I had been able to hang them together, but I don't have a light fixture that allows a grouping.

Heart Garland

A fun craft that I did to add some Valentine decor to the house: garland for the (yet not finished) mantle. Since the photo was taken last week, I found a much better way to secure it (not my snowmen).

(i apologize for the photo quality)

A big thank you to Sarah at Frills, Fluff, and Trucks for the tutorial on the heart garland!

Breaking Boards

DSCN9848
Originally uploaded by flabonganator

In December, Aidan tested for his yellow belt and part of that involves having to break a board. Here's a video of him doing that. Stop the video once he's done. The camera keeps rolling and I forgot to edit before uploading (and apparently Chris forgot to turn it off?).

My baby is growing up so fast

Aidan will be 8 on March 5th. When he was younger, 8 was the Ultimate Milestone. Everything was going to happen, "when I am 8."

We've begun birthday party planning and initially, he wanted a bowling party. Then he changed his mind -- he wants a sleepover! Wow. Having a hard time wrapping my mind around that one. I mean, he's been to a sleepover, but we've never hosted one. And he'll be 8. Sniff. And he's so considerate. He immediately started telling everyone who would listen that he was going to have a sleepover party and that, "there won't be any dairy there because my friend, he is allergic and can't have dairy."

What a sweet boy.

Tenacious N

I took the kids to get their H1N1 booster today. I knew that they'd have a crap day if I told them ahead of time, so I didn't tell them till I pulled into the parking lot, quickly adding, "but when we get home, you can make ice cream sundaes!"

Elliott was crying before we even got out of the car. But that was nothing.

We sat down to get the shots (the kids, not me). There was another firefighter/EMT there that was administering shots who, from across the room, said, "Hey! I remember you!" (from the last time). Yes - it was because my kids screamed and fought so loud last time.

Aidan was super brave for his shot. Elliott cried, but then put on a brave face as best he could. Then came Norah. Oh dear. That girl is powerful. She fought so awfully that I had to hold her on my lap and hold her in a hug while 2 other nurses helped me hold her down/still and a fireman administered the shot. She still was thrashing (and screaming. OH! the screaming) through all that. She's fights a good fight, that's for sure.

One thing I know for sure....Norah's got some will. And she can handle herself.

RIP Pizza Man - you will be missed

Early this morning, Pizza Man, a long standing pizza joint/wine bar on the East Side, burned down in a 5 alarm fire. Aside from the Christmas that the twins first came home for, my fondest memory of a holiday is our Christmas that we dined at Pizza Man. It was just the 5 of us and we stayed in our PJs all day and then our little family ventured out for some yummy pizza for our Christmas Dinner. No hustle and bustle or rushing around. Just us. And Pizza Man.

RIP.

I won! I won!

Its rare that I win anything. (I think I won a Packer hat and shirt in 1997 for being caller # 102 on a radio station and I won a gift card from Land of Nod once ---that rocked). So I was very excited to see that I won this cool print that Heather was giving away on her blog!!

What about the elf??

The kids have been concerned about fire safety lately and asking what we'd do if there was a fire in the house, so we've had a few conversations about what to do. They've asked about the cats and I've drilled into them that you DO NOT look for the cats or go back into the house for the cats. The firemen will look for the animals or the animals will get out themselves. So the question came up...

"What about the elf?"

The elf being Fred Christmas, our Elf on the Shelf. Apparently, I forgot that he was a family member.

"Will the firemen rescue him?" "Can we go back for him?"

Just as I was thinking, "oh crap, I've backed myself into a corner." Elliott says, "the elf will use his magic to get out of his box and get out of the house and go to the North Pole."

whew.

Another Elliott-ism

This was yesterday as we were baking cookies:

E: "Mommy, I think rain is God's tears."

Me: "That's an interesting insight."

E: "And sunshine is him smiling."

Me: "Could be."

E: "That means snow would be his poop."

This is where I turned and just gave him a 'whatchoo talkin' about Willis' type of look. Not sure what to say to that.

A Daisy For My Little Daisy

On January 7th, Norah had her Daisy investiture ceremony. She is officially official :) And now she's selling cookies!!

She was so happy to partake in the ceremony with her fellow Daisies, although she did clam up when it was her turn to "light" her candle and say her line. It was fun to see her running and playing with the girls. Naturally, leading a game of kitty/meow-meow (oh if you could see my eyes).

The Machine

machine.JPG
Originally uploaded by flabonganator

The doorbell rang again and there was Elliott, smiling, and he said, "look what I made, mommy!"
I replied, "oh - another birthday cake?"
(sure looked like the cake he made 2 minutes before)
"No mommy! Its a machine. A machine to kill all the bad guys who hurt and killed Jesus."

I am really uncertain where his mind was operating, but okaaaay.

First Homemade Gift....EVER!

I've gotta get on this train more often from now on. Much more fun. Much more inexpensive. This is the first hommade gift (christmas or otherwise, I think?) that I've/we've given the kids, aside from the wand that I made for Norah for valentines day (I don't think I ever posted my photos, but this is the tutorial I followed, for the most part).

I credit Heather with this idea. So thanks, Heather :) It turned out cute!

New photos

On Saturday night, we took the kids to the annual village tree lighting. It was the first year we went and it was cute. Annnd then....

We had our first snow yesterday into today. First *real* snow. Mommy? Not so thrilled. Kids? Happy as larks.

Santa Visit 2009

santa 09
Originally uploaded by flabonganator

We saw Santa on Wednesday. Aidan said this was the real Santa because his beard was long and attached to his hair. Norah didn't cry for the first time ever, and when I praised her and asked why she changed her 'tude, she said that she didn't want to discuss it.
Too funny.

The power of Visa

A scene at Walgreens today:
I am about to pay for my purchase and Aidan stops my hand and says,
"Mommy, I want to see a football game."
Me: "I know that, honey, but Packer tickets are really expensive."
Aidan: "But mommy, if you use your Visa card, you'll be automatically entered in a chance to win two tickets to a playoff game!"

Hmmmm. Perhaps commercials should be aired w/ subliminal messages about being good and not arguing w/ your siblings.

Look! Yay!

My photo! It was chosen on the internet travel guide!

Something I will continually remind her about...

A recent conversation between Norah and myself...

N: "mommy, when you had your babies come out of your belly, did it hurt?"
Me: "no. the doctor gave me medicine"
N: "what did they do about the hole in your belly?"
Me: "they sewed me up!"
N: [thinks real hard and responds seriously] "i don't want a baby in my belly when i grow up"
Me: "well, babies can come out other ways. not just from cutting your belly."
N: "how?"
Me: "you'll learn all about that when you are older"
N: "mama, please tell me, just tell me."
Me: "no, honey"
N: "its ok, you can tell me"
Me: [deep breath and then I tell her]
N: [laughs] "you're just kiddin'!!"
Me: "no, honey, I am not."
N: [says very quietly and seriously and wide eyed] "mama, i don't want a baby. ever"

Then today...
Elliott: [complaining about Norah getting to stay home from school and play on the computer] "I wish I was Norah"
N: [very seriously with big eyes] No you don't. Then you'd have to get a baby out of your belly. They cut you. And sew you up. Or it can come out of your 'china.

Letter from the boy

I got this letter from Aidan earlier this week:

Dear Mommy,

Can you teach me how to cook like you? Can you teach me not to complane when I am playing piano? Is it hard when you make new resapes? Why can't we talk about next year? Is it rood? Why do you sleep in on the weekends?
You are the best mommy ever.
Love,
Aidan

How great is that?
Re: talking about next year. I kindly asked them to refrain from discussing next Halloween until we get through the next round of holidays, and focus on the here and now, instead.

Tu Tu Cute

Miss Norah's been asking for a tutu for awhile now. So the other day we headed over to JoAnn and she picked out some ribbon and tulle and I got started. She picked green and light pink. Too bad that once the pink was cut, it looked white :(


Instead of using an elastic waistband, I decided to use a ribbon for the waistband, using the method I found on a video on youtube and on this website.It looks much cuter on than it does on the hanger (but those pics will have to wait until the princess is feeling better). But if (when?) I do it again, I don't think I will make it quite as long or quite as full. And I will choose a different type of ribbon.

Big girl

Big girl
Originally uploaded by flabonganator

Today was the first time that I officially felt like she no longer looks like my baby and she's growing up. I mean - crap. Look at that.

I don't mind if I do...

Jackson Square
Originally uploaded by flabonganator

...toot my own horn for a moment, that is :) This one is all about me.

Today I opened my email to find this email:
You've been sent a Flickr Mail from Exxxxxxx:

------------------------------
------------------------------

:: Schmap: New Orleans Photo Short-list

Hi flabonganator,

I am writing to let you know that one of your photos has
been short-listed for inclusion in the ninth edition of our
Schmap New Orleans Guide, to be published at the end of this
month.

[link]

Clicking this link will take you to a page where you can:
i) See which of your photos has been short-listed.
ii) Submit or withdraw your photo from our final selection
phase.
iii) Learn how we credit photos in our Schmap Guides.
iv) Browse online or download the eighth edition of our
Schmap New Orleans Guide.

While we offer no payment for publication, many
photographers are pleased to submit their photos, as Schmap
Guides give their work recognition and wide exposure, and
are free of charge to readers. Photos are published at a
maximum width of 150 pixels, are clearly attributed, and
link to high-resolution originals at Flickr.

Our submission deadline is Thursday, November 12. If you
happen to be reading this message after this date, please
still click on the link above (our Schmap Guides are updated
frequently - photos submitted after this deadline will be
considered for later releases).

Best regards,

Exxxxx,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides

Of course I submitted the photo! I am absolutely flattered! I know its just an internet guide and I am just learning photography, but its so cool.

The photo to the right was the one they were referring to.

Trick or treat...smell my feet...

...gimmie something good to eat.

does anyone else remember that?

The kids went trick or treating twice on Saturday. Lucky kids! It was blustery cold, though. We went from 3-4ish w/ friends in Pewaukee, then again at night in our neighborhood, when it was a tad less windy.

Some photos from the two events and from their halloween parade at school a few days before halloween.

SIX?!?!

I threw a 6th birthday part for Norah and Elliott. I got some bug up my bum that energized me to throw one at home...for both kids...16 guests. And it was a rainy day. Thankfully, everything went fine. A little chaotic at times, but fine. The kids seemed to have fun! I tried to keep the boys and girls separated for most games/crafts, and rotated them through games/crafts. We painted pumpkins, decorated cookies, did a freeze dance, played a pumpkin roll race, and played hot pumpkin (like hot potato). Oh, and each did a scavenger hunt - the boys hunted for bones to put back together a skeleton, and the girls hunted for the black cats hiding from the witch. Each bone/cat had a hint that led them to the next.



Thank you to Robyn for taking the birthday party shots for me. If she hadn't offered, then I would not have had a single shot because I was so busy! And thank you to Kelly for helping me. I could not have run the show myself.

Happy 6th Birthday, Babies!

Wow. 6 years. It does not seem like it has been 6 years. It seems like just yesterday I was laying in that bed like a beached whale, trying hard not to wish time away, missing Aidan. Driving back and forth to the hospital every day to sit with you all day, for 42 days. Learning the lingo of the NICU. Sleepless nights. Colic. Oh my - the crying. It was relentless. And just like it started, it stopped (right as I was about to lose my mind!). Your little personalities were there from day one - the laid back one and the feisty one. The overachiever who wanted to do everything early and the one who loved to chill out and take his time. If you could do it laying down, it was even better. Its still that way.
Its been a wild ride, a blur at times, but a wonderful 6 years overall. You two are the best.

Autumn in Wisconsin

cold soccer
Originally uploaded by flabonganator

Brrrrr! Where soccer players have to layer and wear hats & mittens, wind whips the nets over, and parents are huddled in blankets!

Dancing Queen

Norah had another dance open house this past week. Mama was sick, so daddy took her and she was all smiles! Normally, she's shy when I am there. What's up with that?

The things we do for our kids

Like standing on our feet for hours to bake, frost, and decorate cut-out cookies for their birthday treats at school. Cut out cookies are one of the things I really dislike making. Its just so (ugh) hard. All that rolling and cutting -- so tedious, boring, and a PITA. But it tastes so much better than that store-bought stuff, and for classroom allergy reasons, we can't buy the store-bought stuff anyway.
He didn't care what I made him. She wanted Hello Kitty. They got some sad looking jack-o-lanterns and Hello Kitties, because an artist their mama isn't.
This will make them happy. And I just have to hope that some kindergartner doesn't heckle my skillz.

Pumpkins 09

Today we had our family photos done at Barthel's farm, courtesy of Robyn Beckley Vining of Ticklebugs Photography. Aidan was a bit surley, but overall, it went pretty well considering I have 3 kids.

After photos, we picked pumpkins.

The New Toothless Wonder

Some much better photos

being shy about it....

there we go....a little peek!there's the big grin!

Bad quality photo. Will have to re-take. But I wanted to record the date my baby girl lost her first tooth. Not only did she lose her tooth, but she actually LOST it. She said it fell out when she was eating her watermelon at lunch. I so hope she didn't eat it.