Indoor fun

here in the mountains, we have our share of snow days. and the four day weekend can quickly begin to feel like a forty day weekend when the kiddos can't get at least some of their wiggles taken care of out-of-doors. 


i happened upon this post recently from tokketok, and decided to give it a go, today. 

they made a great car/boat playmat complete with railroad tracks, lake with fish, and a pasture for the grazing of animals. they used a roll of kraft paper, which i didn't happen to have on hand, but we substituted some cardboard from a few boxes we had hanging around. 


our result wasn't quite as neat and tidy looking as the one in the pic, but the kids had a great time, (i let them use SHARPIES!!!) making their 'village' as they called it, and then hauling out the legos later to populate it. 

they even made little houses with roll-up garage doors for the cars to go in. 

and then.... of course ..... we had to go bigger.

so i pulled out an old sheet, that we use as a dropcloth sometimes when we paint, 

and the playmobil town 

came into being. 

complete with ancient ruins

(yes, the tigers are eating the horses.)

a lake and campground site at Yellowstone National Park

(there are geysers and some sulfur flats just out of the picture.) 

and a skate park.

so we were able to while away the snowy hours in a flurry of creative fun today. 

thanks again to tokketok for the idea!

and for the road, a few other fun things to do indoors:

play dress up

put on a play

make sock puppets

paint

bake cookies

play games (we particularly like Jenga Max, and Twister Hopscotch)

paint your fingernails (annika recommends purple)

read out loud

make a blanket fort, and then pop some popcorn and sit inside and watch a movie.

and

Check out childhood 101 for TONS of awesome, happy-fun ideas!

... 

what does your family do when outdoors are off limits?

artist love

oh wow. how much do you love these illustrations from Fall Down Tree's Adam Record.

here are a few of my faves:

they make me all kinds of happy.

... and there are so many more!! hop over and check out his site, HERE,  or the etsy shop, HERE.

then, get all inspired, and go make something of your own! 

that's it, GO!

postapalooza!!!

i know, i know... six months with narry a post, and now, all of a sudden this flood. what can i say. we humans are nothing if not inconstant. 

just wanted to share this awesome pic. owen got the hat from the 'favorite store' (aka, the dollar tree) and was showing us his prestidigitory skills. which are prodigious. 

i made it HERE, (its beyond easy) at polaroin.com and i pretty much just love everything about it. 

this is another one i made a while back on the same site. 

you can play around with finishes and tints and things, and even 'write' on the space at the bottom.  i love the vintage-y look it gives the photos!

getting you through

we've had a bout of sickness lately that we just can't seem to shake. as of last night the count was: 2 stomach ache/nausea/headaches, 1 ear ache-y toddler (who only wants to cuddle, and - oddly - to go outside and swing! swing!), 1 fever, and 1 sprained ankle. which is enough to drive any mom to distraction. 

thankfully, though, i have a few happy things in my parent survival kit.

first, along with the perpetual pot of tea, there is THIS

that's right. it says Godiva. and Chocolate. and Truffle. and Coffee. all on the same bag. it is divinity. and then, i recently discovered the loveliness that is this juice.

blueberry pomegranate. yummy! 

along with some dried apricots, and, as an extra special, late-at-night-when-the-kids-are-finally-asleep treat, THIS insanely decadent treat.

ah, what are the stresses of kids who hate thermometers, and endless readings of 'If You Give A Mouse A Cookie' and 'The Opposites Book', or the boredom of the 23rd game of Chutes and Ladders when you have such delicious companions! 

alright, so they're probably not the healthiest options, but given the circumstances, don't judge. 

besides, it's not all about food. this came yesterday

yep. that's a ... slightly used (read: pretty thrashed but still readable) Norton Anthology of English Literature. woo hoo!! yes, yes. book nerd status: confirmed. it's for the studying... if that mitigates it at all. ... probably not. but its a nice snuggly thing to wrap your mind in, and here is a sneak peek at the blanket in progress, which, incidently, is also a nice snuggly thing to wrap yourself in. 

so... a great big thank you to all of my coping devices. what are some of yours? 

 a good day to you all, and here's to a jolly day, regardless of circumstances. 

20 good foods that are great for your skin

saw this link the other day from the beautiful blog of aurajoon. (seriously, if you haven't seen her... go there now!) 

someone had asked her about her skin routine, (she does have amazing skin) and she wrote that she eats THESE foods. 

i've become convinced recently of the importance of being careful about what we put into our bodies, and how much what we eat affects all aspects of our lives. this is especially true when you have kids who struggle with ADHD. - more about this to come, as i become more informed. - plus, for busy moms who are on a budget and have neither the time nor the cash for regular spa treatments, it's great to know that something as easy as eating better can get you the same (if not better) results. 

so... check it out and (like me), realize how much you need to revamp your diet (or maybe you're doing great! keep it up!). 

... off to make some green tea... 

Belated V-day love

here's hoping everyone had a lovely Vday yesterday. 

http://shartreuse.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/heartwallpaper1024x768.jpg

life has been busy busy as usual, but we made some time last night to have a special dinner (with candles. the kids have decided that no special affair is complete without candles.) and to revel in the chocolate-y-ness of the holiday without sending us all into a diabetic coma. :) always nice when we can avoid those things.


here are some things i've been working on of late:

These happy hearts, adapted from this cute pattern from the lovely Bella Dia 

http://shartreuse.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/heartwallpaper1024x768.jpg

also working on a blanket for Annika which is an adaptation of this cute patchy throw from Dottie Angel

http://dottieangel.blogspot.com/2010/06/ordinarily-extraordinary-blanket-how-to.html

pics of the work in progress ensuing. 

warning, however. progress on the blanket may be slower than anticipated due to extreme studying for the GRE subject test. this thing is going to be BRUTAL!! 

and with that, one more cup of tea, a few more pages of studying, and i'm off to bed. 

sweet drems, all!

quote-a-kid

as a busy mom, i can't even begin to approximate the number of times i have wished for more hands. one to fold laundry, one to turn the page on my book, one to clean up the spill, one to scoop up the baby in the nick of time... etc. 


 so i was repeating this wish to annika the other day as we were out on a hike through the woods. she had collected so many interesting things that even with my two hands and hers, working together, it still wasn't enough.

i told her, 'well, that settles it, i'm just going to have to get a few more arms.' 
she thought about this for a moment, and said, 'i think that could be a problem.'
'yeah,' i agree, 'i guess my shirts wouldn't fit so well.'
 and she responded, 'oh, the shirts would be ok, but you'd have to get a lot more bracelets!'

well... ok! 


how 'bout one of these from Up in Annie's Room. 

 So cool!!

Make a Mix cooking

i'm aware i have a bundle of catching up to do. it has been a ridiculously busy winter here. Kids being home all day over Christmas break always sends my schedule into convulsions. not to mention, our dog had puppies (post ensuing), and my older son moved back in (yay!), although only temporarily... along with all the usual holiday chaos, and winter preparations necessary for living in the mountains. 
aaaaaanyway. 
Wanted to share with you all about this AMAZING BOOK my mom sent me a few years ago. It's called Make a Mix, and it's a method of cooking that (when i have the foresight to use it) saves me a HUGE amount of time and $$ at the grocery store.  

(Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Make-mix-Karine-Eliason/dp/1555610730)
the basic idea (and one i'm sure you've heard about) is to (shockingly :) make your own mixes and then use them in the many yummy recipes that make up the second part of the book. i love this idea for many reasons: 
1.  i can substitute my own healthier ingredients for any that i'm not so excited about (though i haven't had to make as many modifications as i had thought). 
2. my food is all GMO and preservative and artificial-stuff free, which makes a huge difference when dealing with multiple kids with ADHD.
3. it saves a LOT of $$.
and 4. if you take a half a day  each week and make all the mixes, the rest of your meals for the week are super quick!

these are some of the cinnamon rolls we made this morning from one of my favorite mixes in the book (hot roll mix, page 17!). The kids LOVED them and were able to help with the kneading, rolling out, and sprinkling on of all the yummies. 

Thanks for the book, mom! 

quote-a-kid

admittedly, i'm stealing this quote from a friend of mine's kid. she's three, and her little brother is 16months.

jill: mom, it's getting late, i think you should put jack to bed now.

jill's mom: jill, it's getting late, i think i should put YOU to bed now.


...long pause, in which jill bears a thoughtful countenance...


jill: mom, you know what's awesome?

jill's mom: no, what's awesome.

jill: putting jack to bed.




hee. this made me giggle. and, like all of us, my friend has a fun job ahead of her... 


have a great weekend, everyone!!

no such thing as a bathroom break

alright. i have no desire to be uncouth, but from time to time nature calls to us all. and once in a while she calls in a way that lets us know we're gonna be spending an abnormally long time in the john. go nature.

so not too long ago i was the lucky recipient of one of these calls. it was a chaotic time of the day, and i was already on full mom-alert status. code orange with slight chance of red on the horizon. so when the call comes in from nature, i figure it wouldn't probably be the wisest choice to just run off to take care of business and leave the

Image via Wikipedia

four horsemen of the apocalypse to play unsupervised  in the living room during my absence. 



i grab the baby and a book for her to read and plunk her down on the bathroom floor. i take my seat. literally four seconds later, annika opens the door (it doesn't lock... which has been the cause of more than one embarrassing mishap, believe you me) and walks on in chattering to me about something or other. (bats, i think it was. or maybe something about string cheese... at any rate) She went to the long mirror hanging on the back of the door, and started making faces at herself, and rearranging her hair.


in the reflection of the mirror, she spotted the hair dryer, lying on the counter, and turned and picked it up, with the air of a sociologist

Image via Wikipedia

attempting to dicipher the mysteries of a long lost civilization. she turned it on. 










meanwhile, naomi had abandoned her book, and taken up investigating things in the trash can. i pried a toilet paper tube from her

Image via Wikipedia

kung fu grip, which led to an immediate burst of outraged tears. the formerly abandoned book is no consolation for the loss of the toilet paper tube. she dives back into the trashcan. 


i did my best to discourage her explorations with a well-placed leg turned guard-rail. however i was not as effectual as i might have been, had i not been distracted by annika's strange and enigmatic behavior with the hair dryer. she was holding it out from her face, blowing her hair every which way to breakfast, and making the most peculiar expression i think i have ever seen. it was a cross between scientific analysis, disgust, and incredulity. i was laughing. 

she, of course had to know what i was laughing about, and i told her she was making a funny face, so naturally she had to see for herself in the mirror. 

cue naomi. her archaeological expedition in the trashcan had unearthed an abandoned tube of toothpaste, a diaper, and an incomplete pack of playing cards. ack! i remove the tube of toothpaste from her mouth, reaching behind me for the toilet paper (the boys have repurposed the toilet paper holder as a rocket for their hoverboard, so the toilet paper has to sit on the top of the toilet. im sure this is common practice.) to wipe her mouth, and when i turn around, annika is blasting naomi with the hair dryer. she's holding it like it was a lazer blaster from the planet Zubrox, and she's focused on her target with the ferocity of a jungle cat. something in the jaguar family. perhaps leopard. 

what made me choke with laughter, however wasn't anni's puma face, but naomi's reaction, which was so exact a copy of the expression anni had been making earlier it was uncanny. with my one leg still up in a defensive position, i had to grab onto the wall to keep from toppling off my perch. 

enter boys. the bathroom door was standing wide open since annika had come in, and everybody knows an open bathroom door is a gilt-edged invitation to the type of intimacy most families try to avoid. perfection. 
so the boys are in the middle of a heated discussion about whether uncle rico had said "almond palmer" or "alvin palinger" in the movie napoleon dynamite. (the phrase they were looking for was actually "nylon polymer"... just in case anyone was plagued with curiosity.) and they had come in to seek binding arbitration on the matter. 


all this while, of course, i've been sitting (having placed a towel strategically over myself to retain some small shred of dignity) working with one hand to negotiate the hair dryer situation with the girls. as we're discussing the "palmer/ palinger/ polymer" question, owen, always the multi-tasker, has found a stack of washcloths that he has decided must be folded into paper airplane shapes. 

unfortunately, he has decided to do the folding about 4 centimeters from where naomi is sitting, opening and closing the under-sink cabinet doors. she becomes interested, naturally in the assembly of the paper airplane washcloths, and wishes to join in. this is not looked upon favorably by owen. 

meanwhile, annika has turned back to the mirror, and is lazer blasting her reflection quoting "mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all" in what, for all the world, sounds like an australian accent; and max has decided that this is the perfect opportunity for him to turn on the bath and soak his feet, and then step out onto the carpet (brainless award given to the genius who decided to put carpet in the bathroom...) and make big wet footprints across the floor. ("it's like a MAP!!")


... 37 seconds later ...

i am collapsed and convulsed in laughter, but somehow manage to yell "OUT!!!  PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO PEE IN PEACE!!"
which brought most of the action to a standstill, and earned me three hugs as owen, max, and annika filed meekly out the door. 


naomi and i eyed each other and shook our heads. which is about when, out in the hallway, i heard max whisper to owen and annika, "mom said 'pee'!" 

when baby-crazy becomes certifiable

we all know that having a baby is a big deal. it changes your life in so many ways, and babies - while small and innocent looking - come with a LOT of accoutrements. i was always mildly mystified to find that the smaller the baby, the larger the car needed to hold all of his or her necessities. to say nothing of the baby bag. 

what i have here for you though, defies all common sense. the products featured here are beyond ridiculous. (i think the placenta teddy bear may be the most horrifying thing ive ever seen in my entire LIFE!) and for a good laugh at how crazy the baby industry has grown, check out this link:

Ridiculous Parenting Products 

 and if you ever catch yourself feeling like your life would be SO much easier if you only had ______ (fill in the blank) and who hasn't felt like that, honestly? just remember women raised babies for thousands of years without the benefit of disposable diapers, wipes, cribs with light and music mobiles, or even the automated time-out pad (see above link). 

i remember (funny, the things that stick in your memory) visiting mount vernon, and the tour guide telling us that George Washington's favorite toy as a child was a string with a few buttons on it. (they even had the alleged button/string marvel there!) your child's greatest plaything will always be YOU. plus, it seemed to work out alright in the end for George.

lets try to focus on the important things, and let the battery operated nasal aspirator and baby's first high heels (and even the latest baby einstein DVD, or animated baby gym, or super deluxe extra groovy stroller) go ahead and pass us by. 

the suitcase lift

when max was born and owen was only 14 months and barely walking, it became all-important for me to invent some way to pick up owen while still carrying baby max. a one-handed carry. thus, from necessity, was born the suitcase lift. 

its an easy move, and one i (with another baby / toddler pair) use just about every day.   

Here's how it goes:

Step one: Bend down, dangling your arm in front of a standing child.

Step two: Grip the child's leg, just above the knee.

Step three: Have the child hold tightly to your arm, hugging it just above the elbow.

Step four: Lift. you should be holding the child in the same way you would hold a suitcase, having picked him or her up using just one hand!

this lift is great for getting toddlers in and out of cars, up and down stairs, over big puddles... plus, good for the biceps. oo-rah.

so, there it is, folks. the suitcase lift. use wisely.

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quote-a-kid

its been a rich week in kid quotes.
Some of the winners:

annika to max, who was evidently getting on her nerves. 

"put a shoe on your foot and walk away."

annika to owen who was building a pillow fort in the living room:

"gosh, i hope you don't die in there"

owen to his grandpa, re: his uncle:

"he can't be an uncle. he doesn't even have a mustache."

max, on life,
"there's nothing better than being nice to someone and then having some chocolate milk."




say on, kids!

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the secret handshake

a great little idea for building fun relationships with your kids:

the secret handshake

take 5 minutes and come up with an awesome hand-slapping, hip-bumping handshake that's just between the two of you. 

include all the bells and whistles. tickle each other, rub noses, bump forheads, spin, sing, or do some high-kicking. make it outlandishly long, or short and sweet; simple or so complex you have to write it down... just spend a minute making something that's just for the two of you. 

then don't forget to use it! bust out that secret handshake as you're sending them off to school, before bed, when they finish their chores... or make it a prerequisite for getting dessert. 

being a parent is awesome. make it so.

here are a couple of links to get you started:

mary and jakes handshake
funny hadshake

freddie the frog, and paint-by-nappers

     summer. sunshine, chlorine, warm nights, hot blacktop, baseball, bike rides, ripening vegetables, salty beach air, bare feet and flip flops and staying up late and ice cream cones on the back porch and running through the sprinklers; barbeques and watermellon and flashlight tag and iced tea and climbing trees and counting the stars... it's a season replete with moments of the everyday miraculous. for a kid, it stretches out endlessly. two months of sunburnt freedom. its the perfect time to get down to the business of making some lasting memories.

      sometimes we plan for those things. camping trips, visits to grandma, swimming lessons... and other times the memories jump out at you, out of the absolute blue, catching you completely off-guard and demanding flexibility, spontenaity, and aplomb. three much-sought-after qualities in a mom. take today for instance. 

      i put annika down for her nap at the usual time, and thought to myself what a blessing it was that she stayed in bed this time without the usual 4 or 5 times of peeking her head out the door and asking for a book, or water, or a hug. about a half an hour after i thought she was sound asleep, i happened to walk by her room and the door was slightly ajar, so i glanced in. there was a small, red person crouched in front of the nightstand, making what appeared to be a cross between chinese heiroglyphs and anasazi cave paintings on the flat front surface of the night table. 

       i gasped, and the small red person turned around. low and behold... annika. covered from head to toe with red paint. (who knew those little paint pots held SO MUCH paint!) so after a rather vigorous scrubbing in the bath, and an ACTUAL nap, we went outside for an art project. figuring, that it is best, rather than discouraging creativity, to channel it into something acceptable... or at least, easier to clean up. so we painted. wanna guess what color her house was? and her tree? and her penguin? 

   so... as the girls were winding down with the painting, the boys were wanting to be helpful, so i set them the task of watering the plants. all was going smoothly, and i had just taken the paint supplies into the house, when max came bursting through the backdoor demanding a plastic bag. MOMINEEDAPLASTICBAGNOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!! 

what in the world for? i asked.

WEFOUNDAFROG!!!!!!

a frog?

YEEEEESSSSS, CANIPLEASEHAVEABAG,WEWANNACATCH'IM!!

i rummaged around and came up with one of those plastic strawberry containers. it took about 10 minutes of silent concentration shot through with squeals of fright and military-style commands for owen to BLOCKHIM!, and max to GRABHIM! QUICK! they finally succeeded in getting the frog into the strawberry container. 

after such an overwhelming victory, they, naturally had to jump up and down, hugging each other and retelling the story again and again. meanwhile, i was reddying a bucket. the frog was a lot larger than i had thought it would be, about 4 inches without its legs stretched out. 

so the bucket was ready and we transfered freddie (they had gone through a list of possible names for the frog, throwing out lefrog, beans, and king arthur as not 'realistic' enough) to the bucket. we searched online for some info about frogs, and after a while came to the conclusion that we would have to release freddie back into the wild. the rigors of hunting down live insects for him every day were simply too great. 

just about the time that we had decided to say goodbye to freddie, he decided he had had enough of the bucket. with one mightly leap, (perfectly timed, just as we were leaning in to say one last farewell) he sprang from his plastic prison and landed with a slosh on the kitchen floor. we all screamed. pandemonium. owen and max were devising strategies for catching freddie, annika was on the couch, jumping up and down and making a noise that was either a laugh or a fair impression of a hyperventelating seal, and i was ... well, we'll skip me. 

owen decided a spatula would be a good way to try to lift the frog, and made a few tentative attempts. max tried to summon the courage to just pick it up, but every time he got close, frightened freddie just hopped away. 

we finally managed to sort of scoop him up in the original strawberry container, and he made it back to his original home in the roots of the pear tree. best of luck to you, freddie. thanks for stopping by to make a memory with us; and thanks, Lord, for being a God of family. a God of laughter. a God of joy.