Family Movie Night: The Marshmallow Edition

Tonight was another cold one. It was in the fifties, I have probably been living down South too long when I define "cold one" as fifty degrees. So we started a fire. For any of you who live in colder climates and are scratching your head now, seriously if I waited for it to be colder our fireplace would never get lit. And by "fire" I mean a lone duralog. We gathered round the fire to roast hot dogs for dinner, and s'mores for dessert. Honestly, this might have had a little something to do with me wanting to have an easy dinner. I mean, how often do my kids cook their own food?
We snuggled under the blankets and vegged out with some holiday movies. Except John, he was in shorts. He and Brian must have sludge for blood it's so thick. They are never cold.




The cat even got in on the snuggling action, and John's foot.

Wordless Wednesday: Festival of Lights

Snow Day 2009

I have never been a terribly linear, engineer sort. Really. Ever. But it was so cold outside and I had just bought John this pirate lego set. Thankfully, Lego directions are alot like Ikea furniture assembly, they give pictures. John kept looking at me. When things weren't looking right he would say, "Its okay Mom, we can wait for Dad to get home." When I finally had it all put together right, he beamed at me. He actually beamed. I felt like I had redeemed myself in the boy toy world. I can play Barbie till the cows come home, but I have been informed that I do not make a good dragon, or dinosaur.

The kids LOVED the snow, it didn't stick much to the ground, but the loved catching it in their mouths.

They loved breathing and making "clouds"


The cat was unimpressed.

And this is what a little girl looks like after romping in the snow all day. Red cheeked and exhausted.

No Sew Easy Old Fashioned Shawls

Since it was so cold down here, when I stumbled onto this tutorial over at wee folk art, I knew I had to make this. We love anything that reeks of little house on the prarie. Plus, I had woven cotton taking up space in my closet. These are so easy, you just cut the fabric into a square, and then fray about 3/4 inch by picking out threads. I made five of them in about an hour real mom time.

The girls were using them as shawls, as lap blankets, and they even wore them as scarves under their jackets. Emma is modeling the sari look. Chloe has gone back to her Polish roots and is wearing it as a head covering!

Ps. Brandy, if you are reading this. Don't make it, I already made one for each of your girls.

Santa's Sweatshop progress so far (and links if you wanna make them)

For Christmas, I like it when a certain percentage of the gifts are handmade. Trust me when I tell you that there is WAY more thought put into them. Crikey! One of these days I will go back to pure retail and get my evenings back. Just in case you find any of this inspiring, I will put the links where I can.

First I painted some Harry Potter peg people for Chloe. You find the bags of peg people at Hobby Lobby or Micheal's for less than 2 dollars for five of them. I have a tone of acrylic paints lying around, so I didn't need to purchase those. I did however have to purchase the finest paint brush imaginable. These are so tiny to begin with. I should have just borrowed a single strand of the hair from my friends newborn. I had great fun painting them. I know not everyone is into Harry Potter, but you can adapt them for what you like. I want to make Emma a Star Wars set. I have seen People create a little mock up of their own families too.

I made little felt tea bags for Emma's tea set Brian brought back from Holland. I am also midway through a felt set of poptarts and cookies. Here is a tutorial I am using.

The TuTu has been one of the quickest and easiest things I have made so far. I made three of them in under an hour (and that is real mom time=with many interruptions from the kiddies). I used Martha's tutorial here.

Next, my friend Terra and I made glass tile pendants and magnets. I am not sure how many of these will make it out as gifts. I love these SO much. I think we are going to be forced to make another batch just for ourselves. I used the same process for both. The glass makes it hard to photograph, but these turned out really well. Here is a tutorial. I bought all my supplies for these on Etsy very inexpensively. If you head out to a Hobby Store, its really pricey.

The last thing I made was Starbucks cup sleeves from fabric. Here is a link with several different designs.

I am in the middle of about eight knitting and sewing projects. As I get them done, I will update here and post the links just in case you are bored in the evening and need something to do while you watch holiday movies!

Works for me Wednesday: Toeless socks Momjacked

Chloe had some tissue removed from the top of her foot by the dermatologist, and so the doctor told us to let her wear flip flops. Well, two weeks ago this was fine, but our area just had a cold front. Looking at her bare feet in those flip flops made me freeze. Even though she said she would be okay. So I came up with this idea. I cut the toes off her socks so she would be a bit warmer. Being a huge flip flop fan myself, I am trying to decide if I can get away with this. So far, I don't think so. but I do knit....

The rest of the day we spent cuddled inside. The kids were SO EXCITED. We had a fire. Now I know those of you who live in colder climates don't understand the thrill. But for our kids anytime we have a fire is EPIC!

Is conformity a good idea?

I am personally mulling over this idea on two fronts.

My middle child, is what many people would call a "strong-willed child". I call it having a strong sense of self. She is louder than some children, has VERY definite opinions on just about everything. If I have said something questionable, I can count on her to repeat it at the worst possible moment. She is most likely to snitch a cookie or push the boundaries. If offered a candy, she will negotiate for more. Chloe tends to want to influence the situation, instead of allowing it to influence her. Her hair is usually wild because she has snatched the pretty things I put right out of her hair as soon as I turn my back. She KNOWS what she wants to wear even if it is leopard print tights with a pink flower skirt. She keeps me on my toes. I have received many opinions that imply that something is wrong with her, that I need to force her into fitting better into the box of what is the norm. But that box doesn't fit her, and I can't figure out why I should change her (short of outright disobedience, that we will force a change on). She is who she is. Who am I to force her to be something is isn't? What a huge message of rejection that would send to my child. I might as well skywrite "YOU AREN"T GOOD ENOUGH". If God creates each of us unique, who am I to try to force everyone to conform to one standard?

If there is a direct opposite to this, it's my oldest daughter. She is an introvert. She is a peacemaker and willing to sacrifice herself for others happiness. A bit more of a thinker. She is quiet, and she likes having time to herself for more introverted endeavors. She is very laid back, able to adjust and be flexible in just about any situation. I have gotten lots of opinions from other people about how I need to force her to be less shy. I need to make her more comfortable in large social groups. I need to push her out of the nest. I feel the pressure this puts on me. But again, I just can't figure out why I need to do that. She is who she is, who am I to reject who she is and try to force my mask onto her? She is beautiful just the way she is. As much as the world needs extroverted movers and shakers, it also needs quiet thinkers.

Conformity is the process by which an individual's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by other people, usually because they want to achieve a sense of security within a group. But that is a false sense of security. That leaves the nagging doubt that if you let the mask slip, if folks get a glimpse of who you really are, they would reject you. Yuck! Why not just BE YOURSELF. We are, who we are. Whether we are an introvert, or extrovert we are who God created us to be. Look at how diverse the entirety of nature is, why do we as a society think there is only one way to be? Why can't we all be daring enough to be a little different? As someone who isn't the best at conforming, all this got me thinking.

This thinking has led me to a conclusion about our family. We are going to reject all the opinions of the well meaning people who think we need to change our children's essential natures. God forgive me for the times I have tried to force conformity on my kids. Our family is a place where you can be yourself, your authentic self, without fearing rejection. We get you, and we accept you EXACTLY as you are. As much as we can, we will help you grow to be whomever you are meant to be. Not carbon copies of us, not replicas of our ideals. But we will try to guide you and help you find your own. If you are creative, we will try to nurture that. If you are concrete and logical (God help your creative mother in this), we will try to nurture that. If you are strong willed, awesome. If you are introverted, awesome. I can't guarantee this anywhere else in the world, because most of the time nonconformity includes a big risk of rejection. But here at home with your family, we love YOU for who you really are, deep down inside when no one else is around. My job as the Mom and parent is to make sure you know that down to your toes.