jcaroline's blog

Henry's Halloween- I Redeem Myself

I have to brag. This year, Henry's Halloween costume fit! If you've hung around for awhile, you may remember his first Halloween as a Pea Pod and his second year as a gnome with too-short pants. But this year, I actually bought the costume in early October AND was able to buy the correct size. And because it goes over a regular shirt and pants, he didn't seem to mind it. He even kept the hood up most of the time. Now the whole trick-or-treating thing is still a bit overwhelming, but he does love the candy, which he ate as he went along.

Now Olivia was almost a problem. I ordered an Olivia the pig costume the Wednesday before Halloween requesting overnight service. By Friday, it wasn't here. So Saturday, I ran to a Halloween costume store, found an Olivia costume that had been ransacked, leaving only the dress. Found striped tights that were way too big. Made felt pig ears, but found out that interfacing isn't enough to hold them upright- next time I should wire them. Oh well, she was pleased and except for exceptionally droopy bunny-like ears, she looked fine.

While I'm bragging on myself, Henry did look awesome at my niece's wedding. I caught this picture of him as he was, apparently, auditioning for a Gap ad.

Olivia looked pretty good herself, though she appears to be biting her lip just waiting for family pictures to be over.

Fortunately, I don't have to get anyone dressed for any event for several weeks. I think Christmas might involve some re-runs.

School Days

It's that time of year again and this year Miss O is off to kindergarten. Another year older, another year more confident (read smarty), with new blinking shoes and a backpack with matching lunch kit. I am thrilled to say that she has gone two days and so far, no calls from the school.

Congrats to Tonya and Carol, who each got a $25 Amazon Gift Card for (very) gingerly reminding me to post again. Seriously, you readers are too soft on me! Or you are busy or you don't care. I'll pretend its the former!

By the way, those Amazon gift cards are awesome! They can be delivered by email, snail mail, Facebook or printed! This is not a sponsored post- I just hadn't ordered one a long time and had forgotten how convenient they are for the giver and the recipient. And what can't you buy on Amazon? Okay, I can think of several things, but those aren't things I would be giving as gifts anyway. ;)

Working on Fabric 2.0 for Fall Quilt Market. Follow us on twitter at @fabric20, on Facebook and the website is now up at www.fabric20.com. If you attend Quilt Market, make sure you let me know so I can add you to the list! And if you are a company looking to help me sponsor the event, please let me know. Or just send a check-- whatever works for you.

Also trying to work up some other cool things for fall. Will let you know as they come to fruition. 

I'm still re-forming the blogging habit, so stay on me!

 

Blog? What Blog?

I continue to abandon my writing and I apologize.  So many things have been going on and I haven't written about any of them!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  In keeping with my terribly late theme, I thought I would share Halloween pictures with you.  Quilt Market was that weekend and several people commented to me how I probably "really outdo myself on my children's costumes".  No, not so much.

Olivia again took care of herself with a Snow White dress out of the dress-up box.  Henry had to suffer through my Target costume that I was sure was big enough this year.  (Remember last year's failure?)  This year I chose the Garden Gnome costume because I figured it could pass as a dwarf costume with Olivia's Snow White.  Henry wouldn't wear the beard and most of the time wouldn't wear the hat either.  So, he just looked like Howdy Dowdy in an outfit that is too small.  On the left, you can see that by the end of the evening the snaps on the pants had had enough and finally exploded leaving him in some sort of flowing palazzo pants.

Oh well, he is still young enough to have no idea how I failed him and he thought the best part of Halloween was just walking up and down the sidewalk.  Next year I really will do better.  A costume based on a sweatsuit that fits him, yes?

Right now I am on a sewing frenzy, so Olivia is going to benefit from some new clothes for the holidays.  I'll share pictures once I get them figured out.  And finished.

Good-bye Little Girl

Today was the first day of school and Olivia started Pre-K.  She's gone to Mother's Day Out for a couple of years, so to her, no big deal.  To me, big deal.  More kids, more chaos, more rules.  But she had a great day at school and I can't believe my little girl has started her school career.  So I could blather on about how grown-up she has become and what a significant milestone this is, etc. etc.  But, alas, she threw a huge tantrum tonight, so I know my little girl is still in there.

So It's Not Just My Child

BBC News Reports:

Boy's head stuck in toilet seat

Firefighters in Essex came to the rescue of a young boy who had a toilet seat stuck on his head.

The boy, aged two and a half, and his worried mother went to Braintree fire station after she was unable to get the small trainer seat off his head.

Firefighter Chris Cox said: "We put some dish washing liquid on his head and ears and it slid off nice as pie.

"The boy was very brave and didn't make a fuss and once we had got the seat off he toddled away as happy as can be."

Mr Cox added: "The boy had put his head through it and couldn't get it out again, he came in here wearing it like a collar.

"His mum had tried to get it over his head but couldn't budge it so she walked him down here and asked us to have a look at it and we went to work and we managed to get it off in no time."

You may remember a couple of a years ago, my daughter did the same thing, so I am vindicated. Kind of.  In this story, they seemed to have removed it with dish washing soap and didn't have to get a bread knife near his head.

They other funny thing about this story is several people asked me at the time why I didn't take her to the fire station for help. I thought that was a weird idea because clearly she wasn't on fire. (Not when I started removing the seat, anyway.) My mistake. Apparently they handle all sort of mishaps and have plenty of dish washing liquid on hand.

Rainy Days

 

We've had a lot of rainy weather here lately and my daughter somehow has more rain gear than anyone I know.  We went to get her hair cut yesterday and she was decked out her vinyl and rubber. 

She also came to work with me this morning, which she hasn't done in a long time.  And she may not again for awhile.  She loves to play with tape, usually the scotch variety.  But today, she picked up the Thermoweb Fabric Fuse tape, which I remembered too late, is designed to hold fabric together with no sewing or heat.  She wrapped herself from chest to bottom.  I was able to pull some off very carefully, but much of it left a big gooey mess.  Finally, I worked her dress over with some rubber cement thinner to remove the final bits of goo.  Of course, rubber cement thinner has terrible fumes, so she probably won't read at grade level.  But I saved that dress.

So after that incident and answering approximately 57 "why" questions, she went home and I came back to get some work done!

Congratulations to Susan who won the copy of City Quilts.  I've got another book giveaway this week!

Pillowcase to Compensate for Mediocre Parenting

I have a confession to make.  I often feel like I'm not doing enough for my children and that they take a back seat to less important things like sleeping, eating, working, blah, blah, blah.  Ever heard that before?  But I occasionally absolve my guilt with material goods, and the guilt seems to be absolved more effectively with handmade goods.

So yesterday, I whipped up a pillowcase for Miss Olivia, who was thrilled.  I love making pillowcases because they are 1) necessary, 2) fast, and 3) much appreciated.  It beats the heck out of buying a new sheet set every time you want a change in look.
So the tutorial for the pillowcase is here.  But I have another confession to make.  When I did this tutorial, I sold fabric for a living and had no regard for yardage required.  I went to the shelf and cut.  But, now that I'm ordering my fabric online and have to live with the yardage I ordered, things are going to change.  I only ordered a yard of each of the fabrics, which by my original cutting layout would not have worked.  So I turned it, which on this print, worked out great.  If it doesn't work for your print, the other solution would be to piece the pillowcase (back and front) cutting two pieces that are 29" wide and 22" tall.  Man, I'm going to miss that unrestricted yardage.

The fabric, by the way, is the Olivia fabric from Andover, which I purchased at the Fat Quarter Shop.

  

Yes, she did it again.

 This photo has nothing to do with the story, but I think she looks cute in it.  And no, she doesn't wear glasses, but apparently she thinks my reading glasses enhance her dancing. 

So, for those that have been around awhile, you may remember the story of her putting the potty seat on her head and it getting stuck.  If you didn't read that exciting epistle, I'll wait for you to catch up.

Last weekend we moved the jcaroline office and Thursday night I brought home a variety of Olivia leftovers that had been at the old office:  videos, toys, potty seats.  When I got home on Thursday night, I left a box in the front hall at home, which had a potty seat on top.  (What better way to greet guests to your house, right?)  Guess what she did Friday morning as her father was getting ready to take her to school?  Stuck it over her head and then couldn't get it off.  And yes, he had to cut it off of her.

I'm not calling the manufacturer of this potty seat because now I think clearly the problem is with the child, not the maker of the seat.  So, I'm just going to look at this picture and think about how cute she is, not how ornery she can be.

Is it 2010 yet?

Did I miss Christmas?  And New Year's?  No, I didn't but I haven't blogged in forever (as my mother pointed out), and I'm sure you've been missing the minutia of my life! 

First, I did attempt to get a good Christmas picture of the the little vixens, but as I discovered, two children do not make for ONE good picture:

 

And yes, Henry looks frightened, because I think he is.

I think the photo session is over- what do you think?  Henry does look much more relaxed now that he has been released.

We had a great Christmas seeing both sets of grandparents and all the cousins.  Olivia got a bike and Henry enjoyed eating wrapping paper.

Missouri had pretty good snow while we were there, so Olivia got to play in it.  She thought snow angels were done face down.

Apparently, that didn't phase her because she continued to eat snow.

And once again, I'm thrilled I didn't decorate for Christmas because that means I didn't have to spend my New Year's weekend taking the stuff down.  (Did you not know that I'm a Scrooge?)  I think a Fisher-Price Nativity Scene provides plenty of Christmas spirit.

I hope you and yours had a great holiday and New Year's.  This week's project is to put together a holiday/New Year's card and actually get it in the mail.  If you don't hear about it again, it's because I didn't get it done.

That's my boy!

Thank goodness the state did not catch wind of Henry's Halloween costume debacle and we went to court Friday, November 20 to finalize his adoption.   Henry is now, officially, my boy.  Sorry I don't have pictures of the event-- I was busy holding Henry, wiping runny noses (we all had colds), and hosing Olivia down with Tylenol to take any pictures.  Family members did, however, so I'll post those when I get them.

Friday was National Adoption Day, so the courthouse was abuzz with media taking pictures and interviewing people.  I got asked questions by a local paper and between my cold and being caught off-guard, I don't know that I said anything printable, much less profound.  I should have come prepared with talking points. :-)  Olivia was quite a hit with the photographers however, as she performed various poses.

We didn't expect any hurdles on the road to adopting Henry, so the hearing was very routine.  However, it is still such a relief to have all the legalities behind us on that big bundle of love.  Now it's just full-time snuggling (and feeding) with no timeouts for paperwork!

Henry's Halloween Costume- FAILURE

Okay, so I didn't get Henry's costume until Saturday, which is Halloween day, if you didn't remember.  So I ran to Target and they were limited on 3-6 mo. sizes, so I got this.  The picture on the package looks pretty cute, doesn't it?

So, at about 5:30, I put Henry in above pea pod costume, but it is about 10 inches too short.  Never fear.  I have these:

So, I cut leg holes.  

So, Henry's was not dressed as much as a pea pod as "the-son-of-a-mother-who-doesn't-plan-ahead-for-Halloween-but-is-determined-to-make-the-costume-work-anyway."  

 
So, we got in the car, trick and treated at the nanny's and then came home and took off his costume.  I'm sure he didn't mind.  I promise to do better next year, Henry.  Olivia, you're old enough to be on your own and thank goodness, you are up to the task.

Do you recognize her pants? Yes, they are pants and an appliqued shirt I made for her two years ago.  That was about 15 inches ago in height.  But she can still get them on and put on some boots and no one is the wiser, yes?  Yes, I think that girl will do just fine at Halloween.  Then she can help out Henry.

Happy Halloween!

I've never been much of a Halloween fan, but it does help to have an enthusiastic child at home!

She got to wear her costume to Mother's Day Out on Thursday.

Henry is there in the background, not terribly impressed by the whole thing.

Whoa-- where did that hook come from?  It's dangerous to have a resident pirate.  Better get Henry an eye patch.

Since some of the children only come to Mother's Day Out on Friday, they got to wear their costumes again today.  However, Olivia decided to mix it up and be a princess out of her dress-up box.  It was chilly this morning, so we insisted she wear her fake fur stole as well.  I also made her take off her princess high heel slides (you know, those plastic shoes that are designed to break your child's ankle?) and replace them with her silver sequin flats.  She even agreed that they were easier to walk in.

I don't know what she will pick for tomorrow night.  We might be out of impromptu costumes.

It's My Birthday...

so I'll post pictures of whatever I please.  Which would be my kiddos...

Typical of child #2, Henry has not been photographed nearly as much as child #1, so I did my best this weekend to shoot a few of the little man.

This is the little man being dressed in some very girlie attire by Olivia.  She puts those shoes on her feet wrong as well.  (And yes, she still uses her binky.  Shhh!!!)

My mornings go so much better when the two of them are in crib jail.  As long as they don't touch each other in any way.

And to further celebrate my birthday, I think I will leave early.

Breaking News....Olivia catches fish

I interrupt this birthday week to give you Olivia and her fish.  At approximately 2:00 p.m. on Monday, it was reported that a darling little girl caught a blue gill on a North Missouri lake.  She graciously posed for photos before releasing her award-winning fish.  When asked for comment, she replied "I'm done."

Now back to your brilliant commenting on the giveaways!

Babies Everywhere

Henry now smiles and will keep his eyes open for pictures.  He'll be 8 weeks this Saturday.  I must say, he is a cutie.

And this is little Avery, born July 5.  She is my nephew's little girl.  So I am now a great aunt and Henry and Olivia now have a first cousin once removed.  (Had to look that up.  Thanks, Wikipedia.)  She lives about three hours away, so we'll see her often.  Welcome, Avery!

Birthday on the Beach

Taking a little break this week in Marco Island, Florida.  Olivia celebrated her 3rd birthday Tuesday, which she has been referring to as "birthday on the beach".  She loved the beach... Henry, not so much.  A little too much heat and sand.

Don't miss our Heat Wave Sale through July 10.  A ton of fabrics, ribbons, papers, and hardware on sale.  New and old-- don't miss it!

Big Sister

Olivia has taken to her role as big sister well.  Hope that continues another 18 years.  Henry continues to get bigger.  Yes, bigger.  And no noticeable hair loss.

I am wandering around in a fog, so seriously, I couldn't come up with anything clever to write about all week.  Henry getting bigger involves a lot of eating between 11 and 6 in the morning.  And though I do nod off on him occasionally, I wake up when I drop the bottle or when he reminds me that I am nowhere near his mouth.  Oh, the trials of having an old mother...

Olivia has also been enjoying the benefit of Henry's gifts and the many gifts that have been included for her.  She received a dance leotard this week that she hasn't taken off for three days.  Here she models Henry's bath towel with her sunglasses and the gift wrap.

I will return to the land of the awake soon.  I hope anyway...

All Henry, All the Time

Henry and family are settling in nicely.  I said he had his days and nights mixed up.  That isn't really true.  His sleep schedule during the night is identical to his day sleep schedule-- it's just so much harder to take at night!  However, he has been doing a nice sleep stretch from 2:30 to 6:00 a.m., which is most welcome.

And Olivia still thinks he is fascinating as, of course, Mother and Dad do as well.

Okay, now it's time to get on with work and stop obsessing about this baby.  For now.

Meet Henry

Our newest family addition, Henry, was born Saturday weighing in at 9 lbs. 3 oz. and 20 inches long.  He came home with us Monday and met his big sister Olivia, who currently, is acting very excited.  He was born with a full head of hair.  I might need to schedule his first haircut!

Henry is being adopted privately, so we won't have the 18 months of uncertainly that we had with Olivia, for which I am very relieved!  And since I am not tired out from giving birth, I can enjoy long interludes of just staring at him.  Though I am getting tired from his days and nights being confused!  Don't be concerned if I appear to be sleepwalking through the next few days.  I'm sure we will get into a rhythm soon enough.

Belated Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you had a good Mother's Day.  We did at our house.  Saturday we went to see Hot Peas 'n Butter, a children's musical group.  Olivia danced through most of it (when she wasn't lying in the aisle).  The children in the audience formed a "mosh pit" around the stage, which Olivia was more than happy to participate in.

Dad and Olivia bought me a lime tree for Mother's Day.  I'm anxious to see if any edible limes come off of it.  Is a lime tree symbolic?  Sweet, but a little tart?  You can only take them in small doses?

I got this picture last week.  Perhaps it's time to get rid of the binky?  Or just recognize that this oral fixation is permanent?  Better than a handful of cigarettes, I say.  That's why I'm up for Mother of the Year.