The Best Gift of All

My teeny, tiny, sick little baby is now a robust, rowdy twelve year old!


All Avery wanted for his birthday was to be 60 inches. Since last year he's had us measure him often so that when his birthday rolled around this year he'd be tall enough to drive the adult go-karts. Last week he was still stalled at 59 inches. We hoped, we prayed, we watered and fed him - nothing. On Saturday we went to the Go-Kart place and measured him, still a ghastly 59 inches. Avery spent Sunday processing the fact that he'd have to ride along as a passenger on his birthday. He was disappointed but pleasant about it.


This afternoon it was finally time to buy our ride bracelets and the attendant asked Avery to stand by the ruler and he was a solid 60 inches - in fact, he was a noticeable bit over. He grew over night. I think that inch was his favorite present.

Avery and I made penguin cupcakes. I think there is a time to be "perfect" and a time to have fun. Baking with your kids is a time for giggles and goofing around - not a cover-worthy end result.

We decided to follow our recipe rule and make one batch according to the instructions:


And then make the rest however we like. What we like is crazy, mutant, monster cupcakes. Cute ones!

Cyclops, Mohawk, Pox, Twitter and Crazy Eyes:



Here he is with the flock:

The Horrors this Halloween

In Canada you can only trick-or-treat until you're about ten, eleven if you are very short for your age. That's it. Then there are a few sad years watching scary movies at home with your friends until high school (grade eight-twelve) when you go to dances and parties. If you tried trick-or treating after ten people would simply tell you you are too old and get off their porch. Ditto if you weren't wearing costume. No costume - no candy!

As each of my boys reached ten we moved them to games at home, community activities etc. Like good Canadians.

Last night we had more trick-or-treaters than ever before. In fact, more than all the years we've lived here combined. I dutifully doled out 4-6 treats per kid, oohed and awed over their costumes and sent them scampering away. Here's my observations:

1. Some kids are appalled with 4-6 treat-sized candies. They stand there after receiving their goodies, bag open, angry entitlement etched all across their face. I counter with a cheerful, " Happy Halloween" dismissal and a look in my eye that says 'leave now if you want off my porch still in possession of all your limbs'.

2. Some kids ask for different candy than what you give them. Oh, please. I bet their moms cook them their own meals to order too. Not in my house or on my porch.

3. The parents that won't speak to us in the neighborhood, still will not speak to us as they send their kids up our walkway to get candy from the heathens. Nice. Recognizing kids that have specifically shunned our boys and are now asking for candy is not fun at all. Those same families also seem fine with the kids trampling our landscaping on their retreat.

4. This one boggles my mind. Seriously. Two MOMS came to our door. Confused, I said "hello" and they said, " Trick or Treat!" Neither was dressed in costumes and they were both in their thirties. I smiled back, wondering what on earth is going on. Noting my confusion (smart girls) the first mom said that she was trick or treating, her kids are, " So lazy they decided to stay in the car but she didn't want them to miss out on the Halloween candy." My jaw hits the floor. The second lady, noting my horror (I didn't hide it well) attempting to back up her friends position interjects, " You think that's bad; my kids are so lazy they stayed home watching TV and sent me out to trick-or-treat for them."

Then they both held their bags up higher in case I didn't get the gist of occasion and needed a context clue.

Yes, I gave them some candy. I felt bad for their kids that they'll have a hard time in life if everything is handed to them, work-free. If this is how these mothers treat Halloween, imagine how they'll manage teenagers. Oh, my.

Mom, Where's the Maggots?

Hey All,

Here's a new project I posted at Bombshell Stamps click HERE to see the details.


Close-Up:


Wondering about the title of this post?

Brayden is just like his Dad. You really can't tell him anything, he has to experience it himself. It's also hard to teach him things. He needs to come at it his own way, fail, and then ask for help. Having been with Chris nearly fifteen years, I know this personality well so we manage, but boy oh boy - some day!!!!

When we were walking along the beach front in San Francisco Brayden wanted to play in the sand. Only obvious tourists were playing and then only a few. I took that, plus other context clues, to mean that the sand is dirty and gross along the urban coast. Brayden was convinced that I was just being mean and no-fun. This amuses me as I am very strict but I'm also the most fun mom I know. Perhaps he just lacks someone to compare me too. Anyhow, after a good deal of observation I decided since the beach seemed needle-free ( after Portland that's my first concern) and there was little/no broken glass, I'd let him play and if we end up at a clinic getting a tetanus shot then so be it.

He dug into the sand, thrilled to have "won" this argument. He mugged for the camera, dug like a dog, I took the above picture. Idyllic. Mothers. What do they know?

About a moment after this shot he hit a nice big softball sized glob of maggots. Excellent.

Horrified, we walked to the bathroom nearby (I planned for this) scrubbed him soundly with soap and hot water, dipped his hands in Purell after checking for cuts and went on our way. Since June, he hasn't given me a hard time when I say something is a bad idea. The change in this area is a full 180.

Whenever he sees these very cute beach pictures he asks me if I'm going to make maggot embellishments to match.

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A lot of nice things have been happening to me lately so I thought I'd round them up in one post:

The Tacoma Art Museum asked to include this pic in the online part of their Day of the Dead exhibit:


A few of my projects were featured on She Walks Softly - such gorgeous eye candy on that blog. Wow.

The ever so talented Gabby awarded me with this:


Thanks, Gabby!

A Couple of Cards

Hey all~

I have a couple of cards to share. But first an update on the home front - we're trying to stay positive, but physically things are pretty hairy. I'm actually starting to look forward to having the surgery. Never thought I'd say that. As a family, the reality of six weeks to three months of me being out of commission is starting to sink in. It's strange, usually I'd fill the freezer and get the house ready, but I have trouble getting out of bed... massive cooking sessions are impossible. Odds are good that the men in my life are going to experience first hand how a lot of families live - canned soup, take out, cereal... they'll live. And Trenton will love it.

I've been talking around about recovery time. A marathon runner had the same surgery I'm getting last year in mid-November and was able to start training again in mid-March. That's a long time, but it's not unworkable. I'm so glad my kids are older, can cook and that we homeschool. If they were in public school I wouldn't be able to be involved. That would break my heart.

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Here's a new card I made with the kit I won from Torendi. Let me pause a minute and say that those girls are so cool and killer-talented. Love them!


If you want to know more about how I made this card or see other scrappy projects check out MY POST over at Gauche Alchemy. Speaking of GA, I stepped down as Design Team Co-Captain, as not being able to sit for more than fifteen minutes for the next four months seemed to run counter to crafts and computer time. Not to mention the whole surgery/recovery deal. It was a really hard decision to make, but it seemed like the only fair and honorable one. Amy, in her wonderful Amy-ness, refused my resignation and instead found two incredible ladies to replace me while I'm down and out. Lara is pretty much who I want to be when I grow up. Seriously. And Julie is one of the most incredible artists I know of. They are totally not going to want me back *grin* Amy is letting me post GA projects if I'm able so I may still have a teeny presence over there.

And here's my latest Bombshell Stamps card:


I used a bucket of glossy accents on the banner and cherry but in the dreary, snow-filled weather we're having I couldn't get it to show well in a picture. This image is from the Cherry Bomb set of Bombshell Stamps. I don't have this one yet, but a sweet gal sent me this hottie in a swap so I got to play. She's a hoot to color and doesn't she look like a bad, bad girl. Hello! Here comes trouble!

That card uses a sketch by the lovely Kathi. The sketch is the October Challenge at Rubber Stamp Chat. For the contest you can use any stamps you want to make your card and the prize is Bombshell Stamps - how awesome is that. To help you out, here's the sketch and Kathi's Card:


and here's the prize:

Bombshell Stamps Halloween Hump Day Hop

Happy Hump Day, hoppers :-) This weeks challenge was to use Martha Stewart's coffin treat box template and Bombshell it. I had the simple idea idea of making a black coffin with a pink, brocade velvet lining. Easy enough. Then I made the coffin inside out...OOPS... and ended up with a very cute pink fuzzy coffin. Um... now what? For starters, it didn't scream Halloween or Day of the Dead, in fact, it was glam - like a Kiss coffin.


Okay, maybe not that glam.

Then I got thinking about the current Embellish Magazine Challenge and how much I loved how one of the Bombshell girls (whoever you are, you ROCK!) colored an image in black and white. A plan was hatched!





This treat box features Mi Amor one of the new stamp sets from the Sugar Skull Release.

Don't forget, Every comment you leave on our blogs equals an entry for this month's prize:


Here's the rest of the hoppers:


Kelli

Angela

Lyss

Terra

Kas

Miss Magoo

Sarah K

Glittery Katie

Gabby

Kathi

Cookies, Tires and Snow

Avery is reading Chew on This, the junior version of Fast Food Nation and he's loving it. I'm not at all surprised, this is the kid who at seven years old, used to pick up his chicken nugget and ask, " Did this chicken have a good life?" To be honest, he was so skinny that we lied to him and said, " Of course it did, honey."

He was the first person after me to turn vegan and he's the one who orders veggies and tofu in restaurants when his brothers order chicken. He's also the one who doesn't shy away from the realities (horrors) of big-agra. How could I have not thought of offering this book to my reluctant reader? It's so him.

Avery's carrying the book under his arm like a bible and makes frequent impassioned exclamations. He's feeling very vindicated about his lifestyle choices.

Speaking of vegan, here is a pic of those molasses cookies I made the other night. I baked up a second batch to have with our tomato lentil soup last night for dinner.


The picture I took was posted on vegan.com this morning - how cool is that?

Sadly we didn't get to eat my delicious dinner as a big storm was bearing down on our fair state and our tires were badly damaged from the whole tie-rod/wheel bearing problem. Chris left work late and head straight to the tire shop. Seven hundred bucks later he drove up the mountain safely. Good thing we got them, the ground was covered in snow this morning and a huge storm is on it's way. My back went kaput late afternoon and I ended up stuck in bed so the kids warmed up leftovers and ate by themselves. On the upside, we've got dinner ready for tonight.

My situation calmed down around 9:00 PM last night and I did some crafting. I know! How awesome! I worked on gift tags as each one is just a teeny bit of time and effort so if things slid sideways I wouldn't be elbow deep in a major undertaking.

I'll share pics once it's not so dark and stormy.

Painting (decorating, not crafty)

I promised Brayden when he had his own room we'd paint it a snazzy color. We didn't because the rooms seemed to still be in flux and unsettled. Weeks later we moved Avery from the gorgeous teal room back to Brayden's pig sty. We told him we'd update the room to reflect them both - art, color, dogs, lively but classy too. Yesterday we finally bit the bullet and did it.


I'm really happy with the results except now they want the whole room green instead of just an accent wall. So we need to wait until after the 6th to budget a can of paint into our "household" category.

I bet a few of you are wondering how on earth I managed to paint. I'm wondering that too. And with that wonder comes a lesson. This surgery has me petrified. I feel like I'm one slip away from being paralyzed. Unlikely and remote - sure, but my irrational fears are firmly rooted and they're where I am working from right now. So when I see things left undone - like painting the room - I can't help but ask myself will I be able to do this in two months time? Since I can't say for sure, I'm pushing hard and doing things now. This situation has me really, really scared. Chris only knows of one person with back surgery and he did awesome, never having pain again. I only know about back surgery from doctors and books talking about it in terms of nine out of ten surgeries fail, majority of pain patients are there because of failed back surgery and subsequent scarring etc. I only know the warnings and the dire predictions.

Once the calls start coming in and we have real information - dates, times, patient hand outs - I'll be better. It's the silence and the lack of knowing that is driving me nuts.

My lesson is to do what you can, when you can. You really never know what the future holds.