ice cream break

We had another busy weekend, but we did manage to take a little time to get out and enjoy the nice weather on Saturday and get a late lunch here.  And considering the night before was the victorious Game Seven, many diners looked like they were just rolling in for breakfast.  (Take a minute to check out the link - the place really is very cool.)

It's funny how the girls could look at a menu full of the best sounding ice cream desserts and want something called The World's Smallest Hot Fudge Sundae, and The World's Smallest Ice Cream Cone, but novelty often wins out over reason, and the tiny treats were big hits.  It's an impressive menu, and not what you might think for a soda fountain - not a hotdog to be found.  (Thank goodness.)  I used to work pretty near this place, and it's probably good that it's not so close.  We'll put this place on the to-go list for the next time family or friends are in town.  Consider that an invitation.  

the making of a city

So I've started on the artwork for my nephew's room, so this will be the first of several posts as I make progress.  It's not a gift (my sister's paying me big, big bucks for it - right sis?!) so no surprises to ruin here.  I scored some canvases weeks ago at half price, and added them to some I already had.  I don't have a plan for how this will look in the end, except for that plan in my mind... so it may or may not have this configuration, but this is what I'm starting with.

I'm also starting with the best sources for inspiration - some of my favorite children's books.  And also a lot of materials that I have on hand.

A building a day?  That's my goal for now.  Building one - midrise building, commercial on first floor and apartments above.  E's favorite part - the ivy growing up the side.  Mine?  The awnings.

 

And because I couldn't stop with one building... some little clothes for a possible clothesline between buildings?  Maybe, we'll see.  And definitely a little construction equipment - now that was fun to cut out!  What do you think, sis?

expelliarmus

Halloween, Part One was last night, and it was a good time, but still paled to the excitement of winning the World Series a few hours later.  I was too busy to make and decorate cookies this week, so I did some quick treats for the event that seemed to be a big hit.  These are Oreo mummies with fondant "bandages" and some black royal icing eyes (I always seem to have some royal icing in the fridge, and this time it was black.)

The second treat was zombie pops - just decorated marshmallows on a stick, nothing fancy - but all forty were snatched up within a few minutes.

Edible markers and small marshmallows affixed with corn syrup and a confetti sprinkle "dowel" made the dimensional eyeballs.

I manned the facepainting station at the party - where I did an owl on F's cheek, and my most ridiculous request of the night (from E) - Hogwarts castle.  Which of course every other Hogwarts student in attendance (and there were quite a few) wanted afterwards.

We twisted Ella's wet hair into sections and then wrapped them around sponge rollers the night before.  Friday morning her hair was large so we pulled it back into a ponytail, but by six o'clock it was suitably tamed, but still Hermione worthy.

My only regret?  The motion activated light up wand with sound effects.  With incredible sensitivity.  And no on-off switch.  E's friend used a chopstick.  Wise, wise move.

friday finds

This Friday finds us pretty busy, and a little tired from late night baseball excitement.  Did you watch that game??

It's early afternoon now and we're home from E's school, and I have a weekend full of things to do for both girls' schools among other things, so I'm finding myself a little overwhelmed on this Friday.  I'm hoping for a few hours of quiet this afternoon to regroup and knock some stuff off the list so we can get out and enjoy the afternoon and this beautiful weather a little more.

We did find ourselves making a quick, quick stop at Ted Drewes to pick up a gift and eat a little custard.  I found the sign in the window to be particularly funny.  Who do you find yourself rooting for tonight?  And if you're just rooting for more custard, that's okay too.  Have a great weekend.

admiring

I instantly fell in love with these when I saw them today on Design*Sponge.

I love how the pieces are made small squares of folded paper, but when viewed from a distance they look like quilts.  The artist is Francisca Prieto - I'd love to see these in person.  

The other things that they bring to mind are the four thousand "cootie catchers" I recycled out of E's art cabinet last Friday.  You remember making those, and writing the choices on each flap of paper, and pushing the paper back and forth, back and forth, until a final selection was made and your fortune was revealed? There were so many in her closet, each with final fortunes worse than the last.  "You will fall out of a tree and break both legs."  "You will lose a million dollars tomorrow."  "You will wake up with a third eye."

We finally told her to put a nicer spin on the final outcomes or we weren't going to play anymore.  "Pick a number, any number.  Four.  One-Two-Three-Four.  "Your eyes will pop out of your head and roll down the hill."  Hilarious laughter - by her, at least."

So I've rambled off the point a bit, but it is after a very thrilling (and long) Game Six of the World Series and my team has tied the series up 3-3, I have no fingernails left on either hand, and I'm too wired to sleep so forgive me.  

So I'm admiring.  See you tomorrow later today for Friday Finds.

late night owling

E and I made the mask for F's costume last night after she was fast asleep.  We were so excited about it that we wanted to wake her up to try it on, but decided against it.  Owls are cute.  Night owls in the form of two-year-olds are not.

So this morning we rushed in, woke her up out of a hard sleep, and put them on her face.

I'm guessing she won't wear it much - but she was pleased with the novelty of it.

I think we're ready for Halloween - event number one is tomorrow night.

a few moments of stillness

(Photos, this post and last, by M)

nearing the end

We're nearing the end of outdoor soccer season, which means we're also nearing the end of trying to watch a game out of the corner of one eye while keeping track of she-who-will-not-sit-still.

(I love E's tough girl look in all the team photos.)

nearly whoo-whoo'ed

Halloween costume almost finished. 

I'm very much in love with this fabric glue - it's a little stinky, but it dries fast and works.  The feathers look awesome and for the most part it really works well.  It's hard to get a two-year-old not to jab and stretch their way into a knit shirt, so the stretching caused a few corners to unaffix, but we made a couple of quick repairs in place and were good to go.

Next up this week - the mask.  Then I think we are officially finished.

This is a great project for an easy handmade costume.  A couple of fabric pieces cut into feather shapes, and arranged in overlapping rows starting at the bottom.  I trimmed the upper pieces to align with the sleeves, and circled the neck with a final row of feathers.  The feathers wrap around the sides of the shirt which I think makes it extra cute.

Original costume idea source here.

saturday morning free pass

So here's what the beginning of our weekend looked like:  Friday morning we were rushing out the door to get E to school on time.  Her class was attending a production of The Wizard of Oz, and so she was dressed up (requiring extra time to accessorize of course - i.e. stall) and she was in need of a smallish bag to just hold a snack and water bottle for the train trip out to the show.  She was searching through her wardrobe looking for said bag, and she came down frustrated and empty handed a few minutes later. 

"My closet is a mess!  It is SO disorganized.  First thing we are doing this weekend is cleaning it out."

I know what you are thinking - what in the world kind of eight-year-old makes this sort of statement?  To which I'll answer - I have no idea.  She's not exactly the first to put picking up on her list of fun things to do on a Friday night.  But perhaps she's a bit more like me than I thought.  I have plenty of moments when I just can't go another single moment until the area that I'm working in is organized.  Usually it's more of a procrastination technique, but I do work better in a clean, orderly space.

So after school on Friday we walked home and got to work.  We pulled out all of the creative stuff - the paper, the art supplies, the knitting equipment, the canvases, paints and various feathers, beads and glues.  We pulled out the treasure box, the bed sheets, the doll clothes and stuffed animals, and I gave her a few boxes to sort through, recycle and give away.  We made reasonable headway on this despite the fact that we had F in our midst - she's a bit of a toddler tornado in a room.  But when E left for an event that night her room looked worse than it did when we started, and I just couldn't move on to what I needed to do until it was back together.

In the quiet of the evening I set to work.  Dusting books and shelves and knickknacks.  Rearranging toys and supplies - putting away somethings and bringing back out others.  And recycling a whole lot.  (That is always easier when the kids aren't around.)  I arranged the books by color rather than height, moved them to the other side of the room - Playmobil sets got dedicated shelves in the closet, American Girl dolls got a new spot on the window seat.  Fresh seats, vacuumed floors, dusted mantel.  By nine o'clock it was done, but E went home with a friend for the night so the room stayed quiet and still.

Saturday morning the little one woke up and wanted to see her sister.  Her temporary disappointment at not finding E sleeping in her bed vanished when she took in the newly rearranged bedroom with no sister to police it.  She immediately set to work. 

All the forbidden treasures came out to play - the tiny play violin was practiced - first by her, then all the dolls.  And the new reading corner was a big hit - and every fragile pop up book was read, carefully and with feeling.  I watched her play for almost an hour, letting her enjoy her freedom, but making sure her visit left no permanent scars.  I asked her if she liked her sister's "new" room and she shook her head "yes".  Then I asked her what she liked best in this room - what was her favorite part?

To which she promptly replied, "No Sissy." 

another apple

I wrote a post years ago with the phrase "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" and showed a photograph of E asleep amidst a stack of books.  For years she fell asleep that way - sneaking a light on after lights out time, or just reading by the light of the hallway.  Now she just falls asleep with one longer book splayed across her chest, as I've been known to do more than once.

Just recently we've discovered F is doing the same thing.  "Sneaking" her light back on at night, reading to herself and the numerous friends in her bed, and then collapsing on top of the whole heap a bit later.  And as many times as we might remind her to go to sleep, she'll still manage to reach on tippy-toes to the light switch on the wall and make the evening reading time extend just a wee bit longer.  Because she knows she won't ever really get in trouble for doing what the rest of the apple tree loves best to do.

the boy in the oak

I love when the girls' grandparents have me shop for books that they can give to them for various holidays.  E's school's annual book fair is coming up next month, and that's the most fun.  I get to spend the weekend volunteering at the store, which means lots of book perusing and shopping.  Even though I had forgotten about it, this was one of the books I picked up for E last year.  Her grandmother gave it to her for Halloween, and I can't wait to read it tonight before bed.  The combination of pencil drawings and photographs on vellum throughout the book are so incredible, and slightly eery.  Perfect reading for late October nights.