Friday, September 30, 2011

Conversations with a 3 and a 1/2 Year Old

My darling Clover is a talker.  Just like her Daddy.  She's been making noise since she came out of the womb.  She's always been chatty.  Conversations lately have been leaning more towards the hilarious side.

While driving in the truck the other day she tells me...

"Mom...you HORRIFY me."

Excuse me?  "What!?!"

"Mom, you shock and horrify me"

K, at this point I realize that she is just repeating what she heard on one of her shows.  Thanks Phineas and Ferb.

"Honey do you know what horrify means?"

Pause

"No"

"Okay, Horrify means you are really really really really scared."

Another Pause.

"Doggies horrify me!"

"Right.  You are very scared of dogs.  So dogs horrify you.  Now that you know what horrify means...does mommy horrify you?"

"No!  Doggies and bats, and monsters horrify me".

"Right.  but that's why we keep Soda and Coffee around."

"Go Get em Soda!"

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Speaking of Coffee and Soda I got told the other day that

"I sent Coffee to H and P's house because he was biting me in the ankle"

Now I have to watch out for a naughty imaginary kitten.  Better not attack me or he can stay there!

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Since we have been watching Phineas and Ferb, Clover now believes that she and Candice are kindred spirits.  Maybe it's the red hair.  I'm not sure.  But since she doesn't have any little brothers yet to bust, she has taken up busting other people.

"Mom, I'm going to bust Tee and Dee and N for smoking.  I'm going to scare the smoke right out of them! I'm going to use a giant RASPBERRY!  Or maybe a monster."

I'm not sure how the raspberry is going to scare them.  Maybe one of them has something against raspberries.  Or maybe she was hungry.  I'm not sure.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Pumas in the Grocery Store

A.K.A. Another Chapter in the Adventures of Soda.

I never knew that an imaginary dog would be so useful.  I have all the benefits of having a dog and now a cat but with no clean up and no costly Iams premium pet food.

I can not tell you how many times Soda has been assigned protection duty.

We were in the grocery store the other day.  And as much as I wished it was an in and out trip it was not.  It was one of those trips where were were out of everything and I needed to stock up.  So we were going to be there for awhile.

Clover had already went through the dum-dum stash I keep in my purse and was getting restless in the cart.  I was trying to keep her in there as long as possible because it's easier on me to just grab and go without trying to figure out where my 3 year old is running off too.  That is why every now and then I kidnap a helper to entertain her while I shop for canned tomatoes.

So I'm not sure if she got bored of if the tiny amount of sugar had hit her brain but her wheels were turning.  So out of no where she starts yelling

"MOOOOM!  THERE IS A PUMA BEHIND US!  WATCH OUT!!!!"  

Here is where I am pretty convinced that she is going to be an actress because she was pretty darn believable.  But it didn't stop there.  Still making our way through the store, not only was there an puma...

"MOM!  WATCH OUT OR THE ALLIGATOR!"

It's this panicky voice.  People are starting to turn and look because maybe there really could be a puma and an alligator in the grocery store.

"IT'S GONNA GET US!  RUN MOM, RUUUUN"

Every attempt to shush her has failed because in her mind there REALLY is a grocery store full of animals posed to attack us at any minute.  So then I wrangled in our pets.  Because isn't that what imaginary dogs are for?  To keep us safe?  What else can battle an imaginary puma but an imaginary dog?  

"Isn't this the exact reason that we keep Soda around?  Where is he?  Is he slacking on the job?  I'm not going to buy him any imaginary dog treats!"

"THERE IS SODA AND COFFEE MOM!  Whew!  They got em!"

"Oh, good.  I'm glad.  I didn't want to get eaten by a puma in the grocery store.  Do you want any applesauce?"

Soda and Coffee were pretty tired from brawling in the grocery store that they took a nice long nap in the truck as we drove home.  Then when we got home they got their treats.  They earned them.


Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sometimes, He Likes My Chili

I thought I might have been going through withdrawals.  I had a twitch the other day and didn't know why.  It was because I hadn't blogged in awhile.

Last week seems a little blury.  Hubby and I actually took time off from being parents last weekend and worked on just being us.  It gets hard sometimes to separate the two.  We hired an awesome babysitter and headed off to the mountains for some fresh air.  I have to admit that it felt a little weird not having Clover in the back seat telling us to turn the music up.  Then Tuesday night we dropped Clover off at her friends so we could do a date night.  Driving over there I started to have a mini panic attack because this was the first time I have ever dropped her off somewhere...EVER...and she's three.  I knew that she was in great hands and she would spend the evening playing with her best friends.  I knew she would be fine and that was only confirmed when we got there she couldn't care less if I was there or not.  I was really surprised I didn't cry.  But then again we had the house to ourselves for a few hours so maybe I was a little distracted.

Friday was spent running errands and hanging out.  Saturday morning was spent in a haze of cleaning up and preparing for a family bbq.  It was the first time in awhile that my husbands family was all in the same place at the same time.  No one was sick or hiding.  Everyone was in a good mood and the weather was good for chilling out.  It was awesome.  Our family isn't that large but I still felt like I didn't get a whole lot of time to talk to everyone.  I didn't even do a whole lot of cooking so I wasn't stuck in the kitchen the whole time, which felt good.  The one thing I got the most compliments on I didn't even make.  Isn't that how it goes though?  I admit it, the mac and cheese was pretty darn tasty.  Thanks Costco.  Clover spent the evening playing with all her cousins.  She was in heaven.

Today everyone is recovering and relaxing.  Both Hubs and Clover have a bug.  So we spent the day chilling out on the couch.  The house smells like Vicks.  I took a trip to CVS and stocked up on cold supplies.

For dinner I didn't want to do anything heavy but we had left over tri-tip and there was no way that was going to waste.  So I made try-tip chili with it.  We are not very big left over people.  Hubs simply won't eat left overs so I gave up trying a long time ago.  He seemed like he was up to it to try it out.  It was awesome.  He even complimented it with "I usually don't like your funky chili...but...that was awesome". I even made cornbread muffins from this recipe at cooks.com.  The only thing I changed was that I added a can of cream corn instead of milk.  It was comforting to have comfort food after such a busy week and weekend.

There is more to catch up on but for now I am a little obsessed with my latest internet meme project.  I will share the closer I get to finishing.  But for now...off to ball up some brightly colored acrylic yarn.

          

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Just A Little Neglected

Oh the list.  You know that list of things that you should get to and for some reason or another you just don't get to it.  There are fifty other things that are more important.  Okay, so maybe not fifty.  Maybe I am being a little more than overdramatic.  Any-patting-myself-on-the-back-hoo I have been knocking stuff of the list.

The last two weeks I have uttered the words "I need to clean the fridge".  And then that statement got left just like that because of all the things in this world to do, cleaning the fridge is not on my top thousand and seven.  Then I went to the Farmer's Market.  I couldn't put my nice locally grown fruits and veggies in my poor neglected fridge.  It needed some tlc, not just throw stuff out cleaning.  I mean take everything out...try and guess what the heck it started life out as...toss, scrub, rinse...possibly bleach..repeat.  What was supposed to be a quick job turned into a hour and half later and me cursing under my breath because I just wreckity wrecked my nails that I did the night before.

Then there was my Clover's room.  Which I wish that could say looked like any other preschoolers room but then I would be lying because it looked worse.  I knew I was going to be in there for awhile.  We got the job done and I only threatened to throw everything away less than five times.  We sorted toys and washed the area rug.  Then we organized the dresser and labeled it.  I was very proud of myself at the end of the day.  I celebrated by going grocery shopping.

I also forgot to add that I spent an hour working on a nine month old coffee maker that just decided that it was a bigger diva than I, and quit.  So since my day was spent in the bedroom then shopping and putting groceries away the rest of my house looks like a tasmanian devil ran through it.  So instead of cleaning it, I'm blogging about it.  There are fifty more important things I could be doing.  Blogging is one of them.    

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Alice Inspired Altered Tee

One of the things I wished I could do is draw.  If nothing else, just to get all of these ideas out of my head and on paper.  It would free up some brian space.  And I think we would all agree that I could use all of that prime brain real estate!

The latest project I was trying to explain was an idea for an altered T-shirt.

I was doing some online research (googling) for Alice In Wonderland T-shirts.  I found some cute ideas but they were either too pricey ($30-40 for a Tee?) or weren't available in my xl size.  So then I had the idea to just make one myself.  The design was quickly thought up in my head, but alas I just couldn't convey what I wanted to do.  This is where the wish to be able to draw comes from.

So I started with a plain white Tee from Old Navy.  I figured that Old Navy would still have short sleeves.  Especially considering that it is still triple digits here!  They already had long sleeved out.  Searching for white short sleeves was kind of a pain.  Especially with Clover hiding in the racks and running out screaming "BOO!".  I did score a green short sleeved shirt in the clearance rack!  It bothers me slightly that they switched out the shirts.  I wear short sleeves all year round.  Why can I only find them for three months?

Anyhoo.  Before I started painting my fabric away I had to wash the sizing off the shirt first.  Also when you wash, do not include fabric softener the first round.  It stops the paint from soaking into the shirt.


I found this dye on amazon.  It's a dry version of Tie Dye.  Instead of soaking the shirt you can spray the dye on while the shirt is dry.  The colors even come in handy dandy little spray bottles.  So I sprayed the shirt with the dye.  I didn't have a plan at this point and just sprayed all willy nilly.  I used a garbage bag inside the shirt to keep the dye from running through to the back.  Then I hung to dry.  Once it was dried for a day I threw it in the dryer to heat set the entire shirt.  I also ironed the shirt but that was to get the wrinkles out before I started painting again.


Then I searched my few cricut cartridges to find a Teapot and cup that liked.  I found one in the options of the Everyday Paper dolls.


Hubs bought me a cricut two years ago as a Mother's Day/Birthday present.  I use it for everything.  Scrabooking to general craftiness to birthday party fun.  It gets a lot of use!  

For the stencils I used contact paper.  When I was teaching I used clear contact paper to protect everything from little fingers and developed a hate for contact paper.  After finding some crafty uses for it I have started to love the stuff.  I picked up some white contact paper and cut it to 12x12 sheets to run it through the cricut.  Once I found what I wanted to cut out I turned the speed down to low on the machine.  That way it doesn't pull up the contact paper as it cuts out.  I have used contact paper for stencils and for what I call "reverse" stenciling.  I put the cut out shape down and paint the edges.  Then I take the shape off to reveal the image.  This time I used it as a stencil.



I roughly cut out the stencils and figured out an arrangement.  Then I peeled off the paper backing and stuck them down on the shirt.  I pressed down the inside edges to make sure that the paint didn't run under the stencil.  Then the fun part!  The painting!


 It looks like a blobby mess right now.  I mixed some black acrylic paint with the textile/fabric medium according to the directions.  I added a tsp of water to thin it out a bit because it was super thick.  Then I started painting.  I start at the edges of the stencil and dragged the paint onto the shirt.  I have found that if I go out to in then I reduce the risk of the paint running under the stencil.  While the paint was wet I sprinkled on some fine glitter.


While the paint was still tacky I VERY CAREFULLY peeled the contact paper off.  Then I let the shirt dry.  The paint leaked through the shirt but that was kept from the other side by the large piece of cardboard shoved in-between.  I made sure that the shirt wasn't stuck to the cardboard before I left it to dry.  The next day I hung it up to finish drying and then heat set the shirt.  I then sewed on a strip of black lace on the bottom.


Tada!

I just recently received my copy of 101 Tees by Cathie Fillian that I ordered last week.  This was the book I was looking for, only not to find it locally so I had to wait for it.  It has a similar painting method I have used it in.  Looking forward to getting some inspiration from it and trying out more designs.  

Monday, September 5, 2011

Finding a Memory

Every now and then while at the craft store, looking for something else, I find treasures.  I find these treasures and then decide to buy them with no laid out plan in my head.  Sometimes these treasures sit somewhere half forgotten until I figure out what to do with them.  This has happened more than once.  The latest treasure to sit until the right time was my package of sewing charms.



For the longest time they sat.  I knew that I had to buy them.  They reminded me so much of my Grandmother.  She was an amazing woman who loved to sew.  I have a few of her hand made items that I keep near and dear to me.  These charms were in my craft hall and I would catch a glimpse of them and it would make me sad that I never found the right project.  I tried several times but every time I tried it just didn't seem to fit.  Then one of my very crafty friends started making button bracelets.  She is an amazing jeweler and crafty chick.  I have several of her pieces and in no way do I want her to think that I was trying to steal her idea.  All of the inspiration is her!  When I saw her button bracelets, something clicked.  I got it.  This was the project for my charms.  I went with pastel buttons because my Grandmother loved to make things for her grandkids.  So to me pastel buttons just made sense.  I am very happy with the way this charm bracelet came out.

The other piece I worked on last week was also a Memory piece.  I found these scissor charms at the craft store and they reminded me so much of my husband's aunt who has recently passed away.  She was a beautician her entire life and loved to cut hair.  She did mine more than a few times and even permed and dyed it at my whim.



She lived her life very simply, so I didn't want to over complicate the necklace.  The scissors being the main part of the necklace I added some fresh water pearls on the side since Pearls where also her birthstone.  I like the simplicity of the necklace.  It's very light and wears very well.

I have a few more found items that I discovered on the internet sitting in a box waiting for me.  It's all about finding the time and the right project.


I Guess It Happens

It sucks when one of the people you are mad at happens to be yourself.  If you start yelling at yourself, someone will more than likely call and order you a straight jacket.

For some reason when I yell at myself in my head, the referee is on a coffee break or something because all the thoughts come out and there is no one to stop myself from telling myself that.

Speaking of coffee (nice segway huh?)  our coffee maker broke mid labor day weekend.  I descaled it about two months ago but I guess that wasn't enough so after Hubs and I both looked at it, Hubs brought down Mr. Coffee and raided the coffee bean stash.  We have to wait for the descaler that Hubs bought to come so we can do the maintenance on the quote on quote newer one.  Maybe it's just my opinion but a coffee maker should not cease to function after only nine months of use.  Can't you tell I'm just slightly grumpy about the whole situation?

Anyhoo.  I've got some more posts coming just been busy and tired at the same time so I haven't been able to get a post in.  Not to mention I was running solo for almost all of last week.  Lots of pictures coming.  


Thursday, September 1, 2011

Sharing The Love

Just wanted to give a shout out and say I love my followers.  All 9 of them!  When I first started I wasn't sure I would be all that into blogging but I have to say that I have found it somewhat addicting.  That little stats button is really cool.  It's neat to see how many people are stopping by.

I wanted to say Thank You to all of you for following along.  I also wanted to say Hi to all the lurkers and Hi to all the peeps who have been dropping by from overseas.