See Suzy Spin

I Saw Martha!

2012-03-02T21:58:00.002-05:00

Zowie Mama. I don't know about you reader, but I have a life list and a NYC List and seeing the Martha Stewart show is on both lists (also being a featured guest would be up there... we'll just have to wait on that). I've been trying to get tickets to see her for like 3 years now. That's just sad. My Mr. T however is one lucky fellow and he (literally) tried once and got us in. I'm still not sure whether I should be happy about that or really pissed off. Anyway, we got tickets for Leap Day! And I was jumping for joy!

I made sure to wear one of Martha's signature colors - eggshell blue - and me and my mister, we looked super cute. We were so cute that they still let us in the door even though we got stuck in crazy traffic and showed up 15 minutes late. We were so cute that we got seated before people who showed up way before us. We were even so cute that they stuck us front and center of the audience and when the show aired, every time they panned the audience (like 5 or 6 times), we were right there! Eek! So, technically, this is the second time I've been on the Martha show. Take that, life list. (The first time you can read about here...)

The show itself was cool. Her featured guest was someone who I think is pretty amazing. It was Chef Suvir Saran, who is really into farm-to-table sustainable foods. He has such a fun personality and it was sweet to see him tease Martha. (For all you Top Chef fans, he was also on Top Chef Masters. He was one of the contestants you just wanted to be BFFs with.) He has a new cookbook out and the audience all got copies of it. I don't usually eat a lot of Indian food, but this cookbook is a nice blend of Indian cuisine with farm fresh Americana. Break out the lentils, baby! I'm there!

The coolest thing though, was just to be in the same room with Martha. I have so much admiration for her and all she knows. She is a wealth of information. There is no way I could ever work for her. I watched as one of her people got a pineapple ready for her. This woman snipped the leaves and dusted them until the pineapple looked PERFECT. During the show taping, Martha said something about how that pineapple wasn't right because it wasn't ripe enough. Lordy. That woman would be a terror to work for! But boy can she turn on her charm. Look at that crocodile smile...

Oh what a thrill!

Harry Potter 101

2012-02-24T18:53:00.002-05:00

One of the reasons I was a bit blog silent a few months ago is because I have been teaching a class lately. It's an after-school Harry Potter class! It's been a blast to do. I'm crazy about all things Harry Potter and this after-school group is like an HP fan club, so this has been great. The class is weekly for 3rd through 5th graders, so instead of it being a book group, it's more like we meet for Hogwarts classes and games. (They are all on such different reading levels...) When the kiddos are not meeting with me, they are having Quidditch matches with the PE coach. Super cool.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a bit of what I've been doing, since I just got a new group and we are starting fresh. For our first meeting, I "sorted" the kids into Hogwarts houses and we also decorated wooden wands. Last time around, I actually had the kids take a quiz to sort themselves out, but I spent so much time grading quizzes that I didn't get a chance to talk with them or help them make wands. This semester I have a class of 16 kids and, since I'm all by myself, there was no way I could make the same mistake. So I made some house sorting cards. I crumpled them up, stuck them in a cauldron, added some sparkly blue crinkle paper (for added fluff and so they couldn't cheat and peek at the card they pulled) and called the kids up one at a time to have them put on the sorting hat and draw a card. Since I have 16 kids, I have 4 in each house - which is perfect because I am giving (and taking away) house points for the "end of term party."

(And just in case you wondered, no I did NOT sing them the sorting song... Jim Dale does an excellent job of doing it all on his own. Want to hear him? Visit here.)

The wands turned out pretty great, too. Mr. T chopped up some half inch dowel rods to a nine inch length and then I pre-treated them to some special wand goodness by making hot glue designs on them. Then my Mr. spray-painted them brown. They looked cool before the kids even got to them.

After we decorated wands, I had the kids sit in each of their 4 houses and work on a group project so they could get to know each other better. Since each house specializes in different attributes, I had them do an acronym activity where they took the name of their house (Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw) and wrote next to each letter a special defining characteristic. One of my Hufflepuff kiddos gave me her sheet - here is what it read: H - Hard Working, U - Understanding, F - Famous, F - Fun, L - Loyalty, E - Excellent, P - Popular, U - Unforgettable, F - Funny, and F - Friendly. Aren't they so smart?!? I'm looking forward to a super fun semester getting to know these kids.

Next up, Care of Magical Creatures class!

No Deliveries Today

2012-02-23T19:32:00.000-05:00

Every day, my three year old likes to pretend he is some type of vehicle. He really gets into this. In fact, every body part of his is car or truck related. If you ask him to go wash his hands, he'll most likely say that his "mudflaps are clean already." And if his feet are cold, he will ask for some "treads" (socks) for his tires. I've been meaning for a while to draw out a diagram of his car parts as they relate to his person... I will eventually get to it. Anyway, he is a funny kiddo. Quite imaginative.

So, today I laughed and laughed when I asked him to go put away his cereal bowl. I asked him to "deliver" it to the sink. His response was "Mommy, I know you want the Striker Firetruck to be a delivery truck today, but it's not magic. It just can't happen right now. I'm sorry." What am I going to do with this wild child?!?

(Side Note: I bet you are wondering what in the blue blazes a "Striker Firetruck" is, right? We've been reading some children's nonfiction lately - bleh - and a striker is an airport firetruck that uses foam instead of water to put out fires. He finds this completely fascinating.)

Pinterest, Please!

2012-02-20T16:00:00.004-05:00

By the way, I'm on Pinterest. Are you? Well, you should be! That's where all the "cool" kids are. Join me! (I've been spending WAY too much time pinning things instead of blogging... It's true.)

What is Pinterest, you ask? Well, it's basically a bookmarking website that allows you to collect ideas and wishlists and and links to blog DIYs and such. Then you can sort them into boards so you can completely overwhelm yourself by having too many brilliant projects that you HAVE to try and oodles of fashion ideas that you are too chicken to pull off. It's fabulous. I love it.

If you wanna give it a whirl and need an invite, please leave me a note and I'll send you one asap. I can no longer imagine a world without my beloved Pinterest!!!

Dinner and 8 (ish)

2012-02-20T15:44:00.000-05:00

There is this great blog I read called a bit of sunshine and I've been recently inspired to join her whole "dinner at eight" movement. Read about it here.

Some background: Mr. T and I don't get to go out much for dates, and after nearly 13 years of marriage and two little boys, dinner doesn't seem special anymore - just a means to an end. Usually at the end of the day, it's survival mode only. He comes home, we feed the kids, they play with dad for a bit, they take baths, and then it's stories and bed time. We pretty much wait till 9ish to feed ourselves and those meals are anything but fancy. More and more I realize how rotten this setup is and it is something I desperately want/need to change.

The problem is quite simply that I hate to cook. I especially hate to cook those mundane meals that no one remembers. It just seems like the biggest waste of time and I don't have much time as it is. I do not want to spend the precious few moments I have away from the kids fixing some daily meal. I'd rather just eat a bowl of cereal every day. I'm serious! I guess you could call that lazy... I call it practical.

Enter idea. With this "dinner at eight" plan, there is a (once a month at least) date night premise where you put the kids to bed a bit early and fix a special meal to share at home in some fancy way. No pizza on the couch while watching the latest episode of Modern Family on the DVR. It takes a bit of planning and extra work, but I think Mr. T is worth it.

Valentine's day was my pilot "dinner at eight." It was a travel theme because I found these super cute valentine paper airplane printables that I wanted to write favorite travel memories on and make a garland out of. It turned out to be a super easy and thoughtful decoration. Plus, it made for a fun dinner conversation as we reminisced about some favorite trips!

Here are some glimpses into our special dinner night...

Dinner itself was tasty. We had spinach tortellini pasta with a caesar salad. It was a memory meal, as it was our favorite date night dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Atlanta. We also had lots of after-dinner treats that were specialties from our travels... Sangria from Spain, Cadbury chocolate from England, cheeses from Ireland and France, crepes made like the ones we had in Quebec... We have been blessed by getting to have so many adventures! It was very cool to just take some time to reflect back on some of those special memories we've made together. Can't wait till next month!

Something Tasty...

2012-02-11T00:09:00.000-05:00

So, I have finally made my very first scone. And whoa nelly, it was delicious. I'm going to share the recipe because I've already been asked for it and I figured maybe you may want to try it out too! It's a keeper.

BTW, I really mean that this is a keeper - one of my projects for this year has been to go through my recipe box and transfer all the best recipes onto these adorable Black Apple recipe cards and then laminate them so that the cards stay fresh. It's a ton of work and I only have so many of the cards, so when I say that this recipe made the cut, I mean this one is worthy of being transcribed onto these amazingly cute cards. Yep.

Ready for the recipe? Here she is. Enjoy!

Butterscotchy Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate the butter into the flour mixture on a cheese grater and use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in butterscotch chips.
In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream and egg until smooth.
Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until a large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)
Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

After you make these scones, your kitchen will smell like heaven should. Make these. You will thank me.

Museum of the Moving Image

2012-01-21T19:22:00.002-05:00

Tim and I used to go to museums all the time... pre-children. Now it seems harder and harder to get interested in going. It's like over half of your time is spent getting ready to go and the other half in trying to keep little people happy while you're there. It's exhausting. Totally.

Well, I have this list of New York things to do and we've knocked a whole lot off the list, but I still have a few museums and such to see. I've REALLY wanted to see the recent exhibit of Jim Hensons' work at The Museum of the Moving Image, one of the museums still on my list. I even had a little article pasted on my fridge just to remind myself daily of how much I wanted to see it. Tim had MLK day off and suggested we knock it off our list, so away we went.

We met up with my brother Andy and his fiance Rachel (oh how I love saying that!) for a morning of Jim Henson and some lunch. Well, you couldn't take pictures in the Jim Henson portion of the museum (since when does that stop me?!?), which was a drag and there were only a handful of puppets on display. Bummer! It was not a total waste though - at least I got to see the Muhna Muhnas and a puppet of Mayor Bloomberg. I really wanted to see some items from The Labyrinth, though, so I could have bragging rights to my sister. (She and I watched that together ALL the time growing up and lusted over some David Bowie. Oh how young we were...)

The rest of the museum was really cool too, though. Of the costumes and props and such, there were some pretty fantastic pieces in their collection. Things pictured: Andy and Charlie in front of Mork's suit from "Mork and Mindy" (squeal!), a miniature set design for a Muppet movie, a dress worn by Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons, and the miniature of the Tyrell Corporation from one of Tim's favorite flicks - Blade Runner. Below that is a cute vintage Spock toy, Bill Cosby's sweater (eek!), and one of the animatronic Yoda's from one of Star Wars movies. Wild, hey? Great museum!

We even got a bit of a family picture (thanks Rachel and Andy!!!). Sure is tough to get these boys wrangled into a dang photo op. Lordy. And notice Charlie's shirt? Why yes, I DID make that! I freaking love freezer paper t-shirts.

Robot Party

2012-01-18T22:54:00.002-05:00

Charlie's first birthday party was a blast. Hooray! We survived not only his first year but his first birthday party, too. Here is just taste of what it looked like...

For food, I served everything in foil-covered dishes and in aluminum tins. We had "Marshmallow Bytes," "Nuts and Bolts" Chex mix, "Cupcake Nybbles," Twizzler "Wires," robot lollipops (from Oriental Trading), "Browser Cookie" Whoopie Pies (with orange and green sprinkles), "Circuit Board" sugar cookies, robot "Spare Part" krispy pops, "Cellulose Composites" fruit kabobs, "Motherboards" (graham crackers), "Gears" (cheese Ritzbitz), and "Memory Chips" (sweet potato chips). Charlie's birthday smash cake was a big orange sprocket, too.

Side note: these ridiculous krispy pops took WAY too long. I read somewhere that I could make them easier by using rice krispy bases instead of doing cake pops. Somebody told me a lie. These puppies kept splitting down the middle before they could harden up. Grr... And when they finally did harden up, they were crazy tough to eat in a public way. On a different note though, the "Marshmallow Bytes" were divine. And super easy to make, too.

I decorated the place with orange and green balloons - Charlie's favorite - and a banner of monthly birthday pictures of him from his first 12 months. When he came into the living room after his nap, little mister lit up with glee at all the balloons! So sweet. I also put up hand-cut paper sprockets all over the walls and in the windows some cardboard robot shapes we spray painted orange, blue, and green. My mom spent a few hours gluing a cardboard and crepe "one" for the door (amazing) and Tim created the awesome giant robot for the room.

The games and activities were great too. My friend Ann led us in a little circle song that started the party off - one which involved dancing in the center of the circle like a robot. H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S. And then we had the kiddos open up the giant robot to find a secret surprise. Turns out that the big robot had "replicated" and had baby bots for the kids to decorate. This took some time, as we have several little artists who were present. We had a robot parade afterward so everyone could see the handiwork. We also held a sprocket toss (with giant sprocket erasers from Michael's dollar bin) and had wind-up robot races.

I was quite proud of the party favor bags, too. A while back, I found these great Ziploc robot baggies which saved me tons of time. My mom found the adorable robot rubber ducks on Oriental Trading. And just recently, Michael's had a ton of great stuff (stickers, watercolor pages, finger puppets) in the cheapo bins. All in all, with a bit of scissors, printing, and time, I came up with an inexpensive and super fun baggie for the kids to bring home.

Charlie made a total mess with his birthday cake. That boy did NOT know what to make of all that orange sticky stuff! He was too funny. And then he tried to share the rest of his cake with me... Oh no sir. I think he quite enjoyed being sung to, though.

Finally, we HAD to have a photobooth of course. What is a party without one of those?!? Here's to all our fabulous guests and their beautiful smiles...

It's time to give out some other party creds: the circuit board cookies were inspired by the Not So Humble Pie blog from her funny scientific cookie round-up, the robot krispy pops were inspired by Bakerella's cake pop book, and the twelve months of birthdays banner of Charlie was inspired by a similar one I saw on this adorable children's party blog - Hip Hip Hooray. It's seriously a personal favorite to read due to some cuteness eye-candy factors. Thanks to my BFF Christie for sending me a bunch of robot stuff - especially all the felt which made for the world's cutest disposable robot bib. And of course, much thanks goes out Diva and Poppa - my parents - for being awesome and doing all sorts of work from spray painting hats to gluing crepe paper to being my Oriental Trading Company dealer. And last but never least, thanks to the amazing Tim Bomgardner, without whom I would have spent even longer long nights folding and cutting and all that stuff. Babe- you are all that and a bag of Doritos.

Happy birthday Charlie! We love you! xoxox - Momma, Dada, and Big Brother Oz

Robot Invitation

2012-01-15T11:11:00.001-05:00

We decided on a "Vintage Robot" themed birthday party for little Charlie this year, since we decorated his nursery in all vintage robots. It turned out really cool and super fun! I especially liked the way the invitation turned out. We made an awesome cowboy invitation for our first son's first birthday, so we had already set the bar high and knew we had to deliver on this one. This time, instead of a wooden invitation, we sent a metal one! Want to see?

The inspiration for this invitation came from this chick's great idea for her kiddo's robot party. I loved the wording she used and her use of a CD case was totally brilliant! I used her basic design as my starting point. The invitation is a CD case core with interactive paper parts - a ticker-tape paper spill-out of all the party information. I found metal brads with screw heads for the top of the invitation and I included a detachable magnet of Charlie for the inside cover. The invitation base is raised slightly with foam stickers so that the ticker-tape can lay flat inside the "Open Me" flap. When you open it up, the contents of the ticker-tape spill out and there are pictures of Charlie in a cardboard robot hat and the details of the party. On the other side of the ticker-tape is a family photo album of robots!

We're proud of our little Charlie and hope that this invitation shows just how thrilled we are that our baby has turned one!

Party Animal

2012-01-14T15:15:00.000-05:00

As I struggle to catch up from last Saturday (Charlie's first birthday party), I will give you a taste of what we've been up to this past year of Charlie. I'm a firm believer that baby's first birthday is more about celebrating the survival of the parent - and we were proud to survive - so we really went all out. Can't wait to show you the pictures, reader.

For now, check out how we've celebrated Charlie on his "monthly" birthdays... We've held a fun themed picture party for him every month, complete with whoopie pie treats. (We did this for Oscar's first year, too. He was my cupcake boy, though. He is still wild about cupcakes - mostly the frosting, but you know how it is.) I'm not sure which theme was my favorite, but these were seriously fun.

I know what you are thinking, reader. You are thinking "Why on earth did you not post these throughout the year?" Well, I guess I was just busy. Sorry about that. I had two boys each going in different directions. Not that anything has changed with the craziness of my household, but at least now I have a better grasp on survival methods with two children.

Week one:

Month One:

Two Months:

Three Months:

Four Months:

Five Months:

Six Months:

Seven Months:

Eight Months:

Nine Months:

Ten Months:

Eleven Months:

Stay tuned for Charlie's big 12 month birthday party celebration! Happy year of Charlie!

Peculiar

2012-01-14T11:37:00.001-05:00

7 Peculiar Things About Me

Like my mother and my sister, I regulate my body temp by sticking a foot or two out of my covers when I sleep. I don't know how odd that is, but it sure does freak my husband out.
Sometimes I walk around the house meowing at my cat. She seems to enjoy it, but I'm not sure about my downstairs neighbors.
I'm really vain about pictures. Sometimes I photoshop myself skinnier, which I guess is false advertising or historically inaccurate or whatever. I'm into "revisionist history" where it concerns me.
I am overly concerned about how a person my age "should" act. I constantly watch people in my age bracket to see what it is they do that make them seem like they are in their late twenties. I thought everyone did this, but according to my husband, I am the only one.
When nobody is home, I sing and dance all over my house. Tim has caught me a couple of times. Really embarrassing.
I LOVE to play dress-up. I mean I really love it. I would play dress-up everyday if I wasn't so concerned about what other people my age do. I especially love wigs. Maybe I should be a spy or something. Then I could play dress-up for work.
I have a cataloged collection of PEZ dispensers.

Twelve Months of Charlie

2012-01-04T15:28:00.000-05:00

I know I've been terrible about posting these, but at least I took the pictures. And here is the proof...

Here is twelve months of my Charlie Bear. See how much he's grown?!? It's wild. I go back and look at his baby pictures and I just cannot believe a whole year has gone by. Happy birthday my sweet boy (a couple days early)! You have the most kissable cheeks on the planet. I'm totally crazy about you!

Ho Ho Horrible Picture

2011-12-25T20:12:00.000-05:00

You know that feeling you get when you're waiting in line for a holiday photo and the kid (or kids) in line before your family throws a crazy tantrum or cries or freaks out and you have this flood of pity for that parent who is frantically trying to get the situation under control and salvage the meeting with Santa/Easter Bunny/(fill in the blank)? Well, yesterday, I was that parent you felt sorry for and tried to avoid eye-contact with. Oh good lord. I know I'll look back on yesterday with laughter someday, but for now I gotta say that it was pretty rough. It wasn't a Norman Rockwell Santa visit, that's for sure!

In hindsight, it was our own fault for trying to fit too much into one day. We chose to also visit a friend of ours that had just had a baby and the visit took up most of the morning. We got to the mall just after lunch time with a tired eleven month old and a played-out three year old = recipe for disaster. Anyway, Oscar did fine at first and had a nice conversation with Santa. He hopped up on Santa's lap and was ready to hang out and tell Santa all about his day. Then daddy put Charlie on Santa's lap and the party began... Charlie acted like somebody just shot his freaking puppy dog. He howled like nothing could fix his poor broken heart. No amount of fanning him or jangling bells could calm that child. After that, Oscar was just mad that Charlie stole the show, I guess, and so he refused to smile. Then Santa even got grouchy and scolded me. That's right. That chubby toy maker who breaks into people's homes late at night and eats their cookies scolded me (and Tim) for trying to cheer up our infant. It was awesome.

I picked out two pictures to commemorate this "memorable" visit. Which one is your favorite, reader?!?

(I personally prefer that last one... Santa's face here is just too much. That "jolly old elf" looks like he really hates his job. You better not eat the cookies at OUR house this year, Santa!)

Farewell Friend

2011-12-10T21:13:00.001-05:00

Oh Mr. Pan. Tonight you made the journey to cat heaven and you are sorely missed. I'll never forget those big green eyes of yours and how sweet you looked as a kitten with those enormous ears. You were the smartest and coolest cat I've ever met. I've never known a cat quite like you! You could open doors, fetch post-it note balls, jump to insane heights, demolish a bouquet of daisies in a matter of seconds, challenge dogs that were three times your size, throw a mean sucker punch, con me into just about anything - especially letting you drink from the bathroom facet, give Oscar a run for his money, make me laugh till I cried, and all while looking (mostly) sweet and innocent. For thirteen years, you have been there for me waiting when I got home from work. You let me dress you up every Halloween (before I had boys to dress up). You've been there when I needed someone to cry on. You've been there to sit on my lap and keep me warm when blankets weren't enough. You've seen me through good times and bad. You've moved with us eight times, through four different states, and even tolerated sharing us with another cat and two wild boys. You've been with me ever since Tim and I got married. You were always there at the foot of my bed, warming my cold feet, even when Tim wasn't there beside me. You are irreplaceable and you will always be a warm cozy memory in my heart. Here's to the best cat there ever was...

I love you, you crazy cat. I hope there's lots of tuna and kitty-pot (catnip) up there in cat heaven. And I hope the streets are littered with cardboard boxes and crumpled up post-it note balls.

He Walks!

2011-11-30T20:30:00.001-05:00

So I officially have a "walker." Eek! My baby is growing up! Charlie has six teeth (two at the bottom and four on top) and he is a little chatterbox too. His official word list: "momma," "dada," "kitty," "naanaa" (banana), but not to be confused with "nigh nigh" (night night), and "bubye" (bye bye). Time goes by too fast.

Birthday Video

2011-10-19T19:38:00.002-05:00

Here is a video I created of the party - check it out here at Animoto!

O+S+CAR Party

2011-10-19T10:17:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm finally posting the pictures from Oscar's car birthday party! Yes, it has taken me about a month to do this. I needed to recover. For real.

Tim and I spent a whole lot of time getting things ready for this party. We really didn't want to spend an arm and a leg, so we ended up having to make most everything. Did you know traffic cones cost like 30 bucks each?!? Crazy. I ended up just making poster board cones and they looked great. Tim made a slew of cardboard cars that looked A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. He is quite the crafty gent. Even Oscar's Diva and Poppa (my folks) got into being crafty. Diva and I had been pinning (Pinterest) ideas back and forth and coming up with fun ideas. And Poppa made an awesome racetrack for the kiddos to have races on with some great little wooden cars for them to decorate. Really, it couldn't have been a cooler party.

Photo Booth:

Party Favors:

I made some fun party favors for all the kids. They were simple black and white checkered bags filled with all sorts of fun vehicle things. We never could decide on a specific car theme (construction trucks, race cars, fire trucks, big rigs, etc.) because Oscar has a passion for all things wheeled. So the contents were kind of a hodgepodge. The bags included Tonka construction truck stickers, homemade car crayons, a bubble wand (dollar store find with a cool race car sticker attached to gussy it up a bit), race car tattoos, and a paper wheel filled with Reece's Pieces (idea came from this tutorial). We had an age range of 6 months to 5 years old, so these had a little bit of something for everyone.

Food:
Onto the food table... After finding tons of inspiration on Pinterest, I came up with some fun snacks. My mom and I worked into the wee hours frosting things and chopping fruit and whatnot. (You're a lifesaver, Diva!) Some of the yummy treats were "tootie fruity hot rods" (apple and orange slices with grape or blueberry wheels), Oreo "spare tires," stoplight cookies, "construction zone cones" (Doritos Chips), "veggie vehicles" (celery sticks with PB and raisin drivers and chopped carrot wheels), "PB&J wheelie" sandwiches, race car sugar cookies, pretzel "stick shifts," green (lemonade) antifreeze, and peach tea motor oil. The birthday cake was something extra special, though. Ever since we taught Oscar how to spell his name, I've wanted to make a cake like this for him. Do you get it, reader? O+S+Car...

(The lighting for these pictures was less than ideal, but you get the point right?)

Activities:
We all decorated cars at the start of Oscar's party. My dad made some great basic (pinewood derby-type) wooden cars that had a base coat of paint on them (red, yellow, or white) for the kiddos and parents to decorate. They were such a hit! We had a few artists in our group, for sure. Some cars got feathers, some got foam stickers... After that, we had a few track races!

Awards were given out afterward for the best cars... best paint jobs... best attitudes...

If that wasn't already enough, Tim also handmade a bunch of cardboard cars for all the kids to drive for some road games like "follow the leader" and "red light green light." These were so fun! It was seriously cute seeing a flock of tiny drivers. And my "red light green light" sign turned out great! I'll have to post a tutorial on that soon...

Cake Time!

Pinata:

Finally, we had a pinata! What is a party without a pinata?!? Really. So, I saw a great tutorial on Oh Happy Day for doing a number pinata. I think it turned out great. Making the pinata also gave me an excuse to purchase some awesome Martha Stewart fringe scissors. Oh Martha, you speak my language lady.

Anyway, I hope you lasted through the whole post, reader. I know that was a long one! And long overdue, as well. If you want to see more pictures of the party, I have them on flickr. Visit me right here...

A special thanks to Brandon Edling and my mom for taking pictures!!! You guys rock!

My Big Boy

2011-09-20T01:04:00.000-05:00

Oh, Oscar. Are you really three years old now?!? Where did the time go? And who is this handsome little devil with the crazy vocabulary and raw wit? You have your mommy's heart wrapped around your small pinky finger, you blue-eyed rascal. You drive me bananas (but mostly in a good way).

(Photos courtesy of Brandon Edling. Thanks, buddy!)

Happy Birthday, Buddy.

2011-08-28T07:49:00.011-05:00

Oh Andy. I can't believe my baby brother just turned thirty. Lordy. That makes him old, but me even OLDER. Ick! Anyway, we wanted it to be a super birthday for such a super fella so Rachel and I threw Andy a Super Friends birthday!

Andy has always been a big Superman fan, so we started the day (after a delicious lunch at Big Daddy's - a funky retro diner in the city) making a pilgrimage to a little known Superman site - The Daily News Building aka the Daily Planet. We brought Andy in and walked him around before revealing where he was. He made a few guesses and then we showed him this youtube clip of Clark Kent and Lois Lane leaving the Daily Planet and he got a smile that spread from ear to ear. So sweet.

Then we headed back to our place for a superhero spread. I chopped up some old comic books to make some pennant bunting and used some black and white fabric to make everything pop. Tim made some Superman Jello squares and I made a yummy green Kryptonite cake. We also had some "Biff! Pow!" sugar cookies and "energy" fruit, plus an awesome cityscape that Tim drew on the back wall. It ended up looking really great and certainly made the birthday boy know how special he is to all of us. Here are some fun pics of the party... (For the rest of the pictures, you can go here.)

Who invited the Green Lantern twins?!?

Biff! Pow! KerPlunk! Splat!

Yeah - we're pretty super.

Another Day

2011-08-16T19:30:00.006-05:00

Oh 32. You snuck up on me. That was not cool. Well, in an effort to not be down about earning another year on my driver's license and some more gray hairs, how about a list? I like lists, as they help me feel like I am moving forward in life. There is nothing like the feeling of being able to cross something off your list to make you feel like an accomplished winner. That's right. I said it. I may be growing old, but I still want to be a winner.

Here are 32 things I want to look forward to and accomplish in my NEXT 32 years! (You like that?!? I'm giving myself a 32 year deadline for this list. Ah yeah.) Here we go:

Visit Paris again and just frolick about instead of frantically sight-see.
Make something ugly. (You read that right.) I just read a great post here about why we all need to make some ugly crafts and I think that I REALLY need to make something ugly.
Change banks. Down with Wells Fargo.
Join a club.
Call my sister more often.
Sew something for me. I'm always making stuff for my boys and I think I need to be selfish and just do a Suzy project.
Take a Red Velvet online course. I just think the Red Velvet gals are the cutest.
Go to Mexico and be a tourist.
Get a better camera and learn how to use it.
Learn how to swing dance.
Lose that last 5 pounds...
Figure out how to grow and enjoy lettuce. I had a bumper crop this year of bitter leaves and I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong. But I am up for the challenge... next year.
Get a tattoo.
Raise my boys to be genuine, respectful, and loving.
Laugh more.
Make a chair cover for my guest room wingback.
Wear more skirts.
Learn how to cook some yummy dinners that even Oscar will eat.
Visit every state in the US, even Alaska.
Learn to fix my hair.
Blog more often.
Get a dog. (That also means get a house, because I have to have my own backyard prior to owning an animal that cannot be potty trained.)
Speaking of... Potty Train Oscar!
Learn to use Google+.
Get a tan.
Finish a scrapbook project. It doesn't even matter which one... just at least one of them!
Have high tea at the Russian Tea Room in NY.
Sleep in a castle, at least for a night.
Do a REALLY good deed without anyone knowing about it.
Buy myself a sweet bike and ride it frequently with the boys.
Read a sappy Victorian novel, something I haven't already read before.
Go on a family vacation.

That should do it! I feel better already. Here we go, mid-thirties. I'm ready for you.

Charlie's 6 Month Party

2011-07-26T21:04:00.016-05:00

I know I haven't been faithful at posting the parties, but they do at least still happen. I tell ya, what I wouldn't do to just add an extra hour to my day.

Anyway, this last party was pure summer time - a camping theme.

I made a little felt fire with felt logs for the occasion using a pattern from this awesome book. (LOVE!) It turned out great and Oz is now using it to play "fireman" with. Here is Charlie taste testing everything... Mommy's little pyro.

We had a lot of fun this month, watching Charlie learn all sorts of new things. He really is starting to be such a boy! He blows raspberries all the time, especially when he's eating solids. (Yuck.) And he is so funny. He laughs and laughs at the crazy things Oscar does to get his attention. Watching the two of them together makes me so happy. They really have a special bond already. The whoopie pies this month were smores. They were scrumptious albeit a bit time consuming. If you get a craving for these, I used a recipe from the book Whoopie Pies : Dozens of Mix 'em, Match 'em, Eat 'em Up Recipes. So, be honest. Don't you just want to eat the whole stack of these?!? They were very gooey and just generally amazing. Oz went crazy for them.

Happy 6 months, my little Charlie Bear! And tune in for month 7 - which is in about a week. Yeah, for real. (Sheesh. I gotta get my act together.)

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2011-07-19T19:02:00.017-05:00

Well, I haven't gotten any silver bells or cockle shells to come up, but I have lots of lettuce and tomatoes! And I also have my own little garden gnome (except mine moves about and eats all my produce).

I got inspired this year (thanks to my big sister) to grow a little veggie patch. It's not much, since we're renters and all that, but it is enough for our little family. For Mother's Day this year, Tim and Oscar built me a raised garden bed. It was so sweet. We're doing the square foot garden plan, so we planted LOTS into our tiny space. We planted cherry tomatoes and some regular tomatoes, various types of lettuces (from spinach to romaine and in between), broccoli, cucumbers, beans, sweet peas, peppers, basil, carrots, and parsley. Some things we grew from seedlings and others we bought. The plants all have done fairly well, all except for my cucumbers and the broccoli.

Something crazy attacked the cucumbers early on and they just never recovered. I think my broccoli maybe has the same foe - the white moth. I don't care too much about the broccoli because that was just a tester kind of crop for me. The cucumbers were an insult to me though. We love our cucumbers in this household. We'll try again next year, I guess. Do you see the little white bucket hiding in my deadish cucumber vines? I've been trying to trap whatever that bug is in a solution of water, white vinegar, and molasses. I fear it's too late, though.

Enough of that though. Check out my harvest! Warning: this could make you hungry...

Six Months of Charlie

2011-07-14T15:01:00.004-05:00

Happy half-birthday, Charlie! (Well, a week late. But still.) You are the sweetest little person. I am crazy about you, kiddo. And oh how fast you're growing! You are sitting up like a pro and you've even gotten yourself up on all fours and lifted your belly off the ground a couple of centimeters. It's just a matter of time before you'll be off chasing your big brother. You are loving eating oatmeal and pears. And you have the biggest growl of the whole family (as well as the shrillest shriek). I love you, baby bear. Can't wait to see what the next six months will look like.

Fourth Fun

2011-07-07T19:40:00.011-05:00

Yes. I'm still here and still not sleeping. We're on like sleep plan #5 with Charlie. NOTHING seems to work. My child will just not sleep. Hence a lack of posts. But I wanted to share some July 4th cuteness with you. We took a picnic to one of our favorite little spots. The boys had a great time. My little rascals wear me out but they are still stinking adorable. (Warning: image heavy post... I'm too tired for anything else.) Hope you had a good holiday, reader!

Father's Day Bomgardner Style

2011-06-24T19:05:00.008-05:00

We had a great day planned for Tim this year. It just so happened that this year Father's Day was also our 12th anniversary, so much of our plans got inadvertently scrapped due to Tim's prior anniversary plans - no complaints here! Anyway, we cheesed it up this time around, especially since Oz is old enough now to sort of understand doing nice things for people. We all wore ties (yes, I learned the night before how to tie a Pratt tie - booya) and I made the sweet Martha Stewart origami card - see this link - and printed out some super cute tie decorations to populate the lunch spread I whipped up for the fellas. Check it out...

Why yes that is a fluffanutter sandwich cut into the shape of a neck tie. And yes, those are tiny pieces of cheese cut into shirt and ties. That equal love. I think Tim was quite surprised.

The best present of all though was the treasure box that Oz and I compiled for Tim. It contained hand tracings of both boys, two rocks with googly eyes that Oz painted (one of himself and one of Charlie), a watercolor painting Oscar did for his daddy, and a whole bunch of Oscarisms that I'd been compiling for a little while now. I'll share my favorite:
"Daddy is a good daddy because he wants to cook. And daddy gives bear hugs."
"Daddy is a work motorcycle. I'm a blue and brown motorcycle. We drive fast through the yellow lights." (That one slightly troubled me...)
"Daddy has two brains. That means he's really smart."
"Daddy can fix it. He uses a drill."
And my most favorite one:
"I love daddy in the whole wide world!!!"
So sweet.

Love of My Life... (a love letter to Tim)

2011-06-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

You will remember -
When this is blown over
And everything's all by the way -
When I grow older
I will be there at your side to remind you
How I still love you - I still love you

Yes Tim Bomgardner. I did quote Queen at you. I know things kinda suck right now with children who don't seem to know how to sleep at night, only having one vehicle, living in a location that is just so expensive, being "renters" of an apartment (and all the problems that go along with that), having no time AND no money (whereas it used to be one or the other), having our patience challenged daily by a precocious two and a half year old, and just generally having lots of unattainable dreams. I know that when we thought of ourselves at this stage in our lives, this is probably not where we thought we'd be. And yes, we fight now more than ever due to the high stress content in our diets and the dramatic lack of sleep we've been getting. But I have to say, I love you now more than ever.

I've never know anyone as caring and capable as you. I am amazed by you every day and how you manage all "the eggs in your basket." You are the best dad any kid could hope for - your boys eagerly await your triumphal return from work every day. You are the person I long to see when I wake up in the morning. You are the person I want to cuddle with every night. You are my very best friend. You know me inside and out.

Happy 12th anniversary, babe. You are my heart and soul. I wouldn't want to grow old with anyone else. I wonder where we'll be another 12 years from now...

then...

now...

So Tired

2011-06-15T20:49:00.004-05:00

Whoa Nelly. Is it already June? What the frak?!? You'll have to pardon my absence - I think I may have experienced a wormhole of some sort. Not sleeping does that to a person. Yes. My infant is not a sleeper and neither is my two year old. Tim and I have been enjoying Samuel Jackson's audio rendition of THIS book. Give it a listen... it's ridiculously accurate. (Thanks very much for the introduction, big sister.) Now I literally cannot put Oscar to bed without thinking in my head, "I'll read you one very last book, my dear... if you please go the f### to sleep." It's a problem.

Anyway, I have been a busy lady regardless of the lack of sleep I've gotten. I've had company for almost the entire month of May, I've lost nearly 10 pounds (yeehaw), I've done some mommy crafts, I now have a vegetable garden, and I've watched three seasons of The Big Bang Theory. Shazam! How is that for productivity?!? And I even got my husband to clean out our garage. Now, if I could just get my kiddos to learn how to sleep all night long, I'd be golden. Speaking of sleep, the house is oddly silent... now is my chance!

My Little 4 Month Old

2011-05-09T06:58:00.006-05:00

Happy 4 months, Charlie Bear.

Felt Friday and Other Stuff

2011-05-06T09:28:00.000-05:00

Well, I intended to post this pre-Easter, but time got the best of me. I literally have 3 posts that are half written and I've just not had any time to get them done. Oh well. Better late than never, right? Here goes...

I wanted to have some home-made goodness in the boys' Easter buckets this year instead of just filling them up with plastics and candy. Of course, you have to put SOME candy in, otherwise it's just cruel. But this year I found several cute tutorials and printables to use. I made some Tumble Bunnies from Made by Joel and used several ideas from Modern Parents Messy Kids (one of my FAVORITE blogs!) for a "creative play Easter basket." I also added some goodies of my own and some things with wheels for my wheel-crazed two year old.

Anyway, I've wanted to make Oscar his own watch for a long time. He goes crazy for his Uncle Andy and loves wearing whatever Andy casts off when he visits. The watch is usually the first thing Oscar gets a hold of. So I made Oz his very own! (Doesn't he make a great hand model?!? Maybe I should have clipped his fingernails prior to the shot?)

He likes it pretty well now. I'll be honest, he wasn't as thrilled with it as he was with the cool Matchbox fire trucks daddy bought him or the black hummer Uncle Andy and Rachel picked out for him either. Ah well. Can't win every battle. Here is Oscar's Easter bucket:

Contents:
Felt Watch
Matchbox Fire Trucks
Cowboy Silly Bandz
Crayola Bunny Sidewalk Chalk
Funky Sponge - One Charming Party via Modern Parents Messy Kids
Bunny Matching Game - Modern Parents Messy Kids
Tumble Bunnies - Made by Joel

Charlie's bucket was much simpler. I made him a "Mooshy Belly Bunny" from a recycled t-shirt using this great pattern from Chez Beeper Bebe. Super cute and super easy. Charlie loves to suck on the bunny ears, so I guess he likes it pretty well too.

Contents:
Mooshy Belly Bunny - Chez Beeper Bebe
Another funky sponge (see above)
I Spy Little Bunnies board book
Footie Rattles (from Target)
"52 Activities for You and Your Baby" card deck

All in all, it was a happy Easter. The boys had a great time. Maybe I'll get around to blogging about it! (Don't hold your breath, though.)

Mommy Wish List

2011-05-04T07:30:00.009-05:00

It's time for another list of cute things on my radar. These are all things that would make me a better mommy, of course. Just in time for Mother's Day.

I've been really considering getting one of these puppies, especially since my phone is such a piece of junk. This way I can answer yes to people when they ask me to see pics of my babies!

Coby 1.5-Inch Digital TFT LCD Photo Keychain DP151WHT (White)

I still want a great Chevron print rug for my living room - to cover up all the milk and cheerio stainage. Yummy. Hey, this one even fits my budget!

5x7 Zigzag Printed Rug by Urban Outfitters

I SERIOUSLY need a morning of sleeping in and breakfast in bed. This type of breaky would do just fine. Just minus the eggs because this mommy doesn't dig on that. How about a French Toast substitution? (So, Oz for reals woke us up this morning at the butt-crack of dawn. Doesn't he know that it is Saturday?!?)

Oh Happy Day - Mother's Day Breakfast + Free Printables

And how about this perfectly pink bicycle? I think she is even calling my name. Don't you hear her? She's saying, "Suzy, I was made for you! I can help you ride away all that baby weight you've been wanting to shed. And with me, you can do it while staying classy. Oh baby."

Beg Bicycles - Bella in Persephone Pink

Well, reality calls. Back to it now.

Carrot Anyone?

2011-04-21T17:24:00.005-05:00

I've fallen behind on doing my little "awakescapes." There just aren't enough hours in the day. I know I better get as many as I can in now before Charlie can actually scurry away from me like his big brother does! Taking pictures of Oz is just an exercise in frustration. He does okay usually if we set up the camera timer and he can see the flashing light. Anyway. Needless to say, we don't take as many pictures as we'd like to. Oscar literally scolds me when I sneak a picture of him. He says "No ma'am! Mommy, you NOT take picture." At least he calls me ma'am.

Well regardless, here is my Easter-inspired baby carrot. Hope you enjoy, reader. And I hope you have an Easter full of pictures of happy two-year olds. That's what I'm hoping for me, at least.

Note: Please don't use pictures of my babies. Remember, they are mine - not yours.

Fun Craft Friday

2011-04-15T17:00:00.014-05:00

I found the coolest thing to make my sweet friend Ann's 4 yr. old twins for their birthday party and I want to share it with you, readers.

This is totally my new go-to-gift for 3 and 4 year old kiddos. It is a pretty easy gift to put together and really economical too, not to mention that it's a smart gift! I like presents that are non-plasticy and something that requires thought and creativity, especially for a preschooler. Anyway, I saw the idea as a guest post on one of my favorite blogs - MADE. It's from a blog called Saltwater Kids. She created a "Deluxe Fort Kit" and it's brilliant. I just followed her tutorial (http://www.saltwater-kids.com/2010/12/thrifty-gifts-fort-building-kit.html) for the kit and made a hobo sack to put the completed kit into. Super easy and way cute.

The kit included two vintage sheets with ties sewn onto them for easy hooking/tying or whatnot, suction cups with hooks, small clamps, clothespins, nylon rope, and a flashlight, plus a cute little drawstring bag to put the goodies into. All in all, the kit cost me about $20 bucks. You could totally do it for cheaper if you have good thrift stores and dollar stores near you. Unfortunately, I live in a ridiculously expensive area with neither thrift stores or dollar stores. I had to get most everything from Home Depot. Anyway, here are some pictures of the finished kit:

Nursery Tour

2011-04-13T13:52:00.016-05:00

So, I got a sweet email from a reader yesterday who liked some of my felt robots and is doing a retro robot theme in her new baby's room, too. And I know I'll never quite feel like I've "finished" decorating, but figured I'd better get on the ball and post our nursery tour before Charlie gets too much bigger, like walking and talking and whatnot. Anyway, right now Charlie Bear is still sleeping in our bedroom, but we let him take some naps in the nursery and we may move him in there once we get a solid night schedule down. He goes anywhere from 5 to 8 hours between night feedings, but it's still pretty random. I figure he'll be ready to have his own space sometime this summer.

As far as the room goes, we decided that a robot theme would be really fun for Charlie. We almost did Oscar's nursery in robots, but found vintage cowboy stuff so much easier to find (especially since we have half of our family down in Texas)! I didn't want to do a space/alien theme, which usually gets lumped in with robots, so we had a really hard time finding exactly what we wanted. And I didn't want scary looking robots with ray guns and such, either. I ended up making a lot of things (diaper holder, bedding, changing table mat, mobile, etc.) just because there really aren't many options out there. And I'm really happy with the sprockets we hand-painted on the walls. (The inspiration for that came from O hdeedoh. Seriously LOVE that site!) The sprockets were totally a labor of love. That took DAYS. Tim is still working on making a sprocket hat rack for the back of the closet door. Also, I am not super pleased with Charlie's bookshelf just yet - it's way too cluttered. I'm currently weeding our board book collection. You know us librarians... We just can't get enough books. It's a problem. Really.

Without further ado, here is Charlie's room! Enjoy! (Sorry for the slightly dark pictures. The lighting isn't great and I'm no photographer.) Feel free to let me in on suggestions. Like I said, I'll never be quite finished...

Who Knew?!?

2011-03-28T14:47:00.005-05:00

So, who knew that freezer paper stenciling was the easiest ever way to make a great shirt?!? Holy cow. It is. I was inspired to do a "Bert" shirt by this fun blog and I figured if it worked out right, then I'd do a few others. SO EASY. Read Dana's tutorial and go make a few (or five)!

Jury is still out on Oscar's favorite one. He's crazy for the "Handy Manny" shirt, but he asked to wear the "Bert" shirt today. This boy really loves the color yellow.

Also, can I just say that peeling the freezer paper off after the paint has dried is WAY more fun and addicting than peeling a sunburn? (Oh please. Don't pretend that you don't enjoy doing that, reader. You know you do.)

A Tale Dark and Grimm

2011-03-28T13:51:00.008-05:00

Remember the post I had about having an author visit for my book group? Well, I never blogged about the visit and it is definitely blog-worthy. Wowza!

Adam Gidwitz, the author of A Tale Dark and Grimm, came to chat with the library book groups early this past month and he was fantastic. There were about 30 kids that showed up and he totally asked each of the kids their names and did an amazing job of remembering who was who throughout the night. That alone is noteworthy. He was genuine and honest and completely engaging. I was so proud of the questions my 4th graders asked him, too. They were enthralled. I had some skeptical parents show up and he wowed them as well. (The skepticism stemmed from the gory nature of some aspects of the book, the parts of his story that came closest to the actual Brother's Grimm tales. Gidwitz spoke about how children are their own best censors. A concept that is not new, but rarely mentioned.) Anyway, he had the whole crowd captivated.

I loved a story he shared about why he became an author. He had someone once tell him that "Writers write." And that's all there is to it. If you want to write, then do it! A few of the kids told me afterward that they want to start writing now, as well. How is that for impact?!? They were all thrilled to hear that a sequel of sorts will be coming out soon, too.

If you haven't picked up a copy of this book, here is a little video that may inspire you to go grab one... Enjoy!

Felt Friday!

2011-03-25T08:24:00.000-05:00

Well it's about time, right?!? Geez. Life with a baby and an emotional two year old takes its toll on a person. I have a few projects in the works and I've FINALLY finished one of them. (I'm also working on a felt "Handy Manny" car play-mat, a felt wristwatch, and this awesome Easter "Peeps" bunting. We'll see what actually gets done in the next few weeks...) Anyway, this is something I've been wanting to do for Charlie's room for a while now. We themed his nursery in "Robots" and I've had such a hard time finding things to decorate with. I'm nearly done with decorating Charlie's room so I'll post a tour soon. Charlie's mobile was one big thing on my to-do list. I ended up making Oscar's mobile when he was a baby, too. I guess I'm a bit picky.

Here it is! Charlie's felt robot mobile. (The mobile itself was actually one I bought on clearance at Pottery Barn. I just disassembled it to hang the 'bots on instead of the freakish sea creatures it came with.) Here are some robot close-ups:

All the 'bots have a heart embroidered on their tummies except for the gray one in the middle. She has "Love, Mommy" on her back. I sure hope Charlie likes it!

Pot 'O' Gold

2011-03-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

Well hello, Saint Patrick's Day! And hello, reader. Did you think I'd gone missing? It's my kids. I blame my kids. Speaking of, I have a new flock of images for you all. Be careful - the images may burn your eye sockets. Charlie is starting to smile now and it is painfully cute. (Yes, I know I'm biased.) And here is a new "awakescape" for ya, too.

As you can see, big brother Oz couldn't resist joining the fun. He was entranced by the fake gold, the little leprechaun.

Side Note: Please don't use photos of my kiddos unless you are related by blood.

Whoopie! Party Time!

2011-03-12T18:07:00.012-05:00

Want to see how we party at the Bomgardners? Baby Charlie turned two months old on the seventh and we celebrated the occasion Sesame Street style. And as an extra special treat, we had Uncle Andy and his cutie-pie girlfriend Rachel over to help celebrate. We're all crazy about those two in this household. (BTW, do you have any idea how hard it is to get a two year old to smile?! Oh well, at least Oscar is looking at the camera. That's all I could hope for.)

We're also crazy about Whoopie Pies! These were super silly multicolored whoopie pies with yellow filling. They had red, blue, and green tops all mixed together - ah the joys of food coloring. Oscar thought these were AMAZING.

And now for the guest of honor! Warning: These picture are so cute it's painful.

Thanks for reading! This post was brought to you by the letter "C" and the number 2.

Perils of Parenting

2011-03-08T17:55:00.002-05:00

Yes. Being a parent is great and grotesque. It is fun and frightening. It is happy and horrible. Oh yeah. It is all of these things and occasionally it is all of the latter things at one time. There is a reason why children are given to the young to raise - because after a certain point in your life, you have no strength or patience to manage it. As I'm typing this, my two year old is dumping out a box of matchbox cars everywhere after I just told him not to do it and my infant two month old is spitting up all over my pants (and this is my second pair today). Sure my boys have cute moments, but right now I cannot seem to remember how I got into this mess in the first place!

(Sidebar: I know parenting is an extreme sport. Don't worry about the safety of my kiddos. They are in no danger. They will survive their childhood. Me, on the other hand...)

I've created a video comprised of photos that I've not really ever posted. These are the candid shots that show you what was really going on behind the scenes, giving me these gray hairs and a reason for even writing this blog post. For those of you who have children, you will probably enjoy this glimpse into my pain. Misery loves company, right?!? For those of you without children, consider this a form of birth control. My video is appropriately entitled "God Give Me Strength."

(If you are reading this via facebook, the video will probably not be visible. Check it out here.)

Still Here

2011-03-01T05:15:00.006-05:00

Yup. I'm still alive. We've all just been taking it easy around here and thinking about warmer weather. Charlie especially. In the mean time, Charlie has gone through a growth spurt... 3 inches and 3 (almost 4) pounds.

*Please don't use any pictures of my kids! Thanks!

Sleepy

2011-02-16T15:23:00.003-05:00

These have been some pretty sleepy days around here. Pardon the lack of Felt Fridays and new crafty posts. We've all been too tired. This momma has been averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night... and struggling with unrealistic expectations of herself!

Oh Yes Ma'am!

2011-02-14T16:44:00.007-05:00

Who is that cute baby on the Martha Stewart website right now?!? Yep. That's my Oscar! Hooray! My idea was at the end of today's Martha Stewart Valentine's Day show. What a complement!

I took this picture of Oscar when he was only 4 months old. How fun to get to relive him as a baby. Oz was pretty mad when we watch the show together today, though. Since we took these pics of Charlie last night, Oz thought that it was baby Charlie on TV and not him! Jealousy, here we come. Here are some more pics of Oz as cupid.

For Tim

2011-02-14T06:58:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day to the man of my dreams (even though we never get a chance to sleep any more). I want to have a coke with you and make out in a patch of honeysuckle. -xoxox

Having a Coke with you

is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Irún, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona
partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian partly because of my love for you partly because of your love for yoghurt partly because of the fluorescent orange tulips around the birches partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary it is hard to believe when I'm with you that there can be anything as still as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it in the warm New York 4 o'clock light we are drifting back and forth between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them

I look at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it's in the Frick which thank heavens you haven't gone to yet so we can go together the first time and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism just as at home I never think of the Nude Descending a Staircase or at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michelangelo that used to wow me and what good does all the research of the Impressionists do them when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn't pick the rider as carefully as the horse

it seems they were all cheated of some marvelous experience which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I am telling you about it

Frank O'Hara

My Funny Valentine

2011-02-13T22:10:00.003-05:00

Well, I just couldn't help myself. I took special "first holiday" pictures of Oz, so I just had to do Charlie's too. What kind of mom would I be otherwise?!? I've decided that these HAVE to be done during Oscar's nap time, though. If not, I end up wanting to poke BOTH kids in the eyeballs. Trust me - I fought hard for these few pictures. I promise that I took over 200 shots and ended up saving about 15 of them. That I got even one was a small victory, though. Woo buddy.

One Month Milestone!

2011-02-11T22:42:00.008-05:00

My baby boy Charlie is a whole month old now! (Actually, a month and a week... I'm a bit behind on posting this.) We had a birthday celebration for him last week on the seventh, complete with red velvet whoopie pies and a kingly hat for the master of the day. Big brother Oscar didn't mind sharing the spotlight, just as long as there were whoopie pies as incentive!

Here are some pictures of the event:

---> Edit: I used a yummy recipe I found online to make the red velvet whoopie pies. Here is the link.

A Happy Little Me

2011-02-11T16:19:00.007-05:00

Well, I know it doesn't seem like a whole lot - and I am trying not to freak out too badly - but a project of mine is gonna be on the Martha Stewart show! It isn't a segment or anything, it's just a photo or two, but really it's like a lifetime dream of mine to even get to go to a taping of her show. (Hint, hint hubster... we live near enough to the city to make this dream a reality.) Anyway, she had a contest on her website in search of new ideas, so I submitted a few photos the other day and heard back from the show producers about it being shown this Monday - Valentine's Day! I am elated just to have heard back from someone, much less to have it appear (however briefly) on the show itself.

I'll be honest, I get overwhelmed so many times just reading all these amazing blogs on my RSS feed and seeing the crafts these incredible people come up with. It's inspiring and self-defeating all at once. I ask myself how I can possibly compete with them and why would anyone even want to subscribe to MY blog?!? Seriously, I spend most of my (limited) free time just catching up with seeing everyone else's work. That leaves little to no time for coming up with my own ideas. When I actually make time, I'm so busy fretting about whether my idea is even good enough to post. All this to say that I'm crazy insecure. This contest and feedback of any sort is like balm to my soul! So, I know it isn't much, but right now I'm dancing around the room in my head and strumming the air guitar. At least it's just in my head for now.

So, if you are interested (and are still reading this!), the project I submitted will be aired this Monday at 10AM on the Hallmark channel.

Making Up for the Past

2011-02-04T18:53:00.007-05:00

One thing I regret not doing when we had Oscar two years ago was sending out baby announcements. I really had every intention of doing some, but being a brand new momma (and feeling wildly out of my league), I just never got around to making any. I've never been a fan of the prefab Christmas card kinda thingy that people send out every year so doing that as an announcement (as easy as it may have been) was totally out of the question. I guess you can call me a card snob. It's true. I'm a stamp snob as well. I ALWAYS make sure to have the perfect stamp on stuff I send out. (That's because I was a "stamp collector" back in the day. I know how geeky that sounds.) But seriously, the right stamp is important - it sets the tone for the whole letter. Really.

Well, that being said, the problem I have is that I've got champagne taste but a beer budget. What are you gonna do with that?!? All my life it's been a problem. But I struck gold a couple weeks ago - I discovered the Papyrus dollar sale. Usually, I'm too late in the game to find deals such as these, so I consider myself fortunate. While searching for a box of cute thank you note cards to send out for baby gifts, I found a few packs of those designer cards that are always in the back room. I've never known anyone to actually have cards made for them from the fancy back room people, but I just wandered in out of curiosity. There was a small shelf of clearance items and the blue cards peaked my interest... There was no prefab example, but I thought I'd just take a chance. This is what came in the box:

That's our best guess as to what the cards were supposed to look like. I guess you print the announcement part on the white section? Bizarre. Tim and I tweaked the design a bit and came up with this:

Much better! Hooray for ingenuity! Anyway, I really wish I had done something for when we had Oz, but at least I'm making up for it somewhat with Charlie. (And yes, I used a GREAT stamp on the envelopes of these puppies.)

Words for the Day...

2011-02-04T16:05:00.001-05:00

Needles and pins,
Needles and pins,
Sew me a sail
To catch me the wind.

Sew me a sail
Strong as the gale,
Carpenter, bring out your
Hammers and nails.

Hammers and nails,
Hammers and nails,
Build me a boat
To go chasing the whales.

Chasing the whales,
Sailing the blue,
Find me a captain
And sign me a crew.

Captain and crew,
Captain and crew,
Take me, oh take me
To anywhere new.

~Shel Silverstein

Groundhog Day!

2011-02-02T12:32:00.005-05:00

Well, in the style of this cool chick and her little one's "daydreams," I've fashioned my own little groundhog for this festive day! (And thank heaven Punxsutawney Phil didn't see a shadow today - that's all I have to say about that.)

It's funny because with a newborn, every day kinda feels like a Groundhog's Day - just like the Bill Murray movie. Every three hours you're awake to feed that little person and time just seems to stand still. Honestly, when Charlie gets hungry again, it's like "Really? But didn't we just do that?!?" And hubby has been on half day paternity leave for the past month, so it's like a half-holiday every day. Maybe I should learn to do ice sculpting or piano or something. Or maybe I should just get some sleep. Did this post even make sense?

Today

2011-01-27T18:27:00.007-05:00

Today Charlie's stump fell off. This landmark always causes me to stop and remember why he had that stump in the first place... That's my special connection with him, you know? That's where he was connected to me with the umbilical cord. I know it sounds weird and all, but I get sappy about belly buttons. Today Charlie got his button.

Today I finally finished working on the pictures we took at the hospital for Charlie's birth. That made me sappy too. Just look at these two faces... These two little fellas are the absolute loves of my life. (Oz is in a blue hat and Charlie is in green.) It's hard to look at my big boy Oscar and know that he was this size two years ago.

Today I feel like crap. I've been dealing with a nasty bladder/kidney-related infection that I got from the surgery (I won't go into details here, but suffice to say that anyone who thinks a c-section is a walk in the park is seriously misinformed.) I'm taking my SECOND round of antibiotics and this stuff is giving me the squirts. (That was sharing too much, I'm sure.) And I'm running on not much sleep. Charlie is a noisy sleeper and I'm nursing - enough said. Plus Oz isn't sleeping too well these days either. He usually wakes up upset and disoriented around 2am, right after I've nursed Charlie and only JUST fallen asleep. That rocks. Ugg.

Today was a "snow" day. We got 19 inches of snow in Central Park, which means that Westchester got a little bit more (We're a bit north of the city, so we usually get hit a bit harder). This meant Tim got to stay home and play with us! Huzzah! He could possibly be the best husband in the world. No really, he is. He spent the day playing with Oz and did laundry and all sorts of other odd jobs that I never have time to do. Now he is baking me a chocolate cake. Yes, really. How did I get to be such a lucky lady?!?

Today is National Chocolate Cake Day. I'm not making this up. Food Network says so, too, and they should know. Did I mention that my husband is in the kitchen making me a chocolate cake?

Who's Who?!?

2011-01-19T00:16:00.009-05:00

So I've mentioned to several folks the similarities between my two boys, but really, the resemblance sometimes is SCARY. While unpacking old favorite outfits I saved from when Oz was a baby, I reflected on some favorite photos of my first born. I decided from the get-go that I'd try and take similar pictures for baby boy comparisons, but I never banked on Charlie looking so much like Oscar! I figured you readers would get a kick of a photo quiz... Which picture is Oscar and which is Charlie?

Did you figure it out? Well, if you look really closely, you can see that my copy of Goodnight Moon has been more well "loved" in photos B. and C. It's funny - I showed Oscar the pics of himself when he was a baby and he has said it they are of Baby Charlie too. How fun to enjoy baby Charlie and get to also relive baby Oscar at the same time!

My 2011 List

2011-01-17T16:25:00.008-05:00

(Just so you know, this post is for you gals- Christie and Kari.)

Remember my ambitious project I started in January last year? I posted my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days? Well, I am proud to say that I really did get through a good deal of my fatty list! I'm going to repost the list for you reader, with stars on the items I've completed because hey, I earned them. I'll put plus signs ("+") next to the ones I'm in the process of working on. I hope you enjoy! And by the way, the 1001 days are not up yet so I still have time to finish. Booya.

1. study 6 different cultures per year; have a themed weekend for each with food, music, culture and geographical info for the family
2. make a quilt (I got halfway on this TWICE, but no still no dice.)
3. buy a house
4. go fly a kite
* 5. get a new pair of shoes (got me some funky brown boots)
* 6. make a first aid kit for my car
* 7. learn to make crepes
+ 8. create a dance mix for me and Oscar (this is in the works)
* 9. go through my closet and get rid of or refashion my old clothes
10. share/conquer my biggest fear
* 11. make a stranger smile
+12. call my sister at least once a month
+13. watch all of the star trek movies (got two of them under my belt...)
14. re-read a favorite novel
*15. meet some new mommy friends
*16. plan a weekend getaway (My birthday trip counts, right?)
*17. finish Oscar's baby book
*18. throw a fancy party (I hosted a "gender revel party" and a baby shower)
+19. learn how to edit movies (getting closer... anyone have any good tips on using iMovie?)
*20. hand write someone a letter (Thank you notes count, right?!?)
+21. skype with the grandparents once a month
22. get dirty and plant some veggies!
23. make business cards for "the purple peachicken"
*24. find a good church
*25. get rid of at least two boxes in storage in VA
*26. eat/drink a pomegranate
*27. take my kid to story time regularly
*28. watch an old tv series (A-Team)
+29. check off 5 things on my NYC list (I did my "Project Runway Day," went to the "Little Red Lighthouse Festival," and went to the NYC Children's Museum so far)
+30. finish my European trip scrapbooks - yes, plural... (I still have Venice, Florence, and Rome to go)
31. grow some flowers from seeds
32. create my own crafty pattern and a tutorial for my blog
*33. organize the guest room closet (this happened by force - I lost the "craft" closet when the office became Oscar's new bedroom and the nursery became nursery to baby Charlie!)
34. play with a yo-yo (yeah, this will probably never happen.)
35. make a felt playhouse for Oscar
36. post a blog entry about each of my family members
37. work on building my etsy site
38. visit Mystic, CT
***39. have another baby (This one deserves at least three stars, right?)
40. tour a working factory
41. learn to cook at least three new meals (successfully)
42. write up a living will
+43. make a recipe cards and copy down/organize all of our recipes (I bought those cute "Black Apple" cards I posted about here...)
44. compile a "year one" Oscar video
*45. reorganize the storage in the basement
*46. redecorate/paint our bedroom
47. take a class with Tim (ballroom dancing, anyone?)
48. make a slipcover for the guest room chair
49. go on a road trip to at least 4 different states
+50. update/redesign my blog and Oscar's blog (I still need a cute header on mine)
+51. sew up Oscar's car play mat (bought some super cute material at Purl Patchwork...)
*52. go through all my magazines and save only the good parts - recycle the rest
53. get a new bicycle and start taking family bike rides
*54. learn to make some jewelry (two words: "Christie" and "shrinky-dinks")
55. learn to do wool felting
*56. make lots of felt play food for Oscar
+57. get caught up in my photo editing/posting (I got caught up, but now I have tons of baby Charlie pics!)
*58. figure out some crafty things to do with my millions of baby food jars
*59. reorganize my craft cabinet and reconfigure my crafty space
60. learn more about different types of fabrics and how to use them
61. get a real (non-point-and-shoot) camera
62. purchase (and learn to use) a serger
63. do my first cartwheel (I should just take this one off the list. Who am I kidding?!?)
+64. visit 5 different museums (NY Children's Museum, so far)
+65. clean out my (scary) garage (this will always be a work in progress, I fear)
66. rent 26 movies (I've never seen before) each starting with a different letter of the alphabet
67. create a font out of my own handwriting
*68. try a new food, regardless of how frightening it is (Ethiopian! And it was tasty.)
69. go camping with the boys (Andy can come too.)
70. read a classic novel that is over 500 pages long
*71. lose 20+ pounds and keep it off (I did this, then got knocked up again. Doh!)
72. floss my teeth every night for a month
73. buy a stunning little black dress and go out on the town
+74. learn how to fold 25 different paper crafts (I learned how to make a flower pot out of toilet paper. Want to learn too?)
+75. watch all of the James Bond flicks, from start to finish (about halfway there...)
76. memorize one of my favorite poems
+77. watch 10 movie "classics" that I've never seen before (seen at least 4 now)
78. visit Seattle with Tim
79. write and illustrate my very own children's book
80. use the GPS to try geocaching
81. go for a ride in either a helicopter or a hot air balloon
*82. reconnect with an old friend
*83. clean out my filing cabinet
84. make Tim take me to Cape May for Victorian Week
85. go skinny dipping, preferably some place warm
86. learn how to build a good camp fire
87. research our family tree
*88. learn how to cut my kid's hair (Poor Oscar.)
89. walk in a marathon of some sort
*90. weed my book collection (this sort of happened by force..)
+91. figure out how to use my stupid cell phone
+92. drink more water daily
+93. watch 10 movies from the year I was born - 1979 (seen 3 so far)
*94. put together a giant puzzle with hubby
*95. win a giveaway or a contest of some sort (Huzzah! So what that it was just a funky little notebook...I'm still a winner.)
96. create something using iron-on printer fabric sheets
97. learn how to properly use chopsticks
98. go see a hockey game
99. read a biography, 100+ pages, at least...
100. host my very own cocktail party, dresses and all
101. spent a week on the sea (Tim, if you've read this far, when are you taking me on a cruise? Don't you think I deserve one? Pretty please?)

So, there are 32 things down and 19 more on deck. Sweet. I feel like that is an accomplishment. I know I probably won't get a whole lot more done this year, seeing as how I will be chasing another little monkey around. Oh well. I still have over 600 days to get my act together. A whole lot can happen in that amount of time, even a week-long cruise.

Welcome Baby Charlie!

2011-01-16T20:40:00.005-05:00

Funny thing happened to me last week. I met the (other) man of my dreams. He's short, skinny, toothless, fairly bald, and is a milk-drinking fiend - but I'm in love. He's crazy about me, too. Every three hours, I'm the only person he has eyes for. He even cries out until I have him back in my arms again. Some people say I'm robbing the cradle, but I just say "Jealous."

Want to meet him? His name is Charles Elliot Bomgardner, or just "Charlie" for short. He was born last Friday, January 7th, at 8:35 am here in NY. He was 8.6 pounds and 20 inches long. That is a whole pound heavier than Oscar (my two year old) and an inch shorter. We're all pretty smitten with him. He is a cuddle-bug.

We named him Charles after both my dad and Tim's dad. They are both really special fellas and we know that our little Charlie will grow up to make them both proud.

Is it a Felt Friday?

2011-01-07T10:00:00.001-05:00

You bet! Here is my most recent addition to the felt world... a felt bot for my newest little man. And how appropriate that today is the day that he will be born! In fact, by the time you read this post reader, I will be cuddling with my little Charlie. That's right - Charles Elliot Bomgardner (or just baby Charlie). He is named after both my daddy and Tim's dad - two really special fellas that we're crazy about. I'll have pictures for you soon!

But speaking of pictures, here are some shots of my little Charlie Bot! The colors are a bit off... I took the pictures at night. Anyway, he is gray - not brownish.

Christmas Craftiness

2011-01-02T14:17:00.001-05:00

I've been itching to post one of the fun gifts we made for some friends and family this year without ruining the surprise. We were really slow in mailing things out, hence the late post here.

I was inspired by the awesome felt board that this chick, Rachel, did for RVA. (If you aren't familiar with her blog, she is one of my favorite reads. Seriously, check out her cute site!) She posted some of her felt dress-up dolls on a felt board that I knew would be perfect for some of the amazing little girlies in my life. I used her template for the dolls because they are so adorable and Mad Men inspired. Then Tim and I created a portable 10x12 inch felt board out of thin quarter inch plywood and some gray fabric and teal ribbon. It's basically a glorified book cover shape and works perfectly for a table top. And since it is an a-frame, you can put the extra dress-up pieces inside the folded section. Here are some pics so you can get a better idea. I really love the finished product!

I can't wait to make more of these portable felt boards for some other projects. Oscar was really intrigued by the whole idea and, I'm not gonna lie, he had a good time dressing some dolls too! Maybe I could come up with a boyish version too? Who knows.

We did make a few other things for people, but seeing as how I'm about to pop out another little monkey, time was pretty spare this year. Next year I have great plans of starting gifts early and making Christmas stockings and all that. Yeah. We'll see how that goes.

Christmas at Our Place

2010-12-25T16:46:00.011-05:00

Here are some pictures of our merry making...

(Full Term Momma! Any day now...)

(We would have used this silly pic as our "Christmas" family shot had Oscar not been a total blur... I thought it worth sharing anyway. It's pretty typical of us.)

Felt Food Fridays

2010-12-18T11:13:00.005-05:00

(Okay, I know it's really Saturday. But I took the pictures yesterday. Does it still count?)

Back with another humble offering! I originally used this awesome pattern to make a few ornaments for some special people in my life, but since Oscar was so intrigued with them, I figured I should make some pretend cookies for him too. He was introduced this year to the art of cookie cutting and I wanted to reinforce the memory somehow. What better way than with play cookies?!?

I give you the gingerbread men.

Merry Shopping List

2010-12-16T15:16:00.011-05:00

My Christmas list! (Thanks for asking to see one, Christie. You inspired me to blog it.) Here are just some items that have, as of late, caught my eye...

Sew Cute Earrings. Yes, these really are SO cute. And I think these are perfectly suited for me! (Especially since I have a fear of earring tugging by munchkins... Oscar has gotten better, but I'm about to start this baby thing ALL OVER AGAIN. It shall be studs again for me.)Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts. This is a book I've been craving for a little while now. (Husband, if you are reading this, know that if you don't purchase this book for me within the next 30 days, I will take matters into my own hands. I'm serious.)

I really love the simplicity of this O Necklace. I think it would be oh so perfect around my neck.

I finally found a baby memory book that would be perfect for our newest little addition. Of course, it's sort of expensive. I really loved the Eric Carle one we did for Oscar. (Which, btw is finally completed!) It's just so hard to find a good memory book anymore! Trust me, I've been searching for a while.

The Cupcake Courier Caddy. Oh yeah. I don't just want this... I NEED this. Have you ever tried to bring cupcakes to a book group of 20+ kids? It's a challenge. This would not only make me happy, it would make my world a better place.
The Zumi Digital Camera. She and I could have so much fun together! Too bad I don't have an extra $200 bucks. We could make some beautiful memories. I love that she is kinda shaped like old school film, too.

And finally, from one of my favorite artists, Inside the Black Apple, Black Apple Recipe Cards!!! Yes, I know I'm not a cook. But on my to do list for 2011 is to reorganize my recipe box. This would get me started in the right direction. I've been looking for cute cards for maybe a year now (part of that was just me stalling and not wanting to start this mammoth project). But who can resist the charms of dancing milk cartons? Not I, reader. Not I.Well, that's my list. I know there are more things to add, but I'll be lucky (and thrilled) to get any of the things I've listed! I hope Santa thinks I've been good this year. I don't know if I can mentally handle a lump of coal. That would really be a downer.

Thoughts on Parenting

2010-12-10T16:17:00.003-05:00

I just finished a great new children's book called A Tale Dark & Grimm by new author Adam Gidwitz. It's a take on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, told in narrative by the characters of Hansel and Gretel. I have to say that it really made me think about being a parent and the great responsibility that comes with all of it. (I know I've been super sentimental lately because of the whole being 8+ months pregnant - just bear with me though.)

The way this tale is woven, Hansel and Gretel run away because of a terrible thing their parents do to them. The action is something the children don't understand (and their parents think they are not old enough to be capable of understanding). They run away from home in search of new parents who would never harm them ever again. Along the way, they experience terrible (and quite bloody and gory) adventures: a woman who tries to cook them, an evil warlock, parents who turn their kids into ravens, being sold to the devil, and other such crazy Grimm stories. They grow wiser and closer to each other throughout the whole novel. I don't want to give anything away, seeing as how this is a story I'd love for you to pick up and digest yourself, but I would like to share a portion of the book that particularly struck me... I hope it fascinates you into getting a copy of this book and enjoying it like I did.

The scene this comes from is toward the end of the novel, when Hansel and Gretel are returning home. The author does this great Lemony Snicket-ish technique where he inserts asides for the reader in bold text, so you know that he is temporarily leaving the story to address you. This is taken from one of those addresses.

It will happen to you, Dear Reader, at some point in your life. You will face a moment very much like the one Hansel and Gretel are facing right now.

In this moment, you will look at your parents and realize that - no matter what it sounds like they are saying - they are actually asking you for forgiveness. This is a very painful moment. You see, all of your life you've been asking for forgiveness from them. From the age you can talk you are apologizing for breaking this, forgetting that, hitting him, locking her in the garage, and so on. So having them ask you for forgiveness probably sounds pretty good.

But when this moment comes, you will probably be in a lot of pain. And you probably will not want to forgive them.

In which case, what, you might ask, should you do?

Well, you could yell at them, and tell them about all the ways they've hurt you. This is a good thing to do once, because - believe me - they need to know. But this is the first step on the road to forgiveness. What if you're not even ready for that?

You could pretend to forgive them. This I would not recommend. It's sort of like sweeping broken glass under the carpet; the floor still isn't clean, and somebody's going to end p with a bloody sock.

Finally, if you don't want to forgive them, and you don't want to fake it, you can always go with ole reliable: Changing the subject. (A Tale Dark & Grimm, p. 172-173)

Wow. (I know that was longish, but worth reading right?) This passage reminds me of all the mistakes I've already made as a parent. Those days when I get frustrated and yell at my son, the days when I feel to tired to deal with him and just let him watch like 5 episodes of Handy Manny, the days when I overreact to Oz just being a two-year old... And how hard it is going to be for both me and my (future) kiddos whenever that day comes when I have to apologize to them. Ouch. As parents, we strive to do right by our kids and teach them how to grow up to make good choices, but what happens when we don't make good choices? And knowing that your little ones are looking to you and absorbing what you do all the time makes me just a tiny bit queasy.

Anyway, this was a great read. I love the children's books that have so many layers that anyone reading it can get some sort of inspiration/ message out of them. This one is choc full of layers and symbolism. And I'm excited to get to meet this author! My 4th grade book group kids are getting the opportunity to have him speak at our book group meeting in January. I'm sure I'll have more questions for him that they will...

Felt!

2010-12-03T17:54:00.013-05:00

Do you miss "Felt Food Fridays?" Well at least one of my five readers does. (Thanks Tanya!) Today I haven't made any felt food for you, but I have made an Advent Calendar out of felt! I've been working on this puppy for a few weeks now. I took part in a sew-along over at Homemade By Jill.

I've always warmed to the idea of "Advent" (which is the Latin word for "arrival"). It's a way to basically count down the days and reflect upon the arrival of Christ. When we were growing up, my mom would make a sweet little Advent construction paper chain which was filled with holiday activities for us to do; such as frost sugar cookies, make holiday cards, watch Charlie Brown's Christmas, and such like that. We sometimes would even bake a birthday cake for Baby Jesus (which I think is adorable... we may do that next year). Anyway, seeing as Oscar isn't quite understanding all the holiday hoopla, I figured this Advent Calendar would be the perfect way to count down the arrival of Christmas in a tangible way this year.

It's not wool felt like I would like it to be, that's just not in out budget. But otherwise, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. (Sorry that the pics are sort of dark... today was a cloudy day.) My mom and dad, while they visited for Thanksgiving, even got into the spirit of crafting this bad boy and cut out and sewed up a few ornaments. (I'll probably use their extra special ornaments on Oscar's little tree though. We'll put it in his room and that way he'll see it every morning and remember how much he is loved.) I'll post a picture of Oscar's tree after we finish decorating it.

Well, here are some other pictures of what I came up with... I'm especially happy with Rudolph, the ice skate, and the wreath. I found out in the course of making this calendar that Tim is surprisingly adept at felt cutting and great with pattern making. The train and Rudolph are among his masterful concoctions. Thanks hunny!

Oh Baby.

2010-12-02T15:31:00.005-05:00

So, hello 34 weeks of pregnancy! I'm not gonna lie - I feel huge and tired all the time. Couple that with chasing a crazy two year old and you have a big fat hot mess. It is nice to know that I've made it thus far though. I'm strangely comforted by the fact that at 34 weeks, most babies do just fine if they come early. I'm not saying that I want a December baby, but it's nice to know that if my water happens to break any time soon, the little one will be a-okay.

Speaking of my little soccer player, here he is! The doc snapped an in utero 4d picture of his face. (Technology, you rock.)

I know these are sort of tough to make out, but I cropped it to help you out, reader... (I can never pick out ANYTHING out of the 2d kind of ultrasounds.) Anyway, all that wrinkly stuff on the other side of his face - what he is smushed into - is the umbilical cord. Freaky. I kinda feel sorry for the little fella! Next time he starts moving around and kicking/bruising my ribcage, I'm going to stop and remember this picture and recognize that my baby just doesn't have much room in there. Plus he has a cord up in his grill.

Other items of note, the techy that did most of the ultrasound showed us my baby boy's eyes! He was blinking and she could tell that he has long eyelashes already, like Oscar's. That is just wild. And she showed us the hair on the back of his head. Speaking of his head, it's a biggin'. Whoo Daddy! He is gonna be just like his big brother as far as gargantuan craniums go. Kiddo is three weeks ahead of schedule on head growth. It's a good thing that we have a scheduled c-section! I'm so amazed at what technology can show us prior to birth. It sure does take a lot of the fear and paranoia out of it!

Can you guess it?

2010-11-24T10:31:00.007-05:00

So, here are some pictures of what I made for my fourth grade reading group...

Anyone care to take a guess as to what the book was? If you guess it, oh reader of mine, I'll know you are a true fan. Plus you'll get mad brownie points in my book. Besides, I think this symbol would make for a great tattoo someday, maybe on my ankle (hint, hint).

Colonial Williamsburg Trip

2010-11-12T21:01:00.011-05:00

Okay, you caught me. This trip is way back from August. But I did post the pictures like a month ago. Gimme a break - I'm fully pregnant and a mommy of a C.R.A.Z.Y. two year old. I'm lucky to be posting this trip THIS YEAR. (No really. I still have pictures from when Oz was 10 months old that are yet to be posted. That means they are about a year and a half old. For shame.)

For my birthday this year, my husband and I escaped overnight to Colonial Williamsburg. Thank the good lord for Oscar's amazing grandparents and free babysitting!!! It was just what I needed to recharge my batteries. We drove up and spent the evening meandering the area and dining at the King's Arms Tavern (which I remember from visiting when I was 8!). Tim got a "game" meat pie which was oddly reminiscent of something the "barber of Seville" might have served up... I had the chicken and also some peanut soup. I'm just not adventurous when it comes to eating bizarre things, like squirrels and rabbits. Yikes.

Tim even took me to a "special" event... colonial ballroom dancing! Now THAT was funny stuff. We both had a chance to dance with a costumed colonial. Unfortunately, no pictures or video taking was allowed, so I have no proof that Tim actually did the two-step, just a funny mental image that may have to last me for the rest of my life. He was way better than I was, though! I tripped up pretty bad on my flip-flops and made a fool of myself. (I always seem to fall at least once in the early stages of pregnancy... I slipped on ice with Oscar when we went to Quebec City and now I have a good falling story for this baby, too!) We spent the night at a sweet little B&B within walking distance and woke up refreshed the next morning.

The next day was filled with shopping and visiting the little historic area in Williamsburg. I had all these memories of seeing it 20-something years ago, so it was fun seeing it again as an adult. I definitely want to bring Oscar (and baby #2) some day. I remember how much fun my little brother had wearing his 3-cornered hat and seeing guys carrying muskets around. It's boy heaven, for sure. I know Tim had a great time. But I think his favorite thing was seeing the printing press. Nerd. My favorite was the dress maker. Oh la la!

Here is a little Animoto video of Williamsburg for your viewing pleasure... (If you are reading this post on Facebook, you'll have to view it here.) I have more Williamsburg pictures on my flickr page here, if you're interested in see them. It was a great trip. I just adore hanging out with my favorite travel companion, no matter where we end up going!

After we hit everything we wanted to see in Williamsburg, we headed back to Virginia Beach. Along the route home though, we stopped at this hilarious and quite kitschy place called the President's Park. Oh man. If you are ever in the Williamsburg area, I would highly recommend a pit stop here. This may have been the highlight of our trip, even. This park has giant busts of past presidents. They have everyone up through G.W. and they are taking donations now for Obama. (Naturally we couldn't pass that up.)

Tim and I went through the park, alternating presidents to take pictures with. We got all of the first 43. We tried doing interesting poses with each of them but that was pretty tough. It seems that neither of us know our presidents as well as we thought we did. Like who the heck is Pierce?!? And Hayes? Yeah, I need to do some American history lessons for real.

Enjoy the little video of our presidents! (Again, Facebook peeps need to see the video here instead...) If you want to see more of the pres. pics, you can check them out here on my flickr page.

Thanks for reading!

My Book Groups

2010-11-10T14:03:00.011-05:00

I host two book groups once a month at my library. I have a 3rd grade group and a 4th grade one too. I have to admit, I get kinda attached to my kids even though I pretty much only see them once a month. I can't help it! It's just that I invest a lot of time and energy into the groups and I think the kids really respond to that. I'd do anything for my kiddos.

Anyway, it's a new year and a new group (at least the 3rd graders are newbies). We started this year with a combined 3rd and 4th grade group and started with The Spiderwick Chronicles by DiTerlizzi. It's a great little book, full of fantastic creatures and family issues - definitely made for a lively discussion! Turns out that some of my 3rd graders didn't know what divorce was. Yes, you read that right. I got to explain to a group of 25 kids what divorce is. (The parents' divorce happens prior to the book, but it provides the catalyst to the character and behavior of the central protagonist.) I absolutely wasn't expecting to have to explain divorce to a group of 7, 8, and 9 year olds! That kind of took me by surprise. But it turned out to be a good thing though. We had a great talk about how to be supportive of a friend if they ever have to go through something like that and how it's never the kid's fault in the situation and all that. It was intense. But I feel that reading fiction is one of the best (and safest!) ways to learn about rough stuff like that, especially within the safety net of a supportive book group. It was neat to see the kids share with each other what they know about divorce and how it has affected some of their lives.

I also had a pretty cute snack for them. I think that may be my favorite creative aspect of the group - coming up with something themed that they can look forward to. Some of my kiddos actually read the book of the month with my snack in mind! I always keep it hidden until the very end of the meeting, then see what their guesses are as to what I baked for them. They always come up with C.R.A.Z.Y. things. Well, I made "bogart brownies" for them this time. In the story, there is this creature called a bogart, which is a "brownie" turned bad. (A brownie is like a helpful little house elf.) I covered the brownies in powdered sugar and left little footprints all over them. (That is how you catch a bogart - by spreading flour or powdered sugar across the floor and tracking their footprints.) Here is what my "bogart brownies" looked like! Not an amazing picture of the chocolaty goodness, but it was a nasty rainy day and that is all I got that's worth showing.

I met with my 3rd graders this past Monday for their second book group (I'm so far behind in posting) and this time we read How to Be a Perfect Person In Just Three Days by Manes. This is an oldie but a goodie! If you've never read it, it is worth a few hours and some chuckles. The main character in this story finds a book that promises him perfection if he follows the directions in the book for three days straight. He has three different tasks, one a day, and once he completes them the author promises he will become perfect. I think if I had read this book back in the day, it would have rivaled one of my other favorites - Freckle Juice. Anyway, the first task is wearing a stalk of broccoli around his neck for the whole day. You'll have to read the book if you want to know why he had to do this. But broccoli inspired my snack. Here is what I served them.

Hilarious, right? The broccoli stem is a green tootsie roll cut lengthwise halfway down. I put a bit of green frosting at the two tips and dipped them in green nerds (for the florets). They tasted great! I got the idea for the broccoli from the incredible book What's New, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. The kids were completely enthralled!

Halloween Recovery

2010-11-04T14:49:00.017-05:00

What is Halloween without a dash of fun and a sprinkle of frustration?!? Well, I've gotta say that I'm thrilled to have just gotten through this year's festivities. It's taken me a week to recover from trying to get a two year old to play "dress up." I thought this gig was supposed to get easier. Whatever!

Anyway, this year we were kind of lax on doing a whole lot of fall festivities. I'm 30 weeks pregnant and Oscar is deep in the throngs of the "terrible two" stage, not to mention all the company we've had lately. All of these things, plus me having to work extra to make ends meet, has put a damper on my favorite holiday. Ah well. Better luck next year!

We did at least do some costumes and parading this Halloween however. We met up with Andy and his (adorable) girlfriend Rachel in Washington Square Park in the city to participate in the Children's Parade. Oz got to sport his Handy Manny outfit to the masses and I'm happy to say that we never saw any other Handy Mannys this year! Tim and I dressed up too. I wanted to incorporate my seven-month pregnant belly in a tasteful way, so I went as our solar system and Tim was Galileo. With as low budget and as much work as all three costumes turned out to be, I'm thrilled that they turned out pretty decently! Yeah, but I don't recommend trying to come up with an Italian Renaissancey robe with only two yards of material. THAT was plum crazy. Tim was a trooper though. He wore tights and everything. What a guy. He also pulled an all-nighter with me the night before to paint, in detail, the nine planets. And they are AMAZING. Way to go, love.

Here are some of my favorite photos of the day... some were taken at home in our yard (after nap time) and some in the city:

Oz as "Handy Manny" from his ultimate favorite TV show.

Andy and Rachel as the "Time Square Kiss" - yes they are stinking cute!

Maybe the most creative family costumes I've ever seen... The Burger King + Wendy = baby burger. That is just FUNNY.

(Gush... and applause for Andy as a cheap ploy to get to kiss on his girl all day long.)

Galileo and his galaxy girl.

Me and my sun. (Haahaa!) Or "son," rather.

Felt Food Fridays

2010-10-29T18:27:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween, everyone! I've saved this special little pumpkin specifically for this weekend. I hope it's a happy one for you, reader!

Black Apples

2010-10-15T18:50:00.008-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted any felt food, but I've been working on other things as of late. Namely, Christmas presents!

A few weeks ago, when my BFF visited, we had some craft time during Oscar's naps and we started making Black Apple Dolls. Don't know what a Black Apple Doll is? Well, Black Apple is one of my favorite blog reads and sweet little ETSY shop. She is this super cool gal who does these great illustrations. She went on Martha at one point and shared with the world her Black Apple Dolls, so Christie and I figured it would be wrong to not make some.

So, here are my Black Apples. (Alert! These really are Christmas presents, so if you are my sister or one of my buddies with a little girl, don't look at these pictures unless you don't want to be surprised!)

I think the best part of this project was having my little helper elf stuff the dolls with beans and "clouds" (what Oz calls fiber fill). Oscar had so much fun being mommy's "good helper" that he was almost sad when we finished these! He called each doll by their name and gave each of them hugs and kisses. We talked about how they are Christmas presents that we are going to give to our friends. Here is the line up of dolls...

Maya, Harper, and baby Helen (coming in January!)

Katherine, Emma, and Christina

Side note - I intentionally made each doll to somewhat look like her future owner with the exception of the Emma doll. I dressed "Emma" more for her mommy's liking. No, my niece does not wear an eye patch.

Here is a video of Oscar stuffing dolls...

Thoughts on Halloween

2010-10-12T20:33:00.004-05:00

Aww geez! I'm really wishing I had a Halloween party to go to this year. I just found the most amazing costume idea here. I SO want to be "Expecting Barbie." Is this not the greatest?!? Who wants to paint their belly like a pumpkin or a basketball, anyway? Does anyone want to celebrate with me?

My Birthday Boy

2010-10-11T19:03:00.013-05:00

Yes, this is a month late. But better late than never, right?!?

Happy Birthday Oscar! My baby boy is officially two. Never mind that he's been acting two for about six months... (Attitude and all.) Anyway, it's here! Oz is now a toddler.

We decided that this year we'd do a "big boy" birthday party, since this is the year that Oz will be getting his big boy bed, big boy room, and will also become a BIG BROTHER! So, I searched for giant sized items to make the party B.I.G. We didn't have a big budget nor did we want a big turnout, since we both kinda grew up with the rule of having as many guests as the age you're turning (parents and family don't count), but I think it turned out pretty awesome. We had some giant props for funny photo booth pictures, some biggie-sized treats, "giant bowling," and a BIG cupcake for Oscar to make a wish upon.

We had my parents come, my BFF Christie was there, and Oscar's girlfriends Katherine and Christina came along with their super fun parents Deb and Wing. We even had our neighbor Sean come with his two little ones, Liam and Kate. It was great fun and the kids all had a blast. When everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Oscar, he got the biggest grin I'd ever seen across his whole face. And he couldn't wait to blow out his candles. (We videoed the moment and he has literally seen it over and over and over again, even trying to relive the moment by huffing and puffing and blowing those video candles out! Silly boy.) Anyway, even if we hadn't had gifts for this kiddo, he still would have been over the moon.

Below are pics of "giant" bowling, which was basically huge bowling pins we made from cardboard and a big blue ball with pretend electrical tape holes. The pins were about two and a half feet tall, almost as tall as Oscar! I also bought a huge red ball cap, a clown bow tie and giant plastic lollipop, a giant toothbrush (which ended up being Oscar's fave), a big Texas mustache, and some giant pink glasses for photo booth props. I served up a GIANT sandwich (which was basically a french bread sub that we sliced and put on a huge tray to make it look extra long), giant black and white cookies, yellow cotton candy (yellow is Oscar's favorite color), and I made a huge cupcake from a cake mold I got at Michaels. That cake took two pound cake mixes! It was dense and tasted great, but caused me to use some colorful language when I tried to frost it. Frosting cakes is not my spiritual gift, let's just say.

Just look at my big boy!

Well, here is a little video that I created with Animoto for your viewing pleasure, reader. Also, if you're reading this on facebook, click here so you can actually see it (fb doesn't jive well with Animoto). And if you want more party pictures, you can always get them here.

Star Wars Trilogy in Paper

2010-10-08T15:52:00.002-05:00

As found here...

Six and a Half Months

2010-10-07T15:58:00.017-05:00

Yup. Today I am officially six and a half months along with my pregnancy. Crazy. I feel like it has kinda flown by me, as compared with when I was pregnant with Oscar. I guess cause Mr. Oz keeps me on my toes! Anyway, since we know it is a boy that's coming in January, I've been thinking nesting and nursery and whatnot. It's gonna be a robot room! I'm going with grays and yellows. (I know that yellow is not a super roboty color, but this way I can sort of tame the gray and not make it seem gloomy. It IS a nursery, after all!) Here is what I've been eying:

This seriously cool print from etsy...

Making some great finger puppet bots like these... (Sorry, I can't find the source. I remember it was a cool party featured on my RSS feed. Sorry about that.)

It's a real shame that she isn't creating anymore cause I loved her work! Isn't this paper cut robot adorable? I wish she'd make me one.

We also want to have a good collection of funky retro robots, like this one... So cute.

And this one...

And these book ends are killing me!

My Little Chef

2010-10-05T15:22:00.003-05:00

Oh how I LOVE a man in an apron. Oz, you'll always be my top chef, even if your dishes are wooden and felt and completely inedible.

Zombie Barbie

2010-10-04T09:44:00.004-05:00

Ohh... I can't wait for Halloween! I only really wish Tim would let me throw a party. Maybe if I hold my breath till he says yes? Just saw this awesome idea for old barbie dolls and I am itching to start decorating! I'm still brainstorming ideas for Oscar's Halloween costume. Any suggestions?

Baby Food Jars

2010-10-03T19:42:00.009-05:00

Let's set the record straight... I am not a hoarder. It's just that whenever you need baby food jars, you just can't find them. It's true. So yes, I've kept most of mine and I have a REALLY hard time getting rid of them. They are just so darn useful! I've done oodles of things with mine. And I keep finding fab little projects to do with them. I just recently found a secret addition to one of my favorite blogs Prudent Baby. Turns out, they have a whole section dedicated to baby food jars! Score. Better watch out, Christmas.

I also saw this great idea at Merriment Design of spray painting the jar lids with chalkboard paint and using chalkboard washable pens to write on them for whenever I go to make a stash of food for our newest addition. Great idea! You can write what you made and when you made it. No more freezer-burn or surprise concoctions!

I've been working on downsizing my jar collection lately, especially since we are currently making room for baby number two in our family. I have been posting boxes of jars on Craig's List and sending them out to folks. I just gave one chick 120 jars for a (freaking HUGE) baby shower she hosted. She was so thankful that she sent me a thank you card with a pic of what she made! So thoughtful.

It got me thinking about using some jars for party favors for our gender reveal party. I just recently saw a Martha Stewart thing about using cupcake liners instead of fabric to decorate the tops of small gift jars when you're in a pinch, and I thought that was so brilliant! So, I raided my collection of jars and hunted down the perfect pink and blue cupcake liners to use. Hubs and I went all over town gathering pink and blue salt water taffy to fill the jars. Then we made a cute little "thanks for coming" circle tag for the top and put them all together, tied up with white ribbon, for sweet perfection!

Who's My Pretty Baby?

2010-10-02T20:06:00.010-05:00

Okay, it's a couple weeks late, but I've finally finished putting a video together. Of course, I'm biased, but I think it was worth the wait. Anyway, here is the scoop on our Gender Reveal Party.

As killer as it was to wait to find out the results from our ultrasound test, both Tim and I really wanted to do something different and special this time around. Maybe it's because neither one of us are first born children or something... We both know that with the first child, there are more pictures and more firsts. And generally, when you tell people that you are having another, the excitement pales in comparison with when you told them about the first one. (It's true. Even grandparents are guilty of this.) I get it, though. I mean, it's not life changing for them like it is for us. A lot of people don't realize that when you go from being a three person family to being a FOUR person family, there are enormous changes. That's a discussion for another day, though. Back to our celebration. We really wanted to have our friends and family over for a party all about this new little life - something that wasn't a "baby shower" or anything. Hence the Grand Gender Reveal!

Here is a glimpse at the decor... (click on the pic to enlarge it)

We decorated our place in all blues and pinks (with a touch of yellow), had blue and pink sweet treats, and even asked people to come dressed in either color, depending on whether they thought I was having a boy or a girl. Tim and I both ended up in blue, as well as Oscar (he doesn't have any pink shirts...) and we got pictures of everyone's votes.

Voila Team Pink! (I was wearing pink earrings and pink shoes, just in case...)

Voila Team Blue!

As you can see, we had a CROWD! Anyone who didn't already know each other got acquainted real quick in our small apartment... And if space didn't factor in, the games certainly did. We had some rounds of "famous baby pictionary" going on and then a head-to-head combat baby food guessing game (with some intense flavors) that followed. I also had people fill out a baby ballot where people had to guess boy or girl, what the baby's temperament would be, who baby would look like, and what baby would grow up to be. We got some funny answers, for sure, everything from an architect to a circus ringleader. We also had guests help us compile a little book of "wishes" for our baby, something that baby will be able to read as an adult. The list of wishes were fill in the blanks. (I got this great list here...) Some of my favorites are: "I hope you'll become tranquil within," "I hope you aren't afraid to make mistakes," and one from my brother Andy, "I hope you'll never forget how much I'll always love you." So sweet.

For the great reveal, we had a baker take the (sealed-up envelope) results of the ultrasound and bake cupcakes with the revealing color frosted into the center. That way, we'd all bite into the cakes at the same time and everyone would find out together! It was a sweet way to find out. And definitely worth the wait.

Anyway, it was memorable. Enjoy the video! And for the cupcake reveal itself, here is a link to that video.

For more pictures of the event, go here! (And if you are viewing this on facebook, see the video here.)

Bow Ties

2010-09-13T21:56:00.002-05:00

No hair bows for us! We're a bow tie family for sure now. Oz is getting excited about his newest playmate. I also wanted to share with you my newest favorite commercial, brought to my attention during World Cup season by one of Oscar's most favorite people - Uncle Andy. It is just so sweet!

Cupcake Reveal!

2010-09-13T19:28:00.003-05:00

Anticipation...

2010-09-11T12:30:00.003-05:00

Finally! It's almost here. I suppose I should get some brownie points for my extreme self control... I've had a sealed envelope for almost three weeks now, just waiting to be opened. BEGGING to be opened. Want to know what it contains? The results of my last ultrasound! It has, written by my technician, whether the newest baby Bomgardner will wear bows or bow ties. Anyone want to take a guess?

Tim and I decided to do something fun and different this time around and host a "gender reveal" party. We didn't want a baby shower or anything, since we have what we need from when we had Oscar. But I still wanted to have some kind of celebration for this baby - something different from big brother Oz, you know? I want each of my kiddos to know that they are special and unique.

Anyway, I read about a few of these type of parties and I knew this would be perfect. I think it's even more special that it is a surprise for me and Tim, too. I'm super excited that we'll have our friends and family there to share in that special moment. We are going to do the reveal by using something close to my heart - cupcakes! I have a baker friend who will be doing some simple cupcakes with butter cream frosting filling that is either pink or blue in the middle. So when we bite down, we'll find out what was in that envelope... What do you think, reader? Pink or blue? The anticipation is KILLER.

Tomorrow can't come soon enough!

Felt Food Fridays

2010-09-03T16:39:00.007-05:00

It's time for another Felt Food Friday! (I hope you aren't getting sick of these, reader. I have a few more things I still want to create...) Well, this one is more of a felt food container - the picnic basket. I got a basic tutorial here and just altered it a bit. I've never been great at following patterns, so this kind of evolved. I think I like my top better, just because I think it will be a bit sturdier. I sewed a whole top side down (plus a little extra) so that kiddo can't destroy the opening. It's not that he is the destructive sort, it's just that boys have a hard time being "gentle." Anyway, I filled it with some other goodies that I previously made. Enjoy! (I made Tim be my hand model. Didn't he do a swell job?!? Almost Seinfeld worthy.)

Well, I figure if you read this far down the post, you deserve a bit of honesty. I HATED doing this project. I almost quit... hmm... about 4 times. I feel like the whole thing is a bit of a Monet. It took me TWO weeks to finish because I just kept putting it off and cussing at it. I finally finished this monster last night after Project Runway and instead of feeling wonderful and accomplished, I just wanted to drop kick it across the room. Maybe it was pregnancy HORRORmones or the fact that I can't let Oz play with it any time soon because he attacked it with his tiny fingers and tried to pull some of the weaving out (yeah, I almost had a nervous breakdown when he did that because I was several hours into the project). Little punk. Anyway, if you decide to attempt this jive, approach it with caution. You have been warned.

Our VA Trip

2010-09-02T16:03:00.008-05:00

Hey! What's up, readers?!? Have you missed me? Oh man. So I really have no excuses for being M.I.A. except for the fact that I'm growing a person inside me and this tiny person literally SUCKS UP ALL MY LIFE FORCE like all the time. I feel more like a "host" than a momma, sometimes. Basically, I've taken to sleeping through Oscar's nap because I just cannot keep my eyes open. Baby #2, you are giving me a run for my money.

So about this Virginia trip, it goes without question that if daddy is gonna be away for a whole week, this momma is gonna go see HER momma! My Mr. had a work conference, meaning I went down to spend a week in the Shenandoah Valley with Diva and Poppa. I said it before... I don't do single parenting, especially not at 5 months pregnant. As it was, Oscar was a handful that week. I was super glad to have an extra four around to pass him off to. (We went through a "head butting" stage and mommy couldn't seem to get kiddo to understand that mommy is NOT A SOCCER BALL. Not cool. We're talking LOTS of time-outs.) My folks were amazing as usual. My dad offered Oscar lots of male-bonding time and my mom changed lots of foul diapers and played lots of puzzles with the little man. Oscar had a ball. Now, every time we ride in the car for longer than 30 minutes, Oz says "Go see Diva an Poppa?" I'd say he enjoyed himself.

Here are some pictures and highlights of our week... Our favorite things were visiting the library, going to the county fair, helping in Diva's garden, thrifting, and this mommy especially enjoyed herself some Chick-fil-a (no incriminating pictures of that, though)! Even Oscar could say "Chick-fil-a" by the time we headed home. Nice. (My fave pic is the one in the middle of Oscar clapping... We were watching a tight-rope walker guy do his thing at the county fair and I don't know who was more frightened - Diva or Oscar. Anyway, they were both thrilled when dude got to the other side of the wire to safety.)

Felt Food Fridays

2010-08-20T19:03:00.008-05:00

I'm back with another installment to Oscar's felt food collection!

We got this cool red wooden toaster a few weeks back at a garage sale and I really wanted something fun to "cook" in it (especially since the wooden "toast" that came with it are slightly rectangular and are kinda hard to put into the slots - yes, as you can imagine, we've had a LOT of frustration with that). Anyway, mommy's favorite thing to cook in a toaster is the always delicious "Poptart." So I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Poptarts were pretty special and rare in my household growing up. Our grocery budget didn't usually allow for such delicacies. I think that is one reason for my reverence toward this scrumptious treat. I really hope I've done it justice. I made strawberry tarts, because that was my favored flavor as a child... I'm now more of a "Brown Sugar Cinnamon" girl. Oh, how things change. Enjoy! (And I really hope you notice and appreciate the bite taken out with a hint of strawberry filling! Make you hungry?)

Fun Toy Friday

2010-08-06T09:08:00.004-05:00

So, no felt food today. Instead I did a project I've been meaning to do for a while - make a Tie Snake. In an effort to purge my guest room of extra stuff (it's not "junk," husband...) to turn it into guest room/office space/craft room, I'm slowly working through my "to do" pile. It's hard work getting space cleared for a new person! But when that new little person arrives in January, it will all be worth it.

So here he is! Simon the snake. I made him out of a funky old thrift store tie, stuffing, some pop-on animal eyes, and a bit of red felt. He was really easy to make. Here is a decent tutorial if you are interested in making one.

I would suggest sewing it instead of hot gluing, just for child-proofing. (It's crazy how quickly an almost-two-year-old can figure out how to unglue and destroy something hand-made. He can't take the sewn items apart, though - thank goodness.) The pop-on animal eyes I got from Hobby Lobby. They are basically like snaps, with a nut-like piece in the back, so it can't be pulled off. Also, I added an old film canister filled with beans into the tail stuffing, to give him a bit of a rattle. That jive cracks Oscar up.

Simon is a hit! Oscar loops him over his shoulders and walks around hissing. It's hilarious. Let me know if you make one too, reader!

I love...

2010-08-05T13:46:00.020-05:00

It's been a while since I posted some of my current favorite things, so here are a few on my radar right now.

This heart necklace is oh so cool. Birthday present, anyone?!? (I saw it first on my RSS feed but can't remember on who's blog! Ack. Sorry for not giving creds. I would if I didn't have the world's worse pregnancy brains.)

Speaking of pregnancy, all I want right now are these two items.

In fact, why don't you write me down for one of these (below), instead. Just substitute the Hershey bar for a strand of grapes. That's right. You heard me.

I'd love love love to have a red and white chevron print rug for my living room. I sure can dream big, can't I? (Yes, when the price isn't listed on the website, that usually means it's pretty freaking expensive.)

I would love this bag, too. I think I sure could look cute carrying it, being pregnant and all. The bow could offset my tummy? No?

I really want to learn how to make these cool necklaces out of old jersey knit t-shirts and beads. I could totally sport this. Hers is super cute.

And finally, how fun would an instant camera be?!? Then I'd not fuss with photoshop AT ALL. That's almost unimaginable to me. I'm not sure when the new Polaroid 300's come out, but you can preorder them now. Pretty cool. I'll take mine in red.

Aquarium Visit

2010-07-30T17:02:00.010-05:00

I know it seems like I'm an absentee blogger lately... Sorry readers! I've been so preoccupied with gutting out our guest room, trying to make room for baby #2. And if I'm not busy doing that, I'm playing with baby #1. And when baby #1 goes down for his noon-time nap (cue the angels singing), I usually crash, too. So goes the vicious circle. It seems like I'm just barely getting stuff done lately. I'm just treading water or something. So, if all you see are weekly "felt food" posts, be proud of me that I've at least kept that up!

We have done a few fun things this summer, though. I am usually working at the library on the weekends, but every now and then Tim takes some time off and we go do something fun. This is an outing that has been on our list for a while now... taking Oz to his first aquarium.

We went to Norwalk, CT to a smaller local place, so it wouldn't be too overwhelming. Oz seemed to enjoy it very much! He especially liked hanging out with Uncle Andy (who came along with us) and he liked playing in the Aquarium playground area. We got to touch sting rays, see Meerkats, act like boat captains, watch the seals and penguins, and even see a bunch of cool frogs. It was a good "first" for our little man. Here are some pics of the visit...

Felt Food Fridays (and Oscar's New Kitchen)

2010-07-30T15:40:00.014-05:00

Here's my baby.

And here is his newest toy. We got the COOLEST kitchen ever at a yard sale a few weeks ago. Oz is crazy for it. (It's a sturdy wooden "manly" kitchen and it was only $20 bucks!) Now Oscar is always pulling you by the hand and saying "Play cooking?" And he'll spend hours stacking those wooden food blocks (behind him) and placing them just right on his shelves. We got those at the Children's Museum of Manhattan for like a dollar a piece and they have already seen a lot of action. Oh happy investment! Here are some more pics of the wooden blocks...

Anyway, now Oscar has a place to play with all his felt food. Huzzah! So this week, I decided he needed something he could "cook" on the stove top. And I wanted it to be something healthy this time around because making these play foods gives me all sorts of wacky cravings. I swear, the week I made the cinnamon rolls, we had to have them for breakfast not just once but a few times. Ask me what I had for lunch today?!? Well...

I had ravioli! And here is why... Looks good, huh? How about some broccoli florets and ravioli?

Almost good enough to eat!

(But you probably shouldn't try... Otherwise you'll make this face.)

I saved my favorite photo for last (above). This one cracks me up because there is some strange lighting thing going on (bad sun exposure or something). Basically, it looks like Oscar is really cooking! It makes me imagine a steamy kitchen as my little fella fixes a real pot of ravioli. Are these scenes to come? Will my baby grow up to be a top chef? And will he say that it's all because he grew up playing with some awesome felt food? Only time will tell.

Felt Food Fridays

2010-07-23T16:36:00.008-05:00

Look yummy? Good enough to eat? Well, I'm back with another offering to the felt food gods... This one was mostly based on a great online tutorial by Snazzle Craft. Check it out! It was pretty easy - just cutting out and blanket stitching pretty much. I did change the tomato slice to look more like this awesome little guy, though. (The seeds are a "Lazy Daisy" stitch. My mom will get a kick out of that.) And I added the word "Chips" to the chip bag because Oz is into letters right now. He chants the letters of his name all the time... "O! S! C! A! R!" Oh well. At least he knows how to spell it. That's half the battle.

Sandwich Contents: tomato slice, piece of lettuce, slice of Swiss cheese, slice of American cheese, piece of salami, and two slices of bread

The chips look a lot more complicated than they should... Those are actually machine stitched. The tutorial has you basically sew a bunch of lines on a piece of felt and THEN cut out the chip. Hey, time saver! So, all in all, the whole project took about 3 or 4 hours scattered throughout the week, in between playing cars and "cooking" with Oz.

(And just for kicks, I did some PB&J too. It's also in with the tutorial, but I did two pieces blanket stitched instead of just a single piece of purple and brown felt.)

To Austin (And Back) With My Man

2010-07-22T14:34:00.009-05:00

So yeah, I'm behind with my pictures and posting... But hey, what else is new? Anyway, I wanted to share with you (probably) my only "vacation" trip for the summer. (And no, husband... this isn't me being passive-aggressive and letting you know that your wife needs more getaway time... Well, not really... Okay. Yeah it is.)

We spent a week in Texas visiting my hubby's fam. It was great. And "Grandma and Grandpa" were so gracious as to babysit Oscar for two days and let us get away for an over-nighter trip down to Austin. Oh man. It was heaven on earth. We had some minor car frustrations, but overall it was an amazing trip. I'm such a tourist, so I had a pretty long list of things I wanted to see and do. And we were surprisingly able to do most of the things on my list! Okay, yes we literally RAN through the LBJ Presidential Library and the Bob Bullock Museum was a bit of a hazy blur, but at least I got to see everything and snap a few pics. Here is a video of our trip highlights...
(BTW, if you are reading this via Facebook, this video more than likely won't appear. Click over to my blog, whydontcha?)

If you want to see more of the pictures at your own pace, you can check them out here on Flickr.
Okay, so here are some of my memories of the trip:

- Sipping Hibiscus Mint Tea at the oh so tranquil Lady Bird Wildflower Center (it was brutal hot and I think I drank a whole pitcher full of the stuff...)
- Finding out that yes, EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas, even the state capitol building. (It's 14 feet taller than our nation's capitol. Nice, huh?)
- 100 degree weather
- "Do you know the way to (Hotel) San Jose?" Staying at the raddest hotel in town. It was a Mexican and Japanese hybrid hotel, very feng shui but with cactus plants everywhere. It was very cool. If I was Ernest Hemingway, I'd probably stay a while.
- Seeing red dragonflies...
- Eating at the Iron Works BBQ, best stuff in Texas.
- Waiting to see some (temperamental) Austin bats... Austin has one of the largest urban bat colonies and we waited for FOREVER to see them swarm out from under their bridge. It was still worth seeing, even though my feet were killing me.
- Cupcakes on South Congress Street served out of an airstream! How much more fun can a person have?!?
- Walking through the Museum of the Weird and seeing a Fiji mermaid. Now THAT doesn't happen every day.
- Sneaking pictures at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum. Naughty Tim.
- Getting completely dizzy looking down from the top of Texas Capitol building - well, not the very top, although Tim did try to sneak up to the tip top. He got busted by the security guard, though.
- Potty breaks at the fancy pants Driskill Hotel! (Hey, I'm pregnant. Pregnant chicks have to go all the time.)
- Having a "Bento Box Breakfast" at the hotel. Again, a completely amazing place.
- Getting sunburns on our feet while we tried in vain to fix a persnickety vehicle. (But I gotta say how impressed I was with the locals. People actually stopped and asked if we needed help. That seriously would never have happened up here in NY.)
- Standing in the frigid 68 degree water at Barton Springs in the heat of July in Texas.
- Exploring the funky shops on South Congress, thrifty and otherwise...
- Strolling down 6th Street. We didn't catch any concerts or anything though. That's something I'd like to do if we ever get to go back.
- Seeing the "Oval Office" at the LBJ Presidential Library.

I have more memories, but I won't bore you with any more, reader. You should go there and make some memories too! I'm a big Austin fan now. What a funky little college town!

Felt Food Fridays

2010-07-16T15:34:00.008-05:00

Hooray! I finally finished this one... Oh man, between the funky cravings and being tired all the time, this felt contribution took it out of me. Plus I didn't have any kind of pattern to go on. Sheesh. Anyway, it's CINNAMON ROLLS! Delicious, right? I made Tim go out and buy me some pretty late at night. Pregnancy craving #1. (Why can't I crave something healthy? Like broccoli?)

All in all, these were decent to make. I used two cocoa pieces and two tan pieces of felt to make half dozen rolls - and had stuff left over even. This is what I did: I cut craft felt (the stuff at Michaels) into about 2-3 inch strips, long ways so they were about 10 inches long. I also angled the strips a bit, so when you coil them up into cinnamon rolls, the center is a tiny bit taller. Then I machine sewed them up on three sides, making sure that the widest end gets sewn and the skinny end gets left open. Turn them, and then stuff them. Oz had a blast "helping me" do that. He calls fiberfill "clouds." It's really sweet. But make sure you don't stuff the tubes too tightly, cause then they'll be hard to wind and end up looking funky. Sew them together as you wind them, making sure to not let your stitches show too much. When you get to the end, sew the open end down, folding the dark "cinnamon" brown felt in so it doesn't show. As the finale, I used some white "puff paint" for a swirl of icing. I hope that made sense!

Now for more pictures...

Announcing...

2010-07-12T14:55:00.004-05:00

Well, the time has come. I can't hide it for too much longer... I'm pregnant! And now I'm starting to look the part. Right now, I'm a little over 3 months. I guess after having Oscar, things are already kinda stretched out, so I popped a bit early... Ugg. Maternity jeans, I'll be seeing you soon. (And yes, that is already a maternity shirt pictured below.)

Anyway, we're so excited to have baby #2 join our family early in the new year. My official due date is January 13th. Oz is happy about being a big brother (as far as we can tell). He has been to the doctor's office with us to "see baby." He was pretty confused when what he saw was mommy laying down and the doctor pointing to a black and white TV screen.

Therein lies the reason for my lack of blogging lately. All I've wanted to do nowadays is sleep and not throw up. I sure will be happy to say goodbye to my first trimester. So, any guesses as to what we are gonna have? Uncle Andy feels certain it's a girl. Any takers for a boy?

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T08:19:00.000-05:00

I hope your day is filled with sunshine, watermelon, and family! (Here is a glimpse into last year's 4th... Oz is a "little" bigger this year!)

Felt Food Fridays

2010-07-02T08:05:00.002-05:00

Hey there! I'm posting this from "Deep in the Heartland" way down yonder in Texas! Yeehaw. We're out here visiting Tim's fam. For today's treat (and to celebrate our heritage), I bring you the All-American Oreo cookie. Oh yeah. Just need some felt milk and we're in business. Oscar seems to think so, anyway. Funny story: Oz was so excited when I told him I had a chocolate cookie for him... a combo of two of his favorite things. He tried to bite into this week's contribution, only to get a mouthful of wool. Now he picks up the Oreos and says "No Bite!"

Young Me and the Now Me

2010-06-25T08:07:00.002-05:00

I subscribe to this thing called Photojojo for weekly fun photo tricks and photography happenings. It always gives me a smile. Anyway, I just got an update from them about this fun photo project going on... Check it out here. It's a photo project called "Young Me/Now Me" and people have submitted (hilarious) pics of them as children and them now. Here are a few favorite:

http://www.zefrank.com/youngmenowme/

So funny. I've been hoping to get my brother into doing a version of this pretty soon. What do you think of this picture? Think Andy will go for it? Anybody got a plastic mustache I can borrow? How about a Miami Vice t-shirt?

Eleven Years of Love

2010-06-24T19:54:00.004-05:00

That's right, baby. Eleven years of marital bliss. It seems wild to think that most of my adult life has been spent with one (incredible) man, but it's true... And I wouldn't change a thing! It's rare to find that one person who is your best friend and someone you want to curl up next to every night for the rest of your life. I count my blessings to have found my Timmy as early as I did.

(Sorry for such a sappy post, but what did you expect?!? We just celebrated being married for eleven years, for Pete's sake!)

We rang in the new year of love in style, too. The mister swept me away for an over-nighter, without the kiddo, at the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville, VA. (A big THANK YOU to Diva and Poppa for being babysitters extraordinaire.) It was so nice to get away and be pampered with exquisite food and feather pillows and whatnot. We really enjoyed just strolling around the grounds, reminiscing on the past and dreaming together about our future. It makes me feel like the luckiest girl on earth. And the fancy-pants dinner and breakfast-in-bed was pretty nice, too!

Here is a little glimpse at our stay...

Happy Dadda Day!

2010-06-20T09:00:00.001-05:00

Oscar adores his daddy, so here we are making daddy something special... "Happy Dadda Day" to you all. May it be a sweet one.