Trash to Treasure

Do you remember being a child and having hours of fun with a refrigerator box? I do. We made up so many ways to play with the box. Upright it was a playhouse, on it's side a cave. Upside down a rocket ship, etc. etc. etc.

I always have several big boxes laying around from ordering baby carriers. The other day NJ discovered one and jumped on it only to have it sag in the middle and dump him on the floor. He was ecstatic! A new slide! He spent about 20 minutes jumping and sliding on the box. I thought to myself, "Oh great! Now I can get 10 things done while he's preoccupied." Instead, I got sucked into his playful spirit and found a few more boxes to add to his slide. I put a small box and a larger box next to the "slide" box to give him more to climb on. As the morning wore on I found more boxes and began cutting them and taping them together. By the time lunchtime came around I had created a train with a headlight, two seating areas, and a bell on top that rang when you pulled the string. I think I ended up having more fun that NJ, as I would finish one addition to the train and have to call him away from his other toys to show him the new feature. Of course, I never got those 10 things done, but I had fun with my son.

Hope you all find a few hours to spend uninterrupted with your loved ones today :-).

Taming the Christmas Beast

Every year my family tries to tame the Christmas present buying beast. In years past we have had a Secret Santa and only had to buy for one person in the immediate family (although I don't describe my family with marriages, divorces and members of the family in three different states across the country - as Immediate!).

This year we won't all be together for the holidays. So, in an effort to keep that beast at bay, we decided to limit gifts to one ornament per couple.

This put an enormous pressure on me (the illustrator) to do something creative. I wanted to paint ornaments with a winter scene with snowmen. My husband had the great idea to make each snowperson resemble the family members I was giving it to. I decided to paint the couple and their pets if they had any. Of course the busiest ornament was for my sister who has 2 cats & 2 dogs that live with her and her husband! I also put scenes in the background that related to where they live.

Okay, so I may have saved money on my ornaments, but they weren't lacking in effort and time consumption. I bought three pre-cut (thank goodness!) wooden snowflake ornaments. I drilled holes in the top, sanded the ornaments, primed them, sketched out the design on the front, painted the ornaments (front, back & gold trim on the side!), sealed the painting, threaded red ribbon through them, wrapped them up and mailed them out today. Phew, it was fun, but I'm glad its done.

I've attached a picture one of the ornaments. Enjoy!

Sleepless in Raleigh

1:00am:
NJ has been awake for an hour now. He is using his new verbal skills to try to order us around. First he asked for water. Second, he wanted us to rock him in the rocker. Third, he wanted us to bring him a clean blankey. Fourth, not sure what it is now, but he is calling for Mommy. Be right back.............

I have lots of time to think in the wee hours of the morning. I wonder how many other Moms are up with me. My unknown sleepless companions. It is reassuring to me knowing that I'm not the only mother who paces the bedroom floor at 1am. Then I think about other people who are up this late. How about all the late night bar hoppers? My days of bar hopping seem like they were eons ago. A young college student with no one relying on me. Being able to sleep in on weekends. Going out to eat wherever and whenever I wanted. Ahh, those were the days. Or were they? Pulling all-nighters to work on a project. Cramming for an exam. Trying to stay awake in lecture hall. Hmmmm. Maybe I should be happy with my current role in life.

Well, there is silence once again in NJ's bedroom. I'm off to bed. Goodnight all you Moms out there. Goodnight all you college students. Best of luck on your semester finals.

Weef Bwhoa-er!

Ah finally, NJ is feeling better. I can now take a few steps away from him to do a dish or maybe even take a potty break (who am I kidding! I'm not going to be able to use the bathroom by myself for the next ten years!) Today NJ wanted to sit in my lap during my potty break. Sigh. I don't know how you explain to a toddler that they can't do that.

Speaking of things he can't do! Why is my little angel boy who used to listen to every direction I gave him now purposely doing exactly what I don't want him to do! I guess "No, honey, you can't flush the toilet 20 times in 2 minutes or our septic tank with overflow and back up into the house, etc. etc. etc." doesn't compute in the toddler brain. More sighs.

I am always amazed at what my son is learning. He knows so many words! Yesterday as we were getting out of the car and getting ready to go inside he got all excited and started chanting, "Weef Bwhoa-er! Weef Bwhoa-er! Weef Bwhoa-er! Weef Bwhoa-er!" We had to go down the street and see who was using a Leaf Blower. As I walked back to our house with a completely happy and satisfied NJ, I thought sadly that I can't believe that a leaf blower is one of his early words. Too bad "Environmental Conservation" isn't among one of those really cool things a toddler loves to learn about :-(

Hope you enjoy this picture of NJ with all the leaves still waiting to be mulched.

Picture of my Life

Yesterday was a crazy day for me. NJ (my son) has his third cold in six weeks. Sigh... He has been much more independent since he's been walking. But when he is sick, I have to break out the carriers in order to get through my day to day tasks. By the end of the day I felt like I'd go crazy if another human wanted to touch me (too much human contact with a clingy sick boy). I had snot on my shoulders and graham cracker slime on my sleeve. When dh came home, I told him I needed to get out.

Off to Starbucks with a novel (A Million Little Pieces - reading for my bookgroup) in hand. I sat down with my Mocha Decaf and began to decompress (as my dh calls it). About 10 min. into my drink and book I hear a sound that makes me jump. A toddler squeal. I was surprised to see a little girl not more than 2 years old running around Starbucks at 9:30 at night. Is it just me, or does anyone else think that 9:30pm is a little late for a toddler to be up? Anyway, so much for decompressing.


When I got home I took a look at the mail and discovered a small square box. I had no idea what was inside. I am definitely guilty of purchasing something online and then forgetting about it 3 hours later. I opened it up and found the little playmobil sling wearing mama I had ordered a few days earlier. I laughed, because she actually looks a little bit like me (if she got a haircut and had blue eyes). The baby looked nothing like NJ (too much hair and dark).

I took her upstairs and put her on my computer. My sister called from the west coast and I talked to her briefly. She said she wanted me to send her a pic of the Playmobil figure. So, I quick snapped a picture and emailed it to her. After I sent it I looked at the picture again and realized that I had captured a picture that described my day to day existence!