Under Construction

Felt, it's what's for dinner

Biscuit would only eat cottage cheese for dinner so we switched to crafting. After an excellent session of coloring using a great colored pencil roll from Sarah P Dot, we moved on to...felting!

I had never tried felting and on a whim bought a felt ball kit from WoolandHandcrafts.etsy.com. I've since learned from fellow Sac Craft Mafia member Kaytea that there is a great, local source for wool at a shop in Sacramento but I can't recall the name. That was useful, eh? If you're local it's next to Fox and Goose.

Anyway, since playing in bubbles is one of Biscuit's favorite things to do, felting seemed the perfect craft.

I wanted a candy cane ball so I wrapped red roving around the white innards.

Then, as instructed, we put the ball in a pair of sacrificed pantyhose and started to "gently" massage it in hot, soapy water.  Oh wait, toddlers don't do "gentle."

This was interesting for about 5 minutes.

Then she got much more interested in the bubbles and putting them in her hair.

Yeah, really into the bubbles--note the increasing collection of wet tea towels. Meanwhile, mom was busy felting the wool in between photos.

Once the balls were sufficiently felted, we rinsed them in non-soapy water (aka the bath).

I'm not sure if these will be ornaments or pin cushions but they sure are fun to throw at each other around the house. Also, instead of candy canes, they kind of look like bloodshot eyeballs so I wouldn't suggest the red on white combo.

This was a very fun project. If I were doing it again with Biscuit I would have done the "gentle" part in the pantyhose without her and used her 5 minute attention span on the more vigorous felting after removing from the pantyhose. We have some lumpy balls here (ha, ha, ha)

In unrelated news, I created a clothespin doll tutorial over at Instructables.

Stubborn (with robot bonus content)

I am very busy here. Busy being depressed that my very long (5 day!) weekend is over.  And there are several things left on my weekend to do list.

Does everyone write a weekend to do list?  I usually write mine Friday evenings and try to have it done by Sunday. I rarely succeed.

Usually, I get lazy and figure I don't have to do everything on my self imposed to do list. The fact that I got my car vacuumed and the laundry 3/4 done more than makes up for the unwritten thank you notes and the 1/4 laundry remaining.  Also, I am good a rationalizing.

But for this NaBloPoMo thing I am NOT giving up. I am suddenly very stubborn about completing this challenge even if the entire internet has to read about my weekend to do list. (Actually, you don't have to read, that's the joy of the internet, you can click on by). So sorry about the lame posts lately.

On to the bonus content: ROBOT!

Mr. H carefully assembles the roller skating, clock headed robot using assorted duplos. Note the blond hair coming in from stage right.

The robot is complete. A masterpiece in yellow and green. It is ready to do your bidding.  But wait,

in her continuing quest to take away all of daddy's fun the three foot tall, cell phone wielding monster destroys the robot with a single blow

Proud of her accomplishment, the monster moves on to other monster-like activities such as "pulling books off the shelves" and "drinking her bathwater."

The monster was stopped only by bedtime. And then the robot was reassembled and hides in the living room awaiting the monster's return in the morning.

The End.

First haircut

At one point this was supposed to be a home renovation blog (hence the name). Then it was a crafting blog. It may have turned into a baby book for Biscuit (with some crafting for good measure).

Today was her first real haircut (the time I trimmed her bangs in her sleep notwithstanding)

She started out shaggy and uncertain

A basket of toys and lollipop solved the uncertainty. She even got a blow dry, curl and a "pretty"

And then after, in the car. For the first time ever I said "smile" and she did. I just barely captured it on film.

Switching gears entirely, tractors.

Biscuit really likes tractors. Today I found this on YouTube and it was a hit. If you have a tractor obsessed person in your home, search 'square dancing tractors' for minutes of fun and entertainment.

And since this is turning into a post only my family could love, dad, the front loader works great. Quieter than the dryer.

Making up for being oh-so-behind in the baby book department

Most mornings I lay in bed ignoring the alarm well past the time I should be in the shower and I hear little miss Biscuit awake in her room enjoying the last few minutes of binky time and "reading" herself some books. Some mornings she wads up an entire box of diaper wipes cleaning her bears (not fun but at least she's quiet!).  All in all she seems to handle mornings much better than her mother.

Case in point, a morning a week or so ago. I came into her room to find her wide awake and she greeted me with a very chipper, "Good morning, Mommy. My sleep well!" Clear as a bell and oh so cute!

And in completely unrelated news, tonight we taught Biscuit how to pillow fight. We may regret this one.

Tiger mouth

I sat down to post the first installment of the gift guide and totally lost my mojo on that. I wouldn't post at all except I'm committed to posting every day this month so all you get is a photo.

Biscuit was watching me eat corn at dinner and said, "Mommy, tiger mouth" I guess I was really chomping away at the corn. She followed suit and attacked her own piece of corn with her fierce "tiger mouth." It was funny if you were there.

If you want a gift guide today, check out Handmade Parade.

No photo shoots before breakfast

That was one of the first images during my 10 minutes of (literally) chasing her around the yard with the camera at 7:30 a.m. Not sure any of these are going to work (thus foiling the blog and etsy posting plans)

Finally got a decent shot. But of course it's completely out of focus and has a tarp in the background.

Maybe tomorrow. 

Not a battle I am willing to fight

Biscuit has always been a binky/pacifier kid. Several months ago we stopped letting her use it during the day so now the binky is exclusively for sleeping. It actually works like a charm. Most of the time. You pop in the binky and she's out. Well most nights you need the binky and the blankie. On rough nights you also need Bear Bear. And lately, on really bad nights, you also need mommy or daddy.

Only problem with this plan is when she needs sleep and you don't have a binky. Like, say, tonight.  I listened to 25 minutes of whining/crying in the car. "my binky," "want binky," "my go night night binky." She dozed off about 5 minutes before we finally got home from our impromptu evening out.

Ah, peace.

Overall, I think the pros outweigh the cons and the binky is here to stay for a while more.

And have I mentioned how much I don't like the time change? I really don't like the time change. I'll try to resist whining about it every day of NaBloPoMo.

My go night night my bed now :)

Trick or Treat

The chicken costume only lasted through dinner so we went back to the 2006 costume. Good thing I made it big last year. This girl is 35.5 inches tall according the the docs at her 2 year well baby visit today.

Birthday number 2 by the numbers

forty odd cupcakes (vanilla cupcakes not pictured). Recipe found here.

Eleven little frosters

Eleven handmade aprons (that was a bad idea)

20 mini pizzas made by many little bakers (and helpers)

Countless mud pies while the pizza baked


A bucketful of tears just after this photo (turns out Biscuit doesn't like being the center of attention and a round of "Happy Birthday" sent her right over the edge.

8 of the 11 in a group shot of sorts (that's got to be a record). Actually there are 9 in this shot but one wee one is obscured by the blond up front. 

One two story dollhouse made by my grandfather and saved by my mother

And that's about it. The Baking Birthday Party was a success--particularly the mud pie making. 

I'm going to bed.

In which I express shock that my child is turning two because oh my gosh wasn't I just pregnant?

newborn

It's true. By the time most of you are reading this my baby will be two.  As I recall, precisely two years ago I was running around my house dripping as I went (gross imagery, sorry) and arguing with Mr. H over who got to use the computer because it turns out I wasn't going to make it to the Monday meeting at work after all.  This was after my water broke while we were out to dinner at a restaurant and before we checked into the hospital after every other pregnant woman in Sacramento. (hint: never go into labor during a full moon--there's something to that wives tale).

one

And tomorrow she turns two. Tonight I have to figure out a present as well as get ready to have to friends over for dinner tomorrow.

very almost

two

Thanks, everyone for the nice comments on yesterday's post. Ya'll made me so happy and full of warm fuzzies. I appreciate it!