things heard around my house: February 2013

Joshua:  Have you ever heard of this thing, like where you can make up your own holiday and then celebrate it?

Me:  No, I haven’t.

Joshua:  Well, I was thinking that I would choose a “Caring for your Siblings Day” and celebrate it on February 18th ALLLL day long.

Kaylee:  NO! NO!  I have a better idea!!!!   Let’s have a “Sister’s Day.”  Like Mother’s Day, but for sisters.

Joshua:  I think “Caring for your Siblings” is a better holiday.

Kaylee: NO!  Sisters!!!!!

….and I guess that’s why there is no national “Sibling Day”.  Because siblings just can’t agree.

Kaylee:  When I grow up, I want to have a pet parrot.

Grace:  Me too!

Me:  What tricks would you teach your parrot?

Kaylee:  To play dead!

Joshua:  (in disgust)  Parrots can’t play dead.

Kaylee:  Yes they can.  They put their feet up in the air.  I’ve seen one before!

Kaylee:  Boys think that babies come out of a magic portal.

Joshua:  No I don’t!  I think they come out of your hinder.   (maybe he’s been spending time with Jen Mura, as “hinder” is her favorite word.)

Grace, looking at my engagement ring:  I like your wring, mommy.

Me:  Thanks!  Daddy gave it to me.

Grace, in awe:  In real life?

Me:  Yup!  In real life.

Life and pizza

I walked up to the counter and waited for her to look at me.
“I just wanted to tell you something.”  I said in a soft voice.
“You are smart. 
You are beautiful. 
You can work anywhere.”
She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“You can do anything.”  I told her with conviction.   She wiped a tear from her cheek.
Then in a louder voice I said, “The pizza was really great.”
I directed the compliment to the older man who walked past. 



This is what happened twenty minutes earlier:
I was eating pizza with my mom and kids in a lovely little town up north.  I had found a groupon for the pizza joint on my phone and inquired about using it.  She told me they didn’t accept those.  Some big old guy with a foreign  accent heard my question and got all worked up.  “Where paper?  Coupon must have paper! No!  No accept.”   he told me, obviously flustered.  Then he turned to her and spoke rapidly, angrily.  When he walked away, I touched her hand and apologized - I didn’t mean for my question to get her in trouble.  That’s when I first noticed the tears.  “It’s ok.” she whispered and motioned towards him as if she didn’t care.

I couldn’t stop thinking about her as I ate my food.  Why was she treated like that?  What if that was my teenage daughter working minimum wage and an older adult yelled at her for no reason?   Would she have the confidence to leave and believe something better was out there?   Did she know she deserves to be treated with respect, even as a cashier at a pizza shop?

I had to tell her.   Just one more chance to speak to her.
You are smart.
You are beautiful.
You can work anywhere.
You can do anything.   

Then I packed up the kids and walked away. 
I don’t know her name.  I will never see her again.
Maybe she needed to hear those words. 
Or maybe she thinks I’m some crazy lady with loud kids.
It doesn’t matter.  It was said.  

Have you ever felt a strong need to tell a stranger something?
Did it feel good?  Awkward?  I’d love to hear any of your experiences….

Grace's Smoothie Adventure

Grace loves to make smoothies to share with the family.
Everyday.
Seriously, EVERY.DAY she makes a smoothie.
Maybe this is just a phase....maybe she's on her way to spending more time in the kitchen than I do.  I'd love to have a mini chef.

One day while I went to work, Brian took the time to video this everyday occurance and make this movie.  I love how it captures her current smoothie obsession.   We are not sure why she is screaming her lines, but she says: "It's time to make a smoothie", "Now it's time for Orange Juice", "Now it's time for ICE"  (you can see she's signing that too) and "That's how you make a smoothie!"

I love, Love, LOVE this video!   My husband rocks.


Grace's Smoothie Adventure from Brian Trager on Vimeo.

100 days of school

 

100 days of school.

  100 plastic buttons. 

Awesome buttons, scored at a garage sale for $2.

I probably have 200 of them, which is A.LOT. 

I just *knew* they’d come in handy one of these days! 

Brian got a new camera lens and can take really awesome pictures.  

Who knew that pictures of buttons could look so cool……

Kaylee is wearing an eye patch 3 hours per day to try to remedy her Amblyopia.   She doesn’t mind it at all, and it seems to be working. 

Happy Buttons…Happy 100th day of school.

Painted bracelets

When my mom comes to visit, the kids swarm her looking for the “bag of tricks” that she always packs full of projects, stickers, books or other things for the kids.  There’s often something in there for me too, which is awesome!

On her last visit, she brought an empty wrapping paper roll, paints and a zillion gems and assorted bling to create bracelets.

The cardboard tube was cut into sections, and then slit open to become a “one size fits most” type of bracelet.

Paint, paint, everywhere!

Itty bitty hands….little tiny fingers…..

Complete concentration…painting first, then gluing on some bling.

And here is the finished product!   I was gifted several of these beauties and I sure hope a couple made it back home with my mom!

vintage suitcases

“Are you shipping your kids off somewhere?”  my friend asked, looking at the little suitcases lined up in my living room. 

I actually use them to store games that have lots of pieces.

The big green baby is full of wooden blocks.

The medium brown holds Mr. Potato Head and his family.

The cute little blue one has magnetic dolls and accessories.  

Everything else gets tossed in the huge toy chest, the sea of lost and random toys, but I’ll take even limited organization.

I cut out some vinyl with my Silhouette machine to add a bit of interest to these yard sale suitcases.

I picked these up at three different sales for $2 each.  I guess that’s the going price for old suitcases?   Before I buy, I do a sniff test to made sure they don’t smell like mold or nasty stank. The little blue one smells a little bit like old lady perfume, but it’s not too bad.   Then I check the interior for any suspicious yucky spots.  Then I check that the latches work well. 

The kids use the suitcases EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. but mostly as step stools, or building blocks or “walls” for a fort in the living room. 

These suitcases are CLASSIC!  I love the the hard outside cases and the way they snap open and closed.  They just don’t make them like that anymore, right?

Doily and lace shirt

 

I made this funky shirt by layering pieces of doilies and lace onto a plain shirt.   It’s not quite my style, but it was fun to play around with pretty little scraps.

 

I tried something new on this project; spraying adhesive onto the doily before placing it on my shirt. That gave me a tacky hold and  I was able to move the piece around a few times.   When I was happy with the placement, I sewed it into place without worrying about pinning it down or it slipping out of place.   The spray was a little bit stinky, but it washes out just fine.