samuel writes

There is a reason why we haven't put Samuel in anything like, say, boxing or drum lessons.

It is another way that this kid that would express himself.  

And he is already really really good at expressing himself.  
And that kid has a lot of punk inside to be expressed.  

We haven't pushed writing on him.  Not for the same reasons that we haven't pushed boxing or drums, but just because we figured he would catch on and, well, he happens to be the second child (be honest, you parents know what I am talking about).

Today he shows up with his very first sentence.  

No joke.  Other than his name this is the first thing he has written on his own.  

He folded it up and put it in a cute little pink candy box for his sister.  He was so proud he showed his dad first.

Here it is: 

Yep.

"Eva is stupid"  

Good thing they weren't fighting.  Lucky for him she thought it was hilarious.  Hopefully that is because she knows very well that she is, in fact, NOT stupid at all.

Samuel, really?  You finally learn how to write and this is what you want to express?

Good thing this isn't my fault.  As it would have been if I had been the one that taught him how to write.  I am such an awesome mom.

p.s.

Sweet sister in law just reminded me of something that cracked us up last week.  
We were at the candy store (the Chocolate Covered Wagon has the best caramel apples in case you need to know).  Samuel got two chocolate coins.  One for him and one for his (not stupid at all) sister.  (And the fact that we were double fisting our gelato and handmade caramels was not the point but still funny).  So in the car on the way home Samuel is saying, "Ffffaaaarrrrtttt, fffaaarrrtt, kannnnnoooo, ffffaaarrrttt."  I finally said, "What is he saying?"  Though we don't claim to be the classiest of people, "Toot" is still Samuel's word of choice when it comes to that.   So, we asked, "What are you saying?"  He handed us the foil that held the chocolate coin.  It had "Fort Knox" stamped on it.   

i told you so

On Fridays we have "Family Fun Night."  It means Karl stops working at 6:30 and we go and do something fun.  It is something we look forward to all week.  

Last Friday, to Eva's dismay, was a night full of Olympic Opening Ceremonies.  

I checked the TV schedule.  It said Olympics at 6:30.  So after trying to hype it up a little (Karl more so, as he has Canada pride), we turned on the TV promptly at 6:30 only to find very tragic news of the young Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, had crashed and died.  I guess they weren't thinking of the 5 and 7 year olds (kind of) excited to see the (supposed) amazing Olympics when they showed the video of the crash over and over and over and over again.  Samuel gravitated towards the TV just like we all crane our necks when passing an accident.  Then came the questions.  Then came the delayed wisdom where we turned off the TV.  That was more than enough information.  And the so sad image will always remain in my head, and unfortunately my kids'.  

So on the news today, they said that Nodar had talked to his father on the phone and expressed his concern with the track.  His dad told him to go slower.  

As a parent, there are so many times that I tell my little ones to be careful.  There are so many times that they don't listen.  Then there are so many times that they get hurt.  Hopefully never ever as tragically as this Georgian athlete.  But when they are crying and wanting me to kiss it (so glad it still works for them), there are so many times when I want to say, "I told you..."  But it isn't because I wanted to be right (I have just about given up on that one).  It is because I want them to listen next time.  Because I happen to know that spinning with a blanket over your head when you are too close to the coffee table hardly ever ends up pretty.


(Watching the Women's Luge right now.  My thoughts were, "Why would they do that after that guy died?"  At the exact same time I was thinking that Karl says, "That would be so fun."  After I tell him what I was thinking he says, "I wouldn't go so fast that I would hurt myself."  Those, my friends, will be Karl's last words.  And if you know him, you will agree.)


(The girl just crashed.  The image triggered some very negative feelings.  Now, among other logical reasons, I realize why I think they luge is insane.  It has everything to do with my Alpine slide crash of 1994.)

My heart goes out to his parents.

On a much much much lighter note.  Every time Mary Carillo talks (which is too much to me, because I just want to watch the events and get kind of tired of all of the commentary stuff) I giggle a little because she really really reminds me of Miss Jane Hathaway of the Beverly Hillbillies (or at least of what I remember of her since I haven't seen that show in ages).  

 

These are the things that I think about as I watch the Olympics.  Oh, and that the athletes are very strong and fast and the iceskating is pretty.  Wonder why I'm not a sports commentator?

taking a break from being lazy...

...to smile just a little bit. 

Almost midnight and I am not asleep.  Maybe because I slept all the way home from our trip to   Logan today.  Maybe because I tried a bunch of vitamins today.  

One day Karl told Samuel that when he was a little boy he liked to wear his grandpa's shirts to sleep in.  And so it began that Karl's t-shirt drawer became a pajama dispenser for the kids.  

When in the shirts, Samuel spends a lot of his waking time as a rock.  And he will sit there until we discover them (and yell for us, if we choose to ignore the rock).  

This night, we thought it would be funny if Karl pretended right along with Samuel.  Karl said he needed to put the rock outside.  Samuel kept pretending right up until we got to the back door.

I have never conducted an orchestra.  I am not really musical at all.  But I imagine timing is important.  The same kind of timing skills I need to get my kids out the door.  If I don't give them enough time to stop what they are doing and tell them to put their shoes on then I am waiting in the car for what seems like hours.  If I tell them too soon, they are geared up and out the back door, before I have a chance to get on my own shoes.  And with the confusing weather these days it means they are getting muddy. 

Here they are using the "snowball chuckers" to make mud balls.  It makes me laugh because they are concentrating so hard their mouths are both open. 

(This is actually a photo of when they both had croup and couldn't go to school.  So we played school at home.  This was recess.  A really long recess.  Dr. said the cold air was good for their lungs with croup.)   

I guess it isn't like an orchestra.  It is more like a circus.  I am a ring leader.  Though most days I feel like the clown that is cleaning up the poop.  
Oh, and just to make ya'll feel better about your parenting, Samuel just woke up.  He always wakes up in the middle of the night.  This night, though, he said he is hungry and he is looking in the fridge while his parents sit on the couch and watch the Olympics (oh the irony in how lazy watching athletes can make me).  He is also wearing the same socks that he has been wearing for two days straight.  Tomorrow will be day three.  Feel better?  You're welcome.

energy

I want just a little bit of Samuel's energy.

I am still recovering from the holidays, Eva' birthday, and, well, doing the laundry last night.

Things that need to get done:

Put away the aftermath of Eva's room remodel

Finish Samuel's Fourth Year book of photos (only because I did one for Eva years ago)

Until then, I feel guilty doing a great post.

Things I need to post:

Christmas- the second half

New Years

Eva's birthday, the real celebration

I hope they get done sometime.  

After getting 2008 printed and loving the imperfect thing, I want to do a better job so I will love 2009 even more.  

Eating the leftovers of my Iceberg shake did not give me the energy to tackle any of these "to-do's."

This is not me.  I am tired at midnight.  This rarely happens.  

If I stop being a night person.  And I am most definitely positively not a morning person, then when will I be? 

too sick to celebrate

I am not claiming this as a hardship, but it was really sad when Eva was sick on her birthday.  She and Samuel got croup a few days earlier and they were still recovering.

(Picture them asleep on little beds that we made on the window seats in our bedroom, bundled in a ton of blankets, with the windows wide open to let in the winter night air, heater turned way down low so they can breath, and me asking Karl, "So why do we have the other bedrooms?")

We had to call all our family and postpone the family party.  

Yes, I bought a ton of food and cleaned my house.  But not a big deal.

But for Eva.  It was so sad. 

We did celebrate a little.  Ate pizza (we had enough for 20, after all) and made cupcakes.  Oh, and showed Eva her new room.

Yellow and butterflies.  That is what she wanted.  I love the picture of Eva lining up the cupcakes.  It is just so her.  

Samuel's (probably dirty) tiny little hand holding his creation of every single kind of sprinkle we own.  He made it and ate it before we had even finished decorating a few of the other cupcakes.  That is so Samuel.

Eva's room was her present from us.  But, at seven, seems like she still needed something to unwrap and play with so I made her a couple of sleeping bags for her Zhu Zhu pets.  I googled this and found a ton of them.  People are crazy about them. 

Eva, my little flower child, so glad you're mine.  

a new room

Finally done.  After all that planning, buying, and making.  So much making.  

At first I was just going to change out her quilt (which I spent so much time and money making thinking that she would love it forever).  But one thing led to another and I ended up changing everything.  Seriously, everything.  Her room wasn't working anyway.

It all started with my friend telling me that the pillows would go well with PB Kids Brooke bedding.  So I was going to get that.  But I couldn't get totally excited about it. 

Now I am realizing that this long decision process, though it consumed me for weeks, is probably quite boring for everyone else.  So I will try to cut to the facts.  

The room paint is Blue Bonnet (as in the margarine of choice of the 1980's) by Benjamin Moore.  Tried a few samples and looked around and after figuring out what I didn't want, I came to this color.  After painting (well, Karl painting) basically every room in this house, I think whatever the color, Benjamin Moore is my favorite brand.  

The curtains were inspired by these curtains by Urban Outfitters.  Like a fool, I thought, "I can do that."  The question I will ask myself next time is, "But do I want to do that?"  Miles of sewing, hours and hours of sewing.  I could have hemmed all those pants, mended all those clothes, finished every item in my "unfinished objects" box.  But, instead I sewed a billion ruffles.  But when I see them hanging in her room, I don't resent all that work.  They are so sweet.

The bed.  I love that bed.  I saw it at IKEA a few months ago on clearance for $89 and I didn't buy it.  She didn't need a new bed.  But then again, she didn't really need any of this, right?  So what the hey, I went and got it.  I felt like it was meant to be when I went and they still had 6 left.  The room isn't very big and the bed takes up a lot of the space but we have come to love having room for three in there.  It is perfect for bedtime stories. 

So, I was going to get all of the Brooke bedding but it was really the sheets that I loved the most.  So, I used them as my inspiration.  They were my first, I changed my mind every other day.  Like the bed, I wasn't sure that I needed to spend that much money on something that she didn't really need.  But then I went to Down East and they had the fitted sheet and the pillow cases for about a third of the price I would have paid at PB Kids.  Someone had them on hold, and I asked what would happen to the sheets if they didn't pick them up.  I had them take down my name and number and asked them to call me if the original holder person didn't get them.  I watched my phone around closing time and felt so lucky when they called me.  I am kind of embarrassed to put in writing my obsession, but I am sure that I am not alone.  

I paired my lovely find with a flat sheet that I got at IKEA on clearance for about $3.  It was perfect.  Not too matchy matchy and a good contrast with the white cover.

The cover.  White for a 7 year old?  Well, I already had it and I wasn't using it.  I actually got it in this crazy sale at Down East where they let you fill a garbage bag for $25.  I got SO SO SO much stuff into my bag.  Duvets, sheets, shower curtains, baby quilts...  All with flaws but perfect for my projects.  So this duvet had a monogram on it.  I just covered it up with my own.  

The cost?  About 75 cents for the blue ric rac.  My friend gave me the fabric and my mom crocheted the letters.


I toyed around with a lot of colors, but the oranges and aquas and grays are what I kept going back to.  I am worried it is another phase of mine.  Like the pink and brown one that I went through.  Time will tell.  I did a lot of white.  I love white.  I will always love white.  White is my favorite.  It might not be my favorite when I see the first inevitable stain.

The orange pillows I just brought up from the guest room since they weren't getting the attention they needed.  I made those a while ago.  The yellow pillow cases are from that fabulous garbage bag.

The bed skirt was inspired by PB Kids  fancy one that sells for $179.  I used a curtain panel from the thrift store, $1.99, $4 worth of tulle and ribbon from my collection.  Makes me smile.

I redid the lamp by painting the shade orange and hotglueing flowers and gems all over.  Kind of like this one but $88 cheaper. 

This is her little reading nook.  I made cushions for those storages benches that we have had since our Chicago days.  The benches also help her get on her, now much taller, bed.  I brought in the little rug from the living room since we never really used it.  

Some of the little details make a big impact.  

I can't remember which blog I got the jar idea from but I know I didn't make it up.  

Eva made these little critters with Model Magic.  Love that stuff.

Eva loves to make stuff.  Her old desk was not working.  I was hoping it would.  I used it when I was little.  But looking back, it didn't work for me, either.  You had to lift the work surface to get anything from inside the desk.  It ended up just being a place to stash stuff.  
She needed a better work space.  

We had a long piece of melamine from the previous owners of this house.  Karl cut it to the right size.  He also cut this paper organizer thing (that my dad didn't want anymore) to be the same height as some plastic drawer things (that I have had since I was in college).  I wanted the storage to be vertical so nothing would get stacked and lost.  Now, she has a place for her colored paper, her special notes, origami and stuff like that.  We spaced out the three things and put the wood over it.  Then I made a skirt to hide all the repurposed storage by cutting up a fitted sheet (again, thank you giant garbage bag) and and added a strip of cute fabric on the bottom and some ribbon at the top.  Karl also made the little shelf things so Eva could store stuff on her desk but keep her work space clear.  Total cost:  $0.  Don't you love that?


I did buy the little storage jars for markers, crayons, erasers, notebooks, candy, etc.  There were on sale, 6 of them for $10.  I also got those aqua colored pots.  They were $2 each at Down East.   


The bulletin boards were from my sister's DI pile.  Many of our favorites come from that pile.  One used to have red and blue stars painted on it and the other, pink flowers.  I Mod Podged orange paper on the frame (because I had paper in the perfect color but not paint) and cover it in the gray fabric.  Eva chose that fabric.  She has great taste.  My mom crocheted the white trim for me.  I got the inspiration for these boards from this blog, she's got decorating skills. 


The mirror I bought about 4 years ago just because I loved it (and sometimes when I find a super deal I think that it was meant to be mine, remember?).   It is a Land of Nod mirror.  They want $99 for it.  But, once again, I got mine at Down East for $25.  I couldn't have found a more perfect mirror for this spot. 

We made Eva stay out of her room for 4 days to do the room.  She was so cute and didn't even peek.  I was worried that she would miss her old stuff.  She likes new stuff, but has a hard time parting with old stuff.  Like me.  

She loves the room.  She wouldn't wait to sleep in her bed.  She started making stuff right away.  Clothes for her Webkinz, a drawing to hang up on her board...  That is what a wanted, a space for her that would inspire her creativit, not hinder.  So glad.

And now I know why I would never be a professional seamstress or decorator.  This took so much time, work and mental space.  But for Eva, it was totally worth it.

afterthought:  If only I could put this much effort into decorating my front room or my master bedroom.  But it seems like there are too many limits when you do those rooms.  I freeze up and no ideas flow at all.  It ends up being boring and super neutral.  LIttle girl rooms have no boundaries.  I love it.