Stinkbait

Lately, Hunter has adopted the nickname "Stinkbait." His non-school day life is a cushy one, filled with, literally, cushions of various kinds.

Here he is lounging, watching a movie in the playroom with his beanbag chair and mama bear. In his jammies, despite it being midday.


He's hanging out with Sick Bear, Sock Monkey, and School Bus the cat.



You can see why it is hard to resist cuddling him, even if he stinks.

Raising Boys

I still give my kids, ages 5 and 7 plastic utencils, mainly because when I find one in the dog's bed I know if came from my little boys and not my big boy (ahem, husband). I let my husband eat with real utencils. For now.

One of my kids thought urinating in a trash can was a completely acceptable thing. He didn't actually do it. He said he would. I worry about whether he's done this somewhere before.

Hunter, who is 5, hates being interupted when he has to go to the bathroom. He'll pee-pee dance forever if I don't actually yell at him to go pee. I have to threaten him. Literally. Last month I found poop in his underwear in the laundry. I asked him what happened, and he said he waited too long. Seriously? And he didn't feel the need to tell us he had poop in his pants. I half expected to find a turd. Ugh!

We got snow today and they were dying to go play in it. I grabbed my camera to play with the longer zoom on it.

We were outside just a few minutes when Ben appraoched me with a snowball. I stated, firmly and clearly, "Do not throw that me, I have my nice camera." A beat. He threw it. Really?

A few minutes later I turn my back, and Ben threw a snowball directly at Hunter's left eye. Hunter was running towards me, doing the mouth wide open silent cry/scream. They were brought in immediately. They were out there less than the time it took to get the ready to go out there.

I find things. I find fish sticks behind a chair. Go-gurt wrappers. Ben found toast crust in the lockers last week. I say this all the time, but little boys are gross.

And sneaky. I find things like this all the time:

This horrifically sharp broken votive candle holder was quietly stuffed under my hope chest-with the broken glass pieces set inside of it! No sign of who put there, but I know it could be any of the boys. Any 3 of them.

One time I found a picture frame with the glass broken out, and it was put back together and the glass was hiding.

Sneaky little buggers.

Little cherubs, right?

A new kind of flower obsession.

I have recently developed a new love for flowers. I know, my passion for gardening is pretty intense, so you may be wondering what on earth could be stronger than that? Well, my love for crafting has long since rivaled my love for gardening- combine the two, and I'm obsessed. Meet my latest creations:

Yep. Handmade flowers. Brooches and barrettes. All available in my Etsy shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop/jamiesierraknits. Several varieties, ranging in size from 1.5 inches to 5 inches. So many ways to wear them- on scarves, hats, headbands, in your hair, on coats, blazers, demin jackets, even on a pillow in your home... Enjoy!

Things my kids said this week.

-"Hunter, I'm not helping you with Wii anymore. I'm not like some kind of master. You call yourself a master, do it on your own!"

-Hunter: "Mom, I am getting really good and growing tall."

-Hunter sings all day. He makes up lyrics, or sings Rihanna, Adele, Bruno Mars, Gym Class Heroes, and sings more around the house all day. When Ben made a rare turn and began singing along to a commerical the other day Hunter lost it, "Stop singing! I hate it when you sing!"

-When asking when Dad would be home from a week out of the town I told Ben, "Dad will be home in a week, on Friday." Mom, today is Monday. That is 5 days. Not a week."

-After I took 40 minutes in Joanns (mostly due to line, and not my usual dilly dallying and lack of concept of time, the kids told Theo for punishment I should not "be allowed to go shopping Ten Thousand and 92 years."

-"Boom!" Anytime they rock at anything, they puncuate with an enthusiastic, "Boom."

-"You are one bad mamma jamma."

-"Go Ben, go Ben, go Ben," or, "Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah!" To the beat of celebratory party music. With a gyrating dance move to boot.

-Ben walked down the stairs at 5:50am Saturday morning, greeting me at the coffee pot with a groggy, "Why isn't dad making our breakfast yet?"

-Ben said the other day, "Ugh, I wish dad would just put away the laundry, I don't have any clean socks." To which, I replied, "I put the laundry away this morning, and you have a drawer full of them." "Oh."

-To every single bump and tap Ben responds, "Oh my gosh, I think I cracked my ____ bone."

-"I don't wanna take a bath. We just had a bath two days ago."

-When asked to clean up Ben told me, "You hate me."

-Picking out a pair of new shoes for Hunter, he says, "I am still going to just wear my cowboy boots." I added, but these are skate boarding shoes? "Oh, it's about time."

-When my mom visited this winter she taught Hunter that you can say someone is crazy by taking your finger, pointing it towards your ear, and twisting it around. It was a joke at the time... I think the boys wanted to know my their great-grandma, who is suffering some memory loss, called like 80 times a day, and we told them, "Oh, she's just crazy." Of course, we didn't mean it... but kids don't always pick up on that. Well flash forward, and I'm telling Hunter about our upcoming trip to California and he asked, "Does Grandma live with the lady who is... Mom, look at me, I am doing this, (insert crazy sign language)." OMG. I laughed so hard.

Hunter told us a few weeks ago he wants Luke Skywalker hair. Today, pointing out the buzz cuts they got this weekend, Ben said, "Dad cut off Hunter's LukeSkywalkerhair." Hunter jumped to defend himself, "I didn't have LukeSkywalker hair. If I did it would have looks like this, with a little swirly right here. It didn't have a swirly right here."

Later when I asked him to elaborate why his hair didn't look like Luke Skywalkers, "Just because it didn't have the little bump right there. You know like there is a bump right here with a like a little cave in it. (Looks at my face to see I am just not getting it, sighs deep). Just check it out online!"

Upgraded.

This is the shelf and baskets I have used to store my yarn forever now.

I was tired of the same old thing, and knew this piece would be better for toy storage.

I moved it into the playroom (a room at the back of our house that could be a den, but we chose to make it a space for the kids because their bedroom is pretty small. Forgive the terrible photo glare, but those lego colored frames are from IKEA, and they hold pictures of Ben and Hunter and their lego collections as well as the posters many of the lego sets come with. Match made in heaven if you ask me.

This beauty is my new yarn storage. I found this rustic gem at an antique mall in Becker, MN. The crates were a gift from my friend. My yarn looks happy here.

Lego "Me"

Of all the lego options, Hunter has put me in some seriously interesting duds. Atleast I have my glasses and my coffee. Everyone in my house knows I can't go anywhere without those things.

Schmoopy Love

For those of you who have not already been listening to my rambling on and on about my beloved Schmoopy cat, welcome. I am obsessed with my cat. I held her the second she was born, and have been pretty much in love with her ever since. The long and the short of it? Hunter loved her almost as much as me, and hauled her around the house like a necklace. She rode along willingly, but developed PTSD as a result. For a long time, petting Schmoopy was not an option. She meow up at me, come for treats, and admire me from a distance... until recently. I started by lying on the floor beside her and petting her without confining her. No lifting, grabbing, holding, smothering. Just petting. Gradually she chilled, and rolled, gave me her belly, hung out. She then even came and asked to be pet by lying at my feet and rolling her belly up- the ultimate show of a growing trust. I became even more smitten. She feels like a dang angora sweater kids- it's ridiculous how soft she is.
Flash forward to my acquiring a new electric throw blanket last fall, and he discovering how warm it was. She was sold, and began slowly jumping up beside me no the sofa and laying on the blanket corners. She stopped jumping away when I went to pet her. Today, she follows me everywhere. I mean, everywhere... even the potty. The only place she won't go with me is bed. Probably because she doesn't know there's an electric blanket there, and we let that stinky dog in our bed, too. She is beside me pretty much all day. If I am on the sofa at all, knitting, crafting, napping, no matter, she's beside me. And I am as smitten as I can get.



Look at that fur? How could you not love her?

And a yawn...

Even her little cat tongue is cute? No?

Little by Little

I'm making a few little updates to the living room. The long awaited new sofas are making some of the older stuff look a little scruffy. I am on a tight budget, so big changes are not an option, but tiny things are making a world of difference to me right now.

I started with one of the side tables beside our sofa. It belonged to my grandmother, and I've had it for a decade. It has been a shabby chic off white in a past life, and spent many years a distressed dark olivey-brown- the handles had a faux finish black with rusty brown splotches. The handles were chipped, and the color clashed with brown of the sofas. I could barely handle the clash...

I repainted it with a caramel-champagne spray paint I found at walmart. I rarely use spray paint, but it's mid winter here and the thought of taking a paint brush to it in some corner of the house just didn't appeal to me. Instead, I threw up a tarp, opened the front door for ventilation, sprayed it, and done in a few hours. I also sprayed the handles a hammered bronze. Easy as can be. I like how it turned out... still vintage lines, rustic colors, and a little shimmer never hurt.

I also couldn't bring myself to slap the same old pillows on my new sofa. I kept a few favorites, including my striped olive, caramel and brown favorites, and the upcycled sweater pillow I made last winter, but I added some new ones with fabrics I've been collecting over the years. I found this indulgent soft pink velvety fabric on the clearane shelf at Joanns- and I nabbed it, and hoarded it for a long time. I always wanted it to be a pillow. A big one. Enter the huge pillow form I found for $6 at IKEA this January, and we were set. I had to hand sew it, but I love the pop of shimmer and femininity it adds to our living room.

My other new pillow is made from less than a yard of a luxurious Ralph Lauren rose print fabric. I could not afford a ton of this fabric- but if I could I'd wallpaper my dern house with it. I love it. I would make curtains... oh the things I would do! But, I make do. I used a half-off coupon, and bought enough to make a pillow. Ta Da!

Here we have it, my cozy new sofa.

I have 3 more pillow forms to use, and a lot of more fabric hunting to do. I keep a tiny swatch of the Ralph Lauren fabric in my purse all the time, just in case I find something anywhere. Bring on the deals.

Almost Reading

Hunter is still in preschool, and in his particular program they have something like 20 kids ranging from 3-5, and no time for teaching each one to read. So Hunter is showing the desire to learn more everyday, and can read many words, just not everything yet. I am trying to ask him about words he recognizes as often as possible, and reading to him more. The other day he did the cutest thing. He took all his cars and spelled, "Chick Hicks." He was stinkin' proud of himself, and so am I.

Goofy Smile Got Goofier

So, Ben has no top front teeth right now, and Theo and I can't get enough of his ridiculously goofy grin. Grandma Anita specifically requested photos, so here you go!

Yay!

Yipee! We got our new sofa and chair delivered today. I could not be happier. We have had the same sofa and chair set for about 8 years, and have had two toddlers, several kittens, and some large folks trash them in various ways... so bad in fact, we had to rebuild them with plywood, and they were SO stiff and incomfortable! I know this is no showroom, but I'm pretty happy with my living room today.... but there are plans for throw pillows and new curtains on the dining room table as we speak.

Theo's very first recliner!

Dislike the curtains and table together here, but like I said, work in progress.

Yay!

Are They Twins?

Sometimes, even I can't tell.

Thursday February 2, 2012, 7am.

i love my husband

Finding time...

Winter is upon us here in Minnesota, and I gotta tell you, I love winter. The snow, water proof boots, thick socks, hot drinks, gray clouds, blue skies, cold air, bundled faces... not a thing I don't like about it.

2011 was insane. Just beyond comprehension. We started out thinking we would be leaving Wisconsin and moving to Tuscaloosa, but after celebrating Theo's promotion we learned we were Minnesota bound. We spent a good chunk of the year living seperately, hard enough for any family, but a military family that also never knows when we could be seperated again by deployment, it is like stealing borrowed time. If that makes sense? We begantrying to sell our house, which we did- in one day, but then that fell apart when the buyer's bank assessed our house at 20,000 lower than we owed... we tried a short sale for a few months, and now have spent 4 months trying to do a voluntary foreclosure. Legally Theo has to live where he's assigned, and we couldn't afford to live in two places. Hands tied. Then, Theo had this entire foot rebuilt, complete with metal plates, screws, and cadaver bone. Yipes. He spent 3 months on crutches, conviently right after we moved... so I had to basically unpack alone. I tell you friends, that about killed me. I also stubbornly moved a good 1/3 of my garden with me, and found thousands and thousands of hours of weeds and invasives to pull out here at our new rental home. If the moving in didn't kill me, the garden *almost* did. I almost quit my passion. But, tough as can be, I made it to fall and Theo began walking again, and I began resting, and knitting, and letting my back heal, and actually acknowledging my fibromyalgia.

I'm coming off my busiest fall ever, having knit my little hands to pieces for my Etsy shop. Making, selling, creating, had me start to believe in dreams again. Life got a little rosier, just when it really needed to. We ha da delightful two weeks with my mom sightseeing Minnesota winter (as pictured previously). And Christmas was just nice. Nice and relaxing. Once all the Christmas decorations came down and the house was cleaned up, I felt a massive weight off my shoulders. There has never been a better time to start fresh. I was so ready to move forward and never look back. On a real level. None of the promises, lofty non sense, just commited to simply being different... eating better things, purging excess, getting down to the details again, in terms of our home, and our love, and our stuff.

This winter feels like a reprieve. I am so thankful for it. I've been knitting, and reading blogs, and watching television (a year ago I could say I had no interest in TV, and now... I'm loving it). I watch Paula Dean's son's cooking show, E! News, The View, and a million dramas and comedies. I've been decorating. Framing pictures. Organizing... although my little army or tornadoes tears up most of the shit I organize. lol.

This week, I whupped out the scrapbooking stuff. In our move I lost my designated scrapbook room, so I decided to take the china out of the china cabinet and fill it with my supplies. I put them in my collection of pottery. I'll have to take pictures... looks very cute. So right now more than half my dining room table is covered in my supplies. 6 photo boxes of pictures. Long story, but I finally printed 3 years of pictures last year, and then, when we found out we were moving, I never had time to scrap it all... I am so behind. And I love it. More time to reflect. And I love to crank out layouts. I don't like to linger and debate what to say or do... just go. It has been cleansing, and somewhere inside me I'm feeling a resonating completion. Telling your family's story just feels good.

Here are some the layouts I made this week (and a few recent months):

One for the 2011 album:

Happy winter!

Wrap up: Part One

We had a pleasant and relaxing Christmas break. My mom came to visit her grandbabies for the first time in almost 2 years. We suprised Ben. Before he left for school he thought we were going to get grandma from the airport when he got home, but in reality she was waiting around the corner in the dining room when he got off the bus. It was awesome.

We took a few small advetures during my mom's 2 week stay. My favorite was a trip up to the Duluth area. On the way up we passed through Moose Lake. I had to get a picture. I have a long time love of moose, and even though there aren't any moose left in the Moose Lake area, the town is not short of cute moose things.

We stayed at Duluth hotel, 'The Edge' with a water park. The place was not crowded at all. Had a nice short lazy river, a cute little kids area that dumped buckets of water over their heads, and some huge slides. This is dad and Hunter coming down the big slide.

We had a yummy dinner at Grandma's on the short front in downtown Duluth. The decor in the restaurant was adorable.

That night we went to Bentleyville, and free outdoor light display. I wasn't prepared for how awesome it was! Free entry, happy people, free cookies, coffee, and hot cocoa handed out by the most spirited people.

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when the kids were chomping on free popcorn and we rounded the corner to find a couple dozen people around a few dozen fire pits roasting free marshemellows handed to you on roasting rods. How perfect?

Despite the chilly temps in the teens, we stayed in line to see Santa, and the kids got a free hat and candy canes.

On the way out we spotted Mrs. Claus. Grandma Anita had told Hunter and Ben all week that her secret identity was Mrs. Claus. They believed her, so much so that wanted her to kiss Santa when we got to see him. Well, fortunately they forgot about the kiss when Santa time came, and just asked for their toys, and wished him a Merry Christmas. However, seeing Mrs. Claus Hunter glared at Grandma, "I tot you hed (said) you were Mrs. Claw (Claus)?" His face in the this picture says it all. He was pissed.

The next morning we woke up, ate, and drove up the coast of Lake Superior. We enjoyed seeing lighthouses, the icy rocks at the waters edge, the cabins, and lake shore homes, birch forests. So beautiful! We stopped or lunch at a little diner called Annie's- home of famous pies. We food was excellent, and the pie was also.

Just up the road from there we found Gooseberry Falls. The kids waited in the car with dad becuase it was super icy, but Grandma and I headed out. Grandma stayed behind at the gift shop, and I put my best foot forward, heading out on the paths over the slick ice to see the falls. It was so quiet and serene.

I was afraid I would fall, lots of steps caked in a sheet of inch of ice, but seeing the falls was totally worth it. The water was frozen solid and running only underneath. The sound was incredible! I could have stayed there all day, but I had to get back to the car.

Our last stop was up in the Iron Mountains to the little town of Finland. There is a resort up here that we want to stay at sometime, and we wanted to just go up and see the litte comunity built by Finns.

I was delighted when we went into the little grocery store and when we asked the woman, "Are there moose around here?" She said, "Oh yes." She explained you see Moose most often between Finland and the next town down the the road, mostly near sunset. Needless to say, I will be heading back up there soon.

Finally, we rode a train through downtown Duluth to have The Polar Express read to us, and see Santa (again). This time, the boys asked Santa what he wanted for Christmas, and what his favorite cookie was. He said he wanted cookies and milk, and his favorite was chocolate.

I have a quite a few more pictures to share... so more to come.