Thursday, December 13, 2012

Some days

Some days, I feel that I am wadding through molasses.  I might as well be going in reverse, I am getting so little accomplished.  Today was one of those days.  I have a laundry list of things that need to get done and oddly enough I managed to get most of it accomplished. 

Last night I stayed up late wrapping presents to be sent to my family back home in Michigan.  Of course I had a hard time waking up this morning.  Followed by me scrambling to get the items boxed up to be shipped out and the second box was not quite closing properly.  I taped another piece of card board on top of it to keep all the contents together.  I am very sorry for whomever opens the box.  I think I used a half roll of tape on the darn thing.

When I take a shower, I put on Daniel Tigers Neighborhood for Pookie.  Then say a small prayer that he doesn't get into too much trouble while I'm in the shower.  At the very end of my shower, I notice one of Rob's trucks pulling into the driveway.  I can hear Pookie getting very excited that Dada is home and I can hear him climbing onto the couch.  Pookie likes to perch on the back of the couch.  Normally this isn't a problem.  However, on Sunday, we got our Christmas tree and the furniture has been a little reorganized.  Well, wouldn't you know, Pookie fell off the couch and landed behind the Christmas tree.  I hop out of the shower, throw on a towel and pull Pookie out from behind the tree.  Poor thing, I asked him if he had any boo boos on his hands.  He looked at his hands, wiggled them a little and said 'no' in this very sad voice.  I asked him if he had any boo boos on his feet.  He looked at his feet, wiggled them and said 'no.'  I asked him if he had any boo boos anywhere else, and he said, Dada home!  Dada back!  Back home!  Sorry Pookie, Dada is working.  As it turns out, it wasn't even Rob, it was one of the guys picking something up. 

So as we were running errands, I needed to stop at the 99 Restaurant to pick up a gift card.  We get out of the car and Pookie starts saying 'Eat, eat, eat!'  I figured it was around lunch time so we stopped in for lunch while we were there.  Eating out with Pookie is a little bit of a challenge.  I always have food for him with me, but I like to get something for him off the menu.  At the 99's I get Pookie a plain hot dog.  No bun, no sides, no drink.  Apparently they were having a bit of an issue with the no side concept.  The waitress asked.  The manager that came over to verify that they weren't going to use butter on the hot dog asked as well.  The lady that brought out our meal apparently took things one step further and brought out a side of broccoli just to be on the safe side.  Our waitress was walking by our table and said 'Wait, he can't have any sides! I'll take that!' then grabbed the broccoli and took off.  The lady who brought out our meal was very concerned that Pookie didn't have enough to eat.  I reassured her that I had other food for Pookie and that he had issues with all of the sides that were listed on the menu.  Honestly, I am not trying to starve my child.  I promise! 

At the end of the day, we managed to get most of our errands done AND Pookie got a nap in.  Naps are erratic at best.  I just need to go to two more stores and my Christmas shopping is DONE!  I just need to get my Christmas cards mailed out and the presents wrapped.  I actually have time to spare this year!  And, I have Pookie's birthday gifts, too!  How's that for being on top of things!  Now I just need to get his party planed. 

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Crafts galore

My husband thinks I am off my rocker. I have been on a creative frenzy for the past couple of months. So far I have made a knitted baby blanket, sweater and hat set. From there I started on an Advent calendar. In the midst of making the Advent calendar, I made a Merry Christmas banner and a tacky wreath for our front door.

The baby set is for a friend of mine. I am very happy with the way everything turned out. The sweater gave me a little bit of trouble. I had to take both front panels apart a couple of times. But I think over all, I am really happy with it. Plus, it's supper soft!  

 
 
I think I have been spending a little too much time on Pinterest.  So many wonderful ideas, and so little time to do them all!  I have been on the hunt for an Advent calendar that I like.  There are similar calendars out there, but you have to fill the pockets or drawers with items on a yearly basis.  I was really excited when I stumbled upon this one here.  I really like the idea of hanging up the ornaments on the tree as you count down to Christmas.  I still have ten more ornaments to make.  Oy vey, I might actually get this done before Christmas.  "Might" is the key word in that sentence.  




 
I have been receiving an impressive amount of catalogs as of late.  It's fun to look at all the pretty things.  I ran across a similar banner in Land of Nod.  I looked at it and thought to myself, I can totally make that.  I have a ton of left over felt from my Advent calendar project and this helped use some of it up!  The rather entertaining part of making the banner was trying to starch a couple of the letters.  The "E," "C" and "S" needed a little extra help.  I started off with spray starch, and that didn't work.  So I moved on to a cooked corn starch method.  Holy Hot Mess, Batman!  Let's leave it at, it was an interesting experience and I managed to figure out how to detach them from the towel that they had adhered to with minimum damage.  
 

Once again, I was on Pinterest, and found a ribbon wreath.  It looked easy to put together and I thought it would be a fun addition to our holiday decor.  Initially I wanted to make a red wreath, but couldn't find the right color red.  I had picked up some horribly tacky blue tinsel trees that I stuck in front of the door, so I figured blue would be a good second choice.  I added some silver in to be a little more festive.  My theory is, if you are going to be tacky, you might as well go big with it. 
 
I sill have a few more projects on the back burner.  Last year I dried orange slices for ornaments, and I would like to do that again this year.  I also want to make cinnamon ornaments.  Then I want to make a felt tree to put on the wall so Pookie can put felt ornaments on it and decorate it.  Hopefully it will keep him away from the actual Christmas tree.