I'm back!

Hi friends- hope you are all well. We had a great trip to the beach but I must say I'm always glad to get back home!
When I got back to Internet access (Hallelujah!) I was really saddened to read on Beck's blog that Tasha Tudor had passed away. I feel that I should write a long post about how much I admired her lifestyle, and how I loved her art, and how much she inspired me with all her ideas for making childhood magical for her children... but Beck said it so well already. So, if you haven't read her post on the subject yet, please do.
I shall now link you to a few things I am liking tonight:
1. These adorable little fairies from Etsy.
2. The stuff in Fairy Dreamer's Etsy shop- what inspiration!
3. Colored Kleen Kanteens! I haven't yet made the switch from poisonous plastic sippy-cups to the non-poisonous variety, and why the heck not??? It's time to get off my duff and do it, and these cool ones are just the right motivation!
4. This post featuring summer recipes on a newly discovered recipe blog. It looks spectacular. And she has a huge gluten-free index, Beck! Yippee!
5. The recipe archive on the Niki Leigh website- a company that specializes in creating homemade beauty products from natural ingredients. If I had an older daughter, I think we could have a fabulous girl-night with friends mixing up some of these concoctions and beautifying ourselves!
Hope you all have a great weekend!

Dear Blog

I have realized that this blog has become something akin to the Strawberry Shortcake diary I had when I was 11. It even had a little lock with a little, tiny key. I hid it under my mattress because I was such a SLY 11-year-old. (I hope my mom enjoyed the reading. My brother told me years later that he certainly did. Brat.)
Like the diary, this blog has become a place to record my extremes. I seem to turn to it when I'm in a mood of some sort- frustrated, or exasperated, or depressed, or just full of myself.
Dear Blog, My husband is gone all the time!
Dear Blog, This has been the worst day!
Dear Blog, my toddler won't eat his vegetables!
Dear Blog, My mom won't buy me the Benetton sweater! She's so mean! (that one is actually from the Strawberry Shortcake diary... vintage 80's)
Waa waa waa...
And I guess that's OK, because this blog is for me anyway, and maybe I have regressed to my 11-year old mentality of needing a place to vent all my strong emotions. Hanging out with a 1-year-old and 3-year-old all day, every day, will do that to you. I've got more strong emotions than stubbly hair on my legs at this stage in my life. (And that's a LOT.) Aside: Brother actually rubbed my leg the other day and said "Furry" in his sweet little voice with a big smile on his face. And then, with an even bigger smile- "Momo!"
Yes, sweetheart- fur. Just like Elmo. At least one male member of the household likes it.
As I was pondering my little blogging revelation, I came across this blog entry. It hits the nail on the head. So go read it, why don't you.
Anyway, I would just like you to know, for the record, that I'm actually a normal person. And that if we were friends, you would find me one of the most laid-back and even-keel women you know. (I hide my feelings very well.)
Happy weekend, and enjoy your glimpse under my mattress.

crafty link!

You know how you'll see some genius craft idea to do with your kids on a blog (and think you'll remember it) only to find that 3 weeks later, when you're ready to give it a shot, you can't remember the details OR which blog it was on? Well, check it out- Crafty Crow is a new blog collaborative that links to some of the coolest kid-crafting ideas out there in blogland. I'm loving the concept, and the projects that she's already posted look great.
I found it via Mary Beth at Salt and Chocolate, and I must tell you that if you want to know what kind of attitude you should have when your baby is diagnosed with cancer, then go read Mary Beth's blog. She is amazing to me.

ha ha ha ha ha

I am so excited. I just found an awesome blog, Finslippy, which it not new, but is new to me. As I read I realized I liked her style so much because she reminds me of Beck. So, of course I loved her. Anyway, I followed a link to this post which talks about the California homeschooling ruling.
Oh. my. goodness. I laughed so hard I cried. CRIED! Laughed and cried so hard I couldn't even read it aloud to my husband and he had to come take the laptop and read for himself.
And please know I am not disrespecting you homeschoolers. I admire you tremendously and may be one myself one day. (Undecided, there.)
But it's funny. Really funny.
PS- It doesn't get funny to the 4th paragraph, so don't get bogged down in the facts. Keep on.
Happy Saturday!

linky linky

No time to talk. Working on mini-swap and having so much fun! But I'll send you some linky love. Here are 3 sites that I have enjoyed this week.
1. Blumchen- Check out that Easter goodness! Oh, my, get out the credit card!
2. Bento Corner- This is such a fun way to eat lunch. Great Japanese concept to make healthy food appealing, but I'm afraid Sister won't go for the seaweed.
3. Rebecca Sower's reflections on going unplugged for a day. I love this idea. I think I'm going to try doing it on Sundays. (We really want to attempt a Sabbath around here- so far it isn't happening but I haven't given up.) One thing that stood out to me in Rebecca's entry was how she realized that in the absence of TV, phone, internet, etc. she did a lot of thinking. She says, "And I realized that more than stealing our creative time, all these 'gadgets' might also be stealing our thoughts, our ability to muse and reflect and dream and ponder."
How much more true for our children, who are in danger of never learning the quiet language of dreaming and pondering in this loud, technological age?
OK, back to mini-swap fun!

Ten Things Making Me Happy This Weekend

Thanks so much for all the comments you left regarding food allergies (my last post.) You all made great points, and I'm going to do another post about it after I've had a few days to mull things over. Feel free to continue to add comments to that post.

Anyway, I feel that perhaps my blog hasn't had quite enough positive vibing lately, so I'm jumping on Amanda's bandwagon and listing 10 happy things.

1. These drawings by Sister. She suddenly has moved from scribbling, to drawing circles, and now... people! They are just the cutest things ever!

2. A morning to myself. Ahh... so nice. DH took the kids to the park and left me home alone for some "me" time. I worked on the next thing that is making me happy...

3. Mini-swap with Kate. It's coming together! I can't say too much because it's a surprise, but I'll have lots of crafty goodness to share here after next week. I've got a theme going and I'm so excited about it... hope you and the boys like it Kate! (Sneak peek below!)

4. A book swap with Jade. So cool- her kids are an age and gender match with mine. I'm already thumbing through our stacks and picking out some cool reads for them.

5. This photo of Sister's Barbie. Now, people, I want you to understand that nothing about this photograph was staged. As I was cleaning the kitchen this morning, I just came across this lovely scene- a whorishly dressed and disheveled Barbie leaning against the Kleenex box next to the dollhouse toilet. (Guess it was a rough night!) I swear I have no idea how the toilet got there. I fear that Sister's Barbie has been corrupted by Beck's Barbies. And she used to be such a sweet Irish dancer type. Oh, dear.

6. A renewed interest in scrapbooking. I must say that I hate the term "scrapbooking." It sounds really cheesy to me. But I love the idea of documenting life by putting pictures together with writing (memories, stories, descriptions, etc.) and some beautiful art supplies to create a truly special and unique momento. Ali Edwards calls it "life art." Sounds more like it. I've seen some of the new products that just came out and they are making me want to dig my scrapbook stuff out of the garage and get back to it. Specifically, I'm loving:
Jenni Bowlin's stuff
Heidi Swapp's new stuff (always love Heidi)

K& Company line featuring Land of Nod artist

Sassafras Lass papers- digging those robots and those adorable owls!

7. This awesome free butterfly applique for a shirt for Sister. (Heck- me too!) It's from Sandi Henderson and I love it.

8. Health. We're all back in action. Thank you, God.

9. These books that my kids are loving right now. (Me too.)

The Usborne Book of Everyday Words

On Market Street

We are Different, We're the Same (a great Sesame Street book)

10. A really cool "radio" website- Pandora. You can type in an artist or style of music, and they'll play a continuous run of music in that style. It's great background music while you're cooking supper.

Happy weekend, friends!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

I wish I had beautiful photos of a Valentine's Day pancake breakfast to post for you, or even shots of the handmade heart-photo wreath I had in mind to make, but alas. All I have to show for myself is a pile of dirty laundry and black rings under my eyes. In fact, if you want to know what I had in mind for today, just read Kate's blog. My plan was almost identical, except I was going to serve roast beef instead of lobster.

I told my DH that I REALLY wanted to hold off and pretend that Valentine's Day was next week. I've been house-bound for 2 days and didn't get a chance to get him anything at all. And I had plans for a romantic meal that we could eat by candlelight after the kids were in bed. But to be honest, I'm just not in the mood.

Drat that man, do you know what he did? He left me a present anyway. I have another (private) family blog full of photos of my kids and little stories about their doings. It's my way of keeping in touch with our spread-out family and recording special childhood moments. I've been keeping it for almost 3 years and it's quite big. Anyway, DH has been covertly copying the blog into Word, re-formatting it, printing it out, and inserting it into sheet protectors in a lovely black scrapbook. Can you believe him?

I was so happy, and also felt like such a loser at the same time. I wish I had thought of such a nice, thoughtful gift for him and had been working on it for weeks, instead of waiting until the last minute.

Before I sink into a full depression, I will share two things making me happy today. One is the packet of art stuff I ordered from this Etsy site. She has so much cool stuff- cool Japanese stuff! It's worth checking out. Brother has been fascinated with all these little pieces for the better part of the day- a huge help while Sister is still so sick.

A closer look at the coolness...

And yesterday I found this site where you can download recordings of old records! I have fond memories of listening to records when I was little, and think it is great for the imagination. But I never knew where to start for my kids- everything is so TV oriented these days. We'll be using the site a lot in the future.

OK- I've got to go make some red jello for Sister. That's as Valentine's-ey as it's going to get around here today.

Envy my mental energy

Last night I enjoyed a phone conversation with one of my favorite people: my Grandma. We were talking about my sister-in-law (known hereafter as SIL) and how self-disciplined and fit and healthy she is. And it's true. She runs 4 or 5 times per week, eats very healthy foods, does like 100 sit-ups every morning... hey! As I write this I am amazed that we get on so well. Disciplined runner-types who start the day with sit-ups and eat big bowls of salad at every meal aren't usually my type of pal. But my SIL is a saint; truly one of the sweetest, kindest Christian women you will meet, so I tolerate the excessive helathiness. Anyway, Grandma was going on and on about what a wonder SIL is and how she keeps such a neat little figure and how she's lost every ounce of that baby weight. I agreed completely, and then Grandma went silent for a moment (very rare indeed.) Finally, she said, "Well, dear, and you have so much mental energy!"
HA! HA!
I started laughing really hard, "Well, thanks Grandma! Nobody has ever given me that compliment before!"
She started stammering and justifying it, "Well, it's true! You write all those grants and you have so many ideas. It takes a lot of energy to do that!"
I agreed so she could be off the hook. It's just too bad that mental energy doesn't help you lose weight and stay in shape, or I'd put that SIL to shame. And if only this mental energy of mine could do the laundry or clean up the 1 gazillion toys that are littering my den floor...
But maybe you can get a glimpse of my hulking mental energy on this blog.
Mental energy. Ha!

I will leave you with a few blog entries I have enjoyed this week:
Andrea has some yummy-looking recipes for homemade salad dressing (get to it, mental energy!)
Holly gives tips on how to manage life with young children. She has 8 (yes, 8) kids, but the tips are helpful for someone with even one measly ol' little kid.
Meg is doing a month of puppets. (I have a thing for puppets. More on that another day.) This one is especially beautiful and doable.
This blog is just right up my alley. Artful parenting? Sign me up!

OK, my mental energy needs some Gatorade before the kiddies wake up. Gotta go ice down the old brain. They say using too much mental energy is just as bad as using none at all.
Sorry- I just can't help myself!