Am I a Muppet?

As if it wasn't exciting enough to see the most recent Muppet movie, most of the songs were written by, quite possibly, one of the funniest performers I know - Bret from Flight of the Conchords. I had heard a few of the songs before realizing this, and upon watching a video of him singing with Kermit the Frog, it all came together.

Flight of the Conchords. The Muppets. Kermit the Frog.

I really don't need much more than that in life.

Unless I wanted to share this joy with my children. Jackson has the appropriate response when he sees Animal screaming and bashing his head on things: laughter. Ayla... well... she rolls her eyes and leaves the room. My own daughter! How could she betray me like this?

I don't understand where her intense dislike of pure hilarity began, but we are working through it. Therapy may be necessary for us both.

Our household has been singing, "Am I a Man... or Am I a Muppet?" quite often lately. So of course I started singing it when I took this picture of Ayla's fuzzy slippers. You can see by her face how she felt about MY shenanigans.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.3

Living in the Minivan

This is why I am a virtual captive in the Odyssey. What was intended to be a quick drop-off at the library and some veggie shopping at Wegmans has turned into Elliot's nap time.

Even though I am shushing the other two maniacs every two seconds, and making them wait to get into the Wegman's playplace may be considered inhumane - I will take the half hour nap over ridiculous grumpiness during dinner.

Since I see that most Moms I know have posted the link to the recent "Don't Carpe Diem" article on the Huffington Post... is this a Kairos moment that I will miss someday? Or will I someday see a young mom bored out of her mind in her minivan twenty years from now and gleefully skip by myself into the grocery store?

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.3

Crafts of Christmas Past

 I have to say that my idea of a "sewing business" has taken on a life of its' own. Last summer I spent many a night agonizing over all of the amazing, artistic, genius, professional, gorgeous sewn items that are for sale on Etsy. I wanted to be a part of it but was (and still am) very intimidated by the sheer artistry out there. But I posted a few items and sold a few things. (Thanks to generous friends and family, of course, but I did have two unknown buyers!)

 Almost six months after posting that first pillowcase on Etsy, I am now spending more of my time with shall I say "commissioned" work. So exciting! I am thrilled that friends are trusting me with their beloved t-shirts to turn into quilts and pillow shams. My brain starts to feel rusty after my daytime activities of changing diapers, chasing Baxter around the neighborhood and trying to justify my parental decisions to a saucy five year old. Therefore, it becomes such a welcome retreat to delve into a sewing project and learn something new like Claudine curtains (okay, it can be frustrating when I break my sewing machine twice in a month!).

 The question remains if it would be wise, or just self-indulgent, to start a more professional blog under the ThreadAbell name/brand. If you ever delve into the world of online crafting and sewing tutorials - it is yet another overwhelming array of incredible teachers and incredible ideas! But I was intimidated before, and after putting myself out there... I have to say it has been rewarding.

 I wanted to post a few photos of my recent projects: items that had to be kept secret until gift-giving days. This is where my December went!

Matching stockings for my sister and Matt - the flannel is beautiful, but honestly too itchy to be used for any apparel.

Beast, you beast! It's a long story... but Genevieve needed a Beast at school. He missed her.

A friend entrusted me with her old t-shirts to make into gifts for her god-son and god-daughter. Such a great idea!

From a $4 pattern on Etsy. I didn't like it the first night we put it up... but upon the morning light, I dig it!

The god-son pillow. I always use my t-shirts so selfishly, have to start thinking about better gift ideas.

Wii Dance Party

The temperature here just dropped to six degrees the other night. Winter came late, but hit hard. Needless to say, we are all cuddling under blankets and drinking hot cocoa. And dancing, of course!

 Instead of turning up the heat... we have been dancing every night on the Wii. Nickelodeon Dance Party (a dancing Diego looks pretty creepsters), Kids Dance Party, MJ The Experience (hell yes!) and Just Dance 2 and 3. If you think you need to start exercising, try these games instead! I am winded and cramped up after just a few songs... but it is worth it. 

 Ayla turns into Ms. Competitive while Jackson watches from the couch. Elliot has to hold a Wii remote, therefore he gets one without batteries. Or maybe I should start giving him a working wiimote... stay tuned to the end of the video to see why!

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.3

FreeCycle Score!

Just the other day I was beginning to feel annoyed with my daily onslaught of Freecycle emails. A lot of members refuse to even try to spell correctly or use punctuation or even coherent sentences. Deleting more than 30 emails every day, none that even seem useful and if they are... you missed the response by an hour. Items go so fast!

That is why I was disappointed when someone offered "sewing supplies", including bias tape, zippers and other such delicious items. I sent a response giving my name, number and pick-up time. Then the same person posted that the items has been promised, but since I had not received a reply, I believed that some other lucky seamstress/seamster (?) had gotten the items. Boo hiss.... cut me a break Freecycle!

Imagine my excitement on Monday morning when the person called to tell me that they had completely forgotten to confirm with me. I was the lucky winner after all!

I drove to her house during my two-hours-to-kill time while Jackson was at preschool and picked up the supplies. I had no idea that these were vintage items. Double score! If you look closely at the packaging, the price is a whopping 19 cents. In such beautiful retro colors! It is uncommon to find such unique designs in my frequent trips to Joann Fabrics... let alone for free instead of dishing out about $2.50 per package.

The contents of my sewing bag has about fifteen zippers (cool colors too - turquoise, purple and bright green), ten packages of bias tape, curtain hooks and really cute trim. Suddenly, my perspective has changed and it is totally worth sifting through all of the unwanted, stupid posts to really win out on something you can actually use!

Thank you freecycle for being my daily virtual Thrift store.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.3

Don't Shoot the Messenger

 Disclaimer: This post is about a five year old and her Binky. If you walk into this with judgment ... turn away now.

 The new year has brought on a new fire to Ayla's streak of independence (defiance) and  strong emotions (drama). We have already bought the battle of  THE BINKY many times before, but like a true addiction, it always returns in small, seemingly innocent ways and turns into a huge problem. We take the binky away, the Binky fairy writes lovely notes and Ayla seems to accept her new fate as a grown-up girl. Then a few weeks pass and she is sneaking a binky (where she finds them, I don't know!) in front of the television in the middle of the afternoon. When we had previously agreed that binkies are only to be used in bed at night or preferably not at all - this is a major violation.

 Before Christmas (and with the help of our elf, Elfabet), the Binky fairy finally laid down the law. All binkies were confiscated and rightfully given to the new babies that needed them. Ayla made peace for the moment, but come bedtime, there were many tears and laments for how difficult life had become. However, over the holiday in Pittsburgh, the binky was not mentioned once.

 Then we came back to Buffalo and the drama continued. Every night is a full-force tantrum, loud wailing and inconsolable crying. Ayla naturally turns her anger and frustration towards her evil parents for causing her such misery. When the crying and screaming and names and guilt stopped working - she has now turned to her next device: Jackson.

 The poor, loyal guy has now been assigned the role of messenger. He makes the trip up and down the stairs from their room with Ayla's comments and pleas for her Binky. Ayla uses him to sneak into the kitchen for snacks or to deliver angry messages.

 We can hear her lying in bed, telling Jackson what to say... then he trudges across the room.... walks down the stairs... and proclaims whatever Ayla has told him to repeat. And if he gets it wrong, she clarifies and makes him tell us again. An example:

 Ayla (muffled under her covers): "Tell Mama and Dada that you only love me and you, that you don't love them anymore because I can't have Binky."

 Jackson: "I love Ayla (pronounced Allah) and me." (Walks back upstairs.)

Ayla: "NO! Tell them that you don't love them!"

Jackson: (Walks back downstairs) "I not love you anymore."

 Gregory has always said that he would prefer that they stick together as siblings rather than become competitive with each other - well, that wish is coming true! This whole process has been comical but also wildly frustrating as Ayla's screams go on for 45 minutes when our infant is sound asleep at 10 pm. Let's just hope that Ayla will return that loyalty to her brother someday!

First Night Buffalo

When it came to planning our big night out for New Year's Eve... the main idea was to find something family friendly (that didn't cost a bazillion dollars) and how to tire the kids out so they would actually be sleeping at midnight.

  The only person sleeping at midnight was Elliot but we reveled in family fun at First Night Buffalo. It is growing into a huge event for families, especially families that cannot find a sitter on New Year's Eve!

 I bought our advance tickets at Wegman's and we drove downtown to the Convention Center. We even showed up late (the whole thing runs for five hours) because I didn't think we could possibly need to be there that long. But I didn't factor in the long lines for bounce houses and carnival rides. We watched a little bit of the "Birds of Prey" show. What's more exciting than sitting in a large room with hawks flying low over the audience and instead of returning to their trainers... they perch in the fake ficus trees? We also became acquainted with this dude, Wacky Chad.

 

 Unfortunately, we missed out on arts and crafts and the Storytime village. There's always next year! For under $40, we ate ice cream, were nearly attacked by wild birds, laughed at a guy on his pogo stick, watched indoor fireworks, rode the merry go round and supported a downtown event in Buffalo. Not too shabby for a night out.

Elliot wasn't too sure about Wacky Chad.

 And due to our new digital antenna (thanks Gramps!), we watched the Times Square coverage after returning home. It had almost been a year without local channels and news - and it is comforting in a way to have it back. Just in time for the ball drop. Happy New Year everyone!