420 Happy New(ish) Year

So, this is 2011 .... pretty decent so far, but it has only been three days. Talk to me in a month or so, and I might have a different story. I know, I have become a pessimist. I do mean to change that, but it is hard when the world keeps proving me right.
I almost missed the change over. Katie spent the night down the street, and I fell asleep getting Connor down. Apparently our tea party wore me out more than I expected.  I woke up about 15 minutes before 2011. It was the most laid back of New Year Eves. Not to mention that I ran out of most of my coffee musts ... including actual coffee. Not the way to start the new year. Luckily I had enough for one more cup to hold me over until I hit the store.  I did manage to watch the Memphis Guitar Drop ... which occurred a few minutes early (while the commentators were talking about the importance of timing it JUST RIGHT)... surprise. At least I started 2011 laughing ... well played Memphis.
1/1/11 started off way too early. Chip promised Katie that we would take her to the mall and Toys'R'Us to spend her Christmas money, and since he had to work that night we had to get out of the house pretty early. 9AM! When do we all get going at 9AM?! Never ... We managed to roll out around 10.
After walking around Toys'R'Us for over an hour all we bought was two pieces of candy. Its not that Katie did not see anything she wanted, it is just that she did not see anything she wanted to spend HER money on. She kept saying "you can get me this for my birthday!" (in 5 months!) I kept trying to explain to her that if it is something she wants then she should be willing to part with her money. If she doesn't want to spend her money then she doesn't want it that bad. I certainly don't want to buy it. Working on teaching her about the value of money ... it isn't going well. Oh, we did spend money on one more thing at Toys'R'Us...

A little lunch at Joe's Crab Shack before we headed to the mall. Connor was excited until we told him it was too wet to play on the playground. Then he crumpled to the concrete in a bawling lump. Katie got her crab legs, so she was perfectly happy. That girl has expensive taste and ragamuffin style.

And surprise SURPRISE ... the only real stop we made was to Build-A-Bear Workshop. We had $10 in reward bucks, so we HAD to go, right?! They have these really cute new animals. The Darling Doggies are available in blue, pink, and purple, and right now you can get 2 for $35 (there were several groups in BABW that were buying two, sisters and friends). Katie asked Chip which one he thought she would choose, and he picked up a blue one. She named her Dream. Connor wasn't into Darling Doggies, so he got the Midnight Teddy ... we didn't even think about the fact we bought a black bear and Ole Miss changed its mascot to the Black Bears. Connor, with much help from ad, named him Ursa. Katie's abhorrance to spending her money trickled over into her BABW purchase, she didn't add sound, a special heart, or any clothing. Connor is more impulsive. He got Ursa a baseball set and a red sports car. The car was $30 but I still think it is a better purchase than a pillow pet. (and no, I am not getting paid to sing BABW's praises, just like to let people know just where to find something if they like it) Really, the main thing you are paying for at BABW is the fun of choosing and stuffing your own fluffy friend. The kids had a blast.

 

And what is a trip to the mall without the kids whining to ride the carousel. Someone, I won't name names, had to use the restroom, so we had some time to kill.

We walked around a bit longer, but we needed to head back so Chip could go to work ... and I was all malled out. Did I mention the mall was insane with New Year Sale shoppers? It was definitely worse than when I went three days before Christmas.

I have heard that you will spend the rest of the year how you spend the first day, and I am crossing my fingers and making a wish that it refers to us being together as a family and NOT to shopping.

Hope everyones New Year was fabulous, and that this year will be good to us all! Happy New Year!

300 Cleaning and Crafting

Friday night I told Katie that until her room was clean that she could not have her friends over again. Her room was so messed up that it was a feat just to walk to her bed to tuck her in. I had to take a cup off her bedside table so it wouldn't fall. It was full of some milky fluid and HAIR! Katie likes to make "potions" with water and lotion and bath gels, but the hair had me stumped. She had given her Build A Bear a haircut. Her Siberian Husky looked like it had been shaved for hip surgery. I was irate! It probably made me so mad because I loved my stuff animals when I was a kid. I might have cut Barbie's hair and snapped her bendy knees the wrong way, but I loved my stuffed animals. I managed to get her to sleep and escape (normally I fall asleep after her bedtime story). I went straight to "my room" and began to play. I needed to de-stress. I started on a few things. I broke out the paint and the Modge Podge :)
This one came about only because a single strand on the paint brush I was using to Modge Podge was sticking out. I already had the dark brown paint out, and as soon as I mad a single brush stroke this is what I saw. Although, I seem to be painting a lot of trees lately (did I mention that my grandfather was a tree surgeon).
This one is just in its first stage, but I have no clue what the next stage is going to be.And this one will have a girl added to it. I have some ideas ...
The next morning, Katie woke up and got to work cleaning. She cleaned and cleaned ... two hours later she came downstairs to ask if she had cleaned enough. I trudged up the stairs, hoping HOPING that she had made some good headway on her room. And this is what I saw ....It took her TWO HOURS to shove her stuff out of the way to create a path? I wonder how much of that two hours was spent playing? 90-95%? So, of course I did what I had said I wouldn't do ... I started cleaning her room. And as I uncovered her floor this is what I found. I have no clue what it is. It is black and tarry/waxy. I am sure it is from make-up, and I was afraid it wouldn't come up. It was about that time that I looked in the hallway to find that Connor had dumped a whole bottle of blood red medicine on the floor. Luckily he did not try to take it. My old paint palette was laying in the hallway, and he tried to pour it in there. He missed. So, I had to bust out the steam cleaner. That thing has had quite a workout lately! It may not have gotten all of the mess up, but it did a pretty good job. I was afraid the black wouldn't come out at all. I thought I deserved a little relaxation, and using your old craft stuff is KIND OF like cleaning, right?! I saw this cute little felt plushie on Stix on the Beach, and I knew I would have to make one of my own oneday. Yesterday was the day. I grabbed what I had nearby (yeah, I have felt in the kitchen - well, in the buffet in the dining area) and got to work. I sketched out a basic shape for the body, and I winged it on the other pieces. It took me about two hours to hand sew the little guy. I started out thinking I would make a "boy" but when I started on its mouth that changed. Two stitches in and it looked like cupie bow lips, so I went with it. Katie named her Rose (which is much preferred to Heart Love that she wanted to name everything last year). Her neck looked a little bare, and my inspiration was wearing a scarf/necklace, so I decided she needed a scarf of her own. Connor adopted her rather quickly ... And he took Rose on her first swing.

All I needed was a little crafty time. It is amazing how it can calm me down. I need to do it more often, OBVIOUSLY!