How to jump when you can't walk yet

First: your brother takes the cushions off the couch so that you can get on.
Second: he hands you your sucker left over from Valentine's candy.
Third: he unwraps it for you.
Fourth: You watch him jump until you figure out how to "jump" on your own.
Fifth: wait for mommy to start making movies.

Random happenings about the house.

Tiger has a new word for "yes."  This goes very well with his "not really" and "maybe not" instead of "no."  He says "of course."  I asked him the other day if he wanted his breakfast and he answered, "Not Really."  B.A.R. asked him a few minutes later and he said, "Of course!"   "Yes was a word he did not want to learn.  He rarely says it, even now.  Usually it is "Ok," "that's great," or some other phrase of agreement.

Blanket failed to take a nap the other day and so was extremely tired at 4 o'clock.  I figured I would give him dinner and put his pajamas on that way he could go to bed on a full stomach as soon as he was ready.  He ate about half his dinner and then fell asleep in his highchair.  (Sorry there is no photo.)  He had one hand hanging over the bowl and his other grasped a spoon.  His head flopped to one side and he snored quietly.  After about half an hour he stirred and lifted his head. He then put his hand in the bowl and continued eating.  I was reminded of the scene in Disney's Sleeping Beauty when the spell is broken and the king wakes up and continues his meal and conversation right where it left off.  I WISH I had it on video it was priceless.

Complements

So I am out running errands today and I get two complements on my new sidekick.  TWO! in less than one hour.  I do always give credit to the Vera Bradley company for making such a cute article.   But I am not the kind of person who loves compliments.   I only give them out when I am really impressed.  Maybe you could say that I am stingy with them, but that is who I am.  I bought Sprite the Satchel (Thanks Lisa and Landee for naming it) so that I could have a functional accessory in a color that I liked; not so that it would get noticed every time I went out in public.   I want to be given complements the same way I give them: moderately stingy.  I guess if I assume people took the time to tell me they must really like Sprite.  I don't care if other people like it: I like it and that's enough for me. 

Shameless plug.

Now, I try not to plug my other blog at this website.  I figure if you want to know about my politics and musings you will go over there all by yourself.  I figure you could follow it, or at least notice it down there in my checklist and look for the updates.  I am going to tell you that I posted over there yesterday and I feel really strongly on the topic I posted about.  I know many of you feel the same way, even if you are not ready to take action on your feelings.  Please take a minute to jump over there and learn about a community gathering.  I will be attending in Colorado Springs if you are interested.  

Look out, there is another post shortly coming over there that I am sorely tempted to post here.  Or maybe just a link to it.

A purse by any other name.

For most of my readers this won't come as a shock: I am not a purse person. I don't like them. They just don't fit my style of being me.  I have lived my life to this point with my wallet in my back pocket and my keys and cell phone in my front pockets.  

If I thought I needed a bag I would graduate from being relatively unprepared (keys, money, cell phone) to overly prepared for every possible contingency.  I would put a few things in a backpack, and then a few more, and then even more.  

Over the last few years I have misplaced my wallet on a few occasions due to the fact it slips out of my back pocket. Women's jeans are just not meant for wallet people. This happened a couple of weeks ago and B.A.R. joked with me about needing a bag of some kind.
I was starting to warm up to the idea because I was tired of always carrying my planner around (this is meaningful when you realize I still carry my 15 month old around too) along with anything else that was "necessary" for my outing. A backpack was more than I wanted. I really just wanted a wallet I could wear that would hold my planner. I actually spent two whole days at the end of February searching for the right bag for me.

I found many I liked, most were the right bag, but they wouldn't hold my planner (or much more than a diaper and sunglasses). Or I they would hold my planner, and my laptop, and every toy my child owns. Really. I just wanted a smallish bag.
I happened upon a store at Park Meadows that I had never seen before. and I went in for a look. The first bag I pulled off the shelf was too big, but the second one was soooooo good I knew I was in love. I tried really hard to find a bag I liked almost as much for less money, but I could not. I did buy this one on ebay for about $10 off MSRP, but it is still a hefty price tag. But it's ok, I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this bag, and I only got it in the mail yesterday.

It's a Vera Bradley Mailbag in Cupcakes Green.  It may seem funny, but I had never even heard of Vera Bradley before I walked into that store and fell in love (with a bag).

There is only one problem. It's not my "purse" because I am not a purse person. My new bag needs a name. Any suggestions?

Check out my new 'do.

I sat Blanket down for a haircut and he cried more than I wished, and wiggled a lot. But he did get the standard haircut around here. I am happy that I now won't spend all of church trying to make his hair cooperate and lay down.

No more turkey feathers. *sniff* *sniff*



In other barbershop news: Tiger acquiesced to having his hair cut. He whimpered and cried a little, but he never made me have to get dad involved in the haircut. That is the best he has EVER done with the whole buzzers process.

Take 5

So I thought I should post some pictures of my latest quilt. I made it from a pattern I bought called Take 5.  It is published by The Teacher's Pet and is available from most quilt shops and online quilt retailers. 
Here's some detail of the quilting .  Click on the picture for a better look.  I took these with super-high resolution so it should be easier to see.  I quilted it with a trilobal polyester variegated thread.  I made my own design and stencil for the outer border design.  I drew the rest right onto the quilt. 

Here is a picture of the quilt (and a few toys that didn't get moved far enough).  Again, click the picture for a better view.  If you are familiar with a Take 5 then you may even be able to find the mistakes that happened  when Tiger grabbed my blocks and reordered them for me.  I noticed after I put the inner border on.  I wasn't about to undo it at that point.

Now I just need to find the right way to hang it on my wall.  Yes, this is about to be art for my home.  If you have suggestions for quilt hanging kits or the best way to make my own (hardware stores and tools don't scare me at all).  I would even just take some plans or rough ideas. 

FYI:  This is the quilt I was  working on when I cut my finger.  

How can he sleep like that?

My budding percussionist.

Music is really Blanket's thing. I set up the bowls and approved spoons for his use, and he stayed in the kitchen for 1/2 an hour without bothering anybody else.


This makes me sad, because I also took these pics because I knew I'd be cutting his hair that night.

Mom's are nice

'cause they share their last girl scout cookie with you, even when you are way too young to truly appreciate it.


Too bad Samoas won't be around again until next year. Sad for Mom, yum for me!

Packages are great.

I was vacuuming the other day and the boys were just getting in my way.  They would follow me from room to room and insist on being where I needed to vacuum.  I was vacuuming the office when Tiger comes in and says "Mommy, I get the package."  I knew I heard him right, but was unsure that he knew what he was talking about.  So I went and peeked through the door and saw that I did, in fact, get a package.  He must have heard it because he was near the door, and I didn't because I was in the other room with Blanket vacuuming.  This is a good thing, because he used to just answer the door without us.  He has learned his lessons.

I opened the door and realized that I hadn't ordered anything, and I wondered where this package had come from.  When I opened it I remembered that my SIL was going to send me something.  I got this great book

in the mail from her. Thanks, Julie.  The box was rather too big for the book, and so was overflowing with packing peanuts.

I still wanted wanted to get the vacuuming done, so I offered the box and the packing peanuts to the boys if they (peanuts) would stay contained in the office until I was done vacuuming.

They did a pretty good job of keeping the mess in the room (considering they are 37 and 15 months).  I kept my sanity because they weren't in my way most of the time I was vacuuming.  And when I was all done Blanket helped put the stuff back in the box (Tiger refused) and then I had to vacuum the office to get the last few bits.  The vacuum was already out, so no big deal.

Sometimes the best part of the gift is the packaging (at least that's how they saw it).

The Life and Times of the Tiger.

Lately, I have been trying to appreciate Tiger's strengths, and find the things he does well.  He spends so much time frustrating me with his antics, phobias, and inability (coupled with lack of desire) to do things for himself that I have been focusing on the positive and really enjoy him for who he is.  Tiger has a talent for language.  He loves big words. He loves big ideas.  He will try to use any word he thinks he knows what it means.  It also means that he could say "elephant" and "combine" clearly before Blanket was born, and that he says "not really," or "maybe not," instead of "no."  

During the third year of his life "ekavator" changed to "excavator" and "kwonkweet mickers" changed to "concrete mixer."  I was just happy that he knew what those were before he turned two.  He constantly surprises us with words we didn't know that he knew.  Like he did yesterday.

I have been looking for a doughnut cutter (like a buscuit cutter, but it cuts the hole at the same time).  I looked in all the usual places, and nobody had it.  I didn't want to order a $3 item and have to pay $8 shipping, so I kept looking.  Someone told me about Compleat Gourmet and Gifts in Centennial.  I went there and they had a couple of different ones.  The saleslady offered me both and I said, "I'll take that one." and pointed to the one I wanted.  

Tiger then said "That's perfect.  Thank you."

I was floored.  I didn''t know that he knew the word "perfect," let alone how to use it.  And since when does he get to speak for me?  I have created a monster.

Tiger also likes to show off his understanding of conversations, and offer his opinion on subjects.  The other day B.A.R. was very sick with a sinus infection and said that he was going upstairs to take a bath to help clear his sinuses.  Tiger responded with "Daddy, you don't take a bath, you want to take a shower."  So B.A.R. took a shower because Tiger suggested it!  This kind of advice giving happens more often than I care to think about, though not every day.

I should have known his language skills are improving rapidly right now.  He says "Ka-CHOW" just like Lightning McQueen.  I didn't help him with it at all.  He just started saying it one day.  He also likes to say other quotes from Cars.  He also easily says Ghostlight and Banshee.  

I am happy that spring is upon us and Tiger can play outside most days in his sand box.  I am very sad that I now have to vacuum every day to pick up the sand that I find EVERYWHERE.  I even washed my sheets this morning because he crawled in my bed yesterday with his shoes on after having played in the sand box.   NO MORE TIGERS JUMPING ON THE BED!

I love all the good things about my little boy, now if I could just learn to love the rest.

Sunday Afternoon Nap

That's Tiger, asleep.  Every picture I have of him sleeping at the table was taken on Sunday.  It seems church wears him out, or he feels like me: Sunday afternoon naps are good.  Anyway, he fell asleep right after asking me for some more cereal for dinner.  He wants cereal for every meal since I opened the box of mini-wheats.   I just realized his head isn't resting on anything.  Wow.