Bandanas and Buttons

Updated

Mama — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:30:21 +0000

Ever since we moved into this house four years ago, whenever I go into the living room, I get the feeling that we just recently bought it. Everything seemed very sparse and icy. So this weekend, I decided that enough was enough and threw the family into a redecorating frenzy. We had about six spots on the wall that needed pieces, so we used what we had, and in two places, we made our own. This is what we came up with:

Of course, that’s a silhouette of Button. I took a picture of her profile, blew it up at Walgreens, cut it out carefully, then I placed the cut out on top of a canvas that I had covered with remnant fabric and then just filled it in with black paint. The bow was one that I… um… borrowed from Button’s extensive collection. I’m SO pleased with how this turned out! I’ve always wanted to try something like this, and I’m really happy that I ran with it.

This one was a little more time consuming to make! We glued the crayons down and melted them with a hairdryer until we got the drips to where we wanted them. Then we added the flowers. Done, and done. I’ve seen this done a lot around the web recently, and it seemed perfect for our needs. We made two of these and it took a whole evening!

I’m really happy with the outcome and I’m really glad we decided to do as much of this ourselves as possible.

Wordless Wednesday

Mama — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:37:38 +0000

What’s up, Goats

Mama — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:42:19 +0000

On the days that Button doesn’t have school, I’m trying to make a real effort to go out and do something fun together. Today, I decided that we would go and explore our local Target. No, just kidding. We really did, but AFTER that, we went to a local farm that has a petting zoo. Lately Button has been getting into goats. She just loves them! There’s a pen near her granparents’ house that has about nine goats in it, and every time we visit Grandma and Grandaddy, we have to stop and say ‘What’s up?!’ to the goats. She was, naturally, a little shy at first, but she got over it pretty quickly and started having fun.

Especially after her two friend E2 and Peanut got there.

We had a really good time playing with the goats and llamas. Now I just need to think of other things to do for the rest of the school year. Somehow, I feel as though I’ve set the bar pretty high.

Glitter

Mama — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:04:42 +0000

Lately, for some reason, I’ve been feeling like a pretty terrible mom. It seems as though we have run out of steam for our summer. When we get up, there’s usually no plan for the day, and Button and I end up sitting around like lumps. Of course, this has resulted in a lot of whining and frustration. On both ends, really. But, having no motivation, I’ve made no moves to change the situation. So today, on my sister in law’s recommendation, we went to the park to play with some family and have lunch. On the way home, Button tells me, through a veil of unwarranted tears, that she doesn’t like me anymore. She said I am not fun. We get home, and I place Button in quiet time. This isn’t a punishment, mind you, it’s a daily ritual we have instead of nap time. She starts whining and crying and asking for juice. When I go into the kitchen to get it, I furtively pray to God: Why doesn’t she like me, Lord? What am I doing wrong? I know I don’t hate being a mom, we’re just in a slump. Help me! I heard, in response: When’s the last you did anything together?

Dang, Lord. Way to twist the knife. It’s not as though I haven’t WANTED to do anything, or spend time together… I’m just so tired all the time, and there’s house work to do, and groceries to buy, and you know, Lord, we have ballet class, and playdates…..

Pretty terrible excuses when you get them all out like that. So, after quiet time, I gathered supplies and we sat down to do something fun. Something for just the two of us. We made homemade play dough. After seeing this article on Fairy Dust Teaching, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I think the glitter was my favorite part.

We used the traditional ingredients: salt, flour, water, oil and food coloring. I was going for a darker blue, something more like the night sky, but, without black, this was the best I could do. Oh well, it still turned out very rich. And of course, I had to stop her several times from eating it… What is it with kid’s and play dough?

Let Down Your Hair

Mama — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:55:52 +0000

Honestly, I didn’t really think that Button enjoyed the movie Tangled that much. She never seems to make it through an entire screening, and instead, typically ends up asking to watch Spongebob or falling asleep. In spite of this, ever since she has first seen it, she asks constantly for Rapunzel hair. I can’t even count how many times she’s put my pilates band, or pantyhose, or dish cloths on top of her head, shouting, “Look! I’m Rapunzel now!” I knew I could find a long blonde wig somewhere, but, the idea of letting her run around with, essentially, an inevitable disaster on her head, kind of killed the dream. Then, it occured to me that I could just make one. I looked up some inspiration and today, we made a quick trip to the craft store. I led Button over to the yarn, and, not too surprisingly, she was totally uninterested in yellow yarn. She picked out a blend of dark pinks and purples. We went to the Dollar Store for a pair of tights for the base, then on home to put it all together.

Honestly, it only took about an hour and a half to put it together. And I’m reasonably happy with the results. I didn’t want too much effort into it, because I’m sure it will get ruined at some point. My total cost was $7.00!

She’s so deep.

There is simply too much excitement to be had.

Wordless Wednesday

Mama — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:47:57 +0000

How He Loves Us

Mama — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:15:10 +0000

Last night, I was driving home from picking up a $35 juicer from someone on Craigslist, and the most amazing thing ever happened. I was listening to the radio and The David Crowder Band came on. The song was How He Loves. I’ve listened to the song before, I’ve even sung along but it was one of those songs that I had listened to, but I had never actually heard. The lyrics are fairly innocuous, when you’re just reading them: “Oh, He loves us, oh how He loves us…” But hearing it really, for the first time, I was struck with that simple truth. That the Lord really does love us. He loves us so much that it hurts us when we finally comprehend it. Christ loves us in a way that we can never love; not our children or our parents, not food, or drugs, or money. There is nothing that we can love more than the Christ loves us. The realization of Christ’s love was like a splinter in my heart.

Hmm..

Mama — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 16:29:10 +0000

I just read a blog post on Seattle Seconds that really made me think. It was about how some school districts are choosing to phase out the teaching of cursive writing. Interesting. Will cursive be illegible to my grandkids? Or even, for that matter, to Button? The thought that the handwritten word is becoming obsolete is really disturbing to me and kind of makes me feel like the Librarian in the Twilight Zone. Then I realized that I barely ever write in cursive myself anymore. Yes, when I take notes in church, or make a shopping list… but not nearly as often as I used to. Maybe I need to go back to writing with pens and pencils and take a break from penning on the computer?

“That” Mom

Mama — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:43:48 +0000

Yesterday, Button and I went to Busch Gardens. The plan was to meet up my best friend, her husband, and her daughter. Traffic got the best of them, however, and they ended up being just a little late. “No worries,” I thought, “We’ll just go in and meet them inside the park.” There’s this cute area just for preschoolers called the Sesame Street Forest of Fun. Button loves it, especially because a large part of it consists of a miniature water park. We went in and I released Button into the heavy duty sprinkler system, so she could play. Then I sat on the sidelines, watching as she darted between fountains and did “water ballet.” Did my phone ring? Is my friend here? I looked down at my phone to see if she had called, and seeing the screen was dark, I returned to watching Button play.

But wait. Where’s Button?

I stood up and looked above all the tiny heads to see if I could find those water logged pig-tails. No sign.

Deep breaths, girl, deep breaths.

Finally, I saw her, between two park attendants. I hope I didn’t knock anyone down on my way over to her. She said, “Hi, mommy. I was looking for you!”

…

So, I guess the old cliche is true… it only takes a second.

Painting

Mama — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:21:42 +0000

Today we had some time to kill in between Vacation Bible School and yoga for kids, so, I decided to be “cool mom” and let Button finger paint. I don’t know why I ever expect finger paint to stay on fingers.

However, doesn’t this look like so much more fun? Leave it to an (almost) four year old to up the mess factor in any activity! She had so much fun and I didn’t mind indulging her. She’ll only want to stick her feet in paint for a couple more years, right?

I love these on the line! They look like prayer flags.