ball fringe

i finally finished my curtains.

well maybe. i think i am going to trim the pink valances with some green ribbon (i’ve been undecided for about a year now). but i did get to the green ball fringe.

i’m afraid they still need a little somethin’ somethin’. but i think i will just wait until i move, before i start thinking too much about it. and i’m not sure i care to admit to thinking about it at all. a rather awkward, internal dilemma – best kept to oneself. that, and which fabric to upholster my headboard in. the things that keep me awake at night, goodness.

if you ever wondered…

biore pore strips really do work. and that is not me, thank goodness (in fact, you might want to avert your eyes).

i like to keep a stash and then attack company with them for a little friendly entertainment. you could try it at your next christmas party. have a bit of a contest, although i must say, there is really no way to compete with men and old people. i don’t think ‘biore’ really knew what they were up against. it’s kind of horrifying. my pores, on the other hand, are quite dainty. rest assured.

proof that i’m a good wife

(well, it depends on how you look at it.)

i’ve been sick and last night hubby came up to me in bed, “uh mave, do you put the lid down on the soap dispenser when you start the dishwasher?” “why yes, yes you do.” i wanted to add, “are you retarded?” instead i just asked if this was the first time he had used the dishwasher in the near two years that we have lived here. which was the case.

only three months ago he was wanting to know how to use the washing machine. i had better get well soon, who knows where this could lead. all this unnecessary knowledge of small, domestic appliances…

well, that’s over with.

wild rumpuses are too much for me (but jolly good fun). we squeezed 26 people into my wee house and the kids rollicked about in the dark while the adults chatted.

i made a spaceship/bowling pin to cover the door to the back bedrooms (and incidentally, the bathroom, very unfortunate). we also covered the boys’ ceiling with glow stars, then gave the kids glow wands to brave the dark with. it racked to a pretty high pitch, so i think they had fun.

i also made little, jehu stars for the ceiling. except i am afraid they are not christmassy enough to keep up. last year we had snow flakes dangling everywhere and i don’t believe i got around to taking them down ’till january.

and here is jehu with his spaceship cake that his grandma made him. he was quite pleased to be the birthday boy and seemed to enjoy himself the whole time. “i did it!” he said, after blowing out the candles. then he clapped and shouted “hooray!” a bit.

here he is getting his homemade, ugly doll from kandi. for some reason it was love at first sight (with that giant, blood-shot, hand-stitched pupil.) i can’t explain it.

he also got lots of books, clothes, noisy, obnoxious toys, and an alligator suit. just like every boy needs.

then we tucked him into his christmas jammies, with his new friend, and sent him to bed.

while everyone else cleaned up messes.

“i am not your graphic designer.”

says my husband. photoshop kind of makes him mad. we just finished these cards up for my dad’s tree business. after printing one on white, i decided they needed a gray background. “not gray!” says hubby. “there are way too many shades for you to choose from, ‘a little darker, no a little lighter.’” and that’s about what it amounted to.

if you want to actually read them, check them out on my dad’s site, where you can click on them. by the way, the two little circles on the bottom left, are hubby and uncle reuben up in the tree (with reuben again on the front of the card). and you can’t see me, but i’m out freezing in the snow, taking their picture.

while i’m on the subject, i’ve been meaning to post these pictures of my siblings i’ve had since thanksgiving. this is reuben up close, after i cleaned him up some.

and this is my sweet, tweety bea.

(as for you grandmas, who can’t live more than a day without pictures of white and delightsomeness, i just uploaded a new video in the sidebar.)

fun bags

i made this nursing cover for a gal with twins, so it’s extra wide for the double duty.

i also put in the terry cloth pocket in the corner.  i also made a pink nursing cover for a friend of my sister-in-law’s. don’t i lead an exciting life?

and today i’m going to hole up and clean house (i’ve been meaning to change out the doilies for quite some time).

bean soup

this is one of my favorite, winter standby recipes.

it’s special because it is as easy as it is yummy. the easy part is that it is just four cans of beans (kidney, pinquito, chili and black) heated to a simmer. the yummy bit is the container of fresh salsa (24 oz) you throw in at the end. it seems to make all the difference (although the fresh cilantro is a must too). then you just top it with cheese and sour cream and serve with bread or chips. how hard is that?

spaceship invitations

jehu’s birthday is coming up and spaceships it is. marc is kind of horrified by the whole “themed” party thing. he’s even more horrified when i try to get him to exacto knife a pile of invitations with me. i thought it sounded exciting.

i found some glow in the dark, puff paint to outline them with and was even able to hunt down some little glow in the dark stickers. and what else do you know? the post office even had “yoda” stamps that week. hooray.

we’ll see if the party itself turns out to be similarly well fated. i should probably spend less time blogging then, and more time hanging a bazillion little glow stars. although it does sound like a job for hubby. along with installing the mini, solar system and putting up my christmas lights. sometimes i wonder what he would do without me. (actually, i’m pretty sure he would lead a contented existence of soccer scores, guerilla tree climbing, political leftist journals and late night chocolate without brushing his teeth.)

up-chuck

i sewed some changing pads and burp cloths for baby shower presents. (for baby neve and baby evan.)

measure your fabric at 10″x18″ and sew the two bits together with a half inch seam allowance. that should get you the appropriate size. the only problem is that it is hard to find velour terry. normal terry seems a bit rough. those babies are going to have to tough it up.

i made a matching nursing cover for the blue set while i was at it. next i want to try my hand at some reversible bibs.

(by the way, this is another example of wrapping with trash. i never throw anything away. the flower is the label off a vera bradley purse [that i saved from last christmas] and the peach tag is the paint sample for a potential living room color. everyone should have a box of salvaged goodies to root in. “hooray, a laminated lady bug and the instructions for a vintage, collapsible suitcase!” you never know, it might be handy.)

and there was fire

the boys got to wake up to fire this morning and roast marshmallows for breakfast. they were thrilled.

daddy finally ripped the gas unit out of the fire place so he could burn all the wood he’s been hording. he told me he didn’t “think” it would explode. and i suppose that’s reassuring.

what mavis wouldn’t do for some good ambiance anyways.