that's just mean

I belong to a club called zulily. it's kinda like a costco that sells high-end goodies just for kiddos and moms at a discounted price. you never know who will be in the shop that week and they only stay for a few days.
well i opened my latest email from them to find a brand called 'Hazel'. {sorry link is for the adult line. i couldn't find the kids stuff.} that's the name i desperately want for my imaginary daughter. {oh please please don't take my name if you are pregnant with pink right now! unless i have no idea who you are.}

and just look at that picture!! that is exactly how my hazel will look! ok, her clothes anyway. do i dare try for a daughter after this one? or call it quits like i'd planned?

{if you want to join zulily, can i refer you? just send me your email address in my comments. i won't publish it unless you want me to. and i get store credit for every person i refer who buys.}

ooh. pick me!

I wanted a cruiser for Christmas and this one is being GIVEN AWAY! it's so pretty and i could stick a baby or something in the cargo pit. BRILLIANT. if you want to enter the contest too, click the pic.

sooo pretty. powder blue. with a place for a basket...
sigh.

Scary Christmas.

Every year it sneaks up on us and puts us in a half nelson of last minute stress.
join me in my crusade to enjoy each and every minute of the season this year {practically stress free} by planning ahead!

Here's what's worked in years' past and what will {i hope} work this year:

• MAKE A LIST - CHECK IT TWICE. you wouldn't go to the grocery store without one, why not gift shopping too? Rifle through catalogs and decide what to get before you enter the store and suffer amnesia. Also, people are talking about what they want now. keep a notepad and sneakily write it down when they casually mention all their socks have holes.
  
• 
  
• BUY PRESENTS YESTERDAY. i can never afford to buy all at once, but if i notice that season three of 30 rock is on sale, i grab it. and save it! and do take advantage of stores with lay-away. they don't charge interest, just a small fee, and then it's 8 weeks to pay it off. also, break out that notepad when you see something you were looking for but can't buy now. i hate trying to remember where i saw that stinking toy after trial-and-error store number 3.
  
• 
  
• INSTIGATE WRAPPER'S DELIGHT. wrap presents as soon as you buy them. i always do this for three reasons. one - because i'm a freak and i get a high out of wrapping presents. two - because then i can take my time and do a super cute job instead of trying to burn through a mountain of presents on Christmas eve. three - if someone happens upon their present {dan you nosy weasel!} it's already wrapped and they don't know what it is. let's throw in a fourth - Christmas trees look cuter with presents underneath.
• 
  
• SEE INTO THE FUTURE. sales on toys are rockin this time of year. i go ahead and buy caden's birthday presents too. i'd be too broke if i waited till january to do it after Christmas took my last can of who-hash.
• 
  
• START YOUR TO DO LIST. decide what festivities you want to do with your fam now. then look up dates online and pencil them into your schedule. december is a busy month and if you go see Santa when he first appears at the mall, you probably won't have to wait in a line.
• 
  
• TAKE A LOAD OFF. go through toys and clothes and take the biggest load you can manage to good will. play the 6 month game. if it hasn't been worn/played with for 6 months it won't be missed. you're making room for all the new goodies you'll get, plus you're providing a better selection to those who will be having a second hand Christmas this year.
• 
  
• BUY PB. when you go to the grocery store, throw in an extra jar of peanut butter or can of tuna. then when the food drives come - a - knocking you can give them the good stuff they really need.
• 
  
• GET HOT FOR TEACHER. not that way - with a glue gun! i love to give homemade crafts that parker helped make. if we start now, we can take our time and even to do a re-craft if the first turned out kinda scary.
• 
  
• ADDRESS THE PEOPLE. update your addresses and print your envelopes. or at least labels. even if you don't have your Christmas cards ready. it will put them in the front of your mind, and addressing is the most tedious part anyway, right?
  
• 
  
• BUY BATTERIES. and batteries, amen.
  

Good luck to you all and to all a merry Christmas.

but wait - there's more!

he's gone mad - mad I tell you!!

and beware his unholy creation!

Parker was very theatrical. he developed a little laugh he would do for people. he didn't understand that 'mad scientist' meant crazy though. when people asked him if that's what he was he'd say, "no. i'm a happy scientist!"

Caden was very in character too. what with all the frightening tantrums and the weeping and wailing? he was a very convincing monster! the poor thing hated the bolts glued to his neck.

I'm sorry son but mom is a costume Nazi. the bolts are an essential part of frankenstein's monster and a neck strap won't look convincing enough. you will endure in the name of Halloween and like it!

get ready for the halloween shake down!

the season's festivities included...

going to a pumpkin patch with cousin grant

this is my fave. note Dan's disgusted expression.
now direct your eyes to the child on the far left.
that's why.

oh look. happy again.

finding 'the one.'

handsome boy.

and that's when my camera's battery died.

witches' night out.

the geddes girls and I


earl the owl. we met at gardner village.
it was love at first sight.

the nevin witches

we got a little loopy as the night wore on and the sugar kicked in.

what child wouldn't follow this one into her gingerbread house in the woods?!

carving pumpkins - of course.

everyone knows you carve better when you stick your tongue out.

fuits of their labors.

a full range of emotion.

witches be crafty!

I think my boys may be growing up with a model of the female homemaker that's disproportionate to, perhaps, what is more common. Every woman they know and care about is a wicked creatin' machine! I just hope their future wives are into it too or they might think something is wrong with them.

I'll admit I may go a tiny bit overboard sometimes. but hey - I'm not the only one!

festive pillow cases made by Grandma. {my mom}
they look adorable on the boys' orange polka dot sheets.

homemade eyeballs.
we grabbed a package or two of white ping pong balls from the dollar store,
added a few colored permanent markers and...

but none were cuter than the ones parker made.
great kids craft - he had so much fun he was giddy!

spooky broach.
hit the dollar store again for an assorted bag of plastic critters.
'paint' them with regular school glue and coat with glitter.
i did about two coats. when it's dry, attach a bar pin on the back with hot glue.
makes a fabulous party favor!
careful where you pin it though - this guy has roving hands!

spidey pillow.
I stitched mine with heavy white thread and my machine.
but you can achieve the same effect with fine yarn and hot glue.
the fairy god-mother of all glues.

poisoned apples.
grab the already made caramel apple dip {chocolate flavor} from the store and warm it up. Whisk some in a bowl with a teaspoon or two of boiling water to make it more runny.
add a drop of black food coloring and drizzle on top of apples.
then gently shake to make it creep down the sides. don't worry, it'll dry.
spooky. and tasty. spasty. or tooky?

trick -or- treat bag made by Nanna. {dan's mom}
I swear they didn't call each other.
they just happened to make their projects out of coordinating fabric.

Spider's nest cupcakes.
great for your next party.
these remind me of the book: the trouble with mom.
darling book! recommended read for the kiddos.
not just for Halloween either.

a scary story for Halloween

Last night Dan and I put the boys to bed and kicked back to watch a little t.v. After a while we heard Parker making some distressed noises.
"He must be sick." I said.

We went down to his room to find him clawing at his throat and an expression of utter panic on his face. Dan asked him what he swallowed and he managed to get out "a button."
He has a magnet board in his room with 1" buttons glued to the magnets.

I quickly sat down on his bed and told Dan to get him some water. He was pulling at his throat like he was trying to get it from the outside. It was clearly still lodged in there. I was so terrified in the few seconds it took me to deliberate. Should I try to give him the Heimlich with my limited memory, or should I try to help him swallow it completely? If a kid swallows two magnets, it could cause some serious damage to their intestines.

Just then he started to vomit and I bent him over my knee to get it on the floor. As soon as he bent over, the magnet shot out like a bullet and landed across the room. The edges were all chewed like he was gnawing on it for a little bed time snack. It must have slipped down his throat accidentally. Why a 5 year old would put a button in his mouth is beyond me!

But he came away with nothing more than a sore throat and a whole lot of fear. For now, we will be hanging his artwork with tape.

my, what big hair you have!

....the better to rock you with my dear.

I read a blog called modern kiddo - which is quite cute. And she featured an artist named Michael Fleming, a.k.a. tweedlebop. I thought his art was supa cute so I popped over to his sight to maybe find something to adorn judey's walls.

that's when I found this gem.

Can someone with tight curls please topiary their hair? Mine is thin and straight or else I would accept the calling. {Julie, I'm looking at you.}