beek

Resilient Hellebores

Pea sized hail,

Slushy snow,

And a brief break of sunshine.

One week of spring in the Pacific Northwest.

Trash Day

Trash Truck? Trash Truck? Trash Truck! Trash Truck! Trash Truck! Do you hear my urgency? We're easy for entertainment, but especially on Thursday mornings.

A Little Pink Boat

We have a lead problem. We recently discovered the tub in our one and only bathroom is full of lead. Have I mentioned my recent development of gray hairs and forehead wrinkles? Needless to say, we're cutting our showers short these days and Peter isn't allowed in the bathroom at all. To keep his bottom clean, we've acquired a little pink baby tub, or as Peter knows it, his boat.

It's a wee little spot to read,

A wee little spot to rest,

And sometimes a wee little spot to get your bottom clean.

Mortimer Snerd

Meet Mortimer. Mortimer Snerd. After Terry Fator wowed James with his Live in Las Vegas DVD, James begged for a dummy of his own. Christmas generosity prevailed and Mortimer has held a spot at our table ever since. Oh the number of snaggletooth routines we've seen. Edgar Bergen, Paul Winchell, and yes, Terry Fator dummy duets have all been memorized and performed, many times over. And who knew Mortimer could sing MC Hammer? Look out Howdy Doody, U Can't Touch This. James' enthusiasm hasn't died down yet, but there's still time. The world of ventriloquism is a little frightening. Just do five mintues of perusing ebay for available dummies and you'll see what I mean. 

Kicking the requests up a notch, James has requested we build a dummy together. Good god, have you ever looked at the mechanics on one of those things? It's like four different pulley systems in there. James wants to follow Paul Winchell's directions in, Ventriloquism for Fun and Profit. He makes it look oh so easy. However, after making the plasticene mold of the dummy's head, I'm realizing that unless I can sew a pulley system to his papier mache jaw, we may not make it much further.

Still, we'll see this phase through. It's bizarre and fun and he's good at it! Plus, the nostalgia hits me hard. When I was ten, I got a dummy for Christmas too. His name was Lester. I kept him for about a year, but his steady stares from every direction got to me. I stuffed him behind our big furnace in the basement and never looked behind there again. With James reading the Goosebumps series' Night of the Living Dummy I, II and III, I suspect Mortimer's stares will eventually get to him too.

 

Easy Birthday Bracelet

Lately, I've found it harder and harder to come up with ideas for handmade birthday gifts for the kids' friends. It has to be something that works for older kids, uses materials we have on hand, and can be put together quickly. These personalized bracelets have been well received and are easy to make.

To start, Ava stamps the child's name on a piece of fabric,

and picks out a button.

I sew the fabric to a piece of thick felt. When we have time Ava hand stitches the fabric to the felt.

Sew the button to one end of the felt and make a small slit at the other end for a buttonhole. 

Trimming the edge with pinking shears adds a nice touch.

We usually try it on Ava to make sure the size fits and the buttonhole works well. 

 

Enjoy!

Peter's a Year and a Half

Happy Halloween

from Max Headroom turned Vampire,

Toothless Hermione Granger,

And SUPERPETER!

I seem to have forgotten

 

how

busy 

one

year

olds

can

be.

One Year Old

Happy Birthday Peter!

 

Eleven Months

One of these pics deserves an explanation. No, Peter's not a regular bonnet wearer, though certainly part of me wants him to be. He tolerates them briefly, so Ava can have a baby Carrie when she plays Little House on the Prairie.