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I am often asked where I get my creativity. Take a look at the Oscar Pary my Mom and Dad put together for the boys on Sunday, then you tell me.
The boys were asked to arrive in their finest clothes, and they received accessories upon their arrival:
(How cute is Kalen in Jason’s tie?)
At the event, they would screen two of the nominees (Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda), have a buffet lunch, and vote on several categories.
The afternoon, of course, began with the trip down the red carpet, and an interview with the Press:
The spread looked great. Alas, Jason and I were not invited to stay for the eats. (No problem there, we were heading off for a kid-free afternoon and evening!)
After the movies, Nicky and Kalen were asked to judge them and then received the trophies on behalf of the filmmakers, who were unable to attend.
.
How cool are these grandparents?
So, where do I get my creativity? I’ll give you three guesses, and the first two don’t count.
I have been crocheting lately, just not saying much about it.
A couple of weeks ago, I discovered that a friend of ours had lost her sister. It was not a sudden death, but of course, it is a tragic and heartwrenching loss. I decided on the spot that our friend would need a hug, so I spent the week crocheting this for her.
Pattern: Feather Stole by Elizabeth Myers
Yarn: Reclaimed Acrylic/Angora
Hook: I’ve already forgotten (oops…E, maybe?)
If you like it, if you want to compliment it, I ask instead that you visit the Scleroderma Foundation and make a donation with our friend’s family in mind. Even if you can only manage a dollar or two, please consider it. This is a disease that – in its most serious form – can completely debilitate its victims, with no known cure and unknown cause.
I’ve felt oddly out of crochet mode since finishing the stole. I’ve worked a bit on a hat and some other things for the Mattaponi project. I know I’ll get back in the mood shortly. I have too many unfinished projects and too many hanks of yarn tempting me from their drawer in the closet.
Today, Mom and I visited Knitch for some yarn fondling and to find her a set of DPN’s. (She’s going to knit her first socks!) Yarn was fondled, and DPN’s were purchased, after which we headed out for an amazing lunch. I needed a few hours of not thinking about the near future.
In a couple of weeks, Jason and I will be driving to Seattle, where I’ll leave him to find a room to rent, and I will hop a plane back here. Again, Mom & Dad come through, offering to watch the boys while I’m gone. I’m decidedly unthrilled at the upcoming indefinite period of single parenting, not to mention missing my best friend in the world like crazy. Still, I know it’s what needs to happen, and it is only temporary, after all. Jason’s already lost one position to a Seattlite, for the sole reason of distance. One that we know of, that is. He needs to be local to get the interviews.
We’ve had two showings in the past three days, after a drought of more than a month. I hope this is a sign of things to come, and that the rebate for first-time house buyers in stimulus package encourages more lookers and an offer or two. As our Realtor says, “Everyone wants a deal,” but what ‘everyone’ fails to realize is that they’re already getting a deal. Regardless, we can’t afford to be too choosy. Serious offers will be considered and counter-offered, and a deal will happen. Someone is going to get an incredible deal, indeed.
Last week, we had parent-teacher conferences. Kalen’s consisted of, “Any questions? No? Here, sign these forms…he’s doing great.” Nicky’s was nearly as simple. Consequently, I spent too much time just chatting with the teachers, wonderful women all. Okay, not too much time; nothing but good can come from being friendly and on good terms with your children’s teachers.
The boys have taken the news of Jason moving very well, which leads me to wonder if they really grasp it. They had been prepared for the possibility of his getting a job and moving before the house sold, but this is a quick decision and thus a quick blow. We’re working on assigning simple chores that will help them fill Daddy’s shoes and give them some responsibilities and distractions.
Forgive my stream-of-consciousness, a literary style I greatly despise. My brain seems to be in that mode lately, though, so I suppose it’s best to just let it go.
I’ve wondered for a number of years why I hang onto my china and crystal. I’ve used them only a couple of times. We simply don’t live a lifestyle where formal entertaining happens…or is likely to happen in the foreseeable future.
Our china was given to us by my parents after our wedding. Dad bought it for my grandmother (his mother-in-law) on a trip to Japan with the Navy many years ago. It’s beautiful. If I were to choose china, I wouldn’t choose differently.
A complete service for twelve, plus serving dishes, plus six ash trays. (Ash trays! Ha!)
We registered for our crystal when we got married. It seemed the thing to do – we had a complete set of china, after all. I love the pattern.
As beautiful as these pieces are, however, they’ve seemed increasingly redundant as time has passed. So, with the onset of unemployment, and the increasing realization that we would likely use them only a handful of times over our entire marriage (and with Mom & Dad’s blessing), we decided to sell them.
After two complete rounds on Craigslist with no takers, we decided to look into a local auction house. So, they went to auction, and on Sunday, so did we.
And now, we arrive at the main point of this post. Oh, my goodness, auctions are so much FUN! The enjoyment of watching the bidding and buying process effectively wiped out the niggling sentimentality of seeing “my” pieces displayed for others to bid on. My rear end was numb after twenty minutes on wooden high-school-issue bleachers, but I was entranced. Jason finally dragged me away after three hours, just after we saw the china sell. For less than we’d hoped for, yes, but no less than I realistically thought it would go for in this economy.
I would love to go to the monthly auction and just watch. Spend all day wondering which lot would be put up next, and will it go for practically nothing, or would it be outside my price range if I had money to spend?
No other point to this, really. It was just plain fun. I am imagining myself in the years ahead, heading to auctions as I feel like it, finding an end table here and a footstool there. Is that a silly dream? It’s a simple one, anyway, but the simple pleasures are the easiest to achieve, yes?
A relaxing day…
10:03 am – Fun Book
12:48 pm – Stitch-n-Bitch with Mom
1:17 pm – Grandma and Kalen Have a Chat
3:29 pm – V-day Gift for the Boys from Grandma & Grandpa
3:31 pm – Sneak Peak of the Sketch for My First Silly String Challenge
3:32 pm – Contemplating the Stash for Above Project
3:49 pm – The Crocus are Blooming!!
5:08 pm – Planning a Very Long Drive
6:29 pm – Cute Kid I
6:29 pm – Cute Kid II
7:24 pm – O.M.G. — Both Cars Fit in the Garage!
7:39 pm – Filling in the State Quarter Books
For a complete roll call of the 12 of 12 participants, visit Chad’s Blog!
Making R2: Day Three
Paint body and legs with final coat of interior gloss white.
Easy peasy.
Decorate dome.
Cover a soda bottle cap with foil and attach. Cut glittery blue construction paper to size and glue in place. Perfection not necessary; a random assortment of blue rectangles will do nicely.
Unfortunately, hot glue seems to be the best way to attach things to aluminum foil, so there was a whole lot of Mommy doing while Nicky watched during this part of the project.
Tune in tomorrow for the final chapter in the saga!
(P.S. Want to see how Nicolas’s R2-D2 Valentines Day Box came together? Check out the posts here, here, and here!)
Making R2: Day Two
After painting the body (interior trim white), prying the soccer ball out of the [mostly] dry paper mache, and trimming the dome to size, raid the recycling bins for appropriate droid leg materials.
Cut, configure, and tape legs.
Prime legs and feet. Realize as you’re doing so that you should have built and attached legs and feet before the first primer/painting round. Oh well.
Prime again after first coat dries, because even Kilz doesn’t stick so well to plastic packing tape on the first go.
Compare work to model for accuracy. Declare progress to this point a roaring success!
Use cardboard from recycling bin to create ledge inside dome.
Take this opportunity to teach about utilizing slits in a straight piece of cardboard to bend it to the necessary curve. Attach with masking tape.
Cover dome with aluminum foil, and use cardboard ledge to hot glue it to the body.
Hopefully you remembered to cut an opening in the dome before this point, so the unit can actually be used as a Valentine mailbox. We did. (Yay!)
Call it quits for Day Two. Admire the distinctly droid-like figure now residing on the kitchen table.
(P.S. Want to see how Nicolas’s R2-D2 Valentines Day Box came together? Check out the posts here, here, and here!)
This year, we get to try something new for Valentine’s Day. For our entire childhoods, and for Nicky’s up until this point, the boxes into which classmates put their Valentines were limited to your basic shoe box covered with pink and red construction paper, perhaps decorated with hearts…or maybe a little aluminum foil if we were being adventurous.
This year, however, Nicky brought home a flyer announcing a Valentine Box Contest. With prizes! I spent some time surfing the net and discovered, to my great surprise and delight, that people actually DO this. They spend time making creative Valentines boxes every year! I guess this may vary by region or class or teacher. Regardless, when I realized the limitless possibilities, I put it to Nicky: What would he like to have?
The verdict: R2D2
Awesome. (Knew we were raising this kid right!)
I started brainstorming last week…the trick was finding something to make the body out of that would be large enough to hold Valentines, yet light enough for him to carry to school. All without spending a dime. Could we do it? (What do you think?)
Making R2: Day One
Start with one large roll of paper.
This paper was given to us by my friend Jennifer when Nicky was a toddler. It has been used as drawing paper ever since, and we still have a ton left. Its core is a very sturdy, large cardboard tube.
Remove the paper.
This was a true family effort. (Okay, so Kalen hasn’t really participated at all. Let’s just call him our cheerleader.) It took the rest of us a good thirty minutes to unroll, tear, and fold up all the paper.
Cut tube to size. When first saw wimps out, upgrade.
This cardboard is thick. It took Jason quite a while to work his way through. That’s okay, Nicky and I were busy with the next bit.
Paper mache* over size 3 soccer ball.
Remember to warn child with Sensory Processing Disorder that this will make his fingers gooey and sticky, and that they will remain gooey and sticky for some time during the process. Remind him several times before beginning, and make sure he is okay with this before proceeding.
Set paper mache portion aside to dry for a full day.
Hot glue coffee can lid to the bottom of the tube (to be known as the “body” from this point on).
Prime body.
To Be Continued…
Tune in tomorrow for the continuing adventures of Team Droid! Will the body be finished? Will legs be constructed? Will they remember to cut a slot for the insertion and removal of Valentines?
All these questions and more will be answered in tomorrow’s episode!
(P.S. Want to see how Nicolas’s R2-D2 Valentines Day Box came together? Check out the posts here, here, and here!)
*Paper mache tips – Spray ball with cooking spray before beginning. Remember to leave the valve uncovered by paper. I remembered the first. I lucked out on the second.
In considering the softie-making trend in the craft community, I sometimes find myself thinking wistfully about the cute little end products. Then, I give myself a mental shake and remind the wistful little part of my brain that my goal is to declutter and make things with useful purpose.
Still, they’re so cute.
I thought I would share the first softie ever made for me. When I was born, my mother’s brother made Sugar Bear for me. I think (given the butterfly “tattoo” patch on the buttock that has not been photographed in order to maintain ursine dignity) that Sugar Bear was meant to be a girl, but he was always a “he” to me.
Uncle Lyle doesn’t, at first glance, seem to be the softie-making type. He’s an athlete and a coach by trade, a father of sons, and now a grandfather of grandsons. But he made me Sugar Bear. A softie.
Compared to the incredibly-designed and perfectly-assembled softies I see floating around craft blogs these days, I suppose Sugar Bear’s dual-toned felt and two-dimensional structure don’t rate as a grand achievement. However, as a gift made by a man in his twenties for his first niece, I think it’s pretty darn great.
Look at that shy smile. I can’t look at it and not smile, myself.
(And, as an aside, take a look at how the color in that brown DMC floss has held up. 33 years, countless moves, many runs through the dryer for dust removal, and thousands of hours of sunlight streaming onto my bed (and now my younger son’s bed), and it’s still a dark, rich brown.)
This is a question my sister and I have heard for years. We had a high school teacher who couldn’t tell us apart, and I know Heather has been mistaken for me on at least one occasion. There’s an obvious family resemblance, but for the life of me, I don’t think we look so much alike that you couldn’t tell us apart!
People have been telling me for a few years now how much Nicky and Kalen look alike, too. Again, I could see a bit of family sameness, but Nicky looks so much like Jason, and Kalen looks so much like my dad, I just didn’t see the “alike” in them.
Until I took this picture a few minutes ago.
Heck, their eyes even look the same color here! (Nicky’s are actually bluer, Kalen’s are a little more grey, like they look here.) You can still see where they each favor one side of the gene pool more heavily, but I have a feeling one of these days they’re going to be getting the same twin questions Heather and I have been fielding since our teen years.
That’s not such a bad thing, though. How could I complain about looking like my gorgeous sister?
In THIS Life 