blog bomb

one of my new year's resolutions is to blog more frequently so that i don't end up spending two hours looking through photos and figuring out how to do an update. i'm still not there yet.
here are a few photos to recap our christmas/new year activities:

little elf in her jinglebell hat • results from the strudel run on christmas eve

lucy in her fancy christmas dress (courtesy of aunt angie) • sam at the christmas eve service

a new red light saber (from santa) • sam and his two light sabers

christmas breakfast at g + g's house • grandpa gets lucy down for a nap with his jedi whistling powers

opening presents • christmas dinner (worth the wait!)

sam and his new star wars ships (awesome!) • getting ready for bed in columbus

back to columbus after the ikea marathon • clean baby for the new year

sam in his jedi cloak (from aunt missy—super stoked!) • grandpa wearing lucy's princess leia hair hat

aunt angie putting the love smack-down on lucy • lucy modeling the hair hat (ultra cute!)

lucy with two of her buddies (edison and brewster) • who's that cute girl in the mirror?

the puzzler and his puzzle • sam's "parking lot and map" picture with signature

look out 2013, we're here and we're gonna make it great!

halloween recap

our pumpkin (art directed by sam)

because our trick-or-treat got suspended until sunday, i never did get pictures of the kids dressed up on halloween (though sam was able to dress up and get treats at daycare that day!) i was actually glad that things were postponed until sunday because i basically would've missed the entire thing had it been held on wednesday (i don't arrive home until 7:15 or so on workdays and trick-or-treat only runs until 7:30 here). it would've also meant that mike would've been stuck at the door handing out candy and sam wouldn't have been able to really go out much at all. 
with trick-or-treat on sunday lucy and i were able to hand out candy and sam and mike were able to go door-to-door. apparently sam was all into it this year (i think this is the first year he really understood the whole "getting dressed up and getting candy" thing), and he had a great time. mike texted me as they went along and i was surprised at how far they'd gone in the cold. sam's costume was big enough that he could fit his sweatshirt underneath (though i guess with his hood up he looked a little more "ninja" and not so much jedi until mike had him get his lightsaber out).

sam, red-cheeked and happy, showing off his loot.

lucy wasn't exactly happy about her "snuggle time" being interrupted by all the kids coming to the door, but she was greeted with many smiles and compliments. several of the younger kids were so distracted by her cuteness that they seemed to forget what they were knocking on our door for. by the time sam and mike got back, the trick-or-treaters had disappeared and she was happily sleeping in my (then unoccupied) arms.

lucy tired out after all the excitement.

all-in-all i think this was the most excitement we've had over halloween thus far. i had originally hoped to do more as far as crafty things and decorations and such, but managing all that with an almost three month old (who always seemed to be ravenously hungry, wet, poopy, or generally grumpy when i had a list of things i wanted to get done) isn't as easy as i thought it would be. i suppose there's always next year.

halloween preview—sammy luke skywalker

the corrpro company halloween party was yesterday, so we took the opportunity to photograph sam in his finished costume for the event. this costume was by far the most involved i've done so far (i broke out the sewing machine for this, which is a big deal in our house). i don't think mine is quite as fantastic as what missy is constructing for oscar, but it was about as fancy as i could manage. missy posted reference material here, and i downloaded photos for my trip to the fabric store. i bought a pattern for the top (a karate uniform), but the pants were way too big for sam, so i had to make my own pattern for that. the belt is brown webbing with a prachute buckle (something sam could put on and take off himself), and has small pleather "tool pouches" for sam to put things in that he might need while fixing a droid, or some other task. the boot covers didn't exactly happen the way i thought they would partly because i couldn't figure out exactly how to construct them so that sam would be able to put them on by himself and partly because he decided at the last minute he wanted to wear his "work boots". of course, sam was completely satisfied with the outcome. to tell the truth, i think if he had just gotten the lightsaber, his imagination would have filled in the blanks without all the sewing and such. the highlight of the party for sam was the boy dressed up as a clone trooper. he thought that it was ultra cool to have another star wars character there and is already plotting for me to make him a red clone trooper costume next year.
sam has definitely been enjoying his very own lightsaber and takes it just about everywhere he goes including bed (and i believe he's had at least one reminder that it's not a bath toy). lucy has gotten a few clonks on the head (and assorted body parts), but i suppose that's to be expected when bad guys are peeking around every corner (you can't have a war without casualties). she's handling it all very well though.
lucy also wore her costume yesterday, but i didn't get a chance to photograph her before she got upset and needed a diaper change and a nap. i'm hoping to get a few photos on wednesday, so stay tuned for that reveal.

sam's previous costumes can be found here, here, and here.

making—father's day

sam and i cooked up a few projects for father's day. we made some wrapping paper and decorated this frame for grandpa. we also took a photo to put in it.

i particularly had a good time coming up with phrases for the wrapping paper like "i love you more than garbage trucks" or "i love you more than star wars", and sam really enjoyed getting a chance to use markers for a change. i love crafting with my little sidekick.

making—mother's day tote

sam the ham

the artist at work

"hand painted" with love

the finished project

i thought we'd share a little project sam and i cooked up for gramma h for mother's day. i thought this tote bag would be the perfect showcase for one of sam's paintings. so we went to the craft store where sam picked out some paints, and after a little coaxing he got down to work. it didn't take long before his hands (and at least one ear) were covered in paint and he declared this work of art complete.

i think he did a rather nice job, but my favorite parts were definitely watching sam ham it up for the camera and declare "that was fun!" while i helped him scrub his hands (mostly) clean.

i hope gramma likes her tote (though i know she's got a plethora of bags, i also know that they do wear out after a while...)

happy mother's day, mom! i am more appreciative of all your amazing skills and patience every day, and i'm not sure how you managed to (more than) survive the four of us. one of these days i hope my kid(s) will think i'm as cool as i think you are. you rock!

happy valentine's day!

what are you doing to celebrate this lovey-dovey day? one of the things on my schedule was to bake up a batch of the traditional "to my valentine oatmeal cookies" today. my taste tester said they came out quite well. in fact, i think he would've "tasted" at least half a dozen if i'd given him the opportunity.

i've posted the recipe for this wonderful treat here, but i also updated the recipe card with a more appropriate photo (not stars!)—you can find it here.

making—holiday card 2011

as is our tradition, we expanded on the 12 days of christmas theme this year with the milk maid. this was my first person (after seven years of mostly birds, this was a bit of a challenge), but i think she turned out well and fit the graphic theme that we've had going since we got married.

if you'd like to see some cards from previous years (five, six, and seven), they can be found here, here, and here.

making—noodleflakes

inspired by this pin on pinterest, i got a large quantity of pasta and made some noodleflake ornaments. they were a lot of fun, though the drying time made them a somewhat frustrating a craft (particularly for young and/or inpatient crafters).

the original pin used only wheels and honeycombs, but i added in some penne and mini-penne, and i thought they turned out really well. i also skipped the glitter because i prefer small contained messes, and i thought they had a nice rustic, naturalness to them in their native noodley state. if you're the glittery type (or feel like wielding a bit of spray paint), by all means, go to it.

when we were searching for crafts to do at church, we used pinterest as our go-to resource for crafty ideas. i'll admit to pinning a lot more project ideas than i think i'll ever have time to execute. you can view my christmas pinboard here. hoorah for pinterest!

halloween, unwrapped

well, in a stunning change of disposition, sam was quite enthused about wearing his costume today. according to our daycare provider sam was one of the first kids into his costume this morning, and when i asked him to take it off so he could eat some dinner, he told me he didn't want to take it off. go figure.

by the time i got home from work sam and daddy had handed out more than 2/3 of the candy we'd bought, and they quickly took off to do some trick-or-treating on their own. mike said that sam was quiet, but he remembered to say "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" and that he walked all the way on his own. according to sam he had a really good time. he also said, "sammys don't like twizzlers."

twas the night before halloween...

our pumpkin is carved, our seeds are roasting, and sam's costume is complete (finished five whole days before halloween this year, thankyouverymuch). i even spent a little time making myself a fall mask out of leftover felt, though when sam asked what my costume was going to be i said i was going to wear his cape from last year and be super mommy. he had the good sense not to argue.

tomorrow he'll wake bright and early (or dark and early, as the case may be), and head off to daycare where he'll be participating in their halloween parade (a walk around the block in costume), and will be capping off his festivities by handing out candy and a little trick-or-treating with daddy.

i'll have photos of him in costume (assuming he actually wears the costume) tomorrow, so stay tuned for photos. so far sam has been less than keen on his special halloween outfit. the lesson he should take away from this is that when mom asks you what you want to be for halloween, come up with something other than "sam", or she will, and you may not like the result.

whoa buddy…let's back that blog up a minute

here are a few of my favorite photos from the fourth of july weekend.

we really had a fabulous/busy one (as usual).

have a sweet holiday weekend

i baked a batch of good ol' "to my valentine" oatmeal cookies for mike's fourth of july work cookout today. this is probably my most favorite iced cookie recipe because they not only look really fun and festive, but they have a bit more flavor than a sugar cookie (sam performed the quality control for me, of course.)

i'm sure i've blogged about these cookies before, but i'm not sure if i included the recipe or not. so here it is, just in case:

To My Valentine Oatmeal Cookies

2½ cups flour 2 Tbs milk

1 tsp baking powder 1 egg

½ tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla

¾ cup sugar 1 cup oats

¾ cup butter or margarine

1) sift dry ingredients into bowl

2) add butter, sugar, milk, egg, and vanilla; beat until combined, about 2 minutes

3) add oats and mix well

4) roll to ¼ inch thick and cut into hearts (or stars)

5) bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350° (moderate) 12–15 minutes or until lightly browned

6) frost with a glaze made from powdered sugar, vanilla, food coloring, and enough milk to make a spreading consistency

(you can download a recipe card here.)

we're off to visit family and eat yummy stuff, celebrate a birthday or two, and see some fireworks. huzzah! what are your plans?

dying for easter eggs

we attacked our eggs last night. sam was quite enthusiastic (at the beginning anyway), resulting in at least one puddle of dye ending up on the floor. he had some good assistance from daddy, and we employed the "oscar method" (using regular crayons as well as the clear ones), which helped keep sam (and daddy) busy. he liked writing his name by himself—saying as he went, "A, M, Y. sammy." he's never really participated at this level before, and it's fun to see his reaction to all this easter business.

the results were fun and colorful, and sam has been asking for eggs every time we open the fridge. i hope he's still this excited come sunday.

funny note: while i was boiling the eggs before dying, sam kept looking at them and saying, "pop!" apparently this has something to do with the tiny caterpillar popping out of it's egg one sunday morning."

egg decorating

i'm saving my egg-dying activity for later this week, but sam and i have already decorated a few paper eggs.

i went and pulled some scrap watercolor paper from my studio and some paints, and sam and i enjoyed puddling some paint here and there. we let the paper dry, and while sam was napping, i cut out egg shapes and hung them up.

sam did really well, but i think he preferred the cleaning up part (where he got to play with soapy water in the sink) to the actual painting.

happy valentine's day

sam's special breakfast.

(i think i need to work on my squeeze-bottle pancake technique.)

happy holidays - cards from the nordstroms

here is the seventh swan a-swimming. in truth, i still have a few that still need to be mailed out (because i forgot to bring them when i had the chance to hand deliver them. on multiple occasions. ooops.) but they were done in time for christmas, so i'm considering them a success. i'll also admit that the design is practically the same as last year, which made them easier to do, and the use of mom and dad's "robobot" (as sam calls it) to do the cutting made them quick and (almost) painless.

i'm already thinking about next year's design, and have some ideas. i do believe, however, that i may have to enlist my father to help me with the mechanics.

you can see a couple of the previous years here and here.

this year's christmas cards (from the pilgrim press)

i worked up these quickie cards for pilgrim press to send out for the holidays.

since our logo is a red ship (the mayflower, to be exact), i thought i'd do a take-off on i saw three ships come sailing in. apparently i'm the only one at work that was familiar with this song, but they were agreeable and let me do my thing (that's what you get when people are pressed for time and ideas—free reign!).

it took me about a day to design, and about half a day to print, cut, fold, and stuff 150 of these. we did a special order for the blue envelopes, and after they arrived (from thepapermillstore.com), i adjusted the color on the card to match.

i thought they turned out well.

crafty sam

this is the "placemat" that sam made at his last day of daycare for the year (last wednesday). it's made of funfoam with little funfoam stickers. the best part is that he can peel off and restick the decorations (for the time being, anyway), so it's been a great source of entertainment for him at dinnertime. my favorite part is that while he's busy sticking and talking about all the colors and shapes and whatnot, i can shovel just about whatever food i like into his little mouth. fabulous.

thanks daycare! this was a great early christmas gift!

tree fetching and a surprise

last saturday we went with grandma and grandpa h. to get our christmas tree. sam was already excited because we were going to ride in daddy's "big car" (the pick-up truck). usually all he gets to do is sit in it when it's parked, so this was a special treat.

when we got to the tree farm, we were happy to discover that santa had made a surprise visit. what luck!

sam was feeling a bit shy, but santa definitely made an impact. he talked about santa quite a bit (though he wasn't keen on another in-person chat). perhaps next year he'll have more to discuss.

then off we went, over the hills and through the woods to find our tree.

i think we picked a winner. in fact, i think it's the best one ever. sam is quite curious about all the ornaments on the tree, and we constantly are reminding him not to remove anything. in general though, he's been very good and very careful. he's certainly enjoying having all the decorations up (we had to have a little discussion about the tree "sleeping" during the day when the timer turns the lights off). i'm a little bit worried about what will happen when we have to say goodbye to the tree.

riding the train to tower city

to cap off our thanksgiving holiday sam, mike, and i took the train to tower city last monday.

sam had the best time throwing pennies into the fountains, and he got his first happy meal (a rite of passage, i'm sure). he was very interested in the little animatronic children that were "dancing" between all the fancy gingerbread houses, though the ropes keeping him from touching them were just as big a hit (go figure). the weather was actually pretty nice, so we did a bit of walking around downtown (to the arcade and over to the building where i work), and by the time we got back on the train to go home, sam was pooped.

he was very disappointed when he found out we weren't going again a few days later.

i guess we'll have to make another trip again soon.