a wayfarer's journey...

Parenting three

2011-11-29T10:02:00.003-05:00

It's so funny how things change from the first child to second to third and how you parent. The things we worry about as the parent of one and the things we worry the least about with child number two and three. I am finding it funny today.

I used to worry so much about: eating, strict nap times, teething, etc etc. The third child is the first to sleep in a crib (at 4 months on), the others slept with me. Teething...i worried nonstop about teething with the youngest, i'd pop some homeopathic tablets in the second one's mouth when she was teething, and the third...oh, you have a tooth? Wow. Time for frozen peaches. LOL. Nap times...Little Dude had a schedule and i didn't mess with it...everything was organized around naps. The second napped in the car, and the third is woken all the time from perfectly good sleep to drop someone off, pick someone up etc.

I remember meeting moms of three when i had one and they would say "by the third blah blah blah..." and i used to be horrified about how insensitive they were. Funny how things change. Pictures are another thing...this third one has very few as the camera battery is always dead, or lost, or the card is full. With LD i'd always have a backup of both with me. I gotta say i like the chaos of three...i miss that focused time on one child too but my third is so flexible and such a happy baby i have to think it's a good thing. The things i don't budge on are breastfeeding and nutritious homemade food, hugs and kisses. Everything is very flexible these days....especially baths it seems. ;-)

2011-11-28T17:02:00.002-05:00

Sooooo, wow, time flies. When i left you guys baby girl was just starting walking, i broke both my arms, yikes... got lyme's disease and just had a rash of bad luck. Then got really busy when i opened an ebay store. I closed that and want to get back to the things i enjoy...crafting, cooking more extensively again and just doing more home stuff. I'm itching to create again. The only things i've made since blogging are very basic...a few pairs of pajamas for the kids and knitting. It is Muharram so i won't be blogging a lot, but i will be back soon with some fun stuff. Oh, yeah, and now there's another baby boy and i'm told the last of our flock. Boo to that but I gotta say, the trifecta is working. This last one...wow, he's just delicious. He has the most delicious milky baby cheeks i've ever tasted, and i taste them a lot. He's 6 months old today so happy half birthday to milky boy. :-)

I'm baaaack....

2011-11-26T13:28:00.005-05:00

So let's start off with a recent treasure i found after a fellow blogger made me itch to go thrifting. I went to the older part of town and wham, look what i found! Do you remember these? This was what i loved playing with when i was small and they are valuable...especially the wooden ones. I recently sold the schoolhouse etc on Ebay and did nice. These will end up on there too once the kids get over the novelty of them. Such a huge score. I've found them it bits but never a load like this!

And the baby is calling now but i do promise to post more regularly...i've missed it here.

2011-10-26T12:27:00.001-04:00

Been missing this space and am thinking about coming back....a lot's changed...another baby, a move....so much more. Is anyone out there?

Rhythm of the Home

2010-06-03T20:46:00.003-04:00

It's been a long while since posting. When i broke my arms, my babes was just starting to walk and well once they healed (well for the most part) i got real busy with her. Things are crazy busy around here but i hope with summer everything slows down and i'll get back to this place. But in the meantime, check out this great online magazine....

Rhythm of the Home. I love the natural crafts and ideas they share. It's a wonderful project they are doing and they really put a lot of work into it. I'm excited to build these with the boy tomorrow. He's going to love making them and then sailing them.

Hope to be back here soon. I hope I still have a few readers. :-)

Better

2010-04-09T15:04:00.000-04:00

So, my arms are better. Not all the way, but i can do everything now with them. There's just still a lot of pain and by the end of the day they feel like they are going to fall off. But thank God at least i can use them now. So i've been getting caught up on everything around here and spring cleaning and playing outside.

I'll be back soon! How have you been?

Prayers

2010-02-07T09:24:00.002-05:00

I broke BOTH of my arms so will be offline for about six weeks. Please send some prayers my way...

When?

2010-01-26T15:02:00.002-05:00

When did she begin looking like such a big girl?

I think it may be the jeans. I don't like my kids in jeans until they are walking. Seems constricting. Dresses too. But i just unpacked the dresses i've been squirreling away. Hurry up spring!

Winter Sandbox

2010-01-25T19:44:00.002-05:00

This box has been a lifesaver this winter. With it being so cold here and one outdoor day in the last 3 months, i made this for my sandbox loving boy a few weeks ago.

I tried to let the girl play with it but after repeated fistfuls of rice being flung about, she has been exiled from the rice box. She tries to scale the kitchen table to get to it but so far there has been no mishaps (except by the boy). When he gets bored with one thing (trucks were first, then snow plows, and now dinosaurs) i change it out. I can usually get a good hour (and on a good day twice) with this thing. I made it when i was trying to get a book review done. Success!

I don't usually like food oriented play. I tend to never do it because food is, well food, and i don't like it being wasted or treated indifferently. But when potato's sprout, they become stamps (drawn by the boy, etched by mom) and when a half bag of rice that i don't even usually use accidentally gets buried for three years...well, it becomes a rice bucket.

Easy DIY project

2010-01-22T21:12:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine has this cool framed bulletin board thing that i really like. She told me where to get one but i didn't like the $125 price tag so went about making one. I did this way back in September, right about when i fell off the blogging bandwagon. Anyhow, everytime i go to my sewing room (these days it's about bimonthly to dump stuff off rather than stick around) i love it hanging there. Now we have two. One for the kid's artwork and one for my sewing room. It's not perfect because my saw stinks and I did it in all of 5 minutes (thinking and planning time not included).

Take a cool old frame (mine's a rummage sale find for $4). It took me forever to find one big enough for what i wanted but finally i did.

Take a bulletin board and cut it to size (you could buy the corkboard but the only stuff i could find was thin and not cheap so i used and old bulletin board i had laying around)

Push it in and hope you don't tear the corkboard like i did in one spot.

Adore what you've just made.

I use it for an inspiration board or a "i-sure-wish-i-had-time-to-do/make-this" board. It'll need a serious dusting off before i tackle anything on there. Seriously, will i ever have time to make things again? How do people do it that have more kids This baby girl of mine does not leave my hip. If i so dare as take a bathroom break i get a verbal lashing. Sigh. I do the mantra of "they are only little for a little while" but it's getting a little old now.

Randomness

2010-01-22T13:37:00.004-05:00

So....i said i was going to be on here more but haven't. Sigh. I just can't seem to stay on top of things anymore. One of my good friends here realized it and demanded (in a friendly albeit demanding way) that i need time to myself and i need to let go of my overprotecting nature so she took my son for the late morning/ early afternoon so i can get some things done. I took a shower while baby was sleeping then ate breakfast without anyone grabbing stuff off my plate, i had coffee while i checked my email and i folded AND put away ALL of the laundry. All in an hour. This usually takes me most of the day if it even gets done. My sitting room seems to be one big laundry room lately. It doesn't help that i've been selling a lot on ebay lately but it's all part of my big purge plan of 2010.

I've also been doing a lot of reading on gluten/dairy and autism. I am a strong believer that God gave us the cure for any disease, for that is how He is. He provides. It's a matter of finding the cure. Removing artificial colors and flavors has helped a lot but we have a long way to go. I've read that removing gluten and dairy helps (as in rids completely) 66% of kids with autism/ADHD/etc. That's enough for me to give it a go. But it's going to be a lot of work. My boy loves his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bread in general. The gluten free loaf at trader joes felt like a brick so i've been checking out gluten free books from the library and studying up. If anyone has a good gluten free bread recipe i'd love to have it.

And with that...the baby woke up. Time to go pick up big brother. I'll finish later...

conversations....with my boy

2010-01-15T16:28:00.004-05:00

1. While looking at the New York Natural History Museum's Dinosaur exhibit information.

Little Dude: Mommy, i sure wish they had made a sweater.
Mommy: Who honey?
Little Dude: The dinosaurs.
Mommy: What do you mean?
Little Dude: Well if they had made themselves a sweater, they wouldn't have froze and they'd still be here with us.

(lol) he got a big hug with that one

2. While driving to preschool stuck in small town traffic.

Little Dude: Why do we do this?
Mommy: Do what?
Little Dude: Sit in traffic. We could just fly to school.
Mommy: Well you need a special license to fly a plane. Maybe you can go to schol to learn to fly a plane.
Little Dude: Yeah! (long pause) Mommy? Could you help me fly the plane?
Mommy: Sure honey, i'd be your copilot any day. :-)

The sad thing about this last one is when i told him maybe when he's older he can fly a plane a pit hit my stomach because realistically, he probably won't. He's Muslim and has a Muslim name. Muslims and planes don't go together anymore. How sad is that? He loves airplanes. Studies books on them and can tell you all the different types, spends most of his days playing with playmobil airplanes, lego airplanes, drawing airplanes and being an airplane. It bugs me that if he wants to fly a plane as a grown man, he may never get the chance because of who he is. Will things change? For my 4 year old pilot, I sure hope so.

I'm going to try posting a bit more. It's been too long!

Breathe in, breathe out

2010-01-07T19:07:00.003-05:00

When will i have time again?

Today while doing the dishes...had just started, I turned to see what Baby Girl was up to. She was eating Little Dude's paint brush with bright red (wet) paint all over it. Ugh.

Tried to wash dishes a second time while cooking their dinner. I turn to see what has Baby Girl squealing with delight. She's STANDING on top of Little Dude's table happy as can be. This girl is a climber. Drives me nuts! STANDING on TOP of the table. Grrr.

Dishes still aren't done and I've yet to even eat lunch today. I was hoping to make this.

Comments

2010-01-01T17:38:00.002-05:00

Haloscan is now charging for comment keeping so i've decided to go to blogger's default comment system for the time being but that means i lose all my comments.

Can anyone suggest a good commenting system... I'd prefer free. :-)

AND, can someone please leave a comment. It's so lonely in here now. And i want to see that it's working properly now.

Time flies!

2009-12-31T00:21:00.000-05:00

I don't know where I've been but it hasn't been here.

Just got a book review done that was due. Those wear me out. It's stress that i just don't need but i feel i need to keep doing them so i can keep my contacts. This one was particularly annoying. But it's done. Yay. Back to having free time...what little of that there is with these little people. My baby girl has gotten a big bad attitude with her first birthday. Temperamental little one. She throws food. She shakes her head no if you try to feed her. She only wants to feed herself which limits what you can give her. Not only has she not left our bed, now she insists on sleeping across me so i can't get up. If i dare move she screams bloody murder. Bathroom breaks are not in her vocabulary. I'm worn out and tired and i think i'm close to having no other option than letting her cry it out for a few days to get used to sleeping in a crib. She's just stubborn. Half my day is dragging her down from the stairs. And removing her from the table she climbs up on. Yet she's not walking. How strange is that she can climb tables but isn't walking. She'll take a few steps on the bed and that's also the only place she stands. She's smart like that. Knows it won't hurt.

Anyway. She's feisty. She's a piece of work. And i'm not looking forward to her being two because she already throws some horrible tantrums where she throws things and hits. It's crazy. Big brother never did these things.

You should see me around more although I don't think i'll have any craftiness going on for some time. I'm all about winter cleaning right now. Mostly to protect the littlest one.

I do plan on trying to figure out how to make this (since Garnet Hill's website is down right now) blanket. I so love it. I don't think it would be as hard as it looks and may have to give it a go tomorrow night.

Must sleep. The anarchy continues tomorrow. I must be rested for it. Oh. And Happy New Year!

Adorable.

2009-12-17T13:01:00.004-05:00

I'd love these for Baby Girl next fall. Too cute!

Speaking of shoes. I can't wait until she fits into these. :-)

Something about having a girl has put the shopping bug in me. I love my paypal account. ;-)

2009-12-13T22:56:00.002-05:00

It's bittersweet that my babe will be one in one week. We had our little family celebration today since my inlaws leave on Wednesday. I'll get back to blogging in a bit too. Hope you are well!

about last night

2009-11-01T10:04:00.002-05:00

That was not fun. My poor baby was so miserable and just begging me to feed her. To turn her away like that..... ugh. All night long she asked for milk. I would offer her a bottle in various forms but she won't take it. Nor this morning. While i pump and dump milk. And now this morning she's mad at me. Ignoring me, won't look at me, going to my husband instead. I feel like crying. I'm miserable. Bad headache, arthritic bones and nauseas. My poor baby. Please say some duas/prayers for us.

2 needle mittens

2009-10-31T12:09:00.004-04:00

I love this pattern. Mostly because i don't like double pointed needles. I just lose track of where i am etc with two kids and a husband that need me all the time. I can knit for about 3 minutes before i have to put it down to do something else. I really wanted to knit mittens though so i was very happy when i found Bev's two needle mitten pattern and have used it twice now with good results.

The first time i was a new knitter so i just did one mitten at a time but this time i did both (until the last part) and really loved it because i find you get a little bored after that first one. I'm sure there's a lot of people with one mitten sitting around waiting for the second to get done. Same with socks i imagine. I was very happy to find this pattern and hope someone will find it useful too.

Happy happy joy joy

2009-10-30T15:35:00.004-04:00

NOT. I went to the doctor a week ago because i felt funky. Old. Like my knees were aching. Feet too. I chalked it up to one of three things 1) colder weather 2) getting older 3) residual from meningitus i got from West Nile Virus years ago in Colorado. I hadn't been to the doctor forever. Funny once you have kids, you only go for them and forget about yourself. But i figured after years of this knee pain increasing I better go. They drew my blood and i just got the results. I have Lyme's Disease. Not a surprise living in NJ, deer outnumber people here it seems BUT what is really really bothering me is that i need to go on meds for a month, two weeks minimum and they told me i can't breastfeed. This put a pit in my stomach. I nursed my son until he was 21 months. I may just pump and dump for the course of the antibiotics. But my daughter is NOT going to be happy and neither am I. Sucks bigtime. This is our time together. Damn tick. Now i'm thinking that i do need to get both kids blood drawn. I was supposed to do it a month ago but it makes me cringe. I won't even be able to nurse baby girl after that horrible experience. God this sucks.

I was going to post today that my inlaws are coming on Tuesday for 6 weeks so that means you may see more of me or you may see less...i'm not quite sure which.

I was also going to post a very cool two needle pattern for mittens that i've used twice now and love

but that'll have to wait while i figure out how formula works and dig out a breastpump and get some meds etc.

sleep

2009-10-28T08:31:00.002-04:00

Will i ever sleep again? My God I'm tired. I'm a person that can go without sleep for a long time. I normally sleep from 12-6 and that's considered good sleep. I'm sleeping an hour here, an hour there these days. I pray to God her teeth finish coming in soon and this goes away. I feel like a zombie.

Stick bug!

2009-10-23T12:18:00.003-04:00

We've seen stick bugs in our bug books and in nature centers but never on one of nature walks and yesterday we were lucky enough to find one. Really cool to watch and really hard to see. I just happened to see a twig walking and thought it was strange. It was about 4 inches long. So cool!

Image is from funkman.org/animal/insect/stickinsect.html and you can read more about them here. They really are hard to find because they blend in so well.

Busy!

2009-10-21T16:40:00.003-04:00

The last two weeks i've spent at the preschool tagging stuff for the consignment sale. It's been a good way for me to socialize...something i'm not so great at. I've also seen what has come through the doors. Unbelievable all the new donated items. I'm excited to go to the presale. I never go to these sales but this year will be nice i think. It's a huge sale and i've got my eye on a few kid treasures now that i've seen what's come through the door.

I also volunteered for the Halloween party so it's been busy but the nice thing is that after October i can relax a bit. I plan on staying home while the kid is in school (i've spent the last three weeks not running errands during that time which has really put me behind on some things). I never saw myself as a PTA kind of mom but i think i'm heading in that direction lol.

The other thing is that LD actually said to me today "I love school!" What?!?!?!? What kind of drugs did they drug him with? That's not my kid! I like that he does like it. I think it's the girl he makes goo goo eyes with at school. Seriously. My son swoons over her according to the teachers. Homeschool it will be if he keeps that up lol. I've been looking through homeschool resource books too and really mulling over it all.

What else?

Asian Ladybugs have hatched around here and it's so crazy to see. The windows of our house are covered in ladybugs and there are many that cling on to us and end up in the house. It's such a crazy thing to see.

need advice

2009-10-16T13:19:00.003-04:00

I'm sinking over here and very tired. Baby girl will not sleep in her crib no matter what i do. I wouldn't mind so much except that she's getting exceedingly hard to get to sleep in the bed and Little Dude loses patience waiting and then they both don't end up sleeping and i go nuts. For you cosleepers, what did you do when you have two? She's so active and just doesn't settle down to sleep...takes a long time.

I feel horrible that i let her "cry it out" two days and yes she did fall asleep after 20 minutes but it was horrible. And yesterday i went to check on her after she finally quieted down only to find her with one hand up on the ledge asleep sitting eyes half opened looking through the slits waiting for her momma. Broke my heart. I just can't do it again. Little Dude took to his crib much easier than her. She has refused since birth and i didn't push it but now that she's so mobile i'm scared she's going to fall out of bed and it also traps me in the afternoon. I can't get on the treadmill, i can't take a shower, i can't do much.

It's just not working. I've ordered a sling for my back (because the one i'm making is apparently never going to get finished) to see if that maybe helps, at least let her fall asleep in there and then transfer her to the bed but that still leaves me trapped. I've given up on transferring her to the crib after falling asleep because she wakes up every single time i begin to lower her in. She's got one heck of a sixth sense. I've tried placing a piece of clothing of mine with my scent but that didn't work either.

Help!

too fast

2009-10-07T14:30:00.002-04:00

Everything is happening too fast right now. I feel like we are in overdrive over here. Ever since Baby Girl became mobile it's been crazy. She's growing too fast! 9 months and already on the move. The other day she scaled the stairs. I can't leave her alone at all anymore and it seems like i get absolutely nothing done yet the days fly by. You probably won't see me much. Between Sunday School homework, preschool programs i volunteered for (too many! but fun ones. fall consignment sale, halloween party, etc), and playing defense against Baby Girl and her tactics, there's very little free time which i'm filling with fall cleaning and a tiny bit of crafting (which i'd love to share because i've made some cute things). See you...albeit sporadically. I'll post a few projects over the next few days.

I never showed you the feedsacks and the quilts!

2009-09-28T15:39:00.005-04:00

As i was folding and finding a place for all my new vintage quilts i realized i never showed a picture. Here is the stack of feedsacks (and a tablecloth and miscellaneous linens) i found.... (and for those who didn't know what feedsacks were when i meantioned them...look here for a little history. I love the history of them as well as the sweet prints...all of the quilts here in these pictures except the bottom pick are feedsack quilts...feedsacks become insanely soft after washing and washing).

some a little closer up...

and a stack of aired out quilts. They are as cutty as cutters get but i love them all so much and can't wait to breathe new life into them.

I also got some beautiful tins. I seem to have a thing for tins lately. It's a good thing they are handy to have around because i keep running into insanely pretty ones...

This set of scores has kept me in the nest for over two weeks. Now with the vintage swap going on, i must get out on the hunt once again. Good thing the huge rummage sale is this weekend.

School and sewing.

2009-09-23T14:15:00.005-04:00

I actually got a little sewing done the last few days. Made little dude's pajamas, a felt crown for his birthday party, 2 pairs of pants cut and ready to be sewn and two pairs of pants cut and ready to be sewn for baby girl. And finally i braved the zipper.

I have been afraid to do a zipper forever but i did it, and without instructions which kind of screwed things up just a tad but now i know for next time. I like this pillow cover. I took an old sweater, cut it into a square, sewed and then put the zipper in. It needs a firmer pillow inside but i think it's cozy.

I'm able to sew because Little Dude is accepting school and i'm so happy for him. He still doesn't play with the other kids but i think school is a good thing for him. I see him changing a little already.

Every morning he still says he doesn't want to go and I don't blame him. I don't want to go either but I do think it will help him with his social skills. There's a huge part of me that wants to homeschool him and i think i would if he was more comfortable outside the home but he just hates leaving the house and i really want to help him be comfortable around other people and the only way to do that is to provide a safe and comfortable place for him to get the practice and to learn. I think his interests are so different too that it's hard for him to relate to kids. Kids are volatile and unpredictable. That's hard for him. He's also interested in older kid stuff (he's having us read 4th grade science books and encyclopedia's to him). That's his interest. And machinery and mechanical stuff. I tell you, i've learned so much about the world since having this boy in my life. He can tell you what's inside bugs, the walls etc. This is what he likes talking about and the poor kid can't find a kid his age to talk about this stuff to. I just hope he can make a few friends.

Maybe one day he'll actually want to leave the house to go to the playground or library. Maybe not. I do hope i'm doing the right thing for him. I think i am but as a parent we never know, do we.

2009-09-20T09:14:00.000-04:00

Eid Mubarak!!!

Patience...

2009-09-18T14:15:00.004-04:00

Things are getting better. It was a really rough couple of weeks there but the storm is passing and Little Dude is doing better. He is even tolerating preschool which started this week, dare i say almost liking it even. What a relief. If he didn't take to it, i wasn't going to force it, i'd just keep him at home but this is better. It gives me time to do my Etsy/Ebay/thrifting stuff. I'm having a good spell that way.

Two weeks ago I remembered there was an estate sale of a quilter. A good quilter. I remembered a few hours into it and when we arrived people were scurrying out with the things i like...vintage tablecloths, quilts, jars of buttons etc. I figured it was pointless but made my way through up to the sewing room. I should say that we live in a nice part of New Jersey so these quilter's estate sales are a treasure trove because they always have the best supplies, machines, etc. We also live in somewhat of a farm area so I know there are feedsacks lurking around although I never once ran into any. Welllll, i found a room stacked with quilts. Quilts I'd love to buy but can't/won't shell out the money for. While the diggers were in there digging i went to the room next door for space and breathing room. Dragging two kids through a packed house with gobs of people is not fun so i found the quiet room and everything i bought that day came from that room except Little Dude's vintage train set. What I found is what I've been waiting for... piles of feed sacks. Lovely old feedsacks. I slowly built a pile not believing my luck. I went back the next day and bought a few cutter quilts. There's not much to salvage but i'm gonna find a way because these lovely soft feedsack quilts are just priceless in my eyes.

Well that was half the house and today the sale began for the rest of it. I again showed up late because LD did not want to leave the house. After some bribery we got there around noon. I didn't get much but what i did I'm very happy with. Two more beat up quilts, odds and ends buttons and knitting needles galore. Some of the tools in there i don't even know what they are. Something else from this sale...they were collectors and had lots of primitives which i'm not really into but some of it was dang cool like the wooden baby walker from the early 1900's. Amazing contraption that was. Looked a little dangerous for little Johnny but it was adorable. I should have taken a picture but with Baby Girl poised on one hip and LD at my side, there's no time for that kind of stuff. It was so cool though. I didn't realize they had baby walkers in the early 1900's.

You should see me around a bit more. Once i get Etsy updated with some items and Ebay listings done.

I'll post more pictures soon (some are already in flickr) but this is my absolute favorite find.

It's a very very old book and you can barely open the book but this cover.........this cover just won me right over. I think i'll put it on some pretty scrapbook paper with the book in a 12 x 12 3 dimensional frame for baby girl's room. I just think it's adorable. Here's a little closer up...

I don't want to alter the book because it's obviously an antique. The cover is almost woodlike. Just adorable though isn't it?

The old quilts are a close second...i'll have to take some pictures of the others. They are truly beat up cutters though.

Embarassing moment of the day...

2009-09-15T22:37:00.002-04:00

Walking to the playground Little Dude excitedly yells out "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Look what I found!"

I'm praying with all my might he's talking about a tree, or the tennis court, or anything.........but indeed, he's talking about what I was afraid he was talking about.

"Look Mommy, it's an Indian!!!!"

LOL.LOL.LOL. Like he's never seen one before. OMG, embarassment. It was a stone cold auntie and she gave no expression so I'm hoping she didn't quite get what he was saying because everyone within 500 feet heard him.

And two minutes later (two quiet minutes later- an oddity) he looks at me with seriousness and says "Mommy, we're Muslims right?"

God I love this kid. He's a wild card and you never know what you'll get from minute to minute but sometimes he just makes you laugh. And so much of what he says is so out of the blue that it stops you in your tracks.

hiatus

2009-08-27T13:35:00.003-04:00

I'm taking what I expect to be a semi-long computer break. Little Dude and I are having some issues and I need to work them out and focus solely on him for a little while. Be back later.

A good thrifting day.

2009-08-25T11:55:00.000-04:00

I was heading home from a hectic morning out with the kids. Library visits, park, etc etc. On the way home i saw a sign on a church board advertising a garage sale. It looked desolate but i drove around to the back and there were a few cars there but each one was carting away boxes of stuff. Lots of stuff. Good stuff. I drug the tired kids out and headed in. What a treasure trove. Part of me is glad i missed the opening part because i would have been like one lady, filling my car to the gills. On the other hand i know i missed the things i truly enjoy finding. Vintage linens, quilts etc. Here is what i came home with regardless. More detailed pictures to follow. Guess how much i paid for this pile o'junk... that Joovy Red Caboose Stroller included.

The only thing my husband was truly happy i came home with. We have a double stroller, a travel system and a strollee and use them all but it seems like my car always has three strollers in it and it gets tiresome. This works for both kids - stand on and sit for LD, the front is for BG and that tray comes off and an attachment slides on if you want to use it for the baby car seat. LOVE this. And to think i walked right past it at first. This stroller works for everything and now i only need one in the car unless we are going someplace both kids may fall asleep or need more resting. They do love to hold hands in the side by side double but now at least i don't have to worry about lugging two strollers while out if LD is in a tired mood. It's not in perfect condition but it's good enough.

Look what's coming....slowly but surely...

2009-08-23T22:04:00.002-04:00

Ramadan Mubarak!

2009-08-21T22:41:00.000-04:00

May you all have a blessed month.

30 Days of Ramadan

2009-08-20T11:42:00.000-04:00

I've started a new blog for the month of Ramadan, 30 Days of Ramadan. It's a craft oriented blog for a Ramadan craft a day for kids. Let me know if you want to submit a craft for one of the days.

Rice Flea Market - New Hope, PA

2009-08-20T11:38:00.004-04:00

So we made it to Rice Flea Market last weekend after all. The birthday party was cancelled. It wasn't worth it though. Overpriced junk is just junk that is overpriced. Weird how they think they can sell it. I did pick up a few things though so it wasn't a total bust.

I got a vintage tea towel (new with tag). Love that old linen and those colors suit my kitchen. A vintage embroidered pillowcase which will become a bag or other repurposed thing or be sent to my mother. It's quite beautiful. Also an embroidered table runner. Also doomed to be repurposed. The vintage knitting spool was made in W. Germany. Debating on whether to list it on ebay/etsy or let the kid learn to knit on it. Probably the latter. The paint is peeling a little on the face but it's still very cute. The picture is bad because my flash hasn't been working the past two weeks. It's not as rough in real life as it is in the pic.

Those two bottles of sauce rock. Delish. She had a tasting station. Yum. We also got some fresh baked Italian goods I forgot to put in the picture. In the brown paper bag is Baby Girl's prized purchase...homemade Italian style pretzels - boy did she love knawing on that throughout. You should have seen my shirt after (because she of course had to be held by mommy throughout the market). I still can't believe the things i let her do. Chewing on all kinds of breads, pretzels, pizza crust. I didn't give that junk to Little Dude until he was nearly two. The corn husks came from a Mexican shop in New Hope (lovely little town). I've been looking for these FOREVER to make homemade tamales.

I can't wait to go back to New Hope in the fall when it's not so hot and we can actually slowly walk the streets instead of trying to keep Baby Girl out of the sun.

gotta love the 60's

2009-08-12T10:07:00.003-04:00

I found this book a year ago at a rummage sale. I love the pictures and the price but never took the time to go through it. I finally did and it's got a wealth of information in it and written in a groovy style. :-)

Look at that cover...

and chapter 1...

chapter 3. Look at those bolts of fabric. And that purse.

Don't you love the rick rack at the cuff of those pants? I'm so doing that to a pair of Baby Girls. I'll skip the fringe part though. Ick.

back cover...

And how groovy is the fabric underneath... Peter Pan fabric. I sold a yard of this last year because i didn't know what to do with it but i kept a yard for myself because i love the funkiness of it. I'm glad i did because it's going to become a part of many soon to appear projects...robot...knee patches...etc.

Peace love and hair grease!

Peachy

2009-08-11T09:11:00.004-04:00

We went peach picking this past weekend and Baby Girl actually picked a peach and ate it. When it got all crazy mushy all over the carrier, we took it away and the girl threw a hissy fit. I never in a million years would have done this with Little Dude at her age. The flexibility i have with her (letting her mash a huge chunk in her mouth with no teeth) shocks me. She does good though. She uses her finger to push it over to her gums. Quick learner this one. We went to a barbeque the next day and this girl dug through a big bowl of fruit and find the only peach they had in the bowl. Gotta love her. She's too cute for words. She is eating purees now too so i just may do a baby food blog.

Sooooo, today is my birthday and i'm 36 and that is just shocking to me. I mean 36 was ooooold when i was younger. 40 is around the corner. Okay enough about that. Freaking.me.out.

We have birthday party to go to this weekend for little dude's friend...her birthday party always gets in the way of my plans for my own but oh well. No Rice Flea Market, no nothing really because it's smack dab in the middle of the day. Grrrr. Maybe we'll hit the beach on Sunday.

Rice Flea Market

2009-08-10T09:29:00.002-04:00

I've been hearing and talking about going to the Rice Flea Market a hop, skip and a jump away and finally it's happening. This is the week i've been waiting all summer for. My poor husband is going to be tormented and i'll do my best to ignore his painstaken face as I *hopefully* drag home some goodies on Saturday. It's been a long while since I went to a flea market, probably ten years or so.

here's my wishlist:

- vintage sewing stuff (buttons, rick rack, printed pattern bias tape)
- old quilts (grandmother's garden, texas star, Methodist star (i think that's the name), or any feedsack quilt).
- those old colored knitting needles
- giant picture frame (i've been on the search for this for months now but i'm hoping...)
- ephemera

Not too much to ask for right?

Delicious recipe~!

2009-08-07T14:25:00.002-04:00

I'm trying to eat more veggies and have more vegetarian meals and when i saw this sandwich i knew i would like it. I've wanted to make it since seeing it on Salt and Chocolate's blog (originally from here) and i finally did and wow, yum! Next time I think i'll add some eggplant too. I paired it up with a pasta salad since i was craving that too. I'm so happy not to be travelling anymore. Good food.at home.

And...i ordered the patterns and plan to start the knitting portion after our soon to arrive guests leave tomorrow morning. Yay! I'll definately be doing the acorn backpack first because i just adore it.

adorable doll kits

2009-08-05T21:22:00.003-04:00

Will someone please tell me why i still haven't ordered this set of doll patterns from Wee Wonderfuls? I mean seriously, how cute are those. One for my boy, one for my girl and a hope that they could play together. Will someone please tell me to finally push "purchase" and just do it? I REALLY want to make these. I know i have zero time, but my oh my, it would be worth some late nights burning the midnight or 2am oil, which the case is likely to be. If there are five comments telling me to hit that button, i will. And I'll likely be up the next five nights until 2 am working on them. Come on, i know you want me to...as if that acorn backpack doesn't sell you alone!

Cozy Cone Motel

2009-08-04T15:47:00.003-04:00

So.....having the need to create something. Anything. But no time and no naptime symmetry, i told Little Dude I'd make him something cool if he played with his sister for 15 minutes. This is what i made...

....a cozy cone motel room (from the Cars movie if you don't have a Cars fan in your house). Here comes lightening...

It's really bad sewing because it was really quick but it's paid off because he's still in there playing with it allowing me to post on the blog. I ~~stole~~ was inspired by the one in this etsy shop. I just had to make once i saw it. It was not leaving my mind. It took forever for me to figure out how to make a cone out of fabric but figured it out enough. It's not as nice as hers, but it'll do. But with 5, er...15 minutes, not bad.

Summer?

2009-08-04T14:00:00.002-04:00

We are finally done travelling. It's been a crazy 6 or 7 weeks for me. Trip to the inlaws, next day my mom arrived here, two weeks later she leaves and then i have to prepare for the garage sale which i was really happy with the results. Decluttered and some money to boot. After that i had to pack for Denver and go. Denver was crazy. Late nights, missed naps, rainy weather, etc. Little Dude couldn't make it up the mountains i miss so much and he also didn't make it through one of the flights without getting sick all over me. Delayed flight back but once we hit home, i felt bliss. We are done with all our travelling for the summer. I can't do any more. (Amy....i know i know....i just don't know if i have it in me for another trip lol). I need a vacation after all this "vacationing". My garden grew while i was gone though. We have some yummy green beans and tomatos. I think the rabbits or other biggish creature got my basil and cilantro. I guess that's the price you pay for homegrown. Now for the last few weeks of summer (if that's what we're calling this rainy weather lately) i want/need to do a few sewing projects and laze about a little. Need to do the summer reading program. Clean out the baby pool and just relax. Gotta hit the beach up for my birthday next weekend too. I can't wait to go on some of the rides with my big boy. Maybe win him some junk too. And funnel cake, is that you i hear calling me?

chubbalicious

2009-07-23T21:18:00.001-04:00

P7190175
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

the thing about button hoarding...

2009-07-22T15:30:00.003-04:00

is that it's hard to choose just one for a project. But i do prefer to choose buttons that weave in ends. Can you tell?

So i'm going to ask you...

Which one? It's a good thing i don't have more pink ones to choose from. I'm leaning towards that light pink vintage one off to the left.

...what says you?

7 months!

2009-07-21T16:04:00.002-04:00

Happy 7 month birthday Baby Girl. I can't believe how fast the time is going by. My world has been rocked by this little one. I don't know what the difference is this time around but being her momma has been such a joy. I remember with Little Dude i fretted a lot. With her, i just soak her up.

Baby food blog

2009-07-20T16:03:00.000-04:00

Sooooooooo, i was going to do a baby food blog but in a way it's kind of pointless since it doesn't look like i'll be making much baby food with this baby. I realized that she's just not that into it. She prefers our food. She's always been a bit grabby with food but yesterday when she yanked the chunk of mango out of hand and ate it, i realized that the baby food step is just a big waste of time with this one. I've pureed a few things for her cereal but she's eating slightly mashed fruits and veggies instead of purees. It was going to be so much fun to do the blog! I had so much fun making little dude's food. :-/

fireflies in a jar

2009-07-15T13:54:00.002-04:00

fireflies in a jar
Originally uploaded by jamelah

I've been decluttering, really decluttering. We are finally having a garage sale and it's a big one. Usually i donate a box or two a month but this is going to be a massive sale. It's a lot of work but i think if we make over $300, it'll be worth a saturday. We'll buy something special that we've wanted but haven't splurged on. Little Dude will be working the lemonade/water stand, Baby Girl will make everyone swoon, husband will be the cranky guy in the corner and i'm gonna go nuts i'm sure. I don't like holding garage sales but i do like clearing out so much stuff and letting go of stuff that i've been hesitant to donate.

In other news, Little Dude has become quite the bug catcher. He's got several bug homes going on. Fireflies here, worms there, caterpillars too. I'm not so sure i should have encouraged these things now. I've never seen the boy happier though than the other night when he ran in out of breath "i caught a firefly mommy.. LOOK!" The pride in his eyes, the proud chest upright and the biggest proudest smile as the little bug flickered in his hands. So cute. Gotta love lightening bugs. We have so many here in our backyars. On the 4th of July, our back woods looked like christmas lights flickering there were so many out there.

(i did not take this picture...found on flickr)

Hilarioius!

2009-07-11T17:51:00.001-04:00

Little Dude and I got a good laugh over this. There's another version out there too.

5 minute crafting

2009-07-09T10:23:00.003-04:00

I figured i'd start posting some of my 5 minute crafts. I mentioned before that i miss crafting but absolutely don't find the time for it anymore unless it's kid-centric or late at night (usually scrapbooking and occassionally sewing). I did get a few things made when my mom was here but that's because she wanted me to make her some things so i did. Those were also 5 minute crafts. Anyhoooow, here's the 5 minute craft x 5 (5 intervals of 5 minutes each) i did yesterday. I seriously miss naptime...it was the only time i had to do things (make something, read something, feel human, etc).

I was impressed when he started humming the busy people song from the richard scarry video as we painted on the mod podge. These images were drawn by Richard Scarry although it wasn't a Richard Scarry book. I'm happy that he was able to put the artist to the image without knowing.

It's far from perfect (there are bubbles) but something i learned from scrapbooking is that if you keep putting something off because you want it to be perfect it may never get done. I can't tell you how many people i know that have a bag full of supplies for scrapbooking but haven't done a thing with it. Perfection can really get in the way of creativity. It's something i've been conquering within myself for many months now. Actually since i began crafting. I had to shove my perfectionist self aside and just jump in and see what happened. I'm really glad i did because it's led me down many fun and in some ways therapeutic paths since i began making crafts about 3 years ago. Sometimes imperfections can be good. For instance, i won't have a hissy fit when this table gets all messed up again and needs redoiong in a year or so. I'll simply find another fun book and maybe get more creative with it now that i have one under my belt.

I like how fun it looks and i'm hoping that it will keep him sitting while eating at this table. :-)

scootage

2009-07-08T13:59:00.002-04:00

scootage
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Baby Girl gets herself into all kinds of messes now. I can't leave the room without losing her. The first time this happened i left the room for literally two minutes. I came back and couldn't find her. She was under the couch with just her little head sticking out. I knew it was coming but i just didn't think it would happen so quick. This house is far from babyproofed. She's a stubborn, determined, quick-to-learn baby with a red-hot-temper. She gets so irate when she's gotten someplace, gotten what she went after only to have it taken away. I distracted Little Dude when he was this age by giving him something else. Not with her. She'll give you a verbal lashing. It's funny too when LD goes down for a nap. She plays with all the things he won't let her touch when he's awake. And when he comes downstairs after, it's like she knows her time is up but there's a twinkle in her eye of..."ha, i got your lightening mcqueen so there!"

Kariya Park

2009-07-07T13:51:00.002-04:00

Every time i go to Toronto i've wanted to go to Kariya Park. Finally i made it. Twice.

Non-Vacation

2009-06-22T09:28:00.003-04:00

I'm back from my nonvacation vacation. I always come back from my inlaws saying words like "clever", "keen" and "method". It was good to get away but my plan of spending quality time with each kid alone did not happen. I also had planned on getting a haircut etc. Instead LD was quite the handful and nothing like that happened. On a good note, in the midst of family drama, I have gotten closer to my inlaws. There wasn't a single altercation this trip mash'Allah. Got back late last night and my mom is flying in tonight. Busy busy busy! Be back soon.

Thrifty Thursday

2009-06-12T09:06:00.002-04:00

I absolutely love this set of dishes I found. I can't find any information on them though. They are stamed "Nice Mice" made in England and have some symbols. The set is complete. I think the little tiny cup is an egg holder but not sure. I LOVE the graphics. On Ebay the mug alone sold for $9.99 but that's all i found on this set after ebaying and googling them. Look at these images! They are heavy too. This was a splurge for me at a thrift store that was closing for the summer so offering everything half off. I got the set for $5 (and would have gladly paid $10...i just never visit this particular store). They are in perfect condition and unused. I could see the sticky mark of a price sticker.

I only had ten minutes to look around and when i saw these, my heart jumped. I thought "there's no way i would have gotten these for little dude but for baby girl, oh yes." I say that because Little Dude has always been a bit zealous with throwing things and breaking things. He still loves it when i break a dish. He comes running in to see the fallen casualty. I just hope i can bring myself to let her use them. They will be used by me to feed her.

Aren't they just lovely? I don't use words like lovely but these are lovely.

And here's another recent-ish find - a brand new bumbo in the box for $15. Score! I didn't realize how great these were or i would have bought one anyway. It keeps her out of the line of fire (a.k.a. little dude). I'm pretty certain I won't have any scores for a while because these are just so good.

Banana Hotdog

2009-06-10T10:59:00.000-04:00

Lightly toasted bread spread with peanut butter. Banana as the hotdog and honey as the ketchup. Make one for yourself too. This is not kid food. This is GOOD food. And healthy food. Peanuts and bananas are high energy foods and carbs are good too. If you want to make it even healthier add some wheat germ for relish.

Strawberry Fields Forever

2009-06-08T13:48:00.002-04:00

We love picking stuff and this is our second year bringing home a ton of strawberries. Yesterday was filled with tractors, sunshine, hats, lots of strawberries, jam making and strawberry eating.

Baby food blog

2009-06-03T09:28:00.003-04:00

When i was making little dude's baby food, a lot of people emailed me asking for specifics and how to information. Since Baby Girl has officially started solids, when I get back from Toronto I will begin making her food full force and thought I might do a blog specific to making baby food. Anyone still interested?

Life's surprises.

2009-05-29T13:22:00.003-04:00

If anyone had told me ten years ago that i'd have two kids, i'd be nursing them both until they were two, that i would become a muslim, that i'd care about the food i ingested and be somewhat of a food nazi. That i would scrapbook, knit, crochet, sew, quilt and be crafty, that i would do google searches for things like Where are the eyes of a starfish located? and How do you color styrofoam balls? That I would spend hours building complicated train track setups. That i would spend hours building elaborate playmobil airports and other structures. That i would figure out how the heck rokenbok works. Well I would have called you nuts. But here I am doing all these things and more. Life is a surprise isn't it? I wonder what I'll be doing at 60?

Memorial Day weekend fun

2009-05-28T16:03:00.005-04:00

rc air show
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

We had an action packed memorial day's weekend. We went to an remote control air show out in the middle of nowhere which Little Dude has been reenacting ever since.

On the way home-ish we went to Princeton for lunch and to walk through the campus. Little Dude always calls it a castle and I never correct him (much like he calls the huge Hindu temple here a giant sandcastle...i don't correct him there either). What was really funny is that it was the seminary school's graduation day and hubby, hubby's uncle and little dude all ended up in the middle of it while i was nursing Baby Girl on some secluded steps.

Little Dude said he saw all the knights and princessessess (lol) coming out. It was too perfect because they were all in colored cloaks and hats. How perfect is that?

The next day was my husband's birthday so we took him to the beach and boardwalk. Baby girl had a nice sleep on the beach, LD got to run around and get sand into every crevice. We played games on the boardwalk and won junk at the arcade.

On Monday we went to a big bike race, messed around, went to the antique store and then a Japanese restaurant.

It was a busy weekend but a lot of fun. Only bad thing is when you are so busy, long weekends seem short.

multitasking

2009-05-26T21:00:00.001-04:00

I love that i can read blogs and grocery shop at the same time. Have you tried it yet? I love shopping from home.

Goldie

2009-05-21T19:08:00.003-04:00

Yesterday at the dentist, LD found a baby caterpillar (about half an inch long) in the doorjam of the office. He immediately swooped him up and named him Goldie and declared him his friend. He brought him home in an empty water bottle and made a nice little home for him in his bug jar. He told me how much he loved him and how well he was going to take care of him. I looked up his species while LD read a book to him which he called cartoons (Here's some cartoons Goldie...) as he read him "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. It was a fast intense friendship. At night, I told him he had to go outside because he was so small that he could get out of the airholes and i didn't want him lost in the house. LD said he was sending his caterpillar to preschool (the front steps) just for a few hours so he could get his work done.

In the morning, a very sick LD woke up and went running outside for Goldie, gathered him up and ate breakfast. I told him he was going to stay home because his cough was too bad in which i got a great big smile and was told that i was the best.

Later, LD took Goldie to have some fun in the sandbox. He sat him down on the ground next to him while he played. Then Goldie did the unthinkable, he went down a crack. LD came in screaming and crying. My friend is going to fall. He's too little. He's going to get hurt. He's so small and i need to take care of him. I said he has strong legs and he'll climb back up when he's ready. I was wrong. He fell. LD cried so hard. We went looking for him but couldn't find him. I convinced LD that he was okay. That bugs are strong and can handle falls. He said I was wrong. He killed his friend and he started bawling. I'm not talking little crying, i'm talking wailing.

ALL.DAY.LONG he's cried intermittantly, has boycotted food until his friend comes back to him because he love's him so much. I convinced him to go out to the sandbox this evening and he came in crying and said "I can't. I'm just too sad. I only want Goldie." Sigh. This poor kid. I've told him that Goldie is safe, better off in fact because he has his mommy taking care of him and he'll come visit us when he's a butterfly. The kid won't buy it.

I can't believe the crying. It's so strong and intense. This kid is in love with a caterpillar. I've never seen him act like this.

today...

2009-05-20T15:55:00.001-04:00

feet
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

giggling
playing footsie
walk in the park
picnic
baby rolling over
green grass
blue sky
subhanallah

Logic 101

2009-05-19T08:46:00.002-04:00

Mommyyyyyyy....
(3 seconds go by)
Mommmyyyyyyyyy....

A very tired mommy gets out of bed squinting her way down the hall after being up half the night. "I'm here."

"Look! I got up all by own and pulled down my pants and went potty. And I didn't wake you up! Are you happy i didn't wake you up?"

lol.

We are off to the stables to go riding today. Jockeying is a big sport here and there are tons of stables all around. It's cute to see the kids in riding clothes and helmet. We're just going for the morning though.

I wish titles could write themselves

2009-05-15T21:34:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted for a while!

Not much going on and there's a lot going on. LD and BG just won't work with me on naptime. I struggle if i don't get a half hour to myself a day. With a high needs kid and a bitty baby I just lose it. I can actually feel my nerves fraying. It's been one of those weeks. BG won't nap at all or when she does, it's very short because she's breaking a tooth. LD drones on about how awful school is, how he can't wait till it's over and in a way i can't either. The short amount of time he's gone isn't going to make much of a difference. Perhaps he'll begin sleeping in a little more if he's not worried about school.

The only non child thing that's been going on is my 5 minute craftathon. Everyday I make something in 5 minutes. It's actually been very satisfying even though my "to make" list is getting seriously long. At least i'm having little bouts of creativity. One day i made some scrapbook borders. Another I made a project/learning thing for LD. Another a felt set for LD. And today a plastic bag dispenser that cut a ton of corners but got done in 5 minutes (from beginning to end). It's currently hanging in the kitchen now and in usage. Husband liked it a lot.

That's me. What's new with you?

Life

2009-05-08T17:10:00.003-04:00

This morning we were reading a book and there was a worm that had an unhappy face because he was about to get eaten by a bird. It's a baby book. For most it wouldn't be a big deal, if it was even noticed, but for my kid, this image bothered him all day. He asked me over and over why the worm had a sad face and why the bird was eating his friend and how it wasn't fair. Then he got teary eyed and asked over and over why the bird was doing that to him. My kid is super duper sensitive and he's also super smart so you can't make it all better with a word bandaid. He knows what's up. I had to get out of the house so we could get past it.

I think it had something to do with the other day while walking in the rain and splashing in puddles. He found a worm in one of the puddles in the middle of the street. We saved him by carefully picking him up with a stick and putting him in grass under a tree. He was proud to save the worm and I was happy to see my son be so thoughtful.

This is my beautiful child. I love him. His purity and spirit is just sweet and generous. When a child at the playground says to him "i don't like you" or "i don't want to play with you" he is hurt for days. I don't know what to do about it. Kids aren't very nice and i feel it gets worse as parents are less and less around their children. They say mean things. Mine doesn't. He's never said a mean word to another kid. Ever. I fear for him in the public school system.

I'm losing my point.

On the way home today after playing hard with a couple of 5 year old boys who let him run with them at the playground near the library, him tired from making havoc with a mud puddle (me letting him get knee deep in mud so he could be the star of the group) he was wiped out. But before he passed out with an apple in his hand he said to me "God made everything. God makes people. I like that."

My boy was liked today and he was one of "them" and I was happy to see his spirit rise. All day he's been worried about a worm and Wall*E too. For a few brief hours he got lost in the moment and it was beautiful.

Making things.

2009-05-07T08:45:00.003-04:00

My son and the verb "make" make me laugh. He takes this word so literally. Here are a few instances.

1.

"I'm going to go make the bed now." (now it's rare i do this so i can kind of see his confusion lol) He got all excited and followed me upstairs.
"Where is the hammer and nails?"

2.

"Today daddy's colleague is coming over because he's moving here and soon you'll make friends with his daughters."

"Can i watch you make the girls? How are you going to make them? Like home(made)?"

3.

"Why does daddy go to work?"
"Because he has to make money."

Later that night we find him drawing away on several little pieces of paper.

"What are you doing?"
"I'm making money. Like daddy."

:-)

Shooter

2009-05-07T08:41:00.002-04:00

This has to be one of the best action thriller movies i've seen. I really liked it.

Bummer

2009-05-01T19:47:00.008-04:00

I'm a little nervous with this flu. I tend to think these things are overhyped but then i have also been a victim.

When I lived in Colorado there was an outbreak of West Nile Virus. I was hiking and got bit my a mosquito. A week later i was sick. Really sick. I went to the hospital and told them I thought i had West Nile. They sent me home saying i didn't - that only 50 or so people had it. A week later i was really sick and couldn't move my neck. My doctor said "You can't have west nile. it's still pretty rare." I asked her to do the blood test anyway. When she called me a few days later she said "i can't believe it but you tested positive." There was nothing you can do and since i had it for a month already they couldn't do the spinal tap either and she said I'd just get over it.

I began getting really sick. I couldn't eat or drink anything without getting sick, could hardly walk and my legs would give out as i went down stairs. I would lay there on the floor puking up water watching the news say "There are now 130 cases of West Nile. 30 deaths." and swear that i was going to be number 31. Not many were dying from it and most got over it in a few weeks but I was extremely sick. I don't complain much about pain but it was horrible.

After two months of missing work and weekly visits to the ER when my pain got too bad (they just shot me full of morphine so i'd leave happy as an idiot) my boss was getting irritated. She didn't believe i was really this sick over West Nile because most people got over it in a week to two weeks so she forced me to go to a doctor of their choice. From that appointment I learned that not only did i have West Nile Virus but also Encephalitis and Meningitis. Long story short is I almost died - mostly because no one believed me so i didn't get proper medication and when they did figure out what it was it was too far in to do anything about. I had lost 20 or so pounds and I was already super skinny and didn't have that weight to lose but I couldn't keep anything down. It is very rare for someone to get all three like i did. Out of 110 cases, only 1 will, and many who do will die. My right leg still gives a lot of problems especially on long drives or when i'm fasting. I can't fast all 30 days because of it. I don't know why exactly but it gets so severe that i can't walk. My brain had swollen so bad that I had chronic headaches for a few years after.

So....there may be a lot of hype about this Swine Flu but it does happen and it can be you and it can be your kid so please take precautions and protect yourself. Don't get all paranoid but also don't put yourself at risk.

I was bummed that i didn't get to go to my favorite rummage sale today, the one i wait months on end for but crowds right now for me are a big no no. School for LD is on my mind and if the numbers keep rising i'll quit sending him. If I didn't have a baby in the house I probably wouldn't be so worried but with her being 4 months old, i am. NJ/NY has the most cases and we are smack dab in the middle of farm country and there's a lot of people who commute to NYC in our area. I'd be lying if i said I wasn't nervous because I am. I know it can happen even if the odds are small. I know for me it was a very slim chance i'd get so sick but I did and that leaves me a little freaked about this current flu. Just my two pennies.

Homemade pizza

2009-04-30T14:09:00.003-04:00

There should be a picture but we just ate it too fast. But you will thank me for passing this recipe on to you: homemade pizza sauce. It is delicious. Pair that with homemade pizza dough, the softest gooiest freshest mozarella you can find, some basil leaves and some vegan canadian bacon and pepperoni and you will have yourself a homemade and quite possibly homegrown out of this world meal. You're welcome.

Powdered Sugar

2009-04-29T10:36:00.001-04:00

Am i the only one who didn't know that it was so easy to make powdered sugar. I'm never buying the stuff again. I always have a box unused in my cabinet or i don't have any and i need it and lose the momentum to make what i was making because i don't, which results in having the unused box. I'm never buying it again. How easy and fun too for the little one to do this.

Boston it was!

2009-04-28T15:05:00.003-04:00

So many of you knew! We had a good, exhausting, hot time. I'm beginning to think it's summer! It's in the 90's again today. I would have some very nice pictures if 1) my husband didn't put the camera where it could fall out of the stroller and 2) i didn't kick something plasticy/metally sounding on the ground and not look to see what it was assuming it couldn't be ours because I secure everything.

That was the bad part but the rest was all good. BG had a tough time, LD gained some serious stubborness. He came back with an attitude of "no, you listen to me lady" and leaving the house after i say no going outside until BG and me were ready. YES. Leaving the house on his own. You better believe that was a violation. It's a bit hard to chase down a 3 year old in your pajamas holding a baby. Not fun. I wish we could have fences in our neighborhood.

He thinks he's the man of the house now. On another note, he saw my empty water cup upstairs next to the bed so brought it down, pushed a chair to the counter and filled it up with the water pitcher, and brought it back upstairs (spilling the whole way i might add) to me without me asking. Sweet. And he now says "my sister is beautiful. And you are too." This age seems to be one of serious ups and downs/high points and low points. It's going to be an interesting summer.

Where am I?

2009-04-24T09:02:00.002-04:00

Cup covers

2009-04-23T08:57:00.002-04:00

another cup cover
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I HAD to make something the other day so this is what i made. Two cup covers for my water at night. Quick satisfaction. I was able to make both in a naptime. And i think i have the french knot mastered and boy is it fun to make once you get the hang of it. I got tired of it though and was running out of time so two opposite edges are x's and o's. I like the beads that hang for weights on the corners. LD stole both of these and made a quilt out of them. The words are french words for coffee, tea and water. I thought to put coffee tea or me but then that would be kinda strange to say to myself lol.

Bread and Butter and a Bag

2009-04-22T11:55:00.001-04:00

(that's the heel which is never eaten with regular bread but gobbled up with this bread....if that says anything!)

I have been on the hunt for a good non-bread machine recipe and have found a few so far i like. I'm still trying more out but here are two that i've really enjoyed.

The first one is Soulemama's Who Bread (Acoustic Style - that's without a machine) and the other is Beauty that Moves Almost Sandwich Bread. I want to try Blue Yonder's but haven't yet.
Soulemama's is really good for snack bread. LD eats this up with honey. I do one thing different and that is I add dates. I love dates in bread and this one just asks for it.

Beauty that Moves is good for sandwich bread except LD doesn't like it so i need to figure out a way to make it a little lighter for him.

Both are great bases to build with. That Silly Girl also posted some great info on bread.

Butter was next on my list and who knew how easy it was to make. Delish!

Since I've been making bread regularly for a few months now I realized i needed a bread bag. I thought to embroider one and make it all fancy smancy but i needed to make something yesterday quick. It was midnight after all. So, i was digging through my linens and happened upon a great quality vintage linen tablerunner that i thought i'd use for something but hated it whole. I quickly, as in five minutes quick, stitched up the sides and then cuffed it over and threaded some vintage bias tape sewn shut through the loops and voila, finished.

Five minutes and i'm thrilled with it. I'm not even worried about the stain it has. It is such nice linen. Thick and slick. I had put buttons on the ends of the bias tape. Big mustard yellow vintage ones but decided it was too much. It is a bread bag after all. No reason to make it something it's not. This morning i ran into this giveaway by Apron Memories. How perfect did all that work together???

Another question...

2009-04-21T18:19:00.001-04:00

DSC02840
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I scored this at a garage sale of all places a year ago. I really want to make cards, mostly eid ones and some other personalized things. I also love how you can print on wood, fabric, etc.

I bought it for a whopping $20. That'll never happen again. These things are selling these around $200 because they no longer make them and when they did it was in Japan. So, if i do in fact get rid of it, i'll probably never get it again. Here's the thing. If i haven't used it in a year, i probably won't use it for a few more. You need space to make the cards so they can dry. I have little ones. It ain't happening anytime soon.

I'm cleaning out my space can you tell? So. Keep it or sell it? I really want to keep it but i just don't think i'll get around to using it anytime soon and when i do the supplies (lightbulbs and ink etc) will probably be really hard to find. That's the negative. The positive is how fun it would be to make cards!

What to make?

2009-04-21T18:13:00.001-04:00

DSC02839
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I love this fabric. Adore it. It's a nice soft thick cotton...not upholstery like but just lush. I bought it a year and a half ago when an antique store was closing. I want to make something with it but have no idea what. It's about a yard give or take. Any ideas? Only thing i've been thinking is a bag.

Gifts!

2009-04-21T09:04:00.009-04:00

Look at the lovliness i got in the mail! and some felting yarn to boot! Her pictures are much better than what mine would be ... Thanks Robyn. We loved everything! I really love that hat. I can't even believe she made it! And that tote is perfect for carrying my yarn projects. Right now it's carrying two. The dress is adorable and can't wait till baby girl wears it. Probably soon. She's one chunky monkey. I got her a bunch of tights and baby legs and it'll look darling with one of the pairs. Good stuff.

And on the note of gifts. I got an email about how i was being sort of shallow about the blanket and in my defense i just wanted to say that had anyone else given me this, i would have been appreciative but it was the friend that was supposed to watch LD while giving birth to BG and backed out at the last moment. After not talking for nearly 4 months i called her and asked if they wanted to come over. She never once called to check on us or to see how the delivery went. Nothing. This was the first time seeing her and i just thought the whole thing was tacky but i wanted to fix things mostly for LD because he loves her daughter. They are a perfect fit. Last week it got worse as i saw her getting competitive with a very good friend of mine. What to do when your child likes another but the moms are a bad fit? I don't know. She wants to get together more and it really is a bit of a struggle for me.

This was supposed to be a happy post soooo....

I also got this cute hat from Gori in the Kitchen. Love. :-) It fits her perfect now and will easily fit her next year. Too cute! Bonus is that it makes her mohawk a flyaway mohawk. Nothing cuter than that! I love the colors too. She's going to wear this today for our walk. Thanks Cindi!

Must reads

2009-04-20T15:33:00.004-04:00

Whenever i need a few minutes to escape my reality (dirty diaper, spitup, jelly faced little boy, starving husband etc) i can always rely on my file "must reads" in bloglines. Most of my regular commenters are there in that menu. Some are my true escapes...people doing the things i wish i could be doing right now...mostly crafters. Well today there is a new one... Sigh. Usually i go to Soulemama for a fix, or Beauty that Moves or Qalballah.

Someday, not today, because i have the serious urge to cut some fabric or fondle some yarn before the kids wake up - i will have to share all the blogs i blurk.

time

2009-04-19T19:30:00.003-04:00

First off. I want this so bad that it hurts. Seriously. I love it.

I'm tired. Here's what i did today:

- Semi- cleaned the house.
- Mountain of laundry and even folded it.
- Bathed youngest and cut nails. Hey, that's big around here.
- Cooked.for.6.hours. Yes. 6.

See, people are always asking me how i get so much done or have time for this or that. This is how. I do it all in one day.

It is normal for me to cook 3 pakistani dishes and some sides, a pasta dish and some little dude food in one day.

Today i cooked:

Chicken tortilla soup.
Coconut chicken pasta.
Fried chicken.
Haleem.
Keema.
Daal.
Ras Malai.
Pasta (i'll add white sauce to it one day and cheese another and tomato yet another). Most for me and LD lunches.

Still working on chicken curry and chicken biryani.

It wears me out but i'm pretty much done for the first half of the week. I also cook big batches so half goes into the freezer right off. I don't eat much pakistani food these days because it bothers the little one. I love doing pakistani food for the freezer. It's a life saver. I portion it into different sizes. Single meals, double meals, and family meals. Last week i did this with chicken parmesan. We ate it for dinner the first night, then i had it for lunch, hubby had it for dinner when he worked later than normal etc. This week i'll do that with eggplant parmesan. A whole eggplant makes enough for us all to eat it and then a few meals left over for the freezer. The trick with freezing food is packaging it right so it doesn't get freezer burned. I pretty much cook twice a week except for small stuff like lunches and LD dinners. It saves a ton of time to do it this way but it is a lot of work upfront. Midweek i cook whatever else needs to be used up (veggies etc) and another dessert. I don't leave any meals in the fridge past 3 days. They go right to the freezer.

Okay, now i'm off to clean up. Cleaners are coming tomorrow so i gotta clean so they can clean. Then i'm done for the week. You bet i'll be making something this week or scrapbooking. I've also got to pack for a little mini break.

Things I love right now

2009-04-15T07:41:00.003-04:00

* Baby Girl checking out her feet yesterday for the first time. Coincided with her first time wearing shoes. Hilarious to watch her check out her shoe from every angle and smile. Such a girl.

* My new stripey shirts from Gap. I love stripes. LOVE them. I buy them whenever i can. I have two new additions. Red and white stripes and pink and white. I cannot, for the life of me, get BG to nurse while wearing them though. The milk goes flying. She simply cannot stop staring at them and smiling. I'm a walking mobile for her. She just watches the stripes and smiles and coos.

* How my baby girl checks out what i'm wearing each day. And seems to have an opinion about it.

* How little dude is his own person with his own likes and opinions now. It's been coming about but now it's full on. I have started taking him to the toy store and he really enjoys it. Now while staring up at the Cars cars he tells me which ones he likes and which ones he doesn't. If they don't have one he wants, he doesn't want one just because. He'll wait for the one he wants. Cute. It's like his first collection. It happens with so many other things but it dawned on me these past few weeks how he really has become independent-ish from me. It saddens me and it makes me happy. Maybe this is the fear he's been feeling lately. How scary for a little one to start feeling independent. Must be confusing.

* How when i leave little dude with baby girl, he will sit next to her and hold her hand and say "i am here." And then give her his favorite car and talk to her about cartoons. LOVE these moments. When i'm around he sort of ignores her and goes about his business but when i'm not, he steps in as the mother role. This sometimes brings tears to my eyes.

* Trees are getting buds. Finally. Never have i felt a season so much...well except maybe fall. But spring usually just happens for me. I never really notice it too much except when you abruptly start seeing so much flesh. This year i notice because we are all anxious to get out in it. LD keeps asking me when we are going to go on picnics again? Soon my love, soon.

* How when BG has gas, she will unlatch, purse her lips into a perfect O and let one rip. Frat boys would be impressed by my little girls passing gas enthusiasm. It is so cute. When LD passed gas it always caught me off guard and made me laugh but when this little one does it, my heart swells. Explain that one.

* My craft space is organized and ready for work. I have spaces for everything i do now. Table for scrapbooking etc. I used the Bernina the other day on a project that would have given me trouble with my other machine and i realize i HAVE to keep her. She's a thing of beauty, old as she is.

* Did I mention Spring? And yellow? And green? And the wild turkey's that make a return this time of year to our back yard? We saw one crossing the road yesterday. It's been raining lots but that brings growth as I keep telling LD.

Best thrift/garage sale find ever!

2009-04-12T11:18:00.001-04:00

Best thrift/garage sale find ever!
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

happy happy happy!

Loooove this. And there's even more furniture than shown. Amazing find...and so clean.

I simply cannot wait to start making some stuff for this. Mini quilts, towels, pot holders ...oh the possibilities. I'm happy it didn't come with dolls. This way, BG can go choose the dolls for it when she's old enough to play with it. I say she because i'm not letting LD near it. I have no problems with boys playing with dolls but he has a habit of painting things and drawing on things. I'd rather keep his markers and paints out rather than the dollhouse. He uses them endlessly.

I simply cannot believe my luck on finding this and it almost didn't happen. I was on my way to an estate sale. Passed the sign and thought to myself "hmmm nice neighborhood, should come back after the estate sale since they probably have kids."

Huge houses like this (10 plus rooms) usually have horrible sales where everything is priced super high or really good sales where they just don't want to lug it to donation centers. Guess which one this was? Score! Funny thing is she was just leaving her house to go get the sign from the corner since it looked like it was going to rain. She told me i could take a look. And then i saw it. I also got 3 girly halloween costumes. A cat, a ballerina and a princess.

THIS is why all my friends are saying how lucky i am to have a girl. I get it now. I had no preference before but now i get it. I love playing legos and playmobil too don't get me wrong but this.....this is just right up my alley. I never had a dollhouse as a kid and now i do lol.

A Year of Mornings

2009-04-11T13:27:00.001-04:00

A Year of Mornings
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Fingerprint fun

2009-04-11T13:26:00.001-04:00

DSC02792
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

This book rocks. So much fun to make little pictures out of finger paints. I haven't done a "Year of Mornings" post forever so here is one from the other day.

Thanks, but no thanks?

2009-04-11T12:03:00.004-04:00

People know i like handmade/homemade but now I have become the recipient of several tacky regifts...those not cute crochet blankets grannies (the uncool ones, not the cool ones) everyone has one of and keeps because they feel they have to. Yesterday was the same "I knew you would appreciate this..." For the record, I don't appreciate ugly, nor tacky regifts. It's funny that people lump all homemade/handmade into one big pile. There is cute homemade and ugly homemade and i have been the maker of both. I'm embarrassed of my first crochet blankets but they were cuter than this. I like special, one of a kind sorts of things. I love the baby blanket i made first even though the first few rows were off. It was my first and i think it's beautiful. Then there's
this one i love and the and ones my mom made but ugly is ugly and please, if you don't like a homemade/handmade blanket, i'm betting the person you are trying to off it on doesn't either because handmade is either good or bad and trust me, if it's good, you like it. So, i don't want to be rude but since she thought the blanket she gave us is really pretty and the ugly shrug too, i was thinking of giving it back because baby girl is surrounded with homemade blankets made with love and she has a lot of them.....like 8. A couple from me, a couple from my mom, a couple from friends and family personally made for her. And this friend knows i am working on a blanket right now too.

This one means zilch to me. It was made for my friend by a friend of hers so i was going to say "Thanks for thinking of us, but BG already has several blankets made by me and family and i'd really hate for this to go to waste. I figured you could give it to someone who doesn't have so many." I'm going to sound really tacky here but seriously, it was a tacky gift, a regift at that. She could have gone to tj maxx and bought a cute pajama for $5.99. Something baby girl really does need because she's flying through them. Money is not the issue either. She has plenty. She throws hundred dollar bills around like they are going out of style so i think she really does think it was a nice gift. But i just cleaned my house and purged. I am trying really hard not to clutter it up with stuff i just don't want. Should i just donate it or give it back with a thanks, but no thanks. I don't want her asking about or not seeing it and wonder what happened to it. I'd keep the shrug since i don't have a million of those and let me mother in law use it when watching tv. It's not ugly, i just don't have the time to put one on and i'm a quilt person anyway.

Do i sound really unappreciative/shallow right now? I bet i do. But seriously this is just a run of the mill blanket. I like special. That's what i love about handmade. Something made with your child or you in mind. I like that even if it's not my style etc because at least it was made with the person in mind. I do believe in "it's the thought that counts" but with regifts i sort of feel different. If you didn't like it, you should assume the person you are trying to off it on won't either. Just put it in the donation pile and call it done. I'd be embarrassed to give something away that someone gave me.

aw.......

2009-04-10T12:19:00.002-04:00

i love it when they both sleep. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly in list form of my past week which was a struggle all around. I don't even know where the time goes.

The good:

- baby girl is finally moving past her colic. love gripe water. only used it a few times but seemed to do the trick
- i scored a wood dollhouse for her today
- we are doing a play date today with daughter of mom who wasn't there for me on birth night. (we'll see later if i move this to the bad or ugly list lol. ld misses her and i was a big girl and called and made good. still irked that she didn't have ANYTHING to say about it. oh well.
- i finished two sewing projects. why does it take me a week to make a quilt and 3 months to bind it. oh yeah, because i hate binding quilts. i kind of dislike the quilting part too. I love the piecing part though and all that ironing. call me sick.
- we have summer plans/weekends building up. dc, philly, toronto, colorado, boston. fun fun fun.

The bad:

- i saw an estate sale listing monday advertising sewing, buttons and things. I have been so excited to go and waited all week to go. i didn't realize it was on thursday and friday so when i went today all the good stuff was gone. but the good thing is what i did buy, i got super cheap (a nice yellow popcorn chenille blanket that if i have the heart to do it, will go on ebay soon for a very pretty penny) and some ephemera stuff. no buttons. BUT on the way home, i scored a lovely wood dollhouse. i saw the lady taking down her garage sale sign. it looks like rain today so she's waiting till tomorrow. i saw the dollhouse and bought it then and there. huge score! Will make playdate super fun.
- ikea is hell with 6 kids. nuff said.
- my son left ikea with a black eye, a dent across his nose and a bad mood. this should go under ugly list, but i'm too tired to move it.
- i'm exhausted. it's been one of those weeks. i feel like i could cry but i plow on. yellow chenille and a nice wooden dollhouse is brightening my mood and both kids are sleeping with only one of them screaming out every 5 minutes or so from gas.
- i'm pulling ld out of preschool. he cries again so much saying he doesn't want to go, that he's scared etc. i'm fighting the school on refunding us. they require a 60 day notice but they have too much turnover. i didn't sign up for that. i'm thinking we are headed towards a homeschooling route. he's just not comfortable in this setting. i don't want to homeschool. i think deep down i do but i'm not organized or patient enough for it. i also want some time for myself to just breathe.

the ugly:

- ikea is hell with 6 kids. yes, it needed to be said again.
- oh, and nursing your daughter hidden by two women and 5 kids while a big gnarly dude with a t-shirt that says "i like boobies" is wondering what's going on behind the people curtain. for real, that stuff is made for movies not real life. i didn't think people really wore shirts like that.
- i about lost it with ld today. you know how kids struggle when they don't get their nap and it's rough going with everyone (totally my fault. or ikea's because i feel like blaming ikea for everything including buying colored plastic when i don't like colored plastic but they make colored plastic look cute but i digress.) but it's the day after the no nap day when you really struggle. this morning was all kinds of ugly. i shouldn't have even drug them out today but i was determined to get out and i actually thought the drive home would knock him out early so he could enjoy his 11 am playdate.
- teachers dislocating kids shoulders and then blaming the kid for it. not my kid but another. if it were my kid i'd be dislocating her shoulder fo'sure. ;-)

i'll end there. must clean up somewhat before playdate. so happy i changed it to the afternoon. gotta set up the table with cloth glitter glue and scissors so they can paste away. It'll be nice for them to see each other again. they adore each other. he needs that today after his black eye yesterday.

Next up....

2009-04-01T09:10:00.004-04:00

Homemade peanut butter. And almond butter. And just maybe macadamia nut butter. Oh, i'm loving wholesome (food) living.

I did go to the dairy farm, even milked a goat, last weekend. Can't wait to make butter and yogurt.

I hit send

2009-03-31T14:56:00.003-04:00

Whew, just under the wire I sent my review off today. I procrastinated the first month, but these last few days were not my fault. Sure I cleaned the house, listed some stuff on Ebay, sewed a little bit but I really thought I could get the two kids to nap at the same time one hour yesterday so i could finish and send it off. No go. But today I finally did it. LD was asleep and I know a sure fire way to get BG to sleep, give her a bath. No, not because it's calming, but because it stresses her out so much that with a little nursing afterwards she'll be sleeping a good two hours. Mean mama. She needed one anyway so i don't feel too guilty. My kids hate baths as babes. LD was dangerous about his dislike and i used to have to take one with him. That stank because baby water is cold to us adults. BG is a little bit better. She just screams bloody murder but at least she doesn't writh around as much.

Sooooo, i feel a huge weight off my shoulder. Everytime i send off a review i feel is poorly written as this one was i don't think i'll ever get another assignment but they come anyhow. I hate reviewing good or decent books. I like to review really bad ones or really good ones because there's a whole lot more to talk about and they are just easier to do. It's hard to have a strong opinion on mediocre books.

As a reward, I'm off to the thrift store when they wake up. I have a reason to go these days. I need a stroller part that Combi doesn't carry anymore. We really like this stroller and the piece isn't necessary, just annoying. So i need to find that stroller for that part. But of course i'll come home with a bag anyway. Drive my husband crazy. And then I'm off to scrapbook the night away. Almost caught up with LD's 2nd and 3rd year. I thought i was just going to do a baby book and a toddler one but I've fallen in love with scrapbooking. It's so fun and so many people enjoy it. Hubby gets to see what he misses, LD gets to see how great his life is (just kidding), and my inlaws get to see the stuff they miss too and I, well I get to enjoy the making.

Speaking of making... LD is a very literal person. He's creative too but he's very literal with language. When I say "i'm going to make the bed" he thinks i'm actually going to make the bed, like with hammer and nails. I can see his confusion because the bed is rarely made but it's funny how he thinks I make everything. When something breaks, he tells me "that's okay, you can make a new one". Now, he's beginning to think he can make things too. He asked me why daddy goes to work and i told him so he can make money. What does LD do? He pulls out paper and pencil and starts making money too. The kid is hilarious. He used to think my husband ate Chinese food all day because I'd say "we are going to have lunch with daddy" and we usually went out for Chinese so he got the idea that daddy ate Chinese food all day. Funny kids.

Okay, i'm off to clean up so i can put my thrift store frequent shopper's card to good use. Don't laugh too hard, but i do have one. But it's only good on Thursdays. THAT's when you know you are in a recession...when the thrift store has a discount card.

Oh, here's my most recent thrifting score...a lego train i bought for $1. It sells on Ebay for $100 new. This one is missing one guy so it may only get $50 but that's a nice profit from a dollar. I'd let the little dude keep it and play with it but it bugs him because it tips over and it doesn't do what he wants it to do. I think i have a knack for thrifting and selling and just may make it a part time job. Fun.

lord have mercy

2009-03-24T22:08:00.002-04:00

look at what i just read on the mylicon website: a recall for the dye free drops. My God, these people....

High Fructose Corn Syrup

2009-03-24T21:12:00.007-04:00

We all know it's bad and these commercials that advertise it as good make me sick. What people will do to kids for a buck is astounding. Kids are the ones who eat this junk. Anyhow, a new study came out this week pointing to HRCS as a possible culprit for sensory and other disorders like autism because corn syrup contains mercury. Read the study here. There are many other articles out there too with good information. I've been reading a ton these past few weeks since starting LD on the Feingold Diet. About all sorts of food issues that affect behavior.

This is the first thing i have cut from LD's diet as well as preservatives, msg (had already done that one long ago) and the colors (red 40, lake something or another,yellow etc). I need to find a new vitamin for him because they have colors. Even milicon has colors...red. The evil one. So does Tylenol for infants. So does Vitamin A and D drops for babies. Already my daughter has had more red dye in her than i can even believe. Now i take cod liver oil and quit giving her the vitamins. I'm working on replacing tylenol and have only given her mylicon 3 times. I wish she wasn't so gassy because her screaming for two hours every night is brutal and the mylicon calms her right down but now i don't want to give it to her anymore. There's no reason for it to be pink. I don't know why they do this crap.

These dyes have been considered poisons throughout the years. Red #40 is the worst and it's in so much. One version of red was in a kids drink and it was made with squished bugs. This isn't a joke. They add colors to everything. Marshmellows have blue in it. To make it glow. Because natural colored marshmellows apparently aren't as pretty. You'd be surprised at how many things have these colors. One theory is that all these chemicals and additives are what's causing so much autism now. It's when these things began being consumed so much that autism increased. Google red#40 and see if you ever want to eat it again. Read this article on why women shouldn't eat it. Vanillan (the fake substitute for vanilla and in a lot of snacks) is made from leftover coal. Yum.

Some of these are illegal in other countries. The first u.s. court case just concluded regarding these colorings. Be careful what you feed your kids. I thought i was doing a good job since i was making most everything from scratch. It's the snacks and drinks that get you and like i said, medicines etc. Now that i've removed these things i've noticed a positive change in my son. I slipped one day when he ate a candy cane. He quit going to the toilet after he was doing so good. It was the red dye in the candy cane and his behavior regressed for two days. Some kids are super sensitive to chemicals. LD is. Even if your kid isn't, they are so much healthier without these poisons. The only way to get companies to change their horrific practices is to not buy their products. Make them change. They are poisoning our kids in the name of a buck.

One of the most disturbing things about all the research i've been doing is the tricks companies play to poison the population and get away with it. Here's a few things.

1. use labels of "all natural" or "no added preservatives" "no added x". "no added" x means they haven't added it to the product but everything they use to put into that product may have a ton of added stuff. You don't know because they don't have to list it.

2. the FDA makes money every time they pass a dye. So if they say red #40 is safe, they make money. The people that are supposed to protect us doesn't. They also want to make money.

I'm writing my government officials for the first time in my life. I'm disgusted at what i've learned. I started with the Feingold Diet because an 80 year old lady mentioned it in passing after i discussed with her some of LD's issues. He's got sensory issues (Sensory Dysfunction Disorder and here). I've never mentioned it on my blog because i'm sensitive about it. Not that he has it, but what others have to say about it. Some say "oh they have a label for everything these days." or "he's just spoiled" or "he'll grow out of it." Et cetera et cetera. He won't. He's super smart and developmentally ahead but he has issues. Some things are getting better because of these changes. I feel i'm trying to solve a puzzle and like my mother in law, i believe God has given us answers and cures to everything. We just have to find those answers. I try to do right by my kids. I breastfeed them because it's good for them. I found it to be a brutal experience the first time around. It was painful and i remember crying. I fought through it because i wanted him to have the best. I do the best i can and i'm very sensitive when my parenting skills are judged.

But i feel it my duty now to put this information out there so we can protect our kids. Our government isn't doing it. Our schools aren't doing it. Our doctors aren't doing it. We have to do it. I can't believe the small changes that have already occured and we've barely started. The last two days we've been back to square one because of a candy cane. I hope you'll look into what goes into your kids mouths and yours too.

This is very sloppily written. It's been a long day. But I hope you'll pay attention to this. Sorry if it sounds like a soapbox but it is near and dear to my heart. My son has suffered at the hands of these monsters. I'm not blaming them 100% but the more i read the more disheartened I am.

Procrastination

2009-03-24T15:04:00.004-04:00

There are surefire ways in this house to find out if i have a book review due. Due. Not "to do" but "due".

1. LD will have a warm lunch, not a sandwich which is oh so quick to make.

2. 500 pictures from snapfish will have been organized per month (3 years worth that were all mixed up).

3. There will be a warm dinner on the table, something new, not from the freezer, which there is plenty of.

4. There will be two, not one, but two freshly baked loaves of bread on the cooling rack.

5. There will soon be two trays of freshly baked cookies next to them.

6. and a batch for the freezer too.

7. Pictures will be taken...

8. A blog post done.

9. Homemade blue glue made.

10.Sewing done (!).

11. A Year of Mornings picture posted.

12. Oh darn it, little dude woke up and i didn't get my review done.

I really shouldn't get paid for these. It would probably take the pressure of. But i guess I don't *really* get paid after all. By the time you read the book and write the review, you make about 25 cents an hour. I really don't know why I am this horrible at deadlines. It's probably why i've decided to never reenter the workforce unless i'm forced to. I plan on working at home for the rest of my life avoiding deadlines. Apparently that's what makes me happy because today I am riduculously satisfied...well except for the looming deadline hanging over my head. Sort of takes the buzz off.

Butter and Yogurt

2009-03-23T14:12:00.002-04:00

I absolutely cannot wait until *the warm part of* spring. On the list this year is a trek to a dairy farm where we'll get some fresh cream and make our own butter and yogurt. The yogurt will probably happen sooner but we'll see. Read this and tell me you don't want to give it a go...

We have been making small but big changes in our diets and it shows. I love that. Even today at the doctor's office LD wanted a lollypop. I said, no because they had too many chemicals and fake stuff in them. I offered an all natural one to him. He didn't like it. But he also didn't request one of the ones with chemicals. He actually said that. I told him I'd give him a good treat when we got home. He gets it. I'm glad we're doing this when he's young and smart.

Odds n Ends

2009-03-20T13:09:00.008-04:00

A Year of Mornings
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Everyone is off doing spring knitting in light colors but i'm working on fall stuff first. Next up is a strawberry hat for Baby Girl in time for Strawberry picking (i hope). Love these colors...such a perfect fall hat.

I was doing the dishes this morning and made lunch and wanted to share a few good ideas i have. Occassionally i come up with something good. Here's one. I hate these straw cups for milk (LD still has it once a day) but the dentist said the others are horrible on teeth at his age so i'm stuck with them. Cleaning them stinks. The dishwasher does not do it and i look in the straws after cleaning and see icky stuff still, but chenille pipe cleaners work great!

tip
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Next up is my solution for crusts. We don't like crusts, none of us. We also don't like wasting food. Here are my uses for crusts. One. Make croutons. Use cutouts, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan and/or garlic and broil for a minute. Fun croutons. Two. Put one in your brown sugar jar. It'll stop your brown sugar from clumping up. Don't ask me why. I don't know. It's something i remember my mom doing. Three. Make your own breadcrumbs. Toast it and then put it in the food processor.

croutons
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Oh, remember i said i HAD to sew something. Well i did! I put the binding on that quilted chenille playmat finally. Still have to stitch it. I have to do it by hand because it's so dense so hopefully i'll do that the next time i watch tv, probably american idol next week. I also made a bib. I've seen cute terry cloth bibs that have the arms but can never find them so i made one. Love it. It's completely imperfect and the pattern threw me off a few times (more to my being tired and it being midnight than the actual pattern (Kwik Sew btw) but i love it. Next time it'll be easier. I plan on making a few more. Maybe doing some applique on the next ones. I didn't do the binding the way i normal do (stitching the inner part and then stitching in the ditch, i just did it once around to be quick. Whole thing took an hour. If i wasn't using terry cloth it would have gone a lot faster. Terry is a monster to work it but it's super absorbant. Can't wait to make more. Sorry for the upsidedown picture. :-)

Here is the inside

bib inside (upsidedown)
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

and here is the outside

bib outside
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

news

2009-03-18T08:31:00.002-04:00

Baby Girl update: She's getting a TOOTH! Last pediatrician appt i told the doctor, i think she's getting a tooth and the doctor said "no, it's too early". But the last few days when nursing she gives a little bite and looking closer, sure enough that spot i pointed out has a tooth coming in. Crazy. She's not even three months till next week. I don't know how to stop her from biting though because with LD he was older i would just not feed him until he stopped biting. He went a day and learned. That was what i was told to do. He was almost a year i think. She's so young i don't know how to teach her. It look a long time for LD's teeth to come in. Like two months per tooth. The good thing is we all have really strong teeth but the bad news is i have some more crankiness heading this way i'm sure. Gas and teething. Ugh.

Little Dude update: He went number 2! One afternoon he said he had to go (he's been number one trained for a while now) so i sat him down but i thought it would be his normal antics of sitting there for an hour and nothing happening. He popped up and said "look i went!" I thought Yeah right. He always says this and there's nothing. But this time there was. And twice in a day. He got his playmobil forklift and was so happy. I hope he keeps it up.

Mom update: I ventured out yesterday with a friend and her LD aged daughter. My one good friend here and we headed to the outlet mall. Furthest BG has travelled! I finally shopped for myself. I hadn't bought myself any clothes since maternity clothes and before that it had been quite some time. I never find anything i like or that fits and for a decent price. I bought 6 shirts, a sweater, a pair of pants for just over $100. I never find that much that'll work for me. I didn't buy anything for the kids except BG a few shirts and a snowsuit because they were $2.99 and the shirts $1.99 and just too cute to pass up. Outlet malls rock. This one is pretty cool. We had been there on the weekend but it seemed dumpy but during the week is was nice and peaceful, well except for the three kids part and the no nap part after that. It was fun to get out. We didn't get home until 8:00, both our husbands at home waiting for dinner lol. It was fun to be the one coming home late. I feel happy to want to get dressed today. I've been wearing the same two shirts and pair of pants for 3 months now. We can't wait to go back in a few months. They have amusement park rides inside too which was a fun break for the kids.

A little afternoon fun

2009-03-12T21:20:00.000-04:00

A little afternoon fun
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I love my kid sometimes. Well all the time, except for yesterday. Just kidding. But yesterday was a doozy. And Baby Girl also cried longer and harder than she has any evening yet. When is the colic gonna bid us farewell? I hope soon.

Soooo, yesterday both were sleeping and i had to be quiet because both were out in the open. Soooo, instead of doing any of the 100 things i should have been doing I made these. Aw yes, how does LD come into the picture? I said to him "Oh no. We needed to go to the store to get a card for my sister but BG is hungry and tired and you need your nap. Oh well. We'll make her one." LD with a very small pause says "it's okay. You can make her one in your sewing room." So sweet my boy. He liked these cards a lot. When he woke up he was very interested and when i told him i was sending these to friends he said with such a sweet sad face "my friends need some too!" Well okay, let's make them some. I thought it was cute today that he remembered these yesterday and said i should send her one of these. So I did. But i missed the mailman so it still didn't get out. I wonder if he has a solution for that?

inside
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

A Year of Mornings

2009-03-12T17:20:00.007-04:00

A Year of Mornings
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Today was a good thrift day. A really good one. Here is my bag in my passenger seat. You can't see what's in there but you can tell it's good can't you?

Whenever i go i have a system because i usually only have about 45 minutes. First i cruise down the toy aisle. Here i am only looking for a few things but i tend to spend the most time because it's in disarray. I am looking for playmobil, legos or brand new in the box puzzles and games. Last week i picked up a barbie so i can start making barbie clothes. I figure it'll take me 2 years to get it done so may as well start now.

Next I go down the craft aisle. Here i look for buttons or nice yarns like the linen cotton blend i got a few weeks ago, brand new. I'm selling it all though (5 skeins). I also look for friendship pyrex in this aisle and vera linen napkins which i sell most of the time. I've only kept one set so far.

Next i cruise the tablecloths. I look here for vintage ones. I like them a LOT. I bought 5 today. Some for crafting, some for the home. LOVE them. Wait till you see.

Then i go down the baby/big toy aisle also looking for legos or playmobil in bigger boxes. I then cruise down the china aisle looking for a porcelain china two teir dessert stand. I have a serious aching for one of these. It's Qaballah's fault. I blame her 100%.

How do you thrift?

A Year of Mornings

2009-03-10T13:38:00.014-04:00

A Year of Mornings
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

This is what happens when you buy legos from thrift stores. You have stormtroopers eating with pirates. We have a HUGE box of them. I do mean huge. I was on a mission for legos and went to three thrift stores in search of them. I got 4 boxes for $8. Then a few weeks later the ladies at the one nearest us convinced me to get a box of star wars ones. The pieces were complicated and i put them on ebay instead. I had to keep the stormtroopers though because stormtroopers rock. LD doesn't like them. They are bad guys he says. He knows nothing of Star Wars yet. I plan on letting him in on that when he's 5. I'll get the trilogy, hopefully he will be sitting by then, and we'll have a day of star wars. Anyway, here's our (my) attempt at an airport.

Park: you can't see the slide but you can see the stairs. This is where the kids hang out while waiting for their flight.

park
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

This is where the bad guys hang out before their flight. At the restaurant. It also works for families. There's 4 chairs for our family of four at the other table (see first picture). Those guys are plotting something bad!

restaurant
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

and a snow blower plow - do notice his coffee mug.

snow plower plow
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Randomness

2009-03-09T09:27:00.002-04:00

I miss sewing so much. I haven't stitched anything since forever. Sigh. I'm determined after this huge spring cleaning and purging i'm doing i'll sit down and make something. Anything.

Baby girl is a fatty. She's round and delicious. She reminds us of the Simpson's baby although neither of us watches that show. She is a spitting image though. She's moved into 3-6 month clothes already!

Ebay rocks. I can't wait to spend a little of my earnings after this big cleaning.

I need to get those giveaway packages together. I promise to get them out in a week or so. Sorry if you are checking your mailbox hoping they are there. That's what i do when i'm expecting something and then i get sad when it's not there.

Thrift stores rock. My husband is *beginning* to get it. I made $400 off of $40 these past two weeks. That's a nice profit. But he still doesn't like thrifted items in the house. Unless it's such a money saver that he can't deny it like the train table etc.

Little Dude is finally sleeping all on his own and i miss him so very much. I'm such a bad mommy because once Baby Girl is sleeping all the way till morning i'm gonna drag him back to bed with me. I love my kids the most when they are sleeping. Is that sick?

It's cold and rainy and there's a fire going. I better go enjoy it.

There's an etsy store opening near you soon. :-) Truth be told, it's been open a while but i only listed two items so i didn't say anything.

Enuii is the feeling of the day. Better flip through one of my Japanese magazines to get myself out of it.

Browsing through said Japanese magazines is what made me long for sewing again.

I tried to sell them and sold about 10 of them but I just can't let go of the rest. It's just too hard and they make me too happy.

Oop, i've been caught. Boss is on my back. Literally.

oops

2009-03-08T23:05:00.004-04:00

I had said "new mitford" but it's new milford... There's more on Washington Depot here and Stars Hollow here. New Milford is 8 miles away from Washington Depot. There is a prep school right nearby too.

In case anyone wants to make the journey i figured i better give the right name. It's an awesome area. Very pretty and waspish.

the real "Stars Hollow"

2009-03-07T12:46:00.004-05:00

Washington Depot
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I'm a huge Gilmore Girls fan. I don't watch many shows but I love every single episode of that show and can watch it over and over because the dialogue is so witty and smart. Love it. So, we live in a place that sort of reminds me of Stars Hollow which got me thinking to look up where it really is. Lo and behold i found out that it was within a couple hour drive from us. It's a mixture of two cities. Washington Depot is where the writer saw someone get their own coffee in a cafe - which was in season 1. That was the moment she got the idea. But when you drive around the area, much like where we live, the small towns bump into each other. New Milford seems to be the most Stars Hollow like. The shops, bookstore, dance studio (!), gazebo etc. Here's a few pictures from when we went a year ago. Oh. There's also the pond in Washington Depot and a very nice historic inn. I didn't take a lot of pictures...most were done by car while the kid slept and i didn't get those. We did walk around Washington Depot though and went into the little grocery store where there was teenage "Deans" using price guns to price the food. Too funny. And the town center building is awesome. The rest of the pictures can be seen here. It's a very cozy town.

I'm a joke.

2009-03-06T14:46:00.004-05:00

Conversation on the way home from the library.

(very into Cars the movie lately so this is a discussion about the tractor tipping scene...one he's been playing over and over with his own cars and tractors. Kind of funny.)

LD: Mommy, you're a joke and I'm a tractor.
(cut to 5 minutes earlier)
LD: Mommy, why did McQueen do that to the tractors?
Me: To be funny.
LD: Why mommy?
Me: Because he thought it would be funny.
LD: Why mommy?
Me: He was just playing a joke.
LD: What's that mommy?
Me: (beginning to feel like pulling my hair out...it's already been a looooong morning) It's when you do something to somebody else to be funny.
LD: To hurt them?
Me: No, not to hurt them but to be funny. Sometimes it ends up hurting someone but usually it's just to make them laugh or to laugh yourself. To be funny.
(long pause)
LD: Mommy. Why did McQueen do that?
Me: I just told you.
LD: Oh.
(5 minutes goes by)
LD: Mommy. You're a joke and I'm a tractor. Can we do that? Can we do that Mommy?
Me: Sure. Now go to sleep.

* Whoever wrote in baby books that you should talk to your child as much as possible and listen to them and answer their questions should be shot. This is what happens. They learn to talk your ear off. There is never quiet in this house, car or anywhere else. Ever. Sometimes he babbles on about nothing. Nothing. Total nonsense. Sometimes he's cute like today.

tidbits:

Is there anything better than your kids sleeping at the same time. I get such an overwhelming sense of happiness that's unbelievable. It's like I'm so happy to have them both. I love them when they are awake but it sure ain't peaceful. It's pure bliss when both are asleep. Every time it happens I swear it's the happiest moment in my life. I feel so content.

I signed up for the library program 8 weeks ago for LD's storytime. We finally made it today. It was the last one. People said it's amazing that I'm out. That I look great. That I'm doing great. Inside I feel like Einstein (for the hair). Frazzled is the only word for it. Maybe next session we'll make it to 2 out of 8.

This specialized diet is already working a little. LD watched an entire movie yesterday. He has never done that. He can hardly sit through a cartoon. He only got up a few times and asked me to pause it. That's attention that he's never had before. They say it takes 4 weeks for everything to work it's way out. This is week 1 so i can't wait to see the changes at week 4.

Potty training hell update. So I took Aisha's advice and tried to catch him in the act. Here's how it went down. I crack up laughing just seeing it in my mind again. I see him stop and focus. He's going to do it! I say "quick, let's get on the potty!" He makes a run for it. He's going around the corner of the coffee table and make a run for it and he fakes me out and goes the other way. This mom who used to play hockey can hold her own and fakes him out and catches him. I pull down his clothes and he sits for one hour on the potty and won't go. I know he was going to because he made a run for it. If he wasn't going to he would have just sat down. He never went. Amazing willpower this kid.

And so we don't end it on this note, something else. Hmmm. What else? I have nothing. Good weekend to you and yours.