Saint Martha or not

In just a few days, jolly ol' Saint Nick will be stopping by our house.    We've got one boy who doesn't believe, another on the fence, and a wee little munchkin who won't be aware at all.

So Saint Nick is in question this year around our house.   But let me tell you who we do believe in.... anyone named Martha.    Ms. Stewart always comes through with holiday goodies.  Look at this fun card made with ferns!   Ferns are abundant around here, too bad I didn't see this before school break.  It would have been fun to do in the classroom.

And then these snowmen cupcakes.   Yes Martha, I do believe.   Check out her website for more crafts and goodies than you can possibly use.

There is another little Elf named Martha (er, actuallly, she's the non martha, but it still counts in my book) whose site I've been eating up.   NotMartha 

She's even a Seattle gal.    I adore these itty bitty gingerbread houses that fit perfectly on a mug of coffee.  Better than the big ones, because this one you really can eat up.   She has the directions on her site.    Not sure I'll get around to making them, but wouldn't it be delightful if I did?

We are hoping a little of the martha and not martha magic comes down our chimney this year.

change

I've always wanted to play the part of the tortured artistic soul.  The girl with the giant mystery surrounding her.

I'd plan on taking up smoking cigarrettes and wearing thigh high black boots and some super dark eye-liner.

Then people would take me seriously.   Oooh, it's her.  She's so deep and dark.   Have you read her amazing poetry?   You know the ones she writes while she sits by herself in the coffee shop.

I never could pull it off.   I'd try to behave badly and hint at a painful past, but really no matter how hard I tried,  I was always more of that sunny smiley girl that someimes bugged people because she laughed so much.

In college a friend  invited me to a friend's little bohemian apartment.  The woman was Russian and drank orange juice mixed with red wine. She oozed cool.    I went home and bought orange juice and a jug of red wine and tried to make it 'my' drink.  

But if it isn't really me I can't seem to do it.  My inner bookish nerd always popped out.   I'm not dangerous or full of secrets that only guitar playing men can coax out of me.

We went to Target today, my husband, my three children and I.   I realized as we walked through the doors that I was wearing Target clothes in Target.   A black long sleeved shirt with a short sleeve blue Christmas T and a scarf from their scarf rack.

Not even close to being dark and mysterious and full of genius.

But I do have my moods and my dark days.   I still have those times where I want to change my look entirely and be that daring hip some-what-crazy-but-man-she's-creative woman.

I have those days where I want to wear clothes that aren't from Target, buy some cheap red wine and non-organic orange juice and practice speaking with a Russian accent.

Pictures from Bela Borsodi Photography.

Make Like a Gingerbread Cookie

A gift for little plum from Sweden.



Deeeeeeelicious.



And a little confession: I have to crop down all of my pictures to as close as possible lest you see all the clutter in the background. Even here, I can not crop out that stray orange croc.



While my gingerbread girl sleeps, I plan on rolling up my blue long sleeved target shirt, putting on that sassy little gingerbread cap, grabbing some tubs and start chanting.....

Clean, clean, as fast as you can.....



I'm in the mood for zero clutter. Do you think anyone will notice if I box up pretty much everything we own and put it in the garage so that our house can look like this?



Shouldn't take me too long, right??? I mean I only have about three boxes of christmas debris scattered about the place in addition to all the normal stuff that never has a home.

Cheerio, off to make like a gingerbread cookie and run before the mess gobbles me up.

learning tower

Legwarmers, Ergo, fuzzi bunz..... how come they didn't have these around for my first two kiddos?

And this amazingly huge but totally functional and crazily necessary thing.
It's a learning tower.

Not cheap. Over $100. They had 'em when the boys were little and I just never splurged.

We are borrowing one for a few weeks and I am head over heels in love with this thing, even though it means even more stuff in our tiny kitchen.

Little Plum loves it. She can reach the counter. She can watch me cook (pop things out of cardboard and put them in the oven). She can watch me make espresso.

The only problem is... she never wants me to take her out of it. I think she'd sleep in it if she could.

Christmas Fun

Yesterday was my last day of work until January.

We filled the day with festive holiday cheer.

We collected ALL their Monday art and bound them into individual books for the kiddos to take home to their parents as presents. I taught them how the binder works, they wrapped their own books and they made their own cards. They were a busy bunch.

We also made these:

Because our bulletin board needed something on it this week.

I borrowed the idea from Kids Artists, but changed it up a bit....

We used all cool colors, green, purple, blue shades of construction paper. Then a ripped apart cotton ball for snow on the ground and white bits of construction paper for snow falling.

No presents under the tree. No painting. Just construction paper.

We added a tiny bit of silver glitter too. They can make them on a folded piece of construction paper to make cards (which is what we did for the presents) or on a half sheet with a hole punched on top for a big ornament.

And then I read, Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett. I saw it at Costco today for about $10. I adore Jan Brett for the holidays (and so did the kids).

Have I mentioned how much I love with all my heart teaching one day a week?? I'm worried that my days are numbered with this amazingly awesome teaching gig.

warmth

I love scarves.

The thick warm ones to wear in the winter and the light breezy ones to wear the rest of the time.

But this...

this might just replace my scarf fetish.

Fun little neck cozies. Findmore about them here

You can find them at Whole Foods, dear husband of mine - made by Gypsy and Loic

I hardly slept last night and I worked today

But I'm just saying...

anyone else out there feel like crying like a giant sad-sack crazy lady over the fact that children grow up far too quickly?

Anyone?

One minute she is putting my slippers on her little hands and the next thing I know she will be rummaging through my closet wearing my darn clothes (those that aren't too 'uncool' for her).

Stop. Stop already. I can simply not take how fast childhood races by for us parents.

For you kids, though, I see it in your every action... you live one slipper-filled moment by moment and time moves at glacial speed for you.

I've tried to just sit and watch her. Soak in her every 17 month-ness. Hoping against hope that time will stand still.

But it doesn't and I feel like sitting down with a glass (oh okay, a giant goblet) of wine and a few chocolates (oh okay, a giant costco-sized bag of chocolates) and sobbing my heart out.