The Easter bunny doesn't talk

We took the girls to see the Easter Bunny and, as you can see from the picture, someone was a little bit uneasy. (Arlene!) Which is funny, because Arlene was the one who was all hyped up about seeing the bunny. She had concocted this idea about what she wanted from the bunny: a talking chocolate donut. (don't ask, we have no idea!) But once she got on the bunny's lap, she froze. This picture was take two, the first take she had a really worried look on her face. This is her "I'm only smiling because you told me that if I did I'd get to get away from this bunny" smile. Now, Lydia, on the other hand, was all about the bunny. She kept patting his hand and talking to him. She told him she wants "pink eggs" or "whatever he finds in his yard." (too cute!) They were both concerned, however, that the bunny wasn't talking. I've noticed this before about the Mall Easter Bunny - they don't talk. The Santa's talk, but not the bunnies. Is it because they don't want to give the bunny a voice? Is it a girl in the suit and the bunny is supposed to be a boy, or vice versa? Arlene asked us why the bunny had a fan blowing into his back. We said it's because the bunny was probably hot. We're not 100% sure if they think this be-speckled bunny is the real Easter Bunny, or a dude (or dudette) in a suit. Only time will tell.

Celebrating my birthday like a four year old

So I turned 31 yesterday and I can safely say that I've reached the point in my life where birthdays are just "whatevers." I wasn't all that jazzed up for my birthday, it was just another day. Last year was a pivitol year, turning 30. I was jazzed about that. But this year, not so much. However, I was given an awesome party at home! The girls were incredibly excited about my birthday and about having a party. I came home from work to the house filled with red balloons and a Twilight theme. The girls were bouncing up and down and could barely contain themselves. I got lots of sweet gifts too! I got the ingredients to make a terrarium, the DVDs of Paranomal State, season one (if you haven't seen that show, you should watch it!) and also a cardboard cut out of Edward. Yes. That's what I got. Ain't no shame! Well, really there is, a little bit, I mean it's a wee bit obsessive, but it's all in good fun. Mike said that Edward can stay out until tonight, but after tonight, he goes into the closet or behind a door. We'll see about that. Here's some pictures!

These are all of the "party guests" that the girls set out, along the wall - basically most of their stuffed dolls and animals, plus Jack came out of his usual haunt, my craft room, to join in the fun. The dolls and animals have plates and forks thrown around them, you know, to eat with us.

Can you spot the little Edward in here? He got to share a plate with My Little Pony Pinkie Pie.

Balloons and four years olds = instant par-tay!

The girls and Mike wrote birthday wishes on the paper table cloth.

This birthday greeting was written perfectly backward. Odd.

Dairy Queen birthday cake! Hooray!

And, the special guest!

Little Edward and Big Edward.

My life is complete (completely crazy!) I have a life-size Jack Skellington and a life-size Edward. Um, yeah, I'm not embarrased at all ... snicker, snicker.

Enjoying some new music

Over the weekend I got some new music. I am really liking it and can't stop listening to it! It's British, folk/indie singer Johnny Flynn., his album "A Larem." You can hear his music (and see a few videos) by going here. You can also download his music from Itunes.

Hyacinth = spring has sprung!

Ahhh .... I have these lovely flowers on my desk today, and they just perk my mood right up. I absolutely LOVE hyacinth. They grow by the side of our house and the Mr. picked them for me last night. I left some at home and brought some into work. They are so fragrant people can smell them in the hallway!

Etsy Favorites Wednesday - an Eastery/green approach

I am in love with my picks this week! Don't get me wrong, I love all of my Etsy Favs, otherwise they wouldn't be my favs, but this week, all together as a whole, this list makes me very happy. So here's this week's picks, with a slight Eastery/green theme.

Vintage Enamel Brooch

I've featured these types of pins on my fav lists before. I like this one because it's big and the colors are springy, and it has just the right amount of wear on the edges. And, this one was made, the seller took other pins and added them together. I didn't realize that at first until I read the description. I love it even more now. I also really dig these barrettes from the same seller.

Pincushion

I actually squealed when I saw this! I was searching for egg cups for Easter decorations and this little guy popped up. It's so kitschy and so my style of odd.

Set of two Drawers

These vintage paint-peeling drawers could be used for anything, but I like the seller's idea of planting a little garden in them.

Bartholomew B. Wilder and his Top Hat

Words cannot express how much I adore this print. The seller writes, "his ears stand tall, his posture is prim. his story is unknown, but his presence is confessed: he waits for a home." *sigh*

Vintage green bunny

This little bunny needs to hop on over to my house and live there.

I want a Terrarium for my birthday!

I want a terrarium for my birthday! Terrariums have become popular recently. They are made inside a glass jar: with potting soil, activated charcoal, stones, and sheet moss. Simple! I don't have a very green thumb, but I think I could create a terrarium and keep it alive.

How absolutely ADORABLE is this one, called a "Gnome Home"?! I love it! Link here.

You can get do-it-yourself terrarium kits, like this one for $22 off Etsy. I have a blue mason jar that I think would work perfectly for one!

There is a how-to described here from the Craft magazine. I don't think I'd want to buy all of the ingredients/materials myself though. So I think I'd like the do-it-yourself kit mentioned above.

Ahem, hint, hint, husband!

The Twilight DVD and the allure of Rob Pattinson

This weekend was Twilight DVD weekend, and it was just great. Great for me and 3 million other people! "Summit Entertainment announced today that the home entertainment release of the studio’s action-packed, modern day vampire love story Twilight sold over 3 million DVD units in its first day of release.With over 3 million DVD units sold, Twilight enters the top five best first day DVD releases over the past two years along with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Dark Knight, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Transformers." Wahooo!

Mike got up on Saturday and was at Target by 7:30 a.m. to stand in line to get
it. How awesome is my husband?! He won the "Husband of the Year Award"! He even watched it with me! We waited all day until the girls went to bed then watched the movie, and the extras, then I watched the movie again with the commentary on. It was fantastic. I, unlike most of the other Twilight fans, only saw the movie ONCE, so seeing it again was fantastic! I picked up on a bunch of things that I didn't catch the first time I viewed it.

I read this article about the craziness that is the Edward Cullen/Rob Pattinson fan base. Which yes, I am a member. A certified (and certifiable, according to some friends) member. The article is titled "What is it about Edward Cullen?" where the author talks about the literary vampire and the man that brought him to life.

The entire article is here, if you're interested. Here's an excerpt about Rob:

During his Twilight press tour last fall, star Robert Pattinson asked fans what it was about his character, Edward Cullen, that they were so attracted to. What was it about this particular literary vampire that made him, as fans told him repeatedly, "so sexy"? Many a man has asked that same question. There is a new subculture of men—the Twilight Widowers—whose wives or girlfriends have been stolen away by one supernaturally sexy fictional vampire. But what is it about Edward Cullen and his family of "vegetarian vampires" that women find so appealing? What power or spell does Edward cast?There are three key elements to Edward's attraction. First, he is a vampire. Second, he is Edward Cullen. And third, he is Robert Pattinson.Dissecting the Allure of Twilight's Vegetarian Vampire, Robert Pattinson. Robert Pattinson is not Edward Cullen, and yet he is completely and forever Edward Cullen.

Taking on Edward's film persona would have been a challenge for any actor. Pattinson himself has laughed at the impossibility of playing a character so perfect, so beautiful and otherworldly. Yet somehow, in bringing so much of himself to the character—his own insecurities and fears, his darker interests and thoughts—he added a depth of feeling to Edward that the character on the page was lacking. Pattinson embraced Edward's hatred of himself and his inner monster and made that part of Edward more prominent, brushing aside much of the flowery perfection attributed to Edward by Bella and her love-colored glasses.It also doesn't hurt that Robert Pattinson is a handsome, tall, mysterious, and dark man himself.From the ends of his inexplicably famous hair to the tips of his graceful, piano-playing, guitar strumming fingers; from the soft whisper of his Edward voice to the deep, gravelly, bluesy growl of his singing voice; from his adorably geeky performance in The Bad Mother's Handbook to his Hogwarts champion in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is just something so real, so normal about Robert Pattinson the man that makes him lovable and downright sexy.

He is a dirty, dirty boy, with his unwashed hair and overgrown eyebrows as well as the wicked twinkle in his eyes and that British accent that can stop your heart. He's so incredibly self-deprecating that he makes you want to give him a hug and take him home with you. He may be the dream of many a teenage girl, but he's admitted a love for older women as well. There is little he holds back, yet he leaves you feeling like you've barely scratched his surface.Robert Pattinson is not Edward Cullen. But Edward got a little bit hotter because Robert Pattinson gave him a face, a body, an evilly seductive grin, and an innate shyness that he didn't have before.

I've spent the DAY with Edward Cullen

UPDATED! at the bottom ...

It's Friday, it's the day before the Twilight DVD is released, so let's have some Friday Fun! I have an Edward Cullen action figure and he's been on a few adventures with me. I decided to take a few pics of our morning together. He's such a good sport for coming to work with me!

"Edward, do you want to go to work with me today?" (this is Edward's usual spot, in our kitchen)

"YES, let's go, I'm ready!"

He insisted on driving.

After we dropped the kids off at preschool (Edward stayed in the car, hidden. We didn't want to cause any scenes) he picked out our music.

When we got to work I wanted a latte. So Edward ran and got me one. He's so fast.

As I sipped my latte I did the usual blog surfing.

It's time for work now! Edward is perched on top of my Ipod dock. Now how's that for classy, Edward Cullen action figure, Edward Cullen/Rob picture, along side pics of my kids. Nice! (I had to white out the info on my post it notes, to protect the innocent!)

We're spending all day together, and he has promised to take me to lunch. Stay tuned.

The Edward action figure gets around. Check out his other adventures: he took a bath here and he's cooked here and most recently took a trip to Chicago. tee hee hee!

~~ UPDATE ~~

So Edward wanted to take me to lunch. Unfortunately, I didn't feel right taking him into any restaurants. I still have some shreds of dignity, after all, contrary to what some friends and family might think after seeing this blog post. (it's all in good fun, I promise!)

I decided to eat at Subway. We went to a park, and I was going to eat outside and enjoy the warm air, but there were too many people around. So I ate in the car. Edward and I chatted.

Sniff, sniff. Edward decided he wanted to try a little bit of my sub. I didn't think that was a good idea.
Wow Edward.
See, I told you him it wasn't a good idea! He upchucked the sub into my trash can. Gross.
He was so embarrassed. He was all broody and moody after that, just staring into the forest.

After we were done with lunch, he decided he didn't want to come back into my office with me. He said he needed to "regroup." So I put him in the backseat, out of the sun. He found someone to keep him company.

Creativity & Social Skills

This morning I had the pleasure of attending a parent-teacher conference with the girls' preschool teacher. I can tell she just loves the girls, which makes me happy. Of course I think they are enjoyable children ~ it pleases me when other people think so too. This was our mid-year conference.

The teacher said that Lydia has came out of her shell at school in the last few months; she's become more social and more assertive. We've seen that at home too. It's almost like she's gained a new confidence, which is awesome. That also means she's a bit more snarky at home and talks back more, but we're working to control that. We had a talk with her about how Mommy and Daddy are always right, and she shouldn't ever question what we say. She agreed. HAH! That'll last. The teacher also said that Lydia is becoming much more creative and expressive. (YAY!) She has also mastered all of her colors, her shapes, and is beginning to recognize sight words.

Arlene has become more social in the last few months, the teacher said. She also said that the girls in the class all stick together for the most part, but that Arlene divides her time up equally with playing with the girls and the boys. Arlene has always been a little bit more tom-boyish than Lydia, so I'm not surprised. The teacher said that two of the boys play a little rough with toys, but Arlene is right in there with them, using the biggest car she can find to play cars with them. (ha!) Arlene also has highly developed fine motor skills, and is also becoming more creative. She also makes drawings for her friends, which the teacher said is an important social skill. She knows all of her shapes and all of her colors and is friends with everyone is class.

The teacher said that the girls are the only two kids in the school who are ready to start learning how to read by using sight words. (YAY!) She asked if we work with them at home on reading. Um, yeah! The girls have had books in front of their faces since they were wee little babies. They loooove books.

So proud!

Oh and they can both count to 31. Which is just perfect since that's how old I'll be in 12 days! They can count the candles on my cake.

Etsy shop update ~ SALE!

UPDATE! Someone just purchased NINE of my pendants and one of my dolls! So now I only have ONE pendant left (the orange rays one, which is pictured below). Yay! Now that's inventory reduction!

Since I now hate resin, I've decided to mark down my stock of resin items in an effort to reduce inventory.

All of my pendants are $4, which is an absolute STEAL! I also marked down the few bobby pin sets I had left, they are all $3 now.

I'm going to shift the focus of my shop from a mix of resin jewelry and fabric dolls to strictly just fabric items: dolls and magnets. I hope to add some new items by the end of April.

Etsy Favorites Wednesday

Here's this week's Etsy Favorites Wednesday!

Ceramic Button Bowl

I am a big fan of this Etsy seller, CircaCiramics. I saw this button bowl and fell in love. I wish I could throw pottery. Someday, when I'm like 100 and retired from working and have "expendable income," I'm going to build myself a craft studio and in it I'm going to do all of the crafts I wish I could have done when I was 30 (31 in 12 days) such as throwing pottery, doing screen printing, designing my own fabric, doing metalwork, doing letterpress, making stain glass windows, and so on and so forth.

Tape Measure Bracelet

I've started the Great Doll Make of 2009 (in prep for my May craft show) so I've been knee deep in fabrics and sewing notions. I want this bracelet. And it's only $3! Holy moly, that's a good price, a STEAL! Hint, my birthday is 12 days away. In fact, I just bought it for myself! Happy Birthday to me - yay!!

EC window decal

YES, I KNOW! I *know* I'm a big dork for liking Twilight and Edward Cullen/Rob Pattinson and that it's really really dorky that I want this window decal. For my car. I *know* that's silly, but I don't care. Here's how I see it, I already have a Jack Skellington magnet on my car; that's pretty silly too, AND, my husband has a "SK" sticker - for Stephen King. Now THAT'S nerdy! So if he can have a SK sticker on the back of his car, why can't I have an EC sticker? HOWEVER, (man, I'm using a lot of CAPS) I don't want this one from Etsy. I think it looks like a faker, the font is all wrong. I want one that looks just like the "real" ones - who makes these? I found this store that makes the real ones, I found this one that says Forks. But that's all I can find. Poo.



Ice Cream Man artwork

I love this piece - it's made out of mixed media; paper, wood, transparent film. I like its dimension and it's uniqueness. I want to hang it on the wall. The girls would get a kick out of it too. We went to our favorite ice cream stand last night and they were so excited I thought they were going to burst.

Cut along the dotted line sticker

Again, with the sewing motif! It's on my brain! I loooove vinyl stickers for walls. I have featured lots on my Etsy Favs lists. I would want this sticker for my craft room, but I think it would also make a statement in a living room or bathroom. I also found these vinyl stickers - love the colors of them, and, they don't come in the shape of the trees, you get to decide how you want it to look on your wall and arrange them yourself, and you get to pick which colors you want. Sigh.

How do people get here, version 2.0

It's Monday, I don't feel like working, so I checked my Stat Counter for my blog, which shows me how many peeps read this here boring blog (thanks readers, don't you why you keep coming back, but you do!) and also tells me where they are from. I have a reader from the UK that checks in sometimes. Interesting and intriguing. (And yes, TLC, we're thinking of the same person we wish that was!) I was laughing at the keyword analysis stats, which tell me what people google searched for and then landed on my blog. Here's the list:

• Crochet gnome hat pattern
• Coraline book plot line
• kindergarten shots brave (this is hilarious because Arlene is convinced that when she turns five, she is going to hide and not have to have shots. She has an elaborate plot about it.)
• Button your eyes wallpaper (wallpaper as in desktop wallpaper or house wallpaper?)
• We are just waiting a couple hours (aren't we all)
• List house now or wait 2009 (I'd love to hear from that person - are you going to wait or list now?! that IS the question of the year, now isn't it)
• Cullen keychain (ooo yeah) (this was on my stats five different times, interesting and redeeming - see, I'm not completely crazy, there are others like me!)
• Hand embroidered monkey (I wonder if they liked mine?)

And just in the past two weeks, my blog was found by people all searching for essentially the same thing:

• Baby on tip toes all the time
• Baby walking on tip toes
• 20 month old tip toe walker
• Toe walking braces
• Toe walker
• Leg braces tip toes
• Physical therapy tip toe
• Virus that causes kids to walk on tip toe (oh dear!)

Maybe I need to start a collective web site for people searching for info on the topic. In no way are we experts on it, we can just relate our own story of Lydia's struggle.

And I saved the best for last:

• Does anyone in the world have buttons for eyes

I wish there was a way to get you lurkers out of lurk-hood. I know you're reading, but I only have a little circle of peeps who comment regularly. I want to know you are reading and what you think. Maybe I should have another give-a-way and ask you to comment in order to win the prize? Hmm ... or maybe I should write blog posts that are bit more intelligent or thought provoking ... hmmmm ... I'm work on all of that.

The Great Craft Disaster of 2009

Oh. My. Goodness.

I had the most major crafting disaster last night. It was horrid. I cried. I actually did.

Here's the story ... back around January, I had the idea that I wanted to do embroidered resin pendants: fabric embroidered then layered with resin. I found some cute bezels and got started on stitching up some designs. I spent a good deal of time stitching. Last night, I decided I was ready to get them into the bezels and to put resin over them.

THEY. WERE. ALL. RUINED.

I loved those cute little heart designs. Damn.

Double damn for this one - I loved the stitched alphabet.

I don't know if it was because of the type of bezel I used, or because it was fabric and stitches (I usually use paper and usually don't have any problems) but every single one overflowed. I carefully, very carefully, poured the resin into each of the bezel cups, and they lasted for about a minute, then watched in absolute horror as they each, in turn, overflowed. Once they start to overflow, there is no stopping. Resin has a mind of it's own. You can't scoop it back up into the bezel cup, you can't fix it in any way. I couldn't believe it that each and every one overflowed.

So, I will say this now, I'm DONE with resin. I'm so mad at resin right now that I vow to never make another resin pendant, ever. Except the problem is that I still have a bunch of resin and a bunch of pretty bezels. For now, I'm just putting it up and away. It's not worth the trouble! I spent all that time stitching up tiny designs, for nothing!

I had planned on having the embroidered pendants at my craft show in May, but I'm just going to make dolls, and possibly some magnets (either fabric or bottle cap resin ones, depends on if I still hate resin). The only thing that made me feel better last night after this total debacle, was that I got out all of my new fabric and thought of the possibilities with dolls. Fabric makes me happy. Resin makes me cry.