baskets and birthdays

Well, last night, I made a basket that will be sewed on to the playhouse. The boys will be able to put things in it, and there will be a secret slit in the back so that when they put fruits/vegetables/rodents into it, they will then magically be inside the playhouse. I used the same weaving idea from the corn on jill's playhouse, but this was my original idea.

Also, I went and bought the fabric to make the whole slipcover for the table. I decided not to do felt - it is a thinner, more breathable fabric, because I want to do some stuff on the inside, so I'll need to make it two layers of fabric, and two layers of felt would get too hot and stuffy. It is a light blue - I'm going to have a LOT of scraps left over from it. I had a 50% off one item, so I got 11 yards or so of this fabric, and I think it cost me like $60. It seems to be really good quality fabric - I hope it was a good choice. It'll be awhile before I get around to actually sewing stuff on there with the machine.

I also got some transparent thread because I decided that would work best for sewing all those many many things that already have stitches on them.

For the boys' birthdays, I'm going to make stuffed felt letters spelling their names to hang on their walls. I finished an O today. I wish it looked more perfect, but I think in combination with the other letters, it will look a lot better. Right now, one lonely O isn't looking like the greatest birthday present!

almost done!

As of about 12:30, I had finished fixing three oranges and two apples! Just one more apple to fix and I can get back to creating NEW things again!

Oh, and Joshua had a TON of fun pulling out almost all of the fluffy filler stuff from the pillow sized bag of it, and covering our dining room floor with it, sliding in it, throwing snowballs with it, rolling in it...it was so funny. And made a huge mess that was amazingly easy to clean up! Good times :c)

And I just heard from my mom that my grandma Norma fell and broke her hip. She could use any and all prayers.

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4:35 - finished the last apple!!!

finished fixing...

...the squirrel, as of 9:45pm. Took the velcro off the bird and the 6 fruits. I figured the squirrel would be hardest, so I did it first. I actually was able to stuff it a lot better than I stuffed it the first time. So that's a good thing. Onward I go.

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10:17 finished the bird.

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10:55 finished one lettuce leaf.

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11:10 finished second lettuce leaf.

Time to watch Lost.

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Stinking Lost. We're going to go crazy watching the final season - having to wait a week or more between episodes. Oh well. At least we'll get to watch the first several all at once...I'm not sure how many episodes are in the 6th season. Maybe we'll start watching near the end. We're still near the beginning of the 5th season. Nathan was pushing for us watching an episode starting at midnight, and then he fell asleep after like 15 minutes. I had to keep watching it...and now it's almost 1am. *sigh*

backtracking

So I realized after doing three apples, three oranges, two lettuce leaves, a frog, a squirrel, and a bird...that I should have used the other velcro side...the soft part, not the part that grabs on to everything. I guess at first I was thinking that if I used the catching part that i wouldn't have to put matching velcro on the playhouse. But it catches on everything...all the time. I've just been putting a square of felt over the velcro, but I realized that I should have just done it the other way. So after a lot of grumbling, I started the process.

Today, I clipped the stitches of the velcro on the frog, completely unstitched the frog, sewed on the softer velcro (which was amazingly easy, thank GOODNESS...the other velcro was absolutely awful), resewed it all, and restuffed it. It didn't take too long, but it would be nice if it wasn't necessary. Oh well.

One frog down, at least 8 more things to go...I may not mess with the lettuce leaves...or I might. I guess I might as well, while I'm fixing everything else. This was a pretty significant learn the hard way kind of thing - but I think I'm going to be a lot happier when I change them all, even though it's a ton more work.

something for the grass

I made this quite awhile ago, but I guess I never posted the picture!

it's always greener...

Made some grass today...didn't take very long. I cut out one side and then used the between parts for another line of grass. Two for one! Though I'm not sure which side is actually greener.


I'm trying to figure out what I can do with the small amount of felt I have left...and very excited for whatever felt from Deb is coming tomorrow morning with Nathan's mom! I've been feeling like I want to use up everything I have before buying more...cuz I need a ton more, but we'll see!

Oh, and here is a cute Henry.

If you're ever thinking...

...that making a soccer ball out of felt would be a fun thing to do...think of something else to do instead. It looks really good, but it took several hours. The soccer ball is going to sit by the front door of the playhouse, I think...or maybe go on the side with the river. I'm thinking now I might make a picnic table with some sort of something that I can make food (hot dogs or hamburgers or something) be removable...at Joshy's request. I shouldn't look at the other examples of playhouses online while he's looking! I do veto some of them, though...we can't ALSO fit a library and a princess castle and a train station on to this playhouse. But we could probably fit a picnic table and some hot dogs or something.

And I'm done with the day numbers now, and done with changing the times that I post...so if I'm posting for the first time at 1:00am, as I am right now (yikes!), it'll say that, instead of always saying 11:00pm even if it was posted later. Anyway...probably it wasn't necessary for me to clear all of that up. :c)

Day 28

The last day of the month! To accomplish all of my monthly goals, I need to write in Joshua's journal and Henry's journal today...sad that I haven't written in them all month! Once that is finished, I'll have completed everything for February - I got everything completed in January also. I'm proud of myself! This year is starting out well in terms of accomplishing goals - usually I'm already failing somewhat by this point :c)

I hope to work on more crafty stuff later today!

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Got those journals written in...I'd hoped to work on some craft stuff, but it's too late and I need to finally go to bed at a decent time for once. I hope to be asleep by 11:30 tonight.

Day 27

This was a very busy and fun day! No crafting, but I did go through and do a much needed organizing job of my little craft bin - getting rid of all the short extra pieces of thread and tiny felt scraps...gathering up all the loose needles and pins hiding in the bottom, putting the extra paper templates in the little bag with the rest of them, winding up all the long threads tangled up in my bag of spools of thread...fun stuff.

Oh, I also measured out the dimensions of the table and made scale drawings of them on graph paper so I can map out what stuff I already have, and know how big to make the other stuff! Almost forgot that I did that.

Day 26

I made 4 flat strawberries today, because I liked the little seeds on the third one that I stuffed so much and wanted to do more like it, but I will put them on the playhouse, not detachable.
I will have to take a break from the playhouse at some point before the boys' birthdays to make them the gift that I'm hoping will turn out really cool - I'll post pictures after I give it to them, so after April 3rd (Henry's b-day, and Joshy's is March 30th).

We are going to a "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" activity for church tonight - that will be fun! Hopefully the boys will do well with getting taken care of at the church.

Oh and now Joshua is requesting that there be a kiwi vine in the garden, with kiwis on it!

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I finished a cloud...instead of doing the dishes. It's almost midnight...I think I'm going to do the dishes.
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I didn't do dishes...I looked up articles and checklists online about possible things we might find out after Henry's evaluations in the next couple of weeks...and continued to be worried about the possibilities I've been worried about. I want to be wrong, but my gut tells me I'm not. This is a much heavier topic than the fluffy little stuffed cloud sitting on the desk waiting to be photographed and added to the box of playhouse treasures...but it's a real thing in our lives. He has an appointment Wednesday (the 3rd) and then one the following Thursday (the 11th). I feel like I'm prepared to hear that something serious is going on...but I guess I won't know if I was truly prepared until the time comes. Hopefully he'll just jump back on track on his own, or we'll be able to help him get there without there being some underlying lifelong issue. But if there is, I know we have friends and family all around us who will be supportive and wonderful. He's such a happy guy, with a sense of humor - very social and interactive - good at figuring things out and playing, but he's got a ways to go to be where it seems like he should be verbally, for sure, and motor-wise as well. Maybe we won't get any definite answers in the next two weeks...but maybe we will.

I should have gone to bed long ago...there is too much information on the internet - so helpful and educational, but such an overload. And then when my mind is cluttered with stressful things, I go and read each blog that has been updated so that I can de-stress...and then it is 1am. Nathan will be getting up for basketball early tomorrow morning, and so will I...not for basketball. I hope it isn't a rough night otherwise.

Day 25

Soon I'm gonna have to decide which table this playhouse is going to go on. I had been thinking it would be the card table...but then I'm feeling like the card table is SOOO small...but the kitchen table would make for a very big playhouse. A lot of felt. But felt isn't that expensive...

Well I don't think we're going to buy another table any time soon, and unless someone jumps in and says they have a table we can have, I think I'll make it the dimensions of our kitchen table. What I want to start doing is measuring the size of things...because there are a lot of things that will be flat on the playhouse - not detachable, as many of the things I've made are (except for Buddy, the owl, and the mailbox).

Nathan's cousin Deb said that she has a bunch of felt I can use, and I'm really excited about that! No matter what color it is, I will definitely be able to use it!

Not sure if I'll get anything finished tonight...I'm not sure what is next on the agenda. We'll see. I just added a bunch of pictures and changed some from the first couple of days so they are more uniform (on the table). I like it that the table I've taken all the pictures on is the one that will be the playhouse (i think!).

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Ok, I just spent like half an hour looking for a template or drawing for a brontosaurus that I'd like to use for the playhouse...but I couldn't find one I was happy with. So I drew my own...I mean, I would have had to anyway, to be able to print it out the right size (bigger than a standard piece of printer paper), but mine is kind of a compilation of several. Hopefully I will have the right amount of felt!! Off I go to cutting, tracing, and more cutting!

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12:48am - finished my brontosaurus.

Day 24

I made three strawberries today! They're awesome. The third one (in the middle) especially.

The 4th season of Lost is starting out crrrrrazy!

Day 23

I finished the other two oranges today and made a "Dada" letter for the mailbox. Now there is one for Dada, one for Joshua, and one for Henry. I'll make one for me at some point, but one piece of felt made three letters. I have to figure out how I want to attach strawberries to the playhouse - then I might finish those up.
This is Joshua and Henry's first night sharing a room. They went to sleep very easily (Henry cried for 10 minutes or so and that was it), and are still sleeping (and it's really 12:20am...but I always make it say 11:00pm when I post after midnight).

We'll see how the rest of the night goes.

Day 22

Sewed velcro onto 3 oranges - finished one orange!

Day 21

Ok it is 11:15 Sunday night. I took an hour-ish nap today, and I want to see if I can finish something for the playhouse tonight. Starting at 11:15pm on anything isn't usually the best plan, but I'll give myself until midnight, 12:15 at the latest, and see if I can finish something. Or just work on something, cuz I miss it!

It is 12:23 - I finished the flowers I've been working on. I'm actually not really happy with how they turned out...I was trying to do something really creative and it didn't quite work how I pictured. Oh well. Goodnight.

Day 20

No crafting again. :c( I haven't lost interest in it...things just keep getting busy. I'll have some more time this week - I'm excited to finish up those flowers, and I have felt cut out for more letters, some oranges, and some strawberries...I just haven't made them cuz I haven't made decisions about velcro.

I haven't talked a lot about Henry - I have all sorts of fun Joshua stories that I tell on the blog, but this little Henry of ours is quite a little character, and deserves stories of his own!
He has got the greatest smile. His little top canine teeth came in before the middle ones, so his smile has a kind of baby vampire quality to it, so when he is laughing a lot, or when he flashes his new "cheese" face (for the camera), you can see his adorable little chompers.

He has definite favorites in what he likes to play with. His favorite things is the xylophone/piano that we have. He loves things that spin, like the spinny thing on the walker/car, or the beads on the twisty wire things. He loves to hold and munch on books and bang everything possible on the ground or the high chair tray.

He's becoming a little more ambitious, not being afraid to dive onto his tummy to get things, and rolling and pivoting places. We're going to talk with someone soon about helping him increase his mobility, but he is slowly increasing the movements he is comfortable with, which is good to see.

Henry is so adorable - his little hair sticks straight up in back, even being like two or more inches long...it's still sticking straight up most days. I call him tweety bird, and I'm sad on the days when it flattens down, cuz I think he probably won't ALWAYS have hair sticking up, and I'll miss it. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if he has an incredibly stubborn cowlick as he grows up. His hair is really curly in the back when it is wet, and a little curly when it's dry...so it's getting to the point where I kind of want to cut it, and yet I really don't.

He is great at roaring and purring and growling and spitting at us, and he's learning some sign language. He can sign "milk" and "more" really well, sometimes it seems like he does "eat" and if you ask him to clap (and he's in the right mood, of course) or wave, he will. He LOVES music, and he's enjoyed getting to come to nursery and watch all the toddlers and be there for music time. Now that Nathan isn't in nursery anymore, he'll get to enjoy hanging out in Sunday school and with the guys. I sing to him all the time. One of his very favorite songs is, "I found a million dollar baby...in the five and ten cent store." Grandma Rozen sang that song to him a LONG time ago...and I didn't know it, but had to learn it quick, cuz at times, it was the only thing that would calm him down.

He is finally sleeping every night, though he still wakes up more often than we'd prefer, and it isn't very consistent when he wakes up, but he sleeps. And he takes naps. Nearly every day, he takes two naps. Usually the opposite of Joshua's - at least in the morning. He'll go down for a nap sometime in the morning for an hour or so, then wake up about 45 minutes before Joshua goes down for his nap. He'll go down for another nap while Joshua is still sleeping, and generally wake up again before Joshua gets up. So I sometimes get a little break in there. His sleeping patterns have controlled our lives (it sometimes seems), for months and months and months...but now, other than the fact that he is in our bedroom (which I really wish wasn't the case), things aren't nearly so difficult at night or during the day in terms of his sleeping. He still cries before nearly every nap and nearly every night when he's put down, but it's more of a ritual or routine than him really being upset. Usually I have to go in once or twice to get him to stay down for his morning nap, but other than that, things go fairly smoothly.

He's very cuddly and his cheeks are nearly impossible not to kiss. Really. If you've ever held him, you know I speak truth.

We hope to get some answers about his development and what we can do to help him as he grows from being a cuddly happy baby to a cuddly happy toddler (or a stubborn wild toddler, perhaps!), and we'll give updates when we do get those answers.

Also, these boys do love each other...their relationship is still a little inconsistent, but Joshua sometimes expresses his feelings for his baby brother by bringing him toys or sharing with Henry when he really doesn't want to share. Tonight Joshua sat down on the floor with me and Henry, and Joshy was holding his "personal penguin." Henry grabbed for it and Joshua yanked it out of Henry's grasp. I told Henry that there are some things that Joshua doesn't need to share unless he wants to share them. Henry wasn't a big fan of that reasoning, but Joshua thought about it for awhile, and then held out his little penguin to Henry, who was distracted and missed his opportunity...but it was a sweet moment. Also, yesterday, Henry was in the crib in the bedroom trying to go down for his nap, and Joshua was sitting on the floor in the kitchen, playing with the magnets on the fridge. He looked up at me and said, "Mama, why is my baby crying?" It was again, such a sweet moment.

And finally - here are a few pictures of this dynamic duo!

This is the happy "cheese" face!

A little conspiring going on, it appears.

There's that vampire baby!

And my two cute little sweetie-pies.

I love them so much.

Day 19

We had a great time at the A.C. Gilbert House today. It is 7:11 - I am feeding Henry to put him to bed, then i need to do a mountain of dishes and then go grocery shopping. I got very little sleep last night, so i doubt i'll get much crafting done tonight. I'll post pictures if I do.

Day 18

Today I did a lot of work on another pair of flowers that I am choosing the most complicated way possible to make...hopefully they will look good when I'm done! Sorry no pictures yet.

Day 17

Ok, I resewed the patch on Nathan's scout uniform, so he can wear it to scouts tonight looking snazzy. I just didn't have the energy to fix it last night, but I'm glad it is centered now.

So far today, I have crossed off 7 things on my to-do lists, and I'm in process with several more. Also been working on laundry, organizing and cleaning up the living room, and a bunch of other work stuff that isn't on "the list" but needs to get done anyway. Joshua, Henry and I have all had lunch. Joshua is sleeping and Henry is just about ready to get down and hopefully go down for a nap.

So that's the update!

I need to post some pictures on facebook of these cute little boys of mine.

Hopefully I'll have some crafty things to post later!

Day 16

No crafting today, but I did spend several hours sewing the patches on to Nathan's new scouting shirt - he's the 11 yr-old scout leader now. I hated nearly every moment of that sewing experience. I broke a needle...but it didn't seem like it bent...but that my fingers snapped it in half. I used the half a needle to finish sewing the patch on...but it didn't have the sharp tip, so that was pretty challenging. I sure love felt.

I have a LOT of things on my to-do list for home/family/church stuff, so I asked Nathan to come up with a number of things from my list that I should challenge myself to do before we could watch Lost tonight. At first he said 10...but then I went back and looked at it again and saw that I could only logistically do 12 of them, so he brought the number down to 6. I did 1. Sewing on the patches took me at least 2 hours. I was so frustrated and exhausted by the end, that we agreed it was ok to watch it anyway.

Unfortunately, the most important patch that I sewed on there is not centered...it's kind of crooked, so at some point soon, I need to take the stitches out and re-sew it. It won't be nearly as difficult as doing all of them, though.

Nathan just went into the bedroom and Henry had a dirty diaper, so we changed him and he slept through it...he cried really hard when I laid him back in his crib, though. But I think he's done now. Nathan is on the couch...I'm not sure which of us will be the one to try to sneak in there first.

I love my boys. All three of them!