Month: December 2005

Bye-Bye 2005

Sarah General

I think at this point it’s safe to say I’m not changing any more diapers this year!

I didn’t quite manage to finish everything I’d planned, although all that’s left is something for Carrie that I’m going to give her for Epiphany and Sammy’s quilt – I remember now why I hadn’t finished it: the top is all pieced but it’s bigger than my backing fabric so I have to piece that now. Those are projects for this week, since I want to participate in the selfish challenge but I’m not going to until those two projects are done!

I also didn’t get the house as clean as I’d like, but the beds all have fresh sheets, the dishes are done, and the floors are vacuumed. So I’m going into the next year with a moderate amount of laundry and messy bedrooms. Oh, well, everyone always needs room for improvement, right?

Off to watch the ball drop! Happy New Year!

Finishing Things

Sarah Crafts

I’m trying very hard to go into the new year without owing anyone a gift – meaning that the unfinished Christmas gifts need to get done in the next couple of days, as well as a quilt that I pieced for Sammy but never actually got around to quilting. I suppose one of these years I should resolve to not have any unfinished projects at all by the end of the year, but that seems like an impossible goal. Plus, there’s an old superstition that you should always have something on your needles (for knitting, I’m sure there’s similar things for other crafts) or you’ll have bad luck. So maybe I’ll settle for having an organized craft room with just a few unfinished things.

On a similar note, my great-grandmother always said that however your house is going into the new year is how it will be for the rest of the year, so I’m trying to also at least get the “public” areas of the house and our bedrooms extra clean. The craft room…well, maybe if the rest of the house stays clean next year I can make it a goal to get the craft room organized for the following year. :)

In Case You Were Wondering…

Sarah General

I may (or may not, depending on your perspective) have cheated with the last few days’ blog entries. I was too lazy (or was I just too tired?) to get the pictures off of my camera, so even though the posts were all written I hadn’t published them yet. So in case you were wondering how you missed those posts…well, you didn’t. I did. But they’re worth the wait!

Where Is Baby’s Belly Button?

Sarah Carolyn

Dear Carolyn,

Today you shocked me with two startling new developments. First, you will now blow your nose on cue. It may be a small thing, but when a nose runs as much as yours does it’s a pleasant alternative to fighting you to wipe it.

Second of all, I’ve discovered that you know the locations of a dozen different body parts. Today you found your nose, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, tongue, hair, hands, fingers, feet, toes and belly button. Elbows and knees still stump you, though. Considering that I never actually intentionally taught you these things it astounds me that you’ve figured them out anyhow.

What else do you know that you’re not sharing?!?

Love, Mommy

Weaving Stories

Sarah Crafts

Here’s a funny story…

Christmas Eve, at my Grandparents’ house, we were all sitting around eating my mom’s birthday cake:

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(Didn’t it come out wonderfully? I’m so proud of my very first all-on-my-own fancy cake! (Although, to be perfectly honest, Lisa made half of the flowers. But the rest was all on my own!))

OK, back to the topic at hand! My mom and my aunt were talking about some of the old crafts they used to do, including weaving. My mom has a huge floor loom and my aunt has a table loom – both have gone unused for many years. Anyway, at some point in the conversation I mentioned to my dad about how, someday, I’d love to have a small loom to play with. He got this funny smirk on his face, and I figured he probably thought I needed another hobby like I need a hole in my head.

Fast forward to the next morning – a.k.a. Christmas.

Guess what was wrapped up under their tree?

A (used, of course, but that makes it more special) Leclerc Dorothy table loom! It’s an older model, with a 15″ weaving area, and it has four shafts. As of right this minute it’s warped (that only took about forever) and ready to go. Tomorrow I get to weave something! (I would be right now except that the loom is still in my parents’ living room, since I’ve needed to ask my mom for help just about every five minutes.)

I’m all awash in the possibilities of this new craft. What can I weave in 15″? Scarves, placemats, doll blankets? What else?

Merry Christmas!

Sarah General

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Santa, along with everyone else, apparently thought Carrie was a very good girl this year, judging by the carnage on Christmas morning! I don’t even think I can list all the things she received without forgetting something! There were clothes and pajamas, musical instruments, legos, bath toys, Little People, books, CDs, puzzles, DVDs… Carrie has a lot of people who love to spoil her! I am also now an expert on which toy brands have the most obnoxious packaging. (Fisher Price is the absolute worst, with Leap Frog a close second.)

By far the largest gift that Carrie opened was from my parents. For a week now we haven’t been allowed in their house on account of the “pony” they had gotten for Carrie, which was residing in their living room. The “pony” turned out to be one of those indoor/outdoor playhouses, which Carrie absolutely adores. It has a realistic-looking and sounding phone, a working doorbell, shutters and a door to open and close. We’re already planning to add a light, some curtains and a rug, and I’m going to use a Toys ‘R’ Us gift card she got for her birthday on some dishes and play food for it. Now we just need to find some space for it in our house!

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Denis and I were also apparently very good. He got a turkey fryer…actually two, because my brother thought my parents weren’t getting him one but then they decided to anyway. Between us we have some new DVDs, a computer-turned-kleenex box holder, an ice cream maker that doesn’t use electricity…and I got another really neat gift that I’ll blog about tomorrow since this entry is already incredibly long. (I’m such a tease.)

Fourteen Months Old!

Sarah Monthly Updates

Dear Carolyn,

This last month has brought so many little changes it’s hard to know where to begin. You are turning into a regular little monkey. Not only are you able to climb onto the dining room chairs, but from there you can actually climb up onto the dining room table. I really think we should buy you a helmet. Or a padded bubble!

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You now shake your head “no”. When I ask “can Mommy have a kiss?” you shake your head no. Although occasionally you do give kisses: the big, open-mouth slobbery kind, right on the lips. In fact, just this morning you gave Murphy a hug (the dog has the patience of a saint) and then gave him a kiss on his muzzle. I wished I had the camera – it was simultaneously the cutest and yuckiest thing I’ve ever witnessed. And it must have tasted funny to kiss his fur like that because you kept touching your tongue afterwards.

20051209_say_cheese.jpgYour new signs this month are “eat”, “baby”, “down”, “duck”, “daddy”, “cat”, “book”, “pear”, “cereal”, “potty”, “hot”, “ice cream”, “bird”, “thirsty”, “light”, “yes”, “cold” and “happy”. Honestly, there may be more but I can’t keep up – you’re learning them so quickly and you surprise me all the time with ones that I’ve never signed with you before that you’ve picked up from our videos. You’re now up to 52 (or more) signs.

Sometimes you’re like a little old lady, all set in your ways. If some of the bedtime steps happen a little out of order, it throws you off a bit – and heaven forbid we actually skip a step! However, if we can stick to your routines for the most part you’re pretty easy-going about the rest. You are starting to become a little more cautious about who else might be in the room besides Mommy and Daddy, but you still charm the pants off of most people you meet. (Except for the grumpy ones, but they don’t count anyway.)

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Every day I feel like we’re getting closer to something big. You are so interactive with your environment and everyone around you now, and your communication abilities and understanding are expanding so rapidly I’m pretty sure it’s all going to hit critical mass very, very soon and you’ll all of a sudden be…well, someone even more exciting than you are now. I’ve stopped trying to fight with time to slow down and I am instead abandoning myself to this exhilarating ride you started dragging me along on the day you took your first step into toddlerhood. Wheeeee!

Love, Mommy

That’s It. I’m Done.

Sarah General

At least one person, probably two, are going to open gifts on Christmas that aren’t done. And I’m OK with that. (And they’d better be as well.)

Instead of staying up all hours tonight working on gifts (yes, I know it’s 1 AM, I’m up for other reasons at the moment) I’m going to go to bed now. And then tomorrow I’m going to turn on my 6+ hour Christmas playlist and spend the day doing the following: leisurely wrapping presents, baking a simple cake for my mom’s birthday, and playing with Carrie. If I have some random free time I may work on those last couple of things, but only with the goal to get them a little further along, not frantically trying to finish them. There’s no point in doing this if I’m not enjoying it, which I really wasn’t today.

Besides, it’s the twelve days of Christmas, right? So I have plenty of time!

Anthropomorphizing

Sarah General

Well, I almost estimated right yesterday – I fell into bed at 2:45. I think one more late night might do it, and maybe I can get a (relatively) full night of sleep the night before Christmas Eve. (This is important since my mom’s whole family does the traditional Italian thing on Christmas Eve.)

Anyway, one consequence of this lack of sleep – notice that it’s not even six hours later and I’m already up, showered and dressed – is that I’ve started having mental “conversations” with some of my tools. I’m a little afraid to post this, because I don’t want you all to think I’m losing my sanity, but to my tired brain it’s kind of funny…

Ouch!
Hey, you! Yeah, you over there! Stop jabbing me!
Listen, you ought to be grateful that I picked you out of the entire box of pins. I could have picked some other pin instead, but I picked you. So show a little respect and stop trying to make me bleed all over my project!

Oh, iron, I realize that you’re thirsty and need a drink of water, but we’re so close to finishing this part of the project. I’m losing steam too. And if I have to stop, unplug you, wait for you to cool down and add water, I’m just going to give up and go to bed. So, please, please, please find it in your reservoir to give just enough steam so I can finish ironing this one…last…seam. Please?

Now that you’ve had a glimpse into my insanity, I hope everyone else’s holiday preparations are going a bit more smoothly!

Still Here, Honest!

Sarah General

I didn’t drop off the face of the earth, I swear! It’s just that we were away, then we came home and I had to get right back to work on Christmas presents. In fact, I should be working on them right now! So, I’ll leave you with a picture of my “candy cane cutie” (in case you were wondering what her shirt says) and go make myself something hot with caffeine so I can stay up until 2 AM.

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