Bedtime routine improving!

Okay, the kids... they are totally catching on.  We've got our bedtime routine down, and it's running like a well oiled machine.

Sometime between 8pm and 9pm, they get their baths.  They are done with their baths and have a final meal/snack (if Natalie doesn't want it now, she gets it right before bedtime).  They watch one movie or a small series DVD and play with toys quietly in the living room with the lights turned down.  About 1/2 hour before the movie/series is over, they get their allergy medicine.  I prepare Natalie's sippy cup with uber-watered down juice and Aidan's little milk bottle (slowly weaning him off!  yay!).  When the movie is done, Aidan goes up into his bed and gets his bottle with only the nightlight on, Natalie has the chance to sit down and eat a bedtime snack (usually a bowl of cheerios) and we get a little 'girl time' without Aidan around.  As soon as she's done, she tells me it's time to go to bed.  I get her all tucked in and remind her she can have a movie in the morning when she wakes up.

They fall asleep within minutes.  Oh, it's so good to be able to sleep at night :) I've been pretty sick/nauseous lately, throwing up and all that loveliness so a good full night's sleep is wonderful.

The no-movie-at-night thing is relatively new.  I tried it before but it didn't work too well, this time... it works perfectly.  Natalie whimpered a little because she thought she was being punished but she understands now, it's for a better sleep!

Christopher gets home at 7:30 am or so... Natalie and I both woke up at 8:00 am.  Natalie got to spend a little time with Daddy before he went to bed and laid down with him for a little bit before deciding she would prefer to watch Spongebob.  I put on PBS, Aidan woke up (and peed on the potty!) and we all watched cartoons and played with the toys in the living room.

I can't tell you how much I LOVE Word World, by the way.  Natalie used to ask for Backyardigans and Dora all of the time but slowly, it's been changing.  She's been asking for Veggie Tales (thanks Dad!), Word World, Caillou, Cherub Wings and Hermie and Friends.

Canned Carrots and Ketchup

Aidan had chicken nuggets and canned carrots for dinner tonight.  One of his carrots was touching his ketchup, he picked it up and stuck it in his mouth.

He continued to then dip all of his carrots in the ketchup before eating them.  Who knew such a combination would be so delicious?  He was all done and asked for more.  I heated up some carrots, added some ketchup, applied drink to sippy cup and he was a happy little man - eating his carrots and ketchup.

The Kiddy Aprons

We made cupcakes today, and brownies!  Yummmmyy :)  They are currently cooling off and Natalie can't wait to frost them!

The aprons were a hit with them, neither one of the kids will let me take them off while they are playing and watching WordWorld.  When Aidan tried his on for the first time, he twirled around in a circle, threw his arms out and said "taaa ddaaaa!  aaall done!" and ran off :)

He's got a tugboat on his apron, natalie has a bird flying through clouds and she says she loves her little flowers all over!

Now, to work on mine... :)

Add:  Since I let Natalie eat cupcakes, she is walking around say "I loooove you Renee.  Renee, I loooove you.  Renee, I looooove you!  I looooove you, Renee!"  Look at that!  I don't have to buy her love, for sure.  I just have to bake my way into it!

Wet and Rainy Days

I told Natalie, if she wanted to play outside to go ahead, go for it.  I thought she wouldn't play out in the rain and for a moment, I was right.  She came back inside with a look of defeat, stood there for a moment and exclaimed she needed her jacket.  Haha!  I got her the jacket and decided the worst that would happen is she would catch a chill.  After a lot of consideration, I let Aidan go outside too.  As soon as they came inside, they got a quick leg-wipe-down and thrown into jean pants and thermal shirt.  Everyone wins!  They get to go outside, I get to let them run out some of their energy and we all get to see their new thermal shirts on them (which I totally didn't get pictures of!)

I love these days :)  Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em.  For everyone who knows me, my screennames have usually been associated with rain or water (ceramicraindrops, thunderstorms, foreveraining, therainbabee).  There's something about a dark and thundery sky that just puts me into a great mood.

Chris came up with a 'name' for me

I like it :)  It looks really cool on my Flickr photos as a watermark!  I wasn't originally going to be doing watermarks, but I think it's a good route to go... and it looks cool.

The Beauty in Bicycling

It twists and mingles beneath me, allowing me to leave my mark

It's a reminder that I was here, among the flowers and trees.

A greeting card, wishing me well and good fortune

As I ride on to the end of day, peacefully and without fear

Among the toilet seats.

"I thought of that while riding on my bike"

Business Name

I was once told that my name would never lend itself to getting me famous because it falls flat in the mouth and leaves the taste of a 19th century speciality historian.  There's no pizzazz, no excitement - and certainly no crunch.  Thinking through all of the famous crafters/artists throughout time, their names all had a little 'something' that mine so seriously lacks.

Renee Hall.

So, I've decided that if I ever get more into the business side of crafts/art/graphics then I will probably plump the name up a bit.  Hrm.  Maybe.  At least throw in my middle name to spice things up a bit.

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”

I turned to Chris the other night while we were both on our respective computers and I said, "You know, the day goes by so much easier when I keep busy."  He smiled at me, I think I heard a chuckle and he finished it with "Well, I'm glad you realized that."

Staying busy is easy when your back does not hurt, the weather is perfect for spending a few hours outside and the tots actually want to play 

separately so you can finally sit down with the girl and do some paper crafts with her.

Current projects are going well.  I'm always adding new paper beads to my collection and have started some Christmas ones.  Natalie has become my unofficial 'Christmas Bead Colorer", her scribbles work beautifully :)

The chair is almost done being recovered and I think it is coming along beautifully.  I am so amazed to have my very own sewing area that I sit on the unfinished chair and look around at my sewing desk in awe when no one is watching.

The hardest part is where the bottom and the back meet.. that funky crevice is killing me!  Each time I try a new way to tuck it in, it sits funky either on the sides or in the front.

I'll be having a strip run around the bottom (held in with silver brads, like it used to be) so having funky sides won't be too noticeable.  I might just settle for that so the chair will finally be done :)

Aidan's apron is coming along beautifully.  Got the tugboat all stitched up and am currently working on hookin' up to his apron.  Natalie's is next, and then mine :)

Diaper boxes, First dress, Apron

  

Diaper boxes are by far the best boxes ever... they have a great shape and are strong.  They are better than the Onceler's Thneeds!  They hold up to their little owners who test the theory of gravity with the contents every hour on the hour and they can also double as a fantastic thing for watching movies in.  Psh, and you thought only cats could sit in a box for hours without moving.

  

Natalie posing for me with her new dress on... (Okay, confession: She is totally not posing, these were the only clear ones out of like 22039 shots, hehe)

Feeling inspired to make myself an apron for the kitchen...  I am going to make the girl ones like this. I think Natalie and I will have matching aprons and if Christopher wants one then he and Aidan will get matching aprons... if Christopher doesn't want one then I am just going to make Natalie and Aidan matching aprons so there is no fighting :)

Sewing Desk

    

For Tomorrow:  My many uses of Diaper boxes; Natalie's New Dress; Renee's Apron

Google Chrome

So far, I like it.  It feels biggerish.  Is it biggerish, am I just a sleep-deprived lunatic, was I just so desperate for a change that I will like anything new or did I suffer severe brain damage from the die-cast Thomas Trains that were tossed at my head earlier today?  Okay, maybe a bit of the second one, most of the first one and don't take out the third one out at all and leave in a tad bit of the fourth... either way, I still like it.

You create a tab and it shows you your most visited sites - right there!  Less work!  Less thinking!  Yes!  This is totally what us humans strive for, less thinking and less work, more procrastina---no, I mean more production!

Also, you can rearrange the tabs, pull the tab into a new window and put it back in again!  It's so much fun!  It's like an amusement park all packed inside a fantastic browser.

I totally recommend.

Sewing..

No updates on the chair so far, it is sitting in the corner of the living room covered with a trash bag so the kids don't rip up the foam. The tots + stuff you can pick at = an airborn messy disaster!

I made some pajama shorts for Aidan, totally cute and soft. They were from an old polo shirt that was getting stained and too short for me. I am keeping the top part of the shirt to make a pattern from for future use. I love polo shirts, I don't have nearly enough of them.

My SEWING DESK is coming along nicely. You read that right! A sewing desk! A whole section of the room, just for me! It's been awesome so far! Look at these exclamation points! I am so excited!

I am currently working on a buttoned pajama shirt (I drafted the pattern) with matching pillowcase for Natalie and a pillow for her baby bear for Christmas. I want to sew something for Aidan too. I am thinking of piecing out a train or a tug boat on a long sleeved shirt for him.

It's the most crafty/sewing productive I have ever been in my entire life... feels so good to be organized! I love it! Exclamation point! Exclamation point! One! Exclamation point! I've got a few products planned out... I have a button down shirt I spilled wine on (oops!) that I've already deconstructed and will be turned into a dress for Natalie for next summer. I am using this as my inspiration. I also, like I said before, want to make a polo shirt for myself.

New Color Scheme!

I've got a new color scheme going on and I think it's a bit more cheerful than the dark blue/grey I had going on before...

I'll be changing my youtube page around to match my blog soon

What do you think?

Our newest project!

It involves a flat head screwdriver, a pair of plyers and an array of boo boos on Renee's hands :)
It involves removing green leather, staples and tacks :)

What is it?

Reupholstering chairs! 2 of them! These had arms at one point in their lives and have spent the last 10 years waiting to be fixed up and were offered for free on CraigsList.org! I jumped on the opportunity and last night, we picked them up. They've surely seen better days but the springs are in great shape, the frame is perfect and they are of god-like comfort.

Last night, Christopher and I got started on removing staples and tacks on the first chair and today, I finished removing the tacks and staples and the leather. So far, so good :) I am considering maybe keeping the bigger pieces of leather, cleaning them up and making a bag out of them - an awesome way to recycle!

With Christopher's assistance, I will be covering them in a gorgeous plush dark blue corduroy fabric... I may want to mimic the previous design and do some silver tacks along the bottom, not sure until I get to that point though :)

Sewing :) (For Natalie)

I took apart an old shirt of mine that got stained, was starting to wear at the armpits and had a hole in it along the bottom last night. I wanted to use as much of it as I could and came up with a shirt for Natalie with cleverly placed buttons to hide the stains along with changing over a pair of was-pants, then-shorts into a cute mini skirt with a birdy :)

Drafted out the pattern all by myself using a shirt of Natalie's:)

I'm quite proud... :)

Pictures from the Visit to New York