unTangled up in Blue

H and I have become those parents and our kids each have an iPod touch. They inherited H and I's old ones. Part me loves the way the kids have embraced technology and the other part of me is contrary and thinks that technology is ebbing into their lives too quickly.

I will say, the iPod does make traveling with kids so much easier. They can bring their movies, tv programs, music and games with them. It does make the long car trip and the plane trips very pleasant for everyone.

The only hurdle for me are the ear buds. Where are they in the backpack, the panic attacks when the kids can't find them. This has been an issue. First I addressed it by being the party to carry the ear buds, then I taught then to wrap them around the iPod. Inevitably they get loose and sink to the bottom of the backpack or the far corner buried under books.

Before our trip to the sunshine state, I decided to address this issue.

Behold the fleece lined denim iPod pouch. The vintage buttons are a nice touch.

The process was very easy.

1. I used a pair of E's jeans. He has the uncanny ability to split the knees of his jeans in such a way, that I cannot patch or repair them. So I decided to put the latest casualty to good use. He wears a size 6-7 slim. These were 6's. I laid the iPod on the leg of the pants, even with the yellow hem stitching at the base of the leg. Once I cut it to the desired length, I then split the leg open at the inner seam. Measure or eyeball the desired width and trim accordingly. In my case I wanted a snug but not tight fit. Remember this is all about little fingers being able to execute the storage and removal process solo.

2. Find some fleece you like. In my case I used some scrap I had. L got pink and E got black monster truck. I used the denim piece as my pattern and cut the fleece to match. Stitch with coordinating thread all the way around. Wrong sides to wrong sides. Then fold in half and stitch following the existing yellow stitching. Making the pouch. I back stitched at the upper corner for extra security.

3. Cut a small strip of fleece. I find using the selvage edge is good way to go. Less stretch and you are going to get rid of that bit anyway, why not put it to use. Carefully stitch into the pouch, about 3/4 inches in. I doubled stitched and back stitched each time. This is going to get lots and lots of tugging and pulling. It needs to be tough.

4. Find a large and preferably slightly raised button and hand stitch it to the front of the pouch. Take your time and do this right. Using embroidery floss won't hurt. Remember this is going to get lots and lots of tugging too.

Then enjoy. This will easily hold your iPod and head phones. No more missing ear buds and your screen is protected.

E today at tea, had arranged the pouch in such a way that it acted as a stand, holding his iPod at the perfect viewing angle. Only my budding engineer could come up with that creative use for my quick denim iPod carrying case.

I would say this process took about 1/2 hour or so. It truly is a quick fix project.

Lady Liberty's Closet

The first grade classes at E's school do a monthly special share. It varies from writing a few sentences to making a how to video. This month we had to make something that involved the Statue of Liberty. E could choose to write a story, a poem, make a poster or build something.

Naturally he wanted to build something. I have to say my building talents are not the strongest and H was slated for a lot of traveling. E and I kicked around Lego creations, foam sculpture and paper mache and chicken wire.

L kept reminding us that we only had a week and that all of those ideas sounded great until you actually got started. She was lucky, in 1st grade her classroom got to do the Flag and we wrote a story and drew a picture.

Then while watching reruns of Bravo's Top Chef, it hit me. We could do a deconstructed Lady Liberty. It is all the rage in food, why not in national symbols?

While we are used to seeing Lady Liberty looking a bit like this:

E and I have transformed her and we proudly present Lady Liberty's Closet:

 

and inside her closet:

She really is very one note when it comes to color. I think she may need a fashion intervention.

E and I crafted all of her items using stuff we found around the house. The box we got from a neighbor's trash pile. It was exactly deep enough and in very good shape. E and I covered the "doors" in duck tape. JoAnn's has piles and piles of colorful duck tape. The door nobs are drawer pulls from a table I got from my mom but immediately changed the drawer pulls out.

For the closet bar, E and I measured and cut some old pvc pipe we found in the basement. I used a hack saw. H was in the kitchen and yelled down, "Are you cutting PVC pipe." I yelled back, "Like a pro."

For the sandals, we traced E's feet and then cut a top strip. The tablet was easy, just free hand a gravestone shape and cut.

For the torch we used a plastic cup and part of a paper towel roll and duck tape. (on the day of the presentation, we have gold tissue paper all prepared to act as the flames.)

While the building was fun, I think E enjoyed dying a length of old white sheet, using hot water and Rit Dye. He got to pour and stir.

The only part of Lady Liberty's outfit, which we bought was her crown. It was a 99 cents foam crown, which came in grey sparkly. The down side is it only has five points and the real one has seven points, but we are working with what we have and seriously, the crown is sparkly. (Even after we painted it.)

While many people thought me using a hack saw was the scariest part of this project; it wasn't. The scariest part of this project was allowing E to spray paint the props. We found, at JoAnn's, blue spray paint that is pretty close to the correct color.

So last Saturday and again on Sunday for touch ups, I placed the sandals, torch, crown, and tablet on newspaper and shook the can of paint and handed it to my six year old. Crazy I know. It was not lost on me, as he began spraying, that this was a spectacularly poor idea.

Although with some coaching, he actually did a pretty good job.

So for about $15, E and I have built something for his project and he is excited to share his creation and the fun facts he has learned about the Statue of Liberty. He has note cards all set, with each clothing item on it in big letters and 1-3 sentences about that item on the back.

I hate to be cliche, but sometimes you just have to think outside the box.

NOPHO Week 2 - Comfy Cozy

So this week, I took and edited two pictures because, I had to learn a bit of a lesson about digital photography and frankly my helpers like to push random buttons.

The long and short of it is, my camera was set incorrectly, therefore I was taking pictures at a low resolution. Allie is a dear and emailed me that again, same as last week, my pictures was an incorrect number of pixels. Thanks to H and a friend, I have been set straight and they tried not to make me feel too dumb in the process, even if I did sense some head shaking and muttering under their breath.

What did I learn - you cannot in photoshop resize a picture that is 400 px to one that 700 px. What you have to do is reshoot. Which is big fun when you use models. L and E were each paid two pieces of candy for their collective time investment of 10 minutes, 5 minutes or so on Friday afternoon and again 5 minutes or so on Sunday late morning. I will say laying under a blanket is hard work and they probably deserved more pay than two pieces of candy, but I am working with a budget.

The idea for this week's picture came from my childhood, I always liked to hide under the covers. I would read, play with my dolls and color, all while hiding in my bed under a pile of blankets. Also, E is a tornado in the bed, he is all over the place. So many mornings, when I peek in at him, all you see is a huge pile of balled up covers with his little feet sticking out. It is so adorable.

And as they say a picture was born.

What you can't see is their arms are sticking out and they are each holding two of their favorite stuffed animals. We experimented with some longer shots - to show hands and feet, but for some reason, their feet won out.

It was a fun shoot, even if my models were a tad surly and cranky and frankly, bossy. Talent these days, what's a girl to do?

Music Monday: California Dreaming, The Mama's & The Papa's

The Autumnal Equinox was Friday. I happen to love fall. I love the crisp mornings, beautiful changing leaves, apples, pumpkins, bonfires. You name it.

As we walked to school Thursday morning, E holding my hand and chattering, he says: "Man I just don't like fall."

I asked him why and told him how I loved fall.

"I don't like fall, because it just means we are a few months closer to winter. And I really don't like winter."

He pauses.

And adds - "You don't like winter either."

And he is right, I am not a fan of Old Man Winter.

But I sure do like fall.

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 23 - Childhood Memory

This one stumped me. Last week I thought about paying my hometown a visit. Surly I could find a memory or two there. Last week came and went and no trip.

Tonight on the way to dance lessons I was talking to L about tomorrow's challenge and how I thought I might have to sit it out. She says, "Oh come on Mom, you have lots of stuff from your childhood. Wait, remember that strange pink doll, I have that. See even I have a piece of your childhood."

Later I was cleaning up the kitchen and the kids were snacking and L says, "So how you gonna stage today's picture?" (Stage? my 9 year old used the word stage...)

I said I hadn't decided. E volunteers, "I think it would be cool if you did it like an I Spy picture."

Bingo!

So after bed time, I rounded up some items and staged and I Spy type photo. Can you guess which items are which???

Recycled quilt, a new life to something old before even recycle was a hot shot buzz word.
Souvenir from my 1st trip to Germany
Statue from the site of a bit of France, right here in Ohio.
A high school honor
L's bit of my childhood
A weird memento with an even weirder tag
A knotty endeavour
Something made by my great-grandfather
Pink memories - Snaps before digital

I bet if I was willing to hunt and dig out more, I have more items I could have put in this picture but I think this is a good sampling and representative of a number of years of my childhood.

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 7 Silhouette

This one was hard. The kids wanted to help and they really want their pictures on my blog. In general, I am very careful about posting their pictures anywhere, I cannot control who sees it. Call me crazy or worse but that is how I roll.

My little people however are big hams. They love - LOVE - LOVE to have their pictures taken.  L routinely poses and E will sometimes coyly pose for snapshots.

I told them tonight before bed they had to help me with this. Finding a good spot, with the correct back lighting was challenging. This picture was their idea, I have a few others which are ok, but this one is the cutest and the tightest shot I got. They decided to link arms and make a "W" or a "M" or as E put it, pretend to be a spider, see, he explained, we have eight legs...

This is a time where I think I needed more time to plan and experiment and perhaps have another adult on hand to help with the staging of my photo, but on the other hand this challenge is about capturing the here and now and here today, right now, it is bed time and it is the little people, me and my iPhone.

I give you the Silhouette Spider.

Music Monday #1

It is no secret, writers and musicians have alot in common. Classically I think you see writers and musicians hanging out, getting drunk, creating, sharing their artistic angst. Certainly there have been some fantastical writer musician combos. Some musicians are amazing writers and some writers are well, like me, tone deaf. I hear music in words... the poetry is a music all its own.

It is not uncommon to see writers write about music which has influenced something they have written. I am not any different. Certain music sets a tone. Sometimes music I hear on the radio sparks an idea. Sometimes music makes me angry. The words, the beat, all of the above. When I get angry, I often write.

I have decided to start a blog feature called Music Monday. I will post a video of a song, which has caught my attention, made me think or influenced me in some way. I might explain it or I might just post it.

Today I am posting one that E commented on this morning. I will say, I refuse to limited their musical exposure and perhaps this is the wrong choice, but since I am not listening to explicit RAP, we listen to the radio, I will defer to the judgment of the FCC. I have spoken about my thoughts on language and with rare exception, I think all words have a time and place. Bitch is just such a word. He hasn't asked, but if he does we will talk about it, how it is used and why some people object. I in general am more irritated about the causal use of the word "hate" than I am any other four letter word. Words are not naughty. Words have power, learning to harness that power is what I want my kids to understand.

If someone is motivated to call me a bitch, I have either a) really done something to deserve such title, b) written something that needed written and someone who should learn something is resisting and projecting, or c) being called "bitch" reflects less on me more on the person doing the word selection. (I have no illusions, I can be and am sometimes a bitch.)

This song came on CD101 this morning as we went to school and E said, "Man, I like this one."

I happen to like it too. I suspect he likes the beat, he is very much tuned into rhythm. I like the rhythm and the sentiment.

Hugo - 99 Problems

First Fireworks

This year was E's first ever fireworks. E is an early to bed kind of guy for the most part, so we have never tried to fight that particularly. This year though, E wanted to go to the fireworks and H was out of town in NYC, so if L and I were going, E really had to tag along.

My dear friend K came with us. We got to the normal spot, in what L calls the "fireworks park" and waited, while L and E played on the playground.

The show was wonderful. Lots of variety.

E sat on my lap, with a self described "scared face" but he did not cry and I think he really did like the show, but could live without the booms. He said it was like super scary thunder.

I figured this would mean, next year he would pass. Then the other day he announced.

"Mom, when I grow up, I am going to be the fireworks guy. You can come watch me if you want."

Pet Care

So Catty (nka Snickers) is recovering well and E has a new career goal...

He wants to be a Veginarian and give animals braces.

Currently he is wandering the house, lining up his stuffed animals and listening to their heartbeats and suggesting that they would benefit from braces.

MMM, do they have career day for that?

Catty

We have been adopted. It happened on a sunny afternoon, whilst the little people were home from school sick. We had, on the doctor's advice, been taking some fresh air and had walked about the neighborhood. When out of nowhere, a tiger cat came up to me and was making nice. She is beautiful. Good disposition and very friendly.

We fed her and she seemed happy. We did not see her again for a bit, but left some cat food out (which I had borrowed from the neighbor) and it disappeared bit by bit.

Lo and behold a few days ago, she is back and has stayed. She likes to sit on the deck and H and I think she is living under the deck.

We had no more cat food, so I have been feeding her whatever I had, some tuna and rice, some chicken sausage, some shrimp and stale toast. Some milk. Unlimited water.

I have photographed her and posted her picture to various websites and have gotten some emails, but no one has come forward to claim her or want to take her in and provide her an inside home.

I went and obtained coat food, in various varieties yesterday. She is very hungry. I decided a mixture of dry and moist food, would be a good choice, she needs to bulk up a bit.

As I put food in her bowl this afternoon and talked to her, I decided it is very likely that she is now ours. I cannot see taking her to the Humane Society, only to have killed, for no reason other than someone turned her out, she got out by mistake or fate. She is very pleasing and very pretty. She is not mean. She seems to like the kids.

While we cannot have her in the house, given I and my mother are allergic, we can try and provide her a good home. We can give her shelter and feed her. She seems content to hang out on the deck. H is lukewarm on the idea of letting her sleep in the garage, but he is even less ok, with me spending money to let someone kill her.

I just cannot let her starve either. That is just fundamentally wrong. I know most people, as evidenced by my neighbor, who had her on her deck first and did nothing, can just turn a blind eye to another creature's suffering, I cannot. She is not a wild cat, she has been someone's pet, someone who thoughtlessly and cruelly shoved her out or she is a victim of circumstance. She escaped or wandered too far, or there was a traumatic event in the home she was in. Just as friends of our, had their cat go missing, for a few weeks, after their house fire.

So later this week, she and I will go to the vet, I will get her a collar and she will, I suppose, unless someone comes forward, be in effect ours, for as long as she will have us. My neighbor has a largely outdoor cat and she says the cat will be ok in the garage, even when it is very cold, I can always give her a warm blanket and so forth. I have to think a family to love her and care for the best they can, is better than being killed, even if it is humanely. I understand that there is an explosion of unwanted cats, but I just cannot be part of cats death march. With us, she has a chance at a happy life.

E has named her "Catty."

She has named us, "family."

He's such a guy...

E: What are you doing?

Me: Christmas shopping?

E: For what?

Me: For presents.

E: For me?

Me: I do not know what you want, how can I get you presents if I do not know what you want.

E: You can just buy me what I want.

Me: You have to tell me what you want.

E: You can just buy me what you want me to want, or have, or want to have.

Down the hall he marches, dragging a rope and a pillow.

Red not blue

I walk into E's reasonably tidy room and see a huge pile of underwear on the floor.

"E why is your underwear all over the floor?" He is not one to paw thru his clothes. He is content to let me dress him.

"I was looking for RED underwear!!!" He tells me, accenting the looking and red and making UNDERWEAR sound like a really long word. His face was so cute, a mix of emphasis and total exasperation with his slow on the uptake mother.

"Why?"

"Because I like red underwear the best and sometimes orange."

"You don't have any orange underwear." I tell him, as I organize the mess on the floor and put it away.

"Well we need to get some. More red and some orange at the store."

"What's wrong with blue?"

"Ah, I wear blue clothes over my red underwear." He explains as he walks off down the hallway, as if I am the most unfashionable woman on the planet. Shaking his head...

Reading a Rough Story

We were coming home from dinner out and the kids always want to know who is going to put them to bed. H said he was going to do it tonight. H tends to wash E's hair "rough" as E says and so he said, "Daddy don't wash my hair rough!"

L is in a jolly mood and says, "Well too bad E, Daddy is going to wash your hair rough and read you a story rough and cuddle you roughly."

I asked how one reads and cuddles rough.

She explains Daddy can yell the story and then squeeze E very tight.

E scamper her to the writing cave tonight and says to me, "Tell Daddy not to read my story rough!"

I assured E, that Daddy would not yell the story...

Slug Bug

E and I were driving in the car yesterday. We play the slug bug game. He is getting really good at it.

Yesterday he yells out, "Slug bug, I am not sure what color that is, but it is mine!"

It was some odd shade of purple...

Go E!

Today is...

the last day you will be 3!" I tell E this morning over breakfast.

He smiles at me - man does he have a killer smile and says, "That is kinda special, huh?" and continues munching his blueberry toaster pastry.

I think for a minute and agree with him. "Yes, that is special you will never be 3 again, so this is the end of that and the beginning of something else."

"Mom," he says, "I'll just worry about 4 tomorrow!"

I nearly cried. Talk about being in the moment. For so many years of my life, I worried about tomorrow. I was obsessive compulsive about tomorrow.

And now, I am many days, succeeding at just enjoying today.

I also have to think about the family I overheard at the mall. They were telling their kids they had to wait until they were X years old to do this and that and I thought - why not celebrate what they can do now?

Language

E says to me a few days ago, whilst tugging on his drapes - "Will you help me open my carpets?" I laugh and tell him they are called curtains.

Today we are getting ready to head out and he is once again tugging on the curtains - "Will you help me open my covers?" I laugh and remind him they are called curtains.

Tonight - as we are were getting ready for bed, he asked me to "close his rugs...." I reminded him once again they are curtains.

But this reminds me about hard it is to learn a language. Which he is doing everyday. I am now correcting his verb tense and helping him learn the exceptions to the rules. Like it is make - made and not make, maked. He is applying patterns and English is not a language of patterns. So many exceptions to the rules.

The language acquisition process has always fascinated me. It has since I learned German. As an adult - you have to memorize and cram and practice. As a child you just soak it up like a sponge.

Where's the Boat?

That is what E wanted to know after we stood in line for an hour! They charged in this morning at 5:30 am - so I got us dressed and fed and off to the polls. At 6:27 am we were at least 25 deep! We waited an hour!

I am sure many people would have rather my kiddos stayed home - but it is their country too and they should be part of the process. Beside the schools are closed here - so L would have been coming with me anyway. E has preschool today but I was afraid the lines would only get worse as the day goes on.

L was chanting in the car over to the polls - "Smart people vote for Obama!" He is her choice. She voted yesterday at school. I told her while I was voting for Obama - and I do ardently believe he has the best ideas for America - that the most important thing is that people are voting. Not voting ought to be illegal. Today is the only day MY opinion actually matters. Today it COUNTS.

So I voted for Obama, I voted against the casino and I voted for th school issues - not becasue I have changed my opinion about HOW the school board is managing my tax dollars (but then I can vote them out next round and mark my words I am paying attention.)- but becasue the bond issue will be used to fix a problem that vexes me. Anyone can get into the school where L attends. The security is non-existent and there is a man running around my community taking photos of the kiddos - that is a real problem and while I think paying the superintendents housing costs is a bad idea and I was pretty clear on my feelings about the school's NEW MATH - I take my Baby's safety very SERIOUSLY.

So all I can do now is hope that enough people feel the same as I do.

So go vote or in E's world - I might just be motivated to push you off the BOAT. No dead weight! Once every four years - the country asks you to make your voice heard... NO EXCUSES!

The eagle has landed...

Well we made it. I was up with H at 5:15 am yesterday and I got myself all set and ate before I woke up the little people. E was too cute. I asked if he was ready for vacation? He smiled and asked "Is she coming over?" I laughed and told him we would be going for her.

We picked up my mom and got gas and still made it to the parking area a bit ahead of schedule! I know it seems crazy, but I planned it out on a time line - that is one of my tricks when traveling with children. It pays to not have to run and to hurry. Thinking it through made the trek to Germany doable solo and yesterday was no different.

My plan all worked out. Everything was on time and I had planned ahead and built in potty time and sitting time and in ALT H met us for lunch and there was a small play area. Perfect.

The only hitch is in ATL they have not elevator - so I had to fold the stroller and carry it up 2 flights of stairs on the way in and then again on the way out. Ugh. Seriously. I am not the only one traveling with a stroller. So there I was - L's backpack on, my purse and computer bag and the stroller, whilst supervising E. I will say though the guy behind was kinda impressed. Perhaps he mistook me for a wilting lily and not the seasoned traveler that I am.

The house is fantastic. Great view, nice and roomy. I know most people would pack in more people, but the entire point of this trip is a nice vacation for my Mom and I would rather spend some extra money to ensure peace and tranquility and not be a sardine - no make that a grouchy sardine.

The car rental was a breeze, we hit the grocery and then got to our cottage. Ate a quick dinner and walked the beach before bed.

I promise I will share pictures later... but right now the priority is beach toys and beach time...

Happy Happy Weekend one and all...

And the Award goes to... Part 2

The Award for Outstanding Customer Commitment goes to WOW Cable.

We have been customers of WOW for 5 years. We have had consistent service and could not be happier. During last week's storms we lost our service - the phone, the cable and the internet. I called them on Thursday evening about 6 pm and I spoke with a wonder phone rep, who was helpful and arranged for a service tech to come the next day - with a 20 minute call ahead. They could not give me more narrow time frame than 8 am to 6 pm - since they were working me in. Not a problem, I really had nothing going on on Friday.

The 30 minute call ahead came - and it was a live person. She was very professional and nice and told me the service tech was on his way and she thanked me for choosing WOW. I was shocked it was a real person. Pleased mind you - but shocked.

The tech came and he investigated the problem and it took him some time to figure it all out and he was oh so good natured at having E follow him around the yard with me. E was very interested in the goings on and was even showing the tech around our basement.

It took no time at all and the tech stayed until I was sure the tv, phone and internet was working once again.

So since I gave an award for very poor customer service - I feel like I should be balanced and praise those who are doing a good job, providing outstanding service and actually running a customer centered business.

Perhaps it is because WOW is not the only game in town - which could very well be a part of the process OR it could be that the CEO of WOW - actually gets it - the customers are the reason they are in business!

His little voice

L is our DIVA, she sings all the time about everything. She makes up her own songs and sings those children standards. E seldom sings. At three L was singing all the time - I would say from age 18 months onward - she has embraced her DIVA nature.

So when this song came on the radio yesterday, I was surprised when I heard someone's little voice, single along with this song - "I can ride my bike with no Handle Bars. Look at me, Look at me." He was on tempo and everything.