Goodbye sweet friend.

Friday morning we lost Jack Kerouac. He was fine and then he was just really sick. Nico rushed him to the vet, but he passed in the exam room waiting on the vet. They are pretty sure that he “got into something” on one of his kitty adventures. We are pretty heartbroken. He would be 7 years old in October.

He was excellent with Ronin from the very start.

The two of them this summer.
Ronin trying to ride him on one of his favorite nap spots, the changing table.

He will be sadly missed.

Waldorf Inspired Crowns

These crowns are for two little girls' red birthday party.

This crown is either for Ronin or will be a gift for another friend soon to have a birthday. I hope she doesn't see this! :)

Pastel Bag

New drawstring (ribbon) bag for storage or to use as a reusable gift bag. Most of the fabrics and ribbon are found scraps.

Front


Back


Tied

Crafty Mama

We're still a little sick, but the down time has given me time to craft. I'm thinking that maybe that etsy site is closer than I thought. Pictures soon!

Ronin has a lot to say… He can say:
“Mama”
“Dada”
“hello”
“hi”
“bye-bye”
“kitty-cat”
"dog"
“ball”
“hot”
“baby”
“up”
“down”
“apple”
“thank you”
“vacuum” (don’t ask)
“meow”
(and sorta “woof”)

Yesterday I got him to say “Phoebe”, but it sounds like “baby”. Good try!

He can also sign: more, milk (which he uses for nurse), eat (which is also drink), help and all done. It seems like he’s learning new words each day. I LOVE this stage!

Oven Mitt and Block Bag

Last night's craft project was a child-sized oven mitt. I used denim for the liner, it gives it a more authentic feel.
Tonight's project was a drawstring (or ribbon) bag for the blocks his Nonna gave him for his birthday.

Oh and I shouldn't forget Roni's haircut... Bad Daddy!

On the Mend

We are on the mend. Ronin’s fever is completely gone. We are all a snotty mess, but that’s better than the previous symptoms. I was even able to do some crafting last night. I’ll post pictures of Roni’s oven mit. Have I mentioned the haircut yet? Oh, I’ll just have to post pictures of that too. It’s too bad to describe. Let’s just say, it’s a cross between “just enlisted” and “junior Hitler”. Poor baby. Good thing hair grows.

I actually felt well enough to take advantage of my 50% off coupon for Value World (VW, but not to be confused with Volkswagon). It’s a thrift store that has good prices, without a coupon. So today I bought…
For Nico: a working etch-i-sketch, 3 pairs of jeans, & one pair of shorts.
For myself: one pair of pants, one pair of capris, & a sweater.
For Roni: three pairs of pants (2T and up- for the future), one pair of jeans, two hoodies.
For the Household: an unopened package of plastic Easter eggs & two baskets.
My total was $18.50. I think that I did rather well.

Also, we’ve been job hunting like crazy when we have felt well enough. The job scores are…

Job Application Score: Nico 8, Goldie 7

Purchases today: $18.50 at Value World
Purchases yesterday: $160-ish at Costco and Val’s Pet Supply. We needed the monthly round of dog food, cat food, litter, etc.

What a day!

Oh what a day. Ronin’s been sick since Friday and seemed to be getting worse. The temp kept edging closer and closer to 105. Tylenol and Motrin were not bringing it down anymore. My mama instincts told me to take him in Saturday, but we followed the recommendations in a book instead. Today, we finally decided to take him to Urgent Care. After the wait there and an X-ray, the doctor told us it looked like the beginning of pneumonia. He told us to go directly to the Emergency Room. After what seemed like ages in the ER, we were told that it’s a viral respiratory infection and that there’s not much to do for it. He tested negative for flu and RSV.

Now we’re also feeling sick. We are to be quarantined for a while. We’ll see you all after that.

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope yours was better than ours.

Etta's bag

Tonight I finally crafted Etta's bag.
The front.

The inside (I put a paper in the pocket so that it would show up better).

She can use this as a purse or diaper bag, depending on how she wants to play with it. I'll deliver Tuesday to her mama's playdate.

Sledding

We sorta went sledding today. Ronin got dumped from his supercool wooden sled (thank you again, Nonna M and G-pa P). After a long COLD walk, the face plant into the snow was too much for him. We went back to our friend’s house and had soup and sandwiches.

The unemployment insurance statement came and we aren’t eligible. So we’ll tighten the belt a little more. Such is life.

Job Application Score: Nico 3, Goldie 5 (no change)
Purchases today: $3.45 to ship the lead-based kiddo book back to the publisher

New 'do, Bob Dylan and Bapples

It finally looks like a Michigan winter here. We’ve got a few inches of snow and more forecasted.

Nico and I both got haircuts today. My new ‘do is not exactly what I wanted, but it’s growing on me. Here’s a picture.

Roni seems to love Bob Dylan. We were listening to/flipping through the music channels on our TV and discovered that Bob makes him dance and sing. More so than his previously loved Tropicales channel. And here I thought he was Latino in a previous life. Isn’t it funny what they like? Who would have thought he was a Dylan fan.

Also, just today he said apple when I offered him one at breakfast. It sounds more like “bapple” but it’s clearly what that is. Also he’s been saying Bella all the time. It’s extremely clear. He calls for her and looks for her. It’s very cute. He’s walking much more lately. We successfully went all day without passy.

One of my yard sale finds was recalled. It’s a cloth children’s book called Big Rex and Friends. I’m really freaked out because it contains lead and my child chews on EVERYTHING. I’ve taken it out of his selection of books and will send it off to the company in the next few days. Actually it was a terrible book, so I’m not sorry to get rid of it. He really liked it during the “touch and feel” stage. Really scary. Makes me wonder what else I’ve picked up second hand that he shouldn’t have…

Job Application Score: Nico 3, Goldie 5
Purchases today: (Haircuts, gas for N's car)

Going to say "goodbye" to passy

I think that we’ve decided to try get rid of passy. Thank you to those who’ve given suggestions! Ronin is 15 months and chewing holes in them (see previous post) which totally makes them unsafe. I’m going to let them hang around at night for a while especially when we back to night-weaning (next couple of days?). For those of you who aren’t down with our super-cool Attachment Parenting lingo, I’m going to stop breastfeeding him at night. He can have all he wants during the day, but at night he’ll be cut off. I’ve been real conflicted about this, but I think that we all need to get more sleep. After he’s been night-weaned, we plan to eventually move him out of our bed and into his own bed (in his own room). This has been a hard decision for me, as I love sleeping with my two guys. But if we ever have another baby, we’ve got to have R in his own room.

Tomorrow, I’m off to check out a Waldorf-inspired Pre-school/Kindergarten. They also have parent/child classes for those of us with the younger crowd. I’m mostly looking for ideas and as a warm and nurturing place to send R if for some crazy reason we both get jobs. Of course, cost is a consideration, but I really love certain aspects of Waldorf education.

Okay, while I’m still pumped up from exercising (thanks, accountabilibuddy!) I’ve got to get laundry done and then hopefully do some sewing.

Job Application Score: Nico 3, Goldie 4
Purchases today: ($11.86 on food… coconut oil and some super-sale organic goodies)

Passy, Recycled Glass and V-Day Decor

So a couple of days ago I went out and bought a package of pacifiers. I know that this is not a consumable good (in most homes), but someone has begun to chew holes in them. I’m freaked out by the idea of used “passies”, so I bought some for him. Now the new ones are already getting chewed up. I don’t know if I should switch him to older (marketed as 18+ months) or try to get rid of the “passy” all together. Since he’s not weaned from the breast, I thought I would wait the passy thing out until after weaning. Now I’m not sure what to do. I welcome suggestions.

Today I bought recycled glass drinking glasses at the Salvation Army. They were a little expensive $2.99 for 4 glasses, but I really liked that they were made out of recycled glass.

No new craft projects, but I have decorated the house with used Valentine’s Day décor. Some teacher must have retired and donated all her classroom stuff to Arts n’ Scraps. Well now I’ve got it and it looks fantastic (i.e. gaudy as hell) in and around my house. Martha Stewart, eat your heart out.

Here's an early little Valentine to you:

MOMS Club Article

Here's my latest article for our local Mothers Offering Mothers Support (MOMS) Club...

“Worldwide, an estimated 4 billion plastic bags end up as litter each year. Tied end to end that’s enough to circle the earth 63 times.” - www.reusablebags.com

Plastic bags, you get them every time you shop. What’s the big deal?
Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year. Drive through the countryside sometime, you’ll see hundreds of them caught in fencing, or in brush alongside the roads. Trust me, I’m from Kansas. It’s not pretty.
It’s even worse on the coasts. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. Plastic bags don’t go away. They photodegrade. They break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest them. Yikes!
The Solution:
You can return them to the store where they came from. Most stores like Walmart and Meijer have plastic bag recycling. Unfortunately, I constantly forget to do this. It’s easier for me to bring my own bag. Purchasing and using high quality reusable shopping bag has the potential to eliminate hundreds, if not thousands, of plastic bags over its lifetime. AND many stores offer a $.05 or $.10 credit per bag for bringing your own. I shop frequently at Target and Hollywood Grocery, both offer credits. Ask your local shop if they give an incentive. One of my favorite stores, Trader Joe’s, has a “ballot box”. When you bring in your own grocery bag, you fill out a ballot and place it in a box. One ballot is drawn each month and the winner receives a $50 gift card. Pretty cool, huh?
Goldie’s Tip:
Many places sell the bags for a dollar or give them away for free. Get several of them. You can also get cute designer-style bags online. I find that I like to use my Target bag at Target and my Meijer bag at Meijer, but my cute bag gets the most use because it’s, well, cute. Now here’s the real tip, store them in your car or in your coat closet. I keep one in my car for random visits to the store and the rest in a basket at the bottom of our coat closet. When I grab my coat, I look down and realize that I’ll need some bags too. As soon as you get home, empty the bag and replace in the car or the closet. Voila, you’re green and trendy!

For more info visit:
www.reusablebags.com

Uncertain times

We are certainly living in uncertain times. While our lives often seem chaotic and our future unsure, other families are facing real crisis and obstacles. I know that N and I are feeling very fortunate for what we do have. Our hearts and thoughts are with one particular family and their recent heartbreak.