Showing posts with label Zoey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zoey. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The World According to Zoey
Sometimes I just let Zoey take the point and shoot camera and go capture the world. For a 4-year-old she can be pretty photographically artistic. Granted this is 1 photo for every 10 she took....
A Look back at Halloween
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, there's so many decorations you can get/make and dressing up is fun. Mostly I like the ability to be wildly creative with my kids's costumes. It seems a little counter intuitive for me since I was never anything but a black cat...except one year I was forced to be a unicorn because my cat costume was lost.
This year Zoey decided she wanted to be Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time. I used Simplicty 2330 which I had to alter slightly to accommodate the purple belt. It was pretty easy except I decided to put in an invisible zipper and that was a best! I also had difficulties with the collar and had to do a lot of hand tacking on it to get it to sit properly. Initially I was going to buy a wig for her to wear but I couldn't find anything I liked at a reasonable price that would fit her well so I decided to just crochet up something. Since technically her hair is actually bubblegum, a crochet wig seemed to bridge the gab between cartoon and realistic. And yes, I did crochet this incorrectly. If I were crocheting into the stitch instead of the space it wouldn't have been so hole-y. I also wished I had used a darker color, but due to time constraints I just used what I had enough of in my stash. The construction paper crown also suffered from my lack of time. Brandon fashioned it and it worked surprisingly well.
This year Zoey decided she wanted to be Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time. I used Simplicty 2330 which I had to alter slightly to accommodate the purple belt. It was pretty easy except I decided to put in an invisible zipper and that was a best! I also had difficulties with the collar and had to do a lot of hand tacking on it to get it to sit properly. Initially I was going to buy a wig for her to wear but I couldn't find anything I liked at a reasonable price that would fit her well so I decided to just crochet up something. Since technically her hair is actually bubblegum, a crochet wig seemed to bridge the gab between cartoon and realistic. And yes, I did crochet this incorrectly. If I were crocheting into the stitch instead of the space it wouldn't have been so hole-y. I also wished I had used a darker color, but due to time constraints I just used what I had enough of in my stash. The construction paper crown also suffered from my lack of time. Brandon fashioned it and it worked surprisingly well.
Costs:
Pattern: $1
Fabric: $6
Notions and accessories: $5
Total: $12
Ian was originally supposed to be Jake, and then we decided on BMO when I got some great boxes that would have worked just right. As I set to fitting the box for his costume, it became blatantly apparent he was NOT going to wear that. A short freak out later, I decided to go with "Super Ian." It was the most I could hope to get him to wear. I could have drafted my own cape pattern, but I decided to buy one I found because I didn't want to deal with the stress of failures, I was out of time. I also decided to just use some fabric I had in my stash in case Ian still refused to wear it. So, not the most coordinating, but I didn't really care.
Costs:
Pattern: $3
Fabric & notions: free from stash
Total: $3
They had a good time at the ward Trunk-or-Treat and Trick-or-Treating. Zoey decided to give her candy to the Great Pumpkin and she got some stickers and games in return. Ian ate the majority of his candy, with a little help it was gone in just a few days. Whew, glad that is over. I hope work isn't so busy next year and I can make costumes for the whole family.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
First Day of Preschool
So this year I decided to do a co-op preschool with a couple other moms in the ward. Since Zoey has an extra year before she goes to kindergarten, I thought she might enjoy a casual school type atmosphere. For those that are unfamiliar with how a co-op works, the participating moms get together and choose a curriculum and then rotate who teaches each week. When we first got together, it felt like the only choices were Mother Goose Time and Joy School. I didn't have any experience with either, but two of the moms in our group had used both of them and there were things they liked and things they didn't like. Well, because I'm extreme like I am, I went out into the world wide web and found some more options and ordered a month's worth of materials from each of them to compare. I ordered from Star Brite, Funshine Express, The Learning Box, and Funsteps. Over the summer I tested them each out with Zoey..to an extent. As a group, we decided on using Funshine Express as our curriculum for our co-op. It's a good quality program, that does take some preparation.
What I found though just using the other kits with Zoey, I actually preferred Star Brite simply because each lesson was an individual packet with 4 or 5 activities to do, and that's what Zoey likes to do, get down to the crafting. The material quality was medium-low, but it is just right for her to sit down and I explain what to do with each activity and then let her at it. It was the least structured in terms of running the day and dividing out the skills used, etc. It was mostly simple crafts (cutting and pasting) but it was also easy to explain what the craft meant and to teach off of without really even reading the lesson plan.
Every time I've tried to do something from the Learning Box I find it is disorganized and difficult to follow and the crafts are heavily integrated, they don't stand alone at all. I have to sit down and read through the booklet for 5 minutes before I can even start to explain to Zoey what we're doing. I just didn't feel like it was easy to pick up and use. Material quality is medium-high.
Funsteps crafts were easy to pick up and do, but they almost never felt like they went along with the lesson material, or they were a stretch. They're extremely simple and not very open ended. But because of the ease of throwing one at Zoey and explaining what to do and let her to it, I reached for this kit second often, but she blazed through the activities really fast. Material quality is low.
Funshine Express crafts stand alone or support the lesson really well. They are fairly easy to pick out and just do, but they usually require paint or other messy stuff, so I didn't reach for this kit as often as Star Brite, but I think it was the best choice for the co-op. The materials are high quality and the included activity materials are substantial. It's well organized, and lends well to something you intend to sit down and prepare and teach from.
Anyway, Zoey was pretty excited to learn she was going to school and the first day she kept asking if it was time to go. It's too bad she wound up feeling under the weather the first week and was full on sick the first part of the second week, but Today was her first day of feeling herself again and she just really loves going. She's super excited that next week school will be held here.
What I found though just using the other kits with Zoey, I actually preferred Star Brite simply because each lesson was an individual packet with 4 or 5 activities to do, and that's what Zoey likes to do, get down to the crafting. The material quality was medium-low, but it is just right for her to sit down and I explain what to do with each activity and then let her at it. It was the least structured in terms of running the day and dividing out the skills used, etc. It was mostly simple crafts (cutting and pasting) but it was also easy to explain what the craft meant and to teach off of without really even reading the lesson plan.
Every time I've tried to do something from the Learning Box I find it is disorganized and difficult to follow and the crafts are heavily integrated, they don't stand alone at all. I have to sit down and read through the booklet for 5 minutes before I can even start to explain to Zoey what we're doing. I just didn't feel like it was easy to pick up and use. Material quality is medium-high.
Funsteps crafts were easy to pick up and do, but they almost never felt like they went along with the lesson material, or they were a stretch. They're extremely simple and not very open ended. But because of the ease of throwing one at Zoey and explaining what to do and let her to it, I reached for this kit second often, but she blazed through the activities really fast. Material quality is low.
Funshine Express crafts stand alone or support the lesson really well. They are fairly easy to pick out and just do, but they usually require paint or other messy stuff, so I didn't reach for this kit as often as Star Brite, but I think it was the best choice for the co-op. The materials are high quality and the included activity materials are substantial. It's well organized, and lends well to something you intend to sit down and prepare and teach from.
Anyway, Zoey was pretty excited to learn she was going to school and the first day she kept asking if it was time to go. It's too bad she wound up feeling under the weather the first week and was full on sick the first part of the second week, but Today was her first day of feeling herself again and she just really loves going. She's super excited that next week school will be held here.
She dressed herself. I'm ok with that.
Just had to share this picture of her fake nails. Brandon took her to CVS to get milk and they came back with these claws. She babied them as long as she could until they just got all kinds of random junk stuck in the adhesive and she woke up with them in her hair. They didn't stick really great, but they were fun for her while they lasted. She's such a girly girl. I have no idea where she gets it from.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Zoey Turns Four
About a year ago Zoey figured out that birthdays meant presents and a party just for you. She has been talking about her birthday since the day after it last year. Every time she talked about all the things she would get at her birthday and who would be there and all it just got more and more grandiose. So by the time it's about a month away I figure I better start planning this thing or this is going to be one really disappointed kid. We decided on a Hello Kitty theme with pink and white. Even though purple is her favorite color, she seemed happy enough about this arrangement. I went full on and bought lots of decorations and theme coordinating plates and hats and all. To her, this event is the biggest of her life. Since this was going to be the first party where it was more for the kids than the adults, I actually planned a few crafts, games and activities for the girls who attended. I think everyone had a great time. Zoey was so excited the night before when we decorated, she could hardly sleep and she was up at the crack of dawn ready for the party to start, asking every 10 minutes if it was time for the party.
The party area, Zoey set the table all by herself.
She is so excited she keeps coming back to the table to wear her hat and make sure everything is still perfectly in place.
Some of the craft and activities plus more paper goods.
The cake was a chocolate cream cheese pound cake and I piped little stars all over it and outlined HK's features. It turned out ok. Not professional by a long shot, but it was tasty!
More decorations
Party favors for friends, they got a Hello Kitty notebook, pencil, stickers, candy and a hair clip.
A party game, the kids really liked this one, Zoey, Ian and Carmen all got their bows right on HK's bow.
My fabulously awesome mom did face painting for the kids. Lots of rainbows and flowers. Ian wound up with a whole scene across his face.
Zoey shows off some of her crafts. pipe cleaner beaded bracelets and a tulip. She wanted to do crafts the whole time but her friends just wanted to play and do other things.
Finally we sing Happy Birthday and she is a pro at blowing out the candled. Again this year Ian took the liberty of blowing them out once before Zoey got her turn. haha little brothers. After everyone sang Happy Birthday, we let the rotating, light flashing cake stand sing to her also..thanks grandma.
PRESENTS!!!! She was a mad whirlwind of opening gifts. Paper and tissue flying left and right, I don't think she took a half glance at anything before throwing it aside for the next gift. Once the dust settled and everyone had cake an ice cream, she revisited her giant pile of arts, crafts, and girly gifts to open everything and start playing. She is one happy girl.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOEY!
Friday, June 1, 2012
The Little Red Rooster
One of Zoey's little friend's mom decided it might be a fun idea to have a bunch of 3-year-olds put on a little play. They went over twice to make their props and rehearse and then the moms all came to watch. Zoey gets pretty shy in front of a crowd, but she was so cute anyway. Zoey is the cat. It's hard to tell from this video but she did say her line once. Ian was sitting in my lap and got pretty restless towards the end. I was told during rehearsal when Zoey was being prompted to say her line "Not I!" she instead responded "But I want to help." hahah. cute.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
My Little Artist
My kids are usually pretty good at going to bed and staying there even if they aren't sleeping. Zoey has been increasingly being more difficult to put to bed at night. I usually tell her that she doesn't have to sleep but she needs to stay in her room and play with the few toys (stuffed animals, ponies) that she has with her. One night I was pretty busy with work and after I helped Brandon put the kids to bed I went back to work. I heard Zoey get up several times and Brandon put her back. Finally I hear "Mel....You need to come up here" I figured he was finally calling in reinforcements to lay down the law and get her to stay in bed. He's the good cop, I'm definitely the bad cop.
I walk into her room and find:
Yes, that would be crayon drawings on all four of her walls. I put her to bed and told her she would be punished the next day. In reality I was more upset at Brandon than her. I knew at some point the kids would mess up the walls and they would have to be repainted. I asked Brandon how she got the crayons and why her lights were one and he said, "I didn't know she wasn't supposed to have them. I thought she just had to stay in her room." ...
So the next day her punishment was to help me clean the crayon off the wall, which is virtually impossible because of our builder grade matte paint. I mixed some vinegar and water and made her scrub at the crayon until she was really whiny and bored and obviously making no progress while I cleaned most of the rest of it with magic eraser. That was about an hour. She thought it was fun for the first half hour.
She hasn't added any new artwork to her walls since. Hope it stays that way!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Spelling it Out
Sometime there are things you want to reference and talk about to your spouse without the little ears in the room knowing what it is. In our case, it usually involves sweet foods. Since Zoey doesn't even know all her letters yet, we spell a lot of things so she doesn't butt into the conversation.
Brandon: I think it's time for some I-C-E C-R-E-A-M
Me: You want to go wake up your son before you do that?
Brandon: No.
Zoey: I want some ice cream!
Me and Bran stare at each other shocked
Brandon: You want ice cream?
Zoey: Yes, I want an ice cream cone with a little ice cream on top.
Brandon: Was someone talking about ice cream?
Zoey: Yes.
Brandon: Who?
Zoey: You were. I want an ice cream cone with a little ice cream on top.
Brandon: Go wake up your brother gently and then you can have some ice cream.
I guess at some point they figure it out, spell it enough times and you might as well be saying the word. We'll just have to use random descriptions of the word we want to use from now on. Kind of like playing taboo.
Can I have some sweetened frozen dairy product in a crunchy hand held shell?
Brandon: I think it's time for some I-C-E C-R-E-A-M
Me: You want to go wake up your son before you do that?
Brandon: No.
Zoey: I want some ice cream!
Me and Bran stare at each other shocked
Brandon: You want ice cream?
Zoey: Yes, I want an ice cream cone with a little ice cream on top.
Brandon: Was someone talking about ice cream?
Zoey: Yes.
Brandon: Who?
Zoey: You were. I want an ice cream cone with a little ice cream on top.
Brandon: Go wake up your brother gently and then you can have some ice cream.
I guess at some point they figure it out, spell it enough times and you might as well be saying the word. We'll just have to use random descriptions of the word we want to use from now on. Kind of like playing taboo.
Can I have some sweetened frozen dairy product in a crunchy hand held shell?
Monday, February 13, 2012
Stating the Obvious
Today on the way to Petco to get dog food for Lowla, Zoey was kicking the back of my seat. I asked her several times to quit.
Zoey: Why?
Me: It's not very nice.
Zoey continues kicking the seat
Me: Zoey please stop!
Zoey: Why?
Me: I'm the driver and..
Zoey cuts me off: I'm the girl kicking the seat and I like kicking.
Me: *sigh* I give up.
It was annoying and amusing to me. Thankfully we just pulled into the parking lot.
Zoey: Why?
Me: It's not very nice.
Zoey continues kicking the seat
Me: Zoey please stop!
Zoey: Why?
Me: I'm the driver and..
Zoey cuts me off: I'm the girl kicking the seat and I like kicking.
Me: *sigh* I give up.
It was annoying and amusing to me. Thankfully we just pulled into the parking lot.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Following Footsteps
The kids always do the cutest things when you're not watching (also the worst things too!). I was making dinner and stopped to check on Ian outside. Seriously, if it's warmer than 65 degrees I can't keep that kid in the house. He had snuck out the dog door to play outside so I peered through the back window to find he had found some unused boards from Masten Park and a level and he pretending to build something. SO cute. I didn't want to open the door so I snapped a few pictures from between the blinds. I guess he was inspired by Brandon's recent building project.
Zoey had gotten a lot of dress up stuff for Christmas and had developed full princess mode by decking out in all her dress up stuff at once. Unfortunately (?) a lot of the accessories have already gotten lost or broken, but some days she still manages to princess up. I dunno where she gets that because I never was a girly girl dress up type. Maybe she gets it from her Aunt Pennie, whom always paints her nails so pretty. I'm guessing it was all that girly nail stuff that finally got her to quit sucking her fingers all on her own. The callouses on her fingers where her teeth always hit are finally softening and peeling away. So proud of her for giving it up. For a little purple nail polish, it's worth it to be girly sometimes.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Dinner Conversation
Brandon has gone out of town for a couple of days for a work conference and the kids and I get some time to talk to each other around the dinner table. Zoey is really starting to become quite observant, it's funny some of the things she says.
Zoey: Can I have a cupcake now?
Me: No, you barely ate anything. You need to eat more dinner.
Zoey: awwww! Did you eat all your dinner?
Me: Yes, see there is nothing left on my plate. I can have a cupcake.
Zoey: No, cupcakes are for big girls.
Me: I'm not a big girl?
Zoey: No, you are too old to be a big girl and cupcakes are only for girls.
Me: Awesome. I'm old.
And in another strain of conversation.
Zoey: Where's Daddy at?
Me: He went to Louisana for work for a few days.
Zoey: Daddy's name is Brandon
Me: Yes it is.
Zoey: and my name is Zoey Masten and Ian's name is Ian Masten and Lowla's name is Lowla Masten.
Me: What's my name?
Zoey: *pause* Your name is Mommy Masten.
Me: *laugh* I guess so. My name is Melanie.
Zoey: oooOOOoohhh.
Zoey: Can I have a cupcake now?
Me: No, you barely ate anything. You need to eat more dinner.
Zoey: awwww! Did you eat all your dinner?
Me: Yes, see there is nothing left on my plate. I can have a cupcake.
Zoey: No, cupcakes are for big girls.
Me: I'm not a big girl?
Zoey: No, you are too old to be a big girl and cupcakes are only for girls.
Me: Awesome. I'm old.
And in another strain of conversation.
Zoey: Where's Daddy at?
Me: He went to Louisana for work for a few days.
Zoey: Daddy's name is Brandon
Me: Yes it is.
Zoey: and my name is Zoey Masten and Ian's name is Ian Masten and Lowla's name is Lowla Masten.
Me: What's my name?
Zoey: *pause* Your name is Mommy Masten.
Me: *laugh* I guess so. My name is Melanie.
Zoey: oooOOOoohhh.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Final Answer
Since the moment I found out I was pregnant with my daughter Zoey, I dreaded potty training. I'd just heard so many stories and it all really comes down to the will of the child, which is something I can't control, which freaks me out. I like to be in control, can you tell?
Although Zoey hasn't worn diapers for 6 months, even at night, I've refused to consider her potty trained because every day was still a fight. The bribing and the forcing to go potty, constant guessing when she really needed to go because she wouldn't tell me if she did. We started working on potty training with her at I guess about 21 months. It wasn't long before I figured out with her this was going to be a really....really...really long process. But today I come before you and give you my final answer, she's potty trained! She will tell me every time she needs to go potty then run there by herself, pee, wipe, and wash her hands all by herself. No night time accidents. Okay, on occasion she still does pee a tiny bit in her panties before she makes it to the potty, but she'll go upstairs and get clean undies and put them on all by herself.
I'm so glad it's finally over, just in time to start all over again for Ian. Is there no rest for the weary? I think he'll pick it up faster once we're serious about it. One can hope at least.
Another discovery I made during this process was the choosing of the potty training seat was so frustrating and bothersome. If you're potty training or about to start, let me save you the trouble. I recommend 100 times over any other product, this one:
Skip the separate small potty, skip the universal separate potty seats. This one is all you'll ever need while you have tiny bums in the house, and my kids are tiny so I expect it will get much use for the next few years. I tried 3 different seats before this one and they were all bulky, slippery, heavy, stinky, or otherwise annoying to use. I basically stopped using any bathroom the kids would because I couldn't stand going in there and removing the seat or moving the kiddy potty, which always resulted in getting pee on me somehow. I thought boys were supposed to be the messy pee-ers but Zoey somehow manages to get it all over. I don't know how. After I bought and installed this all in one, the bathroom doesn't stink anymore, I don't get pee on me, Zoey doesn't get red marks from sitting on it too long, she can put it up and down all by herself, and all her pee always ends up in the potty and not on the potty seat. The lid on the toilet closes all the way. and the whole contraption, both seats snap on and off for easy cleaning. It's just fabulous. Ian likes it too and he hasn't had any problems using it to go potty either. Win Win Win. I'm buying another one for the kids' bathroom upstairs.
Although Zoey hasn't worn diapers for 6 months, even at night, I've refused to consider her potty trained because every day was still a fight. The bribing and the forcing to go potty, constant guessing when she really needed to go because she wouldn't tell me if she did. We started working on potty training with her at I guess about 21 months. It wasn't long before I figured out with her this was going to be a really....really...really long process. But today I come before you and give you my final answer, she's potty trained! She will tell me every time she needs to go potty then run there by herself, pee, wipe, and wash her hands all by herself. No night time accidents. Okay, on occasion she still does pee a tiny bit in her panties before she makes it to the potty, but she'll go upstairs and get clean undies and put them on all by herself.
I'm so glad it's finally over, just in time to start all over again for Ian. Is there no rest for the weary? I think he'll pick it up faster once we're serious about it. One can hope at least.
Another discovery I made during this process was the choosing of the potty training seat was so frustrating and bothersome. If you're potty training or about to start, let me save you the trouble. I recommend 100 times over any other product, this one:
 |
| Mayfair NextStep built in potty seat |
Monday, January 2, 2012
Happy New Year!
Ok So I know that is sooo yesterday, but I'm sending the new years wishes out to ya'll anyway! We had a really fun time setting off $250 worth of fireworks at my brother's house to ring in the new year. Can you tell Brandon feels a little repressed growing up in Maryland where fireworks are illegal? Well, since we have small children, we set everything off before 8:30 and the kids were in bed for 9. I wasn't feeling too well myself and I went to bed at 10. Our neighborhood doesn't allow fireworks, and in the past New Years and 4th of July the neighborhood stays pretty quiet. I'm thinking this year everyone felt really deprived because of the burn ban in July because no one cared if they got a slap on the wrist, EVERYONE was setting SOMETHING off in our neighborhood. That was even more apparent when midnight rolled around and woke me from my sleep. I'd say there was a solid 20 minutes of constant popping, booming, whistling and crackling. It seems to be a tradition for me, but I always start off the new year with being sick. So far I have to say this new year sucks, but I'm optimistic for the rest of the year.
And for your enjoyment, Zoey's version of "Wheels on the Bus"
the babies on the bus go say wah wah wah
the Zoeys on the bus go say shh shh shh
the mommies on the bus go say shh shh shh
Love that kid.
And for your enjoyment, Zoey's version of "Wheels on the Bus"
the babies on the bus go say wah wah wah
the Zoeys on the bus go say shh shh shh
the mommies on the bus go say shh shh shh
Love that kid.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Peas Porridge Cold!
A couple days ago we had our first freeze. It wasn't a very hard one but it did mottle and damage my pea plants. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but these things just aren't producing for me. Maybe I'll have to try earlier next spring with a different variety. My crop last spring hardly did anything. Anyway since the plants were already a bit damaged, I decided to let Zoey go ahead and pick the peas that had developed. She gets REALLY fixated on the garden once I allow her to pick something. So every day since she asks if she can pick peas or she'll go out there and check out the plants and insist there are peas ready. I've given up on trying to restrain her since I'm pretty sure the plants won't really make much more before too many freezes start happening and kill the plants entirely. She has been quite diligent about going out and picking every single pod she can find, bringing them in and then shelling them into one of her stacking cups and asking me to keep them in the fridge so she can eat them later. Amazingly enough she does eat them! and Ian too! I can't get them to eat peas in any other way. I guess that's another benefit of home gardening, if your kids feel like they have helped create that food, they're more willing to eat it. In total we've only had about 1/4 cup of peas, so not much to speak of but enough for a 3 year old to be thrilled.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Some Videos
Ian picks up on things a lot faster than Zoey did. Here you can see he has learned how to open a door and knows what the bathroom is for. He will frequently run to the bathroom right after he wets his diaper. We've sat him on there a couple times but he doesn't go. He's really obsessed with the bathroom lately, but I worry because not only does he know how to flush the toilet he realizes that it makes things disappear. He has yet to connect all those dots, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time we're fishing things out of the toilet that don't belong there.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The Purple Princess
One upon a time there was a little girl named Zoey. All her life she had been pretty indifferent to the colors of the rainbow. In fact she really couldn't even distinguish and name them. Her mom would ask her every now and then what her favorite color was and either the answer was always different or just the last color name she could remember. Then one day, the little girl Zoey asked to use the purple sippy cup for her milk. Then she asked to use the purple bowl for her cereal. When it was time to get dressed, she dug through all of her clothes until she found the most purple of them all. At lunch time she demanded the purple plate for her food. By the day's end, only the purple blanket would do to watch TV with. And so, the little girl Zoey turned into the Purple Princess. Every morning her majesty asks for the purple sippy cup and will complain if she doesn't also get the purple lid. Her insistence on all plates and bowls to be purple can only be satiated by said dishes or "They're dirty, Daddy didn't do the dishes last night." The Purple Princess also has to say the word "Purple" 6,750,502,312 times a day. One must also agree that everything is purple or could be purple or would be better if it were purple or incur the wrath of the princess.
There she is, the Purple Princess in all her glory. Come to think of it, I may have created this monster since I convinced her to choose some very purple bed sheets for her new big girl bed. Maybe she's been absorbing the purple obsession via osmosis at night.
There she is, the Purple Princess in all her glory. Come to think of it, I may have created this monster since I convinced her to choose some very purple bed sheets for her new big girl bed. Maybe she's been absorbing the purple obsession via osmosis at night.
Monday, November 14, 2011
More Than Just Snot
Friday evening I was working in the office and Brandon typically puts the kids to bed by himself when I am working so I don't have to break out of my programming zone. Shortly after he finishes getting Zoey down I hear crying coming from upstairs. Her room is just above the office and I can tell the difference between my kids' cries so I was sure it was Zoey. I run upstairs to check on her and she is bawling her eyes out and spouting what sounds like gibberish to me. My ears were still a bit stopped up because of my cold. Brandon comes in and translates she says she has a bead in her nose. We turn on the light and take a look and sure enough wedged up in her nostril is a red barrel bead. She's still weeping and wailing quite a bit and she's freaked out so she won't blow her nose. Not that even if she did it would unwedge it since she's not even very good at blowing snot out into a kleenex.
I tell Brandon to get some tweezers since it seems like I could pick it out myself. He returns with the pointest pair we have. I thought he would get the blunt scissor like ones we have. I try my best to pin her down to the bed and go in to the extract it and she jerks her head and I stab her in the nose with the tweezers. So now her nose is bleeding and the bead turned out to be bigger than I expected, the tweezers weren't going to get around it easily anyway. I then just told Brandon to take her to the Emergency Care center down the street. I gotta get back to work and Ian is sleeping anyway. Zoey is still freaking out about not being able to get this bead out of her nose. I'm pretty much laughing at this point. I know she isn't in any real danger but she can't seem to understand that, but I don't want to laugh at her out loud because it'll just make her more upset.
About 30 minutes and $100 later Zoey and Brandon come back sans bead plus two stickers and a lollipop. He said once she calmed down she was fine. They wrapped her up really tight but as soon as the doctor touched her she freaked out again. They inserted a catheter that makes a bubble on the end behind the bead, inflated it and it popped the bead right out. When she got home I asked her if she was going to stick anything else in her nose and she told me yes. hahaha. The next day she did say no though, maybe she just needed to sleep on it.
I was sure this day was going to come where one of my kids stuck something up their nose, but I kind of figured at this point it would have been Ian, not Zoey. Just goes to show, you never know what to expect with kids. For future reference, the ER doctor said we could plug the other nostril and blow hard into her mouth and it would produce enough airflow force to dislodge most things.
I tell Brandon to get some tweezers since it seems like I could pick it out myself. He returns with the pointest pair we have. I thought he would get the blunt scissor like ones we have. I try my best to pin her down to the bed and go in to the extract it and she jerks her head and I stab her in the nose with the tweezers. So now her nose is bleeding and the bead turned out to be bigger than I expected, the tweezers weren't going to get around it easily anyway. I then just told Brandon to take her to the Emergency Care center down the street. I gotta get back to work and Ian is sleeping anyway. Zoey is still freaking out about not being able to get this bead out of her nose. I'm pretty much laughing at this point. I know she isn't in any real danger but she can't seem to understand that, but I don't want to laugh at her out loud because it'll just make her more upset.
About 30 minutes and $100 later Zoey and Brandon come back sans bead plus two stickers and a lollipop. He said once she calmed down she was fine. They wrapped her up really tight but as soon as the doctor touched her she freaked out again. They inserted a catheter that makes a bubble on the end behind the bead, inflated it and it popped the bead right out. When she got home I asked her if she was going to stick anything else in her nose and she told me yes. hahaha. The next day she did say no though, maybe she just needed to sleep on it.
I was sure this day was going to come where one of my kids stuck something up their nose, but I kind of figured at this point it would have been Ian, not Zoey. Just goes to show, you never know what to expect with kids. For future reference, the ER doctor said we could plug the other nostril and blow hard into her mouth and it would produce enough airflow force to dislodge most things.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Bugs in my Shortcake!
I've been RREEEAAALLLY super excited this Halloween to make costumes for the kids. I finally got Zoey to settle on a "Strawberry Shortcake Princess" and since Ian couldn't really tell me what he wanted to be, I decided for him, a Stinkbug, because that's what I call him.
For Zoey I used Simplicty pattern 2073 and New Look 6880. They're both the same company so merging the two to integrate the sleeves only required some minor adjustments. When I saw the costume pattern I totally fell in love with it, it was the boning in the skirt. I just love that poofy flared look and I knew it would really suit Zoey. After I bought the pattern I scoured the internet for hours and hours looking for the right fabric and it just wasn't out there. Finally days later I came up with a solution, sequins! I wanted it all to be as shiny and sparkly as possible because she was a princess too, not just strawberry shortcake. It took 4 tries to find the right color pink satin. Thankfully it was cheap at 3 dollars or less a yard. I glued on the sequins because it was less work that way but Ian has since ripped many of them off so I reinforced by sewing them on and gluing. It was not as easy as I thought it would be to arrange all those dots evenly on the dress because of the shape of the fabric I couldn't just measure and mark and have everything square. So it's not perfect, but at a glance I bet you can't tell many of them are off.
Once the dress was all put together I just couldn't figure out the right head accessory. I kept coming back to a tiara for the princess effect but I couldn't figure out how to tailor it to what I wanted. As I was browsing around the internet for ideas I came across this Strawberry Fairy Hat and decided that style was the perfect accessory. So it kinda fits in the fairy category than princess, but I figured I was taking creative liberties on the Strawberry Shortcake character anyway I might as well do what I thought fit the style of the dress best. It took me three pattern drafts and mock up hats before I got the flare, ripple and crown all fitting and looking just right. The last thing left was to make the strawberry stem and leaves. That also took several drafts and tries to get it right. The green satin I bought was "costume" satin. Read: low quality and ravels easily. The rest of the satin for the dress was made with "special occasion" fabric, it was much more cooperative to sew with. With a butane lighter to melt the edges I was able to make it work. I decided to skip the glue for the hat and just sew all the sequins on.
The pattern did include tights but I decided to just purchase some from www.welovecolors.com. To let me have time to focus on Ian's costume. And so, I give you the Strawberry Shortcake Princess Fairy in all her glory!
I'm so happy with how her costume turned out that I'm entering it in two contests. One from Simplicity and one from We Love Colors. WLCs has a people's choice prize so head over to their page and Like Zoey's picture! The Simplicty contest is much more hard core, if you make the first cut you have to send them the costume for examination! I'd be really lucky to make the first cut, I'd be going up against some of the most talented sewers! Although, I did use a bit of creativity in altering the pattern and the inside of the dress is crazy neat thanks to my serger!
Totals for Zoey's Costume:
Pattern: $1
Fabric (3/4 yard pink, 1/2 yard white, 1/4 yard green): $4
Notions (thread, glue, sequins, zipper, boning, etc): $13
Tights: $9
Total: $27
Now what about Ian? I call him Stink bug because 1. His poop stinks 2. He can't ever stay out of the garden, just like the stink bugs this summer wouldn't get out of my tomatoes! I decided to go with the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug because those were the variety eating up my plants and they seemed less boring looking than the green ones. I originally wanted to just go find a hoodie and pants for Ian's outfit but after much searching, I could not find anything I liked reasonably priced. Then I remembered some fabric I had that my mom had given me two years ago to use for Brandon's Jedi costume, but I wound up not using it then, glad I still had it, it was just right for Ian's costume!
I used Simplicty pattern 5316 without alterations (other than shortening the legs and cinching in the waist band because my kids are tiny). My first time putting in a separating zipper and I think it worked out pretty great. Then I just sewed some pipe cleaners to the hoodie for his antennae. I twisted two colors together that gave it just the right verigation. Though it is hard to tell the fabric is also sorta stripy in tan and cream. While in reality the bug's underside is more solid cream colored, it seemed to make more sense overall to have it just be brownish. The shell is where I dedicated the most work to Ian's costume. Yes, sewing the hoodie and pants took time, but only a couple hours overall. I spent that and more on the shell.
Since stink bugs don't really have very curved shells, I wanted it to be mostly flat but with some dimension. I glued together about 20 layers of newspaper on the hood of Brandon's car to get some slight curvature. I used this great paper mache paste recipe. I like it better than raw flour and water, it's smooth and seems to dry stronger. It's best used warm, once it cools it gets kinda chunky jelly like. I loved the way it came out but after searching more pictures, it needed way more dimension. I cut out a shield shape and then added another 10 layers of paper mache with some extra padding to bring it out more. It ended up rehydrating the bottom layers and they lost their shape. I guess it didn't really matter in the end.
I originally planned to paint the shell myself and I was really dreading this part. My artistic skills are basically nil when it comes to drawing, painting, coloring, or using any kind of medium in that range. After looking over lots and lots of pictures, the task seemed even more daunting because of all the variation in colors and pattern in the shell and wings. Then I had the great idea to blow up a picture of an actual stink bug and paper mache it to the form I made! Bingo! I found a high resolution picture, blew it up a little, shaped it to fit the shell I had made and paper mached it on. Perfection! I painted the back of the shell plan gray and then attached two straps I made from leftover fabric. I'm actually still struggling with this part, the straps work, but as long as Ian doesn't do anything toddler like, ie: run, fall, twist, or otherwise struggle in the thing or the straps break away from the paper mache. I've tried hot glue and heavy duty staples to keep the straps attached but it just isn't strong enough. I'm thinking I'll probably have to drill some holes and thread the straps in so it's holding to more than just the surface layer of paper.
I realize if I wanted to be proportionally correct the shell would have to be much much bigger, but he's a reluctant toddler as it is, I was lucky to get him to wear this much. Overall, I am very pleased. Ian makes a great stinkbug!
I'm going to enter Ian's costume in the Simplicity contest as well since I did use one of their patterns, but I doubt his will place since there is no real creativity in it on the sewing front.
Totals for Ian's costume:
Pattern: $5
Fabric: Free
Notions: $6
Shell: lets just say $1 in the cost of flour and paper, and glue, even though I got the newspapers free and I already had everything else.
Total: $12
For Zoey I used Simplicty pattern 2073 and New Look 6880. They're both the same company so merging the two to integrate the sleeves only required some minor adjustments. When I saw the costume pattern I totally fell in love with it, it was the boning in the skirt. I just love that poofy flared look and I knew it would really suit Zoey. After I bought the pattern I scoured the internet for hours and hours looking for the right fabric and it just wasn't out there. Finally days later I came up with a solution, sequins! I wanted it all to be as shiny and sparkly as possible because she was a princess too, not just strawberry shortcake. It took 4 tries to find the right color pink satin. Thankfully it was cheap at 3 dollars or less a yard. I glued on the sequins because it was less work that way but Ian has since ripped many of them off so I reinforced by sewing them on and gluing. It was not as easy as I thought it would be to arrange all those dots evenly on the dress because of the shape of the fabric I couldn't just measure and mark and have everything square. So it's not perfect, but at a glance I bet you can't tell many of them are off.
 |
| 2009 Version Strawberry Shortcake. She has a show on The Hub. |
Once the dress was all put together I just couldn't figure out the right head accessory. I kept coming back to a tiara for the princess effect but I couldn't figure out how to tailor it to what I wanted. As I was browsing around the internet for ideas I came across this Strawberry Fairy Hat and decided that style was the perfect accessory. So it kinda fits in the fairy category than princess, but I figured I was taking creative liberties on the Strawberry Shortcake character anyway I might as well do what I thought fit the style of the dress best. It took me three pattern drafts and mock up hats before I got the flare, ripple and crown all fitting and looking just right. The last thing left was to make the strawberry stem and leaves. That also took several drafts and tries to get it right. The green satin I bought was "costume" satin. Read: low quality and ravels easily. The rest of the satin for the dress was made with "special occasion" fabric, it was much more cooperative to sew with. With a butane lighter to melt the edges I was able to make it work. I decided to skip the glue for the hat and just sew all the sequins on.
The pattern did include tights but I decided to just purchase some from www.welovecolors.com. To let me have time to focus on Ian's costume. And so, I give you the Strawberry Shortcake Princess Fairy in all her glory!
I'm so happy with how her costume turned out that I'm entering it in two contests. One from Simplicity and one from We Love Colors. WLCs has a people's choice prize so head over to their page and Like Zoey's picture! The Simplicty contest is much more hard core, if you make the first cut you have to send them the costume for examination! I'd be really lucky to make the first cut, I'd be going up against some of the most talented sewers! Although, I did use a bit of creativity in altering the pattern and the inside of the dress is crazy neat thanks to my serger!
Totals for Zoey's Costume:
Pattern: $1
Fabric (3/4 yard pink, 1/2 yard white, 1/4 yard green): $4
Notions (thread, glue, sequins, zipper, boning, etc): $13
Tights: $9
Total: $27
Now what about Ian? I call him Stink bug because 1. His poop stinks 2. He can't ever stay out of the garden, just like the stink bugs this summer wouldn't get out of my tomatoes! I decided to go with the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug because those were the variety eating up my plants and they seemed less boring looking than the green ones. I originally wanted to just go find a hoodie and pants for Ian's outfit but after much searching, I could not find anything I liked reasonably priced. Then I remembered some fabric I had that my mom had given me two years ago to use for Brandon's Jedi costume, but I wound up not using it then, glad I still had it, it was just right for Ian's costume!
I used Simplicty pattern 5316 without alterations (other than shortening the legs and cinching in the waist band because my kids are tiny). My first time putting in a separating zipper and I think it worked out pretty great. Then I just sewed some pipe cleaners to the hoodie for his antennae. I twisted two colors together that gave it just the right verigation. Though it is hard to tell the fabric is also sorta stripy in tan and cream. While in reality the bug's underside is more solid cream colored, it seemed to make more sense overall to have it just be brownish. The shell is where I dedicated the most work to Ian's costume. Yes, sewing the hoodie and pants took time, but only a couple hours overall. I spent that and more on the shell.
Since stink bugs don't really have very curved shells, I wanted it to be mostly flat but with some dimension. I glued together about 20 layers of newspaper on the hood of Brandon's car to get some slight curvature. I used this great paper mache paste recipe. I like it better than raw flour and water, it's smooth and seems to dry stronger. It's best used warm, once it cools it gets kinda chunky jelly like. I loved the way it came out but after searching more pictures, it needed way more dimension. I cut out a shield shape and then added another 10 layers of paper mache with some extra padding to bring it out more. It ended up rehydrating the bottom layers and they lost their shape. I guess it didn't really matter in the end.
I originally planned to paint the shell myself and I was really dreading this part. My artistic skills are basically nil when it comes to drawing, painting, coloring, or using any kind of medium in that range. After looking over lots and lots of pictures, the task seemed even more daunting because of all the variation in colors and pattern in the shell and wings. Then I had the great idea to blow up a picture of an actual stink bug and paper mache it to the form I made! Bingo! I found a high resolution picture, blew it up a little, shaped it to fit the shell I had made and paper mached it on. Perfection! I painted the back of the shell plan gray and then attached two straps I made from leftover fabric. I'm actually still struggling with this part, the straps work, but as long as Ian doesn't do anything toddler like, ie: run, fall, twist, or otherwise struggle in the thing or the straps break away from the paper mache. I've tried hot glue and heavy duty staples to keep the straps attached but it just isn't strong enough. I'm thinking I'll probably have to drill some holes and thread the straps in so it's holding to more than just the surface layer of paper.
I realize if I wanted to be proportionally correct the shell would have to be much much bigger, but he's a reluctant toddler as it is, I was lucky to get him to wear this much. Overall, I am very pleased. Ian makes a great stinkbug!
I'm going to enter Ian's costume in the Simplicity contest as well since I did use one of their patterns, but I doubt his will place since there is no real creativity in it on the sewing front.
Totals for Ian's costume:
Pattern: $5
Fabric: Free
Notions: $6
Shell: lets just say $1 in the cost of flour and paper, and glue, even though I got the newspapers free and I already had everything else.
Total: $12
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