Bright Frosting, Butter Cookies, and Pez

Slow Simmer

I'm taking it super slow today: no gym this morning, resting on the couch after getting Finn out the door to preschool, putting on the mulling spices. One of those days. I was up last night three times, dry heaving and blacking out once. The loveliness of being a woman and playing the find-the-right-BC-pill-for-you game. And though I don't enjoy these "tutorial" sessions very much, I think it's nice to slow down and reflect on the direction I'm taking. To kind of "mull over" (like my spices) the busyness and bustling in my life, the thick of thin things I am so often orchestrating for myself and the ones around me. Life is so beautiful, painful, exciting, joyful, heartbreaking, and stressful all at the same time. And though I'm not the type to rush off and plan a trip to Disneyland, I do enjoy taking days off to catch my breath.

Advent Redone

I have yet another confession: I sold the Whoville Advent calendar I made specifically for my kids. I know, my poor kids. They were really sad. We skipped several days of advent until yesterday, when we made the one we're going to use this year.

It was very simple: plain white bags, numbered, then colored, some candy thrown in them, then tied to the mantel in a garland.

Ahhh, I got that monkey off my back. And it's sorta pretty too.

Ouch

Last night, as Travis was going to put Miles in his car seat to go to our Ward Christmas party, Miles flailed his body, surely trying to avoid getting buckled into his seat. He also hit his head on the door in the process. We vascillated between taking him to the hospital or trying to bandage it up ourselves. After a few calls to physician friends we decided to take him in. The hot 30-pound pan of sweet potatoes I'd just pulled out of the oven to take to the party would never see the party. Neither would we. After 3 hours, lots of waiting and a papoose board, we are now back in business. Poor little guy. He was a champ, but I hope we don't have to make a visit like this for a long time.

Scrooge McSchuller

I have a confession: the second-to-last thing I said to Travis last night before I went to bed was that it was too hard to help other people while tending my three kids. At church we've been encouraged to do 12 nice things for other people during this holiday season, to perpetuate the spirit of Christmas. When I first heard the challenge during one of our meetings, I thought to myself, "Yeah, right. I can't even do one nice thing for my own kids, let alone TWELVE for people in the community." Then I found myself smack dab in the middle of another long afternoon (when naptime was over almost after it started) and I scrambled for an activity to occupy the better part of 3 hours. It went down like this: two batches of chocolate chip cookies, lots of throwing crayons, two homemade thank-you cards, some marshmallow stick-men thrown in the mix, and a vanload of kids on their way to meet, greet and treat the most famous of public servants. It turns out there weren't any police men available at the station, but we did get a picture with a future policeman, a member of the Police Academy, who was working at the front desk. I admit, despite the wonky stroller-pushing and steering 3 kids in the rain, it was a nice experience. My attitude was thawing out. The fire station was quite a bit more exciting: talking to a real fireman, trying on the boots and hat, seeing an ambulance light up then siren off. It was the perfect remedy for a self-pitiful me. And it was a highlight for Finn. I just "bought" myself hours of conversation about fire trucks, policemen, firemen, ambulances and "really big garage doors" (for the firetrucks).

The Cleaning Lady's House Isn't Messy Today

Explanation for post title: For the past couple years I've sewn lots and lots of advent calendars, but had yet to sew one for my own sweet peas at home. With December 1st hours away, last night I sat down and sewed one for my own family. Creation of the Whoville Advent Calendar. It made those bags under my eyes worth it to see Finn almost squeal with excitement at the sight of it. (He knows advent calendars mean candy in this house).

I'm not going to sell the original one, but I did list the calendar in the shop. Go here for a look-see.

And I finished this number after lunch today. I had finished it a couple days ago but something just didn't look right. I added that brown and white fabric and a bow and now it looks more like what I'd envisioned. Again, here's the link.

On Thanksgiving Day 2009, We:

• Made pine cone and leaf turkeys
  

• Stayed in our pajamas all day
  

• Bought rotisserie chickens and dinner fixings at 11 AM, started making dinner at 3 PM and ate at 4:30 PM.
  

• And ended the day with a slice of pumpkin pie a la mode

I made a mental list of things I'm grateful for. It included the usual and irreplacable things like family, beliefs and friends. And it also included little things like Miles' big hands and the way it felt to have a newly-swept back porch. I lack nothing, to be sure.

Gymnastic Artistry

This is what I caught the munchkins doing after bathtime, as I was trying to wrangle them into kneeling for family prayer. "Talk to the booty cause the face ain't list'nin'."

Working Away

Lucy, always the Commander in Chief, likes to perch herself on the shelf separating the toy room and my craft area, and boss me around while I sew.

And she likes to rearrange my jars of vintage toy blocks and wooden bobbins.

If you'd like your own advent calendar made by moi while being bossed by Lucy, just go here.

My Role Model

My Mom is the kind of person who asks questions when others would jump in and give advice. She has perfected the art of patience, having raised seven very strong-willed, spirited children. She would reluctantly take in pet dogs and then cry when it was time to give them to new owners. She likes sea foam candy, and incidentally, Velvet Crumble candy bars. She prefers milk over dark chocolate. She likes to wear white nightgowns to bed, with long sleeves. I remember just staring at her when I was little, after she put on her mascara, thinking she was the prettiest woman I'd ever seen (I still think that). Someone once wrote in her high school yearbook that she would be the one to "redecorate the throne of God," (or something to that effect) and I think they were spot on. She prefers pie over cake and is an avid runner and cyclist. She's the real deal, bona fide, true, pure and someone once said (I think it was my aunt Alison) that she bets my Mom insides are perfectly pink and 100% healthy (my Mom was eating a bowl of beets at the time). If I could become like anyone, I would wish to become like my Mom. Happy Birthday to you, Mother Dearest!

Sewing Ruffles How-To

This might be old news to some, but a while back I discovered how to sew instant ruffles. If you use invisible thread on the top bobbin (without adjusting the tension), and regular cotton or polyester thread on the bottom bobbin, the fabric puckers and ruffles itself as you sew.

Try it and you can jump on the ruffle bandwagon too!

Frostbitten

The frost pixies paid us a visit last night.

We woke up to plates on the wall lightly dusted in crystals of snowflakes and rounds of shiny metallic tinsel.

Outside, the air turned Spring-like to cold in one day, and the sky cast itself in grays and muddled blues.

I love the anticipation of holidays coming up, the chill in the air (it used to get me excited about downhill skiing season), and the thought of keeping warm inside at home (even if my walls are frostbitten).

T. Schuller Unplugged

This is what Travis does sometimes while he's watching T.V. It cracks me up. I will hear the T.V. show on, and then when there's a lull in the action or the show gets quiet, I will hear a soft strumming of the guitar.

I look over and see my rockstar husband picking away something, no amp, no cords, just him in his pajama bottoms and old t-shirt and his guitar.

It's quite endearing.

Just Listed

Here.

Tinkering

So this (above) was my living room wall before I got sick of it and wanted something lighter, more feminine and just different.

Here's what I have come up with recently, although I'm thinking about taking it down and making a big floral display similar to the flowers on the gray platter. Just an extension of those all over the wall.

I'll keep you posted on my progress. I have decided I am not going to worry about getting nail holes in this particular section of the living room wall because I've changed this display so many times I can't be bothered by the holes anymore.

Touch and Go

There are moments where I feel like I'm dancing the line between sanity and insanity (okay, alot of them). I have decided that rather than wait for the moments of quiet and cleanliness, I should revel in the miniscule things that seem to come when I least expect them: a minute of silence in the car where I can actually hear the broadcaster on NPR, times when Lucy and Finn are sharing and playing cooperatively, or those times when the toast lands on the floor buttered- and jammed-side up. Because today, in what has become all too typical, I found myself again toeing that line of sane and insane. We had a nice time playing and conversing with friends at the park. Then Finn came and for the first time in probably a year, showed me he had a little mishap in his underwear (the stinky kind). This was after Lucy had had a similar accident in her underwear, only hers were soaked, along with her pants. Diapers on both of them now (one borrowed, one my own). Miles licked his sandy fists and I decided he could stay sandy. At least he wasn't poopy. Then Lucy, pulling a stunt she's adopted quite readily lately, walked up to our friend's car and tried to touch it as the car was backing out. I screamed at Lucy to get away, my hands carrying something, probably Finn's poopy underwear. My heartrate soared, my voice in soprano panic mode. Everything was okay. Lucy's guardian angel was taking care of her because I wasn't close enough to get her. Fighting in the car on the way home and a coercion to get kids out of the car led to a shower for me and bedtime for Miles. Upon my feet hitting the bathmat, I hear Finn yell that Lucy has gotten into my purse. (Translation: your credit cards, insurance cards and any lotions or liquids you have in there are scattered everywhere). Somehow I managed to tread lightly and get my wallet back safely in it's place, Lucy in a new diaper (she's got some bowels, that girl), and now I'm sitting here typing, listening to Barney and friends sing and chatter in kid-ese. I used to think that passing through unpleasantries meant you were doing something wrong or that something was cosmically flawed. My thinking has since changed. I've decided that if I can just endure those times of panic or poopy diapers or sand all over my car without getting bitter and saying mean things, then I am doing the right thing. But it's so hard. Motherhood is not for the faint of heart.

Just Listed

Come stop by the shop to see what treasures (old and new) I've added!

Weekend Picture

Have a fantastic weekend!

For the Local-Yocals

This is quite possibly the fastest invitation I've ever put together. Here's the scenario: I'd procrastinated all week long to make this, my Photoshop was not yet re-installed on my computer (Lucy worked her magic on my computer and we had to reformat it), and I had about five minutes this morning before I had to leave for the gym. I typed the font in Notepad, printed it out, cut it out, set a vintage Christmas tablecloth I'd got at the thrift store two days ago on top and scanned it. I uploaded it to Costco photo and the invitations were ready in one hour. Phew. I guess Photoshop isn't the end-all after all.

P.S. If you live in the area, please come to the wreath making night. Bring a friend and make a festive wreath for only $2!

My In-House Babysitter

This is what happens when all of the following factors combine: 1) Daylight Savings Time is telling us it's 1 o'clock when really it feels like 4 o'clock, 2) Mama Schuller had to wake up at 6:30 AM with her chicklets, and 3) I'm still on "vacation."

Ruffles Under the Tree to You From Me

Just listed this in the shop. If you're interested, go here to check it out.

No Joke

We didn't carve pumpkins, so here I am trying to get tealights lit and lining the front steps before the first trick-or-treaters get here.

And, sadly, this is all we could come up with for costumes. Finn got the firemen's hat from school a couple weeks ago, from Fireman Dave to be precise, and Lucy refused to wear tights that would have actually made her look somewhat like the ballerina she was trying to be.

Some things matter alot and some things (like, for me, costumes) don't really matter that much. So we simplified this year (okay, most every year) and took the easy route.

Just to show you how much candy these kids consumed this weekend, Finn's response to my "do you want oatmeal for breakfast?" question yesterday was, "Does it have candy in it?"

And, as the sewing season of holiday Etsy sales is upon me, combined with the ultra-wild forces of my kids, I feel the need to go on a mental vacation from my problems. The rule of the game is if you want to do it, do it, and if you don't, then don't. It's that easy.

My vacation may or may not include:

• Blogging
• Eating sugar cookie dough straight from the fridge to complement meals and augment snacks
• Combing my kids' hair before making a public appearance
• Combing or styling my own hair before that appearance
• Being hard on myself for any reason
• Expecting too much of my kids
• Fixing full-blown meals (cereal will have to do)
• Doing laundry
• Doing any sort of deep cleaning
• Catching up on reading
• Letting my kids watch as much TV as they want

If you have any questions, comments, complaints or constructive criticisms, just know that I may or may not be temporarily "out of the office" for the time being.