Foxy Sadie

 The Arctic Fox is a critter whose cuteness is pretty much unparalleled as far as fuzzy white things go.   

 

Still. I think Sadie is trying to give this one a run for its money.

 Is it wrong that I kinda wish my kid always had a tail?

It's funny, because even though this costume is supposed to be a lil' fox, it kind of reminds me of this:

Which would also be another great costume.  I even have a grey fox tail I could switch out the white one with.  You might be wondering why I have so many fox tails.  That is a valid question.  I was wondering the same thing when I cleaned out my sewing room and found three of them. 

Happy Halloween... Get your wild rumpus on:)

How to get your doggie to go "ni-ni" by Sadie

First, you need to get him his purple fleece blanket, and lots of teddy bears.  Boxers love teddy bears.

Then he's probably going to want you to read him a story. 

"Everyone Poops" is his favorite.

Of course, you will need to snuggle him up.

"ni-ni" Cash.

p.s. I wish my kid was this easy to get to sleep.

Happy Monday.

Saturday Sewing: Mini-Mukluks

 With the cold weather settling in, and the temp dipping down into the teens for several weeks now, Sadie has been long overdue for a pair of warmer winter boots, and I have been scouring the online pattern sources looking for something simple, and mukluk-y.  I haven't been so lucky, so I had to make up my own pattern.  I am kind of liking how it came out. 

 

I found this awesome, double-sided minky fabric when I was down in the big city.  I had no idea what it would be good for, but it was 75% off, and so soft and warm, so I bought the rest of the bolt.  Turns out, it sews up into some sweet little muks. Sometimes those impulse purchases do come in handy!

I still have a few tweaks I need to make on this pattern, but I think overall it's a good one. {Really quick and easy to put together, which is the only way I sew these days} In fact, the hardest thing about it was just trying to get Sadie to sit/ stand still long enough so I could take a picture.

 

A space to create.

Finally, I got my craft room all cleaned up, organized and ready for some major crafting.  It is so nice to just have a room that is my own to work in.  No hauling my sewing stuff out to the family table, and hauling it back several times during a project.  A door to shut to keep little fingers from grabbing things they shouldn't... Whew.  I feel relieved.

 Well, maybe I spoke too soon about the last thing .

 But at least everything is in order, where I can find it.

If you need to find me between the hours of bedtime and naptime from now until Christmas, you know where to come looking.

And a sneak peak of what I started working on last night...

Thanks for the awesome kansashi flower clip Mom! It goes perfect with this little gypsy girl dress I sewed. 

15 months

Dear Sadie,
At 15 months you are a bundle of smiles, energy, laughs, noises and a little bit of sass thrown in for good measure.  This month you have added to my grey hair collection by attempting to put everything that you shouldn't in your mouth.  You have managed to eat a rock and some toothpaste, but all things considered, that is not too bad.

Right now, you are all about the making animal noises.  You meow when you want to drink milk or nurse (because, you know, kitty-cats drink milk).  On the flight home from Anchorage last week you chewed on a ball and howled the whole time.  The guy next to me had to ask if you were a little girl or a puppy?  I just tell people my child is being raised by wolves.

You are also very much a girly-girl, in spite of your camo attire. Another favorite activity is putting on pretties like necklaces and scarves and then you ask to get put up on the bathroom counter so you can admire yourself in the mirror.

 And, yes, you are putting on chapstick in this picture, because that is the other thing that you love to do when you are getting dressed up and looking in the mirror.  And when it is time for me to put the chapstick away you always cry. Another fun thing about you right now is that you have to be doing multiple things at the same time.  Holding your crayon while you drink your milk. Putting your stuffed animals "ni-ni" while sitting in my lap, reading a book AND holding a ball. 

See? Getting pretty AND practicing your howling skills.  You can never start the multi-tasking too young. You are also keeping me busy multitasking:  chasing around a crazy tot, cleaning up one mess after another, feeding you constantly AND wondering how it is possible to love a little human more and more every day. Happy 15 months.
Love,
Your Mama

Teenrooster: Ladies, say hello to "Sexy Rexy."

Something kind of funny about living in a small town is that on a given Sunday a person might show up on you porch, holding a rooster, and say, "Hey, heard you guys have some hens, and I thought you might like this rooster so you can have more chicks come spring."

And just like that, you have a rooster.  An awkward, cowardly, teenage rooster.  Or, according to Loren, a "mini T-Rex." 

I have decided to dub him "Sexy Rexy,"  in the hopes of boosting his self-esteem.  

This guy really needs some positive self-talk, because our hens are kicking the crap outta him.

Seriously.  Who knew they could be so mean.  I am beginning to really understand all these chicken analogies, like "hen-pecked."

Hen-pecked is NOT a good thing.

And Cash, realizing there is now a creature living here {even more cowardly than he is} has taken it upon himself to harass the poor young Rex even more.  Thankfully, the killer instinct in Boxers seems to have been bred out quite a few generations back.

So poor Rexy, he spends most of his days hiding out in the greenhouse. 

Since putting him with the hens in the coop at night was a total disaster, he roosts by himself on the roof of the shed. Only he cant quite flap up there by himself.  He needs a boost.

Something about this pathetic chicken evokes a bit of compassion in me, so yup... I will continue to toss him up on the shed until he gets big enough to do it himself.  

I can't wait till he grows a pair and stops letting the other chickens pick on him though, because some battles you just have to fight yourself.

Some good fall eats.

Today Loren and I planned on having a few folks over for dinner, but our guest list kept dwindling down, so that eventually it included only the three of us.  Honestly, that was fine by me. Without writing you all a hand-lettered invitation to my pity party, I'll just stay it was one of those days.  Like a Monday, but it was a Sunday. Or something.  But Loren, Sadie and I enjoyed a lovely fall dinner, and I thought I would share a couple of recipes, since we didn't get to share the food:)

First up... Brie smothered in caramelized  onions served with crackers, pears and figs.  Do you ever get obsessed with an appetizer for a while?  I think I am going to be obsessed with this one.  It is oh.so.good.  Like Loren says, "I'm not usually a brie man, but this is awesome." There isn't really a recipe for it, you simply slowly cook down an onion in a couple tablespoons of butter until it becomes a lovely golden brown.  At that point I added about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and cooked it down a little bit further.  Pour the hot onions over the top of your brie, it gets all nice and soft... serve.. enjoy!

And this little gem is so worth a try.  It is called a Dimply Plum Cake, and I poached the recipe from over at the Smitten Kitchen. We got a surplus of plums in our CSA box this week, and while Sadie has been diligently munching her way through the red ones, the bag of Italian plums was getting a little smushy. They were perfect in this cake.  It is light, tangy, delicious... a wonderful fall treat, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Well, what are you waiting for?  Go get cooking! 

our autumn nature table

Lately I have been inspired by the Waldorf concept of having an ever changing collection of kid-selected, seasonal things grouped together on a table at child's eye level.  We have designated the corner table in the living room to be this table.  Right now we have the tundra terrarium, Sadie's beach rocks (now colored on by crayon) and the assortment of pumpkins Sadie has been picking out on our grocery shopping trips.

That middle pumpkin became a jack-o-lantern a little earlier than planned, since Cash chewed off the stem and part of the top.  Sadie and I had a fun time carving it--she liked digging the seeds out, squishing her hands in the center, feeding the guts from the pumpkin to the chickens, roasting the seeds... I was feeling really proud of our seasonal fun UNTIL I lit the pumpkin up.  Immediately she became terrified of it.  I suspect it will be disappearing from the nature table soon.

Tundra Terrarium

Last night we were tromping through the tundra looking for any lingering Lingonberries that may have survived the freezing temps.  While the berries were pretty much kaput, I couldn't help but admire the resilient and still very colorful tundra.  I have been geeking out over the terrariums over on The Gardener's Eden, so I thought I would give this a try:

A little reminder of the tundra's beauty to last through the frozen months... if it works.  I need to find a glass cake plate topper to keep the moisture in though.

Look at the diversity of organisms thriving in this microcosm.  Amazing!

Sadie's first Ptarmigtan Hunt

Last night while I was teaching pottery class Loren decided to take Sadie on an impromptu Ptarmigan hunt. He texted me the following pictures from his iphone.

note: Smartwool socks as mittens... nice work dad ;)

 

poor Ptarmigan, I always feel bad for them when their plumage changes to white before the snow falls, they kind of seem like sitting... um, Ptarmigan?  I guess they had a sporting chance though,  if they were being hunted by a guy with a blind, deaf Labrador, a spastic 2 year-old Boxer and a one-year-old in an Ergo backpack.

But everyone had a good time (excepting the Ptarmigan, I guess) and Sadie was so tuckered out she slept like an Angel last night...for the first time in months.  

So yay for Sadie's first Ptarmigan hunt!

Mindful Holidays: for the planet, for the people

The holiday season is upon us.  Walk into any place of commerce (large or small) and you are apt to see a plethora of gaudy, disposable Halloween/ Thanksgiving or even Christmas decorations cluttering up your field of vision.  Does that make me sound humbug?  I'm not...I swear.  I love the holidays, but I hate the commercialized, consumerist frenzy that seems to be what a lot of people celebrate these days.

art rocks

 

It's starting to get cold here (a tiny bit of snow this morning even).  Sadie and I have been trying to make the most of the beach while we still can.  Yesterday we collected some nice, BIG, flat rocks in a bucket.  Today we decided to add our own embellishments.  Not sure if Sadie enjoyed scribbling on the rocks or eating the crayons more.  It was probably a toss.   

Speaking of rocks, Sadie also picked up a tiny one on the way to the library today.  I thought she had dropped it along the way, but as we were in the library browsing for books she managed to sneak that thing into her mouth and choke on it.  I had to perform the Heimlich maneuver right there amongst the library shelves.  It about scared the crap out of me.  I was beginning to think that Sadie had almost grown out of the putting everything in her mouth phase.  Sheesh.

That's one thing about 1-year-olds...they sure keep you guessing.