Family at Easter

I don't really remember last Easter Season. I think I was still in a daze from the new wee one in the family or hopped up on drugs or knee deep in laundry / grading. Whatever it was, I really don't think of last year as Tam's first Easter since it was all a blur.

With this idea, this Easter season we actually celebrated together as a family. We completed the Christian traditions of attending church service, as well as the heathen traditions of an egg hunt and baskets.

I had hid eight plastic eggs obviously around the living room. Inside the eggs, I placed 1 or 2 nilla wafer cookies. By obvious, I

mean right smack in the middle of the living room rug...as well as in his shoes, on his toy box, etc. At first, Tamlin wasn't quite sure what to think of the new eggs and was a bit frighten of the chair covered in blankets (under which his basket was hid). However, once Brian showed him that (A) the egg makes noise when you shake it and (B) inside held a treat, Tam thought this was an awesome new game. With his short attention span, he found about 4 eggs in the morning.

I kept his Easter Basket simple. It was filled with a few pieces of chocolate, a chocolate bunny, nilla wafer cookies, stuffed animals from relatives, a ball, and a new truck. Three guesses as to what was Tam's favorite part of the basket... yep, the truck. However, lately the ball has been getting a bit

of use around the house as well.

The day was beautiful and unusually warm. We didn't have to put on our Easter clothes and then bundle up in winter coats to stay warm :-) Tam even got to wear his new outfit from his great-aunts.

Since Brian had to work Sunday afternoon, we had Easter dinner a day late on Monday. Yummy slow-cooked ham. Happiness and full bellies all around.

Happy Valentine's Day Early

Yes, I know Valentine's day is a silly day that Hallmark has marketed to the masses and to make

significant others guilty about not being able to purchase marked up baubles for their loved ones.

Yes, Brian and I rarely do anything extra for this day 'cause we *heart* each other all year long.

However, I always appreciate the cards and cookies sent by family anyways. My mom's on the ball and has already sent a Valentine's day card our way for Tam. He hasn't quite figured out how to open envelopes, but he totally loved the card. It's a lion with a fuzzy texture and yarn-like hair. Tam kept petting the card and rubbing it against his face. Then he proceeded to walk around the living room waving it in the air and yelling "Dah!" Currently "Dah" is the most favorite word.

100% kudos to mom for the awesome pick of a card for a 14mth old!

Once done with the card, Tam very carefully put it away in an empty bin we had in the living room. Very sweet.

Last Christmas Gift opened

For Christmas this year, I told Brian I didn't want him to buy me anything but instead I wanted him to make me something. The last few weeks before Christmas, I noticed boxes and lumber being schlepped into the house and ending up in our basement. I honestly had no idea what he was building down there. Right before we left to head East to see the relatives, I was led downstairs to the basement where Brian surprised me with a new unusable room! He had cleaned up, scrubbed downed, removed cobwebs, and re-organized the extra room down there. In the area, he placed our spare table with my sewing machine on top, erected shelves for all the extra material I have, and set up my exercise bike. Yeah! This new functional space is great for crafting and exercising now. The husband did good.

Now, Brian's second gift was to build a new headboard for our bed. We haven't had a head...well, ever, though we've had lots of ideas from watching design shows on T.V. He constructed a simple headboard that would attach to the front of the bed. However, he wasn't entirely sure how to cover it with fabric. I took over from here and gathered up the foam, batting, and fabric. Courtesy of our new stable gun (gift from family, thanks), I covered the board this weekend. The fabric was scrap we had, which is a pale green/brown velvety material.

I kept it simple, but still may add some buttons. And, when I'm tired of this fabric...easy-peasy to change for a different look! Project finished and last Christmas gift opened and loved!

The Holidays are coming . . .

With this statement, you may attempt to do any of the following:
1) Run and hide under the bed
2) Run out and immediately start shopping
3) Run and start a baking flurry
4) Find lots of great holiday projects and get really inspired to be crafty and start a ton of said awesome projects and then find that you have no time to finish anything and get left with a big mess tied up with a bow.

I am firmly in category 4 currently. By having the Internet and exploring other people's blogs, I have found a slew of projects I would like to attempt. Luckily, most of these are cheap and chic and may even be fun to do.

I have many of these ball ornaments and have been making them into a wreath since last year.
Eddie Ross blog gives the really easy instructions for this. Now to find an old wire hanger...

On the Shanty2Chic blog, they have a fabulous tutorial for making an easy centerpiece stand for decorations. This seems a little more labor intensive, but spray paint would be involved. I have been scrounging yard sales for something similar for the past couple of years and been disappointed. Hmmm...

Lastly, Shanty2Chic did a guest entry on UCreate blog about an advent calendar. Again, this is something I have been craving for purchase, but never found the "perfect" one at the "perfect = cheap" price. I nearly picked a calender up from the Christmas Store the other weekend, but didn't want to fork over the cash. I think I would nix the Bingo and instead label with Christmas, but I like the simplicity of the project and the distressed look. Plus, the project involves spray paint AND power tools. Wahoo!

I'll keep you posted as to when and if any of the projects fit into my future :-)

Happy Halloween!

We celebrated our first Halloween with Tam this past weekend. This is one of my favorite holidays and I really enjoy decorating the entire house with scary/creeping paraphernalia. Cobwebs, animated pictures, creepy skulls...we had it all. And this year I was as big as a whale while trying to hang the stuff up on the walls. (Much easier, even with Tam's "help").

As to costumes, since Halloween was Wednesday, I didn't wear something to school. Then, on Saturday morning, I had to attend a local conference for undergraduate research and was sporting the professional attire. In the end, I wore orange and black, but no over-the-top swag for me. Tam, however, was too cute! I had picked up a cow costume from another mom last summer at a yard sale. The sleeper fit fine with its black and white spots and darling little tail. The hat was a little big, so the ears kept flopping in his face. Brian wore jeans, a flannel, and a vest - going as a cross cultures farmer.

We invited friends and neighbors to stop by through out the evening for chili, candy, and beer (depending on the age). Some of my students who attended the conference came for a brief time before hitting other parties. And our friends with small kids stopped by as well. This meant that Tam had plenty of playmates during the evening. Our doorbell rang intermittently, and I am happy to say that nearly all trick or treaters had costumes this year. More importantly, all of them said thank you :-) Our friends' son, Xander (2yrs), had a hoot saying hello and goodbye to all the kiddies who stopped by our door.

It was a fun evening spent socializing with good company. We were tuckered out from all the brouhaha by 9:30pm! Can't wait until next year!

Home for the 4th of July

We surprised the family by visiting for the 4th of July last weekend. It was quite a hoot to hear mom's reaction over the phone as she learned that we were only 10minutes away and not 6hours. I was really glad to have the chance to see family members and let Tam say hello to everyone. Oh, and of course, there was all the food! My family is very good at visiting each other, usually over a meal/snack/ice cream, etc. Happy birthday to the USA :-)


The aunts were excited to say hi to Tam and brought out his first ride-on toys, a bug character and a mini-bike. He looked so cute clutching the handles! His feet barely touch the floor on either side and he isn't sure what to do to make it go, but he was happy to sit on the seat and try to bounce. I was there to lend a hand for balance, or else our little weeble-wobble would fall right over. Tam is also firmly into his drooling phase and slobbered over everything and everyone. I just can't wait until he learns how to give kisses too through this drool-mess.

While visiting, I ate at my favorite joint currently...Dairy Queen. MMMM...Chocolate ice cream cone with crunchies! Or maybe a blizzard is my favorite. It is all goodness and a cheap way to achieve happiness. I have come to the conclusion that there are NO Dairy Queens here near me. And believe me, as a pregnant woman last summer I really looked.

Oh, and lastly, I have to mention our fun filled Friday night . . . at Walmart. What else is there to do but go to the walmart store to see friends/family and been seen. You know you come from a small town when this chain store sounds like a great field trip idea. We did pretty good at not leaving the store with many toys for Tam but we did pick up a diaper pail for stinky cloth diapers.