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I briefly mentioned that we got rid of most of the boys' toys a couple of weeks ago. In order to soften the blow, we sold them and told the boys they could use the money to spend on Legos. Why Legos? Because other than Magformers, Legos are the only things they play with regularly. I wanted everything else GONE. And except for a set of baby balls and this strange kitty piano, everything sold!
To house the Legos, Chuck and I put together a Lego table. The entire house loves it. All the Legos can stay out, I can vacuum, and there's less clutter. I love when everyone wins. And of course there's a hairbrush on the floor in the playroom. Isn't there one in your house?
And just for documentation, we also replaced four closet doors. The old doors were bi-fold doors with mirrors on them! They drove me crazy. I love these new ones. Plus, I don't have to look at myself 50 times a day.
It's my favorite event of the year: Crafty Bastards! This time I took Rhett and Ollie (the latter not being my choice but he was conned by his older brother). Unfortunately we had a FREEZING day and Ollie whined and complained the entire time until we got to Shake Shack, where he miraculously recovered. Of course, as soon as we got home he said, "Well, Mom, I didn't hate it there." Thanks Ollie. His whining didn't stop us from seeing cool things, however. Below are some of my favorites.
Some super cute paper cut cards at Shipwreck Press.
Of course there was some arty taxidermy. This was wire taxidermy by Alison Brynn Ross.
These amazing prints from Brainstorm! I love love love the style.
A modern take on macrame from Savvie Studio.
Beautiful puzzles and hilarious coasters from Bright Beam Goods. Both boys loved playing with the tangrams.
Confession: I don't remember what specific things I liked at Cuddles and Rage. But I have their card. Oh, I remember: among other things, they took oil paintings and put some extra graphics on top that just did not match AT ALL but got the biggest giggle out of me and Rhett.
The style here at Little Canoe was just adorable.
I'm still laughing about the merpug from Pickled Punks Plush.
I liked Studio 366 because it gave me some possibilities for a girls camp craft.
And of course, there's always some beautiful jewelry. This stuff was from Off on a Tangent. It's so intricate and gorgeous and wood!
Aren't people incredible?! Now, what can I recreate...
Well, we did it again. A group of six friends ran an (almost) out-of-town race. This time it was the Annapolis Classic. Three of us ran the half marathon, two ran the 10K, and one couldn't run so she brought her bike and biked while we ran (but not on the same course). We left town fairly early and were able to enjoy walking around Annapolis. We got a delicious dinner and then chatted until bedtime.
Race start was at 7:30, so to give me time to eat and get ready, I got up at 6:15. Our biker gave us a ride to the start and within ten minutes, the gun went off. (It was a very prompt start, which I appreciate.) It was a chilly morning with a breeze, but not cold. I was happy with my clothing choices. The race started out just fine, but at about mile 6 the hills began. And then they didn't stop until about mile 12. A lot of ups and down. A LOT. But then it was over! My time was 2:12:53, so definitely not my fastest. But I have been running slowly during training runs (old age?) so was actually okay with this time. I didn't stop even once on the hills, and made sure to drink. And hey, it's not like I actually expected to win, even if my boys did.
Race start was at the Navy Stadium (hence the promptness of everything).
So what if I'm not the ridiculously photogenic race guy.
Race finished (hence the red face).
Because it's Annapolis and we're on the Chesapeake Bay, our post-race food included warm tomato soup and oysters. TRUTH: I'd never had oysters before. Because of this, I opted for the grilled (instead of raw) variety. These were grilled with bacon and cheese and hot sauce on them and so obviously, they were delicious.
And after finishing the run, we headed back to the house and ate our delicious breakfast. We had quiche, meat and crackers, fruit, yogurt and granola, and cinnamon rolls. So good. Then we headed home! It was a great way to spend 24 hours, even if we joke about doing the same ladies weekend without all the running.
I gotta say it: I am LOVING my big kids. I know that they're not huge, but they're certainly not babies or even little kids (well maybe Ollie is, but we're forcing him to grow up quickly). They can eat food (notice that I said "can," not "do"), wipe themselves in the bathroom, do chores, etc. Rhett is learning how to cook things; Ollie is getting there. They can grab the key to the shed, get out their bikes, and go riding around the house. They can watch big kid movies. They can read to themselves and each other. They can play big kid games, sometimes without it ending in tears. They don't have to have little kids toys (which is good because we just got rid of 95% of their toys--with their permission). They can sleep in (sometimes, usually only when super tired, but still, sometimes). They can use knives, which means they both carved their own pumpkins (one with slightly more help than the other). They can use matches to light their own jack o' lanterns. They can use magnifying glasses to start fire, although I'm not super excited when one does this during recess.
I look at babies and just think, "UGH. So sorry, parents-of-that-baby, that you have five to six years until they're actually FUN." Or maybe not fun exactly, but until those babies can do stuff.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely mine. I realize lots of people like little kids. As I'm cold and heartless, I'm not one of them.
Last year, Rhett wanted to be Harry Potter, but we convinced him that a ballot box would be awesome and he concurred. However, this year he still wanted to do it which meant Ollie decided he wanted to be Ron Weasley. Done.
Of course I was excited to do some sewing too. The ties and scarves came together quickly, but those capes. Oh those capes. I saw some tutorials online, but wasn't in love with them. So when I saw the Simplicity pattern at Joann that had a little girl dressed as Hermione, I knew I had to do it. I'll tell you what though: NO MORE PATTERNS for me. I just don't speak pattern-ese. It's terrible. I want to write them and tell them to hire me as a translator between pattern-speak and tutorials because tutorials do it so much better. But a week later and more money spent on fabric than just buying them from Amazon and they were done. And I love them.
And once I spend all that time and money making them, I have to find multiple opportunities for the boys to wear them. We did a ward trunk-or-treat, school party, and neighborhood trick-or-treating. I just love Halloween and I love watching my boys enjoy Halloween.
We went trick-or-treating with Rhett's friend. I'm thinking next year, when they're ten, they'll be big enough to go alone, right? I think they can do it.
P.S. The last-minute trunk decoration was a true family effort the day of the trunk-or-treat. We all enjoyed creating it. And now we'll have it forever. It'll work even if we don't go dressed as Gryffindors, right? I thought so. Also, we won second place for best car decoration, so that's awesome.
P.P.S. UGH. I totally forgot to do the lumarias! So mad at myself.
