Save Handmade

I am very much in favor of legislation that protects our children from shoddy products. That said, I am against legislation that will make it more difficult for the thousands? millions? of women in this country who are able to stay home with their children because they make and sell useful art. The best baby sling I ever had for Ezra (and we tried several) was handmade by a woman via the internet. I had to email her to order one. I had to measure myself and talk to her about what functionality I needed. I paid a lot of money for that sling, and it was probably the most useful piece of baby equipment we own. I never felt that it was unsafe-- on the contrary, it was easier and safer to use, with less risk of my baby falling out than any of the store bought slings we tried. T-shirt clips never held T-shirts well, why should I trust my baby's safety to one? My handmade sling was so safe and easy to use.

I now see her slings, with her company name, for sale in Target. If that woman hadn't been able to sell her hand sewn creations via the internet, without a bunch of government hassle and added expense, Ezra's collic days would have been a lot more difficult to live through. So, check out the button (Chris just spent time teaching me a little html), educate yourself on the cause.

Several pictures for our far away loved ones. We love you and are missing you today.

No particular order. Jennie doing her best to ignore Spike.

Ezra and Kenley love Spike

Lootz!

Santa came through with a big boy ball popper!

We let him open the monster on Christmas Eve. Oogely was big hit!

Taken the day after Thanksgiving

You've Met Your Match, Mr. Monster Under the Bed

Beware the Oogely Oogely Monster! He throws his arms and legs at people!
A few weeks ago I asked Ezra to draw me a monster. I was awarded with this:


And decided to make it for him as a Christmas gift.


I also framed his drawing (we'll hang it over his bed, I have the perfect place in mind), and made a simple pillowcase with monster-themed flannel. You can see it a little just over Oogely's head. The great thing about Oogely is that those long, long arms are attached with large snaps. They can be removed and thrown -- get this-- at people!

I made this monster out of flannel instead of felt so that he can thrown into the washer. Big. Fat. Mistake. I should have followed the instructions (see prior post for link) and used felt. Because I used flannel, the whole thing had to be sewn inside out, then turned right side out. Ack! Hopefully it will pay off and Ezra will love Mr. Oogely so much that he needs a good cleaning occasionally. Next time, I'm using felt and sewing it from the outside. Dirt be damned.

Mr. Oogely is about to get wrapped up for Christmas, so for those who talk to my kiddo, please don't mention it until after Christmas morning!

Have a great Holiday! I will probably be away from the blog for a bit as we not only have Christmas, but also a dear friend's birthday and my own birthday this weekend. *Shout out to all the Christmas babies!* Happy Holidays and Happy Birthdays!

It Takes A Sick Kid . . .

. . . To get a sick Mommy to rest. As today is the last day before Winter Break, I got out early to run errands. That came to a screeching halt when I got a call from the school that Ezra is sick. I had to pick him up early. Now he's crabby and will only rest if I lie down with him. Ah, the wisdom of the young.

Of course, today is the day that every delivery company imaginable is ringing my doorbell.

The Cat Came Back!

For those who know how heartbroken we've been for 2 1/2 months about our Loki "gone missing", he returned last night. He was wearing a collar (!), and is now morbidly obese. Obviously, somebody had taken him in and kept him in. Before he goes out again, we are going to attach a note to said collar reading "Loki is our cat for over 8 years. Please do not keep him again" with our phone number. Honestly, I'm afraid to let him out again. I missed him so much.

That picture is from one year ago. Right now he's really crabby and doesn't want us to mess with him. Though he did let Little Man pet him this morning. So, he's back, he's fat, he's crabbier than ever -- oh, and now he talks. Frequently. He used to be very quiet, but he keeps looking at us and talking now. It's weird. But it's definitely him, and we're definitely thrilled to have him back.

The Christmas Spirit

I've come down with some sort of cold/flu thing that keeps making me cough with a sound not unlike that which cows emit when laboring in the fields. I feel about like that too, struggling. Be that as it may, tomorrow is the last day of school before the Holiday Break, and I am too far behind to give up now. I am behind where I want/need to be with work, behind in laundry, behind housework (*ack, this one really makes me twitch), behind in my Christmas crafting. So, while hubby works a few feet away, doing his best to ignore my unattractive coughing and throat clearing, I am at my desk making a monster:

... from a picture that Little Man drew me. It is not an original idea on my part; a little birdy told me about it.

So, here I work, wishing for some honey'd tea, greatly looking forward to getting our art studio set up so my sewing won't be on my computer desk, and excited about a monster that throws its arms and legs at people.

Burning With My Own Potential

The Flaming Maiden is back! I'll be using this site to blog about the joys and perils of what I'm up to, and also to teach myself a little bit of html :). Or a lot.