Wicked and wordless Wednesday

So Simple.

Halloween costumes stopped being fun for me after the third year in a row that everyone was a ninja. I thought having a little girl might revamp my excitement as the vision of dancing fairies and Cindy Loo Who's became a possibility but alas the only girlie picture I have is from a gift that I forced a photo of and then it was buried in the "dress ups" box for other girls to play in.

We quickly became an ALL Ninja crowd.

I must have been quite uninspired because I have very few halloween photos. Anyway, these days, Asha tells me all year what she's going to be for halloween, it changes every single time. I say, that's cool and then we wait until it's really close to commit and then it's done. This year, she is obsessed with the face covered hoodies so it was a no brainer to add legs and be a skeleton. So simple.

It glows in the dark. I used walmarts $4 sweatpants, the basis of many Halloween costumes because they are baggy enough you can layer clothes underneath just in case it snows LOL, plus cheap enough you can chuck them out or use them as Pj's. I freehand cut some bones from felt and hot glued it on.

Add a little glow in the dark paint and a pair of gloves.

Voila, 20 minute costume and very happy tick or treater.

My big girl pants.

Last time someone told me to pull my big girl pants up, I almost did the opposite and "mooned" them. Fortunately, since I spotted the two men wandering up the gravel path way, I had time to change my plans. It was 2am and my group of girls were out in the woods playing some weird game, where you spin and stare up at the stars, then when you get super dizzy, you stop, stare into a flash light and drop like a rock! Good times. Well this is the only time I camp. Girls camp. It's proper dirt in the nails, don't wash for a week, drop your load in a bucket kind of camping and I am not a fan. Not one bit! I have, however heard of this other type of luxury camping and it sounded intriguing to me, so for the sake of my kids having a well rounded upbringing that doesn't include "aww MUUUM, do we have to go to England? can't we just go on a cruise?" (QUOTE)I thought I'd give camping a go.

It started with the rental of a hotel on wheels, except in this one, you make your own bed. Actually you bring your own bed, along with pots and pans for food that you will be bringing and cooking yourself as well as dish soap for the dishes you will be washing yourself. Oh I know it sounds exciting doesn't it? Throw in some clothes and get a special hitch for your vehicle and your off. The accommodations themselves are quite comfy if you are ok with sleeping on a 2 inch foam pad and turning the shower hose on and off between soapings, which I'm not but the part I actually enjoyed the most, was being able to prepare and cook food in a small space, either to stay and eat or to take with us. It actually made my idea of downtown, loft living, quite desirable again. Plus, you can't get a good cheese and pickle sandwich from a drive through.

we parked it at camp sites that had hook ups to electricity and cable TV but other than that, the sites were just a stopping point. We had all we needed inside. The place itself, Moab & Goblin Valley, is another, awesome story but I really just wanted to share my camp trailer experience in case anyone else is considering it.

Wordless Wednesday

Not just a Pin.

All this pinning has got me inspired. I have been having a crafty period. This happens from time to time, usually after seeing something at quilted bear for a ridiculous cost and thinking "I could make that" (you know you do it too!) well I actually do, so I thought I'd share a few things I've made this month. 15 of these ($29 each at QB, $5 to make)

70 of these. (All stamped)

Just one of these (saw on pinterest)

for this earlier creation that turned 11 today.( I got the cheaper, tom boy model;-)

Whom herself created this

Then I made each of these

(This was $40 quilted bear inspiration, made for $7)

(Pinterest copies)

a few of these (to go with my other 38 albums full)

and finally this (my favorite, made for $13 with half a roll of ribbon left over)

which no longer has a home, because we also did this

and I LOVE IT!!! So while others are sipping hot chocolate and watching junk TV, I am in my own happy place, getting high on a whole drawer full of different adhesive. Have you made anything based on a pin or craft show find?

I'm Ok.

I looked up the word "OK" in the dictionary, not actually expecting it to be a word but maybe a set of initial's that we all understand like P.O'd or LOL or B.O. I was surprised to see it along with the written version "okay" The thing is, we all use the term regularly and even foreign friends understand it but recently I was impacted by what exactly it mean't and how comforting a tiny phrase it could be. Often times if I ask someone how they are doing and the response is "okay" it means, less than great but I'm getting along. Someday's, ok is all we have to respond with, at least it is honest and not the British lie of "fine" (see previous post on translation :-)If I care enough to dig a little deeper I might find that OK actually means "well somehow I am still breathing even though my son is in big trouble or my husband wants to leave me or it might just mean, I'm so busy, not sure how I'll get through the next few days but I am leaning in. 3 weeks ago I had a life changing experience. I was in a car accident. The kind where, if you drive by after the fact, you take a gasp and then can't help staring(why do we do that? you know you totally do :-) hoping to see a body or limb or something but not really wanting to but sort of...) I was just a short distance from my home, heading to a Saturday baptism of a new young woman in our neighborhood. Whilst waiting in the canyon road to turn left, the equivalent of a quiet dead end country lane, into the church parking lot(crossing oncoming traffic for my Brit buds)I notice 3 little boys at the side of the road. Far too young to be alone and far too young to have common sense to look before running or crossing and so I watched them intently. I slowly crept into my left turn and then out of nowhere I hear this almighty crash, watch my airbags deploy and yes they really do drop puffy curtains from the roof, my car is spinning and moving and pops up the curb and down again finally coming to a halt as another car (the first time I have seen it) goes up the curb on the inside of me and comes to a halt about 30 more feet ahead of my final resting place. WOW!! I take a breath, I move my head and shoulders slowly. My first thought......"I'm OK!" and that's what THAT feels like. A young man from the parking lot runs to me with tears in his eyes "Sister Wold, Sister Wold?...." because EVERYONE is arriving at the same time, (attention seeker) "I'm OK!" There were 3 little boys? I can't see at this point because my airbags were blocking my view and I was aware of my suddenly swelling foot and the feeling that someone had taken a razor blade to my left shoulder (seat belt burn)so I didn't want to move too much. Again came the beautiful word "OK" The other driver? another OK. What sweet, sweet words of comfort. I will never underestimate the power of the word or words. After a worrying doctors appointment, everything's OK. After a complicated pregnancy. After a call from the school. Ok is what we need to hear, even if it just implies that we are putting one foot in front of the other and still breathing, because it means we get to continue to do that another day. Oh and in case you haven't seen it, Here's what was left of my favorite little car plus my favorite sunglasses which have now vanished with it.

Thankfully this handsome young man came to greet me and not my Bishop who was stood completely in white behind my car (ready for the baptism) or I might've thought this was the next life and been somewhat disappointed at the lack of heading to the light tunnel with all my loved ones etc etc.

Music.

My kids love music. Curtis, I think, has the largest ipod ever created. If he was a child of the eighties, he would've filled an entire warehouse, with all the vinyl records he'd own. His music ranges from intense, orchestral pieces to Disney soundtracks and one off's from bands he's heard at a local coffee shop. There is no discrimination, if he likes it, he plays it and he sings it loudly. He has an incredible voice and yet has saved it for car rides and the odd Karaoke night. It has been fun and frustrating to travel with him, as no sooner is the engine of your car on, his hand comes forward with a wire to plug in, so that he can DJ our journey. It started, with a snippet of this and that but evolved into asking what we were in the mood for and playing full songs. Jordan on the other hand, knows what he likes and that's all he plays, sometimes the same songs over and over. He likes his country, usually the tunes that talk about a drunk cowboy or a dog and telling your girl what to do, which is the complete opposite of his real life, or else he's listening to gangsta rap. Yep, I confess he got that from me, although these days I leave it for when I am on my own in the car (very rarely)and not like him, for while he's working in the garage and playing it loudly for my neighbors to hear when they get home from church (I apologize regularly. My true love is for R&B and if I could get a better tan I would easily have made it in the African American community, what with my ghetto booty and wicked dance moves. Ronan is my latest music junkie, he loves all things techno, if you can call that music, and his favorite tracks are, when they take a random song that I might like to sing along too and make a chunck of it sound like it just got caught in the tape deck, you know what I'm talking about and you quickly eject and get your bic pen out and hope to salvage your favorite mix tape but this is intentional and known as deadmouse. Non of the boys have pursued an instrument although 2 have taken piano lessons, 2 guitar, 1 trumpet, 1 cello and 1 euphonium. All of which died a death after constant nagging to practice and eventual weakness by me and allowing the quit. The two oldest at least have since told me, they wished I had made them continue but Ronan keeps his mouth shut, since he knows he's still in my grasp, if I wish to force the issue hah ha (eveil laugh...) So this leads me to Asha. She is taking electric guitar lessons from a cool, rocker dude slash Dad. I like his method of teaching as it is less about scales and note reading and more about power chords and jamming to your favorite tune. I know the true musicians would cringe and say this teaches bad habits that are hard to break but with my past experiences, I have decided that if a child enjoys and has fun as they learn, maybe they will continue and then learn the repetitive boring (essential)stuff later. So here's our dilemma. The teacher asks her for songs she likes and her exposure has been limited to Disney movies which are mostly orchestral or our latest love, inspirational and uplifting songs on K-love. They aren't as easy to find and download on I-tunes. So I have sat at my computer, trying to think of songs she might like and managed to come up with a list, thanks to camp rock and high school musical. So here's my question, what's the most played tune on your ipod? what's your go to songs of choice? Do your kids have favorites? Do please share.