Snowy Play Time...

 Yesterday was a rough, long day. 

A tough day at my current job is like a good day at my old one. So, it was not that rough at work, just a tough day. But I had to think - A LOT. I felt like I lived up to my title as a specialist. Every patient was very ill and super complex and asked questions not even related to my field of specialty but being trained in family practice I am still qualified to address. Then no break at lunch due to a meeting. Ten hour day, then long drive home because of a snow storm. 

I was grateful to get home safely. Cars were spinning out all around me and I even slid into an intersection. I was most grateful all the oncoming traffic was stopped. T Rex Dad brought home dinner so I did not have to cook and I ended up falling asleep early from sheer exhaustion. 

Then at 3:00 am the neighbor calls needing my help with one of her kids. I actually had to decline, which made me feel horrible. I took care of a patient with influenza who had been vaccinated. Since I was in close contact I was concerned that I could also get that strain of influenza which is resistant to vaccine making me susceptible to illness. They have a tiny baby and I did not want to risk exposure. I just felt horrible for not being able to help and was awake for the next three hours. 

I was even keeping myself clear of my family which, not snuggling the kids and sleeping away from everyone, made it even more hard after my rough day. Still, I was grateful for my life and all I have. I suppose not all days can be sunshine and lollipops because if they were, then we could not appreciate days like these - kiddos buddled up in bulky snowsuits like State Puff Marshmallow Men tossing snowballs, building a snowman, making snow angels, and sleding. It's work but it is fun work. And if having a rough day once in a while is what I need to keep things in perspective, I'll take it.

Enjoy the photos from our morning of fun...(It was Little Sister's first time building a snow man)

Tea Time...

With Pizza too...

The kids have been lining up their favorite stuffed friends and serving them tea and pizza. It has been quite fun to watch and even better to participate (when invited). 

That Doug and Melissa pizza set has been a huge hit with the kids. I highly recommend it. What a great toy!

P.S. This is first thing in the morning hence the scruffy hair and PJs.

Lil Sister's 3rd Birthday Party...

Our little bean just keeps growing and growing. As often as we demand of her to stop growing she just keeps eating and sprouting. As she tells us, she wants to "be a big girl and go on the blue part at gymnastics." Translation and interpretation of this - the little kids at gymnastics work out on the red part and the older advanced girls get to work out on the "blue part". After gymnastics class she will often demand that I take her to watch the big girls work out.

Her chosen theme for her birthday was fairies/wizards. We added the wizards as she, like her mom, has more boy friends than girl friends. Plus, her brother absolutely refused to wear fairy wings even though Tinkerbell has boy friends who have wings.

I posted several photos of the actual party on her blog. However, I did want to show some of the crafted items I made for the event, too. Hubby asked me if I was working too hard on this party. I did spend a lot of time on just the invitations but as I told him, they are only tiny once and this is my chance to do all these crafty things while they still like them and want them. Soon they will just want to have a slumber party and insist I ignore them. I'm trying to embrace this stage as much as possible.

First, though, I want to mention her birthday dress. It has all the fairies from Tinkerbell (except Vida which Lil Sis pointed out). Secondly, the fairy wands are also crafted. I crocheted the stars and then my mom attached them to the rods.

The wands were used for the traditional and annual fishing game. They threw their line over, waved their magic wand, and then a special crafted item magically appeared. The kids LOVED this game and kept asking to play again and again. When I said only one turn, one cleaver young lad asked if his dad could play, too. 

Some of the crocheted creatures I worked on during my lunch hour at work. My patients loved seeing them sitting in my office - I even received a few special requests. The camo snake was especially popular. The crocheted food was for a child who does not like stuffed animals but is really into his pretend kitchen. The pink unicorn was my own design and the rainbow unicorn (for the birthday girl which was also her actual birthday gift) was a pattern from a new book I received for my birthday. The bucket of fish was for T Rex - he has been asking for some fish for his toy penguin "Beak".

The cupcakes were a special touch for a young guest with egg and milk food allergies. These vegan cupcakes were spectacular and that is the opinion of more than myself. 

Lastly, I have to say I had a great time getting my own little doll ready for her party. I remember being little and getting dressed up for a couple special birthday parties I had. She was so excited she could barely sleep the night before. Then on the actual day of the party she paraded around in her new dress and insisted her hair be fixed like Rosetta the fairy with a twist of Tinkerbell fur. She was especially exited to get to wear her pink tights. When I asked her about her party she just kept saying I love my new jump robe (which she won as a prize from the party). I had to laugh that the $0.50 item was what impressed her the most. 

A special word of thanks to my mom and sis for all their help with the preparation and T Rex Dad for being my heavy lifter and for cleaning everything up after the party. Thanks to all who attended and participated. It made her day just so special.

Star Wars Kids...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

It was a wonderful time in our Empire. The kids were healing after a bad bout of respiratory illness. We had enjoyed having Dad home for a 17 day stay-vacation. Mom's work was going good having worked some extra days while Dad was off. The holidays were past and the kids were still enjoying their new toys. Life was good. However, there was a definite tremor in the Force as two young children were beginning to explore its ways like their mother and father before them...

The kids have embraced Star Wars. We have been carefully watching the movies out of order to ensure no surprises are given away and nothing too scary happens too early in their years. (Darth Vader was quite terrifying to me as a young person so we are saving Episode 3 for last, but we want the epic "I am your father" moment to still take place for them.) Thus far we have watched in this order Episode 1, 4, 2, and 5. 

T has a Jedi costume that his cousin gave him. I actually made the costume for my nephew about 10 years ago so it is fun to see it passed back and also see how my sewing skills have developed, too. I made the cloak about 3 weeks ago and he wears it everywhere. He will even wear it right over his coat if it is cold. 

Little Sister is also loving Star Wars but she has no costumes so she does what any little one with some imagination does - pretends. She took one of her hooded bath towels and uses it as her cloak. However, pretending Princess Leia's dress is a bit more tricky. Since her birthday is coming up soon I just could not resist making a costume for her. However, when I was done it was just too tempting to wait to give it to her. I could not find a pattern so I went online and found this website. It has a good tutorial on making a Princess Leia dress. Then I just tailored it to my little princess' measurements. I used a high quality muslin for my fabric.

Here are the photos of my little Star Wars kids - Princess Leia with her Jedi protector.

 May the Force be with you...

Winter Garden-a-Glow 2012

As I alluded to in a previous posting, one of our Advent activities was to visit the local botanical garden's Winter Garden-a-Glow. It was just the perfect outing for our kids. They were sick but needed to get some fresh air and be out of the house. Plus, we were not in close proximity to anyone so they would not expose them to their illness. 

We saw the mini trains, the reindeer, and the kids rolled down a small hill. The trains were new last year but we arrived too late to see them set up. This year was such a treat seeing the trains. Sister LOVES trains and was really excited to see some of the engines were actually Thomas and Percy. It was the first year we did not get hot cider and cookies. T was a little sad about the sugar cookies being all gone (rarely does he find treats he likes) but he was happy just to be out of the house and LOVED rolling down the hill in his fluffy winter suit.

Oh, and yes, T wore his Captain America mask to keep warm, too. He attracted a lot of attention doing so, too. One person pretended to be a villain and Cap chased him around for a few minutes before declaring victory.

Here are the photos from this year.