Peace and Mustaches.

I'd like to introduce you to our newest obsession:

The Mustache on a Stick

As you can see, they are quite hilarious.

They are also ridiculously easy to make and supersuper cheap.

Like I-made-fifty-for-three-bucks cheap.

Yeah, I told you.

Why would one ever need to make 50 mustaches on sticks, you say?

Well, because when this little almost-three year old was asked what she would like to give out as favors for her birthday party,

she answered quite confidently with

"Mustaches."

I mean, obviously.

What was I thinking?

Every little girl I know of wants to give people mustaches as party favors.

Duh.

As weird of a request as it was, my only option as a good momma was to oblige this sweet girl.

Yes, Willow gave herself an atrocious haircut. All her beautiful curls are gone. My husband has been calling her Travis...

And I'm SO glad I did.

She knows what she's talking about.

These things are awesome.

It makes the perfect accessory, no?

I highly suggest you make some.

Tonight.

They are fun for the whole family.

And when you do make them, I want pictures.

Seriously.

Send me mustache pictures.

Here's what you need:

Black felt

(I bought 1/4 yd of 72" wide felt at JoAnn's for $1.40

and I could probably make 50 more from my leftover felt)

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Wooden sticks

(I found these in the wooden craft section at JoAnn's for .99 a package)

Here's what you do:

Start cutting out some 'staches!

To make sure mine were even, I cut out a rectangle of felt, folded it in half, and cut one 'side' of the mustache.

Then just unfold to see the real deal.

Make a bunch of different kinds if you feel so inclined.

After all the mustaches are cut out and your glue gun is warmed up,

place a little dab of hot glue halfway between the middle and the edge of the mustache.

(So the stick is not right in front of your mouth when you hold up the 'stache)

Plop down your wooden stick.

There you go.

You now have a mustache on a stick.

Get crazy.

If you're doing it right, chances are your baby will look at you like this:

In other birthday party preparation news, here's Willow's party crown.

I have to say, I am in love with it.

I want one.

And that says 'Sassy', not 'Assy'... that wouldn't be very appropriate for a 3 year-old.

This was also super easy to make.

I was inspired by these crowns.

Believe it or not, I just dug into my stash of scrapbook paper and doodads.

And then I stuck a few fake flowers, buttons and some pretty sweet butterflies I found at Target on it.

This girl deserves a crown:

Ok, that's about all.

I'll show you how to make the Happy Birthday banner next.

I have to go wrap presents and stuff.

And clean.

Yeah, I should probably clean or do the laundry or something.

In the meantime, Peace and Mustaches.

:{)

The Truth Is...

I've been writing posts in my head.

You see, according to me, I've been keeping up to date with all this blogging stuff.

I need to remember to actually write those mind-posts down so that I can look back and remember...

I write this blog more for me and for my kids and for my wanting to remember all the little stuff.

Willow the (grumpy) carpenter

I don't write a diary.

Although I do have about 15 really pretty ones with about one entry a piece.

I don't have baby books for the girl- soon to be girls- with an 's'.

I know. Weird.

Yeah, don't judge.

All of our pictures are on the computer,

and even though they are backed up,

there's just something about the possibility of losing them that makes

my heart race and my hands shake for just a split second.

And I'm sure my eyes get all wide and scared-looking.

She's dressing herself now... this is tame.

Back to the point... I'm realizing this is how I will keep memories.

I never thought I would be

or ever really even wanted to be a 'blogger'

- it just sounds so... dumb.

Really, it does.

Please don't ever call me that.

However, this is where I get to write, sound off, dish, express, show off, relate, and be me.

And those things are very important.

So, I think I last left off a while ago.

I was recuperating from my daughter.

Ha, that sounds so awful. But true. I really was.

It's been kind of surreal over here.

I can definitely feel a real change happening.

Winter has turned to Spring, although very briefly, and now we're heading into Summer.

I love Summer.

We are realizing that this family of 3 will become a family of 4 in just a matter of days...

We've known this for 9 months, but now it's just so immediate.

So about-to-happen-any-minute.

Rooms are being rearranged to accommodate a Big Sister and a new baby...

The nursery/big girl room is almost done and I can't wait to show pictures

(and brag about my good deals)

No. But really. I found a brand new crib for $29.99.

Not kidding.

And just wait to see what I did with the rest of the room...

Willow is all of a sudden changing from our baby into a little girl.

A girl.

It's this unexplainable transformation...

our little one is growing up just in time for us to add another little one.

Willow's cousin Peyton took this picture. I love it.

Amazing.

And she has a new morning ritual which seriously melts my heart every. single. time.

When the hubby leaves for work, she's right there, ready and waiting,

to chase him out the door so she can give him a

'car smooch'.

She's very particular about how it must go, and he knows exactly how it's supposed to work.

He has to get in the car,

she gets to shut the door for him,

then he has to start the car,

she bangs on the window,

he opens it,

and then she tippy-toes waaay up and he leans waaay out

and they smooch.

Sometimes once, sometimes 3 times.

It's usually Drew who asks for 'just one more time'.

And I get to watch all the magic from the front porch.

I get to see both their faces.

I'm pretty sure it's the best way to start the day in the whole world.

***

Oh, and there was somewhat of a family reunion this weekend on my hubby's side.

Remember Leesburg?

Well, it was kinda like that- but better.

They get better every time.

They really do.

The reason this time,

not that they really need one,

but we all got together for his Aunt Kris' wedding.

And then some.

It included:

Jammied, coffee-fueled mornings.

Way too many kids (and grown ups) on the 'Boing Boing'. (aka trampoline)

Impromptu dress-up sessions accompanied by mini concerts.

Patio talks.

In-depth, tear-streaked conversations.

"When did that happen?"s and "I can't believe it"s about all the beautiful young women that were just little girls last time around.

Lots of laughter.

Lots of love.

Tons of memories- old being relived and new ones being made.

Babies being passed from person to person.

Sharing birth stories.

Anticipating the arrival of new babies...

Oh, and a wedding!

I can't believe it all got smooshed into one weekend.

And since I barely took any pictures (I know- I'm so bummed)- I can just send you here.

And here.

And even here to check it all out.

Thankfully, Drew's cousin Kelle is an amazing photographer and captured every single little moment.

Every one.

I did manage to snap a few, however.

Willow and Peyton :)

And she got to meet her cousins... Lainey and Nella (above with Uncle Tim) for the first time.

They came all the way from Florida.

Willow asked me today if she could take Lainey and Nella to story time today, wearing tutus.

That girl loves her cousins.

Speaking of cousins, the Virginia family all got to meet Baby Gabey for the first time.

He's also known as Uncle Ferguson, Mr. Grunts, Cornelius, Eduardo Fiesta Montego, Creepy Snakes,

and basically any other name BUT his own.

It's this weird thing my hubby and his brother do.

They don't use anybody's real names.

It's very confusing to others, but I find it absolutely hilarious.

Uncle Graham (or Jan, Kelly, Linda, Remus, Darryl, Rita etc.)

has called Willow 'Edna Jo' since birth.

Pretty, right?

Oh, and Francis! He love to call her Francis as well.

And Drew is fond of calling her Fanny, Lady Fanny, Lady,

Ung Lady

(not to be confused with Young Lady- totally different)

Nugget, Silly, Silly Nugget, Chuchumunga, Chuchy... and the list just goes on and on. And on.

I've learned over the years, especially through family reunions, that it's a genetic disorder.

Everybody has a different name.

Even dogs.

Nobody's safe.

***

And last, but certainly not least, my sister Chloë is about to have her baby boy.

I mean, I don't want to jinx it, but her due date was Sunday, so what's there to lose at this point, right?

She's SO over being pregnant.

And SO ready to go into labor.

And SO hot in the 105 degree heat.

My mom's with her all the way in Texas.

And they're just waiting.

Catching up, having fun and waiting.

All without me.

Because I'm due in 16 days.

In typical Chloë fashion,

my sister warned me that if I had my baby before she had hers she would never let me live it down and would always hold it against me.

Forever.

And I totally believe her.

So I will do my best.

And I am SO tempted to show you a picture of her that she just sent me, 3 days overdue.

But I won't.

Because I'm a good sister and I don't want her to hold that against me either.

I'm Better.

Well, I'm glad I got that out of my system.

There's nothing like a sunny day, a midday nap and a late-night photo-editing session to cure a case of the blahs.

Am I right?

***

Today was great.

I absolutely love this picture. L-O-V-E-love-it.

The hubby took Willow out on the town so I could take a nap.

It was glorious.

(Naps are so underrated. SO.)

Apparently, he took her to Chuck E. Cheese's

- but he said there was a kid there who smelled like poo-

so they left and went to the park.

Daddy time is Daddy time, no matter what you're doing.

And Willow came back glowing... that's what counts.

***

The weather was nice and springy- finally.

So, of course we had to go and officially celebrate.

With ICE CREAM!!

Willow kept saying,

"I want sprinkles. You know, because it's Spring now. Springkles."

Man, I love her.

***

She's just getting so big...

so fast.

***

I got some more work done on the Big Girl Room/Nursery.

I can't wait to show some pictures.

Just to give you an idea of what we started with:

Yup.

Lots of work.

I've got lots and lots of before and after shots to show.

Oh, and I'm still under budget!!

Yaaaaay me!

***

I just went through and edited a bunch of pics from April,

including Easter,

which I just realized I never even posted about.

And to be quite honest, I may never get to an Easter post.

So, how about I just share my favorite pictures?

I think we all know what happened, right?

There were some Easter egg hunts:

Willow would find and egg, inspect its contents, and move on. Not the fastest egg hunter...

Favorite cousins:

Photo ops:

I also happen to adore this picture. It's like Big Version, Little Version.

And photo ops:

Not a fan of how humongous this dress makes me look, (yeah, like it's the dress), but there are hardly any pictures of me and the hubby during this pregnancy... so there you have it.

And more photo ops:

I can't wait to frame this one. We really need to update our photo wall. It's almost like time stopped or something. Creepy...

Basically, life is good... and I'm better.

Also going up on the photo wall.

I'll have some actual sewing things to post later.

Because I do still do that.

You know... sew.

Dealing.

So....I've been dealing with a lot of this lately:

It's very tiring.

Very time consuming.

And, well, it just doesn't leave much time for anything else.

My patience is wearing thin.

And I'm starting to feel like I could quite possibly be the worst parent ever.

I'm serious.

So, I just wanted to tell someone that I am here.

And there is a lot going on over in my neck of the woods.

And I have lots that I would like to show.

There are several projects waiting in the wings...

I just need some time and a bit more of my sanity to return and then I'll be all good.

Right?

You may think I don't love this parenting thing... but you're wrong.

I do.

I really really do.

But, I'm not going to sugarcoat the crappy parts because I know there's someone out there who's having the same kind of shitty day and it feels good to know you're not the only one failing at the moment.

So there.

And yes, there are plenty of happy times and I love them and savor them.

However, today is the day where I get to lament to my computer so that I don't lose it.

I will get to the happy times later.

Promise.

Winner!

Thanks to everyone for entering!

Unfortunately, there can only be one winner.

And, thanks so random.org, that winner is #3 Jill!

Jill said,

"Love this giveaway! I've been wanting to start making quilts and this would be a perfect way to start!"

Well, there you go, Jill... congratulations!

Please contact me at

willowbeanmama@gmail.com

to give me your quilt kit color choice and your address information

so you can get to quilting!

And here's a few photos because they're fun:

Willow and I got to babysit my nephew Gabe, or Baby Gabey, as Willow calls him a couple days ago.

Isn't he just so cute?

We had tons of fun playing and taking pictures.

Willow was in heaven. Like a little momma, she was.

Telling me when he was hungry, playing blocks, making sure he had a clean diaper.

It got me really excited for her to be a big sister!

This pic is when I said, "Get close to Gabe and say 'cheese' ".

And this one is when I said, "Oops. A little too close, you squished him."

Yeah, I think she was a little sensitive, what do you think?

Happy Easter Weekend!

Weekend Plans.

This weekend is the Hubby's birthday weekend.

He's so anti-birthday it's not even funny.

But, since he married me, we celebrate birthdays anyway!

Whether you like it or not.

Seriously, who doesn't love a reason to celebrate?

Happy Birthday Babe!!

I'm planning on making him some delish homemade brownies to take to work with him on Monday.

Yeah, I'm sure he'll just love that.

Besides all the birthday hullabaloo (or lack thereof), I've actually been getting some quality sewing time in.

I'm really not sure how.

And to top it all off, my house is clean AND I've been making amazing dinners

every. single. night.

I blame it all on the latest Cooking Light magazine.

I picked it up during last week's Story Time at the bookstore.

(I suggest you go out and grab a copy.)

I honestly don't even know why we still go to Story Time.

Willow just turns around the opposite way of all the other kids on the bench and reads her own story.

For real.

She won't sing the songs.

She won't play the games.

I'm pretty sure she's only in it for the craft projects and the blueberry muffin.

That's my girl...

Anyway.

Sewing.

I've been completing projects and that feels good.

Shipping:

Binding:

Basting stitches:

(more on this later...)

And some other stuff that I can't quite show you yet...

And to all the people who helped me out with the String Quilt/9-patch Quilt situation, Thanks!

I'll show you which one I went with tomorrow....

(isn't that sneaky?)

And, speaking of tomorrows...

Tomorrow is Sunday and I think I'm going to do some

Lazy Sunday Giveaways

for the next couple of weeks or so, just to see how it goes.

If you people like it, it might just stick around for a while.

What is Lazy Sunday you ask?

It's a title I made up for Sunday, duh.

So come back tomorrow to see if being lazy wins you anything, k?

Ok.

It was only 9 am... and then I cried.

There are absolutely no pictures in this post. You'll soon understand why.

Let’s see…

This morning started when Willow poured the leftover contents of our breakfast smoothies from the blender onto the countertop, which obviously oozed its way onto the floor, the dishwasher, and then to the piles of crap that I have gotten way too used to having on the kitchen counter.

Then, there was the mixing of the sugar and milk on the kitchen floor while mommy was gone for .00002 seconds throwing all the smoothie towels into the washing machine.

You know when you’re a kid and your mom turns her head for a second and you take that time to douse your cereal with as much sugar as possible because you know it’s not a mom-approved amount (which makes it just that much better) and then by the time you get to the bottom of the bowl there is this thick, syrupy super-sweet gunk just waiting for you to slurp up?

Yeah, well that was covering my entire kitchen floor when I returned from the laundry room.

Willow went to timeout.

When I went into the bathroom to retrieve the only clean towels left in the house big enough to tackle the sugar-syrup fiasco, I came across two brand new rolls of toilet paper sitting in the toilet bowl, swollen with water. I calmly went to the kitchen to grab some plastic grocery bags to deal with the soggy toilet paper situation; I was soon reminded that my floor is covered in goo.

So I climbed my 7-months-pregnant self on to the stove to reach the bags.

Don’t worry, I completed my mission unscathed… I’m just glad nobody was there to see it. It was not pretty.

On the way back to the bathroom I heard a never-good, “Ugggh, Willow!!”, which is exactly what Willow says when she’s made a huge mess.

From her nice little corner of timeout, somebody managed to find a permanent black marker and then proceeded to draw all over herself and the front door. Strangely enough, I was grateful she found the marker because I knew yesterday it had been misplaced and needed to be located before something bad happened. Well…

Before I even said a word, Willow informed me she had just had an accident in timeout. I wanted to tell her that if maybe she had been focusing on her bodily functions a little more than she was on decorating herself and my entryway, there wouldn’t have been a problem.

I bit my tongue and stripped off her clothes.

I put Willow in the tub, turned on the water, and shoved my hand into the toilet to grab the TP using my plastic bags-turned-gloves. I turned back around just in time to see- but not in time to stop (of course)- my sweet child squeeze a half-full bottle of shampoo onto the floor, with the entire lid off, to ensure the quickest flow of suds, I’m sure.

I took the now-empty bottle from her hands and shut off the water. I never even managed to plug up the water in the first place, so I walked into the kitchen to throw away the evidence of the Shampoo Spill as well as the Toilet Paper Soak.

Oh yeah, that’s right, my kitchen is still freaking covered in goo which is slowly turning to glue, which is covered in the last usable towels in the house.

Awesome.

So, I climbed my 7-months-pregnant self back over the stove to toss the crap in the garbage, which is when I accidentally opened the oven door with my hand.

*I think everyone should know at this point that my hand on the oven door was holding up almost all my weight as well as keeping me from falling.*

Needless to say, the opening of the oven door skewed my already-messed-up sense of balance even more and I was tossed, inevitably, into the kitchen-floor goo.

I heard a “What was that?” from the bathtub.

I calmly replied, “Nothing.”

“I need a towel.” was the response I got.

I muttered, “Yeah, good luck with that.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Okay.”

I was picking myself up from the plunge into the goo when I heard Willow turn on the water.

“Turn it off, please.”

And yes, I did say please… because manners are important- even when half your body is covered in the stickiest, sugariest, grossest junk on the planet.

“What? I can’t hear you. I’m going to clean up my mess.”

“What mess?” -that’s right I had already completely forgotten about the pile of shampoo that awaited me once I returned to the bathroom.

“No don’t clean it, Mommy will get it!”

“What?”

…SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH…

Shit.

I literally peeled myself from my kitchen floor, stuck my foot into a nearby shoebox to prevent the spreading of the stick, and walk-shuffled around the corner to find soapy water flooding out of my bathroom and into my hallway.

I walk-shuffle-floated into the bathroom, shut off the water, picked Willow out of the tub, ditched my soaked cardboard shoe for a nearby flip-flop, went downstairs to look for something- anything- to clean up something-anything.

Then, from the laundry room I heard the distinct sound of dripping coming from the other room. I grabbed a pile of rags, dirty –I’m sure, and nervously peeked in the direction of the dripping sound.

Water was leaking from my bathroom, through the ceiling, onto my entertainment center in the basement. I half-ran (remember? pregnant) upstairs with my inadequate pile of dirty rags, half-sticking to my stupid flip-flop because of my goo covered foot. The water had advanced from the bathroom, to the hallway, and into the front room.

Somebody please explain to me how 4 quick splashes of water from a hair-rinsing cup equals total destruction of my 1^st floor.

I’ll tell you how: because I’m me and Willow is my daughter. That’s how. THAT’S. HOW.

RECAP:

Partly wiped smoothie smears all over the counter, serious thicker-than-syrup-and-slowly-turning-into-cement concoction covering the kitchen floor, permanent marker all over my front door and my child, a puddle in the entryway, yucky-wet clothes tossed into a pile, warm soapy water slowly making its way through the bathroom, into the hallway and out into the rest of my house as well as leaking into the basement and onto my wooden TV stand, carpet, and lamp, I’m covered in gritty, sticky, kitchen floor goo, Willow is covered in permanent marker, wet, and naked because the whole ‘take a bath’ thing obviously didn’t pan out, there are no more towels to clean anything up or dry anyone off, and I can’t get to the only two sinks in the house without either navigating my way through sticky slime or wading through a lake.

I managed to stay surprisingly calm through everything. Really, I did. I even freaked me out a little bit.

-BUT-

and here it is...

I looked at the clock, it said 9 am… and then I cried.

At least I got the rolls of TP out of the toilet.

EDITED TO ADD:

I'm sure everyone will be glad to know that the milk-and-sugar cement has since been scraped off my kitchen floor. I used a dust pan as the scraper along with boiling hot water and then I mopped about 7 times, so the floor is no longer sticky.

The permanent marker has been Magic Erasered off my front door. It took 2 to complete the job... but it's clean. Willow is next...

I had to use dirty towels to wipe up the shampoo mess in the bathroom/hallway/front room. But that's okay because I think the soapy shampoo kind of helped cancel out the dirtiness of the towels. I guess it turned out in the end because my bathroom floor is now REALLY clean.

The basement was mostly unharmed in the making of the messes.

All of the dirty clothes and towels made their way down to the laundry room. I know what I'll be doing today: 4 basketfuls of my favorite chore. yeahnotreally.

Willow is still covered in marker and has not yet taken a bath. But there aren't any towels anyway, so I'm fine with it.

She IS taking a nap, however, which is what allowed the cleaning to commence.

I will no longer be hoisting myself on to any more appliances, kitchen or otherwise.

I got to take a shower to melt all the stickiness off of myself, but I had to dry off with a sweatshirt... no big deal.

Oh, and I only cried for a minute or two because my doctor's office called and interrupted my self-pity party to inform me that I had missed my appointment this morning. For the second time in a row.

AND... I wouldn't trade in my little Willow for anything in the whole world!

I think she was just testing me...