kidding around

Last week I made a nature satchel for Simon’s upcoming birthday. He already suspects that the blue cordurouy bag is for him, but I have been trying to brush it off as nonsense. (He will be absolutely blown away, however, by the legos I ordered and baseball glove!)

So to be fair, I made one for Ellie too. I don’t always feel that I have to fairly give my kids things, but I was actually eager to adjust the original pattern. I am happy with the results and absolutely LOVE the fabric. A friend of mine gave me about a yard of the perfectly pink and polka-dotted magic. Ellie will love it and I believe she also suspects it is hers…man, no surprises around here.

She won’t get her bag until St. Valentine’s Day, so the suspense will have to continue.

I think I need to make more of these. They are EASY and fast. If only I had an afternoon to myself, then I would get down to serious business.

My sweet girl Beatrice has premature Spring fever. She played a little bit too long outside today and was covered in mud. How could I be upset with a face like this?

It’s okay, Bea, I forgive you.

And yeah, I know, she is in our tub. We have no other choice but to scrub her down here… so the bath tub got a really good scrubbing too. Simon would not let me do anything else until I brought out the cleaner and rid the tub of dog germs.

Oh boy.

I need to make some coffee.

I love making valentines. I love the Snoopy special around Valentines day and I love pink and red together. As far as the actual day, I really don’t expect much…I just love taking the time to make sparkly cards with my kids.

I am one of those moms that have her kids make their own cards. It’s not that my kids don’t like the Spiderman and Hello Kitty greetings it’s just that I don’t like buying them. Why not make our own when we make the TIME, have the glitter, glue, paper and scissors?

It’s just the convincing my son to make a valentine for a girl that becomes the battle. I was amazed that my son’s school requested that their cards not be written out to anyone specific? What?! Too bad- he is already done, with names included. Who wants a nameless valentine?

I remember as a kid my sisters and I would wake up early and decorate the kitchen before my parents would come down the stairs. They would be welcomed with streamers, balloons and breakfast. I was still young then, but the excitement of doing something for my parents still sits in my memory.

This is a valentine that I created for this year. Instead of sending out Christmas cards this year, I decided that a valentine would be our family greeting for 2006. It’s just a simple post card with cut and paste images of my kids’ heads as cherubs. Pretty fun. I was planning on “glittering them up”, but decided to stick with just the rosy cheeks for color. On the reverse side is a short blurb. I really do love sending out mail.

So, if you would like me to mail you a card, drop me an e-mail at carolshack(at)yahoo.com.

By the way, this does not apply to family- you already are getting one!