Mesmerizing

This is great on so many levels



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Favorite of the day: A hint about this year's tree theme

Working on: I am busting through the homemade stocking stuffers!

A long overdue thanks

Our table theme this year for Thanksgiving was inspired by a table decor idea on Real Simple

The aqua was appealing to me, as I had been wanting to use this set of dishes. Since there would not be enough to go around, I also used a set of dishes gifted from a friend's mom

The line is called Turquoise Sheba by Thomas & Co. Love them so very much! She also included some dessert cups and glasses that are just divine. It was hands down my favorite Turkey Day table to date*! Thank you so much, dear Ruth, for thinking of me in finding a new home for these beautiful dishes. Sorry the blog thank you was so late in coming.

* Odd coincidence that the best table to date was paired with the worst meal. I guess my mom and I were rusty after having last year off. Let's just say I've never had to send somebody out for a replacement for anything until this year. Oh, and we almost served a raw bird, being confident the two extra hours it was in the oven would eliminate any chance of being undercooked (guess it was still a little frozen). Then, I forgot that making gravy is not my forte. I'm sure we'll do better next year! One thing that turned out exceptional was Barb's corn pudding - make these as soon as humanly possible!!

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Favorite of the day: Leftovers

Working on: A garland for Hank's tree

Rad.

Have a great Thanksgiving, friends!

Chicky Friend gets a new lease on life

Poor Chicky Friend.

In the beginning he was a valuable ally to entertain a restless baby. For the last 6 months or so, however, he has been laying under our bed collecting dust. I knew he was there, but never bothered to retrieve him.

But now - his services are needed once again - to protect the fingers of a little boy who finds it great fun to slam his bedroom door - fingers inserted between door and jamb, naturally. I saw this product in an issue of Parents magazine and thought - I can do that, and know just the toy to sacrifice employ. I stitched a ring of elastic onto Hank's old friend and slipped him into place during nap time.

Chicky friend serves his new duty well. His foot and wing stick into the doorway, preventing a slammed door, and his presence instantly brought a smile to Hank's face.

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Favorite of the day: Oldie but a goodie

Working on: Too much at once - Thanksgiving prep, Christmas presents, and planning stocking stuffers.

Fluff

Cool retro jar of marshmallow fluff found at Cost Plus



I love that "fluff" is imprinted on the jar.

Other fluff ~

~ I was going to do a post about Blessing Mix for Thanksgiving, but these gals beat me to it.

~ Thinking about doing some printables this year for stockings (reduce the cheap China factor)

~ I think I have everything on hand to make this awesomeness, time permitting (squeal!)

~ A new favorite blog (Yes it is sponsored by a perfume. I give YSL props for reaching its target audience using popular social media). I have never been to France, but I am reading A Homemade Life, and loving all things French through Molly's eyes. I hope she would approve of this list.

~ Keep an eye out for free book offers from Shutterfly. I received one through Trip Advisor (wrote a review of a local restaurant) and only have to pay for shipping, which was $8 (the book was a $25 value). The book turned out AMAZING! Some folks use these for kid's books - alphabet, people in my family, etc.

Fuyu! Who says you can't bake with persimmons? Oh wait...

We are starting to get some more Fallish produce in our CSA box, including persimmons

These are the "Fuyu" variety, which, it was revealed during an internet search, are not typically used in baking (those are the Hachiya variety).

I can't say I have ever had a persimmon before. The flavor is not bad, but since it is not a flavor I am accustomed to, I can't say it is something I would want to eat very often. I would certainly have a hard time eating one "like an apple," as various sites suggested.

As I could not find a recipe I liked using the Fuyus, I figured I would try a recipe made for apples and replace the apples with persimmons. I found the perfect recipe through one of my favorite food bloggers - Smitten Kitchen. They came out great

but -- *fingers crossed* that none of the following occur:

~ Bezoars

~ I eat them on an empty stomach and end up with abdominal pain and vomiting.

~ I accidentally eat crab at the same time and die

WTF?!! In theory these muffins would have been for Hank, but I don't really feel like risking any of these afflictions for him. So now they are destined for co-workers -- with appropriate warning labels displayed.

(note: I know they are fine - particularly this variety does not have the same side effects as its cousins. When you see side effects like these, they make persimmons seem like Gremlins - you can have them, but you have to follow all the rules.)

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Favorite of the day: Ok - I'm impressed (via Neatorama)

Working on: File organization

Why there was pink at Hank's birthday party

A question I had to answer from my macho husband (and some of you may have been asking as well). Because, I said, I got this cute vintage centerpiece from Leslie

and I wanted to use it.

Here it is assembled (sidenote: flowers are crazy expensive!)

I copied the animal images to make felt shapes to edge the tablecloth like I did at the Halloween party

The flag bunting was inspired by this, but rendered in felt

Although the primary colors for the party were baby blue, orange, goldenrod, and - er - pink, the balloons I bought

(red, white, baby blue, and yellow) were inspired by an apartment complex I pass on the way to work. They always have a bunch of balloons out front in these colors, and it reminds me of a circus.

Hank's "colossal cupcake"

was store bought (with some animal crackers thrown on)

and I added frosting, sprinkles, and iced animal cookies (and pink strawberry ice cream)

to the cake the rest of us ate.

The favors

were circus inspired. They were not, however, the most perfect little gumball machines I saw at Dollar Tree while I was there shopping for the Halloween party but were not there when I went shopping for this party. Why have I not learned that when you see something totally awesome - GRAB IT!

Finally, I made Hank a birthday crown from Amanda's first book

Here it is on the birthday boy

So hopefully that answers the question about the pink. It was there because it was gd adorable, that's why!

He is my son after all!

More details tomorrow about the vintage circus themed cake party we had for Hank with the Bluebird family

But for now I am just happy to report that my son did eat at least a little bit of cake on his birthday!

Top 5

On the eve of Hank's 1st birthday, I thought I would share a few items that helped us make it through this first year.

I'm not sure how much I "blogwashed" this first year here, but let's just say it was pretty rough overall. I found myself asking myself a lot "why didn't I get the mellow baby?!" Right from the start, Hank had a condition called "uncoordinated pooping," which made him pull up his legs and cry every time he had to go poop, which was after every feeding, which was happening on the hour (basically he was clenching rather than relaxing). I was so jealous watching sleeping babies being passed all around at parties, as Hank was never settled for very long (at two weeks of age I calculated he was only sleeping about 8 hours in a 24 hour period). After that issue passed, we moved into a fussy time. I'm not saying it was colic, but whatever it was, Hank was not a happy camper. Once he became mobile, we entered the clingy phase, and Hank could not stand to be left on his own for even a minute. It seemed like each phase that passed, a new issue arose. Perhaps that is true for all babies, but you rarely hear these things from friends and family.

Instead, you hear about the good things, which is, I suppose, how it should be. You tell stories about Hank's pre-crawling inchworm crawl to get dada's can of beer. How he is always clutching something unusual in his hands while he is walking around. How excited he gets when we play our games, like the bellybutton game, duck-duck-goose, or gator wrestling.

{sigh}

Ok - maybe it wasn't so bad after all. But, regardless, these items were lifesavers

A baby carrier

I had a Babyhawk Mei Tei. If I had done better research I would have probably bought an Ergo, as it seems a little more multi-functional. In the early months, carrying Hank was usually the only way he would sleep and/or not be a screaming demon. We used the carrier daily until a couple of months ago, but he still fits if we need some chill out time.

A stroller base for our carseat

We ended up with three strollers (if you count this one), but no "traditional" models (or other two are a jogging stroller and an umbrella stroller). This was our best transport solution, and we were very sad when Hank outgrew his infant car seat that we could no longer use the stroller frame. As mentioned, sleep was a blessed occurrence in those early months. The last thing I would have wanted to do is wake Hank up to transfer him out of the car seat after falling asleep in the car, or jostle him as I tried to haul a heavy baby + carseat around.

Portable booster seat

These are kind of a joke amongst our friends, as almost all of us have them, and they are quite indistinguishable from each other save the level of wear based on the age of the child. This is one of those things that is a pain to haul around, but soooo useful at locations where high chairs are not available. The alternative is holding the baby in your lap while you are trying to eat. This may be cute when they are timidly eating their two bites of strained peas, but a nightmare when they are older and meal time consists of stuffing handfuls of food in their mouth. This allows us to keep Hank "contained" for longer periods of time, and we might actually get to enjoy a brief period of adult time at a function while Hank sits -- stuffing handfuls of food in his mouth.

The walker

Yes, we are aware of the safety hazards, and that "seated" items like this can impair walking/cause back issues. It was used judiciously, like the 15 minutes mama needed to get ready in the am when she was ready to pull her hair out listening to Hank screaming from his room as he did not want to be in there alone (I also tried putting him in his bouncy seat and using a johnny jump-up in the bathroom doorway, but neither resulted in the instant happiness of a little boy who felt he was free to roam the entire house).

Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder

I was (am) probably too cavalier when it came to solid foods. Once Hank gave up on purees, I just chopped up whatever and gave it to him. The chunks got bigger and bigger, and the food less tender. He seemed to do ok for the most part. I scoff that this item is commonly used with the softest food out there - bananas. Don't under-estimate the strength of those back gums! Trust me, I've been bitten by them, and they might as well be teeth. So, I never used this thing with food, but with ice - priceless. Great for teething, and during Hank's bout with the stomach flu a couple of months ago. Unfortunately we did still end up taking him to the ER (he wouldn't take it easy on the breastfeeding and kept throwing up. The trials and tribulations of breastfeeding - a rant for another day...) Anyway, you'd think the doctors we met with during this ordeal were ready to put on the payroll they were so impressed with our ingenuity for finding a way a baby could have ice chips.

So there you have it! These items (plus plenty of toys and snacks) helped a cranky baby become a little boy that is actually kinda fun to have around.

Are we sick of Halloween yet?

Just one last post, and then moving on. I wanted to share a last minute idea I had to throw together a super simple costume



I had the black capris, hoop earrings, and Cons, and my mom had the black and white t-shirt which I have permanently confiscated. I used Hank's "play silk" for my head wrap. Argh - I'm a pirate. Feeling quite pleased with myself, I have come up with a series of costumes that can be made using the basic outfit as a base

A ladybug

Bat girl

A gondolier

Bandit

and (as suggested by Shanna) a Beatnik

Not sure if I will try out the alternate versions in coming years, or if that will be too boring. But, at least I know I have something to fall back on in a pinch!

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Favorite of the day: I think I favorited this idea at some point, but could not find it.

Working on: Too many things at once!