Monkey Boy and Photo Shoot!

James is really fond of that song about the monkeys that jump on the bed. He also thinks that maybe he is a genius because he would not have had to call the doctor to find out what he/she said about monkeys jumping on the bed. He would have just known that if you don't want to bump your head, then you don't jump on the bed. And, he has not even been to medical school! One day he may go though, but he wants to go to the kind that trains you about how to save animals' lives and then he will make it his chief concern that no monkey, mouse, elephant, whatever jumps on the bed. Though in secret, James jumps on the bed. It is just too awesome not to.


James is for Charlotte's brother. I think they sort of look related in plushie form.


Joseph and I are super lucky to have two very talented friends from Tall and Small photography who came all the way to our tiny town to take pictures of our little man. They have done this 2 other times. I am very much into posterity and I want to have an amazing record of Walter's first year. I hope Tall and Small can do this for all our future babies, otherwise they will feel pretty ripped off when they go comparing baby books, which is inevitable. The pictures are so fun. Here is one:


And, if you go to their website you can see a few more including one of Walter dressed as a reindeer (sorry Walter!). Afterward we went out to eat at a place that makes nice Italian, but more importantly, serves tuxedo cake. I didn't know what it was before that night, but now I will never forget. My belly was mad at me the next day for eating it, but it was worth it. I was just looking for a link to it, but I couldn't find one---basically it was two kinds of cake (vanilla and chocolate) with two kinds of frosting (butter-cream and chocolate) all layered again and again like a jailbird's uniform. It was soooooo good. But, enough about cake! Tall and Small Photography are awesome! And, for hire! Go get married in Fiji and ask them to take pictures of it for you!

Charlotte

Charlotte is a night owl. She simply can't go to bed without at least 5 stories and no less than 4 tall glasses of water. She'd rather be having cream soda, popcorn and movies featuring muppets than water and Goodnight Moon, but she's wise and knows what requests she can get away with. She likes to research owls since they can party all night without any necessary disciplinary action which is pretty amazing. Their lives became less glamorous however, when Charlotte discovered that they dined on mice.

Charlotte is a special request for a little girl whom I don't know personally, but who is adorable in photographs and has one of my top ten names. **side note, I never know if I use 'whom' properly, I just use it when it feels right. I was very excited about the prospect of making a little hooty owl girl and I think she needs to be added to my regular repertoire! She was very fun to make and I hope she makes someone happy on Christmas morning!

Bloomington Handmade Market Recap

Sorry, I forgot to take photos of my booth until it was less inhabited with Pink Cheeks. Which is good, business-wise, but sad image-wise. Hopefully you'll forgive my lame booth picture because the cutest of all Pink Cheeks made it into the shot. We made a little Walter-window for him. I really wanted to duck under the table and pretend like he was the vendor, but I was too chicken. There were so many great vendors, including this guy who I was lucky enough to trade with. I need to take a photo of what he traded with me, but I have to hang it in Walter's room first. Friends stopped by (thanks friends!), and there was such a friendly, fun atmosphere in the place. I was nervous about Walter being there the whole time, but as it turns out about every other booth had it's own personal baby mascot, so we were in good company. Also, I find with Walter that he is really well-behaved as long as there are people to look at, so he was basically awesome all day long (thanks, little man). The customers were great, and so generous with nice words which feels so good. My absolute favorite part is when people take the time to read the stories and then actually laugh at them. I had a few people read every. single. one. (thanks!) I have seven left which are all going up in my Etsy shop today. Then, I need to work on some special requests and hopefully get some new ones into the shop for Christmas. In the meantime though, I really need to clean my stove-top.

Nelson, Timothy and Barry

Nelson is so shy that butterflies start fluttering in his stomach before his mom even wakes him up for school. People misunderstand what he says 98% of the time because his voice is softer than his super-soft bear coat, which he wears for both protection from the cold and as a way of intimidating bullies. His mother told him that if bullies ever pick on him he should always take the high road. He can't find it yet, but searches Google maps every day.


Timothy is an excellent public speaker. He is going to grow up to be very important and people will turn on televisions and hear what he has to say. So far he only holds firm opinions on how awesome his pet lizard is (very) and how delicious cotton candy is (very). He speaks candidly about both subjects, and he always makes sure to make proper eye contact with his audience.


Barry is an inventor. After school everyday, Barry draws his ideas out in his loose-leaf notebook. He only uses sharpies because

a. they smell good
b. they are the best

his inspiration for his inventions come from recess. When playing, if someone puts up a "force-field" as a ways of being "safe", Barry uses one of his made up inventions. So far he has "force-field-breaker-bullets" to break their defense. The second they invent "force-field-breaker-bullet-proof-force-fields" Barry will be in trouble.



I am getting prepped for the handmade market. I only do 1 of these a year, possibly I'll do more now that I am a stay-at-home-mom. I really love it. It's like having your own tiny store front. My favorite part is watching the kids reactions. Last year a grown woman ran over screaming "Awwwww!" and gavea bear-girl a hug, which made my heart do a tiny flip. I am also very excited to be in Bloomington again. I think I will drink 20 Soma chai-teas while I am there

Sasha, Wally, Flannery

This is Sasha. Sasha was raised by penguins in Antarctica. She finds the penguins to be quite friendly. She also believes they are persistent and nurturing parents. In Antarctica, Sasha doesn't see many colors, but she sees about a million versions of white and on a rare occasion a rainbow created by the sun. She loves the snow and how it looks different throughout the day. She draws in the snow using an icicle as a pencil. She loves incorporating snow angels into her drawings. The penguins are in awe of her talent.


Wally loves going really fast on his red scooter and feeling the wind on his face. Sometimes he ties a towel around his neck and puts a colander on his head and pretends that he is on a very important mission. He has to accomplish these missions in a very fast manner, before it's too late! He doesn't know exactly what his important missions are, but he knows he is a good guy and that he is helping other good guys who are not so fortunate to be as fast as he can be! One time, while on his scooter, a fly flew straight into his cheek, but that did not deter him from his very important mission. He has a friend, George, who is good at art and is going to draw a lightning bolt on his scooter for him.


Flannery likes unicorns. Her Aunt Bessy, who is very encouraging, signed her up for horse-back riding lessons. Flannery was grateful, but confused because horses are not unicorns. They can not fly and they don't have horns. Flannery made some cone shapes out of papier mache and glued glitter all over them. Then, she tried to attach the horn to her horse, Buttercup, but it fell to the ground, and Buttercup took this as an opportunity to have a snack. Flannery felt horribly about this. She worried that Buttercup would develop a stomach ache due to all the glitter. From then on, Flannery didn't wish Buttercup to be anything but a regular horse. She would bring two apples to her lessons each day, and she would always give the shinier apple to Buttercup.


I am sewing like a crazy person. I am just going to finish 4 more for the Bloomington Handmade Market and then I am going to call it quits. I haven't been to the gym in two weeks. We've also been eating a lot of spaghetti because it's easy and I am looking forward to getting back to more adventurous cuisines. I bought this book the other day because I love this blog. I really love how Molly writes. I don't know how I stumbled on her blog, but I never read a food blog before hers, and now I follow many. I am not a good cook, but I am getting better. I am notoriously resourceful, "We don't have any chili powder. That's okay! I'll use Cumin, they both start with 'C'." I also once used onions that looked extra green to me instead of actually using green onions. Thanks for stopping by, back to sewing I go.

Libby

Libby gets called "high-maintenance", but she prefers to call herself a "comfort-extremist". She will not let her feet touch a cold hardwood floor. She keeps her slippers on her night-stand so that she can immediately put them on when she wakes up. She only takes baths, never showers, and only with bubbles, never without. Her sheets must have no lower than a 5 digit thread count and her hot cocoa always gets topped with fresh homemade marshmallows. To counter being called a "diva", Libby has signed up to do some humanitarian work. She wants to help build houses for people. So far though, the weather hasn't been quite right for manual labor.

Bob and Carmen

Bob is a school maintenance man. He is in charge of changing light bulbs and keeping the floor shiny as well as a number of other things. Bob cares deeply about the environment which is why after he sweeps the floor, he picks up bits of paper from the trash pile and puts them in the recycling bin. But because it is better to re-use than recycle, he takes the special bits of paper, like the hand-written notes and takes them home. Then he uses very expensive scissors from Germany and clear glue to make elaborate, beautiful collages that portray his deep thoughts about the meaning of life.

Do kids still write notes on paper or is it all electronic these days? That would be a really shame if all they did were tweets instead of taking time to hand write a note. My friends and I were really big into writing notes and then folding them up in fancy ways. I remember filling side margins with flower vines and inventing fonts! It was great, but it probably would have served me better to pay a little more attention in class.



Carmen is a snow artist. She spends all summer long waiting for the leaves to turn, and when they do she is practically climbing trees and yanking off the leaves to usher in the winter. The first snowfall, for Carmen, is better than Christmas, but when they happen simultaneously she gets so excited that you can hear her heart beating from another room. When the snow completely covers the ground, she treats it like a blank canvas. She gathers all her equipment: paint brushes, squirt bottles, brooms, and powdered koolaid, and then she gets to work transforming the powdery white stuff into a masterpiece. Sometimes her neighbors commission her to transform their yards. However, she prefers to be paid in hot cocoas.