Chuckle at Yourself

You'll notice that my blog description mentions the word "humour". Sometimes I have to remind myself to have a sense of humour. Like now, when I wanted to change my sunflower header to something more "fall-like", and found this photo I took of Miss Vee running after the flock a few days ago. And it didn't quite fit in the way I wanted it to. And I know I could fix it if I fiddled around a bit, but I'm just too dang tired.

It's also important to have a sense of humour when your kids are naughty. I'm not talking about slapping and biting (these DON'T make me laugh), but about things like playing with dials. Jude is old enough to understand what we tell him, but not quite old enough to actually do what we tell him. We've recently decided that something else he's old enough for is bathing on his own. The tub was getting a bit crowded with three souls in it, clamouring for elbow room, swim goggles, the Spiderman figure, and that coveted spot near the tap.

(Violet's haircut a year ago is a whole other blog post).

So last night he played downstairs while I bathed the girls. He hopped in after them (eww...in the same water? Yes...hey, the water was still warm! And we're on a well! Just another thing to add to his list of mom-induced-offenses-to-his-dignity. At least he'll have lots to talk about when he's in therapy in 20 years...)

Well, I noticed that I was feeling a bit warm. So I took off my sweater. Even in a tank top, I was sweating, just reading stories to the girls. I checked the thermostat. Remember in "This is Spinal Tap" when they turn the dial to 11? That's where our thermostat dial was. The temperature was pushing 25 degrees Celsius, working its way to 30, and while that is a lovely temperature in late Spring, it was quite uncomfortable in our house in September. I reminded Jude firmly to keep his hands off the thermostat.

This morning, Robin poured milk on his cereal, took a bite, and exclaimed, "The milk is warm!" Following my spidey senses, I checked the dial inside the fridge. Yep. It was turned down to zero. Sigh. Now I'm trying to think about what other dials he may have tampered with...and what the consequences might be if I don't fnd them soon...

One more thing that gives me a giggle: I was mentioning to my hubby that I needed to get back into doing some tutorials in this space, but just don't have the time. So I wanted to share the one "craft" I did manage this week:

Simple and sweet!

If you, like me, work outside the home more than is reasonable for someone with small kids, you just might like this one. Here's how it's done: trace or free-hand a leaf on to felt. The orange one is deluxe 100% wool felt, and the green and red ones are crappy cheapo felt I got at Fabricland. It doesn't really matter for this craft! Cut two of each leaf, to get a double layer of felt. Sew around the edges. Sew some veins if you wish. I used pink thread for all of these, because it's all I could find. While I was trimming ends, Violet crept under the table and leaned with all her weight on my pedal...the sudden WHIRRRRRR! of the sewing machine caused me to reflexively kick my legs out. I kicked Violet. She cried. I apologized. Now I'm laughing so hard remembering, and you all must think I'm a bit undone.

Ahem. Back to the leaves. They're pretty, quick, and a lovely addition to our Autumn Nature Table. I have some other leaf-inspired thoughts swirling around in my brain. Whether or not they'll come to fruition remains to be seen. I'll share if they get past the idea phase.

Just some random thoughts about the many reasons to LAUGH when you're a parent.

PS Last week I had 104 followers. Last night I had 103. Now I have 104 again. Is someone out there trying to make up their mind? Or did someone find that our relationship had lost that special something, and was trying to break it to me gently? This makes me giggle. Please come back, lost follower! I promise I'll try to post more crafts! How does one de-follow a blog, anyway? And more importantly, why? Did you try one of my recipes and your husband hated it? Did you knit a hat from my pattern and hate the way it looked on you? Would someone please tell me to STOP, already??