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Sunday, September 26, 2010

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??


17 comments:

  1. I lost a follower way back when and agonized over it. What did I do?? You're so funny. Your blog is perfect the way it is. And none of your recipes have killed me so far....

    Stephanie :)
    www.simplicitymom.blogspot.com

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  2. The picture is great!!! Hope the chickens didn't suffer too much of a trauma, haha...
    And dials... don't talk about me for dials... Ever wondered why your washing machine stopped mid cycle and opened it (front loader here) with still liters of water in it? Not fun... ;)
    So glad the fridge dial is at about 2m from the ground, haha...(which reminds me, I should defrost the deepfreezer soon, sigh...)
    The leaves look lovely! I saw these today (don't attempt to read, it's Dutch, but look at those crane birds!): http://indelappenmand.web-log.nl/mijn_weblog/2010/09/en-eentje-zag-ze-vliegen.html That's on my to-make-list first (as soon as I get some time after finishing work, cleaning the deepfreezer, sixty loads of laundry, and the cushion covers I was going to make last week... (aaaaaaaahhhh, working mommy mania...)

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  3. I will admit that I hate chickens and the sight of them frightens me to no end (it's a phobia, what can I say) BUT this picture of Violet is absolutely gorgeous. I love your blog Steph, I find it inspiring, funny, with lots of food for thought. One follower may go, but I guarantee lots more will become followers because, yay, your blog is that good!

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  4. Might want to check the hot water tank... ours has been cranked to scaulding more than once by little hands!

    http://erinegan.blogspot.com

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  5. I can't see any picture of the simple and sweet. ?? Weird.
    I LOVE the top photo of Vee with the chickens- her little hands splayed out! Excellent.
    Sorry to hear about the warm milk- gross but happy to hear of the sense of humour. Like in my life right now- you gotta laugh!

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  6. My follower list is so small that losing one probably wouldn't matter. hahaha.


    I love those leaves!

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  7. I love the chicken photo..... and we do a lot of uhm... "laughing" here as well..... sometimes I think to myself... those kids are lucky they're so darn CUTE!

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  8. lol! i lost a follower a while back then gained 2 the next day! but alas i lost a follower last week and gained none...i understand the panic! what did i do? what did i do??? HAHA

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  9. Yes, you have come undone. Welcome :-)

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  10. This is the sort of blog post I'm just too tired to even write tonight. But if I wrote one, it would include more than a few humourous/crazy incidents in our home in the last 24 hours. Did I mention the appliance repair guy took our washer away? So now I have no dryer either (since they were stacked). Ay yi yi! Today, in the craziness of everything, I actually wrote out a list of stuff I had accomplished since I woke up, just so I could feel better. It is amazing what we don't give ourselves credit for. Love the felt leaves!

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  11. I am always so delighted to see that you've published a post. I sip on my coffee (really STRONG coffee)read your words and feel like I'm having a visit with you. Love that.

    And the leaves! I was just telling the kids a few days ago how we could make felt leaves for the nature table. How fun is that synchronicity? Great friends think alike :-)

    On followers lost and gained -- I've had this happen several times. I'd "lose" one on my dashboard, then once I went back into my blog it was back to the original number. This has happened several times, so I'm choosing to think that at least some of the time it's actually a Blogger issue...struggling to keep the numbers straight.

    Miss ya :-)

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  12. And yes, you *are* a bit undone -- that's part of your wabi-sabi beauty!

    Chuckling with you...

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  13. Love the honesty in freakin' out over a lost follower...ha! We've lost a handful or two as well...that's what I think...what did we do to offend you??? Come back to the fold follower!!!!
    Love those felt leaves...it may just be my project of the day tomorrow!
    xo maureen

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  14. I definitely need to learn to chuckle at myself and at the kids a little more often. Thanks for the reminder!

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  15. Oh I love the new header...it's perfect.
    xo

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  16. adore the new header and love those leaves, pleased to know I'm not alone in worrying about lost followers .. love & care xx

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  17. how funny!! the sewing kick and the lost follower! We mayhave to add sewing to the list of dangerous sports lol You will be happy to know that you have a new follower :)

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