Christmas, Part III.

Okay, last Christmas, I promise! This one was with just Russ's parents and us. Very low-key (apparent by The Heathens lack of clothing).

First things first...tattooing each child with their own Spirograph tattoo.

On to the presents!

It's a NEW SCOOTER!!!

Brooklyn: "Mom, we live by a skate park now--can we use these at the skate park??"
Me: lots of nervous laughter before asking what we'd all like for breakfast...

I'd been waiting for FOREVER to give Russ his gift. And I was so proud of myself for keeping it an actual secret!! For those of you who don't know Russ, he REALLY wants to get his pilot's license someday. Well, I found a Groupon for an hour of flight school and another hour of actual flying time. The catch was that we (it's for both him and I to go, although only he gets to fly...which is fine with me. I plan on sitting in the back with a barfbag the size of Europe in my lap) are 5 pounds over the combined flight weight. So I kept telling him that I got him a Spandex santa suit for Christmas and although he is doing FANTASTIC at exercising and eating well, keep at it!!

The best part? Verna had a Santa suit!! So I wrapped it up and put the Groupon receipt in the pocket of the pants. You should have seen his face when he opened the gift up to find an freaking real Santa suit. I told him he had to put it on so we could all see how it fit. He eventually found the Groupon. Anyways...it was pretty fun, and I'm really excited to go with him to use it one of these days.

In the last post, I mentioned how The Heathens love to slide down the roof of Auntie Suzy's pump house. It's a good thing Sam wore his crappy pants as they'll never be the same again. And I was floored to find that it even put holes in his underwear. Almost had to check his butt to see if there was damage there too! lol. Next time I think we'll put on 2 pairs of trash pants...

Brooklyn had been telling me all about this big blowup ball that she wanted for Christmas. Lo and behold, look what she got...

After awhile, we got an air compressor.

Gotta love static electricity! AND SHE HADN'T EVEN GOTTEN IN THE BALL YET!

It's finally pumped up and they're trying to figure out who is first. While they were busy figuring it out, I jumped in. Bwahahahah.

Sam received another stomp rocket (after destroying the one he got for his last birthday) and enjoys it to no end.

Racing scooters with Corinne.

Watch out world, here she comes!!

Christmas, Part II.

FINALLY! Time for Christmas #2 (of 3...)!! After celebrating with the Lybbert Clan on Christmas morning, we hopped into the van and sped over the mountains to Olympia and celebrate with the Teeter Clan (actually the Stitt Clan, since it's Verna's side of the family) at Auntie Suzy and Uncle Mike's farm!

As soon as we walked into the door, there were many squeezes and gifts and food being pushed into my childrens' outstretched hands. Of course my kids graciously accepted, "No Sam, THIS ONE IS MINE. BACK OFF." You know. Either way, they loved their light-up snowmen.

And check out those sweaters. Those are heirloom sweaters right there. Verna dug them out of a box--Russ and Corinne and their cousins wore them when they were Brook and Sam's age!! Love it. They wear them nearly every day.

See what I mean about the food? Overflowing. And what's pictured isn't even what I'd call a sample of what is available...I mean seriously, it takes us DAYS to become hungry again after visiting Suzy's. Mmmm...blueberry muffins....

The other attraction for the kids is of course the animals! If they couldn't be found indoors stuffing their faces and snuggling with various family members, they were outside chucking food at the chickens and cows, chasing the chickens and/or climbing (and sliding down) the well-house roof (and therefore destroying any pants they are wearing).

Breakfast!

I believe the direct quote from Russ here is, "I poop in your eye." Sam's response? "Hehehe. Do it again."

Brooklyn and Sam finally got to meet Ryder, who is one fun little dude! My kids knew they were in good company when Ryder literally tackled them and wrestled them to the ground to say hello. He is two. After realizing that it was okay to wrestle this two-year old, they had much fun in being tackled. Every time.

Waiting for the present-opening to begin!

Sam got a marshmallow shooter (and a bag of marshmallows...yes, they were ALL used within approximately 15 minutes).

Sam and Ryder had a great time together.

As always, it's so good to have the whole family together...

...especially if it involves a White Elephant gift exchange.

Haha, I love Corinne's expression and being the proud new owner of 100 plastic hangers.

Somebody was getting a little worn out during all of the adult fun...

Someone's White Elephant gift was a tool and a set of mustaches. It was the coveted gift. That Corinne ended up getting, much to these girls' chagrin.

"Dude, check out my new laptop."

Brooklyn found herself someone to snuggle with--Russ's cousin Klint. And she refused to let him out of her sight until they pulled out of the driveway to go home.

And of course it wouldn't be a proper get-together without a group photo.

Until the next great gathering of Stitts!

Just a normal Tuesday.

A chilly morning met with chores to get the blood pumping!
Toilets.
Counters.
Dishes.
Bed making.
Getting dressed.
Teeth brushing.
Laundry. (the favorite of the Heathens)

Even though they asked and begged all morning to watch their movies from the library, they ended up playing "dogs" for hours. I was elected to be "the owner" and was requested to tie them both up with scarves and serve them sloppy eggs and toast on the floor. Done and done.

I was then instructed that Brooklyn needed to be taken outside on her leash. It was 26* out. Sure, fine. She made it to the van before deciding she'd taken a long enough "walk".

The dogs (known as "Sammy" and "Christmas Paws" (aka "Paws")) then decided to go camping in their tent in the middle of the living room and requested books.

45 minutes later, my butt was completely numb from sitting on the tile floor.

We've been talking a lot about roller coasters...we read a couple of books, watched some YouTube videos about them, talked about gravity, friction and energy, and played some games online about constructing them. I've hinted that there will be a field trip tomorrow, but haven't told them they are going to get to actually ride a roller coaster tomorrow. They're going to pee their pants with excitement when they find out. Neither have ever ridden one before, to my knowledge.

Got the mail. A Zootles magazine came. Brook and I snuggled up on the couch and read the Dolphins issue from cover to cover in about 10 minutes and decided that next time we'll get the actual Zoobooks magazine since it was way too easy/boring for her.

Sam declared Mommy kisses "yucky". Wah. :(

Wall-walkers.

I was assaulted by two puppies, wrestled to the ground and licked all over my face. I'm sure they had good intentions, but their breath smelled like literal dog breath. Cough cough, gag gag. I love being covered in my childrens' spit. GAG GAG.

Brooklyn then decided to train for the Iditarod.

Brooklyn decides she wants to learn to sew (she BEGGED for her own sewing machine for Christmas, but was denied due to me thinking she was too young...yet again I was proven wrong). We spent the next hour and a half designing flags that we're going to string across the dining room. The first half hour wasn't bad--I was controlling the pedal, but then she requested to take the reigns completely and the half hour after that consisted of me turning blue from holding my breath... She quickly proved that she knew what she was doing though.

Sam took a break from his game to check out Brooklyn's progress and decided he wanted to give it a try as well. I underestimated how good of a learning tool a sewing machine can be. In choosing which design he wanted, he had to figure out the numbers and then press the button and find the numbers. Then he had to find the foot that that number required. And then there's the whole learning orders of operations and fine motor skills. He lasted for about a half hour, and by the end even he was doing it completely by himself (with me sitting approximately 6" from him, of course).

Brooklyn asked (for the millionth time) if she could borrow Russ's rope. He is adamant that they NOT use his rope. For anything. Ever. Don't ask me why, but it just makes Brooklyn want it more, of course. So I suggested that perhaps she should look into purchasing her own rope. We didn't find much looking online at Walmart, Target, or Ace Hardware. But we did find a 50' one on Amazon for $6.50 that the kids decided to cut in half so they can both have a 25' rope (which we measured out and the kids deemed the "perfect length"). Take THAT Daddy, I didn't really want your rope anyways.

Played a game of "Can You Copy My Funny Face" in which both children ended up rolling on the floor in fits of laughter.

Sam requested to be rolled up in a ball of tape...this is Stage 1.

We played Superman, running through the kitchen and flying onto the couch.

Potato soup for dinner. Brooklyn says, "YUM! My favorite soup!!" Sam about dies from hyperventilating from the fit he throws. "I DON'T WIKE POTATOES!!!" Seriously? Where is this kid even from??

To distract him from the horrible impending doom of dinner, Brooklyn got some ice balls the put in the freezer a few days ago (the original intention was to go bowling with them...). We busted out the salt and food coloring and they made their own ice sculptures.

After dinner I grabbed my crochet bag and zoomed out the door to my weekly crochet group at the local coffee joint for some much needed momma camaraderie! Phew! BRING ON TOMORROW!!

Quote of the day: "Sam, let's tie this around your waist instead of your neck. I don't want to kill you today."

The Current Obsession.

I have obsessions. And I'll fully admit it. For those of you who have known me for awhile have seen some of these obsessions...
-photography
-couponing
-healthy living
-chickens
-gardening
-budgeting
-crocheting
-homeschooling

Russ and I always call them obsessions because I completely immerse myself into that topic and don't emerge until I have exhausted my resources and myself. It wasn't until I started obsessing over homeschooling and reading books like they were tall glasses of water that I realized that guess what...IT'S COMPLETELY NORMAL. And...it has a name.

LEARNING.

Silly me. Thinking I was so weird going through these shifts of crazy, life-consuming interests. I think what was amazing to me was that I don't ever remember being like this before I had the time to be like this. I had studies and sports to worry about! And can't forget about socializing with my friends, checking my email and instant messaging my high school sweetheart!

I didn't have the time. When I became a stay at home mom, lo and behold I actually had to find something that I was interested in TO KEEP ME SANE.

This is yet another reason I decided that homeschooling was right for us--I can SEE these "obsessions" happening in my children NOW. I want them to have the time, without worrying about homework and sitting in a desk for 6 hours a day, that they need to devote themselves to each interest and get that fulfillment that comes with feeling like you've achieved a new level of understanding. Because honestly, every one of these interests I've had has changed my life in some way because of the information and skills I have gleaned.


Anyways...it's funny because I can feel when these periods of interest begin. Something will pique my interest and it gets the ball rolling. I just never know how long it will last--sometimes a day, sometimes years.

The current thing to pique my interest? Art.

For those of you that know Brooklyn, you'll know that she is a self-proclaimed artist. And it's a fact. I'm usually more than happy to let her go about her projects, at times biting my tongue (which I don't do enough). After being around Russ's cousin Katy, who is also a factual artist (we've been learning about facts versus opinions lately...), and then reading the book Young At Art by Susan Striker (highly recommend it, especially for little ones. Dene', I will be bringing Jackson a slew of art goodies the next time I come, so check this book out at the library.). And that was it...I could feel something coming on...

It's a bit frustrating though as with other subjects I've been able to immerse myself in books, and then a lot of times, just apply things I learn...well, there's a bit more of a learning curve with art. Especially when you have no idea what kind of art you want to do you justneedtodoitNOW.

Anyways...before I get into all of the things I have done in the last 7 days, I'd like to point out that I'm not posting these because I think they are complete and utter works of art and should be framed and put into the Museum of Modern Art. It is purely to demonstrate the insane drive I have to create and to document the variety of things I have tried thus far.

We tried immersing ourselves in nature. We went hiking in Muir Woods and spent hours flipping rocks at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I took the kids to MOCHA this week. There are big open rooms with all SORTS of art projects available. They have stations with examples of how to do certain things. I couldn't pass up the straw blowing paint cherry blossom trees! I love blowing paint with a straw!!!

I also thoroughly enjoyed the play dough. Ironically, I had to drag Sam out of there (who is usually done with art after 10-15 minutes), and Brooklyn was the one asking to go home (even though she made a whole bucket load of stuff)!!! So yet another frustrating thing--Brooklyn is apparently NOT in her art phase at this moment. Go figure. Sam does seem a bit more perceptive than normal, but come on, he's literally got the attention span of a 3 1/2 year old...alas.

Then we decided to do papel picados for math (LOVE the Family Math books!! They make math fun, even for me!). They are now hanging across the garage/playroom/school area.

Then with the scraps from the papel picados I thought it would be fun to make a stained glass window (which we've been talking about doing since we randomly visited that Catholic church for Mass a few weeks back). Note: If it looks like the majority of this was done by an adult...you get a cookie. All me, baby. Ahhh, art.

And then of course, you cannot forget the photography version of art (although I'm not usually much for scenic stuff)...these were all taken at the Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont, where monarchs come to rest in the eucalyptus groves for the winter. The monarchs were cool--not super impressive as there weren't a ton...a few hundred at least. I was too busy searching for something to fill this need to create...

And of course the art of crochet.

Then on a whim I bought a 12-pack of colored Sharpie pens that I love doodling with. I've always had a fascination with caricatures. In fact, if I am making art via putting my hand to a piece of paper in some way, generally the only logical thing to draw is people. It's actually quite irritating, as it's difficult for anything else to inspire me. And frustrating because let's face it, people can be HARD to put onto a piece of paper...

And then came more doodling, inspired by Vi Hart on YouTube, who I owe thanks to as my kids now know how Fibonacci numbers relate to nature (as we watched this clip at least 10 times). This was so therapeutic that I wanted to do another right after finishing it.

And so I went out and bought some new brushes, some more acrylic paint (as I seemed to have this drive to put paint on canvas) and got to work! This took much longer than I was anticipating and after finishing just this much, am a bit intimidated at finishing it!

I also had this crazy desire to draw with pencils, which I have never done before, short of that one assignment in my high school art class. So I had to buy pencils. I wish I'd had my brother, Chris there to tell me what to buy! I had no clue and had to restrain myself from wiping the shelf clean. As I walked out of the art store, I was literally skipping...I could not get home fast enough. What the heck has got into me?! (On another note--Shelan, do you recognize the drawing in the top part of the photo? Thanks for the inspiration! Unfortunately, I have a long way to go before I'm ready to un-blur it, lol. Oh, and the mirror looks fantastic on my hearth, as you can see at the bottom of the photo, lol.)

I've tried re-decorating...these walls were bare and Brooklyn's art drawer was overflowing yesterday... Oh, and I've tried painting the house some more (which is usually very therapeutic for me), but I got so incredibly frustrated! I can usually do it for hours and hours but after an hour I was so mad and frustrated that I gave up. So weird.

In the Young At Art book, the author recommends taking all of the paper off your Crayons so that the child can actually feel what a crayon feels like. At first I thought, 'huh, okay I will try it.' I really did like the feel of just the crayon itself--it felt more like a tool than a little kid's scribble thing. Plus, don't you think these papers will make a fantastic collage of some sort?? The kids thought we should use them for confetti, which I agree--what great confetti, right?! But then I think I will ferret them away, hehe.

The art of laminating. Ahhh...so therapeutic! Are you laughing?? You must not have tried laminating anything before. Go ahead, try it. I dare you.

Heck, I even busted out my sewing machine for the second time since we've moved to make Sam his PJ pants from the material he picked out last month (not that he will wear these...sigh. This was literally the only photo I got of him wearing them--I bribed him in the first place to put them on for "just one picture" and after that snap, the next 3 snaps are all blurs of him disrobing and streaking off...).

On the Play At Home Mom blog, some of the moms have this Plexiglas board that is mounted in a stand so kids can paint on it. I decided we didn't need a stand--we'd just prop it up against something. Not as fun. The kids agreed as Sam was done after his normal 10 minutes, and Brook gave up, stormed inside and locked the door on me shortly after because "I just can't do it!!!" No bueno. While Hurrican Brooklyn raged inside, I kept at it, trying to get SOME sort of inspiration. When I asked Katy how she knows what to paint, she said sometimes she just paints. No thinking involved. Just paint. So I tried it and lo and behold, 45 minutes later I can't feel my hands and feet from the cold and I've been inspired.

So I went inside and did this. Is it creepy? For some reason, I'm not just enthralled with people, but especially eyes. I cannot draw/paint/etc. them enough. I don't feel like this painting is finished yet though, but am not sure what to add...I guess I'll just wait and see.

Along with all of this, I've been doing some journaling and of course Blogging, both of which are therapeutic in one way or another. And I cannot get off of the Discount School Supply website...SO MANY GOODIES!!!!

Okay, time to end this rambling mess. It's been another attempt to satiate the need to create. And now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go sketch by the fire.
Goodnight!