Bringin' art work to life for years

When I think back about the arts and crafts I made as a kid, I distinctly remember my love for paper accordion- fold arms.  If possible, whatever I happened to make or draw that day was inevitably gonna end up with those wonderful, springy, paper-folded-back-and-forth arms.

My drawing of a rainbow?  I eventually cut it out and slapped some accordion arms on it.

A house made of popsicle sticks and glue?  Yep, accordion arms coming out of the sides.

I was this close to adding some to M to the Izz-A's Valentine card.  This close.  But I had a slight notion that they would be underappreciated.



I had kind of forgotten about them, so it was with great joy that I stumbled across this little Valentine's Day finger puppet craft to make with Kate yesterday:

 I started singing Celine Dion's, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now"  quietly to myself. 

But then I stopped, because things just got weird - I'm pretty that song wasn't written about paper accordion arms.  But it should have been.

And then we just went nuts with construction paper and glue, which just so happens to be way more fun than following a set of directions.

So now that I've won the nonexistent award of using the word 'accordion' the most times in one blog post, I shall move on.


LOVE.  You know what I'm loving these days?  Hamp's ears.  They're so dang soft and floppy that I can't help but bite on them and fold them back and forth constantly.  Well, not really bite, more like pretend bite, with my lips, not my teeth.  He doesn't seem to mind.  Nevertheless, it's something I'm trying to curb.  And yes, I do realize that my son's ears do not and should not technically qualify as a hobby.   But he's one big cuddle bug and his ears are just the icing of the cake. 


In other Hamp news, he officially started crawling yesterday.  Yep, he decided to become fully mobile on V-Day.  I tried to video him three times, and all three times he stopped crawling and just stared at the camera.  I'm gonna have to get sneaky with it. 



We ended the day by playing hairdresser and pulled together the best mohawk we could.   Still need a little more hair.

Happy Valentine's Day, ladies.  My name is Hamp.  I like corn on the cob, laughing at life, long crawls across the living room floor.....and I've got soft ears.
And my mom makes a mad set of accordion arms.

Gettin' Sugary With It

Tonight the fam and I hosted our first annual Christmas cookie decorating party. I just added the 'first annual' part, because I'm hoping to make it a tradition. We invited our family and friends for an evening of cookies, icing, and sprinkles.

I think we even ended up with sprinkles between our toes.

Last night I used refrigerated sugar cookie dough and just cut out Christmas shapes using cookie-cutters. To my surprise, my local grocery store had enough dough for about 4 dozen cookies. I usually can't depend on Dirty Harvey's for anything. (Note: Actual store name = Harvey's. The store before it was Big J, but I lovingly referred to it as Dirty J. All they did was change the sign out front, the inside stayed the same = dirty. So....until they give me a Publix, Harris Teeter, or in my dream world - a Whole Foods Market, I'll just refer to them as Dirty _____.) Ah, but I digress, I really was happy that I didn't have to make 4 dozen homemade sugar cookies.

And actually, truth be told, M to the Izz-A and Kate baked most of them while I went on a late night Wal-mart run to gather up a few last minute items. He makes me looks good. He really does.

Everyone showed up with their favorite cookie toppings and we went to town!

The cookies turned out even better than I imagined! Not too shabby!

Now, as to whether you'd wanna eat them is another story. I think the toppings are made of equal parts sugar, icing, and saliva! The kids licked their fingers at they went along!

Last week Kate and I decided to bake Daddy some homemade chocolate chip cookies using a recipe my sister, Sal Gal, told me about: Carol's Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chippies. I'm a really big fan of refrigerated cookie dough, but the holidays always get me in the mood for baking homemade goodies (in small amounts). Plus, Kate loves to help out in the kitchen and I thought it'd give us something to do other than stare at Wow, Wow Wuzzby on the T.V. The cookies were pretty simple to make and I have to tell ya, they must be fool proof, because Kate poured some extra baking soda into the dough and they still turned out. I mean really, how can a little extra baking soda harm a mound of sugary, chocolatey, cavity-inducing goodness? The answer is: it simple cannot.

M to the Izz-A is still working hard in our laundry room remodel. He's almost finished! Update with pics to follow as soon as it's complete...

Besides baking, I also think the holidays are a great time for crafts. However, when you child is only two, you've gotta think simple. Wait. Make that extra simple.



We've been doing a few crafts together in the evenings after dinner and so far have managed to make our house look pretty festive!

Our first craft was simply making a wreath out of her hand prints. They won't be that little forever....

Next, we wanted to get a little messier with the glue. The only thing this 'craft' (so simple it may not merit being called a craft) involves is tearing up all colors of construction paper and letting your little one glue them onto a Christmas tree...anywhere, no pattern, no rhyme or reason. It ends up so colorful. This was Kate's favorite activity so far. Add glue to the equation and you're sure to get a smile.

And last we made a snowflake using gumdrops and toothpicks. This one is always a hit because you can eat as you go along!

Now that I've crammed way too much into this post, I'm off to bed. I only have three days left and then I'm off work for the holidays...until January to be exact!

I told M to the Izz-A to remind me to have him take a pic of this belly I'm developing. He's now snoring in bed, and I have no picture. I'm gonna try to get it tomorrow. I'm 4 1/2 months already! Time flies when you're having fun...and eating everything in sight!