Beat the Heat

It's been over two months since my last post, but I guess that's just because we've been too busy enjoying our summer ;)  I hope to get back to writing soon, but for now, I will share some pictures of one of Matty's favorite hot weather activities: water balloon fights!

three

Three. I feel like not so long ago I wrote this post, yet here we are already two weeks into Matty being three. The other night, as he lay on my chest and fell asleep, I reminisced the newborn days and realized that my baby has graduated to a boy. I have been resisting it for awhile, but three just seems so undeniably big. I mean, even though two was difficult to digest, at least you can cling to babyish things. For example, clothing that is labeled 24 months. And diapers. As much as I hate changing diapers, their presence = baby. Unfortunately, I have yet to find any tags out there with 36 months on them and Matty continues to trade his diapers for pull ups and underwear, so  somewhat reluctantly, I acknowledge that he has sprouted into boy. A smart, caring, loving, stubborn tornado of a boy that can simultaneously make me cry and smile. Who frustrates and motivates. Who challenges and comforts. Who can make me question my sanity, yet brings me peace.

Last year, we put a two on the back of a tshirt and he wore it at his party. Hubs made another one with a three on it to celebrate this year. I think it will be a tradition. I wonder how old he will be when he refuses to wear a shirt with an iron on announcing his new age...

Sweet Treat

I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day! Ours was perfect. We tried Vietnamese food for the first time and had delicious cupcakes from Blondies for dessert. Calories don't count on Valentine's Day, right? Well good thing because we certainly had our share.

The night before last, Matty and I made gooey pink cookies in honor of this day of love! It was a simple recipe that allowed Matty to basically just dump and mix. The batter is very sticky so he had a hard time rolling them into balls, but otherwise, it was the perfect toddler friendly recipe. The main ingredient was strawberry cake mix. You can read the recipe here. The cookies were yummy, but very very sweet!

my funny valentine

Making valentines with an almost three-year-old little boy and his four-year-old cousin seemed like a good idea at 8 a.m. I happily gathered art supplies and set up our "studio" on the dining room table. I envisioned smiling children coloring, stamping, glueing and glittering away their Sunday afternoon as I played art teacher and sang "All You Need Is Love." {I swear my morning coffee was not spiked!} A girl can dream right? The prettiness of it all didn't last long and my dreams were dashed by bickering and tantrum throwing not even ten minutes in, but fun was still had and memories were certainly made. I even got to make a card for my valentine ;)

Music Monday

My son thinks I don't know his name.

It happened like this:
Matty: Mommy! Me: Whatee? Matty: I'm not Woody, I'm Matty!

He thinks I am calling him Woody from Toy Story! Oh my goodness, I love this kid.

So tonight, here's a song I'd like to dedicate to my boy, Woody.  It's a great tune from Toy Story by Randy Newman, "You've Got a Friend in Me."

first snow, first post.

Overnight, we had our first snowfall of 2012! First one this winter actually. For the occassion, I thought I would write my first blog post of 2012. I am failing miserably at my 2012 goal of writing more, but we're only 21 days in; plenty more year to make up for it.

It was a special snow day because hubby got to enjoy it with us! He used to plow in the winter, but a job change back in May means we get to spend snow days together from now on. Hubby being home for a snow storm also means that I didn't have to shovel our walk or clean off my own car for the first time in years. Good deal!

After we thawed out with some homemade chicken soup, we decorated salt dough hearts.  

The best part of today was a little convo between Matty and myself this morning:

Me: You're my best friend, Matty. Matty: You're my best friend too. Me: Forever? Matty: Yes. I'm going to take care of you, Mama." awwwwwww!

Saying Good-Bye to Christmas and Hello to 2012

Did you see that? I think it was Christmas that just blew by us! Truly, it's a bit of a blur. It always is though. Each year, I am amazed by how quickly it passes, but I think life in general is like that.

I had the week leading up to Christmas off from work and needless to say, there was not enough time to do everything I wanted to do. I had an idea in my head of a perfectly balanced vacation; just the right amount of sleeping in, playing, singing, dancing, kissing, baking and visiting with friends and family, coupled with some "me" time and of course, some cleaning and organizing too. The cleaning and organizing didn't happen, but at least the important {fun} stuff was accomplished :)

My vision included some art projects, three specifically, but only one really came to fruition. We made salt dough ornaments. We simply painted them with glitter paint, but you can get fancy and stamp them before you bake them to give them a pattern and texture. You can even glue beads and buttons on them. The possibilities are endless. We passed them out as gifts from Matty:

I didn't have time to decorate my own, but I plan on doing this project again in the coming year, because they really can be made for any occassion. I think hearts for Valentine's Day will be next.

The other two projects were for me. Pretty little bits that I fell in love with on Pinterest. This yarn wreath...

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...and snow globes...

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{except mine were going to have deer like the ones here by Ashley of Under the Sycamore.}

Well my yarn wreath ended up barely touched, but it amused Matty:

And because I waited until the week before Christmas, Hobby Lobby was all out of deer and chopped snow, so the trees I purchased for my snow globes ended up on the Island of Sodor:

Oh well. Now I have plenty of time to get them done for next year!

My favorite part of my time off was sleeping in with Matty. We camped out in the living room one night...hubby took this picture early in the morning before he left for work:

Before we knew it, it was Christmas Eve. After family left, we set out cookies, candy and milk for Santa and cheerios and carrots for the reindeer. On Christmas morning, Matty woke around 630. He still isn't at the point where he woke up and realized that "Santa" had visited. Of course I don't want him to grow any faster, but I am excited for the day when he wakes up and runs into our room full of excitement, wanting to go downstairs and see what Santa brought. This year though, we had to remind him that we should go see if Santa ate his treats...he's not really a morning person...

The wonder sets in.

He decided that he should eat what Santa didn't finish.

Next up: presents. It can be summed up in one word..."woah." That was Matty's reponse to almost every package he opened. His facial expressions, his every ooh and ah, were my favorite part of the day. There is nothing like Christmas through the eyes of your child...

Now it's all over and I am dreading the process of putting the decorations away. Mostly because I despise pulling the totes out of the garage, but also because I love the way the house feels so magical at Christmas. On the otherhand, I am looking forward to organizing and brainstorming some fresh new house decor diy projects for the spring.  This one has already caught my eye:

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Today is New Year's Eve! Can you believe it? I think 2012 is going to be awesome. I have a lot of personal goals, but I really need to write them down and organize them on paper because my mind tends to be a bit of a mess. I will easily end up overwhelmed with no motivation to complete any of them if I don't narrow them down and focus.

How do you plan on ringing in the new year? This afternoon, we are attending a family oriented nye party at a local arts campus and then probably grabbing take out and watching movies. Whatever you do, be happy and safe. Happy 2012!

Wordless Wednesday

Yesterday we prepared the dough, rolled it out and cut out our shapes. Today we decorate our salt dough ornaments :)

This Is Mine

We have been away visiting friends and family for the past ten days or so, but I am trying to get back into my "normal" groove, whatever that is. While away, I spent a lot of time hanging with Matty, and my three-year-old, neice, Vivi. I heard a lot of "this is mine," staking claim not just to toys, but to things like doors, stairs and even me! 

Well to all you admirers out there, I just want to say, this is MINE :)

One of my favorite moments that I captured while away. More to come.

Life is Peaches and Cream

I spent the day with my mom, sister, niece and of course, Matty! We started off at Strawberry Acres, a nearby farm, to pick peaches and ended at a newly discovered local gem, Blondies, where we had the perfect combo: hot dogs and cupcakes...who knew?! In between, we stopped at Toys R Us, Matty's first ever trip there. I need to take him more often. Or never again. Not sure which yet, but he certainly made his terrible two status be known.

Here are some pictures of happier times in the peach orchard :)

My greatest work.

"All art requires courage."

Came across this quote today. As a poet, I completely get it.

As a mom, I can relate even more. I have written some very personal poems, but my heart has never, ever been more vulnerable than it is since I became Matty's mom.