Look over here, kids. Kids?!

Why is it so hard to get a pair of kids to look in the same direction at the same time?

Really. There are only two of them. It should be easy.

I think they're conspiring against me.

C.A.D.D. and the bellydance top

I have a confession to make. I'm afraid I'm a bit A.D.D. when it comes to crafts and baking. I start one project and have to work on four others before I can finish the one I started. It's pretty annoying.

Case in point: remember all these projects I have lined up? Plenty to work on, right? Guess not. Instead of working on ANY of those, I decided to design and sew Doodle a new bellydance top today. True, she only had one top up until now and it was constantly going missing. This frequently lead to games of "find the bellydancer's top buried in the toy bin" or talks of "no really, bellydancers ALWAYS wear tops. You need to wear something. Anything. Please." So a little sewing project in the name of sanity preservation, even if it wasn't something on The List, is overall a good thing. Right?

Here are photos in the now-standard crappy, flashless quality. The top is made of some purple velvet scrap I picked up at the thrift store, and tied with ribbon in the back. Doodle's gone a bit tribal too.

Roo loves birds

He looks outside first thing in the morning, searching the sky. He looks at me, signs, looks outside again. He's searching for birds. He loves birds.

Our friend Liv recently posted a photo of a jay on her blog. Roo saw it, and for the next day kept pointing at the computer and signing bird. I told Liv this, and requested more birds on Roo's behalf. She replied with a bird photo post. Roo loved it. Here's his reaction, complete with hooting sound which he now uses for all animals:

Thanks, Liv!

Craft piles ahoy!

J is home and all is well. The kids and I survived our week without him, though we're all much happier to have him home. Now that J's back and I have a little more free time, the crafting has resumed. Oh yes.

On my desk I have the following projects either started or in queue:

• first knitting project - a scarf. I'm ~12 inches in.
• feather-and-fake-orchid hair clip fluff things for tribal bellydance costuming. I believe they're called "fascinators" on Etsy. Not sure what's so fascinating about feathery hair decor, but whatev. I will be fluffy and tribal, and soon!
  
• bra to deconstruct and reconstruct as a tribal coin bra of awesomeness.
  
• satiny cabaret bellydance skirt to sew.
• bellydance cover-up (caftan) #1 to finish sewing, figure out pattern details (J's design!)
• bellydance cover-up #2 to cut out, sew, decorate.
• pajamas for Roo.
• pajama pants for Doodle.
• Valentine-themed banner to put together.
• a couple of these for Doodle and Roo for Valentine's Day.
  

So far I've made one feathery fascinator thingy, and one headband. Caftan #1 is mostly done, and I'll hopefully get that done yet this naptime. (Thank you forces of the universe and/or basic human physiology that require my son to take a nap every day, without which I would accomplish even less than I already do.)

Also, on Friday I had my first solo bellydance performance in a non-hafla setting (Indian Restaurant) since MAY. It had been far too long between performances, but I feel it went really well. I'm glad I did it, I had fun, and I really hope I get to do it again. If so, I will bring my video camera next time. This stuff needs to be documented, yo!

I keep thinking I'll get around to posting photos and links for all the fun things I made for Xmas. That's on the pile too, along with sharing more Maui stories (though I'm still lacking photos) and maintaining sanity and making lots of yummy food and oh, what's that? We're pretending that you're the mom and I'm the kid and Roo's the baby and we're flying to San Diego?

Duty calls. Anyone want to work on my craft piles in the meantime?

Cabin Fever!

Roo's been sick so we've put ourselves in quarantine since Saturday. Stuck in the house with a four year old, a 15 month old, and a restless mama. We've done lots of reading...

(Roo is signing book here. He signs that and 'sleep' regularly.)

...and we've had lots of dance time. We watched Episode 1 and 2 of Project Bellydance, so now Doodle is alternating which awesome bellydancer she's pretending to be (the latest is Shems, a Utah lady now in Baltimore. We love Shems!). Note Doodle's innovative costuming - she's using the pink ruffly skirt as a bustle for her sparkle skirt, and a red sequined "scarf" as a hip drape. All her own design.

Sassy action shot

Bustle view. I think it works, don't you?

We've also been baking, perhaps a bit excessively - I've since crossed off (and eaten) the vanilla pudding too. Today: bagels maybe, or possibly pasta if Roo takes a nap and all the stars align just so.
I've also been teaching myself to knit, we've set up our own living room farmer's market, and since yesterday have been pretending to be cast members of Stomp (aka drumming on everything in the house. I had no idea it would be quite so popular with the kids, but it's a lot of fun).

Add in lots of coloring, outfit changes, and birding (see the sidebar bird list? we added that undetermined hawk this afternoon with much jumping and shouting of "Ooh! OOH!" while looking out the kitchen window. Some of the smaller family members may have been standing on the kitchen table to see. Birds are cool enough to warrant that behavior, after all). When we're lucky there's the occasional Roo nap and you've got a picture of what we've been doing for the past few days while J is out of town.

Only 46 more hours until he's home. Not that anyone's counting.

Rushing the seasons

I am frustrated with how stores, the media, and even we ourselves rush ahead all the time, hardly taking the time to just BE in the season we are currently in. Before Halloween the stores are rushing us into winter and Christmas and buy buy buy, barely acknowledging Autumn in its warmth and beauty. We glamorize winter for Christmas, with icicle ornaments and pre-flocked trees with the illusion of snow, but by December 26th there are tulips and crocus at the grocery store wooing us with the promise of spring.

Why not enjoy winter for winter's sake, with the time to be cozy inside with soup and good company? What about the beauty of sunshine glittering on a snowy landscape, the crispness of the fresh cold air? It's early January and still very much winter outside. We have a long time to go before the crocus peek from their barely-thawed beds. We should enjoy the beauty of the season in that season rather than always longing for what is yet to come.

Today I urge you to enjoy winter for winter's sake, whatever that means where you are. I have a sick Roo dozing on my lap, so today I'll make some hot cocoa and cuddle my littles and enjoy a nice, slow day. Maybe in a couple days we'll blaze a new sled run in the yard. Whatever we do, I plan to help the kids find joy in winter now. Sure we'll enjoy spring when it's time. But now it's winter; let's enjoy it!

Hey hey hey

A great song with a great message from one of my favorite groups - Michael Franti & Spearhead.