How our days end

Some of my favorite moments with Owen are spent hanging out with him in his room at night before he goes to sleep.  I think the busy-ness of his days finally catches up with him by then and he's eager to just lounge and talk.  We'll read a book or two, and then he likes to sing "A Bushel and a Peck," always interrupting me in the same places to ask What's a barrel and a heap? and What's beat me all to heck?  (Probably should just stop singing that line altogether.)  And this is when he wants to talk about the heavier stuff too, like death and God and whether Boba Fett from Star Wars is a good guy or a bad guy.

I showed Owen this picture I took of him sleeping, and he said Dats funny... I usuwally sleep with my eyes open.

Conversations with O

Mommy, I don't jus' give you hugs because you buy me LEGOs and Oreos.  I hug you 'cause I love you too.

*Actually he only said that about the Oreos, but I needed the quote to work with the pictures he ASKED (!) me to take of him this morning.

Everyday Owen: Helping with Dinner

Safely Aboard

It's no news to you locals, but we had really bad weather in our area overnight.  The sirens started blaring around 3 AM.  I don't know if it's because we're on a ridge or near several schools, but we hear them.  Really well.

And to break it down for you Stealers Wheel style, by 3:00:45 AM, I had this one to the left of me

this one to the right

and there I was stuck in the middle with her.  All 14 pounds balanced on my hip.

Owen occasionally likes to play on our bed and pretend it's a pirate ship.  He'll walk the plank, but if things get too scary out there in the open water of discarded pillows, he quickly scrambles back 'aboard' our metal canopy bed and finds safe haven.

It felt like that to me last night too.  I was so unreasonably content, hearing the storm approaching, and knowing I had many of the creatures I love most (furry and otherwise) nestled around me. 

Side note:  During the storm, Owen  said, "Dat funder jus keeps running and running and knocking on our fwont door!"

B & A: Lamp

Snooze alert.  We've all got colds and I've had blogger's block, so I'm just going to break the ice with a scintillating post that involves a glue gun and ambient lighting.

Ignore the unattended baby on a changing table and focus on the lamp.  It was cute enough in Owen's nursery, but I have to admit nesting syndrome and the clearance aisle at Target really worked against me on this one.  Lime green?  And dangle beads?

It's been hanging out (and ruining the vibe) in the recently finished guest room.  Which reminds me, I don't think I ever followed up on this post, did I?  

Well, anyway, last night I got out a seam ripper and removed the beading and green fabric.  Then today I took some maple banding left over from our stair rail project and starting experimenting.

I struggled a little with how to finish the edges, but it's not too bad for a zero cost update.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

What I did in Hilton Head

• Wandered around the shops at Sea Pines and other places - including a day of antiquing in Savannah.

•  Hunted for starfish and sand dollars.  Amused slash annoyed my friends by making them return starfish that were still alive.  Had no idea how to determine viability of sand dollars, so they were on their own.

•  Practiced photography since I'll have to submit samples for the next class I take.

• Played fetch with other people's dogs.

• Had lots of affirming, soul-restoring conversation with incredible friends.  (Oh, and we talked a lot about hairstyles too.)

Conversations with O: Oedipal edition

I'm leaving this morning for a five-day girls' trip, and even though I know I'm going to have a ridiculously good time, I've got a little case of pre-homesickness.  So I'm going to be self-indulgent and reflect on sweet things Owen has said to me lately.

O:     Mommy, I love you five hundred!

Me:   Well I love you five hundred and five!!

O:     Well... I love you fourteen seven six nineteen eleventeen five hundred!!!

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Mommy, you are the girl in the world.  (Translation:  I'm the best girl in the world.)

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O:     Here Mommy, I picked you some flowers.  

Me:  Aww, thanks O!  Here, I'll put them in my hair... What do you think?  How do they look?

O:     Thaaat's... that's good.  'Cause... we'll need some for our wedding soon anyways.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Got a light?

We're cleaning out the playroom to make space for Owen's bumper crop of new toys, and I was amused to discover he owns no less than 15 flashlights.  I asked if there were any he would be willing to donate (he's pretty good about that), but he professed his love for every single one of them.

If, by chance, he'd chosen to part with the headlamp, I would have overruled him.  No way am I giving up this particular form of comic relief.

Tree-dition

I knocked it out of the park with that blog title.  Mmmhmm.  

After I saw a coffee table made from cross-sections of Christmas trees last year, I decided to start saving a little piece of each of our trees at the end of the holidays.  I'll put the date and a little memory from each Christmas on the back of them.  For the second year, our neighborly neighbor Chris donated his chainsaw skills and hacked up the trunk of our tree for us.  I hope to eventually have enough to do something like this.  If only I'd started 14 years ago.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Owen's Christmas gift

I'm so excited about what Scott and I are giving Owen for Christmas this year.  He's VERY into Star Wars right now, but the poor kid is usually forced to fly his kelly green LEGO pad around in the air pretending it's the Millenium Falcon.  I'm all for creativity, but it's pretty pitiful watching Owen use a white picket fence to keep Chewbacca from falling/floating out into deep space.

So when Scott and I were talking last week about what WE wanted to give Owen for Christmas (procrastinate much?), I mentioned that it would be awesome if we could track down a local guy in his 30s-40s with a bunch of old beat up Star Wars vehicles in his parents' basement that he'd be willing to sell us for a reasonable price.  Scott said something along the lines of Good luck with that, and I accepted the challenge.

Enter eBay.

I'd spent one evening discouraged in my mission.  Even Wal-Mart wanted $170 for their reproduction Millenium Falcon.  But first thing the next morning, I got up and tried again and found a guy in Nashville who was selling his vintage 70s-80s Star Wars vehicles as an entire lot (read:  cheap).  They're in battle condition, which makes them perfect for Owen.  The Millenium Falcon is missing it's chess board, the X-Wing it's cockpit canopy, and all of them more decals than I can count.  I spent yesterday taking them apart and cleaning them, and I got most of them to light up and/or make sounds again.  I've already found several websites that sell replacement parts, and I'm giddy with the idea of restoring them a little more.  The new action figures don't fit well inside them either, so that means I get to track down vintage figures now too.  My inner Star Wars nerd is just buzzing with all the possibilities.

We won't give this to him until Christmas morning, so shhhhh!

Christmas Mishmash

Say that five times fast.

Rebecca requested some photos of our Christmas decorations, but I think this set-up in our entryway is the only thing new I did around the house this year.  Our mantle looks roughly the same as it did last year, only the longhorn got to keep center stage with baubles draped from his horns and the wreath leaning off to his left.

Here's how the present-wrapping turned out.  I'm loving pipe cleaners this year.  I have to flat wrap all the presents that travel with us to Texas, hence the boxless, blobby shape.  Ooh, say that one five times fast too...

In the middle of dinner the other night, Scott announced that we would go Christmas light looking if Owen ate well.  I think I may have shrieked with excitement, but Owen said, "Dats okay, I don't wanna go wook at Cwismas wights anyway.  I just tay here and pway."  As in with toys, not as in with rosary.

But I coaxed him bite by bite, and we were in the car hunting lights by 7 PM.  I spent a dozen blocks pointing out every little thing to Owen before he said, "I don't see anyfing you're telling me mommy."  A dozen blocks more, and we heard snoring from the back seat.

I'm seriously concerned for this kid's Christmas spirit.

Gingerbread Men 2011

Thanks to everyone who's checked on me since last week.  I'm feeling much better.  Now I'm just trying to get my strength back and catch up on Christmas stuff.  I would have loved to decorate gingerbread men with friends again like we did last year, but I just couldn't get my act together.  Still, Owen and I made a big mess and had lots of fun just the two of us!  Okay, now off to wrap presents...

LEGO Tree

Just checking in quickly to say hi and share this LEGO Christmas tree Scott and Owen built together.  Because nothing is merrier than a dismembered, handcuffed torso being used as tree ornamentation.

I'll try to get back to regular posting soon.  In the past week I've had an abscess tooth, dropped a 4 x 4 on my foot, and had a bad reaction to antibiotics.  The highlight for me was visiting the overcrowded ER and being assigned a bed in the hall between a very inebriated woman intent on finding a cigarette to sniff and a man who had just tried to hang himself from his kid's tree swing.  It was funny... in a Quentin Tarantino kind of way.  

Makit & Bakit

Owen and I spotted some Makit & Bakit ornaments at Michael's the other day for $1, and we couldn't resist.

I was worried that it might be too tedious and frustrating for him, but he just stuck out his tongue and dropped those little plastic bits right into place.

Even though the fumes are probably toxic, I would put that melting plastic smell right up there with play dough and crayons for its ability to transport me back to childhood.

And now his polar bear is hanging on the tree a few limbs over from a rainbow ornament I baked up 25 years ago.  Can I get a collective awwww?

Tree Gettin'

On Friday we returned to the same place Scott and I have gotten our tree for (I think) the past 10 years.  Owen was not the least bit interested in choosing a tree, though.  He spent most of his time trying to reunite Fraser Firs with their broken branches and collecting the twine littered about the lot.

Owen makes a lot of musician faces in pictures lately.  Mostly of the death metal variety.

Last night we celebrated Scott's birthday and put up the tree.

So Norman Rockwell, right?

Hmmph.  Just past the point of no return in the decorating process, I noticed an ominous puddle spreading in the corner behind the tree.  Our old tree stand/bucket had sprung a leak.  The thought of having to take everything down again made Owen quite weepy... and me homicidal.  So Scott put Owen to bed while I bailed water, mopped and pouted.

Within the hour, our Mr. Fix-it neighbor came over and solved the problem - without us having to un-decorate the tree.  Thanks Chris!

Now Owen and I can spend the day sipping hot chocolate, watching old Christmas movies and decorating the tree.  I'm sure it will go just the way I see it in my mind (wry smile).