A long fight still ahead of us

But yesterday, we saw a glimpse of the light at the end of the CPSIA tunnel.

An attempt for reform
A stay of enforcement

So, while it doesn't really change the main issue - it does make me feel a little better about selling off what I have in inventory and sewing up all the things I have in production as the February date passes. It's a little relief that we are moving in the right direction and our voices are being heard. But the fight isn't over and we need to continue bringing attention to this important issue.

I have a busy week ahead - Sunday (yes, I know it's SuperBowl) I have a button party to go to where I'm hoping to convert some of my drawings into buttons or mirrors; I'll also be taking some of my product to Happy Delusions in the hopes of having it sold there; I have a few more tutorials to post in the next few weeks and my progress on my charm quilt (I'm excited about this project - it's so much fun); I need to figure out the serger I borrowed so that I can try it out on some new recycled tshirt dresses. It's a big week so be sure to check back!

Have a great weekend!

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Making Hearts

A few days this week, there has been snow on the ground - just a light covering. Lyssie has enjoyed going to get Robbie from the bus so that she can make hearts in the snow.

With as much as we are indoors. It has been nice to get her outside to enjoy the simpler things. I hope for a nice summer - and a fenced yard - so that she can enjoy the outdoors. Robbie might be a hermit crab, but Lyssie definitely isn't. It's hard to get her back inside once you have her out.

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It's only the beginning

I'm proud of myself... I have already sewn together the first 70 squares of my charm quilt - yay! I finally settled on a pattern of alternating charm square and beige squares. I chose this pattern for many reasons;

1 - it was a pattern where I could start sewing without knowing what all the pieces would look like - this way I didn't have to wait to have all of them first.

2 - I could sew them by chaining them together and saving myself time - I'm so used to having to sew things one at a time that this was a big motivator for me.

3 - it's a simple pattern that my kids will be able to help me lay it out and figure out the final look of the quilt. Always thinking of way to involve the kids!

4 - it's a pattern that plays into my son's obsessiveness or orderly thinking. In times of stress, this is a comfort for him. I'm hoping that he'll find the finished quilt comforting.

5 - i really like the look of it.

I've included a picture of the ironed pieces with a sneak peak of what it will look like in the background. I just received two more envelopes yesterday (some fun oriental patterns included) and look forward to adding those to the pile of finished pieces.

Once I get a few more envelopes, I'll start sewing them into squares. I'm finding that I like the white backgrounds next to the beige fabric less than the colored ones - so I'm setting those aside for now and I'll use them if I need more squares. There aren't very many of those yet, so I don't think it's going to make a huge impact if I don't use them. And I can always use them for something else.

I'll post a list of other participants soon so you can check out the others. It's a fun group and I look forward to seeing what everyone else does with all the squares.

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Why should I care?

I have avoided the subject of the CPSIA lately - but trust me, it still exists and it isn't any better than it was the last time I blogged about it. I found a great post by Winklepots about why people should care and thought I'd post it here as well.

How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:

To the Parents of Young Students: Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren't originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.

To the Avid Reader: Due to the new law, all children's books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there's always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

To the Lover of All Things Handmade: Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it's passed testing. It won't even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.

To the Environmentalist: Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can't sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can't even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.

To the Second-Hand Shopper: Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children's items all together to avoid future lawsuits.

To the Entrepreneur: Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you'll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America.

To the Antique Toy Collector: Due to the new law, you'd better start buying now because it's all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren't certified as safe.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html

To the American Economy: Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.To the Worldwide Economy:Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.

If you want to do something to help, please follow this link.

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Garland

The kids and I have been having fun making the fan hearts that I posted a few days ago. They were starting to collect so we decided to make them into a garland. I think it came out great. I also discovered that these hearts are very forgiving for the not so precise cutter. My son was rushing through the cutting (apparently trying to beat me at something) and they still came out great.

We will have limited Valentine decorations around the house as we work toward Lyssie's birthday - and this garland does make a big statement on our plain walls (we have yet to really hang anything and we've been in the house for 3 years).

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They are starting to come in!

It's so exciting to get fabric in the mail. I know, cheap thrills. But this charm quilt exchange is going to be lots of fun. I have already received 5 envelopes (or is it six??) of squares. That means there are still 20 more to go! Yikes... I really need to figure out what I'm going to make.

I've been looking around online and haven't really seen anything that has been screaming at me to make. I figure I'll just go the route of making it up myself. I'll probably be doing a quilt since I haven't quilted in so long. Of course, my track record for finishing quilts that are for myself isn't great. Hopefully, having others that are doing the same thing will motivate me to complete it. Watch for more swatches and hopefully the beginning of a new project. Yay fabric!

** Funny, that just reminded me that my son wants to throw me a fabric party for my birthday that is coming up in a few weeks. He figures since fabric is what I like most, that's the type of party it should be. Isn't he the greatest?

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Party Dress

I want to get Lyssie a special dress for her party. She seems to like some of the girlier dresses (she chose a fancy one to Red Robin for her brother's birthday) and I tend to not buy them for her. We really don't have a place for her to wear them since we do not attend church. So I thought her birthday party would be a perfect occasion for buying her another girly dress.

I really don't want to make it. I made her that princess dress for halloween and decided they weren't for me. Of course, I suppose I could make it easier on myself and use a pattern - but I'm horrible at following directions. We went this weekend to the mall but came out empty handed. I'm a bit appalled at some of the styles they are putting out there for little girls. So, I'm looking for something modest, something girly, something that looks special, something pink (this is her request) and something preferably not $60 (we found one option at Macys that I liked, but it was $66!).

I have turned to looking online and so far, I'm much happier with the selection. I LOVE this dress from Dillards, but since it doesn't have polka dots and it isn't really the pink she's looking for - I should probably look at others.

Here are a few online that I've found that are cute and might work:


Not sure if this offers the amount of pink that she's looking for. But I like the colors and the style isn't bad - although I'd prefer it wasn't halter.

This one only has the pink sash - but it also has long sleeves which could be a good thing for the February party, but a bad thing when eating cake.

Okay, this one doesn't have any pink... but I love the silhouette and the starkness of the black on the top. And it's such a sweet dress.

I'm not even sure this comes in her size. I think 18 months was as high as it goes. I know, that's the size she's wearing now... but she is turning 3 so I'm hoping to at least buy a 2T so that she can wear it for a while.

Who knows, I might end up just making something. I've been watching Etsy but haven't found anything there either. Luckily I still have a few weeks to figure it out. So, yep, I'm going to procrastinate.

I will most likely buy her this dress for another occassion as it has her blap blaps.

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Fan Hearts - Tutorial

These hearts are super simple to make and they look really cute hanging around the house. I did a lazy version using tape to close them because I couldn't find my hole punch.

All you need is paper (I used a scrapbook paper that was red on one side and white on the other because we were fresh out of red or pink construction paper - the white one in the picture is made from normal white printer paper), scissors, string and tape (or a hole punch - you can also use glue if you are a patient person).

Start by rounding the edges of your paper. It's best to use a rectangular piece of paper so that you end up with a capsule shape.

Accordion fold the paper along the longest side. The side of your fold will depend on the size of your paper. I was using a paper that was about 4 x 6, so my folds are about a half inch deep.

Once you have it folded into a fan, fold it in the center.

Here's where you can vary how you finish it. I used tape and taped the two ends together with a string. I would preferred to have used a hole punch and tied the string on. You can also glue it closed.

And that's it! Make lots of them and hang them in your window.

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Muffin Tin Monday - Rainbow

There really wasn't a theme today for Muffin Tin Monday - but Robbie wanted to help put it together today and he likes themes. So, we chose the rainbow.



Here's what we did (sorry the picture is a little blurry, I'd retake it except that most of the contents are gone now)! Red pepperoni, orange popcorn shrimp, yellow corn, green noodles (left over veggie stir-fry the other night), blueberry muffin and purple raisins.

We are getting ready for Lyssie's birthday party and for Valentines day! I'll be posting a Valentine craft later today or tomorrow (we'll see how the day goes).

For more muffin tins, check out Her Cup Overfloweth!

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Scrapdown!

Another brain child of creative blogger Katy at Sycamore Stirrings. I have soooo many scraps that I couldn't pass up this opportunity to use them. Scrapdown (not to be confused with Smackdown) is a fun way for me to use my scraps, get back into quilting and do something for myself.

I just sent off 24 envelopes of scrap squares and I can't wait to start receiving similar envelopes. I have one more envelope to send out to a last minute addition to this fun exchange. I haven't decided exactly what I will do with all the squares that I receive... but I'll be sure to share it here on my blog.

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Not so much a success

Several weeks ago I bought a book of recipes with cereal as an ingredient. My first experience was fabulous... in fact, I still dream of those cookies and am now reminded that I need to get more Rice Krispies.


So, I was excited to try the Captain Crunch breakfast muffin that was on the cover. I'm not sure what I was thinking... I mean, I don't even like Captain Crunch - so I'm not sure why I thought I'd like the muffins. They came out very dense and their flavor... well, it was Captain Crunchish. My son liked them well enough that he ate a few. My husband ate one. But my daughter and I were not impressed. So bottom line, skip this recipe if you don't like Captain Crunch. And to think that I bought a box just so that I could try this recipe. There are others in the book that use Captain Crunch... but I think I learned my lesson. Even a great recipe can't take away the flavor of Captain Crunch.

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We have a Winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in my CPSIA Awareness give-away. While it's an ongoing effort to save small businesses... progress is slowly being made and our voices are being heard.

Thanks to Holly Jahangiri and all of her efforts. I pulled her name randomly as the winner of the give-away and she chose the pincushion and fabric weights for her prize. Yay!

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Shadows

It's not often that we get much sun during he winter. The other day when we were picking up Robbie - we had the company of our shadows. Lyssie had a great time with hers. She loved to hide from it behind my shadow. I was a little distressed by the size of me even when long - of course, I'm fairly certain it was the jacket I was wearing :) We are looking forward to more sunny days and more shadow chasing.

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New in my store!

This is my latest CPSIA exempt creation for my On A Whimm shop. These pincushion rings are really fun to make - perhaps one of these days I'll make a tutorial. I thought this was a unique idea... but it turns out there are a few people on Etsy that already make them. Of course, like everything I make, mine are a bit different.

These are made from fleece scraps. The ring is fleece that I've handstitched. It stretches and fits snuggly on all of my fingers. I've covered a plastic water bottle top for the base of the pincushion so that your fingers don't get poked. I cover the plastic top in more fleece scraps and I've embellished the whole thing with a little bit of embroidery. The ring is stuffed with polyfil so it's soft and light. I currently have two of these in my shop... but I'm sure I'll be making more as it's something I can make from the comfort of my bed while watching tv at night.

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A Day of Celebration

It's been a fun day of red, white and blue with the kids. Robbie was at school for the Inauguration - but we did plenty when he got home to celebrate this historic day. This is the first president that the kids (at least Robbie) can grasp the importance of the President. We did many things to celebrate the day.

Robbie and I worked on a chart for all 44 presidents (I can't tell you how happy I am that we have even number of Presidents - the first thing Robbie did was put them in order in even rows) and we did a word search with all 44 presidents. A great learning experience for him - and a much needed refresher for me. Pictures are from the Wiki. It was a great exercise for Robbie because he loves to sort. I wrote the name, term dates and their placement within the 44 Presidents. He handed them to me in order and we taped just the top so that we can flip it over for the name. Hopefully it's a chart that we will be able to reference again in the future.

We had a special Inaugural lunch as well. They had a jelly sandwich (red strawberry jelly as Robbie pointed out) with a star cut out. A star tin of bananas and blue potato chips left over from the Muffin Tin yesterday. Oh - and milk in a red cup with red, white and blue straws. I'm sure Lyssie has no idea why everything today was red, white and blue - but she loves themes and was just as excited.

They also had a special treat. I gave them blue jello with whipped cream and sprinkles. Robbie ate it all... Lyssie is funny. She somehow managed to pick the sprinkles off the top. I guess she isn't going for anything blue - even if it has whipped cream on top. I can't really blame her. I probably would have been the same way.

Finally, we made hats. This was a last minute idea. We used some paper plates and plastic bowls that we had left over from various parties. I pulled out white stickers, blue markers and red, white and blue yarn. I cut out a circle from the plate so that it would sit on their head. They did the rest!

I'm tired and the kids are happy to have some free play time as they aren't used to doing so many projects back to back in one day. I was planning spaghetti with star meatballs tonight, but I'm not sure if I'll have the energy. That might have to wait for another day. We'll see.

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Keep my mind off things

I've been going through stages with this CPSIA and how I'm dealing with it. First, it was anger - then it was sadness. Now, I'm in denial. I just don't want to think about it. I don't want anything to do with it. I have tons of things that I still need to post to the stores... and I just don't want to.



So, I've been looking for other things to keep my mind off of it. I embellished a dress for Lyssie and made her a matching cap. I initially set out to extend the length of the dress - didn't really like anything I came up with and then settled on the crochet fringe - which didn't extend the length at all. Oh well! It was a fun exercise. I also made up the pattern to that skull cap and will try to write it out and post it.

I've also been working out an idea that I've had for a while now. I drink a lot of water in bed... and this leaves a ton of empty plastic bottles sitting on my night stand. So, I decided to come up with something to do with them... well, at least the caps. I ended up making pin cushion rings. They are fun to make, I think they are really cute and they really work! You can wear it while you are laying out a pattern or wear it as you are sewing and put the pins in it as you go. They are great and I hope to be offering them in my On A Whimm store soon. Yay for something that doesn't fall under the CPSIA umbrella!

Tomorrow, the kids and I will be celebrating the Presidential Inauguration. I'm looking forward to it... even though I'm not exactly sure what we'll be doing. Whatever we do, I'll try to remember to take pictures. It really is a momentous occasion.

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Muffin Tin Monday - Purple and Blue

It's been a while since I've participated in any themed Muffin Tins over at Her Cup Overfloweth (today's is hosted by Junior Mints and Reeses). So I made it a point in participating in this one. Robbie and Lyssie helped me at the grocery store yesterday finding foods that were blue and purple... I had the extra challenge of keeping it low in sugar. I figure if I wasn't going to be able to stick to including all the food groups, the least I could do is make sure that there wasn't too much sugar.



We came up with Blue Potato Chips (although they look purple), Blueberry muffin & Blue jello stars for blue. The blue jello will also be used in our Presidential Inauguration party tomorrow. Once Robbie gets home from school, I hope to make the day about welcoming a new President... or at the very least, making sure they know who he is and what he does (in general terms).

For purple we have raisins, Marionberry yogurt, and Red Potato fries. Robbie insisted that the red potatoes were really purple. I didn't argue long as it was easy enough to make them into fries and I didn't have any other ideas for purple.

Looking forward to the next themed Muffin Tin - Yellow.

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A little something for Lyssie

Last week I was browsing Etsy and came across one of my favorite shops - Gorjuss. This artist does some of the cutest paintings and drawings. I am sure that one of these days, I'll have to buy more. I LOVE her work.

Anyhow, I found an ACEO -which is another thing I've been wanting to try. It was my first ACEO purchase and I think I might be hooked. It's so adorable and her work is fabulous. The one I purchased is an original. I plan on putting it in a little frame and hanging it in Lyssie's room. It just reminds me of her (on her more angelic days).

In the package, the artist also included a Moo card and a key chain - which just put the purchase over the top for me. So pleased with the purchase and can't wait to get it up on the wall.

If you haven't already - you must check out her Etsy shop. I love Under the Weather, Cupcakes and Giggles, Queen of Hearts, I Heart Goth and soooo many more.

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Fog

Walking to get my son from the bus (it's only 4 houses away) is always a fun activity for me and my daughter. We often see things that either she hasn't seen before - or she hasn't taken the time to see. This morning it was foggy and the trees were dripping with dew. It looked like there were Christmas lights in all the trees. Of course, the sun only came out for a split second and I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it all lit up... but I did take a few pictures of the fog and dew as we waited for the bus to arrive.

Check out the reflection in the close up of the dew - how cool is that! By the way, it was so cold out there that my exposed ears were stinging by the time we got home. Burrr!

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Monkey Magnets

My kids have done so well these past two weeks. My husband has been working very long hours - sometimes they don't even see them at him at night. With these long hours, it means my kids need to spend more time occupying themselves to give me a break. While the first week was challenging - this week has been much better. I believe this is due to the pipe cleaners and Monkey Magnets.

My son got these from a friend for his birthday a while back. He didn't play with them much at first but has since rediscovered them. Not only that, my daughter LOVES them. The two of them can play together because there are plenty of pieces and one uses the lid of the box and the other uses the bottom of the box.

We, of course, have the Dinosaur set. But I might have to spring for another one - I'm considering Robots. I highly recommend this toy. It does have small parts (lots of them) - so if your child is prone to putting things in their mouths, you'll need to supervise them.

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Color, color, color

It's not a secret that I love color. You can see it in all the things that I make - and I know that kids love color too.

I keep this in the back of my head while I'm making lunches for my kids. Don't get me wrong... not all of our lunches are colorful and not all of our lunches are well rounded. We have our days where I throw a jelly sandwich on a plate and call it good... or a bowl of macaroni and cheese. But when I have a little more time and I'm looking to get more nutrients in them... I try to incorporate as many colors as I can.

A colorful and fun looking lunch is much more enticing than that plate of ordinary looking spaghetti. It's not that they don't like spaghetti - but they had it already once this week and it's just not looking very pretty on that Spiderman plate. It's all in presentation. This is why Muffin Tins and Bento Boxes work so great for kids. It's a fun presentation... and the many components push us to use more foods - which normally means more color.

I used these theories when making the kid's lunch today. I didn't want to make a bento lunch (I find it a little hard because you have to calculate the spacing and how to get everything into that little box - it's truly an art) and I want to keep Muffin Tins special - so only on Mondays and special occasions.

So I pulled out some cheap black plastic plates I had (not sure where they came from) and decided that I'd go for a colorful lunch on an ordinary plate. The black was perfect to set off the colors (they have a ton of plastic character plates... but food tends to blend in which is not a good thing when you are trying to make it look enticing). I then pulled out the foods I wanted them to eat. While considering color, I also considered the coverage on the plate. I wanted to be sure to fill the plate with portions of food that they would eat. I have found that a large plate with many holes on it doesn't get gobbled up like one on a small plate where there aren't any gaps. Small colorful bowls and such work great for helping cover these types of areas as the solid bowl gives a fuller look than if the food were just loose on the plate. I also try to include a food or two that feels like a "treat" (like the veggie fries in the picture - they never get those).

The two lunch plates pictured are the what I served them for lunch. And I'm proud to say that they ate every last crumb. These with a glass of milk makes me feel like a successful mom (well, for today) for getting a decent meal down them.

This all comes up from a conversation I had last night with a friend who was talking about the Deceptively Delicious book. I haven't used it, mainly because I don't feel like I need to as my kids do eat a wide variety of healthy food, but I think it's a fantastic idea for those finicky kids (and husbands). The conversation led me to think about how I've been lucky enough that my kids are willing to try new things and to eat foods that most kids won't even look at.

Here's what I came up with:

• When they were young, we took them out to restaurants often (we did this so that they would know how to act in a restaurant from an early age and because we were so tired from being up for so long with them - cooking was the last thing we wanted to do). Eating at a restaurant means nicely presented food - and we could control how healthy it was (substitute fries for veggies. Ya, I know, we are no fun - but we are giving them the building blocks for leading a healthy life even if we don't :)
• When I'm introducing a new food, I don't make them try it the first time and I don't give up on it... I keep putting it in front of them. It may take a while, but they eventually get curious. Sometimes we ask them to lick it if it has a sauce on it :) This often works as we aren't asking them to commit to a bite.
• I give them choices when possible. I'll ask them in the morning what they think we should have for dinner. Sometimes I leave it open ended and sometimes I give them a few choices. We will talk about the meal several time through the day so they are anticipating the meal.
• Whenever possible, I try to involve them in the preparation. Whether it's getting the ingredients out of the fridge or helping with the actual preparation - involvement makes them feel some sort of ownership over the meal.
• I talk about how the food will help their body. This gives them a reason to eat the food other than us wanting them to. They aren't willing to do things for us and our enjoyment... but tell them it helps their body make energy for them to run around and they are often more willing to give it a try. While my daughter is a bit young still, my son is able to identify proteins and carbs and is always conscious of how many he puts into his body. If he hasn't had enough protein in the day - it's not too hard to convince him to finish the last of his meatloaf.
• We don't give them much fast food... so they don't know that there is something else to hold out for. I agree with kids - fast food sometimes tastes better than healthy food... it's all that grease! But I figure they'll have plenty of time to try fast food when they are older.

In addition to the presentation... I think these are the things that have helped me have kids that are good eaters. We don't do many things well (we still allow our daughter to sleep in our bed when she comes in to our room in the middle of the night. Yes, I know... but we are tired!) - but I do think that we've done a decent job of starting them off with healthy eating habits.

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Just One Day Left

My blog give-away ends on Friday... that's just one day! Just one day to blog about the CPSIA and have your name entered into my drawing. Just one day left to tell me what you've done about this new legislation and how it is going to affect you for your entry into the give-away.

Of course, I hope that people continue to spread the word about this new law - and perhaps I'll follow this give-away up with another one.

For more information about the CPSIA, you can visit the following links:

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/
http://blog.buyhandmade.org/
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia (voting ends today)
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/

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Over the weekend

Over the weekend, the kids went into work with my husband while I got a day with friends to have a little fun, recoup from a long week, and prepare for another one. My husband requested that I pack the kids a bento lunch. It was an excellent idea as a bento lunch, in itself, can occupy the kids for up to an hour (we have slow eaters).

I decided to make this more of a snacking bento than a full meal. I figure the kids were more likely to eat it all if it looked like a huge snack. I was right.

Contents: First container - grapes, kabob with cheddar cheese cubes and rolled pepperoni, jelly tortilla roll cut into pieces and raisins. Second container - honey roasted peanuts, string, Ritz crackers, string cheese and carrots.

I thought I did a decent job of including all the food groups on short notice. It also made me feel better while I was out having lunch with my friends, knowing that the kids were eating well too. While I'm not sure how much work my husband was able to complete, they had a great time and I got some much needed time away.

As I am watching my small business crumble around me, it's making it even more obvious that I wasn't taking any time to myself. I really need to try to do that more this year... so to start, I'm having friends over for dinner (of course, another one of them is cooking :)). Yay!

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Muffin Tin

Really quick, I wanted to post our muffin tin from today. There was a theme - but I was too disorganized to participate in it. Hopefully I can back to participating in the themes for the next one.


Contents: sliced turkey, pepperoni, string cheese, ritz crackers, homemade apple sauce and grapes.

Robbie ate it all but some of the turkey - which Lyssie ate for him. She didn't touch the apple sauce. I guess we have her so trained that she's not even interested in such things. Hmm.

Happy Monday!

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A little less frequent

I'm exhausted - and I've been posting blogs a little less frequently. It's taking all I have to spend the entire day taking care of my kids (my husband isn't coming home from work until late these days), preparing for the CPSIA to take effect and facing the fact that I will probably no longer be able to do what I love. While sad, I am trying to focus on the fact that this will maybe give me an opportunity to explore more of the things that interest me.

We have still been doing our normal routine here - muffin tins, fun projects, etc. I just haven't taken the pictures to share. Either I completely forget - or I just don't have the energy to find the camera.

But I do promise, I will be back. This next week is another hard one - and then after the weekend, I hope to be back to my normal blogging routine (let's hope). I'm not saying that I won't be blogging this week, it probably won't be as frequent. Again, another sad way that this CPSIA legislation is sucking the life out of me. I love to blog and hope to get back to it as soon as possible.

In the meantime, please remember, I have a give away going until the end of this week... and please be sure to vote at change.org. I think there are three more days to vote.

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That'll make me feel better

My son came home from school today a little upset. Apparently his friends didn't want to play with him today. I reminded him that sometimes he doesn't want to play with certain people on certain days - but it doesn't meant that he isn't going to play with them again. Then I changed the subject and asked him what he wanted for lunch. He asked if it could be in a Muffin Tin because that would cheer him up. Hurray that something so easy can fix his heartbroken little heart.

Here's what I served up:

Crackers

Octopus Hotdog (always prove to put a smile on their face)

Quesadilla rolled up

Pears (Lyssie had grapes and two pieces of pear which she promptly gave to her brother)

Yogurt

Steamed carrots and broccoli

Another successful lunch as Robbie ate it all but the quesadilla - not sure why, but he only eats them if they are flat and cut into wedges??? Lyssie ate it all but the two pear pieces and most of the veggies (she did eat a carrot or two).

Perhaps having my dinner served in a muffin tin will cheer me up too.

Remember, I have a give-away going right now. I know it's a call to action as well - and I am sometimes lazy about doing give-aways where I'm asked to do something other than comment (although you can enter with just a comment) - but it's for an important cause... not just to me.

By the way, there is speculation about what libraries will now do with all the books on their shelves since CPSIA makes all children's books currently on thier shelves illegal to distribute. Yep, this new legislation is that far reaching. Please respond.

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My biggest give away - help spread the word!

Okay, so I've decided to do another give-away on my blog. This one though, has more of a purpose. I'm asking people to blog about the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act, regardless of your side on it. I just want it to get more publicity. I'm asking that people vote for change (see the link on the right of my blog for Change.org). I'm asking people to do what they can to spread the word.

Here are the ways you can enter this give-away;

Leave a comment on this blog telling me how you might be affected by this new legislation.

For every blog you write from now until January 16th, you'll get an entry into my give away (please leave your blog address in comments so that I can verify).

If you vote at Change.org, let me know by leaving a comment on this blog and you'll gain an entry into the give away (this one is by honor system).

If you do something else to spread the word, let me know in the comments section of this blog and I'll give you another entry.

There isn't a limit on the number of times you can be entered.

So what is the give away? To make this a give away one that appeals to a variety of people, I'll have a few things you can choose from if you win. Here are the choices;

Mermaid tail in orange (the one pictured in the bottom right corner)

or a crown of your choice (all are listed here). **The one pictured has been sold **

or a set of Primary Color I-spy bean bags

or this pin cushion and fabric weight set made from fleece scraps

or this Darth Vader NuetToMe dress made from Recycled tshirts - dress is a size 2T-3T. The pocket in the middle is for decorative purposes - little hands probably won't fit in it, but little treasures will.

The winner will be chosen randomly on Saturday, January 17th. You have until 9:00 PST on January 16th to enter. The winner will choose one of the above items and I will ship it to you free! Because of International shipping charges, I am only opening this to US residents.

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Beginnings

Remember Haiku Monday? Well, Laurie who does it on her blog has been sick for pretty much all of December and into January. This is the problem of being home all day with a sick kid. You just pass it back and forth. I should know, we did the same thing.

Anyhow, her last post presented "beginnings" as the topic for the next Haiku. It's a harder subject for me and so pushed it to the back of my mind.

Then all of the CPSIA "stuff" (please vote by clicking the icon to the right if you haven't already) came up and I've been forced to think about new beginnings. Unless I want to open myself up to liability (which I don't), I'll need to close my stores at least temporarily. And I'm trying to not think of it as an ending to something that we put a lot of time, effort and money into... but I'm trying to think of it as the possibility for a new beginning.

So, while I push forward with my efforts against this legislation... and I work to prepare myself for compliance... I have been thinking about a new beginning and what that might be for me.

A new beginning
opportunity for change
good things can still come

dwelling on sadness
a love may come to an end
new one to begin

That's all I have in me for today. My mind is fried. With the CPSIA legislation looming, the deadline for getting rid of all the children's outgrown clothes and toys nearing, taxes, Lyssie's birthday and my husband working extended hours... I'm tapped. When I'm tired, I either become a person of few words... or a person of mean words from frustration. So, I have been keeping to myself mostly as I try to work through all the events in my life. I'm glad I have this blog to share the happy ones.

Oh - and I welcome idea for a Tinkerbell party (where most of her friends are boys).

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Bento #6

This time I finally got away from the sandwich! Yay! I think the kids were excited too as they are the entire thing.

Contents:

• Rice (shaped like a rabbit, but you can't see that)
• Steamed carrots
• Meatloaf (I cooked the meatloaf directly in these cute little "pans" from left over meat when I made meatballs the night before)
• Grapes
• String Cheese
• Crackers
  

All food groups represented! I'm really liking these wider bento boxes. I find that they are much easier to fill than the narrower ones.

Since this bento lunch, I've also done a bento dinner which came out great. I had promised the kids a bento box because we were supposed to meet some friends. Then plans changed... but they still wanted their dinner in a bento box. I didn't take pictures (I forgot), but it came out great and they ate it up. I have a feeling they wouldn't have eaten as much has it been presented on an ordinary plate.

I used the narrower box and put a layer of rice on the bottom (with soy sauce - I'm not ready to venture into allowing them to put their own on yet), and I topped it with teriyaki tofu on one side and teriyaki chicken on the other (left overs). The upper box was half corn and half grapes with string cheese in the middle. Again, I was able to cover all the food groups.

I'd like to find other foods for each food group that the kids will eat. I use grapes a lot, but with Lyssie's fruit selection limited... I can't really veer too far. She's at the age now where she gets sad and offended if her brother gets a food that she doesn't. In fact, it makes her cry and she cowers in a corner - yes, I'm sure it's for the dramatic effect - but it's heartbreaking.

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Picnic indoors

I just went downstairs and this is what I saw. My daughter, completely passed out and next to her... a cute little picnic. She broke into the dress-up box today and rediscovered tons of new things. One was this set of color sorting items . I think they were bought through my son's fundraiser back when he was in preschool.

And this reminded me that I wanted to share the felt food that my mom made for Lyssie. It was one of her favorite gifts and she plays with it everyday (I've made her keep it all in her room though because I can only imagine all that "macka-only-cheese" everywhere in the house).

She's working on making more, but for Christmas she gave her tortillas, a pizza (minus the toppings - still working on those, but Lyssie uses her felt board pieces), lettuce, tomato, cheese & hamburger (minus the bun, those too are still coming, but Lyssie uses them for the tacos she makes with the tortillas) and then pasta including Macaroni and cheese, ravioli and bowties. Sooo cute! She loves them all.

In the picture, she's using the macaroni and cheese for the cheese in her quesadilla. They are so cute and she loves them! I hope that we can replace all of her plastic foods with felt. The plastic ones keep cracking and I'm afraid she's going to pinch her little fingers. Besides, the felt food is cuter!

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Making up for no school on Monday

I decided that I needed to get Robbie writing again. His teach suggested having him write a story - but I still think that's a little beyond him. So, I decided we would make a book and have him fill in his own ideas. The easiest way to do this was by mimicking Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

I printed up a few pages that had a window, some lines and the words "I see a" and "looking at me" with a space for him to fill in what he sees. I then cut out a some textures from magazines (I started with trying to let the kids find the textures but quickly realized it was a bit of a struggle for them to grasp what I was asking as they were focused on cutting out entire pictures - which is okay, just not for this project). I made sure not to make the pieces any specific shapes because I still wanted them to cut them to whatever they wanted.

He picked an animal and cut each body part out of the various color pieces. For Lyssie, I adapted the project by having her choose and animal and cutting the body parts out herself. She glued them on putting each piece in the right place (for example, legs below the body, head above the body). She insisted on 6 legs - I needed to allow for some creativity!

Robbie had me glue his pieces on for him as he made them a bit small and got frustrated that his little red spots on his tree frog weren't gluing down with the color side facing up.

Finally, I had Lyssie tell me the color and name of her animal and I wrote it for her (she also wrote it in her own language). I had Robbie write his on his how. This is just the first page of their book. We will continue to make these to help him with his writing. He's concentrating on getting small letters to stay below the middle line and his big letters to touch the top and bottom lines.

Both kids enjoyed the project and I enjoyed watching them create their animals. I love that once we had the pieces, we each had a different idea of how they would go together. I did the pig to demonstrate what we were doing. Robbie glued the pig together.

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