operation haremail...

Tammy over at Polkadotmittens.com put together and hosted "Operation Haremail" earlier this month. She paired off all of the participants and left us to our own devices as far as the swapping went. My swap partner is Leigh over at My Sleepy Head. I ordered a couple things I thought she might like on the 16th, that's right, the SIXTEENTH, and they still have not arrived. Ugh. The tardiness of these two items has in turn made the rest of the package tardy as well. Easter stuff can still be fun after Easter, right? Well, I finally boxed it up and mailed what I had together this morning. The bonus box to follow will hopefully be worth the wait. Here's a sneak peek of what the first box includes:

hayseeds and greenhorns: prototype number one

I am pretty sure that I'm not the only mom in the universe that freaks out about the thought of placing their fresh, clean, shiny, relatively germ-free child onto a public restroom changing table. Or worse yet, walking into a public restroom that hasn't seen an upgrade (or a cleaning for that matter) since 1975. THE HORROR! I have been known to promptly turn right around, find a manager to bitch at and then walk my child to the car to be changed. SIGH.

Anyway, one of the numerous baby items I find to be a necessity is the portable changing pad. I bought one for Logan before he was born and used it to pieces. Had to buy another one for Caleb because I hate for him to have ratty hand-me-downs. When I bought the first one I thought what a clever contraption, but it could certainly be cuter. And then I went on an oilcloth buying spree. And then I even drew out a pattern and mapped some ideas for closures, pockets, etc. And then I folded them all up and put them in a binder to be forgotten about for a while. A year or so later Martha had a segment where she made jumbo sized ones for changing stations around the house (another very clever thing to have around, especially if you live in a two story abode). After that I didn't think about it again until just recently. With all that sloppy back story out of the way, Caleb now has a NEW and CUTE and CUSHY changing pad.




After making this changing pad I have decided upon some improvements and some additions for the next one. Plus I really want to make tags to sew into these things. Have to decide how I'm going to do that. I'm thinking I'll buy some giant twill tape and then silkscreen the logo onto it. That may end up being more trouble than it's worth, but it ought to be fun to try at least.

illustration friday: crowded

Crowded was a good cue this week. I sketched up a handful of ideas and let Logan choose which one to finish. So, without further ado I present to you: Crowded Monster Drawers.



I inked it up, scanned it in and then started to color it when Logan decided, "Momma, I don't like your monster anymore." I asked what he didn't like, he didn't like the orange, so we changed it to green, green and green again. Even after all the greens, he still didn't like it...I suspect he was just being a little turd about the whole thing anyway so I changed it back to orange.

happy birthday, uncle nic...

from Boobah Caleb and Iceman Logan.

confetti eggs are fun...

Yes, indeed, fun for everyone. On Saturday we attended a bridal shower for my brother and his fiancee. It was a family type gathering with about a gozillion little kids, mid-size kids and big kids too. All the men folk sat out back while the women folk oohed and aahed over all the lovely shower gifts. All the kiddos sat around rather patiently waiting, waiting, waiting, for the Easter Egg Hunt that would follow. I'm telling you they must have set out a thousand eggs to be found. There were candy filled plastic eggs and confetti eggs as far as the eye could see.

Caleb doesn't quite have the egg hunt concept down yet. His idea of egg hunting is to be carried around while Mom or Dad hunts the eggs and then when it's time to pick up the eggs let him down to retrieve the egg and repeat. When this procedure wasn't completed to his satisfaction this was the scene:

Saturday-


and on Sunday too-


Logan totally has the egg hunt down, but the confetti eggs...well, they're a new fangled concept to this three year old. Once he had a sufficient bounty of eggs he brought his basket over to show us his loot. He knew to open the plastic ones for candy but the confetti eggs needed an explanation. We told him, "You crack these eggs on people's heads." He then proceeded to bonk himself on the head with one, only just enough to crunch the egg a little bit. Aunt Patty took it upon herself to show Logan just how confetti eggs should be broken and that's all she wrote folks. Logan then proceeded to grab confetti eggs out of his basket one at a time, very methodically. He'd hold one at arms length, concentrate on it a bit and then bend his elbow and crack it on his own skull.




Very 'frat boy and the beer can' if you ask me. We laughed our asses off.

happy easter!

Hope everyone's holiday was nice. Ours was a little hectic, but oh so fun. I made the above cookies for Easter treats for the fam in Victoria. My favorites are the little chickies and the polka dot eggs.

When I awake from my sugar coma tomorrow, I have tales of confetti eggs and other such hilarity. You won't want to miss it!

imagine my delight...

A few days ago I came across a website (via Muppets.com) called Zazzle.com. It's similar to Cafepress.com but Zazzle's pricing structure is preset and contributors receive a "royalty" for each item purchased with their images. They do offer a ton of different options as far as products available for printing. Their prices are on the high side and I don't know what the quality is like just yet, but it's an interesting site nonetheless. Anyway, I uploaded my little blue chickadee a few days ago and was heading over this evening to upload my evil little allergy maker and found that the kind folks over at Zazzle have featured my image on the home page. That just tickles me to death. So, to whomever found my little birdie sweet enough to mention, thank you.

illustration friday: bloom

Spring is in the air and waging full-on guerilla warfare on my sinuses. I'm looking forward to getting out in the yard and planting my flower beds in a few weeks. It will be especially enjoyable this year as I will delegating instead of actually doing. I'll have to remember NOT to get used to the idea, heh.

hayseeds and greenhorns...

Here at the Lyons' den we have an impending addition to the "pride". Lynn's older brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first baby and she's due in a relatively short period of time. So, with that happy deadline looming I've been thinking of things that I found to be invaluable with new babies around. Whilst filing through the detritus that is currently my brain I realized that an awful lot of it isn't very cute for little girls. Since I don't have a little girl of my own to encase in cuteness, I must assist in the encasing of my neice instead.

All the planning and thinking and designing has resurrected an old bug in my ear: designing my own collection of baby gear and clothes. I'm thinking of calling the line Hayseeds and Greenhorns with the little blue guy below as a sort of mascot.



What do you think of the name? Of the logo/mascot? Any and all input is welcome!

outbreak!

Lynn's quick trip to S. A. with the boys ended up being the trip from hell. It was fraught with gastrointestinal pyrotechnics while there and on the way back home too. Once the guys made it home both boys were running fevers.

Caleb's fever subsided this morning and he seems fine. Logan's fever spiked last night to 104.7 so we promptly plunked him into a cool bath and dosed him with tylenol. He looked a like he had a bit of a sunburn too so I googled his symptoms only have SCARLET FEVER pop up first on list. Scarlet Fever sounds so ominous. Big, scary words that can be substituted at random with STREP THROAT. We made a quick visit to the pediatrician where they swabbed Logan's throat and confirmed what Google had told me. Strep throat and a gigantic double daily dose of amoxicillin. With the first dose of meds Logan's fever went away completely and he proclaims himself "not sick" anymore.

Now, if only I could do the same...crap. My sinuses are flaring up big time...Spring MUST be in the air around here.

crank up the calliope music and pull up a chair...

WARNING: If you happen to have impending nuptials round about the month of May, then ye best be skipping this post lest yer surprise be ruined.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please? Come one, come all. Step right up and see the AMAZING $150 apron. Gasp! One hundred and fifty dollars!!? Yes! (You see, I told you you'd need a chair.) And it doesn't even assist you with your bathroom hygiene or service your husband. That's right folks, all it does is look pretty while it keeps your britches clean.

I really love how it turned out; I so hope my brother's fiancee likes it. And the Amy Butler fabrics? TO. DIE. FOR. They have such a nice hand and the colors are gorgeous. Worth every penny.

How could it possibly cost $150? Well, here's the break down:

• The pattern rang in at $12.95 (which is really steep considering YOU have to calculate and draft your own pattern. Don't get me wrong, it is a cute pattern, and if you have had previous experience using patterns or making patterns, then it's a snap, but if not, well, I think it might be a bit of whip).


• I used 2.25 yards of this fabric for a total of $17.00.


• I used 2.25 yards of this fabric for a total of $17.00.


• I used one yard of this fabric for a total of $8.50.


• Lastly it took me about four and half hours to make and I think a fair wage for such labor is $20 an hour (HA-hah, in a dream world, I know, but it's my dream world).

So, there you have it. A really cute apron that you can only ever make as a gift or for yourself because you could never hold any kind of profit margin for all the fabric and time that goes into it!

how to tame the wild beast...

that is sometimes Caleb:



Scoop him up and plop him in your lap and depending on what sort of taming you need, pull up this or this.



The badgers have put him to sleep on more than one occasion. Strange, I know, but I think it's the repetition of sound. He just zones out on the critters and before you know it, out like a light.



As for the lions, they do a fine job of squelching uncontrollable temper tantrums. As in almost instantaneously. Lucky for me the wee little lad doesn't read or really identify with dead animals yet.

One might ask what this says about my parenting skills and frankly it says I am one resourceful mammacita...if one were to ask me anyway.

speaking of fraggles...

When I was little, it is safe to say, I worshipped all things Jim Henson. We got to watch the Muppet Show whenever it was on...Friday nights I think (hard to say as it seems like a million years ago). I loved all of the characters, from Gonzo and the Chickens to Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas will always be one of my favorite holiday specials. And, holy crap, when the Fraggles came out, I LOVED them too. Especially Mokey and Boober.

The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth rank way up there on my most favorite movies list. The Dark Crystal scared the crap out of me the first time I saw it, same with Labyrinth, but the characters made me feel like it was going to be okay and they always kept me coming back to watch the movies over and over again. Those two movies could easily send me off on a Maurice Sendak tangent, but I have a couple of bored teenagers and two restless toddlers on my hands right now and the whole reason for this post was to point out that the United States Postal Service is issuing a set of commemorative stamps for Jim Henson and the Muppets on September 27th. Jeez, do I ever need a ritalin mist sprayed in my face!

illustration friday: fragile

At least my fifth metatarsal is fragile anyway. I had several different ideas come to mind for this week's topic. Among them: babies, fragile and indestructible at the same time; hearts, feelings, relationships; FRAGGLES for the stream of consciousness thing (man, I LOVE(D) the Fraggles); baby birds; and of course my broken foot.

I cannot get away from this broken foot. I am constantly reminded that I can't use it all day and then I dream about not being able to use it or the consequences of using it all night. Exhausting I tell you...and I'm only at week FOUR of a minimum of TEN weeks recovery period. UGH. My pity party is over, for now.

robots rocked...

We didn't make it to the IMAX theater like I had originally planned, but the movie was good nonetheless. The animation in the movie is really incredible. The movie offers a handful of funny innuendos for the adults scattered about but otherwise it is geared straight for the wee ones and in my book that is fantastic. Logan only needed one potty break in the middle of the movie and one bribe of candy to remain seated toward the end but otherwise he was "riveted." Caleb was totally engrossed for about an hour, but then again, it's really a miracle that his attention was kept by anything for more than four and a half seconds.

'repairing' for adventure...

Since "the babies," my youngest brother (16) and sister (17), are here this week for spring break I thought we'd go see Robots at the IMAX theater. How cool will that be? One of our eight year old neighbors says it is 'by far' the best robot movie he has ever seen. Lucky for me my sibs want to see the movie as much as I do. Unlucky for them is the fact that since they are considerably more mobile than I am at the moment, they will get to wrestle my spawn in the event of any unruly outbreaks. Being the big sister with the broken foot has its advantages after all.

Logan is under the impression that the robots in this movie are cousins to Roly Poly Olie. Did you know William Joyce is a producer and the production designer on this movie? I absolutely adore William Joyce's work. LOVE IT. I like to think my boy has a good eye, beyond the fact that they're all robots. Hee.

who knew little boys...

could be so opinionated? Ha, just kidding, I know exactly how opinionated little boys can be. Not only are they opinionated, but they also do not shy away from telling everyone in a forty-seven mile radius what they think.

Case in point: Last Thursday night my in-laws took us to dinner. Lynn was totally jonesing for Benihana. His parents, who had just driven five hours to get to our house and were going to be on an international flight the following day, did not want to drive 40+ minutes south during rush hour traffic in DFW for Benihana. Lynn's compromise was to drive 25 minutes south to Jinbeh, another Japanese steak house...it was a crap shoot (we've never tried the place before) that worked out pretty well. The food was good, the "show" was fun, etc.

HOWEVER, about midway through our meal, our precious little monster, Logan, LOUDLY proclaimed, "I hate this place! Let's go to the REAL Benihana." Lynn, Aunt Misty and I found this to be HILARIOUS. The grandparents, not so much, they sort of nervously chuckled. Perhaps the truthful rantings of a three year old are enough to set off the spatula and fork weilding chef? Could be, but I've never actually witnessed it happen. I can say that with some degree of expertise given the gozillion points we've accrued on our Benihana frequent flyer card recently.

In any event, sheesh...little boys are fun to have around.

butterflies and beautiful quilts...

The first time I remember seeing a Jane Sassaman quilt was on Martha Stewart Living. If memory serves it was this quilt that was featured. It is a gorgeous quilt and it is HUGE too.

I was roaming the FreeSpirit Fabric company site a couple nights ago, checking out the different color ways offered in Amy Butler's Ginger Bliss collection for a gift I'll be making (will post pics once the gift is recieved). After drooling all over Amy Butler's fabrics, I started looking through the other collections FreeSpirit offers. I especially enjoyed Jane Sassaman's Butterfly Garden as the colors and graphic quality of the line are beautiful. Upon wringing out the dish towel placed under my chin I decided to visit Jane's site since I hadn't been by in a very long time. I love looking at her quilts...I would REALLY love to see one in person. Especially this one. It's too bad I don't have $9000 laying around, I'd snatch it up in a minute.

Well, enough lollygagging for me today...time to go attempt some housework. Blech.

illustration friday: ancient

This week's theme is ancient. I don't have much time to put forth for this week's contribution...the flood gates are about to burst open with company, company and more company (all of the overnight variety). With that knowledge in the back of my head I began my brainstorming. The first thing that came to mind was a row of columns depicting each of the orders: ionic, doric, corinthian. I thought, "ugh, not today." Then I thought of obsolete computer hardware: the abacus, Commodore 64, 486. Again, I thought, "ugh." Finally, along those lines of old computer stuff, a vision of 5.25 inch floppies began dancing in my head. I thought, "aha! Simple and ancient too."

a little luck of the irish...

"May those that love us, love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping."

I drew up a little four leaf clover for Saint Paddy's Day t-shirts. I put the image on a handful of different t-shirts for bigs and littles alike. Just click on the tee to have a look.

new tim burton flicks...

Round about Christmastime I discovered that Tim Burton has a new stop-motion animated film, Corpse Bride, to be released in September (!!!!!). I can hardly wait. Seriously, I cannot wait. Add to my excitement the fact that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is being released in July instead of the holiday season. Lynn and I can't wait to see this version of Willie Wonka. Lynn claims that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of his favorite books growing up. I suspect his favorite parts were the little songs the oompa loompas sang since he still sings them (or versions of them) to this day.

illustration friday: jazz

First things first, I think my submission for this week's Illustration Friday theme needs a little background music. Turn up your volume and C L I C K - H E R E. Okay, now doesn't that make things twice as nice? I think so anyway. Dave Brubeck is amazing to me.

Secondly, I couldn't quite pin down what I wanted to do this week and then my seriously brilliant mother inspired me as she often does. So, with all that said, here is my own nod to Monsieur Matisse (and Mister Brubeck too).