So About This Owl

Okay, the long-promised details of this whole owl costume, alternately titled: How I Became a Crafty Mom and Didn't Even Hate It.

So.

I thought I had hand-me-down (freebie) costumes for all three kids lined up this year, but at the last minute, both the ones I was hoping I could use for Nathan and Anneliese ended up being too big and didn't pan out.

Since we had a Harry Potter robe in the dress up bin (and a Gryffindor scarf a friend made me a few years back), I thought it would be super cute if they went as Harry and his owl, Hedwig. So I did some googling and saw lots of moms who had made owl costumes, and because I am blindly and wildly overconfident, I thought hey I could do that! (Mark and Another Nathan wore bemused smiles and raised their eyebrows.)

So I drove my ass to the craft store (I KNOW!!!) and bought supplies -- felt and feathers and fabric glue and a plastic eye mask with elastic. Then I got all crafy up in here.

Step 1 - I printed a petal template from the interwebz and traced it onto the felt and then cut out like a zillion of them. Well, like a hundred. Or two. Until I had enough to cover a pillowcase, like this:

I might or might not have sent a lot of texts during this process. Look at me cutting out felt petals! Still cutting out felt petals! Wait do these look like scales or like feathers? What should my ratio of white petals to brown petals be? Yep still cutting! (Crafty mommies are fascinating texters, it turns out.)

Anyway.

Step 2 - I cut a neck hole and arm holes in said pillowcase, then turned it inside out to pin in the seams so it'd be slim enough for Anneliese to wear like a shirt dress. (Good thing pinterest exists or I'd never know there was a whole movement of mommies out there who can't stop making sh!t from pillowcases. I see you, pillowcase mommies!)

Step 3 - And then, with a bit of "help" from my owl-to-be, I glued that felt to that pillowcase. Like a boss.

First fitting!

(I ended up cutting open the pillowcase seam at the top of one of the shoulders -- I wanted it to fit more snugly around the neck, but still needed a way to make it easier for her to get in and out. We just safety pinned it once she was in, but if I did it again I would get some velcro or snaps.)

Step 4 - To make the mask, I did a google image search for an owl mask template, found one with a shape I liked, enlarged it on our printer/copier, then traced it onto card stock. And by "card stock" (which y'all know I do not just keep on hand) I mean the inside of a cereal box, because hellz yes I am crafty hear me roar.

Step 5 - I cut some felt and paper, markered/crayoned a bit, and layered them in concentric circles until it looked like this:

I didn't worry about cutting eye holes, because I knew Anneliese wouldn't want it on her eyes, and masks weren't allowed at her preschool costume parade anyway. (No eyes, not a mask. Technically this is an owl headpiece, obviously.) Anyway, then I stuck it to the craft store mask. With scotch tape. STAY CLASSY, CRAFTY ERIN.

I won't lie, I was pretty freaking proud of that mask. I texted a picture of it to Mark and he asked why it didn't have a beak, and good news y'all, we're still not divorced.

Anneliese, however, loved it, and with some feathers (also from the craft store, omg how many times can I mentioned I went to a CRAFT STORE in one post?) in her pigtails, the outfit was complete.

(Hey Mark, notice she didn't even ask why there were no wings. Nobody else better ask that either.)

And that's the story of how I glued some felt to a pillowcase and became this year's breakout crafty mom superstar.

(This is the post that was the most helpful in my costume planning, if anyone wants to try to make something like this.)

Baby in a Shoe Mirror

In case y'all are curious what the best part of the shoe store is...

... Charlotte has discovered it.

A Pink Donut with Sprinkles

Anneliese has become accustomed to the occasional donut after the gym.

Your daily Anneliese

I totally get it.

Sicksgiving 2012

Instead of writing lovely and funny and thankful posts over the last week like everyone else on the internet, here's how I spent my week:

Saturday afternoon before Thanksgiving, Mark and Nathan (in our bed, as terrible timing would have it) suddenly got hit with some bug (which was apparently going around) (which I didn't know about). Charlotte also saw it as a great time to yarf in her crib.

I spent a long night camped on the living room floor with Nathan surrounded by towels on the couch, going back and forth between scrambling to get him to the bathroom in time, and checking on Mark where I had sent his sickness over to the guest house.

Sunday afternoon, right when we were feeling like the worst had passed (haaaaaaaaaaaa no), Nathan got sick again (in his bed, this time). And then that night, Anneliese started throwing up too (you guessed it, in her bed). So I got to spend another night camped out in the living room, but this time with a child who had no hope of making it to the bathroom on time.

Mommyhood means catching vom in your bare hands. And not even being that grossed out.

Mommyhood also means watching Tangled on endless loop. That part I didn't mind as much.

Yes, Charlotte is literally asleep on her feet.

Monday my children flung themselves on various pieces of furniture around the house and stared at the walls all day. 

That night, when Mark was working, and I was so exhausted and frustrated and cranky I could barely think, sweet Another Nathan came and made dinner (a germ-exposure decision that would later bite him in the ass) and I finally got to rest and let myself be the one taken care of. I felt relaxed and loved.

Then on Tuesday it got me. Because of course it did. (Turns out it's not possible to avoid a bug your whole family has had, just through the force of sheer will.)

Wednesday morning the colds that Mark and Charlotte had been fighting for a week turned into fevers and coughing and aches. Charlotte couldn't sleep and Mark could barely talk. 

We officially cancelled Thanksgiving.

On Thursday I pieced together a makeshift holiday meal (with two less-than-professional helpers). 

The grownups tasted it.  The kids mostly didn't. 

Black Friday, I escaped our hothouse of vom and had a fun shopping day while sicky Mark managed a sicky baby and two increasingly-sick-of-each-other siblings. 

Saturday was tree day, so we smiled at the shining sun, went to the farmer's market, and loaded our tree on the top of the minivan full of our three kids. (Because that's who we are now. WEIRD.) 

We decorated it. We put the batteries back in Jingle and read together. Mark hung lights on the roof and wreaths in the window and never even cursed me under his breath. We picked out wrapping paper and put garland on the mantel (Nathan: that garlic is so pretty!) (and we will never call it garland again). We felt content and thankful that we were finally getting better.

And then Sunday Mark and Anneliese turned up with bloodshot weepy gunky eyes, because apparently Sicksgiving 2012 will NEVER FREAKING END.

Y'all. I can't even.

Charlotte, Pushing

Look who is pushing a toy stroller around the house!


(If you can't see the embedded video, click here to watch it on YouTube.)

If she can make this happen by the end of the year, she'd be our earliest walker yet. Go Charlotte go!!

Picture Face, Revisited

Recently Anneliese has started doing THIS when we take pictures of her:

Why? I... have no idea. Is she trying to improve her picture face and be funny like mommy? Maybe. Or are we making this face at her when we take the picture? (Hmmm that seems likely, actually.)

Either way, it makes me laugh.

State Fair Wins and Fails (Butter Elvis Not Included)

So, we went to the state fair... about a month ago. (I am so on top of all things bloggity.) With three kiddies, the fair is a bit different than when it was just Mark and me.  This year we didn't get on any adult rides. We didn't see any fancy crafts. We went in broad daylight when the crowds were thin enough to push strollers (strollers! plural! like two strollers!) through. We did not shoot targets to win turkeys. We didn't go into even one exhibit building.

What we did do was ride kiddie rides and eat fried junk food. Yay North Carolina?

WIN - The big kids are old enough to go on rides themselves. And Anneliese's bravery makes Nathan a little less chicken. Sibling support at its best.

FAIL - Charlotte miiiiiight have gotten a bit sunburned on her still-kinda-bald hatless head.

WIN - Daniel Tiger at the pbs kids tent. (Don't ask me why Daniel is the only one looking at the camera.)

FAIL - This was about two seconds before the rooster crowed in Charlotte's face and she completely lost her sh!t. I don't know what her favorite animal will end up being, but I think we can safely say not rooster.

WIN - A friend who helps you manages your strollers and corresponding small people who ride in them. If you don't have this friend, I am sad for you.

FAIL - This stroller might be a bit small for our tall girl.

WIN - Fried everything, and dipped cheesecake on a stick.

FAIL - It's not the state fair until someone chickens out of going down the giant slide. This year? Nathan.

WIN - Both kids eat hot dogs now. I see a light at the end of the picky eating tunnel!

FAIL - Hey Anneliese y u no looky at the camera?

WIN - Being out past naptime is easier if the baby naps anyway. Yay flexible baby! (Actually, yay anything that wears kids out!)

FAIL - no sculptures made of butter.

Another Nathan was properly horrified. You see, he comes from Iowa and in case you didn't know, Iowa has the best state fair of all the state fairs (in related news, Another Nathan has more state pride than most people we know). And at the Iowa state fair, they have a butter cow. It's famous! It's important!

He legitimately couldn't believe we didn't have any butter sculptures at the fair. He kept asking Mark "what, no things made of butter? none? you mean, no butter elvis? no butter Last Supper?" with a straight face.

Actually I just decided North Carolina's lack of a butter Last Supper might be a WIN.

Apparently They Went to the Park

One of my favorite things continues to be finding pictures Mark took on his phone or our camera of stuff I didn't even know happened.

Wait, favorite? Okay, favorite. Let's say favorite.

(Yes, I know this is basically proof of terrible communication. But we're going with yay! fun! surprising! instead. Just go with it.)

Anneliese pushed Charlotte in a swing! Adorable!

Anneliese climbed a jungle gym by herself! Adorable!

Anneliese road a boat a Pullen Park! Adorable!

Anneliese road a giraffe on the carousel at Pullen Park! Adora... wait. Daddy is spending money on rides and treats that Mommy always says no to. Hmmm.

Okay Daddy, let's smile to ourselves about being spoiled a little bit today. Oh and ride the train. Mommy doesn't need to know.

Adorable.

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Exactness

I have just eaten (for breakfast, if you must know) the last of the best batch of cookies I have ever made in my life.

But. They kinda were not my own doing.

Okay here's the thing about Another Nathan. He, much like my dear husband and sweet oldest child, is what you'd call a Rule Follower. I am... not what you'd call that. So while I'm a decent cook, my Rule Following shortcomings make me not a great baker. You have to measure to bake well, and I'm notsomuch one with the measuring. I'm a firm believer in eyeballing it.

Well it turns out Another Nathan is a firm believer in doing the recipe exactly as instructed. (Shocking, for a Rule Follower.) But true story: if you do that, you get freaking delicious cookie bars.

They were perfect. The perfect combination of sweet and salty, the perfect combination of crisped up tops and gooey insides, the perfect blend of dough and chips. I cannot say enough good things about these cookies.

Left to my own devices, I would have just thrown in two two eggs, not separating out one of the whites. I would have tossed the unwrapped caramels straight onto the dough in the baking dish, definitely not melted them down first with cream. I would have used whatever salt I had on hand, not the fancy fleur de sel Another Nathan had in his cabinet. I would have just pinched the tiny amounts of those random ingredients I'm not sure do anything anyway -- baking soda and powder and the like. I definitely wouldn't have packed the brown sugar into the measuring cup (!!) -- yes I was wide-eyed. Who actually does that?!

But in his kitchen, I (grudgingly) played by his rules. And let the record show, those cookie bars were awesome. 

(Let the record also show: dude loves him some Cheerios. Even hoards them a little. Yeah I said it.)

Recipe: Chocolate chip salted caramel cookie bars. Go make some yourself and you'll see their perfection.  Follow the directions exactly though, or I will sic our Rule Follower best friend on you.

Church Family Goes Awkward

You know those terribly awkward church directory photos churches insist on taking, even though it's 2012 and that whole concept should have flown right out the door with the nineties eighties? Yeah. Those.

Our church (sadly) is still clinging fiercely to the trend. So we did our congregational duty and went to have a family photo made. So that our shining faces will be in the directory when it comes out. In case someone needs to look us up and figure out who we are. (Yes, people still do that. Adorable huh.)

We picked out shirts that worked together but weren't too matchy-matchy. We washed and brushed our hair, and employed bobby pins. We piled together in an array of stools and stepping blocks in front of the requisite fake-painty background. I sat through a way-too-salesy chat with Nick the Fabulous Photographer who laid on the guilt trip thick about how rarely we have family photos made (true), how lovely and professional his photog skills were (ummm) and all about funding this project for our church (gag me; I know who profits off these things, dude). I felt worried for the less-firm souls who probably spent way too much money on photography that Fabulous Nick was "saddened" wasn't my preferred style.

ANYWAY.

It's not my favorite thing (have you guessed?) but when the directory comes out, this lovely moment of awkward brilliance will be inside it.

Nathan: seriously with the smile?
Dad: might be a bit tired
Mom: might be gritting my teeth
Anneliese: immortalizing the snaggletooth
Charlotte: I can't believe these are my people. For serious y'all.

I mean, it's not terrible. We're all looking at the camera. And most of us are smiling or at least looking moderately pleasant. Anneliese's head is covering my double chin which is a photography fail but skinnymaking win, amIright? And Charlotte's fingers around Mark's are pretty much adorable actually.

But still. If any of you (grandparents) even breathe a hint of wanting a copy of this to hang in your houses, BRACE YOURSELF FOR ENDLESS EYE ROLLING (also we didn't order any haha suckas).

The Mondays. Kind of.

Let's talk about all the loops that can be thrown into what should've been an average Monday:

1.) Forgotten (til the last minute) dentist appointment for Anneliese's freak snaggletooth (which is coming in nicely... if nicely is the word you would use to describe "halfway in and making her look even more like a freak) (but a cute one). We made it to the appointment but had to delay the gym and groceries because of it.

2.) Phone call from "sweet" (HEAVY QUOTES THERE) old man at church on the library committee with me, who has... drama. On the library committee. I'm not even sure about what. But make no mistake, it took a half-hour conversation in the grocery store parking lot to sort it out. Whatever it was.

3.) Broken car, and husband needing to be picked up from the repair shop. Good thing I hadn't actually made it into the grocery store yet.

4.) Gym = officially a lost cause. Sad face.

5.) Botched kiddie haircut. (Kid in question? Nathan.) It's not terrible. But it's too short. And somehow also too long, in the front. And I don't love it. Oh well, it'll grow. (And thanks to our punchcard, it was free. That  helps.)

6.) Eye infected baby. (Kid in question? Charlotte.) Eye crusties after church, then a day later she's dischargey and weepy and in enough pain that she wouldn't nap. That's unusual for her. Our doctor couldn't get her in for another week (*sigh*) so we went to an urgent care. They were fast and kind and basically excellent and she has some kind of bacterial infection in her eyes that's completely treatbable with some antibiotic drops.

6a.) No, I did not give her my eye infection. I asked. Since that was a month ago, they said it was extremely unlikely.

6b.) How can I be a parent of three kids for over five year and never see an ear infection (the number one most common childhood illness) but can't stay ahead of eye maladies? Of all things.

7.) Insurance snafu over said eyedrops. Our insurance told our pharmacy that coverage on Charlotte had expired last March. Which is weird because they covered her hospitalization in June. And also many appiontments since then. And also the urgent care visit one hour earlier. So basically, wtf. (I paid out of pocket. It was dinnertime, she hadn't napped, we were cranky and hungry and tired and she needed the meds.)

8.) Baby's first tantrum. Little contaminated Charlotte didn't get to take a bath with her siblings, and pulling her out of the room and away from her beloved splash time (let's be honest, it's a coveted rare treat) was... not awesome. She basically lost her sh!t.

But! It's a milestone! Baby's first tantrum.

So I took a picture and instagrammed the crap out of it. Like you do.

It was a long (really long) day, but I never really felt overwhelmed. Like, never once felt like crying or raging or crumpling. I was oddly unbothered. Which is maybe good and definitely weird. I would make a joke about excellent medication but I'm not actually sure how I feel about it, so... yeah. But tomorrow this will be me again:

Yknow, happy coffee Erin.

Until then, it's been another Monday for the books. #deuces

My Boys

Mark took Nathan to (another) Clemson football game last weekend. I don't care what they're doing or what they're wearing or where they are, as long as these happy smiles are part of it.

Aw. My favorite dudes.

Birthday Leaves

At some point in my childhood, one of my parents told me that the leaves change for my birthday.

I know in some parts of the country, and even in other parts of North Carolina, the leaves have turned beautiful colors and already fallen off the trees by now. But here, in the carolina central piedmont, I swear -- I look around every year on the first of November and suddenly the leaves have really changed.

For my birthday.

And I'd like to thank whichever parent first planted that notion in my head, because I still believe it a little bit.