Yo-Yo Ma-Ma

My sweet friend, Bev, asked me to make her a yo-yo monkey way back in the spring.

Looks easy enough, Simplicity 2441!

Making fabric yo-yo's always fascinated me, so I was eager to dive right in and make my friend a monkey.  Little did I know, the pattern called for NINETY of those suckers.  I kept telling Shelby I was going to turn into a yo-yo if I had to make any more.  She just thought that was hilarious.  I can now officially say I am a yo-yo expert.  "Rufus" is finally off my back!

Shelby might not let go of Rufus!

And, on another sewing note, my heart went pitter-patter when I saw my sister walking up to my house carrying a mysterious box from her mother-in-law.

Since the mother-in-law is a retired home ec. teacher, I couldn't wait to open it up.  Come to find out, it was a box full of all her scrap fabric.  YIPPEE!!  Thanks so much, Susie, for re-igniting my sew bug!  

All that fabric will come in handy making the hippo from Simplicity 2441 that Shelby has been begging for since I started Rufus.  "Make me the hippo in pink, Mama!"  Okay, so maybe my yo-yo making days aren't quite over!

Love all the yellows

A few more bits a pieces to add to my collection

  

Things that make you go hmmm

Don't you just love a good book that makes you stop and reexamine your life, maybe even make a change or two?  I can think of just a handful that have affected me and won't ever forget.





































I could probably do a blog on each on these books, but this post is about The Help.


I loved it so much back in 2010, that I am re-reading it in 2011 and am throwing a Girls' Night Out party when the movie opens. (Go here for details, be sure to speak in your best Southern accent and wear your favorite apron!)

So, how did this book change my way of thinking?  Believe it or not, it has more to do with my parenting than to do with my views on race, which is the real point.  One of the book's mothers, Mrs. Leefolt, totally ignores her only child, Mae Mo, while her hired help, Aibileen, attempts to protect and raise the darling baby girl.

Reading how Mae Mo yearns for her mom's attention got me a thinkin' 'bout my own treatment towards Haley. (See me slippin' into that Southern drawl??)  She is now 22 months old, and still isn't sleeping through the night.  I've tried everything--let her cry it out, whole milk right before bed, carnation instant breakfast in bed, tummy drops, tylenol, a bear that makes noises that mimic sounds of the womb....

At yet another 5:00 am awakening, I had an epiphany.  Why not just rock my baby girl and spend some time with her?  I wasn't going to be falling back asleep anytime soon, so I might as well make the most of the sweet time I have with Haley.  It was the best morning we've had in 22 months!  We snuggled for a good hour until the rest of the house woke up, and I just loved watching Miss Priss sleep in my arms.

How many hours have Haley and I spent in this chair together?

Hopefully I will be given many more bonding mornings and won't grow weary of this special time!

Necessity is the Mother of Re-Purposing

Child-Resistant Closures.  They're normally used for this:

But they also work well on this:

To delay Miss Haley, Queen of Emptying Bottles, from pulling yet another one of her stunts:

She even conned Shelby into trying her hand at the Child-Resistant Closure:

So far, my ingenious idea has worked.  If you happen to be at my house and see the Child-Resistant Closures on everything, now you know why!

One Tough Skull to Crack

While running from her sister, Shelby managed to conk her head on a post.  After hearing the crack, I just knew I was going to see gushing blood since this is what I saw first:

Not a good sign when the sheet rock is damaged

After lots of drama, she finally calmed down with an ice pack on her head.  Poor baby!

This morning, I was shocked (and maybe just a little disappointed) to see just a tiny bruise and no swelling since I had gone to bed last night already planning on great titles for my blog post:

• That's Gonna Leave a Mark
• Please Don't Call CPS
• Why We Haven't Been Out in Public Lately

Oh, well...at least we got some pictures and more item added to the to-do list:  fix the dining room post.

I "Built" it myself...

One of these days, I'll have enough money to buy furniture that comes ready-made.  Until my ship comes in, I'll continue to have furniture "I built myself", which sounds a whole lot better than furniture with "some assembly required."  It's a good thing I have a handy engineer for a husband and two girls that are more than eager to "build" with me.

My latest room to improve?  The sewing/crafting/leftover furniture room.  It's in the middle of being transformed into an actual room with function and design rather than just hodge-podge.  Before, I had to sew in that teeny-tiny corner while sitting on a tiny-tiny stool with no lighting for my teeny-tiny eyeballs.

Wow...

And, my worktable doubled as a bed:

The bedspread had to come off just in case my scissors slipped while cutting...

Yes, I always "build" furniture in my pj's while my "hired help" goes shirtless...

"See, Haley, you turn, turn, turn the bolt just like this."

Ta-da!  

Needless to say, I can't wait to sew on my new table I "built myself" along with some help from my girls.  The matching chair is on order.  Any bets on how many steps are involved in its construction?

On another note, any ideas on the wall color?   My awesomely hilarious sister has volunteered to help paint once we both have time.

I'm so over being L.A.M.E.!

Am I the only one that goes through times of "Lost Another Major Element"?  I call these my L.A.M.E periods in life and am hoping this latest L.A.M.E. period is just about to wrap up.  It all started in May, when this was lost/stolen/mysteriously disappeared:

Yep, that would be my (okay, not mine, but an image very similar to mine) wedding ring.  

Next on the L.A.M.E. period list was this:

I know, not near as valuable as the ring, but it was another thing I was searching for that was driving me crazy.  I KNOW I left those stamps on the counter, but suddenly, they were gone.

Then, last week, I lost this:

Yep, that would be my (okay, not mine, but an image similar!) debit card.  At this point,  I was endlessly searching for my wedding ring, a roll of stamps, and my debit card.  No pant's pocket, drawer, couch cushion, or purse had gone un-searched.  

The final breaking point of my L.A.M.E. period was the disappearance of this:

Not the kid (Haley!), but the pink blanket (Pinky!) she can't fall asleep without.  For a solid week, Haley would whine "Pinky" before nap or bedtime.  

Well, My Friends, I have good news to report!  My INCREDIBLE husband surprised me with a new wedding ring he thoughtfully picked out in Santa Fe for our anniversary (seven years on 6/26).  Forever, I will be unconsciously looking for my original ring, but my replacement just warms my heart everytime I glance down at my ring finger.  Feel free to ogle over it the next time you see me.

Those lost stamps?  Found!  I really should clean out the hutch above my computer more often...And, that debit card?  Cancelled!  I really should have done that on the first day I realized it was missing.  

Most importantly, Pinky?  FOUND!!!  That sneaky ragged blanket was hiding at the bottom of one of the 15 baskets of toys my girls have.  I really should make them clean those out more often....

Not For Use For Kids Under Six

One of Haley's favorite things to do is to empty out various bottles of stuff.  Bubble bath, mom's expensive shampoo, mom's cheap shampoo, tubes of toothpaste, and sunscreen are no longer safe in our house, as seen in exhibit A:

s#*t-eating grin...

I'm used to going through a whole roll of paper towels on a daily basis just cleaning up behind my little tasmanian devil.  But, I'm hoping today's antics taught her a lesson.  I present to the jury, exibit B:

"Not for use in children"

I left this kid alone for TWO minutes, only to discover she had covered herself in IcyHot.  I know some adults (me?) that can't handle the heat of this stuff.  Twenty-one month olds kids REALLY don't like it.  And, squeezing the remaining drops into dad's inhaler might not be the best idea either...

Dad will be making the same face the next time he uses that inhaler

Hopefully, I can start storing my stuff in normal, reachable cabinets now that Haley has tortured herself...

Our Staycation

All dressed up for July 4th

Quite by chance, I ended up with 5 days off for July 4th.  Bryon and I decided to take advantage of the time together and took the girls to the Dallas World Aquarium this morning.  Here are the highlights in pictures:

Look!  It's a bird.  It's a plane.  Nope, it's an anteater!

We were so close to the sloth, we could have touched him

Haley and the stingrays

Looking up at the waterfall

Every trip to the aquarium requires a picture just like this

Look!  It's a Sparkle-Nosed Bottle Rocket!

Mom's favorite, the "Man-Eat-Er" (Manatee)

Hello!

The Spider Crab was HUGE.  All of the Pfaff gals were fascinated.

Shelby demonstrating how the penguins stand

The prettiest colored chameleon ever! 

Shelby's favorite, the "talking" sharks.  I think she's been watching too many cartoons when she thinks sharks talk...

After escaping the gift shop without a single breakage or purchase (Whew!), we had a wonderful lunch at Chuy's, where I had the most delicious frozen watermelon margarita ever.  All in all, it was the best vacation we've had all year!