Elephant Slippers

My little munchkin's name is Jack.  He's four and a half.

On his next birthday he is turning sixty seven.

Jack at dinner in Hawaii contemplating his next investment opportunity

-20 months old

The next afternoon by the pool...liquidating his assets.

Jack is....how do I say this....Jack has a lot of emotions in his little four and a half year old self.

He loves what he loves to the moon and back, not once but twice....

Jack and his favorite friend of the moment 'Finny' 

When we arrive at his brother's baseball games he walks up to the front of the bleachers and announces

"Hi everybody!  I'm here!"

The smile on his face when he hears "Hi Jack!" from all the families is the biggest thing in the world.

You can thrill him beyond belief by giving him a mint from your purse.....

The flip-side of all that joy, is that when he drops that mint you so lovingly gave him....his heart is absolutely, achingly broken....his world is bleak....and man is that kid loud.

Yesterday morning Jack came downstairs scooting around on his tushie saying "Mommy, my foot really, really, hurts...I can't walk".  And like any mother worth her salt I said "...uh-huh" and poured more coffee.

So imagine my surprise when I finally looked at him and saw some huge prehistoric rock thing stuck in the poor guy's foot (by huge I mean the size of a sesame seed).  That's when the cursing in my head started.  Not because I was scared the foot would fall off, but because I knew I would have to be the one to pry it out of his body....with tools.

I put on my big-girl pants, downed my coffee and warned the husband what was about to begin.

".....No Mommy pleeeeaaaassssseee.  I'm begging you...I'm BEGGING you...don't do it...."

He begged....

Actually begged...

Since I really didn't want the foot to fall off...the begging didn't work.

You know what did work...

".....Thank you Mommy for fixing my foot.  I'm sorry I wasn't brave, I think I really need a hug..."

That did it....I started listing all his favorite things that might make him feel better...

"Would you like juice on the couch and a TV show?"

"no thank you...sniff"

"grandpa cookies?"

"no thank you"

"lollipop?"

"no thank you"

So I pulled out the big guns....
I had these stashed in a 'treasure box' of reading rewards.  I thought since they were soft they might actually make his foot hurt a little less....

He hasn't taken them off since.
He leaves them in the garage so he can put them on when he take off his shoes.
They are at the foot of his bed when he goes to sleep..."facing left Mommy 'cause that's easier for me".
They are going to share time at preschool tomorrow.

That's Jack...

Thanks for stopping by,

Lizy B

Bunnyprints!!!

How do you know when your friends stop being just friends and become your family?
There definitely comes a day when you realize they are a part of all your most important memories.

In our house, it also seems to have something to do with everyday vocabulary and conversation.

• We don't eat crispy tacos, we eat 'Christy Tacos'.  (flour tortillas, hot oil, all kinds of good things going on inside)
• You need a super-deluxe, squisheroo, pick-the-munchkin-up-off-their-feet kinda hug?   That's a 'Christy hug'
• What does Jack say when he's looking at the ceiling during a thunderstorm?  "Mommy, we should call Mr. Brian and thank him for making the rain stop in the living room!" (long story for another day-and yes, he says this every time it rains).
• If something needs fixing in the house, and Daddy is thinking about it a little too long without actually picking up any tools, the boys say "let's call Mr. Brian, he'll know what to do!".   Ethan will even bring the phone.

Really, I could go on and on all day....but its Easter time, so I'm thinking about this...

Ethan was 20 months old at the time, and it was Easter morning.

I was inside making breakfast and Joe and Ethan went out to get the newspaper....and then I heard the giggles.

The doorbell rang furiously and I saw...

Bunnyprints!!!

Absolutely the cutest thing I had ever seen.

So I said (quietly), "Joe, when did you do this?"

He shook his head and said, "wasn't me, I thought it was you."

Ethan LOVED it...(so did I)

After a few moments of thinking there really was a giant man-sized bunny running around town, we started thinking about who could have done this.  

We checked with the most obvious people first, our neighbors...nope not them.

You might be thinking 'didn't they know it was Christy and Brian right away?'

We didn't.  You know why?  

They live a half an hour away!  They drove all the way over in the middle of the night just so our munchkin would have a surprise in the morning....

And....the tradition stuck.

The bunny that visits our house seems to have shrunk a bit and has moved to the backyard (this works out better when mom remembers at 10 p.m. and is already wearing pajamas-no need to scare the neighbors).

He comes through the back fence, hops along the cement to our back door, then disappears under the side fence to our neighbors yard.  

I giggle hysterically while I'm doing this...its absolutely my favorite holiday tradition.

Thank you Christy and Brian (and Reece and Paige)!  This is just another way you've brightened our lives!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lizy B

A little afternoon snack...

I was thinking about making cookies the other day (so maybe I think about this everyday) and I thought....

I've been making so many sugar cookies....the boys are probably pretty tired of them.

I really should make something else....

And then I giggled....

and I thought...'oh that would be funny'

'oh...that might really be cute!'

and then this happened....

Chocolate Chip Cookies!  and Peanut Butter Cookies!

but....hmm....missing something....what does this need.....

Oh yeah!!

Got Milk?

Thanks for stopping by!

Lizy B

(still giggling)

This post is also featured on linky party on 30 handmade days

...go check it out...its great!

A flock of cranes

We started a little paper crane project here at our house the other day.

Paper cranes for Japan

After I published that post, I thought to myself  '.....maybe I should have tried to make one of those first?'

The next day, I purchased a pack of origami paper, checked out quite a few origami books from the library (none of which had instructions for the crane), watched the you tube video AND printed instructions from the Internet....whew.  I felt like I needed to be able to make one myself (that at least resembled a crane) if I was going to convince my boys that it wasn't too difficult.

You'd think we'd have an army of them by now.
Nope.

Instead, I fretted over it a bit (because that's what I do), and then started talking to other moms.
And wouldn't you just know it, the second mom I told said "cranes....like....the little origami ones right....we make those all the time..."

Then, she went over to her daughter's backpack, ripped out a piece of notebook paper (first mistake, didn't actually need origami paper.  Could have used up the ridiculous stack of unused scrapbook paper in the closet) and away she went!!!  Just like that!!! No video, no instructions, just.....a little white crane with blue pin-stripes!

He even has a little beard...

After that, we were on a roll...

Joe made a couple,

pretty good huh?

Ethan's first attempt is a very dignified dark brown.

His friend Kayla has been sending some home with him.  Hers are all very pretty.  Her mom made the pin-striped fellow.

Turns out paper cranes are great to make when you're procrastinating.  Y'know, say you were supposed to be outside sanding the bedroom furniture you are determined to turn very dark brown instead of honey colored.....

Then you have a serious flock on your hands...

So.....what do you do to help you procrastinate?

I'm pretty sure I hear someone playing angry birds in the other room right now.....

Thanks for stopping by,
Lizy B

*Just a little update!
As of March 31 Studentsrebuild.org has received 21,451 paper cranes, raising $42,902!
http://studentsrebuild.org/

Paper cranes for Japan

I was reading another of my favorite blogs last night,

Chronicles of a Country Girl (amazing photography!)

and read her recent post 1000 Cranes for Japan.

(waiting while you click over and read her great post about all the paper cranes being made all over the world for relief efforts in Japan.....take your time, I'll wait...)

Welcome Back!

While this sparked my interest for a few reasons,  mostly I think its a great relief effort for kids to participate in.

Ethan is my older son, he's ten. (that's Jack on the right)

He's a great kid, a typical boy in so many ways, loving and happy 90% of the time.  Not only is his glass half-full, he's sure its going to be filled right up again any second.

Love that kid something awful.

But ten seems to be a curious age.  All of a sudden...he realized that homework is a serious thing, and studying leads to good grades, and teachers become grumpy when you talk a lot....hmm.

Along with all that, he has become more aware of the suffering in the world.  He can certainly empathize with a disaster that involves earthquakes (we're here in sunny southern California, atop the San Andreas fault-line), and has been curious about ways to help people on the other side of the world.

Back to the paper cranes....Students Rebuild http://studentsrebuild.org/japan/ has partnered with
DoSomething.org and is making paper cranes to trigger a donation to Architecture for Humanity (to be used in Japan).  The Bezos Family Foundation will be donating $2 for each crane received.  The goal is 100,000 cranes which will then be woven into an art exhibit and gifted to the youth of Japan.

Origami for cash.....one paper crane for $2.00.  Kids can do that!  Kids can do that a lot!!!
You can either send them directly

Students Rebuild
1700 7th Avenue
STE 116 # 145
Seattle, WA 98101

or (if you have over 50) email them

info@studentsrebuild.org

and they will send you a self-addressed box to mail them in.

Both Chronicles of a Country Girl and Students Rebuild have links to you tube videos showing how to make the cranes....

Its such a simple thing, even if you only send one, and a great way for our kids to feel like they can help.

Gotta run!  I'm off to Michael's to pick up some origami paper!  Now where did I put this week's coupon...

Love to all,
Lizy B