Thanksgiving craft

I was hoping this task would take longer and kill some of the morning. But it was actually pretty quick. 

We woke up to fresh snow this morning. There was a winter weather advisory for our area last night, claiming that we should expect about 6 inches of accumulation by morning. We only received about an inch and a half but it's still snowing. Just a light snow, but it's really lovely. The kind of flakes that take their time falling, dancing with the wind before they come to a rest. It kinda looks like the kind of fake snow you see at craft stores in the display Christmas villages. I just want to sit by the window sill and watch it all day with a warm blanket and a cup of cocoa. 

Back to the craft... 

We haven't purchased boots for Annelies yet, so venturing outside isn't an option today. I've got plenty of supplies stockpiled here and there around the house so I figured we'd listen to some Christmas music* and get messy. 

*Sidenote: I usually hold off on anything having to do with Christmas until Thanksgiving day, but it's falling on a rather late date this year and Annelies is at an age where she's picking up on Christmas trees and bells and other Christmasy things.  It won't hurt squish the two holidays together. Just this once. ;-)

While I rummaged through supplies, I got her started coloring a paper plate with a brown crayon. Little brother wanted to color too, so I gave him a plate, as well. 

Once she felt like she had colored enough we started tracing her hand for turkey feathers. I let her try to trace her own hand first (if you're worried about the extra marks on the paper it's no big deal. Once you cut it out just flip it over and use the other side.)

She got tired of tracing her own hand so I helped her finish. I mentally divided the paper into quarters and traced a hand in each space. Then I layered a piece of yellow and orange under the brown paper and cut them all at once. That way I only had to cut four hands but ended up with 12 all together. 

While A and I worked on her turkey, I had Willem playing with a pile of feathers I found in my supplies. He had a ball!

Next, I applied glue to the outside of the plate and helped Annelies apply her handprints. Basically, I pointed to an area and she would press the paper to it. She did pretty well, as you can see from the finished piece. 

The last few steps was just cutting scrap paper to make eyes and a nose. I drew a snood (Yep! That's what it's called!) next to his beak and suggested she color it in. She also decided to color the beak itself and some "feathers". I think she did an awesome job! Very refrigerator worthy!

From the Top!

Blogging.

I've given it a go a few times.  Mostly to stay in contact with the rest of our family, 1200 miles away.  However, Facebook does a good job of keeping folks updated. Until you post too often and your friends start hiding you because, "So help me... if she posts ONE MORE picture of her food-covered kid...."  Blogging is a better platform for allowing people to choose to check in on you.  It doesn't show up on a scrolling news feed, therefore eliminating the rolled eyes as I recount the latest thing my 3-year-old said.  Every. Ten. Minutes.

Okay, I'm not that bad, but it's easy to feel like that when Facebook (and other forms of social media) makes everyone sound cynical and bitter.  Do you ever notice that?  I've been trying to stay away from internet discussions because the lack of facial expressions and vocal fluctuation gives words a negative tone.  I hate the way everything sounds like an attack.

Anyway.... I deleted the Facebook app from my phone about a month ago.  It's given me more free time, but I feel less connected with loved ones. Or they feel less connected with me? I don't know, but something feels empty.

As I contemplated starting another blog I thought about my intentions for this place.  In this day and age, it seems like the blogging world is dominated by stay-at-home-moms.  At least, that's what my Pinboards tell me.  This blog is not a place to brag about my perfect day.  How I managed to have everyone up and dressed before 7am; served a delicious apple cinnamon oatmeal that I had put in the crockpot the night before and now my house smells like fall; organized a delightful craft for my 1 and 3 year old to do while I crochet perfect amigurumi dolls for them to play with once they're done; serve them a well rounded lunch with sandwiches cut into butterflies and winged jets accompanied by seasonal fruits fashioned into characters that reflect the closest holidays that my kids gobble up with zero hesitation; maintain a beautiful and successful Etsy shop with handmade, one of a kind items while the kids take coinciding naps; make a beautiful wall hanging for my home and take pictures of it so you can see how spotless my home is; bake a batch of cookies and wrap them up beautifully to drop off at the neighbors' houses; greet my husband at the door the moment he arrives home from work and sit him down to a gorgeous pot roast; have the kids in bed by 7:30 and enjoy the rest of the evening with a cup of loose-leaf chamomile tea.
No, this will not be that place.  The women who maintain blogs under the format laid out above should not be blogging.  They should be traveling the country, the WORLD!, giving seminars to other stay-at-home moms.
My day will start at 5:30 trying to convince my children to stay in bed until noon, but they'll refuse and I'll take them downstairs and feed them a delicious breakfast of toast and bananas. I'll attempt a craft but my kids will steal the glue bottle and smear themselves with the gooey goodness from head to toe, which means I'll then give them both a bath at 7am. Then I'll plop them in front of the TV while I try to break myself away for long enough to get a toilet cleaned or a countertop wiped down (not both). When I glance to check in on them they won't be in front of the TV anymore.  They've locked themselves in my bedroom and I can hear them jumping on the bed, pushing aside the large pile of laundry that I finally remembered to put in the dryer after leaving it in the washer for a week and washing three times already.  Then I'll look at the clock hoping its almost time for daddy to get home.  It's not.  It's only 10am.  So I'll try to take them on a walk to the park where one kid ruins my dreams of a quiet afternoon of sleeping children by falling asleep in the stroller and the entire time we're at the park.  As we walk back home, the other kid falls asleep and the first kid refuses to sit in the stroller anymore, even though we're still several blocks from home.  When we get home they're both asleep in the stroller, so I'll park it in the garage and run in the house for a private bathroom break, only to come back out and find them knocking over towers of paint cans. The clock reads 1:30 at that point.  Crap!  Lunch!  I run inside and microwave some quesadillas that they'll throw on the floor, because it's super fun to watch the dog scramble across the kitchen.  So, more bananas and toast!  Then I'll have the brilliant idea of making cookies and having them help.  The cookies usually turn out delicious, but my kitchen ends up a war zone.  Time for more tv!  This time, I pop in a movie and it subdues them for a good 45 minutes.  You'd think it would be a perfect time to clean the kitchen, but I can't feel my legs.  Wait, do I have legs?  Yes, phew!  They just need to sit here next to me on the sofa while I rest my head.  But then my stomach reminds me that I haven't eaten yet today, so I grab a banana and make myself a slice of toast..........

You get the idea.  I'll divulge the rest of my day as the blog progresses.  Of course, I know that most blogs exemplify the highlights of many mothers' days, creating a near perfect picture of a near perfect life. I know they too have their bad days. But what's the fun in leaving out the failures?  I'm not striving to create a blog that focuses on all my shortcomings.  I hope I have some beautiful projects to brag about.  But I'm definitely not going to leave out the snags that happened during the making of said projects.  This is a place where I'll recap all the fun and nonsense that happens in my life.  In the "permanent" world of the internet, it will also be a place my children can look back upon and thank me me for putting up with them.  I hope they laugh.  I hope they learn.  And I hope they appreciate the life my husband and I built for them.

So, even though I've tried blogging before, I have a feeling this one will last.  With the motivation of preserving my children's memories, I have more at stake.  And the grandparents will appreciate the updates on their little bugs.  So let's try this blogging thing again.

From the top!