The cost of bragging about a spectacular Sunday, Monday and Tuesday on the interweb?

A "fairy house", you guys.  A BLEEPING FAIRY HOUSE!!!!!!

Sigh. 

I SCREWED UP.

Nory and I were making some artwork on Tuesday night using everyone's ultimate craft supply: GLITTER!!!!!!!  Now, as it is with this type of crafting material, I AM USED TO a little glitter here and there around the flat.  It's not uncommon for me to have glitter specks on my face at work or to see Parkinson Glitter in the elevators of our building because......there's just always A LITTLE GLITTER wherever we go.  But the thing is, I'm not so used to glitter being ALL OVER THE FLAT.  Like, ALL-ALL OVER THE FLAT.  Like, OH MY GOSH THERE IS SO MUCH GLITTER, IT'S AS THOUGH YOU LIVE IN A "FAIRY HOUSE", as a colleague phrased it. 

Turns out I left the glitter container open on the kitchen table that evening.  Turns out our two cats also like crafting.....

You can imagine how displeased Phil was when he went to make us coffee early Wednesday morning.

WHOOOOOOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A heartfelt apology to Phil for being so....understanding (LOVE YOU!).....and the world's BIGGEST THANK YOU to Kumari Poppins for getting rid of glitter like I've never seen before :)

In other news, Nory is starting to make faces on her artwork and sometimes she has me write little notes that go along with her pictures:

Cute, right?

Wishing you all the energy required to put away the glitter when bedtime finally strikes! 
XOXO

If I type really quietly, I might be able to finish this post before the girls wake up!

I'm not sure why, but mosquito bites are ALWAYS the itchiest at three in the morning.  I have them all over my ankles (although I'm convinced they are actually SPIDER BITES) and I woke up this morning with a speckle of "boo-boos" from all the scratching that took place while I should have been sleeping.

SLEEPING.

HA!  It's that time of year where the looming goodbyes make falling asleep really, really difficult for me.  The initial going down at night is tricky, and if I wake up for any reason in the middle of the night (like from, REALLY ITCHY SPIDER BITES), I'm destined to take a very long time to return to sleep.  It's frustrating.  And exhausting.

So I called it quits around 6 a.m., made a cup of coffee, and now I'm cozy on the couch with no children or husband in sight!  (I hope I didn't jinx the peace with that statement.)

How do you like the new blog design?  Sometimes I am struck by blog boredom and feel an immediate urgency to create a new look.  This is what happened to me at 7:30 yesterday morning.  So for the remainder of the day, I obsessed over re-learning HOW to make the changes and I managed to get a good chunk of it done thanks to an Aunt Dana visit (THANK YOU! xo) and prolonged quiet time in the afternoon.  It's not quite finished, but it's getting there.  The pages below the header are my next big job! 

Today we plan to go to the sidewalk sales happening just down the street.  Nory and I have some banana loaf to make as well and I'm sure we'll be crafting at some point.  Speaking of which, Nory has become the arts and crafts initiator in this house (shocking, I know) and we've kept busy with all sorts of things found in our craft trolley.  Take a look at some of the crafts we've done this summer:

Father's Day ties for extra-special Dads :)

Painting on canvas with friends :)

THE JEWEL PHASE.  OY.  Everything was JEWELS for a whole 48 hours!  We made one of these signs for Jet too.

Magical wands.  This one made Daddy jump and sing and dance ;)

Also part of the JEWEL PHASE. Whale/dolphin/fish/shark magnets....with JEWELS.

We've had a robot phase too.  Naturally, the phase entailed ROBOT CRAFTS! :)

And the dinosaur phase continues with salt dough fossils!

I can't wait for Juliet to join us in our crafting adventures.  I think she is going to be an all-in-there type of artist because messes do not bother that little darling one bit (you're welcome to join us at meal time, HA!).  We might actually be able to enjoy finger painting.  Or do regular painting without a package of wipes beside us.  Wouldn't that be neat? :)

Happy weekend, Everyone!  With the summer nearing its end, I hope you get some time to relax and enjoy the beautiful outdoors (and remain spider-bite free).

XOXO

Picasso, Parkinson. Same, same.

Remember how I told you K POP moved everything heavy to rearrange the living room?  So that we could make a carpet-less area for arts and crafts?  Well, here it is!  (The cleaned-up-for-a-picture-but-never-really-looks-this-way version!)

We spend a lot of our time here these days - doing playdoh, drawing, painting, stickering, and snacking :)  Jet's pack 'n play is nearby so she gets to hang out for the festivities too :)

Here's one of the pieces Nory made today, created using a variety of techniques including Q-tips, plastic eggs, and legitimate stampers:

It's one of my favourites to date!!!  And let me tell you, we've done PLENTY.  Not only has Nory's artwork taken over the back wall of this room, it has taken over three other magnetic surfaces and our fridge!  And other people's fridges.  I love it, and if I do recall so myself, it was one of the things I looked forward to most in my pre-mom days.  Mmmmm hmmmm, an outrageous explosion of AMAZING TODDLER ART all over my house.  The Old Me knew that this would be right up the alley of the Future Me.  LIFE. MADE.

But living the dream cannot be without its own unique challenges.  Our challenge?  The same girl that makes my dream a reality...

 
Ever since babyhood, this gal of mine has HATED dirty hands.  HATED!!!!!!!  I like to think she's gotten a bit better, but after this afternoon's meltdown, I'm questioning my perspective on this matter.  Oh well.  We've been doing arts and crafts beside a wet towel for weeks and if we have to continue the trend forever, so be it.  Weaning of the wet towel, we will NOT! 

If you're someone who will be visiting us this summer, I suggest you purge your fridge surface in the coming months.  And purchase more magnets.  Explosions spread, yo! 

Our Latest ART ATTACKS :)

When you're an extra curious 15 month old who wants to SEE, TOUCH, and DO absolutely EVERYTHING, apartment life can get boring.  Especially in the desert.  Especially in the summer in the desert.  We don't go outside (minus the time it takes us to go to and from the car, really) and the mall gets a little boring after a while.  Home in this limited-play-space place of ours (try saying THAT three times fast!), it's easy for both child AND parent to get tired of the usual toys, books, and games.  So, I've been trying to jazz up our activity repertoire with some arts and crafts to ease the feeling of prison, ha!  Provided Nory's hands stay clean, she is usually ALL IN and I, of course, am FOREVER IN when it comes to A's and C's.  Phil, well, he is a great sport and joins us most days.  

Side note #1:  Although Nory's "stay clean" preference DOES tend to limit much of the mess we COULD get into, Nory makes up for it by thinking outside the box....errr.....craft area?.....and enjoys seeing what our various art materials look like on the floor, couch, her shoes, her clothes, etc.  But, as I tell her Dad, that is what ART is all about!  Haha.  

Side note #2:  Thank you to all of the ALL-STAR MOMS out there who give me inspiration :)

Here are some of our latest art attacks:

Sponge-Painted Flower Magnet for SPRING! 

All contained within a Ziploc bag so that Girlie doesn't quit on me before the job is done!

Ta-da!!!!!

 Coffee Filter Suncatchers for Mother's Day!

Gotta love tile flooring that cleans up in one easy step!

With the help of a little water, and one BLAZING HOT balcony, the suncatchers were finished in no time!  Nory gave them as gifts for Mother's Day.

Living Room "Graffiti" - Our Quick and Easy Go-To Activity

Plain white paper taped to the floor.  Markers, crayons, stickers, WHATEVER.  Have at it!

This morning's graffiti.  A real life-saver when Daddy was busy organizing the kitchen!

Our EARTH DAY "Art Attacks"......

Phillip:  Age 30

Lindsay:  Age 28

Nory:  Age 14 months

(It was a collaborative effort!)

Our Earth Day "wreath" for the front door.Nory persevered through messy hands and was very proud of the end result :)

Our beautifully decorated tree craft, given as a gift to the neighbours :)

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

Since we had to work today, the Easter Bunny visited our house yesterday morning.  He was such a thoughtful bunny, leaving Nory many goodies including two Easter-themed books (well, one was from Auntie Dana!), a stuffed little bunny, her very first markers, and some food-related things.  There were plastic eggs scattered around too, but Nory was much more focused on her colouful spoons and fluffy rabbit to really get into the searching aspect of Easter traditions.  (By the way, not to sound "ungrateful", but I think the Easter Bunny missed the "FLUFFY & FUZZY BAN" memo.  Let's just say that wee fluffy rabbit is not as fluffy as she used to be.....)

After work today, Nory used her flashy Crayola markers for the very first time.  I printed off some Easter-themed colouring pages from the Crayola website (ah-hem, best website of all-time), and she went to town on a couple of them :)  I have a few more ready to go for Earth Day too.  Can you tell I'm excited for her to embrace this "colouring" thing on a regular basis? 

She continues to be irritated by messy hands.  The girl DOES NOT like things stuck to her hands whatsoever.  Even if it's delicious cake.  Even if it's pretty stickers.  Even if it's colourful marker-made-marks that you can't even feel.  So after we coloured, we washed our hands immediately and Daddy took care of the tile floors that were accidentally mistaken as colouring pages.....

Anyways.  Thank you E.B. for all the Easter treats!  Thank you Crayola for being the greatest company on Earth.  And thank you to Phillip for deep-breathing his way through every messy activity we get into these days. 

Wishing all of you back home a happy, SNOW-FREE Easter!!! We love you! XO

Why HELLO to you too, My Inner Martha Stewart!

With it being spring break, I finally have time to do some of the things I've been LONGING to do for a while now.  One of which is crafts.  One of which is blogging.  Both of which have happened so far and I am THRILLED with the achievement :)

When Nory went to bed the other night, I brought all of my out-of-arms-reach crafting supplies to the living room and had a full-out hay day.  I showed pretty good crafting stamina too, considering how out of shape I am (I believe this is a thing, with blogging too).  Mmmm hmmmmm....I finished five Easter eggs, two carrots and one bunny before cleaning everything up, packing it all away, and waiting anxiously for Nory to wake up the next morning.  [Please notice that, YES, my inanimate bunny has a heart, and YES, it's one of my signature traits in the world of Arts and Crafts.  Ah-hem, such hearts have also been spotted on inanimate-inanimate objects made by me, such as teacups and spoons.]

What's a holiday-lover to do with a big box of felt, a glue gun, a sleeping baby and an upcoming H.O.L.I.D.A.Y.?  Begin to celebrate the next big event, OF COURSE!  EASTER!!!!

Nory's starting to get the hang of the felt boards a little more now.  If you recall, our last felt experience was at Christmas time and she was big into UN-decorating the tree after I took the time and care to decorate it.  Now, she realizes that these sorts of things STICK and actually contributes to the "putting up" portion of the activity.  Don't get me wrong, she still loves to clean sweep the boards, but she is DEFINITELY getting more interested in the putting up process.  And that to me is a WIN!

Seems she is drawn to the colour orange.....

Can spring break live on forever? We're really having too much fun for it to come to an end on Saturday....

We're aiming for ONE TREE per ROOM.

You heard me - WE! Yes, WE.  As the author of this blog, I get to make claims like this one! ;)

Back to that craft store we discovered.  I'm proving more and more what a jackpot of a find that was.  Also, who knew felt was such a versatile crafting product?  It's bright, easy to work with, and naturally sticky!  What more can you ask for in a baby-friendly A&C activity?

So - I made the tree itself weeks ago.  But you can't unveil a Christmas tree without any decorations!  I got around to making those today and Nory and I had a blast turning our Charlie Brown tree into a work of art this afternoon.  Ugh.......it should be said that although I am the author of this blog, and although I can say whatever I please, I SHOULD TELL YOU that she will be much more of a help when it comes to deconstructing this sucker.  Check it out: 

I suppose that since we are taking the honest approach here, I should fully disclose how this mommy-daughter activity went down.  It ain't pretty...

There we were.  Having a ball and laughing at how tasty each decoration truly was.  I was putting the decorations up.  She was taking them down.  We had a system.  It was perfect.

Then, in the middle of our fun, Nory started to SMELL.  We're talking all CAPS, people.  So, to the change table we went!  It didn't take me long to realize that this wasn't your average diaper change.  IT. WAS. EVERYWHERE.  Then I realized it had even gotten onto the backside of the onesie.  (Side note:  why do these things always happen when Phil is out of the house?).  Whatever.  I start to take the onesie off and realize that it would be impossible to remove it without getting it everywhere else.  So - I whip it off, wipe off her back, shoulders, and neck, and then race to the bathroom to start a bath.  Well, wouldn't you know it - while I am filling up the bathtub, Nory pees ALL OVER ME.  Yep, it soaks right through my Paris hoodie, the t-shirt underneath, and all over my fleece pants.  AMAZING.  At this point, I simply could not stop laughing.  Shani arrived to clean the house and remarked, "oh she is having an early bath tonight!"  HA!!!!! Then I laughed even harder.

I wonder what parenting adventure tomorrow will bring :)  But as I like to say, "ANOTHER ROOM, ANOTHER CHRISTMAS TREE!!!!"

Flooded with Excitement (HA!)

So - welcome to the new look!  Around this time of year (or so it seems), I get REALLY bored of the blog design and want to mix it up a bit.  I changed it last year in mid-December and with it being only ONE MONTH UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY, I figured it's basically December and a change-up at this point in time would be superb. 

My goal was to simplify things and keep it as low maintenance as possible - I don't want to be accountable for updating different pages or sidebars.  When they become old news or irrelevant, it irritates me and I just don't have the time to fix it.  Hence, the deletion of the pages toolbar.  I also worked on a new header this morning and I am especially pleased about the three little "pearls" on the right-hand side (one for each of us!).  Things are Plain Jane - just the way Phil likes it.  Just the way I've come to like it!  Time-savers are life-savers ;)  I hope it's semi-eye-pleasing for you too!

We are home from school today due to an African conference taking place in the country.  They anticipated extreme traffic, and with the traffic situation already being kind of an issue here, we were granted a HOLIDAY!  HOLLA!  That being said, I'm pretty sure we would have gotten the day off anyways due to "rainmageddon".  When we left school yesterday, it was POURING!  Some areas flooded - like cars drowning in water flooded - and some intersections/roads were shutdown.  Our beloved mall was also flooded and Phil and I had to have a serious conversation about leaving Kuwait completely if the mall was "done for".  Really - what would we do without it?!  (Please remember where we live, PEOPLE!)

This is NOTHING compared to others photos we have seen.  In some areas, cars were drowning in water!

Our curtains did clean-up!  (They must have been thirsty!)

Last night we braved the storm to pick-up some groceries.  We initially had plans of only picking up the basics....but that turned into a whole cart full of comfort food/OMG-what-if-it-legit-floods food.  I'm talking peanut butter cups, jars of peanut butter, and................."New Years Eve" type appetizers.  Hugely practical, right?   Thank goodness the storm didn't take over the streets completely.  We'd be DOOMED! Haha.  (But really popular because we'd have the treats you crave in times of crisis). 

Enjoying our snack and watching America's Next Top Model.  Could there be anything more relaxing?!  Haha.

This morning Nory decided to wake up at 4:30.  I think she's working on her other top front tooth and she hasn't been eating or sleeping too well the last few days.  Orajel and cold cloths have become our best friends, as they seem to maintain some sort of peace and happiness in the flat. 

Kumari came today so we could have a sleep-in.  As per usual, Phil was able to do it and I was wide-eyed and unable to get back to dreamland.  I made a tea and did arts and crafts instead.  Check out what I made for Nory: 

Her very own TEXTURE BOARD!  I didn't intend on creating a scene from my odds and ends, but somehow a garden was built in the wee morning hours.

I think she liked it.  Although she thought it should also be a "tasting" board.....

Other than artwork (yes, I call it that), blog stuff, and cleaning up, we have been playing with Nory and catching up on some tv shows.  Kumari went home around lunch time so we could have some IMMEDIATE-FAMILY-ONLY time on this rainy, rainy day. 

Two work days until the weekend!  I could get used to having ZERO five-day work-weeks EVER.....

MISSING ALL OF YOU!!!!

Things that ROCK about being a teacher:

1)  Making massive pieces of "artwork" to display in the hallways....

2)  Students that march into the classroom and ever so dramatically say, "__________ the Fabulous is OFF today!  I am OFF!  I am done!"  Students such as these ones then continue to say that they will go home immediately after school, put some "fairytale soap" into the bathtub (to make the water pink, of course), and then light candles so they can "finally RELAX". 

More from the A&C DEPT.....

Introducing.....Nory's BABY-SIZE RAIN STICK! 

We're into NOISE in this house.  All kinds of 'em!  Come on over and I bet you'll want to go home feel right at home in no time ;)

Like a CELEB.

So I'm pretty sure that Nory is the best ego-booster out there.  It doesn't matter what I do (minus the nasal spray up her nose), she seems to think I'm great.  It's AMAZING.  Every day I'm flattered.

For example, she has clearly shown me and everyone she knows that I am the most hilarious person on the planet.  I can make silly sounds, pretend to eat her toes, play peek-a-boo, WHATEVER.  She thinks I'm the world's best comedian and although I look and sound ridiculous during these moments, I'll take it.  (Some of you just can't wiggle a towel in the air like I can - and that's okay).

Then there is her love and respect for my arts & crafts.  Many people don't take me seriously as an artist, but my daughter does.  Collecting various interesting items (or stealing them from a friend's classroom), sorting them by colour, and putting them in plastic water bottles is a lot of work.  I only had a little bit of fun during the process ;)  But, VOILA!  Discovery bottles in five different varieties were made and my little one enjoys each and every one of them.  I've got confirmation, folks!  After she picks one up, she looks at me with the "THAT IS SO COOL!!!" face and I think to myself, "You're bang on!  IT IS COOL! Thanks for the support!"  Haha. 

Singing the colour songs while playing with these bottles is on this week's "MOST FUN" list.  You should come over and play, too.

Anyways, it goes without saying that she has become my all-time favourite person.  What lady doesn't love constant love and attention?  I will allow her to boost my ego any day ;)

A Picasso in the Making ;)

Being on holidays for the whole week, I am determined to find some fun things to do with Nory each day.  I searched the interweb for a little inspiration this morning and I came across one mighty-nice idea: using sticky paper and odds and ends to make a work of art!  It's perfect for babies (and Mama's!) because there's no gluey mess and you're able to talk with your baby about colours and textures, etc.  I decided to embrace the season and today I purchased a bunch of autumn-coloured ribbons and paper for Nory to use. 

I cut the ribbons different lengths and I made different shaped leaves with the coloured paper.  Then I taped the sticky paper to the window (sticky side out!), gave Nory the bin of ribbons/paper and let her go to work!

She was really amazed at the sticky feeling in the start.  She kept putting her hand on the paper and then pulling it off.  She looked at me for approval, smiled, and then kept on touching!  Once I showed her how to stick the different pieces onto the paper, she got the hang of it and followed along.   

The ribbons were a big hit, too!  She gave them a good cleaning (a.k.a sucked the heck out of them!) before placing them on the "canvas".  Sometimes she would pull the ribbons off and reposition them - editing her work, like a full-fledged artist!  The leaves were a little trickier to move around.  They required a free edge to grab onto.  

VOILA!  Here is her final product!  I left it taped to the window just in case she feels the need to make some changes tomorrow ;)  Her Daddy was quite impressed when he got home from the gym this afternoon. 

God bless whoever it was who invented the Internet!  Ideas at your fingertips - in a second's notice!  I wonder what activity will result from tomorrow's WWW search!

Dear coloured paper, scissors, glue, and staples......

We've had a BALL the last couple of days!!!

(As for you, Sir Sticky Tack, we need a break.  Sometimes, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!)

I think my classroom is all ready to go.  I am getting a new desk put in my room over the weekend (WOOT!), but once that is reorganized, all that's left is paperwork and......THE KIDDO'S!!!  I am so excited to meet my students.  Last year's yearbook has already been photocopied for name-learning purposes :)

KEEPING ME UP.

Our morning chat before Phil left for work.....

Lindsay:  I couldn't get to sleep last night until like 11:30!  My mind was racing.

Phil:  What were you thinking about?

Lindsay:  (excitedly) My next bulletin board.  It's going to have a spaceship - the one that I made last year - and then I am going to write "Getting ready to BLAST OFF into Grade 7...."  I also picked out the colour scheme.  You know - the background colour, the border colour, the lettering colour....

Phil:  (shakes his head and interrupts)  THAT IS NOT OKAY!  You need to STOP!

Lindsay:  I know.  I need to relax and sleep.  But the funny thing is that I initially started to plan my board as a getting-to-sleep technique.  At one point I was going to get up and get the pencil crayons so I could draw up a visual.  I also starting thinking about my start of the year boards for next year...

Phil:  (laughs)  You need to go back to bed!  

The good news is that I went back to bed from 7-11 this morning.  The bad news is that I was up with Nory for most of the night.  We started bath time earlier than usual (prompted by the world's dirtiest diaper) and it (the Johnson's bedtime bath to be specific) knocked her out at 7 p.m.!!!  That meant a glorious 1 a.m. feeding as opposed to the usual 4 a.m.  Luckily I couldn't be bothered to get upset at the situation.  Nory gave me TWO GENUINE SMILES in the night and my heart just melted.  Ladies and gentlemen, our baby is now SMILING!!!!!  For real - not just when conversing with Him ;)

I'm in love.  With teaching and Miss ELEANOR.

P.S.  She was 6 weeks old yesterday.  WHOA!