Wednesday, March 30, 2011

iKaya w/Potato Boy

Turtle got a Potato boy cape for Christmas and it makes its debut today on this Daddy Special episode of iKaya.



Daddy's joke is a little gruesome, his beard does something very weird and he shows off his tei kwan do moves. Plus potato boy is awesome!



Monday, March 21, 2011

Zoom out a bit...in life

It's funny how the exact same noises that drive me to near insanity during the day, greet my ears with endearment tonight., I had an unplugged day today, no tv or laptop for me or the older kids. We got a lot accomplished, especially since I figured out today that Ally is big and strong enough to be worn on my back! I can do so much more with him that way.

But by the end of the day I am worn out physically and emotionally. We played hard, we cleaned, we learned. There was a ton of craziness, hyperactivity, argumentativeness. And at many points, the soundtrack was just too much to handle. It's this way every day. I feel like I want to make a recording of just a minute out of my day, just the audio, and put it online to receive sympathy from many people. Because it's hard, and it's crazy. And it's hard (I know I already said it)

Yet as soon as I've given the little terrors their kisses and cuddles and sent them off to bed where their Daddy tucks them in and reads them stories, the exact same noises I've heard all day, those same noises that had me begging God for an advance on next weeks patience just to get me through the next 5 minutes, those sounds are suddenly beautiful to me. I can hear them just now in the other room, Turtle is crying and whining, Kaya is being snarky and picking fights with everyone, Zoe is crashing into things, Lana is randomly spitting out facts from The World Of Lana's Head, Rene is sighing and I think counting to ten in his head. And it fills my heart with such pleasure. The kids haven't changed, they're doing precisely what they always do. It's just my perspective that changed.

It's like in a movie then they zoom to the wide shot and start playing the background music, and you see the big picture all at once, and it sort of draws a conclusion on the whole scene.

I realized tonight that I need to learn to zoom out more, in life. To try not to focus on the smoothie that just took a nosedive off the table and is being trodden into the floor by a stampede of little feet, or the cereal being dumped on the floor for the umpteenth time. But to zoom out, maybe play some background music in my head, and see my kids, violently enjoying life in all it's ups and downs; learning and spilling and growing and fighting and interacting and whining and laughing. And aging. So very fast. And one day I will be looking back on this all, from a wide angle view (as hindsight often is), and I know I'll miss this. I don't want to miss out while I've got it. I'm going to try to remember to zoom out, to see the big picture and enjoy it for all that it is.



Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Zoe's birthday present - which I built



Yes, I built it. Me, who has zero spacial awareness and a couple months ago couldn't have told you the difference between a screw and a bolt, or a drill bit vs a screw bit. But after stumbling across this site (warning - don't click the link if you're not prepared to be inspired to start a new time consuming hobby), my creative juices went into overload and I had to figure this woodworking thing out. 



Half way through building it, I realized I needed a work bench...so I built one. And it's sturdy.



Don't I look adorable?

Zoe *loves* her new kitchen. She's been baking cookies non stop since she received it. There is a motion sensor light in the oven so when she puts play food in there it automatically comes on for a few seconds.





The sink basin was the first thing we bought. It's a metal bowl we got for 50c at a yard sale.

The faucet was a bit pricey, about $12, we could have got something cheaper from craigslist or something if we had more time.

The hobs were some things I found for $2.50 at a hardware store. I'm not sure what they're supposed to be for, but as soon as I saw them I realized they'd be perfect for this.



I wanted real looking knobs that could turn. They were about $6 from amazon, and I put them on wooden doweling, and they turn nicely.


 The pulls were reduced to $1 each.




I must admit I'm quite chuffed with myself. I had some help from Rene, credit where it's due. He showed me how to use the power tools and sometimes the saw got stuck on a knot and he helped. He also put the oven door on, which is crooked. tsk. He said it's my fault somehow, I made the frame squint or something.
I certainly learned a lot. And I had a ton of fun. I'm already working on my next project...(watch this space)