...chocolate air...

another one?

Oh, yes, indeed. I spent the day with my friend Collette and her wonderful family, including this sweet thing.

Introducing the adorable Connor...

I barely restrained myself from sneaking out the door with him.

a short new haircut...

... owing to the incessant wailing coming from the boy every morning as I try to (gently) comb out the massive snarls he manages to get in his hair through the night, as he rocks himself to sleep rather violently, as he has every night since he was about ten months old. I decided to give up the fight, at least as long as the hair takes to grow back.

fools.

We attended a little friend's April Fools' birthday party yesterday, where much fun was had by all, mostly because of the silly string and whoopi cushions...

There was also a bit of a cupcake fest, wherein the kids helped themselves and went a little wild. Susan, methinks there be a bit too much sugar in your cupcakes. Did you SEE the kids' teeth afterwards?!

Happy birthday, Miss Claire!

wild beasties.

We've had a very nice and relaxing week, and weather so beautiful that we've headed to the zoo twice in the last five days. Always a good time. There are so many gorgeous and majestic creatures in the animal world... and then, there are definitely some oddballs.  Here are a few of the ones we like to visit...

And then there were these wild things, which were neither properly labeled nor were they caged. I believe they are called BOY, and they remain one of those mysteries of the animal kingdom...

big stuff.

Yes, he's very proud.

whales, iguanas, and dinos...

Oh, my!

When I think of the contents of a child's Easter basket, I usually think of the year that I was seven, and we got stuffed bunnies that looked real (well, we thought so, anyway), and the usual Mommy-made chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. Simple. Sweet. Eastery. I try to maintain that same feeling when we do our bunnying, and yet somehow, the child ended up with a dino puzzle, a stretchy rubber iguana, and a whale. I drew the line at Transformers though... they have no place in a bunny basket.

This whale was my creation. He was done in just a few hours, and I think he's adorable. (Thanks a million for the sewing machine help, Susan! But I still wimped out and hand-stitched the darn thing.) This is another felted sweater project. He was pretty simple, the same on both sides, about a foot long. I used the cuffs of the sweater to create the grooves on the underside of the jaw. One of his fins is a pocket, specially made to hold a little boy's tooth so it won't be lost before the tooth fairy can get to it. Soon, people. My boy has his first-ever wobbly tooth. And he couldn't be prouder.

His camera smile, by the way, is improving quite a bit. I'll be sad to see those baby teeth go...

avoidance tactics.

Our little friend William visited us today. Is he not the sweetest? He and Zach get along well, and it was interesting to hear Zach "big brother-ing" him today... playing along with his games and gently correcting him when he was doing something he shouldn't.

I really have nothing to report today. I'm afraid that I'm mostly only blogging to put off other things, like cooking dinner. But I think I've dragged it out as much as I can. I'll try to be back tomorrow with something of interest...

swap received.

Okay, yes, I've been completely negligent. We actually received this gorgeous swap box over a week ago, while we were still flu-ish, but after spending the whole of last week just trying to get everything caught up, I am FINALLY blogging about it.

We gave our swap partners an odd list of things Zach was interested in, and they pulled it all together to create a nautical-themed box, that somehow incorporated pretty much all of his interests. Amazing. I'll start with my personal favorite, this little Sock and Glove rabbit. I've had this book for over a year, and still haven't created anything from it. (I think that's due to my sewing machine fear...) But Kristin had the book for what? two days?! and had this guy whipped up and in the mail. I mean, really.

Zach named him "Ahoy". I love his wee belly button, and that adorable scarf that matches a bag she stitched up for some seashells they sent.

And then there's this pirate mask... seriously, have you ever seen a cleverer little thing? Genius.

One of the things that amazed me about this package was how really talented Miss Margaret is!! The child is not yet five (!) but she went all out creating several things for the box, including this ocean puzzle she drew.

And all the rest of the loot. We have here a whale shirt that Zach wears every chance he gets, a pirate yoyo he's a bit obsessed with, a CD of whale songs (obviously a winner around here), and a few other cards/collages by the lovely Margaret, and the shells with their bag.

Kristin... you seriously rock. What an amazing package you two created for my boy. It made a really lousy week oh-so-much better. Thank you, thank you!! (And your box is soon on its way, I swear!)

my newest muse.

Yup... there's a new banner up there. I pretty much chose a random photo that I just always liked. I'm the wee one there, with my grandmother.

There's sort of a baby boom going on around here lately, wherein pretty much all of my married friends are having little ones born this year. Pretty soon we'll have babes of all stages at our playdays. My friend Jennifer is the mama of this sweetness... I totally love him. I mean, really... who wouldn't?

Sweet baby Asher...

   

wootie.

On a not-so-deep-and-personal note, I'll share a little project I put together while Zach and I were snuggled up on the couch with the flu last week. (After two weeks, by the way, we are finally getting our energy and appetites back. Gotta love cold-and-flu season.)

This is Wootie. I've been dying to make one of these turtles ever since Hillary first posted this adorableness. So I was thrilled to my toes when she started offering a pattern for them.

I think this would have come together more easily if I had been using wool craft felt, which is a more standard thickness than the felted wool sweaters that I used. But, well, he has character, so it's all good. The pattern on his shell has some sort of thick stripey cotton that I liked. And my favorite part? So quick and easy. This took longer to cut out than it did to stitch, I think. And that makes me happy.