No More Hoarding

I have a terrible habbit. I'm a hoarder. I have boxes and boxes of lovely art supplies but I spent years rationing them out like I might ruin them by using them. I haven't made any art for fun in a long time. I can barely keep up with my design artwork (although sometimes that can be REALLY fun) so I haven't touched most of my supplies in years. It's tragic really. I have vowed to hoard no more. Art supplies are meant to be used. Red Fish is happy to delve into them. I opened my case of pencils and pastels for her today and I think she almost died of an explosion of color.

Now my next goal is do some artwork just for myself sometime soon. I did design some fun birth announcements recently (I haven't quite gotten them out yet) but the printing came out a little blurry and it bothers me. It was really fun to just design for the fun of it rather than to please a client or make a living. When I was sewing some things before New Fish was born I got the same sort of rush. Maybe I just need to find time for a little more creation. Helping Red Fish create makes me want to do more of my own creations.

2 months & Laundry Day

New fish is two months old today. She hasn't had her checkup yet so I don't know how big she is but I'm guessing just under eight pounds. (Uncle M put her on our package scale at work.) I had to put away the first batch of clothes the other day. She doesn't fit in the newborn size one piece jammies. It always makes me sad when they grow out of their clothes. Red Fish never even wore newborn size. Her little shoes are from Spain.

Red Fish is really into helping me with my chores lately. Her favorite is laundry. She actually gets upset with me if I try to do the laundry without her. First we sort the laundry in my bedroom and then we pick a pile and throw it over the railing so it lands next to the laundry room (this is Red Fish's favorite part.) Then she hands me the laundry to stick in the washing machine (this can take forever, a sock at a time.) Then when it's washed I hand her each piece to stick in the dryer. When it's dry she gets each piece out so I can fold it. The process takes a long time but she is so cute and happy it makes it totally worth the extra time. Mondays are a happy laundry day. I love having my little helper.

Pen Pals

I just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It is written in letter form and details the correspondance between a single writer and a group on the Chanel Islands. A Guernsey farmer, Dawsey Adams, finds a single female writer's name in a used book and starts up a correspondence. Their relationship widens to include other neighbors on Guernsey and detail the war and the German occupation. The letters are a little disjointed and sometimes jump from one random incident to another but I liked the overall rhythm of the book. The characters are like-able and endearing.

I think mostly I liked it because I just like the idea of pen pals in general. When I was around seven years old, I flew to Houston to visit my cousins with my Mom and brothers. I was the oldest child and had to sit in a seat a few rows away from them. I somehow befriended an older woman who was sitting next to me and convinced her that she wanted to be my pen pal. Her name was Pauline and she wrote to me for years. She even had a relative in Utah drive a doll to my house on Christmas day one year. I'm not sure if she passed away or what happened but eventually the letters stopped. It is still a fond memory for me. What a lovely person to write to a strange little girl she met once on a plane. I also kept up correspondence with my Great Aunt Kate. She used to send me wonderful letters for years and years.When I was doing my internship in London during college, I couldn't afford to call home very often so I sent LONG LONG emails to all my friends and family. I sent a bunch of postcards to Two Fish (who I was not dating at the time) and his roommates. I wish we still had them! I think I've always just loved to get mail. Maybe that is why I like blogging. It feels sort of like writing letters to pen pals who send back little comments. Much more fun than journaling.

Party Time

I Apologize...

for the unearthly scream that shattered your windows earlier. It was the only proper way to respond to the situation at hand. Lucky for Red Fish, she had already left for church when I discovered this little treat. To the apple store we go. I'm hoping they replace keys and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Weekend Wrap Up

This little goober is getting so big so fast. Her hair has gotten much lighter and I think she is going to be a blondie. She is getting some cute little chubby cheeks. She is fascinated with waving her arms around. It makes her furious when one of her hands sneaks up and steals her pacifier. She can't figure out who is doing it.

I swear this little baby just gets cuter by the day.

Yesterday was my 28th birthday. Two Fish planned a celebration for the two of us and we went to see a play. It was a pretty funny play by Mark Twain. We had a great time. The girls got to spend some time with their Gammie. We picked them up this morning and had a big breakfast of bacon and eggs. It was fun.
It was snowing outside after we picked up the girls and Red Fish was really excited about it. I wanted to take her outside but we don't have the best snow clothing yet. Red Fish doesn't have boots or snow pants. So I put her footy jammies on under her coat and jeans. The only shoes that would fit over the footy jammies were some mesh sandals and then I taped plastic baggies over that. Ghetto snow boots. My ski pants don't fit (and I'm guessing never will again) so I had to wear Two Fish's. We were quite the pair. Red Fish did get to wear her cute hat from Chile (where Uncle M served his mission.)
We had a great time out in the yard. Red Fish never wanted to come in. We'd throw snow up in the air and Blue Fish would jump and try to catch it. We ran all over. We are finally getting window well covers so Red Fish can play in the backyard without me two inches away. Our wells are super super deep and I'm pretty sure she would die if she fell in. I'm hoping after they are installed Red Fish and Blue Fish can play outside.

Tonight, I went to a concert. Uncle M is a music major and goes to school fairly nearby our house. He was having a trombone choir concert and I wanted to go. I decided to take Red Fish because I've been wanting to try and incorporate more music into her life. (Incidentally if anyone has any great tips on getting more music into the lives of small children, I would love to hear them.)Red Fish was really good for the concert. I was pretty sure she would behave but I was still nervous to take her. Little kids aren't generally admitted to the university concerts but we figured since it was all trombones and pretty loud, it might be okay. We sat near the door just in case. She danced for a few songs and leaned over the shoulders of the people in front of us to get a good look at them but she was really quiet and well behaved. Before the concert started and during intermission we walked around the art center and looked at some of the exhibits. I think I need to spend more time looking at art with her. We read a lot of books and spend a lot of time making art but I should show her my art books. After the concert was over RedFish wanted to try out the stage and see Uncle M's trombone. Trying out the trombone

Monoprints

We made two big mistakes. These prints are probably best made on a piece of glass or plexiglass. We used a piece of plastic from an old frame I broke. I also didn't have a roller for paint so we used inked sponge rollers. The ink beaded up and made the prints blurry. Next time we will get better tools. First Red Fish put the ink on the plastic.
Then she made some lines through the ink with some q-tips. She could have used a clean brush too but she might have whiped all of the ink off if she used too big a brush. After the plastic was pretty covered, we put a piece of paper over it to make a print.
The final results are pretty splotchy. Next time maybe I will buy a cheap frame from a thrift store or something so we have a good piece of glass to work on. Red Fish really enjoyed this project.

Printing

Red Fish is really into stamps right now so I decided we should try some other print making. I think this is technically called a collograph but I'm not completely sure.We took a shoe box lid and Red Fish covered it in pipe cleaners and foam stickers. Red Fish is very into stickers right now. We had used our supply from all a dollar but luckily she got more for her birthday.
We covered the shoebox masterpiece with paint (Red Fish's favorite part) and finally we pressed a paper over it to make a print.
Here are our prints we made. I think they turned out pretty cool. A different kind of project for us. Red Fish was happier with the shoebox top covered in paint and stickers. It actually looks pretty cool as well. The red paint that got on my carpet when I stepped a few feet away to talk to the furnace repair man? That I'm not so impressed with. At least you can barely tell now. How do people live without carpet cleaner and a magic eraser? Most of the time I think the mess from our projects is extremely manageable. Yesterday was a bad day for collateral damage.

I have a post saved where I ramble to myself about my ideas about kids and art and trying to remind myself why the mess is worth it. I might post it sometime but it will just make me sound like I'm talking to myself in print.

Tea For Two

Red Fish got a tea set for her birthday and she had the cutest little tea party with New Fish this afternoon.

TWO!!!

I cannot believe my baby is two! When did this happen? When did she grow up so fast? I made her a cute tutu and she loves her birthday girl shirt I got at an outlet for her. I love this little girl so much!


Red Fish has done all of her favorite things today! She watched and danced to Cinderella, she painted, she took a bubble bath and then we went to a bakery for cupcakes. She plans to party with her grandparents on Sunday.

Almost A Smile

I almost got the smile on film. It's a tricky little smile that seems to disappear the second I whip out the camera!

Adoption Tax Credit

November happens to be national adoption month! Yay! As many of you know, adoption is expensive.

Also, many of you may or may not know that the federal adoption tax credit of $10,150 (2009) is set to expire at the end of 2010. This tax credit makes it possible for many of us to afford otherwise unaffordable adoptions. Losing this benefit would make it nearly impossible for some families to ever adopt. There is a Bill (HR 213) which was written to make this tax credit permanent, but we need to get it passed. We are calling for the help of you and especially your out of state families. Here is how you can help:

1. Find the name and Washington, D.C. mailing address of your Representative and Senators at www.congress.org. To find e-mail addresses, click through to the Senator’s or congressperson’s Web site.

2. Log on to THOMAS (Library of Congress) to find out whether your Congresspersons are already co-sponsors of the legislation. Here is how:

· On the THOMAS opening page, under “Search Bill Summary and Status,” search by bill number for H.R. 213. Then click on “Bill summary and Status.”

· On the page that comes up, click on “Cosponsors.”

3. If your representatives have not signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, send them your request that they do so. Tell them how important the tax credit was to you when you adopted your children, or how much you and other families you know are counting on it to be available in the future.

Act today, your efforts make a difference.