HOLIDAY MAGIC

Dear Olive, 

 I find that in these, the most magical of holiday seasons, it takes intentionality to decompress and restore oneself in the midst all of the hubbub.  

This season, I am looking forward to quiet nights with the glow of Christmas lights and wood burning fires

To walks outside with families and the fun of finding the most worthy of discount trees to murder,

Looking forward to some solo dates with each child

And to the joy of the season.  

Sometimes, in the anticipation of all of these things, I trick myself out of being present and focus instead on the minutia of aesthetic perfection or on the work of gifts and "shoulds."

What a shame it is to look back upon perfect photos of all of the memories only to recall the stress and angst I felt over not aptly reaching the finish line.  

This year, I intend to get some things wrong.  To forget to send the Christmas cards and to drop the ball on a few other things.

Instead, I want to take the time to be curious about who is waiting in line next to me, instead of running down my "to do" list ad nauseam.  

I want to savor the sticky hands and mismatched socks.  

Recently, I re-read this post about the narrative in our heads.  I lack the muscle memory to practice self care and effortlessness.  This year, I intend to exercise.

NIGHTMARES FOR EASTER

Dear Olive,

Wow.  The Easter Bunny was especially terrifying this year.  For me... not the kids.  They just went along with it.  But he kind of haunts my dreams.  Looking back, he has been the same one each year.  But, perhaps insomnia wore on me too harshly to take notice.

Upon further research, this is apparently a phenomenon.

via

via

via

Holy crap.  No doubt childhood paranoia is on the rise.

PUPPY LOVE FOR VALENTINES DAY

Dear Olive,

This year for Valentines, both of the kids wanted to make boxes in the shape of dogs.  Puppies are a major thing around these parts.

Our dogs thought so too.  Hamilton and Burr may or may not have eaten the loot out of their boxes at the end of the night.  Dogmatic irony.

NEW YEAR'S EVE

Dear Olive,

I can't wait for New Year's Eve this year.  Hoping for good health so that we don't have to postpone the festivities like last year.

We plan to make New Year's hats:

Open our time capsule:

And use this clock to count down to midnight (which we will pretend)

Wishing you the happiest New Year!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE COUCH

Dear Olive,

Happy Thanksgiving!  We had grand plans to reenact this tradition from last year.  But last night, Ella started a new odyssey of the stomach flu.  So, instead of family travels, I am researching the glamour of our American holiday:

via

Yikes, we came awfully close to squash.

I am also watching this.  Which reminds me of my glory days of binge watching PBS's Colonial House.

Could you go back and live in Colonial times?

I can barely cook in present day.

Happiest Thanksgiving, friend!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR KID A JELLYFISH FOR HALLOWEEN

Dear Olive, 

Last year while chatting with Gabriel about our past costumes, he declared to me that he wanted to be a Spiderman Jellyfish.  

We went with the Martha Stewart Jellyfish umbrella

But to avoid confusion, we also made a hat.  

Word has it, that you may also have a little jellyfish request this year, so here is how we did it:  

JELLYFISH HAT TUTORIAL

Cut two same-sized circles and various similar-hued ribbons.

Pile all of the ribbons inside the circle (shiny side in) and pin a small end of each ribbon along the circumference of the circle.

This will be the exterior of your hat.  

Sandwich the circles and sew the outer line of the circle so that you are sewing the ribbons to the circles. 

Leave a small opening and turn the circles inside out, like you would a pillow, and then stuff the hat with Polyfil. 

Add some eyes (I used half circles of ribbon) and sew the pillow to a hat.

Ella decided to be a Mermaid because of your daughter's love of them.

MERMAID TAIL TUTORIAL

To make the mermaid, we cut this shape out of the left over sparkly fabric.

I folded the top and secured a ribbon inside so that we could make a drawstring waist.

Then I just sewed along the seem, leaving the ribbon freestanding inside the pocket.

I cut scale scallops from sparkly ribbon and sewed them in staggered rows to the front of the tail. 

Finally, I sewed the tail together and stuffed the fins, but left an opening at the side of the tail so that it could be worn like a skirt.  The tip of the tail was tied to the wrist.

To maintain the theme, Jason and I wore crab hats and went as two crabby parents.  Ocean fun for everyone.  Happy swimming.

HAPPY SUMMER

Dear Olive,

Summer is out in full swing, and I am ready to join it.  I've wrapped up my work and planned a day out at the lake with the kids.  I dreamed of this:

via

Instead, it was 60 degrees and threatening rain.  But "forced fun" made it grand.  Hope your summer is full of surprises!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY... WITH MEAT

Dear Olive,

Happy Father's Day to the men!  And be it bacon....

Barbecue...

Or a full on meat cake...

There are no more deserving carnivores then them.

Have a great one with yours!

HOW TO MAKE A SUPERHERO LAIR OUT OF A CLOSET

Dear Olive, 

Each night before bed, after our chapter reading, Gabriel asks for a story; featuring him as the protagonist, helping super heroes to "fight crime."  For months, he's directed the story to conclude with him opening the door of his closet to find a super hero lair in it's place.  So, for Christmas this year, we planned a big surprise...

I started by gathering all of the outdated $1 thrift store electronics that I could find.  

I spray painted them in four primary "Marvel" colors 

I took a salvage door we had in our basement and covered it with fabric remnants from the kid's last birthday.  The plan was to create a faux door in the middle of his long rectangular closet, dividing it in half and creating a secret closet behind.

I then attached the door to this curbside find children's cabinet with L-brackets (adding cork for a tight fit).

I attached inexpensive castors to the bottom of the cabinet to make it easy to roll the false door back and forth, so that we could still access his clothing.

On Christmas I put a comic strip in the mail slot leading him to his secret lair.

I made the comic using this free website.

I had added all of his superhero toys and attached the electronic devices to the walls with nails and Command strips. 

The lair has become his favorite place in the house.  

He plays in it on Saturday and Sunday mornings before we wake up.

And it's the first thing he shows his friends when they come over to play. 

Sometimes, when I'm in the next room, I hear Ella and Gabe in the closet working out the crime-fighter plan together. 

And as a bonus, now he always wants to keep his closet neat. 

LEPRECHAUN DAY

Dear Olive,

Gabriel has taken to calling St. Patrick's Day, "Leprechaun Day."  He's super stoked about it because he remembers that; last year, I let him eat this:

We also always read this, which was a gift from you:

This year, Gabriel made his own leprechaun traps like those in the book.

He put bits of "gold" toys inside to try to lure them in.

Later, he reasoned, the traps didn't look super welcoming, so we needed to make something more "free range" looking.

So we made these mushroom domes out of play dough and moss left over from Halloween.

I hid chocolate golden coins in each.  Most of these holidays are pretty much just about the sugar.