Fiffie ♥s Peppers ♥s Kelly Clarkson

Have I ever mentioned that I think my youngest son is cute? He's the kind of cute that makes you want to bite his cheeks and see if they taste like fruit punch.

They do, I can vouch for them. But don't bite them, even he could tell you that would be wrong, as a reformed biter.

He's started this cute thing recently, we like to call it talking. Not just lame words like doggie or tractor, but full-on sentences.

It starts a few minutes after he wakes up in the morning, and ends a few minutes after I shut his door at night. It's exhausting. I'm one of those moms who feels obliged to carry her half of the conversation.

For instance, the other night we'd gone through our bedtime routine of me letting him know it was almost bedtime, then gathering up his blankies and checking out the stuff in his crib. As I'm doing this, he's asking where daddy was.

Where daddy?
He's outside in the garage.
No, he workin'.
Yes, he's working.
No, he workin'. Daddy workin'.
Ok, yes honey, he's working. Ok, here's monkey, and monkey, monkey, and doggie and your pillow. And two blankies. Sleep tight, baby. [Kiss him on his kissy cheeks and lay him down.]
Daddy workin'?
Yes, daddy's working. Night-night sweetpea. [Walk out the door and pull it shut behind me.]
I walked down the hallway.
Daddy workin'?

You get the idea. Well, his beloved (and I'm not kidding, the child is in love) brother's name has been a little hard for his little lispy lips to get around, so he's taken to calling him Puppers. It sounds dangerously close to Poopers but we ignore that. Most of the time it's either Peppers or Puppers, and we've decided Peppers is a great nickname for Cooper anyway.

So Peppers it is! They all laugh hysterically when I call Cooper Peppers.

And I laugh hysterically when we're riding in the car and I hear Peppers, in a sweet voice that's perfectly on pitch, sing along with Kelly Clarkson to the song Already Gone. I kid you not, for some reason the boy knows that song! And he's pretty good at it. If I ever have the forsight to get my Blackberry's voice recorder out when it's on, I'll tape it for you.

I asked Griffin the other day what his name was, and you know what he said? Fiffie. So cute.

- H

j'taime etsy V.2

As promised, I've compiled an eye-candy post for you. This is a mix-tape of a bunch of cool and pretty and unique and cool things I've lusted after on Etsy. Some I may buy someday. Some I have no use for, but the pictures or the ideas or the colors are just too much for me to handle and so I must linger on the item's listing for way too long, just absorbing its awesomeness.

For legal reasons, and so no one thinks they should sue me [you can't get blood out of a stone, people], all photos are property of the shop owners and Etsy and should not be misused or whatever it is that lame-ohs do with other people's pictures. If'n they aren't yers, keep yer mitts off.

First up, I think I may have to buy these some day. Sonja is the lovely shop owner of Soduel. She makes these amazing hand-felted lovelies for wedding cakes and wherever else you may want to stick them.

I really like these mushrooms. I want to do a succulent terrarium for my kitchen window and stick these in it.


Which brings me to my next fave. The succulents from The Succulent Garden. I have a thing for succulents and plants that have very cool architecture like euphorbia.

This is an echevaria called Topsy Turvy. Me likey. It's blue and orange. Mother Nature is some kind of wicked genius, isn't she?

I love this little hand-knit toddler sweater from evagodeva, and I love her shop name. I wish my boys were mild-mannered and wore sweaters inside. They aren't and they don't.


I have lusted after this dress since last summer. It's not like I couldn't make it if I wanted to, but somehow it wouldn't be the same. The shop is called Pretty Birdie. I think she has a great eye and apparently she also has a really super skinny model?



I love the shop Love and Knit. She's in Istanbul, Turkey. I can't really narrow down one item in her shop that's my favorite, but this is a good one.



From down under, this skirt. I love it, it's perfectly quirky but in a very conservative shape and length! I have to get my tape measure out and see if it would fit me? If you like retro fabrics or recycled oddities, you'll like her shop.

Amanda Archer is another clothing designer I love on Etsy. I haven't bought anything from her, but I admire her style. I love the color of this dress. And the tuxedo styling. And the pockets.

Remember Cari, from Peacock Garden? How cool would this painting be if it were like 4' x 4' and took up an entire wall in my kitchen?! I like it.

OK, I'm too tired and overwhelmed to go on, and it's naptime. To be continued....


- H

j'taime etsy

It's no secret, I love me some Etsy. It's become a dangerous pastime, browsing Etsy at night while Cooper watches Scooby Doo.

Here are some of my most favorite recent buys from Etsy.

I started to title this post mi amo mi cielo but I wasn't quite sure of my Spanish, and then I decided to add some love for a few other artists, too. But seriously? Mi Cielo rocks! I ordered two shirts for Griffin during a BOGO sale she was having. Her communication is phenomenal. The shirts were shipped within a few days of ordering, and they got here before Christmas. I didn't mention, she lives in Hawaii. So I kinda love her a little more for that. And for the sumo wrestler shirt.

Next up is Fuss Jewelry. The night before the night before Christmas I spent a little too much time shopping online. Clearly, these were not meant to be Christmas presents. But seriously? The artist shipped them on Christmas Eve! I got them Monday and I love them so much.

I ordered these long blue and green lovelies.

My close-up stinks, sorry.

And these shorter pretties with purple beads in the center. LOVE.

Next up, some fine art for the walls. A few weeks before Thanksgiving I contacted Cari of Peacock Garden and asked her if she could paint a rural scene with a red woody. She delivered an awesome painting along with a fine art card of the same painting, in a matter of weeks. I love her work. I'm contemplating doing a custom order of a gigantic cow face painting for my kitchen.

I ordered this funny guy a while ago. He's called a foks. How cute is that?! He hasn't gotten here yet, but I'm waiting very impatiently.

I hope you'll take a few hours minutes to look through what Etsy has to offer. Some of it is amazing, and it's certainly nothing anyone else is going to have. In the next few days I'll be putting up a post with some super fantastic finds from Etsy. Stay tuned.

- H

Gone fishing

I have a toy recommendation. I realize it's a little late and all, but surely someone out there has a child whose birthday is in January or February and maybe could use some suggestions?

I bought the Go Fishing game at TJ Maxx shortly before Christmas, thinking I didn't have enough for the kids to unwrap. What?! What was I thinking?! My children are in such plastic and wrapping and presents overdose they jonesed all day today due to the lack of presents.

I digress. This game, this battery-operated fishing game, is awesome. My two-year-old can play. Kind of. He cheats a lot, but the beauty is that even at my advanced age, it's really kind of hard to catch those stinking fish! Luck plays a bigger role than skill, so all are equal at the game table.
See? Notice what is not in his mouth in this shot?

You can see cheating about to happen here. Those little fingers are working. And then notice what is in his mouth in this shot? There was maybe a two second delay between the two shots. That child can spot his wayward binky from a mile away.

Here are some Christmas photos for you. I played around with Pioneer Woman's actions in Photoshop. The first one was Boost. I don't so much care for it online.

But this one is called Fresh and I kind of like it? Our coloring looks better in this one.

I took down most of my Christmas decorations today. Looking forward to getting back to "normal," whatever that looks like.

- H

sweet corn casserole sounds Christmas-y, right?

For all of you last-minute Christmas meal preparers, I am sharing this simple holiday recipe for sweet cornbread casserole. It's kind of bready, and it's kind of corny, and it's all sweet goodness, if you like that kind of thing.

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 can regular white corn
1 can creamed corn
1 stick butter
1 8oz. container sour cream

Mix it all together and bake at 350 for at least 45 minutes or until it's to a texture you desire.

One hint I have is to drain most of the water off the regular corn but not all of it. If you like your casserole drier, drain all the water. If you like it moister (and yes that's a word because I just wrote it that's why), leave about half the water.

And then sit down and enjoy the sweet corn goodness.

Me? I'll be mixing up some wicked good sausage balls for Christmas morning breakfast, a la my friend Angela who also makes the world's best green bean casserole. I think she's posted the recipe on her blog in the past.

Merry Christmas everyone. May your hearts be bright.

- H

Mother of the Year

The boys had their school Christmas parties today. Santa managed to make it to both parties.

Since I was not feeling well and chaotic preschool parties are so chaotic, I managed to get Cooper in line to talk to Santa first. Woot woot! Yeah, that's right, kids, we're Number One! If you're not first you're last!

The following is an actual conversation had between myself, my son Cooper, and Santa Claus.

Santa: What's your name?

Cooper: Cooper

Santa: And what would you like for Christmas, Cooper?

Cooper: A bow and arrow. [I'd like to add there was absolutely no hesitation in his request.]

Santa: What was that? You want a what? [Apparently bow and arrows aren't high on the list of presents Santa hears about. Either that or this Santa is a peace lover.]

Cooper: [louder] A bow and arrow.

Mom: [nervous laughter] He likes weapons.

Santa: You aren't going to shoot anyone with it, are you?

Cooper: [shakes head no]

Santa: You aren't going to shoot Rudolph, are you?

Cooper: [nervous laughter followed by shameless lie] No.

Santa: Ok. Well, Merry Christmas. Here's a lollipop.

Mom and Cooper: Thanks, Santa. Merry Christmas.


Mother of the year award should be arriving soon.

- H

Can you feel the retro love?

If I haven't mentioned it already, I'm in a bit of a funk. I'm sure it'll pass, but it's a heavy mood that has descended over me and seems to keep my butt firmly glued to the couch after dinner these days. Seriously, I wish it would go away because there's so much I could be doing. Like decorating for Christmas, or making my famous cutout cookies, or working on a thousand unfinished projects in my sweatshop.

So instead of doing any of those things last night, I spent the better part of all night an hour shopping for vintage sewing patterns.

And I found some awesome things! Check it.

This pattern is to die for. Check out the lines! Check out the options! Check out the pockets! Pockets are my new favorite thing in a dress. I plan on making this one in black, just like the pretty little lady off to the right.

Then this skirt pattern also totally won me over. Another awesome a-line skirt with handy pockets that aren't right on my hips. I don't know what I'll make it out of, but you can be sure it will be the knee-length version and not the floor-sweeping version.

Yeah, yeah, another pattern with cool pockets. I guess there's a theme here, huh? I really liked this one in the black and white. I don't know how much I care for a dropped waist, but that can be adjusted.

This is actually the pattern that started my search. I found it online in a vintage pattern store, but it was sold already. I fell in love with the seaming detail and the martingale belt that goes around the back. Wouldn't you know it, I found it on Etsy for $4 and it's in my size! Usually I have to resize vintage patterns, which isn't hard but is time consuming.

And last but not least, I bought this lovely girl's pattern from the 60s. I imagine it will be showing up in my Etsy shop sometime this spring, if my terrible horrible mood lifts and I can finally get back to doing things I like doing.

If you've never sewn with a vintage pattern, I highly recommend it. The engineering of patterns before the 90s was so much better than today, I can't even begin to describe it. Pieces actually fit together. The finished product looks and fits like the description. It's amazing. And most of the time, if you choose carefully and pay attention to details like the collar styling, you can use modern fabrics to create a timeless piece.

For instance, check out Amy Butler's newest dress pattern. Very cute, no?

And then check out this vintage lovely from McCall's. Coincidence? Probably.

- H

Dear Santa...

My Dearest Santa,

I apologize for the tardiness in getting you my Christmas list. I haven't been busy. I am just a little lazy, plus I know you work quickly so I'm sure you can accommodate.

1. Better skin. I put this on the list every year, maybe you think I'm kidding? I'm really not kidding. Pale, bumpy and freckly was cool for the first 37 years, maybe the next 37 I could try tan, smooth and seamless?
2. Sudden, unexplained weight loss not due to calorie restrictions or increased aerobic activity.
3. My oldest son's attitude to change for the better. No more whining or crying or throwing fits when he doesn't get what he wants. I know, it's a big one.
4. More time. Either more hours in the day or more days in the week, I'll leave that up to you. I have hobbies, you know, and recently (since the last four years) have found very little time to enjoy them. Maybe one day a week for crafting? And one day for shopping and/or gardening when the weather gets nice again? Just an idea.
5. More sleep. Maybe an extra hour a night would help with the first item on my list, too. See? Kill two birds with one stone. I'm all about helping you out.
6. A heating and cooling system in this house that doesn't cause me to curse out loud, sweat profusely, shiver with chills and curse out loud. And that doesn't require a structural engineering degree to operate.
7. Some sort of way of knowing whether or not the snail in our fishtank is dead or alive. Maybe a little flag he could fly when he's sleeping, so I know he's not dead and think about flushing him? As you know, this is a daily occurrence, and I really don't like reaching in to touch his slimy skin and make sure he's alive. Maybe you could talk to him, tell him floating upside down isn't a good thing?
8. Grey Ugg boots.

I think that's about it. If I think of anything else before Christmas I'll send you an email. By the way, when you get Cooper's letter where he asks for a bow and arrow, can you ignore that part? I explained that Santa isn't going to bring him weapons because of his age and your love of peace and all things nonviolent, but those idiots at Cabela's keep taunting him with a new catalog each week so he doesn't believe me.

Thanks, Santa. Merry Christmas.

- H

For the blind orphans

I had the pleasure of visiting one of my favorite local fabric stores yesterday. Actually I don't know if I'd call it a favorite because the place actually drives me a little nuts and the ladies there have an average age of 97, but it's what I have to work with.

Over the past few weeks they'd been sending me emails that the store is closing and all fabrics and notions were 50% off. So I stopped by on my way home, and lo and behold what did I find in there? Another bolt of Heather Ross' blue dogs! From the Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries line, which is discontinued and hard to find.

So I bought the entire bolt. 13 yards.

Which now makes two entire bolts of blue dogs in my stash. Probably 30 yards total.

Sounds like a bit much, I realize, but I really love dogs. And I really love Heather Ross' little illustrations, especially when they're put to fabric from Free Spirit, with the exception of the double-gauze Far Far Away collection because I don't like working with double gauze. Love Mendocino! Don't love Far Far Away.

I digress.

I brought home all these dogs, and decided with thirty yards I could spare a little. So I started putting together a pile for the blind orphans. If you're a fan of Igor, as am I, you'll remember the blind orphans.

The truth is, it's going to be a quilt for kids going through chemo, not for blind orphans.

I think it's cute.

I struggled last night, maybe I should keep it? The dogs have a very strong pull for me. And then I thought ~ Nah. If I were six years old and sitting in a hospital, I'd have fun looking at all the little dogs on this blanket, just like I have fun looking at them now. And I'm 37.

I am not a big quilter. I can do it, I used to make lots of them, but I've kind of lost that drive for now. So I did one of the patchwork applique quilts, where the squares are just stitched down for the edges to fray in the wash. No biggee. I'll be taking it out to my mom's tonight for backing, quilting, and binding. The woman is a dynamo with binding, I tell you. Her mitered corners are perfection! I can't wait to show you all finished pictures.

**Edit for the sewies:

Field fabric is Heather Ross polka dots from either West Hill or Lightning Bugs, I can't remember

Squares in blue dogs, orange dogs, blue circles from Red Letter Day, and Kaffe Fassett's organic dots. There are also a few blue VW campers scattered throughout for fun.

I'm going to bind it in the blue circles from Red Letter Day, and back it with Kaffe Fassett's organic dots, two of my all-time favorite prints.

Can you tell I like orange and light blue together? So much fun.

- H

HVAC means "You are a gigantic idiot"

I bought this house we live in about six years ago, maybe seven now. This was back when I was single and doing my drive-by letter campaign. Here's how it worked:

1. Drive through neighborhoods I liked


2. Identify homes clearly in disrepair or owned by old people (evidenced by grass that grows straight to the foundation or the absence of landscaping decoration, with the notable exception of plastic flowers)


3. Look up owner information on tax records


4. Write owner a letter offering to buy their home should they ever decide to move


5. Wait for them to call me back

You would not believe my success rate from my simple letters. Yes, I sent a lot of them. But I probably got a dozen phone calls on homes I was interested in, usually a few months to a year later.


The house I own now, I had written a letter one rainy day in October. The following March, the owner's two adult daughters called me. They were selling mom's house and did I want to look at it before they put it on the market?

I did, I fell in love, and I bought it. Warts and all.

Financially it's been a great investment. Emotionally it's been my ballyhoo. I don't know how to spell that.

I just clicked the Delete button, because it literally would have taken me twenty minutes to tell a two minute story.

Here's the barebones of it: I hated this house because the two back bedrooms and my bathroom had no heat (along with twenty other reasons which shall wait for a post of their own). I called my HVAC guy out. He turned on the thermostat upstairs, that I've left turned off for three years.

PRESTO CHANGE-OH, a magic damper opened and now we have heat in the entire house. Which is something to behold. I can get dressed without clothes that are freezing cold. The thought of sitting down to tinkle in my bathroom no longer brings me to tears.

And the biggest win? I no longer lay my son down to bed at night in fear. For the last three winters I've had to run a ceramic heater in his room to keep it at a livable temperature. Every. Single. Night. I would put him to bed and pray to God nothing bad happened.

No more fear and danger! No more cold underwear! I still hate this house, but it got better by about .05% that day. And no, I am not dwelling on the fact that I could have fixed the heat three years ago by turning on the thermostat upstairs. No sirree.

- H

Punk Rock Christmas

So the punks got dressed up to meet Santa.

We decided to go with a little more of a hard-edged theme this year. Partly cause we're just cool like that, and partly cause I couldn't find anything not stupid in the stores for the boys to wear.

One of these boys is easily influenced by the other one.


This is not such a good thing.

I don't know if the tall one realizes just exactly how much he is adored by the short one. I've never had the short guy so much as hesitate when I say "ok, boys, hold hands." He shoots it right out there, eager to grab a hold of his big brother's hand. He'd walk around all day holding his brother's hand, if only his brother would let him.

They told the big guy what they wanted for Christmas. Then there were lots of tears and tantrums after this.

Please, Santa, I forgot to tell you what I want for Christmas. I want to survive this phase the taller boy is going through. The phase that started a few days ago and continues despite my best parenting efforts. Apparently, my best isn't good enough. I will try harder.

- H

Welcome to the world, Violet June

If you guys haven't found her blog yet, there's a mom I'd like to introduce you to - Cara, of Me? A Mom.

She recently had a surprise! pregnancy [yes, even IUDs fail sometimes] and went through a high-risk pregnancy complete with blood transfusions because the baby's blood and hers were incompatible (think RH factor times one hundred).

Baby Violet was born at 27 weeks on Thursday, weighing in at a hefty two and a half pounds.

She's in great hands, but any prayers and well-wishes you have for her parents would be welcome.

Grow, baby Violet, grow!

- H

This is why dress pants should be lined.

A few months ago I happened to find myself in an Ann Taylor store. I usually don't shop at Ann Taylor because her "model" body is much shorter and quite a bit curvier than my own body. But the posters promised a new fit! A new look! New pants!

So I caved, and tried on one of the new style of dress pants they are now offering. They fit! No extra fabric where I don't have hips, and the hems actually touched my heels, a good sign for the tall'ns like me.

The only teensy weensy problem with them is they aren't lined. Original sticker price on these babies was over a hunert bucks and to not have lining at that price?! Insane! But luckily they were being offered at some crazy steal of a deal to get people to try them, so I did. I plunged and bought my first pair of black dress pants sans lining [for winter] since Nam.

I wore them quite faithfully, too, through this fall.

Today I hopped a flight to Omaha in my snazzy not so new pants, where the temp when we landed was 9 and as I stepped off the plane all of the moisture in my skin went ffftttt into the air.

And by noon I knew why I would never buy unlined dress pants again.

Cause the wool? The lightweight, tropical wool [clearly shorn from Hawaiian sheep or something] that was so superior it simply didn't need a lining? That same wool? It hurts like a mother when the seams on the very tender insides of your thighs happen to rub your wintery dry skin.

Now I know what babies with chapped fannies feel like. 'Cept mine is the insides of my thighs, but whatever.

And Ann Taylor?

Line your pants, for Christsakes.

- H

Howayyeeeeee

Griffin manages to remember where we went on vacation fairly regularly.

"Where did you fly on an airplane, Griffie?"

"Howaayyeeeeee!"

We took over 500 pictures, so bear with me while I share a dozen or so.

The flights were not bad. If you don't mind restless children with short attention spans, they were great!

We spent a lot of time on the beach.

And the pool...

And we did a little sight-seeing, like the drive up through Waimea Canyon.

And the drive back (that's chocolate donut, not blood)

Cooper found buried treasure on the beach one morning!

You may not be able to see his true pirate face in this picture...

So here's the cropped version.

Griffin got to play on the playground quite a bit. That was a big hit with him, that and the hot tub. I'm not kidding.

We tortured ourselves the last night to get a family picture.

By the end of it, there was a lot of chaos and very few pictures.

Overall, Cooper gave the trip a thumbs up.

And we flew home a little more tan, and a lot more tired. And very grateful, in this economy, that we were able to take a family vacation to Hawaii.

- H