I'm Addicted . . .

. . . to these adorable, little fabric postcards! Thanks to my Aunt Cindy who can create magic with a sewing machine! I just need to glue on a stamp, choose a Valentiney Post Office to ship them to. Such as Loveland, OH or Loveland, CO or Valentine, AZ. How cool to receive a card with a special Valentine canceallation stamp from a place like that? What's next? Perhaps St. Patrick's Day invites for an upcoming 1 year old birthday, hmmmm . . . .

(Click on my Aunt's link above for directions in creating your own delightful fabric postcards. It's really easy and takes only part of an evening. A quick project with fast results.)

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Valentine_Re-Mailing_with_Postmarks

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(oh, and Live_a_Colorful_Life's conversation of sharing completed projects inspired me to share these at the moment of completion. Here's my "shout", from a chilly basement!)

Simer Rhymer Dimer Do

We have a lot of new names around here:

Mommy has become Mommer.

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Daddy has become Dadder

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Norah has become Norer

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Simon is not a Simonater, he is a Simer

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Grandma has become Grandmaw-maws

Grandpa has become Grandpaw-paws

(but only the ones from Minnesota)

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Grandma and Grandpa Lussow are definitely not a "-maws" or a "-paws"

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So Daddy called him Simer Rhymer Dimer Do,

and Mommy really likes this name.

But, no, "Simon a Simer"

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A Chubby Little Snowman!

An afternoon of fun! Carrot nose provided by Mrs. Dickens next door. Simon called her, asked if she had a carrot, marched himself over to her house, rang the doorbell, and took the carrot! So darn cute!

(turn the volume up for this video clip)

A chubby little snowman

Had a carrot nose

Along came a bunny

Now what do you suppose?

That hungry little bunny

Looking for some lunch

And ate that snowman's carrot nose

nibble . . . nibble . . . crunch!

Leftover Hair

I have finally mastered the art of leftover hair, which excites me to no end! Leftover hair is yesterday's style that is good enough to wear today! I love the days my hairstyle lasts two days in a row. I sometimes shower at night to save time in the morning since I received this_gift_of_time as a birthday gift from Eric. So this morning, I declared leftover hair was the way to go. Plus a new haircut always helps!

Midday Connection

Whenever I get a chance to listen to the radio and 12:00 p.m., I always tune my radio to Midday_Connection. I love the topics and somehow always find a comment that relates to my life. The program just provides a peace and a time to self-reflect. The website is great and allows me to listen to the program any time or to download it to a podcast. I also know where the host lives! Anita Lustrea lives around the corner and across the street from us; she is a very lovely lady!

Desserts

Our Friday evenings have turned into game night or family movie night with a fire. One particular Friday evening, cake baking was added into the mix and we created a "Hot Fudge Sundae Cake". After baking and cooling the cake, squares of cake were cut, split in half, and used a cookie cutter to cut out the shape. A square of ice-cream was also cut out with the cookie cutter and sandwiched between the two layers of cake. Topped with a home-made fudge sauce, whipped cream and a cherry on top! Yum! Since only three people were eating this yummy creation, the rest of the cake was cut and placed into a few baggies and placed into the freezer for another time. Came in handy as we had my sister for a suprise night as she was stranded on her flight from Mpls to Japan! Just thaw and serve!

Ever wonder what to do when it is too cold outdoors to play? Have a jammie day and make happy face cookies, idea courtesy of Simon's cookie cookbook from Aunt Christina! As we were making the cookies, we discovered that we did not have any powdered sugar for the frosting. What to do? We blended granulated sugar to turn it into powdered sugar as suggested by research on Google. The result - yellow frosting, a bit grainy and interesting to spread, but worked well enough for the day.

Simond did not mind the grainy frosting!

His job was to put the eyes on the cookie, and sometimes the mouth. Can you tell which one is his cookie?

I decided that we did not need a whole batch of happy face cookies available on the counter or in the pantry. We split the dough in half to make heart cookies ahead for Valentines Day. They are in the freezer just waiting to be thawed, decorated, and shared with those we love!

Captured Resting Places

Pain in the . . . .

GUMS!!!

Chomping away brings so much relief! Thank goodness for the vibrating star teether! This pic taken a few weeks ago, working on tooth number 4. Proud to say the pearly white tooth just appeared from under the gums just yesterday! She now has popped her two top and two bottom teeth.

Sledding

Sliding down a snow covered hill with nothing but hard plastic under your butt is so exciting when experienced through childhood fun! Wish I could have been there, but kuddos to Eric for capturing the moment. Reports included a face-first, snow-gulping wipe-out without tears, which caused a Daddy-Son hat exchange. This may be the beginning of sending your kid off to an unknown, and possibly scary adventure. To be repeated this summer with the riding of a 2-wheel bike.

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I am pleased to report that it took four winters in young Simon's life to appreciate the snow! He now jumps into snow with or without the apporpriate attire, picks up and throws, creates snow angels, and flops down into it without a moment of hesitation. He's on his way to loving winter. He doesn't know that it's too cold and we sometimes tire of the snow and get cabin fever. Those are all learned theories that his young soul doesn't need to know yet!! He asks each day, "is it nice outside?" Only last week with temperatures way below comfort and safety levels for outdoor play did I say "no, it's too cold". His eyes only saw a sunny day with lots of snow in which to play.

Throwing in the House

Now what mother actually allows throwing in the house, even during house-bound January? Well, there has been quite a bit of throwing in our house; which has kept us both busy and sane. Let me tell you why.

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Norah had the icky sickies and the poor baby spent a few days throwing up. That should not be allowed for any tiny person to endure! So, really that kind of "throwing" is not really allowed in our house, but it kept us busy! We are most excited for nice brown-colored filled diapers. Enough said.

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The next type of throwing that has been occuring at our house includes paper airplanes. Simon gave Daddy one of those page-a-day calendars where each day is a paper airplane to fold. You know, those daily calendars that get used until, oh, let's say, January 15! I was really skeptical about purchasing this item but thought it would be a fun Daddy/Simon activity. Well, I was right and it was a perfect gift. Every evening after dinner Simon excitedly waits for Daddy to fold the airplane. Imagine trying to explain that Sat/Sun share a page. These airplanes provide movement and excitement while not breaking a single item in the house! Plus, if one gets stepped on, squished, wrinkled, torn, lost, or eaten (by Princess Drool) it's not really noticed. Seriously, there will be over 300 airplanes to make. And with names like Flying Mantis, Double Eagle, Stratofortress, Douglas DC-3, Twin Prop 101, Aramis, and Toreador - we are entertained with Simon's attempts to repeat the names! I must admit it is quite fun to spend 20 minutes flying paper airplanes like crazy all over the house, every day!

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Here is a sample of the airplanes on display. Notice the drawer on the coffee table. That is the "airplane hanger", a perfect place to store them when not in flight.

Here are abandoned airplanes.

Here is what the calendar looks like, as well as a sample of the directions Daddy follows every day! He'll have great paper folding skills by the end of the year. It is cool that the paper is in proportion to an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper. Do you know how to mountain or valley fold?

If looking for a cool gift to give "Daddy", I highly recommend the paper airplane page a day calendar. It is by far the most used Christmas gift of the year!