Spring has sprung

Finally some signs of life in my garden. Even though there is still some snow on the ground the flowers are fighting back. Can anyone name this flower? I am still trying to figure out my garden.

Feelings fought thoroughly
Seen through fogged window light

I sense positivity circling sensibly
weaving / weaving
through time
present time

Through space
my space.

We are super stars

Check out the post from the wonderful Seven Days vlog Stuck in Vermont by Eva Sollberger

I was one of the members interviewed in the video. She did an amzaing job at capturing our event.

Vlog of the Burlington Craft Mafia event.

Check out the video of our Burlington Craft Mafia event from the wonderful Seven Days vlog Stuck in Vermont by Eva Sollberger

yours truly was interviewed.

Rearrange the Mundane

A fresh perspective can be found in anything when slight changes are made.

We are a family of four living in small two bedroom house. So far we have made it work. The kids share a bedroom which contains some of their toys. The downstairs consists of two rooms. the kitchen and then the living room/office/playroom. I struggle daily with home organization. How to have warm and inviting play area for my kids but also not feel like I live in a daycare center. One way we have managed to do this is by simplifying the children's toys. We tend to fill their shelves with books, blocks, art supplies, a train table and some simple play items like a wooden cash register, telephone and kitchen items. The more wood the better in this home. It is more appealing to their senses (and mine), it is quieter on their ears (and mine). I really have found that by limiting the amount of "junk" toys we offer them they use their imaginations much more. Sure the occasional loud plastic toy has come into our home. It usually gets played with for a week and then it ends up in the closet. Not because I put it there but because they just get bored with it. I am not saying plastic is bad. I am a huge fan of PlayMobil toys. We have a large collection of PlayMobil and my children love it.

What I have found extremely helpful this week is the art of rearranging things to reawaken creativity. This can be used in your home with or without children and even in the workplace. Things become stale if in the same place for too long. I decided to move some of our toys upstairs and took others from the upstairs and brought them down. I also rearranged their play area in the living room a bit. I have found if it gets too cluttered with toys they almost get lost and don't know what to play with next. So I simplified it by moving a lot of the toys upstairs and I left a small bookcase, a basket for dress up clothes, a basket of blocks, the play telephone and cash register and a small basket of toy cars.

Their response was amazing. The tree house I had move upstairs was looked at with new eyes. They were so excited to see it in a new spot that they began playing with it every day again where it had gone untouched downstairs for weeks. It was refreshing for me to rearrange the house a bit and I could tell it helped the kids as well.

Sale extended.

The sale has been extended through Sunday 3/25 from 12-4pm. Go shop.

Burlington Craft Mafia Event

We had our first big event last night as the Burlington Craft Mafia. 7 of the 8 members displayed their work at Studio STK in Burlington. Along with fabulous handmade goods there was live music by Colin Clary, food and a bar. The place was packed. The event was a smashing success. View more photos from the event here.

Quick updates

I am going to keep these brief

1. I am sick again
2. Enzo survived his 5 year check up. The shots SUCKED. I chose the road of avoiding the subject before we went. Of course while we were getting our coats on to leave he asked me if he would be getting any shots. I played dumb. Three shots he got. Would have been 4 if I hadn't opted out of the chicken pox one. Watching your 5 year old get shots is WAY worse than the infant ones.
3. Sal's orthopedic appointment went well. He has internal tibial torsion which is the good kind. When I was young hey put you in a leg brace at night but now they just wait it out. Usually it goes away. Mine didn't get better until middle school and according the the dr who saw Sal the other day I still have it. An observation he made while watching us both walk down t he hall.
4. Kindergarten registration was yesterday. I will just say this for now. I want to win the lottery so I can send him to a private one. More on this later.
5. After registration we headed to testing for Enzo's speech issues. Ends up he has the type of stuttering they worry about a bit more. They said there is still a good shot he could outgrow it but they are not sure yet. They suggested for now we make some changes at home like slowing down our speach and daily living .
5. Everyone thought Sal was a girl before his haircut. Everyone thinks Sal is girl after his haircut. We will be growing his hair back out again.

Happy Birthday JB

Today is my husbands 35th birthday! He took the day off of work. We celebrated by going out for breakfast at what used to be our favorite local spot back when we could still go out to eat more than once a year. Right now he is on a field trip with Enzo and his preschool and later we will enjoy homemade birthday cake after an early dinner this evening.

JB enjoying coffee at breakfast this morning

birthday breakfast

The boys giving him our handmade card

Enzo and Sal made him a hand print painting

I have been on the search for new mugs. The ones we currently own came with the dinnerware set we picked out when we got married. I love them for so many reasons but at times they are too large. So I went thrifiting the other day and found these fabulous Japanese stoneware mugs. It was love at first site. They felt so good to hold. I bought them up of course, but I also bought a different set that although I don't like the look and feel as much as these brown beauties, they came with matching saucers, a sugar bowl and creamer. I have chosen the larger set because I have been obsessed with wanting a place to put my tea bag on when having tea. So these lovelies will be up for sale I guess. Boo-hoo.

First haircut

Sal got his first hair cut on Saturday. He will be two in May and we haven't even given him a trim yet. His hair was super long and lately he begged daily for a "pony" to keep his hair out of his face. Between the food and the snots getting stuck all over his head I felt it was finally time to give him a trim. He looks so different now though I am ready to let it grow out again already.

Before

After

Queen City Craft Bazaar

Calling all VT artists, independent designers, and crafters

Made Boutique & Gallery and the Burlington Craft Mafia are proud to announce
the Queen City Craft Bazaar.

The Queen City Craft Bazaar is a showcase of Vermont artists, independent designers, and crafters

This is a juried craft fair that will take place on May 5th at Union Station in Burlington.

Only 35 spots are available so apply now!

Go to queencitycraftbazaar.wordpress.com for application information.

New Date

Just Breathe

I have an adventures next two weeks coming up. Monday will be a mellow day and then my challenges as a mother begin. They start on Tuesday when I take Enzo to the Dr for his 5 year check up. He is 5 1/2 now so we are a bit overdue. The issue with this weeks visit is that he will be receiving shots for the first time in a few years. As a parent it is so hard bringing your little infant into the Dr to be vaccinated. You never want to see you child in pain. Luckily though they are young enough to not know what is coming. Then the shots stop for a while. The next round is at age 5. They are older, more aware and more resistant. It will be so hard to watch him be so scared but I can do it.

Next up this week is on Friday. Sal will be visiting an Orthopedic Pediatrician for some leg issues he has been having. It is normal for most children around 18 months to walk pigeon toed (feet pointing in). Most grow out of it. Sal however is now 21 months and his right leg is turning in more than his Dr likes so she thought we should have him looked at by an Orthopedic Dr. I am a bit nervous about this because as a child I had a severe case of this that I did not outgrow. By the time I was in 6th grade the Doctors were telling me the next step would be surgery and a full body cast to correct the issue. At the same time several other orthopedic issues sprung up with me and I ended up being hospitalized twice at Mass General in Boston. The second hospitalization was surgery. My fears for him come from my own long history of medical issues. Nothing life threatening but for various issues I have been hospitalized 6 times and I have had 4 surgeries. I never want my children to feel the pain I went through. Isn't that every mothers wish?

Next week on Tuesday is Kindergarten registration for Enzo. Kindergarten in my town is public and full day. He is so ready for it and I am so excited for him to be taking this next step but I can't deny I feel a tinge of sadness to be taking this first big step in letting go.

The day after we register Enzo for kindergarten we have an appointment for some special testing. Enzo has a slight stuttering and articulation issue that his preschool teacher thought we should get tested before he starts school. She told us she doesn't think he will even qualify for help because it isn't that bad but she just wanted to be proactive. He is a super bright kid and in my heart I know he will either grow out of it or just need some minor help with it. Again though as a mother you never want your child to feel insecure. Sending you child off to school even perfect has its risks of childhood ridicule. We all went through it and turned out fine I know. I can't help wanting to protect him from the world though.

So yes I know these are not things to really complain about. Of course I know how lucky I am. I am thankful every day believe me. But I am human and I am a mother and I worry every single day about these kids. So tonight when I go to bed I will breathe a little deeper, say a few extra prayers and look deep within so I can stand tall next to them these next few weeks and be strong and unafraid.

If any of you read my studio blog you will know I had a huge craft event tonight. We had to make the tough decision this morning to postpone it. They had been predicting another big storm for us today and into tonight. When we woke up this morning it was messy as all heck and the forecast for the rest of the day into the evening looked even worse. The event was supposed to run from 5-8pm with live music, a cash bar, food and of course lots of handmade goodness to look at (or buy). Since the event was after work and we feared most people would want to head right home because of the storm we decided it was best to postpone it for two weeks. So it has now been moved to Friday March 16th. I am glad we had the option at least to postpone it. It makes me very sad. I worked my butt off to get ready for tonight. At least we don't take the risk of having it tonight and now one showing up because of the weather.

Of course it stopped snowing. frickin' New England weather.

Studio STK Event Postponed Tonight

Due to the weather today we have decided to postpone our event tonight at Studio STK.

The new date will be Friday March 16th from 5-8.

Thank you for your support if you planned on coming tonight. It was a tough call but we would rather have everyone stay safe and move it to another day.

So mark your calendars and come check us out in two weeks.

Comcast can kiss my

Our local cable company Adelphia got switched to Comcast. We received a happy letter from Comcast on Monday saying on Tuesday our cable services would be officially switched over and they then went and listed all the wonderful benefits we would now have because Comcast has entered our lives. Cable is honestly not something I care too much about. We rent DVR though them but we only have basic cable. We were so sick of Adelphia that I actually welcomed a newcomer. Hoping maybe there would be some good changes. I was wrong.

My kids don't watch a lot of TV. When Enzo does watch TV it is on PBS. On Wednesday I went to turn on a show for him on PBS and a message came on my screen saying "This channel is not available. Call this number to order" So I called customer service to find out about what I thought would be a mistake. Oh no. Vermont PBS is no longer available in our channel listing. I said "WHAT? You canceled PBS? Who in their right mind would remove PBS?" I was told some round about bull answer. She pretty much had no idea what to tell me. There is another version of PBS available but the Vermont PBS station is not. I am a Vermont resident and I cannot get Vermont Public TV? Insane.

Issue # 2 happened today. Since PBS was out of the question I decided to check out the "On Demand" listing. Free kids shows from various stations are available. So I turn it on to browse through the kids listing and blaring in the left side of the TV is this super violent preview. In Adelphia you only got those if you chose to enter the movie section. Now with Comcast it is there in your face while just searching through even the kid stuff. I called to ask if it can be turned off and of course the answer was no.

I am over Comcast and I cannot wait to ditch them. I am very fortunate to have an alternative available to me in about one more month.

Burlington is extremely lucky because as I type the city is being set up with an alternative. Burlington Telecom is providing a state of the art telecommunications network for the city of Burlington. What this means is we finally have an option. We now have another choice for our cable, internet and telephone needs. I have one more month to wait until the services are available in my neighborhood. I can't wait to say goodbye to the big corporation.

So bye bye Comcast crap. Take Vermont PBS away from a Vermonter and you are taking business away from yourselves. Burlington Telecom is offering it. I can imagine there will be a lot of angry parents and other fans of VT PBS who will do the same.

being sick sucks

I have never been a good sick person. Many people I know can get a cold and go on with their lives. Ever since I was a young child a simple cold will put me in bed for days. Sunday night I started to feel a bit congested but since I have chronic allergies I thought it was because I had worked in my basement all day. I woke up Monday morning and realized I was wrong. I had a cold. I sent JB to work and just stayed mellow and indoors with the boys all day. By the time JB got home from work I was wiped and needed to lay down on the couch. I was sick indeed. When I woke up Tuesday morning I had to make the tough decision to have John stay home from work.

Being sick a few years ago when I was working full time was different. If I was so sick that I couldn't (or shouldn't) go into the office JB would drop Enzo off at daycare, go to work and I would rest all day in a quiet house. Now I have two kids and I no longer have that luxury. It is exhausting staying home full time with two kids. It is even more so when you don't feel well. There is no such thing as nap time for mom. So when I woke up Tuesday morning I told JB that if I was working outside of the home there is no way I would go in to work. Because I was this sick I had to ask him to call out from work to stay home so I could try and get some rest. Although I couldn't check out completely (it is hard to sleep when all you hear are children screaming and running around downstairs)but I did manage to nap twice and rest a lot more.

So now it is Wednesday and I did the same. It is so weird how in this country we feel so incredibly guilty when we get sick and need to take care of ourselves. I firmly believe that if people would stop at the first sign of a cold, get in bed and take care of themselves for the first few days, they would heal faster and spread less germs. Instead because of the pressure they feel from their company and or lack of sick leave policies people push themselves, go into work sick, spread all their germs, end up being sick for longer and getting half of their office sick too. Just because you think the company will crumble without you for a couple of days you instead hurt the company more because so many people get sick.

I have to say I am glad to not deal with that office shit anymore. I hated seeing people push themselves to the limits. Someday we will realize the healthier we are in mind and body the more productive we are at our work as well.

Listen to you bodies, trust your instincts and take care of yourself.

off to sip some lemon tea with honey now.

peace

Weekend update

I love when weekends feel complete. A complete weekend for me is when I feel like I had a balance of family time, me time and house time. These weekends are rare, but when they come they feel wonderful.

Friday started out the festivities. Enzo and I had a date night. Our local science center has special events for pass holders when they are opening a new exhibit. They invite all pass holders to a special preview of the exhibit on a Friday evening. This time it was for an event called Frog World. We received the postcard in the mail a week ago and Enzo has been counting down the days ever since. We have been trying to do more alone time with each kid and Enzo is loving it. He very seldom ever gets me all to himself so it was a special treat. We ate pizza with JB when he got home from work and then we took off for our Frog World date night. It was a blast.

Saturday morning I headed out at 8:30 am with two of my girlfriends for a day of kid sale shopping and followed up with a baby shower for a mutual friend of ours. I had done all my food shopping on Friday so I could be gone for half the day and not stress about it. We stopped at a local baby/kid boutique that resells clothing and other goods. They were having a mega sale. I picked up a wooden two sided art board for the kids for $15.00. It rocks. We had a broken table top one but they could not use it at the same time. I was psyched to score this. After the shopping spree we headed to a baby shower. The shower was for a former coworker of mine so just about everyone who attended I knew. It was so great to hang out with friends. Oh if I didn't mention this earlier I left both boys home with JB during this Saturday exhibition. Even more I enjoyed the car rides with my friends. I usually don't get a chance to talk to anyone without the boys tugging at my legs. It was a wonderful outing.

Sunday we stayed around the house. JB and I took turns working in the basement. We are working on turning a section of the basement into a studio office. I have been using it as my jewelry studio by working on an old table down there. We finally moved this incredible work bench that was left when we bought the house from one end of the basement into this space. This work bench will now be my jewelry work area and JB is going to set up a desk so he can have a space for working on his projects as well. I am so excited to finally get this space finished. The basement itself is not finished so it is cold in the winter but it is so great to have a space for my work. I will post pictures as it starts coming together more. Sunday night I stayed up way too late to watch the Oscars. I thought my allergies were bothering me from working in the basement all day but low and behold when I woke up today it feels like more of cold.

Oh well. Welcome to Monday. At least the weekend was good.