I didn’t even know this existed – KNITCH – an online knitting magazine. Look at the pretty yarn! Look at the pretty ideas…love that baby cardigan with four flowers. I have a lot to learn.
Author Archives: Sparkbark
Kid Funnies – Murder & Monk
I’m cleaning the house for possible walk throughs this weekend so today’s will be a short post. For Christmas, Santa brought Cole every season of Monk (we haven’t had cable for a couple of years and he loves Monk and Psych and doesn’t get to see them) and so over the holidays we’ve been having Monk Marathons and then passing the dvds on to my mother who loves the show, too. I love the show because it’s like Murder She Wrote with OCD. Anyway – Gabe was watching them with us and was getting tired. He got up to do some origami instead but stopped and waited for the first few minutes of the show to be over and mentioned, “I just love the murdering part.” Our innocent little Gabe. Maybe he’s not so innocent! Look at him, though (above)…he has to take his beanie babies everywhere…he just loves that puppy tucked under his arm. I don’t think he could really hurt a fly…well, maybe a fly.
Spring Decor – Anna Crafts
Yeah for SPRING! Here goes wishful thinking since it’s still cold and January here in Omaha. I’m anxious for spring – mostly because then I know we will HAVE to be well on our way to Texas. Geesh. This waiting in winter thing is more difficult than I expected – patience schmatience. Very difficult stuff to be in limbo. I’m going to appease my worries with a little spring-like eye candy. The website for the above pics is here and the site includes a blog, craft school and boutique – some of it is still in the works but I’ve seen the magazine. It’s fabulous.
Dog Collar Contest Winner
Silver spoons! Who’d a thunk it? Very nice and perfect for elegant breeds. Check out the design and fabrication from Junk Market’s website here.
Kid Funnies – Jack at Church (again)
Don and I were irreverent in Sacrament Meeting. Why? Because after the bread was passed to Jack, he reached out and said in a loud voice, “I need more remembering!!!” If you don’t get it…think of the sacrament wording about REMEMBERING. Yes. I know. We couldn’t help it.
My First “Real” Apron
I wish that I had these skills about three weeks ago. I sent my sister, LeAnne an apron I tried to sew myself and it looks regurgitated next to these aprons that my friend Benay helped me sew yesterday. I now have THE SKILLS. At least to do an apron! So, LeAnne, which of these two do you want and which one can I keep? Look out – if you know me and usually get a gift – it’s probably going to be an apron this year.
Jack Juice: A Tribute to a Wonderful 6 Year Old Boy!
I didn’t get a chance to write a special post about Jack for his birthday during all of the holiday hubbub. I wanted to write a note for each child’s birthday on what we love about them at this stage of their lives. Jack is all boy. Last Sunday my sister’s husband, Ron, watched Jack run down the hall at church. He ran into a woman in our branch that is usually sick and frail, but not old. Anyway, he bumped into her and kept going down the hall (backstory: he had received a candy bar certificate for his birthday in Primary and wanted to get it. Fast.). Ron, said that Jack turned on a dime, walked ALL THE WAY back down the hall, and of his own volition politely apologized and with complete sincerity asked her if she was okay. He didn’t just say sorry…he looked into her face and genuinely apologized. All without prompting! What a great kid! He still got his chocolate and we’ll take care of running down the halls some other time.
Some other things Jack is doing right now: His favorite word when he likes something is “chocoboolate” (pronounced chalk-uh-boo-law-tay). He is starting to be a real big brother to Ben. He shares his toys willingly almost all of the time. He really, really likes Star Wars. He was dying for Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em for Christmas. He just discovered computer games and likes Civilization. He is, at the moment, a picky eater and likes chocolate, yogurt, milk, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cereal and not much else. He will eat salad but no other vegetable. He is a fast runner with the cutest little muscles (he’s got the most muscle of all of our kids). He has faint downy hair all over his body – more hair than a 6 yr old should have. He’s the best reader in Kindergarten by far – at least a 2nd grade level – and taught himself to read. He wants his hands free so badly that he had a cut in his skin from not wearing his mittens in the cold weather. He sleeps with Pokemon cards and books (we discovered 9 books in his bed with him). He likes to pull pillowcases over his legs and crawl in and fall asleep. His nickname is “Jack Juice” ever since it was his preschool icon for his backpack and cubby. When he was little, he’d come over to be tickled and say “Torture me!” and taunt you to catch him. His favorite shoes are camo mocs and crocs. He likes to wake up early EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. He would stand up for the right in any situation; he was willing to rat out 3rd graders at school who killed Gabe’s slugs on the school bus. He can handle the money in Star Wars Monopoly (he adds and subtracts like a 2nd grader, too). He’s just an all-around great kid. I love his round nose, blue eyes, sandy blonde hair and freckles — it’s a killer combo. He is mischievous and sweet and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Marie Claire Idees
Each of the above pics is from Marie Claire Idees – a French sewing/knitting/craft magazine. I am a francophile (is that supposed to be capitalized? I don’t think so.). I love anything from/about/in/around France. I went there after my senior year in high school and had a great time but I’m wanting to go back and take my husband. He is not such a French fan but I think he’d enjoy the culture, photo ops and most definitely the food. J’adore le pays de France dans mon coeur.
Save Handmade Toys – From Small Magazine
I am going to reprint a letter I received in my email from SMALL Magazine (an online magazine; if you haven’t checked it out, go here).
Dear Small Readers,
We are writing to inform you of action taken by Congress this past August to pass the HR4040–the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). We are pleased that Congress passed a bill to protect our children from toys containing lead and phthalates and addressing other safety issues. However, parts of this bill will directly effect all small handmade toy makers, designers and store owners in a way that will put many of them out of business. The CPSIA rules now requires all children’s products, including natural handmade toys and clothing to be tested by a Third Party Lab, often at a cost of up to $4,000 per item. That could cost a small company more than $20,000 a season.
The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of children’s goods that have earned and kept the public’s trust: Toys, clothes, and accessories made in the US, Canada, and Europe. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade children’s products will no longer be legal in the US.
If this law had been applied to the food industry, every farmers market in the country would be forced to close while major food manufacturers such as Kraft and Dole prospered.
For small American, Canadian, Australian and European toy-makers and manufacturers of all children’s products the costs of mandatory testing will probably force them out of business.
A toymaker who makes wooden cars in his garage in Maine to supplement his income cannot afford the $4,000 fee per toy that testing labs are charging to assure compliance with the CPSIA.
A small-scale designer selling screen printed kids t-shirts from Australia will have to undergo expensive testing and provide permanent tracking labels for each item in order to sell within the US.
A work at home mom in Texas who makes handmade clothing must choose either to violate the law or cease operations.
A small toy retailer in Vermont who imports wooden toys from Europe, which has long had stringent toy safety standards, must now pay for testing on every toy they import.
And even the handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.
Please check out the Handmade Toy Alliance to read more about this issue.
Also please consider signing the following petitions:
www.ipetitions.com/petition/handmadetoys
www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia
Child safety and the environment is a top priority here at Small Magazine and we are concerned by the dangerous and poisonous toys that large toy manufacturers have been selling to our nations families. That is why we support the independent designers and companies making safe, handmade products for our children.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and we appreciate your help.
Sincerely,
Small Magazine
Christine Visneau & Olivia Pintos-Lopez
Small Magazine
editor@smallmagazine.net
Jack Turned Six Years Old!
Jack had a birthday waaay back on December 20th. He is happy to be six! He loved all of his Star Wars presents. He is our squeezy child. He is not fat at all but curls up into a ball and is just so fun to hug and squeeze. The other day he was mad at Cole and called him “fat and squeezy” and I told him that “squeezy” was a compliment. At least in my book.
Christmas Photos
Photos of Christmas are so memorable. And funny. My Mom is funny in a very quiet way. We will never forget 2008 – our last Christmas in Omaha for awhile. I think that if we never bought presents for the kids they would still be spoiled by my sisters and parents. They loved it all (even the extra Wii controller Jack wasn’t too pleased with at first – he is sure glad to have it now!). I think they’ve already worn out all their moustaches.
Ice Walking at Chalco
We drove up the street to Chalco Reservoir. We had to ditch the stroller because the ice was so thick that we couldn’t get the “regular” stroller over it (wish we had taken the jogging stroller, oh well). Ben seemed to walk better on the ice unassisted. We took the neighbors dog, Marcie, since they had asked us to let her out the night before while they were going to be out late and I FORGOT to even tell Cole to do it (note: we are very unreliable people). I didn’t want to get another concussion before this one has fully healed so I was really leery of the ice. The boys, however, weren’t phased and had a great time looking for fish frozen in the ice. We returned home with no head injuries and nobody fell in and I count that as a victory. Cole did learn that when you crunch ice over water and your foot goes through, the water is VERY cold. I’m glad he learned it today rather than on a 10 mile scout camp hike. We are going to miss this annual tradition when we get to Houston. We’ll have to replace it with something like swimming at Christmas.
Lion Polarspun Yarn Scarf & Pullover
I am almost done making a beautiful scarf for my sister LeAnne for her birthday. It is so pretty and lightweight and soft it is going to be VERY difficult for me to give it away. I hope she really likes it because it makes my eyes look so blue and I am sooo tempted to keep it for that very reason. I used this yarn above – Lion Brand PolarSpun in PolarBlue 100% polyester which is kinda sticky to work with (don’t expect to be able to frog anything – it knots up) but is very forgiving – I accidentally had a few yarn over holes and they were easy to disguise. I’m making it extra long. I found a pattern using this same yarn for a kid’s pullover here and I may just have to give one a try because all of my kids were fighting over who got to keep this super soft scarf. My kids are so easy to please – they love every project I make and that makes it worthwhile for me.
Reading Piles & Don’s Birthday
I am loving this Christmas break. Lots of staying up late playing games and then sleeping in and staying in bed and reading. There is nothing better than reading for an hour after you wake up but before the day really begins. Normally, I would read scriptures and then hurry off to start the day but this Christmas break, Don and I have been waking up late and catching up on our fiction piles — such a nice treat. I am thoroughly enjoying the 2000 edition of the Best American Short Stories edited by E.L. Doctorow and Katrina Kenison. My favorites so far are a Utah author Ron Carlson’s “The Ordinary Son” as well as Amy Bloom’s “The Story” and Percival Everett’s “The Fix”. You can see more reviews at Goodreads . I do think it’s ironic Don is reading Twilight and going to donate blood to the Red Cross on his birthday. Makes me chuckle. He says he’s going to take it to read “in the chair” on-site. He’s closer to 50 than 30 today but I can guarantee you he doesn’t act like it. He will always be a boy at heart and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Kiss a Wookie, Kick a Droid
The following is a guest post from Don (the hubby) and it does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the owner of this blog. I have a slight concussion (don’t ask!) and Don will be posting for me a bit this week. xoxo & Merry Christmas to all!
Okay, I took over the blog for a bit. I am going to get this posted. heh heh. Have you ever had a song stuck in your head and cannot get it out? Have you ever had that same song stuck in the heads of four or five people at the same time? Well that is what is happening around here right now. I saw this video over on YouTube and thought it was great. So great that I HAD to show it to the boys. At one time I had 4 boys looking over my shoulders watching it so intently I was quite surprised. They now have it mostly memorized. Even the youngest will break into song if you prompt him. Are they driving us nuts? I really don’t know. It doesn’t bother me, but I am sure if I had a concussion it would not be pleasant. The best part is that even though the whole song is about Star Wars, the tune is a medley of John Williams show tunes (Jaws, Indiana Jones, E.T., and Star Wars). When our 12-year-old was listening I asked what song it was and he first said Star Wars, because of the words being sung, then he stopped and listened and realized that it was something else. He was surprised and amazed. I think the music he has had really made an impact. If you have boys that like Star Wars they will love it!!