Snow! SNOW!

We finally got our act together and drove up to Mountain High for some tubing and watching our little SoCal kid freak out about the snow. It was AWESOME.

I am deathly afraid of mountain driving. So much that now Josh has a complex about it, too. Although we were assured that the drive up would be free of any cliffy roads, we were both a little anxious.

Dash was pretty relaxed about it, though.

First snow sighting from the car. Getting to the mountain is a little surreal--you're in the desert, surrounded by Joshua Trees and old rickety buildings called, "Dezert Trading Outpost" and you glance over to your right and there's a beautiful mountain covered in snow. California is weird.

How awesome is it that that lady behind us is smiling?

Dash gets to do a lot of pretty cool stuff, but I have never seen him as giddy as when we were waiting our turn to tube down the hill.

I don't have a lot of picture of his grumpy ass smiling, so indulge me:



Davey was pretty pumped, too.



***

Here they come:

It really was an amazing day. The little town of Wrightwood that is home to the mountain is adorable and we're seriously thinking about getting a cabin for a couple of days next winter so we can explore our relationship with the snow further.

Ladies & Gentlemen:

Wyld Stallyns!

A: Legpits

Q: What does Dash call the backs of his knees?

Keepsakes

Years ago, when I worked at a hip little coffeehouse, I met a girl who had tattooed her niece's drawings all over her hands and arms. Although I was tempted to do the same with Dash's awesome little dude drawings, I ultimately decided to go a different way.

Not as badass as a tattoo, but also not as certifiably insane. (Close, but not quite).

Here's the inspiration. I taped it to the window & traced the guys onto some linen fabric I had hanging around. I took a little artistic license by replacing the brown dude in the top right with orange embroidery floss because I wanted a bit more color. I also somehow effed up the placement of the green dude's eye. I have no idea how it happened.

I initially bought this adorable tree fabric for the pillow, but the pattern overwhelmed the embroidery, and I went with the Jay McCarroll fabric from Sew, Mama, Sew, instead. So then I did the next logical thing. I made a slipcover for the world's ugliest popcorn tin (which I then filled with Dash's extensive toy car collection).

Sorry, puppy. You're very cute. You just don't match my vision.

Be Mine

Valentine's Day is so awesome when you have a kid! Our tradition every year (since Josh and I were dating) is to watch a movie & order a pizza. No cards, no gifts, no flowers. Usually no candy, but this year I want candy. Nuts & chews from See's, ok, Honey?

Anywhoozers.

Here's what we did this year for Dash's little school chums and our most beloved.

These are the cards that went to all of Dash's aunties & uncles.

This one is for our dear Pooks' puppy Travis, who is in surgery today having his tail removed due to a tumor (get well soon, Poopoo!) I sent it with a Snoopy band-aid over the tail.

All the cards were mailed along with some mini pretzels I dipped in melted chocolate and pink sprinkles.

Cute?

Right?

Here they are all packed up.

For Dash's school friends I printed up some vintage valentines onto card stock. I think this is probably going to be the last year I can avoid those crappy Transformer supermarket cards.

I was gonna send home-made, heart-shaped soft pretzels to school too, along with cute little recipe cards for the parents. I got as far as making the cards before I realized that it all just seemed like a huge pain in the ass (yeast! the recipe requires yeast, for cripesakes).

So I made these instead. Jumbo marshmallows dipped in melted chocolate & red sprinkles. They look like a little mushroom village all lined up like that. No? Maybe if I add something for context?

See it now? Good.

Totes

I've recently become enamored with the expression, "totes" when I mean to say "totally." I realize it's unbecoming for a woman my age to talk like a character from Juno, but in my mind I'm still 25 and awesome.

But today we're talking about a different type of totes (can you tell I'm a little tired and not completely in my right mind?)

When Dash's Little Mamas paid their most recent visit, they all did a bit of painting. I was so in love with everything they made that I demanded they leave their work behind for me to display. So they did. And I do. But I started to feel a little guilty. I know that Mackenna in particular was really happy with her painting and even asked that we take a photograph so she could show her parents.

But we all know I wasn't about to part with the goods. So I did the next best thing. I made tote bags.

I scanned the pictures & added the girls' names in Photoshop.

Then I printed them onto transfer paper & ironed them onto some canvas totes from the craft store.

The colors are not as vibrant as in the originals, but they're not quite as washed out as they look in these pictures.

I sent them off yesterday with Valentine's cards from Dash tied to the handles with red ribbon. I hope the girls think of Dash pining away for them every time they use them.

Button Jar

Dash has been somewhat of a challenge lately, what with his insolence & general lack of civility. We've been working the whole naughty-corner + no-tv-after-school + no-dessert angle pretty hard, but most of his really hideous behavior is happening in the mornings, and whatever punishment we mete out has to wait until the evening when we get home from work. The punishment was kicking in so much later than the bad behavior that it'd become disconnected and felt random. I knew we needed to come up with something more immediate, but that could be executed quickly in the mornings.

Enter the button jar.

We now keep a glass jar & a bucket of buttons on the console near the front door (I can't take credit for this idea. I saw it somewhere a while ago but can't for the life of me remember where). Every time Dash does something worth rewarding (gets dressed without a fuss, eats all his veggies, helps clean up after himself, shares with his friends) he gets to choose a button from the bucket and drop it into the jar. Once he has ten buttons in the jar he gets to trade them in for a reward (probably a toy, but it could be anything).

But as the button jar giveth, so does it taketh away. Every tantrum or insolent act results in the removal of a button from the jar.

It's slow going.

This was the jar on Saturday morning.

This was the jar on Saturday night.