{Once Upon a Time...}

...there was a blogger named Kierra. And sometimes she went through periods of time where she totally sucked at preserving her memories for the sake of posterity (or a random stranger who happened to wander in from the big thing called the interweb...). The end.


In order to distract you, here's some junk from our lives:

1. I'm going grey. That's right, gray hair all over the place around my temples. I've still got plenty of time before I turn 30! And you thought your children were lunatics....

2. Squirrel was telling Little Bird a story the other day, and the end made me laugh to tears. It went a little some thing like this:
"Once upon a time, there was a girl named Ell-o. She wanted to visit her grandmother in the woods. But she didn't have all her stuff she needed. But then, Jesus came and asked her, 'Why are you crying?' She said, 'I want to go to my grandma's house in the woods, but I don't have all my stuff.' So Jesus said, 'I will help you Ell-o.' And she said, 'Thanks, Jesus. You're the best God EVER!' The End."
At least I'm on the right track...I would have been worried if Shiva or Zeus was "the best god ever."

3. Little Bird is finishing toddler lab this week. And I'm not sure how to tell a two year old that the favorite part of his week has now ended...and that in a couple of weeks, his sister will be the one getting to go to preschool. I definitely need to get them on the same semester schedule (as opposed to alternating) schedules next year.

4. I'm going away for a week. My kids are staying with my wonderful sister-in-law and I am headed to Texas and Louisiana for a genealogical treasure hunt, of sorts. I'll be meeting my parents there and enjoying some WARM weather! I am so excited for a little sun, and yes, even humidity. So, not like I've been around that much lately, but I'll be gone at least a week. It's the first time I've left my kids overnight at all, with the exception of when I was in the hospital giving birth to Little Bird and left Squirrel that night with family. So, needless to say, I am more than a little anxious. But at the same time, I know they'll be in good hands and I'm looking forward to the "time off."

5. We got up to about 40 degrees here, and I was ready to bust out the swimwear, but alas! The winds picked up and the snow came back. But at least now I know winter is on its way out, that sunny skies and breezy afternoons are soon to be on my doorstep.

And...that's about it. I'll be making a post about my sweet grandmother soon, who passed away last week at 98. But all my words seem to fail such a remarkable woman. They seem feeble in telling what a gift she was to all of us whose lives she touched...

{Handmade TV Stand!}

Sometimes, I still get the consumer bug in my ear, that convinces me I "need" something new. Lately, I've been wanting a TV stand, since ours has been sitting on half of an IKEA computer desk. Not something I needed, but I convinced myself that the kids were going to pull the TV down off the rickety old thing, and was getting frustrated with the way they were always getting into the DVD player, which was right in their reach, and started looking around. I found one I really loved... Unfortunately, it sold to the tune of about $700.

When Rob took a look at it, he said to me, "I can totally make this." And so he did!

Instead of a Saturday night date, we built an entertainment center. To keep it cheap, we used particle board and MDF and painted it, then used a cute little leaf print fabric to cover the doors for extra fun.

{I'm so glad I married a handy guy!} 

And so, for about $40 in materials, I have a new TV stand, a place to put the components out of 

reach of the kids, and something sturdy--REALLY sturdy thanks to the MDF--that will 

keep the kids from rocking the stuff down. 

{I have a pretty awesome husband!} 

I would eat them in a box...

...and I would eat them with a fox!

For Dr. Seuss' birthday, I thought the kids would enjoy celebrating with a little tribute to a couple of their favorite books. We've been reading Green Eggs and Ham quite a bit, so we made some for breakfast.

Apparently, when heated, green food coloring gets REALLY green! Oops...

Squirrel thought it was great fun, and liked reading the book and making faces along with the story as she tried her green eggs and ham.


"I will try them, you will see..."

"Say! I like green eggs and ham! I do so like them, Sam I am!" 

Unfortunately, Little Bird was somewhat less convinced....

He will not eat them anywhere...

We did, however, get him to make an "I like them" face, which I think is hysterical:

And after breakfast, we made Cat in the Hat hats, which they both liked so much, they ripped them to pieces running around with them all day. 

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Thanks for all the fun!