Cricket Anyone?

My Child Australia

Thanks to Ailin at My Child Magazine Australia for the super sweet Crankypants write up on the My Child Magazine Australia's MyStyle blog and feature on the My Child Magazine Australia homepage!


I follow the My Child Mag Australia's Facebook feed and think they are awesome and fun, so I'm psyched that they wanted to feature us!

Wienerschnitzel

That is what my right pointer finger currently looks like. I've actually never seen a wienerschnitzel, but you get the gist. Yesterday Kyle and I were working on drywall in the studio. I couldn't fit a ladder in a tight spot and thought to myself "Self, you are so clever. You can climb up onto the top of that giant row of drywall [horizontally stored against the wall I needed to screw drywall onto] and use it like a ladder. It is most definitely sturdy enough to hold you. Ha HA you are so clever". Yeah. Not so clever. When I pushed back a bit with my foot to get some leverage with the drill, the drywall fell over, sheet by sheet, and I with them. Luckily, they (and I) became wedged up against the scaffolding and I didn't fall all the way down in a pile of brokenness. I did, however, somehow manage to mangle my left knee and ankle as well as my poor right pointer finger- a key knitting finger, I might add. Boo and hiss. I was sure it was broken or fractured and Kyle was all ready to take me to the hospital, but I can bend it now and it seems on the mend already. It is just a little sausage-y and sore, so things might be a little slow going for a little while. We did end up getting the pine ceiling completely finished, trimmed and a third wall drywalled, so we are *thisclose* to being in the home stretch. I can't waaaaaaiiiiiiiiit any longer.

All of you Asheville peeps know that there is a huge mommy blogger conference in town this weekend called the Type A Mom Conference. It turns out that the woman behind Type A Mom is the mother of a little girl who was in Henry's class last year and I never knew it. How strange! She invited me to be a last minute vendor at the market portion of the conference tomorrow morning so it looks like I am going to be there. Stop by and say hello if you are there! I couldn't be more unprepared, but I'm just going to show up and wing it. Oh poop. I guess I need to drag Henry to the bank to get some change before they close, huh?

See? Unprepared. Better go.

Ribbit.

Pretty fitting, considering the weather we've been having around here...

They Can Play a New Dance Called the...

Hey Diddle, DiddleThe cat and the fiddle

The cow jumped over the moon

The little dog laughed to see such a craft

And the dish ran away with the spoon

Vote for Vance!

If you are a frequent reader of this blog you probably know how much I love Henry's school. They are a public school rising to the challenge of meeting the needs of today's kids and teaching them how to build a sustainable future. They have a huge garden that the kids plant, tend and harvest complete with a table at the local farmers' market and an amazing shed that the school community built one clump of mud at a time. They compost in the cafeteria and they are working on a water catchment system so they can water the garden responsibly. They wrote and were awarded a grant to get fresh fruit and veggies into every single classroom every single day. The administration is amazing- from the hand written card Henry received from the principal the week he started Kindergarten to the "I'm totally into it" I get every time I go to her with a new crazy fund raising idea.

See the new link over there on the left? Way at the top? It goes to a page where you can vote for Vance as America's Favorite School and help us win $20,000 to finally buy the new playground equipment we need. There are also random weekly drawings for $500. It takes 2 minutes. Vote for Vance. Pretty please.


All the cool kids are doing it.

Quack Quack

Making the best out of a rainy, rainy day and trying to catch some drops on his tongue.


My in laws have friend in Northern Michigan who own a clothing store that specializes in outdoorsy but cute clothing called McClutchey's in Indian River. When they heard that we had a hard time finding Henry a good rain jacket, Kathy ordered him a SUPER awesome Columbia rain suit and sent it down with Danny and Suzy. How sweet is that??? And it couldn't have come at a better time. Now I need to kick him out there to get to work on the Ark it seems we might need soon...

Thar Be Discounts, Me Hearties!

In celebration of Talk Like a Pirate Day, we decided to have a special sale at the Hyena Cart shop. Use the coupon code ARRGH to get 15% off any pirate themed items, including Classic and Girly Jolly Roger longies and Skully tees and lounge.

What We're Reading- September Edition

September is here and we've changed up the books in the sidebar over there on the left. School is back in full swing, but Henry still seems to like his own stash of books best. Leveled readers are kind of blah, though I hear he just read a "non-fiction, that's information, Mom" book about Lewis in Clark that he liked. We had a library run today and here's what we grabbed:

Sardine in Outer Space by Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guilbert
Time Warp Trio: Sam Samurai and
Time Warp Trio: Summer Reading is Killing Me! by Jon "rhymes with Fresca" Scieszka
Horrible Harry and the Purple People by Suzy Kline
Bumperboy and the Loud, Loud Mountain by Debbie Huey
Cam Jansen and the Summer Camp Mysteries by David A. Adler
and
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look

Whew!




I am forcing my poor book club to read Much Ado About Nothing. At first glance it seems mean to make a bunch of put upon and hard working mamas read Shakespeare for fun, but it is a HUGE breath of fresh air after several books in a row that involve children being put in one precarious position after another. After reading Three Cups of Tea, Persepolis and Half of a Yellow Sun I had to institute a "no suffering children" rule for the next few books. Much Ado is all banter and bawdiness (with a little drama thrown in). And there's a movie for the slackers and Emma Thompson/Kenneth Branagh lovers alike. We all win!

Since I picked this month's book I am obligated to host this month's meeting in 2 weeks. Think the studio will be done (enough) in time? Place your bets...

Studio Update

It's been a while, huh? After we got the outside looking cute we kind of lost steam, especially since Kyle started teaching again and didn't exactly run home all jazzed up to caulk and hammer. We got our bums in gear last week and put in the pine tongue and groove ceiling minus one little center trim piece. Behold my amazing cell phone picture:



This weekend, while Kyle was down for the count with a grody to the max sinus infection, me and my super awesome iPod play list went out and put up all of the insulation. BooYa.


Tomorrow I have to call in for our last inspection and then we can start drywall and flooring. My in laws are coming into town this weekend...perfect timing.

Monkeeeeeey.

I love the way the color scheme in these monkeys came out. I am a huge fan of the slate and chocolate together and the other colors that Laura chose to go with them are perfect.

Crankypants + Little Bear Lurve

Crankypants Meets Little Bear Knitwear. It is always so awesome to collaborate with another crafty mama, especially for a good cause. Behold! Silly Stripes Monster Booty!


We're going to have to do this again soon! Thanks, Monica!

Mod Beastie Set

In the second of Venus Vanguard's weekly September stockings, we are celebrating all things Wild! My contribution to the party is a 12-18M Mod Beastie set including a pair of organic chocolate and two shades of blue cargo longies (complete with a stow away finger puppet monster) and a matching stripey hat with little beastie ears.






The get down gets started at 8pm EST tomorrow. Be there to rumpus with us!

Crankypants Wordle

Mad Hatter at Venus Vanguard

This very evening, Venus Vanguard is having the first in a month of weekly, movie themed stockings. Join us in a journey down the rabbit hole in our celebration of all things Alice!





In addition to these longies inspired by Alice in the rose garden, my sisters in craftiness have TONS of amazing things going live at 8PM. Earth Muffin is guesting with arnica balm and organic castille soap and the usual suspects have whipped up some unusually fabulous Alice gear. Come on over and check it out!

Crankypants September Customs List

Congrats guys!

Linsay C.
Adam L.
Kimberly B-T.

I hope to hear all of your ideas soon!