Notes From A Crazy Woman

Ahhh, the weekend.  Time to relax, recharge ... and re-visit the ER with your hellion 2 1/2 year old.

Yup.  Saturday we went to a Christmas parade in my parents town with a bunch of friends (Mister was working mids and sleeping).  Had a great time, then headed back to my parents house for a bonfire and playtime.  The girls had 5 of their cousins and assorted friends to play with and were having a ball, so I let Butterbean miss her usual 2 hour afternoon nap.  Later on in the afternoon my cousin stopped by and we were sitting and talking and Butterbean ran out to the other room, then I heard a crash and she started crying.  I ran out and scooped her up - she had fallen off the arm of a chair she was sitting on and hit her head on a side table (we think, no one actually saw her fall)  When I picked her up my Mom said, "Oh, she's bleeding.  Oh wait, SHE'S REALLY BLEEDING."  There was trickle of blood on the back of her head, then the back of her head was soaked in blood.  My Dad was trying to convince me it wasn't that bad but I insisted on going to the ER to get her checked out, and she needed two staples to close the cut.  Mooch was there when we were leaving for the ER and was hysterical by the time we left, she cried so hard she broke out in hives.  My Mom said she kept saying, "Is she going to die?  They're going to have to keep her in the hospital again for 3 days!"  My cousin and her daughter stayed with my Mom and helped calm Mooch down, but she's still hovering around Butterbean and taking care of her.

So the Butterbean is fine.  And still ornery.  As evidenced when she called to me yesterday and said, "Mama watch THIS!" and jumped off the couch while I had a heart attack. 

20 days until Christmas, 15 days until Hannukah, 17 days until the Solstice.  I am fantastically unprepared as always.  Although I did get Mooch the scooter she asked for and Butterbean the roller skates she asked for, which in light of recent events seems like a profoundly bad idea.
*AND NOW FOR A RANT*
We do a "giving tree" every year at work - a tree decorated with paper ornaments, each one representing a child in need and what they want for the holidays.  You never see "I want a Wii"  the one I have is for a 23 month old girl who needs clothes, a jacket, scarf and mittens and wants a doll. 
Here's what kills me.  I work at a university.  An email went out to all employees in our department about the tree and the need for people to contribute.  Only one faculty member is participating.  Our admin staff, who make considerably less than these douchenozzles, are all participating, with one woman taking 3 ornaments for 3 different kids.  I would like to think that some of the faculty are participating in other charitable events, but I doubt it, and it makes me want to scream. 

Whatever you can afford to give back this year, please do.  The Bloggess is hosting another Christmas miracle this year, and if you were wondering about a good place to donate, she has great suggestions and you donate just by visiting her page.  So go forth and don't be douchenozzles, ok??

Holly Daze

I'm still there ... what about you all?
With this new year, I'm hoping to bring you all a new and improved Mama's Thyme.  I'm a newbie blogger and not computer savvy at all - my way of fixing things technical is to turn the stupid thing off, turn it back on again - and if that hasn't fixed it, walk away and pour a glass of wine.  But my friend Jen, who has an awesome blog (Sweet Bliss) has offered to lend some help and I'm taking her up on it.

Anywho, the holly daze around here were hectic but fun.  The Mister works a rotating shift with extra paid jobs springing up here and there, so he was MIA most of the time.  Gotta pay for the Santa loot :-)  So the girls and I made some cookies the night before 

The next morning they were up at 5:00 am (UGHHHH!)  The Mister hadn't gotten home the night before until 2:30 am so I held them off for about 45 minutes before we went downstairs.  We try and keep the presents to a minimum - I feel like the focus of this time of year should be family and being together and doing the cozy indoors stuff.  So they both got one big present then a few little things.  They mostly cared that they got to have M&M's before breakfast ... LOL
Butterbean was running around upstairs and then all of a sudden got really quiet ... could she be up to no good?

Just sacked out.  Turns out the nasty cold that we had all had in the week leading up to the big day had developed into an ear infection in her.  :-(

Mooch couldn't resist giving her cuddles.
So Butterbean had to go on the dreaded antibiotics.  She had to go on them last year for the same thing - a nasty cold that became a middle ear infection.  I had been dosing her with garlic mullein oil to ward that off, but apparently I wasn't aggressive enough with it.  I had also been trying to keep her nose suctioned to not let the mucus settle and had tilted her mattress up.  If anyone has any other recommendations, I want to hear them!  I hate putting her on antibiotics.  
I am trying to find a craft project to keep me busy, and my in laws gave me an Amazon gift certificate.  I came across an absolutely beautiful leather bound journal with a tree on the front that I fell in love with, and just ordered it.  I'm thinking of starting a project for the girls with it - kind of a Book of Shadows, cookbook, and love letter rolled into one.  I'll let you know how it goes.  It beats actually taking down the yuletide decorations and organizing :-)

Use it up!

As a person trying to walk a more respectful path with nature, sometimes I do great - and sometimes I fail miserably.  I think our whole life is just one big learning process that we never quite complete- and honestly, would you really *want* to get everything right, all the time? So I compost, I recycle, I line-dry my clothes when the temperature is above freezing, and utilize a rain barrel.  Diapering my kiddos - I would LOVE to exclusively cloth diaper.  However I work 30 hours a week and the Mister will not mess with cloth diapers.  So I do what I can - I cloth diaper as much as I can, and yes, we also use the dreaded disposables.
To balance the things that we throw away, I try and re-purpose and upcycle.  Not only does it save us money, but we minimize how much crap gets dumped in a landfill.  Some things are no brainers, others have been results of making do in a pinch:

Stained or ruined clothing gets re-purposed into rags for cleaning.  Also, strips of cast-off t shirts make durable, free garden ties.
Stale bread gets crumbled up and added to bird feeders.
Twist ties and tab ties from bread bags make good garden ties as well - and the twist ties can also be used for crafts.
Mooch has gotten very into up-cycling from our recycling container.  From our tree topper to an empty huge vinegar jug that she's planning on making into a bird house.  Save yourself a trip to the craft store and always scout around for things that can be re-purposed.
When we rake up our leaves in the fall, we rake them straight into our gardens.  Free mulch!  If we have too many we add them to the compost bin, and if we have tons we bag them up and store them under our deck to be gradually added to the compost bin to balance our kitchen scraps and grass clipping additions.
Fallen branches in your yard - obviously these can be kindling for your fireplace, but they also make great stakes for the garden.  My parents have these gorgeous mountain laurel bushes on their property, and I grabbed some fallen branches to make a  pretty holiday planter.  Arrange branches in a planter filled about halfway with dirt, anchor with some medium sized rocks.  Wrap strings of lights around the branches for a pretty, low-cost addition to your entryway.
Egg cartons make great starters for seed.  Fill with potting soil, drop a seed in each one, and place in a sunny window.  
The gourds that use for decorating in the fall can be dried and used for everything from bird houses to instruments (drill a hole in the bottom, fill with beads, bells, or seeds; plug the whole back up) 
A few summers ago a friend came over with one of those giant buckets of pre-made margaritas.  The next day while nursing a sore head I noticed the girls' crayon bin was overflowing.  Eying the empty margarita bucket (gag) I scrubbed it out and dumped the crayons in there.  We later fancied it up (and covered the Jose Cuervo label) by covering it with construction paper that the girls then painted on. 

Though I sometimes drive the Mister crazy with this ("I can use that again!  Don't throw it away!" is my mantra) it makes me happy that when we haul our trash can out to the curb, it's usually only half-full.  Some weeks we get away with skipping with putting it out, altogether.

We are actually sending out our holiday cards today (wooh-hooo!!) and then I just have to knuckle down and get crafting for everyone's presents.  Luckily the Goodwill gods have been smiling on me and I've found a whole bunch of treasures.  I'm also going to ask the Mister about burning a Yule log this year, and although it always strikes me as disgustingly funny, I may attempt a Yule log cake.  Be well!

Oh Yule Tree, Oh Yule Tree ....

We got our tree last week!  We went with a live tree this year, which we will plant in my Mom & Dad's forest whenever the ground thaws.  I'm considering moving it in it's planter into our backyard after the holidays, to give the birdies a little refuge.  I'm sure the Mister will just love moving this sucker ... he almost broke his back trying to get it inside!  Word to the wise - if you go with a live tree, they weigh a ton!

Mooch posing.  She's obsessed with these fake Poinsettias I used one year to do a theme tree ... LOL
Butterbean inspecting ...

These are some mice ornaments that Mooch and I made last year.  We strung wire through some giant poof balls we got from the Dollar Store, glued on pinecone scales and buttons for ears and pine needles for whiskers, then added mini poof balls for noses and a curled pipe cleaner for a tail.

Another home crafted ornament, inspired by a Martha Stewart idea - button animals!  I bought a jar of buttons at a thrift store for 50 cents, and we made these little reindeer and some snow men with them.  Also pictured is the beautiful handmade ornament my sister made me last year.  

I *hate* that this won't store well, because I love it!  Mooch wanted to make a tree topper, and she is very into up-cycling (wonder where she gets that from?).  She pulled an empty toilet paper roll out of the recycling and we covered it in scraps of felt from other projects.  Then we lined the inside with glue and stuck in some dried leaves, sweet gum balls, and these pod-things we found on a walk.  It looks like a very abstract angel, and goes with our Mother Earth theme!

  Hope you all are well and not stressing about all the holiday nonsense.  Mooch reminded me the other day how simple it could be ... her Pop-pop asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she told him, "To come to your house and have a candlelight dinner with you in front of the fire".  She's a Pop-pop's girl!