The making of a marmot

What started out as balloons from the dollar store, a tweet asking what sort of pinata I should make for M's birthday, and an answer from my sister. "A marmot," she responded, though I think maybe she was kidding. As it turned out, her suggestion was perfect for our loosely squirrel themed party. Did you know marmots are a type of squirrel?? Thus, making a giant ground squirrel became a week-long pinata challenge.

With 2 kids, finding time to make something is hard enough, but finding time to make something with glue, colorful tissue paper, and a curious nearly-4-year-old was an exercise in patience and letting go of perfectionism.

We used the craft as an excuse to look at cute marmot pictures online and learn a little about them in the process. 

M did a fantastic job trimming the fringe, applying the glue and making suggestions for the form. She regularly told me, "It looks great!" But really she was complementing herself as much as me; she really did quite a bit of work.

So we worked together through the week and the weekend, me and that darling little girl, and finished the marmot.

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of the critter. I never knew I had marmot-making in me. I am, though, reconsidering it being a traditional pinata and maybe turning it into a pull string one. I mean who could, in good conscience, smash this cute little mug with a stick?

Simply delicious

The nip is in the air and it's time to replace the tomato plants with cold hardy greens. I haven't had the heart to rip them out yet, there are still a few tomatoes on each plant, slowly turning red. They deserve to become ripe, I deserve to relish them. They need to be honored.

Cheese tortellini topped with roasted tomatoes with a bit of basil and olive oil. Yep, that'll do the trick.

Pinterest-y Me

Once again it's time for M's birthday!

A few weeks ago I found these adorable mask/party hat invites at Target. They're from Mara Mi and perfectly set the tone for a playful birthday celebration. (Though this image doesn't accurately show the GIANT "Made in China" printed on the back. For that very reason I almost took them back, but Mabel found them and there was no talking her out of them at that point.)

Once the invites were passed out, full party planning mode kicked in: homemade party picks for the food, paper chains and a homemade "Happy Birthday" garland...I think I've been browsing the internet too much lately. 

Plus, I don't get out much.

That's the best explanation I can come up with for how excited I get to decorate M's birthday party every year. I don't much money to budget, I don't really even have the eye for it, but I enjoy the planning and I think about decorations. A LOT.

Some ideas we're working on include homemade pinatas and t-shirts for the kids to color in lieu of goody bags. I'm going to use kraft paper for tablecloths and have a few buckets of crayons on each table.

We still have a couple weeks before the party, so who knows what else might happen. In the meantime, I'm feeling a little too much like a Pinterest-y mom for my own good.

Reset downed connections

Since Mabel started preschool months ago, I've heard very little from her about her school day experiences. When I ask, the majority of the time I get a very teenage response, "Stop asking me questions!" I stop and we drive along in silence until we come up with some impromptu game that creates fun connections and chatter, but still no answers.

A week ago she was coming down with something, maybe the flu, and I didn't know it yet. The teenage attitude and toddler tantrums came on strong and I was at my wits end. Rather than continue the power struggle, I pulled out some craft supplies and we got busy. It wasn't totally easy from there on out, but when we make stuff together the only rule is to keep the materials (glue, paint, etc.) on the paper set aside for arts and crafts. Beyond that? There are no right or wrong ways to make things.

The looseness of creating helps clear up the air. As a reminder to myself, and perhaps a tip for others: When communication is down and all else fails, use feathers to paint with glitter glue and let the connection reset.

Tasty meaty figs

Figs are coming in by the bowlful, and, as usual, we're on the lookout for great ways to use them. Given the chance, Mabel will eat raw figs until she's sick. For those who know the benefits of figs, you'll understand why discourage that.

When Kate suggested we wrap them in prosciutto then grill them, I was immediately on board. Unfortunately we're on the 2-kids-in-child-care budget, so I went with a less classy approach: plain ol' bacon! We baked them at 350 for 30 minutes, then broiled them for 5 minutes on one side, flipped and broiled them on 3 minutes on the other side so they had that nice crispy texture.

Charlie and I give this use 2 thumbs up (each!). We even took a few over to a neighbor, and the bacon convinced him to finally (after years of my trying) to convince him to eat a fig. He ended up eating several, so I'll venture to say bacon is a good carrier for flavorful figs.