angry chicken

favorite kid books, 2nd edition

My Milk Toof: The Adventures of Ickle and Lardee

Last year, I realized our favorite books needed their own list, so here's the 2nd edition. Here's the 1st edition.

This book was given to us a few years ago and is always near by. It's not really a story, but little vignettes depicting the adventures of these adorable teeth. Inspired by this, all the girls have made their own teeth out of sculpey to play with. So flippin' cute.

Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #1: Wolf Brother

This is a surprise hit for us. I was looking for fiction while we were studying the stone age and found this series and the girls are in love with it. The first book is about a boy and a wolf and the wolf narrates some of the chapters. There's so much wonderful research in here. It's like taking a wilderness survival class from the sofa. We are in the middle of book 2 now and will surely read the rest. It's not funny or light at all— the drama and tense survival challenges they are thrilled by.

11 Birthdays

A neighbor friend told us about this book, and my 10 and 12 year-olds have read it repeatedly. I have not read it yet, but know it's about a girl and boy who have to repeat their 11th birthday over and over again. There are other books in this series and this one is their favorite.

Manga for the Beginner Chibis: Everything You Need to Start Drawing the Super-Cute Characters of Japanese Comics

All my girls draw a whole bunch and this book (and all the manga books by christopher hart) are very popular around here. Chibis rule the roost however, because who doesn't love cute adorable chibis!? There is a section on learning to draw chibi animals, too.

 
The Buddha's Apprentice at Bedtime: Tales of Compassion and Kindness for You to Read with Your Child - to Delight and Inspire

I read these short stories aloud to my girls and they love them. The illustrations are really lovely and the stories are simple and have a lot of issues to discuss. I wondered if it was too young for my older girls, but it's not, they ask for these stories almost every day at lunch time. Then we talk about them at length. I think they like the discussions afterward even more than the stories.

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

This book disappeared the day I got it. My eldest is a huge Percy Jackson fan and so this went into her bed and rarely comes out. I have heard her read it out loud to her sisters, and it's funny and interesting, but again, I don't see it much. She assures me it's super great. It's also big and impressive in hardback.

 

Kids Are Weird: And Other Observations from Parenthood

I bought this for myself because it made me laugh so hard and reminded me of Will and Abe in the best way, but now I can't get it away from the kids. They think it's so funny—because it is. It's all direct quotes from the author's son, and they are priceless.

There are more books that mean the world to us I have already blogged about this year, including:

• Day Dreamers
• Making Peg Dolls
• Amazing Greek Myths of Wonder and Blunders

 

favorite kid gifts, 5th edition

It's that time again! Here's the 2014 favorite kid gifts list. Some of these we have had for years, some we have gotten recently—all of them are very popular with our family in a way that stands out.

Here are the previous lists: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010. I love all these gifts, too. And just like last year, I am planning a separate favorite books list, which I will post next.

 

 

Kingdom Builder

We like board games in this house, and this one is pretty great because each time you play it, you draw cards to define the rules, so it's different every time. It's more complex (I'd say ages 8 and up), but our enthusiastic 7 year-old can hang just fine. Scoring is at the end, which is nice because there isn't that sense of losing the whole game while you are playing it.

 

Elenco Electronic Snap Circuits, Jr. Kit

This circuit set is played with so much. It's pretty basic, so it's time we got more advanced ones, but the girls still go back to this one. They have many different kinds and come with complete directions that are very clear and easy to follow. For tinkerers, makers, and kids that like to see how things are powered and work, Snap Circuits are really cool.

 American Girl Crafts Art Kit, Julie Albright String Cards

All my girls have a few of these craft kits from American Girl and love them. They have all been very well made with clear directions and nice materials. This one is the favorite right now, but we haven't had a bad one yet. They are easy to find and at Michaels and Joanns, can be scored with a coupon, which is very helpful because these are a higher quality of craft kit, so the price is higher, too.

IQ Fit

Our eldest (12) takes this into her bed at night and plays it until the wee hours. It's a puzzle where you match the shapes to cards that show different patterns. It's simple and comes in a very pleasing box and is easy to pack in the car or in a bag. Which she does, often. This company makes quite a few games like this for younger kids too, which look very cool.

 Wreck This Journal

I think this book, along with tape, pencils, markers, and scissors should be given to every kid and adult. It's just that great. My girls have several copies and each one they do differently. They instantly start wrecking, drawing, tearing, and experiencing this book in a way that is so great, I just can't say enough good things about it. There are prompts on every page telling you how to wreck it, so all you need is the book and some gumption.

 Lincoln Logs Classic Edition Tin

A classic. We have had this big tin in our house for about 8 years now and it still gets played with by all of them. They love it for their Calico Critters, but they also just love to make the cabins.They also like to put in the tiny battery operated tea lights for a fire inside.

butter keeper

I am very happy with my on-the-counter butter storage of late. Over the summer, I was looking at my butter and was getting disturbed. The girls are cooking more and the butter looked like it had been attacked by a fox. I have used the butter keepers with the water in them, but I never knew how much butter was left and there was always that awkward moment of putting it back in the water without chipping the top (which is now chipped) so on a whim, I grabbed a weck jar and dropped in half a stick. I realize a normal butter dish might work for most people, but it gets gross in this house. The lid always hits the butter, and the ones you can't see through make me mad.

See? No lid hitting the butter. Now I cut a whole stick in half and just fit it in. The genius here is that the girls can dig at it and if it gets to messy, I can just switch the lid. It's stack able in the fridge and I can see how much have left. I don't bother with the clips. And the cats can't get at it, which they tried to do before. I have been using my weck jars so much without the clips and rubber rings, like vintage Pyrex, it's very liberating.

Unrelated:

• I made smitten kitchen's cauliflower cheese. It was good, the girls sort of liked it, Pete and I loved it. I am thinking of it as a side dish for Thanksgiving. I added a few chopped pecans on top and I'd be tempted to sprinkle on a little blue cheese.

• I'm looking for yarn crafts for the kids for the holidays. I have a lot of gifted yarn on hand. I love this tassel/pom/pom image from pinterest and this yarn font has me excited. I'm amused by the idea of making pom poms with a fork. These multicolored ones pom poms are making me crazy.

new items in the shop!

I'm so excited to have these new items in the shop before the holiday madness starts.

I designed this sweet little Floral Gift Enclosure Card Set. I love making homemade cards, but so often I need something fast and easy to tuck into a bag or on a gift and these are just perfect for that. There are 8 in a set, 2 of each design, with room to write on the back. That out-of-focus one there in the back says Happy Birthday.

I have been testing this Organic Blemish Treatment Oil for a bit now and it's really done the job. It's blue! But that fades immediately, I promise. My eldest girl likes it too. It was a bold scent for her at first, but she's used to it now and it's not too strong for her sensitive skin.

And for the men in your life, Organic Beard and Hair Oil—this is a favorite of my bearded husband and was created for him last year and he has been telling me to sell it ever since. It's also great for dry skin anywhere in the hair line and on eyebrows.

My newest scent, Organic Green Forest Pefume. I have been wearing this for about a year and only now have made it to sell. It's got a real pine-y earthy base note, but the rose top note rounds it out. I love this oil. It smells more like fall/winter to me than my other one, Lovely Perfume which I associate with summer/spring.

red & white mittens

I knitted these earlier this month and they got worn yesterday in our weird freezing-rain-very-light-snow storm. We lost power for a good 15 hours and it was cold! Good thing Grammie is close by. We headed over there with the pug and got all cozy for the day with her pug. It was a pug day.

I am still enjoying knitting mittens. I love the classic red and white. And again, they are great stash busters. Here's the project page on ravelry.

Unrelated:

• I have yet to put anything unusual in the waffle iron. I keep thinking about it, but it hasn't happened yet.

• I am scheming about what my homemade holiday gifts will be this year. I have been making cookies/candy/seasoned salts and spice mixes for a few years now and want to try something new.

• I have been busy putting some new items in the shop, which I will blog about in detail soon. They are available now and I am so happy to have the new perfume, blemish oil, and beard oil in there before things get too nutty around here.

• I was looking for some folk-holiday items and love everything in this etsy shop, work on paper studio, especially these felt ornaments.

Good Mail Day (an art show I am in)

I have four pieces of art in this wonderful show over at artstream studios. This show is curated by Lisa Solomon and Susan Schwake. All the pieces (by more than 60 artists) are available for sale online and are 4"x 6". Postcard size! All the artists contributing (there are some pretty big names in this show, I was flattered to be included) were asked to make these 4" x 6" in size, using any medium (original art, not copies or prints) and priced any way we wanted, which makes them very affordable. There are quite a few pieces here I'd like to buy. The size makes them so easy to frame. I'm getting a little twitchy trying to decide.

You can see them all here and my 4 are right here. It's hard to see online, but mine are painted with metallic watercolor/pen & ink. I had so much fun painting these. Thanks for asking me, Lisa!

mittens and waffles

I knitted some mittens. I have never knitted mittens before and really enjoyed it. These are knitted flat (the pattern source is on my ravelry page) and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm going to try another pair in the round, but maybe with the magic loop method. I get a little panicky with DPNs because I have to start and stop so much and I'm freaked everything will fall off my needles when I have to put it down.

I am on a "only using yarn from my stash" kick right now which is great—perfect for hats, mittens, baby booties, and small items. It also means I sometimes don't know or remember what I am knitting with, hence the lack of yarn info on my ravelry page.

Unrelated and about waffles:

I was getting a pedicure with Grammie yesterday morning and while she was talking about Thanksgiving menu ideas I was trying not to be distracted by the large flat screen behind her head that was showing two women putting an alarming amount of unexpected food items into waffle irons. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It was muted of course, and because I was listening to Grammie (I was!) I don't really know what was going on, but I'd like to think I now know enough to try some waffle related disasters here at home. I feel so unadventurous using my waffle iron for normal breakfast waffles after seeing its possibly misguided potential.

I have one non-veggie eater in the house and while she will try anything, actually consuming veggies is pretty hard for her. (Very sensitive gag reflex.) We have our go-to staples, which I am grateful for, but I'm always looking for new ways to prepare veggies. The zucchini fritters have worked in the past, but the oiliness isn't popular, so I am now looking to try something like these zucchini Parmesan waffles. And the latke waffles at Smitten Kitchen look very good. Maybe I can try it with sweet potatos?. Or corn. I found a review of this book, which I want to check out, Will it Waffle? There's a cooking fail that is specific to using a waffle iron that I find pretty horrendous (I usually have to leave the room and Pete gets to deal with the fallout) but if any of these work out, I think there's fun to be had.

a pretty big deal

day 6

This is all about nail polish.

I love having nail polish on, I love color, and I love having nice looking hands/nails. I have always had a lot of polish. Then kids came into my life and I stopped painting my nails. I little to chemically and impossible to find the time. Then I started again as they got older, but was so put off by the long dry time and the chipping, I lost interest. After a renewed polish interest a few years ago (so many low chemical options!) I stopped, again. I used nail skins for a bit (no dry time!) but they were a novelty and hard to take off. Then I got a few gel manicures (expensive!) so I bought a home lamp and kit and did gels myself, with mixed success. There was still the creepy light, and horrific removal which destroyed my nails, the chemicals, and the fact that could not use all my old polishes, they weren't compatible. BUT, it had everything else I desired, no dry time and long wear. Ultimately, it wasn't worth it, so I stopped again.

Then, on my way back to from Santa Fe, in the Seattle airport, I was told about butter London Patent-Gel Top & Tails at the butter London store they have there. And, it's a big deal.

 
day 7

This is base and top coat set that dries instantly. I mean it. I don't mean sort-of dry, I mean, after 5 minutes, completely dry. Just like a gel. I followed the directions and it worked like a flippin' miracle. I was nervous at first, so I was not moving until 10 minutes after my top coat was on, but then on time I waited 5 minutes, and then washed my hair—not a single ding or smudge. I do recommend giving it about 3 min. before you use the top coat, to have the color set.

So, for dry time, I give it a 10. For durability, on me, no chipping at all. It slightly wears off the tips after day 6 or so, but it's not noticeable. I have kept it on as long as 12 days and it still looks great, except for some grow out. So, a 10 for durability. The removal? I swear it's easier then normal polish, you can use a normal remover. I use low chemical polish and remover (Zoya) and this has worked great. This also means my back stash of polish I have been keeping, and sadly not using, can now be used again. It's like christmas and my birthday! I have had a fellow nail polish addict/guru try product this as well and she also is very happy with it. I waited for 3 complete color changes to blog about this, because I kept thinking it was too good to be true.

Things I want to mention:

This set is expensive ($40) but worth it to me in every way. If anyone has tried a similar gel-like top coat that dries instantly and wears like this, I'd love to know about it. It's not as shiny as a gel manicure. Also, the reviews are pretty all over the place. It's a miracle product for me, but other people have said the exact opposite, which makes me think that the polish you use might matter, and that people have different natural oils on their nails, and I know most nail products just don't work for all people across the board. I'd buy this where you can return it after trying. I know Nordstrom sells it and accepts returns, (I think Sephora does, too?) and at this price, it's important to be able to return it if it's doesn't change your life.

cake in portland

My ladies and I went to Palace Cakes recently for some serious cake eating research. They were all divine. It's the same talent behind Two Tarts, which is my favorite place to get cookies in Portland because they are so small—you can get so many different kinds! It's very celebratory. Palace Cakes, like Two Tarts, serves good french press coffee, to help you get through the cake. The storefront is very small, only two tables, so you might have to wait to sit, or eat the cake at home, or in your car.

These were all delicious. One of us got all weird (in a good way) about the chocolate cake, I loved it, but was also very pleased with the lemon cake. There was a lovely carrot cake cupcake with citrus that meant a lot to me.

Unrelated:

• I have been having a lot of fun looking at all the hand-picked beauty tools/products over at Reed Clarke. I have that brush cleaner in my painting box right now! Of course I should use it on my make-up brushes. Genius!

• I'm really interested in reading Wolf in White by John Darnielle after reading this review over at the Rumpus. I have been a fan of The Mountain Goats for a long time. I do agree with the reviewer that being a fan of his music is irrelevant to reading his novel, however I sit right up and notice his creative output, whatever the medium, because I love his music so much.