I was naughty...

...and stayed up late to finish Abby's pencil holder. I know, I'm trying to get to bed earlier, and I have to work tomorrow, but how sad for hers to not be done all day....and look how cute this turned out:


She picked out the kitty cat fabric All By Herself.


It's amazing how much faster projects go when you've already completed one (ie, aren't winging it), dinner's not on the stove, and no children are climbing on your lap.



I've already found that the pencils slide out too easily--crayons stay in place much better. I'm either going to have to put wrappers on the pencils to give them a greater coefficient of friction, or break out the puffy paints and put some grippies in the slots.


Well, my crafty quota is fillled for the month. It's going to be worth a short night of sleep to see their excited faces in the morning! (at least, that's what I'm thinking right now....)

I've been meaning to write a post about the Master Cleanse, but I have too much to say about it, so it will have to wait.

We are planning a long road trip for spring break, so, inspired by the crayon rolls at Skip to My Lou and Make it and Love it (man those gals are crazy crafty!), I made a colored pencil holder for Nathaniel tonight.



He picked out the fabric at JoAnn's a few days ago.



I noticed that the pocket was upside down AFTER sewing in all the seams. He said, "Its OK, Mommy, it's funny that they're upside down. I like it". Sweetheart.



I decided to use pencils instead of crayons because crayons always melt in the car in the summer. I couldn't find short pencils so I got out the pruning shears and cut them all in half. Viola, a set for Abby.



I made the extra pocket to hold a pencil sharpener and an eraser. A small notebook slides in the big pocket.







I haven't sewn it in yet, but there is Velcro pinned in place to fasten it.

It's not as sleek and cute as the crayon rolls I've seen online, but I'm hoping in this case that function outweighs form. Fun fun!

Powderhorn

We spent Friday at Powderhorn with the kids and had a surprisingly great time.


I expected Nathaniel to do well, but I had no idea he would be completely independent and at least as fast as me.


We were ski buddies and rode the lift together.



I expected Abby (since this was her first time) to start on the Magic carpet, get cold, and cry at some point. Instead, Ben took her up the chair lift first thing, she got the hang of making "pizzas" with her skis right away, and she didn't cry once. Love the hula hoop.


It was windy and cold, but a long hot chocolate break after lunch warmed the kids up while Ben caught a few runs with his friends from work. And a good time was had by all.

Toothbrush holders

One small area of my life that feels controlled lately is the kids' oral health. :-) I mounted two soap holders on the inside of the bathroom cabinet door with those Command strips and, viola, instant clean organization. Bonus: they can easily reach them themselves AND put them away. Double bonus: nothing on the top of the sink.

We're Here for Life.

I suppose I should be writing some new year's resolutions. Oh well. Maybe next year. =) That's it: I resolve to write new year's resolutions next January.

I had a thought at work a while back that made me stop in my tracks. The funny part was there wasn't a lot of emotion attached to it--I wasn't excited, or upset, or happy, or bummed...just stunned at the reality of it. Not scared, so that I would want to change it, or thrilled, so I could look forward to it. It just sat there in my head.....

I work at a Catholic hospital, the larger of two hospitals in our area. Like any good Catholic hospital, the motto is, "We're here for Life." After a few years working on a medical floor, hating it, and wishing to work in the ER, I got enough courage to interview and accepted a part time position. I love the ER: great times, great coworkers; I get to pick my own schedule; the work can be exhausting, but sometimes it's mellow, and always rewarding. I like my job.

I worked on the medical floor before I married Ben and then while pregnant with my son. Soon after transferring to the ER, I became pregnant with my daughter. I spent a fair portion of my breaks pumping breast milk in the NICU waiting room. Our yearly family Christmas card hangs on the corkboard with all of my coworker's pictures of family and pets.

The thought that floored me as I was standing by the sink washing my hands, where I had washed them hundreds of times before, was, "I am here for life." As in, my life. As in, I worked here before I married my husband, while carrying my children in utero, and I will keep working here as they grow, graduate from school, leave our house. One day it will be me, not my coworker, talking about my son going to college or my daughter getting married. Then I will get up and start an IV or push some meds, just like I'm doing today.

Crazy.

Like I said, not a whole lot of emotion attached to this. Or, maybe ambivalent emotions, like, "No! This can't be the end position of my career!", or "Hey, what a great job to have! Good for me!" But the reality of it....unless something big changes that isn't on my radar, I will do the same job until I retire.....huh. There you have it.