Been M.I.A.

(Random pic of me and my adorable niece, Riley Paige McMullen. I know it makes no sense in this post really but I like it -- she's really looking at me and I like that green background color. I think I have a thing for babies and the color green (see Owyn Toy Box))

My blog has taken a back seat lately to sanding, painting and family. But I should be back with more wickedly smart, amazingly poignant posts very soon. OK, they've never been those things but I will write more grammatically incorrect, daily life stuff over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, here are some tidbits for the day...

1. Got a message that Modern Tots (they went under and when they did, failed to pay me for an order) has been taken over by a new owner. So I guess Modern Tots is back!

2. I'm excited to put a new bird toy box on the market. Similar to the one I designed for the Haitian Relief Raffle. Look for that soon...

3. I need to get off this computer and work so I'm ending at number three.

Hope you're all having a wonderful Spring!!!

That Crazy Bar

My friend Emily designed what she named "That Crazy Bar" many months ago and ask me to build it for her. I thought to myself, how hard can it be?!?!

Um....let's just say I really love sitting at bars and am happy to do that regularly. Building of bars, however, will not be a regular activity for me. I modified her design just a bit to account for my lack of specific woodworking skills and thankfully, she still seems pleased with the result.

Cheers, Em! Can't wait to belly up to your bar!


Look! A drawer! First-ever drawer installed by yours truly. And the stemware hanging thing-y is on mounted on the underside of the bar to the right of the drawer.



All shiny!

SPRING BREAK RULES!

...and by RULES, I mean here's what we can and can't do this week:

1. Kids cannot annoy the hell out of me by complaining that they're bored. And then fight about it because they're bored.
   
   
2. Grace is allowed to put make-up on me (with her new make-up kit) so long as I always end up looking like a hooker from 1987.
   
   
3. My precious children are allowed to go with me to UPS to drop off toy boxes as long as Noah, who is 5ft 4 in., lays lengthwise across the floor by the greeting card stand while holding his combination lock above his head for inspection.
   
   
4. Mom is allowed to say "Seriously, (white car or red car or big-arse humvee or _____ car), FREAKIN' DRIVE!!!!" to the slow cars in front of her WITHOUT hearing from kids, "Mom, they can't hear you."
   
   

American Idol Workshop

While watching American Idol last night. Working on four toy boxes in various stages. Btw, I like the last guy who sang last night. The one who said he was sent to an alternative high school because of his bad choices. (And the stairs to the couch are for our elderly dog. Not me.)

Barbie Girl in A Barbie World

Early morning cartoons are a staple in our house. That part of the morning before we start yelling, "Where's your backpack? Did you brush your teeth? OH MY GOD you don't have your shoes on yet?!?!" The fun part, ya know. So yesterday, we saw an ad for Dentist Barbie which made me say to my kids, "where's Carpenter Barbie?" And Grace said, "Mom if there was a carpenter Barbie, I'd name it Kiersten." And that's how this whole thing got started....

Today, my husband sent me a Facebook fan page invite to a group called "Fan Page for the creation of a Carpenter Barbie named Kiersten." I about fell over laughing. But I have to say, I do think Barbie could use a few less dentists and doctors and maybe a few more manual labor/artist types. To their credit, after taking a look today at their "I Can Be" series of dolls, I learned they actually held a contest for the creation of the next two career-minded dolls. Apparently, News Anchor Barbie and Computer Engineer Barbie won. But still no Carpenter Barbie. Or Contractor Barbie. Or Metal Works Barbie (complete with the iron welding mask.) Or Landscape Artist Barbie. I could go on for DAYS but I won't.

If you want to join the astronomically huge number (20) of fans pushing for Carpenter Kiersten Barbie, click the link above. Imagine the fun kids will have!?! When the Fashion Model Barbie and Dentist Barbie come for dinner at News Anchor Barbie's house and Fashion Model Barbie accidentally drives her red corvette through News Anchor Barbie's house, Carpenter Kiersten Barbie can patch the hole right up! Framing and furniture are her specialty!!

UPDATE: The kids heard Scott and I talking about this whole Carpenter Barbie thing and they immediately broke out into this little song...in unison: "I'm a Barbie Girl in A Barbie World. My boobs are plastic. It's so fantastic!" God I love them.