Lack of Projects and an ER Visit

After all the work we did this summer, I am experiencing a major lapse in crafting motivation.  The flurry of activity I've had going on here at our house over the last 9 months or so has been really fun but it seems I've hit a wall...it's not a bad thing, I don't think.  I hope I can get the wind back in my sails before too long, but for now I put things into a lower gear as a result of the busy summer and Owen getting older and needing more of my attention.  Also though, Zoe's new school does so many great projects and since she goes there 4 afternoons a week, I guess I feel like she doesn't need projects to work on at home too.  When she's home with me, we've been spending most of our time playing outside before the winter comes barreling along and playing board games and more low-key stuff inside while Owen naps.  One of the results is that I'm saving a lot of my creative energy (if I have anything at all left in the tank after bedtime, that is) on stuff for me..or rather things I like/want to do that Zoe is too little to do.  The biggest example of that is that I've taken up knitting again.  I've picked it up and put it down a lot in my adult life but this time feels like it might stick a little longer.  I finally see the appeal of it, since I'm not actually just making a boring old scarf this time, but smaller more interesting and complicated stuff.  We'll see how it goes, but if it goes well maybe I'll show you a few pictures.

Here are my favorite projects Zoe has brought home from school so far:

"The Life Cycle of a Butterfly"

"Snake"

"Frog Puppet" Of course, they learned a song to go along with this one.

"Zoe's House" along with this story: "Once there was a girl named Zoe. *She is 3 1/2*. It was made out of bricks and she invite people over for the party.  And Santa came for the party and then they all had a party.  Then they went to a park.  Then they played in the backyard.  And they went to a kind school."

I did finally get around to doing this project with fall leaves that I saw few weeks ago though.  Zoe and I love picking up leaves this time of year, but we both get frustrated by how quickly they dry out.  So, I thought this was perfect for us!

I had some paraffin wax lying around because I thought a while ago that I wanted to try making some candles but I just don't seem to ever get around to doing it so I used it for this project instead.

Yeah.  Probably shouldn't let the kids do this part but she really wanted to try it and she was really careful.  She got spooked when a little drop of wax dripped on her skin so she didn't ask to do another.  After that, she handed me the leaves and I dipped them.

Drying them out on wax paper

Her idea was to "decorate" them afterwards.  She didn't want to hear it when I told her nothing was going to stick to the wax, but also didn't seem to mind when nothing, in fact, did.

Plus she let me keep a few undecorated.  Fun and super easy (the wax is even inexpensive)!

While Zoe was at school today, I came across this tutorial.  It shows you how to make beautiful yarn wreaths and elegant looking felt flowers.  I had some felt on hand already so I thought I'd give them a whirl.  Sure enough, they are really easy to make.  Think I'll keep them in mind when Winter Solstice/Christmas season rolls around and attempt a nice wreath for our house.

We had a bizarre day with Owen yesterday....for a day or two, he'd been very low energy...falling asleep on my lap, which he never does....and started getting a fever.  We were finishing up a round of antibiotics for (another) ear infection (hadn't had one in months, but got a few this past year) and so were expecting him to feel better. On Saturday, it was a low fever so after speaking to the doctor's office we decided he was fine and we were just going to keep an eye on him.

The next morning, his temperature had risen to 102.9 and he was super lethargic.  Of course, Owen being Owen, he was still smiling and fairly happy but just really tired and hot.  I called our doctor, who happened to be on call, and after describing his symptoms she told me to take him to the ER so they could take a look at his ear and do anything else they might deem necessary, like chest x-rays.  So, I promptly took the little guy down the road to the hospital and they were able to see us right away.  After very kindly checking him out, the doctor told me that she didn't know what was going on with him but that there was nothing scary happening and so she wasn't recommending antibiotics.  I was completely fine with this, and left feeling grateful that all I had with me was a baby diagnosed with "Teething Fever Syndrome" (okay, it's a little embarrassing to be one of THOSE parents, but to be fair, I took him there on the recommendation of his doctor).  I gave him some ibuprofen and put him down for a nap at 10:00 am and he slept until nearly 4:00 PM!!!!  It was so crazy!  I spent the whole time going between being glad he was getting so much rest to being totally freaked out.  I kept telling other Moms I know how long he was sleeping, just to be able to gauge their reactions...was waiting for one of them to say "What??!!  You'd better wake him up!!" but they all just said "Poor baby must have been so pooped!".  I even had my phone in my hand at one point, ready to dial the doctor but ran through what I'd say to them before I called ("He's been sleeping a long time...not sweating...breathing normally....rolling around once in a while...") and knew they'd say the same thing as the Moms I'd already told so I put the phone down.  Sure enough, the little guy woke up with a smile on his face and a cool forehead and chowed some food.  Man I've set myself up for a lifetime of ulcer-producing situations here!  Wouldn't have it any other way, of course. ;-)