The little bumblebee buzzed about the house for nearly a half an hour before melting down and passing out. He missed all the trick-or-treaters. Dad had fun though. And really, isn't that what it's all about?

You may remember Monday's post, in which I showed off a new hat I made for 5. No, you're not in the Matrix. In the same week, I am writing ANOTHER post about a new hat I made for 5. You can see from the picture though, that this hat is completely different...
I saw this Gnome Hat Tutorial and HAD to make one for 5. It is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. I love it I love it I love it.
It was also an excellent crochet-warmup. Now that it's getting colder, I will be doing more knitting and crocheting and it's always good to start with a quick and easy project to get my confidence up. Success! I made this in one evening plus 15 minutes over lunch the next day. I was also able to use the scrap yarn from my most favorite scarf (I LOVE this yarn so I was thrilled to be able to make another project with it!)

I have been meaning to post this recipe all week. It is not a cheese sandwich recipe. That orange stuff there above the lettuce? That is my cashew/carrot sandwich spread and dip! Super healthy and delicious, this spread is grereat for lunch eaters of all ages. Click on the picture to go to the recipe.

These boys have been doing their very best to absorb every single minute of sunshine before we are plunged into the Long Dark Winter. This involves a lot of standing at the window, discussing the merits of various varmints, as well as the discovery of a very auspicious and newly-revered albino squirrel.
In other words, good times for Daddies and babies.

This week marks the beginning of something very very beautiful. Suddenly, inexplicably, 5 decided that sleeping with Dad is good. Up until now, if I passed him off to Dad, even if he was SO asleep, asleep for the night asleep, within 10 minutes he would wake up CRYING CRYING CRYING. Dad is NOT for sleeping- Dad is for playing, carrying, reading, eating, changing, biking, whathaveyou, but NOT SLEEPING!
With this new development, as well as 5's decision that sleeping on a not-alive surface is maybe ok sometimes, some luxurious time has been added to my day. Quite frankly, it is incredible, and it couldn't have come at a better time. With presents, product, and costumes coming out my ears I have a daily to-do list that is looking less and less like light reading... but becoming more and more do-able.

This week's soup was yet another 101 Cookbooks find- Heidi's DELICIOUS Rustic Cabbage Soup. It is so good. Fred often requests cabbage soups so I have made several different recipes, but I think I'm going to stick with this one. Hers called for potato which I replaced with parsnips and a single rutabaga, but otherwise I mostly followed her directions.
With onions, garlic, white beans, cabbage, and root veggies, garnished with parmesan and croutons, this is the snuggliest and most comfort-foodiest of soups. It's been perfect for this cold, grey week we've been having.

We bought this gorgeous mobile as a Christmas present for 5. Last year. We finally hung it. Last week. Hmmm.

They're made by a local artist and sold at our local art center. I've had my eye on them since we first moved here over five years ago. The arrival of a baby seemed the perfect occasion to finally BUY one.
It wasn't nearly as interesting waiting in a bag under the crib for most a year. 5 is enthralled with it. Every morning this week, before he's even really awake, he is pointing. Where, you ask? Why, at the mobile of course. He goes back and forth between the cranes and the elephants for several minutes, until he is awake and ready to wreak some havoc.

5 and I had a rather leisurely day at home today- I am recovering from a little cold and 5 is growing little teeth. I did, however, manage to make a new product prototype- a recycled sweater baby hat! It turned out quite adorable if I do say so myself. We also got to take a much needed shower once Dad got home from work (who knew teething was such SWEATY work?)

On the product side, I have a tiny bit of pattern adjustment to do, but they should be ready for the Poor Artist's Sale in Calumet, MI on Dec 3! Rispok will be there in full effect, ready to fulfill all your holiday shopping needs! I'm even making the hats in two sizes! Baby (under 1 yr) and toddler (1-3 yrs). Hooray for head sizing!

What do you think? Do babies and toddlers need recycled sweater hats?

While I got to wash my hair without a babe in arms, the boys did a clean baby photo shoot. I think we all came out winners.

Finally, a clean Mama and a clean baby get to snuggle and point at the (now) dirtiest (but still well-loved) member of the family- Dad.

I got a thrilling order on my Etsy site today- a producer for "Room Crashers" ordered this pillow for the show!
Even though there's plenty of chances it will be edited out and never even seen and also I have never heard of this show (we don't even get network channels on our TV...)
still
I am SO EXCITED that a designer for a TV show-
1. SAW my product
2. LIKED it enough to get the producer to buy it

A little about this here fantastic pillow-
The brown fabric is from an old pair of pants, hand printed by yours truly with the ever popular ziggety zaggity.
The mustard/purple combo is a precious Marimekko remnant (if you have never heard of Marimekko, look it up. Now. For real.).
There is a hidden zipper and a bit of lovely top-stitching.

My boys are napping together on the couch and I am bouncing off the walls.

Doesn't he look so serious? He and Dad were playing last night while I got in a few minutes of sewing. I thought this picture looked like some kind of still from an after school special about kids whose parents don't pay attention to them...

We've been having scones for breakfast for the last two weeks and they've been DELICIOUS! I hadn't ever made them before and they were much easier than I thought they were going to be. Last week I made so good lemon cream scones, and this week we're having cheesy herbed ones- gruyere and leeks and thyme! I based them on this recipe.
I've had to buy butter more often the last few weeks... we'll see what happens with that...

I also made the most delicious quinoa skillet bread. I TRIED to follow this recipe, but I wanted to use up some ingredients I had in the house. So, I used buttermilk instead of milk, and full-fat goat milk instead of heavy cream. Still SO GOOD.
Definitely getting more excited about making food with all this chilly air swirling about...

If you look REALLY closely, you can see that 5 has sprouted his first tooth! With three more close behind!

He is also sporting another of his brand-new mama-made outfits in this pic. That's right, his shirt says 5. He's cool. By the end of the weekend I finished 4 shirts, 4 pairs of pants, and two skirts (not for 5). Unfortunately, he wore them and slimed them all right away so they're in the laundry and he's shirtless for the rest of this post...

This is 5's new go-to face. I call it a "squinch". It is devastatingly adorable and possibly practical even. My theory is that it keeps his lips away from his tender gums. Maybe he just likes making faces.

I mentioned in my last post that my parents were up for the weekend. The above picture is pretty much what that looks like.  5 and his Oma doing something fun. Peek A Boo, bouncing on the exercise ball, napping, reading super old books that my Mom brought up, good times. 5 really likes Peek A Boo, but he prefers to be in control. Hmmm, not sure where he got that from...

My parents arrived LATE last night and, combined with a rainy, no play outside day today, meant I got to do some sewing while the Oma and the Opa fought over who got to hold the baby.
I made TWO raglan shirts and finished TWO pairs of pants during nap #1! Hooray Mommy!
The shirt is based on the raglan tutorial from Craftiness is not Optional, but with long sleeves.
The front and back panels are from a hand-me-down from his Isaac and the sleeves are scrap Tshirt sleeves I sewed together long ago...
The collar and cuffs are Joann's clearance fuschia cotton ribbing - woot!

I finished these pants too- I will admit, they were mostly done already. I was awaiting the arrival of new waistband elastic- kind of crucial. All the fabric for these pants are repurposed men's button-down shirts.

While I would love my sweet sweet boy in anything or nothing at all, I think I find him EXTRA charming in these new fancy duds... pics of the rest soon!

This is 5's current technique for trying to break our stereo (as you can see, it's a conflict that's been developing). He climbs into the stuffed animal storage bin, gets distracted, and shouts until I come take him out.
This is my favorite technique thus far. He used to just throw the bins out of the way and then crank the volume and eat my Robyn CDs.

That was not my confession.
My husband informed me that I MUST share this story. I'm not entirely sure what his motivation is, but...

5 is OBSESSED with power cords. He can spot a cord at 50 meters and will make an immediate beeline for it. It is literally the only thing we say !!NO!! to him about (with angry face and everything).
Maybe a month ago, every time he was out of my sight for even a second, he would unplug the charger from the computer and put it in his mouth.
He did this multiple times, so, obviously, it didn't kill him.
I kind of figured with the safety of Apple products, there must be some automatic off switch when it gets wet or something... I mean really, if it hurt he wouldn't do it, right?

After maybe a week of this, I got curious. I put the charger in my mouth. It shocked me!
I will admit at this point that I have experienced various levels of electricity coursing through my veins, from an electric fence, to outlet voltage, to an ungrounded hood vent that made my heart hurt (yeah, I really should've gotten worse grades is science than I did...)
This was much milder than any of those, but it still hurt. My stinko baby was shocking his mouth! On purpose!

Since then, cords have been OFF LIMITS I MEAN IT NO KIDDING!

Have any of you ever experienced this? Do any of you have a weirdo electricity-loving kid? Is he destined to join the X-Men?

Mister 5 was a big help this weekend as we finished our kitchen and bathroom remodel once and for all. He spent a nice long time sleeping and/or patting me from the backpack so I could paint. Paint paint paint. Doors, trim, touchups, the ceiling....

When it was finally done, this is what we looked like. A little zombified. And 5 was glad he finally got to hold on to the hammer.

Now that the tools and paint are packed away, let the sewing begin!