We celebrated the new year the classic way- fondue (cheese for dinner and chocolate for dessert) and sparklers. That was pretty much it. The kids went to bed at the normal time and Garth and I probably would have retired early if it were any other night. Here’s a little of our front yard popper and sparkler fest.

A few days later we celebrated Garth’s 33rd by going on our first date of the year while the kids were at school. We just had lunch and went to a movie but it was so sweet and nice and it sorta felt like it did when we were dating/newly married. We were even able to drive around with the top down since Jack wasn’t in the back to complain. We were sure excited to see them later that afternoon though! Cutest. kids. Ever.

There are some crazy exciting things happening in the xoelle bow tie world right now- but nothing that can be spilled just yet- and of course, crazy awesome things happening in real life too (like a dishwasher!!!! after a year of handwashing in hotel rooms and bathroom sinks we have a dishwasher! I just got a few extra hours each week!).

I can share with you the awesomeness that is the xoelle swatchbook though- they’ve been in the works since last summers Indie Wed, when my parents skipped almost an entire night of sleep to help me assemble them. They have been fine-tuned and tweaked and are now in the shop to delight and seduce potential bow-tie-owners. I lub dem.

ecks oh.

elle

Happy New Year! 2012 is going to rule.

kisses at midnight: xxxooox

elle

Christmas is magic. We had such a sweet little understated Christmas. Strawberry shortcake & orange juice punch for breakfast. Cars, choo choo trains, accordians, pettiskirts, and ponies for the kiddos to open. Lots of candy & snacks. And an afternoon, dressed in red & green, trying to keep the little ones quiet for an hour of church, almost successfully. I’ve included the last photo just in case there’s too much sweetness and cuteness here and you miss the real lifeness. Garth still had his pee bag to carry around on Christmas and there’s a ripped-up couch (more on that later), broken a/c unit, and moldy high chair just hanging out in our front yard, waiting for the bulk trash day. This’ll be our life for the next year or so while we try to renovate this tiny home, raise two sweet kids, and keep our jobs. Thank goodness for these sweet & happy times.

Hope yours was just as sweet friends.
much love,

elle

…a little bit like Christmas. Although it’s warm/rainy/sunny here everyday and we never close our windows and it’s just about always too warm for hot chocolate. We picked out a tree the other day at Helemano farms, just down the road from our house and brought it home with the top down. It is decorated and in the living room (that is ALMOST a real living room- we have a couch and everything!!) and the flocked deer and budding Christmas star collection is out. And there’s a wreath or two up. Most of our holiday decorations will remain in their sweet little totes since our house is inches away from chaos (who’s idea was it to try to renovate so many rooms at once?) and I am all but alone in the day-to-day tasks.

Oh golly. I have not mentioned that the mister is an invalid. He has been laying in bed or creeping very slowly around the house for almost 2 weeks now, recovering from a urethroplasty. Poor dude. He’s doing well, considering, but I know that he’s ready to get back to real life. You know, and pee like a regular guy. Hopefully he continues to heal and recover well and we can enjoy Christmas all cuddled together in jammies.

golly, I love this time of year. Hugs to all you, internet friends, real friends, and family that I adore!

elle

Just got back yesterday from a week in the desert with Garth’s parents & family. It was a little chilly at times and we loved it. We left 2 cans of spam and like 15 strange sodas when we left (including egg nog fizz and lilikoi). Yes, we will leave spam at your house if you invite us over too.

The giant bow tie sale is winding down and has been a huge success. Today is the last day to get as many bow ties as your heart desires for $25 a piece, including shipping. Well, as many as your heart desires up to 65 or so.

happy new week people. =)

elle

The kids started going to daycare this week and it’s breaking my heart. I wasn’t built to be a stay at home Mom. It is what I wanted for my kids, but I had no idea that it would be so….constant. I’ve been running my own business at home for longer than I’ve had kids and it has been a challenge to “balance” the two. We’re far from family and living in our first home that needs some pretty serious elbow-grease-related work so there’s a lot on my plate. I’ve been playing around with various childcare options with little success (the babysitter I hired only showed up 25% of the time) and this is the most convenient and safe (yet most expensive) option yet. I’m still calling it a trial phase. Jack cries everyday when we drop him off which makes me tear up and seriously reconsider what I’m doing. We don’t need the money that I’m making (we like it, but Garth earns enough to keep us sheltered and fed) so I constantly question if I should be doing it at all when I could have a cleaner home and more attended to children if I didn’t. I love making bow ties and love furthering a little business- it’s successes are mine alone and it’s thrilling to see the fruits of my efforts so quickly and in black and white.

But giving it up and committing to the homemaker thing for real? Golly, I don’t know if I could do it. I get so bogged down in the tedious little tasks that need to be completed daily (hourly) while little sticky children scream at each other and make messes. It wears on me in a way that 45 teenagers in an art classroom never did. It is the one thing that takes the positive attitude that I’ve always felt is a hallmark of my personality and hides it in a far away place. Garth will come home from work to me after a 12 hour shift and I can’t even give him a real smile. I wasn’t built for this. So I think that sometimes the kids should be taken care of by someone else, and I should get a few hours to clean in peace, or package bow ties bound for New Zealand, or blog about how I miss my kids.

The good news is that the options are endless. I know that there are Moms out there who say goodbye to their kids in the morning and then go to a job that they hate so that they can provide for their kids. I am blessed to have the option to work or not work, and blessed to be able to like both of them. Now I just need to figure out where that balance is. How many hours a week at daycare is too much? How much alone time to I need? How can I work smarter at the business to save time? and most importantly, how the heck do I ever clear off the kitchen counter? It reproduces clutter, I swear.

I’m listening to the Marry Poppins soundtrack on the record player and Bert just sang, “You’ve got to grind, grind, grind at that grindstone, though childhood slips like sand through a seive. And all too soon they’ve up and grown and then they’ve flown. And it’s too late for you to give”.

I think Ill be picking up these two sweethearts early today.

love ya’ll!
mama

Circus sideshow acts for Halloween 2011! We threw these together in a day or two from a few thrifted items and some things around the house (and a lovely lovely 3/4 yard of tiny sequin fabric). We certainly could have taken them to a more extravagent place if we’d had more time- but I love how sweet and charming they are!

Ginger was the tattooed lady. I made her the little sequined jumper and we thrifted the shoes. I spent an agonizing 20 minutes on two occassions sitting with Ginger and a handful of temporary tattoos and a bowl of water trying to get her to sit still long enough to apply them. Ginger does not stand still (as you can see from these photos). The tattoos themselves were from my collection and a cross-section of my favorite things- sailors, jack skellington, and superheros.

Jack was the strong man. His unitard was made from a ladies spandex blend shirt, his boots from a knock-off Dooney & Burke cosmetic case, and his barbell was made by Garth using bouncy balls, pvc, tape, and spray paint. His little eyeliner moustache was a big hit and I added a few little curlycue chest hairs that he couldn’t stop looking at.

Garth was a human cannonball. He put on a pair of his Navy coveralls, converse shoes, swimming goggles, and a helmet that he’d painted and then wrapped himself in a sheet of super dense foam. We’d hoped to paint flames onto the foam and add some flair to his coveralls, but we ran out of time. It’s pretty great all the same.

And I was the bearded lady. I coulda/woulda/shoulda made a cool dress but I just put something on that matched the circus colors we had going on and made myself a little beard from scraps of a felted sweater and yarn that sorts matche my hair.

We went to a trunk or treat with barbells sticking out of the trunk and Garth’s cannon between the seats. On Halloween night we made our traditional soda with dry ice and had mummy dogs and Jack got a thrill out of handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters. And now we have a huuuuuge bucket of candy still. It’ll probably last us until new years at least.

Can’t wait until next Halloween! Well, ok, I can, but only because Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines, and Easter are coming. =)

hairy kisses,
the bearded lady

We love you gram gram!
love, Jack & Gigi

p.s. Look how much we’ve grown in one tiny year!

What a sweet sweet duo these two make. Ginger is so interested in all of the buttons and knobs and she just looks like she belongs on a bike. It’s nice for Garth since his firstborn son runs away and cries when he hears a motorcycle start. Luckily Ginger was dressed in her brother’s “I heart Danger” sleeveless shirt so even though she weighs 26 pounds she looks legit, even though it’ll be years before she takes a spin around the block.

Costume season is in full swing for me which means that I am stitching Sally and Moishe in the car everywhere we go, in my bed before sleep, and at the kitchen table. Little snips of black yarn are everywhere, as are my scissors and pins. But golly do I LOVE making costumes. And, I love that in a few weeks time I’ll be able to buy a new fridge thanks to Halloween.

Dontcha just love the sweet little kiddos modeling for me? If I keep making these for years and years this could be quite a sweet little anthology. Aaaaaaannnnd what are we going to be this year? I have no idea. We are pretty sure that we want to all coordinate since we know in a few years the kids’ll want to be whatevers trendy and Mom & Dad will want to be Mary Poppins and Bert. Any ideas? How are all ya’ll going to dress up?

ecks OH!

elle