Sara Plays House

My parents gave Avery a new jewelry box for her birthday.  It’s white and pink and of course has a little ballerina inside that dances to “Once Upon A Dream” from Sleeping Beauty.  She likes it alot.

Isn’t it fancy?  I can tell you this–I NEVER had a jewelry box this nice when I was four.  Or fourteen, for that matter.  I bet that you are just dying to know what my quirky child has tucked away in this beauty.

It is very important to have a place to hang your light-up Valentine’s necklace, plastic Easter necklace, AND the necklace you made at Dance Camp.  We wouldn’t want these lovelies to get tangled!

It’s also important to have several drawers to store your favorite things.  Even more important to divide them by category, as you can see. My favorite part?  The little gecko she made fits PERFECTLY in the top compartment.  See?

This little ballerina had no idea what was in store for her when she left the jewelry box factory.  NO IDEA.  But it hasn’t affected her performance–she spins beautifully. There is a very good reason for showing you all of this.  Other than your amusement, of course.  I’d like to give YOU something to put in your jewelry box.

Do you remember that necklace my BFF Colleen gave me?  The one that I love love love?  The very talented woman who made it is going to give one lucky Sara Plays House reader a piece from her Etsy store.  Christina Kober is a jewelry artist who works in Silver and 18K Gold.  Each of her pieces is handmade and one of a kind.  She sells her work online through Etsy, and you can also find her at The Beehive Co-Op in Atlanta.  She’s a blogger, too.

Her jewelry is simple and elegant.  I can tell you that the piece I own has held up very well over the past year.  It has been pulled by tiny fingers.  It has been dropped.  And it looks as good as new.  I wear it almost every day and feel rather naked without it now.  It’s definitely unique and I get comments about it from almost every new mother I meet.

But today, we’re giving away something a little different.  Christina will be sending one of you your very own Fortune Cookie Necklace made of Silver.  These are cute, quirky, and sentimental.  I actually gave one to Colleen for her birthday last year.  Because she is cute, quirky, and makes me sentimental.  I thought it would be appropriate.  And it was!  Would you like to see one?

There’s the little cookie.  How adorable is that?  For an idea on the scale, here’s a fortune cookie necklace on a model.

These are tiny and delicate.  Which makes them even more precious.  The fortune is located on the back, by the clasp–

This one says, “Disbelief Destroys The Magic”.  Christina hand prints all of her lettering.  I LOVE that it looks handmade.  The winner of this giveaway will get to choose his or her own fortune.  The only limitation is that it must be 66 characters or less.  So after you enter, put your thinking caps on and cook up something good!

This necklace would be a great gift for any special woman in your life.  Or it would be a great gift for yourself.  The fortune makes it all the more unique, especially since you can customize it to anything you want.  A vow of love.  A funny inside joke.  A song lyric.  Oooh!  A marriage proposal!  I could go on and on.  I will say this–if you win this giveaway, pretty please come back and tell me what fortune you chose, OK?  Now, on to the details.

To enter this giveaway–

Mandatory First Entry– Go visit Christina Kober Designs and leave me a comment telling me what your absolute favorite piece is.

Extra Entries–-

Tweet about this giveaway (Leave the link to your tweet in an extra comment)

Blog about this giveaway (Leave the link to your post in an extra comment)

Grab my button or list me in your blogroll (Leave a link to your blog in an extra comment)

Become a Fan of Christina Kober Designs on Facebook (Leave a comment saying that you are a fan)

***Make sure that you put each Extra Entry in a separate comment so that your extra entries are counted properly***

That’s it!  Comments will close on this post at 8pm EST Thursday November 19, 2009.  The winner will be selected using a random number generator and announced on Friday November 20, 2009.  Good luck, y’all!

Halloween was a rainy affair down here in the South.  But we made it through and I’m pretty sure the kids barely noticed that they came home a little damp.  Or maybe alot damp.  Anyway–here’s a recap.

It started with some bouncing, thanks to the lovely Ms. Shannan, Kelly’s next door neighbor.  (Hi Ms. Shannan!  Great party, as usual!)

We made some sausage balls.  By we, I mean mostly me.  And I’ve got the photographic evidence to prove it!

OK, so maybe I just did the first batch.  But still.

There were costumes.  Would you like to see?

Uncle Shannon dressed up like … Uncle Shannon with a gelled faux hawk and guyliner.

Aunt Kelly dressed up as the woman who loves the man in the guyliner.  Clever!

Aaron dressed up as a super gross skeleton with flowing blood.  SCARY!

Reese dressed up as a happy camouflaged Ninja.

Zoe was a sweet little black kitty cat.  Aunt Kelly did her whiskers and nose.

Every black cat needs a witch to follow around, and Avery was happy to oblige.  Complete with striped tights and sparkle shoes.

This concludes our Halloween parade.  Weren’t the kids lovely?  Wasn’t Uncle Shannon, uh, interesting?  Ooh there’s also the obligatory Rylander Family Photo In Which Avery Does Not Wish To Participate–

We ate alot of food and then walked around in the rain begging for candy.  Sorry there’s no photos of that action, but I do really love my camera an awful lot and I’m quite certain it would NOT love the rain.  So it stayed in the house.  The Mallorys left us in the dust within about five minutes, but Pop stuck around with us.  Zoe said “trick Or Treat” at nine out of ten houses, much to the delight of the Candy Givers.  Avery talked Pop’s ear off all the way home while Mike and I pushed Zoe in blissful silence.  We came home wet, cold, and tired.  Here’s the girls after their evening jaunt.

Avery didn’t want to take those tights off.  She ALMOST slept in them.  Girl loves her pretties.

So there’s our Halloween, in a tiny orange and black nutshell.  It was a great time, as usual, and it was so nice to have Nana and Pop here to celebrate with us.

P.S.  Avery wants to be a black cat next year.  And she wants Zoe to be a witch.  I’m wondering how long this little cycle will go on.

I love Halloween.  I love it alot.  The costumes, the treats, the pumpkins.  I love it all.  Let’s talk about the pumpkins.  Usually we get a pumpkin, Mike scoops it out, and I do the carving.  This year we did something a little different.  In Avery’s Montessori class, they had a “work” activity this month that involved hammering golf tees into a pumpkin.  Avery LOVED this activity, so when I saw a pumpkin kit with colored plastic pegs and a little wooden hammer, I picked it up.  Lite Brite for your pumpkin!  Brilliant.  I should have known when Mike started out the carving like this–

We were in for some shenanigans.  Welcome to our journey to creating a radioactive pumpkin.

The girls waited patiently for Mike to get the pumpkin open and start pulling out the guts.  After some prodding and the promise of DELICIOUS ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS, Avery helped to pull the pulp off the seeds.  Zoe played with them.  Gimli tried to eat them.

Mike got the pumpkin hollowed out and I popped the seeds into the oven.  And now for the hammering!  We completely tossed out the helpful templates and just let Avery design the thing.

She REALLY means business with the little wooden hammer.  Look how fast she’s going!

We created a beautiful, sparkly pumpkin. Just screams HALLOWEEN, doesn’t it?  Er.  Maybe not.  But the bats!  It DOES have bats.  And that is Halloweeny.

Avery was nearly beside herself to get the thing lit up.  The little light that came with it did this annoying blinky thing, so we tried using tea lights.

SIX tea lights, to be exact.  The effect was … dim at best.

Not the OOH and AAH we were looking for.  So Mike put on his thinking cap, disappeared to the garage, and reappeared with one of my old studio lights.  Here’s where the fun begins!

He stripped the light, and started cutting a hole in the back of the gourd.  All the while I’m going, “Are you SURE it won’t electrocute you?  Pumpkins are mostly water, you know.  Water.  Electricity.  ARE YOU SURE?”  The man laughed at me.  He thinks I’m precious.

Doesn’t this look safe?  And I know what you’re thinking–why not use one of those little battery-operated lights that are made specifically for lighting pumpkins?  Well.  That would be too EASY.  And not nearly bright enough!  Why use 4 watts when you can use 75?  This is a much more manly option, obviously.

Are you ready?  Enter RADIOACTIVE PUMPKIN.  As soon as it was plugged in, Avery exclaimed, “It’s so LIGHTFUL!”  Yes, Avery.  It certainly is lightful.  And delightful, for that matter.

No, Zoe!!  Don’t touch the pumpkin-that-could-POSSIBLY-catch-fire-at-any-moment!

Yes.  It was really that bright.  It could be used on a landing strip.  Want to see the back?  Of course you do.

We took it outside, plugged it in, and Avery thought it was the coolest thing ever.  Zoe was more concerned that she could see the moon.  “MOON, Mama!  Moon UP DERE!”  I made the executive decision that we should unplug the fire hazard until Mike could find a more appropriate bulb, say 25 or 40 watts.  And then Mike laughed at me.  Again.  And he’s all, “Feel the top!  It’s barely HOT!”  Keep in mind it had only been on for ten minutes, and yes–it WAS hot.  But it DOES look cool.  I can give him that much.

This, my friends, is how you make a Radioactive Pumpkin.  I do not recommend trying this at home, because I would be really sad if it DID catch fire.  No one needs a fiery pumpkin on their doorstep.  Of this, I am certain.

Happy Halloween, y’all!

Sometimes blurry is A-OK.

We finally made it to Boo at the Zoo at Zoo Atlanta this year.  We went with Martine and her kids, so that made it all the more fun.  I think I’m getting pictures posted before her this time.  I need to mark this date in my calendar.

Halloween + The Zoo = Happy Fun Exhausting Times For Everyone!

It started with attempting a requisite Pumpkin themed photo since we skipped the Patch this year.  It went … poorly.

Avery tried to share her lollipop with a decidedly unappreciative Mike.  It started innocently enough.

“Oooh Mike!  Avery!  Smile!”

“Daddy, you want some?”  (Note Mike’s face here)

“Avery!  Really!  Daddy does not share food!”

“No, seriously.  It’s ALL YOU.”

And then we made it into the Big Tent where we found several large costumed characters mulling about, as well as a craft table.  So I helped Zoe make a truly fabulous Halloween mask.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a zoo trip without a picture of Zoe picking her nose.  What is it with this kid?

At least she didn’t drag her Daddy down with her this time.

Speaking of noses.  Here, look closely at this goat that Avery was pretty fond of.  He could take a lesson from Zoe.

An unsuspecting Zoe was almost eaten alive by a rogue goat.  She was rescued just in the nick of time, but it was very, very dramatic!  OK.  She wasn’t almost eaten.  At all.  But doesn’t it look that way?  That goat definitely looks like he’s going in for a bite.

Remember those large costumed characters?  We met Clifford the Big Red Dog and Franklin the Whiny Turtle inside the tent.  And then we found Curious George while we were out walking.  CURIOUS GEORGE.  Even Zoe knows him.  The kids got all excited, and then THIS happened.

George left some unhappy kids and even unhappier parents in his wake.  BUT we found him again!

All was forgiven.

I attempted to carry Zoe around on my shoulders.  She did not appreciate this maneuver.

The best part?  The Zoo hired DJ Willy Wow to spin records in one of the pavilions.  We all know that Avery loves to dance.  She loves to spin around.  She loves to MOVE.  On this day, she attempted break dancing.  And she did better than I thought she would.  Isn’t that always the way?

I’m getting her a copy of Breakin’ 2:  Electric Boogaloo as soon as possible.  I’ll keep you posted on her progress.