a horrible, no good, very bad day

Today was a low point for mommy-hood.  I was an emotional basket-case... and so were the kids.  Lots of frustrated mom moments.  Lots of "Khalid sad" moments.  Lots of fussing Nyla moments.  After finally getting Nyla to lie down for a nap in the morning, Khalid and I climbed into a chair and just cuddled, rocked, and cried for about thirty minutes.  We were a mess today. It's a good thing there's tomorrow.  Do you have days like this?    

Toddler Art: Oil Painting

A little post-valentines art... I'm always looking for fun, easy (read: "not too messy") art activities for Khalid. This one is a winner.

1. A plate with a little olive oil, a cotton swab, a few pre-cut heart (the thinner the paper, the better), tape, and a spill mat.

2. Dip cotton swab in oil and decorate!

3. Hang on the window with a little tape.

4. Voila!

Guest Party Blogpost: Karaoke Night

My friend Angel turned 30 this month and to celebrate, she threw her own birthday party.  Yes, that's right, she threw her own party.  This may sound sad to you, but I thought it was BRILLIANT.  I haven't had a real birthday party since I was six years old and although I talk about it, I've never actually thought of throwing my own party--exactly the way I would want it! I may have to follow Angel's lead on this one.

Her party theme was Karaoke Night and it was fabulous and tons of fun, so I asked her permission to share it with you.  Onto the party details...

The party took place in the Al-Wahaa Women's Center down the street from the main school building.  It's quite difficult to find party decor supplies here, so much of what you'll see was brought back from the States by Angel and her husband during their Christmas visit.  The pink, yellow, and black colors she chose for this event were perfect for a fun adult party!  First up is her simple, classy invite:

Using fabric, a sweet handmade banner, and the church sound equipment, she (along with the help of her hubs and a few others) staged a colorfully enticing singing spot that was begging for victims talented artists.  These pictures just don't do it justice.  The colors worked together fantastically.  Hanging from the ceiling were simple streamers (brought from the States), but they added so much to the area.  I wish I had a shot of the whole room to share with you:

  

The delicious food was an eclectic collection of dishes brought by various volunteers from our school.  The food table, as well as the other tables, was topped with cute centerpieces made with tissue paper:

This goes without saying, but this party theme was loads of fun!  Angel and her husband, Nick, started off the singing with the first song (splendid air guitar included) and then handed off the second song halfway through.  It really got things rolling in a smooth, non-awkward way.  By the end of the night, the majority of those in attendance (including myself, who was decidedly going to say seated for the night) got up to belt it out at least once.

Bohemian Rahpsody

Guests were asked to "dress up" and a few actually did.  (I wasn't planning on it until I tried to style my unwashed hair before the party and decided it would look much better teased to 80's rockstar perfection.)  Awards (and giftcards for a local coffee shop) were given at the end of the night for costumes and performances.

Turns out "teased to 80's rockstar perfection" actually means "hot mess."
Khalid is rocking a Rolling Stones shirt and Nyla is sporting her Beatles onesie.
Austin is.... handsome :)

Probably my favorite part of the party (besides the hours and hours of karaoke hilarity) were these adorable handmade truffle favors!  Angel is quite gifted in the creative art department and created each tag herself.  The truffles were DIVINE.  Seriously.  I must make these... and soon.  We ended up with three bags that night and all were gone the next day.

Thanks, Angel, for planning your own, successful karaoke birthday party.  Fun was had by all!  Can you be 30 again next year?

Have you hosted an awesome party lately?  I'd love to blog about it!

Repurposed Shelving

 I am beyond thankful that we were able to purchase some new-to-us bookshelves for our living room because these two will be ready for the dumpster before the year is out.  They are hanging on by a thread... or a nail.

I've been racking my brain these last few days trying to decide where to put the overflowing plethora of toys we have accumulated.  Khalid simply does not need a million and one toys out at once.  Overstimulation anyone?  We've created a one-toy-in, one-toy-out rule to fight this problem.  I've also been putting together some Montessori-ish materials for him lately.  All of these things found a perfect home this week when our decrepit shelves were...shelved.  

So here they are, in all their glory, living out their retirement in the guest bedroom/craft room/throw-all-the-junk-in room, housing our (very well-organized, might I add) abundance of toys and all-things-learning.

Some things on the shelves:

• Three different ring stackers (because you can always use an extra one of those)
• Shape sorter
• Wooden train (because there are two other ones floating around)
• Basket full of animal toys
• Basket full of big legos
• Bucket full of random blocks
• Old computer keyboard (because every toddler needs one)
• Box with interesting things that I want to use for Montessori materials
• Basket full of random containers that I'm sure we'll find a use for in all this
• Puzzles (on top in the old, warped cereal box organizer I made for school)... p.s. writing the name of the puzzle on the end is perfect for organizing like this

Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our home today...

Toddler Activity of the Day: Dropping Toothpicks

I can't remember where I found this activity but I whipped it up, in all its awesomeness, in about 3 minutes.

Fine motor skillz

Step one: Rip off the top of an old spice container that has large holes in the top (empty the contents into another container first if you don't have any empty ones--like me).

Step two: Cut off the sharp ends of 10-12 toothpicks.

Step three: Give to toddler.  Sha-ZAM!