Oh-Bla-Di

For some reason, I got a bee in my bonnet about making the kids Waldorf Dolls.  Since there’s nothing in the world that I hate more than bees, I had to get that thing out of my bonnet.  Therefore, I proceeded with all haste to acquire supplies for these incredibly intimidating things and get to work.  Of course, with Valentine’s Day only a couple of weeks away from my original urge to create, I put into place a completely unnecessary and extreme timeline for getting them done.  Plus, I hate having projects hanging over my head (or buzzing near my ears) so Valentine gifts were as good a motivator as anything.

Having no idea where to begin, I turned to the internets.  Via Pinterest (pin 1, 2, & 3), I determined that I could make this happen.  But, then, thanks again to the internet, I found that it’s absolutely impossible to buy products in stores anymore.  I did manage to find a source for wool bat (bizzaro sheets of carded wool that I’d never heard of before) locally, but had to order a kit for the other stuff from a Waldorf doll supply store online.  That was ok, though, because I traced the sewn doll body I received and now I have a pattern!

Anyway, the hardest part about making these dolls is the head.  So, after dinner on the day my stuff arrived, I got started.  I followed a couple of great tutorials online, so the internet and I became friends again in spite of the way it had demolished craft supply stores.

Once you’re done rolling and stuffing and stitching, the head looks something like this.

Since I had purchased pre-sewn bodies, all of the sewing I did on these dolls was by hand.  So, after some more stuffing and stitching, I ended up with a nakey, bald Waldorf baby looking like this:

Of course, that’s when the Facebook comments about voodoo dolls started rolling in.  Not one to be deterred, I moved on to the next most intimidating part of this project, the hair! I found a couple of great tutorials online and used two different ones – one for the boy’s hair and one for the girl’s.  Without a doubt, the tutorial for the boy’s hair was better and it’s the one I’ll use if I ever make another doll (even if it did take me four hours to complete).  Noah’s doll’s hair is about fifteen kinds of awesome whereas Ava’s often suffers from a “balding baby” look.  Noah’s doll turned out better overall, but I spent longer on it and was more careful since I did it first.  I also ended up having to make the dolls’ clothes because I couldn’t find any simple clothing for dolls this size to buy.  So, the dolls and kids all got new pajama pants to wear, which was a fun exercise anyway (Noah got three new pairs!).  I still need some practice and they’re not perfect, but these were fun to make.

10 days after I started working on them, it was time for these little friends to be gifted to their new owners!

Big sister got in the way and it’s blurry, but that’s the sweetest baby boy hug ever for his new buddy.

And, here they are all dressed to match!

Neither doll has a name really (Ava calls hers “Ava” and Noah calls his “Baby”) but both get lots of love.  Noah’s baby comes in the van every day to school and Ava sleeps with hers every night.

I’m so glad I got to make them something to love and pick up some new skills in the process.  These dolls are proof that you don’t have to be perfect to be well-loved!

Since it’s been seventy degrees here for much of the “winter,” we’ve been doing quite a bit of work in the garage and outside.  One of the by-products of a military life is that a family ends up storing a bunch of stuff for “the next house.”  We’ve got a full complement of yard care gear that we’ll never use in our plastic grass/xeriscaped yard here in Vegas, for example.  We’ve also got a whole lot of winter gear that will be great when we’ve finally got snow to shovel and play in again.

Since we were outside and the entire contents our garage had emptied itself onto the driveway, the kids found plenty of stuff to try to kill themselves with or otherwise make into toys.  If you’re wondering, this is what sledding looks like in Las Vegas.

These kids aren’t going to know what hit them when we finally get to Dayton and they have trees, grass, leaves, and actual weather events to play with.  It’ll be like having a park in our own yard!

Before it’s time to blog Valentine’s day, I realized that I’d better finish blogging Christmas!  I was on such a roll that I posted Christmas Eve on Christmas Eve, but then got swept up in the Christmas fun and never shared about the actual day.  I have about a billion photos to share, so bear with me.

Just like last year, Noah was up first and we got to hang out with him for a while before Ava joined us.

After everyone wiped the sleep from their eyes and combed their hair (sidenote: always hated this when I was a kid, the getting all dolled up before heading in to tear into gifts, but now as a mom who needs just a bit of time to be presentable for all the pictures, I totally get it!), we headed downstairs to see if Santa had been to visit!  Clearly, he had.

We opened stockings first and then moved on to the gifts from Santa.

Ava asked Santa for a “Bambi toy” and a panda bear. Noah was less specific, but lucked out anyway with a favorite book and some cars.

Santa also brought the kiddos a toy to share – a tunnel!  So much fun!

We took a break for breakfast at this point – breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, and mimosas are officially a tradition now.   After we filled our tummies (and Mommy & Daddy scored some coffee), it was back to the presents!

Gifts were unintentionally sort of themed this year.  Ava received lots of great books (perfect for a pre-reader) and Noah is now the proud owner of lots of “things that go.”

Ava’s new “typer,” a vintage Craigslist find that she LOVES.
 Every quiet time she spends quite a while typing her manifesto in her room.

One funny story from the day, that I want to be sure gets recorded, is that John P. Casey basically saved Christmas.  While each of the kiddos received lovely gifts, we usually stay away from character toys, etc.  Since Ava received so many books (mainly from us) most of her early present opening was of the “not a toy” category.  She and Noah were both delighted to open up Woody and Jessie dolls from John.  Commercialization for the win!

Of course, the packaging of the gifts was also one of the hits of the day!

Both kids got just a little something handmade/homemade for the holiday.  Even though it’s a time consuming thing for Matt & I, it’s really important to us that they know that we invested some time and effort (not just money) into making this a special holiday for them.  Noah’s gift was pretty simple – a soft bucket for all the new matchbox cars he received.  It’s sitting in front of him in this picture (where you can also see his new car mat – that thing has gotten a workout so far!).

Ava’s homemade gift was a little more complicated – a dollhouse made from to cabinet drawers purchased at the Habitat Restore.  It’s perfect for her growing Playmobil collection.

Artwork and windows that she can rearrange to her heart’s content!

The kids were wiped out and ready for lunch by the time we opened all their gifts, so Matt and I set ours aside for later and got them fed and down for naps.  We spent naptime opening our own gifts (Matt scored a new cooking thermometer and I got an iPhone 4s!) and finishing putting together new toys in advance of an afternoon of playtime.

When the kids woke up, we spent time just playing with the new toys and taking some new wheels out for a spin around the block.

Thanks, Mahgie & Poppie, for the new wagon and scooter!  They are a huge hit!

Matt roasted us a turkey for dinner (perfectly done with the new thermometer) and we brought the day to a very lovely end with a delicious family dinner.

In the end, Christmas 2011 was just was we always wanted – lovely, fun, and relaxing.  We spent the next week just playing and enjoying time at home before returning to work/school and it turns out that was the very best gift of them all!

Merry Christmas!

We got to enjoy another wonderful Christmas Eve with the Hoffmans, as is tradition around here.  We got all dressed up, set a fancy table and enjoyed a fabulous dinner of steak, twice-baked potatoes, and green bean casserole.

Lighting the Christmas Eve carousel.

Sweet kiddo snuggles.

Making sure we get lots of pictures of the ornaments.

It’s tradition! Caspers Kids and Hoffman Kids (2010, 2009).

Reading “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and then they all went to sleep!  Ready for a happy Christmas tomorrow morning!

So glad we’ve had such a fun Christmas Eve tradition here in Vegas.  Thanks for a great night, Hoffman family, and a great four years!