February 23, 2012

New Little Kitchen

Check out this great one from Amanda, who brilliantly put one of those battery-powered click lights into the oven and used part of an old skirt to make the little curtain!

February 22, 2012

"Feed the birds and what have you got? Fat birds."

Or at least that's what all those repeat viewings of Mary Poppins taught us, so we decided to see for ourselves.



What do you get when you combine a toilet paper roll, some peanut butter, and a bunch of bird seed on a cookie sheet?



A completely eco-friendly bird feeder!



Jakey mostly helped by staying out of the way after his initial excitement about this project was dispelled by a teeny tiny glop of peanut butter landing on his finger. But, he did help us go outside and put the feeders up.



We threaded them onto the branches of one of the trees in the back yard, all excited to watch the birds fatten themselves up. Ten minutes later, two of these were entirely denuded of all bird seed... by squirrels, which came back another ten minutes later to finish the job. What should we have done differently?

February 11, 2012

Awesome New Kitchens

So, I have some totally great new kitchens to show you.

First, this re-designed version from Nathan, who beefed up the realism when he, in his words, "made a few tweaks to look more like our kitchen; added a window from some Mr. Potato-head packaging. You can't see in the photos, but I added a drain and trap inside the sink cabinet."



Wow! Now I'm wishing I had thought about all those plumbing details... especially since Mr. Forty-Two Roads recently rather impressively replaced the drain and trap under our kitchen sink to fix a leak. You know, get the kids started on that stuff early.

Also, check out this completely hilarious blog post from Stefanie, complete with a video of the construction process.

Thanks so much for showing us your creativity, guys!

February 8, 2012

The Ages of Lara



Can you tell that we are now down to 18 baby teeth? The second skipped out a few days behind the first, and Lara has been exuberantly mispronouncing her sibilants to great aplomb. Jakey has been vocally objecting to the idea that his teeth will follow suit. And also, grrrrrr.



Ok, maybe it really is hard to tell from a photo - but how about the commemorating art work that accompanies it? Check out this not-so-toothy self-portrait:



And now that we are on the subject of the physical manifestations of age, check out this amazing drawing Lara whipped up the other day: it's her going from a crawling baby to a toddler in diapers to a triumphant 3 year old:



My favorite part are those hilarious diapers. Misha loves the way the baby's legs are done following the rules of perspective.

February 6, 2012

Woodworking Project #1

There might have a lull in posts on the ol' bloggariffic, but there certainly has been no shortage of doings Chez Forty-Two Roads. To wit: I built (well, I IKEA-hacked) a console-table-cum-shoe-organizing-tool to make our entrance a little less chaotic. I was so excited about it that I took picture without styling the background too much, so voila, the table plus some dry cleaning:


It is basically, two of these IKEA shoe cabinets, assembled and then bolted together, with a long piece of 1"x8" maple from Lowe's glued and bracketed to the top, overhanging the cabinets by about 1.5" on each side. I think most of the credit should probably go to Mother Nature, since the reason this works so well is that maple has a beautiful grain that reads well with a dark stain... on the plane... in Spain...


Why is this post #1, you ask? Why because there is more wood working on the way! I was pretty inspired by this maple situation to have another project pop into my head. It'll probably be a few weeks before it's done, though.

February 1, 2012

First Tooth

Well, well, well, what have we here? Could it be me trying to get back into your good graces through crazy cuteness even though I've been totally neglecting this place? You better believe it.


Look at that tiny gap! Lara lost her first tooth today, and lo, there was much rejoicing, for indeed that thing has been wiggling back and forth nigh on two moons now. "I was eating a fruit snack, and I thought there was a crumb in my mouth, but then it turned out that it was my tooth all along!"

Tonight, before bed, there was a lot of time dedicated to Tooth Fairy lore. Did you know that if you specifically indicate your wishes in a note accompanying your tooth, the Tooth Fairy will not only bring you some moolah, but will even leave your tooth behind as well? Did you know that if you wake up when the Tooth Fairy is visiting, she will immediately vanish into thin air? Turns out losing teeth is a pretty serious business, and you've really got to be to on top of all of that. Check out this letter Lara wrote (with minimal help!):


The purple part is the envelope, which is addressed "Too Tooth Fairy First". The letter reads: "Dear Tooth Tooth Fairy. I lost my first tooth. Please give me a present. Thank you. Love, Lara. P.S. Please leave my tooth." I smell contract law in her future!