Oh, the Shame!

Before owning dogs, I didn't realize how disgusting animals could be. Not that I was completely naive when I adopted them. I mean, I once saw a puppy do his little puppy business, eat it, throw it up, and then eat that... 

But that was a one off, right? Just a confused little puppy.

Then we adopted Willie, our old, blind German shepherd, and... well, let me just say I thought our kittens needed a trip to the vet because the litter box was empty the first entire week we had them. But then Willie came up to me for a rump scratching and wouldn't you know it, there were flecks of kitty litter stuck to the wet of his nose. 

DOGS EAT POO.

It's true, folks. They really eat poo. 

Along with EVERYTHING else -- everything dead and smelly and disgusting, like telephone line-fried squirrels, and entire bags of potting soil that have been enriched with chicken manure. And when it makes them sick... well, they eat that, too.

Honestly, after five years with this dog, I didn't think there was anything left for him to eat that would gross me out.

Ha! Naive, I certainly am! Because today, folks, Willie reached a new low:

Yep.

Half a bathroom-sized trash can full of 'em.

SHAME ON YOU, WILLIE.

Though, I suppose to be fair I should shame the cats, too. And I would, if they'd hold still for two seconds.

Their sign would say something like, I feed the German shepherd by barfing up hairballs under the kitchen table.

Shame on you, cats.

(Hannah, the resident chihuahua, doesn't get a sign because it would probably scare her, and then she'd pee on the floor. Again)

Have you guys discovered PetShaming.net? Yeah, it's kind of hilarious, and quite possibly my new favorite site. I'll spare Willie the world-wide humiliation by not submitting his photo.

Also, I'm a little glad I have my 4 dysfunctional pets, because man, some of THOSE pets are just too naughty.

Have a great Wednesday, folks!

Unless you are in Australia. In that case, enjoy your Thursday! 

 xoxo,

A Freebie for Friday

Remember the mermaid illustration from yesterday's blog post? Well, I said I painted her for a purpose, and that purpose happens to be the birthday invitations of a certain soon-to-be-6-year-old in our household.

SIX YEARS OLD!!

Man, I am never going to get used to my kids getting older each year.

Anyway, last week Annelie decided she wanted a mermaid-themed birthday party... then she told me who she was inviting from her class, and her list was mostly boys.

"Why don't you have your party be a mermaid AND pirate party?" I suggested. She was all for it, and instantly crossed another girl off her invite list in favor of a boy who "just loves pirates so much." 

Well, I just love pirates so much, too, and mermaids. And since I couldn't find any pirate/mermaid invitations I liked, I whipped out the watercolors and made one that I thought would be especially fun with singed edges (I love singeing edges).

So, since it's Friday, and Fridays are some of the best days of the year, here is a little freebie for the pirate and mermaid lovers out there who might want invitations to print from home. Or for the journalers out there, or the peeps who might want some print-it-yerself stationary.

And if you'd rather print yourself a finished invitation and fill the blanks in by hand, here you go:

And I'm sure you already know this, but for those who don't: These images belong to me, and are for personal use only! You are welcome to print, use, and share with friends, however, please DO NOT print with the intent to sell, or alter and claim as your own. Thank you!

Have a great weekend, folks!

xoxo,

Illustration Friday: MYTH

Hmmm.... I suppose my illo for this week's Illustration Friday prompt is more MYTHICAL than MYTH, but whatevs. At least I got my paints out, which I haven't done in a few years!

I must admit that secretly, I hoped I'd pick up the paintbrush and adore watercolors the way I did in high school. But alas. I'm not really a fan of these things. I refuse to give up, though.Watercolors are just too pretty!

Oh, by the way, there is more to this picture than I'm showing you, because it's not just a purposeless 'I feel like painting' kind of painting. A certain kindergartner is turning SIX next week, and this illustration is really a...

TUNE IN TOMORROW, FOLKS, TO FIND OUT WHAT THIS ILLUSTRATION REALLY IS.

See what I did there? Cliffhanger blog post. 

Happy Thursday, to you!
xoxo,

The Top Reasons I Have Ignored My Blog for Nearly Two Months

 the Fork - by Kathy Jeffords

www.thedreamygiraffe.etsy.com

Firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOLKS!

Also, I've had a few Marisa, Are You Okay? messages lately, and I'm starting to feel a wee bit guilty because it's been nearly TWO MONTHS since I blogged last. After 5 years of barely missing a week of blogging, me going quiet like this is fairly extreme.

I'm fine! Thanks for asking! I've just been busier than I've ever been in my life, it seems, and letting my blog sit on the back burner was surprisingly easy. But here is a list of my goings on, to fill in that two month gap:

1. The holidays happened! 

Mine were splendid - how were yours? We spent the last couple months with oodles of friends and family. I actually decorated, and made holiday-themed crafts with the girls, and sewed them Christmas outfits, all of which I have zero pictures of, because I couldn't find my camera's battery charger (maybe next year will be the year I approach the holidays fully prepared).

Oh! but I do have a photo of the poodle skirts, because lately

2. I have been a poodle skirt-sewing maniac. 

(if sewing two in two months counts as being a poodle skirt-sewing maniac, which I think it does)

Gracie's (and yes, it's back to Gracie, folks. Her name change to Donna lasted only until everyone was calling her Donna. She's Gracie again, this time for keeps, she insists. *sigh*) holiday performance was set in a 50's diner, so she needed a skirt. I adore circle skirts, but I've never trusted myself to figure out the circumference of the dang things before. Dana, over at MADE, makes it so unbelievably easy and I already had 1 inch white elastic on hand for the waistband.

Look how cute!

I made a matching flower pin for her sweater, which was a gift from her London-dwelling uncle, and she felt quite fashionable. 

And here is Annelie's, which she wore on Friday for 50's Day.

I had to make her poodle myself, because I'm the kind of mom who leaves poodle applique-buying until the night before the entire town of elementary schoolers all celebrate 50's Day. Yes, the craft stores were sold out.

Also, I was sure Annelie would be the only kindergartener sporting a polka dot mini skirt on 50's day, but I was WRONG (though she was the only girl in hot pink glitter tights). I forgot that I'd given the skirt-making instructions to one of the other bus stop moms when she saw Gracie's poodle skirt last month, and sure enough, her kindergartner - a friend of Annelie's - had one the same length. And they were both in hot pink. They looked like little rock stars together. It was ridiculous in it's cuteness.

Speaking of rock stars...

3.  Will put on a little Elvis tribute for the King at a favorite local coffee shop, on Elvis's birthday the other day.

It would have been nice if the local news didn't stand directly in front of the stage the whole time so I could grab a decent photo... but besides that, it was a very fun show!

Everyone who came out to watch had a great time, including Gracie...

Though you'd never guess she had fun considering she sat in the middle of the floor, back to the stage, arms over her chest, hood over her face, party hat over that.... for half the show.

Yep.

4. I have been working, working, working.

And by working, I mean playing with toddlers and preschoolers, again. And re-learning how to see the world from a totally awesome viewpoint.

For instance:

(this is, apparently, what the finished result of "Clean up your markers" looks like to a 3-year-old)

Brilliant, no? Preschoolers are so much fun. I'm between jobs at the moment, but look forward to having more little tykes to play with soon!

5. I'm feelin' old and creaky.

The biggest reason I've been away is that I've had minor health lameness. Nothing interesting, though I'm starting to believe that the 'Age is just a number' saying is complete hooey. Also, I might gripe about my eyeball ulcers in a different post, of which I apologize for in advance.

6. Annelie lost her other front tooth, leaving the world's cutest gap. 

Naturally I needed a photo, and naturally my photo shoot went like this:

I did get one smile in the end, though it doesn't do the best job showing her gap.

And wouldn't you know it, she lost two more teeth immediately after this photo shoot, and now her mouth is pure gap, as she's missing SEVEN teeth at once.

Apples are currently her favorite snack to eat.

I have no idea how she manages to chew them. 

7. SOUPS.

Currently, pureed soup is my crack. I discovered the joy of immersion blenders when the girls and I were in Europe this summer, and ever since, IMMERSION BLENDER has been the #1 item on my List of Things I WAAAANT for Christmas (next to new computer speakers, which has also been #1).

Thanks, Grammy and Grampa, I love my blender!

(and thanks, Will, I love my speakers!)

I do, indeed.

Since Christmas, I have made several batches of:

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup
Cheese and Potato Soup - I prefer it with Monterey Jack cheese and I give it a good blending.
Butternut Squash Soup - Will loved it, but it was too sweet for me.
and Potato Leek Soup.

I'll be making a Spinach and Kale Power Soup today, and I'm a little nervous because I've never had that before. And I'll tell ya, I never envied Popeye all those cans of spinach. But I like the IDEA of green power soup, so green power soup I shall make.

8. Room redecorating! 

Annelie, Will & I, and my craft studio all played musical rooms the last couple months, and I'm in the middle of turning them into a lot more than a disaster of hand-me-down furniture and mismatched curtains. YAY.

The computer is now in my bedroom, which means my walls will be decorated in candy-colored story boards for the rest of eternity.

Those papers are each 12x12, and it's quite invasive so I'm pretending it's an art piece.

Also, if my hubs is sitting in that desk chair, there, and talking to me, I have to work hard on NOT studying my story board and mentally working on my book instead of paying attention.


I'm just gonna go ahead and stop at eight things, but I might get back into the blogging groove, soon.  

Happy Tuesday, folks!

xoxo,