Hushabye Mountain

A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain
Softly blows over lullaby bay.
It fills the sails of boats that are waiting;
Waiting to sail your worries away.
It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain
And your boat waits down by the key.
The winds of night so softly are sighing 

Soon they will fly your troubles to sea.
So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain.
Wave good-bye to cares of the day.
And watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain
Sail far away from lullaby bay.

~Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

(a favorite movie of mine and now my children...)

Quick Advent Calendar Craft Project

I saw something similar to these (not quite as embellished) somewhere out there on the vastness of Bloglandia... PLEASE, if you know where, let me know,  I want to give them credit!!

As I said, I found this great idea for an advent calendar using toilet paper rolls (or cut paper towel rolls).  She did not completely cover them as I do here, but I loved the idea immediately!

Start with paper rolls, 24 obviously.. sheet music or wrapping paper (I used sheet music.. noticing a trend here?) tape, glue dots, scissors, images, ribbons, etc...

Cut four slits at one end of a roll up about an 1 inch and half. (equally spaced around the roll)

Fold over ends and tuck them, paper box style, into each other. (below)

Tape the folds shut.

 

Rap the roll in a paper of your choice leaving a 2" overhang on the open end and just enough to wrap the closed end neatly. 

I used tape. You can glue the paper, for me that took too long.

On the closed end, fold in the paper and secure with tape, glue or glue dots (my weapon of choice).

 Flip your tube over and cut small slits in the paper that hangs over the tube, making fringe. I was originally going to curl this out, but it was too fussy and froo froo for me. As you can see above, I trimmed the fringe slightly and tucked it IN, thus making a cover. The kids can't see in, but they can easily reach in a grab the contents! (and it can be used over and over.. just refluff the fringe) Sometimes I amaze myself...  ;)

Use what you have on hand to decorate the tubes. The numbers came from the fabulous Cathe at Just Somthing I Made and can be found HERE.  The poinsettia image is from Dawn at
The Feathered Nest. 

 I poked a hole in the back of the tube, strung a ribbon and hung them that way. You can poke two holes, opposite each other and string them in line. (what the clever lady did in the post that I cann't find again) 

These would also be cute as small gift holders at the holidays, like Christmas Crackers..

I wanted to make this because I have 3 kids.. and did NOT want to make or buy 3 calendars. AND I wanted to be able to choose the 'prize'.. such as the candy or treat. These tubes are larger enough to hold three notes, three candies, you get the idea...

Where does the chocolate come from that is in the 2$ advent calendar's in the grocery store? (because I'm not sure I want my kids eating them! )  Hhhmmm...

 xoxo~

Abbie

Jon Rawlinson and Owl City

I was surfing blogs the other day.. (yay.. I do that too..) and ran across this video by Jon Rawlinson. It led me to peek at some of his other videos and he uses the band Owl City is several of them. Their music is wonderful. Clean, calm and perfect 'float away' music. Something this momma is in desperate need of. I noticed the other month that I had completely stopped listening to music except when we were driving in the car. A horrible thing to say the least! Since then I have added a music player to my studio space and try to have it on during the day and TV turned off.

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

(If you watch the video, I would recommend hitting the four arrows and expanding it to full screen.)

Now you can float away with me when you visit.. I have added Owl City's tunes to my sidebar. Slide down a bit and you can shut it off for watching the video above.. hope you enjoy it too.. do you have any other music suggestions? Something that's not spattered all over the radio and TV? Let me know, I'd love to check it out!

xoxo~

Abbie

Stop. Wait. What's that sound?

Oh, my. Can I be blunt? James Blunt. Sorry. That was really bad, just wrong.. Anyway... I have had many people comment and inquire about the music that is playing. On my sidebar I have a music player, (down quite a bit) from Sonific. They don't have permission to use the original James Blunt music videos, but they have 'tribute bands' that perform the tunes of very successful artists. So that's what you are hearing.. If I could, I'd give you the real thing. James Blunt. Here, live. Just for you. Just for me! ;) He wouldn't even have to sing. He could just stand there. OK, maybe one song.. but really it's not necessary! I have yet to pick up his newest album but it's on my list for the next time I wander into Walmart.

If you would like to watch the video below, just remember to scroll down and pause the music player in my sidebar.. otherwise you'll have two players going and it'll be about as pretty as my joke above..

Left in the dark..

Z with his Nana

It always seems like nothing ever goes right.. does that happen to anyone else? I spent yesterday morning running errands, picking up cake fixings and new snowboarding gloves for Z. (His ninth birthday was yesterday..) When I got home, about 2 PM, we had no power. No oven, no TV, no vacuum, no laundry. Oh! It'll force me to take a break, I said to myself. Ha! The girls were nuts and there seemed to constantly be one screaming for hours.. I couldn't make Z's Birthday cake, (my mom baked it at her house finally) And, although it wasn't too cold here, (about 40 degrees) the house cooled off considerably and once the novelty of no electricity wore off, it wasn't fun anymore. I decorated Z's cake by candle light. It was a good thing we didn't have lights because it wasn't pretty.. the power stayed out until 11 pm. Once it kicked back on, of course ,we lit up like a Christmas Tree due to T flicking switches all evening trying to turn the lights on. So, I got up, turned off everything, and woke up this morning to a horrid mess of melted candles, empty pizza boxes and a spattering toys everywhere.

T is peekin'.. she helped him blow out candles..

But, on a brighter note, I am so excited about the response I got the swap post below!! Yeah! As soon as I can, I'll let everyone all the tidbits of info.. hang in there with me, everything will be just fine! As said on Seinfeld, "Serenity Now!"

The sun is shining, the snow is melting, and it is just a gorgeous day!

Smiles,

Abbie

"Little Wonders"

by Rob Thomas

Let it go,

Let it roll right off your shoulder

Don't you know

The hardest part is over

Let it in,

Let your clarity define you

In the end

We will only just remember how it feels

Our lives are made

In these small hours

These little wonders,

These twists & turns of fate

Time falls away,

But these small hours,

These small hours,

Still remain

Let it slide,

Let your troubles fall behind you

Let it shine

Until you feel it all around you

And i don't mind

If it's me you need to turn to

We'll get by,

It's the heart that really matters in the end

All of my regret

Will wash away some how

But i can not forget

The way i feel right now.

Happy Monster Band..

...and forever monster friends we'll stay.. will you be my monster friends?

It just makes me smile and I think this is the best music to come from Disney in a long time..