A fun Thanksgiving craft: turkey-drumstick hats

If your kids are anything like ours, the idea of a day centered around eating and talking is a yawner. So we spice up our Thanksgiving with some kid-friendly activities. We make and decorate gingerbread houses (that was our new tradition as of last year) and also do some kind of Thanksgiving crafty thing. This year we're going to have everyone at the table make and wear turkey-drumstick hats. Classic!! Just warning the guests in advance... heh heh.



I got the instructions from Family Fun magazine and we had a ball doing a couple of practice hats today. These turkey heads are hilarious! You can make them too, with stuff you have sitting around the house. Here's what you do: Grab some big brown grocery bags, white paper napkins, small brown lunchbags (we didn't actually have any of these lying around, but we did have plenty of "art projects" the girls brought home from preschool, so I ruthlessly peeled off faces and stickers and reused the priceless art), tape, scissors, stapler, and scrap paper.


For the headband, cut a 5" wide strip from a grocery bag and fold it in thirds lengthwise. Wrap it around your head to see how big you need it, cut off the excess, and use tape or staples to secure.


To make each drumstick, trim a lunch bag so it's about 7" long.

Fold the bag around your fist and kind of scrunch it into shape, then stuff it half full with balled-up scrap paper.


To make each bone, unfold two white paper napkins and crumple one napkin into a ball. Drape the second napkin over the ball and twist it to form the narrow part of the bone. Insert this end into the stuffed bag. Twist and tape the two parts to secure them.


Staple the legs to the headband and use tape to cover any staple ends inside the band.

If you can get your sibling or a relative to wear one too, bonus! You're not laughing at them, you're laughing with them, right?


I'll post later with a picture of the whole table wearing their drumstick hats. Hee! And if anyone makes these (or any other nifty fall crafts), please leave a link in the comments or email me a picture. We'd love to see what other crazy folks are doing during turkey day. Happy Thanksgiving!

The longest catchup post ever about a slew of "big" things

I am so insanely behind, and really want some of this stuff documented for the girls later on, so I'm just going to have to grit my teeth and throw up a bulleted post. Let's pretend they're somewhat-related "Big" things, K? ♥ Big Girl: Ro suddenly decided to keep her puII-ups dry at night, and furthermore wanted a sticker chart (with a prize of her choosing) to chart the progress. And I'll be danged if she didn't do it. She has now kept her puII-up dry for five nights and declared that she's ready to give them up completely. She is so proud of herself that she had to call everyone and tell them this morning. (If you got one of those phone calls, thanks for being so sweet and celebrating with our girl.) ♥ Big Humungo Leaves: My dad and I took the girls to the park the other day and found the mother of all Sycamore trees. Has anyone ever seen bigger leaves? ♥ Big Helpers (Sort Of): The girls made me lunch all by themselves yesterday. It was the most unsanitary, scraggliest lunch I've ever seen. And I ate every bite. Little sweeties. ♥ Big Achievement: We were playing at a neat park in Santa Cruz last week when Ro made it all the way across the monkey bars for the first time! ♥ Big and Getting Bigger: TubaDad was grumbling and backing up files for hours the other day and apparently thought it was quite amusing to make this graph of my picture directory. Yeah, yeah... ♥ Biggest Fans: I never thought I'd say this but I went to Target today and bought a Kellie Pickler cd. I know, I can't quite believe it either. It's just that Ro and Ree are Kellie Pickler's biggest fans. When asked why, Ro sighs and says "I just yuv da way she sings" and Ree grins and says "She knocks my socks off." Heh. They dance like crazy and turn our family room into a little toddler mosh pit when I put the cd on. Whew. Now that everything has been documented, regular blogging can resume.

Up, up, and away!!! A product review for capes.

We just reviewed some superhero capes from ittybittyladybug.com and I am dying over how much fun we had and how awesome the pictures were. Seriously dying. I posted all the info on our product reviews site, so click here for the full review and all the insane aerial photos! Here's a teeny preview, hee!:

The lost birthday photos

A few people have asked about the much-talked-about birthday photo shoot and the resulting pictures. Where are they? Well, shoot, the reason I never posted the pics is because I never took them. I know, what the heck?! I take pictures all the blasted time and yet for the girls' milestone day, their birthday for heaven's sake, I just slack off? Eh. It happens. Instead, here are a few photos that I took of the girls a month or two before their birthday and never posted. I had dragged my old orange canvas into the family room and was playing around thinking that I'd figure out what worked and what didn't in time to rock that birthday photoshoot. Yeah... Oh well, at least we have these ones: Ro (in pink) was more feeling more creative, so that's why you see more variation in her poses. Little Ree (in yellow) was pretty much only interested in getting a lollipop. :-) Alrighty, now just wait until you see the results of the Christmas photo shoot I have planned. That one is really going to be great! My tech support guy (TubaDad) has already been given my wishlist of gee-whizzy effects, and he's pretty sure he can figure out how to do it all...

How the heck do you cook tofu?

Ro and Ree love tofu, unfortunately their mama is a crappy cook and doesn't know the first thing about making good tofu... Heh. Usually I buy the medium firm stuff, cube it, then toss it in some broth and call it "soup." Yeah... not so imaginative, huh? The other day I decided to get all wild and crazy and try to make that yummy fried tofu that we get in restaurants. But first, I don't know what it's called, and second, I was kind of overwhelmed by all the different tofu recipes online. Finally I just picked one at random and had at it. Here's the one I (attempted) to make: Crispy Fried Tofu Ingredients: 1 block firm or extra firm tofu 3 tbsp nutritional yeast 2 tbsp flour 2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 2 tbsp olive oil Preparation: Slice the tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. In a small bowl (or a zip-lock bag), combine the tofu with the remaining ingredients, except the oil, and toss gently to coat the tofu well. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and add the tofu. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown and lightly crispy. (I also sauted some mushrooms in a separate pan and threw them in near the end.) Ok, "attempted" is really the operative word here. It didn't turn out quite like I had envisioned: a little too heavy on the garlic taste, the coating really didn't stick to the tofu very well, and it took FOREVER to get even slightly brown and crispy. I didn't have any of that "nutritional yeast" stuff, so maybe that was the problem? Who knows. It was alright, but not great by any means... So what did I do wrong? More importantly, does anyone have any other great tofu recipes to share? Ro and Ree thank you in advance.

Fashion friday (and "the happiest kids in the world")

It's Fashion Friday, time to take a peek at how the kiddos like to dress themselves. Today they were excited to wear their new Justin Roberts "Willy was a whale" tees (they went to his concert over the weekend) and bring his cd to preschool to share with the teachers. After breakfast they tore upstairs and assembled their wild outfits, giggling and laughing the whole time. Cuteness. It's interesting that both girls went for red bottoms, because the t-shirt is orange, and doesn't have any red in it. It works, though. Ree (left) also wanted to play up some blue because the whale is blue, so she grabbed blue sparkle ponytail holders, a blue jacket, and some Hanna Andersson clogs that have blue accents. Ro (right) added a bold red velvety skirt and leggings, along with hot pink jacket and shoes. Dang, I just think they look adorable (I know, I know, could I BE any more biased? Heh heh.) Every time they get to preschool, by the way, they run (full-speed) into the classroom, talking a mile-a-minute and bursting with exciting things that they need to share with their teachers immediately. Yeesh—I try not to let them disrupt class, I swear, but they are hard to contain. TubaDad took them to preschool one day last week and, in the middle of trying to get them to settle down, put coats in cubbies, and quietly join the group, he looked up at one of the teachers and said kind of apologetically "They're the loudest kids in the world, aren't they?" and she laughed and said "Yep, they're the loudest kids in the world, but they're also the happiest kids in the world." And you know what? She's right. Life isn't perfect and we have our share of dramatic four-year-old moments, but Ro and Ree are remarkably happy kids. Maybe it has something to do with having a twin/best friend/playmate always by your side? I don't know, but everything is an adventure to them, everything is an opportunity for fun. When they burst into school today, one teacher grinned and said "They just light up the room, don't they?" and another teacher laughed and said "Woohoo, the party has arrived!" Funny, sweet, exuberant, enthusiastic girls—may they always find huge joy in the little things, and may I always remember that joy is far more important than perfect behavior.

Autumn photoshoot(s)

Yeah, yeah, that is photoshoots with an "s" because I've been trying and trying to get a nifty autumn photo or two to post on the We Picture {This} mamarazzi web site. But, man oh man, things were just not working. Either I couldn't find any fall-looking stuff when I had the camera, or the kids weren't in the mood to have their pictures taken, or the weather wasn't cooperating, or blah blah blah. By the way, I use the term "photoshoot" kind of facetiously, because the girls' idea of a photoshoot is that they will deign to stay in one place for about 45 seconds before screaming off into their normal blur-of-motion to play. But yesterday, phew, I finally got two that make me smile. The first one is of Ro: And the second one is of Ree on the top and Ro on the bottom: Check out the We Picture {This} site to see these two pics in humongo, giant size or to see other photographers' cool takes on the autumn theme. Along the way to getting these two autumn snaps, I ended up with a fairly big pile of photos that almost made the cut (I was quite wishy washy and went back and forth many times before choosing...)(mouseover any photo to see who's who): Fun! I like participating in these themes because I'm forced out of my comfort zone and learn so much from the other photographers. Does anyone else have any cool Fall Fotos to share?