Loquacious Lady

Thank you to all who entered the In Sweet Violets Giveaway by commenting, following on Twitter, and liking on Facebook! Even if you don’t win today, don’t forget you can use coupon code LOLA11 to get 20% off of your overall order from Kristen’s etsy shop.

With all the different ways to enter, there were 10 entrances, and I used a random number generator to find my winner. The number pulled was:

Number 6! The person I had numbered as 6 was:

It was Heather’s twitter follow that was listed as number six, actually, not her comment on the blog. One more reason to enter in as many ways as possible!

Congrats, Heather! You can email Kristen at info@insweetviolets.com to receive your $10 store credit!

For all others who entered, don’t forget to use LOLA11 to get 20% off your order from the In Sweet Violets Etsy store (or you can email her to ask about applying it to other services or items).

And please check back each Friday for more giveaways!

~Meghan

Early on in college, a friend of mine and Tom’s from middle and high school, Davey, began dating a girl from North Carolina named Kristen. As the years went by, they became more serious, and she became one of our friends instead of just one of our friend’s girlfriends. They tied the knot two weeks after Tom and I got married in April 2008, and then they moved to Seattle.

But this isn’t about them. This is about her.

Meet The Shop Owner

Kristen is an artist. She started doing crafty things in the seventh grade, and she never stopped. Kristen graduated from college with a BFA in design, and she will pretty much do anything when it comes to art. Except pose nude.

I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t do that.

Yeah. So…. Kristen had a pretty successful run in design while in Georgia, and she had an even more successful career in Washington. Not only was she hired to work for the city of Redmond, but she won multiple design awards while she was at it.

Recently she has taken the plunge into the world of self-employment with her Etsy shop, In Sweet Violets. Here, she sells everything from customized tote bags to homemade jewelry to invitations.

I have to say that I love Kristen being so gifted because…well, I might have benefited from it…a little.

Or a lot.

To say that I enthusiastically accept any and all offers of her wares is pretty fair. I love the things she makes for several reasons, but here are a few:

1. I know that it’s well made. I know this because I’ve used these things a lot, and they still looks brand new.

2. She makes pretty things.

3. I know that it’s not something that everyone I know is going to have. Because she is hand-crafting every item, each one is slightly different, and none of them are mass produced and sold in malls all over. So chances are you won’t be seeing others with the items you buy from her. And I like having unique items in my possession. Makes me feel special.

4. She makes pretty things. Did I mention that? Because she does.

Wanna see?

Products

Here are some earrings that she gave me this Christmas. Love them! She sells them in her store.

And here is one of my favorite necklaces. It’s so sweet and cute. I love “nest” art and was so excited when I randomly mentioned that to Kristen and was presented with this necklace! Wouldn’t this make the sweetest mother’s day gift too? One “egg” pearl for each kid? She has this in gold too, and she also makes earrings to go with it.

Here are some (not all) of other pieces of jewelry she has crafted.

Jewelry not your thing? Never fear. There’s so much more.

How about a cork board-made with corks from a winery in Washington- that can double as both an organizational tool and as a serving tray? This would be a neat conversation piece.

What else? I personally love (love, love, love) paper products. I could while away many hours in an invitation and stationery store.

Or, I could just tell Kristen exactly what I need and have her create it for me. There’s a time saver. Here is an example of a lingerie shower invitation she created:

Kristen has a lot of experience throwing parties (last year she hosted 10 parties for her friends as a challenge to herself, and she did everything from invitations to decorations to food). So she even does event consultation if you want her to carry your theme from the invitation throughout the rest of your party/event.

Another papery product I love is her calendar in a box. Last year, I had her Pacific Northwest calendar up on our fridge. It’s pretty clever.

The metal box it comes in has plastic in the lid so that you can see the images with the monthly calendar on them through it. Inside the box are magnets so that you can stick the box calendar on any magnetic surface.

Or, if you would rather it be on your desk, you can use the lid to prop up the calendar and image of the month!

And, one final product: my library trips would be so sad without my personalized canvas tote!

I borrowed this picture from Kristen’s blog, where I won it in a giveaway. You can see it’s quite large, and I love that because I tend to get quite a few books when I go to my library. It’s a sturdy bag, and it’s really cute. I was diggin’ the cute birdies from the moment I saw the bag on her blog, and I was so pumped to win. It’s just as useful as it is fun to look at.

Here is a personalized tote she sells on her blog (it would be a cute beach bag), but she could really do any customized look for you (including the inside lining-she sews!):

Services

So, there are some of her products. But Kristen has services that go beyond what is sold in her store. For example, she can paint murals on your walls. She did a kickin’ mural of Atlanta on the dining room wall at Tom’s 10th Street apartment in college. (Wish I could find a picture of it!)

Or you can commission her to draw or paint anything you want, really, on paper or canvas, which is a good alternative if you aren’t in the Seattle area where she can easily paint a mural on your walls.

Kristen even teaches private art lessons. I know, really, what doesn’t she do?

(Answer: pose nude. Have you been paying attention, class?)

The Giveaway

So, where is the giveaway in this? I’ll let you decide. One lucky winner will get a $10 credit towards anything in her Etsy store.*

But never fear! If you don’t win, or you don’t want to wait, that’s okay. Enter coupon code LOLA11 at her Etsy shop, and you will save 20% off your entire order!*That offer is good through February 28, 2011. That means you have a plethora of hand-crafted, customizable and unique items -at a discount- to choose from this Valentine’s Day. I’m just sayin’.

SO, how do you win? There are three ways to enter this giveaway (each counts as a separate entry, increasing your chances):

1. Comment below, stating which item from this post (or from the store, if it’s not in the post) you like best. You don’t have to pick this item if you win.

2. Follow In Sweet Violets on Twitter.

3. “Like” In Sweet Violets on Facebook.

On Sunday evening, I will run everyone’s entries through a random number generator. The winner will be announced on Monday!

Good luck!
~Meghan

*This covers the product, not the taxes or shipping.

The other night, I was talking over with Tom the changes that are coming my way in reference to my job. I will save that for next week, because it’s not the point of this post.

The point is that we ended up discussing very briefly something that we have discussed at length on other occasions, which is this: well-meaning and very sweet friends (whom I will give the benefit of the doubt and say do this without realizing it) who say things that make me feel looked down on for being a nanny.

Now, I give them the benefit of the doubt because I know them well enough to know that they love me and wouldn’t want to hurt my feelings. Or, for some people, I give them the benefit of the doubt because I just met them and they seem nice and like they don’t mean to be insulting.

But sometimes, when I hear people saying the things they say to me, I want to ring their necks.

Shall we explore a few?

1. “You still babysitting?”

I don’t babysit.

I used to babysit for pocket cash for 7 years, so I feel I would know the difference. Babysitting is when you go to someone’s place, on occassion, and watch their kid for a few hours, usually when they have a date or some other short function to attend.

Webster defines it as “to care for children during the usually short absence of the parents.”

Nannying is not for a short absence. The parents aren’t running out for a movie or for a party. They are working hard at their professions. All day. And I step into that role to care for their child while they are gone.

That means that oftentimes, I am the first person that the child sees when they wake up and the only one caring for them for 90% of their waking (and listening out during 100% of their napping) hours during the work week. That’s not because the parents I work for don’t want to be doing that- it’s because both the parents need to provide for their families and still want their children to receive quality care from someone while they have to be at work.

2. “What do you DO all day?”

Well, I work. What do YOU do all day?

I mean, sometimes it’s so funny to me the way people ask that. I’m not the only one who gets that question and feels like I’m being told that I don’t actually do anything, by the way. Just ask any stay at home mom or dad.

It’s funny how so few other professions are asked to give an itemized list of their job duties in order to prove that they are not, indeed, twiddling their thumbs instead of being productive during the day.

But let’s do it anyway. Here are a few things that I do with the boys as their nanny:

-Change diapers.

-Get child dressed.

-Teach manners.

-Prepare food.

-Feed food.

-Allow child to attempt feeding themselves because they need to learn.

-Clean up child covered in food.

-Clean up food from every surface in what feels like a 10 foot radius.

-Read books.

-Teach sign language.

-Teach English.

-Teach some words in Spanish.

-Practice counting, colors, shapes, etc.

-Stay in the house and listen to monitor for however long they need to nap.

-Play outside.

-Go to pool.

-Go to park.

-Go on walks.

-Go play with other kids.

-Document child’s discoveries and adventures via photos.

-Document child’s discoveries and adventures via videos (usually on my phone).

-Send parents pictures of child during the day so they don’t miss them so much.

-Teach alphabet.

-Teach kindness.

-Teach patience.

-Deal with temper tantrums.

-Go back to teaching manners.

-Hold hands and walk at snail’s pace so child can improve balance skills.

-Kiss boo-boos.

-Give hugs.

-Give kisses.

-Contract whatever illness child is carrying.

(This comes with added benefits of:

A. Coming to work anyway unless you’re puking because you don’t want to cause the parents to miss work.

B. Having a sick and miserable feeling child to care for while you feel sick and miserable yourself.

C. Not being paid if the other family doesn’t want you to come over because you are sick and might infect their child. And you get it, so you understand, but it still doesn’t change the fact that no work=no pay.)

-Play with toys designed to entertain someone under the age of 2.

-Watch educational videos designed to entertain and teach someone under the age of 2.

-Sing songs.

-Actually engage in playing, not just sitting there watching.

-Helping out with dishes, laundry, etc.

-Do all of this with a loving attitude, patience, and, as often as you can, a smile on your face.

Now, I should clarify. I LOVE my job. I know that list might not sound like it, but that’s not the case. It’s just an honest, and not even comprehensive, list of some of the things that any good nanny will do. And that’s just for little kids. Older kids might require attendance at practices, games, PTA meetings, etc.

(source)

And to those that say, “yeah, well my mom did all that AND worked,” I beg to differ. If she was working a different job, that means that someone else was doing the child care while she worked, whether it was a preschool, a daycare, a nanny, a grandparent, or a spouse. Not that working and parenting isn’t commendable. It is. And it’s just as hard, maybe harder for those parents who really want nothing more than to be at home with their child but need to be working. But still, it’s not the same, so she did not, in fact, “do all that AND work.”

3. “Well, at least you can get some downtime, and you can do your errands.”

I’ll readily admit that this job comes with certain perks. If I am extremely tired because I’m sick or have been up late for some reason, I can take a nap while the child naps, and on occasion, I do.

I mean, if you get the chance to sleep when you’re tired or do some other thing without a child around, you do it during their nap. Because, guess what? If I just need a break, I have an upset stomach, or I need to step out to make a phone call (I get better reception outside at both houses where I work), there is NO ONE ELSE there to step in for me. Not even for five minutes. It’s me and the kiddo.

So that means using the bathroom with the door open or bringing the child to the bathroom with me. Which, in turn, means washing my hands with my neck twisted to make sure nothing gets sent on a trip down the toilet.

And that means that there are no breaks once the babe is awake.

And if you need to make a call, the person on the other end can expect half your attention and lots of noise on your end because little kids are loud and require constant supervision.

As for errands, I can run them if I need to, but that includes bringing a little one along for the trip, which means that:

A.I am the only non-parent I know who has a carseat (or two) in my car at all times, along with crackers, diapers, wipes, toys, and a stroller. I don’t mind that because it’s very convenient.

B. People will constantly assume you are a parent. I don’t really mind that either, but I do often wonder what the other people think happened to my genes. I mean, I have dark hair, dark eyes, and an olive complexion. Both the kids I watch are blonde-haired, blue-eyed boys.

C. Couponing with a child in tow is almost impossible (for me, anyway). I have to really pay attention to what I’m buying and what I have coupons for, and that can make for a long shopping trip. I also need to pay attention to whomever is with me because, well, that’s my job. And also because they like balloons, which I’m starting to think grocery stores put on every aisle just to screw with people who bring young children to the store. And they want to hold the items I plan to buy. Oh, and to hurl those items onto the floor or onto the eggs, or wherever seems best at the time.

4. “Well, I am doing X activity, if it makes you feel any better.”

Well, no, it doesn’t make me feel better that your son is an 8th year senior at whatever college he attends or that you are in a job you don’t think anyone would want.

Know why?

Because I don’t think I need to “feel better” about what I do for a living. I work hard, and a family has a better life because of it. I love the kids I take care of, and the parents know that. They often tell me how much of a difference it makes knowing that if they can’t be home with their child, they know that they are leaving them with someone who genuinely cares for them, loves them, and wants to invest in them.

And comparing it to whatever you consider the most embarrassing part of your life does NOT make me feel better. It makes me feel like you think I should feel as bad about my job as you do about whatever you’re ashamed of, but that you want me to know that we’re in it together.

I know you mean well, but please stop assuming that people who nanny only do it as a last resort. It’s true that it’s not what I thought I would be doing. And yes, I used to worry about that. But I chose to leave the jobs I planned on having behind for very good reasons, and I have come to realize how much value there is in what I do for these families.

So thanks anyway, but I don’t need to “feel better” about that.

However, I will admit that I get a certain amount of twisted pleasure now that I expect this to happen. That is because I know that most of the people who say that are aware that I worked my booty off in high school, got into the college of my choice, graduated with a degree and a minor, and that the last thing they expect me to say when they ask me what I’m doing now is “nannying.” It almost makes up for the sympathy in their voices when I see the look of confusion cross their faces as they struggle to respond.

5. “You sure blog a lot more now that you are nannying. You have a lot more time on your hands now, huh?”

Suffice it to say that you would probably do that too if the only person you were with all day couldn’t talk. And that if I am blogging during my work hours, it’s during naptime.

Blogging has become something of an outlet for me, not to mention a challenge. I enjoy seeing if I can get a post out every day. I don’t alway manage it. But the benefit of feeling like I have contact with adults when I am, in actuality, spending 40-50 hours a week with 1.5-year-olds, is worth the time it takes to blog on a regular basis.

So there you have it. Five of the most common insults that people almost never realize are offensive to me or to many others out there who invest so much of their time into bringing up the next generation.

Here’s to hoping that these social faux pas are avoided in the future.

~Meghan

I have so much fun taking care of little boys. Will and I took some time to play outside the other day, and I, of course, brought my camera along.

Is he not precious?

Little boys are fun.

~Meghan

If you’ve seen the movie Inception, then you’re familiar with the premise of placing a dream within a dream (within a dream within a dream).

If you haven’t, you now know all you need to know.

Meghan isn’t new to talking in her sleep (or laughing, for that matter) and during the time that we’ve been married I think I’ve spent roughly half of our nights listening to her ramble on about nothing-in-particular during the middle of the night.

Truth is, she has a tendency to sleepwalk, too. During our first few months of being married, she was up and walking around our bedroom talking about “puppy feet.” True story.

But last night, she may have topped it all.

I woke up around 3am to Meghan violently shoving me around, kicking me, and laughing as if she was having the time of her life. No exaggeration.

Tom: Meghan. Meghan..!

Meghan: [ Still laughing, pushing, and kicking.]

I actually reach over and grab her arm to get her to stop. She does.

Tom: What are you dreaming about?

Meghan: Oh. Sorry. We were watching Indiana Jones and eating dinner and I was trying to help by shoving all of the stuff on the table around.

Truth. I couldn’t make this up even if I wanted.

So we get up later this morning and I stumble into the bathroom (I’m not worth of much anything when I wake up).

Tom: You really got me good last night.

Meghan: Huh? Oh yeah. I was dreaming that there was this entire mess on your side of the room and I was shoving everything over into you. You know, it’s like when you’re a kid and you’re not allowed to make a mess. Except we were and I was having a lot of fun.

Tom: That is not what you told me last night.

Meghan: What did I tell you?

Tom: That we were watching Indiana Jones and eating dinner and you were trying to clean everything off by shoving it all over the place.

At this point, she’s cracking up. She mentions that she recalls the bit about Indiana Jones and that the “dream in a dream” thing is weird.

But if you’ve seen Inception you know it’s not so weird. Unless of course it’s your wife and you’re getting shoved out of the bed in the middle of the night.

Otherwise, it’s not such a big deal,
Tom

The other day, I was driving home from work and saw this strange bit of rainbow in the clouds. Just a little dot of it.

See it?

Well, I thought it was so strange and kinda cool. I took the next exit, parked, and got out to take a picture of it. Then I looked at the way the sun was hitting the trees.

And the way the light hit the grass.

And I thought it was a gorgeous January afternoon.

Even though my fingers were freezing as I took the pictures.

And even though people were staring at me as they drove by.

But I guess most people don’t stop to take pictures of the shrubbery outside of a gas station.

Can’t blame ‘em if they think it’s a little odd.

Still…it was worth being seen as a crazy lady to document the beauty around me.

~Meghan

When I was teaching Spanish in a preschool, one of the things that I saw the younger children doing a lot was sign language. It wasn’t that they were deaf, but they were so little that they couldn’t verbally communicate yet, so their teachers worked with them on sign language for all kinds of words.

The frustration of not being understood and not knowing how to express what you want or need leads to many, many temper tantrums and more than a little whining in young children. It is frustrating for them and super annoying for us. Teaching sign language takes that barrier down because these kids suddenly find a way to say what they mean.

There are a lot of DVDs out there to help parents teach their children sign language. One that I have seen and really think is awesome is Baby Signing Time.

(source)

Will has received them recently, and I can already see a difference. He knew a few words in sign language (please, more, thank you, and drink), but now he knows so many more. The DVDs are like an older child’s version of Baby Einstein in format, in that they have a lot for the kids to look at and are all set to music.

The lady who is featured as the teacher, Rachel Coleman, founded the company that makes these DVDs with her sister. They began them because Rachel’s first daughter was born profoundly deaf, and her second daughter was born with spina bifida and cerebral palsey. Both girls needed help in communication.

Not only did the DVDs help the girls learn to sign, but it opened up signing to so many other children who just hadn’t learned to speak yet, making it easier for them to communicate what they wanted or needed to adults and also to communicate with other children who couldn’t speak.

(source)

Rachel used to be in a folk band, so she used her guitar, songwriting and singing talents to write the songs that (while maybe a bit silly to adults- they certainly make me laugh) make it so easy for kids to pay attention to the different segments of each DVD.

The DVDs not only have the music and Rachel showing each sign, but they have children doing the signs, pictures and videos of the things you are signing about (examples: videos of people with their dogs when learning to sign “dog”), and children saying the words. You are supposed to sign along while they show the signs. So these DVDs are helpful to all types of learners- visual, kinesthetic, and auditory.

I have seen in both a school setting and a home setting how helpful it can be when young children learn to sign. They can communicate their needs without getting angry, and that makes everyone’s day better. I can’t recommend it enough.

If you are interested in teaching your child to sign or giving a great gift to someone who has children or is expecting (or if you work with young children or children with disabilities), I suggest Baby Signing Time as a brand to check out. They have all different packages for different price points, so you can pick whatever fits your budget, or you can buy the products individually.

If you have used signing with babies or children before, I would love to hear how it went for you!

~Meghan

In the Harry Potter books, the character Luna Lovegood believes in all kinds of things that her dad makes up for his “newspaper” called The Quibbler. One of those things is a wrackspurt. She describes it as an invisible tiny thing that floats in your ears and makes your brain fuzzy (so you forget things, etc).

Of course, they aren’t supposed to exist, but in the sixth movie, they decided to lend some credibility to Luna. She sees them floating around Harry when she wears these glasses:

Anyway, recently I began messing around with my off camera flash. I decided to put it behind Tom so that I could see the outline of his head kind of glowing. And I guess the pillow I placed it on had some dust on it, because when I looked at the picture, it looked like he had some movie-rendered wrackspurts flowing out of his left ear.

I’m excited to do a lot more off-camera flash experiments and see all the different looks it can give my photos.

But while I was looking up images online to try to find a picture of the movie-version of the wrackspurts, I came across this, and it made me laugh:

Hahahaha I love it.

~Meghan

Blogitty-Blog Blog Blog. I don’t know what that means. I just felt like saying it.

I follow many blogs. Many, Many, Many blogs.

Blogs about cookies, parties, and photography. Blogs about coupons, house renovations, and travels.

And then there are blogs about nothing in particular. And they make me laugh almost every day. Here are a few blogs that give me the giggles with their real-life accounts of children, animals, and life in general:

The Pioneer Woman. Ree Drummond needs almost no introduction. She’s purdy dern famous. And she’s a hoot.

Little Creek Life. Athalia Whitworth and I grew up in the same church, but I was closer in age with her youngest sister, Natalie. Following Athalia’s blog is fun. She lives in Boone, NC. I’ve been there once, and it’s beautiful, but it’s all mountains which means too much cold for me. Reading about a warmth loving Georgia girl in the cold mountains, with her “mountain man” husband and “mountain baby” daughter, always gives me something to laugh or smile about.

Also, I just like the name of where she lives. It makes me think of one of my favorite scenes from Scrubs.

Sunny Side Up. This blog follows the life of Erin, and her family. They live in warm California, and she, unlike me, is a total neat freak, and like me, is someone who loves to shop for shoes and clothes. I get a kick out of reading about her juggling three kids with her organizational skills. She makes it look easy.

I started following her last year after she almost died from hemorrhaging at home after returning from the hospital with their third child. I don’t remember which blog I was reading that asked for prayers for them, but it linked to her blog, and I’ve followed ever since. Obviously, she survived, and she has a fun personality that injects a lot of life into her blog.

Those three blogs really just leave me happy when I read them. I enjoy them so much that if I only have a little time to spend checking my RSS, those are some of the first ones that I read. I hope you check them out and that you enjoy them as much as I do!

And now- it’s your turn to share. Any bloggin’ ladies that you follow that just make you smile? Link me up in the comments and give them a quick review so we know who we’re being linked to! Thanks!

~Meghan

As an early Christmas present, Santa brought me and Tom each an HTC EVO 4G. We love, love, love our new phones!

One thing that is fun about them is that you can choose to use the camera on either side of the phone. So if you are making a video of yourself, you can see yourself on the screen while you record.

This has provided no end of amusement for the kiddos that I know. I first tried it out before Christmas with Will on my lap.

Then, yesterday, Tom and I went to Chili’s after church with some friends of ours, Chris and Brenda, and their three kiddos, Sydney (6 y.o.), Savannah (3 y.o.), and Elliot (1 y.o.) and Chris’s mom. We had a pretty long wait to get two tables to become available so we could all sit together.

Since I also received a protective case -which I love- for my phone (I’m super clumsy, remember?), I’m almost always okay with kids playing with it. And that is how we passed a lot of our time. Sydney and Savannah each made a little video on my phone.

I put them on my computer today and was laughing when I watched what they recorded. In the background, you can hear the adults discussing everything from my Otterbox to the show “My Strange Addiction.” But the funniest parts are what the girls chose to record.

First, Sydney recorded. She got a little of everyone and a little shot of herself.

Then, Savannah made a video that was almost entirely upside down. She cracked herself UP. She started doing a close up shot of her mouth, and when I asked her about it, she got a severe case of the giggles and continued with that line of filming…right up until she tried to stick the camera into her mouth.

Then her daddy stepped in. Too funny.

Fun times!
~Meghan