kindergarten halloween party

check list

The check list, all done and only 11:21 am! Not that all this got done today, but it's been a work in progress and now everything is checked off.

2010 calendars, all orders up til now packed and ready to post

Scary window decorations, requested by Liam, directed by Liam

Most amazing home-made Halloween costume EVER, sneak preview only, kid not included inside yet – cardboard box, styrofoam packing tubes, yellow spray paint, duct tape, label maker + Ben, my mom and myself = Wall-E!!

Snappie up and running after breakdown yesterday afternoon, ready for KG Halloween party today. New parts ordered from England to arrive in time for Halloween trick or treating.

New cards listed in both shops, here and here.

H1N1 vaccine for Liam and I, finally done yesterday after weeks of calls and attempts

Break for pumpkin pie, my favorite, and apple cider we made last weekend

Still to do today:

Pay the bills
Go to KG party
Cook dinner
Fold and package cards

I think most likely there will be no time for printing today, but quite possibly time for another piece of pumpkin pie.

round bird + seeking stationery

Finally, the collaborative stationery with Heather of Skinny laMinx is up in my shops. Find them here or here – and they'll be on their way to Heather this week, too.

Gift tags and ornaments to follow, soon.

collaboration

I wanted to give you a little peek at the collaboration with Heather Moore of Skinny laMinx. The first photo shows the 'round bird' gift tags, which will be available in sets of 12 for $10. I'll be rounding the edges and drilling small holes at the top, too. They'll be printed in cranberry, ochre, silver sage and spring green, so you'll get an even mix of each color in every packet. The next photo shows the design called 'seeking' and I really love this one. I like the way the white space pops out with letterpress – lovely! This stationery set, in silver sage and leaf green, will also be in my shop soon, along with the 'round bird' cards in cranberry and ochre.

I'm fairly swamped right now and feeling a little under the weather, but I'll be printing ornaments with the 'round bird' design just as soon as I can. Before that, though, I have several other projects and wholesale orders that need to be completed.

The 2010 calendars are done! If you've already placed your order, I'll be shipping these at the start of next week. Thanks for your patience.

funny

www.regretsy.com

It's not nice, but it is one of the funniest websites I have ever seen. I laugh out loud, to myself, often. And it's a perfect place to stop by when you need a good laugh, like I do, after getting off the phone just now. First with someone from the sleep study center in Portland who thinks the doctor we need Liam to see might be in network, but wasn't sure, and who also couldn't tell me when we'd be able to actually schedule an appointment because she doesn't do that. And then with my insurance company in-network help center, where someone was only able tell me that the pediatric sleep study doctor is in network, as of right this minute, but could not guarantee that he would be when we finally get our appointment for Liam. And who didn't know the actual phone number for my insurance company, which I need to call to verify if, in fact, a sleep study is covered. Even though the doctor appears to be in network. Just in case you think I'm all sweet and nice over here – this is definitely not the case after any sort of phone calls involving insurance. There may be ranting and raving involved.

And I laugh hysterically at regretsy. (Thanks, Lisa, for sending me there in the first place!)

pretty packages

2010 calendars, all wrapped up in glassine, sealed with japanese tape, ready for you. Condensed into 15 steps!

1. Draw designs
2. Cut paper
3. Letterpress print calendars
4. Sort and count each month
5. Reprint months as needed
6. Re-sort each month
7. Drill holes
8. Collate
9. Cut lengths of ribbon
10. Tie ribbons for each calendar
11. Count and then number
12. Cut off sides of too-big glassine bags to fit calendar
13. Cut tops of too-big glassine bags with mini pinking scissors (which I couldn't find anywhere in the studio, even though I have them, so first run out to craft store to buy)
14. Wrap each calendar and seal with tape just-so
15. Voila!

That list could maybe use some amendments, like such:

5a. Curse self for making so many mistakes with the new press
11a. Curse self when realizing wrong sized cello bags were ordered, not once, but twice
12 + 13a. Curse self for making a decision to use too-big bags and not being able to find necessary fancy scissors

No, really, I actually completely enjoy this project each year ... 96 percent of the time that I'm doing it. And even though I did, indeed, curse myself for the cello bag mistakes, I am really loving the glassine and masking tape. A lot. So much that I sort of feel like packaging everything this way.

Like I said at the start: 2010 calendars, all wrapped up in glassine, sealed with japanese tape, ready for you. Labor intensive, all around, but oh-so-pretty. Pick up yours right here or here.

how it is

The last day or so, I've been working on a letter to have Liam's kindergarten teacher distribute to the parents of classmates. It's hard and it's something I wouldn't have thought I'd ever need to do, at least not six years ago, but it is how it is. And I'm taking it as an opportunity to educate and increase awareness, hopefully without being too long-winded. It's hard, though, to avoid medical terminology, but I try to get the information across clearly.

Here is the letter – maybe you're interested in reading it, maybe you aren't. Maybe you've been curious about Liam when I mention him, maybe not. Read on, skip it, I won't necessarily know, but here it is:

Dear Parents,

I’ve been meaning to write this letter since school started, but I imagine you can understand how life gets – and stays – busy. Still, better late than never, so I wanted to let you know a little bit more about our son, Liam, who is in Mr. K’s class with your child … He’s a hard one to miss – he is outgoing and talkative … and he drives a red power chair, which we call his Snap Dragon or Snappie.

Liam has a neuromuscular disorder called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type II. He was diagnosed when he was 14 months old and before then we had never heard of SMA, even though approximately 1 in 40 people are carriers and 1 in 6000 babies are born with it. It is an autosomal recessive genetic disease which means that both parents must be carriers and both must pass the gene on to their child. A person with SMA has a missing or mutated gene (SMN1, or Survival Motor Neuron 1) that produces a protein called Survival Motor Neuron (SMN). This protein deficiency has its most severe affect on motor neurons that affect the voluntary muscles used for activities such as crawling, walking, head and neck control, and swallowing. A compromised respiratory system can also lead to an increased tendency for pneumonia and other lung function complications. Sensation, the ability to feel and intellect are not affected.

SMA ranges from Type I (the most severe) to Type IV (adult onset). Liam is a very strong Type II. There is a lot of variation even within each type, but Liam sat up by himself and crawled within his first year. It was shortly after his first birthday that we began to notice that he was losing physical abilities. He was diagnosed in early July 2005, when he was 14 months old. What this means for our family in the day-to-day is that Liam does not walk, but uses an amazing power chair that we brought back from England in March of 2005. Liam first learned to drive a power chair when he was 16 months old at Shriners Hospital in Portland, where we lived until last June. He’s had his Snappie since he was 20 months old, so he’s a very good driver, though is sometimes prone to errors of judgment, as are many five year olds! While at school and at home, Liam also spends time in a stander which he can propel by himself while wearing braces. At Jefferson, Liam has an assistant, Kim Crane, but we also encourage his peers to find ways to help him as well – by picking heavy things up for him, moving furniture or toys out of his path, taking caps off markers, etc. There is a delicate balance between helping Liam and the need for him to cultivate self-sufficiency. As the year goes on, I think his classmates will begin to anticipate and understand Liam’s needs and they’ll find a rhythm with each other.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a purely physical disorder, so cognitively Liam is unaffected. He began talking at 11 months old and hasn’t stopped since! He’s a bright and curious little boy – so like many others and, at the same time, so unlike them. Liam’s Snap Dragon chair allows him to explore the world around him on as many levels as possible. His Snappie has an elevator that lets him, by himself, go down to floor level and back up again. He can get down on the floor and play. He can race around outdoors. He can go on a bumpy path to pick blueberries in the summer. He can join his peers at a little table. The Snappie does weigh 230 pounds, so it’s important that both Liam and those around him, children and adults, be careful. The Snappie is, essentially, an extension of Liam’s body and I know that Mr. K and Ms. Crane are doing an excellent job of helping the other children recognize that.

We moved to Corvallis from Portland in June 2008. We came here for several reasons, a critical one being that we were able to find a single level home that would work well for our family. Because our home is fully accessible, it is a great place for Liam to play with friends. We are also happy to meet at an accessible location, like the library, for example. If you’d like Liam to come to your house, please consider whether it is wheelchair accessible; we do have a portable ramp that could span one or two stairs. If your child and Liam are interested in playing together, let us know.

Please be aware that even common illnesses, such as a cold or stomach bug, can have severe consequences for Liam. When he was 3, he spent a week in the Pediatric ICU because a cold very quickly turned into pneumonia. As we head into flu season, and particularly with H1N1, we ask that you keep this in mind when deciding whether to send your child to school when he or she may be sick. Likewise, we would much rather reschedule a play date than risk Liam’s health and well-being. Attached you’ll also find a short note from Mardi Henke, one of the school district nurses.

We hope you’ll share any information about Liam and SMA you’d like with your child and also feel free to call or email if you have further questions. We encourage you or your child to ask questions if you have them; we will do our best to answer them. Your children have been so welcoming and friendly toward Liam – thank you. We really feel that Jefferson is a wonderful community and we’re so pleased to be part of it now.

Best,

Lynn and Ben Russell

the list

image from this lovely blog

I love the smell of ... Mrs Meyers lavender cleaner, which is a change from my usual standby.

I love the taste of ... fall soup. I made one the other night – roasted butternut squash, ham, homemade chicken broth, parmesan, sage, olive oil. No recipe, just good.

I love the sight of ... Liam's sometimes backwards numbers in the math work he brings home from kindergarten.

I love the feel of ... the new tights I just bought yesterday. They have super soft fleece on the inside! And they weren't even super spendy. I got them at Fred Meyer and they're perfect.

I am listening to ... this song, over and over again. If I knew how to embed it right here, I would. But I don't know how and I just wasted a good 10 minutes trying to figure it out ... Just click on the link, please, and you can play it from there.

Plus: I love this blog and this magazine.

wheels for henry

The day before yesterday an email landed in my inbox and I wanted to share it with you now. It is really important to me ... It was a request to participate in an online fundraiser for a little boy named Henry who lives in Portland. His mom, Chloe Eudaly, is the owner of Reading Frenzy and Henry is an amazing kid who happens to use a wheelchair.

Taken from their blog: Chloe drives a 20-year-old Toyota Corolla and has to lift and transfer Henry and his chair in and out of the car, which is becoming more and more challenging as Henry grows. Their lack of adequate transportation is cutting down on what they're able to accomplish in a day -- errands, appointments, recreation and social opportunities -- and has kept them from traveling any distance for the past few years (Henry has too much equipment to take for trips in their compact car). Henry is rapidly outgrowing his current wheelchair and when he does the new one won't fit in their car, so time is of the essence! ... They're more than halfway to funding a used converted van ... and are now turning to family, friends and the broader community to help raise the rest.

As you can imagine, this strikes close to home for me. I sent a donation yesterday. It wasn't an awful lot, but it was an amount I felt I could easily afford to contribute and I know it all adds up. It's really easy to donate – just click here to be directed to Chloe and Henry's blog where you can make a contribution via PayPal. Every little bit will help. Please, please take the time to help make a huge change for this family. I was really happy to start up an email conversation with Chloe yesterday, and hope to continue to get to know her and Henry. I wish I had known her when we lived in Portland because, in her own words, it's so nice to meet peers who are in similar situations. Please pass the word, please give what you can, please make a difference.

plan B

Yesterday I did the final sort for the calendars and then collated them all. I stayed up late and tied them all together and what I had planned to do today was package them all ... only it appears that I have made a mistake with the cello bags I ordered. I thought I took into account the thickness of the calendars, but I guess I didn't leave enough space because the cello bags are too snug. And because I'm picky, I think the next sizes up are TOO big and would leave the calendars slipping around inside, which I don't like. So I just went to another plan altogether and just ordered some extra large glassine bags – that also happen to be not quite the right size – and I plan to cut them down to just-right and then seal the cut edge with a length of Japanese masking tape from here. Maybe the mistake will end up being a good one because I think glassine packages look so lovely. And I think it's been solidly proven that I care an awful lot about the packaging! So plan B is for better – that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

All that said, calendars will not be ready to ship tomorrow as planned, but by early next week!

And I'll be printing today instead, which is just fine with me.

best gift ever

I read about this on Bryn's blog a while ago. It is quite possibly the best gift ever. Check it out here. That's all for now. I am drilling holes in the calendar pages today ...

this week

1. Perfect fall light

2. Tomatillos from the farmers market, made into the sauce for this, frozen for quick future dinners

3. Japanese cotton ribbon for the 2010 calendar – ochre, slate, olive

Also this during the week –

4. Tuesday night in Eugene hearing our friends' band, Old Crow Medicine Show, play. Still suffering the consequences of staying up til 2 am and getting up at 6 am to get Liam ready for school.

5. Yesterday I bought this book, by Ketch's wife, Lydia Peelle. I can't wait to read it and am moving it to the top of the stack.

6. Last, but so not least, really in the number one slot if you ask me ... I love this drawing Liam made this week; it makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it, which is often. Star Wars is pretty much an obsession around here right now. I love the drawing, I love the way he wrote DARF VADER.(It was very nearly DORF VADER, can you see that?) We're just adding on to an already hilarious Darth Vader theme ... Remember this?

[Click on the image to enlarge it]

hello october

A few days late, but hello October! I love this month. I love the cool, crisp days that still have sunshine. I love getting out my sweaters and scarves, tights and boots. I love the smell of a wood fire in the air. It's my birthday on Monday, but we'll be at Liam's curriculum night (for kindergarten! which sort of makes me giggle) that evening. However, on Tuesday night, we are going to hear our friends' band, Old Crow Medicine Show, play in Eugene. Last year we didn't go, for the first time in a while (though we used to go in Portland when we lived there), because life was so busy. This year, though, I think it's important to just make the time to go.

I spied this cute mini-journal over at this blog, which I visit every once in a while. I am not very good at writing in this space regularly, nor was I ever very good at keeping a diary. I like the list format of Marta's journals and how it can create a little sketch of a day. So, according to her list:

today – October 3, 2009

I love the smell of ... this incense, which is something I treat myself to every once in a while.
I love the taste of ... black tea with whole milk and a tiny bit of sugar (I drink PG Tips every single day).
I love the sight of ... a stack of books by the bedside, waiting to be read for the first time.
I love the feel of ... a neatly made bed with fresh sheets.

round bird

Just a moment's break from printing to show you the round bird in dark red that is part of the collaboration with Heather Moore of Skinny LaMinx. These are proofs I just pulled that I decided to trim down to squares with rounded edges. I was thinking that these might be really nice as either gift tags or as holiday decorations if I drill small holes at the top for ribbon. What do you think?


Sorry, not the best photos, but quick snapshots before I get back to printing right now. Loads to print in this dark red today ... and then, I'm so excited, I'm moving on to calendar assembly – sorting, drilling holes, assembly, packaging.