HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY

And so, the crazy season of crafty fairs has ended!  Hurrah!

Now to fulfill all of the Christmas orders and gifts that will go out in the next two weeks.

Below should be a cute little camera  with the words : View on Instagram - or something similar...


INSTAGRAM!

Did it work sister?


I LOVE instagram, even though it's not a "safe" social media outlet...Not the creepy stalker kind of unsafe, just that I could never post comments or eecards (haha) that really express how I feel without being totally judgey-judged by peers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a horrible person - but I have learned to keep my thoughts to myself and a few select people who understand me and won't be offended by my humor...or lack thereof.



Now for a clip of our favorite new show:

Suspenders are in...

Ann - These guys are pretty awesome, not as awesome as Mumford but still excellent...

That is all :)

I updated my Big Cartel shop today!  It's been awhile - and I guess I should at least try to keep it up to date.

This Saturday is the last crafty fair of the season for me and then I start on the crazy amount of items that I have to finish for Christmas!  Ahhhhh!


My shop link : Woot!

:)

Gobble, Gobble, Google!

Happy Thanksgiving!

For the first time in my entire life (except for the Thanksgiving I spent in Oklahoma with Annie when she was in Bible School), I didn't physically spend the day with any of my family.  My mom has the chickenpox and Sophia may be getting them soon so we played it safe and all stayed home.  

I continually thank God for technology, especially since my siblings live far away.  I don't think I could handle life without being able to text, facebook, skype or email them, seriously.  We used to fight so much when we were little but our mom would always tell us to appreciate each other because we were the only brother/sisters we would ever have...or something along those lines.  I guess somewhere in there we listened to her :)  I can honestly say they are my best friends and some of the very few people that get me, for which I am grateful.  Even though we don't live anywhere near each other - we still have that "connection"- even we haven't seen each other in weeks or months, it really doesn't matter and we pick up right where we left off.

So when we tried to 3-way-Skype today and it didn't work, we somehow added the Google video chat and were able to see and hear each other just fine!  The Google chat also has some lovely "extras" that we had to try out.  (Even though I didn't catch Annie with hers)

Freddie with his crown, snorkel gear and birthday cake!  I have an beard and a monocle!

Probably discussing The Hobbit or cornish hens :)

Chatting with them seriously made my day.


In other news, it was a rough morning here in the Solanky household...we were all a bit tired:

Note his watery eyes and droopy bottom lip... :)

There's no light in our kitchen...

We bought our house with the dreams of fixing it up, making it exactly what we wanted.  It reminded me of a tiny farmhouse and the garage reminded me of my grandfather - so I was hooked.

Our guard dog at the back of the compound! ;)

Then, things started breaking we realized how much work we would really have to do.  Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome house.  It's very livable.  It's even cozy sometimes.

But, now for the second time, the light in our kitchen has ceased to function.  And now that it starts getting dark around 4:30pm, we have had an interesting time while trying to cook dinner.  

We have used flashlights, iPhone apps and most recently, an IKEA floor lamp that belongs in the living room but is willing to do double duty.  It's not a big deal and we can live with it but it sure makes life interesting. :)

Christmas 2008?

Necessary

So I thought that for every mother's benefit, I would share the essentials of traveling with a toddler!  I scoured the web for any suggestion that I could find before our trip!  I was so nervous that we would get kicked off of the plane if Sophia had a meltdown and I wanted to do everything possible to prevent one!
In preparation, I found these:

  

at Kate Williams Designs on Etsy.  

I loved them!  I also packed stickers, an activity book and loaded my iPhone with free apps and games. Hubbs loaded her favorite Curious George & a Thomas the Train movie onto his touch pad which was genius and a lifesaver in the end.  

All of these things were utilized to various degrees - and ultimately, being on an airplane (which we prepped her for and she was super excited about) was the greatest distraction.  

I should also mention that on the flights home, Soph broke out in hives (we are still not 100% sure why...chocolate is the suspect though) and I did have to give her Benedryl to keep them at bay - thus she slept 6 HOURS of our 8hr 45min flight home...

Thank you dear, sweet, tiny, infant, baby Jesus!

Anywho, here are some of the things that I found MOST necessary:

Sophia's blue headphones - she was so excited to have her own so that she could watch George!

The BEST $40 stroller.  EVER.

Neck pillow...that had a SNAP!  It was so awesome and was accompanied by an orange blanket!

Ok, these were for me but they were super comfy and a breeze to slip on and off during our many security checks - hands free to cuddle a tired and unsure toddler.

Oh, and I got to help someone out :)

Normal

So, I think that we are finally getting back into our routine here at home- that can be a good or bad thing.

Good because Sophia may sleep past 6am soon.

Good because maybe I will sell some of my wares at the impromptu Holiday Extravaganza I signed up for yesterday...that takes place tomorrow.

Good because I don't think I've been this peaceful/chill/agita-free for a long time.

Good because I know that my sister and her little family are in the exact spot that they need to be and that they are happy.



Bad because I know that part of my heart is back in Ukraine.

Bad because I cannot forget the overwhelming need that I saw.

Bad because I am far away and what I can do to help is limited.

One of the churches near Annie's apartment.

I must say that I felt like I was home while visiting - partly because I was with my most favorite sister in the whole world :) and partly because I know that on some level, though I'm not sure when, that I will go back and be able to help my sis and bro-out-law in the work that they do.
I know I belong there.  I know I will make a difference.  I know it will kick ass.

The more I travel around the world and the older I get, the more I realize how much of a bubble we live in - here in the US.  I am grateful for what we have and the freedom that we experience and the individuality we can express without being totally frowned upon.  BUT - if makes me sad that we just go on about our lives and save for a little extra compassion for others around the holidays we are just so busy living our own lives.  Not really thinking of the hurting, broken, cold and hungry.

I know this does NOT apply to everyone - I am just being convicted and am trying to sort out my own feelings.

This will take a while.

Ho-Ho-Holidays...sort of...but not really.

It's official...I've begun listening to Christmas music.

This is sort of a faux pas in our house as husband believes that Thanksgiving should have it's just desserts and not be trumped by  All-Christmas-all-the-time-starting-in-september kind of celebrating that I like to do.

I've given in, because he does have a point...but since having a little bambino - I just can't help myself!!!

So today, I've indulged in this:

This is all that is good of my childhood holiday memories...sigh.

We are also now watching our favorite Ukrainian cartoons!

This is Sophia's favorite one.  She, Solomiya and Uncle Mike/Tato watched a "few" and I must say, nothing short of Curious George has captivated her as much!  

We cannot understand what they are vocally saying, but it doesn't take much to get the picture.  

Also, that doesn't stop Sophia from trying to speak Ukrainian/Russian.  

Every. Single. Day.

Of course most of it is jibberish but she does correctly (in context) say: 

Spacibo - "Thank You" 

and the ever favorite 

Das Pajamas - or Dosvidaniya- "Goodbye" 

(Annie can correct my spelling - I'm sure it's horrible!)

Now we are off to make pancakes for dinner.

Early...too early!

Since our return, there have only been two meltdowns due to exhaustion (I however have only had one :)

Sophia is waking up before 6am and going to bed by 6pm - 

and while I don't mind the extra hour or so of me time in the evening...those early mornings, BEFORE the sun rises are a killer.    BUT...I am getting more things done and feel very productive!

We have most everything unpacked, chocolate eaten (it was very necessary) and even got our stroller back after SWISS air stole borrowed it for a few days :)

On another note...I feel I must clear the air about something...

In sharing our most recent musical obsession with my sister, I mistakenly said that the group was Irish/Scottish which made them exponentially better in my eyes - but alas, they are not :(

They are still awesome but I can't help feeling a bit cheated, heehee.

Today is the husbands last day off  so I will be taking full advantage and going to Hobby Lobby for some yarn!

Back...

So, I'm taking a cue from my very busy sister and am going to try to blog every day for the rest of November...it won't be easy but there's too much that needs to be shared and documented to not...is that proper english?

Anywho...I am on day 2 of being home after a whirlwind visit to the lovely far east...but not too far :)

I packed up up this girl :

and we headed off on our epic adventure to visit these awesome people, whom we were missing very much!

I think people thought I was kind of crazy to make a 4,000+ mile journey with a 3 year old, by myself but it really couldn't wait any longer!  After not seeing my sister for almost 10 months (in person but thank the good Lord for Skype!), I think I was beginning to go loopy. 

So, off we went!  The darn hurricane Sandy delayed our departure for 2 days, but we set off for JFK very determined to get on that plane!  On the drive down, we passed convoys of power company trucks  and ambulances from surrounding states, on their way to help out.  It was pretty cool to see.

After 10 hours of being on airplanes and 4 hours in the car, we arrived!  Then we slept!  Then we had to play!

This is about 5 minutes before Miss Rain Boots, confidently walked into a DEEP puddle, followed immediately by a meltdown...but hey, I don't like wet socks either. :)

More adventures to follow... And here is the Blog of Sister's Adventures!

In the puddles...

It's been rainy! 
That means fun in the puddles and lots of outfit changes!  That's ok though, it's all good, clean fun...


We're also past our sicknesses, so that's a plus too. :)

Wahoo!

Finally!

hapticknots.bigcartel.com

It only took a few months...and a bummer of a craft fair.  To be honest it wasn't too bad, and the money went to a great cause: activities for a local elderly care facility.

BUT... I'd like to make this work so bigcartel and Etsy, here I come!

My heart is here today; Uzghorod Ukraine. 

My husband and I took a trip here in 2007(?) with his band and my sister to support some friends in their efforts to love the city.  We cleaned up rivers, visited gypsies, loved on kids at an orphanage and were changed by it all.

 BEAUTIFUL center of town (hubby center:)

 Hubby playing his guitar for the kids at the hospital!

 checking out the clean-er river :)

gun at the ATM! 

 some of the kids who stole our hearts...and my bro-out-law

 budapest!  the bookends of our trip

and finally, my beautiful sister, hiding behind her camera.

She moved to this quaint little city with her hubby and their little chickalita in January to further help the friends we met there.  I miss her something fierce and today (and usually everyday) my heart aches from missing them.  

BUT - I have to remember that she is living a dream that she's had since she was 16 and the people across the world are blessed to have them!

Annie & Solomiya

 You ROCK sister!!

Gah....

I keep putting this off.  It is so daunting to have this little rectangle to fill with words and sentences that someone else would find interesting, but here we go :)

So, who am I exactly?

In no particular order, a-hem: a mom, sister, wifey, friend, crochet-er (is that really a word), YouTube watcher of baby/toddler vlogs, blog reader, nerd, iphone user addict and daughter, among other things...

It's this little chickalita that keeps me on my toes all day :)  

She is such a challenge, a love, an inspiration to be a better person... did I mention that she's a challenge :)  Do you SEE that little smirk on her face?  Yup, such a little nut.

Since becoming a slave to my toddler stay at home mom, I've faced the question we've all asked: So, now what?

I've decide that it will be this:

Not the slippers themselves, but making some fun and practical things out of yarn and trying to make a living out of it!

So, we shall see how it goes :) 

But I'm having fun trying!

My Little Chickalita! My love!

What I'm making...

Spring!

Surprise date night... :)

Just a few of the things that I've been up to...

Looking forward to sharing

my story...every piece of it.

:)