did you know?

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teenager

derived noun from teenage (q.v.), 1941. the earlier word for this was teener , attested in amer.eng. from 1894, and teen  had been used as a noun to mean "teen-aged person" in 1818.

 

also

 

-teen

combining form meaning "ten more than," from O.E. -tene, -tiene,  from P.Gmc. *tekhuniz  (cf. O.S. -tein , Du. -tien , O.H.G. -zehan , Ger. -zehn , Goth. -taihun ), an inflected form of the root of ten; cognate with L. -decim  (cf. It. -dici , Sp. -ce , Fr. -ze ). The combining form of ordinal numbers, -teenth,  developed from O.E. -teoða, -teoðe  (W.Saxon), teogoða  (Anglian) "tenth."

also

thehobbit is now a teen.

let the wild rumpus begin!

~peace.
note :: these photos were taken by said teen, of his birthday prezzie!

thursday things :: fabulous toys

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i found this gorgeous set of nesting blocks when poking around lehmans. i love the vintage images, & that the colors aren't your typical primary hues. excited to find them, i shared on my personal fb page that elfling needed the blocks. his grandpa instantly replied with one word: done. grandpa rocks!

they arrived a few days later, & i must tell you they are even more fabulous in person. elfling loves grandpa's prezzie, as does thehobbit. ok, we all do. the birthday boy has had, on a few occasions, to remind us that they are his.

as people keep asking for prezzie ideas, i've been doing a lot of searching for things. the trouble is, he needs very little. still, people ask, so i look. of course, i am terrible at staying focused, so it is never long before i'm off baby items, & on toys for bigger kids. below are a few things that caught my eye. enjoy!

* this set of blocks is fabulous!! definitely not your mama's wooden blocks.

* truly, this must be mine. mine, mine, mine!

* a gnome in the box? i love it!

* my goal is to find a used dinky piano for elfling. or win the lottery, so i can afford a new one.

* look at this circus toy, by a fellow naturalkids gal! swoon-worthy, indeed.

sadly, that is all i have time for today. now it is your turn - what toys have caught your eye of late?
~peace.

one.

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today my sweet elfing is one. there is so much i should say about this past year, about this child & how he has changed who i am. i should tell you about the joy he's brought, the way my heart has expanded beyond what i believed possible, or a million other touching & profound things. the thing is, i cannot.


my emotions are playing me fiercely today, & i find i am unable to give voice to any of it. please understand, & forgive me my silence. thank you for being a part of my journey from family of three, to one of four. i am glad you are here.

to celebrate elflings birthday, i am offering all sorts of fabulousness in theshop!

* all mini buntings are half off their original prices!

* a free prezzie with every birthday crown & birthday tiara!

* free shipping on all purchases over $40.00!! (yes, even to your corner of the world!)

please spread the word about the celebratory fabulousness - no hogging the love! & please, please, please go eat some cake.

~peace.

on planning to celebrate

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can you believe i've begun planning elfling's first birthday party? where did the time go? it seems just yesterday i was sharing photos of my immense belly, truly it does. sigh.

one year. my bébé is nearing one year old. if i think too much on this, i shall curl into a ball & cry. instead i'll focus on the party itself, & not the reason.


we opted to throw a small fete, to keep me from having a nervous break-down things simple. as much as i would love to invite everyone who brought meals & prezzies, sent us cards, & lent their support; it simply cannot be managed.


taking advantage of the season, we'll be celebrating with a backyard barbecue. no checkered cloths & tiki torches for me, it will definitely be katificated: vintage cloths, faery lights, bunting, fanciful decorations, & hints of whimsy.


it will also be documented! i'll be taking part in a month-long, natural kids celebration event (more on that later). visit here, throughout july, for photos, ideas, tutorials, recipes, & of course, a give-away. how can i resist?


let the wild rumpus begin!

~peace, kat.

blue is not just for boys

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click here to sign up for my give-away!

judging from the amount of blue blankets & clothing we were given when elfling was born, i think it fair to say that people think blue is for boys. why is that, do you think? why is it blue for boys, & pink for girls?

the thing is, when i think about all the friends, aunties, & grammies who gifted us with blueness, i am hard-pressed to picture any of them wearing pink. i know i rarely do wear it, & other than blue jeans, manlyman rarely wears blue.

how i see it: as soon as we are born, we're either pink for girls, or blue for boys. our clothing, our toys, our bedrooms - all pink or all blue. as we grow up we shed those restrictions, & begin surrounding ourselves with colors we actually like. by adulthood the majority of us rarely are drawn to the gender appropriate colors. this is especially true for women, though when was the last time you saw men off to work in baby blue suits?

you'd think that would be the end of the pink & blue ridiculousness; but it's not. you see, the same adults who discarded their colors, turn around & foist it upon the next generations of innocent babes. mamas, daddies, grandparents, etc - they are the designers & gifters of more pink & blue! why?! seriously people; i want to know why!

of course there are some brave souls who do not give in to this. some of us dress our children in brown, taupe, gray, white, & black even. i say we start a revolution! we say no more pink just for girls! no more blue just for boys! who is with me?!

of course i would go one step further, & say no more pink or blue!, but then i would have to explain the blue in the above photo. & speaking of the above photo, (how is that for a segue?) do you like my mini birthday bunting? if so, i have 2 for sale in theshop! perfect for your birthday boy or girl. heck, perfect for any old thing you're celebrating. or be like me - put it up for xmas & forget to take it down. yes, ours are still up. let's just pretend they are up purposely, shall we?

ok you're off to buy my bunting (that sounded a tad naughty), & i'm off to join the gigglefest happening in the other room.

~peace.

fancy hats optional

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i wish i could have a tea party, & invite you all. since i cannot, i want to ask you to celebrate my birthday with me, right where you are.

pour yourself a cup of tea, or coffee if you prefer (or booze if you prefer). don't forget the plate of tiny treats! if you have kids, send them off to play elsewhere, so we can relax. mine are in the other room already.

are you wearing a fancy hat? parties are all the more fun with fancy hats. of course if you aren't the fancy hat type, that's ok with me. i'm just glad you're here.

it isn't a birthday party if there aren't prezzies, & so, i have a prezzie for you! i came across this movie quite by accident, & loved it. the sets are amazing, the costumes make me drool, & well, colin firth is in it. need i say more? i thought not. i watched it on netflix's instant watch, so if you have it, you can head over after you leave here. to tempt you:

ooh! i hear the kettle calling. i'm off to make more tea. thank you for joining me in celebration. now go have a glorious day!

~peace.

ps :: the flowers are in my insanely over-grown backyard. i love flowers that flourish without my help.

what the??

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yes, you have come to the right place. strange isn't it? i have been wanting to switch to a white background for some time; because photos look so much brighter on one; but i love the scribe template immensely.

well, i finally made the change last night. change is good. right? right?!?! tell me change is good, because i am freaking a wee bit. i still have to tweak things here & there.

i need to re-shoot the header photo - this template doesn't allow my blog name to be in lower case. that just won't do. all who know me tease me for my lack of caps. i love the photo of my gate, so i'll most likely shoot the same image, but with my blog's name in the picture itself. i cannot decide just how though. perhaps i'll do the letters on individual squares of fabric, string up some twine, & hang the title using mini wooden clothespins. we'll see. (edited to say :: i added text to the original photo. it'll do, for now.)

there's also the issue of columns. i hacked the last template for the 3rd column, & can do the same to this template, but i'm on the fence. a part of me likes the sleek look, but then i personally don't like scrolling for days to reach something on an other's blog. 3 columns is great to eliminate that issue. again, we'll see.

that's all i came to tell you today. i am waiting for a custom order to dry, so i can finish it. have a lovely day, do!

~peace.

** tomorrow is my birthday! what did you get me? **

in which thehobbit gets help

the day is finally upon us - today is the hobbity boy's number 12 birthday!!! for me that means quite a bit of birthday snuggling, plus a pile of work yet to be done for tomorrow's party. for you it means it's time to draw a winner from the top hat!

i let thehobbit draw the winner. never let it be said that i don't spoil my boy rotten on his special day ;)



& of course, being a great old man of 12, he needed help.




the winner is number 3!!

"Asti said...
Pretty bunting !
Happy birthdays to you :) Have a wonderful time boys !"

yay - congrats asti! email me an addy, & i'll ship the wonky birthday bunting this week.

thanks to everyone for making this a fun give-away. i enjoyed it so much, i just may have to find loads of reasons to give you prezzies.

now i'm off to pay the price for being queen of all procrastinators. anyone want to clean thebelfry, & go to the market for me? no? sigh.

~peace.