PENGUIN PIN VALENTINES

you know penguins mate for life, right? it's terribly romantic.

by the time the evening rolls around these days my brain is so fried from leaking all these words out that i just need something mindless to do with my hands while i decompress. the other day huck and i were talking about valentine's day and debating whether we should buy angry bird valentines or pirate ship valentines when i had a sudden vision. 

"hey hen, wanna make your friends some penguin valentines?" 

two flightless arctic birds, one stone. 

nailed it.

it was such a relaxing way to end the day (with a little netflixed sherlock added in to really take it home), and now that they're done i'm in a bit of mourning. 

you will need 

// felt: two sheets of black, one sheet of orange, one sheet of white, one sheet of pink 

// thread to match: in black, white, orange, and pink 

// pin backs 

// scissors 

// some time 

// and some sherlock

i wanted huck to be able to help, so i set him up with a blunt needle and the box of pin backs. i fully expected to go back in and redo some things once he'd gone to bed, but the kid surprised us both by deftly maneuvering that needle and successfully getting four pins stitched into place on four penguin backs before getting entirely bored with it and going up with his grandpa to watch play dough videos on youtube (which are SO weird by the way). i'm honestly not sure what to make of this kid. just today i watched with astonishment as he put down an entire chicken teriyaki using a fully functioning set of chopsticks. how does he do this stuff? #huckforpresident

to assemble the penguins, use a blanket stitch to sew together first the feet, then the tummy onto the front of the penguin, then the heart onto the chest, and then you put it all together like a penguin sandwich and stitch around his sides. stop with about an inch left on one side to puff in some puffers, then finish the job and toss him in an envelope.

one night while i worked i set huck up with a box of washable markers and a stack of card stock so he could draw cards for his friends. there was a small paint brush in there and huck asked to paint, so i filled a little bowl with water, and he pulled out these really beautiful little water color cards that i am sort of obsessed with. i don't know about this kid. am i going to have to call mensa here? (he also learned to write his name over the weekend. am i bragging now? okay i might be bragging now.)

we sent them off today with a little kiss and a wave. we're excited for his friends to have them and hopefully wear them around for a day or two. huck's been pretty homesick for all his buds.

sometime you should ask huck what a penguin says. he'll honk and waddle at you like a native.

happy valentine's day! honk honk!