We have been going 100 miles an hour around here, compared to just 92 miles per hour as our usual.
Dave's sister and her family came into town for a week, then his brother and his family, who came for over a week, over-lapping 2 1/2 days. The kids had fun snowboarding, tubing and just playing with cousins.












I think by this time of the year, the novelty of snow and cold has warn off on us but for our family who comes from Texas, it is still fun, so the kids had a great time. Hopefully my sister in laws will send me the pictures of Eli snowboarding, I heard he was awesome (Dave forgot the camera, Joey and I stayed home for most of the outings).




My niece had a birthday while some family was in town so it was fun to spend time at her party. She had it at the Bubble. When I was growing up, The Bubble was an old rec center that kind of gave me the creeps but it is now new and improved. I went once last summer, but it was fun to be swimming indoors in late winter. The kids had a ball and were quite upset when the party was over. They want to go everyday. Happy Birthday Reags!

Caroline and I did some planting with peas this same day - I wish I could plant my whole backyard in peas, we eat them all day long when they are available. Caroline found this garden SNAKE and decided it should eat some of our peas that we were planting. Scary snake, huh? She refuses to call it a worm.

I have been spending all my free minutes in my "studio". I am having a lot of fun making plaques and more plaques for a boutique in May. I guess that isn't completely true. I have had to go back to doing physical therapy for my back AGAIN! This is good though. I want to get the pain under control and strengthen everything up the right way. It is kind of nice to work out for a couple of hours, get a massage, get some wet heat with stim, traction a few times a week. The pain is slowly getting better, but at least I am helped along the way. But then I come home, do my motherly duties and undo it all. But, all the free time after that is spent painting and such. I have been told by my doctors to not do any housework that might aggravate my back - you wouldn't believe what that includes! Dave has been great at helping me out with it. Greatest husband ever.

And Easter was great. The day before our neighborhood has an Easter egg hunt. About 2000 eggs are hidden by the 11 year olds, each family participating contributing at least 12 eggs per each of their children participating. They mark yards with eggs hidden with colored flags, each flag representing certain age groups. The kids have a great time.

Easter Sunday itself was wonderful. It was a low-key day, just how we wanted it. Caroline kept spinning in her dress, the boys looked handsome. We spent time with family, with each other and just being.

Whew! I think that catches us up a bit. Hope everyone is having a great month of March. While I have been typing this, Texas is up by ten against Stanford - hope they hold them. Go Horns!

She's a star ... and the song is pretty good too

My little sister in law, who is a freshman at a college down South, sent me this youtube link telling me to check it out. Imagine my surprise when I saw that she was "The Girl" in the video of the first single off of Driver F's new album. I don't know anything about the band, but they sound pretty good. And I must say, Lauren isn't too shabby herself! She is now a Video Vixen.

This is...

I'm a day late on my "This is..." started by Three Buttons . This week's theme is "This is my creation" and although I am working on a few things, this is tonight's creation. I have had family in town for the past 10 days and for the next 4. I will admit I haven't been the most social on this trip of theirs but I also haven't been holed up in my art room. So in order to be with my family, I started making this pincushion while some of us watched a movie. I have been wanting a certain pincushion for a while but decided I would make one using wool felt, roving and all. We'll see how it turns out.

A few hours with Charlie

I wrote this on Monday while sitting with Charlie.

I've talked about Charlie before here and you can see him here. I have been begging Angel (Charlie's mom) to let me do something to help. I feel helpless. Charlie is about 3 weeks younger than my Joey. He is still in the hospital, he is still giving all specialists a run for their money.

Ang and I have been friends since high school, we were roommates on a study abroad, we see each other maybe once a year, but she is the friend that you can see that often and still love and adore and talk like we have just spoken yesterday, not a year ago. You wish she was your sister or next door neighbor.

Anyway, she and her fam are moving into their new house today and they all need to be there to get it done so I get to sit with Charlie. Joey, who does not take a bottle willingly (or apparently at all), will get me back in a couple of hours.




I guess Charlie has been sleeping all day, but has been a bit restless since I got here. I would like to think it is because he is excited to see me, who knows. Let me tell you how I feel:

Helpless!

- he has been having a "storm" for the last 50 minutes or so. His BP goes up, he sweats, he can't seem to calm down. He is awake and breathing heavily, making sad faces, looks so uncomfortable. He has a feeding tube, monitors, oxygen - not so comfortable.

I said to the nurse, "I want to hold him, somehow comfort him." She said I could. So I did - totally supervised, of course. She said that he would be uncomfortable with me holding him or in his bed. I guess I was thinking that I would have the magic touch. That he would relax his rigid body when he was placed in my arms, that his heart rate would miraculously calm. Nope. Instead, he kept on with the "storm", stubborn baby.

I tried singing - nope, instead I cried. Helpless. So, I hummed and cried, hoping that he would feel my love even though he can't hear me.

I finally put him back in bed (totally supervised) and he is still storming. The nurse who has been here all day just left. So helpless. I worry that I am bothering the nurses to often. He has needed to have his sinuses suctioned out while I am here, had two diaper changes (tube food makes stinky poop, who knew?) and his last nurse said, "He hasn't had any of the ____ meds all day, maybe he needs them now." She is off, so I don't know if the other nurse knows that is what she is thinking. I just went out to see if he was going to get them, we'll see. The new nurse is just as great as the last. They have a great staff here.


I don't know how Rob and Ang are doing this. I wish I could do Charlie justice by writing some well-described, eloquent, verbascular post - really letting you all know how I feel, how it feels to be here, but I can't. I don't know what it is like to be his parents, I am certain it is a living nightmare. I'm in awe of their strength.

This is Charlie Cooper with his alter-ego Super Cooper, the boy who is fighting hard to get better. I saw this doll a while ago and luckily when I went back they had it still. Britt named him Super Cooper which is absolutely perfect. You can't see it, but Super Cooper has a cape and a hero suit on.

Charlie Cooper is quite inspirational. The feeling in this room is somehow peaceful and full of life, even when he isn't peaceful. I feel he is going to do great things, we just don't know in what capacity.


Rob and Ang, thanks for letting me help. Anytime you need me.

My apron has arrived

I got my apron last week and only now have found my camera to document it. I love it. Tracey from Itching 2 B Stitching made it for me. It is so cute, lots of flirtiness in it like a tutu, great pockets, love the ric-rac. It came with a great chicken soup recipe. Thanks Tracey - it is wonderful.

Things I am eyeing this week...

I haven't done this for a while, not because I haven't been looking but because I look too much, too much eye candy. So here is what I have seen lately and love.

This honey bee pin by Moosup Valley Design is so beautiful. The artist created this pin from her own original engraved carvings. However, this artist is no longer making pins and such and will just be selling them until what she has on hand is gone.

Idea Farm Designs is like candy for you soul. All the bright colors, the funky arrangement of beads, brooches, vintage and costume jewelry is so much fun to see and would brighten my inner wintery soul to wear. Like this Orange Flowers Necklace - love it.

The Pretty Paige Purse in Mod Orange and Linen by Pink Posie Design is so gorgeous - I love the pleats and love the mod orange print even more. The linen base of the bag has been reinforced for extra durability. I also really love her other bags, the colors used, the way different prints are put together.

The Runny Bunny shop has so many great pieces in it, I could look and wonder for hours. I love the birds, the owls, but especially love these ceramic pears.

Momo's Retro Fashions is a lot of fun to look at. I really like Eco Chic Housewife Apron. The artist convinces me that I need this apron because clothes dryers use way too much energy and this apron will hold clothespins. "Why not take advantage of the sun and breeze, save money, and help with global warming? This apron has one huge pocket that will hold lots of clothespins which make hanging out your clothes easier! Even if you don't hang out your clothes, this apron is great for wearing while cleaning as it will hold all those little toys and items you pick up along the way." The toys part has me doubly convinced.

I love these little friends from ten finger workshop. They look like they met in Kindergarten and have made it intact to the 3rd grade. I just read their bio and they actually met in college and like Backgammon. Take a look at her other characters, like the Kind family.

This reminds me of ...

This songs totally reminds me of 7th grade. I am sure if I really listened to all the lyrics, my mom wouldn't be happy I listened to it in 7th grade, but oh well. For some reason I always identify this song with Chad Nestman (no, Amanda, I am not outing my H.S. crush, but Chad was a hot 7th grader, and still is not too shabby).

I love how these guys in the video have sickly bodies, lots of volume in their hair, horrid clothes and all these hot girls in the front row clawing for them. Those were the days.

This is...

This is... is brought to you this week by Pip at Meet Me at Mike's. These are my concept boards.

They run side by side in front of the main part of my desk. They have a few things that I like to look at, patterns that I am using frequently for my plaques...

Mostly just things I like to look at. Eli also adds to my boards. He has been visiting me downstairs so that he can paint and draw me pictures. Notice the painted butterfly and the hand-drawn Valentine below. He wrote Love using a heart for the O. He is a very talented heart = an O artist. He knows I like flowers so I have one in my hair in his picture.

I will admit that I am horrible at tearing things that I find inspiring out of a magazine. I don't want to ruin the whole effect. So I usually keep the whole magazine, along with others, in a file on some cabinets. But then what is the point of that? I never see them again. But if I were to rip them all out, not separating then from the whole article or layout, my walls would begin to look like some obsessed stalker and I might be committed.

I also look at a lot of different blogs to stimulate some creativity. A lot of times they give you a little jump start.

I am including a picture of my "studio". If you remember from here what it used to look like, I have finished a good portion of it and kind of had to just start using it and complete more later. This is what it looks like now...

I have a lot of paper strung up so that I can see what I have to work with. I did my best to just use what I already had, which I am glad I did. I can roll from my work area to my sewing machine and I set up a card table in the corner for the kids to draw and paint on. Then I don't feel quite so guilty if I work on it during Joey's naps.

Sassy Apron Swap

I maybe have blogged about this before but here we go again, with a little more detail.

Somehow, through craft blog surfing, I found a post about a certain apron swap and for some reason joined in the fun. Why? I don't know, I don't have the time, my sewing machine stays inactive a good portion of the time and I have other crafty obligations that I am currently procrastinating. In any case, I went to the blog that was hosting and signed up.

A couple of days later I got my gal that I would be making an apron for and went to check out her blog to get a sense of who she is and what kind of apron I should make. I was reading one of her posts and she mentioned a pattern or recipe (I can't remember) that was her Grandma B_____. That last name is my Grandma's maiden name, ok, small world, not a common name but she is in the Western US, distant relative probably. I read further about how she and her family went home to Missouri. Hmm, my Grandma's brother lives in Missouri, still a small world. Then through further investigation (blog nosiness) I clicked from here to there and found that this gal who I am making the apron for is the grand-daughter of my Grandma's brother! Out of over 150 swap participants, the organizer not knowing me and me not knowing her, I am linked with a second cousin? And this will maybe give it away if by chance the recipient finds my blog before the package gets to her, the organizer is my Mom's cousin! My Grandma's niece.

What is even more coincidental is my Grandma had been talking a lot about this brother because he had just had a heart attack and was not doing well. Through this weird connection of the apron swap, I contacted Lucy, the organizer, about the relationship and she thoughtfully kept me updated on her father so I could keep my Grandma updated. Unfortunately, her father passed away a couple of weeks ago (about 4 days after this connection was made).

It was great to find this family connection through random circumstances and made this swap a lot more fun. The theme is Spring, so I thought a bright and colorful apron would be great to pull anyone out of the End of Winter Doldrums. And include a soup recipe. And it needs to have a pocket. Here is mine. The bird's name is Skippy-loo.

I just finished an apron for Caroline and need to make 2 more for little girl birthdays that are coming up.

I am also including in the pockets pictures that I borrowed from Grandma and scanned and printed. My grandma is the only girl, with four brothers (one was in the house reading). They called her Mimi. The gal's grandpa is the one right behind Grandma. The little boy in the front is the youngest and they called him Whitey. Their dad (Glynn) would make up stories about the Adventures of Mimi and Whitey. Their mom, Lucile, is who the organizer of the swap is named after.


My Great-Grandpa was a farmer/rancher. They kids would spend time out on the ranch and in the city. My grandma is the little girl on the left, the gal's grandpa is sitting next to her with the hat pulled over his eyes.

And these are the Great Grandparents on their wedding day. Glynn and Lucile. I grew up hearing story after story from Grandma about the adventures that she and her brothers created. So many stories. She has always told us family history, connected the dots, given us all a sense of who we belong to, where we came from.

I hope this gal likes her apron, it is BRIGHT!!! but it was fun to make and even more fun to prepare the whole package. It was fun for my grandma to go through pictures with me and tell me more stories, some repeats, some new.

100th Day of Kindegarten

No, it isn't Grumpy Old Men, or a visual interpretation of Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown" (I like the Flying Pickets' version better). Today was E's 100th day of K. They were asked to dress up like they are 100 and bring a collection of 100 things. E did not want to dress up - he wanted to be a 100 year old Sonic if he had to be anything. Instead, we put together what he would wear. The cowboy galoshes were his idea.

I drew wrinkles on his face, he was sad, he got to wear shorts (or shants as we call them in our house) in the winter, he was sad, he got to wear his dad's tie, he was sad. He was sad all the way to school, he was sad when we did a parade into sibling's classes, he made me carry him because he was too tired (maybe he is in 100 years old). He did begin to smile eventually.

Then he got his award for being a Gold Medal Member of the 100's club (counting to 100 by 1's, 2's, 5's, 10's, writing 1 to 100 and counting backwards from 100 to 1). Then he got to show his collection, in groupings of ten equaling 100. Don't look to closely, the nine and the ten are both 11 pennies strong - I was a little distracted, Eli would have never made that mistake.

It really was quite fun to see this little pint-sized oldies. Some went all out, some did less. I guess I have to look forward to embracing my inner nerd when I turn 100.

As for creating, I am in a bit of a slump. I so want to be in painting and sewing, so I just need to make it happen. Because really, I need to have it. Between family life and extra-curriculars outside the home and quality time with the husband, there has got to be time. I am going to have to make a sacrifice and spend less time on the computer - which is probably a good idea. That is my goal this next 2 weeks - more productivity in the workroom, less perusing. Wish me luck.