My Beautiful Birthday Flowers

From the amazing Maryam Brown!

Caryism

Curbs are just suggestions

Gaptooth!!!

Meet Chestmutt

3 Birthday Parties, 1 Day. A Facebook 'Live' Journey

Captain's Log:  And so it begins...3 bday parties, 1 day... I'm going to need a red bull.

Ensign's log: first hour has gone well, with the exception of a game stealing her coins. Cake time!

1 down, 2 to go

Ensign log, hour 2 1/2: 2nd party, and all must be well. I only see the occasional streaks bounce past

Captain's report....Ensign had locked herself in the restroom and refuses to come out. We are currently taking resumes for newly opened ensign position.


Ensign's log hour 3 1/2: Captain managed to talk me out of the bathroom with pizza as the persuasion. Sufficiently happy again. Oh! Cake time!

Ensign log, hours 4-6 1/2: rest time. Overslept and now we're scrambling to get out the door and the sleep marks and drool off of our faces. Draining the caffeinated beverages as quickly as we can. 2 parties down, one more to go. We WILL dominate the day!

Ensign log, hour 8: I'm abandoning ship. Best of luck to The Captain and Torpedo. Oh! Cake time!

Ensign's log, hour 8 1/2: I got my bonus!

Ensign's log, hour 9: 3 birthday parties complete, uncountable friends, and even a couple of new ones for me. I'd say today was a success, and we're truly blessed.

And meltdown in 3...2...1...

Snow Dust Fight!

Goodbye, My Most Amazing Friend

Sunset Quilt Part II

So we got the squares cut out.  Now for what I hope will be a fun part: finding the pattern we want to use.  I thought about throwing the fabric pieces into the air and collecting the pieces randomly and laying them out that way.

 

I bet professional quilters are shaking their heads right now. ...

What Colors Do You See In The Sunset?

I never thought of myself as a sewing person. I love to write (which takes as much free time as I can manage these days), I also love photography and painting (colorful splotches on the canvas). I've played with music, writing songs, poetry, and lately I've enjoyed making crafts with my child.

But three years ago while in Maine, I considered dabbing in the art of quilt making.  I know it's a laugh considering I can barely sew a button onto a shirt, but I had this fantasy of making one and presenting it to my granny. You see, she has a long history of making quilts. For everyone, including my dog. And in middle school, she gave me a pink and purple quilt. To this day it is the perfect blanket to cuddle up in, especially when sick. It's one of my few favorite material possessions, which also includes a beautiful cedar wood chest my grandfather made me. 

I don't think I've ever told her that.

As for my quilt-making dream, it kind of faded away with lack of time and then moving back to Texas.  

Until this weekend.

My grandmother has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and of course I've had the mad rush of thoughts to try to make sure she knows I love her.  I don't doubt she already knows in some way, but I want to somehow make up for the years I have taken her (as well as all of my grandparents) for granted. With this diagnosis, the urge to make a quilt started burning again. Cary has been incredibly supportive, and last night we spent way too much time at the fabric store to pick out the perfect colors.

We are in the very first stages of making a sunset quilt, and let's face it, so far Cary is the shining star in this endeavor. I'm going to show the progress along the way, which is apparently going to be a long process according to everyone I talk to. But I am also excited to show my grandmother the progress in person.

Got any advice?

TOY STORY Was A Bad Idea...

(not toys sent away)

B is at the stage where she is asking for EVERYTHING right now. Unfortunately that is not an exaggeration. When a commercial comes on tv, she asks for it. Then the next. She has even asked for hair shampoo.I tell her that she needs to stop asking and she always says 'This is the last one'. And then the next commercial: 'Except for this, too.'

I take it in stride. I know it's a temporary phase, and she knows she's not going to get everything she sees or wants. I also tell her that to get more stuff, she needs to play with the things she has. Her toy box has been filled with unplayed-with items since we moved back to Texas, and it was exhausting just thinking about Christmas and what else we were going to bring into the house.

So finally, Cary and I cleaned out her toy box this past weekend. The small things, like the cheap Easter basket fillers were easy to decide on. But it was the stuffed animals that I really struggled with. Not only am I a mourning mommy that wants her small baby back, but I have also seen Toy Story one too many times.

Each stuffed animal I picked up I had to tell them that they were going to go to a new home where they would be played with by a child that loved them. Then I would stare at them for a moment, wondering if I could truly let go. It was Cary gently prying them from my hands that helped the progress. And now they haunt me.

They are probably singing 'When She Loved Me' right now.

Excuse me. I have a Goodwill to go raid.

How Do YOU Balance Your Every Day With Your Passions?

Ever miss something (like blogging?), but never have the time to write posts anymore? Yeah. That's me. Fortunately, I'm keeping up on Facebook with some fun things and maybe...perhaps 50 years from now, I'll be able to sit down and write it all down.

I guess my goal is to get it caught up before Brylee's wedding so that I can maybe put together a book or two a year to show her and her new family her life growing up. Because, you know, she keeps life interesting. And she needs to know what she's in for with her own kids...