Stupid Chickens

In case you are not on facebook, I just found out one of the twins(M-that blonde one) has the chicken pox. The dr. was kind enough to check and see if my older kids have had their booster vaccinations, and E is the only one who has. That means P and W are both at risk for getting it. Please pray that no one else gets it. Splitcat just left this morning to go on a school retreat and won't be back until Wednesday(he knew M had a rash, but we thought it was hand/foot/mouth) so he doesn't know that m has the chickens and unless he borrows a cell phone and calls me, he won't know. Meanwhile, we are in quarantine until Thursday or so.

God Bless the Portrait People

If you ever want the grandparents to know how your kids really act, take them with you to have portraits made. Five minutes in and I'm sweating. My poor m-i-l. She was a trooper. I won't bore you with the details, but I need a vacation. I was impressed with how nice the people at the place were, considering my children were rampaging through their studio. If I ever get the courage, I'd go back. The nice thing is we got a cd with all 83 pictures on it. The ones above are just a few. The big kids were there, too.

Boy, oh boy

Though I am well acquainted with the joys and woes of unrequited love, I was not quite yet prepared to have a conversation about it with my oldest child.

I noticed as he got off the bus on Monday that his cheeks looked really red. I assumed it was hot on the bus. Then, once everyone was off the bus, he said, Momma, are my cheeks red. I said yes, did someone slap you? No, he said. Are you blushing? I asked. No. I'm in loooove.
You are? Yes.

Then he tried to make me guess who. She sits across from him on the bus. He was acting all giddy and silly. Very much like someone in love. What he told me next was quite surprising. She doesn't love me, but that's okay. I'm still in love with her. How do you know? I asked. I asked her. (Wasn't expecting that). I also told her I wanted to kiss her. (Really wasn't expecting that). I tried to explain that it was okay to be in love, but you can't go around telling people you want to kiss them. I burst his bubble a little. But I don't want him to get in trouble. But I had this vision of him at 17, full of angst ridden unrequited love. He's so much like his daddy.

Then, on Wednesday, I drove to the bus stop on my way home from the mall. When we got home I asked the boy to wait outside with Baby M, who was asleep in the car, while I took W up to bed. Sure, he says. I take W up to bed and take his shoes and socks off, then head back outside. I don't see P. anywhere. Where are you? I yell. then I look around to the other side of the van and see a very white behind. Pull your pants up!! I yell. What?!! he says. I needed to go to the bathroom. That's when I realize that I had jokingly told him to use a tree at the bus stop the other day when he got off the bus and had to go really bad. He said no way! so I didn't really think about it again. He couldn't understand why I was so upset that he peed on the tree that's about 2 feet from the road. I was laughing so hard, I nearly didn't make it to the bathroom myself.

For your amusement

I somehow stumbled across the results of the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Apparently Mr. Bulwer-Lytton is the man who first penned the words "It was a dark and stormy night." Therefore, the contest is to see who can come up with the worst first lines of a book. There are several categories. My favorite was from the romance category:

Bill swore the affair had ended, but Louise knew he was lying, after discovering Tupperware containers under the seat of his car, which were not the off-brand containers that she bought to save money, but authentic, burpable, lidded Tupperware; and she knew he would see that woman again, because unlike the flimsy, fake containers that should always be recycled responsibly, real Tupperware must be returned to its rightful owner.

Jeanne
Novato, CA

Have fun!


Meanwhile, back at the ranch,

It's a dark and stormy day here. It was pouring this morning at bus time. Then a while after I got back, I heard our storm sirens going, and we were under a tornado watch. fortunately the suspect cloud activity was south of us, but it has been raining off and on all day. I just hope it slacks off at afternoon bus time. This kind of weather makes my head feel weird. I think the babies are affected, too. They've not been in a good mood and have runny noses. My sewing machine stopped working right last night. I am going to go see if it is anything I can fix. It seems to be a bobbin problem. It's probably time for a tune up. I am glad work is starting nexr week, I could really use a paycheck.

WooHoo

My Converse have made it to the "featured project" category on Craftster! I feel so affirmed in my footwear choices. :)

We got to go see my in laws new house this weekend. We had our first family get together for the twin's birthday. We are all jealous of how beautiful their house is. Then, two deer came through the woods at the back and stood there quietly and ate while we all gawked at them. I saw another one a little later.

I've been sewing all week, but I keep forgetting to take pictures. I'll get around to it one day.

hope everyone is having a good day.

Peanuts

The boy has discovered the world of Charlie Brown. I had an old Peanuts book on the shelves in their room, and he discovered it the other night. Splitcat gave him a giant hardback treasury last night, and he is already nearly halfway through. I am so glad he likes it.


In other news, some of you may remember that I worked on a girl's retreat last spring. Well I will be working on the fall one, too. But this time I have to work hard. For those who know what I am talking about, I am going to be Head Cha. If you don't know what that means, basically I'll be doing a lot of administrative work(collecting permission forms, money) and making sure the weekend runs on schedule and everyone is doing their job so the director can concentrate on the girls attending the weekend. I am excited. But I am once again shamelessly soliciting your prayers. I know, I'm a demanding blogger. I don't know if you will be hearing a lot from me in September because I will probably be very busy, but I'll try to keep everyone udpated with pictures of the twins, since I know that is the main reason some of you read me.

Happy Birthday Boys!

My Boys are 2 today. It's hard to believe it has been 2 years. They continue to be delightful and wonderful, even with all the trouble they manage to get into. Their personalities keep growing more every day. Baby W is mischievious and loves to climb. Baby M is quiet, until he opens his mouth. They are fun and a challenge. I am looking forwrd to them talking to know what they are thinking. Habby Birthday Boys!

My in-laws closed on their old and new houses yesterday. When we went over to say goodbye to the old house and get a few things we had stored there, they brought down 2 quilts my f-i-l's mother had made. One was in fairly good condition, but the other was covered and seemed to have quite a bit of damage. Since my f-i-l wanted them to stay in the family, I, of course, took them both. So the other night I began the process of unwrapping the damaged quilt. It was quite fun, since I did not know what I was going to find.

It was tacked about every 2 inches. It took about an hour to snip all the knots.



It was probably a very brightly colored quilt when first made. This is the center portion of the quilt. There are 2 more panels that aren;t showing. The long strips are very badly damaged; the fabric has pretty much disintegrated. I am going to try to rescue the blocks that are in good shape. There was water damage done to it at some point, so I am going to try to take each block and clean it. Then I have plans I cannot share at this time. But it was really cool to unwrap this piece of my husband's family history.

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school. My baby girl got on the bus and headed off to kindergarten. I could tell she was nervous and excited. Two little boys from down the street are in her class. Her teacher seems nice, and one of the little boys' older sister had her, and liked her. I think the boy will be good, too. My only concern is that he is sitting next to the little boy who bullied him in kindergarten. So we'll see how it goes.

Babies are crying, must go. I'll update with photos later.

My dream shoes

Sometimes dreams do come true.

Some of you may remember my shoe post from my other blog long time ago. I mentioned that I really wanted the new Converse xx-hi tops. Well, with my birthday money I bought them. I thought they made a beautifully blank canvas and set out to embroider them by hand. It was a somewhat painful process. Then my mother shows me her newest machine embroidery cd, and the designs were exactly what I was looking for. So on Tuesday I went over to her house and we embroidered my shoes. We chose a phoenix and she altered the design to make it longer to fit more of the shoe. Then I added some small colored "jewels"(they were iron-ons) and it really gave the design some depth. I think I may have to be unfashionable and wear them even though it is still a little hot here. I looooooove them. I posted them at Craftster and have gotten a good response.

A few weeks ago I posted a Johnny Flynn video. I've been waiting for the album to come out, and lo and behold, when I went to Borders the other night it was somewhat prominently displayed(I thought I would have to order it through Amazon). What makes it even better is that it was on sale, and I had a gift card. I can't stop listening to it. So here's another video.






Not much else going on around here. One week of summer vacation left. I will be working again this year at a Mother's Morning Out program at a nearby church. My old boss is starting a new program. I will be the Infant room "teacher." Right now there is just one baby enrolled. I am really looking forward to taking care of babies again. My babies are about to turn two. I will just be working 2 days to start, but the boys are going to go three days. They need to be around people besides me. The girl is starting Kindergarten. I can't believe it. P. will be in 2nd grade. I am at that confusing point where I will miss everyone, but I can't wait for school to start. My sister's kids start tomorrow. Splitcat doesn't go back till the middle of next week. I am glad, so he can be here for the girl's first day of school. Now that I am getting normal amounts of sleep, I think I will be able to deal with school much better. The last two years were pretty hard, trying to keep up with very little sleep. Baby M has been sleeping well for the last couple of months. He still has random bad nights, but they are getting fewer and farther between. I almost feel sane.

A Perfect Day?

I think today has been a nearly perfect day. The kind of day I wish every day could be. I woke at 9:30(I know, I can't remember the last time I slept that late). Splitcat had already fed and watered the two big kids, so I just had to take care of the twins. Everyone played quietly all morning and thanks to last night's trip to the library, I read. Then lunch and the twins off to bed. I read some more. I go lay in bed to read, splitcat joins me with his book. So I was laying there reading, and suddenly I was overcome with, wait, what was that feeling? Could it be happiness? Even a moment of bliss? Sleeping babies, quietly playing children, and books. What more could I ask for? Then, just a few minutes ago, the twins playing quietly, splitcat playing some combination of Barbie and spiderman with the kids, rumbles of thunder and rain pouring outside my living room window, the feeling came again. Although the day is not yet through, and something could go wrong, it won't matter. It's been a lovely day.

Here are some pictures of the twins from this past weekend. My BIL and his wife got a new puppy and brought him with them to visit. Baby M( the one in my lap) has recently begun to be interested in dogs. He became quite possessive when some of the bigger kids tried to take the dog from him.

Below: W. found a ponytail holder on the floor and brought it to me. He knew it went in your hair, so I gave him a ponytail. He needs a haircut. people think he's a girl.

Prince Charming. My sister gave this costume to P. So when M. found it, he had to put it on. The boot covers go over his entire leg.

Nothing too exciting to blog about. But the other day as the kids were winding down for the night, someone decided to watch Blue's Clues. I was cross stitching and Baby M had cuddled up next to me with several stuffed animals and his blanket, when out of nowhere, he points to the tv and says, "goggie. blue." I had heard him say goggie a few times, but this was the first time he said Blue. We don't watch Blue much anymore, it used to be a staple around here. Looks Like we may be watching it again. The boys can also both say their older brother's name. They escape from the living room and run into splitcat's office where P is often playing video games or Lego and point at him and say his name. He gets a kick out of it. The girl's name is a bit more complex to say, so they don't call her anything. There is also a build-a-bear in the office that was given to splitcat by his student's a couple of years ago, so when no one is in there, and M escapes, he runs to the bookshelf the bear is on and points at it yelling, Mommy, mommy, beer. Beer. Then he giggles, then he cries when I tell him no and bring him back to where he belongs. He loves stuffed animals. W still mostly babbles. M is definitely leading the way when it comes to talking. When splitcat comes in the front door after being gone, M yells, Daddy, daddy. W. just giggles and tries to escape. I love it when they start talking. It is fun to know what goes on in those little minds.

Me and the girl have been sick this week, me with a cold, her with a random middle of the night throw up. SHe's feeling much better today. I feel a little better, I think my fever is gone. The babies have runny noses, but are mostly happy. the've taken to having screaming matches during their nap time. I usually give them a snack then put them to bed, and they will play for up to an hour or two. They get really loud, and I think about getting them up, but by the time I get up the gumption, they are asleep. My other children did not take naps at this age. I am so glad the twins do.

"Men at Work signs to disappear."

This story makes me so proud to be an Atlantan.

Random Randomness

I have not posted for a while so here are some random things for your entertainment

Fourth of July


My church is located very near the official fireworks display of the town. When the building was formerly a discount dept store, people would park in the lot to watch. So, now that it is a church, they want people to feel welcome to continue to do so. So what they do is open up the church building and have people available to give tours or directions to the bathroom. They also hand out bottled water(free) and have the coffee house open. They played videos in the lobby and in the sanctuary the whole night, and someone did music outside, too. We got there early because my bil was on parking duty, so we got a prime spot in the grass on the front sidewalk. We had an excellent time. Alas, splitcat volunteered for twin duty. They would have been miserable, so he let me go with the two older kids and spend the evening with my sister and her family.

This is from the bottom end of the sidewalk. At the very end is a sculpture of Jesus kneeling down with a smile and his arms held open. Scattered down the sidewalk are sculptures of various men, women, and kids. Every time we walked past Jesus on our way to the bathroom, the kids would give him a high five.

I would like to report that my kids absolutely loved the fireworks. They were both excited about seeing them. P promised he wouldn't cry. In the past, he has retreated indoors. He doesn't like loud noises. So I told him we'd try this year. He was sitting alone when it started. I quickly brought him to sit in my lap. He kept his ears covered and whimpered. I felt obligated to warn him that there would be a grand finale at the end. This caused him to burst into tears. I got him to calm down pretty quickly, though. I told him I was very proud of how brave he was. When it was over his first comment was...next year can we stay home and watch the fireworks on tv?

So what else is going on around here? Not much. We've had some very intense thunderstorms each evening. Last night we were hearing lots of sirens. But at least it has been raining.

I have some things I need to post on my blog of craftiness. I just haven't taken any pictures. I have lots of things brewing in my head that I want to make.

For a minute we'll pretend we're on Xanga and I let you in on what I am listening to.

I listen to this over and over and over. One day, perhaps, I'll buy the album. Until then, I just keep youtube up in a separate tab. Aside from this, I have also been listening to the soundtrack from the movie "Once." Good stuff. I've been trying to redefine my musical tastes, since I've pretty much had none for the past seven years. I seem to have emerged on this side of motherhood with a taste for various shades of folk music . Weird, huh. Here's another song for your viewing pleasure. Not sure if this album is out in the US yet. (Nope, not til the end of July)







I've been looking for that creative place I once inhabited. I sank briefly into that melancholic state that I once found productive, but that is no longer the place for me. When I am creating a garment I find inspiration in whimsy and absurdity. I have always been most comfortable with the absurd. I think at one point it may have been because I didn't think there was anything of me that was real. I suppose there is a fear somewhere deep inside that I am just a poseur. If I am afraid I am, does that mean I am? It's getting deep in here. Anywho. So anyway, I've fallen off this train of thought.



I finally saw some fireflies. They have been scarce these past few years. Or perhaps it is I who have been scarcely outdoors. Oh, for an hour in a swing on a spreading lawn while the fireflies frolic and we speak of other things than how we really feel. and love drifts between us on the wind until we breathe it in and words become mundane.


Can you tell I am writing mostly stream of consciousness? My sister got quite a kick out of it the last time. (and no, I am not pregnant, nor have I been drinking or taking sudafed). I think I am high on thunderstorms. I think I mentioned once a long time ago that I find them invigorating.


Yikes. It's after midnight. I'd better be off to bed. I am tired of having insomnia.

I'm back

from Florida. It was very very very hot. Thankfully the graveside service was in the morning and was family only, so it was brief. This was the first time in many years that the whole family was together. so we made sure to get pictures, because it is highly unlikely we will ever all be together again. Here is me with all my girl cousins(and my sister). We were standing on a hill so those on the left look shorter than they are. And if you don't know which one is me, I am not either of the blondes, those are my cousins Joy and Jena. When I was little, I was the only one who wasn't blonde. I didn't really know my older cousins, but we spent a lot of time with Joy and Jena. My sister used to be a blonde, too, but not anymore. It was good to see everyone.

Funerals, of course, are always a little sad, but I knew last summer that it was probably the last time I would see my grandmother. There were other things that made me sad.

I received an unexpected gift from my Uncle Jimmy. Jimmy never married or had kids(that we know of) and has lived with his mother for the last few years. He doesn't work, he fell off too many ladders when he was a house painter. He drinks alot. But after the grave side service he was still fairly coherent, and I was at his house with my parents while everyone changed clothes. He went back to his bedroom, then came back out to the living room and handed me a box. Don't say I never gave you anything, he said. I looked at it and it was an old box that said "Bible Promises." I looked at my dad, a little confused. That used to sit on our dining room table, and we read a verse every night at dinner, he said. I asked Jimmy if it was really for me. he said yes. It was his, he had brought it home from church when he was a kid. As far as I know, he has never given away anything. When we were kids he would tell us if we paid him a quarter we could sit in his lap. We never took him up on the offer. Then my sister stopped by to pick me up and he had a present for her. He said he had something for our cousin Dana, too. I told him thank you, and that I would sit it on my table for our family to read from at dinner. As we were leaving, I realized that he was giving away pretty much all his possessions. He doesn't have a use for any of these things in his life. But he didn't try to sell them or put them in the trash, he actually thought about who he could give them to. So I realized that my sister, cousin and I are his heirs. He gave us the things that once meant something to him. It may have been a long time ago when they meant something, but he remembered. I burst into tears as my mother, sister and I were walking out the door at this unexpected kindness from a man that has burned every one of his bridges. We don't know what is going to happen to Jimmy, now that his mom is gone. She took care of him until she couldn't even take care of herself. But I will say a prayer for him every time I see the small part of his life he gave to me.

Sad news

I will be out of town for the next few days. My grandmother passed away yesterday. It was my dad's mom, not the one who lives with my parents. She has been very ill for a very long time and was in her 80's. So it wasn't totally unexpected. I will be traveling to Pensacola, Florida with my sister and her family and my mom. Please pray for us to have a safe trip, and for everything to go well with splitcat who will be home with all my kids. The plan right now is to be back thursday night.

This is somewhat hard because tomorrow is my birthday(33). My grandfather, this grandmother's husband, passed away on my birthday 7 yrs ago. Today is my nephew's 13th birthday, and thursday is my parents 38th anniversary. (June is a busy month in my family. My sister's birthday was on the 14th and her anniv on the 20th. That is one reason I didn't get married in June). So it is hard when what should be a time of celebration becomes a time of mourning. Please keep my dad(his name is Eddie) in your prayers, too as he deals with his siblings in all the settling of the estate, etc. Thanks.

Another day, Another Blog

Well, because I don't already have enough blogs, I've added one more. This one is purely for my creative pursuits so that I don't clutter up my other blogs. You can find it here. I've been reposting some of my older projects as well as some new ones. Have fun!

Facebook

I joined. It took me forever to figure out. But it was worth it. Now I can see my cyberfriends lives, and most wonderful of all, found a long lost friend. She was my best friend in high school, but she moved to Australia when she got married. And we completely lost touch. I would hear about her from mutual friends, but that was all. We spent this morning chatting(well, it was late at night for her, even more mind boggling is that it is fall!). It was good to start catching up. I hope we get to communicate more now. I have really missed her. So if you know my real name, maybe I'll be your friend, too :).