Party Time

I keep coming over here thinking, I really should post something. I kept leaving Ana's pic and birthday post up because, well, her birthday is not over yet. We ended up having to cancel her original birthday party because some of us were sick, and that was such a bummer. So, anyway, the rescheduled party is this weekend. I have a lot to do to get ready. Brainstorming time. Thank God that I had gotten each of the kids a helium balloon from the grocery store a few days before her birthday. They were all sick and miserable and I had to run out to get milk and something else. Boy were they surprised to see balloons too! They are always begging me to get them a balloon at the store :).

I love the store near my house, by the way. It is just a grocery store with a deli. No supercenter, no clothes, no pharmacy, etc. etc. Usually when it is nice, we load the baby in the stroller and get to walk up there. Not long now til we can do that again. Maybe this week

Anyway, I felt so bad because I knew they were too sick, and I was going to have to cancel the party, so I kind of looked the other way when they got into the bag that was full of the goody bags supplies. In the past couple of weeks, we have gone through a whole bag of tootsie rolls and a bag of suckers. Thank God I was able to save the pixie sticks and another bag of candy for the goody bags, ha ha. They may have even opened up the stickers. (they were really sick, you would have let them, too)

So starting today should have been our spring break from school, but I am debating. We have missed so much school because of the ice storm and sickness. Part of me thinks that we cannot afford to miss an entire week. I am hoping for a lightweight, easygoing compromise. The girls have a friend coming over Tuesday and Wednesday, so I thought Tasha could do some school today but take off for a couple of days. Who knows about Thursday and Friday? Only God, I suppose. :)

I am just glad we are all well now. I am really looking forward to some spring cleaning and decluttering. I am hoping it is not raining today. I really want to go take pics of some of my spring flowers while they are still blooming.

So Happy Birthday to my Eliana! You are going to have a great birthday party!

Happy 5th Birthday Sweetie!

Happy 5th Birthday, Sweetie! Mommy Loves You!!!!

Little Red Afghan

Just have to say, it's a lot of fun being pelted with matchbox cars while you're blogging, waiting for your photo to upload...just thought you'd want to know

thankful that Talon only knows where 3 of his matchbox cars are, and that he was not playing with weeble wobbles when he gleefully decided to toss things in my direction. 67% of said matchbox cars hit me squarely on the back of my shoulders, and one landed right in my hair. I guess I should be glad my head is protecting the monitor
anyway, the reason I got on here is because I know you are all interested in what I did with some restless time the past few days....
I made a little red afghan for a friend who has a new baby girl. I picked the red because I knew she had decorated the nursery with the Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. Very cute.

I used the same pattern I used for Eliana's rainbow blanket but used a J hook, so it went pretty fast.


(I don't know why I took this pic of the back of her rainbow afghan, as the front with all the bobbles is the pretty part. The white kitty is Duchess of Silk)
I also made my starting chain half as long as stated in the pattern, because I wanted it to be little. I made up a simple border I was really happy with. It was 5dc (in one stitch) and then 2 sc around, with 7 dc in one stitch for the corners.

Never too Late

"It's never too late to become the
person you might have been."
- George Elliot

That's good. I really like that.

for with God all things are possible
from Mark 10

I have always liked the story about Moses where his friends hold his arms up in the battle (from Exodus 17). Thank God he did not have to do it alone.

The Mill on the Floss is a book I read several years ago and liked very much, even though the characters had to go through some very trying things. It is one of those books where you get caught up in the feelings of the characters, and when you get to the end, you wish things could have turned out differently. At the same time, however, you realize that there could be no other ending. I thank God that even if we head down a path to destroy and confuse our lives, He can help us change the ending.

Fishy's Exciting Day

Make a Smilebox photobook

Obstacles

"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you
run into a wall, don't turn around and
give up. Figure out how to climb it,
go through it, or work around it."
- Michael Jordan

Read this quote today and thought I would share it. Michael Jordan just happens to be my oldest daughter's favorite athlete right now. Two books she has and likes to read about him are Salt in His Shoes and Jump. If you ask her what her favorite thing to do with her Daddy is, she is likely to say, "Watch Basketball."

Finished Baby Shower Gifts

I made some gifts for some dear friends' baby showers. For one I crocheted a bear afghan, and for the other I sewed a satin edging on a pre-quilted panel. I think both projects came out very nice. I used this pattern for the bear. It was designed by Judith Prindle. Since it was for a baby boy I did not put the bow on, though. I added 3 rows for a border around each square. The first row of the border was just double crochet around, with 3 double crochet for the corners. The last 2 rows of the border were back post double crochet (except for the corners). I added some extra rows of country blue to join, using single crochet for one row and then double crochet, chain 1 (to look like the filet pattern in the bear) for the next row....there is a little bit more here and there around the borders, but I kind of made it up as I went along. I made 9 squares for the afghan. I used Caron's Simply Soft Eco in Wheat for the main color, and Simply Soft Light Country Blue for the edging.

sorry the pic is so fuzzy, my camera was kind of messing up....

See below for the Animal Quilt I made for my other friend....

Frosty Crocuses

here are a couple of pics I took of my crocuses this morning....or is it crocii, ha ha, what is the correct plural of that? Somebody look that up for me, ok?

In Loving Memory

Yarn Home Decorating

In case you were wondering what I was doing with yarn lately...
Why bother putting an afghan on the back of the couch, when you can just put your yarn there....


















Of course, I am not actually making anything with red or black yarn right now, it really is decorative, ha ha










And why make your bed when you can use your current unfinished work in progress as a blanket....

Now you know....

President's Day History Lesson

My husband is in charge of teaching history this year to Natasha (2nd Grade). Yesterday I asked him if there was anything he wanted me to print out, etc for her to do today in relation to President's Day. This youtube video was his reponse. snicker. My husband is so funny.

The Flowers are Coming! The Flowers are Coming!

I am very happy to say that I spotted a couple of crocuses popping up this morning. I saw a yellow one and a lavendar one. Yay! Yesterday I also saw baby daffodil sprouts coming up. Yay!!!!!

from a previous year:



I don't care if only 2 crocuses come up. Seeing those first crocuses makes me so very happy!!!!!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Today is a Sound of Music kind of day, it seems. Very windy here
Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite things....

Untangling perserverance

"Never give up, never, never give up." - Winston Churchill

thoughts

"You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you."

- James Allen

(a seeker of truth and peace who stumbled upon one of God's eternal truths. I have no idea whether he became a follower of Christ or not, but James Allen studied and meditated and seemed to lean in that direction)

plant a seed of hope and faith & watch it grow

think a thought of thankfulness & possibility

cast out anger & bitterness

put on the garments of love & compassion

trust in the Lord with all your heart

lean not on your own understanding

in all your ways acknowledge Him

and He shall direct your paths

from Proverbs 3

Mom just called...

and said, Guess what? Our electricity's back on!!!

All you could hear for about 5 minutes was the sound of me and the kids screaming, Yay!!!!!

I will leave you with the very apt words my Mom said as we were getting off the phone:
"And God said, Let there be light"

YAY!!!!!!

Ice Storm Update

All of us in western KY were hit pretty hard by the ice storm last week. At one point I think the radio said at least a half a million people were affected and without power.

Our power is back on now, and we are ok. My mom and dad's power (Motherkitty and Tomas) is still out, and I would appreciate prayers with them. Thankfully, I have been able to communicate with them by phone on most days.

I still know lots of cities and counties without power around here. For some they are still saying it might be weeks before everything is back on. Thank you ahead of time for your prayers.

just found this regional ice storm blog with lots of pics of ice and downed trees, etc. Doesn't really do the reality justice but worth looking at

Life: Imagine the Potential

President Obama, your life is a miracle, and we are praying for you. Praying that God will give you wisdom in your role as leader of the United States of America. Praying for good health for you and your family, and for your safety. Praying that you will lead our country on a good and Godly path, and keep honesty and integrity as core values in all you do.

Happy Birthday to the Love of my Life

To my husband, I wish you the best of everything for your birthday.
You know all the things I would get you if I could....you will have to just be happy with a new skirt and shaved legs *wink wink*

And a couple of pics of me from our Honeymoon in Gatlinburg (March 1996)

Look at me loading the dishwasher on our honeymoon. Pretty sexy, huh?

You are better than any movie star to me :)
I love you, Sweetie!

You will have to forgive me for not posting any pics of my husband for his birthday. It is part of his present, ha ha. This post is all for you, Baby. I love you. Happy Birthday!!!!

Adventures in Shopping

Husband told me I needed to go to JCPenney yesterday and buy some clothes. He knows I am like most moms and am very reluctant to shop for myself. Ended up with some good deals and the discount was good. When I did the math, it was right at 75% off.

will leave you with some highlights of the shopping trip:

Talon screaming because I would not let him crawl out of the dressing room while I am half clothed and "trying" to try on clothes (just the thought of me possibly having to run out and chase him scared the living daylights out of me. I had to buckle him up in his stroller for a while. When I let him out, he alternately jumped with his sisters on the sitting bench (not made for jumping) and stood at the door sticking as much of his feet and legs out as possible) fun fun fun

Natasha and Eliana piling about 20 hangers full of clothes onto the stroller, because, you know, my life ought to be just like that show, What Not to Wear (thank God no one swooped in to whack off my hair)

happy and exhausted we pile onto the couch with our Happy Meals to call out consonants and vowels at 6:30 and to see what kind of dress Vanna will wear today

I really do need to find some good babysitters. That was really almost too much excitement.

Happy Inauguration Day

"And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." - Abraham Lincoln

We will be following the Inauguration events for school today, as well as go on a Field Trip at the local university. We will be visiting a travelling hands on science exhibit and a Lincoln museum exhibit.

Other than that, more laundry and dishes and potty training. Also I think one of our classes will be watching snow fall and eating snow. When the baby naps, I will be feverishly crocheting a baby blanket for a dear friend. I have less than 2 weeks to get it done. Busy, busy, busy.

have a great day :)

Zippers and doorknobs

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."- Abraham Lincoln

Ok, so now my 19 month old toddler boy figured out how to unzip zippers and open doorknobs. What's next?

You Just Don't Ever Know

"Many of life's failures are people who did
not realize how close they were to
success when they gave up."
- Thomas Edison

Favorite Painting

favorite painting by my favorite artist, ever

Optimism

There are always flowers for those who want to see them