Long time coming

Well, well, well.  My blog.  My journal.  Good afternoon sir.  Today, is November 12, 2013.  11.12.13.  Special numbers call for a special action - so a blog post it is.  When last we met, my big guy was done with kindergarten and I thought that that was something!  Now, I have a 3rd grader, a kinder and a 2 year old toddler.  To say that life has been busy is an understatement.  Let's just pretend that we're all caught up, shall we?

It snowed last night.  And my Facebook page blew up with status updates about it.  Like, maybe it was a surprise or something.  In Michigan, almost mid-November?  Ooohhkaayy.  I'm determined to be optimistic about it.  To appreciate the change in the monotony, the delightful novelty of it.  I picked up Brendan from school today and he was so excited about the tiny dusting of snow and the few frozen puddles of ice.  He said that he LOVES winter and couldn't wait to get home and go play in the backyard!  What a fantastic attitude.  I can learn so much from him.  So, we got on our snow boots and went outside for an hour.  Colin too.  I cleaned up the yard a little while they gloried in the teeny amount of snow that they could find in the little shady spots of the yard.  And I made Brendan promise to drag me outside every single day of winter!

Declan came home from school yesterday and said that he was confused about what to be when he grows up.  I told him that, since he is in third grade, that there is no rush.  He said that he felt a calling to be a father, a scientist AND a priest (be still my heart).  I told him, again, that he doesn't need to decide now.  To just continue to pray and to answer the calling that he hears in his heart when the time comes.  That didn't satisfy him because, apparently, St. Therese decided to be a nun when she was in third grade.  Bless his heart.  He identifies with a saint!  No one ever said that he was unambitious!  (not just a priest, he wants to be a SAINT!)

Well, I better go.  My two littles are trying to play a board game without me.  I suspect the quiet means they are just breaking it and scattering the pieces.  *sigh*

Endings...and new beginnings...

Today is June 7th, 2011.  Today, my big guy graduated from Kindergarten.  Next year, he will officially be a "grader" and will be in school all day.  He will leave my house before 8am and not be home until 3pm.  He will bring his lunch to school.  He will eat his lunch with his friends and tell THEM all about his morning and share with THEM all the amazing ideas and stories dancing around in his head.  I will miss him. 

My little guy will start pre-school in the fall.  A baby no more.  He turned three a week ago.  He is potty-trained (finally).  But I will no longer be the center of his universe.  His teachers will inspire his imagination and feed his confidence.  His friends will excite him and he will start to beg for playdates (like his brother).

We bought bunk beds and are going to move the boys into a shared bedroom this summer. 

Which leads me to the next big thing in our lives:  the baby growing in my body.  I am pregnant again and due at the end of September.  We will have a tiny baby in the family again.  Someone new to love and to share our lives with.  It is amazing.  An unexpected blessing.  I am joyous about the arrival of this new baby but now I really know how quickly it will all go by.  Every milestone that Declan and Brendan hit seems to come rushing at me like a comet - so fast, so unexpected...even though it's coming is as regular as the ticking of a clock.  Kids grow.  That's what they do.  And parents are stuck in a weird time warp, just watching in shock as the time rushes by in a blur of color, laughter, tears and those moments.

Dry for too long...

Well, finally a blog post.  My friend Beth passed away in October and I haven't had the heart to post here since then.  But her daughter, Melinda (yes, we share the same name) has generously agreed to read here and comment here if I wanted to blog again.  And you know what?  I do want to blog again.  Beth once said that her blog was a place to record the life of her family, the good times, the memories that build up family and forge bonds.  Akin to why we scrapbook... and so, I want to keep doing it!

So what is new?  I'm knee deep in potty-training my little guy, Brendan.  He will probably be diaper-free in just a few short weeks...and I can't wait!  My big guy, Declan went skiing for the first time last weekend - what a trooper!  He took a 3 hour ski lesson and then had some lunch and hit the slopes with his big, high-school-ski-team cousin, Kevin.  Kevin took my big guy up EVERY chair lift (except the red one) on Schuss Mountain  and then, heroically, skiied Declan DOWN the mountain...

I am crocheting again.  I took a little break after Christmas - I made my mother-in-law a shawl and it took a l-o-o-n-g tome so I was not anxious to pick up my hooks again.  But I just finished a hat for myself and I am starting a baby blanket for a friend who is having a baby in April. 

Ok - what else?  I've joined the debate about dropping cable TV and watching shows from Netflix, Hulu and iTunes.  Could save a couple of bucks and lesson our addiction to television.  And when I say "our", I mean mine.  Not my husband's or my kids'.  My kids each get to watch one TV show per day.  After they go to bed, I find myself on the couch for TWO PLUS hours, watching mindless nonsense when I could be crafting, scrapbooking, crocheting, blogging, cooking, working out, etc. 

I have lots more to say, but I'm just happy to be getting my feet wet again.  They've been dry for too long.

Kevin takes Declan down the  mountain

Me and Brendan with Kevin

Cool kid Declan

Brian skis for the very first time!

Honey Do List

Well, honey, here it is.  The to-do list that has been in my head  but now is on "paper" (so to speak).  Home improvement is on my mind here.  I'm itching to make some nice changes to our little nest.  So, let's start at the beginning, shall we?

1.  Back door to the nook - new molding under door and paint door
2.  Shelves or a towel rack or some other thing to hide the 2-3 inches between the kitchen cabinet and the landing (you know what I am talking about - the mess is currently DUCT - TAPED - yuck)
3.  Touch-up paint on all the moldings
4.  Ceiling in dining room needs to be repainted and I need the window frame to be repaired so it is not so crumbly and I don't have to worry about my blinds falling down (sounds pretty, doesn't it?)
5.  Remove baby gate between LR and DR.  (will need to be painted there)
6.  Hang some sort of coat rack behind front door or on the back of the closet door so people can have a place to put coats as they come in to visit
7.  New rug for wiping feet when you enter vestibule
8.  Get rid of PC in living room and do something with that area
9.  New couch (say no more)
10. Have I mentioned the living room wall and window yet? 
11.  And of course that means we need a new roof....
12.  New curtains in living room
13.  New lamps in living room  (maybe wall sconces???)
14.  New towel rack in bathroom
15.  Fix grout around tub
16.  New curtain rod for Declan's room
17.  Hang curtain rods in our bedroom
18.  New curtains in our room
19.  Paint laundry room
20.  Organize and finish basement
21.  Scrapbook organization (new desk, shelves, etc)
22.  Hang shelves in Brendan's room
23.  Paint kitchen cabinets  (that's a big one, but I think it will make the biggest impact)
24.  Re-upholster and paint the purple chair
25.  New island/cart thing for kitchen
26.  New burner drip pans for stove
27.  New phone in kitchen (one that hangs up on the wall)
28. 
Lots to do honey,  so let's make a plan!

Things I'm into lately...

It's been a busy summer.  I feel sad that there are only a few weeks left before Declan goes back to school.  We have spent many many days and evenings at our community pool.  Declan jumps off the diving board and sort of muscles his way back to the edge of the pool.  He does an underwater doggy paddle that has some major kick.  He also likes to dive down to the bottom of the deep end (10.5 feet is his record) to retrieve diving weights.  Much fun and much worry for his mama!  Because of all this, we have him in swimming lessons at our pool.  He is learning to float on his back and some basic swimming strokes (which he learned in the winter at his indoor swim classes but has since forgotten).  Brendan most enjoys spending time with his mama - to Brian's disappointment.  We have to remind him each evening that he has to take turns with Declan.  Brendan loves to play in the fountains and sprayers in the shallow end of our pool.  He is also very intrigued with making water footprints on the deck.

I'm also finding myself sewing.  On my machine.  It's crazy and fun.  And frustrating (especially since I can't find my manual and am often googling things like "how to replace a broken needle on your sewing machine" or "feed dogs not working").  But thanks to google, I can now wind bobbins, replace broken needles, change feet, adjust tension, load bobbins, thread the needle and even backstitch!  My quilt is almost done.  I need to replace the needle (again) and can't do that until I've made another trip to JoAnn.  It is cute.  Not perfect or heirloom, but cute.  And Brendan adores it.  The fabrics have trucks and diggers printed on them.  His favorite things!  I will get a picture up as soon as it is finished.

I am packing and planning our camping trip next week.  It should be...let's say, interesting.  We pitched the tent in the backyard last week and gave it a trial run with the boys and Declan stayed up past 11pm and Brendan never did fall asleep, so he and I ended up back in the house.  Now, whenever I mention camping to Brendan, he says "but I sleep in my crib".  I'll let you know how it goes.  We are headed "up north" as we say here in Michigan.  People from other places say things like "at the lake" or plain old "camping" but if you are from Michigan, you go "up north".  We'll be camping at Aloha State Park in Cheboygan, Michigan.  Just a few miles from the Upper Peninsula.  We visited my uncle there in May and now we will be camping just a 1/2  mile down the road from his home.  My parents and my cousins are coming up to visit too.  It should be really fun. 

And I'm finishing up a couple of lap trays and crayon holders for the boys to have in the car. It's a four hour car ride and experience tells us that it will not be pleasant. I'm going to do my best with the boredom busters, but I'm prepared to just suck it up. Here's what the crayon holder should look like when it's done (mine are with different colors):  I found the tutorial at Skip to My Lou a wonderful blog!  (the picture is of her finished product) 

The lap tray that I am making is inspired by this one (see pic below) that I found here: (another adorable blog)

But mine is turning out to be more like a white board hot glued to a pillow case with some felt pockets sewn on the sides.  I will post pictures of all my crafty goodness soon. 

THE purse

Have I mentioned how much I love to crochet lately?  Well a couple of weeks ago, I got a book from the library - Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet.  There is a pattern in there for a little purse.  So, I grabbed some yarn that I had purchased on sale at JoAnn and started in on it.  I wasn't 100% sure that it would turn out ok, but I was determined to master rectangular/square crochet shapes (circles are more my style).  I LOVED how it turned out soo much that I wanted to use it every day without risk of losing all my things (darn crochet is so HOLEY).  So, I found a tutorial online to line the purse.  (I got to use my sewing machine!  Yay!)  I happened to have some fabric with the same shade of red in it.  I whipped up a little matching flower (my fave thing to crochet) and VOILA!  and PRESTO!  A purse I adore!  Of course, it is too small really.  Sooo, I need to find a pattern I love for a BIGGER crocheted purse!!!

Moose Hockey!

My mailbox had the sweetest little surprise in it today - two Moose Hockey t-shirts for my little guys and they were from Beth!  The boys LOVE them!  The little moose hat flips open to reveal that the moose is EATING the puck!  It cracks Declan up! 

And me, I'm so honored to have a good friend like Beth.  Thank you Beth!

(They were saying Thank You Beth!)

Blatant attempt to win a giveaway - Silhouette Die Cutting Machine

I've been dreaming about the Silhouette Digital Die Cutting Machine for a couple of years now - at least I think it's been a couple of years...I can remember when I bought my Sizzix (used on eBay) and I dreamt about the Silhouette.  If I could have afforded it, I would have snapped it up over the Cricut in a heartbeat.  With the Silhouette, you don't need to buy cartridges to die-cut shapes!  You can use FONTS and DINGBAT fonts (for F-R-E-E!!!)!  And they have lovely designs to download for only $0.99 each (a BARGAIN). 
Cutting to the chase, the lovely blog site, Tatertots and Jello is hosting a giveaway for one of these puppies and I want one!  So I'm blogging about it in hopes of increasing my chances!  Wish me luck!

Curse you, Martha Stewart and the end of naps

I am exhaused.  It is about 6pm and I have spent the better part of my day in my teeny, tiny orange kitchen.  The boys and I wandered up to the corner store this morning for dish soap and I picked up the June 2010 Martha Stewart Living magazine - Uh Oh!  Every single flipping recipe in that magazine looked good to me.  So in my infinte wisdom and using my exemplary time-planning skills, I decided to make not ONE, not TWO, but THREE of those beautiful, gorgeous, inspiring, labor-intensive Martha-worthy recipes for dinner tonight!  (um, hello insanity, Melinda would like to visit today)  So without further ado, here are the time-stealing, yet tasty recipes that tempted me so:
1.  Carmelized Onion dip with vegetables ("Active time 45 min, total time 2 hrs, 15 min"  yeeaah, I didn't notice the little time estimates until AFTER I had started)  {sorry, no linky, apparently this recipe is only available in the actual magazine}
2.  Herbed flatbread (Active time: 30 min, total time 2 hrs - strike that first bit, active time was at LEAST an hour, unless you have your own personal sous chef rolling out the dough to near paper thinness FOR you!)
3.  Penne Frittata with basil and ricotta (Active time: 15 min, total time: 30 min, yeah right Martha, I'm sure prep time in the Martha Stewart kitchen was only 15 minutes, but that was probably after one of your minions gathered the necessary ingredients and equipment FOR you !)  I must confess, that I only sort of followed the recipe, as in I made a frittata with potatoes instead of penne pasta and onions instead of basil and cheddar cheese instead of ricotta...

I'm not saying that dinner wasn't delicious, and fabulous and deserving of  some quality time in a glossy magazine, because it was.  I'm just saying that my five year old hated the frittata ("it tastes like stale waffles to me, mom", and it soo DID NOT, it was yummo X 2, if I do say so myself!), my two year old only wanted to eat the flatbread ("I don't HAVE to" and "I don't LIKE it" were repeated throughout the entire meal) and my husband is satisfied when I make any food of any kind at any temperature, the man just likes to eat.  period.  He would have been just as pleased with a slab of meat and boiled potatoes.  So, although I loved the meal, pay-off wise, the prep was just too time consuming and labor intensive for this stay-at-home mama with two energetice little boys.  To top it off, Brendan has decided that THIS is the week that he will be giving up naps, so I had BOTH boys demanding (and deserving) attention while I tried to piece this meal together.  It is day three of no-nap-dom and it's a serious bummer.  (My Declan also gave up naps at age two, but I had hope, nay prayed, that B would keep napping for at least one more year.)  *sighs*

Ok, off to wash the mountain of dishes in the kitchen, yay me.  (Just kidding, Brian offered to wash them, but I think he deserves a little one-on-one time with his boyz)

.

May 2010 Photos

Here are some photos from May.  We were busy!  (Click on the slideshow to view it full screen, then click "Show Info" in the right hand corner to see the captions)

More flowers for Mother's Day

So, remember the felt flower from my last post (uh, a month ago, I think)?  Well, I actually USED it in another craft, once more inspired by none other than LollyChops!  She made her mom this killer wreath, and it inspired me to attempt to make one for MY mom for Mother's Day.  I did it!  (almost).  I didn't quite make enough flowers to cover the entire wreath, but I'm super happy with the result.  I crocheted the wreath cover (and that took more time than it probably should have because I'm quite good at crocheting flowers and round things, but when I start trying to do straight, row-type things, I mess up because I hate counting the stitches) and then I made some felt and fabric flowers (ala Lolly from Wallflowers Week) to glue to the wreath.  It's impossibly bright and very pretty in a girly-girly kind of way.  I love it!  AND, so does my mom!  :) 

For Mother's Day, we went to my grandma's house, which was soo wonderful.  I mean, how cool is it that my grandma is 94 (almost 95) and STILL living at her own house?!?  Plus, my own sweet mom came.  AND, there was Uncle Conrad, Uncle Dan and his girlfriend Mary Jo, my dad (of course), Aunt Merrie and her four kids plus Uncle Frank!  We all brought food and my grandma made strawberry shortcake (from scratch!!!)  It was a delicious buffet dinner, a beautiful day, and a memorable Mother's Day.  My boys got to play outside, walk down to the lake looking for frogs (too cold, brrr), play in the old horse meadow and generally have a blast outside almost all day.  Pics from the day: (And for some reason, no pics of any of the moms...hmmm, that's really odd...)  The girls are my cousins, Elaine and Emilie.  The guys are Brendan, Declan, Brian and my dad.

Felt flower fun!

I discovered LollyChops yesterday! She has a really fun blog with loads of great projects, tutorials, downloads, etcetera, etcetera...

Miss LollyChops had a wonderful series called Wallflowers where she crafted different kinds of flowers and framed them - the whole series looks delightful, but I was immediately drawn to the crochet flowers (of COURSE). I'm going to be whipping up some of those roses pronto! I also LOVED the felt flower she showed. So I made one. And here it is.

All I had was some (very cheap) kid's felt that I got at some superstore and I didn't have enough of one color to make the flower, so I mixed it up and used two different colors. Lolly's flower had a fancy beaded middle that I would like to learn how to do, so I asked her and she said she would do a tutorial on MONDAY! How cool is that?!?

More Beth's Belief

Another layout for my friend Beth. Her radiation ends May12th and her chemo ends May 25th. The countdown begins in earnest! :)

(Click the image to see larger. Click again to read the journaling)



Beth - I hope you like it!

(Credits: Word art strips and girl with scarf doodle by Kate Hadfield from her Beth's Belief freebieBlue paper by Jacque (Pocketful of Sunshine at the Lilypad), Green hills by Nikki Beaudreau (of After Five Designs), Birdie Border, Rainbow RicRac, Yellow Sunshine, Plant in Dirt, Recycle Robot and Mini Butterflies by Heaven's Gate Designs (available at Scrapartist), Bird pulling rainbow from Scrapartist Art Journal collab kit, Brazen Borders from FPD, Used Michelle Godin's Rainbow paper for one of the borders, and Jacque's blue paper again for the other, Tiff Brady's little gnome, Sausan Designs Funky flowers and staples by Jessica Bolt)

LOOK at all the credits - sheesh-a'loo!

Julia

I finally met Julia last weekend. Julia is my friend Dana's baby and she turned one on April 1st - the same day that my Declan turned five! Dana is a friend from a parenting group that we joined when our first children (Andy for her, Declan for me) were just a few months old. We shared the joys and frustrations of first-time parenthood.

Julia is a beautiful little girl. She is petite and so sweet. I loved holding her and so did Brian. His hands are the ones holding her in the other picture. She looks so tiny in his hands!

We were blessed to finally get together again with Brad, Dana, Andy and Julia (for the first time!) for Andy's fifth birthday party on Saturday and then again for Declan's fifth birthday party on Sunday.

I have loads more to post and write about, but for now, I must go to bed. Declan is sick and has to see the Dr. tomorrow. We are both NOT looking forward to it.

(and the, um, credits - Quickpage by Heaven's Gate Designs at scrapartist)

Beth's Belief

My friend, Beth, is fighting cancer right now and a wonderful, wonderful digital scrapbook designer named Kate Hadfield just made the most amazing "cancer kit" for Beth to scrap with. If you are a scrapbooker, you know how cathartic it can be to scrap your own stories. Your journey, your life, your joys and often your struggles can be found in your scrapbook pages. So, for Kate to give Beth the tools she needed to put down on paper some of this momentous experience, is just amazing. Cancer sucks, there is no way around it. But, Beth is an incredible person and she has the belief and strength to fight cancer and to scrapbook it! Go Beth!

You can get the freebie here and find more of Kate's designs at the Lilypad. Beth's Belief kit is such a gift! This is a good example of how people often amaze me with their kindness and generosity. It is very hard to be jaded when you see good works like this in action all around you. So, I couldn't wait to make something with the kit and here it is:

(credits: Bird and hearts by Kate Hadfield from her Celebrate Love freebie. Word art and cancer-diva doodle by Kate Hadfield from the Beth's Belief freebie. BG paper from the Scrapartist Exclusive Art Journal kit. Thought bubble by Sausan Designs from her My Little Heart kit)

March in Michigan (for Beth)

(This post is for my friend Beth who just got home from being in the hospital for ten days - she is battling cancer and at the beginning of her radiation therapy. Please pray for her!)

Well, it is almost the end of March and in typical Michigan style, we have seen temperatures range from below freezing (with snow) to just-about-shorts weather. Today was a gray, drizzly day and snow was in the forecast, but just missed us. I must say that I am happy. Snow in March (and April) just bums me out. I like the snow in "winter" but wish it would stay there - in winter.

When the days were nice, my boys and I experienced a beautiful preview of summer. Brendan is big enough now to play fairly independently in the backyard. I'm no longer terrified that he will climb up (and promptly fall off) the play structure before I can reach him. He is learning what he can and cannot safely do - through trial and error, of course, but still, we're making progress. Although....he DID get clonked on the head TWICE by Declan's feet while Declan was swinging...hopefully, he finally learned that lesson. The only downside about being outside so much is trying to get the boys to come back IN! They are NOT interested.


In other news, Birthday Season has officially kicked off for us again. We go through a period in the winter with no birthdays and then BAM, it's birthday madness! We went to my cousin Sean's 20th birthday party and Brendan was soo very independent - it was a big switch from the last time we were there. I barely saw him! My little cousins just swooped him up and played with him, and brought him food and kept an eye on him. Just like they do with Declan. I am sincerely so blessed to have such wonderful family. And it was nice to hear my cousin Frank describe my boys as so happy and well-behaved! Right after that party was Brian's birthday (which we celebrated at home, just the four of us). Now, Declan's fifth birthday party is coming up and then the birthday party floodgates open! FUN! :)

Picture Time:

Bikes and snow - always a fun combination!

Brendan Loooves the tricycle!

The birthday party - I love how Declan is just glommed in with all his "big" cousins

Brian's birthday at home: the boys got "him" a Dr. Seuss book

Random pic of Brendan - he likes to wear his shirt as a hat

Brian's very special birthday cupcake with a gummy lifesaver holding the candle - his all-time favorite candy (do not ask me why)

And here we are in the backyard again - look no snow!

And a bit later in the month - outside again - no hats!

We chalked a rainbow on the garden path...

Swinging...

In unrelated, internet-surfing news - Anne Taintor is hilarious. This particular gem cracks me up!


Ok - go enjoy the weather wherever you are!

Grandma's House

My grandma is a unique woman. She is 94 1/2 years old. She will be 95 in August. She lives in her own home. She is an artist and a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother. Going to her house feels like coming home to me. (Especially since my own parents moved out of my childhood home in 2001). Growing up, we spent almost every Sunday at my grandparents' house. Grandma's house is in the "country" with 17 or so acres, I think. It is across the street from a lake, but with "lake privileges" (and very nice neighbors). I also would go and stay the night there for a week or so in the summer-time.


When I think of Grandma's house, I think of family. I spent summers swimming in the lake, or catching crayfish in the creek with my brothers, sisters and cousins (plus my dad, uncles and aunts). We played a lot of frisbee on the front lawn. Sometimes we would play crochet. I would climb the trees in the horse field or go pick raspberries. We went for long walks in the woods or up the dirt road to the other lake and the sand dunes. And in the winter, we would go ice skating on the lake, have snowball fights and build snowmen. Lots and lots of outdoor fun with my family.


On Saturday, I shared some of that with my boys. And Brian. We were going to visit my grandma (and uncle) so I called my aunt, who happens to live next door to my grandma now. Her daughters are 10 and 12. After some lunch, everyone went outside to "play" while grandma rested. We built a giant snowman. Brian orchestrated a huge snow fort with a tunnel. And my aunt created a fantastic sled-run down the front yard slope. I went inside with Brendan after an hour and that's when things got crazy on the sled-run. Brian built what he thought would be a snow wall at the bottom of the hill to slow the sled down because the sled was fast and kept taking the kids into the dried-up pond and through a bunch of pickery brambles. The wall wasn't quite what he expected and became a JUMP. Man, those kids had F-U-N! The first thing Declan said after two hours outside was "When can we come back?" And Brian wondered the same thing. Brian didn't have this kind of experience when he was growing up and he was a little jealous that I did. But we were both happy to be there, playing outside and building memories for our sons and cousins to enjoy, the way I enjoy my memories of time spent at grandma's house.

And now for some pictures:

Brendan was bundled up and with his snowpants on, he could barely walk. The snow was deep and untouched all winter. He sank down up to his tummy when he tried to walk unaided, so Elaine pulled him around on her sled:

Such a good big cousin!

Up and down the hill, until she was worn OUT!

And now for the sled JUMP! Declan gets some air:

Emilie - after her jump!

Some feet in the air:

The six foot snow-lady:
See the house in the background?
The girls resting on the "fort":
Declan gets more air: The End