Pink an' Puppow Bowfies

Drum roll, please!

(Sorry if that's pretty self-congratulatory. I'm sorta thrilled!)

It's finished! Sixteen months (about five more than I thought it was going to take)!

 

When I began talking to Brenna about what she'd like, she was three years old.  Pink and purple.  Butterflies. We looked and looked at what was available in the way of butterflies, and Brenna's three year old self liked some of it, but I just couldn't see loving it in the long term. Then I came across this tutorial.  LOVED IT.  I had found exactly what I was looking for. Obviously, I altered it to fit my needs, but it still makes me so happy!

 

5 bugs

 

12 butterflies

 

12 birds

 83 flowers 

The center panel is called Wave Runner. I really like it, but I'm still not certain the two styles go together. Too late now! One thing that just made it so fun to work with is how groups of stripes would pop up in places I wasn't expecting.  This little spot is one of my favorites!

This is what the back looks like.  Brenna picked out the soft purple floral.  It was an interesting experience having a three and four year old as a style consultant; she has a clear vision!

This was my first experience with free motion quilting. It was hard, and frustrating at times, but something I'm really glad I figured out. I think it'll go better next time. 

As is usual with my work, there are a bajillion mistakes. I had constant problems with my tension, and nearly chucked the whole sewing machine out the door on a couple of occasions.  I think now that I'm not working on anything, I'm going to focus on getting that taken care of, so hopefully I can avoid this next time.

 This is what I got when I tried to encourage my sweet girl to pose.  I'm not sure modeling is in her future, but I think she's happy with her quilt!

 

I am so glad it's done!  And I'm so glad she loves it!

Miscellany 04.12.2011

This morning, Brenna caught her finger in her bike helmet buckle.  Then she cut through her shirt and her skin with her scissors.  Tonight, she somehow collided with out neighbor so that his teeth left a substantial gash in the side of her head.  It's been a rough day to be Brenna.

*****

We sleep with three pillows on our bed.   One for each of our heads (obviously) and one that we call my Boyfriend, or alternately, "Phil". Last night, Brian cuddled up to me, so that he was laying on Phil; I told him, "you're going to fall asleep on my boyfriend, so that I can't have him when I want him." 

My mind was going a million miles an hour, so by the time I was calm and ready to fall asleep, Brian was asleep and I was laying on Phil.  But clearly, somewhere in the back of his head, Brian remembered what I had said.  He rolled over, yanked the pillow out from under MY head and handed it to me. Then he apologized. For falling asleep on the pillow, NOT for yanking it out from under me. I could not. stop. giggling.

I have wished since the beginning of my marriage that I would get it together and keep a journal next to my bed for the sole purpose of writing down the things Brian has said and done in his sleep. So here's to a new tradition!

*****

Whenever I have to list hobbies, on Facebook, or whatever, I write "sewing".  I think I'm going to start writing "seam ripping" instead. I do a whole lot more of that.

*****


Speaking of sewing (or more precisely, seam ripping): Brenna's quilt.  Just shoot me now.  I don't think that thing is EVER GOING TO GET DONE.  And it has caused me to hate my sewing machine. 

Mamas make mistakes too. Especially me.

This morning, at the encouragement of a friend, (hi, Nina!) I took the kids out for a Fun Day.  Fun Days are hard, because the day after the Fun Day is NOT FUN.  But Brian is out of town, and it's a beautiful day to be out and about, so I chose one of those paint your own pottery places.

Brenna and Isaac chose the exact same thing  right off, a train penny bank. Isaac has started the "train phase", so that was no suprise, but for Brenna to choose it as well surprised me. They got started, and had a blast, although Isaac gave up about half way through in favor of painting his arms instead.

Nathan meandered around the store.  Then he meandered some more.  He hemmed and he hawed, and finally I told him, "Nathan, if you don't pick something, you're going to lose the opportunity to paint."  So he chose an itty-bitty Christmas tree ornament.  Weird kid.  Thirty seconds later, when he was done with it, I told him he could pick another, and he chose a cute mug. They all had fun.

Afterwards, we went next door to a little cafe and ate lunch on the patio. Nathan was in such a goofy mood.  He was making faces at people through the windows and making the strangest comments.  He kept asking to run a lap around the large store/office complex we were in, and I repeatedly told him no.  I didn't get them drinks, because we had water in the car, so when he got thirsty and asked for a drink, I told him he could go to the car, which was within my line of vision, to get his water bottle.  Somehow he translated, "you can go get your water out of the car" to "you may run a lap through the very busy parking lot." 

I saw him walk towards the car... then he turned right...  then he disappeared behind all the other cars.  HEART ATTACK.  I grabbed Isaac and yelled for Brenna to follow, and of course Isaac spilled his chip bag and had to fuss, and Brenna had to make a big show of twisting her chip bag to save for later, and finally I got to the car, yelling all the while, but he was GONE. Isaac heard a flight of stairs callling his name, Brenna was doing a dance on the sidewalk, and I COULDN'T SEE NATHAN!

All of a sudden, I heard him calling me.  He was standing at the table we had just vacated. He had run a lap. And come back to the logical starting place when one does such a thing.  Oh, my word. Did that kid get a talking to.  I asked where he had gone, and he said he had run THROUGH THE PARKING LOT.  "Just down that row.  I looked both ways."

The talking-to recommenced. 

We covered LISTENING (he asked that I make sure he's actually listening next time.  I was like, "um, that's YOUR job, dude.  I can't make you listen!)

We covered locomotion through parking lots ("You NEVER RUN!  DO YOU HEAR ME?!  YOU NEVER RUN IN A PARKING LOT!).

We covered the relative size of six year old boys and cars.  He was inclined to argue that one.

Then we huffed our way into the car and started home.  On the way, I went through one of those intersections where there are two sets of lights, one right after the other.

I ran the second one. "SHOOT!"

As we pulled onto the freeway, this is what I hear from the backseat:

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who makes mistakes!"

"No, baby, you're not the only one who makes mistakes."

"Sometimes mamas make mistakes too!"

"Yes, mamas make lots of mistakes."

And from Brenna:  "Especially you, Mama!"

I have thoughts! On things!

Sorry, I'm pretty excited.  I've been traveling in a bit of a fog this month, with some depression, some doubts about my faith (I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to write a post about that), and of course, a lot of change within our family routine. That's been reflected in my blog by the lack of posting. I've pondered and pondered what I could write, and come up with... nothing. But in the last week or so, suddenly, ideas are coming to me, thank God. My thoughts are clearer, less cluttered. Less negative.

And here, I'm going to go straight into a totally taboo social topic.  Money. I might overshare, and if I do, I'm sorry. You all know I operate like an open book, and if you really wanted to know my husband's net worth, I would probably tell you! 

(Don't worry, I don't plan to thwart the taboo that much!)

(At the moment.)

I didn't tell a lot of people; I felt very self conscious sharing it, but in December, I had Lasik. Or, some Lasik, since there were problems that will hopefully be completely remedied this week.  We also got a dog. A designer dog. She was expensive; more than I ever thought I would pay for a pet.

Both of these choices were thoughtful; we didn't rush into them. But I am frugal. And they are luxuries.  And when I pause for even a moment, I feel so self-conscious.

And rich.

When I look at our life, it sort of scares me.  What does one do when one has extra money?

If we invest it, are we selfish?

If we give it away, are we foolish?

(I know there's a middle ground here.  But I'm not sure exactly where it is)

So this is what I'm thinking about.  A proper attitude towards wealth and possessions.

What do you think? Do you feel self-conscious about your financial status, whatever it may be, or do you find it comfortable where you are?

(Please note, I'm not asking what your status is!)

A nice, relaxing Saturday morning

Isaac must be having a growth spurt because he's been sleeping in 'til 7:30 for a couple weeks now.  And the big kids are feeling particularly self reliant, so they don't wake me up.  So I've been sleeping in 'til 7:30.  SEVEN THIRTY, y'all!  So if you don't count that someone wakes up with a hacking cough every night (usually the girl child), I'm getting like nine hours of sleep.  Don't worry, I'm not getting attached to it. I figure I have about one more week like this. But you would think I'd feel rested, wouldn't you?  Well, I sort of do, but the advent of a puppy joining are life has made our little family busy again. 

For the first time ever, I have to get my shoes on the moment I'm dressed because when I get downstairs, we're off and running.  The pup has to go out, Isaac needs milk, anyone who did not take care of their own breakfast has to be fed, anyone who DID take care of their own breakfast has to be directed to clean up the huge mess they made, and why can't the coffee just make itself?

Brian has pointed out on a couple of occasions that the signs all say I didn't brush my teeth this morning.  Well, DUH. Once I'm downstairs, I don't go back up until bedtime.  At least give me credit for showering!

So anyway, the combination of sleeping in and not ever leaving the puppy unsupervised have caused a reboot of our daily patterns. Like laundry. This is the first Saturday since we got her that hasn't started with load after load of laundry, and that is because NATHAN IS AWESOME!

This whole six years old thing is interesting.  Nathan is spaz-tacular in a whole new way. From what I can see, he's not alone; it's the way of the six year old boy population.  They are slightly insane. However, yesterday, when I came down after my shower, Nathan had run a load of laundry (unloading the dryer, switching the wash to the dryer, then a new load in the wash) AND run a load of dishes.  Then, when the dishes were done, OF HIS OWN ACCORD, he unloaded the dishwasher, refilled it, and ran it AGAIN! 

(At this point I should probably point out the obvious: we were way behind on dishes, too)

For the first time this month, I don't feel buried under housework that needs to be done.  I can officially turn my husband's attention to the other things that need to be done around here, like sorting out all of the outgrown clothing that gets crammed into whatever empty space is readily available, and figuring out where the long-term home of the dog crate will be.  Lodged between my sewing table and hope chest, it doesn't really add the the simple, clean look I'm ultimately shooting for (how come the pottery barn dogs always lay nicely on a beautiful pillow?).

Also on our to-do list today is to plant the early spring vegetables. Because it looks like we can count on still being here in the early spring. Beyond that is anyone's guess. I can't decide if planting food is optimistic or pessimistic, but it is super relaxing for me and a joy for the kids. So we'll go with that.

Life is sweet, if unpredictable!



'

Lots of Random

I shared this on facebook, but I thought I'd share it here too:

Today Nathan and I were talking about (of all things) the gender roles of women in other cultures (have I mentioned that this kid asks a lot of questions?).  He asked me for a specific example, and I, as usual, couldn't come up with something when put on the spot.  I told him, "I can't think of anything off the top of my head."

"Do you have anything at the bottom of your head?"

Hmmm....

*****

Paisley loves Brian's shoes.  She loves all of the shoes she finds, but she curls up and sleeps on top of Brian's with her mouth open, so that her tongue is against the inside.  Yum.


*****

I was totally craving mashed potatoes earlier this week, during my monthly bout of insanity.  So I made A TON.  And they're now sitting in the fridge, because my kids won't eat them unless under duress.  I think we'll be eating Shepherd's Pie tonight.

*****

I've ordered our literature supplies for the rest of the school year, and little by little, they're arriving.  New books!  And the one day that I didn't put the RING THE DOORBELL AND DIE!!! sticker out, the guy rang the doorbell.  I would get a plaque if it weren't that the schedule is not consistent throughout babyhood.

*****

Isaac and Paisley are sort of hysterical together.  Isaac is so strong willed, I haven't figured out how to enforce appropriate behavior with the pup.  Consequently, our day goes like this:

Isaac attacks Paisley.

Paisley attacks Isaac.

Isaac cries. 

I come to the rescue, separate the offending parties, calm everyone down.

Isaac attacks Paisley.

*****

Speaking of Isaac, he's calming down!!  Sort of.  This week, he discovered that the tops come off of the six inch gutter drain thingies.  Our toy car bucket has been reduced by about half.

I feel the need to note, though, that we cleaned out toys in a massive way last weekend.   So the toys now floating somewhere underground?  Those were the few we wanted to KEEP.

While I was on the phone lamenting the situation to a friend's voice mail (so that I would not lament the situation to my toddler at top volume), Isaac was pulling the keys off my computer keyboard.  So if you notice anyplace that an "r" is missing, it's because that one is broken and wobbly now. 

Also, I got the requisite Toddler With Lipstick All Over His Face Picture yesterday.  He was cute, I have one of each of the kids, and he didn't ruin the lipstick, though (like Brenna did for her picture), so I'm not holding that one against him.

*****

I think there's a huge benefit to having a puppy while having a toddler.  Bodily fluids are such a part of my daily existence, that another creature having accidents on the floor doesn't even phase me.

*****

So things are kind of busy around here, what with the new puppy and all, however, our floor has never been cleaner!  Since Paisley thinks anything left on the floor is hers by default, it all get picked up.  And put on a counter or table.  So if you come to my house, just stare at the floor, and you'll think I have this thing figured out!  But you might run screaming from the house if you happen to glance at any other surfaces.

Happy New Year, Y'all!

Introducing....

 Paisley!

This was the only picture I could get of her sitting still.

Letting Isaac get in here was a HUGE mistake.  Huge.  But cute.

She found the tiniest spot she could get into and fell asleep.

Just Exploring...