Coming Back Around

While I have not passed out as of late, I feel like I've been quite out of it. Two and a half weeks ago I got a call on Saturday morning from my mom. My dad had passed out while walking the dog at night and fallen and hit his head. I experienced a similar incident with him this summer, when he passed out at the city pool with the girls and I and hit his head on the steps to the water slide. At first we thought we were in for an experience like that - he would be sent to the nearest major city that specialized in trauma cases, be monitored for a couple of days and then come home. Except this time it was different. He had a severe brain bleed and there was a lot of swelling on his brain. He could talk, but just in short, curt words. His heart rate was also out of control (part of the problem that caused him to pass out). It was scary.

A week later he was discharged and sent not to the rehabilitation facility they'd said they'd send him to, but home, with just my mom to care for him. That was a Friday. At his first meeting with his PT and OT on Monday, both agreed that he should not have been sent home. After some phone calls on Tuesday, they were able to get him into a rehab facility on Wednesday. He was there for five hours before being sent via ambulance back to the hospital. He has stopped using his right hand, his right foot was dragging and his right arm was swollen and cold to the touch. Another CAT Scan showed more swelling and what turned out to be a second brain bleed. He was not in good shape. Thankfully, a week after arriving back at the hospital, he has been released to rehabilitation. As of this morning, his swelling on the brain is decreasing and he's regaining use of his right arm and hand. His speech and cognitive skills have a long way to go, but I am hopeful that with lots of therapy, the dad I know will be returned to me.

So, all my artsy craftsy ideas have sort of been consumed by fear, worry, concern, dread - you name it. I've laid in bed and watched more mindless TV in the past two and a half weeks than I've seen in years. I'm feeling optimistic now though and might actually get something accomplished soon. I cannot say that the quilt on dad's lap was made by me though. A good friend of my mom's belongs to a quilting group that makes these "prayer quilts". The centers of the blocks have a tie that remains untied until a visitor says a prayer and ties it. A neat idea, I thought.

And if you looked at the picture of my parents (taken on my mom's birthday - happy birthday mom!) and thought "That man looks familiar...". Then maybe you're remembering the creepy, old neighbor from Home Alone. As my dad ages, he is being "recognized" out in public more and more, but no that is not my dad hanging with Macaulay Culkin.

On a brighter note, we welcomed an eight year old into our family this past Saturday. Well, she was previously our seven year old, but she's graduated now. She also shares a birthday with my dad, which makes it extra special (we think). We were blessed with an incredibly beautiful weekend - temperatures in the high 60's, blue skies and good times. We spent time at the park as a family, walked next door for pizza and scored ice cream - our first outside ice cream of 2011!

Now to plan the slumber party for five 7 and 8 year olds this Firday. Why am I tired already?

What You See is Not What You Get

It was with great eagerness this year that I packed away the Christmas decorations. I don't know what it was about them, usually I'm sad to see them go, but this year they were closing in on me. Maybe it's that they're the same every year, maybe it's that they really clutter things up (not that we aren't typically covered in clutter anyway), who knows, but they were driving me nuts and New Years Day they were gone.

So, of course, the next day my five year old came to me and wanted to know when we'd be getting the "winter decorations" out. Apparently she loves a good decorating jaunt. "We're not" sounded a bit too grumpy of an answer, so I told her we didn't have any "winter decorations" per se. Smart cookie that she is, she proposed that we make some. So we did. Well, at least one.

I did some googling and flickring to see what I could see, and finally decided that we'd make a coffee filter wreath. This fit the bill because A. I liked the looks of it B. Little people could help and C. I had the materials on hand. They are simply, coffee filters (a bunch) - we used the basket shaped - I'm not sure if the conical ones would give the same effect, hot glue and a wreath form. If you don't have a wreath form, improvise - a wreath shape cut out of cardboard or foam core would work as well.

I watched this Martha Stewart video to get the gist of it, but rest assured there's not much to "get". Simply take two coffee filters, one on top of the other, fold them in half and then make sort of an ice cream cone shape out of the half circle. Fuss with it till you've got a shape you like, and open the layers up to make it fuller.

Fold the tip of the ice cream cone up, about 1/2" and flatten that out so you have a flat area to glue to your base. I glued a row opening outwards and then glued a second row opening towards the center of the wreath (tips pointing in the opposite direction of the first row). This made the wreath nice and full and sturdy.

And there you go, our winter decoration. I stuck the bow in (which could stand to be bigger) with a T-Pin and hung it with ribbon that's also secured with T-Pins. The beauty of that - come Valentine's Day, the ribbon can turn red or pink, come Easter it can turn spring green or light blue, come fall it could be black or orange. You get the idea.

Yes, the five year old did lose interested before it was all done and yes, she did break my glue gun while sitting right next to me (it wasn't on), but she's still happy with the results and so am I. Now I've got lots of other ideas on how to vary this - coloring the filters, glittering the filters, heart shaped forms, embellishing the wreaths, etc. Goodness knows, I need a few more craft ideas for my spare time!

Little Red Part Two

So here's my real life Little Red Riding Hood. She was so excited for today and it was so much fun to see all the kids dressed up - almost entirely in homemade costumes. It gives me a sort of Hallmark movie choked up kind of feeling - in a good way. Which might be a strange way to describe it, as I can't recall seeing a Hallmark movie ...... ever? Yeah, so maybe way better than a Hallmark movie!

I made cape number one following this tutorial. Sometimes, when directions aren't coming to me clearly, I don't do such a great job. That's not to say that this tutorial isn't clear, more that I wasn't clear. And I made a crappy cape with a hood that was really too small. And even if the hood was purely for Momma's photo shoot, I needed it to be good. And then suddenly I needed it lined as well. Cape number two followed the same tutorial with larger pieces except that I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out how to line the hood without a seam showing on the inside. For a visual person, sometimes I'm not very visual. I kid you not, I tore that hood apart no less than four times. I was getting cranky. That's when I found this tutorial and skipped down to the part where she makes the hood. And you know what....the first time I'd done it, I'd done it right (and ripped it out and then proceeded to do it incorrectly three times). So there we go.... lined hooded cape.

But do you want to know a secret? In the first tutorial the cape is closed with a button.....Yeah, well, I have never sewn a button hole. Save from Mrs. Koch in seventh grade, my sewing skills are self taught and so far I've not gotten around to teaching myself button holes (......or zippers). It's sort of like Algebra and I ... I can always can always find a way around it. My detour this time took me via this cool hook and eye closure that is kind of hard to appreciate in the picture. My Aunt picked up several cards of these from the most awesome Goodwill thrifting opportunity near her - "the bins". They are from Norway and are pewter - very pretty, heavy duty and just what I needed!

So the costume worked, the day was a blast and I won't go on about how the icing on the cupcakes was too runny and most of my cupcakes had their faces slide off before they made it to school. Nope, not going to dwell on that. Instead, I'm going to get the rest of my pillowcases wrapped up for Craft Hope's Project 9. The deadline is almost here and I've got a few more to make.

Choked Up

Oh man, I thought I was ready for this....even looking forward to it a bit (we tend to frustrate each other), but today, when we walked into the auditorium where all the elementary kids gather in the morning, I had to work hard to choke back tears. This is my baby, my buddy, the one who went on afternoon walks with me and chatted with me through the grocery store. Now she's a kindergartner!!

She has not been terribly excited about this day until last night when she set out her clothes, placed her shoes and and backpack by the door and insisted on helping make her lunch. This morning she was checking with her sister about all the rules in kindergarten, very concerned that she not break any (and breaking my heart with that worry).

So off she went, sporting a special back to school shirt that I made for her, my little horse lover. She specified a green shirt so that the horse would have grass around it and I let her pick out the fabric for the horse. I offered lots of bright, colorful options but she insisted on this pale yellow when we couldn't find a good brown (??) in my stash. It made me feel good sending her off with a bit of momma-made love - I hope it made her happy too.

Oh, but don't think they waved good-bye and were gone. Noooooo. Thankfully we have a great phase-in program and the parents actually spent the morning in the classroom participating with the kids. And no, there are not seven kids in her class either - they break the classes up into thirds and bring one third in each day for the first two weeks. She won't go again until next Friday and will meet up with the rest of her class the following Monday when the fun really begins!

She seemed so much more comfortable and cool with it all than I had anticipated. She's really stepping up to be the big girl, which we have been stressing this summer. Perhaps someone let her be the baby a bit too long. She met some new friends today and will have several classmates from her preschool in her class as well as one more special friend that she's known since Rachel started kindergarten.

So one more week of me and my buddy and then I really will have to wave good-bye and leave. Hopefully my hormones will be in check by then!

Oh, and it's just really too darn hot. Too hot for school, too hot for anything. Granted, this was just as we turned the car on, and the temp. dropped, but still...I don't think I've ever seen this temperature before in my life!

I've Been At It Again

I just can't stay out of thrift stores. Every time I drive past one I wonder what treasures are waiting inside...and what if I don't get in to find them? My girls will not willingly go to a thrift store...but if I ask them if they want to go to a "treasure store" they are all for it. Knowing that they will more than likely walk out with some small "prize" of their own that we really don't need. At least not like I need fabric!

The above lovelies were picked up at a thrift store that supports the local animal shelter. I love that! I also loved that everything was half off!! (Yeah, half off...YAY!! More exclamation points!!) The stack of linens is sitting on a purchase from there as well. I almost cried when I found it. It's a table cloth, the colors are brand-new vibrant and save for two small spots in the center, which is white, it is in perfect condition and I know my Oxi will take care of that for me. It set me back $4. That may have been the happiest I've ever been to spend $4! I am also in love with the bottom sheet, which is really heavier than a sheet, soft, but not flannel. I know not what it is, but it was a $1 and I loved it!

This stack was bundled together at the local Goodwill. I really wanted it for the patchwork piece about two thirds of the way down, but after getting the whole bundle home and washing everything, there are several other vintage pieces in there that I'm quite excited about. I also love the two knits on top. I don't know to work with knits, but these will be fun to find some use for. Oh...and the bundle was $1.99.....but it was also half off, so $1 well spent!

And....totally unrelated, somebody started second grade today. Seriously, I have tangible memories of second grade (some good, some not so good)...how can I now have a second grader? She was nervous about this year - I'm not sure what had her worried, but by the time I picked her up, everything was great. Phew. My baby starts kindergarten this week as well. She doesn't go until Friday and will only be there once a week for the first two weeks for what they call "phase-in". She is not excited, but hopefully the fact that I will be with her almost all day Friday will be reassuring and she will actually get excited once she sees all the cool stuff she'll be doing. In all fairness though, she will get her own post. So two more weeks of hanging with my little buddy and then I'll find myself a stay-at-home mom with no-one at home. Sniff...sniff....

Weekend Celebrations

A word of warning, this is a picture heavy post. There isn't a lot to be said for our weekend. We visited our Georgia relatives, driving first to my in-law's house and spending the day and night with them and then heading on to my brother-in-law's to spend another day and night with his family before heading home weary from so much fun and sun.

Grandpa Mel had built a wishing well for the kids over the sight of an old well. The girl's loved it. They loved it even more when he gave them coins to wish on and then let them clean out the well the next day!

The business of wishing on your coins before throwing them in is very serious business. I loved watching them clutch the coin and whisper their wishes quietly enough so that I couldn't make out what they were.

There was so much for the girl's to do at their Grandparent's and they loved it all - playing in Grandpa's garden, wading in the creek, running in their big front yard, riding "pedal carts" (imagine a go-cart frame, but with bike pedals), climbing, jumping, being a kid......

At Uncle Dan's, there was lots and lots of swimming followed by sparklers at night. It took the little one several attempts to take control of a sparkler, but she came around in the end. Who doesn't love fire on the end of a stick?

How lucky we were to be able to relax, hang out with family, enjoy our kids and enjoy a gorgeous three day weekend. It's so seldom that we actually stop and just enjoy what's going on - really, it should be done more often.

She's a Graduate

Please indulge me today....my baby finished preschool. She's all grown up and ready to start kindergarten in August. Her school had a program at the children's museum here. We all had a blast and were thankful that Jim could take the morning off to join us.

The kids put on a great program of which I have a lot of poor photos of. I was too far from the stage for the flash to really work and there were too many heads in the way. Perhaps it was just best that I sat back and enjoyed the moment anyhow. But certainly I wasn't going to miss her getting her "pa-doma", as she called it last night.

After the program we got to spend a few hours in the museum. I posed for Rachel in the art area, we got to see the new traveling exhibit "Gross-ology" the impolite science of the human body (it was gross), we played on the roof, avoided the gift shop and had a good time.

Sarah's two years in preschool were such an important time for her. The first year was rough - really rough, but we are all so proud of how much she's grown and matured and learned during this time. I am thankful for her teachers as well, and the love and patience they have shown her. Still, it hardly seems possible that she will be ready to start kindergarten in a couple of months. They really don't stay babies for long at all. Sniff sniff....bring on the water works!

What We Do For Kicks Around Here

OK, so I have a confession to make. Yesterday's post....I did it last night so that I would have something creative between the hair cut posts, seeing as this is not a hair cutting blog. But really, I am excited about that quilt and made almost 20 blocks last night! But today is about my girl and her second hair cut (in seven years). Back in August 2008 she had 12" cut off and donated to Locks of Love. Just a year and a half later those 12" were back and she was back for another opportunity to donate.

This time she went a bit shorter (Rachel's decision) and I think she ended up with almost 13"!

And now I have this gorgeous girl to look at who looks about three years older than when she walked in. And somehow the hair cut even made her eyes look bluer!

She loves it, I love it and she's excited to show off her new look at school tomorrow. Plus I have this sweet photo to make me smile. It's been a good day.

Growing Up

Somebody went for their first hair cut today. She has been asking for one for ...oh, about a year now, but her Momma couldn't bring herself to let it happen. Finally, the curls had become such a tangled mess that I knew the time had come. So today was the day and boy have we been excited about it!

The initial cuts went well and she even asked for it to be shorter (to match her best friend at preschool).

All her golden locks fell to the floor. Bye bye baby hair, she's got a full head of big girl hair now! Rest assured, there is a perfect little curl in an envelop in my purse right now.

She opted to have it blow dried a bit straighter on top, but wanted curly ends. So now the mystery is....what will it really look like when it dries on its own? Do curls really disappear when you cut hair? Will the curls get curlier now that her hair is shorter and lighter? Who knows....I guess we'll have to stay tuned. For now though, we are all loving sweet Sarah and her adorable new do that seemed to put an extra spring in her step and maybe even (heaven help me) a bit more spunk into her.

Birthday Girl

Of all my treasured possessions, this one ranks right up at the top. My girls. My babies. This photo is now five years old, as is the sweet 9 lb. bundle in the photo.

Her hair was brown and straight when she was born - not so any more. Her blue eyes stayed, as did her sweet face. We had her party today. Last year's celebration was low key as we were in the middle of kitchen construction, so this is really her first party to be excited about - and excited she was. She has been preparing and planning all week and just to break our hearts, last night she told her daddy, "Tomorrow friends are coming and they will play with ME!". (Yes, I harbor guilt over her having second child syndrome). And play they did. Lots of squealing, lots of running around, lots of fun. Thanks to the friends who helped celebrate with us!

And the final installment in birthday cakes - Sarah's horse cake. I looked at hundreds of pictures of "horse cakes" and saw so many incredible cakes with edible horses modeled out of all sorts of things, but in the end I did as I knew I would do and used toy horses. So much faster and easier. This cake came together pretty quickly and easily, for which I was thankful. I used the Wilton buttercream icing recipe (this is so bad for you!) on a chocolate cake to which I added a pack of chocolate pudding mix and an extra egg. The cake was moist and good and the icing was a hit with the kids.

Now, back to the sewing....and I'll take a pie for my birthday!

I have no idea why the text is showing up in two different fonts unless is has something to do with the fact that my "double u" key doesn't work and every time I need to use one, I have to use the paste function to insert it. As if that isn't annoying enough - two fonts show up. I give up.

Sick. Again.

Just when I was beginning to feel overwhelmed with what still had to be done, the commitments we'd made, the birthday parties and Christmas parties and all that stuff that's supposed to be fun, but in mega doses becomes nothing more than a duty fulfilled, nature sent us a not so subtle reminder to slow down. Rachel had a head ache Wednesday and was cold all day, which is odd for her. By ten that night, her temperature was almost 103. By noon on Thursday, it was 103.5. Thankfully the doctor had an opening at 3:00 and we were there! As her pediatrician put it, she got an A on the only test you don't want to get an A on....Flu, Type A. She was sooooo sick last night. I don't ever recall having the flu and had no idea that it was so horrible. At one point, I swear, her eyes rolled up in her head right before she threw up. Again. On a tummy that had already lost the only thing she'd eaten back at the pediatrician's office. Poor girl. Thankfully, she is feeling better today. The whole family is taking Tamiflu (man it's expensive!!!) and she's got several other concoctions to take as well. We were lucky to catch it early and hopefully everyone will be well for Christmas.

So the elves thought they ought to do something fun last night to lift spirits this morning. Those little buggers strung toilet paper (again with the TP!!) from the dining room light out into the dining room and sprayed silly string on the table! Tsk. Tsk. They could be found hanging in the light this morning with their tools in hand and their antics were well received.

And in the effort to be a bit crafty, I have to mention Picnik. I am usually the last to hear about something, so you may already know all about it, but if you like taking photos and don't know about it, clear some time from your day and have fun. Lots of photo editing tools, great filters and fun to be had. I tweaked the above photo of Rachel with it. It's free for the basics and reasonable for a year's subscription which gets you extra features (of which I cannot tell you about, as the budget will not allow it right now).

There is crafting that desperately needs to get done, but what with school cancelled, welcoming the flu into our house and all that sort of stuff, projects are waiting on my table. I'm hoping to make some progress now that nature has forced us to slow down a bit.

And a kitchen tour is in the near future. I took photos yesterday after I gave it a good picking up and before the Mr. went to town making some incredible lasagna in it.

An Interruption

It must be the holidays because our world is full of magic right now. The kind of magic that brings an early morning snow to Southern Tennessee just weeks before Christmas. My wake up call came at 6:30 this morning - not a favorite time to rise on a Saturday morning, but they were magic words squealed by excited little girls "It's snowing!!".

I got up. I grabbed the camera. I'm glad I did. I also went back to bed for an hour or so before rising again, taking more photos and then heading out to play. All before breakfast....but not coffee. The coffee tasted extra good outside in the cold!

Our winter wonderland is melting right now, but there's still magic inside. Friday morning the elves were found snuggled up in a basket in a toilet paper nest reading "The Night Before Christmas". These elves seem to have a thing for the T.P.

Then last night, before I went to bed I caught them already having their breakfast on the table. And more magic this morning, when they cereal they'd started out with last night was all gone!

Perhaps Santa has a helper when it comes to this magic stuff.

P.S. The cats are not supposed to be on the table, but I am guilty of taking the picture first and then getting the squirt bottle out.