A week in pics...I guess I have just been busy...

I have been feeling sad that I haven't been posting as much as I would like, but then when I really thought about it....I guess I have just been living my life...YIKES!

I have been sticking (mostly) to my schedule of waking early to workout or quilt and then trying to not be too computer-y, when I could be interacting with my husband and/or children. I would like to say that I have been on 2, count them...1, 2 dates with my husband in the last two weeks and I highly recommend it.

My sister had to get her car window fixed (some rat broke it) and we are helping her out to pay for it (she is a college student, after all) BUT she is going to work it off in Baby-sitting. I am feeling like this is a win-win for me (but, then again my car did not get busted) I get to spend time with my sweetie and my boys get to hang with their cool auntie...I feel like almost a normal person. I think that it also has been VERY good for our relationship. I don't think that I realized what a little amount of time we have gotten to spend together as adults since we have had kids... I am meaning time before we are all tired and strung out on daily tasks, not like when we get to pass out in bed beside each other and then wake in the morning just to wash, rinse and repeat!

And it is still being sunny here!!! I am so in love! Here are some of the things that I have been doing:

1) Watching boys in Jammies lounge and read on free days off of school!!
2)Attending an EXCELLENT talk at my Quilting guild with Gail Garber...then on Saturday I went to an EXCELLENT class with her on "A goose on the loose (or something like that)". I think that I need to work on my piece A LOT...but WOW, great stuff and wonderful people!
3) I am so sorry but I laughed A LOT, when I noticed that my ticket said Weeney...I am kind of embarrassed that I even shared, but it really was a silly thing, much like the squirting blood theatrics of the movie...but I do like Tim Burton's kooky style. (BUT, I felt like I had seen it before or something...so he is going to have to kick it up a notch.)
4) Class photo, complete with freezer paper and scads of fabric that I didn't even touch...
5) Pancake lunch for a great kid. I found the GREATEST granola-y cafe...Morning Glory. It is downtown by the train station, very kid friendly and they can make tofu in ways that are DELICIOUS!
6) Watching my youngest, not yet 2, dig in the sand at the park. He wanted to wear his brother's old coat, still too big, but before I know it he will be growing out of it himself....sniff-sniff, tear....but OK.
7) The mystery tile artist....I found a signature...I am having the darnedest time figuring out who this is...I guess I will be back with that mystery. I bet I am going to actually have to talk to someone, Google is SO much easier.

I am going to continue enjoying the weather, working in the yard with the boys and quilting, quilting, quilting, maybe I will share some of my WIPs next time. On a sad note, mostly for me, I am going have to return my latest digital camera...the focus is going out...so soon, I know...luckily we got the extended warrenty this time, let's just see if Circuit City honors it!
JMB

Going for #2!

Why is it always something new with the kiddos? To make life MORE exciting?

But that is not what I was going to post about.

The Spring Four Seasons Quilt SWAP is now taking sign-ups... and me?? I am TOTALLY there and excited. If I have my way I am going to have 2 or 3 quilts for every season around this house. I like making quilts (I start a LOT of them), I like finishing quilts (maybe I will finish more one day) and the lovely deadline helps me get that "rush". If you like, check it out, you can always spy over at flickr and see what people are doing.

Be Marvelous!

JMB

PS

Another tile picture, I couldn't resist...next time I am at the Library, I am going to write down the artist's name...I need to give credit where credit is due.

Like a weed growing in a crack...

I have been asking around....
Word on the street is... those of us with the SAD issues are in the dumps and trying to come to grips with the fact that this has been one long dark season. Well folks, I am doing pretty good today (2 days and counting) and I have some words from this side... WE ARE ALMOST THERE! Last night, the boys and I were outside enjoying the final wisps of a beautiful February day at 6ish....

"6ish??" you say,

I say "YES."

That is it folks...I have to say that YES we are going to have more of the rainy-grey in the coming weeks BUT that ol' sunshine is coming back and our days and evenings are going to be rosier, lighter, warmer and altogether happier!!! Hooray! I don't care that the silly groundhog prognosticated more winter, for me Spring is on the way.

Some things that are also helping welcome in Spring at our house that I HIGHLY recommend are:

1)Fresh Flowers right where you can see them A LOT!
Right now I have mine on the counter between the Kitchen and our sunroom/play area... I see them in morning and afternoon light and I think that I like them both ways, thank you very much. For those of you that work outside your abode...put some on your desk or your workstation...I used to put even just one bloom in a specimen cup on the high counter next to my lab bench. I especially like tulips because they continue to "grow" and change in their vase as time goes by (the stems grow, and the petals expand and expand until they gently fall.) I find that seeing a natural/organic growing and changing can be very hopeful and wonderful when I am feeling a bit on the gloomy side.

2)Watching a bulb grow...
I forgot to plant my paperwhite bulbs (I know they stink, but they are so cute.)for christmas and found them in a random paper bag 2 weeks ago. I threw them in a pot to see if they would still bloom and it has been nice to watch their greens get a bit bigger every day. They are in my kitchen window so I can check on them too.

3)I was thinking yesterday, about a bit of grass (not weed, people!) and how fast it grows and how it could be great fun to watch a little pot (of grass, people!) grow in the window also....I think that it could last long enough to feel like a hearty project for those of you not inclined to garden (maybe you will catch the fever) and kids could get excited about how fast it grows and maybe they could trim it with their scissors.....or if you get really crazy you could make a little grass baby out of old nylons and watch its "hair" grow. (it is a fun project!!)

4)Make a schedule, and make time for yourself to do something that YOU want to do everyday.
I was feeling like I wasn't getting enough "ME" time and that I was doing A LOT of caring for others...I know that most mommies don't want to admit that this happens because we are suposed to be a fountain of love, information, and patience...but the fountain runs low sometimes...SO, I am getting up earlier in the morning to workout and craft while the kids are sleeping and trying to go to bed earlier...so far, so good.

I read a quote on Ali Edwards blog yesterday and it really resonated with me:

Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also
teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever
fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michaelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must
work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.
--Pablo Casals

This is a really important message for me to teach my boys, that I am teaching them. But, more important, right now, it seems like a message that I need to teach myself. To help me remember, I am claiming for my word this year, Marvel...both the noun and the verb. I had chosen a different word, but hadn't yet committed to it here on the blog...this one feels better to me.

Marvel:
(verb) to become filled with surprise, wonder, or amazed curiosity.
(noun) one that causes wonder or astonishment.

Curiosity and wonder are a good thing, a thing we need every day. Here's to a brighter day for us all!
JMB
PS
I apologize for any typos... the silly spellcheck on Blogger refuses to work, for a third post!

Feeling loved, when you don't feel so lovely...

Warm cup of coffee,
Sunlight through a beautiful ruffle,
Boys learning to be 5 and working really hard to ride their bike...
These are a few of my favorite things.Fantastic wind-up bird, on fabric to fashion into something delicious--sometimes panels really get me. I really want to get this cut this out this week. I am thinking of a small springy quilt with a wonky house to accompany this little bird...
JMB

Whoa...it was the LOOOOONgest 2 weeks!

I think that I am surfacing....right, that is the word for when you come up out of some viscous layer to a land of breath and movement? Well, I am saying that is what I am doing because what has been going on around here has not been the best... not the worst by any means, but the sun has been shining and only today have I had enough energy and to go out and enjoy it.

We have been sick, sick here at our house. I guess everyone gets sick, but it never seems as bad as when YOU (a.k.a. the Mom) get sick. I felt SO bad, I had to ask my husband to stay home from work for a day and a half... because I couldn't hack it... being a good mommy to my boys that is, not the phlegmy-phlegmy, because I can hack that! (gross!) To be done with the whining quickly, my youngest is recovering from pneumonia quite well and aside from not hearing well and sounding "nasally" I think that I might live. (also, knock on wood, my husband is a trooper and my oldest boy seems to be not letting the yuck-yuck get him to badly.) I did think that I was going to get the husky Kathleen Turner voice again this year...two years ago I got it for like a week and it was so fun to have a low gravelly voice...I sounded VERY MYSTERIOUS! (I don't remember the sickness associated with the voice to be that bad, but maybe it was and I just can't remember.)(Please tell me that you people know who Kathleen Turner is...Romancing the Stone anyone?)

So for the rest of it I will continue in the list format that is easy for me to think and easy for you to read:

1) My most exciting news is that I received my swap quilt...Yes! I got it yesterday and I felt like it was a SUPER special crafty valentine just for me!

Isn't it just the most perfect?? I am truely grateful to a new quilty-crafty friend over at Freshly Picked... I am over the moon about this small quilt swap, (Margaret you are a Rock Star!) I feel like it helped me to be creative in a new way, get my work "out there" in the world, and get connected with great people that spur my creative vision in new directions. I am hoping that when I figure out what I want to be when I grow up (besides a super mom, of course!) my world is going to be that much broader and richer.

2) Does anyone else have childhood flashbacks when they smell their own kid's ammoxicillin? That smell...I don't even know how to describe it...

3)My mother-in-law sent me a great little video....I would love to embed it like some of my friends can, but I am just not that cool today. So you can watch it here. (I realize that this sounds iffy, but it is a video of a mass prank??? Just go watch it.)

4)Valentine's Day cards: I always think that I am going to be ....I don't know what-- "Martha Stewart Mom" and hand craft, with my son, 24 valentines.... and gently instruct him on the merits of signing his name himself...

What really happens is: the night before, in hour #2 of dinner (I don't know what that boy is doing while the rest of us eat...oh yea, making faces at himself in the window.) I am filling out all of the cards myself, as he casually explains that he can't sign his name and that I need to put a heart sticker on each of the "Nemo" cards...because they don't have hearts.....and I do it.

It was a weird moment.

I think that I will treasure and shudder at this memory. It gives me mixed feelings, but at least I can feel really righteous because I did get the cards at Goodwill for $0.49...take that Corporate America! My son came home from preschool with a bag full of candy and one kid even gave out little Shrek bags (!!!) with a Lollipop, two DOVE hearts, AND HUGE sticker!!!! WOW. I think that we need to go to THAT kid's birthday!!! so...I guess I need to sign off...I am going on a little Date with the Husband! I am excited, it has been way too long!

JMB

Has it been the LOOOOOngest week??

Here it is...the last normal day (Tuesday). I thought that it was too good to be true, the boys played together, no squabbles, they practically begged to share time on the easel. I should have known.

My littlest was running a bit slow this day. We had a wonderful morning. When he told me at lunch time that "Mama, nap...Nap time"...I thought "AWESOME!! He is totally getting this!" I should have known.

Then when the snot and the coughing started after that little nap. I should have known.

My baby has been sick now for four days. This is definitly the worst sick ever (for him)...the coughing and mucus...yuck, who knows mucus like a mother....You getting me? The sad part is he still pretends like he doesn't feel bad, singing "DAY-O" as loud as his raspy voice will let him. It could be so heart-warming if it wasn't so pitiful.

Maybe tomorrow he will feel better.

I hope so.

JMB

PS

I hope that the rest of us don't get it...yikes, I should have known.

My little bird has flown the nest...

This week I have just been shunning my dear, sweet, little blog. I finished up my Four Seasons Quilt Swap quilt and it is sent...VERY far away. I wish that I could deliver it in person, but that is not to be. I really liked participating and I think that even if I don't receive a quilt I am happy that I made and finished another quilt myself. (I think that sounds a bit crazy...just kidding, I want my quilt.)
Here is a picture of the back.
I also got my tree out of the closet yesterday and cut out some leaves and played around with a rainbow/color wheel scheme. I really like it. I have not done something like this before (this is now really sounding silly), but I cut all of these leaves out of a bunch of different fabrics and my fabric miser self was not even bothered. It was so much fun and if I squint my eyes a bit I can see how beautiful it is going to be. I am really becoming a convert to this whole "use your stash" movement....you know, making stuff, much more rewarding then just seeing it in piles.
My sister came to visit and she has caught the crafty bug too. I AM SO EXCITED!!! I have been hoping and hoping for this day. She is very jazzed about crochet. She brought her project with her and was a bit embarrassed when she whipped it out and couldn't put it down. That is OK! At my house, you want to craft, knit, crochet...anything...just get out your project and get to work. I went and found myself a hook and some yarn and she taught me the stitches to this RADICAL mesh bag that she is making. I already have some ideas to finish one for me!!! Just what I need, more media!!! Needless to say, we had a wonderful afternoon. (SO HAPPY!)
JMB
PS
If you want to drop by and craft...we can make that happen.