My Talented Friend

I have so many of these that it seems unfair of me to highlight just one but I'm going to make a point of doing it more often so watch for your name on my humble blog! Today I have to draw your attention to my really amazing friend April who creates absolute delights for your fingers, necks, wrists and ears...and this from me-not really a huge jewelry girl! I guess what I love about April's SecondSister creations is that each one has a wonderful story that explains its unique inspiration and it makes me feel perfectly fanciful to wear the "Robin Fair Necklace" inspired by Emily Dickenson's A Bird Came Down (my favorite poet, by the way). Who could resist?

So for you lucky readers and me too, April has great drawings on her blog on a regular basis for her items as well as other very talented artisans in the webisphere/etsysphere that you should really check out. I want to hear from you if you win because I am dying to be one of the lucky ones!

Blessings of Good Medicine

Does this boy look like he was about to have surgery? The good thing is that he had no idea he was about to have double hernia surgery. Poor baby did great though. I am usually pretty emotional about situations like these but our funny, happy boy made it easy for me to relax and not worry too much. He waved and blew kisses to all the doctors and nurses and made Chubaka noises into his nitrous mask, so how could I fret? Everything went really well and even the next morning he woke up with a smile and then held on to his round tummy and said with a wince, "Bewy". I couldn't keep him down for long though. You wouldn't know it happened now. Kids are amazing and I guess I do owe some credit to our doc too.

The Children's hospital here has a wonderful courtyard garden adjacent to the surgical waiting area that was so great. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it. There were giant butterflies suspended above and amazing fountains and mosiac covered animals like frogs and birds-even giant bronze bugs attached to large boulders. The inspiration for the garden came from a young girl that was treated there for Leukemia and eventually passed away. The story was moving and made me of course grateful that we were there for a relatively minor procedure and also mindful of my husband's sister Cindy that passed away at age 12 also from Leukemia.

Let's all count our blessings today.

Do you Facebook?

So I first learned about Facebook from my much younger hipper college girl sister over a year ago and I seriously took Facebook for a silly single person format for showing your stuff to "potentials" if you know what I mean. Okay-so I have to admit and I know I am well behind the curve here but its really cool! I am beginning to neglect my family because I just found out how many friends I have! No really-its kind of fun and a little bit addicting and most surprisingly, kind of heartwarming to find friends I haven't' seen or contacted for over 20 years! Am I really this old? I guess I am but the good news is that all those years come with a whole slew of friends that I can now find all in one place. Modern technology grows on me more every day! Can't wait to see your face...

Not a rhetorical question

Okay, I know we all feel pretty overwhelmed a lot of the time but this is my genuine request for your input about your own time management. How do you all find the time to do it? To post on your blogs, to read blogs and comment? To keep on top of your laundry? To make a reasonably healthy meal for your family and occasionally and extra for a freind or neighbor in need? How about those days where your don't even manage a 5 minute prayer or perhaps a shower! I want to know the honest truth about what you think is okay to let slide a day or two and how you find a way to slip in the fun stuff. Please share...

Happy Birthday Jill-I Blog because she is!

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Look who's walking!

Okay-I'm a little behind on this but...at the ripe old age of 17 months, Griffin is finally walking! It has been a few weeks now and the Frankenstein walk is getting smoother each day but it will be a long way to his "Dancing with the Stars" debut! It is so much fun to watch these babies grow up. His personality develops so much from day to day and I crack up all the time as his sense of humor is kicking in too. Max and Landry are just the very best brothers I could imagine and I love watching them teach Griff new tricks and take so much pride in his tiny accomplishments. Their achievements are so much more profound at this age and I swell with pride as they do wonderful things like earn academic honor awards (a HUGE accomplishment for Max!) and meet their reading goals-Landry just finished his first 100+ page book-quite a graduation from what he now calls "Kindergarten Books". The thing I realize more each day is that I am so blessed to be a part of their lives, a part of this growth. I'm sure they would grow up and be great with any mother, but I know I was chosen to be theirs. What a gift-to be so sure of that!

This very moment

 
 
I really do like to blog. That probably sounds funny since I update so infrequently these days. I do have a life full of many blog-worthy events. I think that is the very reason I don't get to it. I have this trick that my mind plays on me that tells me that I can't blog because I would have to backtrack so far to catch up. Well, today I am done catching up. I'm just going to blog the moment and feel fine about that. I really don't have a huge blog audience to "feed" so this is just a record for myself and a few onlookers. I recently found out that my mom reads and comments on a friend's "Lost" blog but has never commented on mine. I guess my interesting isn't quite as interesting as Prime Time TV! Kidding Mom-just in case you are reading!

Anyway-these photos are from an unusually gray California morning. This is one of my favorite scenes. I love that I have little readers. I also love that they sometimes choose reading over other activities. Now don't be fooled by the photos because today they are reading to earn computer time minute for minute. This is our house rule so the motivation may not be so pure at the moment but some of my favorite words are, "Mom, just one more page..." So Griffin is napping and the boys are reading and I am actually writing all about it-so how it that for "This very moment!"

Too many times, I am catching up or running so fast that I can't remember what I did all day so today I am taking it all in. How about you?

Mission Accomplished!

After Project Freedom

Thank you Cara for just the motivation I needed to free my office from the burden of one part heavy moving residue and one part overwhelming fear of tackling this project. Check her blog for a post about her office project-although I think hers was not quite the undertaking mine was! I now have a happy space where I can feel organized, be creative, find my important papers, and have space to walk. This room was the landing place for anything we didn't have a place for during our initial move in August and it has taken me this long to find the carpet again. So enjoy some before and after photos and watch for a few more photos in the next week of some projects I have completed and as a result of finding access to my sewing machine and craft supplies!

Blessings #1, 2, and three

Here I am approaching the 4th week of January so I need to catch up on my commitment to Cara's 52 Blessings Project. I loved this idea and even though I may cheat and blog a few at a time since I have a hard time keeping up with a weekly post, I feel so blessed and I need to take this opportunity to formally recognize them. Today I recognize three of my blessings that bring me the greatest joy.

First, my husband Mike, for his endless patience, for his love and commitment to me and our family, for his hard working nature and his absolute integrity, for his playful and sensitive sides, for his goofiness, for his borderline OCD (hee hee!), and even for his stubbornness.

Second-which I am reserving the right to further break down and expound upon individually at a later date-my children. McCall, Landry and Griffin are my favorite Dance Dance Revolution teammates, partners in crime, snuggling buddies, milk guzzlers, cookie dough bandits, homework conquerors, bike riding rodeo champs, ripstick shredders, boogie board diehards, and yet, the centers of the tenderest places in my heart.


Third-I have been experiencing a peace and happiness that I can't explain since our family has moved back to California. California is my blessing #3. The constant sunshine energizes my whole being and beach calms my heart and soul and sharing that with my children-any day of the week is a gift for us all. I am a happier person in California.

Project Freedom

Welcome to Project Freedom! I am not free because all of my favorite things to do are trapped in this very messy office. We moved into this house in August and this is the very best this room has looked since we moved here. You can see my problem. Unfortunately, I am one of those people that gets overwhelmed with the size of a project at the outset and I throw my hands in the air and give up. We have downsized considerably in square footage in this new house so this room has become the proverbial "dumping ground". It is the home for computer equipment, sewing machines and supplies, craft supplies, office supplies, and gift wrap supplies. Oh yeah and books, and books, and books...notice how you don't see any in the photo! That is because they are all packed tightly in many boxes underneath the tables running the full length of one wall.



So today I was on the phone with my longtime friend Cara of Garden View Cottage (hee hee Cara!) and we were both lamenting the state of our respective offices. So we came up with a plan to keep each other accountable to provide motivation to get this job done and free ourselves of the burden of mess! I want to free my creativity, free my supplies for creativity, and find peace in this place I usually love to be. Cara's committment to organizing with me was just the motivation I needed so we were thinking that others out there may need "freedom" (and motivation) too. Won't you join us in our mission to find our desktops? Leave a comment and email your photos if it helps you get your groove on! Don't forget to include any great tips you have for ways to organize a space for its best accessibility and convenience-not to mention making a space like this pleasing to be in. Check back for updates on our progress...