School, a decision to be made

This morning I found my dd in tears as she stared at her uniform for her new school. It broke my heart, her dad and I want her to make a good decision about where to go to school and I know it may seem like one day isn't long enough to make an informed choice but frankly the things she told me about her new school makes me a little relieved that she doesn't want to go back. Now the curve ball, she didn't just say she doesn't want to go back she said she would rather be home schooled than to go back there. (I am not really sure if that is a complement on our previous home schooling experience or not) Anyway, I decided that for today at least, she will stay home and work on a report of sorts weighing the pros and cons and coming up with a plan if we decided to home school vs. returning to her previous school.
Speaking of schooling, ds is going to work with his dad for the second day in a row. I know he learns tons (probably more than at home) when he is with him. Yesterday they were looking at the map, and ds got orientated right away and pointed in the right direction and said there should be an airport over there and there was. (I must say I am glad he got his dad's sense of direction, and am quite glad that gps has been invented for him mom.)Haven't mentioned him before, but it has been two months since we lost our sweet Rex. Rex was Miranda's dog, they did lots together. For a long time they slept together, I had to put a stop to it because, well, he was quite slimy. But for all the hair he shed and slime the shook, we miss him terribly. As I am cleaning I will usually find a reminder of him, slobber 8 feet up the wall from a head shake (think Turner and Hooch), or a sock from the depths of dd's room that is still hanging on to some of his hair. We found out in May, right before a camping trip with some friends, that he had bone cancer. We made a few adjustments to our schedule and took him with us on our trip instead of the to younger ones. I think that was a very healing trip. We all took turns babysitting him while others went on hikes or to the beach (no dogs allowed) and once again he was sleeping with his master. He turned around for a while, quit limping and even jumped around with his other canine buddies, but then his pain got worse and meds got stronger but didn't provide the relief he needed. When we moved here in 1999 we brought 4 dogs with us, Rex was the last of these. First we lost Cass, she too was a mastiff, Rex's girlfriend, then our Golden, Princess (didn't name her, she came that way) and then Zach, our Great Pyr. For the first time in 15 years we don't have a Neapolitan Mastiff among us.

Weekend musings

There are many things I admire about my oldest daughter (the oldest who still lives at home, the oldest oldest is in Hawaii) one of them is her readiness to try new things. I don't think I was that brave when I was her age. Last year she started going to Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and went all on her own, I always wanted a friend with me, still do. She has done wonderful and will have another promotion on Thursday. Anyway, she also started a new school today. We got a call last Wednesday that there was an opening at a local school and wondered if we wanted it, I hadn't even told Miranda that I put her on the wait list because I figured it was more for next year. We left the final decision up to her and although I wasn't sure she was going to go through with it on Friday, she did and is there now. When kids are little and you take them to a new school, you walk them to class, meet the teacher etc... this morning they whisked her off and I barely got to say I'll pick you up later. I was kind of "lost" after dropping her off, didn't really know what to do. Of course the two little ones started in that they were hungry and snapped me out of my fog, life moves fast huh?
My visit with my old friend on Wednesday was good. (by old, I mean the friendship is old not the friend, just in case you are reading this Bev) The kids picked right up as if they hadn't had a 2 year break. It was so neat to see how much they have grown and changed over the years. All 3 of her boys are great. The last time I had see the youngest he was almost 2 and now he just celebrated turning 4, he has changed the most, he is about the cutest little guy I have ever seen.
Just to continue with catching up we also went to a scrapbooking crop this weekend, there were 3 of us, we left my house about 6:30 am and traveled 2+ hours away, cropped, ate, conversed for 12 hours and headed home around 9 pm. This is the longest I have been away from all of my kids in many years. I won't lie, I had a wonderful time being "off duty" for the day. I was however glad to see my youngest still up when I returned home at 11:30 pm (man that is late for her), we settled in for a night time nursing and then she was content to play for a while so I could check my email (I had also been away from my computer!). We eventually went to bed around 12:30 am. As I was fixing my hair that morning I remember thinking there is no way this is really going to happen (I am usually a positive thinker but this was too good to be true so I had my doubts) When 6:30 came around and my friend wasn't here yet I was nervous so I called her, she was on her way! (no sure why I was worried when she wasn't her on time, neither one of us has been on time in years, and it was only a few minutes) I don't think it was until I sat down in my chair and started pulling out all my supplies that I realized I was actually going to have the opportunity to scrap book for 12 hours without kids interrupting, I believe at this point I was "giddy". We did leave and go have lunch (once again a treat to go have lunch with girlfriends, if all our kids had been they would have totaled 12) but worked through dinner (ordered pizza with some others). I finished journaling an album, got dh's album from his summer backpacking trip done (he will have to journal that one) and got a ton of organizing done. This crop was mostly consultants for Creative Memories (THE best scrap booking supplies available) so I picked up some good tips.
My wonderful Brother and Sister in law made a big donation to my Breast Cancer 3 day walk, I am getting closer! I am a little concerned that I have 25 days left and over 1200 left to raise but we have a big dinner planned for this weekend and hopefully that will help. Need to get my ebay aution up and going in the next few days. I will have 2 purposes for that, anything with pink in it will go for the 3 day walk any thing else will go for my Hawaii fund. Will post when it is up.
I have been fighting a cold for a while, fortunately felt pretty good on Saturday, but Sunday I was feeling kind of run down. The kids were playing good and I was able to rest a lot. I would still like to just lay around sipping tea today but at least I feel better. Overall, I had a great weekend, hope you did too.

Putting Mom on a Plane

Well tomorrow mom goes home. It is always bitter sweet, where it will be nice to have our routine back we will all miss having Grammy here. Visits are a strange thing, it seems to take a few days to get into the swing of having another person around and just about the time you get a groove going it is time for that person to leave. We got some done on the quilt despite the fact that my machine is caput. However a few years ago Mom had got an old machine for my oldest daughter and it is working great for now (don't tell hubby, still want to buy a new one soon).
I really must say, I think it is a pretty machine and made in the USA, not sure if you can find that very much. Another plus is that it is simple, like my sewing ability.

Anyway, here is a preliminary of what the quilt looks like, although I have already discovered a few things I will definitely do different next time. This was before I cut it into 8" squares.I think the strips will have to be bricked ( I think that is the term, I am not so hip on my quilt lingo) because my seams don't really match (it is my first quilt you know).

I will post a picture when it is done, I promise, no matter how it looks, even if it is in the trash :).

I got this really cute hat for Naomi at the thrift store a few weeks ago and lately Julia has taken to wearing it. I think it is so cute.Well, after the airport tomorrow we are going to visit an old friend. I am so excited since we haven't really talked or gotten our kids together in 2 years, (time does fly). I have had lots of signs that I need to get in touch with this friend and I am so glad I have. We have lots to catch up on.

Pillow Talk

Since Soulemama's book doesn't come out until next year, I was excited when she shared a craft for kids on her craftsanity interview. So, yesterday was our day to make a pillow. I wasn't real sure how this was going to go but the littlest one was down for a nap so I knew we were off to a good start. The other two drew their pictures on the canvas, Logan's is a picture of him looking up at his older sister who is flying in an airplane. I think there is also some ice cream being thrown at the plane, and of course there is a caterpillar climbing up a flower.

Naomi's is a picture of a car and I think her baby sister is in it somewhere.

At one point the boy next door came over and I think my son was tired of sewing so he gave him a quick lesson and recruited his help. I think I had to sew about 80% of Naomi's and only about 45% of Logans.

Mom and I have managed to cut a few of the pieces for the quilt. (I got a self healing mat and rotary cutter for this, I love it!) I am not sure what made me think that I would magically have more time when she came to visit for us to work on this quilt. I truly thought we would sew for hours and hours without interruption. I will give dh credit, he has been trying to help but there are a few things only mom can do, I call it job security. I remind myself that someday I won't be needed as much or as intensely until then I will take time where I can get it and remind myself to enjoy life as it is today.

Mom is coming

I am so excited! We will be leaving soon (after I feed, bath and clothe the 3 kids) to go get Mom from the airport. It will be a great visit, I just know it. We have lots planned with plenty of time to visit. Well, off to dish out oatmeal.

Work in progress

I have determined that a blog is just a work in progress, kind of like laundry only more fun. Unfortunately the world will not stop if I don't get on here to update so it doesn't always happen. I am trying. Lots happening here since the last post. My baby boy had his 6th birthday. We had friends over for dinner, cake and to make lookie loo bottles. I think the kids enjoyed the making part but I know mine at least haven't played with them much since. Of course imagining my son as a little boy now is sometimes too much to handle. I ran across an article in the paper about his birth, I think the reporter originally called us because he was born at home but then learned about how we found out he was a boy instead of another girl like the doctor who did the ultrasound thought. It is amazing how much he has grown, we had his 2nd birthday the weekend after we moved into our new home and he could barely reach the light switch, and yesterday he hit his head on the bar height counter top, he has gotten so tall. (his head is fine btw)
I think my biggest challenges these days are wanting to do so much and not having enough time to do it in. I know, this is a challenge for anyone let alone a mother right? Well, I am trying to figure out where all my commitments fit in with being the parent I want to be. Can I take on one more thing and still find time to play cards with the kids? Is it possible to work in another meeting and yet maintain an interest in grasshoppers? I think not. I am going to have to perfect the art of saying no. No to things I don't want to do but also no to a few things I might be interested in. That said, my mom is coming in 2 days (I can't wait) and we are planning to start on quilts for the girls bedroom. I have looked and looked for a quilt and they either aren't quiet the right color or cost a fortune so I decided to start looking for material instead. I have been real lucky at the thrift stores and have found lots of scraps with colors I think will go great together. I also found a huge piece (6 yards?) of a very pretty fabric that I hope will work for part of the quilt, a valance for the window and some pillow shams (is 6 yards enough for all that?) Anyway, I will be sure to post pictures as the work unfolds. Did I mention I have never made a quilt before? Should be fun anyway, a 3 generation quilt, heirloom quality I am sure.
I am working on making my photos a little bigger (just a suggestion from a friend) but not sure if I will master that for this post or not. Don't want to overwhelm myself.
My poor dog (see Aug 1), this morning he went chasing after a (*^$#%&^^%$%^&%$%) rabbit (I love all creatures, just wish there were a few less rabbits out here) anyway, he ran behind the neighbors truck and came out screaming, I am of coursing thinking it was a jackalope and it kicked his butt but he was limping bad so we called the vet. Well, after xrays I was looking over his leg while contemplating surgical options for a cruciate repair and noticed a hole in his knee. Apparently what really happened was the rabbit had a long skinny sword and poked his knee. So he is on antibiotics and pain meds for a week, hopefully it won't infect the joint. He is quite pitiful as he won't put any weight on it and limps all over.
Since my goal is to spend more time with the kids, quality time that is (I spend plenty of time with them in general), I am off to start on our bedtime routine. The little girls are soaking in the tub as I type and I figure I should go wash the grime and turn them back in to little princesses instead of homeless orphans.

Breast Cancer 3 day

I have only briefly mentioned that I am training for the Breast Cancer 3 Day walk in October. Well, October is getting closer and I am a little worried. I need to really step up the fund raising, I am at $305 out of the $2200 I need to participate. I know lots of my family intend to support me and think that it is a ways off but I need to know I will make it long before the deadline just to make travel plans. I was watching 3 day video blogs on youtube.com earlier and it had me in tears, I have to do this, for me, for my children and for my family. So, it is back to the fundraising resources online, better get busy.
We had a great time camping this weekend. I have decided that the youngest just doesn't sleep well on the ground, which translates into I don't sleep well. But it was worth it because the next day the Grandparents watched all 3 little ones while dh and I went on a motorcycle ride and had a good time browsing the shops in Creed then having a delicious lunch while sharing a table with some wonderful people. There were 3 couples who have been meeting up in this little town for many, many years (I think some of them more than 20), they had some great stories and were very friendly. This town has that effect on people. I know we have been going there for at least 15 years and my dh has been going since he was a little boy.
The kiddos had kind of a rough day, I think they were still tired from all the activities this weekend, but now they are all tucked in and the house is quiet. I think I will go and work on whatever it is that I am knitting (I have no pattern, I just felt like knitting this weekend and started something) I imagine it will just be a scarf, or maybe I will undo it like everything else I have knitted and start over, again.

One of the kids favorite bedtime snack is ice cream. We have had dietary issues with dairy in our house for 3 years so real ice cream is a treat, although dd doesn't mind eating Ricedream, most of the time. Nothing beats a cool treat on a hot summer night.