It's official

Katie and Derek are expecting a baby in August.
That means Ann and Rod are going to be Granny Annie and Grandpa Rod.
If you're reading this please say two prayers, one a thank you prayer, and one a bless the baby, mama and daddy prayer.

sube sac #2

for a very special lady on her birthday

what fun!

A new discovery, the pioneer woman cooks pioneerwomancooks
Her recipes aren't all this decadent, but this sure looks like fun.

Art Journal Playshops With Suzi Blu: Self Portrait

do it!!!

The mothers we are

What a beautiful tribute to all of us mothers who are so very hard on ourselves!
Just yesterday on the busy woman calendar Katie and Derek gave me it said, "The best gift you can give your children is to love them with all your heart." There isn't one of you who reads my blog that doesn't do that.

Loving the mothers we are
January 8, 2008 by prairiepoppins
prairiepoppins
One of the hardest jobs we face is learning to appreciate the mothers we are. Like thieving quilters we steal bits of other mothers, from dreams, books and playground conversations, and stitch them together into an ideal mother. We hold it up to the light and admire its colours and patterns and despair that we will ever match its splendor.

We see Susan’s patience, Beth’s outdoorsy nature, and Caroline Ingall’s virtues. We envy Jan her homemaking skills, and Hannah her playful spirit. We steal these facets, but never the whole. Do we see that Susan’s patience is countered by permissiveness, or know that Beth worries that she’ll never teach her children math? No, because that realism is counter to the crazy quilt we seem driven to construct.

I have despaired. I have known deep in my heart that I will never be the playful, wise, patient, and virtuous mother of my dreams. One day I realized that if I were all of these women, or even one of these women, I wouldn’t be myself. I wouldn’t have my strengths and my quirks, and it wouldn’t be stories about me that my children tell when they are grown.

Am I a playful mother? No, but I’m a great storytime mother. And I a fabulous housewife? No, but I don’t worry when the kids make a crafty mess. I am me. I am beautiful and strange, riddled with weaknesses and buoyed by strengths.

It’s time to love the mother you are. Throw away the crazy quilt. Make instead a patchwork of *your* days. It will have tears, and missing threads, and little sticky jam fingerprints. It will have the colour and pattern of your life woven into its design. It will be wonderful and unique, just as you are a wonderful and unique mother.

The Darkest Evening of the Year

I really liked it, but for the left-brained among you, the ending was a little far out.
His words are amazing, the characters likeable (at least the good guys). It started out pretty weird and I thought to myself that's why I don't read Dean Koontz, but the dogs got me. I certainly appreciate his more than generous support of CCI and it's truly obvious he respects and appreciates the wonderfulness of dogs. For that reason alone I'm glad I read it.
You can see from the "dog-eared" back cover that Wyanne enjoyed it too.

Look what cleaning out will get you

I found this fun cd of images...

proud of myself

finished my sube sac (sweet bag) very quickly thanks to kristen laflamme's tutorial
subesac
it's lined with fabric from both my mom's and Rod's mom's stash, ribbons from Katie's wedding, and fabric painted in Jane La Fazio's Art Quilts class JaneLaFazio
I love it!

wyanne's new friend

found this on the kitchen floor this morning. think she was 'playing' with it, very gently...

Wyanne's sib, Winslow

Here's handsome Winslow, living in Ohio with his buddies, Balter, Noreen, and Sterling.

3dogday

by julie with her snazzy new camera!

3 out of 4 of my babies

wyanne, jelena and crista.
i feel very lucky that i can interact with each of them.

Yea Jelena's coming for a sleepover!

Wicked Fun!

I always wanted to be able to do this.
You can do it too on Image Chef. imagechef

Laurie's photos

look at these gorgeous pictures Laurie took at work.

polar bear cub

okay, okay, I get it now when everyone says Wyanne looks like a polar bear.

Thing's I've finished today

World Without End, Ken Follett's extraordinarily compelling follow up to Pillars of the Earth, one of the best books I've ever read.
a scarf for Rod to wear on his Connecticut trip
Molly's cookbook
Pam's scrapbook page
reading Barack Obama's inspirational speech in Iowa, "...no red states, no blue states, but United States"

Now if I could just get the motivation to do some decluttering I'd really be proud of myself!

A New Challenge for the New Year

sock knitting.
i've been obsessed with the idea since seeing so many gorgeous hand knit socks on people's blogs. Surely I can do this.
About 30 years ago I made a pair of socks for Rod and swore I'd never do it again, but techniques and yarn have changed.
Thanks to Rosie for the Amazon certificate. I just ordered two books, both rated 5*s, that say I can do it! Can't wait till they come and I can head off to Common Threads for some funky yarn. Don't worry, Susie, I'll try to be strong and finish your promised scarf before I cast on. wish me luck!
Oh and don't remind me of the yarn I bought for a sweater when Katie was 6 weeks old and finished it 8 years later. To my credit though, I do still wear it 30 years later.

Wyanne and her sib, Wendy, I think

puppy social/jan.5th

sometimes you're the leader, sometimes you're the caboose and sometimes you're in the middle.
Wyanne is the snowball, polar bear, as laurie d. likes to call her.

Cole and Ilia Massie/Service Dog Team

A lovely discovery

beautifulillustrationsofGod'slove

A day of list making

Things I've lost:
my scrapbooking adhesive roll,
my bluetooth earpiece (have till July to find it)
my latest blueprint magazine

Things I've done today:
taken a short walk
taken a quick shower, both huge accomplishments given that Wyanne howls when i'm out of her sight
applied flea deterrent to her neck
read and recycled 5 magazines, 2 very old Newsweeks, 1 Santa Clara, 2 Cloth Paper Scissors, my new favorite magazine
cleaned my keyboard and screen
checked my Visa account to see if we have enough money to pay our Christmas bills (we do!, bless you, Rod, for working so hard)
figured out finally how to get a new ringtone on my latest phone
pulled out old tomato plants

think I'll take the rest of the afternoon off.

This says it all!

Tommy and Michael, two of my favorite people, join me in wishing you Happy New Year!