Teasers.

First off, let me say that my super secret project is NOT for the faint of heart.

I knew it would be tedious, but yowza! 

Although, I should tell you that, so far, I am loving the results.

It also keeps me from wasting time away after the kids are in bed,

as I normally play Mahjong on the computer,

or watch trash, like, 'TMZ' or 'Keeping up with the Kardashians'.

I know... LOSER.

Hopefully, I will be able to share the breakdown with you all soon.

Secondly, is it just me, or does spring make your creative juices flow?

My brain is, seriously, working at, like, 92% power versus the mythical 10%.

{I totally make up all of my numbers, by the way.}

To begin with, the house is getting a $50 make-over.

Spring cleaning and some pops of the unexpected here and there.

 

If I didn't have about 4,793 other projects on my mind,

{baking, sewing, painting, thrifting, Easter celebrations}

I'd have a seat in one of those inticing chairs
(expect the bottom one is a kids' chair).

Oh, and the copious amounts of :

cooking, cleaning, laundry, homework, sports, yadda, yadda, yadda.

All that, AND I want to be outside with the kids as much as possible.

These days are beautiful.

Sunshine on our faces.

Grass between our toes.

It's that warm.

God has been smiling down on the Lou.

Thanks, Big Guy.

Finally,
Jillian over at Catch My Party asked to feature
 Rosie's party as a 'Party of the Day'.
{It's in the 'Party of the Day' slideshow on the homepage.}
A big thanks to her!
And, Ro's party was posted over at Birthday Girl, too!
Thanks Becca!

Pretty branch tutorial.

image betz white

I love these kitty willow branches from Betz White.

I refuse to call them what they really are because I hate that word.

Even if it is in reference to felines or vegetation.

A bit childish, I know.

Unfortunately, I'm not a big felter,

so making them similar to the original was out of the question for me.

Alas, what's a girl to do?

Oh, I know...

1. buy a bag of poms for $.99

2. spray paint the poms in the desired shade(s)

3. grab a glue gun

4. go to town

Duh!

A splash of spring color!

Quick and easy, too.

Same & Different

Last week, Jake and I had a meeting for Betsy concerning her transition from her early childhood school setting to primary school, her inclusion in a regular education setting for parts of the day, her new special education classroom, and ALL OF THOSE THERAPY HOURS.  It's so overwhelming, and a bit sad (because we're even in a position that requires such a meeting), and happy (because there are so many people that truly care about Betsy and love her as evidenced by teary eyes), and scary (because we just don't know what her educational future holds).

Let's face it...kindergarten is hard for any mom. 

It's the big time.

It dosen't get any easier.

I sobbed in my car the day the bus took Jake away, and 2 years later with Pete wasn't any different.

I'm not sure how things will go this fall with Betsy.

I'm nervous.

My Dad has always said {concerning parenting}, "What you do for one, you do for the other."  Material and otherwise.  For all intents and puposes, I believe this to be true. 

But, what do you do when one of your littles is very obviously different?  A difference so great that even the other littles take notice and adjust their own interactions and behaviors with her? An anatomical and physiological difference? 

Whatever I do to try and lessen that gap, it's still there.  Undeniable.  I mean, let's face it...Betsy Jane gets treated differently.  Necessary?  Absolutely.  For better or worse? I'm not sure yet.  Undoubtedly, I'll know the answer to that in 15-20 years. I'll be able to tell the effect it had on the other beasties.  And, I hope I will have raised them well enough to take responsibility for their own place in this world, and not be victims or blame their father, me, or anyone else for everything that may go wrong in their lives.  :)

Fact: the differences between Miss Betsy and her peers in certain areas is quite profound.

This is why letting her go is hard.  Not necessarily hardER, but different.  In every fiber of my being, it feels different.  Cutting loose the bird that hasn't quite learned to fly, and expecting them to take flight anyway in the cruel, unforgiving skies. 

Okay, that might be a little dramatic.  Because, for realz, that girl rarely disappoints or fails to rise to the occasion.  But, it's still a pretty intense feeling.

How do you let go of something that was never really yours to begin with?  I'm just here to help her along in this life.  She is her own woman, a daughter of God, a free and independent spirit. 

And, she's ready.

I'm not...but she is.  Oh, yes, yes, yes she is.

Baaaaaaaaa.

I love sheepskins.

But not sheepskin prices.

So, I went to the fabric store, and...

bought a hunk of white nubby fleece for $5.

{The furry version felt like poop, so, I passed.}

I folded the fleece in half with 'right' sides together

Next, I free-handed a sheepskin shape and cut it out.

Then, I straight stitched the wrong sides together

leaving fleecy goodness front & back.

Voila!

If you're...

bored, sad, mad, melancholy, pouting, ungrateful, feel cheated, ignored, lied to, betrayed,

or if you just plain love dogs and have an immense appreciation for good camera work {live or still}

pause my music in the sidebar and watch this.

You will NOT be sorry. 

I repeat:

You will NOT be sorry.
It will just make you feel plain happy.

And, if you don't like/love canines

or have an immense affection for

great camera handling...

well, then shame on you.

Shame.

Fabric & Swordfish

I have a super, special, secret project in the works with those scrumptious beauties up there.

I canNOT wait to get them in the mail.

I love fabric so much, sometimes, I think I could just pile it all up on my bed,

and roll around in it naked.

If you think that's weird...

you won't want to meet my sister.

Why?

Because she tells everyone that she wants

 to rub the swordfish from McCormick & Schmicks all over her face.

It's that good.

What the hell did my parents do to us?

Maybe they deprived us of important sensory experiences

when we were little.

{Nah, that's too easy.}

Maybe it's because they lied to us for years,

and told us that liver was steak so we'd eat it.

Maybe it's because we'd get grounded from going out on the weekend

if we didn't make our beds every freaking morning.

No, I'm sure it's the fact that

my mom used to play 'hide and seek' with us

just so she could scare the poo out of us when we found her.

Who knows?

I do know this...

that game sometimes pretty much always ended in tears.

Except from my swordfish loving sister who got giddy with excitement

every time Mom would pop out from behind the shower curtain and growl.

Grrrrrrrrr.

She totally misused her 'mom power'.

Those memories are priceless.

Oh, and Mom & Pops...

I love you.

a few things.

First off, I cleaned out my closet this morning. 

Yikes!

Before:

After:

The bags:

The prize:

I found my sister's 'go to' black dress.  MIA for longer than we can remember.

I'm pretty sure this will officially get me off of her hit list.

And, no, I'm not kidding.  Lately, she wants to end me.

Secondly, I wish to tell you that I am a clean, clean person.

You could eat out of my toliets.  I mean if you're freaky like that.

Closets and junk drawers do not fall under my must-be-clean-at-all-times umbrella.

They did before kids, but now, it's just a losing battle.

Think Monica from friends. Remember her mysterious closet full of crap-o-la?

Anal-retentive/OCD, but with a twist.

My dirty little secret is starting to make me feel crazy.  Institutional crazy.

Something had to be done, and this is the start.  Thanks to this.

I hope it snowballs from here.

Finally, will someone puh-lease help me find this elusive 'spell check' in the new editor. 

Otherwise, I will resort to screen capturing my editor page and showing you all that it doesn't exist for me.

Does.  Not.

That, or I need glasses, or an entry level Computer class.

Both are probably completely & utterly true.

I know nothing about computers.  I had a party the day I learned how to enlarge my photos. 

Punch, cake, the whole she-bang.

Here's proof.

If you have a quick tip on the spelling situation shoot me an email or a comment.

And, as always, be patient with me...

I'm a constent work in progress.

Spell check lament.

Oh, spell check...

where have you gone?

How I miss you so.

I'm not really sure why the freaky web guys at Blogger got rid of you.

And, all for what?

To add a strike through key?

I, mean, don't get me wrong I love the strike through key, but that editing option didn't come cheap.

It cost a total of my blogging sanity.

Seriously, I'm about to call it quits.

No spell check means a total of 2.4789276 more minutes a day I spend on this contraption.

I'm about ready to quit this blog thing altogether. 

Did I already mention that?

Maybe that's what the Blogger people want.

To frustrate the living hell out of exactly 96% of bloggers who use Blogger. 

I think they're all up in their ivory towers, wearing Gucci suits, sipping exspensive French champagne, and having a hearty laugh at our expense.

Saying things like,

"Learn to spell you pasty white, mini-van driving, casserole making, Mid-Western, suburban housewife."

or

"Didn't they offer Spelling 101 in grad school, you big dumb-dumb?"

I think they're drunk with power. 

So, I say, whudeffer ewe Bluggre giyz!  I down't neid speel cheek!  Down't nied id I telll yuo!

Just wait until the angry mob of mommy bloggers show up at their pads with pitchforks & torches. 

We'll see who's laughing then.

Am I right, ladies?

Who's in?