Easter...eggs

Easter 2008

1. Lantana

2. Passion Vine

3. Fuschia

4. Hummingbird Vine

5. Hyacinth

All from my mother's yard on Easter.

lyn

Teaching to make future wives happy.

I taught a powerful lesson today. One that mystifies most homes. One that conjures up memories of past generations. One that seems to handpick who is born knowing how to do it.

I taught my boys how to change the toilet paper roll.

It was a very in depth discussion. With detailed steps. And while I do not know if I have set the bar too high, I hope they are able to one day master this skill.

A mother's dream. A future wife's early gift.

lyn

Math Genius

Rowdy One is 7 and almost a half.



We pull up to the local fast food joint for a chicken sandwich. (no comment on the choices of a stressed out mother and a hungry kid, amazing things happen a fast food line)



That will be a 1.08, drive up.



I reach down and grab a five and instantly hear....



She will owe you 3.92.



um....okay.



Um okay. That is all I could say as I am checking him by counting backwards in my a quiet as I can.



I learned to count change at 15. When I took my first job. And it took me awhile to master it.



He. is. seven. And he didn't hesitate.



lyn

Also

Just noticed I have been blogging for two years.

Happy Blog-o-versary!

I think I might do a give away.

lyn

So much to talk about, so little time.

Life has been flying by at a very rapid pace.

We had a bout with the flu, where the little people of the house were knocked on their keesters and where I caught up on some movie watching.

Miss Potter
Becoming Jane
The Jane Austen Book Club

We took a vacation over spring break to Sea World San Antonio.

And of course Easter just passed.

In between all this cooking, some good recipes I plan to share, books read, again will share, laundry, cleaning, working (tax season) and loads of interesting conversation.

I will leave you with this one between myself and Rowdy One on the day we were leaving for vacation:

Are you super excited?

Yes, I am really excited about the wax museum.

Really? Why?

I want to see Teddy Roosevelt.

blink. blink.

Who do you want to see mommy?

Brad Pitt.

More to come......

lyn

Home Alone

I am home alone.

Folding a basket full of socks. Seriously, they multiply like rabbits. Or mice. Or whatever multiplies quickly.

Eating my new obsession.

Waffles.

Spread with Nutella.

And topped with sliced bananas.

Oh. My. Goodness.

MLK

I don't know alot about history. Well, I take that back. What I have learned about history I learned on my own as an adult. My goal is for my children is to know that they can have a relationship with history all their life. Not just when they are old.

Wise One and I watched this on MLK last night. It wasn't the classroom version. I just found this this morning and am eager to go over some of it with him. He is 9 and of the age where he can figure things out even when they go unsaid. He can read between the lines a bit. He is one smart cookie. This age is very exciting.

Of course after that he watched an edited version of School of Rock. He is still a kid, you know. It ain't all Mozart and Einstein!

Read something on MLK today. Stop and think about what the man's mission is. It really is inspiring.

Lyn

Chosen

A few nights ago as The Chosen One and I lay in bed watching TV we realized that it was the 15th anniversary of our first date. Or was it 16? No, no it was 15? Are you sure? Not really. Lets see this happened then and that happened that year and yes it is our 16th year together. I mean, 15. I think after a week we settled on 15. Fifteen years together.

He kissed me one night and from then on we were together. A couple, never really talked about it. Just kept seeing each other day after day. Funny how that happened, when I think of it now. No conversation of I like you and I want you to be this to me. It just was. And still is.

I have dug deep in my relationship with The Chosen One. For myself and for us. Some days we didn't come out right. Other days we were the only things I could make come out right at all. In our early relationship I hurt him.........I know you don't want me anymore, I said. No, I will always want you, he said. Years into our marriage he hurt me.......I don't think I want you anymore, I said. Then I will wait here until you want me again, he said.

Anytime I have asked him for more he has given it. Anything. You need me to bend, just tell me how far, he says. All so that he could love me. That is all he asks in return.

Therapy, paint this, buy that, do you like my new haircut, I want to change jobs, we need to save money, please wear these jeans, I don't like those, can you make it again, will you get me this, just one more please, leave me alone, talk to me more, touch me here, don't wake me up, why did you let me do that.

I am not easy to live with. The struggles with depression and migraines and OCD.......make me want to leave myself some days. But The Chosen One stays. Solid and strong. Flexible and soft. A safe place to land and a safe place to plow down.

There are days when we get it all wrong. We say the wrong thing in the wrong tone at the wrong time. It is just all wrong. But the next day he is always there to start over again.

In the depths of my grief or anger or depression or sadness I have always reached out and found his hand. Right there as it always has been.

Fifteen years. All started when I said yes to a date. I found a true companion. A true friend. A life mate. A co-parent. Sometimes I have wandered how did we get together in this crazy world? And then I remember he was Chosen for me. And I was chosen for him.

That makes it all seem possible, workable, doable. It really is bigger than us, this love we have. Much bigger than us.........

Lyn

a few changes.....

in the way I handle things.....................

just because I start reading a book doesn't mean I have to finish reading a book. I already returned one to the library that did not catch my attention in the first three chapters.

it. is. okay.

when I think of something either do it RIGHT THEN or send myself a reminder.

**oh and a new bird calendar has been hung, in the bathroom, so that they may learn about birds they may never see. they are already excited!

lyn

A few things 2007 taught me......

1. If you hang it up for them to see, IN THE BATHROOM, they will see it and learn it! (Small map of the US, pictures and names of the presidents, the art picture of the week)

2. If you tell them WE ARE NOT HAVING A BAD DAY first thing in the morning it usually goes down hill from there.

3. Crappy things happen to really good people.

4. When my head starts to hurt, if I can run to a quiet place and meditate for a bit it seems to ease the headache.

5. I love my girlfriends.

6. Keeping a spotless house is just not really that important to me anymore.

7. Neither is keeping up with the laundry.

8. I love to learn.

9. I am a really BIG pack rat.

10. Retirement isn't always what people want it to be.

Now some of these things I have known but they really were shown to me this year!

Lyn

Oh my....

The Santa Claus Book is a must have. We just now got to it in the stack but it is hands down GREAT! My boys have been so mesmerized by "the elf family tree", "the elf language", "how the elves met Santa", "Santa's Christmas schedule". All of it is great fun. There are jokes, crafts, stories, and the illustrations are wonderful. Reminds me of books from when I was a kid. Not so many eye popping colors that you can't take it all in. Five out of Five stars!!!!!

Oh what wonderful things the library offers.

This is making the rounds in our house. Time and time again. We have taken it to Nana and Papa's, school and I even took it to work.

It. is. that. cool.

One of those finds at the library that may need to be a permanent house companion. One of those finds that makes us want to see everything the author has ever done.

Yeah, one of those.......

Lyn

In the reading stack

Can It Be True? Susan Hill

The Real Santa Claus Marianna Mayer ***parents need to read first before sharing with children. Talks of the legends and may not agree with your beliefs.

The Crunchy, Munchy Christmas Tree Karen Gray Ruelle

All picked up at the library because their covers spoke to us. So far we have not been disappointed.

Happy Reading!

Lyn

Recipe Thursday

Yummy! Hearty! Warms you up!

Lasagna Soup! Crusty bread and you have a winner of an easy meal.

*I just used regular beef broth, broken lasagna noodles and diced onions and garlic. I also kicked up the seasoning a bit. More Italian seasonings and some crushed red pepper.

Twelfth Anniversary

A meal to celebrate twelve years of marriage:

Steak Pizzaola with the works. Fresh salad, with Chosen One's favorite blue cheese dressing. Roasted zucchini and onions. Dessert served in the glasses we toasted our marriage with.

Served on china that was one of our many decisions we made together at the time. Do you remember picking out your wedding china? Not always an easy thing. Funny, we received enough settings for twelve! Eaten using new steak knives that I gave to The Chosen One. We have never had a decent set.

A wonderful dinner with my three favorite guys.

Life is busy!

So busy these days!

I am continuing my work with my project. Progressing nicely. I love the design of it all. The textures of it all. And the satisfaction it brings me.

Monday as I was watching our hummingbirds a butterfly floated into the flowerbed/garden. As the butterfly floated from one flower to another I was mesmerized by it's light movement and beauty. And then, out of NOWHERE one of the hummingbirds dive bombed it! The butterfly flipped end over end. I seriously thought it would have a hole in it's wing when it finally go up right. But it didn't. This continued until the butterfly understood it could have the purple flowers but do not venture to the yellow flowers. THOSE belong to the hummer!! That same night when we got to my parents my mother was itching to show what she found. She took us the to back of the property between to trees pretty high up. All I could see what a big spider web with a big spider. And what appeared to be a leaf stuck in the web. As I looked closer I saw that it was no leaf. It was a hummingbird! All wrapped neatly in a web. The spider would eat for a month off of that thing. Now I know hummers are small but to a spider web!! I thought that was pretty amazing. The spider and handie dandie web had defeated this little force of energy! We continued to watch the hummingbirds on my parents porch. We counted ten that night. I thought to myself.....would have been eleven and giggled! Giggled because in nature you are the eater or the eaten all in the same day. I had always viewed hummers as fierce balls of energy. I have had them dive bomb my head on the porch and have watched them go after each other in the garden but to see them go after the butterfly, well it startled me. And then to see them in the spider web, that startled me even more!

Happy Wednesday!

Lyn

Inspiration of the ongoing project.

The blankets in the last pictures are my current addiction. When my mother in law passed away I inherited fabric galore. Add that to my stash and that of my mother and well you will see a lot of fabric. I wanted to use it up in a wonderful way and I went here for some inspiration. It didn't take long before my idea came together. I am making these blankets for the children at Texas Children's Hospital and Arkansas Children's Hospital on the cancer floor that Brooke frequented. I hope to have about 60 ready for delivery in December.

My goal is to use as much fabric as possible from the stash but I much admit that there have been a few trips to the fabric store! I am trying to back them with something fun and soft. Some are fleece, a few flannel and a couple satin. Something soft and cozy for these little ones.

The process of putting the fabrics together has been a wonderful creative release. The sewing has been a much needed time of focus and prayer. And my mother and I have made many wonderful memories on the afternoons we have spent together doing this. She has been my right hand man for questions and advice and encouragement. I truly feel surrounded by the line of sewers that I come from. Seeing the fabric of my mother in law. Hearing my mother give me advice that she received from her mother so many years ago. It is all so comforting.

I have many more "designs" in my head. I can't seem to sew fast enough!

Lyn

and on-going....

These two are backed in satin.
This is totally from leftovers in my mother in laws stash. I love the colors!

I plan on making more like this to use up scraps. It is backed and a very soft baby flannel. Some of the scraps are from feed sacks that were in my mother in laws stash. I think they could easily date to the 40's and 50's. Other scraps are flannel and then some are from left over baby blankets.

On-going project....

This is all leftover fabric from the boys room when they were toddlers.

These are backed in a very soft fleece. I love the spiderman one!!!

Leftover camo from some PJ pants made for Rowdy One. The organge is a fleece and the camo is flannel.

Well, this one is a favorite. Both sides are flannel and it is trimmed in satin.