Distracted Crafter

Now that it's June,  I decided to make my first new post of 2011.  I just a little behind...

I'm thinking about changing the name of my blog to the distracted crafter.  It has been the theme of the year!  I'm almost finished with the paper mache letters I started painting for Kenzie in January.  I totally forgot the last day of Mother's Day Out and hurriedly whipped up a reusable shopping bag.  I made three shepherd costumes and three milk maid for Avery's school play, Bebop with Aesop.  I have started a mini scrapbook with pictures from Avery's seventh birthday (yes I know she'll be 8 in July).  I have been making beads and jewelry from polymer clay. I made several necklaces, bracelets, and earrings during this season of American Idol.  I'm sure there are more things in the works, I'm just too distracted to think about them :).

I wish I could say that this distractability was a recent development.  However, a few days ago I found a bag of fabric, cut out into some really cute outfits I planned on making for Avery when she was THREE.  I'm in the process of organizing my fabric, patterns, and notions.  I'm hoping that organization will help me stay focused on a project long enough to finish it!!!  I have a bunch of fabric from multiple donors that I just need to part with.   It is frustrating to find a pattern I want to use and then I go to my fabric dresser and can't find a single fabric suitable.

I have decided to home school the kids next year.  We will be using PACEs from Accelerated Christian Education (It is what I used for First-Third grade).  Avery has been taking the diagnostic tests and will begin in Fourth grade Science, Social Studies, and and Fifth grade paces to start.  Josiah will start with the pre-K program but should finish by Christmas.  Then, I'll start the Kindergarten work with him.  We are in the process of changing some rooms around so that we can have a separate classroom.  Walter has been putting off helping me move the furniture, so I may have to hire some movers for a morning.  I am painting all of the shelves and bookcases Valspar's Summer leaf which is a nice light green, and the walls are going to be Sweet Dreams which is a light blue.  The color palette should be called:  world map colors.  It should be nice, yet calm.

Hopefully I will remember to post pictures of at lease SOME of these items.  Until then, I'm off to start, um I mean, off to FINISH some projects.

I love Christmastime!

I am thrilled that three different local radio stations are playing Christmas music around the clock.  I can switch back and forth and never hear a commercial, just wonderful music to celebrate my most favorite time of year.  Today our special music was "Where is the line for Jesus?"  It is a song written by a man whose 4 year old grandson asked his Mom if we are celebrating Jesus' birthday, and there is a long line to see Santa, where is the line to see Jesus.  Profound!!!  (see previous post for the video)

Yesterday was Avery's dance performance.  She had a great time!  The kids worked hard and looked good.  Then, last night Avery and I went to Baltimore to see the Nutcracker.  It was a combination of children, teens, and professional dancers.  Avery was so excited that she kept bouncing in her seat and gave me about a hundred spontaneous hugs and kisses throughout the performance.  Her favorite were the mice, they were about 3-4 years old and ADORABLE!  I was sad that there was not a live orchestra, maybe next year we will plan ahead and get tickets at the Kennedy Center.

Here is one of two chairs I recovered.  The before, as the greenish fabric was stripped off the frame.  The after, woodwork painted silver and a beautiful new black chenille cover.  The picture doesn't do the chair justice!



I'll try to have Walter bring his camera home so I can get pictures of the Christmas trees.  They are so pretty!  I just love sitting in the living room with a cup of hot chocolate and a book, listening to Christmas music and glancing up to see the tree. 

I am surrounded by God's blessings!!!!

Becky Kelley - Wheres the Line to See Jesus

Christmas in May

I am so glad I did all of my Christmas shopping in May and left the gifts in Texas.  I have a few small gifts for the kids that we will put under the tree here, but are all anticipating opening gifts in Roscoe!!  I see all of the Black Friday commercials and am glad I have no need to brave the crowds for a 'good deal'.

I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is THIS week.  We are meeting some fellow residents and their families at Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving.  This Friday we might check out the Jamestown settlement to learn how the Indians and Colonists gathered, prepared, and preserved food that would have been in the ORIGINAL Thanksgiving meal.  Maybe everyone else will be going shopping crazy and it won't be too busy!!!

The kids are looking forward to putting our trees up this weekend.  Our trees this year will be:  a Texas tree in the playroom,  4 ft girly tree in Avery's room, 2 ft tractor tree in Josiah's room, and a purple/silver/black tree in the living room.  I can't remember if I have an extra tree for the playroom, may be the ONLY purchase made on Black Friday.

Tough Week

The day Mom left, Walter also left for Orlando.  He stayed there until Sunday night.  He was gone when I really needed him!!
On Friday morning, Josiah and I took Avery to school, came home and ate breakfast, and I started walking on the treadmill while he played with his trains.  All of a sudden I heard him behind me screaming.  I immediately turned off the treadmill, but it had already sanded his fingers down to the muscle/cartledge.  I grabbed him, ran upstairs, had him chug some Children's Advil right from the bottle, threw him in the car and sped of to the E.R. at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.  We were both crying as we drove, I felt so bad for him because he was in SUCH pain.  On the way he said, "Remember how our car died?  Am I going to die too?"  It just broke my heart!  I just started praying out loud for his pain, our anxities, and that traffic would clear out of the way.  When we got to the hospital, they got us in to the doctor quickly.  At some point I texted Walter that we were at the ER cuz Josiah had hurt his hand.  The doctor started out by putting some cream on Josiah's hand to numb the fingers.  Josiah and I started watching Polar Express.  About 30 minutes later they came to clean his hand, but it was not numb.  It took three grown men to hold him down to give some injections in his fingers to numb them.  About thirty minutes later, they could finally clean his hand.  Then the doctor had to cut away all of the dead skin that was just hanging from his fingers...Josiah and I kept our eyes glued to the TV.  Once everything was bandaged up, they sent us to the pharmacy for antibiotics and I had a follow-up in the ER on Sunday morning.  Walter called me as we were leaving, "What's an 'er'?"  I wanted to throw the phone!!!  DUH!!!
On Sunday, we had to miss church and the kids and I spent the morning hanging out in the ER.  The doctor took her sweet time!  They decided to treat his injury as a burn, since there was no skin left.  They gave me a large box with silver nitrate cream, petroleom infused gauze, 'ouchless' gauze, wrap, and medical tape.   Monday morning, Josiah refused to let me bandage his hand after bath time.  I had to take him up to Walter on Walter's lunch break.  (He has cried in pain everytime we have to change the bandage.)  On Friday, Walter took Josiah to the pediatrician for a follow-up.  She referred him to a hand surgeon because she thinks he will need a skin graft.  Me and the little guy will go for the consult tomorrow.  There are two types of graft:  a synthetic one, and one that requires them to remove skin from another part of his body under anethesia.  Neither option sounds like a lot of fun!
In the meantime, my back has decided to spaz out.  I have been in so much pain that I can barely walk.  I have been very good frieds with Icy Hot and the heating pad, and the 800 mg Advil has done nothing to ease the pain.  I guess I should see the doctor, but that is on the back burner for now.

A little Sad

Mom came and stayed with us for 12 days...much too short of a visit.  There were tears all around when we dropped her off at the airport this afternoon.  We have to comfort ourselves with the thought that we will be in Texas from Dec 21st-Jan 1st.
We crammed in as much fun as possible while she was here.  We visited the park  to enjoy the colors of fall, went to Brookside Garden, went to Avery's Brownies investiture ceremony, Trunk-or-Treat, pumpkin patch, fabric stores, the B & O railroad museum and more.  We discovered that if you wait until the day after Halloween to go to the pumpkin patch, you get your pumpkins for free!!!  I introduced Mom to my favorite Thrift store and she made some purchases of her own!!  She recovered my kitchen chairs, sewed curtains, and helped recover some upholstered chairs for the living room.  We got the house clean and organized...including the terrible playroom.  She and the kids had several 'slumber parties' downstairs where there was popcorn, cupcakes, Uno, dominoes, and FUN!  We look forward to having more family come and visit, and we hope it is soon!!
Josiah and Avery both say their favorite thing to do with Mia, was learning to play Uno.

New Look

Okay, it's been 10 months since my last post. Ridiculous! I've given my blog a pretty new look to help motivate me to keep posting new stuff about my precious kiddos!

Monday night Josiah asked if we could move to a new house. I asked if he wanted a new house in Maryland. He looked quite disgusted and said no, he wants to move back to Texas. Poor baby, I do too! Mom will soon be coming for a two week visit. I'm hoping that will help us all with our homesickness. San Antonio today is 80 degrees and clear, and here it is 55 degrees and pouring! My fingers are quite frigid as I type, but I don't want to give in and turn on the heater this early in the season! We are not really appreciating having an Autumn. I'm afraid that winter might just do us in!!!

There are a lot of good things here. We have found a great church and joined a Monday night small group. Josiah and I joined a MOPS group and are looking forward to our meetings and play dates. Avery is taking ballet, tap, and jazz at the Community center and taking Spanish after school. She joined Girl Scouts (Brownies) and the two of us went on a camping trip with them this past weekend. Walter is doing well in his residency. He is looking forward to the annual American Prosthedontics Association's conference in Orlando this Nov. He is hoping to see both professors and classmates from UTDB.

Josiah and I went to IKEA this morning and people were amused at him chanting I-K-E-A through the store. I love the As-Is section where I bought $120 worth of curtains for a mere $9. I now have enough for the wall of windows + sliding door in the playroom. The kids want to go with a Farm theme in the playroom, but right now I believe the theme would best be described as Chaos!! Maybe Mom can help with that when she is here.

This is about the time of year when I usually start stressing over Christmas gifts. It feels great to know that all my gifts have already been purchased! It was one thing I made sure to do before leaving Texas in July. The gifts are all waiting in Roscoe! Now I can focus on crafts, sewing, and scrapbooking. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Well, I just heard Walter walk in. I'll bee back soon.