Kicking Off the Birthday Week

What a perfect start to my self proclaimed week of celebration of me. (Don't worry- Alma is the only person required to participate.) We spent the morning just hanging around the house. I watched a hokey old musical, knit, played with the boys, ate pancakes- just chilled. Then I went to the library while Alma cruised around downtown Grass Valley with the boys. I then wandered through a couple of my favorite shops while I pretended to look for my family. And I discovered that Debbie Bliss has a magazine! I recognize that to non-kniters that sentence meant absolutely nothing. I got a pastie for lunch and then we went home for naps (and some cuddling with Alma) and some reading time. Then we dropped the boys off at the Greens- ate dinner at India Oven and watched Slumdog Millionaire. (Hush you judgey judgers). Alma and I were both really moved by the movie. It was so powerful. I was just heartbroken for all the pain and abuse in some children's lives and at the same time overwhelmed with such amazement at all I take for granted. Tonight when we tucked Coen in for bed there were some heart felt prayers of thanksgiving for the bounty in our lives, for our freedom, for the innocence of our children. I highly recommend it. The rating is for the painful realities shown in the movie and a little 8 y/o nudity. There is no sex or language- the violence is tastefully done and appropriate for the story. But it is a difficult movie to watch- but worth it I think. It made me think of a book I read last year about the boy soldiers in Africa. Just about how evil in this world steals the innocence and wonder from children's lives. I didn't mean for this to be all about the movie- sorry. Looking back at this post it doesn't seem like such an amazing day- but it was- just absolutely perfect.

Here are some pics of the monkeys wrestling- their new favorite game.

My Sweet Little Boy

You can't tell by looking at him but this sweet little baby is possessed by an evil spirit. This little guy had one of his screaming days. No naps longer than half an hour. Crying and crying unless mother is holding him. I am EXHAUSTED. (this may have something to do with me staying up late reading last night.)

Good thing he is so cute.
The next couple of pictures are of the outfit I told Becky I would post for her.

I don't have any pics of Coen in the last couple of days- he isn't as good a poser- but he is still cute. He says "Oh Man!" all the time when things don't go his way. It is very funny. Whenever any one suggests it is time to eat he suggest donuts. He is on the go all the time and insists on wearing his fireman boots everywhere.

Carey Grant's cockney accent is awful.

A Collection of Funny Little Things

We have been reading Alma's copy of Are You my Mother with Coen and he loves it. The other day we were cooking and I asked Coen to hand me the eggs and he said "Here is a little baby bird for the pancakes." and every time I cracked an egg he would count the "little baby birds" I was using to make the pancakes yummy. A little disturbing.

The recipe I was making was from Gourmet- and it was a little odd. They were like pancakes but had a texture more like an omelet. I still can't decide if I liked them. I won't make them again though because they took soooooo long to cook. Coen loved them and ate more than a dozen. If I did make them again I would like them better with a citrus curd or a little zest in the batter and powdered sugar on top. I didn't think the syrup recommended quite worked.

Also- wondering what the best way to get Alma to help clean up the house? Invite people over for cake. This is also a great way to make a fruit dessert with out having to eat the entire thing by yourself. So I woke up early this morning to a clean house (except master which I got cleaned up while watching a show about red carpet fashions from last night). Joseph came over and hung out before school.

On Saturday when it was time for his nap Coen stood on his bed and chanted "No More Naps" for about half an hour. Thank you Little Bill.

Alma got a job this week. It is not ideal for many reasons. Long commute, pay cut, not what he wants. But in this economy we feel like we had to accept it. But he will continue to look for a job closer to home.

But our prayers have been answered and I now have a great tithing story to share- uhm but not on a blog. Call me if you care.

So a little relief.

I just want Alma to be happy- and not to have to move. That isn't too much to ask- right?

Haircuts

This boy was having nothing to do with the picture taking- this is the best we could get.


Every time the boys get haircuts I want to cry. Why do they have to grow up so fast? It seems that this time is just flying by. We went to Grandma's after and she must have felt the same way. She kept saying how grown up they seemed today. She loved seeing them grow, except it made her cry that Coen wasn't a baby any more.

Creativity

So I haven't had much a a creative urge lately. So this weekend I sat down, sketched and scrapped. I still didn't feel creative but usually I just have to start playing with the stuff and the creativity kicks in. Only it didn't. I got 6 pages done (which for me is some kind of miracle of productivity). The only problem is I just don't really love them. I am only really posting because they are mostly from a tip down to Becky's house and I wanted her to see them.

As a side note- Blogger again is random and downloads things just willy nilly in any direction. Why blogger Why!!!

Way too much white space- but how to fix?


Becky if you want to know any of the journaling just let me know.

Happy Valentines Eve?

I can't say I particularly like Valentines day. It is great for childhood card making and candy getting. I love a good love fest where you are forced to give gifts to all your acquaintances in a public forum. What I can't really get behind is the grown up version. I just don't get the big deal. Why try to go out the one night of the year that it is crowded and difficult to get into a decent restaurant? Why give a box of candy? I don't ever want to eat more than one or two chocolates- give me a baked good or a pie any day over chocolate (Alma disagrees and would prefer the chocolate). Anyways- my point really is- shouldn't you be dating/wooing/romancing your spouse all year, why is this forced day so wonderful- it just feels, well forced. I can say all this because I married a wonderful wooer/romancer. He learned his amazing skills from watching his dad. Leonard just oozes love for Harvene. So a big thank you to my in-laws. I never knew some one could be so thoughtful and romantic all year round. Who needs Valentines? Not me.

That being said- I do love me some paper and crayon art. This is what I made with the boys for their valentines for cousins and grandparents (sorry if you didn't get these cuties- we have a lot of relatives and the boys burnt out at some point and I had to improvise.)

Also Coen made this great hat at the library in an impromptu craft session after story time. Have I ever mentioned how much I love our librarians. They are saints. They fetch books, cuddle babies, don't mind rambunctious toddlers, and they always have a collection of random toys hidden (Ceon loves the little plastic moose- have I ever mentioned that he has a moose fetish after our trip to the Grand Tetons- very funny). OH- what you can't see is scads of pink foil glued all over the back. Very snazzy.

And tonight I got some great pics of the snow. Still trying to figure out a better way to get the snow in moonlight affect better. Any real photographers out there with any help? The coloring is different because I edited them differently- which do you prefer?

The Valentines Day cards are ones my very unromantic Grandfather gave to my Grandmother

New Day Here in NC

So I woke up and cold is all gone! ( I hope) and guess what- we woke up to, this:

Just a dusting but enough for Coen to try and make a snow angel. I had no idea he would know what this was- you learn a lot at Grandma's house.

I took some pictures,

And Beckett did this:

So here is to a healthy hope filled week.

The Dress

So here are the pictures of the dress I made for Anna's American girl doll. She loved it. Unfortunately so did my niece Annie (who is 5 and thought it was for her at first- and was really disappointed it wasn't- and now has invited Anna- who is 10- over to her house for a tea party with their dolls) so now I am promptly starting on dress #2. Hopefully it will go a little easier as the second one usually does.

This is the head band I made for Anna so that they match.

The Bodice- notice the flower I put on the waist- that was my own addition- I even designed all the flowers used.

The hem

The back

Her head band

The whole shebang.

Too tired for a title

Sick- stuffy and tired.
Alma is taking some test for a county job he has applied for- so am home all alone with sick whiny baby and busy toddler.
letting baby chew on wii remote thingy.
letting toddler help himself to yogurt.
dreaming of nap and a BLAT.

You know what is totally wrong about life- during the cold and flu season when you work the hardest (saw 22 patients in 3 hours on Friday and when on call- get calls every hour through the night) is when you have colds, and thus not up to cold and flu season for others. too tired to make that make more sense. Off to lay on the couch and send smart thoughts Alma's way.

You know what else is totally wrong with life- too much bad stuff all at once. Enough all ready. I have hit my limit, I can handle no more. No more sorrow, no more illness, no more job hunting. I am done with all of it. I order next week to be stress free and joyful.

Darn- just realized I have to plan lesson for RS. At least I kinda planned it last month when I prepared the wrong lesson. I just have to remember what I was going to do.

So recap-
sick
kids
stress
looking forward to joyful week next week when all ill in the world is resolved.