2 of a kind, Halloween, and why 11 year old boys are great.

2 of a kind-they both antagonize each other but will share a warm blanket on the bed.
Halloween night-yes, Matt wore that hat. He requested that I knit it for him, in fact.

We have a leaf blower, and the neighbor strapped his "jet pack" version on Theo. Made mine look like a baby!

Theo, still smiling after lugging that thing around for quite awhile. He's loves to work outside.

mishaps and why multi-tasking can be bad

Mishaps happen, and the sprinkler pipe broke. Not working so well here, along with the snow issue, no more watering the lawn til next year. One reason renting is good--not our problem.

Everyone nowdays multi-tasks and even thinks it is a sign of talent. Not always true. When you boil the contact lense cases and go off to do something else, by the time you smell "something hot," it's too late.

I submit evidence to prove my theory:

Birthday Week, Part 3

Theo started out his day with present opening, because, you know, if you wait until supper there isn't as much time to play with them!
New fleece shirt from Marty. From Sarah, gum and a Wa-Wa gift card.

His "Mama made" gift this year was a Thor hammer. Also known as a 4x4 block of wood on a steel handle. Hopefully NOT known as "the hammer that caused serious injury."

A new Philadelphia Eagles hat from Amy.

All that was left from the pan of cinnamon rolls.....

Birthday tallies:
10 year old kids--1

11 year old kids--1

12 year old kids--2

New Nerf guns--2

Pieces of gum--54

New Nerf bullets--108
Very happy boy--1 extra special one!

Birthday Week, part 2

Last night, preping fo rTBird's birthday breakfast--cinnamon rolls being rolled out.
I froze one large pan, and the pan of tiny rolls (they love these!). The other pan was for breakfast.

Birthday Week, Part 1

For once, a picture of me turned out well, so I will actually share it.
( Apparently I need to work on vanity.)
The boys gave me a new bird feeder to replace the ones I left in Sanford. We already have lots of birds coming to it, which makes me so happy. Amy and Sarah put this pretty basket together for me. They want you to notice the pretty pink nail polish I already put on!

Matt totally spoiled me by surprising me with a new scroll saw and stand. I was surprised!

Stay tuned to see what I make with it.

omw (Oh my word!!) this picture looks like I'm having a "flap attack!"

She's got the whole world in her hands

Sarah does, that is!
I am teaching Science in the 6-8 year old class at our homeschool co-op and we are studying the creation of the world. We will study each day and what was created that "day." I have asked them, "Why did God make the world for us?"

Because He loved us so much!

Each of these little worlds (plus two more) were cut with my jig saw, then the details were burned into the wood. After I painted them with water colors, they were sealed with a beeswax polish.

I made one for each of my new little friends to take home and remember how much God loves them.

For Dad

Dad asked us what we wanted of Mom's.
All I knew was her gray cardigan. Somehow I have always gotten the gray cardigan--I had one from years ago, too. They just remind me of her, and are comforting to me. I have not been able to even unfold this one, though. It just sits on my dresser and I look at it many times a day. She wore that cardigan everywhere-even with her pajamas! If I put it on, I might never stop crying, so I haven't yet.


I had already thought about Mom's wedding ring set that Dad bought her about 10 years ago when they were in South Dakota and she wore everyday. As Dad, Le-Le and I went through Mom's jewelry together we found her original engagement ring. She never wore it (during my memory time), but had had the diamond put into a ring for Dad many years ago. I saw it and wondered if it was "the thing" I would want.


A back-story: When Matt and I got engaged we didn't get a traditional ring. I loved the one we chose and wore it a long time. Over time, Matt added to my wedding band so that now it is 2 diamond set bands with a solid gold band in the middle and that's what I wear every day. For the last 3 years Matt has been bugging me to pick a solitaire, or even a new set. He really wanted to buy one for me, but I balked. The first 2 years I couldn't find anything I loved enough to spend that kind of money on. I am too practical; that amount of money is ridiculous for a piece of jewelry to wear that isn't even my real wedding ring. This past spring I found "the one" and it was perfect. It was also a lot of money and I decided (to Matt's chagrin) not to buy it since we would be moving and who knew what unforeseen needs that might bring?

All of this came together as I looked at Mom's ring and Dad asked, "Do either of you girls want it?" Le-Le didn't and I thought it might finally be the ring that I loved enough and was "worth it." At first, Dad wanted to pay for the diamond, and felt bad that we would. However, after explaining that if Matt bought the diamond, the ring would have Dad, Mom, and Matt in it--then it would be perfect .

I took it to the jeweler's last weekend and chose an old style diamond to fit the setting. They did a wonderful job on it and I picked it up last Wednesday. I tried to send a photo via cell phone, but wanted to show Dad and Le better photos. Here it is.


And with my band.

The unforeseen complication has been this: whenever I look at it, I can't help but think that I have this ring because Mom is gone.

It is beautiful, and special, and I truly will treasure it as long as I live.

But I wish I could call Mom and tell her about it.

No words

So much to say, and no words come to me. It's just too hard to talk right now. Stunningly, I am also unable to knit or sew; 2 activities that have brought me through so many difficult times. The desire is gone and it scares me.

Sarah has a few things she wants to show you though, so I promised her that tomorrow we would post some photos.

I do thank everyone who has prayed for us and with us. Those prayers are pulling me along.

New adventures for us

We are happily enjoying our new kayaks.

Here is Amy in "Moonlght."

And Sarah.



Matt in Moonlight and Theo in "Sunshine."

Marty was reluctant ot be the captain at first,

but is now quite adept and goes alone.

Details...

We took this photo about half way through installation.

Truly, that was the hardest part.

Maybe we made do with this lamp
a little too long.

Isn't this nicer?

The lamps and shades were my splurge.


Just a close-up of the pillows.


The gold one is pleated-


fun to make, even if time-consuming.


I'm especially pleased with it because these


cost around $30 to purchase.


My cost? $0.00, made with supplies I


already had in the sewing room.

A surprise for Matt

Matt and I have always believed it is important for the kids to have peaceful, comforting spaces to play in and especially for sleeping. Rooms where they can be themselves and feel safe; spaces that reflect their personalities and the things they like.

That means that we have fixed up/decorated their rooms first and then left ours out, either because of cost or just plain energy ( and the lack of it) related reasons.

When we left NC, we left a house that had two wonderful kids' bedrooms, and the other rooms were nicely decorated, too. We had our room painted and all the fabric had been purchased to decorate it, but for many reasons the "plan" was never executed. When we left, I felt a sense of failure about that. Not only did we not get to enjoy a nice room, but I had wasted resources and money on a project that never saw the light of day.

I promised myself that with this move, not only would I unpack every single box in the first 3 weeks (which I did accomplish), I would hang all the pictures and I would decorate and enjoy the house before we left.

Mostly, I wanted to create a bedroom that would express to Matt how much I appreciate his hard work that provides us with such a wonderfully blessed life. We have many opportunities and material riches that we certainly don't require but we do enjoy, all because of his hard work. I want him to know how much I love him, how happy I am to be here. I also hoped a peaceful bedroom would give him a place to rest from the weariness of work.

Matt doesn't travel much anymore (Hallelujah!!!) so when I knew he would be gone for 4 days last week, I decided to execute my new bedroom plan. This was the inspiration:

We haven't hung this window since Walnut St. in Creston (2003),

but I have always loved it.

Matt's favorite color is purple,

and when I saw this color palette at Lowes

I knew I had found what I was looking for.

I was thrilled to find the perfect print fabric at JoAnn's

(had a 40% off coupon for that)

and the solid was even on sale for $3/yard. Score!!

In the interest of full disclosure,

here is what I was starting with.

ummm...that's really ugly.

Note the lovely pink towel thumb-tacked up

at the window to keep out the morning sun.

I'm nothing if not creative, huh?

By Thursday night at 11 pm, I had only curtain done, and knew this wasn't going to happen before Matt arrived. We hid all the stuff in the kids' closets and went to bed.

Friday would be a big day. Little did we know we would lose electricity with

one curtain left to finish, and I ended up sewing the casing of that last panel by hand, but by golly, we got it done!

I'll tell you, I could never do all I do without the kids' fantastic help!!
Here is the after, that Matt saw when he got home:

Needless to say, he was surprised.

He said he thought maybe I was making some curtains

but never imagined all of the room would be re-done.

I am so thrilled at the way it turned out

and have been just hanging out in there

soaking in the peace.

Love you, Matter.

Crazy love in my sewing room

Downstairs we have 3 bedrooms, but Matt and I are the only ones who sleep down here.

The other 2 rooms are small, so 1 is Matt's office/ guest room, and the other is my sewing room.

Can you imagine what makes me love these closet doors?

I love them because behind them is this fantastic set-up:
fabric, bra sewing supplies, books and patterns.

The left side doors hide this super-dee-duper
gift wrap/ribbon center. All my wool yarn
is stored in the clear shoe boxes,
protected from moths and other evil wool eating creatures.
This makes me so happy!


Here is my work table, with my

regular machine on the right

and the serger on the left.

Miss Sarah's machine is on her work table to my left.

Further to the left is the ironing board.



Can you see the brightness above the serger?

That is a skylight that gives a

wonderful, natural light to work by.



The natural light and having all supplies out of sight

make this room a very pleasant place to work!

Sarah's new bike

This is the very cool, and very comfortable, paisley seat.
This is the very cool bike!
I even rode it and it was FUN!!


Here is Timothy after his recent grooming.
This looks like his "Glamor Shot."

Very thoughtful...

More 4th of July happiness

I had a great idea...

here it is after the girls helped roll them out.Here they are baked.

This is our yummy shish-ka-bob tray.

Good eatin' at the Deluhery ranch tonight.
Fireworks after 9pm if it doesn't rain.

Shop-Rite, where we spend stupid amounts of money

every week on groceries.

This is what I find so irritating about groceries:

1. They are expensive.

2. They disappear.

3. They are absolutely necessary.
4. They look so minor on the list.

It's when you feel so good about making a menu and actually getting to the grocery store,

and you "guesstimate" around $200, but it turns out to be $264.

That's after the Shop Rite discount card saves you $50.

ps. I know you can click on the picture and see

exactly what we eat.

No judging, alright?

Happy 4th of July!!

Amy, Sarah and their new friend, Amelia, baked and decorated these

patriotic cupcakes yesterday.

Very nice!!

Summer Flies Shawl

I started this shawl in late April and finished it on the long trip home from Missouri on May 2nd.
I needed something new for Mass when it was so cold in the AC. However, it turned out smaller than I had hoped, so I didn't block it until now. It is still a bit small and I may just give it away. I have started another one, and it will be bigger.

This bottom picture is the truest for the color.

(Photo credits: Sarah).

I've always wanted a sun room

When we were loking for houses in Sanford,

many of them had sun rooms (which I coveted).

That feature placed those homes out of our budget.

When we saw this house, I was excited because it had a sun room,

and it was 3 times the size of those we had previously seen.

(Isn't God awesome in the ways He always gives us what we need and,

very often,

what we want but certainly don't need?

I just needed to wait.

As we unpacked, our new sun room became a box depository.

We had no furniture to go out there,

so this worked well.

After the awesome and FREE "debris pick up" service,

Sunnie thought it was a lovely place to lounge in the sunshine,

away from his nemisis, the evil Timothy.

After some serious shopping onthe parts of myself and the girls,

we now have a wonderful, relaxing sun room.

We hang out here a lot.

Sunroom stats:

Area: 384 sq. feet

Sliding glass doors: 7

Sky lights: 4

Pellet stove: 1

Thank you, Lord, for giving us so many blessings!