all carried away...

Wow

2011-10-20T15:24:00.001-05:00

My divorce was final one year and one week ago. I can only remember the date because it is my flower girl's birthday. I remembered her birthday, but didn't remember the other til the next day. Clearly I'm not sad.

It has been an interesting year to say in the least. Full of very high highs and very low lows. But all in all, the best year of my adult life I believe.

-- Posted from my iPhone

That's All Folks

2011-10-18T16:01:00.001-05:00

I've been told in not so many words that I am a selfish/self-absorbed bitch one time too many lately. And by definition, a blog is pretty damned self absorbed. I'm not sure what the plan is, I may exports this so I can preserve my memories, or I may just delete the whole damned thing. Either way, see ya. And not on Facebook or Twitter either because those were the first to go.

Have a great life. I'm checking out.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Life Lately

2011-10-12T15:35:00.002-05:00

September and October have been a bit of a blur. This got long. Feel free to skip some stuff. I added in some links so you can skip more easily.

Aiden's Appendix Saga-I

Aiden's Appendix Saga-II

Carrie is a LunaticI

The Three Other Kids that Live With Me and the Rest of My Wonderful Family

Creative Muses

Aiden's Appendix Saga-I
All was fairly OK, then I got a call that Aiden was throwing up at school. I go get him, remembering the warning that a lady in the office told me. "Now remember, that's a bag of vomit you are carrying home." I was grateful for the reminder as I might have left it in my bar otherwise. This was a Wednesday. A puke virus was making the rounds, no big deal. He had to stay home til he was vomit free for 24 hours, so my mom came to keep him. Guess who is no longer bawling and squalling that her mommy retired? Yup. That would be me. Mom calls me during the day and tells me that he has started running a temp and says his tummy hurts bad. It did the night before, and I attributed this to tummy cramps from virus. We get a bit worried about the delayed temp, and the fact that he won't drink and is probably dehydrated. I'm supposed to to drive junior high cheerleaders to Cisco, I believe. Now I'm conflicted. I don't want to be a bad mom or a slacker cheer sponsor. Lovely Mona tells me I'll need to to go with Aiden because he will likely get an IV because of the dehydration. She handles my girls for me.

I meet mom and child at the clinic. The nurse comes to the waiting area and says go to ER because he will need a CT scan. I started getting nervous about now. They gave the poor kid an IV and he had to drink a gigantic cup of barium for the scan. The nurse optimistically tells him it tastes like orange juice. His response is "I hate orange juice!" We waited an eternity, not really, but it seemed like it. The poor baby hurt even with a tordol shot. We finally got the results which were, "we really aren't sure what the deal is." it could have been a ruptured appendix or something called Meckel's something. Our doctor, and the local surgeon recommended sending him to a bigger hospital where they deal with this more often. My brain said something along the lines of "oh shit!" and I got pretty darned scared.

Aiden and I rode in an ambulance to Providence in Waco. Aiden's dad and my mom, aunt and uncle followed. Mom was kind enough to run to my house and bring stuff I would need. I had Maddy on the phone and was barking out items of clothing. You know, comfort is going to be an issue and the wrong type of underwear could really make life hard. The ambulance guys were so sweet. They gave Aiden a little coca-cola bear to cuddle. We got to Providence and headed straight from the ER to surgery. I don't even remember who I talked to that told me they would be doing exploratory abdominal surgery to make certain it was in fact the appendix. We didn't have to wait as long as I expected. The surgeon was very nice and told us that it was the appendix, they had to flush his tiny little abdomen with 7 liters of fluid. That seems like a whole lot on a tiny little fellow. The next day Dr. Leblanc, the surgeon, said that as far as perforated appendices go, this was pretty bad. He assured us that he was fairly certain they got all of the ick out of his belly, but that an abscess could possibly develop.We stayed at Providence for 4 nights. Aiden had this little drain coming out of his belly, a pin rose drain. It looked like an overcooked really long piece of macaroni folded in half lengthwise. The reason for the long stay was to be sure he could poop, and get 4 days of IV antibiotics. Going home was heavenly. I had also missed a HS football game, which I have never done in several years as Flag sponsor. He had to stay home until he got the drain removed, which would be a total of 2.5 weeks from when he first started puking. The only time throughout the ordeal the boy cried was when he got his IV, one single tear leaked out of his right eye. He got a bit irritable at one point and invited everyone but me to leave. "Could all of you go out there and talk?!"

Aiden's Appendix Saga-II
Fast forward 2 weeks, we go to get the drain out. All is well. Dr. Leblanc says we are far enough out that there is verrrry little chance of an abscess, he can go to school Monday and all is good. I went back to work that day and get a text from my mom that the little boy that was so happy and playing most of the day was suddenly lethargic and his tummy hurt. They have just yanked a drain out though so I could see where things would be tender. A quick call to the surgeon's office confirms this and they tell me not to worry til his temp is 101. This is a Thursday and I am at JH football games being a sponsor, worrying about the little fellow. By the time I get home, his temp is 101.5. I call the surgeon's office again and they have him call me. He is puzzled and says that likely it is something else, but I could take Aiden in to be seen if I'm terribly concerned. One of my little cheerleaders is the daughter to our family practice doctor, so I send his wife a text and ask if I'm going to need to go in tonight or tomorrow. He says he probably wouldn't wait. By this time I already owe $567 Billion dollars to some hospital, so whats another ER trip. BUT, I pack a bag. Fast. We go to the ER, and the on call doctor wants to do another CT scan. Aiden cannot be cajoled into drinking that barium easily. It was a battle. We finally got him to drink half of it and he hurls. In the next hour, he drinks the other half, with much screaming, whining and yelling to "JUST GO HOME". He hurls again. We do CT scan anyway and are admitted to the hospital to get IV antibiotics. This is the 5th night Aiden and I have spent in a hospital. The next morning our doctor comes to visit, he has been talking to the Providence surgeon and they decide that Aiden needs to go back to Providence. By now neither he nor I are apprehensive about the ambulance. We finally got checked in to Providence, which has the cutest pediatric ward all decorated like the Wizard of Oz. Last time we had the tin man room. This time we got a flying monkey. The next morning they put another drain in, this one had a 3 foot tube and a bag attached, which meant I wasn't able to sleep in the bed with him. I did the first time and we were both happier that way. This kind of drain had to be flushed every day. One morning he asks me "I haven't heard my white cell count today, what is it?" We stayed 3 nights at Providence and went home. There is no home health in our area that does pediatrics, so I learned how to flush the drain. It sounds official. It really wasn't any big deal. The hardest part was watching the poor fellow carry around his drainage bag everywhere he went. It was like a little tail he had to keep with him.

I am happy to say that the child is finally healthy and back in school. I read his report card. During the 1st six weeks, he was present 15 days and absent 12. Yikes. He is like a local celebrity. All of the 1st graders went nuts when they saw him at the football game. Now he is just a smidge spoiled, like he wasn't already as the 4th child. At one time, he got mad at Keegan and came in crying "Keegan doesn't even care that my 'pendix ruptured!" Hopefully we will get back on track soon.

Carrie is a Lunatic
On another front, going totally off my anti anxiety medication wasn't a very good plan. It has some side effects I don't like. It took a bit of switching and messing with dosages, but I think I finally have something that is working for me with minimal side effects. The process wasn't pretty. I had one big freak out that I am mortified about. I haven't even told my friends or family because it is so horrible. Hopefully the people that did witness will be understanding and not think I'm a lunatic for the rest of my life. This is one of those times when I wish I lived in a city and there was a certain amount of anonymity.

The guilt that has gone along with the whole hospital incident is not negligible. I feel guilty for not realize what was happening with Aiden before the appendix ruptured. My cousin April reminded me that when you hear hooves, you think horses, not zebras. That helped. Missing the games with my flags and cheerleaders makes me feel sooo bad. I got a tummy virus during the time I actually was at school and missed a second junior high game. I got queasy during my 7th grade math class. I tried eating a Little Debbie Cosmic Brownie to see if I just needed food. That didn't work. I knew I was getting sick so stepped out of my room and asked my neighbor to watch them. I went outside, threw up a couple times and came back in. My little darlings said "Mrs Baker!!! You are pale!" I told them I was sick and threw up and making arrangements to get someone not sick in for them. The last thing you want around your kids are other people that are sick and are trying to make it through the day. Just as soon as I say this, one little sweetheart pipes up, "well, are you gonna finish that brownie or can I have it?" Oy vey!

But I just felt so guilty for missing my classes, not taking care of my big 3 kids, pets, flags, cheerleaders, all of it. Then I felt guilty for feeling guilty because I know I needed to be with Aiden because a sick kid just wants mommy. I also felt guilty for imposing on my family and friends.

The Three Other Kids that Live With Me and the Rest of My Wonderful Family
Kade, Maddy and Keegan are doing well. Kade turned 16 and Keegan turned 12. Keegan is so very pleased to be a preteen and be in junior high. Kade is thinking he might need to focus on some kind of driver's ed class so he can get a license. I cannot say enough how wonderful my kids were throughout this entire ordeal. They were thrown into complete chaos and handled everything remarkably well. My mom was at the hospital every day. I would have lost my mind without her. My aunt and uncle are the best aunt/uncle pair in the history of aunts and uncles. They, along with my wonderful Daddy took excellent care of my kids, and dogs. The Sweetest Boy in the Wor ld took care of my many kitty cats, feeding, watering, playing with, scooping poop from the litter box, and even made sure that they had something to watch and listen to on tv so they didn't feel abandoned.

Creative Muses
Marching contest is 1.5 weeks away. I've not had a creative streak for what my flags can do to add to the show. Monday night, with the help of Joan, it hit. I work best with stuff like this under pressure. My girls were quite understanding, and actually happy when I changed most everything that we are doing in the entire performance. Keep your fingers crossed that the muse visits one more time to figure out one more thing that I need.

Ok, that's all Folks. This mighta been a bit too long!

I Hate August

2011-08-27T14:30:00.001-05:00

The title sums it up.
August is not a favorite month. I go from easy peasy summertime to real life in high gear. This year was more difficult. Keegan and Aiden spent the month with their dad. August's arrival meant going from mom to 2 self sufficient teens doing nothing to mom to 4 busy kids on crazy schedules.

Coming back to school is always hard. But this year I started school without my mommy. I'm 40. This should have been easy. Not so much. My isn't just a mother, she is my friend. I liked working with her. The only other coworker I was close to also retired. Not having Edins in band is beyond difficult. If I didn't love my Flag girls so much, I would give up flag sponsor because life would be easier. The football game last night without my buddy, Joan, totally sucked. I sat in the bleachers sorting through a mangled mess of safety pins and closing them. For real.

I agreed right before school began to take over junior high cheerleaders. I love cheerleading and I like the girls a lot. I'm scared of jh cheer moms honestly. My girls are adorable. A bit rowdy, but so sweet. We are painting hall signs right now, in the junior high gym. I'm watching them dance to Michael Jackson's Beat It, looking at their reflections in the glass of the trophy case. I can only think back to practicing a routine to the same song for drill team, looking at the reflection in those same trophy cases. My mind wandered. Sorry bout that. My girls are sweeties, but taking over a job several months after it began is not my cup of tea. Moms and girls alike are frustrated by this point. I am as well. It will work out...

This year I'm teaching more junior high kids. I'm not certain if I'm cut out for it. A touchy person I am not. A boy came and gave me a hug yesterday, from behind. Scared the crap out of me and I yelled at him. Little kids everywhere were talking to me during half-time. I'm distracted then. I have to find them and apologize now in case I was mean. I'm trying hard to embrace this change that was made for me. Sometimes I slip.

I tried to warn Kevin that I was an emotional basket case before he got involved with me. I don't think he took me seriously. We have been dating a little over a year now. It has been a chaotic year, but even with the emotional highs and lows, it has been the best year of my life. I'm still worried that he will decide he can't take anymore of my bullshit. Clearly I have abandonment issues.

That's all I've got for now.

XOXO

Vanishing Summertime...

2011-06-27T22:48:00.000-05:00

Summer is passing way too quickly. I see it passing me by in time lapse photography. I am having the best summer ever. Last week got a bit hairy, what with the parenting and all. It gets a bit tricksy, ya know. Luckily I had a vacation this past weekend. By vacation, I mean the children, and my puppies, stayed with my parents for two whole nights.

Saturday, Kevin and I went with friends to see Chris Isaak who was playing at Billy Bobs. I have never been to Billy Bobs. It just doesn't sound like someplace I would ever go. Kevin either. In my entire life, I have never seen so many women in unflattering dresses wearing cowboy boots. I just don't get it. I did have a blast though!

I was bound and determined to get at least one picture of Kevin and I together. The only one I have is a blurry iPhone pic from Thanksgiving. The man is a smidge difficult to photograph. This is how it started...

I tried to be sneaky. It didn't work...

Straw over the lens thingy...

Notice me trying to look nice and smile...

in each pic...

as he makes silly faces at the last minute...

Gosh I love this man...

I had so very much fun.

I didn't include all the pictures where our eyes were closed. This is just a few of what we took.

Seeing a photograph of myself really truly happy is strange. I keep looking at them, then I feel like an idiot. This appears to be a different person than the one I've always seen in my pictures, this woman doesn't look like me. My brother said the sweetest thing ever. He and Tish thought that it was Kelly, our half sister. That is a HUGE compliment because I think she is about the prettiest person I've ever seen. She is also a solid decade younger than I am.

My summer therapy plans are going well. I'm slowly decreasing antidepressants and not having any negative side effects. I'm having a wonderful time with the kiddos and really not losing my temper I think. I mean, they drive me crazy at times, but nothing like summers gone by.

OK, I need to clean my kitchen so I can go to bed. The early morning running program has been a little difficult because I can NOT drag my butt out of the bed in the mornings. I think it has something to do with the room darkening shades I hung to make it easier to sleep in on the weekends.

The children are doing really well. Aiden is swimming like a fish and diving like no body's business. Keegan is gone to boy scout camp and Aiden is thrown to be alone. He and his big brother are pretty tight. Aiden can't sleep alone so his brother lets him sleep with each night. Last night Madalyn settled him and got him to sleep alone. I stayed far away because the stinker sense weakness and would have pounced. Kade works a lot. My kids have been a bit antisocial this summer. I'm actually pretty good with that. We all need a break from people at times.

OK, for reals I'm going now.

Operation Get Healthy, aka Stop Acting Like a Damned Idiot

2011-06-08T10:12:00.000-05:00

The last year has been rough. Actually, the last SEVERAL years have been rough, and what has been hard about this one is settling into a sense of normalcy. This last year for the most part has been amazing, but emotional. In 10 months, I managed to gain 20 lbs. I had dipped pretty low and needed to gain some so I wouldn't get sick with every bug that came my way, but sheesh! Fat and happy is great, but at this rate I'll have to retire early because my Hoveround won't be able to sustain my weight as it takes me from one classroom to another.

Summer vacation always means I make a big list of things that I need/want to do. Paint the hallway, clean out closets, sort through clothes, etc. I achieved goals I didn't know I had last summer, and this summer I have a list of things to accomplish, but the things I would like to do around my home are secondary. I want to take this summer to get healthy. Not so much physically, although that does figure in, but emotionally.

A couple months ago I started reading The Nice Girl Syndrome. It sooo applied to me and made so much sense. The only problem is I got angry. Really really angry. Anytime anybody asked me to do something, or I even felt in the slightest like I was taking advantage of, I totally overreacted. I even emailed my boss and started complaining that I was discriminated against because I'm not old, fat and ugly. That's when I put the book up. I might have overreacted ever so slightly and I reallllly needed to keep my job, so decided I would deal with that junk when school doesn't interfere, so NOW!

I have more books I purchased on similar subjects, unfortunately they are on my stolen ipad. To the piece of crap that stole my ipad, I still have the charger and a normal ipod/iphone charger takes FOREVER. A new charger can be purchased though. I hope my ipad slips out of your hands and the screen shatters and glass gets into your foot and you bleed for a long time, with teesie shards of glass embedded in your feet...

I got distracted. My goal is to read and try to work through some gunk, and quit being mad at everyone else in my life and quit being mad at myself for being such a pushover.

I also started seeing our homeopath a couple months ago. She is a counselor as well. I do not know what she is giving me, but it makes a gigantic difference. I cry for a couple days hard core, then feel amazing. I started taking antidepressants while pregnant with Aiden, 8 years ago. I don't feel the need to completely go off of them, but I want to cut it down to a smaller dose, rather than something to tranquilize a mule. Since seeing her, I rarely have to take anything extra for anxiety. At one point I did ever night just so I could sleep for a couple hours. These days I sleep like a baby. I start decreasing antidepressants in a couple weeks and I'm really excited. I will do so very very slowly and I'm certain that those in my life are scared to death. I sure would be! She also told me to take notes while I read. I've never done that. We'll see how it goes.

I really hate exercising. I'm more of a loll about and read and snack kind of girl. I know that exercise will help with anxiety and my 2 pound a month problem. Last night Joan had veggies from her garden for me so I rode my bike all 5 blocks to her house. Had legs of jello and was gasping for oxygen. I just knew my tires were flat, but they weren't. It was just my sad legs. This morning the sweetest boy in the world and I got up and ran. I made it a block before whining that my knee hurt. A whole 5 blocks before my ears hurt and I was gasping. I made it 8 blocks before stopping to walk a bit. Have I mentioned that I hate running? I ran track and cross country in junior high and high school and hated every moment of it. I was decent at it, but have no clue WHY I did it. I guess to be accepted?? Who knows...I just know that it does make me feel better and I like finding muscles that I thought were long gone on my body. We made it a whole 12 blocks running. The poor man will never be able to get into shape on his own with me running alongside. At least I can provide amusement along the way. My tongue hurt soo bad when we finished. I must just tense up everything when I run.

Anyway, that's all I've got. I'm going to feed myself and then try to do some actual work. And follow that sage advice that my dear friend gave me this weekend...
just let it go...

Wow, Long Time No Blog

2011-06-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

It has been such a long time since I posted and a lot has happened. In February, my Grandmother passed away. She went to be with the love of her life and I think that they are really happy. Valentines day was to be Grandfather's birthday and Grandmother died just a few days before. I was happy that she didn't have to go through another one of his birthdays without him. The last few years she has missed him more and more and had been talking about him a lot throughout the fall.

Every child is blessed to have grandparents, but I always felt luckier than most. When my parents divorced, my mom brought us to Texas and we lived with my grandparents briefly. Even after Mom remarried and my Daddy adopted, we still spent a lot of time at Grandmother and Grandfather's house. Walking home after school, etc. Many of my big events happened at their house. I remember breaking into the liquor cabinet and sampling all of the different types of booze, most of which were just horrid and kept me from drinking much ever. After drivers ed class, my boyfriend and I waited there to be picked up and got to make out inside an actual house with no supervision. Nothing major happened, i swear! Grandmother had a spell with me when I was about 10, yelling at me that I would marry as a virgin and deserve the white wedding dress I was wearing. I was quite scared of incurring her wrath by having sex. Now I think that this was more of a Do as I Say and Not as I Do kind of thing...

For fun, Tony and April and I would go through the house putting out cigarettes that Grandmother had left burning. We learned to swear from my grandmother. She was definately not a bake cookies and feed you sort of grandparent, unless stew with slimy okra at the bottom counts. Many of my friends learned to swear from my grandmother. And they ALL called her Grandmother. When Keegan was 4, he got mad at Joan and I and screamed at us "You dumbbutt sonofabitch buttheads!!" I was shocked, but a little proud. The Stanley gene was living strong and being passed on...

My grandfather is a man that I will always admire. He was a soft spoken man until you really pissed him off, then you had better watch out. He had huge hands and would thump us on the head for misbehaving, or make us go outside and run around the house over and over. When we moved from California, I was terrified of thunderstorms. He would take me out to the porch swing and we would watch the clouds and lightening and he would hold me safe and tight and tell me about the big tractor in the sky. He could fix anything. He was a kind soul and I miss him still. The cardigan he is wearing in the above photo, I have that one or one very similar. I love to put it on when I need a bit of extra love. It makes me feel safe and secure, even though it is acrylic.

When I began dating Kevin, it flashed through my head "gee, my grandfather would really be happy to see me with this man." In so many ways Kevin reminds me of my grandfather, except I never thought that grandfather was sexy as could be. That would be gross ya know.

I really really miss this lady. She was a quick-tempered, bigoted, self-absorbed, flirt of woman. I hate when people die and we turn them into saints. Her flaws were what made her perfect. She was a professional bowler (I have her bowling bag and ball and spent hours cleaning them til they shine. I love them even though I hate bowling. She taught me to knit and crochet, and made hats and rugs out of trashbags and horrid sweaters out of itchy acrylic yarn. I still have every one. Nothing made her happier than when I would ask her to pick up sometime for me at the liquor store. She was a gadget junkie and I get so sad when I see infomercials with things I would like to try. She would always buy 2 get one free, and give me one.

Here is to The Grandmother...could you tell Carrie that I'm here?

(I was in labor, 3 hours of pushing, no pain meds, baby stuck, family worried that I'm dying and this is what Trudy told my doctor when she came out to give the family an update)

I think I'll go shower and put on a caftan now...

My Christmas in July...

2011-02-02T18:09:00.000-06:00

I just got the news that we have another day out of school tomorrow. I am so freaking excited that it is ridiculous. I know we still have the same number of days to go to school, but these little surprises just make me happy. People everywhere are going stir crazy in their houses. Not me. I'm a nest builder and have been feathering my own little nest.

I'm sure all of my facebook friends read my fire building saga. My house still smells like smoke. It kind of makes me happy though. I decided early this morning (like 11am) that we should prepare just in case we had no water or power. I gave Madalyn the job of putting some water in the fridge, just in case. Kade was responsible for bringing in the firewood, which was wet of course because no fire has been lit in about 2 years. Keegan and Aiden were responsible for charging all electronics. They are SO disappionted that we've not yet lost power. Many moons ago, they got to play Power Outage at Aunt Tish and Uncle Tony's house. It was the best game ever. (I was afraid the house might burn down.)

Okay, that's all I've got. Stay warm!!

Privacy

2011-02-01T14:52:00.002-06:00

People are nosey. It seems contradictory to be worried about privacy, and blog about your life. It makes perfect sense to me. I just want to not be criticized over what I say, even though I say a lot of inappropriate things..like shit...or hell...or damn...or kiss my ass you stupid piece of shit. I curse and I like it. This might make me a bad role model. I do have high moral standards though and I can't lie worth a crap. In my book, lying and gossiping are way worse than cursing and having a potty mouth.

In other news, I have determined that my child will NOT participate in the Worth the Wait abstinence only sex education program this year at school. High school kids choose to have anal sex because they are taught in WTW that you can't have sex when a girl is on their period. I heard more than I wanted to about this a few weeks back. Darling daughter is distressed by this info. She likes to watch all of the people who are uncomfortable during the lessons and make fun of them. I don't know where she gets this little personality quirk. Honestly I just want my kids to learn the truth about sex and not be influenced by religious or social stigmas. I certainly do NOT want them having sex before they are ready emotionally, but I think it is insane to think they will wait til they are married. It just isn't realistic. My brain is all over the place today. I may not be making a lot of sense...

Currently I'm watching According to Greta, with Hilary Duff. If you haven't seen it, you really need to. It is available for instant downloading on Netflix.

Apologies...

2011-01-31T17:34:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a Whack-a-Mole game. I'm the mole of course. I keep getting in trouble or being slammed with some new disaster. I keep wanting to have a great 2011, but things keep happening to me.

I went though and deleted 230ish Facebook friends this weekend. I apologized to my junior high kids, but did it anyway. I should have sent out a massive email explaining and didn't. I'm not good at hurting people's feelings. I have censored myself-believe it or not-for a long time and now with my new found freedom, I'm not as good at keeping my mouth shut as I used to be. Long story short, I said something stupid, my daughter posted a pic of me running my mouth, and I offended a lot of people. My solution was to decrease friends. It all seems a bit contradictory. I blog my thoughts and feelings, I post whatever inappropriate rant I think of, then get my feelings hurt when somebody calls me out for it.

I got paranoid as well. Thinking that the world was out to get me. Getting down on myself for not being a good enough mom, teacher, daughter, girlfriend, person in general. Like every negative anything I've ever heard must true.

I have to learn to find a balance. I'm not good at balance. Having freedom to make my own decisions has been so empowering, but I might have gotten carried away with it. It was like the first time I went shopping after filing for divorce and realizing that I could purchase whatever clothing I could find the money for, and not really have to answer questions.

When I was 18 and a senior in high school, my parents ditched my curfew. I got to use my own judgement. Then one day in March of 1989, my judgement lapsed somewhat. I drove up at 5am with 2 friends to see my mother standing at the front door. Talk about scared. I had to be home at 10pm for the next many weeks. (It really wasn't my fault because we were out of town and I didn't have a vehicle and was with someone else who was making out with a college boy and wouldn't leave. I didn't even have any fun.) Good Gawd. I am not looking forward to the next several years.

So, anyway, I'm working on remembering that things aren't happening TO me. I'm setting myself up a little bit.

Aiden was around age 3 at Mom Zsoan's house and causing some sort of trouble with another child. He was all distressed over something that somebody else had done to him. She told him "Aiden! You have PRECIPITATED these events!" His response was an indignant, incredulous harrumph.

I need to stop harrumph-ing.
To anyone I offended by unfriending, I apologize. If you still like me or want to be my fb friend, request me again.

I've Been Annoyed...

2011-01-27T17:35:00.003-06:00

Gosh, does it ever seem like everything you do or say lands you in trouble? Well, that pretty much sums up my life lately. I could just have a chip on my shoulder, but I don't think so. I have a list of things that are getting to me, but I will only vent a small amount.

Lately, I feel discriminated against. Yes, that sounds silly. If I were ugly, or fat, or tall, or male I would be treated differently. I'm not. I'm a 40 year old woman who looks younger, weighs a small amount considering I've had 4 children, and isn't ugly. I'm not saying I'm good looking though. I'm just not dog ass ugly. To complicate matters, I'm a big sissy. I do what people want and let them run all over me. When I complain, I have the same effect as an annoying little fly. Some days I just want to put a grill guard on my car and run over everything in my way. I am not implying that I would run over people for anyone who would like to jump to conclusions here.

For the first time in a very long time, I am free to be myself. I can be as free-spirited as I want to be. This doesn't mean I have no morals. This just means I can wear what I want to no matter how goofy it appears to anyone else. I can also paint my house funky colours, own a bunch of cats, and make my own decisions. Some of this seems to be a problem. At 40 years old I guess I'm supposed to conform a little more. Bletch. Conformity. Yuck.

There is a bunch more, but I'm going to shut up. I've had a migraine for about 2.5 weeks. It is getting old. Very old. It makes a person cranky also so I'm chalking my foul mood of late up to pain induced pissiness.

I bought a bag this week. The first one since June. It is so freaking cute. Red. It's a knitting bag/purse that my iPad, personal junk and knitting stuff fit in. It's cherry red. Gorgeous. And it was 50% off! Did I mention it is the most spectacular shade of red? What doesn't match red? Maybe the orange dress and pink trench I wore today. My boots were brown though. How is that for conformity??

Food & Friends

2011-01-06T09:08:00.005-06:00

I'm really really lucky. The last year or so have been the most difficult of my life in case I've not mentioned. Between teenagers, divorce, medical issues, etc., I feel like my head has been spinning around like crazy. I could not have made it through this period of my life without my closest friends and my family. They have helped with the kids, helped financially, helped emotionally, and really just been so freaking sweet anytime I needed anything.

The last couple weeks have been even more difficult. I attributed it to the holidays being so different from what I'm accustomed to. I mean, we have Christmas Eve rituals the same as everyone else. One is that the children and I always get Grandmother and go driving looking at the lights, listening to Christmas music. Generally the children have requested their Benadryl BEFORE the drive so that they get more mellowed out and morning comes that much more quickly. This year, Grandmother was in the hospital and the children spent the night with their father. It was so very strange. I spent Christmas Eve with Kevin's family, the sweetest family in the world. I couldn't help being emotional however. I missed my babies badly. Even though I generally want to pull my hair out on Xmas Eve, its special and I love that time. I feel really guilty for having been emotional. We ended up leaving earlier than planned and went home to prepare for the childrens' arrival in 7 hours. I am very grateful for having been able to spend Xmas morning with them!!!

The holidays passed and things didn't get better emotionally. I had previously been decreasing my antidepressants so scrapped that idea and went back on full strength. Nothing got better. About twice a week I was having a major meltdown for no apparent reason. Monday night I sent Joan a text message telling her sort of how bad it was. In 30 minutes she was at my house, cooking dinner for my kiddos, directing the littles to get in their jammies, etc. OMGolly it is nice to have amazing friends. She cleaned the kitchen and it mellowed me out immensely. Before texting her, I had been just laying in the bathtub, my eyes dripping more than the faucet. I couldn't pinpoint what was causing this and that scared me. There was no apparent reason.

The the day after this happened, early in the morning, I got a call from Joan. She had been up early researching some medication I was taking for an unrelated condition. I take it twice a week. Apparently a side effect of the medication in a very small percentage of the population is extreme anxiety, and depression. This info isn't listed for the consumer, but under information for professionals. It would have never occurred to me to look for this! I cannot tell you what a relief it was to know this. I started thinking back and every emotional episode I have had in the last month occurred 24-36 hours after this medication. Joan is a freaking genius. I am a freaking genius for having her be my friend. Knowing where the crappy feelings were coming from make it so much easier to talk myself through the paranoid thoughts. I only have one week left on this stuff so I'm pretty sure I can handle it now.

In addition to finding this little gem of information, Joan came up with a list of 7 easy dinners that I could fix and a shopping list. I'm not a big fan of cooking. I can cook, and do a nice job when I decide to, but thinking of what to fix is overwhelming for me at times...most times if I'm being honest. She immediately told me what to get from the store to use that night with the leftovers of what she had fixed.

The more I thought, the more I became convinced that the woman needs to write a book for moms who just don't know what the heck to fix for dinner. She is so creative. I was telling my mom and she suggest Joan get on the stick and blog it. So she did! MaudeUnplugged I'm going to stay on her rear end to keep blogging these ideas, because they make my life so much more simple!! I'm a big fan of giving credit where credit is due also and her ideas were so freaking good that the world needs to know about them, so this appears to be the best way to share the good news.

I wish that everyone could have a friend like Joan. When I was growing up I always felt sorry for myself because everybody had a "best friend". I didn't. It was like all the besties were assigned and I was absent that day. I always felt like the friend who is there for others when they need me and when I was in distress, everyone was out to lunch. I now keep a very limited number of friends near and dear. I may go months without talking, but when we get together its like we have been with one another non-stop. Joan is so special and we have been through so much together. She was with me during my labors, especially when Keegan's heart stopped beating several times and I ended up with a really fast c-section. She fixed my hair when I started cutting it myself after a glass of wine and I showed up at her house in a panic..she was in the bathtub at the time. Has your best bud cut your hair naked? HA! She helped me learn to nurse my babies, follow my instincts as a mother, she kept my babies and always gives me guidance when I don't know what the heck to do. We have been friends through 2 divorces, a wedding, actually 2 but I'm not counting mine because we didn't know one another as well back then, even though she sang), flag camp, beach trips, Colorado trips, etc. She was the first person to find out I was pregnant, unplanned and unhappily, with a 4th baby and there for every happy birth.

Ok, this is getting sappy. I should stop. Seriously though, check out her menu ideas and harass her to post more, because she is a freaking genius.

Oh, and if you screw with her, I WILL take you down.

It has happened before.

I have made enemies for life.

I don't care.

Cleaning House

2010-12-09T08:44:00.005-06:00

So, I use this handy dandy little tool for this blog that lets me see if anyone actually reads the crap I write. I would probably write even if nobody ever read, because I write for myself, but some days it makes me feel good to see that I have readers. Statcounter.com is free and allows me to see when people read, where they are located, what website they linked from, etc.

Today I'm looking around and click something by accident and it shows me what search engine was used and what search query they typed in. I was kind of shocked by the results. The #2 typed phrase that brought people to my blog was "child handcuffs". OMFG. WTF. These are the thoughts that went through my mind. Then I had to go see what the heck I wrote to make my blog appear from that query. (Kade's broken arm FYI). Attn Perverts and Pedophiles: there is nothing for you here. I can add your name to the Needs to Be Neutered List if you like though. This brings me to the #1 typed phrase. My ex-husband's name. Hey people, he is gone now. You won't find him here anymore. I thought about deleting all traces that he was ever here, but that seems like a lot of work.

While I was looking through all of these old posts, I was shocked. I know that I have a dry sense of humor, but I sooo didn't realize how unhappy I sounded, and I guess how unhappy I was. I knew that I was a bitch, but wow. Blogging always made me feel better because I bitched and vented and it was out of my system. Now I don't really have anything to complain about. My blog posts are few and far between as a result. I have to figure out how to fit blogging happily into my life. I do not plan on turning into a cheerful person, blogging about how blessed I am, just so ya know. I am still a bitch after all. What is bizarre to me is I was always too willing to share the crappy stuff, but I like keeping all of the happy parts of my life to myself. I guess when I see people bragging about their significant other and going on and on, I have just always thought that it is a big show. I don't do crap for show. WYSIWYG. I don't want to share my happy stuff because it seems to cheapen it a bit. Don't get me wrong, I share with my close friends, just not with the world. (Actually I share a lot of things with my close friends. Joan looked at my troubled cervix just yesterday.) I sort of feel like Jill Connor Browne, The Sweet Potato Queen. In her books she seems to go from being somewhat disenchanted with the entire male gender, to talking about the cutest boy in the world. I've got to figure out how this works exactly. FYI, for you SPQ fans, my cutest boy in the world is all 5 of the men you must have in your life, all rolled into one and makes me giddy, an a manner that is quite nauseating to those around me.

So, I'm in the midst of de-cluttering and organizing my house. I started this summer. Last night, I got everything in my living room put away!! This is big. HUGE. Now I can start cleaning and organizing small areas. I will start with the electronics cabinets tonight I believe. I've also downsized on furniture. I'm down to 3 sofas. I've been chunking stuff left and right. I also have yet to purchase more yarn and bags. This is incredible for me. Oh, I've reduced the number of cats I own as well. We are down to 4. Today I drug out the Christmas stuff and put lights on the tree. Yesterday I went to Wally World for a tree. I was going out to put the seats down to make room for the tree and Joan was telling the man which tree we wanted. He seemed to think that we were a couple. Ha! It isn't the first time this has happened. I had to buy new lights this year. Last year while trying to take the lights off the dead tree I might have gone into a rage because nobody would freaking help me and I was tangled up. I ended up kicking the stupid tree off the back porch, lights still attached, while screaming like a mad woman. Thank goodness the stand was still in the flower bed where the tree landed and I didn't have to purchase another one.

So far I have purchased exactly one present. The only reason it is taken care of is because it was an eBay auction and I couldn't put it off. I might get busy with that today. I have to buy wrapping paper. Generally I have large quantities of old paper, but during my cleaning spell during the last few months, I ditched it all. The one thing I have accomplished quite nicely is Xmas stockings. I determined that we needed new ones. Putting the old stockings up, minus the children's father just seemed wrong, so I knitted new stockings. I will save the old ones because they are special to the kids, but new festive stockings were a lot of fun to make. They are all simple and the kids picked out their own yarn colours. I'm still working on mine, I think it won't make the fireplace this year and that's really okay with me. These might be my favorite knitting projects to date. They were easily transported, and difficult to screw up!

OK, that was a lot of rambling and very little information. I'm going to turn off Indiana Jones and do some actual work. Or maybe I'll do a little online holiday shopping.

Thanksgiving Revisited

2010-12-08T09:08:00.000-06:00

2010-11-28T19:56:00.008-06:00

I don't think that I ever blogged about my birthday. I could go read and see, but that is a lot of work you know so I think I'll just summarize. Usually I have a great birthday week, then despite the efforts of my friends and family members, I have a complete and total meltdown on my birthday. I try to have a good attitude, I really do, and I succeed until the actual day itself. Bless their hearts, my mom and Joan and the kids always try to do things that will make me happy and I seem to have this pathological need to feel sorry for myself on my birthday. My first thought upon waking is "oh great, one year closer to death." You get the idea.

Given my history with my birthday, I determined that this year I was going to keep my expectations low. Like, way way low. I mean, it was my 40th. I really really liked my 30's even though I was on antidepressants for the majority of the decade. Heh. That sounds pathetic. But I liked being 30-something. 40 doesn't sound the same. Well, amazingly enough I had a fantastic birthday week and birthDAY itself. My kids went out of their way to make me feel good. Keegan reminded me early in the week that it couldn't be worse than my 39th birthday when I cried and cleaned the house all day. I told you that I do it up right. My family was great. The sweetest boy in the world made me feel like a princess, but then he always does. I swear that even my kitties were extra sweet to me. I'm kind of liking 40.

Thanksgiving was wonderful for my family. Cousins came in to visit and the kids had so much fun. Having 3 days off from school is so much more amazing than only the 2 that we usually get. Currently I'm feeling pretty stinking rested.

Yesterday we went and took Maura's senior pictures. Well, Take 1 of Maura's senior pictures. She got tired of smiling and since Joan and I are taking them ourselves and don't have to pawn any children, we can do it in several installations. I have a decent camera, nothing fancy. I think it is 4 years old, but it takes amazing pictures. It is a Sony Cybershot DSC-H7. It's only 8 mega pixels. We just took pictures out at my parents house. Maura ran in the house to change shirts and Joan and I sat and chatted for a few minutes. I had taken 2 old chairs out into the weeds to use and told Joan that all we needed was a bottle of wine to have a kick ass picture of the 2 of us. Next thing I know, Madalyn Grace has snapped this picture of us. I love it. She and I are in sync apparently.

I just love everything about this picture. I love how Joan and I have no clue that she was taking the picture, I love the position, the light, etc. It makes me really happy. This is a nice snapshot of our entire friendship, sitting by the prickly pear talking about life.

Here is a pic of darling Madalyn herself. We were goofing around waiting for Maura's first wardrobe change.

Yes, she is only 13 years old. Yes, this scares the shit out of me.

And a couple pictures of Maura that I liked just because...

Ok, it's bedtime for me. Good night!

Progress...

2010-11-21T13:38:00.003-06:00

So much of my life lately can't be blogged and it is DIFFICULT! I'm a pretty open person, but much of it seems like I should keep my fingers still and not type it up. I still talk about a lot to anyone who cares, or lets close enough to listen rather. ha! I've had some medical issues that are causing some anger and hostility. My bff Maude is about to start a rebellion over it all. I love her. If you get close enough, she may start ranting so you might keep your distance.

So, I've been stressed over those things, yesterday I drove to a football game in BFE, which would normally wreck my Saturday. Don't get me wrong, I want my kiddos to do well, I just try to avoid wearing real clothes on a Saturday and driving to a football game certainly means I'll have to wear a bra and shoes. So, I'm on the way home, driving in the dark. I don't see well at night. Kade and Maddy are bickering over everything from music to who sits in the front seat. I'm listening to shitty music. The day before I had sort of a huge shock and felt betrayed by someone close to me. I also got several text messages designed to control me and screw me up mentally. Kevin is way off in Houston with Ra at the Roger Waters concert. I'm excited for them but last time he was gone I sort of became very similar to a toddler with separation anxiety. Basically the planets were all aligned for Carrie to be in a major funk. I dug my earphones out and listened to my own music and all of a sudden realized something strange. I was a little bit pissy, but I was happy. Like deep down happy. It has been a really long time since I felt like that. The last many years my general level of happiness is dictated by what is happening at that very moment. There was a level of contentedness that I've been missing for a while. The only thing about getting happy that concerns me is I'm gaining weight. I needed to gain some I realize. I'm up 15 lbs since July 4 though and that needs to stop. Right now I'm teaching rate of change/slope in both 7th and 8th grade math. My brain worked out a data set right off the bat that I could use in class. Ha.

I've also realized that I don't have to put up with shit. I'm shocked at how many people feel the need to explain how my choice to divorce is negatively impacting their lives. They think for some reason that they are helping, or that I care. Oh, I'm sorry. I should have stayed married and continued to lose 20 lbs a year so that you don't have to be uncomfortable with the idea that I might be happier not married. I mean, seriously people. There are other people to be concerned about, I realize. But basically, unless I breastfed you, I don't want to hear about your problems. And if you like my ex-husband better than you like me, yippee skippee, one less user in my life. I've had only a couple friendships in my life ever where I don't feel like I give more than I get emotionally. I'm quite happy to let the remainder of those go.

This week my cousins April and Erin are coming to stay for the holidays. I'm very excited. They are more like the sisters I've never had than cousins. I see lots of lolling about in my future. I'm hoping maybe I can get Apple to help me paint a little bit. Shhh...don't tell her!

2010-11-03T22:00:00.002-05:00

So, it has been a while since I've blogged. Four months to be precise. I have postponed this post because I didn't know the best way to go about it. In true Carrie form, I'll just throw all the information out there. I will probably share too much as I am prone to doing. This is something I am working on though, in case you care.

It has been a busy four months. I got divorced and it was final almost a month ago. No, I'm not heartbroken so please don't slump your shoulders and drop the corners of your mouth while tilting your head to the side at me. I'm great. Even if I weren't great, I would probably prefer that you pretend happiness for me anyway instead of acting like the world was ending. Seriously, who wants every person that they encounter offering their condolences?

For every person on the planet who wants to know how my kids are handling things, they are great also. I notice that I seem to be overusing the word "great". I am not using "great" in the same context that I have always used "fine." "Fine" means "whatever, I'll live, I'm sucking it up so leave me alone." When I use "great", think Tony the Tiger...GGGGGGREAT!! Seriously, my children are handling things really well. One thing that the do NOT appreciate is well-meaning adults interrupting their social time or play time to ask how they are handling life. This will piss them off. Parent/child lines of communication are open and everybody is doing well.

For all of those people and their canines who would like to know what happened. There is no big scandalous story. There is no juicy gossip. It just isn't any of your business. But seriously, everybody is good! Honestly, I'm a golden rule kind of girl. I try to treat people like I want to be treated. I try to be there when my friends need me as much as I can. I try not to spread rumours. I try to tell people to shut the hell up when they are gossiping. I will take you out if you are saying something nasty about somebody I love. I kind of expected the same in return. Imagine my shock and surprise to find out that this was not the case and that stupid stories were being made up. All I'm going to say is that if you sit around flapping your mouth about other people, your butt will grow. Not nice I realize, but what can I say? Pinocchio was an important part of my childhood.

Okay, I saved the best news for last. When my divorce began, the last thing in my mind was dating. For a long time I have been a bit of a loner. I have my children, my family and my handful of friends. Most people disappoint me. Good grief that sounds pitiful. I'm really fine. Aaaannnnyway...I started dating someone. By accidentally I mean that it was not something I had intended to do. I planned on being good with my kids and my cats. I accidentally met the sweetest, most perfect man in the whole wide world and we are dating. I'm really really happy, at least when I'm not being a basketcase because I will be 40 in 10 days and am responsible for the lives of 4 children, 2 dogs and 7 cats...all by myself and if I screw up the entire world will end and it will be all my fault. In other words, I have issues. I'm trying to learn to work through them without having a massive meltdown. My new goal is to learn "thought stopping." My brain always works overtime and it is soo not a good thing. I'm trying to focus on those positive amazing things in my life that are so much better than the small negative things I allow to bog me down. I went off on a tangent here. My point was to share the news about the Cutest Boy in the Whole Wide World. He is pretty amazing. I adore him.

Ok. That's enough for now. That catches us up on the major things in my life. Now we will get back to our regularly scheduled program of talking about being trapped in my yard by a skunk. washing small dogs in tomato sauce multiple times because of said skunks, falling through the attic of my grandmother's house, etc.

Picky Picky...

2010-07-03T10:16:00.005-05:00

This is a couple of misc. stupid Baker children stories. Feel free not to read...

The other day we are driving along in Gramme's car. Keegan has a little spot on his face where he had a bite or something and he picked at it. It got kind of icky looking and I was about to think I needed to take him in to the clinic. He's also had allergy issues and had some nasal issues. Keegan and Madalyn Grace are in the back seat, within touching distance which is always baaad. Madalyn has her Betseyville bag full of her "necessities". Keegan touches her bag.

Madalyn: God Keegan! Get your nasty fingers off My Betsey! I'm going to get your impe-freak-o disease!

Keegan: I don't have anything Madalyn!

Madalyn: Well, you PICK YOUR NOSE!!! Get Away!!

Keegan: Madalyn! I don't pick my nose with that hand!

5 solid seconds of silence as we all ponder the implications of this statement...

Aiden: Well, I pick my nose with both hands!

---------

Keegan and Aiden are watching Cartoon Network. There is some bizarre show on. It confused me.

Me: Keegan, is this a soap opera??

Keegan: No Moooomm. It's cartoon network. duh.

Me: Keegan, I think this is a cartoon network soap opera.

Keegan: Mom! It's not a soap opera. See, nobody is saying "ohhh....nooo....look at that rock...."

---------

In other exciting household news, our dsl has been out for 2 days. This is not good. No Xbox live, no internet, no Netflix. For Madalyn this means no facebook, no makeup guru videos on youtube, etc. What will we ever do?? I reset the dsl several times. I called Century Link and they told me that places all over Texas are having issues. I determined that I had forgotten to pay my bill and maybe they cut me off. I spiraled into depression over being a loser who can't even remember to pay the dsl bill. I got a grip and tried to be patient. I made home made playdough with the kids to try to comphensate for my shitty parenting. I cleaned home made green playdough off of every damn surface of my house, cursing the people who actually DO make playdough for their kids that made me feel like a shitty mom to begin with. I finally called tech support this morning. After 30 minutes on the phone, I figured out that in one of my early attempts to reset the dsl, I had plugged the phone line into the dsl modem. Just freakin dandy. I'm a loser who can't plug in a cable. Oh well, at least we have internet again.

I think maybe a lack of sunshine is doing something to my brain...

Kade's Arm X-rays

2010-07-01T11:57:00.003-05:00

For all of my nursing friends...

Before it was set.
After it was set.

Introductions

2010-06-16T08:42:00.000-05:00

I love cats. I always have. In the 3rd grade, a boy I sat by at lunch terrorized me by telling me of all the ways he killed cats. I cried every damn time, even though I figured he was full of shit.

This morning I'm sitting outside. I decided to clip my dogs' hair and am letting the wind make me look like less of an abominable snow monster.

Little Siamese wanted out. He met big Siamese. I tried to grab my phone for a pic of this, but Siamese are the assholes of the cat world and they didn't cooperate.

Lucifer, or Lou when he is being nice, is on high alert watching the little guy play. We have yet to come up with a good name for this guy. He is soo sweet and charming, til he isn't!

I think I'll call him Beelzebub. He can be just Bub when we like him. That's better than Cat, right?

-- Posted from my iPhone

An Addendum

2010-06-15T13:48:00.003-05:00

So, naturally things are moving slowly around the Baker household today. Kade awakens at 9:30 and off we go to the pharmacy as he hurts badly. Aiden is up around 10, Madalyn is snoozing hard and I assume Keegan is too. He sleeps deep and late. At around 11:30 the phone rings. Its Keegan. He would like to know if he can spend another night with Branson. "Ummm...I suppose so. Does this mean you aren't in your bedroom??" I'm amused, and I guess more tired than I thought I was.

We still have kitties. A bunch of kitties, down to 4 babies. Annabelle has started sleeping on the ironing board so she can get away from them. They hang on her all the time, like baby calves, nursing. I feel sorry for her.

Update on the beach cruiser. Out of stock again. $200 saved.

Well, That Was Fun!

2010-06-15T08:25:00.007-05:00

I made my nice little summer list. It was a great list. I remembered another thing for the list. Acquire a Liberty of London beach cruiser from Target. Yes, it is a somewhat self-absorbed list, but OK.

What was NOT on my list was an ER trip with a gross broken arm, and then being transferred to Scott and White for an orthopedic doc to look at the arm and set it or do surgery if necessary.

So, here is the blow by blow. Kade and a friend, C, were outside goofing off, playing a Baker family game called something like Trampoline and a Tree. I've played it myself. It's quite fun. I'm not supposed to go into the details for fear that we will all look like idiots though. I was in the house, Kyle had just driven up and I'm in the house. Kyle runs to the house and shouts at me "I'm taking Kade to the ER, he just broke his arm BAD!!" and they leave. I stood there confused for about 10 seconds and yelled at Madalyn and C to watch the little boys that I was leaving. By the time I get to the ER, Kyle already has the child back there -he parked in ambulance parking- and has managed to piss off the nurses. Apparently they were incredibly busy, but by God, the man got his kiddo in fast! The arm was quite frightening.

Here are a couple pics of the arm. Pretty nasty. At one point Aiden told Gramme, "arms are supposed to bend like that. Will you call and check on Kade?"
We did x-rays and such in town and Dr. Killian determined it needed to be looked at by an orthopedic doc so we made the trek to Temple. He had a couple shots of demerol before we left so was feeling quite nice. In Temple, we did more x-rays.
The doctors determined that they could set it without surgery, but it would be better if they knocked him out. It was pretty cool. They stuck his fingers in these things that look like Chinese handcuffs that you play with as a child. Then they hung his arm from a pole with a weight on the forearm so that they could pull it back into place. He didn't go to sleep well.
For a kid that is knocked out cold by a single benadryl, they kept having to give him more and more sedative. As they were moving him and getting the arm in place he would doze and then shout "I'm still AWAKE!".
Here is where things went awry. Notice the leg moving upwards? I got up at this point and went and began kind of soothing his legs. I know this kid. He had night terrors when he was small and I recognized some signs, but my brain didn't quite make the connection quite yet. The nurse griped at me and told me to sit my ass down basically, she was really nice, but that's what I heard. I harrumphed and sat to watch the next portion of the scene unfold where he kicked the ortho, the one at the back behind his arm, in the chest with his right shoe. I tried to tell them. He had about 5 people laying across him trying to keep him still so they could give him ketamine. I thought this was something used on horses. It is on Criminal Minds!
Anyway, they got him out, yanked the bones into place. I kind of watched. I'm pretty impressed with my lack of freaking out. I sure as hell wasn't leaving that room! They x-rayed and yanked some more and x-rayed again and finally splinted him up. We go back in a week or so for a cast.

Here he is awake and high as can be, pain free and happy. Kyle got a little concerned when Kade made a comment about this being cool. Kade thinks that he deserves a present. We told him he got one, a functioning arm. This is going to seriously mess with his video game playing.

Oh, this part of the story makes me laugh hard. Kyle ran to the house to check on things while we were in the Hamilton ER. He was going to take the abandoned friend home, so he yells "C! Let's GO!" The next thing he knew, the kid had taken off out the front door and was running down the street home. Kyle had to chase him down and explain that he was going to take him home.

Little events like this make me very happy to live in a place where I can count on family and friends to help. My mom handled the little boys, and cleaned our house while we were gone. Joan and Tim came over to Temple and entertained Madalyn and made a coffee run for us and were available to drive home if we were to out of it at 1:30am. I'm a pretty lucky person.

I Have Plans

2010-06-14T15:58:00.002-05:00

I forgot what they are though. I had a huge list of things I need to do that I created during a manic episode, but I neglected to write them down. This will be the most boring post ever so just skip it. It really doesn't hurt my feelings.

I will include things on my list that I have already done. I always do this. It make me feel like I've accomplished something. Yes, its strange. No, I don't care.

Go to Europe
Ditch some cats. Anybody want some?
Clean out hall closet and living room cabinets, making sewing shit more efficient and adding knitting crap to the mix instead of spreading it all over my house.
Clean kitchen cabinets.
Ditch some linens and clean that closet.
Paint my bedroom.
Clean out my closet and drawers and ditch more crap.
Drink more water.
Eat less shitty food. I'm two weeks into no twinkies. I can do this!
Exerccise maybe?? We will see about that. My hula hoop is full of water so I may have to purchase a new one in order to do anything. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Finish reading Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake series. I'm only on book 5.
Dust. I hate dusting. I avoid it at all costs.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll add some more later. You care, I know.

Awake

2010-06-13T08:38:00.007-05:00

I'm awake. I've been awake for 4 freaking hours. I'm not a morning person. I love love love the night, especially summer nights. The warm air just surrounds you like a big hug.

June has been busy so far. I don't yet have a tan, but am planning to begin fixing that problem today. I need to get in some quality lolling about time. Tonight is the season 3 premiere of True Blood. Yes, I am that pathetic. I'm just hoping I can stay awake late enough to watch it. You know, it won't end til 9.

So, the Europe trip was sooo much fun. I'm pretty sure that the queen's bedchamber at Versailles was designed just for me. All pink and green and heavenly. I am ready to move in now. I don't know that I've felt as relaxed as I did walking around in Paris absorbing everything around me, even the smell of pee, in my adult life. There for a little bit I even thought I might be able to go off my anxiety medication, but I decided not to push my luck, which was good when we got to Dachau, the former concentration camp. I wasn't prepared for so many things to get to me emotionally, the Louvre, Notre Dame, well, too many places to even list.

Here is the Paris train station at dawn. It gave me chills. (i know this is a crappy iPhone pic, but i like it anyway)

I don't know wtf this is. It just made me laugh. Its a sculpture of someone on a horse with a light saber. We took a boat tour down the Seine. Kids were talking when we passed this and I couldn't hear what the lady was saying. Then I had a small freak out telling them to hush it because i was trying to learn.

Crepes in Paris...

Apparently Madalyn Grace is not the only dawdler in our family. She comes by it honestly. I got in trouble a couple times for taking too long staring in windows. These are crappy pics, but here are a couple of things I fell in love with.

The waist of this dress is smocked. It is so unique and I knew I would forget it if I didn't snap a pic. The second dress is just cute.
Speaking of smocking, I finally got to go to the Liberty of London store. I was in heaven. I purchased a little knee length caftan. I can't wait to wear it somewhere.

The family did well without me. All pets were alive, children too. The house was so clean and Kyle and the kids even built a flower bed for me. I felt very special to come home to such a surprise. It has taken me a few days to get used to the chaos that is my home. Sleeping alone for 8 nights was so different. I think that Aiden Kyle is attempting to crawl back in my uterus. Next time I leave, it will be more difficult to get away without him.

Oh, we saw Madalyn's twin in London. She doesn't agree that the girl looks like her. I only could get a pic from the back, you be the judge. My kids came running to find me to tell me that they found Mad. I wish I could have captured the child's movements. Quite familiar.

Last picture, really fast. Maura and I in front of Buckingham Palace.

later!

Mother May I??

2010-05-31T17:11:00.004-05:00

Ok, so May passed in a flash. I almost missed it.

My only daughter turned 13. I had a gigantic long post I wanted to put up, but ran out of time. Now the little darling is 13 1/12 and the moment is over. To celebrate, Mom and I took Madalyn and 3 of her friends to Austin to watch a movie, shop and do girl stuff. It seems that most 13 year olds don't appreciate vintage stores. I'm pleased to say that mine is in the 25% of my sample that loves them.

Aiden passed Kindergarten. Whew. Yes, we were a bit worried. I have a longer blog about Aiden, school and summer to come soon, but that will have to wait until I get back from Europe and complete defensive driving. I went 20 years without a ticket and have now acquired 2 in as many months. I'm ever so slightly annoyed.

Keegan is Keegan. A joy to be around and quite a little helper. After the GT field trip, a parent came and thanked me for Keegan taking care of his kindergartener, the only one on the trip. Moments like that make me feel like I might not be a total failure as a parent.

Kade is now an official high school student. 8th Grade Promotion passed and he is no longer in Junior High. I have pictures, yet to be downloaded from my camera. That post will come after the above mentioned online course and trip to Europe.

Yesterday was my mom's 60th birthday. We kept it low key and just went swimming and ate. My mom is the best. I had a long Mother's Day blog planned, but it got swallowed up with the rest of May.

When mom was 4 years old, her doctor told her parents that at some point, Mom had had polio. They recommended that she be enrolled in gymnastics to help prevent any physical problems from it. Mom competed in gymnastics from age 4 til she graduated from high school. Every family picture that she has is composed of 3 semi normal looking children, and one girls standing on her hands. My family is turning into this now that Madalyn Grace is in gymnastics. She begins competing in January :) As a child, my mom was always doing way cooler tricks off the diving board than I, the chickenshit daughter, could ever hope to do. I cannot tell you how happy it made me that on her 60th birthday, I sat and watched as she did a cartwheel off the diving board. She is pretty cool.

Ok, I'm back to packing and emptying camera memory cards. I leave early tomorrow morning and Kyle becomes Mr. Mom in Camo. I'm worried about the phone calls and txts I may get over "she ate all the coco puffs!!!" at $.99 a min and $.50/txt, I might have to hurt them. Darling kiddies have instructions to call Mom Joan for all whining and complaining. I need to find her a NICE present for putting up with that!

Later!

P.S. this is NOT the picture of my mom I've just spent over an hour looking for, but it is still one of my faves. I think it is in a safe place somewhere!

School is Out!

2010-05-21T15:50:00.002-05:00

Well, that is what my students tell me! Technically we get out next Thursday. Our high school has implemented "flex days" which means that the majority of my students do not have to come to school next week at all. This is good and bad for me. I still have things I neeeeed to teach them. I'm going to focus on the good and realize that it gives me time to finish other tasks and get a jump start on next year.

Today was trying, to say in the least. Kids were bouncing off the walls in a way that I have never seen. The last day is always tough, but Oh.My.Goodness! I did try to fake happy all day and only scowled ~25% of the time. The little boogers were slipping out every door.

Ok, I'm off to clean my house and make out exams for my junior high kids and my unfortunate students who will be around for exams.

BTW, does anybody need a cat?? I'll post pictures later. They are very sweet kitties and well socialized, eating dry food and using a litter box, and still need to be with their momma for 2 more weeks.

Negative Nellie Be Gone!

2010-05-20T22:17:00.004-05:00

I'm working on it again. Starting NOW! I'm only saying nice stuff. I might even try to be sappy and find a good thing about each day to talk about. (anyone want to place bets on how long this can last?)

Yesterday I went to an Ipad training. I won a $25 itunes card. I'm pretty fired up. I also stocked up on stuff for a first aid kit for my trip to Europe. It never hurts to be prepared. My students always refer to my purse as a Mary Poppins bag. I like that.

Today I did no housework or cooking. I'm on day 2 of not drinking bottled drinks also. I love dasani wanter because it is so sweet. I'm drinking herbal tea, just drop a berry teabag in a reusable bottle of ice water and shake it. No sugar, but tastes better than plain old water.

Tomorrow I have big plans. We'll see how that works out. I'm chosing to be optimistic. Right now, I'm going to sleep.

Sincerely,

Little Mary Sunshine

PS. OMG, the cutest little 4 week old boy just came in the room mewing. His name is Remington. He has to be the cutest kitty ever. He makes my heart happy. Now I'm really off to sleep.

A Crack in My Fish Bowl

2010-05-20T20:50:00.002-05:00

Most of the time, I love living in a small town. There are drawbacks, like fresh produce and gas prices, but overall I love living and working here. I love that Kyle can go out and hunt on the spur of the moment. I love that I can be anywhere in 5 minutes. I love knowing people. Well, most of the time I love knowing people. I think possibly I just need to give up Facebook. I'm so frustrated by negativity.

In a small town, people are constantly unhappy with the school. Everyone is unhappy. Parents are unhappy because they think that we are sitting in a castle doing nothing but playing games and ruining their kids lives. Kids are unhappy because they are kids and just need to rebel. Teachers are unhappy because nobody listens to us and if they would just LISTEN things would go so much more smoothly.

I'm so tired of hearing "people at that school ___________." Just fill in the blanks. It could be anything. Today I saw that we "don't know what real life is like." No freaking kidding. We even have to follow a schedule for going to pee. Do you suddenly have explosive diarrhea? Too bad, you get 3 minutes to run to the bathroom every 45-50 minutes, but be sure to monitor the hallways, prevent cell phone use, make sure no new children are being created and everyone is appropriately dressed on your way to and fro. We don't live in real life. Or maybe the life we live supervising your child is real and you are in a surreal world. I might need sleep.

When rules are enforced, people are complaining. When rules aren't enforced, people are complaining. Am I complaining? Of course, because nobody is freaking listening to me. I'm trying to suck it up. Hence the complaining via blog. Possibly though, just possibly we are tired up on the hill and we are trying to do our best. Possibly we would like to log on to facebook or some such in our free time and not see people complaining about the poor job we do. I just don't know, I don't use facebook as my own personal place to bitch about the world. If I did, I would start listing names of all of the morons I encounter who don't know the right of way rule differences for a 4-Way stop vs a typical Stop sign. I would NEVER complain about a business using such a forum for fear of offending people. Certainly when you do these things, you only make yourself look like a gigantic horses hind end and your future complaints, I mean, concerns, tend to not carry much weight. Also, if you've been at every pep rally though out the school year and suddenly have issues coming to a big event, you might complain quietly. You look stupid.

I realize that I AM venting here. You do not have to read my blog if you do not like it. I'm hiding people left and right on FB every time I get annoyed. I think my FB account may become like my twitter account where I have only 4 friends. Maybe that will make my world happier?

All I know is that I'm Europe bound in approximately 10 days and I can hardly stand it I'm so excited.

Whoops

2010-04-30T10:00:00.001-05:00

Often times smockers, knitters, and fiber freaks like myself tend to show only our successes. We are proud of them because they took so darned long to make. What you don't get to see are the bumps along the road to that finished beautiful project. I see amazing stuff and think that there is no way I could make it. You have to take projects stitch by stitch, and unpick and redo what gets messed up. Here is a nightie/sundress that is about 10 years in the making. I finished it yesterday.

Now I'll try to finish it a second time so it will go over her head.

PS. Look at the paintball freak in the background. He wants to go play paintball. I hear this no less than 30 times a day.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Disheartened

2010-04-29T17:03:00.000-05:00

Things are dragging me down this week. I feel like all of the negativity out in our world is feeding off me. It's hard to ignore the selfishness and lack of compassion that surrounds us. I was so sad and overwhelmed earlier but I've managed to suck it up in the last 30 minutes. Somehow I have to find a way to block that out of my life. I mean, I know I complain, like about stuff like slow people in my way. I guess I need to knock it off. It really is good natured griping. It sends the wrong message I'm sure though. Im going to seriously concentrate on the things and people who bring me joy and banish the rest from my mind.

Yes, my blog is basically a journal for myself. That may be weird. Also, if I make no sense, I'm blaming it on my 5 day headache. I'm now off to watch little boy baseball and some teeball practice. If that doesn't make the world better, then nothing does.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Absences...

2010-04-28T14:45:00.005-05:00

I've been absent. Sorry 'bout that. I'm sure you care. It has been busy around here. I've had some distractions lately. My darling mother, the very best one on the planet gave me a treat. It is actually payment for subbing for a couple of her classes, but I just consider myself to be the luckiest girl on the planet with the mom I have. She is ALWAYS there when I need here. I may be emotional, because I'm suddenly sniveling.

Anyway, Mom gave me an iPad. OMG. It is so amazing. My students come to class and say "Can I have the iPad?" I say "THE iPad??" They wise up and come back with "May I please play with YOUR iPad?" Manners always go rewarded, so "of course you can!" is my response. Aiden spent the first day watching Scooby Doo via Netflix on it. He is requesting one for his birthday. Kyle had a small case of gadget envy, but has moved on to bigger and better things like figuring out how to video stream live hunts. He'll be filming himself tonight in the wilderness with some hogs I think. Sounds thrilling. He streamed Annabelle and her babies the other day. Talk about a nanny cam! I could just tune in all day long and see what my pets do when I'm gone. I'm now having some entertaining ideas.

Back to the iPad. The thing freakin' rocks. I wish I had one when I was in school just to take notes on. Mostly, I've used it to read books. I'm a real fan of actual books. I didn't know if I could switch to digital books. I love everything about books, the feel of the pages, the smell of the paper, especially the old ones. Books are like teddy bears to me. I have purchased about 10 electronic books in the last 1.5 weeks and have not missed holding an actual book yet. The only thing that concerns me is I'm hesitant to read in the bath tub. You know, if you drop a paper back it is one thing. To drop an iPad is a whole different ballgame. Anyway, I've been reading. A lot.

Annabelle and her darling babies are doing well. They are the cutest little ugly kitties ever. I'll take some pics later. I'm pretty hardcore attached to 2 of them. She is such a good mommy! She leaves the basket and comes out to see us and my children are constantly putting her back in the basket in the closet. I keep telling them that she needs a break from her babies and that there is nothing wrong with that. The only problem is I keep getting upset with them for messing with her. I might be letting my own personal feelings for my own personal litter of babies interfere here. I was holding one of the babies last night. Little orange tabby girly that appears to be maybe longhair was squawking. Sooo sweet. Momma Annabelle did not appreciate this and came and took her from me. I tried to explain to her that I raised her and I was certain I was capable of holding a kitten for 10 minutes. I don't think she cared about my logic.

We have been crazy busy. Madalyn has had a lot of gymnastics lessons. My mom helps drive her to lessons and she flew north to be with the other litter of grand babies. The 2 little boys have tee ball and baseball, I had to cover Mom's algebra class and there was some other stuff crammed in. I can't remember what though. Madalyn made level 4 in gymnastics which means that next year she will be on the competitive team. I'm excited. As outgoing as she is, she is scared to death to perform in front of people. Competing will help her get past this I think. I'm really really proud of her. Every time I look at the child, she is upside down. It makes my heart smile. I look at photos of my mother's family and there are 3 relatively normal looking children, and always a 4th child, my mom that is upside down in a hand stand. Apparently this trait skipped a generation and I'm a bit envious! The child is turning to solid muscle. She makes the muscular physique I had in junior high and high school look pathetic. My only concern is that she needs to sleep more. I'm kind of afraid she will crash soon.

Here is the other absence part. So, last Thursday morning, in the wee hours, Aiden comes into our room crying. He has a fever and his ear hurts. The poor kid has been sick nonstop this year. We get him settled and then it is time to get ready for school. Aiden gives me his report card to see if his grades are good as we are making plans for Kyle to stay at home and then take him into the clinic. With Aiden, we've learned this year not to postpone visits. He gets worse fast. In the midst of all of this AK hands me an envelope addressed to The Parents of Aiden Baker. Being the exceptional parent that I am, I immediately begin to be proud of myself for having such a smart kid because clearly this is some sort of GT screening letter. My children ARE geniuses of course. I'm smiling and proud of myself for my superior reproduction skills as I open the letter. Its an attendance letter. It appears that my child has missed 18 days of kindergarten this year. That is the maximum allowed. More than that and you can be retained. Shit shit shit. Keep in mind we are making plans for him to miss the 19th day now. Luckily the clinic worked with me and gave me notes for all of the bouts of bronchitis, pneumonia and asthma crap he has had this year. We didn't go to the clinic for the multiple puke viruses he had, so no medicals on that. It is amazing how fast you go from thinking you are an awesome parent to a totally shitty one. Those of you with younger children, take note. It will help keep you from feeling like such a dumb ass later on. Never pat yourself on the back, because something will come along and smack you in the face. In case you are worried, the medical notes should take care of things and Aiden should pass Kindergarten. I don't think that the school will press truancy charges against us either since we have those doctors notes. I should get credit for getting 3 other kids to school. It's just the one that is a problem!

This week is TAKS testing at school. It is hard, but I like the change from the everyday schedule. It is also a signal that summer is near. This has been my first year teaching junior high and I cannot believe how much I love it. I've been a bit dismayed and disappointed in people and am trying to get past that. It is hard when you expect everyone to have the same standards for treating people that you have yourself. Mine are high I think. They must be. Or other people just suck maybe. I have a hard time ignoring injustices. I heard a line from a song that described me perfectly. "Here's my heart and here's my mouth and I can't help if things come out." It made me smile. I goes on to talk about trying to keep those things in, so I guess I'll work on that part.

I'm off to the doctor now. I've had a migraine since Sunday morning. It isn't one of those debilitating ones. It goes away with medication and springs right back up after 4-6 hrs. I don't think that they can do anything, but I have friends lecturing me to go in so I'll listen to them.

Annabelle's Babies

2010-04-21T12:44:00.003-05:00

My baby Annabelle had her babies. I have to say that I was a bit nervous before the whole ordeal began, and really freaked out once she was in labor. The poor little thing was huge. This is over a week before she delivered.

She was panicked and so was I. I had to tell her that I did not know how to help her because I totally stink at childbirth. She did well, except for the part in the middle where she had delivered babies #2,#3, but not their placentas, and decided she was finished and tried to leave. Kyle was great and helped her through the whole thing.
She would have had 5 babies, but one was malformed and stopped developing at some point. The last 4 are ugly little healthy baby kitties. Aiden named one Rosemary immediately. Then we found out that Rosemary is a boy. Madalyn named the tiny orange girl after her gymnastics coach Taylor. Keegan has been trying to give away kitties for a month already. I think he has homes for 3 so far. This morning I awoke to find that Annabelle had moved kitties onto the top of a pile of antique quilts and precious baby clothes in an antique chiffarobe. She was quite annoyed for me to move them. I think we found a hiding place that she can like now. She is a happy momma with the glazed over life is heaven look that I attributed to morphine when I had my kids. I'm waiting for the get these cats the hell away from me look which should be in a month or so :D

Daa Duummmmm....

2010-04-18T22:27:00.002-05:00

The babies now have baptismal gowns, blankets and booties. Aunt Julie is contributing satin slippers to their ensembles. My mother was the mastermind behind this plan. Also the financier.

Grandmother crocheted the most beautiful lace on blankets of swiss flannel that I made. The yarn is alpaca and silk from Knitpicks.
Sego's gown has bullion roses on the smocking, collar and sleeve cuffs. I whipstitched the piping with floche to match the smocking. It is really pretty.
Flint's gown has what are supposed to be teddy bears on his smocking. I skipped the collar and cuffs on that as the blue whipstitching added a bit more contrast than the pink. Gramme did her first smocking on Flint's gown.
Both gowns, blankets and bonnets made of batiste hankerchiefs with embroidered lily of the valley flowers.
Rear view. Flint's gown has a belt and smooth sleeves. Both gowns have baby pins instead of a top button. Baby pins were used historically so you didn't have to waste precious buttons on lots of little baby gowns. I just think that they are cool as can be.

Easter Video

2010-04-17T11:03:00.002-05:00

As usual, with the Baker family, nothing goes quite right. Kyle was kind enough to video our Easter egg hunt and edit it for me.

Luckily you can't hear me behind the tree with Keegan calling him an asshat.

Enjoy & don't judge.

I Won!

2010-04-16T08:20:00.003-05:00

Isn't it cute?! I realize that I need another bag like I need another child or cat, but hey, it was free!

I am now a loyal fan and follower of The Searched and Found and was already a big fan Vintage Urban Renewal on Etsy. They are added to my Google Reader account and I get so excited everytime I get a notification of a new post.

Thank you guys so much!

A Giveaway!

2010-04-15T20:09:00.002-05:00

So, you know I love vintage stuff. I'm entering a giveaway hosted by my favorite Etsy store, Vintage Urban Renewal and The Searched and Found. I reeealllly want this bag! I actually wore one of my dresses from Vintage Urban Renewal today and got tons of compliments on it as usual.

Check out The Searched and Found blog. They post the CUTEST stuff all the time! It is my new fave blog...

I'm Still Breathing

2010-04-12T19:00:00.004-05:00

much to the chagrin of many...

All is fairly well here in Bakerville. I'm in a bit of a funk. It will pass, they always do. I think that I'm absorbing some of Momma Annabelle's emotions. Truly, I had a hard time breathing just thinking about her having to give birth. I think I've done this a few times too many. Look at her, does she look pathetic or what?

Baptismal gowns are progressing. I'm working on the second. After the fifth person made a comment about not having flowers on Flint's gown, I ripped out the damned flowers and put bullion teddy bears instead. The flowers were masculine, not frou frou like Sego's, in my defense. Plus, he is a baby. He doesn't know that they are flowers. Tony is secure enough in his masculinity to let his son wear flowers I feel certain. Kyle was. The teddy bears are a bit-shall we say-abstract.

Anway, sewing and birthing are on the agenda for the week. Kyle is reading up on delivering kitties because I cannot be counted on to do anything involving gushy stuff with animals, and Annabelle still won't lick her own butt. This could be interesting. I wonder if we are growing an entire generation of cats that won't have learned to lick their butts. Being a mother cat is just one more thing I'm a giant failure at.

Oh well...

Today I Feel Brilliant

2010-04-07T12:31:00.005-05:00

So, I found out a week and a half ago-ish, that Mom, Grandmother and I are making Sego and Flint's baptismal clothes and blankets. I started Sego's dress a week ago, and with the exception of buttons, am finished. I may put a little rose on each sleeve cuff, I'm still undecided. Here is the gown. It is out of Swiss Flannel and is sooo soft.

The back is simple, just with a pretty bow. I swear the collar is not crooked, even though it looks like it in these pics.
Ditto to the collar comment. My pic is off center, the above ones aren't great either, but I took them with my phone, so they will do.
I'm impressed with myself right about now. One week start to finish and I did a nice job. There are mistakes, but I'll refrain from pointing them out to the world.

Now I can finish smocking Flint's gown.

I'm happy to make baby clothes again!!

Brace-less

2010-04-07T11:02:00.000-05:00

-- Posted from my iPhone

Video Cameras

2010-04-06T08:41:00.006-05:00

Cheri asked about what video camera Kyle uses, so I thought I would make a blog. There is no simple answer. He collects video cameras like I collect knitting needle sets. Since December 08, he has acquired 5 video cameras. I got him the first, and he has gotten sponsored by camera and hunting companies to get the others at a tremendous discount, just in case you are worried about our fiscal irresponsibility

1. My camera. It is a Sanyo Xacti HD something. I got it at Amazon.com for $175 shipped. It is not waterproof, but takes slightly higher quality video than Kyle's waterproof version. The Xacti also has a 10 megapixel still camera.

2. I get much better quality stills with my Sony DSC-H7 that I purchased years ago. That camera kicks butt for stills at a decent price.

3. Canon HD something. I got this for Kyle for Xmas in 08. It is amazing. It is just bulkier than others and difficult to mount on a bow, gun, etc.

4. He has 2 cameras like my pink one, only they are yellow and covered in camo tape. They are both waterproof and do amazing video. Retail was around $290 when he got them, but I think he found a deal. Sanyo now has newer Xacti cameras that are much snazzier than ours.

5. Kyle has 2 GoPro cameras that he got for another incredible price. GoPro sponsors Kyle's hunting team, so they get a deal on them. They do not have a view finder. They are specifically made for mounting to something and taking action shots. Look at the videos on their website, incredible! They are waterproof and impact resistant I think. If you are doing video while skiing, surfing, biking, etc, they are way cool. I don't like to exercise, so I have no need for those!

Keegan's First Turkey

2010-04-05T08:53:00.000-05:00

Kyle's description: We had a terrific Easter! Keegan killed his first ever turkey and I was fortunate to capture it all on video!

Today

2010-04-04T19:27:00.004-05:00

I should name this something about Easter, or Keegan's turkey hunt, or some such, but I'm not. Today was such a great day!

Keegan and Kyle went turkey hunting. Keegan shot a turkey. I don't know the details, but he has talked about it nonstop. Kyle is working on a video so I will share that soon. This is their Wildworks Gangster symbol. I'm sure I girlified that somehow.

For Easter dinner, we went out to the river and had our family thing. It was wonderful and we had so much fun! I finally got the traditional beach pics of the kids, but they are river pics.

Matching shirts may be goofy, but it helps me remember the year and to just focus on the kids faces. I like them and these are super soft. It was crazy windy, so our hair looks rough, especially Lissie's. She rolled in a cow turd. Yum.

This is a tradition. Notice how cooperative they are. I'm not even being sarcastic! They make me smile.

This one shocked me a bit. I lost my butt somewhere. I think Madalyn may have found it.

I have more photos, but am to lazy to upload them here. I put them on Facebook in case you care.

Some of My Boys

2010-04-04T09:47:00.002-05:00

We promised Kade a trip to play paintball for his 14th birthday...back in September! Kyle took Kade and 4 friends last weekend and the had a blast. Kade is now saving every nickel he can find for his own equipment. Listen to the boys' excitement when they hear that they all get to shoot at Kyle. The poor man STILL has bruises, and I'm not talking little bruises, I'm talking black marks that make it look like he was pelted with a bunch of grapefruit.

Description by Kyle: My son talked me into taking him and four of his buddies to Power Play Paintball in Waco, Texas for the day. I had a great time even though I did not make a very good showing! I do have some battle wounds to show off however!!! I hope you enjoy this more than I did!!!

Contrary to what the man says, he also had a blast!

Kindergarten Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-04T09:42:00.002-05:00

I didn't get to go to Aiden's kindergarten Easter Egg hunt. Kyle filmed and edited it for me. Notice how the boy skips all pink eggs. Possibly if a boy picks up a pink egg, his penis will fall off? When he was smaller, he would only pick up the green eggs. I have a strange child. His favorite was the camouflage and he gave that one to his daddy.. :)

Description by Kyle: My wife did not get to stay for our youngest son's easter egg hunt at the city park, so I tried to capture it for her. I love to bowhunt as most of you know, but this little egg hunt reminds me what life is truly all about!

Progress

2010-04-03T20:29:00.000-05:00

I'm having too much fun! Miss Sego's dress is coming along nicely. Yoke and skirt pieces cut out for both gowns. Piping made and embellished in pink and blue.

Close up of the yoke.

It's pretty long, I'm thinking some tucks and a wide hemline.

Since all is going well, I think I should stop for today. My vision is going wacky and I would hate to muck something up after a successful afternoon. Plus, I always have issues with Peter Pan collars.
-- Posted from my iPhone

A Plan-Free Day

2010-04-03T08:30:00.002-05:00

I love 3 day weekends! I have no plans today! I got the house cleaned yesterday with the exception of laundry. I made a start, but 5 loads of towels, rugs, etc later, still have a lot more to do.

Sego's baptismal gown is smocked! This must be a record for me. I pleated Tuesday, began Wednesday, lost all of my supplies until Thursday, and finished by noon yesterday! I do have to sew it together. That will take a while.

My kids, except for Aiden, are getting a bit big for the Easter Egg Hunt. We still love it because my beloved Uncle Robert helps plan it all. I think it may be more fun to watch the joy on his face than the delightment on the children's faces.

Later, I just get to do fun stuff! Sew, smock, bake a cake and fold laundry. I'm really excited!! I don't think I'm planning a shower though. This is part of the bliss of a plan free weekend.

That Darned Tooth Fairy...

2010-04-01T10:15:00.003-05:00

I think I've mentioned that I have Tooth Fairy difficulties. I just cannot do it. I try, really I do. I can't stay awake long enough to fulfull my TF responsibilities.

As a child I was scared of the tooth fairy. What kind of hag would go around collecting teeth? In my mind, she had crooked teeth, yellow, green and decaying, long stringy gray greasy hair, wore a black witches hat and all black clothing. I was scared. I'm not sure if that is part of my problem or not. This morning I had to break the news to Aiden Kyle that once again, I forgot to leave the door unlocked. Luckily he was quite forgiving. This isn't always the case with children.

My brain just isn't capable of remembering all that I try to stuff in it. Example, yesterday I scheduled myself to be in 3 places at once, and I remembered about all 3 of them. I had UIL in Clifton, a dentist appointment in Hamilton, and was about to schedule a private gymnastic lesson for Madalyn in Waco.

While I'm on the subject of children, I have a couple things that have happened that I'm happy about and wanted to share.

Kade-14- has been insisting that he isn't going to college. He wants to work and "Experience the world". Sheesh, that was hard to take. The child is very smart, but never tries. I know most parents think that their kids are really smart, but he really truly is. He is able to put himself in the position of others and think things through. He is very open-minded and I like to see his logic. Anyway, the news of no college was a smidge heartbreaking. I determined that harping and lecturing would only hurt my cause though so I let it go. Anyway, a couple days ago he mentioned jobs he wanted to have while in college. I asked him if he had changed his mind about going. He has. He even has an idea of what kind of degree he wants. I'm happy. I'm really happy that I didn't argue and cause him to dig his heels in over it.

Madalyn-almost 13- is a fly by the seat of her pants kid who is mostly concerned with her social life, gossip, and beautification. She started gymnastics in November and is doing so well. She is totally uninterested in cheerleading, which is hard for this former cheerleader and dancer to take! She wants to do competitive gymnastics next year, bars, beam, vault, floor ex. OMG I'm excited. She is talking about continuing through high school and is even considering trying to compete at the college level. Idk if she will be where she needs to be to do so, but I'm happy to see her planning. She is looking at going to college at Baylor because this is where her gymnastics coaches go. She even has ideas for instructing during college to help pay for stuff.

I am realistic enough to know that none of my kids plans may work out, and that they may change 50+ times, but it is so exciting to see them HAVING plans. I was plan less. It is a scary place to be.

Speaking of plans, my sewing plans fell through. I'm certain that you are anxiously awaiting my results though. hah.

Plans

2010-03-27T10:20:00.002-05:00

So, I realize 2 blogs in less than an hour is excessive, but I'm doing it anyway. This will make up for the weeks I go without when I'm in a funk.

I have BIG plans today. I'm sewing. Want to know what I'm making? Sleeping masks. Yup. I have ear plugs too these days.

This getting older crap really stinks at times. I remember days where I could fall asleep sitting upright, head not even bobbing. It's a special skill that I learned at Texas Girls State. All I really needed was 30 seconds of time where there were no demands on me and I was out. Oh how I miss those 15 minute power naps. My brain just does not shut off. It's quite annoying. The slightest thing wakes me up. No longer can I fall asleep with the TV on, or even a full moon. Small noises like the murmur of the radio in the next room, or the dog snoring slightly echo and amplify. In addition to my own sleep issues, Kyle has developed sleep issues. He awakens at 3 am and can't go back to sleep. I wonder why the hell he couldn't do this when our babies were tiny and he snoozed through every single middle of the night feeding for years and years. Now he is awake and sitting up in bed editing video on his computer. If you are interested slightly even in hunting video, he and his friends have great stuff at Wildworksmedia.com They aren't professional hunters or videographers, they just like to have fun and connect with other hunters with the same philosophies. A lot of people like to complain that my husband is always off hunting and not helping me with the children. To them, I say read my last few posts and stick it.

Anyway, his laptop has a huge screen and puts off a lot of light. I wake up and get annoyed. I'm not sure how I can sleep with 30 lbs of dog and pregnant cat on me, but not a computer glow, but oh well. In the sake of marital harmony, I have decided that a mask is a great idea. I've looked in stores and only seen ugly ones. I want something pretty. It finally dawned on me that I can make the damned thing out of stuff I have laying around. This gets me back in the practice of sewing also. I picked up an old nightie that I was smocking to give my cousin for her high school graduation(she is 29 now I think) last night and started back on it at the track meet. I MISS smocking! I did NOT realize how much. It goes so much faster than knitting! I remembered that the sewing the garment together is what slowed me down every time. For those of you interested in smocking, google "ready to smock clothing." You will find tons of stuff that you can purchase, already sewn together, only needing to be smocked. Cheri, we need to sew those dresses you smocked for all of your beautiful grand babies!! Or I've seen adorable baby pillows with smocked inserts.

Madalyn Grace wants a mask also. I do not know why, but I love seeing her sew, so it will be fun, and maybe keep her from texting like a crazed woman all day long. Did I mention that she went vegetarian? I love teenagers. Well, she is 12 going on 16, but you get the idea. I read a book talking about kids of today. The mental stage of the tweens is completely skipped. It isn't just a US trend or a trend of the crappy parents, its a trend in all non-3rd world countries. Anyway, I love watching teenagers develop their own ideas and figure out who they are. It is so incredible watching them turn from children to adults. I'm lucky to get to see them do this. Truly, I like most teenagers better than most adults. It is easier to forgive the stupid, mean, hurtful things they do because they are just kids. Adults know better. Back to the vegetarianism, it was cute. She was hardcore. Now, vegetarianism doesn't mean she gave up sugar. She went ovo-lacto vegetarian. She made it 12 days until they served steak fingers for lunch. It's virtually impossible to pass up steak fingers and she went on a steak finger eating rampage. Kyle is relieved. He was quite mortified to have a kid who wasn't eating meat!

So, Mad and I are sewing and tending to the Sick Boy. Aiden Kyle is sick yet again with something...virus, bacteria, a combination, etc. He got a shot in the ass. Kindergarten has been hard on him. I keep reminding myself that every time he gets sick, it is one more bug he'll never get again. Kade is quite jealous. He has missed 1 day of school in 3 or 4 years. He just wants to be sick. I don't know where he inherits this particular trait from. I mean, I'm the parent who was wishing for just a teensie bit of preterm labor to need to be hospitalized for. I know you get woken up in the hospital a lot, but you don't have to wipe any noses, butts or high chair trays.

Later, I'll post instructions on how to make a sleeping mask if we are successful.

On Casting Stones

2010-03-27T08:43:00.002-05:00

Gosh, some days I am completely amazed at how HELPFUL people are. Truly you would not believe how many people have opinions as to the correct way for a parent to raise their children. And they have what they believe is sound logic. OK, whatever. Here is the problem with that. Every family is different, with their own dynamics, their own logic, their own systems for doing things. What works for one family does not work for another. To assume that your system will work for another family is somewhat ignorant and egotistical.

Honestly, I don't listen to many other parents. I try, I really do. I try to take those suggestions, I mull them over and see how they will apply in my family. My colour coding system wouldn't have worked in many families. I had 3 kids, ages 4, 3 and newborn at one time. In case you don't know, this gets a bit tricksy. Especially when you are paying $900+ a month for child care so you can work, if only to maintain your health insurance for the 3 month old child who has asthma. For a few years there it would have been much more profitable for me to quit my job and then we could have qualified for all types of aid. That is another story though and another set of my own personal opinions and choices. Back to the colour coding. Keegan came along, and I had to get a bigger car. You can't fit 3 car seats in the back of a car. You have to get a vehicle with a 3rd row. Truly it helps as they age because they can be separated and not within touching distance of one another, although one day I came out of Joan's house after picking baby Aiden up to find Keegan squalling with a pencil sticking out of his arm. We have colour coding for everything. Everyone has a specific colour towel. The color has changed as they age, but when you do 20ish loads of laundry a week, it certainly helps! Little kids had specific coloured cups so we didn't have fighting, toothbrushes matched towels and cups to avoid confusion. It was a well-oiled machine.

Now my kids are aging and we still have systems to cut down on the fighting. Certain kids get the front seat on certain days of the week. Assigned seats in the car ALWAYS. Even Gramme has a system for who gets the front. Certain kids have their own chores, based on their age and level of capability. AK manages to avoid a LOT of work. I know this is bad, I'll work on it later. I'm too freaking tired right now.

Some days I am nostalgic for the good old days. I had 2 babies under the age of 2 and life was a picnic. No stress at all. I was a perfect parent with perfect children. Kade was so freaking smart it wasn't even funny. Madalyn was singing her alphabet at 17 mos. I could not understand how parents could screw up their much older children so badly. I had opinions about permissive parents. If they would just follow MY rules, then their children could be like mine too. To all of you, I say I'm so sorry for any thoughts I ever had. Luckily I didn't verbalize them. I would really feel like an ass right about now.

I have great kids. I now know that this is not related directly to Kyle and I and our parenting capabilities. Kyle and I have picked what works for us, gone with a plan and stuck to it. We try to be consistent. Three of my four have cell phones. You say frivolous, I say I have a lot of kids going different directions and need to keep up with them. I lost Keegan one day and that was the end of him not having a cell phone. Judge me after your own 9 yr old most generous kind-hearted child in the world gets lost. I have a lot in my head and can no longer keep up with it all. I tried Momma J's sticky note on the steering wheel system, but I got distracted on the way to the car and when I did make it, the wind blew the darned things off. I took a little online quiz the other day that tested for adult ADD. When I got the results it told me to seek help from a trained medical professional immediately. Yes, it was bolded. While I'm not going to the doctor, it does explain why I go insane sitting and not doing 3 things at once. As I blog, I have 4 browser windows open and have regularly switch through them. Finishing a paragraph without changing subjects is quite difficult.

I've decided that technology is a touchy issue given how it changes. I can embrace it and use it to my advantage, or I can let my kids mooch off other people, because this is what kids do. I know. I see a bunch every day, for roughly 17 years now. The argument "I didn't have an iPod til I was 30" is a bit silly, given they weren't readily available til I was 30. I suppose I could say "I didn't have a Walkman cassette player til I was in junior high." But wait, mp3 players are the equivalent of Walkmans, and if my kids save their own money and buy them, what's the big deal. Tony and I got handheld Pong games at ages 7 and 9. I think those might have been the first equivalent of a DSi so my logic would be failed there as well. Now I'm cracking myself up thinking about families 100+ years ago. "Well, I had to go to the outhouse til I was 35 and we got Indoor Plumbing! By golly kid you have to go outside too! No peeing in the house til you finish all 6 years of school!"

I've digressed a bit from my original point. What I'm really saying is that parenting is hard, very hard. You catch crap from your kids as it is. You have influences like other parents, other kids, teachers, people in the community, etc. A couple that is unified had enough trouble with kids pitting one parent against the other without having extraneous people throwing in their two cents. If parents could just be supportive of other parents and recognize that not all people do things the same way and it is OK, then it would make life much less stressful. I think this might be the old golden rule thing.

Have a happy day and maybe, possibly, don't form opinions til you walk in the shoes of others, and sometimes even then. Superiority is a rather unattractive trait and you almost always end up looking like an ass.

Baker Men at the Zoo

2010-03-26T15:49:00.005-05:00

As I mentioned before, I'm pretty lucky. Aiden is our fourth child to survive to kindergarten and go on the zoo field trip. I have yet to make it to the Cameron Park Zoo. Kyle has gone a lot though, I think 4 times! This last time he videoed the trip. They separated from the group. The men in my life love animals, as you can see in this little video. I think there might be more film of animals than child. I'm very impressed with Kyle's editing skills. It takes a lot of time to take over an hour of video and condense it to 5 minutes.

By the way, they got lost and I got a call at school asking for Kyle's phone number. When you are 5 minutes late to meeting kindergarten teachers with 80+ kids, its a big deal! They had a blast together though. Enjoy!

BTW, if you are thinking I am a crappy mom for not making the zoo trips, kiss my hiney. I put enough guilt on myself without some random idiot trying to make me feel worse. IF you have >=4 kids, you can make me feel badly.

I'm just saying...

Home Made vs. Hand Made

2010-03-25T15:30:00.005-05:00

I make a lot of fibery stuff. People always are impressed and seem to think that it is a great way to save money. This amuses me. Hand made stuff is almost always more expensive. Notice I said hand made instead of home made. Home made implies cheap. Hand made sounds more exclusive.

Anyway, back to the subject...I get to help make baptismal gowns for my neice and nephew. We have about a month. Naturally I took over and put myself in charge. Technically my mother is in charge of me. Today I ordered supplies. Fabric that cost $12 a yard last time I purchased it is currently $28-35! Holy hell! This is flannel, not silk or anything. It is very nice flannel though. I managed to find a place that was selling it for considerably cheaper. I can't wait for all of the supplies to arrive. Flannel, floche, needles, I forgot buttons. Maybe I can scrounge some up or find baby pins and avoid button holes all together!

My point here is that sewing is soo not cheaper. Do it yourself when it comes to clothing never works out more economically. Those beautiful little smocked dresses you see in stores for $75 were more than likely made in some poverty stricken industrialized country by a woman who gets paid pennies per inch of smocking.

Quality fabrics and supplies are not very cheap. Most people who are persnickity enough to smock and heirloom sew also insist on good machines, another pretty penny. Then there is the shopping issue. You are ruined for life on clothes. It is hard to settle for clothes that aren't as well made. There is nothing as horrible as a striped skirt or dress with the stripes all misaligned.

People who sew (or knit) also develop stash problems. We stash yarns, fabrics, patterns, buttons, threads, needles, bags, etc. I have boxes of fabric, but never what I need for projects. I have yarn stashed in just about every room in my house. It's divided by fiber mostly. Malabrigo gets a special drawer.

As a child, I was always sad to have a mom who could sew. I would find the most adorable outfit only to hear "I can make that!" I only got those things a couple times. Guess how often I say it now. Poor poor Madalyn. She will be saying those same words to her own children.

Clearly I'm bored now that I've figured out what my projects are going to be. I'm ready for my supplies to arrive!

Just a Little Rant

2010-03-24T08:49:00.011-05:00

Disclaimer: You might not want to read if you are easily offended.

So, I see a lot of people talking in blogs and on facebook about being brutally honest. Honestly, I try NOT to be brutally honest. I try to be honest, but not brutally so, and I will lie if I think honesty will be hurting someone's feelings. I have been "brutally honest" less than a handful of times, and each time it was because I was afraid that someone I loved was being irreparably harmed by the person I was honest with. I am loyal, to a fault, much like a rottweiler. I'm lovable and sweet, til you piss me off, then I'll tear your head off.

When people claim that being "brutally honest" is a desirable trait that they, themselves possess, it seems like they would be accepting of people being brutally honest towards them. Yet this does not seem to be the case. I've tried to make amends in the past with such people, even made a stunning gift that had easily 20 hrs of sewing involved, only to have it thrown in the garbage. I'm a slow learner. The hatred and hostility towards me is so severe that I have even seen my children treated hatefully. It makes me physically ill. I AM learning. I avoid situations with such people like the plague. I will never ever give things I love to such people again. I'll help hobos on the street, but not people who are nasty to my children.

Now I've found that I have been unfriended-facebook official of course- by brutally honest friends of brutally honest people. This has me saying WTH? If you can't take it, don't be a proponent of dishing it out. I have issues with hypocritical behavior. "I hate rude behavior in a man. Won't tolerate it." ~my fave Lonesome Dove line.

On a side note, I found a little quiz I loved. It is a narcissism quiz. I took it a couple times. My scores ranged from 6 to 9. I think this is pretty good. Any lower I fear would imply that I am a doormat. I became intrigued by this after reading an article that talked about how much more narcissistic college kids are than they were 15 years ago. This is nothing that high school teachers have not been saying for a while. Kids are changing and not for the better it seems. Some days I wonder if I'm just old! I told my children about the quiz. Kade and Keegan scored low. Mad didn't take it because she had to go to gymnastics and didn't get home until late. She asked what a narcissist was and then said "duh! of course I am a narcissist. I'm almost 13!" This made me laugh. Aiden isn't taking any tests. He doesn't like school in case I've not mentioned it.

While I'm ranting, I need to do some bragging. I LOVE my family. We are loud, and nobody agrees on anything, but the respect and acceptance is amazing. My cousin had a problem last week and the next thing I know, my uncle was driving 5 hours at 10pm to be available to baby sit for her. We say mean things and forgive. We all disagree on politics, religion, etc, but still love and respect one another. I am a very very lucky person. I know that no matter what, the Stanley family kicks ass and will always be there for me and quite possibly take care of anybody who needs it.

Pink

2010-03-23T12:51:00.005-05:00

It's lunch btw, in case anybody cares that I'm goofing off. I ate my can of tuna and now I'm looking everywhere online for pink crushed velvet. Disclaimer, lighting was bad and I snapped pics really fast with my phone.

When I was 10, I had the coolest bedspread and curtains. Pink velveteen with fringe. It grew old and passe and it got lost somewhere. Now I'm dying for that fabric. We painted Mad's room last summer, and she got bedding. I've made new curtains and now we are looking for a bench to go at the foot of her bed. Gramme has one I think Mad managed to talk her out of, but it covered in green brocade. We need pink. That stinking bedspread would be amazing.

She also has a red chair that was my grandmother's. It looks ok red, but if I could make a pink slipcover, it would be cool as could be. This weekend we are hanging her light fixture. The fan is ugly and doesn't work.

Back to ebay, looking for pink bedspreads to convert...

Morning Conversations

2010-03-23T07:52:00.002-05:00

I just had to get this out quick before school starts. Morning conversations on the ride to school absolutely delight me. This morning Keegan and Aiden were heading down the hill to check their rabbit snares. AK forgot to brush his teeth. They ran out of time. Talk about disappointment.

Then we are driving the bigger kids to athletics. This involves a trip past Movie Gallery. The 2 little boys proclaimed that they have to go this afternoon to buy movies. I told them that it wouldn't happen because Mom spent her $ on spring break, not to mention Liberty ;) AK announces that he can just use his money in the bank. I think he was talking piggy bank, Keegan assumed it meant the actual bank. "Aiden. That money is for College. Gramme works hard every day to put money in our accounts for college. We cannot touch that money!" Aiden is in kindergarten and HATES school. It messes with his TV schedule. "COLLEGE!!!! I'M NOT GOING TO COLLEGE!!!!!" He was freaking out back there thinking What the hell?!? I don't even want to go to Kindergarten! College!!

Next thing I know Keegan is lecturing Aiden on the perils of a life without college. "You won't be able to get a job" AK is thinking fine by me. "They will take your house!" Aiden says "how will they even lift it Keegan?? duh!"

This is the end. This is where they got out at school. I'm still giggling.

I'm Pretty Lucky

2010-03-22T22:41:00.003-05:00

Today I wore my new old green calico dress as a shirt. It is hard to see the print, but it has eensie little 4 leaf clovers. It is cute and I wish I had been able to wear it on St Patrick's Day. It didn't arrive til the day after that.

Anyway, I'm sitting here thinking about how pretty the velvet ribbon trim is on my dress and where that ribbon is worn thin from 30+ years of wear. I realized that I picked a good day to wear the dress. Today is Kyle's birthday. He is 42. He thought he was 43, but we reminded him and he gained a year. That is always good, right? We did nothing today for his birthday. Yesterday we had the family thing with pizza and cheesecake. How sad is it that being able to skip a bath is more exciting than getting dressed up and going out. It worked for the both of us though, so that's good. Tonight Kyle drove Mad to gymnastics and went to the bow shop next door. That is a good day for a hunter, right? (We did get him presents, but gave them to him early.)

BACK to what I was trying to say. I'm pretty lucky. I nag my husband a lot. I complain that our yard looks like white trash, that the antlers in the yard are unattractive, about how the feeders stacked up by the side of the house are an eyesore, etc. He is a pretty good guy though. He drives Madalyn to gymnastics at least as much as I do. He does his own laundry, cleans his and the boys bathroom, helps with cooking and cleaning, puts up with a wife that feels the need to have 2 dumb fluffy white dogs and 4 cats, including the one that is doubling the herd. He pretends that he doesn't like cats, but there is an obnoxious Siamese snuggled up to him in my spot in the bed. Kyle puts up with my furniture compulsion. (I bring home a lot and don't get rid of much, kind of like the cats.) He tolerates 1/4 of the closet and even less of the floor/shoe space. He tolerates my electronic, yarn, fabric, bag and baby compulsions.

I put up with a lot of camouflage, but make him sleep on pink sheets. Poor guy. The kids are brutal as well. They don't like his music selections. For that matter, my music most of the time either. Madalyn is going through a vegetarian phase and apparently a vegetarian daughter is difficult for a hunter to deal with. Kade is good at baseball and just flat refuses to play. This is hard for a baseball fanatic to take. He does get the joy of seeing Keegan tie "rabbit snares" out of fishing line. Keegan set them up down the hill yesterday and set off with his BB gun at 7am to find the rabbits in his traps. I didn't point out that the traps only work if somebody pulls the string. Poor kid, but his daddy's heart was happy. My sweet husband is accompanying Aiden on his Kindergarten field trip this week. I'm batting 0/4 on the kinder field trips. Kyle has hit them all.

I'm a pretty lucky lady. I need to remember to be a bit nicer. But now I have to go kick a Siamese devil boy out of my spot.

Curtains 101

2010-03-21T09:43:00.008-05:00

So, yesterday was a great day of accomplishing things. I sewed curtains for Miss Madalyn Grace. They were quite simple and I thought I would share. Disregard the laundry in the background. It is clean and folded. Mad has 4 windows, so I purchased 2 King sized white sheets. Sheets are a good way to obtain maximum fabric for minimum price. Fabric is soo expensive these days. Also, you rarely can find fabric as wide as a sheet will be.

Materials I used:

2 king size white flat sheets
white thread
yards and yards and yards of black grosgrain ribbon-I like the grosgrain texture best
iron on adhesive for attaching ribbon
white thread
iron
scissors
sewing machine
one pregnant teenage cat in a supervisory position
coke to keep you hydrated

Here is the iron on adhesive. I really like it.

So, the sheets have a wide end at the top and a skinny end at the bottom. I folded the skinny end to match the wide end. This will be the hem. Many people use straight pins to keep everything tidy. I like to live on the edge and just iron my fat hem. I mean, I'm just sewing a straight line so...

Now sew said hem. I like to sew FAST! I have a Bernina and she kicks ass.

After I sewed the hem, I used the adhesive and ironed the ribbon on the seam. There is a pic at the bottom of this post of the finished curtain.

When attaching the ribbon I made sure to fold it over to the back. It makes sense and you say duh, until you cut the ribbon the exact width of the curtain.

Next I folded the sheet in half, so that the beribboned edges matched up.

I made a tiny cut and ripped. Ripping ensures a perfect cut. This does not work unless everything is square.
I folded the ripped edges to make a casing for the curtain rod. Be sure to measure so that they are the same. Make certain that your rod will fit. Mad has wide rods, so we made wide casings. Notice How I also ironed the raw edge folded under. This will prevent fraying during washing.

Stitch the bottom edge.

A little seam along the top edge of the rod pocket makes the curtain lay better and look more finished.
Hang your curtain and repeat til all the windows are covered.
This is my fancy schmancy sewing room. I used to have one, but a 11 yr old boy commandeered it several years ago. Apparently he was tired of sharing with his 7 and 3 year old brothers.

My future floral skirts and sundresses. I love Amy Butler prints...

I'll post pics of the finished room...when it is finished. I also made bright pink curtains to match for her closet. We ditched the sliding doors for curtains.

Vintage Shopping

2010-03-21T09:12:00.007-05:00

So, I've hit Etsy.com pretty hard lately. I have a new favorite shop. Vintage Urban Renewal She has a blog. The blog doesn't have many entries as she just started blogging. I want to visit her store so badly, but she lives on the West Coast. I was waiting to share the blog until I was able to score a few items that I knew she was about to list. I got them :D The owner is very friendly and great to work with.

I wore this Friday when the weather was so spectacular. I love it. You can't see the detail of the trim. It's CUTE. Here is my other treasure. It is so pretty!

I didn't get the hat. It's vintage too. She hasn't listed it. I'm watching...

Clearly I have a lot of restraint. I love this little dress also. It is so funky. I stopped myself since I decided it wasn't as Carrie as I generally go for. I need to be good now. I've shopped too much this month I fear. It does need a happy home though.

These have inspired me to sew. I need skirts though. Stay tuned...

A Perfect Morning

2010-03-20T10:40:00.004-05:00

I'm laying here in bed, sipping my coffee out of my Liberty cup catching up on my blog stalking, facebook status reading, twittering, just have a spectacular day so far. Isn't my cup beautiful? It matches my kitchen soo well. That may scare some of you. Yes, our kitchen is orange, green, lavender, with some pink and blue thrown in. My red furniture takes on a pinkish hue so it works. It is all arranged around our orange formica countertops. Neither Kyle nor I are handy and I would rather spend that money on yarn or fabric than countertops, so I have made them work. I mean, they are functional, and vintage, so I just decided to go with it. It's unique, very Carrie.

It is cold outside, and I'm toasty in my comfy Liberty men's boxer shorts. Yes, I hit Target HARD. I made a nice dent. I ended up with 2 bathing suits. Truly I needed them. My older ones are too big and the ones from long ago have no elasticity in the rear end. I need elasticity. I also snagged a maxi dress, a swimsuit cover up that will make a cute dress with leggings, a girls dress-it was pink and green, I couldn't pass that one up, rain boots, and umbrella, gardening gloves, teapot and cups pictured above. In my defense, I looked at the Liberty of London store website and they are selling all of the Target stuff, for MUCH more money than you can snag it for here in the USA. I felt obligated.

Madalyn has been redecorating her room since summer. Gramme got her new bedding for her birthday-still a month away, but OK. Today we are finally sewing her curtains. The Liberty clothes have me in a serious mood to sew some skirts, simple floral skirts. I'm excited. Kyle got her a new light fixture for her bedroom, a girly chandelier.

Kade is a happy camper. He has been living on old yeller, the 50 yr old couch from our kitchen. It is comfy and he hates his bed. We retired his bed and picked up a futon for him yesterday. He has a much cooler room. I need to make him some curtains for his room. Kyle has his hunting/work room that he spends a lot of time in. He has friends come stay a lot to go hunting and there is nowhere for them to sleep. He got a little futon and is a happy man out in his man room watching tv, playing online, looking at his boy stuff-feathers, arrowheads, animals, etc. In fact, he fell asleep out there and forgot to come to bed, leaving a quite handsome little

man in bed with me.

I'm ridiculously happy right now. Its foreign because usually I'm in a funk. Its amazing what religiously taking my medication does for me. Not to mention a bit of a break from work. My house is clean, laundry clean, folded and put away. I've even cooked a bit. I cannot wait til summer time. Meanwhile, I'm off to sew. Have a happy weekend.

Another Really Neat Day, and a Boring Post

2010-03-19T22:00:00.002-05:00

So, at one point I wanted to have 5 children. Then I had one and became a little more realistic. When Madalyn was born, I was happy to stop. We did not plan to have Keegan and Aiden. They were definitely surprises. I am not good at birth control. Its just the way I am. I do try to accept and own up to my faults.

When we go anywhere, there is a huge herd of Bakers, usually 4 bickering children, a harried mother and sometimes a Gramme or a dad. The dad hates shopping. The mother is usually ready to hurt someone, the children are over-freaking-whelming. I'm not one to skip going and doing because of kids. Two kids in a year and a half never slowed me down. I still did all of my normal activities. Things just change with 3 or 4 kids though. You lose patience, patience with the children, patience with other shoppers who park their carts in the aisles, patience with stupid carts with busted wheels, patience with the dumb ass stores who think its a good idea to have a gigantic cart for women with a crap load of kids. The damned things don't turn AND you look like a walking advertisement for birth control. I've never felt more like white trash in my life than walking through Target with one of those stupid giant carts with a 7 yr old, 6 yr old, 3 yr old, and enormous with a fourth, cursing because the kids were fighting and the cart was knocking all of the clothes off the racks. People also are nasty with their looks, but that is another blog.

Anyway, today Kyle and I left the little boys with my mom and took Kade and Madalyn and set off to IKEA for a new bed for Kade. OMG it was so stinking easy!! Yes, there was bickering, but it was not difficult. Teenagers are smart asses, but OK, I can handle that. Eating was so much cheaper. We didn't have to stop on the side of the road for anyone to pee either. I started thinking about how much easier things might have been had we actually stopped at 2 kids. Dang. It's quite shocking. Nobody threw their little bodies to the floor because Target didn't have Power Rangers. Nobody begged for Pokemon cards, etc. I got the boys some Air Hogs mini RC cars. When we got back to town, I went and got Keegan and Aiden. Driving up to Mom's house and seeing Keegan outside stalking Buddy the cat just totally melted me. He has to be the sweetest (yet most annoying) child ever born. He will definitely be a politician. We came home and they got busy with their RC cars, playing together, fighting together, screaming for more pasta, etc.

I'm so happy we suck at birth control. I don't care how hard it is. That sweet little uni brow on a 6 yr old, the chunky belly on my 10 yr old who thinks he is underweight, just the whole mix makes me so happy I can hardly stand it. I think it might be a good thing I'm fixed.

Good night.

An Amazing Day

2010-03-18T22:07:00.002-05:00

I got SO much done today! It is so exciting!

Madalyn babysat William Beber, Liz's baby. He is so stinking cute and such an easy fellow! Madalyn had a blast, actually we all did. I had an excuse to dig out the Thomas trains, Keegan and Aiden were in heaven setting up track for William. I love the wooden Thomas trains. If I could get away with buying more, I would.

My laundry list of things I'm excited about accomplishing, not that you care...

I cooked lunch--a big deal for me.
I baked banana bread--another big deal.
I cooked dinner--3 times to cook in one day.
I folded laundry AND put it away--a huge deal. It has been piled for a while.
I cleaned the house again.
I hemmed a dress and mended Aiden's pillow case.
I have planned several sewing projects for this weekend.

Hmm...there is something else, but I forgot what it was. I've not had a good productive day in a while. This was nice...

Boring post. Later!

Home Again, a little bit early...

2010-03-17T10:08:00.003-05:00

We are home, 2 days early. The kids were not happy, but the fact that it was pouring at the coast calmed them somewhat. Kyle's stepfather passed away and the funeral is today. I've been caretaker for his mother's ashes for the last 6+ years and today she will finally be buried with Joe. It is a scary thing taking care of someone's ashes in my household, just so you know.

The trip home lasted 9 freaking hours. It began with a hermit crap pinch from hell on Madalyn's palm and ended with a darned speeding ticket on the Hamilton side of Evant. Madalyn and I were fighting over the radio as I was accelerating. She put it on Bulletproof by LaRoux and it ALWAYS makes me drive fast! I wanted to listen to 1985 by Bowling for Soup. Try explaining that one to the DPS officer. "Umm, sir, it is her fault for putting it on that stupid song." Plus, 9 hours in a car with Keegan and his hermit crabs will make anyone speed. "Officer, if you will drive this kid to Hamilton, I promise never ever to speed again." Who could blame me for going too fast, one almost 13 yr old girl, 2 boys fighting and whining, 2 dogs and 3 stinking hermit crabs. I don't see myself being able to talk my way out of it. I might try. I have no shame. There were other circumstances to speed me up, but I'll avoid their discussion here. Did I mention 5 stops on the side of the road for boys to pee?? ugh.

Possibly slowing me down were all of the Target stores. I mean, this Liberty thing is pretty exciting for a fabric freak like me. Apparently the shoppers of the older Target store on the north side of San Antonio, just off 281 don't care for Liberty quite as much as I do. I was able to snag some goodies there. It was pouring when we came out of the Corpus Christi Target, so I was forced to purchase a L umbrella. I am a sucker for umbrellas. I had a small collection of antique ones at some point and I don't know where the heck they are. I wish I still had them.

Okay, I'm off to wade through the clutter that is my house and get 4 kids ready for a funeral. I have to wade through hand me down boxes to find pants for Keegan. I don't think he hates hand me downs as much as AK. I hear beeping in my closet. It sounds like a bomb may explode. Later...

On The Road

2010-03-13T12:36:00.000-06:00

We have a system.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Just a Quick Post

2010-03-13T09:30:00.000-06:00

YEA!! It is spring break and I'm sooo happy. Keegan, Aiden, Maddie and I are headed to Port A and leaving Kyle and Kade at home. Kade is 14. I'm amazed at how conflicted I feel about this! The kids and I frequently travel without Kyle, but I NEVER leave a chick back in the nest. The boy hates the beach, so ut works out best, but...

I take pics of the kids each year in matching shirts. (Quicksilver boys t-shirts in case you care. They are SOFT!) I won't get to do that and am sad. Kade said to get him a shirt though and we can take them when we get home.

Anyway, we are almost packed and I need to shower and awaken Madalyn Grace. The boys are riding with Gramme and Granddaddy. Mad and I are following with the dogs later, we have a bit of shopping to do on the way.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Words of Wisdom...

2010-03-12T07:44:00.002-06:00

"Hand-me-downs SUCK!"

This is what Aiden Kyle proclaimed this morning. How sad the plight of the 4th child. He has lost his shoes, somewhere in our house. He has lost his boots as well. He has outgrown his other pair of shoes and his Crocs. We dug through the huge box of shoes from children grown up, found a pair of tennis shoes no longer in style. They were 9 and he wears a 10.5, but oh well, cram the feet in. Kyle was trying to stick a pair of 7.5 on him because they looked cooler. This was yesterday. Today we can find NO shoes, save the camouflage rain boots. Guess what he is wearing now. I told him that there were puddles outside. There are no puddles. I don't know if he figured this out yet or not. It won't be pretty when he does.

The poor ophaned looking child with the bedhead cowlick and the rainboots with the too short jeans pulled over the outsides in a desperate attempt to not look like a dork would be mine. He makes me smile, even when he is pitching a fit over hand-me-downs.

For My Shopping Friends...

2010-03-10T20:12:00.004-06:00

I came across the MamaBargains site in my never ending search for the perfect bag. Just today, they had Lexie Barnes McCoy bags, regularly priced $189 for $68. They sold out fast! Anyway, my kids are beyond the age where I would use most of what they sell with the exception of the occasional amazing bag, but some of you with smaller monkeys living at your house might check it out. I knew from the Playground boards that the Lexie sale was coming up, so set my tweets from MB to come to my phone so I wouldn't miss out. I'm a happy camper.

FYI, this is the same company that makes the Lady B bags in the beautiful pink and black skull print that I just cannot manage to find anywhere. This Delilah print makes me swoon a bit.

They Grow Up So Fast

2010-03-09T21:26:00.002-06:00

Just last summer I was warming up her bottles and wiping her butt with Huggies. Now she has gone and gotten knocked up.

She isn't very happy about this either.

But Keegan is.

This napping weirdo might be the teenaged father. His eyes are open and he is deep asleep.
-- Posted from my iPhone

Blogs to Read

2010-03-09T11:28:00.002-06:00

So I'm curious. I love reading blogs. They really entertain me. Other blogs help me to have different persepctives on things. I'm going to list a few that I read, and would really like to see what you all read.

Ra-the airconditioned gypsy and one of my fave former students of all time. She is just freaking funny...

The Pioneer Woman-a friend sent me here and I'm totally wowed by her photography and photoshop skills. She is also hysterical and always brightens my day.

The Yarn Harlot- a knitting and spinning master who i'm always astonished by. I really appreciate her opinions of bras as well.

Knit and Tonic- my favorite pattern designer. I think this is the first blog I ever read. She wrote about how happy she would be if she could just tap dance and it just made me so happy to read someone else who had similar thoughts to mine. Her patterns and book are to die for and I love reading what she has to say.

Margaret and Helen- two little old ladies who have been friends forever and blog about their lives and politics. One lives in good ole Austin and you can certainly tell. I hope that one day I can be like them.

Alphabet Snipes- another fave former student and friend who I adore. I have never seen anyone have as much energy as Bonnie Lou does. I love to debate things with her, whether we agree or disagree because it is so darned much fun.

Couture Allure Vintage Fashion-if you love vintage fashion, this blog is worth reading. They have stunning photos of styles gone by.

Wildworks Media-hunting. this is my husband's blog. (sometimes I skim because I'm not much of a hunter. don't tell him pls!)

So, I have a lot more that I read, I'm just hitting the highlights. Tell me your faves...

Shopping to Save the World

2010-03-08T17:22:00.005-06:00

I have to add to my list of things that make me happy. I love shopping. Much more than I should, I fear. One thing that makes shopping irresistable is when the proceeds of my purchase go to a worthy cause.

I love watching knitting pattern designers. They are the most giving people. So many designers donated proceeds of pattern sales to Doctors Without Borders when the earthquake occurred in Haiti. Every year before Christmas, Offhand Designs has a charity event for a childrens hospital where when you donate a certain amount of money, they give you one of their amazing bags. Naturally I had to jump on that deal! Lantern Moon is a company that makes wooden knitting needles and bags that are just stunning. These products are expensive and you can find similar products elsewhere, but Lantern Moon products are made by Vietnamese women and the proceeds go to helping these women become self-sufficient providers for their families. I can't write about it well, go read it here. Truly the quality is amazing.

Today I found a new site that I am in love with and cannot wait for payday so I can go shopping. Nest is a company that provides micro loans to women, who begin their crafting business and in turn repay their loan with their products, rather than cash. You can purchase products to promote Nest, or you can purchase products made by these women. I love this shirt. It looks so soft and the design is beautiful.

That's all I have to say. I was pretty excited about this store. They have handmade clothing, home items, shoes, jewelry, etc. Check it out and let me know what you think...

Ten Things, or Six, Whatever...

2010-03-02T12:13:00.008-06:00

I feel SO special! Darling Ra gave me an award. My very first blog award.

So...I'm supposed to come up with 10 things that make me happy. There are the obvious, like family, but that is easy. Of course my family makes me happy. If I were to put things that cause me stress, they would be in that list as well. In an effort not to state the obvious, I'm going to try to go a bit different here. I want to stick to things that make ME happy. If I were alone on a deserted island, what would make me happy?? Can I find things that do not relate to other people that make me happy...

Order makes me happy. When I'm in depressed, cleaning my house, sweeping/mopping/vacuuming the floor helps so much. I don't particularly enjoy it, but I enjoy the tidiness. I'm a nest builder. When we travel, I have a nest. When my kids were younger, say 4, 2 and newborn, they each had an assigned color. Towels, dishes, etc. It is a good system when you have a lot of kids and not a lot of free time.

I love creativity. I have a deep desire to make things. When I am unsettled or in a funk, doing something creative grounds me and helps me to find my bearings. I have a lot of hobbies. I learned to sew as a very small child, 7ish. I wouldmake clothes for my barbies. I remember making and selling purses in the 5th grade. In high school I loved to sew funky clothes that made people look at me strange. I also love smocking, embroidery of all sorts, knitting, I try to crochet, I spin yarn, I can weave, but have only a couple times.

Pink makes me happy. I love pink. My first car was a 1972 VW Beetle, in Mary Kay pink. I wish I still had that car. I have 5 pair of pink shoes. Yes, I counted yesterday. I don't think that there is a problem with this. My husband disagrees. I might be infringing on his closet space.

Bags. Yes, I'm a bag whore. I actually belong to group on Ravelry called Bag Whores. My favorites are Offhand Designs, Jordana Paige and Lexie Barnes. They are all knitting oriented. I've been searching for a Lexie Barnes Lady B in the pattern Baja for about 2 years. I missed out on 2 this weekend because I didn't check Ravelry soon enough.

I'm not sure that the pic does this bag justice.

Liberty of London. I have been about to die for the last week. I'm a bit behind, but saw that Liberty of London is teaming up with Target

to release a line of goodies, available March 14. I have loved Liberty since I first heard about it when Madalyn was a baby. My friend Dawn picked up some of the

ir lawn for me when she went to the Liberty store in London and I made 2 adorable outfits for Madalyn Grace, who was able to be bullied into wearing 1 long enough for a pic and one for Easter. You can bet I will be at every Target store I can find next Sunday scoping

out the goodies. I've already shown you my 2 Liberty dresses, but here they are again!

Imperfection. I love how things can be beautiful, even though they aren't perfect. Lately I've been obsessing over teeth. Do you notice how many perfect teeth are around these days? It seems like if your teeth aren't perfect, then there is something wrong. It bothers me. I like seeing successful, beautiful women like Madonna, Anna Paquin, Jewel, etc not change their teeth to fit society's definition of beautiful. The beauty of the imperfection sets them apart. I'm not saying that if you have perfect teeth there is anything wrong. My 12 yr old is about to get her braces off. I'm not saying this because I have a gap either.

Okay, I'm stopping at 6 things. Truly I've been working on this for a while, like 2 weeks. If I wait to come up with another 4, it could take a month. I'm also supposed to pass the award on. I will have to do that later.

Sunday Morning Chaos

2010-02-28T09:49:00.003-06:00

I do not want to get up and work. My house is trashed. Those of you who think your house is a mess, I win. It is so bad that I'm drinking my coffee out of a plastic cup. I abhor plastic, but the idea of washing out a good cup doesn't sound any fun.

Kade wants cinnamon in his coffee. He can't find cinnamon. He is standing in the middle of the kitchen asking over and over "Where is the cinnamon? What does it look like?" etc. He has figured out that if you just act like a dumbass, people do things for you. He is a smart kid. I still haven't taught him to pump gas for this very reason. Sheesh...

Keegan is eating twinkies and crackers for breakfast. He eats a cracker somewhat like a little rat would. Bite bite bite...smack smack smack...crumbs falling everywhere. He rattles the package a lot also.

Aiden wants apple juice. He is too small to lift the container. This means I have to get up. He is so sweet, all snuggled up to me.

We are watching Criminal Minds, season 1 disk 3. I love this show. The little one liners that you miss if you don't pay attention are hysterical. I also love the quotes at the beginning and endings of the show. I'm not terribly literary. English made my brain hurt because my teachers always told me that my interpretations of things were incorrect. I always thought that if Poe was a whacked out as he seemed to be, my whacked out interpretations could be dead on. I like listening to the quotes because they make me feel like I might be more correct than I thought I was...

Yesterday, during the track meet, I was amused to watch people. I looked up from my knitting just in time to see a large man with a pasty, hairy belly, lift his shirt up high and use it to clean his camera lens. Whoa Nelly. Does he realize what he exposed to the world. A few minutes later he was walking along and it became quite obvious that he needed to wear a bra. Why is it okay for men to walk around showing their nipples, but we women, after nursing our babies for years and years, have to wear an uncomfortable contraption to keep ours covered. I mean, his are simply decorative. Mine are functional. His chestal region was quite a bit larger than mine as well. Oh the injustices of the world.

While I'm on my little bra rant, I thought I would take a moment to mention my favorite magazine. Bust. It is so funny, but not something I would allow my daughter to read. Its a feminist magazine which embraces feminity. They promote a lot of indie designers, musicians, etc. Links to all of the designers are on their website, bust.com. They also have a set of amazing Wonder Women underwear, similar to my WW underoos that I wore as a child. They run small. When I got them the undies were too big, so I gave them to Madalyn. She also busted out of them. No pun intended.

I have recently developed a new addiction. Etsy. I love etsy. I have purchased things off etsy for a long time, but lately cannot stay away. A favorite seller of mine has some things she will be listing soon that I really am interested in. I keep etsy stalking her to see if she has listed them. I bought an amazing canvas orange trench. It is so beautiful! Lined in orange gingham with beautiful white topstitching. They really don't make things like they used to. Currently I'm waiting for a spectacular white gauzy dress to arrive in the mail. This lady is taking a while to mail, but I have issues making it to the post office myself, so I'll try not to be to crabby.

I can officially think of nothing else to say. Have a happy day. I feel better and less funkish lately. I don't know if the blogging helps me ground myself, or I blog because I'm not in a funk. It's a chicken or the egg thing.

OH, speaking of chickens. Kyle and the kids are fixing up the little shed behind our house to use as a chicken coop. The man wants chickens. Little bantam chickens. The kiddos are excited. Our neighbors had chickens that kept getting in our yard. Our dog kept eating them. Then, our dog developed a liking for said chickens and went out looking for them. He kept digging out of the yard. We would come home and the yard would be littered with feathers. Kyle would yell at the kids to run outside and pick up the feathers, quick before anyone saw. Unfortunately for Kyle, his dog's chicken addiction got him killed. I tried to be sad, but I truly didn't like the dog.

Now I'm gone. Later...

Estella

2010-02-27T16:17:00.001-06:00

All finished, just in time to keep me toasty.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Blessed Solitude

2010-02-27T15:04:00.000-06:00

I say solitude, in truth I'm sitting at a track meet with tons of screaming parents. It's heavenly. The sun is shining, burning my hair and I'm wrapped in a picnic quilt. I have music, knitting, email, etc. Nobody is asking me questions and mo one needs to pee or eat. This is heavenly.

It's getting a smidge nippy, so I need to finish the hat I'm making. Here is the almost finished version. Pattern is Estella by Ysolda Teague. Yarn is Malabrigo Silky Merino and Louisa Harding Grace silk something or other. It's amazingly beautiful and soft.

Heaven just got better. Madalyn Grace is bringing me tater tots!!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Test

2010-02-27T14:56:00.001-06:00

Idk if this will post from my phone.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Baker Family Weekend Fun

2010-02-26T22:29:00.003-06:00

This is what we do.

I sit in a chair and knit.

Madalyn does this over and over and over.

Aiden asks questions and poses as well.

We try not to get out of our pajamas.

The other males aren't shown. Kyle was gone to a conference and Keegan and Kade were busy with video games.

Aiden likes to perform.

The Beautiful Babies

2010-02-26T22:14:00.002-06:00

My nephews and niece. Tony and Tish are happy parents to the beautiful little litter.

Aren't they the sweetest?! Flint is in blue and Sego is in yellow. The face that Flint makes when he is trying so desperately to settle himself is one of my very favorite baby faces ever. Notice how Foster calls Granddaddy "Charles". This always makes me smile. BTW, I ripped this video off of my mother! I feel like a junkie that needs a baby fix...

I'm Still Here

2010-02-25T20:16:00.002-06:00

I've not been in a blogging sort of mood. Truth be told, I'm in a bit of a funk. Everything is fine, I just need some sunshine I fear. I love the snow we have had, but I need to sit beside the pool on a towel because the sidewalk is too hot without and feel the sun melt my bones. I'm tired of being cold.

All is well at the Baker house. The cats are all behaving because they want to stay inside. The children...not so much. They want to be outside. Aiden let his sister pluck his unibrow. Actually, he requested that she do so. I hate to admit, but about the second thing I saw when holding the precious teensy boy was his unibrow. It was sweet even then. Now it is gone.

My brother and his wife had a new litter of babies. Flint and Sego are so sweet and I'm so sad not to get to hold them. Don't worry though, Aunt Carrie has been shopping for the twins and big brother Foster. I love babies and get a little bit sad when other people have them and I don't. Lately, everywhere I look there are newborn babies or pregnant women. Not that this body or mind could handle more, its just the thought of not that makes me a bit sad. Then a 10 year old slides through the kitchen floor doing the breaststroke, or a junior high smart aleck pops off to me, and I remember that the sweetness is so fleeting and I way cannot go through all of the growing up years again!

Thats it for now. Later...

How Cute is She?!

2010-02-01T18:16:00.004-06:00

How cute is this little stinker? I smocked this bikini way back when. She almost wore it out. I wish the pattern came in my size!

I Finished a Book

2010-01-25T13:36:00.002-06:00

This is big. I don't finish many books. Mainly because I get distracted and never come back. There was a point in my life, somewhere before the 4th child was born, that I never left a book unfinished. When Aiden came along, that all went out the window.

Anyway, I told you about The Princess Bitchface Syndrome. Well, I'm still on that one, halfway through. I ordered the rest of the books by the same author and read Surviving Adolescence. It is a nice quick read that reminded me of all of those things I know, but don't necessarily remember on a regular basis.

Ok, I just lost interest in this post. I'm going to take a nap before going to get the 3 big kids from school. AK and I have had a nice day at home together.

Message to My Family-Part 1

2010-01-23T13:19:00.004-06:00

How to work the trashcan...

Step 1. OPEN the door containing the trash can.

Step 2. PUT your trash IN trash can.

Step 3. (optional, I'm not too picky) CLOSE the door to the cabinet containing the trash can.

That is it. If the trash is full, just get out another bag. You don't even have to take the trash out, I realize that this can be quite difficult for some people.

Thank you. I feel better for now. I'm sure that there will be more to come later, hence the Part 1.

FYI...

2010-01-22T11:53:00.002-06:00

It is a really bad idea to only eat Storms' french fries (extra crispy of course) and bread for a few weeks. I've been dehydrated and I have a really good bloat going on. I reintroduced water, fruits and vegetables to my diet 3 days ago. I've gained 4 lbs and look about 4-5 months pregnant. I took a picture. You don't get to see it.

Go and eat something healthy.

Hell in a Handbasket

2010-01-21T11:25:00.003-06:00

I'm currently reading the news. The news is always so depressing. I think what gets me, are the stories reported that I care nothing about. I just was reading about John Edwards and his child from his affair. I didn't know he had an affair. Truth be told, I don't even care.

At some point, our nation's leaders were elevated to some sort of god-like status, or saint-like maybe. Possibly because nobody ever knew enough about them to know otherwise. In our society today, nothing is secret, yet we still have these expectations that our leaders be perfect. That they are never immoral, or do anything wrong. I'm not condoning an affair, just saying that it is none of my business. I don't know if it affects how a politician practices politics. Our founding fathers weren't known for being perfect men. Many had children with their slaves, lots of children. Does it mean that they were bad leaders? I don't think so, it just means that they were human.

We see all of this negative news and it seems like our world is going to hell in a handbasket. Is it really any worse than it was 50, 100 or 200 years ago? I don't think so, I think it is just more public. Unfortunately, the negative things seem to be the majority of the headlines. I would like to see some positive stories. I think our depression rates would decrease. I know that I have more issues with anxiety and depression if I watch the news. It seems like our world is so unforgiving and people are expected to be perfect all of the time. That makes me sad, because nobody can live up to it. We are all doomed to failure of some sort if we have those expectations.

I'm just thinking...that's all.

Successes...

2010-01-18T22:08:00.002-06:00

So, I have had a few successes in the last couple days and I'm quite happy. I actually feel quite at peace and it is a smidge strange, given my moods of late.

So, first off, I successfully upgraded Stella to Snow Leopard. This may seem like no biggie to most people. I'm still mac-stupid so learning is a big deal to me. I had to learn how to back her up. I did so, and in the process ruined my mother's 500GB hard drive. I knew that it would reformat the drive, which is why I didn't use my own portable drive, I did not want to lose the data. I didn't know not it would be such a pain in the butt to get back where a PC could read it! Luckily, we figured it out and I did not have to buy another drive :)

I am starting to understand how mac organizes the files. I'm somewhat obsessive-compulsive about saving things and just do not have the big picture. I feel like people that I try to teach knit, that just don't see how to put the pieces together. Currently I cannot figure out even how much free space I have on my computer!

I installed a wireless printer for the family to use. I did it without any help! I also learned how to print to said wireless printer from my iPhone. I'm feeling fairly technically savvy. Trust me, this won't last long.

Aiden is starting to feel better. He went to school today for the first time in over a week. He's had pneumonia. I've never had a child have pneumonia. I'm not comfortable with it. I always hate having sick kids, but I really don't like this. He is so tiny...We got home from school today and he and Kade played in the yard for 5 minutes. It totally wiped him out. Truly I'm not sure if he needs to go to school again tomorrow. I don't want him too tired. School is hard on a little guy. He has another woose toof. The first permanent tooth is already coming in! I love it when kiddos have a mouth full of mis-sized teeth. It is so sweet. When I had babies, I thought the losing of the tooth stage was not attractive. Now it makes my heart burst.

My brother and his wife are about to have another baby. I'm ready to be an aunt again. This pregnancy has flown by, for me, 2 states away, not carrying around a baby. Truth be told, I found some adorable knitted Mary Janes that I'm dying to make. I told Tony that if they have a boy, he may get a pair of Mary Janes anyway. I need to hurry up and purchase this pattern. Through January 31, the designer, Ysolda Teague, is donating 80% of all pattern purchase prices to benefit a group that is helping in Haiti. Actually, I need to hurry and purchase several patterns...

Oh, I learned something. I didn't know that you can turn the word verification off on your blog comments. Apparently it is considered bad form to have it on. I didn't know. I felt like a dummy. I'm sharing with my other blogger friends that don't know this little etiquette tip.

I have a couple of other neat things, but I shall save those for another day.

Good Night!

I Stand Corrected

2010-01-17T16:25:00.000-06:00

Her Highness, Madalyn Grace will in fact wear this shirt. Now. Eight years after it was made for her.

It goes nicely with the athletic shorts.

Her face cannot be photographed. She doesn't have on her makeup yet today.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Productivity, Take 2

2010-01-17T12:00:00.000-06:00

I'm putting up more pictures of smocked baby clothes. I have a bunch that never ended up photographed. It is kind of sad...

Keegan, 6 months

Madalyn Grace, 3 years old

Technically this isn't smocked. I did some machine embroidery, lots of pintucking and french lace. I should have invested the time to do the embroidery by hand.

This is the cutest little smocked top! I would have adored it when I was a child. It is made out of the softest lawn, a ripoff of Liberty of London lawn. Madalyn Grace wore it for this picture. She is so cooperative.

Another personaly favorite. Fabric is Liberty of London lawn that my friend picked up for me in London. Its pricey fabric. Little twit of a child wore it for this photo. Notice the perfect piping. The bloomers themselves are a work of art. Maybe I will have a granddaughter that will wear my creations. The pattern was from Australian Smocking and Embroidery

, the very best smocking magazine ever.

She's a turd, but she sure is cute!

Keegan in another AS&E creation.

More photos to come soon...

Dislike.

2010-01-16T15:13:00.002-06:00

Okay, I have to fess up here. I am confused by something on Facebook. There are numerous groups and causes on Facebook, and one I keep getting invited to is Dislike.

Why the hell would I want to put something where people can dislike what I have to say?

I can look at it with a positive attitude. If my status was "I'm sick and feel like shit" and somebody could Dislike that. I would prefer that they say "I hope you feel better asap." Simply clicking Dislike is a bit lazy. If you are going to be concerned about me and express those sentiments, go ahead and put the extra effort into typing.

Mostly I just see the negative. If I put "loves Godsmack in the morning because it scares off the loonies" and someone takes offense, I don't want them to click Dislike. What exactly are they Disliking? Is it because I try to scare people away with loud music, is it because they don't like Godsmack? Why would I want to set myself up for more rejection? Our world is harsh enough, I don't need to have people Disliking what I say. Truth be told, I would probably unfriend your ass.

If someone continually posts something that I personally don't agree with, I simply hide them. For example, I take offense to people giving me daily scripture to think about. It is silly, I realize. It just seems pious to assume that you know what I need to hear. I can read my own bible. Its right by my bed. If I feel lost, I can pick it up myself and open it to a page and generally whatever I find is what I needed to hear. If Suzie Q posts scripture, and Sally Saurkraut clicks Dislike, how does Suzie know what Sally was disliking? Is she disliking what the scripture said or is she disliking what she perceives as Suzie's pious attitude? I'm just picking these examples, but there are tons of scenarios. By the way, I don't just hide overly religious things, I hide the people that only talk about partying or boozing it up as well as those who continually curse. If someone wants to hide me, I truly don't care. I don't know, so how could I care? hah

Anyway, this is something I've been mulling over for a while and I felt the need to verbalize my issues with Dislike. I'm officially disliking Dislike. Lets just all be happy and nice.

I Once Was Productive...Part 1

2010-01-16T11:53:00.001-06:00

When Madalyn was a baby, a dear friend taught me how to smock. I used to make a bunch of things for the kids. I thought I would upload some pictures. I had such beautiful babies... not that they aren't still cute...

Keegan Dean, age 10 months

Madalyn, age 3ish

Kade, Madalyn & Keegan

I don't know when this one was taken, possibly Christmas 2000

Easter 2001

I loved this train bubble. Keegan, 18 months

Madalyn, 4 years. This is the ONLY time the brat wore this outfit.

Fun Times in Bakerville

2010-01-15T18:45:00.000-06:00

Aiden is sick with the beginnings of pneumonia. He has been in to the clinic 3 times this week, had 2 antibiotic shots, is on steroids, breathing treatments, antibiotics, decongestant, along with motrin and allergy medication. The poor little guy just wants to go outside and play baseball. Steroids cloud his judgement and he can't realize that it's raining and not a possibility.

After his shot today, we went to the pharmacy and ended up with $24 worth of webkinz and webkinz clothing while waiting for the Rx. Maybe we didn't need the stuffed cat? Annabelle is not happy to be a stand in, I have to say. she is now MIA.

-- Posted from my iPhone

I just like this...

2010-01-15T12:35:00.002-06:00

Its on facebook. Its silly to post it here as well, I just love this picture. I'm actually taller than April. Tony looks like a Keegan, notice my mother is holding him in place. I loved the shirt I had on. It was a favorite. Erin's thighs are the most deliciously fat baby thighs the world has ever known. I love the waist high shorts. Aside from that, I'm showing as much belly as I could possibly get away with.

This picture makes me think of playing hide and seek, scooping cat poop out of the sandbox so that we can play, reading in my playhouse and picking strawberrys, dipping them in sugar and eating them...

I Almost Forgot!!

2010-01-09T20:31:00.001-06:00

My baby has a woose toof! I shared this on Facebook already, but just HAD to post. He can't stand it. He thinks he is going to have to give up eating until it falls out. Hopefully the Tooth Fairy will not get locked out this time. It happens frequently at the Baker House. The older children just give me their teeth. A long time ago, somebody found teeth in my jewelry box and got suspicious. I had to explain that I buy them from the Tooth Fairy. She pays them $1 (after the first tooth which is special and gets $5 golden coins). I pay them $2. Its easier to cut out the middle man because let me tell you, the little darlings get a smidge TICKED off when we lock her out. Currently I owe Keegan $2. Baker children also try to lose their teeth at school. You get free stuff. They like that. They also hoard shampoo and lotion bottles from hotels if you remember!

Aiden got an art kit for Christmas. He turned a pop tart box into a kitty castle. The little objects are quite carefully placed into their positions.

Feliz Navidad Scarf

2010-01-09T20:14:00.000-06:00

This was the last project in the Eat Sleep Knit monthly Malabrigo club. This is my favorite place to purchase yarn. Their yarnathon is incentive for me to purchase more of the good stuff. I only made it to 10k in 2009. I wish that I could be a real competitor and actually buy 26.2 miles of yarn. I am so sad that the club is over because I have loooved it. Mmmmalabrigo in my mailbox every single month...This pattern is a diagonal Brioche and is available for download at Eat Sleep Knit.

My scarf doesn't quite look the same. I changed needle size because I couldn't get the correct gauge. This colorway is Navidad, an ESK exclusive. I was shocked at how many people objected to the colorway. I understand not wanting to make something Christmas-y, if you don't celebrate the holiday, but it didn't scream Merry Christmas to me. The color is one that I would never pick out on my own, which is one of the reasons I signed up for this club. I wanted to try new colors and patterns that I don't gravitate towards. It has been a nice experience and opened me up to some new ideas. (I had to go and buy a whole book on the Brioche stitch!)

Please excuse my lovely looks and tidy house, clearly I have been knitting today instead of beautifying my self or my home. I am wearing my ESK t-shirt that was almost tragically lost in the mail. I spent my 10k reward on this lovely shirt.

I don't know why I knit scarves. They are boring as hell to knit. I like to wear them though. This one has been intricate enough to keep me engaged, but I'm happy to be finished.

I should clean my house, but I think I will start a hat with the merino I spent NYE spinning. It is soft and chunky and should be a very fast project. I don't know if I'm sitting on the couch knitting in an odd position or what, but I have managed to damage my hip. I feel a bit like an old woman, more than normal. Between his back and my hip and tailbone, Kyle and I have begun to fight over the heating pad. I think that might be a bad sign. Nothing says 39 like dragging a heating pad around under your ass...

I should be checking my grammar and spelling, but I'm not. I'm just sharing that I know that there could be errors and I don't really care...

My Favorite Video

2010-01-08T23:13:00.000-06:00

Okay, so this is a hunting video, but it has a really cute clip of a couple adorable kiddos. If you don't care about hunting, go to about 43 seconds into the video.

What Bonnie Said...

2010-01-06T23:30:00.000-06:00

First off, if you have a girl approaching the double digits, the book I talked about is a MUST HAVE. Good luck finding it though! The cheapest I found it used on amazon was around $40. I would loan mine out, but it isn't leaving my possession. I don't share well anyway, but this one I'll have to keep.

Now, on to the part thats been on my mind lately. Why do we bloggers blog? I tried to start a knitting blog long, long ago, and it was a flop. It seems when all of your projects turn out to look like crap, its hard to get excited about writing about them. I started this blog when we went on vacation without Kyle. It was so easy to put up pics and tell where we were and what we were doing for family that wasn't on the trip.

Now I blog because I have so darned much fun. I don't think I care if anybody reads it. I did put a counter on and it makes me feel better about myself when I can tell that somebody has been here. I read a ton of blogs and don't comment, so don't really expect comments. I'm mildly amused at bloggers who solicit comments. Most of the blogs I read have hundreds of comments per post. I figure if I get one or two, I'm doing pretty darned good. I like using statcounter.com to see who visits. What amuses me is that with Safari, every time I open a new tab, it counts that I have visited my blog and counts as a page load. I still like looking at the data and stats.

Basically, my blog has turned into a journal of sorts for myself. I hate writing, but love typing and really love adding pictures. I don't mind if people hate it or don't want to read. I have 4 kids and a husband, AND I teach. Nobody listens to me anyway, I'm used to it. My only problem is that I can't complain sometimes when I want to for fear of hurting someone's feelings.

Maybe I should start an anonymous blog. I don't know if that would be fun though. Nobody would read it. heh.

Its late and obviously I'm confusing myself...
I also can't find a spell check and I'm bleary-eyed, so pardon the errors...

False Advertisement!

2010-01-06T18:18:00.001-06:00

I've complained about this before, but I'm going to do it again. Babies are false advertisement. Sweet little babies with tiny socks and sweet smelling heads. If I had started out with a teenager, I would have carved my ovaries out with a soup spoon before the second one came along.

Today my 14 year old tells me he would just like me to be "normal" and that So and So thinks I'm crazy. I'm a bit offbeat. I like myself that way. I've tried to be normal my whole freaking life and hasn't worked. I'm happy when I'm me. Why would I care if a 14 year old boy thinks I'm strange? I don't, but it still hurt my feelings. Naturally my mature response was along the lines of maybe something will happen to me and his father can remarry and he can have a "normal" mom. Bad parenting technique, I realize.

Yesterday, while Madalyn is in an argument with a boy, I get called a nerd. Ok, I didn't do anything to you little butt hole 13 year old boy, so stick it up your a**. I maintain that I'm "quirky" and "offbeat". I also don't wear my pants up to my armpits. I'm happy that way. This parenting gig is rough on a person's self esteem. I fear that I'm going to be a shriveled shell of a woman by the time it's all over.

Many of the blogs I read are written by new moms. Their joy and confidence is so sweet. I remember feeling confident in what I was doing. No more. With every single day that passes, I feel like I'm screwing up my kids more and more. I wonder how people have teenagers and feel confident that they've done things correctly. I'm hoping that they are the ones that are confused.

Here is the deal, the things my mother did with my brother and I don't work with my kids. Kids have changed. I've noticed how different teenagers are from how they were 10 years ago, but assumed it was just my advanced age. Seriously though, when we went off to camp, we were out of touch with the outside world. Our kids are never isolated from society. Kids are younger and younger when they get cell phones. Yes, my 10 year old has one. Mainly for my own piece of mind. It would be nice if all parents around the world banded together and said No, but that just isn't going to happen. Technology is a wonderful thing, we just have to learn to benefit from it without letting the negative aspects destroy us. What worked 30, 20 or even 10 years ago just isn't working.

My darling friend Gaylene, who lives in New Zealand told me about a book. This book is not available in the US, so she sent me a copy from NZ. The title hooked me right off the bat. The Princess Bitchface Syndrome, Surviving adolescent girls, by Michael Carr-Gregg. It's a short read, I'm taking it slowly so as to absorb everything. I love this book. Just by reading the first half, and I've not even gotten to the part that tells me how to fix problems, I feel more empowered. The book talks about the techniques teen and preteen girls use to get what they want. I'm entertaining myself by identifying each technique as it appears. The book spends some time talking about brain development and how that impacts actions and decisions.

I looked around online and found that there are several books by the same author. They are hard to find in the US. I just ordered used copies used from Amazon.com. I'm ready to read them!
http://www.michaelcarr-gregg.com.au/

This book makes me want to read Queen Bees and Wannabees, as well as Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads. The social structure of adolescents and their parents is so darned complex. I think that might be why I stay antisocial, I can't handle the bullshit.

Ahhhh, to go back to when my babies were still babies and I felt like I knew what the heck I was doing...ignorance was truly bliss...

Christmas & the Baker New Year

2010-01-03T10:39:00.001-06:00

Along with school, it seems that I took a break from blogging. I've not had anything terribly interesting to say. I think of things, then when I sit with my computer, my stories escape me.

I do have a few new items to add to the list of Things I Never Thought I Would Say:

Who left the salami in the living room?

I heard more Things that Scare the Crap Out of Parents:

"Keegan, how do you use that puke clean up thing?"

I rang in the new year with the realization that my tubal did not fail me.

We didn't do anything terribly exciting. We stuck around the house and went out to my parents some. Aiden got a Frog - O - Sphere. I love it. So does Chowder. He wants to eat Freddy and Crystal. I just like to watch them.

My mom got me the coolest mini Wonder Woman cups. I love WW!

Gramme and Granddaddy laid new flooring. Since they finished on Xmas eve, we improvised for a tree. Every year the children decorate a gingerbread house with Gramme. Aren't they the cutest little gang of urchins?

Madalyn, Annabelle and Lissie crashed under my Brookstone snuggie. It is soo soft. I don't know HOW my mom could have possibly known how badly I wanted one!

This is how one rings in the new year at the Baker home. Comfy robe, new flannel VS jammies, and my beautiful Julia spinning wheel. I made the first yarn I think I will use. It's sooo pretty and soft!

Gramme got an Ashford Knitters Loom. It's cool. I wanted one, but Kyle said no. I showed Mom and she about hyperventilated. All works well for me. Loom is currently on vacation at the Baker house. (truly its only been here for 3 days and is going home today. I'm not a completely selfish hag.) Here are Gramme and Uncle Julie learning to weave. Aren't they cute?

Aiden, playing his violin. He was trying to avoid a photo.

Baker Tree after Santa, before Christmas morning.

Baker children.

That's all I have to say. We had a very nice break. I have to say that I'm about ready to get back into a routine. Its 10:40am and 3 kids are still asleep. I really should wake them, but that would mess up my peaceful morning. Instead I'll be fighting them tonight. It's a tough call...

Band Concert Pictures-as promised

2009-12-21T10:38:00.000-06:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you Joan for taking pics for me! I ripped these off facebook.
Kade looks thrilled.

They even kind of match. I like these kiddos. They are pretty good kiddos most of the time!

My Scarf

2009-12-18T20:41:00.001-06:00

I'm finally making progress!!
I had to change the needle size. It's reversible, Malabrigo worsted in colorway Navidad. The front is a diagonal brioche stitch. The back is fluffy knot brioche stitch.
Front:

Back:

-- Posted from my iPhone

I Just Couldn't Do It!

2009-12-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

The final sweater I was going wear is just too horrible. I like the pattern and the yarn, the colorway was bad. I'll take a pic at home and upload it, I just couldn't walk around wearing it all day.

Today I went with socks. They are a made-up pattern out of Tofutsies sock yarn. Quite toasty.

I have a desire to be a sock knitter, I just cannot finish them. I have some mismatched socks strewn about my house, all waiting for a mate.

BTW, listen to your instincts when you wear your UGG sweaterboots folded over like the do in the mall. Chances are, if you feel like Captain Jack Sparrow, a kid is going to tell you "hey baker! nice pirate boots!"

One More Day

2009-12-17T21:42:00.000-06:00

One more day of school and one more day of wearing stuff I made. Here is today. Pickings are slim, lemme tell ya... This is a poncho I made, one of my first projects. It's a glorified rectangle.

Madalyn prefers this picture.

It's because I look dumb.

I'm currently casting on for a scarf. This is my SEVENTH try at this scarf! A scarf for crying out loud. It's reversible, diagonal brioche on one side and fluffy knot brioche on the other. It sounds like bread to me. It's a 4 row pattern. I have a math degree, but apparently cannot count to 4.

-- Posted from my iPhone

DECK! Va Halls wif Fousand Jowwies!

2009-12-16T18:15:00.001-06:00

Isn't he cute?! I have a story, and I'm sure I'll mess up parts of it. They are circled around the teacher, on the floor, learning. Aiden's legs are crossed and his hand is up at his face, thumb cupping his chin, index finger curled around his upper lip. Teacher is so happy, having an amazing learning moment. They finish up and Aiden raises his hand. "Yes, Aiden, do you have something to say?" asks the teacher. "Yes! I fink I'm getting a mustache, right here!"

Here is day 8. This is Buttony Sweater and I can't remember where I got the pattern. I found it on Ravelry. The yarn is Karabella Superwash Merino purched at Kpixie. Buttons are Walmart originals. I really looove this one. Its soft.

This one is a redo...

2009-12-15T18:11:00.001-06:00

I still like it. I made up the pattern and it worked. More Malabrigo, naturally...

Big Keegan news...he placed 3rd in 4th grade Oral Reading for UIL. He is quite a storyteller.

-- Posted from my iPhone