Pickin' time!

Thanks Larry and Suzanne 

for sharing your bounty!!!

the sound of silence

10:09


Hello darkness my old friend.
I've come to talk with you again.
kids are finally in their beds sleeping.
nothing into my ears creeping....


which led me to the internet.




which led me to this video.

which led me to this video.

Like fine wine and my hubby
this song gets even better with age.


AND their hair stayed exactly the same?!?..


That my friends is how my brain works after ten...




Deep. I know.

Update on Elsa...

It has been a while since I updated you all on Elsa's vision.  

Looking back at where she started,

 this girl has made incredible progress.

Since March of this year Elsa has changed in so many ways,

just like all kids do the first year.  

But the most exciting growth she has had

is with her vision.

In March, when the teacher came from the Anchor Center,

she thought Elsa could see 18 inches.

Now Elsa's vision measures in feet!

I don't know how much detail she can see at a distance 

but I am sure that she recognize things up to 6 feet away.

She got new specs earlier in the year and they helped tremendously.

chowing down on her birthday!

When Elsa was born she never gazed into my eyes 

like a typical newborn.

I would say that of all the stresses of her visual impairment, 

that one hurt me the most.

But this year on the Fourth of July, 

Elsa gazed at the fireworks,

then turned around and deliberately looked into my eyes.

I will never forget that moment.

Watching fireworks could be her favorite new pastime

Since last year, Elsa's eye pressure in her 

left eye continued to increase
putting her at risk for glaucoma.

So earlier in the summer, surgery was done to

 slow the production of fluids

and decrease the pressure.  

She still has to do eye drops

 a few times a day, 

but the surgery was successful.  

We will keep her pressure monitored every 3-4 months

with an exam under anesthesia.

Last month we took Elsa once again to The Children's Hospital

for a surgery to uncross her eyes.  

It is amazing to me the knowledge and 

skill that her doctor has used for the good of Elsa. 

We have to patch Elsa's stronger eye a few hours a day 

to train her weaker eye.  So far the results are pleasing.

So thanks for the continued prayers for Elsa.

She is a strong and curious girl with

not a fear in the world.

getting my act together

I really should be cleaning
or playing with the kids at least
but I'm on my second cup of coffee.
Thinking about what I oughtta be doing.
I have restarted my commitment to the flylady


.


She is really bossy some days,
but if you listen, your life gets fixed right up.


Only it works like this for me:
Monday: wash your sheets, dust, vacuum, mop and gather trash


Tuesday: No "big" assignment so usually I think about doing what I was supposed to do on Monday.


Wednesday: Plan menus.
When I actually do this I sit down with a piece of paper...
maybe at the computer.
Stare at the sale ads.
Stare at a pile of coupons or
better yet search for printable coupons online.
Try to download some mysterious coupon printer.
Take apart the printer to see why it isn't connecting to the computer.
Search for recipes that coincide with both a coupon and what's on sale.
Try to figure out if anyone would even eat all the strange things I come up with.


Thursday: Go to the store for groceries.


Remember that Thursday morning is the worst time for shopping since everybody already bought the good stuff and the new truck isn't unloaded yet.
Ditch coupons.
Ditch menus.
Buy 18 cans of sloppy joes.
Buy economy pack of buns.
Forget to buy hamburger.


Friday: Realize I have forgotten to do all of the other stuff I was supposed to do.
Yell at the kids for leaving their shoes all over.
Pick up 17 pairs of my own shoes laying all over.
Sweep up Monday's cheerios off of the kitchen floor.
Decide to wait until next week to mop since it isn't technically the day for that.


Saturday: Family fun day!
Whoo hoooo. don't have to do nothin.


Sunday: Rest.
I know it has been a busy week!!!!

Tool for creating a computer junky outta your baby

Here is a fun link 

for your little ones, 

especially those with low vision.

     

click here

There is a quirky sound that

 corresponds with pushing a button 

and the images are high contrast.

zoom in for bigger n better

Monday's Daily Doodle

My Rainbow Babe

Medium:

 Giant black sharpie

 (now in recovery cuz i got distracted and left the lid off)

Soggy plastic box of water colors

(original colors barely identifiable due to enthusiastic preschoolers)

losing myself in the WWW.

It is a bad sign when you are visiting a sight titled: TIME-WASTERS

Then you follow a link.

Thinking you have discovered something marvelous you draw a self-portrait.

And when you go to set up an account so you can save the masterpiece,

it tells you that you already have one.

Must have been in a real zone when I discovered it at some mysterious moment in my own history.

Wonder what I looked like then???

Growing Corn

This week I had the privilege 

of working on an interesting paint job.

The house had been owned by a local 

family that decided to rebuild.

Instead of demolishing their 

previous farmhouse, 

they sold it to a nice couple 

just starting out.

The house was moved over 40 miles 

in just a matter of hours.

Amazingly it survived 

the relocation with just a few cracks

in the drywall.

Included in the damage was

a beautiful mural of a cornfield

painted by a local artist in 2000, 

whom had since relocated.

The new family decided to 

keep the mural in the 

nursery for their upcoming

baby girl.

Being Pioneer Seed 

loyalists,

they had the corn grow up

in front of the  

Garst sign and 

around the corner. 

Before:

The white vertical line is the drywall repair.

After:

On an another wall 

the family chose lime green

to match the nursery bedding

We added some butterfly details.

I had a wonderful time getting 

to know this mamma-to-be,

and wish her and her 

growing family the 

best in their new home.

Our hero:

"A father is like a lighthouse

standing tall above the seas.

When the storms of life come crashing in,

the light from your father you'll see."

Author: Dana Roberts Clark

The Baby Shower

Remember a few weeks ago

when I had the privilege of taking belly shots

of this gorgeous girl??

Well from her perspective,

time is inching along.

But for me time is

flying closer and closer to baby!!! 

In order to celebrate

she let me throw her a little

Baby shower luncheon.

Of course, I do not have the brain power

to remember to take pictures of the

actual event

but I had a great time

obsessing over it in preparation!

This is the fabric

she picked for baby's room.

So i decided to just roll with it!



I decided to make the invites.

Which required a trip to the paper section

of the craft store. 

Wow.
Did you know they have brads

that look like little screws??? 

So after snipping and punching

and attacking the paper

with my handy-dandy sewing machine,

this is how they turned out:



Another fun project we did

was a cute little white felt bunting.

(I say we cuz Milo

was the official white button hunter)

 We hung them across the windows

 in the screen porch.

Using this tutorial 

I made little chocolate kiss containers

and loaded up some old trucks

that Larry had as a kid.

Like a true farm town girl,

I raided a harvested Millet field

for leftovers and added some

trumpet vine flowers from my yard. 

Can you believe that these

quircky little berries were

growing on the vines on my porch?

I looove it when I'm making something

and stumble on what I want

right under my nose!!!

So I added these arrangements

to the windows.

And of course,

being the super cool chick that she is,

miss mama brought a tray full

of these delights for the tables!!

Add in food, some Grandmas, and some great Pals,

and there you have a baby shower.

Now just bring on the little tike!!!!

Teaching the kids to color on walls.

The other day I thought

(or likely said out loud)

to myself...

"Girl! You have lived here three months and not a drop of paint has splattered across the floor.

Get in gear!

Let's see those bristles bristle,

those rollers roll."

So I obeyed that smart ol' voice in my head

and got out a trusty gallon of black paint.

What?? you don't just have a spare gallon

of black paint laying around???

Slapped it up on the wall.

Followed by a couple of coats of chalkboard paint from my supplier mother.

Then I read...

"allow to cure for 1 week."

Hmmm...

Don't know that I have ever been able to wait a week for anything.

Well maybe for lolly gagging

 babies that refused birth.

But that is another story altogether.

So I did it.

Well I waited 3 days.

Then I figured that since technically

when you have a baby at home each day's length strings out ultra long. So that would be 4. 

And with the heat, 5

and the multiple wind gusts from the kids opening and shutting the door, 6 &7

 It was surely enough time.

Our hero ran to the store and bought us two boxes of chalk and away we drew.

I'm thinking of finishing off 

the entire house with it.

One. Big. Canvas.

listening to tunes n bein crafty...

Sewing bunting for Sara's

baby shower...

Listening to this...

Elsa LOVES it.

Hope your having a great day!!

the reason i breathe

i love my babies.

Tips on becoming urban

Town life is sinking into my bones.

The education on being civilized has been interesting to say the least.

So if you are getting ready to shed your rural status and head into the high life here are a few pointers:

• Starting with the obvious: You cannot pee in your yard in town

• Grass is as easy to grow as goat-head stickers as long as you have a sprinkler system and a teenager to mow
• side note: we have killed a few spots, but only to give the rest of the grass warning as to who is in charge around here

• side note #2-I guess that's what the different bullets mean-butanyways...if you don't follow the tip about peeing, you will end up with yellow spots in the yard.  At least that's what the neighbor said referring to his dogs.

• You have to park the right direction in front of the house.  Otherwise a police officer will tap on your door and your three year old will yell "the cops are coming!!" which makes you feel like you are more gangsta than you had thought.

• Do not use the cool orange cones surrounding the missing pavement as sleeves for your tennis game.  It is a possibility that a driver would be distracted by your awesomeness and drive into the hole. 


• for demonstration purposes:  

Please note illegal parking job. Geez.

        

• Fortunately there was no traffic the day of the demonstration

• There are different ways of disposing stuff in town
• Grass clippings go in a separate can from your trash. Then you shove that grass disposal can in your minivan after it has sat around for a week.  You drive it to the dumping pile on the edge of town.
• added bonus: a car that smells like fermented grass clippings!!!

• Gallons of grease from boyscout pig roasting do not go out to the edge of your property for the coyotes.
• After consulting various city experts, no one really knew what to do with all of that. 

• If you throw a tantrum at the park on the Fourth of July and your Mom drags you home and you lose your boots in the process, the great ladies at the town hall will return them to your front door in just a few days!

• Lastly, your move to town allows for quick trips to run errands.  If you wait for that "trip to town" you will become a hermit and have to hire a babysitter and spend a whole day running around!  

  May your journey to becoming civilized be full of wonder

...and God bless the neighbors.