Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Family Update

I have said before that I want to make sure to keep up on the Kids, Home & Life portion of this blog...but have not followed through as well as I would like. I decided to get two birds with stone & post updates on happening on the homestead a couple times a month. This will take care of it here while keeping my brother updated as well. I realized I tend to do one or the other. And time can be a precious commodity here, so this just seems more efficient. Plus, people say they do like getting to know the personal side, especially customers looking to buy handmade goodies. It is one of the bonuses of handmade - knowing the maker.

I have a big brag of an update about the biz itself, but I am putting that one up on my Tilt's Creations blog since it is more focused on my business. But I am always ready to brag about my boys :)

My oldest is finishing up the last week of the school's musical, Oklahoma. He is not on the stage this year, but in the pit orchestra. Next year - to the stage! It makes sense, he is in both the Men's and Ensemble choir at school. And he gets more than enough band in his life with the Wind Ensemble, Marching Band and his rock band - No Alternative. That kid never ceases to amaze me. Although I can't call him kid much longer I suppose. He'll be 16 in a couple months and is more than a couple inches taller than me...and has been for quite some time.

Now the little guy - he amazes me left and right too. When he was younger we had many worried moments with his development. Not extreme, but enough. His sensory & speech issues took a while to get through. Not that he is caught up, but enough for us to see that everything will be fine....albeit with a quirk or five here & there :P

For a kid who didn't speak enough to say Mama until he was nearly three, he sure can go on and on now. And with such a big vocabulary. He was always a babbler & after some testing we realized that he understood everything...and then some. It just got stuck on the way out. His desire to learn everything only reinforces the whole "so much going on inside that just can't get out" theory. Like with his reading this month...awesome! They need to keep a log of what they read at school this month. For Kindergartners the goal is like 90 pages...he hit that on day 2. Once I told him that it was okay & counted if he needed some help, he went gung ho.

I will leave you with some pics the little guy has drawn this weekend. He got a new Spongebob scratch & sketch book and has been having a blast. But the best part is that he has been able to let go of his "everything has to be perfect" thing. That issue has led to many a meltdown. I think he did rather well....

Another Update

Just a quick drop in...

our side table these past couple weeks

Little guy went to school Wednesday. He was fine pretty much all of Tuesday (even gave me his butt dance twice, sure sign of feeling good) - but came home from school & fell asleep on me almost immediately. Not his usual way of being. He is not the biggest cuddler - that was (um, is) his big bro. He would barely wake up the rest of the evening.

I called the doc who said he may simply (um, simply???) have the flu on top of his ear and sinus infections. Great. My biggest worry was hydration. He was so cranky about drinking anything - and forget about food. He is a problem feeder in the first place, so no surprise there. But to not even want his juice? Yikes. She said to take him into prompt care if I couldn't get him to drink. He eventually did. But the worry did not end. Until he woke up this morning.

Now he's fine again. Ugh. It's like a 4pm to 7am flu - weird.

Now the older one is home too. And I feel worse than both of them...okay, maybe the older one feels worse than me today. But that Mom thing kicks in I think. The moment they were both home ill, I swear I felt better.

Until they went to bed that is. Then it all came rushing back. Good thing too, because my babies need me, sick or not. And no, I will not apologize to my basically grown up son for referring to him as my baby, because he is and always will be. I just refuse to treat him as such :) That wouldn't do anyone any good. I want my boys to grow up independent and not Mommied to the point of not being able to take care of themselves. But home & sick - they can be Mommied all they need :)

So you may not see much of me here until all is well again on the home front. I will be trying to get some new things listed here & there if possible. I did manage to get another set of pillows, a wristlet and a front zip pouch up in my Etsy shop these past few days.

School - Day One

*cartwheel handspring backflip jazz-hands*

Okay, it's a touch sad'ish too. I can't believe the little guy is off to Kindergarten. All Day. Monday through Friday. Okay, so a few cartwheels may be in order. I think he will most definitely thrive with the daily structure. He was so cute when I woke him up. He kept scootching up under the covers. He finally look at me & asked why I was waking him up. I asked, "don't you remember what today is?" His eyes got wide, he sat up straight & with a huge smile exclaimed, "it's the first day of Kindergarten!!!". Then jumped out of bed, looked back & said, "well, c'mon Mom, hurry up...it's school today!".

Now the other one...well...much less jumping up & out of bed. But he is excited about going to CASA for 6th & 7th hour (CASA=Center for Advanced Studies and the Arts). He gets to take Russian language and advanced world history. This is him in the morning...you'll notice the difference between the 2 right off...okay the jail type numbers don't really help :P ....


Then there is the little guy....


The backpack is almost as big as he is! Too cute....

"bye Mom"

...and there he goes. And yes, we went with him. He is a tad too teeny to walk the 1.35 miles himself. Someday...someday...

Happy Easter

I think I may have the only kid who asks "Do I have to eat the candy?". Huh?!?! Um, okay...more for me :) He just wanted to play with the Lego Star Wars that the Easter bunny brought him.


Good thing I know my kid and made sure the "Easter bunny" did not bother to put too much sweet goodness in his basket.


Now my oldest...he'll gladly eat the candy for both of them. When asked what he wanted in his basket he simply said "Chocolate. Oh, and some chocolate. And maybe some chocolate on the side." I asked the bunny to throw in some Peeps too...gotta have some of those today.

He also got one of his fave shirts from Think Geek. It reads:

• Fluorine
• Uranium
• Carbon &
• Potassium

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

....Ho Hum.....

Wordless Wednesday

Blogfire: Hot Hot Hot

"The theme will be "Hot times". In the Northern Hemisphere summer is coming, in the Southern Hemisphere they may need things to warm up for winter. Write about hot (or warm) stuff from either angle."

Hot stuff huh? Well, first off - I hate hot. I am not one of those women who "gently perspire". Nope - if I am overheated, everyone can tell. And in Michigan, it goes from 40 to 80 degrees in a blink of an eye! Seriously - there was barely a week's span between those temps last month. And the humidity - yuck! I am very grateful to have pin straight hair when summer rolls around - no frizzies :)

But the heat does have it's plus side...swimming!!!! I love to swim. I taught myself..well, there was a group of lessons when I was like 4, but I could swim. My parents just wanted me to feel more comfy & to be able to jump in. Which I apparently did when told, even though I was crying & whimpering...in an amusing they could tell I really was okay kind of way. 1...2...3...jump! *whimper*...and I jumped.

Anyway - where was I? Oh yeah - swimming is the reason hot is okay. Now I get to watch my boys enjoy it.



Good thing my parents have a pool. Which is super good because I am too uncomfy to be out in public in a bathing suit. And it's not (just) the weight issue...even when I was a twig I felt too exposed.

And then there's my boys...run around naked whenever possible. And in the summer - that means taking the bating suit off outside so it can dry...regardless of whoever may be around :) Well, the oldest did until he got too old for that :P

...obviously, it does not need to be summer to be naked in our house :)

Riding bikes...always better when warm. But not once it's well into the 80s...then I lose steam too fast. My youngest adores riding in the trailer. I plan to take advantage of that fact and the fact that my oldest is old enough to stay home alone...so I can ride every day it is nice enough. My little guy loves it & bonus - I'll lose some poundage. Which will help me keep up with my outdoor child. Something I was not as a kid.

So hot times - good times? Not so much, but at least I'll have fun with the boys.

Happy New Year

Last Christmas....

This Christmas...



And the past year...

Happy Post Holiday

Another look at Halloween past...

Halloween 2005. The iron masked, skeletal handed, staff carrying cloaked guy was 10 1/2 and the frog was 6 months old - so maybe he should have been a tadpole?