Falling Short

I am falling short, in many areas, including blog posts. 3 months is a long time! Way too much has happened to play "catch up" again, so I'll just share my thoughts. 

Fall....I love fall and this year is especially nice as the spiritual atmosphere is calm. It is the first fall in 13 years that I am not on egg shells. In fact, I have relaxed to the point of "Falling Short." 

I have to admit, life has been hard. Harder than I could have ever imagined, and I have not taken the punch as well as you would have thought. I am Wonder Woman, right? Not even close. Grief is such a horrible emotion. Is it an emotion? It sure feels emotional. Loss.....it is overwhelming. My daughter, deep friendships, church....the loss is far reaching. Sometimes it feels VERY unfair.

And it sucks to have to accept the reality of your situation.

But then you have to make the best of it, right? Isn't there always an alternative?

And if you trust...miracles can happen......

....like winning a hermit crab, while throwing ping pong balls, left-handed into a little fish bowl, set among many little fish bowls, all positioned to make it impossible to win. 

So let's talk blessings and not losses for the rest of this post! Joe moved in and he has been such a ray of sunshine here!!!! He and Bud have really brought some life and laughter back in....see how God replaced one child lost to me with TWO brought home??

And with Joe, my grandchildren have been multiplied.....

....nah...that's the old bunch! ;) (TJ and Zach both had broken bones within 6 weeks of each other, and Emerson turned FIVE!!)

Lakota and Alijah, are amazing kids and we have loved getting to know them and love them like they are our own...which they now are!!! Double portion!!!!

And more blessings....one I am confident enough to share here.....

A new girl!!! Well a new, old girl....Kimi is the woman in Bud's life. They actually went to his senior prom together, and have rekindled their relationship. I think it is pretty serious. She is just the kind of girl to keep him on his toes. She is FUN and loud (she admits that) and is always ready to make you laugh and have a good time. You can NOT be sad around Kimi!!!! Did you know Bud's name is Kim? Yes...Kim and Kimi. This next pic actually shows her personality better.....

We LOVE her, and she makes my son SO SO SO happy!!! 

She has a son, Dylan, who is 6, and so my Grandma cup runneth over!!!!!

It is wonderful to see God restore that which was stolen. Now I need to do MY part....more on that next time. For now I need to get back to my quilt.

Oh, Scrap!

It is how I feel lately, but I believe the gummy bears! LOL

I have been working with a lot of scraps, and, my goodness, things can turn chaotic quickly!

My entire studio looks like this! The results are good though. I got 2 blocks done for my Secret Sister quilt.

 18 to go!!! I also finished hand quilting the Simply Charming quilt, Nellie's Nine Patch. It is adorable!

I used a piece of fabric from my Grandmother's stash on the back. She has been gone more than 20 years now. 

I'm excited to get the next one done! I am one behind. 

I am grateful to be able to spend my evenings out of the mess I created in the studio and hand quilt on this little number.....

That is, when Sass lets me have it!!!

One more little thing....

Zach entered his project in the Science fair. He did not win (or even place) but I was pretty proud of him! 

Until next time....

Summer Plans

The heat wave seems to be letting up a bit. The grandbabies were here much of the week. They stayed cool in the little pool out on the deck. Big enough to be fun, but small enough that I didn't have to worry! (I am a big worry wart where water is concerned.)

I spent my time in front of that window, in the A/C stitching away. I finished the applique on block 3 of Henrietta Whiskers. Still some embroidery to go, and there is a sign that needs to be added in that top strip of red.

Such cute blocks. I had the background for block 4 all ready to go....

 Note the seam ripper....yes, I had to redo it. There are crows in this block, and that dark background would not work. This is much better.....

All the pieces were prepped quickly, as I had already traced them onto freezer paper.

They were basted up one evening during a family movie, and those hot afternoons were spent dreaming of pumpkins, and cooler weather!

It's almost done!!!

The girls have stayed cool too. They live in the lap of luxury!

Now that triple digits are a memory, I am thankful it allowed me to find my desire for my needle again.

Big changes happening here in the next couple of weeks. We bought this house 12 years ago, and my favorite part was the little room that faced east. It has 2 large windows and the morning sun beams in beautifully. It does not get heated up in the afternoon, like the back rooms on the house. It has 5 walls, not 4, and is the PERFECT sewing room. It was the reason I wanted this house. (Did I mention that already?) Well, when Charlotte came, it was given to her with the knowledge that "someday" I would get it back. I figured it would still be several years, but she has her own desire....like any 15 year old girl, she wants her own "space", not to mention that morning sun that I love and covet, is detested by her on those mornings she wants to sleep in! We decided she has done so well this past few months, we would go ahead and let her have the big room in the basement, otherwise known as "The Man Room". LOL She'll have it turned into a teen palace in no time! In the meantime, I have wallpaper border to strip (I have become a wallpaper, stripping expert recently), painting, and new carpet to shop for. This is IT. All the moves, and seeking out the perfect space in this house....you know I've planted myself all over this house, looking for just the right spot, never quite feeling I had found it. Feels like I am moving home! Stay tuned for pictures!

Snow Day!

"HEY MOM! WHAT'S ALL THE WHITE STUFF??!!" Cammy got an up close look at her first real snowfall. We got about 5 inches out there total, though it has been blowing just as hard as it is snowing. Right now we are not sure if it is still snowing or just blowing around whats on the ground. It is really COLD! We took a snow day, since it was dad's day off this week.
The laying around didn't last all day though. We played a game of Phase 10...I whipped them all soundly!...and watched a movie. Once there was enough snow, this one headed outside!
Charlotte and Kyle took turns shoveling and it looks like it will need it again.
I spent some time reading...I finished my first book for 2012. A Love That Multiplies by the Duggars. I started my second one...Keeping House, A Litany of Daily Life. I am in chapter 3 and it seems to be a good read. I think I will enjoy it.
I took a tumble down the stairs the other day and my left arm is still really sore in a couple of places, so hand quilting is not on my list for a few more days. Yesterday, my mother took a fall and got beat up pretty badly on the pavement...she is ok, though she looks pretty battered (her face hit the street) and is in quite a bit of pain in her arm. An hour later my dad fell in the garage and hurt his knee. Yeesh! I hope that is the end of our clumsy phase!
Things are not going well with Isla's quilt. We REALLY need to get some tickets sold. If you would PLEASE share the link on your blog to get the word out, I would SO appreciate it. Let me know and I will give you a free ticket for sharing! The link is www.quiltforisla.blogspot.com We are drawing a winner on Feb. 14th...that is not far off and our internet sales are only a few.
Hope you are having a great week!!!

Write Your Vision

How's your 2012 starting out? Mine...I won't complain, but it could have been better. We rang in the New Year with these little ones! THAT was a great start to 2012!
They were here 4 nights and left on New Years Day. It was a wonderful time with those babies, and I treasure every minute. When they left, it was so quiet, I almost couldn't stand it! All that was left was this....I left it there for most of the day....just wasn't ready to let them go.
I still had children at home though, and let me tell ya, the drama started! The first few days of 2012 had me reeling. My daughter dodged a huge missile...I am not even sure she realizes it, but someday the Lord will show her just how blessed she was in that first week of 2012!In the meantime, I am thankful that God gave me the wisdom, even in a way I never expected, to make the right choices for my family. It hurts my pride to say, had I just listened to my husband in the first place...but you know I have to figure it out on my own sometimes. I am blessed to have a husband who gets that about me.
And all the while, this smile and that twinkle in his eye, reminded me of what being a mother is all about....hard choices, but also great rewards! (I got a hug from my daughter too...eventually)
I can't share photos of the kids and not mention the girls....they continue to love each other and play and cause all kinds of their own drama...but it is fun drama! I sure love these girlies!
(the small one wears the big one out!)

So it is the new year, and even thought the first few days of mine were rough going, it does not mean my 2012 is without promise! I spent the week between Christmas and New Year like I do every year.... I wrote my vision for the coming year. Back in the early 90's, my Pastor, (Pastor Mike, from my church in McHenry) did a New Years teaching on writing the vision...see Habakkuk 2. Ever since, I have been writing my vision for the coming year. He taught me how to use specific categories....since then, I have designed these around my own life, and have come up with the following.....many of these are the ones he gave us to use in an outline (Gosh, he is a gifted teacher! I sure miss him!)

1) Spiritual and Innerdevelopment, 2)Family/Relationship, 3) Personal Development, 4)Ministry, 5) Physical and Health, 6) Homeschool, 7) Marriage, 8) Homemaking, 9) Material, 10) Reading, 11) Home Improvement, 12) Blogging, and last but never least QUILTING! Quilting get's it's own page!

I have to say that most of the time I meet my goals with a 70% success, though last year was more of a failure....good-bye 2011!!!! Now all those categories may look overwhelming....you can choose ONE and go with that! Just set at least 3 goals for the coming year for yourself! Write the vision....it will be worth it! The other part of that verse says to make it plain on tablets...your tablet can be your computer, your phone, or like me...use an old fashioned piece of lead and some paper!!! I have used a piece of poster board and cut out pictures in the past....making a goal poster is a fun way to write the vision! I keep my goals in the back of my binder so I can see them....the third part of this is "so you can see them and run with them" (my own paraphrase)I put the categories as a heading and then make more detailed goals underneath...just 1-3 goals per heading, though a couple of categories got more this year. For example, under Homemaking Goals, I have listed, Organize each room, Use binder schedule daily, Use my monthly cleaning schedule.....Also, along with using the binder schedule, I am using a daily PODA....
Now, what happens when you get off track for any reason? I had a horrible cold yesterday...I am much better today thanks to Zicam...but I did NOTHING yesterday, which was scheduled to be a big cleaning day! Well I did make my bed and had to run the errands on the list, but other than that I laid around or hand quilted the day and evening away! This morning I read this wonderful post. Today, I am NOT returning to yesterday's list, but continuing on with today's jobs. Yesterday's list will get another chance next Wednesday!

Some other detailed goals under the heading of Physical/Heath are to continue the WW meetings every week, increase my activity (there is also a detailed plan for that...you can not be too vague), and to make 2012 a completely meat-free year. Under Home Improvement, I have listed paint the bedroom, and tear down wallpaper in kitchen...both of these were carried over from last year, and that's ok. It just gives them more of a priority this year! Quilting goals??? those deserve a post of their own, but you know what is number 1 on that list, right?!
Now go write your vision!!!! Make it plain on tablets, so that you can see it and run with it. Here is to a productive 2012!!!