Happiness

Happiness is:

My son asking to lay in bed with me and hold my hair.

My daughter waking up in the morning and calling me over to love her.

My son asking me to hold his hand when we go for a walk.

My daughter telling me that we all have blue eyes because we love eachother because we are family.

My son saying: mom you are my best friend.

My daughter saying: mom I make your heart (she means melt).

My son asking me to sit in my lap.

My daughter asking me to sit next to her and watch her play a game.

My son making a lego robot for me (one that supposedly makes coffee).

My daughter picking a weed from the yard, calling it a flower and giving it to me.

My son asking if the weekend is vacation.

My daughter asking if Valen Time (Valentine) is coming closer.  And then asking: 'how do you spell 'closer'.

Happiness is all of this and whatever else they keep bringing.

Mario and Princess Peach

After spending the morning playing Mario Kart video games, we decided to go to the park. 
'Mama, can I take my scooter', asks Maggie.
'I will take my bike, mama', says Patrick.

As we walked to the park I hear them call eachother:
'Hey Mario'.
'Yes,Princess Peach'.

Home repair book

 Look what I found at the thrift store for .50 cents. A Home Repair Book!!

A handy girl....well I am.  A few months ago I installed a faucet in our kitchen sink.  Yes, I am proud of myself.

 

But I didn't pick up this book to learn how to repair home problems (even though our heater broke, no kidding).  I picked it up for the very cool vintage-y pages that I know one day I will find use for in my projects.

Photo shrinky dinks

There is a special shrinky dink sheets that allow you to print photographs.  And we (David and I) used it in our latest collaboration.  We used his photographs in these shrinky dinks. 
Prior to baking them we punched holes around so I can crochet lace around.  I crochet lace around all of my shrinky dinks.
 
I just learned how to make french knots and put a whole bunch around (the little red/orange rose looking balls - french knots).


You can't tell by looking at this picture above but on the left I added a strip of chain that I crocheted with golden wire.


And I used my friend's Karen hand dyed seam binding in 'aqua' for the necklace cord.

Stitches

This is what I have been keeping busy with.  In addition to machine stitching I've been adding hand stitches and I think I am going to teach myself some proper embroidery techniques.

There is someone in my head, but it's not me

I picked up an interesting book 'Incognito' by David Eagleman.  It's about the human brain. Here is a little section I like to share:

'In 1862, the Scottish mathematician James Clerk Maxwell developed a set of fundamental equations that unified electricity and magnetism.  On his deathbed, he coughed up a strange sort of confession, declaring that 'something within him' discovered the famous equations, not he.  He admitted he had no idea how ideas actually came to him--they simply came to him.  William Blake related a similar experience,reporting of his long narrative poem Milton: "I have written this poem from immediate dictation twelve or sometimes twenty lines at a time without premeditation and even against my will."  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe claimed to have written his novella The Sorrows of Young Werther with practically no conscious input, as though he were holding a pen that moved on its own.
...As Carl Jung put it, "In each of us there is another whom we do not know."  As Pink Floyd put it, "There is someone in my head, but it's not me'

This is how I feel sometime.  You?

He is 6

He was this little a few years ago.  





My guy turned 6 on New Year's Day.

Happy New Year!

To leave the old with a burst of song,
To recall the old and forgive the wrong,
To forget the things that bind you fast,
To the vain regrets of the year that's past;
To have the strength to let go of your hold
Of the not worth while of the days grown old;
To dare go forth with a purpose true,
To the unknown task of the year that's new;
To help your brother along the road,
To assist with his work and lift his load;
To add your gift to the world's good cheer,
Is to have and to give a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

11 years

In our family there are a lot of celebrations packed in the last week of the year.  There is Christmas, then on New Year's Day is my son's birthday.  And the day after Christmas is our wedding anniversary, which we both forgot this year.  I just remembered today.
Here is to 11 years. 

(this was our cake topper, made by one of David's friends from a photograph of us before we got married)

Snow day in Arizona

It's hard to believe that I have not seen snow falling in almost a decade.  My kids have been asking for snow and we've been trying to catch some snow events in Phoenix.  A snow event is usually a few tons of snow dumped by a truck at a park.  A few weeks ago we heard that there is 'snow fall' every night at a local shopping center.  But we were disappointed to learn firsthand that this falling snow (it was falling for real) was soap suds.
Yesterday we were going to give it another try looking for snow and we went downtown Phoenix at Patriot Square.  We even got trinkets and things to decorate a snowman.  Patrick brought a magician hat, Maggie took her whistle/flute to use it for a nose (we were out of carrots).


Snow we found but not enough for a snow man.  I am not sure how much snow was there earlier in the day, but when we go there there was a little tiny hill of snow with a lot of wet grass and mud around it.  But that didn't matter because there was enough for a snow ball fight.




I think they really enjoyed themselves, because when I asked if they were ready to go home Maggie yelled at me: '5 minutes'


My mom said if I moved back to Nebraska I'd have snow right in my back yard.  But I think I prefer a shovel-free driveway in Arizona for now.

Santa came through the doggy door

We don't have a fireplace, and this fact concerned Patrick.  How will Santa be able to come and drop presents off?
My husband told him that in our house Santa comes through the doggy door.  We are so thankful to our dog Worf for letting Santa in.
Everyone is busy now playing with their toys that Santa brought.

Robot wallet

My son asked me to make him a robot wallet.  So I did.

Tree saplings

I heard that Home Depot has a pile of Christmas tree saplings and they are free.  So I picked up a bundle.


I had a few old chocolate and licorice cans, and they made perfect containers for the branches.





And I had also made a few Christmas tree pins to continue my abandoning, but instead of that I gave them to the ladies in the post office and one to my mail lady.