Some Recommended Reading . . .

In the event that you are in need of a good cry head here. It's long, but good, and will make your mommy heart ache.

Spring Inspiration

As the snowflakes swirl today you will find me with spring on the brain. I had high hopes of creating a few little Valentine decorations, but I gave up on that notion about a week ago and decided to move onto spring.  And I need to get busy if I'm going to meet my self-imposed March 1st decorating deadline! ;o)  Step one--gathering ideas--and here's what I'm liking so far:
Painted muslin eggs with feather stitched seams--found here
"Grunged up" muslin eggs with ric rac sewn on (I think I would put something extra in the middle though, maybe another stripe of ric rac or other embellishment?)--found here
A bunny pillow (except I'll be doing mine with a combination of wool felt mounted on burlap, maybe some pom pom fringe around the seam?)--found here

The "Shaggy Chick Penny Rug" from the June '05 issue of Create and Decorate --however I have not been able to locate any "shaggy felt" so I might just use wool felt, which is find of a bummer because I do like the shaggy look. I took a picture of my magazine so you can see what I mean:

This pattern uses a combination of wool and wool felt.  The purist in me loves all wool. I love how it feels in my hands when I sew, love how it looks, etc.  But wool is not cheap. The cheapskate in me loves the option of wool felt, because it saves A LOT of money. ;o)  But when you use them both together you get a little bit of both worlds.

I'm toying with the idea--like I do every year--of making the girls' Easter dress.  I've been missing my sewing machine. ;o) If I started now, I might have time to finish them.  We'll see.  Dresses are tricky--lots of parts to construct, possibly a zipper to get in there somehow (I'm not a huge fan of zippers . . .). 

So, there you have it--how I plan on spending February. But I have to admit, in spite of how cold and snowy the winter has been it really hasn't seemed all that long to me.  If it continues to snow all through March, well, then I might start to get a bit antsy.  For now, the hermit thing is working out for me quite well. ;o)  Anybody else have some grand spring plans that I can steal flatter you by copying?;o)

Owen, meet Spidey

My life is many things . . .

 . . . "dull" is not--nor do I ever see it being--one of them. ;o)

The Six Week Mark

Today marks that magical day, the day I'm supposed to be officially recovered from pregnancy and life is supposed to be "all systems go" again. Right? (yes, I'm laughing to myself right now . . .) So, how I am doing on that grand plan?

--I've got 10 pounds left to rid myself of . . .

but the fine print will tell you that I have 17 pounds left until I actually weigh what my driver's license claims I weigh, although I think those other 7 lbs are all the muscle I gained prior to pregnancy, correct?

--I managed to get an old pair of jeans buttoned, however I could not breathe or move in them, and they definitely did NOT accentuate the positive--but hey that's better then the first time I tried them on (you know, just out of curiosity . . .surely I'm not the only one who tortures themselves that way?) and couldn't get them up much higher than my knees

--the numbness in my fingers is about 98-99% gone

--my ankles are no longer swollen, however they still are a bit sore from being swollen, isn't that crazy?

--my ring STILL does not fit! I'm baffled by this, because it fit at this weight--and beyond--on the way up.  I've never been ringless for so long.  I just can't get it over my knuckle.  Is it possible for a knuckle to widen?

All that being said, I'm actually feeling pretty good, functioning decently on my declined amounts of sleep, and hoping to get some sort of exercise regimen officially up and going. I'm looking forward to getting back into running (which is always such a blast in the beginning . . .) ;o)  But I must admit this last pregnancy has been a bit harder to recover from, all around.  That first week after delivery . . . WOA!!! I honestly felt like somebody had beat me all over with a stick (not that I know what that would feel like, but I'm sure it was pretty close). ;o)  I have this secret little goal of maybe-perhaps-possibly trying to run the half-marathon NEXT spring, as in 2011 spring.  I've got a ways to go yet . . . But baby steps, right?  Anybody want to join me? ;o)

Art Around the House

Having been stuck inside for *awhile* now, the kids have turned to drawing to occupy a lot of their free time.  Consequently we've gone through A LOT of paper. ;o)  I used to be so good and organized about saving and filing (and dating!) drawings . . . about three kids ago.  Now I am finding that taking pictures of their drawings works pretty good too.  So, here are some of my favorites from the last month:

~Emmett--2 yrs 10 mon~

This is a combine with a corn header and a "mean guy" floating up in the right hand corner

A happy little guy in a car

~Jackson--4 yrs 5 months~

A picture of "Jackson by a tree with branches and apples that fell from the tree and hit my hat"

Look at those LOOOONG fingers. ;o)  Anything he draws brings me great delight since he was such a "late drawer" and a year ago his artwork consisted mainly of this.

~Isabella--6 1/2 years old~

"A Red Fox"

We receive the magazine Nature Friend.  Each issue shows you how to draw an animal.  They then feature the art of kids who attempted to draw that animal.  Isabella really wants to get a drawing published. ;o)

~Marissa--8 yrs 3 mon~

"Elephant"

We have been learning about Africa the last few weeks in school and got a book on how to draw African animals.  I thought her elephant turned out pretty good, especially that eye ball. ;o)

Our Turn has Come . . .

Well, we made it until yesterday--January 29th--without any extra doctor appointments or sicknesses.  The first to fall? Jackson, with a yucky cold and ear infection.    I'm still so thankful for how healthy everyone has been--it has been our best fall/winter in a very long time.  I'm just hoping I can keep Owen from getting it.  I hate having to shoo Jackson away from him constantly, but hopefully that will work. The upside to all this? Thursday, Jackson got up at 7:00, and Friday, are you ready for this? 7:45!!! Unfortunately, he was at my bedside this morning at 5:30 . . . Perhaps that means an extra long nap today? I can only hope. ;o)

Multi-tasking/Multi-talented

For some reason since having Owen I have this constant feeling of being "behind." Even though week by week our routine becomes more settled and I feel like slowly--but surely--each day I'm getting more accomplished.  I just feel REALLY busy.  And then I realized this: I'm constantly doing two things at once, like . . .

Supervising violin practice . . . while nursing Owen.

Giving a spelling test . . . while nursing Owen.

Reading a book . . . while nursing Owen.

Helping with a math problem . . . while nursing Owen.

Sleeping!!! . . .  while nursing Owen.

Refereeing a squabble, "You over there, you go to your chair!"  . . . while nursing Owen.

Walking around the house, picking up laundry with my feet . . . while nursing Owen.

Typing an email one handed, with a phone pinned precariously between my head and shoulder . . . while nursing Owen.

Eating spaghetti right-handed (I'm a leftie) . . . while nursing Owen. (And let me tell you, this, in and of itself is QUITE a talent, particularly if I can accomplish it without dripping any sauce on Owen) ;o)

Really. No wonder my brain feels like it's on a merry-go-round.  No wonder Jackson drew a picture of a cow's udder for his Cubbie teachers last night on the big dry-erase board (yes, he really did . . . I'm just thankful it wasn't *other* milk-producing apparatuses).  And I have no idea if I spelled apparatus right, I switched my "blog editor" to simplify uploading pictures and discovered the new one has no spell-check. *gasp* I HATE making spelling errors, they completely mortify me. And I would get my dictionary out to check my spelling--because I'm psycho that way--but would you believe it, whilst I sit here typing (isn't whilst a quaint little word?) . . . I'm nursing Owen. ;o)