Picture of the day.

I watched this video of time lapse pictures and I had an idea. I would love to see how much my own children change everyday. So I am going to try and take a picture of them at least once a day and watch them grow. So here is their pictures from today.

Damian was more than happy to let me take his picture.

Looks like a Mug shot

James did not want his picture taken at all!

We had to wrestle one out. He is really upside down.

 

 

I hope you are having an amazing day filled with Love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Keeping the wheels turning

I know I have been quite on my blog lately but I promise I have been busy with college, home school, a little house keeping, reading, and well a few other things. . .

This is a duct tape dress form. Turns out this is my good side.

Straight on I look well a little lumpy and

the I have an urge to get on the treadmill.

In theory it will help me make clothes that fit my body.

But I still want to lose 10-20 pounds.

Then I want a less lumpy dress form.

This will one day be a dress in theory.

Notice the lack of planets in the fabric.

It is going to be cute!

maybe.

hopefully

oh, dear.

I have been working on log cabin blankets.

As you can see this one is for Callie.

My friend is desperately waiting her arrival.

I love embroidery but I am a little rusty.

I hope they don't mind that it is a little sloppy

I did by hand free style.

An idea of what the whole blanket looks like.

It is not finished.

 

Callie has a big sister.

This is her blanket.

It is not even close to being finished.

Her Dad will be here in two weeks.

I want him to take them home.

I better get working.

I have school work!

Eek!!

Where the cuting happens.

A box of yarn, I am going to mail this out soon.

This is a shawl.

Oh will be

someday.

It takes a long time

It takes a lot of yarn

It takes the fun out of Crochet.

It is for my Mother-in-Law.

These are the same size

 I do not know why the right looks bigger.

They are baby flip flops

for Callie

Oh, dear...

 That is what I have been up too lately. Not to mention the cooking, I found a lovely recipe for sweetened condensed milk, cream of mushroom soup you add to recipes to make them amazing, and more.

Here is your song of the day

Proud Mary

What is better then Tina Turner?

Nothing.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling on the river

I hope you are having a wonderful day filled with love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Dreams. . .

I recently read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua. After I finished the book I started to evaluate the idea of dreams, dreams for myself, dreams for my children, and dreams of the future. When I had children I knew I would support their dreams and do everything that I could to help them to come true. The book made me ask the question (to me) is my dreams big enough for them? Should I be doing more to help them succeed in life? In the book Amy Chua has her children practice piano up to five hours a day, plus learning Mandarin, and doing extra work to stay ahead of their peers at school. I cannot afford to give the boys private lessons in various things, this is the down fall of staying home with the kids there is never extra money. Seriously I could push Damian to do more work to at home we could get through the curriculum faster, should he be practicing piano more than thirty minutes a day? Should I want him to be the best at piano and aim to get him to a stage instead of thinking of it as a beautiful hobby? I wanted the kids to have a teacher outside of me that they could impress with their practicing. Now I have added to my guilt pile because I needed more guilt.

James is still working on learning the alphabet and I am sure that I should be pushing him more. Damian could read when he was four. Then they are different kids and I am a different mother than I was with Damian. Should we push our children to excel? How do you choose what they are going to excel in? This parenting gig is stressful!

In retrospect I knew when I was Damian's age what I wanted to do when I grew up. I wanted to write for a living. I knew it then and I know it now. Sometimes when I see successful people who are younger than I am I struggle with myself (the inner demons only I can hear mocking me).  I am working on an English Degree which allows me to read things I haven't read, and more importantly it allows me to write and improve. I gain confidence in myself and I know one very important thing about life: It Is Never Too Late. People start late all the time the important thing is that we start. My major question is "Are my dreams big enough?" My answer as all ways is, "I do not know?"

How about some songs about big dreams

I know your surpised by Juke Box hero. I love it...

I am just beginning, Pen's in my hand.

Gotta find me a future move outta my way. I want it all

I gotta follow that dream where ever that dream leads me

You can stand me up at the gates of Hell but I won't back down

Who doesn't love Tom Petty and The Heart breakers?

I'm on my way to what I want from this world

I'll do my best to do the best I can

Last one I totally swear

The Lyrics on this video sing along with me...

I can go the distance

I hope that you are having a wonderful day filled with love and laughter. Be well Friends. 

Gifts at 10, 1 and 10

I have not forgotten to update my gifts, I just chose to wait until Monday. I like to keep the weekends family related.  Today's post is a gift at ten am, one pm and ten pm.

10am: Today the boys and I all curled up on the couch and I read a chapter of Peter Pan, it is one of my favorite books. I have read Peter Pan to Damian Twice and this is James' first time hearing it. The thing is when Damian was born Rob and I didn't want to read picture books over and over again. We were a little bit young and a lot dumb. So I would read chapter books to Damian at night. I read the entire Harry Potter series to him, Peter Pan, The Princess Bride, and so on. Rob read technical books to him (he still does if he can convince the boys they are good). When James was born Damian was learning to read so we were reading picture books and then Damian wanted to read to James at night so we let him. Now James is learning to read, ok he is learning the alphabet but reading comes after, and I want to take my last chance and read to the boys. They are growing up to fast.

1pm: I put on an exercise DVD to torture myself and the kids happily joined in as a growing support system. We deemed it P.E. and we all agreed that one pm should be for exercise DVD's. Then of course it is nap time.

10pm: My husband and I snuggle on the couch and watch a show on Netflix. Right now we are watching season three of Warehouse 13. I love this quiet time with my husband.

Song of the day

Okay I love the Disney cartoon version. Enjoy.


I hope you are having a wonderful day filled with love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Three Gifts eaten.

Day 2 of the Joy Dare: Three Gifts eaten

Every morning my husband makes coffee as soon as he gets up so that it will be ready for me when I get up and around. He has been doing this for ten or so years when he is home. So today's gift was nice to rememeber to be thankful to my husband for the little things he does for us.

Morning Coffee

Bowl of cherries, I gave one to each of my boys this morning.

Fresh cow milk that a dear friend gave me today.

Because music makes me happy the song of the day, and my son has been singing this all day.

I included the lyrics so sing along friends.

I hope you are having a wonderful day filled with love and laughter. Be well my friends

Three gifts White

Day one of the Joy Dare: Three Gifts White

This is the sun shining through my white curtian in the living room.

I love this picture. I love it when my roses are in bloom.

I feel like I have put Christ on the back burner. When I was taking a picture of this little flower, still smiling despite the heat, I liked that my crucifix is out of focus. It is a reminder that I need to bring HIM into focus.

I know it is only three gifts but today I found four. Anything is possible.

I also want to include a song that has been making smile all week.

So this came up in my youtube search and I thought was cute.

Here is the real song!

Put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up.

I hope you find a reason to smile and find thanks today and that is filled with love and laughter. Be well my Friends.

Joy Dare

I think I need a little more joy in my life so I have decided to do the August Joy Dare. I will actively find the small details that I am thankful for each day. Ann Voskamp says, "Looking for all His good gifts! {Did you know that keeping a gratitude gift list is *guaranteed* to increase your happiness by 25%? Who in the world doesn't want that?}" You can find her on facebook here https://www.facebook.com/#!/onethousandgifts or on her website here http://onethousandgifts.com/. It is about learning to be more grateful and less bitter/ unhappy/ negetive/ whatever is weighing you down. Here is to the joy dare. I am hoping that it helps cheer me up out of my slump.

I hope that you will be inspired to join in the Joy Dare, together we can find happiness in all things. I hope you have a wonderful day filled with Love and Laughter. Be Well my Friends.