this is something I love that someone made for me

It's week 2 of the meme that Melissa started. It was Kate's turn to pick a subject, and she chose "something I love that someone made for me."

My daughter, Grace, in case you aren't a loyal reader or are just not paying attention, has serious artistic tendencies. Not in the sense of mommy one-upmanship that can happen on the playground while comparing who potty learned or pointed to their noses first; no, more in the sense of looking at something surprisingly creative that your child produces and wondering "where on God's green earth did that combination of genes come from because she sure as hell didn't get it from her father." Anyway, Grace has often taken me by surprise with her art, but the painting above was one of the first times that she really took my breath away. She was four years old when she made it in preschool for Mother's Day, and it was her first experience with oil paint. It isn't so much the beauty of the painting but how she described it in her little girl words. She said:

There's a rainbow and green grass and a few clouds, and a rose with some thorns but also gold [the gold center is actually so thick it is raised off the canvas]. And in the middle of it all is a volcano!

Well isn't that just about a perfect description of motherhood if you ever heard one? My favorite part is that her teacher took a picture of her painting it and wrote down her description and attached it to the back so we will never forget. Grace has drawn and painted and colored many pictures for me since that day. She has molded clay and folded paper and even learned to piece fabric on her very own sewing machine. But I love to look at this painting, hanging in my office, and remember the first time I got a glimpse of her artist's soul. The best Mother's Day present ever.

What's your favorite thing that someone made for you? Jump in and play with us!

Healthy Habits Monday - Week 5

Update: I am still drowning in paper, but managed to get through Open House and the first day of school with all of the required forms and checks and slips and summer reading lists handed in to the correct person. That has to count for something, right? Schools have to top my list as the worst paper wasters EVER! Why they can't have one form that you fill out per child and then print/save the information they need for each required location (teacher, clinic, office, etc.) instead of making me fill it out on those teensy lines so you can barely read my writing, with six copies of the exact same information? You can almost hear the trees weeping every August. It's a sin, I tell you.

Sorry, on to my meal planning and water. Neither showed stellar results this week between the two trips to the dentist, the long night and day with Divot :c( and another football injury, plus trying to get ready for school to start. I need to kick it up a notch if I'm going to survive the season.

But in the interest of moving forward, I am adding a new habit this week. Now that the kiddos are back in school, I am resolving to exercise at least 2.5 hours/week. Today I did 30 minutes on the treadmill after morning carpool, so I'm off to a good start. This is a critical one for me, and I hope in future weeks to bump up the time.

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks Monday is a good day to start a new habit. Last week I got this link to Healthy Monday. Check it out for lots of other ideas and resources for your own healthy habits.

What's on your To Do list this week?

Goodbye, Div

I'm sad to say that our sweet beagle boy, Divot, has gone to the Rainbow Bridge [warning! Kleenex alert!]

BeaglesBay King Arthur's Wizard, aka "Divot" was born April 16, 1999. He was diagnosed with bladder cancer this past April, a less common but unforgiving cancer in dogs. Wednesday night he took a turn for the worse, and we realized it was time. He died Thursday morning in my arms with a belly full of cookies.

Divot may not have been the world's smartest dog, but he was sweet and gentle, especially with children and the elderly. He would, in the manner of most beagles, eat anything and everything, from a Sprite can as a puppy [yes, that required an ER visit] to broccoli - just not the raw meat that the holistic vet recommended when he got sick. He would not fetch, but he could walk forever and almost caught that squirrel in the back yard once. He loved to chew ice cubes and was particular about bedtime. A good night's sleep is critical for the next day's napping, you know.

He leaves to cherish his memory three bereft children, a daddy who let him sit on the couch when the Braves were on, and his momma who cooked brown rice and chicken for him when the going got tough; also, the two dogs next door who now have no one to bark at.

Run to the Rainbow Bridge, Div. We miss you already.

Friday Fill Ins

Come play with us or find more Friday Fill Ins here. My answers are in bold:

1. You know you're old when Friday means "sleep" instead of "party!"
2. My heart is divided between doing all the responsible things to make life the best it can be for my family and ignoring all of the mundane things in life to spend quality time with them. I guess there must be a balance in there, right?
3. Sleep is what I need RIGHT NOW!
4. I have felt the high of brand new love, I have known the depths of grief.
5. Gah, won't these people in front of me just GO!
6. Come home as soon as you can!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to sleep, tomorrow my plans include the first feeder football scrimmage, and Sunday, I want to sew a bit!

Have a great weekend!

Going to Guild

Monday was guild night, and one of the most fun ever! First of all, I have to share this recipe with you. It was my turn to bring a sweet snack, so I brought these Self Frosting Oatmeal Cookies that were just yummy!

Then we moved onto the fun stuff - hand dyeing fabric with Marquetta Johnson.

Not only is Marquetta extraordinarily gifted, she is a hoot! We laughed all night, especially when the Quilt Police in the guild (you know who you are) kept worrying about their folding techniques being exactly perfect. Marquetta would just say, "tuck it under until it's happy and it will be beautiful!" It was definitely an exercise in relinquishing control for a few of us.

Marquetta taught us some basic folding techniques to use with her water conservation/clean dyeing method. This is especially critical in the metro Atlanta area where drought is an ongoing problem. It's nice to know that the earth doesn't have to suffer for this art. Plus, as anyone who has every tie-dyed knows, rinsing is the worst part! Then we got to work with the dyes. Gracie had a great time - I purchased a separate kit for her so we didn't have to compromise on color choices. Now she has her very own stash of hand dyed fat quarters to fondle. I am creating a monster in my own image! It was a fun way to end our summer guild nights together. Once school starts she won't be able to be out so late on a Monday night.



Then comes the waiting - the pretty bundles had to sit in the sun to dry.



And voila! Here is a little slide show of our finished FQs.



I would highly recommend this program to any guild. Best of all, it is a clean technique that we did in our regular meeting space in less than 2 hours. And for those of you who aren't interested in dyeing fabric yourself, Marquetta brought some of her own gorgeous fabric that we could buy.

What was your guild's best program this year?

My Favorite Refrigerator Magnet

Color me cool, I'm officially playing a blog meme game. Whatever the heck that means.

Melissa asked us to find our favorite refrigerator magnet. This is mine:

Okay, technically I know it is not just one magnet (and the pictures turned out HORRIBLE! Something to do with the glaring white fridge I suppose). But I love playing with all the words and leaving little love notes in haiku for DH.

Sometimes it even inspires creativity from my offspring. This little gem is from my middle child, the eleven year old boy, in response to Gracie's insistence that she is a vegetarian. Not very loving, but literate and better, I suppose, than calling her a "stupid head."

In case you can't read this, it says "a demented simian claimed she despises beefy lizards".

Come along and play our game with us. Next week it's Kate's turn to pick, and I love her choice!

Have a great day.

Healthy Habits Monday - Week 4

My menu planning/cooking at home went MUCH better than the paper taming efforts. We only ate dinner out one night last week, and that was a planned evening with the grandparents to celebrate my oldest son earning his 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The paper, however, is still piling up around my ears. Sigh...

This week, in a nod to the 95+ degree heat and the pleading of the football coaches for the boys to to skip the Cokes and drink water all day every day (not just at practice), my healthy habit is going to be to drink water and plenty of it. No soft drinks, no sweet tea, just fresh clear water. I am allowing myself my morning coffee for the sake of those who have to live with me, but otherwise it's H20.

I have a feeling my skin will look better, I'll have fewer headaches, and it definitely cuts calories.

What's your healthy habit for the week? Jump in with me.

Orange Crush Step 3

Wow, am I spatially challenged!

I do not know how someone with such poor spatial abilities and terrible math skills got involved in quilting, but it just goes to show that you should pay attention in Geometry even if you don't want to be an engineer.

These very simple blocks took me forever because we needed 22 going each direction. I got the first batch right, and then sewed the second batch wrong and had to "un-sew" them...TWICE! I even did a test block, wrote down how to do it, and did it wrong the second time. Honestly, it's amazing the kaleidoscope quilt ever got put together.

But they are done, and I can move on to step 4. I might actually get this quilt done before Bonnie moves on to a new mystery - at least if her publisher keeps her busy with the book tour and teaching!

I hope you feel some sense of accomplishment today!

Friday Fill In

My answers are in bold:

1. If I could travel back in time, I'd go to witness the life of Christ. Hindsight is 20/20, but I've always secretly wondered if I would have followed Him or been one of the people telling His disciples that it was time to up their meds.
2. Give me peace and quiet or give me dessert.
3. I am listening to The Disney Channel, the soundtrack to my life.
4. Somewhere, someone is thinking wasn't she supposed to get back to me on that?
5. I'll always be trying to catch up.
6. My idea of a good time includes lots of family and friends, plus dessert.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a good night's sleep! Tomorrow my plans include celebrating the new 2nd degree black belt in the family and Sunday, I want to finish my Kaleidoscope Dreams quilt!

Have a great weekend.