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:on being a mom

Occasionally, I get the bug to get out of the house and get a job, make some real money, and make a name for myself out there in the big wide world. This summer it hit me pretty hard. My kids are getting older and I'm finding that here and there I am getting a few small pockets of time to myself. It's an odd feeling that I'm not altogether comfortable with. For 7 years my life has been utterly consumed with snuggles, small hands, bird-like meals, segmental sleep patterns, and a constant awareness of where 2 special blankies are located at any given time. Slowly but surely, these patterns (or lack of pattern) in my life are subsiding, and the void that it leaves is like a black hole that I feel frantic to fill with something.

Naturally, at least to me, I felt that work was what I needed. However, my fruitless search to find a job in an economy that isn't kind to a nurse who hasn't worked for 7 years turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As I've backed off from the search for a job with regular hours and a regular paycheck, I find myself turning back toward home, and the wondering of how I ever could have done it. Like anything that doesn't last forever, I am saying goodbye to being the mother of babies. (thanks a lot, now I'm crying). But I get to say hello with open arms to being a mom of kids. And those small pockets of time that I was so excited to finally get are now being filled with...being a mom. And all that anxiety and stress and wonder I felt when I brought my kids home I'm feeling all over again, but I'm learning to see it for what it is now, and accepting with a little more grace this time the changes that are in store. It doesn't make it any easier, but there you go. Maybe by the time they go to college I'll have it figured out.

 But I'm not counting on it.

Proof

That occasionally, things do get done around here. As, all to often the results are far too short-lived to be appreciated. Like vacuum lines in the carpet fade under footsteps, so are the days of our lives...

Alex's first day of first grade

What? You don't see him? He's at the end of the line in a red shirt getting a fist-bump from his mom. I was a dork and didn't bring my camera OR my phone to document his first day. Some days are just like that. But he had a great day...loves his teacher...is thrilled with his class...etc etc. Thanks Amy for NOT being a dork, and inadvertently taking a picture of my kid at the bus stop. I owe you one.

fair 2010

Here is my feeble attempt to publish to my blog via phone. I can't seem to post more than 3 pics per post (which will never do), so I will keep playing with different apps until I find one that is easy to use. Until then, there are 2 pages worth of fair "posts" here because I posted each picture individually. But like any good mother, I couldn't leave anyone out.

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Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5

fair 2010

i love the fair! i have so many good memories of riding the rides, doing sand art, watching the bands, and looking for boys! i still get a little giddy going with my kids. only now the joy comes in watching their faces go from apprehension to sheer joy as they go on the rides for the first time. i was really bummed when i discovered i didnt have a memory card in my camera, so i turned to my trusty phone. blogging is still a little sketch on this thing, so i'll try to post a bunch of pictures in no particular order. hope it works.

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Play dough dog

Distraught over not being able to play with the bread dough anymore, lily requested some homemade play dough. I love this recipe we got from their preschool teacher. It is so soft!

Mrs. Morris's play dough

2+ cups flour

1/2 c salt

1T alum (find it in the spice isle)

3 T baby oil (i used veggie oil...works fine)

Pour 2 cups boiling water over and mix. Add more flour to get dough consistancy.

I also found this online, which im trying next...in blue.

Kool_aid play dough

21/2 cups flour

1 cup salt

3TBS veggie oil

2  cups boiling water

2 packages unsweetened kool aid

Mix dry. Add oil and water. Wearing gloves, knead 10 minutes. Store in zip lock in fridge. (Disclamer...hand will smell like kool aid even while wearing gloves. )

Here's to smelling like berry blue all day.

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baking bread

its nice to have help when help is needed.

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summer girl

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i feel like this all the time

hair cut

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playing with my phone

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and yeast.  (french bread)


I love my phone. I also love my big, fancy camera. But it's just SO convenient to take pictures with my phone...seeing as how I have it with me all the time. Plus I found some really fun apps (retro camera and camera fx are my favorites!) Now if I can just figure out how to blog more easily from my phone (there is a way), I will have the minute-by-minute down low on my life in blog form.

I know that is very exciting. I'm excited.

Little Pots of Gold

I love my life.

knit one, spend two

I've been in a knitting sort of mood.

Maybe it's the 100+ degree weather we've had of late that's making me dream of cooler days, or the new knitting recruits I've drummed up,

or maybe it's just my insatiable need to be constantly doing something with my hands, but I've been itching to knit constantly these days. And as I finish a project, I'm instantly ready for another one. I scour my knitting magazines, search the web, and flip through books until I find the pattern or yarn that makes me swoon.

The only problem is that knitting is NOT an inexpensive hobby. Needles aren't bad, but the yarn...oh the yarn! Well, the good yarn anyway. Those prices are not for the faint of heart!

Exhibit A...

Aren't they adorable? And so simple and easy to make for babies. Here's the description:

These hats have a timelessness and a delicacy that put me in an old attic kind of mood. They seem to already have a story. Imagine: a huge steamer trunk, a dusty tuxedo, a playbill, a crushed patent leather pump, and, on top, some carefully folded tissue paper. Hidden among the folds, these tiny hats wait to be discovered for the next generation of babies born.

I know that there is a really good yarn salesperson person behind those words (and a challenge to use the word "playbill" in a yarn description, no doubt), but since hats require less than a skein of yarn (usually), and since I am a hopeless romantic, it does peak my interest. It looks absolutely luxurious! So I looked up the cost:

How many would you like?

Louet

Mooi

CONTENT: 15% bison, 15% cashmere, 70% bamboo

WEIGHT: 50 grams

LENGTH: 350 yards

GAUGE: 7-8 stitches per inch

SUGGESTED NEEDLES: US 2 - 4

Price: $51.00

 

 

Seriously?? 

 

 

Exhibit B:

 Aren't they awesome? Jessica wanted me to knit these for her, so we looked up how much the yarn would cost...

$100. For. a. pair. of. socks!

I know I could probably find a less expensive substitute, but there really really really is a difference! The truth is, when I started knitting it was purely for the psychological benefits. I didn't necessarily like knitted objects, per-say. Toilet paper cozies and sweaters with kitten motifs never really spoke to me--from a fashion standpoint, anyway. But once I started seeing stuff like this...

And this...

And this...

I thought, "you know...this knitting thing could really catch on for me." But the thing that makes that wonderful fabric drape so nicely is the YARN! Yes, at $10-$20 a skein, it does make a nice fabric.

But it looks like my stash will not be growing too big any time soon. Ah me...Christmas isn't too far around the bend.

the end.

p.s. because I feel the need to defend the humble toilet paper cozy:

That sushi roll is pretty cool. Though I do think I would have emptied out my garbage before posting this one on flickr. Just saying.

I feel no such obligation to defend the kitten sweater.