Humpfh

I'm not much for blogging lately am I? There are probably a hundred things I should record so my memory can't let them disappear in the coming years. But I'm a little outta whack. : ( The thing that I want to record is that, in my every day struggles with life, the thing that is of number one importance to me, is how my kids are doing. The point of this blog, is for them to be able to come back and walk through their childhood and learn a little more about our family and what Mom and Dad were like. Where we came from and how we tried to grow our family with love and hope. Part of this story is that I am battling anxiety and depression. It makes me not want to participate in life. The bummer is, that is exactly the opposite of what I want to show/ teach our kids. I want them to love life and embrace each day and take advantage of every opportunity to soak up more. So, I guess I just want to go on record saying, that I am trying. I am hoping that the good times will out weigh the rough times. That Ty and Aubree will know I love them so much it hurts. And hopefully growing up with a nutty mom isn't all bad.

Well, that's the gist of what I've been avoiding writing down. Let's see if I can cheer us up a bit. Ty started preschool two weeks ago. I love how much he loves to go to school, seeing him so happy puts a huge smile on my face and makes me feel all warm and wonderful inside. He's still mad about Dino's and all things gross and scary. He's boy to the max. And bossy like nobodies business! Oh, and he still hasn't decided which hand he's going to use. Every time I think I have it figured out he switches it up again.

Aubree is getting so big. She talks non-stop while Ty's at school. She's in love with kitties, mermaids (moony's) and Unicorns (lunacorn's). She likes sparkly shoes, all things she deems beautiful, and she's got gorgeous curly hair that's to die for. She's a serious whiner and still wears most meals from head to toe.

Best of all those crazy little monsters hug me and tell me they love me every day. And they truly appreciate all the crafty things I do for them. Like the giant I-Spy quilt I've not yet blogged about. And our crocheted little moosers, since we're Minnesotans now. They will seriously fight over the things that mama made them. That's a fight I can like. LOL

Computer Woes

I hope to catch up soon.

Grammaaa PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!

Better late than never. Gramma P came to visit for a fabulously long vacation. And once again, the timing couldn't have been better. I don't think I've mentioned much about my anxiety and depression issues and I'm not sure how to go about it. The important thing is that things were going fairly rough for me and I was able to take full advantage of having Gramma around.

The fist day she was here I was able to see my Dr to try and figure out what meds might help me. Trying to do something like that with kids in tow, is well, nearly imposable. It worked out well. The kids were over the moon, and got a good dose of Gramma that day since I was trying not too loose my mind entirely.

The first week we kept busy. We went downtown for Summer Tuesday's. Had dinner at the Freighthouse on the River. We went to the beach with all of my friends, and Gramma was able to get some good vacation novel reading in while the kids played the day away in the water. The day after that we walked down to the courthouse for the Lumberjack Days Festival kickoff. They had a little petting zoo, lots of games and prizes, $.25 Rootbeer floats and popsicles. A little later there was a talent show and the kids practiced rolling down hills. The walk home was wonderful. Then Friday we went on a paddle boat lunch cruise up and down the St. Croix river.

The rest of the trip was a little more mellow. Lots of soaking up the sun, pushing kids on swings, walking to Nelson's for ice cream, and P read two books during the trip. I am so grateful that we are able to hang out for extended periods of time. Some of my friends and one of their mom's didn't think they could do it. So, while we may not always agree, we are really lucky, especially since we live so far away that we can take advantage of the cost and hassle of a long flight to see each other and stay for a long time. I know Ty and Aubree appreciate it.

I know there's a ton more that I could say but the kids are getting restless, and I need more coffee. Ty and Aubree enjoyed every moment of their Gramma P. And daddy and I like it too.

Baby Ghosties

Several weeks ago my kids besties came over to play for a short while so they're mom could go to some appt. that I can't remember. While the foursome were playing they some how ended up on a ghost hunt. I was very curious where this was going to go. And I was pleasantly surprised. Not that I should have been, I love the way Ty and Leah interact. And their little buddy Owen is really coming into his boyhood nicely. He was the main ghost getter on the adventure, and he was very good and very proud. Ty and Leah ended up finding cute baby ghosties, and then it turned out there were two of them! And they carried the ghostie babies around and took very good care of them. It was freakin' adorable.

Oops.. I did it again

Last Saturday around noon. I was originally tagging along with my friend and her mom, but these things are kind of contagious. I've always wanted to be shiny and happy, so I got some more gorgeous stars to guide me in that direction. I got them on my right wrist to support and enhance my creativity. They're fantastic.

Friends

I have made some excellent friends here in my new hometown. The last few months have been a fantastic journey of outings with children, runs to the craft stores and coffee/ vent sessions. I am so happy and so grateful for my little group of gals.

TV update and Handmade frustrations

We're doing pretty good! I mean, it's not like we cut all TV out of our diet, just the part that was super expensive. Our friends lent us some rabbit ears for a while, but we haven't really used them. The kids still watch movies and have found a new love for Baby Einstein. I am doing a lot more sewing and reading, but still indulge in 'Charmed' via Netflix. We did up our subscription from 3 dvd's at a time to 5. So we're always sure to have one movie and one tv show in the house at all times. That helps me wind down in the evenings after the kids go to bed. So, that's that!

I am almost finished with Chelsea's baby boy blanket. It's been a bit of an ordeal. First I started cutting the fabric out wrong, luckily, I had enough fabric to continue. Then I tried some 'psychic sewing'. I was going to write a whole post just about that because I really wanted a post with that title. Anyway, I kept forgetting to take it out of reverse before I started sewing again. It didn't go forward. It was really frustrating! I guess my Singer isn't psychic after all. She and I had a number of arguments, a war even. She gave me an anxiety attack and I was ready to throw her in the trash or at someone with enough patience to make her work for them. Then I was going to melt into a little puddle on the floor and sob because these kind of cheapy machines aren't really made to sew as much as I am sewing these days. The Husky dream machine costs a pretty penny, and I don't seem to have one of those. I tried to convince my husband that I deserve one of those suckers for my 30th Birthday that's coming up in a few weeks. He didn't appreciate it. LOL He is deathly afraid of my wanting things, because I seem to have a tendency to eventually, someway or another, get what I want. So he got to have an anxiety attack of his own. Great. Anyone want to come join us? Ha!

The point of my rant was to say that the tension on my machine was whacked out and left fun little yarn 'nests' on the back of this handsome 'construction' themed blanket for one of my best friends first baby. Grrr. I tried everything I could think of, and then called in reinforcements and tried everything they could think of. Some how we got things chilled out. After that, I broke my walking foot, and two needles.

I send my prayers out the Viking gods to send a Husky Girl to save me..