The Princess turned 5

One whole hand, such a big event. My husband usually tell sthe children it is a big event and cause for celebration because they survived that long.

We found these cool sparkling candles thinking she would really enjoy them, not the case… I think she was a tad scared of it.

She is turning into more of a princess everyday.

Sariah is definitely practicing to be a mommy. She adores her younger siblings and is always trying to be helpful for them.  T.J. at times is annoyed by her help and she is desperately trying to convince me that she is old enough to babysit him all by herself.

Kaden has rebelled against her always in his face and trying to pick him up constantly by biting her nose. I have to admit it is really funny.  One of those moments when I know I need to comfort her and discipline him, but I have to stop laughing first.  Poor girl has teeth marks on the bridge of her nose more often than not. I have tried to convince her to leave him alone, but she thinks the consequence is worth the action apparently.

After two years of begging we finally put her ballet and she is ecstatic. I must admit, she does make a beautiful ballerina.

So dang cute. Kaden is helping his sister blow out the candles.

Hey, that was some really good cake! We should do this more often!!!

hats!!!

K. like most families these days we are finding that our dollars are not as powerful or lasting as they used to be.  Indeed it seems like I hardly ever see them anymore…

I have always loved to crochet and knit (well crochet more, but if I find a knit pattern that I love I will do it) and luckily I am married to a man whose wonderful mother taught him those skills also.  Our favorite activity is to sit and crochet or knit at night while watching movies. Man, sounds like we are an old retired couple doesn’t it?  So, what better way to put our talents to use than to offer hand made items for sale?  We are working on an etsy page, but for now have things on facebook and are putting pics of them on here.

It wouldn’t be fall without a pumpkin hat for the little one. So adorable!!!  When TJ was born a lady at matt’s office knit him one and I was so in love with it. I was ecstatic to come across this pattern and even more excited when it turned out just as cute as I imagined it would.

$12.00

These eye ball hats I have been making for the last four years. I must have made a few hundred by now.  I used to sell them at the farmers markets and bazaars when mom was up here doing her circuit.  Funny enough I always sold more adult sized ones than I did the children’s size.  Tons of fun, we let our imaginations run and came out with all different colors. We have Elmo, the Frog, cookie monster, pig, bee.. you name it. One time I even did a request for a cow with splotches on it.  Very popular with the teen set.  Seems each year a teenager on a sports team will buy one and then I end up taking orders for a majority of the team.  I never complain though, having a lot of orders is a good problem to have :) These also sell for $12.00.  If you would like I could do a matching scarf for another $8.00.

Watch for more items in the next coming days and when I get the etsy page up I will be sure to let you all know.

I like to think of this as our schools fundraiser. If schools can hold fund raisers so can home schools, right?

crafting

K. So my new obsession is pinterest.com.  Oh…. so very, very addicting.

The first board I came to was a bunch of wreaths and while browsing through it with Matt I made the comment that I wasn’t really a wreath person. I may have to renig on that.. Turns out, I really love wreaths. Only certain ones though.

Here are pics of my “learning wreath” after I finally wrote on the chalkboard. Still just as much in love with it as the day I made it.

And now for pics of the new wreath that graces my door.

candy corn wreath tutorial

Really easy. Take a wreath form and  wrap it in black duct tape, cover with candy corns using hot glue, yeah… simple.  As long as you can prevent the evil minions running around from eating all the candy corn. Good luck with that.

bow tutorial

Running, or not running

 

I have always had an interest and a desire to run. I once tried track in high school, but I was already so heavy that it didn’t work out very well. 

Two years ago I picked up running and fell in love. I ran the same trail nearly every day bringing my distance from an eighth of a mile to six miles.  I watched the blackberries ripen, the leaves fall. I jumped over puddles and fallen trees when the wind storm came.  I ran in 17 degree weather with snot frozen to my face…..  I ran. 

Then came the news that I was pregnant and that put a stop to the running.  After Kaden’s birth in Oct I tried to do the Thanksgiving day turkey trot and was sooo frustrated that I couldn’t run the whole thing.  Since that day it has been hard for me to get back into the love of running.

So when I was invited to run the Seafair Torchlight parade with a bunch of friends, I jumped on the opportunity.  At the beginning of the race, there it was. The adrenaline, the excitement, the rush… The love of running and feeling my body and it’s power.

This race in particular was awesome in that it goes along the parade route just before the parade and so you have an audience.  At first it made me really nervous, but as you run by all the kids and some adults stand at the side cheering you on and sticking out their hands for you to smack as you run by. It’s a lot like having your own fan club.

So, I am running again. Or maybe not. Just like Murphy’s law to knock you out of the race just when you begin to enjoy it.

Here is my lovely left foot. All prepped for surgery.  The knot on the isde under my big toe? That would be then end of the far right bone sticking out because it is severely misaligned.  A bunion, been there all my life but has gotten worse over the past few years.  Mine is not painful, but when added to the fact that I wear a size 12 shoe, it does make it hard to find shoes that fit properly.  So, when our deductible was reached thanks to our darling children, we decided to go ahead and have it taken care of while we only had to pay 15 %.

The photo on the left is a tad blurry, but you can see how misaligned that bone is. There is not supposed to be a gap or an angle there.  It is also a good pic of what a bunion formation actually is.  I have discovered there is a lot of misinformation surrounding bunions and what it takes to treat them.

And here is a pic of my new hardware.  He put a steel plate over that joint and screwed it with two screws in top, two in the bottom and one running parallel to the plate. Looks painful you say?  Yep, can’t disagree with you there.  More annoying than the pain is the slow, so very slow,,, recovery process.  Six weeks of non-weight bearing.  Yeah, it’s one thing to say six weeks, an entirely different matter to live through those six weeks.  There were times I literally thought I was going crazy.  My mom came for four weeks and Matt and the kids really stepped it up.  The kids got some great meals from friends at church and I spent the best part of a month in bed.  Frustrating!!

I am thankful to have had it done and to have the insurance to cover it but I still have fears that I wont be able to run again or do hot yoga, my other beloved activity.

So, here is my nice new straight and very swollen still foot compared with my right which was identical to my left before surgery.  See how the toe on my right is almost overlapping the next toe over? Yeah, not necessarily a good thing.

At my five week check up doc said everything was ahead of schedule and he was really impressed with how the healing was coming. At that time  I traded in my knee scooter for this air cast and I can now walk with it for three weeks and then I can go into a normal shoe.

Just in time to let that one recover a bit before having the right one done in December.  Got to get them both in this year in order to enjoy the discount right?