My Little Loves

Enjoying the season.....

Tell it like it is....

The other day I was upstairs with Nissa getting ready for the day.  She was up there singing some cute song and then finished.  Here is how the conversation went....

Nissa - "Mom, now it's your turn to sing it."

Me - "Sure,  La ♪♫ ♪♫ ♫ La ♪ ♫ ♪♫ Ba ♪♫♪ Ba ♫♪ ♫ (sorry, can't remember the exact song)

Nissa  - "Mom, you don't like how you sing." (said matter of fact)

Me - "Me?  Oh I don't think I'm so bad."

Nissa - "Nobody likes how you sing."

Me - "Nobody?  Who told you they don't like how I sing?"

Nissa - "Everybody."

Hmmm.....that made me feel good.  If you know me well, you know that I sing in the car when I drive.  I am not one of those crazy people dancing and waving my hands or trying to belt it out like I'm Celine Dion but I am one of those weird people that you might see at the stop light, singing and not caring who see's me.  Ok, I know I'm not great, or even that good, but bad?  Everyone thinks I'm bad?  Crap.

So I guess I'll just stick to singing in the car, where if I turn it up just enough, no one can hear how bad I sound....since 'everybody' doesn't like how I sing.

On an unrelated note, did you see the new Anthropologie catalog?  Why do they tempt me so much with their incredible feminine wares! 

Do you not just love these shoes and this dress (not together though)  Can someone please buy them for me....

Busy, busy, busy.....

I've been so busy with school work lately that I'm starting to feel overwhelmed.  I don't know if I mentioned it to you guys but I'm going back to school for nursing.  This is my first semester and I'm just trying to figure out how it's all going to work out between the studying and taking care of the kids.  It's been a struggle for me as I think about how I can juggle both being a good student and a good mom. I don't want my kids to suffer in the least but how do they not?  I've been trying to do most of my lessons in the morning before the kids wake and in the evening after they go to bed.  But sometimes you just need to sneak a little in here and there. 

So this is what happens when I am trying to sit for a few minutes to read something...

Oh crap.....

Yeah, and here's the face I get from Nissa when I tell her I have to do homework...

That is the cute, mad version.  The real, honest, no camera around face, um, not so nice.  I call it the crunchy face.

So in the midst of all this, I'm thinking I need to find something to do that will help me relax a little in the evening.  I went upstairs and got all my pretty yarn down, admired it's beauty, and thought of my next project......

Or rather projects......

English and math can take a back seat for a bit...just a little bit.....

Flower girl...

This past weekend my younger brother Karl got married in Chicago.  They had the ceremony outside at the Nature Museum downtown.....it was beautiful.  The weather was perfect, the bride was gorgeous and the groom was quite dapper.  After the ceremony, they had the reception upstairs in one of the rooms off the museum floor.  We were free to roam the museum and many of us gravitated towards the butterfly room.  I have to say that I love what they did with the wedding....it was elegant yet casual.  Karl saw Connie before the ceremony....there wasn't any hiding the bride beforehand....I kinda liked that.  There was no rehearsal the night before either.....instead we had a nice dinner with immediate families on both sides at the Hop Haus.  We all really love Connie and are so glad that they finally got married....they have been together for about eight years! 

So anyways, I brought my camera thinking I would be taking lots of great pictures.  But that didn't happen... I mainly chased the kids around while trying to balance my tom collins in the other hand. 

Here is Nissa, the flower girl....she was so pretty....

Here is the Bodie man in his suit and clip on tie.....doing what he likes best...picking up rocks.....

My mom (looking hot!) with Nissa......

Nissa and I....via cellphone camera....

I went to my hairdresser a few days before the wedding and told her to show me how to curl my hair.  She did it and it turned out awesome....so I try it myself on the wedding day....not so awesome.  It was humid and it just went flat and frizzy....crap....I have to get pictures with the family too.  This is a lesson I never learn....do NOT try a new hair style the day of a special event.  Or rather the lesson for me....just stick with the same hairstyle you've had since high school.

Father and son.....all business baby....

When I get pictures from the real photographer I'll share....it would be nice to actually see shots of the bride and groom right?

A good day....

Yesterday was my birthday....which I share with my daughter Mae.  She would have been three years old.  I can't believe she's been gone for 2 1/2 years now.  I can't believe how much I miss her....and yet somehow it gets a bit easier as time passes.  Sometimes I feel like I am forgetting her.  I pray often that she would forgive me for that.  I know that I will never forget her, but the fact that things get easier sometimes feels wrong to me.  When I was driving around yesterday running a few errands the emotions just erupted.  I allowed myself to think about her and to tune everything else out...and the tears welled.  Generally, I'm not a very emotional person....I tend to focus on other things and keep so busy that I don't allow myself to feel things deeply....it's a crutch I often use.  I always joke that I'm more like a guy in the emotions area......and that's probably one of my character flaws since, as women, we are meant to be natural caretakers......which I don't always feel that I am.  But having Mae for just a short time has helped me to change a lot in that area.  I am truly grateful for her teaching me what love and compassion are, and how life without those cannot be complete for me.  Because of her, I am going back to school to be a nurse.

My sweet girl....

Every year we release balloons with special messages for Mae.  This year I enlisted the neighborhood girls to help me write messages to her and send them to heaven.  It's funny how they remember her and genuinely miss her and love her.  The heart of a child simply amazes me. 

After releasing the balloons, we waited for the sun to go down and had a fun neighborhood movie party.  We put up a big sheet in the garage and used the movie projector to show Hotel for Dogs on the big screen.  There were lawn chairs and even some stadium seating (courtesy of extra pallets from the patio blocks).  We served up some popcorn, oven smores, cookies, you name it.  The adults went inside to have a little party of our own.  It was such a good time and we let the kids watch another movie after that one because, well, the adults were having too much fun.  So the party ended around 11:15 and our family pretty much crashed after that....

Reunion...

This past weekend was our family reunion.....the first one we have ever had.  We just don't see each other anymore...and it's sad.  So needless to say, everyone really loved getting back together and had a great time.  I know I did.

There were new kids to meet......

and crazy relatives to hug and laugh with.....(uh, sorry dad)....

You know it's time for a reunion when you can barely remember people's names.  Or when conversations tend to go this way...hey, you still working at XYZ?...uh, no, that was maybe 10 years ago....

(my uncle and cousin with her two kids)

There were stories to share and cornhole'in to play...

I wish I had taken more pictures but alas I was mostly chasing my baby boy around.  Hopefully next year we'll have another party...an annual party!

We have a guest....

The fairy home has recently been inhabited by a sweet fairy named Annabelle.  Nissa and a neighbor friend had placed a note under a colored stone in the fairy garden.  They wanted to let all the fairies out there know that there was a vacant home perfect for a fairy to live in and take care of.  The next day a note had arrived back for them in the garden.  It was rolled and tied with a little pink string....

The fairy even left a little fairy dust on the chair...

Now most days we have correspondence between Nissa and the fairy.  Nissa's friend, Connor, has been stopping by almost daily as well to check and see what, if anything, has been left or changed.  It has been quite fun for the kids!

This past Sunday morning, Nissa and I made some cranberry-orange and chocolate chip scones for the local firemen.

Nissa on the truck....

Boden and fireman Steve (who is also our neighbor and such a great guy)....

 

By the way, we used the best scone recipe from Alton Brown.  Have you guys ever seen his show Good Eats?  Man that is a good show....I use the DVR for it.  He is a genious and every recipe of his I've tried rocks...plus you learn the reason behind adding eggs when you add them, etc.  Oh, and if you like soft pretzels, try his....they are sooo good.

Good day...

Drinks on the front porch....

Flowers in our hair....

Afternoon naps....

Sundays....

Bubbles at dusk....

Spring dress....

This dress just went home to one of my daughter's friends.  I've been holding onto this fabric for awhile now.  When I lived in Wisconsin there was a fabric shop that mainly sold cheap remnants.  I went in there quite often since it was only a short walk away.....man I still miss that place.  There were quite a few times I got real lucky and spotted lots of 1930's reproduction feedsack fabrics...which I love.  I'm sure I pretty much bought all the pieces they had.

This is my go-to pattern for dresses.  It's actually Simplicity 4206 which is a pattern for a top but I just added about 12" to the length.  I guess it looks a bit like a nightgown but I think you could go either way with it.

Yesterday was gorgeous so we spent part of the day outside.  Some of the flowers are starting to bloom and Nissa picked a few for me and collected them in this flower pot plate....

Inside, Boden decided to do a little painting....

What's his medium?....