Thank you so much for all of your kind comments and prayers. Our friends have suffered a great loss, their baby boys died shortly after birth on September 11, 2008. We are doing what we can to help and support our friends, who are burying their tiny babies in a private service tomorrow.
I am heartbroken for this family and am hurting for their loss. I will likely not mention this sad story again, as it is painful to think about. Thank you from the bottom of my hear for all of your thoughts and prayers.
Friends, my heart is breaking and I am asking for your prayers.
In high school I had 3 best friends- boys. I still keep in touch with them, though not as much as I'd like. I do see J almost every day, because I babysit his son (ThirdKid) for 4 hours each afternoon- I've been doing this since he was a baby.
J's wife is pregnant with twins. This pregnancy was very difficult for them, the result of lots of doctors and IVF. The twins are due after Christmas, sometime in January (I'm not sure when).
I just got a message from J's wife, saying that their son won't be coming over today. Her water broke during the night and she is at the hospital, on medication to keep labor at bay. She'll be in the hospital until she delivers. I have confidence that the medical staff will do everything that they can to hold off labor for this family as long as possible, but even if both babies are born "healthy", there is so much more to worry about with preemies. I really wish that I knew how many weeks she is right now, because it might make this mean more to me:
-21 weeks or less: 0% survival rate
-22 weeks: 0-10% survival rate
-23 weeks: 10-35% survival rate
-24 weeks: 40-70% survival rate
-25 weeks: 50-80% survival rate
-26 weeks: 80-90% survival rate
-27 weeks: greater than 90% survival rate
I found that info online this morning, searching for anything that would give me more information about what these dear people have in front of them. My mom actually works in Labor and Delivery at the hospital where they were planning to go, so I'll call her after a while and see what else she can tell me. (Survival rates, that kind of stuff- she is very careful about not revealing what she is not legally allowed to say... so don't worry about those HIPPA laws!)
I am so worried about my friend and his wife. I don't know her terribly well (except that I see her every day!), but I know how important having more children is to her, and how much they put into accomplishing this pregnancy. She is my good friend's wife and he loves her- that is enough for me. These people are kind and caring and desperately wanted these babies. They are both public schoolteachers who spent a lot of their savings on IVF; now they have big medical bills in their future. I don't know what to do for them right now except pray. I am hurting, and I know that their extended families are hurting, too. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks.
Are you in central Iowa? Need a new hair stylist/colorist? Hubby's best friend is getting started at a new salon and is working to build a client list.
He has worked with Jose Eber and spent 6 weeks this spring training at the L'Oreal Institute in Paris doing specialized color training. He has been working in Las Vegas for the past few years and recently moved back to Iowa to be closer to friends and family.
Would you be interested in giving him a try? He does a great job and can do men or women's cuts, though he specializes in color. If you're interested, please email me and I'll send you the link to his website, where you can book your appointment online!
Wow- It's been almost a week since I've posted anything! I'm sorry that I've been neglecting this blog... vacation was great and we've spent the past few days recuperating and entertaining out-of-town relatives. Also, I've spent the past few days fielding phone calls and emails about the townhouse that we rent out; it looks like I've found a new tenant that will move in as soon as the current people move out- this is great news for me, because I really don't like the process of finding a new renter.
A few final pictures to share from our week away:
The Prince went on his first canoe ride. It kinda freaked him out, to be sitting on the floor of the canoe and that close to being in the water... he had them let him out before they were done with their ride.
With his 2 buddies. He tells me that she is his girlfriend... she's 4 and he's 5!
This picture is 2 years old- I'm showing it to you because this is the Prince kissing that same girl- when they were 2 and 3 years old! Thank goodness he doesn't have any girlfriends around here- I don't want him kissing girls all the time! LOL
Our annual family vacation is to a Family Camp at a church camp, I've come every summer for 20+ years. Between breakfast and lunch is bible study time, broken up by age groups. The adults always have a speaker- the past two years haven't been fantastic. (So I'm blogging.)
I wanted to share some pictures from our day yesterday- we had a fun, hot day.
I'm re-posting this from Kurt's blog. I know both of these guys and I'd love to see this new company succeed.
Revolutionizing Hair Today was a momentous occasion for my friend Tim and I. Tim and I have been the best of friends as long as I can remember, through thick and thin. He was my best-man, and we've been friends while he's lived in Italy, New York, Los Angeles, and most recently Las Vegas.
Well, Tim is a hair stylist, and a very good one to boot. He's worked for Jose Eber, and has studied at the L'Oreal Institute in Paris.
Tim has come up with the latest innovation in Hair Brushes. I don't know much about it, but he's just finishing up the patent process on it. It will revolutionize the way stylists practice their craft.
So, today, Tim (with my assistance) started Severn Salon Systems, LLC to serve as the company that administers, brands, and distributes the product. The brush is just the start, as Tim is already working on the next idea.
He's moved back to Iowa, wants to settle down and start a family, and is looking for a salon to work at for now. (If you know any salon owners who are looking for a top-notch stylist, let me know).
Next, we need to write a business plan, get funding, and start manufacturing. If any of the readers of this blog (both of you), know an American (Tim wants all manufacturing to be domestic) injection molding company, please let me know. We'd like to keep the manufacturing in Iowa if possible, and that manufacturer(s) are ISO certified.
I finished all 3 shirts that I was working on- and just in time, too. Our picture appointment was at 12:30 today and the shirts were totally done at about 11:15... and I hadn't showered yet or anything (I'd been working on finishing the shirts since I'd been up!) They really turned out well and my friend really liked her shirt, (and it fit!!!) so that was good. She lives too far away for us to get together very often, so I used my best guess for her size. The princess' shirt was a perfect fit, so I think I've figured out good alterations to the pattern to fit her right... I know I'll be making more of these!
The whole reason for this matchiness, remember, was a photo for my dad, for an early Father's Day gift. It turned out better than I could have hoped, just a really fantastic result. I'm so happy with this picture that I was almost glad when dad took it home tonight, I kept going over and staring at it. All three kids behaved well and looked great, which was way more than I had hoped for... I'd really been hoping that none of them would be crying in this photo (I have several like that).
Isn't that just fantastic? They did a really great job. Even better, I had a coupon for a free 8x10 or 10x13 (no sitting fees), and I stood my ground and didn't give in to their up-selling... so our cost for the actual photo was $0.00!!! She and I went and bought a frame and mat, so our total cost was about $20. What a deal. Dad loved his gift, and we all got to watch his reaction- it was a great day.
I ordered his gift on March 1, but after I ordered, I noticed that it said "please allow 8-10 weeks for delivery". Ick. As my time machine is in the shop (so I couldn't go back a few weeks to order earlier), I decided to cross my fingers and hope it would be early... but so far, no luck.
This was good though, in a way, because it gave me an excuse to purchase the tickets that I really wanted to buy- we'll be in the 8th row for Bill Cosby next month!
We got a Bill Cosby VHS of one of his earlier routines for Christmas several years ago; when we were living on the first floor of a three-story apartment building. The first time we watched it, our neighbors came over to make sure that we were ok, and found us rolling around on the floor, crying we were laughing so hard. Our friends that lived 2 floors above us said that they could hear us laughing, too!
So, while I'm disappointed that the on-order birthday gift will end up being a Father's Day gift, he was happy with the Cosby tickets and I'm excited about them, too.
My husband has a friend that is incredibly nice and generous and gave us a set of tickets to see Craig Ferguson live last night. Jay (Hubby's friend) had purchased tickets to the show, then won a set of tickets as well- I was so excited when Hubby told me about it, because I stay up at night to watch Craig's monologue (even though I really need to be sleeping by then!).
Anyway, Hubby ended up going out of town to the conference I mentioned, so I took a girlfriend and we had a ladies night out. OMG we laughed so hard! Our faces hurt by the end of the evening, Craig was hilarious! I searched YouTube and found a clip of his routine for you (this was not filmed at the show we attended, but it was included in the routine we saw):
When we were leaving, his opening act (Randy something-or-other) was selling CDs in the lobby. Too bad Craig wasn't, because I would have considered purchasing one. Randy was pretty funny, but a bit on the vulgar side for me... If you ever have the opportunity to see Craig Ferguson in person, do it- it was a fantastic evening out!
The only downside to the evening was when I got home. I took Hubby's car to the show- because I love driving it and I didn't need to take my van for just me!- but when I got home I had a bit of a problem. Hubby backs his car into the garage. He does this because we have a pile of wood in the garage along his space. If he parks forwards, he can't open the driver's door and get out of the car- the wood is in the way. So he backs in and eliminates the problem.
I do not back into the garage.
Hubby drives a sedan, I drive a minivan. They are very different.
And I do not back into the garage.
I got home and opened the garage door, and began attempting to accomplish this feat. My mom was babysitting and came out of the house to make sure that everything was ok- she'd heard the garage door and it was taking a long time for me to come in... I tried to back the car into the garage for about 10 minutes... finally, I thought that I was far enough over to be able to get out of the car (and not hit my van in the process), but also far enough from the garage door that I wouldn't hit the garage.
I. Was. Wrong.
I did hit the garage; but just a little. (Is it possible to hit something just a little?)
Hubby's pretty car had a white streak about 8 inches tall and 1-2 inches wide where the white paint from the garage had transferred to the navy blue car. Yikes.
I parked in the driveway. I also fessed up and told Hubby last night on the phone, thinking that if I was honest and warned him- and gave him at least 12 hours to get used to the idea that I'd hit the garage with his car- that he wouldn't freak out quite so much when he got home and actually SAW the car.
Well, he did freak, and again when he saw the car this morning, but it could have been much worse.
Thank goodness for Google. I did my research this morning and tried the cheapest method first... turns out that isoprophyl alcohol removes house paint from cars without damaging the car's paint. I had to run to the grocery store to get a new bottle before I tried this, though, because after the lipstick incident, the Princess has continued her creativity and artwork- so I was all out of isoprophyl alcohol (and lipstick that doesn't have a screw-on lid... I apparently cannot own a typical tube of lipstick!). Just a quick coat of car wax after cleaning it up and it looks as good as the rest of the car! Yay- crisis averted!
All in all, last night was a great night... even with my "oops".
Hubby took the kids to a Maundy Thursday event (I was unable to go due to another commitment). One of his friends took a fantastic picture of the three of them and I really wanted to share it with you.
But I'm back! I've been posting regularly on my other blog, but not doing so well here...
I do have a finished project to show you! My mom has a set of 3 small hearts made of mini purple patchwork in her first floor bathroom. She found them at a craft show and they're really cute. Unfortunately, that's ALL she has for decoration in that bathroom! I decided that she needed something to match, so I made this:
It is in an 8x10 frame and should look nice with the others. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the mini hearts that she already has, next time I'm at her house. She was surprised by this one, and I think she really liked it. (Yay!)
I was not at all excited about this project... I mean, it's a scarf. I live in IOWA- our winters are practically arctic. I have enough scarves... one for each coat, with a matching set of mittens and a hat. I'm way picky about my mittens, so when I find a set I like I buy the whole shebang. And really? THIS is the example?
Right. I can't think of a single instance in reality where I might wear that. Not only is is nowhere near my style, it isn't practical for the insane cold. No creative juices or outside-the-box thoughts were flowing.
I read and re-read the description of this thing, and decided to make a manly version for hubby. Surprise him for Valentine's. In the car last night, I asked him hypothetically what kind of scarf would he make if he could design it himself... turns out, he doesn't want another scarf- he likes the one he has. The Prince, however, NEEDS a scarf. "So my neck and face don't get cold, mom! And I want a rocket one!"
Fan-freaking-tastic. The last time he wanted a "rocket"-something, he was not thrilled with my finished product.
He brought up the topic of his new scarf again this morning, so I suggested maybe Cars fabric, or Diego... he thought Cars would be really great, and he wanted one that had The King on it. Uh-oh... I've never seen fabric with anything but Lightning McQueen or Mater... but off to the fabric store we headed. Miracle of miracles, we found BOTH fleece and flannel that have Lightning, The King, and Chick Hick! It was "just what he wanted!!!"
We also found some cute fabric for the Princess, and extra fleece to make her a set of matching mittens. As soon as we got home, he insisted that I put the fabric in the washer so I could get started making his scarf sooner. Before dinner, both scarves were done (except for the button), and they are so cute! The kids' patience was wearing thin, so I'll have to do the button placement in the morning... I'm not doing it as the pattern says, because the Prince wanted his scarf to be long enough to wrap around his neck like mommy and daddy do... so the Princess' scarf is long enough for that, too. I wish I'd made his longer, but it will do the job. They are both 40 inches long (the directions said to make them 33 inches), his is 6 inches wide and hers is 4 inches (as opposed to the 7 inches indicated in the book).
flannel on one side
fleece on the other
flannel on one side
fleece on the other
Princess is an independent thing, she has to do everything for herself like her big brother. She is also very petite (she recently jumped to the 10th percentile). I can't find any mittens that fit her that have thumbs- all the baby mittens I've found are like socks for their hands... she HATES this, HATES that she can't do anything with them on. So tonight I decided to make her the set that is later in the book. I traced her hand and decided that I'd need to shrink the pattern to fit her hands (because it says it will fit kids ages 1-3). Several tries later, it looked like 85% was the right size.
I felt like Finny tonight. I was not having any fun making these darned things. I realized just how frustrated I was when my computer announced the time (I've set it to do that), and I swore at the computer. Yikes! Talk about taking out my frustrations on an innocent bystander! :) But the mittens are done. I used the same fleece that is on her scarf, so they'll match- good grief I hope they fit her! At this point, I think they'll fit once she has her hand in, but I'm not convinced that her hand will fit through the opening. Frick.
A couple of shots of the happy kids wearing their new scarves:
How about one more cute photo to close with?
My kids and their cousins playing in our front yard in early December- we gave their Grandma an 11x14 of this for Christmas
So I have two uncles... the older one is in his early sixties and rather out-of-touch with young girls. He has a son (21), several (younger) nephews, a niece (11), me (28), and my daughter (20 months). Not too much contact with little girls, especially with those the Princess' age.
My aunt (his wife) is a nurse and works a lot, he owns his own business and has flexible hours- so he did the Christmas shopping this year. He asked me what kinds of things Princess likes, I thought I gave him some good suggestions. I also mentioned (laughing) that she likes to climb up onto our coffee table and dance... and that MIL joked that "at least she's not dancing on poles!".
Barnes and Noble. He decides to buy Princess a "dancing" book- because she likes to dance. He tells my aunt that he got her a dancing book... surely he wrapped it before she had a chance to see it.
Christmas celebration with that part of the family... he tells me that the book her got her "might be a little too old for her". I unwrap the book. It's a calendar. He tells me what he bought, and why he thought she'd like it- because she likes to dance. (She dances like most toddlers do... it isn't a big interest of hers!) I look at the pictures on the calendar... I think it might be too old for ME! I show this calendar to my aunt, she's way surprised and can't believe he's bought this thing. The entire family takes turns looking at the calendar, he's embarrassed, we laugh a lot.
This calendar is now sitting on the file cabinet by my desk, mainly because I'm not sure what to do with it. I'm still laughing about this gift.
Some of the more questionable pictures are below... keep in mind, Princess will be 2 on May 1... I'm also including a picture of the info just in case you decide you need this calendar for yourself.
Again, this was a gift to my baby girl, who isn't even 2 years old!!!
Yep, that's me! The kids were in the gym when I got to the school, so I was able to go into their classroom and put down the birthday treats before they saw them. When they came back into the room, I was in the hallway talking to the preschool's director, and heard "WOW!" "cupcakes!" "cool!" and lots of other really great kid-sentiments. The only thing that would have been better would have been if I'd been able to be in the room and take pictures of that- it was really fun to listen to.
I only could stay for a few minutes, but the cupcakes were getting rave reviews as I left. (yay!) The room looks a little empty in these pictures, but some of the kids were up washing their hands or getting drinks.
Just finished their prayer, getting ready to taste!
So, I guess I should either make a point to post more often or not feel slightly disappointed when some of my favorite bloggers haven't posted in a while... I just clicked through my bookmarks and had a brief "bummer" thought when I noticed that someone hadn't posted since the 8th. When I got over to blogger, I noticed that I hadn't posted here since the 9th, so I really don't have any room to talk. (I have a goal to post on my other blog every day... trying to get rid of a few extra pounds before spring!)
If you've been wondering, the lipstick came out!!! Hooray! Three cheers for isopropyl alcohol and liquid dishsoap! The alcohol really did the trick, and the dishsoap got out any traces that remained. I wonder, though, if part of the reason it was so easy to get out was that the lipstick was from The Body Shop- a company that keeps their products as natural as possible with very few "unnatural" ingredients. Princess got off without much more punishment than a shower with soap and shampoo- that was enough to piss her off and know that mommy was not happy with her.
I've been reading here in the blog world about everyone's adventures at Target, primarily in the 90% off Christmas topic, and I thought I should add my adventures. (Or lack thereof.) I went the day after Christmas and stocked up at 50% off, knowing that things would get picked over FAST. I went back a few days later and reshopped at 75% off... then returned several things that I'd purchased twice- returning them with the 50% off receipt. I knew this would be ok (though the Guest Services lady didn't seem too thrilled with me), because I worked the Guest Services counter during college... you can do it but they aren't happy about it. Side note- I bought a Christmas tree at 50% off that year, then when everything went to 90% off I returned it... and immediately re-purchased it at 90% off, plus my 10% employee discount. I ended up paying $9.00 for a $100 tree!
I got my copy of Simple Gifts to Stitch today! I'm looking forward to getting started on the firstproject, but am not looking forward to a table runner that I heard mention of....
I'm leaving in a few minutes to go help with snacktime at the Prince's preschool. Today they are celebrating his 1/2 birthday, even though he's been 4.5 for a month now ("That's the funniest thing I've ever heard, Mom!"). They asked if we could celebrate in January because December was so busy and there were already 2 actual birthdays to celebrate. I'm so excited about snacks today, though, because I've been planning this for a while. Last year I didn't realize when they celebrated his 1/2 birthday, and just sent regular "approved" treats. But for birthdays you can bring "real" treats- it doesn't have to comply with the list of ok foods! I felt so bad that I knew I had to do something special for him this year. I made cupcakes in ice cream cones, topped with frosting and sprinkles to look like ice cream sundae-cones! I'm really excited, and I'm taking my camera to hopefully be able to capture some shots of the kids enjoying...
I do, I really, really do. But sometimes I have to keep reminding myself of that... especially lately, as my daughter is becoming more and more of a "spitfire".
More on that in a minute. First, the Prince wanted to take some pictures this morning, so I thought I'd share a couple that he took of himself and his sister:
great self-portrait, especially when you consider the photographer's age!
such a cute smile
And now I'll show you WHY I'm reminding myself how much I love my baby girl. I emailed the following pictures to several friends this morning, along with this note:
For those of you with children like my daughter, be thankful that this was my house and not yours.
For those of you with good boys and girls, be thankful you don't have your own spitfire child.
For those of you without children, think long and hard. I really mean that.
Cheers!
PS- She was wearing these jammies at the time... and she rubbed it in hard enough that it went right through to her skin. AND this is what I haven't yet cleaned up- she also 'drew' all over my door, dresser, and her face.
my bedroom carpet and her jammies
how'd she manage to cover the back of the jammies, too?!?
I really, really, really love her. I also really liked that lipstick.
Any advice on removing lipstick from fabric and carpet?
I LOVE having company over- especially the kind that we like enough to have stay overnight. No really... I AM serious!
We had some friends over this weekend and had a blast. They have a sweetheart of a little guy ( just barely 6 months old!) who is at least as heavy and almost as tall as Princess (20 months). She adored having him here and gave him lots of kisses and lovin'. I truly meant it when I told them that they were "welcome back anytime" and that I wanted to do this again soon.
Yes, that is the Prince, tying up our company and trying to pull him off the couch.
Then he tied him up even more. Wonderful, son. (can you feel the sarcasm?) Actually, this was hilarious- I was laughing so hard. Turns out that 4 year olds can actually tie pretty decent knots!
Had it not been for the glare, this would have been a great picture
Princess felt she had to give the little guy a ride on her 'bike'... he recently learned how to sit up by himself, so this was interesting...
Both the Prince and Princess just loved having a baby around, but I bet they'd hate it if the baby was ours and didn't ever leave!
I know you don't care, but I think this is a great picture of some wonderful people- it made me smile.
And now I rest. This was the final event in our marathon celebration of Christmas, nothing more planned until next year (yay!). The kids are in bed... asleep... hubby is playing a computer game ("shoot 'em up", I think).... and he suggested that we take the evening off and do our own thing, take time to unwind. Thank you honey, it's a great idea! I think I'll work on finishing my quilt.
So who is this gal that was recently referred to as "a mystery lady known only as 'Blondie'"? Well, I WAS a SAHM to 2 beautiful kids- after 4 years, I've recently returned to the workforce! I love to quilt and sew, but it seems that I never have enough time to do either (does anyone?) My sewing machine helps me to maintain/regain my sanity after crazy days with kids. Reading blogs helps me remember that I'm not alone in the madness that is life... I blog about my kids, my life, and my crafting... and sometimes about cooking and WW's Core plan (which is WAY better than Flex!). My latest blogging adventure is all about the drama in the restaurant where I bartend (names have been changed to protect the guilty). I don't blog nearly as often as I'd like, life seems to get in the way! Have questions? Email me!
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