Ebay Nierecovery Auction...

I am excited to say that I have an auction set up over on Ebay in conjunction with a lovely group of gals to benefit the NieNie family. I am glad to be included in this event to help out this wonderful family. If you want to see all that is being auctioned for this benefit type into Ebays' search box the word "Nierecovery".size 3T front

back

For the past several months Nie's dear sister has been keeping people updated to the progress of this cherished couple. It seems that Christian is out of the hospital and is starting some therapy while Stephanie is coming out of her medical induced coma. This sweet, strong couple has a rough road in front of them, but the good thing is they are surrounded by people who are supportive and will hold them up.

Hoping your weekend is great!
Lori

Generosity...

This past week brought such a kind gift to our home. My Mom is planning on getting a newer digital camera and has given her current one to Tessa. Words cannot express how much this meant to Tessa....and me. If you remember, we had a camera malfunction recently then borrowed one from a friend at church to be able to put pics of things in our Etsy shops while we tried to figure out how to get another camera.

Aliss using her new camera from Tessa to take a photo of Tessa taking a photo of her

Tes thought the borrowed cameras functions were so cool...well, the one my Mom gave her is even cooler. There has been a renewed energy for capturing even more of our lives on the memory card now. Tes gave the digital camera she had to her younger sister Aliss, which made this an even sweeter blessing.

Thanks Mom.it's amazing what things you can see behind the scenes, when you look through your children's photos--like children on the hood of your van...hmmmm

P.S. college updated-
I have dropped my math class until next quarter. You know there are times in life when something just doesnt feel right. This wasn't the time or the right teacher for me right now.
It feels really good to be able to step back and give yourself the right to not stress out on these things and say it's okay, you'll get it the next time. On a side note, I am getting an A in my Intro to Human Services Class and also in my Guiding the Behavior of Children Class. Love those classes. :o)

Anyway, with math being postponed I am feeling so much more capable of being Mama and not such a failure. We have had dinner as a family this whole past week, with me knowing ahead of time what we will eat, cook the aforementioned food and actually have the ingredients in the home to cook. phew...that feels good.
Lori

plaster of paris and paint...

When I headed into this quarter of school and realized there were some long days, I bargained with my two younger daughters that they would be taught art(allowed to make messes) those two days of the week by Tes and Aliss. This would help their sad hearts and make the day go a bit faster for them.
The girls work out of Draw, Write Now some of the time and just go free form the rest of the time. It depends on the energy level of the older sisters who are teaching that day. They get art/crafts two days a week from their sisters and just make stuff the rest of the week themselves. I am amazed at the stuff they make and draw.

Yesterday I came home to plaster and paint. It is messy but I love seeing the creativity of my kids. I make a joke about how my dining room table looks like the camp art table all year round at my house. I do long for a beautiful, shiny table with a nice gloss to it but all too soon those days will be here and I will miss these days. For right now though some of the blobs of paint do need to disappear from my table. That would be an excellent thing for Zack to do. He could sand the table, learning how to sand with the grain and I have some tongue oil left he could rub onto it. Sounds good.

Do you notice the lack of art aprons though? I had meant to make the choicest of aprons for them last Christmas and didn't get to it. It would have been better to just make a plain jane one dont ya think? ;o)
Eventually I will ruin enough clothing that it will become important though.

Sophie's King CobraTessa knew that I had bought the plaster of paris at least three years ago with the prospect of getting all of my babies handprints and hanging them on my wall. Well, yesterday she took me to the bathroom linen closet and said "we can't wait til Christmas Mom". They all were so proud to present me with a handprint. Now to paint or not to paint, that is the question.

School and enchilada's

Randi is talking about her feelings of where her family is at with homeschooling over at her blog I have to say today.
When I came home today Tessa had some cute photos of Sophie working on one of her workbooks at the table.
I couldn't resist joining Randi in saying that I am glad I am at a point in homeschooling that I feel more secure with the way we do things.


If I hadn't homeschooled for as long as I have (12th year) at this point and wasn't even this sure of myself and my children's abilities (in other words-being able to change direction often) then I dont think we could still be doing this.Part of feeling comfortable with the ups and downs of life while homeschooling for us has to do with our basic routine.

This year we change our daily routine with every quarter of college because of when I can be hands on with the kids and when I cannot. I am blessed to have two older daughters and a somewhat older (12) son. They tutor the younger two daughters on the days I cannot be here. Aliss and Tessa take turns teaching each girl one on one, and Zack is teaching them science out of an elementary textbook I found. They are learning about matter right now and going around the house naming different matter.

I would love to personally be doing everything with each child but life doesnt allow that. I do however think that this is an amazing learning time for all of my children in things that you cant learn out of a book.


One thing that has helped to keep what sanity I have left is to make up weekly menus for lunch and dinner. It feels so good to come back to that in my life. Last night we had beef and bean enchiladas. They were so easy to make. The only thing I dont care for is the white flour tortillas in it. We have tried whole wheat and dont like the taste and corn gets a weird texture when cooked in spaghetti sauce. So, whats a girl to do?

Anyway, back to the "they were so easy part".
*spread a small amount of sauce in the bottom of the pan to guard against tortilla sticking to the bottom
*mix in a separate bowl equal parts of cooked hamburger (I season mine with seasoning salt and garlic) and refried beans
*put a tortilla in one hand and make a line down the middle with beef/bean mixture.
*Roll up tortilla and place in pan-seam side down. Continue placing in pan of your needed size until full.
*spread more sauce on the tops of tortillas
*spread cheddar cheese on top of whole pan
*cook at 350 degrees til cheese is melty

enjoy!
Lori

Golden...

All over bloggy-land I am reading posts about the golden goodness of this season. I have been soooo busy that I haven't been able to capture some of that particular beauty to share, but have been loving every minute of it in person while I can.

Late afternoons with golden rays peeking through the windows and warming everything in the room.

Tessa had this photo on the computer though; so here is my addition to appreciating the golden days of Autumn.

Hope your weekend is one filled with people and things that fill your days with joy.
Lori

upcycled fabric handbags of the past

It was almost three years ago that a new friend at church approached me and told me that she heard that I sewed and "would I like some fabric"? She was an Interior Decorator with a large high-end furniture showroom. I had no idea that there were these fantastic fabrics out there being thrown away.

The very first bag I made from the fabrics

A briefcase sized bag that a facial spa owner bought specifically because the fabric was upcycled.

One of my favorite bags
A dress ordered from a dear friend for one of her daughters.
Reminds me of an uptown biker bag
My own design of a tea pot cozy. The ribbons at the sides untie and the cozy opens all the way down to the black band at the bottom for easy refilling of the tea. There are open sides for the handle and spout of the pot.
"I'm a little teapot short and stout....." Sing it with me. :o)

Another favorite bag. I love this design. I had been using one main design for my bags for about a year before I wanted some mixture to the fabrics. I put upcycled blue leather on the bottom too. I love using the leathers. I have a pile that I have been hoarding. :o)
I have some medium pieces a little larger than the pockets on the briefcase sized bag and also some that are very tiny that I am handpiecing for a leather patchwork bag that I will put in my shop when it is done.

Thanks for wandering with me down memory lane with some of my very first tries at upcycled fabrics becoming handbags to some of my favorite handbags.

I love looking at a piece of fabric and asking it "what do you want to be"? :o)

Lori

happenings...

**Update-I came back to reread this post because I wrote it while incredibly sleepy last night and found that it sounds grouchy. It is amazing how a person could say something and then write it but without the tone of voice could sound grumpy. So read this in a non grumpy tone of voice and then it will sound right. :o)

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For a couple of days Zack, Hannah and Sophie made towers out of the videos. I guess that now would be a prime time to sort through them before returning them to the already busting at the seams video cupboard. We don't have cable t.v. so we tend to have more videos...which now have multiplied too much. Perfect time for a declutter.

Things have been chaos, to say it nicely around here. My mind has been so many places and so has my body. Many school classes at the college, doctors appointments for the kids and I, correspondence with the new lawyer, while making sure everyone has food in their tummy and and clothes to wear. Things could get a bit more chaotic if there weren't clothes to wear huh? :o)

The kids saw this beauty at the end of the street about 3 blocks down. I guess when it is deer season then the deer find shelter within the city limits away from the hills with the hunters.

Today the weather could not make up it's mind. I left the house able to see my breathe and came home later to being able to have the van windows down to cool it off in the van.

I had to get appointments with the kids pediatrician to confirm that they need physical therapy for the lawyers. Tessa and Sophie went to their appointment today. Well, Sophie has been crying and not wanting to go to physical therapy. Her pediatrician told her that it is very important to go there. I can imagine how tired she is of all of this-I am an adult and am tired enough of it myself.

When she left the doctors she got a sugar free lollipop so I thought I would stop at the Dollar Tree and get a prize bucket for her and Hannah as incentive to get through this mess.
We got a cute purple bucket and filled it with things like pens that can change colors, tinkerbell playing cards, loofahs, necklaces, etc. When they come home from Physical therapy they get a goody.

Hopefully having a good sorting through a prize bucket will lessen the disgustedness that they are feeling. Hey! I need a prize bucket too, right? :o)

See you soon!
Lori

floats...

The other night we had a hankering for a float but I wanted something fruity and not rootbeer-y. So we got fufu berry by the Jones company...more expensive but a better choice in my books for pop.
anyway...It was delicious..
Tillamook ice cream doesnt have a bunch of those fillers that keep ice cream at a semi solid state so it was real close to a brick when we got it home. Hannah figured if she held it over the wood stove it would be a big help. LOL!

All of the girls have taken to cutting out felt leaves and embroidering them. It was really cute last night. I came upstairs and it was waaaaaay past time for Sophie to be in bed but I found her sitting on Tessa's bed with the music on and I started making mama bear growly type of noises about how kids are never in bed when they are supposed to be anymore.

Tessa followed me in my room and explained to me how Sophie came in her room asking her a question about what she was doing and got confused in a way that she thought Tessa invited her for a personal embroidering time. Sophie went running into my room for a hunt through my felt stash and came back with all the needed supplies so how could Tes resist? I wouldn't have had the heart to break it to her either so, they sewed.

Sisters sewing into the night.

What a memory.
:o)

Olympia: revisited in photo

metal sculptures of steer on the side of the highway
beautiful fall colors are hitting the coast of the pacific northwest...we didn't go to Saint Martins University but couldn't drive by without a picture
Starbucks window...we took the drive through so we could get over to the Goodwill in time before we had to head home...
sunset on the way home...was amazing

road trip finally...

We finally can say we have legal representation! woohoo for us. You can't know what a load this takes off of me. I think I have come into the new normal for my health though, which is sad really. I
really am so tired of all of the physical therapy appointments and have gotten my body down to one visit every three weeks to the chiropractor too.
I am proud of my improvements even though they come with much work and do plan to continue to do physical therapy stuff at home.

Sophie is so tired of all of this lingering accident stuff that she won't even go to physical therapy and cries so sadly to not go. Whats a mama to do in a moment like that; so she does her exercises at home too. The popping noise in her neck is getting better.

Anyway, the trip to the lawyer was an hour each direction and I am happy to report the Silver Bullet (the name of our 1988 silver astrovan) made it there and back without breaking down. LOL!

Aliss and Tessa accompanied me on the trip and we went to JoAnns fabrics (havent been there in two years...TWO YEARS living on Walmart fabrics people...sad).
We also went to Goodwill...not impressed with the prices,
Starbucks-yummy caramel machioto (spelling not so good but taste..yep!),
dollar tree -because why only go to the one in our own town,
Target, again not too impressed,
Icing...pretty things-Aliss got a necklace,
The childrens place--happy clothing store,ahhhh..found Hannah a pair of cargo pants that can turn into capris that are turquoise plaid.

fun day!...

oh! I found more fun trim for my Pony manes on my Giddy Up skirts and messenger bags. I was a little scared I wouldnt but, it- is- done.


On a side note:
If you have a homeschool senior this year there is a great t-shirt give away over at A Pondering Heart's blog.

Welcome October...

*Welcome fires in the wood-stove with a pot of water, vanilla and cloves scenting our home.

*Welcome warm cozy sweaters.*Welcome the sound of rain drops on the roof lulling me to sleep at night and during the day reminding us to be thankful for the roof over our heads.

*Welcome the start of our home school for the year.*Welcome having friends over to share a game night and munchies with. (this will be something new for my family)

(on the top of my dad's hill last October)

I am feeling very thankful for my family today....near and far.

My mom has been such a support to me and I just wanted to acknowledge the emotional encouragement and other ways that she has encouraged me this past few weeks when I felt shaky.

Thanks Mom, I love you.

A lot of things have happened in my life recently from sad to exciting and I say
"what doesn't kill me will make me stronger".
Well, I really didn't say that but I sure am feeling it. :o)

**photos are from our family vacation out to see my Dad, Debbie and extended family on my Dad's side in New York last October....missing being there all over again.

small update

Just popping in for a minute...
I wanted to say thank you to you all for all of your kind words about Meatball.
It really has helped me to start healing.

this past 5 days we have been tearing off three very ancient layers of roofing from our house. the newest layer is cedar and about 50 years old. whoa...
anyway, my ex husband is the one who mainly did the work while Tessa and I were the gophers (which I guess cuts the time down significantly?)

anyway, dont have much time to go int0 detail (will be back Friday night to do that) because for some reason my professors at college all decided to load it on this week for homework.
guess my brain will grow. LOL

see you all soon. :o)
Lori