Getting my butt kicked by minutiae...

Well, this is what I have been doing since we last talked. Making little birds, and driving myself crazy trying to reinvent the wheel with these Darn Union Jack blocks (I am free-piecing something that is rather fussy...crazytown!), and taking crappy low light pictures. I don't know why I like them so much (the Union Jacks, not my off color images)... the graphic quality of the intersecting crosses?? Perhaps, I actually just like flags.

In Other News:
(this is the big "unload" folks)

Big Daddie has been chained to his desk at work for the last two weeks... I don't see him and it has been so long that I am starting to think that this is the new state of our existence...yucko! Catch me on Tuesday... he is "supposed" to be back to normal by then.

My poor mother had to change Chemo drugs and the new one is giving her very painful side effects. It makes me so sad for her. I just keep praying for strength for her. She has been really doing awesome and having a great attitude thus far. It has helped me to feel hopeful, I hope we can stay on the right track and that we all can be strong enough to support each other.

The plumber came out 3 times this week... nothing major, but the faucet is STILL leaking!

My new idea of interesting is figuring out how many loads of laundry I do in a week. I know, "Jessica, that is depressing" you say.... but I am really curious. Today I did 5. I still have 3 of them to fold and put away. (they are kids clothes and kitchen towels... SO many items per load!!!)

FUN THINGS (to balance out all the mind-numbing crap):
*Today we organized the kid's art cupboard and the boys were so exciting to rediscover all of the things that they have in there. It sounds like work, but it actually made me really happy.

*Lunch at the DQ in J.C.-- It was like the old days, when I just had one boy and we would sit and watch the trucks go by. Today we had 3 kids that were in to watching all of the street action. Wow, yes, 3 KIDS!

*Bald eagle in the grass field on the way home. It was maybe 20 yards away, so beautiful and always so thrilling.

*Lambs, sweet, little, cuties. Black ones, white ones, white with brown noses... so fun to watch them hop on each other. I swear that this one ewe had 6 babies surrounding her. I am sure that they all weren't hers, but some momma was having some free time!

*Taking pictures of moss on old buildings. The colors made me so happy that I can see.

And this is only one day--

Note to Future Self: remember to make the kids go see the lambs, they may not like it, but you sure do!

JMB
P.S.
I think that I would be insane had I not had Veronica Mars to watch on Netflix. A long time ago, we used to be friends....

Life... it really happens, so does grace.

Because I like blogs that are beautiful, but that are also true, I write today.

I saw these flowers earlier this year on the very same day as Beth's 60th birthday party. I thought that they were so beautiful that I wanted to see them always. Some things are so nice and special that you want them around always. Her party was so fun. I took pictures of everyone and got a lot of silly shots. We all danced. We all celebrated. Beth looked just radiant. It was a wonderful evening.
This evening we are getting together to celebrate her again and to wish her a safe journey in to the next life. I share this to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during her illness but also to bless her daughters and husband as they go on, in to tomorrow and the day after. I picked this picture of Beth holding Mango because I love her eyes in it. She was so happy to meet Mango this day. She just held her and smiled. I like to remember her holding my baby girl.
I like this picture because it reminds me of the dancing at her birthday party. I remember laughing as my sister and Beth danced round and round square-dance style. They looked so sweet. We need to do this sometimes. When we don't know what will be tomorrow, we just have to dance a bit today, not to deny what is happening, but to have the joyous memory to draw upon when it gets really hard.

I love this family. I hope today, that with all of our prayers and support we all can say good-bye to Beth. That when it gets too hard to breathe that we can hold each other's hands a little tighter and know that we are not alone. Beth blessed us all with her life. With love, a droll smile, a really good story, and a welcoming home... things that everyone should know. I am glad that I did and do.

Peace be with you this day

JMB

A lot has been going on here... is it REALLY December already?

Hi,

Long time no blog here... I have been blogging over here, but it is mostly the nuts and bolts stuff about starting a group (Eugene Modern Quilt Guild). I was driving in the car today and thinking..."wow, our little guild has come so far" and "what was I thinking when I threw this together". We have had 2 meetings and 2 sew-in sessions... and I have met SO many great people, right here in my own back yard. It feels good. Oh yea, and I have also been getting ready for this. This year is my "building" year apparently, or "attempting" year at least. I have done a number of things that TOTALLY scare the poo out of me, and I have lived... and even liked it.

So in the interest of "attempting" things... I whipped up this SWEET advent calendar (if I may toot my own horn...) The best part was IT WAS ALL STUFF I HAD LYING AROUND! Oh my goodness, I have SO much crafting stuff. I like it all! PAPER... GLUE... STAMPS... ZIPPERS... AND THE FABRIC, "my [gosh] Putty" THE FABRIC! GLUTTONY THY NAME IS JESSICA (a.k.a. jmbmommy) I could go on and on, but what would the point be? Getting ready for the Cuppajoy sale has been a blessing, because I now have a better handle on how much stuff I have. I need to use it or lose it.

Using it:

To make this calendar I just did these few things,

1)Brainstormed with the boys about things they might like to do for the holiday season (I did write down "Go to Chucky Cheese" because I do love those boys.

2)After they went to bed, I punched out 24 circles and glued them to 24 tiny clothes pins (big ones would work too, but tiny things are so cute)

3)Wrote down 24 different things to do on little green papers. In years past, my OCD might have made me make these all the same size... but I am being CRAZY, and they are ALL different!! (I did try to plan some of the bigger activities for when they both are out of school. There were some small activities too, like "crazy hair day")

4)Assembled it all together on a piece of museum board that I had cut for a different project that never quite panned out... LUCKY ME!

5) The middle looked rather Large and Black and Blah (you know, LBB?!) So I just stuck a piece of fancy schmancy paper there. I even USED some of my fancy schmancy scrapbookery-type letter stickers (I can't be buried with them... they are 2 years old!) I added something simple and classic, kinda catchy.... Merry Christmas... on top of that and VOILA'!

Another advent calendar DONE! And I only started it a day late!

There was ANOTHER flickr swap... yes, My name is Jessica and I am a flickr swap addict. BUT, this one was small, just a mug rug (translation: smaller than a placemat, bigger than a coaster). I was stricken Thanksgiving week with a MOST HORRIBLE strep throat... I did not want THOSE cooties anywhere near my rug, so I finished it just in time AFTER I took the antibiotics. Phewwww...
You make... but also you receive.... here is my beautiful new afternoon coffee friend! I love it!!! The little deer is such a dear and it makes me smile when I look at those backwards letters. Thanks!! It was from this nice new friend.

That is the short wrap up... I have so much to share. I believe that if I just make a plan that I will be able to blog all the things that I want to... we will see if I can make that a reality too. Thanks for sticking with me... I was just thinking, if you too forgot to make an advent calendar this year, you could always adjust it and make it a "12 days of Christmas" calendar. Your kids will still like it.

Peace in this Season

JMB

And the sun comes out...

I have decided that dealing with sick kids is far worse than being sick myself. It is now day 10 of the diarrhea-a-thon. We had a HORRIBLE virus that went through our house (I believe that it is virus #362 of this winter.) and little Mango's gut is still trying to get back on track. Her diaper rash got so bad that I just wanted to weep along with her. It makes me realize that the more kids you add to the mix the more "bugs" get brought in to the house. Blondie's preschool is putting us in a WHOLE other pool of germs to bring home, makes me appreciate the concept of homeschooling... especially when you have a autumn baby in the house.

I was getting so depressed because it seemed like vomit/diarrhea/wash all the laundry was our new normal. Then, finally, she was able to take a nap and I had a few moments of quiet (one brother at school and one with Grandma! Yahoo!) I took out my new yarn and cast on. Knitting patterns are very challenging to me and a little bit scary. BUT-- I think that the intense concentration and the soft fiber were the perfect prescription for my baby sickness blues. I sat and knit in the sun while she slept and slowly the pattern revealed itself. It is not too complicated, a few twisted stitches and one called a daisy stitch, but the act of conquering the 4 row repeat made me feel mentally stronger than I had felt in days. I felt a little bit more "me". Thank you, thank you, yarn and needles. Thank you little Mango for sleeping soundly.

The sun stayed out for the afternoon and my sister was able to hold up some quilts for photographs...
Here is my first finish of 2010...I call it "Gwen and Freddy" because I finished the top last summer while I was taking some of their classes. So nice to finish a quilt, I have been sleeping under it some nights when I just can't get warm enough. The colors are so cheery to wake up to.
I just love winning things, especially beautiful things like this quilt! I have never been very lucky with drawings in real life, but it feels like I win a lot on people's blogs...gotta love the Internet! ANYWAY, this was done by Anita over here and it brightens up my living room quite nicely. Thank you Anita, I just love it.

Sometimes your day starts one way and then takes a turn for the better.

JMB

Blink and then everything is new...

You start your Monday and think "If I can just get out all of my swap mail, this is going to be a good day." You have been asked by a dear blog friend "Do you really do all of those swaps on the side bar?" You momentarily agree that you are crazy but them remember that sometimes the swaps are the only creative work you get to during the week. They are a thread to sanity in these winter months, sometimes a bit overwhelming but a strong lifeline to other people and things that are good.
By Tuesday, you have spent the morning reacquainting yourself with your middle boy. He is surprisingly quiet and content to just snuggle still, when his brother is away at school. It is good to remember this and appreciate his car dancing on the way to pick-up in the afternoon. There is an inner rhythm to this one, an intensity to focus. To focus towards what I don't know yet, but I have hope that I will be able to help him find it. I blink and he is off running to greet his brother.
And this boy... I found this site and this one, and it was time for him to start his scarf. I have been trying to get him to knit a project at home for many months, not pushing so much as hoping. He has been sitting, knitting, and listening for the past few days. Working away, such a happy surprise for his Momma. He also declared this week that "We need some books about Mr. Putter and his cat." Apparently he has been reading these at school. We got some from the library and yesterday he read a whole one to me and then another to his Grandma. He did so well. I am so pleased that we are on this new trip together, I guess I wasn't aware that we so far down the path yet.
And this one.... I can only say that Miss Mango is living large around our house. There has been scooting off of blankets, looking at objects and then shoving them in to our little mouths, loudly telling Momma about how nursing is going to go (Or not?!!). She is rolling this way and that. So much that we have moved her to her crib... I have been enjoying when she grabs my face and plants a gooey mouth on my cheek. Or when she wakes from her nap and is a fixture on my hip, not self but still wanting to be. I love that a lot.

All of my little ones are becoming not so little ones...

They still need me, but I am needing to figure out my changing role with each one of them. Still the Momma, but now needing to give them each a bit more space. A bit more space, but not too much, to let them grow in to their next phase, to grow in to my next phase. Sometimes I feel like so much has changed and I have only had time to blink.

JMB

Few things...

1) She is just too cute, even when she is sad about teething. If you look closely you can see her brothers spazzing in the background.
2) I almost forgot that I said I would make a block for my guild's raffle quilt (what was I thinking?)... but I didn't and it is done before Thursday's meeting... now, to remember to take it to the meeting...
3) I saw this today in some one's yard...blooms.

Hooray! They were so pretty. I stopped and stared, I called my sister back to see them too, but I don't think that she experienced the same thrill that I did.

4) Is any one else having freaky nightly wind storms? They sound so spooky trying to blow my old house down!

5) Big Daddy will be home in 4 more nights (after tonight... but that counts because I count it if I make it until the kids go to bed!) (you know what I mean!) ( I feel like the little engine that could "I think I can, I think I can...")

until next time...

JMB

Renewal...

The last two weeks have gone by in a blur. We are all trying to get used to going back to school, to having our day paced by pick-ups and drop-offs. I can't decide if I love it or hate it. It is nice to have a framework to plan around, I am so tired that it helps my numb mind stumble through the day, but at the same time, when we have a good "stay-at-home-day" all I can think is that I love the freedom to do whatever we choose, it is so great.
Big Daddy is traveling and has been traveling too much this month. I hope that by doing all of his trips now we can move on to being a cozy family again...maybe finishing up some of the kitchen odds and ends? (hint, hint...I know you know!)
But this season, the starkness of the trees, the dampness, the darkness, but then the green tips show up on the bushes when we have a few warmer days...I have such mixed feelings. Every year I do. This year I am marking my fourth anniversary of saying "Adios" to the time card. Blondie is turning 4 in March and I was pregnant with him when I worked that last day at the Wastewater plant. I have been missing my old cohorts lately, maybe it is time to drop by and say "hello".

I am settling in to listening to the call of the baby. I am accepting again (how soon you forget) that babies have their own time, you can get a routine going around them, but it does come down to them doing just exactly what they want, when they want. Sometimes they don't want to nap, they just want to sit in your lap and smile and coo. Maybe you want to quilt, but the quilting keeps and the baby smiles don't. They are different everyday. Baby Mango just started to roll over last week, the boys were never that interested in rolling over, but it had become her passion. She rolled and she rolls all the time this week... but now she gets to her belly and thinks "What now?" Last night she pushed up on her arms and scooted herself off the blanket. Oh my. I was hoping that she would become a nice fat baby that just wanted to sit for a few more months, that we would all huddle around her and pat her belly and giggle at her roly-poly legs. Maybe no. She may turn in to the lean machine, the likes of her brother Blondie, never stopping until he passes right out. I am here just waiting to see what the new day will bring, I can never know until it is upon me.
I did finish this quilt during my blog hiatus. I finished the top this summer during Quilter's Affair so I think that I am going to name it Gwen and Freddy. What fun memories.
The afternoons have been spent playing Christmas games. We got a few card games and Brownie is a 6 year old card shark. Sometimes if Blondie and I team up we can win a couple. We have been enjoying Monopoly Deal (really fun, a quick game with lots of opportunities for strategizing.) and Sleeping Queens (great artwork and was originally made by a 6 year old and her family... pretty cool.) The games have been a great opportunity to see these boys as the great people they are not just bickering brothers. A way to get past the squabbling (too much lately) and see how their minds work and just have fun with very little agenda.

Seeing your kids as people in their own right, isn't that one of our main jobs as parents? yep, when they are not trying to get each other in trouble, they are pretty cool little dudes.

Be on the look out for signs of spring! (I am!)

JMB

Here we go again...

... in more ways than one!

Happy New Decade friends!

I am here, Mango is here, the boys are all here. We are getting on into our new year.

Is she not the cutest thing? I can't help myself most of the time. She is just so beautiful, so sweet and so mellow... that is until she realizes that everyone else is sitting upright and she has to recline. My first move of the new year was to trade in some old baby stuff for some new baby stuff! It was the best. I love coming home with a bunch of new things that we needed and getting rid of other things that were just taking up space in the garage... for NO MONEY! Little Mango now has her Bumbo and is as happy as a clam, and nearly as juicy. This little girl is working on some teeth and the drool is AMAZING. I don't think that the teeth will actually make an appearance for awhile, but WOW, is she working it out on her fists, her toys, our fingers....

I spent January 1 trying to finish my quilt in time for Jacquie's challenge... then, this is just like the mother of a new baby, I went and read the "fine print" a.k.a. the regular print and noticed that the projects had to be done by December 31. I had a good laugh about that one. Good news is even though I thought I would try to finish 5 things (hope springs eternal) I made good headway on a number of them. One of them I have been working on for 5 years. I finally finished the border and now I am hung up on it's largeness. It is wider than 90" so I am going to have to figure out the batting issue. If anyone has a suggestion I would love to hear it. I am leaning towards piecing it together, but I don't really want to. So, thank you Jacquie, I didn't actually finish anything, but I tried and realized that babies and Christmas eat up a LOT of time, and that is OK. I am going to finish that quilt soon and it will have a showing, yes it will! I also am starting a 365 day photo project on Flickr, I missed it last year. It was a good practice for me and my camera. I looked at things differently, and that is good.

I hope that you all are welcoming in the new year too. I am thinking about a new word this year. If you are in to that here is a post to read.

Best wishes!

JMB