Touching...

I was going to write about something else today... I don't know what, but not this. I have missed the writing, looking through my pictures, finding something to say that is just for me.

Have you heard of Photojojo? I get their e-newsletters and more often than not they have something cool to share about photography and digital art. Today their "news" was about Richard Renaldi and a project he did about touching. I am interested in photographing people and seeing the "them" in the picture. It is something that I haven't done much of, but would like to. I also have always been a bit touch-phobic. I am not sure why, but I feel more comfortable with a large "body bubble" and I don't like "close talkers" and acquaintances who insist on hugging. Having children was a major breakthrough for me. They don't really acknowledge those kinds of personal space limits. My kids have helped me to feel OK about people being in my space and touching me.

BACK to this project... he asks strangers to take a portrait together with the caveat that they must touch in some way. When I read that I was, at once repulsed and intrigued. I went and looked at his pictures and WOW... I found them quite striking and thought provoking. I also found myself wondering which of the people in the pictures knew each other beforehand and which were the stranger, what they thought of the project, taboos about touching. I am sure I will think about it much more.

I like that. Hope it makes you think too.

JMB

What a mug!

What is a mom to do when your baby insists on scooting around on the floor like a seal pup with this hair and their tongue hanging out all the time?

I don't know what you would do, but I laugh a lot. Her hair refuses to lay down and she is determined to get where she wants to be by any means necessary. The boys were both considerably larger and were not this mobile at 6 months. A part of me is totally petrified that she is going to be walking by 9 months or something equally ridiculous. Mango is a little sweetie, but she doesn't put her arms out to you yet to be picked up, instead she does a seal pup wiggle over to you and arches her back as much as possible and then squeals really REALLY loud. I was slow to figure this one out, and so she was so noisy one afternoon and then I picked her up and she was so relieved that I FINALLY got the message.
I made a big trip to the post office to send out some swap items (some were even early!!) My first embroidery for the Hoop-up swap....
Spawned a summer themed embroidery on my Traveling Threads block for March...
the quilt police are welcome to come and check out my last block for Another Quilting Bee#1...My corners all connected (no cut of points!!), the block was supposed to finish at 12.5" AND IT DID! (could be the first time ever!)...
My Traveling Threads block for April...already finished and sent (on Tuesday!!) Thank heaven for a simple Log Cabin block.

How did I finish all of these you ask?

This past Saturday Big Daddy did all things domestic and I got to sew and occasionally feed the baby. The funny thing is we were both so satisfied at the end of the day (I think that he misses being at home and doing the "usual") that I don't know why we haven't done that before. So Good!

I was reading blogs today and I came upon a particularly relevant (to me) post that I thought I would share. Amy has a way of putting thoughts to writing that I really relate to and love to read.

JMB

P.S.

Baby Mango has developed the ability to spot a tiny scrap of paper from across the room. We are done for.

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

A short DQS#8 wrap-up...

mine...done and sent...
same day, package received...we were both SO excited...
Beauty revealed.

Thank you so much Amy!

We are dealing with the tail end of a stomach flu nightmare... it is almost over (my mantra over the last 4 days). I feel like I have been truly tested as a wife and mother. Mostly I pass, mostly.

Baby Mango is going to have the strongest immunity of any baby after all of these illnesses. Rock solid... bring on summer!

JMB

6 months old...

Time seems to be slipping away...

6 months old! Little Mango is a delight to be around. She is learning to crawl, getting up on all fours, but then crashing back to earth to wave her arms and legs around. Mango always squeals when her brother Brownie is near, he is definitely the cat's meow. There are no socks or slippers that can stay on her feet for long, she likes her toes to be free. Free to play with, free to poke people with, free to explore the world. She just started to eat solid food and is less than impressed with applesauce and rice cereal, but loves to eat at the table like everyone else. I swear that she says "mama" when she is babbling to herself. She is not bothered by much, but likes to be the center of what is going on. Definitely a sweet little girl.

JMB

Summertime and the living is easy...

I just found this picture in my Flickr stream....and I could almost smell the summery air. The Vaseline blur of hindsight has me longing for simpler times.

Yesterday was hard.

Little Blondie said to me at lunch "Momma what does dead mean?" followed by "Do we come back to life after we die?". What do you make of the weight of that for lunchtime conversation? My answers were maybe too blunt, but I don't think that this conversation is easy to have at 3 years old or 35 years old. My concrete thinker was overwhelmed and inconsolable.

I wasn't really prepared for the depth of his emotion because he is my "stoic" child. Imaginative, but very composed and in the here and now of life. Brownie is a very methodical, logical thinker and I believe that our "death" discussion lasted 2-3 minutes and then we were off to "Why is the sky blue?" But Blondie, faced with his own mortality, just wept. I could only hold him and love him. It was a huge leap of development for him, I felt like one of my chicks ran from the cover of my protective wings and there is no way to get him to come back. He is growing up...AGAIN! I am not ready. It was too big a day for this momma hen.

JMB

Chug, chug, chug...

A week in reverse... Doll quilt swap #8 progress (due in a week, can any one say procrastinator's anonymous?)
Boys did yard clean up in our early spring sunshine... a flower for mom, my favorite color.
Started the week off here, the beautiful Oregon coast. Together in the Sun, sun, sun...

Between it all there have been 3 runny noses (fountains really), 2 ear infections and 2 parents that are worn thin.

I chose the right things to photograph. It is all I will remember in a year, thank goodness.

JMB