AWOL

So if you are wondering about the sort of lack of posts lately . We have had proms the last few weeks at work it is mothers day week and we have had a death in the family, Great Grandma H . My life is in a sort of holding pattern till all this passes. Take care and please send well wishing thoughts and prayers to my in-laws

This is budgie

This is the school pet at my middle daughter's school. We get to bird sit her for spring break because we are not going anywhere. The last time we bird sat her, she wouldn't come out of her cage . Right now, as I am typing this, she is sitting on my head; yep ,that is my hair in the photo that I took a few seconds ago. Not the best photo. Now she is sitting on my hand trying to help me type. I am not sure which is better -- in the cage or so at home that she is everywhere. Both are a lot distracting. It was depressing to have a bird so attached to her cage that she would never come out and peck at the cage door to go back in; now we have the opposite problem. At least she feels at home in our house this time. Ten days of this will be weird.

I know Easter is over

But I had to work that day. So here are a few little photos. I took the one of the tree and the one of the girls on the sofa. My husband took the rest so I could see what fun our kids had.
They got the bunny ears from their great grandmother. The hat (visor) kits from their grandma. I also got the wood bunnies and flowers for my Easter tree from the same grandma.

Looks like they had fun.

Where's Wendy "sunshine"

I have had a busy week! I have worked over 36 hours for the week with commutes at 4 hours or more every day, so roughly 24 hours in commutes, for a total 60 hours. This is not counting hours of normal chores and homework and all my normal "Mom" things to do. Plus, because their janitor is on vacation, I worked at my second daughter's school to earn some credit on her school tuition for next month so that bill won't be as big; so add those 4 hours into the above total. Good thing about that one is all three kids helped; my husband would have, too, but he was at his own job. The kids were great to help mom out so it would not take me so long. I love my family; they are great at pulling together. They placed the chairs on top of desks and helped vacuum and emptied trash while I cleaned windows, mirrors, desks and yucky bathrooms. No shame; it is honest, hard work. But that said, it is all I can do to stay awake 'till 8:00 p.m. Then I wake at all weird hours of the night; proof by the post time on this post.

Not much crafting lately other than lots of floral arrangements, which are a type of crafting. Made a lovely funeral spray yesterday that was all red roses and just four white ones; that was fun to do. Very elegant looking when done. I tried taking a picture with my camera phone, but it didn't come out well. I need to take my real camera with me to work so I can show a few of the nice things I get to make for people.

Today my family gets to go to the church Easter egg hunt and family breakfast at church, then to the family Easter egg hunt and lunch. The reason I say my family gets to is I will be at work; by the time I get off at 3:30 or later, all the festivities will be done. The family even postponed my birthday party 'till next month because I will be at work. So, Easter is family and I love mine and hope they have fun and know I am with them in spirit, even if it's not possible in body.

For those who are curious...

I have accepted a part time job at a local Floral shop in the town where my kids go to school (25-32 hours a week). So, looks like I will be a Florist/Designer again; I put myself through College and the University being one. There are other places that wanted to hire me, but they wanted me to work Sundays, and that is just plain not a function in our lives. That is God and Family day, and that is how it will stay.

As for the part-time job (9-10 hours a week) teaching at my children's school, I did that interview, and I feel good about it. I hope to still get that job, but I won't know that for one and a half to two months, and I have bills to pay now. So, if I do get it, I believe and pray that the two jobs will work together well, still giving me nights and Sundays with my family. Saturday, well that belongs to the flower shop. If the two jobs don't work together, I will have to cross that bridge at that time. From everything I have heard from the owner of the flower shop, she tells me she is understanding about me wanting to be with my children and wanting to help in their education.

I also want to give a big shout out to my sister-in-law without who's love and help none of this could happen. She is the one who will be collecting my youngest every day from K-grade for me. That part is tearing me up! I will miss her excited face as she says bye to all her little friends and all the little kids telling me thank you for helping every day. I feel like I have let them down somehow. I was only a room mom, but I was the room mom who was there every day 15 minutes before class and 10 minutes after to make sure I could help in any way I could.

Yesterday, to top it off, one daughter was locked in her classroom for two hours (somehow four of her classmates had broken the class door and locked every one in), and she was so excited to see me after they shattered a window to get them out of the classroom because the locksmith wasn't working fast enough. She came running to me yelling, "Mae Mae" (which means "mom"), worried that I would be mad that she didn't come right out when school was over (I already knew what was happening), and she was excited to see me at the same time and tell me of her adventure. I wasn't mad, I was just concerned that she was okay and not cut from going out a broken window.

My middle daughter had someone pull the fire alarm at her school, so she was scared, too, because they where not sure if the school was really on fire or if it was a childish prank. Either way, not good to a second grader. She was glad to see Mae, too, and know she was safe.

The third was trying to loose her second tooth. In our house that can mean lots of blood because of VWD (Von Willenbrands Disease, similar in concept to hemophilia). So she had blood on her hands, all over her face, and was scared because she saw her reflection. I finished removing the tooth from her mouth, cleaned her up, and stopped the bleeding so she wasn't scared any more. Then to see her excitement afterward that, hey, the tooth fairy is coming tonight! From scared to happy in all of 10 minutes. Now I have to miss some of this and all the children at their schools who I have helped every day. Sadness and lack of sleep don't even come close to describing me right now.

At the same time I am excited about working again, and the interaction with people and all that brings; just a little ball of emotional nerves, I guess. New job starts in four hours -- wish me and my family luck and love that we can get through these changes because all my children have ever known is Mom is always there home, school, church, anywhere; and now, that isn't the case.

I wanted to thank all my readers who sent well wishes and thoughts and encouragement. It has meant a lot to me.

The Easter Lilly on this page came from my youngest daughter's teacher at school as a birthday present to me. An Easter lily; a symbol of Christ and all he has done for us, and how he knows all our pains, and of rebirth. I will leave this post thinking of that.

Happy Happy Birthday ....

Happy Happy Birthday, originally uploaded by littlepinkstudio.

to me. I hope your day is filled with love; mine will be filled with errands and job hunting and love, of course. Many happy returns of the day to you all.

I bet you all can guess my birthday wish: a job/career that fits in with my family.

A Lot of Firsts

1. It is the first time in 10 years I have gone job hunting.
2. The first time in 12 years for me make a floral arrangement as part of a job interview (I passed that test just fine; not to rusty after all).
3. My first time using kiosks to send a resume (just so we know, I am not fond of those things).
4. My first three call backs in less than 1 day after dropping off resumes (good to know I am still considered a good catch to employers).
   
5. My first time applying to teach art at an elementary school (k-4) (1 of my dream jobs, it is even at the school my children go to); pray for me on this one. (On a side note, other dream jobs: being a pattern tester in almost any fiber medium, owning a fiber art museum and teaching classes there, enough of that).
   
6. The first time my littlest daughter has ever lost a tooth.
7. First time for any of my children to wear glasses (I think they look cute in them, I have no idea why she is doing a blank stare in the photo).

Lots of first the last three weeks. I thought life was supposed to slow down as you got older; it seems to be speeding up on me. Not complaining, just amazing how fast life changes. No job, yet, still hunting. I have been offered a few, but I want to wait a few days more so I can compare them and see what works best for my family.

Hex Skirt

This is one of the items I made from those found hexes. I really like this skirt. I used antique buttons on the back of the skirt as the closure. On my other forums I have had a lot of comments on the lining of this skirt it actually isn't a lining. There is no lining on the skirt that is just the slip I picked for the day. I don't like to line skirts that way I have the option of color change. I wanted graphic patterns that day. If I want just soft color I would have picked a pale pink, white, or ecru slip.

I also made a shirt, and I have just enough hexes to make another shirt and skirt for the store. The second set is only half made at the moment.

I wore this today while job hunting. I think more people where interested in the skirt. It was funny how many people asked if I had made it, the fact that I made the skirt seemed to surprise most people. Then they asked for the whole story and got even more surprised. Sometimes I feel like a dying breed of a person. But in the same breath I wouldn't have it any other way. I love making things; it is who I am, just too bad I haven't been able to figure out a way to make a good living at it so I can stay at home with my kids and still craft and make money to help out my family.


On a side note for those who are on Ravelry, you can find me here.

Map fun

Just playing around with maps. I wish the country map was more detailed because you can't see some of the places I clicked on very well.

create your own visited countries map


create your own visited states map

Kids art

If anyone remembers, my kids entered a tree decorating contest at Christmas time. Well, they did not win first prise, but they are fine with that. They did win one of the other prises, and they think it is better than first prise. They get to have their tree in a magazine next year at Christmas time. How's that for ages 6, 8, and 10. They got in a magazine 20 some-odd years before their mother did, age-wise that is. Because of this, yes Christmas is still up at our house because I haven't had a chance to take good photos, yet; at least not ones I want to have the world see. They also got this prize in the mail as a thank you for entering. This is not my photo; someone at Mary Jane's Farm took the photo, that is who hosted the contest.

Note posted on forum by Meg (Mary Jane's Daughter)

We wanted to do something special for Sunshine's little farmerettes that won an honorable mention in the Christmas Tree Contest. Their tree was so beautiful and all handmade by the three girls.Thanks for sharing your beautiful tree with us and watch the mail for a package!

MaryJane's daughter,
Meg

My Ugly Commute home tonight

My commute from piano practice is usually about 30 minutes at 4:30. I left a few minutes ;) early tonight about 4:20, but I didn't get home till almost 7 pm. I have never been in a blizzard like that one, nor do I want to be again. It was white-out for more than an hour. My children slept in the back seat for most of it as I watched big rigs sliding and almost hitting us. I watched police officers who where directing traffic in the middle of the white-out in the middle of a 4-lane highway almost get hit by the big rigs and a Mustang. I was white-knuckled most of the way home! I called a few family members to let them know where I was and that I was still OK, but boy, I was really worried for awhile that I might spend half the night trying to keep my car from icing over. I felt great relief in that I had filled my gas tank first thing in the morning and had placed new windshield wipers on my car just a few weeks ago. But, that said, I didn't feel safe; I didn't have our chains in the car, don't ask why. But God was watching over me. I saw car after car after car slide off the road or just stranded with wheels spinning in the middle of the highway in over 8 inches of snow that looked to have landed in the 1 hour of white-out. For some reason, my car never got stuck in that way or slide. I am glad to be home and that my three children are safe. Good night, all; I am tired. The whole story here.

I have been tagged and awarded

This happened several times while I was on vacation. If I missed your tagging me, sorry I lost track of a few of them. First tag was from http://ruby--slippers.blogspot.com/ then http://nostalgichomemaking.blogspot.com/. If more of you tagged me, sorry I don't remember where the comment was from.

These are the RULES:

Link to the person that tagged you. Which I did. Post the rules on your blog. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 random and/or weird facts about me:

1. Didn't know I was afraid of swimming in the ocean till my last trip. I had been to the beach many times and swam in the ocean. But never to the point where the water was deeper than twice what I was tall (this was 5 times deeper or more) and never to the point where I couldn't reach the shore with a few stokes in swimming. Well, I went snorkeling in Christmas Cove in St Thomas; that was an eye opener. I realized I was scared which started an asthma attack. So I was ferried to the beach where I built up my courage and started to swim on my own back out to the snorkeling area in little steps; not totally on my own -- my husband was a dear and went with me to help build my courage. Gotta love that. By the time we had finished I wasn't scared anymore and had tons of fun. So found fear and concurred it. Pat myself on the back; I swam all the way back to the boat that was anchored in the outer part of the cove. Doesn't sound like much, but I was ready to just sit on the boat at the time. I would have missed all the cool fish and swimming with four sting rays, which I will always remember.
2. In high school I used to own a vinyl mini skirt and vest that I found junking. I loved it; my friends thought it weird. So, sadly, I gave it up; at times I wish I still had that and the chain mail mini skirt I made my 10th grade year that was cool. I wonder who owns them now since they went to a local thrift store in California.
3. I am one of three children, plus I have two half siblings, and I have one step brother. Try to explain that genealogy to a six year old. Gets a little confusing for them, not me.
4. First thing I made in crochet was a pair of lace gloves for my oldest daughter's blessing/ christening. I made these without a pattern. The first set used size 10 thread with size 10 hook; next set used size 30 crochet thread on a 13 hook. OK, I said this was my first project. I had crocheted as a child -- just chains and slip stitch cord. At the age of 24 I picked up a hook for the first time in 18 years and bought a book with basic stitches and started to make the gloves without trying anything else first. I actually made two pairs by the special day; a cream set for every-day use and a white set to wear on that special day.
5. On my third date with what is now my husband, I ended up in the hospital with stitches in my right elbow from having gone single track mountain biking with him, when I hadn't ridden a bike in about ten years. Not wise, I know, but it was fun and now we have a silly story to tell.
6. From the event just above, my husband learned that when I am real nervous (ie stitches) I start to laugh uncontrollably, a reflex I know, but it is weird to me, but that is how I am.
7. I used to love making friendship bracelets; even got to the point where I could put words in them. I think every sk8boarder in the town I grew up in had at least five of them during the years I was in high school. You could always see me making them whenever I had a stray moment. The reason I bring this up is, Sunday I saw a girl doing just the same thing I did as a teenager; safety pin attached to skirt and knotting away. When church was over I explained to her I used to make those and explained how to make words in the knots. She was excited to go home and try. So I got this sort of nostalgic feeling that all her friends would be like mine, with tons of bracelets made with love and a few words.

Since I am doing this all at once, consider the 10 people below tagged and awarded.

Then I received the excellent award from

http://stitchinginatlanta.blogspot.com/

The Rules:

By accepting this award I must now share with you 10 blogs that I also deem 'excellent'. If you are one of my 10 you then choose 10 blogs that you feel have an excellent quality about them. You can give it to as many people as you want-even those that have received it already, but please award at least 10 people.
My ten are these:

1. manda at tree fall Because of her beautiful skills in making things and her determination. She may not be able to respond to this because she is near due to have a baby.
2. anna marie for the beauty in her fabrics and her lively spirit.
3. jnny B at allsorts for her vibrant colors on her blog and her tutorials.
   
4. Maven at Fiborporn for just being kind and helping me find more about oya, and her cool items she makes.
5. Eva at Apple and Eve I love her embroidery and little hedgehogs and bunnies; so sweet, and she produces them so fast.
6. cassi at Bella Dia I love the colors of her blog, the tutorial, and how to's. Great site.
7. eloomination for keeping the weave it alive and having tutorials and patterns for it.
8. mette at Mettetations for all the eye candy yarn and cool projects.
9. Shula at poppalina I just aways feel like she is a kindred spirit in a lot of the things she makes and through a lot of the stuff she has posted about her life.
10. sew mama Sew Always something new and fun happening there; lots of links and tutorials.
    

More Camera phone Photos

In the last post all three photos came off of my camera phone. Here are more photos off of my camera phone; these are of my butterfly girl. The top one is one of my favorite butterfly girl photos. This was taken when she was about two years old; she is now six, so this is an old photo, relatively speaking. I just love it and wanted to make sure it was somewhere other than my camera in case it gets deleted somehow. I hope you like it, too. The second one is what happened when she realized I took her picture.

Busy Busy

Butterfly girl getting eye exam.

I have been really busy since we returned from our trip. My middle daughter wakes every morning in pain, so she goes to the chiropractor three times a week, and then we found out two daughters need glasses and had to schedule that in on top of piano classes and school and a dear brother-in-law who came home from his mission. Because of this, a sister-in-law and her family came from back East for 4 days of parties to celebrate the mission and all. During which time I got sick. So, if you are wondering why I haven't posted, it is because I am busy busy, but have nothing to show for it other than lots of hugs (which is fine with me; I love hugs) and a stack of washed laundry, as tall as I am, that I just haven't had the time to fold.

Photos at left have nothing to do with the above post; just a funny memory I wanted to share.
Photo to the left is from September of 2004. Found it in my camera phone. We had spent a day at the beach, and on the way back to our car we saw this. What you are seeing is a classic antique collector's car, convertible mind you, that rolled down a hill at Pismo Beach in California and ended up on top of a fire hydrant. There are firemen trying to stop the geyser in one of the photos. So much for that car; I bet that was a mess to clean out. I would rather have my stack of laundry than that!

Part 2 Vacation: Puerto Rico

Oh, no, it's more of those trip photos! Look away, bad movie night...where is the slide projector...just kidding; I hope you like these.

The skylines were just amazing at all the ports of call we went to. Here is the one coming into the port at Puerto Rico.

This is from the ship looking over the port to the old Fort in Old San Juan.

We kept hearing we had the biggest liner on the seas, but until we got off of the ship and looked back at it with another ship next to it, we didn't realize how big it was. All we could say was, "Yep, that is a big ship!" and that sort of sums it up. Ours (meaning the one we got to ride on) is the one on the left.

The first place we went was the Capital Building in Old San Juan. This is a very beautiful building with lots of marble from Europe. It looked like it was being renovated when we had our visit there. Even with that, the parts I could see where absolutely stunning to behold.

1. capital6, 2. capital5, 3. capital4, 4. capital3

This is the statue that stands facing the capital building; it is St. Christopher (if I remember correctly). He has his finger up in judgment to make sure the work inside is kept in check and that they are doing God's will and not man's. Just so we all know it is his index finger that is pointing not his middle or pointer finger that is pointer, in other words he isn't flipping a bird as it would be called in slang terms in the USA.

Interesting to note: if this was in the continental USA instead of one of it commonwealths, it would be torn down -- how sad is that. This would have happened because it is in a public place mixing God and state. Are people crazy? I am glad it is there; I like the sentiment that God is watching over all.

The second place we went to was the Old Fort in Old San Juan. I loved this place; it had such character in the stone work and the sheer scale of things. You are able to see just the top of it from old capital building looking towards the old fort. If you look closely at the below photo, it is in the back of the photo on the left hand side.

My favorite part of the fort is the in the bottom center picture. I just love the shape of these look-out spots. In the bottom left photo, you can see the capital building from the view of the old fort.

1. fort2, 2. fort9, 3. fort8, 4. fort10, 5. fort4, 6. fort3, 7. fort1, 8. capitalfromfort

This set of sketches was on one of the walls in a very damp and hot room, the humidity in this room made it hard to breath. I am surprised these images have survived. The caption below reads

"GALLEONS

The ships drawn on the wall may be the work of a Spanish caption held here to await execution for mutiny. "

Personally, I thought this a funny statement as they may be which, to me, means they don't have a clue how the pictures got there and are just giving you an idea of what may or may not have happened and want it to sound good. I actually liked the pictures before I read the caption. I liked them better without the caption. I think it pulls away from the drawings and degrades them, somehow. Either way, it is a type of graffiti.

1. cannonballs, 2. cannonballs2

The above cannon balls are on the top of the fort. The interesting part, to me, is that the first row was sunk in cement as if it wasn't enough that they had been welded together, they thought it necessary to bury them in cement. Just how strong to they think the average person is? I mean, oh my, there are 188 cannon balls welded together in this stack; the fact that they are hollow still doesn't make them light enough for the stack to be picked up all together and that we must cement it down. I actually thought this was a real neat display; just a little overboard on making it stable and ridged.

1. oldbricks3, 2. oldbricks, 3. oldbricks2
Actually what is left of some old bricks at the fort in Old San Juan Puerto Rico. I was so impressed with the way they looked that I just had to take a few photos of them. Something about the way nature was tearing them down looked so peaceful and beautiful to me. You can see through some of them where the hole goes all the way through the bricks.

After the fort, we went shopping for a little bit and met back at the statue of Christopher Columbus before returning to the ship. Not sure why this picture came out so bad; it was the best out of three I took of the statue. It was interesting to see how many of the islands have a statue of Columbus. We did not take a picture of each one of them, but this was the neatest one, to me.

Back on ship dinner with friends the Rollos. (photo taken by Vicki)

Part 1: First things first...

OK, so I haven't posted in awhile, for the dozens of emails I received asking if I was OK and if my children are fine. We are all fine and well. It was a planned absence; my husband and I went on a cruise to the western part of the Caribbean, (Florida, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St Martin, with a layover in Atlanta, both ways). The kids stayed with a very nice aunt of their's on my husband's side. The sad thing about the trip is, I missed two of my daughters' dance recitals at school and an art show by the third.

Warning: what fallows is one of those trip photo-sessions. Turn away if you don't want to see this. It is posted mostly for family to see, but have fun looking, even if you are not family.
Miami, Florida

We went on an air boat ride, looked at the alligators and crocs. The one the man is holding to the left I actually held. He is 3 feet long from tip of nose to tip of tail. Too bad the people who took the photo didn't understand how to use our camera and thought they had taken a photo when they hadn't, so no picture of me and my husband holding this guy. But I know I did, and that is all that matters.

After the boat ride and show we ate some food that the place called alligator nuggets which are supposed to be alligator meat; no bad thought here folks, it isn't that part of the gator. I don't know if it is true that it was 'gator or not, but it tasted good.
I am not sure if it was a croc or an alligator hiding in the lily pads because I couldn't see the end of its nose to distinguish which it was. If you look closely at the picture, you will see the head starting to submerge.

Next set of photos were taken from or on the cruise liner, Freedom of the Seas, leaving Miami and in transit from one place to another.
I am not sure anyone can ever look graceful from a below shot while climbing a rock wall. But yes, this is me and my husband. My husband is a real rock climber, mountain biker, snowboarder, ice climber and anything outside that fits in those concepts of outside. So, I would say he did it with much more finess than I did, because the last time I climbed I was 5 months pregnant with my first daughter (who is now 10). The harness didn't feel good cinching up on my pregnant belly, and I haven't climbed since. But I had fun doing this again; I am still a total novice, but I have to admit rock walls are much easier than the real thing, at least the ones I have been on.

My husband also went on the flow rider a way to sort of surf on the ship. My husband's statement about the flow rider was that "it is very efficient at stripping the clothes from your body". I never saw him with out his trunks while on this but there was a few times he didn't leave the ruff water very quickly. He really did pretty good for his first time on this type of thing. But that is no surprise to me as he skateboards and snowboards differnt beasts but a little bit similar in concept I think.
Having never been on a cruise liner I was amazed at the scale of things they can place inside and on a ship. Seriously look at this inside of a ship it looks just like the inside of a really tall mall.

But then nothing matches the grandeur of the things outside the ship that you can see. I feel like a little kid here as it is amazing to look at the horizon and not see mountains. I have always been able to see mountains from my home even growing up in California they were just 30 minuets away now I live on the side of a mountain. There isn't even land in some of these pictures let alone mountains. It was fun to take pictures of Miami as we left port as well the silhouettes from the sun going down was amazing to me. Those of you that read my blog often know I am just in love with sunsets and sunrises, I have seen some of the most gorgeous of these in my life in the last few weeks my photos just never did them justice. I am sure you are sick of my trip for now I will post more later got to get the kids up for school.

Colorados

My daughters were playing with my oldest Colorados the other night and decided to make a picture of my fairy girl (oldest daughter). They got a little bored waiting for grandparents to come and visit; they, the grandparents, were a little late due to unforeseen circumstances. A few days prior my oldest two daughters had a piano recital that the grandparents were not able to go to through no fault of their own. So they where coming over for a private recital from the girls.

In the process of waiting, this idea came into my daughters' heads -- to make the oldest out of blocks. It is actually a real cool toy; I'm just not sure if I think that really looks like my daughter. But at least the eyes are blue and the image has short hair like she does. I am just thinking she doesn't have a green nose and purple cheeks or bright red lips. I don't know what do you think (rhetorical question).

Between midnight and 8am

That is when all this snow fell onto our back deck. We didn't haul any up the stairs; this was already there. The kids are excited to make a snowman. They received a gift of an instant snowman in a box at Christmas, and they have been waiting for one really good snow fall so they could make him on the deck ,so this is the day. The instant snow man is pretty cool; he came with eyes, corn cob pipe and mouth, a carrot nose, buttons and scarf and hat.

In the process of making this post I discovered there is a turkey in the box, too. How funny!

Update

While I was posting, they changed their mind to make a snow cave instead. Funny because they have been waiting for almost four weeks to make a snowman.

All Done!

They made a snowman after all. He is sort of the Mount Rushmore of snowmen, I guess. Go figure, kids! They stayed out so long that their little bodies got so cold they couldn't feel themselves. But, they made the snowman, so that is all that mattered.

Hair today gone tomorrow

On Saturday I talked about how long all three of my daughters' hair was. Also how I wanted to make Kanzashi for them. I still do, just one will have to be on clips instead of combs or hair pins now.

Because, as of today, one of them no longer has long hair. She had the longest out of all three; it was below her waist, and she was starting to sit on it. It was getting a little annoying for her and hard for her to keep the knots out, with winter static and all. So we removed it (a good 18-24 inches original length, removed over 12 inches in length; look in the mirror in the right photo you can see the haircut is half done), so her hair is just above her shoulders, now. Sorry, I didn't feel good this weekend and didn't get that bathroom cleaned -- dirty mirror, oops. She is also embarrassed by this photo because this is her pajama shirt, and she never shows her shoulders unless she is in a bathing suit. It is only on her because I am cutting her hair, otherwise no photo would ever be taken with her dressed this way.

The last time I cut her hair I made the doll shown to the left. Yes that is real hair from my daughter on the doll. So now I have this stack of freshly washed and dried clean hair again, trying to figure out if I should make something again.

The reason is, last time I did something with it because that was her first haircut. Well, this is only her second one, and she is ten. Each haircut represents roughly half her life. So I am taking suggestions as to what to do. Currently, the hair is just resting in a metal tin 'till I figure out what to do with it. Photo at left taken in my old home. The room was being rewired; those are not live wires on that wall.

Snow sculpture day at school

One of the two schools my kids go to has a snow sculpture day every year, one to two days after the first big storm. Well, that happened two days ago: 16 inches of snow fell at the school. So, today was sculpture day. Each class gets to make snow sculptures. This is just the one from the K-grade that my youngest daughter is in. They have been reading about A.A. Milne and his story, Winnie the Pooh, so they thought it good to make Winnie the Pooh. After all the fun and freezing our tails off, we went into the school's cafeteria, and hot cocoa and donuts were had by all.