Living, Loving, Giving

Excited

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this before, but my fabulous and wonderful and amazing IM, Niobe (who sadly doesn't blog anymore) is coming for a visit and bringing my surrobaby with her. She will be here in one week!!!!

Also- why can't I ever make anything easy for myself? I could have just bought one type of fabric and made plain valences, but noooooooooo, I had to draw out a complicated pattern. So, it is slow going on the valence making, but I am getting there.   I also had a minor setback because the jaguar (or maybe it's cheetah, I'm not real sure), print came in white and black.  On the bedding, it is pink and black, but I couldn't find any pink and black.  I wanted it to be pink though. This morning, I woke up with the fabulous idea of dying the fabric pink.  I mean, duh, isn't that what fabric dye is for?  I bought the pink dye and dyed the fabric today, so I only have a little bit of the jaguar/cheetah print cut. 

This is what my rough drawing looks like.  It is so NOT to scale.  The highlighted parts are the sections I have cut out. 

 

This is what I have so far.  I actually have two of these done, since I am making two valences.  I just took a picture of one to make it easier.

 

Hopefully, I will be able to work on it quite a bit tomorrow, and have another update :)

SHHHHH- It's a Secret

I bought Lauren some new bedding for her birthday, which isn't until November. But, it's really cute, and it was a great price. I got it from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

See:

It came with all the stuff for the bed, but they didn't have any matching curtains. So, I bought some fabric, and I'm going to make valences. I spent some time this morning drawing out the pattern for the valences. They will have three types of fabric- zebra print, jaguar print, and hot pink. I figured I needed something to do while I'm still on summer vacation. I will post pics when they are done. I have to make two, because she has two windows in her room. I'm sure it will take me a few days, because I need to work on it while Lauren is sleeping, so that she doesn't see them.

Conversation

Conversation with Lauren on the way home tonight:

Lauren in a very concerned voice- "Mom, we didn't have a birthday party for you today!"

Me- "It's ok baby, I'm too old for birthday parties."

Lauren in a very serious voice- "And, you already have everything.  You have a wonderful family.  So, you don't need a party."

Me- "You have a family too, so you don't need birthday parties anymore either."

Lauren in a horrified voice- "But, I'm still young, so I still want parties."

Out of the mouths of babes. LOL

We're Back

We had a wonderful vacation in Orlando, even if there were record setting high temperatures. The girls loved SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Aquatica. Lauren's favorite place was Aquatica, and Allison's was SeaWorld. They both got a stuffed animal at SeaWorld; Allison got Shamu, and Lauren got a baby penguin.

While at SeaWorld, we got both girls to ride the water-ride Atlantis. Then, I had to buy the picture, because Lauren's face in it is priceless. She was totally freaking out! I have two scaredy-cat girls for sure. Now, I am trying to catch up on grading work for the online college for which I am working. It is taking a bit more time than I anticipated, but it is still a step toward teaching college on a more full-time and permanent basis. Though, I still don't think I will leave the public school system until I retire in 17 more years.

I am in the process of uploading pictures on facebook. It takes forever for them to upload! So, in a little bit, check them out :)

Guilty

It's one o'clock in the morning, and I should be sleeping. However, I am feeling as if my poor blog has been neglected, so I must provide my three loyal readers with a short post :)

After I wrote about being all lazy and stuff, I got all busy and stuff. I started my job with the online college, so I have been frantically grading submissions and calling students to have an initial contact with them.

Then, I went to Charleston with my mom and girls for three nights, just to get out of the house and relax. We did some shopping, and the girls did a lot of swimming. Lauren got some "pretty" (her word, not mine) clothes for school. She is so happy that her new school does not require uniforms. Both girls got new bookbags and lunch boxes, though I still refuse to admit that my baby Allison is old enough to go to all day school in less than a month. I shall not cry, I shall not cry, I shall not cry.................

Yesterday (Saturday), we had a family reunion, a BBQ at a friend's house, and a retirement party for a co-worker of my husbands. Then, last night, I dreamed that someone gave me a baby to take care of. I don't remember the details, but I do remember the baby was 9 months old, was a girl, and looked just like my girls when they were little. I was torn over what to do in my dream. I so wanted to keep the baby, but I was terrified of having another child to raise, and wondered if I could love her as much as I loved my own two. I woke up before the dream really concluded, but I do remember that I had decided to keep the baby, and already loved her dearly. I'm not sure what underlying psychosis of my mind caused me to have the dream. I have issues, I know.

And, tomorrow my husband and I are taking the girls down to Orlando for five days of fun. We are hitting Sea World, Busch Gardens, and a waterpark called Aquatica, that is owned by SeaWorld. We considered Disney, but holy cow is that place expensive. That trip will have to wait a year or two. The girls are super excited about the trip, as am I. It is going to be a lot of fun.

Also- I'm so behind on blog reading/commenting. I have been trying to catch up. I still love you all and will catch up!!