Do I LOOK like Wonder Woman???

I am sick. It is like a scene from Little Women. While one of my children soothes my fevered brow, another is fluffing my pillow. Yet another asks if there is anything he can do or get for me. My daughter brings me a warm, comforting drink. The older ones remind the younger ones that Mother Dear is ill and they must be quiet so that she can get her rest.

Well, at least that is how it goes in my fantasy world!

In the real world, I am laying on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket, looking like death warmed over, hacking and sniffling, and my children are moving about as quiet as a herd of buffalo. I don't think it takes any supernatural powers of observation to deduct by my appearance (and the 100 used tissues that surround me) that perhaps I may be just a tad under the weather. But somehow, in my house I have to announce it.

"Mom, are we doing anything today?

"No. I am sick!"

"Mom, can you take us to the mall?"

"No. I am sick!"

"Mom, will you make me French toast?"

"No. I am sick!"

"Mom, what is for dinner tonight?"

"I am not sure, but let me get up and drag myself into the kitchen to prepare your meal. Oh, and if I should happen to pass out, and you find me laid out on the floor, please be kind and throw a little cold water on my face to rouse me."

I don't know. I would like to think that I have raised kind, compassionate, thoughtful children. However, I have failed. It is either failure, or they have somehow gotten in their minds that I am Wonder Woman, totally impervious to all infections and viruses.

Serves me right!

So, I guess I shouldn't have talked about the nice weather here. I should have thanked my lucky stars and kept my big mouth shut! Guess what happened this weekend...cold and rainy. Ick! Ick! Just thought I'd let you know so that those of you in colder environs can enjoy my come-uppance! And if misery truly loves company, you shall be even more pleased to know that I stood out in that cold rain to watch my 17 year old son participate in his first ever criterion bike races on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Do you know how hard it is to get good photos of someone bike racing?? Sheesh! Those fellows are FAST! Here are some examples of my failures:

This one isn't too bad, just a bit blurry.


I got several like this one, where I snapped either too early or too late and so he is just entering the photo or leaving the photo.


Oh, and this one was GREAT...except that an important part seems to be missing!


And here are a few better ones:

At the starting line.


Oh, and I like this one because he is in focus, but the scenery is a bit of a blur. To me it shows movement.


You can't see it as well in this smaller format, but this photo captured how hard he was working. His head was down not only to avoid the rain, but because he was really pushing himself to the max. It just shows his grit and determination.



And for the icing on the cake??? I now have a miserable head cold! Blech!

When did "normal" become the exception??

My daughter asked me what we had to do today? Do? Do??? I found myself irritated by the question. As if the day is not complete unless we do something other than the ordinary, mundane things that get done in a day.

How did it happen? When did a "normal" day become the exception rather than the rule around here?

You may ask, "What is a normal day?" Well, for me, a normal day would be a day when we get up, have breakfast, home school, do housework, cook meals, eat, play, etc. It would be a day with no outside obligations, appointments, lessons, etc. No running around. No major interruptions.

Right now, a week of "normal" days almost sounds nicer to me than a week's vacation!!

Some shots with my new toy...

I hate to do this to all you folks still stuck in the snow, but yesterday was gorgeous here in the South! My kids sunned themselves on a blanket in the yard and I played around with my zoom. These were taken from about 30-40 feet away. Don't be blinded by the pale, winter skin!



Meanwhile, exhausted 17 year old tried to nap inside.


I call these "Rumpled Laundry on Table."



I am working on cataloging all my stash at Ravelry...here are some yarn goodies:

Finally!! A new camera!

Well, I did it. I dug deep and spent the $$$ on a new camera!

May I introduce to you my new Canon PowerShot SX100 IS?




You can read about it here: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082004canonsx100is.asp

Once I learn how to use this baby, I hope to post some photos and do a bit more blogging. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Things that inspire...

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong country. Much of American "fashion" does not appeal to me. However, I just love the things made by this designer! Gudrun Sjoden I get so excited when a catalog shows up in the mail. I also like that there is variety in her designs. Sadly, the prices are beyond me, but I can look, can't I? I am hoping to spend some time sewing for myself some day...and I hope to make a comfortable wardrobe that is an expression of me.

If you should take some time to browse around her site, you may even see the 66 year old designer wearing some of her clothes. I loved her Autumn 2007 collection. You can glimpse a bit of it if you mouse over the "Right Now" tab at the top and click on the "Gundrun's Favorites."

Still Searching for a Camera...

I apologize for my prolonged absence. I realize that the blogs I enjoy have lovely pictures to accompany the text. I have not been blogging much because I don't have a working camera, and therefore my blog is now just bland black type on bland white background. My photography skills are not great, but everyone likes pictures, right?

Well, I am going to be looking for a camera in earnest this coming month. I do not have a lot of money to spend. I have been told the newer cameras come out in March, so I am hoping to find a good deal on "last year's" when the new ones come out.

Any equipment recommendations would be most welcome! I am also looking for a good book that will help me learn to be a better photographer. Those of you who are more experienced behind the lens, please, share your tips with me! (Ahem! Lil, Kim, are you reading this??)

Just a note to Liliana...

Liliana, you're a hoot!!

Too Many Choices!!!

Am I the only person who is feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of choices that abound these days??? I find it in almost any area of my life...go to the grocery store and just look at one section, like the number of salad dressings. Good grief! I think I'll just make my own!

I remember back in the good old days of home schooling. You know, the days when people looked at me in amazement and asked me, "Is that LEGAL?" Back then, we stayed home. We read books. We struggled to find good curriculum and we only knew a select few other people who were doing the same thing. Now, there is such a large quantity curriculum out there geared towards home schoolers that I can not even possibly investigate it all. And the options for extracurricular activities?? Well, in my community, there are so many sports, clubs, co-ops and social engagements arranged for home schoolers that my head is spinning! Most of it is good or profitable, but REALLY! We are supposed to be HOME schooling. How can we do that if we are never HOME!?

We don't have cable or satellite TV, but I pity the people who do. It must be hard to settle on something and watch. It seems a lot of folk just use the remote and go from channel to channel to channel. Ha! Remember the stone age when there were only 3 major networks and no DVD or video tapes? Remember how exciting it was when The Wizard of Oz came on once a year? It seemed so special then! These days it seems there is nothing special about TV or movies. (Okay, I admit that lately we have been greatly enjoying the Jane Austin pieces on Masterpiece.) The choices are vast and mostly mediocre. You can rent or own a movie and watch it any time you want and as many times as you want. Ho, hum.

I just feel like I am faced with too many decisions all around me. Recently, I joined Ravelry, an online knitting and crochet community. I am amazed! Astounded! It is an awesome place to be. There are some wonderful tools provided so that I can inventory my yarns and needlework tools and books. There are forums and groups. hundreds, nay thousands of different groups and forums. There are all sorts of interesting people who like to knit and crochet and spin. These people write all sorts of informative and witty things. All this to choose from, and Ravelry is just teensy tiny speck of dust in the vast internet world. Due to the recent popularity in knitting and crochet, there are so many more interesting blogs and books to read on the subject. Volumes of patterns calling my name. Web merchant upon web merchant offering a plethora of lovely yarn. How can one person possibly wade through it all and find her cozy little corner in the middle of all this?

Don't get me wrong, variety and choices can be a very good thing. I am thankful for all that is available to me. But can it have a downside? I begin to wonder if it is adding to the disease of stress that plagues our nation. Was man meant to make so many choices every day? Just think of all the available options for what to have for breakfast, what to wear, what to read, what to do, what to listen to, what to watch...By the end of the day I find myself exhausted by the large number of decisions that have to be made. The variety and selection in almost any area of life is ever increasing in American society, but contentment and satisfaction are not. Why is that?

This is something I have been pondering lately. It is one of the reasons I am hoping to make steps towards simplifying my life and home. But I will save that topic for another post.

Just Ignore This...

I have a LOT of topics rumbling around in my head lately that I want to blog about. This is just a list so that when I actually get time to write I can remember what it is I wanted to write about! I hope to actually write something with content eventually. Sorry, nothing here worth looking at!

--Simplifying/purposeful living
--Organizing
--Too many choices
--7 people, 2 cars, 2 accidents, 2 blocks
--Holy stash! Batman!
--Death and losing a parent
--Searching for a camera

I Really NEED a New Camera!

I really, really need a new camera. But when I start looking around, I get totally overwhelmed. Help! What do you use, and how do you like it?

Oh, and a little suggestion...do you post photos on your blog? Then how about telling the world what camera you use, either in your side bar or in your "about me" section? It is nice when I see photos I like, to know what camera was used. For instance, this person shimandsons.typepad.com was kind enough to mention in her "about" section that she uses a Sony Cybershot. Unfortunately, she doesn't give the exact model number, but I'll take what info I can get. It is nice to know that the camera is capable of producing photos like the ones I see on her site. Not necessarily sayin' that I could take such nice photos, but I would like to get a camera that is able to do so! Then I won't be able to blame my lousy pics on the equipment.

A PROPER Update!

Well, I promised a proper update months ago. Ahem! Sorry about that! Notice anything new?? Yes, I changed the look of my blog! I figured since this is virtually a fresh start after a prolonged absence, I would like a new look. This is a much cleaner layout. Also, there is more info in the sidebar. I still want to do some tweaking, but so far, whaddaya' think?

Summer was busy, busy, busy! We did not ever get a proper vacation. No beach trips (even though the ocean is about 2 hours away). No mountain holidays. Nada.

Our family did manage to spend a long weekend in the DC area visiting my brother's family. It was August. It was hot. It was exhausting. Trying to visit sites in DC with 7 kids aging in range from 5 to 18 can be a bit of a challenge but we squeezed in as much as we could. I want to go back sometime, just s, and spend hours and hours in art museums. YUM!

Summer was dry as a desert for me creatively speaking. I just seemed to lack inspiration to work on current projects or start new ones. I think the disastrously discombobulated workspace added much to that problem...I can't work in chaos. As mentioned in my previous post, I worked some on organizing my office, but not as much as I had hoped. I even bought one of those closet organization system this weekend and hung new shelves and racks etc. in my office closet. I went through all the containers of fabric and supplies and sorted and organized. Now, almost all of my fabric is sitting on shelves where I can actually see what I have on hand. I love looking at all the pretty, pretty patterns. Makes me want to sew. I can feel the need to create welling up in me. Lately I have also been spending time browsing blogs and sites that inspire.

If I could, I would post photos of my office transformation in progress, but one of my dear children dropped my camera on the concrete floor of the Smithsonian and damaged it...severely. The lens will no longer retract and it can not focus any more. Basically, it would cost more to fix it than it is worth. Boo! Hoo! So, I am hoping for money to fall from heaven so I can get a new camera. (((Sigh))) Any recommendations of affordable cameras???

CH-CH-CHANGES:

Our dear oldest son has moved into the dorms and started his adventures in University Land. I think he has adjusted well. Of course, we miss him bunches. But he comes home often. (Can you hear my big sigh of relief?)

Hubby is now working on his masters degree. After years of being unhappy working in "business" and unable to change the situation much, he has decided to pursue his Master's in Library Science. I am so proud of him. It isn't easy to work full time and go back to school. His undergrad is in History, and I know that working in a library environment will be much better suited to his personality and abilities. This means that I actually have 4 fellows in college! Oldest son and hubby in university, sons #2 and #3 are both taking college courses at the local community college concurrently while they are still in high school.

And speaking of school, we are back at it full force with the home schooling. Just to start the year off with a bang, I managed to get some sort of yucky head cold thing that lasted over two weeks. It made me very fuzzy brained and adding 2 + 2 was an intellectual challenge. Near the end of that, last week, a stomach virus made its way through the troops. What a fun weekend was had by all...not!

Coming soon to a blog near you...

Coming soon...an update! A really, true update! I am not sure yet what to write about. Hmmm...all the boring stuff that has been going on in my life? (Believe me, I have not had the time to be bored, but it really isn't anything exciting to read about, just the day-to-day survival as we finished up our school year, etc.) I hate to put folks to sleep.

Another thought that I have actually been contemplating is taking photos of my disasterous office. It is the room in our house where all the junk tends to accumulate, not to mention all my fiber and fabric and beads and... Then perhaps the public shame of it all will pressure me into getting it organized so that I can show some progress. Maybe I should clean it up some before I let you see it? It really is bad! Of course, if I let you see it as it really is, in all it's messy glory, perhaps it would be an encouragement to you to realize that your "messy room" isn't so bad after all! And the sad thing about all this? I am not a "messy." I do not like messy. I do not work well in chaos. I thrive on neat and organized. But the sheer messiness of it all overwhelms me and I don't know where to start. Perhaps the Flylady 15-minutes-at-a-time approach will be best. We'll see.

Wearing a red poppy.

Memorial Day is coming up. Today, I am wearing a red poppy. It is to honor those who have given so much of themselves, including their lives to protect and defend our country. Remember? That is what Memorial Day is supposed to be about!

In our community, the American Legion Ladies Auxilary sets up tables at local shops and hands out red paper poppies that are made by disabled vets. One of my daughters and I donated a few hours today manning one of those tables. The flowers are free, but donations are welcome (and all the $$$ goes to help disabled vets.) If you get the opportunity, take one of those poppies and wear it, or twist it around your rear-view mirror or your purse strap, or somewhere to remind yourself and others that our liberty has been very dearly bought.

I think I will wear my poppy all weekend long.

Dear Blog...

Dear Blog,

I know that I have not been around much. I am sorry if I have made you feel forgotten and neglected. I think of you often and I hope you miss me as much as I miss you. It's not that I have wanted to forsake you. Really, you must believe me. It's just that I have been so busy tending to the needs of others that I have not had time to give you all that you deserve in a relationship. If it is any consolation, Yarn Basket and Sewing Machine and Reading List are also angry with me for not being around much!

You will have to understand that my family comes first. And do you remember that I am a teacher? Well, not professionally, but I do home school all my 7 kids. That takes a LOT of time! And one of those kids is a senior and I have been swamped and overwhelmed with all the things that I must do to prepare for his graduation. And college...Blog, have you ever waded through all the forms and applications that are necessary to get a fellow into college? It boggles the mind! Oh, by the way, did I tell you that he was invited to participate in the honors program at a local university and that they gave him a $20,000 scholarship? We are so proud of him! Of course, we are proud of all our other kids too.

Anyway, school is almost over for this year and I am trying to be faithful to the end, although it is hard when Spring comes on. Both the kids and I are ready for a break.

So, please forgive me for not spending more time with you. I know that communication is the key to a good relationship and I will try to do better in the future.

Sincerely, your friend,
BusyHSmom

How to avoid sleep...

If you feel that you are just getting too much sleep, and you just can't figure out a good way to promote more sleep deprivation an exhaustion in your life, I have just the solution for you!

VOLUNTEER TO BE A CHAPERONE AT YOUR CHURCH'S YOUTH TRIP

Yes, folks, it is that simple! Just pile into a couple of vans full of energetic teenagers. Drive for about 3-4 hours. (Be sure that you get suckered into actually driving one of the vans so that you can not relax during the drive.) Time the trip so that you barely make it to the quiz competition in time, so you that the kids can't get dinner before they must compete. Check into a hotel after 9:00 and share a room with three young adolescent gals. Allow gals to drink Pepsi at 11:00 at night and watch them bounce off the walls so that they don't settle down until well after 1:00.

If that is not late enough, take the burden of responsibility pretty heavily, so that everytime you hear a door open or footsteps down the hall, you wonder if it is one of your kids who do not have an sleeping in their room. Therefore, you feel you must get up out of bed and look out the door and check to be certain they are not getting into trouble.

It works even better if there are four adolescent boys sleeping in the room next door and their beds are up against the same wall as your bed. Then you can have the muffled sound of their voices keep you up until well past 2:00 a.m.

Be sure to wake up before 6:00 a.m. the next day. Spend an exhausting Saturday full of activities and competitions with the kids. Drive home at night. Don't get back until late. Be sure that your hubby must teach Sunday School the next morning so that sleeping in is not an option.

And there you have it...a surefire recipe for sleep deprivation and exhaustion!

(Actually, I had a great time, and I was more than happy to help out, but PSHEW! I am still tired 3 days later!)

Swappity Swap Swap

I am such a sporadic blogger. I just have too many pots in the fire to do this consistently! One thing that I have been involved in lately is a SecretPal Swap organized by Crochetville. I send goodies to someone and hopefully make their day brighter and someone else sends me goodies and spoils me rotten!

Here are some photos of what my pal sent me for her big REVEAL package. Thanks a million, Aunty M. You are a doll!







Aunty M sent me:
~~ One solid chocolate bunny, not the hollow kind! My kids swooped down on him immediately!
~~ A lovely crocheted angel made with a clothespin and pink thread.
~~ Some bayberry potpourri that made the whole package smell nice!
~~ My very first ever thread cutter pendant. That will definitely come in handy with my sewing and finer needlework projects...I am always loosing my scissors!
~~ A small cross-stitch kit that makes a little miniature quilt and another one that is like little pumpkin seed packet.
~~ A "Little Pot Pals" kit in which you decorate a miniature flower pot. I am thinking that will be something I can do with one of my daughters.
~~ Some relaxing bath salts and a blue body puff.
~~ A skein of lovely deep purple Lion Brand Homespun.
~~ A ball of 100% cotton chenille.
~~ Some salad "hands" for tossing and serving salads. (How did she know that we have managed to break every set of salad tongs that have ever entered our house?)
~~ A pattern for making a colorful striped knit bag. (I love to knit too!)
~~ A vintage Old Time Needlework Patterns and Designs magazine.
~~ A sweet little crocheted purse that my 10-year old immediately claimed.
~~ A beautiful, carved rosewood crochet hook in size "O" This is my first wooden hook and I have been drooling and longing for one.
~~ Another wooden crochet hook...this one is bamboo and size "P" I love my bamboo knitting needles and so I am sure I will like this too!
~~ Aunty M sewed up a crochet hook case for me too! I have been needing one of these...however I am struggling. You see, the pockets are nice and long, so it is perfect for my double pointed needles too! Right now it is holding all my hooks, but if I want, I can switch it out and use it for my DPN's instead!
~~ She also made me the most exquisite, gorgeous red shawl. It is soooo pretty! The photos do not do it justice at all! I was so thrilled that I wore it for two days straight!

Like I said, she spoiled me rotten!

I sent my secret pal, Kimbo, a package full of goodies at the beginning and another package at the end of the swap. Here are a few photos of some of the things I made to put in the last package. Her favorite colors to wear are brown and green, so I crocheted her a humongous tote bag out of variegated wool in those colors and then felted it. This was my first felting project.

Here is is being held up by my 5 year old before felting:


And after felting:


I also made an amigurumi bunny for her.


See the cute little cotton tail?


I know, you think it looks just like the one I previously blogged about, but my 5 year old promply adopted that bunny and I had to make another. This time I used an "F" hook rather than and "H." Isn't it amazing how big of a difference a fraction of a milimeter in hook diameter can make in the overall size of a finished project. See the latest bunny hanging out with its bigger sibling for some quality time before they were parted:



I also took some incredibly bright and colorful thread and made my first ever thread crocheted bookmark for my SP:




I also included some sterling and Swarovski crystal earrings I made for her as well as a pound of Starbucks coffee beans, so hopefully, she felt pampered a bit.

Swaps are great fun.

New Driving Rules

Have you heard about the newest driving rules??

1. Horizontal and vertical are the same (oh, I am not kidding!)

2. It is perfectly acceptable to slow down and drive beside someone you know and have a COMPLETE conversation. ....do not worry about holding up traffic. Remember you are ahead of everyone else.

3. Traffic laws are for everyone except you (again please remember you are SPECIAL those roads were all paved just for you so please drive the way YOU want to!)

4. If you are in the far right lane and you want to turn left then, by golly, just go ahead and do it (remember you are special!)

5. Everyone is really interested in hearing your type of music, by all means play it as loud as you can that way we won't have any trouble trying do hear our own music preference.

A friend sent me these rules after her recent trip to Las Vegas. I am proud to say that we are not backwards here in the South...there are plenty of folks in my community who seem to be well acquainted with these new driving regulations.

Amigu...what?!?

Hmmm...what could this be?



Add two of these:



A few of these...



And a couple of these...



Are you starting to catch on?



Aha! It's a cute widdle bunny!



I have been wanting desperately to try my hand at some amigurumi (just a fancy Japanese word for crocheted dolls and animals.) I have seen some really, really cuties! They are supposed to be quick and easy. Well, mine took most an afternoon and all evening, but I can be a bit dense. Everytime I would think, "Wow! This is so easy and it goes so fast!" well, that would be about the time I would discover I made a mistake...2 or 3 or 4 rows ago. And then it would be mutter, mutter, rip, rip, rip, do it over again!

Things I learned? Well, I am going to have to crochet tighter or use a smaller hook. I am seeing spaces between my stitches after I stuffed it. I can't wait to do more. I think I could even make my own patterns once I master all the simple shapes.

Want to see the work of an expert or two? Check out this (I love Crochetroo's blog. She is an artistic Aussie. Be sure to take time to browse the archives!): http://crochetroo.blogspot.com/

and this: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=26966

and this: http://amigurumi-along.blogspot.com/

and this: http://www.roxycraft.com/pattern_shop.htm

Finally! Photos from the Historical Ball

Would you like to see some photos of what we wore to the Historical Ball this year? Out of respect for my hubby who likes to guard our privacy, I am not showing the beautiful faces of my offspring. You will have to take my word that they are all gorgeous and handsome!

The first are of the costumes I was working on for the last month or so. Here is my 10 year old daughter and her colonial dress:




The only thing I am less than happy with is the trim. It is really lovely, wine-colored braid, but I fear that from a distance and in photos, it looks like I used rick-rack. Don't get me wrong. I really like rick-rack, but not necessarily on a dress that is supposed to look like it came from the 1700's.

Here is a photo of what I made my 15 year old son. Everything he is wearing was made by me. The color of the doublet is not showing up well...it is really a dark, olive green. I made it using some sort of faux suede and it came out great! I lined it with black fabric and I am very proud to say that it looks as neat on the inside as it does on the outside. The pants have some great detailing that you can not see. I give the pattern company a "C" for pretty crummy instructions. I had a friend who used the same pattern for some pants and she had some struggles due to lack of clarity. Otherwise, I am pleased with it. I even made the knee boots using pleather. There are no patterns out there for knee boots, so I made it up myself.



Here is a photo of my oldest wearing his dress kilt I made last year. The jacket is made of wool and fully lined. It was a bit of a challenge for me. I did not sew his shirt or bow tie, but the coat, and kilt and shoulder fly plaid, I made. I can't show you any good photos of him from this year because every picture I have of him is surrounded by s. Hmmmm...should that worry me??



Here is my very dashing 2nd son looking very "Mr. Darcy." I made his Regency outfit last year. The broad fall pants were a unique challenge, as well as the coat with tails and very odd tailored sleeves. We won't even go into the challenge of making bulky fabric sew up into nice points in collars and such.



He also wore a top hat.



This is my youngest son in his colonial outfit. This is a good example of how you can get the "look" on a shoe-string budget. The linen shirt is from goodwill in the ladies section. The brocade vest is also a goodwill purchase. I altered a pair of pants into knee britches. And I made the "frill" at the neck. Next year, he is promised a real costume made from scratch.



He wanted a tricorner hat and that is not something you just find at your local department store. Well, I got creative and found a woman's wide brimmed black felt hat all trimmed out with netting and feathers and flowers. I removed the trimmings. folded up the brim and applied some gold trim and viola! A tricorner hat:



Here is my oldest daughter in her grandmother's wedding dress:



Here is my sweet little 5 year old in a borrowed dress. She had such fun playing "dress-up."



Here I am in a lovely Baroque gown I borrowed from a friend. I might add that she is 16 years old and she made the entire gown herself...including the hand beading on the stomacher. I could not believe she let me wear it. And yes, I had very high hair in an attempt at being true to the time period.



I really wanted to work up something for my dear hubby to wear, but alas, time ran out. So, he was in a nice shirt and tie. I figure you get to see that often enough so no photos of him. He was very handsome and danced with all his s in spite of a knee injury. What a good sport. I was able to dance at least one dance with each of my sons. Needless to say, we all had a "ball!" (Sorry, couldn't resist!)