2012 Christmas Season

I often procrastinate about putting up our Christmas tree. It seems like a chore because I am often very picky about how it looks. I like something on nearly every branch, lol. This year I ‘recycled’ some of our decorations from previous years. I finally decided on Radko ornaments with multi-color accessories. Once the tree is completed, I am glad that I have finished it. I often wonder why I procrastinate when I know that I will be pleased once the project is done. I like the way it turned out. It is bright and cheery. 

I also like the tree timer. I wake up to a lit tree in our dark living room. It is such a calm and peaceful feeling to enjoy the tree in the stillness of the morning.

I really miss seeing the grandkids during the holiday season. Some of my grandchildren I have not seen in a few years and I really miss them. Some of the grandchildren we see more often and that is very nice, yet I miss them too.

My adult children live far away. I wish them love and happiness as they celebrate the season in their homes. 

I hope you have a joyous and happy holiday season. 

I'm having a bad day.

Today was yet another reminder of what I cannot do for Kristen. (Kristen is my special needs daughter.) She has a field trip to tour a facility that I can never afford to send her too, and that there is no funding for… well, there is funding if I am willing to fill out the overwhelming paperwork for AND to wait the 57 years (literally, not just a random number) to qualify for… oh wait, by then she will have aged out of the program. So, why jump through all the hoops to fill out paperwork, which will probably be filled out wrong and disqualified, to wait on a list for funding, which is longer than her life expectancy?  I’m tired of visualizing Kristen watching Dora for the rest of her life. I’m tired of feeling hopeless. I’m tired of crying. I’m not looking for a pity party, I don’t need any comments, I’m just having  a “day”. 

Easter Dresses for my triplet granddaughters

I have decided to sew Easter dresses. I found a cute chocolate bunny applique HERE that I just loved. 

I then found some Easter fabric that repeated the chocolate bunny theme. I was lucky to find coordinating fabric in three different colorways, so that the dresses would all be different, but still “the same”. The photo shows a lemon-yellow fabric, but I later found a lime-green fabric that I thought matched the Easter fabric better. I went with the lime-green. 

Next, the hardest part for me… is making a dress pattern. I didn’t want to buy a pattern so I looked at MANY dresses online, and some tutorial links (the most helpful tutorials for me are HERE and HERE). I finally created my own pattern. Pattern making is difficult when the girls are not nearby to measure them or to test the pattern on them. I had to step-out and just take the risk and hope that the dresses will fit them.

Fabric washed, ironed, and ready to cut. Here, I stalled… scared to cut… but alas, I cut all the fabrics. I was able to apply the bunny applique without calling my daughter, Kira, for advice. J I finished the first “sample dress”. I did not intend to make a “sample dress”, but after I saw the placement of the bunny applique, I renamed the dress “sample” and moved forward. My husband, Jim, made another run to the fabric store to buy replacement fabric for me. *Thank you, Jim!

I finally finished the three dresses, with lots of missteps. I was happier with my second attempt at the applique placement, but it was still not quite what I wanted. I discovered my blunder and I’ll do the applique differently next time. I made mistakes on my dress pattern too; I figured out the miscalculation and I made adjustments to the pattern.  I am hopeful that these mistakes won’t be too noticeable when the girls wear the dresses. The dresses do not look like I had envisioned them. Luckily, the girls are only 18 months old so they won’t notice.

I am reluctant to send the dresses because I am disappointed in them, but I am sending them anyway. I am trying to set aside my pride and perfectionism. This is difficult for me because I have a fear of getting my feelings hurt if anyone should make fun of the dresses (which I would take personally as making fun of me, which it is not, but sometimes I can be shallow). But, I guess that fear is vanity on my part, and something that I will have to learn to deal with. After all, it is not about me. It is about me taking my time and effort to try and make a gift for the girls. The main focus is the gift, and the girls, and not me. So, into the mail the dresses will go. I will use this as a learning experience. As I have stated to in the past, I hope they see the love and not the stitches!

I am learning, teaching myself as I go, on many different levels. I am getting better at setting a goal and finishing a project. In the past I would have just quit. I am trying to teach myself to continue to muddle through to completion. I’m not where I want to be, but I am moving in the right direction. Happy Easter! 

20th Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 20^th wedding anniversary. We’ve come a long way to get here. We’ve had lots of ups and downs. Our marriage has helped to define me, and teach me character, and forgiveness, and love. We’ve had our struggles, and we’ve had our joys.

I find it odd that the symbol for the 20th wedding anniversary is china (traditional) and platinum (modern). To me, these are opposite items. One is fragile, one is strong. Humm... I suppose it is not so odd. I think, in fact, that it is appropriate, since these are two of the qualities in a marriage, being fragile and being strong.

I am happy that it is my 20th anniversary today.

What a WONDERFUL visit!

Jim’s daughter Jessica and her husband Joe, along with their triplet daughters, just left after their extended weekend visit at our home here in Kansas for our Christmas. It was such a wonderful weekend! I’m sad that it is over.

The triplets are now 16 months old. They are exploring their world around them. They aren’t walking yet, but anyone can see that they will be walking any day now. They are such good babies. They rarely fuss, they share, they are cuddly, they have great smiles, and joyful personalities. I love seeing how much they love their mommy and daddy, and how much their mom and dad love each of them.

While they were here visiting here with us, we had annual photos taken. Getting Christmas photos is a tradition that we just started last year.  I hope this is something we will continue to do for years and years to come. It is so fun to look back at last year’s photo and see the miraculous growth in each of the girls. Here are the girls photos from this year (Jan2012), and last year (Jan2011). Can you tell them apart? lol 

We have not yet seen all of the photos from the photo shoot. We’ve only seen the sneak-peek. We absolutely loved J Mason Photography in Wichita Kansas that took the photos for us. These are my personal favorites (so far).

I know how busy Jessica and Joe are, and it was such a blessing that they loaded up their three babies and drove six hours to visit us. I know how much work a road trip can be; and I truly appreciate their efforts. I hope that trips to grandpa and grandma’s house will become lasting memories for the grandkids.

I miss them already. I am SOOO looking forward to seeing the kiddo’s in person in the late spring/early summer 2012. Skyping is great, but in person is so much better. :)

I hope ALL the grandkids know, or will learn, just how much we love them. <3