Living, Loving, Learning

Hey pals, Just wanted to pop in and say hello! Seems like I haven't posted in a while. We are in that stage where we are really looking forward to spring, each expressing our cabin fever in a different way. Lucy is just plain old crabby - especially on days that we stay home for the most part. Griffin is kind of zoned out - not wanting to do much creative play, trying to convince me to let him have more screen time. I am treading water on many creative projects, just not feeling the juice to start anything new. Bruce is focused on work and planning big projects for the summer, i.e. getting the house painted. Like all of you, I am sure, we are looking forward to the 50 degree weather that looks like will be here next week and the regeneration that promises. Also...next week is my birthday, and who doesn't look forward to that...especially when it means the Moms are coming for the weekend and Bruce has a big date day for us planned! ;) The best thing about the last few weeks is t...

This was in my inbox from the Good News Network, and I thought you would enjoy it too! Most of us are already doing these things, but a reminder certainly helps me get refocused on this most important job of mine. From the American Academy of Pediatrics comes this list of 14 ways to show your love to your children: 1. Use plenty of positive words with your child. Try to avoid using sarcasm. Children often don’t understand it, and if they do, it creates a negative interaction. 2. Respond promptly and lovingly to your child's physical and emotional needs and banish put-downs from your parenting vocabulary. Be available to listen to your child when he/she want to talk with you even if it’s an inconvenient time. 3. Make an extra effort to set a good example at home and in public. Use words like "I'm sorry," "please," and "thank you." 4. When your child is angry, argumentative or in a bad mood, give him a hug, cuddle, pat, secret sign or other gesture ...

So for awhile now, I have really been feeling the pull...you know, my inner voice telling me I was ready to take my passion for sewing to a new level. I wasn't quite sure where exactly I needed to go with it, but I was feeling open. One day I was dusting the bookshelves and this book, Magical Fabric Art by Sandra McCraw Scarpa , caught my eye. The Marinos, I believe, had given it to me years ago. At the time I had skimmed it, thought it had great stuff in it, and put it away for another day when I would have more time to look at it. Well, you know how that story always ends...it sat on the shelf for years. This time though, I read it cover to cover in a couple of weeks. It was the catalyst I needed to get my artistic energy harnessed. The ideas the book contained planted a seed in me that has grown and Grown and GROWN. I really feel now that I have been able to leave "hobby quilter" behind and truly see myself as a "fabric artist". Although, the structure of q...

I forgot to take many pictures and Griffin's valentine's party on Fri. There he is in the red shirt, passing out valentines. Below is the box we (I) made...he won for the boys best valentine box. I actually saw this idea in Family Fun magazine, so I can't take all the credit for it. And here is the snow castle that Jacob and Griffin helped Jacob's cousin make. He LOVED every minute of it!! There has been so much snow here this winter, in fact, today is another snow day.

I've been down with a cold for a few days this week and as soon as I started to feel a titch better, I was up and running again. So much to do! We've had lots of beautiful snow this week and I have been loving it from the window...too sick to play in it. Griffin got to go to Jacob's house where his cousin helped the boys build an awesome snow castle, so he definitely got a chance to enjoy the snow! Today is going to be bursting full of good lovie vibes. I am going to attend the Valentine's party in Griffin's classroom and then Bruce and I have a date night planned. 10 years ago today, Bruce and I became an "official" couple. Yeah, we still celebrate it. It gives us two for sure dates a year, today and our wedding anniversary, Sept. 14th. Hope your weekend is full of love and friendship and candy and flowers and all things that make the butterflies flutter, your heartbeat speed up and sweet smiles appear. Big Love to you friends. Peace.

I finished another quilt! I am so happy with it. Some of the squares may be familiar to you, they are the squares I received for my first year in the block swap, '08 travel theme. The brown squares that are all similar are the ones I made. The whole thing is hand quilted by me, and bound in a dark brown solid fabric. I made a pieced back to add extra interest. The last 2 weeks, Griffin has told me "I sure wish I had my new quilt to cuddle with" before going to bed. Man, that kid is good, he knows the quickest way to my heart! So Thursday when he came home from school, I surprised him with it. He was soooooo happy. In the last photo he was trying to help me get a photo of it. I decided I needed someone a little taller to hold it, but I still think it's such a cute photo!

Yeah, so the heavy cloud of nasty colds is parked over our home at the moment. First Bruce was sick for 10 days when he went to the Dr. for an antibiotic, and even then he didn't truly feel better for 3 more days. Then Lucy went down hard on Monday night and has not yet turned the corner. Her stuffy/runny nose and low grade fever is preventing her from sleeping well and her attitude is...well, not good. This morning about 9 am I got a call from the school saying Griffin wasn't feeling well and was running a fever, so now I have him home ill as well. ***heavy sighing**** I feel kind of rotten, but I think it is just exhaustion. Sooo, I just put Lucy down for a nap and Griffin and I will follow shortly. Naps make everything better! In the midst of this, I was able to sneak in an hour of listening to a teleletcture by one of my favorite women in the world, SARK!!! She is so inspirational and bubbling over with wonderful ideas about how to live a creative, present life (...

On Sunday I listened into a Teleclass: The Key to Evolving Beyond Ego: How to Make the Change that Changes Everything. It was taught by Craig Hamiliton, of Integral Enlightenment. It was really good for me, I wish I could have conversations like that every day. I wanted to share my big take away idea, my big A HA moment. Craig was talking about getting beyond your ego, just letting it go and how many of us just don't have the motivation to truely do it. He talked about how everyone we have contact with experiences us so much more than we experience ourselves. How others not only take in our energy when they are interacting with us, but that they are using their senses to take us in. Others see us, hear us, feel us so much more than we do ourselves. This interconnectedness can help give us the motivation for letting our ego go...if not for ourselves, than how about for letting the rest of the world be free of our ego. OK, so reading back what I just wrote, I am not sure it is under...

Griffin Gast Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a good man. He believed everyone should be friends. He believed in peace. I had to share this because it just totally exemplifies what I love about Griffin being in kindergarten. As much as I would love to think he made this up, I really believe he was writing something the teacher had written on the board for them. The week before MLK day, Griffin came home from school telling me all the wonderful things he was learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But of course, to understand his GOODNESS, you have to understand the EVIL he was fighting. Griffin said something like, "Can you believe that white people and black people didn't go to the same schools or restaurants? Can you believe some people thought white people were better than black people? They even made Dr. MLK's Mom sit in the back of the bus!" ***o.k. a few things got a bit jumbled for him*** And this is the part where I started crying. This was all news ...