Dinosaur hoodies and owls..

AKA.  The Christmas gifts my kids know they are getting.  The downside to me crafting in the dining room is that my kids see what I am making.

These cute owls are filled with rice and are heat pads.   Tutorial from justanotherhangup.blogspot.com

 Dinosaur hoodies.  I followed this tutorial.  I bought sweatshirts at Walmart and some cheap felt.  With Selah's I added interfacing to the top four and I didn't on Ephraim's.  I had a lot harder time sewing the felt on E's and I think it was too much fabric for my machine and I gave up on having it look nice after taking out the stitches 3x on the hood.  He's 3.  He won't care.

Hopefully they will act surprised on Christmas morning

He gets it

Today I took my kids to Costco - not an unusual trip around here.  In addition to our normal shopping, I had Ephraim chose a toy for him and Selah to donate to kids in need.  He and I talked a lot about how there are kids without families, and sometimes there are kids with families that cannot afford to buy new toys for Christmas.  Ephraim asked a lot of questions about how and why that could happen.  We talked about how blessed we are that his Daddy has a good job that allows us to buy new toys and allows me to stay home to play with him and Selah.  He chose a really cool helicopter that makes noise and a neat baby set that came with a bed and horse for Selah.  (He at first tried to chose the really cool motorized miniature snowmobile and then we had to talk about budgets and how Mommy and Daddy can't afford that toy for him or anybody).

After Costco we drove to the fire station to drop off our toys.  Both kids did really well and Ephraim enjoyed putting the helicopter in the big bin.  As we were walking back to the car he said "But Mommy?  Kids need families."  Yes they do bud, yes they do.

Jules

From November 11


One of my closest friends from High Schoo - Julie (or as I call her - Jules)  got married on 11/11/11.  It was so much fun for me to be able to be there on her special day.  Jules - you were a beautiful bride and I wish you and Dennis great happiness!

me and the bride.  All of the guests were in black and white, which was a lot of fun to see - and I got to buy a new dress.

Forrest and I.

Jules and her dad walking in.  I love all the rosettes on her dress.

Julie and Dennis.  Congrats!

A new view

When I woke up this morning and went downstairs, I saw this outside of my kitchen window.

During the wind storm last night this branch decided to make a new home next to our deck.

Forrest and don't need to go looking for a Christmas tree this year.  This branch is over 10 feet tall and should do nicely.  

I should add that there is not a single branch of any size anywhere else on our property.  

Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes I think she looks like a Fraggle.

Just goofin around

 My kids are fun!

9 stitches

From August 15th


August 15th started out as a normal Monday.  Forrest works from home on Mondays - which is a huge blessing.  The kids and I had been playing outside in the yard and came in for lunch.  I made macaroni and cheese, gave it to the kids and went downstairs to talk to Forrest.  (I was out of kid bowls, so both were served in small Pyrex bowls.)

While Forrest and I were talking we heard the sound of glass breaking (not the sound you want to hear) followed by crying.  We both raced upstairs and I immediately picked up Selah who was sitting in a pile of broken glass by her chair.  I was trying to comfort her when Forrest said "she's bleeding."  We took one look at her little hand and knew we needed to get in the car and go.  The cut was deep.  Forrest grabbed some paper towels for me, his keys and phone and Ephraim.  I tried my best to stop the bleeding with the paper towels and we got in the car.  We didn't even try to put Selah in her car seat.  She sat in the front with me.

We decided to go to the urgent care by us.  The closest ER is 20 minutes away - and while she needed to be seen immediately, we didn't think it was an emergency.  We walked into urgent care and the receptionist called a nurse to have Selah's hand bandaged.  I was covered in blood and looked a little scary so the nurse tried to clean me up as best she could.

After getting a bandage wrapped around her hand we sat in the waiting room for an hour.  The poor baby whimpered most of the time.  Ephraim talked about how he had an "owie" (his finger had been pricked by the glass) but Selah had a "big owie"

After we were taken back, things moved very smoothly.  The same doctor that had seen Ephraim in June saw Selah.  She was papoosed with two different sheets so that she couldn't move while they were trying to stitch her up.  It was a deep cut - she had cut into the muscle, but thankfully she had not injured any tendons or ligaments.  She had 3 internal stitches to put the muscle back together.  Before they got to the external stitches, she fell asleep.  The poor thing was exhausted and tired of fighting her papoose.  She then got 6 external stitches.

We had planned on leaving that week to go down to my mom's for a week of vacation, but were strongly advised not to go.  River water has a ton of nasty stuff in it, and could easily cause her hand to get infected.

After we got home - Selah continued to use her hand as if nothing had happened.  She bent and used her thumb and hand as if it had never been injured.  She didn't seem to be bothered or really notice the bandage.
She would cry hysterically when we had to change the bandage twice a day - but we think that is because she was scared of her scary stitches.

Ephraim showing off his "owie"

Proving that falling off of her chair onto broken glass is not a deterrent for climbing up on the table.

The scary stitches.  I would have been afraid if I were 17 months old and had to see those too.  Her scar has healed up very nicely.  If you see Selah now and ask to see her owie - she will proudly show you her scar.