Happy 2011!

A few happy shots from the holiday break!  I love these goofy flowers!  Oldest two kiddos ganged up on me for Christmas and made this bouquet.  They know that I love anything loud, bright and colorful.  Ok... so they might have used the word "obnoxious", but I know they *meant* colorful!  I also have a very poor record for keeping plants alive.  The little green thing next to the colorful posies seems to have made an exception to my care.  Probably because it hardly ever needs water...  A colorful bouquet that doesn't need water, what could be better?  The BEST part... these posies are duck-taped to pens!  'Cause I manage to lose mine all the time!  Loud, colorful, easy-to-care-for AND useful... love it! 

Oh!  Sassy second kiddo saved the very best POLKA DOTTED flower for an antenna topper!  No photo yet 'cause this is a quick-'cause-I-gotta-write-out-bills post.  But lets just say, even *I* can find my car now!  (Just one more thing I frequently lose...)

And, speaking of sassy second kiddo... she and I have both been dreaming of making capes!  Big, long, sassy capes!  Kiddo chose black velvet for the outside and red stretchy velvet for the inside.  Have you ever tried SEWING yards and yards of velvet together???  It slithers all over the place!  The two-hour pattern turned into a monster project.  We were up until 12:30 finishing the bugger so that she could wear it to school today!  And we cheated A LOT on the bottom... we just COULD NOT get the layers to play nicely with each other.  But it is gorgeous!  She wanted a cape big enough to wrap her friends into.  It fit the two of us together nicely with room for more (had there had been anyone else awake past midnight).  Hmmm... needless to say, plans for my cape do NOT include yards of velvet.  And it will be a tad more obnoxious colorful.

And one more happy thought from vacation!  Skiing!  We got about 18" of beautiful white stuff the day after Christmas.  I love this line-up of fun gear!  We spent several days out trecking around in the woods.

My sister visited from California.  She gets excited about anything active and has been known to ski with large backpacks full of camping gear.  Can we just say that she is in *slightly* better shape than me?  I kept up bravely for the first couple of days, but by day three, I was wimpering and begging for a slower pace.  Yup, I slowed her down on that last ski.  Besides, I was a little worried about breaking my neck on some of those hills.  Guess I should have been worried about standing still on flat spaces though... I only fell three times.  Once for a hidden stump on one of those hills.  The other two times, I was standing still and got too excited talking with my hands.  Go figure...

But we got some surprise extra time with little sis!  Chicago airport shut down just in time to cancel her flight back and she was stranded on the east coast for four more days.  Aw shucks....  (insert happy dance here!)  Thank goodness I had recovered from the first round of abuse exercise and was ready for more!  We got one more day of crazy sister time!

And my ski team kids!  Love the sister grins!  And sweetie special third kiddo exploring the track behind my skiers! 

Youngest kiddo is my nervous-Nellie.  She needs to be eased into new activites and is very scared of learning new things in front of people.  She's been skiing for a couple of years now, so I didn't stop to think that *skate skiing* is new for her.  (Skate skiing is a very fast, graceful form of skiing used by competitive skiers for racing.)  And we missed the first couple of ski practices after Christmas because we were playing with my sister.  Those were the first team practices on SNOW.  Before the holidays, practices were all spent running.  Yup... tears.  She was sure that everyone else would be skiing gracefully past her while she fell. 

So we got to practice an hour early and sassy second kiddo gave youngest kiddo a lesson.  By the time the rest of the team arrived, my nervous-Nellie was managing a pretty fair skate-ski.  AND... three other jr. high kiddos were brand new to skis.  Yes... brand new to SKIS.  None of them had two years of experience balancing on long, skinny, slippery things.  There was the cutest line of new skiers following the coach around the track that day.  Like little ducks in a row!  Sooooo... that smile stayed on youngest kiddo's face all afternoon!

Ok... that's the happy thoughts for today!  Have a happy day!

Still not organized...

Ok... I seem to have a theme going on here...  I'm in a couple of town bands playing this goofy instrument.  What I lack in talent, I seem to make up for in clumsiness.  And disorganization.  I have an exceptionally long and unwieldly trombone stand, a complex music stand that I have yet to master putting together, and music in no particular order falling out of my folder.  I'm also not known for moving slowly nor for paying attention to what I'm doing.  Yeah... a goofball.

Soooo... this seems to be the week for fixing me.  Well, sorta.  I had to miss a concert last week and one of the goofy guys above (we'll call him MOE) borrowed my music and played my part.  I'm always peeking at Moe's music, trying to figure out what piece we're playing next.  (Sheeesh!  Organization...)  So, when he gave me back my folder, there was a surprise for me!  The music was all in concert order!  And an even better surprise... trombone jokes and pictures punctuated the empty spaces between pieces!  But, as always, the loose pages that don't fit into the page protectors wound up falling to the floor at some point during the concert.  Oh... and I kept laughing at inappropriate times during the concert as I discovered the new jokes.  Soooo.... almost organized. 

And fast forward to a concert Satruday with the other band!  Not knowing if I would make the concert, I had given my music to one of the guys for safe-keeping.  (Always safer not in my hands...)  When I got my folder back, it was all in concert order!  (Definitely not the way I had left it, just in case you were wondering.)  My friend, guy-in-the-outragous-green-sparkly-I'm-so-jealous-that-he-found-that-great-hat, took pity on my lamentable systematization.  Ok... total lack of it.  I happily set up for the concert... and forgot to bring in my stand.  Until it was too late to go get it.  Guy in the great hat shared his music stand.  I haven't been in this band for very long.  I guess he didn't know my history with music stands.  (The flute players in the other band might consider helmets concert attire.) For the first song up, Trombones on the Rooftop, our conductor wanted the trombones to stand.  Trying to be helpful, I leaned forward to adjust the music stand higher.  And promptly pulled the top of the stand right off the bottom, sending BOTH folders of music to the floor...  Mmmmmhmmmm... the concert was delayed a few minutes while we scavenged our music off the floor and great-hat-guy and I frantically searched for music from a communal pile between songs.  But, look!  The photo was taken after the concert!  He's still speaking to me!  And the music is safely in his hands again.  And I *promise* I'll remember my music stand next time.  Or at least try to remember my music stand...

One more quick happy thought!  This beautiful ornament arrived in the mail last week!  It's from Attilla the Mom!  You *know* I've got to love a moniker like that!  Her screen name is just the beginning of the snark you'll find on her blog!  Check out Cheaper than Therapy for fun reading!

Ok... that's all for now!  Back to the Christmas countdown!  Have a happy day!

Holidays are here!

It's happened again.  A couple of weeks ago, I was WAAAAAY ahead of this Christmas season.  I had my list figured out.  Decorations were up.  The outline of the Christmas letter was forming in my brain.  Almost all of our shopping was done.  Crafty things were almost finished.  Then we flipped the calendar and the kids got all excited and started counting days.  And time sped up.  Youngest kiddo was jumping up and down this morning reminding me that it is only ten days until Christmas.  TEN DAYS????? 

Suddenly having the Christmas letter ALMOST done and the shopping ALMOST done and the crafting ALMOST done is not quite cutting it....  TEN DAYS???? 

Oh to be a kid again!  The exciting anticipation of Christmas!  The warmth, the extra time with family and friends, the traditions, the mystery.  I think sometimes we grown-ups (I grudgingly concede to being almost grown-up) forget the wonder of the season.  Shop, wrap, finish, cross off the list.  But Christmas is joy, love, wonder, surprise.  Unfathonable goodwill.  A gift given which didn't follow protocol, yet was so much more.  So I am suspending my obnoxious pace and am determined to enjoy the season even if I don't get everything done.  I'm hugging my kids, getting most of the letters out, sitting down for dinner with my family, forgetting about that last shopping, cuddling with my husband and writing notes instead of joining the parade of mugs, ornaments, and light-up ties.  Ah... to be a kid again!  I think I'm almost there....

And for friends and family... a "Hi, Baby!" update!  Even sweet, smiley, special kiddo joins us in greeting the wee one! 

Oldest kiddo is 13 weeks along now.  Her days are a roller coaster of emotions.  It's not easy to be pregnant at 16.  One foot in the teenage, high school world.  And one foot in the expectant mom, grown-up world.  She has cried more in the last week than in the past ten years as her two worlds sometimes collide.  And all I can do is hold her and let her know that everything will be ok.  And it will.  It's just hard to see the future while standing in the present. 

Oldest kiddo and teenage father-to-be had their first prenatal class on Monday.  Finally a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy week!  Rather than an oddity, they were just another expectant couple.  Younger, yes, but sharing stories of morning sickness and mood swings along with everyone else.  And they heard their baby's heartbeat!  Both kiddos came out of class with smiles on their faces that reached right into their souls.  They are connecting with a new group of peers that can share and relate to this new life path which they are traveling.

And... sassy second child had a birthday!  What a spirit this kiddo is!  She had a bunch of giggly friends over for a party this weekend.  Totally girlie-girl time.  Yet this kiddo is really more about muck boots and shoveling poo.  She and most-recent-guy-friend broke up on Sunday.  Amicably.  And a new guy-friend asked her out.  I'm so darned proud of this kiddo!  She said, "not yet"!  Not yes, not no.  But not YET.  What a great answer!

Whooops... enough happy thoughts for today!  I just got called to sub!

Have a happy day!  Relax and enjoy the season!        

comedy of cats and dogs

I have a couple of new post ideas circulating, but haven't got time to write them this morning!  So here's an "oldie but goodie", originally published on my now-defunct Kwilting with Katie blog midwinter last year.  Enjoy!

It's been a wild weekend.... Just to set the stage leading up to Sunday night, our eighth-grader brought home her health class assignment, an electronic baby, on Friday. Friday night, the electronic baby was up every hour and a half. I was up every hour and a half with *my* baby who was panicking, afraid she was going to fail health class. Saturday morning, Addie, a very cute but exciteable dog that we are pet-sitting arrived. The afternoon was spent bowling with the acolytes then attempting to watch a concert that our oldest daughter was in. The electronic baby had other ideas.... Sunday, we rushed off late to church. Have I mentioned the electronic baby schedule? After church, Claire (the 8th-grader) had a friend over. Add one *more* electronic baby. Shannon (our youngest) lost a loose tooth Sunday afternoon; always a traumatic ordeal for her as she cries because the tooth is dangling by a thread but she doesn't want anyones fingers in her mouth. Our dog-on-loan spent the afternoon Sunday wedging herself between my knees and barking at every noise. Unless there was a glimpse of a cat. Then there would be a romping chase complete with barking, hissing, and spitting.

Sunday night arrives. The cats take shelter in the girls bedrooms far under the beds. The friend and extra baby go home. Claire's baby goes into a quiet schedule for a while. Addie and our dog sack out watching football with Don. And ice starts falling from the sky. Ahhhh! The perfect excuse to curl up with the girls and watch a movie we've been trying to find time to see.

All goes deceptively well until the girls go upstairs for bed. "Mom! One of the cats peed on my bed!" Right through two quilts. So... eleven-o-clock finds quilts churning in the washer and Don and I taking turns babysitting two cats and a dog in the bathroom enforcing a "get-used-to-each-other" approach. On one of my trips out of the bathroom, I discover that the tooth is *not* under the pillow. I also realize that with about a week's worth of work to go on the book proposal and a cat ignoring litterbox ettiquette, I need to remove all the quilts for the book from the house. When the enforced "time-in" for the animals ends, a big, hairy tooth fairy with a five-o-clock-shadow and a flashlight heads into the 10-year-old's room to look for a tooth while I start skating repeatedly across the driveway carrying armloads of quilts.

Just another quiet night at the Brown house....

"Hi, Baby!"

So, yeah, life is returning to normal around here.  Or semi normal.  Oldest kiddo got a kick out of my greeting when she walked into the house the other night....  "Oooooooh!  Look what I'm working on!  How was your day?  Hi, baby!"  (The last bit was addressed to the belly bump.)  Yup, talking to the bump is just part of our day now.

Actually, the kids and I joke that oldest kiddo must be pregnant with, "hi, baby!" since that is the way we all address oldest kid's tummy.  Youngest kiddo was sypathetic to the constant tummy-talking.  Just in case older sister ever found talking to the bump one sided, youngest kiddo suggested that it was ok to address *her* belly and say hello to dinner! 

Oh!  I also have a new name!  No grandma names seemed to fit me.  Sorry... but they all seemed a bit OLD.  And I refuse to utter that nasty, bad word.  Ever.  Eeeeeuw.... shivering!  The closest I could get to naming myself without gagging was G'amma.  Like taking the "r" out takes away the bad-word connotation....  But even that seemed a bit fuddy-duddy.  Until I burst out with a new idea while sitting at the table with my kidlets the other day!  I'm not just G'amma, I'm SUPER G'AMMA!!!!!  Yes, that would be "super" with a cape and mask and everything!  Ok, maybe skip the mask, it might scare the wee one.  But definitely a cape!  Like all the superheros!  Sooooo... now that I am a superhero, I can say my new name without gagging!

Super-G'amma!!!!!!

Well... that's the happy thought for today!  Or happy thoughts....  Never can seem to stick to just one!

Have a happy day!

Thanksgiving Day!

We opted for a quiet day at home this year!  After all the turmoil and confusion of the past couple of weeks, it was absolutely beautiful to enjoy a day at home with our family and just a couple of extra friends!  This is really just a "photo album" post.  More stories and humor next time!

 Smiley kiddo is still enjoying her Halloween costume!  I've always had to struggle to get her into a hat and keep it on her head long enough for her to forget that it is there.  But Smiley actually *pointed* to her zebra headgear this morning!  Here she is, ready to go pick up Grammie before our Thanksgiving feast!

Our kiddos stayed in their jammies most of the day.  And played with beads.  Even the teens....

So glad they're all grown up....

Our kid crew went for a short walk between dinner and dessert.  Not nearly a long enough walk to burn through the food consumed during the day, but, heck!  They managed to make serious inroads on dessert just the same!  (Note... smiley in the zebra hat is honing in on sassy second child's boyfriend again!)

The teen crew managed to figure out my tripod and camera timer for me!  So we actually have a photo of everyone!

 

Happy Thanksgiving from the Brown Family Crew!  Hope you had a wonderful day!



New Normal

I feel like I am emerging from a fog.  With sincere apologies for the lack of posting in the past couple of weeks.  Ummmm... several weeks.  Our family learned some BIG NEWS.  Yes, ALL CAPS BIG NEWS.  And I just wasn't ready to share.  Sooooo... now that the news is out and the fog is lifting, I'm ready to write again.  And dust and vaccuum and clean closets and rearrange furniture and shake out rugs and wash beds...  Oooops.  I diverge.  You're waiting for the news, not the to-do-list...

I'm going to be a grandma! 

Ummmm... a few years earlier than any of us anticipated.  Quite a few years earlier.  Hence the fog.  It has been a topsy turvy couple of weeks, with our world turned upside down and shaken vigorously.  We have two teen parents-to-be in shock and trying to figure out what paths their lives are going to follow now.  And a bunch of siblings with varying reactions.  And two sets of grandparents-to-be busy working out details for education (the teens), child care (the baby), living arrangements and how to support the teens and sibs.  Add to that all the people with staunch opinions about what we should do.  Or what the new parents-to-be should or shouldn't do.  I have been tempted to just go into lock-down mode.  Just shut our doors and hold our family close.

And then there are the glimpses of normal.  The friends who are able to just listen.  JUST... not the "just" like "a little thing" but like the "only" thing.  Friends who listen.  Who are able to be there.  Who say, "I'm here if you ever need to talk."  Who go for long walks or offer a cup of tea and an ear.  The friends that call or message just to say they love us.  I thank God for the people who can just be with us as we figure out our new normal.

Ah!  New normal... I first heard that phrase from a friend who was battling cancer.  How the happy, typical days sandwiched, meshed, sometimes collided with chemofunk days.  (For beautiful reading, check out green bananas cancer blog )  Now it seems to fit our lives.  As we emerge from two weeks of wandering around without noticing much of the world around us, we have little bits of normal peeking back into our lives.  Like sitting down to a wonderful dinner with our whole family and a couple of extra teenage friends.  Or hanging all the "winter" wall quilts, dusting, and cleaning up a stack of accumulated magazines.  And bits of New Normal... like chatting with my kiddo about changing the TV room into a bedroom for her and the little one.  Suddenly it is wonderful to plan a new room... bed, rocking chair, crib, changing table.  Or the little bursts of excitement as I look forward to meeting my grandchild!  There is the New Normal of anticipating college as a day student.  My kiddo wanted to attend college within two hours of home before this new path, so looking at colleges within an hour of home is not a disappointment to her.  And, of course, the New Normal of a very different junior and senior year of highschool than anticipated.  But different doesn't have to be worse.  Just different.

And there is the constant.  Love.  Our family.  The friends who love and support us.  The wonderful kids... the ones who live here, the ones who visit here.  This baby will be a blessing.  This baby will be loved.

Soooo... I'm leaving you with one more glimpse of normal.  We were given a couple of huge pumpkins right after halloween.  They sat on our porch as we wandered around in a fog.  Uncarved.  Unfinished.  This morning, walking back up from getting the littler kiddos on the bus, this sight caught my eye.  Hubby took a few minutes last night to carve us some goofy smiles!

Have a happy day!