Getting closer.

The last two days I have been working on my word art.

I finished outlining the words today!

Now I just have to paint the whole thing.

I'm so happy with how it's turning out!

Not perfect but it'll do.

Extra Large Snowflake

Davis has been making snowflakes for years.

This year he started making them at school and he gave some away. Well for a price. He got a candy bar and some money in return.

The teacher in charge of the winter dance asked him to make 20 for decorations (two extra large, 10 medium and 8 small). 

He has 11 more to make.

He was especially proud of the extra large one (he used poster board) and insisted I take a picture and send it to his brother and married sister.

He is so excited to spend the money he can hardly wait!

Rian, Ellie the cat and the half moon sun spot.

I so love little Miss Sunshine!

Dance Rian, dance.

Love the leg action. So cute!
Do you think she is trying to give me a kiss at the beginning because if that's true that just melts my heart into a big gigantic pile of goo!

Lunch and magic.

Jeff and I try to go out to lunch every week on Monday.

Sometimes we have to change the day of the week.

Sometimes it just doesn't work out

but we keep on trying because it may be the only chance we get to go out.

Last week we went out on Wednesday for lunch.

There was no school so Davis came with us

and Britni was able to meet us there.

We went to Marley's in the Provo Riverwoods

(they have one in the ultra cool and recycled Harley Davidson place in Lindon too).

They mostly have sliders and we have gone there a few times.

I had the pulled Turkey slider with avocado, lettuce, tomato, onions and mushrooms.

I also had the side salad but made Jeff order the large string french fries so we could share.

Yummy!

Britni had the grilled chicken. 

Davis had the Filet Mignon.

Right in front of the place is a Zoltar fortune telling machine.

Just like in the Movie Big (1988 Tom Hanks classic).

None of us have turned back to being a kid

(well sometimes we may act like kids)

but I always love going out to lunch!

It really is magic.

The one that got away and the $5 deal.

This poor guy was left by the cake topper bride and was all by himself. Left alone to mull over this pastel landscape painting. Sad. Sad. Sad.

I think she left him for this guy. How could he ever measure up?

All she wanted to do was play this game.

I did think these were amazing but at $50 each and one was cracked. No so much.

I did bring this baby home for $5! However, I offered it to Britni. The side tables lift up and it triples the work space. Perfect for a small cute apartment! Score!

I love this little country home. Everything about it is delightful!

This is so very cute. You may just pass out!

I love all of these and they make me think of my built-in bookshelves.

These are gorgeous!

I LOVE all of these too.

I should have made this and this sweet little thing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We went to an extended family Thanksgiving last Saturday

(so we got our Turkey fix)

and today it will be just the four of us

(we have to share married kids).

So, we are going to IHOP for dinner

(per Sheyla's request since she is still sick

and doesn't like much meat and gets sick easily with smells.

We are happy not to make and clean up a big mess).

We are also going to see the Muppet movie today!

We are also going to play kick-ball with some cousins!

What fun!

Peas and Carrots.

 They watch her every move. Even when she is eating an apple.

 Little Frodo loves her most. He is ecstatic when she comes over.

 Truly. Little Miss Sunshine.

 She loves kitties too.

 So happy.

 Love.

True love.

a desktop and three poems.

Months and months ago when Davis was recovering from foot surgery

and he was so very bored

we went to DI (a thrift store) to look and see what we could find.

We found an old orange and white iMac.

Davis was excited to see if he could get it to work.

Get it to work he did 

and he has wanted to sell it ever since.

We came up with a plan last week

and yesterday he cleaned his desk 

(I got years ago from the same place for $15 and painted it black)

and computer in his room

and I took some pictures and posted it on an online classified ad.

Let the phone calls begin!

Here are three of Davis's poems that he recently wrote.

Occasionally he will write poems just to write

or to make up songs.

It's good for him to write some of his deepest thoughts.
He amazes me every day.

Can't see the forced hands upon my eyes
Truth cannot be touched by a living Animal
But ways to get over the fight
inside of me
can result in misery.


My battered bones crushed from a heavy weight
cannot be replaced by a single toothpick
Not a single person knows the way I think
I can't show my sorrows expression
to endredful pain in my chest


Trying to talk with gesture
from my hands to toes
can't prove a message that I'm not prepared.

I love this! Dancing, Happiness and Joy connect us all!

New Pillows.

A little less than 2 years ago I covered some pillows for our window seat.

So two years ago! 

I was itch'n for some new ones

and so I went to Target (bought 3) and Pier One
(that's where I got the two on the far right)

and kept two old black and white ones from Ikea.

I really love them all!

I actually kept all the pillows and put them downstairs

(that will be another project...someday).

The turkey pillow I made a while ago but I doubt I could find the post about it

but you can find the place I got the free pattern here.

She is one of my favorite on-line artist.

Now I will have to come up with something new 

for the long art on the sides of the window seats

(but using the same boards and coming up with something to paint myself.
Pinwheel painting stuff here).

I may have to get my new staple gun 

out to recover the dining chairs right next to the window seat!

Oh, the projects keep coming!

Bring it on!

Here are some things I found:

 The cutest things here and here.

 Wow here!

So sweet there.

I want to make this, and this. And this, and this star. 

And maybe these.

LOVE this. And this here. So simply beautiful.

Take my license and all that jive. I can't drive 55.

As Davis and I were walking to the antique/vintage store
(from our truck in the parking lot)

I saw in my periphery someone in the drivers seat of a truck.

As I walked closer and the someone got larger and larger,

I noticed that the someone was actually a gigantic furry dog.

He seemed ready to drive out yonder to explore the great unknown.

Or maybe he just wanted to chase a cat.

Either way, it made me laugh!

Gratitude.

Gratitude is the memory of the heart.

~Jean Baptiste Massieu

Gratitude is an art of painting an adversity into a lovely picture.

~Kak Sri

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. 

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos, into order, 

confusion into clarity....

It turns problems into gifts, failures into success,

the unexpected into perfect timing, 

and mistakes into important events.

Gratitude makes sense of our past,

brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

~Melodie Beattie

I am Grateful for:

1. Beautiful blue skies.
2. a truck to drive and drive.
3. a husband who loves me!
4. a breathtakingly beautiful and a safe, mostly sheltered place in which to live.
5. a mostly healthy body and chances to get even healthier.
6. Children that I adore (and son and daughter-in-law too).
7.  Silly Little Miss Sunshine.
She really loves to laugh and make us laugh!
8. Pets who make me smile.
9. my husbands job and especially for how hard he works
and all that he puts up with; for our family.
10. being able to stay home for my kids, my husband and for myself
(I will always be grateful to be able to sleep every night---
that never gets old).

I like my hair today.

Ok.

I washed my hair yesterday 

and today I just got in the shower to clean myself

and just got my hair a little wet

then I put a little product in my hair

and I didn't even brush it and it dried just like this

(ok maybe not everyone is going to like it but that doesn't even matter).

I don't like my hair everyday.

Pretty much every other day I feel like a big dork

(see that second picture or even the first....a dork).

My bathroom is a disaster and so is my closet.

I bought some felt today but I don't know if I will get to the project I'm thinking about.

I have a mountainous pile of laundry to fold.

I heard from the school teacher again today and it wasn't good.

Life still feels a little out of control.

But today, I like my hair.

11-11-11

Thank you to all the men and women 

who have fought, served and even died for our country.

I'm grateful to my husband for helping me keep it together.

He's pretty great and I don't tell him often enough!

Today we are meeting with Lawyers

to wrap up applying for Guardianship for Davis.

He turned 18 two months ago 

and these very difficult weeks 

have kicked us in the "you know where" to finish it.

We get to babysit once again for our sweet little Miss Sunshine later on today

(and my amazing husband is getting her early and will watch her while I am away for awhile).

She is one silly little girl who makes us smile and laugh

(and we adore her parents too).

Our hearts burst with love for her.

Our sweet indomitable Britni has been very sick

with a visit to the ER this week.

I'm taking her to have a test at the hospital today

and we hope they find out what is going on with her.
Update:  The test went well and Britni is ok! That's a relief!

Her cute husband has been taking good care of her

while he is training to be a CNA so he can work

(it's not easy to find a job even after you graduate from college)

while she works part time and goes to college

and before he applies for and attends Medical School.

They are one busy sweet little family.

Sheyla is showing the slightest signs of improvement

but not enough for her to get out of the house

more than 2 or 3 times in a week.

We are hoping and praying that she continues on an ever increasing trajectory of wellness.

I don't frequently get to all the many fun and varied projects that I'd like

but every once in awhile I get to dabble and it makes me happy.

I am loving this and this and this.

And that and that and that. And this too.

I think I could live in an industrial loft (and something about these I like).

These make me smile (here and here and here).

That's a lot!

Remember, it is MY blog!

"The love of a family is life's greatest blessing." 

"Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted."~Paul Pearshall

Here's to not taking them for granted.

"Family life is full of major and minor crises--the ups and downs of health, success and failure in career, marriage, and divorce--and all kinds of characters. It is tied to places and events and histories. With all of these felt details, life etches itself into memory and personality. It's difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul."~Thomas Moore

That's beautiful.

Bravery

Davis started hearing voices when he was 10.

After trying several different medications we finally found a mix that helps him

but every once in awhile he will hear voices again.

Not only is he high functioning Autistic

 he also deals with pervasive anxiety

and occasional psychotic episodes.

The last couple of weeks he has been hearing voices again
and he hears it almost all day long.

Sometimes they tell him what to do
and it's usually not good things.
He tries very hard to ignore the voices.

Usually it's a bunch of voices that he can't understand.

 It's a loud and jumbled mess and by the end of the day 

when things are winding down and he is no longer busy 

and no longer distracted by whats going on around him

he has difficulty calming down 

and all that cacophony makes his head hurt.

The doctor made a change with the medicine

and until that can help 

he is trying to function at school and else where

with the bravery of a warrior.

Last night at school they held a Make a Wish fundraiser for a little boy.

Each club at school had a table and gave away food, dessert or candy.

Davis is the President of the Gold Panning club

and he wanted to be there for this activity.

The halls were brimming with people from the community

wanting to help this little boy with his wish.

Davis usually has difficulties with hallways filled with people

but Davis wanted to help this little boy and participate with the other clubs.

He excitedly and bravely stood by to mark the punch cards of people that came by his table.
I marveled at him as he tried so hard to be there for two whole hours
(and for coming a little early to set up)
with the noise and bustle of all those people walking, talking and laughing.
Finally the night was over and we went home and he slowly got ready for the night.
He once again asked if I could tuck him in and talk with him as he tries to fall asleep.
He moans in pain and is restless
(he complains of his head hurting but describes it as not a pain that can be helped with Tylenol
but a pain in his head caused by so many voices that's just too much).
This night he doesn't ask me,
like he has on other nights,
how to make the voices stop or what he can do to make them stop.
He finally tells me I can go and says to turn off the light
(with the small glow of a night light to give some comfort).
He's ready to drift off to sleep.
In the morning he's ready to try once again,
to take on the day.

Busy Little Bee.

Happy Friday!

The family is the Country of the heart.

~Giuseppe Mazzini

This is one of the colors I thought I wanted to paint my bedroom. 

I love the moodiness of that rich color.

Look at this art studio and her art! Love!

Love this list! Especially 6, 16, 17, 18, 21, 25, 32

This is so sweet.

I want to make these.

Love all of this.

And this.

No. No. Yes.

Yes.

The before is red.

Yes. 

I am having a hard time choosing.

Yes.

I actually have tried three other colors.

So the first two pictures are a no and no.

Yes.

I am glad that I got paint samples. 

I'd hate to paint my room over more than the two paint layers it will take to cover the red.

Yes.

I am not done with my word art.

I am getting excited about how it's going to look on our bedroom wall!

Yes. 

It's going to be groovy!

 

Glittering trees and 10 things that make me happy.

As I was walking the dogs

I noticed the beautiful trees were glittering in the sun.

I had my cell phone and that's what I used.

Last week was a really difficult week.

There are a few things that I can do 

to prevent myself from going under

(as in; trying to keep my head above water).

One of which is to think about things that make me happy

(and counting my many blessings).

Here it goes:

1. Beautiful blue skies.

2. A husband that tries to make me laugh.

3. Little Miss Sunshine's smile.

Even if it's just seeing her picture.

4. A friend to go with to the movies.

Even if the movie is bad.

5. An art project to work on.

Even if it's just pretending.

6. Paint samples to test on my bedroom walls.

7. Harry Potter Lego's.

Even if (or especially when) my daughter puts together the whole thing.

8. Making homemade macaroni and cheese

in my new little individual blue bowls.

9.  Good music that can calm a troubled child's mind.

10. A blue ceiling and dandelion lights.

November 1st

All photos taken from my back porch with a really really long lens. Really. Really lucky.