Oh no, it has started..

Great, Caden has ventured into the land of talking back. No returning to the sweet, innocent days of respect. I simply told him that he needed to eat his popsicle at the table or he would have to go to his room (without said popsicle). He quipped "you have to catch me first". .. What?! What was that that came out of my formerly sweet four year old's mouth? Needless to say he was quite surprised that his decrepit old mother could move so quickly and put him in his room. Oh boy.

Belated..

Happy belated anniversary to Paul's parents! Paul reminded me to send a card the day before and, well, um, ...I didn't. Sorry...there you have it, I am a slacker! But I did remind him to call (but he didn't need it). Paul is quite homesick, the holidays will do that.

Also, happy belated thanksgiving. We had a nice quiet celebration just the three of us. Sometimes it is nice to have quiet times, but I think we would much prefer to be around family and friend for the holidays. We received about 18 inches of snow for Thanksgiving. Now is is quite warm and we had thunderstorms with lots of rain. All of the snow is gone, including "snow turtle". What is snow turtle you may be asking, well, our kid adopted a chunk of snow and named him turtle. He toted that chunk of snow around all day. (when he was outside) He even asked to stick him in the freezer! Mr. Smarty-pants!

Nothing much else is happening. We are settling into the new house nicely. And I figured out that sewing isn't like riding a bike. You can't just go back to it without a learning curve. Thus, we do not have curtains. Everything is ready to be stitched up, I have gone through one whole spool of thread, and I still haven't figured out this sewing machine. I have a simple machine, but I got the drop in bobbin thingy, (everyone said it was so much easier), well, not so easy for me. If I could afford lessons, I would be there! Trust me, I need them.

I have been going to some new type of physical therapy for my nerve disease. It is called Felden Krais. It is really weird, but somehow, someway it does seem to help a lot of people. (http://www.feldenkrais.com/) It is supposed to re-teach your autonomic system how to move correctly. Different.

For all you lucky Grandparents and relatives, I have decided to help you out with Caden's wish list!
1. He loves anything to take apart and put together, like lincoln logs etc. (he doesn't have lincoln logs), mega blocks castle, geo trax
2. socks (this is my request)
3. a tee pee or fort like this (this one is from pottery barn..kinda pricey)

4. a leapster, once again, pricey, but we are looking to work on fine motor skills and concentration, this seems like a way to help out with that.

5. he is really into scooby doo right now.
6. a skateboard (not that mom and dad are thrilled about that request, but he does have a helmut)
7. games like operation, candyland etc (we only have hi-ho cherry-o)
8. an all terrain remote control vehicle kinda like this:
Something that goes on land and snow and water, he always is asking for one.

Just a few ideas, he loves anything with wheels etc.. He will love anything, I just know that it is difficult to Christmas shop for kids! (He wears size 6, 13 shoes, 8 pj's, and is quite tall and long-as you all know)

Things I am loving..

From www.freepeople.com, I love this ornament.


Jeremiah Ketner's work found here
and here


Daniel Chang's works found at www.danielchang.net


These relief paintings are also very cool, by Alena Hennessey, which can be found at www.alenahennessy.com

That was then..this is now...

our backyard:)

We Made it!

We are all moved in. It is wonderful to have our very own house. This is the picture of us and all our leaves!

We have made piles and even tried to burn them, but they are too wet from the snow that we received. Ah, the responsibility of home ownership! I have no idea why these leaves are stressing me, but they are!

We moved right before the weather turned. In fact, the final part of the move was in the cold rain. Here are some pictures my mom's friend took of the pier when we had some wild weather.




The weather here is always fun, something new everyday. Tonight it is supposed to start snowing again and it isn't supposed to stop until the end of the week.

Hopefully life will get back into the normal swing of things soon. We are so thankful to be in the new house.

tuned out..

That is how I have been feeling lately, tuned out. Everything is whirling around and here I am just trying to hold it down. We will be moving Monday, we sign all the paperwork tomorrow for the new house. We are living in the midst of boxes and clutter, just the way that I cannot tolerate. I despise clutter. I think it is because I have so much going on in my mind, I cannot have it all out in my house, my refuge from the world, also. Well, all things are good, and I am not trying to complain. The good news is that we are quick at unpacking and getting organized. Yippee, we are getting closer to the end.

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. We will be going out to pizza which is our little tradition that was created when Paul, Caden and I moved here a few years ago. It is nice to have some sort of family tradition, I didn't really grow up with any.

The job news is also good, it may or may not be permanant (ok with me) depending on how we all feel. I only have four days for this month and they don't start until the 23rd. So that will give us a lot of time to move in and get organized.

In other news, I have come upon a few cool things in my internet perusings...


By Jeremiah Ketner


by Fumi Watanabe, I love her work, I would love to get one for our new house! (not going to happen, too much right now :(


I totally adore these salt and pepper shakers by Perch. All of the above item can be found here

I also love Eendar's work:


It makes me so excited to be able to buy the rest of the supplies I need to use my kiln.

Big News...

The house loan is done and ready for signing! We should be in our new house by mid-November. Yahoo! We are so relieved and excited, and a little bit nervous.

In other big news, I have had a job offer too good to not try. My disability allows for a five month exploration of jobs. It has never been my life's' aspiration to be disabled, but sometimes you have to take the deal that has been dealt. This job is part-time (I know I am not healthy enough to work full-time), pays really well, and is a job share. Caden would end up spending only two afternoons in daycare. I think it will be a good move for all. I will have more crafting money (yes!) and I think it will help me feel a little more secure in life. (Not so dependent) I seem to have reached a stable point where palliative measures (lots of meds and MD appointments) have helped me not to get any worse. Also, this job seems to be not very physically demanding, and I wouldn't have to sit all the time either. We will see, only time will tell. The way we see it, it doesn't hurt to try. I already looked up all the ceramic supplies that I will need to make use of my kiln! Truly exciting. I find out more on Monday morning, while Caden is in preschool.

Big changes, but good. Paul's car is still broken, but at least now we know what is wrong with it (top half on engine..about $4000) We will get is fixed soon, after all this house stuff is final. We have been so blessed. A wonderful person from church has loaned us a car in the meantime. So so very blessed. My hopes have been raised, life can be good!

I will leave you with some beautiful illustrations by Ana Ventura

He did it again..

ooooh scary



This is reminiscent of the corn kernel in the ear incident, so mother's of young toddlers beware! Caden has done it again. This time it involved an orange tic tac and his nose. I gave him a tic tac, turned my back for two seconds, and in those two seconds, he inserted it into his nose. UGH! Orange syrup was dripping from his nostril, Caden freaked out. I asked him to blow his nose, it didn't budge. I was sort of relieved to see that it was melting, but also had the fear in the back of my head that he cold inhale it and who knows what would occur then?...It dislodged itself in very little time. Caden will not talk of this tic tac incident, and seem quite traumatized by the whole incident. Maybe this will keep him from inserting small objects into his nose and ears. I am losing my faith, but maybe, just Maybe, the lesson has been learned.

Pumpkin time

Caden wanted a scary pumpkin..Here it is in all its glory (err gore-y...hehe;)

Including spaghetti hair and red colored sugar lips that turned out to look bloody. ewe.

Paul and Caden in the middle of our creation.

love

beautiful movie by Cube studio.
Isn't love grand? hehe