This Moment {January 30, 2015}

This Moment {January 23, 2014}

This Moment {September 26, 2014}

This Moment {September 19, 2014}

This Moment {September 12, 2014}

This Moment {September 5, 2014}

This Moment {August 29, 2014}

on my sewing table:

3 finished objects to photograph and blog about, 2 that have been worn half a dozen times already.

3 Elsa dresses -- one for Eliza and the other two for my dear friend's girls. I've given myself a deadline of September 8th to have them delivered. The muslins fit all three of the girls, so I'm optimistic I'll make the deadline.

on the track/road:

I'm four weeks into marathon training again. This will be my fifth marathon run. (I've trained for eight!) I'm matching my pace or running faster than this time last year, so I'm convinced a BQ-qualifying time is possible for the race. There's some training-related fatigue, but going to bed by 10:00 helps.

 

on the nightstand:

Nurture by Nature: Understand Your Child's Personality Type

This one arrived at my doorstep after a conversation with my cousins about homeschooling Daniel. I'm an INTJ (MBTI Personality Type) and Ryan is an ENFP. We balance each other beautifully and have learned (and are learning) how to navigate life together as opposite personalities.

Homeschooling our children is a whole different ballgame. I'm trying to learn what motivates Daniel to want to learn and what discourages him. Things like tone of voice, word choice, and body language have profound effect on him, which is a totally foreign concept to me. Ryan's been trying to explain it for years, but you know. Sometimes it takes a book. (says the INTJ)  

Fascinating stuff. It's already proven immensely helpful.

at home:

We had new windows installed on the back of the house, and I'm making slow progress on the master bedroom. This week I rearranged the den and sewing room. After living in these spaces for a year, I had a better idea of where things should go.

I've finally gotten back into my routine of keeping the house in order. While my deep-cleaning routine still needs work, the house is neat and the floors are clean, which helps us all feel more peaceful. (Ryan likes the neatness, I'm the floor fanatic.)

on the school table:

We started officially homeschooling this week! Lee turns seven in a few weeks, so now The Law requires us to Do This For Real. We went to our first Classical Conversations co-op, and we've been easing into things for a couple of weeks at home. Our routine is incredibly flexible, but most mornings we start at 8:30 and spend three hours doing Bible, Math, Language Arts, and Memory Work. We do science and art at CC and will do music and art at our Fine Arts co-op on Fridays. 

We rest after lunch for an hour and afternoons are for playing outside with friends if they're home.

 

on the side:

Lee started Boy Scouts this week, and the boys are still doing karate two nights a week. They are learning wonderful things and enjoying karate. (Eliza can't wait to be in the class, too. Watching a three-year-old girl throw a mean jab is just about The Cutest Thing Ever.) Lee is over-the-moon excited about Boy Scouts. 

The boys learned how to swim! Their grandmother has taken them swimming a few times recently, and the last time I got in a pool with them they swam across the shallow end. I was in awe. 

current challenges:

Our days are more scheduled now, and our evenings were taken up this week with activities: karate, Bible study, back-to-school night, Boy Scouts. . . Ryan and I were two ships passing in the night. I'll lose my everlasting mind if this becomes the norm.

Mozart. He got sick again when the kids and I went to Memphis. I took him to the vet and she says he's in kidney failure. He's not going to die right away - especially since we're starting him on a prescription diet - but when I said, "Oh! So he could be around for another two or three years!" she said, "Um, no." After much discussion, we decided to board him while we're on vacation.

One good thing that's come from his illness: I haven't taken a single day with our cats for granted since. I'm grateful to have had a second chance with my ornery friend.

currently grateful:

For friends who know just what to say.

For a vibrant community of homeschoolers.

For a husband who doesn't blink at a neurotic cat and his neurotic human.

For healthy children.
For field trips to discover local treasures like a seminary and monastery. 

 

 Thanks for letting me catch up, friends!

This Moment {August 8, 2014}

This Moment {July 25, 2014}

This Moment {July 11, 2014}

Challenge Create and a Very Sick Cat

Audrey and the girls over at Skirt Fixation have created a fun challenge for sewing bloggers: Challenge Create: Fabric Swap Edition. The premise is that participants send each other fabric that fits a theme, and we can use the fabric we receive to create anything we want -- clothes, home decor, quilt -- anything. We sent/received two yards total, and I cannot wait to show you what I've created from the beautiful fabric I received from Amy and Tasha. My post goes live tomorrow. 

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We arrived home from vacation last week, and a day later VBS began for the boys at their grandparents' church. It was nighttime VBS, so they didn't get to bed until 9:30 five nights in a row (1.5 hours later than their regular summer bedtime). Our routine was severely out of whack, which is why it took us several days to realize our 14-year-old cat, Mozart, was very sick. (Our cats hide while the kids are awake. Really, who can blame them?)

He didn't eat anything for at least three days. (I suspect it was closer to four or five in hindsight.) Friday night I stayed up with him and held him. Neither of us slept, and although he didn't seem to be in any pain, he struggled to even hold his head up. It was pitiful. Saturday afternoon he couldn't even stand. He lay under the bed, completely still. Our other cat lay beside him the whole time; she didn't eat either. 

We all said our goodbyes. I was a MESS. 

I don't consider myself an animal person. A pet is a pet. A human is a human. I don't treat our cats like people, and while we feed them, clean them, and give them attention, the truth is there is a pecking order in our family and they are not at the top. Dressing pets in clothing confounds me. (LeeAnn is rolling her eyes.)

So imagine my surprise when this all started and I sobbed for two days straight. My heart was broken. As much as I gripe about the puking (which he loves to do immediately after I mop), sweeping up their messes, and cleaning cat hair from every available surface -- the truth is he's been with me for 14 years and I couldn't look at any spot in the house without imagining him there. He sits by me every single night, and if I'm sewing, he's in there with me. I couldn't bring myself to even go in the sewing room. If I'm blogging, he's lying across my lap, so typing on the computer was out of the question. (Which created a challenge for the deadline for the first part of this post, as you can imagine.)

14 years ago I was in a new city in a new career far from my family. Ryan was a poor graduate student in another city, and when a friend told him his wife was allergic to her new cat, Ryan offered to take the tabby home as my Christmas gift. One weekend when I arrived at his apartment in the wee hours of the morning to visit (my schedule was GRODY), I sneaked into Ryan's room to wake him. Suddenly a huge rat skittered across the floor! I screamed, and Ryan said, "Merry Christmas!" 

I certainly wasn't a cat person. My apartment complex (nor his) allowed pets without a deposit we couldn't afford. Mozart was a MEAN kitten. I was not thrilled. 

But Mo kept me company. He kept my secrets and listened to my dreams. He cuddled with me when I was lonely, homesick, or overwhelmed. He didn't mind that I stunk from smoking or stumbled in at all hours of the night. He knocked over my Christmas tree the first year I celebrated the holiday without my family. He rode shotgun with me every time I went home to Memphis to visit. (It gave the drive-thru workers a thrill to see a cat hanging his head out the window, meowing loudly at anyone who'd listen.) He stalked me, and slid down my legs when I'd get out of the shower. (He almost didn't survive that feat.) Ryan and I got married and added another cat to the mix. Mo reluctantly adjusted to that and our adding kids to the mix, too. He attacked me while I was breastfeeding Lee, and after a visit to the vet where I was instructed to "assert my dominance," we had a mutual understanding. We've gotten along swimmingly since.

He's moved six times in 14 years. He's a tough cat.

Late Saturday night I brought food to him again and begged him to eat. He stood up, wobbled over the bowl, and ate three bites. Later when I checked on him he did it again. Then he emptied the bowl. (Our youngest cat still didn't eat to allow him to fill up. If you've seen her -- all 25 pounds of her -- you know that in itself is a miracle.) He's very, very slowly working his way back. He's alert again and moving more easily. The vet recommended watching and waiting -- taking him in could set him back again. 

So we wait. And watch. And hope and pray for just a little more time. And really, I'm also praying for a second chance to show him that even though I'll never put him in a tutu or call him my "baby," he's a pretty important part of our family and I'm glad he's here. Puke and shedding hair and bad breath and all.

Happy Birthday, Eliza Gail!

Happy Birthday, Eliza Gail.

Your favorite book is The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but I should also list The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Corduroy, and Pocket for Corduroy as among your favorites this year. We have them all memorized.

Your favorite food is strawberries. Banana nut bread is a close second. Also, anything on anyone else's plate.

Your favorite toys right now are the My Little Pony horses you got at your birthday party.

I asked, "What will you be when you grow up?" You answered, "BIG." That's perfect, my girl. You may not be big physically, but you have a HUGE personality and spirit.

The world is a better place because you were born, Love.

Five Years Old

Happy Birthday, Daniel Webb.

Your favorite food is spaghetti, which you eat piled high with parmesan. Your favorite toy is your (and your brother's) Angry Birds, which you stack and position -- you can name each and every little rubber bird and piggie in your collection. Your favorite book is The Star Wars Character Encyclopedia, which you've committed to heart. You want to be a roboticist, and if that ends up being your profession, I wouldn't be a bit surprised. It's fitting, my boy.

The world is a better place because you were born, Love.

This Moment {May 23, 2014}

If you're blessed to see this lovely woman today, please tell her "Happy Birthday" and give her a hug from us.

The world is a better place with you in it, Mom.

This Moment {April 25, 2014}

This Moment {April 11, 2014}

This Moment {April 4, 2014}

This Moment {January 17, 2014}

Eliza decided to do away with diaper wearing yesterday.

In our experience, potty training has been anti-climactic. We wait until they decide to stop wearing diapers (usually around 2 years, 8 months or so), and that's it. It's done. I mean, there are a few accidents, but it's no big deal.

This time made us tear up a little. It'll be our first time since 2007 without a baby in diapers.

In my memory, this stage of motherhood will always be immortalized by little bottoms in superhero undies. Melt. My. Heart.

This Moment {January 10, 2013}

We've got sick ones this week. I've been battling piggy-backing viruses - first a head cold, now a chest cold - for going on two weeks. The marathon is in three weeks, so. Well. Goals have been amended.

Lee and Ryan caught the chest cold, and poor Lee gets coughs bad enough to rattle the rafters, lose his voice, and keep him from sleeping.

We started back to school this week, and I worked in two sewing lessons. He was thrilled. It was a special time for us both.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I'll be sharing three outfits next week that have me pretty excited. (The Girl really likes them. Let's hope she lets me photograph them.)

This Moment {January 3, 2013}