Westwoods

And here is some of the fun we had at the reunion. I got to play ball with Toria and a bunch of little nephews and nieces. We ate lots of yummy food. This chicken was the best! Some of the guys went fishing and they were yummy too that night along with the chicken. I mean the fish, not the guys...Har har!!! :] I think the most fun was visiting with the family. Lots of visiting and coffee and diet coke.

Arla, stop talking, we're posing for this sister picture... Amy, your lips are fine. O.K. Cheesy grins all... Amy, good job. Who did I have run my camera for this? Yes, Arla, you are in the picture. Your head fits too. I'm looking at the sky. I think. Amy's wondering when will this be over? I feel a little giddy with sister silliness. About now someones complaining of looking like a barn? I guess we are in Wisc. Could there be any parallels? I figured out whats wrong, Aprils not with us and we can't get this pose right at all... It was so fun to laugh with Evie again. God, give her the strength to stay in you through this time of upheaval in her family... O.K. that's all for now... I'll try to do a continuation of the reunion later.

My Baby is five. We celebrated at home, just us, with a castle cake which turned out like my cakes always turn out. {which means they hardly look similar to the idea I was after.} Aargh! Oh well, she enjoyed it all as if it did turn out picture perfect. The neighbor girls came down and played with the girls in the front yard for a hour. They are the girls ages and so Toria and Shaunti go out to join them as often as we allow them. I feel sad that my baby is five but also very blessed to be her mommy. I want to write down all my mixed up thoughts on motherhood but right now my brain is dead... So happy Birthday Dear Shaunti! We love you!

O.K. Here's the picture...

The ledge my baby is standing on is magnificent. One miss-step and it would be a sure, sudden death. We took the kids camping in Canook Basin about three weeks ago. I can now look at this picture without my stomach lurching all over the place. When I took the picture, my instincts were screaming for loved ones to please move away from the edge. I'm not afraid of heights. Just extremely, high drop offs. There's a difference right? Bruce recommended that I spend a hour looking over the edge as close as possible. He thought surely then my stomach would relax and then I could truly train myself from worry each time I watched my four year old glibly walk or run along the edge. He's a good man. He's what I need. He just doesn't understand that a hour of standing on the edge of nowhere isn't really my kind of thing. At the time this was not a good moment, but now, three weeks later, it's a good memory. Shaunti turns five this week and that picture with her daddy pu...

I need a pattern... This is the front and the bottom pic. is the back or other front... It's made out of fabric scaps and other things laying around so I guess it could be called a repurposed, reversable apron. Anyhow, does anyone have a real pattern or more ideas? My projects that inspire me, like the greenhouse and sewing crafts are my interpretation of my moms "You need fifty cows to milk" . If you don't know what that means ask her. :]

They are attempts to say what's on the heart. To explain why I did what I did. Words. Words. Words. Why so many of them? Words can do so much. They can tear something to bits. They can heal and soothe a broken spirit. They can bite and devour. They can encourage and build up. Words show my attitude. Words show the emotion I'm feeling at the moment. They have no secrets. The words I use can be taken opposite of what I'm trying to express. So much involved in communicating... Sometimes I communicate best by listening in silence. True communicating takes more than words. Words by themselves are just that. Communicating takes proper timing. Is my attitude showing? What is it showing? Are my words gentle and kind? Words... so easy to say. So hard to undo. So hard to say what I'm really thinking. So humbling. Not fun to be misunderstood. Wish I could fix things by using more words. Realize the redundancy of that. God's Word... Thy Word i...