my mother's day present

check out the beautiful necklace made just for me by my sweet goddaughter, darby. i feel pretty special because she only made me one, not her mom or grandmas or aunts. it has lots of funky fun beads on it - i love it! miss g does too thanks darby for such a pretty present! i love you!


& here is gracie in her pillowcase dress. of course, she's holding her best friend, blue.

insomnia

i can't sleep for the second or third night in a row. ugh. too much going on in my head...
i have my sewing machine back, so i've been messing around on it, which is sometimes frustrating but fun.

last night i made a bag. it's quite a funky bag out of some place mats and a tacky old tie. it's the perfect bag to sling over your body and carry the necessities. remember the place mats, karen?

tonight i made gracie a pillowcase dress out of a pillowcase from a yard sale this weekend. this is about the only thing i can make. here's some good directions on how to make one. you would think a former engineer could handle sewing with patterns, but i don't have the patience to even try.
i have an extra pillowcase & fitted sheet if anyone wants it!

here's my first "big" project i've sewn. i made a comforter for gracie's big girl bed someday. it's scrap chenille pieces & an old sheet of my grandparents is the backing. i used yo-yos to tie my knots in the comforter for some extra pizazz. there is a lot of character, aka mistakes on this blanket. but it was made with a bunch of love.

well, off to try & get some sleep...nighty night!

tailgating

daddio made it home from work before bedtime today. it was even daylight! the kids were so eggcited (excited in benglish) to see his truck pull in the driveway. we have really missed him the past few weeks.
ben suggested we sit in the back of daddio's truck & "chat for a little while about our day". so that is just what we did.
ben told daddio about our picnic, yardsales we visited, playing with water sticks & playing frisbee. they had the best time just jumping from one side of the truck bed to the other.

my kiddos made some great artwork with chalk today. it's on places the rain doesn't wash it away, so it will likely be on display for a while.

hope everyone has a great weekend! daddio is looking forward to some rest & i can't wait to go to some yardsales tomorrow (we are hoping to find a swingset!)....

a clue, a clue!

oh, how we love blue's clues. when mr. ben was around 2, he could not get enough of blue's clues. we all loved watching that show! i don't know what we would have done without blue's clues at that time. it was when gracie was a newborn & we were struggling for some sanity in our household. steve & blue seemed to make everything better with their songs, clues & advice that we could do anything that we want to do.

for halloween that year, we dressed up as the blue's clues bunch.
ben was less than thrilled about wearing his costume that year.
sadly, after ben's 2nd birthday he moved on from blue's clues & on to big boy shows. right now, phineas & ferb is his favorite. i think that's the engineering blood in him.

we have had a revival of blue around the house. miss gracie has discovered the love for "buu buu" as she calls it. ben has been a great big brother & finding some fun in the old shows now too. he will notice things like steve & his daddio have the same belt, or will crack up at a joke or something now. i think i have all the episodes memorized now, but it is keeping everyone happy here & distracting them from daddio's crazy work hours (from 10am to 1 am for example).

we also now have gracie's 2nd birthday planned out, reusing the blue's clues theme from ben's 2nd birthday.

sunday at papaw's

we had a good time at pap's today. he was in good spirits. we ate chicken & dumplings, asparagus, green beans & had strawberry shortcake for dessert (no wonder i am fat).
after lunch we planted a few things into the garden (it was too wet).



we mowed the grass
i started out on it, but apparently wasn't doing it right & was fired. justin & ben took over. whatever.


pap's tumor keeps getting bigger. gracie was calling it an apple today (1 of her 100 words she says) here is papaw in his high school glory days. i think he was a hottie. (i still think he's a handsome man)
hope everyone has a great week. for us, this week is full of running around with pap. chemo treatment tomorrow & then radiation wednesday - friday. thank god we have dvd players in the van to keep the kiddos occupied. i am also thankful that we are able to help him out & take him to these appointments. i like to be there, holding his hand.

monkey toes

coloring with your hands & fingers is just too old school, any kid can do that... much more fun to use your toes.

she's my little monkey

happy momma's day!

i wanted to wish a happy mother's day to all the special women in my life.

damaw: thank you for being my mom, giving me life and showing me what unconditional love is. we've had our moments (i'm sorry), but we have worked through them. i love you. i'm always here for you.

namaw: thank you for raising 2 awesome people. your son is as close to perfect as i've seen and i know you and poppy are to thank for that. thank you for all you do for us & the kiddos. when you cared for ben while gracie was in the hospital, that meant so much to me. thank you.

my great aunt dee dee, thank you for always being there for me. you are always here at a moments notice to help out in any way. you are the lady i want to be when i grow up.

janet and lori, thank you for all your help throughout my journey of becoming a mom. you have always been there to help, not pressuring your advice but giving it if asked for. i have always looked up to you 2 as my sisters.

ash, aub, allie, kristen and jen: you are all such awesome young women who i am thankful are special aunties and cousins to the kids. thank you for all being such rolemodels for my kiddos (& me) to look up to. i am glad to know they will have you to go to for advice when they don't want to talk to their dorky parents. i hope someday you all have kids auntie sara can spoil to pieces! :)

aunt peg: thanks for always looking out for me. i know you always have had us girls' best interest in mind, even if it wasn't what we wanted to hear.

aunts jane, linda, donna, maryann, lisa, jill, robin, cousins monica,jennifer, january, krista, melinda, and others: i must admit the first time i met the family i was a bit overwhelmed at the amount of people and chatter. but, you all made me feel like a welcome addition to the family right away. thanks. we really enjoy the time we get to spend with yall.


karen, melissa, amy, angie, deb, beth, sheryl, jennifer and autumne: thank you my fellow momma friends. you help me through each day. play dates, phone calls, blog comments; the little things really brighten up a dreary day. thank you.

i hope all you ladies have a great day on mother's day.
here's a story from one of my favorite brian andreas storypeople stories:

someday, the light will shine like a sun through my skin & they will say, what have you done with your life? & though there are many moments i think i will remember, in the end, i will be proud to say, i was one of us.

i am proud to be a part of all of your lives. love to all!sara

happy birthday mike!

we hope you have a great one!

beano's latest tune

daddio has been working crazy hours; gets home when we are asleep & goes to work anywhere from 9 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. here's ben's song to daddio, ready for him to get up!
>please pardon miss gracie's mouth full of food while talking. she's still learning that's not polite.

my kiddos

my kiddos have been very "wild up" as ben calls it tonight. they were stomp dancing on top of our dining room table. they were having the best time. so, of course i didn't stop it, i got out the camera. best buds.
thinking up somthing to do...
i hope they are always close.
my dirty faced & dirty clothed little miss. still a beauty i think.
i can no longer get him to smile for me, little stinker.

i love my kids. i love how they love me and give me the great big sloppy, sometimes snotty kisses. i love how they can make anything fun. they are reteaching me the joy & wonderment of being a child. i hope they enjoy the life lessons i am teaching them & don't look back on me as a mean mom who made them carry their tricycle up the hill or sent them to their room for talking back or being disrespectful (we've had some of those days lately). my kiddos, you are so special to me. i thank god for you so many times during the day. i don't know how i got so lucky to have you and your daddio as my husband. thank you beano & cecee for letting me be your mom.