How clean is your house? Couldn't help my studio...

I don't want these chicks visiting my house. Have you seen this show,
How Clean is Your House?"? Well, Dish network lets you preview a channel for a month in hopes that you'll upgrade your TV package. This month, I've been watching the BBC. Most of it isn't my thing, but these ladies are a scream. I saw them on Lifetime for awhile, but they've not been back. I think it's the whole corporate thing because they use things around the house to clean with instead of store bought products. It does amaze me the houses they go into. Most of the time, it's houses that haven't been touched in a number of years.

I think my 'studio' of sorts embarrasses Hunnybunny. You know, the tablecloth on the wall with various and sundry blocks and borders. Then there's the whole fabric everywhere in our bedroom thing, along with my thread, needle, and now sewing machine collections. He's really been a good sport about it all. I try to keep it organized, but I still fall short.
Still working on my Quilt of Valor. It had some issues (operator error type issues)that Debra helped me with over the phone. That was kind of cool....now when I read her blog, it's like I can hear her voice. No picture of my mess today. I don't want the quilt police to make a house call.

Parenting three generations

I know, I know....I brought it on myself. Having kids every ten years or so was probably not the smartest thing I've ever done, that is, NERVE-WISE. All I can say is that God Almighty has a great sense of humor. Let's take Exhibit A, the Legal Adult. I never have to take pictures of him now that he's grown. All I have to do is download the ones he took of himself with my digital camera. There's always 3 or 4. And he does such a good job, maybe photography should've been his thing. Lately, it's been hard being on the sidelines. While most guys his age are becoming more independent, it's not the case here. So many things I wanted to teach him, and now he's a grown man. I want be close to him without appearing to be the nagging mother. So, needless to say, I'm looking for new ways to communicate that validate him. He's a smart guy, just made some bone-head choices, like we all did at that age. I wish he knew how proud I am of the things he has accomplished in spite of setbacks. Telling him doesn't seem to work, so I guess after all these years I don't know my son's love language. Looks like I'll be heading to the library.
Exhibit B- The Rock Star. Puberty, girls, growing pains, acne, "You-hate-me" conversations...this pretty much sums up middleschoolers, so I guess I'm on track with all that. Fortunately for me he has an outlet in his art and music so the angst hasn't gotten the better of him....or me. He's a good student, just trying to figure out girls, and what makes the world go 'round.




And last but not least, Exhibit C....the Dyl Pickle.

I don't know if I have any words for this except, "Lord, give me strength!" Rambunctious, tenacious, hard-headed, determined, fun-loving, and mind-boggling. He will argue about the fact the letter you showed him was "A 'K', Mommy, not an "R"!" but can read words like 'ordinary' on the computer. Pickle can slip a disc in a drive and prompt the right program to make it work. He knows how to work the dvd player to a fault. And yes, that's an X-Box (with the Spiderman game playing) that he's doing in the picture. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
All of them wonderful, and I feel like I am so inadequate to parent them sometimes. It's getting harder and harder to switch to the right generation gear at the right time. But God will get me through this.

Feeling sorta abstract...

I made this with Fractal Forge some time ago, and always thought I'd get around to making a quilt out of it. But alas, my schedule has gotten bigger, and I'm finding the creative juices dried up. This month has been pretty unusual work-wise. I've got another little girl I keep in the afternoon now and she certainly keeps The Pickle on his toes. She leads him around with an invisible ring through his nose, and he likes it. I think I'll call her Cupie Doll, because with all those strawberry blonde curls, and big baby blues, that's what she resembles.


Of course, Hunnybunny shares the sentiments of the AD. All dolls freak him out. He will put my dolls in the closet because they "are looking at him." Ooooookkkaaayyy...
if you say so, Hunnybunny.

Seriously, I spent the weekend straightening my 'studio' (part of the wall in my bedroom, and parting with some "What the heck was I thinking??" fabric. At least now I can find my sewing table.

"...every girl's crazy 'bout a SHARP DRESSED MAN!"

Lately, I've been hearing lots of Z.Z. Topp coming from his room, so I felt it was a good title.
Yes, friends and neighbors: behold, my seventh grader. This year, The Rock Star is doing his best to have good mornings. Not arguing about what to wear, working on his homework. So far, so good. It's been about 12 or 13 years since I had a seventh grader in the house. And I get to go through it one last time in 8 years. All the more reason I married a younger man....to keep me sane and take over when the mind goes.

Seriously, doesn't he look handsome?

Spiderman Turns 4 and a whirlwind weekend in West Virginia

You know, I don't look too bad as a cartoon. This is from the Burger King promotion to "Simpsonize Me". Yes, click the link and you too can be a cartoon. This past Friday, my best friend Robin decided we should have a "Thelma and Louise" weekend. However, her daughter and her hubby were moving from West Point. His buddy is moving with them from West Virginia. So, since Kentucky's on the way, Rob picked me up and we rode up to Huntington. More specifically, Ona. We stayed with the buddy's parents, Sandy and Jerry, who were absolutely wonderful. Their place was palatial, and I learned exactly what a HOLLER was.( A small valley between mountains.)It was quiet and very beautiful! The theme for the weekend: "What happens in West Virginia, stays in West Virgina!" Don't even ask!

As soon as I hit the door, I was finishing things up for the Spiderman birthday. Pickle actually wore his suit.


I'm guessin' he liked the Spiderman cake!



And the only present he asked about for the last six months was his: a webblaster! More pictures are loaded on the flickr box to your left if you want to see more. (That means you, Grandma Hunnybunny!)

Nice girls can finish first

Debra was kind enough to nominate me for this very kewl award, and I'm touched. She ROCKS OUT LOUD! As creator and administrator of the Quilt Studio Web ring, she has given us something wonderful, an online guild of quilting friends. Thanks, Debra!

Spiderman birthday and yet another late WIP

Yes, friends and neighbors, it was almost 4 years ago that I had this little baby, The Pickle. (This is a sort of sentimental post, so bear with me.) He has been a wonderful gift to Hunnybunny and I, and even his big brothers, although they won't admit it. The anniversary of that great day is coming up, and I simply can't believe it!

For some unknown reason, I have done things differently with this son. When I had this one back in 1985, I just didn't try to do things. I was in my 20's and still nursing a bad self-esteem, so come time for birthdays, I ORDERED the cake. We had some really great cakes. But now, I feel that there's just something about a mama making a homemade birthday cake. I tried when The Pickle was having his first birthday, and it turned out okay. But the last couple of years I (and Grandma Hunnybunny) have bought cakes from Wally World. So, I decided to try a Spiderman cake.

It's not bad, at least it LOOKS like Spiderman. Pickle keeps going to the fridge to "check on his cake".







In other non-family news, here's my WIP for QOV:. It's coming around. Now if you want to see something wild, check this out:


That is the PIECED BORDER of one Geronimo for her very FIRST QUILT!
Here's what it will look like. Pretty ambitious for a first time quilter. Hey, I saved this from a magazine and still haven't used it yet. I think we can expect extraordinary things from this young lady. She isn't even a teenager, yet.

Weird, Weird, and triple weird!

That's the kind of day it's been. I stayed home from church today because I didn't feel too great and began to work on my QOV. Imagine someone in their own sewing room, minding their own business, singing (off key) along with the Beatles in her MP3. In walks the Legal Adult....

"Hey, Mom...." big smile. Kind of like that whole southern thing, "Bless her heart, she's just totally tone deaf!" Now, he didn't say that. But his smartalec smile did. And carrying a laundry basket. Guess what he wants to do? Then, in walks my ex husband. Oh, yeah, that's what I really want, my ex-husband, and all three of my boys in my bedroom while I'm quilting. Unfortunately, that's where the computer is. LA is reading his myspace, Rockstar is playing Z.Z. Topp on his guitar, and The Pickle comes running up to my ex and sits on his lap. (They aren't related, BTW.)Not to mention, my room is trashed as I've been working on this project. Ex-husband sits on my bed and starts yammering about some artist he wants to study under. And we get to talking about funerals, most specifically his. We had jointly owned a plot together in Tennessee and it goes to the first person who needs it. However, he's from Missouri, so I wondered if he wanted to be buried there or at our plot.

"You gave me that plot in the divorce degree." He stated matter of factly.
So, I reached in the file drawer and GOT the divorce decree. He claimed there were missing pages. Sigh...whatever. It was not the way I wanted to spend my Sunday afternoon. Now all three boys, ex-husband and Hunnybunny are watching "Happy Feet" in the other room while the Legal Adult's clothes dry. Maybe I'm just
.....
but that's just too weird!

The Pickle moves up, and a late WIP Wednesday

Yes, that would be MY son....the one with his fingers in his mouth. He moved up to offical pre-kindergarten yesterday. I had him continue to go through the summer so we didn't have to re-learn how to sit quietly, stand in line...things like that. It was a Bible-school/VBS atmosphere, with lots of memorization, crafts, and games. He begins Handwriting Without Tears in two weeks.


Here's a better picture of him....the ham!




And with all his buds. This was our biggest accomplishment, sitting for any length of time.



As for my WIP, I have all the fabric cut out for my QOV, now I'm sewing them together.

Here's the first finished block. Sorry the picture's a little fuzzy