I am even thankful for the complaints....

Day 33

Today we are supposed to list the things we are thankful for and well yes I am thankful for my hub who puts up with me and me him my best friend the love of my life no really he is and on Christmas eve it will be 12 years!

I am thankful for the freedom to homeschool and well the freedoms that come along with living in this great country of the USA!

I am thankful for the service men and women retired and current, past and present for their sacrifices.

But I am most thankful for the times that I will remember in my life.

I am thankful for my beautiful girls....the good stuff sure who doesn't love a picture drawn just for mom or a snuggle on the couch.... but the arguing the whining the complaining the foot stomping, eye rolling, yelling, hands on the hips, fake tears, SIGHing, drama similar to what the Greeks portrayed , tragedy equal to a Shakespearean play, oh and the door slamming (easily resolved by the oldest having her door removed from it's hinges HAH take that parenting books) those are the times when they make me frustrated and make me laugh when they are most candidly themselves not some perfect daughter wannabes lol lol

This is where I remember those times...you should totally make one of these....we made ours about a year ago when I was on my last nerve (those of you with girls know of what I speak)


See totally thankful...




I would show you some of what was overflowing the box but A.) you might ruin your computer spitting a drink all over the keyboard with laughter for the quotable kid things that are ingrained in their DNA because we remember saying them and B.) the girls declared them private but let me tell you some of the things they wrote were not just complaints they were a peek into the deep love they have for each other and I will cherish and be thankful for this little box forever....ALL of their COMPLAINTS!

I smell turkey roasting and my cranberries are popping on the stove....the sewing machine will be burning rubber making inventory once I get off the computer.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING eat lots of turkey!

November Cat Photoshoot

Day 23

We changed up the blog for November and added in the pictures of Sokka decked out for Thanksgiving. I am far from a pro at photography and like anything else find myself in a learning curve for what I will do next time. Unfortunately when you are taking pictures of a cat you better get in and get out before their patience wears thin no matter how amenable they are and Sokka does not mind getting dressed up but about a half hour is all he can take of sitting in one spot...he actually does not mind wearing the clothes all the time it is just us making him pose that he is not too sure of.

Hmm maybe next time I will bribe him with snackies--he loves pretzels and chips--hate chicken, wet cat food, cat treats--and loves to be dressed up and carried like a baby or pushed in the stroller GO FIGURE he is strange but loveable!






"Whatcha got in your hand there???"





"Not a big fan of turkeys...especially when they upstage my pictures"

A Muskateer, a dragon and what the heck is that candy?

Day 22

Ok well we figured out this is a nose BUT at first glance while going through their candy I hesitated and wondered is this a candy uterus or something else really disgusting and haha I am not getting the joke?? Knowing that the other gummy body part candy items they had obtained were inside body parts like a brain and a heart I am wondering what the heck is this??? And if it is a nose then why is it that color??? Needless to say it was disgusting and was filed amongst the trash for it's just plain gross...the brain and the heart though they gobbled down in no time little zombies that they are...


So G2 went as a Muskateer inspired by the Barbie and the Three Muskateer movie. We love most of the Barbie movies and this one was pretty darn good, girls with swords and fancy dresses how cool is that? Course as she pointed out this does not have the flared skirt that they do so it does not look exactly correct but I pointed out that she does not wear flared things AND she nixed the small ruffle that I had the bottom so THERE kid.

The crying face is because we told her she had to wear a poncho once it got colder (she was warned when she chose the costume SIGH) and even though the poncho actually made the outfit because we made it into a warm cape so you could still see the entire outfit she still pitched a 9yo hissy fit pre-candy and then her asthma started acting up because it was cold...double SIGH


But despite that she still had fun and yes I made the entire outfit except she made the mask and borrowed her sister's sword. I even made the candy bags. I dunno I think she made a pretty good muskateer AND she can wear the outfit again


Her sister made up her own outfit-she is a wizard, dragon thingy mabob not sure exactly what but hey she is happy I am happy and it is all out of things I have sewn for her OR things she created herself so I am pretty darn happy with it




The past 3 years we have not trick or treated together because each of them wants to go with their own friends and parents have to walk behind at a discreet distance of course. I think we got enough candy though to last through till next Halloween.

Some of the best costumes I saw on my walk were a fully decked out Darth Vader who was standing in front of his house complete with fully loaded light sabre and theme music, some fantastic warrior cosplays outfits oh man those were great I just wanted to take pictures of them they were so amazing AND the one that cracked me up the most is Fat Bast**d from the Austin Powers movies oh my gosh that fat suit complete with scottish hat was just hilarious "get in my belly" lol lol lol ok showing my juvenile humor here but those movies have some of the best lines--you can find the ones with the abovementioned character on your own but here is one that I use regularly with the girls "ZIP IT"

Gratuitous cute cat pic of Toph snuggling with my hub....she is actually laying on her back and stayed there sleeping for about an hour...weirdo..I could not find a way to get that red eye out of the pic without making her look like a zombie sorry..

Monkeys have taken over the house, next the world...

Days 17-19 ( I decided to take a Blogger vacation this weekend so I will be catching up this week.)

The monkey king apparently demands strict obedience from it's minions-now one would think cats would be above monkeys but apparently Toph has decided to follow the monkey king's rule


Just one of the many beautiful blooms in our front yard right now-will get more pics today


Let's just title this one 'I just finished my 1st swim lesson, yes I am 9 years old but I just am not a big fan of swimming but mom and dad said if I don't learn I will not step one toe in the ocean or Grandma & Grandpa's pool EVER until I learn how to at least swim so do I look happy to you?'

Tee hee she did have a great time actually because we found a fantastic coach but she is a little mad that we finally put our foot down and insisted she at least know how to swim that being one of those life skills and all considering she goes to places where there is a pool and an ocean....you know the mark of a good coach who in the first lesson not only convinced her to float on her back without freaking out BUT put her head nearly under the water (give her take a half inch) without holding her nose or again freaking out....THAT is progress!

I just love baby orangutans don't you? Her mama is the lump under the blanket...there are so many babies at the zoo right now -trying to catch the new baby elephant at the zoo but she is only out for a little while each day.


Stack of flannel for PJs seeing as how the oldest is eating us out of house and home in yet another growth spurt and I had to make some clothes in WOMEN's XS sizes (yes I said XS SIGH BIG BIG SIGH-she is only 11 folks why oh why could she not have my 5' nothing height genetics?)

ewwww plastic cover looks terrible on serger-note to self...make cover for serger

and on to more monkey business...the wings for 3 of my flying monkeys


Each one has their own personality and are being dressed and accessorized accordingly-yes some are even getting lips


Ignore the bare light bulb glaring at you, no can't ignore it can you? Well neither can I but WOW you should have see it under it's original beautiful paper shade that existed on it until the cats declared it must come down or at least they wanted to redecorate the paper shade with well placed holes and slices paper art! yea that is what I am gonna go with for now

The clothes I have made I will have to catch the girls to take some pics because they went out almost as soon as they were completed which I always appreciate the excitement of something I made for them....Working on some more fabric collages and embroidery projects in the mean time....always a million things to do and a creative life to live!

Beautiful Friday: 5 Beautiful things from yesterday & today....

Day 11

Beautiful thing #1-- The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta starts tomorrow--Photographer Ray Watt took this image of one of my fav balloons that actually might not be there because it was one of several balloons held up in China ANYWAY today was an unofficial mass ascension and driving home from early swim practice we were treated to balloons all over Albquerque & surrounding cities and a beautiful sunrise -go ahead be jealous cause it was beautiful! You just can't beat the blue of NM skies.



Beautiful Thing #2 This article from Glamour magazine on starting a Body Revolution I find these women stunningly beautiful and more importantly REAL women!

Kudos to Glamour lets hope it REALLY starts a revolution cause I have heard years of talking but no real results in fashion mags yet...and my youngest got Teen Vogue for her birthday because she loves all the fashions--yes yes hub and I had LOOONG conversations and debates before we made this decision knowing the body image issues BUT in the end we trust our daughter and communication is of course the key to anything!


Yes they are totally beautiful!


Beautiful thing #3 spiders yes spiders were used to weave this beautiful tapestry....and the color is actually the color of the spider silk


This picture makes me want to email the person to ask if these are alive or not...they are beautiful but from afar...


Beautiful Thing #4 Paula Prass's Woodland Delight Just one of many fabric lines that have been debuted recently before the Fall Quilt Market in Houston one day I will go I will be there it is in the plans! This is one of the few fabric lines I have seen where I like every print!


Beautiful Thing #5 a song to leave you humming from a fellow Twitterer Urbancrafter
Hey man, now you're really livin! - The Eels http://blip.fm/~e8271

Still finishing some things to show off today so back later for Day 12!

Yesterday was apparently all about butts....

Day 10

This is 'Baa La La' I made her over 5 years ago for my youngest who just wanted a giant sheep in her room to lounge upon. The poor dear has been sat upon, wrestled with, jumped on or used as a sister smashing sheep bomb so many times that her nether regions started coming apart at the seams complete with stuffing intestines leaking out--gross imagery I know and it was almost too much to sew her we were laughing so hard--seriously the rip was right under her tail so it could not have been planned funnier and of course the family coming in making jokes about sewing sheep butts the entire time she was in surgery.







And to continue the theme unintentionally I am up to my arm pits in over 20 of these zombie looking things who will become monkeys in some form or another. Part of them are from a project that I just never completed. But again each family member felt the need to enter the Creative Lair and comment on how I seemed to be stuffing a lot of butts lately and how inappropriate they looked just sitting there (the last from my hub came with a few other choice words after he saw them lined up but we won't repeat those)


Off to classes today and then back home for more school and projects before have to be back on the road again for swimming....

Cut, tape, trace, drive, homeschool, chores....

Day 5

Somedays I get a perverse joy in the daily life stuff--get up, chores, drive, classes, drive, early vote, drive, library, drive, chores, lunch, homeschool, chores, drive, swimming, chores, dinner, sewing, watching the new season of NCIS online and then crashing in deep sleep

Other times I just want to freak out and stay home but alas it is not to be in the world of MOM

somewhere in there I volunteered for stuff on the swim team, why? why? but it is for my daughter and well I did volunteer to be a timer cause I hear they get free food- ALWAYS a motivation unless the food is crap and then we shall see lol

somewhere in there I managed to print out, cut, trace, put together and create some patterns-oh yea and sketching like a madwoman of my ideas in the works




I have never shown this off but it is now hanging on my inspiration wall...it was in a box of goodies I received from a woman who's mom passed on this summer...I feel like it is all hand embroidered but I could be wrong...it is a child's apron made of the thinnest material, gauzy, light and well just oh so beautiful





We also played 'dress the cat' in our schedule today. He does not mind getting dressed up although today I might have seen a crazy look in his eye but I woke up alive so he must have changed his mind, probably after I filled his food bowl and cleaned his litter box.

Trying to get him to dress for the holidays so I can add his pic to the blog every season. His favorite outfit? A fairy one lol go figure

Sketching designs....

Day 4

So today I spent the afternoon sketching out some of my plans for the next couple of weeks.

Course my sketches look nothing like the masters of old and I won't show them off till the finished product is in hand.

I remember as a kid my parents had these art books, like a set of encyclopedias only each on a different artist and I poured through them constantly. I just loved to study the details and everything about art just fascinates me.

Anyway so I was scanning the web for images of sketches and these are some of my favs

This is 'Design for a Horseback Ride' by Michelangelo Buonaratti from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam


And this one Leonardo da Vinci from an article on 'The Horses of Leonardo da Vinci' on the Equinest site


I, like many other teen girls LOVED drawing horses and these just brought me back some good memories.

And now for a funny mom story from tonight-as we sat in a parent meeting for the swim team the sun was going down making the room darker (and for some reason we never turned the lights on) but the spin class next door was so loud with their techno thumping we could barely hear the coach talking. Me and a couple other moms looked at each other and said we felt like we were in a club without the booze and cigarettes...which is quite hilarious considering we are pretty much all non-drinkers, non-smokers, non-club hopping 30-40 something moms wearing clothes we threw on to take the kids to swim practice. It is funny how that all seems like a different life time ago but I felt a small bond with these moms knowing we were all 20-something college rebels once upon a time. lol so in homage to the way we felt sitting there here is 'Night at the Roxbury' try not to break the car windows ok?! lol

Shall we play a game? It involves some sewing, art, family & a little touch of 80s

So today I wanted to renew my personal committment to creating something every day-whether it be sewing, art or just plain research for inspiration

So here is reofficially Day 1:

Some cute, flip flappin' totally adorable roly polies using this pattern off of the YouCanMakeThis site

I did not do french knots for the eyeballs I glued felt eyeballs instead and the yellow dots are because the ones in our area have yellow dots on them appx 6 to be exact!

And the giant leaves they are living on or under were my idea also- the pattern maker suggests putting them in cute little bug keepers

These are going to live with my girls--they are appx 4" long and the most adorable little crustaceans

This next project is a recycled T-shirt to a bag project...I had this old Pokemon shirt and wanted to use it up somehow so I cut it down to the size I wanted, cut off the collar, sewed up the bottom and sides leaving handles open--and instant cool bag!

There are a ton of tutes for this online but I did not need a pattern or even instructions I just sort of winged it (I love winging it!)

This bag is a gift for my oldest who turns 11 (oh wow did I just say this out loud) on Monday!




Not much else going on around here except we have been Netflixing some of our favorite geek movies from the 80s

do you remember The Last Starfighter ?


Or shall we play a game? (see now do you get the reference in the title?? huh do ya?) WarGames this turned into a huge family discussion on the Cold War and what it was like as a teen in the 80s it wasn't all high hair and parachute pants lol

Any more geek movie recommendations for us to watch?

Ah Doogie how you still crack me up....Dr. Horrible...

And AND he is an Albuquerque native...how flippin cool is that....rock on actors from the desert!!

(Moms I know who read this might want to preview BEFORE you let your kiddies watch....)


Oh lordy this has some great quotable quotes... beware the Thoroughbred of Sin and his evil whinny...NEIGGHHHHH...chuckle chuckle

Don't get the Doogie reference? Well you are most likely too young to be reading my blog..lol lol...