Ok, so much for that resolution to not be a bad blogger! :( Please bare with me... it has been on "crisis" after another here the last few weeks. NOT enjoyable. But being a mom certainly throws you some serious curve balls when you least expect it! It seems they have been coming fast and furious. We have put on our armor, and are fighting the battle, and God has our backside. I'm pooped. And in the middle of all this... one of the things that will not make sense to you, unless i explain it all (which i'm not lol) we are painting. Completely painting my son's room, dressers, bookshelf, all of it. I am painting the entire house, minus the kitchen. So far I have gotten my nemesis of a hallway finished (5 doors with trim, and 10 stairs and a banister - oh yes.. have avoided this one for a lonnng time!) the entry way with the front door and closet door and trim, done. Sadly that dumb hallway and entryway took me 3 DAYS of constant work! OY! Moving onto the more "normal rooms" now. Family room and living room. Paint stuff everywhere - oh - and a PUPPY who wants to be where we are with all that wet paint!! Oh my gosh i was sooo sore after the first full day of painting, i could barely move! (pathetic i know) and that next day I caught the flu. My daughter has it full force, and so do i. And then we got 18" of snow. Add in wet frozen hyper puppy. LOL All of us in our jammies... painting... coughing..... covered in paint... kids on fall break.. and we're all shut-ins! What a joy. LOL But... through all that is going on it has been very cathartic. And it feels soo good to have clean crisp walls, something accomplished through hard work. A clean slate so to speak. Just as our Father gives us a clean slate for our souls we are pushing the same mentality through the house with fall cleaning and painting. (We've lived here almost 6 years so it's past time!!) I love the freeing mentality of getting rid of stuff, and cleansing... less cluttered (i have 2 girls that are packrats - need i say more??) I am proud of the big black trash bags that are going out the door. I am proud that my kids have taken on this cleansing mentality with such a great attitude. I look forward to being done. I look forward to all of the initial reasons for it being done. I look forward to relaxing on the couch and looking around and being thrilled with the results! But mostly right now... i look forward to a good night's sleep not covered in paint! LOL! I may not blog for a while... we'll see how long it takes to finish the living room and family room, and this flu crud! xo Bren

It's snowing... again

Well it's snowing. Again.

Our 4th snow of the year, already!

Sheesh.

Our trees are JUST starting to turn. And now, I think they are freaked out. LOL Trying to turn faster. Green leaves dropping before they had a chance to do their beautiful color dance. :(

My all time favorite time of the year. And we've officially skipped it this year!

:( boohooo!!

No dry crunchy leaves to walk through. No smell of dry leaves in the air. No gorgeous red and gold fire dances as you drive or walk down the street. Just a few. Just enough to really get a feel for what we'll be missing! LOL

Sniff.

Well, since the beautiful snow is falling, all soft and peaceful, I am keeping my jammies on all day. I have lit candles. (punkin spice - i can pretend it's fall)

I have a stew in the oven. And I just cut out a prim little applique quilt to sit and work on, while I turn on a movie or 3. The perfect kind of day for curling up and nesting. Also my favorite! (but usually reserved for WINTER. LOL)

I just wonder what this bodes for our winter? Apparently it's going to be a long one! So I best get my creative mojo in gear! ;)

I hope you are having a gorgeous fall day where you live! And if you have any of that dry crunchy leaf smell in the air by you... can ya send me some??

:D

bright blessings, Bren :)

I have been a bad blogger!

Things have just been so busy it seems. Ms. Lexi keeps me busy allll day!

I have managed to sneak down to my craft room here and there when the little spaz is sleeping though!

I finished a couple blocks for our online quilting bee.

And learned how to do wonky stars. Well... I quickly became addicted and saw the possibilities of this design! LOL

So started another quilt. LOL It's "That thing I do" afterall! :D

These were pinks and oranges. Then i started on blues and greens. I don't have all those blocks together yet. Minimal sewing time and all that... I think it will be a sweet, fresh colorful dose of sunshine when it's done! I did get the top done on this one.... well.. mostly done. LOL I still need to add a white border and a red outer border, and then gonna sammich it up and get started on the quilting. This too is a Christmas present. I still have 3 more others to get started and finished before Christmas! Yikes!! But I love the funky, bold, in your face statement that this makes! Fun fun!!

And thiiis little spaz... oh boy is she growing FAST!!

We just had our vet visit on tuesday. She is now 23 pounds, and no chub on her! Major growth spurt happened last week - i swear she went to bed a chubby little puppy and woke up a teenager! LOL! It was weird how fast she seemed to grow!

We'll be signing her up for puppy kindegarten here real soon. Ms. Spaz needs to learn some manners and socialization! I have been working with her every day, and she is finally getting the hang of things! Yay!! But we're still not acheiving a "no pull" on our walks. (yah.. more like "i'd rather choke myself to death cuz i gotta get over there, riiight noowww mama!!" ) Snot gonna be pretty when she weighs 70 pounds and is still pulling stunts like that!! LOLOL Soooo... off to obedience school we go! Just look at that ragamuffin face! And her and Daddy have devoloped a wonderfully special relationship! :) When not tied up with her under my legs, we had been going to track meets - and those are finally over! (Praise God! lol) And now we are into wrestling! Bay's first match is today! Ya know.. i just gotta say, I am sooo proud of who he is becoming!! And I love that he's going after all the things he wants to do!! It's awesome to watch them grow mentally, emotionally, as well as physically... and discover that their new "improved" bodies can do things they couldn't do before! LOL Bay is coming into his own. He LOVES sports. He's become an incredible team player, and loves team sports - but also loves individual sports where he feels HE shines! It's neat to see the confidence shooting skyward, and a sense of "i CAN do that!" always showing! Now, of course, is also when the teenage boy's ego gets seriously over inflated! LOL! And as a Mom... always a Mom LOL... it's hard to watch a kid that is all muscle, skin and bone try to LOSE weight that he doesn't have to try to make it into a different weight category! I'm thinkin.. where's it going to come from?? He has NOTHING extra on him! And then the Mom worry sets in. LOL I keep chanting that it's only for a month and a half.. and it's great to see him develope a sense of self discipline!! But yah... still a mom. LOL He's excited for today's match... and a wee bit nervous! As he should be!! :D Him and his best friend have been practicing everyday after practice. It's such a testosterone filled sport! LOL!!! Perfect for two boys coming of age and needing to prove how incredibly strong they are - warriors dontchyaknow! Cracks me up. Ok, i've rambled long enough. I will try to be better at blogging this next week! Hope you have a wonderful creative weekend! And may God bless you in abundance!! xo Bren