recycle

If you are not into recycling you think the items in these photos are just junk. If you do recycle you will say, "Hey!, possibilities can be endless with imagination!"

This photo is at a fun store that has all types of things that can be used again... from the obvious such as fabric pieces and ribbons and beads and photo mat board and frames and wallpaper sample books and wood scraps...to the not so obvious kinds of things that usually get directly sent to the trash- but if you use some imagination they can become art ingredients.

My son has been in a recycling club for 2 years at school. His main job each week is to empty the big bins of paper from his assigned classrooms into the outside paper recycle hopper to be made into more new paper. They also have art days too, where they make things from recycled items. There are both girls and boys in the club so they have made many types of arts creations with unexpected items. Everything from making their own homemade paper to creating beads from junk mail to thinking up new practical creative ways to use things as is beyond their original intended purpose.

My oldest daughter is involved in making art at an art gallery. Some of their sculpture-like art pieces are created with recycled items. The gallery, which is open to the public and sells art made only by young adults with disabilities, is in a beautiful historical building.  I am crazy for old buildings with worn down not so level wooden floors and high tin ceilings and exposed brick walls and vintage window glass that is wavy and has tiny bubbles in it. During our first tour, I walked around with a constant smile on my face. The attributes of the old building structure, wonderful set up of the gallery displays and of course the art itself was inriguing. My daughter also could not stop smiling.The studio sells items, both 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional (priced from just a few dollars all the way up to $800) to business owners for their offices, private owners for their homes, and it is a perfect place to shop for gift giving. I knew this was the place for my daughter to blossom, and so took the long, red-tape paperwork steps to have her apply to be one of their artists, since they had an opening for a new artist to be added. (I'm certain if you have a special needs child/young adult then you know what this all means at every step of their life! Paperwork, waiting, denial, approval, more paperwork...) My daughter has had many of her drawings, paintings, and photography matted and framed to be offered for sale in the gallery. I see the pride she has, and I am proud of her every day.

All of my children are artists. I am an artist. We each have our own interests and specialties.
Art is everywhere you go every day. Clothing, signs, menus, book jackets, movie posters, home furnishings, landscaping, architecture, and on and on in so many directions. So many forms of art. Even nature is art.

Back to the story attached to this photo-- The idea of the creative "trash curtain" is an interesting concept, and I would do it with some variations. For example, I think it would be fun to customize it with a monochromatic color approach and do all bottle lids (caps), or all the same shapes (of whatever) on a string. Hang several as outdoor art to catch the wind near at patio or backyard playhouse. It is colorful and waterproof and I even thought it could include some jingly things to be kind of a wind chime when blown in the breezes.

rough diamond

Finally got N's hair cut yesterday at one of those discount hair cutting places. I had been cutting it at home for several years, since he stopped going with my friend's dad, Mr. S., to the old style barber shop.

I used to help my friend's parents with transportation. Then Mr. S. passed away and Mrs. S. moved 3 hours north into Mi. to live nearer to her daughter, my school friend. I miss them both, I miss them all.

N. has fond memories of sitting with mostly senior men at the barber shop which was like a time capsule, frozen in time. N. had history there as well, being that his very first "real hair cut" as a toddler was done there by Mr. Larry, with Mr. S. looking on. N. was concerned that this new experience would be too girly. After all, there was no smell of that tonic stuff they put on your hair or the "tickle brush" the barber whisked your neck off with. Thankfully I saw his look of relief when another gentleman walked in to wait for his cut.

N. wanted his hair to be "cool". My definition of his current look- "homeless long"- so it was time for a compromise; I would not cut it at home this time since he swears I cut it too short. I was all for "cool" but not when I could not see his blue eyes. Not when he was constantly flinging his head to get it out of his eyes. Not when he was "parting the curtains" of his bangs...that was really not a cool look, I commented incessantly. Not when I truly wondered what the teacher must think of me and my obvious neglect. That's the one that escapes a 10 year old, but not the mother.

I am happy to report the young lady did a bang-up job (haha, bang...bangs!) and my boy looks "way cool"! Maybe it is alright after all to have a young lady cut your hair instead of a stodgy old barber... or your mom.

You can borrow the photo above for your crafting pleasure. Please play nice and don't sell as is. Click to enlarge then right click and save. I love these diamond shaped cards. This one has a slight irregularity in the photo cut on one side. Adds to the charm, I think. I also like the aged grunge on the border. 

time

As a holiday treat to myself, and the family too, I decided it was time to have the clock repaired with some money I earned by cleaning at a friend's house (maybe I should find someone who will help clean mine! ). The clock once belonged to my mom and it was in disrepair, in need of a new spring for the pendulum. Everyone missed hearing it chime.
It was serendipity that school had a 2 hour snow delay the morning when the repairman was scheduled to come to the house. N. loved watching the repairman as he worked. He looked like he could have made a great Santa, no fake whiskers required!!
They talked and enjoyed each other's company, the older: about how he got started repairing clocks as a boy along side a neighbor... and the younger: about how he likes to build motors and other inventions with Legos and Tinker Toys.

After the repairman left, N. was anxious to decorate the clock. A no-no I am sure after he carefully balanced it and all, but we couldn't resist. First try was to use these snowball looking lights. It came together nicely and then...no light when we plugged in the string. I hate that, don't you? The next thing was to start again and this is what we ended up with.

N. has been collecting nutcrackers since he was a baby so he has amassed a surprising group in 10 years, mostly as gifts and a few found here and there from garage sales. He can spy one on a table of hundreds of miscellaneous thrifty things in 2 seconds flat!

N. did the display of books in front on the floor and was very excited to have them be a part of the whole grouping. I am sure the clock repair man did not have this in mind when he was doing his precision work. Don't tell him, ok?!

When Christmas is here...

{Click to enlarge then right click and save.

Use for your crafting pleasure.}

 I have been snapping a few pics around our place. N. has even been capturing some Christmas spirit around the house with the camera too. He is pretty excited about his Christmas house. What do you remember about Christmas at your house as a youth? I remember my mom always seeming so calm and organized. I can't find that calm mom costume to put on right now. Maybe it is hiding in the back of that closet I have not had time to get to. Hmmm. Yeah, that's probably it.

kid art

N., age 10,drew this on the front of a homemade thank you note for one of his birthday gifts.

I love it!

Tween?

My baby boy has told me that 10 is almost a teenager. Really? I don't think so. Don't rush it. Please. Plenty of time for growing up to be a responsible adult person. Responsible for earning your own way no matter how much you want to blow off going to work, responsible for all the bills in the mail box with your name on them, responsible for figuring out life and where it will lead you.

For now my dear son, please please be responsible for earning the title of happy kid, responsible for running to the mail box in anticipation of the major league ball cap being there we ordered for free, being responsible for enjoying each day of being 10. Please. Trust me on this one.

N. chose to have an ice cream cake. I was planning on hiring our neighbor to make him an incredible, wonderful decorated cake like when he was little. I was too busy with all those pesky grown up things to give her enough advance notice, so a trip to the Dairy Queen it was, to purchase a last minute substitute. There's always next year, right? Maybe we have passed the days of putting a toy Spiderman figure or Hot Wheels monster trucks on top of a cake anyway. *sigh* I really liked those days. Cherished memories.

The first day of 4th grade started off without a hitch. I had to do the required sequence of photos (child abuse photo sessions as they are referred to at our place) that we do each year. Click here to read a silly post about 2nd grade. First a shot of the happy student. He is always the tallest boy in the class as they changed the birthday cut off right before he was ready to start kindergarten, so he had to wait another year to board a yellow bus for the first time. (side note: Thankfully we are blessed to have a wonderful friend who takes N. each year to buy his school supplies and anything else he needs and provides hand-me-down clothes that are pristine! [Wish I had hand-me-downs so fine.] She takes care of N's shopping for me 1. because she wants to, 2. because she can, and mostly I surmise 3. because her baby boy is becoming a grown man, himself. )

I am certain that by 6th grade he will be sharing the same shoe size as grown men. Not sure about sharing the same style choices, however.

N. and his "friend-girl" J. are in the same classroom this year, first time since kindergarten. I am slipping a note to the teacher giving her a heads up on seating arrangements she may find helpful. It's in everybody's best interest. Talk, talk, talk. Click here to read about last year.

So as I think about my boy trying to hurry the growing up process (I am smelling the "manly" body spray he has just applied to himself as he gets ready for the 3rd day of school) I am reminded of an "N.-ism" from when he was little enough to not know what being a tween meant.

At bedtime he blurted out our standard good night phrase with a kiss before I had the chance to do the same.

He told me, "Good Night, I love you Mom, Don't let the bugs eat you."

He meant, of course, "Good night, I love you Mom, Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite." (Bedbugs? Ewww. Too gross if you really think about that one too much anyway. I'm just sayin')

I think you're too young to be a tween anyway, my sweet son. For your mom's sake please humor her need to slow down these years. As much as I love to try to imagine you as a handsome grown man with your own bills in your own mailbox, I kinda like you being shorter than me (not hard to be) and still wanting a good night kiss.

Oh and for the record...I got a kiss {in the house} on the first morning of 4th grade but he wouldn't let me wait at the bus stop and kiss him when the bus pulled up. *sigh*

periwinkle prom

My oldest child, E., participated in a milestone event in a young lady's life. Senior prom. Although, this does not mean the end of her high school years. She will be a senior again next year. She needs a couple more credits, and in addition, she will have more preparation for life as an adult with special needs.
It is a good plan sometimes to not have to have a race out into the big challenges of the adult world.

E. had a very fun time dressed in her periwinkle colored dress. Excitement and smiles.

I must confess, I had silly preconceived ideas of what this event would feel like with a first born daughter. I thought it would be about deciding about hair, make-up and all the rest, like shopping for some perfect overpriced costume jewelry. 

She didn't want to wear make-up and asked if I could simply pull her hair back into a barrette. That's perfect.

She has a glow without make-up that was further enhanced by her excitement that shined through.

She chose to wear a special pretty string of faux pearls given to her as a Christmas gift many years ago, she made her own earrings since she has a fabulous jewelry making talent, and the barrette was a dollar store special we had in a drawer that matched the pearl necklace just right.

She looked beautiful.

Now about her dress.  She was more than happy to share her story of finding it for $1.50 at a gently used clothing sale. It cost about $15 to have it dry cleaned. One mom was accurate to declare that even with the dry cleaning bill it was a score of a find. I agree!! It was a hit with the other moms of the other girls in the friend group she went with who talked among themselves of the big lumps of money spent for a dress to likely hang in a closet forgotten after one night. One other mom asked if it was her size (which it was) and then told E. if she wanted to sell it to her she would be willing to pay much more than $16.50!! We all laughed!! I don't think E. is giving it up. But if offered big bucks she may possibly maybe change her mind. Maybe not.

Her little purse was a thrifty garage sale find.
E. did ask for months and months beforehand if she could get acrylic nails for the prom. Fake fingernails being on the list of a new experience. I have never been a fan of fake fingernails.... E. has healthy beautiful nails naturally and I thought a new bottle of nail polish would do the trick nicely. I tried to get out of it. I'm never one to miss sneaking a lesson into the school of everyday life, so I decided that it could be turned into a learning experience. I had E. look up in the phone book different places to have it done and encouraged her do the calling to compare prices for the service. I took her to the nail salon with the understanding that the cost would be considered part of her upcoming 18th birthday presents too. I have never had fake nails, so it was a learning experience for me to watch it done for her nails. She chose the perfect periwinkle color of polish...and we did not even have the dress with us!!

Incidentally, I told her that fake fingernails would not get her out of doing her chores. Nice try though!

We had to get a photo with little brother N. We took a photo of the two of them on her first communion day and now we look back and laugh at how little he was. It would seem hard to remember without the photo.
Photos are treasure.

His shirt says "A ninja swiped my homework". Even though he was not spiffed up in a neck tie like he is for the chess tournaments and therefore a more suitable match for his formal dressed big sis, we still needed a picture!

All the moms gathered with their kids at one house to act as paparazzi. It's a necessity you know!

E. had a casual date for her first homecoming dance earlier this year. No date this time, but she didn't mind. She went with a big fun group. Only 2 of the 5 girls in the group had dates. Dinner and dancing was at a big elegant hotel on the river front in a nearby city.

E. had great fun and great memories were made.

That's the best part of this whole milestone event.

That makes future memories!!

his first tournament

N. has been on the Chess Club team at his school for 3 years.
He played in his first ever tournament with over 100 students from all around the area.
His school team won 2nd place for his age division which was 3rd-5th grade.
N. is in 3rd grade. He had to play most of his games against a 5th grade girl. YIKES!
The 1st place winners only earned 1/2 a point more.

He was tired but happy, and now has the bug to qualify to play in more tournaments in the future.
A long day- 8 hours!!

simple pleasures are best for makin' memories

It is the simple things and free things that mean the most to me and those that make the best lasting memories.

Like having your dad kiss and hug you upon arrival and then immediately wash the bugs off the windshield of your trusty 14 year old "mom-mobile" and then wash the inside of the windshield too!! The kids had washed it for me before we left for the trip. Thanks Dad, no streaks!! Oh and by the way, can you picture all 5 of us traveling for about 28 hours in this small vehicle??

Simple things...
Like chasing and catching the little lizards that are everywhere like toads are in northern-most Ohio.

Simple things....
Like E. and N. fishing in front of Dad's for 5 days, every chance they could.

Simple things.....
Like quietly thinking while the big orange ball of a sun sinks below the horizon after seeing a wonderful sunset on our last night for this trip in Florida.

We were safe and healthy and that is most important, isn't it?

10 or more thoughts...

in no particular order...

(Our babies from a few springtimes ago.

Just a random cute photo to go with a random post)

1. I am looking forward to a trip coming up soon.

2. I have so much to do before upcoming trip.

3. The slush and piles of dirty snow are slowly disappearing, as the air smells like springtime.

4. I love fresh white snow covering everything.

5. I also like the smell of springtime.

6. I am going to eat a BMT. This is my boy N's coined abbreviation for bacon, mayonnaise and toast.

7. I should probably skip the heart clogging bacon, heart clogging mayonnaise, oh- and the toast too. But then I would have no fun heart clogging flavor to savor. At least the bread is whole grain wheat, give me some credit. The tomato was beyond saving and the lettuce has had better days.

8. Note to self: buy a fresh tomato and some non-wilted lettuce.

9. Do you ever write on the bathroom mirror in the foggy steam after your shower? I yell at the kids for the streaks after it dries when they do it, but boy is it fun to do anyway. Maybe I'll do that today. Write on the mirror, not the yelling at the kids part.(Yes, then I wash it!)

10. Oh did I just admit I have been known to yell at my kids? So sue me! They sometimes "forget" to pick up after themselves either. See, I knew you'd be on my side.

11. I read to N. the other night while we were cuddling on the couch. He got very quiet and I read 2 more chapters before I realized he was sound asleep.I read one more chapter to myself after that.

12. We finished the book last night - after I back tracked to find the paragraph in which chapter he actually recalled last hearing.

13. I will miss the times when N. wants to cuddle and be read to.

14. I know I am not supposed to end a sentence with the word to.

15. I am going thrifting today in my window of opportunity. Translation: The shop is along the route from one place I have to be to the next place I have to be...with 40 minutes in between the two location responsibilities. How 'bout that for a relaxing session of browsing? Sometimes you have to take what you can get. My budget is $2.00.

16. Those bunnies we raised, shown in the photo above, were so cute (and so fun to dress in Barbie doll crowns), but I am actually happy to say "Been there, done that."

17. Random thoughts can be fun to record.

So what's new?

1. I have been running my 3 kids here and there, and too much everywhere. Can that gas gauge needle be right?

2. N. got a nasty glass shard stuck in his foot and had to have it removed by his "to the rescue always" firefighter uncle. He's fine, and now has a story to tell!

3. I have been trying to keep my head up and stay positive about life and what it is handing me, in general. I have been incredibly tired and am in need of a recharge of sorts. Or at least a massage.

4. A project I have been a part of in publishing a small quantity of books for a friend's mom is getting nearer to the end. I have enjoyed the process.

5. I have 100 Paper Posies to make and send south to Georgia for a special order. A deadline to meet. Tick. Tick. Tick.

6. The clip art graphic above has absolutely nothing to do with this post, I just think it's incredibly fun.*smile*


7. I have been having repairs done almost monthly on my (surprisingly low mileage) 14 year old mom-mobile. It has to last another 10 years. Has to!

8. A random rambling post is more newsy than no post, certainly, but I have not had time nor energy to create a real post in a long while it seems. Sorry. Well, not really. I am working on the guilt of guilt. Hmm.

9. N. won second place trophy for Cub Scouts Pine Wood Derby for speed and second place ribbon for car design. He competed in a group of 12 boys. I was so very proud I spontaneously cried tears streaming down my face and wiped away the tears so no one in the crowd would see.

10. A. will be able to see better soon. The new glasses are being made. It's horrible how expensive it is for something basic like your child being able to see. Her eyes declined by 5 levels since last year. ( I do not understand optometry, but I knew her eyes were LOTS WORSE!)

11. I had a yummy meal out last night with my friend. It was a treat for her birthday . We used a coupon due to expire in another day. I suspect so did all the other 800 people who were seated or waiting to be seating.

12. I am going to put on some pajamas now and crawl under my quilt. Maybe I will be able to read a chapter or two more of the Paul Shaffer or Cloris Leachman autobiographies I have been trying to find time to read.  I enjoy autobiographies. Don't tell anyone, but I sometimes even enjoy listening to talk radio when I am in the car alone. On that RARE occasion I AM alone!

owl

Darn it all. Why does N. grab lined notebook paper to make spur of the moment creations of art like this owl? Doesn't he know his Mother wants to frame everything because they are true masterpieces?? He has a sketch book with plain pages that he also draws in, but he usually grabs whatever is handy at the time. Maybe I should strap his sketch book to him.
Please send all letters/complaints of child abuse to:

Me

The most terrible,

shallow mother of the year.

I should get over it and love the lines on the paper too, right??

orange

We do not buy oranges on a regular basis at our house. I love oranges, I crave oranges.
It's because, here in northern-most Ohio, we do not always have such great prices for oranges. I just refuse to pay big dollars for a couple smallish size oranges--and try to feed a family of five on said oranges and have happy results. I know, you're saying, "Back in "Little Women" times they got an orange (yes that's 1 orange) for the year, given as a Christmas gift, and they were happy as larks.

Let me continue.
When we do have oranges available at a price that doesn't make one think, "Ok we can get oranges AND have electricity this week." (somewhat slight exaggeration for effect), they are usually a disappointment in flavor or texture.There. That's my rant for today.

At those times I bring to mind the saying, You get what you pay for, and wonder if those expensive oranges would at least reward us with better taste/texture .
In orange growing areas of the country there may be some quiet snickering, with hand over mouth.... It's ok. I know you're doing it... you can take your hand away and snicker right out in the open. When you live near The Great Lakes, you get all the Lake Perch and Walleye you want but no oranges.


Then one magical day I came home with a bag of oranges on sale at a great price. A bag, not just a single sample of one orange piece of fruit!  There was practically a line out the door and around the store, with people threatening bodily harm to one another at the
bag- of- oranges- at- a- great- price display area!!
Wait!
Hold the phone! (Does anyone ever say that any more? Maybe now it's, hold the iphone, or hold the Bluetooth.)
Ohhhh, I get it now....these are going to be the kind of oranges that look yummy and tempting and make you feel like you got the deal of the century but you cut into them, taste them and have buyer regret, no matter how cheap (sorry) inexpensive they were.

I'm here to tell ya, THEY WERE SOME OF THE BEST TASTING, JUICY ORANGES
I have had in a long while.
N. had been begging to make homemade squeezed orange juice with his great grandma's low tech kitchen gadget.
I let him.
He used all but 2 of those fab oranges.

Guess what? He put the juice away in the fridge... and promptly dumped it all over the floor the next time he opened the fridge door, and before anyone could drink any. We were both in the kitchen when it happened as if in slow motion, like some great movie special effect.
The whole time we were cleaning up the sticky mess, I was thinking, "I wish I was the kind of housekeeper--you know the kind--- where you could eat off the floor!"

isn't it for the kids?

I have a short rant, and maybe I am totally wrong here. N. has been working on his Pinewood Derby car for Cub Scouts. This is his first year to do all this scouting stuff. He is so very excited and has been working hard. He is so proud. Isn't that what it is supposed to be about? I took him to a practice run with his car... and guess what?...Some of the cars looked like they could never have been totally done by a boy of this age group. You know why? Because they probably weren't!! I am so disappointed and I hope I am wrong!! Please tell me I've made a miscall. I'll bet that the majority of the boys were allowed to do their own work along the whole process but still I couldn't shake the feeling that some of the cars seemed 99% completed by someone over the age of elementary school!!!!
I hate that N., in his naivety, feels less talented to do that kind of work. I tried to explain that those cars were probably not really done totally by a young boy. I hope I am wrong. I believe
kids need activities that don't involve a grown up "fixing" everything.

my apparent cake curse

Flamingos and snowflakes?

Man, those northern-most Ohio people

are a little cuckoo!

I know that's what you must be thinking.

A. has always fancied flamingos since she was a toddler. It's one of those mysteries of parenthood, trying to decide where these attractions come from that your kids latch on to. We obviously have no live flamingos in Ohio, not even at our zoo! A. even collects flamingo Christmas ornaments.

I am endlessly amazed by how many different flamingo Christmas ornaments there are out in the world. Her attraction to these pink birds with backwards knees is even funnier because she likes to often pair them with her birthday which is in January. In OHIO!

Two days before her birthday this last week, A. made this cake. She likes to bake. I do not. Sorry, I just don't. I teased that she was baking herself a birthday cake. I half teased.
The night before her birthday as we were running around in the Mom taxi from this stop to that activity and all around town, I said we would stop at the local small grocery that has a nice bakery and A. could pick out any cake she wanted. She chose one with nice flowers and lots of pink. Surprise, surprise. Gee, I think that would go nicely with a flamingo or 2.

Silly Mom suggested that we make it more personal (and what else says "personal" than a store bought cake chosen from the slim selection on hand at 7:00 pm, bought in haste between scurrying around town, the night before a birthday?) by asking at the bakery counter if they could write her name in icing under the plastic pink "Happy Birthday" trinket.


Here is where my birthday cake curse started to take shape. I had this old feeling before, with N's last store bought "personal" cake, last August (from a different store).

We asked two very fine friendly looking young gentlemen behind the bakery/deli counter if they could simply add the name to this cake to make it complete. "It is her 14th birthday tomorrow!", I added cheerfully. The immediate invisible tension in the air made me wonder if A. wanted to shrink behind the nearby endcap display of toilet tissue to escape her hopelessly embarrassing Mom! Can you imagine? Honestly!

One young man responded truthfully, "I can't do that. I don't do that."

The other young man chimed in quickly, "I can do it. I have done it lots of times. See, the bakery girls leave at 3:30 for the day and then it's just us. We are meat cutters."

Oh dear, this is where I should have cut bait and ran to the checkout line with the cake as is, good 'nuf! But no! I let it all play out like some Saturday Night Live skit, in the presence of my extremely embarrassed almost 14 year old daughter.

The "meat cutter" says, "How about pink like the flowers?"

I respond, "Yes, perfect!" I am enthusiastically nodding my head and so is A. This could turn out just fine after all. Have a little faith, would ya!

After too much time has elapsed he proudly emerges from behind the scenes of the bakery/deli department and presents A. with the cake, again all enclosed in it's clear plastic clam shell domed lid. As he transfers it from his hands to hers he says,

~~[get ready, brace yourself]~~

"There. I did pink AND BLUE. BLUE like your coat!!!!"

We gazed at the top of the cake and our faces fell into a strange expression as we studied the name written first in pink and then over-written in blue.

WHAT?????????????????

There is no BLUE ANYWHERE, ANYWHERE else on that cake. Does he want her to wear her BLUE coat while she is blowing out her candles???????????????????

In his defense he did give me a HUGE hint of events to come when I handed over the very "personal" cake to him to alter. Remember? He did say, "We are meat cutters."

I only have myself to blame.

I should just bake. Simple. Done. I should JUST BAKE!

Here is why I have a store bought cake curse cast upon me from some karma devil. This has happened before. Before, I tell ya!

Last August, the night before N's 9th birthday I found time to run to a different store in our town to chose a "personal" cake for my one and only son. I had plenty of time. The store wasn't closing for another 20 minutes, after all. This will work.

I scanned the case of cakes waiting to be taken home to various parties by Mom's who dearly love their offspring, but apparently not enough to bake for them on their one day each year which bonds a Mother and child.

No no! Not one masculine looking cake of any size shape or flavor. Nothing without flowers. Nothing!

I explained in detail my dilemma--I inquired of the very nice looking friendly young man (with the hair net over his beard) if he could possibly write "Happy Birthday N." in icing on the top of any of these cakes and I could scrape off the flowers when I get home and smooth out the frosting. I was sure I could handle THAT! Come on, I'm not a total loser. I could even add a Hot Wheels monster truck or a macho guy action figure or something to "guy it up".

Mr. hair-netted-beard-man said yes, and so I eenie meanie minie moe'd one of the cakes and handed it off to him.

I had faith. He could do this. I could come through with a cake for N. that would be acceptable.

Well, after way too much time had elapsed (was he multi-tasking back there and sweeping up the floor? After all, it was getting closer to closing time) he emerged from behind the scenes clutching the cake in his proud little hands, handing it to me just as the voice that comes from the ceiling speakers announced, "Please take all your final selections to the check out lines as the store will close in 5 minutes."

I looked at the cake and my expression melted quicker than ice cream in August. Yes, he had skillfully written "Happy Birthday N."
....right next to the NEW BLUE FLOWERS he had painstakingly created in the same spot where he had scraped off the purple flowers.
UGGGH!!!!
Cake curse. Bad cake karma.
At least I was still N's hero because he was surprised by a new (nearly new hand me down) shiny red bike for his birthday.

Happy birthday A., my love. Your own flamingo cake was a masterpiece.
And besides, you have decided to have your party with friends in February. Maybe I have learned my lesson on store bought altered creations, and will bake for you.
Stay tuned for that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pearls of wisdom

(A. dressed in the "cool"

junior high school fashion, or so I am told!

Converse sneakers and striped knee socks!)

Do you ever throw little pearls of wisdom in the direction of your kids? I tossed some little lustrous ideas towards my A. in the car on the way home last night from the library.

It's her 14th birthday.

How can that be even possible that 14 years have passed? When she was born, it was 2 1/2 days of labor, ending with an emergency c-sec., to meet a sweet almost 10 pound baby...Oh, and a horrible ice storm.

Every year since then there has been a snow storm or ice storm either on the day of or the day before or after her birthday. Not this year. Nope. For the first time -as they would say on Mary Poppins- the winds are changing. I am not really talking about a weather report. It is more symbolic than that.

This year she is having even more fun with school and her group of friends and all their activities than ever before. But I feel the winds are changing. She is no longer a little kid, she is a smart young woman.

So here is how the pearls of wisdom conversation went in the car last night:

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Mom: A., you will find that after 14, the time will start to go by faster now. I don't know why it does, but it does. Before you know it you will be 16 and then 18!

A.: And then 20 and then 50?????!!

Mom: No, it seems to slow down for a while in your twenties and thirties....But then yeah, it does speed up again. But I mean the time between 14 and 18 seems to really speed right by.

A.: **silence**

Mom: You are not a little kid anymore. You are a young woman. It is the best time in your life because you get to have more responsibilities than you do as little kid but you don't HAVE TO have the crappy responsibilities of being an adult.

my boy N., age 9 1/2 -annoyed voice comes from the back seat of the car: Yes she IS still a little kid!!!

Mom: No she isn't. Not anymore.

my boy N.: **silence**

Mom: All I'm telling you is make sure to have lots of fun in these next few years while you are 14, 15, 16, and 17. You'll find you spend the whole rest of your adult life wishing you could be those ages again!

A.: But I still have to do Algebra homework.

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As a Mom, all you can do is throw those pearls in their general direction. What they do with them is their part.

**sigh**

Stay tuned for some birthday photos to come.

A Trip To The Museum- chapter 1

I recently took the kids on a road trip, about an hour North, to Detroit. It had been quite a few years since we had been to the DIA, Detroit Institute of Arts.
E. was 8, N. was a new baby, and A. was about 4 and now she is less than a week from age 14! So you get the idea.
We love going on day trips when we can and this was our only one planned during the kids' Christmas break. It was enjoyed by all.


The DIA had closed for about a year several years ago to redo many areas. I was anxious to see the changes amid the beautiful things they have within the stone walls of this very large museum.

So here is my first installment of the museum trip and our adventures there. This post is mostly about the architecture that caught my eye and interest, with a few other items shown too. I am attracted to architecture for some odd reason, always have been. Maybe I was some famous architect in a former life. Ha!

We were happy to see this beautiful painting in the museum because a copy of it is painted in our own church from floor to ceiling. Our reproduction painting was done by a member of our church back in the 1940's and the models for the cherubs faces were children in the church at the time.
I love doorways and gates and arches. This view intrigued me as it showed the hint of other beautiful things to come as we wound around through rooms like a maze, afraid we would make a wrong turn and miss something wonderful.

A ceiling reconstructed . The modern lighting amid the chandelier is somewhat a distraction, but was needed to illuminate the detail in the complex wooden construction and intricate gargoyles which peeked out from immense brackets. I could imagine being in a grand place long, long ago and drinking some kind of grog at a 50 foot long table beneath this ceiling.

Many ancient carved wood artifacts were displayed in this room. Can you imagine the stories these could tell of the years they have survived and things they have seen?

I was really fascinated by this gate and archway! Such grand detail. I find I am always drawn to anything that has swirly, scrolly movement in it's design. Some of my favorite fabrics in my sewing room have background designs that have such swirls and curves. Are you a straight line or curved line kind of person? Think about it.

N. bumped me while I took a photo of this gate, so it's all blurry. I thought I had snapped an additional photo of it too, but when I got home and reviewed my memory card I was disappointed to see that I didn't have a nice clear shot . That's why I didn't hit that ol' delete button on this one. Oh well, an excuse to go back!! Right?

My boy N. is at that age were he sheepishly wants to look at the nudes in the museum but doesn't want to be found out. Age nine! Whenever we often went to our own museum closer to home, in years past, he never seemed to even notice the nudes. How funny!

I made a comment that he would probably go back to school and write in his journal that he had seen LOTS of boobies on Christmas break and I would get a call from his teacher!

His oldest sister E. -age 17- said to N.,

"It's not naked people. It's ART, N.!! You dork!!"

You gotta love siblings and the life lessons they toss your way, right?!

I reassured N. that yes, it was ok to look at "the art".

I couldn't even guess how high the ceiling is in this area but I loved the perspective of this arched window and the staircase beyond. The photo above is in my Studio blog.

Above and below is a grand sized painting showing some great architecture. You really can't get a true idea of the size of this from my photo. I could study paintings like this for hours!

The museum itself is art to be appreciated. Photo above is featured in my Studio blog.

More architecture in painting, above. This painting took up a whole wall and this was just one tiny portion of it. That's a monkey on the steps.

Sparkle and glow! So many different kinds of crystal chandeliers. Some were incredibly massive in size and still seemed small due to the ceiling height. This photo above is featured in my Studio blog.

I could not keep a count of how many gorgeous stained glass windows were displayed. Each one more breathtaking than the last. Have you ever noticed that things like paintings and tapestries and stained glass windows are very different when viewed both close up and far away? I enjoy viewing the different perspectives and experiencing the seemingly optical illusion some provide.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the tour as seen through my camera.

Stay tuned for more lovely items and rooms to come.