IT’s my baby girl’s birthday!
SHE IS
creative…
funny…
mischievous
sweet…
brave…
adventurous…
tolerant of her mother…
brave…
inquisitive…
stylish…
smart, intelligent and…
beautiful…
She’s my baby girl and she is twelve!
I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful person in my life.
Thank you Isabelle! Happy Birthday!
Not that kind of hooking… I thought you all knew me better then that!
Crocheting!
I’ve known how to do the basics for a long time and occasionally I would whip out some scarves for Christmas using single crochet stitches… very basic stuff.
But I have been on a bit of a self improvement kick and I thought I should probably learn how to read patterns…
So I did… it’s like knowing a secret language, being able to read crochet patterns… I like it.
I haven’t taken pictures of anything I’ve done…
*gasp* I know! Me not taking pictures!
For Christmas I made six pairs of the cutest bunny slippers ever, and of course I didn’t take pictures…
I’ve made a few hats and some bags… no pictures. *sigh*
I will start taking pictures.
Getting a picture of this one wasn’t easy, getting Cooper to stand still for a picture tonight was painful!
A viking helmet! It’s a little big for him, but he likes it that way.
Isabelle posed for me because Cooper wouldn’t sit still, finally I snatched it off his head and put it on hers…
(This is how she looks often these days… talking to friends.)
Cooper wanted his hat back so he finally sat still. Gotta do what ya gotta do!
I found this pattern on Etsy from this shop…
She has some great stuff. I can’t wait to make the other patterns I got from her…
and I WILL take pictures…
I WON’T however subject you to all of them…
ALthough I have 27 more days to get through!
SO Have you made anything or done anything crafty lately?
Cherry Festival week is always fun.
(As happy as I am to see it come, I am just as happy to see it go. It’s nice to have the town back.)
My sister comes home for a week and we just GO!
One of the things we did was the Cherry Festival art fair.
I love this picture because you can see how much they are alike as well as how different they are…
Cooper and Sam, they are the genetic equivalent of each other…
My sister married my husband’s brother…
I can’t wait to see what they grow into!
Isn’t she a beauty? I am betting she takes after her Aunt and runs for Cherry Queen some day!
A MUST DO for every Cherry Festival is…
a bucket of Gibby’s fries with a generous amount of vinegar!
What’s your favorite festival food?
I see poppies everywhere and I wish I had some…
Maybe next summer.
I saw Cooper enjoying the water at Lake Bellaire.
By July maybe it will be warm enough to swim in. *sigh*
I saw lots of dandelions and couldn’t decide which to focus on so I thought I’d try something different…
I don’t think I’ll do it again… at least not on purpose!
I saw my daughter driving me nuts and trying to ruin my shot…
or DID she?
I saw these beautiful daisies all sparkly with dew…
but I couldn’t get the sparkles to show!
I don’t know what it is but my whites are always washed out and overexposed…
I am going to beg my brilliant brother in law for help on how to fix this when we go to Detroit next weekend.
Something I haven’t seen in a year, but am seeing soon is SEEDSOWER!
She called to say she is on the road and headed this way. I can’t wait!
I am sure you are going to be sick of seeing what I saw because we are going to do so much!
NOW… Tell me what have you seen???
I have just had the most frustrating experience of my life and I am pretty sure I came away from it with The Worst Mother in the World Award.
Isabelle had a dentist appointment, nothing big, two tiny cavities needed to be filled in a couple of her baby molars. She had a cleaning two weeks ago and everything went fine. I thought this would be no problem.
She was bright and chipper when I picked her up from school. On the drive over I talked to her a little about what the dentist would have to do and her only comment was that she didn’t like to have her mouth numb.
Her name was called, she walked into the office and sat in the chair. The Dentist came in and it all went down hill from there. She said she didn’t like to get numbed so he said let’s try it without and told her to lift her hand if she wanted it numb. He tried it, she sat up straight in her chair and started crying and saying she was done.
I begged with her, I pleaded with her, I bribed her, all while the Dentist and Hygienist sat there and watched. Ten minutes, fifteen minutes, it went on and on, her crying, sitting straight up, gripping the arms of the chair like it was her life at stake.
It was all I could do not to yell at her… But I didn’t… if it had been just me, the two of us would still be in that room with her sitting in the chair, we wouldn’t have left until she got the cavity filled, but it wasn’t just me.
Finally the Dentist gave up and she was given a reprieve. We left the office with a referral for a different dentist (although I don’t see the point as it would be the same scene, different office, different day.)
I bet you think I’ve gotten to the Bad Mommy Award part, well not yet. We got in the car, not really speaking, I was so frustrated and mad at her. When Isabelle said, “I’m sorry Mom, I was scared, I did my best.”
Now here is where I get the award…
I responded in a not kind voice ”No Isabelle, You didn’t do your best, if you had, you would have gotten your filling and it would all be over. You didn’t do your best. You weren’t brave. Now you’ll have to live with cavities and hope that all your teeth don’t fall out because you won’t go to the dentist.”
She sat there and cried some more and I apologized and told her I was hurt that she didn’t trust me, I didn’t understand why she was so scared and that I was frustrated.
I don’t, I don’t understand why she is so scared.
We got a shake and sat for awhile in a quiet place. I took her back to school, gave her a hug and sent her off to try and make it a better day for herself.
In the mean time I came home, still frustrated and angry and not understanding.
I just don’t get it. In life my motto has always been DEAL WITH IT… Life isn’t easy and sometimes things hurt, sometimes they suck, you just get through it…
How do I explain that to an eight year old and get her to understand it?
Yes, I get the Worst Mother of the Year Award, at least for today…
How do you handle something you don’t understand? Have you ever had to deal with someone else’s irrational fear?
As a parent what do you think my proper response would have been?
Oh the questions are never ending on this one… I just don’t know what to do.
Cooper is going through a stage… I PRAY that it’s a stage.
He is more then a little stubborn and rude. I keep reminding him to be nice or be polite but…
Yesterday he was wearing his Spiderman costume, which he does often, he insists on it. We were in a restaurant and the owner looked at Cooper and said “Well hello Spiderman!” and Cooper yelled at him… “I’m Cooper! This is a costume. I’m NOT Spiderman. I’m was pretending!” I apologized. I made Cooper apologize. Then I commented to Ben that I hope Cooper grows out of the stage soon. Ben assured me that he would and then he reminded me of the stages our other children have gone through…
Isabelle had a fear of weather and natural disasters. All of the New Orleans stuff was happening around the time she was four. That one wasn’t horrible, it just took some reassuring and some talks about rolling with the things life throws at you. I also believe she had a disaster escape plan, but it wasn’t really easy to understand as it was written/drawn in the language of four year old.
Charlie was obsessed with death. Yup… death. He had planned his head stone, he wanted Transformers instead of flowers. He wondered about how people died and when and why. The kicker was one day when he was standing in a line near an old woman with a cane and he turned to her and said “Are you waiting to die?” I think Ben almost fell over from embarrassment.
I think I can handle a little rudeness… Still I hope it passes soon.
What stages have YOU had to deal with?
The Easter Bunny was busy this morning.
So was I, working at the bakery at three a.m. to help fill all of the Easter orders.
His job looks like it was more fun then mine…
Although mine wasn’t bad… just busy.
He put out 16,000 eggs for the hunt, it was more like a slaughter in my opinion…
The eggs just LAYED there. 
Isabelle the mighty egg hunter.
We waited an hour for something that took the kids twelve minutes to finish…
but they had fun.
I got to play with my camera a little…
That was nice.
Cooper filled his bucket, and when he was done he said “My bucket’s full! I WON!”
That was nice…
Charlie with his best friend T and Isabelle, sneaking into the picture…
They got to be the Three Stooges…
That was nice…
We did a little swinging and then I went home and took a nap!
That was nice!
I hope your weekend is shaping up to be as nice as mine!
What are your thoughts on Easter dinner?
Is it a eat at home full family affair or a buffet out event for you?
Driving home from a birthday party the other day… the words that every Mother dreads hearing popped from my daughters mouth.
“I know what sex is Mom.” Isabelle proclaimed.
“You do?” I asked lifting an eyebrow ”What is it?”
Then I watched in horror as my eight year old,my little girl, held up first one hand and then the other.
“It’s when a boy takes his penis” She thrusts one finger out straight ”and puts in it a girls vagina” she held the other hand up forming a circle with her finger and thumb “and goes like this!” moving her fingers back and forth… in and out…
(I know you guys are trying it… cut that out!)
“Oh.Where did you learn that?” I asked reminding myself to watch the road.
“My friend Mitchell told me, he’s in fifth grade, they watch a video.” (Note to self… don’t let Isabelle hang out with Mitchell)
I was not ready for this conversation. I thought I had two more years, at least.
“Can we talk about this later Is? When we’re home and I’m not driving and I’ve had time to think about what I want to tell you?” I asked her, slightly pleading “I want you to be able to ask me anything you want to know, okay?”
‘Alright.” she said. She stared out the window for a bit. “Mom? I want babies, but if I have to do this, with a boy,” she said making the gestor again “I don’t think I will.”
I tried not to laugh as I asked her not to do “that” again.
Is with one of her best friends…
When did you have THE TALK? Either with your parents or your own kids?
I was at the school last week talking to the lady who supervises recess.
Her-”So I noticed Isabelle wearing big ole snow boots the other day.It was 82 degrees out!” she said laughing.
Me-”I know! I started working mornings and I didn’t know she was wearing them. she said her other shoes weren’t fitting!”
Her-”I knew it must have been something like that, but let me tell you, she sure can kick the soccer ball with those big ole boots on.” she said with a BIG smile.
AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe the Test of Migration
Artist- Ginny Smith
Yesterday my Mom, Isabelle, and I went to the opening of the 12 Voices exhibit at the Dennos Museum.
It was a great exhibit if you like quilts, which I do.
Here is Isabelle talking to her Grandma.
This is at the gallery entrance area, where they were serving the wine and food.
My little girl did so well, she was very well behaved and enjoyed her girls night out.
I was a little sad when she told me she didn’t want to learn to quilt.
She said when she’s as old as I am now, I can teach her how to make quilts for the winter.
I said I would probably be dead then, but thanks anyway. 
The quilts were beautiful and interesting, the company exceptional.
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