Happy Birthday to Me! - Part Two

I had a really great birthday yesterday. Even though I had to do laundry, pay bills, take care of kids, shuttle kids here and there, etc., lots of people remembered me on my special day (with little to no prodding from me). Honestly, the older I get, the more I appreciate a simple "Happy Birthday" or a card. It's just nice to know that someone other than me is glad that I was born. :)

I did get to go out to dinner with Brian and the kids and Mom and Dad which was a lot of fun. I got to put on a big goofy sombrero while everyone sang "Happy Birthday" and I got a free dessert (fried ice cream). Yum! The best part was that the kids' dinners were free because it was Tuesday! Then, when we got home, we discovered that a couple of my friends had left a nice surprise for me:Let's face it, it's not a birthday without balloons and crepe paper! When Kai came into the kitchen this morning he looked at the decorations and said: "It's still Mommy's birthday!" I think I've about convinced him that it isn't actually still my birthday, but he's sure going to be confused when we pull out the ice cream cake that we didn't have time to eat yesterday!
All in all, I feel very loved. Thanks everybody!

Yard and garden.

Well our yard is starting to look like someone actually lives here. Of course now we need to get it ready for winter, but I can actually stand looking at it for five or ten minutes at a time. I took pictures for proof.

This is our front yard. That green stuff is actually grass. (mostly) And that sad little tree is a crabapple that hopefully won't die over the winter.

This is my sweet baby peach tree. It was a Mother's Day present two years ago. And yes, the green stuff around it is actually grass. (mostly) Now that you've seen how teeny the tree is, check out this:Yes, those are actually peaches and there are ten of them on that teeny tree. We kept going out in the spring and pulling peaches off the tree so it would grow but we finally gave up and let it grow some fruit. It's sure a determined little buggar!

This is our great big maple that we blew our tax refund on two years ago. Again, hopefully it won't die this winter. We're apparently the kiss of death when it comes to big trees.Here's our beans. For awhile the garden actually looked like a garden and not a rainforest but I didn't manage to get pictures at that point so just try to imagine healthy, green bean plants without the encroaching wilderness.

This is our very sad, world's shortest corn. We think the grasshoppers have eaten the tassels off a plant or two.

Okay, clearly these pictures aren't conveying the impression I was going for so let's finish with this one:

Ta da! What can I say? I'm a sucker for kid shots!

Look what we did!

That's right, folks. They're peaches! A whole bushel fresh from Brigham City and we canned them all by ourselves! I have to admit I feel like a kid learning how to ride a bike. It was scary but they turned out great. They even all sealed!

Aren't they beautiful? I did most of the peeling and cutting and Brian did the mixing of the syrup and the loading and unloading of the steamer and the wet bath. The canning world is our oyster. Who knows, maybe we'll tackle applesauce next! Anything could happen!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday, shout hooray!
I want to sing to me today! (and Mom, too. Thanks Mom!)
One year older and wiser, too. (I think wiser is debatable)
Happy Birthday, to me!

The Good Fight

This has been a hard week. I do have to admit that in my life things are going very well. Sure, the kids all have colds but we have a lovely home, two cars, food and clothes and Brian has a reasonably stable job. I hate to say it, but my challenges stem from my crazy brain. The last couple of days I've been losing my battle with Borderline Personality Disorder. It's very discouraging. One small (perceived) criticism knocked my fragile self-esteem off the ledge into the abyss. (Out of control hormones aren't helping, either) When my self-esteem goes, I fall back into those self-destructive coping mechanisms that I've been using for 30-odd years.
Then I get frustrated because I really do know better!
The fact is, I am what I am. I can change my behaviors and, to a certain extent, my emotional reaction to the world around me. But I can't change who I am and I don't want to! None of us should want to change that unique and beautiful something that makes us individuals! The hardest thing for me in this great war that I'm waging against this ugly disease is being able to accept me for me. Frustrating emotions and all!
Of course, that's probably what it boils down to for most of us............
So I'll boost my self-esteem back up onto that ledge (hopefully sooner rather than later) and continue on fighting the good fight. And maybe if I'm lucky, I'll end up stronger for the climb.

Gardener's Market

Everything went well at the Gardener's Market on Saturday. In fact, thanks to a visit from my best customer and her mom, I had a banner day! This is what my booth looks like all set up. I made everything myself except for the pile of burp cloths on the orange table. Mom did those.

This is my sign. Spiffy, eh? We bought it at Kinko's.

These are the christening outfits that I made. I sold the front one in the picture on the right; it had a beautiful sheer overlay with small white flowers on it. I got the sheer fabric on clearance and just had to make something with it :) I also sold a pink brocade dress that you can't really see in these pictures.

The picture below on the left is all of the blanket sets (blanket, burp cloths, bib, booties) with crocheted edges that I currently have completed. The monkey set on the right is the edge that I designed myself.

(Yeah me!)

These are my dress up capes. They're all reversible; some have dragons and swords, others have flying horses and the letter "P" for "princess", of course. These have been surprisingly popular this year. In the bottom picture you can also see one of the rag quilts that I made.

Last but not least, I have single-layer receiving blankets (left), an assortment of bibs, sun hats and I Spy bags (which I sold out of, incidentally, bottom), and pillowcases (bottom right).

So there it is. Hopefully someday we'll get my website up and running, but until then I sure enjoy making all this stuff and selling it where I can :)

A word about Kai

Well, Kai started preschool today. I wish I could say this means I had a little alone time but I very foolishly signed up to help in Graeme's class on Tuesdays while Kai is in school. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my kids with all the other kids, learning and growing, I just could REALLY REALLY use a break. Sigh. Kai had such a great time at school that he burst into tears when I came to pick him up. It's so nice to be appreciated.
I can't believe how big my kids are getting, especially my boys. Graeme and Kai both need new pants because the ones I bought last year are too short. Graeme's feet are exactly one size bigger than Chloe's and he's only about 1/2 inch shorter than her. I imagine by the end of the year he'll be taller than her. Time is rushing by faster than I can believe. I realized today that I've only got about ten more years with all three of my kids at home. Ten years isn't very long!
Oh well. On the lighter side of things, I had a funny experience on Sunday. I helped out in Kai's nursery class. One of the little girls in his class was very affectionate. She kept kissing the little girl sitting on one side of her. When that little girl got tired of it, she turned to the other side and started kissing Kai. Well, Kai and I play the kissy game all the time so he thought it was a game and kissed her right back! The other teachers and I giggled and reluctantly broke it up. These little kids are so sweet and innocent; I really do love them in spite of all my complaining!