I Love You Because...

All About Mommy... According to Owen

Spring Break 2013

Last week went by too fast and in an effort to remember in my old age how wonderful my life was *at this moment* I'm going to do the uber fast- one-liner-recap of the week....

Monday- 
The kids BEGGED for a Happy Potter Read-A-Thon Day... we stayed in our jammies and read for hours and hours finishing book #2 just in time for dinner. 

Tuesday-

Today was all about spending time with the BFFs... Lunch w/ Cottrell's then Doug and I joined Phil and Alicia at a Pink Floyd tribute concert.

Wednesday-
 

The kids enjoyed some adopted Big Sister Time all morning, Owen went on a date with who he calls 'my miss rebbie', and then Doug and I took the kids to see Mary Poppins at the Fox Theatre! 

Oh, I have to say more about the play because it was sooo flipping good! The songs were 'practically perfect' and the set?! HOLY COW, I loved the amazing 'pop-up' backdrop and colorful sets.  The kids were more then adorable and I found myself looking over at them AMAZED that they are mine. They were cracking me up during supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, just trying to sing along but not being able to even pronounce it. (don't worry, they've been practicing it ever since and have it just about down pat) I am soo blessed to be thier mommy and for reals, Husbandface and I make freaking cute kids! At the end of the show as Mary Poppins is saying goodbye she kisses Burt on the cheek and Owen (in a loud five year old 'whisper') says, "Eww! That's so gross! Now they're going to get sick! Only married people can kiss without getting sick. That's discusting." The entire time Doug and I are trying to hush him but we were laughing so hard he didn't really think he had to listen to us. It was adorable and a moment I want to remember FOREVER. I bought a Mary Poppins  Umbrella as a souvenier and the kids have just been praying for rain so they could fight over, play with it.

Thursday-

After living in GA for 9 years I finally made it to the Tellus Museum. I got to spent it with another wonderful friend from high school, Jackie whom, lucky for me, moved to Georgia because she missed me so much. (okay okay, it was because of her hubby's job but let's face it, I'm the one that benefits.) We took all the kiddos to the museum and I'm pretty sure they loved every minute of it. Ethan practically had to be yanked out of there and feels like he 'missed too much' because I was rushing in through exibits (5 hours wasn't enough time spent obsessing on science). It was such a great day! 

Friday-

We played in the dirt... ALL DAY. Doug and I are working on A MAJOR YARD WORK RENO and Friday was the day we told the boys they could get as dirty as they wanted, dig where ever they wanted and build whatever they wanted.... Needless to say I think they were in heaven. They even helped me move dirt and rocks and earned a few bucks in the process. My back still hurts from all the work I did but the kids? THEY had fun! (I'll post picts of the backyard project soon.)

Saturday-
MORE yard work but the highlight for all of us was....

Doug's nephew's coming into town to visit!! In Doug's family though, nieces and nephew's aren't what you're thinking. They're our my age. Seriously, Casey and Brandon are the coolest cousins ever and my kids can NOT stop talking about how awesome they are. They pulled out all the stops, playing Star Wars, Having a Rock Bank competition, Teaching multiplication and Poi and generally showering my kids with tons of love and attention. IT WAS SOOOO FUN TO HAVE THEM AROUND and I totally wish they lived closer.

We all hated saying good bye but were glad they got to stay all weekend. 

How do define a perfect Spring Break? You head out to a favorite location? or reach out to your favotie people? For us every year seems to be different. This is our Spring Break 2013. Yeah, no beaches, no crazy parties, no trips but still perfect for our cute family. 

Hoping not ever to forget how perfect it was,
Joanna  

 

 

 

 

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A Boy and His Bear and His Blanket

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A Boy and His Bear and His Blanket

This is one of those things... what happened first? The Boy or the Bear? Owen has always been a bear lover. We've called him Baby Bear since the day he was born and it's you don't have to look very far to see why.   (Owen and his Bear Blanket - Summer 2003) -sidenote; seriously could 2 brothers look anymore alike? it's like I gave birth to an Owen clone when I had Cameron!

My Mom designed and made Owen this AMAZING Bear Quilt while I was pregnant with him. (using THIS paper pieced bear as inspiration) My only request was a quilt that was 'Waterton-inspired." She nailed it. It's named "Bear's Hump" after a favorite hike. I love the colors the contrast and the textures of the bears in the woods.

(Owen and his Bear Blanket - Fall 2010)

After 5 years of extreme night-night love, this blanket has been through 20+ states, Canada, twice, it's started a HUGE bear collection and it has had to have the binding completely replaced because he scratched/chewed it and loved on it too much.... it may be faded and worn in and dirty most of the time but it's still his most prized possesion. 

 (Owen and his Bear Blanket- Feb. 2013)

You can see more of Mom's Quilts HERE, HERE and HERE. I should really go back and post picts of Lorali and Ethan's baby quilts too... because yes, they're just as amazing.
Joanna

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Homemade Gifts 2012

Five.

quilt for the baby girl.

blankets for my babies

FIVE.

Dear Little Bear

Wow. 5 years old, already?!?! It's going by too fast for me. This year as been both amazing and hard on you. You have grown up so much but, there have ceartainly been growing pains. You're more independent but you still resent that it had to happen. You want to be my Momma's Boy forever and you HATED being displaced as the baby by Cameron. You came running to me crying last week because Ethan called you a toddler and you were so mad because of course you're bigger then that, I started crying too... not because of the 'mean name' calling but, because I realized that you're right. You're not a toddler at all anymore. Every night you pray not to grow up and while I agree with you that it is going by too fast, I think that you will be an amazing man one day and I love seeing you grown and learn. You've learned so much this year! You've learned your ABC's and Sounds, You've learned all your shapes and your handwriting is BEAUTIFUL. You love your Pre-K class and having your own friends. You're very positive and happy at school and such a teachers pet. Even though I have really missed you when you go to school, it's been wonderful for you. You're my smarty-pants. You've figured out how to be a good big brother this year and you are so loving and tender to everyone in the family. You love, LOVE to tease and joke to get a laugh or reaction out of all of us. You have such a tender heart that I hope you will always leave open for the world to see. I love being your Mother. Thank you for the joy and happiness that you bring into our family. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

No matter how old you get you will always be my Little Bear.
I Love You, FOREVER.
Mom 

Advent Boys

I swear this Lego tradition is almost as much for the kids as it is for the Dad... almost... but not quite.

 

Another favorite Ethan Advent Calender Memory of mine? Two years ago. 

I sure do love these boys.

JJW

The Life of a Costume

Last night I had a few flashbacks while kissing on Cameron and holding him so tight.... 

Fall 2001 -- Mom and I.

October 2002 -- Ethan

October 2008 -- Owen

October 2012 -- Cameron

It's the end of a tradition I've held so dear..... who knows maybe it'll still be around for the next generation.

-JJ 

Halloween 2012

Happy Halloween from King Arther and his Dragon, An Arabian Princess and Justin Bieber!!!! 

Chalkboard Certainty

Seriously, I'm certain that there is no other 4 year old on the planet as cute as this one!! 

Life Lessons on Living and Learning and LOVING it!

Ethan, Lorali, Owen and Cameron

Okay Kiddos. Mommy has a lesson to share and I need you listening to this one. Every year I set goals. Some I accomplish, others are carried over for years and years until I actually move it to the top of the TO-DO list instead of the TO-WISH list. Quilting is one of those things for me. I have always loved and treasured your Grandma's quilts and her talent. I've loved how she's found a way to make things so beautiful and have it be stress relieving at the same time. So... I told myself that someday I'd learn.... Someday finally came around this January and I have been cranking out a quilt a month since but it isn't all about the beauty and perfect finished product. It never really is in life, is it? I've had countless frustrating moments learning how to quilt, I've given myself migraines over thinking it, or wasted a lot of fabric on accidental cuts. I've washed and shrunk when I shouldn't have and I've scorched fabric with the iron, I've tried new techniques... and really, I HAVE FAILED!  I have ruined quilts I have MESSED UP! I'm not perfect and I'm the first to admit it. The thing is, I want you to realize that IT'S OKAY! No one expects perfection and really, it's not about that. It's about learning and PROGRESS and getting better a tiny bit day by day. I made this quilt in April just after Cam was born. I loved the funky colors, and wanted something really bright to go outside for our new little movie theatre area.... I also wanted it do quickly so you guys could start enjoying it as soon as the movie area was set up. So I worked on peicing the quilt top for 2 days straight... and LOVED IT. Then I figured I'd quilt it myself because the quilter I was using already had another top of mine and was working w a 4 week turn around time and besides, I had never done that before! So why not try it! I didn't have Grandma or Spring or Teri to walk me through this step so after a little online research and a few YouTube videos I thought I'd just try.... 

Needless to say, It didn't turn out so well...I even bound it but apparently had my measurements off.... by over an inch! The binding was just as big of a disaster. It's not pretty and it's not right I know that now. 

But I tried! I even tried to talk you guys into hand picking out all my seams $1 a row I paid Lorali... her attention span only lasted about 8 bucks worth. :)  I was trying to undo all my mistakes and "save" the quilt. After a few weeks of pouting over my FAILURE, I started thinking. Save my quilt? From what?! A life of imperfection? No way! This is exactly what life is all about. It' imperfect. It's beautiful and I enjoyed doing it. Will I continue to have crappy binding? or terrible quilting? NO! I will learn from it, I will grow and I will embrace the imperfections in not just my quilting but myself. In my life. Things aren't always as perfectly stitched up as Grandma's quilts... but everyday we're all getting a little better.  I hope each of you will realize that yes, your life will have imperfections. Your relations might have a wrinkle here or there and you might wish you could do something that seems hard and impossible but, that's OKAY! You can grow, you can learn, you can say 'I'm sorry' and you can move on! You can iron out mistakes and wash away the stains and mend anything. Just enjoy the process of learning and growing.

I mess up at a lot of things, I'm certainly not a perfect person but I'm trying the best I can. I do have perfection in my life though, and that is you guys! YOU ARE THE BEST, MOST PERFECT THING I'VE EVER BEEN A PART OF and YOU'VE BEEN THE THING THAT BRINGS ME THE MOST JOY! Thanks for constantly forgiving me and my foibiles and for loving me....and my wonky quilts.

I love you,

Mommy

Things I Love... Today

Baby toes on the hardwood floor.

R2-D2 sounds coming from my phone.
(texts from Doug)

Quilting all morning.

Owen telling me potty jokes on the way to pre-school.
(why was Tigger staring into the toilet?
He was looking for Pooh)

Ethan waking up wanting to snuggle me.

My music playing all day w/ family Picts scrolling on the tv.

Afternoon Ice Cream Cones from McD's for the kids.
(best $1 I spent all day!)