Ain't No Sunshine: A Survey

It's (diagnosed by me) official: I am suffering from a severe case of SAD.  When the sunshine hides, I find myself in a hard-to-shake funk.  When Lady Sun comes back, the funk lifts - only to be hidden behind gray, rainy clouds a day or two later.

Today is one of those yucky, funky days.  I'm sitting by one of the back windows, wishing for that beautiful golden glow.  Instead, the only gold is the dead grass that is my lawn.  It's in the 30s.  And wet.  And gray.  I'd like to embrace Annie's enthusiasm, but I know that tomorrow is also going to be gray.  And the day after that.  And the day after that.  It's pretty much going to be a gray week.

So, in honor of a gray day, I'm going to play along with Jennifer and Leigh's survey.

Outside my widow ...
It's a cold, wet, rainy day.  I'm sitting in Paul's chair by the back windows, looking onto a yard full of dead grass, littered with outside toys that are begging for sunshine so the boys will come out to play.  Our vegetable garden looks very, very dead ... but we've already planned our Spring plantings.  The pumpkin plants from school are slowly wilting away in the terracotta pots the boys each decorated a few weeks ago.  A few of our patio chairs are uncovered.  I should have recovered them when I stepped out to take the trash.  But, it was cold.  And wet.  So, instead, I went inside and had some more coffee.

I am missing ...
The carefree days of Summer.  Running around in the green grass.  Sipping wine on the patio after Paul gets home from work.  Eating outside.  Swinging, sliding and pretending the playscape is a pirate ship and that we can see Canada and Africa and Mexico just by looking through the telescope.

I am thankful ...
For having a wonderful family to distract me.  For having a home that's a little too big that begs to be cleaned.  For having too much when so many have too little.  For my morning coffee.  For Dulce de Leche coffee creamer.  For "Lucky's Girlfriend" - my insulated Starbucks tumbler from which I sip my coffee every morning.  For "Dinosaur Train" in the background.

From the kitchen ...
A quiet whisper to unload the dishwasher and sweep the floor.  Later today, though, I think the boys and I will bake something.  I have two bananas begging to become bread.

I am wearing ...
(Embarrassed to admit!)  A brown t-shirt,  a beige sweater (I just came in from dragging the trash to the curb), blue jammie pants with coffee cups and hearts on them.  I just slipped off my black sparkly Fit Flops, which I wore to the curb.  Oh, and my sports watch.  I heard it dates me to wear a watch, but I feel compelled to keep one on.

I am creating ...
I'm still working on a scarf for Paul.  It's Noro Kureyon No. 149 in a 2x2 rib.  Nothing overly exciting, but it is nice and masculine.  I'm also working on a ruffled bloomer to go under a dress I sewed the other day for a friend from high school.  And, I'm supposed to be starting OrgJunkie's 28-day challenge today, tackling my sewing/craft room.  I was inspired by Jen's before-and-afters over at Naughty Secretary Club.  While my befores aren't quite as daunting as hers, I do hope my afters will be as fabulous!

I am going ...
Nowhere today.  I hit HEB yesterday and picked up groceries to last a few days.  I have no plans to leave the house today.  I may not even change out of my jammie pants.   (The boys have already decided they're staying jammied all day today.)

Around the house ...
There are areas to be tidied up, and I need to tackle the kitchen countertops again.  They've disappeared under stacks of papers, mail, school folders and magazines.  Again.  Mitchell's new bedroom furniture is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so I'll be starting the tasks of moving the baby furniture out of Noah's room, purging the boys' clothes, reloading the dressers, etc.  It's exciting and sad all at once that Noah is moving out of his crib and into a big boy bed.  I found his bedding the other day at Home Goods and need to zip back over and pick it up.  (I got distracted by a phone call!) That store is awesome!  The quilt is just $29.99!  We're not sure what we'll do with the crib.  The changing table is moving into my craft room.  It will become my cutting table, I think.

One of my favorite things ...
Spending time with my boys.  Noah randomly runs up to me and gives me a hug and kiss.  Mitchell randomly tells me he loves me.   (One of my not-so-favorite things right now: Attempting to potty train Noah.  He has no desire!  He was really eager a few months ago and has now decided that wearing a diaper isn't so bad.  HELP!!!)

A few plans for the rest of the week ...
Cleaning house.  Doctor appt. on Wednesday (just a regular check-up).  MOPS on Friday.  My mom and Larry are coming to visit Friday afternoon.  Birthday party for one of Mitchell's friends on Saturday.

Creativity O' The Day: Scarf

Today's Creative Feature is a scarf I just finished today.  You can find more details on my craft blog: This Mama Sews.

Recent Craftiness

I have been busily sewing, knitting, crafting and creating this month!  Here's a brief run-down of what I've done since Dec. 1st.

• 7 Christmas-themed hostess aprons (plus a pending request for 3 more!!!)
• 4 Hostess aprons, including a mother-daughter set that turned out adorable - that I forgot to photograph before shipping out!
• 1 Birthday party for my favorite 5-year-old, including a racecar-themed variation of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey"
• 4 Gift cards purchased for our teachers (I'm the Teacher Appreciation Mom for both classes, so I spent a Wednesday driving all over town to pick up cards for their favorite restaurants)
• 4 Custom gift bags for those gift cards
• 2 Pillowcase dresses
• 1 Appliqued onesie
• 36 Reindeer candycanes for school friends
• 1 Cheeta-and-denim purse
• Plus cookies for our MOPS cookie exchange, treats for our family, countless meals and snacks for our family ...

I've also attended the MOPS Steering Christmas party, my MOPS small-group Cookie Exchange (hosted at my house), the Women's Group dinner at church, Mitchell's Christmas program at school, Paul's company holiday party and my mom's annual get-together (in Baytown!).  Tomorrow, Paul's parents and brother arrive for Christmas at our house.

'Tis the season!

A Few of My Favorite Things

It's been a while since I've added anything here to my blog.  I think the fact that Facebook is slowly taking over all online communications has lessened my need to post things here.  (Sorry to my readers who aren't on Facebook, MOTHER!)  And, I apologize for any misspellings.  Blogger changed their layout, and I can't find the spell-check tool.

Anyhoo, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorite things.  (That song, BTW, makes me cringe!)

Our Christmas Tree.  This year, I let the boys do most of the tree decorating - and I didn't go back and redo any of it!  I did snag a few ornaments to put closer to the top so it wasn't so bottom heavy.  And, I've never found a topper I love, so I tied some huge bows.

Big Bows.  The holidays are the chance for me to tie bows as big as Homecoming mums and hang them all over the house.  I scored this great wired sheer ribbon with gold glittery snowflakes for half-off!  The roll was huge, so these bows are all over the house.

My Nativity.  The church I attended as a child had a ceramics guild who made these beautiful Nativity pieces for the children who attended Sunday School each year.  I don't have the complete set - which includes things like camels and donkeys! - but I have the ones that matter most.

Our Stockings.  My mom handmade each of these stockings for us.  She applied all the tiny beads and sequins!  So special.

Holiday Baking.  Mitchell and I kicked off the holiday baking season with Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread.  Mmm!  Here he is sneaking a taste of the brown sugar as he measures.  Tonight, I'm trying my hand at Snickerdoodles for a cookie exchange tomorrow morning.

 

Sentimental Ornaments.  I love hanging ornaments from our childhood.  The one on the right is a stocking ornament with a photo of Paul as a kid.  The one on the left is a Christmas kitty that my uncle Benjamin gave me.  The tag says 1978!

My Boys.  My favorite-ist things of all are my wonderful guys!  Mitchell, Noah and Paul are a blessing everyday!

Overheard in the Car Today

N: Here, Mitchell. Fix my bicycle.

M: Why do you keep breaking it?

N: I don't know. Fix it!

Speed Racer!

Tonight, the weather is perfect. We've enjoyed the last hour+ of
daylight on the patio, listening to music, drawing with chalk and
having tons of fun!

Big Bugs!

On Labor Day, we headed down to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens to see the new Big Bugs! exhibit.

In addition to the spider, there were ants, a dragonfly, damselfly, assassin bug, grasshopper and praying mantis.

The boys got to release some ladybugs and make bug music.

Mitchell held a giant grub - and freaked out when it moved! The poor grub went flying through the air and landed on the sidewalk!  The handler quickly scooped it up and put it away, telling us to keep quiet. Turns out, the grubs belong to the guy a few feet away and the handler was afraid he'd flip out if he saw what happened!!!