Dolly Drama

I remember being in eighth grade and hiding the fact that I still played with dolls. Being on the younger end of a big family, it was both a comfort and fuel for mockery. My daughter Maggie has the baby doll gene. Though she is in high school I often see that look in her eyes as she peruses flea market tables of baby joy. It is the same look she had when she was three and I would give her a real diaper from her newborn brother to use on Fermelia, her beloved self-named treasured doll. Baby Maggie is growing up too fast!

linens

I love hand stitched linens. The rooster tablecloth is my favorite, I have tossed around ideas in my head as to how to display it but so far it always gets refolded and put away. I say "so far" which amounts to over ten years of wondering what to do with it. But I trust a plan will emerge one of these days.

The kitties were a flea market find this past weekend.

yippity doo da with baited breath

This weekend has brought us an offer on our house. I am so so so grateful for this. I hope everything goes well from this point forward. I am so anxious to move, to be settled, to decorate our new digs. Our next place is an older home...much more my taste. There is a built in ironing board in the laundry room, this alone made me want to buy the house. Who cares about the rest of the house! I like our house now but it truly isn't me. We bought it thinking it would be a quick resale as it is an area desired by the local military population. I need more land, a place for chickens, a clothesline. Guess that makes me sound a little bit country. I like my kids outside finding bugs and building forts, we can't hammer a nail without approval by the home owners association. They are even thinking of putting a stop to our annual neighborhood yard sale....what?! I live here! How absurd!

Tasha Tudor

Tasha Tudor made a huge impact on my life. I was sorry to hear of her passing. What a beautiful, inspirational woman. When I first got married we were still in college and struggling financially I cannot tell you how often I thought of Tasha Tudor. She became my most treasured mentor, even though I had never met her. She inspired all aspects of my life, from painting to cooking and especially Christmas. When I had kids her inspiration snowballed into something even bigger. Though I know she led a long, vibrant life she will be missed by many.


Tasha Tudor

beautiful life

apron of the week (3)

This is an apron from my great grandmother. She lived with us while she was in her 90's. Her name was Daisy, doesn't that alone make you love her? I wish I was more appreciative of her, as kids my five siblings and I treated her as a museum artifact, our friends always marveled at how old she was. One summer during dinner she bit into a tomato and the seeds sprayed out onto my grandmother's arm. My sister and I laughed until we couldn't breathe. This is what I remember about her. It's too easy to look back now and wish I had been more dutiful to her. If you have a great grandmother or grandmother hug them from me!

dream on

Things have been hectic here this week. Instead of showing projects I am working on I will simply write a list of things I wish to do. The house is too clean as it has been shown several times this week. I don't have the drive to haul out my stuff and put it all away. Anyhow this is what I thought about today...

* my husband

*a pretty tiny yellow flowered calico dress for Molly. Something dreamy that would look cute while riding a pony.

*buy a pony

*the beach bag I have cut out but really really want to put together. I cut it out from a pattern in my brain but know it will take several revisions.

* my husband

* trying to seriously organize my fabric stash and get rid of a dozen pounds of it (gasp)

* and yes my husband again.

He planted the hydrangea bush when we moved here and this is the first summer it has bloomed. I would like to say hydrangea's are my favorite but then the morning glories, daisies, and bright red geraniums in terra cotta pots would feel bad. Anyhow I do really love the hydrangea bush, it is so regal yet feminine and dainty.

Happy Father's Day

Here's a wish full of love and bad ties to the Dad's of the world. But especially to you dearest!

shirt redo

I bought this men's shirt for $1 and on a whim cut it up and made some shortall's for the wee one. I love the weight of the fabric...like chambray. I have procrastinated with the buttons as I can't decide on white or wood. Hopefully these won't end up in the mending basket until he has outgrown them. Not that I have ever done that before...

nostalgia

My nephew Kyle graduated today. Being the first grandchild he was held and coddled and observed beyond belief. The baby picture above is of him at my high school graduation which feels like it was not long enough ago. But he has grown up without permission and turned into a truly brilliant young man.

Kyle--I am so proud of you. You are so very loved! And dear sisters please forgive me...Kathy, I didn't have a picture of you holding him that day. Lisa was probably hogging him! I have a picture of you from that day with your new spiral perm (whoa, dude!!!) and at your request I will post it. (insert snort laughter here)

Meme

Thanks Dawn for tagging me! I am limited on time (can you tell school is out?)... if my answers seem rushed and make no sense go ahead and laugh at me no I mean laugh with me.

The Rules:
Rules are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names. Then the player goes to each of the “named” people’s blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. If you’ve been tagged, you do the same, letting the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer. Your answer, of course, is the answer to the following questions.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I was pregnant with #3. I was thrilled as I had a couple miscarrages, we moved to Idaho and I happily nested our little home. I also ate myself into oblivion, I gained more weight with him than any of my pregnancies. I was homeschooling then--this changed when we moved overseas and had wonderful international schools. They have all opted to stay in schools here, says a lot about me, eh?

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today?
1. Wait for the siding guy to come and give us an estimate on some storm damage. Done: $175-(ouch)
2. Work out an offer on the house we chose in TX. Done: I am so excited/nervous!
3. Clean out flower beds and wash porch with Molly and Henry. Done: this involved way too much use of the hose.
4. Eat a lovely dinner made by darling Maggie. She is a wonderful cook...it smells great- a garlic shrimp pasta.
5. Play a game with 4 of 5. Probably Parcheesi.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Fruit, nuts, cereal

4. Places I’ve lived:
See the list on my blog.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
What wouldn't I do if I were a billionaire? I would never buy a sports car of flashy clothes but I could fill houses and barns with stuff I might use "someday". Most of all I would want to do something for kids--all over the world and even in our own backyard. My son played on a football team that had several players that lived in a safe house...they had been removed from their homes because of violence. I guess just getting to know these boys changed my views on so many things. They are great kids...great kids with no parents to hug them and laugh at their silly jokes. I am so very grateful for my kids and the happy home we have, at the same time I have all this guilt. To have so much and see worldwide how so many have so little. I guess if I had an abundance of money I would do something to better their lives.
Oh and I'd also have a personal hair dresser and make up artist for my head of fluff and abundance of freckles. But that's not flashy, right???

driving and stuff

Texas was different than I thought. I liked it. I didn't think I would. I liked the sleepy, small towns we went through, the endless farm land dotted with cattle. It was pretty, very different than the green, lush farm land I grew up with in New England but pretty all the same. We have narrowed our house search down to two places and I like them both equally. What a relief this trip turned out to be. I even managed to browse through some thrift stores...this tired out the kids more than anything else!

Lots to do here at home. Hopefully I can squeeze in some sewing tonight, I am anxious to play with my thrift store finds. Thanks for the pictures, Hadley!

a place to live

Tomorrow the kids and I are off on a house hunting adventure. Today consists of loading the van with clean clothes, granola bars, and travel games that have too many small pieces in which one peg will be lost and no one will want to play it anymore. But it wouldn't be a road trip without me yelling at the mess in the car- usually at mile number 500 or so.

This officially starts our summer, we have alot to accomplish the next couple months. I am hoping to squeeze in a few weeks in Connecticut to relax around family. The older kids will fly out for about a month, and hopefully the little ones and I can join them for a chunk of that. This is the point of premoving that everything should fall into place but we have yet to sell this house and it is kind of clogging up any decision making. Needless to say I am anxious for this transition to be over. This move feels different than our previous ones--I guess because this time there are two kids in high school and the guilt I feel in uprooting them now is overpowering. That and the fact husband isn't here to whine to with every insecurity I have. That's what you all (or should I say y'all I am moving to Texas afterall) are for...

Which brings me to thank you for listening to me complain...reading blogs has brought such inspiration into my life. I promise to cheer up!