This, That, and The Other

I feel so much better knowing that I am not the only one who has a serious issue with doors and drawers being left open! Lots of wonderful advice in those comments. I have done most of them and continue to call the perpetrator back to close the open door/drawer, but after years of being consistent, it is not working. I do not believe there is any conscienceness in leaving these doors open, however, a re-training is in order. Here is what I have begun to do. I catch the child closing a door/drawer (not easy) and praise their accomplishment openly. If a door or drawer is left open, the child must come back and close it....10 times. Hmmmm, we will see what happens. Thanks for the wonderful tips!While reading this post the other day, I followed the link and took the test (you can too). I was shocked to say the least. I am 47 years old. My biological age is 54!! My health will decline at 63, and my life expectancy is 71. That means for the last 8 years of my life I will be sick! Yeesh!!! It was an Ah Ha! moment for me. I have struggled (my own self destructive struggle) for years (since my first child was born) to maintain a healthy weight and eating habits. I succeed for a time...sometimes for up to a year...most of the time for a week or two. My weight is like looking at a roller coaster ride. I am feeling the aches and pains of the burden my body is tied to. At 47 I should not have those issues. Good news about this test...I can change those numbers, but I need to do it now. I want to feel better and look better. Not bikini better...just "tuck a shirt in" better. I started walking everyday. My legs were screaming the first night!!! I worried that the kids would have trouble keeping up. HA! Charlotte left me in the dust. Or would they poop out too soon?Nope. That is Zach waiting for me to catch up!

Even TJ, who was in the stroller, and his prego mom, went faster than me....and I was pushing the stroller!!!TJ would look up through the little window of his stroller and say..."faster Grandma. Go up a hill. Go this way!" Yeesh...talk about a backseat driver!He would declare, as my home came into sight, "We made it Grandma." I would have answered him if I could have made any kind of noise other than the gasps for breath. We took a couple of these walks everyday. By the last one yesterday, I was doing better. It does not take long to build up endurance. Did I mention these walks are a measly 1/2 mile? Sue walked 11 miles recently. God bless her!
I pulled a couple of books off my shelf for inspiration.Great tips in one, and great recipes in the other. All white stuff is off the menu for me. Healthy carbs like brown rice and fruits and veggies will replace donuts and cookies. This morning I had a "Very Berry Smoothie" Fat free milk, Lite raspberry yogurt and frozen blackberries blended in the blender made a nice treat. Very colorful!!!Today I will do laundry,Work in my kitchen,Re-organize my bathroom drawers, including cleaning my make up brushes and throwing any old make up out. You know you should not keep mascara for more than 3 months after you use it for the first time? Bacteria love a mascara wand!And after school, I will play with these....What are they? Why, they are for you! I will show you soon. Have a wonderful, safe Memorial Day Weekend!!!!

Close The Door Please

The food cupboards are stocked once again. You can always tell how much food is in the house by the state of the apple bowl. I put some tea outside to brew in the sun. It is a cool day, so I hope it brews ok.Laundry is going, morning routines are done, though school will be late today. TJ came early this morning so his mommy could go to an appointment. The kids are all out back playing on the slide, the sandbox and enjoying the new (for TJ) adventure of baseball.I was all set for a really good rant today!! I was fully prepared to just whine and complain, then I saw this sign hanging in my back hallway! OK, I will forgo the rant. I will ask for some advice though.......got the idea?? There are people suffering in the world, hungry, sick, homeless...yes I know this, but my daily battle with doors and drawers left open is bordering on insanity. I will not whine, nor will I name the culprit...yes, it is one lone individual...but I will ask you HOW in the world do you get a child to close a door or drawer after they open it??!! I do not want to give a reward for doing what you are suppose to do in the first place and consequences do not work in this case, though I am willing to try anything. Hmmmm. Please don't tell me I need to get over it....it is a HUGE thing for me. So get creative and HELP!!!!! Was that whining???? Ok, maybe a little.

Celebrate A Sunny Day!

I love this new tea towel my Mom bought me. It is so cute. I have it hanging on my oven door. It is not at all sunny here today (yet), but it sure puts you in a "celebration" kinda mood just looking at it! Here is another embroidered hand towel my Mom picked up for me while she was traveling through Bloomington last week. I hung it in my powder room. The robin is beautiful. Birds are really in abundance this spring. I peeked outside this morning to find a family of 5-6 bright yellow finches feasting in my yard. Two of them flew up on the fence. They are so beautiful. Next to the bright red cardinal, they are my favorites.I could not get too close or they would fly away. I think a higher quality camera would capture birds (and moving children) better. I am content with my simple camera for now. I noticed my Lily of the Valley are blooming. These are one of my favorite flowers. Christ himself was called The Lily of the Valley. I may be content with my simple camera, but I was not content with the placement of quilted runners in my home. The new Galena runner was too dark for the hutch. It got lost there, so I moved it to the counter for now. The lone apple in the bowl tells me it is time for grocery shopping! I put the lighter runner from the counter on the hutch. I had to fold the ends under, but for now I am content with it. It may all seem silly, but these little changes make my home flow better. I am not a huge Fung Shui practicer (is that a word?), but I truly believe things have a flow of energy that feels good or bad. Something as simple as moving a table runner can make a difference. Sweetheart made a comment yesterday morning..."Remember when you had the purple "thing" on the dining room table and candles next to the flowers? I really liked how that looked." So that is what I did. I did not have any purple or green candles, so for now I used the white tapers I had on hand. Hmmmm, those candles look a little crooked...I need to fix that. Last night, Sweetheart noticed I had put this arrangement back. He gave a big smile as he mentioned it. Most husbands do not notice these little things. Mine does. It is one of his good qualities, and also one of his bad ones, depending on my own mood.

Speaking of candles, this is the new votive holder I picked up at Gensler's on Sunday. A Yankee "Good Morning" candle is burning in it right now, filling my home with the smell of fresh baked muffins. I love the "pussy willows".Take a look around your own home today. Is there something that is blocking a flow? Do you need to move a couple of things around? I know the new candle holder I bought will need to find a new spot. It does not quite match the non-theme of my kitchen. I am off to make my grocery list, check math papers, throw my sheets in the dryer, and put Hazel (my vacuum cleaner) to work! Hope you are celebrating a sunny day...whether the sun is shining or not!!!

Weekend Runners and Running

It has been a weekend of runners and running! Saturday found me with little housework. My routines are flowing and I had lots of free time because of that. What to do??? I could hand quilt. I could applique on another Sunbonnet Sue. I could cut into that new Galena fabric that has been calling my name!!! YES! That is what I did. I made a little runner for my hutch in the eating area. I used ALL 5 fabrics I bought in Galena, plus the red that I had in mind to match it to.I have plenty more to make a matching runner for the breakfast bar. I will use a different pattern, but the fabrics will all match. This allowed me to put the blue runner back in it's designed place...in the entryway. The white dresser scarf I had here was always getting moved and just did not look right. I also did the unthinkable! I opened and cut my jelly roll!! It was very hard to do, but I did it. I won this jelly roll from Debi and have treasured it ever since. Now I will just have to get another one to replace it!I am putting a runner together for a young bride. These fabrics are perfect for her I think. I plan to hand quilt it. Here are the pieces all laid out. I am glad I took this pic, because the pieces blew all over as the wind blew in through the window.Today, the kids and I went with my mom. We started out at Gensler Gardens. What a beautiful place!!Look at the flowers!!! We did not buy any, but we did pick up tomato plants, pepper plants, broccoli plants (Charlotte really wants to grow broccoli), and seed packets.I could have spent all day there. The gift shop was wonderful too! From there we headed to The Cracker Barrel for lunch. We had a 25 minute wait, so Grandma gave the kids spending money. They bought huge eggs that will hatch a dinosaur. Charlotte said she really wanted a T-Rex. I told her I hope she gets one too, but just like when you "hatch a real egg", only God can determine what you will get! She giggled. She also got a loom for making potholders, and Zach got a submarine. While we waited for our food the kids played a game of checkers.Once outside, I tried to get a picture of them while we waited for Grandma. "Look up here.""No, over here! Smile.""OK, you got the smile part, now look over HERE!"Yeesh!!!! Off we go! Where to now? The Antique Mall. Stalls and stalls of wonderment!!!! Did I find anything?? Oh, I found the most wonderful bed! I just HAVE to have it. I told myself when we get ready to buy a bedroom set (soon) I will bring Sweetheart there. Then I looked at the price of that bed! $7,750.00!!! I think not. I did however, find a few aprons that were to my liking. This one is a turquoise gingham with chicken scratch embroidery on it. Beautiful!I also found a bright canary yellow with honeycomb embroidery, all done by hand. The ties are satin ribbon. It has a couple of stains, but I found that Holy Cow pink takes just about anything out!! (the yellow is MUCH brighter than the picture shows)The last one is my favorite of the 3. It is purple and green butterflies and flowers. Very calico looking, with ribbon and lace accents. It is hand stitched with the teeniest tiniest stitches.Next time I go to the Antique Mall I will not take the kids. They were very well behaved, but it is impossible for them to not touch. I have to make them hold their own hands and they walk around looking like they are praying!! LOL It works though. I saw a couple of things there I will go back for, that is for sure!

The day was not done! Next stop....31 flavors!! Ice cream that is!Zach made up a song on the way home about how he has the BEST Grandmother EVER!!! I think he is right. Well, maybe tied with TJ's Grandma!!!