Lisa

This is my kitchen window....



Every morning when I'm making the lunches I appreciate this little African Violet which was a gift from Lisa. The "watering can" -slash- shotglass next to it was the favor at her wedding 20 years ago. Lisa has been one of my best friends for my entire life, and I doubt that she knows how much I think about her every single day. She's been my shoulder to cry on, my confidante and my reading buddy. I convinced her to give Harry Potter a try, she convinced me to read Twilight... and then we both gave up doing housework for about a year in favor of just reading like maniacs. Hmm.. maybe we aren't that good for each other? Our kids are close in age, and they are all friends too. I can only hope that when they are older they will be as close as Lisa and I are. In a lot of ways, we are very different, and I appreciate having her for a second opinion. Lisa is great at making friends, and she always makes sure to include me and make me feel welcome. This is especially wonderful for me, because I have a really hard time making friends... so this post is for Lisa. To say a big public THANKS (even though you're the only one who actually reads my blog) and also for any one else who might be reading, I hope that you have a Lisa in your life too.

Crafty Fun

So, what do you do when your birthday girl (my oldest turned NINE yesterday!) is home with a fever and it's her BIRTHDAY?? Well, if you're me, you go into the basement and try to find a fun, relaxing craft to keep her mind off of it.

Make your own candles! I bought this "Candle Magic" candle wax in approximately 1996 from Michael's. I have no idea if they are still selling this stuff. I had this cute mold to make star shaped candles, you just melt the wax and put the wick in the center and voila, a handmade candle. Except that they were hard to make and they looked like a 2 yr. old had done them and if you were paying attention at the beginning my oldest just turned nine, so I didn't have any 2 year olds to blame for the cruddy looking candles. So the wax sat in my basement. Then it moved to my next house, the storage space and finally my new house. I really want to use up some of the ridiculous quantity of craft supplies that I own, so this was a perfect project for yesterday! In case you can't tell from the photo, the jars are from baby food. We didn't have to melt the wax, because we put it into the glass jar, and it melts as you use it. Both of the girls loved making the candles, and we are going to burn them at dinner every night per their request. I love a good crafty project that makes everyone happy and isn't even all that messy!

Hope your day is full of fun too!

PS- for those worried about my daughter, seems that the fever was a "24 hour" thing. She's just fine today, enjoying the extra vacation day from school!

Twice in one week???

Mommy, this one is for you, but anyone else can feel free to read on!

A couple of weeks ago there was a baby shower for my cousin, and these are the gifts from Mom and me:


A laundry basket filled with goodies!

3 pc pajama set

baby hooded towels with matching washcloths

Blanket #1 (made by yours truly) - a safari theme, complete with hand embroidered onesie to match....

Blanket #2: a train theme with another coordinating onesie...

and a burp cloth that matches the safari stuff...


I really missed my mom and sister at the shower... family functions aren't the same without them! However, I had a great visit with my other cousins, and that was very good. Plus they gave me cake. Any day with cake is a good day!