think of me, think of me fondly

ok, so this is a two part blog. part one: i played on my friend kyle's myspace blog so i have to put it on my blog.

The Game
Cause this looked interesting.


Okay, at your peril, hahaha:

Type your name in my blog comments.
Once you do that, this is what I'll do for you...

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
3. I'll pick my favorite outfit to see you in
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
(if possible. if not, I'll say something that only makes sense to me.)
5. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.
8. If you play, you MUST post this on your blog. You MUST. *

part 2: i was tagged so here you go

Here's how you play: Once you've been tagged you have to write a blog with 10 weird random facts, habits, secrets, or goals about yourself, at the end choose 10 people to be tagged. List their name and why you tagged them. Don't forget to leave them a comment saying "You're It!" and to go read your blog. You can't tag the person who tagged you! So since you can't tag me back let me know when you are done so I can read your blog answers!

1. goal- i want my daughters to be better women than i am

2. secret- my greatest fear is being a bad mother. i know that most mothers feel this way, but i am truly afraid of parenting like i was parented.

3. fact- the flu sucks- trust me we've been collectively sick for over a week.

4. goal-i want to like who i see in the mirror. i'm working on it, the flu has helped because i have no interest in eating.

5. secret- it makes me happy when people tell me how beautiful adara is because she looks just like me and i have never thought i was beautiful.

6. fact- i am happiest when i get to be creative.

7. goal?- i would love to own a coffee shop/bakery.

8. habit/fact- pain makes me nauseas

9. fact- i would love to get a masters of library science and be a school librarian

10. secret- i dread the time during church when you are suppose to greet each other because i hate to be touched.

well there you go, now i tag:

princess mindy- i love your memes they're always so interesting

her daughter (the queen of Lysol)- it's been a while since you did a blog, i figured maybe you need an excuse

pattylicious- i miss your witty blogs

rosemond- i'm curious to see if you will do it

rachel- i'm truly interested in your responses

natchell- i know you love these things

bonnie- i miss you and would love to hear from you

leah- i know you hate these, but i love your responses

shelly- i'm curious as to what your answers will be

my hubby- hey why not

ENJOY, i can't wait to see the responses.

i hear it's your birthday, well happy birthday to ya

hey it's my birthday. i'm two. that's not really what she was squealing about, but it sounds good.

she was two months old in this picture. isn't she sweet.

peek a boo, i see you

two years ago on this day i delivered the sweet baby in these pictures. she arrived one week early at 9 1/2 lbs. 20 1/2 inches long. we will be having her parties this weekend, one for fam and one for friends. i hope everyone has a great weekend. i will have pics to post next week.

girls will be boys and boys will be girls, it's a mixed up muddled up shook up world

i met my first true nonconformist when i lived in gladewater. most of you have probably heard at least one story that included her. she wore flannel, converse, and an awesome asymmetrical hair cut. when i left gladewater she gave me a wonderful how to book. i found it in a box of sentimentals. i wanted to share it with you so here it is:



she based all of these characteristics on people we went to school with. i have removed there names because they may have grown up to be decent people. this book is probably one of the best gifts i have ever received. i reread it when i found it, and i laughed until i nearly wet myself. it has been 12 years since she gave it to me, and the stories are still funny. one of the reasons it is still so funny is because as an adult i can switch the names for people i know now and it is still the same. thanks rachel for the laughs.
below is my second hat. i made it for a sweet little baby who attends church with me. his dad is a huge aggie fan, so i thought he would like it. the lettering didn't turn out as well as i would have liked and the seam is ugly, but not bad for my second attempt.

tonight we are having baked potato soup, hamburger soup, and something for dessert that uses pie crusts. hope every one has a great week. the pic that is at the top of my blog is of the cakes i made for my brother's wedding. i made the calla lilies and the letters on the cakes are some of my homemade truffles.

it's friday i'm in love

i started reteaching myself to knit a while back. by reteach i mean, my granny was an avid knitter, and when i was little she would sit me on her lap and let me "knit". when i was about 7ish she began to teach me how to knit. of course all i ever made were really strange rectangles. i have also begun teaching myself how to crochet. i learned to crochet when i lived at the children's home roughly 20 years ago. i crocheted everyone wash cloths for christmas this year, and a few years back i knitted everyone scarves. please don't think that i am knocking either of these noble projects, but they really aren't that difficult. they were and are what they needed to be "beginner projects". about a month i decided that i needed to expand my project list. this is the result:


in case you can't tell it is a hat. i needed a model, so that everyone could get the full effect, but her highness is napping. i found something else that could model since bruno had no interest.

i wanted everyone to see that it actually required shaping. both increasing and decreasing of stitches were required. you can't see it in the pictures, but there is also ribbing on the bottom rim of the hat.
remember if you can't say anything nice please don't say anything at all. i'm still really stoked that i made this. i'm very proud of my self, which if you know me, really is impressive. i forgot to put that hot cup also sent me a copy of taste of home. i love that magazine and voraciously went through it as soon as i found it. i hope everyone has a great weekend. i hear that we have a chance of snow. i hope we get some. woo hoo.

and i think to myself, "what a wonderful world"

i have to admit that i am jealous of those who actually got winter this year. i love the snow, and we have gotten very little this year. today i went to take pics of our birdhouses and new fence, so i could share them with you. so here you go:

this birdhouse was given to finch and i as a wedding gift. since we eloped it was one of a very few that we got. when finch and i got married i was living in a boardinghouse of sorts. this wonderful lady owned a bed and breakfast, and she rented several of the rooms out to local students. she gave us this lovely birdhouse and until now it has been an indoor decoration only.


this little bird feeder sits on the gate at our front entrance. finch made this little thing a few weeks back. the beauty of this house is that from where i sit at the computer i can look out and see the house finches and sparrows eating. it really is quite relaxing.



we call this one "the flying dutchman". finch made this last weekend. it has four separate apts. the little hanger is an old planter bottom that we filled with bird food.



this was the first birdhouse that finch made. it also has a bird feeder.



this is bird corner. we put our old birdbath over there and now it is prime real estate for the wee neighborhood birds. look at those amenities.

below are pics i took this morning. to my surprise i looked down and saw:
that is a crocus, one of the first flowers of spring. usually i see the first leaves poking up through a little layer of snow. i nearly stepped on it. the pic below is of another crocus.
these are my daffodils. these line the sidewalk in the front yard. when they bloom the whole yard looks brighter and more cheerful.
isn't it sweet, soon there will be beautiful yellow flowers all along my walkways.
then i saw a spot of green in one of the front flowerbeds, and my first thought was "not another hollyhock". then when i walked over i saw to my delight it was indeed one of my many tulips.
yesterday i received my valentine package from hot cup, and i was more than thrilled. in the envelope was this magnificent scarf. i immediately tied it around my pink ponytail and headed to church. also in the envelope were my candy corns except instead of the usual autumn colors they are pink and red. oh my i don't know how she knew. there were also raspberry chocolate baking chips, those conversation hearts, and a package of strawberry cream savers. yummmm. there was also the most beautiful homemade valentine. for those of you who don't know me very well, i hate valentines day. really do. i have to say that package made my day and i am again wearing my scarf.

it is well with my soul

we practiced sunday on the song with that title, it will be our special music on sunday. i understand "when troubles like sea billows roll" a little better now. the good news is that our darling red headed niece will be released from the hospital this week. the bad news is that my dear father in law is facing some very serious charges. anyone who has ever met him knows that the charges are false, but that doesn't stop them. a good friend reminded me this morning that God is in control, and that he only allows what we can handle. thank you, i needed reminding. i was going to write a blog about all of the wonderful things that we've been doing, but my mood is a little down currently. so i will try my best. we have been taking advantage of all the beautiful weather that we have been having here. finch has built 2 bird houses and several bird feeders. we also have a wonderful front yard with a fence around it. we hacked back our rosemary, it is trying to take over the world. the family of finch is looking forward to spring and summer, so we can get our garden going. hope that everyone has a blessed day. please continue to keep the fam in your prayers. oh i almost forgot my swap pal got her package and she liked it. i put in a pair of valentine socks, a heart note pad, some lotion, body wash, chap stick, coffee, and some homemade apple butter.

i think i'm paranoid, and complicated

this pic below is of my niece that is in ICU. this was taken about a year and a half ago. isn't she sweet. please continue to keep her and her family in your prayers.

below are pics of how the we spent the weekend.

in case you don't recognize what is happening in the above pic i took a closeup.
yep, that's my hubby and the hubby of pattylicious starting a bbq. i know that these two are both intelligent, but i had no idea about just putting the whole bag of charcoal in the pit in the bag. really no clue. the men folk were in the process of roasting sausages for the super bowl get together.



inside as you can see the children were really enjoying the movie they were watching. isn't he sweet he fell asleep in his brother's lap with his little legs crossed.



ah, pizza night fun. we bought the game ROCK BAND. the children had fun lounging on the empty box. most of you know that i don't care for video games, which has nothing to do with my terrible hand eye coordination, really. we had so much fun, but at about 2 a.m. i fell asleep while trying to sing. i was a very tired girl. pattylicious was sleeping on the couch as well. the guys showed no sign of stopping. finch helped me get to the couch in the living room where i attempted to sleep. only interrupted by shouts of "crap that song is hard." around 4:30 a.m. or so, the hubby laid down on the floor next to the couch and went to sleep. bright and early the wee ones awakened. we put them to bed at their normal bedtimes, and they were fully rested and looking forward to a wonderful saturday. pattylicious in her infinitely kind and wonderful way provided strong coffee and donuts for breakfast as the boys broke out the game again. we had a great weekend. monkey spent the weekend in OKC with my mom, aunt sue, uncle roy and his fam. there is talk about going to the zoo this spring. during our great weekend our sweet niece was never far from our thoughts. please continue to pray for her wellbeing both physical and emotional. thanks.

goodnight sweet heart

a quick update. my niece is still in the hospital. she now has pneumonia and a fungal infection along with her previous injuries. please continue to keep the entire family in your prayers. thanks.