My Two Sons

These two little boys have been keeping me busy lately.

As well as any family and friends we have.

Ethan enjoyed a special weekend

Where he turned 12,

Had a surprise birthday party at the auto show,

And received the priesthood,

while his mom and dad cried.

Josh enjoyed a special weekend too,

Where he received his Eagle,

with the mayor giving an great Eagle Charge,

His dad giving a sweet spotlight,

And Josh thanking those who supported him.

I have had, in the back of my mind a feeling from when Josh was tiny and headed to nursery for the first time.  I had an overwhelming sense of appreciation for the adults in my children's lives. 

I often feel inadequate at being a parent, and when I see the success of my kids, I know that they are having that because there are other caring adults in their lives.

I guess I do think that it takes a village to raise a child.   And I'm grateful for my village and family that have helped me have two great sons!

Scouting Western-Style

I've combined the fact that Josh needed photos for his Eagle Scout

with the Old West Photoshop action from Pioneer Woman.

Here's what I ended up with.. ..

Once on THIS Island

Guess who's got a part in the play?

ETHAN!

If I remember correctly, he'll be playing the following parts:

A Bridge

A Dancing Frog

A Singing Peasant

Are you as intrigued as I am?

Mark your calendar now to come see my son,

The STAR

As he portrays a bridge, frog, and peasant.

Or as I call it

A Brogant!

(Show will be April 20 - 24th at the Covey Center)

My Day

I was going to share my day with you last Friday,

but it got a little out of hand.

Luckily,

My day today, looks pretty identical:

Chillin' with Emma

Laundry!

Dishes!

Drinking the Diet Cola to survive . . . . .

How's your day?

A Feeling of Being [Un]Satisfied

I'm not the best at carrying on traditions,

But there is one that I love each holiday season!

Santa brings me a 1000 - 1500 piece puzzle each year.

And the race is on, to put the puzzle together before the holiday season ends.

Working together with everyone in the family,

We met the challenge.

How satisfied am I feeling right now?

This feels fairly UNSATISFACTORY.

Anyone seen my missing puzzle piece?

Happy New Year!

This being the last day of 2009, I should wish you all a Happy New Year.

However, I don't feel like talking about any holiday today.

I just got back from Wal-Mart where I could by Valentines AND Peanut Butter Eggs for Easter.

Makes me irritated!

Meanwhile, I did receive a GREAT gift for Christmas . . . . .

Adobe Photoshop CS4!

Yippee!

Here's some of my latest scrapbook pages -- I've also been toying around with t-shirt designs.

Fun stuff!

A Quilting We Will Go

Hmmmmm . .. .


Tons of quilting stuff the last few days.


My sewing room has never seen me so frequently.


This is a joint quilt between Melanie and I.


She pieced together the multi-colored squares and I assembled the rest.


Kellie did the machine quilting, which is very cool!


Melanie started this quilt about two years ago and received it back, finished, as a Christmas gift this year.


She did a great job picking the fabrics and piecing the squares (her first time doing so).

(My photo taking skills have not been hot lately, I need to work on it)

For Jen

I was challenged by my husband to write this post after our Vincent family Christmas party.

I hope it helps . . . .

A Story

Many years ago a young lady (18 years old) married into a great family. Although she was a really great girl, she was also slightly insane (let's leave that for another story).

When the insanity finally went away - it left this young lady wanting her new in-laws to like her. She worried constantly what her in-laws thought of her, and tried to find ways to endear herself to them. And while she may have been thought well of, she never believed she was.

At one point, she made an effort to help and support her new parents, believing that if she did, they would think more highly of her. But the results of her help seemed disastrous. Her father-in-law expressed to another family member that he did not consider her part of the family.

The long time concerns of being liked by her new family seemed confirmed by the fatal statement. She was heartbroken - for a time. . . .

As in all good tales, the curse became a blessing.

Thinking that all hope was gone for having her in-laws like her, she finally gave up worrying what they thought of her.

What unexpected freedom!

Time spent with her new family became easier, she felt more in control of what made her happy, she had freedom to choose how she participated.

And surprisingly, she became more interested in each of her new family members. Instead of worrying about what they thought of her, she just wondered what they thought at all. After looking at herself for all those years, she finally was able to look at them.

Now, letting go of worrying about what other people thought didn't turn her into a saint, by any means. She still doesn't show her concern for her family as well as she should, and she's not the most helpful person either. But I think she's got more capacity to be those things than she ever did when she was worrying about what people thought.

The End

Great story, eh? Sounds like it could be a story about me, except I
would have to admit that there are still occassions when I worry about what people think of me. But thinking about this story on occasion does help me put things back into perspective -- which I could definitely use after melting down after Primary today.

I can't wait to be perfect!

Block of the Month

I've nearly caught up with my Block of the Month club, which American Quilting is hosting.

Here's a look at what's been done so far.

I have two blocks left to do --

Both are applique!

Also, here's a little recording of Josh and Melanie playing "Away In A Manger".

It's the song they performed at the ward Christmas fiasco.

We Will Build A Snowman

Craftee time at my house.

Here's what we put together:

I've got a few other fun ideas,

but they may have to wait for next year . . .