Happy New Year!
I have been MIA for awhile - but I will try & be better in 2012.
We have been busy this last half of the year. My son has been diagnosed with swelling in his small intestine. They haven't labeled it as Crohn's yet - but life has been rough.
The pain started on his lower right hand side of his abdomen & we thought - uh-oh appendix. We took him to the doctor & he immediately sent us to the emergency room. Well, after a week of my son being in the hospital on pain meds & test after test...we still didn't have a concrete answer. Just not anything evil (appendix, gull bladder, pancreas - all clean)
Last month we hit the surgery center to get my son an endoscopy - poor guy! He was a trooper - even managed to get down the magnesium citrate (a big YUCK!) We found out that he was lactose intolerant & has trouble breaking down malt. Hmmm.
The milk thing is hard. The boy is a HUGE cereal eater! He would eat it for every meal if no one was looking. So, the search for the perfect alternative began...
Almond milk....No.
Silk.....No.
Lactose free milk....Yes!!!
To top everything off, last week he had a fever & cough. Then an allergic reaction to one of the medications he is on. He broke out in hives. (sigh) An emergency room visit with week of benadryl & I feel like we are finally getting back to normal. We still aren't sure if it was the Pentasa or Augmenton - but we are staying away from both.
He has missed a lot of school - Thankfully the administrators have been very kind & helpful. How to get caught up is beyond my abilities though. Right when we get a plan worked out - he gets sick. How do other parents get through this?
We have tried to keep him involved in the things that give him joy. He was in the school play "Guys & Dolls" at the beginning of December & is playing basketball & dancing. It keeps his mind off things & him physically active.
Here is to a Healthy 2012 for all!
Today we are rushing around getting our bags packed for our flight to Louisiana. We are headed to visit family in Shreveport for the holiday. Our little family is looking forward to some good "Southern BBQ"! My uncle is going to get on the "pit" for us...I am sure I will come home a few pounds heavier!
While there, I am going to try an see the Logan mansion. It is a Queen Anne style private home that gives tours by appointment. I will have my camera & if it is allowed I promise to take lots of pictures to post!
Happy Easter!
I often ask myself why I always have to do things my own way. Why do I have to alter someone else's pattern & creativity to suit my own? It would be so much easier to copy the other person's pattern exactly and save myself the frustration.
BUT, I always change things to fit "me". With that said, I have been working on Anne Sutton's "Henrietta Whiskers" applique quilt. Yep, you guessed it....I have had to make it my own. I love Anne Sutton's designs - they are beautiful - but, Henrietta was a bit too "country" looking for my fabrics and my personality.
The first block was supposed to be Henrietta, but I fell in love with Sophie. So, here is my first "almost finished" block to the quilt.
This is a close up of the details. I still have to add a flower on the tag & Sophie's eye & beak ...and maybe something else here & there...You just never know!
If you'd like to join me in making this Bunny Hill design quilt, click here and it will take you to Anne's website where you can download the free pattern.
Hugs,
Yep, February is here - can you believe it! I feel like I just finished packing away Christmas!
I have some fun news....I am doing a block of the month quilt at a local quilt shop with Bunny Hill designs. I am very excited! The quilt is called "Henrietta Whiskers" and you can find the FREE pattern on the Bunny Hill Blog web-site. Anne Sutton was as sweet as she is on her blog! She was so encouraging and gave us lots of tips on how she works on her applique. And, oh my goodness!!! Her quilts are AMAZING in person - you can really tell she loves what she is doing!
I spent the first meeting picking out fabrics and getting to know some of my classmates. For those of you who know fabrics, I chose "French General". I just love the entire line and am looking forward to creating something beautiful out of all the patterns. I haven't started piecing together the background blocks yet, but I will post the first one when it is done. I may have a chance tomorrow afternoon to play with everything and work out what fabrics I am going to use for what.
While at the quilt store, I came across a wonderful book titled "Hand Applique with Embroidery" by Sandra Leichner. I am amazed at how beautiful her hand applique is! I am looking forward to adding this kind of dimension to my own applique one day.
Hugs,
I have always wanted to go skydiving. Yes...jump out of a perfectly good plane.
However, as I have gotten older & had children, I have found that the risk does not out weigh the reward.
Dreams do not die easily and so, for my son's 12th birthday we decided to try indoor skydiving! Yes... INDOOR!
So, the family and a couple friends went to a place called ifly in Union City, Ca. It was great! You slip into this tall chamber and well...fly. There is an instructor with you & they keep you upright - but basically you just float on air (very high powered air). You can check out their website - they even have a cool video to watch.
After we had out fun, we headed home for pizza and cake. My son tells me he had a great birthday - and THAT is exactly what my husband and I wanted.
Where have I been?
I don't really have an answer!....I got caught up in the day to day & the fun things I did for myself disappeared. I have been all work & no play....okay, maybe a little play, but LOTS of work!
One of the "work then play" moments was my daughter's 21st birthday. We went to Vegas. The city that truly NEVER sleeps! My daughter had been dreaming about her birthday in Vegas since she was 12. She had a cheer competition there & was hooked!
We invited family & friends - Girls Only!
Friday night was travel for most of our group, so I took my mom & daughter to see Disney's The Lion King at the Mandalay Bay. It was amazing! The artistic director was a genius! Seriously, I was itching for my sketch pad as the parade of characters strolled by. The costumes were incredible. They had used a filmy gauzy material and applied shaped tiles to it to create the animals hide. The one that caught my eye was a big rhino & the reason I wanted my sketch pad! No cameras were allowed, so I didn't get a picture of him.(sigh)
Friday after the show, the girls were dressed to kill & waiting for midnight to usher in the newest member to the 21 & over club scene. Charlie's Angels has nothing on them!
On Saturday my daughter walked around the strip with her two best friends & then at night all 10 of us headed to Circo for dinner. It was a very nice venue. We were seated next to the window so we could watch the famous Bellagio water show.
This is my daughter and me!
This is my daughter and my mother!
Then later....the brave few "grown" women & the eager 20 somethings headed to "The Bank" to dance the night away.
Sunday required a lot of recouperating for the group that stayed out till 5am. (again I reiterate - Vegas is really the town that NEVER sleeps!) Those of us that got a few hours of sleep headed to Fremont street for breakfast & some old-time Vegas.
At last we headed home :-)
Hugs,
My husband just took a tour of what is his "Mecca". As you can see in the photo he is visiting the Dallas Cowboys Stadium - the tour was "incredible" according to him. He wants to take the family on a tour someday soon. My husband grew up not far from the original Stadium - Yep, he's a Texan - anyway, he remembers having his first job at a restaurant across from the stadium and the players would come in to eat. He was already a Cowboy fan, but the players were kind to him & that gave them hero status to a young teenager. In today's football most people watch a specific player - not a team. A fan doesn't stick with a team that goes through a rough patch (as we have noticed, even players jump ship!) Not my husband. He has always been and will always be Cowboy True. (even his car is blue!)
Me, I have become a Cowboy fan through osmosis :-) I even have a cute pink hat with the star on the front - yes, I said pink...I'm a girl! AND I look forward to watching "Making the Team" with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders every year. Kelly is one tough lady! If you were to ask who my all time favorite "Cowboy" is, I could even give you a name! Danny White. (I had a crush on him as a pre-teen.)
So, you know who we will be cheering for this year! Who is your favorite team?
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