Did we go to Paris?!

NOPE! We went to Kings Island!

My super cool I'mnotamomtoday wave goodbye to Jon as I prepare to board Delirium.

It is like a big rocking chair, I swear!

Face-Off. It'll make you pee your pants if you aren't careful.

Diamondback! OHMYGOD! I wanted to ride this sooooo bad, but Jon doesn't ride these and the line was long, so I took one for the team. Check out the link for a virtual ride to enjoy on your computer. It'll make you queasy sitting in the safety of your home. AWESOME!

Firehawk! How cool to lay down on a rollercoaster? Super great ride. Smooth and just so much fun!

This is the kind of rides we did all day. Even the swings made Jon queasy. To his credit he did ride Flight of Fear.

Took one for the team and hugged Scooby for my kids to see. I always wonder if I'm hugging a girl or a boy and of course all the kids dissing me saying "You ain't a kid!" is just a wonderful highlight to the uncomfortable "Hey, man, can I get a pic with you?" to Scooby.

Peace and Roller coasters!

A book confession

This is what I read in June. And a Kindle book. So, I super suck at banging out projects when I get the bug to read. I love to read. I inhale books.

Okay, carry on with your discussions! Grab a book and read!

Peace and Happy Readers!

White Sweet Potato

Went to Grandpa's one day and saw this on the sill of his window. Confused me and this looked more like a potato experiment gone bad. I mean why is the foil in the jar? Does he change the water? Does it stink? (I sniffed it) Why is he doing this? Why are the lids in there?

It is Grandpa's way of growing spuds to plant in his garden. Apparently it is the done thing. Seeds Smeeds, who needs seeds.

Pretty ingenious, I thought, to actually grow from an original a new plant. Does that make any sense to you? :D

So, there's my weird sighting. What have you done in your home that people have looked oddly at?

Peace and Potato Yum!

How much for that doggy in the window?

Daisy now runs with Duke. Have I mentioned Duke? He was Daisy’s brother. They are buried side by side. We were blessed with them. Daisy was a 100+ pound lap dog. In her younger years she was known to run full bore and barrel roll ya if you didn’t move out of her way. To the end she loved to bite ankles. Just nips when she got excited and then you’d say “Settle!” and she sit and look at you with that canine smile.

Are you wondering at my title? Are we off to the races to the local shelter, am I scouring PetFinders for the perfect next dog? No. In fact, just a few weeks ago, Jon and I were showering together (to save water) and Jon made me promise to wait three years before we got another/more dogs. Little did we realize we would be facing a dogless home in so short of time. My sister, Janne, is betting Jon caves and brings home a puppy. But back to the title…The love we feel for our pets cannot be quantified. It is infinite the depths they touch our heart. We are animal lovers. I was curious though, to get an estimate on the amount of $ Daisy cost us in her lifetime. Each dollar was given and the value was unmeasurable in the unconditional love we received from her.

What I hear and see very regularly are pets abused and neglected or the perpetrators who out of ignorance get that free dog. The “cost” broke down to about a thousand dollars a year.

Vaccines including heartworm checks, heartworm meds and frontline=$2124
Spay=$130
Microchipping=$60
Glass eating incident=$208
Hip issue (flattened heads of her femur)=$305 plus meds $126
Intestinal worms issue=$76
Staph infection issue=$58
Boarding one time=$217

ACL Surgery=$1,570
Eye issue (cause of her death, was a malignant tumor behind her eye socket)=$298


There are other miscellaneous expenses like random meds, dog collars, dog licenses, food….you know, just the day to day things of caring for a pet.

Do you think that amount is outrageous?

And the final cost, that I wanted to avoid because the choosing of a time of death is such a hard decision, cost $58. Burial was free, Grandpa’s field, three hours of time, wrapped in a green flannel sheet.

She was born on July 24, 2000 and it was July 24, 2009 when she stopped eating and I knew her time was close.

She went peacefully and love was shining in her brown eyes.

Peace and Daisy Love.

Weekend Happenings

We went to the county fair. James was insistent that he pet one of the alpaca's. Swear I didn't put him up to it. The lady was sitting there with her spinning wheel, treadling, and James asked to pet one of them. Nobody seems immune to his sweet face and those glasses just clinch the cuteness factor. So, this lady was kind enough to take James into the pen and let him pet one of her alpaca's. Honestly I was surprised when James let her pick him up and take him in the pen. He's fearless, Jesse on the other hand was hiding behind my knees like normal.

Or maybe that is between my knees...
What else did I do this weekend? Took care of Daisy. She has stopped eating and is only drinking copious amounts of water. Today and tomorrow will be decision time to let her be and let her pass away at home or decide she is in pain and take her to the vet and have her put down.


This is her last night. She has a right ocular mass. Malignant tumor is the logical assumption based on how quickly it has affected her. We took her to the opthomalogist and that was his diagnosis and recommended a CT scan and in the week since the visit she has stopped eating. It is pretty aggressive.

A dying dog means loss of body function and inability to make it outside for said body functions. If you've ever traveled this road then you know the drill. The situation had gotten so bad in the living room, I was skeeved out even letting the kids be in the same room as the carpet. I just couldn't keep up with the amount of fluids being deposited on the carpet, so when Jon got home last night...


I had him pull the carpet up. Take this opportunity to take a peek inside my home. See my lovely floral print furniture? *gag* It was free, so I don't complain too loudly.

And what is that book and ball of yarn? HMMMM!!!

Peace and Peaceful Passing.

Fast Friday!

Happy Days! Jack Daniels Downhome Punch and Dr. Pepper!

Bad Days! Mojito's taste like bad spearmint gum.

Google is Funny!

I typed in "how to be a homemaker" and I got Bible passages. Seriously cracked me up because I've been reading on the Historical Stitcher (Home Economy, Amazing, Pass it On) about how the home arts are being revived. Raising your own food, sewing, cooking, simple cleaning products, etc., are all becoming fashionable. Can't say it is the revival of the hippy generation, but lots of women are homeschooling, cloth diapering, canning and pinching every penny the household has to pinch. They are more Hipster than Hippy. These women are intelligent, active in politics, care about their environment, support their families. It is empowering. In my small world, I've taken baby steps into doing many "homemaking" activities. I fail abysmally at some (um, home decorating) and succeed wildly at others (um, yarn crafting) and I'm just average at most things I try my hand at.

This one popped up: Proverbs 31:10-31...I've bolded the yarn related portions.

Proverbs 31:10-31 (King James Version)

¹⁰Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

¹¹The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

¹²She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

¹³She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

¹⁴She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

¹⁵She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

¹⁶She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

¹⁷She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

¹⁸She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

¹⁹She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

²⁰She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

²²She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

²³Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

²⁴She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

²⁵Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

²⁶She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

²⁷She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

²⁸Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

²⁹Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

³⁰Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

For some reason I now have a desire to make a purple and red shawl.

And for the love of god, I am not preaching to you. In fact, I'm the black sheep of the family, in that I don't attend church. I've been baptised three times...yes, Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal. Presbyterian happened when I was a baby. The Baptist was done out of fear when that witch lady told me she saw the devil in my little 6 year old eyes. And Pentecostal, well, they insisted that you must speak in tongues to truly be baptized, so at age 12 I did that one.

I love the Bible as a reference and my other confession is that I've not read the whole thing. I think I got to Genesis 115 and got bored to tears with the names of Abraham's lineage. My favorite Bible is my Precious Moments Bible. I have two of them and then a Student Bible.

So there's my rant for the day. My brother and I were talking last night about Creationism and he was expounding...if you know Ben, then ya know the boy likes to talk and talk and talk. Anyway, he was lauding (yes, I just used that word) the fact that I had just finished encouraging him to stay optimistic, that life sucks and we just have to keep trying every day when on the radio the song "I Will Sail My Vessel" by Garth Brooks came on and he stopped mid-sentence and started singing. He said it was no coincidence and that he believes we all have the power to speak things into happening. Honestly, I still think that song is about sex. I mean, sail my vessel till the river runs dry?! Okay so that was 15 years ago that I said that, I'm much older and more mature. I get the symbolism. :D

Peace and Catch you later!

Storage and Delivery

I store my crafting projects in zip lock bags. I travel from site to site with my job and I've found that having a plastic zip lock bag is ideal. My projects won't get wet, dirty or mangled. I've stood out on a catwalk for hours in the pouring rain waiting on people and at the end of the day, I checked my bag and found that my magazines had gotten wet despite the supposed water-resistant feature of my work bag. Another bonus of storing in the zip lock bags is I can squish all the air out of the bag and maximize the amount of storage space in my carrying bag.

Deliveries are AWESOME!! What will these little skeins become?! So excited! See that plum color yarn? It is divine! And the emerald green?! Isn't it beautiful?

Peace and Happy Days!

Spine YO's

You are going to learn whether you want to or not! Did you ever have a teacher say that to you? I've decided to teach you all a little bit each week. Today is Yarn Over in knit. I had a bugger of a time figuring out which way to wrap the yarn around the hook.

These "gaps" are created using yarn overs (YOs) in knit. To yarn over, I pull the yarn between the two needles forward, from back to front and wrap around the right needle, then I insert the needle starting the next stitch. The wrapping of the yarn one time around the needle creates a yarn-over space like you see above.

Pull yarn forward between needles.

Insert needle to start next stitch

Yarn over for the stitch

Lift stitch from left needle to right needle.

Extra stitch made with the yarn over. I originally started with ten stitches, if you count you can see eleven loops on the needle.

Peace and Mini Lessons!

P.S. For those that don't know how to knit and want to learn or those who claim knitting hates you (*wink* Crystal!), check out the YouTube video tutorials posted by Lion Brand yarn. Learning the basics of knit.

Happy Anniversary!!!

July 21, 2001, Jon and I married in the town Baptist Church and had our reception at the American Legion. Then we were off for a week of sun and fun at the Westin in Key Largo. Eight years later, two kids, a bonus child, numerous life events and Jon and I jetted off to the local hotel and spent the weekend together. Of which I may share some details at a later date. *big smile* Needless to say, I found out that Mojito's are not good drinks and a wink and a smile will get me alcoholic beverage service when I forget my license. Cause, yes! I still get carded for movies and drinks. *sigh*

Jon is whispering naughty words in my ear. The photographer said "Whispers sweet things in her ear." and Jon decided that sweet things included...well, not for your ears. The picture on the left is an all-time favorite of mine. Jon's boss and friend commented that she could just see the love radiating off Jon's face when he looked at me. He still looks at me like that today. What a wonderful man!

The dress. The very first dress I tried on and I loved it!

Peace and True Companion! Name that reference!

Three Shawls

Three shawls for three very special people. Amber, Beth and Debbie are three women in the Jones family. Beth I spoke about here and here, Debbie is Beth's Mother-in-Law or MIL who I spoke about here, and Amber is Debbie's daughter or Beth's SIL. They are all very special to me.

We are a group of friends that through the years it has been a source of strength to have them in my life.

On July 7, 2009, our hearts broke. I feverishly set out to make the girls shawls.

In memory of baby boy blue, Levi, I chose a light blue Caron Pounder in 100% acrylic to make all three shawls. All three shawls took one skein of yarn, crocheted with an N hook.

Amber's' is called the Tranquil Wrap. I hope it brings her peace and warmth. She lives in Alaska, so perfect shawl weather.

Debbie's' is a called the Matriarch Shawl. Debbie is the matriarch now that Mary Lou has passed, who I spoke about here. It is a such a wonderful mantle to carry and I know she has the perfect peace of spirit to carry the weight that comes with the title.

Beth's' is called Angel Wings. In memory of her angel baby, I hope it brings her peace and warmth.

Peace and Comfort Shawls!

Fast Friday

Promises, promises! Sorry! It has been a week. Life literally unloaded on us this week. I have been crafting and taking a few pictures. Even have big plans for this weekend that will include some fun pictures.

The highlight of the week was the sale of our portable sawmill. That was nice. Jon was a little sad to see it go, but knew it was time. He is thankful he had the mill to sell otherwise I'd be all about selling his 1996 Z-71 pick-up truck. He imagines his first truck will become James first truck. If the bed don't rust away the beast may survive another decade and a half.

So Peace Out for this week! I hope you all enjoy your weekend. Share your plans with me!

Peace!

P.S. There is scuttlebutt in the wind that I'm going to giveaway some items. What would you like to see go into the giveaway basket?

This week....

Has been emotional. We will have Levi's visitation tonight and tomorrow he will be buried at the Burlington Cemetery.

Next week I will post what I've been doing. Crafting is good for the soul and peaceful for the mind, so I've been crafting between visiting the Jones, taking care of my kids, trying to cram work in and do all the day to day stuff that happens. My house is a wreck. I cry at random things. I try to find things to smile about and snatch those moments like the precious things they are. Hopefully, I share the love that I feel for the people in my life. Because I do truly love them. I will wear my heart on my sleeve the next two days. Share in the sorrow and pray and uplift the family as they work through this difficult time.

Much love! Peace and Baby Beans!

He was doing what he loved

This is how Levi left us. Living life, loving his Daddy and being a little farm boy. Levi and his Daddy were in a freak accident where both of them were injured. They live on a farm, Levi loved to ride four wheelers. An accident that never should have happened. Even the Sheriff who investigated said there was no wrongdoing. This family needs love, care and support during this time. A little boy has been called home to his Lord.

Levi leaves behind his brother, Rylee and a slew of family that is grieving the loss of this baby that always smiled.

I believe he is with Mary Lou, his greatgrandma who passed last July. The family dog brought me a slip of paper that said "Mary Lou Jones". Not random, she was there yesterday and sending her love. Google Zaccheaus, Levi's most recent favorite song story. I remembered the story as Debbie, Levi's grandma, sang it to me, but thought there was a different name to the story.

God's ways are mysterious and what is left for me is faith. I have faith that this family will pull through. Faith that Ryan and Beth love each other. Faith that time heals where this loss has left a gaping hole.

Please continue to pray. Reaffirm your faith.

Excuse me while I cry

From Handy Hooker

Please pray for Ryan and Beth Jones and their family. Levi, the little one pictured above, passed away this morning.

I can only scream in my head "WHY?!". His time here was so short. Are we selfish to want our babies to grow up, live long lives and die after us? Is there a lesson that God has for all this? He was 2! Turning three next month. He was suppose to date Jesse, maybe give her kisses. I was suppose to call his mom and dad and say, "I'm watching your boy! He better not break Jesse's heart." We'd laugh and tease and reminisce about our childhood and the crazy things we did. Then we'd sigh and say "Yeah." and be okay with the crazy things our kids were going to do together and never tell us about.

Instead, today I cry. The family will cry. This was one loved little boy. Such a adventuresome spirit. Hopefully, he found Mary Lou up in Heaven and they are heads together plotting some fun.

Love the Jones.

Orange and Black Cape

From Handy Hooker

Remember my Kool-Aid dyed yarn? This is one of the skeins. I've made Jesse a shawl using this superwash, pattern called Modello Guiditta (Ravelry link), a size 7 circular needles and stitch markers.

This was a fun project, and amazingly I was on count for my number of stitches and gauge. I didn't swatch this to check my gauge and the beginning of the cape was started during one of my night shifts. A night shift start can sometimes mean mistakes and I live with them, but this cape turned out perfectly for the stitch count.

From Handy Hooker

Jesse liked it and I think she'll love it more when I put a cute little button on the front to hold it on. She improvised a bit and tied it herself in the picture below. Maybe she is going to learn to love the things I make for her. Now I have an itch to do several items for her and James. James asked for a cape like the Wonder Pets and I have a little pattern stored away just for that request. So shopping trip and I need some time, but a James cape sounds like a fun project and I can use it for his Halloween costume. Bonus!

From Handy Hooker

Peace and Go Orange and Black!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Enjoy your day!!! My kids kept asking me whose birthday it was and then would break out in random HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you song, exchanging James or Jesse's name, whoever got to the to part first.

My attempt at the Rainbow Cake Wendy at Wenderful blog did so beautifully. I've come to the conclusion that my cakes are always going to be homemade and have that signature stamp of MBC, made by children.

Homemade cake batter mix. Mix up a huge batch and then refrigerate the cake mixes until you are ready to make the cake. The cake is pretty yummy.

Peace and Happy 4th!

Product review

Sorry, gals, it is going to be that week. My crafting stuff is coming along. I have three shawls in progress. Plans to tell you about them all, but I'm not quite ready to do that, so you'll have to live with some product reviews for a few days.

From Handy Hooker

First slather your babies in this organic sunscreen from Lavera. Wonderful stuff! James is allergic to all sunscreens. By all, I mean all that you can buy at Walmart, Target, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid. The one tube cost $24 and the expiration (Lavera.com tells you the expiration on the products before you buy) is July 2010, so I splurged and got two. One for our house and one for Meme's house. The sunscreen leaves a nice white cast to the skin, but the sunscreen is instantly effective in blocking the harmful rays of the sun and preventing sunburn. No waiting a half hour for the sunscreen to soak into the skin to become completely effective. Waterproof, it stays on for hours of fun in the water. Oh, and super bonus! Foreign language eye candy.

Next, tell your husband not to do this: Janne look away...or at least call me before you look, cause I wanna hear your laugh. Have you called? Okay:

From Handy Hooker

Okay, I'm going to hand the phone to Jon so you can make fun of his "swim shorts"....

Back to our regularly scheduled programming:

From Handy Hooker

For those wet pool time pictures that you want to capture, this SLR waterproof case allows you to get up close and personal while keeping your equipment safe and dry. I test drove this buddy at the Beach Waterpark and it did excellent. There was a slight cast to some of the pictures from the lens getting a smear of sunscreen or a extra heavy water drop during the picture. Overall, though, this a product worth having if you are wanting water pictures with your SLR camera. It floats, too. My telescopic lens fits in this case as well as my everyday 35mm lens. There are access sleeves for your fingers and the case triple seals ensuring your equipment stays dry and safe. Also, I did briefly submerge the camera and case in the water, but due to the buoyancy factor it was difficult to keep it under water. If in the future I decide to become more ambitious than point-and-shoot using the automatic setting underwater, I would go for the hard casing that allows more access to the controls. Another option would be to purchase a wide-angle lens for specific use when using this bag. I have plans of taking this bag on four-wheeling trips, where dirt, mud, water, and just all kinds of debris would junk up the camera casing, so this protective casing is ideal for what I have in mind.

Peace and Water Fun!