a.rose

Sometime about 5 and a half years ago my brother gave me a sort of box kit to make silly sock creatures.  I never made one, even though the kit came with all of the materials necessary to do so because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to follow the directions right and mess the whole thing up. Alas, the other day I was cleaning out my sewing room and Hallie found the box and began poring over the pictures of the various creatures you could make.  And then she began begging, and begging, and pleading and pleading for me to make one for her. I didn't last long before I was sitting on the couch next to her with scissors and a needle and thread, and a poor pair of socks that was about to be terribly, terribly mutilated, sewn back together, and then stuffed. And then the silly thing grew and grew on me even in his terrible imperfectness, because I really had no idea what I was doing, and I made one for Hanna. And then I made one for Heather. Turns out you can make these rea...

I was daydreaming yesterday.  I imagined myself and Devin, sitting on our porch on a warm evening, maybe in early October.  We'd have those rocking chairs I've always coveted that you can get at Cracker Barrel.  I don't think we would talk much, enjoying that silence more profound than any words mankind has discovered. I imagine what I would look like, in this daydream as I sit on the porch in early October.  Years have passed, and with them the colors of my clothing have faded into soft pastels and muted beiges.  The cuts of the fabric have blurred, not so distinct, not so sharp but wavy and curvy and making it sort of indistinguishable where one part of my body starts and another ends.  All of me, transformed through the years into one soft lump of pink and cream. I think Devin and I revel in the silence, but our hearts quicken as we hear the sound of cars coming around the corner that we still live on.  The cars come into view around the bend a...

Did you miss the post that helps this post make sense?  Read it, here . I understand that pictures of vomit curls may not be appealing to everyone.  Thus I will put other pictures first, with clear warnings of when the pictures of Hanna covered in vomit are coming you can retreat back to the safety of Facebook or Yahoo news or Stranger or wherever else you hang out on the internet. I think maybe Hallie wasn't feeling so great that morning, either.  This is what Heather looks like when you have the camera out and are taking pictures and you don't let her grab it to chew and taste. Then Hallie got excited and wanted to take a picture of me and Heather.  I actually really quite like it. WARNING: We are nearing the true vomit curls pictures.  This one is skating on the edge of it, having Hanna in the picture, but you can't really tell that anything is "wrong" with her, except the fact that Hallie wouldn't go any closer, citing "Hanna sm...

The snow continues to haunt me.  I think it might melt away today, and maybe not snow again?  Should I risk even saying that?  Knock on wood...  Well, I'm taking a journey back in time to my Spring Break trip to Mexico, I think maybe this was to Cozumel?  Yes, that sounds right. First of course, we had to drive to Alabama. I guess this was just sometime on our way, but I mostly post it because I miss those pants and that sweatshirt.  Where did it go?  Dinners on the cruise - I look at these pictures and I think, where did all of those clothes go?  OOOOH yes, I remember, I gave them away in my huge clothing purge after Hallie was born when I didn't know what to do with my new strangely shaped body. That's our cruise ship.  On the beach.  I don't know what those crusty stairs are behind us... I have to remind myself that this hot humid weather is coming our way to Nebraska soon, too.  It will be h...

Today it snowed again.  So here's where we're at: 1st Day of Spring - Freezing temps, no snow 2nd Day of Spring - Freezing temps, two inches snow 3rd Day of Spring - Freezing temps, one inch of snow Looks like the score so far is Winter: 3, Spring: 0.  You'll get yours though, Spring, I know it. In the meantime, remember those pictures that I recently found from my college Spring Breaks?  Yeah, I'm just going to pretend that that's where I am right now, and I'm telling you all about it and we'll all bask in the warmth of memory today, shall we?  Having dinner in our little home away from home.  I put this one up because I think it is kind of funny that we cooked meals like a big family.  But then sometimes we went out to eat, of course.  This was one night we got a little fancified to go out.  And of course we spent much, much time at the beach.  This was the only picture I could find of myself in the water,...

Being a mom is great, really, really great.  And being a mom is hard, sometimes, too.  And sometimes being a mom isn't really great or hard, it's just sort of a big mess and you're the only one around to clean it up. There are moments every now and then when a series of events will occur that leave me looking over my shoulder, as if deep down inside I can't believe that no one is coming to help me figure out what to do, where to start sorting out the mess that has been made.  No one ever comes.  So finally a mother just has to roll up her sleeves and get to work.  It can be very messy, dirty, slimy, stinky, crusty, germ infested work. This morning Heather woke up first.  She had a little breakfast with Daddy while Mommy snatched a few extra minutes.  Those extra minutes are my favorite.  Then he brought her to me, a squirming mass of pink ballerina pj's and kissed me goodbye.  Hallie came hopping in the room a few minutes later, and we a...

I have too many things on my mind, too many words forming and I can't keep them all straight.  I'm filled with thoughts about family, springtime, Easter, brownies, plyometrics, love, and a hundred other random things that all come together when I'm rocking Heather in the darkness of twilight, but that I can't sort out when I'm in front of my computer.  It may seem like a week since I've written a blog post, but trust me I write five in my head every night. In the meantime, while I get all that stuff sorted out, guess what I found?  Pictures.  From assorted experiences ranging from my Spring Breaks when I was just a wee bitty little college student at Ye Olde Purdue University to visits with my sister in Utah.  And so I think I'll post some of them, and pretend that I got to go somewhere sunny and nice like in the good old days.  But for now, since it is late and I am tired, how about a few teasers?  I have no idea why my sister and I are po...

I was getting ready to go to a dinner at church tonight, and I accidentally reached for the waterproof mascara.  I noticed before I put it on, but I shrugged my shoulders and put it on anyway.  I never wear waterproof mascara, but I was in a hurry and didn't bother to switch.  In the car driving to the dinner I was so grateful for that waterproof mascara. My sister had a baby two weeks ago, and I got to facetime with her just minutes after the baby was born.  It was a really special moment for me to see her and her baby, even though they were so far away. Last week my sister moved from where she lived 7 hours away from me to where she lives now, 18 hours away from me.  I could practically feel the distance between us growing as the day went on and the car with her and her babies in it moved farther and farther east.  But just the other day I got a tour of her new home.  Thanks to skype I got to see the place that she is already making into a beaut...

Can we talk about girl kind of things, for a minute here?  If you aren't sure if you want to keep reading, just ask yourself: do the very sounds of the words "girl" and "talk" make you uncomfortable?  This probably isn't for you, then. First of all, the easy stuff. I've never liked my shampoo and conditioner.  I've never really felt satisfied that my hair is getting the results as promised by the advertisements and labels.  I've tried just about every brand on the shelf, but what do you love?  Is there one I should go back and try again, or do you know a secret that you'd share with me? Second of all, my fingernails make me sad.  For most of my life my fingernails were strong, and sharp, and powerful, and could do anything.  Now, they are brittle and break and crack and they aren't pretty anymore.  I used to have strangers see them and ask, "Are those your real nails?"  Now, no one even notices them.  Is there a secret vi...

Look, if you don't want to see pictures of the things I've made recently, I have this super cute picture of Heather for you.  You can just look at it, appreciate how adorable this tiny little person is, and then go on about your day.  I hope it is a really, really, really nice day.  But if you are interested in what I've made lately, read on. My sister Rachel who is super very crafty and talented made a little pony mat like this for her daughter Emily, and I copied her.  I was quite pleased with how it turned out, and the girls liked it too, so that's a bonus.  Blankets for baby boy and baby girl.  These blankets turned out perfectly.   Absolutely the most perfectly best thing I've ever made. I love these blankets so much, it was sort of physically painful to box them up and send them away.  Do you get like that, with things you make? Emotionally attached?  Ah...