JWasaurus

After taking over my sewing machine, JW, with his assistants by his side, won the 36th season of Project Runway.

Sparkle Punch Progress

There is no rhyme or reason to my Sparkle Punch quilt yet.  I'm just pulling out scraps as I go and sewing sparkles at random.  It's like a giant puzzle. It has come together rather quickly, that is, not until after I figured out that I don't actually sew each piece of the sparkle together until ALL the sparkles are made.  Duh.  I unpicked the first sparkle at least seven times before I figure this out.  Anyway, I've worked it out and I'll keep plugging along when JW is sleepy sleepy. 

"Tickens"

JW's favorite part of Gramma Nay's house is feeding her "tickens" (chickens).  Not only does she have chickens, but she has a beautiful Artisan well with enormous goldfish, surrounded by mountains of rocks.  Throwing sticks and pine cones into the pond and climbing the rocks is all part his outdoor adventure.  The other day he was so excited to get outside that bolted out of the house without his coat on (it was freezing!).  JW thought it would be funny to play Chase Me while Grandma tried to get his coat on, but he ran off right into the blackberry patch and was swallowed up by the prickly thorns.  It wasn't so funny after that.  He may have learned his lesson about running away from Grandma, but it didn't stop him from enjoying her great outdoors.

Cookie Cutters

JW does not enjoy getting his haircut, but it helps to have a grape lollipop, a balloon, and a playground inside the salon to make it tolerable.  These people know how to cater to a two year old.

Sleep Talking

I have noticed several of my Facebook "Friends" posting about their trouble with insomnia lately, one of which is my brother, Ben.  Part of his problem, in my expert opinion, is that he drinks three gallons of Coke a day and who knows how many Red Bulls?  He was born a little high strung, but dose him with caffeine and take away his sleep and the guy is crazy as a rat in a wood shithouse.  

I know how this craziness feels.  Any mother with a newborn has managed for weeks on end with only a few hours of sleep in a night.  It is not restful sleep either and you can never catch up.  Just when you start to dream, the baby cries.  When JW was a newborn, I really thought my head was going to explode.  Sleep deprivation made me a miserable, psychotic person x 100.

G made a New Year's Resolution to be to bed by 10:00 PM.  Not necessarily asleep, but in bed.  I can honestly say this is not a problem for me.  I turn into a pumpkin before 10:00 PM.  I rise early, exercise, and am mindful of what I eat.  My caffeine intake is minimal and sugar, well, I could work on that, but for the most part is not excessive.  I really believe these healthy habits help me sleep well.  G is a good sleeper and best of all, JW is a good sleeper. 

Do you have sweet dreams, or are you just dreaming of sleep?

Resolute to Resolve with Sparkle Punch

Picture from Oh, Fransson!'s blog.

OK, so I said I wasn't going to make any New Years Resolutions, but then I saw this quilt on a blog I follow and everything changed.  Elizabeth Hartman from Oh, Fransson! made this "Sparkle Punch" quilt and is going to host a quilt-along.  Just the picture makes me so happy that I think I'd like one of these for myself.  So my resolution this year is to be less about good intentions (because I always say, "Hey!  I'm going to do that!" and then I don't) and more about getting it done and having something to show for it.  Therefore, I am committing to one star a week and if I can find the motivation (this is the non-committal part of my resolution), I'll show you my progress.  Sparkle Punch for everyone!

Happy New Year!!!

This is the post where I'm supposed to reflect on the last year, how awesome I was, my kids, my husband, my job, life, and make big plans for the year to come.  In all honesty, I can't elicit the brain power to think about it.  I have lazy brain.  Actually, I think all the junk I've eaten in the last three weeks has made me dumber.  Tomorrow I'm back to the food pyramid guidelines (this is not a New Year's Resolution). 

I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions.  I prefer to make smaller goals more frequently with a higher probability of accomplishment.  I suppose you could still call them New Year's Resolutions, but for me it's more of a to-do list that changes periodically.  For example, at the top of my list I need to sign up for the half marathon in April.  You're probably thinking a half marathon is a pretty big to-do.  Not really.  I've run several.  I just need to sign up for the race.  Signing up may sound so simple, but I'm a procrastinator so what is seemingly simple becomes a big deal after I've put it off for so long.  I read about a photo-a-day blog challenge.  I am seriously considering it.  I was given a pretty nice camera recently and this might be a good way to learn how to use it, except that I think the challenge was supposed to start today.  Never mind that the 30 day blog challenge I did a few months ago took every ounce of energy I could muster, especially for a girl whose life is like Ground Hog Day. 

Good luck to you in the new year.  May all your resolution dreams come true.