What a difference a day makes.

What a difference a day makes. BRRRRRRR......................... and I mean BRRRRRRR.................... I was out in it all day too. Fun things though. I went to an appointment with David that went well, once we got there! Then we went shopping at Target. Then, Cora and I went on a mom and daughter date. We went to lunch and cross stitched together. We then went to Micheal's, a craft store. After, we went and I treated her to the most delicious chocolate cake in the world! and some hot chocolate. And for the last 2 hours, the kids have been playing like cherubs!! Man what a nice time so far. David went to a birthday party today and had a great time. Sam and Rick went to the "Glass building" finally. Sam has been waiting forever to see that. It is the Conservatory in St. Paul. They have an entire new section. It has a sloth, lizard, birds, and a giant snake. Look at Sam, and behind him is the snake!!! K~

Too much for me today!

I was going to write a lot today, then I got overwhelmed. So I decided to find a calm relaxing photo and just post that. This is Bing after a nice long fluffy brush. I was snuggled up to him until I took the photo. He was just so round and warm. I think I am going to take a nap. K~

There is Beauty in Patients

It's Finished!!

I am so proud of myself. I never gave up and I kept redoing it until I got it right. This is a scarf I made for my Wonderful Sister Marsha. She does so much for our family!! It is out of VERY expensive yarn. The most I have ever spent on a skein. It is sockette yarn. A very tiny strand. I just learned how to knit this pattern when I started on Thanks giving! I am sure I ripped up this scarf at various points at least 20 times!! But it looks the same from beginning to end. I had to challenge myself not to cheat her or myself out of the beautiful product I knew it could have been. I am so excited to give it to her tonight! K~

Cold vs.Warm

Cold Blooded staying warm...

Warm blooded getting cold!!

Bitter cold and training a puppy??

Now I know why I love my reptiles so much!!! In Minnesota, I need to keep the cold blooded cozy warm, like I like to be!!

AHHHHH doesn't it look warm under the light, in the blanket??

Not so fun going out for potty morning, noon, and night.

Not so fun holding the door open, while Nala decides when she is going to leave.

Not a blast getting up every morning at 4 AM to let the cat out AND hold the door open so she can sniff the air. You may wonder, why do you indulge her K~?? Because she relentlessly scratches the closet door and meows until you do!

Some are just easier then others :-)

K~

The water dog

It's hard to see, but he is sitting in a huge puddle of water from the pitcher behind him. He likes to wade in the water, paddle in his water dish and swim in the bathtub. We were looking to get a water dog, and, well, we got one. K~

Hard habits to break

Some habits and needs are hard to let go. My blessed little Maxwell. He just as a NEED for companionship. He is most often seen attached to on of the other turtles. Checking them out. He must wonder if they are the same ones or something like that. He is so sweet. I am going to try and get a female his size next year. I will need to be very picky. AND..... I don't even know if he cares or not who he is with. K~

da Bears ..... da Colts...... da Super Bowl

Indy all the WAY!!

Yeah the Colts won last night! Although, they did try and lose in the first 1/2! I am so excited. Chicago looked really strong! I am bit nervous. I am however, going for Indy all the way. K~

Frustrated Cat

"Frustrated Cat" by Miro. I really like this painting. It speaks to me on many different subject. First, I think it speaks to me regarding Nala. She is quite frustrated. But, even in her small little brain, she can modify her behavior to get past her obstacle (Bing). I too can get frustrated. I hope I can learn from her that it is important to wait. Wait for the best time to strike. Not every time is perfect. She is waiting for that best time. She is ready now, but being very patient. Good for her. K~

Football playoffs!!

I want Indy and Chicago to win.

Then......Indy to take it all!!

I do like Peyton Manning! Even though, I got ripped off of getting him for my quarter back.

I am still quite faithful to him.

I have 2 people on the Colts, however, that will be playing this weekend.

I have Chicago's defense so, that will help.

I am in the running to take the big win in our fantasy football league. FINALLY!!

I do have to give most of the credit to my assistant coach...Rick. He has made some impressive suggestions to me (the head coach) to keep me alive. The name of my team is "The Three Banger" named after the # of children I have. I have been in the running in the last 10+ years I have been in the league. I think I even took 3rd one year, but to be in the running for 1st.

That's exciting.

K~

Freaking out over crafts!!

I know it sounds funny to "freak out" over crafts. Isn't that supposed to relax you and calm you down!! Not me. David needed me to make this bunny he saw in a magazine. "Your you finished with the bunny yet?" became the mantra for 2 days. He would bring me the stuffing, the yarn, the magazine over and over again. So added to my list, is this bunny. I personally think it came out ok (no pattern, just a photo), but the one in the magazine (where you can order a pattern!!!!) is much cuter!

K~

Feeling pretty Good in 2007- so far...........

Cora made this precious Mommy snowman and baby!!

Well we are 1/2 way through January!

It is very cold out.

I however, am feeling pretty good so far.

I'm kind of surprised but happily surprised none the less.

I still have plenty to do, but instead of feeling overwhelmed, I feel full and excited.

I think it might be that I am getting used to having my mornings.

Bing is a good boy. He is sleeping on the little bean bag bed we have made him.

Puff is sunning. The turtles are swimming around. Nala is in a big grey ball!

I don't know. It feels good to be busy.

K~

crafts to do

I have been working on getting some of my crafting projects done. I have 1 October gift that I am for my sister that I have quite literally ripped up part of at least 25 times!!! It is a new knitting pattern, and one I must not be able to do in the din of my house! Then there is the 2 book marks that I am doing for Christmas presents. I am over 1/2 done on one and 1/4 done on the other. Then there is the birthday gift due in early early February!! I have 4 rows done on that. Let's see. I have a mommy and a baby gift to get done for a friend that had a baby in late December. And then there are the doggy sweaters that my vet fell in love with and wants me to sell at the clinic. I have another visit there in a month with Bing! Here is his sweater that I did. It is Cora's design. K~

When is enough enough??

I have 44 animals. Give or take a fish here and there. HMMMMM!!
3 Children
1 husband
and me.

one more and that would be 50 creatures under one roof. Is that legal?? It sure is not sane or normal...........

K~

Indolence

Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Indolence, 1756-1757

His Indolence, showing a lazy servant, is a humorous--but no less moralizing.

2 dictionary definitions:
** in·do·lence n. Habitual laziness; sloth.
** indolence n. inactivity resulting from a dislike of work

This Painting was at the MIA. When Marsha, Marilee and I went to the exhibit. WOW!!! it spoke to me. The write up next to the painting said, that "the woman was lazy and kept a messy house. But, actually, was probably suffering from morning sickness." I absolutely LOVE the orange shoe. Her expression is so real. I have not been moved by a painting the way that this one has moved me, in quite awhile.

K~

SOOOO Tired!!

Too tired to keep my eyes open. Look at Bing. I had to turn off the # lock because his head kept hitting the keys. Puff cuddled up like this himself. I went to get him to put him in his cage for the night, and there he was, tucked under the buffaloes arm. My My!! K~

Bursting at the seems!!

We are a FULL HOUSE now!! We are filled to the brim! We have had a good day with Bing. Last night was a bit rough. But over all not so bad either. We are trying to do our best. The 2 nights that followed went very well. He slept through the night. He had an accident the second night, but none the third. We are very proud of us and the kids. At least we know that we love all our animals and do the best for them as we can. We also love each other. We try and provide. In the end. We all want to be cuddled and played with!

New years eve Family walk

We had a new years eve Family walk, and I mean the whole family. Nala followed us all the way around the long block. Here are some WONDERFUL photos. It was absolutely beautiful!!!!

Meet Bing

Meet Bing. He is an 8 week old puppy.

He was born on November 6th, 2006. He is a Bichon Frise and a poodle mix. He has HUGE paws!!

We named him Bing, before we even picked out a puppy. Bing - represents the "Cherry on top" or the final straw to the madness.

He has been sweet so far.

Rick and my catch phrase now.........

"Look at him, what could possibly be bad about that?"

The new year

I am kind of excited about 2007. It has it's potential. I think that it could be the year I spend mostly awake, then mostly sleeping. I am busy doing my usual clearing out rooms and going through things. Organizing and rearranging. I feel a bit ahead of the game, due to the work I did this fall. I know the living room is going to be clearer when all the holiday decor goes down. My animals have adjusted nicely to winter. Even though we are not having much of a winter. Here are some photos of the gang.

Christmas time in the City

Surviving the holidays.

It has been a fairly nice holiday season this year. The special days have gone well and there were no Major catastrophies. I have to admit it might have been almost relaxing. However, I would not put in that category as of yet. I am now home for 2 weeks with my lovely cherubs. Here is a photo of our Christmas cooking baking experience.

Careful Cora. She is using the new yellow, after Sam sneezed in the 1st batched. We call that "loved" food at our house.

David did 4 or 5 cookies Very well.

Do you need more sprinkles, Sam??

They did a very wonderful and complete job on the cookies. It was nice Grandma Polly could join us.

K~

Spongebob Squarepants

I love Spongebob Squarepants. He is so wonderful and makes me laugh. Just now, I am working on the computer. Sam is sitting next to me playing with magnets, and the noise coming from the other room is none other then SB himself. He is so adorable and completely entertaining. K~

Trimming the fat

Shedding Fat. I need to shed my body fat! Dah!!! But what about other "fat" I have insulated myself with??? worries, fears, need to do it NOW projects?? If I drew a picture of myself right now, what would it look like??

Ok, that's a bit depressing. Maybe I need to work on my self image a bit. However.....I can't ignore it either. I've got a lot of work to do.

I need to look at the day in a whole different way. I thought it might be interesting to look at today with the perspective of what I might say about it in say.... 5 years. I find that I am very aware of the "hind sight is 20/20" phenomenon. When I look back at the times I wished for this, hoped for that, and never focused on what is working for me now, I got my priorities all askew.

Today, I need to look at what IS working and how to build on that. I am trying not to focus on what is NOT working. I get overwhelmed with that concept. Too much is appearing to "not go my way".

Maybe I could feel and look a bit more like this on a daily basis.

So the journey begins..... Hopefully, I don't sit down and have a snack and a nap before I even get started!!

K~

Crafting is a good thing

(Part of a book mark based on Van Gough's sunflower painting)

I have been working my little fingers to the bone. I really enjoy the arts and crafts. I am working on bookmarks, scarves, slippers and mini clay sculptures. I am not going to get it all done by the holidays. I hope that the holidays can include January and February too!!

Here is a beautiful photo of our tree. I had something else in mind, but, when you have a 4 year old as your decorator, this is what you are going to get~ Notice the height of the garland. (When S requested the garland, it was for the walls, or so I thought.)

K~

Wow. What a day already. My little D just can not get a handle on leaving me for the school day. I had to leave him in a puddle of tears in the office with Holly their gym teacher ( and our support person at school). Oh my, how it is hard to go do my daily routine when I have that on my mind. Then, at the same time I am tearing him away from me, C comes to me with the Nurse. She needs her inhaler and is wheezing badly today!! What a day! and it's only Noon! K~

Puff goes for another visit!!

Here is Puff at an ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) class. He was such a good boy. I got the sweetest thankyous from the kids. They melted my heart! K!

Buried.....

Puff Bathing... I do love this animal!!

Buried under the pile of Laundry!

Yes, I have emerged from the piles and piles, only to be driven back under them. I am still around and still kicking. At what I don't know. I am just randomly kicking about. There is so much to do and I will never get it all done.

Each day feels like "Ground Hogs Day" (the movie) and yet, it always turns out MUCH different then I had in mind.

I have been trying to enjoy my crafting. I have so many ideas in my head floating around, for gifts. I have such little time to do much of it....Not to mention that both my arms, hands, and fingers go numb immediately and I need to stop and straighten them out for a while. I also have to work with a 7 year old boy on my lap, blocking my view. While, I need to help my 9 year old with her math and writing homework, while playing skateboard men with my 4 year old. All, of course, while sitting in the corner of my small TV room enjoying Pokemon.

If this sounds like a good time. Please let me know. Have a great day. They are ALL at school!! (until Noon)

K~

Going overboard again

Puff is angry about the peas. Where's the super worms!!

I wish that somewhere on our body, we had one of those pop up thermometers that Thanksgiving Turkeys have!! I don't know why, at almost 40, I just don't see my overboardness "sneaking" up on me. I used to say " I don't need a brick to fall on my head to get it, I need the entire house" Well, that insight came at 26. I am now 39!!! I really have not adjusted to that revelation much.

I overdo it in almost everything in my life. If I am lazy, even, I am a complete SLUG! I get signs alright, but who do I think those signs are for?? Obviously they are not me?? The stiff neck. The pain shooting from my shoulder, through my teeth, into my brain? The over eating, Over not eating, Over sleeping, Over up at 4:30 AM working, Over cleaning, Over ignoring cleaning, Stepping Over junk, Grinding my teeth, blowing like a volcano, playing a computer game so many times, I don't even remember starting it. Need I go on. The signs are everywhere. I guess that makes me either deaf, blind, dumb or all of the above. I love to blog, but feel it may be too boring for people to read about my daily struggles with my life in a match box house, like it is stuffed with that inflatable shaving cream foam that just keep expanding and coming out of can, minutes after you stopped squeezing it! If I clean an area, I can literally turn around, and it will be dirty, messy, cluttered or all of the above. I HAVE BEEN DECLUTTERING!!!! Where does it all come from!

There, I got that off my chest. K~

A week has passed

I can't believe it has been a week since I have gotten a chance to work on my blog. I still have such little time to get any thoughts down today. I voted! That was a very empty and hopeless feeling. Wow, there is just not much to choose from out there! I got little David to school! That was a task in and of it's self. Now my day will be filled with doing this and that to "catch up". I will try and put a happy photo on the blog so maybe I can cheer myself up! K~