It has been a whirlwind the last few days. Heck the last week has been crazy busy for me. My kids are still sick, with runny noses and coughs yet still functional. I am balancing between the sick and healthy. It could go either way.

We had a busy weekend, not only preparing for house guests next weekend, but exploring too! We took the kids to the Farmer’s Market but Ethan wasn’t very happy with the atmosphere so we headed out to the Discovery Centre. After soaking us for every last coin (I found it to be a tad expensive) we entered into the world of science and wonder. Incredibly we did not surface again for FOUR hours. Becca loved all the exploring of science related stuff, and Ethan was happy when there were times he could get down and explore too.

J’s Mom and sister are arriving from out west on Saturday. We are all so excited! I have some cleaning and organizing to accomplish this weeek, as well as some baking for a Valentine’s Day party at the library tomorrow.

I had a couple people ask me what was the statue in my Wordless Wednesday. The story goes that this weeping Buddha is carrying the weight of the world’s worries, therefore he is hunched over weeping. If one is worried, one can rub his back and Buddha will take one’s worry too, carry it and let one be free of worry.

I saw it in a store weeks before I was to marry … I needed to release some worry Even though we have moved many times since then, the little guy has always come along. Many worries have been rubbed on his back.

Becca has been on this kick about babies. She is going to have a lot of babies, then her tummy will be all smooshey like Mommy’s (nice!) *sigh* So the other day she spent the entire morning with Pooh bear under her shirt, she was pregnant with kittens, however the father had not married her yet! I almost died laughing!

Ethan is very clingy lately. I think it is due to being ill mostly. He can barely breath through his nose the poor kid. Sleeping is tough and the crankiness follows the lack of sleep.

I am off to back Valentine’s Day cookies with Becca …

As I alluded to earlier this week I have been working on a new craft in time for Valentine’s Day. I have been bewitched for some time with the concept of embroidery for quite some time. Sublime Stitching makes me quiver (yes I am a geek). However, although my interest is peaked; knitting, children, blogging and photography have taken over all the “free” time I have. Since sleep is not really optional (believe me I have tried), I have been complacent to merely oogle stitches.

Then I saw this. My creative bones creaked and moaned, urging me to do this. So with Valentine’s Day approaching and the fear of yet another move not looming over my head I started out stitching some felt. Yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday was a little glimpse at the hearts I blanket stitched together to make Heart-Felt Garland. I am quite pleased with the result. It was a simple yet handmade goodness to brighten our space.

Holly had blogged about Project Spectrum before the plague that took my family out of commission. My snoopy nature forced me to follow her link trail to the fabulous 2008 - Project Spectrum Element. Since all the cool kids are doing it, it is not purple kool-aide AND it will force me to continue to be creative, which soothes all the beasts and makes my soul glow, I am signing myself up. My Heart-Felt Garland has a tad of red in it so I figure it counts towards the Project S. I have my head all a swirl thinking about the Earth Element. Yet I am trying to focus on the Fire that sparked my interest in the first place

Since I am chatting about creativeness, if you wander over to the other blog –> here … you will find yourself absorbed into my latest projects and rambling about knitting, or my fat head …

I am parting ways with you now … my rambling fingers needing to stop …

Have fun with more Wordless Wednesday.

There are times when I feel so overwhelmed. Saving for a house, not having all that I desire, the sacrifices that I have to endure to live the dream.

Then I remember the dream.

We have succeeded in securing J’s dream of becoming a professor at a university. However we have also begun living another dream. Our children. Staying at home with the kids, although challenging on so many levels at times, is my dream job. Why is it so easy to loose sight of that at times?

Scribbit had an amazing post about milestones. As stay at home moms, chances are we are not going to miss those moments that all too quickly fade in memories. I try to focus on the children, not wanting to miss a thing. Ethan is growing up so much faster than Becca did. Yet we are one year and a few months away from school with Becca. I am so not ready.

I have tossed the idea of preschool around a lot. I know that Becca would do well in preschool. She does well at everything she tries. Yet I do not want to rush this on her. She will have a lifetime to be in a structured, timely environment. Would I miss the first time she reads because she was somewhere else? Will she tie her shoe or do some other earth shattering milestone without me to cheer her on? I like to run off to the beach, the museum, the playground on a whim … Not after 2 pm.

I am fully aware that most people could not (would not) choose to live the way we do. The way in which we raise our children is “different”. I do not allow them to cry it out, feeling alone and abandoned. I know the feeling of being alone all to well. Why would that be something I want for my kids? Alone is a horrible horrible feeling. Solitude is glorious feeling like you have no one to call out for is scary.

Becca, Ethan & I went to a MOPS meeting/gathering yesterday morning. Oh My. I totally forgot that sensation of being with other moms, chatting, exchanging thoughts and theories and just being with others. I am a stay at home with a good book rather than hit the socialites parties kinda girl, but man do I like a good group of women to catch with on occasion. The other moms were great. Becca happily played with the other children in the preschool room, while Ethan basked in the glory of being the centre of attention in his sling.

An older lady teased me about not taking Ethan to the nursery. I am so not ready and I know Ethan would have protested being left with strangers. We have been on our own with little outside support for so long it is hard to turn that feeling off. Besides I did not need to be away from my child to feel rejuvenated and refreshed. We watched a video on a discipline technique that spoke of training our children like wild animals, then discussed it. The discussion quickly turned to other topics (thankfully). I was a tad nervous going to a religious based group, since I am rather quiet about that sort of thing. However, when surround by good people, the looming idea that they may just try to convince you to drink the purple kool-aide fades. I did get the number of another mom, so you know we could hook up for a play date in the future. I am trying to get out there, meet the people.

I venturing from one topic to the next with no direction. I love blogging. It is so good to get it out there. Oh JJ asked last week if Becca minded the drastic change in weather. So as we walked home from the library all bundled up in the cold, I asked Becca her thoughts on the weather …

I am worried, all this rain is going to melt the snow! I like the snow. It is not THAT cold and you make me hot chocolate when it is cold. Are we having hot chocolate when we get home?

So I guess it is a non-issue for her. I asked her if she missed it being nice and warm all the time, she just shrugged. I think she is young enough that those memories fade fast. The other day she told me she wasn’t sure if Charisma was a dream, or if he was really here at one time. That made me sad, but I am hoping she is healing in her own way.

Due to being ill last week I did nto announce the winner of the Lemonsquare CD … Many Congrats to Janice!

Last week was a blur of snot, aches and pains. I am dreadfully behind on EVERYTHING. Blogs, Facebook, emails, housework (ha!), crafts, photos … It is insane how out of the loop I feel.

So I am in the process this week to make my way back to the normal scheme of things. While I was sick it became February. Wow. Becca and I need to start crafting the love. I started a project (that I will share later this week) and I hope to do more with her. I have been knitting away on J’s scarf, finished a hat that I may have to frog and figure something out for I think it may be too small (more details soon promise).

The friend that I made at the library is incredibly sweet. She put a call in to her “not accepting new patients” doctor and got us in! Score! I took the kids on Thursday to touch base an make sure they are throughly vaccinated for Canada. Yup. The doctor rocks. Very laid back, nice and not all push his opinions on you. I like him. He also submitted a referral for Becca’s eyes, but without a great need chances aer we will not see someone till summer. We are in no hurry since she saw someone in New Mexico.

I hate the feeling of being behind. I was just feeling settled and organized. I was doing more and feeling great. Darn cold. It was the nasty sort that knocked my whole family out. Is cold and flu season over yet? Our weekend was pretty quiet considering. We did get down to the farmer’s market (I bought YARN …hehe!), other than that it was pretty dull and full of naps and kleenex.

Did the groundhog see his shadow? I want to go out and play