Helpfulness

Sloan & Omri

This weekend flew by! This year, as I have mentioned several times, is doing the same. Even Sloan mentioned the other night how fast the year is flying by. I haven't been able to do a whole lot since I got my cast on. I have been keeping up with the house one handedly, lol, but it takes me twice as long to do everything. It's very hard for me to cut or open things, so cooking is a real challenge. I'm so grateful for friends from church whom have provided meals. It has made life bearable. As for my little girls, well they have each been helpful in their own special ways.

Almost caught that smile...

Zoe has given me her doggy pillow to prop my arm up on when I sleep. Aris comes up several times a day a gives my cast kisses. Sloan is my biggest help. She has been dressing the baby, helping to dress the little ones, getting cuppies ready at bedtime, putting kids in car seats, & the list goes on. The most random tasks are very tough to do at the moment. I'm hoping in the next few weeks as my hand heals things will not hurt quite as much. I hate that it is hard for me to hold my baby right now. 

My little helper

Sloan has stepped up to the plate. Tonight she asked if I needed her to stay home from school to help out around the house tomorrow. I told her no, but let her know how much we'd miss her while she was gone. We really do. Yes I'll be glad when I can be a real mom again & not rely on my 10 year old to pick up the slack. But for now I'm so very grateful for this sweet little girl and all she does. 

A Little Help From My Friends (& Family)

Aris & her Brother

This is pretty much what I see on a daily basis. Omri the little prince by no fault of his own. Yes the girls dote on him all day long. They even fight over whom gets to hold him. He's content melting his little body into anyone that's willing to lend a shoulder. Aris shares all her toys with him. It's not uncommon for me to find dolls or other treasures tucked under his arms while he's swinging in his swing. Just so you understand, Aris won't share with anyone. So Omro should feel quite special.

Sloan has been so helpful today! Everything is a little harder to do. It's really hard for me to do anything that requires gripping or pinching motions. I'm learning to grip things with my knees & between the crook of my arm. It's amazing how resourceful you can become when the use of an arm is taken away. It's even more amazing all the things I take for granted on a daily basis. Take pulling up my pants for instance, or zipping said pants. How about changing a diaper. Holding my baby is the toughest one for me. I can really only hold him with my right arm. It bums me out & makes nursing extra hard when he nurses on my left side. Thank goodness for Boppy pillows!

I forgot to tell you how this all happened. It's pretty silly. I tripped......walking into the............wait for it...............kitchen! Tada! How cheesy is that? So Dean & I have decided to change our last name from The Swansons to The Klutzes. Seems fitting since we are managing to break something every couple weeks. I have had a lot of help though. My Aunt & cousins have been amazing. I also had several people offer to cook dinner & gladly accepted. I am so very grateful for all of it.

I just got the banners for my new vintage shop today. I can't wait to work on things this weekend. I CAN type with one hand. It just takes me a little longer to do so. I won't be able to work on paper art for a bit (takes finger gripping to do that). So I'm hoping to get the vintage shop up & running. Also hoping to reopen my other shop & stock it with some fun artwork. I can hold a pencil & a paintbrush so maybe I can add a few paintings? We shall see :) Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for all the well wishes!

It Could Have Been Worse

My left arm

Yep! Things could always be worse. Like this could have been my right arm. Now that would really stink! I have a scaphoid fracture. Cast should be off in 5 weeks. Life can sure be interesting at times can't it? Why did I choose black? Did the fact that I have 4 kids to tend to factor into that decision? You bet your sweet bippy it did! Hopefully it will hide all the dirt, er, I mean loving hugs & smudges and all that goes along with being a mommy. I'm grateful, oh so very grateful it wasn't my painting hand. Yes indeed, things could always be worse.

On Second Lives & Dungeons

Zoe Hot August Nights 2010

My little Zoe is a little obsessed with a certain shirt I found on clearance at Target last year. It's a long sleeve shirt yet she asks to wear it on even the hottest days. It has a print of Jimi Hendrix on the front of it. Did I mention it's her favorite? She asks questions about him all the time. Today while driving to meet some friends she started telling me all about her adventures with Jimi.

Zoe: Mom how did Jimi Hendrix die?

Me:: Well he took too much bad medicine and died. (I didn't think she'd understand drug overdoses yet)

Aris:: No he didn't mommy, he died in a dungeon.

Zoe:: He died of bad medicine?

Me:: Yes.

Aris:: No he didn't! He died in the dungeon. It was sad mommy.

Zoe:: He used to be my dad. I would go on stage and watch the band play with him.

Me:: Really?

Zoe:: Yeah. He lived in a house & I really loved him.

So there it is folks. My Zoe was Jimi Hendrix daughter in a former life, lol, and she really loved her daddy. She cracks me up. 

Hot August Nights

Daddy & Zoe at Hot August Nights 2010

I don't own a calendar. I don't wear a watch. I find myself staring at them both a little too much when I have had either. I can however map the year out by local events that happen every year here in Reno. I'll find myself discussing family milestones by, "That happened before such & such, or after the what's see who" it's something Dean and I both do now. Every year like clockwork we attend certain events. In August we always go to Hot August Nights. Every year we go and look at all the amazing classic cars. I marvel at how unique they are. I always wonder if anyone in the future will look back on the cars of the 90's till now and feel the same way most people do with cars from the 50' and earlier. Hot August Nights means that the Best of the West Rib Cook off is just around the corner. Which in turn means that the Reno Hot Air Balloon Races are not to far off either. I know that with the balloon races comes chilly weather. That means it's time to pack up our summer clothes and break out the sweaters and blue jeans.

Summer is flying by. This summer has me longing for home just a little more. I miss the sandy Florida beaches. I long for the hot and muggy weather with those beautiful storms. I miss our family trips and the fun we would always have with grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, & cousins. I lived such a charmed life growing up. Visits to Disney & Epcot several times a year. Every Summer we'd rent a beach house for a week or two. All of my most favorite memories are from these family outings. Still fresh in my mind. Some still so vivid I could paint you a picture with words. I treasure these memories and the time I spent with everyone. I wonder, will my children feel the same about their childhood?

All of this has me thinking about traditions. I've talked to Dean about how I'd like us to have more of them. We both would like to have yearly camping trips with the kids. We'd like to start hiking and going on nature walks. We've also talked about the importance of reading the Bible together as a family. The girls are so very excited to learn the stories of Jesus. What better way to do this than to read scriptures as a family? We started tonight & it was fun to listen as each of them talked about their love for our Savior. I feel lately a very strong pull. A tug in my heart. Life is so precious and flies by so quickly. I want to make sure I don't look back one day with tearful regret at all that could have been when it comes to family time. Traditions are such an important part of family life. Do we have enough? I'm thinking this is an area I could work a little harder on.

What are some of your favorite family traditions? 

Spaces

Loving this space

This is probably one of my favorite places in our home right now. I bought this cabinet at Goodwill right before I had the baby. It was a whopping $35! I adore it. I'm working on keeping our house clean and as uncluttered as possible. A real challenge with 4 little ones.  I find it is easier for me to think clearly when things are neat & tidy. When I keep up on the house I don't feel as guilty working on projects for myself.

Before

Speaking of projects, here is my new art space.

After

Here is the after I finished cleaning it last night. There are still a few boxes in the garage of things to put away in this area. I'll be putting the last of it away tomorrow. I also have about 6 bins of fabric that will stay in the garage & can be taken out as needed. I am so excited to use this space. It is in our breakfast nook. We have a huge dinning room and this space was unused. Dean & I thought it would make a great place to work until my studio in the 4th garage is finished. It will happen eventually but for now this is an amazing space to work in. The drafting table was FREE! It was in an abandoned home and the new owner said I could have it before they hauled it to the dump. It's like brand new. The other table my mom found at the Goodwill Bargain Bin for $5! I'll be using it for all my paper crafts and sewing projects. 

I'm slowly taking pictures of the rest of the house. I will post as spaces become a little more put together. We still have soooooo many projects to do before the house is completely where we want it but this is a start. 

Counting

I'm thinking that maybe I should start a list of all the things I need to do. However I'm a little afraid to. Why? Just worried it will be ten pages long. I'll be back very soon with all the fun stuff I'm working on. Just taking me a little longer than I thought it would.

P.S. Just finished writing a list of goals for this month. Doesn't seem quite so frightening now.

Vintage Finds

Vintage Silk Threads

Aren't they beautiful? I spent a good two hours today photographing items to put into my new vintage Etsy store. Can't wait to share the rest of the treasures I have found! Hope you all are having a great week!

If Wishes Were Fishes...

Have you ever visited the lovely shop of Flora & Henry? If not you should. I adore everything they sell even if I can't afford it. I was however able to buy these darling little Flora & Henry pants at a yard sale. For $2! Squeal! Aren't they the cutest? When my little man gets a bit bigger I can roll down the cuffs on the bottom.

Seriously, how cute is he? I just can't get enough of this little man! 

Disclaimer

My little beach bum


So I think that my last post was a little misunderstood. I hope I didn't come off as sounding like I have it all together. Because I don't. Seriously, when I said we are back to some sort of normal I meant it. Only our new normal is not like the old kind of normal. It hit me super hard yesterday how un-normal my life is these days. I spent the better part of the morning crying. Mostly out of self pity. A portion of it was due to the fact that our house looked like a bomb had gone off. Some of the tears were due to the fact that we have had so many major changes in our lives over the past two months. A major move, a new baby, Dean breaking his ankle, Dean not working, trying to fit into a new group of friends, & well the list goes on. I really don't chalk this cry fest up to hormones. I think sometimes we just need a good ol' fashioned cry. Yesterday was one of those days.

Today I woke up and felt much better.

I cleaned our home & spent time with the girls. I even worked on stuff for my new shop. Everything just happens slower. Turtle speed is what I like to call it. I'm just trying to keep positive and share the happy moments with my family and friends. Those are the moments that seem the most special and worth the mention.