Getting Better

I would say I am feeling better than I was but I am not completely over this illness.  I'd say I'm about to this point...

I went to the After Hours clinic this morning.  Praise God there are doctors, nurses, etc. willing to work on weekends for those of us who become too miserable to wait till Monday when we could see our own Dr. (Especially on Sundays)  Little Sister went with me since I felt like her cough was awful sounding enough I didn't want her going to church.  She proceeded to blow - and blow and blow and blow - her nose while we were sitting in the waiting room.  I'm sure everyone else thought I should be having her seen too.  She saw the Doc on Thurs. but the medication hasn't really helped her.  She was a good little trooper though, stayed very quiet and calm while we waited and then when we saw the Doc.  Actually I think it was the Nurse Practitioner.  Either way, I got meds and was out of there in 1/2 an hour.  Getting there 15 minutes before they open and being the second one to sign in will get you in and out faster than having an appointment.  We went to Meijer, got my meds, and a few other things while we waited for it to be filled, then picked up mac-n-cheese and potatoes and gravy for Little Sister at KFC.  She wanted to go eat at 'The Duck Park'.  But we were in the wrong town.  So we came home.  Then she watched a movie and I took a nap.  The worst thing now is, when I'm not laying down I soon get an upset stomach:(  Hoping that goes away soon too. 

Summer I cannot wait for your arrival.  34 more days till April.

And now, I've used up all my 'sitting-up-time'.  Back to my pillow and blankie.

How to Clean a Room

This is what Middle and Little Sisters' room has looked like for the past month.  Or more.  I've completely lost track of when it was cleaned up last.  Every time I look in there thinking I will clean it up I get this sinking feeling and head back down the stairs and put it out of my mind.

Can you believe I'm really sharing these photos with you?  I've lost my mind I tell ya.

First you make the bed so you have a clear space to put the piles of 'stuff'.

Photographing the marker marks on the bedspread is optional.  The girls say they had a little help from a certain little friend of theirs!

After about an hour you have some clear spaces, a huge pile of trash, a pile of dirty laundry, and piles of sorted stuff.

The other side of the room still looks like this.

And this.  The stuff was piled so deep over here I needed a backhoe.

This tub used to hold all their American Girl stuff.  Now it is in the trash can.

I decided getting the backhoe up the stairs was more work than it was worth so I pitched and piled my way through.

By lunch time I had it looking like this...

With this pile of American girl stuff...

...and this large box full of American Girl stuff.

And this closet still needing cleaned out.

After lunch, a break, some school work, an orthodontist appointment for The Teenager, and a trip to the library, I cleaned out that closet.  With The Teenager's help we switched out her dresser and the one from this room.  Middle Sister and Little Sister helped with the organizing, and putting away of all the mess in the closet.  The photo above is what their room looked like when they went to bed. 

American Girl stuff found homes in some of these tubs.  The Polly's and some of the Playmobile were shipped to the cellar.

New curtain is a must.  Also a longer cord on the chandi. 

This is inside the closet.  I have plans for this space to make it more user friendly but for now it works.

I have BIG plans for the whole room.  There is marker, crayon, pen, pencil, stars, stickers, you name it all over the walls.  We moved The Teenager into this room from our bedroom when she was 18 months old.  She is now 13.  She shared this room with Middle Sister and then they all 3 shared this room for awhile till we got the 3rd bedroom finished.  Now this room is in dire need of a fresh coat of paint, new curtain, and hardwood.  My but it is hard to move furniture around on carpet!  Reason #3587 why I love my hardwood!!

A big thank you for today goes to my Mom.  She has agreed to come over once a week to oversee the school day while I concentrate on something else.  I never would have even started this room cleaning today if it hadn't been for that.  Thanks Mom, you are the best!!

Valentine Cards

One of my favorites.

The whole pile.

Another favorite.

This one was made by Little Sister (age 6)

I glued the arrow where she told me to and I cut the upside down v in the post-it note.

Now to get them mailed to people.  Or hand delivered.  Or maybe they will just be stuck here and there for decor. 

Getting Crafty

So Little Sister had been asking to do some crafts.  Thinking up crafts for her to do wasn't really very high on my list of 'things-to-do'.  Then I thought of the crafty tutorials Kara had put on her blog!

So I set up my laptop on the dining room table, got out some supplies and we all got crafty!

Little Sister was thrilled.  She thought it was so cool to have the computer sitting right there with the craft showing.  And as it turns out she is a natural crafter.  She has an eye for what looks good.  I was impressed:)

www.mcmasterandstorm.blogspot.com

Little Sister doing a careful job of covering the arrow head with Japanese washi tape.

A skewer, arrow head and arrow end ready for the hot glue gun.

(I handled all the gluing)

Showing off her creation.

Finished product

This was one I made.

This one is Middle Sisters.  She made a removable point for the pointy end of the skewer. 

It just cracked me up how each girls arrows looked just like them.  Middle Sister made hers extra long.  It ended up with way more tape on it than this even!  And looked sort of messy.

The Teenager (who will really be a true teenager in just a few more days!) did a great job on her arrows.  Then she put her name and initial on them.  Sounds just like her.  And I have NO idea where she would have picked up that trait.

The Teenager likes to be silly!

:)

If you need crafting ideas for you kiddos I highly recommend checking out Kara's blog. 

She's given us some really fun stuff lately.

There is nothing quite like family

My Sister, My Friend

God placed us in the same family, gave us the same genetics - but with our own special little quirks that make us unique.  God blessed us with parents who love each other and love us too!  Because we are sisters we will always be friends.  No matter how far apart we may travel in this world we have a tie that will always bring us back together - we are family.  We spend these childhood years, carefree.

Enjoying life, making memories, growing, learning, laughing, sometimes crying, loving.

Our hearts are weaving together into a lasting, lifelong bond.  There is nothing in the world quite like a sister.  Just ask our Mom.  She has a sister too!

(Brothers are pretty cool too. Mom says so, and she should know she has one of those too!  But God chose to make us a family of Sisters!  And we like it that way.  It works for us.)

Little Sister Sews!

I decided over the summer that even though I knew I wanted my girls to learn to sew, I was not going to get it done on my own.  Truthfully, I'd much rather just sit down and sew stuff myself than show them how and then watch them go through the painstaking process of learning.

So I enlisted the help of my Mom.  We have now spent a couple different days going to Grandma's to sew.  Big Sister (I really think she's getting old enough for a new blog name) has a quilt started.  She is less than thrilled with the whole sewing thing.

But finish it she mush - Mom and Grandma said so. Besides , she needs it for her bed!

Middle Sister is starting on some cross stitch and doing well with it.

Little Sister is the one who has, so far, really taken to it.  Might be just the age or maybe, just maybe, she will follow in her mama's footsteps?!!

After the first day I could hardly get her stopped.  Every time I turned around she needed me to:  thread a needle, tie off thread, untangle thread, thread a needle, tie off thread...

Here are 3 small bags she made by hand.  All I had to do was show her once and she'd say "OH!!" and off she'd go to sew it up.  She figured out the handles on her own.

Here she is with her 'mouse'.  I know you can't see it well but this was the pose she chose.

Here's a better shot...

And here's an even better shot.  This is one of 2 or 3 mice she has made. I've lost count.

This week she started on a 9 patch doll quilt.  I made one when I was in kindergarten.  I still have it.  I remember taking the needle up and down several times before pulling it on through.  I remember getting as many stitches on that needle as absolutely possible.  It was faster that way.  Does that surprise anyone?  That I was already figuring out the fastest way at 5 years old???

Little Sister likes to pose for the camera.