Saturday, October 30, 2010

Crafting and Swapping

Its funny how time seems to slip by so quickly!
I've been busy this month. I started the month with a swap on one of the boards, where I made a scarf and a crochet hook case - sent it to my swappee - she was supposed to take a pic and post the board but didn't, and wouldn't you know I totally forgot to take a pic of it. That's okay I have to make another one, so when that is done I'll post it! I got an email from my swappee saying thank you and that she loved the hook case.

I received a darling scarf in return from a different person! Its simply beautiful. Its autumn colours and so simply done! I love it needless to say - so I'm showing my ugly mug just to show off my scarf! :)

The scarf swap was quickly followed by a mad frenzy of halloween costume making. M decided what she wanted, and we had picked up the fabric, but neither of us was inspired to get moving on it until a few days ago. So a mad frenzied sewing fest occurred as I realized she had a party Friday - so we finished with a day or two to spare.

I then proceeded to put a 1/2 dozen new projects on my to do list - and one of those was the completion of a square swap blanket which - I needed to stitch together and then put a "binding(?)" on ... so that was the order of business today!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Treating I'm Bored with Respect

Wow, talk about a new perspective.

So one of the boards that I hang out at was having a discussion about deschooling - the process of giving your child a break from the 'busy-ness' of school and getting them to switch gears back into the process of learning. Some kids need this more than others I gather... but since mine never went to school I don't really know! Anyway, one of the mom's posted a link about it for further information, and me being me, I clicked... I followed, I wandered... and meandered around and found myself looking at an article called "Bored No More."

How many times have my kids said to me "I'm bored!" and I blew them off or suggested they clean their rooms. I love the perspective this article puts on it. If a baby is whiny/fussy or seeming uncomfortable we tend to their needs until the whining/fussing stops. The same can be done for kids.

I think next time I'll try out a technique or two from that article and see what happens!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

DNA - it's Your Fault

As the parent of 4 beautiful children, 1 with a birth defect and 1 with a genetic anomaly does it really matter how either came about? In our quest to gather information to help future generations prevent the diseases, defects and anomalies that our children face, I understand the whole reason for testing. But when a grandparent comes to you and says "OMG we should all be tested to find out why this happened," isn't that person looking to wash their mortal soul clean of the guilt that possibly their DNA may have caused this? I mean mom and dad have enough DNA to answer the question of where this came from - don't they??

I care that my child has spina bifida, and a bunch of bizarre manifestations that leave her doctors scratching their heads wondering why. I care that my child has galactosemia - but not severe enough to warrant any special services from the medical community. As the mother of these children, I have spent years blaming myself not really knowing if the blame is appropriately placed. I have blamed myself not knowing if their birth issues were a matter of a freak accident during a certain stage of their development - that happened when I carried them. But over the years, that blame hasn't helped me but hindered my ability to deal with the fact that the issue is there. Blame isn't going to make it better, knowing who is at fault isn't going to take it away. Knowing where the faulty genetic material came from isn't going to change how I love them - because they are who they are inspite of things. My job as a mum to these kids (all of them) is to move on and make them into the people they will be for their lives - to help them live with the abilities, disabilities and capabilities they have and if possible not let them hold themselves back because of them.

I care, to know if my children - should watch out for certain gotchas and I want to help my children at least know what they are up against should they decide to have children in the future, but isn't it enough that we research the mother, father and siblings... do we really have to involve the grandparents?? Only 1/4th of their genetic material is likely to be present in their grandchildren. What will testing 4 grandparents, 3 aunts and uncles, 10 cousins, 2 parents and 3 siblings really provide for the picture and maybe we should throw in the family dog too (if we had one!) Will it make you feel better to point the finger straight at the person who has the faulty DNA and say "IT's ALL YOUR FAULT!" But wait - what if the issue is a mix of both sides. Can we then turn around say to the Doctor "OMG its all your fault you should have know that this would happen!"

Pardon my french - but screw the blame, it is what it is, and knowing what your DNA looks like isn't going to help - let's look from this point forward and help our children know what their future could be. Let them make their decisions based on knowledge of themselves going forward.

And OMG for pities sake, keep your pity to yourself, it isn't welcome over my door or near my children. We don't need pity - we need someone to hold us up and make us strong, and move us forward ...

So let the merry sunshine in and show me what you can do kids!

Friday, October 08, 2010

Politics

What? OMG, I'm posting about politics... the plague must be coming! LOL! Nah, this is just here to serve as a mental note for local friends to look into this candidate...

John Monds - article in the AJC
http://www.ajc.com/news/libertarian-john-monds-vying-640229.html

I am doing some research on his views... and since he appears new to the race - I thought I'd put him out there in case you share some of his opinions! LOL! Nothing more nothing less. I'm not telling you how to vote! :)

Another mental note for local folks
Georgia's My Voter Page.
http://www.sos.ga.gov/mvp/

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Finding the Joy Sunday! (Oct)

Totally stealing from AmyD ( at Ignore Me Its Easier).
Also totally posting this like 3 days late (yes it is Sunday!)

This week:

* Hours on progress being made on my easy peasy - but pretty swap scarf

* Hours or progress made on our school work.

* Finding 2nd hand bookstores with awesome books in awesome shape, and finding the book I was looking for.

* Big box bookstores, that have what I'm looking for on the shelf that allows me to use my gift card from a couple months ago. (and nice tellers that remind me since I'm buying homeschool books I should bring in my Letter of Intent and get discount cards - and maybe the manager will be nice tomorrow and credit me the discount even though I don't have the card yet! LOL!)

* Finally turning in our Dollies for Haiti to our Girl Scout Council - and M finally finishing hers so we could turn them in!

* M loving her homemade dolly for Haiti and wanting to make some more! :)

* Soccer in the Rain, and a dry car to sit in at the edge of the field! LOL!

* Family walks in the rain, and the need for new raincoats.

* Planning Christmas Vacation having just arrived back from Fall Vacation - a real Christmas vacation - like over Christmas! LOL!

* Hours of decluttering - and finally seeing a difference! :)

Where are you finding JOY this week?