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!

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!

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!

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/

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?

Finding Joy Friday

Totally stealing from AmyD ( at Ignore Me Its Easier).

This week:

* Missing shows on TV only to find that I can catch them on streaming video on my computer with way better definition and way less commercials.

* Watching the girls spend a couple hours pretending to be the Stars on Dancing with the Stars... and feeling the earth move under my seat while they twirl, spin, prance and have fun!

* Listening to my big girls laughing and having fun using their imaginations creating different scenarios all week.

* Birthday dinners spoiled but that meant that I ate a healthier dinner at home.

* Finding a plan of attack for getting M to master her timestables.

* Seeing S make progress with her reading skills.

* Lunch with a friend.

* A birthday cake made by a friend for me to celebrate with tomorrow.

* Made it to the Tag Office before they closed today.

Where are you finding JOY this week?

Finding Joy Friday

Totally stealing from AmyD ( at Ignore Me Its Easier).

This week:

*The possibility of major change in our lives. (not that I totally didn't steal this one! LOL! SSSHHHH! But the chickens haven't hatched, and I'm not counting them! LOL! kinda half praying they don't hatch too! ;0 - did I say that??)

*A midweek trip with my dear sweet family who travel well and only complain a little!!

*2.5 hours in the car to finish up a torture project that would have taken much longer if I didn't have those 2 hours to dedicate to it! :)

*A clean kitchen (ha the simple pleasures!)

*A child who likes to nap. (1 out of 4 isn't bad!)

*Schooling is underway on the home kindergarten front I'm happy with our progress

*The fact that if I want to arbitrarily decide to ditch my yarn stash, my husband would be totally supportive! LOL!

Where are you finding JOY this week?

Frivolous Crochet Fun

So I ended the weekend making crocheted Mary Jane's for ET that she won't ever where for longer than 30 seconds... Her older sister will get them plus another pair in a colour she likes! :) I figured I'd start the week with another frivolous adventure making Crocheted Flip Flops - Pattern found here

Mania's, Found Mine!

Every person has what I will call mania. Something that sucks all rational thought away and turns them into blubbering idiots! I think I found one of mine today! I was dropping one of the kids off at the local school (remember we homeschool) for a program she was doing with her GS troop. I had warned the leader that I wouldn't be doing much dropping off like this because:

1. My kids don't go there and I don't feel right being there.
2. I joined a non-after-school troop because I didn't want to go there.
3. The whole confusion and mess of pick up lines and insanity that occurs is just enough to tweak me over the edge! LOL!

I have known about this mania for a while, I just didn't know how deep rooted it was. I don't know where it came from either. The thing is this mania isn't just about the school line, its about lines in general. I can handle traffic lines, but people hangin out in a line, in a car doing nothing makes me insane. I can't explain it.

Excuse Me While I Rant....

School's gone back in... and less than a week later the kids are sent to the streets to beg for money.... Please know that this isn't directed at anyone in particular. And if you could shed some light I'd be much obliged... but I'm about to spout - because from my perspective this is how I see it.

As a homeschooling parent, if I sent my kids to your door to hawk some of our wares... like magazines, or cookies or wrapping paper or whatever, and told you that we needed them to fund our next trip to Disney - you'd look at me like I had 6 heads and slam the door in my face and probably never talk to me again! If I told you that we needed the money to fund the purchase of our textbooks or a new computer you'd likely pause a moment (because you have a heart!), and still slam the door in my face and yell that your tax dollars are paying for public school books already and why the hell can't I afford to buy my own damn books!!

As a tax payer I give my money to the government yearly and get no education benefit - not a deduction, nor a credit for the fact that my kids don't use the public school system. I pay for our books, and I pay for anything else my kids do and still pay the taxes. Hell in our county we aren't even allowed to join the school sports teams or activities.

I understand that as a homeschooling parent, I opted out of the system, be it temporarily or permanently that choice is mine. I also understand that if I decided to send my kids to a private school I'd be in the same predicatment (only way meaner cause it cost more! LOL!) I just don't understand why the public schools are sending kids out freakin door to door to solicit sales for gift paper, magazines, chocolate and other crap, with the line that they need the money to pay for the damn school books and technology.

They no longer provide pencils, paper, notebooks, tissue, crayons, antibacterial lotion, papertowels scissors or anything else on the back to school list. So where has the money gone.

Forgive me if I don't buy your wares. I have my own tightly budgeted, school supplies to fund!

Sewing for Charity

Well the girls have received their first lessons from "Hogwarts" but they haven't gotten started yet. The lessons began a little late which is good because things got a little crazy around here for a while. We always seem to get super busy at times then suddenly things calm down again!

First we got ourselves stuck at the top of a local mountain with a dead car battery which then fried the main fuse, leading to well lets just say a crazy few days. We were only 84 miles from home! LOL! The girls took it well.

Anyway they'll likely get started on Monday so they can return their first assignment by Friday. So I'll keep you posted there.

In the mean time, we found out that Craft Hope has started Project 9 for ConKerr cancer which you can find here. So we got started. Previously S (4.5) has felt a little left out when I've been working with M (9) on sewing projects, so I figured I'd get her involved this time. She's having a gay old time picking fabrics and taxing my brain to come up with matching fabric! Let me just say our tastes are very different! LOL!

We only started a couple days ago but have 7 pillowcases done. Each of us has pledged 5 pillowcases - totaling 15 - and one that they are keeping for themselves. Meaning I think we'll end up with about 18 pillowcases when all is said and done! :)

Who says a 4.5 yr old can't sew?? Well S is having a grand time helping me work on her cases. Ya her attention span is that of a typical 4 yr old but I gotta say she's managed to get more done than I expected! :) I'm impressed! FWIW, we're using the Hot Dog Roll Method to make our pillowcases.

A Scarf for Summer

So we've been heavily engrossed in the entire Harry Potter world for a few months now. As such, the girls are anxious to go to Hogwarts. M can't wait till HP world opens at Disney this year. I'd include S in that but I'm not really sure she cares! She loves the HP characters and the first book totally appealed to her. But after that she kinda lost interest and built her own version of HP in her head! Ah the joys of being 4.

Anyway- I spent a few days this month whipping up a Gryffindor scarf for M. While most go for the traditional colours of a wine yarn and yellow, M opted for a wine and gold. The scarf totally came down to her ankles. She asked for LONG! and she totally got it! LOL! I told her to take comfort inthe fact that she could wrap it round a couple times and still have it long. Plus she could GROW into it. She totally loved it!

S has asked for a Ravenclaw scarf which is still on the needles. M and S picked out a lighter blue than I would of and a darker bronze. Oh well, as long as they're happy with the colours that's all I was worried about. S' will be shorter (not sure yet by how much) bit she has asked for hers to only come to her knees.

Who knows. at the moment, I'm still contemplating making myself a Hogwarts Colours Scarf or just a scrappy scarf like Dr. Who used to wear!

Hogwarts Adventures

So for a while the girls and I have been listening on audio reading the Harry Potter series, and sadly, we've just finished the last book! (Sadly because it was a good series and we didn't want it to end! LOL!) So anyway the girls have been talking about Hogwarts and wanting to go when they're old enough so I sent away asking if we could do a Hogwarts Summer Correspondence course for under age witches and wizards (Hogwarts as you know starts at age 11.)

I told the girls I had requested it and on Friday we got to work on making our wands. As under-age wizards they aren't allowed to perform magic so if they make their own wands... its good! :) While the girls painted their wands the littlest one was colouring pictures - actually first time she has ever been ALLOWED to hold a crayon - without someone taking it off her so she spent the time figuring out what to do with it. Ripping off the paper and colouring on the high chair table was the best! LOL! As I was digging through the pictures later ET looked like she was asking questions and making notes, so she became the official admissions clerk at Hogwarts! LOL!

The girls got their letter by Owl Saturday morning - the Owl left it in the petunia pot out front. The letter just asks if they would be interested in doing a summer correspondence course through Hogwarts - but not AT Hogwarts. They both got very excited at the idea.

Just before lunch M and I created the quills they'll use for the work. The Quills are feather with and gutted ballpoint pens stuck inside! I haven't come up with the ink-well yet (but I'm still thinking on it!) M needs to reply to Professor McGonagall - which she'll do by Owl this evening or this afternoon! :) (Pink is a flamingo Feather, Red is a Phoenix Feather, and Green is a One-can - not a Toucan feather!)

The Return!

Wow, its been a serious while since I've posted here. Life with a little one, and 2 big ones keeps a momma on her toes. I had the option of either crafting or posting. And no-offense dear readers (if there are any left) I've not been feeling very friendly in the posting department. So sorry. With that said though, I'm aiming to start blogging again and getting things under control.

At home here, we've been doing a bunch of things. Ranging from vacations NV, and Canada. We've been cleaning and decluttering, we've been finishing up some unfinished lessons from last year's material, I've been knitting and crocheting, we've been sewing and trying new patterns, car shopping, car repairing. You name it no stone goes unturned here at the moment. Heck I've even been down on the floor scrubbing the laundry room! Such fun! And reading too!

I've added the goodreads shelf to my links on the right so if you're on there or Shelfari, feel free to friend me on either or both!

We've finally made it to the final book of the Harry Potter Series (Deathly Hallows!)

So its not like we've been sitting around doing nothing! We've been super busy and time has slipped away!

But I hope I'm back for now! :)

Breast/Bottle and Galactosemia

As always I meander around on this blog... I craft, I live and so this blog reflects the way I live! My post today is a comment I posted on Facebook (with minor changes!) in response to a comment on an article that it isn't that "Breast is Best" but more that it feels NORMAL.

Here is the article... (note I read about 80% of it!)
http://one-of-those-women.blogspot.com/2009/04/case-against-reasoning.html

... its not that it is best... it is very much that it is NORMAL for me. I was never trapped in my house due to breastfeeding... Hell I got 'em, I used 'em, I flaunted them for 2 of my 4 babies - which for my severely modest personality - I didn't even wear tight shirts as a kid! LOL! You'd understand... it was just NORMAL.

It irks me to no end that I couldn't breastfeed baby E. When you're in the post midnight throws of postpartum (as opposed to the pre-dawn bliss - when all seems to come back into focus! and be normal in your sleep deprived brain!) and your doctors throw around an earth shattering word like 'GALACTOSEMIA' and your research yields the word 'DEATH' - and generally before the results come in the damage is done... you stand up with tears in your eyes and anger and frustration in your heart - at the unfairness of it all and say "Well, S**T, it sucks but its best for her" and to hell with what feels "Normal" and "RIGHT" to you! Her survival is paramount.

(FWIW, she was a 31 weeker - a preemie - and spent 35 days in the NICU - despite that I could have - and would have gone onto have a NORMAL breastfeeding relationship with her, except for this one HUGE stumbling block!)

It irks me, to hand this child a bottle of formula and know that I could produce something far more nurturing to my spirit than something canned that has sat on a shelf for how long. I don't begrudge the parents that choose to bottle feed ... hell if it feels right to them go for it! I'm not a breastfeeding nazi - if I was before, this has definitely humbled the experience!... I don't begrudge the parents that breastfeed their babies. But I do stand back with a feeling of jealousy, a tear in my eye, a hole in my heart for the emptiness that I feel when I hand my baby a bottle of formula instead of having her suckle, and know that I was at least lucky because mine survived and mine after 6 weeks was JUST a carrier! I think we got the FINAL answer when she was 10 weeks old. How's that for speedy answers on a potentially life threatening condition?? FWIW, most children with full blown galactosemia (not the duarte variant) don't survive beyond 2 weeks of life - both regular formula and breastmilk is TOXIC to them! Soy is the only viable option.

It fills my heart with Sadness to know that E's babies will have to be tested immediately after birth - to make sure that they don't have the full fledged disease that would permit something so NORMAL to KILL them. It fills my heart with sadness to know that if she wants to breastfeed - she can't do so immediately after birth - that she will have to wait almost 2 weeks and be a slave to the damn pump - but at least today she has that option, and she will know what she faces. It also fills my heart with sadness (to the point that I have thus far ignored it...) that she may not be able to have her own babies... though I think that was ruled out when we found out she is JUST a CARRIER!

Bottle feeding doesn't feel NORMAL to me! But this is why I do what I do!

FWIW, Galactosemia is very similar (yet very different) to Lactose Intolerance - only more severe - in that it can and OFTEN does kill - because the body is unable to process the Galactose in the foods, it builds in the body until it reaches toxic levels. If you want to learn a little more on Galactosemia visit http://www.galactosemia.org/

Crafting Yumminess

So apparently someone spiked my New Year's punch with "stitch itch" - because that is all I've done for the last 6 nights.

For Christmas dh got me a new Ipod Touch - and of course I had to drag out the machine to make a cozy for it. I'm not happy with my first edition so it will be back on the crafting block in a bit, when I come up with remedies for my problems with it... it also needs an add on for my cell phone since my itouch isn't a phone! :)

So I started the year off with a little Art Roll for a friend. She hasn't gotten it yet, but she will! Soon! This case was initially inspired by the Artist's Paintbrush Roll. Along with the various knitting needle cases that can be found all over the internet. Let me tell you this was a dog to finish just because I lost the button a bunch of times, and thank goodness for small mercies I had just ENOUGH (like barely enough) black thread to finish it... I had to steal from the bobbin to finish it.

So the New Year here has dawn across the country with an incredible cold snap. Unseasonably cold and yucky for some of us. So my kids demanded I make them a Snuggie. You know the lady in the blue blanket with sleeves that can be seen on the TV! So we ventured out to the fabric store where they picked their fabric. And back home again to create these. The pattern we sort of used can be found here. With Some modifications the girls are quite happy with their new blankets! :)

So that put me at 3 for 3! Because both Snugglies are slightly different - one followed the pattern but needed a little tailoring and the other we pretty much reinvented it - with our own modifications!

So a few days later I decided that my Swiffer needed a cozy (or 6.) and within an hour I managed to cobble together 6 new floor cleaners so I don't have to buy and trash a bunch anymore! :) Idea can be found here.

And tonight's little bit of yumminess came from 2 dish cloths. We are in desperate need of library book bags as we keep getting books from the library and they clutter up my counter space or get lost in the house until its time to return to the library. I figure if we have a designated storage place for the library books we'll have it made. This one is my library bag and it came from this tutorial. Now my eldest kid is planning to make one of her own, only she isn't using dishtowels. Its all set up all she has to do is sew!

So far it totaly I'm 6 for 6 crafts this year... that means almost one a day for the entire year so far! :)

Happy New Year!

2009 Is fast drawing to a close. This has been a busy hectic year for our family with a new surprise bundle, but I'm finding ways to keep on crafting and hoping that the coming year will yield more time for me to blog too!

This year has been about experimentation and playing with different crafts, and I think I've found a new balance in my home life, homeschooling life and crafting life. I'm finding time to read, and finding that taking timeout for me is actually better than getting all wound up with things.

So anyway just a brief note to wish everyone who reads here a Happy New Year and may 2010, bless your family, a bring you much happiness!

Feelin' Crafty - Car Seat cover

From ET came home, we've been tossing a blanket over the carseat and just going. Well everytime we went outside - its been windy - it would blow off and I'd spend half my time picking it up off the ground. So I had seen this Summertime Carseat Cover a while ago and decided to make one. Here is mine.

The instructions were great. I got lazy at the end and just tied my ribbon on... nut enamoured with buttons! LOL! I'm thinking of centering a piece of Tulle netting on the underside, so that I can lift the cover up and still have her mildly protected from the bugs But it hasn't gotten passed the "Thinking" stage yet.

Galactosemia, a Crapshoot in the Dark...

So shortly after little ET was born, the metabolic screen came back indicating that she has Galactosemia. The NICU doc wasn't worried said she had no symptoms and it was probably a false positive. The next day ET threw up the entire formula feed, but had been okay with the breastmilk feeds. So I took the opportunity to tell them that I and older dd M were definitely dairy intolerant. So they switched her to Enfamil's Lacto-free formula. I think she was getting so little formula at the time that it didn't matter. I stayed the required night for "rooming in" to get her released. Turned out she was a gassy baby - but she did well with the feeds.

We were home a couple days and went in for a weight check - told the ped about the Galactosemia results, and the in-hospital lab results which supposedly came back mostly normal - but that they had sent off more blood for more labs to be drawn.

A week after we were home the 2nd results came in and confirmed that she had a mild variant of Galactosemia - not the Classic form. With those results in, I stopped pumping and she went total on formula because Human breastmilk has as much if not more galactose in it than cow's milk. So we stuck on the Lacto-free until we discovered we'd have to drive 10 miles to get more and that the company was discontinuing that product. So we tried the Similac Sensitive AR. Well doesn't she start projectile vomiting on of all days a Friday afternoon about 10 minutes after dh leaves me with the kids for the afternoon.

Panicked I called the Ped - told them what was going on, and that I had researched and found out that neither Lacto-free - nor the Sensitive AR were recommended for kids galactosemia - charming! So I switched her to soy. The spitting up stopped pretty quickly. But then the constipation started up pretty quick too - and extra gas too. So with the constipation and the gas, the ped suggested and I agreed gas drops. A few days later she developed a nasty looking heat rash. When the heat rash didn't disappear after a day or 2, I suspected the soy. So I researched again and found that Nutramigen was the next step for formula if there were issues with soy.

Well guess what ... the gas drops have galactose in them... the nutramigen and Alimentum have galactose in them. I can't win. I've been wondering why she's been spewing again... well I got my answer tonight in the form of the above. Charming.

I'm at my wits end here. The Ped has no clue on the galactosemia thing, but then its so rare. And we're still waiting on further genetic testing to find out what she really has and how she can be treated... I assume from there we'd be sent to a nutritionist.

I fee like I'm doing all the wrong things here, its crazy.

Cupcake Hat

We continue to grow in a box in the NICU.