SOMETHING LOVELY

I'm off to try to make something lovely today. Not sure what it's going to be--I made LOVELY salsa last night (a family favorite, I make a batch almost every week!), and cleaned all the LOVELY bathrooms, so now I'd like to go make a scrapbook, fabric, journal something-or-another. Vague enough?! I have a few hours before basketball games tonight, so thought I'd try my hand at a fabric-covered journal. I have a bit of a journal addiction--I've never met one I haven't liked (or purchased, perhaps). I love to buy the old style composition notebooks when they go on clearance after the back-to-school shopping is done and then cute them up with paper and doo-dads. My daughter and I were on a PAJAMA PANTS binge a week or so ago; here are some of the fabrics we used.


Yes, that is CROSSWORD FABRIC you see--I'm a big fan--WORD NERD, I am. So off I go to CREATE. If the result is picture-worthy, I'll post it! Have a great day!

THE KNEES OF SUMMER

Do you remember having knees like this? It brings back some great summer memories for me. My knees still look a little like this, but that is another story, and it probably involves cleaning. Or being clumsy. Or stairs. If I close my eyes, I can still smell the fresh cut grass and hear the distant buzz of the lawnmowers all over our neighborhood. I can hear the voices of my friends as we played freeze tag for the zillionth time in our front side yard (the size of a regulation baseball field--I had it so rough). I can taste the carrots pulled directly out of the garden dirt, wiped off on my shorts, and maybe--if a parent happened to be watching--rinsed off with the garden hose. I have not, since my childhood, tasted a carrot, radish, or peas as delicious as those were. I can smell the hamburgers and hot dogs grilling on the barbecues, and picture all the dads out back (we had no fences) watching the kids play while they grilled. Here's to summer, to the all the great memories, and of course, to the knees of summer. Ah, to be a kid again.

ORGANIZATIONAL EYE CANDY!

Flaves of the day: Pineapple-Mango and Strawberry from Bath and Body Works. Makes you want to eat a fruit salad.

In the spirit of getting myself ready to organize, I thought I'd pass on some pretty pictures to inspire! These images give me a sense of calm and happy--just like a picture of the ocean, or of a lovely dirt path down a clearing in the woods. Okay, maybe not JUST like that, but still...it works for me! Here's my little cleaning/organizing routine.

• Fire up the fragrance burners with a combo. of invigorating, fruity scents--think clean house, here. (see above)
  
• Put on some favorite music--either dance music, 80's music, or something a little jazzy, like Nora Jones.
• Put on the most comfortable, old, soft "cleaning uniform" you can find--my favorites are my circa 1990 Old Navy 4th of July tee shirt and yoga pants.

You are now ready to begin any domestic task that awaits you! I am going to go create some labels for my files right now, and I'll post pictures later.
Now without further ado, courtesy of REAL SIMPLE, here are the promised pictures!

This is a good look for a closet...if you only have seven shirts.

Disclaimer: The lovely "boy and girl closets" will only look this way up to the point
where the boy and girl enter the room.

Now, go forth and organize!

I'M THE MOM OF A TEENAGER

age 10

How did this happen? I'm still so young...and cute! Well, I am, aren't I?! Why are you laughing? How can I have a 13 year-old boy? It seems like just yesterday I was banging his car seat carrier against my legs while carting him around in it. Just yesterday that my left bicep was noticeably larger than my right one from carrying my chubby baby boy. Just yesterday that I was filling up snack sized bags with Cheerios and sippy cups with apple juice and ice to take with us anytime we left the house. When I close my eyes and go back through the memories, I guess it's about right...we've had 13 great, crazy, wacky years with this boy, and I've loved every single one of them! Once when we were leaving his 1st grade classroom he said something that I found particularly funny. As I laughed, he said, "You just can't take the silly out of me, can you mom?!" No, I couldn't, but I would never try! This is the kid who will tell you a knock-knock joke while reprogramming your computer, manage to leave all his dirty socks out of his laundry basket and complain that he has no clean ones, kiss the dog on the lips but not his mother, and pole vault over the couch "just to see it he could". He will beg to stay on the computer or video game for just a few minutes more, hide around the corner to scare the heck out of me and laugh, give something to a friend in need without ever being asked, and fall asleep with all his lights and radio on every night. He puts a lot of stock in "fair", but is always the one to concede in an argument. He feels deeply, but says little. He is impatient with people sometimes, but never the dog. He once dubbed himself "The Baby Watcher" and is always kind to babies and loves to make them laugh. He has never said an unkind word about a friend. He has to be reminded constantly to cut his fingernails. He is a gifted writer with the handwriting of a serial killer. He can be ridiculously messy, and heart-stoppingly kind. He is gifted beyond measure at many things, but doesn't know it yet. He will be the most generous, kind, and loving husband and father some day, but for today, he's still my (teenage) boy. Sigh.age 9

age 11


age 11--never met a dog he didn't love

age 12