"The Project"

That's what we call it around here. The never-ending, almost-sorry-I-even-started-it, project. The one that took so long Trea once told me, "Mom, I hope you finish that before I'm all grown up."

Me too!

So, let me explain.

This is the space beneath our stairs:


Doesn't that just scream "playhouse" to you? I thought it did. We put the two play kitchens and the table and chairs in there. A good start, but. . . then I read the blog of my cousin's wife, Amy, and she had made the cutest felt cover for a card table, to make a playhouse. And I thought, it would be really cool to make a false front for the play space in our house.

So I made this:



The kids love it.

Close up of the rosebush:


Close up of a rose:


Close ups of vine flowers:





(Sorry they're a little blurry, photography is on my list of things to learn. . .you know, now that I'm not working on this.)

There are ladybugs on the vine too:



I thought about butterflies, but I decided to add those later. They will be used to strategically hide any rips/stains/tears (which are inevitable, may as well plan for it, right?)

Although I am embarrassed to admit this, I started this nearly two years ago. Memorial Day weekend, 2010. I made a lot of progress at first, and then I was sick, because I was pregnant with Mailaya. . .then I was nursing a newborn and chasing a toddler, which is NOT conducive to big projects that have to be laid out. . .and then my mom got sick and passed away shortly thereafter. I ripped out all the dandelions in my front yard while she was sick, but I didn't want to do anything that needed patience. After she died I just didn't have any desire to work on it for a while.

But, it's done now. The hanging isn't perfect - but I've got a plan to tweak it. I also saved the sheer brown curtains that were in the living room, because I thought they'd make good doors. There's velcro on the back of the castle, so I just need to add velcro to the "doors" and they'd be done.

John asked me at one point what I was going to do to the back - you know, the inside of the castle? Good grief, like it needs wallpaper???

(I might, if I find the right fabric. . .)

It was also John's idea to add the rainbow. I had a sketch that I showed him, and he (somewhat sarcastically) said,"Great, all it needs is a rainbow."

And I, without a trace of sarcasm, said, "You're RIGHT! It DOES need a rainbow!"

That cost him about $30 in felt, so he probably regrets it.

I have big plans for the inside too, but I'm taking a break from this project to do other things. I'll come back to it eventually. I always do.

Things that make me laugh

I know, I missed last Friday, and today is Wednesday, but whatever.

Things that have made me laugh lately:

Adia referring to McDonald's as "Old McDonald's" - as in, the guy with the farm. Oh honey, if there were a closer connection between ANY farm and MickeyD's you might get to go there more often. . .

Trea giving Adia advice on the way home from school:

Trea: Adia, why won't you let me be your preschool teacher?
Adia: I don't need a teacher. Mommy's teaching me.
Trea: You won't learn anything from her, she's too busy. You should let me handle it. I know Chinese.

And Dylan, when we sing "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam," jumps so hard that he usually loses his balance and falls over. But he pops right back up!

Mailaya mostly makes me laugh by giving me the biggest, cheesiest grins ever.

And finally, happy anniversary to my sweet husband! Nine years, four kids, and seven moves later, I'm still glad I married you!

Just cause it's Friday

I've decided Friday is my day to blog, even if I have nothing to say. Today was rough (Mailaya has decided afternoon naps are not required, I disagree) and I'm exhausted. So, just a quick update for tonight.

Trea has started her Chinese immersion program. It's through the local school district, part of a regular elementary school. She has Mandarin Chinese in the morning and English in the afternoon. On the way home from school on the second day she told us that every kid has a behavior chart, and her entire class stayed on "green" the whole day. And Adia exclaimed "Even YOU, Trea?"

She is very frustrated with me, though, because I still can't count to ten in Mandarin. She thinks I'm kinda slow, since she can count to 100. She sings "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" to the babies in Mandarin, and tries to teach Adia too.

Her school is twenty minutes away, which is NOT convenient, but we feel like it's worth it. She's so much happier this year than she was last year, so excited about everything she's learning.

The things we do for our kids. . . .

Preparing

My mom died on July 15th. She'd had cancer for about a year, and been through chemo and surgery. It spread anyway, and she decided to discontinue treatment - well, I don't know exactly when she decided, I found out on July 5th.

After she died, a friend of mine was expressing his condolences and I mentioned that we had time, we knew it was coming. And he said,"How do you prepare for something like that?"

I've been thinking about that ever since. How do you prepare to lose your mom? So this is my experience.

You tell her thank you for the things she taught you. You reassure her that she did an amazing job as a mom, that her efforts to teach you about faith, honesty, kindness, and forgiveness worked. You tell her you'll be ok, that she doesn't need to worry because you are as strong as she raised you to be. You thank her for as many things as you can remember, knowing you'll forget some but hoping it will kind of count.

And then you start praying. First, for a confirmation that this really is the Lord's will. You pray to be reconciled to it. You pray for comfort, for peace, to know how to comfort and help her. You pray for strength to endure, and for her to have the same.

All this so when the time comes that she asks you to pray for the end to come quickly, you can. Even though the very last thing you want to pray for is your mother's death, she taught you to have faith, that death is not the end. And you know that if YOUR mother, with her almost limitless capacity to endure, has reached her limit, then, well, she also taught you to be compassionate.

You pray and you pray, and when the phone rings, you know she's gone.

And that's how you prepare for something like that.

What makes you think that?

We walked to school again today to get Trea. Beautiful day!

As I was leaving the school with Trea, Adia, two of the neighbor kids (who are 5 and 3) and the babies in the double stroller, the crossing guard asked me if I was running a daycare.

No, no I am not. You couldn't pay me enough!

Open Letters

Dear Universe,

Bad things come in threes. You are over your quota. BACK OFF!

Me


Dear Dylan,

Just because you CAN open the oven and CAN scale every piece of furniture in the house doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Your loving mother


Dear Trea and Adia,

Just because I choose to ignore much of the noise in this house, doesn't mean I'm deaf. When you are laughing and shrieking when you are supposed to be asleep, I CAN HEAR YOU! Knock it off and get some sleep.

Mom


Dear Insurance Company,

If my house happens to burn to the ground when no one's home, and all our really important keepsakes just happen to be in storage, does that look suspicious? Not that I'm trying to get out of cleaning it or anything. . .

Me

I speak Spanish too!

So, for those that may not know, I am secretary of the women's organization in our church, hereafter RS. We have a president, two counselors, and me. We met last Thursday for a meeting, and as we were scheduling our next meeting, had the following conversation:

President: How about next Wednesday, May 4th?
Counselor: That's probably good. When is Cinco de Mayo this year?
Pres: Um . . . it's on the cinco? You know, the fifth?
Counselor: OH! Cinco de Mayo means the fifth of May? I NEVER made that connection!
Me: Did you take Spanish? (I wasn't being snarky, I was just really curious)
Counselor: Well, yeah, but I don't remember DISCUSSING that Cinco de Mayo was the fifth of May!
Other Counselor: I always thought Cinco meant May! You know, because May is the fifth month!

I swear we really are a reasonably intelligent group. . .