Princesa

This is made with the Farbenmix pattern "Vida" . I love Euro patterns. Every time I see sets made with these patterns, I think to myself, "I want one!" I made this one this weekend, and I'm crazy about it.

My kids are always asking me to draw pictures for them to color. I've gotten pretty good at mermaids and fairies. I drew this particular fairy in a popular style. The original is hanging with tape right next to my computer. Celeste added the socks and black loafers. She also added the jewels at the points of the crown. I made a copy of the drawing and turned it into an applique.

I'll be offering it up as a custom auction in January.

Music To My Ears

Every morning, when we get in the car...okay every TIME we get in the car, the first thing Emme says is "Music Please!" So I'll push the button and Laurie Berkner, The Wiggles, Barbie, or whoever will sing their songs for our enjoyment.

This morning, I was not in the mood for cheerful lyrics. We were an hour late going to school, because I had had some food poisoning type problems at 4am this morning. In spite of my gastric woes, I managed to dress the girls and hand them a breakfast of toast and butter to eat in the Minnie Van.

"Music please!" Emme predictably stated.

"No music." said I.

"Why not?"

"Because I prefer to hear the sound of you crunching toast." I said sincerely.

"Oh man!" Emme moaned. "I prefer music."

Celeste's First Cartwheel

Yesterday evening, I was at the computer - typing the entry below - when Celeste walked in.

"Look Mom, I can do a cartwheel!" She announced.

I turned around to watch, and sure enough, Celeste made a near perfect cartwheel. Upon landing a graceful turn on her feet, she looked at me in surprise.

"Holy Crap!" I said. "You CAN do a cartwheel!"

Loyalty

Last night, I came home bearing a large basketful of homebaked cookies. All were delicious and all were beautiful. They were from Vanessa's Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange Party. I baked 72 cookies (12 one-half dozen packages) and came home with 72 delectable cookies made by 12 different people.

This afternoon I placed them all on a footed cakeplate and carefully placed a dome over them to keep them fresh. That alone was a pretty picture. It looked like something out of a quaint bakery. The cookies lay there sweetly - an edible arrangement, tempting anyone who passed by.

As I worked in the kitchen, Celeste was one who happened to pass by my display. "Mommy, can I have a cookie?" She asked.

"Yes! There are mint cookies, and orange sugar cookies, carmelized pecan cookies, and my favorite, mini chip teacakes." I offered.

I could have gone on pointing out the chocolate butterballs, the oatmeal coconut cookies, the toffee crunchies, but Celeste stopped me.

"Mom." She interrupted. "Which ones are the ones YOU baked?"

The vanishing oatmeal cookies - the ones I bake all the time, (only this time I got fancy and added dried cherries).

As my chest once again surged with heart swelling love for my loyal 6 year old, I watched her walk away content - one cookie in each hand.

And So The Bell Tolls

The mama praying mantis died this weekend.

You know, it was before her time. Praying mantises are supposed to live up to 14 months. This one was in her prime. She had just laid her egg sac.

Mrs. Margo thinks that a grasshopper that was sneaked in among the crickets gave her a mortal wallop before the mama bug ate it.

I think I saw a tear in the corner of Mrs. Margo's eye. I have to admit I felt a little sad too. I gave my condolences to the teacher.

"Oh don't worry." She said. "Praying mantises are like goldfish. You just flush them down the toilet and get a new one."

I can't wait.

?Como Amaneciste?

This morning Celeste serenely walked into the kitchen where I was making a pot of coffee. Her face was clear and free of worry.

"How did you wake up?" I asked her. "Did you have any bad dreams?"

She looked up at me with those big brown eyes that I love so much.
"No mommy. I didn't have any bad dreams last night."

We both smiled.

The Dream Catcher

Friday afternoon, Celeste brought home a kit to make a dream catcher. Her class had been studying native Americans for the past two weeks. One of the parents had donated dream catcher kits for each child to make their own. Since the kits were fairly complicated, Mrs. Margo sent them home as a weekend project with instructions to bring them back to school Monday or Wednesday to share.

Naturally, Celeste wanted to work on hers right away. My crafty fingers were itching to try out a new project and so I went to work. I ignored the instructions and made a beautiful dreamcatcher with string, beads and feathers which were included in the kit. To cover some knots that I had made, I glued some Perler beads directly onto the net part of the catcher. Lest you think I did it all myself, I must mention, that Celeste designed the color placement and pattern of the beads, floss and feathers.

We hung up the dreamcatcher on one of the bedposts Friday night. This morning, Saturday morning, Celeste came to me with a frown.

"Mom, the dream catcher didn't work. I had a bad dream." Celeste had learned that the dream catcher's job was to catch bad dreams so kids could sleep peacefully.

I didn't know what to say to that, but I did ask Celeste what kind of dream she had.

"It was a dream about bears chasing me." She said. She was concerned about the dream catcher the rest of the day. I didn't know how to help her.

Some time around 3pm, Celeste came to me with an idea. "Mom, I think that if I hang the dream catcher over my head, it will be able to catch my bad dreams. I don't think it could catch them from the bedpost."

She then went into the utility drawer and cut herself a piece of picture hanging wire. She took the wire and draped it over one of the slats of the bunk bed above her head. She fashioned one loop on each end of the wire and attached the loops to the dream catcher. When I went to look, I saw it well-positioned exactly over her pillow.

When nighttime came, we went through our usual routine and I tucked the girls into bed. I went to the computer to work a little bit. I heard the girls' bedroom door open. Emme came into our home office where I was working. She was frowning.

"Mommy, I can't sleep with the dream catcher. It's pulling the dreams out of my head." She said. Then with the graceful flow of her tiny hands she demonstrated how the catcher was pulling the dreams out of her ears. I went into the bedroom where I found Celeste frowning and sitting up.

I said, "Celeste, we need to move the dream catcher back to the bedpost or to the dresser drawer knob because it's making Emme have bad dreams, and if it's making Emme have bad dreams, then it's not working right."

"Mommy," reasoned Celeste, "It's not working right because you glued two Perler beads onto the net."

After some unsuccessful negotiating, I resorted to the truth. "Dream catchers don't really catch dreams girls. They don't catch bad dreams and they don't catch good dreams. They are just beautiful ornaments that the native Americans made to decorate their homes."

Celeste looked utterly disappointed. "But how are my bad dreams going to go away?"

"You pray." I told her. "That always works for me. It's not magic. It's real and it's the only thing that works. That, and thinking beautiful thoughts before going to sleep."

"But what should I think about?" Celeste asked.

We talked about her upcoming birthday and tomorrow's cookie party at Aunt Vanessa's. I moved the dream catcher to the dresser drawer knob and both girls were satisfied. "Mom, I have a story to tell you. It's a short one." Celeste yawned.

"Tell me."

"I can't remember. I just know it ends with happily ever after."

"Good night girls. I love you."

both: "Good night mama. I love you too."