Thursday, April 29, 2010

Haileyisms continued.....

OK, I have to post this very quickly as it seriously cracked me up.  First I want to put up a disclaimer that we are an alcohol free household.  My husband has been sober for more than 10 years now (yeah!) and I only drink in the company of my girlfriends which amounts to maybe once or twice a year (usually on quilt retreat).

I was brushing my daughter's hair this morning and it was particularly snotty.....which she loathes!  She HATES having the knots combed out of her hair.  I mean HATES it,  I think she hates nothing more in this world.

So, anyway, I'm brushing her hair trying to be as gentle as I possibly can (while she stomps her foot and says OW!) and she says............ (drum roll)

"I need a drink!" (This with a completely pouty and SERIOUS face!)

I cracked up laughing and had to stop brushing her hair from laughing.
Hailey looked at me, completely bewildered and said,

"Mom, what's so funny? I'm thirsty, can you hurry?"

I couldn't help myself, and since she has grown up in an alcohol free house she had NO idea what was so funny about what she had said.

Too much I tell you.........I love my kid!

Gentrie

Sunday, April 25, 2010

A Long Hot Bath.......

I think a long hot bath is in order, after a rainy, cold weekend.  Grandma's was fun and Hailey did not want to leave.  I was sad to see Karm go.......but, well, you know.  I got the next book in my series from Grandma and one of my favorite things is sitting in a HOT tub and reading a good book with a BIG mug of hot cocoa.  AAAAAHHHHH! 

I'm feeling pretty creepy crawly too.  It is CRAZY tick season over @ Grandma's house and just being outside invites them on over.  Of course, we had to play with the horses too, so ticks, ticks,ticks.  Makes my skin crawl just typing it!  EEEEEWWWWWW!

Found 2 on Hailey and one on Hubby after horse play.  Yuck!  Pulled a few off the horses too.  Poor guys, I bet they wish they had fingers at times like those.

Don't mind me (I look HORRIBLE, wasn't planning a photo op!).......Just look a cute Rebel and Cutie Hailey....

We brushed him up.....boy did he like that.  Anyway....I suppose I should go make that mug of cocoa and soak with my new book.  See yall' on the Sunny Side!

Gentrie

Friday, April 23, 2010

Visits...Farwells & Weddings

We are headed off to Grandma's house this weekend.  I'm feeling like crap today and hoping it passes before we leave.  My sister has lived with my Mom since my Dad passed.  She's dutifully helped with the chores and chaos that comes with living on a farm and also dutifully annoyed my Mom to no end, I'm sure.  I'm kidding, kind-of.  :)

Anyway, my sister is now moving out and moving on.  The fates have spoken and it is time.  Mom has mixed feelings as do Karm and I, but neither of us will be so far we can't visit.  I've tried to imagine what it would be like to have lived with and shared my life with someone for some 40 odd years and to suddenly be alone. 

I'll be honest there is a side of my brain that says WAHOOOO! to this question.  Although, I would have to say that the bigger part would grieve terribly, and it would be hard.  I feel for my mom during this time and plan on calling her often to be sure she's still up and moving and that my horse is not starving (yeah right, he'd NEVER starve!).

So we are off to Grandma's to say farewell to my sister who is leaving this Sunday.  I don't know when I'll see her again.....OK I do.  In December at my niece's wedding.

Steph & Steven

AAHHH! Aren't they adorable?  I love this shot, it exudes happiness and contentment and.....love.  I wish them all the best.

And..........I wish my sister all the best.  She starts a new and exciting life Sunday, well I don't know how exciting Glendive can be, but all the same a fresh new start!

Good Luck Sis, and Mom, we are always still here for you!  Love you guys!

Gentrie

Monday, April 19, 2010

Great Memories................

You know sometimes being in the moment is really all you need.


'Cause if you are not........well........you miss it.


And when you miss it.......well.......it sucks......

(It's what happened after this picture that's a great memory.....)

There will come a day when my memories will be all I have.........and without these moments there would be no great ones to remember.  I want the great ones.

I've been writing a story that takes place in my home state and it brings back lots of memories for me.  Great memories, I'm so glad I have those.

Love all you guys!

Gentrie

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Spring Clean up

Hubby working


Its yeard clean up time. We have some beautiful "butterfly" plants that are taking over all of the flower beds.  I'm not sure if that's the real name of the plants, that's what I was told they were.  Anyway, they spread like weeds.  So Hubby is putting down this black landscaping stuff to kill off all unwanted plants and start over. 

Bleeding Heart Plant

He's trying REAL hard to keep all the plants that I pointed at and said "Don't kill this one.....or this one...."

I said "Just act normal"       Nuf said.

This area is done, ready for new plants in about a week.

I've been taking my allergy meds so I can play outside with hubby.  Had my 20minute power nap to counteract the antehistamine affects......now I'm good to go.

What are you guys doing for spring clean up?  Anything?  Maintenance free yards?


Gentrie

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Wipe Outs & Bandaids

My daughter wrecked on her bike last night.  The street behind us is a decent hill.......and she likes riding down it .......FAST!  (She must get that from me!)  Anyway, a nice neighbor lady over there got our phone number from Hailey (I'm impressed she knew it BTW......good girl!) and called to tell me she had a bad wipeout and wasn't moving her leg.

(This is actually last summer at Grandma's. I was in too big a hurry to grab the camera last night.)

I immediately jumped in Hubby's truck and drove around the block...........to find my daughter on the sidewalk......with a MOST pathetic look on her face..... and three adults cooing over her and a dog!  Oh PLEASE!  (I knew immediately by the look on her face she was fine!)  She's wearing her Easter dress with it pulled up mid thigh to cradle her scraped knee.  (That's how she rolls, worms, frogs, dresses....not from me.) She's scraped up....nothing we have not seen before and nothing warranting stitches or the emergency room.  WHEW!

I packed her bike in the back of the truck, loaded her up and took her home.  We cleaned and bandaged wounds and in the morning she was fine.  That is where this story makes me laugh......

In the morning it was time to change the bandaid on her knee so her jeans would not rub on the cut.  Took a little convincing but I did manage to get it pulled off.

"Is there blood on it?"
"Yep"
"Can I see it?"
"OK"  I show her the blood.....
"Can I take it to school to show my friends?"
"Ummm....NO!"
"Why?"
"'Cause that's gross and unsanitary!"
"Whats unsansiareee mean?
"It means its gross and your teacher would kill me."
"Your lying"
"No, I'm exaggerating, there's a differance."

I think I've had a smile on my face all morning from this little exchange!  I love my kid!

Gentrie

Monday, April 12, 2010

Spring Love/Hate......Fog

Friday I was hit like a ton of bricks.

Out of NO where......WHAM!......itchy eyes, itchy nose, itchy throat, sneezing, watery eyes...........yes I said itchy nose.  My nose actually itches inside.....exactly where you CAN NOT scratch it!  It is INCREDIBLY ANNOYING!!!!!

I'm not sure I did a whole lot at work this morning.........FOG.

Thick gray fog slithering in and around, so spring and I have a love hate realationship right now.

I love spring, isn't this great?
(Itch, itch,sneeze, itch, I hate spring.)

AAAHHHH I love Spring!
(Sneeze, itch, itch, sneeze, sniffle, I hate spring!)

HHHMMMM I LOVE SPRING!
(Itch, sneeze, itch, itch, sneeze, I hate spring!)

 Get it yet?  Love........hate.........love......hate.......hhhhhmmmmm.....fog.

What were we talking about?

;)

Gentrie

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Spring Cleaning.......?

I just got finished cleaning my house from top to bottom.  In fact my right hand is a little shaky from scrubbing so hard.  Hailey had a play day with some little friends of hers (quite literally). 

See Hailey is 6 (as I've mentioned before) and she is in kindergarten.  She is also about 4' 5" tall which means she looks like a second grader playing with a bunch of kindergarteners.  She has grown an inch already just since the beginning of the school year.  Needless to say she's tall.  I can hear the nicknames now......Amazon woman......stick.....tree.......stretch.......the list goes on.  I know because I had several of them when I was a girl.  It also means every basketball coach will want her to play on their team......wether she wants to or not........because she's tall (not beacuase she's coordinated or athletic, which right now she's not!).

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, my house is clean.  AAAAAHHHHH!  Now my hands are tired and dry and shriveled and I have butt loads of laundry to do.  Especially since I pulled bedding........part of the whole clean theme.   Bleh!

You know them little "blackhole" fairies I mentioned a few posts ago?  Well I'm wondering why there can't be little cleaning fairies, you know they show up while you are sleeping or something and you wake up in the morning and everything is clean! YEAH!

Well.........a girl can dream can't she?

Gentrie

Thursday, April 8, 2010

UnderPressure Quilter.......

OK......I was scrambling around last night to finish my "row" for a Row Quilt Exchange I've been participating in.  I don't know why I didn't do it earlier,  I'm sure I could come up with LOTS of excuses.  So anyway my husband made the comment:

"You just love doing this stuff under pressure, you always do this."

"What? I do not!"

"Yep, whenever you have a deadline you always wait until last minute."

This is my husband and this is close to the same smile he had on his face during this conversation (except he has his summer haircut now)!

And then he laughed and walked away.  He LAUGHED!  (Maybe those weren't the EXACT words of our conversation, but it was the general jist.)

I smiled to myself and thought about it for a while as I brought my sewing machine upstairs because I didn't want to miss the Idol final.  (No I don't have a TV in my sewing room.)

You know.........and I HATE to say this because if he reads this he will be completely unbearable.....he's right.  (I will NOT say that again.  Enjoy it while you can dear!)

I guess I would classify myself as an "Underpressure Quilter".  I do my best work when scrambling to meet a deadline.  My theory is that with working full time and raising a family and hosting a foreign exchange student and being somewhat sociable.........quilting gets put off more than I would like it to.  Sometimes it's hard when your dog tired to take that hour or hour and a half window at the end of the day and just sew a little.

But when I have a deadline looming bigger than life.....well.....my eyes light up, the adrenaline flows and I'm a sewing fool.

So, I finished my row at midnight last night.  I would have had it done sooner but I had to do things like put my daughter to bed and read her a story and you know......stuff.  And wouldn't you know it.......I modified the pattern (surprise! surprise!)  I didn't like where it was going and how it was going to end up so I left one part off.

Her theme was winter.

So what kind of quilter are you?

Do you do your best work under pressure or are you methodical and meticulous with planning your time and scheduling?  (I envy those people.)

Gentrie

Monday, April 5, 2010

Mom's Quilt

Soooooo......time to buckle down and make my Mom's quilt.  Let me tell you guys something......I've been fretting over this quilt for some time now......and I'll tell you why. 

FIRST this is my MOM not my sister, not my husband, my MOM!  This woman gave birth to me and raised me and has listened to me for 30.....sooooommmmethinnng.......odd years!

THIS is my MOM (chillin at my house!)

Her taste is fairly simply, but not really, her color choices are hard.  She's always surprising me with her color choices.  I think since I have known her, her coloring choices change in her house about every 10 years.  The bad part is just when I think I have her nailed..........I don't.

Have I told you I've been FREAKIN' OUT about this quilt?!

So after changing the design about 10 times, I think I have finally settled on a cool one.  I've designed it myself, but unfortunately I cannot show it to you , since MOM might read this!

OK so here are the major players:

These are the center star  approximately 2' square.  I have to hand cut these pieces from templates.  I could machine sew them, but to be honest I might just hand sew the center square.
A. Because accuracy is SO important for these stars to turn out.
&
B. Just because it's my MOM!

So, are you with me yet?

THESE are the gradation fabrics around the star.

Are you still with me?  MOM has seen this selection of fabrics ( not the ones for the center) mostly because I was SOOOO unsure of myself.  Well, MOM liked them!  YEAH!!!  I don't have the rest of the fabric yet, but I'm working on it.

Should I stop capitalizing my "MOM" yet?  I'm hoping she loves this quilt and cherishes it always.  I hope everytime she looks at it she thinks of me and my family and if how much we love HER!  (I didn't capitaize mom!)

Well, tell me what you think,  I know it's hard to say without the pattern, but you'll have to wait.............just like............MOM!

:)
Gentrie

Friday, April 2, 2010

Ducks and Bears......

So I was going through some of my photos for a photo contest and discovered my 6 year old daughter likes to take pictures also.
This is her duck and two of her bears.  (See their blanky off to the side there, I guess they were ready for a nap!)


I'm not sure why the duck had to leave........poor guy..


Oh wait here's the duck......


Oh yeah, and here are Hailey's dress shoes hanging out with my tennie......it must have looked lonely...


You know for being 6 she is actually pretty good at centering her subjects and not one picture is blurry.  Hmmmmm......she may have a future here? 

I always love finding these little surprises......it's so fun.....who knew?!

Gentrie

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Blackhole.....

I live in a black hole.  I mean my house....it's a black hole.  There are many things that have simply just disappeared from our house.  I know....you're thinking 'you just misplaced them'.  Well there have been times where I have ripped this house apart from top to bottom, almost literally and still never found those items. 

One of those items is my small portable DVD player.  My husband 'pu it up' so my daughter (then about 4 or 5) would quit playing with it.  We have never seen it again.  It is lost, but not forgotten, in this blackhole of a house.  There have been several other things......I cannot remember them all at this point (I'm lucky to remember things like buy soap).

This is my daughter standing in the Blackhole.  Fortunately we still know where she is at!
(Don't mind the mess we had just finished dinner!)

Ever seen the movie Return to Halloween Town (I think that's the one).  Anyway there is the dog looking guy in Halloween town that everything that is ever lost goes to his house.  (It's a mess too!)  I think that is where my CD player is.  It's a mute point anyway, now that I have an MP3 player.  Let's just keep our fingers crossed that doesn't end up in the blackhole!  I'm locking it up! 

Maybe someday we'll be packing our stuff, moving from this house, and boom......everything will magically appear.  Yeah, right.

A New Day

Hi! My name is Gentrie and I live in the Midwest (hoping to move more west soon). Well, here I am, starting a blog. I'm not sure what this will all exactly consist of just yet, but it will all come to me.

My daughter wanted to eat dinner with her 'pet' worm last night! Usually they do not come in the house at all, but this one she had in a jar with dirt and leaves and such. I did draw the line of the worm 'sitting' at the table. She was disappointed......but she got over it. She's 6......she knows Mom does not like bugs and crawlies joining us for dinner.....doesn't stop her from trying though.

Well, that's all for my official first post. I'll write another one soon, hope you enjoy the months (years?) to come.

Gentrie