Wehave 4 girls ranging in age from 18 down to 1 and we live in WI. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 9 Dec 2008 18:14:00 -0600 Tue, 9 Dec 2008 18:14:00 -0600 I can't believe it's only mid December and we are completely buried in snow. Not to mention all the below zero temps and windchills. More of those cold temps tomorrow. Yuck! I should have had Tabitha stand next to this snowbank at the end of the driveway. It's taller than her.  Zandria didn't want me to take her picture while she was shoveling, but I did it anyway. I thought for sure the snow was going to swallow Victoria up. My generous online friend Cammie from warm CA sent these snowpants for Tabitha and they came JUST in time for her to get some use today. Thanks again, Cammie! Last, but not least, if it wasn't for our wonderful next door neighbor snowblowing the end of our driveway, we'd still be out there shoveling tonight. It took us an hour with 3 of us shoveling just to do the rest of it. With as much as the plow dumped at the end of the driveway, we'd have been out there another hour for sure. I think we need to send a bit of a thank you/Christmas gift over her way. So, after all that, I took a nice hot shower, drank a cup of coffee and put my feet up. Thankfully, all that snow play tired out Victoria and she napped a few hours. We all have colds so being outside getting cold and wet didn't help any of us feel better. Now that Victoria is awake, she's a big old crab! I feel like I could go bathe in Ben Gay. But, I suppose I better toughen up, since this is only December and we have more of this to come until at least March. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/630164/ Tue, 9 Dec 2008 18:14:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/630164/ I haven't added anything to this blog in months. Who has time to blog? Halloween Victoria had enough Halloween by this point. My cuddly little moo cow, Liam Angi's 20th birthday Victoria went from looking like this: To this: My Mom paid for all of us to get haircuts. With all of the head banging and head rubbing, there was no managing that hair. It was always one big mat. With the shorter hair, you can see where it's thinned out from her pulling it out when she tantrums, but overall, it looks so much better and is so much easier to take care of. I got 4" cut off mine! I was going to post a pic, but I'm NOT photogenic! Finally, here's my little chub chub being fed some nasty green baby food stuff that Angi sent over and told us to feed him. Here he is without a green face http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/624829/ Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:49:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/624829/ Jim just got done recording some stuff, so I thought I'd share it with you all. Aquadust http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/553234/ Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:59:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/553234/ Last year at this same time... Today... Those pjs were made by Janine from ZtoA Baby last year. They used to be capris. :) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/546300/ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:10:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/546300/ Public service announcement....If you eat too much cheese, this may happen to you. :) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/544671/ Sun, 8 Jun 2008 15:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/544671/ Yesterday, June 7th was the 1 year anniversary of my Dad's passing. I have thought about this for weeks. I came to the conclusion that he would not want any of us sitting here mourning the fact that he's not here on earth with us anymore. I can hear his voice plain as day saying, "You guys go on. I'll be fine." He said that to us in the hospital when we wanted to get something to eat and we weren't sure about leaving him. He was never one to want to go into the hustle and bustle. He was fine with being alone and letting us go have fun. I heard him say that line numerous times in my life and I can hear him saying it now. I decided I'm going to listen to his voice and go on because I know he's fine without me mourning and grieving. It's OK. Doesn't mean I miss him any less. But, it's OK. This is how I'll always remember my Dad: Now, onto Cheesefest. Lots of pictures, lots of fun. It was a nice relaxing start to our summer. It was SO hot and SO humid that you can see it in my pictures. It was something like 87 degrees and 100% humidity. It was so bad that it felt like we were melting all day until about 5 pm. Then, it rained on and off and bad thunderstorms came about 8pm. We got home just in time before it got bad. There is no Cheesefest without cheese. :) Especially cheese that's thrown out at the parade. There is no parade without candy thats thrown at you that you can put into your own little bag. My crossing guard corner is by Reynebeau Floral so I had to take a pic of their float. Little Chute is not Little Chute without little Dutch kids and windmills. The girls wanted to go into the petting zoo really, really bad. But, once they got in there, Victoria wouldn't touch anything and kept running from everything that came near her. When it was time to get out of there she threw a fun little tantrum. I guess when you're 2, you don't really know what you want. Cheesefest is no fun without rides. On stage is a band called Half Empty. The singer, Rocky, used to be a singer in Jim's band quite a few years ago. All day at Cheesefest makes for tired out children. Take a nice long look at Jim and Victoria. It's rare to get a picture of him. You can't see his face, but it's a precious picture anyway. That concludes the 2008 version of Cheesefest and the start of my summer. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/544574/ Sun, 8 Jun 2008 11:29:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/544574/ I can't believe a month went by since I posted last! It seems like yesterday. I guess I need to keep up with this better now that summer is here. Just some cute pics to post today. Nothing too major. Angi said I had to post something new, so I guess I'll start with this. Angi is a housekeeper at the Hilton. She doesn't always dress like that. I have no idea what she's doing, but she's cute anyway. :) Some wonderful customer of Gen's decided to donate money for her to make a diaper for someone who needed one. I happened to be the needy person. :) Long story, but Victoria wets through everything and has this thing with wanting to strip off all of her clothes including diapers. So, I was hoping this diaper would help the soaking problem and Prorap covers with the buckles would help the stripping problem. So far so good. Here's Victoria modeling her new Cloth Canoe Twilight. These must be the cutest pictures I have ever taken. BTW, Liam is wearing a size 12month outfit that I picked up at a rummage sale yesterday. As you can see, it's not all that big on him. In fact, it fits him perfect. I think he may skip the 6-9 month size! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/544020/ Fri, 6 Jun 2008 17:34:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/544020/ I'm just curious if anyone actually reads this blog besides me. I've only noticed a few comments here and there and I'm wondering if I'm talking to myself. It seems that all the blogs I read have tons of comments on them all the time. But, I know for certain that the blogs I read are WAY more interesting than mine. I admit to living a pretty boring life. I finally got a doctor to listen to me and put Victoria on a very low dose of a medication to help her sleep. I've tried convincing doctors that's all we think she needs to be "normal" for over a year now. So, finally after a bunch of silly tests that just scared me and did nothing positive, we're back to Mom knows best. If anyone knows that a person simply cannot function without getting into deep REM sleep, it's me. I know how she feels. Because I personally know how she feels, I know what she needs. She's been taking this medication for about a week now and the difference in her is remarkable! Her language skills have drastically improved as well as her behavior, fine and gross motor skills. This week we have the OT, Speech Therapist and her Spec Ed Teacher here doing evaluations since they were convinced she may be autistic and needed special ed services provided by the public school next year. The OT was here today and couldn't get over the difference in her. She is only about 3 months behind and fits into the "normal" category. The OT just kept shaking her head and looking wide eyed with disbelief. Victoria did everything that was asked of her and more. Normally the OT deals with a kid who's tired, headbanging, not talking and barely doing anything she asked her to do. I know she will still be behind when the speech Therapist evaluates her, but I'm convinced that if this medication keeps working, she'll be caught up in no time. It's so good to see her happy and playful instead of mad, tired and banging her head all the time. I just got rid of about 12 lawn and leaf bags FULL of junk. How all of that junk fit into my house in the first place is beyond me. I piled it all out in my driveway and was never more happy to see the thrift store come pick it up. I feel great about it all until I think about all the junk in my basement that I still have to go through. I really don't know how people can collect so much junk. The more junk I get rid of the better I feel. I hate having clutter sitting around. I hate picking it up and I hate cleaning around it. My sewing area is really coming around. It looks a lot better now than it did in that pic I posted awhile back. Pretty soon my desk will be down there with my computer, printer, etc. Then, I want to do some painting. I've had quite a few knitting customs in the past 2 months. My needles are getting a work out. I have to go finish two of them tonight and pick out yarn for a customer and plan out some rainbow striped shorties for a really nice Mama in the UK. If I'm going to get any knitting done, I better get going and finish up my laundry so I can clear the folded stuff off my couch or I won't be able to sit on it. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/528781/ Wed, 7 May 2008 17:37:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/528781/ What a beautiful day! It's 65 degrees and sunny with a nice gentle breeze. It's been so dreary, rainy and cold lately that this weather today is a blessing and really lightens my spirits. I was going to take both little ones in the bike trailer to the store and get milk and juice. But, Victoria fell asleep, so Tabitha climbed in there and we took a hike to the store. I was able to fit more in there. I think this will be a nice way to go to the store even with both girls. I'll for sure be able to fit a gallon of milk and 2 small bags of groceries in the back. I'm trying to get myself into the mind set to walk if it's decent outside and I'm going somewhere in town. In other words...get off my lazy butt! I came home to find two teenage girls laying on my front lawn. I washed a bunch of my wool today. Isn't it pretty on all spread out on the line like that? In the back from left to right...pink peace fleece longies crocheted by me, spruce green crocheted longies crocheted by Essential Elements, peace fleece longies crocheted by me,  pink and white recycled longies made by Aliah's Creations ,and black cashmere recyled longies made by KeaXan The shorties on the left are from Adventure Knits, the last two pair are peace fleece shorties made by me. I used Sheplova Mushroom for the crocheted ones and Baku Black for the knit ones. They are hanging there after their first condition and wash in the machine. In fact all of that wool was washed in the machine on my handwash cycle. Yes, it can be done, but it has to be done carefully and I'm careful about which of my woolies I put in the washer. BTW, yes, that is my garden in the background. I'll start working on that in the next few weeks. What a mess, huh? If you know me, you know I talk a lot about replacing my fence in the backyard with a privacy fence. The white fence is what I'm talking about. We'll put cheap wire mesh around the rest of the yard. Now that I had some fun out in the sunshine, I better get back to reality and put all the laundry away and go make supper. Here's one final pic. We were all amazed last night that the little ones were actually playing with TOYS. TOYS of all things! Usually, Victoria is destroying something and Tabitha is in some fantasy world all of her own. I had to snap a pic when I saw this. BTW, Victoria is wearing a pair of crocheted shorties made by me. I have been taking apart the knit longies I made for her that are too small and crocheting shorties with the yarn. I'm loving that! I wish I could make a business off of doing that for other people. It's fun to pull something apart and recreate it. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/526973/ Sun, 4 May 2008 16:20:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/526973/ I love it when I do a trade with another WAHM and it all turns out beyond my expectations! I did a trade with J Tribe Creations and I can't rave enough about the wonderful items we received! We got patchwork Mei Tai, a tie dyed onesie with a handpainted turtle on the front and a gorgeous patchwork dress. I haven't gotten a pic of the patchwork dress yet, but when I do, I was for sure post it here. It's the most gorgeous piece of clothing in Victoria's wardrobe right now. I cannot believe how well made this stuff is and how reasonable her prices are. For all the hardwork she put into these items, they should have been priced a lot higher. Liam is so funny when Angi puts him in the Mei Tai. As soon as she straps him in, he puts his head back, opens his mouth and falls asleep. Yes, we know it's not good for him to sit with his head like this, but it's funny and he's happy.  No, she doesn't leave his head this way for long. :) This was taken when Angi was gone watching Johnny Depp film his new movie in Oshkosh, WI. How cute is this? Notice that Victoria is wearing her Adventure Knits shorties, knit by Sarah last year. I got them out of the summer clothes box, looked at them and assumed they wouldn't fit. I was so sad thinking I was going to have to sell them. But, then I discovered that they work perfect over her night time sposie AND Tabitha can also wear them for night shorts. BTW, yes, she does go shirtless all the time. Well, at night anyway. The reason I tried the shorties on over the sposie was because no matter what diaper I put on her, she'd pull it off. Even her pinned bamboo prefolds from Bagshot Row Bamboo. After the diaper comes off, so does the shirt. So, I discovered I can put the shorties on and knot the tie and she can't get them off. Then, there was this awesome purchase from Fancie Fannies @ Caboodlez Congo. I bought these really cool Clothespin Dolls for the girls and they LOVE them. The WAHM sent along a free lovey, which was really generous of her. I gave the lovey to Liam. He looks so cute with it! I think every single child NEEDS one of these awesome bibs from Arrow Hand Creations. Brandy calls these The Helper. They're perfect for toddlers or older kids to wear while helping out in the kitchen and then eating their creations when they're done. Brandys sewing is flawless. Finally, here's a pair of acrylic shorties I knit for Liam. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/526588/ Sat, 3 May 2008 15:46:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WinsomeWhatNots/526588/