creative little daisy

Long time no blog

Where to begin? When I go for long stretches without posting, it's always difficult to know where to pick up. Do I try to play catch-up and explain what I've been up to, and if so should I write one long rambling post, put it in bullet form or just break it into a few short posts? How about a little of each. I'll ramble a bit on some things, maybe throw in a bullet list or two, then follow up with some short posts. How's that?

Well, the most important thing that happened in our lives in the past month, was that our Marine got on a great big boat and sailed across the Atlantic ocean.

(source)

He's been in the Marines for more than three years, and this is his first deployment. We've been lucky having him just two hours away, but he didn't join so he could see the sights of Jacksonville, NC.

It wasn't easy to watch him get on a bus and know I wouldn't see him again for at least eight months. I thought 13 weeks of boot camp was hard. We have been able to communicate a bit, a line or two here and there, via email. I had some sense of comfort, excitement even, knowing he was taking part in training exercises and humanitarian missions. Then something horrible happened. There was a crash and two young men lost their lives. Two others severely wounded. They were part of the VMM261, the same squadron as Casey. Like Casey, the young men who died were Corporals. All I have been able to find out is that they had just dropped a group off a group of troops and there were four aboard at the time of the crash.  I don't know if Casey was among those that had been dropped off, I do know that sense of comfort has been shaken. I mourn for the families of those young men and I pray that the injured will recover.

I had other things I was going to say, but they seem so insignificant at the moment. Some how the mundane things of my day to day don't belong in this post. So I'll stop here for now, but not before asking that you say a prayer for those injured young Marines and for the families of Cpl. Kerns and Cpl. Reyes.

Really??

How did I not know this? I was nominated for an Apartment Therapy Homie Award and I didn't even know it. I was doing a little more blog tweaking this morning and noticed a referral to my blog from the Everything Typepad blog. That peaked my interest so I clicked over to see that I was one of the Typepad blogs nominated under the DIY category. I'm really bummed. Not that I would have won, but I could have let my readers know and shamelessly begged asked you to vote, pretty please with a cherry on top.

Oh well, a day late and a dollar short, I guess. Thank you to the three people who voted for me anyway. Had I known I could have managed at least three more votes from Alyssa, Kelli and Mitch. I'm sure my sister would have voted for me too. Unless you have to have a blog to vote. I don't even know the rules.

I'm happy to have been nominated, and so bummed that I didn't know. I definitely would have campaigned. Maybe next year.

I've been a little under the weather for a few days and have felt like doing little more than sitting on the couch. I've taken advantage of the down time by giving some attention to my neglected blog, uploading photos to my forgotten flickr account and also taken a few trips down memory lane by reading some old posts. It really made me appreciate having this little journal and reminded me how important it is to just blog. Stop worrying about who is reading and how it will be accepted. Some of the posts that meant the most to me, may not have been the most "popular" in terms of hits or referrals, but I'm so glad to have captured those moments.

On one of those personal notes, I have a proud mama moment I can't let get by without mentioning.

I think you all know that my son Casey is a Marine. His job involves maintenance of this big bird, a V-22 Osprey. He and his dad teamed up and did some painting.

 

The quality of some of these photos isn't the best. Casey took them with his phone and he said he got overspray on the lens.

I'm super proud of both my talented guys and so glad they had this opportunity to work on such an amazing project together.

Friday wasn't black around here

Call me a wimp, but I stayed  home in bed Thursday night and Friday morning.

No late night/ early morning bargain shopping for me. How about you? Any great deals to be fought over had?

I did venture out Friday afternoon, to Lowes.

It wasn't too crowded and there were no lines at the registers.

I know, where's my sense of adventure?

I bought my Christmas/birthday/anniversary/St. Patrick's day, every holiday for the next two years present.

A new fridge. And dishwasher. 

They were both on sale, a really good sale, like half off on the refrigerator.

I don't have them yet, the lady told me they had a negative two showing up in inventory. 

My appliances are 16 years old, so I'm really excited to be getting shiny new ones.

We had a really nice Thanksgiving and had a surprise visitor.

Right here in my kitchen.

She was surprised to say the least to walk in and see the

big guy in red standing in Nana's kitchen.

She was a little shy, but not at all frightened.

He won her over with the rainbow sock monkey.

He told her his favorite cookie was chocolate chip.

She smiled and said mine too!

A very special thank you to my cousin Cynthia for sharing her sweet husband, aka Santa with us.

I hope to get the Christmas tree up this weekend.

No early decorating here.

I'm old school, and believe you should wait till after Thanksgiving.

I'm also old and dread dragging out all those boxes.

Ducks and sand and shells... the stuff memories are made of.

As soon as Irene blew through our neck of the woods, we loaded the camper and truck and headed south.

Bayliegh, Mitch the dogs and I.

I know Bayleigh is still young when it comes to life long memories. She may not remember a bit of this trip, but it is etched in my heart forever.

To be able to enjoy life alongside a three-year-old is a wonderful thing, a gift.

We had a great site, right across from the duck pond. Let's just say, it's a good thing it was only for a few days. Many more days with us as neighbors, those poor duckies would be so fat they wouldn't be able to swim.

We fed them.

And watched them.

Some of us shared their food.

Some of us weren't all that impressed with all the quacking and waddling about.

We loved feeding the ducks, and they loved being fed.

They would literally eat right out of your hand.

When we weren't feeding the ducks, we were likely splashing around in the kiddie pool.

And although she preferred the pool, we did manage to get in some fun beach time too.

We crammed a lot of fun into those four days. Not planned out or scheduled fun. Cheese fries by the pool fun, evening golf cart rides fun,

 
Just hanging out at the camper fun. (photo taken by Bayleigh)

I know you're wondering about the camper. Have I painted and recovered every inch of it?

Nope! It's ug-leeee. Who designs these things anyway? My theory is they make them so ugly you can only stand to look at them for a few years then have to trade up.  I'd love to get in there and paint and recover, but that would be one big undertaking and would likely not be good for resale value. Ugly as it is, I have to admit, it is durable and doesn't show dirt.  We really just sleep in there anyway. We don't go to the beach to sit inside a camper.

We go to play in the sand, splash in the pool, feed the ducks, ride the golf cart, eats lots of ice cream and make happy memories. I'd say this was one successful trip.

 

 

 

Dang it's hot and other ramblings...

Is it as hot where you are as it is here in the stinkin', sweaty, humid beautiful southern US? If you walk outside after around 10am it feels like sticking your head in an oven. Seriously. I prefer warm weather to cold, but a nice comfortable spring would have been nice.

Since I last visited this spot, there have been changes. Large and small. I've done some sewing, mostly skirts for Bayleigh. Talk about your instant gratification. I made three in one day. In a matter of a couple of hours. No pictures, sorry. I had some computer issues, as in both my laptop and desktop decided to die within days of each other. Nice.

I do have pictures of our little garden. We did two beds this year instead of one.

 We should be able to have a 'mater sandwich in a few days. Yum!

 Bayleigh and I love to go out every day and see what's growing.

She got a trampoline for her birthday. It's right beside the garden and at least once a day she jumps and I pull weeds.

We've been blowing bubbles again this year. I don't know who loves it more, me or her. Or is it she or I?

Bayleigh got a tattoo. Yea we went to Myrtle Beach for bike week and she got her first tat.

I kid! We didn't really go to bike week and she didn't get a tattoo. Not a real one anyway. But she has temporary ink all over. On her arm, on her leg, on her side. It isn't pretty at church I tell ya, but she loves them. She wants to be like her mommy. That's so funny to me. Growing up, that's not something I ever heard a kid say. I want a tattoo, like my mommy. Times they are a changin'. Alyssa only has one, by the way. I think that may have sounded like Bayleigh wanted to be covered in tattoos, like her mommy. Not covered, just one.

I've seen some really interesting ones on pinterest and have even given thought to getting one. I think I'm too old for that though. Too old and not nearly cool enough. I'd want something small but meaningful. Alyssa wants us to go together and get one. We'll see. What are your thoughts on tattooed grannies?

Speaking of pinterest, are you pinning? I'm so addicted. That's probably part of the reason I've not posted in a while. Most of my computer time is spent on Pinterest. I think I should be sufficiently inspired enough to keep me busy for the next six years. If only I could stop pinning and start doing.

On the topic of doing... don't you love how I flow from topic to topic? Mitch, Alyssa and I have a big project ahead of us.

 

Alyssa and Bayleigh will be moving back home. We are going to convert our unfinished bonus room above the garage into an attic apartment. It will be almost entirely DIY. We will probably have to get some professional help with a few things like electrical and maybe building the stairs. Right now we just have fold down attic stairs.

We are thinking of starting a separate blog with updates about the progress of our tiny budget reno. Are you interested in following along? We'd love to hear suggestions about making the most of a small space. It's 11' x 22'. We aren't sure yet if everything will be upstairs or if we will close off part of the garage as well. If you've done anything like this and have words of wisdom, we'd love your input.

 

This Boy

  


This blue eyed boy.

He was home for the weekend. After he left I noticed that he left his wet towels and dirty clothes on the bathroom floor. I'll be honest, I was annoyed. For about one second.

One second was all it took for me to thank God for those towels on the floor. Those towels and the two hospital gowns.

This handsome blued eyed boy came home wearing a couple of snazzy hospital gowns Saturday night, because they cut his clothes off in the emergency room.

 

He takes after his mom and doesn't like getting his picture taken.

He does like riding his dirt bike. That's what he was doing Saturday afternoon. He doesn't remember how he ended up off his dirtbike and on the ground.

Thank God our neighbors saw it happen and called 911 before calling us to let us know our son was lying in a field. They stayed with him and kept him still until we arrived. 

Let me tell you, watching your son be put on a backboard and placed in an ambulance is not something you ever want to experience.

After being thoroughly scanned and x-rayed, they determined he had a concussion and a bruised kidney.

It could have been so much worse. I can't even let my mind go there. I just sit here tonight and thank God for those wet clothes on the floor and for that boy who left them there.

 

At least she looked angelic

Bayleigh and Mrs. Jill

A week before our church's Christmas program I was asked to make costumes for the three littlest angels, Bayliegh included. Needed were three dresses, three halos and one set of wings. The dresses and halos were easy, but the wings gave me a bit of an unexpected fit. When we had a week to play with Alyssa got online to find a set we could buy. Oh no, there is no need to buy, even if they are only five dollars a set. No, they will be easy to make. I was so sure they would be so easy, I didn't stress at all. Just use one of the sets we have as a guide, bend a coat hanger, cover it with white tights or pantyhose, add some glittery accents and done. No prob. You know where this is going, right? To make a very long story short, after a few failed attempts for various reasons, on Sunday afternoon, I still had no wings. In a panic I grabbed a set of pink fairy wings off the shelf at the Dollar General with no idea how I would make them work.  I rushed home and painted them white with acrylic craft paint. I'm sure you can imagine how that worked out. Not too cute and still pinkish. I grabbed a can of white spray paint and saturated them, hung them outside to dry and prayed. Just as I was beginning to think I was going to have to cut a set out of cardboard Alyssa came to the rescue. She remembered an old costume hanging in her closet. Attached to the hem was a big white feather boa. She said, cut this off and glue it onto the white spray painted wings. Oh yea, I can do that. I can glue like nobodies business. With minutes to go, I emerged from the craft room with a beautiful set of angel wings. So beautiful we worried that it may seem I was playing favorites by making Bayleigh a prettier set than the other angels. Of course that wasn't the case. Here she was being angelic in the vestibule of the church. It went downhill from there. As time drew near for her to walk down the isle of the church with the five other angels, she began to protest. She wanted Nana to hold her. OK fine, I'll walk down with you, I can carry you and  I'll even sit with you in the choir loft. As the doors opened the tears turned to sobs, the further down the isle we went the louder the crying. The angels were to walk, two by two, down the isle, step onto the stage and enter the choir loft from either side. As we approached the stage the crying and wailing had turned to screams.  I stepped onto the stage and didn't even bother going into the choir loft. There was no way I was going to sit up there with this wailing child.  I  walked right off the side and tried to clam her.  Her mommy came over and retrieved her, since between the wails she could hear I want my mommy. Even after being placed in her mommy's arms, she continued the crying, only now she's calling for nana. Unable to console her, Alyssa took her out of the sanctuary and waited in the fellowship hall for the program to end. Her big stage debut was over. Oh well, she sure did look pretty. Maybe next year.

 

 

I'm getting a little nervous about my party planned for Sunday. What if no one shows?  I can see myself like the geeky teen, who invited all the cool kids to her birthday party. You know the scene, the poor geeky kid is eating chips and sipping punch by the lonely food table at midnight, because no one showed up for her party. I hope you'll show up and bring a friend with your cool projects made using a Silhouette or Cricut. Sunday beginning at 8pm.  I even made a little button you can take if you like buttons. The button and code are over there on the right.

 

Bubble Therapy

   

Every day, we've been blowing bubbles.

 

I love that face. Oh, that dirty little face.

Thinking some deep thoughts over bubbles...

 

 

She's getting pretty good at it.

Bubbles and Bayleigh,

have a way of making everything better.

A letter to my girl

 
My first born, my girl, my sweetie. There aren't enough names, titles to fully express what you mean to me. How important you are to me. How thankful I am to God for letting me be your Mom.

You were a happy baby. A smiling sweet, curious, smart girl. Such an easy baby, except for the fact that you were a very, very slow eater and you demanded your formula be warm. Night feedings involved at least one trip to re-warm the bottle before you would finish.

You were a delightful, loving child. A little actress and performer from early on. It wasn't enough for you to sit and watch a movie. You had to watch in full costume.

You were such a good student and just an all around good kid, you made being a mom easy and a pleasure.  Transitioning to the role of mom of a college kid, not quite as easy.  I was so lost at first and shed many tears, but like any painful transition, it got easier with time. 

Then it happened. The need to break away, to find your self, to be your own person struck you like hurricane force winds. You weren't sure what you wanted to do with yourself but you were sure the only way you could find out was to be away from us. We wanted to love and protect you but you only felt suffocated.  I'm not sure how the best way would have been to navigate through that time. As parents our job from the beginning is to love and protect. As a young adult instinct tells you you don't need protecting. You need to spread your wings and fly. What happens when it seems like your wings aren't quite ready or that the winds are too dangerous for you to fly safely? It was a tough time, wasn't it? There were stumbles and tears, but fly you did.

 

I'm so very proud of the woman you've become. You are so loving and generous, kindhearted and understanding and above all, you are a wonderful mommy. 

I'm proud to call you daughter, my sunshine, my friend.

Saying goodbye is never easy

In the past year, we've said goodbye to three four-legged members of our family. Gracie died last May, very unexpectedly. She was ten years old.  She died in my arms and took a little piece of my heart with her. 

Last month we made the very difficult decision that life was just too hard for our Angel. She was nearly sixteen, blind, nearly deaf and very, very feeble. Arthritis made it difficult to walk. I hoped she would peacefully go in her sleep, but I came to the realization that keeping her alive was more for my well-being than hers. Life had no joy for her anymore. I  tearfully had to face the truth.

 

Then a couple of nights ago, our little Lucky man was hit by a car. He was only three years old. I'm just heartbroken that he died such a violent death. Alone. I miss the little guy so much. Every time I sit in this chair I still expect to hear his little paws running my way to snuggle up next to me. When I lay down at night I wait to hear him jumping on the side of the bed, ready to be helped up. I know the hurt will lessen and seeing his little face in pictures will bring about a smile instead of tears. I'm just not there yet. 

 

That's a quart sized can of paint- he was such a tiny baby.

 

Each of these creatures came into our lives and made themselves at home in our hearts. They had distinct personalities and quirky little qualities that made them special and lovable. I miss them so, and am so glad to have shared my home and heart with them if only for a short time.

In the span of a year, we've gone from a four dog family to just one. I loved each of them as if they were a child and my heart is surely a lot fuller because of the love and joy they brought to my life. Toby will certainly be overprotected, but he doesn't mind the extra doting and attention, one bit.

 

Man, this was a hard post to write! Looking at all those old pictures was heartbreaking. I really, really miss my sweet wet nosed babies. Sniff, sniff...