Shuffle Off to Buffalo

The curse on Mr. continues (more about that at a later time). He is slated to work 8pm-5:30am for the next 2-3 weeks. He will be pulling down a ceiling, cataloguing it and then putting it back up in a new spot - 20 feet from its original spot. I keep telling him not to complain, he has a job. He will be going to bed after his normal 4:30 wake time.

What does this have to do with Buffalo? This is the week of Fairy Princess' spring break. That means I am required to keep a 6 year old and 2 year old and 2 spoiled dogs quiet while Daddy sleeps. A task that will cause tears and scolding, for being normal kids. I don't think so...

Granny and Poppy, here we come! 5 days of daily help, maybe a meal made by someone other than myself. A good fish fry perhaps? And an ocean deep claw foot tub to play mermaid in.

Yep. Buffalo, here we come!

Wordless Wednesday

A New Week, A New Attitude

I was just a wee whiney last night.

Well, that's all done now and the new week has really started. The linens are in the wash, Fairy Princess is back in school and the dreaded pink eye seems to have missed me and the kids.

I have a very clean house since I obsesed last week. Hey, that leave me time to finish a few items and get them listed! And I tell ya, I feel a sale coming my way!

What a stinking Week It Was

I need a little whine time here. Pass this over if you like.

Fairy Princess had the flu and missed school all week long. She cried every time I called her off, she loves school. Finally, I printed up Kindergarten papers off the web for her to work on. She's now past the number they were working on in class.

Then The Husband catches the flu. He gets to spend the entire day in bed. I swear he got sick on purpose... Even though he had a fever of 102 degrees, I'm still envious of his time in bed.

Little Man keeps crying for his Sissy and Daddy. Mommy is no longer any fun and no paint, play dough or circus tricks could change his mind.

Finally, Fairy Princess is much better. Well enough for her 1st slumber party at at friends house. Six 6 year olds... The mommy must be medicated. All of the girls had a great time and I only had 1 kid at home waking up at night. WooHoo me, the weekend is getting brighter.

I bathed in bleach all week, and washed all soft and hard surfaces my kid and husband touched. All should be well

Husband has a secondary infection (sinus infection) and PINK EYE! I bathe the house in bleach again, Lysol everything and purchase a case of Purel.

I think I have pink eye, still can't take a nap even if I did have a 102 degree fever because tomorrow is Monday.Husband works all week. Not that I'm complaining about work, I just want a @#$% nap.

On top of it all. Two, count them, TWO sales were canceled by the people who made purchases! Dirty Bastards.

Sunday night is almost done. I know, Sunday is the first day of the week, but I'm calling Monday the first day this week... It can only get better from here. Right?

Favorite Things

This drawer is one of my favorite places in my house. And I have 3 more beautiful drawers like it.
Some of these linens are family pieces made by Dulcie, Dearie and Grandma Percy. Some are just fabulous finds.

Wordless Wednesday

Playing for Keeps

What could be more fun than playing in the mud?

Playing in paste!

This is my first attempt at paper mache since grade school.
What a blast I had! I think she is a first in a series, because I kept having the greatest ideas pop into my head as I was forming her and painting her.

Art Heals

2.5 years ago, Ian was diagnosed with a rare form of the bleeding disorder, Von Willebrand Disease. We spent hours upon hours sitting and waiting in Hemoc Unit at Children's Hospital. Waiting for Factor, blood to cease flowing from my babies body, waiting, worrying, being very afraid. All while loving and protecting my broken baby and teaching my preschooler not to be afraid and that life is wonderful. I was an angry woman, every trip to that place was like a death march on my soul.
Anger, fear and parenting do not go well together, so I really needed to get myself together.
I did this with my camera and with fabric, floss and beads.
I needed a portable project to keep in our "hospital bag". A small Glad container with lovely floss, fabric and beads fit in perfectly and a small embroidery hoop takes almost no space. I started my black on black project pretty early on. I'm still not finished, and my not be for a while. I do have bitter sweet thoughts woven into this project. Fear, exhaustion, pride, all sewn into one little black squirrel. It may be a while before I complete him, but I pull him out now and then and add a few stitches. It was good to have my hands occupied and something entirely different to think about.
It was my camera that really started the healing. Being behind a camera is like an outer body experience. You can hide right out in the open and see the would around you in a new light. I started photographing everything from hospital days to shopping at my local co-op.
Thankfully, these days are much easier and Ian's own Factor has bumped up a bit, so there are far fewer hospital days. We all breath much easier here and life is as normal as any other household with kids and too many pets. I still carry my camera everywhere I go.

Fabulous Finds Friday

Don't you just love a great estate sale? How about your favorite thrift shop? Mine really gave me something special this week....

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek at some up-coming listings!

Don't you just love fresh laundry?

Like Mother Like Daughter

Some things just make me smile...

And my kindergartner trying so hard to learn embroidery makes me smile big!

Busy Day

It's been a busy day in the Ratliff household.
Gymnastics followed by Stownut Donut for a mid morning snack, to the bank for cash and back to Stownut donut to pay for said snack. Oops.
Once Fairy Princess hopped onto the school bus, Little Man and I got busy. I tidied toys and he brought them all back out again, we had hot cocoa and I took photos in between diaper changes and Thomas the Train track drama.
Here is a sample of what I did today...