Roses are Pink, Frogs are Glass & Stitching is Last

Howdy everybody! How are you all doing? My new phone (HTC Incredible... it is awesome!! If you're in the market for a VZW phone I HIGHLY recommend it!) is supposed to have helped me stay on top of reading and commenting on blogs... but apparently I don't have quite as many empty moments as I thought, b/c I feel like I'm just as big a stranger to the blogosphere as ever! I need to get caught up with y'all, and I will soon, I promise!

Thanks so much for the kind wishes for Leah's birthday!! I read each and every one to her (and dispensed second hand hugs as requested), and they all made her feel so special and cared for... thank you for helping me make her birthday wonderful for her!! I can't believe my baby is 5 and goes to "big kid school" in the fall. Time really does fly by, doesn't it?

I'm struggling to pinpoint a "good" starting point for this post, so I'm just going to jump right in... I apologize in advance for the stream of consciousness (Robin style) you're about to be subjected to! This could get scary folks, so buckle in!!!

Umm... yeah... that sounds cool so I'm leaving it in, but really we haven't had anything terribly exciting going on. Just your normal every day run of the mill "stuff"... Let's see, how to recap...

We had Leah's birthday party this past Saturday, which was a complete success. I don't know what I was thinking, though! 15 kids in my townhouse!! (It's generously sized for a townhouse, but add their parents to the mix and it was standing room only!). I remembered pronto why I am sticking with my decision to have one child. By the time the third kid arrived I was ready to come unglued! Not because they were being bad or anything, just the sheer volume of their little voices! Oy! Then they got hopped up on sugar and dear Lord I was ready to reach for the vodka... er, or I would have if we had any in the house. :) Seriously, I don't know how you ladies with multiple children do it!! You have my utmost respect and admiration, you truly do. So, basically what I'm saying is: Birthday parties in my home - Most. Effective. Birth. Control. Ever. And really, the world is a much safer place if I limit my offspring to one, m'kay (because of me, not because of my offspring)?

We've had something of a rainy/ chilly spell this week, which has meant not a ton of outside activity going on. However, I did manage to grab a couple of really nice shots of one of the few roses I have blooming (this bush really needs to be pulled, but I just don't have the heart to do it... yet) during a brief hiatus in the gloom the other evening:

I love roses!!! Especially a lot of the David Austen roses. This is 'Heritage', and when it was healthy it bloomed profusely in several flushes throughout the summer (one year it even had a small bloom in mid-October!) with very little extra care (all I did was dead head, and give it some rose food every 2-3 weeks) I really wish we'd decide how we're going to finish our back yard so I can get a garden plan going back there! We are in negotiations amongst ourselves, and once we decide I'll be sure to share some before and afters with you all. Whether you want me to, or not! :) Needless to say, the beds will include roses. I can't wait!!

Oh! Mother's Day! I hope you all had a wonderful day and that your families lavished you with affection and gratitude for all that you are for them every day of every year!!! We had a pretty quiet day which was nice. We made a trip to our local Home Goods/ TJ Maxx (I love me some HG/ TM!!!) in the afternoon so that I could try to find a replacement for my beloved fuzzy white bathroom rugs... why would I need to do that you ask? Well, let me tell you.

My dear darling (dramatic) Leah was dancing around my bathroom artistically twirling her little (lightweight!!!) sweater around her and singing at the top of her lungs. I had stupidly left some bottles of nail polish on the side of the tub (you know where this is headed, don't you). Somehow the sweater made contact with a bottle of OPI Mother Road Rose (great color, btw) polish, knocked it off the WHITE TILE tub, and onto the WHITE TILE floor and of course, the neck of the bottle snapped off and lo and behold, we had dark hot pink nail polish everywhere (tips for removing said nail polish without ruining the finish on my tile are welcome), including on my fuzzy white rug. :( Ah well, accidents happen. Oh, but the fun part was when Leah stepped in it while trying to clean it up, then proceeded to make little pink dots all around the bathroom as I tried desperately to get her to "Stop! Moving!" I swear you can't make this stuff up! I can totally imagine how comical we would've looked to someone watching the scene unfold, lol!

Anywho! That resulted in a trip to Home Goods (you feel sorry for me, don't you) where (amongst other "scores") I found these little gems (aka Mother's Day gifts):

Aren't they great?? They're heavy as all get out, and so rustic looking, which I love. They weren't very expensive and so they came home with us. I actually got two of the smaller one, but figured a pic of just one of them would get the point across... did it? The two smaller ones were labelled as candle holders, but the bottoms are pretty concave, so I'm not sure how well that would work. I'll figure something out.

But my best mommy's day gift came much later in the day. Let me back up... Leah has been leaving her room to go to sleep in our bed lately, and we haven't quite managed to break her of the habit. So, Sunday night I brought a load of laundry up to my room to fold and put away, but when I got up there Leah was in our bed (I thought) fast asleep. So, I put the basket down, whispered to the kitty that I'd put the clothes away tomorrow night, and went back downstairs. My DH came downstairs a few minutes later and told me to "go check out what Leah's doing." Well, really, there's no telling what her creative little mind might come up with so I high tailed it up to our room and found her... pulling clothes out of the basket (in the dark!), "folding" them, and putting them in piles on the bed, just like mommy. She saw me and said "Here mommy, I'll do this for you so you don't have to do it tomorrow." I just about bawled. Who's my sweetest baby EVER?? We finished doing the load together, then she crawled back into bed and fell asleep. It was about the best ending I could have imagined to the day.

Stitching time has been completely non-existent for the last few weeks for various reasons. I did pick up The Blessing again Monday night and here is where I am:

I am really enjoying this part of the pattern... I know this probably means I'm crazy, but I actually really enjoy fill in. No counting, totally mindless, just the soothing rythm of the stitches, and whatever music or audio book I'm listening to. Ahhh.

Once this is done, (or possibly before), I think I'm going to try finishing up that quilt top I was working on... whenever it was I was working on it! I've been bitten by the quilt bug recently (note to self - stop visiting fatquartershop.com), and really want to get cracking on finishing that quilt top and maybe starting another.

Just one more thing, then you can go. :) I'm not sure you recall the tour of my room several posts back, but I believe I showed a pic of my scissors in a frog just sitting on the table? Well, I was encouraged to find a home for the frog, and I found something it fit right there in my craft room! Me likey!

Alrighty, that's it for me tonight! I'll "see" you all soon!! Have a wonderful weekend!!

~Robin