I don't think I ever posted these...

If you weren't at the Visible Grace Auction, You most likely didn't get a chance to see my model of Grace Academy. So here it is. This is a home cluster unit. It will be the first phase of construction. The first one will sever as housing, offices, and school rooms until the admin construction phase.

During the week before the Auction, I spent 80 hours working on this model and drawings, while caring for my son. (And 20-50 hours during the weeks previous to that.) I'm not sure where those hours came from. But as Anne said Sunday, "If God wants you to do something, he'll give you the time to do it." (Okay, it may not be an exact quote, but it's close.)

URG!

Why have we been sick so much this winter? Wes is home sick again. He was home last monday/tuesday as well. I've got a touch of sore throat. Josiah is a bit stuffy. I guess this is what we get for hardly being sick at all last winter.

Who's next?

YIPPY! Our SIL in Eastern Oregon has started a blog for their family. I'm so excited. It's hard to keep in touch, but family blogs make it easier. This would be Wes's brother and family. Now, how about those Bethunes in far off Alaska?

Looking for constructive feedback

I'm working on a flyer for the Women's Retreat. I need to have it done in less than 24 hours. So if you see this within the time frame, let me know what you think. Click on the image to see a detailed image. Thanks.

Picture this...

A four year old boy, with bad aim, using a toliet.

Now picture...

Your pastor doing the "four year old boy, with bad aim, using the toliet dance" during the middle of his sermon.

LOL! It was freaking hilarious. Thanks for the laugh, Justin. :O)

Angie feels...

Heartbroken
Frustrated
Annoyed
Busy
Ill
Sad

My morning mission

Today, Wes is home sick. However, he has put in almost 5 hours worth of work, working from home. He let me run some errands this morning on my own. We needed some food staples. I headed off for Costco. Shortly after leaving, I remember that Oleson is under major reconstruction. No worry, I'm not in a hurry. In fact, I rather like the slow pace of waiting for the construction flagger. You see, I have this little thing I like to do. My mission is to make half of the flaggers smile. While all the other drivers are annoyed and impaitient, I just try to smile and seem like I rather enjoy all the construction. Today, I only managed 2 out of 8. But hey, that's two more smiles out there then there could have been. By the way, it was an excellent day to go to Costco today. There was no one there. I was quite shocked by the lack of shoppers. It was nice. I bought some flowers to grow up my new trellise that Troy built us.

heartache

A couple of months ago, at an Ethnos Sunday gathering, I looked around the room and saw heartache everywhere. So many young families in the mist of struggles. It really struck me how many of my sisters in Christ were hurting so much. Sisters who ache for children and wonder if it will ever be their turn, if God will ever give them a child. Sisters who grieve the loss of an unborn child. Sisters who ache for their older children whom they may be lossing. Sisters who are struggling to be single mothers, while trying to heal from the wounds left by an absent husband. Sisters with wounds of all kinds and sizes, from things I can't begin to imagine.

So why write about this now? Because I was reminded of this pain yesterday. I saw it in the empty, sad eyes of a child with a broken heart. A child who is carrying more heartache then they should.

I weep.

I weep for my sisters.

I weep for the children.

Lord, see our tears and hear our cries. The pain is deep. The heartache is great. Give my sisters the cries of their hearts. Mend their wounds. Restore their hope and joy. Bring laughter to the eyes of the children. Be their Father. Bring healing. Dry our tears.

So I was going to sit here and tell you something, but the words excape me. I thought I had something interesting to share, but noting seems interesting right now. It's Monday isn't it? I feel like Monday, blah. I wish I had more to share... I will find a photo to share.

Multnomah Falls, January 17, 2007

snowflakes

We're home. (In case anyone cares.)

I just wanted to share with you some of my shots from Tuesday. These ones turned out better then the ones from Saturday. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I am fasinated with snowflakes that actually look like more than a wet blob falling from the sky. For those of you who don't know much about photography... These are extremly difficult to shoot. Unless you have an entirely flat flake (I've never ment one) and are prefectly aligned you cannot get the entire flake to focus. And for those of you who do know something about photography... I shot these entirely on manual, full open at 2.2f, at about 1/20-1/30 of a second, with my D70, my 24mm lense, and a reversing ring.

Thank God for the Ethnos forum

Our plan was to head home this morning. But early this morning I decided to see what was new on the forum. That's where I read that Matt was snowed in at his appartment and that Jenn and Troy were heading out to go play. Hummm. We decided to turn on the tv and see what was going on. Thus we discovered the bad weather in Portland via the forum. So if we hadn't had the forum we would be on our way home right now, not realizing what lay ahead. Now our stay and Wes's parents' house has been extended. Josiah couldn't be happier. Maybe we will go sleding again today in the timber. The plan is now to head home tomorrow dependent upon what happens today and tonight between here and there.

Josiah has decided that he is ready for solo sledding. Last year he didn't even want to be pulled in the sled. He's growing up so fast. Before you know it, he will want to start at the top of the hill.

Am I a bad mother? I laugh every time I see this picture. I can't help myself. Maybe it's okay to laugh since he came up smiling ready to tackle the hill again. I wasn't laughing yesterday. The sled took an unexpected turn. He headed right for two trees. The sled was just narrow enough to pass through. But as he went through the lowest branch attacked his face. After some tears he was ready for more. I kind of think he may be a little proud of his battle scars. :O)

These are two of my best snowflake pictures from the other day. You see, the problem is that the snow was two days old. I picked a handfull up off the ground and then dropped it onto the car. So the flakes are a bit beat up. I do believe there is some fresh snow out there now. Maybe...

Yuck, what is it???

I know. Do you? :O)

Greetings from EO

We're at the Smith Farm for the weekend. We've been playing in the snow. It's cold, in the teens. Today's high is supposed to be around 17.

Tried to shoot some snow flakes yesterday. Shooting macro with a reversing ring is hard work. I would like to get a microscope. But seeing how I finally got my telescope, I don't want to push my luck. Haven't looked to see if I got anything good. We should be heading out to play soon here.

We brought my new telescope. We're still waiting for ordered parts to come in so that I can attach my camera properly. Still, we brought the telescope. It was cloudy last night. Tonight is supposed to be clear. Lots of stars to see when the sun goes down around here. Wes is excited about the prospects of nebulas and other galexies tonight. It will be cold viewing.

I've been updating my blog this morning. Added many new blog links. Did I miss anyone? I've been wanting to play around with things a bit, but there just isn't a lot of down time in Portland to do that kind of thing. I have enough trouble finding time to actually post...

Hope you're all staying warm.

music to a mother's ears

"I've gotta go poop."

Yesterday I wanted to dance and sing after hearing those words for the second day in a row. Could it possibly be that we are in the potty training home stretch. Is there light at the end of this frustrating, tiresome, long tunnel?

Christmas Day

Uncle Stephen read us a Christmas story before we open gifts on Christmas Day.



I think Wes likes his Christmas present. He had figured out I'd done something. Between delivered photos that I wouldn't let him see and a toddler who said something about taking pictures of his guitar... But I don't think he expected what he got. :O) I think Josiah was just as excited to see the final product.
Mom made each of us a crazy quilt. This one is Amanda's (Scotty's girlfriend). Mom used scraps from over the years. They were her's and her mother's fabric scraps. I can look at these quilts and see shirts that my grandfather wore, mom's bridal dresses, my childhood dresses, and many other things.
After opening gifts Mom, Amy, and I work in the kitchen to get dinner (and snacks for hungry toddlers).
While Wes, Dad, and Scotty take a nap. Stephen felt the need to borrow my camera and take some pics. Note the orange box next to the couch. That would be the new toilet set for the main bath. Josiah later claimed that mommy and daddy opened his Christmas present, the toilet seat for HIS bathroom.

Christmas Eve at Ethnos

Ashby shows Josiah how to put the rings on the candles for the gathering. Josiah loved helping.



Now that Josiah is putting in Ashby's share of the work, she can go play. Yeah right.
Some the the kids practice singing Away in the Manger before the gathering.

Laura and Ava
Jeremy and Liam

December happenings part B

Yes, there are 33 candles on Wes's B-day cake. Hurry up and blow them out, Wes, or your ice cream cake is going to melt.

December 22, 2006




Josiah finds a book for Daddy to read to him before heading home from Grandma's house. December 22, 2006

Josiah looks mad. We're not sure why. Maybe he wanted to go to the nursery to play and we wouldn't let him. Maybe he isn't sure about Uncle Stephen and Aunt Amy is real life. (Since he's only seen pictures of them most of his life.) But he was "mad" most of the service. And I really think he was watching is Aunt and Uncle out of the corner of his eye most of the time. December 24, 2006

Josiah at Grandma Bethune's on Christmas Eve, 2006.

December happenings part A

Picking out our Christmas Trees. Josiah thought this one would look great on the table with his minatures on it.

December 3, 2006

Josiah loves decorating the Christmas tree. It wasn't very "pretty" this year. But Josiah did 3/4 of the decorating so it looked great.

December 10, 2006

Josiah likes to lend a helping hand at the Ethnos gatherings. One task he can do is roll carpet and carry the small pieces to the trailer. He has also been spotted picking up unused correspondance cards and pencils. "Can I help you?"

December 3, 2006

Josiah likes to help at home too. Here he helps me make Christmas cookies. He counts cups of this and teaspoons of that so that I don't loose count.

December 17, 2006
Wes's Christmas present!
Completed: December 22, 2006

A Christmas in review

The Christmas holiday has seemed very busy this year. I suppose one reason would be that I made most of our gifts this year. I made mosaic art pieces. They included trivits, pots, and pictures. (I'm sorry to say that due to being sick for two weeks, I'm still not quite done.) I also did a bit of sewing. I made noodle pillows. I'm also almost done with Josiah's rob. I also did this way cool photo montage for Wes. I did a photo shoot with his guitar and then created a mat for 11 of the photos in one 2'x3' frame. It is sweet. I am very proud of it. So I've been busy.

The Thursday before Christmas my parents came over to kidnap Josiah. YIPPY! Wes and I went to the Wolverton Christmas party. Wes went into work late the next day. Then we went to pick Josiah up in the evening. I'd made Wes a birthday cake and when we got there we made pizza and celebrated Wes's birthday. He's 33 now. Wow! I remember when 30 sounded so old.

My brother, Stephen, and his wife, Amy arrived from Alaska early Saturday morning. Having flown the red eye, they were zonked, so we decided not to go visit on Saturday.

Sunday morning we arrived at my parent's church for services. It was nice. Our whole family was there. This was the first time Stephen had been home in 3 years. After church we had dinner at mom and dad's. Then we left for the Ethnos gathering. We arrived early so that Wes could go over the lyrics and stuff for running the power point during the gathering. Josiah enjoyed helping Ashby and Natalie get the candles prepared before the gathering. My mom, Stephen, Amy, and Scotty (my little brother) all came to the gathering. It was nice to have them there. Afterwards, Wes, Josiah, and I went home while my family headed off to Scotty's church for one last service. We all opened one gift that night. Josiah got his Christmas pj's, We'd gotten Wes a big book on astronomy, and I got a dimmer switch for our bedroom (with the promise that it would be installed soon.)

Christmas morning Josiah came into our room. He prompty told us that he "didn't hear Santa last night." We opened our stockings and the few gifts that were under our tree. Wes got me the telescope that I've been asking for for about five years. He also got some of the parts that I need to hook my camera up to it. I'm still waiting on the rest... Thus he's spent more time on the scope than I have. By 11 we were at my parents house for the day. So there was another stocking round and a few more gifts. We got a magic bullet. It will be a fun little thing to have around. So much easier that the big blender or getting the food proccessor out. We had a big Christmas dinner and a nice afternoon.

Tuesday we all went to my grandparents. It had actually been five years since they had seen Stephen. We did some family pictures and had lunch. Wednesday we actually stayed home and Wes went to work. Thursday afternoon my parents and Stephen and Amy came over. My parents came to babysit while Wes and I went out with S&A. We ended up going to the Rock Bottom. Wes had wanted to go to the Portland City Grill but it was already booked up when we tried to make resevations. Anyway, we had a nice meal and good conversation. It was nice to be out just the four of us.

The weekend went quickly, I can't really remember what we did besides church and our Monday lunch at Chuck E Cheese's. Mom and Amy came over Tuesday and Amy and I went out for lunch. We went to the Elephant Delicatessan. It was a fun place to eat a visit. Then we went to Powell's. I still had a GC so I bought Amy a book and a couple for myself. Wednesday we went to my parent's to have one last family dinner for the next couple of years.

What suprised me the most about our Christmas was the way Josiah warmed right up to his unknown Aunt and Uncle. He's not usually that warm towards those he even sees on a weekly basis. But within a couple hours of arriving at my parents house on Christmas Eve, he was just being himself around them (well, for the most part). I was truely afraid that he wouldn't even talk to them before they left. I was afraid they wouldn't get to know him at all. But when he said goodbye he gave Stephen a pound and Amy a hug and kiss.

Now it is a normal Saturday, the first of the new year. I got to sleep in and read this morning. Stephen and Amy left for Ancorage Friday (yesterday) afternoon. Things are suppose to slow down now. I doubt it. I don't think that will happen till Josiah leaves for college.

Sing with me!

Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday dear Wesly.
Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to the most amazing man I know. I love you!

I can't wait

I can't wait for Christmas morning. I'm so excited now. I'm almost done with Wes's gift and I can't wait for him to open it. I haven't been very excited about Christmas yet. Of course I attribute part of that to the fact that I am just now finally really getting over this bug I've had for almost two weeks. It put me way behind on my gift making since I really needed to rest during naps and I was exhausted by the time Wes got home from work each day. So I have a ton to do. My house is a disaster. Stephen and Amy will be arriving at the airport at like 5am Saturday. Right, and Saturday is Wes's b-day. So I really don't have much time to get anything done. Good news, Josiah is spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house tonight. So, I have a birthday cake to go bake now and a gift to put the final touches on. Oh how I wish I could post a picture. I want to show it to the world!!!!

I ordered prints!

I was always incredably good about taking in my film to get it developed. I am terrible at developing my digital images. I did get some in last week though. I figured it was time to update the family's Josiah pictures. My parents still have his 2 month photos hanging up. I ordered new photos for everyone. I got a few photos of Laura too. I spent an hour editing out a few dust spots and touching out some belly button piercing scars. They were actually in the belly button at on time and at 8.5 months lived an inch above her bb. So I did a couple of proofs for them. But why am I so excited? Because they came today! My little boy is so cute and Laura is so beautiful.

still sick...

Wes feels better. Josiah never got very sick. I am still congested from head to toe. Okay, maybe just from sinuses to chest. I am feeling better, but it's a slow journey for me. I actually got seven hours of sleep last night. It was a record for the week since I haven't been sleeping well. I need to finish Christmas presents but I just haven't felt up to it. But with just a week till Wes's birthday, I'd best get them done yesterday.

tears shed

Yesterday we learned that two friends from West Hills passed away.

Babe was Josiah's oldest friend. They used to play together on Thursdays. She turned 90 a couple of months ago. She was still driving and living on her own this past Summer. Things took a turn less than 6 months ago. The Dr discovered she had cancer and she was too weak for any treatments. Just a few weeks before she turned 90, she had to move into a care center. We went to her b-day party. She passed away Sunday evening around 8:00.

Dick was a private man. No one knew he was sick until he ended up in the hospital about two weeks ago. No one is sure what was wrong. He didn't tell anyone. The last time we saw him, he looked great. It was a bit of a shocker to learn that he passed yesterday at 11am.

I shed a few tears yesterday. Only, they weren't mornfull. In fact, they were happy tears. I am happy for our friends. Both knew Jesus and served Him well. Babe is young again. She's been reunited with her husband who passed at least 10 years ago. I'm sure it was a happy day for them. Dick lost his wife to cancer a couple of years ago. He loved her deeply. What a joy for him to have her in his arms again. What joy to be reunited with your beloved spouse in the presence of Jesus. What awsome joy to see to your Savior's face. There is no need to cry. I will see them again. What assurence we have when we know that Jesus has died for our sins.

Please pray with me for those who will miss Babe and Dick them most, their family and friends.

The Smith Family Illness

We are sick again. Wes and I came down with it Friday. Josiah seemed a bit stuffy Sunday morning. Friday wasn't too bad. I woke with a bad sore throat and mild head cold. Saturday was terrible. I was cold and achy all day. I had a fever, it broke during the night. Sunday was better, no more aches. Yet, this head cold was a whole lot worse. Wes was feeling well enough to hang some Chirstmas lights outside. We didn't feel up to going to the Gathering. It's 4am Monday morning now and I've gotten about two hours of sleep. I slept from 11:30-12:30 and 2-3. Wes is congested and being a noisey and tossy sleeper. My head has been screaming all night with this headache that I can't seem to kick. I'm congested and it's moving to my chest. Josiah has woken several times. I'm wide awake now. I have three more hours till Josiah is up for the day. Maybe I will be able to get another hour in...

Josiahisms

"Did you want to play with me?"
"Pillow fight you!"
"Okay, this is going to be noisy."
"Okay, let's go."

There was a terrible accident yesterday...

...at the little people zoo. Zookeeper Zack was hanging out with the exotic bird in the tree. Peacock found the zoo vehicle unattended, so she hijacked it. Well, we all know that peacocks can't drive. She ran over crocodile and into elephant's pen. The seal food went everywhere. Fortunatly, Dumpy was close at hand. He cleaned up the seal mess and hauled it away. But the vehicle was still half in Elephant's pen and he did not like that. So Farmer Jed came to the rescue with his tractor and scooped up the zoo vehicle. Unfortunatly, it feel off and land upside down on top of Peacock. Oh the horror!

Good news. Everyone is okay this morning. However, I do believe that Zookeeper Zack spent the night with the exotic bird. Hummmmm.

Josiah has an imagination that doesn't stop.

the gift of encouragement

It seems like we talk about spiritual gifts alot in Ethnos circles. So I thought you might find this little Josiah incedent cute. I've been working on making Christmas gifts a lot this past week. I have about a week before I have to be done with half of them for the Smith family Christmas over Thanksgiving. It was after dinner, well after dinner for Wes and I, Josiah was still working on his. I pull a project out and start working. Shortly, Josiah is all "Go, Mom go. Make that ----." It was the cutest thing. So we start telling him what a good encourager he is, and how he can encourage other people. The I ask him, "Josiah, do you have the spiritual gift of encouragement?" He got a very serious look on his face, took a minute to think about it, and then, very much like he knew exactly what I was talking about, gave me a huge nod, smiled slightly, and then said, "Yes, I do, Mommy."

On another Josiah note, he went in for his "3 year" well check yesterday. He weighed in at a whopping 29 lbs(which isn't very whopping for a 3 year old), and of course is measuring 37 inches tall, with a big, thick, 20 inch noggen. He didn't say a word the whole time we were there. At least not untill the Dr gave him his stickers at which point he got very talking and excited. Then he got the first half of his flu shot and didn't even wince. He's a trooper.

Humm, I here a stool moving across the kitchen floor upstairs. Best go see what he's trying to get for his breakfast.

auction

We are home from the auction. This year was way more fun then last. Probably because all our friends got to come too since it wasn't on Sunday evening. We got to spend money too.

Now I get to take a break from Grace Academy. It was really good to have drawings and the model there for donors to see. Things become much more real when you can visualize a place. I'll get some pictures posted soon. Oh, and the model, that was secret project #3.

We got into a bit of a bidding war with Anthony over a chair. That was fun. We also tried to outbid Dave P. and take home some paintings, but he had a pocket full of money. We did come home with the following items:
$100 in Powell's cash
A djimbe (The one Dave K. made)
A really nice chair (Yes, you can all come over to try it out.)
Some cd's
6 Visible Grace calenders (for all our family)

Time for bed and our "extra" hour of sleep.

cluster plan

I appoligize for the funny colors. It's really about tone. When you print b&w the greens are a nice shade of grey. This is phase one of Grace Academy. There will be a total of 6 housing clusters. Each house will be the home to 10-12 children and their house parent(s).

I did it!

No, I didn't stop time and save the world. But I did make a good beam. Actually, there are twelve beams, ten of one type and two of another. I rule!

2 days left

Well, I just about have the furniture in. I'm struggling with the roof. I can't seem to make a 2 dementional beam in AutoCAD. It just doesn't want to work right. Oh, I can make a beam, but it's ends are but funny. And typing that just made me think of a possible solution. Alas, it will have to wait till tomorrow. Once the building has a roof, I can lay out the cluster. Then, when I have a cluster, I can make five more. Soon that turns into an entire site. YIPPY!

Trudging through Auctiontober

This crazy busy month continues. I still have a lot of get done, but some things have been completed.

Since Sunday, I've spent 19 hours working on Grace Academy. That's a lot of nap and after bed time hours that I've used on this project. I still seem to have a lot of drawing to do, but SP3 is coming along nicely. I think I'm going to have to ask for some help to get it done though. Just bit off a bit more than I could chew with this one.

I got my auction donations in. It's a good way to clear out some CM inventory that I shouldn't be carrying and get a tax write off to boot. I also got two pictures matted and framed. And I found the twin baby dolls.

I got all or most of Josiah's 3 year old photos done. He was such a ham for the camera this time (as if you didn't notice). We did some outside on Monday and then another group with the lights all set up and such on Wednesday. It was fun. He's at an age where he can actually take some photo directions.

Tomorrow my hermeneutics study group is meeting again. I got two of the three chapters read for last week. I'm supposed to have two more done for tomorrow. I haven't had a chance to sit a read though. After all I've spent 19 hours on GA since our last meeting. I'm going to try and at least get the last one for last week and one of the ones for this week done tomorrow morning. While I host the study group here at our house, Wes is going to go "jam" with a group of guys from Ethnos.

Josiah has two b-day parties to go to this weekend. One is tomorrow afternoon and the other is Sunday morning. That's a lot of cake in one weekend. :O)

Well, I'd best get back to work, only 8 days left till Auctiontober comes to an end. It's kind of nice that Auctiontober ends with an extra hour of sleep. I think I'm going to take a two week break from GA after it ends. Christmas comes the day after Thanksgiving in Eastern Oregon and I have some presents to finish.

Sweet dreams.

No title could say...

dreaming about Grace Academy

So I've been having all sorts of odd dreams lately. New things and people have been popping into my dream. Suddenly everyone from Ethnos is starting to arrive. But last night it was my big project that domenated my dreams.

I was in a room, sitting at long tables. There was someone up front presenting. I had a stack of papers litterally a foot deep in front of me. I was trying to sort through them while the guy next to me was trying to steal all my ideas and was just really annoying me. Then the presentation was over. The instructor asked me if I wanted to present. I said yes, but not for the contest, just for feedback. So I start trying to find my project and all I have is a stack of newspaper. Where did it go?

ho hum

That's how I feel this evening. It must be that fall finally started and the rain is drowning me.

The fence came down today. Most of it is in our driveway. I don't like not having a fence. It takes away my privacy on Shattack. It means I have to watch Josiah more closely when we're outside. Fortunately, it's a temporary thing. It will be back up before the end of the month.

I'm frustrated. I wish I could remember all the things I used to know about AutoCAD. I expect it to do something for me, but it doesn't. I definately getting back into the swing of things, but it has taken more time than I thought it would. I suppose it took me 3 months to learn it the first time. Perhaps I shouldn't have expected it to come right back. Now if I can figure out how to get the 2D thing a going...

I'm frustrated. I don't know how to construct something in Kenya. I don't know how they do things. It makes it more challenging to design. I wish I could find something online. I've looked. I haven't had much luck. I wish I was close to the AAA library at the UO. I might be able to find some info there. I wish I still had friends who worked there, then maybe I could just call. I wish I had an alumni membership, then I could call anyway. I wish I could get on a plane tomorrow and find the info I need in Kenya. I wish a lot of things...

Ho hum...

October is a crazy, busy month

I can't believe how many things are happening this month.
Josiah had his first party with friends last weekend. I'm glad that's over. This weekend we have something scheduled for just about every minute of it. For the Visible Grace Auction I have a list of things I need to get done.
1. AutoCAD Drawings for stage one of Grace Academy
-Site plan with stages of design
-Housing unit in plan, section, elevation
-Housing unit details
-Cluster plan
-Perspective renderings, 3 or 4 of them
2. Mat and frame photo for auction donation
3. Secret Project number 3
4. Find the twin baby dolls
Then there are the things I need to get done for other reasons
5. Prep for my Moppets class next Thursday
6. Do Josiah's 3 year photo shoot
7. Have Laura over to do maternity shoot
8. Read three chapters for my study for this Saturday's meeting (oops)
9. Do all the things that entail being a stay at home wife and mother
10. Do everything else I just can't think of at this moment
On top of all this we are finally getting our fence redone over a period of the next two weeks. Several sections blew over during our windy Spring. I'm sure it will all be too interesting to Josiah. Which will mean lots of outdoor time, rain or shine (especially if Troy rent a big machine). Which means less time to do the things I need to do.

"I'll pose if you put me on your blog." -Chris

Here it is. It's "Secret Project Number One". This was a fun project. I saw a pattern for it at the fabric store. I wanted to make it. For a couple weeks I wondered who I could make it for. When I realized that Ava would be here soon, I decided to make it for her.

A few weeks ago Chris and Laura came over for dinner. Josiah was so excited. He was telling them all about Ava's kitty. They didn't catch on. Just before Josiah went to bed, I had him get the kitty and give it to them. He was so excited. (But I think I already said that.) Chris said I could only take a picture if he could be on my blog.

secret projects...

Last night I officially started secret project #3. SP #2 is being put on hold. Something when wrong and I have to rework part of it. Which means I don't have time to complete it before it's original deadline. But SP3 is a blast. I was so tired last night, but I wanted to keep working. I discovered how it was possible to pull all nighters in college. It was the excitement and adrenaline of watching a project come together that kept you going. At 11, we finally put SP3 down for the night and headed to bed. All nighters aren't an option for us old folks. SP1 was completed a few weeks ago. I will post pictures soon. I think Chris and Laura like it. I hope Ava will too.