Odd Dotty Dollymaker

Sock it to me!

This past weekend (and I'm including yesterday as part of the weekend, because the husband came back from Canada yesterday so it felt like a part of the weekend) was very eventful. First, in a funny little twist of irony, the same week that we had to say good-bye to our friends as they left for California, our other friends who had moved to California a couple of years ago came back for a visit. So, Jessi and I got to visit with them for a bit. It was fun, but I am beginning to think that California has it out for me for some reason. I'm not exactly sure what I ever did to it, but I would appreciate it if it would stop taking my friends away from me thankyouverymuch. Anybody out there have an in with Cali? Could you relay that message for me, please? Thanks.

The girl and Jessi's girl had a great time catching up with their friend Hannah who, oh my goodness, grew about seven feet since we last saw her. Which is amazing really because she is still shorter than my daughter who is still, incredibly, shorter than my whopping 5'3" stature. We made them take a break and take a picture. Hannah is the one on the far right.

I still can't get over how tall she is. She looks exactly the same only stretched out. I also can't get over the fact that these friends of ours went away with two children and came back with four. And? She is one of those people that looks like she doesn't age and hasn't had any babies at all. Look:

Four! She's had FOUR babies! And she doesn't have small babies either. Here are our girls with their small clan. Do you see that little butterball of a baby?

He is only 5 months old. Look at him (he is so stinkin' cute, by the way, all he did when we were there was smile and flirt) and then look at her. She had him five months ago. All I can say is, go Sue!

It was really good to see them and it felt like they had never left.

That was Saturday. Then on Sunday, my nephew had his first birthday. And I made my first sock monkey for him for it. It was fun, although I had some trouble getting the stuffing to look uniform and not like separate clumps of polyfill. Anyone out there have any good tricks that I am missing? I didn't want to over-stuff him, because being made from a sock I am sure he could get pretty big and stretched out. That, and I wanted him to be extra squishy. I forgot to take a picture of him before I left, but I remembered in the car on the way there. He got to ride shotgun. Well, that is when the kids would let me have him. They kept passing him back and forth each one getting an allotted amount of time to hold him. I think maybe they want me to make monkeys for them.

I didn't get a picture of it after he opened him, because if you have ever been to a first birthday party, you know what a frenzy it becomes with all the older kids "helping" the baby open it's gifts. It's hard to take a picture of anything but the backs of kids' heads at that point. But I did see him grab it and squish his whole body around it in glee before it was snatched away to show him another present. And I think poor little sock monkey might have had a fighting chance for some baby lovin' if he didn't then unwrap this:

The boy loves anything to do with music. He is almost certain to be a musician some day. This was the best shot I could get with sock monkey and baby after the drum was discovered.

Can you tell that he is trying to rid himself of the crazy monkey that his crazy aunt keeps trying to put in his arms for the drum mallet? *sigh* Oh well, I loved making him anyway.

And then on Monday, the husband came back from Canada and we went to go see the progress of our new home that is being built. Wow. We were floored to see that it was already under roof!

I am so excited! Weeeee!

How was your weekend?

And now back to your regularly scheduled program...

First of all, let me say thank you! Thank you to all of you who sent encouraging words, thoughts and prayers! I am feeling much better. The Lord has shown Himself, once again, to be full of grace and mercy when dealing with me and He has given me a strength I never knew I had. So. Now things should be closer to normal around here, whatever that may be.

Since my last post, several things have happened. I went to the Renaissance Faire, had a birthday, made a dolly and said good-bye to one of my best friends as she moved back to California. That last one? That sucked! It still does. But she will always be my best friend, no matter where she lives. I love you, Melissa! If you ever get around to reading my site. Well, I guess I still love you even if you don't get around to reading my site. I guess.

Just to warn you I am feeling very picture posting happy today, so get ready for some gratuitous photo sharing.

Okay. Now then. As part of my birthday celebration, the family and I went to the Faire with another one of my best friends. This one isn't moving though. Unless there is something she's not telling me.......Jessi?

So, here is the cast of characters in order of appearance:

The husband, as Rhaiven Loch.

The manservant as Flintlock Blunderbuss (I hope I spelled that right).

Jessi as Rosemary Cardamom.

The dad, called Popi, as himself.

The girl as a gypsy.

The other girl that belongs to Flintlock and Rosemary, sometimes called Bug, as Fair Maiden Brownie.

And yours truly as *gasp* Odd Dotty Dollymaker.

With special guest appearances by my friend Debbie, as herself.

And our friend, John as...John. The Pirate.

Much fun ensued, although the weather was very odd. I was actually chilly! At Faire! That has never happened to me before at Bristol. Usually, I am drinking copious amounts of fluids in order to stay hydrated so as not to faint and/or die from heat.

Now some of you may have noticed a severe lack of pictures of the boy. We had planned on taking him with us, but the friend that moved? She offered to watch him for the day so that he could spend one last day with his future wife. Here is a picture of all of us after the Faire. His fiance is the one with the pink shirt. Either that, or it's her little sister, but those are his choices we've decided. It's just easier this way.

Did you see her? That woman up there? That's the friend that moved away. Well, as a going away gift, I decided to give her the dolly that I was making in the previous post. So I finished her up, made a messenger bag for her and filled it with little mementos. She was named Piper. Here she is.

Here you can see her ponytail a little better. I have decided that this is what I would look like if I lived in California.

Here is the bag open with the lining showing.

And the goodies that are inside it.

And, finally, here is Piper on the porch ready to start her new life in Cali.

That's it for now. Thanks for watching and tune in next time as I explore what life is like as a 33 year old!

Quiet

Things may be a little quiet around here as I work through some personal issues. So, please forgive me if I am a wee bit absent from the online world for a bit. But don't go too far because I am still crafting, here is some proof of recent workings:

These piggies were made for two very sweet readers of mine:

Here are some of my lables for my dollies' butts:

Dolly parts in bloom:

Dolly parts taking a lovely tea bath, decaffeinated, of course, because we can't have hyper dollies running around these parts:

Dolly parts, ironed, stacked and ready to go:

And, finally...a dolly that's being born. She's not complete yet, but hopes to be soon:

 

So. You see, I am still crafting...just not as talky as I usually am. Please pray for me, and don't stop visiting, I need all the support I can get.

Thank you!

Fluevog

I am so excited! Thanks to my lovely mommy, in honor of that one time she gave birth to me, I will be receiving these yummies in the post!

Aren't they just delicious? I love Fluevog.

Beautiful

Wow. So, I finished it. I have been holed up for the past almost week reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It took me longer than expected because for some reason having two children to raise, two houses to sell and a dog can make a girl pretty busy. Huh.

That and the husband and I have been loving playing Everquest II again. Such a fun game, and it's even better when you can play right alongside your very best friend. Anyway! So I'm here, still, and it's high time I start crafting again, don't you think?

But before I do, I wanted to share this with you. I want to talk to you a little about my son, whom I affectionately refer to as the boy. He is a funny little creature. We have always said that if he were to have a super power, his would be the power of cute. It's gotten him out of a lot of sticky situations let me tell you. There is just something about him. He was born with Joi de Vive, and I love it! Very little really brings him down, he is just so determined. So. When we moved him into his big boy bed, he was naturally very excited. But, he refused to not pull up and crumple the flat sheet. At first, I was annoyed because this meant that I would have to tuck it back in every morning to make his bed. Until, I discovered that he was calling it his "comfy comfy comfy". He would pull it up, crumple it and shove his face into it making nummy noises and practically sing, "My comfy comfy comfy" over and over again. My heart. It couldn't take it. So I no longer tuck his comfy comfy comfy in, and it no longer annoys me. I wasn't even sad that it meant that a hand-me-down flat sheet had replaced a lovingly made rainbow blankie as a lovey. And then one night? As I was tucking him in, and having made sure he had his comfy comfy and his fresh water, he stopped me from leaning over him for a kiss saying, "Stop! Don't hurt my beautiful!" ... huh? I looked down to where he was pointing and there was nothing but a few wrinkles in the fitted sheet. So, I thought maybe he had an imaginary friend and tried to lean over her and once more go for the goodnight kiss. "Stop! My beautiful! Don't hurt my beautiful!" he says again, very seriously. I ask where his beautiful is, and I look down to see him lovingly caressing a wrinkle in the sheet. That was his beautiful. A random wrinkle. In the almost threadbare fitted sheet. A wrinkle that he was suddenly very smitten with and was determined to protect the well-being of, come hell or high water...or mommy kisses. Now, the boy, he has a sense of humor like you wouldn't believe. So, I thought surely this was just a joke type thing and it was a "I'm only here for one night" type show. Surely, I was wrong. It happened every time he was put into bed, and even got to the point where he would gingerly leap over the mass of beautifuls to wedge himself between them and the wall and fall asleep as such. He wouldn't even let me tuck him in for fear that the comforter may smash his beautifuls. The boy. He is so stinkin' cute.

Well, a couple of nights ago I went to check in on the sleeping children and when I looked in on the boy this is what I found:

Do you see? Do you see him smashed up against the wall so as not to disturb them? I mean look at the berth he gives them. His beautifuls:

How sweet is that? He had fallen asleep protecting them. Mayhaps chivalry is not dead.