Lovely Hearts 2

On Whip Up the other week, there was announcement of a gallery exhibit at artstream called Lovely Hearts 2.  The exhibit is to benefit Breast Cancer Research, and 50% or more of the profit goes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the remainder goes to the artist.  I paid the application/ jury fee of $10 and sent a digital image of my "Bond of Perfection" painting.  I had just finished that painting and felt it really fit their theme of "Love".  All works have to be priced to sell for $100 or less, and are required to be less than 10"x 10"x 10".  

I was honored to be accepted and happily shipped off my painting to Artstream.  Hooray.  Even if it didn't sell, I felt like it was great just having a gallery accept my piece.  Although, I did make a bit of a faux pas- I sent the watercolor painting without the raw edge trimmed and the kraft paper tape I use to stretch the paper was visible.  Susan said she might be able to drum up a mat and must have, because it is listed as "matted".

Check it out here

As it is nearly the 8 year anniversary of my mom's death due to breast cancer (Feb. 25), I feel especially touched to participate in this showing.  The in-gallery sale is tomorrow, but works may also be purchased online.  There are some great artists I've just discovered through this; here are a few I like: Jessica Gonacha, Mimi Kirschner, Albina McPahil.

Spring 2008 Mamamade details

I am pleased to announce that there will be a spring Mamamade Market this year!  I am heading up the organization of the event with the help of two other Mamas, Carrie and Angel.  Chelle is a bit too busy this go 'round to plan the details, and I feel honored that she's comfortable placing the sale in my hands.  Sill me!... I forgot to add that Previous Mama, Julie, is our tech genius and web designer! 

If you know any crafty/ artsy/ creative mothers in the Middle Tennessee area, we are looking to expand the group- get them in touch with me.

Additionally, mark your calendars because it should be a lot of fun!

We're holding the event in at Lillie Belle's tea house in Franklin.  They have a sweet back garden courtyard that is covered with a permanent canopy, complete with ceiling fans, that we'll be using to shield everyone from the rain (hopefully not) and sun (hopefully).  Normally, they rent out for weddings and rehearsal dinners, so it has a very charming feel to it with fountains and the darling historic house.  I love Lillie Belle's.

The event will take place on April 26, 2008- the same day as the Franklin Main Street Festival.  Mamamade will open an hour before the festival for those who wish to avoid the heavy street traffic.  All parking is free, though you might need to walk a block or two.  My suggestion would be to bring the whole family and enjoy the Festival AND Mamamade.... and maybe even make reservations for lunch at Lillie Belle's.  That would be fun, wouldn't it?

I'm certain to blab about this a good deal over the next few months as I prepare.  My apologies in advance.  (Of course, if you're not tired of hearing about it- there is a Mamamade blog linked in the sidebar)

Good

I was reading an old issue of Fast Company at the gym this week and came across an great article/ interview with designer Philippe Starck.  Target has partnered with him, carrying Starck-designed housewares and he is know for a host of other things- including Starck branded condos, which the article focuses on.  I really enjoyed it because of the perspective he seems to have about what is important.  He implies that the pushing of certain trends comes from the marketing departments and "greedy" company heads that only look at selling, but true design has a bit of "soul" to it that is good and simple.

I loved this quote:

So what, to you, constitutes "good"?
The most beautiful building is any room where you are with the person you love. That's all. After that, if you can have a good pillow, good for you. If you can have a good mattress, better for you. If you can have a good sunbeam on your bed on a Sunday morning when you make love, fantastic! You have everything.

Pictures

We walked to our local park with bikes and skateboards on Sunday.  There is also a skate park with a dry "pool" and stairs, and rails, and ramps etc.  Our boys aren't really able to ride well enough to do most of it, but the excursion is good for inspiring them, and making parents nervous.  There were teen guys and little ones and every age in between.  Contrary to what old fuddy duddies think of skaters, everyone was nice, getting along, and even tolerating the young kids who were in the way and just wanted to slide down the wall of the pool only to climb the side rope ladder and do it all over again.  Cough.  Grant. Cough.  Dean.  Lael isn't skateboarding yet, so she rode her princess bike around the paved trail.  Next time I'll bring my bike so that she can't gain so much ground on me.  Oh my goodness was I running!

Speaking in Riddles

Coming soon

Do you see it?

More here.

Happy Nine Months to us!

We have now been on Families for Children's program A wait list for 9 months.  Because our decision to adopt was in June 2006, the time it is taking to "birth" this child feels more like a year and a half.  Some days I feel impatient.  Impatient to see who she is, impatient to meet her, impatient to see what she is like and very tired of feeling like this "adoption thing" is looming and we're holding our breath.  Finances are always in relation to the adoption.  Travel is always in relation to the adoption (Hoping Colin's wedding won't overlap with Gotcha Day, for instance).  Even volunteering in the children's department at church is in relation to the adoption because I don't know how long I can commit to serve in a particular class.  Once we travel and bring our daughter home, I have no idea what our world will be like and I will absolutely not want many commitments.

Then again, there are days when I kind of forget it's all happening.  Nothing is tangible.  Especially after you've done all the paperchasing, it is easy to feel like it won't ever come to pass.  Anything you can do to speed up or slow down the process is out of your hands.

And on the days when I'm not  impatient, and haven't forgotten, I am okay.  Okay with the wait.  Okay with the unknown.  Okay with the "now" of our life with three children.  Because, I know that the God of All is preparing us and we will be a family of six at the proper time.

So, going with the adoption theme of this post, I thought about allowing questions in the comments.  Mary had a good one a few blog posts ago that I never addressed, which made me think about doing this.  I'll answer Mary's question and any others in a blog post next week.  She said, Do you get to name her, or will she already have a name, or both?  

La-Da-Men_Da

Mary recently posted about Owen's songs.  I'm totally copying her so I don't forget about Lael and her crazy sing-songiness.  This post is more for Mommy record, than for the enjoyment of my readers.  Sorry.

First of all, she certainly has a music gene in her somewhere (though it *does not* come from Eric or me, maybe my grandpa- who was a composer- or maybe Eric's mom who can carry a nice tune...but absolutely not Mom or Dad).  She dances, right in beat, and has done so for a long time.  She hums.  She sings.  And she makes up words to songs or simply sings her sentences.  Then there is this weird nonsensical song she has recently come up with and it is just the same "words" over and over: La Da Men Da.  Sung fast, then slow, then drawn out.  Over and over again.

I wish I knew what it meant.

14 reasons

This was a list posted to the Taiwan adoption group forum I'm a part of.  Thanks, Debbie!

You know you are an adoptive mother (or you should be!) if:
1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss 
them goodnight has ever made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child, there would be no 
orphans in the world is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the 
blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about your adopted child's "real" 
parents.
7. You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it 
takes an elephant to give birth (2 years!)
8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith 
anyway knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken a airplane ride half way around the world with a 
child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of 
the most important legacy's you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word Dossier means and you can actually pronounce it!
13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your 
life.
14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted 
them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have them in your life.

For the Bald Baby girl in your life

When we had Lael, she came home from the hospital with this amazingly stuck-on pink bow.  I treasured that bow, because it was this wondrous, girly thing that symbolized the fact that this little creature was my DAUGHTER.  Such a new thing, after two boys.  Seeing the little pink bow made it all feel *real*.  I left that bow in for as long as it would possibly stay and I think it made it into her second week of life.  the nurses at the hospital mentioned that it was adhered with surgical glue.  Many a time after it fell off did I consider buying surgical glue to repeat the effect.  For some reason I didn't.  I think we resorted to those awful garter-esque bows in the baby section.

But, in flicking through Etsy's newest listings, I happened upon this brilliance.  Love it!

Now I just need another bald little girl.  Have you seen Asian babies, though?  So many of them have a good mop of black hair by the time they're 6 months old that we'll probably progress right to clip-on bows.  Seriously, did any of you with referrals from Taiwan have a bald baby?!  Maybe the link will be helpful to someone out there, though.

So much potential

.and quite a steal.

This weekend, we bought a China Cabinet from a family that listed on craigslist.  The piece is slightly worn in a few areas but has amazing bones.  It looks modern, yet old.  Simple, but with some great details that keep the eye interested.  Like the turned legs on the bottom.  And the circular notches to slide the doors, and the unusual pulls.  I'm giddy over what a find this is!  And at $180, I couldn't buy the cheapest MDF piece at Walmart for that!  Seriously!  I am still undecided about paint color, and the wood tone is nice for now, which is good because we can enjoy the piece without feeling pressured to "make it look better" right away (painting walls, and sewing curtains comes WAY before this).  I see the backs of the cubbies lined with fabric, or wallpaper, or a contrasting paint color.  And, who can argue that the storage in this furniture is worth the purchase alone!  Hooray for form and function.

.

Mystery Solved....

We now know which one of our kids would be the first to have stitches!

From a very young age, we have joked that Dean was our daredevil, no-fear, thrill-seeker of a child.  Yesterday, he jumped off the playroom couch and into the corner of the coffee table with his forehead.

The bleeding stopped rather quickly, but I could tell it was very deep and through multiple layers of tissue so we called the pediatrician to see if they'd work us into the schedule or if I'd have to drive to the Vanderbilt ER.  I was so glad that our doctor was in, and able to see us.  She confirmed that he needed suturing, and we waited for her to work through a few patients while the procedure room was prepped.  Dean wasn't in pain and the bleeding had stopped, so the worst thing about waiting was having a bored, tantrum-prone three year old sister with us.  Boy did Lael scream at times!  (Grant was at school, and Eric left work early to pick him up.)   In fact, Dean was amazing.  His doctor was great about explaining things, and Dean did the very best a 4 year old would be expected to do.  It hurt a lot when they had to numb the area with multiple injections, and he was quite frightened having a paper drape over his face while being held down by three nurses, so he screamed and I just kept telling him that I loved him, and that I was right there.  As soon as it was over, he was fine.  

Two stitches.

We go back Friday to let the doctor have a look; they like to stay on top of facial sutures to minimize scarring.

The hardest part may be getting this little guy to settle down long enough for the wound to heal and the stitches to come out.  We had a lot of little lectures with him last night about being slow, no jumping, no running, no rough-housing etc.  I am praying we make it through this without incident.

Bond of Perfection

Here is a painting I did this week.  

Painting specs:

8x10 in. image size

Strathmore 592-2 watercolor paper

painted using Yarka St. Petersburg pan watercolors (loving them!)

Title undecided (suggestions?)

I was inspired by Colossians 3:14-17, which reads: 

4 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Time for Photos?

Anyone noticed that I haven't posted many photos lately?  We've had camera issues.  We own a Canon Digital Rebel, and I have a "purse camera".  Basically, the purse camera is a tiny digital cam. that I can carry around with me anywhere so that I don't have any "Gah!  I wish I had the camera!" moments.  Those still happen when I leave my purse at the house, but chances are less. The purse camera we had was a Canon Powershot Elph- model SD 550.  I say "had", because it died.  The lens made a horrible grinding screech as it came to a halt one day, displayed an E-18 error and turned off.  A quick search online showed that the E-18 error is famous with Powershot owners.  As it turns out, it gives no warning on when it might happen, and isn't directly related to misuse or impact upon dropping... it just happens!  One commenter on a camera review site referred to it as "E-18 day", implying that it was just a given in owning the Powershot.  Apart from this, I LOVED this camera.  It took great pictures, had a fast shutter speed and there was no delay in taking the next shot.  I felt that the images were true, and crisp and, in natural light, comparable to the Rebel.  But who wants to gamble again?  Thankfully, we had a Squaretrade Warranty and were refunded the purchase amount.  I can't recommend them enough.  You can, within a certain period of time, purchase a warranty on eBay items or new purchases from retail stores.  Most times, they don't do repairs (ever?) and process it quickly.  I think we had our money in a few days' time.  Eric went out an bought a Nikon Coolpix as a replacement.  We returned it due to slow shooting speed, and non-intuitive controls (it was a cool blue color and did have an awesome huge display, though).  Finally, I think we've got it settled and I'm the owner of a Sony Cybershot.

Well, with all the camera swapping, I've neglected posting pics to the blog.  I really don't have the energy to do photo essays of all thats been missed, but I will post some of my recent favorites here.  Enjoy!  (In no particular order)

Smile, Mommy

Finally, after three kids, I think we're going to go with cloth diapers.  I've always hated contributing to the landfills, but simple felt like going with cloth was more than I could handle.  More mess.  More time.  More laundry.  More work.  But, mess and laundry are not really such big deals anymore.  I mean, I don't love doing laundry- but it is an unavoidable element of having a family.  And, mess?  Let's just say that I've been totally broken in.  I've wiped my kids' noses with bare hands before when a tissue was not as near as a sink.  I've cleaned up blow-outs in a tiny airplane bathroom.  And, I've been thrown up on more than once.  You get used to it, and while it will never be a favorite of activity of mine, it's just not such a big deal after 7 1/2 years of it, like it was in the beginning.

Lael's potty training this summer also gave me a bit a peek into what cloth diapers might be like.  She was struggling with using the toilet while the boys really hadn't.  Basically, for three solid months, she just continued to go in her panties 80% of the time.  Peeling dirty or wet underwear off of her and swishing them quickly before running them through our washer's sanitary cycle became "normal".  And it was then that I thought, "cloth diapering is *easier* than this!".  They open at the sides!  They have covers!

If we'd been doing them since the start, we would have saved a lot of money, but doing this for our last child will still be worth it.  I could even do a local diaper service at little more (maybe equal to?) what we would pay in disposables.

I've heard the argument before that cloth diapers aren't really that eco-friendly when you consider the cotton harvesting, and the water to wash them, and the detergent, and the electricity to run the machines.  But, I can't get over the fact that those plastic "butt-covers" (as Eric and I sometimes call them) are not biodegradable and will be around for a VERY long time. 

We'll probably still use disposables while out, or when others are caring for our little girl, but I am excited about this being a possibility.  And, if we use a service, the diaper laundry is not a concern nor is the question of size or how many to buy- the weekly order can fluctuate and change.

Of course, who knows?  We might change our minds if our little girl gets rashes easily, or is nearly potty trained, or if it becomes more overwhelming than I imagine.  But, for now- I'm all for it!

Hot Shower here I come!

We are the proud owners of a new hot water heater that we got for a $55 deductible (the purchase of our 10 year old house came with a home warranty good for 1 year after the sale) .  Great, no?

Now, everyone join me in hoping that our air conditioning/ heating units kick the bucket before the warranty expires in February!