I'm Back

Ok I am back now!
No pictures for this post as my computer in in the tech hospital while Dr Lloyd fixes him. and all my pictures were there and all my favourite sites ect.

So the renovation is STILL not done! we were supposed to be able to be living in the new space in August, or so the contractor said. Will NEVER use him again. We were going to do all the drywall ourselves, however hubby over did it and has carpal tunnel in BOTH wrists! And I have weak wrists from a previous injury and while i could do a bit at a time it would take months. so we hired a guy who is doing fabulous work, a wizard with mudding compound. If luck holds I'll be able to paint this weekend. The 4 kids with new rooms or new walls (1 had horrid panelling before) all want sky blue. 3 want clouds painted on the walls and the 4th wants a blue winter tree pattern. luckily the 5th kid is fine with her wall colour for now. So I googled how to paint clouds on walls and the 5 sites i hit all had the same instructions so that's reassuring. So as far as the reno goes all I need to panic about is getting the cat to stop "going" in there instead of the litter box.

crafting news
I am selling a bunch of the poptab purses just from people seeing mine and asking. I don't have any in my etsy shop, and at shows people ooh and ahh at the ones displayed but no buyers. But I have had enough buyers to make me think that after Christmas I should list them. i am starting to make tab book marks and my 12 yr old DD wants me to attempt a tank top. we shall see after all the painting in my near future is done. jewelry sales have been a dissapointment. I lost a lot of money trying to do big city shows. And even my usual big sale show in Eastend was lower than usual, no loss but maybe made 1/3 of my usual. So next year I will go back to the tiny rural shows and maybe even put one on with a friend who has been tossing the idea around with me.

Adaira
As you know my now 12 yr old has been having major issues with her diabetes which is the major reason I haven't been posting. her health declined rapidly going from once a month hospitalization to every other week to every week. her specialist still insisted it was our fault and hinted we didn't know how to count carbs or that she was rebelling and not taking her insulin. so we ignored him and went hunting for a pediatrition who would listen and care. (I know i ask a lot in the "don't care" health system) finally we found Dr. Addai. at first he was the same as her specialist, but after a few weeks he realized that I was right, something was wrong. and then he noticed that the insulin type at home is not the same as the stuff given in hospital. so we switched insulins and poof her numbers are good. Ends up she DID have a resistance to the insulin she had been on. Even though it is very rare to have happen. He actually appologised for the way he treated us (like we were not taking care of her right) when do Drs EVER do that?!
During all this there were a few visits to hospital where she should have been in a coma. she was in ICU enough for the nurses to notice when she had growth spurts. I know some of the peds nurses birthdays, stories about their families, and things you really shouldn't be able to recall about the peds nurses.

So thank-you to everyone who prayed for and supported us through this struggle!! it looks like we have it figured out! There will be a few weeks of tweeking her new doses, but her blood sugar is still a lot better.

DIY jewelry displays

I know I know it's been a very very long time since I last posted!

We are finally started on the addition for the house. We are adding a dining room and a small studio for me up stairs and 3 bedrooms to the basement. so the kids do not have a backyard this summer.

In some fabulous news.... I have 2 shops who want to carry my jewelry on consignment! I did have some in a small shop in Eastend, but the shop is closing this month, it was only open seasonally, and during odd hours. But a new place in Eastend is going to start this month, and I get a large portion of a room to display as i like. It's a antique and gift shop one one side and a snadwich shop on the other, so she gets both local folk and tourists, open year round. MUCH better!

The other spot is in a small community called Manitou Beach. My Daughter goes there every summer fot diabetes camp, and this time we went and looked into some of the local gift shops after dropping her off. well the woman running Blueskys and Dragonflies has a hand made gift shop, and her jewelry person is done this year and off to college. So she was looking for someone and wanted unique. I think my crocheted stuff fits unique :) She is only open 5 months of the year, May to Sept, BUT I get a 4 foot by 4 foot spot, and she charges $25 rent, and then 7% commission... hello doesn't get much better. So I have several months to get stocked for her.

Now with 2 shops and a whack load of craft shows comming up soon I need displays,( and a ton of stock) so i went to the local 2nd hand shops and the garage to get supplies to DIY it:

I might use these small shed antlers for rings. cost was a hike done previously, and serious washing. Oh and the rings shown were all done yesterday, that's right, I the silly, made 65 rings in a day. But at shows they sell faster than anything esp to little girls with a $5 bill to spend.

This is actually a coaster holder, but it works perfectly for cell phone charm display! ( good idea Elaine!) and so costly.... .25 cents

And this old CD rack is perfect as an earring rack, with 3 sides it can hold over 40 pair.I also bought a spice rack and used the spinner on the bottom of the earring rack. the spice rack was $1 and the CD rack $2. Now I just need to make earring cards..... later.

And this Earring rack is/was a lovely wire mesh garbage can I got at the dollar store for a dollar. I used a lazy susan I bought for $2 and sewed a burgundy liner to the top (bottom) so the earrings aren't lost in the mesh pattern.

And the rest of the spice rack? yeah well I took the uprights off, glued 2 together, and screwed them into the top of the old spice rack, then I cut a mop handle to size, and used more wood glue and 2 screws to secure them in the spice holes. Voila' bracelet rack. I am still looking for a base for the other 2 spice rack bits to attach to. I also picked up a half circle spoon rack that will make a lovely necklace rack and 2 vineish candelabra, the spoon rack was .50 cents and the candelabra were 10 cents each. I will need a can of spray paint to finish them. yup big spender I am! all this for under $10.
Tomorrow I MIGHT get the paint. And now for the dishes I neglected while assembling all this...

1 year

Wow yesterday was our first anniversary! Rick had won a gift certificate for a night in a jaccuzi suite and supper out. So we used it Sat night, and it was a blast! His kids are with their birth mother for the week and my kids are at grandma and grandpas farm for a few days. I am child less until Thurs. So what did we do for the big day? Well we went to church from the hotel. Cleaned out the camper, did several loads of laundry, cleared out the little girls room for the big renovation ( adding 300 square feet to the house) went out for supper, cleaned out the porch which was a ruin. yup perfectly romantic, that's us LOL! hard to believe it's been a year, sometimes it's "already!" and sometimes, "Only 1 year?" last year we just got the porch addition done in time for the wedding, this year we are barely begun another renovation... are we nuts? probably. is this the last renovation we plan? No. after this we are turning the boys room into a walk-in closet/storage room into our room. SIGH. Well with 5 kids and never ending renos we will never be bored! Happy Anniversary.

I have a new Niece!! And a frustrating daughter :(

May 18 2009 my brothers wife had to have a C-section delivery to bring ino this world my adorable neice! Ilainna Lee at a weight of 9 lbs 3 oz ( did you read about the C-section?) and 22 inches long with a mop of dark glossy hair! I am so excited, I have 4 nephews and now finally a girl!! I totally love being an auntie, and Ilainnas big brother Logan is a totally sweetie at age 3 you never can be sure what he might say next! On my husbands side we have twins 4 yr old Izak and Aiden and their little brother Keane age 1, who are in another province, and so I am missing out on seeing them very often.

So that's the happy for the week. Now for the frustrating.

As you know my 11 yr old (Seen with new cousin) is having a terrible time with her diabetes. When we went to see Ilainna, Adaira was also getting a blood test done, and the results were bad. Very bad. So this fri I am taking back up to the city hospital for a weekend of observation and monitoring. And likely a bunch of people who will not be thinking that I know what or how to handle her diabetes. Last time when they tested this knowledge Adaira left them speachless with how adept she is at it. In addition this weekend my other kids are supposed to go to scout camp, and my husband is the leader and in charge of the whole thing. so lots of figuring out was done tonight on how to manage this. And i must say juggling scedules with your X-in laws is never fun, interesting, but not so much in the good times department. But her good friend lives in said city so maybe it won't be as boring this time, being a weekend when they might be able to come in to see her. Lucky for me my craft is very portable so i will be working on more tab purse orders, and a wire necklace idea. I can't keep my hands still, for long without them twitching for a hook :)

Anyway that's my world for this week! With all these ups and downs I hope i don't get motion sick!

For the love of poptabs

So I made a purse a few months ago crocheting poptabs together (takes 110) . Well lately everytime I leave the house I am getting comments on it, (yay) So I am passing out tons of business cards! I have orders for 2 of them on the go and 2 other people collecting tabs and deciding on colour. Who knew this would be the most popular item of all the wonderful things I have crocheted! I'd have thought wire crochet would be more interesting than a purse, what do I know. Once done the orders, I will be making a bunch of mini purses and or wallets for craft shows. I can take orders on them from there. A full purse takes me almost a week to complete, so making some in colours that might not sell isn't the best plan, in my oh so humble opinion anyway :) I can always just display my purse and show pics of the completed ones, for purse orders.

This week I made a cat collar with poptabs too, I wonder if it will also be popular? I can hope they will be, but will hold off on making more until I know thay are popular. Maybe putting the jewelry aside for a bit will help the creative juices flow better? I guess I will have to wait and see. Licorice was a gracious model here.

The week from Hell

Sun March 22 began the week from Hell.
Adaira had been at her friends down the street. At noon her blood sugar was pretty good 9. 2 hours later she was ill and vomiting. Her blood sugar spiked to a reading of just "HI" on the monitor, and her urine showed high high keytones. So off to the hospital we go. Expecting that she would be in for a night or 2 as usual. instead she was put in the ICU with 2 Ivs each one taking about 6 tries to get into her tiny veins. Over night her blood pressure became a concern and she was put on a heart monitor and oxygen. Monday morning she could barely stay awake long enough to know i was there, it was decided to airlift her to a larger city hospital where her endocrinologist is. I think I may have sprained my tearducts crying, and praying. A woman from my church came to pray with me as we waited for the plane, and My best friend Jackie came to stay with me until we left. The weather was not co-operating, it was so icy there were a lot of accidents, so everything was delayed. Finally the plane arrived and we loaded her and I into the ambulance, drove over the worst road in Saskatchewan to the airport. *Side note* Wouldn't you think the road from hospital to airport would be at least paved? Really ill people shouldn't be jostled about! The flight was about 30 min. Her first flight and she was really to ill to notice. another ambulance from that airport to the hospital. Remember the icy roads i mentioned? There were so many accidnets that our ambulance couldn't park in the ambulance bay we parked outside and wheeled the stretcher bed in. once in i had to sign papera and then i turned around and she was gone!! OMG where is my child in this mess!! I was directed down a series of hallways to the pediatric emergency area. we sat there for a few hours... Finally an intern came and when we told him how long we had been waiting and that we had been airlifted he was surprized. Yeah they forgot us! Nice touch. 10 min later we were on the peds floor in the observation room. more IV fun, 2 interns and a nurse, gave up after 6 tries and called in a nurse from the NICU to get a line in. then another heart minitor, more oxygen, and another IV in her foot. They took blood every 4 hours, had more fun finding veins for it too. She wasn't allowed food or much water for 2 days. Rick and I stayed in the Ronald McDonald house across the street. WONDERFUL place for families with sick children, and 10 bucks a night, full kitchen, some food available space for your own groceries ect.Tues night she was allowed to eat. The Dr wanted us to count the carbs in her meals. this would have been easier if the nutrition labels were available to us or if the food wasn't all packaged. I told them that i didn't have the info i needed for the carbs. shrugged shoulders and then they report to the dr that we don't know how to count carbs!! She's been diabetic for almost 5 years I certainly know how to count carbs!! I was so mad I had to leave the room, twice before i started to knock heads together!
Wed she was doing much better and was off the IVs, YAY! That afternoon she made a friend and they watched the Twilight movie before bed. Thursday afternoon she was finally released! But because we were reported as not being able to carb count we were send to the dietician... When we and Adaira were able to answere all the questions and then explained what had happened she was a bit upset with the lack of respect we were given.
So.. Dr figures she needed a little change in her usual routine, meaning she now needs a shot of insulin at bedtime too, making 5 shots a day. and Mostly it's puberty, wreaking havoc with her. insulin is a hormone and so anytime the body starts producing more of the other hormones it affects the way the insulin is absorbed. lucky Adaira.
So the weekend was spent getting things in order, and I had a bellydance performance Mon night, Tues was appointments and scouts, today I went to the banks, and plan to do laundry. Tomorrow is eye appointments for my 3 kids, Fri is set up for a craft sale and the sale is Sat and Sun. I am already tired. But Adairas blood sugar is Ok now, so hopefully the extra insulin will keep her out of the hospital!!

Creative Spree

Last week and the week previous I was on a creative spree, everyday I had another idea to play with. It's kinda petered out now, which is good, now I have loads of stuff to list :) I did 7 wire wrap rings, which is new to me and kinda fun. 2 bracelets, 5 pairs of earrings, 3 - 3part sets(earrings, necklace and bracelet), and 7 yes 7 - 2 part sets (earrings and either bracelet or necklace) I also made my very best and all time favourite set ever!! Not bad for a run. My creativity does seem to ebb and flo this way, I'll have bunch of ideas and a compulsion to make them and then it kinda dies off. Because I know this, as soon as the creativity poops out I take all the photos in bunches as well, and then I have a couple weeks worth of listings before I get another creative spurt. I dunno if other crafty/creative folks work this way or if I am just an oddity, and it works for me. Here's a few samples of this spree:

My Little Holiday

Ahhh! Yup, that was nice, mostly.

Last week my hubby and I went to the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. http://www.templegardens.sk.ca/ It was great, day 1 we did shopping, some in Regina (1/2hr drive) some in Moose Jaw, luckily hubby is an enthusiastic shopper. He went to the hard ware shops and such. I went to Micheals and got some swarovski crystal for family pride bracelets i wanted to make and they were on sale, yay( see photo of mine) and , I bought jeans that were 1 size smaller than usual ON SALE!! then just to amaze myself I found the brown heels I have been looking for. For me shoe shopping is a nightmare, I have wide feet and VERY high arches, but i got shoes, and... they were on sale too!! OH WOW!! Good times folks, can't tell ya the high. I found stuff and everything i bought was on sale, how amazing was that? Then we had supper with a couple he is friends with, and she ordered a set of jewelry based on the bracelet i made for my hubby, score! Then a dip in the pool before bed.

Day 2 I bumped into a friend, and we had lunch. ends up she wanted to order a custom set of my antler jewelry for her moms B-day! double score. Then it was off for massages, and the guy working on my husband was from my home town and had been a client of mine when i was doing massage work, cool. went for a swim. Then the yummiest meal ever at the best place to eat I have ever been too. Hopkins dining parlour is a restored old mansion with all sorts of antiques. And apparently it's haunted by the orginal owners wife, Millie Hopkins But nothing creepy has ever happened and I have been there several times and have NEVER had anything that wasn't amazingly tasty. http://www.2020website.net/p-hopkins.html Then the pool. the pool is a fed from a natural mineral spring and is as warm as some hot tubs, it is also partially outdoors. when we went into the outdoor part the steamy mist was fairly thick making it seem more private than it is. also my hair actually froze! And there was a family with a couple toddlers and the kids were wearing touques! Ha, only in Saskatchewan do you need a touque to swim! Too funny!

Then we got a call from the guy taking care of our pets... the darn cats tipped over the filter in the fish tank and flooded the flooring and leaked downstairs all over the carpeting. he happens to have a wet vac so he got the carpet for us. but the lamanent(sp?) floor upstairs... will need to be replaced, not immediately, but it is somewhat damaged.

Ok so next morning we are having breakfast and my mom calls, my daughter who happens to be diabetic is having stomach aches and her blood sugar is very high. Si I give the sick day info and call back in a couple hours, she feels better, sugar still a bit high, managed to eat a few crackers. Now i am a knot of worry, so call back around noon, and she was OK. So then we went on a tour of the tunnels under Moose Jaw, some were used as Al Capponnes hide out, and some were used by the Chinese immigrants. very educational. then another dip in the pool, supper and off for home. It was a good few days, but the floor is a downer. Oh well we had a good time.

The Weeknd of Company

Phew!! What a busy couple of days!!

My good friend and fellow etsy artist Elaine (tooaquarius.etsy.com) and her daughter were down for a visit. As it was her B-day and her daughter is a good friend of my eldest daughtetrs we had Chloe over for a 2 night sleepover Fri and Sat. At the same time my in-laws were down to visit and they haven't seen the kids since before Christmas!!

So Sat afternoon (Valentines) we took all 6 kids to the hotel where the in-laws were staying and went swimming, and then we went out for burgers. That evening the kids played and the adults played a board game and chatted.

Sun we took the kids and In-laws to church, and then out for a brunch smorg, and good thing because I don't think I have ever seen the kids so hungry!! The 5 yr old ate way more than I did!! That evening we had a pork roast supper, and then I brought out the birthday cake, a white chocolate cheesecake with whipped cream and strawberries. Elaine must have liked it because I got several thank-you s and tiny little thing that she is had 2 helpings ( gotta tease ya, sorry) That night Adaira slept over with Chloe at E's hunnys house , who happens to be my hubbies best friend (cool no?) Today (mon) is Family day, Adaira was dropped off at 1:00 ish and Elaine and Chloe headed for home. I am a bit tired and wish we could have visited (crafted with) with Elaine more, but oh well maybe next time won't be so busy.

Happy Birthday!!

Baking with kids

MMMM cake!!

This week I have a few baking projects to do. I have a cake for a church function happening today, cupcakes for my sons kindergarten class Valentines party, and a B-day cake for my friend and fellow etsy artist Elaine aka Tooaquarius.

Last night I started making the cake for the church, angelfood cake hollowed out and filled with chocolate mousse. My daughter age 7 wanted to help sooo badly. I made the cake and she made the mousse, measuring out and adding all the ingrediants, and using my hand mixer like a pro. Actually her mousse was as good or better than mine! And the best part for herwas licking the beaters off! For me the best part was cooking with my daughter, like my mom used to bake with me. Oh the memories, and lessons learned, baking is a fun way to begin teaching the kids to cook, and they are so proud of themselves! At moms hip was where I began my passion for cooking, and I think my middle child here has it too. One of my goals as a mom is to ensure all 5 of them can cook. At least enough to feed themselves before they leave home. Mac n cheese are all well and good on occasion but I don't want them to have to live off of it. Here is the final result--> She did a great job!

Tonight I make the cupcakes and I will be getting my boy to help me with them as well, at 4 he could flip pancakes, so mixing up cupcakes should be no problem! Now, who to help with Elaines cheesecake...

blog block

Right, so i have been meaning to blog all week, and I still have no idea what to say this week. What do you do when you know you should but dunno what to blog about really? So here is what I am up to lately.

Currently I am working on a series of projects based on colour, all in shades of whatever colour, like this one: --> Which I call "Midnight Sky" last night I did the brown and right now I am working on white, and will likely go through the rainbow. Some will be necklace and earring sets some bracelets. MIGHT do 3 part sets for a few, I dunno yet.

Hubby and I are trying to plan a few days away from the kids during Feb. break. However just as we made that decision all sorts of $ drains showed up, the energy bills practically doubled, needed some bulk basics, ect. So the "go to the spa" idea might not happen. We still need to go away and relax though, he is an accountant and tax season is about to kick in and he's stressed before it starts, NOT a good thing.

The kids are amusing and frustrating all at once. The youngest girl is left handed and keeps wanting to write backwards, the middle girl is ambidextrous (sp?) and will occasionally write the letters backwards. The eldest is old enough to be going to school dances and some of her friends have boyfriends!!! Isn't 11 a bit young, sigh! The eldest boy had a fit over an assignment that was to find a compliment for everyone in class, I mean crying pouting "it's too hard!!" fit. I don't get it. The youngest boy seems to be doing alright, but he keeps talking himself up, and I think he could be a bully magnet if he doesn't tone it down.

And on Monday I finally made an appointment to see my Dr for a physical and to look into my depression and cycle concerns. However I can't get in until Feb 23! Good thing I'm not sick or anything. Also I want to do something different with my hair, but it's so short I don't know what I can do that is easy to do in the morning. I don't have time for curling irons and detailly things. Maybe I'll shave it all except the bangs and dye them purple....

Wordless Wednesday

Scalloped potatoes

Lately I have been trying to get the perfect scalloped potatoe recipe figured out. Last night I think I got it... even the 2 pickiest eaters in the family thought it was very good!! This never happens, those 2 would live on bread, cheese, apples and crackers If I`d let them. so without anymore blathering here is what I came up with:


Creamy Scalloped Potatoes

5-6 med potatoes thinly sliced
half an onion thinly sliced
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
2 Tbsp flour
half a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can cream of celery soup
milk to fill the emptied soup can
salt and pepper to taste

Toss the potatoes and onion together in a casserole dish. In a medium sauce pan melt the butter, add the flour, salt and pepper,stir and cook 1 or 2 minutes. add the soup and milk, whisk smooth, and heat until it begins to simmer. Add the cheese and remove from heat, stir until cheese is JUST melted. pour over the potatoes, toss to coat. bake covered at 350 for about 1 hour.

serves about 6.
1 Cup is about 40 carbs

Enjoy, there won`t be much, if any for leftovers!

featured!!

Holy cow Andrea Baker blogged about me this week. she shares a B-day with my son so i sent her a gift, and this is how she returned the favour. See it DOES pay to be kind. Check it out:
http://www.andreabakerdesigns.com/?p=702

Gerans B-day was great, I took an extra 6 5yr olds tobogganing. only 1 crash. I had the smarts to bring along my 11 yr old and her friend to help haul the sleds back up the hill while I organized the top of the hill. Hubby couldn't go due to a back injury so he baked off the pizzas I had make earlier. Tiring, but a blast!

The purse

Several weeks (months?) ago I saw a purse made from pop can tabs, naturally I needed to try it. So first I gathered up all the pop tabs I could find and got my ever patient and amused husband to collect them from his office too. This took a good while, as we aren't huge pop drinkers. Finally I thought I should have enough to start. Being me I used purple cotton DMC thread, and also being me I crocheted them all together, designing it as I made it. After about week of work I got it done.



But it needed a liner with all those holes. Luckily my parents got me a sewing machine for Christmas, so it's maiden use was to make the liner. I had some mystery fabric in lavendar and decided to use it. I think it turned out pretty cool if I do say so myself! Now I don't think I'll be selling any on my etsy shop, partially because they are a lot of work. and partially because I don't want to copy anyone and start up another round of bashing in the forums. Can't wait to go somewhere and use ( show off) it!

The new year

So, today we were planning to go out tobogganing, and the temperature plummeted and it began to get windier and windier, sigh. And the weekend is supposed to be -42 with the wind chill, so tobogganing this Christmas break is not gonna happen.

Here are current photos out the back (sheds) and front doors.

Licorice the half-grown kitten decided to nap behind the couch on the window sill and watch the snow fall.

I am crocheting and chatting with friends. I SHOULD be cleaning all the packaging off the back deck, but.... well I am not, so be it.

As for resolutions, I resolve not to make any and thereby avoid the guilt of not achieving them.

having said this, I need to lose some serious weight, and brave a visit to the Dr to see if I need depression meds.