No longer in denial - We are moving to Illinois

About the time Piper was singing the National Anthem at her school assembly (at the end of January), the mister and I had made this huge decision. We decided he'd accept a great job offer with a new company and we agreed to move from beautiful and sunny Arizona to Bloomington, Illinois. And it's mostly Heather's fault. 

She thought she was moving away from Arizona, first to Japan then England. And so when Michael asked me if *I* would consider moving away from my beloved state, my first reaction was NO. WAY. And then, I started to feel silly that if Heather could handle news of such EXTREME MOVES and cope, SO COULD I!!! And so I offered to, at the least, consider it. And then, found myself agreeing with the mister that it would be a great move for our family. AND NOW? HEATHER FOUND OUT SHE'S NOT EVEN MOVING!!! D'oh! And so, our countdown today is 25 days until the movers come to pack up our stuff. 

I am certain I should be freaking out. And yet, I find myself still in a bit of denial. Sitting still. Not handling the things my moving checklist tells me I should be when I find myself 4 weeks from move date.  I figure when they knock on my door and have boxes in hand, life will get REAL, FAST.

Until then, I am planning to sit here and think about anything but moving. Now, where did I put my hot glue gun....

We heart Minecraft {or} A very Geeky Christmas

Filed under {better late than never} a recap of Christmas 2011. December was filled to the brim with two ill-conceived, last minute CRAZY OVER THE TOP sewing projects that were the brain-child of my dear, sweet, crazy, pain in the ass husband. In late November, he asked {all innocently}what I thought about sewing a few SIMPLE quilts for Cam and Bo {13 and 12 yr old sons}. I knew they had been OBSESSED with this game MINECRAFT for about 6 months and he thought they might enjoy some super geeky themed quilts. I was all game, since I had just painted them super simple cardboard masks for Halloween and the design seemed like it would be straightforward. Yeah. I was SO NAIVE.

As soon as I agreed to whip up some quilts, I promptly forgot all about it.

...

Fast forward to FOUR WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS and my dear pain in the ass husband asks me if I am ready to talk about proposed quilt patterns and a Joann's shopping list. And then he shows me the pattern he made on excel and it wasn't a lap quilt. It wasn't just a 64-square creeper face.

{creeper face aka what I was expecting to recreate}

 It was  INTRICATE. It was SCARY. Yeah. Did I mention I had only ever made ONE quilt before IN MY LIFE? And that I REGULARLY question the sanity of quilters and their need to cut up PERFECTLY GOOD FABRIC only to SEW IT ALL BACK TOGETHER AGAIN? Yeah. True Story.

So, then I dove head first into these crazy projects. And while they are FAR FROM PERFECT, the recipients loved them and I think they turned out pretty damn awesome.

This is Camden's {Steve with an axe}

And this is Brighton's {A zombie with a pig}

{the girls were so pleased with new dolls, they didn't notice there were no quilts for them}

Camden proclaimed this the geekiest Christmas EVER.... Video game themed quilt + computer. Makes perfect sense.

I don't plan to do a full tutorial of the quilt because I am ready to put the whole, painful incident behind me. But I would be happy to share my excel pattern file and basic quilting concept {that I am fairly certain breaks EVERY SINGLE QUILTING LAW EVERY WRITTEN} with anyone crazy enough interested. Just email me or leave a comment :) Yeah, because all those blue squares? I cut apart blue fabric and then re-sewed it all back together so it looked like pixels. Hell. Yes. True story.

{Update} .. the painted couch ..

I woke up to more traffic on m' blog than the usual three hits I get a day {bestie, mom, sister} so I figured that Apartment Therapy {aka my biggest refer-er on the ol' world wide web} had mentioned my silly painted sofa again.

Yep. I was spot-on.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/hot-posts/before-after-painted-furniture-cabintery-projects-best-of-2011-163312

I also got a few new comments, asking for an update or more info. So, here is where I actually answer a question in my comments. Don't die of shock or anything.

Victoria said...

Now that you have lived with the sofa for six months, can you tell us if it has softened up? How does it wear now? Are you still happy with it?

I am still absolutely smitten with this sofa. It hasn't cracked or peeled, but it does get very dusty (disclosure: I live in Arizona right on a mountain preserve, so we have more than your average dust + wind} so I wipe it down with a damp cloth weekly monthly {I probably should weekly, but I am not the tops on housekeeping} Also, on the arms  {where you might have those slip-cover things to prevent wear?}the paint is wearing more there. I have plans to touch it up but, ya know. Life.

Overall, still a project in the success column. Except for that HIDEOUS fabric I chose for the cushions....

Yeah. Totally kidding :)

Christmas, already?

12-ish shopping days 'til Christmas, friends.

Are you ready?

{gorgeous photos taken by my wendy- I will share more later- cuz I don't wanna spoil the families Xmas card excitement!}

My husband turned 40! {or} Life is HARD sometimes. But always GOOD.

{In as few complain-y words as possible, an update as to where I have been, for those that wonder: The mysterious sickness is still affecting my 12 year old son {he was attending school in a wheelchair up until 2 weeks ago- now he is on homebound. Ugh.}; Threw husband a surprise 40th Birthday party, complete with secret out-of-town guest - my mother in law!; Took trip number 9 {in less than 2 years} to Chicago for 8 yr old's JDM check-up; My oldest son broke his arm at football practice; .... And then? Life in general. Plus, I have been cheating on this blog with my other lover: sheknows.com. Although I don't know that many more people read my drivel over there than over here? The pay is MUCH better :) Check out the most recent articles here,here,here and here.}

Now. Onto the fun!

Because I am COMPLETELY INSANE, in the midst of all of my chaos, I decided to throw my dear husband a surprise 40th birthday party. Thank GOD I had TONS of help from my great friend, the SHARYNATOR {and her entire family} and MY MOM!!!! and too many other people to name. I DO get by with the help of my friends{and family}, there is NO DOUBT.. I am lucky because Michael does not pay attention to ANYTHING that is happening around him. Plus? He pretty much doesn't much pay attention to ANYTHING I say. Pulling off a surprise party for someone as easy going as him? ALMOST easy as pie. {I did end up spilling the beans the morning of the party that I had something planned because Piper was super sick with asthma and needed to go to the doctor and Michael was nearly HORRIFIED I was planning on stepping out for a bit to take care of some more pressing matters and when I requested he take care of things? Yeah. Our marriage may not have survived that. Oh well.

  

There was a FREAKING DUST STORM at the beginning of the party. I nearly DIED. So much work could have just blown away. Luckily it blew just a little and was dusty for only a bit. And then there was a rainbow.


Crisis averted. 

{this is me asking if I should move the stereo inside.}

{or? making a fool of myself on the mic. Probably the latter.}
{if we are ever at a party, even if I am not drinking? PLEASE don't ever let me have the microphone.}

{a lot of times my husband looks like a Chester. It's a shame, but he knows.}
{admitting is the first step fo real fo real.}


I am going to TRY to keep the pictures light, but PLEASE feel free to pop on over to flickr to check out all the tomfoolery :)

One of my favorite projects was the mustache straws. They were super hilarious!
I just love that the 'stache is so popular right now. 

{inspiration here}

Equally enjoyable was the drink tags. I stamped random 4 letter words {some 5 when I ran out of kid-friendly words}on metal rimmed key tags and just hole-punch and tied them to the plastic glasses {for kids}and around the rim of the mason jars {for the adults}Like glass charms or name tags, only MORE HILARITY ENSUED.

The photo booth was AWESOME. Seriously. I am going to set one up at EVERY PARTY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. It was super simple. SUPER SIMPLE. I will dedicate a post to how I set mine up soon. For now? My fav pics:

{is this perfectly timed confetti throwing or WHAT?! love it :)}

{my niece, katelynne.}

{camden, dressed for Homecoming - it was a masquerade theme}

{the birthday boy and his momma, who flew all the way in from Michigan to surprise him!}


I kept the food simple and crowd-friendly. My mom made most of the food and prepared just about everything for dinner.
{I know I am lucky. My mom rocks.}

{the cupcake table- chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. gluten free for our family.}

inspiration for the lollipop jar

Can we all just agree that the cupcake toppers are some of my MOST HILARIOUS work? I still LOL when I see them!!!!



Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the drink table once it was completely set up. Sad. So, so sad. You'll just have to trust me, it was CUTE. And the pomegranate margaritas from Costco? SUPER DELICIOUS and why my face is red in most of the later night pictures. I don't know what it is, but I may be allergic to tequila. Bummer.


Wow. I totally lied when I said I was going to keep the pictures light. Don't hold it against me, ok? I hope we can still be friends, but I totally understand if you never want to speak to me again, especially if you are on dial-up. Until next time, friend.

Got an extra prayer or positive thought handy? Send it my way.

My 12 year old son, Brighton, is sick with something that no one can quite figure out. He spent 4 days in the hospital getting scanned and poked and prodded. {And I got to fully visualize some serious problems with our beastly medical system in this country. But that? I will save THAT post for another day.} For now? We could use some positive-ness thrown our way, if you have any extra laying around...

After just getting past the high of Kennedy finally being off steroids, this is one BITTER pill to swallow. I am hoping it ends up just being one crazy, mean virus :)

today is a REALLY good day. {I am going to celebrate with a donut. Or 12.}

In case you didn't already know, this little chick ^ is my youngest, Kenny. She is the smartest kid we've created {don't tell the other 3}, the kindest soul I've ever met {it's true} and a complete and total fashionista.{like her momma.} Also? She was diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis on September 22nd, 2009. JDM is a rare, life threatening neuromuscular autoimmune disease where it's basically all hands on deck as your immune system attacks your muscular tissue by breaking down and blowing out your blood vessels, specifically in the muscle tissue. Good times. Oh, and no cure? Rock On! We hit the Genetic Disease With a Possible Environmental Trigger JACKPOT. {I kid.}{I laugh because if I didn't, I'd be crying.}

But, guess what, friends?! Today we are CELEBRATING a GREAT MILESTONE! Today is the first day since diagnosis almost 2 years ago that Kennedy is STEROID FREE!!!! If you have never personally taken steroids or known anyone that has, that might not sound like a biggie. So, let me tell you why it IS Quite A Big Deal. Steroids are indeed a life saving medication. Prior to the advent of these wonder drugs, autoimmune diseases and diseases of inflammation regularly killed people. Because of this? I LOVE ME SOME STEROIDS. But for real? They are an absolutely devastating drug to endure. The side effects are ghastly. Weight gain. Massive and devastating stretch marks. Bone death. Cancer risks. Cybil style mood swings in a bottle. And? If you ask Ken, the aftertaste of the liquid stays with you alll dayyy longggg.

This ^ is Kennedy about 6 months before diagnosis. You can see her telltale JDM rash. She was laying in bed because she was weak, but I thought it was because her sister was sick {asthma flare} and she wanted some extra attention because of all the attention Piper was getting. Man, mother guilt is REAL.

This is Ken ^ about a month into treatment. We cut her hair short because it started to fall out from the {actually very small dose}chemo shots she was getting. {about a month after, someone clued us into folic acid supplements which helped save the hair, YAY!} But wow. The changes in my little girl happened faster than I was prepared for. AND? STEROIDS MAKE YOU CRAZY! Like, instantly bi-polar. Fun times.

At one point, she was getting 1000 mg prenisone infused EVERY WEEK. Dude. Seriously.

It's been a super hard two years. These pictures used to be sad for me to look through. But honestly, not anymore. They humble me. I look at them as a GREAT REMINDER that no one is merely what their packaging looks like. I wish more people thought that way... Because for real? We got used to people staring and judging whenever we went out, mostly if we ever dined out. I can only guess what they were thinking and judging.... Mostly, I would guess they thought I was a bad mom. Boy, and I felt it.

Sometimes I get a little pissed off about it. Its not all sunshine and unicorns pooping rainbows around here 24/7. But then I stuff those feelings down with a donut :) {or.... 12} {I wonder why my pants are so tight....} {Cure for tight pants??? BUY BIGGER PANTS! ba-dump-bump!}

But today? I am glad to report that the next time we go to Disneyland, it will likely not require a use of a wheelchair.

And my little warrior had her port removed almost 3 weeks ago, so hospital stays? Hopefully will soon become just a distant memory.

This is Ken a couple of weeks ago, drawing artwork for Make-A-Wish. I smile and cry when I look at this because she has come so far. While she is still on the rest of her meds {of which there are many} she is a FIGHTER and she is winning the great fight, I just KNOW IT. We take it day by day, especially since there is no cure {yet}.  We have learned to adapt to the fact that her and the sun are total frenemies. {I tell her she is going to have the most beautiful, wrinkle free skin when she is old like me} and hopefully one day soon, she will reach remission. And today? I am, without fear of what could come tomorrow, going to CELEBRATE today. I think at the height of the chaos that 'roids brought into our life, I promised a pony ride the day she was off the juice..... I guess I better start googling some horse stables.....