My big brown shadow...

Well... I have a follower... not just my 6 yr old who just cannot get enough of "Mame" (Momma) lately - but rather the four-legged variety. He is my pal. Said shadow is my buddy. He is my constant companion. My big, brown, Chocolate Lab... Moose au Chocolat... and yes I misspelled it purposefully - because as a pup... well... he looked like a gangly lil' moose!!! Moose/Moosey/Mooser/ or dubbed lovingly doofus... is such a darling little guy. He just loves. Loves me. Loves my girls. Loves Daddy (CRAVES affection from him). Loves even our little Shih Tzu - Mugsy - the old grump. But most of all he loves his momma- Me. Of all people - me. Why do I deserve this shadow of attention?

He's a morning shadow... yes he is... and well momma is not... no she is definitely not. But every morning when the alarm goes off to get started - he hops up "yes! she's awake...oh boy she's awake" and I half blind, stumble in to the bathroom and there he is right behind me... every morning. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP goes that tail against every hard service (that echoes and threatens to wake the whole house). A half good morning is said... pat pat pat... and then either shoo him back to "couchee" (cooshay - french beddy) or push his hind-end to a wiggling sit so the ever moving shadow will be quiet. How can I not love that?!

Then as I go about "waking up" me and the household... my big.... brown.... shadow follows me- everywhere. First to see when breakfast will start, then outside ("business time"), and finally I think to just be with me. When this big, brown, shadow was a pup - he used to follow me literally EVERYWHERE (thus the title...people) and run in to me if I stopped short. Now... especially if I am doing chores... my shadow mostly follows me but a lot of times stays central located and watches me...

He is a goofy pup. You know Scooby Doo (THE cartoon of my childhood that I loved... silly plug for 70's cartoon show here... little public announcement ramdomly thrown in here - oh and NOT the Scrappy Doo - bleck!!)? And how Scooby doo "tiptoes" across a room on all fours?

Yep.

We taught moose what I coined as "The Scooby Crawl". I am quite proud of my idea... I admit! It is rather hilarious. Big, brown shadow is jello when you sit with him and pet him... he does frontward rolls and flops. One would think he has no bones at times!!! It's more than comical! My jelly dog!

So why am I writing about my big, brown shadow? He's just such a constant. Like my God in my life. Always there, always greeting me with just a wave of love and grace. I know it's been said before - but there is no wonder for me, why dog is spelled God backwards. Ahh - to be as loving as my shadow. We can only strive to love like that...

Big, brown shadow knows me so well. He knows my moods. He is there for me - just as I know the unfaltering love of God is the same in my life- always faithful. This one night... I was having a most horrific night with my back. I could barely walk. I went to bed and Ky had a terrible nightmare so I went in with her and laid down next to her. There he was, all of a sudden, my shadow... of course... following me in. Upon waking later -I couldn't move literally from pain. It's a scary feeling so I prayed for strength and help. I rolled myself over her trundle, (side note - thank goodness we were close to the floor that night) and was trying to crawl back to the room when I felt this nose under my arm.

Ahhh my shadow!

After realizing - 'said nose' - was my dog's nose and not some mutant rat after me... I hoisted myself up - using my faithful constant. Now usually if you push on this dog he comes jelly dog (see forward roll paragraph...) - but this night he just knew. He stood straight, used all 90lbs to help pull me to my knees, then stood so rigid I could push myself up to my feet. He serenly stood while I tried to walk. He walked slowlyby my side letting me hold his back for support all the way to my bed. I prayed for support and I got a totally different kind - but exactly what I needed.

Good dog.

Thank you my shadow - my big, chocolate brown, strong, faithful shadow.

Thank you God for the partner and friend you gave me. He's a terrific partner a constant and secure shadow.

My boy, my dog.

I could go on and on about his crazy and loving antics... but I will part with this musing...

i am blessed to be loved by such a pure of heart creature of this earth.

(oh mommmmmy... this is so embarrassing...)

So many homemade lovely things out there...

I have been truly enjoying perusing through blogs and websites seeing what is out there. I have been blessed enough to be "crafty" but never dreamed of "channeling" my crafts to showcase or make a little extra income for my family. Looking through many sites I now know I CAN do this...and in fact I have!!! I have started a small company (oooo that sounds sooo formal...) with a good friend of mine - with CLAY! We do hand and footprints in clay to make an heirloom quality gift or keepsake!! I just love it! Working with clay is my passion and love and now I also get to work with kiddos! Best of both worlds! We even have a website http://www.firstimpressionsceramics.com/ !! Pretty soon I will also be putting up some of my personal work to show or sell - for now here on this blog!! So stay tuned. I am completely fascinated with homemade gifts and homemade art! I am truly inspired by what I see out there!


Recently several people have told me to check out http://www.etsy.com/ - a site designed for homemade/artisitic items. They wanted me to see the homemade wonderful crafts/items and also to check and see if I might at some point be able to sell some of my pottery/ceramic items on Etsy. So I have checked it out... and now I have to say I am OBSESSED... ok that's a strong word... but I truly, truly, truly love getting their e-mails about items of the week and then doing some random searches!!! Some of my favorite searches are of course pottery/ceramics, but also vintage fabric, vintage looking aprons, soaps, beading, ok well you get the idea!

I found this neat site SugarPieChic - all about the vintage aprons and such. I read her site and she is featured as a giveaway on another site - Rainbowswirlz.
This site is pretty darn neat. There are lots of things to look at and explore!! If you want a nice apron... for free... you can sign-up to win it! It's so cute!! The giveaway for this apron ends June 24th! http://rainbowswirlz.blogspot.com/2009/06/sugarpiechic-giveaway-june-18th-24th.html.



I am truly inspired by all the lovely homemade things I have been seeing! Now if I could just organize myself enough to get some of my things listed...

AHhhhhh summer is in the air...

I am so happy... SUMMER is in the air and the weather has turned LOVELY, warm, and perfect! I started this post in the Spring... and it was actually titled SPRING is in the air... but alas life happens and time happens. This post originally started for explaining our new garden in front... but my girls amaze me and are making me smile this hot day - so I will talk of my gorgeous gals.

I am very excited that summer is finally here. We have been out of school for a week and it seems like longer - but it is so nice. The girlies and I have been doing some fun activities... swimming, beaching, playing games, having friends over, shopping, reading, and of course the normal tv&computer games (sometimes a necessary evil). But all-in-all it's been "delicious". Yep I love that word. It can be used to describe so many things - edible and non-!

I look at my blossoming girls and they are most definitely DELICIOUS! AH I cannot get enough of them.

Kyky is just growing up too fast - 9 going on 15... she wants to be so independent yet is pretty attached to her mommy and daddy. She reads and reads and cannot get enough. She is so much like her momma it is not even funny! We clash at times because we are so alike - but don't all mommies and daughters? I see her sleeping and think I haven't told her enough how much I love her... she still has her violet eyelids she had as a baby - but she's not a baby anymore. She is so long and elegant. So beautiful. She is very intelligent and it is so intriguing to hear how her mind works and get in to our nightly "pillow/snuggle" talks. She amazes me every day with her sentimental, caring, intelligent thoughts. She is definitely one-in-a-million.






BooBooBear well she is just scrumptious. I think she must be going through a growth spurt as she is eating everything under the sun and getting that BooBoo belly again which I just want to tickle- I love it. She is very concerned about being away from "Mame" (pronounced mommy). She is so attached to me right now it is so completely endearing.
Her nightly summer routine right now:
"Mame can you snuggle?" (sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes not until after ____ chore or dinner or spending time with my honey)
"Well come in RIGHT when you are done" (ok sweetie) "RIGHT when you are done... no talking... no tv... no waiting... RIGHT when you are done" (yes BooBoo I promise)
"Goooodnight Mame" (goodnight booboobear)
"I love you" (I love you too)
"Goooodnight Mame" "I love you" (I love you too)(goodnight booboobear)
***Repeated at least three times***
"Mame... can I have one more kiss and hug" (of course Booboo)
"Goooodnight Mame" "I love you" (I love you too)(goodnight booboobear)
***repeated again at least three times***

At times I could get frustrated... she has to be with me ALL-THE-TIME... but I just find myself falling in love with them over and over and over again. I could eat them both up - again with the DELICIOUS adjective! Or how about delectable or luscious. Oh I love summer... I LOVE being with my girls. I love the laissez-fair atmosphere. I love plans and also having no plans...

Now it's time to go plant our new front garden with my wonderful little helpers! I think I will take some more photos... they grow so fast (the kiddos most definitely)!

Let's start the summer off right!

Make a Smilebox slideshow