Father/Daughter Dance

Can I just say that I have the most awesome husband, ever! Tonight is the Father/Daughter dance for Brownies. The theme is "Under the Sea" and my 6'7" husband is dressed as Triton; Little Mermaid's Father. He has the whole get up and I'm sure his head will be itchy and sweaty after dancing with Sophie and throwing her all around. But, he knows this means a lot to Sophie so he'll probably leave it on all night. She is having the time of her life! I am so lucky!

feeling sentimental

These days I'm feeling a little sentimental. I miss my grandparents and when I could call them up and just feel better at the end of the conversation. I miss my grandma's ways and how her days were like clockwork. Always out to lunch at 10:30; home in time for soaps all afternoon. She watched ANother World for 30 or more years. I miss how her house smelled and when it was time to leave her house she and my grandpa would try to give you all their leftover candies/cookies before you got out the door. She called it Schlekerei! I miss all the made up, combined broken German words & phrases that came out of our family. It's like a secret language that only we know. Jay laughs at me when I say the word out loud without realizing that no one else knows what in the world I'm talking about! My mom still says some of those words. I remember being 20 years old and realizing that I sound ridiculous saying words that don't exist. I swear I'm going to make a small Schenk dictionary to pass on to our kids so that these words aren't forgotten.

So, that's the reason for my music. My grandparents loved big bands. They danced every Saturday night in Canton, Ohio to all the big bands. Grandpa loved this Glenn Miller song and there were others, but this one in particular stands out to me. I never got to see my grandparents dance; I bet they were good. I loved the stories of their dancing days and all the shenanigans that went on. I'd give anything to hear them tell those stories one more time.

Ok, I'm getting too serious and I want to post the inspiration behind Lolly's. Sophie made this little fairy and I think she looks like a Lolly and that's how I came up with my store name. Sophie is an artist and loves to create. I love when we can do things together. Check out miss lolly.

It's official, I have a teenager!

My firstborn is a teenager. I can no longer hold him in my arms and kiss all over his face. I can't pick him up and carry him to his bed and tuck him in. I could go on and on with all the things I can't do now that he's older, but there are a lot of things that I can do. We can have a meaningful conversation. I can look at his life and know that God is working in it and that Christian is a good kid. I can also worry when he's late and be mad as soon as he walks in the door because he made me worry. I can question myself when I realize how much he's texting; I think an average of 2500 in/out messages is a little obsessive. Did I tell you that over Christmas he had 8500 in/out messages? I get to explain why I'm taking his phone away because a "C" in science at midterms is not acceptable. I'm sure my parents are reading this and laughing at me because I brought home "C's" and now I'm punishing my son for the same thing I did. Christian is so much smarter than me and a little effort on his part would allow him to make much better grades than I did. THe problem is that it takes some effort and he's ALWAYS sending text messages. How can anyone study and do homework if you're texting 100 messages per day and 6 of those hours are at school and trust me I've tried to catch him texting at school and he goes by the rules: the phone is turned off at 7:30 and back on at 2:30- on the dot! I get to have conversations that I thought I wouldn't have till later; I'm glad we get to have them, but I thought it would be later and I could ease into this teenager life. Nope! It's 0-60 in 30 seconds! It happens so fast. I am no longer the most important person in his life. He tells me that he's talking to his friends about advice with girls; like they know? It's frightening to think that he's taking advice from peers; that's what I did! So, for all my friends with young kids: love them & be the center of their world, know that this time is short. Teach them all the things they need to know- God loves them, you love them unconditionally and there's nothing that they could do that would change that (it doesn't mean they won't face consequences). They need grace and we need to remember what we were doing at 13 and realize that they are not different. I'm hopeful that Christian is not going to repeat ALL my mistakes, but where would the fun be if he didn't test the boundaries a little? I'm probably going to pay for that last statement!

A new purse!

Just wanted to show everyone a new purse I've been working on the last couple of days. It's made from a recycled coffee bean bag. I found a coffee house in Vermont that is selling me their coffee bags that come from all over the world and they have beautiful pictures and numbers written on them that have something to do with the weight and maybe the date the beans were picked? The bags are a heavy burlap and they're large. That's what allowed me to make the large beach bag featured in an earlier blog. I love this purse; it's so fun for summer. It measures 16 x 7 x 3. it is lined and has a side pocket for a cell phone. I hate when I have to dig for my cell phone at the bottom of my purse. It closes with a magnetic snap. This is the first purse and there are some bugs that needed worked out, so this one is not for sale, but there will be more to follow and should show up on my etsy sight soon or you can call/email me. The cost is $45.

beach bag-a- go-go

I finally got working in my sewing room and am so excited. I just finished what I hope to be many more recycled coffee bean bags. This bag in particular is from Columbia and I added some Maria Horner Fabric to finish off the top and lined the inside with a solid red fabric. The handles are done in a coordinating fabric. It measures about 24" x 24" and is 6" wide. It's a really large beach bag and can carry EVERYTHING! It's also eco-friendly. This one was a test run, but you should be seeing more in my ETSY website soon.

www.ps139.etsy.com