Grow, Growing, Grown

How many of you have memories of being measured each year on a door frame or closet door?  Each time hoping you were much taller...because all kids know that the taller you are the closer you are to being an adult (if only we knew back then that staying little was a lot more fun!).  And being an adult meant later bed times and more freedom.  I have watched in amazement at how fast my nephews have grown, their marks on the pantry door at my parents house prove just how fast time has flown. 

In my opinion, there is nothing more precious than documenting how your children grow.  So, a few years ago, when a friend had a wee little one, I decided to make her a growth chart to hang on the nursery wall.  Since then, making growth charts have been, by far, one of my favorite craft projects.  I love the idea that these are portable for those inevitable moves and life changes.  But, above all, I love the feeling I get while I work on these charts, all the time thinking of the recipient and how much I hope they love it!  I also love planning the chart and then seeing my vision come to life.  It is so satisfying and smile inducing!

So, I thought since I have been really slack about posting my craft projects lately, I would share my most recent growth chart (and probably one of my favorites!) and a few of the ones I have done in the past. 

For my friend's little girl Dani, a woodland theme!

 (I must admit that the little gnome is absolutely my favorite part!)

For my husband's cousin's little boy Eli...a cowboy theme!

 

A jungle theme for a little boy, Evan!  (My friend M helped me make this as a gift for one of her friends!)

One of the first charts I made for my friend's little girl Riley

How did your parents keep track of your growth growing up?  Do you do something special for your little ones? 

Another weird thing

There are often times when Hubby and I wonder why our lives are not what most would consider "normal".  We wonder why weird things always happen to us and why our stories seem to be so different than the stories shared by our peers.  I chalk it up to our lifestyle.  When you live the way we do, you are bound to have stories of crazy animal antics and oddly placed bee stings.  We don't even have that much land, or that many animals, but for some reason, weird things always happen in our back yard and what happened a few weeks ago was no exception....

It was a Sunday morning, at 6:00 am....yes folks...while you were snug in your beds at 6:00am on a Sunday morning, Hubby and I were awoken by horrible screams.  Screams that were not quite discernible, as in "is that a person or an animal?" kind of scream.  So we rolled out of bed and in our pj's we stumbled on to the back deck.  The screams were louder and very close...whatever was making that noise was in our backyard, in the woods.  We put on our boots and went down to edge of the woods.

Through the dark shadows we could see that something big, black and furry was moving around the edge of the fence.  Brian and I were both unsure of what this creature was...until it hit us...oh yeah...our dog is big, black and furry.  (On a side note, Waylon, our dog, is a big wimp.  We have a shed with a doggie door and he spends most of his days and nights in the safety of his lair, unless we are out there with him.  He is much happier to be in the garage or on the deck.  He doesn't like to walk on the grass.  He is afraid of our chickens and does not come out if the chickens are in the yard, unless there is something promised, like food or a walk.  We have watched him start to chase a deer until he got close enough to realize how big it was, only to turn around and head back up the yard.  So, we assumed he was still in the shed, really...I know he is a dog, but the last thing I expected was to see him investigating loud screams from some kind of animal.) 

When we got close enough to survey the situation and call off the hound, we realized the screams were coming from a baby deer that was stuck in our fence.  We have no idea how it got in the yard.  In an attempt to escape, it was obvious that the little gal couldn't find a way out.  When she got stuck, she started screaming, triggering the dog, which made things worse.  Her little foot was stuck in the wires of the fence and by this time she was lying on her side, completely exhausted. 

We approached with caution, because a deer, even a tiny one has some serious kick.  Brian cut the wires loose but she didn't get up, so we held down her legs and checked for breathing, but her poor little body couldn't handle the stress and within minutes she had stopped breathing.  We were too late.  She only had one injury, a scratch, from the fence wire.  The dog had not harmed her, but I am sure he contributed to the fear.  So Hubby picked up the little body and we hauled her up the woods to the yard.  He put her in the back of the truck and took her up to the right-of-way with power lines near our house (can I tell you that we really felt like we were doing something wrong, I mean, early morning, disposing of a dead body, it just seemed weird).  The grass is tall there, and all number of varmints and vultures patrol the area.  And, so is the circle of life.

When I walked back on the porch, my heart wrenched.  In the neighbor's yard, I could hear a doe calling, a specific call, from a doe to her fawn, one that fell on the silence that had returned to this early Sunday morning.  We walked back in the house, the clocked blinked 7:00am...too early to be up on a Sunday.  We ate breakfast and went on about our day as usual, nothing different here...just another story to add to the log list of weird things that happen in our backyard.  

Wordless Wednesday with the Nephews

...of course it hasn't been very "wordless" around our house!

Because we have fancy chickens...

we get eggs that look like this....

with built in decorations and fancy swirls on the end....

Because our chickens don't just lay eggs...they lay fancy eggs.

You know what this means...it means our chickens just "one-upped" all of those other chickens out there that only lay "normal" eggs. 

...or it means there is something seriously wrong with this chicken...

Important Things by Melissa

So today marks 5 years with Type 1 Diabetes.  I could write a long post about my feelings, living with diabetes, how I am living strongly, blah, blah, blah....I am not saying these things are not true or important, I just don't feel like being serious today...today I feel like being funny, and forgetting that diabetes related mishaps awarded me with about 4 hours of sleep last night!  

Lately I have been hooked on watching Demetri Martin on Netflix.  He does this funny sketch called "Good, Bad, Interesting" go here to see a clip of this segment...

Demetri Martin: Good, Bad, Interesting

So I decided to do some "Good, Bad, Interesting" 

Topic: Diabetes:

Low Blood Sugar
Good: when you want to eat a cupcake
Bad: while driving
Interesting: when it makes your tongue numb

High Blood Sugar
Good: when you really want to exercise
Bad: when you are starving
Interesting: when you just finished running 3 miles or haven't eaten anything, or better yet, when you first wake up in the morning

Door Knobs:
Good: for opening doors
Bad: for pump infusion sites
Interesting: when they break and leave you locked in the bathroom

Needles:
Good: for injecting insulin
Bad: for stepping on
Interesting: when someone thinks you have a drug problem because of your full sharps container

Insulin Pump
Good: for delivering insulin
Bad: when attempting to wear a dress
Interesting: when someone wants to use it to make a phone call

Insulin:
Good: for living
Bad: when it is hot outside
Interesting: when someone wonders why you smell like band-aids  

Test Strips:
Good: checking your blood sugar
Bad: fighting with the insurance company over how many test strips you "really" need
Interesting:  because used ones end up in the weirdest places and finding one in the fish aquarium is just baffling

Carbs:
Good: because they taste good and provide fuel
Bad: for screwing with blood sugars
Interesting: when they don't come with a label and swagging (guessing the number of carbs in a food) ensues 

Exercise:
Good: for blood sugars and waistlines
Bad: for your couch (it gets lonely)
Interesting: when you have to take everything but the kitchen sink (meter, test strips, glucose tabs, snacks, water, ID, phone, etc) with you to the gym/on a walk/on a jog.

Loved Ones/Family:
Good: supporting you and helping to manage this difficult journey
Bad: when they are the diabetes police
Interesting: because who doesn't have an interesting family member?

Do you have any "Good, Bad Interesting" things to add?

Wordless Wednesday: Liquid Gold

 

A few words on this one, after removing the honey, Hubby put the frames back outside so the bees could collect the remaining honey from the frames.

D(ee)r Chickens,

To my dearest fluffy, squawking, spoiled feathered friends,

I was quite surprised at the sight to which I awoke this morning.  While rubbing my sleepy eyes and staring out the window, I was sure I was still sleeping.  A doe a deer a female deer....wait this is not a musical...a deer was standing outside your chicken coop watching you very closely.  You gals were having quite a staring contest with her, nose to beak with nothing but chicken wire in between.  Am I wrong?  Were my sleepy eyes deceiving me?  If only I had my camera handy.  I assume she must have come across your lair while she was grazing and was caught by quite a surprise to see all of you ladies, squawking away at this unknown intruder...a quiet and stealth beast...one you haven't seen up close before.  I can only imagine your surprise and fear and possibly hers, at that.  I watched as she investigated you closely and then moved on to something more interesting.

As I encouraged Waylon, our supposed guard pup, to chase the deer off, I was met by a blank stare and feeling that if he could roll his eyes, he would.  I have come to realize that Waylon is really good for no such things as being a watch dog or a normal dog at that.  I apologize dear chickens that his lack of prey drive has left you to your own devices when it comes to encounters of the animal kind.  But, fear not ladies, unless you are green and leafy, this deer wont bother you if she returns.  Of course, it worries your human momma, because she has a garden to tend.  But alas, this is no worry of yours.  You can go about your day scratching and pecking and being somewhat of a general nuisance.

In the meantime, you may find that the blueberry plants have been covered with bird netting.  Yes, I have seen seen you eying those ripening berries.  I know you think you are sneaky, but we did finally figure out that you gals were the ones eating the pole bean seedlings a few weeks ago and we solved that problem.  Don't blame me for the week of grounding to your pen.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice and I don't get fresh blueberries.  So now that the berries are turning full shades of luscious blue, I would like to keep them to myself  If you would like to keep your freedom, you will steer clear.

That is all my feathered friends, thank you for the delicious eggs and please refrain from pecking my newly painted toenails when I am in the yard. 

Sincerely,
Your human momma