A loose tooth!

We've entered into a new phase!  One which the girls have been waiting and waiting and WAITING for!  LOOSE TEETH!  OMG so exciting!  It really is exciting.  Last year in preschool one of the girls' good friends had lost three teeth already, so the girls have been anxiously waiting their turn. Well on Friday, Lydia discovered her bottom front tooth is loose!  She's been wiggling and wiggling it and the thing is stuck on just by a thread at this point. Still no loose ones on Arlene, but we know it's only just a matter of time.

It's RIGHT HERE!

Maybe the last all-baby-teeth intact smiling photo of Lydia we'll get!

After we ate dinner Lydia was telling us that her tooth felt looser, so we told her she should try pulling it out.

Then Daddy tried. But it just didn't want to come out.

Tee hee - this is her "please leave me alone now!" look. We did.

I was remembering that when I was little, my grandma had made me a tooth fairy pillow. So I got to work and whipped up pillows for the girls:

I made them out of fabric scraps - little flower pillows.

The "tooth pocket" is in the middle of the flower.

I put their names on the back and the year.

This one is Arlene's.

Center pocket.

Her name on the back.

They wanted to play with the pillows but I put them up on their bookcase and told them that they were special pillows, only to be used when they have a tooth to put into the pocket.

Exciting times!

Pretty organization

Last weekend I organized all of my embroidery floss. It took awhile because it was all really messy. I wound all of it onto cardboard spools and then organized it by color. Look at the result, so pretty!

I also picked up some new cross stitch projects to work on while we're on vacation (which starts in six days!) and they just so happen to all be Halloween themed! 

Check out the fiber color names in this pattern: Joshua Tree, Hickory Sticks, Steamed Broccoli, Colonial Copper and Black Coffee. Fun!

I've been at the fair

It's the county fair! I've been at the fair each day this week, manning an informational booth for work. I love the fair. It's just so darn interesting. The people watching is priceless. And I sure do get to do a lot of people watching. People are generally very nice, but they sure are colorful.  I've seen lots and lots of mullets (the permed mullets are the BEST), bad tattoos, too-tight tank tops (on both men and women), too much skin showing on both men and women, women who need to wear bras but don't, lots of gross moles and hair in places where it shouldn't be, lots of pregnant teenagers or teenagers with babies, and lots and lots of dirty, stained t-shirts. I've seen lots of sunburned kids too, because obviously mommy didn't think the pack the SPF on a sunny, 90 degree day. There's also been lots of perfectly normal people, people dressed appropriately and normal mommies who did remember the SPF and who left the house with their hair combed and who put clean clothes on their kids. The fair just brings out all kinds, and I can't help it, I love gawking! 

Our booth is right next to the arts, crafts and gardening barn and I took some pictures of the gems inside:

{You'll want to click on it to make that photo larger.}

Animals!  The girls joined me one day and we walked around and looked at animals and played games:

What?!

Ahhh, the fair. I will be sad when it ends Friday because I'll be chained to my desk once again. It's been a fun week!

Etsy Favorites Wednesday - all's fair

This week is our county fair. For my work, we have an informational tent and it's my job to sit at the tent for four hours each day this week. Four glorious people-watching hours. I could do without the oppressive heat, but I love the fair. The people, the sights, the smells, the carnival games, the rickety rides. Love it.  For this week's Etsy Favorites Wednesday, I've picked out some delightful fair-themed items. Enjoy!

County Fair Bouquet Ribbon - how cute is this! I walked through the arts and crafts barn yesterday. Oh my. Be still my heart. 

At the Fair fine art photograph - I love how old fashioned this looks.

Vintage Fair Ribbon - I've seen so many cute little kids walk around with their fair ribbons tacked to their chests. They're so proud!  It's darling.  Check out this fair ribbon table runner too - the ribbons are from an Ohio fair.

Fair food pattern - Ha! Fair food is so gross yet so good.

Salty tears - Oh my goodness this cracks me up! 

Mixing it up a bit this week

***If you've landed on my blog from searching the 'net for info on tip toe walking or serial casting or AFO braces, hello. This particular post here is one in a number I wrote about my daughter's tip toe walking. I encourage you to start with this post instead. It encapsulates our journey more succinctly.***

Lydia got her week three casts put on today - and she mixed it up a bit!  Orange with smiley faces and purple with flowers!  So stylish!

The BEST news?!  I was fretting for nothing! She has gained a total of 12 degrees of motion in both legs!!  The first week, she gained five degrees of motion, and the second, seven!  I was so worried that she wouldn't gain anything this past week, but she gained more than the first week.  Amazing!  The physical therapist said even though it might have appeared that Lydia was walking on her tip toes, she really wasn't. Her foot was stabilized within the casts. That's good news!  Just to be safe this week though, the casts are long, covering up her toes.

Next week Lydia's legs will be molded for day braces and night splints, the same type that she wore two years ago. She will need to wear the braces so that she doesn't lose the motion range that she has gained, and will have continual physical therapy to strengthen up her muscles. She will wear casts next week too. I wonder what color she'll choose?

We've still got a ways to go, but we're very pleased with this process so far!  And proud of our brave girl, as always!

{For all of my posts on Lydia's toe walking and this serial casting process, click here.}

Week two down, one or two more to go!

***If you've landed on my blog from searching the 'net for info on tip toe walking or serial casting or AFO braces, hello. This particular post here is one in a number I wrote about my daughter's tip toe walking. I encourage you to start with this post instead. It encapsulates our journey more succinctly.***

Lydia got her week two casts taken off this evening in preparation for getting casted again tomorrow morning. (Here's a recap of the casting process she is going through for her tip-toe walking.) 

Look at the happy girl - first with casts, second with casts off.

Throughout this whole process, Lydia has been nothing but happy. She's had an EXCELLENT attitude! 

I must say, though, through no fault of hers, this second week of casts was a bit discouraging. We had a different physical therapist put the casts on last week, because the regular gal was on vacation. The casts were different from week one to week two.

Last week, with the pink casts, Lydia was walking only slightly up on her tip toes while in them. The casts kept her feet at 90 degree angles, but they prevented her from using her calf muscles to get up on her tip toes all the way. When we took her casts off, Lydia tried to walk up on her tip toes, but physically could not do it. It was very difficult for her to walk her first couple of steps once out of the casts because she could not walk up on her tip toes. And when she was measured, she had gained five degrees of motion in both legs, which was the goal, yay! 

Well, this week while in the green casts, she was able to walk on her tip toes all the time, constantly, because her toes were sticking out and she was able to get traction. Her toes are also very strong, because they've been aiding in her toe walking this whole time. She was also able to use her calf muscles this past week while in the casts. When I took her casts off tonight, she got out of them, and ran, up on her tip toes, down the hall. It was so different from the past week. She had trouble walking last time, and this time she didn't.

I do not blame her at all with any of this, she is just used to walking on her tip toes, and she was just doing what was normal to her this entire past week, even while in the casts. I am really worried that this last week was a waste though. I know that Lydia couldn't bend her foot inside of the casts, which hopefully helped, but I'm not sure if she was able to gain any more range of motion because she was able to get on her tip toes.

We'll see tomorrow when she gets measured. Right now we're expecting her to be in the casts for just one more week. She might have to be in them an additional week ... it all depends on how much motion she gains at the end of next week's casting session.  We'll see!  Hopefully my worries will be put to rest at tomorrow's appointment.

You know what I'm ready for?

Halloweeeeeen!

I bought that sweet witch last night.  I really want to stick her in the yard now. But it's too soon. I'll wait until at least September 1 to put her out.

A question for my fellow bloggers

A question for my fellow bloggers ... do you moderate comments on your blog?  I have been having trouble with getting spammed comments from someone either writing Japanese or Chinese. They comment on every single post that I write. It's annoying. So very annoying. In an effort to deter them, I turned on comment moderation and I just ignore their comments when they get to me. But now I'm having to approve all of the good comments, which isn't too tasking considering I don't get a plethora of comments to begin with, but I am having to do the extra step of logging in to approve the comments.

I'm trying to decide which is more annoying - having to delete the one foreign spammy comment or having to approve all of the good comments, one at a time. What do you do? 

Etsy Favorites Wednesday

Here for a time I was getting a little weary of Etsy, and then POOF, last week I got my old Etsy love back. You never left my heart, Etsy, never at all. We just had a little separation. Now it's all love, all the time. 

Etsy has this new thing (or at least new to me) where, in your favorites list, they offer "suggested shops."  Oh my. It was like Etsy was taking snapshots of my dreams whilst I slept. The suggested shops were shops that I wish I already knew about, shops that I immediately and instantly loved, sellers that I will most likely buy items from in the very near future!  All of the things in this week's lists are from sellers that I just discovered, thanks to Etsy's suggested shops feature. See what Etsy suggests for you!  Go to your Favorites page, and it's the third tab over.

Double Happiness sculpture - really, what isn't there to like on this piece - the big happy flowers, the striped leggings, the fun hair sticking out - pure fun.

 

You are here now - Oooo, deep.

 

Merman - oh my GOODNESS! I want this guy. NOW. I love him. LOVE HIM.  In fact, I love this seller so so much, so much that they get TWO listings in this week's list! ...

Witch - I need to save my pennies to buy this little witch. I need to have her. She needs to be a part of my Halloween decorations this year! 

Universe print - do yourself a favor and click on that photo to make it larger. Look at that detail!  Stunning.

This week, green!

***If you've landed on my blog from searching the 'net for info on tip toe walking or serial casting or AFO braces, hello. This particular post here is one in a number I wrote about my daughter's tip toe walking. I encourage you to start with this post instead. It encapsulates our journey more succinctly.***

Week two of the serial casting for Lydia!  (Don't know what this is about?  History here.)  We took Lydia's casts off Monday night and they were pretty easy to remove, just lots of unwrapping.  It was really odd watching her trying to walk for the first time. She tried to get right up on her tip toes and couldn't, because her calf muscle had been weakened by being in the cast for a week. She told me that it felt like the ground was too far away and she felt like she was stepping down too far. Which makes sense considering that when she does walk on her tip toes, she's higher by about four inches. So she was stepping down farther (in her mind) by not going onto her toes. She walked completely flat-footed for awhile but then seemed to get the hang of it. She wasn't walking completely heel-to-toe, but she was trying really hard. Today, she was slightly on her tip-toes while she was walking, but not as high on her toes as she was previous to the casting.

We went in today to get week's two casts put on. The physical therapist said that Lydia had gained five degrees of motion in both ankles, which is the goal. Yay!  She got green casts put on today, and I took some pics!  She chose green because I told her that when I had broken my foot years ago, I had a green cast.

This week's casts don't seem to be as bulky as last week's for some reason. We had a different therapist this week, so that could be the difference. 

I'm pleased with this whole process and surprised by it all, really. We were offered serial casting for Lydia last year but didn't want to do it because it seemed to be an extreme. But it's really not been a big deal at all.  Lydia has surprised us all with this ... she's just trucking on like nothing's on her legs at all. She gets around just fine and with the exception of just one tiny complaint last week about them itching and hurting, has been doing excellent. Because she did gain the five degrees of motion then we know that it is working, which is awesome. We're doing the things we normally do, like go for ice cream, go to the library, the movie store and shopping.  Lydia goes along with us with no problem.  Such a trooper!

She got green toe nail polish tonight - it's kind of an ewwy color of green right up against the green of the casts, but she loves it so that's all that matters! 

What the hay, True Blood?

Who out there has read the Sookie Stackhouse novels and is up-to-date on the True Blood TV series?  We need to talk, because I'm getting a little confused. What's with the hand glowy thing Sookie did in Sunday night's True Blood episode?  I don't remember that happening in the books. And while I'm really glad that Lafayette is still alive in the series, even though he was killed off after the first novel, what's with the True Blood story line about his mom being mental and now his potential new boyfriend?  Necessary? And don't even get me started about Tara!

I really like both the books and the series, independently. However, what I liked about the TV series, up until last night's episode, is that even though they've taken a lot of liberties, it has always pretty much stayed true to the books somewhat. I'm really scratching my head now though. I still enjoy True Blood and I'll still watch it for sure, but I think at this point I'm going to have to forget everything that I've read in the books, because what I'm watching on screen is a whole new story! Not necessary a bad thing, but still - why have they veered so far off the storylines from the books, why now?

Yummy morning

Starbuck's birthday cake donuts (plain donuts topped with icing and sprinkles, aaah!) are really awesome on a Monday morning, especially when paired with a big 'ol cinnamon dolce latte.  Just wanted to share.

I can't believe we're still here

As the story goes our house has been on the market for three and a half years now. We've paid it down considerably, we're priced lower than what we bought it for almost ten years ago, all new carpet, new appliances, lots of de-cluttering and plain boring beige walls, lots of constant cleaning and yet ... we wait. No bites. Nothing.  

When we first put our house on the market, we did so because we wanted the girls to go to a new school. We wanted them to start their school career in a neighboring district that we liked better. The district we are in isn't horrible, but it's not our choice. 

We've waded through the ups and downs of having our house listed and we took a good break last year, a break that was well needed, but it's still tough. There's no denying it.  This challenge has been THE challenge for us. We're super strong and we've had heavy heavy challenges thrown upon us, and we've worked through them, coming out stronger on the other end. We have the most wonderful little kids, we have a very happy marriage, and we both have jobs that we love. We have a suitable roof above our heads. We can't and do not complain about life because in the grand scheme of things we don't have anything to complain about. Except this. I'll find myself driving to work and it'll hit me, man, this just isn't happening for us. We're not moving. And it sucks. Plain and simple. The factors against us our many ... the economy is horrible. Our neighborhood is declining. Our neighbor has abandoned his house but yet still keeps a cat inside, pays his mortgage and taxes and comes every other Saturday to mow his lawn at 8:00 a.m. His lawn looks okay, but the house itself has gone into disrepair, rodent infestation in his eaves and his gutters are falling down. But what can we do about it? Nothing. The guy has his own violation file with our township but they tell us there's not much they can do. Great. Our street is very busy. So busy we never let the girls in the front yard. Our house is listed where we can list it, but the market is still low. We could sell it tomorrow for $30 grand less. $30 grand less than what we're listed at now. Which would be almost $45 grand less than what we bought it for almost ten years ago. How is that even possible? 

This weekend, I filled out all of the enrollment forms for the girls to enter Kindergarten in the district we've been trying to move out of. I can't believe the girls are going into kindergarten. Kindergarten!  Time has gone by too fast. I'm sure they'll do excellent in school. Of course they will.  It doesn't really matter where they go to school, they'll be fine. But still. It's the principal. I can't believe that we're still living in this house and I just enrolled them in this school district.

A whole, whole lot of cuteness!

Are you ready for a whole lot of cuteness?  I made a little video of the girls!  It's adorable!  We got a new video camera at work and some fancy-dancy video editing software, so I took some video and interviewed the girls and then edited it, to learn the whole system. The video isn't perfect, it's a bit of a mashup because I'm still learning, but it's still really cute!  ENJOY!  

{The link to my YouTube channel is here, if you'd rather see it that way.}

Etsy excitement!

There was quite a bit of excitement at the Two Stars Etsy shop Thursday afternoon!

My little fox (the one that I made for Lydia and put a second one in my shop) was on the FRONT PAGE of Etsy!  I was SO EXCITED!  I have never been on the front page. And with such good company - that other foxy stuff is absolutely adorable!  Click to make the picture larger - this is a screen shot of the front page of Etsy Thursday afternoon at about 4:30 p.m.:

I was pretty darn tickled!  And the fact that it was Lydia's little foxy too, well, that was just made it all the more fantastic! You may be able to click here to see the list, along with links to the other foxy stuff. Annnnd, because of the front page exposure, quite a few people peered into my shop Thursday afternoon!  The foxy plush received many hearts and views (more than 200 in the span of a half hour, holla!) and my shop as a whole got some new hearts! Happiness!   

And THEN, I get a message saying that someone had put my Mister Moustachioed Monster in a Treasury list also!  Goodness!  I was pleased - check out the company he keeps in this list:

 

That list might still be active - click here to see.

It sure does feel good knowing that people appreciate your stuff enough to put it in their collections!  I was a very happy Etsy seller on Thursday, yes indeedy.  And this action was really the kick in the can that I needed. I haven't really been paying much attention to my Etsy shop, for like, well, too long to admit. I need to start putting more effort and marketing into it. I'm thinking my new line of linocuts are going to do well, so I need to start making!