HELLOmynameisHeather

Happy New Year's Eve!

We'll see how tonight goes.  I'm already spent from staying out late last night to celebrate my wedding anniversary.  We went to a nice Italian restaurant and then out to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I'm still mad that Cate Blanchett didn't receive an Oscar for Elizabeth. There's a scene in CCofBB where Cate dances on a terrace or gazebo in a fabulous red dress... Watch for it.  It's breathtaking.

The photos above are from our Nutcracker outing. Charlotte's trying hard not to smile.  Isaac and she had a game going. (This explains the funky camera angles.  I don't know about Charlotte, but I thought he was funny.)

Anyhow.  I'm just popping in.  As today's the last day to use our Happy Holidays coupons at the Heather Bailey Store, I thought I'd just post a quick reminder.  I'm feeling chattier than I thought though. I really do need to head out before the stores close. We have some party-prep errands to run.  And I need a break from the computer -- I'm all boggle-eyed.

On that note -- Have fun tonight & be safe!

Frazzle-Dazzle

What a week.  Isaac had to go back to the emergency room on Monday and was admitted to the hospital.  The doctors wanted to keep a close eye on his blood chemistry, which had been out of whack since last Wednesday when Isaac first went to the emergency room for dehydration. It turned out he'd had a fit of rhabo-myolysis.  Certain enzymes in his blood needed to be flushed out with an IV while they made sure that gunk didn't damage his kidneys.  At home, that same night Charlotte developed a super-fever and I had to baby her through the night to keep her temperature down:  wet towels on the forehead, icy drinks, medicine, blanket rearrangements.  I was up every hour or so.

Our whole dollhouse plan for Charlotte could not be completed without Isaac, so I had to dive into the stores for a last-minute, second gift-plan for Charlotte on Tuesday.  I had limited options for who to call for babysitting, not wanting to get anyone else's kids sick for the holidays.  My mother dashed in with her flashing cape and super-hero goggles to save the day.  Six frenzied hours later (lots of long lines) I was back with a full sleigh. Then it was gift-wrapping till 3am and fever-nursing all night again.

Isaac surprised us on Christmas Eve by returning from the hospital earlier than expected. His bloodwork was looking better and better and his kidneys had been working perfectly, so the doctors let him come home for Christmas.  That night I fancied up our Christmas tree with new baubles and fronds as a surprise for Isaac.  I didn't originally know if he'd be home before Christmas or not.  I figured a dolled-up tree would add some holiday magic to our otherwise frazzled week. 

Christmas day was wonderful -- though I was exhausted.  My parents watched with us while the kids stirred up a storm of torn paper and ribbon.  Later, Isaac made a champion breakfast of apple-fritter-bread french toast, hash browns & bacon. Christmas dinner made a last-minute detour to our house and everyone came over for a potluck of good food and a white elephant exchange.  (I ended up with The Godthumb on dvd -- perfect white elephant, Matt!) 

My mom made all four of her kids a picnic blanket with loops at each corner.  Each blanket came with a carrying bag and a set of tent stakes for tacking the blanket in place through the loops.  What a ton of work -- and inventive!  (I'll take some photos next time we head to the park.)

I'm sure this Christmas will go down in family history -- two emergency room visits, a multiple-night stay in the hospital, a last-minute Christmas swap-out for Charlotte, all-night fever care, a Christmas dinner moved to our house, and new, feel-better tree bling to jazz up our one perfect day this week -- Christmas.

Yesterday I slept-in till 2pm.  And I'm still tired.

Cracking Nuts

It seems like everyone I know has had some sort of hard, sad news this week -- or something dramatic going on.  Late night chats, distracting movie outings and the like have all been required.  What a crazy week. 

Our contribution to the drama involved a trip to the emergency room on Wednesday night.  Isaac had some weird CO2 build up in his upper body that caused his muscles to seize up and curl him into a contorted ball -- in lots of pain.  It had something to do with dehydration and low potassium (I think).  He had exercised the previous hour and was on a cool-down.  I haven't had a chance to research this sort of thing yet, but it sounds a lot like decompression sickness -- that scuba-diving thing. 

Isaac's no namby-pamby either.  I've seen him blow off disgusting, horrible gashes that should have required stitches, long tumbles down rocky terrain while mountain-biking, etc.  For all of his macho flesh-wounds, he says this CO2 thing was the worst pain he's ever felt. 

The pain was quickly resolved with a steady drip of liquids -- mixed with some calming something-or-other.  He's been sluggish and tired since, as his blood chemistry evens out again, but he's almost recovered.  Just a rough and strange interlude.  And Isaac and I missed Elijah's school concert : (

The holidays now resume.  I've spent the last day-plus, sewing flouncy holiday skirts for a friend's daughters and dollhouse dress-ups for Charlotte.  I absolutely love to sew gifts, but I haven't had the heart for it much this year.  There hasn't been much friend-sewing since I made these doll blankets (here & here).

Let's just say it's great to be back at it!  Sound the triumphal horns.  Now, if I can just learn how to create time.

I'm hoping to have the presents delivered before we head out to see the Nutcracker tonight --  care of the Moscow Ballet.  I expect we'll have to get more serious about dance class once Charlotte gets a good look at the ballet gowns.  Charlotte is quite graceful.  She'd be a great dancer.

Oh yes!  And speaking of dancing.  For years, I've wanted to sign up for a Tap Dance class -- just to make a loud, dancey racket.  I've done some research and found (via Jen) a Saturday morning clogging class for women.  I guess clogging shoes have two taps on each shoe, while tap shoes only have one, therefore clogging = bigger racket.  That works for me -- as long as I still get to use Jazz hands : )  So I'm doing it!  I even convinced my friend, Sarah, to take the class with me.  I just need to find me some clackity-tappity shoes by January 10th.

Some Tid Bits

• Another giveaway -- it must be giveaway season:  visit Ever After today to enter a drawing for a gift basket of paper-craft supplies from my Freshcut paper line.
• My assistant, Tara is having a baby girl!  (More gift-sewing to do.)
• The laundry is all folded!
• I discovered Apple Fritter Bread (ala Super Target).  It's amazing.  Now I want to create my own recipe for it -- and maybe other bread recipes based on treats from the doughnut store.

Oh, Homey!

Here's another holiday Trash Ties giveaway!  Visit Simple Mom to enter.  Tsh is giving away a gift basket of health & beauty items, including something called 'Soap Nuts' for your laundry.

Isaac's snowy Photoshop doodle reminds me I need to go snap a photo of Charlotte's new dollhouse in progress.  It's getting there -- slowly.  We had better step to it.  One more week till Christmas.

And here's a news spot on Trash Ties from Studio 5.  April from Sweet Life in the Valley put together a whole presentation on great Christmas gift ideas.  The Trash Ties section is about half-way through.  If you've ever wondered how tightly Trash Ties hold, watch the host's finger turn purple.

Hair, Hair, Hair, Merry Christmas!

Psst.  There's a Christmas Trash Ties™ giveaway taking place at Sweet Life in the Valley today. Read the post for how to enter.  It's a one-day thing & we're well into that one day -- but you may still have a shot at it if you hurry!

Red, Green & Golden Delicious

Wait a minute.  I haven't ever shown the apple pincushion that comes in the Fresh Picked Pincushions sewing pattern.  What's up with that?  The apple is certainly worthy of the pincushion parade that tromped through my blog last summer.

Look, here's a mob of spirited green apples having a parade of their own. Carrying their champion on their shoulders, they chant "Teacher oh so bright & lofty, here's an apple, sweet & softy," "Apple, Granny, sweet & tart, thanks for making me so smart," and "Macintosh, Gravenstein, Gra-nny Smith, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, fifth!"  Sounds like they're suggesting sewn apples as holiday teacher gifts this year.  I'm thinking I agree with the apples (though they could certainly use some slogan suggestions.)

Maybe something more scholastic:  "How many apples make a pi(e)? Three point one four -- one five!"

Oh my, there goes one rowdy fellow shouting, "Apples are red, apples are green, here's my gift, although you're mean."  What a rotten thing to say.

I could go on, but one more bad slogan might spoil the bunch.

The Princess and the Pie

What a wonderful week!  We didn't work at all, but played, played, cooked, ate & played some more.  My parents came over twice with their Canasta cards.  Dad & I make a formidable team.  My brother, Ryan, brought over Rock Band. I killed my first two songs, 'I'm So Sick" & "Psycho Killer." At least 'the band' told me so, but they might have just been wooing me to stick around.  Which I did, playing the guitar & the base guitar as well (I avoided the drums - those looked impossible).  There were movies mixed in and one trip to the gym with Rachel.  Turkey-roasting, pie-making, table-decorating, good-food-eating, nephew-squeezing.  A memorable Thanksgiving vacation.

I ended up skipping the tablecloth project for 5 more hours of playtime, but did have fun with the folding-chair covers.  I arranged leaves from disassembled fall garlands onto each chair back & stapled them (shh) to the copper slip covers.  The centerpiece is a large pile of the silk leaves, ready for raking. You can't see the leaf pile too well in my photos, but it was a fun touch. I'm nostalgic for leaf piles as I haven't had fall leaves in my yard since I was a young girl.  I used to splash them about and make a big mess of my parents' yard-keeping efforts.  We had some great backyards when I was little. One house had a stream in the backyard and a huge vegetable garden.  One had a ravine, a hammock in the trees, and wild daffodils.

I'm planning a trip to PA next spring.  I'm considering adding a couple of days onto the trip to explore my childhood neighborhoods there.  We lived in OH for a while too.

We're back in swing today.  The furniture is freshly re-arranged from the carpet incident, the house is clean, the refrigerator is full, and the air smells of cinnamon pine cones.  Though I'm in the thick of designing my next collections, we're excited to fully participate in the holidays this year.  Last year was a crazy, worky blur.  We're not doing that again.