The Quotation Collection

It has been almost a year since I put together my first pencil box. I'm still fine-tuning the details, but I would LOVE to get my own little home business up & running. Thank you, Susie, for commissioning one. Meet the first box in my new line: The Quotation Collection.

{Classy & Fabulous}

{“A girl should be two things: Classy and Fabulous.”--Coco Chanel}

May Flowers

These flowers bloom out of recycling toilet paper tubes & empty milk bottles. Our friends Avry & Nash joined us in our project.

You Will Need:

empty toilet paper tubes (1 per flower)
ruler
pencil
scissors
bamboo skewers
paint
paintbrush
tissue paper
green cardstock
empty single-serving milk jug (ours are from Chic-fil-A)

1. Draw a ring 2" in from the edge of the tube. Repeat on the other end. From each 2" ring draw cut lines every 1/2". Snip along each line to make petals.

2. Fold petals back to create flower. Paint flower, bamboo skewers & milk jug (the vase); let dry. Cut out green leaves to glue on to skewers.

3. Push the skewer through one end of the flower's center until it just touches the other end. Crumple an 8" square of tissue paper and place in the center.

4. Place flower into vase; fill vase with newspaper to stabilize flower if necessary.

{Abby, Lauren, Nash & Avry paint their flowers}

{Abby, Lauren & Avry pose with their May flowers in their vases}

Stick a Fork in it

Done. Done. Done. For five days we put every ounce of what we had into mulching our yard. This is our story.

Forward by Judy Cox

When I saw that delivery truck pull up to their driveway I thought, What in the Sam Hell? When the dump truck pulled away, there it was.... a heaping pile of mulch taller than a fifth grader. I thought she was crazy taking on a project like this on her own. But where there's a will, there's a way.

Day One

Up & at 'em early. I spread the 8 cubic feet of topsoil I had in the necessary areas. 11:30 am the mulch arrives. Driver warns it will pretty much cover the entire driveway. "That's okay," I tell him. "As long as I can get in and out of the garage." I could. The dump truck left and all that remained was a steaming pile of mulch that smelt just like manure. Ahhh, home. Even Uncle LeRoy wouldn't tackle that pile by himself, but I was going to give it my all. I hope to power through it in the next two days. Certainly I am going to have this done before the Earnshaws get here on Sunday!

Completed the entire Northeast side of the house, plus the two trees on that side and one in front. I'm a rock star! But it didn't even put a dent in that pile. Had to leave it there for the day and take Abby to gymnastics. We stopped at McDonald's for an ice cream cone first and I also grabbed a Sweet Tea & a cheeseburger. Yes, I was depleted.

Day Two

Abby had preschool, so the mulch was going to have to wait until the afternoon. Good idea, I thought. My body needs the rest.

Picked up Abby from preschool and made a last-minute decision to have lunch at the Waffle House. We had a coupon for a free waffle, and I could use all of the energy I could get. Our waitress was from Florida and when I told her why I needed a hearty meal she replied, "That's man's work. I don't touch that stuff." For once I concede I like the way those southerners operate. Nevertheless, I was ready to hit the pile.

With the girls' help I completed the remaining front portion of the house and the tree on the Southwest side. Why did I decide it would be a good idea to put newspaper underneath? Neighbors were called in for any available periodicals, as I obviously did not plan well enough. Geoff also brought home a stack of base papers. I learned quickly the Dayton Daily News is printed on the poorest quality in the variety I had been pulling from.

Geoff was supposed to make supper, but worked late. Ordered pizza, went back out. Ate, went back out. Worked until nearly dusk. Tired, but excited to be moving to the back yard tomorrow.

Day Three

Sore and no voice. Didn't get started in the yard until after lunch. Geoff came home after grabbing a sandwich at Subway. Yippee! Daddy took half a day to help with the mulch. Wrong. "Just coming home for a quick break. Looks good!" The encouragement was nice, but help would have been better. I tried to keep the girls away as much as possible. While I appreciated their assistance, the poor air quality and allergies were taking their toll on Abby, poor thing. They played and played. I'm glad they can keep themselves busy.

This will not be done before the Earnshaws arrive; I hope I can at least have it cleared enough so they have a place to park in the driveway. Probably not.

Finished about three quarters of the back of the house. Quit at 5 and took my shower. Geoff made supper. It was mediocre, but I didn't have to make it or clean up, so who cares?

Off to Pop the Cork Night with my new friend Susie and her book club. Drank a lot of wine, munched on yummy snacks, and enjoyed great conversation. My toenails got painted, but I neglected to tweeze my eyebrows; I wonder if anyone noticed.

Stayed out until after midnight. I so needed tonight.

Day Four

I slept in until Geoff's alarm went off. Finally I asked, "Will you please take off work and help me with the mulch?" I didn't want to ask, but it had to be done. He obviously wasn't going to take the initiative. He took the day off and I took Abby to preschool, then got groceries at the commissary.

After lunch we finished the remaining mulch around the house, got the two trees on that end, then moved on to the garden, and finally to the back fence line. It took a little while for us to get our groove, eventually we did.

Geoff went into the house and made supper. I was determined to work until dusk; I didn't make it that long. We finished the day tired and barely able to stand.

It's not looking good for the Earnshaws.

Day Five

Lightning, thunder and rain moved in in the middle of the night. It was raining when I woke up. No mulching today, I thought. I rested and read the paper, then make breakfast. After breakfast Geoff went back to the mulch. He was now emotionally involved and wanted to see it through as badly as I.

Folded clothes, picked up, made lunch, then went back to the mulch. And finished! Yippee!

Borrowed power washer from neighbors. Maybe we are dumb, but couldn't get it to hook up to our hose; of course the neighbor wasn't home to ask for help. Cleaned up garage, swept it out, then hosed down a patch of driveway for Earnshaws to park.


Epilogue

I don't know what made me think I could ever tackle fifteen cubic yards of mulch on my own. Even with Geoff's help it was a beast I never want to take on again. As the pile dwindled this afternoon I found it ironic that while the end was within reach there was less and less to stick our pitchfork into, making the phrase Stick a fork in it, it's done a bit of an absurdity. At any rate, even with no mulch pile left to do put it in, we can stick a fork in it, 'cause this project is done!

As for the Earnshaws, I hope the impending rain washes off the rest of the driveway!

Mulchified

Lauren wanted to play in the dirt. At first I found myself protective; not of Lauren, of my mulch pile. But then I decided, why not? What kid wouldn't see that pile of mulch with delight. And even better, it was a great way to keep her occupied while I worked tirelessly on the landscaping. We established a few ground rules then set her loose.

It wasn't long and Abby joined in. In the beginning they were just filling up the buckets and dumping them out in the pile's vicinity. But before long, on their own, they decided to pitch in and help Mommy.

My heart swelled with pride & gratitude with every bucket they packed. And trip after trip they kept coming back to cover the landscaping with me. Words cannot express what a help they really were. I just hope somewhere in their little bodies they find the energy for a repeat performance tomorrow. I've got the entire back yard still to do.

{Lauren & Abby add mulch around the plants}

{Filling up with another load}

Elephants in a Row

The circus is coming to Fairborn. For the few locals who knew, that meant lining up last night along the route between the railroad tracks where the train is parked & unloaded and The Nutter Center, where the big top goes up, to see the animal fanfare.

As we sat along Kaufman Drive I began to imagine lions, tigers, maybe even camels parading past.... would they be in boxcar cages? We really weren't sure what to expect, but in truth we were there to see the elephants. Abby LOVES elephants, and even suited up in her pink elephant jammies for the event.

It was over almost as soon as it began. Nine elephants, all lined up in a row, and a string of horses. The ferocious beasts were nowhere in sight, a bit of a bummer I'll admit. But we got to see the elephants.

I sat in the car when the event was over looking through my snapshots. As I marveled at the march of their trunk-to-tail parade Abby said, "Tell me about it again tomorrow. I'm falling asleep now." I have a feeling she'll remember the spectacular for the rest of her life!

Fright Night

Lauren's been awake for three hours now and has just worked up the courage to look at her Scooby-Doo coloring book. And here we go again with questions concerning "the enemy". I try not to laugh every time she says it. She never calls him the bad guy, but often refers to him also as the creepy man. Where does she get this stuff?!

With that, you can about guess how last night went. It was not good. Shortly after I climbed into bed her terrors began. Geoff, still doing work in his office, brought her in bed to snuggle with me which seemed to do the trick. Before going to bed himself he carted her purring little body, along with her trusty Rocket Blanket, into her own bed and for a couple of hours she slept fairly sound. But once again the crying started in. This time I snuggled up with her in her bed and soothed her back to sleep. Fortunately, her roommate is a heavy sleeper.

This morning she woke up crabby as ever. I'm sure some of that is attributed to an empty belly (we had a very light supper last night), but the bulk of it no doubt came from lack of a good night's sleep. She refused to be in her room alone this morning to get dressed, and she refuses to be downstairs alone now.

So here I am. I find myself learning from yet another mistake: no scary cartoons for Lauren before bedtime! She's watched Scooby-Doo on several occasions before and we've never had an issue. Either this time the concept finally sunk in or it was just bad timing; if I had to guess I'd say it was a little of both.

Coincidentally, our TV started randomly changing settings yesterday, and today it is still doing it. Is our house haunted? It's suspect.... I'm certainly not questioning it in front of Lauren!

Sleeping with the Enemy

Tonight the girls and I settled in to the family room with our supper in hand and Scooby-Doo on TV. Eating supper in front of the TV isn't something we often do, but with Daddy at work we decided to mix things up this evening. We had time to take in one episode before Funniest Home Videos started--"Scooby-Doo and a Mummy, Too!" When it was over we tuned in to ABC and for about half an hour we enjoyed show number two of the night.

That's when the questions started flowing out of Lauren about the emmy. I wasn't sure what she was talking about at first, and then like unraveling a mystery it all fit together.... the mummy=the enemy. It was one question after another, sometimes pausing to gather her thoughts. Why was the enemy wearing tape? Why was he chasing them? Why did he want the coin?

A few minutes into the inquiry she left our comfy couch and said, "I'll be right back. I have an enemy in my notebook." Sure enough she returned with a Scooby-Doo coloring book depicting scenes from the show we just watched.

Again the questions flowed. Finally, I suggested she could be a mummy for Halloween this year. "I don't want to be that. You be that," she insisted.

"Should I chase you?" I asked.

"You can chase Abby."

Tonight she's sleeping with her Scooby-Doo book. I just hope she doesn't have nightmares sleeping with the enemy.