meet mini's friends...

when your children are little, you know everything there is to know 'bout their friends. but when they are in high school, it's harder to keep 'em all straight...'specially mini's friends - they seem to have names that are similiar (lilly, lila, lola, lizzy), are all long 'n lean and have the same hair-do. i recently asked her to snap their faces for me so i could keep 'em straight (the bodysnatcher part o' her tends to get annoyed when i mix 'em up as she tells me more about each than any mother wants to know).

this is the batch she returned with. i am not sure whether to be frustrated by her sense o' humor or delighted with her creativity.

flowers to brighten your day

if you're anything like me, i'm sure you could use a break from all the news o' the day...so i went outside a snapped a few pictures o' some pretty things for you. hope they take your mind off it all, if only for a few seconds.

coco 'n tink's new collars

we discovered the place where tink n' coco were bein' groomed spent less time on the groomin' and way too much time keepin' the lil girls in cages. tink would return so mad at me for allowin' someone to treat her in this less than royal way that she wouldn't even look at me for two days. it took us a while to find them a new beauty parlor but finally they have a new hairdresser and standin' appointments so that they remain clean n' fluffy.

the new dog beautifier told me that the reason their floof was always a bit tangled was because their lovely canine couture wasn't lined in satin....that if i'd line up all their doggy duds in the silky stuff they would remain tangle free between appointments. this made perfect sense to me but i have never had the time to tailor their togs to accommodate the detanglin'. in the meantime they have remained neeked and in my opinion, in need of a lil accessorizin'. i have searched for collars that were special enough for them to don to no avail. i even tried puttin' some lil doo dad on their heads but coco immediately removes hers and then rips out tink's.

finally, i figured out the perfect solution....a collar full o' momade blooms, complete with a lil ring on it - to attach a leash! this picture is of tink, modelin' (n' nappin') the first one i made. she 'n coco look so pretty on our walks that everyone we pass has to stop to ask about their collars. i'm thinkin' about not buyin' that satin for now...i may even have to do some up for others who desire fancy tanglefree duds for their dogs.

how to make a t-shirt flower

so many o' you have asked for help in makin' flowers from your own leftover bits 'n pieces that i thought i'd try explainin' the easiest ones ever....the ones i make outta old t-shirts. they're so easy that though i make 'em all the time, i never even considered includin' them in the directions i have been puttin' together. i often forget that sometimes the simplest thing is best to start with - it makes you feel so successful you are more tempted to tackle the more difficult.

all you need for these sweet flowers is any old t-shirt - the softer the better - some scissors, patterns for your circles - or the ability to draw somethin' close to a circle - and a needle and thread.

the flowers can be any size but it's better to start small and then make bigger ones once you have your technique down. just lay your circle pattern on the old t-shirt 'n cut out a circle and then one slightly smaller and then one slightly smaller than that one and keep doing this until you feel you can't go any smaller (if you email me at mojackson at mac dot com i'll send you some circles to get you started).

stack your t-shirt circles in a pile with the largest on the bottom and then stitch a big X smack dab in the middle.

you can stop here if you want but if you want yours to be fluffier, slice into the stitched stack about every half inch or closer. to fluff 'em up, just rub your hand over the top real fast....or if you are real darin', just dampen your bloom slightly and pitch it in the dryer for five minutes or so....when you take it out it will be oh so fluffy and fabulous.

once you are done you can tack on somethin' green as a leaf - some ribbon or any fabric cut in any shape to resemble a leaf. if you so desire, you can stitch a tad o' yellow or a button in the middle.

now...what should you do with your fabulous flowers? hot glue it on a barrette or safety pin....or make a big batch 'n string 'em together for a garland...stitch a few onto your bodysnatchers shirt (if stitched together well they'll look bloomier after each cycle!)...the possiblities for these momade blooms are endless! and be sure to let your little ones make some too...it's a perfect way to introduce the joys o' stitchin' to them.

floods 'n flowers

the day after my last april blog i once again damaged my old broken back. i had the pretty white day bed moved outta mini's 'playroom' and in it's place two floofy poofy white denim shabby chic custom made couches. this was in response to mini's desire to turn the playroom she took over at 16 months old into more of a space for someone her age. i saw it as changin' a charmin' room created for adorable and adored little children to play innocently into a place where body snatchers could study 'n snack and probably sulk 'n sneer and dependin' on who is supervisin', maybe even snuggle 'n smooch.

the next mornin' i went back to admire my redecoratin' only to discover a disaster...there was water everywhere and in the center o' the ceilin', a huge sorta bubble thing - a circle about 6 feet around. i walked over and stood right below it - lookin' up to try and understand what was happenin' and at that very moment - as if it had been carefully planned - that big bubble in the ceilin' burst and anything that hadn't been wet, includin' me, was drenched. along with the water came big chunks o' plaster. since the ceilin' continued to drip from just about every spot, i headed out to find those big rubbermaid bins we use to store stuff in and did my best to position 'em where they'd collect the most o' the drips. i then gathered all the old towels i could find and started soppin' up all the water. before headin' up to the attic to see what was causin' this latest calamity, i plopped down on a couch to rest a spell and then discovered one o' those things that are both good and bad. the good - seems the couches had soaked up most o' the water and this was the reason the damage wasn't much worse....the bad....the couches had soaked up most o' the water and were now just two big soggy not-so-white shabby not-so-chic sponges. it was when i tried to yank myself outta the big ol' shabby sponge that i realized i had hurt my back sometime durin' all my frantic action.

the cause o' the perilous indoor precipitation: seems the guys we have been payin' to come four times a year to maintain the air conditioners weren't doin' what they were supposed to and somethin' they shoulda' been cleanin' out each time appeared to have NEVER cleaned and therefore created the flood.

and this my friends, is the reason for my recent bloggin' hiatus and why i haven't yet fullfilled my promise to blog up some o' the blooms that grew outta my last adventure in puttin' on the rit. but here is a pile o' flowers, created while i once again spent too much time on the mend. i miss the blogdom durin' the times my calamities keep me away and do so appreciate that you never give up on me. i have promised my family i would try to be more careful but i probably won't...just know nothin' can keep me away for too long.

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happy birthday dear michael

yes...it's that time o' year again...june 17th...when i celebrate the birth of my dear brother way back on the same day i turned three. as i have blogged on this day previously, i was told he was my birthday present and i have adored him ever since.

so has everyone else who has ever met him. of course...how can you not fall in love with a blonde curly haired melt your heart toddler who grew into an adventurous boy - some days saddlin' up our horse dixie for his transport to school and other days pilotin' the same route via unicycle - school books tucked under one arm while wavin' at all his drive-by fans with the other...a handsome teenager and breaker of many girl's hearts, the only reprieve from their pain the few hours he played a starrin' role under friday night lights...a hard-workin' young man and then a loving father - early enough to beat everyone else in earnin' the title of grandparent to many lil boys who - like everyone else - adore him.

he and queenie - my much older sister - are in and out of my thoughts throughout each of my days and while i hate bein' so very far away from them, i am always comforted in knowin' that though i drive them crazy, both would fulfill just about any request i made of them.

happy happy birthday michael! it will be a huge sacrifice to my impeccable dietary standards, but in your honor i'm gonna eat a coupla' extra pieces o' my mini-made coconut birthday cake.