Focusing on Life: Take Time Your Yourself (3/52 Photos)

This one may be the hardest yet. I have three kids and a husband. I do not get alone time. I try to bead something every night. It does not always work out that way. Usually when I sit down I am to exhausted to do anything. Or I am in a creative slump. So to grab time to relax is very hard to do. So as I sit down to start this blog post I am whirring ideas around in my head to see what I can actually accomplish.


So here I am Saturday Morning and have not had the time to slow down and take time for myself. The top post was started earlier in this week. Yesterday I had to run Mark to the ER, he has gout in his left foot. Then it was off to take my daughter, Mya to her first therapy session. Came home and rounded the family up for dinner and dishes, laundry, and then of to bed not one, not two but three times for the boys. By the end of the day, I was to tired to do anything and had lost my light.. I did make two set of earrings, photographed one in the bad lighting of my studio. 

These will be rephotographed and added to my etsy later. So on to what I will do for myself today. I will get my house cleaned, we have company coming tomorrow, And I will clean my studio. I shall be back with a followup post that will show what I actually did.

Goodbye 2012!!

2012 has been a bittersweet year for myself and my family. We started the year off  with the birth of our son Timothy. He weighed in at 8 pounds and 2 ounces.

Timothy Brayden 1/6/2012

I  cannot believe that in a few days My little baby will be 1. We are planning a small party with family and close friends. If it is not to cold we will have it at a local park. Below is a photo of Mason kissing Baby Timothy.

This past year we also lost two of our beloved pets. I miss them so much, I am holding back the tears as I plow through the photos of these fur babies. First is our cat, Angel. My daughter received this cat when a girl knocked on our door and said her parents told her to get rid of the kitten, or they will kill her. I took the kitten. Mya named her Angel for her white fur reminded her a Angel wings. Mya was 5 at the time.

Angel laying in a box.

She was chased away by my in-laws dog. We could not find her in the woods, So I know she hid well and is smart enough to survive outside on her own. But we do miss her dearly.  Next my dog Bandit, he was  a horrible babysitter, but a wonderful friend. He was a loyal little guy.

Bandit, doing his best to beg for something.

Bandit would take any type of food you offered him, If he did not like it, he would hide it under his bed, or in the laundry basket. He loved Mason so much. Sadly Bandit was killed my the same dog that chased Angel away.

We are saving up to get Bandits son from my mom, He is a shaggy little guy that looks just like my Bandit. But it may be a while until we can pay for his shots and pet deposits.

I have been lucky enough to befriended many people this past year. Two that hold a special place in my heart is Lori Anderson and Patti Vanderbloemen. These two ladies have helped me out in many ways. I love them dearly. I was scared to death to ask Lori to do a bead swap with me. I see these women as Celebrities. She agrees and sent me some beautiful beads, I admit mine were not quite up to par. Patti has sent me beads, and books, and tools.

I actually have had many women gift me parts of their bead stash. I  threw out most of my old beads and cleaned out my plastic bead trays to hold these beautiful gifts. I still have a few empty trays. :)

I was also lucky enough to join the BSBP in 2012. Among other smaller and just as exciting bead swaps. I also signed for a  few "Pay It Forwards" I have about six more months to send mine out. :)
Below is what I received from those that I signed up for.

Another beautiful soul I have met this year is Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp. She has battled a  personal illness. And is in recovery. I love Marie to pieces. She is a kind soul that will do all she can to make everyone else smile. Lorelei Eutro is another splendid soul. She is an amazing designer and full of life. Unfortunately I have not met any of these women in person. But maybe I can in the future. 

I have also been lucky in contests this year. The first one I won was from Feng Beads, A beautiful string of handmade fraggle and spacer beads. From Marla James and Melinda Orr, I won a bracelet, I won a pair of books from Katie Hacker, The E-book from Lori Anderson, entitled "Follow the Path". 


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My Bead Table Blog Hop - Pine Ridge Treasures

I was lucky enough to have met Lisa about a year ago on a bead swap hosted by Lori Anderson. I befriended her and was lucky enough to have been one of the girls in her "Bead Table Blog Hop". I do not believe I took before photos, of just the beads.

Handmade jump rings and clasps.

 I slowely made items over the past few months. Between teenage drama, baby needs and a husband.. Not to mention general life getting in the way. I mostly created earrings. They are easy to whip up and can be done standing at the counter cooking meals.

Galvanized steel frame  with gold craftwire.

I am trying to make as much as possiable. But my muse is down in the depression dumps. Things will turn around and once they do, I will have more to post. Lisa sent me a beautiful mix of earthy tones, and the ceramic-stone type beads. They are a beautiful rich brown. I hope you have enjoyed my few designs.

Handemade paddle headpins and earwires.

Thank you Lisa for hosting the blog hop. I really enjoyed it!!

Weekend Recap

It is Monday and I wish the weekend could have lasted a little longer. We have a eventful and busy one. Saturday we went to see marks father and did some back to school shopping for my daughter. She is going into 7th grade. I am very surprised that she passed 6th grade. She had a very hard year emotionally and mentally. I will blog about that some other time.

Mya Nicole and Timothy Brayden

She is my little artist. She loves to draw anime. She is at that long stage of being uncomfortable in her skin. She is by far a girly-girl.  And shopping for her was not easy. I got her one southpole shirt from the mens section. Two other shirts were black and gray. and the one I loved the most was shaped like a poncho. We also got Mason some clothes, He is in 3T already! He is a chunk.. We got Timothy superman onsie/pants and a romper.

I read in a book that a one year old should be able to make a tower four blocks high.  I was curious how high Mason could build. Unfortunately he didn't have any blocks. So we fixed that.:)

Timothy and the blocks

I had a hard time getting Mason to sit with us and play. After a little coaxing he joined us. Along with trying to eat the blocks. He finally started to stack the blocks. I was so happy. :)

Seven blocks high!!

I was equally happy when he stacked seven blocks. It fell over but we both were so happy.
Tomorrow I will blog about his new big (BIG) boy bed..

Love Of A Child

I am a mother of three, my oldest is 13 and my youngest is 5 months today. I do not think I could live if something happened to my children.

Mason Zane born Oct 12, 2010

I do know how hard being a teen mother is, I had my daughter in my late teens. Its a struggle and you can feel alone. I suffered PDD  when I had Mason. I don't know why. But It was a dark time and I felt so alone. It faded and I never once had a thought to harm my child.  I have read stories online the past few months that infuriate me.

A young mother got high and left her 5 week old child in his car seat on the top of her car. She drove away with out noticing the missing child in the back seat. Her baby was discovered hours later in the road.  This report made me mad.

Mya Nicole (13) swimming at Grandmothers

I have also read that a 22 year old mother killed her child for crying while she was playing Farmville... Another mother let a professor she met online rape her 5 month old daughter while she watched. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!

Mya Nicole (11) and Mason (3mo)

The worse was last night. I have heard about this video and wanted to dismiss it as a rumor. Mya came out of her room last night hysterically crying. She watched a mother beat her 8 month old baby, while being recorded and others stood around and watched. I watched this video while I held Timothy. It made me physically sick. This woman beat her baby with a pillow, tried to break her arm and leg, pulled her hair, and slapped her in the face/head. This poor soul crawled to this woman and wanted comfort. She shoved her away and continued to beat her.

Timothy Brayden born Jan 6, 2012

I cried and hung on to Timothy, and prayed for this baby.



I did not sleep last night, I kept seeing this poor baby being abused, and wondered if she was still alive. These women do not deserve to be mothers. The love of a child is something sacred. I know someone who is struggling to have a baby. And she would be a wonderful mother. Instead innocent souls get born to monsters.

Mason Zane (18 mo) and Timothy Brayden (4 mo) Easter 2012

Randomness

I am a very happy girl right now. My husband bought me a 19 inch flat screen tv, to use as my computer screen. My laptop screen is broken. I love my laptop. It is where my pictures are kept. I am getting use to the small print on this new screen.

In other news we are moving in to a apartment and I am super excited. The boys will have to share a room for a while. But Nicole will get her own room. Things are getting stressed living with his mom and step-dad.

 Timothy is a month old now, I cannot believe that I have two kids still in diapers. I decided to try the Nuva Ring this time. I am not entirely sure how long it has to be in your body to start working, I am *hoping* it works right away. If not their is a *BIG* change we will be expecting baby number 4 in the fall. I do not want three babies in diapers.

My wonderful daughter, Nicole, has told me I will have one more baby and it will finally be a girl. I sure hope she is not right. She told me when I was pregnant with Mason that we would have another baby, and I found out I was pregnant six months later.

I am planning a giveaway of most of my Cousin charms. I sat down with my bin and emptied it out keeping some and putting what I had doubles and triples of in a bag. I will pick four winners, If anybody enters.  I should have that blog up tomorrow. I am aslo planning a bead give away with a black glass bead. I bought a strand offline and they are big beads. I have no idea how you  would use this, and am curious to see how others would use it.  That blog will be after I move in to my apartment.