Knit Devotion

I found this Etsy shop, Bela Brazilian Designs, when I was looking for 3 mother’s day gifts for my “moms”.  These are real flowers and they are gorgeous!  I couldn’t imagine the amount of work and time it goes into making one of these. Plus all the screw-ups that I would do just to make one.  I haven’t received the flowers yet but I am so excited about them.  Again I am just amazed at the people and their work on Etsy.  This couple is one of them. I plan on getting one of their designs once I sell some of my stuff!  Oh and be sure to check out their other stores also. They have one for little girls (what a great keepsake for your daughter or granddaughter). I plan on getting one of those for the Monster Girl.

Check them out! It’s amazing!

Well, with one more item crossed off my list (mother’s day presents).  Another one was crossed off today.  In case you don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook, (You know you really should Rockamababy on Twitter and Cheryl Colbath Drake on Facebook) I volunteer at my daughters school. I was over zealous last year when I decided to take on the Acceleratered Reader Store and Field Day.  Well, I also helped a friend doing the dances for the boys and the girls, and I let myself get talked into doing the Food for Basket Night.

Basket Night is our huge fund raiser for the PTA. We usually make over $19K when the night is over when all things are counted and subtracted.  With the ecomony being so bad, this year we were going to be happy with $10-13K.  We did over $16K.  Just amazing. I am fortunate to be a part of a great school with a wonderful set of parents. Lots of them are my friends and come to my aid when I ask.  (Thanks again women! I do love you!!!)  Well, that day (Basket Night) nearly killed me. Doing the Food for over 1500 people is more than I thought. Hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, chips and drinks. Keeping them all cold or hot, serving those people, having volunteers help me serve those people (about 40 wonderful people to do that) as well as keep vendors happy that come to serve ice cream, candy, cotton candy, snow cones, and fudge.  It was a wonderful night but so much work.

One item checked off!

Today was Field Day. It was again a great event. But lots of planning because we had a new set of PE teachers who wanted to do new games (can’t blame them).  What a learning curve for all of us. Yesterday 4 of my glorious friends and I popped 900 bags of popcorn so all the little kiddies could have  a snack after Field day.  3 hours in a concession stand with 2 commercial poppers going and 5 women talking….Man, it was hot and lots of work but it was fun just being with everyone.  Today went off really without a hitch.. We had a few hiccups but that is expected.  So many people said that it was the best time they have had and the games were great (most of them were teacher’s comments). We did a very wet theme. The kids loved it and were soaked by the end of the day. 

One more item checked off!

Now onto my last Accelerated Reader store. It’s all done except for a few last items I need to get and of course the volunteers.  I have a few weeks rest before I need to get to that.

Whew…now I just need time with my son. I haven’t been home much lately to be with him. Plus time to work on some new items for my store and my other one . One day I will be caught up….right? Nah!

Later

Yes, it’s time. Time to turn 40! Yesterday was my birthday and  yes I turned the BIG 40!  It’s a strange birthday. I don’t feel 40. In fact, I have never really thought of my age. Well, that’s not exactly true. When I was younger, before 21, I always thought about my age. Wanting to be older.  When 21 hit, I just never thought about it. I don’t even think about it when I look in the mirror.  To me 40 is just  another year.

Now my oldest sister will turn 50 in August.  She has been sending me birthday cards for the last month.  What I always tell her (and she never gets) is that I have 4 months to plan my revenge. That’s just the way I am.  We went to my nephew’s (her son) wedding a couple of weeks ago. It was beautiful and my sister has lost a ton of weight and looked fantastic.  When we were leaving this is the conversation we had…..

Sister: “So how do you feel about turning 40? I was devastated when I turned 40!”
Me: “Actually I don’t feel that bad. You know they say 40 is the new 30.” (said matter-of-factly)
Sister: “Then that means that 50 is the new 40!” (said sassy)
Me: “So how does it feel to turn 40 again?” (said sarcastically)
Sister:”You need to leave!”

And that’s the way I roll!!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Later

BTW…Wii Fit says I’m 31! I think that’s more like it!
 

Free your heart from hatred

Free your mind from worries

Live simply

Give more

Expect less

Enough said

Later

I had a thought the other night. Yeah, I know, that could be dangerous and no, the house didn’t burn down.   Things that I remember from growing up.  I don’t remember much. There are certain flashes or glimpses that I see in my mind’s eye.  Most of the memories though are from pictures.  My parents were always good about taking photos of the things we did. We had movies also, mostly of my older sisters, a few of my brother and I think one of me.
My mom a couple of years ago decided to go through the pictures and make not 1 but 5 scrapbooks for the 4 kids and herself.  This was a major task as there were so many pictures.  That Christmas was fun. Looking at the pictures and remembering how much fun we had as a family. And still do as a matter of fact.
Back to my original subject..things I remember.  Here is a list. It might not be all encompassing but it’s from the early years. The memories are in yellow. The explanations are in parenthesis.

1. A sheet with a cut out being laid over my face.  ( I had to have stitches in my eyebrow from falling off my bed in the middle of the night and hitting my brother’s bed.)

2. Christmas eve and my mom was trying to keep an ice pack on my nose.  (I was 2 1/2. I had tripped over something and hit the hearth with my face. I broke my nose but at that age you can’t do anything about it because your bones are still growing. My nose still pops when you press on it.

3. Opening the front door and getting run over by our big black full size poodle named Blackie. (Blackie loved to run the neighborhood any chance he got.  I couldn’t stop him because I was so little.)

4. The Christmas tree being so big.

5.  Playing tag with the neighbors kids. (This however lead me to being attached by a dog. I was the youngest of all the kids and always last or it. Easy target for tag or the dog, I wouldn’t let him in the bathroom because I thought he would be mad at me for getting hurt on his birthday. He wasn’t mad….Dads are so cool. Mom however was very upset!)

7.  The pain of torn ligaments in my ankle because I hit the bag too late. (When my jerk of a softball coach said slide you had to slide no matter if you were right on top of the bag or not. Hence, the torn ligaments in the ankle but I was safe)

8.  Sitting in the front door watching kids walk home from school.

9.  Being able to throw the football better than all the boys in the neighborhood.  (I was the only girl till I was 13.)

Most of my memories are of accidents. I wonder if there is something that happens with the brain when it goes through a trauma that imprints a memory more clearly than any other emotion.  There are other things I remember but they are more general, like feelings of joy or hurt, not specific events.  As you might have guessed I have had more than my fair share of accidents. The ones above don’t even scratch the surface on that side of me.  There is usually one specific period in time in an accident that I remember and then everything else is general feelings.  It’s very strange the way the brain works and not knowing how much of it we actually use is the scary part to me. If we were to use all of our brain capabilities, what would our world be like….for the good or destroyed?   All I can think is Terminator….
and on that note….

I’ll be back

(sorry had to!!)

Later

It’s been a while since I last posted. A little something called LIFE got in the way. Don’t you hate that when it happens?!
My DD is an amazing little girl who is smart beyond her years.  She’s quick, lively, beautiful and full of compassion and love.  What mother doesn’t say that about her daughter no matter what her age…right?!  Even with all these attributes, she was lacking.  There was something in her brain that just would not make the connection. Not from A to B or B to C but from C to D and on… I had just thought that her age was the problem, she would “grow out of it”. Over the last year it was getting worse. She has a fantastic teacher this year who has been very patient with her, redirected her back to her work, and showed her more care than anyone in the past.  We talked with her teacher and knew that it was time. 
My DD has classic ADD. She is smart and can do the work but she can’t sit to do the work. So she falls behind in school.  At home, she has to be timed to do anything. Otherwise she gets lost in her head, in her thoughts and forgets what she had to do.  At karate, she’s uncoordinated.  She can do two of the steps but when it comes to the third and fourth, she can’t complete it. In the car, it’s a constant stream of thought coming out of her mouth.  Her brain can’t tell her to shut it off and think it to herself.  It’s very frustrating for her and for me.  It feels like a constant battle between us.
That’s where the medication comes in and what a difference it makes in her and in me.  Just a side note: my family is not one to run off and take drugs for every little thing that goes wrong.  When we get a cold, we let our immune system fight it off.  If I get a simple headache, I drink water to cure it.  It’s know that when you get a headache, it’s your body telling you it’s dehydrated.  But if medication will help her, we were all for it. 
So now to the good news. We have our same quick, lively, beautiful, full of compassion and love daughter but she can complete tasks that you give her.  She’s not all over the place, she’s coordinated, and she can get dressed in a normal amount of time. We have conversations in the car. She can tell me what she did at school.  She even won an achievement award for demonstrating good work habits, enthusiastic attitudes, and a cooperative spirit.  Way to go sweetheart!
It’s even made a difference in my attitude.  She loves crafts (like me). I now let her craft before she goes to bed. Before medication, I would not let this happen because I knew it would be a 45 minute fight to get her to clean up. Now, all that comes out of my mouth is YES! Because I know that when I tell her she has 5 more minutes and when that time is up, she’s says ok and puts her things away.  No fights, no whining, no crying.
I am amazed and so happy. She’s happy. 
To a new world…..

Later

I think now is the time to let her have her pink streaks in her hair! She deserves it!!!

I have decided that my kids have rubber necks. The way they sleep in the car makes my neck hurt.  I have been trying to think of something for the car that would help them be more comfortable when they fall asleep.  I had a lot of designs. They had function but not cuteness. I found this pattern and thought..this is it!  And the Travel Neck pillow was born.  I did a few design changes for younger children and made it more comfortable.  I get a big high five from my kids! They love theirs (can you tell?)

I have two more designs, a lion and a monkey. If you can’t tell, the pictures are of a cat and a dog.
I embroidered the eyes so there would not be anything hard against their heads or have anything to chew on (for younger children). The nose on the cat is leather instead of fleece. I thought it looked better and gave it a little different look.  I’m thinking of doing something different with the stuffing, maybe finding those little pills that feel so good in the fom pillows.  I have some searching to do!

Later

P.S.  you can find these on my website Rocka-ma-baby . They also can be monogrammed with a name or initials. Just ask!

If you have never seen a night launch, they are spectacular.  This is the view from my house. We are about 40 minutes from Canaveral. So our view is quite beautiful once the shuttle is over our trees. Last night launch there was a full moon. Before the shuttle was over the trees, you couldn’t tell the moon halo from the shuttle’s halo. It was too cool. No doubt any night launch is cool!

        
In the 2nd photo, the two lights together are the booster rockets that deploy right before the shuttle gets out of the atmosphere. The light by itself is the shuttle.  It’s even better in person. You can watch the shuttle for a while before it completely disappears. 

If you don’t know, The government is putting a halt to the Shuttle program. What I understand is they want to upgrade the shuttles, which they have been talking about for a while. It’s just sad to see them go away even though they do need to, they are old and worn out.  I grew up with them, I grew up with the space program in Alabama. I even went to two schools named after astronauts (Roger Chaffee and Virgil Grissom). Like I said it’s a sad day to see them go. I’m sure the next generation will be even better but until then I look at what the space program has done and what I have seen. It is truly amazing.

Later

Wow what a quiz we have in History of Magic…

Here we go…

How many fields of magic are there? Name them.

There are 10 fields of magic..arithmancy, charms, the dark arts, divination, herbology, legilimency, medical magic, occlumency, potions, and transfiguration.

There are how many types of Magical People are there? Name them.

There are 7 types of Magical People. They are animagus, arithmancer, legilimens, metamorphmagus, occlumens, parselmouth,  and seer.

How many categories of Magic are there? Name them.

There are 4 categories of Magic. They are movement magic, vanishing magic, offensive/defensive magic, and curses, hexes and jinxes.

Give the full name of the four witches and wizards who founded Hogwarts.

Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin

Only 3 people are recorded as having passed their O.W.L.s in History of Magic. Who are they?

Hermoine, Bill and Percy Weasley

In
the books, who is the current Professor for this subject, and why is
this Professor different from the other Professors at Hogwarts?

The ghost of Professor Cuthbert Binns.According to Hogwarts folklore, Professor Binns has failed to notice
that he is dead: He simply got up from his chair in the staff-room one
morning and left his body behind.

Magic is more than anything else …. what?

Magic is more than anything else intention made reality

In what decade did Voldemart begin his first rise to power? In the 1970′s
When did Harry defeat Voldemart? First time..October 31 1981, second time..1998
In what year did he begin his second rise to power? 1990

For extra points:

Name where each of the founders of Hogwarts was born, according to the Sorting Hat.

According to the Sorting Hat,
Gryffindor came “from wild moor,”
Hufflepuff came “from valley broad,”
Slytherin came “from the fen,”
Ravenclaw came “from glen.”

Which of the founders is thought to have come up with the ever-changing floor plan?

Ravenclaw

What a great quiz. Thanks professor.

Curlatrix Black
Slytherin House

We have a little quiz for Defense of the Dark Arts. Here we go….(my answers are in red)

1. Who is the author of the books prescribed for Defence against the Dark Arts? a. Newt Scamander b. Adalbert Waffling c. Bathilda Bagshot d. Quentin Trimble

2. When conjuring a Patronus, the user is supposed to produce what type of thought? a. Happy b. Powerful c. Sad d. Funny

3. Who was the teacher of Defence against the Dark Arts in Tom Riddle’s time? a. Albus Dumbledore b. Armando Dippet c. Galatea Merrythought d. Phineas Nigellus Black

4. Which Defence against the Dark Arts teacher is an accomplished Occlumens? a. Alastor Moody b. Dolores Umbridge c. Severus Snape d. Remus Lupin

5. Which of these spells is the Full Body-bind Curse? a. Impedimenta b. Petrificus Totalus c. Incarcerous d. Impervious

6. Lord Voldemort used Avada Kedavra on Harry Potter in the Little Hangleton graveyard. But another spell used by Harry at the same time caused the Priori Incantatem effect. Which spell did Harry use? a. Accio b. Expelliarmus c. Levicorpus d. Crucio

7. Which of the following can the Unforgivable Curse not do? a. Kill someone b. Cause terrible pain c. Make parts of the body fall off d. Become controlled by someone

8. Which kind of people are known to use Unforgivable Curses very commonly? a. Members of the Order of the Phoenix b. Death Eaters c. Dementors d. Dumbledore’s Army

9. One of the Horcruxes was a ring. Whom did the ring belong to? a. Albus Dumbledore b. Marvolo Gaunt c. Salazar Slytherin d. Godric Gryffindor

10. The creation of a Horcrux requires: a. Injuring someone b. Stealing c. Killing someone d. Using Cruciatus Curse on someone

Extra Credit:
Name the 3 Unforgiveable Curses. Describe how to cast each and the effects of each curse. Why are they unforgiveable and what will happen to the person who cast them?

The three unforgiveable curses are  The Cruciatus Curse, The Killing Curse, and The Imperius Curse. The Killing Curse is invoked by saying “Avada Kedavra”. This instantly kills the person it hits.  This is illegal in any community.  The Imperius Curse is invoked by saying, “Imperio.”  This curse puts the person under the total control of the instigater in that they have no free will.  Everyone should have free will no matter their beliefs.  The Cruciatus Curse is invoked by saying, “Crucio.” This curse puts the person is excruciating pain and that person usually dies because of it. Torture is wrong in every situation. It is noted that to perform the Unforgivable Curses, the caster must “mean it”. This means that they need to want the effects a fair amount for the effects to last.  Any person who casts an unforgiveable curse will spend a lifetime in Azkaban.

Later

Curlatrix Black Slytherin House

RIP Juanita Mackey….We love you!

Write an essay about your broom.

Here’s what I had to say about that.  Sleek and sweet!