sunday night

snow snow snow snow snow. the boys went skiing today and della and i stayed home and finished lots of projects that we had started over the break. a big christmas package will head to georgia this week. never in my life have i been this ahead of myself. knock wood. right now i am feeling so relaxed that i can't even get up to go get my camera to upload pics for you. i can't even use capitols. i'll show pics tomorrow.

never underestimate the beauty of the muffled silence of snow

that's a little poem from me to you.

bonne nuit.

Cool Craft #2

I love pom poms. Who doesn't. They aren't super Christmas-y, but they are quite festive. I will mingle them with colored lights in the entrance hall. Go here for the tutorial on how to make them.

Quote

I must say that Max has a certain 'star' quality.

"Making the decision to have a child – it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

did you know...

Last night the Patton house was abuzz with children. Cousins plus neighbors plus the Pattons. And the Patton house isn't very big. Both fires were lit. Alton Brown's mac and cheese was in the oven.  Daddy had whole wheat chocolate pecan cookies going in the mixer. And the movies were waiting by the TV. But alas, the first choice movie was scratched. Drat. But Sophia, my niece, had a solution. And after my second glass of wine it sounded like a great idea.

"You wash them in the toilet." she said.

"You do, do you?" said me.

"Uh huh. You squirt in some dish soap, drop in the DVD and then flush it."

"And that works?"

"Yep." she said

Max looked at me skeptically. He knows me well. He didn't think I'd be buying that one.

"Can we try it, Mom?" he ventured.

"Sure. Why not."

Because eight kids crammed in my bathroom flushing DVD's down the john is better than eight kids running wild all over the house. AND the kid in me knows that it's a pretty awesome thing to do on a Friday night. They set up an assembly line and washed our entire DVD collection...and the ones we had checked out from the library, too.

Did it work? Did Edward Scissorhands come clean?

Not telling.

Let your kids figure it out.

They'll think you're off your rocker for suggesting it.

Happy Weekend.

happy birthday

Navajo Lake

On 'the daily'...Colorado River...Moab

My sweetheart had a birthday this week. I run hot and cold about writing about him for some reason. I guess because it seems so very personal to me. (I've pretty much already said it all in this post.) But we had a funny little exchange in the hotel this past weekend that made me laugh, and reminded me for the gazillioneth time why I'm so crazy about him.

He is so kind. He has a way of making strangers feel special. He notices what someone needs and he does it.

We were in the lobby eating breakfast this weekend and he was making one of those waffles that they offer these days. A VERY old man hobbled up and was looking at the breakfast spread with utter confusion. Matt said good morning to him and announced that he was making himself a waffle.

"They're pretty good. I'll make you one, too."

And he did. And he joked and they laughed and he put the old man at ease. The man sat down, and when his wife arrived he announced that this kind young man was making his breakfast. Of course, Matt got hers going too.

The waffle maker, at this point, went a little bezerk. It started beeping loudly.

Old people get flustered at funny things and the wife started shouting.

"Mr. Waffle Man! Mr. Waffle Man!"

Mr. Waffle Man quickly fixed the situation and delivered her hot waffle. Matt chatted with them while they ate and told them that we were there for a big soccer tournament. They had noticed all the families and the soccer uniforms. "You must be a coach." they said.

"No, My son is a player. I'm just a parent." he replied.

And then she said it.

"But you're too young to be a parent!"

Matt was loving it. "You heard her, didn't you?" he said.

"Yes, dear, I heard her."

We got on the elevator to go back to the room.

"Is there any cure for advanced glaucoma?" I asked.

Because sometimes it's fun to be evil.

Her vision was fine, actually. Matt does look young. And he is sweet. And, of course, now he is Mr. Waffle Man.

Happy 46  Love.

Lewis, Matt, and Max in Malibu.

weekend in review

We went to the Gaylord Sheppard Soccer Tournament in Albuquerque. Lost all 3 games, but Max scored a goal and we all had fun.

Went to Trader Joe's to stock up on cool packaging and cheap wine. Worth the trip!

Went to REI for the first time in my life. Not sure why we go to an 'outdoor' store when we go to the big city, as that is the only type of store that we DO have in Durango.... creatures of habit, I guess.

Ate at this very fun and festive restaurant in Bernalillo. Highly recommend!

Bought some of these.

It's nice to get away, if even for a night, and be reminded of the joys of a big(ger) city. Albuquerque almost feels foreign, with it's Mexican flair.

Note to self, go more often.

the rainbow room

I have not forgotten about the photos I promised of Della's room redo. I really haven't. The truth is, I am so thoroughly put out with my picture taking ability that I could just scream. Why can't I take a decent photo? Why does it always look like a dank fog has just blown in off the North Sea? I know that I can blame part of it on my camera. I had a better one and it was in my purse and salad dressing got deep into its bowels and ruined it. So there's that. But in general I'm a lousy picture taker (I'm even scared to use the word photographer) and I have a hard time retaining concepts like aperture or whatever. I need a camera that does it all for me. This one. Because 'photographer' is not on life's to do list.

I've taken the 'long way round' to sharing some crappy photos of Della's room, haven't I? I LOVE this room. You can see it from the kitchen table and it literally GLOWS! It was an awful little storage room before with ripped up linoleum and a gnarly paint job, poor child. I found a carpet remnant from our old trailer (sounds glamorous!?)  and carpeted for the sake of warmth and playability. And then I went a bit haywire on the painting. Bearing in mind, that 'subtle' is not often in my vocab, here you go. Fog and all .


I did have the presence of mind to leave two walls neutral so my sweet girl won't go insane and fling herself off the rainbow bridge. My two favorite pillows in the world are on that bed...a needlepoint Taurus bull that came from my great aunt Wyche and my ultimate thrift score..."viva mexico" in 
Bargello cross stitch.

A few more 'favorites' are the hand knit turtle stool from Firefly and the lamp with children climbing all over it that I got for Christmas one year in highschool. Daddy made the shelves. That's a portrait I did of our favorite cat growing up, but it will be replaced one day by a flamenco dancer on black velvet in a gilt frame. (I saw it and it slipped through my fingers at the thrift store....it will add the right edge) I do not like the duvet cover, it's too matchy, but it's what we had and will do until the proper one presents itself.

This is another personal favorite. This sign has hung on her door for most of her life. Lewis made it at around age 4 and it says...... for those of you with limited kid speak abilities.... 'weapon girl'. Because we are a peace loving group of folks.


And check this out. This is my mom, as a little girl. I love the outfit and the muff and her sturdy little legs in those white socks and the sweet bangs. Who does it remind you of? Yes, just a little!!?!

So there is the redo in a nutshell. The final touch will be a canopy from the ceiling over the top of her bed. To keep the fog out. Happy weekend ya'll!

first snow. yikes.

A Laura Driver Lantern hanging on the front porch...so pretty with the snow!

Good Morning! It's snowing! And the mad dash begins! Della is asking for her Little House book  with the recipe for sugar and molasses snow candy. Max has had his ski suit out for weeks and thankfully Lewis and Della's are in the closet...not buried somewhere in the garage. Hats, gloves, scarves, shells, smart wools, boots, long underwear, and on and on and on. Add ski gear and sleds and two sets for each kid, for when the first set is soaked or muddy, and you have a recipe for mild hysteria, a swimming pool in the entrance hall, and a constant set of something drying by the woodstove. I had sort of forgotten. I remember now and we're only about thirty minutes into the whole thing.

 Give me my Bogs and a down jacket over my pajamas and I can make it all happen. But just barely.

All sweet Lewis wanted to do is go pee in the snow. His urgency was compounded by too many zippers, but he made it! Oh, to be eight!

We had leftover pizza and hot cocoa for breakfast and Daddy got them all to school on time. I think I'll attempt to organize winter stuff today.............happy first snow, friends!

P.S. Aren't I lucky to have a sweet sister, who will graciously point out to me and the world wide web that "my knees are falling"!! I don't even know what that means! Thanx Nan! :)

Wow!

Good art inspires me. I, myself, am drawn to creations that are almost other worldly. The stuff where you think to yourself.... how did he DO that, how did he even THINK to do that, how did he even decide that it was HUMANLY POSSIBLE?!? This definitely falls into that category.

I also love small things. I have a 'small thing' collection. Remind me to share it with you one day. I would love to have one of these in my 'small thing' collection. Eeee Gad.

As Della would say, is this for weals?

His name is Dalton Ghetti and he is a carpenter by trade. He uses a razor blade and a needle and good light to create these. To see more go here!

sunday night

the smell of chicken and dumplings
a fire blazing in the wood stove
tired kids
a long fall weekend filled with great friends and lots of laughs...the kind where your face hurts
relatively prepared for monday

hope you all had a good one

the not sick, sick child

My children are pretty good about claiming their space. Every now and again they will feign illness when they are actually perfectly fine and just in need of some momma time and some personal pampering. If at all possible, I go with it. We spend a quiet day at home 'pretending' to be under the weather. I will fluff the pillows and prop them up in bed and bring them a good book. The cat is usually a willing participant and will loll all over the 'sick' child and purr when necessary.

Yesterday was Lew's day.

Breakfast arrived on a tray. Eggs, toast, and home made apple butter. Have I ever mentioned that I believe that a tray alone has healing qualities? I do.

what a lousy picture...santa, i want a camera!

He loves comic books and read Peanuts in bed all morning. He would call me in to ask questions about Charlie Brown and Snoopy and the gang. I answered them... Charlie Brown was just always down on his luck, no Peppermint Patty was not a boy, and I'm not sure why Marcie called her 'sir', and Lucy is pretty much just a bitch....

He had a warm bath with candles and we even turned on the heater in the bathroom to make it extra cozy. He had mint tea with honey. We built a fire in the bedroom. We played Monopoly. We had sick soup. Go here for the recipe.

And the cat enthusiastically cooperated.

I love my Lewis! Be well!

I love my girl friends

I have a scheduled post for tomorrow, so I'm slipping in here tonight to say thank you to all you beautiful women out there with your lovely thoughts and words of encouragement on my dilemma of the previous post. You all rock and I am so grateful for my sweet friends!

The (Fashion) Fit

the bracelets make the look...from the sartorialist!

I'm generally a glass half full kind of gal, but on Sunday I dumped that glass out and had a full blown fit. I was getting dressed for church and was suddenly, utterly, overcome with anger and frustration.

I'm going to stop right there and say that I have NEVER admitted anything along those lines and it feels very weird.

Anyway. I  got angry. It, initially, all stemmed from my wardrobe and I figured that that was as good a place as any to start. I looked in my closet and it all disgusted me. It was an awful hodgepodge of hand me downs and thrift store and just plain old crap. I filled two huge garbage bags and felt better. As I did it I realized that it's been WAY too long since I've taken care of myself in any meaningful way. I thought about the prospect of buying some new clothes, but could hardly remember what my 'style' might be. This made me madder. I cry when I'm mad, by the way.

And, of course, I am bright enough to know that it's not about the clothes.

But let's talk about clothes.

I think she looks darling!

In some ways, we could say that they define us. Mark Twain said that "the clothes make the man." I'm not entirely on that boat, but I do understand that we look around at each other and make superficial, but lasting assessments based on appearances. For some of us, a great deal of effort is directed toward how we look. So conversely, we put great stake in how others look. Fashion is a huge deal in our culture! Huge! My dear old friend and college room mate, Amy, is a fashion designer and has such a wonderful sense of style. (fashion and style are not the same, you know) I love seeing what she turns out and that is in part because of our shared history. I can see 'the southern thing' and 'the eighties thing' and 'the preppy thing' and 'the bohemian thing' and even 'the Nancy thing' in her designs! Nancy was our beautiful roommate from south Florida who brought us a new dimension in fashion. I'll never forget her white boots! (and it was after labor day, too!) What fun it was to share a closet with those two!

Which brings me, full circle, to my hellish closet that I UNLOADED on Sunday. You can't know how good it felt to just say no to my wardrobe. Save for a few trusty items, the cupboard is bare. Seriously. I am all but walking around naked. I'm apprehensive about winter. It's going to be chilly. But I am committed to no more junk. Over the years I have had a 'uniform'. I wrote about it here. And, with some careful editing,  I will probably adopt it again in some form. Jeans are non negotiable. I live in them and my favorite Sevens made the cut. Yesterday I went to the Ralph Lauren outlet and bought two somewhat tailored white button downs. Hello high school. That is as far as I've gotten.

Durango is not a shopping mecca and the budget is slim. (and it all needs to coordinate with snow boots and a down jacket.)

And, of course, it's not all about the clothes.

How do you renew and restore yourself? Tell me your secrets for taking care of yourself. How do you do it all and claim your own space? I would love some input here!

I'll leave you with this. I like it.

Souls wouldn't wear suits and ties, they'd wear blue jeans and sit cross-legged with a glass of red wine.  ~Carrie Latet

Love

I adore these plates from Lou Rota, and would love to figure out how to make them myself! Of course, I would hang them on the wall. And make them for Christmas presents for my ever stylish sister and sister in law!

You can purchase them here, however!