The Pinterest "fail"

I don't know about you,
But I've got a list a mile long of things to try on pinterest.
A few days ago I thought it might be fun to whip up a recipe
"Glow in the dark flubber"
The recipe seemed easy enough,
Water, food coloring, glow in the dark paint, glue and borax.
I gathered all the supplies and had lil G come into the kitchen.
She happily drug her little red stool up to where I had everything set out and we got to work.
Measuring, and mixing.
It was a great time.
The sad part is that it was an epic fail.
It turned into a wet glob of goo.
Nothing like the picture.
I pulled it out and set it on a paper towel hoping it would drain the excess water out.
The whole time Lil G is exclaiming," ooooooh noooo!" On repeat.
(She doesn't like messes)
Needless to say it didn't dry out enough to play with so I pitched in the trash.
She was so happy that I didn't make her touch it,
When I told her she could get down she did with enthusiasm
And tore off running down the hallway.
Yelling,
" ooooooh noooo" " yuuuuuuuucky" as she went!
Hope this gives you a chuckle for today!

A Christmas story- in July

I've been getting to know some ladies that have adopted children that are blind.
This has been quite healing for me.
It feels good that our story has purpose.
Some of the emotions these mamas are having,
I can say, " I felt the same way" and truly mean it.
Or, " I understand". And I really do.

I have been wanting to read Helen Keller's Biography
And possibly Anne Sullivan's as well.
A mom was sharing that she was almost done reading Helen Keller's biography
And it reminded me of a story, something that happened at Christmas.
Maybe it will shed some light on our journey.

At Christmas time we were at my parents house
to celebrate with family and also included a visit / check up at Emory.
it was a beautiful day and we decided to take the children out to play
my sister and I were going to play with out cameras.
We get out to the blueberry patch and Lil G keeps screeching and dropping down onto all fours. The terrain is pretty tough and I was doing my best to keep us from falling
I felt myself loosing patience.
Walk Lil G! Walk!
I couldn't figure out what in the heck was setting her off.
Finally I stopped,
and crouched down,
truthfully to set her straight.
but then something happened.
Perspective.
My eyes were opened.
You see, when I got down at her eye level
I realized she was freaking out because of the tall golden grass.
When the breeze blew it didn't make noise but moved
and it was taller than she is!
She had no idea what it was!
I started laughing and pulled off a stalk to show her
I kept telling her it was okay it was just yellow grass.
I laughed until I cried -and I have to confide
the Mama sat down on the ground and just started sobbing.

The enormity of the situation just overwhelmed me,
we had only had the "legally blind with her glasses" diagnosis
since her visit in September -so this was only 3 months out.
Then add the guilt that I had lost my patience.
My husband saw me on the ground in the field
and came out to see what was wrong.
Together we held Graces hands and rubbed the grass on it
trying to reassure her it was only grass.
(she didnt believe us and was like a feral cat
I said to him, " we are having an Anne Sullivan Hellen Keller moment here"

Of course since then I have read and studied,
we should never force our children to feel things or grab their hands.
Lord forgive me,
this whole parenting adventure,
pure grace indeed.

( I've added photos from Christmas- Lil Gs big sister came home so we had a tea party.
And we watched TV at Grammies house with cousins)

Anyone there?

I am sure I no longer have any faithful readers.
I don't blame you,
If I was so sorely neglected Id find another girlfriend too.

I feel like I have been given new life
and must do everything on my dusty "to- do" list.
Since my little surgery in March my iron levels have been able to steadily climb.
I can't wait to see what my numbers are,
And see what the results of another six months to a year do for me.

When my sister moved to Germany
she gave me a bag with six ready to smock dresses in it.
I've been wanting to learn how to smock
so lil G can wear the dresses before they are outgrown.
There was also a stack of smocking plates (designs) and floss she had picked out for each one.
I think these dresses are 6-7 years old so I have been scouring the Internet
Looking for plates that might suit my taste a little more.
I am sad that I have discovered an art that seems to be lost to this new generation.
Our local store recently discontinued these items
and will only be carrying things to do machine embroidery. Sigh.

I also knit a sweet diaper cover for my dear friends granddaughter. I  freehanded a hello kitty I the bottom too! I love knitting things for special friends.kkn

Lil G and I have been enjoying summer.
I'm not sure if you remember that she doesn't sweat,
Living in Fl that limits our activities to those indoors.
But we still know how to have fun.
We took her to see Despicable me 2
It's going to be a long wait until its released on DVD.
We also found Madeline, I think it was released in 98?
That is on my shopping list. Very sweet movie.
( we watched it twice in one day.)
She asked for it the following day,
" blue dress, girl, red hat?" In ASL.
Wouldn't you know that Encore had removed it from the movie list overnight?!
Really?!
I've had as much success explaining the situation to her as I have not being able to go to the theatre to see Despicable Me 2 again. Frown.
Here are some photos.
I love the one where she is watching for her beloved Papa.