Currently......

I am working on getting together some pieces for a show in December, it's a juried show, my first so I am excited. It's sponsored by our arts alliance; Wayne County Arts Alliance I started this summer working on Holiday things. Trying to find a few spare minutes has been tricky, it's been awhile since I've juggled motherhood with everything else.



I love the Downward Dog series, I just need to find or take some more pictures of downward dogs!

12 OF 12

It's that time of month again! 12 of 12, the wonderful fun created by Chad Darnell. I've been on a hiatus from posting my 12's here and I thought it was time I get back to the fun.

It was a beautiful Fall day here in NE PA. These are the views from my back deck

I needed to work my bees today, I had to place some styrofoam insulation in the top cover, this will help keep the girls warm over the Winter.

My materials for the smoker, I found that Shumac buds and pine needles work the best

The smoker in action

My girls, well there are some guys (Drones) in there. Can you spot them? They are the big ones, pretty soon the females (workers) will be kicking the males out for the Winter

Last week I put a protein patty on both hives, giving the hive a little bit more nutrition before the cold sets in, Winter is long around here. Looks like they are eating it, this is the weaker hive by the way.

My little pumpkin today, he was looking very Halloweeny.

I got to work in my garden today, it's been quite neglected since the arrival of our pumpkin. This is what it looked like "before"

I found this little guy wandering in my path. What's the wive's tale about the Wooly Bear??

Here's the "After" of the garden, at least you can see the paths now

Thanks so much for stopping in and checking out my 12's!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME and all that other stuff.....

I can't believe my 40Th Birthday is here! Isn't is amazing own fast a year goes by? If you had asked me exactly a year ago today if I was going to be a new Mom at 40, I probably would have laughed!

So to update everyone, because yes I am wayyyy overdue in the updating department, Ethan is doing great! As a matter-of-fact as of his pediatrician appointment on Monday he is now a whopping 15lbs 5.5ozs! HOLY MOLY! Long way from 3lbs! He will be turning 6 months old on the 7Th, SIX MONTHS OLD! He started on solid foods last week and is loving it, especially sweet potatoes. He has gotten a clean bill of health from all his specialists, he is officially a normal baby, no issues. *Yayyyy!*

I have also started a new direction in my life and career, upon attempting to return to work my employer informed me I no longer had a job with them, all because I had a premature baby and was not able to return as quickly as a full term pregnancy. So much for "take as much time as you need". I'm sure I'm not the first woman that has had to deal with the same issues. I'm not taking it hard though, I think it's the Universe's nudge to me to follow my passion and do what I really want to be doing; my art and my painting.

So watch out! I'm 40, a new mom and on a mission to be able to do the things that make me.....well me!

BIG NEWS!!!!

I made myself find a few minutes to post and let you all know that our new little addition to the family: ETHAN KADE has arrived!!!

Ethan actually arrived on April 7 at 1:36 in the morning. He was born at 28 weeks and weighed 3lbs 0.7ozs. Fortunately he is in the NICU at a wonderful hospital: Moses Taylor. He is progressing nicely and as of today he weighed in at 4lbs 2.5ozs and was 14.5 inches long.

I am sure many of you can imagine the surprise, shock, fear (just to name a few emotions) that comes with delivering prematurely. We are truly blessed that Ethan decided to come when he did because upon his arrival the Doctor showed us that his umbilical cord was tied in a complete knot, which means had Ethan gone full term, things would have not been good and he probably would have been stillborn. He is a strong little guy and is growing by leaps and bounds everyday.

As for me, I can't complain. Physically it was not difficult to deliver a small baby.....emotionally that is a different story. My days are spent trying to get the house in order and traveling back and forth to the hospital, I barely have time to get a shower in. Soon I will be staying at the local Ronald McDonald house to be able to be there to breastfeed several times a day.

Thank you everyone that has stopped in to say hi. I truly appreciate it even though I have not had a bit of time to email or post here. Please know I do read comments and think of my blogging friends often.

Here are some pics of our little miracle......

PORN! PORN! PORN!

FLOWER PORN that is! It's all I can think about, in between the "beatings" my tummy is getting from the wee one in there! I think he's practicing his left hook on my bladder! :)

I have been pouring over the porn that has been coming int he mail for the past few weeks, dreaming and planning what I am going to do with my garden this year, although I am not actually sure how much will get accomplished before or after the little one gets here. A girl can still dream though, right?

I decided to make some pretty little envelopes to share my seeds with my gardening friends. I used some pretty papers, vintage lace and buttons. Inside is filled with Lupine and Morning Glory seeds, which I have plenty of.

Ahhhhh! I can almost smell that wet, earthy smell that you get early in the Spring just before the crocus start to pop up in the garden and all over the lawn.

What plans do you have for your gardens this year?

I'm a weirdo!

Since I haven't been around in awhile I haven't been tagged by anyone for games but I saw on Penny's blog that she left her tagging open to anyone who wanted to play. I'm up for a game, I haven't played in a long time! :)

This one is "The Seven Weird Facts About Me" game:

First, the instructions:1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person that tagged you. 2. Post these rules on your blog. 3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself. 4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. 5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

Weeee sounds like fun! I don't think I've shared these facts yet.

1. I was a competitive bodybuilder and fitness model for quite a few years.

2. I've moved 38 times in my 39 years! Not a military family, just moved alot. I've lived in VT., WA., AZ., MA., and now PA.

3. I have this thing for horror flicks, love 'em! Don't know why 'cause I'm scared of everything else!

4. One of my life's missions is to find the perfect pen! Haven't found it yet, although fountain pens come pretty close.

5. I am a horrible knuckle cracker! Could never break the habit!

6. I held the 100m high hurdle record in my high school for 10 years after I left.

7. I hate talking on the phone, I used to be petrified to call people! It's gotten better, but I still avoid as much as possible.

I don't know if those facts were weird but it's all I could think of on the spot. I'll probably come up with better ones as soon as I hit publish post.

I think I'll be breaking the rules since I don't know how many of you have already done this, don't want overkill now do we. I'll leave it up to you if you want to play.

*muah* Michelle "the Weirdo"

p.s #8 should be that I have a really long tongue!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my blogging friends and family. I thought I'd share my little "Note From the Universe" I received in my email this morning:

Love where you've been.

Love where you're at.

Love how you think.

Love the power you pack.

Love all that you seek.

Love all that you feel.

Love your rocking emotions and the thoughts you make real.




Words never rang truer.

Love to everyone!

12 OF 12 February

I am not even going to say I am going to get here on a regular basis anymore! I prove myself a liar each time.

I am lucky today because I got to play hookey from work because of the bad storm we got here starting yesterday afternoon around 1:00, it's still nasty but has turned into rain.

Yesterday was 12 OF 12, remember 12 OF 12 is the brain child of Chad Darnell , you take 12 pictures on the 12th day of the month and then you post and share with other people from all over the World. If you haven't been to his blog yet go take a peek, it's so much fun! Since I haven't posted my pics for the last couple of months I thought I should get back here and post them up.

Once again THANK YOU to all my friends that have posted in my abscense.

Here's my 12's

7:00 First up: Me on the way to work
7:10 The sun coming up over the snow covered hills

7:15 Had to stop and get some gas

7:28 The temp on the local clock 7:30 Main Street in my little town 11:30 Work is monotonous so I posted on my thread at another website

1:10 This is exciting; we have a pair of bald eagles that started to nest near the river, I had been watchign for them everyday and yesterday was the first day I saw one of them! My camera wouldn't zoom in too far so this was the best I could get

1:15 This is as close as I could zoom in, plus we were having a snow storm

3:00 When I got home there were about 5 pairs of cardinals at our feeders getting prepared for the nasty storm. I just LOVE cardinals 3:30 Then I sat down to relax with my "bubba" Winston at my side 3:32 Marley was relaxin' in the chair 4:30 My first belly picture, I am just over 5 months. I took it myself so it's not great and please excuse the "lived in" look in the background, housecleaning has not been on my priorities lately!

So there they are, and here I am! I am not making promises but I miss being around here and visiting! Blogland moves fast and if you are gone for awhile you miss out on so much!

Thanks for looking at my 12's this month.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year to all my friends here in blogland!

Wow, my life has just been so Topsy-turvy in the last few months that I just needed to step away for awhile and get my bearings about me.

I had mentioned awhile ago that I had some news to share that would perhaps shed some light as to why I wasn't able to be here as often. I am now safe to be able to share that news.....

I'm pregnant!

Yup! I've got a "bun in the oven"! It came as a complete and total shock to both my husband and I because we pretty much gave up trying. That "spider bite" I got back in Sept/Oct sent me to the Hospital, that's when we found out that it was a staph infection AND I was pregnant, (which is probably why I got the staph infection, my immune system was so low).

So as I am sure many of you mothers out there can empathize, the last couple of months have been filled with nausea and the kind of tired that you can barely drag yourself home to crawl into bed with your jacket and shoes still on, let alone blog! lol!

I have missed you all and so many times had the best intentions to spend some of my days off here blogging and visiting everyone to see how you all are doing but most of the time my days off are spent fighting nausea and sleeping every extra minute I can. I have suddenly become unproductive! It is not unusual for my husband to find me sound asleep on the couch at 7:00 in the evening!

I hear that I should be entering the phase where I get a sudden "burst" of energy...I'm still waiting for that to happen.

Thanks to you all still sending me good wishes and emails to see how I am. I look forward to sharing this journey with you all.

I'm so excited! I have another room to decorate! :)




*muah*

I'm so sorry....

I just want to say Thank you to everyone that has not forgotten about me and have emailed me, concerned about my absence.

I miss you all terribly, I do. My personal life, including blogging has been put on hold mostly because of my job.

Next week the burden is going to be lightened a bit with not having to work 10 hour days, I am hoping this will mark my return to blogging. I am so very sad I have missed so much from all my wonderful friends here, I hope you will forgive me.

I am hoping to share some exciting news in the next couple of weeks too, which may also shed some light on my absentee-ism.

Thank you all, I truly am blessed to have found such a wonderful network of friends in this community.

*muah*
Michelle

12 OF 12 NOVEMBER

Yup! That's right not one but TWO entries from me today! *gasp* This entry should have happened yesterday but I just didn't have enough time in the day to get the photos off my camera.

12 of 12, the brain child of Chad Darnell, is one of my favorite things in the World to do. If you pop on over to his site you can see 12 of 12's from all over the World. All you do is take 12 pictures on the 12th day of each month.....easy peasy! :) I'm such a voyeur, I love peeking into the lives of others. ;)

This month wasn't the greatest as far as creativity but still fun.

These boots are made for walking

My new "office"

Lunchtime

"Irving Cliff" in my town, the highest point in the town

Where the Wild Things Are

Some members of the Executive Board of the Arts Alliance

OUCH!!!

The home fires' burning

FAMILY TIME

Winston at his regular place between my feet

Olivia asking to come up

Marly watching Daddy

Daddy and Mommy

The bonus work for this month was "Grateful". You can take a literal or interpretive picture using that word. Mine is a picture of my daily affirmation from my Gratitude calendar.

Thanks for stopping by and peeking into my life. ;)