January Photo Challenge

My sisters and I have been having a great time doing Instagram photo challenges in November and December.  This month it was my turn to make one.  I also dabbled in digtal washi tape, fun!

Just So

My family is in town for a family reunion. Half of us are already here and having so much fun together. Weenie and I went to Walmart in Vancouver and we had more fun than a visit to Walmart justifies. This evening we all went out Benihana for dinner. I laughed hard enough that my abs hurt. I would show you a picture of the fun we have had and the fun yet to come but tonight when I grabbed the camera to take a pictre of Mr. Jmo's birthday cake, this is what I saw:

Blank, nada, nothing, black. The LCD screen on my camera is broken. What? How will I take pictures? How will I know if I have a good shot or not? I have worked so hard to become only a mediocre photographer WITH a LCD screen!

Blogging has been sporadic at best this year but my spirits have been rising and I had high hopes of a blogging comeback. I don't know if I can do it without an LCD screen.

I am wishing I hadn't had this conversation with Boba Fett yesterday afternoon.

Samurai Mom: Do you know where the camera is?
Boba Fett: Um, yeah, it is on my desk.
Samurai Mom: What!? Why?
Boba Fett: Sometimes I like to take the camera and look at myself in the screen.

Just so.

All is Well

"Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
'Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward if we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we'll have this tale to tell-
All is well! All is well!"

Life has been really hard lately.

Nothing terrible has happened and we are all healthy and happy it is just that life hasn't been as charmed these last few months it once was.
The other night I was lying in bed thinking, and I realized that a LOT has happened to me in the last 6 months, some of it good, some of it bad and some of it neither good nor bad, but they have all been hard things. All of them take some adjusting. I got out a paper and pen to write them down and there were 38, right off the top of my head, 38 hard things. Regardless, I am sure that I look much older than I did 6 months ago.

Some of the good things were moving into my dream house, having my sister move to town, having my parents come visit, my dad buying me an amazing mailbox, my eldest son turning 10 and having a great response to my hair accessories. I had a wonderful Retro Housekeeping Party and a lovely inaugural Memorial Day barbecue.

Some of the neutral hard things were having my brother-in-law move in with us for a month, trying to set up a new house and be friendly with the new neighbors, I put my house up for sale, showed a house for 3 months while living in it with kids, I moved house. I have to live without my washer and dyer and refrigerator until the old house sells.

Some of the bad hard things were my sister breaking my heart and getting married without any of her family there, my old house still not selling and watching home sales plummet since the day we put it on the market, My tooth troubles reached a peak with a crown, mercury removal sickness, residual pain and extreme sensitivity = pain.

I had find a job. Looking for a job was one of the most humiliating things I have ever had to do. Finding a job is not easy these days (especially after a 10 year hiatus from the work force) and the indignity of on-line applications knows no bounds. It wasn't the fact that I had to look for a job that was humiliating, it was the way I was treated, disrespected, patronized, taken advantage of and ignored.

After a month of job searching all I had to show for it was 3 severely neglected children, 2 interviews at The Spaghetti Factory but no job and finally a job as a contractor for a sewing business, which was not fun, barely paid and from which I was fired this week. I am an outstanding seamstress and I was fired. Fired! I can't even get a job and the one measly bit of work I get I can't even keep. I used to think I would be able to make a living if I needed to and now I feel pretty useless.

Which leads me to mention my sewing rut. Things are not going well in my sewing studio these days. Everything I make has a dreadful flaw and takes twice as long to make as it should. It happens to everyone and normally, I would just it off to bad luck and persevere, but suddenly my sewing needs to pay and my time is money. The sweater I have been working on since Christmas is still an UFO.

And money, when you have 2 mortgages to pay, houses to maintain, a new house to furnish, and 2 yards to maintain, money becomes annoyingly scarce and I find myself really worrying about what will happen if the car breaks down, or if someone gets sick or if ANYTHING unexpected happens.

To top it all off like a moldy banana peel on the top of this pile of kitchen waste is the fact that this has been the coldest, wettest, most gray spring ever. Portlanders come together to complain about the weather, usually we don't talk about the weather, but we all reached our limit in May and this June stuff is driving us mad. We say things like "Can you believe this rain?" In Portland! While I was picking up strawberries at a stand this week I was trapped under the tent for 10 minutes while I waited for the hail to stop. My kids were 5 feet away in the car.

I realize that all in all I am very blessed and my troubles are small compared to others. But it has been a lot to handle in 6 months and I am really feeling the strain. I know that the Lord is preparing me for something, trying to teach me things and I am trying to accept it all gracefully, but it doesn't make it less hard to get through it.

There have been so many blessings in the midst of all of this turmoil and I am grateful for them every day. I have 3 wonderful, beautiful, healthy smart children, a loving husband who is a great provider. I live in the promised land. My husband has a job. I live in my dream house.

As I was watching General Conference the phrase "The mother should not work outside home" kept running through my mind over, and over, and over again. I feel so blessed that I haven't had to work outside of the home, that was a special prompting and I am glad that I have so far been able to follow it.

I have wonderful friends and family who have helped us through all of this. Relationships have been deepened and strengthened. Love, joy and service abounds.

So I try to keep my chin up, focus on the good and keep plodding along. Sometimes I think simply "All is Well."

Reasons to Love Sisters

Having someone to rustle buffalo with.
Having an honest conversation about who got the fussy end of the genetic lollipop.
Having someone to shop for jewelry with.
There is always someone to tease Dad with, and tease with Dad.
One of you will have the guts to buy a set of Bumpits, thereby transforming your lives forever.

Won't You Meet Me in Montana

I am headed to Montana for my little sister's wedding. The kids are ecstatic and I am aching to see the big sky. I realized that I haven't been in Montana in the autumn since our wedding 10 years ago. Moose and I planned an outdoor Montana wedding in October and were rained out. Here's hoping my sister has better luck. If all goes well she will be wed overlooking these mountains. Yeah, that's pretty much the view from my parent's house.

Moose has to stay behind and work but will be flying in just before the wedding. This one's for you, Babe.

JMo in the Forest

This summer when we were all up at the Cabin we had a little photo shoot. It is JMO's birthday today so I am posting some of the fun pics we took at the cabin. If you are new to the blog since last Spetember 21st go here and see what I had to say about her last year.

Happy Birthday JMO!Here is JM0 harvesting Rhubarb.
JMO with her sweetheart.
JMO and her best sister.
JMO hauling wood.JMO shooting guns.
THE END

In Which Moose Finds Himself Permanently Moved to the Dog House

My sisters and I planned a little bit of fun this vacation. Trying on our wedding dresses 10 and 7 years later, respectively. The Lovely Mrs. Moss couldn't bring hers, and Super Nanny doesn't have hers yet so she tried on her prom dress.When Weenie walked out in her dress her husband looked at us like we were insane and then walked over and gave her a kiss.
Moose, on the other hand, glared at me from across the room with an unimpressed look that bordered on disgust. Eventually he came over to me and said "Why are we doing this?"
"Because it is fun." I retorted.
"Where did it come from?"
"It's my wedding dress."
"Really?"
"Umm...yeah." I point to the picture of our wedding day that was hanging over my head.
"Oh, it doesn't look as good."

Thanks.
Later he insisted that my dress was sleeveless (on what planet would I wear a sleeveless dress?) and that he thought I picked the dress up while I was antiquing that morning.
I might be biased but somehow I don't think my dress is very forgettable.

Some notes: It seems a common thing that one out grows their wedding dress in the ribcage area.
Next time we hope to have 5 wedding dresses and we will do our hair and makeup too.

The Lovely Mrs Moss

This is The Lovely Mrs Moss. She is married to my brother Mr. Moss, and today is her birthday!
The Lovely Mrs Moss stayed married to my brother even though he forgot to bring his passport on their honeymoon and they missed their flight.
The lovely Mrs. Moss wasn't born into a family with any sisters but she sure married into one.
We love her just like a sister except we don't fight with her, she is too nice.
The Lovely Mrs Moss likes dogs.
The Lovely Mrs Moss like to go fishing and camping and such with Mr Moss and her Dad. The Lovely Mrs Moss is a true Montana girl.

The Lovely Mrs Moss is musical. She plays the violin and piano and composes music. For Christmas she composed a song for a string quartet as a gift to me.

The Lovely Mrs Moss has many friend but she and her mom are totally BFF.
The Lovely Mrs Moss is lovely as you can see. Look at that beautiful dark hair and pretty eyes.

The Lovely Mrs Moss says that she is not crafty, we don't believe it for a minute and we are teaching her how to be a crafter.
Mr Moss bought her a vintage sewing machine for Christmas and we are teaching her how to sew. It is a little difficult to arrange sewing lessons when she is in Arizona and the rest of us are not. If you are in the Mesa area and would like to help The Lovely Mrs Moss learn to sew please contact Samurai Mom.

The Lovely Mrs Moss loves Audrey Hepburn and nobody can fault her for that, it also proves that she has good taste.
The Lovely Mrs Moss took a trip to Italy with the Honors Society in High School. She got to go because she was so smart. The Lovely Mrs Moss is a patriot just like me.

The Lovely Mrs. Moss works very hard on Mr Moss' business endeavors.
Nutmeg loves The Lovely Mrs Moss. This picture is before she was her favorite.

I have been informed that The Lovely Mrs Moss wants to have SIX BOYS. I find this very ill advised and I hope that she has not cursed herself. I am telling her now, five boys and a girl is acceptable, but you need to have the girl first because I need nieces and I need them soon!
We Love You. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Happy Birthday Weenie!

Today is my little sister "Weenie's" birthday. I know it isn't a very nice nickname but we gave it to her when we were kids and it stuck. I can't do a very good birthday tribute to her because I don't have very many pictures of her that she was willing to share.

Weenie is my best friend (apart from Nutmeg). Isn't it nice to have a built in best friend stuck with you forever? Someone who has to still know you even if you fight with them once in a while or forget to do something for them. Someone you can call when you are out and say - "Will you look up such and such for me because I am lost." We didn't really become friends until after I graduated from high school. I realized she was my best friend after we were both married.
To show that I am a good sister I chose to post the picture where I look funny and she looks good rather than the one where she looks like a weenie and I look fabulous.

Weenie has 3 adorable children. I love them a lot and they are very, very cute. I would say the cutest , but have you seen MY kids? I love them and tell her all the time that I will take them if she dies or just wants to get rid of them. Her daughter "Little A" looks just like her.

Weenie likes to craft and scrapbook. Weenie also likes to spend her husbands money. Weenie has a lot of common sense which is a good thing. Weenie has the smallest ears of the 4 sisters which makes her the winner because we think small ears are a mark of beauty.

Weenie is one of my co-partners at MissMossMadness our Etsy site. She makes nursing covers. weenie also has a blog The Best Things in Life Are... which she doesn't update much but she complains enough when I don't.

Weenie deliberately deceived me when she was expecting her 3rd. I kept telling her she was pregnant and she continually deceived me because she wanted to keep it a surprise and thought I would tell!

Weenie loves to make apple pies and doesn't really love chocolate which is weird. Weenie is not very sentimental or emotional and sometimes I wonder if my parents really did pick her up at the reservation because she is not like me in those ways. We are the best of friends when we are apart but when we get together at reunions or Christmas we always fight because I take things seriously ans she doesn't. GRRR!

All in all I love my sister and I wish her a happy birthday and I wish I could see her at Christmas even though I know we would fight.

P.S. Weenie, I will post more pictures of you if you send them to me.
P.P.S. Moose thought I should post the picture of you when you were pregnant in a bathing suit, but because I love you, I refrained.

To My Sisters

I love you.
P.S. Sorry, I don't have a picture of all 5 of us. If you have one I will put if up immediately. (Mr. Moss how are those wedding pictures coming?)

Is that an Angel? No, she is my sister.

This is my Sister JMO, and today is her birthday. What? You thought it was my birthday just yesterday, well it was. JMO crashed my slumber birthday party. I was totally psyched though because a sister is a great present. Mostly I wonder why my parents let me have a slumber party when my mom was 9 months pregnant?

As you can see she is gorgeous. Her hair is so thick (thicker than mine) very straight when she wants it to be and does not tangle. It behaves well. It is very fun to play with her hair. She also is a makeup guru. She spends a lot of time making art with her makeup. We are all jealous of her makeupability.
JMO likes to draw. JMO has many passions some of which include sushi, collecting home furnishings, makeup and hair (see above), sleeping, taking self portraits (hey if you were that cute you would too) travelling to Australia, and playing with the hood of her coat.
JMO is very thoughtful, she doesn't like people to hurt other people's feelings. She falls in love easily. She gets upset really easy too. We hide from her when she is upset. She is kinda like a terrorist in that way. She is very loyal and a very good friend.
JMO sometimes wears glasses, she is an immaculate dresser.
JMO was the cutest little girl she had golden locks and was very shy. She would tilt her head to the side when people talked to her. We used to call her Jessie, but it is a good thing we stopped because Mr. Moss married the Lovely Mrs. Moss whose logical nick name is Jess.
She likes aprons, a LOT! She is going to start collecting vintage aprons just like her sister.
JMO has a passion for food. She loves to cook and loves to cook for people just like our Grandma.I asked JMO what her favorite color was and she said "Orange cuz no one likes orange so I felt like it needed a fan so I sacrificed and made it mine." Isn't that nice? She is just like that. It is unnecessary though because Moose likes orange. Speaking of Moose, he really likes JMO and always defends her.
JMO really likes sushi. I think I introduced her to it. She sometimes works at sushi restaurants for free sushi.
JMO has a split personality. Her other personality comes out when she is sleeping. If you talk to JMO you might actually be talking to "Sleepy JMO" Sleepy JMO will hold complete sensible conversations with you and make promises and appointments. Later JMO will not recall these conversations so you have to have them with her again when she is awake. It would seem simple to tell but "Sleepy JMO" is tricksy and you never know when you are talking to her.
JMO is a fellow Ron Paul fan and favors fiscal economy. She likes chocolate better than vanilla.
JMO isn't sure if she likes the proposed idea that we have a handmade Christmas this year.
There she is, isn't she lovely? Maybe my parents should have named her after Miss America?