*cough, cough* Gracious! It’s dusty in here, isn’t it? Let me just wipe away these cobwebs and blow off the dust…there, that’s better. I’m a little embarrassed at how I’ve neglected things around here. I have resolved to do better in May. Wish me luck.

My mom and my niece Aurora are here visiting us for a few weeks! It’s fun having them here, but my mom and I have been a little surprised by how much more exhausting it is to have three kids in the house (two of them toddlers) than it is to have only two. Of course, this is partly because Aurora has never been to our house before, had never flown on a plane, had never been more than a couple hours’ drive away from Omaha before. And Aurora is very two right now. In fact, she’s just about two and a half, which means she’s entering that period of disequilibrium that kids often go through around their half-birthdays. (I’ve talked about this before with Annalie.)

Since Elliora is almost exactly a year younger than Aurora, she’s been going through a bit of disequilibrium herself lately, which isn’t surprising. She’s changing so fast these days, adding new words every day and even putting them together in short sentences. Three of her first-year molars have just popped through her gums, and at the park the other day she was climbing all over the big-kid play structure and going down the slides without any help from anyone. She cracks us up every day with mannerisms and reactions that seem older than her 18 months. She regularly eats more than her big sister, and when we have brussels sprouts or asparagus (!?) she eats as much or more than I do. She is meeting life head-on and keeping up with her cousin and big sister just fine.

Annalie, meanwhile, is almost eight! Her birthday is only eight days away. She’s been simply FANTASTIC with her sister and her cousin. She’s been patient and calm through tantrums and craziness. Since they’ve both been sitting in the back row of the minivan, Annalie has been buckling Aurora into her carseat every time we go anywhere, and unbuckling her at the other end. She’s willingly shared food and toys with the littles, and more than once she’s cheerfully agreed to wait to do something she wanted to do until naptime. I think I’m gonna love eight.

What have you guys been up to?

There are so many violets in our backyard in the spring that it looks almost completely purple for a couple of weeks. It’s one of the reasons Elliora’s middle name is Violet, because our backyard looked like this around the time we found out we were pregnant. It was actually even more violet-covered a week before this, believe it or not. It’s almost the end of violet season around here.

Here’s an alternate Day 7 shot. Our LED twinkle lights (they’re not Christmas lights because we keep them up year-round) cast interesting pools of light and shadow on the ceiling and walls around them. I was inspired by Bex’s shot of her grandparents’ vintage bunch-of-grapes lamp and the cool shadows it cast.

Hey, look! I am actually done blogging every single one of my 7 Days photos from the run that was only a couple of weeks ago! Not only that, but…I MADE IT THROUGH THE WHOLE WEEK WITHOUT GETTING SICK. IT WAS A 7 DAYS MIRACLE! *cue angelic choirs*

I expect to come down with the plague shortly, now that I said that. (Although I originally wrote that almost two weeks ago and I’m still not sick.) I guess there was that toothache I had that week—really that I had had on and off since around my birthday almost a month ago. It was finally resolved on Day 6 when I went to the dentist. It turned out the problem was a cavity in one of my remaining wisdom teeth. The solution was easy: pull the tooth. It was done and I was driving home less than 30 minutes later, much relieved. I don’t really count that as being sick.

While I’m blogging, a couple of quick things:

• Up until a few days ago, I was more than a month behind on uploading photos to Flickr. I’m still taking photos every day, I just don’t get around to doing anything with them. I’m starting to catch up and am hoping to be caught up before I leave for Omaha. Wish me luck.
• Instagram finally released an app for Android phones, just a few days before Facebook bought Instagram. So I’m enjoying using Instagram as a new, easy way to share photos from my phone on Twitter and Facebook. Or you can see my photos here.
• Elliora has a new favorite all-purpose word, suitable for all sentiments and occasions: MINE. Her dad’s laptop? “Mine!” Annalie’s jacket? “Mine!” My frosted mini-wheats? “Mine mine mine!” Lily the cat? “MIIIIIINE!”
• We’re heading to Omaha on Friday, just me and the girls. (Poor Troy, he has to stay here and work, and have the house to himself for a week and a half.) When we come home, my mom and my niece are coming with us. They’re going to stay and visit for three whole weeks and will be here to celebrate Annalie’s eighth birthday. We’re all pretty excited about that.
• Party plans for Annalie’s birthday were on hold for a while, because we weren’t sure if my mom was going to be able to come here, or if she’d have to stay in Omaha because of some family obligations. Now that we know, I have sorted out the party plans and I think it’s gonna be really fun. It’s a big relief to finally have a plan.
• Chris wrote something great about blogging with two small children that expressed perfectly how I feel, so I’m just going to quote her:
  

  Well, I’d still love to have an awesome, regularly-updated website. That endeavour is sitting on a back burner, as our time and energy are all earmarked for other stuff for a while.

  In my mind I have an enormous stovetop with quite a lot of burners, especially at the back.

• I started a page to keep track of all the words Elliora says. She’s adding about three or four new ones every day. There’s a button for it over on the sidebar. —>

How on earth did it get to be mid-April already!?

Last week, Troy didn’t get home until after 9pm every single night. And then he went to work at 8:30 on Saturday morning and didn’t come home till after 10pm. On Sunday he “only” worked from 11am till 7pm. And today, he didn’t get home till almost 9:30pm.

Elliora didn’t see Troy from Sunday night until Saturday morning. Annalie only saw him once or twice when she was still awake when Troy went in to give her a kiss good night. Troy’s sister Dana and her son Leo came up for a visit over the weekend, and they barely saw Troy at all. (We had fun sightseeing with them, though, and it was nice having them around to distract us from the fact that Troy was gone all weekend.)

It hasn’t been too bad. Annalie, Elliora and I have been chugging along, doing our usual thing. It’s actually been good, having zero expectation that Troy would be home early enough to have dinner or give Elliora a bath or help with bedtime. Of course I wish Troy were home earlier, but it’s okay that he hasn’t been. I’ve managed all right, even if I am more exhausted than usual, and a little more stressed out.

But still. I’m hoping that these crazier-than-crazy hours don’t last much longer. We’re all hoping.

p.s. Isn’t my new daffodilly spring banner awesome!? Thanks, Brenda!

What is your name?

Annalie.

How old are you?

Seven and a half years old.

Where do you live?

Washington, D.C.

Do you have any pets?

Yes. They are two cats. One’s Katy, and one’s Lily.

Who do you like to play with?

My little sister.

What’s your favorite cereal?

Uh…Lucky Charms. I also like Reese’s Puffs.

What’s your favorite vegetable?

I don’t really know. No, wait—it’s corn. That’s my favorite vegetable.

You know corn is actually a grain.

Oh. Heh. Whoops.

Do you have a favorite vegetable?

I especially like broccoli cheese soup. I know what fruit is my favorite, though. It is an APPLE.

I’d say you probably eat at least one apple every day, don’t you?

Uh-huh. Maybe more!

What’s your favorite drink?

My favorite drink is…fruit punch. Because it’s combined with a few fruits and berries. It’s really good. But I also like root beer. I actually have quite a few favorite drinks, like apple juice, Diet Rite, Sierra Mist, ginger ale.

What’s your favorite snack?

I have to say my favorite snack is perhaps maybe apples and peanut butter. No, just apples. I also really like Lunchables! I guess I have quite a few snacks I like.

What’s your favorite toy?

My Little Ponies.

What’s your favorite book?

Right now, my favorite books are the Gladiators book and the Underwear book.

What’s your favorite TV Show?

Pokemon.

What’s your favorite movie?

Have I ever seen Mr. Popper’s Penguins?

No, we read the book.

Oh yeah. My favorite movie is…I like that movie about Pompeii we watched on Netflix. Also, Dolphin Tale.

What’s your favorite game?

Animal Adoption. It’s a game where you can play with two people or more. You see, each person takes a turn being the person who’s going to adopt an animal. And the other person pretends to be a dog or cat or something. And you adopt them! Each person has to get a turn being a pet and the person. Usually I play this game with Bug.

What’s your favorite restaurant?

Wheatfields, because I love their cheese fondue, a doodle-a-doo!

What’s your favorite holiday?

Valentine’s Day, because you can make crafts and you get to make cookies, and it’s just fun.

What’s your favorite animal?

Cheetah and whale shark. I also like certain species of turtles, and dolphins.

If you could change your name, what name would you choose?

Grace. It’s majestic and beautiful.

What do you love about each person in our family?

I love Katy because she is very strong-willed and she can take Elliora grabbing at her. I like Lily because she’s very calm and like a queen.

I love Elliora because she’s so cute and she’s FEARLESS, not afraid of anything.

I love Mama because she can make me blankets and other stuff, and I love to bake with her and her cooking’s really good. I love Dad because he does stuff a lot with me and he plays video games with me and he’s silly and makes me laugh. That’s it.

I love that I am very good at dancing and my sense of humor.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year?

Hawaii.

Guess what. We ARE going to Hawaii this summer, to meet up with Lauren.

Yay!

What are some of your wishes for this year?

I wanna learn how to swim and dive better.

Thanks for the interview, Annalie!

Uh-huh. Bye!

Annalie’s happy self-portrait, age 7

Inspiration for this interview originally came from New Year’s Interview for Kids at Blissfully Domestic (via The Crafty Crow).

I did this interview in 2009, 2010, and 2011 too.

I realized, after I did that last post about the newly-listed items in my Etsy shop (several of which have already been purchased, thank you very much!), that I have not blogged about pottery I’ve painted for a long time. The last post I could find that had more than a fleeting mention of dottery in it was way back in April! So let me catch you up, if you’re interested.

The little blue ‘be happy’ bowl up there is one that I painted for no particular reason or recipient. I ended up sending it to Leah as an apology for taking so long to send her my half of our flip-flop swap.

I painted this bowl for my friend Laura, with a slightly inaccurate Big Bang Theory quote on it. I don’t have a picture of it fired because Laura picked it up from the pottery shop when it was done.

The things I do for my friends. Kassie was inspired to ask me to paint this for her after reading about the “first: kindness; then: F*** AUTHORITY” mug I painted for Elaine. And because I love her, I did it. I’ll even admit it was kinda fun. But I don’t plan on painting another one. This was a limited edition mug. I don’t have a picture of this one fired either. (You can read Kassie’s hilarious account of watching me paint it here.)

She looks so innocent, doesn’t she? Not like a person who would ever ask a friend to paint a lovely dottery mug with her five favorite curse words on it.

I painted this geek dottery mug as a gift for the lovely Bex. It has two Firefly/Serenity quotes on it: “a little whimsical in the brainpan,” said by Mal in reference to the mentally-unstable River Tam; and, “Also, I can kill you with my brain,” a line said by a very calm River to a very spooked Jayne. The moral here is, never assume that just because someone’s whimsical that she is not also deadly when the situation calls for it.

I had a lot of fun painting this mug, particularly the little whimsical bits.

These annoying smudges are not fun, however. I took photos of this mug with my phone before it was fired, so I know these smudges weren’t there when I finished painting it. That means someone at the pottery studio wasn’t handling my pieces carefully. I’ve had this happen to at least three or four pieces I’ve painted at that studio. Rather disappointing because it’s only 10 minutes from my house.

Brenda had asked me to paint her a round dottery mug a while back, when her cool blue coral mug broke and she missed having a round mug. When I was in California and Brenda had the summer fiesta in our honor, she said that she needed to remember how much fun it is for her when she throws parties. So I painted her this mug as a reminder to be festive.

A little ‘be happy’ dottery vase I painted for Madge, at her request.

This cunning mug was a custom order for my Etsy shop, a dotty mug with Jayne Cobb’s hat on the front and a Firefly quote on the back. I was a bit nervous about painting the hat, but I think it turned out pretty well.

“Dear Diary, Today I was pompous and my sister was crazy…it was the best day ever.”

Shiny.

Annalie painted this Azurill plate the same day that I painted Katie’s NO WHINING sign. She pored over her Pokemon book, and picked the cutest one she thought she could paint. This was almost a disaster because she accidentally spilled a big blotch of black paint on the right ear and was very upset. I convinced her to leave the plate overnight and let it dry, and we’d come back the next day to fix it. We scraped the mistake off, and fixed the blue and pink, and now you can’t even tell the black blotch was there.

Remember those ‘internet friends FTW!’ mugs that Rainbow and I painted while I was in Omaha? Bad news.

It got broken during shipping. I was fairly bummed about this. I really liked those colors, and now Rainbow’s mug will be lonely.

I couldn’t even superglue it together and use it to hold pens, because there was a big ol’ U-shaped crack all across one side. Of all the mugs and bowls and things I’ve shipped, this is the first one I’m aware of that has broken. So it’s possible there was some flaw in the bisque that made it more prone to breaking.

At least I still have the memories. And an excuse to drag Rainbow to paint pottery with me again next time I’m in Omaha.

I actually got to paint pottery twice when we were in Omaha. The second time, I went with my mom, my girls, and Aurora. We did a handprint plate for my my mom with all three of her granddaughters’ handprints on it.

My mom wasn’t planning for Aurora to paint anything, but when she saw Annalie gathering paint and brushes, she said, “I paint? I paint too?” I helped her pick a plate and paint colors, and she painted the heck out of that plate.

Elliora didn’t paint. She hung out in the stroller, played with my mom’s keys.

She had her first lollipop, which she kept rubbing on her hair, then putting back in her mouth with an “Mmmmm!” Crazy baby.

Annalie fingerpainted this butter dish for my parents. I wrote the word ‘Butter’ on it just in case they couldn’t remember what they were supposed to use it for. (This is a photo of it unfired; my mom didn’t get to pick it up till after we left.)

Annalie also painted this plate for me, using my favorite colors. Isn’t she sweet?

Elliora did paint this plate, sort of. I helped her put handprints all over it one day when we were at our favorite pottery studio in Maryland. I think it turned out kinda cute, no?

I think it’s pretty clear that I do what I love, or this post wouldn’t have been nearly this long.

I got nothin’ right now.

I kind of hate myself for even thinking about writing this post, complete with an artsy nature photo, about how blah and tired I’ve been lately, and how there are a million things I could and should be doing instead of sitting on the couch after the kids are in bed. (The artsy nature photo itself is pretty cool, though; Annalie took it, which makes it that much cooler.) Yet here I am writing it. Bleargh.

Troy’s been working ridiculously long hours for months now and we’re all fraying at the edges because of it. Elliora still isn’t sleeping through the night and the lack of sleep is taking its toll on me and my patience levels. Annalie insists on acting like a seven-year-old (the nerve!). I’m always a few steps behind the mess that’s taking over the house. We could be moving as soon as February but don’t have orders yet so we can’t plan anything past January. I have a mile-long list of crochet projects I need to tackle but hardly any time or desire to crochet. I want to blog—I have so many posts in my head—but I never seem to get any of them actually written. One or both of the cats keep pooping on the floor next to the litter box. There is a new yet old ongoing family drama that is breaking my heart and making me lose sleep when I don’t have any to spare. Blah, blah, blah.

All this stuff is combining lately into a perfect storm that leaves me exhausted and frustrated in its wake. It’s overwhelming, and I tend to go a little numb when I think about it too much. I don’t even want to be writing this post about it except it’s driving me crazy that I can’t write the posts I want to write so I’m writing this one to explain why.

I know a lot of this is because of Troy’s crazy job right now, and more of it is because I have a baby, and that both of those things are temporary. I know that someday I will feel more like myself again, that this too shall pass. But oh, I’ll be annoyed about it until it does.

What’s annoying you right now? Let’s have a b!tch-fest. Those always make me feel better! Misery loves company.

This time of year in Omaha is so pretty!

Yesterday we went trick-or-treating in the Old Market with friends. Annalie and Elliora are both peacock princesses this year. Let’s just leave the fact that peacocks are male out of it, mmkay? Because look! Cutie-pie peacock princesses!

This morning before Ben took Aurora over to her mom’s house, I put her hair up in two ponytails, which she thought was pretty neat.

I like this shot because you can see Annalie’s blue nails and Elliora’s patience with her bossy big sister.

I look like I’m modestly covering my chest, but really I’m just resting my hand on the back of the bench in a weird position. It just looks like I’m a maiden aunt unaccustomed to showing so much décolletage.

Happy Halloween, all!

P.S. I’m not far away from 10,000 comments (real ones, not counting spam) on this blog! I think the 10,000th commenter is going to win a piece of pottery of their choice, or maybe something crocheted, just to thank you all for the great comments over the past four years. So keep those comments coming, YOU could be lucky #10,000!

I’ve been crocheting a LOT recently. I’ve been almost compulsive about it, and certainly a wee bit obsessive. In my rare free moments, I can usually be found sitting in the corner of the couch with my yarn and hooks and a caffeinated beverage, watching Drop Dead Diva on Netflix, crocheting away. That’s why I have not blogged lately, or uploaded any more of my Oregon photos. I haven’t even edited any of them. I’ve been too busy yarning.

Recently I’ve been working madly on a blanket for Erin and Rocco‘s sweet baby girl, Indira Jane. Indy surprised everyone by arriving on September 1st, a month ahead of schedule! Even though there’s not a desperate need for me to get the blanket done in a rush, I want to finish it quickly anyway. I only wish I could deliver it in person.

Before I started on Indy’s blanket, I finished up this modified Babette in pinks and browns for my friend Sarah’s first baby girl, who was born a few days ago.

These two balls I crocheted as big-brother gifts for Sarah’s two boys.

I crocheted these black and gold balls at my friend Bekah’s request. They’re actually cat toys. See?

Crocheting aside, we’ve been keeping busy.

Elliora has been hard at work standing. Standing by the couch like this is her new thing to do. I’d estimate she spends 50% of her waking hours standing right there.

Of course, about 48% of Elliora’s waking hours are spent eating. Here she is gobbling up some sausage, black olive and onion pizza.

And as you can see, my mom is in town for a visit! She was tentatively planning to come see us in early October, but then my niece’s mom got some time off work and it was easier for my mom to get away now (my mom watches Aurora while her parents are working). We’ll happily take her whenever we can get her!

In case anyone’s curious, the crib thing is going much better. We had a few rough days at first, but I think that was partly because of jet lag. Now, Elliora sleeps as well or better in the crib than she did in the Amby. Unless she’s teething—then all bets are off.

As long as I’m uploading a bunch of photos out of order (which I kind of hate doing, but when I have not blogged for a week drastic measures are called for), here is my new favorite photo of Annalie and Elliora. I think this one might be a framer.

Until I get the chance to blog about them, please go look at my photos which I’ve lovingly edited and Flickred for your viewing pleasure.