Surgeries, Celebrations and Gratitude

I am sitting here in Olathe Medical Surgery Waiting Room while mom has knee replacement surgery. This woman is a trooper. Her recovery is going to be brutal. After a lot of nervous energy this past week, her attitude this morning was "well, I've gotta do it, so let's just get on with it."

Mom checking in for surgery prep at 5:30 am. I think she looks chipper and cute!

Goodbye knee!

Yesterday was mom's 63rd birthday and we celebrated with food, of course. For lunch we went to the Sunset Grille with Nanci and Great Papa.

For dinner we went to the Japanese Steakhouse. Lily was terrified of the fire. Cole wore his cape the entire time. It was a great way to spend her birthday. Another moment I've "bottled." 

After dinner we picked up ice cream from Sheridan's. Carol, my mom's best friend, had bought a Hen House Boston Cream Pie. I told you - it was an eating fest. 

Speaking of Great Papa, he was in the Paola newspaper a few weeks back. My grandfather is a 91 year old retired doctor from small town Paola Kansas. I could write a novel about him, but in short, he is remarkable. He was, and still is, a brilliant man. He loved being a doctor. Still today, when he walks into the grocery store, people will say "Doc, great to see you." Others will remind him that he was the doctor who delivered him. There is even one family in Paola where my grandpa delivered a child, then he delivered their child. Tears come to his eyes as he says this to us. He has pride, yet humility. He has brilliance, yet the best sense of humor. From me, he has the utmost respect. 

Lily Cole Designs is still trucking along. I finished another darling embroidery project for a customer. These are such treasures.

I've also been enjoying making onesies for little babes.

I have a NEW product coming out. I get excited about all new products, but this one is such a treasure. I am still making some examples and taking pictures, but I will share soon.

I am so excited and relieved because my dad is coming in town in just a few hours. I always breathe more easily when he is here. I have also had two very dear friends come to my rescue this morning to help me out with getting my mom taken care of for this surgery. My next door neighbor and dear friend, Kerri, came over at 5:10 am to be with my children while I took mom to the hospital. She has a 4 year old and a one year old, so sleep is very precious to her. Yet she "wouldn't take no for an answer" when she called and offered to do this for me. How self-less is that?!

My other friend - more like a sister and soul-mate, Abi, has taken my children for the entire morning so that I can be here to talk to the doctor and see mom in recovery. I just got a text from her that the kids are playing hide and go seek and then off to the slip and slide. Knowing the kids are happy and that they are bonding with Abi, who they will know until our old age, warms my heart to no end. My gratitude is overflowing right now.

Happy summer weather everyone!

Rolling in the Deep

Driving to camp on this gorgeous sunny morning - kids and me - and we roll down all of the windows and dial back the sunroof. We turn on one of our fave songs "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele. Loud. Louder. All three of us are dancing, singing at the top of our lungs. At stop lights people look and smirk (ha ha, that rhymes). There are so many moments in our days that I wish I could bottle up and save forever and never forget. This was one of them.

The other day I told the kids they could each spend $10 on a new present from Barnes and Noble. Cole got a superhero book with figurines. Lily got a lego helicopter with 96 pieces.

Progress made after 1 hour with mommy's help.

And then once Daddy came home, all was right in the world. We play with that helicopter ALL. THE. TIME. 

We were looking in the car under the seats for one of Lily's lost toys and we found one of Cole's old "ya yas" (pacifier). It had probably been there over a year and it was broken. Although he has been ya-ya free for several months now, he came home and washed it right off and put it in his mouth. Tears came to my eyes because I thought I'd never see him with a pacifier again. But here he is. Then the ya-ya fairy came again...

A lot of my time has been spent creating these embroidered treasures.

Not only do these include embroidery, but there is also fabric appliquéd and machine stitched on. Opens up a world of possibilities here.

Thinking I might do a tutorial on this sometime. It truly is a treasure to have your young child's artwork hung on your wall.

Night night.

Kenny & Summer Shandy

I have the kids in the bath right now. When they stepped in, the dirt from their feet smeared the bottom of the tub. As they were getting undressed, they sung a ballad of "Knee Deep in the Water Somewhere" by Zac Brown Band to each other. When I poured water over their heads, the smell of "summer outside" wafted up. They quickly filled up their new water guns that they got from Papa Chip today and they are squirting it all over the tub. The conversation they are having right now is hysterical - about rubber duckies. I am drinking a bottle of Summer Shandy. And I love it. Have you tried it before? It rocks. Life was good today.

We have had full summer days. Highlights:

• Chris and I went to the Tim McGraw/Kenny Chesney concert at Arrowhead Stadium. Felt like kids again. Danced. Sang at the top of our lungs. Didn't get to sleep until 1:45 am. Next day, we couldn't hang. We were feeling our age. Oh, but it was worth it. 

It was crazy awesome. And we knew the words to pretty much every song. And we sang it good and loud.

• Today we went on our nature walk and ate dinner with our dear friends. 

Lily and Ellie held hands the whole time.

• Swim lessons for both kids. Lily = risk taker. Cole = not a risk taker; cries for mamma most of the time. Making progress though.

Embroidery orders are coming along. They are such a treasure and I really love doing them. Yet they are so incredibly time consuming. This is what my living room looks like late late at night while everyone else is sleeping. 

Almost finished with 2 of them and starting a new one tonight. I've also been working on several custom orders. Here is a draft of 4 illustrations I am making for a baby's room. So so fun.

Speaking of Lily Cole Designs, I need to get to work. Lots to embroider and lots of emails to return. 

Weekend Recap

After another wonderful and relaxing weekend around home, last night something happened that stopped us in our tracks. 

Kids were dog tired. We played outside most of the day. No naps (those are so rare anyway). It was 8:30 and we gave the kids their vitamins. Cole likes those gummy kind. We gave him 2. He then ran out on the deck to see Daddy and he fell down. No bumps or bruises or blood, but it hurt. He had that cry where you can't catch your breath. But then we realized that he really couldn't catch his breath. He was choking on his gummy vitamin. We hit his back hard several times and it wouldn't come up. Chris put his arms around his torso and pumped. After 2, the gummy popped out. Praise the Lord! I have never been more grateful for my hero of a husband than I was at that moment. I was shaking. My legs were jello. I held Cole and caressed him while he cried for a while. Chris's mood changed from lighthearted and fun to somber and quiet. When I asked him later what was going through his mind he said, "anything can happen at any time." So true, so scary. Gummies are in the trash. About 2 minutes later, Cole was up and playing as if nothing had happened. I shudder to think of the "what ifs." So I choose now to focus on all of the great little moments of our weekend. 

The weekend involved a lot of outside time. We are soaking up every little opportunity before it gets scorching hot.

A little rain was welcomed by us. Anytime kids have an excuse to break out their $7 Walmart umbrellas is a good day for us!

Date with Lily at Jimmy Johns. All four of us arrive here and Lily really wants JJs but Cole really wants macaroni from Panera. So what do we do? Chris goes with Cole to Panera and I go with the Lily to JJs. What are you talking about? We don't let our children run our lives! Uh, we do. Kind of. But then we all ate outside together and had a kumbaya lunch.

Baby C laughing hysterically last night. Mom is my sweet, darling amazing, sent from God friend and next door neighbor.

More sweet neighbor friends.

I was able to sneak in a little bit of reading time in the lawn chair on the driveway while kids played. 50 Shades anyone? It rocks.

Planking. While giggling.

Lily Cole Designs has been super busy. Lots of custom orders are coming through for illustrations. I love custom work. Nothing pleases me more than working with a customer to get just exactly what they want - and knowing that it will be hung above their newborn baby's crib for years to come. Here are a few owl images created recently. I love owls. And just to add a little more "love" in there....let me tell you: I really really love both of my jobs.

Kids are stirring from their little nap. Have a great week!