You Go Girl!

Cuckoo for Coco Fluff

Ga-Ga.

Over the Moon.

Head Over Heels. 

Cuckoo for Coco Puffs Fluff. 

Meet Olive. Such a distraction. We are in love.

Need a Ride?

As of Friday, this girl is a fully licensed driver. Not sure who's responsible for her fabbity hair up-do. Probably a sister. I thought she should wear it like this for her photo on her license. She didn't. It was all curly loveliness that day.

Safe travels, little Paige.

Hello. My Name Is...

Hello. My name is Cassie. I am wife to one. Mom to five. Friend to many. This is my You Go Girl blog. I like to write about my family and crafty things. What? You already know all this? Oh. Ok. I thought maybe introductions were in order since I have been so scarce in this space. Every day I think of something I would like to blog about, but it has been busy, busy, too busy around here...

My girl is graduated. Her birthday was celebrated.

Planters have been planted. Sprinklers repaired.

Games have been played.

Yellowstone was toured.

And, my kitchen is almost completely renovated.

Things seem to be returning to normal chaos around here so I've been partaking in some crafty goodness. Be back next week with something to show you. 

XOXO~

Cassie

I Will Wear a Smile...

Tomorrow Miss Hailey will

turn eighteen

AND

graduate from high school.

BUT

I will not cry.

INSTEAD 

I will wear a smile

AND

let my heart  soar

BECAUSE

My girl is equipped and ready

to live her

DREAMS!

(Okay. Maybe I will have just a teeny tiny lump in my throat. I am her mama, after all.)

Thirteen

 

I have thought about this day from the moment these three entered the world...This is the day that I officially have FIVE teenage daughters living under my roof. It used to scare me to death. But if my two older daughters (15 and 17) are any indication of what it is like to have teenage girls about, I am in for some very good days ahead. I just have to make it through 7th and 8th grade. Sometimes 7th and 8th grade girls make me want to poke needles in my eyes. I think I'm going to make it, though. After all, I'm 3/4 of the way through 7th grade triplets all ready. Woo Hoo! Happy birthday my little triplet gingers. I love you more than words can say. Even when you chew gum in my ear, or toss your back packs carelessly about my tidy living room, or steal my hairbrush and forget to put it back, I still love you lots. 

 

On Fire...

Somebody throw some water on me because I am on fire. This past week I...

...Crafted five shabby flower hair clips for my Valentine girls. As usual, I crafted them ON Valentine's day. Why do I always do this to myself? Deep down I must like the pressure.

...Made three receiving blankets for Konbit Sante delivery kits (Craft Hope Project 11). This Craft Hope project was very timely for me. Since Kevin and Hailey returned from Haiti, I somehow feel connected to the people in Haiti in a way I didn't before. It's kind of weird.

...Put the finishing touches on this Birdie Sling. I wish the snow and sleet and slush and mud would go away so I could use it. We seem to be caught in an endless cycle of snowing and melting, snowing and melting. We've had at least 60 " of snow this year. More snow is in our future this week. So very dirty. I am going through wiper fluid by the gallon. It is very hard to keep your coat, your bag, and your person from brushing upside the slush mobile that used to be a sparkly clean car. I miss you, summer.

...Replaced the zipper in this little black number. Paige (daughter #2) went to Snowball, a semi-formal school dance. She looked ooh-la-la divine.

...Patched two pairs of holey jeans. I think I like them better with these cute little patches than I did when they were new.

Up next...a new ironing board cover. The girls, all of them, were busy melting crayons between wax paper this weekend. They were doing it for no other reason but the pure joy that comes from such waxy, melty, smelly, wicked colorful goodness. Evidently each one of them was sick on the day they melted crayons between wax paper in grade school because they all claimed they had NEVER done this before. Are you kidding me? I can't believe I didn't do this with the girls when they were younger. Shame. Humiliation. Abomination. Tsk. Tsk.I think this is probably another black mark against me in my bid for Mother of the Year. Harrumph. (I'm only kidding. I was forever banned from the MOTY competion a few years back when I accidentally cut off the eyebrow of a certain 7th-grader during a bang trim. Not cool. But very funny. Shhh.) 

 

Yes I Can...

My sweet Emily wanted a hat for Christmas. Not just any hat. She wanted a hat that she spotted at Rockin' Rudy's, a groovy little store full of lots of fun and sometimes quirky things. The hat was the bomb. I even thought so. It was crocheted in a lovely woolen yarn. It had a scalloped edge and an amazing crocheted froufrou flower that was stitched to it in just the right place. It was cute, and jaunty, and perfect. It also had a $42 price tag. OUCH!! Forty two dollars for a hat that may or may not find its way home from school each day seemed like A LOT. What's a girl to do? Of course. Why didn't I think of it sooner? I could make one...maybe...perhaps...hmmm, I don't know. My original enthusiasm for the plan was dulled by uncertainty and doubt. After all, I only kind of know how to crochet. It seemed a wee bit risky. I shushed the voices in my head. "Breath deep and carry on," I told myself.

One skein of blue yarn, a little ball of magenta yarn, the tail-end of green yarn, and some determination...Yes, I can. I can crochet a hat with scallops and a froufrou flower. Tah-Dah...

Sweet Emily told me it was better than the one at Rockin' Rudy's because I made it. Awww, shucks. Stop it already, Emily. 

Breath deep and carry on...I think that will be my mantra for 2011. It works for so many different situations. Try it.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2011.

Breath deep and carry on, friends~

Cassie

 

A Word (or two) of Advice...

Hello? Anybody out there? Wow. I've been pretty scarce in this space lately.  I've been desperately slurping every last ounce of fun out of summer. It kicked my hiney, but was worth every exhausting minute. I'm back now. All my girls are at school today. Bittersweet, really.

Here are some polaroids of the girls on the first day. The photos are black and white because one of the girls has a tear-stained face. Her long, curly, thick, beautiful, red, to-die-for hair would not do what she wanted it to. We all feel bad for her, don't we? Oh, please!! Most people would sell a kidney for her head of hair. Sheesh! Embrace the big hair, girlfriend.

 

 

 

As the school year kicks off, I have two words of advice for the mommies who are brand new to school this year. HOT LUNCH! Yes, I know that cold lunch is a healthier alternative, but I recommend that you make hot lunch seem like a rare and thrilling gastrointestinal delight. After years and years of making sandwiches, peeling carrots, slicing apples, bagging cookies, and filling water bottles for five kids in the wee hours of the morning, I'm beginning to ask myself where I went wrong. Some days I would like to send them out the door with $1.25 a piece and tell them to enjoy. But, no. I bad-mouthed hot lunch. My girls think it is akin to eating a cat poop sandwich with a toilet water chaser. I've created a monster. I'm living with the consequence. Read and learn rookies. I know it seems unpalatable to those of you that believe that a lunch from mom equals true love, but you'll thank me for this advice later on. Really.

Wordless (almost)

This picture cracks me UP! 

I've Been Gone...

Where? Well here's a clue.

 

Need another hint?  Here you go.

 

I know.  These pictures could be taken in lots of places. Here's another more obvious clue.

  

You're getting warmer, aren't you? But just so there's no doubt...

Yes. We just got back from our yearly trek to Yellowstone. We almost always go the week after school is out. Love that place!  No matter how many times I see it, I am always amazed by the beauty and majesty.  Who wouldn't be? 

Yellowstone makes us jump for joy.

 

Woo Hoo! Let the summer games begin.