family – Page 43 – Karla's Cottage

Kansas City Renfest, a sister visit, and an itsy bitsy mermaid

Dew Drop, fairies, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 24, 2013

My sisses came to visit and I got a Renfest do-over, just like I wanted.

It was a spur of the moment idea.

Sis mentioned that plane tickets were cheap and before we really thought about it, they were here.

Which is when it occurred to us that we COULD have met up in Florida instead.

We've been trying to plan a sister trip there to sprinkle our dad's ashes together, and the timing never works out.

While Kansas sure isn't Florida, we managed to have quite a good time. There was royalty to meet…..

Fairies everywhere…..

Fire dancers…..

A castle to explore….

A miniature mermaid to meet…..

Shopping to do…..

And pink princesses to hug.

Even though we missed out on going to the ocean, we had a lot of fun.

We had the little fairy grandgirls with us for most of the day, and I of course had my camera pointed at them all the time, like I usually do.

But after my husband took a sleepy fairy home to nap and Sugarwings went off to explore with her mommy, I actually pointed my camera at some of the sights of the renfest.

One thing I love about the place is that it is a permanent location, and the grounds have some beautiful buildings.

My fave is the castle in progress. Not just because my son did some of the stone work, but because it is such an intriguing design.

He was working there this year, and his girls were thrilled to see him and kept wanting to go back to his booth.

He was selling his hand made magic wands.

I am helping him get an Etsy shop together where he can market these as well as his jewelry.

Of course, he won't have to put a costume on to sell stuff online like he did at the festival.

There was more magic to be found too. Sugarwings met Bitsy, a baby mermaid and made instant friends. She was hanging out in the park taking a break and the two got to know each other and chatted a while. Sugarwings gave her am organic sucker (we pack treats for the day), and told her it was called a Lollipop, adding, "We eat these on the land"

I hope that child never loses her amazing imagination. The world is filled with wonders to her.

I think her baby sister believes in fairies too.

I know I do.

I'll leave you with some scenes of the day.

Double the fun

family, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 10, 2013

Did you have a chance to see the Wizard of Oz during the limited dates at the 3D Imax? We had to go, of course!!

And I was glad I did. If only to watch Glenda's bubble float through the sky and see her sparkling gown. oh my! I really enjoyed the new look of the movie. Details like the live birds wandering around in the background and the wallpaper in Dorothy's room were something I'd never noticed before.

I'm a sucker for almost anything 3D, and wish I didn't have to drive all the way to Kansas City to see it in Imax. My husband doesn't care for 3D, and Dewdrop is too little, so I usually only go when it is just Sugarwings along with me. She and I are both enthralled by them. And when you couple 3D Imax with a classic movie favorite of ours- woo hoo! What a night. Her mommy (who can recite the whole script in her sleep) came to, so it was Girls Night Out for us.

A BIG Girls Night Out for me, because after I dropped off my kiddos, I hit the town with some friends for a wild night of…

Well, just sitting and talking at a quiet restaurant.

When we discussed where to go for the evening, the consensus was, somewhere that we could hear each other. No place loud.

It was so nice. What an ideal evening. Two nights out in one night.

A royal visit to the Renfest

celebrations, Dew Drop, fairies, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 23, 2013

Last weekend, we made our annual trip to the Rennesaince Festival. We always love going, and since Sugarwings was born, I rarely miss it. Before that, it had probably been 7-8 years between visits. But seeing it with my very own little fairy by my side, has made the experience very special.

This year, I had both girls with me. They decided they wanted to be princesses, not fairies, so I created some gowns for them. We had some ivory satin dresses in the play cabinet, but they'd seen better days. Around here, dress up clothes get a heavy duty workout.

So, I stitched bundles of white tulle around the waists, and took the plastic innards out of silk roses, and sewed them on the bodices. It's not a great sewing job, I just bunched up the tulle and pushed it through the machine. I was pretty pleased with myself for not sewing the back of the dress to its own front, with so many layers of bunched up fabric in those full skirts, I was impressed that I could do it. And I ran the pedal right over the silk rose and leaves, no careful hand stitching here.

After that, we threw them both in the washer with a half bottle each of pale pink and fuchsia Rit dye (because that is what I had), along with a few stained tee shirts, hoping to salvage the shirts by hiding the stain under a coat of pink. Anytime I dye stuff, I fill up the machine with as many things as I can find, kind of to see what can be repaired that is stained, but also just because it's fun to see a new color emerge.

Dewdrop and I sat in front of the washer and watched the clothes spin as the color sunk in. I'd say we watched it at least 10 minutes, until I started to wonder exactly what had become of my life, that sitting in front of a washing machine was now entertainment…

We arrived at the festival just in time for the beginning of the Dance of the Fairies going on right inside the gate. It's always the highlight of our day there. I was glad we started with that, I had my hands full with these guys, so it was nice that I didn't have to keep my eye on the clock to make it across the park to get to a showtime for the dance later in the day.

Uncle Ryan came along to help me out, he hadn't been to the festival since he was in high school. Ry has some social phobias and doesn't enjoy crowded places. But his near death experience seems to be opening him up to new adventures.

And I needed the backup. My husband was out of town, all the parents were working, it was just us.

While these princesses are adorable, lovable, and the lights of my life, they are still not easy for me to handle alone with all the crowds and excitement. Sugarwings especially thrives with one on one attention, and that isn't possible, when there is a two year old who needs caring for. Usually, my husband and I "divide and conquer" on outings.

Ryan was handy to have, although, he has his own issues, and needs tending also. He has to be cajoled and joked with, to keep his mood up and his mind calm.

I'm glad he came, we had some laughs, and even when one little girl would get distracted by something shiny and the other one would be angered by something not quite going her way, he managed to hold it together despite the crowds that bother him so much. I was proud of him and thankful to have his help.

I might have been even more impressed with his attitude than with my ability not to sew the bunches of skirts into a big wad.

I recommend this event so highly.

It is set in a lovely, wooded park and has permanent buildings that are as cute as can be. A pretty little fantasy to join in on.

This wasn't my favorite visit there, but it wasn't the fault of the park, it was me trying to juggle too many special needs at once. I'd like to take each girl on her own, to really enjoy the days with them. Plus, going to that festival is always such a special time for me, that I feel like I missed out on some of the joy this year, our trip wasn't a typical one for us, it had it's stressed moments.

I want a do-over!!

Isn't this entrance to the play area cute? I wouldn't mind taking ONE girl at a time there, just to hang out at the play place for a couple hours. Their father is selling his jewelry and managing a booth there this season, so we have free passes for his kids to go.

He is also helping a friend build a castle there. The guy my son is working for, is a talented stone mason. This is an ongoing project, in it's third year, and still has a few years ahead of it till it is completed.

Here he is, his name is Forrest. I'm not sure you can see all the detail of his work from my photos, but it's quite intricate and arty.

Cool, huh? At this point, it is more like a courtyard than a castle, very open. I think it's magical as it is, but am looking forward to watching it grow.

That column and window are fantastic.

I'll leave you with some more photos of our trip.

PS- Thank you for all of your enquiries about Ryan. He is doing well, is working at the new job while still going to cardiac rehab. That job is kicking his butt, it is very hard work, but he is happy to be there.

Painted Fairies

cottage, Dew Drop, family

By Karla Nathan / September 19, 2013

Silly me. I keep paint out in the garden for the fairies to help themselves to anytime they like. It's washable paint, but sometimes the messes are still unwelcome.

But cute. Unless it's time to go somewhere or get dinner on the table.

We spend so much time outdoors that they are either covered in mud, water or some sort of mess, so why not paint?

gawdy photo editing tips

family, how to's, photography

By Karla Nathan / September 13, 2013

Although the reason for my trip to Indy was a sad one, I'm always glad for a chance to see my family there. Since I've been home, I've been playing with some of the photos from the visit. Picmonkey has some great tools to use. For this one, I used Bokah to blow out the back ground to white by making the sparkles as large as they'll go, erased it from the figures, then added more bokah stars here and there, and a starry background from the selection of textures.

I also turned it black and white, then erased that from the skin tones. To warm up the skin tones, I colored them with sepia, then faded it.

Over that, I added Orton.

Here it is undoctored.

(I loved my new dress! Pima cotton, comfy as wearing jammies. And only $20 from the Tonganoxie thrift store that carries brand new clothes from the Peruvian Connection.)

In this one, we were standing in front of a gray wall, that had distracting piece of trim head level, and it looked choppy. So I bokah-ed it away. I'm sure that people who know how to use Photo Shop are much better at this and can cut images out in a more professional manner. But this is so easy and quick, I'm sticking with the (mostly) free online editing!

After that, I added Orton for glow, and more sparkles from Bokah. And a lens flare at the bottom.

These girls were standing in a big family group shot, so I used bokah and wrinkle remover to blur out the other people after cropping, and then made it all glowy with orton.

Wrinkle remover is found under the lipstick icon, for facial touch ups, but I use it to get rid of backgrounds I don't like. It probably took about 4 times to blur out the wall enough to add the colorful bokah sparkles. Shelli didn't need any wrinkles erased from her pretty face! I really think that when you use that feature on faces, it looks plastic and fake.

This is the original, untouched up.

This closeup is from the same photo I showed first. Instead of stars, I used the cloud texture. And then softened the picture, and tinted it with sepia (faded).

This photo is a bokah explosion. Hearts, pink and white done in lots of sizes, some stars, and lots of sparkles. Then, Orton for over all glow.

If you thought I went a little over the top on the other ones, get a load of this one. I don't even know what I did to it, lots of sparkles, tints, glows, and some drawing.The gawdier and brighter the better!

Lately, I've not felt like I've really had much time to do artwork, or to photograph and list things for my shop. But I've been able to satisfy some creative yearnings by playing with these pictures. Each only takes a few minutes and is a no muss, no fuss way to play.

Plus, I kind of get to spend a little more time with my family when they are far away.

PS- thanks so much for your concern about Ryan. He is doing rehab now and getting stronger. He has a date to be released to work and called the warehouse that had hired him before all this happened. No word back from them yet, but our fingers are crossed that they still have a job for him.

Rolling with it

Dew Drop, fairies, family, give away, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 9, 2013

Thank you for all of your kind words about Ryan. He is doing remarkably well and has no permanent damage. But will be on meds all of his life so this doesn't happen again.

And thanks for your encouragement to me not to feel guilty. I think most of us understand Mom Guilt. It stays with you.

My husband said my last blog post sounded like I was giving myself a pity party. He is probably right, I've turned into a mushy mess, now that the crisis is past.

It's been an odd year for me, with upheavals (good and bad), no real routine to settle into, and lots of trips. Change doesn't always settle well with me, I'm a stick in the mud, homebody type. I'm ready for some monotonous, day to day, regular boring days. Ha! Like that will happen….

In the meantime, I guess I'll keep rolling with the waves.

It's past due for me to announce my two giveaway winners. The charming little novel goes to:

A surprise winner…. I have her address from something else, so I will just drop this in the mail and surprise her with it. I'll let you know who it was later on.

And for Carol's generous giveaway of an entry to Jeanne's online seminar? The winner is this comment:

I would
love to win this awesome class! The book sounds awesome, too. I'd love
to win either. Thank you for the opportunity! Mona

Mona, I'll give your info to Carol and she will contact you. I know she is out of town this week, so don't think she has forgotten you if you don't hear from her right away.

How not to win a Mother of the Year Award

family

By Karla Nathan / September 6, 2013

I think I've mentioned that Ry lost his job, rather unfairly? He is a hard worker, never late, stayed on at the end of his shift when the midnight guy didn't show, quite often working a double. He also went in every week off the clock to unload the truck, no matter how many times I told him not to let them take advantage of him that way. Any way, he'd made a mistake on his cash drawer, for the third time in 4 years working at Kwik Shop, for a total over the last four years of under $100.

So, he was let go. Three strikes, you're out.

He has been trying hard to find another. I've spent countless hours with him doing online applications that can really suck up hours of time. Those personality tests at the end sure are sneaky arn't they? With their tricky double and triple negative questions like, "When was the last time you did not think it wasn't OK to take cash from your employer while feeling anger build up against a coworker you sold drugs to?"

Ry had been down about losing his job, his car breaking down, and ending a relationship. When he seemed to lose interest in doing some odd jobs I'd given him, I was starting to think that he was busy feeling sorry for himself and being gloomy (which he had plenty of reason to do) and not trying to get on with his life.

When he slept through an interview (from an application I'd given 2-1/2 hours of my own life into helping him with), I was fed up. He'd laid around all week and hadn't done a thing I'd asked. So, I yelled at him. Loud. And bitchy. Telling him to get out of bed and get to work. Either spend 6-8 hours a day job hunting or doing yard work, no lying in bed during the day if he wanted to live in my house.

He looked awful and I figured he was hung over. Not that he is a big drinker, but I knew he was down and thought maybe he tried to drown his sorrows. So, I was even angrier.

Of course, he didn't mention he was feeling bad. Real bad. He went out and shovelled mulch for 4 hours, while in extreme pain.

And the next day did the same thing. I didn't see him all weekend, thinking he was avoiding me because I'd gone ballistic on him. Actually, he was sick in bed between the mulch jobs. Ryan has a sensory processing disorder, which makes it hard for him to know the difference between a serious pain or a minor irritation, he just figured he'd ignore the problem, and it would go away if he laid down, then he would get up and work some more.

Finally, on Monday night, he came to ask me to take him to the hospital and told me how sick he'd been for a week and how much worse it had become. One look at him and I yelled for my husband to watch snoozing Dewdrop for me, and I was out the door with Ry. The ER doc agreed that he was seriously bad off, and admitted him.

I should have known that Ryan would not blow off a job interview, he is completely freaked out and embarrassed by being unemployed right now.

Our family spent a couple nights (not) sleeping on chairs in the hospital room after Ryan had a procedure. Which went well. He went from near death to complaining about chigger bites in a few hours. I knew he was better when the itchiness was bothering him more than his illness!

He is going to be just fine, is home from the hospital and is being completely spoiled now. I settled him in his apartment, and gave it a deep cleaning, as well as redoing his bathroom with new shower curtains, rug, hooks on the wall, etc. Not just out of Mom guilt, but because there really isn't much I can do to make him feel better, so it made me feel better just to be doing something.

The Dr. even says that Ry can go back to work in two weeks with no restrictions. And he received a call saying he was hired at the job he really, really wanted. Hopefully, they will hold it for him. Ryan is impatient to get started. (and we are both tired of applications!)

After the quick flight to Indiana for the funeral, then 4 days with the little girls, who seemed to be in an argumentative state the whole time, then the big scare with my son, and sleepless nights at the hospital, I've been worn out. Funny, I was fine during all the chaos, but the day after Ryan came home, recovering and bored about having to rest, I fell apart. It finally hit me that I almost lost him.

There is a deflated balloon feeling in my soul, and I think I need a day or so to just do nothing at all. Since I have some minor dental surgery today, that will be a good excuse to be lazy.

Magazine Clean

cottage, family, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2013

Before Fifi came to take photos for Romantic Country, I had to clean and spiff up. Like I mentioned before, I knew not to try to pre-style the place, but it still had to be clean, arranged, and ready.

Not all the rooms were shot, so I thought I'd show you the photos I took of my sparkly, clean house instead of wasting all that work!!

I guess it wasn't exactly wasted, I enjoyed the peace and quiet of banning my family and having a clean cottage for about 24 hours.

And yes, I really did BAN them. I packed a picnic breakfast and fresh clothes for the little girls and sent them with their dad to sleep in the office!

The house was oddly quiet, and spookily spotless.

I even banned the dorkies. Those poor pupeesh couldn't believe they were being kept out.

My husband was out of town on business, which worked out well. He wouldn't have put up with any banning. And while he is adorable, he might be the messiest of them all.

The girls weren't all that happy with it either, and everyone gladly came in to clutter up and make it all more homey and real as soon as Fifi and Mark pulled out of the driveway.

I admire people who can keep their homes up to this standard of tidiness, but I don't know how they manage it.

Of course, having tiny fairy girls tromping about doesn't always lead to chaos, it just seems that way sometimes.

But the kind of chaos they create is so much more fun than cleaning house!

I do try to keep things picked up, and the little sprites know to leave my "pretties" to an eyes only, no fingers exploration.

Most of the time.

They know they can pull out all their dress up clothes for a fashion show, or empty all the crayons and markers onto their table, or bring in their latest pretty rocks or bugs found outside, and Grammy will enjoy seeing the newest creation or them all dressed up.

Sometimes, I have to draw the line about bugs, though.

Sugarwings and Dewdrop leave to go to their mommies and I if I'm not too worn to a frazzle from all the goings ons, I'll shovel out the mess when they are away.

But even then, my house rarely looks this good! I'm glad I have some photos to prove it can happen.

See, not a juice bottle, dirty sock, or naked Barbie anywhere.

Which reminds me, why do all the dolls have to be stripped? Even poor Ariel gets her tail snapped off if it is removable. There isn't a doll that we own that is wearing anything. Although, sometimes Dewdrop will take off her own panties and put them on a doll.

Which is a bit weird.

While it's nice to have a day of tidy living, I miss the clutter that comes from family. Sometimes when the girls leave, I purposely walk around a pink shoe in the middle of the floor instead of picking it up. Because it reminds me that soon, a little girl will be back to fill that shoe.

When they first leave, my husband and I will take a deep sigh of relief for the quiet. Then, an hour or so goes by and one of us mentions some funny thing one of them had said or done. In another hour, we start to wonder how long it will be till we get to see them and laugh with them again.

Someday, too soon, they will be busy with friends, college, jobs, and finding a true love. My house will be clean and I'll miss those naked Barbies and forgotten socks.

Who am I kidding? My house will never be perfectly clean!! I'll still have dogs bringing in sticks, tracking in mud, and leaving toys all around. And remember that adorable, but messy husband I mentioned? I can't imagine our dining room table will magically lose it's collection of crossword puzzles saved from the newspaper, or the half empty coffee cup on it!

Magazine clean just isn't real. It's a fun fantasy for a day, but that is about as long as I could live in it.

PS-Leave a comment on this post, if you would like to enter my two giveaways. I'm away at the moment, but will draw names after Labor Day weekend

A grand weekend filled with magic

Dew Drop, fairies, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 20, 2013

The Summer of Whammy is coming to a close, but we sure made the most of it while we could. Sugarwings is back in school, now a first grader, missing a front tooth. I was lucky to be able to take off and enjoy her last few months of being a little kid.

We had our fairies for a whole weekend and took them for a couple of outings. One was the local county fair, which we happened to hit about 2pm on a Saturday and the timing was perfect. Not a line in sight.

We bought wrist bands for unlimited rides and let them run back and forth from one to the other, some times, they were the only kids on one of the rides.

But the big fave of the day were the honies. Which is what Dewdrop calls her true loves, My Little Ponies. She could have went round and round for hours on the horses. She was a little disappointed that they weren't pink (the best color in the universe, according to these two girls), so I adjusted her steed a little on Picmonkey and printed it for her.

She was thrilled.

Sugarwings' pony was a little too dark to change. But when I told her that hers was chocolate and her sis's was strawberry, she was fine about it.

There were animals to feed, things to ride, and all sorts of fun to be had.

Prizes were won too. Sugarwings chose this little pink fish from the one point pile, even though she had five points to cash in at the duck pond game. Sometimes, it's not the size of the prize that counts. And you can't beat a pink Nemo. It was a happy choice, even though it wasn't a quick one… Important choices like that are too big to rush.

(look at the sign behind her. "LOVE"!)

With all the activities we have done with these two this summer, we seemed to have shown up places when no one else was around. Our timing was ideal everywhere we went from the zoo, to movies, restaurants, carnivals. No lines, no waits, in and out easily. And we were smart enough to enjoy the time playing while all was quiet and happily left when the crowds came along.

There must have been magic in the air for our outings to have gone so perfectly.

Or faith, hope, and pixie dust, as Tinker Bell says.

Ideal weather too, we couldn't have asked for a nicer summer. There wasn't a hot, sweaty, rainy, impatient, or crowded time on any of our days out.

Speaking of magic, this video magically appeared on my camera! I was taking photos all weekend, not video. All of the still shots turned out fine, just as I had taken them. Along with this little video collage of our time at the carnival.

Nothing else from the weekend was on the video, and no photographs were missing. How odd. But how nice! I've enjoyed watching it, especially knowing that it was put on my camera by sprites and I had nothing to do with filming it!

Happy 7th Birthday Sugarwings!

celebrations, Dew Drop, family, Food and Drink, games, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / August 16, 2013

Sugarwings turned 7, lost a front tooth, and started first grade. It has been a VERY exciting week.

Her mom threw her a party over the weekend, so she could celebrate with a few friends.

She had asked for a pinata, and I thought we'd make one together, but time was short, so we enhanced one instead. I found a colorful donkey at Walmart, trimmed its long ears, and used one ear to create a horn.

And of course, it needed glitter. Who doesn't? We spritzed it with glitter spray and while wet, doused it with even more flakes of glitter. Then, a mane and tail were created from curled ribbons.

Much more fitting for the Princess Party than a plain, old donkey! And with every whack, a cloud of glitter floated down onto the kids below.

And I think it was more fun than the one I would have made. This was sturdy cardboard and held up through a ton of whackings. I'd have made paper mache and it would have met an early death.

Her mom proved that you can go gluten, food coloring, and dairy free and still have the most wonderful birthday cake ever. It was rich, moist and wonderful.