happy family

As you can imagine, family was on my mind this past weekend at Art is You...Petaluma. With the pending trial and Alfredo visiting his papa, it was hard not to think of the three of us together. So, in my new sweet friend Shelly Massey's super fun Playtime class, I decided to make a piece that honored us. Isn't it wonderful? Maybe you're not supposed to be so outwardly pleased with something you made yourself, declaring it wonderful, etc. But I just love how it turned out.

Shelly is a fabulous teacher...she made the class relaxed and happy and filled with fun. Do you see that the base of the project is a license plate? How fun is that? I loved crafting beside my sweet friend Amy. And I really love Shelly's teaching style.

a surprise ruling

Tuesday in court was crazy. I mean, super crazy. There was a lot of emotion and drama including even a trip to the emergency room. And when the day was through the judge surprised us all with a ruling that was not even mentioned as a possibility. He awarded us full custody of Alfredo.

You can only imagine how this ruling has made this family of ours, which has felt fragile in the best of times, now so much more solid and secure. We'll possibly be returning to court through the years as circumstances change for parties involved but we continue to pray that the best interest of Alfredo is always evident and clear.

His mother, who has had only supervised visits since Alfredo was first brought into our care, was awarded visitation. We have the right to monitor the visitation for appropriateness. Starting December 1, but more likely when Alfredo is ready, opens the possibility of overnight visits.

The one person who really lost in all of this is Alfredo's father. He made the hard choice to not appear in court nor did he have representation. The judge read this as disinterest. As a result, Alfredo's father lost his part of the custody. What's interesting (and what we had only just learned the morning of the case) is that he was planning to have Alfredo return to California full time as soon as possible.

Of course, we'll continue to keep Alfredo's father and his family as involved as they wish to be in his life. As long as we're welcome, we'll continue our visits to California so that he may grow up knowing their love.

Thank you so much for all of the prayers you've wrapped around our little family. Rich and I sat in the car the morning of the case and prayed to feel God's arms around us, to know that we are not alone. We prayed that we would act with dignity and be guided by Faith, not fear.

(source for image)

back!

Alfredo and I flew on the red eye last night and it wasn't pretty. My poor guy is sick with a cold and threw up about 20 minutes into the flight. I had to change him out of his cute footed pajamas into not-so-warm emergency clothes. He managed to sleep most of the flight. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for me. Oh well...I'll catch up someday. :)

 Art is You Petaluma was fabulous! It was such a wonderful group of women and I can't wait to show you what I made...you're not going to believe it.

So, tomorrow is our custody trial with Alfredo's mom...say a little prayer for us. I'll be back later this week...I have a lot of life-catching-up to do.

smart boy

Alfredo and I leave early tomorrow morning for Petaluma, California. We're packing and getting ready. Before we go, you want to see how smart our little boy is? And look how big he is! He'll be 5 before we know it!

the creative connection

I just had the best creative weekend of my life. Seriously.

{& I have a bit of an inspiration hangover.}

If you were there {at The Creative Connection} then I know you'll agree it was the most

validating,

inspiring,

jam-packed,

uplifting,

empowering,

overwhelming,

amazing

weekend ever.

I loved meeting so many very special new people. And I am so happy to have reconnected with so many fabulous old friends. It was just the right recipe of learning new stuff, chatting with people, hearing great stories, and making fun stuff.

Kudos to Jo & her awesome team of movers and shakers. It was like watching an olympic figure skater...she made it all look so superbly easy but we all know how much work went behind every single detail. A special thank you to everyone on her team for caring enough about me and my fellow connector to make every detail important. I felt the love in each of them.


And if you weren't there, you should've been.

I'll tell you what to do...go on over to Janine's fabulous place and check out the slide show she made of the images from The Creative Connection. It makes me smile to see those images she captured of the magic of the weekend.

strawberry buttons forever...

I have a million and one things to do but I opted this morning to quietly sew a few of these super sweet velvet strawberry buttons to a cardigan...

So sweet! Kim Stout made these precious little buttons. I picked them up at their last fabulous show.

I'm packing this and so much more! And getting ready to leave tomorrow for The Creative Connection. I can't wait to see all my old friends and meet a whole bunch of new ones. Hope to see you there!

10 years since that horrible day. 

Lest we forget.

getting so excited...

Can't believe this is only a week away! Will you be there too?

Some spots are still open...

first day of preschool

This morning, I walked him to his preschool classroom and then kissed him goodbye and walked out, only to look down to find him there following me. And that happened 3 times. The last time, the teacher called him cheerily back into the class and I walked away, just like all the books say to do.

And you know what? He did fine. No tears. Not even one. We talked about feeling nervous. But we also talked about all the new things he'll learn and all the new friends he'll make.

On the way home from his first day of school, he declared happily "I LOVE SCHOOL!" Yay!

adorable...

Thank you so much for all your love, both shared here on the blog and privately by email. I've been plagued with worry for months now. This morning I woke early, tossed and turned and worried myself into a frenzy. And it's such a shame because I think morning is the time when we should be the most faithful. Rise and shine with two feet firmly on the ground, an amen and an hallelujah echoing from deep within. But this morning I awoke with a head full of worry.

I know we'll be fine. Everything will be fine.

Okay, so how's about a new fall wardrobe...

Starting with this...

True confessions time...I have been really good for a long, long time with spending. Since tax day last year when our savings were wiped out. But something happened recently. It started with just a little leak in the dam...then, trickle, one purchase after, trickle, another and, well, the flood gate is down. 

This is the first of many new outfits...a new wardrobe, really. What do you think? The dress is Matilda Jane, from the new You & Me collection. (just wait...there's more from Matilda Jane to come...I went a little crazy). The belt is from my super sweet friend,  Bari J....bought it years ago. The jeggings, from last year. But the boots...confession ontop of confession...a TSV (today's special value) from QVC. (B. Markowsky)

And here's something super adorable:

Matt and Katie | Photographers {PROMO} from Matt E on Vimeo.

Found on The Ardent Sparrow

September?

How can it be that Summer is over? I blinked and August was gone. Here's Alfredo enjoying an ice lolly, as he calls it (from Peppa Pig).

September...you seemed so distant and now you are here. Big things happening this month...some fabulous (like Alfredo's first day of preschool, The Creative Connection, and Art is You...Petaluma) and some, well, heart wrenching.

I didn't know when (or even if) I'd work up the courage or have the heart to tell you about what's on the horizon for our little family. It's a day we knew would come someday (we just didn't expect it so soon). We're going to court later this month about Alfredo's custody. What's scariest to me is that this balance we now have with everyone working together and everyone involved in his life will be forever upset. When lawyers are involved, you never really know. It will probably get a bit ugly. Our lawyer is confident things will stay as they are but, then again, aren't we paying him to feel that way?

You might wonder how Alfredo is doing? He's such a remarkable little boy...full of spunk and joy and passion. It's a gift just to be around him. Earlier this summer, quite unprovoked, he started calling me "Mama". He says it so sweetly, like a little baby. He's really just trying it on for size, saying it as he comes in closer for a snuggle. One day, when Alfredo and Rich came home from the pool, Alfredo swung open the door and called out "Mama! Mama!" as he ran through the house in search of me. Such a small thing for most mothers, I imagine, but it meant the world to me.

Anyway, send up a little prayer for us, will you? Pray that our will is aligned with His always, that we will remain open to His guidance. Pray that this storm we pass through, we pass through together.