In His Grip

Vote For Skate For Change

Our son, Ryan is invoved in a community service project called Skate For Change. SFC has applied for a grant through State Farm Youth Advisory Board in the value of $25,000 to $100,000 to an organization or school that has a great idea for a service-learning project to impact student achievement in their community.  Here's where you come in and can help Skate For Change make an impact on thier community.  Click here and vote 10 times a day for Skate For Change through May 17th.  

Skate for Change is a local group of skateboarders who skate around the inner-city and metro areas with backpacks handing out food, water, socks, toothpaste, etc. to the homeless and less fortunate in our area. They are fully committed to helping better someone else's day. Even if it's sparing a few quarters to each person waiting at the bus stop to get to a job that they are about to lose. Or giving a few extra blankets or fresh milk to a family with a new baby living under a bridge. Instead of just walking by these people we are helping, sitting down having a conversation, making them feel special and cared regardless of their circumstances.

Getting more people involved is key. $25,000 would address the community's unmet need by providing more services, buying more socks, more food, and stocking up so we never run out. The lasting impact is more people getting involved in "Good" in our city instead of "Bad".

Remember you can vote 10 times each day.  Ready, set, vote.

Stitches By Sturman is Under Water

 

Last week our family was out one evening celebrating family birthdays.  Our youngest, Anna, turned 22 and Jeff’s father, Jack, was turning 80.  We were all invited to enjoy a birthday dinner of Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue, my absolute favorite, at Jeff’s folks’ house.  Okay, so it was not about me, but it is Jack’s favorite too.  We always have a great time getting together for family celebrations and Wednesday evening was no different.  The whole Sturman clan are big Jayhawk fans, hence, Jack’s birthday cake, with Anna’s cupcake a sad purple, ha, ha, ha.  (Anna attended K-State fully knowing there would not be a lot of team support for her Wildcats.) 

The night was great until we came near our neighborhood and not only was it pitch black but there were utility trucks everywhere.  A transformer in the area had blown.  Here is Kansas we don’t just have rain, we gulley washers and that was the way it had been for about 3 days.  My heart sunk as the sump pump in Stitches By Sturman’s studio had been running 24/7 since the rain began.  All I could say was, oh crap, crap, crap.  Armed with our phone flash light apps, we descended the stairs to the studio to find about 3 inches of water.

We immediately started frantically getting everything off the floor, unplugging equipment, and freaking out.  Luckily, I have been at this for over 20 years and learned to never leave any customer projects on the floor.  I knew we were not going to be able to do this on our own so I put out a FaceBook plea for large fans and dehumidifiers we could burrow.  First thing the next morning, fans and dehumidifiers started showing up at our door.  You gotta love being part of a community of folks who will answer your late night cry for help.

We originally thought that the carpet and pad could be saved, but after a couple of days the pad started to smell and we realized we would be better off just getting it out of there.  So we pulled the pad.  Now the focus changed to getting the cement floor completely dry before we proceed.

Boy doggies do those carpet fans blow.  The carpet in the middle of my studio is completely lifted off the floor and the floor is almost dry.  But as you can see from the pictures, I am not ready to work.  Those empty cubbies are all stacked on my cutting table and I really cannot reorganize them until a professional says yes, the floor is dry, we can relay pad and re-stretch your carpet.  Until then I am pretty much at a stand still.

So, what have I learned from all of this.  My job is just window treatments and not life and death stuff.  It could be a lot worse.  My family might be right, I possibly could have a little too much trash to treasure items waiting for their moment of transformation in my creative mind.

Girls Road Trip

This week my girls and I headed out to Palm Springs for a couple of days in the sun as well as to help my Mom close up her little winter place and then help her drive back to Kansas City.  Girl trips are fun, in that we get to shop as long as we want, hang in the sun as long as we want, and eat chocolate and popcorn for dinner if we want.  We have been coming out to Palm Springs for Spring Break for the last couple of years and although Mom has her place for sale, we are secretly hoping it doesn’t sell so our Spring Break spot will be there for us for a couple of more years.  When I say that we are in Palm Springs, well that is really far from the truth.  We are near Palm Springs, waaaaay out in the desert in park called Glamis North KOA.  Okay, yes, we are in a KOA campground.  If you were to see it, you would laugh out loud, because it is far from the glamour of what you would think when you say “Palm Springs”.  But there is sun, pools, and a great view of the Chocolate Mountains.

This is the view off of my Mom’s deck and those are the Chocolate Mountains.  So yes, we are in the desert at a KOA but the weather is beautiful and the company is even better.

Here at the “spa” that’s what we call Mom’s winter place, they have great pools that are filled with mineral spring water that comes out of the ground at 160 degrees.  So you have your choice of hot pools or cool pools. 

We choose cool pools during the day and love to go to the hot pools after dark.  There is nothing better the getting all warm and cozy in mineral water before you head off to bed.

Lindsey is training for a 1/2 marathon and this was her week to get in an eleven mile run so we headed out into the desert at 7 am to get her run in before it got too hot.  If you are wondering how I kept up with this 20 something, I was on a bike.  Eleven miles isn’t too bad on a bike for this 40 something.

Tomorrow morning bright and early we will begin our 24 hour trek across the country back to the Midwest and leave this desert beauty behind.

Third Sturman is Employed

Congratulations are in order to Anna as she has signed a contract with the Spring Hill School District. Yeah!  Our youngest child is now employed with a real career.  Where has time gone?  It seems like just yesterday that I sent this baby girl off to her first day of Kindergarten and come next Fall she will be teaching someone else’s babies.  When I look back at parenting our kids this day seemed so far off and to be honest I was not sure we would all come out alive.  But to be at this place and look back at those times that were hard, messy, and a bit unbearable, I would do them a hundred times over to feel the satisfaction and pride that I feel for what great adults our kids have turned out to be. This all despite of the mistakes that I know we made during those tender growing up years.  This proves that prayer and faith in God can be more powerful than any missteps two humans trying their best to raise the precious gifts God entrusted with them.   Yes, Jeff and I have successfully parented three babies who are now adults and contributing members of society.  Wow, really God? How did we deserve such blessings we find in our children?

Skate For Change Gets a Media Boost

Our son, Ryan, has been a part of a start up ministry called Skate For Change in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Their primary goal is to connect with the homeless community in their city.  Basically, they are a bunch of skate boarders that have a heart for the under resourced in Lincoln and are doing something about it.  This weekend they got a huge media boost with the visit of Ryan Sheckler.  Ryan Sheckler is a skate boarding icon, business owner and charity founder.  He was interested in what Skate for Change was all about and wanted to experience, along with the skaters of Lincoln, the act of serving the homeless.

To view the news video of the day click here.  The hope is that Ryan Sheckler will take this experience back to Los Angeles and start a Skate For Change in his own community.  Mike Smith, Skate For Change founder, is also the owner and operator of Bay 198, a nonprofit skate park whose desire is to mentor and empower the skate culture through a positive environment.  They are creating a space where skaters of all ages can creatively develop individual skills while cultivating an atmosphere of growth, love, and community.

Christmas in February

Our family finally was able to celebrated Christmas with Ryan and Paula last week.  It just seems hard to find a time when we all can be together.  Of course my fantasy as a mother is to have all my kids live close to me the rest of my life so we will always be able to spend every holiday and family event together and live happily ever after.  {Pop} goes the fantasy bubble and real life is where I am forced to live.  Darn!  Although, I cannot complain, Ryan and Paula only live in Lincoln, NE, just 3 1/2 hours north of us, its not like they are in another country.  But that distance, at times, feels too far.  The time we do have as a family is very precious to us and I will take all that we do get. 

 

 

To say that the wait for our Christmas presents was worth it would be an understatement.  Ryan and Paula out did themselves with their creative, craftiness.  Look at these great tables/foot stools/benches/what ever you want to make them, repurposed vintage suitcases they made for Lindsey and Anna.  Seriously, they are awesome and in super shaped on the inside too.

They made this fabulous “S” to hang on our front door.  They could not find an initial that they liked that was big enough so Ryan cut one out of styrofoam and then Paula decorated it.  Oh my heck, just look at those handmade flowers.  Does this gal fit perfectly into our family or what?  Not only that but she whipped up some homemade shower scrub as well.  She is a gal after my heart, I just have to say.  Making things pretty and smell good too, who can go wrong. 

We also received this set of tile coasters that they made using their wedding pictures.  I was trying to figure out how I would display a bunch of their pictures without making it look like some kind of Ryan & Paula gallery.  The girls already accuse me of having Ryan as the favorite, so a bunch of pictures on the wall, shelves, etc. would only perpetuate such a myth.  But coasters, now that is something that is very useful and if they display eight different wedding shots so be it. 

Look how perfect this looks on my pink front door.  I thought that I would be changing the color of the door soon, but who am I kidding?  This “S” just made the decision, the door is pink for now at least through Summer. 

Christmas Stocking Challenge -- Post 3

I have finished the knitting portion of my Christmas stocking.  You can read about how this challenge started here then post 1 and post 2.  Wow, this has to be the most challenging knitting project that I have ever attempted.  But with the help of the ladies at the Knit Wit store, and the great notes that were taken by Barb, I has able to turn the heel and make the gussets as well as do the decreases for the toe.  Yeah!

 

 

 

Now I just need to sew the seam down the back, finish up the top edge, and put Paula's name on the Santa side of the top cuff.  Then there is the blocking that will need to be done as well.

This is my first sock ever, I am not sure that it really counts as it is very large compared to the socks I have half completed to the point of turning the heel.   I cannot wait to do all of the finishing work and show off the completed project and the challenge conquered.

My Christmas Stocking Challenge

These are the Christmas stockings that starting hanging on our mantel 29 years.  Ryan's was made by one of my husband's best friend's mom, Barb.  I remember the box coming in the mail and being so excited that someone would take the time to make such a special stocking for our baby.  We proudly hung it from a shelf in our first home as there was no fireplace.  When Lindsey was born, again I received a box in the mail that contained her stocking as well.  Since the birth of Ryan, Barb had lost her battle with cancer but her sister took up the tradition of making a stocking for our babies and then made one for Anna two years later.   Hanging these stockings have been part of our holiday tradition and one that my kids still look for every Christmas season.  The stockings have Santa on one side and the Christmas tree on the other.  If you look closely at Anna's, Santa has a couple of moth holes that I have been meaning to fix for a couple of years.

Now that we have a new member in our family since Ryan's wedding, I was thinking I needed to make a stocking for Paula too.  I started searching the internet and books for patterns that would be similar or maybe the same one, but no luck, so I contacted, Barb's son to see if by chance they had a copy of the pattern for the famous Christmas stocking.  He said they did and would bring me a copy of it.  

First of all the copy right on the pattern is 1948 and looks very complicated for my self-taught knitting self, but call me crazy, I am going to try.  As I have found in the past with knitting, you just start and work one row at a time and try not to freak out by looking ahead.  

What was really crazy about the pattern was the pages and pages of Barb's hand writen notes that she took on the pattern as well as a page of all of the names of the folks that have been a recipient of one of the precious stockings.  There are 163 names listed as well as the hand drawn graphs of each name.  Wow, I think I really just might be crazy to think that I would even attempt to knit like Barb.  But this is my holiday challenge of the year.  I will keep you updated as to my progress and we will see how this goes.  Today I am headed to my local yarn store, Knit-Wit, to pick up my supplies.   I might not get finished this year, but I am determined to do this.  

Wedding Post #4 -- Just Married

Several months before the wedding Ryan made one last request of his dad.  Could he and Paula use his "lil' red truck" to drive away in?  If any of you know my husband you know how much he cares about his "lil' red truck" keeping it in tip top shape. This request came with a number of problems first, the wedding was in Lincoln and we live in Kansas.  And then they really had to have a "Just Married" sign on it too, right?.  This was Jeff's only assignment of the entire wedding.  He has a great friend that loaned him a car hauler so he could tow the truck to Lincoln rather than drive it and get road dirt on it.  Yes, really, this was a worry. First problem fixed.  The next obstacle was to figure out how to get a sign on the truck without adhesive or anything that could damage the paint job.  This required Jeff to take a trip to Hobby Lobby.  He is not a big fan of the store, but he would do anything for his kids.  He found foam in the necessary colors and made his sign out of foam and tying it onto the tailgate with ribbon.  Problem solved.  There was concern about rain, but the weather cooperated and the "lil' red truck" did not get a drop, whew!  The "lil' red truck" was a great get away vehicle.  I cannot wait to see the photos.

Wedding Post #3 -- More Details

Ryan and Paula took so much time and effort in the details that I just cannot leave any out. It was these details that made this wedding special and so much their own. One of their artist friends took the chalkboard that Paula found on sale for 60% off (see I told you she fits right in with the Sturmans) and made this wonderful sign to greet the guests as they entered the church.  My favorite thing that Paula chose to do was the pictures down the center aisle instead of expected pew bows.  She purchased frames from the Dollar Store, spray painted them all gray, and placed black and white prints of their engagements pictures in each.  We had to get a bit creative to get them to hang straight on the pews, but nothing a little hot glue won't take care of.  Yes. . . the hot glue just peeled right off later no need to think we defaced the church.  The string globes were a last minute addition to the guest box/book table. I had made dozens of them for the rehearsal dinner tables so we just reused a couple of them to dress up that table as well.  If you are getting bored with my wedding posts, I think there will be only one more so stay tuned.

 

Wedding Post #2 -- The Fashion

On day two of the wedding post I will be highlighting the fashion that was part of the big day.  We have known for a long time that Paula would fit right into the family but when she said the colors for the wedding were pink and gray, confirmed it for us. I always say, when in doubt, pink is always the right choice.  As far as we are concerned the "right" choice has been made all around.  I helped Paula with the alterations for her dress, so it was at our house in Kansas City for a couple of weeks.  I came upon the idea to embroider the wedding date into the hem of her dress as a surprise. Needless, to say she loved the added special touch.  Paula's dress was beautiful and she was a stunner.  For the reception she added a pink satin sash with a fabric flower and antique broach in the middle.  I am so disappointed that I did not get a good picture of the sash, as it added a fun, yet sophisticated element to the dress for the party.  In looking through photos of Ryan for the slide show at the reception, I realized I had been posing him for pictures of his clothes since he was a little boy.  So why would that be any different on his wedding day.  All I had to say was, I need to take a piccture of your outfit and he struck "the" pose.  The entire bridal party wore Toms shoes, the gals wearing gray wedges and the guys black lace ups. What a great looking group the wedding party made.  More detail to come.  

 

Wedding Post #1 -- Crafts & Details

This is the first of several posts that will highlight the fabulous wedding that my son and his new wife (I love saying that) created for us all to celebrate. On August 19th our son married the one that stole his heart and we added another daughter to our family. I arrived on the Tuesday before the wedding to help with some last minute details.  Ryan, Paula, and I had a great time finishing up some of the crafty kinds of things that they wanted to make their wedding a one of a kind.

The two of them came up with the idea that instead of having a guest book, they had a guest box that they made. The guests were able to write a note of well wishes to the bride and groom and place it in the box behind the proper alphabetical heart.  

The large gray bucket had all of the bubbles for the bride and groom get away and the small pink damask buckets were for the flower girls to drop their petals from.  We spent a couple of late nights embellishing all of these items. The small buckets were Mod Podged with pink and white scrapbook paper and I love how they turned out.  

Ryan and Paula designed and put together the programs as well.  I cannot tell how long it took to punch all those holes and then run the ribbon through each one, but in the end, the additional effort was so worth it.  There are more details to come so check back real soon.

Little Country Church

The little country church on the edge of town in Cook, Minnesota, is one of the happening places when it comes to making God's kingdom grow.  We have been attending this little church on our vacations for over 25 years.  The transformation from a very traditional older, baptist church to one that is keeping up with the times and meeting the needs of their community has been fun to watch over the years.  This is the first church that my dad attended as an infant as his father was the pastor here when my dad was born.  I think of the this old song from the 1970's every time we attend here.  "Little Country Church" by Love song.  This song has to be written about First Baptist Church of Cook, Minnesota.

 

Prairiesta 2011 -- Small Town USA Celebration

Our family experienced our second Prairiesta. The last one we attended was in 1991, as this celebration only happens every 10 years, we missed the 2001 and from what we could tell we did not miss much.  We had a great time taking in all that a small town USA celebration has to offer.  In fact, this picture of Lindsey and Anna is actually taken on Main Street where they close it down for the entire weekend and put up a tent for a beer garden.  Seriously, people are walking around downtown with beers.  It was strange to us as in Kansas City you would be arrested for open container.  Needless to say, this was where the crowd was at.

The talk of the town was the 100 head of long horn cattle that open the parade.  Cowboys herd these fellows right down the middle of town, the potential for tragedy is great and I think that's what made the spectacle so exciting.  

Russell, KS is the hometown of Bob Dole and of course a celebration would not be complete without him leading the parade, that is right behind the 100 head of long horns.

Oh and looky, there is Grandma Sturman on a float with her classmates from 1959.  And what would a Prairiesta be without some German food. The class of '59 served us up some fabulous bierock for lunch after the parade.

Here is another opportunity for tragedy.  They did an anvil shoot.  What is more exciting than someone taking an 80 lb anvil and shooting it into the air with hundreds of people standing around watching.  The excitement is never ending at a small town USA celebration.

We had to go check out the long horns one more time at the high school's FFA corrals and barns.

Lindsey and Anna could not get enough of this rural celebration.  Seriously, we had so much fun, you cannot get this kind of entertainment just anywhere.

After talking with folks at the prairie life demonstrations, Anna is pretty sure she wants to participate in a wagon train to gain experience to teach her students one day.

We could not go to western Kansas without stopping at the Dorrance cemetery, where a number of Jeff's relatives are buried.

Oh wait, here are a couple that aren't buried yet.  How many people have a picture of themselves with their headstones and their grandchildren?  You gotta love those Sturman's, they are real planners. 

We are from the midwest and love having raised our family here although I am very thankful that we are in the Kansas City area and get to visit rural Kansas from time to time.  What a great weekend of family memories.

50 Years Of Commitment

This past Friday we celebrated Jeff's parent's 50th Wedding anniversary.  What a true testament to commitment. Jeff and I both feel so blessed that we both came from families that some how figured out how to stick it out through thick and thin.  Knowing that our folks made it to these kinds of milestones, just gives all of us an great example to look to when the rest of our culture does not always hold marriage up to be what real families are built on.  I love what their marriage says about commitment.  Thanks for being the parents to my guy and the grandparents to our children.  Congratulations, Jack and Karen.

New Loveliness

This past Sunday was our 29th wedding anniversary.  That just seems pretty crazy to me because I don't feel any older than I did at 19 the day we got married.  Although, we have lived a lot of life and seasons have changed, we are back to the way it was back then, in our home alone just the two of us.  Jeff is such a good guy, and he takes hints well.  I hinted back last Fall that I would really like a rose Swarovski crystal ring.  Okay, there was really no hinting about it, I straight up said that I would like this ring, I even took him into the store so that he could see it up close.  Not even thinking that he would remember such a request, I tend to say I want a lot of things, he surprised me by remembering that I wanted this ring.  I just love it!

 
I personally think that the ring screams my name and the color is so pretty.  The crystal goes all the way around the ring and it catches the light and sparkles when I move.  Its like I am getting a little wink all day from my guy. 

Mother's Day Recap

Mother's Day is one of those days that as time goes by it means something different to me than in did when my kids were young.  When all my kids were home, we celebrated with wonderful handmade creations that I still have and treasure to this day.  Now, its not the gifts that I receive but the time that we spend together.  Saturday the girls and I spent the morning at garage sales and then on to help Anna get settled in Lindsey's house for the summer.  Just the fact that the two of them want me to do these kinds of things with them is the biggest blessing of the weekend.  They also gave me this wonderful necklace from the Vintage Pearl.  When it comes to blessings, my nest is full even if it is only the one I wear around my neck.

 
Look at this great meal.  Jeff honored his mother and I on Saturday by cooking up this fabulous meal.  We topped it off with Strawberry Banana Cream Pie and with the wonderful weather were able to eat out on the back porch.

 
This is the new bird feeder that Jeff gave me.  Our last one was destroyed in the the hail storm that we had a couple of weeks ago.  The package says that it is squirrel proof, only time will tell if that is actually the case.  It was a great weekend, that seemed to have a it of a bird theme, nest necklace, barbacue chicken, and brid feeder, that's kind of random, but I loved it. 

20 Something Egg Hunt

What do you do when you have no little people in your family anymore on Easter? Well I will tell you what you do, you have an Easter egg hunt for 20 somethings.  Some of my kids' fondest memories of Easter are the egg hunts that we had for them when they were little.  Lindsey wanted to bring back the "good ole days" and have a real egg hunt.  Jeff had a good time hiding the eggs around the yard.  Just to make it more interesting three of the eggs had gift cards in them, Starbucks, Chipotle, and Chili's.  We had eight 20 somethings at our home for dinner and they had a great time being a part of an egg hunt again.

 
Needless to say, some of us were a little more competitive than others.  Lindsey happened to find the most eggs, but failed to get a gift card. Ha, ha, ha.

 
Sunday dinner was a lot of fun and I enjoyed having the girls actually make their own dish to share.  I love this new season of life as it brings its own kind of fun.

Lindsey's 1/2 Marathon Victory

This past Saturday was a day jam packed with all kinds of activity.  We started out at 7:00 am to see the start of the Olathe Marathon and 1/2 Marathon.  We had several friends running this year as well as Lindsey our oldest daughter.  The weather was in the 30's and in Kansas you can always count on a high wind.  Boy, the wind on Saturday was brutal.   When you are a spectator at one of these kinds of events the fun part is chasing your peeps around town and then waiting for them to pass before moving down the route to see them pass by again.  Having been crazy enough to run a 1/2 marathon myself, I know how important this kind of along the route support is.  We saw Lindsey at mile 3, 5, 7 and we missed her at 10 but caught up with her again at the finish.  She met her goal of under 2 hours, with a time of 1:59:38, finishing 112th of 516 female finishers.  Fantastic! 

Twenty-three years ago we had fear that she might not ever be able to walk normally.  Lindsey was born at 5lb. 2 oz. full-term.  Her little life started out with a few complications because of her low birth weight and not being able to put on weight like the doctors wanted her to.  But at three weeks, I took her in with a red, swollen leg.  It turned out she had a broken femur.  There was, and still is no explanation as to how this happen to my baby girl. 

 
My little girl who weighed less than 6 lbs at the time was in a full body cast for four weeks.  What a mess.  Trying to keep an infant clean and happy when you cannot even snuggle her like you want to was hard, not to mention the emotioal stuff that came along with this whole event.  We made it through that difficult time only to have her walk with a limp two years later.  After a couple of adjustments at a chiropractor, you would never know that she had ever had a broken leg.  The worries of yesterday, turned into the victory of today to see her achieve such a goal. We are so proud of you, Lindsey!

Not Too Close, Please

I have to say, there is a small group of people that really know me and I think that they would agree that I really know them.   Some are in my family and others are people that I have chosen to be a part of my "family".  When we allow people to be close enough to really get to know us, they can tell by our expressions and body language what we are thinking and feeling.  This can be a good thing when you are in a group, someone else is talking, and your spouse gives you a look and you know exactly what they are thinking about what is being said.  Or, you and friend can be walking in a crowd, you pass someone, you both look at each other and just crack up knowing exactly what they are thinking without saying a word.  I love having people in my life that I can do this with.  However, there are people that never allow others to get too close.  They have walls up for whatever reason and just don't know what they are missing out on.  In fact, they may feel they are not missing out at all and wonder what the big deal about "living in community" is all about.  I want others to experience a close circle of friends that they can depend on in good times and bad.  Although, I am not the kind of person to give up easily, I do respect, "not too close, please" when I see it.  How can I make a difference to that "not too close, please" person?  Something I have been thinking a lot about lately.