Weekly Challenge #216

Good Monday Morning all!

I have been fighting with my computer all day... things loading slowwwwly, shutting down for no reason, losing posts half way through.  Everything about this week's challenge has been, well, a challenge for me.  i've been trying to blog simultaneously through my computer and my phone, but both are proving to be quite frustrating.

We had an amazing and totally awesome break through this week with Artoo!

Tasty lunch!

THIS is what he has been eating for lunch this week.  Here's what i posted about Artoo's lunch on instagram (@iamthediva)

I can't adequately express how excited it makes me that I'm feeding my son this for lunch. It may seem like an ordinary lunch of grilled cheese and French Fries, but to me it's an extraordinary victory. My son's neurological disorder Moebius Syndrome causes (among other things) facial paralysis especially around his mouth. He has a small asymmetrical tongue that does not have full range of movement. For the past 4.5 years all his solid foods have been smooth purées, with the exception of bananas and soft cookies. In the past two weeks he's started eating hard crackers, and has shown interest in eating food like his big brother eats. Things like traveling or eating at a restaurant have always been so difficult for us because it's hard to feed him things that are safe. A simple grilled cheese sandwich and French fries have opened up a huge world of possibility for us. Feeding him has always been a source of anxiety for me as we registered him for kindergarten in the fall. But we are slowly building a repertoire of safe snacks and foods for him that I would feel comfortable sending to school. This a HUGE deal for our little family.

Like, seriously.  HOW FREAKIN' COOL IS THIS??  i'm so happy with this new progress.  YAY ARTOO!!

Okay, i hate to brag but...aw, who am i kidding... MY KIDS ARE SO CUTE!!

 The weather seems to be cooperating again and that means walking through the park to and from school.  Chewie really wanted me to take some pictures of the boys on this big rock by the pond.  I'm glad i did.

Also, Chewie had his year end Piano Recital on Friday - and if i may say so myself, he was fantastic!

SRAW RATS!  nothing by SRAW RATS! those crazy SRAW RATS are coming for you....
(sung by Lounge Singer Bill Murray from classic Saturday Night Live days)

 He played so well, and after receiving his certificate for completing his second year of piano lessons , he also won a Shining Star award for Outstanding effort in daily practice and consistent dedication!

Some people may ask, what's my secret? Well, my secret is if he wants to play video games he must first practice piano, make his bed, and clear all the dishes the night before.   My son practices EVERY. SINGLE.  DAY.


....he really loves video games.

We also went and got a great haul of comic books for Free Comic Book Day - this was our first FCBD and it won't be our last.  All weekend long Chewie has been sitting in his room or at the kitchen table reading comics.

(Don't worry, the Attack on Titan comic was for B-rad, not Chewie)

 Artoo got a little bit of FCBD action too, his very own sweet sweet SpongeBob comic.

 This may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship between my boys and comics.... only time will tell.

SO onward to the challenge...

Weekly Challenge #216: "UMT - Brella by Bunny Wright, CZT"
So, this year i'm pretty excited to have the challenge fall on May the 4th.  For those of you who don't know (and those of you who do) May the 4th is also known as STAR WARS DAY!!!  Why May the 4th?  Say it out loud, you'll get there..... i'll wait.....

MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU! ALWAYS!

now, if you've been following this blog for a while, you may know that Star Wars is a BIG DEAL in our house.  Hell, my kids online nicknames are Chewie and Artoo.

my kids are so cute.

Chewie has been watching Star Wars since he was 3 and we had to skip over the scary parts.  We have so many Star Wars books, and stickers, and toys, and movies, and glowing lightsabres, and stuffed toys, and action figures, and ships, and Lego sets....

SO i couldn't have my challenge land of May the 4th without at least doing SOMETHING special for it.

But - today is also the first Monday of the month - which, as you know, is a Use My Tangle challenge where the challenge is to do a tile using a tangle created by YOU!
typically when i select a tangle from the UMT list, i use the random number generator www.random.org but this month i was looking for a darker looking tangle.  And i found one that did the trick.

This month's tangle is called "'Brella" and it's by fellow Canadian CZT Bunny Wright!!  you can see the step outs for this tangle here
 (If you have a tangle you'd like to submit you can add it here and be sure that it follows the guidelines for submission.)

and here is my May the 4th piece, using 'Brella:

join the dark side, we have micron pens. 

I used an offical zentangle apprentice tile which is larger than the 3.5" tiles.  i wanted to make sure i had room enough for Darth's big head. 

TO BE CLEAR: the challenge is to use 'Brella in your tile. If you'd like to add a Star Wars flair, that's totally up to you.

I hope you have a great week!!

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;) 

If you have a blog or host your images on line (like on Flickr or Picassa or Pinterest), add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)