Next Blog?

Have you ever clicked on the 'next blog' tab at the top of your page?  I just really noticed it today, and thought 'what the heck', and clicked it.  A random blog comes up each time you click. I found all sorts of cool blogs, just normal everyday blogs and some pretty strange blogs!  Here are some of my favorites that I came across today.....

Remember This Photography   A very nice photography blog with some of the cutest baby photos I've seen!

Robin's Nesting Place  A gardening blog with beautiful photos

Prince of Cake  A very cool artist's blog, has nothing to do with cakes!! LOL

A "Cheery" Disposition  A Guitar Hero and his Princess.......the guitar hero plays for Josh Turner! How cool is that?!

Fine Little Love  This blog has very beautiful photos

Now that's all I had time for today, another day when I'm just sitting here wondering what to do, I'll click that tab again and take a glimpse into the lives of the rest of the world. It's inspiring!

First attempt at piecing a quilt top

I've loved quilts for a long time, don't know where I got my love as no one in my family quilts.  Years ago I bought a couple of books on quilting, wanting to learn myself. The books sat in storage for all of those years. I bought a very amateurishly finished vintage quilt top from a fabric fair, I finally got the ambition to put it together about a year or so ago. I sewed it pillow style and tied it. I have a photo somewhere, I'll have to look for it. I found an ad on craigslist a couple of months ago for some antique quilts for a very good price, and I grabbed them up. They're beautiful, and just what I needed to get my desire back to learn quilting.

So anyway, I bought some precut 2 inch squares from ebay, figuring if I had some ready to go fabric that I would give quilting a try.  I was browsing online and found a little tutorial for a postage stamp quilt, so that's what I went with. It's a tiny little project, just about placemat size, but it seems like it took forever! I need to learn patience with quilting.  I made several mistakes, but I think it came out pretty good. I'm not sure when I'll actually sew borders on it and actually make it into a little quilt, I'll probably give it to one of my girls for their dolls.

Here it is,  please don't look too closely, you'll see all of my mistakes!!! LOL

Right now I'm working on a small flannel quilt for our friends' new baby girl. I'm going slowly and fixing mistakes rather than ignoring them.  I bought a set of flannel receiving blankets and thought, the designs on these are pretty cute, I think I'll cut them in pieces!! LOL  I just cut 4 inch squares and arranged them in rows. Here's the blankets before cutting and after.

         

So far I've gotten the rows sewn in groups of three. Next I'll sew them into blocks of 3 rows, then sew them all together.  Not sure what I'm going to do after that. I really need to take a few quilting classes!

What a great day!

   

Today was a beautiful day!  The dogs wanted to stay out most of the day, they laid in the sunshine for hours.  My feathered babes were out on the deck enjoying the sunshine also.  I, however, spent most of the day inside, cleaning.  I love the first day of the year when all the windows can be opened to air out the rooms. It makes me want to make everything look fresh and bright.  I did take a break and sat outside on the deck for a little while stitching on a bookmark, listening to the radio and enjoying the fresh air and a nice glass of lemonade.

We spotted our first spring baby today!!  A mama squirrel was sitting on our fence chattering away and swishing her tail at us. At first I thought she was angry that our birds were out, but she was clearly testing us out to see if it was safe enough for her baby to come out.  I must've squealed like a little girl when I saw it!  Rusty laughed at me. Hey, it doesn't take much to make me happy!  Anyway, I snapped a few shots of mama and baby.  They were watching me just as intently as I was watching them.

They were so sweet, the baby was all over mama and was very close to her most of the time. They hung around for a little while, I guess mama decided it wasn't safe to come down into the yard though. I hope I catch them when they come back!  Our pet birds waste a lot of their food, so I take it out and dump it under the one tree in our yard. The squirrels and wild birds love it.  They get lots of good stuff; dried fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds. It's a regular banquet out there!

Tomorrow's forecast is looking as nice as today's, so more spring cleaning and enjoying the outdoors!

**I realized after the fact that I was posting after midnight!  So the correct date for this post is Tuesday, March 30.**

Before I was a Mom

My sister in law sent this to me by email.......

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom

Me and my babies 2005

Snow Pics!!

The kids had a blast today! They had so much fun, they forgot to be mad that it snowed during their Spring Break! I loved watching them play, it's been a hard move and a long time since they've had this much fun. The girls love it when their Daddy throws shovels full of snow on them, I think he had as much fun as they did. Even Robert and his friend Devin went out to join in. They had a big snowball fight, boys against the girls. Emma and Abby grabbed the wicker loveseat as their shield, the boys only had a little table as theirs. It was so funny watching them try and build it bigger. Ellie Mae and Jack liked playing also, Ellie Mae loves the snow. Jack isn't quite used to it yet, having spent his whole life in Georgia, but I think he's acclimating. Me, well, I like to be warm. I stood on the deck to take the photos or just inside the door! I haven't been feeling well the last couple of days so staying warm was my objective today. I'll go out and join them next time. I love playing in the snow too!

It's already starting to melt. Tomorrow's forecast....highs in the lower 50s. It's winter one day and spring the next, regardless of the actual season we're in!

Yay, spring is here?!

Can you hear the sarcasm? Yesterday the girls and I were hiking, today it's snowing. I mean, like 6 inches of snow in 3 hours, kind of snowing. By Friday we're supposed to be back up to into the 50s. Colorado has some crazy weather!

Happy Spring!!

Yay, Spring is here!! I'm looking forward to the sunshine and flowers. I can't wait to plant a bunch of daisies in my new back yard. Which reminds me....so much has happened since my last post.....almost an entire year ago! Too much to put into one post, that's for sure. We are now in Colorado instead of Georgia. It's beautiful here, we have an awesome view of Pike's Peak from our neighborhood. The mountains are breathtaking, I never get tired of looking at them, they're so impressive.

I've been busy learning to quilt, on my own. I finished my first quilt top yesterday, a very small postage stamp quilt. I made a lot of mistakes, but I think it's a good first try. I've assembled a quilt before, from a vintage quilt top I bought a long time ago. It looks like it may have been someone's first try also, which suits me fine. My daughter claimed it, she's been using it on her bed ever since! Next I'm going to do a simple top with flannel squares.

For my fellow quilters and crafters, Leah of Burgundy Buttons is giving away a Verna jelly roll! Go on over to Park City Girl's blog, Amy's Creative Side for the details on how to enter.

Enjoy this beautiful day!

Happy Anniversary!!

Yesterday, April 30th, was mine and Rusty's 15th wedding anniversary. It seems so long ago, but then again seems like yesterday. Our kids told us happy anniversary several times, especially the girls. They wanted to have a big party to celebrate, they're so sweet. We had several plans made, but ended up not doing any of them! We had a good day though, went to breakfast together, went shopping for auto parts, Rusty was a good sport while I shopped at my favorite resale shop, then we worked outside for a while. I worked on the front yard and he on his car and truck. He indulged me by doing some sanding on the hutch I'm painting for my dining room. Instead of going out to dinner, we ordered chinese take out. It was a pretty good day.

Here's us, all those years ago. Sheesh, we were still practically kids.

We're both thankful and blessed to have each other, we are truly best friends.

Spring Break

It's spring break week here for the kids, almost over now. I haven't gotten a single thing done! I love my babies being home, but my house needs cleaning and I need to do some stitching. I did manage to get the girls to clean up their room and helped them rearrange it. It very well might be the cleanest room in the house right now!

We also have had two of their friends sleep over twice this week, it's amazing what 4 little girls can do to a place in such a short amount of time! And boy can they eat! We went to a pond here on Fort Stewart, I took the camera and got some really nice shots of them. I'll see if I can get enough time to sit down and upload them, I still need to get our Easter photos uploaded as well. Hopefully tonight they'll give me a few minutes, I don't know, they've been talking about the drive in all week!

Ah, I hear the little sweeties coming in from the playground, I better go fix them a little snack before dinner. Tonight we're making homemade french bread pizza!

More stitching finishes

First is a quilt square that I stitched for my friend and fellow stitcher Barb in Alabama. Several of us stitchers came together and each stitched a square in an Amish or country theme, and then Linda Z of Cole's Quilts assembled it and sent it to her.

The finished quilt, isn't it gorgeous? Everyone did such wonderful work.

Next is some Valentine's Day things I did. First is a free design from The Chocolate Cat called Love Letters. I did this for my dear hubby. It's on white linen with silk threads in Dragon Blood, both from Vikki Clayton's HDF.

These hearts are from Frimousse's blog, my plan was to finish them into little ornaments for my three children. I had a little trouble with the first one, I didn't leave enough selvage for assembling. I'm going to have to get creative to finish them.

This next design is the Enchanted Needle's Breathe, also stitched for my DH. The fabric is fiddler's lite and the threads are HDF in Indigo Ocean for the words, and Deep Ocean, Paua Abalone, Undertow and Caribbean Reef for the swirlies.

Those are my finishes so far this year. I have several works in progress that I'll post soon. Thanks for looking!

Christmas stitching

Since I haven't posted since October, I figured I'd update my stitching. I haven't gotten much done, I have several projects going and a bunch lined up, I just don't take the time to sit down and work on them. Shame on me!

These are ornaments I did for two exchanges for Christmas, the first was for RoseMary. It's one of Midnight Stitching's quaker snowmen. I stitched it on white opalescent evenweave with DMC and the blue is HDF silk in a variegated Sapphire. The border fabric is also sparkly, it was so pretty all finished up.

This is the ornament that RoseMary sent to me. I love the gold metallic border. I'm a fan of blackwork so I especially liked it.

The next ornament was for someone who shall remain unnamed. In other words, I got burned in this exchange. I stitched this one on white opalescent evenweave with a DMC variations and a metallic silver. I made the cording and tassel from the same threads. I used Patsy's tutorial to finish it, this was a first for me of this type of ornament.

Speaking of Patsy, she sent me this beautiful ornament in place of the one I didn't get from my exchange partner. Patsy is a wonderful person and her ornaments are gorgeous. Thanks Patsy!

This next one I actually finished stitching in March of 2008. It was supposed to be a birthday gift for my mom. Well guess what she got for Christmas? LOL I wanted to give it to her in person, and since we live 700 miles apart, I had to wait until we could make the trip. I bought the frame from AC Moore and painted it a sequin black. This is Dragon Dreams' Blackwork Princess. It was stitched on Sugar Maple Fabric's wyvernwing lugana with HDF silks in Dragon Hoard and one of the Ultra Violets.

So that's it for my Christmas stitching, for now. I have an ornament that is 95% complete, I just have one or two things left to do on it and then send it on it's merry way. I hope the recipients don't mind getting a Christmas ornament mid-year!!

New Year, new try at blogging

Okay, so four months into the new year! It's been so long since I posted anything! Not that I didn't have anything to post about, it's non-stop around here. I'm really gonna give this another try though......really, I am!!

First things first, We had unofficial orders to move to Kansas in September. None of us were very happy about it at all. I love the south, I love the coast....Kansas is smack-dab in the middle of the United States, no low country, no ocean. We told some of our family and friends, most of them didn't like that idea either. Then one day, no more orders. I guess we're staying here for now. That's Army life for you!

Speaking of the Army....Rusty is now SGT and squad leader. I have some photos of his promotion ceremony, I'll have to post them. He's so busy all the time, works long days and even when he is home his phone seems to ring non-stop. He is very good at his job, I'm very proud of him. I just wish it wasn't so stressful for him. I'm not sure I would make it as a soldier in the Army. I think I could be a drill SGT though. LOL Uh, that's a no-go there sarge!! ROFL

Easter is coming!! We're going to a friend's house on Friday to color eggs and make cupcakes. It's gonna be fun! I love baking, and who doesn't like to color Easter eggs? Don't ask me how, but last year we all totally forgot about dyeing eggs. Saturday night came and the kids started talking about Easter bunny and hunting for eggs. Oooops!! It was all good though, Abby had gotten a basket full of plastic eggs from a hunt at school, so we set those out for the bunny to hide.

I guess that's all for tonight. I have some updating to do on other things, my stitching, new pets, etc. I might need a poke in the ribs as a reminder though. :)

Halloween Stitching

I finished up a couple of Halloween projects this week. The first is a banner, the pattern is called Long Spider and is by Annalee Waite Designs. I stitched it with glow-in-the-dark floss. I think the buttons are a nice touch, the web is a purchased button, but the spider and ghosts are handmade. (not by me!) They were sent to me in a button exchange, the ghosts are black which I thought was unusual, but hey, I used them anyway! They are actually holding the ribbon on, in case you were wondering where they were. The one side looks a little wonky where I stitched the opening closed, I'm not that great at sewing, by hand or by machine, but I try. LOL This is a gift and I really hope the recipient likes it. I can't say who yet because they haven't gotten it yet.

Next is some San Man Originals members only patterns from last Halloween. I actually did stitch them last Halloween, but just got around to finishing them into ornaments this week. I wasn't in a big hurry to finish them because I didn't have a tree to put them on. I found one at AC Moore a week or so ago, it was super cheap and cute so I grabbed it. Hence the ornament finishing, they would have sat in a drawer for another year if I hadn't found the tree. :)

I dyed the orange and purple fabrics with RIT dye, the others are just fiddler's lite and marbled aida. The fabric they are sitting on is what I backed them with.

My tree is a little bare, I think it needs something on top, and maybe a thin orange bow here and there. The cute little witch ornament was sent to me in a Halloween exchange by Elizabeth L. Isn't it so cute? I'll have to take a photo of everything she sent me. She's a great exchange partner!

Nostalgia

I was sitting out on the back patio this evening, it was quiet save for the distant dog barking, the air was cool and fresh. I could hear the crickets chirping and there was a faint smell of campfire. Not sure if that's what it actually was, but that's what I smelled. It immediately took me back to when my sister Tina and I used to spend the summer with our great-grandparents at Keystone Korner Kampground, back home in Pennsylvania. I have so many memories of those days. The evenings were often spent sitting around the campfire wearing our sweaters, the woods behind us dark and scary, the campers in front of us with strings of pretty lights. Somehow I was always the only one to end up with soot on her face. It seems like so long ago, but in an instant I was there. It was a moment of sadness and happiness at the same time. Sad for days gone by, happy that I have the memory. Both my sister and my great-grandparents are gone now, it's memories like this that keep them alive in my heart.

Weekend project

Nevermind that this is Thursday, I'm just getting around to uploading the photos. Anyway, who doesn't want their weekend to last until Thursday?

I found this shelf at the curbside. Practically had to force my dear husband at gunpoint to put it in the van. He kept saying something about trash, but all I could hear was myself thinking about what I was going to do with it. Granted, it was dirty, white and the backing was falling off, but I could see through to it's inner beauty. Yep, that's it, inner beauty. I forgot to take a before photo, so all you get to see is mid-project, and after, once I get around to that part :)

A few coats of paint (three in the photo, four in all), a new backing (second photo), and it'll be perfect. Even Rusty admits that it's looking pretty good.




I know just where it's going and what's going on it. Then on to the next project.....

Our baby got her ears pierced

Well she's not a baby anymore! For her 7th birthday Abby wanted her ears pierced, so I took her last Sunday and had it done. She picked out her own earrings and was so brave, she even got a certificate of bravery. Here she is, modeling her new earrings....

And here is her big sister Emma on the day she had her ears pierced, 4 years ago for her 6th birthday.

Time goes by so quickly, I sure wish I could slow it down sometimes. Next thing I know we'll be picking out dresses for proms.

Welcome to my blog!

I really enjoy reading my friends blogs, so I decided to give it a try myself. I love all sorts of crazy things, so hopefully it will be far from boring! Thank you for taking time out to visit!