Well, this is it. I'm off to bed in a few and the Thanksgiving holiday will end. I'm tired and ready for a bit of calm but also sad that the days flew by so quickly.
Chuck and I took our parents to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. It was really nice. I'm ashamed to say that it was our first visit. They are showcasing quilts from the region and there are a few stunners! The tiny hand quilting is amazing! Only one sampler.
Deep breath. Time to gear up for Christmas! Enjoy your week.
Can you believe that it's the middle of September already??? Chuck and I are babysitting Lily today and now that she is napping, I'm getting a few things done around the house. I picked up some fall flowers at the store down the road and filled an old watering can. Put out my autumn wreath. Put pumpkins on the dining room table. All the while, football is playing on television. The weather is cool. Awwww, I LOVE this time of the year!!!
What have you been doing lately?
My parents spent the weekend with us and we all went to the air show in Martinsburg on Saturday. I whined and complained because I thought it would be boring. Hot. Too many people. You know how I am. I never want to leave my house. But I put on my big girl pants and joined the family. So glad I did. It was a lot of fun. Especially since my son Matt spent the whole day with us!
I'm so happy that my kids enjoy each other. Matt and Courtney are 18 months apart in age and when little, were so close. Then they spent many years pretending they didn't know each other. Now that they are adults, they have a great time together. That makes a mom happy.
The day wasn't without it's problems. Lots of kinks in the shuttle schedule to and from the parking areas. We spent quite a bit of time in line waiting for buses and still had to walk and walk and walk. It was tiring for my parents. My mom was a good sport but Dad. Cranky. Very, very cranky!!!
Sunday we went to church and out to eat TWICE! Sunday evening we took the parents to Five Guys. A first for them. Who doesn't need a healthy portion of fried food once in a while. We sat outside as the weather was perfect and Lily entertained us with made up songs. Dad finally got out of his grumpy pants!
Yesterday was spent at the farmer's market, cooking delicious fresh veggies and washing lots and lots of laundry. All in all it was a great weekend and hated to see it end. But I'm reluctantly getting back in the groove today and hope to get a lot accomplished this week!
So how was your weekend?
Dislaimer: All pictures were taken by my iphone and since I'm too lazy to carry a camera any longer, this is the best that my photos will get. Please accept me with all of my quirks!
Chuck and I have been spending a lot of time with Miss Lily. Elisabeth has started a new job with less than ideal hours. Lily spends the day with her Daddy's mother and the evenings with us. She is 2.5 years old which means she is busy and talks incessantly, but she has been such a joy. We take her out to eat each Wednesday evening before going to church. Last night we went to Bob Evans and she had a fruit plate (pineapples, apples, strawberries, grapes and bananas) with yogurt. She ate and ate and ate from that plate. She had half a roll with strawberry jam, lots of broccoli and noodles from Chuck's plate and all the peas from my chicken pot pie! She is amazing.
E took her to see How To Train Your Dragon. Well, now she has her imaginary boy and dragon with her at all times. Please be careful where you sit, stand, put down your purse or mail. They must not be squished! I especially love it when she shows them to me as they "sit" in her hand. She rarely watches television and I think that has allowed her imagination to blossom.
I have so many happy things in my life and she rates right up at the TOP of the list!
I am SO THANKFUL that the above scene is not what is outside my door right now. I do have about 6" of water in that very spot but the grass is actually greening up and the birds are singing like crazy. Yeah!
So, it's been like months since I last updated. At least it feels that way. So you don't get the idea that I sit around and twiddle my thumbs all day I thought I would share a bit of what I've been up to.
By now you know that I took Mary Ann Moss' fantastic Remains of the Day class. I'm still loving it. It's rare for me to stick with something this long. Since I have the attention span of a flea, normally I would have found thirteen other projects to investigate. But my little journal is getting quite the work out. I refuse to start another one until this one is full. And I write in it nearly every day!
I have bits and pieces of mail, pictures, stamps, ribbon, old check registers and even a cool Rebecca Sower piece that I bought on etsy ages ago. Impulse buy (who me???) and wasn't sure what to do with it once I received it. Who knew it was meant to be a journal post about my Mom.
Another fun part of the Mary Ann class is that several people organized swaps where each participant would make a set amount of pages and then exchange them with someone really awesome. My awesome girl Lelainia who lives in Vancouver BC and worked at the OLYMPICS and also will be a torchbearer at the Paralympics sent me four seriously wonderful pages. I told her that I like love OBSESS over birds so she dug through all of her stash and included lots of birdie goodness. These pages will be the bones for my next journal.
Then there is this fun little guy to help me stay focused and inspired on journaling. It's a tiny little Polaroid printer. I got mine here and found it to be the best deal. It fits in the palm of my hand, prints out cute little 2x3" color pictures either wirelessly from my phone (well not my phone because even though the iphone does a lot, it won't let me send pictures to the printer. hmpff.) or directly from my camera with a USB cord. It comes with a rechargeable battery and power cord. Never needs ink. Who thinks of this stuff???
Okay, enough of journaling. What else? Oh. Ebay. I've been having an obsession with ironstone. Look at this soup tureen that I scored. Almost paid more for shipping than I did for the dish!
And. I've. Been. STITCHING! Yeah! I remember how and my fingers still work! My good buddy Shelley went to the Nashville market and shopped just for me. Isn't she awesome! I am working on the new Blackbird series Anniversaries of the Heart over one on 32 count linen. This is a stinky picture but you get the idea. This has been a great diversion while recuperating from a minor surgery (and don't even ask about it because I won't tell!) !
And finally, I've been spending a lot of time with my girls...Helen the Horrible who I'm really working with. We spent about an hour outside in the rain today playing and splashing in puddles. I'm seeing a bit of progress! See that wild look in her eyes? This was after the towel drying and she couldn't contain herself!
And finally two more of my favorite girls outside yesterday with bare feet! Having fun on the porch swing.
Off to watch Finding Nemo for the forty fourth time. I have a list of posts so hopefully you will hear from me again before month's end.
We are just hanging out at home today. It's beautiful...about 75 degress and the sky is the most awesome shade of clear blue. Love it!
Lily and Elisabeth are spending the day with us. Lily loves to be outside. Especially with dogs. And she loves the camera. Can you tell?
Chuck had to clean up the yard since Chloe and Betty spent the week. I'm sure you can imagine. Well, Lily couldn't be happy until she helped her Poppa. I know. Not our finest moments as grandparents. She carrid around a bag while Chuck filled it up. She would pul it up over her shoulder like a purse. Yeah, we know how to have fun around here!
Look at this beauty! Betty is just about the sweetest dog I have ever known. I love her. Lily loves her. Betty LOVES Lily. And Helen. I would keep her all the time if it wasn't for the slobbering, drooling, muddy footprints, shedding and lots of gas. Eeeewwww.
Here is Helen. She is getting so big. He goal in life is to pee on each blade of grass and chew up anyting in her path. Today it was the rabbit water bottle that was ready to go in the trash. Usually she finds things that don't belong in the trash until she is done with them. Sigh.
Miss Lily is going to be 22 months old on the 21st. She is growing up so fast. Her voculary is unbelievable. She spends a lot of time with adults and it shows. She repeats everything and I mean EVERYTHING she hears. That can be a problem.
I need to get the sweeping done and finish up the designs for Shelley's retreat in a few short weeks. Have a great one!
t
John is big. Lily is little.
Lily's hair is big.
Lily's dog is little.
Gardening is a big job.
Gardening is a little tiring!
The end of big and little.
Went through some of my pictures this evening and thought I would share this one. She makes me happy!
Unless she is teething and grumpy and refuses to do what she is asked...
And just when I've had enough and am ready for her to go home, I get this:
Lucky Me
t
I've been wanting to take some pictures of the beautiful country that I drive through every day on my way to and from work. I snapped a quick picture through the car window the other day of down town . I wanted to remember how awesome the flowering trees have been this year. What I need to do is take the time to stop and snap pictures of some of the farm houses, stone fences and grazing horses.
Chuck and I will be going to WV for the Easter weekend to see his family. We've been the bad relatives...haven't been home since Christmas. I'm looking forward to seeing family. I'm hoping to catch my sister at home while we are there. She's always on the run and we haven't connected in a while. Playing phone tag a lot.
Did I mention that I have become absolutely obsessed with knitting? I can't stop. I learned to knit last year...the year before. I can't remember. Anyway, I found it very frustrating. I'm not one to start with an easy project. I want to dive right in which wasn't such a great idea. I picked it up again this winter and I'm getting it now. I've knitted several pairs of socks and am finishing up a sweet little coat for Miss Lily. Unfortunately it won't be ready for Sunday but she's at her Daddy's all day anyway so I wouldn't get to see her in it. I'm done with the knitting and am putting it together which isn't nearly as much fun as the knitting part! I will show a picture when it's done. I've learned quite a bit about how to improve during this project so therefore I'm not completely satisfied with the finished or should I say almost finished product. I think I will make it again but change the yarn the second time around. I used this and didn't really enjoy working with the cotton. Here is how it should look when finished...
I know that's a tiny picture but trust me, it's super cute. My mom crocheted the flowers that go on the front.
Speaking of super cute, this is super cuteness squared:
Have a lovely weekend!
