A very Spooky Birthday

Today isn't just about tricking and treating.  In our house, it's all about the Dad-Man.   Today is Chris' birthday!   AND....today just happens to be his 40th birthday. Chris loves to give, but hates when people give to him.  He hates being the center of attention, so there will be no big parties.  He wouldn't even let me mention it on facebook today.  And he was so happy that no one at school announced it.

Beach--Summer 2011

I love this man that I get to call my best friend and my love.  He is kind, giving, and loyal.  He is quiet, but humorous.  He'll work you under the table and then claim his successes were all luck and God's Grace.

On the combine, Fall 2010

He is a great Daddy, playing games, reading books, and coaching a mean t-ball game.  He'll swim an afternoon away with the kids when I don't want to get in and get my hair wet...even when he'd rather be at his barn building something.

Homecoming--Fall 2010

He's an avid woodworker, and quite good if I'm being honest.  But he'd rather give his hard work away than ever charge someone for it.

Please excuse this one being sideways...darn Blogger...Christmas 2010

He listens when I talk and makes mental notes about what to buy me for my next birthday or Christmas even when he doesn't care about or even know what I'm talking about.  He's surprised me with a DSLR camera, my Silhouette and my sewing machine.

Summer 2011

He is a great cook and spoils us rotten with pancakes, grilled nutella sandwiches, and the BEST caramel sauce, as well as his famous biscuits and gravy, jerk pork tenderloin or his barbecue.  And don't let me forget to mention his clam chowder which people make requests for as soon as the thermometer goes below 75.

Beach, Summer 2011

I am so lucky to have a partner in life that loves me and takes great care of me and our family.  He works hard and encourages me to follow my dreams.  He overlooks my messiness and forgetfulness (most of the time...).  He is creative in his own way and although our creative mediums are different (wood or fabric), his vision inspires me to find my own.

Summer 2011 (wearing a Dollar Store T-shirt I'd cut off for a craft project)

Happy Birthday, Chris!!  May the next 40 years be filled with even more happiness, love, and good times.  I am so glad to share my life with you.  I love you!

Homecoming--Fall 2011

My Little King

Do you see this kid here?

 I really, really love him.  I am a very proud Momma all of the time, but the past few days my heart has almost burst with pride and joy.  And it's not because he got the special honor of being chosen to be the Little King at Homecoming this year.  I mean, I am very happy for that honor, I'm not gonna lie.  But, what makes me proud is the special boy my son is.

Oren is one of the happiest people I've ever met.  Don't get me wrong, he gets upset, nervous, grouchy, like the rest of us.  But his ratio of happiness compared to all other emotions is incredibly high.  He lets things just roll off his back and is so confident in himself and who he is, that most of the time, it never occurs to him that he should be anything but happy.

I made 2 signs with my Silhouette.  I actually liked the other one better, but didn't get any pics of it.  It looked the same but I inked the edge of each letter with black to make them stand out a little more and I reversed the crown and football.

He is also smart, kind, and very thoughtful.  People tell me all of the time how cute he is, and I firmly believe it's because his joy spreads to others and makes them feel better about themselves just be being around him.

Here he's spreading his joy to Ella by convincing her to wear her candy bucket on her head too!

So, to see him recognized in the parade and the Homecoming Game this weekend, and to see how well he took it all in and never thought about getting nervous just made me so happy.  And seeing him in this little tux...oh my goodness, my eyes were a little watery, that's all I'm saying.

Thursday was the parade.  Oren and Ella rode in the back of a friend's truck on a little bench that Chris built for them and the last quilt that my Great-Grandmother made for me.  They were so thrilled to see their friends and throw HANDFULS of candy at them.  To hear people calling their names and wave and smile.  It was a joy to see their pride and joy.

These two took their job very seriously!  It was a long walk across that field!

We drove back to the big city Thursday evening and got the tux (with everything finally fitting) and seriously, oh my goodness, any guy of any age in a tux is just a magical sight, isn't it?  And yes, I was very glad to pay for the damage waiver fee, because I had serious doubts of this tux surviving Oren for a night!!

Oren's winking at me!  Haha!!

Friday evening we headed to the game.  We got him all dressed up and Chris threw on Oren's new hat.  Love the camo hat with that tux, right?  I promise, he just wore it for a few minutes.  ;)

Our team is not doing so well this year (we're in a bit of a dry spell), so the game wasn't that great to watch, but the halftime show...now that was prime-time entertainment!  After the girls were all announced, Oren and Ella had their big moment.

They slowly walked across the field carrying the crowns and flowers.  Chris took all of the pictures, because he is awesome like that.  I kneeled down on the sideline and waved and smiled for all I was worth at these two precious kids.

 I know before I am ready, my kids will be in high school and I may be ordering a tux for Oren and/or getting a dress and making a hair appointment for Emma.  Life keeps on at a steady pace whether you are ready or not.  I know that I will enjoy every minute of that time as I have in the last two years getting these two ready for their turn as the Littles.

This was one proud Sister last night.  Not one bit of jealousy, only joy to share her special memory of last year with Oren this year.  

I thank God each day for these blessings that I call my children.  I am so blessed to be their Momma and get to enjoy their company.  Oren, I hope you always know how much Momma and Daddy love you and how glad we are for you.  Keep living life like you've got all the answers, kid.  You make us all better for being around you!

Busy Working...

I'm alive and well...I'm just busy getting everything ready for a certain little boy that I love to be Mr. Little Homecoming King.  The parade is tomorrow and the game is Friday night.

My Silhouette cutter has been busy making letters for signs for the parade.  My wallet has been busy buying paper, posters, magnets, and candy for Oren and his little friend Ella to throw during the parade.

My car has been busy driving back and forth to the big city to get the paper for the letters and to pick up Oren's tux this afternoon...oh, but it was too small.  WHAT?!?  I drove 45 minutes after school to pick up his tux only to find that the shirt AND jacket were too small.  And the girl tried to tell me I hadn't ordered shoes and that she'd do my best to find me some and charge me extra all with a simpering smile on her face.  Then I explained for the 3rd time that we weren't in a wedding so she didn't need to look up if the party had ordered them because I HAD ordered the shoes, and that I distinctly remembered trying them on him, so I know he should have some.  Luckily the guy who'd helped me order the tux knew where my shoes were and told me not to mind her.  So...the tux will be ready for pickup tomorrow, and I'll be driving back over there tomorrow evening after the parade.

BUT...that slightly sour note will not ruin the excitement I have in seeing this kid I love sport that tux across that football field.  Or watching him sit in the back of a pickup truck (what can I say, we live in a rural, small town!) and throw candy to friends and people cheering as we ride down Main Street.  And that he gets to do it all with a close family friend makes it all that much more special.

We had a practice walk-through today, so I checked Oren and Ella out of kindergarten to go over to the high school.  They looked so small, and honestly, I teared up watching them.  To think, before I blink twice they'll be doing this as high schoolers makes me both proud and sad.

So....enough rambling.  I have been busy working, just not on much I can show right now.  Pictures will follow this weekend of all of it and I promise, next week, it's back to our regularly scheduled quilting/crafty programming!

All finished!

It's a delayed finish, but I'm done with my Fall Pops quilt.  Back before I had a blog, I was reading a post by Kate that said she'd designed a quilt pattern and wanted a few people to try it out for her to see if it was written well.  Kate chose to do her's in bright colors and gave it the name jelly pops.  I agreed to try it out as a newer quilter (although I've been sewing off and on since I was 8).  But, since she'd done bright colors with white, I wanted to do something totally different so I chose a jelly roll of Cotton Blossoms from Bonnie and Camille.  When it arrived, I realized it was mostly the darker prints from the line and I'd missed out on the bright colors I love, but I decided it would be perfect for a fall through Christmas quilt for our living room and it did provide a stark contrast to the colors that Kate had chosen.

  This quilt was SUPER easy to construct.  Kate did a great job using the pre-cut to it's full advantage.  I paired my jelly roll with a khaki-colored solid (I really can't remember what brand/color name.  It's from JoAnn Fabrics though.)  When done, I took all of the scraps and sewed them together to make a pieced backing consisting of the khaki and scraps.  I remember I even layed this one out to baste, but I had trouble getting it to lay flat and I gave up and folded it up for another day.  And then you know what happened...the WIP basket swallowed it and turned it into a poor, pitiful unfinished object (UFO) just hanging out waiting to be loved again one day.

So, I got it back out and conquered it!  This was my first attempt using spray basting.  The quilt-blogging world has featured many hints, tips and tutorials on using it lately and I do hate getting down on hands and knees with all of those little safety pins, so I gave it a try.  It was much easier and I can see using this technique in the future.  Not having to stop while quilting (especially with all of the issues I had with quilting) to take out pins was really nice.  I do have a few little bumps where I didn't get the top or bottom all the way flat, but as a first attempt, I'm okay with that.

Fallen pine needles is about all the color we've got so far besides green.  Fall color is fleeting in Florida...thank you pine needles for letting me pretend.  :)

Then came the quilting, which if you follow along, you know gave me fits last week when I had trouble with my machine chewing up my thread and causing major breaking problems.  But, y'all came to my rescue with tips to try and good thoughts sent my way and I persevered!  It was my first FMQ project on my new machine (which is almost a year old now!!) and it came back to me easy enough.  Actually, it made me want to do more!  I used a looping meander on this quilt.

I chose the dark brown for the binding because I thought it would define the edges of the quilt well and it was a scrap I had, so I did a little stash busting at the same time.  I originally had planned on using more of the khaki, but I'm also using it for my Summer Sampler and I didn't want to run out (since I can't remember what it is...), plus I thought the dark brown added a little more oomph anyway.

So...it's in the wash with this bad boy and then I imagine I'll find Emma cuddled up in it on the couch.  She's claimed first dibs on it!

And since it's full of fall color, I'm entering it in Rachel's Celebrate Color contest!

WIP Wednesday #17

Another Wednesday and as always, I have plenty of WIPs.  Its funny, I tend to think of myself as a one-project-at-a-time kind of girl so I don't get lost in my load and to ensure at least some projects get finished before I throw them in the WIP/UFO basket.  But, since I started keeping track of my WIPs to link up with Lee, I realized that I always have more than one thing going on.  Hmmm...too much inspiration out there in the world wide web to do one thing I guess.  :)


Before we get going on the projects...I promised to draw another winner since we haven't heard from Gayle.  Sorry, Gayle, I hate to redraw, but it's been a week and a half.  I'm sad that a few commenters were no-reply bloggers because I love to reply to comments.  If you've ever commented here and not received a reply from me...you are probably a no-reply blogger!!
  Anyway, I used old random.org again, and because I don't know how to do that cool screenshot thing, the winner is....#14--Gill from the U.K!!!  Gill, I've emailed you!


Completed Projects:
--do. Good Stitches--AGAIN...  These are done and now measure correctly and will be headed out tomorrow in the mail.  

Works in Progress:

--Fall Pops---THANK YOU to everyone who commented last week with suggestions or at least sympathy for me and my thread-breaking issue.  I bought new thread, new needles and figured out how to slow down my machine and between one of those or maybe all the crossed fingers that y'all did for me, I've got it quilted.  There will be no closeup shots of this bad boy tonight, because I chose not to rip out all of the poor stitching from before.  I debated it, but in the end, I decided that this quilt was just for our use and at this point, I'd rather have it done and on the couch than keep it in my sewing room for a few more weeks.  I can always go back and add new quilting later...

--Summer Sampler Quilt--Oh yes, I made progress on this baby last night.  With everything cut out and ready for me, my first Rocky Road to Kansas block went quickly.  Faith's directions as always were easy to follow and I think the block looks so cool.  I'm itching to go finish up the other one.  Then I've only got 1 block left (I've got to make 2 of it though) and I'm all done!!  Then I'll start figuring out how to creatively sash them since none of them ended up the same size!  ;)

Sorry for the weird coloring on this and all pics tonight.  I got home after dark and had to work with what I got... 

 --Mittens--I am making steady progress on these.  I've finished the right mitten and am ready to make the thumb gusset on the lefty. This one looks even better as far as the stitches being even and where they're supposed to be.  :)  I am getting better.  Slow steps, but progress nonetheless.  ;)

Is it just me or does the finished mitten look huge?  Because as I was knitting it up, I thought this is like a giant's mitten...but it fits me.  So I don't know if I have bigger hands than I thought or I just haven't seen that many adult mittens.  ;)

--Gator Greek Crosses-- Absolutely no progress here.  Sad...

  
Poor, lonely Unfinished Projects that have been cast aside:

--"Sent with Love" postage stamp quilt.  Just waiting on my swap blocks and this little lonely is making his way back to the WIP list!

--Mosaic Swap quilt.  Actually, I think this one needs one more row sewn on before I can quilt it.  But I haven't touched it in like 4 months, so I'm not sure on that one.  ;)

--My poor Sewing Room Sampler is moved down to the UFO list.  I will finish it, but right now, it's taking a back seat to my other projects.  


  I've got some time Thursday and Friday mornings blocked off to sew, so I'm hoping to get the binding on my Fall Pops, and as many Summer Sampler blocks sewn up as I can.  I'm ready to move some of these very slow WIPS to a completed list and get busy on some new projects!  Slow and steady might win the race, but it can be mighty boring too!  

   And as always, go check out Lee and all of the lovely quilters that link up! 

Lesson Learned

If you'll remember (or click back to here), I finished up my first month of do. Good Stitches blocks a week or so ago.  Well, when I was getting everything ready to go to the post office last week, I took a second to measure my blocks and guess what...not even remotely square or 12.5 inches square like Ronit asked for.  WHAT?  I mean, if this was a quilt for me, I'd have fudged it with some creative sashing and called it a day.

But...these blocks weren't for me, they're for someone else.  And they're also going to have to be sewn together by someone else into a quilt.  AND, this is the first month and I don't want everyone (okay, well really just the quilter this month) thinking that I can't sew a lick.  So, I tried to take the blocks apart and resew them more carefully.

Tried...  I said tried...  Because with every seam I ripped out came a new problem.  Something didn't go back together right, or I sewed it backwards, or I sewed it backwards twice.  Or...well, you get the idea.  If it could happen, it did.  Luckily, I didn't have a single machine error like with my quilt.  Thank the Good Lord above or I'd now be sewing machine-less and paying a window guy to come replace the windows in my sewing room.

But anyway...I made an executive decision.  START OVER.  So I did.  Luckily, I'd kept all of my color choices out to make a pillow or something for myself since I loved the color combination so much.  I cut all new squares and started from scratch.  Good practice, I told myself.  And besides, the whole point of this is to share my love with someone else.  I can't go off sending unintentional wonky love now can I?  I mean, if the point was to be wonky, than I'd have been all set.  But in this case, straight-edged love was required.

So...here are my new October do. Good Stitches blocks.

I still love this block and enjoyed making new ones.  It makes my heart happy to know that some girl who needs encouragement and love will stay warm and comforted by the hands of women who care about her.  And I feel blessed that I get to be one of those women.

Have a great Tuesday!!

Celebrate October

I can't believe this month is more than half over already.  I'm not ready for Halloween yet!  I mean, sure the house is mostly decorated and the kids' costumes have been ordered and arrived (yes, ordered...see here), and  we've already been invited to one Halloween party before the big day, but I just feel like I'm stuck in the middle of a river (we'll call it the river of life) and the current is so strong that I'm being pulled along at a pace that's a little too fast for me.  I want to slow down and casually paddle along, taking breaks to take pictures, enjoy the scenery and stop my kiddos from growing up so fast.  But, apparently I don't get to control the current's pace, so I'm stopping in today to say a quick hi and send some fall/Halloween inpsiration your way!

On a side note before the beautiful pictures start flowing...Gayle still has not contacted me as the winner of the Connecting Threads gift certificate, so I'm giving one more shoutout before I pick a new winner.  Gayle Himmelwright, if you're reading this, email me right away to collect your prize!  Otherwise, I'll draw a new winner on Wednesday afternoon.

Without further ado, here's some color, project, and recipe inspiration...go and create!!

"Fading Tones" via 

So cute!!  Found here

So pretty!  Find it here

                                  Source: afarmgirlsdabbles.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Much cuter than your average sweatshirt, right??  via

I have plenty more inspiration to share but...I'd rather go and create myself instead of waiting on my slow internet tonight...  I'm off to knit a few rows on mitten #2 before turning in for the night.  Tomorrow is kindergarten volunteer day for me...

Thanks for stopping in!

WIP Wednesday #16

Okay, WIP is gonna be a little different today, because while I'm diligently working and am trying to make progress, I'm still having some tension issues like I mentioned in my last post...

So, who can help me with this??

WHAT IS UP WITH MY THREAD????

I've changed needles, thread, tensions, feet, etc...  I'm not sure why my thread tension is so tight that it's ruining the thread.  I believe it's tight between the first tension disks and where you loop back up to thread the loop that moves up and down when you sew.  I know, I know, technical terms.  But all machines are different and I just know that every machine I've ever sewn on has tension disks and a loop that goes up and down with the needle.

So, who's got suggestions?

Here's how it's looking overall.  If I could get the tension issue worked out, I'd be done.  FMQ came back to me easily enough, but my thread keeps breaking when I get in a good rhythm.  AAAAHHHHH.

On a happier note, I've also made progress on my mitten(s).  I knitted during Emma's dance class this week.  There were 4 parents/grandmas in there.  One Grandma was crocheting, one Mom was hand-sewing.  I was knitting and the lone Dad was on his phone searching the net or something.  Poor guy!  ;)  It did make me laugh though.

 

So, that's my contribution to WIP Wednesday today.  Go over and check out Lee's progress and all the lovely ladies that link up there.  And please, offer any suggestion you've got about my tension.  Because my machine is causing me tension too!! 

Giveaway Winners!!

  I was so excited to see that so many of y'all came over and said hi during the giveaway!  I mean, between both prizes we had 85 entries!!!  WOW!  I couldn't believe it.  A big thank you to everyone who became a follower.  It means a lot to me, really.  Emma likes to always have more followers than me (on her imaginary fashion blog that she runs), so whenever I'd tell Chris how many I had, she had about 100 more.  She must have had an AWESOME giveaway on her blog...Once she told me she was up to 1100 followers.  Oh to be 7 again!

Anyway, onto the goodies...
I did use random.org, but I don't know how to do a screen capture, so bear with me...
GIVEAWAY 1:  IT'S A HOOT CHARM PACK
    goes to:   MaryAnne who is a long-time follower and LOVES peach cobbler which I also share a soft spot for!

GIVEAWAY 2:  $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO CONNECTINGTHREADS.COM
    goes to:  Gayle Himmelwright who said she has a healthy apple crisp recipe and is also a follower.  Healthy dessert...I'm all for it!
  **Edited to add, Gayle, you are a no-reply blogger!  Please email me so I can get you your prize!**

I wish I had a little money tree in the back yard so that I could get something special for each of you who entered.  It warmed my heart to see so many emails in my inbox!  I was just hoping a few people would enter.  I'm blown away by the response.  Of course, if I had a money tree in the backyard, I'd need a bigger sewing room to store all my stash too!!!

I was surpised to see how many of you LOVE apple crisp or crumble.  But, all of the goodies you mentioned sounded so good.  I'm going to have to start running a few more days a week to be able to try them all this fall. Mindy said she had a DELICIOUS recipe for apple crisp, and she was right.  We made it Saturday night and both kids asked for seconds!

I also spent some time this weekend getting my Fall Pops top quilted.  I decided on a loopy free motion because I haven't FMQed in a LONG time and never on my new machine (which I got in January, so that tells you something...)  I'm having some tension issues causing the top thread to break and would welcome any suggestions on that front, but otherwise, it's coming back to me.  I'm very rusty and my loops are nowhere near perfect, but it's not so bad.  Chris says it looks good, and as I told my friend Debbie, a imperfect quilt on our couch to cuddle with is better than a quilt top waiting for perfection in my WIP basket, right?  I"m halfway through...Emma's already called dibs on who gets to snuggle in it first.  Ahhh, just another  reason I love quilting!

Sorry for the wierd coloring.  We've had nonstop rain here for like 15 hours straight!!

Thanks again to everyone who visits here and takes time out of your day to share with me.  I'm so glad you're here.

I'm in Love (with my quilt blocks!)

***Don't forget to enter the giveaways if you haven't yet!!  Click here.***

FINALLY!  I finished up my 2 blocks for the first month of do. Good Stitches.  I mentioned the other day that Ronit requested we each make 2 of this awesome block in a fall color scheme.

via here

I chose these fabrics:

 And turned them into these beauties!!

This is before trimming as you can see some edges are uneven and there are threads hanging.  I couldn't wait to take them outside to photograph!

  She said she wanted scrappy and it would be cool if any of us wanted to do a reverse or a solid color or anything just a little bit different.  I took the challenge and made one like the original and made one in a reverse color scheme.  I severely doubted myself throughout the process, especially with the reverse.  There's so many little triangles it's hard to see the final product while you're making it.  But that is one reason I signed up with this group.  I wanted to challenge myself and try new things.  So I kept plugging.

But in the end....I LOVE them both!  This is a color scheme I would never have chosen for myself.  I've said it before--I love everything about fall, colors included, but they're not the colors I gravitate towards.  That said, I want to use my scraps to make a new pillow for my couch I love them so much.

I'm excited to see everyone's blocks and the final quilt.  Month 1 down...I can't wait to see what's next!

P.S.  Do you notice any errors in the two blocks above?  Because after I photographed them, I did!  The square second from the right in the top row on BOTH blocks is upside down!  Duh.  How did I miss that on both blocks!  haha  Oh well, a little time with a seam ripper never hurt me before...

P.P.S.  Thank you so much to everyone who has entered the giveaways and especially those of you who became new followers!  I never ask that anyone follow because I want you to stop in and read because you want to, so it means a lot that all of you wanted to come hang out with little ole me!  I can't believe I'm over 100 followers!  EEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Celebrate Fall with a Pumpkin Breakfast

Today is picture day at school.  I am hoping that my two made it to picture day still looking like they did when they bailed from the car this morning in the dropoff loop.  Because, man did the photography company want an arm and a leg for the most basic package.  I take a lot of pictures of my kids, but I mean, c'mon...you've gotta have all 13 of those posed pictures with the grayish background for the album, right??

   To help get them out the door in good spirits, I made one of our favorite fall breakfasts.  Spiced Pumpkin Waffles.  Maybe last year sometime I saw that Amy (from Angry Chicken fame) mentioned these delicious waffles she'd made and I had to try them.  You know, me with the freezer full of pumpkin and all...  So I did.  And the reaction--YUM!  The kids love them.  Chris is gone by the time the kids and I get up in the morning so he never eats breakfast with us during the week and he makes breakfast on the weekends, so I'm not sure if he's ever had any of my delicious pumpkin waffles, but he's missing out.  ;)

  The recipe is from Country Living.  Make these this weekend.  You'll be glad you did!  And just on a side note...these are also great served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and warm maple syrup or even caramel sauce for dessert...I'm just saying if you wanted to go that route...

photo via  Country Living

SPICED PUMPKIN WAFFLES
INGREDIENTS

  2 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
  1 tablespoon(s) baking powder
  2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
  1 teaspoon(s) ginger
  1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
  1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
  1/2 teaspoon(s) fresh-ground nutmeg
  1/4 teaspoon(s) cloves
  4  large eggs
  2 cup(s) buttermilk
  1 cup(s) pumpkin purée
  1/2 cup(s) dark brown sugar
  1/4 cup(s) (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  1 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract

    

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat a waffle iron. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, pumpkin purée, sugar, butter, and vanilla in another large bowl until smooth. While whisking, add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.
3. Generously coat the waffle iron with vegetable oil and cook the batter in the waffle iron as recommended in the manufacturer's instructions. Repeat with remaining batter.

Enjoy and have a very wonderful weekend!  Hopefully I'll check in with some real progress on my bee blocks and fall quilting...