A Random Holiday

Happy Valentines Day!  It's not a big deal at our house, and Chris is coaching a basketball game tonight so that's where we'll all be, but it's never a bad thing to celebrate love is it?

I'm feeling like a random post today.  Got too much swimming around in my brain I guess.  So I'm gonna unload some on y'all.  :)

• I finished another star.  It's not may favorite.  In fact, it may be my least favorite.  It was so much better on EQ5 than before I spent a half-hour on it.  BUT, they can't all be favorites and I've only got 2 left.

• I am going to go with the 20 stars on the front.  Chris liked it better, Oren liked it better and a few of y'all did too.  And, it saves me from having so much border to wrestle with getting straight.  Win.

• I am participating in Le Challenge this month.  I took a few months off because of schedule restraints and a bad memory, but was happy to remember in time to play this month.  Lucy and Nat challenged us with "Rising Sun."  I'll post about it tomorrow.  This is a fun, non-competitive challenge for anyone who wants to participate.  You can use any medium, it doesn't have to be sewn.  I actually did a digital print this time.  :)

• Dana posted about pretzel bites the other day and I just read it today.  So I made them today.  Chocolate is over-rated, right?  said me never.  BUT we've had sweets all week so I decided pretzel bites would be a nice snack.  And they are GOOD!!  Definitely try them.  They're easy, just a little time-intensive.  I wish I had a warm cheese sauce to eat with them.  hmm....

via Old Red Barn co. 
Dana's picture is so much better than my phone version and I really want y'all to go make these

• Emma learned yesterday that her class was going to do a valentine exchange after all.  She goes to an enrichment class in the morning and so wasn't sure what, if anything, her class was going to do.  So I ran to the grocery store last night to pick up some Rolos.  We made these fun valentines that were free from How Does She?  I ended up having to use small goodie bags (like reallysmall) so I shrunk the graphic down in my photo-editing software to 3 x 2 inches.  They were cute!

It obviously didn't have the watermark, but you have to give them your email address to get the file and I didn't want to give their stuff away for free...

• I made this soup the other night.  It's a clean recipe, meaning all the ingredients are not processed I think...or something like that.  Anyway, it was really good.  Like Emma doesn't like tomatoes and she ate 3 bowls and really wanted a 4th.  Like it was cold in her thermos by the time she got to lunch the next day and she ate it anyway.  It's a keeper around here.  It has coconut milk in it instead of cream and I was worried it would taste coconutty, but not at all.  I did add some spice since my family likes that.  Really good.

via River North Paleo Girl

• I never got my Valentines decorations out this year with me being hurt.  I'm feeling mostly good now, but just moving a lot slower and I get tired more easily.  It's very frustrating to this independent, impatient girl.  But I did find some very cute decorations I wish I'd made and put out.  Check out this pillow and this embroidery pattern.

• Chris' basketball team is playing in the semi-regionals tonight at home.  If they win, we'll head to Lakeland, FL next week for the Final 4.  He started helping with the team partway through the season this year when the head coach (a good friend) had some family issues and so that's how he ended up coaching two sports at the same time.  He's also a middle school softball coach.  Yes, he sleeps good every night when he finally gets home.  

• I grew up a coach's daughter and Chris has coached something since we met, so it's a life I'm used to and enjoy, but always thank your kids' coaches (little league and up) because they really sacrifice a lot of their personal time and sometimes spend more time with your kid than their own.

• We're about to head up there now to eat with the team and then root them on.  I've got company coming in to town tomorrow and Em's got a birthday party tomorrow afternoon to attend.  I'm hoping to sew some this weekend but we'll see.

What are you up to on this holiday?  What are you doing this weekend?  We're supposed to start warming up I think, so maybe I'll go for a walk and see how that goes as well.  :)