To-Do Tuesday, a little behind

Ok, well, my internet was not working for a few days, so I wasn't able to get this posted. I have a few pictures to post, but I am waiting for somethings to dry before taking all of the pictures, so they are coming soon!

Here's the list;
21st- Last day of School for year
Crossing guard- Crocheted Soccer Hat that she wanted
Lore's teacher (woman)- Clorax/Handi wipes, journal cover
Liam's teacher (man)- journal cover
Levi's teacher (woman)- journal cover

22nd- Our Solstice Celebration (I've come to realize I will not finish their stockings on time. But I am going to finish them before I let the tree come down for next year! They do have purchased items as gifts and certificates for experiences. We don't really buy much for the boys for Christmas, it's more about family and time together.)
Make the meal (prep done!)
Levi- Stocking- 1/4 done,wallet
Liam- stocking-1/4 done, wallet
Lore- stocking 1/4 done,
Tim- stocking, Spamalot tickets

23rd- Tim's Dad's Side Christmas
Evan's quilt
Lydia's quilt
Make a dish to pass

24th-Dad's Christmas
Clover's quilt- 3/4 done, longies
Ambrosia- shirt, apron
Jorden- shirt, Dr Seuss about me book
Alyssa- Travel embroidery kit
Alia- Travel Stationary, pens, cards, etc...
K- Heifer International donation, soup of the month club coupon, Candle
C- embroidered towel and potholder, crocheted dishcloth
Make a dish to pass

25th- Mom's Christmas
Mom- The Boys are making her a decorated box to put handmade Christmas items in, nearly done
Dish to Pass

29th- GE's Christmas
Gail- Starbucks gift card
Ben- Gas card, I feel like I failed this one, but they've had to travel so much, it's really what they need.

30th- Work Party The boss's gift

31st- Tim's mom's Christmas
Mom- Purse with the boys' pictures on it OR placemats?
Laura-Gas Card She's traveled so much since she's relocated, so this just seemed the best gift
Brian-Gift certificate to local convenience store it's what he wants

Quickie Spinach Supper

Well, I ended up having to go to the doctor today, so I didn't get everything I wanted to get done today, done. And I didn't get our planned supper in on time, so I had to come up with something. I didn't have much freezer stash left and none of it sounded appealing today, so I "winged" it. My husband hates when I do that, but the kids and I loved what came of it, and I'm quite sure my hubby will too when he gets home. I'm documenting it, so if I ever want it again, I can recreate it.

Quickie Spinach Pasta Supper
3 TBS Olive Oil
1 chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic (or to taste)
1 TBS Butter
1 tub of ricotta cheese (I think mine was part skim)
1/2 brick of cream cheese
1 thawed and squeezed frozen spinach box
2-3 shakes of ground cayenne pepper
2 shakes of nutmeg
Lots of fresh ground black pepper
salt
Leftover pasta ( I had fettuccine)

Saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Add butter and garlic, cook that for a little bit. Toss in spinach, ricotta, cayenne, black pepper, salt, and cream cheese. Smash and cook that until it is all mixed and creamy. Add cooked pasta. If it's too thick thin with a bit of milk.

This was so good, and like I said, my kids loved it. If I were to change anything, I would have loved to add some fresh mushrooms, but we didn't have any.
We ate it with a salad and those pillsbury crescent rolls that are garlic flavored. I'm sure they are really really bad for you, but they taste oh, so, good!

My group shot of patches

I received 4 amazing patches in a swap. Here they are all together at my home

The detailed and amazing inner workings of a Dalek is by trifarina (I believe will be going into a quilt)
The adorable running imp is by Craftybernie (I'm not sure where she'll go yet, maybe on my Christmas tree skirt or framed)
The gorgeous bird and flowers by rectangel (I am pretty sure I am framing this for my living room)
Last, but certainly not least is Monsieur Hedgehog by SewSewAGoGo. Who is going on a cozy for my beloved Kitchen Aid mixer (what a great start for my soon to be woodland themed kitchen!)

I truly feel I am the luckiest girl. These are so amazing! I was really a beginner at the start of this swap, and I feel I have grown so much. I can't wait until the next round!

To-Do Tuesday

I finished all of the things I had to for last weekend, just in the nick of time! I have revised my list a bit, to hopefully save myself a bit of time. New/Changed items are in green. Done items are in Red.

15th- Step-mom's side of family get together
Towel, potholder, dishcloth for Grandma DONE!
Make Cookies I made a delicious Gingerbread Biscotti!

16th- Swim Party
Make a dish to pass
Make cookies Banana Chocolate Chip Biscotti

21st- Last day of School for year
Crossing guard- Crocheted Soccer Hat that she wanted
Lore's teacher (woman)- Clorax/Handi wipes, journal cover
Liam's teacher (man)- journal cover
Levi's teacher (woman)- journal cover

22nd- Our Solstice Celebration
Make the meal
Levi- Stocking- 1/4 done,wallet
Liam- stocking-1/4 done, wallet
Lore- stocking 1/4 done, ?
Tim- stocking, underwear, checkbook cover

23rd- Tim's Dad's Side Christmas
Evan's quilt- 1/4 done
Lydia's quilt - 1/4 done
Make a dish to pass

24th- Dad's Christmas
Clover's quilt- 1/4 done, longies
Ambrosia- apron, felt food,
Jorden- apron, felt food, coloring book
Alyssa- Travel embroidery kit, wallet
Alia- Stationary, pens, cards, etc... bible cover
K- Heifer International donation, soup of the month club coupon
C- ", embroidered towel and potholder, crocheted dishcloth
Grandparents- Embroidered towel, potholder, & dishcloth
Step Grandparents- Embroidered towel, potholder & dishcloth
Make a dish to pass

25th- Mom's Christmas
Mom- Embroidered towel, potholder & dishcloth OR Hooded Scarf
Make Cookies
Dish to Pass

29th- GE's Christmas
Gail- Starbucks gift card?
Ben- ?

30th- Work Party
The boss's gift

31st- Tim's mom's Christmas
Mom- Purse with the boys' pictures on it OR placemats?
Laura- ?
Brian-?

Luckily, I have nothing (that I know of tomorrow, so I can hopefully get quite a bit done. I may have to turn off the phone though, it was crazy today, I got absolutely nothing done!

Favorite Cream Cheese Recipes

Crazy Hip Blog Mamas Recipe Rally is Cream Cheese Recipes. I do love cream cheese, but my 2 favorite recipes are super simple and and really yummy.
The first is my eldest son's favorite! He loves green olives. It's almost a sickness for him. He just can't get enough. Plus the white, red and green make it perfect for the holiday season.
The second one is I think a staple for a lot of families at get togethers, but all are made a little differently.

Green Olive Dip
Brick of cream cheese softened
a handful of green salad olives chopped (more or less to taste)
dash or so of Worcestershire sauce
a bit of minced garlic or garlic powder ( to taste)
a few tablespoons of sour cream (optional, but it helps the chips/crackers not break as easily)

Mix together, chill, serve with chips or crackers or vegetables. (My mom's favorite is with potato chips, my husband's favorite is with triscuit crackers, my favorite is with celery [yes, honestly] and my eldest son's favorite is with his finger!)

Taco Dip
2 bricks of cream cheese softened
1/4-1/2 cup of sour cream (optional but helps to prevent broken chips)
1 packet of dry taco seasoning (I make my own, so I couldn't tell you what brand to buy)
chopped/sliced toppings of choice I like;
green onion
tomato
lettuce
black olive
shredded cheese

Mix the first 3 ingredients well. Spread over a platter. Layer topping ingredients (I usually do the very top layer cheese then garnish with a few extra black olives and green onions.) Chill until serving.
I serve with tortilla chips. This makes quite a bit, you could make a smaller batch, but I usually make this for a party, then I have to make another for home, because my husband insists he never gets any at the party.

Cardinal Set Done!

I'm very glad to check this off of the list. This is very much "my grandma".

Towel One Done!

I finished my grandma's towel. Which for not being home at all is fairly impressive to me. This is still prepressed, but I didn't want to forget to snap a photo. She adores cardinals, so that's what I went with.

Christmas Crazies or (early) To-Do Tuesday.

I am unable to focus on getting what needs to be done first! That has always been one of my biggest problems. I want to do what I'm in the mood for, regardless of timeline. Well, I'm going to start posting my Christmas Holiday to do list here. I'm hoping at least every Tuesday or earlier if I get more things done. I know none of my family read this, so I'm not terribly worried, and if you are in my family and you do read this.... stop! (at least until after Christmas.)

So here's my list set to timeline to hopefully get me working on what I need to first.

9th- Grandma's 70th Birthday Party

• Make Hummus
• Make Spinach Dip
• Make Dill Dip
• Bring Carrots & Broccoli tray
• Embroidered towel gift w/matching potholder

15th- Step-mom's side of family get together

• Towel, potholder, dishcloth for Grandma
• Make Cookies

16th- Swim Party

• Make a dish to pass
• Make cookies

21st- Last day of School for year

• Crossing guard- Crocheted Soccer Hat that she wanted
• Lore's teacher (woman)- Clorax/Handi wipes, journal cover, ?
• Liam's teacher (man)- journal cover?, stationary
• Levi's teacher (woman)- journal cover?,

22nd- Our Solstice Celebration

• Make the meal
• Levi- Stocking, thermos cover, bible cover, wallet, recorder case?
• Liam- stocking thermos cover, wallet, ?
• Lore- stocking, thermos cover, ?, ?
• Tim- stocking, underwear, ?

23rd- Tim's Dad's Side Christmas

• Evan's quilt
• Lydia's quilt
• Make a dish to pass

24th- Dad's Christmas

• Clover's quilt, longies
• Ambrosia- apron, felt food, wallet?
• Jorden- apron, felt food, coloring book
• Alyssa- hooded scarf/scarf, wallet
• Alia- hooded scarf/scarf, bible cover
• K- Heifer International donation, bible cover, soup of the month club coupon
• C- ", embroidered towel and potholder, crocheted dishcloth
• Grandparents- Embroidered towel, potholder, & dishcloth
• Step Grandparents- Embroidered towel, potholder & dishcloth
• Make a dish to pass

25th- Mom's Christmas

• Mom- Embroidered towel, potholder & dishcloth OR Hooded Scarf
• Make Cookies

29th- GE's Christmas

• Gail- Starbucks gift card?
• Someone I can't remember who's name I drew, I'll have to look at the sheet again

30th- Work Party

• The boss's gift

31st- Tim's mom's Christmas

• Mom- Purse with the boys' pictures on it, placemats?
• Laura- ?
• Brian-?

I think I had better get moving my butt! I hope this will help keep me on track.

Christmas Help

My dad called me last night quite upset. He was worried about Christmas. My sister died earlier this year (at 26,) she left behind three fairly young daughters. He needed me to come up with something for remembering her before the presents are opened. He wants this to be something we do every year, and as others pass (I have some very old grandparents) we can add to it. I suggested hanging special ornaments on the tree. Not when we hang the rest, but at a special time. He didn't sound very keen on that. I suggested a candle, and he seemed like he liked that better. My original thought was to put her picture on the candle (I've done this before,) but I'm afraid it would get too cheesy and difficult to find great pictures of everyone as they pass away. And pictures always look dated in a short amount of time.Do any of you have special things that you do? Do any of you have ideas. I think it needs to be something that the kids or whatever physically do.I would love to hear any and all ideas.

Last embroidered patch

I had quite a time with this final patch. I was out of a certain floss, that was needed to finish. WalMart no longer sells embroidery floss (GRRRR, boy are they gonna lose business, one of the only reasons I go there is because I don't have much craft options where I live, well, without embroidery floss, I have little to no use for them!) I luckily saw my 7 year old walking around with his embroidery bin and I glanced a little red in it. I nearly ripped it from his hands (he knows why and thinks it's funny, he's not scarred for life or anything!) And found the thread I needed!!!


So here is what I finished today, and I'm sending it out today!

I hope, hope, hope she loves it! There are a few places I had major color dilemmas but I'm quite happy with it over all.

Happy Thanksgiving

Last night we were given a lovely dusting of snow. It was quite lovely. I am so Thankful for so many things. And I really love that there is one day to really count our many blessings. I do try to count my blessings everyday, but we all have our moments that we get down.





Whether you are in the US or not, I hope you have a wonderful day, and enjoy all of your blessings!

Happy Birthday Lore! K-9 and Dalek Cakes

Well, my baby Lore turned 7 yesterday. It's seems such a short time ago I was in the hospital, in excruciating pain...... ok, enough of that. Look at his cute little face, it's totally worth it!!!

He had chosen a Dalek cake, but then yesterday morning decided he wanted a K9 cake. So I started over, and threw together a K9 cake.

K9 was made in a loaf pan and strategically cut. The head is held on by a skewer and toothpicks. Frosted a lovely shade of grey. His eye shield part is fruit by the foot. With a lifesaver and a gusher for the center part. The nose is a gusher, as is the tail and the Dalek suction cup thingy.

Tinfoil and toothpick ears for K9. Everything else is frosting and starbursts. The black is gel frosting. The "plaid" collar is starbursts, rolled. The dots on the Daleks are starbursts.

Overall, Lore was really happy with it. He wanted to save it to show family, but I don't think it would last a few days and a long car ride, so we ate him. It was just the 5 of us, so it isn't a very big cake. I really like the way K9's head is slightly cocked.

Stitchy Cowgirl!

Yep, it's another patch for a swap. I did a lot of new (to me) stitches. I'm quite happy with how she turned out. Sure if I were to do it all over again, there are changes I would make, but I still like her.

Personally I'm not really into western things, but I am almost tempted to make 2 of these and put them in the flares of a pair of jeans!

Happy Veteran's Day!

In our little school (about 300 students preK-8th), there is a HUGE Veteran's Day celebration. But since it fell on a weekend, we did ours last Friday.

This year we had donated 3 new flag poles. But you can't just say "tada here's your new flags". Oh, no, you have to have a SKYDIVER jump from a plane and drop them off!

Where is the plane?

(My dad and my niece)

There is the plane!

Here he comes with an American flag behind him!

There are our new flag poles!!

This was pretty big deal stuff for our little village, we had Senators and other high officials. We were supposed to have the Governor, but he had bill signing to do. I guess, it is what we pay him for! =)

Little Swappy Projects

I have been working on little swappy projects the last few days.

I have 2 of my 4 embroidered patches done. Here they are before I pressed them.













I've also had some ornaments to make for another swap. I can't decide if I want to send them all or not. I also can't decide if I should add the buttons or not to the ones. Any suggestions?

Without buttons


With buttons


The embroidery for the other 2 ornaments.

Comments and silly me!

I never set up to be alerted when comments are posted *smacks head with hand*

I have a few lovely comments that I never responded to, because I didn't know I had received comments. I am going back to respond now, but I do want to say thank you to all who have commented. And I'm sorry for not responding before now!

Dick & Jane go on a trip

I made this overnight bag for my niece's 4th birthday. I was truly hoping for a lovely day to take beautiful pictures, but it's cloudy, cold & horribly windy, so I just had to take some indoors before I give this to her tomorrow.All of these pictures are of the bag empty, so you can see how well it stands up on it's own.




Here's a close up of the wallet I made to go with it. It hangs from a D-ring, but she'll probably put it on her belt loops most of the time.


And here's a shot of the inside of the bag, it just has one blue hanging pocket. The yellow fabric inside matches far better than the picture shows.
The dick and jane fabric is a Michael Miller fabric . The yellow gingham and yellow with green flowers (inside) I have had forever, so I'm not sure what those are.
The dark blue is an old pillow case that had a hole in it that I was able to save.

I can't wait to give it to her. I am pretty excited, I know she'll use it a lot!

What are YOU looking at?

Well, it wasn't easy, but I was finally able to catch a bit of video of Liam's "Mad Eye" movement.

Here's with Tim doing it, sorry it's so dark, and please ignore my boys and their argument in the background.

Here's a shot of my son doing it. he's got a really funny look on his face, I don't quite know why.

Halloween is Over

Another Halloween come and gone. We had about 525 Trick or Treaters. Which is quite impressive since there are only about 900 people who live in our village. We don't hand out the candy, we hand out glow-bracelets. They are a big hit every year, and we like to do something just a little different. The weather was a bit chilly and a little windy, but so beautiful compared to the last few years! Over all a wonderful night!

Halloween also happens to be my husband and my anniversary, so that always holds a little something extra for us!

A New Baby!!!

My brother and sister-in-law just had their newest addition. Clover Ellen joins her big sister Ambrosia. Very exciting news. I'm hoping for pictures soon.

I'd better get working faster on those longies!

2007 Costumes

I know I need better pictures, but I want to be sure that I post and don't forget. So here are most of our costumes from this year.


Here are Tim & I at a party on Saturday. Halloween is our 10th anniversary, so we made wheel of fortune (we are those old people who have to be home by 6 for wheel hehe.)
The wheel spins and the letters turn. People actually played a game. It was fun.


Our youngest wanted to be a transformer. Optimus Prime was picked because we thought it would be the easiest. If it were me I would have sewed something up, but my hubby and son figured it HAS to transform. So the above is a picture in truck form. Below is robot form.



Here's my middle son as Mad Eye Moody from Harry Potter. His magical eye really does spin. (I'm hoping to get video of that soon.) And his wand he made with his dad and it lights up green and red (depending on if he's stunning or killing deatheaters.)



Here's one of my nieces. She wanted to be a Strawberry Icecream Cone with whipped cream on top. Well you bet. So here she is.


Here's a picture of all of my boys and 3 of my nieces at church. They have trick-or-treat for unicef every year. My oldest is a grim reaper, but I haven't gotten very good pics of that yet.

Hair today, gone tomorrow....

ok, bad title. But it's quite a big deal in our house. My son Levi, has been growing his hair out for a long time. He did get it cut about a year ago and got about 4 inches off. Now it's not quite as long as last time, but he was ready for a change. And with his impending 11th birthday he thought now was the time. With 2 days off of school it was now or never. Here's the before and after.

Front

Back

Pigtails (hehe doesn't he look like a pretty girl?)

AFTER

Cleaning off the extra hair

The After. Isn't he a little stud muffin?!?

Baby Longies

My new niece's birth could happen at any moment. I have been asked to make some wool longies for her. I have never done this before, so I am totally new at this. Here is the first one I made.

I made the cuffs so that they will flip over the baby's tootsies to keep them warm.

Here is the next one I started, I like the top, but I'm unsure of the purple, it looks a bit garish.

No more papertowels!

Ok, maybe not quite yet, but much closer. I had seen in stores microfiber towels, but never thought much about them. I then read on a blog (somewhere I can't think of right now, sorry) about using them and not needing paper towels any more. I thought... really? I guess these little buggers are worth a try. We go through more paper towel than I care to even know.
So I searched and searched and couldn't find any, ok I didn't search that hard, but I try really hard not to go shopping, and when I do I try to make it just the grocery store (not to mention I don't have anything but a gas station and a meat market in my little village, so shopping isn't a daily part of my life.)
Then I had to enter the most evil of evils, WalMart, and I checked there. All I could find was a 4 pack with different purposes for each towel, (one polishes furniture and shoes, one cleans mirrors and screens, etc...) I bought it for $4-5. It sat in it's box for about a week, then I went to grab a paper towel to clean off the counter and I went... "Wait... I have new towels" I then had to find where my husband stashed the box.... read the directions, and gave it a whirl!

OH, MY, I'm in LOVE! I wiped off my bathroom counter with out even needing water! No cleaners at all. It was spotless. I cleaned my mirrors with no water, and there were zero streaks. And I have to be honest, there was major toothpaste, and hairspray gunk on my mirror and counter. I still worry about the germs and stuff, so I went over the counter with some vinegar anyway, but WOW!

I was going to clean off my stove top (my kids have been cooking, and they NEVER clean it off.) So there was really gross burnt on stuff. I didn't even think it was going to work at all, so I didn't take a picture of the before. I am so upset that I didn't. Because I cleaned the whole thing with out water!!!!! My kitchen is now paper towel free!!! I will buy some more towels when I go to Target (I've heard I don't have to buy a multi type pack there.) I would be completely free of paper towel if only I could handle cleaning the toilet with them. I really need disposable for that. It grosses me out pretty bad, (4 boys need I say more.)

Maybe you all know about these, and I am truly behind the times (it's been known to happen.) But I thought just in case, I would share my little nugget with you all. It has certainly changed my life. (Plus I clean more trying to prove it isn't better!)

Soccer Tournaments can be COLD!

Ok, in all honesty this one wasn't too bad, in fact by afternoon it was pleasant. But it was still 45 degrees F when we got to the field at 8:30am!


There is absolutely no way I could sit through another soccer game for quite some time. Let me give you the quick version of what my day was like.


-8am leave house to get Jorden

-8-9:15am Austin's (nieces' step brother so considered a nephew) first soccer game (Lost 4th so they took 4th place he played really well though!)


-8:30am get to field for Lore's warm ups


-9-10am Lore's first game (Wins Lore was awesome, stopping goals and kicking like crazy!!)


During the game we were eating bagels, dried fruit, almonds and having hot chocolate.


-10:30am Liam starts warm ups

Ate a hot pretzel with cheese (oh so good)


-11:00am- 12:15pm Liam's 1st game (Wins did AMAZING!)

-11am-12:15pm Alia & Cassy (Alia's step-sister, so considered a niece.) played their first game (Won, I didn't see much, but the fields were next to each other so I watched a bit)


-12-1pm Lore's second game (Lost he did really well though, took 4th place for tournaments and division)




-12-1pm (running late) Alyssa's first game (won, didn't see much, but was brilliant of what I saw of her.)

Quick ate a burger some noodle and vegetable salad that I brought and YUMMY ginger cookies I will try to post the recipe later!


-2-3:15pm Liam's second game (The team did amazingly well, besides for the fact that our fill-in coach wouldn't let the defense be on the defensive side of the field.... so the goalie was the only one protecting the goal, her reason was that she wanted to get the other team in off-sides so they couldn't score, plus only played Liam one out of 4 quarters!!!.... I'm not caring for her much. They lost. They took 1st in division and second in tournaments.) [I'm not bitter about the lose, I'm biter that once you see we're losing and your plan isn't working, wouldn't you tell them to just go have fun!]



-2-3:15pm Alia & Cassy's second game (they won, did wonderfully I hear. They took 1st for tournaments, and second for division.)




-4:30pm Alyssa's last game (she won, she did wonderfully! Took first for tournaments and division)





-Went out for pizza at a local pizza place.


So as you can see I am totally soccer-ed out! I kept warm by drinking hot chocolate and tea. And by wearing my hooded scarf.





I had one of these when I was a kid, but this one is so much cuter! It has little pockets at the bottom too. It was wonderful at keeping the wind off of the back of my head.

Oh Ravelry.... I do adore you!

I signed up for the Beta version of Ravelry WAY back when I first heard of it. It sounded very nice. I was invited to join I believe in June/July. I was quite sick and didn't really try it out then. Well I know so many people that are just waiting with bated breath to be invited, I thought it was terrible of me to not be taking advantage of my good fortune.

I posted a few of my projects. And then more and more. I am keeping track of them better than ever before. I know what hook size I used (I tend to start something, get sidetracked, then forget what hook size I was using. This is a very common way for my favorite projects to get frogged or forgotten about)

Right now I am working on some wool longies for my sister-in-law and the baby that's going to be here any minute!!!! I am also working on some dishclothes for Christmas gifts. This is motivating me so much and helping me to stay organized. There are still some bugs, and a few things I hope get easier to navigate (the forums) But so far I like it very much!

In case you are one of us lucky ones that already is on Ravelry my name is Ezri, feel free to friend me!

The Solar System to EAT!

Liam had to make a 3 dimensional solar system for his class. He wanted to make rice krispy treats and a cake. So that's what he did. All I did was put the cake in and out of the oven (he burned himself once and is a bit apprehensive to do that.) And I melted the marshmallows while he was gluing the labels together (it was getting late) But he did everything else from reading the ingredients, measuring, mixing, frosting, coloring, and shaping, etc... all by himself. Can you tell I'm a proud mama?!?

This was a quick picture snapped before school, since I doubt I will ever see it again in tact! I should have gotten a better picture, the colors are off a bit, and you can't see the asteroid belt.

Dishclothes for Christmas Gifts

I am working hard, and find these dishclothes to be super ego boosters. I am hoping to crochet one for each woman in my immediate family. I plan to give these along with a quilted pot holder, and an embroidered towel.



The blue one is my favorite. I got the pattern from Cocoa Cream's Closet


The red one is ok, I changed it a bit because it was boring for me. I got it at Lion Brand's Website (which means you have to sign up to get it, it is free though.) It's called Vanilla Grit.

Soccer Hats

It is getting cooler here (well, not today, it's supposed to be 85!!) And we've had to start bundling up for the soccer games. My boys wanted to have something on their heads for the soccer games, so we made new soccer hats. We don't have soccer offered in our little village, so we drive to the nearest town for soccer. The shirts are all of the other town's colors, (black & gold). The boys wanted to show a little pride for their own school colors, so we made the hats in our colors (green and gold). They are wearing them today for the local homecoming parade (in the 85 degree F weather!) The boys are pretty happy with them. I personally like the one on the left better, but Lore really wanted the green and gold stripes down the side, so I can't complain, he's quite happy about it.

I winged this pattern. It's all half double crochets. Quite easy really. I'm working on writing the actual pattern up. I copied this one after one I did last year. I got the inspiration for that one from a crocheted patch on a sweater I had seen.

Argyle Crochet Square

I am angeling for a swap on craftster. I am made a 12" crocheted afghan square. The requirements were 12", washable, and green. This is what I came up with.





I used Bobby's Square pattern, but I wanted it to have that argyle look. So I changed out the yarns. It was a bugger to weave in all of those ends, and I can't help but think there must have been an easier way, but I am quite happy with the results. I would really like to see an entire afghan made with this square pattern.

Christmas ?? WIP Friday (we'll try to keep this up)

Anyone who knows me knows that I generally dislike Christmas. I know, no one can ever understand it. But for me in a divorced family with a huge extended family, I was getting pulled in so many directions at once that it wasn't enjoyable. We'd have 2-3 places to go almost every weekend in December and usually a few in January. There was no hanging out with family and friends it was simply open gifts and go. Then when we had children it was worse, because we have my family, my husband's family and us wanting to do something special with our kids on our own too.
Halloween was always our thing. No one has expectations of Halloween. It's just fun. And we get to do it ourselves, (it's also our anniversary.)
This year however, I have been hit with the Christmas bug! I want to decorate and make things and I haven't really put too much thought into Halloween. My husband thinks I have been possessed! I originally tried to ignore this need to make Christmasy things, but it wouldn't go away, so I figured I should embrace it. So I am starting by making stockings (which I've always wanted to do for the 5 of us anyway.)

I made a sketch of some ideas for stockings and a tree skirt.


I am making 2 striped ones for Tim and I and I'm making the polka dot ones for the boys. Which I started working on today.



I made a mistake of asking Tim his opinion on which skirt he likes and of course he picked the one I don't care for as much. So I am hoping to make both and the skirt reversible. Both sides may not happen this year, but one will.

I am also crocheting longie soakers for my niece that is on the way. My sister in law asked if I would so I want to get 4-5 done before Halloween (she's due about then) I have one nearly done, in natural organic wool.

Quilt Expo

My big fun grown-up trip this year was going with my Mother-in-Law to Quilt Expo. We had a wonderful time! It was so nice to not have kids hanging on me and just to enjoy all of the beautiful quilts and the gorgeous fabric porn. I was really good, and only bought a yard of fabric and a fat quarter of fabric, but I plan to order a few things after seeing some of it. Anyway, I took some pictures, but of course the pictures don't do the quilts a bit of justice. I will however post a few of them here for all to enjoy.

This is so much neater in person. All the intricate pieces.

I love the whimsical applique

Uhm... yea!

This one I couldn't believe didn't win. It's gorgeous!

All of these feathers were done individually on water soluble stabilizer with thread, then put on. It was stunning!

This was a compilation piece done by a school of children

How beautiful is this. What a wonderful piece of art.

I love the quilts on a quilt... The quilts were all free hanging from the quilt too.

From Wisconsin, in Wisconsin, Love Wisconsin. Must take a pic of the Wisconsin quilt!

One piece of fabric, but just look at that quilting!

My husband's favorite picture.

The hair was 3D with a little sparkle!

And my most favorite quilt of all

These pictures do it no justice at all. It is a time quilt. It is a calendar, the blue has time words quilted in it. Everything on this quilt has meaning. 60 seconds in an minute, 60 minutes in an hour, etc... but when he flipped it over to see the back!!

Oh, my!! There were clock works in the back, and the quilting matches up PERFECTLY! I am so inspired and in awe of this quilt!

These aren't nearly all the pictures I have, but it's a good many of them. We had a great time and are already planning another trip next year!