Home From Camp

We took a long drive to our little camping spot last Wednesday. The latter part of the drive is especially nostalgic for me. We drove those same roads many times to visit my grandparents. I love when the flat straight roads start to meander a bit, and I catch glimpses of rolling hills. Queen Anne's Lace adds frills to the roadside like the tatting edging a little girl's dress, and the gardens have a little terracing to them giving the landscape a change of texture.

My imagination takes over when we pass some of the old abandoned home places. I start to wonder about the people who once lived there and planted the running roses that peek out from the overgrowth. Paintless wooden siding, broken windows, and cattle loitering on what used to be a lawn beckon my thoughts to run wild, and the wispy fog-like clouds laying low on the hills add a mysterious feel to the already ghostly scene. It's funny to me how a few hundred miles makes such a difference in scenery.

We had a great time even if we only had a day and a half of nice weather. I could have read, painted and daydreamed my time away, but my husband got very restless in the rain, so we came home early. I already miss the quietness and also the sounds. I miss the train whistle, the call of the whippoorwill, and the bird that I couldn't identify, but whose whistle sounded like a construction worker's cat calls. I miss the gurgling of the creek, and the constant hum of the insects, of course, I don't miss the insects themselves.

I miss cooking and eating out of doors, and reading while dangling my feet in the ice cold water, and exploring all of the little blooming plants in the edge of the woods.

Oh, well, hopefully it won't be our last trip, and I do feel refreshed. It will be nice to sleep in my own comfortable bed tonight.

Baby Kisses and Quilts

I had a wonderful day; I got to kiss all of my babies in one day. Life is good! I'm sure they would not all appreciate me calling them babies.

I'm working a real quilt, one made from a pattern and lovely Jane Sassaman fabric. I can't wait to finish it and see how it turns out. It is pretty busy looking so far, but I have hopes that it will all come together nicely. Here is some of what I have so far. I shouldn't have photographed it laying on the fabric as I did. You can't really tell what is part of the square. I'll show more pictures as I get more done. Hopefully the next ones will be better.

Great Group

I spent a wonderful, fun-filled evening with a great group of young adults from our church. They cooked dinner for the families staying at the local Ronald McDonald House. What a great feeling to see young people who have a heart for service to others. They were even brainstorming while they were working about the next service project they can do. I had to giggle a little when they most seriously brought up karaoke at the nursing home. Sounds like fun doesn't it?

Makeover

My sister-in-law and her husband came for a visit this weekend and we had a great time together. We always do! Listen, we can have a good time shopping for swimsuits, can you do that? We make it fun by trying them on and laughing at each other, it's a riot! Do we buy swimsuits when we are together? Of course not! We can never find that one that makes us thirty pounds lighter and twenty years younger so we go home empty handed but smiling nonetheless over the fun we've had.

This time we loved on all the grands. Lucy introduced them to glowing gummy worms which were so gross the oldest kids wouldn't eat them. She usually brings really loud obnoxious toys which the kids adore and all adults hate, hide and secretly dispose of at the first opportunity. Thank you, Lucy, for not doing that this time!!! Sweet Cheeks is so impressed with Lucy that she has crowned her Cinderella.

Saturday we were at a department store shopping when we were nabbed by a salesclerk and coerced into doing a makeover. We took before and after shots which are horrible and fuzzy, but I'm going to show them to you anyway, because I have no shame. We tried our best to look like outlaws in the before shots so the transformation would look miraculous indeed. Sad to say, I'm still not that impressed with the transformation in the photos, but we really had a good time!

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Giveaway Winner

The winner of the CSN giveaway is............

Stephanie said...

I blogged:
http://thegrantsgiveaways.blogspot.com/2010/05/things-and-stuff-40-csn-giveaway.html
thegrants(at)live(dot)com

Congratulations! I'll email you with the details!

Sweet Dreams

Isn't he just precious?

A Wedding, An Airvent, & A Dance Interrupted

The two older girls were in a wedding recently, and throughly enjoyed themselves. The most fun they had, however, was while photographs were being taken at the front of the church. They were in the back of the church and discovered an air vent that transformed their dresses into huge bells, or maybe parachutes.

Excuse the poor quality of the pictures. They were taken while holding a baby, but maybe they give you just a taste of the fun that was had.

During the couple's first dance Sweet Cheeks circled the couple several times wondering just how she could get in on the fun. She couldn't quite grasp that this was not Ring-Around-the-Rosies, and she was not invited to participate.

Good-bye Rusty

Today we said good-by to our dog of 16 years. This little guy attended more tea parties, parades, and dress-up sessions than any canine ought to have to withstand. He has worn tutus, garlands, hats and anything else the kids could think to put on him. He was a fierce protector of the children, and even this week came between Sweet Cheeks and a water moccasin on a berry picking excursion. He had another severe seizure or stroke last night and had to be put to sleep. It isn't often you see a grown man cry, but my husband was brought to tears several times today.

Little Rusty Iron Will will be missed greatly, especially by the grandkids who often left little treats in his bead. He had a little house in the living room for a while, and after the grand-kids went home I would find a movie or some of their toys they left in his house for him to play with while they were gone.

My First Giveaway!

This giveaway is closed.... and the winner is Stephanie. I'll be emailing you with the details, congratulations!!!

Oh, I’m so excited and you should be too! I have been contacted by CSN Stores to introduce you to them. One lucky reader will win a gift certificate worth $40.00 used toward anything at any of the CSN websites. There are a vast array of items to choose from, anything from a new sleeper sofa to baby items.

Personally if it were my $40.00 I would choose these from Le Creuset

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or maybe this adorable apron,

but you may rather have these gorgeous shoes (I would too if I could walk in them!)

Anyway there is plenty to choose from, just be aware that if you go over the $40.00 you are responsible for the balance, and if shipping cost applies you will be responsible for it as well. (Some items come with free shipping.)

Prizes can be chosen from any of CSN's 200 stores.

So how do you win, you ask? Well, you can enter this giveaway up to three times. All you need to do is leave a comment and your e-mail address.

If you’d like a second entry blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post, come back and leave another comment with a link to your blog.

For a third entry pick out your favorite sleeper sofa just for fun and come back and tell me which one it is. I love the Van Gogh Designs Courtney Loveseat Sofa Bed myself.

Contest closes May 21, 2010. I'll pick a winner then so don't forget to come back and see if you've won!

Good luck!

Modkid's Frida Pattern, Alexander Henry' Willow Grove Fabric

I bought Alexander Henry's Willow Grove fabric while on the shop hop in Atlanta earlier this year. I knew I wanted to do something for one of the girls with it, but wasn't sure what. I also bought this great pattern from Modkids. It finally dawned on me this weekend to pair the two together, and I think it turned out darling. This was a birthday dress I made for Angel Eyes, Sweet Cheeks fell in love with the dress and wanted to try it on first. She kept walking around saying, "I'm a princess." So now I think I may have to order more to make her a dress.

Just finished a second dress for the other birthday girl. I made this one with three different fabrics as suggested in the pattern. I'm not sure which one I like best.

Keep checking back because sometime this week I will have a giveaway.

My Sixties Looking Dress

I have worked and re-worked this dress and finally decided I would venture out of the house in it. I love the retro feel of this style, but I'm not so sure it's something I can pull off (I look pregnant.) It sorta resembles a tent on me but I still like it. If I try this pattern again I think I'll color block it. Make the dress white and the pleat maybe black or red.

Stay tuned tomorrow I'll share a dress I really love on a much cuter model.

My Mom

Oh, there are a thousand things I could say about my mom, most all of them good. She is loving and kind, patient, a good listener, generous, a wonderful cook, she does beautiful embroidery, she sews, she's a hard worker, a fervent prayer, a loyal friend, and I'm so blessed to call her Mom. I have so many memories of her from childhood, some funny, some tender.

I'll never forget one time my brother was in trouble, and instead of taking his punishment as usual, he decided to run. My mother chased him, even when he scampered to the top of a tree she was right behind him switch in hand. (no, we were not abused.) Numerous times when I woke up scared in the night she would come into my room and hold my hand until I fell back to sleep. She did this even though she had four younger kids to care for, and probably needed sleep much worse than I did.

I remember when I brought my son home from the hospital and found out just how little I knew about babies. I called Mom and asked her, "When is it going to happen?"

"When is what going to happen?" she replied.

"When am I going to be a mother, you know, and have all of the answers like you do?"

She howled with laughter. "You think I have all of the answers?"

"Well, you seem to. You always seem to know just what to do and what to say."

"It doesn't just happen, in fact, you never have all of the answers, but with time and experience you learn more and more what to do. You make a lot of mistakes, but with prayer and persistence you'll learn to do your best, and that's all anyone can ask."

Good advise........and she keeps giving good advice...just one of the reasons I love her so much.

Now lest you think she is perfect I will share one little flaw, she has been known to burn the bread a few times.

family gatherings

Being part of a large family has added such joy to my life. Some of my favorite moments in life are when we all or any sub-group of us get together and just hang out. With us there is always food involved, and there are many great cooks, (just one of the reasons I have a weight problem.) As our family grows we are having to cut back on birthday celebrations. Instead of an individual party for each person we are combining several birthdays and celebrating together. This week we had one of those special celebrations.

My son to the left and the two grand-daughters on each end were the ones we were celebrating.

Isn't this cupcake butterfly made by my daughter-in-law beautiful? I can't even tell you how delicious it was. So was everything else.

There was lots of witty conversation,

some impromptu ballet,

a little ring around the rosy,

a nap or two, an alligator incident, (I'll leave that to your imagination) babies being passed around, cuddled and kissed,

and just an all around good time. I am really blessed to be related to so many great folks!