The House

I have not got 'caught' up yet... but I am going to skip the rest of May for now. There have been requests of house photos.

I feel like everything at my house is almost done...

The fence...The yard...The sprinklers...

The house...

A before on the house... and after on the fence.

During:

In due time... all in due time.

Marc planted grass today... we are well on our way!

Karo Syrup Paintings...

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

I printed pictures of bricks off the internet and then laminated them.
I can use them again & again & again....

We painted the candle holders for our mantel with corn syrup and food coloring on foil.
They look just like stained glass.

For gift exchange the kids will each bring in 23 small items (stickers, bookmarks, etc) and then the elves will fill our stockings. If a student forgets, it is no big deal, none of the kids will take the time to count items. I will also get a supply of small items that I can add to the mix.

This little light of mine...
I'm gonna let it shine...
This little light of mine...
I'm gonna let it shine...
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
All the time!

**SPOILER**

The following images may spoil a surprise if you

• have recently adopted a baby boy from China
• are expecting a baby boy this spring

or

• currently are a teacher to one of my children
• are a fabulous assistant in my room
  

This is what I have been up to in my sewing room for the past 8 days! The five table runners have been a work in progress for 2 years. My apologies to the teachers of my children last year. I hope you liked the Starbucks cards, I love quilting and doing projects... but they sometimes take me longer (a lot longer) than I intend.

I actually have one more I made... but I liked it so much I am keeping it for myself. It is vintage red-white-blue for 4th of July.



Both quilts are a new pattern called 'I Spy with a Twist'.
It is my favorite type of pattern - one that looks more difficult than it actually is.



I am trying to decide what projects I will tackle over Christmas Break. I will need to help the girls get started on 4H projects soon... so my projects may be put on hold again.

The Apprentice

Marc always has some project or other that he is working on around our house. His handyman skills are very impressive. Between his job working for a contractor in high school, his dad, neighbors and friends, he has learned and tackled electrical wiring, plumbing, decks, siding, roofing, dry wall, and a fire pit. His current project is installing a sprinkler system. But this time he hasn't had to tackle the project himself.

Even thought the weather has been chilly at times, Taryn has been her dad's apprentice, his side-kick, his runner. She has learned about different tools, she knows the names of at least 4 different shovels (who knew there were so many?), and she hasn't quit. She told me last night that she thinks maybe for 4H this year that she should make herself a tool belt. She is a chip off the old - I mean ole block. She had to have gotten the fix-it gene from her dad. That is NOT my style. I am much more of an 'inside-where-it-is-dry-and-warm' girl. I love a fun project, but it needs to involve the words, cute-pretty-creative-etc. or I'm not really interested.

I am going to be really excited this summer when the lawn will be watered before I even wake up. But for now, I have delighted in watching the two of them, the master and the apprentice, working together, side-by-side.

Simple Minds... Simple Joys?

I decided to start collecting old spools of thread.



They fit perfectly on the ledge around my sewing room.



I can spend hours trimming up the loose threads.



I can organize them by color.

If I get bored I can play in my button box.

Simple minds only need simple joy?

Maybe.

Or is the truth hiding?

I only get joy out of the simple tasks because I am procrastinating
the bigger messes that are not so simple to clean up.

Cheater-cheater...

Yep, I am officially considering myself a blog cheater. Out there right now there is some Blogger challenge where people are posting every.single.day.of.November.... yeah, right.... not going to be happening here.

I am barely able to manage these cheater posts where I put random, unrelated pictures together and call them a post. I am going to plead it is better than nothing, but not by much. Here goes:

Marc and I got to go to the Stanford - OSU game in October...we won and it didn't rain... it doesn't get any better than that!

I also did a Martha Stewart pumpkin... power drill & Christmas lights!I loved that I just had to plug it in and the wind wouldn't blow it out.

Reagan and her friend M. at dance recital. Their group is called 'Free Ride'. She does toe-touches in her routine. I made a mistake about 5 years ago and tried to see if I could still do my toe-touch jump from my HS Cheer days. I could, but I will NEVER attempt that again.

I was sorry.
Very sorry.

Our puppies, Griz & Basil are both almost one. Griz is a Dec. puppy and Basil is February. They got their first 'haircuts'. It cost as much as it costs me to get my hair done. The groomer recommended they get cut every 8 weeks. Let me just say... if I don't pay to get my own
hair done every 8 weeks there is no way they will get theirs done.

This is/was/will be our yard. The white picket fence is down, the grass is gone. Marc will need to level, then trench, then install the sprinkler system. We are going to seed this time and not do sod. We have a 'connection' ~ the local golf grounds supervisor who will coach us through the process.

We both have different ideas about what type of fence to put in. We have settled on 'tall' as being our only agreed upon criteria so far. I am thinking the fence is a ways off, so I'm not too worried about it yet.

New Addition...

We volunteered to host a potluck at our house for the Knights of Columbus and others in the church who volunteered at the booths during Round Up. Wouldn't you know it, we had our first really good fall rainstorm that day!

Marc had just finished transporting our new playhouse to the concrete pad he put down this summer. The house is a hand-me-down. Ashley, the past owner, is a sophomore in college now. Her dad built it for her...which totally got Marc off the hook. He has been promising a playhouse for a few years. The girls are looking forward to spring coming so they can paint and redecorate the inside.

The house was a welcomed shelter for about 15 little kids that day.

The adults & big kids all ate on tables in the garage. (Marc worked wonders in the garage to make space to feed all the people. An added a perk for me, there in now space for me to actually park my car.)

Eventually the rain slowed down and everyone could warm up and dry off by Marc's fire.

Everyone enjoyed the fellowship, despite the damp weather!

Photoshop Elements #1 & #2

THANK YOU BETH!

This one is going to be framed! Grace was so tickled to see herself...Taryn wanted to know why she didn't have a 'fancy' picture. I may be digging out the old digital files to see if I (read:Beth) can work magic on any of Taryn's pictures from three years ago. (That may require a miracle...who knows where those are safely stored!)

I actually surprised myself and was able to 'cut-out' Grace and do a few layers myself. This is what I came up with ... fun times!

47 days...

Lent: 47 days of:

• no Facebook


• no Blogging...or blog surfing


• no Diet Coke


• no coffee
  
• (almost) no Chocolate*

*Does accidental ingestion count? I mean, I didn't accidentally eat the chocolate donut gems, but I just did it without thinking. As far as I can tell, it was my only slip.

While I was 'out' I kept myself plenty busy. I wasn't sure what would be the worst of my sacrifices. The computer withdrawal was pretty tough, but I think it helped me the most. The Diet Coke was only really bad one time...that was at the movie theater. Gatorade simply does not wash down movie theater popcorn adequately. The chocolate was bad! No coffee was the worst! I really missed my morning cup of java. I think it is just so routine in the way I start the day. It is also impossible to isolate yourself from the tempting 'fresh coffee smell' in the staff room. Tea just didn't quite cut it.

Here is a quick recap of events around here:

Baby bummer lambs - two - Flower & Rose - adopted from people who quickly realized that the 'cute' takes a lot of work. Luckily, by the time we got them they were only needing 2-3 bottles a day...and they are now completely weaned.

Puppies - two - You saw Griz as a little ball of fur...he now looks HUGE compared to our new addition 'Basil'. They are only 2 months apart in age, but right now Griz looks enormous next to her. We think Griz is 1/2 poodle & 1/2 terrier. Basil is 1/2 Shih Tzu & 1/2 Schnauzer. We love them LOTS.

4H Lambs -two - Buck (who jumps very high) & Storm (who escaped his pen one very windy afternoon) are growing and thriving.

Sewing - lots -

• 4H outfits:

Reagan: Olivia PJ bottoms & T-Shirt

Grace: Marco Polo Monkey swim pants & T-Shirt

Taryn: Flower tank top & demin capri's

• Anne: Bird quilt as a house warming gift for the Nelson's

Phew... there was more... but I'm getting sleepy. Did I mention that by stepping away from the computer that I got at least one or two extra hours of sleep each night?

Fun Times

It was a fun time in Portland celebrating my sister turning 40 with 60+ of her closest friends.

I enjoyed all the 'me' time I had too.

A quiet drive to Portland

Listening to the songs I like on the radio

Hitting Costco and buying a new little camera

Spending the night at the Gray Inn (A wonderful bed & breakfast.)

Shopping - Shopping - Shopping

Found a cute card for Jill's Birthday

Got really lucky with a present too

Met lots of fun people who all adore my sister

Stayed up until 2 am....yawn!

Slept in until 9 am

Drove to IKEA

Ate lunch with my good friend Amie & her daughter at Red Robin

Drove home again

Went to bed - early!

A great weekend.