Saturday Morning…

Saturday morning has been a little disappointing so far.  First of all, wisely, we decided not to go to Fort Collins and pick up my quilt today.  We’re going to be in Colorado next weekend already.  Why go down two weekends in a row?  We have plenty to do around here anyway…  So, I’m a little bummed about waiting another week for my quilt this morning.  But also, I was really looking forward to the cold front that was forecast and I got up this morning, made my coffee and headed out to the deck and it’s warm already…YUCK!  Looks like the front has been delayed and will be here tomorrow, when I will try again to enjoy my coffee outside… 

Alright, got that out of my system, on to the fun stuff: I got pumpkins!  Hazel’s Pumpkin Patch delivers again!  We had so much fun out there.  It’s a 30 minute drive from home, out in the middle of nowhere, but so worth it.  The owners do a fabulous job!  They even painted the little farm house Halloween colors, since last year and it’s PURPLE!!!  So cute!!  I’ve never been to the pumpkin patch early enough to see the foliage still green.  It looks completely different and beautiful.  The boys had a blast and can’t wait to go again!  They picked out pumpkins for me.  Scott found the giant one for me–62 lbs–close, but no cigar.  (we were trying to beat Ali’s 69 pounder.) 

Scott’s company paid for dinner for everyone at Hazel’s.  (chili, hot dogs, snacks.)  It was cool, fun, lots of people to talk to and kids to play with.  Perfect.

I thought I remembered this old truck from last year, but Scott tells me they didn’t have it last year.  I thought it was adorable. 

And I can’t get over that purple house.  I want a purple house!!!

My Dood knows what to do, the first big pumpkin we came to, "This one is for Mommy!"  Course, he couldn’t lift it, but it’s the thought that counts.  Only a few minutes later, we had a full wagon!

My boys were looking forward to playing in the little playhouse that they remembered from last year.  I must say, they fit much better last fall.  They both must have grown a foot this year!

My Dood, king of the straw bale.  But this was only the beginning.  Later all the kids were running and playing on top of 6 ft tall bales, giving all the moms heart attacks. 

All the kids were falling and just getting back up there…  Bee fell off once and wimped out a little, came over to where we were sitting, crying.  Scott told him, "If you’re going to play like a big boy, you can’t cry like a baby."  Worked like magic…He went right back to playing.  WHATEVER!

So in addition to this, I found time to do my page swap and one afternoon to just hang out at the lss and play.  I had so much fun.  First off, here’s the page I made for June this month.She’ll have to do her journaling with a slick writer, since my journal box is a transparency, but I thought it looked cool-not something that everyone would have chosen, I know, but I liked it.  Hope June does too.

And then I took one of June’s classes and made the cutest little projects-little Halloween treat bags, one for each boy.   They’re going to love them. 

And then speaking of Halloween, we got their costumes in the mail yesterday.  I put them out on each boys’ bed, while they were at school.  When they came home I said, "Well, anybody in the mood for a surprise?  Go look on your beds."

I heard, "Wow!"  "Awesome!"  "Cool!"  And here’s what they look like:

Is it a little strange, seeing a Storm Trooper hug Boba Fett, a galactic bounty hunter?  Who knew they were even friends?  lol

They are cute, I must admit…  Not sure if the costumes were really worth how much they cost.  (which was so much that I’m embarrassed to say how much I paid.)

I guess that’s it for today…and my coffee cup is empty…  Plan to do a bunch of knitting today and Scott and Will are going to sell Boy Scout popcorn.  They’ll be getting a late start, though, since my crazy man was out, playing the new Halo til nearly 4am!

I hope you have a great Saturday!

My Boy Scout and other stuff

Will was pretty excited to wear his new Tiger Cubs uniform for the first time last night.  Last night’s meeting was the first time that Will said he had fun.  (there was lots of playing and kid activities this time.)   I told him that it was just going to be more and more fun every time.  (I think it is.)

Will and I went out to Pizza Hut afterward, per his request for "sgetti."  Ended up that he had 2 or 3 bites of sgetti and too much chocolate milk and tossed his cookies in the restaurant…  Oh well… such is life with a kid.

Last night’s Boy Scout meeting was fun for me too…it was cool enough for me to enjoy being there and the adults had time to talk and visit and not just "take care of business."  I think I’m really going to enjoy it.  Especially love all the stuff that Scott and I get to do with Will.   He’s such a smart little boy.  It’s so awesome to watch him learning and growing.  That handsome young man standing next to Will is Tim. (our main inspiration for getting involved with Boy Scouts.)

In other news, how ’bout a list?

1.   I have a lunch date with Miss Mandy today~really looking forward to that.  And I need to go by the lss to pick up page swap stuff.

2.  Tomorrow we’re getting Scotty’s football pictures taken and then going over the the pumpkin patch!  WOO HOO!

3.  Then Friday is a fundraising dinner for the boy scouts and knitting with Mrs. Nguyen.

4.  And Saturday the whole family is going down to Fort Collins.  Why, you ask?  TO PICK UP MY QUILT!  It’s done and I’m so excited!  Sharon (the quilting lady) said it turned out beautiful and girly.  Still have to do the binding, but I see the light…  Also going to get supplies to prepare my strawberry tree for winter… and have lunch somewhere fabulous…

5.  As of right now, we have nothing going on on Sunday.  Won’t that be nice?

The Way I Am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILgc77VYiRQ&mode=related&search=

Have you heard it yet? LOVE IT, LOVE IT!  Her name is Ingrid Michaelson.  I bought her whole album on ITunes this morning…  I’ll keep you posted.

Not to mention, I’m so ready for new Grey’s Anatomy episodes!

And furthermore…

What’s gotten into me?  I want to go thrifting…  Yes, me. Look at all this pretty stuff Nora found at thrift stores!  I would never be so lucky, right?

And Knitting Iris is always finding beautiful vintage fabric (and ugly vintage coffee mugs…)  lol

If you’d like to check out these two blogs, their links are on my sidebar.  I read them regularly and love them.

I was in the mood to scrapbook again…and looking at Elsie Flannigan’s work and Nora Griffin’s work, I wanted to play around with that kind of style and this is what I came up with: I’m not sure I did the picture justice, but I can always do another layout with the same picture.  (For those of you who don’t know, this is my mom and Scott’s mom.)  I like the juvenile look of this design, but I’m not so sure it matches the mood of the photograph…  I dunno, maybe I’ll try again…  It’s a really special picture…  Who knows when these two ladies (who both mean the world to us) will be together again…

Got to use my SU knitting stamps, anyway…  lol

So back to thrifting…there are a couple thrift stores, here in town…  It’s supposed to be cool tomorrow, both boys will be at school…  Just sends the mind racing, doesn’t it? 

I’m off to knit!

I’m Dying Here…

The weather forecast for the next couple of days shows much, much cooler weather coming.  High tomorrow is supposed to be 60, with lows in the upper 30s!  (thankfully not cold enough to kill the tomatoes and peppers yet.)

And with this picture on Ali’s blog today: That things weighs 69 lbs!  And Simon looks so excited and Ali’s new hair looks so pretty and I have a severe case of gourd envy…

And this picture that she linked us up to:  http://www.cottageliving.com/cottage/homes/slideshow/0,28195,1661115-7,00.html  I’m dying here!

Our little local pumpkin patch opened to the public yesterday and Scott’s company has a get-together for the families there this Thursday.  I can’t wait!  It’s going to be SO MUCH FUN!

Fall is here!!!

So, what should we do on the last day of summer?

Play in the pool!  And if your Mommy has a bad cold and a bum back, and your Daddy is out of town, you play in the baby pool that you outgrew 3 years ago.

The weather was nice, they got all wet and happy.  It was good.   I told them that today was the last day of summer and this was all Will’s idea…what a smart boy, taking in every last moment of summer that he can!

Will’s den leader brought over his brand new Cub Scout uniform, while they were playing in the pool…  I haven’t told him yet.  I want to sew on the patches and wash it and have it ready to wear (and take pictures) when I give it to him.  He’s going to love it! 

And speaking of Boy Scouts, I think I sent everyone an email about selling popcorn…  If you didn’t get an email and would like popcorn, just drop me a line and I’ll hook you up.

Here’s my handsome little boy scout, enjoying the sunshine this afternoon.

And while we were pooling and swinging and taking pictures…

tootsie-pop was trolling for tomatoes!  And she got one.  Can you see the smile on her little, fuzzy face?  She was begging for more, but I wasn’t willing to share anymore today…

She did her best, trying to convince me that she needed more…but I didn’t give in.

And look at these pictures, her cute little face and if you could hear her cry like a baby puppy…it was a huge feat not to give in~!

And where was the other doggie, you ask? 

Well, first of all, he isn’t a huge fan of fresh veggies and secondly, he has a new favorite spot inside the house…

Favorite Scott (aka Daddy) fixed this little spot for our K.C., who has always loved to look out the front window, but usually isn’t tall enough to reach.  Especially in the afternoon, when the sun comes in the front window, he’s in doggie Heaven!!!

So, in addition to playing outside, I have found time for some scrapbooking today too…  I was really feeling the pull of all my scrapbook stuff. 

Especially with this latest purchase, at Archiver’s last weekend:

I wasn’t wild about the Love, Elsie product lines, but this new Elsie "Jack and Abby" is a whole different story.  I absolutely love it and can’t wait to come up with an appropriately cool project to use it on.  And that cute, little Heart-felt KI album…even cuter in person!

Have 25 pictures that you want to get on one layout?  Do like Ali does and grab your square punch!  When I showed this page to Will, it’s the first time that I sensed that he was really excited about a scrapbook thing.  He really thought it was cool and it MADE MY DAY!

Scotty has already requested his own….

Then I did this one, which is totally ripped off from Lisa Truesdell’s magazine layout.  I loved it and immediately thought of this silly picture of my newly pedicured tootsie!  If you’d like to check out her blog, here’s the link: http://gluestickgirl.typepad.com/ and you can check out the layout that I lifted.  lol  And then finally, here’s the last page:   It’s an original and it’s for a challenge, presented by Belinda and (I think) her group of scrapping friends in Texas.  She just sent out the challenge yesterday, but I was in the mood to scrap, darn it.  So here it is!  Love, love, love orange and pink together…I don’t use it much because it looks girly and a little busy, but this page was about busy and clutter and disorganization…it fit well.  And, have I told you lately how much I love my Cricut?  I only own three fonts, two of which came with the machine and that’s enough diversity to keep me happy for a long time.  I am thinking about buying the Christmas cartridge this year…haven’t decided yet.

And lastly, here’s a simple, little card that I made for a friend’s birthday.  It’s late, but I hope she likes it… I really didn’t even know it was her birthday, til the other day, when she told me…  I bet she doesn’t know when mine is either…because all we ever talk about are our children…  She lives next door to me and is the first person I met, here in Sidney.  I should have known it was her birthday.  I’ll know next year!  When she’ll be a whole, whopping, old 28!  (Geesh!)  You’re a sweetheart, Heidi!

Guess that’s it for now.  Scott won’t be home from fishing til late.  I’m going to go figure out an early dinner for the boys and me…and sit on my butt and knit.

Hope you’re having a fabulous weekend too.

Eye Candy Friday

I think, with a little help from Advil, I will be successful in ignoring the pain I’m in, but good grief~!  Here’s the story:  woke up with an awful sore throat and major sinus issues, then while trying to ignore that and attempting to get some laundry done, I pulled something in my back.  Oh my God!  It’s pretty painful, but luckily I’ve already figured out how to hold my left arm and shoulder to lessen the pain…  I’m still hoping it’s just a really bad cramp and will go away soon…  keep your fingers crossed for me, because Scott’s going camping/fishing and footballing all weekend!  Slouching feels really good–people will think I have awful posture, but today I DON’T CARE…

Eye candy today is a close up of my Iowa marigolds.  Beautiful , bold color!

I took my camera around town, earlier this week to see if I could find any early signs of fall and here’s what I came up with…   I’m not sure what kind of tree this is, but I remember that it turned early last year too…  And it’s my favorite fall color…orange!

Thought I’d stop at Wal-mart for a few things and found this:   the boys are so excited…all three of them.  They plan to be at Wal-mart in order to be one of the first to buy the new Halo 3.  Then Scott and I are keeping the boys out of school the next day to stay home and party and play with Daddy all day.  Yes…it IS a special occasion!  I want to think of something fun to fix them to eat that day too…stuff that they can take downstairs and eat with Daddy and not make too big a mess…  They’re going to have so much fun!

Speaking of boys having fun, I couldn’t find our stash of sidewalk chalk…I could have sworn we had a ton of the stuff…but when I couldn’t find it, I bought some more and they enjoyed it just as much as they did when they were 3 and 4 years old!

The weather was cool and the sky was blue.  It was fun being outside and just watching the boys, sitting in the grass and just being there.

This is Bee, safe and sound inside his "Sea Bear Circle".  (A Sponge Bob reference…my boys are huge Sponge Bob fans.)

My handsome Doodle…  he had chalk from head to toe, by the time we were done.

This shot is for Guh!  She loves pictures that you can easily tell that Dood has blue eyes and they’re practically dreamy in this picture!

Poor boy has so few teeth these days…  lol  He’s really enjoying all those tooth fairy dollars, though!  That’s our next door neighbor/playmate, Jack, back there playing with Bee.  He had fun getting all chalky too.

This picture of Scotty cracks me up.  This is the look he gave me when I told him, "  Look like you love me."  That’s a kissy face!  Love that nut!

And since he couldn’t sit still long enough to give me a seriously nice, smiling picture, this was the other one I got…  It’s a pretty accurate representation of our Bee!  lol

Our weather here has been very bi-polar…hot/cold…  but it’s well past time that I like to get my fall stuff out.  I couldn’t find our "Christmas Crow" this year…not sure…he may have gotten lost in the move …  (We had a scarecrow that Scott would hang from a tree and when the boys were babies, not sure why, but they called him our "Christmas Crow.")  So here’s what I’ve got…have to go buy pumpkins next week, when our local pumpkin patch opens to the public.

I’ve always loved that little flag, with the pumpkin and the pie and the leaf–just looks like home to me.

Here’s the little flower garden scarecrows…  just adorable, I think.  And finally, my favorite…

Our little scarecrow friends, sitting under the aspen tree that’s getting pretty thin already…no pretty color this year, though…it’s just turning brown and letting loose…  it’s a bummer.

I even found time to be a little crafty this week.  I was totally inspired by this blog:  http://www.pinefeather.typepad.com/ and completely ripped off her Halloween garland idea.  My boys love it!  I thought they would.  Here it is:   And even more fun?  I already owned everything to make this cute little project.  That’s even  better!

I’m going to try to put together a scrapbook page today too…wish me luck and I’ll share later. 

I’m outta here.  Have a great weekend! 

Things That Make Me Happy This Time Of Year

Leaves are just beginning to change colors…

Getting a great shot of Bee, at Guh’s house this past weekend.  (Doodle and Daddy weren’t there yet…  or I would have made my Dood get out there for the photo shoot too.)

A gorgeous Crabapple tree.

I don’t guess I’ve ever really paid attention to Crabapple trees…until now.  If I knew it wasn’t going to be such a mess, I’d plant one at home…  Instead I think I’ll just enjoy Mama’s.

Garden bounty and homework—nothing more "fall" than that~!

Our big boy won two of his three boat races this past Saturday!  He was very excited!

Here’s the little boat that he and Daddy made together.  The boys also got to race little guppies and then they released them into the pond.  He got a cute little patch for participating.  (I’m already dreaming of a crafty project for his boy scout patches…  I’ll fill you in later…) 

We’re getting his Cub Scout uniform this week.  Although he looks really cute in his ball cap and Cabela’s sweatshirt…

More happy stuff?  How ’bout a new knitting project?  Here’s the latest project for the boys…  It’s going to be a sleeveless hoodie.  This is the back.  It’s going to have a zipper up the front.  It’s a deep red, although it looks kinda fuchsia-y in this picture…  It’s a very quick, easy pattern, with big needles and big yarn—it’s proving to be really fun and quickly gratifying.  It’s going to be thick and warm too!  Hopefully it’ll fit a little better than this:

It’s finally dry, after hand washing.  I don’t know if you can tell, the sleeves are rolled up twice…  oops…oh well…  I can’t decide if I want to let them even wear it this year…  It’ll probably fit much better next year…

It’s too big at the bottom ribbing to roll under, like I had thought I might be able to do…  Bee says he loves it and he wanted it to fit really big.  (What an angel-boy!)

It is really awesome to hug him with this sweater on.  It’s so soft and thick, your arms just sink in it and it feels like your hugging a pillow! 

I sure wish it fit more like this one:

Live and learn, I guess.  This is the sweater that Mama made.  If I had my druthers, my sweater would have been half way between mine and Mama’s.  That would have given them plenty of room to grow into it, I think. 

Whatever…it’s done, I’m not ripping it out and doing it again…  It’s my first knit sweater and I still love it.  It’ll just take a little while for it to fit it’s recipients.  lol

So a couple last pictures from this past weekend…

How do they make corn syrup, sugar and food coloring taste so good?????

and finally…

My favorite card from the Archiver’s class, wasn’t even one of the class projects.  It was a free make-and-take.  I even ordered the skull stamp!  It has swirlies on it, how could I not love it?  Now…what am I going to do with it? 

My favorite card, from the class was this one:  lots of heat embossing.  It was a fun class and I really enjoyed hanging out with Debbie and Anne.  Had a fun lunch, down in Denver and then home to knit!  It was a lovely weekend!

Eye Candy Friday

Garden pictures for Eye Candy Friday.  I’m not sure how long I’ll have my garden.  I’ve read on other blogs that some people have already lost their gardens to early frost…  I think I still have a week that I can safely count on…  I still have 50-60 tomatoes on the vine that I hope I get to harvest…

I’ve been not-so-patiently waiting for these bell peppers to turn red and finally…  here it is.  Isn’t it gorgeous?  I can’t wait to have fajitas!  Mmmmm.

So, I’m packing and getting ready to take off for Colorado this afternoon.  It’s just Bee and me this time–gonna be weird but fun.  Dood is staying in town with Daddy in order to participate in a boy scout event Saturday morning.

Saturday morning I’ll be taking a Christmas card class at Archiver’s and having lunch with the girls in Denver.  Should be fun.  Then home to Guh’s house to shop for yarn for a new project…   This will be the first time I’ve knit with super bulky yarn and big needles.  I couldn’t resist this little sweater, when Katherine told me about it.  I’m making Will’s and Mother is making Bee’s…  not sure colors yet, depends on what we find…  Should be pretty quick, compared to the sweater that I just finished, right?

Yep, you read that right!!!!!!!  I finished Bee’s sweater, MY FIRST SWEATER yesterday!  I must admit I was wallowing in pride for a while yesterday afternoon, just looking at the thing.  lol

I don’t know why, but I pretty much freaked out when I decided to go ahead and wash it…  It’s 100% wool, so hand washing is required…  which is fine, but I’ve just never done it before.  It was a very scary thing to put my beloved first sweater in a sink full of soapy water!  I used Woolite.  It came out of the wash so, so soft!  I only washed mine, so far, making sure I know what I’m doing, before I wash Mama’s.

You know, we made these sweaters together, at the same time, using the same pattern.  I know I wasn’t as careful as I should have been when measuring, but I would never have guessed there was this much difference…   I think they’ll still be able to wear it this year, they’ll just fit completely differently.  Mama’s comes slightly over the waistband of their pants.  Mine will hang down nearly  mid-bottom butt.  And if it’s just entirely too big, I’ll try to roll it under at the waist or just wait til the next growth spurt…  which seem to come more and more frequently…

I can’t wait for it to dry thoroughly, so that I can see it on my boys!!!

Also this weekend, I’m dropping off Miranda to be long arm quilted! She’s all ready:  sewn, washed, pressed, pieced, packaged and labeled.  It’ll take Sharon (the quilter in Fort Collins) 2-3 weeks to get her done, then my first quilt will come home to be bound and signed!  The binding is a floral, blue fabric and is just going to make the whole thing pop!  I can’t wait to snuggle up with this quilt!

Denise and Katherine and I have set a date for our next fabric run!  October 20th, we’re heading off to Fort Collins for the whole day to shop at Joann’s (fabric for my boys’ quilts that I plan to start after Christmas), Michael’s for yarn and maybe dye…(Katherine and I are going to play with yarn and dye in January too.)  Hu-Hot for lunch and maybe Old Navy for my boys…  It’s going to be great!

So, as for projects still in progress, I have a pair of socks started that I want to complete at Socktoberfest next month and Rachael, who is far enough along now, to actually see a light at the end of the tunnel.   I want to have her done to wear this fall!  Wish me luck…I really think I can kick it into high gear and get it done.  There have already been evenings cool enough that I wish she was wrapped around my shoulders…  Especially at Bee’s football practices… 

I thought I was doing so well last night, remembering to take my camera and a chair…  Now I have to work on remembering the bottle of water for the thirsty, tired athlete and jackets for us spectators.  It was freezing last night!  We came home and had hot chocolate and hot baths!

Scotty has one more practice on Monday and then the real games start on Tuesday.  I’ll miss two of them next week:  the first one because Will will be in scouts and Thursday’s game is at the same time as the PTA meeting…  Apparently, even parents who are aware of over-committing  get caught in this trap once in a while… 

So, just a couple more pictures to share…  Saw on another knitting blog where this lady had put skeins of yarn in a tall, clear glass jar and it was so beautiful, I wanted to do something like it too.  I’ve had these beautiful glass jars, just sitting around for months now.   They belonged to my maternal grandmother.  They’re very special to me and now the biggest one has a prominent spot in our home and it’s just beautiful!  Also the blue pitcher on the middle shelf was my paternal grandmother’s.  Also very sentimental to me.  I love having these pieces of my family sitting around for all to see and enjoy. I hope my grandmothers like that their things are still being enjoyed…even if it is by a granddaughter that neither one of them knew very well.  These items make me remember my grandmothers fondly.

This last picture makes me so happy, because I love fall and everything that goes along with it!  I’ve been anxiously waiting for the local markets to get pumpkins, ever since seeing Nora’s on her blog. ( http://noragriffin.typepad.com/ndg/2007/09/i-couldnt-resis.html ) So until Hazel’s Pumpkin Patch opens for the season, I have these:

I better run get started on mommy stuff and packing.  Besides my coffee cup is empty.

I hope you have a great weekend too!

Look At Our Bee Go!

  I’m so proud of Scotty!  He really enjoyed himself at his first football practice.  No shy baby behavior…just excited and happy to be there and participating and listening and learning…as much as a small child can.  He did so well. 

I didn’t notice, however, til I got home and unloaded my camera, that he had a big smile on his face in just about every shot!  He was really, really having a ball.

So far, I really like the two coaches too.  Very involved and trying to help, one-on-one when it looks like it’s needed.  I so appreciate teachers that know that children are children!

There he goes again!  It’s amazing to me how varied the little boys’ football skills are.  A couple of the boys looked as if they’d been playing for years and then some, like Bee, don’t know much about the game yet…

These kids are all 6 and 7 years old…not that much age difference, but really, really apparent in some of them.  We have another "pre-season" practice this Thursday and the first real game next Tuesday.  I think Bee’s gonna love it.

"RUN, BEE, RUN!!!"  Yep, I’m one of those obnoxious, screaming moms that I swore I’d never be…even at the practices!  (Just to let you in on a secret…Daddy was yelling too!!!)

Will wanted to play, but we weren’t able to work it out with his doing Boy Scouts too…  And, I don’t know, I think Bee really shone because he wasn’t distracted by his brother…(maybe among other reasons too.)

There were other siblings to play with Dood and Daddy played with him.  He was happy too.