It's in the Air!

Fall is definitely here.
You can feel and smell it in the air.
You can see it in the trees.
And you can hear it in the rustle of the leaves.

It's been a chilly and rainy day here.
The last time I checked the temperature was 50° and falling.
I'm afraid it's time to shut the windows and doors to keep the chill out. (My attempt to keep my husband from turning the furnace on.)
Tomorrow night it's supposed to dip down to the high 30's. ~ Yikes!
Guess I better get the winter blankets out.

Have a great weekend!

Hope ~ *Updated*

Here is my latest finished stitchery. It's framed in a little shadow box that is second hand. I just cleaned it up a bit and added a coat of burgundy paint to it.
The whole time I was working on it I couldn't help but to think of LISA as she is battling breast cancer. She's had a great attitude about her fight since day one ~ no giving up.

However, this past weekend she was taken to the hospital with a severe infection at her port site. She wrote a short post a few nights later and it was evident that she was really down and even mentioned giving up.

So Lisa, this is for you!
 Don't give up, just try it one more time!

If any of you would like to stop by Lisa's blog and leave her words of encouragement you can click on her name to go there.

*Update on Lisa*

Just wanted to let you all know that I received an email from Lisa this morning and she said I could share with you
that she is doing much better. They have removed the infected port which was pushing the infection right through her blood stream each time they used it. They also removed the excess fluid surrounding her lungs. She will continue to be monitored for several more days before being released but it sounds as if she's on her way to recovery from this lil' setback. *

Butterfinger Bars

Are you wondering why I'm talking Butterfinger Bars but showing you a picture of candy corn?

I'll tell you why!
You can make homemade Butterfinger Bars by mixing two simple ingredients together (candy corn and peanut butter) and then ice them in chocolate.

melting the candy corn

OH my...these are so good!

ready to ice

If you'd like the recipe plus some much better looking photos of the bars then go HERE and visit North Dakota Kitchen.

Go ahead, give them a try....you won't be sorry!

Moundsville's Zombie Walk 2011

Moundsville's first ever Zombie Walk was held this past Saturday. This is something new for our town and with the great turnout I'm sure it will be a yearly event from here on out.
Moundsville is the home to the former WV Penitentiary.

Each October the former prison serves as the backdrop for a very scary haunted house called Dungeon of Horrors. To kick it off our town along with the WV Pen Tours hosted it's first ever Zombie Walk.

The day began with a street fair complete with craft booths, food vendors, face paintings and games for the kids. Fun for everyone!

                                              Katie bowling with pumpkins

At 6 p.m. the Zombies arose and began the trek through town to their final destination (WV Pen) where they performed a Zombie flash mob dance to the "Thriller" song by Michael Jackson.

The crowd was huge and even though we were standing on a little knoll in front of the Mound we still weren't able to see very well.
I scrambled around trying to find a spot to get a good picture of the dance but none could be found.  In the end I had lots of pictures of the crowd,

a few of the Mound,

                                              sun setting behind the mound
and of course the WV Pen.

A fun experience for the community but I sure hope next year they can come up with an idea for better crowd control so that all can get a better view.

Do you Pin?

I love the concept of Pinterest.
A place to pin (collect) all the great finds from the internet.
Somewhere you can store all the wonderful ideas that you find on the internet and have them at the click of a button. 
No need to have to go back and scour the internet for that one idea that you found ~ Now where did I find that at??

I don't pin because I just don't have the extra time to do it. I'm doing good if I can find enough time to check my email and blog here and there. But the good thing and what I love, Love, LOVE about Pinterest is the fact that others can share their pins with us.
If they provide the link then you can view all their great finds.
So me, being the Pinterest "slacker" that I am finds this extrememly helpful.
It's how I found my next project that I hope to work on over the long and cold winter.

Linda over at Prairie Flower Farm shared this pin on her Pinterest and I loved it the minute I saw it. It didn't have a link included as to where I could find a pattern but it did have a pattern name so I just typed in crocheted african flowers on my internet search and wahla...the pattern.

Crocheted African Flowers *Click to go to the pattern!*

I love the pinks and greens but was unable to find enough variety of those shades in our local stores so I picked purples and greens instead.

So far, I've only crocheted one flower but I'm in no rush. I've got all winter to work on it.

Hope you all are having a great week and getting to enjoy the cooler temps. like what we are having here!

Love Begins - the prequel to "Love Comes Softly"

My absolute favorite movies are those from the "Love Comes Softly" series that air on the Hallmark Channel. Over the years my husband has bought me the DVD's and believe me they get watched over and over again.
They are THAT good!

Well, who knew that there was a prequel to those??
Not me!
This weekend I was feeling miserable with headaches that just wouldn't go away. So instead of stitching (as I had planned) I ended up on the couch or in bed watching tv and sleeping.

While flipping through the channels I found this new series, "Love Begins" that tells the story of Clark Davis and his life prior to Love Comes Softly. It's his tale of love with his first wife, Ellen (The mother of little Missy). 
Clark and his friend are passing through Trinity on their way to find gold in California. They find themselves in a bit of trouble but Clark does the right thing by staying and working off his debt. He works it off by helping Ellen and her little sister to repair their farm. Slowly Ellen and Clark fall in love and eventually get married.

If you missed it last night you can catch it again on October 1st at 7p.m EST or 6p.m. Central.
It will be followed by the newest episode "Love's Everlasting Courage" which will tell how the family deals with the hardships that a terrible drought brings and the death of Ellen due to scarlet fever.

For more info click HERE.

A Bowl Full of Stars and a New Do

It's Thursday already, just one more day until the weekend and I've finally made it to the bottom of my to-do list so I'm hoping for a few days of taking it easy.

It's been a whole week since I have sewn at all and I miss it. Not to mention I haven't had any time to blog and I'm missing that too!

The above picture is the latest stitchery that I finished last week or the week before. *See, I'm way behind!*
It's another Chestnut Junction pattern and it's called Bowl Full of Stars. If you've never checked her site out you really ought to. She makes some really cute patterns and her prices are great! She's also a local gal from our area so I think that's pretty special too!

What do you think of Katie's new do?

Haircuts were on our to-do list this week. I've been thinking about cutting hers for a while now but couldn't get up enough nerve to do so. *What if we didn't like it short?*
I figured we wouldn't know until we tried it and she was willing to try so we did.
Everyone loves it. It makes her look bright and alive and so much older. It just makes me realize that our littlest one is growing up way to quickly. ;(
Well I'm heading outdoors for a bit to enjoy this early COOL fall weather. It's only in the 50's today and going into the low 40's tonight...Brrr... big change but one I am ready for!
Hope you all are enjoying your day!

Weekend of Shopping

It's been a while since I last posted. The weekend was spent doing my "once a month" shopping trip to stock up. The two days prior to that were spent making a monthly meal plan, browsing the store ads and clipping coupons.
Do any of you shop this way?
Make one BIG shopping trip a month to stock your shelves and then grab milk and bread throughout the month as you run low on it.
I really do think this method saves us money but boy is it a chore to get it all done in a weekend. I don't just shop at one store, I shop at many so there are many stops to be made.
Oh well, at least it's done for the month!

Friday evening we went out to dinner up at the Highlands in Wheeling. Afterwards the kids wanted to stop in at Cabela's so that is what we did.
They enjoy walking around looking at all the animal displays as well as the fish tanks.

Do you see the big one hiding in the picture below.

Click on it to enlarge!

I of course, like to browse the clothing sections and the cast iron cooking area.

                                                 Blurry, I know! *Sorry*

I didn't take a camera but Logan had his cell phone and took these pics. Some are hard to see. Next time we go I'll have to take my camera.

Safari Display

You could easily spend several hours in this place looking around. There is so much to see, especially if it's your first trip.

Well that's all for tonight. Tomorrow I'll show you another finished stitchery and give you a glimpse into a "winter" project that I hope to begin soon.

Weekend Silliness

Here are a few pictures from our holiday weekend but first I'll have to explain a little.

Earlier this year my Dad purchased this Monster Cruiser bike. It's HUGE!
Way too big to ride as a normal bike, however it would be perfect for a clown....or a dork (a.k.a...my brother).

And yes, as his sister I have the right to call him a dork! ☺
Anyways, my brother took it out on the street to ride. After watching him on it my Dad said that all he needed was one of those beanies with the spinner on top.
(As you can see we all like to joke around!)
So not long ago my Dad picked up a spinner beanie (dork hat) and gave it to my brother.
Well, this weekend in walked the mini-dork (my brother's offspring and my nephew) dressed like this.

What?

He came for our family picnic dressed in a paper suit and the "dork" beanie. He wore that suit throughout dinner and even afterwards.

But it got worse.
The two "dorks" ( like father~like son) then decided to play in an old wheelchair in the backyard.

trying to do wheelies

runaway wheelchair on a mini hill.

             All I can say is that men truly NEVER grow up!

Crockpot Cheesy Creamed Corn

Ugghhh!
I was hoping to post some silly pictures from this weekend but my computer is not cooperating so instead I'll have to share this super easy and yummy side dish that I made for our cookout this weekend. It was a hit with all of the family.

Crockpot Cheesy Creamed Corn

3 pkg. frozen corn
2 (8oz.) cream cheese, cubed (I only used 8 oz.)
1/4 cup butter, cubed
3 tbsp. water
3 tbsp. milk
2 tbsp. sugar
6 sliced American singles, cut in small pieces

Place all ingredients in a greased crockpot.
Stir it all up, even though it doesn't mix well  until it heats up a bit.
Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until heated through. ( I cooked mine on high for 4 hours.)
Stir before serving and ENJOY!

* This recipe is out of a Taste of Home magazine.*

I'll continue to work on the silly pictures and hope to share them a little later.

Wheeling's 2011 Vintage Raceboat Regatta

This morning we ( Dad, Katie and I) took off for a bike ride. It's been a while since we've been to Wheeling's bike trail and we knew that the Regatta was going on this weekend at Wheeling's Heritage Port so we thought we'd head that way.
It was a nice morning to ride, the humidity hadn't really climbed so miserably high yet and the skies were pretty cloudy.
We parked in Benwood, unloaded the bikes and off we went. We rode north until we arrived at Wheeling's Heritage Port where the smells from all the food vendors getting their grills ready for the day made me hungry all over again...even though I had just finished breakfast.
They were just then beginning to place some of the raceboats in the water.

Click on photos to enlarge!

*See those tall cranes on the right? Those are what they use to hoist the raceboats in and out of the river.*
While waiting for the races to start, we road a little farther up the trail then turned back so Katie could play on the playground and we could catch a few races before having to head home.

This marks the 6th year for these hydroplane boat races. It's a free event for the public and it's so fun to hear the roar of the engines on the river as well as to see the big splashes they kick up as they race up and down the Ohio River.

Most of us that live here in the Ohio Valley overlook the Ohio River. It's just the waterway that we cross daily as we go to work or to go shopping at the mall.
However, it really does provide us with some interesting entertainment. Whether it be the festivals that take place along it's banks, boating, skiing, fishing or just sitting back watching the river barges pass by as they haul their loads up and down the river.

Lots to see and do!
The next big event to take place is the Sternwheeler Festival which begins Sept. 15th and runs through the 17th at Wheeling's Heritage Port. With any luck and some good weather we'll make it up to see that too!