Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day !

As we were driving home from our bike ride this morning we saw the Veterans setting up on the court house lawn for their ceremonies today.
May we never forget those who have lost their lives to defend our freedoms!

Here at home the flag is flying.

The foods are being prepared. Let's just hope the rain holds off a bit because the grill still has to be lit and manned while the burgers and hotdogs cook.

Then of course, after stuffing ourselves it's always nice to sit on the back porch swings and shoot the breeze with everyone.

Hubby's birthday was earlier this week so we will also be celebrating it today. Per his request I made a Turtle cake  and for those that aren't chocoholics I made a strawberry pretzel dessert.

Hope you all are enjoying this Memorial Day!

Will He See His Shadow?? and a Birthday Wish

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day and I'm guessing he won't see his shadow. At least not here in our neck of the woods. It's cold and blustery here in the northeast with more snow in the forecast. Now I don't know what Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil will see in the morning but I'm guessing my buddy above won't even emerge from his burrow. 

I haven't seen him since fall. He lives across the street from us and can be seen munching on the green grass near my parents' house. 


As for the birthday wish mentioned in the title ~ it goes out to my blogging buddy Carmen over at Waxed Out Creative Life. 

                                        Me on the left and Carmen on the right

Her birthday is also on Groundhog Day and I'm wishing her a wonderful and happy day, even though it will probably be cold and snowy in her neck of the woods too!
If you stop by her blog be sure to wish her Happy Birthday!! 

Merry Christmas

Our Christmas Eve is winding down but before we turn in for the night I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Getting Ready for the Holidays

It's time again to put the decorations up and prepare for the upcoming holidays. 

I love the feel of the pre-Christmas season.
The excitement of the kids as we pull out the boxes of decorations, the gathering of family for Thanksgiving Day, the sound of Christmas carols playing, the smell of cookies baking and just the overall joyful happy feeling that most everyone has during the holiday season.

At our house, the tree is already up and lit. It's twinkling lights and musical bells can be heard each evening as soon as the sun goes down.

Hubby and I take a walk each evening and we are beginning to notice more and more houses all decked out in Christmas lights. Now we just need SNOW!!!

The annual Christmas parade was this past weekend and of course it was full of floats, fire trucks, bands and more but my favorites of course were the tractors and the horses.

The boys still have one more day of school this week but Katie and I have taken the whole week off. No sense in starting new lessons when you only have two days of school for the week. The boys spent their day watching movies.
No real lessons there either but I guess they can at least say that school was attended.

I'm enjoying the time off and using it to clean house, bake pies and pumpkin rolls and stitch. 

I've pulled out an old cross-stitch pattern out that I began probably three years ago and have begun stitching on it again. Amazing how much difference a new pair of glasses can make.
I put the project up way back when due to my eyes driving me nuts as I tried to follow the pattern. Earlier this year though I got a new pair of glasses and it's really made a difference. I can easily focus as I go back and forth from the pattern to the stitched piece. Hopefully it won't be long until it's finished.
Well that's all that's new in my world. If I don't make it back to blog again before Thanksgiving then I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. May you all be surrounded by family, friends and good food.

Have a Safe & Happy 4th!

Not much going on here.
Staying cool indoors. 
I've got some picnic foods cooking in crock pots and the rest will be cooked out on the grill.
Planning on playing in the pool later this evening and watching fireworks if they are still having them. Not sure if they will though due to the dry condition.
Hope you all have a safe and happy 4th!

Long Hot Weekend

It was a long weekend for hubby due to Memorial Day weekend plus he got an extra day off for his (41st) birthday which was last week. It was so hot and sticky though that no one really wanted to do much of anything other than swim in the pool.

When we weren't in the pool we were enjoying the coolness of the air conditioned house. 
I did get my Promises and Borders Block 5 finished the other day while I was resting my ankle. I'll share those pictures with you tomorrow.
I've also gotten back to stitching up some more hexies for my flower garden quilt.


This whole ankle thing is really getting old!! Tomorrow makes a week since I fell and though it is feeling better it still swells and hurts if I'm up on it for any amount of time. I'm not used to sitting for long periods of time so being told to rest just doesn't come easy for me. (GRRRR!)
As I type this I'm laying in bed with it propped up on a few pillows and have an ice pack on it. * BUT* I have things to do that can't be done while laying in bed or sitting on the couch. Heaven forbid I ever break a leg and be confined to a wheel chair or crutches. I think I'd literally go nuts!

Happy Easter!

I know I haven't been around Blogland much lately but I did want to pop in to wish you all a Happy Easter before the day is over.
I've been really busy getting all the Spring cleaning done at my house as well as my parents home. I'm trying to get it all finished while we're on Spring Break. By the time I'm done and the evening arrives I have great intentions to get on my laptop and catch up a bit but I usually end up asleep within the first 5 minutes of turning the computer on. *Yawning as I type this*

Look at these beautiful flowers!
My Mom picked these out for me.

pink tulips

                      and pretty blue/purple hydrangeas

Hubby also surprised me with these beautiful purple hyacinths. These babies smell so good!

Until the threat of frost is fully gone I'll be keeping all these plants indoors where I can see and smell them each & every day.

Wishing you all a Happy Easter!

Happy New Year!

Hope you all have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

Wishing All a Merry Christmas!

Baking is Done...Time to Enjoy!

The baking is done and so is the wrapping.
Once I get the house all cleaned (after days and days of baking) then it will be time to sit back and enjoy what the holidays bring.... family, friends and good food.

This year I baked double batches of about 12 different kinds of cookies as well as a  few pans of fudge.
Need a salty treat?
No problem because I made a bunch of the traditional Chex mix as well as the Muddy Buddy version which is absolutely delicious. I had never made the sweet kind before. It was so quick and easy to put together and oh so good.

Today I packaged the cookies in trays and shipped them off to work with hubby and then hand delivered the others to the neighbors.
So my work is done, well except for the cleaning part and I'll get that done tomorrow.
Then I can sit back and enjoy but anyone that knows me knows that I can't just sit back. I have to have something to keep my hands busy so I began an easy crocheted ripple afghan today. It's going to be done is shades of dusty pink, chocolate and sage green. Just something simple that I can do while watching tv in the evenings.

In case I don't get time to post again before Christmas then I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let Us Be As Thankful As...

Let us be as thankful as
The pilgrims at their feast.

Embrace our families and our friends,
Be kind to man and beast.

Let us share the harvest and as we go our way,
Be thankfully rejoicing on this Thanksgiving Day.

                                                                    ~Author Unknown

Beginning to Deck the Halls

The Christmas spirit has arrived at our house.
I put the tree up this afternoon and strung lights on it. Then after dinner the kids got busy decorating it.

Gage & his dancing tree hat

The tree is the only thing up for now but we'll continue to work on the rest of the house over the weekend.

Sorry it's a bit blurry!

Has the Christmas spirit arrived at your house yet?

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!

4th of July Weekend

Anyone have great plans for the weekend??

Nothing too fancy going on here!
It's supposed to be a hot one so I'm guessing we'll spend a good many hours in the pool.
Hubby is also on vacation this week so that means we've got a lazy week to sleep in and do whatever we want. No alarm clocks ringing in my ear at 5:30.....Yippeee!

A cookout with the family and a few fireworks are all that we have planned.

On the sewing front:
Of course, I still have to sit down and put the last few berries on my stitchery and then decide what to do with it. (frame, pillow,etc.)
I spent some time last night tracing a few more stitcheries that I plan to work on but NOT until I get the first one finished.

                               (My future projects)

I'm not sure where all the time goes but these summer days just seem to be flying by!

Hope you all have a great holiday weekend!

May We All Remember...

May we all stop to remember and pay tribute to the fallen soldiers that have given their lives for our freedoms and be thankful for the soldiers that still put their lives on the line to keep our freedoms.

Happy Easter & a few Quilt Block Finishes

Happy Easter to all of you!
Hope you all have a wonderful day full of family, friends and food.

I finished several more quilt blocks over the last couple of days. It's amazing how much I can get done when I actually get a little extra spare time to work on little things like these.
First up is my March Boot Bash Block

This block gave me fits for some reason. I had a really hard time stitching as you can see...it's not the neatest job I've ever done.
Next are the pink and red #4 blocks for the Flowers of Love Quilt.

Yesterday I cut out the boot block for April. I'm still deciding on whether I like the fabric combinations that I chose. Once I decide then I'll begin stitching it as well as the burgundy #4 block for the flower quilt.
Lots to do this week.
Stitching, a bit of spring cleaning, grass cutting (if the rain ever stops) and a few other things that I'd like to get tackled. So much that I want to get done on Spring Break...we'll see what I can accomplish.

Oh, and before I forget again~I keep forgetting to show you this.
Look at this cute little lamb that I picked up at a craft show a few weeks ago. Isn't he cute?

Have a great one!