It is Friday...end of the week joy and an unveiling of my received PS Exchange

Yahoo! It is Friday afternoon...the first week of the school/work routine accomplished and pretty successfully. The boys are using this afternoon to catch up on some computer playing that they haven't been able to do (don't cha feel sorry for them....not!). Robert (oldest) does have homework (some studying and a project) to accomplish before Monday - hopefully he will organize his time well over the weekend, putting in some study time tonight and tomorrow morning/early afternoon. He does have hockey practice tomorrow evening and then both boys are in a little 3-on-3 tournament Sunday - this little tournament is a "fun" event and one that typically lasts all day. So homework will have to be done before then!

Well, enough rambling - it is now time for show and tell! I found out that Pascale received the Prairie Schooler Exchange I made for her.
The design I stitched was from Book No. 114 "The Needle's Eye". I stitched it on a 32ct Belfast Linen (stitching 2 over 2) using the DMC colors that the design called for, except I kind of changed the location of some of the colors. I finished this design off as a needle book - I felt that the words in this design just called out for it to be finished as a needle book. I just loved the way that it came out...and I almost kept it (just kidding).

This is a picture of the back of the needlebook and the front (which I am sure that you are able to figure that out). Because the design gave a quilt like appearance, I wanted to give the finished product a quilt like appearance.







This is a photo of the inside of the needlebook. I covered a puffy-pillow like thing with the brown-leaf fabric and then hot glued a couple of those needle holders on to it (those are the needle holders you find in the package of needles). The closure is a button and a piece of leather. I am glad that it arrived safe and sound...and that Pascale liked it.



Hope everyone had a good week - and I wish you a wonderful weekend!
Remember to...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Back to school is going ok

Good morning - it is Thursday and the weekend is just a couple days away.
The boys have started school this week with mixed reviews. Tuesday, the first day, they were very excited. Matthew (younger) was out of bed at 6:15am and joined DH & I on our morning walk. Robert (older) got out of bed excited, too; until he noticed that he couldn't find his school schedule (he is in middle school where they rotate classes/teachers). However, because we went to the school on Monday and walked through the schedule, locating the rooms and his locker, he felt confident that he know it (except he couldn't remember which order English and Math came in). Well, this was just the beginning of the "comedy of errors" - not only did he misplace his "original" schedule, but then he lost the one he wrote down by hand later in the day (note: he did make it to all his classes...the right ones at the right time). For homework, he had to hand write in cursive (a skill they do not practice or teach much due to use of computers) a introductory letter to his English teacher...which he had to do 3 times because of all the scratch/scribbles he did. Then, while drinking his milkshake at dessert time, he was working on a History paper. The paper was placed on some moisture which came from the cup and stuck to the table...which he quickly pulled and it ripped. Well, long story short...the second day of school and of homework went much better without any issues.

Last night was the first night of hockey practice after school, as both boys had practice...same time, different rinks. So, DH and I found ourselves texting eachother while in different rinks. Such is life.

Well...no stitching pieces to show yet. Haven't had much time to put in a stitch the last couple of days - just trying to get the school/work routine in place, at least for a little while until travel hockey tournaments and other things come up. I did hear that my RR was on the move. How exciting to hear.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you are having a good week!
Take care and remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Last day of summer vacation, magazines and a WIP post

Today is the last day of summer vacation. Tomorrow the boys start school and I go back to my 9am-1pm work hours. This morning we walked to Robert's (older son) school so that he could find his locker and walk his classes. It is hard to believe that he is in 8th grade...the last year of middle school. Then we walked up to Matthew's (younger son) school and actually said hello to his teacher, who was there still setting up her classroom. The boys' schools are about 1/2 mile from our house. We typically walk the boys to school in the morning, "dropping" them off at their respective school. From home, around to the schools and back home is about a 2 mile walk. Nice to do in the morning. Anyway - Robert knows where his classes are...the boys have their school supplies packed in their backpacks and have cleaned off their desks. They are set to go tomorrow. To honor the end of the vacation, we met DH for a very good sushi lunch (I definitely had my fill of protein for about a month). Now the boys and I are home this afternoon for a little R & R.

In the mail today, I not only received my Just CrossStitch Annual Halloween Issue but also my October issues of The Cross Stitcher. Both have some really neat things to stitch. I can't wait to sit and study them. There are a lot of fun looking autumn and Halloween designs in both.


Drum roll please...I do have a WIP to post...I am stitching "An Angel to Watch Over Thee" a freebie by: By The Bay NeedleArt. It was a freebie that I printed off and have the need to stitch this for someone special. I am stitching on R&R Royal Blue Linen 32ct.
Hope everyone is doing well and having a good Monday. Off to rest and hopefully stitch.
Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa

School supplies bought - check
Garage cleaned out and washed - check
Sitting and stitching at the pool while the boys swim - check.
Hope everyone is having a good Friday.
Lisa

The "TO DO" List - checking off some adding more

Whew...the boys now know their school schedule and teachers and all their paperwork and fee/donations are in the hands of their respective schools. Matthew has an great 5th grade teacher (one that he had last year for adv. math; so he knows her teaching requirements) and Robert seems to have a good 8th grade schedule...meaning 2nd period PE (before lunch, "it is easier to run the mile before you put food in your stomach, mom!") and 2 advanced courses (English and Math). Robert is going to be challenged again this year - he is determined to keep his good grades while being very active in hockey, again this year. Last year he missed 24 days of school due to tournament travel - and also had to balance homework and late night practices 2-3x a week.

CHECK OFF "school registration"....ADD School Supply shopping.

Last night was the first night of dual hockey practices. I took Robert (older) down to San Jose for his practice, as I have accepted the position of team manager so I needed to start the paperwork and the "behind the scenes" organization for the team. It was also good to start meeting all the families (this is a new team Robert is on and I only know 3 out of the 20 families). DH took Matthew (younger) to his practice which is 5 miles from the house. So, the hockey season starts...DH and I sit in separate rinks texting each other about our days and the hockey practices we are watching.

CHECK OFF "get boys ready for hockey season"...ADD get Bantam AAA team registered for upcoming tournaments...ADD organize Bantam AAA team binder, etc.

I didn't get any stitching done at the rink last night, which I am bummed about, but that is how some practices go. I still haven't determined a non-exchange/non-gift project yet to stitch and blog about. Still thinking about that one. But in the mean time, I have been getting emails from the girls in the Friendship Sampler RR and many of them are on the move again. I am currently without one (for new followers...we started out with 18 women in the RR, 1 disappeared holding my RR and another member's RR. I decided to re-start and re-introduce into the mail cycle, the other member unfortunately opted out. So, due to that issue and vacations and other "life" issues, the mailing cycle got a little behind. But those remaining continue to slowly move and grow. Visit the Friendship Sampler RR to view them.)

ADD "find non-exchange/non-gift needlework project"

We are coming up to the weekend...yeah. The last one before school starts. Matthew has a bday party to attend on Saturday and they both have hockey practice on Sunday. But that is ok, for this is the life we lead and it is good!

Take care everyone. Thank you for coming by, reading and commenting. I am grateful for your support. Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Mid-week Madness - prepping for school and the hockey season

Well, I find myself at Wednesday...and I am thinking that I better find something to stitch that is not a gift, a model or a exchange so that I can start posting photos of stitching. However, that isn't going to happen today - so bear with me.

I have to post how proud of my boys - as I posted, yesterday I went into work to meet with my boss. However, since school hasn't started yet and the summer camp is over, the boys stayed home by themselves. I know that the boys are old enough to stay home by them selves...for when I was 12 years old I actually had a babysitting job. But since we have never left them home alone for longer than an hour of so, it was a little unsettling. I am grateful that my boss (and her boss) are very supportive of my lifestyle (and I make sure that I do not take advantage of my "flexible" part time hours either) - for I went in yesterday around 8:30 and then came home for an hour around lunch time (to check on the boys and make sure they ate lunch) and then went back to work. Everything went fine and they got along while home w/o me and DH. Good Job boys.

Today is check in at each of their schools. As soon as all the paperwork and fees are paid (donations for the schools and other things), each kid will receive their teacher list. There is always a little anxiety built around that - hoping that your child gets the best teacher(s). However, in our family we just try to make the best of who ever our child gets and work with them to make sure that the year is successful.

Tonight both Robert (older) and Matthew (younger) have hockey practice...at the same time...but at two different rinks. Robert's practice is in San Jose (40 minute drive south of here) and Matthew's practice is here in Dublin (a 10 minute drive). Well, since I have accepted the team manager position on Robert's team again, I will be taking him to practice tonight so that I can get all the copies of the teams' paperwork. This will be the 4th year I have volunteered for this position (so it has become "old hat"). One of the main responsibilities of the team manager is to organize and maintain the team binder, which is filled with all the necessary documents allowing the boys to play on this team. So I have just be come the official "Bantam AAA Binder Babe" - and I am damn proud :) At least with this team, there seems to be plenty of families who are willing to help out with some of the other tasks (like travel arrangements, activity planning and so on)...but like I said, I have done this stuff for several years and, while it tends to become a full time job, I do enjoy it (does that sound strange?).

Well, if you made it to the bottom of this post, I give you a lot of credit and thank you for reading and visiting. Take care of yourselves and hope you'll visit again...soon.

Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Trying Tuesday

I am up and going early this morning. Good practice for next week, when the boys' school schedule starts up for the new school year...which also means I will start back to my early work hours. Today, though, I will be going into work most of the day because my boss is in town from the UK for some quarterly meetings. While I will not be able to attend those meetings (which are Wednesday & Thursday), I am going in to meet with her and some of the other people who are in town this week. I am looking forward to it.

Yesterday I got my PS Exchange in the mail to my secret exchange partner - postal shop said that it would take about 10-14 days to get there, which would make arrive about the first week in September. Not bad, the mailing date was August 31 so I am well ahead of the deadline. It was a fun design to stitch...and I am very pleased with with finish. I hope that my partner likes it too. As soon as I get word of it's arrival I will photo the photos.

I have picked up a UFO - L*K "It's Expensive to be Me" - a design from the Girl Thing booklet. I am putting the finishing touches on it and then will probably set it aside while I determine how to finish it. I am thinking that this would make a good holiday gift for a family member :)

I have also started stitching another model for CindyMae Designs. She has figured out how to convert her graphs to pdf's and now is offering a downloaded version for a smaller price - and quicker gratification. So you might want to check out the redesign of her website.

Well, just stopped by to post a "hi"...off to get my blog reading and commenting done. Maybe I will be visiting you this morning :)

Remember - Live, Love, Laugh and stitch often! Lisa

Sunday's Report - a day in the city & a finish!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Yesterday we decided to do a "family thing" as it will probably be the last Summer Saturday where we find all of us home together. After breakfast, we jumped on the BART (Bay Area Rail Transport...kind of a light rail system that runs around the bay area) and rode into San Francisco to play "tourist".

On Saturday mornings, the Ferry Building has it's farmers market going. Just like all the local farmer's markets, you will find a large amount of beautiful produce, bakery good and other delicious items. However, the market in San Fran seems to inflate the prices a little versus the local farmer's market, probably because of the amount of people and the tourist who also visit it.

The ride on BART from our place to San Fran is 45 minutes - we typically get off at Embarcadero and walk down to the Ferry Building. Walking around the market, we enjoyed the free samples of plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines (the "pit" fruit crops, which are plentiful right now). In addition all the heirloom tomatoes are ripe and have begun to be harvested. These make for beautiful fruit/veggie stands (the vivid colors are wonderful). We had to stop at the Hogs Hallow Oyster booth, because Matthew (youngest son) is into eating oysters...go figure, he has always been my picky eater.









We broke away from the farmer's market crowd and started walking down Embarcadero to Pier 39 (the Ferry Building is Pier 1) where all the sea lions hang out. We stopped to look at them and headed down a little further to Fisherman's Wharf, where we stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant which had a great view of the bay and Alcatraz Island. We at at the Franciscan...it was ok. If you are coming to eat crab legs, steamed and cooked in garlic butter, then this is the place to go (especially with the wonderful view). However, our family isn't quite the garlic butter group. We did enjoy a wonderful prawn and crab meat cocktail.

After lunch, we started to walk back to the BART station (DH and boys stopped at the Ben & Jerry's ice cream outpost near Fisherman's Wharf). We got home around 4 o'clock. It was a nice afternoon!

While DH was reading/napping and the boys were resting/playing computer - I went down to the kitchen and sat at my sewing machine where I put the finishing touches to my PS Exchange! Yahoo! Tomorrow I will be able to get it in the mail - and as soon as my secret partner received the item, I will post a photo. I am so happy with the way this came out and I cannot wait to show you! Now I get to move onto another project...I have a few in line, just need to determine what comes first. I might hold off on the Mary Wigham, until after the boys go back to school and our school/work routine gets going. Then I can definitely focus on it.

Take care everyone...Remember to Live, Love, Laugh and stitch often! Lisa

Friday - Update on Life

Hello fellow blog readers. I thought I would post an update on activities here (unfortunately there aren't any photos).

Stitching Update
As posted earlier, my week started off with a beautiful L*K exchange from Sandra in Venezuela. These exchanges are not only fun because you get to "meet" other's who have a passion for needlework, but receiving beautiful things from people all over the world is so fun. I have received exchanges from Canada, France and Venezuela so far this year- which makes the world seem so much smaller and my sons think it is really "cool" to be getting things from the different countries.

I have been trying to finish stitching my PS Exchange. The design I picked out has beautiful colors and should have been simple enough to stitch pretty quickly, but for some reason my "stitching mojo" has been running low. I sit and stitch for a few minutes and then feel the need to either get up and "do something" or just lay down and take a cat nap. I am pretty close to be done with the stitching, so I am hoping to finish tonight or tomorrow.

I have received a few more designs from CindyMae to stitch models. She is coming up with some fun designs and hope that everyone is taking some time to check out her website.

I am in between Friendship Sampler RRs right now, waiting for the next one or two to be sent from Canada. So, after I get the PS exchange completed and get refuel my mojo I am going to look into starting my Mary Wigham.

Hockey Update
This week, Robert (oldest son) went to a hockey clinic set up by hockey family friend in Fresno, CA. He stayed at the family's house until last night. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings he and his 2 hockey friends (his age) skated with the Fresno coach - working on drills and scrimmaging some of the Junior Players (who are 16-17 years old). Robert said that it was a lot of work to keep up with the "bigger" boys - but it was a lot of tiring fun! In addition to their time on the ice, the coach also worked on some physical training with the boys. So it was a very good clinic to get them in shape for the start of the hockey season with their team here.

Speaking of hockey season...as you know tryouts are over and both of my sons have been placed in their respective teams for the year. Robert's team will have its first practice this upcoming Sunday and Matthew's started a couple of weeks ago. Earlier this week, I was asked to be the team manager of Robert's team - which is a volunteer position I have done for the last 3 years. It is a lot of work, but the kind I enjoy (organizing paperwork, communications with the families, and working with the respective hockey club). So, I accepted the postition.

Other Life Issues
This was the last week of summer camp for the boys - last day today. This week is also the week to pick up the registration packets for their schools. We don't really "register" them per se, the packet just contains all the emergency forms, school policies we have to read and all the requests for money. Next week, we get to go to the schools (elementary for Matthew and middle for Robert) to stand in line and hand in all the completed forms and money for the different programs. But after we get through the lines and everything is turned in, the boys then receive their class information...this is the "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow.

Next week is also the last week of summer break for the boys - no school and no camp, while we will start to get ready for school and find something to make the last week "special", it is going to be a crazy one. DH will be experiencing "executive week" at work - this happens once a month and he typically is tied up in meetings or just late nights working on projects. And for me, my boss is coming in town from the U.K. for some meetings and wants to have some time to meet with me. Even though the boys are old enough to be home by themselves, I don't feel comfortable leaving them here all day w/o supervision. Mainly because they are brothers - and you know how siblings get along (good for a couple of hours and then typically they get tired of eachother). I have a plan in mind for the days I need to go into the office that only leaves them home for a couple of hours at a time.

Hard to believe that school will be starting up and I will soon have an 8th grader and a 5th grader this year. I have gotten use to having the boys around and our summer schedule. I am blessed with 2 wonderful sons and a wonderful DH - Life is good!

Hope Life is going well for all of you out there in blog land. Thank you very much for visiting and all your support. I have enjoyed reading your comments and meeting many of you in cyberspace! Take care!

Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Received my Lizzie Kate Exchange

Yesterday I received my L*K exchange from my secret partner, Sandra. The package came all the way from Venezuela. I just love my exchange. Sandra enclosed a postcard with a beautiful picture of La Playa Medina, a beach she is planning to go to next month before school starts again. Also, written on the card was her thought process of creating this exchange for me. She said that she chose this design for me because I am "such an active and outdoorsy woman" she thought it would be perfect...and it is!!! The box that the design was attached it is beautiful. She wrote the words: "Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch" on it (something that I tend to close each post with).


And, to prove that I am an outdoorsy person, I set up a photo shoot of it with some of the fresh roses from my rose bushes. While shooting the beautiful box, a bee decided that it was a good time to collect pollen from the yellow flower (you might be able to see it in the photo).

Thank you Sandra - I love my exchange!



I am still working on my PS exchange. Having a hard time allowing myself just to sit lately. Maybe just a case of ADD right now :) On that note, it is time to get ready for work and feed my younger son lunch. Have a good day!

Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Ode to our Black Jeep...may you rest in peace!

Yesterday we said "Good-bye" to Blackie the Jeep. He came into our lives May 1995, when DH and I moved from New Orleans to Minnesota. We were starting a new chapter in our lives. The Minnesota chapter brought new jobs for us both (working in my family's party company), a new townhouse, and the beginning to our family (I was just a few months pregnant with my older son - who was born after the first of the year 1996). So, of course moving to Minnesota where it is winter 6-8 months we needed a good 4 wheel drive to get us through. And a 4-wheel drive jeep was the stereotypical vehicle of a Minnesotan at that time.
"Blackie" was the one who brought home Robert from the hospital in January 1996 and got us through several different snow storms the first year living there. Eventually, we became a 2 jeep family and Blackie took the seat to a Red Jeep and then later a Blue Jeep...but Blackie was always the special one.

In October 2002, he took the whole family to California, when we started to put the finishing touches to our move. He was the first one to call our current residence "home", as we left him behind for a month while we packed up the MN home and rejoined him the first part of November 2002. Blackie has been the one responsible for getting DH to work - which was a 45 minute commute (each way) when we first moved here and became shorter in the last couple of years when DH changed jobs. The shorter commute was a good thing over the last couple of years, because Blackie's health started to deteriorate. He has received new breaks, tires and other parts...but he had started to really show his age as his AC stopped working, doors creaking, parts rusting and only got AM radio.

So after 15 years and over 150,000 miles, it was time to bid farewell to an old friend. You might have been termed a "clunker" on the dealership lot that we left you at yesterday...but you will have a special place in our hearts.

(PS...a new Silver Honda Accord 2009 took the place of Blackie).

Sharing on a Saturday

Good morning (afternoon or evening...depending on where you live or when you read this),
It is Saturday and I was able to get this old body out of bed and on the stationary bike before any other family members were out of bed, and even before the sun came over the hills. This is one of my favorite times of the day and it seems to be a little more difficult lately to get out of bed and have this time for "me".

Car Shopping
Friday evening we started some car shopping. Something that we haven't done in over 15 years! We have a 15 yr old jeep w/150,000 miles (no AC, dead FM radio, a tired that needs to be aired up on Sunday in order to make it through the week, a squeeky front door to a minor crash 5 years ago, scary breaks, etc.). Up until 6 months ago, we also had a 10 year old jeep but it died a sad death and was replaced with a 7 year old volvo purchased from a friend. So, car shopping is something we don't do. However, with the "Cash for Clunker" program still going - long story/short...we decided to take advantage of that and find a new car - something reliable with good gas milege and reasonable (don't really need lots of bells and whistles to increase the price).
We looked at the Mini Coups (cute, but too small, won't fit 2 hockey bags and teenage boys). We looked at Jettas and other VW type cars...the Jetta is a possiblity. We looked at Hondas, specifically the Accourd and a hybrid...we liked the Accord so we did test drive it. We did go to a Toyota dealership, but they didn't seem to interested in assisting us, so after walking around the dealership showroom and sitting in a car for several minutes without getting approached with the sales pitch - we left. So, today, we will probably test drive the Jetta and then make up our mind. It would be nice to get this done and get our clunker our of our driveway and out of our worries.

Stitching News
While I don't have any photos to share with you...I point you to a couple of models I helped stitch for CindyMae, who has posted the patterns for sale on her design site. Visit CindyMae Designs (Cindy's husband is having some heart trouble - so I continue to send my thoughts and prayers to them!).

My focus the last few days has been on my PS exchange. I hope to finish stitching it this weekend so that I can work on finishing it and getting it in the mail by next Friday. It has a long way to go and I don't want my exchange partner disappointed.

Random Positive Thoughts...being sent to...
It is interesting how "close" I feel to so many I have "met" by reading their blogs - something I started to do last November (2008). Most mornings, I get up between 4 and 6 am, hop up on my 18 year old stationary bike with a 10 year old lap top placed on the book attachment. Once I get the bike going, the computer on and my emails checked - I open another tab on my internet explorer and start scrolling through my booked marked blogs that have become a routine to read.

As I make my way through each and everyone - I see that some have new posts and some haven't posted for a few weeks or a month. New post or not, I continue to scroll down - stopping to read a new post, to leave a comment, maybe even take a moment to "visit" a new blog suggested by the one I am currently visiting.

Over time, I feel that I have come to know some of the people behind the blogs; enough so that my heart breaks when they come into hardship or sickness...or I find myself leaping for joy when they finished a wonderful project or their child learns a new lesson. I have visited far away places with some of the bloggers through their trip photos and stories or enjoyed learning about different lifestyles when bloggers share their daily life stories.

At this time, some of my blog friends are experience some troubles and I would like to send out my thoughts and prayers to them and their family...CindyMae, Beth, Angela. I know others whose blogs I read who are experiencing some hard times and my heart goes out to them too. Take care everyone! Know that you are thought of and loved by more than you can imagine.

Have a good weekend everyone! Remember to Love many, Live now, Laugh often and Stitch!
Lisa

It is Friday! Ya-hoo! Today my older son though he was going to a water park with some of the Jr. Leaders from the camp he has been volunteering at-kind of a celebration they do at the end of the summer. However, he got the days mixed up and the event was actually yesterday. He was bummed. "guess that is why everyone was surprised when I showed up at camp yesterday" he said this morning when we got back home. Oh well, I guess he can chalk this up as a learning experience!
So I tool him and younger son to the pool after lunch. They have it all to themselves...and I am enjoying the warmth of the sun while I work on my PS exchange. Nice day to sit outside and stitch.
Have a nice Friday!:-D

Another RR heart complete

Just wanted to quickly post Ann's Friendship Sampler RR as I have completed my heart on it this morning. Her instructions allowed us to pick a color to stitch the heart of our choice. I decided to finish the first column and stitch my heart in DMC varigated #52. Again, I stitched the outline of the heart, using the darker part of the floss and then filled in the inside by stitching up & down. I am having a good time stitching with varigated floss. Well...got to get the boys around so that they can get off to camp and I can put some time into work.

Monday's update of weekend activities

Hello Monday! We got off to somewhat of a late start as DH and I slept in, versus getting up and taking our 6:30am walk with the dog - we just got up and walked a little later. Over the weekend I finished one of the Friendship Sampler RRs which are visiting my house. Pictured is Simone's, who has requested that we stitch our heart in some variation of red. I chose DMC varigated 115 - stitching the outline with the part of the floss that was the darkest, which gave the heart a little bit of an outline. Then I filled the heart in by working my way up from the bottome, stitching in rows. It was really fun to stitch this heart - as I was trying to challenge myself with a different way to stitch with varigated thread. After finishing Simone's, I moved right on to Ann's - and as soon as I finish hers I will post a photo and then get them both in the mail.

This weekend brought the end to hockey tryouts for our family. Matthew (youngest) made the Squirt "1" (squirt = age 10-11 years old) team at a hockey club called the Tri-Valley Blue Devils. When we first moved here from Minnesota 6 years ago, this was the first hockey club that we participated at. As the boys grew and developed their hockey skills, we did move them to other clubs (or "club jumped" as some call it) to learn from other coaches or to take advantage of certain offerings by the clubs. Matthew is back at Tri-Valley to be coached by a coach "older brother" Robert had at this age - and we were very happy by the skills the Coach taught. It is good to have tryouts behind us and the boys set up for the 2009-2010 hockey season - Robert (older) is a San Jose Jr. Shark Bantam AAA and Matthew (younger) is a Tri-Valley Blue Devil Squirt "1".

Now to start thinking about the beginning of school and that preparation, I guess...well, maybe not right now. I think that I just want to take a day or two and not have to deal with "planning" or "stressing 'what ifs'".

So, on that note - I will say good bye for now. Thank you for visiting and making it to the end of this post. Hope you have a great Monday and a great week!
Remember...Live, Laugh, Love and Stitch Often! Lisa