I stitched my last heart on a Friendship RR...and other topics

Yesterday morning, I put my last stitch in my heart on Karen's Friendship Sampler RR, stitched my name next to it, ironed it to get out all the wrinkles, photographed it, packed it up and took it to the post office so it can finish up it's journey...it should be home to Karen next week. So, Karen, keep an eye out for the FedEx truck next week :)

Karen asked all of us to either use the DMC colors the charted listed or to have a little fun using what ever thread and color we wanted...as long as it stayed within earthy tones. Since I couldn't decided what single color I wanted to stitch with, I found a overdyed color theme from Needle Necessities (#189) which I though embraced "earth tone" and would work well with the other colors the RR ladies used.

It is hard to believe that I (finally) stitched on the last RR. We started the Friendship Sampler RR back in February of 2009 - beginning with 18 members and finishing up with only 16. I will be the last member to get my own RR back home...WHY?...to make a long story short, in the summer of 2009 a couple of RRs were "stuck" at a members house and that member hadn't been heard from since - one of those RRs was mine. I decided to start over, by purchasing new fabric, stitching my first heart and then re-introducing it into the mail cycle; the other member (whose RR was "stuck" at this persons house) decided to quit. Since mine restarted about 6 months after the originial beginning, it will be the last to come home. But aside from the lenghth of this RR and having to restart, I know that my RR will come home soon - and the reward of having 15 remarkable women add a heart to this sampler will be priceless!

Early last week, Monday May 24th to be exact, I paid tribute to the birthday of my younger son. One of the traditions that we have in this household is decorating the kitchen and stairwell with Happy Birthday balloons and having a birthday breakfast (due to being so busy with school/work/hockey, breakfast time seems to be the best time for a family celebration). And the other tradition is to wear the birthday hat while posing for a birthday breakfast photo...so here is Matthew, my new 11 year old on his birthday last Monday (photo on the right). I still find it hard to believe that my boys are growing up so fast. Who would have thought I would have a 14 and an 11 year old...and what is even stranger is that I am almost the shortest one in the house hold. Oh, well...motherhood and life is a lot of fun and I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.

Well, the Memorial Day weekend is still going strong. We had a nice evening yesterday as we entertained some friends from our hockey community that we are part of. It was a nice, relaxing bbq meal followed by a drive to the local Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream. Today will be a relaxing day with nothing really on the agenda. Matthew has a birthday party to go to, but that is all. The sun is shining and it is suppose to be in the low 80s here...maybe we can get the sprinklers up and running so I can get my tomato plants planted...or the garage cleaned out a little more in preparation for my garage sale next weekend. Or maybe I will just sit on my bottom and stitch...

Well, whatever your plans are for this day may it bring a lot of Love, Life, Laughter and Stitching! Lisa

Caught up on Friday and looking forward to relaxing weekend

It was nice to have a day off from work on Friday and a night off from hockey in the evening. I used the day to catch up on a little sleep, catch up on exercise, stock up on groceries, put clean laundry away, take Robert (older son) to the ortho, take all the boys (DH included) to get their haircut and just relax. In the evening, the boys enjoyed take out from our favorite local sushi restaurant, a home made milkshake and bedtime reading from 8pm-9pm; DH and I watched "American Flyers" (movie with Kevin Costner about cycling) while I stitched on Karen's Friendship Sampler RR and DH played solitare on the computer...lights out at 9:30 (for all of us).

(BTW...I heard that my Friendship Sampler has made it to The Netherlands - so it is on the move and hopefully be home in the next couple of months - yahoo!)

Isn't it funny, though...no matter how tired you might be what your body does? I went to bed at 9:30pm as mentioned above, read for a little and put my book down as soon as my eyes started to close (around 9:45pm)...at 11:11pm, as my clock so brightly pointed out, I was up...I was physically tired, but I was up. Instead of flipping and flopping in bed, I did get out and go into our TV room to lay on the couch with the window open and the tv on. That seemed to do the trick, for I was able to get into bed an hour lately and fall asleep. Oh well, at least I got some sleep before having to wake up around 5:30am to get breakfast around for Matthew (younger son) before he headed down to the hockey rink for his summer team's practice...DH took him :)

We have a 3 day weekend we just started. While the boys have some hockey activies and one son has a birthday party to attend, we are hosting a little bbq tonight with one other family...but those are our only scheduled activities. So that will leave a lot of time for some stitching, some resting and maybe even some yard work.

Hope your able to get in some stitching and resting during this holiday weekend...take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa

One more night and this hockeymom will be happy not to be in a hockey rink!

The title says it all! This week the boys started a hockey clinic that is 4 days a week and 6 weeks long. We have done this clinic for the last several years and usually the timing between the 2 boys' age groups worked out beautifully. Unfortunately, due to the amount of kids signing up for the clinic this year, the schedule for each of my boys was "messed up" as far as I am concerned - for now I am at a hockey rink from 4:30-9:30 (then you need to add on the commute time - 1.5 hours round trip...means that we are away from home for 6-6.5 hours Monday-Thursday). Yikes! Next week, DH will be able to help out...yahoo!

Nevertheless, tonight I hope to get some stitching done while at the rink, because I received the last Friendship Sampler RR to stitch on...once I am done stitching this and get in in the mail to it's home, I am all done except for waiting for mine to come home. Mine is with The Netherland girls and as soon as it crosses the pond, it shouldn't take too long to be finished up and sent home.

Now, I said I "hope" to get some stitching done - because for the first hour or so I am there, I hit the fitness room while Matthew (younger son) is on the ice and Robert (older son) sits and works on his homework. After working out, I do get to sit and relax...and I do take out my stitching...but I do tend to socialize - for us hockeymoms love to visit while at the rink!

Tonight is the last night of the clinic This Week...and then I can feel like my weekend will start (tomorrow I am I don't work). A 4 day weekend...here I come!

Well, thank you for visiting and hope you have a good day. Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

LISA

11 years ago today....

Good morning, it is 4:30am here. Do you know what you were doing at this exact time 11 years ago? I do. I was just arriving at the hospital, walked into ER and told them I was in labor. That's right, my baby boy is 11 years old today.

On Monday, May 24, 1999 - Matthew was born at 6:30am - 7lbs 10oz and 21.5 inches long.

I wasn't prepared to go into labor and have him on the 24th...because of the gestational diabetes I had while pregnate with Matthew, I was scheduled to be induced on May 26th. But I guess he had other ideas :)

All day on Sunday, May 23rd I didn't feel very well - but I did go to the dance recital Robert participated in (he was only 3.5 at the time and it was ok to be the only boy in a preschool dance recital) and then, while DH and Robert napped that afternoon, I felt the need to run to the toy store to purchase some "big brother gifts" as well as run to the grocery store to stock up the house. That evening, unlike the prior 2 weeks prior to Matthew's arrival, I was sticken with insomnia and very itchy feet, so I basically stayed up and watched the older Star Wars movies during the wee hours of the morning while DH and Robert (younger son) slept. But that evening/early morning, I started getting strange pains...and by 3am I felt the need to breath through these strange pains...around 3:30am, I decided to wake up DH to let him know that "I thought I might be in labor...but I wasn't sure." So I called up my OBGYN and asked her...when I started breathing through a contraction while on the phone, she decided that I wasn't fooling and told me to get to the hospital.

My mother arrived around 4am (we lived in Minnesota, near family, at the time both boys were born) so DH & I could leave Robert home while going to the hospital. Within 2 hours our second son was born.

Dearest Matthew

Happy 11th Birthday!

It is hard to believe how fast time flies by, which I measure by your physical and mental growth each day. You are one of my cherish miracles and one that sees into my soul.

You provide much love and support to those around you.

Even with your little devilish side,

there is that sparkle in your eye that can put a smiles on ones face.

I am so proud of how your are growing up - with an interest in the world around you and desire to better yourself.
Matthew, I love you and feel very blessed to wake up every day to your smiling face!

Happy 11th Birthday...

Mom

My new friend - the mailman :) and a new book to inspire me to think

Well the mailman was kind to me yesterday as I received a package from Amazon.UK. That box was carrying a birthday present for my soon-to-be 11 year old, Matthew. The boys have been reading a series of books written by authors from the UK - it is the Tunnel series by the Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams. Robert (older son) saw that Book 4: Closer was published...in the UK...and the US will not get it for another 3-4 months or so. As I did with the other books of the series, I did order it from Amazon.UK. Now, while it will be for both boys...Matthew, as the birthday boy on Monday, has the right to open up the wrapped book and read it first. :)

Also in the box was a book for me: "The Girl on the Wall" by Jean Baggott.
I spotted this book on someone's blog and started to investigate what it was all about - of course anything with needlework typically peaks my interest. When I saw that this was a book about a woman who recorded her life memories/history with her needlework I knew immediately that this was a read that I had to have. I started the book last night - for my bedtime reading - and we definitely engaged in the book just after reading the preface. The frame for this tapestry is interlinking circles ("the circles of life"); within each circle Jean has stitch memories from that period of her life...each chapter in the book takes ones of these circles and talks about what is going on in her life and the world around her. While I haven't gotten too far into the book, one of her reasons for the tapestry and writing the book, which she stated early in the first chapters, caught my eye. Throughout our lives, we typically live it "doing for others", for that is how we were brought up - so the questions that 'pops' in my mind are: what am I doing for me? what do I want? what am I going to leave behind?
Jean seems to have answered these questions for herself by going to school (something that she as a little girl wasn't able to do), specializing in History, as well as recording her history in needlework...she is doing this for herself and 'the girl on the wall' (a photo of her when she was young - her inspiration). 

Me? Well, I feel very good about my life right now (even though DH will be unemployed after next Friday - a new challenge...the next chapter in my book :)). I love being married and a wife/partner/friend to DH. I couldn't imagine my life without him. I love being a mother to Robert & Matthew. All 3 boys (DH included) definitely bring challenge and adventure, as well as love and joy, to my life. So those are the people who I "do for", which does take a lot of my time; but I do try and sneak in some "me" time...the early morning spins on my stationary bike while I catch up on my emails, facebook and blog writing/reading...there is my stitching which I do, when I allow myself to sit and relax...there is my reading in bed before I go to sleep. Life is an adventure - a journey - and right now I am in a pretty good place.

I am excited that I found this book and look forward to reading more of it tonight...and maybe I will have more inspiring things to write about...

Stitching News
I have put the finishing touches on the ornament I have made for Lori from the Ornament Swap and will be putting that in the mail soon. I have also heard from the Friendship Sampler RR ladies, and the last RR I need to stitch on is on its way to my house. After I stitch on it and send it home, I will be done stitching and just waiting to receive mine. Mine will probably be the last one home due to some issues early on, which I will not bore you with right now. I think that it is in the Netherlands...once it leaves there it should take too long to come home...keep your fingers crossed! I got a few stitches put in on MW yesterday - but not enough to really share with you today (maybe I need to find some "me stitching time" today:) ).

Hope you all have a nice Saturday - clear skies and cold temps here in Northern California.

Take care and remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Back home

Well, I know that my last post might have been a little OT to what I normally post (work related vs. stitching/kids/homelife). But thought I would post a little blub about work and the results of some of what I have been doing there...sometimes my family takes a peek at my blog so I thought I would post work stuff to show them this side of me. But now it is time to resume the typical Hockey Mom postings :)

I am back home, got in last night, and found the family still all here. They survived without me for a few days, following the schedule and detailed notes of activities that go on (like when to wake up the kids, what to put in everyone's lunch boxes, what time each kid needs to be picked up from school and so on). It looked like they followed it pretty well, or just decided to check off each item and leave it out for me to see :)

Like I mentioned, I brough MW with me and actually did take it out a couple of times to stitch. I put the finishing touches on the motif I was working up before her last hibernation and then started a new one (after I finish one more I will post a status photo for you). It is funny when I have some down time and get the "itch to stitch"...I get tired. I take out the project I am currently working on, get all ready to stitch, put in a doz or so stitches then have the uncontrollable desire to close my eyes and take a nap. Maybe because the stitching relaxes me so much...or maybe because the only time I let myself sit is when I stitch and by then I am so tired that I need a little shut-eye time. Well, whatever the reason, I didn't stitch as much as I could have. However, I did enjoy some personal time in Seattle on Monday as I got to walk around Pike Place Market and take in all the fresh produce, fresh fish and flowers. There are also neat stalls of handmade items - like soaps, hats, purses and so on. I did end up purchasing some baked dried apples. I remembered these from when I was in Seattle in March and couldn't wait to get some more. I love some dried fruits and this little company has the best dried/baked apple - all apples without any sulfers or other additives. Boy are they crunchy. Knowing that dried fruit has more carbs/sugar I tried to limit myself to eating only one bag (not always an easy task...at least it is a little better for you than straight out candy).

Now back home, I have to finish the ornament for the Ornament Swap and get that in the mail and then I will be totally free of exchange stitching for about a month. So I will definitely take some time and enjoy stitching on MW.

So, until next post...remember to

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

A work update from Seattle.

I am currently in Seattle - on business. I have been working for Hexcel Corporation for over 4 years in the Marketing and Communications department. One of the responsibilities I have had is preparation for trade shows. This is the first time that I have been able to go and attend a show. I flew into Seattle last night and today I went over the the Washington State Convention Center to observe the building of the booth. It really looks nice. Hexcel makes many products one can find in airplanes - to make them lighter and stronger. Other industries where the materials are used is: wind industry and recreational products (like bikes).

For the last few months I have been helping to coordinate the graphics and display parts. Today, after seeing drawings for the booth and photos of the displays, it was all put together. It was exciting.

 

The company we used to help design and build the booth, was so organized that there really wasn't much for my boss and I to do (except I did get to unpack the 4 boxes of literature). Tomorrow morning we will go over to the convention center to put out the literature before the show opens for the first day.

In the afternoon, I had some time to walk around downtown Seattle, like I did when I was here a couple months ago...hitting Pike Place market again. They were actually throwing the fish and had a large audience watching and participating. I did pick up some smoked salmon to take back to DH and the boys - as well as a little Father's Day gift for my father (planning ahead).

Well, that is about it for now. I did bring MW with me to stitch on, but was too tired when I got back to the hotel that I had to take a nap before dinner. Maybe I will be able to get in a little stitching tomorrow on the plane.

Hope everyone had a good Monday...take care! Lisa

Season Exchange arrives at partner's house :)

I heard from Lynn this afternoon as she received the "spring" Seasonal Exchange I stitched/finished and sent to her. I stitched L*K Spring Basket Sampler on 28ct evenweave - using most of the colors called for and substituting similar colors when I didn't have the exact color in my stash. This exchange was the other one I was a little late getting into the mail...and it too didn't have enough postage the first time, so after coming back to my house and having to be resent it finally arrived where it was suppose to. Thank goodness!

So, the 2 exchanges with the May 1 mail date have been received

And...as of an hour ago, I finished stitching the ornament for the Ornament Swap. This month we all are to make and send Lori an ornament. The stitching is all complete and when I get back home from my business trip in Seattle, I will finish it and get it in the mail to her (and will post a photo as soon as it is received).

Since all exchange stitching is complete for a while, I have pulled Mary Wigham back out of hibernation...attached her to the Q-snaps and will continue stitching on her. Because I leave tomorrow for Seattle, I wanted to make sure to get her all ready to travel - even though this is a business trip, I will have some down time and look forward to relaxing & stitching.

Aside from being productive with stitching projects, I was able to get out and mow the lawn and clean out the flower bed. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors - but with the pollen count still being high, not everyone in the family could come out and enjoy it. Matthew (younger son) was hit by the allergy bug again causing his nose and chest to get stuffy. I guess we just have to continue with the OTC allergy med and mucinex to keep him comfortable. Poor kid.

Oh, Yea...Last night was the 8th grade dance. The report from Robert was..."it was boring. All you do at the dance was dance and talk." LOL...I am not sure what he was expecting - but it didn't live up to his expectations I guess. I did find out that he danced a slow dance with the young lady he was "meeting at the dance." But I didn't find out any more than that. All in all...it was probably a success even though it was not as fun as playing hockey :)

Well that is about all from here on this Saturday evening. DH and Robert are at the rink, for he had a clinic and a tryout (for a tournament team going to Minnesota next month). Hope your weekend is going well...remember,

Live, Love, Laugh and stitch often!

Lisa

"Live Simply" took a complex trip

I heard from Kathy, my L*K exchange partner, and she received the L*K exchange I stitched, finished and mailed to her. It was definitely a fun pattern to stitch and finish, especially since the colors were so "cool". I stitched this on 28ct evenweave, basically using the colors listed. I finished it as a pinkeep with some fun green and orange ribbon I found at Jo-Ann Fabrics.

This exchange definitely had an adventure getting to Kathy...first, I was a little late mailing it. I took it to our post office near the house which had one of those 24/7 post machines which weighs your package, determines the amount of postage you will need and then allows you to purchase the label. Well, it was wrong in the amont of postage it told me I needed because after mailing it on May 3, it arrived at my house on May 6th with a sticker noting that 34cents more was needed. So I added a stamp to it and put it back in the mailbox. Then, in Kathy's email, I just found out that I didn't quite put the right address on the package...but thankfully Kathy's SIL is the mailperson and made sure that the package got delivered. Ugh - thank goodness the mail gods were looking down and helped out :) 

Hope you all are having a good Friday...I took my normal Friday off and got some housework done as well as just caught up on a few things before the weekend really got off to a start. After school, Matthew (younger son who is finishing up 5th grade) is going to take a 7th grade math assessment test. He took the 6th grade one and did very well - thus qualifying for 6th grade honors math next year; but they wanted to see how he would do on the 7th grade one. So we will see-we told him not to stress over it especially since he hasn't been exposed to many of the 7th grade math concepts...he told me that he is just going to take it for "fun...because math is cool and fun, mom".  Thought he had a good attitude!

This evening, Robert (older son who is finishing up 8th grade) is attending the special 8th grade dance tonight. Supposively he asked a girl to the dance...but you really don't "go to" the dance together, you just "meet at" the dance. So, since I will not see the girl he asked (via texting) I was privileged to find out her name and allowed to look her up in last year's yearbook. She is very cute...and I guess I approve :) I guess this is how it all starts, right?

This weekend brings hockey clinics and tryouts (for spring tournament teams) and I leave on Sunday evening for Seattle for a business trip, which I am looking forward to! So, that is about all right now. Hope you have a great weekend and remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Catching up on Wednesday

First up...I have to share with you my L*K exchange I received from April. It came on Monday and was a welcome surprise. I love it! The colors are beautiful - soft pink, purple, green and blues - perfect for spring and Mother's Day. I have put it in my kitchen, a place I spend a lot of time in with the family, for all to admire. Thank you very much April.

DH is in Atlanta today and tomorrow for interviews. While moving might not necessarily be our first choice as he looks for a new job, we are keeping an open mind. We both feel that life is an adventure and full of journeys. When we first met eachother we were attending college in St. Louis, MO (that was over 20 years ago). Since then, we have lived in New Orleans (south)...Minnesota (north)...and California (west)...so it would only make sense for us to move east. Well, we will see and just keep positive thoughts as we ride this job searching roller coaster together as a family.

In the meantime...things are going fine - still very busy with the boys' sporting activities. Monday and Tuesday evening I spent at the rink while the boys attended their hockey clinic. Today, Robert had a track meet and has one tomorrow as well. Track finishes up next week with the Chamipionship Invitational meet, which we hope he will be asked to run in. This weekend brings spring hockey team tryouts for both boys - Robert: for a team going to Minnesota next month and Matthew: for a team going to Los Angeles in June as well.

Regarding school...both boys are in the middle of state testing. They have less than a month of school, ending with graduation on June 13 (Matthew from elementary school and Robert from middle school). Hard to believe how quickly they grow up...speaking of growing up, Robert is attending the 8th grade school dance this Friday...and he has texted a girl to "go with him" even though they are just meeting eachother at the dance venue.

Regarding stitching...I am working on an exchange for the ornament swap. After this exchange, I will be back to Mary Wigham. And as soon as all the exchanges I have finished and sent out are received, I will be able to share some stitching photos with you. Should be soon!

Well...since I seem to be just rambling on, I will thank you for making it to the end and remind you to:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Mother's Day

It was a wonderful mother's day for me today. After getting up and getting in my spin on the stationary bike, I walked into the kitchen and was greeted with 2 beautiful red roses from our rose garden, 2 beautiful mother's day cards, a framed poem (decorated by Matthew) and a plate with watermelon & a strawberry which was surrounded by rose petals (created by Robert).

Around 10am we left the house and headed to Half Moon Bay (the same place we took my parents last Sunday). Our plan was to arrive at Sam's Chowder House at 11am, right when it opened, so that we would miss the Mother's Day lunch rush...and we were successful.

We were able to get the last table that wasn't reserved for those who made reservations - Yahoo! After doing a little research on the internet last night (looking at the menu) we knew that this place was known for its seafood, especially lobster rolls.

We started out with an appetizer sampler which included ahi tuna poke, oysters, clams, shrimp...and Matthew enjoyed a crab cocktail (which he didn't share...lol). DH enjoyed the lobster roll and I had a great salad with blacken shimp; Matthew had speg noodles w/sauce on the side and Robert had a seared tuna. All of us really enjoyed the meal.

After lunch, we headed to Moss Beach in order to walk around the rocky beach (or the shoreline after the tide goes out...looking on-line we knew that low tide would be around 2pm, leaving tidepools for us to explore). When we arrived at the state park portion of this beach, the Park Rangers had more of the shore marked off this weekend due to the harbor seal pups - so we had to find another way to explore some of the tide pools. This meant taking a little hike through a woodsy area and then climb down a cliff in order to get to the beach. Finally we all made it down and spent about 2 hours walking around looking at the hermet crabs, sea anemone, sea stars, rock fish, mussels, etc...and harbor seals.

The day was beautiful! Sunny, in the mid to upper 60s and not much wind to speak of.

Before heading back home, we went to main street Half Moon Bay for some ice cream and other treats.

My mother's day was an awesome day spent with my boys: Robert, Matthew and my DH (who was the photographer this weekend). I am truely blessed!

Thank you for visiting and reading about my mother's day. I hope that your Sunday was filled with love too!

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

Saturday is here

Well, I find myself here on Saturday - can't believe that I haven't posted all week. After my parents left on Monday, I just dove into life trying to get caught up on some house hold things and then "taxi-ing" the boys around from school to either track meets or hockey or both. The homework load has become more managable for each kid - so, while we were up until 10:30-ish a night or two this week, that was only due to getting home from hockey at 8:30pm.

On Thursday morning I dropped off the 2 exchanges (Lizzie Kate and Seasonal Exchange) in the mail to my partners...since both live in the US, it shouldn't take too long for them to receive their packages. As soon as I hear that everthing arrived safely, I will be able to post a photo of what I stitched/finished for them. Currently I am working on the ornament for the Ornament Swap that I am signed up for. So I am still in the exchange stitching mode - so no stitching photos yet.

I made the decision this week that I will be taking a little break from exchange stitching (except for the Ornament Swap, which is a year long project and because it would be fun to get 5 new ornaments for my Christmas tree this year :)). I have felt bad that I was a little late on finishing and mailing...and with some upcoming changes in my family life (DH job searching - kids finishing up school - summer vacation starting - hockey tryouts in July...DH job searching), I just don't want to make stitching become an obligation or a hobby filled with "I have to stitch" thoughts. Stitching for me is my outlet - it serves as meditation...an escape...a place were I can let my creative jucies flow. I love the feel of the needle in my hand and the vision of the floss color; I love the way I can take a blank piece of fabric and witness magic of beauty & design appear. There are some days that the desire to hold the needle is so strong, that I find myself getting up early in the morning to stitch; or, if I am on the bike spinning, I jump off and grab my current project (now you know how strong my stitching desire can be if I stop biking).

I will still continue to blog (for that is another outlet of stress relief) or help out my friend CindyMae with model stitching.

Well, enough of that rambling my dear friends. Now onto more important things - Mother's Day. What are you doing to celebrate tomorrow? We were thinking about going back to Half Moon Bay or maybe hang at another beach...but it looks like the clouds and some rain showers are in our forcast, which means that the coastal areas are going to be down right chilly. So, we will have to see and play it by ear :)

Take care my friends - Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers and grandmothers out there. Hope your day is filled with family and lots of love!

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

The 1st Monday in May - weekend with my parents

Well, here we are at Monday already. I have mixed emotions as this day has arrived...first, my parent head back home from Minnesota today. We had a really great time with them over the weekend (more about their trip with some photos a little later in the post) - I know that the kids enjoyed being with their grandparents and I know my parents loved every minute they got to spend with their grandsons. So, as we said good bye last night, I became very sad that their visit had to come to an end. Yet (here is where the mixed emotions plays in), now I feel that I can get back to my routine of things...with the trip to DC behind me, my parents visit behind, and the choas of the hockey clinics/track schedule figured out - I feel that I can get back to some sort of "normalcy" (whatever that is) for a little bit before summer vacation and DH's job change really hits. I just feel like I have been treading water for the past few weeks and just need to come up for air and get caught up a little.

Well...like I said it was wonderful having my parents here. I enjoyed spending time with them by myself on Friday afternoon as we went to Livermore and enjoyed a little wine tasting at Steven Kent Winery. My boss's boss pours over the weekends and he gave me 2 VIP wine tasting passes, which we were able to enjoy a sampling from both the general "flights" and the reserved "flights". It was most enjoyable (thank you boss's boss).

My dad and I outside the winery by the vineyard

That evening, we grilled up various meats and enjoyed a nice family dinner at home, followed by a walk around the block. It gave us all a chance to catch up and visit. While grilling the meat, my mother thought it would be nice to have some fresh lemon in her tea, so we had the boys try to harvest some...did you know that a hockey stick is also a good device to harvest fruit?

I thought it might be fun to see if any of our oranges would be ready too...but had second thoughts about letting the hockey players harvest them.

On Saturday, we all went to see the movie "How to Train Your Dragon" in the Imax 3-D. It was very entertaining. Afterwards, Grandpa took his grandsons golfing for a couple of hours while my mother and I went shopping.

Yesterday, we took a dray trip to Half Moon Bay (which is on the coast of California...if you have ever hear of the famous Pumpkin Festival of Half Moon Bay where they look for the largest/heaviest pumpkins, this is where they hold it every year). Our destination was Moss Beach, were, during low tide, there are these wonderful tide pools that you can investigate and see things like:

Starfish

Sea Anemone - which if you are lucky & you don't fall in, you can actually touch it and watch it pull itself back into it's hidding place.

Matthew trying to poke the sea anemone

Harbor Seals - some of the area around the bay was roped off because it was mating/birthing time for the harbor seals. We enjoyed watching them swim around and lay in the sun.

After walking around the beach for a couple of hours, we decided to find somewhere to warm up (the wind off the beach was very chilly and strong) and grab a bite to eat...before heading back home for naps.

So now that the weekend is over and Monday is upon us, it is time to move on and get ready for the week ahead. This morning I get to go up to Matthew's school to watch him in a little skit...tonight is a track meet followed by a hockey clinic. Back to routine :)

Thank you for visiting and remember:

Live, Love, Luagh and Stitch often! Lisa