The mailperson was my best friend yesterday as she delivered my Family Sampler pattern by LHN yesterday which I ordered from http://www.123stitch.com/. Once I read about this on FB as well as a few other blogs, I knew that I needed to have this and stitch it up. I have thought about doing something like this - to capture our family and have something special to hang on the wall - something stitched by me. I love the colors of this LHN pattern and the ability to customize it with no only your name and initial, but the make up of your family. It calls for CC thread as well as DMC. I probably have all the DMC, but will need to get the CC...and then just determine when to start.

The only stitching project that has a deadline right now is an ornament for the Ornament Swap group - last person is Angela, the moderator of the group - and the deadline for that is in November. I have actually picked out the pattern of her ornament and have started it. I have been trading off between the ornament and stitching on MW the last few days (when I find time to sit my butt down). So, I might get her ornament done early or at least finish it before I start a new project. That will also give me time to make sure that I have the "right" fabric and all the thread for the Family Sampler.

Last night both boys had hockey practice. I actually went down early with Robert (older son) for he had off-ice training before his ice time started; and then DH came down a little later with Matthew (younger son). It looks like this year is going to be a little challenging for Robert when it comes to hockey and school - especially when it comes to getting to bed at a decent time on the school nights when he had hockey practice. As per what we experinenced last night and last Thursday night...he gets home from school around 3:15pm, starts a little homework while eating a light meal, leaves the house around 4:15-4:30pm in order to arrive at the rink for off-ice fitness at 5:15pm which last an hour; then is hockey practice on ice for an hour and a half. That means getting back home around 9pm or so - to shower and start/finish the rest of his homework. Last night we all went to bed while he was finishing - at 12:45am this morning I got up and found him still sitting at his desk working on his English. I told Robert to finish what he could by 1am and get in bed so that he could get some sleep. When I got up to ride the stationary bike at 4:30am, I found a note on the bike to wake him up at 6am so that he could finish (which is in 15 minutes). Poor kid. At least he doesn't have practice again until Thursday, which is the day before a 4 day weekend.

Today is the last day of August. I keep watching the countdown box on the upper left hand side of my blog as it counts down to my 2nd blog-o-versary. This falls around the Thanksgiving holiday time - so as the numbers get smaller that means that Thanksgiving and the holidays are getting closer. Anyone know how to slow down time? :)

Take care everyone and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

A hockeymom's day

"Yep...we are getting back into it, eh?" As Cole, another hockeymom, commented on my last post yesterday (I added the word "eh"). Yep...School...Hockey....Hockey...School...Hockey, again...it has begun :) And when we aren't at the rink, for the kids might actually have a day/evening without practice, there is always the drills - shooting, puck handling - that take place in the garage.

Matthew working on his stick handling skills while balancing on a board
(board is held up by 2 hockey pucks stacked up on eachother)

Yesterday, while Robert (older son) and DH were at the 3-on-3 hockey jamboree/tournament, Matthew and I were at home. After getting some of the basic household errands accomplished, we then had time to go out into the garage to work on his hockey skills. Normally this has been the kind of thing that DH did with the boys every morning during the summer; while I was at work. So, this was my first time working with Matthew and I had to pass him the puck for one of the drills, so that he could shoot it into the net.  I was told that I did a pretty good job at passing...well...that is after Matthew gave me a lesson on "how to pass the puck without slapping it".

Like they say, "you learn something new every day" :)

Well, after the choas at the rink yesterday, with Robert's 3-on-3 team registration not getting submitted, the rink adminstration handled it wonderfully and the boys were able to play 5 (30 minute) scrimmages. And I think that they had a good time, but it did make for a long day - they left at 7:30am and didn't get home until 5pm.

In between the household errands, helping with Matthew's hockey garage workout, I did manage to sit down for a while and put some stitches into Mary Wigham yesterday. I am just about done with another little motif and will probably be able to post a photo of it soon.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend! Remember...
Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Stitching, stash, school and sweltering heat

Here is a status photo of where my Mary Wigham is. I have been working on the motifs on the right hand side: the ones stitched in Berry Cobbler (pink) and Picnic Basket (brown). Here is a closer photo of that area:

It is still a very enjoyable stitch, so when I do find time and sit my "bahooki" (aka bottom) down it is a lot of fun.

I also did a little stash shopping, purchasing the "September/October" monthly sampler from LHN as well as the new "Family Sampler" which just came out...unfortunately it is on back order, but since it is not something that I am going to start immediately I can wait.

So that is all the stitching news right now. Other topics - the boys started school today. Both were very excited to start the new school year and their new schools (Matthew in middle school and Robert in high school). However, both came home and said the day was fun, yet boring. For the first day of school means each class they had went over the rules...Bo-o-o-ringggg! Nevertheless, after listening to them talk about their first day experiences, they do so with much excitement.

Robert's new experience is having classes with all age groups - 9th through 12th and having some of the boys have beards and/or mustaches.

Well, as I predicted as soon as school started - summer decided to rare it's ugly head. All summer long we have experienced temperatures in the mid-70s to mid-80s. Typically our summers are well into the 90s and 100s as we live in a valley east of San Fran. With the lower temps, we have actually been living without AC and open windows. That is until last night. Yesterday the temps were in the high 90s - today it was in the low 100s (current temp at 6:45pm is 104 degrees). And once those temps go up, the fire alerts are issued. In fact, we actually have a fire going on about 20 miles or so north of us. I believe they said that it has already burned over 150 acres. There is no threat to us here (so, please no worrying) and there are no structures in danger - just a lot of wooded areas as it is a regional park.

Stitching...stash...school...sweltering heat...I think that is all the news right now.

Hope everyone is doing well - remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

I am feeling like I can just about breathe :)

Well, the last few days has been used to try and get things organized for the upcoming school year and the new hockey season. Yesterday we were able to get both the boys registered for their respective schools and, now, with that accomplished I am the proud mother of a new Middle Schooler (6th grade) and a new High Schooler (9th grade). Hard to believe that I have entered into a new phase of life where I have no child in elementary school.

School...
Registration day for both went very smoothly and quickly. It has always sounded strange to me, when I moved to California, that I had to go to the schools and "register" the boys before school started. It is a day when you have to turn in all the emerencey forms, health forms, signed acknowledgments that you are aware of the attendence policies, etc. And then of cource there is the payments you need to do for the PE clothings, the spirit wear, the year books, donations for the school, donations for the school district, donations for the science tools, etc. So filled out forms and money were the items to turn in and then once that is done, you go to the last station in the gym and get the thing you have been wanting all a long - the "reward" of the child's schedule (the dangling carrot). And as soon as the schedule is in your hands, the child snatches it only to post their schedule on their facebook account as well as txt all their friends to see who is in their classes. It definitely is an interesting world we live in.

With school basically set and each boy has some basic school supplies to get them through the first couple of days (I don't buy everything off the school supply list anymore - too expensive - I just buy what they need for their own classes) the excitement for the first day is growing.

Quick story regarding prepping Matthew for Middle school

On the printout of his schedule is his locker number and combination. Having a locker is a new thing for him and of course he was excited to see where it was and open it up before we went home to share his school schedule with DH and Robert. So we found his locker and he starts to work the combination;

"Turn combo 2x to the right until you get to #, then turn to left pass the first # until you get to the next #, then turn right to the last #"

Well, after a few tries, he gets it and has already memorized it. However, as we are walking away from the lockers, he says:

"Mom, I think the hardest thing about Middle School will be the locker combo especially when you can't remember your right from your left."

Hockey...

In addition to all the prepping for school registration, I have been working on all the hockey stuff. As I probably posted, I have volunteered again to be the team manager of Robert's team - which consist of organizing the team travel tasks (hotel, team vans, submitting rosters, etc). It always takes a few weeks to get things organized and figured out for the new season, especially working with a different coach (I have found that each coach has their own way of working with the team manager as well has having their own level of communication with the parents of the players...so I am getting use to this year's coach's style). But I think that I have the first travel tournament all coordinated and will be ready to work on the next one when more information comes out.

Both Robert (older) and Matthew (younger) have their first couple practices under their helmet and are excited about the upcoming year.

Stitching and "me" things...

While school and hockey prep are the things that have basically 'taken over' my life for the last few days, I have also been running/jogging with my older son. We started running together in the mornings in mid-July after hockey tryouts, for he wanted to keep in shape during the "down time" before the season started up. Now I have mainly been a biker - my road bike unfortunately hasn't seen the light of day for a year, but I get up and spin on a stationary bike in the morning for an hour or two before the house gets up. Robert and I started out jogging/running about 3.5 miles and then have increased it to 4-5 miles depending on how much time we had in the mornings, before he or I needed to be somewhere. We have done a couple of 9-9.5 miles runs...which we did yesterday. It has been really a treat to do this, not only for my own self fitness, but to have this time with Robert. And even though his "old mother" slows down his pace, he thinks it is pretty cool that he has a hockeymom willing to do this with him :)

So with all that going on, it has been difficult to make time to sit and stitch. I have put a couple of stitches in Mary Wigham, but really not enough to show and tell about. I will try to put some more stitches in her so that I can post a status photo soon.

Anyway, just wanted to catch up a little on my "goings on" before I start catching up on your "goings ons". Hope everyone is doing well and remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Weekend update: "It is the end of our summer as we know it..."

Well several of our laptops are still experiencing some issues left behind by the Malware virus and some have that "google-analytics" bug as I mentioned in my last post, which is a pain to get rid off...which we have not been successful yet. It is like your computer is possessed on some occasions...jumping from one website address to another or just not allowing you to sign in to specific places. Like on one of our laptops, I can pull up my blog, read and comment on your blogs, but I cannot sign into my own blog in order to post or change anything. But at least we have my little cutie laptop to use :)

Well, the weekend is here...and "It is the end of our summer as we know it" is playing in my head. The first of the early morning hockey practices kicks off the new hockey season for the boys this morning; so now our life is back in hockey mode for the next 9 months (at least). Robert's (older son) team gets going this weekend with on-ice practices, off-ice fitness training, parent/player meetings...and then since I have volunteered as team manager again there are the manager's Q&A session and club council meeting to attend. At least all of our hockey committments are in the mornings today and tomorrow...leaving the afternoons open for any summer like activities, if we still have energy (maybe we all will just go home and nap). Matthew's (younger son) team starts their practices on & off the ice next week. It is nice to get the hockey-stuff going before school kicks in...that starts Aug. 24 for both boys.

I have continued to put time and stitches into Mary Wigham this week, but haven't made enough progress to post a new photo. I am hoping to find some quiet time this weekend to put needle to thread...maybe during nap time :)

Well...just wanted to check in. Hope everyone has a good weekend and remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

The count down to craziness...

Well, for some reason August seems to feel the need to rush by...last weekend was the last weekend without any hockey commitments. So, we utilized Saturday as a stay home day to get caught up on a few things as well as start some of the "back-to-school" tasks. But first up was a little sleeping in (at least for the boys) - followed by a long run. To keep in shape after tryouts, Robert (older son) and I have been doing a little jogging together in the mornings to compliment his hockey skill workouts. We started just going for a 3-5 mile jog during the week and then added a long one on the weekend. Saturday we ended up jogging 9 miles in an hour and fifteen minutes (he probably could have finished it in less than an hour, but he had his old hockey mom to jogging behind him). So, last week I logged over 30 miles, not too bad for an over 40 year old mother who just put on her running shoes :) Now I have the jogging bug.

Yesterday, we decided to do a day trip to the beach. We had a hard time decided where to go because there has been a constant fog bank on the coast...but decided to drive up to Stintson Beach which is near the famous Muir Woods, for the weather forecast for this region was 75 and sunny. This drive always puts the fear of goodness in Matthew because of the twisty-turvy-ups-and-downs of Hwy 1. Well, as soon as we turned into the beach parking lot...not only did the disappointment of a foggy, misty day hit us all, but Matthew had to deal with the after effects the drive. Once his stomach was satisfied and he was cleaned up, we decided not to disappoint the boys. So, we got a little of the beach equipment out of the car and set up a spot where DH & I could plop down while the boys played in the sand & surf for a couple of hours. When DH and I had enough of being misted on, we packed up and headed north a little further on Hwy 1...first to find a place for lunch and second, to find a cut off that would take us to one of the main highways so we didn't have to drive back all the twisty-turvy-ups-and-downs again. I don't know if our last beach day was a good celebration to the "almost" end of summer, but it definitely was an adventure!

This week is the last week of summer camps for the boys. Matthew (younger son) really enjoyed his afternoon camp this year - and even when given the choice of staying home to "veg out" - he opted to go to the camp and play. This is the last year that he can attend this camp, for he will have aged out after this summer. The only way for him to attend next year is if he participates in the Junior Leader program...which is what Robert (older son) has been doing for the last three years. Robert's Jr. Leader schedule this year has included working at the afternoon camp Matthew attended, as well as work at a preschool camp and a Nature Day Camp. As in the past, being a Jr. Leader has been a wonderful experience for Robert and I think that this year was his most enjoyable because of the variety of camps he worked at. I believe that this is his last year for participating in the Jr. Leader program...next year I think he has the ability of actually applying for a Leader position, which is a paid position. But we will cross that bridge when it is time.

Starting the weekend of Aug. 14-15, the hockey practices start up for both boys. This is the first step to the beginning of our craziness. With both boys in a higher level of hockey that comes with higher expectations of development on and off ice, there will be ice time and fitness room time to deal with...most of the time the "off ice" skills will be scheduled for days/evenings when they also have ice - thus, making the most out of our drive to the rink.

Anyway...as hockey practices start up next weekend...school registration/orientation for Matthew (6th grader - first year of middle school) and Robert (9th grader - freshman in high school) also take place, as we gear up for the start of school on Aug. 24th.

So, while it does sound like we have a lot going on here, it is somewhat a gradual process of adding on the different activities which is much better than waking up one day and having both hockey & new school hours hit at one time. At least that is one way of looking at the next 2 weeks. :)

Stitching News...
Aside from all the daily events that occur in my house, I have decided to give "Eat, Sleep, Stitch" a little rest. Since the last time I posted a photo, I have added a few new stitches and buttons, but just need a break from it. There are a few more areas of white spaces that I am not satisfied leaving blank, but don't know what I want to do right now. So, I have put it aside and brought Mary Wigham out of hibernation over the weekend. It was like having a good friend over for a visit! I got to stitch for a couple of hours on Saturday while watching the Blues Brothers and will have a motif done soon, so will post a status photo soon.

Well, that is about it from the house of craziness. Take care my blogging friend, and remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Eat, Sleep...Stitch

First - I want to apologize to those who thought the frogs came and "attacked" a stitching project...I didn't mean to cause any panic :) Second - I do want to thank you all for the kind comments about the Quaker Patriotic Heart pillow. It was fun to stitch - and felt good to use some of my Hardanger skills that I haven't used in several years. The last time was when I stitched my sister's ring pillow (unfortunately I cannot find a photo of it right now...I hope that I didn't loose the photos when our main computer crashed a couple of years ago). Anyway, on to the next project - for I am procrastinating the bringing out of the MW project (shhh! you might wake her up).

"What am I working on now?" you so kindly ask, well I am working on this:

Purchased last month from http://www.123stitch.com/ when I bought LHN's Monthly Sampler Series "July & August" (the monthly sampler series will probably be my 2011 yearlong project - just collecting the kits this year). I saw "Eat, Sleep, Stitch" and felt that I really, really needed it to counteract the "Eat, Sleep, HOCKEY" that goes on around here 24/7. So, after I finished up the ornament and the pillow on Sunday I got a start on "Eat, Sleep, Stitch"...

(picture taken with my phone camera while biking on the stationary bike this morning...wanted to make sure that I got a shot of my status to show you this morning - just a little multi-tasking occurring at 5am this morning)

I am stitching this on the remaining 28ct white evenweave linen which used for the Quaker Patriotic Hearts -  using my own color combinations...currently using Weeks Dye Works...and stitching 1-over-1 (you can see some of my "playing around" on the bottom...stitching the patriotic hearts in different colors).

We started a crazy week here in my house hold. Robert (older son) started "working/volunteering" at an all day camp this week - working 8am-4pm. He is assigned to this camp this week and then,next week, will go back to working at the afternoon camp Matthew (younger son) is attending. However, in addition to the camp this week we are back to driving to the rink for a hockey clinic - this one is only 4 days and leads up to tryouts, which start on Friday evening and continue through the weekend. Hard to believe that the boys will be trying out for the 2010-2011 hockey season already. Well, I guess that is what we get as we treat this sport as an all year round one.

As I catch my breath, I want to thank you for visiting! Hope you have a terrific Tuesday!

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

Lisa 

First week of summer vacation

With the boys out of school, I guess you can say that summer vacation has started. Nevertheless, with DH home, I will be able to keep my "normal" routine of getting up in the mornings, working out and then going into work...leaving Mr. Mom home with the boys in the morning. In summers past, when DH was working, I would flip my work hours to afternoon while the boys attended an afternoon summer camp. The boys will still attend an afternoon camp, which starts up in a few weeks...so I guess I will get those afternoons to spend with my DH :)

This week brings some travelling before those summer camps start. Robert (older son) and I will be leaving in a couple of days, heading to Minnesota. He is on a summer hockey team who will be playing in a tournament there. We are actually going in a few days early to spend some time with one of my sisters and her family...the rest of my family is on vacation in South Carolina and are "bummed" as they will miss us when we get to town. I am also trying to set up some "get togethers" with old high school mates (I grew up in MN) whom I have re-connected with via Facebook.

On the stitching side of things...I finished the other patriotic heart (didn't have time to take a photo of it this morning, but will try to do that soon) and started on my Ornament Swap exchange. The next exchange for this group is due to be mailed the end of July, so I thought since MW was kind of taking a nap that I would get a start on this exchange so that I didn't feel the need to rush it. It also makes it easier to pack small stitching projects for a plane ride than larger one.

Did you notice the subtle changes to the look of my blog? Blogger has come up with new design templates as well as an advanced way to change the look and feel of the blog. They even have 3 column layouts...which I tried and it just didn't look right; I probably need to play around with some of the font sizes and column sizes more if I want to go with 3 columns. Anyway, as I was searching through the pre-created background designs I found the one that had watermelons...and that is one fruit I eat a lot of! I love watermelon! At our local grocery store I have become known as the "watermelon lady" for I don't walk out of there without at least 2-3 large watermelons. And I have been known to help customers choose watermelons while standing in the produce section - I thumb the watermelon and listen for that hollow sound, then pick it up to make sure that it feels slightly heavy.

Well...enough rambling for today. Hope you have a great week! Remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa

A garage sale...and MW update

Well, it has been a while since I have posted and this is the reason...prepping for our garage sale that we had yesterday. Over the last few weeks, DH and I have been cleaning out our closet and our garage trying to clean out some of the clutter that we have accumulated since we moved to CA over 6 years ago (last time we did this type of cleaning was when we moved...as we were packing boxes...it is amazing how much clutter we did have and how good it feels when it is gone). Some of the items we knew wouldn't sell, we immediately dontated to an organization. The garage sale was organized by a real estate representative who did all the ad placements, put up the sale signs and even brought a half a dozen donuts to each of the garge sale paticipants (yummy)...all we had to do was put out the merchandise, price it and sell it. After 4.5 hours, we did make some money and didn't have too much to pack up for another donation :)

The garage sale was a fun experience for the whole family! DH enjoyed the haggling with some of the early customers who were looking for deals...Robert (older son) enjoyed keeping track of what sold and at what price (thus keeping a tally on the total amount we made)...and Matthew (younger son) loved dancing with the garage sale sign at the end of our street. We had a lot of comments regarding our "dancing sign"!

"Some garage sales had bright balloons marking their location...but a cute smiling young man really caught my attention." said one lady.

"I know that you don't have any old cookie jars because I asked that nice little boy...but there was something about the sparkle in his eyes that told me that I still needed to check out what you were offering." said another.

Matthew really knew how to bring in the traffic :)

When it was all over and things were cleaned off, I sat down to cool off and stitch for a while. I was able to finish up a motif on MW - which I am very excited about because it was very tedious. I think I like the more geometric ones that I can just stitch mindlessly, allowing for a rhythem of stitching and some meditation time. Anyway...here is what my MW looks like:

And this is the spot...the flower-like motif...that I finished up:

You might have noticed that I have not stitched any of the initals...I am debating whether to stitch the initials as per the pattern, making it more true to a "reproduction" of the "original" or stitch initals or names of my family. I will probably continue to think/debate on this while I stitch it - for it is something that I can definitely leave until last :)

Now that I am done with the flower-like, tedious motif and on to an easier geometric one...I have decided to take a little break from MW and stitch a quick design...Quaker Style Patriotic Heart Freebie. Here is a photo of what the design looks like - but note, this is not mine (I did started stitching it, but forgot to take a picture of it before starting this post. I will post a photo of it when I am done).

I stitched mine on 28ct white evenweave...so I will probably need to use an ecru color instead of white so that the design will show up...but oh well, it is a fun and quick stitch; something that I needed right now :)

hope everyone is having a good weekend!

remember...live, love, laugh and stitch often!

Lisa

Happy June!

Can you believe that it is June already...the 6th month of the year...the year is 1/2 over...the holidays will be hear in less than 6 months - Yikes. This month brings the last days of school for the boys and graduation for each one: Robert will finish 8th grade/middle school - graduate and will start high school next year; Matthew will finish 5th grade/elementary school - graduate and will start middle school next year. They have this week to "suffer" through (meaning finals and any last minute papers or projects) and next week it is "just fun with school friends" (meaning they have end of the year activities - Robert goes to an amusement park and Matthew goes bowling) - then it all concludes with separate graduation ceremonies on Friday, June 11...I am sure that I will have stories and photos to share after this event.

Stitching News....

I saw on the Ornament Swap 2010 Blog that Lori received the ornament I stitched for her. I stitched an ornament from the Christmas Ornament edition of Just CrossStitch (I think that it was the 2007 edition...don't have that information right in front of me right now). It is a SamSarah design - I used 28ct evenweave fabric and used DMC thread called for. Lori received some beautiful ornaments...you will have to go to the post she wrote yesterday on the Ornament Swap blog to see her photos. 

I did make some time to put some stitches in MW over the long weekend, but the motif I am working on has been a little tedious for me...and my focus has been on:

1 - Preparing for the upcoming Garage Sale

Over the last several weeks, DH and I have been going through our closet and the garage - taking needed time to "weed" through all the stuff we have accumulated since we moved here over 6 years ago. Boy! The stuff certainly grew over the years. Now that we have determined which stuff we wanted to keep...which stuff was garage sale material...which stuff was donatable...and which stuff was just plain trash...it seems that our closet has grown in size and our garage can actually fit 2 cars :) The garage sale is Saturday, June 5...so yesterday I spent some time organizing it and pricing it. Friday DH said that he was going to get some tables to put up and I will put the finishing touches on it...before the garage door is thrown open to the public.

2 - Finishing the Garden

With all the weeding and pruning complete, it was time to check all the sprinklers and attack the flower bed...which was our duty on Sunday. DH got all the sprinkler heads tested and determined that we only needed to replace 2 this year - not too bad. So during our trip to Lowes, he got his sprinkler supplies and I went over to the gardening section and picked out 2 nice tomato plants, as well as 2 strawberry plants to add to our strawberry bed. In the afternoon, I had those 4 plants in the garden and the drippers all arranged. We don't plant a lot of produce in the backyard...just enough to feel like we do :) The last task of summer preparation of our garden, is cleaning out the humming bird feeder and putting out fresh nectar. I have a recipe (1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of water) that I use and our local hummingbird residents seem to enjoy it.

3 - Homework Task Master

That is right...over the weekend homework was being done in our house. It seems that weekend homework has been a part of Robert's schedule since he started 8th grade. But that is coming to an end, as mentioned above. He had to prepare for 3 finals, which he is taking today, and start writing a 5 paragraph paper which isn't due until a week from today (so I guess he will have homework next weekend as well).

Lastly, my mind seem to be preoccupied at some points about DH being at home now that he is finished with his previous job and is looking for the next endeavor. It is going to be very strange...odd...weird...going off to my part-time job in the morning and leaving him in the house...and then coming back home around 1pm to find him in the house. It is not a bad thing necessarily - having him at home - but it will be something that I will have to get use to until he finds the next job.

Well - still hard to believe that it is June. I hope that you all enter into the month with much happiness and health...and remember to:

Love, Live, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa

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

Finally Friday...but wish that it didn't come so fast

First...I would like to say "Thank you" to all the Anniversary Well Wishes. DH and I didn't do anything special that day to celebrate, but we did acknowledge the milestone with special thoughts of our life together. As tacky as this sounds...he sent me a very special email recounting our life together and what it means to him. I was reading it while getting the boys ready for hockey and tears were developing in my eyes. Matthew looked over and asked why I was crying...I told him that I loved his father and he loved me. Matthew looked at me and said, "ok, whatever." Kids...got to love them :)

Well, we find ourselves at Friday - the last official day of the spring break (yes, we do have the weekend ahead of us, but I really don't consider that part of spring break). I did enjoy the time home with the kids...even though we still had evenings with hockey to run to. I did enjoy the opportunity to sleep in...but did jump out of bed this morning to get back into the routine as we do have some early morning things to attend to. 

Yes, it is Friday - which brings us the first day of Matthew's State Hockey Finals. His first game is today at 11am, but he has to be down in San Jose around 9:45am for warm-ups and stretching out. Yesterday I ironed on the letter "A" on his jerseys, for he has been chosen to be one of the assistant captains of his team - a special role. I wish the kids good luck! Go Tri-Valley Blue Devils Squirt A team...go Matthew!

Yes, it is Friday - which brings us to the day that Robert gets braces put on. I will be taking him to the ortho this morning (thus, missing Matthew's first state final's game); what a way to end Spring Break, huh? Well, this should have been done earlier...like way back in August so that we would have had most of the expense taken care of before DH was done with his current job (that is a subject for another post at another time).

And, yes, it is Friday - a day to show off some of my stitching to my blog friends. First up...I head from Lisa V, as she received the ornament I sent to her (Ornament Swap). Here is what I made for her:

I knew that she like snowmen and Prairie Schooler designs...so I stitched up this guy, using the colors it called for and Lakeside Linen (might be 32ct). I added a little Krienk Blending Filament to the snowflakes to put a little glitter on them...and then a little red flower button on the snowman's hat. It was a fun one to stitch up and finish.

Next, an update to my Mary Wigham...

I finished the flower motif (the one with a stem in GAST grape leaf and flowers in GAST berry cobbler) without frogging the little error and then went onto the squirrel motif and the little motifs around the squirrel. I am waiting to stitch the initial as per the pattern, because I am thinking about personalizing it with the initials of my family and maybe even the birth dates...but I want to finish stitching all the motifs first.

The squirrel area stitched up pretty quickly...so, I started the last motif on the top right-hand corner (not in either photo) - hoping to finish that this weekend before I have to put MW into hibernation on Monday. Monday is the day that I need to start kitting up two exchanges - Lizzie Kate and the Seasonal Exchange - for the upcoming trip to Washington D.C. I am going as a chaperon for Robert's 8th grade class. We leave next Wednesday at 3am in the morning...and I have a little organizing I need to do for that as soon as the weekend is over.

That is the Friday update, my blogging friends. This evening we are planning a Family dinner, something that we haven't done in awhile - thought it would be nice to grill up some meat and sit down as a way to end a relaxing spring break as well as have a little celebration of our Anniversary, a celebration of Robert's awesome 3rd quarter report card, a celebration of Matthew's hockey teams advance to state finals and just a celebration of what our life is - wonderfully blessed. 

I wish you a very happy Friday and may it be blessed with love, family and friends! Lisa

Mummbling on Monday

Hi all...hope you had a nice weekend and Easter holiday. Out in the backyard, the boys found plastic eggs most of them were filled with dollar bills - guess the bunny knew that the boys weren't big candy eaters (and that Mom & Dad really didn't need the sugar and calories). And with the boys getting ready to take some trips: Robert to DC for the 8th grade trip and Matthew to Chicago for an upcoming hockey tournament - personal spending money comes in handy. After a quick Easter egg hunt and breakfast, DH took both boys to the rink for a 2-1/2 hour practice and I stayed home and cleaned the bottom floor of the house. I know, not the most exciting thing to do when one has the house to themselves...but it really needed to be done and with everyone out of my hair, it makes for a good situation to really focus.

PIF Announcement...Kelly and Brandy will be receiving a special package in the mail from me probably sooner than later, even thought the guidelines say that I have a year. I have sent both of you an email requesting your snail mail address. 

After reading the comments on my last post, as well as on the Mary Wigham SAL-USA blog, I wanted to thank everyone for the support of just leaving my "error".  I have just left it and finished that flower/vine motif and moved onto the one with the squirrel...which I am just about finished with and will probably be posting a photo in the next couple of days. 

Spring Break is in full force this week, but I cannot report that it is going to be too exciting. We are not planning to go anywhere or take any exciting day trips because: 

1. Robert (older son) has some homework to do...with the 8th grade Washington DC trip coming soon (April 14-19) the teachers have been very nice to give the kids missing school those days the majority of their homework to work on over the Spring Break (if they choose to) so that they don't have to worry about it while on the trip. Influenced by his school mates on Facebook, he got up this morning and is fired up to get all of his history completed today (guess there is some good that does come from chatting with friends late at night on Facebook)
2. Matthew (younger son) has hockey practice...his team advanced to State Finals, which takes place this coming weekend with the first game being played Friday @ 11am. Since we believe that practices are important to play in games (kind of like studying for a test), Matthew will be at the last 2 practices leading up to the State Finals Weekend.
3. Hockey Academy Clinic (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday)...both boys have been enrolled in a spring clinic which takes place in the evenings down in San Jose. It started a couple of weeks ago and goes until May 20th. Robert will attend all three evenings this week, but Matthew only 2 because his practice takes priority Monday (tonight).

So that basically covers the majority of the activities we will be doing this week during Spring vacation - however we will need to find time to do a little shopping for nice clothing for Robert for the DC trip - he was chosen as one of the 4 who will be laying the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier...so he will need a shirt, tie and nice pants for that. He will also need some nice clothing for when we tour the White House. I say "we" because I have signed up/paid to go as a chaperon. I am getting just as excited as he is, for it is going to be a wonderful trip!

Well, blogging friends...thank you again for visiting. Hope you have a good week and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Saturday Stitching Status Report & Other Updates

Well, I find myself up and going on Saturday morning, the first official start to the boys' spring vacation. They got out yesterday at 12:30pm; well, Matthew (younger son) did. Robert (older son) had to stay after and make up a Spanish test - what a bummer of a start to his vacation, huh? He was going to try and take it during class, since they really weren't doing anything for the 40 minutes except for having a party (during 1/2 days, they do attend all their classes but they are shorter versions); but because the music was loud and the kids were partying, he thought it would have been a distraction for Robert and, thus, told him to take it after school. So, for the 40 minutes of the class - not only did the kids goof off, but some of them even left the class to join parties in the other classes. It would have been better just to start spring break a little earlier (or at least let Robert take his test). Nevertheless, it really wasn't a big deal...just one of those things that happen.

Stitching Updates

I know that I posted "A Walk in the Park" earlier in the week, but I thought I would post it again. I heard from my sister on Thursday evening. The gift had arrived in Minnesota and she loved it! I didn't talk with her directly, but she left a long message on my voice mail saying that she is going to use the box to save Max's collar, photos and other mementos (it is one of those unfinished cigar boxes from Michael's which I painted the outside black and lined the interior in the fabric that you see on the little circle buttons). That is exactly what I was thinking when I made the gift for her :)

Mary Wigham Update

Here is where I am with MW. I have really been working on it every chance I have - it is addicting - but I find that I really need to focus. Not only because I am stitching on 40ct - 1 strand over 2 - but it is very easy to get the counting off. And while most people wouldn't notice....the counting is messed up in the little berry colored flower on the top of the green stem, as I noticed last night. Now, since I am just about done with the flower (still have a few more stitches to put into it before I call it complete) I am trying to decide: 

1. Do I let the "messed up" count go? It wouldn't mess up the placement of any other motif and no one looking at it would point to the "mistake" and say: "OMG, Lisa, you messed that up!"
2. Do I rip out the flower and start over? I know that it is messed up, and for awhile it would bother me. But the phrase: "It is ok to make mistakes, only God is perfect." goes through my head. When I was in Girl Scouts, many years ago, and we were working on our craft badge, one of the other girls was in tears because she "messed up" her Christmas ornament. It "wasn't perfect" she told the leader, "and it needs to be perfect because it is for my mother." That is when we stopped and got lectured about living up to the best of our abilities. Strange how back then it was "ok" to talk about God in something like Girl Scouts and now it would be frowned upon.

Anyway...those are the 2 options I am struggling with.  And here is a close up of the area that I have been working on this week and were the impending "error" is:

On the agenda for today...Matthew has a hockey scrimmage around 4pm today as they are getting ready to go to State Finals next week. They are scrimmaging the other Northern California team in order to work on their team skills. Tomorrow (yes, on Easter Sunday) they have practice from 10:15am-12:45pm. Just enough time to see if the Easter Rabbit came (which reminds me, I need to get prepared for that little bunny to visit) and eat breakfast. Don't forget to enter in the PIF give-a-way (click on "pif" to make sure that you sign up on the right post). The "rules" state that I must send to 2 people...I do have one and I will follow through with my obligations for that 1...but the more the merrier! Tomorrow is the deadline.

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

Friday Fotos...Spring, Sheep and Stitches

This morning, after taking the boys to school, I grabbed my camera and took the dog for a quick walk. The sun was shining without a cloud in the sky...the air was cool and crisp...songs of birds filled the spring air. It was wonderful. On my walk, I looked at the hills that surround the neighborhood and on the one I spoke of yesterday, I caught the shepherd and his dog working with the sheep (he & dog are somewhat located in the upper middle of the photo):

The sheep have worked their way to the side of the hill that faces us. From my son's window, we can see the areas where they have eatten the tall grass down to the ground. When fire season starts up, we will definitely feel appreciation to the shepherd and his sheep!

Continuing my walk with the dog, we pass up a lot of flowering bushes.

I am not sure what the name of these bushes are - but who ever landscaped our neighborhood must of had the flower colors in mind when planning for the spring. The purples and the pinks of these really put one in the Easter mood. And don't forget these flowering crab-apple trees that I posted a photo of yesterday...

When you walk through these trees at full bloom, you almost feel like you are walking in a Winter-wonderland...and I prefer walking amoung flowering trees than trees full of snow, don't you?

Lastly, on some of the trellises around the neighborhood park are the wisteria beginning to bloom:

These always remind me of grapes on a grape vine ready to be harvest. Now back at home from our little walk, the dog runs into the garage to get a drink of water and I see that our little Cali-lily plant continues to grow and flower without any maintainance...it grows like a weed!

Thank you for coming on my early morning spring walk with me and sharing the sights...now to reward you for making it this far in the post here are some stitching photos:

First a finish to show:

"A Walk in the Park"

by Little House Needleworks

stitched on 36ct linen (forgot the name)

DMC floss - black & white - stitching 2 over 2

button from Just Another Button Company

finished by mounting it on a cigar box from Michaels; painted box black and wrapped round wooden buttons with fabric purchased at Jo-Anns.

This is a gift for my sister who lost her canine friend in December. Maxie, as she called him, was with her for a long time and became her best friend. I know she misses him.

And now that I am caught up with my "exchange" project (for a little while as I have 2 to complete by May 1) - I have pulled out my Mary Wigham.

Here is what is looks like now - and because I don't have a quick reference to what it looked like before taking it out of hibernation, here is a photo of the motif I finished last night (GAST: Tinbucket):

Well, Blogging Buddies...thank you for making it to the end of this long post. I hope that you enjoyed our spring walk together ending in stitches!

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

Lisa

Happy Spring

In Northern California, spring time seemed to arrive a few weeks ago as all the flowering trees have looked like the one above - like someone had hot glued white pom-poms...or on the ones that have pink blossoms: pink pom-poms. In our neighborhood, all the trees seem to blossom at different times - so some of the streets have trees that have lost their blossoms and area already dressed in their summer leaves...but down the street from our house the trees just puffed out with their floral dresses, so we get to enjoy the colors. In addition to the trees, there are a lot of wild flowers that bloom on the hill side.

There are even wild California Poppies (the state flower) that show up. These are fun to watch, because they open their pedals in the morning and in the evening they close up. Also on the hill is some wild sweet clover that blooms in yellow and some purple...which is a beautiful contrast to the green of the grass. Nature certainally stitches a beautiful spring picture! But we have to enjoy it now! In about 2 months everything will be brown due to the lack of water. Here we have 2 seasons: green and brown!

This week we have been enjoying out evenings at home for the most part. Since Robert (older son) hockey season came to an end, we haven't had to drive down the San Jose for hockey practices for him. He has, though, started up with school track - which practices are after school. And even though Matthew (younger son) still has hockey practice, they take place at a rink near the house - so don't have to travel very far for those. So this has given us a change to rest & relax and catch up on life.

However, DH came home from the crazy hockey weekend with a very bad cold/cough - so I have been playing nurse: making sure that he rests (he has been coming home early from work to nap - which has upset my afternoon routine), gets plenty of liquids (I made some chicken soup for him to have for dinner), and has been taking his med (a combo of Sudafed and Mucinex). Little by little he is recouperating and therefore I am getting my afternoons back, which I found are good napping times because I have been feeling drained lately.

However, I do have some stitching finishes and an update to talk about (and will show photos soon):

1. Ornament Exchange - I have not only finished the ornament for Lisa V, but got it in the mail to her. So as soon as it lands in Australia I will post a photo of that finish.
2. Gift for Sister - I finish stitching "A Walk in the Park" and have mounted it on a little wooden cigar box. I just need to photograph it and get it in the mail. I am not sure if she reads my blog on a regular basis...but just to play it safe, I think I will wait until she receives it to post a photo
3. An Update - Mary Wigham came out of hibernation and I have put some stitching in last night. It felt so good to put needle/thread to the project, that I couldn't put it down...the desire to stitch was greater than my drive to exercise last night and stitching won...so I sat on my stitching butt and stitched.

Well, that is all the updates I have for you today. I hope to have some stitching photos soon to share with you the finishes listed above and an update on Mary. In the meantime, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa