Tea for 2...and a finish to show you!

I have this little "app" on my yahoo inbox (or somewhere) that tells me when someone's birthday is coming up. I get emails about 2 weeks before the event and the again about 4 days before. I don't know if this is something that I signed up for or if it just happens, but anyway...I found out that it was my neighbor's birthday today. I know that she loves tea because she helped me plan and host a tea party a couple of years ago for Matthew's (younger son) 3rd grade class (he is in 5th grade now). I did all the "room mom/party planning" stuff and she did a presentation on teas. So, when I found out that it was her birthday, I pulled a Lizzie Kate tea pattern out of my stash, found some chocolate color linen ivmy stash and then started going through my thread stash (thus, not following the color key and really didn't complete the entire pattern) and found a great matching button...in my stash...and created this quick finish. To totally finish her gift, I backed it with some autumn looking fabric (which looked like it had tea leaves on it)...which I also had in my stash, and then attached it to the top of a nice square glass container (which I did have to purchase at Michael's yesterday) .

I added a little twine and beads around the glass jar, some of the charms say "Live, Love, Laugh" and the other says "Dare to Dream"...and then I filled it with all sorts of teas (from my tea stash of course). I hope that she likes it...we haven't exchanged or acknowledged eachother's birthdays before - only the kids a couple of times. But over the six years we have lived here, she and I have come to rely on eachother - either by watching eachother's house when the other travels or helping out with the kids.

Just wanted to do a little "show and tell" hope your week is going well and Happy Wednesday - we are 1/2 way to the weekend!

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

A win... A list...some weather...and much appreciation

Good morning (or afternoon) dear friends, I hope that Tuesday finds you well. I was able to get in my early start - on the bike spinning, catching up on my Farmville on FB, reading and commenting on dear friend blogs and updating mine. Sounds like a good productive morning.

Yesterday I got an email from Edgar from Blacksheep's Bit of the Web. I really enjoy reading his blog because of the treasure hunts (aka Estate Sales) he goes on all over San Fran - he really should be a tour guide, for I haven't been to many of the places he mentions...when we go to San Fran, we typically play "tourist" and only make it from Pier 1 (Ferry Building) to Pier 41 (Fisherman's Wharf). I think that we need to get out and explore a little. Well...back to the reason for the email...I WON the Sail Away give-a-way! I watched/read Edgar's stitching progress of this design and then when he posted that he was going to pass it on - I entered the drawing. I am glad that I exercised will power when I was at NiaH on Sunday - because I saw the kit there and thought about it.

And now for my stitching "to do" list (more for my acknowledgment - but sometimes it is better to make it public in order to commit):

1. Finish Trick or Treat - so that I can actually enjoy it a little before the Halloween decorations have to come down
2. Lizzie Kate Exchange - mail date: November 1
3. CindyMae Quaker Christmas Ornaments models - due October 29
4. Personal Orn Exchange (Heather) - November 15
5. Personal Orn Exhange (Angela) - November 24

Boy...we had another bad rain storm, right in time for "going home traffic". Or for me, it was "driving to the hockey rink traffic". From home to San Jose typically takes 35-45 minutes depending on the level of traffic - but yesterday it took 1hour and 15 minutes. Robert (older son) was able to finish an English paper in the car, take a 30 minute nap and change into his hockey gear in the back seat. Thank goodness that we left at 4 - for we did make it and Robert stepped on the ice just as the clinic was starting. However, when considering all the time it too us to get to the rink (1 hour 15 min) and the time that it took us to get home (another hour and 15 minutes)...the clinic was only an hour long. Doesn't seem like a really good investment in time (or gas) does it? And on top of all that, Robert still had homework to do when he got home; which he finished up at 10pm.

Thank you all for being here, your supports and comments. I couldn't believe when I saw that I had 10 comments on my last post, I think that was the most I have ever received since I have been blogging. Thank you all so much, it really does mean a lot! Well, I have to leave you right now - I hope that you have a wonderful Tuesday and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh

and 

Stitch Often!

Lisa

Trick or Treat - update

Trick or Treat

Smell my feet

Give me something good to eat

I am sorry...not a pleasant way to start Sunday morning. I thought I would post a photo of the status of "TorT". Doing one letter at a time, including the back stitching, really makes the project go quickly. After taking the photo last night before I went to bed, I got a little of the E (in trEat) started. This continues to be a really fun stitch - with bring colors and a whimisical feel. The glow in the dark Krenik is really cool too! Last night, I let is sit in the light for a few minutes and then took in my sons' rooms (when I went to tell them good-night) and when I turned off the light, anywhere the GitD thread was used, it actually glowed. "That's cool, mom!" Matthew (youngest) yelled.

Here is a close up of "K" and Witchy Poo (do you remember H.R. Pufinstuf and Jimmie & his magical flute named Freddy? - I know, this dates me).The letter "K" contains some of the confetti Krienk #8 braid. I am also finding this fun to us and if I manipulate it as I stitch, sometime flecks of blue stick out and sometime it is the yellow that stands out.

And here is a close up of the "A" and the "T". The pattern in the magazine does have an error...on the top of the "A" there were a few symbols for the electric blue color - but I just followed my gut feeling, as well as the color picture that accompanied the pattern. A little electric blue would have not looked correct on the candy corn "A" (I love candy corns...did you know that they now make them in chocolate flavors?)! I am not totally happy with the witch's cat - his eyes look droopy. The glow-in-the-dark Krenik didn't cross perfectly on the right eye, but I assume since he is stuck being a witch's cat, he might not be too happy. For I have heard that some witch's cats are not treated very well...so maybe he is somewhat sad. The squares in the "T" are satin stitched instead of crossed - and I like the way it turned out adding a little "extra-special-something" for that letter. I almost wish that I would have satin stitched the white squares in the "I"...oh, well.

I believe that I will be done with this very soon. Today I will be taking Matthew (younger son) to his hockey practice this morning...which just happens to be located somewhat near my LNS...Needle in a Haystack. So, I might just have to run over there after practice and after lunch. I really don't need anything (do we really ever need anything?) but it is hard to be that close and not go (for NiaH is about 35 miles or so from where I live). 

As far as the "little procedure" I had on Friday morning...it went well and I seem to be recoving pretty well. Thank you very much for the very kind comments left on Fridays entry. It means a lot to me. As I have said manytimes, I am still very overwhelmed how close we all seem to get by just blogging. I have found myself reaching out to many of you more so than some of my close friends...interesting, huh?

Well...I will leave you now and hope you have a wonderful Sunday! 

Remember to Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

 

It is Friday already!

Thank goodness it is Friday! This week feels like it has flown by...which I am glad. I am going in for a little medical procedure, which I have been waiting to get done. Nothing serious mind you; just something I need to get done. Going in early this morning and will be home before lunch...and then just rest the remaining of the day. We do not have a lot of activities during the weekend, just some hockey (go figure) - however it is easily managable by DH, so I can just lay low the remainder of the weekend.

I have been working on Trick-or-Treat a little this week - but found out that it was my neighbor's birthday next week, so I put that down to quickly stitch a little Lizzie Kate design. I will put some photos up of that and the status of Trick or Treat probably on Sunday.

Well...just thought I would quickly check in. Take care and remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!
Lisa

An afternoon "day trip" before hockey game

With DH and Robert (older son) in Colorado this week, Matthew (younger son) and I are enjoying our weekend together. But it isn't without any hockey - for he had one game yesterday and one this afternoon. Yesterday's game was in Santa Rosa, California (which is about an hour and a half from where we live) and didn't start until 6:30pm. However, Santa Rosa was the home of Charles Schultz, the cartoonist of Snoopy & the Peanuts - so we decided to leave right after lunch and visit the Charles Schultz museum and the gift shop before needing to be at the rink. And, the rink is right by the museum - for Schultz loved hockey and skating and built the rink. It is very cute.

Anyway, first we went to the museum. On the top floor of the museum, it has one room which is set up as the office of Charles Schultz showing photos of his family, his books and his desk where he sat and drew all the cartoons. Another room on the top floor covered the story of his life from when he was born until his death. On the bottom floor, they have a rotating display of Peanut cartoons, which they display in certain themes - currently they were highlighting sports and music, both were important to Schultz and he used these theme in Peanut cartoons. Like Schoder played the piano...Charlie Brown and the gang played baseball a lot...Snoopy and Woodstock played hockey on the birdbath, and so on.

Outside in the courtyard of the museum, they have several status of peanut characters, like Linus, Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Woodstock. In fact there are characters all over the museum grounds and the grounds of the skating rink. Here is Matthew with Woodstock and another photo with him and Snoopy.

While we were at the museum, Matthew and I worked on some activities which they handed out to us when we entered in the museum. The activities was a cross word puzzle, a maze and a hidden picture puzzle. In order to finish some of the activities we had to visit a few of the different statues in the court yard because they offered some hints to the puzzle (for example the Linus sculpture actually had the finished crossword puzzle on the back - so, I guess it wasn't quite a hint as it was actually the answer). So, with a little "cheating" we were able to finish the puzzles and Matthew got a Peanuts pencil case as a prize.

Before leaving the museum, we enjoyed "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" for they were showing it in their little theater. There is just something about the Peanuts cartoons that bring back memories from my childhood. I remember watching these holiday cartoons...sitting around the TV with my sisters and parents...the Dolly Madison commercials. Now, after watching "The Great Pumpkin" it feels like Halloween.

Well, after the visit to the museum, it was time to get the hockey gear out of the car and get a good snack for Matthew before warm ups and the hockey game.

Snoopy Home Ice - The Redwood Empire Ice Rink is very cute and has a lot of history associated with it as it pertains to Charles Schultz. But instead of blogging about it, I attached the link so if you are interested in visiting it and/or reading about it, you can. Matthew and his team finally got ready for the game - which they ended up winning 12 to 3, and Matthew even scored a couple of goals. This was a preseason game, as Northern California use the first couple of weekends to determine where to place all the youth hockey teams (designating them either as "A" or "B" in order to set up the season games, making sure that the competitiveness is pretty equal between the teams).

The game ended around 8pm and we didn't get back home until 10pm. It is a long drive in the dark; but it was a fun afternoon. In the meantime, Robert (older son) - they lost their 2 games yesterday (so they have won 2 and lost 2). They are playing their last game as I type this entry and due to their 2 losses, will not be playing in the championship...so DH and Robert might find an earlier flight out of Colorado and get back home earlier tonight. This afternoon...Matthew has another game, but at least it is on their home rink, which is somewhat near our house. It is going to be a challenging game, so we really don't expect the team to win this one.

Well...I will end this post now. I have doing some model stitching for CindyMae; hoping to finish the 3 of 5 ornaments so that I can pick up my Trick or Treat to work on this week. We are suppose to be having some storms coming in here on Tuesday - which means lots of rain...which really means good stitching weather.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! Remember - Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa

A True Hockey Mom

When a hockey mom can't be at a game in person, what does she do? Purchase the a "live" game on line, wip out her latest cross stitch and watch. Robert's team won their first game this morning 6-1. They are playing their second game of the day and it is the beginning of the 2nd period (fyi...there are 3 periods in hockey). The score is 0-0. Well, got to get back to the game and to my stitching.

Hope everyone's Friday evening is going well!

Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often (especially infront of a hockey game if possible)

Lisa

Edited @ 8:30pm (pacific time)...Robert's team won their game this evening, beating Team AZ 95s 3-0. This was their 2nd win of the day, for the beat the Utah Chadder's 6-1. Two wins today...tomorrow they have another 2 games to play...Go Jr. Sharks!

Show and Tell..."yes" we have some photos

Well, as promised, here is a photo of "Trick or Treat" - I am all the way to the "k".

And here are some close ups of the detail. I love the way the letters and the little characters look when they are outlined (backstitched) in black. It really makes the design "pop".

My favorite letter so far is the C...the 'man in the moon'.

So - there you go...I kept my promise :)

Now, another quick show and tell. Throughout the month of September Cameo held a daily give-a-way, kind of a great opportunity for her to do some stash cleaning and some of us to increase our stash. Today I received my package of all the winnings I won. It was like Christmas.

So that is my "Show and Tell" for you today.

Hope your Wednesday is going well...got to go finish folding laundry before the boys get home.

Lisa

A Mid-Week Update

Up and going early this morning, which is a good thing as I did manage to sleep in yesterday morning. I am not a coffee drinker, so unless I can get up and get in a good spin in the morning before life starts, I feel like toast...so that is about how my day went yesterday. While I got a lot of stitching in over the weekend, I really haven't touched a needle Monday or Tuesday (and I do owe you a photo of Trick or Treat).

The last two days are a blur. Both evenings Robert (older son) had hockey practice, which always takes time to organize the family's evening to accomodate that activity, especially when I need to drive down to the rink. He has practice tonight as well, but thank goodness for carpools....I do not have to drive to San Jose!!! Anyway, all this practicing this week leads up to another tournament for him and his team. Tomorrow evening DH and Robert are leaving for Colorado (I get to stay home this time - yahoo!) and they will be gone until Sunday evening. Having this time at home with Matthew (younger son) is always welcomed. This year, with both boys in travel hockey again, DH and I will probably do more alternating the travel. Last year, as team manager of Robert's team, there seemed more need for me to travel - but this year, things are a little more laid back with more of the families stepping up to help out. Also, DH said that he would be ok doing the "check in" stuff required at tournaments. So, that frees me up to spend time with Matthew more this year and give DH the opportunity to travel with Robert and see him play. Now if we can just find a time when DH and I get to travel and leave the boys behind.

Well...don't want to bore you anymore. I will try to get a picture of Trick or Treat posted this afternoon to show you the status of it. Boy...when the back stitching is done things really come alive!

Take care...and until next time remember: Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Saturday's Stitching Update, Stash Weakness and a Salute to Friendship

I thought I would start our today's post with a update on my progress on "Trick-or-Treat". It is coming along as I am working on the "C" which is a man-in-the-moon. As soon as I get that done, I will go back and back stitch the I an the C before moving on to the K. Since Halloween is (somewhat) around the corner, I am hoping to get a lot of work done on this over the weekend. However, I might have to make a trip into my "not so" LNS because the Krenik Glow in the Dark seems to be running low already and I would hate to run out before it is done. I did run to another needlework store that is local. It is called 2 the Point. This shop specializeds in Needle point - but they do have a wonderful selection of threads. When I need to satisfy my craving for color and thread, I drive down to this store and just walk around the perimeter of the store looking at all the thread. Unfortunately I experienced low will power yesterday during my visit - for while I was only going there to look for some glow in the dark Krenik, I happed to spy:

1. A new magnetic accessory keeper by a company called Namaste. The outside has sort of a soft leather/vinyl feel. There is a little snap on the outside...and on the inside, there is a suade like covering over magnet. So it holds needles, scissors and any other accessories you might have. I chose the color eggplant (kind of a purply color). (note: the scissors and other accessories I already had in my stash...didn't go that crazy

2. Sampler Threads from The Gentle Art - a couple new colors: Grasshopped and Mistletoe...but then I felt the need to pick up a few other colors that would be good for Christmas ornaments.

It was a nice little fix to my stash craving, but I still need the glow-in-the dark color for Trick-or-Treat, for they were out of it.

It has been a crazy week, so I am glad that it is the weekend. But as DH mentioned last night - we always get a stunned chuckle from friends and family when we tell them that we actually wake up earlier on the weekends then we do on the weekdays. For the last couple of weekends, Robert (older son) has had practices on the weekends either starting at 6:15am or 8:00am. Which means that we need to get up at 4:30 in the morning (that is when I make the waffles or pancakes, good thing to fill the belly before practice) for breakfast and packing the hockey gear up; then DH & son have to leave around 5 to be down at the rink by 5:45am. At least with an early practice, we will have the rest of the day to do something. However, Robert does have a backpack filled with homework, which he will need to work on today because tomorrow is another practice (followed by off-ice workout and another ice time - thus he will not get back home until 2:30). And my younger son, Matthew...well he has practice but not until Sunday night. But he is in desperate need for tennis shoes, so I guess a trip to the shoe shop is on my agenda for sometime this weekend.

As I said, it was a crazy week. Actually life has been a little strange lately. Not only have I been busy with work, supporting the kids' school work and dealing with hockey stuff...but there has been some personal things going on which just make one grateful for what you have and the love/support of family and friends. So, I am going to close this post with a couple of writings - and remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible
comfort of feeling safe with a person;
having neither to weigh thoughts nor
measure words, but to pour them
all out, chaff and grain together,
knowing that a faithful hand will take
and sift them, keep what is worth
keeping, and then, with
the breath of kindness,
blow the rest away.

George Eliot

The most I can do for my friends is simply to be their friend.  I have no
wealth to bestow upon them.  If they know that I am happy in loving them,
they will want no other reward.  Is not friendship divine in this?

Henry David Thoreau

Carolyn's Friendship RR is complete and ready to send on...

Just a quick post...I have added my heart on to Carolyn's Friendship RR and will be able to put hers and Marian's in the mail to Karen tomorrow.

Monday Morning...need to recoup from the weekend

Well I am up and going on this (dark...sun isn't even up yet) Monday morning. It is funny how we all use to look forward to the weekends to rest, recoup and maybe even get some things done around the house. The weekends were a time to "take it easy" and rest up for the work/school week - to rejuvenate our energy in preparation for the next week. However, now a days it is just 2 more days in the week, were we need to run the kids from one activity to the next, to make sure that they get their weekend homework done before Monday. I feel that we run around more on the weekend and almost use some of the week days to rest up. Oh, well. No use in complaining - for that is the lifestyle that we have chose - keeps us all going!

The majority of the weekend was hockey for the boys. Robert (older son) had early morning practices on Saturday and Sunday; which DH takes care of - I only choose to wake up when they do and make sure that Robert has a healthy breakfast, his water bottle and recovery food for after practice (typically banana, applesauce and some kind of granola bar or, this weekend: homemade banana bread). While they are at practice I typically get my exercise out of the way, while doing my Facebook stuff and/or reading & comment on blogs. On both. Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Matthew (younger son)'s hockey team had preseason games. They won both. The preseason games help determine whether a team will be going "A" (a 2nd year team in that particular age group and typically one that plays pretty well) or "B" (typically a 1st year team in that particular age group and is still developing).

Over the weekend I was able to work on the CindyMae Designs models (got one of the ornaments stitched). So, now I will put that down today and work on the Carolyn's Friendship RR in order to get the RRs I have here in the mail as soon as possible.

Well...that is all for now. I wish you all a happy Monday.
Take care and remember...Live, Laugh, Love and Stitch Often! Lisa

WIPs...RRs...and other things.

It is Saturday...yahoo! I haven't been able to update my blog as much as I wanted to this week - after getting back home from Minnesota, I got hit with the cold that the majority of the players and parents (who went on the trip) came down with; so, it just took me some time to catch up with life. It just seems that now that I am over the 40 year mark, it takes me a little longer to recoup for such travel. Why is that?

Anyway, I thought I would share with you some photos of some of my stitching projects that I have been working on this week. First up is "Trick-or-Treat". The last photo I posted was the T and R without any backstitching. I received some supportive comments which suggested backstitching as I go. So I took that advice and here is what it looks like:

Thank you for the suggestion...now completely done with the T and the R, I have been able to move on to the I (which you can see the beginnings of the purple witch's hat - it is on top of the I). The 2 little black squares between the R and the I is a mask, just having put the yellow & orange "x's" yet.

One of the reasons I haven't gotten too much further on "Trick-or-Treat" this week is because I received the next rounds of the Friendship Sampler RR - the envelope contained Marian's and Carolyn's. Knowing that we all are getting anxious to keep these moving through the mail, I pulled out Marian's on Tuesday evening and started the heart and was able to finish it up on Wednesday (while at the hockey rink...go figure!). So here is a picture of Marian's RR:

Marian followed the DMC colors that pattern called for...and asked all of us to stitch our first and last name, including a little backstitch of where we live. As each of these RRs visit my house, it has been fun to see where each RR member started their RR (some started in a corner, some with the middle heart) and how it has grown since February. Marians is interesting because she did start hers in the upper left hand corner and each of us seem to be adding our heart right after the person ahead of us, thus it is growing in rows (I don't know if that makes sense..but looking at the photo I am sure you know what I am babbling about). Here is a closer look at my heart I added.

In addition to stitching on "Trick-or-Treat" and the Friendship RRs, I have been rotating in some models of Christmas Quaker Ornaments for CindyMae Designs. Her Halloween Quaker Ornaments which she designed and stitched are awesome (I posted them in my previous post, but visit her website and take a look for yourself). In the Christmas Quaker Ornament set there are 5 different designs in the set and they, too, are cut. So, I will be working on getting the models stitched so she can post them on her website...so stay tuned!!!

So this weekend...Carolyn's RR and Christmas Ornaments are on my stitch "to do" list and will be great things to take with me to the hockey rink (as we do have a weekend full of hockey!).

Hope the weekend is good to you and your family. Take care...and...remember to:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Back home...physically and mentally

It was a nice weekend in Minnesota - for hockey and visiting with family. On the hockey side of things, Robert (old son) and his hockey team placed 3rd out of the 9 teams who were part of the tournament. Nothing to sneeze at! After our 8am game on Saturday, we had to wait to find out the outcome of the game being played after us as that was the determining factor in our placement; and would tell us if we were playing Saturday evening or if we got to wait until Sunday morning for the semi-finals. Since we weren't sure, we fed the boys after the morning game and then went back to the hotel so that they could nap...just incase they had to play again. The wait came to an end around 4pm with a phone call from the tournament director letting me know that we had placed 3rd and would be playing in the 7am Sunday semi-finals (we would play the 2nd place team). In the Semis, we played the Chicago Young American team who were undefeated. We scored first when one of our players had a penalty shot and scored...unfortunately this team was very quick and passed well, which frustrated our team - we lost 8 to 3 and remained in 3rd place. At breakfast after the game, the boys were a little bummed, but didn't seem too depressed as they seemed to have smiles on their faces.

On the non-hockey side, we got some nice opportunities to visit with my parents, sisters and niece/nephew who live in Minnesota. Saturday night, as soon as I found out that we didn't have a game to play, Robert and I drove to their house for dinner. We all had a good time catching up. And on Sunday, after we checked out of the hotel, Robert and I went over there to "hang out" before we needed to leave for the airport. While we do a lot of traveling for the boys' hockey activities, it is times like this that is nice...when we either get to meet up with family or high school/college friends.

I didn't get much chance to sit and stitch. On the plane ride there last Thursday morning, I basically slept the whole way; especially since it was very early in the morning and I didn't get much sleep the night before. Coming home, I did take out Trick-or-Treat and took the advice of a few Blogging Friends' comments...I back stitched the "T" and the "R" before moving onto the "I". I don't have any photos of it, but will try to get some posted soon.
I received a new group of patterns from CindyMae Designs - Quaker Style Christmas Ornaments - to stitch models for her. And if you haven't visited her website in a while, you should check out her Quaker Style Halloween Ornaments . I also heard that the next round of Friendship RRs are on their way to me. I am so excited to stitch a few more hearts. The RR took a little longer than anticipated - as we only have 16 members and were trying to send it 2x a month...but life got in the way and probably a few other situations. But I hope that none of the women get too impatient and we can all stick with it to the end.

It is good to be home and I am looking forward to having a free night tonight as we have no hockey practice to drive either boy to. Gives them a time to catch up on their school work and sleep and me a chance to get a little R&R. Today is also the first day of Autumn...so...

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Have a good day! 

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

Hello from Minnesota. I am here with Robert's hockey team for a tournament. The boys are doing great. They won their first game on Thursday in an exciting game. It was tied 2-2 after the game ended, but they do end in ties...and no overtime...we went to a nervewracking shootout. Which ended on a good note: a win!
Saturday the boys won their second game. The other team scored first which made us nervous. Especially since the other team's goalie seemed to stop every shot & our boys out shot the other team. However, my son tipped a beautiful pass in and scored. Well this proud mother screamed in excitement. At the end we won 2-1.
Today game time is at noon. GO SHARKS!

T-24 hrs and away I go....

Tomorrow morning at 6:30am, Robert (oldest son) and I will be hopping on a plane to Minnesota for the first "travel" hockey tournament for his team. Getting ready to travel always creates a rise in my stress level, but I think that I am just about ready to go. Last night, while DH was out of town and we had a free evening (aka "no hockey practice") I got the suitcase packed, my "Trick or Treat" stitching project all packed up (especially with very small travel scissors...I don't need any more needlework scissors to be confiscated!), and all the hockey team manager crud all organized. 

It was important that I get all organized last night because tonight is going to be very choatic!!! Matthew's (younger son) hockey team has been invited to the "Shark Tank", where the NHL San Jose Shark team plays, to do a little scrimmage prior to the pre-season "Teal and White" game (this is a game where the NHL team divided up into 2 teams and scrimmages - providing a little exhibition for their fans as well as allow the coaches to still look at some of the veterans and rookies before the final cuts are made before the NHL season starts on Oct. 1). Anyway...so Matthew has to be down in San Jose for this at 5pm and it will be over around 6:30. Right after that, Robert (older son) has a late practice: 7:50-9:20pm - at least the rinks are both in the same area. However, the bottomline is, we will not get home until 11pm...only to have to get up around 3:30am on Thursday for the early flight. So, since I am packed, I will be able to enjoy Matthew's scrimmage this evening and be able to maintain low stress when arriving back home late tonight...I hope.


Well...better go wake up the boys and get them around for school. Until later..remember, Live, Love, Laugh and stitch often! Lisa

Give me a "T"...Give me a "R"...now take a look at my WIP.

Just thought I would share the status of my current WIP..."Trick or Treat" from the October issues of The Stitcher Magazine. Sept. 7 I finished the T...Sept. 14 I finished the R. Well, almost finished, all the xstitches, for I will save the backstitching when I have totally completed the stitching.

That is all for now.

Remember - live, love, laugh and stitch often!

Lisa

Sunday...Sunday...

Last day of the weekend and we find ourselves with the typical Sunday Routine for our household...early morning hockey practice, followed by a mid-morning hockey practice...followed by last minute homework and then the afternoon nap before prepping for the upcoming week.

Yesterday, we woke up to a rarity in these parts of California - a thunderstorm. And it was one with a huge display of lightning.While Robert (old son) was eating breakfast in preparation for a Saturday hockey practice, I was at the kitchen table getting ready to put my finishing touches on the CindyMae models I finished. I just got out my sewing machine and arranged all the fabric...when out of the sky came a bolt of lightning and it struck the satellite dish across the street. Around the corner from our development there is a army base which has a satellite station on the hill across from our house. There are three satellite dishes, and the one that was pointing up must have attracted that huge bolt of lightning because it came right down and hit that dish, spraying sparks all over. Thank goodness that the ground was a little wet because it probably would have caused a little fire (as the grassy area that station is located is very brown & normally dry). The small storm stayed around for a little, only dropping a few sprinkles. 

When Robert and DH got back from the rink, we drove down to our local farmers market (the storm was done by 9am). This time of the year at the market is so beautiful, with all the colors of the peppers (green, red, orange, yellow, and combination) and the tomatoes, too. We purchased some fresh tomatoes (eating the cherry tomatoes while we walked up and down the street), green beans, English Peas (which the boys love to open and eat raw)and a loaf of fresh French Bread (also to munch on while walking). The farmers market can be like a huge buffet of fresh foods, because by the time you walk up and down the street, visiting all the booths, you can leave full. 

The rest of Saturday - we didn't do a thing. Robert worked on some of his homework and Matthew read. DH napped and I stitched. I finished up the "finishing touches" to the CindyMae models, which I photographed and emailed to her. And then I sat down to work on "Trick or Treat"...which I will post a photo of my progress later.

Hope the weekend is going well for you! Until later...remember to live, love, laugh and stitch often! 

Lisa

Sitting and stitching today. Totally taking my "day off" as a "me day". Working hard on finishing up stitching CindyMae Design models and watching Project Runway reruns. And...i have the whole house to myself! Back to stitching...take care!

"Trick or Treat" a haunting fun WIP

It has been a long time since I have posted anything - I have been getting sucked into facebook and playing a game called Farmville, where you build a farm, plant & harvest crops, add animals and so on. That game seems to have monopolized much of my on-line time lately. Nevertheless, over the Labor Day weekend, we were busy with hockey (go figure, right?). Robert (older son)'s team was playing in the Labor Day tournament here in San Jose. They ended up making it to the championship round, but lost. So, they placed second (out of 4 teams). It was the first games they played as a team - and they looked pretty good. Next week, I will be traveling with Robert & his team to Minnesota for another tournament. But I will probably be writing more about that as we get closer.

In the meantime, I really wanted to show you my new WIP...From The Cross Stitcher Magazine, I fell in love with the "Trick or Treat Greeting" by designer Ursula Michael. It has so many bright colors and a whimsical pattern, it looked like something that would be fun to stitch...and I don't normally stitch Halloween patterns. So, last Friday I kitted everything up, using Zweiart Belfast Linen (32ct)-Toasted almond and the colors the pattern called for...and then started immediately. As of right now, I have just about finished the "T" of the word "Trick". This is the first time that I have used Krenik #4 braid thread, and one of the colors is 'glow in the dark', which is used around the ghost (and it really does glow...how cool is that).

Well, that's the show and tell for today! Hope you all are doing well. Off to go pick up the boys from school!

Remember...live, love, laugh and stitch often! Lisa

PS Exchange received and life in general

I received my PS Exchange on Tuesday. It cam all the way from Georgia (USA). This is the first exchange I have received from the US. Not that it matters...just an interesting thing that my sons and I have made note of. Anyway, thank you Roberta for this lovely biscornu. It is my first biscornu. I have read about these on other blogs; read instructions to construct on and even seen the patterns for them...but never have done one. Now I have one for my very own and it is sitting on my night stand. I love it!

This week has just been very, very busy. Actually it started last weekend. Robert (older son) already had homework and was trying to get it all done on Saturday because he knew that we would be at the hockey rink all day on Sunday - which was a little 3 on 3 tournament that I sign the boys up to do with many of their hockey friends, from all different teams around the Bay Area. It is a great event, not only for the kids but for DH and I, as we get to visit (and hear the latest hockey gossip) all day. We left the house at 7:15am and didn't get back until 5pm. It was a long day. 

The rest of this week has been the "normal" juggling of school, work and the boys' hockey practices with back-to-school night thrown in (Robert's middle school was last night and tonight is Matthew's elementary school).It is fun going to hear the teachers talk about what their goals and expectations are for the kids. I am excited for Robert this year - it looks like he will be exposed to many different things in 8th grade. He has a full load with 2 advanced courses (English and Math) and a History teacher who is going to use high school methods for teachers (whatever that meant...assuming more projects, lots of writing and quick pace).

In addition,as I might have wrote - I have accepted the Team Manager position for Robert's team again this year. So I have been busy trying to get all the team information organized and all the important paperwork to the different tournaments coming up. Between now and the holidays, we will be going to:

1. Blaine, Minnesota for the NAHL Prospects Tournament 
2. "King of the Rockies" in Denver Colorado (October) 
3. Nike Bauer tournament in Chicago, ILL (November).

And this weekend, the team will have their first hockey tournament - but thank goodness it is here in town. It makes for an exciting, but busy time for the family. I am grateful that Matthew's team will not be traveling as much, making use of the local tournaments for Thanksgiving and the holidays. 

And, to top those life projects, at work I have been getting ready for a couple of tradeshows and revising data sheets and brochures. So, over all it has been a busy week.

However...tomorrow...NO SCHOOL AND NO WORK!That deserves a happy dance doesn't it? The boys will be able to sleep in and rest and I can....mmmm....there are so many things that I need to do, but thinking I might just do what I want to do! Hopefully get some stitching in as the needle and thread have been calling my name. I am in the middle of some model stitching for CindyMae designs - maybe I will work on those!

Well, anyway. It is time to wrap this up and pick up the boys from school. Hope all of you are doing well!

Take care and remember...live, love, laugh and stitch often! LIsa