A little package arrived, from a dear stitching friend!!

Yesterday a little package was sitting on my doorstep. I wasn't expecting anything, although some of our relatives have started their Christmas shopping a little early. However, this package was from my dear stitching friend - CindyMae. Totally unexpected, I of course couldn't wait to tear into the package...even through we were 1/2 our the door for a hockey game.

Rip...Rip...Tear...Tear...YAHOO! HOW COOL!...sob, sob..OMG, I can't believe that anyone would do this for me...

In the package was a pillow, with the Prairie Schooler Santa 2009 stitched AND the pattern...and a beautiful door hanger that reads: "Stitching Friends Forever."

Can you find any holiday stitching pattern that would be more perfect for my life than a Santa with a hockey stick, a couple of hockey pucks and ice skates?  Like, this is so ME...so my LIFE...and hopefully Santa takes the hint that the boys could always use a new pair of skates, a stick or even the puck for their stockings. And if that isn't enough, she threw in the pattern as well. Which, is awesome because after I showed my boys the pillow, they immediately said that would make a neat ornament for me. So, I guess I need to get my supplies together and stitch some skating Santas for the boys.

And the other stitched "door hanger" - Stitching Friends Forever, I think really sums up the friendship I have with Cindy. Through the blogging community of stitchers our paths crossed. A new and upcoming stitching designer, she needed people to help her out and stitch some of her designs so that she would have some models...I volunteered. And we have kept in contact throughout.

Cindy, thank you so much! I love my package. The pillow I have placed on my bed and the door hanger on my bedroom doorknob. You have truely spoiled me :) My life has been richer since you have come into it years ago and even through we live thousands of miles appart and have never met, you are a very special friend!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yesterday's two hockey games, which Matthew and his team played, were pretty good. We knew going into them that his team would be challenged. Matthew played well and the team was not totally shut out...but they did loose both games with a score of 1-10 and 2-8. It could have been worse, for the opposing team, who is from Southern California, does a lot to recruit players from all over California as well as the US.

Today, my DH just left with both boys at 6:30am. Matthew has another game, an exhibition game against an older team from our club and Robert has an early morning practice with his team. Then later today, Robert will be playing in a hockey game as a member of his high school hockey team. This is the first game for this team and the first high school hockey game for his school. High school hockey is just getting organized in California (so, if you are keeping track, Robert is on two hockey teams - his high school team and his club team). 

Well, Robert will get to play in that High School game if he gets his homework done...Matthew has informed us that his homework is done for the weekend and he is ready for school tomorrow...fingers are crossed that we will not have any homework surprises at bedtime tonight!

That is about it my blogging friends. I am trying to get all my "to dos" crossed off my list before the boys come home from hockey: exercise, blog posting, catch up with relatives, grocery shopping, folding the laundry and prep a family lunch. So I better keep going to knock the things off. Until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Mid-Week Mumblings - my boys and my stitching

Well, we find ourselves on Wednesday - the middle of the week - "hump" day as it has also been referred to. We are equally from last weekend as we are to the upcoming one. Do you have plans for the weekend?

Boys News...
This week, Matthew (younger son) has had the privillege of being a Junior Councelor at a summer preschool and has been having a good time working with 3 and 4 years olds. That is what is wonderful about this Jr. Leader program the City of Dublin has created - not only do the kids receive an education about writing a resume & going through interviews, but they also learn how to work with all age groups. The first few weeks he worked in the afternoon camp with kids who are in 1st-5th grade, this week it has been the preschool. He will have an opportunity to work with both groups several more times before camp season ends and we start getting ready for school (hard to believe that we are already thinking about "back to school" things).

Robert (older son) is still attending his morning hockey clinic, which runs until July 28th; and tonight is his last skate for tryouts for the '96AAA hockey team. The list will be posted tonight. After that we should be set for the 2011-2012 hockey season.

On the stitching front...
I haven't put any stitches in Family Sampler the last few nights. Last night I was worn out from the dental work I had in the afternoon - I got 3 fillings that were located toward the gums (don't forget to floss regularly, brush with floride and make sure to rinse with anti-dry mouth rinse if you suffer from this problem!). I have to go back next month and have 3 more.

Anyway, regarding stitching...that is what we are talking about, right?

Are you a subscriber to the Gift of Stitching Magazine? If so, did you read the new issue?

July Issue of Gift of Stitching

I was so excited to get this issue, for the Designer Profile highlights Cindy Grayson of CindyMae Designs. I don't know if you remember, but a couple of years ago, Cindy and I met eachother through blogging. She is a cross stitcher who started designing and was looking for some model stitchers. She wanted to see her designs come to life, make sure that the colors worked together and that the patterns worked. So I contacted her and said I would help out in anyway that she needed. Some patterns I just stitched and sent her photos, most I finished off and sent her the finished product so that she could show it off...but throughout we communicated and started building a friendship. Here is an example of one of the things I stitched and finished for her...you can also see it's counterpart in the article in GOS.

"Doggon Napping" by CindyMae Designs. Counterpart pattern: "Cat Napping"

It has been awhile since I have model stitched for Cindy, a busy life has gotten in the way - but we keep tabs on eachother through blogs and facebook. I am so excited to read that she is stitching again and being highlighted in GOS. Congratulations Cindy! I am so happy for you!

Well...time to get going. Until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Saturday is here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Show-n-Tell Thursday

Well, little by little the travel fog is clearing from my head only to be replaced by cold medicine fog. Oh, well, I am hoping to make sure that I keep this an ordinary cold (consuming vitamin C and sudafed) so it doesn't become a sinus infection...but enough of this, lets get on to some fun things to show and tell about.

First up...some stitching news. CindyMae received the model of Doggone Days I stitched and sent to her...and has uploaded it to her store website: CindyMae Designs-check it out!

I am now working on another CindyMae Design - so stay tuned, she has a lot of wonderful patterns coming! And regarding "A Walk in the Park", the gift for my sister, I am just about done - just need to stitch the dog's name and the dates. As soon as I get that completed I will post a finish!

Well, now that I posted some stitching news, I thought I would (bore you) post a couple of photos regarding my sons and their hockey activities. First up, a photo of Robert and a couple of his teammates in their sweatshirts they earned when they won the Pittsburgh President's Day Championship:

Robert is the one on the left.

I also just received some photos of Matthew from his President's Day hockey weekend in Phoenix.

Matthew had a great weekend of hockey too (he and DH just didn't get to have the travel adventure Robert and I had :) ). Matthew's team was undefeated and made it to the Championship, too. Unfortunately they didn't win the Championship game. However, DH was so proud of the way that Matthew played; for he stepped up to the next level, playing very agressive. In the championship game, Matthew had a breakaway and took the puck all the way to the other end. He shot - but unfortunately the puck hit the post of the goalie net. There is nothing worse for a hockey player to hear that "ping" of the post. But with a 2nd place finish, Matthew was very happy with the way he played...and while he would have loved to bring home a 1st place medal, he was satisfied with 2nd place.

When I got home on Tuesday, I had the privillege of being home with my 2 boys for dinner (DH had a business dinner to go to). During dinner, each son took turns sharing their weekend experience - on the ice and off. It was fun to listen to their stories. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful sons!

Well, that is all the time I have for my Thursday show-n-tell. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

It is Thursday (my Friday)

Good day readers, it is finally Thursday - which is my Friday. Tomorrow is my day off. Well, I am going to start my post off with some stitching news first...I finished model-stitching the CindyMae design and completely finished it (as a pillow...I think that I can tell you that) and will be getting it into the mail to her today so that she can post it as the finished product when she posts the pattern for sale. I really enjoy model stitching for her, for I feel that it has developed into a wonderful friendship between Cinday and I. I will give you all a heads up when she posts the design "Doggone Days, Doggone Napping."

Now that I can check that off as a Happy Dance, I can move onto my next project:

"A Walk In The Park"

Little House Needleworks

My sister (I have 2 sisters - both younger; the one I am refering to is the one in the middle) made the tough decision of putting her dog down back in December. Max was very old (I think close to 17 years old) and just wasn't getting around very well at all. Because Max had been her friend through all her ups and downs for over a decade, it took my sister a while to come to the decision. So, when surfing http://www.123stitch.com/, I came across this pattern and decided that it would be perfect (as Max was a black dalmatian...black dog with black spots). I started this on Tuesday...and only got the white tree and one park bench done. When I get a alittle further, I will post a status photo.

In addition to this project, I can pick up Mary Wigham again. This is where I have left off:

and that was back in December. She has been calling out my name, but I guess I have been deaf to it. She will get to see the sunlight (hopefully, we are suppose to have more rain) this weekend.

So that is the stitching news...hockey wise? Well, the boys have had their normal practices this week and are scheduled to play some games over the weekend. Next week, President's Weekend, is the time when Robert (older son) and I will be departing for a tournament in Pittsburgh, while DH and Matthew (younger son) will be heading toward warmer climate in Phoenix. But that is still a week away...so don't need to stress about that travel yet.

Until next time, remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often

Lisa

Finally a finish to post and just a weekend update

Good day blogger friends,
I hope that you all had a good weekend. Ours here was very nice...and I will share a little of the activites in just a bit, but thought I would post a stitching photo first (YAHOO!). I saw that Lori received the L*K Rnd3 I stitched and finished for her. So without further ado, here is what I stitched:

L*K..."Love"

Fabric: Pink/Maroon-ish color...something I had in my statsh

Thread...used the colors called for, but added a little JAB heart button in place of a stitched design

I saw this pattern when I was shopping in NiaH last month and, knowing that I had a L*K exchange to stitch, decided that it would be perfect for Round 3 which was so close to February. According to Lori's post on the L*K blog, her wedding anniversary is also in Feb - so my decision to go with this pattern sounds like it was a good one!

Well, that is one exchange that made it to it's new home...as soon as Sharon shares that she received the ornament from the ornament exchange we are doing, I will post that one soon. At this time, I am still model stitching for CindyMae, who just announced that she will be published 2x this year in The Cross Stitcher magazine - August and September. I am so excited for her. When I first met her via blogging, she was creating free designs and then started working on some to sell via internet. Soon we became friends and I started to stitch some of the models for her so that she can upload photos of what the design will look like.  The design I am working on right now is called "Doggone Napping" and it is a counter part to "Cat Nap":

CindyMae Design...pattern available (click the link)

Again, I am so excited for her and everything she has accomplished in the short amount of time! Congratulations Cindy!

Ok...now that I finally had a stitching post going, I thought I would also (bore you)...here are a couple of photos of Robert from his tournament in Seattle over MLK weekend - this is the tournament that he and his hockey team - San Jose Jr. Sharks Bantam AAA - won.

Hockey filled our Sunday yesterday, with both boys playing games. Robert (older son, pictured above) had 2 "league" games versus the LA Jr. Kings Bantam AAA; Robert's team defeated them in both games....Way to go Sharks! And Matthew (younger son) had an evening game, which they won as well. Good outcome to a great hockey Sunday!

Hope you are having a good Monday! The boys are off of school so we are all relaxing today!

Until the next time...remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Weekend update...

Hello dear friends,
The weekend has been nice and somewhat quiet so far. With DH and Robert (older son) in Texas for a hockey tournament, I have a few less people in the household to manage (LOL). Matthew does have some hockey committments this weekend, the first was a scrimmage with a team in his age division last night. Matthew's team won. It was a good game, followed by a potluck which the other team was also invited - which made for a nice evening. Today, Matthew has another game at 11:15 and then in the afternoon the team is doing Lazar Tag; which I signed up to participate in too (yes, it was open for parents and siblings...thought I would see what this game was all about).

On the stitching front, which I have not written about in a while...well, I have just about finished 2 exchanges which are due mailed by the end of the month - 2010 OSE and the L*K Rnd 3. They are stitched and prepped for the finishing I am going to give them. And since tomorrow is MLK Day (Martin Luther King Day), and there is no school (and I will be home from work), I am planning on sitting in front of the sewing machine and accomplishing those finishing touches so that I can get them in the mail next week. I have also been working on some model stitching for CindyMae - it is a really cute design which coordinates well with the Catnap pillow I did for her, but this one has a napping puppy on it. Oh, yah, if you visit her website, she has just added some wonderful Valentine designs (model stitched by April)...don't you just love how we blogging stitchers support eachother :)

So, bottomline...with most of my stitching right now exchanges or model stitching I do not have anything to show off again...and MW is feeling neglicted. I do miss Mary, but I would like to get my "committments" accomplished first so that I can dedicate my attention when stitching Mary...it is not a good one to loose focus while stitching. Nothing worse than trying to frog 1 over 2...well, 1 over 1 is hard to frog...but frogging is no fun, so no stitching Mary without focus!

Oh, yah...one more thing...watch out for the dreaded software virus that is going around right now. We have one laptop at home that is sick with it. I haven't done a lot of reading about it, but I have read that it has come from some of the yahoo groups and/or downloading software from some of the social communities (aka facebook). So, make sure that your antivirus programs are good...but just be careful!

Well, it is time to stop rambling on...Have a great Sunday and remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Happy New Year (one day late)

Happy New Year to all. I hope that everyone was able to celebrate the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 in some fashion. Ours was a very quiet one, for we are in the middle of another hockey tournament, so we had just come back from Matthew's (younger son) hockey game Thursday late afternoon, had a little dinner, played a little family game, enjoyed our 9pm (celebrated the New Year on the East Coast) and then stared the bed time routine. I think that we all were in bed around 10:30pm.

As the saying goes...

EAT

SLEEP

HOCKEY

And that is about all we have done since December 27th...some days we even repeated that list a second time if there were 2 games or 2 hockey events in one day. But there are worse things in life that we could be doing.

2010 Goals and Projects

I haven't had much of a chance to read many blogs lately, but those I have read have started posting their goals and projects for 2010. One of my main goal (which unfortunately at the rink yesterday I broke) is to cut my sugar consumption down and eventually cut it out all together. What I am referring to is the large amount of candy and sugared gum I consume, especially when I am sitting around at the rink or at work. It is in those kinds of solutions where I am either "bored" or "focus" and just need something for my mouth to do - like chew. Unfortunately sugarless gums contain a faux sweetner called sorbitol, which I seem to be sensitive to and causes a lot of discomfort after I chew several pieces of gum. There have been many studies in health magazines, which say chewing gum can help you think or chewing a piece of gum after a meal as a dessert will help you know the meal is over and you will eat less. The problem with me is I go through a lot of bubble gum in one sitting...so I need to remember "everything in moderation" is ok.

That is one goal as it pertains to eating; another related goal is to work on adding weights, sit ups and push ups to my exercise routine.

And stitching...I would like to or have signed up for:

1. Finish MW by the end of the year

2. 2010 Ornament Exchange/Swap

3. Keep exchange signs up managable - continue with L*K

4. Finish Friendship RR - stitching on the remaining RRs and then as soon as mine gets back, finish it!

5. Continue to model stitch for CindyMae

I think those are nice simple goals to have - I am sure that I will have other projects that come up over the course of the year, but these are the ones that I would like to focus on!

I know that there should be other "life style" goals I should have that would cover family (extended and nuclear), financial goals and marriage. To cover all of those, I think stop procrastinating would definitely help in all facets of life.

In Closing...

I though I would add that above sub-title so those who skimmed the above, knew when I was getting ready to finish this post :) I have been working on MW when I allow myself to sit. I have finished another motif and started on another. I am planning to finish it and then post another photo Sunday as a closing to the week and the holiday break. I have 2 exchanges to get done and send out before the end of the month - one is the 2010 OSE (aka Ornament Swap Exchange) and the other is Round 3 of L*K. I also received a new pattern from CindyMae, which I am looking forward to stitching. It is a counterpart to "Catnap"...so those who are dog people stay tuned!

Have a great Saturday! Take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa 

A quick catch post...

Hello, thought I would take a moment to post a quick update. This week has flown by actually - hard to believe that it is Friday but TGIF! But it was a strange week since the boys has Wednesday off in observance of Veteran's Day - so I also took it off from work...but the 3 of us worked in the house. I assigned each child a couple of responsibilities (ie dusting window blinds, washing the glass tables, cleaning up their rooms, etc.) while I cleaned the kitchen and the bathrooms. Around lunchtime we were pooped. We only got through 3/4 of the house, but it looks much better. I will attack the other 1/4 some other time.

Last night, Matthew (younger son) and I worked on his heritage visual which consisted of cutting and pasting photos my MIL sent. My in-laws have done a lot of work on their heritage, so I knew that they would be a good source for Matthew's project. The board came out very nice. Lots of fun photos of great-greats from late 1800's.

I just put some finishing touches on the CindyMae Design models of the Quaker Christmas Ornaments and will be getting the models in the mail to her so that she is able to take good photos. My camera isn't good for things like this! I hope that she is ok with the way they turned out. The designs that she created are awesome and I highly recommend that you visit CindyMae Designs and take a look at the Christmas Ornaments - she will have them up soon.

Well, got to run to the post office and meet some other mothers for tea...so until next time, remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Back home and trying to get caught up....but got spoiled instead.

Well, I am back home from the hockey tournament in Chicago. Robert (older son) and I got home at 3:30pm yesterday afternoon...which allowed us to attend Matthew (younger son)'s hockey game, an unexpected joy. We weren't suppose to get home until 10:30pm, but because Robert's team didn't do as well as we hoped, they were done playing Saturday afternoon (for they won 1, lost 2, and tied 1 thus not making it out of their division to play on Sunday)...so we moved our flight up to the 1pm departure. It got us home early enough to drive home, take the suitcase and hockey gear out of the car and jump back in to hear off to the hockey rink. Glad we got to see Matthew and his team play because they won their game...and Matthew even scored a goal! Way to go Matthew...Way to go Devils!

Even though Robert and his team didn't do well, we still had a good time in Chicago. I even had an opportunity to visit with a member of our Friendship Sampler RR group - April. She, her DH and kids came to the Saturday afternoon game (Dad and kids left for a lunch date, giving us time to get to know eachother). April and I took turns do a "show-and-tell-what-is-in-your-needlework-bag". Boy was her's full of fun stuff!!! She even had a few little gifts for me...lookie what I got to add to my stash:

Several Lizzie Kate patterns and a Pine Mountain July kit...how cool is that. Thank you so much April!!! It is opportunities like that...to meet fellow stitchers, that make traveling with the hockey team that much more meaningful.

And while we are talking about fellow stitchers and packages...when I got home last night, there was a package waiting for me on top of the mail pile. It was from CindyMae. "Why would I be getting something form CindyMae?" I asked myself. For I am the one who should be sending her something (like the Christmas Quaker Ornament models that I am just finishing up for her). I opened it up and found this:

 

It was a Birthday package...Joy to the World pattern, Sekas & Co "A Fall Heart", Sekas & Co. "Watercolour Ghosts",  The Prairie Schooler "M*N*O", Just Nan "Diamond Bouquet", and Just Nan "Needle Story"...and a scissor fob, which she stitched and finished her self with cupcakes on it. I love it...and now I definitely have an excuse to splurge/treat myself to a pair of fancy scissors! Boy, did I get spoiled by my stitching friends!

 

Now I am trying to get caught up, for I had 5 loads of laundry to wash, dry and fold. Which I have just about put away. This week the boys have Wednesday off due to Veteran's Day...so we are planning to stay home and have a cleaning day (each son will be assigned several cleaning jobs). The house needs to be cleaned - so this will be a good opportunity.

 

Well, that is all I have to share right now...need to go and make some milk shakes for dessert! Take care...and remember to Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often - Lisa

I am overwhelmed - thank you!

OMG...I finally got my old body out of bed (strange what one day will do to you - bones are creaking and muscles rebelling...LOL). A little late getting up and on the stationary bike, but I managed. Just got the old lap top fired up...finished going through my emails (needed to make sure that there were no pressing issues for this hockey mom/team manager to deal with as we are getting ready to leave for a tournament in Chicago tomorrow morning) and then opened my blog...15 comments!!!!!!

Dearest Blog Friends,

I am so overwhelmed by the bday greeting I have received! I am so amazed at the support, friendship...the community that exists out there in "blog world". And Cindy dedicated a post to announce my bday - "girlfriend, your too much!" Honestly, though, as I write every so often, I am so grateful for the people I have met via blogging. We may never meet each other in person, but the the support and the blessings I receive through the comments and personal emails...well, it is hard to put into words. All I can say is "Thank You".

I did have a nice, quiet bday. It actually started the night before (Birthday Eve) when DH and younger son came home on Monday night from hockey and surprised me with a bouquet of balloons and a beautiful Hydranga plant. Yesterday morning, anytime DH or one of the boys entered the room, they would greet me with a "Happy Birthday". After fixing breakfast and the boys' lunches, I opened the cards from family and friends - and a gift from my parents. The rest of the day when on as normal - including my turn to carpool to hockey practice and attending a team managers board meeting. I did come with birthday treats, as I made some chocolate chip cookies and banana bread to share. For some, it might not sounds like much - but it is the little things that I will take away that mean so much and made my birthday special...the comments from blog friends, the acknowledgement on facebook, the balloons/hydranga surprise, the home made bday card and birthday hockey card from the boys. I am truely blessed!

Now...it is time to change gears as I have to start getting ready to leave town with my older son. We leave tomorrow for a tournament in Chicago. I have already stocked the house with all younger son's and DH's favorites as they are staying home (young son has school and a hockey game). Since finishing Trick or Treat (at least the stitching, I will need to "finish-finish" it in order to use it as decoartion next year), I have been putting the finishing stitches in the CindyMae Design models of Christmas Ornaments...so, this afternoon I will have to kit up a couple of things to take with me on the trip...especially for the 4 hour plane ride! I have a few Christmas Ornaments Exchanges I need to work on, so this would be a good time to do that!

So...as you see, I am in exchange and model stitching mode right now...so, definitely no pics. As soon as these are complete, it will be time to seriously get a start on MW, don't you think!

Well...thank you all again! Remember....Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Sunday - Happiness is...

...the beginning of a new month, homemade costumes, Trick or Treating in the light of the full moon, a Friday afternoon walk, and carving pumpkins with my boys.

Happy November everyone! Hard to believe that we have 2 more months of 2009 left. I hope everyone had a good and safe Halloween. It was a really strange one this year, for it seems that there weren't too many people out "Trick or Treating". I took the boys out about 7pm and we found many houses put out a bowl a candy and left a note saying - "please take one and leave some for others...Trick or Treat." Either they didn't want to be bothered or just weren't home. And even the amount of decorated houses were less than in years past...maybe the economic demons tried to take some of the fun out of the holiday? Well, we didn't decorate either...and we also decided to go with the homemade costumes (let me introduce to you: the ghost of Christmas in the Bob the Builder sheet - the influence for this was Charlie Brown's homemade ghost costume; and on the right, we have either Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer or Famous Amos - your choice).

Nevertheless, we did have a nice time walking around the neighborhood, in the light of the full moon and 70 degree weather. Perfect trick or treating temperature! (BTW...I also find it funny that my boys work so hard to make as many houses as possible to get candy, of which they don't eat and we end up sharing with our co-workers)

Speaking of nice temperatures, I thought I would share with you what our fall looks like here in California. We have 2 seasons. In the late sping/summer time, our trees have green leaves and the hills and grassy areas are brown. In the fall/wintertime, the trees start to turn colors and eventually drop their leaves, while the hills and grassy areas turn green. Seems a little backwards, doesn't it? On Friday afternoon, I walked to pick up the boys from school and took photos with my phone's camera of the scenery:

It was a beautiful warm Friday and the walk really did wonders for my mood - the warm sun warmed my soul and the lavendar and newly blossoming fall flowers smelled wonderful. I also decided to bring the dog along, for I knew the walk would do him good too!

When we got home, the boys threw their backpacks in their rooms while I prepped the kitchen table for pumpkin carving. I cut the main hole in the bottom of the squash, because we use a light bulb to illuminate good ol' jack. The boys took turns scraping out the "yuck" and the "goop", as well as separating out the seeds to bake in the oven. The design for the pumpkin was created by my older son and, again, the influence was Charlie Brown (unfortunately I didn't get a picture).

They had a good time getting the goop out and drawing the design on the pumpkin. When they were finished, the cookies I was baking were out of the oven. So while they snacked on those, I carved the face out. It was a great Friday afternoon.

On a stitching note...Saturday I was able to put the last stitch in my L*K design and then finish the "finish" and even got it in the mail...so I made the deadline of November 1 for this round of L*K exchange! Yahoo! Now I am frantically working on 2 models for CindyMae, who, by the way, has a "booth" in the Needle Show Retail (which is going on November 5-8). If you register, you can actually place orders directly with the designers. 

Thank you for visiting and have a nice Sunday! 

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

 

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