Room with a View?

Our old scarecrow has spent the entire winter underneath the mulberry tree. It has really gotten 'weathered' and I'm sure the shirt & jeans are pretty rotten by now. But someone thinks it's perfect. A squirrel has been hanging around the scarecrow, crawling in & out of it, and even tugged & pulled at the fabric...tearing off pieces for a nest, maybe?

The first time Blake noticed it, the squirrel was tunneling up and down the inside of the pants legs. At one point its fuzzy tail was hanging out the zipper area. THAT would have been priceless picture! THEN the squirrel turned around and had it's head poking out the fly/zipper area! Just looking around, checking out the view. Blake has been trying to get a picture of this comical squirrel. So far - this is the only picture of the the scarecrow & squirrel together, but we're patient...maybe that silly squirrel will pose for Blake again, soon. We'll keep watching.

Meanwhile, here's what I think our little squirrel is cooking up. I think its a SHE, being a picky female - wanting the new home to look just right before she invites her guy over. She's setting herself up in a squirrel penthouse and is getting ready for her hunky boyfriend, Super-Squirrel, to come sweep her off her little squirrelly feet, and take her to land of nuts & honey a-plenty,... where they will live happily ever after.

March comes in ..... like a snowy lion!

We had a wonderful blessing today - SNOW! We get snow so rarely that it's a treat for us. A fun day to enjoy. The boys are really hoping school will be cancelled tomorrow, but we'll have to wait & see.

A week ago we were seeing the robins & gold finches acting all twitterpated. The flying squirrels were literally flying all over our backyard at night. Everything in the air said 'spring is almost here'....


Now the early daffodils are drooping because of the heavy, sloppy wet snow on them. The irises are trying to come up out of the ground...but now they are not sure that's such a good idea.
Bare tree branches are outlined with the snow. The fig & peach trees have a layer of snowy-frosting that makes them really cool looking. It's hard to capture the beauty of this in the photographs...especially when my hands were freezing! But it's hard to wear mittens & handle the camera, so 'art' won, and the mittens stayed inside.



Cole had a blast time playing in the snow. He romped & played on the church playground until he was soaking wet. He changed into warmer, dry clothes as soon as we got home... then he romped and played in the yard until he was even more soaking wet & cold. But that's what a day like this is for! Look at that mischievous gleam in his eye - (lower left photo)....yes, that was right before he threw that big ol' snowball at his Mama. Rotten kid!

Get the Lead Out

Blake took some pictures of his brother molding bullets out of lead. Facinating process. The liquid metal is just so cool to watch. It melts into a puddle in the blink of an eye, and then goes back to solid in a heart beat. And for a little while, it's pure color looks like refined silver.

Kind of reminds me of Malachi 3:3... sometimes we've got to go through some heat in order to be purer and stronger.

Quilt Wrestling!

I'm currently re-quilting my dear niece Courtney's favorite quilt. It's a beautiful, brightly colors quilt that just needed requilting because the original batting had gotten all wadded up & messed up.
I'm just doing a simple 'quilt in the ditch' - nothing fancy, smancy...but this puppy it BIG! The biggest quilt I've ever tackled. So it's been a wrestling match to get it under the sewing machine & keep it moving via free-motion quilting. But the hardest part has been figuring out where I've quilted & where I haven't quilted. It's hard to find! I have to look on the back of the quilt & find the missing parts of the pattern. Every time I find an area that hasn't been quilted I mark it with blue painters tape, and then hope I can find that area when I get back to the sewing machine. But it CAN be done, and will be done pretty soon! I'm about 95% done with the actual quilting, and will be moving on to the binding stage next. I have a feeling its going to be one of those 'will I ever find the end' kind of bindings. It will feel endless! *G* (I'll post of picture of the finished quilt as soon as it's completely done.)


But it will all be worth it...for the learning experience of quilting a large sized quilt by a standard sized machine...which built confidence, and most of all ~ just seeing Courtney's happy face. =)


Quilt Wrestling ought to be an Olympic sport...
I bet I could take a Gold Medal!

Is it Spring yet?

Bobbin is wondering if its springtime yet?
The birds are acting twitterpatted. The Flying Squirrels are flying all around the back yard every night. She can't catch them, but they sure are fun to watch. And a few of the early blooming flowers are peeking out & showing off their pretty colors while everything else is still wrapped up in winter-drab.


Ethel just laughed with the wisdom of age. No, silly. It's not springtime yet. It's just Valentines. Everything acts silly & twitterpatted on Valentines!

Especially Blake....he picked these early daffodils for Valentines.

Happy Valentines Day!

Sleeping In

Sleeping in. Ah, what a wonderful concept. But with Cole, that has a whole new meaning. Sleeping in means sleeping IN something. He sleeps inside his tee pee during the summer, he often sleeps inside a sleeping bag on top of his bed, and sometimes it literally means sleeping IN...like IN a box. He's enjoyed this box for a week or so now. He has it full of pillows, blankets & a few select toys, as well as a direct view of the tv & full access to the Playstation. He even sits there playing Guitar Hero! Last night he fell asleep in his box, so Blake took this picture.
What a life!

This morning Riley was TRYING to sleep in too, but he was rudely interrupted by Bobbin. Bobbin decided she wanted to sleep in on TOP of Riley. Her usual sleeping spot just didn't suit her for some unknown reason, and Riley's must have look comfortable. She carefully crawled up on top of Riley, and began 'kneading' him... to soften him up? I must say, Riley handled it with grace and long suffering sighs. He just laid there & let her make herself comfortable. I'm really not sure if he completely woke up during the whole procedure. His eyes opened, but he didn't really look like he was awake. It really looked just like an old Looney Toons Cartoon with the great big bulldog & the wee itty bitty kitty. Maybe Riley & Bobbin have spent too much time watching cartoons when we weren't looking!















Something tells me that if Riley ever tries to sleep on Bobbin - it will be a whole different story.

Happy New Year!

May we all be
living fine in 2009!

Praise Banners

Early last summer our Pastor was busy getting ready for our new Contemporary Services in the Activities Center. One day the mail arrived & I gave him a junk mail catalog full of some really pretty Praise banners. He was pondering the banners, but quite put off by the hefty prices of them. So me being me, glanced at them and promptly said 'We can make those!' Within days I was drafting the patterns on my EQ program, and a team of ladies & I were making them. It was a lot of fun working together, and I'm happy to say we got them all ready in time for the first service, too. They are really pretty, and help buffer the sound in the gym a bit. New Years Eve was the first time I've been in the gym with my camera. I took the pictures while the youth were playing volleyball, so some of the camera angles are not the best.
Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

Here's a photo collage' of our Christmas. (Click on the pictures for a closer look.)

The first set of pictures (below) is Christmas morning at home. The boys had a great morning and were FULL of Christmas Joy. The livingroom is STILL hip deep in debris. Riley was right in the middle of all the fun, and was overjoyed to finally get his new toy - which has been out of reach, but tempting him from the branches of our tree.

The second set (below) is at Ma & Pop's house with the rest of the family. We're quite a scruffy looking bunch of hooligans...but we're harmless and loads of fun. =) We enjoyed a wonderful day together, and even got EVERYONE to pose for a family picture. Of course, there's a good picture and a goofy one. You decide which is which!

Not only was it a very Merry Christmas, it was and always will be remembered as a very Blessed Christmas. God is awesome!

You're Never Too Old to Talk to the Man...

Blake took the boys to see the Big Guy today. Even tho' they are both wise, we're never too old to talk to Santa & tell him their Christmas wishes....and have their picture taken. Actually, it all boils down to me. I insisted on the picture. I have ALL their pictures with Santa - every year since Ian's first Christmas in 1993) - in a little frame, sitting on the piano. It's always fun to look at all the pictures when we unpack our Christmas decorations & see how they've grown. Here's my personal favorite. Cole was about 17 months old & he was in full scream & panic mode. Ian was just happy to be there.

My, how things have changed!

I don't know how much longer I can make them sit down with Santa for a picture, but I'll never get tired of looking at all the little pictures on the piano.

Our Christmas Card

In an effort to trim costs - postage & cards - I'm posting our Christmas card for all my on-line friends & family here. Soooo ~

Here is our official family Christmas card picture. Despite many moans & groans from Ian, much silliness & goofy faces at all the wrong times from Cole, and just a little bit of wiggling from Riley - we actually managed to get a half-way decent picture of us all. (Actually, Riley was the most cooperative member of the family. He's the only one who listens & doesn't express an opinion. *G*)

It's been an interesting year - admittedly filled with some challenges and frustrations, but also filled with endless laughter...because we have to laugh at ourselves, countless blessings,and never-ending abundant love. God is awesome, and it's in Him we put our faith and hope. Merry Christmas to everyone. God Bless you!

My favorite things....

Christmas is a time of bringing out our 'favorite things'. Ornaments with special memories, the cute little things we make for the holidays, and special traditions. These are a few of my favorites things....
My goofy family as we attempt to take a pictures for our Christmas cards. Ian & Cole taking delight in an unexpected gift of hats. Blake with a twinkle in his eye. Riley mooching up for Mama-snuggles. Our little village - complete with a Quilt shop, and the boys' Bumble. My favorite Christmas wall quilt, the Floodlight Snowlady (Wahoo, I discovered how to paint!),the "Floozy" Snowlady, my wonky "Hot Chocolate & Snowmen Don't Mix" spray-insulation snowman (I sold a bunch of those!), the boys excitement about getting a tree, and our mantel decorated with angels & our stockings - so lovingly made. All these things (and many more) have a special place in my heart. I remember the joys (and sometimes frustrations) of making many of these things. And even tho' some of them are looking old & shabby, some are just plain goofy, they all bring back smiles every year at Christmas time.

Thanksgiving - Florida Style

We spent the entire week of Thanksgiving in FL with Mama. It's great to see her, as well as old friends, and of course the bzillions relatives who gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving. According to the official family head-counter we had 60 there this year. That's actually a little low for us!

We also had some family time together. We visited Hillsborough State Park & had a delightful walk along the Hillsborough River. It's small, but crystal clear river winding through the woods on it's way south to Tampa. The funniest thing about this state park was all the armadillos. There were 1/2-grown armadillos everywhere! Along the road inside the park, in the woods next to the trails, trotting around the playground/picnic area. I've never seen so many....well, let me rephrase that, I've never seen so many LIVE armadillos. I'm quite use to seeing them dead on the highways in FL. We call them 'possum on the half-shell!' But these little guys were very much alive and lively. Riley REALLY wanted to play with them.



Despite life's problems, we really do have a lot to be thankful for. God has blessed our family beyond words. We have family that cares about each other & gathers together in joy - no drama. We have a beautiful world to explore. Its different enviroments are a testament to God's wonderful creativity. We have the Hope and Joy of the Season. The Reason for the Season is so beautiful. It's not about tinsel, garland, ornaments & things. I know we all enjoy these things ~ the bright lights, pretty bows & presents, but it's really about Love. While things may be tight and we all moan & groan about the economy, politics, or the price of things - we are still thankful for this country and it's freedoms. God has blessed us.


Of all the things I'm thankful for, I think these are the most special blessings in my life....

Now we know....

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

NOW we know what Bobbin, Ethel and Riley do when we aren't home. I thought I heard some dancing feet stomping around in the middle of the night, too!

Hmmm, I bet they think this will
get them extra treats for Christmas.

Wahoo! Hee-haw Happy Dancing

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards