Some Recent Projects...

Well, I'm not sure if Christmas is quite "recent",
but I thought I'd share 2 Christmas gifts I made and forgot to share Ü.
I've also finished 2 other projects since Christmas that I'll post.

Here is a cross-stitched angry bluebird for Mom:

(I made sure to tell her that it wasn't 'a hint' Ü)

Here is a cross-stitched note for Dad:


I've also tried picking up the art of painting ceramics.
I've never been into much art, but painting ceramics is pretty fun.
I painted this Christmas bell a few weeks ago:


And today I made a Valentine's Day pouch for someone:
(I'm not sure who yet.)

I received the pattern in an e-newsletter today.
I really like the simplicity of it and the nice look; I plan to make some more Ü.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.
Have a blessed Lord's Day tomorrow!

A Finished Christmas Gift...

I just recently finished my cross-stitching
project I was making for my friend for Christmas.
I thought I'd share a photo...




I got the quote from something I saw in a catalog,
and combined different patterns from some cross-stitch books we have.
It says:
"I don't think it just by chance, but by God's grand design;
that He has guided both our steps... to let your path cross mine."

I thought it a very fitting quote for our friendship,
as we constantly talk about how the Lord must have really planned
out our friendship, seeing we've been together 8 years
and our dads (being in the military) always get stationed at the same places!


Speaking of us, (as a side note)...
On Monday, we went around base inviting people to
our church's upcoming Pig Pickin' service.
Mom got a picture of us at one of the houses...



We had a lovely time together, walking and knocking on doors (3 hours),
and even stopped at the store for a nice cool treat Ü.
It's so great being able to do the Lord's work together.

"Two are better than one; because they
have a good reward for their labour.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow:
but woe to him that is alone when he falleth;
for he hath not another to help him up."
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Baby Shower Projects...

As I mentioned in a previous post, this past Saturday
was our assistant pastor's wife's baby shower.
Mom and I both were busy preparing things for it.

Mom put together a quilt from pieces that
the baby's great-grandmother cut before she passed away...


I crocheted a baby afghan as well
as some matching crocheted bibs...


I also crocheted a little stuffed duck
(the theme was ducks)...


And mom used it to go on top of the diaper cake she made...


For food we brought foot-shaped sandwiches, onion dip,
cucumber sandwiches, ambrosia salad, & yellow chocolate duckies.

Here is the cake that I made...

I was going to make duckies out of frosting,
but I didn't buy the right frosting (to save money),
so I used duckie candles and cut off the wicks.

Here was the table of delicious foods :-)...

The shower went very well and we had quite a few visitors.

Well, I just thought I'd share.
I hope everyone's weekend went well.

A Few Highlights of The Week...

Happy Friday, everyone!
Today's going to be a busy day,
as we prepare for a baby shower tomorrow.
I'm making the cake and plan to share pictures
of it, as well as the gifts I made, on Monday.

Anyway, I just thought I'd pop in and share a few things.
Yesterday had an interesting beginning,
as our dog, Suzie, had a visitor get into the fence.
Somehow he slipped in under our gate
and every time we tried putting him out, he'd come back.
So for the hour we waited for animal control,
they sat at the window whimpering for each other...



It was rather cute.
The kids were saying how now Suzie is "married",
and it is now possible we could have puppies come Christmas.
lol... oops!

Anyway, I enjoyed Wednesday giving Will
his spelling test (while crocheting)...




And here's a couple of things I've made this week...


A baby blanket (at my etsy for $25)


Another tea cozy (at my etsy for $15)

And I made myself a little crochet hook holder...

I was really tired of trying to keep track of all my hooks,
so I made up an easy pattern to keep them together :-)

... I think next time, I'll use a smaller hook and single crochet
instead of half-double to avoid some of them poking out ;)

Well, I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
I'll see you on Monday!

My Crochet Shop Is Up!!

I now have a shop at etsy with some of my crochet projects.
I only have a few item listed so far,
but I'd love for anyone to stop by :-)

click HERE to go to my shop.

I hope you all enjoy the weekend!

The Past Few Weeks... Home, Park, Maxwell Conference, and Fun

WOW! I apologize for hardly posting lately.
I'm sure you can all relate... it's a busy time of year.
I thought I'd catch up and share some pictures (and a video!)
of a few of the many things that have been going on.

A big highlight was, that my sister's 7th birthday was Sunday...

One of her gifts was this dress she picked out fabric for.
She also played "Twinkle Little Star" with 2 others
at a master class a few weeks ago...

I love watching children grow up! It's so bittersweet.

A couple weeks ago, Stephani spent the night
and we decided to do some photography.
That Saturday was "National Speak Like A Pirate Day",
so we decided to let the weirdness come out in us
with makeup, clothes, and the camera :-)

(Stephani)

(Me)
After we took showers, we thought we'd try
making nice lady-like poses...

(Stephani)

(Me)

Last Friday was park day.
Here's a collage mom made...

Top: The kids playing dominoes
Middle: Stephani and I posing for tree pictures
Bottom: Carolynne with a caterpillar she found

Here are the pics Stephani and I got up the tree...

(Stephani)

(Me)
Also, we had some fun with her dog...

:-)

And as I mentioned before, we went to a conference
by the Maxwells this past Monday.
I finished this crochet project on the way there...

:)

I really enjoyed Sarah's young ladies' class as
well as Christopher's evangelism session.
Afterward, they all blessed us with some nice
bluegrass gospel music...

The children and their friends watching...

Here are the Maxwells after they finished...

Afterwards, our family stayed to fellowship
until the church was closing!
I enjoyed getting to know everyone!

(Mom wrote the commentary on the pics)
We didn't get home until about midnight :)
It was a great time of fellowship and fun.
Very encouraging and edifying!

This week, the children have been working on school...
Carolynne's learning to read.
Here she is writing some letters...

Beth working in her Language book...

Will sat reading some books for his History...

Also, Will sat reading some books to the young girls...


And I've been very busy composing arrangements
with all my instruments for my and Stephani's next cd...

(I'm recording each instrument separately
and then putting them together.
We're having piano, acoustic guitar, steel guitar,
banjo, fiddle, and electric bass from the keyboard)

We hope to get our first cd out by the New Year!!

Well, I hope you are all having a great week!

Family Fun and Chocolate Cakes...

I know, it's a little tacky for a title, but it's true!!
Maybe I've just been aching to share the dozens of
pictures I've been taking with my new camera ;-)

My uncle and his family arrived on Monday.
Since then, we've been doing quite a bit.
We couldn't help but laugh at the weather forcast...

What was even funnier was that there really was
a lot of smoke because the base was burning leaves!

Tuesday was my mom's birthday and we went to the ocean.
We stayed there 3 hours!
For the first time ever, I actually got a sunburn.
(I've only ever tanned, and I'm not easy to burn)
Wow, sunburn hurts!!! I'm glad I've missed out on it before!!

Later on, we celebrated mom's birthday by eating cake.
I made her a cake, but one of the roses got smooshed
and the bag busted so there was excess scribbling...

See what I mean? Oh well, it tasted good!

We later we took her out to Olive Garden (her favorite),
where I drank some of this...

Yummy strong brewed decaf coffee!!
(Olive Garden's is almost as yummy as Starbucks!)

Yesterday we went to the Aquarium.
It is on an island and I loved the view over the bridge...




The aquarium was quite fun (and exhausting).
The stingrays are my absolute favorite... I love petting them!
They're so friendly!
I couldn't get a very good picture of them though
because of the bad lighting and they swim and flap too fast.
Here was a waterfall...


This was a neat albino toad...


This adorable snake was looking right at me...


Afterwards we went to the beach on the island...




Today my mom picked up my gramma
and my great-gramma at the airport.
From 10am-2pm I was busy making cakes for my graduation...





My theme colors are black/pink/white.
I made the tassel on the smiley the same as my tassel.
It was kind of weird writing 'congrats' to myself!

This evening my dad and I are meeting with pastor
at the church to do a rehearsal for graduation,
as well as do things with the sound system.
Tomorrow we're decorating the church :-)!!!
I hope you all are having a great week!

Here's a random pic I took this week
(did I mention that I LOVE my new camera!)...