Easter, kids, and seedlings

I hope you all had a great Easter!  Ours was busy, but fun.  We had my mom and stepdad come out Saturday evening for dinner and egg decorating:

I boiled a total of 6 dozen eggs, but 1 1/2 dozen cracked in the pot, so they were deviled for the next day's dinner.  Brittany wanted to try marbling the eggs, using vegetable oil.  I think they are some of the prettiest my family's ever done!

Mom and Dick spent the night, and the next day, we went to church together.  Here are the 4 little girls in their Easter dresses:

And here are all six together:

After church, we had our egg hunt, since the Easter Bunny visited while we were gone.  Here is what Maddie found:

She had been playing with the toilet paper tube, originally. Sigh.

Next came breakfast, which Brianna has claimed, since she was really little, is her favorite part of all holidays:

The 3 littler girls, of course, made Easter crafts:

We used these for place favors on the breakfast table, with some candy.

My mom taught Brittany how to play a card game, called Spite and Malice, which they played almost all day.  Maddie came to watch:

(Notice Brittany multi-tasking.  She was listening to music on her laptop, while texting, and playing!)

and shows great promise as a future casino worker:

Today, I finally cut and packaged the loofah soaps I made at our last MOPS meeting.  It proved to be easier to push out of the molds than I thought, but cutting them was quite slippery.

And here they are, ready to give as gifts.  I will definitely be making more of these!

When I looked up from something I was doing, I noticed Emma and Abby, playing on the couch.

Emma is using her sleep mask as a face mask.  Abby is wearing sunglasses like they had her wear at the dentist's office.  That is a play telephone that Emma is using on Abby's mouth.

My taking the picture got their attention.  I guess the dental visit a few weeks ago had a big impact.  I love the imaginations they have at this age!

Finally, as I sat down to write this, I remembered the seedlings that my dad brought to me on Easter.  He and my stepmom joined us for a potluck dinner....thank goodness it was potluck, as I was beat!  Unfortunately, by that time of the day, I didn't think to grab the camera AT ALL!  Sorry, Dad!)  I put them in the shower in our downstairs bathroom, as it was really windy and rainy here on Sunday.  I will be putting them in the ground by this weekend, if the weather holds.  Here they are:

Forty-two plants of future goodness:  various tomatoes, some eggplants, cucumbers, chili peppers, bell peppers, pumpkins, watermelons, and squash.  Bring on summer!  (But, I think I'll have to ask Don to build a bigger garden!)

Have a great day, talk to you soon!

40 Squares, part 3, and Spring is springing!

OK, so I didn't think I would have any new squares to show you today, owing to the fact that I had 2 pairs of baby slippers to knit last night.  Here is one of the pairs:

The other pair was exactly the same.  Cute, and easy to knit, but I'm ready for a break from them, especially in hot pink!

I finished them around 11:00 pm, and wasn't ready for bed yet, so I reworked squares 2 and 9.  Do you ever look at something and no that there is something missing, but you can't quite put your finger on it?  That was the case for me and square 2:

Oh yeah!  Dad wears glasses!  That's better.

Square 9 was in desparate need of some outlining around the silver bits:

That helps a little, but I'm still not convinced entirely that I like it.

Next, I tackled square 11.  I wanted to put in the logo of the company I spent nearly 17 years with, so I searched and searched until I found one, as said company has altered their logo slightly since I quit.  Talk about a disaster!  I attempted the darn thing 3 times.  After the third time, I thought, "Hmmm, maybe outlining it will smooth the edges some."  After outlining, I thought, "I'm getting really tired.  I should go to bed (it was 1:30 am), maybe it will look better in the morning.  It didn't.  It looked like this:

That is what the logo is supposed to look like, right next to the stitching.  Yeah, not even close.

After 20 minutes ripping out stitches, and roughly an hour trying to come up with a workable pattern, and another hour or so doing the actual stitching, I achieved this:

Still not exactly right, but a whole lot closer.  At least it's recognizable.

As for new squares today, I have two to show you:

This is Don, my wonderful husband, who is tolerating this project quite admirably.  He's not a golfer, but I think he and I both wish he had the opportunity to play more often.  So far, this was my most fun square.

The next square is when Don and I met, working for the company represented above:

Yes, the faces are a little scary, and will probably be redone.  I should probably explain that Don claims that the first words I ever spoke to him were "Give me what I want, when I want it, and we'll get along just fine."  I maintain that this is untrue.  They weren't the first words I ever spoke to him.  Anyway, that is the reason why my hands are on my hips: as a nod to his recollection.

My sister asked me to show her a shot of all the squares put together, and here it is:

All in all, not bad for approximately 4 days of effort.  I was hoping to get 2 more squares done tonight, but I think, after I hit "publish post", I'm going to call it a day.

In other news today, we had a MOPS gathering, and it was craft day.  I don't have any pictures yet of the craft, as I've left them out in my car, but we made loofah soap.  They provided pieces of PVC pipe and pieces of loofah sponge.  After wrapping the end of the pipe in plastic wrap and securing it with rubber bands, we sprayed nonstick cooking spray in the mold.  We placed the loofah inside, and then poured in melted glycerin soap.  The idea was to take it home and let it set completely, then push it out of the mold and slice it into pieces.  Moisturizing soap with built in exfoliation!  I'm hoping to find some "alone" time tomorrow to finish.

And now, some signs that spring is trying to show itself.  We had gorgeous weather here last week, but it is rainy and chilly again, and they are predicting rait this weekend.  But, I took a few minutes to go out in my yard for some fresh air, and these are the pics I snapped:

A miniature rose, peeking through the greenery.

A promise of blueberries this season...not enough for anything but a taste, but at least it shows the bush is growing.

And some flowers that although rarely tended, and which will be gone in summer's heat, at least stopped to visit for Easter.

Which I hope will be wonderful for you and your families.

40 Squares, part 2

(OK, technically not part 2, as yesterday's was called "39 stitches".  It should have been 39 squares, apparently, I was listening to a child and not paying attention.  And since I'm doing 40 squares, let's fix that too.)

Boy, is my face red!  I rather shamelessly stole the design for my sun square from suzitee, but her's is MUCH better than mine.  Her blog is here, and her squares are all darling!  Now that I've given credit where it is due, I can show you my next 5 squares.

As you look at these, please ignore my blue lines, which were only roughly drawn in.  I will wash them out when each of the 40 squares is finished.

Square 6:

This is the stack of books on my nightstand.  Yes, there are at least that many.  I've included the Bible, because it is one of the books that I am determined to finish by the end of the year.

Square 7:

A ball of yarn and my favorite bamboo knitting needles.  I've hardly been without a pair of needles in my hands since the year began.  This square really looks better in person, as you can see the texture of the yarn ball more clearly.

Square 8:

This represents my first job, at a local grocery store.  But my husband says it is symbolic of my love of shopping.  I guess that works too.  I love dual purpose squares!

Square 9:

Not a great picture, but these are my sewing notions.  The silver needle is not showing up very well, but it is there.

Square 10:

This square is for all of the craft projects I do with my girls.  I will be thrilled if anyone can identify the brands I was trying to duplicate!

While I was stitching, one of my girls picked up the camera, and snapped this picture of me.  I was quite surprised when I uploaded pictures and came across this one, so I included it.  Perhaps I'm spending too much time on this project, hmm?

Oooh, look, I'm also on the phone with my mom.  I'd like to say this is not a good picture, and I look better in person, but I'm afraid it's pretty spot on!  At least it shows that I'm multitasking, which is usually true.

I'm hoping to have more squares done to show you tomorrow.  I've got to switch gears back to knitting today, as I have 2 pairs of slippers on order for tomorrow that aren't quite finished yet. 

See you later!

39 stitches: a new project.

Any one that has ever spoken to me for more than 5 minutes knows that the last thing I need is another new project.  Especially when you see the boxes of projects lined up waiting for my attention.  So when I first saw the 39 squares project on Melissa Goodsell's blog, I was NOT going to participate.  I loved looking at everyone else's squares though.  I hadn't embroidered in some 30 odd years, after all!  And, I had tons of things already in the works.  I certainly wasn't going to get involved in anything else.  Yeah, right.

This stitch along started on March 1.  The premise is to stitch one 1" square each day for 39 days, or one square of each year of your life.  I visited may different blogs, and stopped by the Flikr site to see ever more darling little squares.  On Friday, March 26, 25 days into the stitch along.....I cracked.  I was up for hours that night, sketching out my squares.  On Saturday, I toyed with whether or not I wanted to play along.  On Sunday, I bought the supplies.  On Sunday night....I began.  Sigh.

Of course, I made some key changes, as I can't seem to ever follow directions to the letter.  I am doing 40 squares, since I will be 40 this year.  It has been a really long time since I embroidered, so my squares are 1 1/2 inches instead of 1".  I felt more comfortable being able to create something recognizable with a little more room.  And I am doing as many squares a day as I can fit in.  Also, each square is something defining about my life in some way.  So, here are the first 5 squares:

My birthdate, stitched in my birthstone color, surrounded by snowflakes.  My dad says I was born during the biggest snow storm in many years.

My dad and mom.  Because I was a daughter before I was anything else.

Me and my sister.  Because that is the next thing I was.  I am in yellow, my sister is in pink.  Because those were the colors of our bedrooms as kids.

A cross, representing my Lutheran roots.  Our church's cross is currently draped in purple for Lent, and I really like it.  So, here it is.

The sun, representing our move to California from New Jersey, in 1976.  I was 5, which is why the sun looks like a kindergartener stitched it.  No, not really, my skills are just that rusty.  But, my explanation could work too, so I'm sticking to it.

Stay tuned for future squares!

Projects, old and new

I met my goal!  I had Maddie's birth announcement picture in a frame by her birthday!  I still do not have a hanger on it, and it is propped up in her room instead of hanging, but that wasn't part of the original plan.  At least, that is what I'm telling myself!

Here it is:

I know it is not a great picture, but it is finished!

While I was framing her picture, I did this one too.  I had finished the stitching quite a long time ago, but didn't want to drag out the equipment to do just this small thing.

Framing this one really gave me fits.  I had originally cut the mats to be reversed:  with the orange mat on the inside and the white/black mat on the outside.  After some playing, we decided we liked it better the other way, so I recut them.  Then, I discovered that the tape I used to hold them all together was showing in the frame.  I took it apart to remove the tape and wound up ruining the orange mat.  Recut #2.  Sigh.  But it looks good, and is all ready for this Halloween.

Remember the little sewing box that I showed you the pieces of?  Here it is, all finished, literally!  I chose an oak finish, and it exactly matches our coffee table.  Kind of weird...I wasn't trying to do that.

Here is the inside, fully stocked!  It's not like I needed another pincusion or sewing box, but it is cute, and keeps everything handy.

Finally, while I had company here for Maddie's birthday, I had to find a project that I could work on in front of people.  I don't like to work on gifts for people in front of other people, and I certainly can't work on gifts in front of the recipients, so I went out to my "craft room" (part 3 of of our 3 car garage), and dug until I found this:

I started this counted cross stitch project some 20 years ago.  It has moved with me to 5 different houses.  When I found it on March 19th, all that was done on it was basically from the top of the center box up.  And a little bit of the outline.  It WILL be finished and framed in time for Christmas this year!

Madison's first birthday!

Madison turned one on March 18th.  I, however, neglected to take a picture of her on her actual birthday. Sigh.  I was so focused on her party being on the 20th, I didn't get out the camera.  Her little sisters sang to her, repeatedly, through out the day though, so it wasn't totally unnoticed.

Here are some pictures from her party.  The first is her cake.  Our family puts Christmas ornaments on our birthday cakes, owing to the percentage of us whose birthdays fall after the Hallmark ornament release.  In fact, only my oldest daughter's birthday is too early in the year, so she gets an extra present at Christmastime.  But, I digress. 

Maddie's ornament was the nursery rhyme about the cow jumping over the moon, so I had them make a "sky" cake. The cow probably jumped over the moon at NIGHT, but this was as close as I could come.

The bakery includes a free small cake for baby's first birthday, so that the other guests do not have to have slobbery cake.

Maddie, who was fairly cranky all day, in the living room. That's my dad behind her, and my stepdad to his left. Abby is on the couch, Katie is dancing, and you can just see Emma's ponytail flying by. I'm not really sure why everyone has their nightgowns on already. It was one of those things that just happens.

Maddie with Grampy. One of the very rare smiles that she gave out that day.

Maddie, with Poppa.  Another rare smile sighting.

Also at the party were Maddie's paternal grandparents, my Mom, my stepmom, my sister and her boyfriend, and our neice.  Oh yeah, and her parents and 5 sisters.  There are no pictures of her with any of these other pictures in my camera.  Not sure what happened there, but I promise to make up for it on the next occasion we get together!

When it came time to have cake, Brittany noted that we had already put Maddie in pajamas, and that we might not want her getting cake all over herself.  She went and got one of her own t-shirts to cover her up with.  She's a quick thinking girl!

This, however, is as messy as she got.  Of my six girls, only one of them really plowed into her cake.  All the other ones have just sort of dabbled in it.

It was a fun day, especially considering that I had the food catered, and we used disposables.  Not the greenest solution, I know, but it sure made the day easier!  Next stop, scrapbooking the day!

Next blog entry, projects.

Activities, updates, and a bunny sighting!

Perhaps I should sit down and update this a little more frequently!  A lot has happened in the 18 days since I last sat here.  We'll start with the 3 little girls.  I think it will take more than one blog entry today to catch up, so here goes!

As always, we made projects for St. Patrick's Day.  The first one, I used polymer clay to make shamrock "beads" for them, and they strung them to make necklaces:

These are the ones that they made to give as gifts.  The ones they kept for themselves had different colored stones in the middle.

Next came our refrigerator magnets:

Katie is our "free thinker". While Abby and Emma follow the directions to a "t", Katie insisted on girl shamrocks, so had hair bows instead of bow ties.  Love that girl!

A few days later, Brittany took the girls out for a run through the sprinkler.  Yes, it was warm enough for the sprinkler on March 19th!

They desperately needed haircuts before Easter.  Here is the before picture:

And the after picture:

What a difference!  Combing hair is much less traumatic now.  Notice the suckers the received from the stylist!

Last week, I took them to visit the Easter bunny for pictures.  Before we could get there, we were invited to participate in a training session at a photo studio.  Here is the resulting picture from that:

These people were good...do you know how hard it is to get 4 little girls not only all looking in the same direction, but also SMILING?

Then, they saw the Easter bunny:

And here are our Easter projects so far.  Of course, I have 3 more kits put away for the next couple of days.

Thanks for bearing with me.  Next stop, Madison's first birthday!