Memorial Day Part Deux - Cute Overload

Wuzzup my homeys?? Howz it hangin'? Are you ready for a pic heavy, word lite, cuteness loaded post? Good! Here goes!

First up, the lambs. They were so stinking cute and full of personality this year!! No real narrative for these, but I did come up with captions. :)

Yeeeee-haw!!!! We're FREEEEE!!!!

Holy sheep doo Sheeplets! What is THAT???


I so tired... just 5 more minutes, then I play cute more, 'kay?

What's up Doc?

The little guy below had been getting shoved aside by the rest of the herd during feeding time, and as a result became so weak, he pretty much can't move. So, he's separated and getting some extra TLC. Including loving from Miss Leah.

Next up, pics of Leah's very first "real, big girl" riding lesson. She was sooooo excited (can you tell from this pic??):


She did some practice in the indoor arena, then it was out the door to ride outside for the first time in her little life:



She did such a great job! I know I'm biased, but really... I've seen adults not steer and stop, then start again so well their first time out. It probably helps that a) she had been dreaming of that day for ages, and b) her brain is like a little sponge - all young and what not. ;)

Here are my two other favorite pics:

Can you tell she was enjoying the heck out of it? She is still at grandma's (I get to go get her on Friday - thank GOD!!! I knew I'd miss her, but my my my...) and having a grand ole time living the life of a farm girl (stay tuned at the end of the post for "Leah's Theory of Good Farm Girl Living"). Riding every day, playing with the dog and cats and lambs. Every kid's dream, right?

Mooooving on....

Maybe if I close my eyes, she'll be gone when I open them...

Here's the obligatory shot of Leah's best buddy Razz:

We wondered if he'd remember her again this year... sure enough we got there and after hugs and kisses for grandma, Razz was the first stop on Leah's "must do immediately" itinerary. He was eating his grain, so we figured that the likelihood he'd be interested in greeting her was slim to none. Ha! Goes to show what we know! She called him a few times, and over he came. Pretty cute.

And what farm would be complete without flowers??

Daisies aren't my favorites in the garden (Not that I don't like them! I do!), but I sure do think they're the happiest looking flowers!

Just a cool looking dead tree...

And my favorite early summer flower, the peony...

And that brings us to... "Leah's Theory of Good Farm Girl Living"....

Let me set the scene. Per grandma's request Leah is helping in the barn by raking up the hay that got in the aisleway during chores. Our good family friend and farm helper, Marty, comes in and asks Leah how she's doing... and a theory is born:

Marty: How's it going, Leah?

Leah: Good.

Marty: You're doing a good job raking up the hay... looks like you're turning into a pretty good farm girl, huh?

Leah: Uh-huh. (Looks up at Marty). Mr. Marty? When I grow up I'm going to be a farm girl, but I'm not doing chores and raking and all this other stuff.

Marty: Well, then who will take care of the animals and the farm?

Leah: My servants.

Marty: Servants? What servants?

Leah: My mom.

Well, that's all I've got right now, folks! I've gotten some things done in the craft room, but not as much as I thought I would with my evenings being "free". But enough to make a pretty "busy" crafting post, so I'll save it for next time.

Once again, thanks so much for your comments! I know you are all busy, so it really makes it extra special when I (maybe a tad obsessively) check for comments and see that I've got a new one. :)

Have a fantastic week everyone!!

Robin

Memorial Day Part 1 - The Outing

Hey there everybody!

Well, I am back from Michigan and I've gotta tell ya - we had such a wonderful, full weekend it's gonna take two (or more??) posts to cover everything.

Let's start with my day out with Deb and Terri, shall we?? We were having so much fun together we only got one picture as we were leaving the last stop of the day:

From Left to Right: Deb, Terri, Moi. A special "shout out" to Deb for allowing me to post her picture. She normally shies away from photo posting (I think it has something to do with the paparrazi) but graciously allowed me to post this shot so I could "prove" she was with us... thanks, Deb!! Are you happy with the way your pic turned out?? ;)

Seriously, though. These two ladies are fantastic! So friendly, and funny, and sweet, and stylish, and funny, and sweet... Did I mention funny and sweet? They are exactly as you would imagine they are based on their blog posts. We had so much fun chatting and laughing it up in Terri's car (thanks for driving, Terri!), there wasn't a single lull in the conversation, or any awkward moments - you would think we'd known each other forever... which makes sense, given we already were friends, don't you think? It was a great day, and they put the icing on the cake by bringing gifts just for me. :)

First up is this wonderful pincushion and strawberry (with scissors!!) that Terri made for me:


Aren't they darling?? Thank you SO much, Terri! Your creations are on my table, right where I can see and use them. :) Roscoe thought they were cute, too. I tried repeatedly to get this photo without his assistance (note his little paw pointing out the charms of the strawberry), but to no avail and so I decided to just go with it.

Next up is the lovely package from Deb (once again, Roscoe is delighting in my good fortune... or it might be plotting which items he'll confiscate for himself. And who could blame him??):

She gifted me with this wonderful little tower shelf, and stuffed it with goodies! A sheepie scissor fob/ pin keep complete with scissors, a lambie covered measuring tape (and where might the measuring tape protrude from?? I'll leave that up to your imagination, hehe!), a delicious (blue to match my room) "rain" scented soy candle, some yummy fabrics in the same flavor as my room, and some sweet little blue buttons. Thank you, Deb!! These are gracing my room in very prominent locations!

Aren't these two just so kind? I think so, too.

We spent the day quilt shop hopping, and antique shopping. I got some really cute things!! First up, the antiques:

I got this great antique walnut frame (Nice and deep front & back. Perfect for some stitchy piece), a large wooden and metal spool (wrapped with French General measuring "tape" - a find at one of the quilt shops - and some ric rac I found at the Antique Mall), a flower frog in a lovely bowl (thanks for finding this one, Terri!!), some adorable single serve salt & pepper shakers, a bone dish, a hemostat (gotta have that for those stuck needles), and a really cute little glass apothecary jar - it has this really cool rainbow sheen on the glass which made it especially irresistable (side note - while we were waiting in line, I was talking [with my hands, of course] and the lid on this jar flew off and hit the concrete floor. Miraculously, it didn't break. Note to self - no more talking while waiting to pay for something you're holding that is fragile!!). And, do you notice the little note pad? That was actually part of Deb's gift - I realized I left it out after I had all this set up, and just had to make sure it got included. Can you read what it says? "The bigger the handbag, the smaller your butt looks"!!! LOLOL!!! Love it!

Next up, my fabric/ quilty finds:

I am in total love/ fabric lust with the Fig Tree Quilt lines. Luscious. I wonder what I'll make??

One last thing (even though it isn't related to the MI trip). I got back to work today and my friend Melissa brought me a gift from her trip to CA. She found these fabulous socks in Carmel, and brought them back for me:

Are they awesome or what?? If my toenail polish wasn't drying, they'd be on my tootsies right now. :) Thanks again, Melissa!!

Well, that's it for tonight! Stay tuned for Memorial Day Part Deux (to include farm pics, and pics of Leah being a farm girl and during her first "real" riding lesson, flower pics, etc.).

G'night!!

Robin

Move Along Folks; Nothing to See Here, Nothing to See...

No really... nothing to show for my (nearly 2 week?) hiatus. This'll be quick. :)

I've done a tiny bit of stitching, some more piecing on my quilt, and - most importantly - bid a fond (and incredibly teary... okay, I wept like a baby multiple times during the finale) farewell to the show that was the ONLY reason we got cable TV - LOST. Last week was incredibly consumed with the build up to this event. It's a little pathetic, really... Tuesday was the penultimate episode, and when it was over I was "done" for the night... couldn't think about anything else. Thursday evening I actually paid money to go sit in a movie theater and watch an interview with the creators/ head writers of the show and, again, was useless for the rest of the night (are you getting an idea of my level of devotion to and love for this show??), then Sunday from 7pm until 11:30pm I was on the couch with lots of tissue watching the recap special and the final broadcast. If it weren't for the Redskins (DH's blood runs burgundy & gold) I would happily call Comcast and pull the plug right now. :)

But! Now I'm back, I have my Tuesday nights back and I can promise you this - there are several great posts headed your way after the Memorial Day Weekend.

*SPOILER ALERT* - Don't read further if you like being surprised by blog post topics. :)

Coming Soon to a blog near you (uh... this blog):

- Headed to MI to see my mama over the Memorial Day Weekend - farm pics and Leah pics will be included

- On Saturday I will spend the day antiquing and quilt shop hopping with our beloved and FAB-u-lous bloggers Deb and Terri - recap to follow (to include any hilarity that ensues)

- Stitching progress

- Quilt progress

- A couple "other" projects I've worked on recently

Have a wonderful Memorial Day and remember to take a moment (or more) to remember those that have died to protect our right to barbecue, wear cutoff jeans, speak our minds, worship as we choose, and all the myriad other everyday little things we can sometimes take for granted.

Peace Out my homeys! See you on the flip side!
Robin

Roses are Pink, Frogs are Glass & Stitching is Last

Howdy everybody! How are you all doing? My new phone (HTC Incredible... it is awesome!! If you're in the market for a VZW phone I HIGHLY recommend it!) is supposed to have helped me stay on top of reading and commenting on blogs... but apparently I don't have quite as many empty moments as I thought, b/c I feel like I'm just as big a stranger to the blogosphere as ever! I need to get caught up with y'all, and I will soon, I promise!

Thanks so much for the kind wishes for Leah's birthday!! I read each and every one to her (and dispensed second hand hugs as requested), and they all made her feel so special and cared for... thank you for helping me make her birthday wonderful for her!! I can't believe my baby is 5 and goes to "big kid school" in the fall. Time really does fly by, doesn't it?

I'm struggling to pinpoint a "good" starting point for this post, so I'm just going to jump right in... I apologize in advance for the stream of consciousness (Robin style) you're about to be subjected to! This could get scary folks, so buckle in!!!

Umm... yeah... that sounds cool so I'm leaving it in, but really we haven't had anything terribly exciting going on. Just your normal every day run of the mill "stuff"... Let's see, how to recap...

We had Leah's birthday party this past Saturday, which was a complete success. I don't know what I was thinking, though! 15 kids in my townhouse!! (It's generously sized for a townhouse, but add their parents to the mix and it was standing room only!). I remembered pronto why I am sticking with my decision to have one child. By the time the third kid arrived I was ready to come unglued! Not because they were being bad or anything, just the sheer volume of their little voices! Oy! Then they got hopped up on sugar and dear Lord I was ready to reach for the vodka... er, or I would have if we had any in the house. :) Seriously, I don't know how you ladies with multiple children do it!! You have my utmost respect and admiration, you truly do. So, basically what I'm saying is: Birthday parties in my home - Most. Effective. Birth. Control. Ever. And really, the world is a much safer place if I limit my offspring to one, m'kay (because of me, not because of my offspring)?

We've had something of a rainy/ chilly spell this week, which has meant not a ton of outside activity going on. However, I did manage to grab a couple of really nice shots of one of the few roses I have blooming (this bush really needs to be pulled, but I just don't have the heart to do it... yet) during a brief hiatus in the gloom the other evening:

I love roses!!! Especially a lot of the David Austen roses. This is 'Heritage', and when it was healthy it bloomed profusely in several flushes throughout the summer (one year it even had a small bloom in mid-October!) with very little extra care (all I did was dead head, and give it some rose food every 2-3 weeks) I really wish we'd decide how we're going to finish our back yard so I can get a garden plan going back there! We are in negotiations amongst ourselves, and once we decide I'll be sure to share some before and afters with you all. Whether you want me to, or not! :) Needless to say, the beds will include roses. I can't wait!!

Oh! Mother's Day! I hope you all had a wonderful day and that your families lavished you with affection and gratitude for all that you are for them every day of every year!!! We had a pretty quiet day which was nice. We made a trip to our local Home Goods/ TJ Maxx (I love me some HG/ TM!!!) in the afternoon so that I could try to find a replacement for my beloved fuzzy white bathroom rugs... why would I need to do that you ask? Well, let me tell you.

My dear darling (dramatic) Leah was dancing around my bathroom artistically twirling her little (lightweight!!!) sweater around her and singing at the top of her lungs. I had stupidly left some bottles of nail polish on the side of the tub (you know where this is headed, don't you). Somehow the sweater made contact with a bottle of OPI Mother Road Rose (great color, btw) polish, knocked it off the WHITE TILE tub, and onto the WHITE TILE floor and of course, the neck of the bottle snapped off and lo and behold, we had dark hot pink nail polish everywhere (tips for removing said nail polish without ruining the finish on my tile are welcome), including on my fuzzy white rug. :( Ah well, accidents happen. Oh, but the fun part was when Leah stepped in it while trying to clean it up, then proceeded to make little pink dots all around the bathroom as I tried desperately to get her to "Stop! Moving!" I swear you can't make this stuff up! I can totally imagine how comical we would've looked to someone watching the scene unfold, lol!

Anywho! That resulted in a trip to Home Goods (you feel sorry for me, don't you) where (amongst other "scores") I found these little gems (aka Mother's Day gifts):

Aren't they great?? They're heavy as all get out, and so rustic looking, which I love. They weren't very expensive and so they came home with us. I actually got two of the smaller one, but figured a pic of just one of them would get the point across... did it? The two smaller ones were labelled as candle holders, but the bottoms are pretty concave, so I'm not sure how well that would work. I'll figure something out.

But my best mommy's day gift came much later in the day. Let me back up... Leah has been leaving her room to go to sleep in our bed lately, and we haven't quite managed to break her of the habit. So, Sunday night I brought a load of laundry up to my room to fold and put away, but when I got up there Leah was in our bed (I thought) fast asleep. So, I put the basket down, whispered to the kitty that I'd put the clothes away tomorrow night, and went back downstairs. My DH came downstairs a few minutes later and told me to "go check out what Leah's doing." Well, really, there's no telling what her creative little mind might come up with so I high tailed it up to our room and found her... pulling clothes out of the basket (in the dark!), "folding" them, and putting them in piles on the bed, just like mommy. She saw me and said "Here mommy, I'll do this for you so you don't have to do it tomorrow." I just about bawled. Who's my sweetest baby EVER?? We finished doing the load together, then she crawled back into bed and fell asleep. It was about the best ending I could have imagined to the day.

Stitching time has been completely non-existent for the last few weeks for various reasons. I did pick up The Blessing again Monday night and here is where I am:

I am really enjoying this part of the pattern... I know this probably means I'm crazy, but I actually really enjoy fill in. No counting, totally mindless, just the soothing rythm of the stitches, and whatever music or audio book I'm listening to. Ahhh.

Once this is done, (or possibly before), I think I'm going to try finishing up that quilt top I was working on... whenever it was I was working on it! I've been bitten by the quilt bug recently (note to self - stop visiting fatquartershop.com), and really want to get cracking on finishing that quilt top and maybe starting another.

Just one more thing, then you can go. :) I'm not sure you recall the tour of my room several posts back, but I believe I showed a pic of my scissors in a frog just sitting on the table? Well, I was encouraged to find a home for the frog, and I found something it fit right there in my craft room! Me likey!

Alrighty, that's it for me tonight! I'll "see" you all soon!! Have a wonderful weekend!!

~Robin

Leah Haley

Five years ago (almost to the minute) my greatest joy entered the world. Here is "her life" in 8 photos or less...

May 4th, 2005 ~ 12:35am

6lbs 15oz; 21" long

Have a wonderful week if I don't get a chance to do another post this week!

Robin

Testing 123

Hiya folks!

Just testing my ability to post on Blogger from my new phone. :)

See you soon!!!

Miscellany

Hey there, everybody!

Let me start by sayin'... ain't no stitchy pics here! :) I've had another week that has kept me away from my stitchy seat (in some respects "self imposed"... but I'll tell you about that in a little bit) except for a couple of nights, so no progress worth a pic! Next time (I hope!)!!

I have been very lax in blog reading and commenting the past couple weeks, and for that I apologize!! But, I was able to get a few read today at lunch, and look what I found on Cari's blog!!??!! My first EVER award!!! :) It made me so happy!! Thank you SO SO SO much, Cari!!!

The rules are that I'm supposed to list 10 things that make me happy, then pass it along to 10 folks. Here goes the fulfillment of the 1st portion (note that these are not necessarily in order of importance - except the first one. The first one is definitely first.):

1) My sweet baby Leah (I'm sure none of you are suprised by that!!)
2) LOST (Here's hoping my level of sadness when the show ends {only 4 hours left!!!} does NOT correlate to the level of happiness it brings me)
3) Reading a good book - curled up under a blanket on a rainy day, or sitting outside on a lovely evening
4) Taking pictures, and playing with them in PhotoShop
5) Playing games - card games, board games, any kind of game (except games involving balls)
6) Stitching (duh)
7) Quilt fabric (can't really say "quilting" since I pretty much only dream of doing that) - esp. jelly rolls, layer cakes, honey buns, turnovers, etc., etc., etc.
8) Gardening
9) Decorating/ looking at design blogs and books (and mags)
10) Sleep. I looove me some sleep!!

Now the second part of this award is to give it to 10 other people... but I can't choose between all the blogs I follow. So, I'm not going to pass it along. (Breakin' the law! Breakin' the law!!) Just know this: If you are on my blog-roll, reading your blog makes me happy. Really! Your blogs give me so much inspiration, motivation, entertainment, enjoyment... and the relationships that have developed with some of you electronically enrich my life so much, I can't even tell you!! So!

Okay, on to the reason for my stitching inattentiveness (I'll try to keep this brief, but you know me!!)... I've been sucked into a vortex. Or maybe it's a black hole... whatever it is, I am very excited about this, and can't wait to truly get started with it!! What is it? Digital scrapbooking!!

I visited my BFF (Ili) last Saturday and asked how her scrapbooks were coming along. She said "Girrl!! I went digital!!" I was like "Whaaat?? Oh no you di'n'!!" And she was like... okay, sorry, I'll spare you. :) Long story short, she introduced me to a website called artscow.com. She had completed and had printed several photo books from them, and they looked really really good! So, I got myself all set up and started Sunday evening. It was VERY cool! Pretty easy to use, and much faster than traditional (paper) scrapbooking. I used to spend 2-3hrs per page when I was kickin' it old skool. With this site, I spent @ 10 hrs and had 15 pages complete. I was so excited when I saved my project Monday night! Then the problems started... I won't go into it all here, but suffice to say I won't be using artscow.com. 10 hrs of work completely down the drain (due to issues on their end) and the response of their customer service department was pretty much "sorry 'bout your luck!"

So! Despite that frustration it was a wonderful thing! I loved doing it so much that I am now looking into and will probably purchase the Creative Memories Storybook Creator software. It isn't nearly as expensive as I thought it was, and it looks like it is a very powerful tool! It'll be good to get through the thousands of pictures I have sitting on my PC, on CDs and on my memory card! Who knows? Maybe I'll even share some of my pages in future posts!

To make up for not having a stitchy pic this week, I thought I'd share a couple of flower pics from my garden...

Well, folks! I'm going to sign off, get caught up on blog reading and commenting, then continue on with my Digital scrapbooking research... if any of you have success stories or horror stories to share, I'd love to hear them!!! Thanks so much for reading!!!

Stitch a$$ to all and to all a good night!!

Robin