Fun Projects

Here are a couple of fun projects I've been working on. First is a baby blanket and dress set. The second is a set of cat and bear cotton bath mitts.

Buckle Up and Enjoy the Ride

A Valentine Bear for my daughter wearing a sweater I made for it. 

Bear buckles up for safety when he goes on trips.

We're cheering for the marching band at all their competitions.

So proud of all the band's hard work.

The band is on their way to the state marching band competition. This is my oldest daughter holding the sax. She loves band! (she takes after me) Good luck, Tiger Band!!

This is a blanket I made years ago for my husband's Nana. After she passed away, it came back to our house with us. It is very warm and snuggly. Here one of my daughters snuggles with her green bunny and our grey kitty. Being 11 is hard work.

A whole bunch of handmade dishcloths, ready for a craft fair in my hometown.

This is the result of a whole lot of hours of work, and just a small amount of the items I took to sell. It went pretty well. My favorite part of that weekend was seeing and hugging friends and spending the weekend with my mom and dad. I got to watch movies with mom and have some good talks with my dad. Good times

The Songs in My Head-- Count on Me, Bruno Mars

Woke up with this song running through my head :). Count on Me, by Bruno Mars

[Verse 1:]
Oh uh-huh
If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea
I'll sail the world to find you
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see
I'll be the light to guide you

We find out what we're made of
When we are called to help our friends in need

[Chorus:]
You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
And you'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Ooooooh, oooohhh yeah, yeah

[Verse 2:]
If you're tossin' and you're turnin'
And you just can't fall asleep
I'll sing a song beside you
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me
Every day I will remind you

Oooh
We find out what we're made of
When we are called to help our friends in need

[Chorus:]
You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
And you'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Ooooooh, oooohhh yeah, yeah

You'll always have my shoulder when you cry
I'll never let go, never say goodbye
You know...

[Chorus:]
You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
And you'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Ooooooh, oooohhh

You can count on me 'cause I can count on you

Getting Ready for Fall Craft Shows

 Lots of things I've been working on lately :)

I'll be selling again this year at the Christmas in Marion Arts & Crafts Show in Marion, KY on Saturday October 17, from 9-4

A Nice Dream- Harry Connick, Jr. at the Schermerhorn

I rarely dream where I remember it, and if I do, I usually just have unusual or odd dreams, nothing scary, just weird. This morning I had a really nice dream right before I woke up and I wanted to write it down. At the very end of the dream me, my mom, and a bunch of kids we were accidentally chaperoning were getting a private tour of the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall in Nashville and got to sit wherever we wanted in the wings and really close to the stage to hear Harry Connick, Jr casually sing us a private concert. Only after I woke up did I realize that the stage was completely different than the stage at the Schermerhorn. I just love that symphony hall, and think it is so beautiful.

The dream started when mom and I were driving, headed back to her house. We had to take a detour because the road  to her house  was undergoing some construction (which it is right now). We stopped at an old looking gas station on a little hill to get gas, and mom was passing out $100 dollar bills to random helper people at the gas station. The lady said the bathroom was probably not working, but I really had to go, so we started walking around the gas station building to find the bathroom for ourselves. We ended up looking out a window and then going out a doorway to a quaint little town where people were having a celebration of some sort where they were dressed in old fashioned costumes and dresses. We ended up in a building with a group of kids who were going to a camp of some sort. We helped them do some volunteer work, and then at the end of the dream we got to tour the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall with Harry Connick, Jr. I don't remember the song he was singing, but he was so close and we were so near the stage. At the end I was sitting criss cross applesauce on a carpeted area near the edge of the side of the stage and was turning the flash off my camera so I could take some pics while he was singing. Good dream. The end

Here's a random Harry Connick, Jr. song I like, even though it wasn't in the dream

"We Are In Love"

I know you so well
I can tell by the sound of your voice
If you're really in love with me
And you are
You are

You know I can't lie
If I say to you 'baby, I love you'
Then baby, I love you
And I do
I do

I do... could it be that's the
Phrase you thought never would phase you
Well baby, you better hold on tight
'Cause I'm the one who's supposed to
Kneel down and propose, well alright
I might, I might

So, when I kiss you good-night
Just sleep tight with the thought that you'll
Always be caught up in love with me
And you'll dream that the stars up above
Have the answer of whether we'll be
Or whether we won't be
In love...
Well, we are,
We are

Untangling

Last couple of days I was happy because I found a cute project to use up some vintage yellow yarn I had been given. One thing led to another and I needed to find a ball of grey yarn that I *knew* I had just seen in my basket a couple of days ago. The result is that this morning I am using the quiet time before all the kids get up to completely empty my yarn basket and see what's in the bottom. I am ending up spending some time rewinding small balls of yarn and untangling others. Some day I'll realize that this is a process I need to do more regularly, haha. Nearly to the bottom of the basket now and still haven't found the grey. The good news is that I'll get to go through my yarn shelves and project bags to see if that's where it ended up :).

I've always found untangling things and unknotting things and oddly calming activity. Going to have to credit my dad for that. When he was in the navy he learned all kinds of knots. Combine that with lots of patience and determination and you have someone who is good at teaching not only knots, but unknotting and detangling.

edit-- actually, now that I'm at the bottom of the basket, I'm realizing that the next step is the couch, which always ends up being a resting place for yarn, yarn project bags, finished objects, etc. I do *try* to clean up the couch at least once a week, and sometimes twics (don't fail over from fainting), but it always ends up with more yarn stuff by the end of the next week.

untangled (yes, untangled!!) yarn basket...hint of couch (you're next!) behind that

basket find-- crocheted heart, ready to be sewn onto *something*--proud I put it back in the basket and am continuing on my original quest, to find the grey yarn, instead of stopping this untangling to make something cute to sew the heart on to (hopefully, I'll find the grey soon, will finish current project and will get to make something for the little heart) haha

(and yes...I always stop the yarning to feed the children, wash the dishes, take out the trash, hug the children, etc etc. I even get outdoors in the sunshine every day, even if it's just to go to the mailbox, water the kitties/flowers, and feed the cats---all that counts as going outside)

All the Pretty Things

a few of my recent creations.....I just love all the colors! These were all fun, fairly quick projects. The little purses are not quite done, as I'm looking for some fabric to line them with. They were so fun to make that I'll likely be making more little purses in different colors and sizes.

The only other exciting craft happening around here is that the little shop where I help out, Raggle Taggle, is moving to a larger location.....in another city! I won't be able to work in the shop like I have been, but I'll still help with crochet classes. It's been a fun season, to work in a little shop like that. I've had a relaxing summer so far, and I've spent quite a lot of time at home, doing things with the family. The dowtown Saturday farmer's market is still calling my name, so I might still do that. The market runs all the way through October, so I have plenty of time to join in if I want to :). We'll see....I'm really enjoying time home with the babies (though they're not babies anymore!). My oldest will be in high school marching band this year, so I'll likely be going to all kinds of marching band competitions, in addition to lots of gymnastics meets :)

Some recent family pictures (sure do love these people)--

The Songs in My Head-- Lead Me to the Cross

woke up this morning with this song running through my head
It is one we sing at church. It is that sweet season in the summer where the kids are going to vacation bible school, and are singing all the songs and having lots of fun. It won't be long until school starts, so we're trying to make summer stretch out. We've had a mild summer so far. No extreme storms or temperatures. This week, however, we're finally feeling hot, and the heat index is rising to 109 on some days. That's pretty hot for around here. The actual temperature was hovering around 99 yesterday. Next week my oldest daughter will begin her high school journey by going to her first band camp. She is in for a treat and a shock, making lots of friends and memories. I am totally looking forward to school supply shopping, though :). One in 9th grade, one in 6th, and one in 3rd grade. It's going to be a fun year.

Lead Me to the Cross

Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemption's hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as loss

[Chorus:]
Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and trialed
Human
The word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen

Everything I once held dear
I count it all as loss

[Chorus]

To your heart
To your heart
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart

[Chorus]

Tapestry

Tapestry

My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue
An everlasting vision of the ever-changing view
A wondrous, woven magic in bits of blue and gold
A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold

Once amid the soft silver sadness in the sky
There came a man of fortune, a drifter passing by
He wore a torn and tattered cloth around his leathered hide
And a coat of many colors, yellow-green on either side

He moved with some uncertainty, as if he didn't know
Just what he was there for, or where he ought to go
Once he reached for something golden hanging from a tree
And his hand came down empty

Soon within my tapestry along the rutted road
He sat down on a river rock and turned into a toad
It seemed that he had fallen into someone's wicked spell
And I wept to see him suffer, though I didn't know him well

As I watched in sorrow, there suddenly appeared
A figure gray and ghostly beneath a flowing beard
In times of deepest darkness, I've seen him dressed in black
Now my tapestry's unraveling - he's come to take me back
He's come to take me back

I've always felt a special connection to this album, since it was released in the year of my birth. There are so many good songs on this album, and Carole King is such a good song-writer and musician. I love the idea of our lives being like a tapestry, woven with the stories of our lives. 

Spring into Summer

we have a few more weeks of spring to go
the kids are already out of school for summer vacation, so they call it summer already
here are some of my favorite spring-like things this year, before it's over