Babies, Babies and more Babies

Jace told me the other day that he wanted me to have another baby.

"Uh ..... Jace, Mommy can't have any more babies.

Your my baby and you already have 2 sisters and 5 brothers."

So I changed the subject to all of the new babies that have been born lately. We have been blessed with so many babies lately in our family and with our friends. My two newest grandbabies are 3 months old now and like my other grandkids ..... they are so cute!

This is Leigha on Easter

and her twin brother, Liam

This is a picture of my new grand nephew, Anthony

Anthony is my older brother's first Grandchild

and my first time to be an official Great Aunt

Anthony is almost a month old already

Congratulations to Emily and Andrew!

and this is our friend Amber

and my Lexie is holding Amber's new son, Marius

Marius is 6 weeks old now

Babies are such a blessing and if I wasn't already 48,

you betcha I wouldn't mind having another one or two!

Fairy's and Fairy Stuff

Mallory and I joined Missy's A Fairy Went to Market Swap. I made two bags from Missy's tutorial and then sent them to Missy along with 10 things for Mallory's swap and 10 for mine. Missy then sent us back a different bag and it was filled with 10 things that other people made. It was really fun and I honestly can't believe how creative all of the ladies who participated are! I only am showing a few of the pictures (which I borrowed from Missy), but Mallory and I received some really cool fairy items.

This is the bag that Mallory received. She LOVES it!

Here are some little crocheted bags with leaves on them

for my fairy to take to Market with her.

So cute!!

and then Val from YarniGras made these cute little Fairy Fireplaces out of seashells.Very Creative Val!

This is the bag I received. It was made by Jen.

I love the little flowers and dandelions in the fabric and then the butterflies are appliqued on.

This is the bag I made for Mallory to send in

and then I made 10 of these butterfly pins.

This is the bag I sent in

and then I made these little butterfly wands

Then for Yarni Gras Year of Enchantment Swap our Febuary theme was Fairies. My partner was AwtemNymf and we were both running behind so that's why I'm just now posting about this swap. Here is the beautiful Angelic Fairy that Sandy made for me and she's in my favorite color. I think she is so pretty! Thanks Sandy!

and then here is the little fairy/brownie that I made for Sandy. I'm not very good at drawing faces, but all and all I think he turned out pretty cute.

Miss Rhea's Easter Basket Swap

I participated in Miss Rhea's Easter Basket Swap this year.

We were suppose to make 2 Easter Baskets out of a yogurt container. Miss Rhea gave us an excellent tutorial which really helped me out a lot. Be sure and go to her blog to see the list of everyone who participated and how creative everyone was with their yogurt containers.

One of my partners was Vanessa from Stitches-N-Stuff.

She sent me this beautiful package. She made a really pretty basket. There is a lot of detail work that doesn't show up in the picture. Vanessa also made me a bunny, bunny pin, a little bird, an Easter hat, cross and a little pink pretty with a chick on top.

Everything is so beautiful!

Thank you Vanessa!

You are so creative and very talented!

My other partner was Michelle from The Tattered Quilt Cottage.

Michelle sent me a really beautiful package too. The Easter Basket has a beaded handle and pretty lavender fabric. My photo doesn't show how pretty it really is. Michelle also sent a little pinchushion that she made, a purple bracelet, a cookie cutter, socks, address labels (What a wonderful idea!!) a notepad, tags, a cookie cutter, and hand sanitizer, bath fizzies, sprinkles and the cutest little tin.

Here is what I sent to Vanessa.

I made her basket, a bird, a bunny egg cover, a couple of crocheted egg covers, candies, a butterfly, a little crocheted bird nest and a fabric banner for spring.

and for Michelle I made a her basket, a crocheted birds nest filled with eggs, candies, notecards, a butterfly, a little funky duck, a spring fabric banner and I crocheted a funky little chicken egg cover but I forgot to put it in the picture.

I loved my packages and I hope Vanessa and Michelle liked what I sent to them.
Thank you Miss Rhea for a really fun swap
and for such a great idea on recycling yogurt containers.

I Will Remember You Always....Now RIP

Last night, I am so sad to announce,

I had to pronounce

the foot pedal to my sewing machine

dead.

(sniff, sniff.....please pass the tissues.....sniff).

I tried reviving the poor thing by oiling it and trying to dust it out.

It didn't seem to help

so.......

Then I took more drastic measures.

I tried reviving the poor pedal by trying to talk it into staying alive

(a few swear words here and there)

I tried CPR

(banging it on the table a few times)

and then I even tried the Heimlich on it

(pounding the crap of the poor thing with my foot)

but, even with all of my life saving techniques

......the pedal just couldn't be revived.

So my dear friend and constant companion

RIP.

I will always remember the joy you gave me in sewing

the many aprons, hot pads, tote bags, pillows, blankets

and the occasional mending of clothes.

I will remember the happy times we had being creative together.

Thank you for the memories my dear friend.

Under any other conditions I would be at a total loss

and quite frankly,

really pissed off

but,

my sweet, smart and always thinking

Earl

bought this old sewing machine last year at a garage sale for $20.00

thinking I could use it to teach the kids to sew on.

It's been sitting in the garage for almost a year now

and when Earl brought it in the house last night

I,

without much hope of it working

was surprised and delighted

to see that it works like a charm!

So I am not going to be sad today

(maybe a little annoyed and frustrated)

but, not sad or mad

because my dear friend

I'm sorry to say

that you have been

replaced.

So RIP

and today

this old and hopefully reliable new friend

will bring me as many wonderful memories as you did.

I'm Lovin' My Nice Clean Craft Room!

I finished cleaning my craft room last week and I LOVE it! It is so organized and so clean. I still have a few more things to do, but I have to wait to get some $$ to buy a few more things.


I sat a small coffee table and 3 little chairs up next to my desk for Jace. The first day I put the table in I went in the craft room and all 3 of the kids were sitting at the table doing homework. It was so cute! The kids are enjoying having a space to come in and play or just talk to me while I'm crafting. Good Idea Mom!

Now I'm working on cleaning the living room and dining room before Easter. With a messy craft room a ton of craft stuff managed to spill into the other rooms.

and then the window that I can sit and look out while I'm sewing and crafting. I had an old crocheted piece that I put up for a valance and then the shelf has some of my vintage sewing supplies and threads, things I received in swaps and gifts from my kids.

Three small dressers and a plastic cabinet hold tons of organized craft supplies. Unfortunately I had to block one window, but this will hopefully only be temporary.

My back door that leads to the back porch that I can actually get to and will be able to open this summer and this weekend!!! Yay! It's finally suppose to be nice here in NY this weekend!

These are some of the built in shelves that I'm trying to get organized. I'm recycling lots of jars and filling them with craft supplies and I have a place for my craft books and magazines (except for the ones still in the basement....Sssshhhh!)

All my photo's, fabric, paper, shipping supplies, and other things on the back shelf. It looks cluttered and my photo's definitely still need a lot of organization, but there is a spot for everything and I know where things are now.

It's still cluttered, but it's clean and organized and I'm really enjoying my craft room!

Day 4 of Cleaning My Craft Room

I think that my blogger friend Angel said it best, "Are you at the point where you wish you hadn't started????" Oh yes, yes, yes, I was to that point on Monday night. I was almost in tears. I was physically and mentally exhausted. I could envision my sibling standing there shaking their heads saying "OMG! OMG Sherry! Why do you have so much junk? Oh Sherry!" I seem to be the only one out of the six of us that is a hoarder. All of my siblings (I've never been to my little brothers house, but I'm assuming he is not like me!) houses are neat, clean and very uncluttered. Mine on the other hand....is well, probably a fire hazard.

I am trying though. I kid you not I have spent at least 10 hours a day in there cleaning and sorting. I have thrown away 4 big trash bags filled with stuff and I do feel better about it today though. Right now I can actually open the door that leads to the back porch and everything is almost in it's proper place. I need to buy some pant hangers to empty another bin. I'm going to put all of my ribbons in gallon size baggies and then hang them from pant hangers in a little space that I have.

I am sorting through fabric today and I have so much, but not enough, if you know what I mean. Right now the room looks pretty good and I really don't want to put all of the fabric and yarn bins in there. I have about 5 with fabric and 2 with yarn. The big bins. Crap! I'm really trying. Earl said if I cleaned and organized the stuff in the basement I could put a couple of bins down there. Honestly, I think this is his way of getting me to clean the basement, but that's okay, it needs to get done too! Okay, I'm off to sort through fabric and hopefully finish up in the craft room today. I really need to because the rest of the house is a mess now!

Yes, I Admit It....I Am a Craft Hoarder

I worked for several hours last night in my craft room moving things around, sorting thousand of tiny buttons, beads, pins, etc......into their proper jar or drawer. I spent hours moving furniture around trying to find a way that I could get the most room out of my space. I worked until I was literally physically exhausted. I woke up stiff and sore this morning from my day of cleaning my craft room. I am sad to say that I am only about 1/3 of the way done.

Here are a few things that I have learned from cleaning up so far.

1. There is a thing that someone invented....I think it is called a trash can....I think I need to invest in one. Those little threads that you clip when you sew are a pain in the @#! to clean up when you throw them on the floor.
2. Yarn that is just "tossed" over into a pile somehow manages to get tangled up in everything else that is just tossed in the pile and those little threads from #1 seem to end up tangled up in the yarn and everything else for some reason.
3. I am a hoarder. I am having the hardest time throwing things away, even stupid little things. I would make one of those hoarders on the tv shows look like a clean freak....but, I'm working on it.

I'm working away again today cleaning and actually throwing some things away. I found a couple of trash bags right in the middle of a pile. I think God must of stuck them there for me to find as if he was telling me something. So for now I'm off to clean and try to make a little more progress today. I have to hurry and get done because I'm getting all kinds of ideas of things I want to make from the things I'm finding while cleaning!

Hey, There is a Hard Wood Floor in My Craft Room! Who Knew?

Yes, I am attempting to clean my craft room. Earl literally had to leave when he saw how many tubs I started pulling out and putting in the living room. I must admit I have a lot of stuff...but, most of it is good stuff! Really....it is! Have I conviced you yet??

1. I have all of our photo's (and with 8 kids, believe me, there are a lot of photo's!) and of course photo albums
2. Sewing stuff (my sewing machine, fabric, threads, fabric, patterns, fabric, old jeans that I am going to recycle, etc...)
3. Paper goods (glue's, tapes, cutters, paper, scrapbook supplies, stickers etc....)
4. Yarn (Red Heart Yarns, Caron Yarns, Eyelash Yarns, Baby Yarns, Cotton Yarns, Crochet Threads, just for fun yarns, etc....)
5. Brads, buttons, hooks, charms, etc....
6. Jars of Halloween, Valentines and other holiday themed items
7. Feathers, craft sticks, googley eyes, etc....
8. Paints (Tempra paints, acrylic paints, spray paints, etc...)
9. Wooden stuff (birdhouses, frames, shapes, etc...)
10. Craft books and magazines and things I printed from the Internet.
11. Pretty Things that I received in swaps and that are "just for Me"
12. My ironing board

and so on and so on......................

Okay, so I am taking the plunge

I am going to make some progress today so that I can enjoy my craft room.

Wish me luck!!!

and call for the rescue team if I don't post an update tomorrow!!!

Yes, I am a Mean Mom

Yes,

after this morning

I'm sure this is what I must look like

to Ezie and especially Mallory.

This is how our morning went.

1. Ezie, who "knows" fashion decided that he should tell Mallory that her green skirt and green shirt that she was wearing "did not" match. Ezie decided to tell Mallory this several times, because "you know, I'm just saying, her greens don't match." I told him I know, but to please be quiet. Yes, I asked him quit harrassing his sister first thing in the morning and yes, I'm so mean. I know her greens didn't match, but it's St. Patrick's day and her friend's Aunt bought her the outfit to wear especially for today. "OMG MOM! How can you let her go to school like that???"
2. I don't usually care how the kids wear their hair, but Mallory is letting her bangs grow out and she insists on wearing them plastered to the side of her head or down in her face. I WANT them out of her face (I know Mom, I was the same way, but this different!) she will put her hair in a ponytail, but the bangs still hang down around her cheeks. I really want her to have a little bit of regular bangs because I think she looks really cute with bangs, but I will settle for pulling the long bangs back. I know, I know.....I'm so mean, OMG Mom!
3. I wanted Mallory to wear black leggings under her skirt today. I am upset because I bought Mallory 3-4 pairs of black leggings to wear under her skirts and dresses and now she only has 1 pair here. When she goes to her friends houses and ends up getting dirty or spending the night she will borrow an outfit. I wash the borrowed clothes immediately and send them back. So where are Mallory's leggings? She always brings her clothes home. Why do I have to blame her for loosing her leggings??? OMG Mom!
4. Then to top off the morning I was really mean and MADE the kids wear a sweat jacket to school today. It's going to get to 53 degrees today mom!! Okay, BUT it's on 29 degrees right now!!! I let Ezie wear shorts to school and Mallory ended up taking Ezie's advice and not wearing two different colors of green so she choose a pair of Capri's instead. Whatever, your dressed and the bus will be here in 5 minutes. So shorts and Capri's it is, BUT you have to wear a jacket! Then a final OMG Mom! (with the eyes rolling at me)!!!
5. Now as I'm typing this Jace is thinking that I may be a mean mom. He wants to take a bath, RIGHT NOW! He also wants to watch a show on tv, RIGHT NOW.....so what that the show isn't on RIGHT NOW and I don't have recorded. OMG MOM!

What can I say?????

I am the meanest mom ever

and

I don't see anything to make me

think it is going to change in the near future!

Sorry guys!!

Sewing, Crocheting and Reading

I have just been busy sewing, crocheting, cleaning and reading lately. Just being in my own little world. I haven't read a book in about 4 years and so with my sister Cathy encouragement I started reading again. I read the book "Plain Jayne" several weeks ago and I just finished "A Million Little Pieces" this morning. I really enjoyed both books and I was kind of sad when I finished them. I have another book though that I'm going to start reading today though. The truck broke down and hopefully Earl will be able to get it fixed soon so I can get another book from the library this weekend. I've finished up several projects in the last month too. I made a black hat for my sister, hot pads, dish cloths, fairies, toadstools, carrots and odds and ends of other things. I've been trying to sort through junk and get rid of some stuff and just trying to keep on the daily household chores (which is hard for me...my mind drifts in to many other directions), but I'm trying. Anyway, here are a few pictures of some of the things I've finished up lately.

I made 2 of these packages up for my OWOH giveaways.

I crocheted around these flannel receiving blankets that I had bought for my niece Emily. I think the brown edging really sets them and I can't wait to see her and Andrew's new little boy in them. He is due in a few weeks and everyone is so excited!

My OWOH Package

I received this wonderful package the other day from Lynn. I won her OWOH giveaway and what a generous package. She sent a pink cell phone case, an Avon Pink Waterbottle that came with a little pink metal hook, a little basket and wall hanging, car scents, a scented heart, a tart type warmer and yummy smelling tarts, magnetic bookmarks, a pretty purple keychain and a wonderful counted cross stitch kit with a carousel horse.

Thank you so much Lynn for your generousity!!! I really like everything that you sent and will put it all to good use.

DIY Haircut

I am so tired of the winter and cold weather. I am getting kinda depressed and really want spring to come and I miss my family so much since I left Kansas. I had so much fun there and it was really nice to have "real people" to interact with. Now I'm back home and in my own little world and by myself for most of the day. My hair has been driving me crazy and I don't have a car to go get a haircut so this morning before I got in the shower I decided to do something about it. No, I didnt pull a Brittany, but I did take some off.

see my straggly ends????



I got Earl's razor thingy out and cut off 4-6 inch pieces of hair.

Surprisingly it doesn't look to bad and it feels SO much better!

I still need to go and get a "Real" haircut and get the bottom layered up nice,

but for now

I feel so much better and so does my hair!!!

Snow, snow and more snow.......

These are the trees in my backyard.

They look so pretty!

We've been so lucky this winter and only had a couple of mild snowstorms, but our luck has run out. It started snowing yesterday and we have about 11 inches and it's suppose to snow until the weekend. Next Tuesday there is another snow storm that is due to hit us. The kids are loving it!! It isn't that cold outside and the snow is great packing snow. Earl on the other hand is working his butt off doing snow removal.

I guess there isn't much you can do about the snow when you live in Upstate NY though. I have to comend the cities around here though. The main roads are always plowed and salted right away and the side roads are done several times throughout any snow storm. They do a great job and try to keep our roads safe.

So today, I guess I'll keep drying the kids snow clothes, making hot chocolate and get started on a pot of soup so when Earl finally gets home he can try to unthaw.

Do you Need Something to Make You Smile Today??

Call the Nestle Hotline @ 1-800-295-0051. When asked if you want English or Spanish, wait quietly for about 10 secs & you will smile. Keep going & press 4, then press 7 or just try them all out.


My brother sent this to me. So cute!

Some of Last Weeks Projects

Here are a few of the things I made last week. I made these cute Valentines potholders for some special girls. I based them off of some that I had seen on Martha Stewarts Valentine ideas. She put binding around hers, but I have a fear of seam binding so I lined mine and machine quilted them. Each potholder has 4 pieces of flannel and 2 pieces of fabric for the main part and then for each little flap also. They turned out really cute!

Mallory had a birthday party to go to so I made her friend a reversible pink apron and a couple of potholders. mallory didn't get a good picture of the apron, but it was really pink and perfect for a little girl.

Then Mallory had another birthday party to go to and this is for a tomboy. I made her a messenger type bag out of a butterfly camoflauge fabric and lined it with a kakhi. It turned out so nice and I was pretty proud of myself for making up my own pattern and putting the bag together in about 4 hours. I have another one cut out ready to go.

I've been crocheting at night and then since the kids have been off of school this week for winter break we've been cleaning during the day. We have had an extra bedroom that was filled with junk and it's now a nice bedroom for Jace. He has had a blast playing in "his" room and having his own space. Maybe eventually he'll want to sleep in his new room, but until he's ready I'll keep him as my snuggle buddy!

I'm hoping if I keep up on the cleaning spurt that MAYBE Earl will finally hook that stereo system up that he brought home a few weeks ago and get the dryer out of my kitchen and the other one hooked up in my laundry room. Let's hope I can motivate him!!!! I've been trying to decide if I'm just a patient, push over type of person or an understanding, I know you work hard type of person????? I mean it's only been 2 months since the dryer has been sitting in my kitchen! What do you think???

Valentines Card Swap

I participated in Altered Art Junkies Valentines Swap again this year. We each had to make 19 cards and send them to our partners. Here are the cards I received this year. They are all so pretty and my scanner definitely doesn't do them justice!




First Row: Mine, Carrie F., Laci J., Ginny B.

Second Row: Olivia G, Rebecca J.S., Kristi W., Stephanie A.

Row Three: Erin H., Desi A., Pam O., Debbi L.

Row Four: Samantha L., Celia A., the next 2 are from Debbie M.

Row Five: Candice M., Kristin T., Ramona A., Kathryn

Thanks for a fun swap! I love all of the cards and it was so much fun to get "Fun" mail everyday last week!!

My OWOH Winners Are......

I has two winners of my OWOH giveaway. One for the first hundred people that left comments and then a second prize for the next group of a hundred. So by the use of the Random Generator my winners are..........my sweet blogger friend Angel from Kissed by an Angel who lives in the UK and my second winner is Sophie from The Art of [being] Miss KoolAid who lives in Canada. Congratulations to both of you and I hope you enjoy the hotpad and dishcloths!

Thanks Lisa for hosting such a wonderful event and Thank you for all of your time and energy to put all of the Magic Carpet Ride together for us! Your the best and I'm looking forward to next year!!

Vintage Love

Happy Valentines Day!

I thought I'd share a few of my vintage Valentines with you

and then my favorite "Vintage Love" picture

This is a picture of my Grandparents

they were together for approx. 70 years

Can you imagine that??

and then one of my all time favorites

and what did ever happen to Waldo?

He seemed to just disappear?

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

The Sweetheart Dance

Last night Earl took Mallory to a Sweetheart Dance

with one of Mallory's friends and her Aunt.

The girls all looked so pretty and Earl cleaned up pretty good too!

Here is a picture of me and Mallory with my Dad when we were in Kansas.

I remember how much I loved going to things with my dad when I was a little girl. It didn't happen very often, but having that special time with my daddy really meant a lot to me.

So to all those dad's out there,

even though you probably don't want to go to these dances

and stuff that the mom's out there planned for you to do......

you are making wonderful memories for your daughters!

Here is the Wonderful Woman I was Named After

When I was back home one of the people that I really wanted to see was my Auntie Sharon. Auntie is not only my very favorite Aunt, she's my ONLY Aunt and she's is the person who I am named after.

This is a picture of my brother Mike, me and my Auntie Sharon on her wedding day.

Check out the yellow car and we both have on yellow dresses.

I wonder if that's when yellow became my favorite color??

Also, Auntie's husbands name is Jerry

so

Sharon + Jerry

=

Sherry

(I don't know if that's where my mom and dad actually got Sherry from, but I do know I was named after Auntie Sharon)

Also, Mallory has only had 4 people sign up for her swap. She really needs a few more people, so if you have kids that would like to receive some Valentines in the mail please sign up by Friday night. The valentines don't have to be handmade they can be store bought. Thanks!!

Have a wonderful day!!!!