If I Only Had a Brain!

Remember the other day when I ironed the tote bag and the lining shrunk up on me and got holes in it? Okay, I put new lining in the bag and it turned out fine. I went to make a second matching bag and all's good, I'm almost done and then............I most of lost my brains somewhere!

The handles on the second bag are twisted. I am so mad at myself!! I really think I need a new brain! I don't know what my problem is?!?!? I can't even rip them out and start over again without taking the whole bag and lining apart.
So please, if anyone knows where my brain is please let me know

and while your at it I'll take my old body back too!!

Look, no double chin and no belly!

(This is me when I turned 30. I had just worked very hard and lost 40lbs. after I had my daughter Lexi.)

Melissa is Having A Valentines Giveaway

Melissa is having a Valentines Giveaway.

This is one side of the cute pennant

and this is the other side
Check out her blog to see more of her really cute Valentines she has for sale.

The other day my sweet friend Awtemnymf gave me this award.

Meaning of the Award:
‘This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propogated. Please give more attention to these writers!’
I honestly never know who to pass awards on to. I really enjoy everyone's blogs and it's so hard to choose a few people. I'm going to give the award though to some of my closest blogging friends that hopefully haven't already received this award from someone else. I know several you that I would list already have the award, Missy, Lindsay-Ann, etc.......

1. Angela is such a sweetie and so talented. Actually, I just read in her blog that she was surprised to be flipping through Somerset Magazine (here's the link to order a copy) yesterday and realized that her work was in the magazine not only once, but twice. Congratulations to Angela!!! Be sure and check out Angela's Etsy Shop, she has the prettiest things in there!
2. Melinda has been a wonderful friend and she is an amazing artist. I am always absolutely blown away with her artwork. Melinda is also being published in the February issue of an Apronology magazine that I think Stampington has. I'm not sure which one but I will definitely let you know when it comes out!
3. Twyla has also been a wonderful friend to me. She is such a great friend and encourager to me. Twyla and Lindsey sell some wonderful vintage things and Lindsey's artwork in their Etsy Shop along with Twyla's crocheted crocheted slippers, scarves and dish clothes.
4. Mary Ann is one of the nicest and funniest people and one of my first blogger friends. Mary Ann is very generous and has made my day many times with surprises at my door. Mary Ann has two Etsy Shops, one with things she finds and the other with some really neat things she makes and her packaging is really nice!! Thanks Mary Ann for bringing a smile to my face so many times!
5. Jean is also a wonderful person. Jean is always there to listen and give advice when needed. She is an amazing woman and is always encouraging us to support other woman by buying from their Etsy Shops. Jean does quilting and she is raising 3 of her grand kids along with work and everything else she does. Jean is an amazing person!
6. Dianne is another sweet friend and she is so talented in her artwork and photography. Dianne has some gorgeous photos on her blog. I want to be a photographer like her when I grow up!
7. Cathy is another not only friend but one of the best sisters anyone could ask for! Cathy was the only one who read my blog for the first several months and she always encourages me. Cathy has a wonderful way of looking at life and is very knowledgeable. Cathy "unschools" her kids and has a blog about unschooling. If you want to get some positive vibes going you definitely need to read Cathy's blog!
8. Lisa always is sweet and makes some of the most incredible things out of polymer clay. She does a lot of other artwork too, but I love her polymer clay stuff. Lisa is involved in Bottles of Hope. She made a beautiful bottle called "Healing Wings" in honor of her daughter who has Juv. Diabetes and is in the top 25 of the Staedtler Fimo clay Bottles of Hope challenge. Congratulations to Lisa!!

Thank you Awtemnymf for the award! You are always such a sweet friend!

Then Super Sweet Sara gave me this award the other day too.

It's a Mom of the Year Award.

I think that all of you moms out there deserve this award!!!!

Well, no baby yet for Chad & Jenn.

The little guy wants a BD of his own I guess!
Jace had a great BD. He liked it he said.

Lexie stopped by and gave him some presents.

Daddy and Jace made cheese and roni pizza

and all of the kids got 3 candles in their pizza to blow out.and Jace got to blow out his candles on his cake.

He had so much fun!

I hope everyone has a great day! It snowed hear again last night, not a lot, but it's still winter.

I'm off to eat a piece of leftover pizza. MMMMmmm!

Today is a Special Day!

Today is not only one of my son's birthdays, but two of them. Chad turns 29 today and Jace turns 3. Wow! I was only 18 when I had Chad and he was my second child. I don't remember it being a big deal at the time, but now I think, wow, 18 and two kids. I was 44 when I had Jace and I remember thinking, wow, how did this happen?!?

Anyway, today was special day 3 years ago and 29 years ago. Happy Birthday to two of the most wonderful boys a mom could ask for!!

Chad holding Jace after he was born

I remember when the Dr. was scheduling my C-Section he said I could schedule it for Jan. 17 or Jan. 26. Of course, by that time I wanted Jace to born ASAP and the 26 didn't really work out for us anyway (one of the nice things about having C-Sections is scheduling the birth!). I called Chad and asked him if it would bother him if I had Jace on his birthday and he said, "Momma, I would be honored to share my birthday with my little brother." Chad is such a sweetie!

Jace and Mallory this morning.

For Jace's Birthday he wants pizza, presents, cupcakes, candles and a song.

Oh Yeah!

and Chad may get his first child,

Chad, Jr.

born today!

Jenn has been dilated to 4cm for the last few days

so keep your fingers crossed!

I'm Really Enjoying Cooking Again!

I absolutely hated cooking at our old place and Earl usually did all of the cooking. Actually, my younger kids thought that I didn't know how to cook. Anyway, at the new house I have cooked all but about 3 nights out of almost a month. It's been so much fun and then Earl bought us a dining room table and it's even more fun now because we can all sit and eat together as a family. At the old house we just ate in the living room in front of the TV. Good parenting, I know! We started saying a prayer before dinner since we are now eating at a table and last night Mallory went and got a prayer book and picked out a prayer to read before dinner. They are enjoying the whole change in our eating routine and so am I. I love this house!!!

This is some chicken fried steak I made the other night.

I haven't made that in years. We had mashed potatoes and corn with it.

Yum!! It was good!

Earl bought a really nice griddle several years ago and I think we only used it a couple of times. I've been cooking on it quite a bit lately and it is really nice!

Last night I made bacon, homemade hash browns and omelets.

This morning I got up and used my griddle again and made Earl an omelet and hash browns for breakfast and sent him some for lunch. The guys at work have been teasing him because I've not only been packing him a lunch, but sending him with so much food. It's about time I took care of Earl a little bit! He always does so much for me!

I also made pancakes for the kids this morning before school.

They were pretty happy with that!

Anyway, have a great day and enjoy whatever it is your doing!

And try to stay warm in this Artic Blast!!!

I'm Old, BUT I'm Not Dead!

I know I'm getting older and I love Earl very much, but there are some people that are just very appealing to the eye. Here's a few men that I think are pretty darn appealing!

This is Handy Manny from his show on the Disney Channel. Handy Manny is a very sweet repair man who's tools talk to him and help him with his daily jobs. BUT, have you seen the man behind Handy Manny??

Handy Manny's voice is done by Wilmer Valderrama.

Wow! Besides having a really nice voice he is so cute!!!!

Then Simon Baker who plays Patrick Jane on CBS's The Mentalist has the cutest smile I have ever seen! I love the show and his smile just makes me happy!

I can't do a post of "appealing" guys though without a picture

of my all time favorite movie star

Johnny Depp!

He has the nicest eyes and of course, he has a great smile too!

Okay, I have to get busy now. I have sewing and housework to do and I have to spend time with Jace, one of my favorite little guys!

Have You Ever Had One of Those Days?

Yesterday I was sewing some tote bags for one of my sisters and I ran out of black thread. I did as much as I could without the black and decided I would have to finish them up when Earl could get to Wal-Mart to buy more thread. Okay, so far no big deal, just an inconvenience. Then I decided to iron the top of the bag so it would be ready for top stitching. I set my iron on the usual setting and placed it on the tan fabric, which is kind of like a jean fabric. The steam part on my iron broke a week or so before Christmas and it just doesn't iron the same any more.

Anyway, I started to iron the bag and something just didn't feel right. I take the bag off and look inside and look what happened to the lining!! It melted and got a hole in it. This would be one of the only times my mom would have sworn when we were kids and I did not neglect to follow in her foot steps. Damn! I had the whole bag done except for top stitching. Now I have to rip out the lining and redo that whole part.

I had to have Earl go to Wal-Mart this morning and buy me some more black fabric. I told him to get cotton or a cotton blend and the sales lady kept telling him, "NO, I'm sure she wants the nylonor a nylon/poly blend for lining." Earl stuck to his guns and got me the cotton. I'm not taking my chances on it melting again! Well, today I'll try to finish the tote bags and hopefully they'll turn out right this time! Wish me luck!

Our Belated Family Christmas Dinner

With moving and the weather we just had all 8 of the kids and their families over for a Christmas dinner on Saturday. It was so nice! There were just a few presents, mainly for the little kids, but that didn't even seem to matter to anyone. Earl had a great time talking to my boys. This is Jesse and Jeremy. I made the boys favorite Broccoli Soup with garlic bread from when they were little and Earl made the younger kids favorite Chicken Noodle Soup. Then we had all kinds of other things to eat too, but the soups were the big hit.

My two oldest granddaughters, Sabrina and Vivianna, are growing into beautiful young girls and my DIL looks so cute with her little baby belly. She is due May 31st with a boy!!! Vivianna had gotten an iPod for Christmas so I spent some time with her uploading songs. It was fun spending the time with her. I learned that she likes Demi Lavota and The Jonas Brothers.

When I was moving I found the boys old sports cards. Chad was so excited and couldn't wait to go through them. He gave Ezie a couple, but he wanted to take them home and really go through all of them. I also had found and washed the boys stuffed animals from when they were little. I couldn't believe how excited they were to see there old stuffed friends. Jeremy gave his first Teddy Bear to his son Austin, Jesse took his Smurf Bunny to give to Jesse, Jr. when he is born in May or June, and Daniel took some of his for Jordan and T.J. It was fun seeing the smile on the boys faces and talking about the memories they had.

The twins and Jace had a great time in the pac-n-play. The twins didn't want to stay off the stairs so this was the answer and they didn't seem to mind. Mallory felt so pretty in her new dress that I got the night before at Wal-Mart for $4.00.

This is Daniel.

I had found this blanket that my sister, Cathy, had made for Jesse when he was born. Cathy was only 12 or so and she embroidered all of the Sesame Street characters on the blocks and stitched the quilt together. Jesse was really excited to see it and took it home for his new son.
Here is a picture of my daughter Lexie and me. I don't know where that extra chin came from on me?? Damn!
All in all it was a wonderful night. My DIL Jenn is due next Tuesday with their first baby and she is so cute (and uncomfortable) being pregnant. My new grandson Austin got passed around and enjoyed by all. The little kids all had fun playing and the older kids all had fun going through their memories I had stored away for them. I'm so glad I kept some of their things from when they were little. It made a great night for all! I'm so lucky to have such a great family!!!

A Giveaway At Quilting Ranny

Jean at Quilting Ranny is having a couple of giveaways. Make sure you visit her blog before Jan. 15 to enter. One giveaway is for a cute little granny sitting in a rocking chair and a copy of the book “Getting’ Old Ain’t For Whimps”
http://quiltingranny.blogspot.com/2008/12/janaury-1-15th-giveaway-2-over-hill.html
The other giveaway is for 3 glass orbs/paperweights. They are really pretty!
http://quiltingranny.blogspot.com/2008/12/janaury-1-15th-giveaway-2-over-hill.html

Make sure and visit Jean, she is a wonderful person and blog friend!

An Expensive Lesson

Most of us learn that mom's have eyes in the back of their heads at an early age. As children we can usually not quite figure out how moms know so much. As we get older our moms get incredibly stupid, but that's another story.

Anyway, my cutie pie, newly turned 10 year old son decided to get curious Wed. and check out sites he isn't allowed to check out. Guess what? Mom found out because all kinds of "System Security" stuff started appearing all over the computer, the computer that we just got connected to the Internet the day before. We questioned the kids to see who had been on the computer and a very guilty and scared little boy admitted to it. Slowly over about a 10 minute time period my cutie pie confessed to pulling up sites he shouldn't have been on. We talked to him and I said I would fix it but next time he would be grounded from the computer if he went on sites he knew he wasn't allowed to go on. We reminded him that mom has ways of finding out where they've been on the computer.

Quite confident in my computer knowledge I thought something bad had entered the computer so I ran a virus scan and was going to get rid of whatever it was. Wow! Was I ever wrong! The problem just kept getting worse. The "System Security" turned out to be a virus that my cutie pie authorized to enter our computer by simply clicking "YES" to a pop up and by telling our real security system that it was okay for it to enter. To make a long story short, we lost all connection to the Internet and my virus scanner couldn't pick up the virus. It cost us $9.75 to talk to a person from McAfee to get the number to priority technical support. It cost us another $89.95 to talk to and turn complete control of our computer over to a very nice lady from McAfee who fixed our computer in about a 1/2 hours time. I can't believe how expensive it was to fix the computer and with money that we didn't have! There is no way I could have fixed it myself though and so we paid the price.


Lessons Learned:

1. Inform kids NOT to push yes to anything on the computer without asking mom first.


2. Check into parental controls for the computer.


3. and the hardest lesson for me is to NOT think my baby is as Innocent as I thought he was. I'm not ready for prepuberity to start. I've gone through it with 4 boys and 1 girl already and I AM NOT READY FOR IT TO HAPPEN AGAIN, not yet anyway!!!!


4. and the lesson for the kids is to NEVER, EVER forget that mom does have eyes in the back of her head and you will get caught at what you do. Maybe not right away, but eventually, you will get caught!

Lets Play Catch Up and Yes, I'm a Stella Stalker!

I have spent the last 2 hours visiting blogs and having the best time being back in blog land! I knew I missed all of you, but honestly, I didn't realize how much. I have cried from touching posts and laughed from funny ones this morning! Thanks to all of you for making my day wonderful! I can't wait to visit more of you today.

Over the last few weeks we are partially moved in to our new house. The weather has SUCKED! It is not cooperating at all. I absolutely love the house though. I never realized how depressing the old place was until we got out. Each room was on a different level and there was only one window in each room. It just didn't flow and there wasn't enough natural light. The new house has so many windows and the main part of the house is all on one level and all the bedrooms are on the second floor. It is bright in here and so cheery and not all cluttered.

I have been having the best time being in the kitchen. I hated the kitchen in the old place and avoided it at all costs. Here I can see into the living room and be a part of what everyone else is doing while I'm in the kitchen. The dishwasher is a nice addition too!! Oh, how I've missed having a dishwasher!! Anyway, the kids and I have been cooking and enjoying our time in the kitchen.

My craft room is amazing! I can go and sew and I have room to spread my things out and all of my supplies are easily accessible. It is truly a room sent from heaven!

The kids have been enjoying the house too. They have been running circles around the walls that separate the living room, dining room and kitchen. I know it's not the safest thing for them to be doing, but hearing them laugh and chase each around is so much fun! Since we are only a few blocks from Earls main job and right next door to his second job we are getting to see him a lot more. He can pop in and say hi and see what we are doing. Also my daughter, Alexis, is living with her boyfriend and his dad and they are only about 2 blocks away. It is so nice!!!

The plow guy for the Church next door made a big hill for the kids to go sledding on.

We had some of our stuff in a storage unit and I found so many treasures. When we first moved into public housing they told us to throw out any boxes that I hadn't opened in the last year. I'm so glad I didn't listened to them. I have had so much fun rediscovering lost treasures. The one I am most happy about and that I really thought I had lost is this wooden book that my Great Grandmother had given me. My Grandpa had made it for her out of wood and plexi glass as a thing to hold her embroidery thread. He was so smart, he came up with this idea before they were even out in the stores.

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. The first night sleeping over at the new house was Christmas Eve. It was sparse on furnishings but fun anyway. The kids have enjoyed being home and just having time together. We are having the older kids over on Saturday to have Christmas with them. I just didn't have time to get everything done before Christmas.

My little Rock Stars!

Lexie turned 18 on the 27th of December. She is such a wonderful young woman and a I love having her as my daughter!! Ezie turned 10 on Monday. He is growing up to be such a cutie pie! Lexie and Jake brought cupcakes over to celebrate and all the kids had fun with that!



Jace was diagnosed the week before Christmas as having Pervasive Developmental Disorder which is in the autistic spectrum. It really bothered me at first, but I and Jace's therapist think the dx was made mostly from Jace's past history. I'm just glad that I went with my gut feeling 15 months ago and had him tested for speech. He is excelling in most areas and has made so much progress. Even with the dx the Dr. doesn't want to see him back because Jace is making so many accomplishments that he thinks he'll be fine. Whew!!

This morning while visiting blogs I went to my friend Lindsay-ann's blog. Lindsay-ann lives in England and she made this wonderful little doll named Stella. Stella will be visiting different people around the world over the next year. On each visit Stella will get a new addition to her appearance and a nice vacation with the family she is visiting. To check out her adventures so far just click on the Linday-ann's, Lorrie's, April's or Daphine's name and you can see how much fun Stella is having. So far lucky Stella has visited England, North Carolina, Georgia and Texas. Where we her adventures take her next?? I don't know, but I'm having a blast reading about her and think that Lindsay-ann and Lorrie had a wonderful idea in creating Stella!!! I must admit I have become a Stella Stalker!

Okay, I have to go spend some time with the kids and get some housework done.

It's great to be back!!!


Sherry

Breaking News!

Chookeyblue SSS

This is what Kate sent me for the Chookeyblue SSS. The fabric is absolutely gorgeous and the coasters are so cute that Kate made. She also sent me a pinchushion that reminded her of her childhood and some yummy candies and scrapbook stuff. Thanks Kate for a wonderful swap!

This is what I sent to my partner Tatania who lives in Australia. I made some fabric garland, owl notecards, yo-yo pins,

tissue holder, owl trivets, a tissue holder and some fabric.

Then I wrapped everything up in some reusable fabric Christmas bags that I made.

Thanks Kate for a wonderful swap!

I'm just checking in real quick I'll still don't have internet service at the new house. I hope everyone had a great holiday!!!

Christmas Wishes and Thank yous!

I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and to thank Kate for the wonderful package she sent me all the way from Australia for the Chookeyblue Secret Santa Swap. I'll post pictures tomorrow. I have the computer at one house and the camera at the other. Goofy me! I'll be checking my email and blogging in between moving stuff. They won't turn my internet service or phone on at the new house until 1/6???? I can't believe it is going to take them so long, but Oh Well, such is life!

Have a wonderful and blessed day!!

Christmas Angels

This Christmas has been so "different" to say the least. We don't even have a tree up yet (it's going up tonight!!) Moving, only having one car (and it's a pickup) swaps, and babysitting have all been very time consuming and we are so far behind on everything. Anyway, even though this Christmas is not as I had planned I know it is going to be wonderful and magical for the kids.



I wanted to share a story about a year that I missed Christmas, but I did have Christmas Angels. Eighteen years ago I was pregnant with my daughter Lexie. All four of my other pregnancies had gone fine but with Lexie about 3 weeks before Christmas I developed toxemia. I was put on strict bed rest. How is a mom with 4 kids suppose to be on bed rest right before Christmas. It was hard and after a week my boys found me in bed having seizures. They called their dad and 911 and then went and caught the bus for school. They were such little troopers. I was admitted to the hospital and wasn't allowed any stimulation. No lights, baths, limited visitors, etc.... I was on Mag Sulfate, which is a very strong med to keep your blood pressure down. It wasn't the best timing!



Anyway, my sweet sisters, Cathy, Robyn and Stacey went over and put up our Christmas tree and decorated it with the boys. My Mom and Dad took my kids for Christmas break and kept them at their house. Mom, Dad and my brothers and sisters all made sure the boys were taken care of so I didn't have to worry about them. My mom was a nurse at the hospital so besides taking care of my boys she also would go to work and always stop in and take care of me. One evening she even came in with some kind of dry powder shampoo stuff and "washed" my hair for me so I wouldn't feel so gross. My sister, Cathy, brought me a little Christmas tree with little decorations and put it on my bedside table at the hospital. I collect music boxes and my mom brought me a globe music box with the Nativity scene in it and put it by the tree and then there was a light that shined right over the tree and music box. It was so beautiful and so nice to look over at and have a little Christmas of my own.



On Dec. 27 they finally decided they'd better take the baby because I was deteriorating so fast. So I was put under general anesthesia and woke up to find out that I finally had my beautiful baby girl. Lexie only weighed 3lbs. 6 ozs. and so she was in ICU for a couple of weeks.


After I got out of the hospital my brother, Mike, organized a nightly dinner drop off for us. For well over a week someone would drop a wonderful dinner off at our house. It was so nice to not have to worry about dinner every night while I was recovering, taking care of the boys and trying to make daily trips up to see Lexie.



I don't know if my family realized how much that meant to me, but I will never forget their kindness towards me and my boys. I truly have a wonderful family and they are all angels to me!

Our First Big Snow this Winter

Friday we had our first big snow.

It was only 12 degrees yesterday, but that didn't stop the kids from getting out there and playing and sledding.

Jace had the best time!

Mallory and Jace

Ezie and Jace on the hill across the street

My grandson Anthony, enjoyed the snow on Friday when his mommy had a snow day from school. He wanted to eat the snow.

After playing outside in the 12 degree weather for an hour or so the kids finally came in.
Mallory was crying because her little feet were so cold
and Jace was crying because they had to come in.
We are suppose to get another 6-10 inches today and have white outs from the wind.
Moving has not been happening much with this weather!

Sugar Cookie Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sugar Cookie Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!