May 2014 Pictures

Guess it's time to catch up :)

Here are some pictures from May 2014

This first is of a Indigo Bunting.  Aren't they pretty ?

A very handsome couple :)  Mom & Dad at my nephews wedding. :)

Same wedding weekend, my son and my great nephew.

My son and my mom. :)  They both look great in this picture.

This is a baby doll bed that I had has a child.  My niece decide she didn't want it anymore, so I got it back.  I think peaches was trying to decide if it was for her. ! :)

Joel Basketball Clip

Joel played on the basketball team (middle school) and here is a quick video clip of one particular highlight. :)

I'm so proud .. yes, that is me screaming "wooo" in the video :) Sometimes I just can't contain myself. lol.

Tried this video several ways and this seems the best, although it's still not great.

Another of Joel's woodcarvings

Just wanted to show you two tiny swords that Joel made out of one small block of wood ...
Pretty cute! :)

Joel's Woodcarving

Hello!:)

For Christmas this year, dh and I got our ds2 (Joel) a basic woodcarving set.  He's been working away at a couple of things .. Here's a picture of him in progress on what I believe is only his 2nd project.  Possibly third.  He's made a letter "P", two tiny swords out of one block of wood, and then this word.  He's using an old Pampered Chef apron of mine so he doesn't get shavings all over the living room.

Here's a project he finished last week.  He's had no training, and is just jumping in .. I think he did really well!

Christmas

Look at this beautiful sunset just before Christmas.

Joel made Peaches a little Santa Hat to match the one that I had made him a couple of years ago.

This post is Peaches heavy ..so I hope you like cats! .. Here's one with diamond eyes.

I made a triple batch of Crouquets this year. Rob's food request for Christmas and his Birthday which is two weeks after Christmas.  We rolled approximately 120 of those things! There's still some inthe freezer! We'll be having a few today, but there's still a package in the freezer!

The boys were thrilled as always for Christmas Presents. Can't you tell?

I made a few Christmas Yarn items .. two coasters and a dishcloth here .. gifts to give..

I think Peaches had the most fun on Christmas Morning. She played with this jean seam from my sewing stash (this was slated to be thrown away, but Peaches gets to play with it first.

She really got into looking in her Stocking .... What's in there ?

Really, What's in there? Can I see?

 Oh wow .. new mice!

Lots of new mice :)  She was playing all morning with her new mice .. and we didn't have to throw them for her, she was throwing them herself! lol. It was really fun having a "little kid" in the house again.

When she got tired out, she liked sitting on the wrapping paper .. Peaches .. unwrapped!

Are you sure there isn't another present for me under this tissue paper?

I finally got a few things taken to the hospital .. a shawl and a few baby hats/booties .. I hope to do more soon.

November Happenings

November had several events in it. Not to mention Thanskgiving! 

First of all, we went on a geocaching walk with some friends.

Seth had fun finding the caches.

Joel really enjoyed walking our friends' dog, Cinnamon.

I think even Rob enjoyed it.  Although he got cold.

I know I enjoy geocaching.  If you are ever interested in learning more .. there is a great website here.  I am looking forward to warmer weather so I can find more caches :)

I made this frame.  I'm not overly thrilled with it, but it's the first time I've done decoupage or painting in a very long time.  So, overall, not a terrible effort.  I need to get a 4x6 print of the boys made so that I can put it in this frame.

Since I had paints out, and had purchased some canvases as well, Joel wanted to make a couple paintings himself.  He gave this one to Gma Stohr.

I finished knitting two pairs of fingerless mitts.  I was going to make just one pair for myself, but the k2tog going in two opposite directions looked .. well, not matching, so I made the exact same pattern twice so that I could have pairs of matching mitts.  I gave one pair away in a gift exchange we did at church.  I can tell you a bit more about that in a later post.

Then of course we come to Thanksgiving.  I'll post just a couple of my favorite pics. 

I think this is a really good one of my sister :)

I love the look of surprise on mom's face. :)

After spending Thanksgiving at my sister's, we drove to Altoona and met up with a good friend.  I finished these two items to give toher as a pre-Christmas gift.

We drove on home after meeting for lunch with Mich. :) 

Right after this, that Sunday, I walked in a Christmas Parade for our church.  Well, that must have been what a virus was waiting for, because I got a really bad bad cold that night and through the next week.  DH was so nice to me, after he realized I was indeed feeling miserable, he brought me a dozen roses :)  They were very pretty.  Just wish they would have lasted longer!

One of the buds had fallen off when I opened the cellaphane, so there were 11 in the vase, and I put the one in the bottom of a water bottle.  It latest longer then the bouquet!

That's the end of November.  Look at me.  Almost caught up!

October Photos

I can't believe I'm so behind in posting to my blog! .. My, time does get away from me!

I've been busy volunteering at Memories Dinner Theater, but I still should have posted something!  I'll try to get caught up!

In October - Joel finally shot through the tomato he's been aiming at ! He's been practicing quite a bit! He was so proud!

The green heart tomato turned red :)

 I also finished a few pouches that I had been working on.  Crochet and Knit.

Dh and I went to the Anita Renfroe / Mark Shultz Concert in Sheboygan with friends.  That was a lot of fun.  I love concerts.

Sorry to say, I think that wraps up October!  There wasn't a whole lot of interesting stuff in October .. but it was a good month. :)

Boys have I got a lot of photos for you today! :)

Okay, starting where we left off ;)
Memorial Day weekend, we where on our way to northern Iowa, and had stopped over near the WI/IA border so we could visit Wyalusing State park.  After that visit, we went and spent a few days at my parents.  While there, we were able to spend a little bit of time visiting with my Grandpa.  He is 96 years old (almost 97).  I thought this photo of my boys and I with him turned out pretty good.

 While at my parents, and while chatting or watching tv, I made several water bottle holders.  Here are what I made. They are both for the smaller bottles, and for larger bottles as well. 

 I had previously made a few at a women's craft day at my church.  The ones I had left from that day are here:

 I actually took a few of the small sized ones to the WI Museum of Quilts &Fiber Arts today for them to sell in their gift shop. 

The last week of school saw Joel doing a World Showcase for his class. It was similar to a science fair except each group of kids did a display on a specific country.  Joel's team did Greece.

 Then after Memorial Day was Rob & I's 19th anniversary.  He surprised me with these roses. :)  That's like 3 times this year he's bought me flowers .. :) 

 I also was able to cut a few daisies from the yard.  This is from a plant that I brought from the place in Iowa.  I had actually started that plant from seed.  So it's traveled with me.. sort of.

 A close up of the roses.

 We had some baby grackles in the yard.  They are annoying little things.  Always crying for their parents! :)

 A mourning dove sitting quietly. 

 Here's a bush I have in the yard as well. I'm not sure what this one is called either.  But it's pretty.

 Rob also finally relented and let us purchase a firepit :)  Here is a picture of our first fire :) It's also using wood that I had trimmed from around the yard and had saved. (It's last summer's wood - but it was still a bit smoky.)

 We roasted hot dogs and marshmellows.  Here's a couple of photos of Seth and Rob enjoying the 'dogs.

 Joel had been the first one to eat.  So he was off exploring around the trees.  I caught him really quick before he could run away :)

 It didn't take too long before the fire burned down to coals.  It was short, but it was very nice to be able to enjoy roasted marshmellows. :)

 Here's a quick photo of Peaches.  She likes lookign outside.

 I tried a new recipe. This is Strawberry Cream Puff dessert.  I got it from this website.

 It tasted pretty good.  I was going to use fresh strawberries we had, but some were nearly bad .. so I decided to play it safer and use the strawberries to make a strawberry sauce.  Turned out pretty good - I could have added more sugar, Joel liked it, but Seth said it was too sour.

Here's a bloom that just opened up recently .. It's an iris that came from our house in Iowa .. and before that it was an iris from my sister's yard. :)  Isn't it wonderful when flowers can bring back memories :)

 Not sure what this plant is either .. we have several of them.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.  The leaves are a deep burgandy red, and the flowers are white puffs... interesting!

 I purchased a few flowers at Walmart to plant in the yard and in pots, etc.  Below is one that went into the ground into a hole. 

 A flowering potentilla bush.

Right in the front of our yard is a single rose bush.  Here is a picture of the buds. 

I love how the rose bloomed:)  Several buds opened up at once, it's very pretty!

Joel coming home on the last day of school.

I decided to use an old roasting pan that I had and put some of the purchased flowers in it.  Thought it turned out ok.  I put holes in the lid, then put the lid in the base and planted in the lid.  What do you think?

 Rob and I drove to Sheboygan last weekend.  Saw a couple of birds.  Here's a sparrow of some sort. 
My best guess is Savannah Sparrow. it was in the grassy/weedy spot near the parking lot on the shore of Lake Michigan. ( I was looking at this again, and I'm 99.9% sure it's a female Red Winged Blackbird. )

 A Mallard.

 Some Gulls. Not sure what type of gull.

This beautiful sunset taken from our driveway.

And finally - the iris that I transplanted from the side yard to the front yard.
Beautiful color, don't you think?

A better shot of the roaster planter and the flowers in it.

And that's about it for now! :)