September BOM posted

Yes, I've been away from the blog lately, but still able to get the September BOM's posted a few days early (see BOM page). This month brings us:

Mother's Favorite


Squares within Squares


Arrow Crown

I remembered the camera THIS time ;0)

GLORIOUS DAY today. And THIS TIME....we remembered the camera.




Gosh---there's no fun going on here, right? ;0)




Eight hours on the water....does this pic really surprise you?

I love my girls! All of them!

My children "girls" were wonderful yesterday; able to take my mind off of things that were troubling me. I love them!

My volleyball "girls" had an absolute AMAZING practice this morning (yeah...mean coach here! Saturday AM practice!)...and confirmed that the choices that were made for team selections were correct. I love them!


And, DH and I are absolutely KICKING ourselves! We took the "big" boat out on the Lake yesterday and borrowed a friend's tube and rope setup----and we DID NOT TAKE THE CAMERA!. This was the girls' first time out on the tube and they had a BLAST! The boating time started with me, (of course), showing them "how it was done." It was also the opportunity for DH and I to work out the appropriate speed where it could be fun for the girls, but safe. None of them can swim (yet); and Candace and Caitlyn ARE only 4 & 6 respectively, afterall; we didn't want them to be scared :0)

BUT.....

once we found that "good speed"-------- **giggle**.............I had "FUN"! DH cranked the speed, and the girls had a good time watching me fly and bump and twist and turn over the giNORmous waves DH was making. OOOOOOdles of laughs!

I tandemed with Candace and Caitlyn separately before they tubed by themselves. Poor Caitlyn got a HUGE face wash when a wave crested a bit higher than planned....but she held on like a trooper, spittering and sputtering and laughing, giving us the thumb's up.

Oh---did I mention that MOM was more nervous and scared for the girls than they actually were themselves? ;0)

When we finally called it quits, we dealt with the pouts and whines....but they sky was losing light! What a FUN afternoon!

And yeah----practice this morning was fabulous! I really DO love coaching this sport and the girls!

This afternoon, I don't have a lot planned. Right now, I'm thinking of just relaxing with a good book while the girls enjoy their Wii time. Cassie has a friend over, so they're playing a "new" game....
I will consider making my way downstairs...but I'm okay if I don't, too :0)

Happy Saturday!

A reminder from 2009: Best Weight Loss Program...

Tip #1 to a sure weight loss program:
Become a Head coach of a sport

Two days now where it's been go-go-go-go....and it's dinner time before you know it and you realize all you've eaten all day is a banana.

Quilting time will be taking a hit; I'm pretty exhausted (mentally more than anything right now) and I just enjoy trying to relax (unfortunately with little success). Played some board games with the girls this afternoon; snuggled with Candace and Caitlyn at various times as well. And VERY thankful I have a husband willing to have an open ear and is understanding of the mental "blah" I'm going through today and yesterday. It's one of those days where I REALLY wish there was an on/off switch for the mind. Please let sleep come quickly tonight!


On a more humorous note.....

While out looking for a perfect graphic....I came across these two cartoons, too....





Hope they made you smile, because I sure had a good giggle!

Happy Thursday!

Pineapple Blossoms - DONE; Volleyball beginnings...

Whew! At least the lack of motivation yesterday wasn't contagious to today....
The pantograph used: Chinese Crescents. Bobbins used: ummm....10? Quilting time (loading to finish): ummmm.....6-7 hours? {I guess I didn't keep excellent records for this quilt}. Both the customer and myself felt this pantograph was very fitting due to the orientalness of it; her plans for the quilt will be to gift it to her Nephew & wife for their anniversary and they currently reside in Japan. Feels good to have it done ahead of schedule :0)!!!!

See the whole quilt here...

Two days into volleyball practice and I realize that I have not updated my blogging world with my Assistant Coach news. My second assistant coaching position was filled a week-n-half ago with a previous Junior Highschool coach. She has 5 years under her belt and was ready and interested to "move up" in the world of volleyball. SO, BOTH my assistant coaching positions are filled, and we're rockin'-n-rollin' in try-outs right now. Whew-eeee......TOUGH YEAR for decision making, though! I graduated 6 seniors last year, so only have 3 returning players. Talented group of girls are bustin' their butts for the open Varsity spots, in addition to the turn-over that Junior Varsity is also facing. Not a whole lot of stress (yet); tomorrow afternoon might be a different story though when the final team selections need to be made.

Happy Tuesday :0)

Motivation, anyone?

I was FINE.....until I decided to sit down.

Even then, I was FINE....until I decided to scan through the channels.

I was FINE...until I saw an afternoon marathon of "Pawn Stars".



I suppose an hour of relaxing won't kill me, right? I can always get downstairs to work on Pineapple Blossom later, right?

Star struck; the girls' rooms & clothes, and the Farm have kept me away

Star Struck (55 x 72)
I had ALL intentions of updating Thursday evening and again on Friday before leaving for the last weekend I'll have "free" pretty much until volleyball is over....BUT, I'll get to that in a moment.
First...

I woke on Thursday very motivated to quilt something for myself, not that I plan on keeping this quilt for sure.

I spent the morning piecing a backing of random scrappy 10" squares. Once lunch was made, eaten, and cleaned up, I was able to spend the rest of the day quilting away.

By 4:00, I was starting the binding, and by 4:30, the binding was completed by machine. I used the "Curly Q" pantograph yet again---most definitely my favorite so far!

Then.....
I went to peek on the girls.
DH and I BOTH laid in on the girls that morning that "enough was enough! The rooms get cleaned TODAY!" So, they spent the entire day upstairs...since 9:30.

**sigh**
Thank GOODNESS I was still motivated, because "MOMMY-STYLE CLEANING" ensued.

Five hours, four garbage bags and 5 boxes loaded with donations later....the rooms AND loft were seriously cleaned AND decluttered! It was 10:00 when I finally carried everything to the main floor; DH said he would take care of all the donations first thing Friday morning. So, by that time, I wasn't interested in updating the blog anymore.

THEN...comes Friday. I had some bloodwork scheduled right away in the morning; DH kept the girls with him while he took care of the donations AND took a much-needed trip to the local garbage dump. On the way back from my appointment, I stopped in at school to check over some last minute things to ensure that everything was ready for Monday morning's practice. In my years of maturing, I've started to live my a new motto...."expect the worst so then you'll never be disappointed." It's a good thing I was expecting the worst, because....that's ALMOST what I encounted. However.....bringing everyone up to speed----I spent a few hours this weekend with paperwork, and....well...... I guess I'm prepared as best I can be for tomorrow morning.

Okay....backtracking to Friday. When I arrived home, DH was still out-n-about, so I took a moment to catch up on emails and had ALL intentions of updating the blog. Well----remember "Pineapple Blossoms"? I received an email that a lady in TX was interested in having the quilt finished, so I spent the next hour between talking with her on the phone, checking my stash to see what I had available for backing and batting....blah, blah, blah...... DH had great timing, because I had just decided I needed to just break down and purchase some yardage for backing when he arrived home. So....off I went to do a quick fabric shopping spree so that I could have everything ready come Monday when I plan to start to finish the project.

THEN....some quick lunch while DH and Caitlyn were out in the garden picking green beans, cucumbers.....the usual lot.

THEN....(okay, but now, it was only 1:00)...I schlepped Cassie upstairs and we (she) tried on EVERY single piece of clothing she had in her closet AND dresser. At one point, DH asked if I would be ready to leave (for the farm) by 3:00----I asked him what time it was and he said 2:30. (Ummm.......we weren't even halfway through her closet!!!!). She kicked it into a little bit of a higher gear at that point, and FINALLY at 4:00, we were done! One box for donation and two boxes for "hand-me-downs" later, her closet AND dresser were COMPLETELY organized and full of clothes that actually fit her. But, she was a bit skimpy on how many pants she had for school. Guess what we did on Saturday??? ;0) She's now COMPLETELY set for school after that shopping spree (she came away with 7 more pairs of pants/jeans).

Oh....but...stay with me! Still on Friday here.........."CAITLYN----your turn now!!!!" (I don't think DH was too happy, but I was on a ROLL and still motivated, and it NEEDED to get done!!!!"
Candace was feeling left out a little bit, so she joined in here-n-there too. By 5:30....both Caitlyn and Candace's closets were organized. Their dressers have YET to be done, but I wasn't going to push my luck TOO much with DH. By 6:00......we were packed and rolling on our way to the farm.

The weekend was very relaxing. Once I told myself I didn't need to be so ANAL about having perfect volleyball notes and that it was okay to have scribbles and things crossed off----that it didn't need to be rewritten AGAIN just for "meeting" stuff......I was able to kick back and enjoy the weekend. MIL and I headed in to Walmart (which is where we did the school shopping for Cassie). We (of course) had to check out the fabric section. Boy, I tell ya!....this is ONE Walmart that STILL carries fabric and GREAT fabric selections at that. I walked away with some backing for BOTH Green Beauty AND Shades of Green, which will be next on my quilting list once Pineapple Blossoms is finished. And then---she and I found a cute (free) pattern that both decided to make for certain individuals, so...we worked together to help pick out each other's fabric. Sorry----I haven't even THOUGHT about taking a picture of the fabric goodies---soon enough though.

Today....arrived home at 2:30 and went straight away into unpacking, starting laundry, picking produce from the garden, heading downstairs to press the newly purchased/washed fabric for Pineapple Blossom's backing, loaded it on the frame as to be ready for starting the quilting tomorrow afternoon, canning another 7 quarts of dill pickles, cleaning & cutting a large bowl full of green beans {will wait until the next picking in two days to actually can the whole lot}.....and now....finally sitting and UPDATING THE BLOG!

So.......
;0)

How was your weekend???? I'm off to look around and find out!

How many blogs do YOU follow?

I just spent my typical morning reading all the recent updates that my blogging buddies have done since I last looked ..... (that was, like, last night). I will miss this once school starts! Maybe I'll purposefully have to set my alarm for 5:00 am every morning JUST so I can catch up on everyone and get my "blogging-fix" everyday!

First, let me say....you can NEVER read too many blogs! Right? Every now-n-then, a new blogger will post a comment, and my typical response is to head over to their blog to read up on their life. It is AMAZING who we meet via blogging! I just counted the # of blogs I have linked directly off my page---42 (if my memory serves). BUT, there are a few others that I "follow" and catch their posts via my dashboard.

What about you? How many blogs do you "follow" and/or read daily?

How many "giveaways" have you entered??? ((guiltily trying to count on my hands and toes, running out of appendages)

How many "giveaways" have you won??? (I think Andee is the winner there??????)

Anyway---just taking a moment to say a big morning "HIYA" to all my blogging buddies that take time to read my posts on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. I have enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you!