We are back from a whirlwind trip to the inlaws. We wanted to go out and check on hubby's mom because she's been having a hard time since her sister has been sick. I am still worried about her but at least she got some grandson time and hopefully that will help her feel better. Hubby was happy because he got to see his friend from high school that he hasn't seen in awhile.

I am starting to spring clean this week. I can't seem to get in the mood because there is still snow on the ground, but I am starting to go through clothes and little stuff like that. My house is desperate need of airing out, but with temps only in the 30's that isn't happening.

There isn't too much happening in my crafting world. I've been slowly working on cutting out 1.5" squares for my kaledascope windows quilt. I can already tell that it is going to be a challenge to sew, but I think it is going to look really cool when it is finished.

My big find for the week was the Vermont Nut Free Candy company. They offer a really great line of nut free candy. I am going to put in an order tonight. It has been such a challenge to find treats for Cooper. They are a little pricy, but for his safety it is worth it.

Dear Mother Nature,

In case you lost your calendar I thought I would remind you that 1) it is officially Spring and 2) it is March 28! Stop it with the snow already. I DO NOT want to shovel the driveway again.

Thanks
Heather

It's been a crazy week

Life has certainly gotten out of hand around here. So many things going on and needing to be done. It doesn't leave much time for the fun stuff like surfing the web and updating my blog.

Luckily things have slowed down slightly and I have a chance to catch up.

It has been a rough week family wise around here. My uncle had a liver transplant just over two weeks ago and then last week he had a major stroke. The stupid neuro doctors wanted to just write him off and let him die. Luckily his transplant doctor stood up for him and he is making very slow progress. It has been tough to know someone so vibrant is now confined to a bed or chair because he has no use of his right side.

Then Jeremy's aunt has been dealing with a benign brain tumor for almost a year now. She had surgery on it back in November (I think) and then started having complications in January. It finally got so bad that she didn't know anything or how to do simple tasks. They have been fighting with her doctors to do something and they said to just wait it out. Finally on Sunday they decided that something needed to be done and they put a shunt in her head to drain the massive amount of fluid. She is finally starting to come back and not as confused and can remember how to sit and walk again. It has been very draining on Jeremy's mom and we've been worried about her because she's been running herself ragged.

We've had a few other minor health issues with relatives, but I'm happy to say that it was nothing serious and they are all on the road to recovery. Hopefully we can stay a healthy family for awhile.

Through all of this, plus Easter, I did manage to find time to finish my nautical table runner. I don't like how the binding turned out because for some reason when I turned it to the back it wasn't consistent. Oh well.


It isn't a very good picture, but it was the best I could do yesterday.

I also made this alphabet board for Cody. We are working on knowing what the letters look like and I figured this would be a good way to work on it.




Cody has a screening for Kindergarten today and then we have a bunch of errands to run before our busy weekend. I swear someday things will calm down. I wouldn't mind as much if we could at least get outside and enjoy spring. That's hard to do when there is still at least a foot of snow on the ground and they are predicting more this weekend. I AM SO SICK OF WINTER!

Pumpkin Roll Craziness

I baked 6 pumpkin rolls tonight for hubby to take to work on Saturday. I will have to fill them tomorrow, but they are at least baked. It sounds like a lot of work, but it actually isn't because I do them assembly line style. The guys love them and it gives me an excuse to bake without worrying about having it around the house. The recipe is super simple too. It is a great recipe to make for a lot of people because you can slice it pretty thin.


Pumpkin Roll
Ingredients:
Cake:
2/3 C pumpkin
3 eggs
1 C sugar
¾ C flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ C sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla

Directions:
* Beat pumpkin, eggs, and sugar together on medium speed until well combined
* Add flour, baking soda, salt , and cinnamon
* Line cookie sheet with waxed paper and spray with Pam
* Spread mixture evenly over waxed paper making sure there are no thick spots
* Bake at 350₀ for 15 minutes
* Roll up (along with waxed paper) from long side, cool
* Mix cream cheese and sugar together until well combined, add vanilla and mix
* Once roll is completely cool, unroll and spread filling evenly over the middle
* Reroll tightly, removing waxed paper as you go. Cut into slices and keep refrigerated

Other than that not too much going on here. Cody is off for a few days because of Easter. He is not happy about that. We have to take Jeremy's car to the garage tomorrow to finally get the door panel replaced that was ordered about 2 months ago.

I am also happy to report that the snow is slowly starting to melt. There is still a lot out there, but at least we can see the grass around the edge of the driveway.

Newest Project

I have two patterns that I designed a few years ago and I can't decide which one I want to start on first. They are based on Moda Marbles fabrics that I've had forever. I will eventually do both, just not sure which one I want to focus on first.






I love this one because it looks like steps or tumbling color blocks or something. I'm just not sure how I want to handle the black. Do I want to do them in little squares like the colors or do I want to do them as larger segments with squares to fill in? Decisions, decisions.



























This one is nice, but I think that I will make the sashing black to make the blocks pop more. This one is daunting because it is 1.5" blocks. I'm thinking I will stick with this one first though because I have the pattern all figured out.







Other than that dilemma I haven't done anything crafty. Things have been so crazy around here and I just haven't had the desire to sit down and work. First thing I should do is clean my sewing area and machine after doing the car seats. I delivered them this weekend and they loved them. Thank goodness!

Birthday weekend

Cooper's birthday weekend was great. He had so much fun being spoiled by all the grandparents.

Here he is opening his stash. Sorry about the dark picture. We got a new camera and I haven't figured out all the settings yet.

Even that party animal Merlin got tuckered out with all the fun!

Overall the weekend went pretty well. It is always nice to have family around. And I don't have to do dishes for three whole days!

Hopefully I will be able to get some crafting done this week. I am still recovering from my cold, but getting better every day.

We are all sick again. Cody had it two days ago, Jeremy has had it for about 5 days, and Cooper and I got it today.

Hopefully we are better for Cooper's party!

Pics

It is amazing what you find when you pick up a little bit. I found the camera batteries inside the boys play bag. A logical place to look right?!?

So here are pics of the potholders. They aren't great because of the lighting in our kitchen and the camera is starting to die. I can't wait until we can find a new one.





































After taking the pictures I realized that I have to redo the hanging hooks because they aren't centered on the holder. They hang all wonky now.

I am hoping to get the table runner done this week. It is fighting me tooth and nail so it depends on who is more stubborn!

A productive weekend

I actually had a pretty productive quilting weekend. I got one set of potholders done (pictures to come when I get batteries for the camera), another set ready to sandwich, a table runner ready stitch the binding down, and another pattern in the works.

My hubby surprised me with flowers last night for our anniversary. Too bad I couldn't see them since the stupid electric went out. We went out this morning and got him the Super Smash Brothers game for the Wii. I'm sure we will be playing it when he gets home. I also got him the new Alan Jackson CD. It sucks he had to work today, but at least his leave starts tonight.

I added a Works in Progress list over on the side. It isn't everything, but its the ones I actually have out of boxes. It is sad how many things I start and never actually finish. I still have a really long list of cross stitch projects that I want to get done. Maybe before I am 90 it might happen, then again probably not because there is always a new project I want to do.

My baby turns 2 on Saturday so I'm not sure how much I will be updating this week. It is going to be hectic between Cody's school stuff, birthday party planning, and just family stuff.

I hope everyone has a great week and gets more rest than I will!

Car Seats...

These are the things that have been keeping me from working on new projects.



They are car seats for my FIL's Gremlin. Someone else will actually put the seats together, but I had to sew the detail stitching on. It hasn't been too bad, but definitely time consuming. I have one more to go which hopefully will get done tonight.

This is what happens when your 4 year old get ahold of your camera. He took about 80 pictures, most of which were of the TV. It is interesting to see what things they capture though. I could watch almost a whole episode of Reba through the pictures he took!



I'm hoping to have some new things to share soon. The weather is going to be cruddy again so I'll be stuck at home. If the kids actually cooperate and take a nap I plan on making a good size dent in my to do list.

Breaking News Breaking News

It's going to snow again tomorrow.

Shocking I know.

Sadly that is all I have today. It was a pretty boring day. One good note is I got another car seat cover done. I'm half way there!

Craftiness

I didn't get around to taking pictures of my latest project last night because of boys and that thing called housework.


This is a view of my kitchen table. I got the idea for the decorated cake stand off the Rachael Ray show. They did it for fall, but I've done one for about every holiday and season. It is a neat way to add some decoration to my table without worrying about the kids getting into it.


I've made a few of these table runners for different seasons and I just love them. It is a modified version of a pattern I found on the Internet. I wanted something bigger for our table and with the help of my hubby this is what we came up with.


I printed off a picture of a clover and then just pinned the paper to the runner and sewed around the lines.




This is my first time hand sewing binding and it actually went a lot smoother than I thought it would. I love the speed of machine sewing, but the hand sewing looks so much better. I can't see myself sewing a big quilt that way, but for small projects it is a definite.

I am fighting the battle of the car seat covers tonight. I think I have worked out all the kinks. I still have to seam rip some stuff that didn't work last night. Hopefully tonight will be much more productive.

I'm back

It is always nice to get away for a weekend, but getting back into the swing of things is always a challenge. Yesterday was Cody's swim day at school and then we had to do our monthly stock up on food (oh how I hate seeing that bill). Needless to say I got nothing accomplished other than unpacking.

Since it is already the 4th of March I figure I might as well give my sad update on my February goals.

• I didn't do any of the Firm rotation this month. I can not force myself to exercise.
• Water was down the drain too (hahahaha)
• I did carve out time at least once a week to do something for me. It helped me tons to feel better and get more accomplished.
• My religion is a sore subject right now. I can't find a church here that I feel comfortable at and my church at home has gone slowly downhill. I don't appreciate some of the things that are happening so it was hard for me to enjoy the service. I am working on letting things go and trusting more in God though.
• I've made progress on my Yahoo mail, but nothing major. Still needs lots of time for that.
• I am still looking for the perfect desk organizer. The papers they send home from school are overwhelming and just the amount of paperwork that comes into the house. I don't want to lose anything, but I'm afraid I will soon.

I'm not sure if I will be setting any real goals for this month. My youngest son has a birthday, parents are coming to visit for that, the hubs is taking leave for a week, and we have a million and one appointments to make. I think my only goal will be to survive.

I did get some crafting done and will try and post pictures later. The weather is crappy here yet again so we are staying in. Oh how I yearn for spring!