New Friends, Baseball Season??, Treasured Gifts, and a Birthday

Where have I have been for the last six days?  This is where is all started.  Last Thursday my friend, Brett, and I traveled to the Strawberry Sampler to meet Peggy Lee of Kentucky Sampler fame.  

Do you know if you show up before they actually open the doors, and no one is in sight, all you have to do is bang on the door, hold up a box of munchkins, and they will come runnin' to let you in!

Here we are in all our glory:

I'm still trying to figure out where all that extra me comes from.  I guess it is not a great idea to wear a down vest when there is picture taking!! 

Peggy Lee stitched a beautiful sampler for her new grandson, Liam, and is leaving it to be framed.  I forgot to get a closer picture of it, but I know she has one on her blog!

 From here we headed to Trader Joe's.  Check out Peggy Lee's blog to read all about the shopping bag!  The last one was snatched up by someone in our group - but not me!  I had to console myself later at my grocery by buying this one at the checkout.  Cute for spring, but still not like the one from Trader Joe's!

  From here we headed over to the Christmas Tree Shoppes.  Here we found the latest and greatest in Easter fashion:

Sadly, Peggy Lee had to leave us early to pick up her MasterChief from work.  I think it is safe to say that if Peggy Lee lived closer, there would be some crazy times to be had!  I am so glad that we finally had the chance to meet.  If it works out, we'll be able to meet up with her again before they head towards home in a few weeks.

Friday was spent madly trying to catch up on laundry and packing for a weekend baseball tournament.  We left Friday night and headed to the Rehobeth Beach/Georgetown, DE area.  The temperatures were anything but beachy and the team pulled an early game on Saturday.  We were all at the fields by 8am!!  Here is my oldest in action:

The team was pretty rusty as the weather so far this spring has not allowed them much outside practice.  Definitely not their best outing!  We found out Saturday night that we were to have the early game once again on Sunday.  As luck would have it, Sunday's games were canceled due to the cold and snow, yes, snow!!!  With the temperatures hovering around freezing, I don't think anyone was really that upset. 

There was a wonderful surprise waiting for me when we arrived home.  A box from dear Myra!  When Myra won my 100+ Followers giveaway, one of the extras I sent to her was a charm pack of BBD fabrics that I had won from BBD a while back.  She graciously said she would make something for both of us!  I know how wonderful her things are, so I sent her the other charm packs that I had and asked her if she would also make me a needlebook.  Well, this is what I found in the box:

Minus the chocolates of course - the boys grabbed those right away!

Both sides:

I am thinking of using the fabric basket to hold some of my stitching goodies.

 

In this piece of fabric was a pack of sunflower seeds!  My oldest heard me talking about it and got excited, until he realized that they weren't ready to eat.  We have to plant and grow them! 

Here is the front of the needlebook.  I love it! 

Opened to show the front and back.  Did I tell you Myra is amazing! 

The inside - with needles included!  She thinks of everything!

And my favorite part, which I didn't find until later.  Myra is sneaky and hid this under the inside piece! 

Thank you again Myra.  I will treasure these gifts always!

I can't wait to see what else she creates with the extra charm pieces!

Well, it's official.  It's March 30th.  My baby's 7th birthday!  Here he is on the beach this past weekend:

He suddenly realized that a big wave was coming in fast!

The  boys in my life...time is passing faster than I'd like and these are moments to be remembered...

Now, I'd better get to bed.  There is a cake to be baked, icing to be made, presents to be wrapped and fun to be had later on (and baseball practice squeezed in as well)!

Thanks for stopping by!

Signs of Spring

What a crazy weekend!  With my husband working, it was my job to get the boys to all of their functions.  Not much stitching was accomplished, so sorry, no stitchy pictures this time. 

Sunday, in between baseball practices, we had the race.  The Pinewood Derby.  If you have ever had a son in scouts, you know what I am talking about!  Here are the cars the boys built this year:

From left to right, we have the screaming fastball car from the oldest, the monorail from the little guy and the wedge from the middle guy.  They all did really well, but sadly, missed placing for trophies by fractions of seconds!  They are already planning their cars for next year!

I did take a few moments to walk our yard and found some signs of spring!

This is one of about three pairs of doves that frequent our back deck.  Looks like spring has them all twitterpated as I caught a pic of them kissing - look at the picture on the right side in the middle (The picture should enlarge if you click on it).

Here are some more signs of spring.

Refreshing to see after such a cold, long winter!

I hope to have some stitching updates later in the week.  As always, thanks for stopping by!

The Leprechaun and Some Finishes

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

I have been busy working on finishes recently.  Truly Thankful March is finally framed. My LNS, the Strawberry Sampler, had the same frame I used on the Valentine Truly Thankful.

Next up is the freebie from Jennifer.  I added some beads to my daffodils and Jennifer sweetly edited her original design (My Daffodils bloom in February) to say Springtime.  My daffodils don't bloom as early as hers!  The fabric is what I used on the back.

And another one from Jennifer.  I think with the colors on this, I can use it for Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day!

This next one was, if I remember correctly, from the Sampler Girl.

I've also finished some others for Easter, but I'll save them for another post.

This morning the boys were up and dressing in green so they wouldn't be pinched throughout the day.  Then came the annual hunt for the leprechaun!  Years ago, my mom gave me a little leprechaun and a chest full of gold (really gold painted rocks).  Each St. Patrick's morning, the leprechaun can be found somewhere in the house, always watching over his gold.  He always plays some little tricks on the boys as well.  Some of the magic is gone, as the older two now know he's not real, but they still love the hunt and keep the magic going for their little brother!  This year he chose to hide in a green bottle, hidden amongst the blue.  With his gold sitting below on a dining room chair in a basket.

It seems as if my little guy took a piece or two of gold to school to show his friends and left a sticker from his banana in the basket!  I tried to tell him that taking the gold could cause the leprechaun to play tricks on him!  Hhmmm....we'll have to see what he does! (And see that fantastic little pincushion - that's from Myra)

  

My boys and their crazy baseball schedules are gearing up.  They started practicing this week with their Little League teams.  Their teams are the Tigers, the Indians and the Pirates.  And, it seems as if my middle guy is following in his big brother's footsteps. He was invited last night to be part of a travel team.  He has wanted to do this for a couple of years now, so I am really happy for him.  

Thanks as always for stopping by! 

Orchids and an Oldie

Today we loaded up the boys and headed to Longwood Gardens.  I wanted to see the Orchid displays in the Conservatory before they are replaced with Easter flowers.  See the wall in the back? All orchids. 

And the planters on the floor?  All orchids.

These next two pictures are enhanced orchids.  They are white orhcids that have been altered by injecting dye into the root system while they are growing. 

I can not remember what this next plant is named.  It caught my eye and I had to take the pictures!

Here are a few more orchids:

There were so many sizes and colors that I was thankful to have a digial camera.  I think I snapped close to 150 photos! One of my favorites is of my own flowers (well, they smell most like flowers after a good bathing!)

There has been a little stitching as well. The things I have been working on are for exchanges, and since I can't show those yet, I thought I would show an oldie that I bring out for the spring.  It is a Prairie Schooler design that I stitched back in 1998.

Thoughts and prayers are going out to all those affected by the disaster in Japan.  The power of nature is incredible when unleashed. 

May they find the strength to heal and recover.

As always, thanks for stopping by!



A TUSAL, a Treat and What a Week!

First things first.  It's that time again to post a picture for the TUSAL.  I just keep adding to mine, so all this is from the beginning of the year.

I arrived home the other day to find a package waiting for me!!  I love when that happens!!  I had sent a pattern that I was finished with to Carol from The Polka Dot Chicken  and just look at what she sent to me as a thank you....

                                                          

I love the colors and brightness, so fun - a perfect pincushion for spring!  Thank you so much Carol!! 

It has been a crazy week here.  My husband was out of town and arrived home just in time to attend my middle guy's 1st Year Strings Concert.  He has been playing the Cello this year, although he says he might try something new next year. Apparently his fingers cramp up - the mom in me just told him that if he practiced more, he would build up strength in his fingers! He's also interested in either the drums or the trumpet, which he can start next year.  Time will tell....

I have also been working in the school district as a substitute aide.  This week I have been filling in for someone that is on vacation.  They do not provide much training for the subs, so it's pretty much a learn as you go experience.  Let's just say that I have a greater appreciation for what some of the teachers have to handle, and I'll leave it at that!

My little guy has been celebrating Dr. Seuss this week.  They have had different activities and things to do every day.  Today was wacky hair day and I came downstairs to find that his brothers had done this to him:

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - thanks for stopping by!

    (I believe this was a pattern from the Sweetheart Tree from many moons ago)

(And Jennifer, I'm now searching for a green frog like your new one - to match my lamp!)