WIP...American Flag Blanket/ Award

What a lovely Sunday. I sure did pick the right time to take a 4 day weekend!! :)

I wanted to share with you the blanket I had told you about earlier. I started this several months back for Jeremy's Aunt Penny. Her entire house is decorated in American Flags, so when I came across this pattern in  an old book of mine I couldn't resist.

These aren't the greatest pictures but will have to do. The blanket is pretty big. My bed is a queen size and it hangs over the edge on either side. This pattern has been fairly easy and should have been completed a long time ago. I can be such a procrastinator. :0)



The lovely Clara has awarded me with this Stylish Blogger Award. Please visit her wonderful site here clarascrochetroom . The crafty ideas she comes up with are amazing and her instructions are written so well and easy to understand. I'm sure you will love it.

The rules state that I must tell you 7 things about myself...so here goes!


1. I dream of moving to Alaska once both our children graduate.We can't seem to convince the rest of the family this would be a good idea..:)
2. I have a thing for Dolphins...the ones that swim in the ocean and the football team, GO MIAMI!
3. My birthday is the day after my moms. She spent her entire 25th birthday in labor with me.
4. I'm the shortest person in our house at 5"5, and have been since my son was 11, how sad :)
5. I enjoy reading, football, fishing, sewing, crochet and spending time with my family.
6. To keep us all in touch and close, once a week we all have dinner together. We take turns hosting it at each others homes. This includes everyone..in laws, sisters, cousins, aunts, nephews...that's a lot of people to have together :)
7. I got my first sewing machine for Christmas when I was 13 yrs old. Only thing I knew how to make then was scrunchies :)
Now to pass on to the most fabulous blogs...

http://hooksandyarns.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromcuckooland.blogspot.com/
http://seedstitch13.blogspot.com/
http://butternutstreet.blogspot.com/
http://sarahsweethearts.blogspot.com/
http://melbatoast68.blogspot.com/
http://wiresandyarns.blogspot.com/
http://mandas-challenges.blogspot.com/ 
http://pickupsomecreativity.blogspot.com/
http://suesfavouritethings.blogspot.com/           
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

For Des and Hoss..

Jeremy's grandparents would have celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary today, as well as both their birthdays. 

It's very rare to find a love that lasts a lifetime, to spend over 50 years together ..

Without their love so much of what matters most to me wouldn't exist...

                                                                      my hubby...

My baby's...

Des and Hoss

                                                       
               
How they love so openly ..

Their caring ways..

 Comes from spending time with wonderful loving people. I couldn't have asked for two better people to raise my children around

Our goal today is to be happy, thankful for what we have..even though we miss them..xxx

Forgive Me, after all, it is almost 4am!

This too shall pass...whoever said that?? I need to find out. I am generally a very upbeat person but this March weather just aches my bones so.. That is depressing in itself but add that with no Internet service for days at a time..no blog land to cheer me up..anyways..boohoos are over..promise. I detest depressing blogs....

I've been working more on my American Flag blanket for Aunt Penny, which is so slow coming..but it's getting there. Didn't help that I went weeks..OK, months without touching it. It took her stopping by and ooohhhing and aaawwwing over it to get me to pick it up again.
I'd much rather be working on more squares..at this rate Ms.Sue will have enough of just my squares for a blanket..:)
I sometimes wonder about the peoples blogs I follow. Where does all the time come from. Maybe if I crocheted as much as I looked at everyone elses crochet projects I'd get more done...note to self...crochet more..look at blogs less..yes..I think I'll try that, see if it helps :)

I must apologize in advance, I usually try to put at least a few pictures per post but I can't get my camera to connect to my computer. I had to take it all apart when I was trying to get Internet service back. I'm sure it's not that hard to do, but beings that it's ....whatever time it is..past 3am I don't want to start banging, hitting, kicking, swearing at it and wake the entire house up :) I was going to wait to post till I did, but it's been so long I can't. Promise..pictures to come. I'm actually very proud of this one..sure did shock myself with this one..wait till you see!

On a much more serious note. I wanted to encourage everyone to ask your employers about matching donations to help those in Japan. It never hurts to ask. My employer is matching up to $100,000 per employee with no total limit!! I know not everyone works for a big company but even $10 matched is $20..imagine if a million people did that...every little bit helps. Trust me, I am not one of those proud employees that loves her job. We give millions..prolly billions every year to things I don't agree with, so you prolly won't ever hear this from me again. I know it's a tax write off for them, but I'm proud of them just the same. My employer has an "intranet site" (internal only) set up for us to make is easy for everyone. I'm not sure how to do this but I'm sure I can direct you to someone who can if you need to know. We had two options, the Red Cross (which is what I did) and the other one..goodness..I forget the name and I'm not logged into work computer to see..It's a global one that Dr's Without Borders is part of. Sorry, I can tell you Monday morning if you want to know the other name. Not trying to be pushy...their suffering just breaks my heart to say the least..sorry to go on for so long.
Take care..talk to you soon xoxoxoxo

Im Joining In Too...

Opinions..Ideas......HELP!

I've spent the last few days in blog land looking for something particular that I just haven't found yet. I thought maybe I'd do this as a last resort. I am looking for a way to place/store/showcase my yarn in my new office/craft room. Maybe something on the walls..I looked at shelves and even wine racks! I've shown Jeremy a few ideas I've had but none that I'm totally in love with. Jeremy is extremely handy around the house and will do pretty much anything I ask him to..but he hates when he does something and then a month later I change my mind and he has to take it down and start all over..I can be such a headache sometimes :)

Right now I have it sitting all over the house in Longaberger baskets, I have storage totes full, a dresser full. It's everywhere. I'd love to come up with an idea that I would have most of it out so I could see it. I know that may seem silly..but that's what I want. I spend at least 8 hours a day in this room so I want it to be as close to perfect as possible. It's not a huge room but it doesn't hold a lot either. My work desk/computer. Our home desk/computer..and my sewing machine and yarn..lots of yarn.

If I'm being honest I must say this is also something I "need" to do as well. My dear Josephine has started getting into my baskets and stealing the yarn to play with. She has now done this on several occasions which leaves me with hours of yarn wrapping and untangling...It's not fun to say the least. I've tried giving her "her own"yarn to play with but I think this just confused her. :)
Does anyone have any ideas? I can keep looking on line but I know every blog I usually visit does something with yarn..
I appreciate any ideas you could give me.
Thanks...take care!

Oh Happy Days!

Good morning! Happy Saturday! I think I've told you before how much I love Saturdays! No work..just shopping ...family ...housework ... all the things that I love! Last night I got to do one of my favorite things too, so before I got too busy today I wanted to share with you. Please don't mind the pictures.(the pic of the blankets) I didn't have a lot of time to keep retaking them.

Last night I had dinner with my in laws..mom dad sister brother (in laws) and two of my most very favorite people..my niece and nephew Abby and Andy. Whenever I spend any amount of time with them my face always aches when I leave because I've smiled or laughed the entire time. They really are a joy! Andy will be 4 and Abby will be 3 in just a few weeks. They are a year apart to the day. They share the same birthday..March 24th..neat huh.

In a world where most kids are lost without a gaming system and hundreds of dollars of toys Andy is such a breath of fresh air. He can play for hours with imaginary toys..friends..people..animals..his imagination is like nothing I've ever seen before. This is a pic of Andy and Uncle Dude fishing..(in our kitchen of all places)...Andy is the fish caught on the line..hehehe...too funny!

We just found out a few weeks ago that Abby is autistic. This is the first for our family so we all have a lot to learn...I was totally shocked and I think still in a bit of denial but it takes time I guess..She hums and sings and claps and squeals...She makes you smile just looking at her...Here is a pic of Abby, face covered in cheese curls!

Their mom sent me home with most of their blankets I've made them. They need washed and she's scared to ruin them. The yellow and purple heart one took me forever! It was the first and only one I've ever done that way..gave me a great feeling of accomplishment but it was so time consuming. I think the only way I'd ever do another is if I was blessed with another niece, which I doubt will happen...6 nephews..1 niece..no..don't think so! lol

I hope you all enjoy your day! I'm off to take Destiny for some girl shopping! Oh boy, her fav! Take care! xoxo

Butterflys...

Hello! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. I'm still on the mend so it was pretty uneventful for me. The highlight around here came yesterday when the postman delivered a package to Destiny. And not just any package, it said ROYAL MAIL! Maybe thats how all mail from the UK comes ....hmmm could be..either way, we got a kick out of it....don't take much to amuse us huh :)
Well, in this "royal" package came 3 scrumptious skeins of yarn...that little picture at the top does them no justice! So this is what you guys are always referring to as DK yarn?? Double knit....who knew! Not me! Two shades of blue...Turquoise and Aster, and the delightful pink skein is called Fondant! The wonderful Ms.Amanda (http://www.mandas-challenges.blogspot.com/) loved the idea that Destiny is learning to crochet so she bought her some yarn for encouragement. Now isn't that just the sweetest thing...She really is a doll! Destiny says thank you and sends big xoxoxoxo your way! She's actually sending a little something more then that your way but you'll have to wait and see :)

My hand isn't hurting as much as it once was so I did get to hook a little bit this weekend....nothing big. A few dish clothes, a towel hanger, and some butterflies...I'm addicted to making butterfly fridgies! This is just a few of what I did over the weekend. Not pictured are the handfuls that I made and gave to my mom, my mother in law and my sisters...

It's nice to finally be able to crochet SOMETHING.....stitches should come out tomorrow. Hopefully  I will be as good as new..we shall see..Take care! xoxoxoxo