Our Weekend Getaway

In spite of the weather, we were able to get away for our weekend with friends! The weather got a little scary here right before we left. I'm so sorry that Joy scared so many of you with the post on her blog! Can you tell how she feels about storms? Jason had gotten our computers for us, as we sat in the bathroom waiting it out. He was going in and out, checking on the weather. To answer someone's question, no, we don't have a basement. As a matter of fact, basements aren't very popular in homes in this area. I do wish we had a storm room though. If we ever build a home again, it will have a storm room built into it. Some friends of ours did that, and that's very nice to have! Anyway, we're fine. There was lots of water standing in our yard when we returned, and stuff blown everywhere. The pool was pretty yucky with leaves and debris, and some of my daddy's garden doesn't look so well, but our homes were fine and we we're fine. Thanks for the concern!

Now, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about our weekend! We drove down in the rain all the way and didn't get there until late, so we didn't do much of anything but talk and visit when we arrived. Betty always has brownies made (Jason and Joy's favorite) and has plenty of Diet Dew for me! :)

Betty is my friend that stitches all the time! Remember all those stitcheries she did and brought to me? I framed three of the stitcheries that she did and took them back to her. Here they are all painted and framed:



This one is for her sister!



The lemonade one will go in her kitchen. I love the cheery yellows of this!



But I guess this rooster had to be my favorite. Betty's kitchen is done in roosters, so it will look good in there. Of course, I'm partial to the reds in it too! The red frame matches her red cupboard in her kitchen.



I need to get to Goodwill and try to find more frames!

Saturday, the guys took Joy trout fishing, but she came home a little disappointed. There were so many canoers (partying canoers unfortunately), that the fish weren't biting. The place was just too busy. My daddy did catch one fish. She still was able to do a little "playing" in the river though.



Meanwhile, the ladies went shopping. The junk store really was a true junk store, and unfortunately, they were closed. There was a sign on the door saying they were gone to a graduation and wouldn't be back for a week.



Look at the name of this place. We thought it was unusual....and funny!



We did go in some other shops. The only thing I bought was this prim sheep.



I thought this picture of Mama and Betty in the big chair was cute and they gave me permission to show it....look at these two shopping chics!



That evening, we went back into town for dinner. We went to the same place we went last time. The food is really good. On the weekends, they have a band playing country music in the parking lot. Everyone brings their chairs and sits out and listens to the band. They have a place cleared for dancing. There were really only two different couples that really danced.



Notice Joy sitting there up front listening to the music. Well I knew that wouldn't last long.



Before too long, she was moving a little to the music. I remarked that if she ever got up the nerve, she'd be out there. Then the next thing I knew, Betty said, "There she goes...she's out there!"



And she did. She got out there and danced! I have no idea where she gets this because I don't like to do anything in front of a crowd that I don't have to. I guess it's from Jason. He's much more outgoing in front of a crowd than me. I have to get to know you first! :) Anyway, she had a great time and those people were just smiling as they watched! I guess she took to heart what I've always told her, "Dance like no one is watching!" :)

I wasn't able to get on the computer while we were there because Betty's computer was hit with a virus and going a little crazy. She has really missed her computer, but I just got word that her computer whiz nephew, Paul, helped her out and her computer is well now! So now she's telling me it's time to change my blog! :)

Saturday evening, the girls watched the movie, "Dreamer". I love that movie. I had seen it before and remembered liking it the first time. I think Dakota Fanning is just a little darling, and I've always loved Kurt Russell too. Our guys sat out on the porch, shooting the breeze, and enjoying the cooler evening weather (without mosquitoes).

Take a look at the "fur babies" there this weekend.

This is Taffy....Richard and Betty's baby. She's a bad to the bone Yorkie! She might look girly, but she's as tough as they come! She's now 9 years old and lived through many adventures!





This is Stinker....my mom and dad's baby. She's almost 8 years old. She has the sweetest disposition, especially for a chihuahua. She is quite spoiled!



And this is the newest member to Richard and Betty's family. She's the outdoor baby. Her name is Molly. We have no idea what kind of dog she is, although I think she has some German Shepherd in her. They went to Walmart shopping one day, and came home with Molly. Some people were giving dogs away in the parking lot! Molly and Joy got along really well this weekend!



Sunday was pretty much spent low key, around the house, because it had been raining. We headed on home later that afternoon. There had been more storms while we were gone and there was lots of water in the yard. My dad killed a snake. Snakes really seem to be bad here this year. Anyone else having lots of snakes in your area? Yuck! I don't like any kind of a snake! Jason found one lying across the motor of his truck this morning too and we think it might be a copperhead! I'm really paranoid now!

Oh, and today my dad dropped by and brought in our mail and my room spray came in that I ordered from Beth! She was so generous! She included an extra one. I ordered a cinnamon stick one and she also sent me a peach scent! I'm loving it! My house smells so good right now! Thank you, Beth! That was so sweet of you!



And that, my friends, is what we've been up to! I hope you all had a great weekend too, and that you have a wonderful week ahead and that you're safe in all the storms! :)

~ Tammy ~

Cross-Stitcheries, Some Favorite Photos & a Little More....

Thank you all for the get well wishes for Joy! I'm very happy to say that this is the first day that Joy has not run fever and she is feeling much better. It will be a few days, I'm sure, until she's back to her regular energetic self. We're keeping it low key for the next couple of days with lots of rest. She is still slow going and I understand that this cough will linger awhile with the flu, but the worst is definitely behind us and she is acting so much better! Thanks so much for the comments and emails!

I mentioned in my last post that my friend, Betty, stitched quite a few cross-stitcheries and brought them to me. She brought them around Christmas time, and I tucked them away in my closet in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Here are the Americana ones.



A Country at Heart one:



She also gave me several Christmas ones:



And more Christmas:



I've bought a few frames from Goodwill here and there, so I'm going to stain some of these and frame them. I'll be sure and show you when I get them finished.

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Last Friday, I mentioned our resident friends in the nursing home that we just love visiting and you'll probably remember me mentioning Ms. Ollie. Joy also mentioned her in greater detail on her blog. She was the one with Alzheimer's and cancer too. Well, I'm very sad to report that she passed away Thursday night. It was especially hard for us too, because we didn't get to make our regular visit this Thursday because of Joy being sick. Please pray for her family. We know her children. She has seven of them. They will all miss their mom tremendously.

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This has been a really crazy week and I didn't get a chance to share any Easter pictures with you. Remember I said we did go to church and to a dinner (against my better judgement since Joy was already beginning to feel bad and run fever), so we took a few pictures that morning and these are a few of my favorites:



This is probably my very favorite! Colt, in his own style, wore a shirt and tie with jeans! lol! He was in Joy's room, kidding around with Joy and me, and tying his tie with Joy standing by (with wet hair) with the normal admiration she has for her brother!

Giving my baby girl a kiss:



Jason with his little girl:



Colt had already left the house when we were taking these pictures. He had to leave to go practice music for the praise team.

But Bambi couldn't be left out...the little fur baby...



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After being cooped up in the house all week and not going anywhere since the beginning of the week, Jason asked us this evening if we wanted to go to Sonic (where we could just sit in the car and not to have to get Joy in and out), and Joy could stay in her pjs too and still get out of the house for a change of scenery! I hugged his neck because it sure was a welcomed outing to me! You would have thought he took me to Outback Steakhouse or something! We took a little drive and it did my spirit good! We listened to Delilah on the radio...so soothing! Now we're back home and have some brownies in hand that my mom made and sent over and we're settling in to watch Rocky IV! Yes, that's Rocky IV...we've already gone through the first three so Joy could see them all (for Jason and me it's probably the 20th time). lol! Believe me this week we have watched some movies!

Crafting, Cleaning, and Co-Op Classes

What a combination, right? Well those are the things that I've been up to the past few days, besides the normal homeschooling, dance classes, doctor appointments and church activities.

It seems like I can't really get it all together on the crafting as I keep forgetting something that I need and don't have it here at the particular moment it's needed! However, I do have a huge mess on my kitchen table right now, so we've been eating at the dining room table! I've been working on some things for our fall festival at church and some Christmas crafts as well. My kitchen table tells the story!



And although there's much more to do, I have a long list of not-everyday-or-even-every-week-cleaning-projects that need to be tackled, especially before the Christmas decorations come out! I want everything just so-so before then! It seems I have the best of intentions so many days, and then it just never turns out the way I planned for some reason or another and I go to bed disappointed! Anyone else feel that way? Oh well, tomorrow's another day!

However, I did get a major thing crossed off my list! I managed to get my walk in closet cleaned out so that I could get old stuff out and make room for those little piles that seem to accumulate in little corners of my bedroom! lol! Of course, that made my closet and my bedroom look so much better! And the dust ruffle on our pencil post bed had really just about had it! It was torn loose in some places and just a collector of cat hair, it seems these days! So Jason helped me take off the mattress and box springs and I removed it, threw it away, cleaned out majorly under the bed (it had ended up as a storage of rubbermaid boxes)...and left only a baby mattress under there! It's wonderful! I actually like the look of my pencil post bed much better WITHOUT a dust ruffle too! Because of the heighth of it, I had to make sure there wasn't much under there because you could definitely see it, if there was!



You can see a "little bit" of that mattress under the bed from the angle I took this picture. One of these days, I really want to redo my bedroom into a primitive one...but it's still country....romantic country..I call it! :) It is a refreshing, calming retreat with it's colors though! I still do enjoy my bedroom's decor.



And last of all, from my title above...is co-op classes. Every Tuesday is our "gym day" for our homeschooling group. It's the day the moms get to fellowship and exchange ideas and the kids get to play, both organized games and free play. However for the month of October, we have had co-op classes. During this time, we had several moms volunteer to do some classes. The kids could sign up for whatever they wanted. We had a combination Art/P.E. for younger and older children, a microscope class, and a lapbooking class for the moms.

By the time I got out of my class, most of the kids' classes were dismissed, so I didn't get photos, however, I did get some photos from the class I was in taught by Kim. She also has a blog that you can check out called GHomeschool. She absolutely loves anything to do with Science and is very passionate about it. As a matter of fact, she's always taught Science classes during out co-op classes, so this one was a different one for her. Now what is lapbooking you may ask....well it's very interesting. If you have little ones, even if you don't homeschool, you might be interested in doing this with your little ones. It all begins with a study on something, then collecting all your facts, and compiling them into a file folder filled with "mini books" of information. You end up with a wonderful little tool that your children will love looking back over again and again (and that's called review and they don't even realize it!) I love learning like that! In our homeschooling, we have always notebooked everything, although I had read up on this. I just wasn't confident on all the folds, even after reading a couple of books! I'm a show-me person, so I was excited about Kim's class! She SHOWED us how to make the little books....WOW...so much easier! And Kim graciously gave me her permission to share these photos! Here she is teaching us (like a pro)!



Here's one of Kim's favorite lapbooks that she and her children made. This one is on Ancient Greece. This is the front cover.



Then you open it up to find ALL these goodies FULL of information! It's quizzes, games, all sorts of great stuff...all with little pop up and out books! Kids just love this type of stuff. It can also be incorporated into notebooks if you're not the file folder type. You just mount the little books onto cardstock and place it in your notebook. Isn't it the coolest thing? Thanks, Kim, for letting me share! :)



If you're interested in learning more about this, email me and I can send you some great links that Kim gave us to check out that shows and explains more!

And last, but not least, I did snap a photo of our homeschooling, Robotics Spirits Team, making some posters for an upcoming competition event. These are the girls helping our team by preparing posters, noise makers, etc...for the day the team presents their robot. I will take pictures next week of the robot in action and show you all what they've worked on. It's very impressive and has to do with aviation. They have all worked VERY hard and we're so proud of them!



So that's the crafting, cleaning and co-op(ing) that I've been up to...actually that would have made a great Whatcha Workin' on Wednesday, now that I think about it!

And a couple of people asked questions about stitching...actually the same types of questions that I had before I began....and although I feel so inadequate to be giving "tutorials" on stitching...I decided I can at least tell you all what I did. After all, that's all you can share is what you know, right? So, tomorrow I'll tell you my very simple instructions (it has to be simple or I couldn't have done it) on how I did my first stitchery and where I found the patterns. Thanks for all the sweet comments on my stitchery, by the way, and thanks to those of you that are interested in trying it and for asking the questions! So check back tomorrow! Until then, have a wonderful day, everyone!

My First Stitchery

I had never attempted a stitchery before this. Years ago, I did try counted cross stitch and enjoyed it somewhat but it became time consuming and when Colt came along, I just never went back to it at all. I really loved all the primitive stitcheries I was seeing everywhere! I love them framed and I love them on pillows too!

So, I ordered a couple of patterns and decided to give it a try. I began last week while we were out of town. I had originally planned to just let Joy draw a pumpkin or something fall(ish) for me and try that first. But when I thought about spending time on something, I decided that it would be a Christmas stitchery. For some reason, I'm in Christmas mode. I'm wanting to watch Christmas movies already and actually we have watched a couple! I'm excited about having our church ladies Christmas party at our home this year, so I think that's why I've not been into as much fall decorating as I am thinking ahead to Christmas.

Anyway....I started my stitchery last Sunday. I didn't have all the colors it called for since this was a last minute decision, but between the colors I did have and my friend, Betty's, I was able to get close enough to make it work.



I didn't tea stain it until after it was done either. I know the "correct" way is to tea stain muslin before, but I wasn't prepared while on the trip, so I just stitched it anyway. Then when we came home, I just soaked tea bags in cold water and dabbed my muslin with it in random spots. I think that it turned out okay that way.

So now it's time to frame it. I would also like to sometime try putting one on a pillow, but I'm probably going to try the framing first. I'm unsure about the whole pillow thing, but I'm sure I'll learn that in time too.



I'm so excited about stitching now and I want to try all these great patterns I'm seeing and I'd like to try a few of my own. I really want Joy to do some drawings for me too, so I can stitch those. I'm now in a stitching mood and I blame all you great primitive stitchers for it! I now have something else that takes time (just what I needed)....but actually it really is a fun thing to do while sitting and watching a movie.

When I get it all framed, I'll be sure and show you how it turned out. Oh, and someone said, you can tell a great stitcher by the back of your stitchery...well let's just say that I'm not a great stitcher! :) But my philosphy is that no one should be looking at the back anyway, right?