Steelers, Baby Shower, and Spokane

A nice, cozy, lazy day at home.  It is freezing outside, so we're staying in.  I'm going to make a pot of homemade, well ---- semi-homemade, chicken noodle soup with some hard crust whole grain French bread.  One good thing that has at least temporarily come from our bad, ugly flu week is that we feel like we need to eat lighter and healthier.  If it feels too heavy or greasy it just is not appetizing right now.  As I said, this may be temporary, but I know my stomach feels much better eating like this.

It's also the football playoffs tonight.  I'm not much of a sport's fan at all, but since we live in Steeler country, you can't help but get caught up in the excitement around here when the Steelers get to the playoffs.  It will be crazy Steeler country if they win tonight.

(Sorry so blurry, but it was free clip art)

So I'll be watching the game tonight, even though I don't really understand football that well.  The commercials and half time are always good.  I understand they are expecting the temperature to be about 12-15 degrees in Pittsburgh tonight.  

Yesterday Mom and I went to the baby shower for my girl friend's daughter that is adopting 15 month old twin girls from Africa.  She leaves for Malawi, Africa, in about two weeks to pick them up.  She is a 29 year old single young woman that I have known since she was 6 years old.  She and my oldest son, Austin, were friends that met in Kindergarten.  Through their friendship, her mother and I became very good friends.  

The shower was very nice.  Here's the new Mommy (on the right) opening some gifts.

Look at these stuffed animals she got for the girls' new American bedroom to remind them of Africa.

I finished the twin baby hats for her, along with a gift card.  I forgot to get a picture of the hats when I had them both finished.  Here's one finished.

The other one was just like it except the flower and trim was purple using the purple yarn you see here.  They turned out cute.

I also finalized the ticket purchase for Spokane for DIL, Diana, and myself.  I'm going back with her to help with the two kids on the plane and then I'll stay about two weeks.  We'll leave on February 1 and I'll come back on the 13th.  Travelling is so difficult any more, and especially with a 20 month old and a 5 month old.  This would be almost impossible for Diana to handle on her own.  Besides, you have to have two laps for them to sit on or you would have to purchase another ticket anyway.  Of course, there is no direct flight from Pittsburgh.  It's not an easy trip, so I'm glad I can go to help.

A Good Night's Sleep is Priceless

I'm feeling much better!  What a difference a good day's rest and a good night's sleep makes.  I don't necessarily require a lot of hours of sleep, but the hours that I do sleep need to be worth it!  Uninterrupted and deep.  The bad news is that poor hubby is now sick.  His sick (and it better stay "his") was the stomach kind, not the head kind like mine was.  So I slept in the guest room last night since the kids are away for the week.  I think that's only the second time in six years that I've slept up there.  I have to say that I think that is why I slept so well.  I know he would feel terrible if I told him that, so I'll keep it a secret!

Today has been a very quiet day all to myself.  Hubby has been sleeping all day and wants absolutely nothing to eat.  He's still blaming his sickness on bad Chinese food from Friday night, but I feel sure it's a flu bug.  I bet we don't get Chinese again for quite a while, though.
So anyway, I've been putzin' around the house, cleaning and catching up on the computer. Uhhhh!! It feels so good!  I still had the lower level family room to clean up from Christmas.  That's the last room to get done.  Finally, all the Christmas decorations are down and all the boxes and bins are put away.  I just need to dust and run the vacuum down there now.  I thought I'd take a little lunch break first.  Don't want to overdue it!
I keep my girly, lacey Christmas tree up through St. Patrick's Day because I like to decorate it for Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day.  I did the Valentine's decorating last weekend right before the kids got here.  As you can see, the tree isn't that much different, except I try to take off anything that looks real Christmasy and put on some red bulbs and hearts, with heart garland.  It's all pink, white, red and lacey.

My mantel is back to normal now with a few little wooden hearts added.

The entrance foyer table is ready to welcome now with a Valentine greeting.

I still might do more with this.  A trip to JoAnn's is needed.

And last night, since I had no interruptions from about 5:00 to 11:00, I was able to almost finish two knitting projects.  This one is a scarf that I made from very good yarn that Hubby got me for Christmas.  I would have never spent this much money on yarn myself!  It's silk and mohair with silver metallic threads in it.  Then I beaded the yarn to make silver beaded fringe.  This looks really pretty with a black turtleneck.

This little white baby hat is one of two.  The second one isn't finished yet.  One will have a pink flower and trim and the other will have a purple flower and trim.  The daughter of a very good friend of mine just adopted 

two twin girls from Africa.  She will be going back to Africa to pick them up next month.  This Saturday I am going to a baby shower for her.

Well, my lunch break is over, so I'll go clean downstairs for about an hour and then I'm done for today.  

Art, Crafts and "Stuff"

I decided at the last minute last week to enter a local craft show.  I was the last entry of forty vendors to reserve a table last Wednesday afternoon and the show was held on Saturday.  I don't do craft shows normally, but this one was being held at our Lakeview Lodge, which is right around the corner from my home.  Literally.  I can walk there.  Which, of course, I didn't do on Saturday because I had all my stuff to lug.  I have little "stuff" though and I don't have an over abundance of "stuff", so getting it there was no problem.  My problem was gathering it all together and tagging everything on Friday night.  That's when you realize you have more "stuff" than you thought you did.

So here it is, my "stuff" all ready for hubby to carry to the car and drive me over and unload for me.  I could have managed myself but I think he must have had a moment of feeling obligated, since I was complaining loudly (on purpose for him to over hear) to my mother on the phone that parking might be a problem.
Mom also knits and she was sharing the table with me to sell her beautiful shawls.

Here we are setting up our table and there's Mom wearing one of her shawls.  It was actually a very fun day with a very good turnout, but we only sold a few things.  At shows like this people are looking more for crafty Christmas decorations and/or less expensive items.  Our "stuff" isn't cheap because we use expensive yarns and my little quilts are very time consuming.  We knew that going in, but that's OK.  The Lodge also served lunch and we visited with a lot of people and we made enough to cover our cost for the day.
I came home with a renewed interest in catching up and updating my on line Etsy shop.  I had been ignoring it lately since I just haven't had the time to pay attention to it or make or list anything new.  Now with my new phase of slowing down and trying to do more of what I want to do, I am having fun with Etsy again.( I have a link to this on my sidebar.) I just don't make things quickly.  Some people list new things every day and I just can't do that.  Here's a new mini "fairy" quilt I listed yesterday.  I was told by some of the wonderful Quiltsy ladies on Etsy that they have heard this term used for the very mini quilts and suggested I try using that tag on my listings.

This quilt is about 3-1/4" square and the whole thing is in a 5x7 frame.  I love making them, even if they aren't making me rich!
I also finished knitting the purple baby set that I was making for a friend's daughter's baby shower that was also on Saturday.  I got that delivered to her on Friday afternoon.

 I get quite a few requests for knitted items, but they also take a while.  I was asked at the show if I used a knitting machine.  NO!  Mom and I both knit by hand the old fashioned way.  I don't take too many orders at a time because I then get overwhelmed and feel pressured.  Not how I want to feel when doing what I love to do!
My wonderful hubby is working out of the house today, thank goodness!  Yes, he's wonderful, but I just have to say that he gets on my nerves when he's working at home.  He questions me all day about what I'm doing and I really feel guilty if I'm spending too much time working on my "stuff".  Only because I help him with paperwork and computer work and he constantly reminds me where the most money comes from.  I know, but------. So now I can relax for a while and do what I want!

Busy Sum-Sum-Summertime

I'm home from my weekend in Cincinnati.  Life just is not slowing down any right now.  This is just a time of my life, I guess, when a lot is happening.  Over the weekend, I had a nephew get married, and attended a niece's baby shower.  Good and happy occasions, so a busy life right now is a good thing.  I'm sure the alternative of a nothing happening, boring and empty life would not be a welcome or good thing.  For this I'm happy and grateful. Although I have to admit that there are many moments when I think of that old commercial, "Calgon, take me away"!  As long as I have some days to myself in between all the happenings, and I keep my mind calm, I'm good.  I just don't feel right if I don't have things clean and organized at home, and that gets difficult to keep up with when I'm not here.
Now today I need to work in the yard that's gotten ahead of me and I need to do it this morning because it's supposed to be very hot today.  This afternoon My Bob and I want to head out for an hour and a half drive, one way,  to see the grandkids before they go out of town to visit other relatives for a couple of weeks. 
I have a lot of pictures on my camera, but no time yet to download.  And now, off I go again!

A Mother's Weekend

For me, this past weekend was all about mothers.  Mother's to be, young mothers, old mothers, and grandmothers.  It was all covered.  The baby shower I gave my DIL Melissa was on Saturday and it went very well.  It was a very pink and chocolate day.  The only way it could have been more perfect is if the weather had cooperated.  It was freezing cold and rainy, so we could not use the deck at all.  No big deal, I guess.
I had finished the baby quilt on Thursday night.

I would have liked to hand quilt it, but I just didn't have the time.  Since it is a baby quilt I machine quilted myself.  Anything larger and I send out to be machine quilted.

I had finished knitting the hat and booties about a week or so ago.  I know I showed them already, but here they are again.

Melissa arrived here early Saturday morning and put together our door prize basket.  We had a diaper fund raffle for it.  For every dollar you put into the diaper fund you received a ticket to go into the drawing.  We then drew a number toward the end of the shower and my Aunt Nancy won the basket.

Mom and I spent a whole day making teddy bear lollipops to be given as favors.  I found the teddy bear mold and the makings at a party store.  Mom and I experimented a little, and by the final batch we were mixing it up with different color bows and feet and noses.  They were fun and easy to do.  I arranged them all in a candy dish filled with pink beads so all the sticks would stand up straight.  Each one was tied with a "It's a Girl" curling ribbon.

My DIL Diana gave me a pink hydrangea plant for Mother's Day the day she left for Spokane on Wednesday.  She knew it would match the colors for the shower and it was perfect for on my coffee table.

I had this teddy bear that I had made from an old rabbit fur jacket that I wore years ago.  I sat him next to the hydrangea. 

My mother was great in running errands for me.  Friday night she picked up the two flower arrangements so I could have the tables all set before Saturday morning.  The caterer arrived with the food by 11:30 Saturday morning.  Chicken and egg salad croissant sandwiches, spring salad and a vegetable tray with dip.  As is usual, you worry that there won't be enough food, and as is usual, we had more than enough.   Mom picked up the balloons and the cupcakes by 11:00 Saturday morning.  The tables looked great.

The punch is just Hawaiin punch with Sprite.  I also dipped all the strawberries in chocolate. 

 

I had blush and riesling wine in the decanters set up on the wine cabinet.  About a month ago I discovered a new wine at a local winery called "chocolate covered cherries"!  And that's exactly what it tastes like.  It's like a desert wine or a port.  Mmm! so good.  I set those bottles out with shot glasses.

The gifts Melissa received were all adorable and mostly pink of course.  Melissa looked beautiful in a long pink dress and pink and white vest.  I also wore a pink and white dress with a brown sweater.  No pictures of me, though.  I was too busy to stand still.

We had 25 guests and the day was a success and a lot of fun.  That should be the one, only and last baby shower I will ever have so I'm glad I got the chance to do it.  I have to say, though, that I was extremely exhausted by the time it was over and I still did not feel good.  But it was all worth it!

Baby Shower, Coming Up!

It's 7:00 pm. and I had to take a break.  I've been working for about 12 hours now, cleaning my house and setting the tables to get ready for tomorrow's baby shower.  It's been fun.  I just still don't feel well with this killer of a sinus/allergy/cold/whatever it is.  I'm taking decongestants and antihistamines, which helps to dry me up, but it makes my head so foggy.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing except when you have a lot to do and have to think a little. 
I've got the pink and brown chocolate teddy bear lollipops done and the chocolate dipped strawberries are finished.  The floral centerpieces are on the tables, the tablecloths are on, the plates, cups, napkins, and forks are set out.  I have to organize the activities now and wrap the little knit hat and booties.   DIL Melissa is coming early in the morning to help make up our door prize basket and help with any final touches.  I'm having the rest of the food catered, which I gave second thought to figuring I could save money doing it myself.  With the way I feel, though, I'm glad I stuck with the caterer.  It'll be a lunch of egg salad and chicken salad croissant sandwiches, spring salad, and vegetable tray with dip.  Cupcakes are being done by the bakery and balloon bunches are being made by the party store.  Mom is picking up the cupcakes and balloons in the morning for me. 
I'm excited for tomorrow.  I'll take pictures and hope to tell all about it on Sunday.
BTW, DIL Diana called me this morning.  She is back in Spokane with Brandon and she had her follow up testing this morning with a specialist to check on the possible spina bifida with their unborn son due in September.  She and Brandon were told everything looked fine and good, but they will do sonograms once a month now just to keep an eye.  They were much relieved and I felt pretty sure of this result after talking to many people about it, but just to have them relieved makes me feel much better. 
So all baby news is good again. 
OK, break over.  Going to finish up today's list, then take a hot bath with a glass of wine.  I know, I probably shouldn't drink wine with the allergy pills, but at this point how can it hurt? 

Routine and Organization

We took the grandsons home Sunday evening and I'm tired.  I've been thinking about this and wondering why?  I raised two boys that were also 16 month apart in age and very active, just as my grandsons are.  I never felt so tired raising my boys as I do after five days with my grandsons.  Why?  There are a couple of reasons I've come up with.
First, and most obvious, is that I'm 25 years older.  Second, I've figured out that routine is a large part of my daily life and existence.  I love routine.  I thrive on organization.  And the older I get the more attached to routine and organization I become.  Because of this I get a lot done and when all is going according to routine I feel at peace.

According to Wikipedia:  "Routine, as a course of normative, standardized actions or procedures that are followed regularly, often repetitiously".
And according to G.K. Chesterton: "Of all modern notions, the worst is this: that domesticity is dull. Inside the home, they say, is dead decorum and routine; outside is adventure and variety. But the truth is that the home is the only place of liberty, the only spot on earth where a man can alter arrangements suddenly, make an experiment or indulge in a whim. The home is not the one tame place in a world of adventure; it is the one wild place in a world of rules and set tasks."
These are words that I live by.  Well, you throw two little active boys into my neat, organized, routine of a life and it's not that I don't want them, it just takes me a few days to adjust and situate myself and the boys into a new, temporary routine.  So by the third day that the boys were here we settled into a good routine.  We all had fun and the boys were well behaved and I wasn't "growly", as Landen would sometimes call me. By the fifth and last day they were here Bob and I hated to see them go, almost, but we were glad to resume our old and familiar routine once again.  The boys said they wanted to stay and live here forever.  But if that happened, life at Bobby and Nina's (Grandpa and Grandma's) would soon turn into a normal routine for them and they'd want to move on to a more fun temporary routine someplace else, I'm sure.

This week so far has been spent fightning an allergy, sinus thing and it's kickin' my butt.  Regardless, I got more work done on the garden beside the shed and I'm getting the inside of the house cleaned up for the baby shower this Saturday I'm giving for DIL Melissa.   DIL Diana and granddaughter Riley were here Tuesday and Wednesday.  They headed back to Spokane today.  Oh, that little Riley is just the sweetest little thing.  I just can not quit kissing her. 
Today I'm off to finish the baby shower shopping.  I have a whole list of odds and ends that need purchased and done for Saturday. 
Lists:  That's another must have in my life.  So off I go now to cross off the items on the current list by day's end. As is my routine, I'll have a new list for tomorrow.

Busy Weeks Go By So Fast!

Have you missed me?  This has been such a week. 
My computer kind of died on Monday.  It just kept shutting down right in the middle of things.

 I couldn't work on it like that.  Got it to the computer fix-it shop and it looks as though the fan and motor just needed some cleaning.  Working good now. 

We also got the grandsons on Wednesday since their mother had another sonogram on Thursday and then left from there to go for her Air Force Reserve weekend in Pittsburgh.  Their dad, (our son, Austin), works long hours as an Air Force Recruiter and does quite a bit of travelling so they just brought the boys to us until Sunday.  They are really good and very sweet, but I get so worn out.  I wouldn't have had time to get on the computer even if I had one this week.

They love getting a "tubby" with bubbles in the jetted tub.

My other DIL, Dee, and my granddaughter, Riley, are in town from Spokane for two weeks.  They split their time between her family in Pittsburgh and the rest of the family here.  We got to see her Wednesday and Thursday.  What a doll baby.  Dee looks real good.  She's also pregnant and due in September.

 They're having a boy this time. We now have a pattern that seems to be evident; the DIL's gain more weight being pregnant with girls versus pregnant with the boys.  Interesting!

I had all three of my grandchildren with me at the same time for one day.  That's only happened twice now.  I'm a lucky grandma.  I can't wait to be able to get pictures after September of me with all five of them.

We had a frost for two nights in a row and it looks as though my yellow dahlias didn't make it.  I covered them each night.  The red daisies did just fine, though.  Now today was a beautiful, sunny and 80 degree day.  I was able to clean off some of the yard furniture while the boys played outside.  Work time is cut in half with them, though, because of the potty runs and food and drink requests.  Then at 2:00 I took Logan into the doctor for his shots needed for kindergarten in the fall.  Oooh! he was real brave until those needles went in, then what a scream.  Then the little sweetie apologized to me for crying! Ahh! So like any good grandma, we went to Wal-Mart for a new Transformer and then an ice cream cone.

 He was as happy as could be instantly.  I just can't believe he'll be in kindergarten!

Austin came up for tonight and tomorrow to be with his boys and then he has to work at a marathon in Pittsburgh on Sunday. 

Oh, almost forgot!  I'm also trying to finish the pink and brown baby quilt for Melissa's baby shower that I'm planning for next Saturday.  I got the newborn hat and booties finished.

 I work on the quilt from about 8pm until 10pm.  I'll make it!

Baby Shower Ideas?

Thank goodness the blog problems are fixed.  That was just so frustrating yesterday.
Back to the good stuff.
 I've finally had time now to work on baby things.  As I've mentioned, we have two new grandchildren arriving shortly.  Baby girl, Leanna Rene, will be welcomed into our lives around July 11.  Our other baby will be coming in September, but we don't know if we are waiting on a girl or boy yet.  We should know that in the next few weeks.
Leanna's birth date is coming up soon, so I'm going to be giving my DIL a shower on May 8 here at my house.  This will be her third child, but the first two were boys and it's been over four years since the second boy, Landen, was born.  She needs some new pink stuff this time.  And I love pink. 
I got started on the baby quilt that I showed the fabric for last week.  It's coming along better and faster than I expected.  I like to design my own patterns.  I draw it out on graph paper first and make sure I have all the dimensions and measurements correct.  Without a finished colored picture I don't always know what I'm going to get.  I get a picture in my head, but that doesn't always translate into what the finished quilt will look like.  So far so good on this one.

I fussy cut the little teddy bears out of the printed teddy bear fabric.  I'll also use this teddy bear fabric as the border around the quilt.

There will be 12 - 9" squares total.  I now have half the squares completed.  I should have it finished in time for the baby shower.

I want to stick with the color theme of pink and chocolate for the colors and food at the shower.  I'm working on ideas for this.  Strawberries and chocolate brownies.  Or strawberries dipped in chocolate.  Pink fluffy jello salad.   I have some pink dishes - might need more.  I have pink votive candle holders.  I'll have a cute pink and chocolate cake with teddy bears, or maybe individual cupcakes.  If you have any ideas for me I'd love to hear them.  I'm just starting to think and plan on this so I'm very open to ideas.