Happy 2nd Birthday Emerson Avery!!!!

Happy Birthday Pretty Girl! A-ma and Paw Paw love you!!!!!

Bad Cat

I made that little flower arrangement at a women's luncheon a while back. I know...it is kind of old-ladyish, but I like it with my fall decorations. I woke up this morning to find dried flowers.....
....everywhere! Who could have done that???!!!LOOK AT ME SASS!!!!!Yes! Sassafras got into that flower arrangement! She looks all tore up about it doesn't she?I salvaged the silk flowers, but the dried ones are gone. Silly cat!!
It has been quiet here. We are not starting school until next week. The place that we buy our curriculum from comes to town and holds a convention/open house every year. If you order there, you get 20% off and free shipping. They always come in August, but this year Kelly (the guy who holds the convention meetings) had to have knee surgery so he did not come to my town until the 9th of September. Our books are shipped and will arrive Thursday of this week. We have been reading and playing a new computer game...seek and find. The kids love it (and my mom and dad are hooked on it too). It really works the brain...I refuse to play it because I can not get hooked on it. I have been quilting. I am turning the corner to side 3 of the Hidden Star....just 12 blocks to go.
Guess what else happens this Thursday???? Emerson turns 2!!!!

I'll be back then with a birthday post for my girl!

Be Blessed!

Poundage

Let's face it. I need to drop some major pounds. I gained 35 pounds in the last 9 months (add that to the 35 I already needed to lose!)....no there is no baby to be birthed from that weight gain. Rachel lost all kinds of weight when she and Bud were separated, and I gained it all. Stress does different things to different people. I eat when I am stressed. I eat really high carb, sugary, ooey, gooey kind of bad stuff! Over the last month I have changed my eating habits and have dropped 8 pounds. That is not bad, but now it is time to ramp it up with some workouts. I HATE TO WORK OUT!!!! It messes up my schedule...do I workout in the morning? In the afternoon? When will I shower? I am a morning shower person....if I workout in the afternoon I will have to shower twice. Maybe I will change my showers to night time and do a wipe down after my late afternoon workout.....too much to figure out. I decided to just wing it. Today I did my workout at 11 and it is now 2:15 in the afternoon and I am still in my workout clothes and still unshowered! That will not work. It will be a work in progress. I did a 2 mile aerobic walk today. That was TOUGH! In this excerpt I am doing workout #2....it is FAST!



My mom gave me a great dessert recipe. It is very low carb, low calorie, and low fat. How much better can that be? You need
1 small package sugar free orange jello
1 small package sugar free/fat free instant vanilla pudding
8 oz Cool Whip
11 oz. Mandarin oranges drained and rinsed

Dissolve jello in 1 cup boiling water. Set aside til cooled. Add the instant pudding and stir with a wisk.
Fold in the cool whip and Mandarin oranges. Put in an 8x8 pan and chill for 2 hours. OMGosh it tastes like a Dreamcicle, only better. I bet it would be good frozen too.
I made a double batch using strawberry jello and fresh cut up strawberries. It fit nicely in a 9x13" pan. It slices beautifully! (I like the orange better) I better hit the showers if I plan on getting dressed at all today!!!!

Fall

Last Friday was the most glorious day!!! Look at that fall sky! The winds were blowing pretty hard too and it was a COLD wind. Goodness did that feel good.

Sassy went from window to window, but the cold wind was too much for her....she found a spot on a chair and enjoyed the breeze from a distance. Sweetheart went to do yard work at his mom's house, so I "built" a fire (by turning a key) and spent some time quilting in front of it.I am on the outer edges of the Hidden Star....FINALLY!!!I have been craving a sandwich. No bread for me, so I used some iceberg lettuce leafs and it worked just fine.
My new vice......Road Ranger fountain pop. OMGosh is it GOOD. I can get a 32 oz for 63 cents! How can you beat that?? Fountain drinks are so much better than bottled or canned. I know...pop is not good, but I am drinking diet/caffeine free....still BAD, but it is my only vice right now...no sugar, no bread or pasta, no potatoes...NO cigarettes (today is 4 years since I quit). 4 Years is not a long time...I quit for 13 years once and started again, smoking for another 7 years. I loved smoking. I still would love it, but it did not love me. Same with food...soooo my new vice, a Road Ranger soda every few days....ok, I can not lie...EVERYday, is the lesser of the evils.

My phone rang Friday afternoon.

Me: Hello

TJ: Grandma, it's me TJ

Me: Hi TJ, How are you?

TJ: I just got home from school and Monday is a holiday and I don't have school but the next Monday I DO have school but this Monday I don't. Can I come play?

Me: Sure you can.

TJ: And tomorrow I don't have school and so I can spend the night. Can I spent the night?

Me: If it's ok with your mom, yes, you can spend the night.

TJ (talking to his mom): she said yes!!!! (back to me) Ok Grandma. I'm comin to spend the night!!!!

When he got to my house he said, "This is the BEST day ever!"

That is the quilt his Mama made him. She is making one for Emerson now. You know that sailboat quilt? Well....that was started back when TJ's parents were divorcing. I wanted both kids to have a quilt at their Daddy's house. When they moved back, they have quilts....TJ's baby quilt is too small, so I figured the sailboats would still work. Then I remembered he has this very special quilt from his mom. I am re-thinking the sailboat quilt for Christmas. Maybe it will be a quilt for here....Zach would even love it. Still thinking on it.

Speaking of Zach......He lost that other front tooth. $10. Now the rest will get the standard dollar.

TJ went home Saturday afternoon. I had invited Emerson too, but she went down for a nap and then it was too late. I did not see them yesterday cause their Daddy had a golf thing out of town for the day. The whole family went. I did get to spend some time with this part of the family.....Max...my granddog. Nicest dog I ever met! He is just a Sweetie. Zach kept saying..."Mom, he is the perfect dog for our family." He really is, but NO WAY, kiddo. Sassy would have a fit and besides....he is TJ and Em's dog. Bud took care of him for a couple of weeks last winter and the owner decided he did not want him back. Bud kept him and he has been a good addition to their family. I went to take him out and he was so excited to see us all, we brought him to Grandma's for the day....he loved the fenced in yard and ran and played for hours with Zach and Charlotte. I am sure he slept good last night! So did Zach!!!

Happy September!!

Isn't that a gorgeous quilt?? Winona made it for me for my birthday last year. I can feel the love!
I can not walk by it without stopping to admire it and running my hand across the beautiful hand quilting. It is the "center piece" of my fall decor! Thank you so much Winona!
I added a few more touches of fall in my home. I did not go all out....yet. I will add more when it gets closer to Thanksgiving. For now I gave the entryway a little flavor. The fireplace and mantle were dressed up a bit for the coming season.My old friend came out of storage.....Sassy was a bit bewildered by him. She quickly realized he was no threat to her happy existence, so she went back to her snooze.
Of course the new Yankee candle gave the house a wonderful scent! I am anxious to get my hands on an Autumn Wreath Yankee candle....my favorite.Adding the fall decorations took little time. Most of my day was spent in the sewing room/office. We made a trip to Comcast and picked up the needed disc and my new-to-me computer is all hooked up and running. The whole "lost disc" thing frustrated me to the point that I decided to organize....and I mean organize....my room. Things do not have to look messy to be unorganized, so I did not take any before pics, because it really did not look that bad, but I got some after.....it is dark down here and if I turn all the lighting on, the pictures are just a big flash of light, so forgive the quality. First I got the computer desk all cleaned off and out. All nice and neat and everything in it's place. We are still in the computer stone age....no flat screens here, but they work!I cleaned out and re-organized under the cutting/sewing table. It is all orderly and even my scraps are all sorted in different boxes...lights, mediums and darks. I hung a new light...it is the white thing under the shelves. I ALWAYS ask Sweetheart to do stuff like that for me. This time I thought I would try it myself....I am more than capable.....so I thought. I did a beautiful job, with Zach's help, and even used a small level to make sure it was perfect. Only problem is, I hung it upside down!!Not that you can tell in the picture, because, of course, I tore it all down and hung it properly. *sigh* I did it though! I cleaned off the top of the table and even picked my fabrics for my next Libby Quilt. Not all that exciting to look at, but when it is done, it will be dramatic!So far I have 2 Libby Quilt tops done (Prairie Children and their Quilts, to you) and they hang on my design wall.Sweetheart set up an old desk at the other end of the room for the old computer. He will do his music there. It will be nice to have his own "stuff". I moved out the weight bench, cause, let's be honest....I am not using it. He quickly filled that space up with guitars and amplifiers. I did have plans for that space, but, oh well. We must share.I did NOT clean out and organize the file cabinet. There was not enough hours in the day or week to do that job. I did clean off the top and organized my wicker basket of journal keeping supplies. My television is not hooked up. I use it to watch VHS tapes while sewing or walking the treadmill. Yes, you read that right. VHS tapes. We have hundreds of them and why let them go to waste! Another thing that needs cleaning out and organizing is the hutch. That will be another day too. The upper part is all good. The drawers are another matter altogether. It will be done soon. The bench in the eating area and this hutch are on the top of my "clean and organize" list!It was a productive day! I LOVE September and look forward to enjoying the rest of the month! Thanks for the visit. Praying your week is going good!