Halloween

It's that time of year again for ghosts and goblins, princesses and ninjas. It is Halloween time. Tonight my wonderful husband and I took our children trick or treating. Our town has a "safe trick or treating" area set up in the middle of town but we prefer the houses. The "safe" are is way too crowded for the kiddos.

First, I want to show the decorations I put up on my porch. All hand made and all out of yarn.

This first picture is of the spiderweb I made. It is made out of white acrylic (Red Heart Super Saver) yarn. The kids attached spider rings and yarn spiders.

Above is the spider web on the other side of the entrance to my porch. My darling husband made this one and once again the kids attached the spiders.

I love these little ghosts I crocheted up and made a garland out of. Their head is stuffed with a golf ball. There are 6 little ghosts. One to represent each one of us.

I love fire trucks don't you? (well as long as nothing is on fire) This is one of our town's new fire engines. This picture is taken at the Halloween parade.

Another picture from the Halloween parade. This boy's dragon costume is made out of green plastic and a wire frame. How ingenious.

I also thought this costume was blog worthy. It is the house from the Disney/Pixar movie Up. How original.

This push cart had several little goblins inside. At least they didn't have to walk the parade route. Again, another great costume design.

These are my two boys, Eddie and Sj. Eddie was a vampire (a very handsome one at that) and Sj was a ghoulish ghost. Both received plenty of comments on their costumes.

These are my two girls, Hope and Faith. Hope was Wednesday Addams from the Addams family movies and Faith was a senorita. Both look gorgeous.

Here are all four of my little trick or treaters together. They had a lot of fun walking around the neighborhood, seeing all of their friends. By the time we got home they were tired and ready to eat some real food and some candy.

Do you want to see exactly how much candy they got.

.........

Here you go. They filled a Kroger grocery bag to the brim AND had my Halloween candy bowl overflowing. I am sure I will be giving candy away and probably throwing some away as well..The most important thing is that they had fun, we spent a lovely evening together as a family bumping into friends and enjoying our neighborhood.

Until next time friends...Be Blessed...

P.S. Thank you all so very much for your kind comments! I enjoy reading each and every one of them.

Survived the storm

Looks ominous doesn't it? For a week now the local weather man had been talking about some strong storms that could come through today. The storms could be severe, with strong winds, hail, possible tornados, and heavy rain. The storm was a double edged sword for us because on one hand it could be severe but on the other hand we NEED the rain. We are in a drought. The drought was so bad wildfires were popping up, we were not allowed to use our grills for fear of a fire breaking out.

To prepare for this storm I went to the grocery store to make sure I had all I needed to keep us hydrated and fed just in case the weather cause lots of problems. Once I got home, I rounded up all the candles and the weather radio and waited.

The dark clouds rolled in (the pic above)

The wind picked up significantly. The leaves were streaking across the roads, the trees were blowing over, the flags were whipping about.

The wind blew some branches off the trees as well. Here is one of many. This one landed on my old beat up Kia.

When the rain came, it came fast and hard. The wind was howling at this point.

Another good picture. This was taken about 2pm. The rain and wind gusts were heavy and hard. The wind blew things off my porch, out of my neighbors yard and for some caused severe damage. My kids came home talking about the "tornado drill" they had had in school. In all actuallity this was not a drill. We were under tornado warnings. The most severe part of it went to the north of us.

I am thankful to have survived this weather. I do love storms but this was an odd severe storm. I didn't see one lightening strike or hear one bit of thunder. It was just winds (some gusts up to 60-70 mph). Now the rain is light, there is a brisk breeze and the temperatures have dropped by 20 or so degrees. Great hooky weather!!!

Until next time friends, Be Blessed.

Getting to know me?

I was going through the blogs I follow and catching up on some reading and commenting and I came across these questions on Creative Haven's blog http://creativehaven1.com So I thought I would answer them as well...seems like fun and you will get to know a little about me. Oh and I changed some of the questions to make it a little more appropriate for my blog...

What was your:
1. Last beverage: Grape juice
2. Last phone call: My mom
3. Last text message: my hubby telling me he misses me (he had to go back to work today after a
weeks vacation)
4. Last song you listened to: Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
5. Last time you cried: Few days ago...Trying to deal with and come to terms with some things

Have you ever:
6. Dated someone twice: Yes
7. Been cheated on: Yes
8. Kissed someone and regretted it: nope
9. Lost someone special: unfortunately I have lost several special people
10. Been depressed: Yes! I have been dealing with severe anxiety for 7 years and depression goes with it
11. Been drunk and threw up: No I have NEVER been drunk

List 3 favorite colors:
12. Blue
13. Pink
14. purple

In 2010 have you:
15. Made a new friend: Yes I have
16. Fallen out of love: No way
17. Laughed until you cried: Yes..my hubby can be goofy sometimes
18. Met someone who has changed you: Noone can change me but me
19. Found out who your true friends are: Yes
20: Found out someone was talking about you: Yup and it was all lies..as always..
21. Kissed someone who follows your blog: Yup my honey follows my blog

General
22. How many of your followers do you know in real life: 1
23. What time do you go to bed: I go to my room about an hour after the kids go to bed (9 ish) then I go to sleep around 11
24. Do you have any pets: 2 puppies...Tinkerbell and Shorty and a kitty Lily
25. Do you want to change your name: Nope I like my name
26. What time did you get up today: I got up the first time 7:50 then again at 10:00
27: Did you eat breakfast: I rarely eat breakfast..I know it is bad and I need to change it
28: What were you doing at midnight last night: Watching Friday the 13th part3
29. Name something you CANNOT wait for: to get a bigger better car
30: Last time you saw your mother...one week ago
31. What's one thing you wish you could change about your life: Our financial situation
32. What are you listening to right now: Kids playing and tv
33. Have you ever talked to someone named Tom: yes my uncle
34. What's getting on your nerves right now: Nothing
35. Most visited website: Facebook, Yahoo, Ravelry
36. Favorite Month: July
37. Nicknames: Mommy, baby, sis,
38. Relationship status: Happily married
39. Zodiac sign: aquarius
40. Are you male or female: Female
41. Name your elementary school...Treutlen
42. Name your Middle school...Paint Valley
43. Name your high school and college: Treutlen and University of phoenix
44. Hair color: dark blonde
45. Is your hair long or short: it is around my shoulderblades
46. How tall are you: I'm short
47. Do you have a crush on someone: Yup my husband
48. What do you like about yourself: Almost everything.
49. Do you have any piercings: I have 2 holes in each ear and my nose pierced
50. Any tattoos: I have 1 tattoo of a blue rose on my ankle
51. Are you right or left handed: Right

Firsts
52. First surgery: Cancer removal in 2006
53. First piercings: ears when i was 9
54. First Best friend: Her name was Jennifer...she and I lost touch
55. First sport You were in: Softball
56. First vacation: Disney World when I was very young
57. First pet: Chow named bear
58. First date: Prom my freshman year of High school

Right Now:
59. Eating: Jelly Beans
60. Drinking: Hawaiian Punch
61. I'm about to: Put on the mac and cheese for the kids
62. Thinking about: This and finances
63. Waiting for: dog the bounty hunter to come on tonight and for my hubby to get home

Your future
64. Do you want kids: I have 4 and I don't want anymore
65. Will you get married: I did and we just celebrated our 10 year anniversary
66. Your future career: If I ever get the money to go back...counselor..psychology

Which is better
67. Summer or Winter: I like to be warm..summer
68. Hugs or kisses: hugs..I'm a germophobe
69. ice cream or cake....hmmm...both
70. Mountains or beach.....I love both but beach more
71. Romantic or spontaneous: both keep relationships alive
72. Morning or night: I am a night person
73: Fall or spring: Spring cuz everything is blooming
74. Truck or car: SUV?
75. Candles or diffusers: candles

Have you ever
76. Kissed a stranger: nope
77. Drank hard liquor: yes
78. Lost glasses/contact: nope
79. Threw a party: Yes
80. Broke someone's heart: yes :(
81. Been arrested: no
82. Climbed a mountain: nope
83. Rode a train: Yes
84. Cried when someone else did: yes
85. Ate sushi: ewww..no

Do you believe in"
86: Yourself: Most of the time I do
87: Miracles: Yes..i have witnessed a few
88. Love: yes i do
89. Heaven: yes I do
90. Santa Claus: Of course ;P
91. Angels: Yes
92. Faith: Yes

Answer truthfully
93. Did you sing today: I sing everyday
94. Ever cheated on a test: Nope I don't think you will get anywhere cheating on anything
95. Would you change something in the past if you could: I believe everything happens for a reason..so no
96. If you could pick a day to relive, what would it be: I've had too many good days to pick..plus you aren't supposed to live in the past...look to the future.
97. Are you afraid of something: Failure
98. Do you like your life: I love my life
99. Are you happy: Yes...I can honestly say I am happy
100. Your favorite thing to do: spend time with my family and crochet.

Random photos from the past few days and Michigan blanket Ta-dah.

Hello my lovely followers and readers. How are you today? I am feeling better and better each day. Oh and first off I want to thank you all for the well wishes. I am healing well and will be back to my old self in no time.

Don't you just love the above picture? I ordered these hooks a week ago and they came in the mail yesterday. I ordered them from the Herrshners website. They were on sale for $19.99. I couldn't pass up that kind of deal. I love these new hooks. I just open up the case and look at them and feel them and...well you get the hint. And you know, I never knew they made such small crochet hooks as some of the steel ones are. It amazes me.

The above picture is of on of the most perfect leaves I have seen so far this fall. I haven't been outside much lately but I happened to be walking around outside and saw this leaf..Had to take a picture.

Oh and this grasshopper was sitting right beside the leaf. I hovered over, zoomed in close, sat beside it and it didn't move. I took several pictures of it and liked this one the best..

This picture makes me smile every time I see it. This cat was once our neighbors cat. The neighbor had thrown it and broken its leg and then decided the cat should live outside. Well it adopted us. Here it is on our couch (it is supposed to stay outside but the hubby and kids let it in). This silly kitty lays up against the arm rest, on its back, with its feet up in the air...Cracks me up.

Today my hubby and the kids decided to play a little football in the vacant lot beside our house. My husband is in the white shirt and shorts, my oldest daughter in the pink shirt, my 2nd daughter in the blue shirt, my 3rd child and oldest son in the greenish shirt, and my younges son is in the white long sleeved shirt. In this picture my husband and youngest son is plotting against the others.

Here my oldest son is throwing the football to my dear hubby. Perty good arm for a 7 year old.

Can you see his head and body through the railing on my porch..My youngest son was taking a break. I don't think the game was going HIS way..

And here..my oldest daughter is giving her daddy a stiff arm block. She actually made it past him and her sister who is standing there appearing not to pay attention tagged her as she ran by..

Now are you ready for the Ta-dah?

Are you really ready?

Well here you go.....

The Michigan blanket is finished. All done in single crochet. It was made using Caron 1 pound yarn. It took a skein and a little of another in Midnight blue and less than half a skein of sunflower. It is 136 single crochets across and 160 rows. I did 3 rows of single crochet in sunflower for the border.
I am very happy it is finished and can be sent to its new home. Now I can finish up some of the other WIPS.

That is all for today my friends. I hope you all have a great day/night and until next time...Be Blessed.

Still here.

Hello my wonderful followers and readers. I haven't blogged in a bit due to the dental surgery I had.. I have to just sit around and perty much keep an ice pack on my face and keep myself on pain meds so I can recover.

Oh and I wanted to tell all of you who have left me comments on my blog...THANK YOU! I think getting new followers and new blog comments are just like getting "Just Because" presents.. Makes me smile and very happy.

I haven't been able to do much crocheting since Tuesday because of the surgery. The meds make me perty sleepy and for a few days after the surgery I just feel weak and tired. I'm not sure why because I opted not to be put asleep but I guess it is because I have lots of healing to do..BUT I keep reminding myself that once everything is finished I will have a beautiful smile again.

I am almost finished with the Michigan blanket. I have a few more rows to do to finish up the M and then I will add the remaining blue rows and the yellow border..I am very happy with the way it has turned out. It is only the 2nd blanket I have created a pattern for..I love it..

Anywho..I wont take up anymore of your time. I hope to be well again in a few days and back to tending kids, my home, crocheting, taking pictures and blogging.

Until next time...Be Blessed.

The Little Things

There are little things in my life that make me smile no matter what. Of course my husband and my children. Our 2 little doggies, the neighbor's cat that adopted us and the things I'm going to show y0u. First is this beautiful African Violet. I got two one day while visiting my husband at his job. A pink one which didn't survive and this purple one. It sits on my kitchen table in the sunshine and blooms itself silly.

Next is this aloe plant. My hubby and son are both red-headed and tend to sunburn easily. I decided to buy an aloe plant to help them recover if they did get sunburned. This poor plant was discounted and on the verge of death. Now it has outgrown its pot and is taking over this corner of my kitchen counter

I love keeping all sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables around. Here is another area of my counter top..This basket rarely sees an empty day. My kids love to eat apples and bananas. So I keep plenty on hand for snacks.

Outside, this time of year, the trees around my neighborhood look amazing. I love to look out my windows and see the beautiful orange, red, yellow leaves. The best part is that my little town is surrounded by tree covered hills. I love to take drives and look at the vibrant show of fall.



There is a story behind my next picture. These hens and chicks have been passed down through my family. Some were my grandmas. Then they were my moms. Now some of the origionals are mine. Also, some of these came from our last house. They were in these huge pots unattended. They looked horrible. I would go out and spread them out and weed them. By the time we moved, the pots were overflowing. The owners of the home couldn't believe the difference. Since I tended to them, I brought some to my new home.



Walking through my yard I spotted these little red berries. They are such beautiful red I couldn't resist taking a picture.



An ornamental strawberry flower. My yard is covered with these little strawberry plants. The strawberries that form can be eaten only they do not have a taste. They look pretty with their little yellow flowers............




......little red strawberries.



The next is a little indulgence for myself..Other than yarn and crochet hooks. I had had my nose pierced once before and had to remove it for awhile and just couldn't get it to go back through. Luckily, over the weekend my husband and I stopped in at a nice little tattoo and piercing shop and they helped me! I am happy to have it back.



Last but not least...my husband loves tattoos. He had 4 and wanted another but held off for about 8 years. This year his brother sent him some birthday money and he was able to get the tattoo he wanted which would represent our two girls. It is an ambigram tattoo..so if you look at it this way it says Hope..which is our oldest daughter's name........





And if you look at it from the opposite way, the tattoo reads Faith, which is our other daughter's name.


Well my lovely readers, that is all of my little things for today. I plan on attending the Fall Festival of Leaves this weekend. It is located in a little neighboring town called Bainbridge. It is a festival full of arts and craft type exhibits. I am hoping to see wonderful crochet, knit, and quilted goodies. However, I am supposed to have more dental surgery this Wednesday so I may not feel up to going. But, if I do go, I will take plenty of pictures.

Be blessed.

Remembering the Lazy days of Summer

Isn't that a beautiful picture? I was going through some pictures on my computer and came across these pictures from the lazy days of summer. My family loves to be outdoors. We love to go on nature hikes, to go fishing, take walks, bike rides. We are a very active young family. This is just one picture from our favorite fishing hole. Personally, I feel at peace when I am around water. Maybe it is because of the sounds, maybe it is because I am an aquarius. I don't know. I just love to be outside and close to water.

Another great picture huh? This is the picnic area right above our favorite fishing hole. We have had many picnics, some using the grill, some just sammies and chips. The view of the water is amazing..the best thing, there is a playground and restrooms close by..With 4 little ones you can never be too safe.

The above picture is directly across the water from our favorite fishing spot. On this particular day we watched several of these big water birds fish. They actually caught more fish than we did.

This picture was taken my my 2nd daughter. Quite the photographer isn't she. She followed this poor butterfly around the area, snapping many many pictures until she finally got one that showed the beautiful blue color on its wings.

The trees above our favorite fishin place was full of these wonderful caterpillars munching away on the leaves (and pooing on our heads :) ) I saw this guy on the ground and loved it's hair do...I just had to snap a photo.

That is all for today friends. I hope you enjoyed these pictures. They were taken with a Nikon D40 camera. It is a little pricey but it does take wonderful pictures (it was a gift from my wonderful hubby)

Hope you all have a wonderful day and until next time. Be Blessed!

WIPs and Chromium Star Baby Blanket Ta-Dah

Ta-Dah!!! I finished one of my many wips....This is the Chromium Star Blanket found on Ravelry. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chromium-star-blanket When I started the blanket I had no idea who I was making it for. I just knew this star blanket needed to be made for a baby boy...I am pleased to announce that this blanket has found it's new home and the mommy-to- be loved it! YAY!
Now for more pressing matters. I had a serious case of startitis. If you knew me, you would know I hate things that are left undone. When I start something I must finish asap. Except for in crochet. I can start something, work on it for awhile. Something else catches my eye and them BAM!!!!!!! I am starting something else. I have several works in hibernation. Wanna see?

This is a blanket that I have has laying around for years. YES! Years! *GASP* The pattern for this blanket came from a Leisure Arts book called "Our Best Afghans A to Z. 26 "X" cellent Crochet Designs". It was origionally worked up by my mom. I loved the way it looked and begged her for it and so It was mine! YAY! It was so perty lovely I loved it UNTIL it started coming unraveled. The yarn used is a slippery yarn so the ends keep backing out of it. I made it my mission to repair it while trying to keep as much of my mom's origional work intact..

This project I started last winter. I had a thing for Happy Yellow House's wonderful crocheted quilts.

http://www.happyyellowhouse.com

I came up with the idea I would make a frog blanket..I love frogs.. using her wonderful little squares. I drew up the design and this is how far I got. After working on this a while, I got bored so I put it in hibernation and began something else.

Ahhh yes...thanks to Attic24

http://attic24.typepad.com
I began this wonderful granny stripe blanket. This blanket has wonderful rhythms. 1, 2, 3..1,2,3...My blanket isn't as colorful as those on my ravelry group but I love it just the same.

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/we-love-lucy/1168159/1-25

And yet another Attic24 wip. The wonderful, colorful, amazing, gorgeous, hexigon blanket. I love this pattern. However, I got bored with making the hexigons so I put it on the back burner to make some other things. I can't wait to see it all finished. Guess I can since it is on the back burner huh?

This blanket is for a sweet little baby girl. No I don't have anyone in mind yet but if I did, it would probably be done by now. This pattern also came from a Leisure Arts book. I love this pattern. I love the way the pattern makes little heart shapes all over the blanket. I hope to finish and find this cute and cuddly blanket a new home soon. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/heartwarming-wrap

This is my current WIP. This is what I am working on now..It is a University of Michigan blanket. A friend of ours just found out he is having baby #4 and he wanted me to make this blanket. I think it is gonna go in his Michigan room instead of being used for the baby. I have enjoyed drawing and writting up this pattern.

So what do you think? Too many WIPs right? Well I have things I want to make like more hats, scarves, and mittens for my kiddos and hubby; a wrap for me; and some Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decorations. However, I am going to do my best NOT to start any more crochet projects until I get most of these projects finished.

I truly hope you have enjoyed looking at all my crochet projects in progress. This post has made me realize I need to get crocheting on these and not look at any new patterns. Is that even possible? We will find out! Until next time, be blessed and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Such is life.

Hello y'all. I haven't wrote in a while because my children are all taking turns with a nasty upper respiratory infection. It makes them spike fevers to 104. Scares the crap out of me but they seem to come out of it just fine. I am happy they can cope with it well even if I cannot.

Life seems to be getting me down lately. The warm, sunny weather has gone and the cold, grey rainy days of fall are upon us here in Ohio. My mood seems to shift with the weather. My wonderful husband tells me I am a solar panel, I just don't work right without sunshine. It really is true. If it is sunny outside, I feel energized, can move about my day. If it is grey out there I just feel pooped (the lovely words of my 5 year old).

It's not just the weather though. It is money as well. I know a lot of people can relate to having money troubles. Just seems like there isn't enough to go around. Especially when you have sick little ones around. One needs money for extra medicine, extra foods. Then there is car repairs. Our poor vehicles are both over ten years old and have served us well. They are getting to the point to be put out of their misery. Especially the hubby's truck. Just in September we have spent hundreds of dollars fixing this and that on his truck. Seems when one thing goes wrong, it all goes wrong.

I hope those of you who are reading my rather gloomy post are not having the same types of problems that seem to troubling us as of late. I know this will pass just as the seasons do. Thank you for reading my rant and...Hope you all have a great, wonderful, sublime day!