3rd Annual Laps for Lexi

Last Saturday, I attended the 3rd annual Laps for Lexi event.  This precious little eight year old was the daughter of a friend I went to elementary, jr high and high school with.  She died of cancer and this walk was to raise money for childhood cancer at Children's Hospital in DC.  Here's the post for last year - 2nd Annual Laps for Lexi.

 

Not only did Nathan go with me, but the gmen too!  Although Garrett didn't actually walk with us, he was using crutches for his leg that got hurt during a football game.

This year was different, there was a one mile walk area and a 5k run area.  We walked the one mile and although it was nice, I liked walking through the woods better.  After our walk, I gave the boys money to get some of Lexi's favourite cookies and I headed off to walk in the woods and take pictures of all the signs the kids made.  When I got back, Nathan was not very happy that I went without him!  So, off we went for another walk - it was a beautiful morning for it.

 Once again, purple balloons were everywhere!  

Loved the signs the kids made! 

 Boys and balloons! 

   Unfortunately, none of our other classmates were able to attend - better luck next year!

And look at how much they raised for CNMC!  I'm pretty sure it got as high as $41,000 when it was all over.

Here's where I confess I still haven't stitched anything for Sammi, Lexi's older sister.  I did receive a pattern maker program, but I'm still trying to figure it out and haven't been quite happy with my results yet.  My goal is to have a Carebear pattern to start in January - probably Funshine Bear swinging from the moon or stars.

September WIPocalypse and a Sweet Surprise!

  Still working on beading, I love the way it looks!  I know it's hard to see in this picture, I haven't done enough for it to really show.  I want will be done by THIS weekend!  Then onto the framing part - DJ, I'll need your input!

Look what I received from my gf last week!  You know when you have a friend you haven't seen in what seems like forever?  The kind you always know will be there for you even when you don't see each other very often?  The kind that can drive you crazy, but you love them anyway?!  Yeah, that's her!  Well, we hadn't seen each other in quite a while and really needed to get together, so she sent this as a wonderful surprise.  She knows how much I love Halloween, so in my goodie box were sweets, cookies, brownies, and even a Halloween bag, wahoo!  This bag will be great for toting my Halloween stitching with me.

The only "problem" I had with this was sharing with the rest of the family!  DH loves iced sugar cookies and the boys are always hungry, especially for treats.  But I played nice and shared my goodies, it was a fun treat for us all.

So my dear friend, I'm not sure you read this, but thank you.  Totally unnecessary, but very much appreciated.  I'm so glad we actually got together yesterday afternoon and I'm looking forward to our next outing!  Love you and miss you lots.  ♥

WIPocalypse Full Moon dates for 2012:

January 9, February 7, March 8, April 6, May 5, June 4, July 3, August 1, August 31, September 29, October 29, November 28, December 28

Another Pinterest Winner and Beading!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I know I was going to try doing a Pinterest craft test dummy, but that wasn't going to put food on the table for the boys! 

A friend pinned this recipe, Crockpot Fiesta Chicken, and it was a hit. 

This is her picture, too hungry to take one myself!

*My take on the Fiesta Chicken?  I thought it was quite tasty!  I didn't make the cilantro lime rice, the stink bug invasion has put me off cilantro!  That's another story...

*Others take on the Fiesta Chicken?  The boys said they liked it (the gmen, Nathan wouldn't even try it).  DH liked it, but didn't have it with the rice.

  *Would I make it again?  Yes!  It was very simple to throw together and didn't take that long to shred the chicken.  I also used the low fat cream cheese and it was fine.  I think I'll use "hot" salsa next time to give it a little more umph and I'm wondering if it will be more flavourful tonight for leftovers.

Max doesn't seem too interested in my fairy, but he likes sleeping on the Halloween bag I'm toting it in.  Although Nathan said he caught him sleeping on her this morning and pushed him off - thank you, Nathan.

I finally started beading!  Oh, I am loving the way it looks!  
  

Question for you experienced beaders - I really hate dragging thread underneath from one place to another when I can't hide it, should I being doing those beads individually or just drag it?  You can't really see it for the most part, but I know it's there!  Thoughts? 

Must. Get. Motivated!

I finished the moon using the Petite Treasure Braid as recommended by Jacqui - thanks so much for the suggestion!!!  The colour didn't quite match the Kreinik colour, but I think it will do just fine.  It was so easy to use, I loved it!

Now I'm just slacking, I can't seem to get motivated to finish and add the beads.  My goal is still to finish before Halloween, guess I'll be busy this weekend!

I made more pumpkin donuts this afternoon to take to the boys football dinner and only had one left!  I used the mini pan and I think I need to get at least one more since I could only make 12 at a time.  

   

I saw a pumpkin twinkie recipe on Pinterest and now I must have need a "twinkie" pan!

Winner - Pumpkin Baked Doughnuts!

 

OMGoodness, best purchase EVER!

A couple summers ago at the Clarksville Picnic, I bought this Donut Express kit at the white elephant sale.  I almost didn't get it, but it was only $5 and I love my baking tins!  I used it once last year and then packed it away... until now!

This is where I got the recipe from, but I used regular all-purpose flour and it turned out fine.  I used both sized pans and might look into getting another small one.

Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts via King Arthur Flour

 

I also added some pumpkin spice to the cinnamon-sugar mixture and chose to put it in a bowl instead of in a bag.  The donuts definitely need to be warm so the mixture sticks to it.  I've seen some recipes that you dip the doughnut in melted butter first, but I'm trying to be somewhat healthy.

Here's my finished product, I think the smaller ones are cute!

*My take on the doughnuts?  Wow, amazing!  I don't know what else to say!  They tasted best when warm from the oven, but even the next day they were great.  The perfect amount of pumpkin and not overly sweet.

*Others take on the doughnuts?  The gmen said they were really good and had some for breakfast the next morning and also included some in their lunch.  Nathan had a little one and liked it, but would have preferred it glazed with sprinkles!  DH said they were good, but I think he would have like them glazed as well!

*Would I make them again?  Oh yes, today actually!  Even next week for the football team since this week's dinner was cancelled due to the "big storm" we got.  And especially because when I went to have one for breakfast this morning, they were all gone... thanks boys!

Question - Doughnuts or Donuts?  Tastes the same to me!
 
Next Pinterest Test Dummy - I'm thinking crafty.

Pinterest FAIL!

  I love pumpkin bread.  I love banana bread.  I do not like pumpkin banana bread!
At least not the recipe that I made it with.  I can't find where it was pinned, but since I'm not going to make it again, who cares!

I thought it looked good going in, but I will admit that when I tasted the batter I didn't like it.  I know I shouldn't taste raw batter - eggs - but just can't stop myself!

 When I first took it out of the oven, it looked pretty good.  I let it cool and when I went back to it, it had sunken in.  Should have known then.

*My take on the bread?  I thought I was being healthy by using mainly whole wheat flour and substituting Splenda for sugar, but maybe that's where I went wrong.  It was very dense and disappointing. 

*Others take on the bread?  Garrett said it reminded him of french toast, Griffin and Nathan wouldn't try it, and DH said it was like a brick - uh, that's not good.

*Would I make it again?  No!  At least not this recipe.  But I think I'll stick to my own banana bread recipe and keep making other pumpkin goodies.

More baking to come...

September TUSAL and Hermitting

Wow, is it really mid September already?  I added some to my glass, thanks to the Kreinik moon I removed from my TOT Fairy.  

I didn't get to spend as much time Hermitting as I wanted to, but I did get this one started.  Great, another thing to finish be Halloween! 

Earlier in the month, we were at the lake and started looking for the leaves changing... 

I'm not sure what I love best about the fall, the colours of the trees, the coolness it brings, or all the wonderful things you can make with pumpkins!

Your Pinterest Test Dummy

I don't know about you, but Pinterest can be quite overwhelming.  There are so many amazing ideas - between baking, cooking, and crafting, there's soooo much to choose from. 

My thought here is to show you what I've actually tried and how it worked for me.  My goal is to try doing at LEAST one a week, maybe more... especially with all the holidays coming up. 

The gmen have a pasta dinner the night before their football games and I volunteered to bring dessert every week.  What a great way to test my goodies!

Since pumpkin ideas are coming out of the patch, here's one I tried for them, Pumpkin Pie Croissants.

These looked amazing and if you know me, you know how much I love pumpkin anything. 

Ready for the oven

Baked and smelling yummy

Ready for the boys

*My take on the croissants?  Well, I think because the filling wasn't very thick, I didn't feel like there was enough in them.  I didn't get the pumpkin taste I was looking forward to.  Even if I put more in them, it would have oozed out once I rolled them up.  I did try a batch without cutting them into mini croissants and I thought those tasted better since there seemed to be more filling in them.

*Others take on the croissants?  Only a few came back home.  The boys seemed to like them and the Moms said they did.

*Would I make them again?  Maybe, but not the mini size.  I might even try a different dough method... is there such thing as pumpkin ravioli bites?!

So if you're on Pinterest and see something you'd like someone ELSE to test dummy for you, let me know.  I'll be attempting doing it in between my stitching.  Oh, and I'll work on taking better pictures next time!

Here's another Pinterest idea I made - Daily Calendar.

But please don't ask me if I've kept up with it, I'm a little behind.

August WIPocalypse and a Love/Hate

Since I can't show you what I was working in the beginning of August, I can show you what I was working on at the end of August.

And here is my love/hate relationship - KREINIK!
I ♥love♥ the way it looks, but hate actually using it!  Between the knotting, not looking even and general frustration, I think that's why I've been putting off finishing this.  But I will stitch on, the beading awaits and it must be finished in time for Halloween to hang on my wall!
Any thoughts or suggestions for using this PITA wonderful thread?

WIPocalypse Full Moon dates for 2012:

January 9, February 7, March 8, April 6, May 5, June 4, July 3, August 1, August 31, September 29, October 29, November 28, December 28

Getting Back on Track

Oh my, it's September already... I need to get this finished!

Blue Moon...



 Oh, I do love the moon!

 

Please help me clean up my stash!

I have decided to sort through all my old mags (late 80's to early 90's).  I know there are plenty of patterns I know I'm not going to make. 
Is there something you've been searching for and can't find?  
Do you have a specific pattern you can't locate?
 

Well, let me know and I'll check for you! 
Please leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll see what I can do.

Who knows what else I may find...






 

August TUSAL and Hermitting

I've added a little to my dragon glass, but I can't show you what I was working on... it's a surprise for someone!  All I can say is that there's quite a bit of red, white and blue. 

This past Hermitting weekend was a bit hectic in our house, so I really didn't get to do any much stitching.  But LAST weekend I stitched away all Saturday night until 3am, watching the Twilight movies with my gf!  She is now on Team Jacob and loving it!  But I still can't show you anything, you know, the surprise.


 I did make this awesome drink - a frozen key lime, banana daiquiri... Oh My Goodness, pure bliss!

Just a Tad Bit Behind

Whoa, I'm way behind on posting - guess I have a lot of catching up to do!  I'll start with this...

On June 29th, the Friday night before the boys left for their Philmont trip, our area was hit with a derecho - wind blowing like crazy and rain, rain, rain!  It didn't take long for the power to flicker... flicker... out it went.  We were watching cars go by our house, only to turn around again.  Once the storm had pretty much passed, we went out to the road to see the damage.  DH ended up having to get his chainsaw to remove one the trees further down the way.  Luckily, Nathan didn't wake up at all and slept through it.

The church picnic was cancelled the next day, take a look at the damage here.  Although they did sell some food and the white elephant and auctions were still open.  My MIL, Nathan and I went for a little bit and then headed to Wendy's for lunch, along with lots of other people without power! 

That afternoon, Nathan and I had planned to visit my gf in South Carolina and after hearing that our power might not come on until the middle of the week, I decided to follow through and get out of town - power or no power!

So off we went, in the heat of the afternoon.  What should have taken us just under two hours to get to Frederickburg, VA, ended up taking over four hours.  The traffic was terrible and I thought maybe we should stay there since it was already 7pm, but there were no rooms available since that area didn't have power either.  We drove on to our scheduled destination, outside of North Carolina - driving through a couple bad storms and finally arriving about ten... very tired!

The next morning, after sleeping in a little bit, we headed on our way again.  Bright skies and super hot, yea!  Along the way, wouldn't you know it, the AC in the car "froze" - it was only 104 degrees, who needs AC?!  After stopping for lunch at McDonald's (Nathan's favourite place, for the toys), it luckily started working again and stayed that way.

We arrived safely that afternoon, with a wonderful welcome from Karen and her three babies - here's two of them, Henry and Sadie.

Nathan was in heaven with the dogs since we are a cat family, he was very good with them and they all loved him!  They love their snuggles and are quite happy to give lots of kisses.

The next day, we headed out to a water park nearby.  Quite refreshing in the heat and Nathan had a blast!

 Our next adventure took us to the Children's Museum in Greenville.  I'm not sure who had more fun, Nathan or Karen!



She's studying to be a nurse - good practice!

 Our evenings were pretty relaxing, coloring and cross stitch = happiness for all!

Even Sadie wanted to be included!

And of course, the pups kept us entertained... Henry vs Emily!



 This is my most favourite picture, love it!!!

Nathan also got to "help" Karen in her garden.

And of course, play with sparklers!

On the way to her parents house one evening, we stopped at this store - I'm sure I heard something calling my name...

... and there was!  I think when I make them, I'm going to leave out the month and stitch just a bit of colour in it.

I hadn't seen Karen's parents in quite a while, so it was wonderful to see them again!  Her Dad was a firefighter for years and he's now teaching in the FD.  He's been in the FD for about 55 years or so and in the picture below, Nathan is wearing his chief's hat.  Can you tell he's a proud fireman?  I was very impressed with his collection and I hope he sends me a picture of it at Christmas when it's decorated.  If you can see the pictures above the cabinets, they are all fire trucks that Karen's Mom stitched for him.

So here we are in her Mom's craft room... amazing!  These are just some of the things she's made, in addition to her WIPs.  Not only does she stitch, but sews too - something I wish I liked to do! 

These are some of the pieces that she and Karen have made - loving the mermaids of course! 

Our last night there was the 4th, and we got to see fireworks in Karen's backyard, from the nearby park.  She had a shindig at her house, so I got to meet some of her friends and see her parents again.  Great evening! 

The following day, it was time to say goodbye until the next time.  Hoping that's sooner than later!  You were the most amazing hostess, thank you for such a memorable time!  Big hugs to you, Karen - we miss you and the pups, and can't wait to spend time with you again. ♥