Woodlawn & a cute Giveaway

Back of the house

Well, it's only been three weeks since DJ and I went to the Annual Needlework Exhibit at Woodlawn, so I thought it was about time I blogged about it. 
Hx - Woodlawn is a 126 acre estate that was originally part of George Washington's Mount Vernon.  At one time, a playwright lived there with 60 cats - that's about 58 too many!

The Smokehouse

 Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take any photos inside, but they did have some amazing needlework.
To see DJ's side of the story, check this out.

 

We enjoyed lunch there and it was a good thing we got in line early, it was super busy.  We both ordered the salad and it was fantastic, I think I could eat that every day.

Of course it wasn't really lunch unless we had dessert, so DJ got the chocolate cake and surprise, surprise, I got the lemon tart - both were very yummy!

Blackberry bushes near the gate.

 

After hearing so much about In Stitches, I finally got to go.  They didn't have the pattern I saw at the exhibit that I liked, but it was packed with so many other goodies!  Already looking forward to going again next year but hopefully we won't get "lost" on the way home - road work and GPS do not go together!

Now for the giveaway info - please visit Parley at her blog for her Paws and Stripes Giveaway.  I love her blog, you never know what she's going to post about!

If I don't win it, I think I might just have to get it anyway!

June TUSAL, Hermitting and a BDay!

Not much to show for this month, a bit of glitter green from the pumpkin stems is about it.  My glass is next to the new Swarovski dragon I received from my mother-out-law for my birthday - it's it fantastic?!  Even though I've been trying to get rid of clutter in the house, I could never have enough dragons!

 

As for my IHSW, I didn't get anything done, but I did pull out my TOT Fairy to show my SIL- does that count?!  I did buy some new patterns though.  I saw Glory while at the Woodlawn Needlework exhibit (more on that on my next post).  Unfortunately, they didn't have the pattern at the nearby store, but Denise was sweet enough to let me know about Lynn's Busy Needle.  She was very friendly and super quick - I actually need to send her an email thanking her!

 

 I also found Let's Sew, which I can think of a couple people to make this for - you know, in my spare time!

The gmen actually made my birthday cake this year, and did a great job!  I decided I wanted something other than a lemon cake, so I chose chocolate/orange instead... yummy!  The icing was very just a little runny, but very tasty orange flavoured.

  I was very blessed to have friends and family join me throughout the day, so nice to have it on a Saturday!  Old friends and a stitchy friend, can you spot DJ?!
Not sure how next year is going to work, my birthday will be on Father's Day - guess the boys will be pretty busy spoiling us both!
 

Late June WIPocalypse & 8th Grade Grads!

Well, I've done the pumpkins, just very slow working on the vines and webs.  I haven't been stitching very much, life seems to have gotten in the way!  I think I needed a break from her anyway, just not sure how long it will last.  My goal is to have her finished and framed by October, so I still have some time to put her aside... at least for a little bit.

 

After eight years at St. Louis School, our gmen graduated in the beginning of June.  The graduation ceremony and reception was very special and just seeing all those kids dressed up was amazing.  They all seemed so much older than 14!

Their graduation gift was finally getting mobile phones... they said they were the last of their friends to get one!  We always knew where they were and didn't want them to have the distraction.  DH wanted to get them a smart phone and luckily, they didn't want one - I know I didn't think they needed one!  Within two days, there were 1900 texts and only about 17 were mine.  Guess they found all their friends!

After the ceremony and reception.

Four generations!

The godparents - to all three boys!

My brother and four of his five kids.

My boys!

The very proud parents!

So much more going on, but that will have to be in another post.  Hopefully sooner than later!



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

PreK Grad and Fun at the Lake

It's official, we've got a kindergartener in the house!  Nathan had a little pre-k graduation celebration - they sang songs and showed a slideshow of the year, it was really cute.  The little girl he's standing next to is who he's going to marry... or so they say this week!  He's quite the charmer with the girls, he has several on back up in case this doesn't work out!  

Last Friday, we headed to the lake for the Memorial weekend.  Beautiful weather, but a little too hot at night.  We could hear the thunder in the distance one day, but we never got any rain.

We went to this really cool place near the house, the Shawnee Trading Post.  I had seen it before, but never got around to checking it out.  It sells all kinds of goodies for your home, garden or business - I'm thinking restaurants.  These are just a few of the things we saw, Nathan loved the knights since his school is the Knights.  Of course, I loved the dragon!  

 

We did find my Mom her belated Mother's Day present, this cute little girl sitting on a bench.  I was hoping to find something for her here, so that's why it was late.  Mom loved her!  We even planted some ivy in her basket.  She's sitting next to Mom's chapel and she can see her while in her sitting room in the house.

Even the kitties enjoyed themselves playing with the "butterfly" in the jar.  There's also a firefly one they like to play with. 

On the way home, we stopped by my parents for a couple of days - enjoying the pool and doing the Mexican hat sleep dance!

And here we have my Trick or Treat Fairy, she's coming along very S.L.O.W.L.Y!  Now comes the little bits of stitching and beads, kind of a pain.  Any secrets I should know about when doing it?