Family Photos

I am back. Have not been around recently, so decided it was about time.

We got a chance to go visit my son, Steve, last week. He was able to get his son, Stephen Jr., for the afternoon. We got some cute pictures.

These first two pictures are of my Hubby on the floor playing with Stephen, Jr. and his tool bench. We got him the tool bench for Christmas. We remembered how much Steve liked his when he was that age. We were very glad to find one. He loves it.

In the background of this second picture, you can see my daughter, Lydia and my son, Steve. Lydia just turned 12 last week. Steve is 21 and you may be able to tell by the photo, but he is very tall, 6'4". The long legs give it away. LOL

These next two photos are of Lydia, Steve, and Stephen Jr. on the couch with Boo. Or, as Stephen Jr. calls him, "shitty shat". LOL (Stephen Jr. is 2 and a half) Apparently, he can't make the hard C sound yet. LOL

I have to give Boo lots of credit. She tolerated being chased and picked up and carried around quite well. Especially, given the fact that half the time she was upside down. She never hissed, bit, or clawed at the grandson. She must know that he means no harm and he was being as gentle as he could. She did run away occasionally, but not far. She would lay down in the middle of the floor where he could just pick her up again. What a good "shitty shat"!!!!!!!!!

This last photo is of Stephen Jr. and Lydia coloring together. I have both pictures on my fridge. LOL Even at 12 years old, Lydia stills likes to color. Actually, she is becoming a very good artist. She draws very well. We are hoping to get a scholarship for her to take a week long Cartooning class this summer.

I realized as I was loading the photos, that I did not get one of Summer, my son's financee. Tried to find the one of us at Thanksgiving, but can't find the file it is in. I'm sorry, Summer, my oversight. Summer is a beautiful girl and we welcome her to our family. She and Steve have set a date for the August 9th. We are all looking forward to the wedding.

On a quilting note, I have been working on "Quilt As You Go" blocks to send to JanMac in Australia, to be made into quilts for the bush fire victims. My goal is to send 350 blocks by the middle of summer. I have just about 150 finished and another 50 ready to go. So, well on my way to my goal. I must say, that without the string and batting scrap donations from others on the Heartstrings Group, I wouldn't be able to make this goal. Thanks to all of you!! You are the best group!!!!

What have you all been working on???

Darlene

Shopping, What Fun!

Yesterday was an afternoon of lunch and shopping with my daughter. Always, on the last day of school, we go out to lunch together and then do some fun shopping.

She choose Applebee's for lunch. Yum! Perfect! I was in the mood for fish and chips and Lydia loves their fried shrimp.

Then is was off to JoAnn Fabrics. Yeah!! I love looking through their remnant bins. Look at what I found!

These are all flannels. The three on the left will go into my stash of baby flannels. I like making "lovey" sized blankets for newborns. 4" squares ten rows by ten rows, approx. 36" square quilt. Just the right size for a newborn and then perfect to be dragged around by a toddler.

The four flannels on the right will go into my stash of flannels for full sized donation quilts. I haven't made one yet, but have been collecting flannels for a long time. The first quilt I will make for myself and then I will have on-going donation quilts in the works. Plan on 6" or 8" squares for these. Not sure yet the exact size.

This is a picture of some novelty prints I found. The football fabric is an entire yard. With some co-ordinating fabrics, I will be able to make an entire quilt for a child. I make kid's quilts for the Family Crisis Center. I try to keep the size to approx. 40" by 50" give or take a few either way.

The soccer and baseball prints are smaller remnants. Not enough to design an entire quilt top around, so they will go into my "I Spy" stash.

This picture shows the bottom fabric from the previous picture in better detail. Cowboy and Indian Frogs!!!! How cute is that? This is a yard piece. How much fun this will be designing a quilt with this fabric.

This July, I am going down to Mass. to visit a dear friend. She is going to teach me how to sew clothing. I am a self-taught quilter and have no other sewing knowledge. I have always wanted to make clothes.

As my daughter gets older, the hemlines in the stores get shorter and shorter. Trying to teach modesty can be a challenge in today's society. She loves to wear skirts and dresses. I found a Simplicity 2 hour jumper pattern that she likes. I found two different light-weight denims. Lydia choose the one with the butterflies. I found the one with the embroidered flowers. She doesn't know about that one. Shhh, don't tell. It is a surprise!

After JoAnn's, it was off to CraftMania. Specifically, we were on the lookout for some color-by-number posters. Lydia doesn't care for paint-by-number, but the ones with color pencils are right up her alley. We didn't find any, but.........

Look at what I found! Our local CraftMania has flat folds for $3.99 a yard. They were on sale for 40% off! I bought all they had of this, just under 4 yards and paid less that $9.00 Yeah! It is very colorful with crayons all over it. I could easily spent a LOT more. There were some very pretty brights. I love bright fabrics, but I controlled myself. (grin)

Next, it was off to the bookstore. Lydia has been reading several series by Erin Hunter, entitled "The Warriors". They are about a number of tribes of talking cats. Yes, I said, talking cats. She loves these books. Often saving her own money and buying them in hardbound because she didn't want to wait for paperback.

Well, the author has begun a new series entitled "The Seekers". This series seems to be about talking polar bears. We were able to find the first book. Lydia is quite happy.

I, also, found a few books for summer reading. The first is by Fern Micheals entitled "Fast Track". This is another in a series of books she has written about a group of women who become vigilantes to right the wrongs done to them. Very interesting. I enjoy following characters through different stories and yet each book stands on its own.

I found another book by a favorite author, Beatrice Small. I have been reading her books for over 20 years. She writes romance novels, quite lusty ones, I might add. (blush, blush). Most of her books are historical romances, but this new series is about a fantasy world full of fairies, giants, etc. The book I picked up yesterday is "the Sorceress of Belmair" book four of the World of Hetar series.

So, when the weather become unbearably hot, off to my air conditioned bedroom I will go with some new books. These books are only a sampling of the different kinds of reading I do. What do you like to read?

Darlene

I thought you might like to see some pictures of my family. This is me with my son, Stephen. (I'm the short one) LOL
This is my beautiful girl, Lydia. She is my Sweet Peach. She has two, 8 week old puppies in her lap. They had just left their mother the day before. While sleeping in Lydia's lap, it was the only time they weren't whining.
This is my husband, Rick and my 17 month old grandson, Stephen Jr. Don't they both have a great pout?