Grand Kids,Grand Food and a Grand Weekend!!

OK, so this blog won't interest anyone but family (hmmm maybe they won't even care!) but I need to post it so in my old age I'll be able to look back and remember! Let's hope!

So, Thursday I started off picking up kids from school then on to the library for our 'book' and DVD fix. Amber did get two books on CD which we've listened to in the car (it's really a good book..June B. somebody!). Then to home to make Taco's! Kids helped and we had a good meal. Then outside to play. The girls (Amber's friends) played Hanna Montana (what else is there to play!) and Nick decided to fly his kite.
After flying the kite, Nick challenged Grandma to a game of basketball. So what's up with a score of 4 - 8 and I didn't get the 8! Little bugger kept stealing the ball and shooting! Well, I wore him out...ok, he wore me out and it was time to go inside and do homework. Which they did willingly! Nick read from his school book and did a great job. Amber read as well and I'm so impressed with their reading skills.

Our littlest reader!

So after school on Friday we were waiting for Auntie to come over. I mentioned Grand Food in this blog title and it was because Dawn fed me/us again! I feel like I have had my own chef with Mother's Day and this weekend. Dawn brought on Friday some of her spaghetti and turkey balls, salad and we made mac and cheese for Nick and leftover Italian Gardens pasta. Amber and I made chocolate duo cups for dessert when we got home from school so we surprised Auntie with that part of the dinner.

On Sat. we got up and after it warmed up some went outside. Yep, had to play some more one on one with Nick...no, I still didn't beat him. I think I had 4 or 5 points but he did get 10! And I even stole the ball from him a few times!

So now Nick and I decided to race our trucks down the driveway. This is me checking out the truck he gave me to race with. Sure didn't seem as fast as his truck & it wasn't!

We just sent the trucks off - you can see the flash of yellow on the bottom left...that's Nick's hummer off and running!
We're pushing off for the 20th time! No, I never beat him in this either!

This was from Thursday...still flying that kite!

This was the money shot of Hanna!

Getting a 'new' Hanna ready for her show (the girls took turns being Hanna).

On Saturday, I surprised the kids with the new Crayola 3-D kit (really cheap with your JoAnn's coupon! Thanks, Carol T.!). This is a fun play item. Kept the kids busy for a long time and me too! You use the chalk to make designs and then put on your 3-D glasses. The chalk colors pop right up!

Someone had to give directions.

Some more of our art work!

This is a really neat 'toy'! Kids loved it and so did I! Really fun!

Not so much fun!

So Amber wanted to do her Pottery Wheel gift she got last year (not sure if it was her birthday or Christmas and not sure if it was Santa or who but.....) The box cover sure makes it look easy. NOT! This was a bugger...now I know why you pay so much for good ceramic pieces! So does Amber!

What's the big deal! It's a piece of cake!

This about says it all for Amber and I!

She did get into it and we did end up making a small vessel.

See two finished! But grandma broke Amber's in the morning. You have to take it off the wheel to dry! Duh! Sorry, baby!!! We'll try it again sometime soon!

Yes, Amber, you need to take these things up to your room! And grandma knows you took pictures with her camera! Remember we have eyes in the back of our head!

Amber and Libby painting before dinner on Saturday.

Auntie made Sea Bass for her and I, which was fantastic! Auntie also had roasted potatoes, salad, pizza rolls with eggplant and she also made cake for dessert! She's such a good cook so I felt waited on all weekend with the food! Plus, it was so nice to spend time with Dawn. With her work schedule and play schedule, we don't get much time together. THANKS HONEY!!!

Nick helping Auntie make pizza on Sat. That's what they wanted for dinner.

Amber elected to continue painting rather then make pizza.

After dinner on Sat. kids wanted to play Monopoly which was fun but some of us were getting tired and some of us were getting broke! So it worked out well for all! Had our dessert, then kids had baths and after Auntie left, we curled up on the floor to watch the Grisly Bear special on NatGeo! Good show!

Sunday rolled around and we met Auntie at Wilson's Wienie's here in Goodrich for breakfast of blueberry pancakes and crisp bacon. Yum!! Auntie had to run off to Costco and Target and get back home to pack up. She'll be up at 3:00 a.m. to get to her flight at metro @ 6:00 a.m.

The kids came back to grandma and grandpa's house to wait for Darrin and Kris. So we had to do some 'crafts' of course! We did some stamping on paper and on puzzle pieces. Then outside to walk Mandy. After a snack, they wanted to paint rocks. This seems to be the thing to do at our house. I can remember Kayla and Ian painting rocks too. Something about the rocks at our house.

"But, grandma, I have to find just the right rock! "

Just what they need - more painted rocks! I'm sure mom and dad will be thrilled!

The Artist at work!

So that was our Anniversary Weekend! I know Kris and Darrin had fun and I had a great time as well. Probably Grandpa was the only lonely one but he did have Mandy with him and he was only alone on Sat. and Sunday for a little while!

So in addition to the grand food I had this weekend, check out what Kris and Darrin brought me back from Sutton's Bay! Wine and Cherry Pie!!! YUM!

So thanks to all my kids for giving me some great memories!

And I'm off....

60 degrees already! Rain quite heavy last night. Later this afternoon, I'm heading down to babysit the little ones (gosh, before long they won't be little ones, will they!). Kids are headed off to their annual, anniversary get away in Sutton's Bay. They were able to get an extra day which is nice for them and this grandma! So most likely I won't be posting for a few days.

Yesterday (or was it the day before! hmmmmm), I finished putting the binding on Kayla's graduation quilt. It's good tv work for hand stitching down the binding. I did some last night but still have about an hour left.

I did start work on our next Inspired by Master challenge. Here's my piece in progress so far. I won't work on it until next week. It's my interpretation of the works of Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

My initial design is on the tracing paper and this was my start. Actually the swirls were my starting point. They were just fun to make and the fabric seemed perfect.
I had two hand dyed fabrics that I just loved and wanted to use them in this piece. I have some other elements that will be added but they aren't finished yet. So here's my start..doesn't look like much but hopefully in a few weeks it will!

Flora and Fauna

Temp is 54 @ 7 a.m. but looks really cold out...overcast...windy....and Bob just left for golf. He did get used to golfing later in the day while we were in Florida so I think he's going to make some changes to their schedule.

This is a picture of our Lancelot Crab tree in our front yard. It sits just outside our front door so we see it every day. It's one of my favorite trees as it changes throughout the year. I've always wanted to take pictures of it during the different seasons so my blog is perfect for that. This tree started out as a baby! And look at it now!
So we're sitting in the living room after dinner last night and what comes up to the window but our hummingbird! I didn't have the feeders out yet but we did get them out right away. And our little friends came right back! It was so funny to see them at the window 'asking for food'! This picture was taken through the screen but I'll get better pictures later today. They were already feeding at 6:45 today! I put the camera next to my seat in the living room so I won't miss getting a better shot. We just love watching these little guys. This little guy is hard to see but he's sitting on the right side of the feeder! Better pics to come!
Today I actually feel good enough to start on a project and work on another one. I'm babysitting Amber and Nick from Thursday afternoon until Sunday. The kids are going on their annual 'up north' anniversary trip. I can't believe they'll be married for 19 years this coming week. Dawn and Jeff celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary last Friday!! Where do the year's go!!

Frost in May?

Temp was 34 yesterday and today (@ 7 a.m.) but we did have frost on the ground yesterday. Bird bath is frozen again today but it's hard to believe it's May. I had my 2nd good night of sleep with no coughing! Whew! Bob came home from golf feeling bad again yesterday. Now I'm thinking he's being bothered with allergies. He's not over the cough yet so any allergy would bother him. Guess he'll need to start taking some allergy meds.
So here's a picture of our Aussme 6 (& 1/2!) fiber group. The gals met here last Tues. then we went off to lunch. It was our last get together with Lois Ann before she left for Italy on Friday.
(L to R) Karen, Mary, Carol, Me, Lois Ann and Judy. Little Carmella is Mary's great, grand daughter who came to visit with us. We had a really nice visit with show and tell and of course, what we do best, just talking!
So today I hope to get in my sewing room. Haven't been in there for a week or so. Can't believe I haven't done anything creative in so long!! Yesterday, I had to run to library and felt like I had 'run' a marathon when I got home. So hopefully, with my good night's sleep I'll be more productive today!

Belated Mother's Day Wishes to all Mom's!

Well, the patient is getting back on her feet! Yikes! Since last Wed. my week consisted of coughing, sneezing, headaches and going through 3 boxes of large tissues! I did get out of bed finally on Sat. but still stayed on the couch until Sunday. I told the kids I couldn't meet with them to celebrate Mother's Day...I was lucky to get in and out of the shower! Enough of words from the sick ward....
So, my wonderful, sweet daughter ended up cooking a lunch and dinner for Mother's Day and brought it up to the house (Bob said "I guess Dawn knows I don't cook!"). The meals were WONDERFUL! The lunch consisted of Italian Egg Drop Soup pictured here and it was soooo good. bob and I just kept eating and saying how good it was.
For dessert, we each had a banana chocolate chip muffin (I think there are still about 12 of these left!), yum!!!! And when my taste buds come all the way back to me, I have a box of chocolate covered orange slices, another of my favorites!

I took a picture of the Skinny Spaghetti & meatballs Dawn made but it was of the meatballs and sauce in the container...didn't look so good. I forgot to take a picture when I had the meal on our plates! Dawn's been watching a new show on Lifetime channel called 'Cooking Yourself Thin'. You can find all the recipes on their web site (Scrumptious Skinny Spaghetti & Meatballs, Italian Egg Drop Soup with Meatballs and Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.

I have to say this was one of the best Mother's Days I've had even with being sick! So THANK YOU Dawn!!! That was so sweet of you to do this for me on Mother's Day!!!!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Today our Aussome 6 fiber group is meeting here @ 10 for show and tell of our work, chatting and catching up with our own Louisa before she heads back to Italy. We're going to go to lunch at a local Mexican Restaurant called Senior Lucky's in Davison. I'm looking forward to being with the ladies and enjoying our day.

Darrin sent me a scan of Amber's perfect attendance record! YEA, Amber!!!! Good Girl!!!

Monday

Yesterday I finished fusing my Lenore Crawford Dogwood pattern and I got out the paints I'll be working with. Maybe today I'll get to painting on it - this isn't my strong suit at all so I'll be looking at lots of pictures of dogwoods! And asking for Bob's assistance since he's really good at this 'depth' thing!

I did finish my journal quilt for this month's CCC meeting. This is a picture of a pony in Scotland. I found this on Flickr and emailed Beth Wales to ask if I could use her photo. She gave me the go ahead and here's my 8 1/2" x 11" journal piece. It's thread painted on top of organza printed with the photo. Our theme is 'Nature' and I just thought Beth's photo represented 'nature' as in animals. I"m pleased with the results. Beth takes some really beautiful photo's and we've corresponded for about 8 months on and off. She also does really beautiful art quilt and some traditional work. I'll have to ask if I can put her link on my blog to her work on Flickr.

Lots of running around to do today so I better get moving!

Lenore Crawford Workshop

19 of us worked all day Friday and Saturday at the Lenore Crawford workshop! We had a great time and certainly learned a lot. Here are some pictures of what just some of the ladies did! I'm not going into detail on the process...you'll have to take a workshop from Lenore, if you want to learn more. I'm hoping to finish up my 'fusing' on Sunday so I can start painting my flower! Enjoy!

Lenore is doing a demo on painting our flowers

This is my friend Mary's piece in progress. This pattern has the MOST pieces in it! Glad it was Mary's and not mine! Aren't the colors just great! And her background fabric fits perfect. I think the background might be a snow dyed piece Mary hand dyed this past winter.

These are two finished pieces after painting! Aren't they beautiful! Poppies on the left is by Rhonda Klann and the cone flower is by Sue Matlock.

This is my friend, Carolyn Malaski's work in progress. Carolyn did all the work arranging the workshop with Lenore! We sat across from one another and finally got a chance to talk and catch up!

Now I'm going to show you a piece in progress from start to 'almost' finished. This is Michelle Hudson's work (Michelle belongs to the CCC fiber group that I belong to). This was the start of her cutting fabrics and fusing. She was doing the Poppy pattern by Lenore.

Michelle is all finished fusing her flowers on the background. Look close at the flowers...now look at the next picture and the bottom flowers!

Check out those flowers! See how much dimension and depth you get from a little paint! Can't wait to see this one finished and quilted! Nice work, Michelle!!

And here is my Dogwood Blossoms! I still have quite a few leaves left to put on then I get to paint! Yea! Can't wait!

All in all a very productive two days! Except I'm getting my sore throat and cough back! I might have to steal some of hubbies antibiotics! My friend Carol T. is sick and she didn't make class yesterday but did come today. Poor kid just didn't feel very well but she did make one blossom (she's making the dogwood pattern as well). Her flower petals are in shades of blue gray..really nice. I didn't get a picture as she left to go home early. Hope she feels better too!!

This and that

Yesterday I did 3 loads of laundry, cleaned house then started playing with a new technique for my Art Diary (before getting little ones from school. Wed. is my babysitting day). I'll post pics this weekend, if it turns out. I saw on someones blog (I have to find out her name) where she did some stitching on the fabric to batting, then applied modeling paste, then some inks and bleach. Not sure what my results will end up being but the original post looked really cool. I finished stitching my piece while watching Tigers last night (they lost!) and I'm going to use Gesso instead of modeling paste today so it can sit and dry for a day or two. We'll see how this turns out and what it's good for! If anything!

Friday and Saturday I'll be at a workshop by Lenore Crawford. You have to check out some of her work. She makes her own patterns and enhances them with paints and thread work. There are about 19 in our class and I'm really excited to finally take a workshop with Lenore.

You have to check out this video! Talk about hand/eye coordination!! You really have to appreciate the fact he's flying this plane inside, let alone all the loops he's doing! It's really cool!

Guess who came to dinner! And had to cook!

Look who came to dinner! My "Italian" friend, Louisa! In my previous blog entries, I mentioned that Lois Ann surprised us at our fiber meeting last week, arriving from Italy the day before. She's been quite busy taking care of passport issues, dental, eye exams, etc. but she took time out to come to the house today. We were going to go out to dinner but I thought it might be nicer to stay at home to eat and talk! Which is what we did. So I put LA to work, cutting vegetables, grilling, etc. We had a great time.

Here' is the chef herself, Lois Ann (or better known as Louisa!)

So after our dinner of grilled chicken and vegetables, we went on the computer to look at pictures LA and her hubby have on facebook. Oh my gosh! What pictures!!! LA lives in Torino, which is in the upper region of Italy. Being so close to the border of other countries, LA and hubby, Kendall, are able to visit France! and Switzerland! How cool is that! I got to see lots of pictures that were just outstanding of the skiing, castles, fortresses, museums and even some pictures of their home. Which, by the way looks so neat!! Guess there isn't 'grass' for lawns but a lot of ground cover. Some of the roads are SO narrow! Take the bus! The architecture is amazing and the Po River is a sight for watching 'racers' (can't remember what their 'canoe' is really called). LA said folks are quite relaxed and will sit in the parks (throughout the day!) with their dogs and just watch other people or a sunset. And cafes abound! Which would be right up my alley! LA said the coffee is quite good (as is the chocolate!). I really enjoyed seeing the pictures and it made me feel like I had just visited her new town! LA's daughter, Kara, who is a college student here in the states, has visited twice so I got to see their family being tourists! What fun!

Here's LA on my computer logging into facebook.

Even Mandy wanted to get in this photo op!

LA will be heading over to Canada (she's Canadian by the way) this weekend and coming back next week. She's going to try and 'hook' up with us one day, if possible, to meet up with our original Aussome 6 fiber group. What a nice evening we had together! THANK YOU, LA!! I really enjoyed the time with you and seeing your new home!

So just to had a bit of fiber. Here's the graduation quilt in the process of being quilted. I ran out of bobbin thread and had to reorder some which I hope will be here by the weekend. It's coming along pretty good. Oh, Robert update...feeling better and only coughed a few times last night. He's on the mend but still congested. Still needs a nurse for a few days!

The Patient and The Tree Project

OK, so a patient and a tree don't necessarily go together...but the patient has a sinus infection (hmmmm, just like his wife said!) and Dr. put him on antibiotics (just like his wife said he needed). Wives are good for some things...now if husbands would only listen. At least Bob got checked out and his chest was clear which I was concerned about. I did diagnose him as having bronchitis too. One out of two isn't bad!

So check out the finished Tree Project from the International Fiber Collaborative! This was the organization I sent leaves I made for it a few months ago. You can check my blog entry and see my leaves here. If you go to their web site, you'll see pictures of how the tree was installed and it looks like it was quite an undertaking. Isn't this a fantastic project!! So cool! I'm glad I participated in it...not sure where my leaves are but at least I know they are in good company!