Spring must be around the next corner!

I had to get up pretty early, for me on a Saturday anyway, and it was beautiful, even if it is April 12th! The snow stuck to all the trees and knowing it is going to melt in a day or two, it was a little easier to enjoy!

Before I left, I played around with our SLR a little and took these pictures. I love my new 50mm lens!

This morning I had to work for the Arts Alive 5 mile run/walk. I talked Matt and the boys to come along and help. The four of us were stationed at 2 corners 1/4 mile apart. Aaron and I dropped Matt and Troy off at their corner, and went on to ours. A few minutes later, Matt sent me this picture on my cell phone! Their snowman was the talk of the race! They were at the 2 1/2 mile mark, and I think it picked everyone up to finish the rest of the race. I'm sure after the race was over, everyone that drove by wondered why there was a snowman right on the corner of the road!!

By the way, I just finished my second sock tonight! I also just got my invite to join ravelry.com. Great timing!! I now have a knitting project to post on my ravelry page! I really need to get going on my last two wallhangings for graduation now. I can't believe how quickly it is coming up! Think spring!! :-)

1/2 of a Pair

My mom has been knitting socks for awhile now. We all got a pair of comfy warm socks for Christmas last year. I thought they looked really hard! At Easter, Alyssa showed Kelsey the socks her mom just made her. The pressure mounts. Can I choose not to learn to do something my mom and sister know how to do? Worse yet, can I say no to Kelsey when she asks me to knit her a pair of socks? That would be a pair of "no's"!! So Ann and I headed to the Yarn Cafe' and bought the proper kneedles and yarn. I couldn't find a local class, so I ordered a DVD off the internet to teach me the basics. I had a tough time getting started, so I got some help last weekend from the expert (Mom :-)). A week later, I have my first sock completed!

Better yet, it fit Kelsey perfectly! I had to tidy up a few mistakes, but for my first try I am very happy. Now I have to decide what to do next, college grant forms, or start the next sock!

Something to Brighten your day!!

A Wii Little Accident, and a Favorable 'Dye'agnosis

Friday morning, Kelsey summoned me to the bathroom after she took a shower. She showed me some bruising she had on her shoulders and in her armpits. For the rest of the day, we went through all possibilities we could trying to explain them away. By Friday night, her right arm hurt and she couldn't lift it above her shoulder. Saturday morning, we took off for a few enjoyable days off in Minneapolis. On the way there, we stopped at Mom and Allens to drop off Kelsey's prom dress to be altered. As she tried it on, my mom noticed the bruises and asked about them. Saturday night, the adults were enjoying a wonderful dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse when Kelsey called. Her bruising had spread to the backs of her shoulders, and she was feeling weak. On the way back to the house, we called Dave's sister Chris, who is a nurse, and she suggested we have her seen sooner than later.

So when we got home, Ann, Alyssa, Kelsey and I headed for the ER. The first ER we stopped at had a sign that read 'The next person to be put in a room has been waiting for 3 hours'. Needless to say, we decided to try another ER. The second one was much faster, and after 45 minutes we were placed in a room and explaining to the nurse what our concerns were. She had a perplexed look on her face and she opened a drawer and pulled out an alcohol wipe. She then proceeded to wipe black and purple dye from Kelsey's skin. At the same time, I was turning three shades of red and hanging my head low. The nurse was followed by the resident doctor and then the doctor, who all proceeded to wipe the 'bruising' off with an alcohol wipe. I was slightly mortified. The nurse made me feel a little better when she said it was good that we brought her in, and it was even better that it wasn't lukemia! After the diagnosis, Kelsey purked right up and felt great!!

We arrived back at the house around midnight, and had 8:00 Easter Sunday church, so we all headed off to bed. We woke up the the next morning thinking it was Christmas and not Easter! It snowed pretty much all day and was actually very pretty. Ann made a great Easter meal, and it was fun to all sit around and talk together. It was also great to see Katie and Josh again.

Sunday night, the kids were all having a great time in the lower level playing Wii. Troy was having fun bowling. The ceiling in the lower level is lower than most ceilings, and also has a ceiling fan, making it even lower. Troy caught on to bowling in no time, and soon bowled a strike. In his excitement, he raised his arms in the air as he screamed 'Yes!', and put his fist through the glass bulb covering the light bulb. He had a couple of cuts on his hand, but we decided to wait until morning to see how it looked. The next morning, the bleeding has stopped, but the main cut was very close to the joint, and it was still separated. So, off to urgent care he went. Instead of stitching it shut, they glued it and then wrapped it up so it couldn't bend. He was thankful he didn't have to get the shot!! He wasn't as happy about being out of baseball for the next 10 days!

All in all it was a good trip and we all had fun. Praise God Kelsey doesn't have lukemia, and Troy's finger will heal!! In two trips to Minneapolis, we have had one ER visit, and 2 urgent care visits. Needless to say, we spent a little more money than we had planned to! Happy Easter everyone!

Fun Day!!

What a fun day today! After bible study this morning, Stephanie, Jenna and I took off for Eau Claire. We met Ann, Mom and Allen for lunch at Olive Garden, where Allen graciously treated us to a delicious lunch. After lunch we stopped at Michael's, and then headed over to Mom and Allens' new place. Mom gave us the grand tour, and it is a really nice place. It is fun to have a visual of where they are when we talk on the phone!

Ann brought my stamp order, so I sat and put my new stamps together. Then Ann surprised me with an early birthday gift of yarn, needles, and a fun scarf pattern. So, we sat and knitted for awhile while we visitied. While I was gone, Amy stopped by to drop off my Upper Case Living order. So when I got home, I had to put them up on my walls right away. It was so much fun, and I love how it looks, so I might just have to have my own party! Here is the one Kelsey designed that we put above her closet.

The front door:
Above the patio door in the dining room:

Above the kids pictures in the hallway:

This one is in Troy's room above his wall hanging. I also put a baseball one in Aaron's room above his baseball wallhanging.

Last, but I think my favorite, this one is above our eagle picture which is hanging over our piano. I certainly didn't need one, but I may have found a new addiction! I'm looking at all of my walls in a new way figuring out what I need next!!

If you are interested in seeing what else they have to offer, check out http://www.uppercaseliving.com/. Now I am exausted and ready to crawl in for the night!

Dream Come True!!

I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since I posted. Time flies when you are having fun I guess! This month has been crazy with basketball, but we had our last regular season games this last week. I love watching the boys play, but I am so ready to stay at home on weeknights! I have been a busy crafter this month, getting some things crossed off my list! It has been fun to pull things back out and get crafty again. It has been even more fun since Kelsey decided to start knitting, and has therefore been crafting right a long side me!! I never thought I would see the day. I have been secrectly wishing she had inherited my crafty gene, but I had all but given up hope. Then one night about two weeks ago, we went to Aaron's basketball game, and the Pastor's 7 year old daughter was knitting herself a scarf. The next day, Kelsey went shopping with a friend and came home with knitting needles and yarn! She had even called Grandma Webb to ask for some knitting advice. I'm not sure, but that may have been a dream come true for Grandma too! Anyway, she is working hard knitting Troy a blanket for graduation. She has about 10" done now.

Aaron is having his birthday party this Friday night. It will be a joint party with one of his classmates who celebrated her birthday the day after him. They are inviting the whole class (23 kids), going bowling, and then the girls are going home with Emily, and the boys are all coming here. Anyway, I made these little gift boxes for all the kids at the party. It was fun to get my stamping stuff out again, and I ended up making 24 of them!

The other thing I did this month was to dig out a cross-stitching that I had started a couple of years ago. I was probably 3/4 of the way done with it when it found it's way to the closet. I had made one for Mom and Ann for Christmas awhile back, and decided I just needed to finish it. It ended up not taking me very long to finish it and I dropped it off at the framing shop last week. They called this morning, and I was so excited to pick it up! Now I need to clean up my sewing area and find a place down there to hang it up.

One of the reasons I love crafting so much is because one you finish a project, it is done. Unlike other things that need to be done and redone, like laundry, cooking, cleaning, dusting, etc.!! It never fails that you put the last load of clothes in the washer, and one of the kids throws down a whole new pile of dirty clothes. Or you just drain the dish water, and one of the kids cleans out there room and brings a bunch of dirty glasses. Anyway, there is something very satisfying about finishing a project and knowing it is really done! Now I'm on to some quilting projects for graduation this spring. I'm going to be making some wall hangings for a couple of Kelsey's friends, and her boyfriend. I will be sure to post them here as I finish them. That committment will help keep me motivated! Time to snuggle under a blanket and sip a warm cup of tea as I listen to the wind chimes going crazy out side. It's going to be a cold night tonight!

Ready to go home!!

Today was the last day of training! Yeah!!! It was a very good class and I really learned a lot. But after 5 days I was ready to be done. After class today, I decided to drive out and see a famous tree on another island. It was a 25 mile drive, and it was nice to see SC outside of Charleston. Most of what I saw on the way there wasn't very mentionable, but I did drive down one road where it was canopied by old oak trees. I took a picture while I was driving, and it didn't do it justice, but you can get an idea from the picture below.


The Angel Oak, as it is called, was definitely worth the drive. Here is a little information about the Tree: The Angel Oak tree is dated at 1400+ years old. The circumference of the trunk is 25 feet, and 19 ballet dancers can hide behind the trunk! It stands 65 feet high, has a diameter of spread reaching 160 feet, and covers 17,100 square feet of ground. The largest limb is 89 Feet long and 11.25 feet thick. The Tree was here for 1000 years before Columbus discovered America! If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see that many of the trunks are being supported by 4x4 boards, metal poles, and metal wires. I started at the trunk, and it took me 4 shots to get the full length of a branch. It is absolutely amazing, and a picture just doesn’t do it justice!

After viewing the tree, I returned the rental car to the airport, and am about to start packing for home. The locals are all a buzz here because the weather forecasters are using the four letter 'S' word!! (Snow!) The hotel shuttle driver told me that if there is as much as a flurry, everything will close. Anyway, there is a winter weather warning out for Atlanta, and a winter weather watch out for home, so I am praying I will make it home tomorrow. It could be a long day. I am just starting a new book (The Red Glove Collection, by Karen Kingsbury - thanks again Nancy!), so at least if I get stuck I will have something to help pass the time. I am so looking forward to seeing my family and sleeping in my own bed!! Below is a picture I found with a person in it to give you some perspective!