The best day ever

I have to share my day yesterday. I made some plans for running to some quilt stores to look at wool. As I sat at the computer figuring out my stops & such my son Travis walks in. He says, "Mom can we go to lunch at Olive Garden?" I said, "Well I was gonna run around, why?" He says, "I just wanted you & me to go there cuz I like it & Sissy used to work there." Well how can a mother say no to that. I just about melted. He has had such a hard time getting used to the idea of being the only one home now. His sister & brother left the house at the same time & he has missed them so much. Shoot I know how he feels. I hate the fact that they are grown & moving into new seasons of their lives. So we jumped in the car & went on our mother-son date. It was so much fun. I recommend doing that with your kids if you get the time. Just a one on one day. He really enjoyed himself too. I have to share one other cute blurb to this.

He comes in wearing his Docker type dress pants & a long sleeve dress shirt (un-ironed of course.) Hahaha I ask him, "Travy why you wearing those hot clothes?" He proceeds to reply, "I wanted to dress nice for you. I like dressing up." Awwww! He just got brownie points for sure. Well, as you can tell from the pics that I convinced him that shorts would be much more comfortable, as well as, cooler.

He is such a sweet child, good natured & so sensitive. I have never seen a child that is always in a good mood & so chipper. It is very refreshing! I tell my husband all the time how lucky we are to have such great kids.

I did do some running after lunch & bought oodles of fun, fun, fun fabric, patterns & notions. I will share more of these later. I just really wanted to share my date story. :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Toodles~

More Goodies

Ok I got more goodies to share. I was running around the other day with no intention of going to the quilt store (really I didnt *wink*). I was killing time waiting for our kitty to get groomed.

I already told you I ♥ fall. When I stumbled upon this fabric I knew it had to be mine. hahaha I am seeing raggedy doll dresses. Yep! The other goodies that snuck into my basket were this halloween panel that I think I will quilt & make into a wallhanging and this Whistlepig Creek Productions tote pattern. I am really wanting to sew some totes. My daughter loves them, as do I. These just looked like all kinds of fun.

After all the excitement over my new found treasures I came home to find more yummy goodness in the mail. It's really the little things in life that get me excited. Not many people can get that excited over wool yarn. It is dreamy! I received my fall wool from one of my blog buddies Suzy from Cloth Doll Supply. I love her wool! It is fabulous. She always sends you a surprise sample of one of her other goodies that she has available. If you go visit her tell her I sent ya. The brown wool has golden & orange highlights running through it & is so gorgeous. I am thinking of using it for my Pumpkin Patty doll from Sew Many Prims. I have a lot of projects swimming in my head. I am hoping to get some done & some started before the move. I will keep ya posted to my progress. :)

Well I am off & running. They are having a quilt run here in town & I want to go visit some of the stores. I must see what other great finds they have right now. I will be back to share tomorrow. Have a wonderful day!

~Toodles

Amazing

This was the view from our front porch tonight. Just beautiful isnt it? I ♥ sunsets. They make me happy. You could be having the worse day ever & look at this & it all just melts away. I will

miss this view but look forward to new views in a different part of the country.

Not much to write about today. I am trying to get last minute things in place for moving. Ready to hit my big comfy bed & just relax. Goodnight all.

~Toodles

Yummy Fall Goodness

Yes, I am ready for fall. I am one of these weird people who HATES summer. So on my little outing yesterday to the quilt store I found these yummies. Two of the patterns are Myra Mahy of Country Faces. I have loved her stuff as far back as the early 90's. I have done several of her tole painting projects. The other pattern is from Suzanne's Art House. They had the pumpkin & pinwheel quilt hanging up. It was the cutest thing ever. It was done all in flannel & the colors were more prim than the one on the cover. I fell in love! I had to have them! I went perusing through the wools & grabbed what fall colors they had. I will be on the hunt for some more. I will keep you posted on my progress with these new projects. I am liking the fact that the tags I can carry with me. Gotta love those hand projects that go anywhere. :)

Well not much else going on today. Kind of had a dull headache all day so havent been to motivated to do much. The heat sucks & I am hating every minute of it. I am thankful our new house (in the much hotter & more humid state of Arkansas) will have a good A/C unit. Looking forward to cranking that baby! LOL

Well enjoy your day! Toodles~

Life Keeps Moving

without me keeping up! Hahaha Where does the time go? I just cant seem to keep up with all the day to day things that need to be done. A lot has happened in the last few months. I'm not even sure where to begin.

A few months back I bought a few lottery tickets. Now mind you, I dont usually do that. About my 2nd ticket in I scratched it & could'nt believe my eyes. I had won. It was so exciting! We took a trip to the lottery & what fun that was. We ended up winning a car but taking the cash value instead. We have a great car that I wouldnt trade for the world. If you cant tell....I love my car. LOL With that being said....we were able to pay off some bills & take a vacation to see our two kids that are'nt with us.

We went on a three week adventure. We travelled to Arkansas first to see our daughter & scope out the area for moving. (Yes, we are moving) We checked into housing & employment & everything looks great. Hubby is trying to get on with one of the women's prisons in the area. We found a house & it looks secure at this point. Will be heading south the end of July. While on this vacation we drove over to Memphis, TN & saw all that it had to offer. What a blast that was. So many cool things to see...Davies Plantation, Graceland, St. Judes Hospital, Beale Street, Neely's BBQ, Underground Railroad Museum & last but not least, the Gibson guitar factory. Our son Travis even got to march with the ducks at the Peabody Hotel. The Duckmaster invited him up to the roof to see their sanctuary which is usually off limits. He was on cloud 9.

After leaving Arkansas, we headed up to Oklahoma to visit the bombing memorial. WOW is all I can say. It is a beautiful memorial & just so sad to think of the tragedy that occurred there. We then headed up to Colorado to see our son Taylor. He is stationed there. It was our first time seeing his base. It is so beautiful up there. I would move there in a heartbeat. Pikes Peak still had snow on it in May. I thought that was just crazy. If you ever get the chance to go you have to visit the Garden of the Gods. Amazingly breathtaking. After our quick (too quick) visit we headed home. I think it was the best vacation we have taken by far.

So you see, we have been super busy with all of our travelling & getting ready to move. I am so excited though, at the prospect of having a craft room & finally getting to sew again. I have missed that so much.

Everyone have a wonderful & safe Fourth of July! Will keep you updated on our latest adventures in life. :)

~Toodles

Altered Tag

I have always had a fondness for all the altered art out there. I decided to give it a try this last week. So here are the pics of the wooden tags I created for my daughter Tarynn & Brittney(my 2nd daughter). They have decided to do the American Diabetes Association Walk. I thought it would be cute to make these tags to pin on their shirts somewhere. After completing them I knew they would be to bulky for around the neck. Personally, it would of drove me batty to be walking & sweating & having this thing around my neck. Hahaha!! So I added the little heart clip to the end so they could hang a safety pin off of that. I think Brittney opted to hang hers on the stroller. The one thing I was going for is versatility....I figured if I left it a lil generic they could use them again if they did a breast cancer walk or any wonderful cause they choose. So come Saturday, April 25th if you are in the Little Rock, Arkansas area you may just see them walking their little hearts out. Good Luck girls....drink lots of water!

Speaking of my daughter....I am so proud of her. She has always been so committed to giving back. She has done so many wonderful things in our community. All through high school she worked Toy For Tots, Special Olympics, Roadside Trash Cleanup, Adopt A Soldier, flag placement in our local cemetary for Memorial Day as well as leading the 21 Gun Salute that went to all of the cemetaries in our valley. It was an all day event which was normally VERY hot & tiring. She also started a program at her high school to collect items for all the soldiers over in Iraq. She boxed everything up & mailed them all on her own. I am so proud of her & her BIG heart ♥. She has always been giving & thoughtful. A mom couldnt ask for anything better. Gonna share some of the pictures from some of those events. Thanks for visiting us & taking a look at my ramblings.

Have a wonderful weekend! Toodles Ü

WW White Chili

You know I mentioned Kathy being here for our quilting retreat weekend? Well her sister in law Joan made this for us for dinner. I was blown away. I have to admit, I am not a big chili person and white chili....lets just say, I wouldnt be first in line for it. Boy was I mistaken! I am so thankful that I was visiting & wouldnt consider turning down dinner after graciously being invited.

The Chicken:

This chili is oh so yummy! Believe it or not it is a Weight Watchers recipe. It is so flavorful & filling too. Dont let the jalapenos scare you away. It has a mild zip but nothing thats gonna burn your tongue off. I chose to add three instead of four & it was perfect. They were good size peppers too...about 4 inches in length. Just to let you know, this is a very thick chili so if you like more broth you may want to add more chicken stock. Also, this doesnt make a ton....I would guess about 4-6 cups. Next time I will be doubling if not tripling it. I am sure it would freeze beautifully in ziploc freezer bags. You have to try it. It is easy peasy & just so good!

The Veggies:

The White Northern Beans:

Here is the the chili recipe I used. We topped it with shredded cheese & more green onions. Yummers!

Dinner Complete:

Let me know if try it & like it.

Well I am off to work on some of those pending projects. Have a great day! Toodles Ü