A Halloween craft

I am in the crafting mood and wanted to do something Halloweenish (is that a word?). Anyhow, I saw this idea and decided to try it with some Halloween fabric that I already had. I am always trying to use up some of my stash (so I can buy more!!?). Now Halloween to me is not scary stuff, but cute little witches, pumpkins, friendly ghosts, etc. No spider webs please!!




It is so easy, just mod podge, fabric and a "funkin" from you craft store. Just mod podge the funkin, place the fabric on and mod podge over the fabric. Use a sponge brush for best results and it takes a bit of fussing to get the fabric just right. It is also a bit messy, so be sure and cover your workspace with waxed paper.

Checking off my 'bucket list'

I realize that the title of this post is a bit off-putting, however, I had the opportunity last weekend to check an item off of my bucket list. I have never ridden on a train. You would think that at fifty something years of age, I would have had that experience. Oh, I have ridden on the little trains at the amusement parks when the girls were little, but never a big old huge hulking train with an engine and all the passenger cars.

Last weekend that changed. Leon got tickets for the Cuyohoga Scenic Railway and off we went to Akron, OH to ride the scenic route, pulled by an old time steam engine. It was quite an experience and I enjoyed almost all of it immensely - more on that later. The train pulled us through several small towns, over rivers, through farmland, past a ski lodge and many other scenes; and we were amazed to find that people all along the way were waiting to take a picture of the train as we passed. There were literally dozens of people along the way with all of their camera tripods set up and we saw a couple of guys standing on top of their cars to get the shots. It was amazing, really!!

This is the engine that pulled us the first leg of our trip
This is the engine that pulled us the second leg of our trip - notice that we could have stepped up to view the magnificent steam engine. (for $5 - no thanks)


The train itself was very much like you would imagine, or if you have ridden a train before (unlike me) like you have seen. Cars were fancier the more you paid, so we were in "coach", but it had the seats forward and backward facing so that folks could sit together and talk. Our car was #6 and I also visited the concessions car, where I got us each a bottle of pop. I was imagining the trains that I saw in the old television westerns and also the trains that I read about in books, where young girls would travel by train to another area of the country.

I am glad to have taken the ride on the train, but will probably never do it again, due to the trip back to the station. On the first leg of the trip I was pleasantly seated in a forward facing seat, thanks to Leons advice. However on the return trip, I was in a backward facing seat and oh my, I got motion sickness. I couldn't look out the windows at all and didn't feel better really until the next day. But the experience has been had and I can now say that I have ridden on a real train.

The picture of the lady was our porter and graciously allowed me to take her picture.


One of the things that really touched my heart that I happened to get a photo of is shown below. There was an elderly man there sitting on a bench waiting to board the train. Bless his heart, he appeared to be in ill health and had some definite issues. He was speaking to people going by and was excited to be going on his excursion. I looked over at him later and there was a conductor all decked out and leaning over speaking to him. I quickly snapped a picture and it is my favorite one.


We had a great time, all things considered. Thank you Leon!!!!

All three little ones

It is still so hard to think of myself as the grandmother of three children. They are all so healthy and happy and being raised by very wonderful parents. I couldn't be prouder.

But now they are actually from two families, so getting them in a picture together is always my goal. They are together quite a bit, but I still try and get them in pictures together whenever I can. Another summer picture that I just came across was when we had Abby and Lily for a weekend and Lissy, Chad and Jacob came over. We were all outside in the front and pulled the wagon over for a picture. Aren't they absolutely adorable - sometimes it is hard to get them all with good smiles at the same time. Here is a winner!!

Fountain Fun

We recently had the girls over for the weekend and decided to take them to our cities' newest attraction. Columbus recently developed a mile of downtown riverfront with decorations and attractions for the citizens. One of the attractions is a fountain display for children to play in. Since we had the girls, we decided to go see what it was like. We called Chad and Lissy and they met us and a great time was had by all. Just wanted to share some pictures.

Abby absolutely loved it. She ran and ran and ran through those fountains.






Lily - not so much




Now Jacob was a bit too tiny to actually play in the fountain, but he graciously offered up his stroller to Lily for the ride back to the car after a tiring, but fun play in the fountains. Doesn't he look handsome in his baseball cap and sunglasses!?!

It's done- Yahoo!!!

Well, I finally finished Jacobs quilt. I didn't start it until after he was born, so I actually think I did pretty well. He is now 2 1/2 months old. I fell in love with the fabrics and it was a joy to work on. I can now say that I have made a quilt for each of my grandchildren.

I love doing it and am getting better and better at it. I am not a professional yet, but this could be my retirement pursuit. I might even be able to make a bit of pocket change at it.

Anyhow, here goes. I must brag a bit and tell you that I designed the owls myself and am pretty happy with the results.

Oh my goodness!! oh my goodness!!

We have two baby birds - Unbelievable!!! They are a little "new" looking, but there they are. We are just waiting for two more. Then we can watch them grow. I am still being realistic that they are very close to the ground and very vulnerable. But for now, how exciting!

Amendment to Spring Blog

Guess what!!! Our little robin mama has not given up. She has laid four more eggs in the nest in our little tree. We have seen her sitting on them. Unfortunately I really do not have much hope since she is only a few feet off the ground, but I hope with all my heart that it will turn out okay. I will keep you posted as I check in on her. I think I will name her Adar, which is the Welsh translation for Robin. And by the way, are those not the most beautiful little blue eggs you have ever seen?

Just a little hint

I took the day off on Monday. I have a project that I needed to work on and it is alway so much easier to take off work and just work with no distractions. My project is Jacobs baby quilt. My goal has been to make a quilt for each of my grandchildren, ever since I started quilting 9 years ago. Jacob is my third grandchild and he must have a quilt too. I now have the top done and just need to put the layers together. I would hope that I can finish it this next weekend. It has been so enjoyable to work on.

I have told Melissa that she cannot see it until it is done, but I thought I might give her a bit of a hint. Now if the truth be known, Melissa may have an idea of what it looks like if she has been paying attention when she is here. But for the fun of it, I will just give my hint and hope for the best.

My hint is my wastebasket from the sewing room, among other things.

A little Ray of Sun

I just love it when I see sunrays shining through the clouds. I rarely get the chance to grab a camera or if I do, it rarely turns out. This time you can actually see them. Aren't they beautiful? There are theories about what sunrays mean, but I just like to see them because they are so gorgeous!!

The best of spring and the worst of spring

We were about to have some rain and thunderstorm activity, so I headed outside to get some pictures of our flowering tree before all of the blossoms were blown off. It happens every year; the tree blossoms so beautifully and then just as it becomes as full as it can be, a storm comes along and the blooms are blown away.Anyhow back to my story, I was out taking pictures of the tree and I happened to notice some sticks built up in the crotch of the tree. Lo and behold, it was a birds nest. Well, now I really had something to take pictures of. The only thing was that nothing was in the nest. No eggs, no birds, nothing. The tree itself is not very tall; and if you know me at all, you know that neither am I. However, I was able to see into the nest and in fact take pictures. So I did not have a very good feeling about this empty nest.I walked around and took pictures and headed back into the house. On my way back in, I discovered the reason for my bad feeling. The nest was really too low and was just in a dangerous place to raise little birds. It would have been fun to watch, but as you can see that was not to be.

More Little Dresses - for Africa

I had a friend send me a link to a wonderful site recently. This site is for a charity that makes little dresses for little girls out of pillowcases. The dresses are sent to Africa and given to little girls who may have never had a new dress. I hope to participate and make a few to send on. I share it with you so that you too can help, if you enjoy sewing or would like to learn. It is a very simple pattern and many sizes can be made from one pillowcase.

I love it when I can give to others in a way that gives me pleasure as well. I am looking forward to making and embellishing the dresses, knowing that little girls will look so cute in them. They are all little princesses and deserve to have pretty things.

Here is their web site - stop in and see if this might be something that you would like to participate in.
http://www.littledressesforafrica.org/blog/

Renaissance Woman - my sis!

My sister is amazing. She re-invents herself on a regular basis and how exciting that makes her life. She has been into painting, framing, music, yoga, running writing, drawing and now she is sewing. By the way, I am sure that I have only scratched the surface of what she has done. Anyhow, I thought I would show a few of her creations. She got some material from a friend and has begun making little girls' dresses for her shop. Aren't they darling? She has a shop in Covington and a shop at St.Simons Island. I hear that they are selling quite well. She has procured a sewing machine and is just humming away on her machine. Good luck Sandi and by the way, what is next?

I hear leather tanning is on the rise (LOL).

Speaking of little dresses, stay tuned for my next post. I have a proposition for all you seamstresses.

Jacob's outing

Our little Jacob has now been to the mall. Lissy and I had an errand to run at the mall when I stayed with her on Friday. So we bundled up Jacob and off we went. We didn't go for very long, and it wasn't an all out shopping trip, but all of the 'firsts' of course, must be documented. That is part of my job, right?!?!

First we dressed him up in Aunt Carries giraffe outfit. He was absolutely darling and then off we went.
We had an errand to run at Cheryl's cookies. A thank you gift for a special friend of Lissy's.
We were both good and didn't buy any cookies for ourselves. Then we stopped in at Bath and Body Works.We strolled through Sears on our way in and out and then headed for home. A long enough trip for a two week old and a new mommy.

Easter is coming

I have not been very good at decorating for holidays for the past few years, but I hope to improve on that. I think that decorating and celebrating the holidays keeps life interesting and keeps the creative juices flowing. Anyhow, I decided to hang a few eggs above my table and I decided to share. I thought it turned out pretty cute.

Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers

When the girls were here this past weekend to visit the new baby, one of the activities that Abby did was to make pickles with Papaw. The adventure started on their last visit, when Abby asked a question about the bumps on pickles and how they got there. Well, Papaw said that next time she came, they would make pickles so that she could see how it works. So, he was true to his word and they made pickles when they came on this trip. So, a picture is worth a thousand words. She was going to give a jar to her teacher and I heard that she took them to school for show and tell today. Still waiting to hear how it went.




A proud pickle-maker!!

Announcing "Jacob William"

Announcing the birth of my third grandchild and my first grandson. Jacob William Forbes was born on March 16th, 2011 weighing 7 lb. 11 oz. and measuring 20 inches long. He is just the most handsome little man that I have seen in, well just forever. Congratulations to the happy parents!!





Momma and baby are doing fine:
and Grandma is absolutely delighted:

Snacktime

When I was at Carries helping out, I realized the importance of snacktime for little girls who had been playing hard and working hard at school all day. The girls get a snack after Abby gets home from school to keep their energy level and sugar boost up until dinner. A very important ritual which I had a hand in, since I was the helper for Carrie.

Carrie had found a very fun looking snack and I proceeded to carry it out. They were called apple sandwiches and in a very small explanation. Apples were sliced crossways to create the slices of "bread". The slices were spread with peanut butter and the peanut butter was topped with mini chocolate chips. The top slice was added and VOILA - a healthy yummy snack. Let me just say that the snacks were great and I have made them twice (one sandwich at a time) since I have been home. Leon loved them too!

On the day that I fixed them, Lily woke up from her nap in a, shall we say, not-great mood. She sat on Carries lap and just couldn't get her mojo going. That is, until I gave her her snack. Suffice to say, that she really liked it and we managed to have a smiling Lily from then on.

Soup Sunday

Pasta Fagioli -topped with parmesan cheese - ummm ummm good!!

Filling in

I just got back from Carrie's where I have been helping out while she recovers from knee surgery. She had surgery Tuesday morning, after I rolled in Monday night to take care of the little ones. I might mention that I left a daughter 9 months pregnant and hoping that she would make it until I got back. Luckily she did and the waiting game goes on.

Carrie, in the meantime, has had her surgery and is doing fine and I had a very busy and fun week helping to take care of Abby and Lily. I thought I might do a blog in the 10 hours a day format using pictures from all of the days that I was there.

As I mentioned I arrived Monday night and was given a most wonderful suite. It had beautiful gowns to wear, my own kitchen and lots of things to keep me busy. Sometimes it was the place to be for certain young ladies. I slept like a dream.

Tuesday morning I was up and at 'em with the girls while Carrie was at the hospital having her surgery. Pack Abby's lunch, get breakfast and then talk for a minute while they eat.

Thank goodness for frozen waffles.

Also thank goodness for already made PB & J sandwiches - pre-cut apples and caramel, already cut cheese sticks and packaged flavored water.

Now it is off to the bus stop and of course Lily is raring to go. I think she is forgetting something. But luckily Grandma remembered.

The bus stop is only a block away and we only had one day of rain when Lily couldn't go. She was not a happy camper.

It is back home for Lily and I and we chilled for a while, cleaned up and then it was off to Gymboree (on Tuesday only). Mommy came home in the meantime and we got her all settled and Matt and I started the icing (1/2 hour on, 1 hour off for days, except at nighttime).

Gymboree is a play skills active play center that Lily goes to once a week. Here she is practicing her skills. The lovely lady is Miss Wendy and she leads the class.


We went out for lunch (McDonalds, of course (it's all about the happy meal)). Then home we head for naptime.

Grandma too!
After school, of course, even in kindergarten there is homework. So I helped Abby with her homework. She is just so smart!!! I think she surely must be the smartest one in her class, says Grandma!!