Update....

Well. I managed to log in. That's a plus. Been alot of nothing happening around here. I think my break from blogging and crocheting is coming to an end.

The kids started school on Tuesday. They both seem to like their new teachers and friends. I still can't believe that Maddy is in 2nd grade and Cole started 7th. Where did the time go??

Facebook is also taking up quite a bit of my time. LOL. Love Farmtown and Farmville. It's very addictive. I also like being able to post short blips about my day. Guess I could do that here also.

I'll try to post more often than every year. LOL. But this will still be for my crocheting progress and pics.

Take care!!

Remember me??

Not sure if anyone is still even coming around. I think I have settled a few things that were overwhleming me for the past few months.

I am back to crocheting but only for me. Still taking a self imposed break from testing patterns. Even though I truly enjoy the process, I enjoy the process of crocheting for me more.

Hopefully, I will be able to blog a bit more regularly and even throw a picture or two in.

Sunday update

Well, even with my good intentions I guess I am now going to shoot for Sunday updates. I can't even find the time to visit all my friends and forums I like.

On to updates, Cole went to the orthopedic surgeon for his final visit last Thursday and the doctor said that his arm is healed. Thank the lord for that one. That same day, we ended up with 5-6 inches of snow and he wanted to go sledding. Being the good mom....I said...Ummmmm NO!! I told him that he needed to let it heal a bit more (as this was his first day without any support on his arm in well over 14 weeks). He ended up being ok with that seeing that it was only in the single digits.

The pics I have to share today are a baby round ripple for Jennifer and my latest tested doily.





Enjoy the upcoming week. I've gotta run as hubby is taking me out to dinner and the children are spending the night with their grandparents. Gotta love those grandparents. Love having a break every now and then.

enjoy and have a blessed day!!

Remember me??

It's been awhile. Alot has happened while I have been MIA. Just a quick recap...I started a new job in October. I'm loving it! It's so nice to have work to do. LOL. My mother moved 3 and 1/2 hours away. We miss her... Cole and one of his friends were playing in the front yard the first weekend in November and Cole fell and broke both bones in his arm..OUCH!! That bought him a 3 day stay in the hospital along with sugery and a cast for 11 weeks. He is doing much better now.

The holidays have come and gone. Thankfully. I just don't like all the stress and hubbub that goes along with the holidays. And lets not even talk about how rude everyone is. We had a great Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.

On the crocheting front...
I have finished my Lace and Bobbles afghan. It ended up being a Christmas present for one of my friends. She loves it!! I really enjoyed making it (even with all the single crochet rounds...)


I also tested this scarf for Katchkan at Simply Crochet. Another great pattern from a wonderful designer. Go check her out, if you haven't yet.


Well, gotta get dinner on the tables. The troups are hungry.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!

Scattergories

SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks!
Use the1st letter of your name to answer each of the
following... *they have to be real places, names,
things...nothing made up! Try to use different answers
if the person in front of you had the same 1st
initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name
question.

What is your name? Miranda
Vehicle: Mustang
City: Maryville
Boy Name: Mark
Girl Name: Madeline
Alcoholic drink: Martini
Occupation: M.D.
Something you wear: Make up
Celebrity: Madonna
Food: Mushrooms
Something found in a bathroom: Mirror
Reason for Being Late: Morning sickness
Cartoon Character: Minnie Mouse

Leave me a comment if you post this. I would love to read your answers.

Something interesting...

Get a Cash Advance

A thank you and a FO

I want to first show you my new teapot cosy. I joined the teapot cosy at Crochetville and this is my package. I just love it.


Here is a round ripple that I finished a couple of weeks ago. I really like the way the colors fall in this one.

I have finished up all swaps but one. I still have the purple square swap going but I should be able to finish that one up within the month. I have 32 made and need 32 more so that will be my portable project for the near future.

I will post more in a bit about how my son broke his arm. Fun. Fun.

Update

My poor, neglected blog. I haven't been crocheting much lately, and what I have been has been test projects that I can't show you. Hopefully soon though, I will have new pics.

I start my new job this coming Tuesday. I am hopeful that this will be a wonderful move for me. I am going back to working 40 hours a week, but the hours are much better and the money is a whole lot better. I feel like now is the time to make this move and it all happened within a week. From the time I set up the interview to the time of the job offer and acceptance. Since both of my children are in school now, it's time to start stepping it up.

SWAP UPDATE~~
1. C'ville Secret Pal~~reveal package ready to mail on Wednesday.
2. HSKS 3 ~~I am making the sock bag tomorrow and will mail this on Saturday.
3. C'ville teapot cosy ~~ Mailing deadline of November 5th.
4. Swap #90 ~~ 40 of 64 made. Mailing deadline December 31st.

That's it for the swaps. Taking a break from these as the square swaps are time consuming and I really want to crochet for me for a bit.

Everything else seems to be status quo around here. Once I settle into my new job I should be back to crocheting more.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!

Long week....

Well it's been awhile since I have posted. I interviewed for another job last week and was offered the job. I think it's the right move for myself and my family to move onto this new opportunity.

I have been crocheting, although not nearly as much. I think (fine, I know) that my hand is not healing as fast as it should because I never really stopped crocheting. I am working on a couple of swaps and a couple of test items. I have really backed down on my participation as I am trying to crochet no more than an hour per night. We will see if this helps all the scar tissue settle down.

Here is a completed bag that I finished over the weekend. I was wandering through Wal-Mart one night and found a pattern book on sale for 0.75 and had to buy it. The book had a pattern for a tote. I love making purses and totes. But then again, you all knew that already. LOL. This tote took 3 skeins of RH stripes and was very easy to follow.



Current Swaps~~
1. Autumn Secret Pal - to be mailed by Oct 17th
2. HSKS 3--Sock Kit Swap - to be mailed by Oct 31st
3. Purple square swap (28 squares done) - to be mailed by Dec 31st

There will be more pics to come soon.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!

What love means to a 4 year old

This was an email I received earlier today and couldn't help but post it here.

What Love means to a 4-8 year old . . . Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouth of babes. A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?'
The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:




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'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.
So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'

Rebecca- age 8


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'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'

Billy - age 4


'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'

Karl - age 5


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'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'

Chrissy - age 6


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'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'

Terri - age 4


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'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'

Danny - age 7


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'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'

Emily - age 8


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'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)


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'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'

Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)


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'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'

Noelle - age 7


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'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'

Tommy - age 6


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'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'

Cindy - age 8


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'My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'

Clare - age 6


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'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'

Elaine-age 5


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'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'

Chris - age 7


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'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'

Mary Ann - age 4


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'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'

Lauren - age 4


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'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)

Karen - age 7


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'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'

Mark - age 6


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'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'

Jessica - age 8


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And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge.

The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,

'Nothing, I just helped him cry'


Enjoy and have a blessed day!!

I've been tagged

Anna tagged me with this so here goes~~
Here are the rules of the tag:

Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the questions. Your answers must be real places, things, names... nothing made up. If you can't think of anything, skip the question. You can't use your name for the boy's/girl's name question. If your name happens to start with the same letter as mine, sorry, you can't use my answers.

FAMOUS SINGER:
Madonna

FOUR LETTER WORD:
moon

STREET:
Main

COLOR:
Magenta

GIFTS/PRESENTS:
Movies

THINGS IN A SOUVENIR SHOP:
Mirror

BOY'S NAME:
Mark

GIRL'S NAME:
Madeline

MOVIE TITLE:
Macbeth

DRINK:
Milk

OCCUPATION:
Manager

CELEBRITY:
Mary Tyler Moore

MAGAZINE:
Martha Stewart Living

U.S. CITY:
Maryville Missouri

PRO SPORTS:
Mets

FRUIT:
Mango

REASONS FOR BEING LATE FOR WORK:
Morning sickness...

SOMETHING YOU THROW AWAY:
Milk cartons

THINGS YOU SHOUT:
Mwahaha!!

CARTOON CHARACTER:
Mickey Mouse


Okay. Now for the tags. I tag Barb, Sonia, and anyone else who read this. Don't forget to leave a comment when you answer your questions so I read yours.

Thank you!!

To Secrete Paal. I loved my package and want to say thank you. Here is a pic of my package. I have already picked out a couple of patterns to try.

I also took a pic of my progress of my Navajo blanket.

Have to get going on cleaning so that we can start to tear out carpet tomorrow.

Have a safe and great holiday weekend!!

WIP Wednesday and update

I am crocheting some now. They took my stitches out last week. That helped a bunch.

These first pics are of the items that I won from the Crochetville auction. This first one is the afghan that some of the villagers made and donated.

This next pic is of my tote. I love this tote. TampaDoll did a great job on it.

This next tote was made by KnicKnack. I love the material she used to line it.


Up next is a pic of my 8 pocket tote. I joined the CAL at the 'Ville. All I have left to do on this one is the joining and sewing the handles on.


This next project is a Navajo afghan. Another CAL at the 'Ville that I joined. This will be for Thing 1.


And the final pic is of a couple of face cloths and soap holders that I made for my partners in a Swap Bot swap.


In other news, the kids started school on Monday. Thing 1 is in 5th grade this year and loving it. Thing 2 started kindergarten and so far so good. Hubby and I took them to school Monday morning and then got the dismissal kiss from Thing 2. She was ready for us to leave and to get to learning and playing. It's a new feeling to be home alone during the days I have off.

Enough rambling and I will try to post a bit more often.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!

Nothing new to report

Surgery went well. Healing is happening. No crocheting going on. I did try to pick up a hook last night. It didn't hurt but still can't hold things for very long.

Since I can't crochet I have been reworking my to do list. I have decided on 2 afghans that are in the very near future. One is for Thing 1. HE seems to get discouraged that most patterns are for girls. Well, in one of my pattern books that my secret pal sent me there is a pattern for a crocheted mitred square dishcloth. I worked it up last week into a dishcloth and thought that it would work well for a 'ghan for him. I will *finally* be using all that camo yarn I ordered. Thing 2 has also expressed a desire to have one just like her brother's but of course hers will have to be pink. The second afghan is the Najavo Afghan. They started a CAL at the 'Ville but I didn't join with my hand such as it is. I will be making this ghan with lime green, bright blue, white and banana berry varigated that I already have. I am trying to use up some of the yarn I have without having to buy all new. We will see how long that will last. LOL.

Kathy was such a doll and sent me a get well pattern to do after the bandages come off. That will be a beautiful doily for my living room. I also am about half done with a PK doily that I started before surgery. Hopefully, I will be mended enough by the end of the month to get back to it.

I didn't realize how much I really do crochet. This last week has shown me that I don't care to sit and watch TV, reading is ok but 3 books since Friday is pushing it, and there is really NOTHING on cable TV. Last night Thing 1 wanted to play the Game Cube. I told him that was fine. Well, I give myself points for trying but it didn't last very long with my hand.

Ok--enough with the rambling.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!

Secret Pal Reveal Package

Here is my Summer Secret Pal Reveal package. My partner was Deborah (Wildthing1058). She sure knows how to spoil her partner. I love everthing that I received. The top pic is my reveal package and the bottom pic is the package that she sent me about half way through the swap.



Deborah,
Thank you again for my packages. I love all the knitting supplies you included. Since I am such a newbie at knitting, I will have fun using my new notions.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!

Gone for a bit.

I just wanted to drop in and post that I am sill alive. My hand surgery is scheduled for this Friday the 3rd of August. I am hoping to only be down for a couple of weeks. I won't be crocheting but will still post occassionally. See you all soon!!

Update

I know. I'm a bad blogger but with all the swaps ending at the same time I have been keeping a couple of things under wraps. Well, all the packages have been received and I can now show pictures.

This is my finished Candy lace shawl (pattern available at Anna's). I love the color. I can definately see myself making another one of these. Very easy pattern and quick too.


This next shawl is a seraphina made with Joann's Boucle Sensation. Another quick and easy pattern.



I only have one more swap to finish--another shawl. LOL. I am hoping to get this one done before I have surgery on August 3rd. I am having carpal tunnel and deQuervains release. I so need this surgery. I am hoping that after the surgery I will be able to crochet again without pain.

I am taking a break from the swaps for awhile also. I am planning on participating in the Autumn Secret Pal swap at the 'Ville but that should just about be it for the year. I am wanting to crochet a few things for myself.

I will try to post my WIP's next week.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!

July 2

The new patterns have been released at Lullabies and Lace. This pattern for the Cheeky Squares Apron is also a free pattern. Go on over and check our Anna's patterns. She has quite a few that are free.


In other news.....I am almost finished with my swaps. I am going to back off the swaps for awhile. I just am not finding the time to crochet the stuff that I want to test. I am still planning on participating with a couple of swaps. Here are the ones that I still have to send out.
1. 'Ville Secret Pal - Mailing end of this week.
2. Spoil Me Because I deserve it - Mailing end of the month
3. Squares in Six - Mailing end of month
4. Shawl swap - waiting to hear from my pal to determine mailing date.

I mailed out 4 swaps last week. Whew--those deadlines ended on the same date.

I will report a status on my WIP's on Wednesday. I am also hoping to have something to show you later this week.

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!

Happy Birthday Madeline....

Five years ago this evening you, my darling daughter, came into this world. You started your life off by giving mommy quite a scare. You were born via an emergency C-section 6 weeks early. Early or not you still weighed 7lbs 9ozs and were perfect. We had some issues with your asthma in the beginning but for the most part you have outgrown it. You have shown me that every child is different. You are so outgoing, bright, beautiful and full of life. You are almost the polar opposite of your brother (he is all those things too but more laid back in nature). You definately keep daddy and I on our toes. You have also shown me that my love was able to grow and that my heart just doubled the day you were born.

Happy 5th birthday sweetie!!

I love you!!

Mommy

WIP's update

I know it's been awhile since I have posted an update on my WIP's. I joined a CAL at the 'Ville that is a UFO (unfinished object) CAL. The object is to finish up all those projects that are just laying around and you can't find to work on them. Julie even made a theme for each day. Here are the themes and the WIP's that correspond with them.

Monet Monday ~~ (Anything that has a varigated yarn in it)
Lace and Bobble afghan
Cheeky squares afghan
Camo Afghan
Round ripple

TV Tuesday
Peaceful Interval afghan
Splendor Afghan
Slouchy purse
Edging for hubs afghan

WIP Wednesday (I renamed this Swaps/testing Wednesday)
Summer Secret pal swap
SP10 swap
Fridgies swap
Square in six swap
Summer shawl swap
Test items

Thankful Thursday (Crocheting and knitting for charity or people in need)
Prayer shawls x3
2 baby afghans

Photo Friday
Pics of progress we have made each week. I will post the pics here as well.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be the projects that have a deadline or need to be mailed out the following week. If I don't have any of those then these days will be used for whatever I want to work on.

I started to have a panic attack when making up this list because there is quite a bit on this list. Once I really sat down and looked at the projects, most are over halfway done and some (like hubs afghan) just need the edgings done. I am hopeful that I will be able to finish at least one or two a week so that I will get my WIP baskets (yes, more than 1) cleared out. My reward will be to 1. buy more yarn and 2. look for new patterns.

That's it for today!!

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!