look..look..I won! I won!

The prize includes a copy of this book, and, a Moda fat quarter bundle!

Moda Progressive Dinner:

http://bittybitsandpieces.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-dinner-winner.html

I am sooo excited!

did you hear that...

Happy Weekend!

some things just make you stop...

...and, take a breath...

You have to click on this picture to get a better idea of how HUGE these trees are.  I would really love to know how old they are.  I see them all the time and they are always magnificent!

Hey, I hear someone at the back door...

Who do you think it could be?

It's my Dad -- and he's carrying some wood to start framing out "the man cave" area of the basement.  That's why he's smiling!

After a stormy night, these guys were happy to see the sun come up.  Anyone else have the thunder and lightning while it was snowing?

It looks so peaceful...

...but treacherous!  I had to don my snowboots and tread lightly to capture these pictures before civilization awoke and ruined the artistry of mother nature.

And, it has been officially declared a snow day for the young ones!  For us old ones -- just another heap to shovel through...

Hmmm... anyone know what time Mr. President got home last night?   

no snow day for you...

Now, according to the weathermen, what we woke up to this morning is NOT the heavy snowfall.  The predicted snow accumulation during the daylight hours is less than 1".

I think I should send them this picture that I took about an hour ago...

 or, maybe send them this one that I took when I dropped Sofia off at school...

Nicholas has a half day today -- so at least I don't have to stress the whole day about him travelling on the bus.  Before he left for school this morning, I asked him to call me when he got there -- he hasn't called me yet -- when do you think that call will be coming through...?  (taps foot and sighs...) Right...  I know he is in high school, but did you see the clip on the news last night showing a school bus travelling across a road that had turned into a raging river from the torrential rains down south?  (taps foot a bit faster from stress buildup...)

Maybe the folks in charge know better than me -- but I think today would have been an excellent snow day.

Remember my list from Friday?  Well... the package was mailed and hopefully will arrive at it's destination today or tomorrow.  The Christmas decorations are slowly evolving into Valentine's Day decorations.  And...with the help of this tutorial, I finished the binding on my potholder!  The binding is not perfect, but, I understood the instructions in the tutorial, and I am eager to improve my technique.  I am showing the back of the potholder -- because that is where the binding is handstitched.  When I showed it to Rick, he wanted to know why I couldn't just use the sewing machine, and I explained that I am practicing my technique, so I can move on to bigger things -- like quilts!

Hope everyone is staying warm today.  It was 5 degrees Farenheit when we woke up this morning.  Ozzy didn't even complain when I cut his morning walk short by 15 minutes!

spanish project...

Here is a project that Nicholas submitted last week for his spanish class.  He received a grade of  95 for it!  Even if you don't understand the spanish language (I don't), I thought you might find the humor in it!  :-)

Oh, and to hear it a bit better, you might want to turn off the blog background music before you watch it.

Enjoy!  :-)

a little crafty packaging...

Sofia is on her way to a birthday party this afternoon.  I discovered that we don't have any "birthday" wrapping paper -- so the snowflake paper had to do.  It was looking a bit plain -- soooooo... -- I took out the "Cuttlebug" that Santa left for me along with a little pony die cut.  Perfect for the purple loving, pony loving birthday recipient!  Instead of gluing the pony to the purple background, I stitched him on with some thread and created a scanty mane for him while in the process.  I also cracked open my typewriter to give the card a neat worded finish.  Sofia made a bracelet from starburst candy wrappers -- giving this gift the perfect personal touch!

sometimes I get lost...

The whirlwind of activities surrounding the holidays has finally subsided...and I am feeling the lull.  Instead of enjoying this small period of time when the calendar has some breathing room, I am fighting it.  But, for today, since it is Friday, I think I will take the slow path.  The photo represents 3 things that are on my "to do" list.  1) Finish the patchwork potholder that I started last January. 2) Finish putting away the Christmas related decorations in the stairwell. 3) Finish packaging a belated Christmas gift and mail it.

Then, as the writing on the box says, I will be "done" -- well, for today anyway! :-)

take time to play...

Because of the weather, both Nicholas and Sofia had delayed school openings.  It was comforting having their company a little bit longer than usual this morning -- so I didn't have to focus on the crappydoodle weather outside...

After they were gone, I needed to find the "sunshine in the house" -- so I decided that today would be my "52 weeks of blythe" doll picture taking day.

It worked!  I am refocused and only have a couple of hours left until the troops return.  If you want to see my other "52 weeks of blythe" photos -- click here...

Hope you can find some time to play today too!  :-)

there's a new master of puppets in town...

Do you think Jim Henson started out this way?

This is part of a project that Nicholas is doing for his h-i-s-t-o-r-y class.  Yup, history... I don't get it either!

frozen shut...

We seem to be having a bit of an ice problem by the back gate this year...

birthday wish fulfilled...

Nicholas wished for a day off from school on his birthday.  Sofia wished for a day off from school on Nicholas' birthday.

Happy 15th Birthday to Nicholas!  :-)

we got alot of snow...

Ozzy loves it!

oblivious...

~*~

~*~

choosing to be busy...

So, here we are at the end of the first week of 2011 -- and I feel as if I am still going at the same speed as I was before the holidays.  If I don't think about it, I'm okay.  But if I do, then I need to sit down right here at the PC and give myself a little mental and physical break.  Right now I'm looking outside at the snow and dreaming of springtime...  Downstairs, waiting for me, is this pile -- I need to move it so that we can work on finishing part of the basement area.  The area that you are looking at in the photo is the southeast corner of the basement.  This area will have a couch and TV.  The floor will be wood laminate with an area rug.  There will be recessed lighting fixtures in the ceiling.  The walls will be sheetrock painted in a warm, lovely color.  There will be some open shelving to display collectibles and house dvd's, video games, etc.  I love the fact that the sun shines in through the single window until about noon -- so it is not a dark and dingy corner of the basement.  You cannot tell from the picture, but this part of the finished basement area will be approximately 16' x 16' or a bit larger.  Yes, this is only part of the project.  Stay tuned for more...  

So, that is where I am headed today -- while I am dreaming of springtime... 

new year....

new school...

Today was Sofia's first day back to school following holiday recess.  The building behind her is the -- long awaited -- finally completed -- new school!  It is HUGE!  It was supposed to be completed by September 2010 -- but there were some construction delays -- and then there was a fire on the 3rd floor (in the part of the building where Sofia's official classroom is located).  Because of the damage from the fire, Sofia's current classroom is in a different part of the building -- until the fire damage is fixed.  Since this school is "around the corner and down the street" from our house, Sofia doesn't have to take the bus anymore.  She is VERY happy about that.  While the weather is cold, I will probably drive her there -- but when it warms up, I think this would be a nice excuse for us to put on our walking shoes. :-)

This is another little piece of our community history that we are happy to be a part of.  As I stood outside of the school this afternoon at pick up time, one of my neighbors commented on how many children were within walking distance of the school -- we are talking about hundreds of children...

And to think, when we moved here, we felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere!

The view was a bit different when these photos were taken in Aug. 2008!