An Update from sunny Florida....

Progress on under the sea. I'm really close to a finish again with the under the sea project. I think that is why I picked it back up instead of jumping into the Four Season SAL. I'm really happy with that fact as I will have two finishes in August!

I've been busy getting everything ready for school to start and then doing the cleaning once the older two started school. Of course, it's hurricane season here in Florida and there is a tropical storm hitting an hour or two south of us now. I have been running around getting the yard picked up and ready for this storm but it has surprised them in its movement so I may have wasted my time. Right now I'm just happy that we may get lucky and miss out on it. Earlier this morning I would have been a little more irritated. Right around the time I stepped on the hardware for our blinds that sits in the garage and then dropped the outdoor toybox on my toe; yes, on the same foot. I tell ya', I have some gosh awful luck when it comes to my feet. I can laugh about it now but earlier I was limping around and muttering under my breath.

I've cleaned out the playroom and almost finished my laundry so now maybe I can sit down and get closer to that sea finish. I'm just going to tell myself that tonight it might be really nasty weather and the lights may go out. With no lights, how can I possibly stitch?!?! 'Course, I still have to do the dishes but I can do them in the dark, right?!?! :o/

Finally..... A FINISH!

Taaa Daaa; a finish!

I can't believe it! I'm finally finished with the Astros project for the hubby from the kids. Now to get it to Michael's and have it framed. Well, that could take another while to get accomplished but I'm just happy to be done.

I've started on the Under the Sea project again and was on such a roll I didn't want to put it down to start the SAL from one of my groups. I know, I know; I said I wanted to get it started and it didn't matter about the sea project. I was finished with the Astros project late one evening and the game was still on and rather than take the time to pull all the materials I just grabbed up the sea project and jumped back in. It was going so well that I didn't want to put it back down because I'm in sight of the light at the end of the tunnel (finish!) Of course, life always gets in the way with four little ones. I've not touched any stitching in about a week now as next week school starts back up. YEAH!

I've had to go through all the new school clothes and get the older two to try them on. Okay, just Marie as Logan didn't stand still long enough to try anything on. I was lucky to get him still long enough to hold a shirt up to him to see if it was too big. Marie was patient and stood still through it all. (It has something to do with new clothes and being impatient to see all her school friends again after a long summer!) I washed a mound or two of clothes and put off putting them away because that was another fun project. Pull all the clothes out of their dresser to see what still fits and what had to be put away for their smaller siblings. I have a bag of clothes from Katie's dresser to give away and the rest is put away for them.

I'm hoping to get some sit down time today to work on the sea project and to pull out the materials for the SAL. I'm also thinking I might like a small project that would/should be a quick finish. I received a birthday freebie biscornu pattern from one of my groups and I've been itching to give it a try. They say they are easy to make and once you do one you'll want to do a lot more. I guess it just depends on my mood on the day I finally get to sit down and start something new. It might have to wait until next week after the major fall cleaning happens when the older kids are back in school. I will keep you posted and get a picture of the sea on here.

What a great birthday!

I had a wonderful 40th birthday yesterday! We got up early to take the kids to the beach. After the beach, we hurried home to bathe/shower and get the house cleaned up for the sitters to come. They watched all four kids while hubby and I headed out to watch a movie. We had been to a movie a couple of months back and agreed that when the new Batman movie came out we wanted to see it on the giant screen. I'd since heard that there were some gory parts and that it was very dark so I wasn't too sure about going. I thought it was a great Batman movie! I think Christian Bale is now tied for my favorite Batman! As for Heath Ledger; he was unbelievably scary as the joker. He deserves some award for his acting in this movie.

We headed out to Carraba's for dinner after the movie. It was hard deciding where I wanted to go for dinner but I finally decided that everytime we go to Carraba's, the food is really good. I had the best, melt-in-your-mouth steak. Of course, I couldn't get through the day without a little mishap. On the way to our table, we passed another table where the waiter had been kneeling down to talk to the people. As I walked by, he jumped up and accidently stomped on my foot. The good thing was it was the other foot that was in good shape. I fell trying to walk out the door the other day and pulled some muscles in my left foot/leg. Thankfully, he stomped on the right foot so it only throbbed for a little while. I was chuckling throughout the meal, thinking about how gracefull I was for the first 40 years and that I was hoping the next 40 would be a little more gracefull and a little less painful.

On the way home for dinner, hubby stopped by the grocery store to pick up what I thought was a piece of cake that we'd share when we got home. He is good! He went looking for the single pieces and when he couldn't find one he liked he went over to the bakery counter like he was going to ask for more. Of course, he'd ordered a big cake and had it decorated! He was smart though and didn't listen to them when they suggested going with the black theme. It was lovely; purple, pink and blue flowers with white frosting. Good man, my husband! We shared the cake with the kids and the sitters so thankfully, I won't have too many calories to worry about for the next couple of days.

I received flowers, a new watch, a set of books that I'd been ogling for months, a beautiful John Wayne piece that is part of a collectors edition, a pen set that I'd been telling him I would love to have some day, more books and more flowers. I had the best birthday and it made turning 40 enjoyable instead of dreadful!

Another Astro's Update

Not the best update picture but it will have to do for today. As you can see, I'm almost done with it! I'm taking every available ten minute spot that comes up through out the day to stitch so I can get this done and to Michael's to be framed. I hope that the next update shot will actually be a finish and then a final framed shot.

Next up on the agenda is to get back to the under the ocean project that I started back in April or May and also to start on the SAL from wXSw which everyone else has finished by now. Better late than never is my new motto. There are a few other SAL's that I wanted to do but just knew there would be no way to get anywhere near starting until way way after everyone else finished. At least with the Season SAL I am starting a couple of days after the fourth (and last) pattern became available to stitch. My goal for this week: finish the Astros and move on to working on the SAL (if I can pick up on the ocean, great, but if not; no biggie)

Three more weeks (FROM today) school starts back up so I will have less craziness during the day and maybe can get back to stitching when the little one naps. That's if he will get back to napping at a normal time. Currently, he naps from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 or later which means he stays up as late as we do and then continues to talk/play after being put to bed. It's gotten so bad that for the past several weeks, we've gotten into the schedule of hubby taking littlest man into bed to get him to lay down and fall asleep while I get the oldest boy to fall asleep. He refuses to go to sleep without Mommy sitting or laying down on the other end of his couch. Nine times out of ten, I fall asleep before he does to wake up about and hour or so later with the video screen blue and him sound asleep with his blanket thrown over his head. I creep out of the playroom and stumble to the bedroom to put littlest man to bed. The cutest thing awaits me most nights. The buzz saws competing for noise level when I hit the bedroom. I believe that I can give them a run for their money but I'm not sure who is worse between littlest man (Ryan) and hubby!

Funny story about snoring. A couple of years ago (and minus two of the four kids) hubby told me he wanted me to listen to something he had taped. After listening for a few minutes I had to ask; "What in the he&%*is that noise??" to which he started laughing and replied, "that's you snoring honey!" Good thing I can laugh at myself because that sound was enough to wake the livng dead! When I was in labor with my 2nd little guy and trying to nap a little bit before heading to the hospital, my Mom woke me up saying, "I can't TAKE THAT NOISE anymore!" I thought it must be just because I'm pregnant and/or in labor. Hmmm, I don't think so!

Thank you!

I was the lucky recipient of the Brilliante Weblog, given to me by Meari. Thank you so much Meari!

Here are the rules for the award:

1) Put the logo on your blog;

2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4) Add links to those blogs on yours

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

Here are some bloggers I think are "brilliante" too:

Beth - Crossed Purposes

Suzanne - Musings of a SAHM Cross Stitching Addict

Rene' - Rene' la Frog's Ramblings

Kelly - Amethyst Lady

Kathy - Kathy's Stitching Blog

Michelle - Ozarks sew n' sews

Heather - Heather's Crafting Hideaway

I hope you enjoy reading these blogs as much as I do!

Another Astros's Update

Not much more done as I've been busy with the little one this past week but I did get to put a few stitches in last night before they got fussy. We were able to watch most of the Home Run Derby but I missed out on the final match because Logan said Go to bed, Goodnight! and started screaming. It would have been a perfect match up if Lance Berkman had been able to go up against Josh Hamilton but the outcome was good. Josh broke some records but tired himself out too much (28 homeruns in the first session WOW!) and the underdog won. I was happy as long as none of their picks won but I would have been estatic if Berkman could have been there in the final. Oh well at least he and Tejada will be playing tonight in the All Star Game so it's going to be another fun night of baseball! I'm hoping that next year we get to take our vacation to Houston to see some games at the ballpark.

Topic of the week for June 30th

What is your favorite holiday and why??

Hmmm that is a tough one for me. I love Christmas because I have little ones and they get soooo excited when Santa comes. I love all the good food and all the pretty decorations. I also love Thanksgiving because it's a day where DH can stay home with us and just relax. Most times my family spends it home by ourselves so I don't have to cook a turkey I can do something else fun. I think I made a nice chili dinner this past year as no one came over as they all had plans elsewere. I did miss the turkey leftovers and all the other good next day leftovers so I think I will go back to making the turkey with all the trimmings this year!

When you were a kid what was your favorite holiday and why??

That is easy and it's not going to be what you would think! I loved LOVED the 4th of July! We lived on a lake in a small town in Connecticut. Although fireworks were frowned upon they never pushed the issue. The neighbors would order all sorts of good fireworks and set them off on their "raft" on the lake in front of their house. We'd sit outside with a little bonfire going and roast marshmellows, put a huge watermelon in the lake to get cold and make home made ice cream. OH the great times we had, especially the time they thought they had dropped a match on the raft where all the fire works were! My brother and the neighbor's son were in long pants and long sleeved shirts (it was a cool wet day!) when it happend. My brother freaked and dove into the water fully clothed and the neighbor jumped into the boat that was tied to the raft. What a hoot it was when they realized the match went out before it ever got near the fireworks! I'm not sure which is remembered with more glee; the fireworks display or the soggy teenagers lighting them!