Celebrating with a Giveway ~

I am celebrating the launch of my new cross stitch design business with a giveaway on my From the Heart Needleart Blog. Click on the link to go there and get the details. 

Happy Birthday Kristine!

 Today my little girl turns 16. Yikes, where has the time gone! I am home baking and cooking for a family party tonight. I hope she is has a great day.  The poor girl has about 5 tests today so not everyone is helping her celebrate, but once school is out, we will start the party.

We love you Kristine!

Learning New Things ~

One of the great things about starting my designing business again is the opportunity to learn new things. Today I learned how to make a pdf file, and put a link up on my Needleart Blog so anyone who wants the little freebie chart can download and print their own copy. Here is the picture, and you can click on the link in the right column to go to the From the Heart Needleart Blog and get a copy of the pdf file for your very own. Now you are all set to grab a needle and floss and go learn something new.

 Look at this cute picture I found on my camera. See, I told you he was a sweet boy.

My New Adventure ~

I haven't really talked about it much on my blog, and maybe some of you have figured it out, but here is the big announcement. I have started my cross stitch design business again. I was a designer back in 2000 to 2005 and then started my own business in the fall of 2005. But life got busy and From the Heart Needleart got put on the back burner for a few years. Well, the timing is right and I am back at it. I have several new charts ready to take to the printers and submit to my distributor. It has been lots of fun. There is a link in the right sidebar to my design blog, so you will have to stop on over and see what is going on.

Blog Friends ~

One of the fun things about blogging is getting to "know" other bloggers from around the country. And sometimes there are "Blog Candy" giveaways, which are always fun, especially if you  win.  I just got an email that I was a winner on the At Willow Tree Pond blog. Which makes me think it might be time for a blog giveaway here too.

Future Dog Trainers ~

Yesterday I had a visit from two sweet little girls, and their parents too. Kymber had a dentist visit so Sydni and her dad played at our house awhile. They were so excited to get to see Gus too. These tiny little girls can get him to do whatever they want. He obediently goes to the kennel, or the backyard when they want him to. It is really fun to watch them wrap their little arms around his middle or his big neck and try to get him to move. And the funny thing is, it works! Of course they know where his treats are and he gets double treats when both of them are here. He really is a sweet dog and is so patient with them. Yes, he it totally spoiled, but look at that face. You'd have him spoiled rotten too.

 Look at these cute little pictures of Kaden that Jen took the other night. He is such a happy little boy!

Jen and Kaden ~

 These two looked so cute this morning before they headed off for their day. I just had to get some pictures.  Kaden is almost 9 months old. He just learned patty-cake this weekend and is always smiling, except when you are trying to take is picture or when Gus steals his crackers.

It's all about Family ~

I've realized that my life pretty much revolves around my family. My mornings are spent helping get Kristine off to school, sometimes I'll get her breakfast, and some days I just visit with her while she gets ready. Most days she drives herself to school, (which is wonderful on these super cold days when I would really rather stay inside where it is warm) sometimes I will take her and we enjoy talking together all the way to school. Then I come home and get to be Grandma and enjoy playing with Kaden for a bit while Jennifer is getting ready for work. Then it is time to help bundle him up and get him and his gear ready for the day. Then I have the rest of the day to myself, well, me, the laundry and the dishes. So I have time to clean up after the morning rush and get ready for the afternoon. Sometimes Rod or Jen will stop in on their lunch hours, but they are pretty self sufficient and can get their own lunch, so it is just fun to have them here for a short visit. Then it is time to get Kristine or even better, to wait for her to get home. Her afternoons are pretty fun, movies and snacks until dinner time. I either have dinner doing by now, or work on it then. Dinnertime at our house has really become a ritual. It is always ready about 10 minutes after Rod gets home from work. The older kids knew that if they weren't here, there would be leftovers waiting for them. Brad has moved into an apartment in town and is starting his new job, new ward etc., and we have really missed him being here and coming home for leftovers. But that has it's upside too. Yesterday, since he just moved about 4 miles away, he was able to come over for Sunday Dinner. Don't you think that sounds like a great new tradition. To add to this fun routine, Michelle and Alex and their little girls live just an hour away and are usually in town a couple of times a month, so I am always ready to drop whatever I am doing (which you can see isn't hard to do) and play with little girls. I love to hear those sweet little voices when they open the front door and say "hello"!  After dinner it is homework time up on our bed. I don't know how that ended up being the favored spot, but it works, and we enjoy the family time. In the middle of all of this, I have Gus, my sweet Basset Hound to keep me company. He loves sleeping in his bed by the fire and when it warms up to 10 degrees he likes to play outside. If you are wondering what I do in the big empty time in the middle of the day, well, that varies, lately I have been doing some Mixed Media Art pieces. Kymber saw some that I'd done and was ready to take them home, so I made one for her last week. Can't wait for her to see it and finally be able say yes, you can take it home. Hers is the one with the flowers. Yep, I am pretty lucky to be able to be here and take care of my family. They are all self sufficient and could really get by, but I love being able to be home and do what I do. You see it really is all about family!

Getting Creative ~

It seems like whenever I finish creating something I feel the need to rush to the computer and blog about it. A blog is a great place for me to keep a record of what I've done and share with all of my blog readers what I've made. (And I use the word "all" because it sounds better than saying "two or three" blog readers.) So here is my latest creation. This is a mixed media art canvas. I followed a tutorial done by my friend Christy Tomlinson. Her instructions are great and after doing this piece, I can go off on my own and make a Wendy Original. Don't worry, I am sure you'll hear about that one too.

You never know what you'll find ~

I was at a local craft fair a few weeks ago, and there were many of the usual craft fair booths, but tucked in the middle was something amazing. There was a woman that made these amazing Lampwork Beads. I picked up this little set to make a bracelet with. I'm still looking for the right parts to go with it, but I will be sure and post the finished project.

It's amazing what you find ~

While Rod was on his trip this past week, I went on a cleaning/dejunking spree in my craft room. I can't say that I found anything new, because I know all of the treasures that I've stowed away. So I guess I refound things that I had forgotten about. On a huge shelf in the corner, organized neatly in cute pink storage tubs, I rediscovered my cross stitch supplies. It has been more than five years since I've had a stitching project out to work on, so it was so much fun to go through all of the fun fabrics, (I love stitching on linen, mostly small 28 or 32 count fabrics. There are even some 40 count extremely tiny stitched projects), and the gorgeous threads (My kids said they had forgotten how much of this "stuff" I actually had. I think that is a good thing. I have cotton threads dyed in so many gorgeous colors, I used to love to stitch with silk threads, especially Silk 'N Colors from The Thread Gatherer.  It will take awhile to get a collection of them, but they are my most favorite.) and fun patterns and kits from my favorite designers. I have quite a collection so it was probably good that Rod was gone and I could just enjoy the afternoon and not worry about getting dinner. I found a few projects that I pulled out to work on that evening, and a few more lined up for later. Since that first night, I have actually finished a couple of projects and totally rekindled my passion for needlework.

More that just the great supplies you get to work with when you stitch is the time spent stitching. It is such a treat to sit alone with just your thoughts for company. Somehow problems and stresses just seem to go away or are forgotten for awhile. Which is a real treat when life gets so hectic. So if you need me for anything, you just might find me sitting in my favorite chair, under my ott light, with my favorite needle, my hand dyed threads, beautiful fabrics, and a cute scissor fob.

Take a Hike ~

We did it! We took a family hike.  Alex and Michelle have wanted us all to come out and go on a hike up to a waterfall and picnic with them, and we finally found a day that would work for all of us. Here is a picture of Alex and Michelle's house. (So next time you are in Arco and eating Fried Pickles from Pickle's Place you can look across the street and you'll know where they live.)

We went up to the Lower Cedar Spring outside of Mackay. Here is a picture of the whole hiking group. Yes, I hiked too, but someone has to be the photographer.

 You can see that we were quite a diverse group, Grandparents, a teenager, lots of young adults, little girls and a baby boy. Most of the time Sydni rode on someone's shoulders. You can see Kymber up there walking. She also took turns getting piggyback rides.

But for a while she wanted to walk and didn't even want to hold someone's hand. This slowed the pace down quite a bit.  She was totally enjoying the day especially since she loves rocks and dirt.

Kristine has a Photography class this year and was taking pictures all along the way. Can't wait to see her pictures too.

The trail followed along the river, so the whole trail we got to hear the happy babbling brook sounds.

I loved this view of the girls. Yes, I was usually at the end of the line, so this is what I saw most of.

Kaden was such a good little guy. Jen (and everyone else) carried him, so he is getting an early start on enjoying the out of doors.

Break time. Kaden needed a bottle so we all stopped to rest. Actually Alex set a good pace and stopped frequently to tell us interesting stories. This was a good time for Sydni to bring me handfuls of dirt and rocks she found.

 

Thanks to Alex and Michelle for getting us out for such a fun family day.

Island Park Weekend ~

We just got back from a fun family weekend. We were all together up at Island Park. These first few pictures were the first afternoon before everyone got there. We walked over to the river to check it out. Notice how Sydni is pointing to the ground. She was finally happy when her daddy set her down in the dirt. She loves dirt and couldn't wait to taste this new kind. 

Here are a few pictures of our afternoon. This one of Rod and Sydni is a favorite, and so is this one of Kristine and Kymber.

 

Here Rod is pointing out the playground.  More pictures of that too.

 

Sweet little Kaden was a real trooper and enjoyed just hanging out with us.

 

The next morning we all got up and went biking/hiking at Herriman State Park. Rod, Kristine, Alex and Trever all went biking and the rest of us took the kids for a walk. Kymber had her little binoculars and loved hiking. Sydni and Kaden fell asleep and just enjoyed the ride. Kristine did a great job keeping up with the guys. I'm so proud of that girl. They don't always choose the easiest trails and she stayed right with them. You go girl!!

Later we went down and let the girls play in the river. Sydni loved being able to get out and play. She almost wore Kristine out. She'd take a break once in a while and go sit by Rod on the bank. Trever was teaching Jennifer how to fly fish. Later Trever and Alex walked down river and fished some more. It's fun having these boys in our family.

So that is a little peek at our trip. We had lots of yummy food, fun games and made lots of memories. Can't wait to do it again.