Rednecks, Hockey and Snow

Rednecks, here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Canucks

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you may live in Canada.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Canada.

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in Canada

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Canada

If "Vacation" means going anywhere south of Muncie for the weekend, you may live in Canada.

If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Canada

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Canada

If you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again, you may live in Canada

If you can drive 90 kms/hr through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you may live in Canada

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in Canada

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Canada

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you may live in Canada

If the speed limit on the highway is 80km -- you're going 90 and everybody is passing you, you may live in Canada

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you may live in Canada

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you may live in Canada

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you may live in Canada.

If you find 2 degrees "a little chilly", you may live in Canada

If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your Canadian friends & others, you definitely live in Canada

I Finally Finished it!!!

After working on this rug for about a year and a half now I pulled my last loop today! Am I ever doing a happy dance right now! Although I LOVE this rug I was getting a little tired of working on it. Once I get it all bound I will hang it on a wall somewhere at our cottage.

So what's the first thing anyone would do after finishing a project . . . . plan the next one of course!! So below is the next rug I am going to hook. I have all the wool but I do have to wash it up first. This one is a bit smaller than the last one I did so it shouldn't take quite as long.

The last picture I'm posting is a picture of my kids (plus one extra) that I took after we finished decorating our MECCA tree at the Festival of Christmas Magic here in Fredericton. The festival raises money for a foundation that helps underpriveledged kids attend summer camp. My middle son was hanging around the gingerbread houses when a news crew happened to stop my and interviewed him, then they filmed he and his sister putting some decorations on our tree. His first television appearance was on the news later that evening. I of course taped it and have shown it to everyone who stops by.

Catching up

Well it's been awhile since I posted and things sure have been busy around here. With three kids in hockey, one in badminton, one in dance, one in syncronized swimming and one who's girlfriend lives 20 minutes away it doesn't leave a whole lot of time for blogging.

I thought I would include a few pictures of the beds my DH made for the bedrooms at the cottage. Below is one of the boys room . . .

This one is my youngest son's room . . .

And here is the new quilt on my bed. I don't have a bed to set it on yet because my plan to bring in a queen size box spring at a later date didn't work out (it won't fit up the stairs). The kids beds had to be cut in half to get up but you can hardly tell. They aren't completely finished yet, they still have to have the front of the drawers put on and then the hardware. They sure are big heavy buggers though!

Here's something that's been happening alot at my house these days . . . the kids pouring through the Sears Wishbook . . .

Megan recently competed in a Highland Dance competition and finished 3rd in three of her dances.

Today we were hit with a snowstorm and the kids had a ball playing out in the snow. They want to go out again but their clothes are so wet I can't imagine it feeling very good.

On a sad note . . . my oldest DS lost a close friend to a brain aneurism last Sunday. He travelled with him to school every day and is feeling his loss very deeply. He went to his wake and his funeral and shed alot of tears last week.

I haven't had much luck sewing lately (other than sewing name bars on hockey sweaters) but I did get a good start on getting my sewing cubby back to rights. I am working really hard to get a rug finished that I started over a year ago. I have one more quilt to bind and then some more sewing may actually happen.

My new Pentax K10D

Oh it's an exciting day for me! My new camera arrived on my doorstep a couple of hours ago! I can hardly stand to wait for the batteries to charge so I can start using it. That darn red light just won't go out!

When my batteries finally do charge I will take some pictures of the quilts I recently got back from the quilter. I have the binding sewn on one and just about to start handstitching the next one. I 'still' haven't been spending a whole lot of time down in my sewing room but hope to very soon.

My DH and I spent last weekend visiting friends in Ottawa, ON. All the parents pitched in and looked after the kids while we were gone and I don't think they ever ate out so much! lol We had a wonderful time and did lots of relaxing. I never even thought to look up any quilt shops while we were there. We did go to the Senators vs. Bruins game on saturday night and had a good time (although the Bruins lost). The kids were very excited to have us home on monday and even more excited to see that we bought them a Wii while we were there.

Ok . . . they must be done by now! Gotta go and check . . .

Happy Halloween!

The kids all had a great time last night trick or treating and came home with lots of candy. I'm wondering how I'll get them to eat any 'real food' today. Maybe I should just give in and let them eat it all day and hope they get sick of it. Suppose that would happen?? Probably not!


If I had my camera I would show you the three finished quilts I'm sewing the binding on, and I would show you the scarf that I'm knitting, and I would show you a picture of Megan with her 1st, 4th, and 5th medals she won last weekend (in Highland Dancing) but since I don't . . . you'll just have to take my word that they're all quite beautiful! lol

I'm having a real hard time not having a camera at my fingertips. The camera company gave me a quote of over $600 to fix mine so . . . . probably won't go that route! Now I have to think about a new one. When I do get one I'm sure I'll be taking lots of pictures and posting some here.

A few more pictures . . .

Lots of turkey and a wedding

Whew! What a weekend! Two Thanksgiving dinners, a wedding rehearsal and the wedding! Although we're all quite tired today we had a wonderful weekend celebrating and spending time with our families.

My dd was one of the flower girls, my ds was the ring bearer and my other 2 boys were "working the door". The other little kids in the pictures are my nieces and nephews. It was really nice that she included all of the kids in the family.

As promised . . . here are a few pictures from the wedding this weekend. I'm sorry that they're terribly out of order but I haven't figured out how to move them around too much once I have them loaded.


Here's the bride and groom at the reception (another turkey dinner)

My dd at the reception. Pretty fall flowers eh?

Above is my brother and my oldest ds.

Here's the girls during the ceremony. I loved their hair!

My little ring bearer took his job very seriously and did wonderful!

It was a little chilly taking pictures after the ceremony so all the boys gave their jackets to the girls. I was wearing my oldest ds's.

Here we are ready to go into the church.

These are the littlest ones in the wedding party. My three are on the left hand side.

Here's a shot of the boys waiting for their turn for pictures.

This is me and the little ones at my dad's place before the wedding.

Here are the girls in my dad's bathroom all dressed and looking very beautiful!

Happy Birthday!

My dh finally caught up to me! We celebrated dh's 40th birthday last evening (I'm a tad bit older but who's counting?). We had about 30 people over to help us celebrate but before the guests arrived we had a little family celebration with cupcakes (that the kids decorated) and a few presents. Unfortunately my oldest ds was at a concert and wasn't in the picture.

I've been doing pretty well trying to catch up with my House & Home quilt and my Hometown Christmas quilt but I was pretty busy this week and didn't get too much done the last few days. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures soon!

Harvest Table Runner (in progress)

Well I finally did it! I dug out my sewing machine after neglecting it since at least June. I signed up for a class to make a fall table runner and after dropping off all the kids at school this morning I drove over to my lqs to rev up my machine. There was lots of prep work of cutting, ironing on, more cutting, putting little pie

ces together like a jigsaw puzzle and then finally ironing on the fusible bias. Well by then the class was over and I had to head home before the kids showed up. My poor machine didn't even get the power cord hooked up! boo-hoo!

But anyway I was happy with the results and now I get to do the same thing all over on the opposite end. And then maybe I can start it up! I learned some new things today and I'm really glad I took the class. Here's a picture of one end of the runner with some of the black bias tape ironed on. I still have lots of tape to iron on around all the little squares but I was assured it's a piece of cake to do after all the curves in the pumpkin.

So now that I know I can still properly handle a rotary cutter, ruler and all that stuff I will . . . for real . . . get on with my Hometown Christmas.

My Friend Kairle

I'm sitting here drinking a Diet Coke thinking of my good friend Kairle who came to visit me for a few days. I drove her to the airport VERY early this morning and I know I speak for my kids and myself that we all miss her already! We had a good visit with each other and didn't do too many exciting things but we did a fair amount of gabbing! I hope she enjoyed her visit with us as much as we enjoyed having her here. I hope to see her again in the not too distant future.

My kids also really enjoyed having here here and my dd had a few tears last night when she realized she would be on her way home by the time she woke up. I think I can feel another trip to Utah coming on sometime in the future.

She brought our family a new card game and they instantly became addicted. I think I'll be a pro at 'Set' before too long! lol My son also learned a new card trick that he just HAD to show his siblings before school this morning. He 'promised' them another viewing after school.

After talking about quilting and visiting a few quilt shops I'm all revved up and ready to dust my sewing maching off and get going on my Hometown Christmas. I have a little done but need to get going and finish up a little more before the 15th.

First Day of School

Well after panicking this morning that we wouldn't be ready in time . . . the kids had enough time to make it to the front step for their annual first day of school photo before we had to leave.

Then it was off to Starbucks for my morning out with a girlfriend. She talked me into trying this fancy caramel drink and I thoroughly enjoyed every sip of it! Uh oh . . . . she may have started something!!

The fun couldn't last all day as I had to get to the grocery store and get the mother load. At least I can now send the kids to school tomorrow with a proper lunch. can't wait to get my sewing machine out and get started sewing again but will probably have to wait a few more days. The laundry room is now calling my name.

My DH ended up spending several hours in emerg last night waiting to get his finger stitched up. He was working on the shingles on our cottage when he cut his finger quite badly with an exacto knife. The shingles are looking good though . . . (for the life of me I can't get a picture to appear here . . . every time I try it goes right to the top of the page . . . if anyone can help me please do!)

Back to school!!

Well this is my first post on my last day of summer vacation. Well the kids vacation that is . . . mine starts tomorrow once I get them all to school. I can finally dig out my sewing machine and get it all warmed up for my Hometown Christmas quilt that I will be working on. Oh and if you haven't noticed . . . this is my first blog! I have enjoyed reading my friends so much that I thought I might join in on all the fun. We'll see how I do!

Tomorrow I may have more time to get straight on this blogging thing so be patient with me!