Raking it up....

Hello Friends.....now this post is about the awards that my kids got at Honor's Day today. I'm not one to brag, in fact I try on all counts to avoid it, because who likes a braggart? But I'm going to brag away today, and its not bragging about myself its about my kids...so does that give me a little leeway? I hope so.

Starting the show ...... is dear Katie. She just completed the 5th grade. This child is exceptionally bright, but not only that, she is the most motivated child. She honestly strives to beat herself each grading period, get higher grades, get the best scores in the class ....well it shows because this is what she came home with: Citizenship Award (for being a "good citizen" to her classmates and teachers), Perfect Attendance (never missed a day), Chess Club Participant, Student Council Participant, School Spelling Bee Participant, Music Excellence Award, The President's Physical Education Award for her attitude in Physical Education and last but not least (and the one her mother wanted to jump and shout YES! to) was: Katie was the ONLY child in all of the 5th grade classes to be on the "All A Honor Roll" for the entire year - her lowest grade of the year - one A minus that she received last grading period in Social Studies (which she looked at me (at the time) and said - "who needs social studies" but she raised it this grading period to a A+! LOL!). Here she is with her haul:

Next up.....Mr. Ian....he is also a bright, intelligent former 3rd grader, however he doesn't have the "aspirations" of his sister. He wants good grades, but he doesn't necessarily want to work that hard at getting them. He does his work faithfully, turns in his assignments on time...is a good student all around. He received: Citizenship Award for being a "good citizen" to his friends and teachers, Perfect Attendance (no missed days), Chess Club Participant, "BEST Sibling Story Teller" Award (this was a "fun" award presented to him in class by his teacher) and last but certainly not least he received the A/B Honor Roll Award for never getting a grade lower than a B for the entire year! And here he is with his haul:

Next..... on the list is Master Jake. This young fellow has had a lot of struggles in his school years. I've never shared this on the blog, but Jake has ADHD. We (his Daddy and I) fought medicating him for the past 2 years. Finally this year it was apparent after we tried everything from diet changes to strict scheduling of our day...that we needed help. We got him tested and evaluated it came back that in fact he does has ADHD, but the Doctor thought that it was a "light" case and that he just needed a little bit of help in the form of medicine to help him concentrate. He has been on medication since this past February and it has been miraculous...but his hard work and his dedication to see things through even from the beginning of the year led him to receive an arm load of awards too! Jake earned: Perfect Attendance (no days missed), Citizenship Award for being a "good citizen" to his teachers and friends, The Responsibility Award (for having ZERO missed homework assignments), Chess Club Participant and last but certainly not least Jake also was on the A/B Honor Roll for the entire year...his lowest grade: B+ (ONCE!).

Ellie..... was given an elephant because she "volunteers" at the school (every time her mother does) so they "awarded" her with an "Ellie the Elephant" award for her Good Volunteerism :) And here she is displaying her award (under her arm):

Lastly..... Mama Pfeiffer received her Certificate of Appreciation today for her volunteering efforts at the school. Very nice that they did this for the parent volunteers.

I know that this has been a blog with a bunch of hot air....and it will be back to the basics from here on, but we dearly love these dear children of ours and I am proud to my core of them! We have been greatly blessed with these precious little lives and although there is many a day that I can't wait to lay my head on my pillow....the joy they bring me...is beyond words. I guess I can safely say that the 2008-2009 school year was successful! Thank you for listening to me prattle on.... :) Over and out...

Little House's State Fair Framed!

Good 'day Friends :) Today IS a good day because it is the last day of school for the Pfeiffer kids! ALLELUIA! A much needed break is in the forecast for calm and cool days, with nothing but fun, laughter and smiles predicted for the forseeable future. I love this time of year because not only do we all need to slow down, but it is an ending for a new beginning in the fall...summer is sort of the caterpillar stage in the cycle, we have fun in the sun crawling around, lazing the days away.... and in the fall we'll coccoon ourselves in school to grow our minds and emerge in the spring a fully formed butterfly to lay our eggs and start the cycle over. Always changing, always cycling. . . always living! Deep thoughts by Tim Handy..... (remember that on Saturday Night Live) LOL!

On the stitching front......I had some custom frames made for my State Fair and here it is:

"State Fair"

Designer: Little House Needleworks ~ Diane Williams

Fabric: 28 ct. evenweave coffee/tea bake and basted by moi

Fibers: DMC

Now.... it's hanging in a place of honor in my kitchen....I LOVE IT!

Thank you...... for your kind comments on my Pie Safe. I love it too...there is no greater pleasure I get in life than making my house a home. I don't need to travel or seek solitude anywhere else in life or in the world, as long as I always have my home to shelter me. I'm on vacation every day inside its comforting walls :)

Off to stitch..... for a few minutes before I go to my children's school to attend the awards ceremony today during Honor Day....I have HIGH hopes for the Pfeiffer kids ;)

Until next time my dear friends..... love and best wishes - as you count your blessings and your stitches - from our house to yours! XXxxxx

God's Fingers can touch nothing

but to mold it into loveliness.

~~George MacDonald~~

My Pie Safe...

Top of the mornin' to you dear readers! After 4 days of exhausting work....here's my Pie Safe:




It's not perfect, it's not dry (it has been like monsoon season here in Indiana) but it's getting there. The stripping happened Friday (all day - I started early) and Saturday (after work). Sunday it was sanding and staining. Yesterday it was sanding to give primitive antique look, Tung Oiling and drying. After being outside, and it still being REALLY tacky...we decided to bring it inside, that outside was too humid. It's still a bit tacky, so I can't decorate it, place it in final position (right up next to the wall), fill it or anything yet. But this is how it looks. All the blue paint basically came off, but I think when the previous owner painted it blue - the wood was so dry that it just sucked it up. But it sort of gives it a rustic primitive look that I like. One thing is - it looks a darn sight better than it did. Honestly, it does.

Thanks for visiting me today - more to come later in the week - I've been busy stitching, framing and sewing! If my blasted allergies would calm down, I'd be darn near in perfect condition, however after 38 years of living in the pollen capital - apparently my years of being allergen free has caught up with me. I'm a mess!

Until next time..... love and best wishes, as you count your blessings and stitches, from our house to yours! XXxxxx

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!"

Prairie Schooler Angel Ornament for Amy...

TGIF FRIENDS!!! And it's a loooooong holiday weekend to boot, eh?! That makes today all the sweeter, doesn't it? Like a big bowl of strawberries with a cup or two of sugar on them and a package of Splenda to sweeten the deal ;) I work this weekend, but I'm off on Monday, so I thank God for little pleasures. On Monday I will begin in earnest my stripping of the Pie Safe. Thanks for all the nice comments everyone made about the pie safe, I was honestly shocked that a few people said they liked it painted. So I went back and looked at the pictures and to be honest it doesn't look as good in real life as the pictures show it to look. It will be MUCH better stripped. If the wood doesn't turn out to be in good shape, I'm knocking the idea around of milkpaints. We'll see....

On to STITCHING XXX...... there are two more rounds left to our year long ornament swap and this round's recipient is AmySC. Amy is a really dear, good buddy of mine and I wanted to stitch something special for her. So I started something and it wasn't any good. So I went nosing around through my charts and I came up with the Prairie Schooler Angels....Amy likes angels, Amy likes Prairie Schooler....so how could I go wrong? Especially when they turn out like this:

Prairie Schooler - Booklet #42 - "Angels"
Stitched on: 32 ct. Black Lugana

Stitched using: DMC

Finished as: Flat Ornament with Twisted Cording

Stitched for: my friend AmySC

This chart was published in 1993..... and I sort of laugh when I think back on that year and when I got the chart. It came out in the "fall" release batch so that would have been August or September, I had just finished Medical Technology School which was the 5th year in college (I had graduated with a B.S. in Microbiology in 1992 - to work in a Clinical Laboratory (during that time in the US) - you had to go through Medical Technology School) So I had finished my year doing that as graduate studies. So in short, I hadn't stitched for at least 5 years - I just had passed my licensure exam - and decided I was going to pick stitching back up. I was on a spending spree - I was done with school, I had a job paying more money then I'd ever made in my lifetime. I was 23...life was GOOD! So I went in search of a kit...that's all I had ever stitched was Dimension Kits....and found out that you could buy charts! WOW and get your own floss...WHOA! So this was basically my first chart ever purchased...ah memories.....

But the clinker...... is that I never stitched a one of these beauties - Yes, I had the floss. Had the fabric. But a couple of days later - I saw "Amid Amish Life" and that was it. SUNK...I started stitching that and it took me like 2 years to finish. I wasn't a very prolific stitcher in those days.

So all that hot air to say one thing......As I was stitching this I watched it literally come to life before my eyes. I thought they were "ok" on the chart picture...but as I stitched it, it kept on getting more beautiful and more beautiful. By the time I was done....I was in love *again* - my heart is fickle :) I will DEFINITELY be stitching these again....pictures do not do justice. ENJOY Amy! I know you will give her a good home and the perfect spot on your Christmas tree!

Monday serves..... as a day of remembrance to all the lost commrades of war. All those that loved and have loyally and faithfully served and defended our country. My grandfather, Ben Weber, served our country during World War II, he returned home and led a long and happy life. My brother Jeremy Epperson served our country as a Marine for eight years. He still is with us, thank God...but yet I saw him faithfully serve. My hats off to all those that have served and are serving our country. Thank you! I would not know the freedom nor the happiness in this great country had it not been for those loyal servants through the years.

Monday also .... is a day where all lost loved ones are honored, it is especially hard because just three short months ago we lost another Ben Weber. He and all our loved ones shall be remembered on Monday....May his soul and all the souls of the faithfully departed, by the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Until next time my loyal and faithful readers, Love and Best Wishes, as you count your blessings and your stitches, from our house to yours! XXxxxx

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

The Twisted Trader...

I'm in a cleaning frenzy....
I have some duplicate charts and charts that I know I'll never stitch....cash or trade. Some good buys...HERE

Thanks!

Garage Sale Find...

Howdy Do Friends! I had to share with you my Garage Sale "find"...now let me set up the story...

Our friends (and neighbors) are moving. . . . they were having a garage sale, I saw this big ceramic Santa Claus and finally broke down and walked across the yard to see if I could just take it off their hands :) While I was there - in a dark corner of their garage - I saw this big blue hulking thing....I looked closer and saw it was a pie safe. I kiddingly said, "You're not going to sell that are you?" And my friend said, "yes..." I said, (at the top of my lungs) "DON'T SELL IT! UNLESS IT IS TO ME!" She made a sold sign and told me she had to talk to her husband to ask what they wanted for it.

That evening they brought it over to my house and told me it was mine (FREE!) because I was such a good friend to them. Wasn't that NICE!? There are truly special people in this world!

Now here's the pictures - now I realize that it is BUTT FUGLEY because of that blue paint (what was she thinking to paint even the tins?) but here it is (excuse the messy garage pictures):

Ok, so here's the deal...I figure from the grain of the wood on the inside - it is Yellow Poplar because it was from her great-grandmother's farm in Milan, Indiana - she found it in a barn years ago. Yellow Poplar is indigenous in Indiana and would be locally available and plentiful. There were mice nests all through it apparently - put it is in really, really good condition. It is about 5 1/2 feet tall!!! (I'm 5' 9" and it comes up to my nose...) It is the original punched tin - although that's gonna take some real work to get the paint out of all those holes :o( My friend figures it is over 150 years old. I figure it is too, to be honest, from the workmanship and the nail heads. It is gorgeous. If I can return it to it's original wood finish...OH MY! Now there's some rusting damage to one of the tins on the side, but to be honest, that just makes it more dear to me. I have visions my pretties...visions of penny rugs, quilts and my Uhl crock (another Indiana treasure!!) all adorning my lovely pie safe in my entry way. THIS shall be my big summer adventure! To return this gorgeous piece to the beauty it once was.....

The saga shall begin in earnest soon....I don't want to strip it because that will bring up the grain...since it is yellow poplar that is a soft wood. So it will have to be stripped using heat....like I said...FUN...shall ensue! But what a treasure!!!! An heirloom to be proud of!

Thank YOU for your visits and friendships ;) Until next time: Love and Best Wishes, as your count your blessings and your stitches, from our house to yours! XXxxxx

Friendship is sharing openly,

laughing often,

trusting always, caring deeply.

~~Author Unknown~~

Caved...

Hello Stitching Buddies and Friends! Long time, no post, huh?! I've been a bit under the weather. I've had the Respiratory Flu and I'm still in the fog a little bit, but I think I'm clawing my way up the other side of the pit.

Well I caved......I couldn't stand putting the Bee Man in the box and waiting to frame it, so I took a coupon and went on over to Hobby Lobby Frame shop and purchased a custom frame - it came in today, so I went and picked up that bad boy and framed it up....I'm in love......

In The Bee Man's Garden

by: The Goode Huswife

Stitched on: 40 ct. Purely Primitive Silkweaver Newcastle Linen

using DMC fibers

Aren't you?! I can't WAIT to stitch something else from this series....I wish I had more hours in the day....Well my friends and buddies....not much stitching has been going on around here due to illness and mind fuzziness, not to mention - softball games, baseball games, band concerts, teacher luncheons, need I go on?....but I have a few secret exchanges coming up soon that I've been working on, so hopefully I'll be able to come back real soon and give you a looksie at those :o) But this is all I have for you today...

So Until Next time.....Love and best wishes, as you count your blessings and your stitches, from our house to yours! XXxxxx

Unhappines does not neccessarily

come from not having this or that.

If we have each other, we have everything.

~~Mother Teresa~~

A Shout Out...

....to all the Mother's on this Mother's Day Weekend in the USA. May your Mother's day be filled with sunshine and smiles and may you be surrounded by those that love and care for you!

Lots of wise people have had wonderful quotes about Mothers and Motherhood in general and I'd like to share with you, a couple of my favorite like:

Ralph Waldo Emmerson when he said:

"Men are what their mothers made them."

Erich Fromm summed up my feelings magnificently when he wrote:

"The Mother-child relationship is paradoxical and, in a sense, tragic. It requires the most intense love on the mother's side, yet this very love must help the child grow away from the mother and to become fully independent."

Or Lin Yutang summing it up perfectly by saying:
"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother."

And George Washington's thoughts and memory of his mother may bring tears to your eyes:

"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her."

Anne Marro Lindbergh hit the nail on the head when she said:

"By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class."

To which I stand up and shout! AMEN ANNE!

But my most favored quotes of all come from a man I've studied about, read about and have admired my entire life. Here are a few quotes from Abraham Lincoln on his mother

Nancy Hanks Lincoln:

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life."

"All I am, or can be, I owe to my angel Mother."

My only hope is that my own children, someday, will view me as Abe viewed his own Mother.

So for Mother's Day, I will be working, but I am hopeful that people are well and healthy and it will be an easy weekend because the Discovery Channel has given me a gift of the most gigantic of proportions! I was thrilled, literally over the moon to find out that the Discovery Channel is hosting a Mother's Day Marathon of the "Deadliest Catch"!!! Oh yeah....what is better than to spend the day with:

Capt'n Phil of the Corneila Marie

Edgar of the Northwestern

and Edgar's brother - Capt'n Sig of the Northwestern

(who has his own line of fish stitcks which you can purchase at YOUR local grocery store! Very nicely done Sig....lightly battered, crunchy goodness!)

Capt'n Keith of the Wizard

The Captains and Brothers - Jonathon and Andy of the Time Bandit

I tell you what....*ALL* these guys float my boat! I've been a loyal viewer of the Deadliest Catch from the first season! And who can resist the blue eyes of Capt'n Phil, or Sig and his Macho-ness, or Edgar that lovable guy, Keith...well I love him just because he reminds me of my own Keith, and finally Jonathon and Andy...well let's just say - Jonathon can captain my ship any day (I picked this up from a comment someone left him on Discovery! believe me I'm not that original.) Anyway.....I love them all and that's a pretty doggone good day to have a Mother's Day Deadliest Catch Marathon....all I can say is Ship Ahoy Buckaroos! Yank out that gangplank and bring on the chips and dip ~ Mama's watchin' Deadliest Catch ;) That was my best interpretation of modern pirate talk....

So In closing....to all the Mother's that may visit my humble blog - may you have the best Mother's Day ever!

>And as always, until next time....love and best wishes, as you count your blessings and your stitches, from our house to yours! XXxxxx

I'm a winner....

Do you think.....I'll start to believe that if I keep telling myself that?! LOL! I'm in a bit of an "emotional funk" of late. But I *really* AM a winner because I won this spectacularly stitched and finished pinkeep from sweet Angela and it arrived yesterday. Words that I try to live by ~ Thank you Angela! I love it!

Pinkeep from Angela

In a couple of groups that I'm in......the topic of "how do you store your floss/fabric" or "how do you organize your stitching items" and I thought I'd just take a picture of how I do it. I purchased drawer towers from Walmart ($16.00), they have casters so they roll....I have one for fabric and one for my flosses:

These DMC skeins are organized in ziplock bags according to numbers (100's, 200's,etc all together) these are just my "extra" ones for when I run out in my Spool Chest (about 1/2 down). I purchase a handfull every time they go on sale (4 for a dollar). See there is a handfull in the corner ready for me to put in their bags :)

Here's my Crescent Colours drawer Silks on left and cottons on the right:

Here's my WDW and GAST drawer:

Here's my friend, I made him a bed in the window so that he's comfortable while I'm working:

Here's where I finish - this is just our basement, and it is unfinished for the most part....but it has nice light and I can spread out and do what I want ;)

And here is two patterns that I'm wanting to start - like yesterday.... ;) if only I had time....Thank you to Lizzy and Cathy B for helping a sister out!

Now...what else? Hmmmm....a very nice lady that has become a friend of mine started a blog. Her name is Beth and her blog name is: Cross Stitch in the Garden . Beth happens to be the designer of Fanci That! Pop on over and give her a welcome, she's a dear!

The kiddos...... have just arrived home, and the evening commences all too soon. I'm planning on fixing supper, cleaning that up and hopefully sitting on my tooshie for the evening and stitching....let's hope I can!

So until next time....love and best wishes, as you count your blessings and your stitches, from our house to yours! XXxxx

This one struck a cord today with me, I hope it strikes one with you...

"There isn't much that I can do, but I can share my hopes with you, and I can share my fears with you, and sometimes shed some tears with you, as on our way we go." ~Author Unknown