HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Before the night gets away from me I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Today is the last day of the year and a time for memories and some new plans for 2009.

This year was defintely different. My hubby went from working daily to maybe working weekly due to the economy and the downfall in the construction industry. But that is ok because we made it thru the year and that is all that matters. My girls had a good year and that is GREAT. Their grades are up and one is working and paying on her truck so all is good there. I have a good job and I hope to keep it for a while.

We are very blessed. We have clothes to wear, food to eat, a home to give us shelter, dogs and a cat who think we are wonderful, job to help pay for our needs and wants, and friends who make it all worthwhile and our families.

I hope we can continue this in the coming year and remember how much we have to be thankful for. I know its not Thanksgiving but the new year does make you thankful for what you have.

I don't make resolutions anymore because I can never keep them. I make simple plans and ideas that I would like to carry out throughout the year. This plan has served me well in years past. This is going to be the year of cleaning. I am not going to kill myself cleaning my house but I do want to make it a little more presentable and not so dumpy. I work many hours and don't feel like cleaning when the weekends come around. So this year I am going to use the FlyLady techniques I learned years ago. Do something for 15 mins at a time. If you set a timer for 15 mins and just work you can't imagine how much you can do in that time frame. Try it and let me know what you think.

Have a wonderful New Year celebration tonight. My children and I will be staying up and eating and playing games and waiting to ring in the new year. Not sure if my husband will be staying up or not but that is ok. The dogs will since we will have food....LOL

Hugs and happiness to you all!

Marie

Cleaning up (finally LOL)

Today I started cleaning out the house. Now I am not talking steady cleaning until something is really clean....LOL....that isn't my style. I cleaned out the foyer. I had this holder thingy leftover from one of the girls rooms. They used it to store their beanie babies. So I cleaned it out and its in the back of my car. I also got rid of the junk that was on the holder thingy! So now the foyer almost looks normal. I still have some boxes in there but I am getting ready to ship out some quilts and other things so they will be gone in another day or so.

The girls have been cleaning out their rooms for a while and the stuff was piled in the hallway upstairs. So today I started bringing some of the stuff down and putting it in the car. I know you are probably saying to yourself, Why doesn't she have the girls help her? Good question but I like to see what they are getting rid of. Not all the stuff needs to go to the Goodwill store. In their baby clothes for their dolls I found some of their baby clothes that they played with. Those need to get cleaned and kept for their little ones someday. I just kept a few things but I can't get rid of them. It's slowly getting done and all the stuff upstairs won't fit in my car anyway. I think it will take me a while to get it all to Goodwill but that is ok.

My goal for '09 is to also finish the house. I asked Dave to put the motor home in the driveway tomorrow and take off the door to our bathroom closet. That way I can stain it and it will be done. When we moved in 8 years ago the crazy inspector said we had to have the doors on all the closets even if they weren't finished. So now that I am not too busy with school and everything else I am going to start doing a little on the house too. Starting with the 3 doors that need staining. I am hoping to get these done before January is over. That is a reasonable goal to reach.

That is my only resolution for '09. To get the house cleaned up and straightened out and organzied. Plus get some sewing and fun stuff done for me too!! LOL

So what are your plans for '09??

Marie

The Day After...

I hope everyone had a great Christmas yesterday. We slept in and that was a nice feeling. I actually had to wake up the 17 year old so we could unwrap the gifts. LOL That was a first ..I remember when they used to wake us up. The rule in our house is that you have to wait until everyone is up and we have eaten something before we can open presents. Well that was easy to do this year. Hee Hee!!

Carol handed out all the gifts and we opened them. It was fun and the dogs had the best time. They loved their cookies and got to eat them right away....they also open their own presents and if they weren't too busy eating their cookies they would help open ours!

Everyone loved their gifts and I started cooking right away with my new pots and pans. I know that is a strange gift but I really need new ones and was thrilled to get them!

Santa brought us the new Monopoly game without money but with the debit cards! WOW! It is so cool. We stopped playing and then started again a few hours later and the machine remembered how much money we had. We stopped for the night and recorded what properties we had and where we were on the board. If we get home early tonight from dinner we will finish the game. I don't think I have ever finished a monopoly game before. We now have 4 versions of it, the original game that my parents bought me a thousand years ago, the here and now version with the millions of money, the dog version of it, (really cool to play) and the here and now world version with the debit cards....I think we are starting a trend to get all the monopoly games we can find. I am still looking for the peanuts version....LOL

We also played Don't Forget the Lyrics. That is a riot because all the songs are oldies and some are really oldies and my girls don't know that many of them. So they got mad at me because I knew the words to the songs. But they knew some too and it was great watching them try and remember the words. We like playing games but its only the 3 of us, dave doesn't play the games with us.

Tonight we are going to dinner at a friends house from high school. I am looking forward to seeing her and her family. It's been a very long time since we have seen each other.

Hope you all had a great holiday.

Marie

Two days before Christamas!

Well I finally finished my Christmas shopping today. Now I have to make some cookies. I am only making peanut butter and Chocolate Chip cookies. I will do those tomorrow morning while I am wrapping the final gifts.

We are all still sick here. I am going to church tomorrow night but it might just be me that goes. I don't think hubby will go since he is sicker then the rest of us and needs his rest. I might be able to get my daughter Carol to go but not sure. Desirae will be working so she won't be able to go.

We were to see my new nephew today and my sister in law but with us being sick we are just staying home. We did take the dogs out to Petco this morning to get thier gifts. They got to smell everything and got lots of treats from the manager. He has 3 shepards at home so he loved gretchen and then who can't love daisy who gives tonz of kisses to everyone.

We got home and made lunch and couldn't find daisy. We thought she was in the back yard but couldn't find her. Looked upstairs and no luck there either. I went out the front door and there she was in my neighbor's yard sniffing around. Not fun at all. Seems the back gate was blown open by the wind and she took off. I opened the car door and she came running across the street right into the car. Then I grabbed her and we walked into the house together. I then took a clothes line from the motor home and tied the gate door shut. Not a perfect job but it won't blow open again and she won't escape.

If you go see the movie Marley and Me this season that is pretty much my labrador. She wasn't as bad as he was as a puppy but she came awful close. She loves rides in the car and if the window is open and you don't hang on to her she will walk or more likely run faster then the car can go. She is something else.

That is about all our news from here. Of course hubby is sick so he has had work the last two days. I don't think he will work tomorrow but he might for a half day. I hope he stays home and gets the rest he needs.

I hope you all have a great Christmas. We are going to be quiet this year. Nothing going on...just chilling at home and trying to get better faster.


Marie

Sick Days!

Good Evening all!!

I have been sick for the last two days. I hope now that I am on Winter Break I can post more. Last night my temp hit 100 and I took my trusty old Nyquil and went to bed at 8:30pm!! I never go to bed that early but it felt great. I am going to bed early tonight too but not that early.

Today was the last day of school and I didn't want to miss it. I will post more this weekend. I still have to do my Christmas shopping. I haven't started yet!

Hugs,

Marie

Christmas Traditions

Hi Everyone, I didn't realize I haven't posted in a while. It's been a nutty place at school. The kindergarten classes are performing next week and we have been practicing every afternoon for 45 minutes. The kids are singing, Jingle Bell Rock, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Up on the Housetop, Feliz Navidad, and We wish you a Merry Christmas. There are also hand motions that go along with it. Today's practice was great. The kids are really learning the words and the hand motions. In between the songs are poems that some of the kinder kids are reading and they are just too cute for words!

Tonight our 5th grade choir sang the same program and they did a great job. It was at the local Barnes and Noble store so my daughter and I went. We also had dinner at McDonalds as that was a fund raiser for our school. So we had to eat fast and get to the book store. These 5th graders are very special to me because they were the first class I ever taught. They opened our school 4 years ago and were my second graders. I love these kids. They are so grown up and I can't believe they are going to middle school next year. They did a wonderful job. Of course we couldn't leave without buying books. I didn't see anything I liked but Carol was able to find 5. I am sure she would have liked more but I had to keep her on my budget! She is trying to read one now but I am watching Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

I love watching these old shows. I remember watching them every year on TV as a child in my PJ's. And having to go to bed when they were over. Remember about 10 years ago they even quit showing them on TV for some reason. My kids were little then and I remember telling them about these shows. Then they finally started showing them and I would watch them every year without fail. Then they started coming out on VHS and DVD and I have them all. It's just not Christmas until they show them on TV and even though I have them on DVD it's much more special when they are on TV. I feel the same way about White Christmas. They don't always show that one so I bought it and now have 2 copies of it, (VHS and DVD). I never heard of or watched It's a Wonderful Life until I met my husband. We used to watch it after Thanksgiving each year (with the kids) and then it disappeared from the TV. I finally found it and bought it for my husband. So now when it's not on TV we can watch it whenever we want to.

I know I might offend some folks here and I don't mean to but we can't stand to watch The Christmas Story. I have never understood what was so great about that show. Can someone tell me? I think some really great new shows have come out over the year. I like watching Ebbie with Susan Lucci and A Mom for Christmas with Olivia Newton-John and the movie with Dolly Parton and Lee Majors....I can't remember the name but my daughter has those DVD's....oh yeah the other one I like is with Mimi Rogers, the Christmas List....GREAT!!!!

ok time to get back to sewing. I got some work in and that is another reason for not posting. I will be posting more this weekend. One more week of school and then we are off for two weeks. Can't wait!!!

Marie

Face? Space? Blog?

Ok So what is the difference between facebook? myspace? and blogspot? Isn't the main reason people have these items to keep up with folks? I like this one because it's easy and fun to use and change around...

A friend asked me to join facebook and I did but I have no idea what that is all about...and I can barely remember to add stuff here let alone at another location....HaHa! So I am just going to stick with what I know and here I am.

We have a fire going tonight. I know you are thinking we are nuts to have a fire in Florida but the temps are really going down tonight ....into the 40's and that is cold. I am so sure that one year we are going to get snow again...its just a matter of time...we have had cooler weather since right before Thanksgiving and I know its going to happen soon. The temps will warm up for a few days and then turn cold again.

I have Christmas songs running through my head already. As I have mentioned before I teach kindergarten and we are practicing every day for our Holiday concert. The kids are singing 5 songs and learning the hand motions that go along with them. We practice for about 40 mins a day and also have the music playing in the morning and during the day while they are working on other projects like coloring. They are learning the words to the songs but now we are working on the hand motions....When they get it all together (all 147 of them) they are really cute to see. They are performing this on 17 and 19 December during the day so their parents can come. Should be interesting.

I finished another older cross stitch project last night. It was a birthday bear that I bought someone for a gift but have no idea who it was for. And now I am not sure what I am going to do with it either. But right now it's on the cutting table waiting for a frame.

Well I have some school work to do and maybe some sewing. Not really sure. But at 8pm I am going to be watching Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I have it on DVD but its more special to watch when it comes on TV!! I love those old shows and watch all of them. I have already seen the cartoon version of the Grinch 3 times. I love it...not the movie the original...can't beat it!!

Marie P.S. Here is another part of my village. This was from my mom's village. It's the honeymoon cottage. I just love it. Hope you do to!!

OK I took my camera to work today and got pictures of my bulletin board. I think this is the best idea I have ever had. The kids loved doing it and it came out so cute. My daughter Carol drew the gingerbread house in the upper corner and colored it using construction paper. She is wonderful and a great artist!

The background is covered in tin foil and the kids wrote sentences about the story then colored the gingerbread man. The main hallway in our school is the kindergarten hallway and it's through this hallway that all the visitors pass so it must look good. I try and show the student's best work. This is the first time they wrote sentences and I am so proud of them. When they first came to me some didn't even know if they were left or right handed! Tell me what you think??

The words say "You can't catch us...

We're the gingerbread class!"

This is the great house my daughter made for me!

Till Tomorrow!!!

Marie

a busy Friday!

I got lots to share today. Not sure if I can get everything in here in one post but if I can't I will finish it tomorrow night. First, I finished a cross stitch project that I have been working on forever. Here is a picture of it. Now all I have to do is get a frame for it. I will get that the next time I am in Joann's. I know it's not a quilt UFO but it's good to get something else done.

After we went shopping for a while we came home and set up the decorations. Here is a picture of our fireplace. We put up a stocking for all the people that live here (4), the older kids out on their own (2), and the dogs (2) and Desirae's new boyfriend (1). Here is how it looks!! I love it. We didn't have a fireplace up north and I just love how it looks. Of course our temps will be dropping this week and then the stuff on the hearth will come off and we will have a fire going...the dogs love laying in front of it.... :)

While I was growing up we always had a village at Christmas time under the tree. We had houses, people, cars and ice skaters and of course our nativity set. As the years passed the houses and items started falling apart. When we moved to Florida my mom started working with plastic canvas and made a whole new village for her and also for me. She made me a gingerbread village and I just love it. I am posting some pictures of the villages and also some of the gorgeous handmade ornaments we put on the tree. We used to put up 3 trees but with the dogs we only do one now. The great part is that I had enough ornaments for them all!!!

These are ornaments my mom made many years ago. The circle one is a tuna can. I just love it. She designed some of these on her own and some were kits but it's been so long I can't remember which ones are which. But they are beautiful aren't they?

OK I will post more tomorrow. I am going to take my camera to work and get a picture of the bulletin board and will post that too!!

Happy Holidays!!

Marie

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I want to take this time to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope you are spending the day with family and friends.

Today my daughters and I woke up at 830am and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I just love watching it and we have been doing this since they were little kids. We have a blast doing it too. Of course the turkey was in the oven cooking and was smelling sooo yummy we were getting hungry.

While we were watching it I was crocheting a scarf for my younger daughter Carol. She bought this great yarn and it's been challenging to work with but it's coming out so great.....I know she will like it. I am going to fnish it early so it will be an early Christmas present.

We ate early today so my older daughter Desirae could eat with us before she goes to work. It was nice being together. It was just the 4 of us and the dogs. A very quiet day, but we managed to eat plenty!!! And now we are waiting to eat our pies but I think that will come much later tonight!

Daisy our labrador is in my room as I type this waiting to eat dinner. Mind you, she and Gretchen (the german shepard) have already sampled the turkey we had and now they are wanting their dinners. And the cat is waiting too!!

I finished another project last night while watching TV. It was a cross stitch that I had been working on for about 3 years. It feels good to finish something. Now I have to find a frame for it so I can hang it up in the house.

We have 5 days off from school for the holiday and it feels good to get some rest. We have been really busy at work. I had to get my bullentin board done in the hallway and it is awesome. My daughter Carol, the artist, drew me a beautiful gingerbread house. She used construction paper to "color" it and then I laminated it at school. I read the Gingerbread Man, the Gingerbread Baby, and the Gingerbread Boy to the kids at school. Then I had the kids color a Gingerbread Man and they wrote sentences. We covered the bulletin board in tin foil so the gingerbread men looked like they were coming out of the oven. When I go back to school I will take my camera and take a picture and post it here on Monday night. It's really cute. I love how it came out.

I am going to spend the rest of the night working on a mitten wall hanging and keep working on the scarf!!

Have great night!!

Marie

Quilt Retreat Weekend

WOW!!! I had fun this weekend. I belong to the Stashbusters group and this was the weekend for the at home retreat. The object is to do as much quilting as you can. I started the day making the backings for 3 quilt tops that I assembled this weekend using leftover blocks. Years ago I belonged to AOL and joined every block swap there was. I have so many blocks. I made most of them into quilts for the house but I can only use so many quilts living in Florida. So most of the quilts I make I donate either to the Breast Cancer Society or the Quilts of Valor. I finished 4 tops using blocks that were left over from swaps and who knows where some of them came from. I also used fabric from my stash to make the backings. And I used strips and squares left over from other projects to assemble the tops.

They are about lap size quilts and I loved working on them. I have another one on the design wall but I am done for tonight. I found 3 blocks that had parts ironed on and now I am going to satin stitch them down before they go into a quilt. Then I am going to be making more baby booties. There is a place in South Dakota who needs help with all sorts of items to help their citizens get through those rough winters. Here is the link http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/projects/Sewing_Supplies_for_the_Kateri_Circle_Sewing_Group.shtml

I think they are a great charity and if you can spare anything please send it to them. I might send the 4 UFO quilts that I put together to them once I get them quilted. So I am going to be making some baby booties and hats to send them. I found some baby yarn today in one of my baskets.

We have a full week of school this week and I am going to be out 3 nights this week in a class. It's a great class, it helps experienced teachers mentor new teachers and we can also work with college students who need classroom experience teaching. I am looking forward to doing that. The class is great and I am really enjoying it.

I have the turkey in the freezer and the week after next I will get the rest of the items for our dinner. It's just going to be the 4 of us this year. I hope the older kids call their dad, that always makes the holiday better for him.

Keep sewing!!!

Marie

Happy Belated Veteran's Day!

Yesterday was Veterans Day and I chaperoned the JROTC high school kids marching in the parade. I love going to this parade. It's held in the next town to me and the people really came out to see this parade. It's the third time I have marched with the kids and I think this was the best turnout the parade has had.

The kids and adults loved seeing them and cheered us on. We had two groups, one group just marched and sang Army cadence (marching) songs and the other group was spinning 14 pound rifles while they marched. The last group is the one my daughter was in. They are amazingly talented kids. We had 55 kids in the parade from our high school but over 300 from the whole county. That is wonderful.

I had a doctor's appointment in the AM and all was ok so far. Still have more appointments with other docs to complete my complete physical, I think you get the idea!!

I have a new quilt on the design wall and CMA Country Music Awards on for a while. I also finished another quilt yesterday. This is an old underground railroad quilt I made about 5 years ago and I am going to send this to my friend in Colorado again. I am going to fill another box and I hope to have 4-5 quilts (all UFO'S) in the box before I send it.

I am charging the camera tonight and will get a picture of it and the one baby quilt for my granbaby CoryAnn (who will make her grand entrance in January 09) and post them here on Friday night.

I have a class to go to after school tomorrow and won't get home to do much on the computer. After a day with the kinder kids and then a 3 hour class on top of that I will be wiped out.

Keep sewing and quilting and making people happy!!!

Marie....this is our Lab Daisy who is my official quilt checker. This quilt passed her inspection and thought it was a good one!!!

The latest pictures

Ok I finally downloaded the pictures off the camera. Here is what I have...

These are the 4 charity quilts that are going to Alycia's 400 Quilts of Valor. I am going to wrap them up tomorrow and get them in the mail. These are also UFO's that have been sitting around waiting for a home. I am so excited to have these quilts going to the soldiers from my old unit and my dad's. I quilted another one today and have to finish putting the binding on it yet. This will go into my next box to Alycia. I finished the Christmas quilt and now I am getting another UFO ready to put together. This one is really out there so I am going to iron the blocks and live with it on the design wall for a while.

Happy Quilting!

Marie

We are going to be....

GRANDPARENTS!!!! Isn't that cool. My step-daughter is going to have a baby in January and we are very excited about this news. Mom and baby are doing fine according to my daughter who is in contact with her over their MYSPACE accounts. She also called her dad (my dh) to tell him last week. Today he told his parents that they are going to be great-grandparents again. They are very happy too. We know the baby is a girl so I have one pink quilt all set and ready for quilting...I need to make the backing and buy the batting this coming weekend. Today I found some scraps that a friend gave me and started playing around with the squares. I made a really cute middle part of a quilt and then started a new technique I have wanted to try and now I am in the middle of another quilt for the new baby. I also finished the purple and green quilt for my step daughter. She will be getting a box of goodies pretty soon. I just have to get a good sized box so I can send all the goodies to her. I also want to make her a set of booties and a sweater for the baby. I have to get more yarn for that.

I worked on a customer quilt today and then took the day off. We are going out to dinner in a few minutes and then I am coming home to finish the baby quilt. I will post a picture later tonight of the pink quilt.

Happy Saturday!!!

Marie

Halloween stories!

I thought I had posted this but I completely forgot about Halloween. I was so happy not to have to give out candy I even forgot about the blog!!! AAARRGGHHH!!!!

My daughter and her friend handed out candy to all of about 15 kids that came to our door! But they had fun and that is all that matters.

At our school we had a storybook parade....some of the grade levels had a theme but everyone had to dress up....even the principal (she was a witch) and the assistant principal was a pirate. The kindergarten team (my team) were witches and we had our pictures taken for the yearbook and also one with the principal. We were teasing her that she was the head of the coven....LOL...She has a great sense of humor and we all had a great laugh.

The kids had the best time in school. They came in wearing their costumes and once the announcements were over we started trick or treating in the hallway. The lights go down low and the music comes on and we all parade around the school and the kids get candy. Then we did some Halloween activites and watched, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!". I love watching that movie and have seen it 3 times this year already! (I love Snoopy!)

My daughter was a vampire and we got a great black cape for her (I wore it to school for my witch costume) and then she bought some fake vampire teeth. They are pretty cool, they fit to her teeth and she wore them at her school and also at mine. The kids loved them. She scared one of my little boys until she showed him that they come off and are fake and then he was fine. Here is a picture of her "new teeth".

They are great and she loved them.

I am so excited about this weekend. We have off for 4 days. Monday is a hurricane make up day so we are off and then on Tuesday its Veterans Day and we are off then. I have a doctors appt. on Tuesday and then I am going to chaperone the Veterans Day parade with my older daughter. She is marching in the Veterans Day parade with her JROTC unit and I go with them. I love being with the older kids after being with the little ones all day.

I am looking forward to finishing some major quilt projects this weekend too. And maybe even making a new pair of pants and a skirt for school. I will let you know.

Later!!!

Marie

Getting organized!

I got a great idea from a quilting friend. We are both on a list to help us use up our existing fabric for quilts and not buy anything new. Well if you could see my studio you would know that isn't a problem for me at all. The problem I have is that I have so many things started I can't get them all done. Her plan was to pick 6 things to finish in a 6 month period of time. So I have picked my 6 today and here they are......

1.) Christmas quilt that my best friend started....it was her UFO and now i am going to finish it and give it back to her for her grandkids.....i have one more block to do and then start putting the top together.....

2.) Hand quilt and bind and label my birthday stars quilt

3 & 4 & 5 ) Bind and quilt 3 quilts for Alycia's Quilts for Quilts of Valor

6.) Complete i new quilt using stash! and quilt and label it.....

I am really excited about this and will use the blog to keep everyone updated on my progress and include pictures....Today I have to work on masks and sewing binding on a quilt for a customer. I hope to start working on this stuff again this week sometime.

I have off from school tomorrow and will quilt one more quilt for a customer and one more for the UFO list from above. Then its back to sewing masks for awhile. Once I finish an item from the list I will post a picture here. Wish me luck!

I added the last one as number 6 so that is my reward for working so hard on the other things. I like creating new quilts as well as finishing my old ones. So right now I am going to put in the DVD I got from the library, JAG the 5th season, and get to work. I am sick of there not being anything on TV anymore so I have been getting shows from the library to watch. My hubby and I have been watching Mission Impossible, the Pretender, JAG and last night I watched the Odd Couple. Great shows and they bring back great memories of my childhood....well only the Mission Impossible ones and Odd Couple....while the other shows were on I was busy with my family and little girls so I missed a lot of them. This is my chance to get caught up!!!

Marie
This is a picture of the Hope diamond that is in the Smithsonian. We took this picture while we were on vacation last summer. It's the most stunning thing I have ever seen!

I have been tagged!!!

A friend of mine helped me with my blog.....doesn't it look amazing?? I love the new look.....I made this quilt for her to auction off so she can raise money to bring her son home from China.....and he is a cutie pie!!!!.....here is his picture!!

My thoughts and prayers are with my friend Cynthia and her family that she can bring this sweet boy home to her and her hubby and gorgeous sisters!!!





Ok then she tagged me.....here are the rules.....

Here goes....

1) I was in the Army. A few people know this but not many. I served from 78-82 and had to leave when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I came home to take care of her and left the service. Those were the proudest days when I got to serve my country and I am so proud to be a Veteran. I get some strange looks sometimes but that is ok. My girls proudly tell people, "My mom wore combat boots & she still has them!!!"

2) I am a rotten housekeeper.....I used to love taking care of my house and making it look nice....now I don't have time for that...I would rather quilt or sew or spend time with my teenage daughters. I love hanging out with them and just being goofy!!! We have a blast.

3) I recently went back to school to get my teaching degree. I graduated college in April 2006. I was a substitute teacher for 3 years and also worked as a volunteer at my girls middle and elementary schools. Their teachers encouraged me to go to school and get my degree and paid for what I love to do. I started teaching while I was still in college and taught second grade. Then I taught 4th for a year and now I am kindergarten. I love being in school and working with the kids. They give me energy and life. You can't beat that! I also still volunteer at the high school to chaperone the older kids in the JROTC program that my older daughter is a member of. That way I get to keep in touch with the military too!

4) I love crafts and do just about anything. I make dolls, crochet, sew clothes and make quilts. If I don't sew on the machine a little each day I go nutz. It's better then theraphy or talking to a doctor. I also used to teach adults to quilt....I guess that started me wanting to be a teacher. I figured if I could teach adults kids had to be easier...LOL

5) I have been to Germany twice. Once when I was stationed there and then I went back to visit a friend who was stationed there. It's a great place and I loved seeing another part of this great planet!!

6) I lived in Colorado Springs for a year and didn't learn how to snow ski but when I got my orders for Germany I learned how to ski. I took a trip with some friends to Switzerland and learned how to ski on the Alps. Not many people can say that!!!

7) I have the best friends in the world. Some live here in my hometown and many more I met online. I know there is always that fear that we may meet that crazy ax murderer from an online group but I haven't yet. I have met warm and wonderful caring people who love their dogs like I do, passionate about their families and quilters who will do anything to help another person in need no matter how many miles seperate them.

ok Now I have to tag other people.....so here goes....

Monna
Alycia
Liz
Bonnie

you are all tagged....I will try and find 3 more people to tag.....now I have to tell them.....

Marie

School is Cool!!!

Hi there,,,,

I had the best training tonight. I teach kindergarten as you might remember....and we adopted a new reading series this year. We are teaching Read Well and we had a follow up training tonight from our training over the summer. The instructor we had was amazing. She gave us such great ideas that I can't wait to go to school tomorrow and try them out......

I also have some extra work coming in this weekend and that will help pay the bills. So things are looking up a little .....

I hope to get some quilting time in this weekend too. I have a couple of quilts of my own to finish and I would like to get a birthday stars quilt basted this weekend. That way I can hand quilt it. I have had the top done for a while and need to get this basted!!

Talk to you soon!!

Marie

Christmas Stockings for our Troops!

Last week I made 11 Christmas stockings for our troops. Another quilter is making them and she fills them and sends them to our troops overseas. I wanted to make these last year and never did have time. Since I am only working at my teaching job now (no part time sewing or quilting anymore with the economy so down) so I get to do things I want to do. And I wanted to make these stockings.

I couldn't wait to show them to you all. I am showing you these 5 because I was so excited to actually get something done and ready to mail that I packed them all up before I took a picture of the last 6. I had a couple of plaids and then some Charlie Brown fabric. I think they are going to be well received.

I also made a baby quilt for my new nephew. He was born early and I didn't even have the quilt started so I had to move fast. I haven't heard from the new mom yet so I hope it was received ok. Ok I have to get that one off the camera. I took the wrong picture off. That will be done next time. I hate taking stuff off the camera. It takes me forever to remember how to do it because I take lots of pictures but have to think about how to get them off.

I am still trying to finish some UFO's. I got some from my friend a while back and she has some really interesting stuff so I am working on a Christmas wall hanging one now. Tonight I will do some buttonhole stitching on it while I am watching tv.

Speaking of TV I hate all these political shows and debates and all the repeats of really awful shows. So I have been borrowing some movies and dvd's from the library. Last night I watched Laverne and Shirley. I got Mission Impossible for my hubby. The original show from the 60's and 70's. They are so much fun to watch. I also got some Simon and Simon and JAG. I will be watching some tonight. Then at 10pm I will watch the weekly episode of ARMY Wives. Tomorrow and Tuesday nights are for Dancing with the Stars. I love watching that show. I was rooting for Misty May Treanor from the Olympics Beach VolleyBall team but she had an accident during rehearsal last week. I have shifted my votes to Warren Sapp from football, sorry I can't remember what team he is on....but I love to watch him glide across the floor....He is a big man but moves really well and I love his smile. GO WARREN!!!

Ok time to get dinner going.....so what have you been doing??

Marie....waiting for cooler weather.....its october but its in the 90's!!!!

The good and the Bad!!!

The bad is that I haven't had much extra work to do. The quilting and mask business has slowed down to a halt with the current economy. So what else is new. Thank goodness I am still teaching and have a job for the whole year.

The good is that I am finally getting to do somethingthat I want. I have been making Christmas stockings for the troops. I have 4 done and I am in the process of making more...I have pictures of the first set on the camera and I will ulpoad them tomorrow. I am also using up parts of my stash and that is a wonderful thing. I have a ton of Christmas fabric and this is a great way to use it and help make our service men and women have a great holiday while they are keeping us safe.

The hard part is finding my Christmas fabric. I have so much I can't get to it. So now after I make one more pieced part of the stocking I have to go fabric hunting in the stash.

I will post again this weekend. I already have my lesson plans done for next week so I just have a little school work for the weekend and I plan on playing and cleaning the house (just a little on the cleaning part....LOL) this weekend.


Marie....the Christmas elf!!!!!

I am who I am!

I got a message last week telling me my blog might be spam! What? How does that happen? I had to do some things to do to fix it and now all is well.

I have been working many hours in school and even on Saturday's for many hours. I don't have to go in any more on Saturdays since I am slowly getting into a routine with my paperwork at school.

My part time job of sewing has slowed down too so I am taking advantage of the down time and working on some UFO's. Right now I am hand sewing the binding down on a charity quilt that has been quilted for some time. I have anothe one sitting here that needs binding done on it and will get that done this weekend.

I haven't been working on many things at night. I am so worn out from the kids at school that I have spent time reading email and getting to bed early.

I have been watching Dancing with the Stars this week and can't decide who I am really rooting for. There are many good dancers this season and I don't have one favorite. Last time I was rooting for Kristi Yamaguchi and she won!!! If you watch it tell me who you are voting for!

Time for ER to start....can't believe this show is in its last year......its my favorite show!

Hugs,

Marie

Getting the routine down!

I think I am getting into the routine of school and my kids and my own teenagers schedules. It's been a hectic couple of weeks but I am finally getting organized. Now I just need to quit waking up 30 mins before the alarm goes off. That has been happening for two weeks now and it's not fun.

I need my sleep. I haven't been sewing much or getting things in the mail like I should. I have 4 quilts that need to be sent off but I haven't had a chance to do that. I am thinking of just waiting until Saturday morning and then going to drop them off. At least that is the plan but who knows what will happen.

I finished reading all the Elm Creek Quilt novels I could get my hands on. Now I have to wait until the author writes another one. Maybe in between time I can finish reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon. I have been trying to finish reading this book for a while now and always get side tracked. It's not because it's not a great book I just can't find the time to read it. I did read those other books but they were a little smaller. Now I am ready to read this book (well I just need to finish it) and then I will be ready for the next book to come out by her by the year 2009.

So what are you reading? Anything good? Any great quilt patterns I need to know about but missed? I seem to spend most of my online time looking for worksheets for my kindergarten kids or reading email.

I have also been de-stressing by playing Roller Coaster Tycoon. We have it on the lap top and the large computer and it's a blast to play it and forget your worries. If you haven't tried it I strongly suggest finding the CD at Best Buy or Circuit City. Great price for a great game!

Later,

Marie

School in IN!

I know today was Saturday but we ( the kindergarten teachers at my school) are so behind we all went in today. I spent about 4.5 hours and now I think I have a handle on the week ahead. We have a great reading program and I get to start teaching more of it this week and the kids start learning to read....its going to be a blast....

I am still working on bindings here. I also need to get pictures done....after I came home from school today I spent another 5 hours working on stuff for school. Tomorrow I am going to be putting laundry away and taking pictures of the quilts I have finished so far. And I will post them here.

We are still waiting to hear where Ike is going to land. The last report was that he was going to Texas but I am not really sure. Have to watch the news tonight.

That is all from here!!

Marie

Finishing projects and preparing for the Storm of Ike!!

OK well....more time has gone by but it was useful time I think. I have been getting use to working with kindergarten and getting our routines down both in the classroom and at home. I think we are ok with everything now. It's been interesting having two kids of my own in high school and teaching 5 year olds all day. It's like shifting gears going uphill...... I sometimes don't know if my brain can move so fast....LOL

I also quilted two UFO's last weekend and also put on the bindings by machine. But they have been sitting in my studio for a week waiting to be finished. And they are still sitting here. I had 2 customers quilts to finish and tonight I am going to work on the binding on the second one. I have one done already. It's been fun finishing my own things and I have about 5-7 more ready to be on the machine. Maybe I can do more quilting this weekend. I am also using some leftover batting for these too. Eventually I will have to start buying batting but right now it feels good to use large pieces for these smaller quilts.

I also finished the baby quilt for my new nephew and also have the label sewn on. I am going to box it up this weekend and get it out in the mail. I hope the baby's parents like it and use it often. It's a tossed 9 patch quilt from Eleanor Burns and it's a super easy pattern to make. I bought the pattern at my local Joann ETC store. It's a great pattern for using up scraps. I used blues and off white for mine. I will post a picture this weekend. I have to charge the camera again.

That is about it. We are all watching Hurricane Ike to see where he is going to hit. We missed Hanna but I think she is heading towards the Carolinas so if you are in her path please listen to the media and move if they tell you to. I hope Ike just moves out into the Atlantic and blows himself out. We really don't need anymore rain. I had to move part of my classroom again so when it rains the roof won't leak all over my stuff.....

I will post again. Tell me what you are working on!!

Marie in soggy Southwest Florida

The time bandit!!

Ok the time bandit was at it again....I can't remember a time when life happened so fast. I remember being a little girl thinking that the days passed way too slow, and now that I am older (notice I didn't say wiser...LOL) they are flying by in a minute...

Last week was the first week of school for the kids and my first week in kindergarten. OH MY!!! They are so tiny and cute!!!! I started out with 18 sweeties and we ability group kids in my school so we had to test this little ones and get them with the right teacher. I have the kids on the low end of the spectrum so my class is smaller with 11 kids. I have to tell you they are sweet and so darn cute!!

They are learning their letters and names. The first week was hard and nerve wracking but we had a great day today. I also have an interactive white board (They are also called SMART Boards) and the kids get to use these too. We used it today and I will be using it everyday in my classroom. It really gets the kids involved in their learning. They love using it.

I haven't been sewing or quilting much because I get home and I am so tired. I didn't get home tonight from school until 6pm. I am still trying to get use to the new grade level and how things get done with the little ones. Prior to this I have taught second and 4th grades and you really have to change your thinking style with the little kids...

Since we have a 3 day weekend coming up I am hoping to get the camera charged up and the quilting machine working to get some more ufo's completed. I have the baby quilt for my neice done and I machine sewed the binding on last night but that was a far as I got. I hope to start working on that this week to get it in the mail by Saturday.

I guess that is it for today. I will write again this week but keep reading!!! and let me know what you think. I know some have said the background color was blue and I am not sure how that happened because it was tan so I changed it and it should be ok now. Let me know.

Happy Daze!!!

Marie

Another day bites the dust!!

Well we had no school today due to Tropical Storm Fay.This means we have to go to school an extra day in November during Thanksgiving break. It really wasn't that bad for us. We did lose power for about 2 hours but that was it. I spent most of the time reading my book and finishing it. I was glad I worked on stuff for school yesterday after work.

Yesterday was the first day of school and I was overwhelmed to say the least. The kids are cute ( I teach kindergarten) and we are in the middle of testing them to see where they are placed within the 8 kindergarten classes. We ability group the students which is better for them. We have done it for 2 years and I can see the benefit of this. I have a good group of kids but I won't know for sure who will be in my class until the end of the week. I brought my papers home yesterday and worked on them as I had a feeling we might lose power sometime today.

Fay was predicted to be a Category 1 Hurricane but it lost more strength and that was good. I am sure we will be back to school tomorrow but haven't heard the official word just yet.

I thought about quilting upstairs today but after being on my feet all day yesterday I think I am going to stay downstairs and sew a little and work on the computer.

I need to recharge the camera and then I will post pictures of the last 2 finishes I had. This weekend I have set aside to work on more UFO's.

Hope you all stay dry and safe!!

Marie

School Days!!

I have been at school all week getting ready for next Monday and tonight. Tonight we had open house at my school and I got to meet 12 of my 18 kindergarten kids. What a great bunch of children!! I was nervous about starting school on Monday since I haven't taught kindergarten before but after seeing these great kids I am so excited. The parents are a good bunch and I also got to see many of my former students from other years. It was a long day but a great night.

I came home to watch the Olympics!!! GO Michael Phelps in Swimming!!! WOW!!! What a great race right?? I can't wait to watch tomorrow night. They just had a great interview with him and Mark Spitz from 1972 and I remember watching Mark win those 7 gold medals!!! (I am old LOL)

I know many teachers are getting ready for back to school!! I am looking forward to it. I haven't been quilting much this week. I have 4 new quilts (ok not new but they are UFO's that will get done soon) ready for the quilting machine and I have done a lot of work on a UFO cross stitch project. I have one small corner to finish and then I can start adding some detail work to it. I hope to do some of that tomorrow.

I think we have a hurricane heading this way and her name is Fay so I need to start watching the news to see where she is heading. Keep good thoughts that she doesn't hit land!!!

Marie

My Quilting Retreat Day!!!

This quilt is my Northwoods Quilt in progress. It was started well over 12 years ago as a block swap on AOL. Several ladies got together to swap blocks about life in the northwoods complete with moose. I am proud to say we are still together and thru email keep in touch. Sadly though a few of our group have passed away but their friendship still lives on in our quilts. We swapped many blocks over the years and I have a Santa quilt waiting to be quilted and also a 1930's fabric swap of star blocks also waiting to be quilted. I hope to get more sewn on this one today. I still have a large pile of blocks to add.

Tell me what you think about it. I had the center part done and on the design wall for a while, maybe even a year so today I added the brown solid border and then started sewing the blocks together for the other 4 borders. Sewing this is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together because the blocks are all sizes. I love how its coming out.

Tell me what you think? This is my last weekend before I go back to school on Monday so I thought I should spend it doing something I want. Last night while I watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics I worked on a cross stitch UFO too. It's coming along and tonight I will work on it some more. I tried today to do some work for school but ran out of scotch tape so

I will finish it Monday at school.

Marie (this is the beach at Bonita Springs, FL)

Another (small) UFO done....and some school stuff...

Hi everyone.....today I finished another (small) UFO....while I was cleaning my studio I came across a small block that was in the process of being hand-quilted. I only needed to quilt about 4 more lines. I did that before my meeting last night and today I cut the back of the pillow and made an envelope back. I am posting the picture here.

I also worked at school today and remembered to take a picture of my hallway bulletin board. I got the idea for the board from another teacher posted on the internet but I can't remember where. I thought it was a great idea and this is what my girls came up with.

This is a close up picture of the ants. Aren't they cute!! They were really hard to cut out but worth it. My principal loved the idea. This is in the main hallway where there is a lot of traffic so I know lots of people will see it. Once I have my complete correct list of students that will be in my class I will add their names to the ants.

This is a picture of the "picnic" with Reading, Math, Science and Social Studies being served. The cups are stapled to the board and are 3D. The napkins are real as are the spoons. I think I am going to have to tape the spoons to the napkins though as I think with walking traffic in the hallway they might get "lost"!

Well that is all for today. I am going to see what other things I can finish (I also have cross stitch stuff that needs to be done!!) while I watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics!!! Go USA!!!!

Marie

More finished projects!

I am going to be showing you why I haven't been posting in the past few days. I have been finishing some quilting projects. One was from 1996!!! I am also happy to say that 2 of these have already been donated to the Susan Komen Breast Cancer office here in town. My daughters and I brought a bunch of quilts over to them yesterday. One was a large queen size quilt that I hope they can use to raise money for cancer research and the others were small lap quilts for the cancer patients. I remember how cold those rooms are when they are getting chemo! I am going to be making more lap size quilts and trying to use up some fabric around here.

This is the sayings quilt. Each person made a block and then wrote their favorite saying on the quilt block. It was done in all colors of plaids. I loved how it came out and this was one of the cancer donation quilts.

This is a pink/green block of the month quilt from Joann Fabrics.
However, I have no idea what happened to 3 of the 12 blocks so instead of keeping it a UFO forever I only put 9 of the 12 blocks together and made a smaller quilt. I like how it came out though and this was also one of the cancer quilts.

This is a row by row sewing quilt. I can't remember who all made the blocks but on one row you can see a tomato and a sewing machine....the fabrics are designs involving fabrics and quilting. I have sewn a sleeve on the back of this one and I am going to hang it in my studio upstairs. It's nice to have another one completed.



I also started the baby quilt for my neice. She is having a boy so I got out all my blues and made a tossed nine patch. I need to add a border to it and then it will be ready to be quilted. I hope to have that done this weekend.

Today I am also going to be seeing what kinds of blocks I have that need to get put into quilts. I have 3 UFO's ready upstairs to be quilted. One is a queen and I think I am going to wait on that one for a while and work on the 2 smaller ones. I also have some others I need to find backing fabric for. I have it in my stash but need to clean the mess in my studio first to get to the fabric. So that will be on my list for today and tonight.

Happy quilting!!!

Marie

UFO Day!!

Today I worked on all sorts of things. First, I played on the computer and got all the email caught up. That alone took a while. I belong to several lists on yahoo and got all of it read and organized. Then I cheated a little and played a computer game. We have all the Diner Dash games and my teenage daughters have me hooked on the games and today I tried to pass a hard level but no dice. Maybe another day.

After lunch I decided to work on some UFO's. Now for those of you that read my blog and aren't quilters, a UFO is an Unfinished Fabric Object and in my case that is mostly quilts. I have about 14 upstairs in the studio that the tops are done but they need to be quilted. I quilted two today and came downstairs and put the bindings on them by machine. Tomorrow night while I watch Law & Order: CI and Army Wives I will stitch those bindings down by hand.

I also started cleaning out my dining room of the school stuff. I have taught 2nd and 4th grades and have books for those. But this year I am going to be teaching kindergarten and I have to sort thru all my books to see what I have for the little ones. I took two boxes of books and stored them in the studio upstairs for now. I also got a bunch of stuff ready to take to school this week. I am so excited about finishing some things and organizing stuff around the house. I have a problem sticking with one thing, I guess I am a little restless so I keep moving from project to project. I am trying to get lots done and I don't want to waste time working on one project.

This is my last week off before school officially starts for me on August 11th. The kids don't go back until August 18th and both my girls are ready for school. So am I .....

That is about it for now. I am going to go sit in my rocking chair and read my Elm Creek Quilters book. I am reading the Runaway Quilt and I am getting all excited about handquilting my small Underground Railroad quilt. I also have a Santa quilt I want to hand quilt so I need to figure out which one I will do first. Probably the Underground Railroad quilt as it's smaller.

Ta-ta for now!!!

Marie

The Pictures are Here!!

Today was a good day. I finally got the pictures off the camera and they are here on the blog!! YEAH!!!

This first picture is a Christmas Candles wall hanging that was a class sample from about 9 years ago. It's a stained glass creation and was lots of fun to do. I have a pattern around here somewhere for a floral one and I would love to do it but I have to find the pattern first...LOL

I hand quilted this one while we were on vacation. I love the cross hatching on it. On the border there are large ornaments and I quilted around those as well but it's hard to see that in the picture. I love the way it turned out too. Now I have to wash it and its all ready for the holidays.

The second quilt I finished is a donation quilt for my friend Cynthia. She is adopting her son from China and I am giving her this quilt to help raise money so she can get him home. It's a queen size quilt and all made from my stash. I didn't have to buy anything but the batting and backing. Unfortunately even though I used a ton of fabric for this quilt you can't tell from my stash. I still have more fabric then I will ever use!! I love how it turned out. My older daughter picked the 2 borders for me because I couldn't decide which one looked better. The binding is a great coral fabric.

What do you think of them? Let me know. I also went to school today and worked in my classroom. We finished adding trim to my bulletin boards in the class. My one daughter got all my phonics papers filed away, while the other daughter worked on the boards and also cutting letters out for them, she also did a bunch of laminating for me and cut everything out. I would never get it all done if it wasn't for them. They are a big help to me.

Get quilting!!!

Marie

Reading Frenzy!!

I have found some wonderful books. Now this is quilt related.....they are the Elm Creek Novels and I am hooked on them. I have read half of them and they are wonderful. I love the friendships and the idea of the quilt camps in this make believe town in Pennsylvania. I would love to either work there or spend my summers there just quilting away.

There is a web site too.. www.elmcreek.net and I would say go check it out. I have been getting my books from the library and they have all of them except for the last two. I figure by the time I finish reading the next 5 I have sitting here in the studio my library might have the newest one. I wish I could buy them but I just don't have the money right now.

I have also finished the donation quilt for my friend. I am currently searching for a box and then will get it mailed to her. I have taken a picture but I haven't gotten it off my camera yet.

I have also been working in my new classroom. They cleaned our carpets and all the furniture was packed into a corner of the room. My daughters and I went in yesterday and got the furniture all organized and today we went in again and decorated the bulletin board in the hallway and also in the classroom. I also started putting some items away and making it homey. I have tonz of work to do in there but it's coming along nicely. Once the bulletin board is all done I will take a picture and post it here. It's really cute for kindergarten. I am starting to get excited about school starting and working in this new grade with children who are just starting their learning experience.

My email server has been down for two days too so it's been really annoying not being able to talk to my friends. I had internet service but email wasn't working. I still think there is something wrong but I will have to call embarq tomorrow to see what it looks like on their end.

That is all the news for now. I bought some new quilting patterns and I am in the middle of making one of them but I want to work on it more before I share it with you. It's really an easy pattern and a great stashbuster but that is for another post.

So if you are a quilter tell me what you are working on? If you don't quilt tell me what you are doing? Any good books you have read?

Marie (who wishes she was an Elm Creek Quilter)

Getting UFO's Completed!!

Ok I have spent the day playing in the studio. This is a good thing and a bad thing. I have almost finished a Christmas wall hanging, I just need to make the label and then it will be done. I also quilted a wall hanging for my studio and machine attached the binding and sleeve to it and it's ready for some hand sewing. I also quilted the donation quilt for my friend and added the binding by machine today. I will start the hand work on these three tomorrow night as I watch TV.

Once I get these done I will post some pictures here. I think they came out really nice. I also bought a super great pattern today while I was in Joann's ETC and it was from Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day easy pattern. It's called a Tossed Nine Patch and it's so easy to make. I played today and made 4 blocks. I will make more and post a picture in the next day or two. It's a great scrap buster and I was able to use some fabric up but you still can't tell I used anything from my stash. That is because I have way TOO MUCH FABRIC and won't buy any at all. I bought some batting today and backing for the 2 larger quilts I had to finish. For the smaller quilts I am trying to use some of my stash as backing. I could live to be 200 and never use all of this stuff.....I will take some pictures of that too!!!

Happy Stitching!!

Marie

Life is GOOD!!

I had the best nights sleep last night.....clean sheets, a/c and a great shower.....life is really good.

After work yesterday I was able to start putting together the donation quilt for my friend who is bringing home her son from China in the fall. I am so happy with the way it's turning out. I will post a picture at the end of the week; I am sure she is dying to see it too. I hope to get it quilted by next week and in the mail to her before school starts. Be sure to watch this spot so I can tell you when you can start bidding on the quilt. All proceeds go to her and her family so they can get Jin Pei home SOON!!!! YEAH!!!

Then I also worked on my Christmas wall hanging. I have part of a border to finish hand quilting and then just quilt around the main design. Then I can put the binding on and the sleeve and another UFO will be done...I am really into finishing things and not starting too many new ones unless I know I can finish them.

Here is a picture of the donation quilt I am sending to my friend Alycia for the Quilt of Valor program. I hope you and she likes it. I am going to get this in the mail tomorrow.

Marie