Wordless Wednesday...making applesauce

weaving the day away

the colors are a bit wonky here, but this is my latest rug weaving project. I took a "refresher" course at one of my favorite places, Alewives in Damriscotta Mills. In between orders for custom holiday cards, working on handmade Christmas presents, and making our own Christmas cards I am weaving a row or two of this rug....very relaxing! Was thinking about making 1 or 2 for gifts but I'm out of time on that so I'll start them as gifts for birthdays and such.

Wordless Wednesday....my latest fabric project

for all you scrapbookers...this is Basic Grey's fabric line "Eva"

Thanksgiving

(ok, I'm a bad scrapper...didn't even bring my camera for Thanksgiving, so no photos. I made the apple pie above after being inspired by one on "Martha Stewart"...)

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving...here's a quick re-cap of my holiday weekend.....

*my sister in law, Cami arrived early from Oklahoma, and we all went to see "New Moon". LOVED IT!!! I know I'm the minority (at least in my family) but I am so Team Jacob...hello, did you not see him shirtless through the entire movie?! Of course, I haven't read "Breaking Dawn" yet (holding out b/c then once I read it it will be over for awhile..I know I'm weird), and I hear that I will not love Jacob any longer. Bummer.

*Thanksgiving was held at my mother in law's. I was responsible for appetizer (made yummy cheese ball from Stonewall Kitchen recipe) & mashed potatoes (of which I made a ton...we are now eating Shepherd's Pie with leftovers). A fun day of playing with kids, hanging out with family, tasty wine, and lots of food.

*went shopping with sis in law, Sunithi, on Black Friday. Wasn't totally crazy & we left at 8am. I was impressed with how organized the stores were with lines & check out. We scored some crazy good deals and were home by 11am.

hope you all had a great weekend too!

last group of Disney layouts

top layout from trip Patrick & I took in 2007....so empty then that we/I could go on any rides we wanted multiple times without waiting. I LOVED this one...Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom.

This really simple (but BRIGHT!) layout is from a trip I took with just my Mom back in 1994.

more Disney layouts

Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom layouts from our trip to Disney in Jan of 2007....dying for another trip soon as I am having Disney withdrawl ;-)

more of Crafty Gals gathering

I didn't have the space to show you more of what the Crafty Gals were working on or had brought me as gifts.....so kind & creative!

gathering of the Crafty Gals...Wordless Wednesday

got some scrapping done...finally

It has been months since I have had time to scrap any of my own pictures...and was SO HAPPY to go to a fundraising crop (for Special Olympics ME) with my friend, Karen, a couple of weekends ago. Continuing to work on getting my Disney photos in scrapbooks....simple, clean design that I love. Here are a few layouts...I'll post more in a bit.

they make me smile...

Murphy & Oscar traditionally dress up for Halloween...and this year was no exception. It was a tough holiday for us as we received a negative test a few days before. But, these boys sure know how to put a smile on our faces. And, these costumes suit them quite well.

Hearing news of more & more swine flu cases in Maine. Wash those hands & stay home if you are sick everyone! my heart goes out to Christie & her house full of sickies!!!

the waiting game

I've been a bad blogger. I admit it.

The past couple of weeks have been filled with doctors appointments, bloodwork, ultrasounds, trips to IVF clinic in Boston and some bed rest. Now, the waiting begins. I go in for serum pregnancy test on Oct 27th and the waiting is killing me. Its amazing the little head games you can play on yourself when you are waiting for such important news. I have been doing yoga, acupuncture & massage to stay as relaxed and calm as possible, but those panicky moments still seem to slip in.

The good news....I test 4 days from now & will get the news late that afternoon or the next morning. I can do it. I have a busy, fun weekend planned to keep my body and mind occupied. Scrapbooking with friends, Harvest Supper, pumpkin patch and carving & an evening with my niece. . . I'm even going to remember to take lots of pictures!

Have a great weekend everyone!

a few random musings...again

more random musings from me....

*watching Oprah today. . .an amazing family I have been keeping tabs on through various blogs will be on sharing their story of a their recovery from a near fatal plane crash. Check out her blog at www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com She is an inspiration.

*had ultrasound & bloodwork done today....day 6 of shots for IVF. Back for another ultrasound & bloodwork on Friday. Crossing my fingers for egg retreival (ER) on Monday.

*received an amazing compliment today that made me feel REALLY good. Its sometimes hard to be nice when you feel crummy but this person noticed & complimented me. Smiles.

*LOVING my new laptop.....sitiing on the couch with my kitty curled up beside me, listening to it pour outside. . .sigh.

*cooked a turkey last night & we'll now be eating turkey-based concoctions for 2 weeks. Patrick is thrilled...he'll eat turkey soup for a week if I let him

*my Mom is leaving for Ireland tommorrow...SO Proud & excited for her! I loved my travels in Ireland...esp Killarney.

Wordless Wednesda~Common Ground Fair

Unity, ME Sept 27th 2009

random musings...

* started & finished "Cemetary Dance" yesterday...love their books!

*start IVF shots this week.....lots of anxiety in this house. God, give me the strenghth to stick myself in the stomach each night...its all worth it :-)

*been doing some "experimental" baking this week...making hand-held apple pies for Patrick & his boat buddies....less messy than an actual pie. Still playing around with recipe though.

*have a "to do" list seriously pages long...today, make a new list that has immediate & future to do's...WAY too daunting to do any of it now. By the way, I live by lists...they are they only way I remember to do have of the things I need to do. So, if you ever want me to do something, write it down for me and you are well on your way.

*beat my husband in our Simmons Family Fantasy Football league this past weekend....he is less than thrilled but I earned date-night of my choice this week! AND....I am 3-0 so far!!!!!

time for a little catch-up

Yikes! It has been quite awhile since I've posted....here's a random post to get me all caught up.

*I've been chugging away at all of the fall gardening to be done....ripped out the veggie garden (NOT a banner year for us), weeding stone walkways, and pruning shrubs ruthlessly.

*spending a lot of time in my craft room.....finishing up invitation orders, working on new venture for Scrapbooks & Beyond to come next month, and doing some scrap quilting. I love playing in that room.....but , boy, time flies quickly & before you know it the day is done.

*continuing on my cleaning/organizing projects that started this summer with the big clean out & yard sale......Yard Sale brought in $350 for dog rescue & Clean water campaign for Ethiopia. My Mom says its "nesting"...I say its "we have way too much stuff in this house".

*we're embarking on another round of IVF in attempts to have a family. I'm in the "pill" stage now & feel like Frankenstein...seriously, my mind & body are not my own. Can't wait to stop them on the 27th & start injections...I can't believe I actually said that.

* we have also (finally!!) turned in ALL of our paperwork for adoption homestudy. For those of you who may not know, we have also decided to adopt a child....something we've planned on since we met. A lot of research ensued, as we aren't good candidates for Domestic adoption due to my husband's spinal cord injury. That led us to International adoption.....and Ethiopia. The more I read about & meet families who have adopted or traveled to Ethiopia, the more steadfast and excited I become. We've been given a rough timeline of finalizing in courts roughly 1 year after our homestudy is complete.

*Patrick has been fishing like a mad man.....he can see the end of tuna season coming (mid-Oct) and is furiously taking advantage of every nice day there is out on the water.

thank you card

I've been meaning to send this card to my friend, Catherine, for WEEKS now...even forgot to give it to her when we road-tripped to IKEA last week.....I am nothing but forgetfl sometimes. Anyway, I wanted to tell her....Thank you so much for your generosity & kindness!

*card made with Making Memories foam letter stamps, MM paints & Bazzill cardstock

such a fun week!

We had such a fun week with our nephew, Najee, and our niece, Katie, last week! Here's a brief lowdown....marathon board game playing (Sorry, Operation, Connect Four), journal writing, Barbies, playing outside, jump rope competitions....A day at Pine Point with sandcastles, boogie boarding, picnic, and dinner/Arcade at OOB pier.

Man, those kids love a cooking project. We made M&M cookies and Rice Krispie treats. They also hosted a restaurant night dinner at out house for our family....complete with menus, aprons, tips and more.

Art projects galore...my favorite were their picture frames.

Spent an afternoon on the boat fishing, swimming and holding on while Uncle Patrick kicked up the speed.

So thankful to have these kids in our lives. Our home was full of activity while they were here. People say, oh you must be so tired & glad to have your peaceful house back. Well, to be honest...no. We'd give anything to have our home full of kids and treasured every fight, mess, and yawn. Sorry to go all soap-box on you all :-)

So excited!!!

We're headed to Six Flags in Mass!!! Meeting my sis in law there with her kids & we're all going to ride until they kick us out ....I'm a roller coaster/thrill ride gal. Then, my nephew, Najee, is coming to stay with us for a week.....and my neice Katie is going to stay with us too! Looking forward to beach days, craft projects & hanging out with the kiddos!!!!

fun concert night....

Wendy, Katie & I are heading to the Wallflowers concert on Saturday night. I haven't listened to them for awhile, but love their music...and Jakob Dylan. The concert listing says opening with "Special Guest"...think it'll be his Dad or a local artist? either way, I'm psyched for a fun night

on the boat

The Sat of Clam Fest, we took the whole family out for lunch and fishing on Patrick's new boat. We had such a great time. The kids all got to fish for mackerel...and caught a lot.

When Patrick kicked the engines up the water flew...and the kids LOVED it! That's Trevor getting us all wet.

Kavi & I....he loved being on the boat & loved the water.

Shannon, Maitre, Kavi, Sunithi, Gracie, and Christie inside the wheelhouse.

tons of Clam Fest activities

Kids playing with sparklers :-) Sat night

Celebrating Sunithi's (sis in law)birthday....nephew Kavi is helping her out....and no, she isn't turning 40, that's all we had for candles at the house

Yum! Lobster and salad & corn on the cob....summertime in Maine.

Katie & Cooper hitting the rides at Clam Fest. It was really hot but those kids burned through the ride tickets & got to play a bunch of carnival games...Uncle Patrick is SUCH a sucker :-)

Najee testing out the new Slip n'Slide we got for the afternoon....a bit hit.

we take time out....

We take time out from this otherwise happy-go-lucky blog to have a bit of a rant (am I dating myself here? Dennis Miller, anyone?). Anyway, it takes a LOT to make me angry. I'm the gal who sits back, thinks about things, considers how to approach it differently so everyone is happy, etc. Well.....I am ANGRY & FRUSTRATED!!!!

Patrick came home from 2 days of fishing a tournament (his 1st overnight on the new boat) to find the specially-made ramp that he uses to get off the boat was missing from the dock. Lots of wondering & suggestions on where it might be & frustration levels high for everyone involved. Yesterday, the marina had their diver check under the docks to se if if somehow "fell" over (it is metal & weighs a ton so it couldn't fall by itself). They found it 50 yards away from the end of the dock....there is no way it could have gotten that far without someone throwing it.

I am surprised everyday at the levels of stupidity, ignorance, and hate in the world. Who does something like this? Even if its kids being stupid, doesn't it cross their mind, for just a blip, that this obviously expensive piece of equipment is necessary for someone? As Patrick's friend, Keith, said,"Do we have to paint a ------- handicapped symbol on the damn thing so people won't touch it?!"
This marina is supposedly secure & safe and they are going to check their security cameras. I hope to heck they figure out who did this. UGH!

We love a PARADE

The Clam Festival really kicks of on Friday with a fantastic parade. Again, our tradition is to hit the Adams house (who live right along the parade route) for a party. Everyone brings a different kind of salad...nd we have hot dogs & ice cream sandwiches too! Then, we get a front row seat to all of the parade action.
Lots of bands, but I especially loved this military band.

Seriously?! This guy was so talented...juggling and riding unicycle the entire parade route.

My 1 year old niece, Annie, who LOVED the parade! She had a blast & we loved watching her reactions to everything coming down the street.