Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!

Since Janice didn't feel like driving today, David and I picked her and Kyleigh up and took them out to breakfast. While David waited at the restaurant, Janice and I took Kyleigh to her swimming lesson. This was her last lesson until after the first of the year and she did absolutely perfect. She went right to the teacher and didn't fuss the entire time. She'd raise her arms and then "dive" into the water and "swim" to the other platform. When it came time to float on her back, she did it perfectly and counted down on her fingers while the teacher counted to ten. When she came back to us, the teacher said it was so nice not to have to "wrestle a wolverine" for a change.

After swimming lessons, we picked up David and went to Jo Ann's so that I could get some Christmas material to make some small pillows from some quilt squares donated to WOCS. We had to wait in line quite awhile to have the material cut, but Kyleigh did real good! Janice found a cross stitch picture called Let's Bounce with Pooh and his friends that Kyleigh really liked. I'm hoping to make it for Christmas, but I'm not sure whether it will be for this year or next year.

Janice called about 7:00 to tell us that Kyleigh had been trick or treating with a couple of neighbors (mommy and daddy went too) and came home with a plastic pumpkin so full of candy that she could hardly lift it. She hasn't learned to say "trick or treat" yet, but she did say "thank you". Janice carved a pumpkin using an Elmo template this year.


We only had 25 trick or treaters at our house. We normally have 140-150 so we have lots of candy left over.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Fun with Grandma

Kyleigh slept until about 5:45 this morning which is better than I'd hoped for. Unfortunately, I don't sleep that well when she spends the night.

After breakfast out, we went to my office to show off her Halloween costume. In case you can't tell, she's Tinkerbell. This is the second year in a row that I've taken her there on Halloween. The other little girl in the picture is the daughter of a coworker. She turns two on Monday and came to go trick or treat with the children's center. She and Kyleigh will probably be classmates starting in April when Kyleigh also turns two.



I'm not sure who instigated the hug, but it was totally spontaneous on their part.

Once we got home, Kyleigh did a lot of playing, rearranging the house, etc. Here she is riding the vacuum which she's extremely afraid of when it's turned on.


She and grandpa also played with the big legos; grandpa would build a tower and Kyleigh would knock it down. It was also fun to put the legos back in the box. For some reason she got very clingy after her nap--I think she woke up too soon--and wouldn't let grandma put her down.
Janice said she missed her and wanted her to come home so we took her home about dinnertime. Since I was completely worn out, we went to dinner at Norm's where they have a $9.99 special (soup, salad, steak & shrimp, and dessert) which we really like.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Change of Plans

I had planned to spend the day on the computer catching up on email, blog reading, bill paying, laundry, etc. but that didn't happen. Janice called about 10:00 and said she woke up really dizzy and nauseated and needed a ride to the doctor. The doctor said she had vertigo and to rest and not drive and he prescribed a medication to help ease the symptoms and would make her drowsy. After filling the prescription, we went back to the condo and I packed up Kyleigh and her laundry and brought her home with me so that Janice wouldn't have to worry about her.

At dinnertime David suggested going out to dinner to a nearby Mexican restaurant since he thought that would be easier than keeping track of her and cooking, too. Unfortunately we got a bit of a late start and by the end of the meal, Kyleigh was in meltdown mode since it was bedtime by then. She was introduced to chips and salsa (she loved dipping the chips in the salsa), lemon wedges (she made a face each time, but kept going back for more) and fish (which she really liked). The patriarch of the restaurant family came by and gave each of the kids in the restaurant--there were three--an early trick or treat (a Harry Potter coloring book with colored markers) which held Kyleigh's attention while waiting for dinner although most of the markers ended up on the floor.

Once we got home, we did her bath, read stories and drank milk, called mommy to say good night and went to bed in grandma's bed. Funny thing though, she'll wake up in her own bed in the morning.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Benevolent Piecemakers

I drove home from Vista this morning in time for my physical therapy appointment. Unfortunately, when they did the measurements, I'd lost ground. Instead of straightening to 0.00, I was at 0.05 which isn't as good. This was the first time they couldn't get me all the way to 0.00. My surgery was two months ago today.

I recently started stitching for a new group called Benevolent Piecemakers. This is the first square I've stitched for them. It's called, appropriately "Home is where the cat is" and is from the World of Cross Stitching #116. Unfortunately, there are several unintentional customizations in this project, but I think it looks okay.


I've also started a second square; actually I started this one first, but it's slow going because it's pretty much all one color; it's coming along though. This is Quaker Cat and it was an online free chart.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Still in Vista

We spent Sunday night at the museum and today we went to breakfast and then to Michaels to get some floss I needed. I also picked up a book of teddy bears. David knew of a museum (but not the address) attached to the Sherline Products plant, but we couldn't find it in the phone book so while I was at Michaels, he went on the internet and located it. When he called to get directions, it turned out that we were just down the road from them, so we went to the Joe Martin Museum of Craftsmanship.

We were the only ones there so we got a personalized tour from the docent and the museum director. The director also gave us a tour of the factory. This museum displays some models in progress as well as a lot of very detailed models of planes, trains, motors, etc. The factory makes the tools to make these models.

By the time we were finished, it was lunchtime so we drove around looking for a place to eat. We ended up at Philly Frank's Cheesesteaks and shared a really good cheesesteak sandwich. Then we just chilled out for the rest of the day.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

AGSEM

This weekend was the second weekend of the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum's Fall Festival and since the Angels were in New York, we decided to go. The festival is kind of like a small country fair with exhibits, a craft fair and lots of tractors. David has adopted two rope braiding machines and our family maintains and exhibits them, making the rope into jumpropes and selling them to support the Weavers Building.



Friday:

David and I went down in the motorhome, leaving around 2:15 and arriving at 3:30. We were lucky enough to get the space next to some friends of ours who exhibit a restored tractor. We went to the Snack Shack for the free hot dog supper which provided large hot dogs, chips, drinks and homemade ice cream in various flavors. Afterwards, we went back to the RV and David digitized our antenna and upgraded our dish so that we'd be able to watch the ALCS on TV.

Saturday:

When I tried to turn on the generator to dry my hair, it wouldn't start. David did a little trouble shooting and decided to change the sparkplugs. So after breakfast, we went to AutoZone and got new sparkplugs which were installed immediately and we were good to go. Of course, the New York weather had other plans and the game was rained out.

Saturday night was the members potluck with lots of food, free rootbeer floats and a silent auction. I took a large bowl of carrot and raisin salad and came home with an empty bowl.

I used the cane for the last time today.

Sunday:

We were awakened early by my cellphone as Janice called to let me know they had just gotten off the freeway. They (she and Kyleigh) arrived while I was in the shower. We went to breakfast and helped David make up some jumpropes. (Kyleigh was very good at feeding the rope into the holes in the handles and throwing the completed rope packages into the storage box.) Then Janice, Kyleigh and I did some exploring. We went to the blacksmith's barn, the farmhouse and the gift shop where Kyleigh got a new toy. We also rode the hayride, a first for Kyleigh.
She had a lot of fun, sometimes sitting next to grandma and sometimes kneeling and looking out at the scenery. She waved at everyone she saw and said "hi!". Since she seemed to enjoy it so much, Janice took her through the parade.


The hayrides go at the beginning of the parade so they joined us for lunch afterwards. Afterwards, we played on the playground, rode the train, checked out the crafts, ran around the big grassy area and went back up to the Weavers Building to say "bye" to grandpa.

David and I have a favorite Chinese buffet in Vista that we decided to eat at tonight. As we were leaving we saw some friends who were getting ready to leave for a birthday celebration (Betty turned 85) and they invited us to join them--at a Chinese buffet. The one they had chosen was closed so we ended up at the one we were headed to in the first place!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Pumpkin Patch Visit

I met Janice and Kyleigh at church this morning and we turned in the Box of Love Janice had picked up last week. I gave them a check for a second one (actually, the check will probably fund at least two and possibly three because of the bulk buying they're able to do.) Kyleigh turned in her library book and got two more, a board book that she picked out and a book for a little older child that Janice picked out. They read books together every night before bed. We also bought 2010 Entertainment books. It's the first time I've bought one in a long time, but I should almost recoup my cost by using the coupons for Ralph's Grocery which is where I normally shop.

Chad wasn't feeling well so he didn't go to church, but wanted to go to the pumpkin patch with us so we went to their condo to get him. I wanted a picture of the outfit Kyleigh was wearing, but she wasn't cooperating. She ran off and hid in the tent Janice had purchased yesterday so I faced the camera into the tent and took this picture. It's not the best, but I couldn't really see what I was doing.

The pumpkin patch had rides and a petting zoo as well as pumpkins. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the pumpkins themselves. Kyleigh dressed up for the occasion; the shirt has a ghost on it and says "Boo-ti-ful".

The rides and stuff were expensive so she didn't do any of those, but Janice did take her into the petting zoo. She wasn't too sure, but did manage to pet a goat before one of the piglets scared her. Then she wouldn't have anything to do with any of the animals.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Saturday

Our first stop today was swimming lessons. David dropped me off and then took off to the tractor show in Vista. Janice's goal today was to get Kyleigh a dress for her annual portrait, some silver shoes to go with her Halloween costume, diapers and a hanging storage container for her stuffed animals.

She had a coupon for Carters and their dresses were on sale at 40% off so that was our first stop. She bought a dress (wouldn't have been my first choice), a sweater to go with it since it was sleeveless, a pair of pajamas with feet and a play outfit.

We then went to Babies R Us, where she got diapers, wipes, snacks and some canvas shoes (Kyleigh now knows "pink".) While there, Kyleigh got bored and turned around in the basket on her knees so she could see where we were going instead of where we'd been. She also spotted a Dora container for snacks.

The next stop was Ikea where Janice wanted to get the stuffed animal holder for her room. She also found an inexpensive tent and a couple of small stuffed animals. Because, Ikea is a very large store, we borrowed a wheelchair from the customer service desk and Kyleigh rode on my lap. We've done this a couple of times and she sits really still. We tried to get her off a couple of times to check out some chairs and tables, but she refused to get off my lap.

While we were there, we checked the Dream Homes (manufactured homes) in the parking lot. Janice liked what she saw and they are affordable so she's looking into purchasing a pre-owned one.

By this time it was time for lunch so we stopped at a Carls Jr. Kyleigh gets a hamburger happy meal and Janice usually breaks it up for her, but this time, she decided she needed to eat it like a big girl. In the first picture she's examining a pickle which eventually went into her mouth.


The toy was a soft ball with a monster face on it. I don't think this is how it was meant to be played with though.

Our final stop was a Payless Shoe Store to look for those silver shoes. Kyleigh was asleep when we got there so I carried her in, but she woke up as soon as she saw all the shoes. Janice did find the shoes she was looking for and Kyleigh found a backpack. She's really into Dora the Explorer and as soon as she spotted this, I knew I was going to get it for her. Even though she was wearing one, she kept going back to the shelf and wanting another one. At one point, she was wearing two! She's also wearing the shoes she got at Babies R Us earlier.


I managed to get it off her to get in the car, but Janice told me later that she wore it all around the house when she got home.
David got back from Vista about 5:30 and decided he wanted to go to a Chinese Buffet that he had an ad for. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the ad, but remembered approximately where it was, so we went looking for it. The one place we found was really crowded and was more of an Asian Buffet so we kept looking. 45 minutes later, we ended up at a Hong Kong Express and brought home takeout.
We then watched what was left of the Angels game. Turned out it took another two hours. They did play better than last night, but still lost. I knew one run wasn't enough of a lead for Fuentes. They better get their act together before they get home on Monday. I did get quite a bit of stitching done, so it wasn't a total loss.
Angels - 0; Yankees - 2

Friday, October 16, 2009

Kyleigh Came to Visit

Janice dropped Kyleigh off at a restaurant at 7:40 and picked her up at our house at 4:40 so we had her all day. We ate breakfast and then since David had located the CPU chip he needed for my laptop on eBay and the company was local, we took off to find it. While he was in the store, Kyleigh and I took a walk around the strip center and when we got back to the car, she decided she was going to drive. She got in grandpa's seat and had me seatbelt her in and close the door. I got in the other side and she told me to close my door. Then she asked for my keys. She had a little trouble getting the key in the ignition, so I helped her. Her feet don't reach the pedals and we didn't start the car (although she tried to turn the key, but wasn't able to), so I wasn't worried about her taking us anywhere. (Kyleigh is only 18 months old and doesn't have a lot of language, but she's very good at communicating what she wants.)

When we got home, David installed the new CPU chip and an aquarium screen saver on my laptop. When he showed Kyleigh the aquarium, she immediately said "bubbo" pointing to the bubbles; Janice has no idea where she learned that.

We also learned that she's afraid of the vacuum cleaner because of the noise. We went to a different room to get away from it, but for some reason it decided to follow us. She did enjoy playing with the bifold doors on our closet though. She'd go into the closet and close the doors which turns out the light and then open one of the doors and laugh. I played a game with her by opening the doors myself and also went into the closet with her. We had great fun and it kept her busy for about 1/2 hour. (I'm amazed at her attention span sometimes.)

After lunch and a good nap, I had planned to take her to Michaels to replenish some of my floss and get her some stickers, but since it was 99 degrees outside, I decided to skip it. Instead, she was a very busy little girl, swiffering my hallway, and taking things from one place and moving them somewhere else. For some reason, her toys didn't hold her attention today.

She loves playing with the magnets on the refrigerator and when she couldn't reach these, she stood on the rug shampooer next to the refrigerator (I accidentally cut it off at the bottom of the picture.)
The maroon tub has a bunch of books that David picked up at a garage sale a few weeks ago. When she couldn't reach them, she climbed onto a box of Lego Quattro blocks (also from a garage sale).
When that wasn't high enough, she climbed onto the table itself.

I had also planned on taking my walk with her in the stroller, but since it was so hot, I decided to skip that too. David had bought me a "fancy" walker with a seat and basket just before my surgery thinking that I'd need a walker a lot longer than I did. At one point, I'd put Kyleigh on the walker facing me and rolled her around the house. Later, since she was getting antsy and it was almost time for Janice to show up, I sat her on the walker facing forward and took her for a walk between our two driveways (we're on a corner lot so there's one in front and one on the side.) Janice showed up while we were on the side of the house. Kyleigh waved to her, but didn't try to get off; she rode the walker back into it's storage place in the house.
After she left, we watched part of the Angels game, but it was a "baaaad" game so we watched some shows we'd recorded and just checked on it periodically. Hopefully, they'll do better tomorrow.
Angels - 0; Yankees - 1

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Computer Upgrade and a Finish

David has been planning to upgrade the CPU and RAM on my laptop for sometime now. Since I've been having a lot of problems with Internet Explorer becoming nonresponsive lately, he decided it was time. The first step was to do a duplication backup of my hard drive which he started at noon on Wednesday, but it wasn't completed until after 8:00 PM. Apparently, I have over 90,000 files, so I guess I should do some cleanup.

Today he did a bunch of stuff, including updating the BIOS (?). At 5:00 he headed out to get more RAM and a faster CPU. He came back with the RAM, but couldn't get the CPU he wanted. He also got more RAM and a new PCIA card for his laptop.

Since I haven't had much access to the computer, I did quite a bit of stitching. Donna at WOCS mentioned she'd received some Halloween fabric and wanted to know if anyone wanted to stitch some squares. I told her I'd stitch a couple and today I completed the first one. This is from The World of Cross Stitching #116.

There was a border which I left off and I thought about changing the cat to a black cat, but I was afraid the back stitching would show up so I left it alone. I also started "Home is where the Cat is" for Benevolent Piecemakers. Although it's fairly small, it's pretty solid stitching, so it will be a while before I have another finish.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

All Done!

"All Done!" is what Kyleigh's been saying for a couple of months whenever appropriate--when she's finished eating, after her flu shot, when she's tired of swimming and when there's no more drink in her cup.

This time "All Done" refers to the mismatched alphabet squares that I've been stitching for Q4OC as a stitch-a-long for Binky South Dakota. I had a personal goal of stitching all 26 letters, each from a different ABC series. The squares are due November 1st and since this is the last square, I finished with plenty of time to spare, but I've really enjoyed stitching these little guys!


Letter N: Balloon & Kite ABC - The World of Cross Stitching #139 (I changed the background light blue grey stitches from cross stitches to half stitches.)

I also had physical therapy this afternoon, this time with a therapist to do a reassessment. She worked me really hard, upping the resistance on the bike from 1 to 4 and giving me a couple of new exercises. She says I'm doing really well and that I only need to go once a week now and she'll do another assessement on 11/12.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Letter J is Done

I finished the letter J this evening. That means I only have one left.

Letter J: Cute Cat ABC - Cross Stitch Crazy #99 (I accidentally changed the color of the "J" from 3746 to 517 and left the black french knots off the eyes, but I'm starting to rethink that.)

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Preschool Visit and Letter Q

Janice and Kyleigh are usually waiting for us when we get to church on Sundays and Kyleigh usually gets a short visit with grandpa (gapa) before we go into church. This morning, Janice called and wanted to know where we were, because Kyleigh was pointing at each SUV that entered the lot and saying "gapa?" (She does recognize our car so I guess she was just anxious) Her latest "adventure" is to sit on his lap and either work the windshield wipers as she's doing in the first picture or "drive" the car as she's doing in the second.


There was an open house after church today so we took the opportunity to check out the preschool since Janice is planning to move her from the babysitter's to a preschool setting when she turns two. (She'd already made this decision, but observing her in the nursery this morning reinforced that decision.) She wouldn't be able to start at this preschool officially until September when she was 2 1/2, but they do have a summer program she could attend. Kyleigh did a lot of investigating--sitting at each table and touching the display, "stealing" one of the paint pots and moving some of the pumpkins from the shelf to the table. It's a good program ( they concentrate on learning shapes and colors and socializing in this class), but it will all depend on the cost which won't be available until January. We also visited the library where Kyleigh got to check out one of the books she'd looked at on Thursday.
We listened the Angels - Red Sox game on the way home and since the Angels were losing, I decided to wait awhile to watch the rest of the game (I didn't want to watch them lose). Just after the game ended, Bob called to share the news that the Angels had won after all, so I spent the rest of the afternoon stitching and watching the game.
Angels 3 - Red Sox 0 On to the ALCS!

I hadn't done much stitching for the past few days, but I finally managed a finish tonight.
Letter Q: Fairy ABC - Cross Stitch Crazy #120

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Flu Shots, Swimming, Shopping & the Park

We started off today by getting our flu shots. Kaiser had two drive through clinics available and David wanted to get going as early as possible. We were in line by 8:11 (it opened at 8:00) and done by 8:46. Although we had a bit of a wait, it was really well organized and moved quickly. They were expecting to give 10,000 shots today. After the shots, we went to breakfast at Norm's where we split the steak and eggs special.

Then it was time for swimming lessons. Janice was running late so we changed Kyleigh outside by the car before going in. Kyleigh didn't want to go with the teacher, but calmed down halfway across the pool. She's getting really brave, trying to climb off the platforms, etc, but she still doesn't like to float on her back. Janice has decided to take a break for a couple of months and stop the lessons at the end of October.

After swimming lessons we went looking for a Halloween costume for Kyleigh. First we went to the Party Time near the condo. but they didn't have anything so we went to Babies R Us. Before going into the store, Kyleigh got the chance to visit with Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. The ride wasn't working though.

She found a costume she liked (Tigger), but Janice didn't, so we went into the mall to check out Penneys and the Disney Store. We got her a Tinkerbell costume at the Disney Store for 1/2 price. Before we went to Penneys, we stopped for an Orange Julius. Kyleigh and I waited at the table while Janice went to get the drinks. Here, she's pretending to talk to Mommy on the phone (Mommy's in line where she can see her and is also pretending to talk on the phone.)

After an emergency diaper change, Kyleigh and I rode the escalator from the first floor to the third floor while Janice took the elevator with the stroller. Kyleigh loves to ride the escalator and she does a very good job of standing still and holding my hand, all with a huge smile on her face. We checked out the holiday dresses, but Kyleigh shook her head at each dress she was shown, so we didn't buy anything.
On the way home, we stopped at a park so I could introduce Kyleigh to thunder sticks. Unfortunately, she was more interested in the playground equipment.




Friday, October 9, 2009

Friday

I had another group physical therapy appointment this morning. More machines and chair rolling. For some reason, I was really tired when I got home, so I took a nap. David woke me to tell me he was going to an electronics store and would bring home lunch, so I got up and read email. But, I was falling asleep in front of the computer so as soon as I finished lunch, I took another nap. I woke up just in time to get ready to go to the Angels game.

Bob picked me up since David was already at the stadium and we watched another good game. Unfortunately, the playoff games are longer than the regular season games (there are longer between inning breaks) and I couldn't stretch out my knee because there were people in the seats in front of me, so I was in quite a bit of pain by the end. I took my stitching again and I did stitch some before the game.

Angels - 2; Red Sox - 0

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Busy Thursday

I drove for the first time this morning since my surgery. The doctor released me to drive after three weeks, but there hadn't been a need and I was a little nervous about having to get from the accelerator to the brake quickly. I shouldn't have worried though as I didn't have any trouble. Since the street sweeper came this morning and David needed to be available to move the RV, I decided to go get donuts for breakfast (again a first since my surgery).

I also had my six week check up with the surgeon this morning. Everything is right on schedule and he's very satisfied with my progress. He showed me the before and after xrays and said the problems I mentioned (the knee clicking and the swelling) are due to excess fluid which should go away soon. I see him again in six weeks.

After my appointment we went to lunch with a friend from work whose office is now just down the street from the hospital. While we were waiting for her, several of her coworkers came out on their way to lunch and stopped to talk for a few minutes. We just went to a sandwich shop, but the sandwiches were really good and we had some good conversation.

The first ALDS game between the Angels and the Red Sox took place tonight and David had to be there earlier than normal so he dropped me off at Janice's condo. I picked Kyleigh up from the babysitter and we played together for a couple of hours.

Here she is talking to Mommy on the phone--it's on speaker, but she stole it from me and ran and got on the horse. She loves the telephone.

In this one, she's rocking herself in Daddy's chair and watching TV, while I was getting ready to leave.
I put my purse in the back of her stroller and she immediately abandoned the chair and climbed into the stroller. We then walked down to the church which was about 1/4 mile away where I had a Social Ministries Meeting. While waiting for the meeting to start, Kyleigh did some wandering and discovered the newly remodeled library, heading straight to the little kids' books. Janice picked her up just before the meeting started and took her to McDonalds for dinner. After her bath, they came back to pick me up and drive me home. Kyleigh got very upset when I handed her to Mommy to be put in her carseat--she didn't understand that I was going too.

Angels - 1, Red Sox - 0


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Only One Today

I only finished one alphabet square today, but I did start a second.
Letter M: Citrus Fruits ABC - The World of Cross Stitching #127

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

More Productive Day

Today was a more productive day than yesterday. It started with breakfast at Mimi's. The food was fantastic, but the service was awful. From there we went to the library.

I've decided it's time to start doing more around the house so I cleaned the bathroom, washed a load of towels, swiffered the hallway and did the dishes. Not a lot, but it's a start.

This evening, we went to dinner at Marie Callendar's with Chad, Janice and Kyleigh. We like their salad bar and on Tuesday, they have my favorite soup--split pea with ham.

Kyleigh does a good job drinking from a straw, especially after grandpa cuts a couple of inches off.


She's not really trying to put the crayon in her mouth; she's stuffing it in the scroll she's holding.

She was sitting on my lap when Janice and Chad got up to leave. As Janice came toward her, she waved and said "bye bye" to her making the couple at the table next to us laugh.

I also stitched two more letters:

Letter B: Fish ABC -Crazy for Cross Stitch #85Letter P: Fairy ABC - Crazy for Cross Stitch #83 (I used regular DMC instead of the Light Effects called for for the wings and replaced the french knots for the eyes and mouth.)

Monday, October 5, 2009

More Stitching

Today was a relatively lazy day. We didn't do anything and didn't go anywhere except to Carl's Jr for lunch since David wanted to try the Big Carl. I did do quite a bit of stitchy related things, though.

First, I stitched two more letters:

Letter L: Ice Cream ABC - Quick & Easy Cross Stitch #141 (I used regular DMC instead of the called for Light Effects and changed the L from 211 to 210. The Aida is a light pink.)

Letter S: Baby Bear ABC - The World of Cross Stitching (I changed the color of the "S" from 809 to 954 and replaced the french knots for the eyes with cross stitches.)

Second, I chose and enlarged the charts for the final six letters.

Then I signed up for a square for Ron's quilt at Benevolent Peacemakers. Each time I stitch a letter, I look through the magazine to see if there are any other charts I would like to stitch. I found a chart called "Home is Where the Cat is" this morning, but didn't know what to stitch it for. This evening, Meg posted a request for an additional square for Ron's quilt and since he likes cats, I had a destination. Since she has all of the other squares, I'll work on this later this week and hopefully get it in the mail on Monday.

Finally, I signed up for the Binky South Dakota Yahoo Group. This is the group that will eventually get the mismatched alphabet squares as well as the EMS Babybook Animals that I stitched for WOCS.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Another Finish

I went to church alone this morning--it was strange not to have Janice and Kyleigh there. They started a new series called "Live like you were dying" based on the song of the same name by Tim McGraw. This was the first time I actually heard the song. Unfortunately, I was extremely tired so I came home and took a long nap and then watched the last Angels game of the regular season and kitted up three more small projects.

This evening I managed another finish--I really like these little squares. This one is called "Breakfast in Bed" and it's from Kitchen Motifs in Quick & Easy Cross Stitch #139. It's also for WOCS 4th Challenge.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Saturday

Kyleigh woke up several times during the night: 10:15 (she managed to go back to sleep on her own), 11:45 (it took about an hour this time), 3:50 (I misread the clock and gave her milk thinking it was 4:50 which is the time she normally gets it; she went right back to sleep--in our bed). She was up for the day about 6:20. We had french toast and ham for breakfast--it was her first time for french toast and she ate most of it.

This picture was kind of an accident--she was coming toward me to get at the camera, but she was in a different pose when I clicked the button.


Look at those curls!

David was cleaning the kitchen when Kyleigh decided she needed a hug. She really needed a nap!
She had swimming lessons this morning and was fussier than usual. She did a lot of fake crying and kept saying "All Done!", but she did what the teacher told her to. She still doesn't like floating on her back, but at the end of the lesson, the teacher told her if she did a good job, she could be all done and she did an almost perfect float without a lot of fussing.


Her other grandmother met us at swimming lessons and took her home for that long overdue nap. She'll have her for the rest of the weekend. Me? I came home and took a nap, too!

After my nap, I did some stitching for the first time since Wednesday and finished this scarecrow. He's a Farm Motif from The World of Cross Stitching #120 and is for the WOCS 4th Challenge, which is squares for lap quilts for the Century Care Center in Florida.