August Already!

Wow, where has the summer gone? I can't believe that kids start back to school in just a couple weeks here in FL.

We were in VA for a couple weeks on vacation. We got to spend a few days with my husband's brother and his wife (Mark and Kathy). We had a great visit! We enjoy wonderful hospitality and friendship. It was so good to see Mark up and around and doing wonderfully well. He is back to work on full duty after his injury in October of last year. God has been very good to him!

Then we spent a week with my son and his wife (Brandon & Beth). We had a nice visit. In the middle of it was Beth's family reunion, which they were hosting in Bedford VA at Smith Mountain Lake. It was a wonderful weekend. The family reunion was refreshing to our souls and it was wonderful to meet new people and be accepted into their family.

We are back in FL, back to the day to day life. I miss the family we left in VA, but I still know that this is where we are suppose to be and this is what we are suppose to be doing... helping out my parents. Sometimes it is hard, frustrating and down right irritating, but I am hanging in there and trying to have a good attitude and right spirit.

Hope you are all enjoying the final days of summer. I am hoping to get to spend a day at the beach here soon, before things kick back in full tilt with school.

Have a great week! Be blessed!

Cindy

Wow ... Where has the time gone??

Boy, I have neglected my blog... I can't believe it is almost June. I have been busy doing who knows what... I have been working on some tote bags for my 'daughter's' family reunion this summer, we have been to the beach for a week, and just general life, I guess.

I haven't done any scrapbooking in such a long time. I have been trying to focus more on my sewing and embroidering. I can't seem to find the time to work on them both at the same time.

We had a great time at the beach. We were there the week before the HUGE storms that left Ormond Beach, FL flooded. For that, I am very thankful. It was nice to be able to sit and enjoy the ocean, waves, sights, smells... It was just a much needed break in my year. I spent the first 3 days with my husband celebrating our 4th anniversary. The rest of the week, he had to go back to work, so my girls and my friend, Ruth, from VA joined me! We had a great time... No schedule, not anything hard and fast planned...

We visited St. Augustine a couple times, and ate at the Santa Maria... they have the most awesome Krab Bites! And there were dolphins swimming right by the restaurant. (It is out over the water. You can feed the fish from inside the restaurant through little doors in the window sill. My youngest daughter (who is almost 17) was most excited about feeding the fish!!



This is a pirate ship that you can ride! It is docked at the marina right at the Lion's Bridge in St. Augustine, FL. They are all dressed in costume and in character! You become part of the pirate adventure while you are on board. We thought about going on a ride and decided to wait until we could all go together. The day we thought about it, it was their FIRST day in operation! If I had known that I might have decided to do it anyhow! It looks like a lot of fun.

And we saw a WHITE peacock! I have never seen a white peacock before. It was absolutely beautiful! We were visiting the 'Fountain of Youth' ... again in St. Augustine!

If you ever get the chance to eat at a 'Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co' you should do it! It was really good and we had a lot of fun!

And that's all I got to say about that!

Have a great week, Be Blessed

Cindy

What I've been up to...

Wow, where has the time gone?!?! I can't believe it is already past the middle of February.

I have been busy working on all kinds of fun stuff. I'm a huge fan of purses that can also be backpacks. I bought one a few years ago at Kohl's and I really like it because of the way that it is made, you can use it like a regular purse or a backpack. Well, I have been thinking about it for quite a while, and have finally made the pattern and made one. I like the way that it turned out, though for some, the colors might be a 'tad' bright! Very tropical!

I have also been working on some little Easter bunnies that you can put a mini candy in or a gift card or even cash! They turned out really cute too.

I have also been doing some research on dyslexia and some reading. Heading to a seminar on Friday to listen to Sue Barton. Should be really interesting. So, we have been busy, busy, busy...

And then there is helping out with my folks too... But, we were able to get away on Valentine's Day and head to Cedar Key. It is a lovely, quaint little place on the Gulf Coast. We had a good time poking around in the shops and had a great meal at one of the restaurants right on the water. If you are anywhere near there, and haven't had the chance to check it out, it is a nice day trip. We even 'witnessed' a wedding that lasted about 5 minutes (at the top). When they were finished saying their vows (which we didn't hear because it was outside with lots of pelicans flying around and lots of people fishing on the pier), they 'took the plunge' literally... they had wet suits under their clothes, so they stripped off the clothes and jumped off the pier into the Gulf to a waiting little boat... that looked like it would sink if you weren't too careful! It was an interesting wedding to say the least. But, they seemed happy and everyone that was part of the wedding seemed to think it was just the way they wanted it... so ... more power to them... personally, I don't think I would jump off a perfectly good pier into the Gulf 10+ feet below just for kicks on my wedding day! But the, that's just ME!

Hope you all have a great day. Be Blessed.

February Already

Where does the time go?! I can't believe that it is almost the middle of February already.

I have been working on a few sewing projects. Here are a couple of pictures of the quilted purse I made for my "daughter's" birthday! it turned out pretty good. She really likes snowflakes and one of the pieces has snowflakes. She also likes purple, especially the sparkly purple fabric!

There is one zippered pocket on this front side. There are pockets in the inside as well. I also put a piece of pastic canvas in the bottom to make it a bit more sturdy, but it is removable so that the bag can be washed.

(Sorry, the picture is a bit blurry. I had a hard time getting one that was good of the inside!)

I am working on another bag, this one a backpack purse kind of thing... it is a crazy patchwork bag. When it is together, I will post some of those pictures as well.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Be Blessed.

Wow - Almost the end of January already

Just thought I would post a quick note. My son and his wife both had birthdays this week. Brandon's was Sunday and Beth's is today. I hope that you both had a great birthday. I will post a couple pictures in the next day or so of some of my recent projects.

Hope everyone is having a good New Year and have survived all the hubbub of the last couple weeks. Hopefully life will settle down a bit and get into a new routine.

Be Blessed,
Cindy

Now I can share my pictures ...

Now I can post the pictures of some of the goodies that I made for Christmas. The first is a Christmas Tree Skirt that I made for my son and his wonderful wife.

The embroidery is called 'Santa's Ride' and it is from BFC Creations. I love this design set. It stitches out so great! I used crystals in all the stars and on Rudolph's nose. I also decorated the tree with some of them.

I also made my 'daughter' a black fleece jacket with a snowflake on it.

I also used hot-fix crystals on the snowflake. (I'm becoming a real fan of these. They are so much fun to use and EASY to put on!)



I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed time with family and friends. My son and his wife were visiting from Virginia. It was a great Christmas with them. I'm just sad they had to leave to go back home today :(

I also want to wish you all a Joyous and Happy New Year as we get ready to enter 2009. May the year be full of all those things that are nearest and dearest to your heart. My prayer for everyone is that this coming year will be your best year yet and that it will be filled with peace, joy and lots of love.

Be Blessed!

Cindy

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to take this time to wish you and your family Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.