PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA!

The family is enjoying a week long vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida.  Our daughter Kelley is here competing in the Nationals with her dance class.  We arrived on Monday, but she doesn't have to perform until tomorrow morning, so we've had almost 3 whole days to do whatever we wanted.  They've been to the pool often but I'm hoping to make it down to the beach before the week is over.  Their dad did walk them down to the beach Tuesday night, but our son TJ was scared of the sound of the ocean and our daughter Jessica didn't like the feel of the sand under her feet.  She said it was too "hard".  But I'm looking forward to getting down there maybe tonight or tomorrow.

A WHOLE NEW WORLD HAS OPENED TO ME!

Having never been one to be right up there with the latest fad, and in reality, oftentime not being with the latest fad (they come and go...who needs that stress of trying to keep up?), I have discovered a new world.  Fad or not, and I hope it's not, Pinterest has gotten my interest!  Oh my goodness, what a plethora of images and ideas!

So I asked for an invitation.  Who knew you had to be invited?  And I got an invitation.  So I've started a few "boards" there where I've pinned images and ideas that interest me (pun intended).  Images that range from my love of crochet, of course, to ideas of organization.  Ways to organize my crafty stuff is foremost in my mind and therefore is reflected on my board primarily right now, but also ways to organize other things, from crayons to paper to just STUFF!  I pin pictures I see from others' boards, but also, I can pin from a website that has some cool idea.  Or crochet pattern!

Speaking of crochet patterns, look what I found!  Click here!  Really!  Oh my goodness, I was in heaven.  Though it is a book made in China, or Japan?, you don't need to worry if you're not reading fluently in that language.  The patterns all have standard diagrams of the stitches!  So I hope you are fluent in reading crochet diagrams.  If not, I'm sure someone will be able to help you.  Check it out!

And come check out my boards on Pinterest!  Feel free to pin from there!

DO YOU NEED SOME KINDNESS TODAY?

We all could stand a little more kindness in this world, couldn't we?  We can't always make others be kind, though we'd like to, I'm sure.  But if we made the first move and extended kindness to someone else, do you think their burden might be lightened even a little bit that they would find it in themselves to be kind to someone else that passes into their world?

I love the commercial showing someone extending a kindness to someone not realizing that there is someone else watching them.  And then that person who was watching this person being helpful or kind to someone extended a kindness to someone who crossed their path that day, who then extended a kindness to someone else, and so on.  I can't remember whose ad that was (I'm sorry, unknown company), but it was really a wonderful commercial.  We need more ads, more pictures of kindness, of people caring for one another.  I endeavor to have more moments of kindness in my life.  So in kindness, I share with you a few of my favorite sites about kindness.  I hope you will check them out for encouragement and ideas in sharing kindness in your world.

HelpOthers.org is a wonderful site that shares stories of kindnesses done and kindnesses received along with ideas to express kindnesses.  Check out their Smile Cards, too.  My daughter and I love to use them.  I have used them by handing them to the cashier in a fast-food drive-thru, along with the money to pay for the car's order behind me.  I ask the cashier to pass the card to the driver when they tell them that their order has already been paid.  My daughter has used them by including them with a dollar bill and placing them under a windshield wiper blade on a random car or two.  Of course you don't need to spend money to do a kindness.  What ways might you use a Smile Card?

Another favorite of mine is Operation Nice.  Very simple and encouraging.  Just check them out.  :)

Today I discovered Kind Over Matter.  I look forward to looking more in depth over their blog.  They have generously shared some free printables that you should certainly check out.

And Squidoo has this website which has a little bit of everything, including mention of the sites I just mentioned above!  Plus lots more!  Be sure and check that out.

I'm going to permanently list these favorite sites of mine over in the right sidebar for a quick find.  I hope that you find something encouraging and perhaps a new idea or two to help you spread a little kindness today.  We all could use a little more NICE in our day, couldn't we?

BEGINNING A HOME MANAGEMENT NOTEBOOK...

Over the past week, I have been researching Home Management Notebooks, which go by other similar names like Home Management Binder, and other names, if you wanted to do a web search on the subject.  Here's an interesting article about them.  Being a wife for 22 years and mother for the past 14 years (4 children now!), you'd think that I would've discovered this much sooner.  It probably would have made my day-to-day life much more peaceful and productive had I done this sooner.  But hey!, as my favorite motto says "Better late than never!"

I have been perusing the internet for ideas these past days and haven't actually begun putting together my notebook yet, unless you count printing out forms I will be using.  Though I haven't started the notebook yet, I have started a Morning Routine Chart for each of my children, in addition to a Daily Chore Chart and a Nighttime Routine Chart all of which can be found at Free Printable Behavior Charts.  I have been pleasantly surprised at the enthusiasm my children displayed at getting their charts...more from the 7 year old than the 14 year old as you might guess.  My 14 year old daughter says she enjoys the morning routine but not everything about the new routine in general.  I reminded her that she did ask for this, to which she replied "Yeah, but it backfired!"  Still, I think it makes her feel like she has accomplished something, and she notices how mom is happier when all the jobs have been done with little whining and complaining from each of the children.  Yeah, I should have done this ALOT sooner!

But back to the notebooking idea, here are different notebooks that others have put together for their homes.  SimpleMom has a good post about it.  Passionate Homemaking has a wonderful post and looks like a place I want to spend more time exploring her blog.  And then there is Starry Sky Ranch which agrees that your journal should be pretty with pictures of her own.

There are also wonderful YouTube videos. Here's one from Malitose79, and she does have more than this one, so check out her other videos.  Here's one from a military mom in the middle of a move.  And then you can check out the endless other videos that are then offered for your viewing after seeing one video.  When you're ready, besides the pages some of these videos suggested, there's this wonderful page of all sorts of printables that you can choose from and download for free.  Some of these printables could be used without putting together a notebook....they're wonderful forms to help you in some of the things you might have to do in any given day.

Meanwhile, regarding my own Home Management Journal, I plan to use my love of scrapbooking and papercrafts to build my notebook.  If interested, I'll post more pictures as I start the process.  I do homeschool, so I'll most likely be incorporating a section for that.  I'm interested to see how my journal will turn out.  Until then, consider creating your own book to help you in managing your home.  I imagine that even if you're a student or living at home with your parents, you can still tweak this idea to better manage your studies or your home life.  I'd love to hear more from others who maintain a Home Management Notebook.  Or if you'd like to start one, what will you do?  If you do have a notebook already created and posted about, I'd love for you to share your link.  I love seeing new ideas and old ones! :)

ANOTHER FLOWER PATTERN

Having just found this, I thought I'd share it with you all.  If you're like me and you like crocheting flowers and are always looking for a new pattern, maybe this one is new to you.  The pink and green colors really caught my eye.  Going to crochet one or two now. :)

WHERE ARE MY ROSE-COLORED GLASSES?

Well, it's been a long day.  Started at 5 am (3 am really as I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep!) and a 2 hr trip to Waycross, GA for a "Teen Violence and Dangerous Behaviors" class with speaker Jesse Hambrick of Douglas County, GA.  Very enlightening and in my opinion, TMI!  I miss my rose-colored glasses.  I've said that before in the past.  But honestly, sometimes I wish I didn't know about all the ugly stuff out there.  And I don't even know HALF of it!  But what I have seen and heard...ugh!  Sometimes I want to stick my head in the sand, as they say, and pretend it's not out there.  But the smarter side of me knows that it is beneficial to understand what the evils are out there that are vying for our children's attention or that can even touch our lives without our invitation!

I saw a video that is available on YouTube that any sane person would agree should NOT be seen by ANYONE!  Very violent and of no benefit.  Absolutely none!  And no, I won't name it because I won't speak their name and give them any free advertising.  They really need to go back to the hell they came out of, and I don't say that lightly.  I was one of many in the class this morning who turned away right when a particular act of violence was going to be shown in the video because we all knew what was coming up next.  I didn't need to SEE it.  The sound effects were more than enough to sicken me.  And the tragedy is that while pornography is regulated on YouTube, violence is not.  This sort of violence should never be viewed.  There is just pure evil out there!  And for those of you who would cry "Free speech!  Free speech!", that is not a reality...you cannot cry "Fire!" in a crowded theater.  You cannot speak anything that would be considered a racial slur or hate speech in the USA.  You are not allowed to say and do just whatever you want.  So to allow this sort of visual violence and cry that it's permissable under the 1st Amendment....oh, it's just garbage.  I'm saddened by where this world is headed and even has already come to.

Then we learned about "Sexting", Violent Music, and of course the plethora of drugs available to our youth, from prescription drugs to over-the-counter drugs to making your own!  Ugh!  There is so much sadness and despair in this world.

*looking around*  Where are my rose-colored glasses.....

May Day!

It's May!  The first day of May!  Happy May Day!

I went to bed about 2 am.  Woke up around 5 am.  Couldn't go back to sleep.  So finally got up at 6 after listening to all those thoughts running around in my head about all the things I need to do today.  Or at least should do today.  So much stuff in my head!  I got up and knocked out some work I needed to email to my supervisor this morning.  Ate a bit of breakfast sometime in there...boiled egg, wheat toast with strawberry jam, and a kiwi.  Quite tasty.  It's been 3 hrs since that bit of food however, so I'm thinking it's time to eat something else.  I think it will help in keeping my good mood evened out during the day if I eat small meals often.  And more water!  Less tea.  (I love McDonald's sweet tea, you see.  Could drink 4 or 5 of those large cups in an 18 hr period!  So, less tea .... )  Children are still asleep, but they'll be up any minute now...I can FEEL it.  It's a sunny hot day already.  And I need to begin on those other tasks that were running through my head at 5 o'clock this morning.  Strangely, I can't seem to remember all those "things to do" that were keeping me awake!  Figures.

TIME TO HOLD A HOOK AND YARN...

I have been having just too much fun reviving my blog (editing and adding items), finding cool blogs to read, and finding more beautiful items and free patterns to add to my To Do list that I'm not getting any actual crocheting done!  So that must change.  My hands long to hold some yarn and a crochet hook.  I found alot of beautiful patterns on Ravelry and added them to my sidebar on the left....now which one should I do first?  An afghan square?  A coaster set?  Amigurumi?  Which project would you like to see me finish and picture here?  Tell me.  I'm listening.

FLOWER POWER

Blog-hopping, a past-time I used to do often, I found this cute post.  Considering that flowers seem to be on my mind lately, albeit usually crocheted flowers, I just loved this illustration.  I want to draw dandelions now!  I wonder if it's possible to crochet a dandelion....

Here are a few crocheted flower patterns that I love:

• Flowers on rose hip's blog
• Poinsettia that would look pretty in other colors
• Mimi's Little Flowers
• Crocheted Roses
• Bouillion Stitch Crocheted Flower
• and check out this site for more crocheted flower patterns.

And other flower projects I'd like to try:

• Flower Pinwheel made of sturdy papers or cardstock and other supplies.
• Spring Violets made of felt.

I'M BAAAAACK!

My blog has been so enjoyable for me to update over the years. It seems ever since my last child was born back in 2009, and even before then, my blog has been neglected. It's a wonderful outlet for me to express myself, however, so I want to get back to it. So here we go!

I use Photobucket to store most of my pictures for online use, and after organizing them, I noticed several of my pictures here on Blogger were missing. It was simply because I had moved the pictures into new folders, but still, that breaks links. So I've been spending some time putting the correct link on the lost pictures of several blog posts. And boy, is that time-consuming. It is something one doesn't want to really do while the whole family is around and pulling you in different directions with their various needs. So I took a "mommy-break" and came outside to my Craft House to get some peace and quiet. It has helped a lot!

I noticed on my blog that I've talked a lot about the Crochet List Bookmark Exchange. There are quite a few posts about bookmarks I've received and made! I have been doing other things in these past 3 years, too, but I still love a bookmark project. In fact, here is the latest one I received for the April exchange!

Jessie sent this lovely variegated blue bookmark and three freebie patterns. I love this thread she chose and the bookmark will lay nice and flat in a favorite book.  

This is the bookmark that I made this month for her. I have been in the mood for flowers, and therefore, a crocheted flower sounded so pretty. I crocheted the flower and then just created a double-crocheted "stem". The stem was supposed to lay flat but for some reason it curled on itself. I actually liked the curled effect better than the look of the stem flattened, so I left it curled. It won't lay flat in Jessie's book, but hopefully she will still love it. :)

Back to my blog, I updated the template to it, which I like just fine.  But in the process I've lost all those lovely links I had in my previous template's sidebars.  I am looking forward to spending some time freshening up my page with new (unbroken) links and hope it will look just as nice as my older version.  I'm looking forward to seeing old friends here and meeting new ones!

TWO MONTHS OF CLBMX BOOKMARKS!

I found this post I drafted last year which I never posted. So I'm posting it now, a year later!

From March 2011...


I wanted to share with you the two bookmarks that I've received in the past two months.  They're super cool!

This first bookmark was from Maria Lits for the January 2011 CLBMX.  Her first bookmark was lost in the mail or is being enjoyed by someone else, but she said she thinks this second one turned out better.  I don't know if it's "better" or not, but it sure is wonderful!  I love teapots and teacups, and I love the color pink.  And isn't it sweet how she incorporated letter beads to spell out "tea"?

The second bookmark was for the February 2011 CLBMX and was crocheted by Kurt Decker.  Now I haven't swapped with Kurt before this exchange though I've been with the CLBMX for years!  So this was a treat to have a "new" partner.  His contribution left me laughing hard.  First of all, when the mail arrived, I saw this looonnnnggg handmade brown cardboard envelope and it left me asking "What's that?!"  When I saw it was from Kurt, I thought "Cool!  A bookmark!"  Still wondering why the supersized envelope, but hey, I was determined to open it and find out!

I was laughing as I slid out this loonnnggg red thread bookmark.  Seems the pattern Kurt used online called for size 10 thread, but this filet rose pattern is really big!  It could almost be used as a wall decoration!  I LOVE it, though.  It's just the BIGGEST bookmark I've ever received.  And I needed the laugh.  Thank you again, Kurt!

Kurt's going to let me know where he found the pattern online.  I would like to crochet this myself.  But I think I will use Size 20 or Size 30 thread.  ;-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's been a great weekend in the Cardell household.  Hubby and I decided to let the children have their Christmas on Saturday, Christmas Eve, because we would be traveling up to Acworth, Georgia on Christmas Day to spend the day with my brother and his family.  My mom and dad came up, too, and it was really good to see everyone.  There's nothing like getting together with family.  It was all pretty relaxed and enjoyable, too.

Gracie is 2 years old now and she hasn't seen her cousins Jackson and Alex for 2 years.  She and Alex were both babies 2 years ago, only 12 days apart in age.  So this weekend it has been really special to see her and Alex bond and play so sweetly together.  They have been running back and forth in the house, chasing each other, laughing, talking in a language only two little toddlers can understand.  It's been so sweet to see.  Gracie really likes his little COzy Coupe.  She has been driving it all night.  Kelley, Jessica and TJ have been playing their Uncle Paul's Wii and having a great time with it today.  Paul has had this Wii a few years, but hubby just got one yesterday for Christmas, so we brought with us an extra wheel and remote so that 3 players could play at once.  So they've been having a great time playing Mario Kart and Wii Sports.

The food was yummy, too, as it always is each year.  And too much food!  :)

It's just been a great Christmas here.  Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, too.

Merry Christmas!!!

CHALKED DRIVEWAYS

Today was another beautifully warm day.  It did try to rain today, but the sun prevailed and pushed the clouds away.  It made for an enjoyable ride to the hospital this morning.  Tommy's surgery was today to remove a disc in his back behind his neck/shoulder area.  It actually went very quickly, an hour, and the doctor said all went well.  When we got to go to Tommy's room, he was sipping on some soup and looked really well for having just come out of surgery!  He said he felt good and he looked good.  Such a sweet relief.  We should be bringing him home tomorrow.

After I got home this afternoon, I took a picture of our driveway.  Yesterday's "art" from the children was still visible, and I really got a kick out of Jessica's drawing of her brother TJ.  Especially when I remember seeing how she obtained that "drawing".  She had him lay down on the driveway and she did a chalk outline of him.  I couldn't help but think how strange that outline might look to passerbys.  Thankfully, she colored it in and it didn't look so much like a police outline.  :)

BOOKMARKS AND A DISHCLOTH, TOO!

We have been having beautiful, warm, Spring-like weather this week!  It has been wonderful that the children have been able to get outside and play.  They've been jumping on the trampoline, writing in our driveway and sidewalk with chalk, and even picking flowers for me!  I found out I have some crocus growing in the backyard, and I didn't even plant them!  Should I be thanking the birds?  I do want to dig the patch of crocus up, though, and move them to my garden area since they are just growing wildly in the backyard.  They'll get trampled!

  I have been crocheting these bookmarks since last month.  They are a bit time-consuming because every row alternates the two colors.  So I crochet a row, leave a length to work into the fringed end, cut it and start the other color for the next row.  But the effect really is beautiful.  The first one I crocheted with #10 cotton thread, but the last three (red, purple, and turquoise) are crocheted in a #8 perle.  They are about half the size of the one worked up in the #10.  I like both sizes, though.

I plan on keeping the burgandy and cream bookmark since it was my first one.  I figure I should keep something that I make!  Don't you agree?  The red one was made for my partner in the February round of the CLBMX (hope it has arrived by now, Kurt!).  The purple one is for my daughter Jessica (it still needs to be blocked), and the turquoise one will be for my daughter Kelley.  I still haven't finished that turquoise one, but perhaps tomorrow will be a good time to work on it as I'll be waiting in the hospital as hubby has back surgery to fuse two discs in his neck/shoulder area.  If you're interested in finding this pattern for yourself, this pattern can be found in the no-longer-published magazine "Crochet With Heart", February 1999.

Last week I received this lovely puffy from Claudia D. from the DishclothsRUs yahoogroup.  I love using this dishcloth, and I'm really looking forward to making the afghan featured on one of the free pattern sheets that Claudia sent to me.  It looks so cozy!  Not to be overlooked, look at the adorable crocheted butterfly ornament she made!  I love that!  I am familiar with this pattern as I love to make this pattern myself when I want to make a butterfly.

MY 43rd BIRTHDAY

A couple of weeks ago, my 43rd Birthday arrived.  43.  43!!!  When did I get to be 43?  I don't feel like 43.  I feel more like ... 23!  But at 23, I had been 2 years married and it wouldn't be until another 7 years before my first baby came along.  I was so young and didn't even know of the blessings that were ahead of me.



Hubby often brings me flowers for my birthdays, but he knew that I had a desire to have them DELIVERED to me as a surprise.  Well, look what was delivered to me from our local florist!  It was such a wonderful surprise.

My daughter bought me some flowers, too.  She knew that I liked tulips and that my favorite color was fuschia, and she found these for me.  We put them in a vase, and I really enjoyed looking at them.  Unfortunately, after her daddy's flowers arrived, she really worried that I didn't like hers as much!  Awww!  I tried to assure her that I loved them both and hers were just as special to me as the larger arrangement.  I loved the simple elegance of my tulips.  They're so calm and serene next to the busy-ness of the larger arrangement.

Overall, I had a wonderful birthday.  The flowers were so beautiful, and I was able to just relax and enjoy the day.  Not a bad way to mull over how 20 years had passed so quickly!

MORE CROCHET PROJECTS TO SHARE!

Here are photos of the bookmark I made for November's CLBMX. For that month we were to send a bookmark and a little something extra. I chose to make a bookmark similar to one that I had made a previous year for this same exchange. It's a hat and mittens bookmark!

The pattern for the miniature hat and mittens is online here.  After crocheting each individual piece, I created a crocheted band, affixing the hat on one end and the mitten set on the other.




Some of my readers might remember the first one of these bookmarks I created.  I loved adding the snowflakes!  They were crocheted with sewing thread which is how I managed for them to come out small enough to use in a bookmark.  I gave this in a "Christmas in July" exchange back in July 2005...I can't believe that was almost 6 years ago!  It seems like yesterday!







For the "little surprise" part of November's CLBMX, I crocheted another set of the hat and mittens and assembled it into an ornament!  Cool, huh?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A FOLLOWER?

I've discovered the "Follower" gadget and have included it here on my blog!  So if you like my blog or just want to come back later and look it over when you have a little more time, please click on "Follow" up in the top of the right column and come follow me!

A NEW BLOG POST! YEAH!

After a 6 to 8 week absence from one of my favorite sites, Swap-bot, I signed on again and joined a few swaps, mostly Valentine-themed.  However, an interesting swap was this one where we blog stalk!  Not really a "swap", but as I always love to find new and interesting blogs to enjoy, and I love to acquire new readers to my own blog, I thought it would be fun to join.

I used to keep up with my blog almost daily, but over the last couple of years, my presence here has been sorely lacking.  I really did enjoy keeping this blog and want to update it almost daily, even now.  So I will try!

For now, a new post for my blog stalkers to enjoy.  Something present-day.

Today in Metter, Georgia it is rainy and cold.  We are spending the day indoors, although Tommy has taken Jessica somewhere.  Jessica has a little money burning a hole in her pocket, so I guess she is going to find someplace to spend it.  Lately, we have been enjoying frequenting our local thrift store, Acts III.  After we decluttered and donated much of our own excess to the thrift store, we have enjoyed wandering through the store ourselves!  My favorite item to buy is, of course, anything yarn, thread, or paper related (stickers, notecards, scrapbooking supplies).  But I'm also always on the lookout for those little hardshell suitcases, like children's-sized or a little larger, and also those old-fashioned "train cases", which don't have anything to do with trains, but were actually little suitcases used to hold women's makeup and toiletries and taken onto a train with themselves when traveling.  I use these small suitcases for storage!  Some hold some of my papercraft supplies and some hold yarn!  I love 'em!

The thrift store is probably where Jessica is.  Kelley is currently "spying" out our window with her binoculars and watching "Washington's General" on the History Channel.  (Well, actually it has gone off and now a program about the search for the Holy Grail is on.)  A "multi-tasker", as she likes to refer to herself.  TJ and Gracie are in his room playing with toys.  And I am trying to update this blog! :)

In response to the comments I've already received from some of my blog-stalkers, those crocheted leaves from my previous post are very easy to crochet.  I think I found a pattern online for it, but I could probably replicate it by heart.  I will look for the pattern and post it here later.  Meanwhile, if you want to, do a search online with your favorite search engine for the words "free crocheted leaf pattern" or "free crocheted leaves pattern" or anything similar.

I did turn those leaves into a bookmark for a bookmark exchange partner last October.  How do you like it?

I added beads to the end of the bookmark, including a little leaf charm.  I loved it!  My partner, Jessie, did, too!

I love the Bookmark Exchange that I've been a member of for several years now.  It's an exchange branching off the Yahoo Group "Crochetlist" and every month, except for a little break in December, we are assigned a partner to whom we send a crocheted bookmark.  Knit and cross-stitched bookmarks have been known to be shared, too, but a crocheted one is required since it is after all a "crochet" exchange.

For last month's exchange, I made a crocheted "heart" bookmark, but I also included a cross-stitched one.  I had been in the mood for a little cross-stitch project and this bookmark project was just the right size.  I wish I had one of these for myself!  But as most often happens, I give away my creations.

 

Tommy and Jessica are back home and Gracie is wanting to go outside with her daddy even though it is so cold out there.  I'll pause for now, but I will be back!  :)

HUBBY IN HOSPITAL

Took hubby to ER Sunday night. He has not been feeling well. He was transferred to ICU about 4 hrs after bringing him in to the ER Sunday night. And Monday morning he was moved from ICU to his own room. I'm a bit tired from the emotional stress of having hubby in hospital, 4 children at home, and trying to find someone to watch the children so I can go to the hospital. A wonderful neighbor watched them for me Sunday night. Thankfully, I was able to bring them to the hospital Monday so that helped alleviate the stress between finding someone to watch the children and feeling the need to be at the hospital with hubby. He was doing much better Monday and maybe today they will release him.

I think I will go and try to sleep now. Goodnight...

TOD HAS MADE IT HOME, CROSS-STITCHING & WEIRDNESS

Remember my amigurumi fox that I named "Tod" (from "The Fox and the Hound")?



Well, he has made it to his new home. Sarah says that she "LOVES him" and understands why it was hard for my children to let him go. I'm so glad she likes him. It makes the letting go so much easier.

I have been working on something else, too.



How will they be used? You'll have to tune in later and find out. (Only because I need to take a picture of it... ha!ha! I love how it turned out.)

Friday night Kelley and I sat down at her request, and I did my best to explain to her how to cross-stitch. I had a bookmark pattern kit that she chose to cross-stitch. She seemed to understand cross-stitching, which pleased me greatly as the last time I tried to teach her to cross-stitch (3 years ago?), she and I just both got frustrated. I had used a plastic canvas kit then so that she could see the "squares" and get the feel for the smaller scale of cross-stitch by practicing on a bigger scale that plastic canvas work provides. She's a smart girl, but sometimes I feel that she doesn't take instruction very well. And I know that I'm not always the best teacher. Kelley doesn't like to be told what to do, so perhaps that part of her personality makes it hard for her to just LET someone explain to her HOW to do something. I explained to her that STARTING cross-stitch is the hardest for everyone what with having to find your center point and count the squares to wherever you choose to start from in the graph. After that, the repetitive in-and-out motion of the needle into the fabric is easy and even relaxing. Cross-stitching is not hard. I think the learning and teaching process went much better this time, however, because she told me that she woke up in the morning and did another row of cross-stitching, AND she found it relaxing. YAY! Go, Kelley!

Saturday's mail brought me an invitation to my nephew Jackson's 3rd birthday party in November. When I saw the pirate theme of the invitation, I couldn't believe it! You see, just the other day while I was at our local second-hand store, I bought his brother (who just had a birthday last Saturday) a sleeper that was brand new with its original tag still on it and a stuffed elephant toy. And so that Jackson would have something, too, I bought him a teddy bear and a pair of pajamas that looked brand new. Now normally (because I'm not a big Halloween fan) I wouldn't choose these particular pajamas because I didn't really like the fabric print. But for some reason I felt like it would be ok for Jackson. For one reason, I had seen on his mommy's Facebook page how she had decorated for Halloween. So I thought she wouldn't be bothered at all by the print. But the second reason I felt really compelled to buy this pajama set for my nephew is because the label was from a company named "Little Paul". You see, his daddy (my brother) is named Paul. And I have always thought that Jackson looks a lot like Paul when he was a little boy, a "little Paul"! So though the black pajamas with the skull bone print was not something I would look twice at, I bought those pajamas and sent them, the bear, and Alex's gifts in the mail Friday afternoon.

Imagine my surprise to receive Jackson's birthday invitation the next day and see it decorated with SKULL AND BONES, the print of the pajamas I had just mailed! That was weird for me. I mean, these pajamas are really not my taste and yet because of the label, I bought them for my nephew. And they're gonna be perfect! Weird, huh? But a nice weird, don't ya think? :-)