Happy Fourth of July!

Despite all the current political turmoil, we still live in a great country. My dad served in the navy and he was very protective of our country and the way in which people spoke about it. At his funeral, they played his all-time favorite patriotic song: Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA"

Here's a video clip of the song:

Happy Fourth of July.

Happy or UNhappy Valentine's Day

Well ... there seems to be two types of people in the world:
1. People who LOVE Valentine's Day
2. People who hate Valentine's Day

Commercialism aside, I fall more into the "love" category. Whether you're in a relationship or not, let's use the day to spread love and happiness! :) And besides, Valentine's Day provides a valid excuse to eat chocolate.

So HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character".

Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

Let's take time to celebrate the content of each other's character.

:)

Labor Day Weekend Activities

(Crazy long post. If you don't have time to read it ... just look at the pretty pictures!)

We had a great event filled Labor Day weekend!

It started off with bugs (what else?).

I had been bitten several times on each ankle Wednesday night, and Friday night when I went to apply more anti-itch cream, my kids freaked out when they saw my ankle! YIKES. One of the bites had swollen to the size of a golf ball.

I clearly wasn't thinking straight, because I honestly hadn't even noticed. Sheesh. So, my kids insisted I go to "Quick Care" a.k.a. Doc in the Box. The doctor took a look at my ankle and said, "Hmm. That's unusual." Gee, thanks, Doc. He said I was having an allergic reaction and needed to take a double dose of Zyrtec every day until the lump was gone. (That was Friday night. It's now Tuesday morning, and lump is still there ... maybe a bit smaller.)

Saturday, I hit the ground running (even though Doc said I should rest all weekend). I had a Stampin' Up! workshop in the morning.

photo source: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/margo

Then met some friends and used a long arm quilting machine to quilt an big queen sized log cabin quilt. YAY!

This isn't the exact machine I used, but silly me, I forgot to take my camera!

Here's the quilt (it still needs the binding finished):

Close up of the free motion quilting I did (this is the back side of the quilt).

After quilting for 4 1/2 hours, I raced home, grabbed the kids, and headed for Meridian. Because, we had free tickets for the Meridian Speedway! And, it was a crazy crashed filled night! What a blast!

picture source: http://www.asa-racing.com/news.aspx?Id=47835

By Saturday night, my swollen ankle was killing me. So, I took the doctor's advice on Sunday and rested. I finished the hand embroidery on one of my favorite quilts. Then Monday, I sewed the blocks together and "sandwiched" the quilt. While my family watched movies, I started the hand quilting. YAY. Great weekend.

What did you do over the holiday weekend?