stage debut!

This past Saturday was Cedar Brook Academy's Mainstage Production.  This year was a One Act Festival. There were 4 stand alone scenes that made up the show.  The cast has been working on their characters and parts all school year.  Every Thursday that they have had class, they've run lines, worked on facial expressions, stage directions and fine tuning their performance.   Mrs. Abbott, their director is amazing in her ability to direct, encourage and bring to the surface these treasures that they all bring to the stage.  Saturday was their night to shine and they shone brilliantly! 

This was Maggie's first big production in a real theater with a serious (although comedic) production.  She was new to the group and not even sure she wanted to audition in the beginning.  Well, she couldn't have had more fun or stretched herself more than she did in this class.  She learned so much and made so many wonderful memories.

Her main role was a chatty girl on a blind date who had a penchant for talking with texting lingo.  lol!  It was hilarious IMHO.  As she rambled on during the night, her date was clueless as to what she was saying.  jk!  He insulted her by asking if it was appropriate to talk in letters (frowny face!) and she promised to get him blacklisted from all the social dating sites! 

 BTW,it's even funnier because Maggie doesn't even have a texting plan in real life!  She did a wonderful job nailing her character and timing her lines perfectly with such humor and expression.  And those earrings...wow!

All the cast and crew performed their roles wonderfully and with a packed house for both shows, they received thunderous applause.  After the show was over and the set was packed up, we headed to ihop to ring in the morning.  (whew!  this is when I wished she had her own driver's license) 

The cast party was yesterday and the programs were all signed and hugs were all given...now we settle into a calmer (although much less exciting) schedule.  Thanks to everyone who supported Maggie.  She was so blessed to have so many friends and family come to the show or offer their encouragement to her. 

bit by bit

I'm not a little bit at a time kind of gal.  I like to get things done and checked off of my list.  Once I get a plan in mind, I'm all about getting it to the finish line.  This can be good and this can be bad.  It's good, because things tend to get done around here, but it's bad because sometimes I don't enjoy the process as much as I could.  I tend to miss out on the beauty of the scenic route while I've got the pedal to the medal and my check list in hand.  I'm slowly learning to work bit by bit.  I am working on enjoying the process and taking the time to reflect and rest in the midst of a project.  

This weekend the girls and I unloaded two truckloads of mulch and dressed several of our beds. (They were a huge help!!  Thanks girls!) We still had energy left (OK...I still had energy left) and there were still plenty of beds left to mulch, but I'm proud to say that I made the decision to stop after those two truckloads.  John even offered to go and get me a third load of mulch before he and John Samuel headed off to a ball game...but I declined.  I knew that even though we didn't finish, we had done enough for the day. 

I was so proud of myself and the purposeful way I called it quits. After my shower, I sat on the deck and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, reading and knitting (and throwing in a load of laundry or two!).  We'll be back at the mulching again soon, but in the meantime I'm learning to enjoy the process.

How about you?  Do you have a 'bit by bit' or a 'git-er-done' kind of approach when you've got projects that need tackling? 

a whirlwind

It's been a busy week and a half around these parts....too much to do and not enough hours in the day to get it all done.  I'm not complaining, just statin' the facts.  One would think that as the school activities and classes wind down, life would as well.  But this winding down has not been evident in our neck of the woods....I think a vortex has occurred that has actually increased the dynamic speed of our lives.  However fast life's been coming, it's all good as we've been:

*enjoying the new colors and blooms around the house

* photographing graduates as they prepare for the future

*having lunch with a special friend in a beautiful setting

*watching my guy perform at the final CBS class day....he actually talked in the microphone...he did great!

*planning and planting new beds as the past winter was really hard on my rhodies...(more pictures later)

*getting away with my honey for a weekend of planning & recharging

*purchasing next year's curriculum....whew!

*celebrating mother's day with my favorite moms and girls

I hope things in your neck of the woods find you enjoying all that life throws your way! No matter how slow or fast it's coming at you....enjoy every moment. 

the trouble with tribbles

I've been in between knitting projects and while waiting to find the perfect project to start, I started knitting Tribbles. I had some leftover cotton yarn and the Tribble pattern was the perfect way to use up all those little dribbles of yarn.  

 Tribbles are little poofy scrubbies.  You could use them for pots or people...whatever needs scrubbing.  They are a mindless little knit and the satisfaction of completing a finished project is very quickly realized! 

 I think these would make nice little gifts with a pretty bar of soap or some fancy bath gel.  The pattern is free so go ahead and get started making some yourself...only be warned...the trouble with Tribbles is that you can't just knit one! 

Although, I may have found the perfect cure for my Tribble trouble....

changes

As you can see, I've made some changes to the look of this space.  Sarah over at Clover Lane has a wonderful tutorial for making blog banners using Picasa.  I followed her directions to create the new banner you see at the top of my page.  Besides the changes you see on my blog, our family has been experiencing changes in many other areas of our life during the past couple of months. 

 As a matter of fact, I feel like I'm on a brand new stretch of road in this journey of mine.  As I look around, the landscape looks quite different from what I'm used to seeing as John and I navigate this family down the freeway of life.  John and I are pretty steady folk.  We've made it one of our goals to raise faithful, steady, God loving children.  If we join a group or team, we finish out the season.  If we make a commitment, we follow through on that promise.  I drink the same coffee every morning.  John's worked at the same job for 19 years (Praise the Lord).  We've lived in the same house for 15 years.  I've cheered for the Mountaineers every year, win or lose.

 Don't get me wrong, we're by no means boring people, but we are steady.  We stick around to see things finished out and we don't give in or bail out quickly.  However, the past couple of months have found us in a new church (we'd been at our former church for over 20 years), using a new piano teacher (we'd been going to the same instructor for 8 years) as well as making some other significant changes in our schedule and routines.  Whew, it's been enough to make this girl's head spin.  I think I'm ready to sit for spell if you know what I mean? 

We've prayed our way through each of these descisions and have waited for direction from the Lord regarding each change that we've implemented. And even though all this change can be a bit unsettling, I'm so thankful that I have a Savior I can turn to when the scenery is unfamiliar.  He's been faithful to walk with me (us) through change and new beginnings.  Isaiah 58:11 has been a powerful reminder to me during these past couple of months:  "The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." I can assure you that this promise has been real to me in the midst of all these changes.  I pray that the same will be said of your journey...that wherever you find yourself as you make your way through life, that you are well watered and blooming!

avoidance...it's in the bag!

Over the weekend it was too cold to work outside and to avoid inside work because I had some cute fabrics I wanted to use, I did a bit of sewing.  I saw this cute project tote on Yarnmonster's blog and had just enough fabric to try it out. 

 I've been wanting to cast on for a sizable knitting project, but can't quite seem to settle on a pattern, so dishcloths have become my back up therapy.  I have a fondness for dishcloths and whenever I'm in between projects these little babies fill the gap for my idle hands.

This little bag is perfect for holding my cotton yarn, my needles, tape measure, scissors and chocolate.   Now my dishcloths in progress have a totable, practical home. 

 You can whip one of these up with a mere two fat quarters of fabric.   Jessica's tutorial is easy to follow and satisfyingly quick.  The only modification I made was to add eyelets for my cord to pull through.

These little bags would be great for holding socks, hats, mittens or hand sewing in progress (whatever your addiction might be!)  And since we're full swing into baseball season, now I can grab my bag and head for the ballpark!

And in the midst of my weekend sewing, I received my napkins from Elaine!  She made these out of special indigo fabric her mother sent her from Japan...aren't they gorgeous?  And check out the mitered corners she did...fabulous. (Thanks Elaine...I love them and they've already been put to use!)

I hope your weekend was full of good things even if you were in avoidance mode like me...and since I'm on the prowl for a new project let me know what projects you have going on right now?  (I might be wanting to avoid more indoor jobs....)

swap it out!

I can't believe it's almost April the 15th...are your taxes and napkins both finished?  I mailed my napkins off this morning. (and my honey took care of the taxes a while ago! so I'm good to go!) Thanks to everyone who participated in the Napkin Swap.  It turned out to be a lot of fun!  I've been seeing some napkin sets popping up here and there around blogland. 

 It's so fun to see what everyone chose for their fabrics.  Courtney set up a flickr group so everyone can see everyone's napkins...isn't she clever?!  Thanks Courtney!  Just click on the words flickr group and it'll take you straight to the group, you can sign in and upload your napkin swap photos to share! 

I've also added Mr. Linky...if you've blogged about your napkin swap, feel free to add your link below.  Make sure the post you link to is the specific post where you blogged about your napkins, not your main blog url.  Simply copy the url from your post and add it to the Mr. Linky that way everyone can see all the homemade goodness that's being shared!  Feel free to add your link even if you wrote it last week or for that matter, when you get to it next week....no worries.  I'll leave the Mr. Linky up so we can all see the fantastic napkins from the swap!  Just come back to this post to add your napkin love. 

Special thanks again to Courtney for all her help with the Napkin Swap! I couldn't have done it without all of her help! And thanks to Kristyn for the Mr. Linky idea and for allowing me to bounce ideas off of her before going 'public'!  So, go ahead and link up to the flickr group and the Mr. Linky so we can see what you and your swap partner swapped out!

weaving in the ends: 2 finished knits!

I love finishing off things.  I think it's great to use up the last bit of yarn, empty the shampoo bottle, check things off my list and I just adore it when someone finishes off the last of the leftovers.  You know what I mean?  But I've noticed that I tend to put off the finishing when it comes to my knitted items.  All that weaving in of the ends turns me into a procrastinator first class.  Kristyn is right though, it's really not that big of a deal to finish off a project.  And today, I knocked off two items!

This is the Marley hat from Itty Bitty Knits is for our sweet friend Gabe.  I started it in February and just finished the last of it today.  (there were tons of ends to weave in!)  Gabe isn't able to regulate his body temperature and therefore he wears hats a lot of the time. They help to keep him warm and happy!  I knit this out of cotton yarn thinking it would be perfect for spring and summer and the cotton also makes it perfect for his mom to throw it in the wash when needed. 

John Samuel modeled it for me with the emphatic request that I not show his face!  {It's too bad, because he's just so cute!}  I made the 2 years and up size and cast on 88 stitches.  It made quite the large hat.  {Rachel, you might need to shrink it first!} I used Tahki Cotton Classic yarn and some Lion Brand Cotton Ease.  It was great because I could use up some of my leftover yarn!  The original hat has a knitted topper that I decided to omit.  I liked it enough without all the extra hoopla that the topper added. 

I also finished another girlfriend scarf.  I took this with me to the HSPN tournament in Lychburg and only knit on it in the car going and coming.  I finished it watching March Madness here at home!  It's knit with two yarns held together: one strand of Rowan Kidsilk Mohair and one strand of Koigu merino wool.  I love the subtle color changes, it's just enough to keep things interesting.

The Girlfriend Scarf is a fast and easy travel knit because there's no counting or concentrating...just seed stitch the entire length of the scarf until the koigu runs out.  When I finished I had this much yarn leftover from the koigu and the kidsilk. 

 They just belong together don't they? 

 Happy Spring!  Happy Finishing! 

happy Easter to my peeps

It's Good Friday and we're headed to co-op this afternoon.  We're plugging away with our Logic class and then we'll enjoy the sunshine and have an egg hunt.  I saw these cute little toppers {they're free!} over at eighteen 25 and thought they'd be fun treats for all the moms!  I made about 20 of them...such sugary fun!  If you've got some special peeps in your life, these are fun and easy to make & share.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend knowing the hope that we have because He has risen!  Happy Easter my friends!

my recipe binders

Several years ago, I started compiling our family's favorite recipes into binders.  I bought some 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 binders and some page protectors and typed our 'go to recipes' into the computer.  Then I printed them on card stock and popped them into a binder.  These binders have gotten a work out.  I pull them out weekly when I'm meal planning or looking for last minute supper ideas.  Because the recipes are in the computer, I've printed out copies for friends and even made a couple of 'cookbooks' to share with friends who were moving.  

 But of course, over the years since everything was first put into binders, I've acquired several new 'keeper' recipes.  They've been piling up in my cupboard and I've gotten tired of rifling through the pile to find the one I wanted....so, over the last week, I took some time and typed in the new recipes.  My friend (hey Laurie!) asked me how I knew which recipes to add and which recipes didn't quite make the cut.  My answer was the test of time.  If I find myself making a recipe over and over again (and it's getting eaten over and over again) then that recipe belongs in my binder! 

I started with two binders and now I'm up to three.  I spruced up the covers with some fresh scrapbooking paper...(thanks for the inpiration on that Kristyn) I'm thinking one day when my kids are ready to start their own households, that these will make wonderful housewarming gifts! (and at the rate I'm going...there will be plenty to share!)  These binders are not only stuffed full of special recipes but memories as well!