Quiet House Now?

Well my uncle Jimmy left today........I don't think I will write too much about the visit, I am too tired to do that..................plus the amount of space used would be tremendous!!! After my Aunt Tina left, my brother Charlie, his wife, Karen and son Dylan came that Thursday...........then Grandma and Aunt Sophia............all was wild and loud...............we took a zillion pictures, with my aunt Sophia taking the most! LOL Everyone had cameras, so it was like take one with mine, now mine! LOL It was funny at times................very stressful for me........as I did all the cooking and cleaning up every single day..............I lost count how many times I cleaned in a day.........I didn't get to visit as much as I would have liked to........since I was always up cleaning and/or cooking.............So I am not happy about that, but oh well..............Anyway the picture above is taken by my camera and using the timer.......we wanted to get all of us in the picture..........I won't make you laugh with telling you how MANY times we had to try this!!!!

AJ with his Great Grandma

my brother, Charlie, nephew Dylan, sister-in-law Karen, and my Aunt Sophia

This was this afternoon at the bus station, my uncle Jimmy, my dad, and my rotten Aiden.

AJ, my grandma and myself

my brother, Charlie and grandma

my uncle Jimmy with my dad his brother

my uncle Jimmy and myself on the day he got here.

Aiden, me, and AJ

Grandma and me

I am really tired and will post again on crochet. Which I have done very very little of the past week, and am looking forward to getting back into it.

WOW

Well last Monday my Aunt Tina and my cousins from my moms side came for a surprise visit.............I had just spent all that morning cleaning the kitchen cabinets and had just taken my shower when the door bell rang............I had not seen my aunt Tina since I was about 6 years old...........neither had my mom....so this was really special for all of us...........above is a picture the day they arrived......that is AJ, Aiden, Siera, and Thomas my cousins...........well AJ and Aiden are my sons..........duh huh? you knew that already. AJ and Thomas really clicked as friends and Aiden took to Siera big time............Siera has two other sisters and one is only 3 so she is use to a little one running around her. LOL

This is my cousin Stacy............Thomas is her son...........she is sweet and we all had cameras........so we were taking pictures with all the camera........its was pretty funny!!!!

This is myself with my Aunt Tina, and I will spare my mom any pictures of herself, she hates to have her picture taken, and doesn't like it when I post too much of her on here...........so there you go mom......no pictures of you........atleast in this post anyway. LOL We all really had a good time................they were here until Thursday afternoon.........Wednesday night, Stacy wanted to take her friend, Judy and I out to a club.....so we did that..........and I remember Old Town from when I was younger and the clubs were always huge and new looking..........now you go down there and the clubs are industrial looking and dirty...............one the bar was so small, my fireplace was bigger...............we ended up in a really small bar, you could not hear yourself talk, let alone anyone else...........I had two Sex on the Beach, a Smirnoff, and a shot of something I still can't think of the name.............it was too loud!! We stayed only a couple of hours, they had to get back to the hotel, check out time was early. AJ and Aiden were bummed to see them leave.......and so was mom and I, but it was a really nice visit. My brother, his wife and Charlie were coming that Thursday too.............and AJ drove me crazy asking when they were going to get here............they arrived around 5 or so and we all had spaghetti for dinner...............my dad and my brother went to pick up my grandma and Aunt Sophia from the airport.............they got in later than expected because they had missed their layover flight in GA........they came to the house for a little while..then back to the hotel because it was getting late.

I gave Charlie and Karen with Dylan the boys room, and I and the boys slept in the living room camped out on the floor, AJ actually slept on the couch.................Anyway that is it for now, and more posts on the visit will come......I am making breakfast right now............Grandma and Aunt Sophia are leaving this afternoon.

This was taken with my cell phone in Wal-Mart Monday of my little Aiden shopping, that is his backpack/diaper bag on his back..........I wanted to get the picture of him checking out the tomatoes, because he was holding them up comparing them to each other and stuff............it was just too darn cute. LOL

Look at the cute smile!!!! How incredibly cute is that face???? LOL he was being so cute and good in the store.

Ok off to finish breakfast. Not much to update on the crochet front...........ohhhh that reminds me I have to charge my camera batteries.

New Week Ahead

Well last week went well.............

This was the sunrise on AJs first day of school, pretty huh? AJ got his camera out to take some shots as well...........He really had a nice morning, had a big breakfast and got ready fairly quickly.............the bus was even early.
Here is AJ waiting......wearing his school t-shirt and shorts.......handsome huh? He was so nervous and excited at the same time.
Myself with AJ before he left............he came home really excited saying the day was AWESOME!! I am really glad he thought so, and he says its better than elementary school because of the different classes he takes..............He brought home his huge agenda the second day and I will get a picture of that tomorrow........but its huge and they have to carry it around everywhere.........even lunch..........everything for every class is in that binder........and when you think of it makes a lot of sense.........you just go to your locker get that class book and off you go, no frantically searching through everything to find the stuff you need for the next class. So his first week was success.............lets hope it continues that way.

Well my handsome Aiden here...........Today went well.............we hung around outside today, it was so nice out..........a cool breeze and I wanted the boys to play outside for most of the day, no inside watching tv and playing playstation or on the computer...........we wanted to clean up the backyard, but after dropping Chris off at home and visiting for awhile, we realized it had rained a lot since we had been inside and kept raining a bit after that, so the rest of the night was spent crocheting and letting the boys play with toys...........I did clean up thier room a bit and will get up with AJ in the morning to get an early start on cleaning. I want to have the whole house cleaned before our relatives come on Thursday

Crochet Update

I got these very beautiful angels from Kairi in France for our buddy swap..........I have her angel done, but was wondering if I should mail it with her doily, I have to send to her 3 times this month, so it might make more sense to me to mail it all at once.........save on money too. I love these angels and they are already displayed on my mantle.

I got this swap package from my Secret pal for the month of August and talk about awesome...........I love the candles and have been using them every night since I got them...........the Boye steel hook is awesome, I wanted this so bad, so when I saw this, I was so happy, I about freaked out!!! it has 14 steel hook heads, I will try to get a better picture of it tomorrow.

This was from my secret pal as well.....for the month of July which was Kitchen..........lovely colors that go perfectly with our kitchen..........I loved this package.

This is my handsome Aiden the other day.........date on camera says this was taken in 2012....wow.............future shot here. LOL he is sooooo handsome

Got this shot this morning before we left the house..........my very handsome boys............

New Group

I love amigurumi and there are just not enough swaps in my opinion for amigurumi.......so I decided to start a yahoo group called
Amigurumi Swaps and More
I made the group today, so its brand spankin new!!! So if you love to crochet amigurumi, please check the group out......I want to have other swaps as well, but our main focus will be amigurumi, we will have one if not more every month........I am hoping to see this group around for a long time.

Aj had a doctors appt today, he had a check up for school...........everything looks fine with him, he did have to get 3 shots, which he did not like at all......but he survived!! LOL

Well its been one of those weeks..............LOL all week I kept feeling like it was Sunday and now that it is Sunday I am left wondering what day it is. I am just that tired........I have had a headache almost everyday this past week, and today I got one and it came on fast............I took some Tylenol, that helped, but it came back...........so far though not as bad as earlier...........

It's been a gloomy day yesterday and today..........we decided to take down the pool yesterday, it got all yucky again, and I had chemicals in it, but we needed a new filter and could not find one, the stores are not selling the pool supplies, they are fazing out that stuff. So I decided that if I had to empty it again, there was no way I was going to refill it again. So we are now left with this huge ugly mud "circle" in our backyard, I am hoping that we get some grass in that spot before the cooler weather comes. Anyway its muddy and wet back there, and the sun did just peak out now....................NOW??? It waits until 7:30 to come out and rear its sunny face at us??? IT could have made a grand entrance a lot........A LOT EARLIER!!

I cleaned up the closet and the dining room, and then made my father put the rails back down in the basement............they had been off for a long time, and the way the steps are, we needed them back on...............I also took some pictures of the walls down there, we have a structural engineer coming out Wednesday to inspect the walls down there and in the closet........I also checked out my holiday decorations, and so far they don't seem to have that musty smell that my yarn had when I had brought it up from down there.........its on the other side of the basement so I am hoping that is why. I am glad it doesn't smell.

I am also starting AJ on his school schedule tonight, so he will be in bed early tonight and up early tomorrow, I want him to be ready for Wednesday, He will be getting up really early compared to elementary school. I know I should have gotten him started a couple of weeks ago........but oh well...............Right now Aiden is whining, he wants ice cream, but I said no, because he didn't eat his dinner...............he is at that stage where he wants to eat what he wants when he wants............but I keep telling him no, so we will see how that goes........he is also tired, so when AJ gets out of the shower I will get Aiden in the bath............and then get them ready for bed soon. I will let them watch a cartoon then lights and tv off. They won't be very happy. :D I am hoping they both fall asleep early..............

I finally remembered to get Aidens hair cut earlier this week.......the pictures were taken with my cell phone, so they are not very good.

This is before..............he was so happy, eating his happy meal and playing with his toy.................being all goofy and smiley.......but that didn't last.................:(
You can see from this after shot that he was non too happy with his mommy..............but look at how darn cute he is? He sat in the chair like a good boy, and only cried a bit, no screaming, just a small little cry...........he didn't fight either which was good................The one thing he HATES about getting his hair cut, is the hair that falls on him..........he does not like having hair on him, or anything for that matter, if he gets food or dirt on him, he wants it off. LOL
Looking much happier the next day..............Look at that handsome smile? My Mr little man!!!

Well AJ is done with his shower, so its time to get Aiden in the bath and ready to relax.................I think this is just wishful thinking on my part, but hey............I have to think positive don't I??????? YEAH RIGHT!!

9:15 ADDED NOTE:

Well I just heard from my Aunt Miriam, she called to give us the flight information on when my Aunt Sophia and Grandma are going to be in on the 21st. I also heard that my uncle Jimmy will also be here that day as well. He will be staying with us. Not sure if my brother and his family will be able to stay a whole week or when they are coming, he has two bosses, one says he can't come, and the other says he doesn't care. :/ Anyway going to be a busy that week.

Crochet Update

I received these very cute amigurumi for a swap in the Crochet_Swaps_Galore group, Marje did these and they are just the cutest.

I tested this square for Donna, (SmoothFox) on Crochetville, this square is called, "Heart of a Child" she does these for charity afghans for children,

This one is called, "Pretty in Pink 4 Hearts", and is such a beautiful square, and works up fast.......

this is a 6x9 rectangle called, "I love my Country" I also tested this for her last night and she has also made a side by side version.....I love this and think it will make a really neat afghan. Please check out her Etsy site, and if you buy the patterns, please think about making a square or two and send to her for her charity afghans. I will update her link when she is ready.

One very HOT Saturday

Wow it was hot today.......I was going to keep the boys in the house, but I wanted to get some stuff cleaned up outside....we ended up going out back......we had let the water out of our pool last week, I kept forgetting to put chemicals in and it got icky.....we were going to move it so that is why we decided to drain it, but the grass needing mowing and I could not take the boys out back since the nasty water was still lying in there, and the bugs were horrible....finally decided today to start on it, I meant to only work a few minutes at a time.....but we got it cleaned out and smoothed back out on the ground and its now filling with water, will put the chemicals in tonight and hopefully tomorrow the levels will be correct.....it was so hot out and I got really over heated, had to come in to take a shower and stay in, got a horrible headache, and then got cranky, I am fine now, took some ibuprofen and that is already easing up my headache.

The boys enjoyed playing in the water and my dad was only able to help a bit, I had to end up mowing the grass......LET ME SAY NOW........I HATE HATE HATE MOWING!!! My chest hurt afterwards, I was out of breath, and that darn mower did not like me!!! but the grass got cut, and now the front will need it tomorrow. :(

I finished a doily and will take pics tomorrow, I am also going to be testing two squares tonight for a lady over at Crochetville, and these squares are beautiful. I will enjoy testing them for her then sending them off to her with the first one I tested for charity blankets she makes. I will post pics and her info and shop when I am done.

Stay cool!!!

HOT

Wow it was really hot out today......the heat index made it dangerously hot today, so I kept the boys inside. I had been sitting out on the porch, but started sweating within a minute or two, and that is just too hot for me. My dad got stung by several bees on his foot yesterday and I must say his foot is looking rather gross right now....it seems to be getting bigger and bigger each time I look at it. :(

Anyway we ran to walmart to fill some pain meds for him, and that was enough being outside for me....I spent the rest of the day inside watching a movie with the boys and resting while crocheting too. I am currently working on a doily, that I am trying to finish up tonight.

I am going to start back on it here soon.

They say the heat this weekend will be pretty bad as well, but hopefully if the weather is right, we are in for a bit of a cool down by late next week. I HOPE

Birthday Update

Well AJ had his 11th birthday Monday. We took him out to eat that night, and had his party Tuesday. He had a lot of fun. We had cupcakes and ice cream, actually the little dixie cups, this makes it so much easier. We also did a bbq of hamburgers and hot dogs and just had chips to go with it. It rained most of the day, so we had to bbq on the front porch. The boys had that play sand all over the porch, and I ended up just sweeping it off to the ground. I was not going to let it back in the house with dirt and stuff from the porch. AJ enjoyed having friends over and playing. We did cupcakes and ice cream first then presents so we could all visit while the food was cooking. This is AJ and Amanda.......I have known this beautiful girl since she was just a toddler, She is in high school now. Boy crazy, and reminds me of myself. LOL

My handsome Aiden and mommy...........I could not get AJ long enough to pose with me for the camera! :(

This was the Indiana Jones cupcake cake we ordered. AJ loved it and so did everyone else.

AJ in front of his presents..........we actually took two videos, one of him opening presents and the other of him blowing out the candles, so then my camera was full...........we just got so busy chatting and visiting, that I never did install them on the computer so I could take more pictures.

I am hoping for Fall to come early for us, this heat is just awful. I took the boys with me to enroll AJ in Middle school..........Aiden was a bit anxious, but nothing too much..........AJ is nervous, we found out that most of the school supplies from the list are stuff the school gives out to every student on the first day of school, they give them the agenda, and a huge 3 ring binder with most of the stuff in that. I bought him a rope backpack, a smaller version of a backpack, they say this will be easier for them to carry between classes, and we could have bought this anywhere, but it was only ten dollars and had the school name on it. Plus AJ wanted a t-shirt, he can wear this with his uniform pants instead of the polo shirt sometimes. So in total, all I had to pay was 35 dollars, which was not bad, he also got his student i.d. He will need to carry this with him at all times. He starts August 13th, I think for half a day. He will have to wake up a lot earlier this time around then in elementary, the bus will be there at 6:45 am to pick him up.

I am nervous for him too..............but I am hoping he likes it and will do well. He will get a tutor after school 2 days a week for math, I wanted him to do this, so he can be more comfortable with this subject.

I have the boys appts with the Dentist next week and the drs as well for AJ. The school didn't say he needed it, but when he left elementary they gave a card saying he will need the dr to fill out forms when you have a child entering 6th grade.

I use to go to this middle school, and it sure brings back memories to me.

Aiden is sleeping in the living room, he was watching a movie and fell asleep, and AJ is playing in his room. I am going to go work on some crochet now.

Too Tired to Post

Ok so I am not too tired to post that I am too tired! See? I am getting loopy! oh well.
I will post tomorrow and tell you all how AJs birthday party went yesterday.

I also have to enroll him in school tomorrow. :(





the boys playing outside the other day, we got them out early enough to beat this awful heat we have been having lately. WOW and a lovely shot of our trash can! :p

My rotten Aiden the other day.

Swap Package Arrived to my Partner

This was a combination of two swaps and two wish swaps.........I made these for Sabrina in the Crochet Swap Buddies and the Crochet_Swaps_Galore group. The angel is a Nova amigurumi angel, she works up fast and I love making her. The snowman is for the Christmas in July, she had mentioned she liked snow people, so this was perfect. The doily and angel bookmark were part of her wishes.

Crochet Update

This was a snowflake ornament done for a CAL group. this is part of the Ornament CAL. I love how it came out finished this in a matter of minutes.

I received this gorgeous doily from Kairi in France. This was sent because her original package was a month overdue, and she felt bad, I told her it was not necessary to send a package in place of it..............but I can't say I am too against it now............LOL this is just gorgeous work!!!!! I love it.

This was the package she sent in June, but didn't arrive until Wednesday with the other package..stupid post office. She sent me this really beautiful doily and tiger...........I love it all,

I received this adorable turtle from Candy in Swapaholic Crocheters..........wonderful work and so darn cute!!!

AJ is Coming Soon!!

Well I feel happier today knowing that tonight AJ will start making his way home.............they should arrive tomorrow early afternoon. I can tell you that I will not let him out of my site!! LOL. I have missed him so much, and we all have, even Aiden, who keeps asking where AJ is.

AJ started out Tuesday spending all day at Sea World, he got to dine with Shamu, give hand singles, and feed too. He was so excited about doing that. Wednesday they spent all day at Schlitterbahn Water park and got really burned, because they forgot to put sunscreen on.........which didn't make me happy at all. I can see him forgetting, but not the adults! Thursday they went back to Sea World and swam with sea Lions, I bet he had fun, he sure sounded like he did, they left in the afternoon to replace a cell phone that had gotten wet Tuesday by Shamu and then headed back to Sea World, but it was closed because of the rain and storming making its way closer.........AJ was not happy about that.............and not happy about spending so much time driving to Arlington, but I got him to cheer up..........today has been spent at Six Flags over texas and he is still there and will leave when they close and start heading out home..............they will spend the night in Oklahoma, then start back out Saturday morning.

I cleaned out the boys closet and drawers in their room, and have been crocheting on and off today................it stormed earlier this evening and we had some flooding near by, but luckily nothing came close to the house.

I have some pictures to post, but am waiting for the battery to charge.

Sad

I miss AJ :(

Second Day of AJs Vacation

We got up so early Monday morning to see AJ off to Texas, he had his golf game, then came back home to say good bye. they didn't arrive at the hotel until around 9 or 10. We did get to see him on Webcam and again tonight, he was getting ready to go swimming in the hotel pool.....he is having so much fun, got to see Shamu today and feed him and use hand singles to tell him what to do....they will swim with Sea Lions Thursday, how fun does that sound? LOL I miss him so much, but I know he is having so much fun

I miss him so much

I did this doily for a Doily of the month group, and this is my thirdy doily....I have to iron it, and it will be used for a Wish I am granting for a lady in one of the groups I am in. I hope she likes it.

I am also in a Crochet-a-long group, and this was for a potholder cal....it was fast to work up, but I am not sure I would do this one again. I will let Aiden use it in his room as a decoration.

For the same CAL this watermelon fridgie was so fast to make. It's cute, and makes me want to have water melon for a snack tonight.

Starting of a Sad Week :(

AJ will be leaving for Texas tomorrow after his last golf game.........I am so not looking forward to this. He is soooooo excited!!! Both boys are still sleeping, My neighbor called me asking me to keep an eye on her place while she goes and sits with her grandson in the hospital..........he is very dehydrated and sick.......so hoping for a speedy recovery from him.

I am enjoying the quiet of the house...........I need to go start breakfast soon though and get the boys up, we have to get AJ packed. :( I hate that I have already said yes to him that he can go.............I will miss him so much.

My crochet project today are starting with a doily I got from Annies Attic free patterns. Plus finishing up one from a group.

CAL

In one of my groups, Crochet_Swaps_Galore, we are having our first CAL, which is a tote bag, it starts tomorrow. I went to Wal mart today but didn't find any Lion Brand Cotton Yarn, So I just bought some Peaches N Cream cotton yarn in the Strawberry color. I could not find a color for the straps, they didn't have a solid pink........I hate that walmart does not have a bigger selection on this yarn. Anyway I did buy all the Cotton yarn in that color they had.......which was only 4...........8oz.......I will have to keep looking for more. LOL

Anyway here is the tote we are doing.........its the 8 pocket tote bag

Crochet Update

I have been able to finally get some crocheting done, I had to catch up on some stuff I was behind in.......I had to do a kitchen swap that is due this month and hadn't started on that, but the last two nights, I have been able to get quite a bit done for it, can't post pictures yet.

I can post this picture, which is the starting on an angel done in thread with a size 8 hook.....she is not even half way done.......but this is the first 13 rounds done I think.....not sure....but I am doing her for a buddy swap, this will go to Kairi in France......our theme this month is angels......I am hoping she will like this one.......I had to restart this one as the first one got sucked up in vacuum, last time I leave the thread hanging down. LOL

I started this the other night as well, its going to be a bird fridgie.....done in light blue.

I also did my second doily, this one is a small one, only about 8" or so......I did this one for a Wish Swap, and will send it with the rest of her swap stuff. I will post pictures of the whole package once its send and received by her.

I will work some more on the angel, I have gotten to round 20 of her, but wanted to take a break and play with Aiden and get some stuff picked up.

Family Update

Its HOT out........really hot outside, so hot and humid the boys don't even want to go out and play. I don't like them temps when they get this hot, I guess it would not be so bad if we didn't have the humidity.

I have been so busy lately....we got new furniture last week, and I was cleaning and rearranging things for a few days............it really took a toll on me and I was not able to get to much crocheting. I love the new furniture, and it looks so much better in the living room now then it did with the old stuff. Everything matches now!! The boys love it too. Other than that not much is going on.....we had a friend over last night for dinner, made homemade mac n cheese....yummy! AJ has a nasty cold, and is out right now with a friend......they are practicing golf.....I am also going through some emotions right now too, AJ is going out of town for a whole week next week, he is going to Texas and I am going to miss him something awful.........but I know he will have fun, and really enjoy the things he will be able to do while there. He leaves Monday after his last golf game, and come home Friday night, early Saturday morning if they decide to stay overnight on the road. I will need to get a better web cam, the old one I have is not Vista ready and the Dell is too slow to work it right.

Today has been a slow day so far, got up and made the boys eggs for breakfast......then took a friend to pay her gas bill.....Aiden got really hot doing that.......I don't leave the car running since gas is too expensive to just burn away sitting there, so the air was not on............I finally told her that she needed to hurry, apparently she was short a few dollars and was on the phone with the gas company.....she could have just paid what she had then called them.........she would have had to pay anyway regardless of whether she had the few dollars more, I am talking about a dollar and 50 cents short!!!!! it was just too hot for that kind of nonsense!

We made it home and Aiden is cooled down.

This is Aiden in the chair I got for my mom, its a rocker recliner, and she can sit and get out of this one a lot easier than the other furniture, its high enough for her. Aiden was trying to "claim" it.

I love this picture of the boys and myself.....just look at those handsome smiles!!! Those boys of mine are so handsome.

This is the love seat with coffee table in front of it, the table has tiles in it.....stone tiles.....so far the boys have not been rough housing in the living room anymore.

AJ getting ready to go have lunch yesterday......handsome huh? LOL

Swap Package to France

My partner for the Buddy swap, Kairi received her package today........WOW that was sure fast in getting to her. Anyway a run down of what I made and sent.......the red doily......this was my first doily ever!!! Everyone kept telling me I had to keep it since it was my first........but I made it for Kairi, so off it went to her...........two little decorative fans made in thread as well..........a red doll dress corner bookmark made in thread as well..........and a little green dress and hat on a doll pin...........Extras were the pink tote, scissors, buttons, two tape measures, and two hooks.............not the hooks I know she is needing, but I am having a hard time finding them.

I will update some more later on........I am so tired right now.

Update

This package went out to Kairi in France.........but I will never again send to France in this box!! This was going to cost me 50 bucks to mail!!! I just picked a box I had in the house..........but I ended up buying a regular box and mailing it first class and that only cost me 13 dollars..........much better than the original box and price!! LOL Anyway I hope she likes what I made her.

This is a patriotic package I received from Candy, at Swapaholic Crocheters..........I loved it all..............

I made these squares for a swap from a group I am no longer in.......but the partners wanted to swap anyway and I wanted to as well............so I made these, She requested pastel colors.

We had our BBQ Sunday and it was fun.............we had a great time.......the boys had fun swimming.............and I ended up with a bad headache that night and sick to my stomach, but ate some soup and then felt better.........not sure what was up with that..............maybe not enough food in me or something.

Anyway I am off to make lunch for the boys.