Hurray for mental health days!

AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Long contented sigh!
It's like a breath of fresh air or sitting in a meadow on a pleasant day.
Or slipping into a hot spa when you have a tired and aching  body.

My schedule has been CRAZY for the last month (as evidenced by the absolute lack of posts here!) and yesterday I took a day just for me and
spent practically the whole day in my studio creating just for ME!
I can now face the world with  a much better attitude! 

So what have I been up to the last month?  Here's a peek:

Saturday was Thanksgiving at my house

and all the kids came over and we feasted.

Jenny made this enormous apple pie.

It was delicious even tho it was sorta juicy.

(Jenny, I think maybe we should have let this pie sit a little longer before we ate it.  Maybe it just needed to be a little cooler?)

Friday night Mike and I attended a special surprise

birthday party for my good friend Sharon.

She is a sweet and sassy lady and her

husband threw her a really wonderful party!

Isn't this the most precious little girl ever?!?

I can tell you that she truly is.

We spent all of last week together while her mommy and daddy

went on a cruise to celebrate their anniversay.

Mia and I had the best time!

Here are some of the things we did:

We ate.

3 or 4 times a day!

Then we cleaned up.

We cooked together.

We played in the sand and went down the slide at the park.

I made her do housework.

(Actually she found the mop and started dragging it behind her.

I think she *might* have been telling me that the floor was

dirty and I needed to clean it!  lol)

We played with bubbles while washing our little table.

We also did some fingerpainting, but

I didn't get any pictures of that.

We went to the duck park with grandpa to feed the ducks.

Side note:  my kids used to LOVE going to the park to feed the ducks.

But when we got to this park I decided to read the big sign at

the entrance and lo and behold.......there it was clear and simple:

Do NOT feed the ducks!

We follow the rules so we didn't get to feed the ducks, but we

did get to look at them.

Now I wonder if perhaps I never read the sign when my kids

were little.  We ALWAYS fed the ducks!

We also took a trip to McDonalds to get an ice cream cone!

My week with Mia was wonderful, but very tiring.

She was up by 6am and hit the ground running every day,

stopping only for naps and food.

She is a happy, but ornery little girl.

Moves constantly and is ALWAYS looking for the next

great thing to get into.

Jenny and Rafael joke that she is a shark since sharks are always moving.

I sure do love that little girl!

Betcha didn't know that!

The week prior to watching Mia I went to

the Houston International Quilt Festival

with 6 of my quilting friends.

Another very physically tiring and overwhelming week.

But oh. so. wonderful!

The quilts were fabulous and inspiring,

the company couldn't be better and

the shopping was great too!

Here is my haul:

Thread for embroidery, stencils for quilting,

a DVD for inspiration, some embellishement goodies and

of course a little batik fabric!

So here are the other things I have done this past month:

Accompanied my husband on 4 day business trip to Long Beach.

Caramba's party to celebrate a promotion.

Boojum Tree Halloween Party.

Project Linus Sew day at my house.

Mia helped with the quilting too!

Trick or Treating with our precious baby.

(I made Mike and I's ladybug costumes.

Mike insisted on being ladybugs since Mia was a ladybug!)

Pumpkin Patch party at my house.

Carving a pumpkin with my sweetie!

Before yesterday I felt very stressed,

but now looking back over my past month

I realize how very BLESSED I am.

I'm surrounded by people I love and people who love me.

Who could ask for anything more?

Guess what?

Christmas is coming!

Quilty blessing to you all,

tammy

 

Celebrate!

With Margarita Cupcakes!

It's 5 O'Clock somewhere!

Last week a group of us met at, where else, Caramba's

to celebrate Jo's birthday.

Jo shares her birthday with Jesus

so normally she never gets to celebrate all her own

so we decided to celebrate last week!

Since Caramba's is a mexican restaurant and we all like

their margarita's I decided to find a recipe for margarita cupcakes.

I got the recipe I used from here:

http://www.recipegirl.com/2009/05/02/margarita-cupcakes-2/

I love the pictures of the cupcakes on this site,

especially the one with the shot glass on top of the cupcake.

(I couldn't do that at the restaurant!)

I will say that I changed up the icing recipe abit and used

my well-tested buttercream recipe. 

I just used fresh lime juice in place of the milk I usually do.

I was scared, but the icing turned out fantastic!!!!!

Here's the birthday girl knocking back a few margarita's.

Actually I think she might have been drinking water or soda,

everyone just put their glasses in front of her!!!  lol

I can't end a post without a picture of my sweet baby Mia.

She just loves to visit with people.

Doesn't say much, but LOVES to just

watch what everyone is doing!

Design Wall Monday

My current design wall puzzle.

This quilt has been hanging here for quite a long time.

I've already marked it with circles, but have been re-thinking

the quilting pattern...wondering exactly how I will execute it.

Somewhere along the way I've changed my mind

(ME!? Change my mind?)

I've decided that while I like the quilt.......

It's very colorful and bright...

It will be pretty boring once done.

It just needs something else.

What?

Initially I thought some tall flowers going up the side.

Or maybe a central design of some sort.

Perhaps a silhouette?

I'd sure appreciate any ideas...........

Whoo Hoo! I finally finished all of the embroidery

on Anita Goodesign's Halloween wall hanging.

Pretty cool, huh?

Now I just need to add some borders and quilt it.

I'll be all ready for Halloween!

On a personal note........this is a group of friends

who got together at Caramba's to

celebrate this past Saturday night.

We had a couple of birthdays, and a couple of anniversaries

amoung this group. Always looking for a reason to party!

It was a fun night.

PS. Today is Mike and I's 30 year wedding anniversary!

MadHatter 4 Life!

A few years ago.........actually QUITE a few years ago my husband coached a girls soccer team called the MadHatters. They were together for several years and formed a really special bond. They were a pretty good soccer team, won alot of games and such, but what they were really good at was socializing. Mike organized training hikes to be followed by a stop by Zuka juice. We had Soccer olympics at the beginning of the season and always a pot-luck picnic with the parents at the beginning and end of the season. We did a camping trip with some of the hatters and parents. We also hiked and camped down near Havasupi Falls. We had bonfires. There was always a Christmas break sleep-over.





Why am I writing about this? Well, when you form that close of a bond with people, even tho they are not part of your daily life anymore, you still wonder about them........what they are doing and such. So my friend Kathy and I started talking about having a MadHatters reunion.


It took place last night at one of my favorite places..........Caramba's!
Wow! was it ever GREAT seeing the girls all grown up!

Here are some of the pictures from the evening:

Seven of the Hatters attended

Nicole, Jennifer, Lacey, Kim

Amberle, Vanessa, Jenny

One is married, one has a baby, one has just started the nursing program, one is a second grade teacher, one is a biology major with a job at AZ game & fish, one just got back from South Africa helping the poor, and one is engaged!

It was really great to see them and learn about the wonderful adults they have become!

This picture includes the Hatters plus MIke, the coach and Paul and 3 of the brothers who were a big part of the team!

The parents were an awfully big part of the success of this team.