Happy New Year!

I wish you all the blessings that the new year can hold. I've been blessed with this group in the photo...they've brought so many wonderful things into our lives.  Jake and Ellen are on the left, Grace is in the center and Andrew and Dayna are on the right.  They're all remarkable young adults and I can't wait to see what wonderful things they do with their lives. 

There are changes in the works here at Lakeside Quilting.  We've invited Jake to live with us, after a rough patch in his life.  He's been a welcome addition to our household and a tremendous help with Daisy!  I've given him my sewing room as his bedroom, so there will be much less sewing by machine in the new year.  I currently have 3 or 4 quilts to be handquilted, as well as enough yarn to keep me busy for several years, so I'll be content with whatever time I get in front of the sewing machine.

Andrew will be spending more time at home as well and I'm so happy about that too!  Of course, with all these adults living in the house, I'm cooking a lot more, which is a good thing.  I enjoyed focusing on home this holiday season and we loved staying in with the kids this year...there's something about having everyone under my roof for Christmas that makes me happy and at peace. It was fun when they were little, but even more fun now that they're adults...and adding Dayna and Jake to the mix this year was fabulous.

So, 2011 will be an adventure here at Lakeside...and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you. Thanks to all of you who have continued to visit, in spite of the fact I don't post as regularly as I used to.  Thanks to those who comment and let me know that you're still out there. Thanks to all of you who have become such a large part of my life!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Daisy...

And from our "gingerbread" house to yours!

I wish you all the blessings of the Christmas Season!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Today is Andrew's 23rd birthday...I can't believe he's that old. Seems like yesterday that he was just a little guy, toddling around the house with his stuffed giraffe.  As you can tell from the picture, he might have grown up, but he's still a little kid inside!  He and his girlfriend Dayna dressed as Ash and Misty from Pokemon for Halloween.  Andrew, I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

The road much travelled...

We spent Friday and Saturday running up to Vermont so we could move Andrew back home.  I have to admit, it was a little sad to move him out of his apartment.  But, Vermont put on a show for us, so I felt much better about it!  The color in the Ludlow area was beautiful, although not quite at peak.  Here is the bridge, which gave Bridge Street its name.

Behind the apartment...



Saying goodbye to "The Hole"...

One last look at Okemo... 

Back at home I've finished two of my September/October Projects. The banner for church is completed and just needs to be dropped off tomorrow.

I also finished my socks...finally!

On the drive to Vermont I also knitted a dishcloth and a half...finished them when we got home!

Next up will be basting and quilting the 9 patch quilt.  I'll have some quiet time to quilt in the next week or so, since I'm headed to the hospital on Friday for a little surgery.  Nothing major, it's an outpatient procedure, but there will still be a few weeks of recovery time.  Now to get that quilt basted so I'm ready!!!



Michael's Wedding...

On Saturday, my nephew Michael married a beautiful Bulgarian girl named Bistra.  They make a wonderful couple and I wish them every happiness!

Michael and Bistra with my parents

Love this picture of my Dad!

My family...Grace, Me, The Boss, Andrew and Ellen

Andrew and his beautiful Dayna

Ellen and her handsome Jake...who really is smiling here!

My gorgeous girls

And the love of my life

Congratulations to Michael and Bistra! I'm so very happy for you!

Avast Ye Mateys!

Cake decorating class was Monday night and I was a total failure. After frosting our layers for class, I seemed to miss the "color your icing before class" instruction and came to class with white icing. Incredibly stiff white icing. Everyone had beautiful rainbows and I quickly made up some pink icing...at least it was seasonally appropriate! As a result...I had a lovely pink rainbow and decorated my cake for Valentine's Day.


My daughter, however, used her charms to lure another class member into sharing her purple icing, so her rainbow had a little more color. And writing? She, being a bit OCD and obsessed with all things Johnny Depp and Pirates of the Carribean at the moment decided to draw on her cake.
The teacher laughed. But she looked afraid. I hope she comes back on Monday to teach us how to make clowns. Or maybe not...clowns scare me...

Happy Birthday!

Somehow, without my getting any older, my daughter has managed to turn 18! Today is her birthday and she is poised to start a new adventure once she graduates from high school in June. A friend asked me the other day if you really are ready to send your kids out into the world on their own once they graduate high school and are ready for college. For me, I've spent years watching them grow, mature and become independent and I was ready for my son to head off to college...and I'm ready for Ellen to go to. I'm not saying it's not hard, because it is, knowing that you won't see them every day, won't know what they're doing and who they're with...but if they have the right values, then it's a wonderful thing to see them come into their own. Ellen is beautiful, fiesty, strong and very independent and I know that she will succed at whatever she does. She's just that kind of kid. Last night we took her to dinner in Philly to celebrate her birthday and had a wonderful time.

I've done no sewing this week, so there won't be a stash busting report. I did start my cake decorating class with my younger daughter on Monday, it was mostly lecture and supply lists this week, so we're looking forward to hitting the buttercream next week! I did finish this book....
As someone whose entire knowledge of the aqueducts, life in Pompeii and the eruption of Vesuvius came from a History Channel show a few months ago, I found it a very entertaining read! Then yesterday, I took a ride to the bookstore and bought this book....
I've been hearing about it for a year now and curiosity got the best of me. I've just started reading it and the basic premise of the Law of Attraction sounds a lot like the power of positive thinking or praying for what you want. I'm a very positive, looking for the bright side kind of person, so it doesn't seem greatly different than how I approach every day. Of course, I've only read the first two chapters, so I have a long way to go.

Sunday Evening...

Not much stashbusting went on here this week. I did finish quilting this beautiful customer quilt...

I quilted and bound the Buzzsaw quilt for Project Linus....

And I started my first applique block for my friend's yellow rose quilt for Christmas. (Yeah, I know these will be Rose of Sharon blocks and not actual roses, but I think she'll be happy with it!)
It was a fun week at school...there's nothing like a bunch of 7 year olds to make you feel important. After being out of school for 3 days, they swarmed me when I went back...hugs all around, they're the sweetest kids. All was quiet on the home front...sort of. My youngest has been practicing guitar a lot this week. I enjoy listening to her play...most of the time. It's when she pulls out the metronome I head to my sewing room to hide! (Still thanking you for that one, FB.) I know it will build character and make her a better guitar player, but I'm still hiding when it comes out! Really, I love hearing her play, she's made so much progress since she started playing this summer and the smile on her face when she offers to play for us is priceless. She has a great teacher!

My older daughter spent last night at a friend's house and called us this morning. She says, "Hey, funny story! I was on my way to work and my car broke down! I'm in a tow truck being towed to the garage..." Fortunately it was early this morning, no one was on the road and when her car died she was able to pull it over to the side of the road. She called AAA before calling us and they were there within 20 minutes. We have no idea why the car died, she was driving along, put her foot on the gas and nothing happened. We'll find out tomorrow.

The youngest just handed me a stack of paperwork for high school...which has been in her locker for a month and is due tomorrow. Gotta love her!