CHRISTMAS DAY ramblins'

Well what a beautiful day it turned out to be...the sun was shining, the kids were happy, my husband cooked breakfast and I had my cup of coffee!



This year Kylie put in for a pink tree! It was tiny... We are used to having a tree at least 7' and REAL!!! What the heck we said, lets give it a whirl! It was 17.88 at Wally World and money was tight this month.



Kylie got her ever so wanted, American Girl doll! I was lucky enough to be able to get a great discount on 5 Disney girl outfits for her dolly to wear! Thank goodness I made my purchases just after Thanksgiving, what a life saver!



I hope each of you had an equally beautiful holiday! God Bless... Laurie

A few days to RELAX and UNWIND

With all the hustle and bustle... and life happenings... we decided, it was long over due, to just step back and relax!

When we need to just breath, Vance and I find that going out on the river is just the dose of medicine that we both need to get back in touch with reality. It gives us the peace and quietness that we need to reflect on the important things in life. Enjoying our family and marriage.....

Here are a few pictures from our two wonderful, peaceful and most enjoyable days on the Indian River....





We called a dolphin and he played around our boat for awhile, Kylie always enjoys calling and splashing in the water with the bottlenose dolphins!



Of course, we did alot of fishing. Sunday, we bought a few dozen live shrimp and about 18 fiddler crabs. We brought in quite a few fish, none of which were keepers!




Kylie being the animal lover that she is, HAD to keep about 5 of the fiddler crabs and turn them loose on the river bank Monday morning! She was determined that they needed their mommies!!! We wanted to use some of the fish that we caught for chum, but she demanded that they go back in the water so they could grow! Now how can you do anything but catch and release???

Here's what I call a PRECIOUS ending to a beautiful day!

My middle SwEeTiE

OKay! People always ask, where is a picture of your other daughter? Well, she's a teen and you know, teens NEVER want their pictures taken; until last night that is! Chelsea is my middle daughter that most people frequently hear me talk about. She is my almost 16 year old miracle child! Chelsea was born with a single ventricle and transposistion of the great arteries. She has a rare heart disease. She has been through 6 open heart surgeries, one to include a pacemaker. She is doing well and most people can't recognize that she has a problem, unless we tell them or she shows her battle scars. She's a sweetheart, and if there was any way I could replace her heart with mine, I would, in a minute. She is a good girl and if you ask her baby sister, she would tell you that sissy is the "best sista, eva!"

She is truly an angel sent from GOD to rescue me, HE had a plan for me and she is a huge part of it. I thank him every day for her!

Listen to the song on my playlist, "In my daughters eyes" and you will get a glimpse of my love for her.

Quick and yummy!

With all the hustle and bustle, who has time to slave in the kitchen during the holidays? Not ME! LOL Here is a yummy recipe that is sure to please your entire family. Quick prep time, doesn't take too long to bake, and virtually NO cleanup! My kind of dinner with this busy holiday schedule!

Prep Time: 10 min Total Time: 50 min Makes: 6 servings, one packet each 1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup 1-1/4 cups water, divided 1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken 6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.), 1/2 inch thick 4 slices OSCAR MAYER Thin Sliced Smoked Ham, chopped 1-1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms 1-1/2 cups frozen peas PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix soup and 1/4 cup of the water; set aside. Combine stuffing mix and remaining 1 cup water; spoon evenly onto center of each of six large sheets of heavy-duty foil. Top each with one chicken breast. Cover evenly with the ham, mushrooms, peas and soup mixture.

BRING up foil sides. Double fold top and both ends to seal each packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Place packets in single layer in 15x10x1-inch baking pan.

BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170°F). Remove packets from oven; let stand 5 min. Place one packet on each of six dinner plates. Cut slits in foil with sharp knife to release steam before opening.

Annual cookout on the river

Each year, a longtime friend of my husband has a cookout on the river. He has a river front home with a huge yard. It was so much fun. The kids played and played until they couldn't play no more! There was so much food there, I couldn't believe it! The gentleman you see here, well he was the oyster shucker! YUMMY! Do you see the grill on the side? Well, I CAN'T eat raw oysters... mine have to be steamed. Yeah, I'm a whimp! LOL

A Sneak Peek

Here is a peek of my Valentine's set for the Rock'n Bobbin launch on Tuesday! Check it out, Tuesday evening. Click here to view my current auctions.

FUN FACT... A DVD IS TO BE RELEASED SOMETIME IN FEBRUARY OF 2008 OF THE SMURFS!!!

What a blast from the past!

Today is bitter-sweet.....

Today, the NAVY bussed my son to Jacksonville for 2 days of testing. Bitter-sweet you ask? Well, I have an 18 year old son that just DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! Sad, but true! I just pray that he has the knowledge and strength to make an informed decision about his future.

I always dreamed of him going to college and pursuing what I thought he loved, drafting. Guess I was wrong about that one!

I'm terrified on one hand, but have to admit.. I feel much relief, because I know this boy will soon become a man. He needs guidance and discipline, and he WILL get that there.

I'm am waiting by the phone, just to hear how his first unofficial day went!

If your reading this, please, take a moment and pray for my son. Pray that he is given the wisdom that he needs to make the right choices!

God Bless....

Sweet endings!

Well, after 12 beautiful days away from the daily grind... I thought it would nice to have a sweet ending! Christmas decorated strawberry cupcakes! Yummy! Chef Kylie was in charge of the bakery. She picked how each cupcake would be decorated, and who would get what! LOL She even delegated mommy as the dishwasher! Yikes, she is getting way to smart! LOL I didn't mind, anything to see my baby smile!

MORE VACATION

Vacation, it's all about fun... right? Well, Kylie has been begging forever to go on a train ride. I Googled train ride Florida and came up with this way cool dinner train located about an hour and a half away in Eustis, Florida!

Kylie got all dolled up to go on a very special train ride. One that mommy had to convince the receptionist and manager that she would be nothing less than perfect, that was an all adult dinner ride.

We loaded up the car, grabbed our googled directions and headed for Eustis. What a long ride. But in the end, soooo worth it. We checked in at the Magnolia Street Train Station and the excitement started! Kylie wanted photographs taken as she had plans to scrapbook her soon to be, memorable, "first train ride eva"! LOL

We first met MR THOMAS, one of the train ENGINEERS. What a pleasure he was. He took photographs with Kylie and spoke with her as she was just a little adult. (I was so proud of her and her manners..yes sir, yes please!) MR NEIL popped out of the train, he was our CONDUCTOR! Kylie was so excited, I really don't know what the child was thinking, all I could see was a big ole grin on her face and her eyes were going everywhere. I could tell she was in awe! MR NEIL was so kind as well. He was very welcoming... Here's a picture of Kylie with them both.



We got into the train and went into the lounge car. I believe this car was called the Illinois. Quite relaxing. After a few minutes, the CONDUCTOR came in and said dinner will be served in the dinner car, please join us! WoW, the excitement was on!

This was truly first class dinning! We had a four course meal over the course of 3 hours! It was so yummy! DH and myself had the ribeye, Kylie had the chicken! Next time, we are going to try the seafood stuffed tilapia! We kept hearing the folks behind us ranting and raving about how delcious it was! Here's daddy and Kylie eating the delicious crab cake appetizers!



What a wonderful experience for Kylie. It was nothing less than perfect and I am so thankful from the bottom of my heart to each person on that train for making our experience a beautiful one! We got to walk around the entire train, we visited the dome car, the sleeping car and 2 lounge cars. After dinner, we went the the rear of the train and looked at the "silver tracks" and listened to the beautiful sound of the train rollin down the tracks, clickety clack...clickety clack!

THANK YOU INLAND LAKES RAILWAY FOR allowing us to participate on that wonderful train ride Saturday night! MUAH!!!!

VACATION

va·ca·tion (v-kshn, v-)
n.
1. A period of time devoted to pleasure, rest, or relaxation, especially one with pay granted to an employee


Ahhh, yes! It is vacation time! Typically, we travel somewhere for our vacation. This year, we are staying at home. We are vacationing in our own back yard.

Last night, we had a campfire. Relaxing, beautiful and lots of marshmallows!

We will hang Christmas lights today, go for a four-wheeler ride back in the woods and who knows what else! Miss Kylie wants to break the tent out and have a camp out...we shall see!

Boutique Cafe

Last night I received an ASQ through Ebay from Daria, over at Boutique Cafe. She dropped a note to say she loved our group launch and that she blogged a picture of my awesome outfit! WOW, what a surprize and honor! Stop on over and check out the blog! You can see the auction by clicking here, on Ebay!

What a nice way to end my BAD, BAD day! Thanks Daria!

Thanks for letting me share!
Laurie

Bad, bad day!

Well, I decided to wake up early today... I thought, well.. I'll get a little computer time in while it was quiet and then do some sewing. Much to my surprise, I wouldn't be doing any of that today! I was working on transfering some files from my documents to a windows program and all of the sudden I get a blue screen that is telling me fatal error! WTHeck??? I quickly dialed up Dell as just 3 weeks ago, yes, 3 weeks ago... my laptop crashed! Completely gone, nothing salvageable, hard drive ruined! Well, back to Dell... they helped me to run some diagnostic test and then proceed to tell me that all my software has crashed, but there was some hope.. I could possibly salvage some of the files and pictures. Ugh..*sigh*

Mr Computer is now at the hospital... hopefully by morning, the good ole doc will have fixed him right up!!! Fingers crossed, alot of pictures are on there that I just don't want to loose. If he don't give me my pictures back, I'm gonna have to toss him in the burn pile!

Lesson learned today... go invest in external drive and back up, DAILY!!!!!

June the Ballerina

Well this is my sweeties new "faborite"! We visited DisneyWorld to see PlayHouse Live, the Little Einsteins. Wow, what a show... my sweetie had such a great time! I have this sweet tee currently up for auction in custom sizes. Check out the listing here!

Wisterialane is Painting the Town Red!

I just thought this was the sweetest picture and wanted to share it with you all! My sweetie is modeling a romantic euro, 2 piece dress set from CinnamonGirl*Studio and the softest rose adorn jacket from BumbleBeeDesigns1. You will be able to see these designs starting tomorrow! Search Wisterialane to see all the fabulous PAINT THE TOWN RED items!

Rock'n Bobbins

I have been admiring Ebay group Rock'n Bobbins for over a year now! I finally felt that my applique was worthy of showcasing with this amazing group of talented women, so I applied... AND I AM IN!!!

These women are so sweet and I just can't wait for my first launch with them on Tuesday October 23rd! We will be launching a storybook theme, with each designer using a differnt book!

Click HERE and visit our ME page!

Swimming Rooster?????????

Ok, now this is just too funny! I am minding my own business...sewing along and my husband runs into my studio and says to me.... "Hurry, you MUST come out back... your NOT going to want to miss this!" I am thinking maybe my horses are playing rough or something... so I am running through the house, my 15 year old on my heels and Miss Kylie and daddy are saying, "look mommy, that rooster can swim!" OMG, I told my husband get that thing out of our pool, they have cooties! Then I thought for a moment, and said, no wait.... I have got to get a picture, no one is going to believe this! Amazingly enough, I think this little guy was enjoying himself, he was ducking under the water and just poking around. He was very calm and my husband picked him right out and set him free!

Have YOU Forgotten?

Today my blog post is dedicated to all my fallen brothers and sisters who left love ones behind to do what they love, PROTECT AND SAVE. To all the service men and women who have left their families behind to fight for our freedom, so that we may sleep in peace and that we can go about our daily lives and not live in fear. To all the children who are with out their mothers and fathers who died in this horrific attack our nation was smacked with. To the wives, to the husbands, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers....who have lost their loved ones..... Today is a day to NEVER be forgotten!

For you soldiers... please know that we love and miss each one of you and are praying for a safe journey home and GOD SPEED! I pray for the day you can lay down your guns and hang up your boots, sleep in your own bed, kiss your children goodnight and look at your spouses and tell them just how much you love them!

Here is the lyrics to a song by Darryl Worley, that I think are just amazing:

I hear people saying we don't need this war I say there's some things worth fighting for What about our freedom and this piece of ground We didn't get to keep 'em by backing down They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in Before you start your preaching let me ask you this my friend Have you forgotten how it felt that day? To see your homeland under fire And her people blown away Have you forgotten when those towers fell? We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout bin Laden Have you forgotten?

They took all the footage off my T.V. Said it's too disturbing for you and me It'll just breed anger that's what the experts say If it was up to me I'd show it everyday Some say this country's just out looking for a fight After 9/11 man I'd have to say that's right Have you forgotten how it felt that day? To see your homeland under fire And her people blown away Have you forgotten when those towers fell? We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout bin Laden Have you forgotten? I've been there with the soldiers who've gone away to war and you can bet that they remember Just what they're fighting for! Have you forgotten how it felt that day? To see your homeland under fire And her people blown away Have you forgotten when those towers fell? We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout bin Laden Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten all the people killed? Some went down like heros in that Pennsylvania field Have you forgotten about our Pentagon? All the loved ones that we lost and those left to carry on Don't you tell me not to worry about bin Laden Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten?

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

Ok, I am getting SOOO excited. I am flying across the entire country to meet 4 girls from my Ebay group, Wisterialane. We are meeting up in Seattle at the end of the month to attend a fabric expo! I am sooo stinkin excited, the time just can't pass quick enough! We are spending a loooong weekend out there! I can't wait to meet the girls, and my partner in crime... Christine of BoutiqueGenMarie! Linda of LilyandEbony is such a doll, she is hosting us girls in her home! I had the pleasure to meet up with her a few months back when she was down visiting her daughter at Eckerd! Timi of cinnamongirl*studio and Jenn of felicitys*flair will be there as well and I am as equally excited to meet both of these girls! I am sure there will be a lot of coffee consumed and a lot of girl talk! Is it the end of September yet???? I sure wish all the girls could make it to Seattle... one day we are all going to meet up, it is just a MUST!

A new hairdo!

I thought I would share my new hairdo! Well, now that I am looking at the picture, it's not quite what I looked like walking out of the salon! LOL, Why is that anyway?

When I walked into the salon, I met my stylist Laura. I was in total shock when she said, let's discuss the cost of your spiral perm and cut. I had no idea how high perms have gone up in the last 10 years! She said it is going to run you somewhere around 250.00. I thought, HOLY COW!!! I said, well... I didn't think it would be that much, but let's go ahead as I had been wanting to do this for some time now, I am here...let's do it!

We went through the normal process, wash your hair... get in the chair.. chat and she started to roll. She's rolling, and rolling... I am thinking man, this is such a long time. Well 1 1/2 hours later, she is done rolling my hair... poor gal must have been thinking she was going to be rolling for a week! There were over 100 rods in my head! She ran out of rods and had to borrow some from another stylist! All the women were oohing and ahhhing at her pretty job of spiraling my hair. It took almost 3 perm solutions for my head. I guess I just didn't realize how much hair I really had! I even had Laura use the biggest rods as I wanted big, soft ragcurls.

A little over 2 hours after I first walked through the doors I am now off to yet another chair to get my hair cut. Yes, it was over due! I had Laura take about 2 inches off all around my head, give me long layers and about 6 inches from around my face. I swear I felt about 10 pds lighter!

Well, I suppose this Florida humidity is what made the curls drop today when my husband was kind enought to take this picture for me to share. I will have him take another after I can wash my hair and style it again! YIKES, 3 days!!!

This is my Funky Monkey Sock Monkey set that is now up for auction on Ebay! These 5 little monkeys made me so crazy, I listed at 99 cents and NO RESERVE! Click here to see all my auctions! Stayed tuned, who knows what crazy thing I just may do next!!!!

Wizard of Oz

Well how sweet did this come out? I just loved working with this imported Japanese fabric! This is my newest listing on Ebay! See it here!

I made this sweet set for a very special little girl. Some of the girls in WisteriaLane collaborated on our Imagination launch, to bring you the complete set!

The sweet shoes are by SweetToesBoutique

The sweet tote is by Pixie-Dust-Studio

The sweet jewels are by Purely*Princess*Jewels

My Boyz

These are my boys. Can you guess what they are wanting? Food! My daddy calls em' hay burners. I call them my boys! The one on the left, well he is my special needs horse. I got this big guy when he was 2 years, from a gal in south Florida. Long story, but he was drugged when I went to buy him. He seemed soooo calm, it was just amazing to me that such a young horse was so well mannered! HA, the trip began when I got him home! It has been 8 years, and he is still a work in progress! I love him just the same, he is rideable, most will say he isn't... but we have a bond and I can do just about anything with him. I had an old cowboy once tell me, get rid of that darn mule, he isn't worth a dime! I stroked him a check and thanked him for his time. You see who is still in the pasture! I just love this guy.... I think in his other life, he was a dog! This ole boy will stay on your heels no matter where you go, he likes to be all up in your space!

The ole man on the right, well he is just a big ole cow horse! He is a retired ranch horse. He is strong and was used to round up the cows off the river. He's slow, but strong! There is no hurrying up this old boy, he is in retirement mode for sure! I don't thing he would spook at anything. He is for sure no scaredy cat. When the kids want a horsey ride, this old guy is here to do the job.... kids are his preference, not a lot of work. "Just walk real slow in a nice circle and when we're done, I'll get some nice fresh hay!" He's a good boy, I really like taking him out on the trail...when I need peace and quiet, this guy is the one who's back I'm on, deep in the woods!

Ole Swing!

This week, Kylie's wonderful daddy made her this swing and hung it from our old oak tree. This swing not only satisfies Kylie's love for thrill seeking, but it satisfies mommy in this Florida heat!

We love our ole swing!

Captian Jack!

A very special little girl, wanted a very special tee, to go see a very special guy, on the silver screen! So... a few of us Wistasista's got together and came up with this collaboration!

Our listings are offered on Ebay... check em out matey!

Kylie's friend, Booger

This is Booger! Kylie was outside playing on the porch about a month ago with her friends and I heard this intense giggling! I went out to see what all the happiness was. Out in the yard was a momma bull dog and a puppy. On the porch was Kylie, Gabe, Mathew and THIS puppy! He snuggles up to the kids and decided this was his new home... Momma was running back and forth on the fence line trying to entice her offspring to "let's get outta here"... but Booger found his place in life and it was going to be with Kylie.

Kylie has a natural adoration for animals! She loves animals and will adopt anything... and I mean anything, that we will allow her to!

I really didn't want another dog, but, what the princess wants, the princess gets! Says who? Says Kylie, she is so stinkin convincing! "He needs me mommy!" Where does a four year old come up with this stuff? He needs her? Darling husband says it is meant to be, they found each other.

Well, we figure Booger to be about 10 weeks old now. He is pretty stinkin cute, he is so calm and good. So I guess he is here to stay!

Oh, the name came on because my husband called him a little booger for always getting up under everyone's feet! Booger just wants to be LOVED! And I will add, he gets plenty of that around here!

A day dedicated to my Mom & Dad!

It's Friday! Yeah!!! For some reason, I have had my mom and dad on my mind today. So I decided that today's post was going to be dedicated to my wonderful parents!

Mom and dad, you may never read this but this day is dedicated to you two! I love you both with all my heart! You both have taught me so much through the years. You stood by me, even when you disagreed with my choices. I love you both with all my heart! When I was at rock bottom, you were there to pick me up. I love you both with all my heart!

Parenting, comprising all the tasks involved in raising a child to an independent adult.

You both taught me how to stand up for myself, take care of myself and fight for what I believe in. I love you both with all my heart!

There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child. — Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), American preacher, speaker and writer.

You both have taught me how to love unconditionally, it took awhile... but you did it! I love you both with all my heart!

I just want to thank you both for loving me unconditionally through the years! I love you both with all my heart!

My current Ebay listing

Bare with me, this is my second attempt to share with you my current Ebay listing! This is all new to me, and I am trying to wing it!

Well, I see I have a picture...

This is my sweet Kylie with her ever so loved Sherbert aka Sherbie! Sherbie has been with Kylie since the day she has been born. He's been wrestled, pee'd on, drug in the dirt, LOST, LOVED, rode a horse, ate a lolli pop, you name it, Sherbie's done it!

Sherbie is pretty darn important in our house, why... because the princess says so!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=011&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=320131774981&rd=1&rd=1