I'd like you to meet...

I met a little girl named Carolyn almost exactly ten years ago through a charity called ChemoAngels. At the time, Carolyn was 4 years old and just entering treatments for Neuroblastoma at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City. I'm very happy to say that Carolyn is still here with us. In fact, I'd like you to meet her! She created a video for the CSPAN Student Cam competition. Her video didn't win, but Carolyn's dream is to have it go 'viral'. Can you help me with that? Would you share this link with at least one person?

I am so very impressed by the young lady she has become! Please watch and share...
Survive

a brag moment...

and it doesn't even involve any of the Doodles... My brother sent me a link for a clip on my oldest nephew (aka 'Sweet Cheeks'!). If you had told me 20 years ago (when I moved here) how homesick I'd get, I'd have laughed. Watching stuff like this kills me now as it makes me feel a million miles away and reminds me of all I've missed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG1mgXAADHc

We're currently planning a trip home during the twins' spring break, but have a contingent plan in place in case Dave and Lane's team make it to the state finals again - then we'll head home a week early. I'm really hoping to have to put the contingent plan in place. The contingency won't be determined until the week before, so it will be a long wait!
I also apologize for my absence. We've been dealing with the flu and other viruses along with just trying to keep up with life. Who'd have thought Kindergarten could be so busy?! I'm heading to the school today for parents day - to have lunch with the twins. I've helped out on three field trips now, so know almost, if not all of their classmates' names. They're a fun group of kids!

I do have one sewing item to share - another wonky house for a swap. Once I again, I barely squeaked the block in by the due date and didn't have a chance to make one for myself.

They're fun to make, but take more time than I currently have to sew.

The weather has decided to make up for all the snow we haven't gotten this winter just in the last two weeks. Between shoveling, taxes, and boy activities, crafts have had to take a sideline... blah...

On the good news front, we decided to try to catch up with technology and moved up to iphones. I'm hoping this helps me catch up somehow - since I can now access email etc anytime I have a down moment. First I have to figure out how to use it, though, and that takes time - kind of a catch-22. I figure if I don't figure it out quickly enough, I can just give it to the almost-4-year-old. He seems to have the ability to hack through just about anything!

Thanks for stopping by!

Doodle Birthday

A quick check-in to celebrate the twin doodles' birthday... they're SIX today!

WOW!!! And thanks to Kindergarten, they're reading up a storm and keeping us busy spelling and reading things for them.

Doodle #3 started preschool this week. He was so excited and nervous!

But once he got there and saw the train table, all was well with the world!

We were only able to get him in two days a week - which we've already been told is NOT enough! Such a wonderful problem to have!

As you can tell by my absence in blogland, it has been an incredibly busy fall and winter. We've also been fighting a virus since October. Often, when I finally reach my beloved downtime (after the boys are in bed), I'm tired enough that I end up in bed myself. I've managed to keep making and trading artist trading cards - those I can work on with the boys around. The twins even made a couple of their own over the holiday break. If I can get organized enough, I'll share pictures. No sewing, though... only a new layer of dust on the sewing machine. Hopefully I'll be able to remedy that soon!

Here are some pictures from one of our more camera-friendly activities of late. We spent the afternoon of Christmas Eve skating at a local site. Doodle #1 thought it was wonderful and even took off on his own after a little time with a trainer.

Doodle #2 preferred to be driven on a sled.

While #3 preferred to sit inside by the fire!

Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas!!

October Greetings

Doodle #2 did end up losing his tooth - the Friday after my last entry. He came home from school with a tooth necklace around his neck and a big smile on his face.

 So far, that's the only tooth action we've seen - no other wigglies yet!

The boys are all excited for tonight. So far they've had two Halloween parties and one field trip to a pumpkin patch/hayride. Here they are from one of the party trips:

Doodle #1 is less than excited as he couldn't find his mask. We made the mistake of letting them use their costumes for dress up right after buying them. Thankfully, the Ninja Turtle will be fully geared for tonight! (That's Mario from the video game on the left and we still haven't figured out who's on the right - it was just too cool to pass up!)

Our trip to the pumpkin patch/hay ride was just Sunday. Once we finished having fun there, we went to work at home raking and bagging the last of the leaves and then set to carving our pumpkins. I have the boys help me clean the pumpkins out, then draw the face they want in marker. Here is the result:

 Pretty fun! I'm looking forward to trying them out with candles tonight.

This fall has been a funny one for colors. I don't know if it's due to our dry weather or just that I've overlooked them before, but we ran across many leaves that looked like they had been painted. Here's the first one we found - it's a couple weeks old and still looks dramatic:

Here are some more from a maple tree.

We've also already had our first snow:

This snow was part of the storm that combined to make hurricane Sandy so damaging to the Eastern Coast of the US. Makes me feel lucky that all we had was some snow that didn't stick.

Even though it's only Halloween, the boys are starting to get excited for Christmas. Part of the reason is a care package from my parents:

...with aprons for making Christmas cookies! So far, the aprons have been worn for everything but cooking. It hasn't been a good month for baking - too much running around, by the boys have had fun wearing them as just about everything else!

Though I didn't manage to complete a UFO this month, I did get to do a little more sewing. I joined a Wonky House block exchange on Swap-Bot. Here's my swap block:

I've wanted to make a wonky house quilt for a while now, and figured this would be the perfect way to get myself moving. I had planned to make two at once - one to keep and one to send, but lack of time prevented that. I don't particularly need any more in-progress projects around the house, but couldn't resist!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're all having a wondeful fall/spring!
Laura

Sewing Emergency!!

I've been narrowing down my choices for tooth pillows for about the last year. (You can see where this is going, right?!) A week ago, the twins excitedly reported that a school friend of theirs lost not one, but both of her top front teeth! Ack! Time to get those patterns out! So, I got in gear and had all three boys pick out a fabric for their tooth pillows. So, patterns, fabric, and accessories are all gathered nicely with plans to start on them over the weekend. Saturday evening, Doodle #2 comes up to me and says "Mommy! Look!", as he wiggles one of his bottom front teeth! Looking closely, I can see that not only is his baby tooth loose, but his new tooth is already showing at least an eighth of an inch! Looking even more closely, I see that the loose tooth along with two others have changed colors a bit. How have I missed this?! So I sneak in the hand sewing during church and an afternoon playdate and, after some alone time with my sewing machine Sunday night, we have a new member in the family:

I used cotton for the body, felt for the eyes and fangs, and fleece for the hair.

Doodle #1 keeps trying to wiggle his teeth, but no luck yet - and I've checked the color of his teeth - no urgency there either. *Whew* So I can exit emergency mode for making the other two pillows. We've decided to wait to introduce the boys to their new friends on the day that they become needed - kind of a rite of passage. Now to figure out where I'll put Doodle #3's so that I remember where it is in two years!

We had a great end to summer. The boys' school has a walk-a-thon every fall where the kids all take a hike over to a local waterfall and back to raise money for their classes. The day was georgeous - warm and sunny. I headed to the walk from work and quickly wished I'd thought to bring a pair of shorts. The kids did wonderfully! We've been in drought conditions for a little over a month (we're much luckier than much of the US), so the falls and the creek leading to it were dry. I don't remember being there before when the falls had stopped completely...

The shadows in the water are all kids of fish that have been caught in the pool left at the bottom of the falls. The rain promised for the next day turned out to just be a wind storm that took all of the warmth away and left us reaching for our winter coats. I'm definitely not going to complain, though, as one city in Northern Minnesota received over a foot of snow from that front! How painful it would be to go from shorts weather one day to snowboots the next... The rain is finally supposed to show up today, and I'm hoping for some drenching rains to help us catch up - and help those fish escape that pool!

Wishing you just the kind of weather you're wanting - whether you're in spring or fall!

Fall Update...

I grew up about 600 miles southeast of Minneapolis - in Indiana, where I grew to LOVE fall with the warm days, cool nights, and beautiful fall colors. My love for fall has waned some since moving to Minnesota as falls are usually cold and rainy, with the rain stripping the colorful leaves from the trees before they're done showing off and snow chasing not far behind. Imagine my delight when I still need to wear shorts on September 30th and the leaves have been allowed to reach their peak! It's been a glorious fall - beautiful sunny, warm days - a great way to end the summer! Normal Minnesota weather is supposed to return by the end of the week - hopefully the rains will wait until the leaves finish their show!

The twins were excited to celebrate their 20th day of kindergarten last week. (Wow, that was fast!) In that time, we've become part of the PTA, reading and classroom assistants, an email mentor, and boy scout leaders of some form (yet to be ironed out). We've already had two fundraisers along with a book sale. And I thought life was busy before! We haven't entered the world of homework yet, but I can only imagine how that will complicate matters! LOL!

In the midst of these changes, I was able to complete my monthly UFO challenge. While digging through my stash, I found some Halloween 9 patches and charms from exchanges I was in in the mid 90's. Six 9 patches, to be exact. I had seen a disappearing 9 patch tablerunner some time ago and decided it was the perfect project to take on - with the perfect timing! So, I completed the first for August and the second for September. Here's August:

And September:

One for us and one for our neighbor who's so good to us. It's great to have two new Halloween decorations ready and on-hand BEFORE Halloween arrives! I have no idea what I'll be tackling this month for a UFO. Hmmmm... maybe there are some Christmas blocks in that pile of 9 patches. I can hope...

One last picture to include... a capture of the old header to make sure Gma & Gpa see it before it goes away....

Happy change of seasons - whichever way it's heading for you!
Laura

Big Changes

We hit a big milestone today...

...the first day of kindergarten for the twins. Over the last couple weeks they got so anxious about it, I started to wonder if we were going to make it. On the way in the school, one was about to pull my finger off, trying to get me to hurry while the other was hiding in the back of Cita's shirt, trying to slow us down... LOL! Opposites at every opportunity! Luckily, there was a Lego bin sitting in the middle of their room, so they were instantly at home:

They hardly noticed it when we left. We had been in the classroom twice before, so the boys were already familiar with the room and their teacher. They even have several friends in their class from church and preschool. I'm expecting to pick up two very excited boys this afternoon - exhausted and bubbling with excitement over their new adventure.

Summer Catch-up

Well, I'd say that I took a blogging break, but that would imply it was intentional... It's just been one of those summers - a time, energy, and $ sink-hole where you finally just have to laugh when something falls apart. I did manage to keep up with my Sew It's Finished challenge. Here's my finish for June:

(yes, it looks a lot like my May finish). Here's my finish for July:

My May/June/July finishes are all Christmas ideas taken from old craft magazines. I started them all back in the fall of 2010 with big ideas for Christmas, and then gave in to reality and stuck them in a box. Now they're all ready for Christmas 2012, which is too fun! I actually wish I had started more!

My 'hope-I-get-it-finished' finish for August is still sitting on the shelf looking at me. I had to have my gall bladder taken out last Friday, so am wondering if I'll actually get it put together in time. I can't pick up more than 15 pounds for another 3 weeks - my sewing machine is definitely more than 15 pounds and lives in the bottom of my closet. I'll have to enlist my partner in crime for hauling it out for me. That or I'll have to go dig through my stash and try to find any other hand projects.

The boys all had a new experience this summer - they were all part of their first t-ball team.

Our players are the middle and left-of-middle in the back row (the twins - yes, they're that different in height) and the far right in the front (looking at his shoes). Every practice was good for laughs as the boys tried to figure out what was going on. By the end of the season, they all had an idea of what they were supposed to be doing, though the butterflies, puddles, and dust trails still often won their attention.

We also had another bunny saga. Back in June?, we came home from our Saturday errands to find two bunnies building a nest in the garden between ours and our neighbor's houses. Here's the momma bunny putting on the final touches:

For us, it was the perfect place for the nest as we could see it from our kitchen window. For the baby bunnies, however, it ended up being a very bad spot as all the other creatures seemed to know the nest was there too. A couple times, we used sticks and outdoor toys to rebuild the nest and put babies back in after an unwanted visitor stopped by - with the hope that at least one of the babies would make it. Unfortunately, our help wasn't enough. On the good news front, one of the babies from our nest is still living in our yard. We see it from time to time darting for cover as we head out the door.

That's round one of updates - I'll share some more when I get more pictures off of my camera...

Thanks for stopping by!

A Quick Catch-up

Summertime has arrived a bit early here in Minnesota. As a result, I'm behind on pretty much everything but playground time and even wading pool time. The weather has also been trying to make up for the snow we didn't get by continually hitting us with enough rain to keep flash flood warnings and watches in place. (And to keep the backyard a total mud pit - to the boys' delight!).

It's the end of the month, though, so I need to visit blogland long enough to report in on monthy challenges and share an exciting package I received.

For this month's finish, I came across a couple gift bag embellishments that I started in the fall of 2010. I was in the midst of weeding through a stack of old quilting and crafting magazines when I came across the pattern and had hoped to use it make wrapping bags for my first SSCS swap. I ended up having to admit I wouldn't be able to get any finished and put them in a tub. I came across them last December when inventorying my UFO's to plan out my projects to finish for my Sew It's Finished challenge and knew they'd come in handy for possible finishes during the summer months. I just didn't expect summer to arrive so soon! I changed my mind about the resulting form and turned the start of the gift bag into a door knob hanger.

I think it turned out cute and will be adding it to my Christmas stash box - the box I'm hoping to have full of all kinds of little gifts by the time Christmas 2012 arrives.

This month I also received my Friends with Benefits swap box from Claire at Claire Bear Quilts. Wow - was I ever surprised! First there was a great apron: 

which has already been put to use! I love aprons for keeping my clothes clean when I'm cooking - and had even looked at some at the farmer's market the morning that the box arrived. The one Claire made is wonderful!

She also thoroughly spoiled me with a bunch of goodies (along with chocolate for the boys):

Wow, right?! The bookmark is in my latest read, the keychain is holding my extra keys (so I don't tear it up with daily use), the journal (and cover) is waiting for life to slow down a bit, and the thread catcher is currently sitting with my sewing machine catching dust (sigh). I had been wanting to make a thread catcher - but you know how that goes - things for myself almost always rank last, so don't get done.

The next chance I have to post, I'll share what I made for Claire and catch up some more on boys and bunnies! Happy Tuesday!

April's Finish

I was able to get the quilting done in March, but just finished the binding on this baby quilt on Friday.

It was just big enough to be too big to take along with me - so it took me longer than I expected. It's my UFO completion for April for Sew Its Finished.

For my bunny update, I don't have anything to report. I've only seen a couple adult bunnies (no babies) out around the neighborhood with no bunny tracks in the yard. The nest has been empty for some time now - the mom's downy fur still there:

I was hoping to get to see the babies out of the nest, but I don't think that's going to happen.

For our latest kid-craft project, Doodles 2 & 3 joined me in making suncatchers from white glue and beads. (Doodle #1 was too busy building with 'little Le.gos' to join us).

For this craft, making one was just not enough. Our finally tally reached 5:

It made for a fun afternoon, though patience waned a bit before the glue finally dried. We haven't had a sunny day since they dried to get a good picture of one hanging in the window. The boys are pretty proud of their creations!

Happy Monday!

Sorry to everyone who has left a comment over the past couple of weeks! Blogger changed something (yet again) that changed my default settings on my blog and I wasn't getting notices for any of the comments! To the best of my knowledge, my blog was set up with no comment moderation and a simple spam filter (that was working well!) - just the way I like it. It will likely be a couple days until I get it back to that... if it's still possible. Sorry!

For a quick update on the bunnies (because I know you're as excited about them as I am - LOL!), they're doing fine and (we think) have outgrown their nest. I've spent the last couple of weeks watching the nest like I used to watch my pregnant belly - thrilled each time I saw movement and incredibly curious as to who was inside. The nest quit wiggling a couple days ago, so my partner took a peek and didn't see any bunny butts or feet. She left the nest intact in case they're still using it as a home base.

That's the nest right between the two plants.

The bunnies might have opted to find a quieter spot for a nest as the boys have been rather loud during our spurts of warm weather. We've had a good amount of rain lately, which they've definitely enjoyed:

All activity has focused around a small hole they've managed to dig where the sandbox used to be. All I can say is that I'm ready for some drier weather to arrive! I haven't been a fan of mud pies for some time, and we've had plenty to share for several weeks now!

My first round of artist trading cards (ATC's) have all been mailed out. Here's how they turned out:

I thought they turned out okay. The top ones are an 'anything goes' and the bottom had to involve some finger-painting.

I've signed up for a couple more swaps, so am working on some other ideas. The best part is that I can work on them with the boys around - rather than waiting until they're in bed like I do with the sewing machine. In fact, I've had to promise one of each type to Doodle#2 - to hang on the 'art room' wall. It's been fun trying something new. It's been so long since I did any paper crafts, my brain is pretty foggy on how to do things. Not that I've become obsessed or anything, but here are the books I checked out from the library yesterday:

along with my workspace. My latest attempts are for ATCs with a ladybug as the focus (hence the red and black paint).

I'm also excited as I sent off my 'Friends With Benefits Swap' package today to my swap-buddy, Claire. I'm keeping the details a secret until she gets to open the package, but will share what I made with you when I can. It's one of the first things I've made in a long time that I actually ended up liking - which feels pretty good!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

One of those days...

Yesterday was one of THOSE days... you know the ones I mean? Where, by the time you fall into bed, you feel like the worst _____ (wife, mother, employee, friend, etc...) EVER! I had been working with the boys over the last week or so, to put together a box of toys for a little girl whose parents are divorcing - to give her some toys to play with at her mom's new apartment. So far, all had gone well. I should have known better, but decided to try to sort through the boys' Du.plo Le.gos with them on what had already been a crappy day. Let's just say the day just got steadily worse, the Le.gos are still mostly unsorted, and everyone went to bed early,... except mom who was likely the one who needed to the most...

I recently got involved with a site called Swap-bot. There, I've been introduced to the concept of an Artist Trading Card or ATC. I've checked out ATC swaps and gone to members' sites to see samples and I've liked what I've seen. I also like the idea of the size of the cards - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" - very do-able. So instead of going to bed, I pulled out my paper trimmer and some card stock and set to work. One of the upcoming swaps involves finger painting somewhere/how on the card, so I started some with paint and then tried out another idea with markers. Here are the results:

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to just put quotes on them or decorate them more. I do know that they made a fun end to an otherwise crappy day - so were worth it even if they just go in the recycle bin!

Here are some of the afternoon's activities prior to the Le.go sorting - Doodle #1 wanted to play chess, Doodle #2, paint a garden stone we started the other night, and Doodle 3, take a nap (which was oh so easy to accomodate!)

Thankfully, opening and closing paint pots and cleaning brushes was pretty easy to do while playing a game of chess. The difficulty comes in when working with a 5 year-old to help him learn how to play chess without needing to cry each time his opponent takes one of his pieces. Doodle #1 is very competitive, so learning how to play chess has involved learning about good sportsmanship as much as it's been about learning the rules of chess. I'm really hoping that gets easier with time!

Here's wishing you all a smooth, tantrum-free weekend!

Fun Stitcheries

Recently, a couple books in the library caught my eye due to their catchy titles: Doodle Stitching. The author is Aimee Ray and you can check out her site here.
http://www.dreamfollow.com/pictures/mybooks.jpg

I liked the books so well, I've already made one of the stitcheries in them:

And I even like how it turned out! I have some plans for this tree and hope to show you the results soon!

Time to share another Doodle photo - 3 eager boys waiting to start their egg hunt on Easter.

I think the hunt lasted all of 5 minutes, with boys racing around the yard. It only took Doodle #3 finding a couple eggs to catch on to what we were doing, but once he got it, he kept up with the other two.

I don't know whether the racing was due more to the excitement of the egg hunt or the fact that all three of them ate their chocolate bunnies for 'breakfast'! In our house, the 'bunny' leaves their basket at their places at the table - usually with a couple special goodies in them. The baskets are mostly empty, signifying that there are eggs waiting to be found! I'm guessing the boys love the 'hunt', as we've had to move much of the candy into a bowl so that the plastic eggs could be put to use in multiple mini-hunts throughout the house!

Real spring has finally returned here in Minnesota. We had to put away the shorts and dig out the jackets and warm accessories we thought we had left behind. The chill in the air hasn't yet seemed to damper the spring flowers. Here's to hoping the hard freeze forecasted for one night this week ends up just being a gentle chill!

Happy Tuesday!

The bunny's reminder...

Thursday night, I came home from work to the story that Puff (the 'Dog' from my blog's title) had found a bunny nest in our back yard. He had sent the momma bunny running and had made the baby bunny(ies) squeal. My partner took a quick peak to make sure that the baby(ies) looked unharmed and then covered the den back up. From previous experience, she knew not to disturb the nest to check the baby(ies) closely - so we'd have the greatest chance that the momma would come back. So, Puff was banned from unescorted trips into his potty spot in the backyard and Beth and I went on heightened 'momma-watch'.

We decided to give momma bunny until Sunday - we'd check the den before letting the Easter bunny fill the yard with hidden eggs. That duty fell to me and I was sure I'd be finding a spot to bury baby bunny bodies... a wonderful thought to carry. (Local animal rehab-ers all said to let nature take its course...)

Twenty-four hours later, no sign of momma bunny and the den entrance looked untouched... bummer...

Forty-eight hours later, still no sign of momma... Bummer...

Sunday morning and still no sign of momma... no disturbance to the den entrance... BUMMER! So I decided that I'd do the hard part first - clean out the den - before digging the hole. As I started moving the nest materials back - including a fair amount of bunny downy, I uncovered a large amount of bunny fur - much larger than Beth said the babies were... and as I watched, that bunny fur was moving back and forth in a breathing pattern! WHEEEEE! There was a momma bunny in the den! That tricky lady had been able to get in and out of that den over a three day period without unsettling the materials on top!

Oh, what a great Easter surprise! We still have baby bunnies!!! Funny how that simple parellel to the Easter story finally struck me... the joy those that loved Jesus must have felt when they found him alive after thinking Him dead for three days. (It's a stretch, I know... work with me!)

Wishing much joy to you and yours!

I won! and a little catch-up...

I won! I won! And I didn't know it until my surprise arrived in the mail! With spring kicking into gear and unexpected roadtrips, I've gotten far behind on email and blog-reading (and laundry, cleaning, and the usual)... So was wonderfully surprised when I found I had won in the first drawing in the Friends with Benefits swap (see my side-bar). I had even visited Kathy's blog after she posted the winners, but didn't go back enough days to read that post. Here's what I won:

Isn't it a great pattern?! I've been wanting to make some holiday/seasonal wallhangings, so it's perfect! Time to start picking out fabrics! Thanks Kathy!

For a late catch-up - at some point back in January (I think), I finally finished the July block for the 2011 Snow Heart BOM. Here's block 7 finished:

Some of the blue you see is marking pen - haven't rinsed it out yet...

Here are all of the blocks so far:

5 more blocks to go! I hope to dig into my stash sometime soon to start picking out matching materials. I'm thinking of centering them around a center verse, but haven't worked out any of the details. I know it will be colorful!

One other catch-up features the talents of my twin Doodles. Doodle #1 decided to join his twin (#2) during one session of his art classes at the Institute of Arts. This class was on sports and focused on wii sports and the sports exhibition at the institute. One of their projects was to create a sculpture of themselves playing one of the games they investigated. Both Doodles picked hockey and this is the result:

I thought they did really well! The hockey players are a bit beat up after being our dining table centerpieces for a couple weeks. They tend to 'skate' around the table when the boys are near...

Thanks for stopping by!

March's Finish and a basketball tale...

Here is my finish for March.

I pieced this wallhanging at least nine years ago - I made it to match my sewing room. I no longer have the sewing room, so have no idea what I'm going to do with it! But at least it's finished! I picked it up as a 'quick' project a year ago when I was scrambling to find something I could finish for 'Sew Its Finished' that didn't require machine time. Yeah, I underestimated the effort by ALOT! Anyway, I managed to finish sewing on the binding this weekend during our last-minute road trip.

Yes, the temptation was too great and we decided to throw caution (and the credit card) to the wind and drive down to see Lane play in the Indiana state finals. (He's #1 in the white jersey)

We were not disappointed! Well, okay... we were a little disappointed as the Rox lost by 3 points (they were tied with 4 seconds left, if that tells you how exciting the game's ending was!) We managed to make it to Indiana in record time - record time with Doodles, that is. Despite puking boys, multiple potty stops, and losing our guide, we still managed to make it from my parents' house to Rockville the morning of the game with time to join the parade that went from Rockville to downtown Indianapolis. This was the boys' favorite part. Not only had my nieces painted on our windows, but we were able to honk our horn whenever they asked, for a full hour. (Luckily that lost its appeal before the full hour was up!) We were in a parade of painted cars that stretched as far as we could see in front of us and also behind us. The parade was led by a multitude of firetrucks and police all with sirens blaring. It was a little boy's dream - as well as some older boys' dream too, I'm sure!

As far as the game itself, or, at least, what I was able to see of it between Doodle demands, was a tough game. For the first three quarters, the Rox couldn't sink shots. They're normally a team that makes three pointers look easy; but, for that game, every shot seemed to hit the rim and bounce away. Finally, during the fourth quarter, the team seemed to catch fire. Had the quarter been a minute longer, it would likely have had a different ending. (Not that I'm biased!)

If you're a basketball fan and would like to see more pictures from the tournament, a local photographer covered the event, parade and all. Her web picture album is available through Facebook here. The photographer's name is Dawn Mitchell. She has taken some incredibly wonderful shots of my family members - including my parents. If you like high school basketball, it's a fun set of shots. You can find shots of my older nephew in the albums for ISU basketball - he's #31.

State-bound!

My brother and nephew are celebrating March madness again this year by heading to the state-level high school basketball tournament! Woot woot! Lane also scored his 1,000th career point, which I think is incredibly exciting, but he has down-played in all of the tournament excitement! Congrats Dave and Lane! Go Rox!!!

Onto quilty-er news, I've finally managed to spread the quilting bug, at least a little, to one of the Doodles. I had finished hand-quilting a project and was trimming the excess batting and material, when Doodle #2 appeared and wanted some of the cut-off bits to try sewing.

He made a pillow for his Ash doll. He did a great job with very little help! He and Ash disappeared with the pillow before I could get a brag picture taken. I might just have a textile man yet!

While most of the projects I've worked on lately have turned out to be quick wins (projects where time spent makes a big impact), I tried a project last week that reminds me a lot of cross stitch.

These two blocks took me four evenings to complete! One - picking & ironing fabric, 2 - cutting, and 3/4 sewing/pressing/trimming. I can remember working on complicated cross stitch projects where four hours of work would result in the completion of only one-inch square of the pattern. While I love log cabin blocks, I'm happy this project required so few! Hopefully, I'll have these transformed into their final form to share in April.

Has anyone seen any unexpected winter weather? We're missing ours! Instead of the dump of snow we usually get right about basketball/wrestling/hockey tournament time, we've had a sudden arrival of summer! Two weeks ago, we needed mittens and hats, and last week, we had to scurry around to dig out summer clothes for the boys. So, if you're missing warm temperatures and thunderstorms, you'll find them hanging out here in Minnesota. Please come take it back as it's really messing with our gardens!