Little Faeries

I recently stumbled on a number of "Fairy Photography Sites". And no, these aren't a bunch of whackos saying they're photographing "real" fairies. They're photography sites that use photoshop etc to retouch the photos to look like fairies, but realistic looking ones, not cartoonish looking...

I was telling my cousin Janice about this the other day and saying that one site had a thing where you could send in your own picture and she'd photoshop it for $150 (australian) to look like a fairy... Mind you, she's GOOD. They're awesome pics and if I had the money I'd definitely send a few pics of the kids in to get them done... We were talking about not having any good pics that would work for this and she was going through her stash of digital photos on her pc to proove this point when I saw it. A PERFECT picture of her daughter Josie at the beach. We also found a few really nice ones of her younger daughter Jenna that would work as well...

I got her to send them to me and I played around for a few days using Paint Shop Pro. (Since I don't currently have, nor do I know how to use, Photoshop) Here are the results. Whaddya think?

I'm not crazy about the wings I used for Jenna. They're tilted wrong for her stance, but they're the best ones I can find for her. I tried the ones I used for Josie on Jenna too, but they seem even worse to me than the ones I have on her...


Here are a few of the Fairy Photography sites that I found for those of you who are interested:

*Fairy Photography by Margaret Dean http://www.fairyphotographs.com/ -- Amazing artist. She's the one I was talking about above. This is her commercial site.

*Fairy Portraits by Margaret Dean http://www.fairyportraits.com.au/index.htm -- This is the site where you can see about sending in your pic to be photoshopped. Has before and after pictures

*Tales of Faerie by Collette http://www.talesoffaerie.com/ -- Good site, she's located in Ontario

*Stonefence Photography http://stonefencephotography.com/ -- Not bad pics, but Instead of the general thumbnails that you click on to see a bigger image, there's a thing that is supposed to look like a book with pages turning, each page is a different picture. And unfortunately the pages of the "book" are the wrong size for the pics... so they all looked stretched and a bit distorted...

*J. Corsentino's Time of the Faeries http://www.timeofthefaeries.com/ - Good site. Lots of great pics.

Hope you Enjoy as much as I do...

What a wonderful world

I've discovered a wonderful new program the other day thanks to my cousin Janice. It's called PhotoStory and it's by Microsoft. I downloaded it for free at www.microsoft.com/photostory , but make sure you have a legal version of windows before trying this. You have to let Microsoft confirm your version is legal before they'll let you download this.

Anyway, it's basically like a stripped down version of Powerpoint in that you put pictures, music and transitions for your pics in the presentation. You can't do all the fancy stuff that you can with PowerPoint, but since it's meant more for photographs instead of office presentations it works just fine... and for a free program it's GREAT!

The first one has a bunch of pictures of Olivia and Rachel done to What a Wonderful World by Louie Armstrong. They're done in chronological order, so it's kind of showing Olivia growing from baby to big sister, and HER new baby Rachel!

The second is just of Olivia and though some of the pictures are repeated, some are new.The song with this one is Sweet Child o' Mine by Sheryl Crow. Although some purists don't like her version of the song, I think it fits kids pictures MUCH better than the Guns 'n' Roses original version.

Click on the images below (it'll open a new window) to see their PhotoStories!

Olivia and Rachel's Story(What a Wonderful World - Louie Armstrong)

Olivia's Story(Sweet Child o Mine - Sheryl Crow)

Rachel's Portraits

I got Rachel's Portraits done last month for her "3 Month Birthday". And yes, before you ask, I am obsessive that way. With Olivia I got them done every month for the first 6 months, then every two months between 6 months and a year, then again at 15 and 18 months and again at 2 years... so in her first 2 years she's had her portraits done 12 times! Jason made me promise I wouldn't go as crazy this time, so I got them done at 4 weeks, then again at 3 months. I'll do them again at 6, 9 and 12 months and again at 18 months and 2 years. So only 7 times in two years... I've cut them down from 12 to 7 and I honestly don't think I could do less than that. I would have cut the 18 month pictures out, but that's going to be her Christmas pictures. I LOVE getting their pictures done. Once they hit 2 years we'll only be going three times a year. Once for Olivia's birthday in October. Once for Rachel's birthday in April and once for Christmas Pictures, so that won't be too bad.

But, until that day, I'll enjoy my every three month schedule! I'm posting 3 of the 4 shots we got... the girl who took the pictures was VERY new and VERY slow... She claimed she worked at Walmart portrait studio before she started at the Sears studio, but I doubt she worked there very long before they fired her. Not only did she not have a clue as to posing, etc. (she wanted to just sit her on a baby chair they have and do a full length, 3/4, and close up shot as 3 of the 6 poses you get... I had to come up with the three poses we ended up doing.) but she ended up screwing up my order as well. She ordered 2 of the poses in the wrong sizes. Oner 8x10 was in the wrong pose and I always order a sheet of 3 1/2 x 5 in EACH pose so that I have one of each shot plus it leaves me 3 of each shot to give away. The cheapest way for me by far, and instead of ordering the last shot in 3 1/2 x5, she ordered it in 5x7. So, I had to return those and wait for the 8x10 and the 4th shot to come back in the proper size.

So, for those of you interested in seeing them, here they are!

This was actually one of the last pics taken. She was quite cranky the whole time and had fallen asleep. I didn't want to wake her up, so the last two pictures taken (one which isn't here yet) were of her sleeping.

Here she is before she fell asleep. Posing with the teddy bears!

This is the one I got in 8x10 (teddy bear pic), but it was the one below that I ordered.

Go ahead, go ga-ga over me!

Ben & Alma

My Grandfather's 75th Birthday is coming up shortly and we've been discussing putting a pic of him in the local paper. So, I've been scanning and fixing up a few older pictures. I've decided to post some of these on my blog.


Here is a picture of my Grandfather taken in 1950 (he would have been around 19 years old at the time)

Here is a picture of my Grandmother. There was no date on the back of the picture, but I'm guessing she's probably around 7 or 8.

I've also been playing with these pictures and have managed to colourize them (my grandparents only) Here is the finished version. Not too bad if I do say so myself.

10x10

I'm a stumbler. No that doesn't mean that I have a few too many drinks and end up staggering around all uncoordinated like... It means that I stumble via "Stumble Upon". It's a great site. You download a little toolbar that goes at the top of your browser and you put your likes and dislikes in when you sign up. You then stumble around the web via a small button on the toolbar that says, interestingly enough "stumble"... and as you stumble around the web you refine your likes and dislikes by rating each page with a like it or don't like it. The site learns your likes and dislikes and you see LOTS of great things that you wouldn't normally find on the web...

Anyway. One of the neat things I stumbled upon today was a great site called 10x10

From the site:

10x10™ ('ten by ten') is an interactive exploration of the words and pictures that define the time. The result is an often moving, sometimes shocking, occasionally frivolous, but always fitting snapshot of our world. Every hour, 10x10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time. Over the course of days, months, and years, 10x10 leaves a trail of these hourly statements which, stitched together side by side, form a continuous patchwork tapestry of human life.

10x10 is ever-changing, ever-growing, quietly observing the ways in which we live. It records our wars and crises, our triumphs and tragedies, our mistakes and milestones. When we make history, or at least the headlines, 10x10 takes note and remembers.

Each hour is presented as a picture postcard window, composed of 100 different frames, each of which holds the image of a single moment in time. Clicking on a single frame allows us to peer a bit deeper into the story that lies behind the image. In this way, we can dart in and out of the news, understanding both the individual stories and the ways in which they relate to each other.

10x10 runs with no human intervention, autonomously observing what a handful of leading international news sources are saying and showing. 10x10 makes no comment on news media bias, or lack thereof. It has no politics, nor any secret agenda; it simply shows what it finds.

With no human editors and no regulation, 10x10 is open and free, raw and fresh, and consequently a unique way of following world events. In 10x10, we respond instinctively to patterns in the grid, visual indicators of relevance. When we see a frequently repeated image, we know it’s important. When we see a picture of a movie star next to a picture of dead bodies, we understand the extremes that exist in our world. Scanning a grid of pictures can be more intuitive than reading headlines, for it lets the news come to life, and everything feels a bit less distant, a bit closer to heart, and maybe, if we're lucky, gives us pause to think.

I just found it today but it seems really interesting and I'll definitely be going back soon. Check it out!

Olivia at the Fair

Here are a few pics we took of Olivia on one of the rides at the fair on Saturday. The batteries in the camera died after this ride, so there aren't a lot.

Olivia on the airplane ride.

Looks like she's concentrating pretty hard trying to keep that plaine in the air! *lol*

My Beautiful Baby

I had some news for all of you on Saturday but didn't post because I didn't have any pictures to go with them. The batteries in my camera died while we were at the fair on Saturday and I didn't get them recharged until today.

It's official. I have a "Beautiful Baby". Well, we always knew that I did, but Rachel came home with her own trophy after Saturday's Beautiful Baby contest, so now it's official!

There aren't a lot of pictures from the event, and they're quite fuzzy because of the very low light in the rink, but this is the best we've got, so it's all you're going to see. *grin*

Rachel and I beside another Mom and baby boy (in yellow) in the contest.

I don't know their names, maybe Kayla can post the info in the comments section,

I know she's friends with the mother.

Lynn Clark (1st Princess 2006) presenting Rachel with her trophy.

I was going to post some more pictures of Olivia on the rides, but Blogger is giving me troubles uploading the pics... so hopefully tomorrow I'll post more.

Children's Parade today

Well, it's the last day of the Summer Festival here and this morning was the Children's Parade at the Marina. You dress your kid up and put him or her on a bike or wagon or something like that and they go up and down the Marina road once or twice while judges watch them and decide which ones are best.

I don't envy the judges, there were LOTS of adorable kids with very cute costumes and decorated bikes/wagons... but of course, my kids were one of the best ones *lol* not TOO much "Mama Pride" showing through, is there?

Olivia and Rachel won for "Most Humorous" for the age group 2-5 years (Rachel wasn't officially an entrant, Olivia was entered and was pulling her in a wagon) They were Papa's "Cow" Girls and were dressed up as little cowgirls with a wagonload of stuffed cows on a bed of hay... Rachel was also a cowgirl and was laying on some blankets on the hay as well... I kept hearing everyone in the crowd whispering as we went by. "Its a real baby!" they kept saying. "How cute!"

Here are a few pictures from this morning.

Olivia, "Papa's Little Cowgirl"

Rachel sleeping in her soft bed of hay.

A close up of Rachel sleeping.

Olivia pulling Rachel in the wagon during the "parade".

Olivia getting her trophy from Angelina. (One of the judges)

Notice me in the background pointing for Olivia to look at the camera... Take a look at my cute new haircut!

Mini-Me

I know I haven't posted in a while, and although I'd like to say life's been too hectic, I have to admit that I'm merely too darn lazy! Not much of a surprise to those that know me well. *lol* However the other day I started a project of scanning a bunch of old pictures I'm currently in possession of, and I came across one that shocked me. It's a picture of me being held by my great-grandmother. Nothing very shocking in itself. What surprised me was how much I look like Rachel!

I couldn't get over it. I'm one of those people who usually don't see likenesses between babies and parents... well instead of letting me tell you, let me show you.

Me with my Great-Grandmother, Eva. I'm not sure how old I am in this picture but I recognize this dress as being the one I wore when I won the beautiful baby contest at the Fall Fair that year... I'm assuming then that this was taken in early September. That would have made me 5 months old.

Rachel in Mid July this year. She was just shy of 3 months old.

I don't know, maybe I'm seeing things that just aren't there, but to me the likeness is almost eerie. What do you think?

Funny for today

THIS IS SOME KIND OF CHILI CONTEST!

Note: please take time to read this slowly, and I promise you will laugh so hard, you will either start to cry or pee yourself so pay attention to every word.

For those of you who have lived in Texas, you know how true this is. They actually have a Chili Cook-Off about the time the Rodeo comes to town. It takes up a major portion of the parking lot at the Astrodome.

These notes are from an inexperienced Chili taster named Frank, who wasvisiting Texas for the East Coast.

Frank: "Recently I was honored to be selected as a judge at a Chili cook-off. The judge #3 called in sick at the last moment and I happened to be standing there at the judges table asking for directions to the Budweiser truck, when the call came in. I was assured by the other two judges (Native Texans) that the chili wouldn't be all that spicy and besides, they told me I could have all the free beer during the tasting, so I accepted.

"Here are the score cards from the event (Brace your self)

Chili #1 * Mike's Maniac Mobster Monster Chili

Judge #1 * A little too heavy on the tomatoes. Amusing kick.
Judge #2 * Nice, smooth tomato flavor. Very mild.
Judge #3 * (Frank) Holy Shit! What the hell is this stuff? You could remove dried paint from your driveway. Took me two beers to put the flames out. I hope that's the worst one. Those crazy Texans.

Chili #2 * Arthur's Afterburner Chili
Judge #1 * Smoky, with a hint of pork. Slight jalapeno tang.
Judge #2 * Exciting BBQ flavor, needs more peppers to be taken seriously.
Judge #3 * Keep this out of the reach of children. Im not sure what I'm supposed to taste besides pain. I had to wave off two people who wanted togive me the Heimlich maneuver. They had to rush in more beer when they saw the look on my face.

Chili #3 * Fred's famous Burn Down The Barn Chili
Judge #1 * Excellent firehouse chili. Great kick needs more beans.
Judge #2 * A beanless chili, a bit salty, good use of peppers.
Judge #3 * Call the EPA. I've located a uranium spill. My nose feels likeI have been snorting Drano. Everyone knows the routine by now. Get me more beer before I ignite. Barmaid pounded me on the back, now my backbone is in the front part of my chest. I'm getting shit faced from all the beer.

Chili #4 * Bubba's black magic
Judge #1 * Black bean chili with almost no spice. Disappointing.
Judge #2 * Hint of lime on the black beans. Good side dish for fish or other mild foods, not much of a chili.
Judge #3 * I felt something scraping across my tongue, but was unable to taste it. Is it possible to burn out taste buds? Sally, the barmaid was standing behind me with fresh refills. That 300-lb bitch is starting tolook HOT*. Just like this nuclear waste I'm eating. Is chili an Aphrodisiac?

Chili #5 * Linda's Legal Lip Remover
Judge #1 * Meaty, strong chili. Cayenne peppers freshly ground, adding considerable kick.
Judge #2 * Chili using shredded beef, could use more tomato. Must admit the cayenne peppers make a strong statement.
Judge #3 * My ears are ringing, sweat is pouring off my forehead and I can no longer focus my eyes. I farted and four people behind me needed paramedics. The contestant seemed offended when I told her that her chili had given me brain damage. Sally saved my tongue from bleeding by pouring beer directly on it from the pitcher. I wonder if I'm burning my lips off. It really pissed me off when the other judges asked me to stop screaming. Screw those rednecks!

Chili #6 * Vera's Very Vegetarian Variety
Judge #1 * Thin yet bold vegetarian variety chili. Good balance of spices and peppers.
Judge #2 * The best yet. Aggressive use of peppers, onions and garlic. Superb.
Judge #3 * I shit myself when I farted and I'm worried it will eat through the chair. No one seems inclined to stand behind me except that slut Sally. She must be kinkier than I thought. Can't feel my lips anymore. I need to wipe my ass with a snow cone.

Chili #7 * Susan's Screaming Sensation Chili
Judge #1 * A mediocre chili with too much reliance on canned peppers.
Judge #2 * Ho hum, tastes as if the chef literally threw in a can of chili peppers at the last moment. I should take note that I'm worried about Judge#3. He appears to be in a bit of distress as he is cursing uncontrollably.
Judge #3 * You could put a grenade in my mouth, pull the pin , and Iwouldn't feel a thing. I've lost sight in one eye, and the world sounds like its made of rushing water. My shirt is covered with chili, which slipped unnoticed out of my mouth. My pants are full of lava like shit to match my shirt. At least during the autopsy, they'll know what killed me. I've decided to stop breathing, its so painful. Screw it; I'm not getting any oxygen anyway. If I need air, I'll just suck it in through the 4 inch hole in my stomach.

Chili #8 * Tommy's Toe-Nail Curling Chili
Judge #1 * The perfect ending, this is a nice blend of chili. Not too bold but spicy enough to declare its existence.
Judge #2 * The final entry is a good, balanced chili. Neither mild nor hot. Sorry to see that most of it was lost when Judge #3 passed out, fell over and pulled the chili pot down on top of himself. Not sure he's going to make it. Poor dude, wonder how he'd have reacted to the really hot chili?

My first SBQ response

A site I read posts a weekly SBQ (Stitcher's Blogging Question). I've never answered one before, but I thought I'd start with today's question.

Many of us have a few pairs of embroidery scissors and some even have a “collection”. How many pairs of scissors do you have? Feel free to share a photo of your favorite pair or pairs with us!

I actually don't own a pair of embriodery scissors. (A shocked gasp goes up from the stitchers reading this post *lol*) Since I use a small craft box, or floss box as I call it, to keep my floss and stitching supplies in, I decided I didn't want a pair of scissors floating around when they won't fit in the box... so I use something that will fit... A pair of nail clippers. (another gasp from the crowd) I find that you can get almost as close when cutting threads etc, and I've not graduated to doing projects like Hardanger with the cut areas etc, so I've yet to come across projects where I can't get by without my trusty nail clippers... And, as a bonus, I always know where to find a pair of nail clippers when our "household" pair mysteriously disappear for days at a time as they do sometimes. *lol*

Rain Rain Go Away...

It's been a few days since I last posted. I haven't had a lot to say lately. Life's been pretty slow around here. I have been stitching quite a bit lately in the evenings so I've actually got another 10 hours done on my "Waiting" cross stitch. That being said, here's a picture of the progress so far.

I've also taken my first foray into the world of eBay! I was looking for some cross stitch patterns and saw a few that I wanted to get. I won the bid on two of them so far. The first one I bid on was a Stoney Creek pattern leaflet called Family Blessings. The pattern they showed on the ebay page was the Family Tree. It's so gorgeous! I HAD to have it. According to the Stoney Creek site the 6 patterns included in the book are "Prosperity Quilt Block Welcome", "Bookmark Vine Border", "Grandchildren", "Our Family Tree", "Irish Marriage Blessing", and "Home" I got this book for the great deal of $3.99 US (apx $4.54 CAN)

Here's the pic of the family tree I desperately want to stitch.

The second one that I purchased is Theresa Wentzler's Egyptian Sampler. I saw some progress pictures of this by someone else and liked it, but when I saw a pic of the finished product at the ebay site, I fell in love with it! I got the pattern for only $1.99 US ($2.26 CAN)

I also bid on two other auctions, but they're not finished yet. I'll find out in a few days if I won those bids or not. They're all from the same seller so I'll be able to combine them to save on shipping... I bid on Theresa Wentzler's English Cottage Sampler and Lavender & Lace's Celtic Spring. I was going to upload pics of them too, but blogger isn't letting me upload anymore pics right now...I'll have to post pics of them another day.

Getting the week off to a funny start

Thought I'd post this cute joke I got this morning.
I've heard it before, but I just love it. Have a good Monday!


COURSE: MANAGEMENT 101


Lesson One

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing?" The eagle answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Management Lesson:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.


Lesson Two

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.

Management Lesson:
Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.


Lesson Three

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Management Lesson:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut


* This ends your two minute management course.

At last it's here

Our new dryer has finally arrived. I just realized that I never posted a blog about the dryer incident yet, so most of you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Monday morning we threw a load of clothes in the washer and mid-morning Jason went to throw them in the dryer and it just made a loud buzzing noise when he tried to turn it on. He was pretty sure it was dead, but just to be sure, he called an electrician friend of his dad and asked if he'd come over and take a look at it. The friend (Ed for those of you who know him) also worked a lot on appliances in the past though he doesn't really do it any more. He wasn't home at the time, so Jason called back that evening and he came by and took a quick look. He told us it was dead. I can't remember exactly what part(s) he said were gone, but that it would be at least $150 in parts if we could find the parts for that old dryer, plus labour costs. He said, if it were him, he'd just buy a new dryer rather than fix an old one that might go again in another 6 months because OTHER parts might go...

So, off Jason goes Tuesday morning to our local Sears depot. Peggy (the owner) keeps some appliances in stock for those who can't wait a week or so for an order to come in, but unfortunately she sold the last dryer on Monday! Jason decides at that point, instead of going home and just ordering the thing from the catalogue that he'll drive the hour to Fredericton where there's an actual Sears store and buy the dryer there. Well... come to find out that after driving an hour in a truck that goes through a litre of gas faster than an alcoholic can down a beer, that Sears in Fredericton doesn't carry ANY appliances in stock. They only have their floor models. So you have to... guess what... order it from the catalogue! Funny for you, somewhat funny for me, but Jason wasn't laughing.

He called me from the cell phone and told me to order it right away, hoping that by getting the order in a bit earlier we might get in early enough to get an earlier delivery date. Peggy had mentioned earlier that if he ordered it that morning we MIGHT get it by Saturday.

Anyway, The dryer showed up today and he drove the 5 minutes to pick it up. (much better than driving an hour to buy one that isn't there!) When he got home he went to wheel it into the laundry room on the dolly he borrowed from his dad. Unfortunately he found out he'd have to take the door off.... Who in their right minds puts a 28" door on a LAUNDRY ROOM... It's not like you're just moving small pieces of furniture in there or anything.
After the door is off he figures it's easy going only to find out he actually has to take part of the door trim off in order to fit the damn thing through... So finally after prying and cursing for the past hour we've again got a working dryer! WooHoo! No more cardboard clothes coming off the clothesline.

That's my rant for the day. Hope you all have a great weekend!

PS: Steve, Tell Ellie that I'd gladly cross-stitch something for her sometime, but I doubt I could do a table cloth... I don't have THAT much ambition. *lol* You guys like native art etc? I saw the pictures of the native artwork you recently got... maybe I'll do something with a native theme or feel. I wish I would have known before Lewiscraft closed down in the mall... they had a killer dreamcatcher kit that I always loved but had no where to put in our house. I would have picked it up when everything was on sale!

Waiting update

I finally managed to get a picture of the Cross Stitch "Waiting" that I've been working on.
Here is my progress so far. Like I said in the post a few days ago when I first mentioned it, I think I've got about 20 hours done on it. It doesn't look like much, but it's a LOT of stitching... It's just that it's fairly boring looking so far being that I've only got part of the panels on the curtains done so far.

"Waiting"
Designed by Linda Gordanier Jary
Stitched over 2 on 28 Count Linnen (DMC)
(Sorry, I can't remember the colour... Mushroom maybe?)
Apx 20 hours completed

I've also been working on a new layout for my blog. Even though I like the look of this one, it's still one of the "standard" layouts that you can choose after you sign up to Blogger. I like to be a bit more unique...The one I'm working on isn't a great artistic achievement or anything like that... It's just a customized version of one of the other layouts... With my own title bar and footer as well as my own background... Not a LOT different than the one I'm working off of, but enough that I'll feel like I no longer have a cookie-cutter blog either... Hopefully I'll be revealing it within the next few days after I've played with it a bit more to make all the final adjustments.

Phenomenal Woman

I was reading one of the blogs I read from time to time called Everyone Picks Their Nose and yesterday she posted one of Maya Angelou's poems. I've read a few of her poems before and while I usually like them to some extent, none I've read have ever struck as much as this one. I love it! So I'm posting it here today. It's called Phenomenal Woman.

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.

I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.

I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.

I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,

'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou

Stitching and Waiting...

It's been a while since my last post and recently I've been wanting to get back into Cross stitching more. I've been reading quite a few stitching blogs and checking out the "WIP" or "Works In Progress" and it makes me want to get back to it. I had picked it up again shortly before my trip to the hospital, but I haven't done much since then. It's hard to find the time with everything going on around here. There's absolutely NO time during the day. I can't dig my stitching out at all because Olivia wants to "help" me. *lol* I had started, on the advice of another stitcher, to take it out about 15 or 20 minutes each evening. It's not a lot of progress at once, but it's definitely better than no progress.

Here's a picture of the pattern I'm working on. It's called Waiting by Linda Gordanier Jary. It was a "free" pattern from Charles Craft I got a few years ago and just recently started on. (read: last year, which is recent for me as Cross Stitch projects go) I think that I've only got about 20 hours on it so far. I say "I think" because until I started stitching again a few weeks ago, I never counted my time. I'm estimating based on the time it takes me to stitch one block. Since I've been stitching solid colours only so far (the panels in the curtain) it's pretty easy to estimate.

When I get the picture taken, I'll upload a picture of the work so far. But for now everyone will have to make due with a very blury scan of the picture I got with the pattern. I think I'll put it in my bedroom when it's finished.

Also, I'm uploading a picture of one of the next patterns I want to stitch. It's from an old magazine I have and it's called Summer Blooms. I scanned it quite a while back so I don't mark up the mag. It's going to go in my kitchen when It's finished, and when my kitchen is finally finished *lol*

I'm finally getting around to it.

I picked these pictures up from Sears almost a month ago but I'm just now getting around to getting them scanned and cleaned up (all the random dots and "noise" that a scanner adds to a picture) We had these pictures done back in May. Rachel was 4 weeks old and Olivia 2 1/2 years. I know that many people are anxiously waiting for them to be posted, so here they are!

You can see her best of all in this picture.

Remind me sometime and I'll post the picture of Olivia that we "copied" this one from.

We've got both pictures (Olivia at 6 weeks and Rachel at 4 weeks) on our living room wall.

I LOVE this one. Jason is holding her and my hand is underneath his.

THIS ONE is my ABSOLUTE favourite. I love that Olivia is leaning over giving her such a gentle kiss... it took about 5 "takes" to get this shot. Olivia wouldn't sit still long enough for the photographer to take the picture once she kissed her... She'd just kiss and run. Very cute!

I'm Back

Well, I came home from the hospital Wednesday afternoon. I'm still pretty sore from the operation. I can't do any heavy lifting for quite a while, and I find it a bit difficult getting into and out of bed. But other than that I'm not too bad. I went to the doctor today to get my staples removed and the nurse who took them out said that it seemed to be healing pretty well.

I don't have much to say besides that. Not much going on in my little world besides recouperating.

Here's a few pics of the kids that Mom and Janice took while I was in the Hospital.

A happy Rachel - June 26 (photo by Mom)

Jenna, Olivia and Josie relaxing after a hard day plaing - June 27 (photo by Janice)

Wish me luck!

Just a quick post for today since the kids are keeping me quite busy. I just thought that I'd say that I most likely won't be posting for a few days because I'm going in for surgery tomorrow morning. For those of you who don't know, I've got Ovarian Cysts that they found when I was pregnant with Rachel, but couldn't remove until after her birth. So, now it's time to take them out.

The good news is they've actually shrunk a bit since my last ultrasound in February. They're about 5cm (2in) each right now. Back then, one of them was over 7cm in diameter, so one stayed the same and one decreased by 2 cm! That's a pretty good result... At least they didn't grow!

Anyway, I'm in to the Chalmers Hospital tomorrow morning at 7:45am, which means I've got to get up around 5:30am to get ready and get out of the house by 6:30. Mom's keeping both kids tomorrow morning (Thanks Mom!) until I'm out of surgery, then Jason is driving back home and picking Rachel up to bring her up to the Hospital with me... They've said they'd give her "compassionate admittance" since I'm still nursing and have such a problem with my milk supply. Jason will be there with me during the day and she sleeps all night most of the time, so there won't be a whole lot of time that I'll be looking after her alone. Don't be worried about Olivia though, Janice is going to look after Olivia for the next day or so if I can't come home right away. (Thanks Jan!) There's no way we'd be able to have her up at the hospital all day without driving all of us crazy. lol.

Anyway, wish me luck with my operation, and I'll be writing again soon!