Happy 50th Birthday To Me!

Not only is today Halloween but it is also my birthday!! My 50th birthday to be exact!! I cannot believe I am actually 50!!! I don't feel 50 and I have been told by many I do not look my age at all :) I guess I take after my Mom as she always looked younger than she really was. That is a good thing!! Also they are saying nowdays 50 is the new 30. That works for me :)
 Growing up my Mom always had halloween costume birthday parties for me. All my friends looked forward to my parties, probably as much as I did  as they were always fun!  And we got to wear our costumes more than once. My favorite costume as a child was Casper the friendly  ghost!
 A story my Mom always told me on my birthday was about the day I was born. The nurse had asked her if I was a Trick or a Treat. My Mom said she answered "Treat" but she also said as I was growing up her answer would change back and forth LOL
My Mom always made my birthday special and I find myself thinking of her more than usual today. She has been gone quite awhile now but I know she is always with me.

 Last night my DH had a little birthday celebration for me. My in laws came over and Dh made Shrimp stuffed with Crab Meat and shrimp scampi. 2 of my favorite meals! Everything was delicious :) He even had a beautiful birthday cake for me. He decided to celebrate it last night as tonight being Halloween we will be busy with all the festivities.  It is always fun seeing all the kids dressed up! The little ones are so precious! I will take a picture of my DS & DD  when they get their costumes on. My DD faithfully takes her DB out Trick or Treating every year to give me a break for my birthday. I think she just enjoys getting on a costume and going lol
  Here is a picture of my birthday cake which was chocolate cake with cannoli filling. My absolute favorite!!  I love the spider on the left side crawling up the cake lol

My kids carved the pumpkins this year and I will take some pictures this evening of them.

Thanks for stopping by and have a safe and Happy Halloween!

PS Halloween Exchange Received

Today I received my PS Halloween exchange from Sara in Italy! We are both in the Prairie Schooler Yahoogroup and were partners.
 Sara made a gorgeous needlebook for me using a piece from PS Sweeping Cobwebs! He stitching and finishing are absolutely perfect!  I'll tell you the witch flying on the broom near the moon is my favorite part!! You see my birthday is on Halloween and everytime I see that image I say "That is ME flying near the moon!!" LOL So this was very appropriate :)
 Sara also sent me some threads that she dyed herself in halloween colors. The picture does not do it justice! The colors are gorgeous in person! I can't wait to find the right pattern to use them on! She also included a pack of needles and some yummy halloween candy. 

 Thank You so very much Sara for a wonderful little treasure!

I mailed Sara's exchange out to her on Friday so hopefully she will receive it soon!

Thank You all so much for your comments on my LK Autumn boxer finish! I truly appreciate them!

Thanks for stopping by!

LK Autumn Boxer

I love looking at other stitcher's blogs as some of you are so very talented and come up with the cutest ideas!
I had seen a box finish on someones blog and also in one of the exchange groups I am in. I always thought they were amazing but never thought I could do one myself. So while shopping in Michael's a few weeks ago I came across some unfinished wooden boxes . I bought a couple of them figuring someday I will have just the right size XS piece to fit.  I think I have come to the point where I realize if I mess something up it isn't the end of the world. Things can usually be fixed somehow. I also think that is how wonderful things are created sometimes.....by trying to fix a mistake :-) 
 I finally got around to stitching LK autumn Boxer and wouldn't you know it fit perfectly on one of the boxes I brought home. So I took the plunge so to speak and here is what I came up with! It was actually a lot easier than I thought.  I even made a pocket on the inside top to store things in. ( I should have put something in there so it would be more noticable in the pic )

Other than this I have been working on exchange pieces. I have already finished 3 and have 3 more to go!
I will post photos of them when they are received !

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Count Dracula Was Received!

I received a wonderful email from my partner Ina (no blog) that she received the Halloween exchange I sent her for the HOE group. Ina lives in The Netherlands so Halloween is not popular there. She told me she loved what I made for her as well as the extras I sent her :) I was so happy to hear that it arrived safely as it has been 2 weeks since I mailed it.
 I stitched for Ina Count Dracula which is from and old Astor Place pattern book called Monsters & Mayhem. The designs in this book are all ornaments stitched on perforated paper. It is really pretty cute!  I stitched him 1 over 1 on 32ct parchment linen using the DMC called for as that was the only way I could get him to fit on the coffin properly. I found the coffin box at Michaels sometime in August and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to figure out someway to use it in a XS finish! The coffin was unfinished so I painted it black. Also when you open the coffin lid there is a creepy laugh! I had to keep the light hole in the box covered whenever  i was working on it as that laugh can get on your nerves LOL
 I laughed when I received my halloween exchange from Aubrey as she also used a coffin box for the Mr Bones she made for me :) Great minds think alike Aubree!

 I really had a lot of fun stitching and finishing this exchange for Ina! I am so glad she loved it! Now to make one for me lol

 I hope everyone is having a nice weekend!! The weather is absolutely gorgeous here (mid 80's) with no humidity!! Yeah! It finally feels like fall minus the leaves changing color ! 

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog :)

A Small World & Interesting Meeting

We've all heard the saying "It's A Small world"  but I guess you don't realize how small it really is until you think about it.
 My DS is in 4th grade. I had requested a certain teacher for him this year.  I didn't know you could do this here until someone told me about a week before school ended in June. I did this because in 3rd grade he had a teacher that just didn't "get" him and he had a terrible year. When I say a terrible year I don't mean academically as he is a very smart kid and his grades were always excellent.  But he went from his 2nd grade teacher knowing what he was about to someone who was clueless.  I knew given the "right" teacher this boy would completely excel in anything he did.
 When I learned of this teacher I remembered I had a guidance counselor in High School with the same name. This guidance counselor became someone who I looked up to and was a trusted friend.. I didn't realize then how much he did help me through those teenage years between 16 & 18 .

 So DH & I go to a teacher conference last week with my sons new teacher. I decide for kicks to bring my high school year book and ask if he is related to my high school guidance counselor. I went to school in New York and am now in Florida so really what are the odds???
 It turns out my old guidance counselor IS my sons teachers 2nd cousin!! Can you believe it??  Who would have thought that 32 years later my son would have a relative of  my old guidance counselor!  Small world indeed!

As for my son he is having one of the BEST school years so far. His new teacher has turned out to be perfect for him. He completely "gets" my son!!! I have seen a nice change in him already. He is definitely maturing and becomming more responsible since he started school in August. My little boy is growing up! :)



  This past weekend DH & I decided to have a yard sale just to clear out some stuff we don't use anymore. Hoarders we are not......well except for my XS stash ...but that doesn't count! LOL
It was kind of fun as we got to meet some people who live in the neighborhood. People that you see around all of the time and just wave to but have never really spoken to them.
 One of the people who stopped by was a lovely older woman. She was very friendly and we got to talking. She ended up buying my old set of pots. She told me her name was Jean and that if I ever started missing my pots that I can think of "Jean" having them. I told her I wouldn't forget her name as that was my MIL's name. She then got a funny look on her face and I then said "That's ok as I LOVE my MIL and she is a wonderful person". She let out a sigh of relief! LOL  She then told me she had a niece named Lisa and when she used the pots she would think of me. We continued to talk and before she left she told me there was something else she wanted me to know about her niece Lisa. She then asked me if I knew the name Todd Beamer?? A chill ran through my body and enormous sadness came over me. I told her "Yes I do, He was a HERO!!".  She then told me that he was her niece Lisa's husband. I had to walk away from her at this point because I started crying :(
  I got the chills right now typing that. I don't know where she lives in the neighborhood or even what kind of car she was in. I don't even remember her leaving after that. I don't even think I said goodbye to her :(
 The entire 9-11 thing really hit me hard. I was living on Long Island when that happend and it was just so sad driving around my neighborhood afterwards seeing signs on peoples lawns about family members who had worked in Manhattan and were never recovered. I still can't watch anything related to it. I can close my eyes and  still see the image of the plane hitting the 2nd tower of the Twin Towers.

On a lighter note....

 I am still working on exchanges here. I mailed one out on Oct  1st and I don't think it has reached it's destination yet. My partner should be receiving it any day now...I hope anyway! As soon as she receives it I will post a pic.

I hope you are all having a good week!!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Seasonal Exchange From Michele

Yesterday I received this wonderful pillow from Michele for the Seasonal Exchange group we are both members of.
 Michele stitched LK Autumn Greetings using misc. fabric and overdyed threads. Her stitching and finishing are beautiful!! I love the backing fabric she chose as it goes perfectly with the design. I already have it in my big basket of smalls which I keep on the coffee table in my living room.

Thank you so very much for this little treasure Michele :)

Halloween Exchange Received!!!

Yesterday afternoon I received this Wonderful Halloween Exchange from Aubree who was my partner for the HOE Halloween Exchange.
Aubree stitched Mr. Bones for me from the 2008 JCS Halloween Ornament Issue! I've always adored him but never got around to stitching him.  She also painted an adorable coffin box and put him in there.  It is just too cute!! I LOVE all the extra goodies she included as well! I have to hide the pen though from my son as he had that "LOOK" in his eyes when he saw it LOL I wasn't able to get a good picture of it but it has a skull on it  that lights up when you write with it lol Too cute!!
Thank You so very much Aubree for this wonderful treasure!!!  I absolutely LOVE it!!

The weather has really been cool here lately! At night it has been in the low 60's and only the low 80's during the day. I will tell you that at one time low 60's was comfortable for me. I could go outside with out a sweater. Now that I live down here in Florida where it is near 90 most of the year, when it hits 60 degrees I am FREEZING!!! LOL I still have shorts on today because it will get warmer but my feet are cold ....where are my socks??? LOL  When I drove my son to school this morning I saw an older couple walking and they had on winter jackets, wooly hats and wooly gloves!   Come on people it is not "THAT" cold! LOL
Come next week though we are suppose to be back to normal temps which is uuper 60's low 70's at night and around 90 during the day.

 Thank You all so much for taking the time to visit my blog! I truly appreciate all of your wonderful comments!