It's all just a bunch of Hocus Pocus

It's all just a bunch of hocus pocus!

 I just love anything crafty! Knitting, sewing, and yes even painting! I've always wanted to do one of these wine and design events, but nothing ever really grabbed me until I saw a Hocus Pocus themed painting! Oh my goodness it was on! Luckily my sister and friends indulge me and joined along. The studio was filled with women, young and old and we all had a great time. I would definitely do it again. We are actually planning on doing a Christmas themed one once they start having them. My inner painter can't wait!

Pumpkins, Black Cats and a farm! Oh my!

Happy October!!!

I know I say this every year, so why stop now! I LOVE Fall and October is by far my most favorite month! Give me all the pumpkins, blacks cats, and witches! So of course when I saw this fabric at Joann's I had to snatch some up, along with some other fun print I plan on making a skirt with.

This is my 2nd Cleo skirt, the first in a flamingo print. I'll be posting it soon. The second time around was so much easier and I have a third coming up! I'm a beginner sewer, and this is a great pattern for someone just learning to sew. AND! It has pockets!!! I now want to make all the novelty print skirts! People are going to start knowing me by my print skirts and I'm okay with that!

My sister, niece and I went to a local farm to get pictures. Nyla thought all the pumpkins were apples and kept saying apples, no matter how many times we told her they were pumpkins. So apples they were. She is definitely have mothers child. She wasn't too thrilled when she got hay on her hands, and wasn't feeling the tractor ride too much. We were lucky to get any pictures of her smiling. We did a lot of singing and dancing for those rare smiles. She did however make all the animal sounds when she saw them, and the cow even moo'd for her!

If you are local to the Fuquay-Varina/Raleigh, NC area you should check out Hipp Farms. It's a great place, with the friendliest of people and lots to do for the little ones. Too bad my youngest is 16 and wants nothing to do with a farm because I would definitely go back. I just might go back anyways when I get my next skirt done. It felt good being out in the fresh air and sunshine! I don't think I'll get back on the rat race barrels though! As you can see in the pictures, I wasn't very good at keeping the barrel from rolling and down I went! It was pretty funny though!

Here's to more farm visits and novelty print skirts!

Friday Night Football is Back!

Photo by Shannon Atkins

Friday Night Football is back! And that also means Fall is right around the corner! We are officially one month away! My favorite time of year! But I digress. This is about football.

This past Friday was Elijah's and the Holly Springs High first game of the season. All summer Elijah has been attending football workouts and camps at universities, and now it was time to shine. He's a Jr this year and we are striving for a scholarship!

During football season, I call Friday nights our date night. Fonzy and I go out to dinner, then head to the game. Fonzy said all day at work he was excited for the game, walking around the middle school campus like he was getting ready to play. We both were excited.

We arrived at the stadium early to moody skies. There was some sunshine, but one dark cloud rolled in right over the field. While the teams were on the field warming up, it started to sprinkle and rainbows appeared. What a start to the season! Then the heavens opened up and the rain came! We figured it would pass over, but ended up raining for nearly 30 minutes. The field, players and everyone in the stands were soaked. But luckily no thunder or lightening so the game went on.

Spirits were high as we got the first touchdown, but unfortunately didn't last. We had 4 fumbles, with 2 being Elijah. The final score of the game was 21-6.

My heart went out to Elijah. He has worked so hard all summer! I blame it on the rain. Of course, the coaches could care less about the rain or anything else for that matter. "Hold on to the ball!" I'm sure was yelled at him. No excuses! And nobody I'm sure was harder on him then himself.

Being Mom, I wanted to make it all better. To let him feel a little less down. I told him it was okay. It was only the first game and in the next games he will be awesome! This is his year!

He WILL shine this year! I'm speaking it into existence!

Here's to Friday Night Lights and the start of an awesome season!

Elijah #4

Japan And Letting Go

Japan Bound!

Ezekiel, Sydney and their little dog Cinnamon have landed in Japan! I'm so excited for them and this new adventure/chapter of their lives, but must admit my Momma heart is aching just a bit. Japan seems so far away! And three years seems such a long time. But these two are ready to tackle the world and all it holds for them.

As parents it's so hard to let go. But letting go is part of the deal. We get them for such a short time, and it's so easy when you're in thick of it, to want them to be older. Be more independent. Not need you every minute of every day. But then it happens and you wish to go back in time, do it all over again. But this time around, you'll cherish all the moments and pray time to slow the heck down! I wish this with all my boys.

For Samuel, who we only had for 19 years. I often wonder what he would be like now at 28. Manuel 27, with a family of his own in Texas. How I wish they were closer. Ezekiel 19, married and half way around the world now. To Elijah, the baby at 16, still at home. We have 2 more years with him home, then who knows where life will take him. Soon, so very soon all of them will be living their lives away from us and all we'll have are the memories of the precious few years they were ours.

For those of you with little ones still at home. CHERISH this time. All too soon, it will be gone and you will be wishing for it back.
I sure do.

Wildflowers

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; 

they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. 

~Luther Burbank~

Sunflower Field!

Advice from a sunflower: Be sunny and bright! Rise, shine and hold your head high! Spread seeds of happiness!

A sunflower field in the evening is sure to bring a smile to your face! If you are in the Raleigh area, you must head out to Dorothea Dix Park and check out the field of sunflowers. I promise it will brighten your day.

My sister and I headed out Monday evening after work and was there until the sun set. Nyla enjoyed running among the flowers and Titus wanted to play with all the dogs and give all the kids kisses. It was kind of hard to get pictures without other people in them since the field is a hot spot for pictures, but we ended up getting some cute pictures.

Best way to end a Monday.