Monday, Monday….da da da da da DA!

We have a new member of the FAMILY! Little pupper dog cutie pie. Nate and Julie brought our wee little ‘dawg’ to us and how sweet she is!!! In my excitement, I forgot that puppies actually have ENERGY, need to be potty-trained, and require lots of things to chew. I am now dealing with THREE poop machines, getting my toes bit off, and the occasional screech from Corynn as the puppy attacks her. But I am loving it (except the poo part...naturally!) We have never had a DOG before because DOGS require stability (which we really never had before either…) This dog shows us and the world that we are ‘settled’. The typical American family. A mom, dad, boy, girl and a dog. Just wait until we add a few more kids to the mix…then we will become more freakish than the two-mom families out there. (Wow-boy did I bunny trail!!!)

Anyway-back to the puppy. She is a little lab that is black mostly but has a crown of shaded brown from ear to ear. She really is a cutie pie and even more importantly-she is a good listener. She knows the word ‘no’ (she hears it enough!) and she already knows how to fetch and bring a ball back. Of course, we can’t take credit for such tricks. Nate and Julie were working with her for a WEEK before we got her-and of course she got training at her ‘birth home’ too! She sticks around people like glue and follows me around EVERYWHERE! We decided to call her Dutch or ‘Dutchie’. Why? Not quite sure…

It was great fun visiting with Nate and Julie and playing catch-up. And they brought more presents! Some more tomato plants (Purple Cherokee-yes, they are actually purple!), some twin leaf (a shade-loving flowering plant), an English walnut (I think), and some bee balm. My herb garden is getting planted tomorrow and it is about time and will love the bee balm! They left on Sunday morning before church so the visit was short-but sweet!

Now, to prepare for this coming weekend! G & L are coming to visit for the entire weekend! Oh the kids will love it! And we will too, of course! They are bringing some lumber (from their sawmill) for the children’s swing set and for Dutchie’s coop. All of Matt’s wood projects are made from his dad’s lumber-much of which, Matt helped saw. Of course, he won’t be helping to saw as much now that we are long distance, so it won’t be as ‘easy’ to use it all. :-( No doubt, Gary will help Matt with one of those projects and Linda has already promised to help me dig up some lilies of the valley along the road to bring back to my place. I am not quite brave enough to do it myself. :-) Also, there is an Agri-development Farm show going on this weekend that we are probably going to go to. Fun for the whole family!

I started unpacking some of my craft boxes this week and found things I had forgotten I had! I SO look forward to having my craft room done so I can FOCUS on these fun projects! Some of the half-done projects I uncovered were

A pillowcase doll:
I have a beautiful pillowcase doll that I started embroidering when I was probably about 15 years old that was put away and not brought back out. I must say, I did a GREAT job for my first embroidery attempt and as a kid-it looks great now! And I will keep the pattern to use on OTHER pillowcases I embroider too.

A shell counted cross stitch: It was originally a kit to make framed art with four individual boxes of different stitched shells. Unfortunately, I was only half done when I lost the pattern but I didn’t want to toss ALL the work of the two completed squares. I never knew what to do with it so I just SAVED it. As I unpacked it though, it occurred to me! I will cut the two completed squares and stitch them onto handtowels! Perfect!

Some schnerenschnitte: intricately cut paper that needs to be framed.

A cross-stitch and embroidery pattern for an old barn: It is REALLY neat because the picture is printed in it’s entirety but you only stitch certain areas to create depth and highlighting.

Some pressed flowers: I will decorate wall hangings and candles with the flowers I pressed last year.

Two knit scarves: that might have to wait for fall and winter! :-)

Of course-this on top of scrapbooking ALL of Peanut’s baby pictures (and those are NOT a few!), making a few dresses for Corynn for the summer, making each of the children blankets, and making coordinated outfits for Christmas from a fabric I got at clearance last year! LOTS of goodies to do. Of course, I am not putting time limits on them-with garden tasks and canning, visitors, and everything else. Who knows WHAT I will get done or HOW MUCH, by this fall, and I am not going to stress myself out about it either. After all, hobbies are SUPPOSED to be FUN and NOT stressful! What doesn’t get done by fall will be loads of fun to work on this winter.

Matt took the digi to work with him, so I will post pictures of the Dutchess tonight or tomorrow! Have a greeeeeat day!