Back to School!

WOW! I didn't think it was EVER going to happen, but the kids start back to school in 2 weeks! YAY! I have (so far) survived the summer with my sanity (mostly) intact! We went school clothes shopping this past weekend and took advantage of the tax free weekend. Spent about $100 each on Boober and Shorty and about $50 on Goblin. Boober and Shorty both got new shoes, whereas Goblin decided he didn't need them yet. He has gotten a few shirts over the summer so he is good on those for now, its the jeans he needed most! He has gotten so tall that we had to get him some 32x34 jeans to replace the 32x30 ones he currently has in his dresser! *giggle* He does have some 32x32 that still look ok on him, but I much prefer the 32x34 on him. Can't see his socks at all with those! In a couple weeks we plan to get their supplies and I tell you, I am NOT looking forward to THAT. *sigh* Its just gotten so expensive to buy the supplies as the years have gone on. The tissues I can see buying, but 3 of them? Then there is the hand sanitizer. I'm not a big fan of the stuff so I hate that its on the list. I don't usually buy it even though it is. There is also a pack of colored copy paper on Shorty's list... Oh well, it could be worse... I know people who have dry erase markers on their kids' lists!

One of my favorite quilt shops has a blog now and I hate to say it but looking through those posts and pictures makes me so homesick. You'd think it was the impending arrival of my sister and her partner's new baby or the arrival of one of my dearest friend's baby would do it, but nope... its the picture of Robert the bird at Aunt Mary's Quilt Shop that does. *sigh* I wanna go home!

Well... off to play some more with my embroidery machine! I'm making bibs today and I think I might try to add something to some hand towels I bought at the dollar store the other day.

Oh, and for good measure, I am gonna throw in a picture of the hubby in his uniform from the other night. The Chief's Mess had a Dining In and he had to wear his choker whites. Lemme just say this uniform is *the* reason I had to marry a man in the Navy! LMAO!

New gamer in the house!

Not sure what he's playing but sure looks like he's having fun!

Short and Sweet!

I finished it! *woohoo*



and for good measure, something I was playing with the other night on my embroidery module! The smaller one is the original and then I enlarged it to see what it would do... it was in a different format than the software I have saves in so sometimes that creates issues with enlarging.

YUP! I've done lost my mind!

Little (ok, a LOT) background first... Back when DH made Chief I cross stitched the Navy Emblem for him (I've also done a Marine Corps one for the guy who we named Shorty after but that's a different story ) on Khaki fabric to celebrate his making Chief. Well, we got it framed and were originally going to give it to the mess so they could hang it up in their room (I've no idea what it looks like, never went on the ship the entire time he was there ) and the frame matched all the wood in there. It was GORGEOUS after it was framed. Mahogony frame, khaki fabric, hours upon HOURS of stitching little tiny x's all over.

Well, we ended up giving it to his sponsor instead of the mess. Which was fine, I was cool with that, he seemed to really like it and both he and his wife seemed pretty impressed with it (it was gorgeous after all )

DH actually seemed kind of bummed about giving it away so I decided to stitch it AGAIN! Just for him to hang on his "I love me wall". Not that we *had* one at the time, but we were planning to set one up. But I digress... I got almost ALL the stitching done on it. Seriously, I just have 2 colors of backstitching left to do on it. Its been sitting in the bookcase (through 2 moves I might add) since roughly 2003.

it currently looks like this:


Now that I am working with Navy Relief I have picked my stitching back up. I haven't done much since I started quilting back in 2004 or 2005 so I bought a small kit that I started last week. I figure if we have many more days like last week I'm gonna need something to stay sane!

FF to this morning... I scanned the emblem to show ya and (this is where the part comes in) have decided I am going to stitch it yet again and have it framed to hang somewhere in the office at Navy Relief. I seriously think I've lost my ever loving mind over here!

Oh well... should be fun, right? Or at least interesting!

I'd knit while there but since I knit layettes I can't "double bill" my hours so its just easier to knit at home and work on my XS while there I'm a little scared! This is a huge undertaking!

To give you an idea of how long it will take, DH was selected for Chief and I decided to work on it in early August I want to say (whenever the CPO Selectees list comes out ). His pinning ceremony was in mid-September (want to say the 15th or16th) and the Khaki Ball was in October (like the 2nd or 3rd I think) It also took about a week to have it framed.

I started the thing when he started going through the initiation process and it was done by the time he was pinned. We took it to get framed a couple days after he was pinned.

I literally stitched for hours at a time EVERY SINGLE DAY for like 3 weeks to get this thing done, people! and now I'm gonna do it again? Yup... I'm certifiable!

OMG! I picked it up again!

WOOHOO! I picked up my cross stitching again for the first time in literally years! I figured since I'm not really "allowed" to knit while at NMCRS since I also get credit for the layettes and can't "double bill" my hours or something like that. Dunno... ANYWAY! I went and got a little kit for this one:

and started it yesterday. SO far just the black outline frame part and a few lines at the bottom and starting up the side is done, but I think it wont take long if/when things are slow. :) YAY for stitchy time!

WOW! They sure have grown!

DH and I were looking through some old pictures of the kids today and I just can't believe how much they have changed! This one was taken in about 2003 I think.





Isn't it crazy? This is them the other day. (I know the boys are blurry and Goblin looks 10 feet tall, but what can you expect when I am laying in bed taking pics with me cell phone? *giggle*)

An interesting day...

OK, so maybe it wont be as interesting to anyone else other than me, but I think its been one helluva day! My driver's license expires this weekend and silly me waited till the last minute to do it. Well, turns out that I need to take in proof social security number, proof of residency, birth certificate AND proof of my name change. I haven't seen my marriage certificate since I lived in NY! Silly me thought it would be romantic to hang it in a frame. We had it hanging on the wall when we first got to WA but I don't remember seeing it and when we moved from the townhouse we were at in Arlington to the house in Marysville it got shoved in a random box. So I had to spend almost $50 which we really don't have extra right now to get it and its still gonna take 2-3 business days. *sigh* So DH will probably have to take a day off next week to take my dumb ass down to the DMV to get it taken care of. Oh well... at least its ordered and I won't be without it for very long. My own damn fault for waiting so long.

Then I am sitting here putzing around online and see this out of the corner of my eye:


A Luna Moth! Isn't it gorgeous? Seeing one to begin with is rare, but during the day is even more so! It sure brightened my day though. :) Sorry the pic is so blurry, it was taken with my cell phone and the windows are in need of a wash pretty badly *giggle*

So that's been my interesting day thus far. I wanna go bad to bed and take a nap!