She's Here! Victoria!

Its been an exciting week! Victoria arrived on Monday and I kept her brother for 3 days. Only bad thing is that today I am home from work with Strep Throat! Antibiotics are good things, that's all I know. I've had strep throat so many times in my life and I have to say my throat has never hurt this bad. Here are a few glimpses of our beautiful baby girl:

Have a great weekend!

A little bit of everything!

Happy July 4th, 2018!

I had a little time today with being off work, so I wanted to do a little update.  I want to start blogging regularly again.  I miss it when I'm not blogging and am constantly thinking of ideas.  So here are a few things that have been going on with me lately.

Walking!  I have really increased the amount of exercise I get.  I tend to be pretty sedentary with having a desk job.  My sister gave me a Fit Bit for my birthday in February and it has really opened my eyes to what I should be doing.  The goal for steps each day is 10,000.  I have reached that goal only twice, but I've improved a lot!  Most days I try to shoot for at least 8,000.    I love my Fit Bit!  It sincs with my phone and gives me so much information on my health, such as sleep, steps, miles, heart rate, minutes of active exercise, and more.  It says I am in excellent health, which may or may not be true, but I like hearing that.

How do I do get my steps in?  Lately its too hot outside most of the time, but I have found if I walk in the shade for 10 minutes at the time, its doable.  Also doing inside walking works good for me.  You can find all the videos you could possibly be able to do on You Tube.  I can do a 2 mile walk in about 30 minutes.  Lots of mornings I fit in 1 mile before going to work.

I can also meet my hourly goal of at least 250 steps by walking inside.  From one end of my house to the other is about 40 steps.  So Walking back and forth a few times while listening to music, or You Tube Videos works too.  Here's my Fit Bit:

I've been couponing at CVS, Dollar General and Food Lion.  I made a small purchase at CVS this week.  3 containers of laundry detergent, and 2 boxes of cereal for $3.69 out of pocket isn't too bad.  I also received $2.50 extra bucks for my next order.  There were lots of deals I could have taken advantage of , but I'm trying to keep things simple.  Its gets very complicated some times when you get to the cash register with a hand full of coupons and I figure I should not buy stuff I don't really need or even like just because its a good deal, or even free after coupons.

There is a P&G deal this week, where you spend $30.00 on certain P & G products and you get back $10.00 Extra Bucks for your next order.  I just didn't need or use most of the products, but you might want to check into it.  If you have coupons to apply toward the items, you could get some great deals.

I've been working on a reversible quilt for one of my grandsons.  One side will be dinosaurs and the other side will be John Deere tractors.

My vision is for him to use the quilt on the floor as a play mat when he is playing with dinosaurs or tractors, or what ever.  Then he can also use it on his bed, since he is bigger now and has outgrown his baby quilts.

I'm still working on the double Irish chain quilt, as I can, doing leaders and enders, or just sewing on it as the main project occasionally.  Here's a stack of blocks and some samples of different colors.  Oh yeah, its going to be in rainbow colors.

My current coffee cup.  Its not that pretty, but its solid and I love to drink coffee in a solid feeling coffee cup.  This one came from Cracker Barrel a few years ago.

Coffee center:  That's Pyure Stevia in the glass jar with the chicken lid.  I use half and half and stevia in my coffee.  Sometimes I'll put a scoop of collagen in it, which is what's in that plastic jar with the lid at the back.  Drinking K cups is much more expensive than regular drip coffee, but we love the convenience and the taste.  A few ways we save money on them:  We always buy them on sale.  We always buy the store brand.  We often buy them at Dollar General on Saturdays and use the $5.00 off $25 coupon that is usually available.  One trick is that you can make the large size cup with the K Cup the first time and then change the setting to the small cup size with the same K Cup which will make another "about" a half of cup, which isn't bad if you combine it with the first cup.   (by itself its a tad weak)   I often combine it all together for the coffee I take with me in an insulated travel mug on the way to work.

We are expecting a new granddaughter any minute!  Her due date is today, the fourth of July!  But her Mama is still waiting and is so ready for little Victoria to arrive.  So, I'll post about her as soon as she arrives.

February 2018 Recap - A slice of my life

Its hard for me to believe February, 2018 is already almost over! March is almost here and it just doesn't seem possible.

The most exciting thing that happened in February was the gender reveal party for our 7th grandchild.  Who ever thought up these parties, was so smart.  This is the 4th gender reveal party we have attended for a grandchild and each party was so much fun.  Currently we have 5 boys and 1 girl.

And it is a girl!!!  Her name is Victoria.  I love that name!

There are many ways to reveal the gender.  For this party, my son bought 2 gender reveal kits at a sporting goods store.  When the target was shot by my son, the powder that rose up was pink.  I guess this is a typical southern way of doing things.  HaHaHa!

It was so exciting!  The gender was sealed up in an envelope by the ultrasound technician.  So my son-in-law was given the envelope and he chose the correct target and set it up.  So not even the parents knew until the pink cloud rose up.

I'm trying to decide what kind of girl's baby quilt to make.  I already have lots of  girl's fabric and I bought some more after I found out a girl was on the way.  I'll also be making burp cloths and other things. 

Another thing that happened in February is that I had a milestone birthday..... I am now 60 years old!  Not sure how that happened, but it did.  And I'm ok with that.  I saw a picture of myself when I was about 14 years old recently, and I wouldn't want to go back to those days.  I love my life now!  Yes, I could have done some things differently and made some smarter choices.  But, the things I have experienced have helped make me who I am today. 

Birthday dessert.

I want to work every day toward being the best version of myself.  This means being as intentional with my time as I can.

Another milestone for February... I have worked at my current job for 30 years!  My coworkers gave me a small party, with balloons, bakery treats, a framed certificate and card.

Well those are the most important things that happened in February, 2018 in my life! 

One last picture.  Spring is on the way!  This is the field behind my house.  The farmers plant a cover crop in the winter and its always so beautiful to me.

This picture made me think about the song, "The green, green grass of home".

Have a great day!

Slow Sunday Stitching - Gender Reveal Hats

Its a rainy Sunday afternoon and I am crocheting some baby hats. Grandbaby number 7 is due on July 4, 2018, and the gender reveal party is this coming Saturday.  I know it will be kind of hot in July here in eastern North Carolina for any baby to wear a crocheted hat, but these are meant for a photo opportunity!  This grandma loves to take pictures and I am already making plans for a newborn photo shoot. 
 

If the baby is a boy the pink hat will be gifted to someone else, and if its a girl, the blue hat will make a good gift, as well.

This is the pattern that I printed out two years ago.  I am not a natural at crocheting and I struggled to teach myself how to make hats.  I will make the ears once I finish the blue hat above.

I'll let you know which hat will be used!

This post is linked to Kathy's Quilts HERE.

Update from the Farmhouse

We have five grandsons. Isn't his little Mouse cute?

My stepdaughter is expecting again. She will have three children age three and under! (Bless her heart) This is the color of the icing when the cake was cut.

Yes, that's right.  Its pink, so we will soon be able to say that we have five grandsons and a granddaughter.   If she's half as sweet as our grandsons, she'll  be pretty darn sweet!

I'm hoping your Monday is wonderful and blessed!

Sweetie Pies are growing.

We now have 5 grandsons and as the old saying goes, "As soon as they are born you start losing them" These two are growing and changing so fast.

Eli sopping up spaghetti Os with watermelon.

Legos for a 7th birthday gift.

Eli in constant motion.....

Lots of falling and getting right back up.

Wow, I didn't realize how tall those soybeans are.

Interesting flower.

Standing up in the swring.

Brothers

Running

Climbing.

I really need to get in better shape!  I need to be able to keep up with them and that's not easy.....