100th Post!!

Welcome to my 100th post g!veaway...(I think I am being sneaky with the ! in place of the i for all the googlers). I can not begin to tell you how much fun blogging has been for me. I have so enjoyed reading all the blogs I subscribe to and hope I have given you a little bit of the same. To show my appreciation I want to offer 2 prizes. In order to win you must leave a comment on this post. Let me know 1 thing you remember as being memorable about this blog. It can be a picture you saw here, or a post you read...just 1 thing you remember that brought you some emotion...a smile or a tear, or even an eyeroll!! Your answer does not determine the winners... I will draw 2 names on Wednesday after lunch...I figure if you have not visited in 3 days, you probably won't be back anyway!! The drawing is open to all my readers overseas, of course! Here are the prizes... A bag made by moi, and a book of 27 quilting patterns called "The Prairie Sampler".
And prize #2... Another hand made bag (I am no longer bagaphobic...can you tell?) and a Hallmark recipe box. Here is a close up of the stitchery on the bag. So just leave a comment telling 1 thing that has meant something to you regarding this blog before Wednesday noon! Thank you again for making my blogging experience so wonderful!!

Oh, and if you go to our home schooling blog, we have a little celebration there too!

Winter Wear

To me, any hand made gift is a heart made gift, so when my cousin Sheryl, who I have not seen in 6 years, came yesterday with a bag of hand made knitted scarves for me and my children, I was touched beyond words. I do not have the gift of knitting, so I was very impressed with the detail in her work. She commented "It is just straight knit, no pearl", and I smiled gracefully telling her how much I love straight knit. I had no idea what she was telling me, but it did not matter. I just loved the fact that she had created these for me and my children. Charlotte and Zach have been wearing their scarves around the house. Thank goodness the a/c is on!! Kyle received a scarf identical to Zach's only larger. He is off with his buddies and has put his scarf in his room, so no pic. Sheryl also made a beautiful hat and scarf set for my grandson TJ. Here is Charlotte modeling my beautiful scarf. They are all so soft.We are all set for winter now and believe me, we will need them!! Cousin Sheryl lives in Florida, but she was born and raised here in Northern Illinois. She understands the importance of a good scarf! No one in my family quilts except for me so my aunt and cousin were very excited to see my quilts. It felt good to see facial expressions and hear ooooh's and aaaah's of admiration for a job well done. That is why I admire the workmanship in the beautiful scarves that were made stitch by stitch for my family.

Well another week of school is over. Tomorrow we have cooperative cooking with 2 other home school families. We will be making butter (yes, shaken in a jar), and homemade banana bread to put it on. I will post on the home school blog about our cooking experience tomorrow afternoon. I love Thursday afternoons, because I get to turn this...

back in to a cutting/pressing table that looks like this.... To be honest, that is an old picture...the table still looks like the previous one. However, I am off to take care of that. Notice the roll of toilet paper...Zach's idea of a great way to clean up the glue he spilled. And the bin in the middle of the table..teachers current stitching project ;) Off to right the table and perhaps put it to some sewing use!