Quilts for the Kids

I was talking to a dear friend yesterday and she reminded me that I never showed her the quilts I made for my kids for Christmas.  I guess with the holiday craziness I totally forgot to post.  Anyway, I got a wild hair before Christmas to make each of my kids a quilt to give to them on Christmas Eve.  Yes, we have that fun tradition to open something on Christmas Eve.  I was not sure if they would just roll there eyes or if they would think "Great here is another one of mom's hobbies"

I had to work fast and furious to get all four done.  I MADE it with the exception of Brandon.  His quilt was an embroidered football quilt that I was not able to get over to my quilter before Christmas, but the quilt top was done.  Sad thing I still have not taken it over to my quilter.  She has been in the middle of planning a wedding so I was pretty sure she didn't want to see the whites of my eyes.  So after this week I will get that over to her and will post when I get it back.

Well much to my surprise they loved the quilts.  I told my two college girls that they can just save them for when they have a home if they want, but nope they both took them back to college with them.  WOW they know how to make a mom feel good.

 This one I gave to Rachael.  The pattern I used is called "Fat Quarter Fun" from Country Threads.  I put minki on the back to make it super soft.  The back is my favorite.  It really shows the quilting.  It makes you want to just cuddle up and watch a great chick flick.

Alyssa's quilt was done using the pattern "Out of Time" by Crazy Old Ladies.  This quilt works up so fast.  I used a layered cake from Moda which made this super fast.  If you need to whip up a quilt in a day I suggest this pattern.

Lauren's quilt is a log cabin.  You can never go wrong with a log cabin pattern.  She loved the fun and spunky colors.  I scalloped the boarder and added rick rack around the binding.



Brandon's quilt I will post soon.  Hopefully it will look great when I get it back from my quilter.  Right now if I have to look at one more football I will scream.

Well it was very fun to do this for them.  HOWEVER, I think I might have gotten myself in a little deep because the kids are already asking me "Mom have you started our Christmas quilts yet for next year"  YIKES

Missing Photo-SORRY

OOOHHH My Goodness I have caught a little bit of torture from several of you for not posting the photo of the "Armoire" on yesterday's post.  I had no idea you would all want to see it.  Goodness sorry to cause so much trauma.  Hahahahah.  Anyway, thanks you all made me feel so good.  Really you will probably say "that's it"!!!!!!  What can I say it's the little things in life that makes me so happy.  However I am not sure the photos do it justice, but here ya go.

Here it is from the front.  It's shorter than the one I had so now I need to make a trip to my favorite store "Rod Woks" and find something fun to decorate the top.  I am open for any ideas.  What should I put on the top.

Here we are when it's open.  Keyboard pulls out, desk top pulls out, printer pulls out.  Are you getting the hint.  EVERYTHING pulls out including the light above the computer monitor.  Well that's what I was so excited about.  Good thing I love it cause it weighs over 300 pounds so I don't plan to move it anytime soon.

New Car, New Armoire, New Treatment Plan

It was a very busy weekend.  I know many are on pins and needles waiting for an update on our latest PET scan results. Thanks so much for the concern and I am sorry it's taken me all weekend to update you. It was a very busy weekend.

New Car:  Well  Brandon is almost ready to get his drivers license.  So we have been looking for cars for several months.  We wanted to get him a Toyota Tacoma.  I just LOVE those little trucks.  I was thinking it would be a great vehicle for him and because I love the Tacoma I was planning to steal it on occasion.Well darn the Tacoma holds it value so well a used one is almost as much as a new one.  So guess he will have to wait til he has a great paying J-O-B.  So we decided to go with a much cheaper option. 

Brandon went on an overnighter camp and while he was gone we bought him a Ford Focus that he had chosen as his second choice at Car Max.  So when he got home from the camp of course he looked on the website and saw that the car was gone.  We was very frustrated and wondering if he was ever going to get a set of wheels.  So we told him "hey let's go see what else they have"  We walked around the lot for several minutes and then asked him to hold out his hand.  Fred dropped the Ford Focus keys in his hands.OHHH gosh it was a priceless moment.  I could not believe we were playing him that entire time. 

Well he is one happy boy right now.

New Armoire:  Next thing on the agenda was to go get my new computer armoire  I have been looking for a computer armoire for several months.  After lots of searching we finally found one that was the perfect color, perfect size and it seem to fit all my needs.  Problem is that it had to be special ordered of which we did.  However, much to my surprise it came in this weekend.  Two months ahead of schedule.  I love new furniture.  My computer has been unplugged most of the weekend as it took us some time to get all the electronics transferred over and the armoire completely organized.  So far I love it.

New Treatment Plan:  Now for the not so fun part of the weekend.  We meet with our Oncologist on Friday to discuss the results of the PET scan we had done last Monday.  I was hoping for better results, but at the same time it could have been much worse.  The PET showed that the small tumors in the lungs are trying to grow and the CEA went from 38 to 41.  The lung tumors are still very small , but if we don't do something they will probably grow fairly quickly.  The rectum tumor is still there but because of radiation is stunned and not trying to grow at this time so that is definitely good.
So to treat this we are going back on the same Chemo drugs we were on this summer. UGGGHHHH  Avastin, Oxaliplatin and 5-FU.  The treatments will be every two weeks.  How long we are on this regimen will depend on how long Fred can tolerate the treatments.  Oxaliplatin can cause neuropathy (numbness) after 8 treatments and this summer we had 6 treatments so it is possible that we will only be able to tolerate no more than two treatments.

We will start this Friday with the first treatment.  I am hoping by having the treatments on Friday he can pretty much sleep all weekend and hopefully we will be able to beat the fatigue a little better.  We are grateful for the small miracles we receive everyday.  Dr. Whisenant told us that the normal regrowth time of  these types of  tumors is 6 months.  We made it to 9 months so we are blessed and grateful we made it above and beyond the normal and as long as possible. 

As always thanks so much for the many prayers and thoughts sent our way.  They are so needed right now and we can feel each one and are so grateful for all of you.  The climb is very difficult and still feels very much uphill and long, but we WILL make it to the top.  Love you all

Salad and Shrimp Stir-Fry

Well I have not posted a recipe for a long time so here is a really easy dinner that is always a two thumbs up at my house.  Well, actually my two oldest daughters are not big fans of fish.  Since they have been swimmers from the moment they could walk they have always considered themselves fish and would always say to me "mom we don't like to eat our own kind"  So with that said they would always eat this stir fry but probably wish is didn't have fish in it.


Spinach/Apple with Pecan Salad:

This salad I love because it requires very little ingredients and you can serve it with anything.

Salad:

• 1 bag spinach leaves about 10 ounces
• 1/4 C sliced red onion
• 2 large red apples, chopped into bite size pieces
• Lemon juice to soak apples
• 1/2 C toasted pecans

Dressing:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 T apple cider vinegar
• 1T mustard
• 1T sugar
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. ground pepper

Toast Pecans- measure out pecans and pout into a skillet over medium heat.  Toast, stirring until they turn darker brown.  Don't burn.  Set aside to cool.

Mix dressing ingredients together-set aside

Cut apples and soak in lemon juice to prevent discoloration-set aside

Just before ready to serve mix spinach leaves, onion, apples, pecans and dressing.  Toss and serve immediately.  Served approx 6


Sweet and Sour Shrimp Stir-Fry:
You will notice in the recipe that it calls for green pepper.  Well I went to the store to do my food shopping and thought for sure I had a green pepper at home.  Of course when I get home and start making dinner I DID NOT have a green pepper and was not about to go back to the store.  Therefore just pretend this photo has a green pepper in it.  LOL

• 1 can pineapple chunks, drained-reserve juice
• 3/4 C. water
• 1/2 C. lemon juice
• 1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 T cornstarch
• 3T soy sauce
• 1 lb raw shrimp peeled and deveined (I buy the big prawns in a bag in the frozen section.  They are already cooked and deveined.  I just thaw them a little and take the tails off and pour them in )
• 1 8oz can sliced water chestnuts
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into chunks

In a large skillet combine pineapple juice, water, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce.  Over medium heat cook and stir until thickened.  Add shrimp and remaining ingredients.  HEAT.

Serve over cooked rice and drizzle a small amount of soy sauce on top.  Could also sprinkle those crunchy chow main noodles on top but I never do because I always forget.  I usually just set the rice in a bowl, the sweet and sour shrimp in a bowl so each can serve themselves, put out the salad and some rolls and say "COME GET IT"

Back Blogging- "Magnifique Workshop layouts"

You are probably wondering if the phrase "Back Blogging" is a proper phrase or what it means.  Well it is a legal phrase according to Lynette.  In the medical profession when we need to add a late entry into the chart we call it "back charting" so why not have the same concept in the blogging world.  Therefore let me introduce you to my back blog post.

Life gets very hetic for me and my minutes turn into days and weeks.  These layouts should have been posted a month ago, but I am just getting around to it.  So today we are back blogging.  Just pretend that this post is back about a month ago.  HAHAHAHA.

Very fun layouts we did last month.  There are a few tips and tricks that I will explain so stay with me here.  Some of the layouts were inspired by my upline and friend Karen Pedersen and Magic How-To book.  Layout 2 Karen had made and posted and I just loved it.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.


Layout 1

 Tip for layout one is using the color ready alphabet to spell the word "Snow"  We also want to spell the word "Winter" on layout 2.  Problem is that there is only one "W" in the color ready package.  Well that is no problem.  All you have to do is take two "V" and put them together and you have a "W"  If you look really close at the letter "W" in SNOW you can see that it is two "V"  Pretty cool huh?  Well at least I thought so.

The snow flakes were textured using the glimmer mist technique.  See below for making glimmer mist. 

Layout 2

Tips for layout 2 is sponging.  The base cardstock pieces are colonial white.  Using a round sponge and lots of ink we sponged the entire page giving it a sky feel and look.  Snowflakes were also given the glimmer mist to make them look very shimmery.  You probably can't see it in the photo but the snowflakes and so fun. 

Layout 3
Sorry no photos on the layout yet

We really don't have any fancy tips or tricks to layout 3.  Those of you following my cutting diagrams I didn't include the dimensions for the photo pieces on layout 3.  That is because I went through my packet and used the scraps to get the mats for my photos.  Here are the dimensions if you are interested. 
Colonial white cardstock piece:  5x7
Lagoon and Pacificia  cardstock pieces:  4 1/4" x 4 1/4"

GLIMMER MIST TECHNIQUE:
You will love this technique.  It makes your images very shimmery and they really pop.  Check back later and I will post this on my tutorial page at the top of my blog.  For now this is all you do. 

Equal parts of pearl paint and rubbing alcohol.  Mix in a spray bottle or use our spray pen.  You can add reinker to color the glimmer mist if you choose.  Spray your image (in this case we sprayed the snowflakes)  Let dry and you have a shimmery snowflake.  You can add some prisma glitter to really make them sparkle if you wish.

You will want so clean your sprayer immediately after you spritz your images to prevent the sprayer from clogging.  The paint tends to really clog your sprayer.  I get everything ready spray all flakes and then wash my spray pen out really good.

Score 10 with Studio J Special

Happy Friday everyone.  The questions of the day I have for you are have you tried Studio J yet?  Have you signed up for a Studio J membership yet? If not NOW is the time to give it a try.  CTMH has a fantastic special for the month of February. 

I still love traditional scrapbooking, but I have to say that I also love Studio J online scrapbooking.  A few days ago I had taken these photos of  Lauren.  I then went over to the Close To My Heart website and saw this beautiful Studio J layout on the home page that I just fell in love with it and to be honest was drooling over it  So I logged onto my Studio J account and approx. 30 minutes later I had this layout completed with photos and journaling.  It was so fun and EASY.



Click on image to enlarge

During the month of February Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts will get the 10th layout free.  All 9 layouts with the 10th one free must be purchased in one single order.  That makes this special a PERFECT 10 or as I would say "Score 10" 

Click HERE to get started with your Studio J journey.  Have a fabulous weekend and I am off to complete more Studio J layouts today because I plan to get the 10th layout free.  I have been working on my Europe trip in Studio J.

If you have forgotten the benifits of being a Studio J member here are a few. 

■50% off retail price for custom prints

■JPG files available free or for purchase
■Free Memory Protectors®
■Free shipping
■Exclusive kits and patterns
■Special deals and promotions

If you have questions feel free to contact me at myhandsyourheart@aol.com or click  STUDIO J Frequently Asked Questions 

Please Pick It Up!!!

Actually I think I usually say something more like "PICK YOUR CRAP UP"  I think those words come out of my mouth more than anything.  I love my teenagers.  They are so fun and would not trade them for the world.  However, some days I am over the edge picking up after them.  One of these days I will have a clean house, but that will probably be a sad day because that means the kids have all moved out and in the grand scheme of life a lived in house comes with lots of memories and good times.

I have been telling my son to pick up his shoes and his things and put them away for days.  He usually says something like "OOOOOKKKKKKK I will take them upstairs next time I go up"  Yea right.  So today I decided to put those dang shoes outside in the tree.  Any guesses how long it will take him to notice they are there? Trust me I would have put his church shoes out there as well, but they don't have laces.




F1.8
1/400
ISO 100


Well the good thing is that it gave me a chance to grab my camera and have a little fun.  Well I guess I better get back to my cleaning.  Maybe by the end of the day this tree will be filled with pants, shirts, ipod, basketball, football and many other things.

Have a great day.