Here's the School of Nursing standing at the first ceremony for their commencement.
Rocky is standing on this very tall ledge to take this picture.

While waiting for Mom and Anna to come from the field so that we could catch our shuttle bus back to the Mariott, Dad and Charmie started a game of hide and seek running around this tree. Mardie soon joined in. Charmie would stand on one side of the tree and count with his Grandpa on the other, when Charmie reached 10 and said, "ready or not here I come. . ." Grandpa would check to see which way he'd start running and run the opposite way. It would take a few rotations before Charmie could "see" Grandpa. He thought this was the funniest thing!

After Lunch at McDonalds, we took the boys across the street to a daycare and used the play area. They had so much fun with these new playground toys, and Grandpa and Daddy. Grandma was practicing for the actual Nursing School ceremonies and we had some extra time to "kill". Rocky found this place and it was perfect to get the boys recreated after a morning of having to sit still and be quiet and a few more hours to come of the same.

Here Mom joins in on the fun just coming from the field after the morning ceremonies. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here the boys finally settle down to take a nap during the commencement ceremony. After lunch we were all wanting to take a nap. It's gotta be nice to be so small, loved unconditionally, and wheeled around wherever you need to go.
I must say it was nice that while everyone else's toddlers were running amuck, mine were sleeping peacefully. 

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

Tomorrow's going to be so busy with family things. Rocky's mom is graduating from Duke with her degree as a Nurse Practioner!!!! Go MOM!
On a whim I asked Rocky what he got me. . . I wasn't really expecting him to tell me or very much, and not anything this special but he got me a Singer 201K! It's in great condition and sew's very nicely for an almost 60 year old machine. I need to get the information on how to thread it and use it. I'm so excited.
Rocky found this and picked it out all by himself. He used much deception and trickery to get it and I was totally clueless. He showed Charmie and Charmie almost gave up the secret, but Rocky reigned him in. I am so happy with my Mother's day gift, it couldn't be more perfect. . . not just WHAT I received, but how it came about and that my Ray boy's picked it out just for me with so much care and love.

Here's the machine in it's case. The case is in great condition, except for this one point of damage near the top. Rocky thinks that he can repair it. 

Scrap block #3

This block is from my blue green and yellow scaps. there probably are also some purples from how the fabrics were cut. Also there's some puckering of the edges from slight stretching from how the fabrics were cut. Fabrics cut on an angle don't sew flat very well. . . note to self figure out how to not stretch these as I sew/serge. 

Scrap Block #4

This is from the scraps of Block #3, lol. 

Scrap Block #2

I decided that my scrap blocks are not going to be uniform. Here's #2. It's a sampling of my pink and brown fabric scraps.

FO Chenille Baby Angel quilt

Here's my first baby quilt. I quilted it on a 45 degree angle and then slashed the chanels to create chenile when it was washed. I used self binding.
It's so soft and retro feeling, just like quilts and comforters that I had when I was really small.
It measures approximately 27x41".
I loved making this quilt. I'm going to have to make some more! 

Here's a close up with details of the quilting, backing angel print and the chenille on the front. I have listed this for sale at my Etsy store.

settling down after some acrobatics. 

Ray boys Ride!

After playing out in the yard on the powerwheels for a while Rocky and the boys took a drive around our "loop". Charmie is driving his 4-wheeler and Rocky has Mardie with him on the R-6. These ray boy's sure do love to ride! 

Monkey? Acrobat? Gymnast? Wild Child?

First thing when Rocky get's home from work Charmie begs him to take his shirt off. If Charmie is wearing a shirt, he's begging to have his shirt off too so that he can be just like daddy. Then as Rocky relaxes in the living room Charmie begs to jump onto daddy's back. This normally means that Rocky has to sit a minimum of 2 feet away from the couch. Charmie gets onto the couch and jumps from the couch onto Rocky's back, normally knees first. I'm not sure exactly what he's trying to accomplish, but I remember similar stunts when I was small, with them decreasing in frequency as I grew older and larger with my own daddy. I can honestly say I don't think Charmie get's it all from Rocky. . .
That being said after he's done jumping repeatedly onto Rocky's back he wants to climb up onto Rocky's shouders and stand on them while Rocky sits there. He's been recently asking for more of a challenge though, he wanted Rocky to stand. Here's the first time that they did it. By the time I could get the camera ready Charmie had been up there for a while so Rocky and him were both a little tense. We've got to start finding some classes for Charmie to channel this energy/activity! It's neat to see a 2 year old have such balance and athletecism, but I'd rather he do these types of things in a gym! 

Wachovia Golf Championship

Rocky received some tickets to the Wachovia Golf Championship tournament last week for Tuesday so we went. We had lots of fun, though we couldn't get too close when anybody was actually trying to play. The boys wanted to be boys and loud and that just doesn't go well with golf! It was nice to see the professionals and do something new. We rode on a bus from parking at Carowinds over to the Quail Hollow golf course. The boys really enjoyed that. It was such a beautiful day to be outside and the golf course was gorgeous.
Here's Vijay Singh near the 9th hole I believe. He had just finished and was progressing to the next hole. We were trying to get an autograph but he was being asked by so many we didn't get one.
Charmie had lots of fun at the Mercedes display looking at the cars. It was hard to explain to him that he could not touch. He finally found a convertible that the rep graciously allowed him to climb up into. 

Charmie test driving a Mercedes convertible at their "booth" 

Sewing Machine cover with cutout for extension table. 

Skirted serger cover 

akin to sewing with hair

I had my first experience sewing invisible thread tonight. I have been looking at other's sewing rooms. . . it's become a bit of an obsession trying to find out the things I do and don't like for mine. Though I recently posted pictures, it's truely a work in progress and I seriously doubt I'll ever be, "done".
I decided that for my serger I'd rather leave the thread guides extended when it's stored, versus collapsing the tower that holds them every time. That meant that I needed a taller dust cover. The one I sewed before was perfect for when the tower was completely collapsed. I liked the cover I sewed before as it was an expression of the joy I had when first sewing with my new sewing machine. Though it's plain muslin, I liked the simplicity of the fabric and that the decorative stitches I was playing with could show up well. Anyway I decided the solution would be to add a "skirt" instead of constructing a whole new cover. I had done decorative stitches already at the bottom of the existing cover and did not want them to dissappear into a seam allowance so the skirt needed to fit underneath it and be sewn with the right side facing the wrong side of the cover so that in the end there was no turning and both right sides showed. The only way I could figure to do this would be to sew with invisible thread.
Luckily I had some "hair" thread on hand. I had never sewn with it before. I still need to get my tension right because I could see the bobbin thread peaking through on each stitch. I was too lazy to change it to a color closer to the muslin fabric.
This stuff really is like hair!!! It's so thin it's literally invisible. I kept thinking it wasn't there and had broken because I couldn't see it. It was a little freaky, (emperor's new clothes!) Anyway for all of you out there who've been using this stuff for quilting I admire your tenacity to use this stuff because it's not easy that's for sure!
Who invented this and what were they thinking???

Freecycle washies

I got a huge garbage bag of yarn through Freecycle this past weekend. I have been playing with some of it. Here are 3 small face washies I made from a white/pink/purple varigated cotton that was included.
The larger one I made first. It measures 4x8". Next I made the mitered square (left) which I had never done before. Lastly the diagonal one. The two smaller ones are 4" square. I use a wash cloth on my face, but a scrubbie on the larger parts of me. I like small washies because It's easier to get into the nooks and crannies easier, and also who wants to hand wring out a big thick towel!