Hanging out with grandma...

I enjoyed some play time this afternoon with these three precious grandchildren.

(Mommy had a Doctor appointment - soon there will be another member of this family!)

I thought I would try to get a picture of them together...

seems as though the boys want to be silly when they see a camera..

...just like old times..

But I did get a few cute pictures of them...

I do love this little face.

Our little blond hair...

blue eyed cutie.

.

I wonder who the new member of the family will resemble.

Time will tell.

Going green.. and blue...

One of the nice perks at the Minnesota State Fair were the free bags given out at various booths. I was happy that I came home with a nice number of bags (since Wally, John and Sara gave me their bags) so that I could try to be more environmentally-friendly when I grocery shop. However, I really wanted nice bags in nice colors, so now when I grocery shop I have these great lime green and aqua bags.

I feel quite fashionable.

And to tell you the truth, they hold a lot!

.

The funny thing is that I also got 2 black bags from at the "Eco Experience" where I had to "pledge" to reuse bags. They were sponsored by the MN Grocer's Association and the Mn Pollution control agency.

Guess which bags ripped RIGHT AWAY at the grocery store?

The "eco experience" ones.

Go figure.

They should have considered quality control as well as pollution control.

My new toy!

I am so excited to own a serger! It's a nice little basic serging sewing machine and it is perfect for edging cute fabric for tablerunners and under table centerpieces (mostly for church.)

It is not the easiest machine to understand and I took some time watching and re-watching the CD that came with the machine. Then I read and read again the instruction booklet. Finally I decided I could do it - thread the machine!

There are 4 threads; two of them are called "loopers" - the "upper" looper and the "lower" looper. Who knew?

Now I do.

Here in the picture above is a close-up of the 4 thread basic stitch that I am using.

Want to see my work area?
This counter works well for the serger.


Across the room is the regular sewing machine.

Notice how I prop up the table side of my sewing machine table these days?

The extra support is helpful.

(The hinges had come loose a while back and, though they are repaired,

are not as strong as they once were.)

Here is some of the really cute fall fabric that I have cut and serged.

This fabric is cut into about 16" squares and is nice for the center of a round table.

I made 16 of these.

And this cute fabric, designed by Debbie Mumm, is a table runner; a long rectangle.

I made 9 of these to go with some I made last year (without the serger.)

These will be on the tables on Sunday when we have our church breakfast.

So fall! I love fall!

Lastly, I thought I'd show you the great washer and dryer we bought about a year ago.

If you have a laundry room on the second floor of your home (and not on a basement concrete floor), these Maytag bravos are great.

.

I love my sewing room!

Stocking up

I did not grow up with picking berries, canning or even knowing what a chokecherry was.

In fact, my first taste of a chokecherry was when W offered me one, picked right off the chokecherry bush. AGH! There is a reason the first part of the word is "choke"...

BUT... if you add a lot (emphasis on a lot) of sugar... it sure makes a

totally delicious syrup!

.

So, I try each year to make a batch of chokecherry syrup.

I have to admit that this is the one domestic task that makes me feel

out of my comfort zone...

.

Apparently, that is not all that bad.

Here are my jars all labeled and ready for the coming year.

Pancakes, watch out!

I'm all about cute labels, by the way.
I had fun designing these.

Such a crowd

I know I posted some pictures of the state fair, but I thought I'd add a few more.

John thought that last Monday would not be crowded at the fair; but he seemed to have misjudged the enthusiasm of Minnesotans! (Plus, it was senior day and children's day to boot!)

So... everywhere you looked there were people....

Lots and lots of people!

And some were really quite cute..


I guess the photographer wanted to be sure to get the baby in the picture...
sorry about that John...

One of our first stops was to see the giant pumpkins.

How did they even get these big guys to the fair??

Here is the winner!!

I just love seeing the vegetables.

And, since fall is my favorite season of the year, pumpkins and all the fall goodies were such a pleasure to see!!

Oh, doesn't it just make your mouth water???

We also visited the horticulture exhibit where I photographed lots of beautiful flowers.

Here is just one of them.

We also enjoyed seeing the horses and the livestock.

The birthing center, which was quite crowded, was wonderful too -

we saw some newborn calves and piglets.

There is a fine art exhibit as well.

Here below is a famous painting you might recognize..

I think we should call it Minnesota Gothic...

Happy Birthday Brian!

Happy Birthday today to my brother-in-law Brian!

I hope you will have a delightful day enjoying a good meal with family and friends!

Bon Appetit!

One down, one to go...

Two pregnant ladies a few weeks ago...

Jennifer on the left

Meghan on the right..

And now there is only one!!
Congratulations Jennifer, on the birth of little Sylvia Catherine!
Just a few more weeks until Sylvia's playmate arrives..

State Fair Foods galore!!

Weekend with Tobias

Wally and I are watching Tobias for the weekend. Since the weather is gorgeous, we decided to go to a local park and hike some of the trails by the lake. It was beautiful!

My job was playing on the grass while

Wally's job was putting on John's backpack and carrying Tobias in it.

Tobias' job was being cute.

He was good at it.

He kept it up at snack time too.

Happy Birthday to Josiah!

Here is my first look at precious Josiah!

and this is one of my favorite pictures taken the day he came home to his excited siblings.

Look at this precious fella with his eyes open. Wasn't he a doll?

Then, before we knew it he was ONE!

And he was a very spunky one year old too!

And again, before we could blink, he was TWO!

Here he is at Bible camp - the reason he was not wearing a shirt and shorts was due to the fact that he had spilled the entire picture of water all over the place, including himself.

Oh, the fun of a TWO YEAR OLD!

Happy Birthday Josiah!

Grandma and Grandpa love you and your whole family!

The girl of the golden west!

My sister is named after this lovely beauty!

Marlane, not Marlene!

Classic picture taking mistake

This lovely photograph was taken 69 years ago when my parents married.

My mom is the gal on the right, my Aunt on the left.

.

My dad, the groom is on the far right.

I guess the best man is on the far left.

.

My grandfather took this picture.

Perhaps he wasn't too interested in the men, only in his daughters.