Welcome to the World Michael James

Introducing our nephew....Michael James. Tim's brother and sister-in-law had him (their first) on Sunday, May 16th. He was 5 lbs 1 oz and 17 in. long. He is a healthy happy baby now. He looks alot like his daddy in my opinion :) That makes the second Nephew for us this year lol. WOW. Our family sure is growing!

Maybe one of these days Tim and I can celebrate the joy of a new child, anyway... welcome to the world MJ!

The cutest nephew ever...

Isnt this a cute picture of my nephew Adam?!? He's such a cutie pie! LOL.I wish he was smiling but I guess he was just too into his snack. LOL! I love that my brother and sister-in-law take all of these pictures of him for us since we live so far away and miss out on so much with him. It makes us feel a little better that we can see him even if we arent there in person. I just miss the lil guy like crazy though! Just had to share, it put a smile on my face today =)

Just Blogging...

I'm tired of drama, especially family drama... why can't I watch a soap opera to get my drama fix, instead of having to deal with stupid stuff like who bought what for who and when. UGH. I get so tired of drama, greed, bitterness, jealousy....etc etc.

Isn't our Zoey soo cute?! I took this picture of her today, she is a camera hound for sure :) I've gotten REALLY attached to her already. I thought that once we found homes for her brothers that she would sort of be lonely and look for them but she is happy and hasnt acted differently. Maybe even acting better! Who knew lol. I am SOOO happy that we found good loving homes for the other 2 puppies and that they are together in the same home, with kids! yay! Turns out that the family that adopted them are really nice and their son has had some issues with swelling in his brain, he is pretty sick and has had a lot of testing done recently, so they adopted the puppies to sort of cheer up everyone especially their son. I hate that he is sick but I'm so happy that we could offer them a puppy to brighten his days. Oddly enough the father works with Tim and his name is also Tim, AND his wife's name is Andrea, AND she's also originally from NC. TALK ABOUT COINKEDINKS! Tim really gets along with them and so we are hoping that maybe we can get to know them and maybe be friends. They would be our first friends to hang out with here which I think would be nice.

On a damper note, Tim's great aunt Alma passed away on Wednesday night and the funeral is Monday. Unfortunately, we can't make it because its in Florida and Tim has to work, and we just dont have the funds. :( Tim's a little down about that, but his mom is taking a flight tomorrow down so that she can be there because it was her Aunt and so she is going to send our condolences. I never met her but from what I've heard she was a wonderful lady and there are many fond memories of her. May she rest in peace.

If you havent noticed, I have changed up this blog a bit. I'm really happy with the new layout and everything. I'm trying to make this blog a bit more personal and less 100% focused on The Longest Yarn. Yes its a BIG part of my life, but there's a lot more going on that I would LOVE to have an outlet to talk about.

Me and my bestie, Ginger, are on chapter 7 of our Eclipse re-read. We have a book discussion blog called Dixie Book Diva's where we are talking about the book as we read. We would LOVE for anyone to join in with our discussions. We will be reading & discussing Eclipse this month and next month we will be reading/discussing 'The Sweet Far Thing' by Libba Bray. Any and everyone's welcome to join in at any time.

I'm working on several crochet projects that I will be putting up in the shop soon. There's an afghan (that i've blogged about before), a messenger bag, a few more mary jane slipper sets, possibly a few more coaster sets, and I'm thinking a few more headbands. Not only that but I have 2 commissioned drawings, and a request for a travel bag (for toothpaste, toothbrush etc)... I'm going to be busy busy busy!

Aren't our roses beautiful?! I was sooo happy to go out today after several days of rain, and take pictures of the beautiful roses that have blossomed. I need to figure out what I can use for the pests that are eating the leaves.. so annoying. I went out today to check on our apple tree as well and it has big black ants all over the leaves... so I dont know if they are possible eating on my tree?!? I didn't know they did that! lol.

Tonight I watched the movie 'Brothers.' I thought it was a good movie. I'm not a big fan of Toby McGuire but I really like Natalie Portman. I was surprised at how good of a job TM did in this movie. He did a great job at being 'crazy' basically lol. The ending left a lot to be desired, but I like that it was sort of a 'happy' ending rather than he just 'offing' himself, ya know? But thats just my opinion. :)

I think that pretty much sums up everything I have to talk about for now. I think I'll try to read the ending of my current read 'Rebel Angels' by Libba Bray. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ande's Cherry Slushie Surprise Recipe

Its been pretty warm and around this time of the year I LOVE slushies... I also love my spirits lol. No I don't drink alot or often for that matter, but a mixed drink every now and again isn't that bad, is it? LOL =) Last weekend we went to Outback for dinner and I tried a Cherry Mojito, and LOVED it... so when I got home I thought I would try my own little Mojito recipe but put my spin on it, this is what I created tonight and its yummy!

Ande's Cherry Slushie Surprise Recipe

Ingredients:

• Sprite
• Cherry Pucker
• Peachtree Schnapps
• Lime Juice
• Cherry Juice (I used marachino cherry juice)
• Ice
• a pinch of sugar
• optional: mint leaves (I didnt have any, but its great without them!)

Directions:

In your blender add 1 shot of Cherry Pucker, 1 shot of Peachtree schnapps, add about a cup of sprite, 1/2 a shot of cherry juice, 1/2 a shot of lime juice, sugar, and fill the rest full with ice. Then Blend until smooth (but not too smooth, you want the icee/slushie effect ;) ENJOY!

Pattern Share: Mary Jane Slippers

I wanted to share my pattern for making Mary Jane Slippers. If you need any help with this pattern (because I am not a pattern writer haha) email me at tasince00@aol.com Thanks & Enjoy!

Materials Needed:
Worsted Weight Yarn (I used Redheart)
H Sized Hook
2 buttons
Needle

Directions:
Start w/ a magic ring and 8 dcs in the ring, then pull the yarn tail & sl st in top of 1st dc, ch 2.
Rd 2: 2 dc into each stitch, sl st into top of the first dc, ch 2.
Rd 3: 1 dc into same stitch as ch 2, 2 dc into next st, *1 dc into next st, 2 dc into next* repeat around, sl st into top of the first dc, ch 2.
Rd 4: 1 dc into same stitch as ch2, 1 dc in next stitch, 2 dc into next st, *1 dc into each of the next 2 sts, 2 dc into the next stitch* repeat around, sl st into top of the first dc, ch 2.
Rd 5 & 6: dc in each st around, sl st into 1st dc & ch 2.
Rd 7: dc into the first 23 sts, leaving the remaining sts unworked. Ch 2 and turn,
Rd 8-20: repeat rd 7.
Rd 21: Dc into first 10 sts, dc3tog, dc in the remaining sts.

Now fold right sides together and sl st from top down to the bottom of the heel.

Join yarn at the back of the slipper, sc in that stitch & sc around the slipper opening. When you reach the top corner (near toes) sc3tog, continue sc across top and sc3tog in opposite corner, then continue sc around the rest of the slipper until you reach where you started then sl st in the 1st sc you made.

Now we are going to sc around once more. SC2tog, then sc around to the top corner again, sc3tog, continue sc across top, and sc3tog in opposite corner, then continue sc around the rest of the slipper until you reach where you started then sl st in the 1st sc you made. Fasten off.

((You are making the slipper tighter fitting with these steps, so basically decrease at the heel and the top corners.))

The next step you can either use the same color or another color choice of yarn. You can also choose either to have a strap & button or leave your slippers without. If you decide not to have a strap then just sc around the entire slipper again following the above steps.

If you would like a strap and button following these steps:

Join yarn at the back center of the heel. SC in same st. Sc around until you reach where you want your strap to come across the top of the foot. Ch 17. Skip 1st 7 of the chain (this makes the button loop), DC in 8 remaining sts down to the bottom of your ch. Join with a sl st in the st before your 1st ch. then continue sc around the slipper, when you reach your beginning sc, join with a sl st. Fasten off & weave in all ends.

Attach your button across from the strap and you're done!


Would love to see your creations using this pattern! Please give credit where credit is due, thank you! Enjoy!