Happy BIrthday, Kyleigh

Today is Kyleigh's tenth birthday.  She had a sleepover with her best friend last night and tonight, we took her to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner.  In fact, I think most of her birthday dinners have been at the Spaghetti Factory.  Both Janice and I took her presents along and she had fun opening them.  Janice got her a 3DS game with all the accessories each wrapped separately.

 

Then a lady came by and offered to make Kyleigh a balloon animal.  Kyleigh chose a sea turtle.

 The balloon was given to Kyleigh by another party that was leaving when we got there.  Unfortunately, it ended up on the ceiling, but thanks to the manager, a tall chair and an even taller waiter, she was able to take it home with her.

Happy Dance - Three Kings

Started: 3/20/2018

Finished: 3/31/2018

This is from the Crazy for... section in Cross Stitch Crazy #222 which has several charts with the theme of Nativity that were designed by Maria Diaz.  Instead of stitching it on fabric, I chose to stitch it 14-count plastic canvas.  It is stitched as charted with all the called for flosses.

This was my ornament for March for the Christmas Ornie SAL where the theme was We Three Kings.  Two of the other charts match themes for future months so I will be stitching more of these.

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

It's time again for the Easter Blog Hop hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching  Each blogger will post a letter and a link to go to the next letter.  Once you've hopped your way through the blogs, you should be able to figure out the mystery phrase.

My letter is L and the next blog is Tiff Stitches.

We're also supposed to display some Spring stitching.  This first square is the March Fairy from the Cross Stitcher 2016 Calendar (Lily of the Valley).  It's stitched on lavender 25-count Lugana with the called for DMC.

The second square is the square I stitched using the chart I won in last year's Easter Blog Hop.  This is Sampling Easter by Lizzie Kate.  It's stitched on mint green 25-count Lugana with the called for DMC.

Since the prize was the chart only, I had to come up with my own charm.  After checking Michaels, JoAnn and Hobby Lobby, I found a charm on a necklace at Claire's (a fun jewelry store).  I wasn't able to FFO it before this posting, but I'll do that next month.

Since Jo indicated that she'd like me to pass it on when I finished stitching it, I will be giving it away on this blog.  Please comment on this post if you would like to be entered in the drawing.  I'll draw a name on April 10th.  You don't have to be a follower of my blog, but I'd appreciate it if you become a follower.

Happenings at School

Yesterday, Kyleigh and the fourth grade classes helped stuff bags to be given out on Easter Sunday and prepared items for Vacation Bible School in June.   You'll notice that Kyleigh is the only girl at this table which is typical for her.

Today was chapel and because it's the last chapel of the month, Panther Excellence Awards were handed out.  This month, the award  was given for being an excellent prayer warrior.  One award is given out for each class.  Guess who won the award for her fourth grade class?

 

The award is sponsored by Chick-fil-A and tomorrow, and besides the certificate, the winners get a free dress day (no uniform) and get to eat a lunch catered by Chick-fil-A with the Assistant Principal.

WIP Wednesday

I worked on two projects this past week, both of which are new starts and both required being restarted.  The first is my project for the Christmas Ornie SAL where the theme for March is We Three Kings.  I had to restart it after the first day of stitching because I made an error and couldn't find it and also messed up the frogging.

 The second is the one I'm doing for Kyleigh's fourth grade teacher.  It's called Let's Hug a Teacher by Ursula Michael.  This was originally started on 28-count Jobelan, but was restarted after two days on 14-count Aida.  When will I learn not to try these word charts on evenweave?

This morning, I pulled out Big Trees for it's turn in my rotation.  I will work on Three Kings until it's finished.

An Archery Party

Kyleigh's father used to be an archery coach and worked at Hi-Tech Archery which is a shop and training center that also does birthday parties.  Kyleigh's 10th birthday is next Saturday and she wanted to have her party there.

Watching the Safety Video

Lining up

Getting Ready

And finally shooting

Showing off her form (that's her own bow and arrows)

Shooting at balloons

Of course Kyleigh found a new friend

Then it was time for cake

And opening presents

Everyone had a good time, including some of the parents who also got to join in the archery fun.  Several people told us how much they enjoyed it, because it was different from the usual party.

WIP Wednesday - 3/21/2018

I spent this week working on Tinkerbell - Spring Blossoms as part of the Spring Forward SAL for Cross Stitch Frog Busters.  I didn't reach my goal which was finishing the current quarter that I'm working on, but there's always next time.

As of 2/28/2018

As of 3/21/2018

For some reason, the color is better in the first picture. 

I've been doing a kind of rotation for the past few weeks with my "big" projects and it seems to be working.  I'm currently rotating Tinkerbell, Santa Quintet, Big Trees and three new projects, one of which will be added this week.  My rotation currently goes from Wednesday to Tuesday so that I can take advantage of WIP Wednesday.  All three new projects have deadlines so they may appear more often if necessary to finish them on time.  The other three I want to have finished by the end of the year.

I also work on a smaller project at they same time.  These are usually ornaments, cards, small quilt squares, pillows, etc.  I work on these one at a time until finished. 

Coastkeeper GardenThe 2.5 acre Coastkeeper Garden is adjacent to the Santiago Canyon College campus in the City of Orange. This unique, sustainable garden hosts plants from six southern California native habitats as well as drought-tolerant plants. The Garden incorporates six California Friendly® vignettes (garden rooms) into “backyard” landscapes that harmonize with the native plant habitat throughout the Garden.

On Saturday, Janice, Kyleigh and I went to Coastkeeper Garden for the first time.

Kyleigh was there to help a Senior Girl Scout earn her Gold Award and two other seniors earn class credit for planning a curriculum for teaching about gardening.  Although, it was fairly well publicized, only two girls showed up.  They planted tomato and pea seeds to take home and learned about the parts of a plant.  

Planting tomatoes & peas

"Planting" a lima bean

Displaying their work (Kyleigh already put away her worksheet)

Kyleigh and her friend

Then the other little girl needed to leave, so it was just Kyleigh and the three older girls.  We got to taste various herbs and Kyleigh helped prepare the pots for planting and plant them on an herb spiral.

Displaying the herbs to be planted

Removing the wrappers from the herbs

The Herb Sprial

Placing the herbs on the sprial

These next pictures are of the planting of the herbs.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of Kyleigh climbing the cage like a monkey to get from one plant to another.

They also planted herbs on the outside of the spiral.

Then it was time for the tour.  We got to eat kumquats off this tree.  You eat the whole fruit skin and all.  They also start out sour and then turn sweet.

 There was also a playground made of natural materials. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Finally, a picture of Kyleigh and the senior Girl Scouts that put on the program.

 

Kyleigh had a lot of fun and has already decided she wants to go back so she can check out the herbs she planted and play on the playground.

Happy Dance - Sampling Easter

Started: 3/11/2018

Finished: 3/18/2018

This is a Lizzie Kate Quick-It.  It's stitched on 25-count mint green Lugana with the called for DMC.  Because I don't have the charm, I need to come up with something else to put in the blank space.  Once I figure that out, I'll figure out how to finish it.

I received this for participating and sending Jo of Serendipitous Stitching the correct answer to last year's Easter Blog Hop.  I believe it was a random draw.  Because this chart was given to me, I will be passing it on.  If you'd like to receive it (chart only, no charm included), please leave a comment on this post.  I will pick a winner on April 5th.

WIP Wednesday - 3/14/2018

I continued working on Santa Quintet by Dimensions this week.

As of 3/7/2018

As of 3/14/2018

Because this is still on the Q-snaps, I've taken the pictures above with my phone and they're not the best.  The color is better on the bottom one though.

I also started Easter Samplings by Lizzie Kate, because it's that time of year and I really like the colors.  There are three stitches in the bow that need to be frogged, but I'll do that tonight.