Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Yesterday Hubby and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary! I can't believe how fast the time has flown. So much has happened since then..so much to be thankful for, so much to be proud of. 10 years ago yesterday, Hubby and I were on our way to Minneapolis with his sister, our beautiful 10 month old little girl, and two of our friends...we were heading to Minneapolis to get married in the Mall of America in the Chapel of Love...it sounds so corny and cheesy I know, but when we saw it on our previous trip to Minneapolis we both thought it would be kinda cute! Nothing seemed to be going right leading up to the big day...Hubby barely found a suit in time, I had just found a dress to wear the night before after looking around town ALL day long. A few days before that, I had had a tubal pregnancy and had to have an operation to have it removed which left me feeling a little sore. Hubby's suit pants needed to be hemmed so his Sister was hand sewing them in the front seat of the car on the way with the little sewing kit they give to you for free in the hotel room...when the teeny tiny little scissors broke we stopped at a gas station to borrow a pair of scissors so she could finsih the job! We still didn't have a ring for Hubby so when we pulled into Mineappolis we stopped at the fist store we saw which was a Target and quickly picked him out a ring from their jewelry department...thank goodness they had his size! In the meantime, we had lost site of our friends that were riding in a seperate vehicle...they ended up going the wrong way but fortunately they were able to find their way to the Mall where we all met up eventually. By this time I was a complete basket case, thinking to myself that this was never going to work out because everything that could go wrong, WAS! We made our way up to the Chapel where we were escorted to the dressing room where we all frantically got dressed. Just before the ceremony I had a little emotional breakdown where I started crying because I was just so nervous and had been worried all day that we were going to be late...talk about being stressed out! I quickly picked up my beautiful little girl, gave her a kiss and said a little prayer to myself. I opened the door to the chapel and as soon as I saw Hubby I felt better...still very emotional but I knew that the moment was finally here and all the stress of getting ready for it was over. I walked down the aisle with our baby in my arms, we said our vows and I cried through the whole time...couldn't help it, it was such an emotional day for me. Now, every year that goes by we have a little giggle over it all as we remember how everything that could go wrong, did, but in the end it didn't matter because it all worked out just fine.
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To celebrate our 10 years being married, Hubby surprised me by taking me to the jewelry store and letting me pick out diamond earings! He is always so good to me, spoiling me rotten all the time. Never wanting or needing anything for himself but always over-joyed when it comes to giving me things to make me happy...what a guy! I know that I am not the easiest person to live with at times and he still takes me for who I am no matter what and I truly love him and appreciate him for that!
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Here are my beautiful diamond earings...I love them so much, aren't they so pretty and sparkly? I am so lucky!
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(pictures are clickable)

Monday, November 24, 2008

Happy Birthday To a Wonderful Grandmother!!
With a few thousand kilometres between us, we don't get to see eachother as often as I would like to. A couple of months ago I was fortunate enough to have been able to see her for only a short time though. We ALWAYS try to make the most of our visits cuz they just don't last long enough.

She is the most wonderful Grandmother anyone could ask for! She has always been so supportive and encouraging. She has always shown how proud she is of me...from a little girl to the woman I am today.

She always says that she doesn't want or need anything, so on this special day of her's I would like her to know just how special she is to me, how much I love her and miss her, and how much I truly appreciate everything she does for me!

Happy Birthday Granny! Enjoy your day and know that we are thinking of you lots!

I'll leave you with a few photos of her and I together...a couple from a LONG time ago and one from more recently. Sure brings back memories...here's to many more Granny!

Love Rachel Marie
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo



~ My Granny...my best friend ~

Friday, October 31, 2008

*** Enjoy & Have a Safe & Happy Halloween!! ***
Hugs,
:o)
Rachel

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

~ Calendar of Hope 2009 ~
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13 Original Dishcloth Patterns Created to Raise Awareness and Money for Breast Cancer Research
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This is our Calendar of Hope for 2009 which I am honoured to be a part of. This all started from a little thought Cindy (aka, FitterKnitter) had to create a Breast Cancer Awareness Calendar to sell to raise money for breast cancer research and it snowballed from there into this beautiful work of art! Cindy has done such a beautiful job with this calendar. I am so proud to be a part of it!

Below you can find my contribution to the calendar, "Little Praying Cherub". It was a lot of fun working with so many wonderful people on this project. Thanks so much Cindy for this opportunity!
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This Calendar is available for purchase on KnitPink.com. It is being offered as an instant pdf download and all proceeds made from this calendar go to Breast Cancer Research. Thank you so much for checking it out :o)

Monday, October 06, 2008

Chocolate Cake For Breakfast?
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It's Hubby's Birthday today...poor guy had to start back at work today after being laid off for most of the Summer. There is never anything this man wants or needs...he's just happy with what he's got...he's always more than happy to plan little surprises for me and the kids though...he always takes great pride in providing for his family. He's just a simple kinda guy, doesn't like a big fuss made on his special day, unlike me...I thouroughly enjoy feeling special and being surprised and spoiled rotten on my day!
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So I thought the least I could do is bake the man a cake...no candles but of course there will HAVE to be icing! I decided to surprise him with a chocolate cake when he gets home...not even the kids know that I'm making Dad a cake, so really, I could eat this whole thing today if I wanted to and no one would ever know...LOL!
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Check out my little Baking Assistant, Molly...I think she is loving the smell of Chocolate in the air as well! This is gonna take a lot of will power for me not to eat this ALL DAY LONG! That must mean that I'll have earned myself a HUGE piece of cake at the end of the day though for being so good by resisting it throughout the day! I'll keep ya posted :o)
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Pictures are clickable to enlarge :o)

Hugs,
:o)
Rach
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Bill Cosby's, "Chocolate Cake for Breakfast"! Makes me laugh so hard everytime! Enjoy :o)



via videosift.com

Friday, June 27, 2008

Feather and Fan Baby Washcloth Set Finally Posted :o)
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Well, I'm finally getting a chance to post some pics of the feather and fan cloths I did up about a month and a half ago...it's taken me this long to take the pics of them. What motivated me to do it, was reading Mary Anne's Blog last week where she posted pics of some of the feather and fans she did using two different colours! So, here they are!
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I have come to the conclusion that I'm not all that fond of the self-striping cotton anymore. It's lovely when it works with the pattern you are doing, but I get so darn frustrated when the colour changes at inappropriate times like in the middle of the row or on the wrong row. So when I wanted to knit up some feather and fan cloths in a striping pattern, I decided to do some manual striping instead of using the self-striping cotton...and I was so impressed with the way they all turned out...even though there were more than a few ends to tie in. Just look at how gorgeous these guys turned out!! Too bad I don't have any babies around me...I just love all the pastel colours though! So soft and pretty!
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Feather and Fan Baby Washcloth Set
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This first one was done using baby green, baby pink, and baby blue with the white in between them...lots of ends to tie in here on this one...grrrrr!
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Done in Baby Pink and White
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Done in Baby Blue and White
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Done in Baby Green and White
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If you like this version of the Feather and Fan cloth, you can find the modifications for it on my dear friend, Mary Anne's blog, located on her sidebar. Mary Anne is absolutely crazy for this pattern...she must have hundreds and hundreds of them knit up by now! She's so awesome!

Friday, May 30, 2008

~ My Finished Group Knit-a-Long Picture ~

My pic of Pam's Tulip Dishrag that we knit for our May 2008 Group Knit-a-Long in Rachel's Knitting Room!
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This beautiful dishcloth pattern was graciously provided by a wonderful woman, Pam Walker. She is the owner of Knitter's Nest that is located in Cadillac Michigan.

I came across this pattern about 7 years ago and I fell in love with it right away! Unfortunately, when I went to the site later to find it though, it was gone :o( So I set out on a pattern hunt and was finally able to get in contact with Pam through email...PHEW!...cuz for the past few months, I've been really wanting to do something a little different for a KAL and thought that this would be an absolutely perfect pattern to try! I tried to provide some help with the videos and I know that it has been a struggle for some, but I am so proud of the fact that you kept going and pushed yourselves to continue on with it even with your frustration...mind you, it's pretty easy to push yourselves through this pattern as it is such a pretty one!

Also, thank you so much to all our wonderful members who helped out those in need through this one, I truly appreciate it!

Here is the link to this pattern that we have been doing...you will also find that Pam has the instructions written out for a matching hanging towel to go with this beautiful dishcloth! What a pretty set that would make! It is from her archived site, and the picture is not viewable, but we'll have the pics from our KAL for it:
http://web.archive.org/web/20021213122025/users.michweb.net/~pknitter/patterns.html

And here is Pam's current website:
http://www.knittersnest.net/

If you click on this link below for chicknits.com and scroll a little past halfway down this page you can read a little bit about Pam's Yarn Shop in Cadillac, Michigan...sounds wonderful!:
http://www.chicknits.com/blog020731.shtml

Pam wanted me to let you all know that she also mails her yarn out.

Here is her info below:

Knitter's Nest
10861 West Cadillac Road(old M-55)
Cadillac, MI
48418
231-775-YARN
Phone Orders Welcome!

Thank you, Thank you, Pam for a gorgeous pattern! Much appreciated! I bought myself 3 BIG balls of the cotton twists to be able to knit a whole bunch of these up for the kids' teachers at the end of the school year(which isn't that far away...YIKES!) Beautiful Pattern!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Glitter Graphics


~ Bernat Handicrafter Cotton ~
~ Colonial Colors ~
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OoooLaLa! Talk About Some Pretty Colours to Choose From!
.Yesterday, dear Hubby took me into town to do a little shopping and while strolling through our WalMart, I thought I'd check out the Yarn section and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a new selection of colours to choose from in the Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Section! COLONIAL COLORS! How gorgeous! I only purchased two of the big balls, but I will be going back for more soon, as these are really pretty colours...I love them. There are pretty variegated colours as well to choose from, including "Queen Anne's Lace"...doesn't that just sound beautiful? They are very victorian-looking, I guess that's why they caught my eye like that! Here are the pics of the two big balls that I got:
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Bernat Handicrafter Cotton ~ Colonial Colors


~ Virginia Rose~


~ Pilgrim Peach ~

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

~ More Molly ~

Look at the pretty girl sitting so nice for her picture...
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And here she is just waking up from one of her many naps...

So innocent looking...don't let her fool ya though...LOL!


I'm finding it extremely difficult to get any knitting done lately with little Molly around...I'm trying to knit while she is sleeping...and even then, I have to do it ever so quietly, otherwise she hears me and gets up to "play" with the yarn...she reminds me so much of a little baby!!

Monday, May 19, 2008

~ The Newest Little Member of Our Family ~
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~ Our Little Molly ~
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For the last couple of weeks, we've been discussing getting a new pet for our family. A couple of years ago we lost our kitty, Allie when she got real sick. It was so sad and a really hard thing for all of us to go through, seeing her get sick and then losing her like we did...if it were up to the kids, we would have gotten a new little kitty right away, but I just wasn't ready to replace poor little Allie. I guess enough time has passed since then for me to feel ready to bring a new little furball into our life, cuz last week hubby took me to the pet store to see all the new kittens and I just fell head over heels in love with them all! Sadly though, they want an arm and a leg for a kitten...the same little kittens that are always offered for free in every paper you read! So hubby made a couple of phone calls and there we were Friday night, off to town to look at a kitty that needed a good home. I had it in my mind that I wanted a gray kitty with long hair and that is just what the man on the phone described to us. When we saw her, our hearts just melted! She is the sweetest little kitten ever! She did have some gray in her but it was mostly the fluff on her belly...the rest of her was like a chocolate brown colour! I LOVED it! So we scooped her up, brought her home and have been thouroughly enjoying every minute with her! Most of which is either playing, sleeping, or eating. The kids have given her the name Molly cuz she's just such a pretty girl, they wanted her to have a real girlie name. I've been trying for two days to get a good picture of her, but she really doesn't sit still long enough for you to take a good picture of her. I could take a million of her sleeping, but I really wanted a good one of her little eyes! So here are two photos of her, the best that I could do for now...I'm sure once she calms down a bit, it will get a little easier, but for now she's just our crazy little furball! I get tired just from watching her! She's even managed to find all the hiding spots for some of the dust bunnies around here...I thought I got them all but I guess I missed some! Oh well, at least she's a good colour for picking up the dirt and dust around here...LOL!
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Our Little Miss. Molly trying to sit still!
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And here she is trying to make a run for it!

Monday, April 28, 2008

~*~*~*~ My Finished KAL (knit-a-long) Photos!! ~*~*~*~
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Progress Pics of Our Monthly Mystery Dishcloth Knit-A-Long
in Rachel's Knitting Room for the Month of April!
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Big Thanks go out to my very dear friend, Marilyn Wallace for creating and designing another great pattern for our group! Here are my daily photos of our last monthly KAL that we did for the month of April :o)
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Day #1 of our KAL! Casted on with variegated Baby Pastels!

Day #2 of our KAL! Ooooo! I got to change colours today!! I chose the Baby Green to match with the variegated Baby Pastels.

Day #3 of our KAL! I can see some letters now....hmmm....
Also, take note of the Change of Knitting Needle...yup, I went and broke another needle, just blew the tip right off of my brand new beautiful purple Lion Brand needle...and this was the second time for that needle...I'm thinking there is a defect in it...they're a funny needle too...they have sort of an inner core to them, much like a carrot has...LOL! Wish I could take them back now, but I've already had them through the pencil sharpener to try and fix them up in a hurry...LOL!

Days #4 and #5 of our KAL! Got too excited...had to do two days in a row! I can see what it says now :o) Love it! Got to change back to the variegated Baby Pastels though, which I thought was looking real good now!

Day #6 of our KAL! Okay, here we are at the end! Now ususally when I post finished pics of my dishcloths, I NEVER post the "before being blocked" pics cuz, well, it's sort of like seeing me without my makeup on in the morning...you can tell what it is, but it looks like it could use some spruce'n up...LOL!
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So I now present you with the finshed product....
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Drum Roll Please....

TaDaaaaa!!!!!!
Pretty nice, ey? I LOVE the finished product! Thank you so much Marilyn for such a cute and versatile pattern! Don't you think this would make a wonderful cloth for babies?...Welcome to the World little one. Or how about a Welcome to the Neighbourhood for a friendly and neighbourly gesture? There are so many wonderful ways to use this pattern! I even had the idea of doing more of our Miniature knitting with pins and crochet cotton thread to make a wonderful little "Welcome" door mat for a little girl's dollhouse...how neat would that be? What are some of your suggestions for this pattern? How would you choose to use it? Drop me a comment and let me know, I'd LOVE to hear all your ideas too!!
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If you think you would be interested in participating in a Group Knit-A-Long with us, please feel free to join us, cuz we'd love to have you!! Our next Mystery Dishcloth Knit-A-Long Begins Monday, May 19, 2008 and it's going to be a GORGEOUS one, just in time for SPRING! I promise, you're gonna LOVE this one! Something different, unique, and very refreshing!
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Click here to visit our Group, Rachel's Knitting Room!

Hugs for a Wonderful Week,
:o)
Rachel

Friday, April 04, 2008

a little something I've been working on......

I decided to do a little crocheting and make some more of my favourite small crocheted doilies/coasters. I crocheted 2 with pink and white crochet cotton thread size 10 and a size 1.15mm steel hook. Then I decided to try the same pattern out using my worsted weight pink and white cotton for dishcloths with a size F Hook and I was really happy with the way they all turned out!
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Here are some pics of the finished doilies. Now I think I'll work with some blue and white next...which would match perfectly in my kitchen! If you are interested in the pattern for this small doily/coaster you can find it here from Jodhi, the PotHolder Lady...it is an archived site and for some reason I haven't had much luck in the last few days viewing it, but if you keep trying it might work...if I find another link that works better for it I will be sure to post it here for you. The pattern calls for beads to be added on the last round, but I find adding a different colour works just as well! Very Pretty Pattern!! Make sure to click on the pics for a bigger and better look at them too :o)

This is the first one done with crochet cotton thread in pink with a white trim.

This is the second one I did with crochet cotton thread in white with a pink trim.


This is the first doily I made using 100% Worsted Weight Cotton and Size F Hook.


And here is the last one I made with the worsted weight cotton.



And of course this is a pic of all the doilies put together so you can see just how much bigger and smaller they are compared to eachother. I just love them!
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Hugs For a Wonderful Weekend,
:o)
Rachel





Saturday, March 08, 2008

HOLY SNAPPN' KNITTING NEEDLE ~ PART 2
With a Happy Ending :o)
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I want to give a HUGE Thank You to everyone that responded with offers of their Knitting needles for me to replace my snapped needle from the other day! It was truely overwhelming how many generous people we have here...I was so shocked at the number of offers I received!
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When I shared my story with you all, it was merely a sad story to share with ou all, it wasn't at all a sympathy cry for offers...you guys are all just so wonderful though and you all have HUGE hearts...willing to give up some of your own needles to provide some happiness for me.
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So I thank you so much, but I am sooooooooo happy to tell you all, that my knitting needle has been resurrected...hubby has breathed new life into the poor old girl! Would you believe that he had the brain fart to use our pencil sharpener on it?? And it actually worked!! Really well too!! He stuck the broken needle in the sharpener and made the tip a little bit pointy and then with some sand paper, he made it PERFECT!! I can't tell the difference...it looks just like the good needle! I really can't believe it! I thought she was a gonner, but she's back and ready to start clicking and smoking! I am just so happy and relieved to have my old reliable needles back!
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Thanks again guys, you're the best!
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Big Greatful Hugs,
:o)
Rachel

Friday, March 07, 2008

HOLY SNAPPN' KNITTING NEEDLE!!!!!!!!!
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There I was yesterday afternoon, just casted on some stitches with some beautiful Purple Cotton, knit a few rows, and SNAP!!! There went my very favourite knitting needle!! I couldn't believe it! My heart nearly broke in half with it! I am just so sad over the loss of this needle! This isn't just any knitting needle either...I got them handed down to me from Hubby's late Mother...they are really nice and flexible(well, I thought they were until they broke on me...LOL!), they have the UK sizes on them and this is my ONLY size 8(otherwise known as 4mm or US 6). So I had to resort to trying another kind of needle out to finish my project...I'm using my bamboo needles but they just aren't the same.
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I don't like trying new things...I just like the old faithful things...if it ain't broke, don't fix it...but in my case, it IS broke and I CAN'T fix it!!!!
Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! I WANT MY NEEDLE BACK!!!
If you haven't heard this song yet...ya gotta have a listen, click on the link above...I LOVE it, and everytime I hear it, it gets stuck in my head and I find myself humming and singing all day long...such a good song...and I don't like country!!
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Anyway, now that my heart is broken along with my favourite knitting needle, Hubby has gone on a mission trying to find these needles online somewhere, but it doesn't seem like they are available...I think they're pretty old, so I think we'll have to check out EBAY or something to see what we can come up with! I sure hope we can find these needles somewhere...if not, I don't know what I'll do!!!
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I am an extremely tight knitter and I guess it was just too much for this old needle to handle!

Holy Snappn' Needle!!

A HUGE OVERDUE THANK YOU TO MY FRIEND, JAN!
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There is a HUGE overdue thank you in order for a wonderful gal! My friend Jan Hogan who belongs to Rachel's Knititng Room asked me for my mailing addie a while back, saying that she wanted to send me a little something to show her appreciation for all the things I do for our great group. Well, "a little something" turned out to be "a WHOLE LOT of something"!!! This girl is so very generous to send me all the yarn she did...I was so blown away by the size of the package when I picked it up from our Post Office! Thank you, thank you Jan!! This was such a beautiful gift full of some REALLY wonderful yarn...now I just have to find the time to sit and knit something from all this beautiful yarn!
Big Hugs go out to you, Jan...You're a great gal!
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Look at all this yummy yarn!!


And here is the beautiful little note card Jan sent with my parcel! What a sweetie!

Friday, February 29, 2008

There's No Place Like Home...There's No Place Like Home...There's No Place Like Home...

Oh My Good Lord!
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This morning started out like all the rest, wake up, make breakfast, make the lunches, get hubby off to work and get the kiddies off to school. I got the kids all bundled up in their winter gear to put them on the bus, opened the door to go outside and then pulled the door shut...only thing, this time, my beautiful door handle came off with my hand!!! What the heck??

I started to panic right away because I couldn't open the door and nobody was inside! My kids got upset right away thinking that mama would be out in the snow all day long!
When our wonderful bus driver picked them up, I asked if she could radio the bus company to phone my husband's cell phone to let him know I was stuck outside in the cold and snow! So the bus drove away and I thought instead of just standing around waiting for hubby to get home which probably would have taken 40 minutes from town, I decided to check all the windows and they were all locked except for our teeny tiny little bathroom window. I thought come hell or high water, I'll get in that little window somehow!!!
I walked around the yard to find hubby's horse(step ladder), then I walked through all the snow and plunked it in front of the bathroom window. But when I climbed up to the window I quickly realized that it was not going to be easy getting in there. I tried every kind of position to get in that window, I knew that I was going to fit, but how the heck was I going to land when I got inside?
I tried feet first, that didn't work, I tried head first but was afraid to fall on my head. Then in all my desperation, I started grabbing at all sorts of things inside the bathroom through the window to make some kind of a landing strip for me...wicker hampers, brand new 24 pack of toilet paper...oh yeah, I really was making a mess of the bathroom! But guess what? After trying 5 times to get in there, I did it!!! And I only have some minor scrapes and sore armpits and chest. As I fell on top of all the toilet paper and wicker hampers and baskets, I heard a knock on my door(the one with the broken knob now)...it was a neighbour from down the road...I guess the bus driver told him there was a damsel in distress up the road that needed rescuing real bad! He was shocked that I got in all by myself through the bathroom window! And go figure, I had no makeup on and my hair was just thrown together in a big old sloppy braid...thank gosh my teeth were brushed at least!!
So I phoned the school right away to ask if they could releive my children's worry about their mother, and then my prince charming of a husband drove in the driveway and I was so overwhelmed and emotional that I started to cry! Ever stupid hey? Such a "girl" thing to do...I was trying to be stong and it just back fired on me!!
Oh well, I'm in my cozy house now...my hair is done and my make up is on, so all is good now! Now it's time for me to get you all your daily links and such!
Holy Crumbs! What a morning! Just had to share it with you all! I have learned a very good lesson in all this though...keep a spare key with me for our other door just in case...who would ever think of their door knob coming right off with them? I know I sure didn't! Geesh!

Sunday, February 24, 2008


Love Dishcloth ~ Garter Stitch Borders
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Big Thanks go out to Susan Mrenna of Knit A Little for providing Rachel's Knitting Room Yahoo Group with a wonderful design! I really enjoyed this one...I experimented with the border a bit by using a different colour. I used Peppermint for the boder and Baby Pink for the inside and I LOVE it! Thanks big whole bunches Susan!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

** A Big Thank You!! **

Well, I would like to send out a HUGE Thank You to EVERYONE for ALL the WONDERFUL Birthday Wishes I have received and continue to receive! I have NEVER had so many Birthday Greetings in all my life! There are just SO MANY, I couldn't even count them up!! So I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! I am truly blessed to know such wonderful people...so caring, thoughtful and generous! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for making my Special day that more Special! I had a wonderful day with my family...I got to eats LOTS of yummy food which included a deep dark Chocolate Cake with Chocolate icing and Chocolate ice cream on the side! I was in Heaven! Thanks so much for ALL you do! ALL your generosity is GREATLY appreciated!!
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Big Hugs,
:o)
Rachel

Friday, January 25, 2008

Happy Birthday To Me!

Well, today is my Birthday...I am now 32 years old...good greif Charlie Brown...where has the time gone? Honestly, I couldn't remember if I was turning 31 or 32 this year...had to ask my son who's 8...he knew right off the top of his head...as he replied, "Helllllloooooo, you're gonna be 32 Mom!!!" in a cheeky sort of tone as if to say, "like how could you forget how old you are?".

Now, for this past week I really haven't been in the best of moods...don't know why exactly, but just having one of those "off" weeks I guess...my little guy has brought home a cold/flu from school...he's been home for two days now with it and now I'm getting it...so it's only a matter of time before my little girl gets it and hubby too. I hate being sick and I'm sure that has played a huge role in my yucky mood lately.

Anyway, this morning I woke up to a kiss and a "Happy Birthday Honey Bunny" from dear hubby and my adorable kiddies standing at my bedroom door with a card in their hands. Now usually, Mama gets homemade cards and gifts, so this took me by surprise a bit, because I could tell from the envelope, that it was a purchased card of some sort. I hadn't even made it out of the bed yet...still half asleep really, but they had that look on their face like they were up to something. So I open my card to find all of the Rugrats on the cover and inside it wrote: "Wishing you a birthday filled with the most beautifullest things because you're the nicest mom ever!". Well, I was so happy with that just by itself, but I could tell there was more to come with the way they had their hands behind their backs.

Now before I tell you what they surprised me with, I'll let you know that for the past couple of weeks my kids have been talking about the WEBKINZ...they've been around for a while, but with all the virtual pets they already have, we figured there was no sense to them having anymore...but somehow they talked us into it and dear hubby went down and purchased a few for the kids. They loved them so much, and I really fell inlove with them as well, they really are adorable. If you are not familiar with them, they are basically a stuffed animal of your choice that come with codes which you log into the computer on their site and you can see your pet on the screen and buy things for it, play games with it, chat and play with others as well...there's a ton things you can do with them on there. Kailey decided on the yellow lab and Luke decided on the husky and the bull dog. I really fell in love with the little pug (always wanted a real one of my own) and the chocolate lab, not thinking that I would ever get them or even need them for that matter. But I guess the family thought that Mama should have some WEBKINZ of her own because that's what was behind their backs this morning...One Chocolate Lab and One Pug!! My heart just melted...these little creatures are so cute.

So, I would like you all to meet my little cuties...Here is "Lola" my pug:
And "Turtles" my chocolate lab (named after my favourite chocolates of course!):
Then, if this wasn't enough...hubby gave me a "purchased" card (and he's not really a "card-buying" kinda guy...so I knew he made a LOT of effort). I opened the card to find the most beautiful card he had EVER gotten me...it was gorgeous and it said ALL the right things, so I know he shopped around looking for the one that said just the perfect stuff. I started bawling right away because it just meant so much to me. I've been feeling so "blah" lately...can't really explain it but that's the only word that comes to mind, "blah"...I'm sure someone else can relate.

So anyway, needless to say, I am in high spirits today, I'm feeling so special and appreciated by my family which means a great deal to me. Hubby is bringing me home my favourite today...Chinese Food...Oh yum...I can't wait to dig in! For now, I think I'll go relax in a nice hot bath and perhaps start a knitting project just for me, just for the heck of it, just cuz I can, cuz it's MY special day!
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Hugs,

:o)
Rachel