First Day of School

And they're off. 7:05 this morning. Whitney to middle school (6th grade) and Tessa to 4th grade. Both like the teachers they will have. They were excited today!

Countdown to Tucson

Everybody knows now that Whitney competed in an Ironkids triathlon in July and came in 2nd place. She qualified to compete in the national competition in Tucson, Arizona, on October 4th. I added this gadget that inserts a countdown to that date, but no matter how many times I set and save it, it does not show the countdown. It's about 47 days until we go. We can't wait--can you tell??

21st Century Cinderella's Slipper

Last is my entry. This 21st Century woman has more sense and does not wear the 4 inch heels that Cinderella wore. She wears a low, comfortable shoe, with soft insides and simple decoration. Well, this woman does, anyway. I'm so pleased with our entries and the fact that we did this. We saw so many beautiful and creative entries. They may do a hat contest next time--we'll be there.

Setta's Spectacular Shoes

Next, here's is Tessa's entry. She switched elements of a sporty shoe and a dressy shoe. Of course, I'm proud of hers too, and I know she was really happy with it.

Nouveau Posh

Well, the Stanly County Arts Guild is having a contest for art shoes called Art and Sole. We each submitted an entry. Here is Whitney with her entry entitled, "Nouveau Posh." She really had a good time decorating one of Tessa's old dress shoes. She used acrylic paint, a clay lady and a flower for decoration. She's pleased and I'm very proud of her entry. Our entries will be on display at the gallery downtown.

What's up with Eddie?

Well, over the last year or so, Eddie has been gradually getting more and more fit. Here he is at a triathlon in Wilmington back in April. He did great and wants to keep doing them. He's doing another one in 2 weeks and has been riding 16 miles on his bike regularly to train. Way to go Eddie--I'm so proud of you!

Counted Cross Stitch

This is one wall in our living room. The top is a counted cross stitch I finished when we first moved to North Carolina, and it won a Blue Ribbon at the Stanly County Fair. The one on the bottom is a cross stitch sampler done by my grandmother Mimi, Victoria Kopka, as a girl or teenager before she was married. Notice the similarity in that they both are of small cottages surrounded by flowers and trees. I'm so glad I thought to place them together.

Upside Down

This is the newest set of shelves in my craft room. Eddie and I took the wooden box valences off the windows in our bedroom. Ok, Eddie did the work, but it was my idea. Well, as he was bringing them outside he commented that they would make great shelves if turned upside-down. Well, he painted them Saturday during our yardsale, and then put them up on Sunday. In this case, it was his idea AND his muscle. I loved how they turned out. Now I have more storage, more room on my big counter, and a place to display some of our artwork. I LOVE them.

Bookmark Card

This is a card I made that has a removable bookmark. It's stamped on a glossy, white tag. The small stamp that I used over and over says "Friend to Friend". It's the first time I stamped on glossy paper. I was pleased with the results.

Cardattash

The other day Tessa came and asked me, "Mom, what's a cardattash?" Now, I have a fairly decent vocabulary, but I'd never heard of a cardattash. After a few questions we figured it out. There's a song out there that goes like this, "And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew, you would see the biggest gift would be from me, and the CARD ATTACHED would say: thank you for being a friend." It's the theme song for The Golden Girls. Maybe they're watching too much Hallmark Channel. When they were up North visiting Sue and Mom, that seemed to be the best show they could all watch together. Those kids' stations are mostly filled with crap these days.