Mountain Musings

Wordless Wednesday

~Sarah

Giveaway Over at The Muncks Quiver

Our blogging friends, the Munck family, are having a Summer Giveaway to celebrate 700 posts. Congratulations, The Muncks Quiver!

Why not go over and congratulate them and enter for this beach towel and sunscreen. They'll even monogram it for you. If I win, I think "Ethan" would look great stitched on it, don't you?

Tell them you found out about it here at Mountain Musings.

~Deb

58

1. I love quilts...but you probably already knew that from reading the blog.

2. I have several quilts in various stages of completion. Why can't I start and finish one at a time before beginning another one? Any other quilters do the same thing?

3. My Bernina is one of my favorite and most used purchases.

4. My Canon Rebel camera ranks right up there, too.

5. I love taking pictures of everything to document life...I just wish I could take better pictures.

6. Each member of our family has their own camera. Hannah and I probably use ours the most.

7. Next month I hope to take lots of pictures.

8. Our 30th wedding anniversary is in August--time to fill up the camera card.

9. Today Tom and I are going to apply for passports!!

10. We have no clue yet where the passports will take us.

11. I think planning a trip is part of the fun. We'd better get with it!

12. I L-O-V-E to travel.

13. For our 25th anniversary we traveled to the Grand Canyon. It was our first time out West, and we loved it!

14. I've always wanted to own a Bed and Breakfast.

15. A friend gave me some good advice one time. She said we already have a Bed and Breakfast, and we get to choose our guests.

16. I liked her logic and have since concentrated on blessing friends here rather than running a business.

17. Sarah makes the best Stuffed French Toast when we have overnight guests.

18. When the girls have their own homes, I'm not sure I'll be able to function in my own kitchen. Unfortunately, I'm not kidding!

19. I'm not much of a shopper...unless it's in a quilt shop.

20. I posted one of these lists almost 5 years ago. You can read it here. I thought I would never come up with 20 things about me.

21. Our four children were born in 4 1/2 years.

22. Too bad I didn't have Sarah's cloth diapers during those busy Huggies' years. 

23. I look forward to having lots of grandchildren, Lord willing.

24. I would like for them to live close by so I can get to know them.

25. I think family is important.

26. I turned over in a canoe once when Tom and I were engaged.

27. I haven't gotten into a canoe since...and don't plan on it ever again.

28. One year for my birthday Tom planned a rafting trip for the family on the Shenandoah River. 

29. The trip brought back canoe memories for me...but with only Class 1 and 2 rapids it was safe enough for me to enjoy it.

30. After my recent trip to the hospital, I don't want to see the inside of one again any time soon.

31. My sister and I were in the hospital at the same time to have our tonsils removed. I was 13, and she was 9. I still remember all the ice cream we were allowed to have.

32. I always wanted to be a Candy Striper.

33. Who knows...maybe one day I'll be one of those senior citizens who volunteers at the local hospital.

34. I love hearing wind chimes.

35. The wind blows so much where we live that we often have to take our chimes down before they blow down.

36. I like to collect things: Noah's Arks, cows, sunflowers, birdhouses, frogs, angels, American primitive flags...now I focus mainly on collecting fabric.

37. Growing up, we went to the Great Smoky Mountains on vacation every summer.

38. I loved the mountains and am so glad the Lord placed us where we are so I can see the mountains every time I look outside.

39. I wear Crocs 24-6. On Sundays I take them off for a few hours.

40. Back in the early 90s when Tom first suggested getting a computer, I thought it was a crazy idea and that we should save the money.

41. Saying I'm quite attached to my laptop is an understatement.

42. A couple of years ago when Tom gave me a Blackberry I wondered why in the world I would need something like that.

43. I love it when I can check email the instant it comes in on my Blackberry. Saying I'm quite addicted would be accurate.

44. I'm beginning to think my husband has some great ideas.

45. I love making lists and crossing things off the lists.

46. I like meeting new people and making new friends.

47. I've been up in a hot-air balloon and loved it.

48. Something I would love to learn how to do: make soap.

49. I love campfires and S'mores...but not camping.

50. I'm not a fan of going to the mall and only go once or twice a year...when the free gifts are available for Estee Lauder.

51. I've never skied in my life. I think that might be more dangerous than canoeing.

52. I have no recollection of my grandparents. That's one reason I would like to know my grandchildren.

53. I haven't mentioned yet that I love flowers...but that's something else that's well known if you've read the blog for any length of time.

54. Coneflowers and yarrow are two of my favorite flowers.

55. Spring has overtaken fall as my favorite season...mainly because of flowers.

56. I don't really like surprises because I like to know what's going on. But everyone gets a thrill out of surprising me because it's hard to do.

57. C-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-e is one of my favorite words in the English language.

58. Today's my birthday! And I made it to the end of this list. Now that's reason to celebrate!

~Deb

How Does She Think Up This Stuff Anyway??

Well, there's still some time left on this April Fool's Day. What other surprises remain in store for us, I wonder?

If you're familiar with the "fun" we've experienced in past years on this particular day, then you know what the title of this post means!

Sarah, our sweet and charming daughter, has been up to her unbelievable tricks again. Here's what I encountered when I woke up this morning:

Help! I can't walk down the hall! And if you think all I had to do was shuffle through and knock the cups down...then you don't know the rest of the story. Each cup was half full of water! Ack!

She also put salt on my toothbrush and switched the anti-bacterial kitchen soap pump for honey and corn syrup! I thought something was wrong with that soap all day long!

Pranks pulled on Dad:

• rice in his slippers
• two dresser drawers had his clothing switched
• the bed was short-sheeted (that's what he'll find tonight!)
• Vaseline on the garage doorknob when he came in from work
• salt on his toothbrush

Pranks pulled on Jonathan:

• switched the flavors in the Pop-Tart boxes
• tape covered his car keyhole
• Vaseline on garage doorknob
• salt on his toothbrush
• plastic wrap across his bedroom doorway at face level
• bottom of the wireless mouse covered with paper so it wouldn't function

Pranks pulled on Hannah:

• toilet paper had messages written at various intervals: "Help!" "I'm stuck!" "Don't hurt me!"
• salt on her toothbrush
• her mouse was also covered with paper on the bottom so it wouldn't work

Pranks pulled on Granny:

• Vaseline on her bedroom doorknob
• Small square of wax paper inside her toasted sandwich at lunch (which failed because Granny spotted it before she bit down into it. Aww!)

Okay, so you ask...does anyone play tricks on Sarah?

Granny put sugar in Sarah's water glass this morning, and Hannah put an orange peel with a smiley face on it in the same water glass; also Hannah stuck some pins down inside Sarah's chair cushion at the table...Sarah never noticed.

But this was the joke of the day:

Remember those fried apple pies that Granny makes? She made a special one just for Sarah tonight.

That doesn't look like apples!! No....it's cotton!!! And Granny fried it right inside her homemade dough!

Now can you guess who passed on some mischievous genes to Sarah?  We've had a very fun day!

If you missed some previous years' April Fool's Day posts see the links below:

• Hey, Who's the Sneaky Trickster? ~ April, 2008
• Shenanigans ~ April, 2009
  

What shenanigans went on at your house today?

~ Deb

Graceful Designs Giveaway

Warmer days are finally here in Virginia, so are you ready for a SPRING giveaway? I am eager for this season to get underway, especially making my way outside to the garden! What better way to start off spring with a bang than by a giveaway! Go to my blog to find out how you can sign up to win products from Graceful Designs, as well as earn extra chances by passing on the news about the giveaway to your friends.

 

Graceful Designs carries a colorful array of unique nature stationery which can help get you in the mood for the spring days ahead. Sending one of these greeting or note cards is just the thing for spring birthdays, Mother's Day, or other special and everyday occasions. The cards especially make lovely gifts, and remember, the photo cards can be frameable!

 

You have the chance to win several of these cards until March 31st when one winner's name will be drawn randomly. Open to those in the USA and Canada.

 

Happy Spring!

 

~Hannah

Project 365

This year I am participating in Project 365, the idea being to create one signature image every day, documenting your life over the course of a year. Mom reminded me of this photo "project" recently, so I decided to try it! She also hopes to attempt it along with me. We'll each be posting our photos to these photo albums and occasionally highlighting random days here on the blog.

Today's image:

Each year on January 1st as I review the past year's happenings, I transfer all the important dates and birthdays over to my brand new calendar. 

Hopefully, I will be able to keep this up each day, and it will be a little bit of motivation to develop creativity in my photography.

Keep an eye on our daily photo-journalistic undertaking via the buttons on the Mountain Musings sidebar, and feel free to make a comment when you see a day you enjoy!

~Hannah

Thursday Thirteen ~ Snowman Plate Collection

Since we love S-N-O-W so much around Mountain Musings, it's only natural that snowman plates would be fun items for us to collect! Here are 13 from our collection...

I love the Star Light, Star Bright snowman plate. It's one of my favorites! The snowflake napkin rings were purchased at Cracker Barrel, and the cute light bulb place tag was painted and given to our family by a friend years ago. (Instructions at end of post.)

Can you guess why I would love this next plate? It's a snowman with a red birdhouse and red birdies flying all around. Love it.
(The other 11 plates follow on the continuation page).

Fun and Games

Throughout the week the E's were in VA, our families managed to fit in plenty of game time. From Risk and Spoons to tennis and football, there was lots of laughter and exercise to be had.

Everyone had a chance to dust off their ping-pong skills.

Tennis at a local park was a much-anticipated activity. We filled all 3 courts and had some great matches.

The guys battled it out in a round of Risk. Jonathan was happy for some competition!

Dutch Blitz didn't quite have a total monopoly on our card-game playing--several intense games of Spoons are now captured on video. Hilarious times!

~Hannah

Final day: Shooting Skeet and Birthday Party

Happy-Scrappy Quilt Giveaway!

The ladies at Marie-Madeline Studio are giving away this colorful handmade quilt, created from some of the fun fabrics they use for their custom-sewn products! This twin-size "scrappy" quilt includes material from the Jennifer Paganelli collection. I have enjoyed the fabric I purchased from Marie-Madeline Studio for my red, white, and blue quilt that is still in progress. They are very pleasant to deal with as well.

The Long ladies have a great business going. Go enter their giveaway and browse their store!

~Hannah

Rise and Shine!

Updated with answers below.

We have another Girotti family quiz for you today! A commenter has asked us what we eat for breakfast - here's your chance to match each family member to their typical morning meal. Our eyes post sure seemed to be a hit, and so this is another post where you can find out how many of the nitty-gritty details of our lives you know. :) 

Guess which breakfast is whose! I'll update this post with the answers by noon tomorrow.

(Click to enlarge.)

And the answers are:

1. Deb - peanut butter toast, a peach, and chocolate milk.
2. Sarah - Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal with water on the side.
3. Tom - a bowl of Cheerios, homemade Grapenuts, and garden raspberries, with a granola bar and orange juice.
4. Hannah - plain yogurt with fresh berries, homemade whole wheat bread topped with peanut butter, bananas, and cinnamon, with water.
5. Jonathan - Pop-Tarts and milk. And can you believe he eats them cold?!

Aunt Toots is the only one to guess all of them correctly - looks like you were observant after all! Oh, and if anybody wants to come visit us, we always have a bigger and better breakfast for guests. Just so you know. :) 

~Sarah