Is it just me or is blogging a million times better with pictures?!?!

Pictures just make blogging so much more interesting. I can't tell you how relieving it is to have the camera charger back in its place.

As promised here are the majority of things that came home with me from shipshewana :) I only regret that the charger wasn't found until after we got back :(

Sue *MIL* picked this gorgeous stencil up at Yoder's for me
We happily share with each other, there's a lot less buying multiples
well except for fabric :)

Elizabeth *BFF* Picked this up at Yoder's for me
I had picked it out and between her and suzie I
wasn't allowed to by anything from Yoders.
I kinda Love that! Is that bad?

More stencils: Sue got the 3 butterflies from Yoders
I picked up the top boarder design and the flower/star/thingy at Lolly's

Sue surprised me with both of these from Lolly's
She got the same for herself to that way when
we quilt together we have our own

Sue (Are you seeing yet that I have the nicest and most amazing
Mommy-in-law ever yet?) got a set for me and a set for herself
so we can both practice our free motion quilting.
Jury is still out on if they work for us yet or not.

Hahahah, My bestie surprised me with this from
one of the tables at the quilt show.
It's pretty accurate ; )

My bestie got this for me to, I've been wanting one
alot and she got tired of listening to me go
back and forth. Lol not my intention since
I would have got it eventually but I'm not complaining.

I picked this up at Lolly's. I don't usually buy patterns since most of them
are easily simplified into a few blocks.
This one just caught my eye and my DH loved it and I can't free
hand designs for applique to save my life!

This we picked up at the Quilt show for my DH *Nick*.
He loves music and this is made of Zebra wood from
Africa, how neat is that!

E got me the black and purple hand quilting thread.
I picked up the needles and a spool of Auri-fil to try out
I keep hearing good things but have never tried it.

I picked this up at Lolly's. It's going to be the pop of color
in the pattern above for Nick. He picked it out and we
both think it will look neat on top of the black and white pieced
background.

I picked both of these up at Little bit of Lolly's
The brighter one on the left is the backing for the hexie quilt
The darker one on the left is the backing for a panel of a moose for my
Uncle Doug, who happens to be Aunt Gracie's hubby so I want
him to have something for him since she's getting the black and white
Quilt for their room.



I got both of these at Little bit of Lolly's to! I just love that shop!
I fell in love with the one on the left and want that for a backing and border.
The one on the right goes so well with it that I'm thinking of getting a neutral-ish color and making
an irish chain to focus on the border and backing more!

If you know of a pattern that will show off the fabric more please comment and let me know about it! Nothing is set in stone, I just Love that fabric!

I hope you enjoyed some of the pretties from Shipshewana :)

I g/g DH and Payton are calling me to hurry up they want to go! Talk to you later.

Amazing Birthday Trip!

Shipshewana was so much fun yesterday! There was so much to do and see. We walked around and explored for 7 hours! First thing we did was go to the Quilt show, all the beautiful quilts just amaze me. I did get Aunt Gracie's quilt appraised and should get that in the mail in two weeks, can't wait! That also means the binding got finished in time to lol talk about waiting to the last miniute! Nick, Sue and Elizabeth all seemed to have fun to :) I'll post about the pretties that came home tomorrow because........ I found the camera charger!!!!!! Went on a cleaning spree today and yup the cats had batted it under a chair to the far back. Sooo that is charging as we speak and I can snap pictures of the pretties later.

We had lunch at the Blue Gate Resturaunt, amazing food! They have the yummiest home made peanut butter you'll ever try. We bought two jars of it..... and forgot it..... I called when we realized which was after we got home lol and they could ship it but  that would cost more than the peanut butter itself! The nice people refunded our money and hopefully we'll remember it next time we go. That was actually the only not so great thing of the day everything else was perfect.

Oh my the quilt stores.... can we say heaven? I think the quilt area in Yoder Department Store is my all time favorite! The layout is amazing, color coded, things are easily found and the people that work there are so nice and helpful. I just love going in there. We went into Yoder's last, if we went first I'd have been broke before we stepped foot anywhere else.

We also went to Lolly's which is located in a big 3 story (4 including the "basement" floor) mall type building. It's almost overwhelming seeing so many different fabrics to oogle all at once! Went a floor lower to a Little bit of Lolly's which is an entire shop of only fabric that is brought down from Lolly's and priced at 7.95 a yard no matter the origional price *which is always 2 or more dollars higher*. Now the fabric in a Little Bit of Lolly's is not just the things that didn't sell, it is entire lines of fabric, there are Batiks and Civil War and Shabby Chic all organized. There are Brights and Kids and an entire wooden canoe filled with FQ's with benches along it to sit and pick to your content. Both stores are amazing but for some reason I always to to A Little Bit of Lolly's first ;)

When in this mall type building we shopped through almost every store (aside from the quilt show we spent most of our time here). They have everything! I'm just in love with the entire town. Everyone is super amazing, helpful, and nice. This place is Amish country, just so you get an idea of the look. The buildings are built amazingly. You have to drive carefully because there are horse and buggy's wherever you look. Honestly, it adds so much to the experience and the handmade things are built so much better than what you find in the major stores :) We end up buying so much when we are there because of the quality, wish we had more to spend this time!!! Then again I always do lol.

After each stop we'd load up the car and head to the next, the poor trunk was packed! Not all of it was purchased though, I knew E had worked a 12 hr shift the night before and didn't get any sleep before we left so there was a big pillow and comforter in there to so she could grab it if she wanted to nap on the way there and home.

I finally spilled the beans on the Hexi Quilt. Mostly because I thought the top would be done by now and I didn't want her to think I didn't get her anything. It's for the best Mommy-in-Law a girl could have :) Hopefully I can get a move on and get it finished soon! If not then she's still getting seperate x-mas gifts cuz the hexi quilt is for her b-day!!!

Happy Quilting -  I'll post the pretties tomorrow after the camera charges!

Happier things for today :)

I know the last couple posts have been outraged and downers. Our entire family is still upset but aside from this quick update I am gonna try to not dwell and let it overtake my blog! It's been on Fox 59 news at 10 twice now (they update more info today) and two papers have picked it up. So it is being heard about and cannot be ignored! Since I can't change what happened I'm choosing to look at the good that can come after the bad. If you have any questions feel free to ask but for blogging today that's all I'll poston that! :)

Payton had a blast at tennis today :) He's healing up very well and I am proud to report I think/hope he has learned something because he is much more cautious when thinking about doing some of his crazy antics! *Huge grin here* I just hope it sticks :)

Tomorrow is going to be a new experience entirely. I hope this isn't TMI but, going to get my legs waxed (I hear it could keep em smooth for up to 6 weeks, so worth the 20 bucks) So we shall see how that bit of torture goes ;) After that there's going to be a day at the pool formyself, kiddo, and Elizabeth!!! Not going to get a lick of quilting done but this will be the first day of summer that we are in water, well worth it, especially since we have to drive 30 min to get to said water!

E and I are planning a cleaning spree tomorrow after pool..... so naturally I'm cleaning as mcuh as I can tonight so there's less tomorrow lol Not a fan of cleaning on a regualar day let alone after hours in the sun and water getting wiped out :P

Aunt Gracie's quilt may need another go round on the binding, I found a little spot that it caught the batting but missed the backing by just a hair. Think I may go around with a zig-zag to sturdy it up and catch that spot, which also does the job of double checking anything i may have missed!

Not much on the hexie front, been on a machine stint and fiddling with the layout a bit more.

That's all for the moment, wish me luck in finding that pesky camera charger as I clean. This posting without pictures (except those "borrowed" from facebook) is getting old very quickly!

Updated info on Uncle James.. Warning... pictures of the damage may be upsetting

On the last post there was a bit of misinformation, which I found out in the police report today.

Uncle Jim was not tazed twice, he was tazed 4 times. He was sitting in a chair in his room calmed down when they entered and ordered him to go lay down on the cot.... remember this is an advanced alzheimers patient in a locked down part of a nursing home.... he got up and walked past the cot toward an officer with a closed fist, he did not swing a them. A cop pulled out his tazer and repeatedly ordered him to the cot or he would be tazed. The nursed even told the cops he's an advanced alzheimers patient, he doesn't understand. He was tazed for walking "menacingly" towards the cops with a closed fist and not following orders that he couldn't understand. After being tazed he struggled with the cop trying to cuff him, I assume because he did not understand why he was being hurt. That struggle was because the officers were ordering him to roll over onto his stomach.... again he could not understand what they wanted. After being tazed 4 times the cops decided that they should just cuff his hands in front of him..... Then proceded to put him on the cot and strap him down so he could not move to take him to the hospital.

The worst two pictures are at the bottom so those who do not want to see them can see the one's that are not as bad. There was one more picture taken but, I chose not to post it because even if he doesn't know I don't want to embarass him.

I don't know how well his black eye shows up in this one
I think it might be so much in shadow.

what good did this do anyone?

tazer mark

I was not there so can't explain every single mark, I can
give a good guidline and many are from struggling.

tazer mark

all the little bits add up to one very
abused alzeimers patint :(

This is what their cuffs did to his poor hands.
It ripped skin off they had to glue it back on and
bandage it.

cuff marks on the other hand

Sickened and Outraged

In the wee hours of this morning, my Uncle James was tazed by two cops. They Tazed a 64 year old man with Alzheimers in a locked Alzheimers unit Twice! He got startled when a male CNA came in his room, this disoriented him and he got combative. He did swing and hit but left no bruises. The EMT's were called, as is standard procedure since nursing homes are not allowed to restrain residents without doctors orders and this is not a normal reaction for my Uncle just so you know. The EMT's gave him a shot of some med and had him almost completely calmed down when the police arrived, which is also standard when the EMT's are called, seeing the cops agitated him again and instead of leaving or allowing the EMT's to do their job two seperate cops tazed him instead of attempting to restrain him or attempting anything else they Tazed him. I am infuriated as is all of our family and friends. James is not an angry alzheimers patient but he does get very confused when everything is dark and oftent mistakes large shapes at night for burglars, It's much worse with men. I can't even look at the pictures taken, it's sickening :(

On top of Tazing him they tightened the handcuffs to the point that he has huge blood whelts and cuts on them and they had to take him to the E.R. to control the bleeding and glue skin back onto the top of his hands where it ripped off. He looks like he has been through hell, and really he has. His wife, who only put him in a nursing home when he required 24 hr care that she just couldn't provide due to his all hours wandering, has already contacted the chief of police and one of his daughters has contacted the Indy News. I have no idea what any of this will accomplish, my personal opinion is that I want the two officers gone. I wouldn't trust them with my protection or those of anyone I love. The only answer she gets is "we will conduct a full investigation"... I'm not going to be quiet on this matter because this has to change. Most of all I am going to Pray for my Uncle to recover from this and Pray it never happens again...... if it does many in my family may be in need of bail money lol

Uncle Jim and his Sister-in-Law, my Aunt Gracie
Last year around Festival time.

Updates on.... well everything :)

I just realize I never updated on..... well anything!!! Sorry about that :) Might be a bit lengthy, it's been a long few days!

Payton's doc appointment went well. It doctor is not recommending the procedure, he also isn't recommending against it! What that means is from his standpoint there is not enough of a medical reason to do it. I asked about how it affecting the growth of his teeth, he said it could be a valid reason and I should follow up with a dentist since he knows nothing about that lol. All I have to do, after the dentist appointment if we end up deciding to have his tongue clipped is call and make the appointment.

Why have I not made the dentist appointment you ask? Well.... (Friday) at Payton's last T-ball game of the season he decided to play tarzan after the game. Climbed up to the top of the bleachers (Only 5 rows high on these ones so only about to the waist of an adult) and swing on the branch of the tree growing near it. The branch did not break actually he let go to late, lost his footing and busted his face on two of the bleacher steps :(  He is fine for the most part. He has a bruise on his forhead (the goose egg went down quickly and left it) and he busted the inside of his top lip which turned into a canker sore and his lip is still a bit swollen. I'm waiting for it to go down before scheduling the dentist.

Then Saturday (yes there's more...) when we were over at my cousin Jay's house. I was chatting with Brit while the kids played. He swears he has no idea how it happened. He stabbed his leg with some type of woodchip :( No idea where it came from or when he did it but it was pretty deep, I'd say at least a 1/2 inch. We cleaned it up and put a band aid on it but it's looking a bit angry today. More red and swollen than yesterday. I didn't see anything in it and nothing has came out so I can't wait until his allergy shots on Monday so I can have the doc double check him over..... for everything.

I know kids will be kids but people around here are going to think I'm beating this kid if he doesn't ease up! I hate seeing him hurt but I can't put him in a bubble and protect him from everything either... tempting as it may be lol

I'm trying to get as much done on the hexi quilt as I can but I'm going to have to put it on hold for a day here soon so I can finish the binding on the black and white quilt. I have an appointment this Saturday to have it appraised!!! I'm excited to see what something I've made is worth, and it'll be useful for my Aunt Gracie to have a replacement cost for her insurance.

45 days (including weekends) until Sue retires!! I know this number is different than what was posted last time.... I was going by what she was. I can't do that because it confused me as she explained it lol she didn't include weekends or her vacation days (that she's not planning to use lol) So she retires on July 31st.... I'm just going to count down to that :)

Yesterday was my sister's *Domonique who is expecting her second child actually* birthday. Tomorrow is my BFF Elizabeth's birthday and then on the 20th it's sue's birthday. Mine is the 23rd but honestly I'm more excited about Shipshewana than a birthday!

Are you still with me? Great! Now for the most important part of today's blogging, an introduction to the newest member of my already massive family! My cousin Kristen just had her beautiful daughter!

Meet Miss Elaine Anne Marie Mcpherson 7lbs 12.5 oz. 20 1/2 in. long :)
We have been calling her Lainey as her nickname.

Lainey is a doll, I'll get more picturs soon
she's only a couple hours old here!

Here's kristien and Lainey :)

I know this blog was a bit lengthy, sorry about that! I need to charge my camera and get back to business! Hope you all have a great weekend :)

Countdown!

My M-I-L is counting down the days until her retirement :)  22 days left! I personally can't wait til my favorite quilting buddy is free to hang out.

This is Sue my Mommy-in-law and the best quilting buddy ever!

I am counting down to June 23rd. Not simply because it's my birthday but because we are going to Shipshewana, IN for a quilt show!!!! My Mom and  Dad took me there last year and it was so much fun that I've been begging (shamelessly I might add lol) for months to go again this year. While my Mom and Dad can't make it :( they offered to watch Payton since he isn't a fan of long trips or lots of shopping.

My Dad helping pick out FQ's last year :)

At the meet and greet last year
mom was with us to but wasn't feeling well so I promised not to post the pictures
but you can see a bit of her face in the above pic :P

However, my wonderful Husband, Best Friend, and Mother in Law can! My Cousin-in-law (who happens to be my cousin's better half ) might be able to go as well depending on if she can find a sitter for her 3 kids.

So, lots of counting down here lately :P

Meanwhile, Payton had his doc appointment at Riley Hospital today. Nothing serious just a consultation for clipping his tounge (sounds worse than it is, he's tounge tied and can't stick his tounge out so they would be clipping the little thingy under it really and said the max recovery from any discomfort is a couple days)

We were told the two main reasons they will do the procedure is:
    1) infant cannot nurse do to it - not really an issue here lol
    2) Causes speach impedement - also not an issue since we have spent alot of time working on that.

So the only other thing we need to do is make a dentist appointment and see if being tongue tied will cause any dental problems. Since it's easier and less painful to have this procedure done than have him endure a year or more of braces later. So it is not something we have to do as of right now depending on how the dentist appointment goes.

The only downside to the procedure is that they have to put him under.... it should only take 10 min. to finish the clipping completely but having him under general anestesia is cause for worry because you just don't know if they will have any kind of reaction or not.

From Left to Right
Korbin, Corey, Kendall

Brit (brittany) is my cousin-in-law, I just adore getting to hang out with her
our kids love playing together which is a bonus! I hope she gets to go!

Quilty Update:

All the flowers are finished for the hexie quilt! I just need to decide on a layout and maybe make some diamond designs to fill in some extra space.... not sure I'll try to get a couple layouts posted in the next couple days and see what you think.

Super Busy Week!!!

Yesterdy we had tennis practice in the morning and a T-ball game in the evening
Today we had the appointment a rileys (an hour and a half away) and a T-ball game tonight
Tomorrow We have tennis practice in the morning and hopefully cleaning the rest of the day, this place needs some TLC lol!!!

Hexagon Mania!!!

These flowers have been going together so much faster than those first few :) I decided this first hexi quilt will have 16 flowers on the front and the ugly one will go on the back for sure. I only have 4 left to make!!! After that I will start adding the black hexies between and on the boarder. Planning on  using the extra hexies as a scrappy boarder between rows of black.

Without further ado here they are :)

Here are the finished ones.

Here is a sample of them against a black background.
Already have most of the hexies in this background basted and ready but, didn't lay them out.
The cats don't understand not to lay on them :)

Relieved - now back to our regularly scheduled quilting.

Payton's doctor appointment today went better than expected. I was assured his bout of stomach sickness was from the meds and he was pronounced 100% healthy boy! A bit confused because of his untypical lack of energy, doc reminded me that sometimes illness takes a bit out of kids and may take some extra time to work back up to normal...... Good point doc I appreciate the reminder (that was not sarcasm I was actually glad for it since the thought hadn't even crossed my mind).

Payton was excited, until he realized that ment he was getting his allergy shots still lol. He did great though no tears and hardly an ow. He perked up once he realized that ment he gets to go to tennis tomorrow and his t-ball game the day after.

While my boy has been down I haven't been able to accomplish much housekeeping. He tends to be a bit clingy and wants me close, I'm not complaining mind you :) Kids movies are not that bad... really... and I got some hand work done on the hexies while we hung out and watched movies.

Here's what I have so far :)

Finished

Close-up of Finished

 You see the one on the far left.... I call that one the Ugly Duckling because it did not come out looking good! lol It may end up on the back somewhere. If you count I have 17 total finished and unfinished while I only need 16 for what I have in mind  (Yes this is way less than the hexies I have based and the ones I have yet to baste...... Yes there will be a second hexie quilt in the works lol)

Layed out but not yet sewn together

Payton must be feeling like he's on a rollercoaster!

Apparently, I typed to soon yesterday. About 2:30 this morning we went backwards. Poor guy emptied his stomach all over the bed :( Got him fixed up and settled back to sleep quick as I could and then finished cleaning up and getting laundry in about 4 this morning. Needless to say we slept in a bit this morning. Did have to make a quick trip to the tennis court to get him signed up for summer tennis but Payton had to stay in the car and couldn't play today (he actually agreed that he didn't feel up to playing today, surprised me!).

Honestly, I can't wait for his doc appointment tomorrow. It makes me nervous to have a sick child get worse while taking his meds.... Although, if he starts running a fever, I'm taking him to the E.R. cuz something is up!

On the agenda today:

Veg out on the couch with my little man and watch movies
Keep getting him to drink lots of liquids
Board games if he's feeling like it
Cleaning when he sleeps

Update on Little Guy :)

Payton is doing a bit better today. He's still using his inhalor every 4 hrs for coughing and wheezing, working on his antibiotics and doc perscribed cough meds. He is actually up and playing around a bit, not as much as normal but more than the last couple days :)

As you can see lol he's happy but not 100%. It's kind of funny how it shows him about perfect right now, and yes he is running around in pajama pants and no shirt. He has an adverse reaction to clothes anytime possible lol I want him to wear them..... he doesn't. So we compromise :)

Still no fever and his throat is a bit better so hopefully we've avoided Strepp Throat if nothing else.

Update: Payton's Doctor Appointment

So far it is not Strepp Throat! Hooray! He heard wheezing in his chest and this throat is very red but, the strepp test was negative and he isn't running a fever. So he has to use an inhaler for a week, an antibiotic and a cough med! We just became a pharmacy lol. I'm so glad that I trusted my instinct this time instead of assuming I was overreacting :) He'll go back Tuesday for a check-up the same time he goes for his allergy shots. All in all not as bad as I thought but not as good as I hoped.

It's going to be a weird week!

Hopefully, there will be more headway on quilting this month! Payton is on summer vacation so there is more wiggle room in our schedule and he'll be able to play with friends some to! This point vaguely leads me into a story......

Wednesday was payton's last day of school, so we were planning on making burgers on the grill and having a mini cook-out to celebrate. That did not happen.... we were out of propane, apparently forgot to get a new tank at the end of last year lol. So we invited his cousin Corey over to stay the night instead. Now Corey's little sister, Kendall, had a bad case of Strepp Throat not long ago and is on some antibiotics for it. I knew this and asked to see how Corey was before we invited him over, It had been about a week and there was not even a hint of symptoms, they said. So on with the evening we went :) I have to agree with Corey's parents, he was a happy, heathly, energetic kid. Just like Payton, so imagine all of our surprise when Brit took all 3 of her kids in for their allergy shots and was informed Corey has Strepp Throat!!! AHHHHH!!!!! Not good, because yesterday and today Payton has been acting off. He's not wanting to eat, not wanting to play but, is insisting he feels fine and says his throat doesn't hurt even though he's quickly aquiring that nasty scratchy cough....

Off to the doctor's office we go today @ 1:45. I have to say though, if he has something it is most likely not from Corey because as often as this house is infected with Strepp Throat (well not me as often since my Tonsil's were removed when I was a teenager) we know that it usually takes 7-10 days for it to manifest ( yup, I'm going with manifest since I can't think of any other word right now lol). I'm hoping it's a simple sinus thing that will clear up quickly but not ruling anything out til the doc see's him.

Ok, story over and getting back to the point of the post!

This is not going to be a wierd week due to possible looming illness, it's going to be a weird week because I'm not used to being alone during the day without my mom to visit! My MIL left for 2 weeks to go to South Carolina to visit her Daughter, Son-In-Law, and 3 Granddaughters that live there. She has been gone a week today. (I'm looking forward to her getting home next week cuz my Mommy-in-law rocks and is the best quilting buddy every, yup that's right my MIL taught me to quilt and we get along great! I'm not gloating just giving props to an amazing lady.) Well, this morning at 5:30 A.M. my Mom and Dad left for a weeks vacation! A couple days in Florida, to visit Grandma Berry (My Dad's mom) and the rest of the week in Atlanta, GA to visit Aunt Brenda (One of my Mom's sisters). They will probably get back Friday to since my Dad is a trucker and will leave out early Sunday morning.

What are we going to do all week! I'm so used to going with my MIL every Sunday to quilt at Sally's and going to my Mom's to have a cup of coffee and visit every morning after Payton goes to school! Luckily Payton loves to sleep in if I let him so I guess this week's mantra will be....

Sleep In, Clean, Quilt, and Play with Payton!!! *Not necessarily in that order*

Are you still with me? Really?!?! I'm shocked, I tend to ramble on you know ;) I did make a block this week, finished clue 2 for the mystery train on the Quilting Board and still working on hexie flowers. We have a graduation to go to tomorrow, which will depend on if Payton has what I dread. Then, a birthday party coming up on the 9th.