End of October already!

Wow hard to believe - on a couple levels. My DSS has lived to see his 17th birthday for one. He has given us lots of heartache and disappointment in the past year. Hoping someday soon everything will "click" and he will wake up to be the great kid we know he can be. DH says he is too much like his mother..lol. I believe that but DH had his rebellious days from what I hear. :)

Tomorrow is one of the most fun days to have a 7 year old in the house. He can't wait to be Spiderman. Tonight is pumpkin carving and cupcake baking for tomorrow's class party. The pumpkin carving is being left to me so it will be a very simple design. Was hoping to carve them over the weekend while DS #1 was home but that like all weekends lately, we ran out of time.

I did accomplish getting two Santa hats done for The Preemie Project. I used Tracy's Christmas hat design. Thank you Tracy. Much faster hat design than the others. I feel it is a better size for the Preemie's also. More on those with pictures later. I also had a Bead Retreat. I held it at my office (big conference room table) which worked much better than my little kitchen table would've also we didn't interrupt the game & race. I think I've found a new hobby. Beading. I love jewelry but hate paying the big prices. Now I can design my own stuff. It is also much faster than knitting. I'm thinking quicker gifts! DH better watch out at the craft stores now..lol

Better get back to my paying job and I will have pictures after tomorrow!

Hike at Starved Rock

This is the time of year I love my drive to work.
I drive this road to and from work and get to enjoy the scenery that people drive for days to see. (They call me for information that is how I know :) )

This is a special trip tho.. DH is with me and we are about to go hiking in St. Louis Canyon. We are entering Starved Rock State Park.

This is the path we hiked. I don't remember that tree that fell across the path. Luckily it is high enough most adults can walk under it with out ducking.

This is the South Canyon wall. The big rocks are part of the wall that has fallen.











Me resting on a rock. This hike woke me up to just how out of shape I really am. Think I better start working out on the treadmill before I hit the couch to knit :)

This is one of the better pictures of the waterfall. It was so dark it was hard to get a good picture. Told DH we have to come back in the winter when the waterfall is all ice. I enjoy the canyon hike in the winter. You can see so much more of the canyon when the leaves are gone and you can see the animal tracks in the snow.

DH enjoyed our hike and time alone together. Being the parents to 5 boys that kind of time is hard to come by. Next time maybe we will even include the boys.

So So Busy!

I've been so busy I haven't had a minute to get on here. Last week was the auction. ANyone hwo knows me knows that part of August all of September and most of October are consumed by "The Auction". For those who don't know.. this is the main fundraiser of the year for my office. I work for a not for profit Economic Development organization - also the Chamber of Commerce for the Illinois Valley Area. This helps pay my salary so I have to be all consumed with it. We had a recordbreaking year this year! We hoped to surpass our $30,000 goal and we did we are $30 and change short of $35K. Which is an all time high! This was our silver anniversary (25th). We celebrated with Sparkling Grape Juice and donuts at yesterday morning's Executive Committee meeting. Champagne would've been nice.. but not at 8:30 on a tuesday morning.... when you have to work the rest of the day.

IN other news....... on Thursday (auction day) my brother who had had nerve damage in his back, went to "the spine specialist" @ Northwestern Memorial in Chicago. He was admitted imeddiately and told he needed surgery as soon as they could get him in. He was shocked and a bit freaked out.. but he knew this is the answer to what is needed to correct the problem. He had another MRI and waited.. he had his surgery yesterday and is doing great. I tried to call him earlier and he wasn't in his room so mom and I assume he was in therapy. His thigh muscles were so bad he could hardly walk. He had been sent home from work about a month ago and had been walking with a cane.. he will be 42 on Nov. 1st. Way too young to have a cane. He ended up having a ruptured disk in his neck. So that was all fixed and he is on the road to recovery.. it may be a long one but we all have our fingers crossed that this is the answer to the many prayers.

I also have been getting things ready for the "Fall Festival" friday night at little guys school. I have to man a booth for a half hour.. my neice is going to take him around while I'm stuck in the booth. I also am making cakes for the cake walk and getting things ready for the class party on Halloween. DH will be taking the treats in for that. I have been crocheting an afghan for my DS and working on a pair of socks. Need to regraft the toe on the finished sock as it looks funny. I keep the sock project in the car for lunch time knitting and the afghan at home as it is finally getting "there" so it is larger by the day. I'm hoping to finish it by Christmas but I'm not sure..... not many homemade gifts this year. I've been doing more things for Charity. I feel horrible because I haven't done anything for Camp Square Crew in awhile and do some for Preemie Project Michigan as I blogged earlier.

Photos from hiking trip soon!

Fall is here... altho you can't tell by the weather.

These are the hats I've made for the fall donation for Preemie Project in Michigan.
I was hoping to get more finished but as you can see in the next picture, I've been busy with another project.

This is the baby blanket and lace beanie hat I made for DH step daughter. This is a daughter that came along with his first wife. She had a baby girl today. Mom & baby are doing well, Daisha (sounds like day-sha, also not sure on exact spelling) arrived a couple weeks early and weighed in at 6 pounds 6 oz and 19 inches. I'm sure pictures will follow as soon - altho DH upset the ex by saying he wasn't technically a Grandpa. We havent' seen mom in almost 4 years to explain my DH attitude toward the whole thing. Babies are always a blessing no matter the circumstances. I just hope they like what I'm sending.

Tonight was open house at school for lil dude. We had fun. He enjoyed showing me his work and all of his papers around the classroom. He was also thrilled when he got the book he wanted from the book fair! He is disappointed about not being able to watch the Cubs playoff game as it starts after his bedtime. Thank god for DVR's. :) I told him I don't think daddy will make it to the end either. Go CUBS!!