Glad you got to take a little break and join us this morning. Looks like they are keeping your schedule pretty full, but that's probably a good thing. I'm sure the dogs do enjoy getting out when they can since they are not used to being cooped up. Especially the younger one.

Keep all those fun autumn things in mind for when you get back home so you can create something fun for us! ha I'm one to talk, I can't seem to find a minute to get any painting done. When the kids get back in school I hope I'll be able to start up Craft Wednesday again. :)

I too hope all the newbies here will continue to come by and post. It was so much fun last year when we had so much activity. I'm hoping for the holidays it will pick back up again.

I'm hoping to get some school shopping done today if DH got my van to start. Battery has been dead for 2 days. Tootle-loo and you have a marvelous day! ~Anj

Luvs~ what are you up to today?? ~Anj

Hi Anj, We are now in Branson. I'll have to tell you about our "adventurous" drive here when I have better internet. It's not very fast right now. ;o(

Had such a nice day Sunday. Most of my family showed up, except for oldest sister and some of her grown kids. Got to meet more great nephews--ages two to four, and just so cute. Made me miss my little GD even more tho.

GD is now going to pre school two days a week from 8 to 12. Can't wait to have her tell me all about it. Sure miss those little hugs.

We were going to stay here three nights, but have decided on only two so we can get headed back home. It is gorgeous here, lots of hills and trees--but humidity is at 90% so sort of hard on us. LOL Dogs are going crazy because there are lots of squirrels too--so they get all excited everytime they see one!

Have your little ones started school yet? Hope you had a sucessful school shopping trip.

Saw your painted items on gallery. They look great. I haven't broken out my paints on this trip so far, but did help my niece make 15 Jiffy Pops. I took pics to post when I get home.

Niece and SIL gave me a D. Dewberry book and some really neat Christmas ornaments. We really had a great time together. Played lots of dominoes and a game called Phase 10 that was fun. I'll have to find us one of those. Also have some new recipes that are yummy too--I'll share those when I get the chance too. One is an apple dip, and one is for meatballs that are sooo yummy.

Better get this sent before I have an internet glitch. Not getting the best reception here.

I'll talk to you soon. Luvs

Hey Luvs~ glad you got to check in. We only got the shoes bought yesterday so we are heading out again today. Just found out that the jr high starts at 7:45am!! The elementary school starts at 9am so we are used to the later hours so that's going to be a big change for us! That means mom has to get up even earlier. Bummer! ha And I'll be running back and forth to the schools at different times. Big sigh. There goes my full day of getting things done.

These little projects are about all I can churn out right now so they'll have to do. ha I really loved my saw!! I got tired of waiting around for DH to get a spot for it in the garage so I took it out on my back porch and used it. ha It has some kind of "pressure foot" on it that I couldn't figure out so I just took that part off so I need to actually read the instructions before I proceed again. But I will definitely be using it more from now on.

I look forward to seeing all your pics and hearing more stories of your adventures. :) Oh and the recipes!! I really need some new ones to pep up my repertoire! ha

The weather has really cooled off here. Don't know what you'll come back home to in CA. It's been downright chilly in the mornings and in the 80's all this week. Fall is sneaking in fairly quickly.

Ok, the kids are about ready to go finally so I'd better get my list and get out of here.

Hi Anj, That "foot" holds your piece of wood down so it won't "jump" while you are trying to cut it. You will probably want to figure out how to use it. Know you will have lots of fun learning to cut your own wood. I use lots of scrap wood. Love the ones that have that grey weathered look. I usually buy some of the 1/4 and 1/2 inch baltic birch plywood for the little detail pieces like arms or flowers and such that I glue on the piece for more detail.

I am pretty tired tonight. We are in Halbrook, Ariz. in a KOA park for the night. DH drove 12 hours today with only brief stops for gas or potty breaks for the dogs. He has lots of Union stuff going on, so wants to get back home asap. So much for a liesurely trip. LOL

It felt so good tonight to step out into warm DRY air again. The humidity really made it seem hotter than it was. August is just not a good time for traveling to that part of the country--would have been so much nicer a couple months from now. Unfortunately, the convention determined when we would have to go this time.

Hey, I'm just glad to see you able to paint anything since you are always so busy. You make me ashamed of myself! Maybe I can do better when I get back home. My SIL and Niece loved the signs I made for them, so that was good.

So are you going to have to be up at 5:30 everyday to get everyone off to school. That's a shame that you will have to make two trips each morning.

Got to check the other forum, and my email. I'll catch you later.

Luvs

Hey you... I've been checking in every day to see if there was any word from you. That is a long traveling day. To get to MS in 2 days from here we travel about 15 hrs a day. Last time with 4 kids all having to stop at different times it took us 3 days. ha I know you will be glad to get back home.

The heat is the reason we go back as early in spring as we can. We usually leave at the end of May and stay the first couple of weeks of June but only because that's when the kids get out of school and fall they are starting school. It's hot then, but not too hot for the kids who aren't used to it although Neleh did get sick last time going from the heat to the AC. They all keep their AC cranked up like a fridge. ha We have to take jackets to wear indoors. Funny.

Ok, I thought that was what the foot was for, but I just could not get it set right and the wood would go so far stop or the piece was smaller than the foot and I couldn't get to it to turn it like I needed to so I took it off. It did jump around a little, but I had it on the lowest speed. I'll try to see what DH did with my instructions. :) Thanks for the tips on the wood. Does the wood come in sheets for cutting out things like your little beach girl? What did you use for that? I have a Frankenstein I want to cut out.

I think after our test run at school yesterday I will only have to get up at 6am. Still early after summer hours, but I'll get used to it. I had to get a little nap in the afternoon cause I didn't get much sleep the night before. That's the kicker cause I don't usually get much sleep at night, but if I get up earlier that leaves more hours in the day for painting right? ha

Well, I'm glad you are almost home. Arizona is nice. I don't know if the grapefruit is in season there, but it's the sweatest you'll ever taste when they come right off the tree. More like eating an orange. Safe traveling today! ~Anj

Hi Anj, For the beach girl, I just cut her out of 3/4 inch pine. I usually just buy some 10" or 12" wide by 4 foot pieces. I can usually get allot of cutouts out of one board. The soft woods like pine work best--if you can't dent the wood with your thumbnail, it is too hard and will be hard to cut. Sometimes when you are cutting hard wood (or even a knothole), the wood will actually smoke and get sort of black. First time that happened to me, I thought it was going to catch on fire! LOL

Glad to hear you can sleep in another half hour. I sort of want to get back into the habit of getting up at six too. Problem is, we tend to stay up too late at night, then don't want to roll out in the morning. I should be able to get allot more done than I am--need to stop procrastinating so much (and not spend so much time on here maybe).

Luvs

Thank you!! I have some bats and things I want to cut out so will try to get to Lowes this week or next. Ok, black smoking wood is ok! Gotcha! ha I'll still probably freak out if it ever happens to me. ha How close together do you put your patterns on? Or do you do them one at a time? ~Anj

I do put mine fairly close. I'm thrifty, so like to get as many things out of the board as I can. LOL Just make sure to leave a little maneuver room around them. I usually trace my patterns on, then cut off the unused section of the board so that the part with the patterns is easier to handle. Sometimes I will even cut that part in a couple of sections by just cutting between the patterns if I want a still smaller piece to work on. Just make it a size that is comfortable for yourself.

My neighbor left a bag of those wooden plaques like you see at Michael's for me. Thinking I might paint some signs or maybe some snowmen on them. They make good bases to make cutouts stand up too. She is so sweet--always bringing over things she thinks I might be able to use.

Better get moving. I'll catch you later, okay? Luvs