Squash & Gobble

The Squash & Gobble was a surprising success! Since this was my very first craft show, I had no idea what to expect. My Mom helped me out in my booth and Steve was awesome set-up/tear-down support!

My booth had steady traffic most of the day. At times, there wasn't much room to move!

My wonderful, supportive, tent setter-upper! He is the best!

My Mom and I had a great time working together, if it can be called work! It was too fun to call it a job!



Thank you for your business and for stopping by to say Hi!

Girl Version of the Border quilt

Meet my first girl quilt! This is for my newest niece, due in December! They had better not change her name ;-)!

Baseball quilt

My cousin placed my first order for a baby quilt and pillow. Her request was for a red,white, and blue color scheme with baseball and/or football. I stuck with just baseball. I wasn't too sure about it until I put the "baseball" border on it. I just loved it as soon as the borders were put on! This one has corduroy squares and backing. It's really soft and I hope the recipient gets lots of enjoyment out of it!

Sew, Sew weekend...

I was able to spend Saturday afternoon taking lessons on my new embroidery machine! I am in love with it! I have had four quilt tops ready for the recipients names to be applique onto them for a couple of weeks. I had planned on doing it the "hard" way, by hand, but when I got my machine, those plans changed!

I have two identical quilts for two special little boys, that don't belong to me! Of course, these still have to be quilted, but I just couldn't wait to show off my newest trick!

This is a close up of my nephew Garrett's quilt top. I hope he likes it. Buzzy liked it so I feel pretty confident that Garrett will too!

I have part of my material ready to go for my first ordered quilt! I can't wait to get it put together. This one is going to have corduroy squares instead of the minky. I think it will be really nice and soft also. I have lots of other projects either just getting started or ready to be finished up! Too bad most of them are Christmas presents. I won't be able to show them off for a few months!

Christmas Presents....

All of my sewing lately has been on projects for Christmas presents. It's killing me because I can't load pictures of them, because the recipients will see them! So, this is as good as it's going to get until after Christmas. Wouldn't it be nice to know which one is your's, family members?

New Direction

So since Facebook has taken the world by storm, my pitiful little blog has been tossed to the wind. I spend most of my mornings, evening and any free minute in between searching inspiring crafty blogs. So this is where the 'new direction' comes into play. You are now looking at the new blog of Leslie Ashley. I will be posting the journey of my quilting projects and any other project that I have in the works. This may bore most of you, but then again, it may not. Who knows! So, sit back, relax, and wait six months for my next post!

Crafty Me

Since June was so hectic, I didn't get to spend much time in my craft room. The past couple days I have been sewing like crazy! I love receiving homemade gifts. I just feel special when someone uses their precious time to make something special for me or my family. I always try to give something that I would love to receive. I have been experimenting this week and have had such a good time doing so!

The little set is for a girl at church that has a new baby. Since I don't ever deliver anything on time, I hope I get this to her while he can still wear it! I got the diapers and onesie at Wal-Mart and did some personalizing to them. I made the bib from scratch. I thought they turned out pretty darn cute!

This was my first pincushion. Buzzy made me one that I use, but I still wanted to make my own. The plan was for this to be attached to a wrist band for me to wear while doing big projects, like quilting. This flower ended up being about the size of my hand! Buzzy said it would be a great pillow! He decided that MiMi needed to have it, so he took it to her house with him tonight. I didn't mind. I love his over mine anyday. I'll have to post a picture of it later.

This is a potholder that I gave Steve's Grandmother for Mother's Day. There are things I will do differently next time, but I still love how it turned out!

I posted a picture of the blue quilt earlier. I finally have the red one done. They are cute, but I learned quite a few lessons with these bad boys. These are for twin boys that were born earlier this year, can't remember when exactly.

I finished two other projects tonight and I'll post pics of them tomorrow, but don't hold your breath. It may be a month before I do!

July 4th Weekend

We had a wonderful July 4th weekend this year. My favorite sister and her family came to stay at the lake house with us. I was able to spend some much needed time with my niece!

Steve and Henry did lots of jet skiing. Henry loves that jetski! The faster it goes, the more he screams with joy!

++for those of you wondering why my husband has Woody Woodpecker on his arm...It's not Woody Woodpeck, it's Mr. Horsepower. He was asked what the difference was and he said the cigar and Mr. Horsepower goes faster. So now you know!

This is my favoritest little girl ever! She loves her Aunt Leslie too. I can't wait to teach her all sorts of good stuff when she's bigger!

Our family is really close to this years Miss America. She came by for a visit to celebrate Independence Day with us.

Henry learned to jump off the boat. He's been letting me swing him out by his hands. He finally gathered his nerve and jumped. And jumped and jumped and jumped........

A nice man that works for my Dad shared his secret for catching catfish. He obviously knew what he was talking about. Buzzy caught fish after fish two nights in a row! I guess you could say he's "hooked!"

Happy Birthday Boys!

The destruction of Buzzy's first swing set was a family project. He ran over one of the supports a couple days after he started riding his 4-wheeler. Steve and I finished it off by sitting on the two swings at the same time!

Henry loves a swing set and only had a slide to play on. I felt that they needed a new swing set, so that's what we set out to find! We wanted two slides and a nice playhouse. We found one at Lowes that we were set on. A friend told me of a place that built, delivered and constructed wood playsets. I figured we would have to take out a loan for one, but the boys and I went to look. We found exactly what we were looking for and it costs just a bit more than the one at Lowes. The selling point was the delivery and construction was included! When it was delivered, it was fully constructed and ready to go in around 30 minutes! The one at Lowes would have taken Steve DAYS, if not WEEKS to construct, so I did good!

Henry LOVES it! He climbs up and slides down, and jumps off and monkey bars - with help, of course!

He loves flying through the air on the trapeze!

And gliding through the air!

And Buzzy has enjoyed doing his own tricks! Steve tried to get him to walk across the monkey bars. WHAT?!?!?!? Thank goodness I was there to encourage him NOT to! We have been out playing every evening until dark. They love it and, secretly, so do we!

One, Little Two, Little Three, Little chickies...

If you are my "friend" on facebook, you are familiar with the story of the assassination of my chickens. If not, here goes.

We were leaving for one of Buzzy's last baseball games and when leaving our dog was acting funny. Steve glanced to see what the silliness was for and there were two dogs inside my chicken coop. They had pulled the fence up and climbed right in. All of my chickens, or so I thought, were scattered on the ground. The dogs were so proud of their accomplishment, but, needless to say, I was not. I stormed over to the neighbors house, which requires a car, to inform them of the murders.

The fella came to retrieve his dogs from my coop. As I was observing the scene, I noticed that I only saw two chicks and there had been three. I began searching for the one lost chick and found it! It had forced itself behind a post and was practically buried in the dirt. I rescued the frantic little chick and placed it safely inside the rabbit hutch with the rabbit. So... a couple days later, guess what! The rabbit fence was pulled up and the rabbit was gone. Since the chick was inside a box, inside of the hutch, it was safe. She has grown and is now playing Momma herself.

Buzzy was eager to get the one little chick a friend. I promised that as soon as we were home from vacation, we would go and get her a couple friends. On Tuesday, Buzzy, Cooper, Henry and I went to Luke's Flea Market to make our purchases. I planned on getting 4, but somehow we ended up with 8! Buzzy and Cooper each got to pick 2 and I picked 4! I guess that since I take care of them, I can pick the number!

Anyway, this picture was taken on May 26. One of the little brownish chicks in now the "Mother Hen" to our newest additions! She is a young, unwed mother, but a wonderful mother she is!

When we first put the chicks in the cage, she acted scared of them. That evening when I went to check on them. There were no chicks to be found! I wondered what she had done to/with them!

Then they started appearing!

I placed them in a "nest box."

And she went right back to her job of mothering! She sits on them at night just like her little Momma did her just over one month ago! I have always heard of women acting like "mother hens" and I have now witnessed it first hand! This little chicken, that is just over a month old herself, has taken these little babies "under her wing" and would give her own life for them!

I have a friend that refers to herself as the "crazy cat lady!" I guess I'm the "crazy chicken lady!" These chickens have taught me so much about mothering. My original hen could have easily ran into the chicken house when the dogs appeared, but she stayed out with her little chicks. The baby chicks hadn't learned how to climb the entrance ramp, so she stayed, giving her life to protect them. Now her one surviving baby has taken 8 little orphans as her own. She pecks at my hand each time I try to touch one of her babies! Isn't it funny the lessons that can be learned from animals and nature?

Two Birthdays and a Vacation

June has been an extremely busy month for me. We have had two birthdays, a vacation, a Father's Day Supper, and a fish pond installation! The order was Buzzy's birthday, Florida vacation, Father's Day Supper, Fish pond installation and then Henry's birthday party. My pictures are in every order but the right order but at least I'm posting, right?

MiMi and Pappy joined us in Florida four days after we arrived. Our time together there was short, but we had a wonderful time anyway. This was the first vacation that we have went on with my parents in several years. Vacationing with two children was quite a different experience for my parents.

Buzzy spent as much time as possible in the ocean or on the beach.

"Mom," he said to me while we were swimming together. "The beach is the place to be during summer break." I totally agreed!

Henry loves a good sandbox, so we thought the beach would be heavenly for him. His reaction wasn't near what we were expecting! He was fine with his swimming shoes on, but he did not like all that sand on him! By the end of our trip, he had finally started playing with Buzzy in the sand!

Buzzy had a birthday party with just family this year. As long as there were presents, he was happy!

Steve's parents and grandmother were able to attend Buzzy's party, as well as my family.

Henry's party was after we came back from Florida. We had it at the lake house. Henry had been under the weather and didn't smile or act interested in anything birthday related. That is, until the candles came out!

He loved those candles!

Henry was not interested in presents when he had a big crowd watching him. NaNa took him to the basement and he opened everything while just a couple of us were watching.

The Tuesday after Father's Day, I had supper for Steve, my dad, and my papaw. We had home-made stuffed peppers, mac & cheese, corn, baby lima beans, mashed potatoes and pie! It was yummy, if I do say so myself. MiMi brought the potatoes and NaNa the pies. I didn't want to take all of the credit!

Barrell Full of Monkeys!

I am so blessed to have these two special boys. They are so much fun. I never know what i am going to find happening around the corner!

Fun in the Mud

My parents have a creek/ditch running through the field in front of their house. Steve has been trying to cross this ditch since they moved into their house almost 10 years ago. He has yet to succeed. He has to remind himself every year or so that it's difficult to cross.

I'm not sure if he was trying to "ditch" his wife or mother-in-law! As soon as the wheels started spinning, he jumped off and left us stuck in the mud!

Buzzy was extremely supportive! He played in the water while we waited to be rescued. Pappy's bad day ended a little better when he had to pull Steve out of the mud. I don't know what it is with their egos and mud. Their chests swell up when one has to ask the other for help when they are buried in mud. It's rather funny watching these two nag each other over their sticky situations!

Henry was saying "Cheese" but I don't think he was convinced that that crusty stuff was supposed to be on his cheek!

We have had a little dirt work done in our back yard. The boys have enjoyed playing in the dirt, but their Daddy has too!

My chest swelled a bit when Steve had to ask me for help too! I drove and he pushed, but still, he needed help from a girl!

Pool Boy

I am such a lucky girl. I have a pool boy.

In Loving Memory of Jamie/Phenius

Little Mr. Jamie/Phenius left this world 6-3-2010. He's in a beautiful clover field in Heaven!

Fair Time Again!

Summer would not be official without a trip to the County Fair! The unassembled rides appeared last weekend, and Buzzy knew the fair couldn't be far away! Opening night, Buzzy had a baseball game so we couldn't go that night. The second and last night of the fair were the only nights that we could possibly make it. The rain held off and meteorologists Steve Ashley said we could go!

This was Henry's first "real" trip to the fair. Last year he just rode around in his stroller, but this year was quite a different experience! He wanted to do everything! He rode rides and played games and even won his very own goldfish!

Henry was thrilled to hook a fish on his first attempt!

The Fogle's met us at the fair and all of the boys had a great time!

Henry wanted to ride anything and everything! He would get so mad when he couldn't instantly get onto the ride. The faster the ride went, the more he loved it!

Cooper & Buzzy on the Himalayan. Last year, Buzzy put Cooper on the outside and nearly squashed him!

Cole is just hilarious!

Cooper is a better big brother than Buzzy! He rode anything that Henry wanted to ride!

On our way to the fair, Buzzy announced to us that if he won two goldfish, he was giving one to Cooper! He won two right away and Cooper became the proud owner of a goldfish! Buzzy ended up winning one more. We came home with three goldfish that have made themselves at home in my fish pond!

We had a great time. We always go happy and leave sad. Buzzy wanted to stay longer and Henry was upset that he couldn't ride anymore rides! Thank goodness it only comes once a year!