Five Shadows

Of the seven Schutts there are 5 birthdays in March! 5 of us! Plus one in February and one in April! Tis busier around here now than at Christmas time! And we are a goofy bunch. So here are some pictures from my hubby’s birthday and mine.

The lighting of many candles for Hubby’s cake! It took four kids – with me on the side line giving instructions! And the eldest snapping the photos.

Goofy Hubby and the five kids behind him. Me snapping the photo this time. DH said you should have felt the heat coming off of all those candles!

Look at all that smoke coming off of those candles! Happy Birthday John! (March 4th)

And now my birthday – today – March 7th!

The goofiest of all photos! That’s me – who is very un-photogenic, but actually looking pretty good here! Sorry to the rest of the family who are looking …. well … poor.

And here I am (not so photogenic here) holding one of my wonderful gifts! This is a collage by Sarah Wyman, as seen in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine. I love that magazine and LOVE Sarah’s art! I made up an Etsy wish list and DH bought this for me!

My middle daughter planned a wonderful meal for me using the cookbook Food to Live By, by Myra Goodman. She pulled some of her siblings in to help prepare the meal. We had Tuscan White Bean Stew, Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wraps, and Creamy Shells & Three Cheeses. Dessert was a chocolate cake from Whole Foods for the Whole Family. YUM!

After lunch we headed to a county park for some pre-spring walking. Lovely day to be outside! Son #1 was on the look out for a sign of Spring – and he found it in one of the first plants to stick it’s leafy head up through the ground with snow still on the ground in NE Indiana – - Skunk Cabbage!

The girls actually found several in a valley on the banks of a stream.  Here we are in the great out-of-doors. Goofiness!

Me with youngest daughter, Charis.

Me with daughter, Anna.

Me with daughter, Janelle.  That is snow in the background!!! (Wish you could see all the goofiness going on between each photo! We would need a video camera for that!)

Dear Husband, John.

Me with John.

Son, Noel. And once again son Luke has evaded the camera! (But Luke is in the photos at the top of the post, with sibling behind the parents!)

Girls are away on a road trip to DC for the March for Life so Hubby and I ate out at Taste of India last night. I was not sure how we would fare but everything we ordered, with the help of our waiter, was excellent! I had only eaten Indian cuisine maybe twice before and had help selecting items from friends. And some of the items I did like and others ….

Last night I started with a Lassi drink – the mango flavored one – delish!

We ordered an appetizer sampler: Samosa (highly recommended by one of my daughters), pakora which is a vegetable fritter (our favorite on the platter), and a vegetable cutlet (not sure of the name.)

Next we ordered tikka masala – very good! And an other sampler – with three chicken samples, lamb and the best ever shrimp. Saying ‘best ever shrimp’ is really saying something girls! Because I grew up near the Chesapeake Bay area – and we are picky about our shrimp and crab! We also ordered a bread basket with several flavors/spiced Nan and some stuffed with lamb or potatoes like in the Samosa. Not sure what the stuffed flat bread is called. We did not have room for dessert. Maybe next time, because we will go back! And can you guess we took lots home in a ‘doggy bag’? Yum! We had a nice lunch today from the left overs. (The Nan warms up well in the toaster!)

On New Year’s Day my two teen daughters woke up with the question, “What are we doing today?” I answered that they had the go-ahead to swap rooms. Youngest gets the room left vacant by an older sibling moving out. Next-in-line gets to move into the spare bedroom we have set up as a library/sewing room. Library moves into the room the girls are leaving, called the bunkbed room. It has two sets of built in bunkbeds, two built in desks and a built in dresser. Three closets, one a walk-in. I get just over half of the space in the bunkbed room as my sewing room! Should I call it my quilting studio?! The upside for me is my former sewing space was 6′ x 6′ in a 10′ x 16′ room, and it will be a 13′ x 13′ space in a room that is 13′ x 24′.  True it does have the disadvantage of two sets of built in bunkbeds. But hmmm. That could be more storage space, right?

Here is my former space.

There is usually a love-seat in front of the bookshelves full of fabric – but it moved with elder child moving out. So I just counted the 6′ x 6′ square of space of the white cabinet and desk that my sewing machine sits on.

Here is half of the vacant bunkbed room waiting for all the library stuff and my quilting stash!

There is a built-in dresser to the left of the desk and then the room is a mirror image of this photo. You are looking into the room from the doorway. At first I thought I’d set up the quilting in this right half of the room. But sons want this half for the computer desk. I get the other side of the room. I’m not showing my new space in all its disarray right now, but I will show the new set up once it is organized!

Recent road trip to a park with lovely waterfalls.

Daughter needs to use a loo – you know, the ladies room, rest room, r n’ r, powder room, lavatory, commode, privy, outhouse.

We find a clean little two seater with running water and all.

Daughter emerged laughing saying we must be in a high security area   ….

TP is under lock and key!!

We could not resist   ….

We nabbed some!!!

Checking – coast is clear   …..

Mad dash to get-a-way vehicle!!!

… so I’m just a little late with this announcement, BUT, my son’s widget, Padlock, for Mac OS X was the staff’s Number ONE widget pick just a few days ago!

He creates widgets for Dashboard OS X and also  he writes applications for the iPhone. His latest iPhone game, Haunted Mirror Maze, is currently on sale for just $1.00 as a Halloween special!

Way to go Luke! Love ya! Mom

Sorry I have been so long in posting. I have lots to share and will start with this picture of these pretty ladies on their way to “Moonlit Morocco” Prom 2009.

Charis and Anna

Today I am celebrating my birthday with family and friends. I’ll be meeting some of my girlfriends for lunch. And then, those who can, well join me to take in a local quilt show. Sisters of the Cloth are displaying quilts at the Jeffrey R. Krull Gallery – located in our public library, with a reception from 2-4 p.m. The show runs today thru April 5 – if anyone happens to be in the Fort Wayne area.

Pictured here are several fabrics I plan on using in making this cute Ashley purse.

Wishing you a wonderful New Year! I’ve been reading my favorite blogs and the topic of New Year’s resolutions are popping up all over. Not uncommon for this time of the year! I particularly like what Calamity Kim had to say about shutting the door on 2008 and getting on with 2009! I guess she has done just that (thank you Kim!) because 2009 did appear right on time, just like we hoped for! And I read Pokey’s blog (Clothe Paper Scissors & Quilting Arts editor – my two fav magazines!) and entered her giveaway. Her resolution is to “keep it simple.” My dear husband and I talked a bit about resolutions and he thought he’d go with the “lose 25 pounds” type. I suggested he change that to “go for walks several times a week with my wife” and he would not have the guilt of NOT losing weight, but would actually see a weight loss because we are out walking together. Both of us would benefit! My resolution is to “live guilt free” this year. I tend to let myself get involved in things because of the guilt factor. Things I don’t want to do, but do anyway, because of what I think people expect from me. THAT is a silly way to live one’s life! I want to create more and see where that leads. I ran across the Creative Everyday blog and thought that was such a good idea! It is a challenge to create something everyday but in a way that sounded like no pressure. Creating could include cooking, singing, doodling, etc. I got to thinking, by Leah’s definition, I do create every day. Bye-bye guilt for thinking it has to be some form of art or craft! I cook from scratch, I lite candles, I like simple center pieces, I often sing in the shower, and I do even make it to my sewing table to create. I enjoy a walk in our backyard garden and I occasionally will sketch something I see. I guess I do more creating than I thought! So “living guilt free” will be my 2009 catch phrase!

What about you? Do you have a word or phrase, or resolution to live by for 2009?

I wanted to show the quilties I received from the Shades of Forest Swap hosted by Lenna. But for some reason I can not figure out, I can not get them to load properly in my post. They are all so pretty! You can see all the quilties on Lenna’s blog – follow the above link. Lenna will be hosting new swaps in 2009! Do consider joining! And I’ll try figuring out how to post the pictures.

Greetings faithful readers! And Belated Christmas Wishes to all! I’m still behind on things due to the ice storm that hit here last week. Our power was out for four and a half days. We could still communicate to the world by our cell phones. On the second day we went to my husband’s office to warm up, but then power went out there too! What a surprise to suddenly be sitting in total darkness. We had flashlights with us, as we would be returning to a dark house. So we packed up and headed out. A generator did power a light at the end of the hallway as we headed to the door.

Back at home, my husband was able to hook up a small generator, (Thanks Denny!) lent to us by a friend, to power our gas furnace. For the next three days, we would warm up the house a bit in the morning, cook breakfast on the gas range, and then turn off the generator and head to some warm public place – like the library or mall. Then in the evening we would return home and once again heat up the house, light the antique oil lamps, and play games and drink hot chocolate. Then turn the furnace/generator off again and head to bed with extra blankets and quilts. It would be in the 40s by morning and we started the whole routine over again. By day five, the kids got home around 8 p.m. and sent a text message saying, “Power!”. What a wonderful word! It was so nice to drive home and see the Christmas tree lights on and to step into a warm house!

Even with the inconvenience of no power for a few days, the ice on the trees was beautiful. My daughter took the pic.

When the mice are away the cat gets to play! All my darling children* are out of the house this week. I’m going to use the extra moments to catch up on some sewing and creating. Pictured here is the pumpkin patch I have created and attached to the canvas bag that is to be passed on to the next person in the round robin this Sunday. This is the first of 11 bags to pass through my hands. The theme for this bag was “country” and at this time of year what better says country than a patch of pumpkins!?

*My two youngest darlings left for NE for the National Homeschool Volleyball Tournament this morning. They are two excited young ladies!