Really stressful day that ended beautifully!!

Well, today was a very stressful day.  We were invited to my brother's house last night for dinner.  He's 10 years younger than me and I have always felt like I loved him as much as if he was my own child.  Anyhow, while we were there my husband mentioned that he'd like to make some changes to our daughter's room.  He wanted to take down the plaster walls, hang drywall and paint.  My brother does this type work for a living so he offered to help.  Next thing I know they are planning on starting the project today!!!  It is a HUGE project.  It's going to be great when it is finished but is a big mess and inconvenience right now - lol!

Unfortunately, a friend of theirs had a death in the family and my brother's wife was helping with the food at the funeral today.  My brother was supposed to take care of his three kids while she was gone.  You know where this is going, right?  Since he was coming here to help in Ashley's room I got volunteered to babysit the kids.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love my neice and nephews but taking care of three kids under the age of 5 is HARD work!!!  Especially when I'm used to a 16 year old - lol!!

I was there all day today and was feeling so stressed out on my way home.  The kids were tired and didn't want to nap since "Aunt Lisa" was there.  That lead to them being whiny and fighting a lot.  It was just a rough day all the way around and I knew there would be a mess waiting here.  Not to mention a tired and grumpy husband.  Luckily, my husband isn't grumpy at all and hopefully won't be too tired to spend some time with me later tonight. 

Anyway, when I walked in the house I noticed that there were some packages waiting for me.  This is becoming a regular thing and I'm loving it!!  It feels like Christmas every day around here!  Well, today's packages were especially great and made my day brighten up considerably.

First, there was a package from Barbara in Canada.  She is a fellow member of the Stashbuster email list and offered to send me a "piggy".  There are 12 blocks made out of kids prints.  I'm going to make it into a quilt for charity.  Here is a picture of the blocks.

The next package I opened was from Sherry in IL.  I was completely blown away by what was in there!!!  She surprised me with an early birthday present - the charm pack (42 5X5 inch squares) from Moda's new line Make Life!!  Can you believe it?  I was so surprised that it brought tears to my eyes.  I sure can't wait to get busy playing with them.  Originally when I noticed the Make Life line online I was thinking I wanted to make a quilt out of it.  But now that I have these charms I'm sorta thinking about a tote bag.  That might be really cute.  What do you all think?  Sherry recommended making a disappearing 9 patch which is also a great idea.  Here is a picture of my new Make Life charm pack!!!!

After that, I finally opened up the last box which was from Carol in IN.  She had commented on my blog the other day that she wanted to send me some fabric for charity quilts.  I responded with my address and the box arrived today.  I have to say that I was shocked by the fabrics she sent me!!!  They are absolutely beautiful!!!!  There were atleast 35 fat quarters, quite a few different yardage pieces, some blocks, and a complete quilt top!!!  Wow!  All the fabric looks brand new.  It's beautiful and I can't wait to start playing with it either.  Here are lots of pics of everything.

As you can see, I have been really blessed today and it sure did make this stressful day much better!  Plus, I am not babysitting anymore the rest of the week so I am going to be free to sew all I want!!  YEA!  Thanks so much to everyone out there that has so generously sent me items to use for my charity quilting.  It means the world to me and I completely appreciate it.

Bye,