Friday, May 28, 2010

Where Did This Week Go?!?

The other morning, I got a call from my super cute preggers friend Amber...Baby M made an early appearance :) I don't have a picture of her, but just imagine the cutest little peanut with a head full of hair and the tiniest baby pout! I brought Amber these flowers that started blooming that morning and they just looked so happy and fresh (just like the little baby we're celebrating!)

Last night was a quilt session at Joyce's. This is huge because I AM Not a quilter...first time, doing paper piecing (are we NUTS?). Thankfully, Joyce is an awesome teacher and we all made it out alive, with all of our fingers (but funnily enough we all at some point cut off a piece of fabric that was supposed to stay!). I was shooting for a cheery summer color scheme (WOW--it's bright!)
The little diagram papers are actually freezer paper that Joyce printed patterns on (she is so smart!).
Here's our finished blocks (the color is a bit wonky so this was the best that picnik would let me get).
I'm seriously going to sneak in to Lori's house and swipe hers!

Here's a close up of mine (put your sunglasses on first!). I'm undecided on what to do with this...pillow (but where would I put it), wall hanging (Lori suggested using it as my summer "wreath" on my hutch) or have Jim finagle a frame and wrap it like a canvas? The flower in the middle is actually just some scraps that I messed with...I'm really not super happy with the stripe fabric, but it tied all of the colors in....oh well, next time when I don't have 3 boys trying to knock over every display in Joanne Fabrics!
This morning I came downstairs and found Max on our loveseat....

I asked him if he was comfortable and here was his reply~


Well, alrighty then!

Have a great holiday weekend (I'm hoping ours will be spent mostly on the water...cross your fingers and say a prayer that Jim did everything right when winterizing the boat!)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Slumber Parties and T-shirts

Jamie had his very first slumber party on Friday night :)

I figured, weather permitting, we'd do a bon fire and make some skater t-shirts. First, I bought 6 shirts from HobLob (they were $2.99 compared to Michael's $3.99).

Then, I printed out some skater images and phrases...Rocks was the one J approved off.
Put the image under the freezer paper (shiny side down) and transfer the outline with a pen or sharpie. Painstakingly trace outline with an exacto knife....for 6 t-shirts worth of art. (I've heard that you can re-use the freezer paper templates, but mine stuck like you know what so I wouldn't bet on it!)

Flip shirt inside out and iron onto the front side a chunk of freezer paper the size of the shirt. This helps keep the paint from seeping through to the back. You could also just shove in a paper sack or cardboard, but I knew that I'd be working with boys and the more stable and less mess up-able the better ;)
To the right side of the shirt, iron on the image and Rocks (this picture is missing the 2 little pieces that make the outline of his inner leg and arm)
With a little sponge brush, slap on some fabric paint. Let dry for a bit and then peal off the paper~

This seriously took forever!!!! I also cut out each of their names to put on the inside of "rocks". I envisioned super cool skater shirts (that ate up tons of time on the slumber party clock!)
Here are the boys putting paint on their names~

...and decorating the shirts (most had to add ramps because "duh-they can't skate in mid air/shirt")Notice all of that hard work, cutting out all of the details in the fingers and knees and leg...Gone...I shoulda known!
And 5 min later on the slumber party clock...we're D.O.N.E.!

Jamie turned his guy into a hawk because you know that we LoVe all things T. Hawk!


This reminds me of a skateboarding version of our vascular chart in X-ray school :)

Orangutan?



Skater that ran into the wall (the green box on the side)

Corey wanted nothing to do with it, so I made his...he was just happy that the Wii was freed from the herd of boys!


and my personal favorite....skateboarder with his "girlfriend"....She has a belly button...why, yes she does!
The bon fire took about an hours and then it was onto playing grey ghost and finding toads (along with burping and farting contests...JoY!)
I called my mom around 8:30 pm to thank her for all of the times I was allowed to have friends spend the night :) All in all they were pretty good....ended up watching movies ALL night and giggling like a pack of girls, but they were good.
Jamie came into our room around 5:30 am, asking for the sword I had taken away a couple of hours earlier...Jim decided it was time to make breakfast...biscuits and gravy per Jamie's request (plus Gigantor cups of carm mac for Jim and I!!!!)

I'm linking the whole shirt tut to Jennifer's














Sunday, May 23, 2010

Birthday, Birthday, Who Had a Birthday?

Here's a quick (who are we kidding, is anything I do ever QUICK?!?) recap of J's b-day festivities:

Baseball cookies for the practice on his birthday---which ended up being rained out, but thankfully not until everyone showed and got a cookie!
I just made basic sugar cookies using the roll a ball and smash with the bottom of a sugared glass method. Then I whipped up a basic royal icing, thick for the outline then thinned to make an even coat, added red dye and made some stitches...insta super mom (yeah, right!)
Jim was on shift the day of J's birthday, so my mom invited over to their house for steak (gee twist Jamie's arm!). They were nuts, Corn AND Potatoes!!! Heaven!
My mom was also sweet enough to make him dirt dessert...I don't know why, but 10 has seemed to be the year of weird facial expressions :/
...and crazy ways to blow out the candles...(this is my dad's method-big breathe in and then poof of air to blow out the fire)
Here's another trick my dad taught them...pretend to sneeze and hold a gummy worm in your hand like it's a chunky blow (sorry...house full of boys...it's life). Corey couldn't figure it out, so he just crammed the little thing up there. Yeah, he seriously thinks he's hot snot (heheheh).

Saturday was our family party...grandmas, grandpas and aunt and uncles. (15 people and 100 meatballs made by hand...thankfully we have some good leftovers!)
J wanted a Tony Hawk birthday. There's instructions floating around for a skateboard cake using chocolate doughnuts and those rolled cookie things...I ended up using dingdongs and lifesavers plus tried to make the T. Hawk logo~again with the crazy face!~
Here he is opening our present....all excited to see something Navy, right?!?

hmmm...I wish it was from the Iraq War not WW2...well, alrighty then...(after 0 sleep the night before with his slumber party, I about lost it...so I had to remind myself that I was surely the same when I was his age...grrr)

He is now completely outfitted in everything T. Hawk from his shirts all the way down to his shoes (socks too)....and he has a nice stash to save up for a "nice" skateboard. I figure with allowance and all, it will take him the whole summer...buying me some time to have him prove that he can take better care of the cheap board from last year!
In between festivities, Jim was able to pound out a couple of raised beds for my square foot gardening! I'm thinking I'll need at least 2 more, but now I have my seedlings and mother's day tomato plants in the ground :) Much safer for them outside as long as I can keep the neighborhood cats out of all of that nice soft dirt!!!


Thursday, May 20, 2010

Perfect 10

I can't believe that I'm typing these words...today is Jamie's 10th birthday!
He is super into baseball and pretty much every other sport, plus skateboarding and trying to freak me out by rigging his own ramps for their bikes!


It seems like yesterday when we brought home a little tiny peanut whose feet were the size of my thumb...now they're a size 7 in mens! Where does the time go?!?

Jamie, I am so proud of the boy that you're becoming! You're a friend to all and have such a tender heart :) You're love for God is amazing---He has big plans for you buddy!

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mom

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Well...It's a Pec Thing

*Warning* Lots and Lots of pictures, but they're entertaining so keep going!

Joyce and I headed out to an area flea market on Saturday morning....it's an annual deal and it took up almost the entire fair grounds :)

Our third partner in crime, Lori, was stuck at home washing windows and such...unfortunately the kindly little cleaning elves didn't show at her home (ignore my dirty carpet in one of the last pictures!!!!)

Sooo...I snapped a gratuitous old typewriter shot and emailed it to her (just to let her know that we were thinking about her of course).
Joyce loved these plates...they are really much cooler than my cell phone cam makes them out to be! (these are one of the many projects on our next to do list!) What do you think of the glass vase sculptures in the back? They were the first thing that I spied and immediately thought...hmmmm....granny bongs?!? (I'm sorry...can't help it...way too many Cheech and Chong records in high school!) Really officer, it's a glass yard ornament for my grandma's birthday!Here's another sign that you're in the midwest....yard ornaments made from beer cans...uh huh!

(I have to admit that I am rather fond of the pretty glass jars and the red light bulbs...another project maybe?)
Hands down, this one is super high on the list!!!! I've been wanting to make one for years....and yes, Joyce, I've already warned Jim that some day soon we will be invading his man cave and using his tools! (our's, of course, will be slightly classier without the tub full of cheap beer and the 5 0'clock sign)

These metal statuaries cracked me up! I love all of the colors and the fact that they seem to be at least pseudo recycled junk art :)

I really want this cowboy...he had a friend back behind that was holding a shot gun...you know, to go with all of my beer bottle bugs!

This was Joyce's favorite....how cute! And simple to make to boot!

Again, we've been on this bed spring phase (did I ever show you guys my "spring" wreath? I can't remember)...these would be super cute on a table or a cool old metal rocker (swoon!)

O' how I love thee, new cupboard shop that looks like it came out of Grandma's kitchen.....

The cream one above is my very favorite, but I love the hardware on the cream island below and ohhh the red curio in the back...be still my heart and get up to grab a lotto ticket! There was nothing here under $900.....Jim.....you can makes this stuff if you really wanted to....

This was lunch..sort of, I gave Jim the chips later and left the bun (hmph....grains!) Lunch was from a local company, Buritt Meats...if you're local, they are amazing!!!

How fun would this be in our backyard?!? Too bad Riley would be the only one still small enough to really enjoy it!

This is part of the cow barn....I'm sure the old thing is used to being filled with crap, just not of the variety that most people would actually want ;) It cracked me up to see so many people crammed in there! Honestly, this was my favorite building to go to at the fair when growing up...Kathy, I posted some pics just for you!
I didn't get a good shot, but I loved the green workbench...way too pricey for my budget, but still...ahhh....

Here's a side shot, 3 isles of stuff, some neat, some not so much, but still!

I told Jim that he was lucky that I didn't bring home one of these for one of our peaks. Here's how that conversation went: why...because they're cool...but you don't know the angle of our roof...well...well..hmph...party pooper!

Soooo....what did I actually buy there? Not much really, a couple of tart pans and some Navy patches for Jamie's birthday next week...and....this----

The same man, who was selling the patches, also had a bunch of army-ish uniforms hanging along a fence. I went over to look at a camo duffle bag, but then I spotted this uniform! He only wanted 20 bucks!!!! It has pants with the little button front and everything!

He said it was a WW2 uniform....under the collar is a tag saying it's 100% wool and has a very faded name written in cursive and a service number too!

Jamie's going to freak!!!! I'm thinking about framing it for his room, or just letting him hang it up and play with it a bit....any thoughts?
Well, I hope that you all have had an awesome weekend...I need to get off this computer and plant a few new plants and maybe squeeze in a little family baseball at the park! (Jamie's birthday is next week, so I'll be pretty busy getting everything ready for his very first sleepover! Lots of craft projects to come with that one!!!!)