Teacher Christmas gifts

In order to cut down on holiday spending, I was bound and determined to make Christmas gifts this year.  Don't get me wrong, I still had to fork over a few bucks for the towels and kitchen utensils, but I still managed to make them "semi-homemade".  These should be perfect for the kids teachers.

 

 

 

The Big 42

Both kids in school and hubby is working but I still had a great birthday. Started off with my gingerbread iced coffee from Starbucks, bought an embroidery pattern book from Joanns, had a GYRO for lunch (yum) and picked up my Kindle Fire HD (thanks Andy) from Best Buy. Now Im home cleaning up dried out play-doh that I forgot about before I left the house.  Doh!

Kitchen Towel - Redwork Deer

Aren't these just the sweetest little deer?  I decided to use all red for this towel.  Then when it was time to do the little bird I had to use turquoise.  After all, isn't red and turquoise the new rave?  :)

Kitchen Towel - Pears

I finished another kitchen towel.  This time I did a cute pear pattern from the book below.

I purchased the book from my local Joanns store but I could not find the book on their website. 

I did find it on amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Aunt-Marthas-Embroidery-Transfer-Patterns/dp/B007X70L8E

I used Aunt Marthas 28' x 28" Flour Sack Dish Towels that I purchased from Joanns.  You can also find them at Hancocks, Walmart, Hobby Lobby or on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Aunt-Marthas-28-Inch-Towels-Premium/dp/B001GOZLK8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352486889&sr=8-1&keywords=aunt+marthas+towels

The finished pattern measures 8" wide by 4" tall.

With Christmas right around the corner, these towels will be the perfect gift.  Now I gotta get back to my sewing!

Kitchen Towel - Pyrex Bowls

I embroidered my first kitchen towel from the pattern packet below which I purchased from my local Hobby Lobby.  I just love the stacked pyrex bowls and the turquoise and orange floss are the perfect colors for my kitchen.

Happy Halloween 2012

Carmen the witch and Sheriff Eli don their costumes before they go out and get their candy loot.

5

My little girl turns 5 today.

Her birthday party with friends is tomorrow at our home, but we will do our own celebrating tonite with family.

While she is away at school, her little brother and I are decorating the kitchen for the festivities.  Pink crepe paper, balloons and birthday banner hung up, tablecloths set out, snacks prepared, lemonade with raspberry ice cubes in the freezer, gifts wrapped, etc.

Yup, I think we are ready!

Eli goes to school

My sweet little boy had his first day of school today.  Even though he goes just one day a week, it still broke my heart to say goodbye to him.  He did surprisingly well.  We hung up his backpack and put his lunch box in his cubby and off he went to play with a truck.  The teachers ask that you make the goodbyes as quick and easy as possible, both for them and parent.

Good luck Eli.  We are so proud of you! 

Halloween Menu Pillow

 This little Halloween pillow was so much fun and easy to make.  Only took me 2 days.  I have no idea why the picture uploaded sideways and I cant seem to fix it.

Kindergarten

Carmen started Kindergarten today.

9th Anniversary

Aloha means hello, aloha means goodbye.

It means until we meet again beneath the tropic sky.

Aloha means forever, and always to be true.

But best of all aloha means I'll always think of you.

Happy Anniversary, Andy! 

Playing tourist with the USS Arizona Memorial in the background.

Wedding Day photo.

Brunch at the Mandarin Oriental



Snorkeling on our Honeymoon in Kauai

The best choice I've ever made was marrying Andy.  And the best accomplishments I've ever made are these 2 awesome kids.

Spongebob

Sometimes McDonalds has some pretty lame Happy Meal toys but today we hit the jackpot.  Who doesn't love Spongebob Squarepants and Gary the snail?  Wooohoooo!  I think I like them more than the kids.

Big boy bed

Eli is almost 2 1/2 and is getting to the age where we wanted he needed to transition from his crib to a big boy bed.  OK, so it was all just a matter of taking one side of the crib off but its a good start.  He only gave us grief for the 1st half hour of his 1st "jail-free" nap.  After setting a few ground rules, he hasn't given us a hard time since.  It will take some getting used to getting woke up every morning at 6am with the shrill 'Daddy' or 'Mommy' but all is good.  Our little guy is growing up fast!

Next up - potty training!  CRINGE

Coconut Love Bear

Saturday Carmen attended a Build A Bear birthday party.  It was our first time EVER at Build A Bear and is definitely on our list of do-agains.  Even though all the girls chose the same exact bear, they all chose different outfits and named their own bear. Coconut-Love Bear has not left Carmens side since.

Later that evening Carmen and I had 'girl time' at Yogurt Nation.  YUM!  Notice Coconut-Love Bear sitting on the bench next to her?

Sunday after church, Carmen and I went to the theater and watched the new Disney movie Brave. Coconut-Love Bear did not get left behind.

What an AMAZING weekend!

Hosta Bed

Guacamole hosta  My favorite!

Albo Marginata

Old-fashioned standard green & white variegated hosta

Pink Beauty Caladium

Frieda Hemple Caladium

Miss Muffet Caladium

Candidum Fancy Leaved Caladium

Red Flash Caladium

Fathers Day Weekend

It was a great Fathers Day weekend.  Saturday we packed up and headed to the Bass Pro Shops for a little eye candy for Andy.  Of course we couldn't be there without drooling and leaving finger smudges on some fishing boats.

Carmen seemed to have her heart set on one of these.  Hmmm, I think it might be a little too big for her.

Yes, this one is more her size!

Sunday we went to 8 o'clock mass and listened to Father Bens last sermon.  It was lovely and moving.  He will be moving on to Washington DC.

Afterwards we went to our favorite Chinese Buffet for some sushi, fried frog legs, crab legs, shrimp, steamed clams, fried rice, noodles, etc.  YUM.

Lastly was a stop at Lowes for more eye candy... BBQ grills and smokers.  Just looked!

I just realized that I had taken this same photo exactly one year ago and posted it on my blog here:

http://imablueberrymaniac.blogspot.com/2011/06/lowes-shopping-carts.html

Andy also picked up some grub/bug killer for our grass which will in turn hopefully drive the voles away.  Voles have completely devoured the roots of my hostas.  Grrrrr!

Joe Cool

Meet Mr. and Ms. Joe Cool

Painted The Kitchen

Our kitchen was long overdue for a new paint job.  We've had to live with this ucky yellow for almost 5 years and I couldn't stand it any longer.  I spend most of my day in this room so I wanted needed something bright, cheerful, and modern yet still stick with a neutral so I chose a color called 'Gray Ghost' by Glidden from Lowes.  This color not only brightens the room, but I feel happy in it. A win-win!

 BEFORE - blah

AFTER va-va-voom!

BEFORE - yawn

AFTER - HELLO!

Below is a picture of my cute hubby.  Let me tell you, he is not smiling because he is having a good time and loves to paint!  It took him 2 days to do a layer of primer and 2 coats of paint.   He is smiling because I told him to for the picture he knows he is making his wife a happy girl.  :)