Coolaroo Shade Project Complete

Last week I blogged about this.

I got a few questions as to what the pole was for.  Well here it is.  A corner pole to hold up the 2 Coolaroo Shades that Andy put up.  Now we have some killer shade on the back deck.

If anyone is interested, we purchased the Ocean Blue Coolaroo Shade here and the Desert Sand Coolaroo Shade here.

Learn

Learn to like what doesn’t cost much.
Learn to like reading, conversation, music.
Learn to like plain food, plain service, plain cooking.
Learn to like fields, trees, brooks, hiking, climbing hills.
Learn to like people, even though some of them may be different...different from you.
Learn to like to work and enjoy the satisfaction of doing your job as well as it can be done.
Learn to like the song of birds, the companionship of dogs.
Learn to like gardening, puttering around the house, and fixing things.
Learn to like the sunrise and sunset, the beating of rain on the roof and windows, and the gentle fall of snow on a winter day.
Learn to keep your wants simple and refuse to be controlled by the likes and dislikes of others.

Deck Project

Step 1: Dig a hole.

Make sure its nice and square.

Have a cute helper on hand to measure your handiwork.

Step 2: Take a break.

Step 3: Make some braces so humongous post doesn't teeter.

Step 4: Fill perfectly square hole up with concrete (5 bags to be exact).

Step 5: Pose in front of hole.Step 6: Wait 5-7 days for concrete to set up. Meanwhile enjoy the "Totem-Pole" eye sore.

Chickens and Strawberries

I made these 2 sweet chicken bean bags using this tutorial.
For the filler I used a combination of polyester fiber fill mixed with lavender buds (courtesy of my father-in-laws lavender farm in Colorado) for the head corner and plain, uncooked white rice for the body.

And how cute is this mini Strawberry pincushion!? I got the tutorial here.

For the filler I used a combination of lavender buds and polyester fiber fill. Super cute!

A chicken and a strawberry were given to each of Carmens pre-school teachers for Easter and they seemed to be a big hit! The best part of all was that they were so easy to make. I see more chickens and strawberries in the future for gifts.

Happy 2nd Birthday Eli

My little guy turned 2 on Saturday. To celebrate this great milestone we took him to the Memphis Zoo, just as we had done with Carmen on her birthday every year.

This birthday was even more special since my in-laws flew in from out of town to help celebrate.

Carmens favorite part was the Polar Bears. It was National Polar Bear Day, so there were all kinds of neat exhibits on display. Grrrr!

Eli doesn't share the same enthusiasm about Polar Bears as Carmen does.

After the zoo, lunch, and a nap, it was party time. What little boy doesn't like cars and trains?
All in all it was a perfect day. Happy birthday Buddy! We love you!

Happy 41

The moment I heard Blackhawk on the radio ...somewhere around 1995... I fell in love with the mandolin. Henry Paul, the lead singer for the band, plays a mean mando.

Fast forward to 2009 when I watched 'Into The Wild' where Eddie Vedder plays an even MEANER mando. Plus, I just love Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam.

So since then I was determined to get a manodlin and learn to play it. Ive never taken any kind of music lessons, even in school, so it will be a tough road for me. So far I got my mando, thanks to my hubby, for my birthday this year.

Watch out world, here I come to play! Who knows, maybe we have 2 future mando players in our family.

Halloween Cake

Confession: I love sweets. Chocolate, pie, cake, ice cream...you name it. But I am a closet eater. I dont let my kids eat a lot of junk food so I must indulge either at night after they have gone to bed or sneak a bite of sweet goodness when they arent looking and keep it hidden away. Pathetic, isnt it?

With Halloween rapidly approaching I decided that this is the year to start making holiday sweets for the kids. Carmen helped make her very first Halloween cake this past weekend and she had a ball!

Upon turning the mixer on high speed with dry cake batter in the bowl, we escaped a minor mess. The cake turned out wonderful and we all indulged that evening after dinner.

Bring on the holidays!

He was right

The hot summer heat has subsided and this past weekend was cloudy and cool. The family was all outside on the back deck enjoying a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

Andy: We should probably take the sun shade tent down for the season so it doesn't get ruined.

Me: Let's leave it up for a while longer. We can enjoy it all thru September and October.

Later that night we had thunder & lightning and a little rain.

Monday morning this is what we woke up to find.

I hate it when my hubby's right.

Fancy Folded Star Pot Holder

This has been a work in progress but is finally done! Got the full tutorial here:
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/09/fancy-folded-star-pot-holder.html

1st Day of Pre-K 4

Its that time of year again. Hot temperatures are starting to drop, cool breezes are picking up and school is in session. Carmen started her 1st day of Preschool, 4 yr old class today. This year she goes 3 days a week... M-W-F. Today went off without a hitch, same as last year. She has wonderful teachers and has many new classmates that she didnt know last year. Thankfully there are still a few of her old classmates in her class, too. We are so proud of her!

Happy 4th Birthday!

Carmen celebrated her 4th birthday in style this year. A 'Magical Fairy' party. It was held at Wish! Memories and they did a fantastic job of catering to us. They provided all the costumes for 8 little girls, decorations, games,music and photography. The only thing I needed to do was bring a cake. It was AWESOME!

Look at all the cute little fairies! As I stated above, all I had to do was bring the cake. That was the easy part. But I felt like I needed to do something more. So 2 weeks prior to the party I began making these Butterfly wands. They look easy enough, but there's alot of detail in the wands. I hand-stitched each one and even taught myself how to blanket stitch in the process. Oh, and dont forget, I had to make EIGHT of them! By the smiles on their faces, I'd say they were a big hit! And of course each little girl got to take one home with them.

Yes, there are actually 9 wands. One little girl couldn't make the birthday party because she was sick and since she is one of Carmens best friends, I couldn't leave her out of the fun. Her mother was kind enough to still drop off a gift for Carmen at the party and she took a wand home to her.

The Magical Fairy party lasted 2 hours... from 2pm to 4pm. Once we got home and got situated, Carmen had more birthday presents to open from family. It was such a long day!

I won't bore you with pics of every single gift, but did want to share with you the Hungry Little Caterpillar quilt that I made. Its been in production for months. And believe it or not I sewed the binding on the night before her birthday. Talk about close! By the smiles on Carmens face, I would say she loves it!

Happy 8th 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.

I love you Andy. You are my world!

4th of July 2011

Our local park is only a block away and each year they have a nice firework display along with a live band. We are so lucky that we live so close by. No walking, no fighting the crowds, no sweltering in the heat. Nope. We enjoyed everything from the comfort of our front yard.

Aren't these camp chairs adorable? Got them on sale at Target a few weeks ago.

Carmen got a really nice bicycle for Christmas but has outgrown it already! Grrrr. My hubby picked this one up from the Goodwill for $12. What a great bike. Its near new and Carmen loves it!

And just look at my little guy Eli. He is 16 months old already. Where does the time go?

Hope all of you enjoyed your 4th of July weekend.

Lowes shopping carts

Lowe's has the coolest shopping carts for kids. Here's a double-seater with 2 steering wheels. Makes for 2 very happy youngsters.

Goodbye Sweet Gum Tree

Here is our Sweet Gum Tree in all its glory.

This was the only tree in our backyard. It was so beautiful and gave us great afternoon shade but it also dropped 'gumballs' at all times of the year. Imagine stepping on one of these in your bare footies. Not a pleasant feeling!

So this is how our backyard looks now. We still have 3 small pine trees and they may get bigger, stronger and healthier now that the gum tree is gone. Our grass may even get thicker, too.