Goodbye

As a boat owner would say, its the second most happy day of their lives.  The day they sell their boat.

Our 1991 Bayliner Capri 2050 has been half-way across the US and back.  She was purchased by us 11 years ago (used) in Oregon and was towed to Texas, which she called home for 2 years.  Many hot, lazy weekends were spent out on the lake either pleasure cruising or just anchored off shore.

A move back to Washington State was next where she cruised up and down the Columbia River a time or two and lived in a barn for 2 years.  Waiting.

Next up would be 2 years in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho where she would spend early mornings in the lake trolling for large and small mouth bass, pike and kokanees. And don't forget the lazy afternoons pulling everyone on tubes.  Those were the days.

Her final move (with us) was from Idaho to Tennessee.  She would spend the next 5 years in a cozy garage, up on blocks.  Waiting...waiting...waiting to see water again. 

Sadly, that never happened.  With 2 small children, lack of money and most importantly, lack of a lake anywhere close by, it was time to bid her farewell.

With much deliberation we decided it was time to sell her.  Surprisingly, it only took 5 days (and a few tire kickers) for the right buyer to come along.

I loved this boat.  It gave me such a sense of empowerment.  The feeling of freedom with the power underneath of you and the wind in your hair.

I can only hope she makes her new owner feel the same way.

The graduate

Carmens Preschool Graduation Ceremony was today.  Next year she will be entering Kindergarten.  How did THAT happen?!  Carmen, we are so proud of you!

I love this boy!  He is all boy, too.  Likes mud, water, trucks and trains.

At 2 years and 3 months old, he still isnt talking but he sure gets his point across.

Butterfly in Snow White

Carmen's upcoming ballet program is titled 'Snow White' and she will be playing the part of a butterfly.

Teacher Gifts

With only 2 weeks of school left, I had to scramble to come up with gift ideas for Carmens 2 preschool teachers.  So why not something homemade... or semi-homemade.  A bright kitchen towel and a set of hot pads were just the ticket.  Ms. S told me she loves strawberries so that was an easy one.  Ms. P on the other hand loves anything handmade so I guess that was an easy one as well.  And with summer right around the corner, these color variations were just right.

The Apples and Pears fabric is by Alexander Henry and was purchased from Joann Fabrics. I then mixed in some Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy fabric in green eyelet (purchased from Etsy) and some simple red/white polka dots, yellow/white polka dots and brown/blue polka dots (all from Hancock fabrics).  The green kitchen towel was purchased from Target.

The Kawaii mini strawberry fabric can be found here or here.  I then mixed in some coordinating prints from Joann Fabrics and Hancock Fabrics.  The red kitchen towel was purchased from Target.

There are so many tutorials online on how to embellish kitchen towels.  I just did something super simple.  I cut out a strip of fabric 3 3/4"  x 18" (or the width of your towel plus 1 inch).  I then folded 1/4" under on both sides of fabric to make it 3 1/4" wide and topstitched down onto the front of the towel.  Here is the tutorial I used.

There are alot of tutorials also for hot pads.  Just google around and find the perfect one for you.

I tied both sets up with pretty up-cycled ribbons and will put them in a nice gift bag and present them to their new owners on the last day of school.

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