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Quickie Crochet

2012-01-26T12:31:00.002-06:00

I have a couple of cousins having babies at the same time (sisters, due with in a couple of weeks of each other, so cute). And they had a joint baby shower while I was gone for Christmas, so I whipped up a couple of blankets for them.
For both I doubled up the yarn and used a big hook to give it a chunky look. The first one I did with cream and orange. It kind of reminds me of a ice cream bar.The second one I just did cream and then mixed up the stitches. (For all you crocheters: I did rows of single crochet, then a window pane look with double crochets and chain stitches.) I ran a couple rows of ombred brown around the outside to give it some depth and interest.
I haven't gotten any feedback, but I hope they liked them. I was a fun quick project.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-04T15:59:00.003-06:00

For Christmas this year we planned to visit Hubbies Family in Chicago and Indiana. We made the plans back in September, excited to visit with everyone, but we missed seeing his Grandpa due to his passing a couple of months ago. But we still had fun.
It was a rough week, because I got sick the second full day we were there. And we started the trip by having our flight out there delayed by 4 hours. It's always fun to spend six to eight hours at the airport.
Anyway, we got there late, and pretty much Pappy (Hubbies Dad), picked us up, got some quick food, and went to their house, talked for a while, then crashed.
Christmas Eve Eve, I made Enchiladas for the Parents, one Step-Bro2+wife, and us. It turned out pretty great. Parents went home and we spent the night visiting and laughing with Step-Bro2+wife for a while. I woke up the next morning with some awesome digestive pyrotechnics and spent the entire time crashed on their couch while Hubbie and Step-Bro2 ran around and did errands. I felt horrible that I wasn't more social, but I really felt horrible. That afternoon we headed back to Parents house where we met up with Step-Bro1+wife+2kids. We opened presents and had a great time visiting. I eventually snuck off to the guest room to go back to sleep. Everyone else went to a party that was already planned. I literally stayed home and slept the entire time. I felt bad, because I was really looking forward to the party and meeting some new people.
Christmas day was much the same as the day before for me. Step-Bro2+wife came over and Pappy cooked us some awesome dinner. We had boneless beef roast, pork chops (for Pappy and me), roasted potatoes, broccoli with hollindaise sauce, and rolls. I didn't eat a ton, but I tried, and sucked down the ginger ale to keep my stomach calm. Step-Bro2+wife had to leave, and we just chilled watching movies with Parents, and I went to bed early.
The day after Christmas we headed down to Indianapolis (about a 4 hour car ride), to visit family there. We met up with Hubbies Grandma and went to lunch with her. We were able to just sit and visit with her for several hours. For being 94 that woman is a fire-cracker. Her mind is so clear, and sharp. She had me rolling with some of her phrases and stories. She is a great woman and I'm glad for the time we got to sit and visit with her. For dinner we met up with Aunt2 and a cousin. It was pretty good. We went home with Aunt2 and visited with her for about 5 hours on food storage, mostly, and some general life stuff. It was great to have just the three of us talking, it was a time getting to know each other better. I am truly thankful for the open arms they extended to us, and welcoming us into their homes and lives. We stayed over night there and met up with Parents, Grandma, and 2ndcousins for breakfast. Then it was back to Chicago. That was a pretty chill day.
The following day, Step-Bro1+wife+2kids came over and he made his famous Ribs. I guess they were pretty great, because they were all gone. We were able to visit with them, and watch a movie (Cowboys and Aliens, interesting).
The day before we left, we ran around and hit some shopping. Pappy wanted to go a few places, and so did we, so we went together. For dinner we hit up a great restaurant, that I was looking forward to going to when I made our flight reservations.
Our last day, we packed weighed, re-packed, re-weighed, and re-packed our bags. We hung out and got our last little bit of visiting in before heading to the airport. Yes I did get our bags underweight, barely. We got home, got the dog, hit up the grocery store, and went home to unpack, do laundry, and hang out with our fuzzy babies. It was a great, long trip, but we are glad that we were able to go and able to visit so many family members. We did miss some who weren't there, and couldn't go, but I was good while it lasted.
Christmas always brings out the sentimental part of me, and this year we have really tried to focus on our families, and getting to know some better, or catch up on lost time. I am truly grateful to both our families, for the love they share with us. I'm grateful to have my own family, even if it's just Hubby, Me and our two fuzzy babies, for now.
I hope you all had a great Christmas and a great New Year's Celebration, and here's to 2012, and a new year to get stuff checked off the 'To Do' list.

Temple Lights

2011-12-12T15:30:00.005-06:00

Over the weekend Hubby and I went out with my family for my little Brother's birthday. We went to The Garden at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was pretty good food. Afterwards we went and walked around Temple Square to look at the lights. I hadn't been since I was a teenager, so I had forgotten how many lights they actually put up. I took a few pictures.These don't do it justice, but if you click on the pictures to make them bigger it gives you a better idea.Here is just a front view of the Temple without Christmas lights.I really liked all the red they had.This was a really neat Nativity they had between properties. They had all these lit candles floating on the pool. It just captures the majesty of the scene, the Temple, and the calmness of the water.
If you live in Northern Utah, and have a chance to go, it's fun, but also dress warm, with lots of layers.

Two Buns Up

2011-12-02T16:58:00.006-06:00

Today was a pony tail day, but I wanted something a little more exciting, and I remembered seeing this great tutorial from Happy Together, so I thought I'd try it out. Here are my results (keep in mind it's been in all day, and I've touched and bumped it a lot, so it's messier that when I started my day.)The front is pretty boring, as I don't have bangs, and didn't do a part.This is the view from the top, I like this view, but it's the most unseen.Here is the side view, super cute! Don't mind my fuzzy stragglers, it's a product of naturally frizzy hair.Here is the back straight on. A little messy, but it still looks cool.Here is another back view, but more top than bottom.
It is a super easy do, so head over to Happy Together and check out her tutorial.

Glammed Up for the Holidays

2011-11-30T17:32:00.006-06:00

I love Christmas! And I love being festive in many ways. This year I decided to go a little glam in the looks department. Hubbies Mom is an Estition and she is great at it. She also does Eye Lash Extensions (check out her site here for pricing), so I've been getting them done, and she's been getting some practice. Her is her wonderful work.
You can put mascara on them (they won't last as long), but I don't, that's probably the best thing I like about them, wake up and go.
I forgot to get a before picture, but here is couple of old ones of me.This is without mascara.And here is one with mascara. So even when I have mascara my natural eyelashes are short and thin. If you live in Utah Valley or surrounding areas and want to get them done, you can contact me or go to her website and contact her directly.
So my other glam for the season is colored nail tips. Normally I stick with traditional white french manicure, and Hubby likes it best, but I thought I'd get a little saucy.A few months ago I got green and liked it well enough. The glitter was different and as my nails wore down it got funky, but I'm loving this red glitter acrylic. I would challenge everyone to do something obvious, and outside their comfort zone this season. It will brighten your day.

Thanksgiving Happenings

2011-11-29T16:27:00.004-06:00

This year for Thanksgiving we spent it with my Mom's side of the family. We met up in St. George at my Grandparents Home. We missed my Brothers and their wives, but it was still fun. I decided to take it upon myself to cook for everyone. I unfortunately only got one picture (to come). I made it a little easier on myself and picked up some turkey breast at the Honey Baked Ham store, but I still did the rest of the cooking. We had a spread pretty similar to last years, but my Grandma made Waldorf Salad, Frog Eye Salad, and bought pies. It was nice to have everyone there that could be there. I know my Aunt was glad she didn't have to cook, but she did get to do the dishes. We visited a lot, and did general hanging out. There was no shopping on Black Friday, because I refuse to take part in that chaos. Instead Hubby volunteered to watch the kids, while my Mom, and lil' Sister, and I went and had pedicures.It was my sisters first time, and I talked them both into getting colors they wouldn't normally wear. If you didn't guess mine are the turquoise toes, my Mom got an electric purple (top right), but it looks hot pink in the picture, and my sister got a hot pink (top left). We had a good time, got some lunch and did some good bonding and girl talk.
Friday night Hubby and I talked my Mom and Step-Dad to play a rousing game of Battle of the Sexes with us. It is one of our favorite games and everyone had a great time. Hubby and Step-Dad won, but we all learned just a little more about the opposite sex.
On Saturday afternoon, Hubby and I ventured out and did a little shopping, mostly window shopping.
I am Thankful for the opportunity we had to spend some time with my Grandparents, and for them opening their home for the holiday. This year we have tried to spend more time with our families, mostly because living in Arkansas, we didn't have that much contact with our families here in Utah.
I am also Thankful for the Gospel in our lives. As we get older and we and our family members move onto the next stages of life, I am grateful to know that when they pass on into the next life, I will be able to see them again. It's hard to think about not having them around, but it's the cycle of life, and Heavenly Father's Plan and Christs' Sacrifice are the greatest gifts we have.
I hope this holiday season we can all take a step back and realize, remember, and rejoice in our families here in this life and those in the next life, and for me the ones still to come.

My Accidental Infinity Scarf

2011-11-22T18:22:00.003-06:00

I've been doing some sewing lately (posts about those projects later), and I was trimming off extra material off the bottom of a shirt. Well, it was quite a bit of material and I didn't want to throw it out, so I hung it around my neck to deal with it later. I got up and looked in the mirror, and it looked good, so I evened it out, and fixed the seams, and ta da! a new easy-peasy scarf.So far I've only worn it these two ways, but I'm sure there are more, I just haven't had it long enough to come up with new combs. Cotton knit jersey is great, because it doesn't run, and it hangs nicely.

Free Hand Bag Pattern

2011-11-10T13:13:00.003-06:00

With my blog reading, and internet surfing, I came upon an awesome pattern. Two great things about it: 1) It's an Amy Butler Pattern, and 2) It was free! You can get yours here from Sew Mama Sew. That site is amazing and I am so inspired by the great crafts and projects they have on there.
So here is my Amy Butler Blossom Shoulder Bag:The only thing I changed was I added a small inside pocket for my cell phone. I'm super paranoid about scratching it up, and not finding it in the depths of my FULL purse.I found this great print at JoAnn Fabrics. I'm not normally a yellow/mustard color kind of girl, but I fell in love with the pattern, and it screams fall/winter to me. I just used a plain brown for the lining.And look, it fits ALL my crap that I HAVE to carry with me everywhere I go. Yes even a crochet project (more on that later).
This is a great project for all you intermediate sewers out there. Check it out and see if it's something you want to make for yourself.

First Dates are Awesome!

2011-11-09T12:22:00.005-06:00

Hubby and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary of our first date this week. We didn't do anything exciting, yet, since we have both been fighting colds. We did a lot of reminiscing of what we were both feeling that night. I am so excited that life has taking us on this journey, and I wouldn't want anyone else to share it with.
I love you Hubby! Thanks for 8 years of wonderful first dates.Just for everyone's enjoyment. Here is our first picture together. It was the day after Thanksgiving 2003, and it was the first time I met Hubby's family and they were doing family pictures and I was in them. We knew, even three weeks after we started dating, that we were meant to be together for the rest of eternity.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-08T17:33:00.005-06:00

I know that I'm more than a week overdue for this post, but here it is. This year was an off year (meaning no dressing up for Hubby), but I begged him to dress up with me for his sister's party. I was Goldie Locks, and he was my Grumpy Bear. I ordered my costume, and then made some bloomers for it because it was too short (not pictured), and I made Hubby's costume. It's basically a fuzzy, short sleeved hoodie with ears and a tail. He wore all brown and I made some fuzzy shoes for him to wear.This is his grumpy bear look.

For the day off we bought a bunch of candy and headed over to Hubby's families house to hand out it out. We carved a pumpkin, roasted the seeds, took turns handing out candy, and watched their new kitty and puppy play. It was funny to watch all the shenanigans. Here is a cute picture of the animals playing with each other.Mishka is the dog, he's a lab mix, and Koshka is the cat, she is a Siamese mix.
That's all for now, back to the grind of life and work.

In Loving Memory

2011-10-26T13:02:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday Hubbys Grandfather passed into the next life. He was such a wonderful man, and a great example of what a father, and grandfather should be. Although I didn't know him for very long, I felt loved and accepted by him. He had a way about him, you knew where you stood with him, and he wasn't afraid to let you know it. I know that some day Hubby will be just like him. Fortunately Hubby and his older sister were able to go to his funeral this week. They said it was a beautiful service and they celebrated his life the way he lived it. Hubby and his male cousins were the pall bearers and the granddaughters also helped in the service. Hubby got to read a passage in the Bible (I'll update later). I missed being there and supporting them, but at least they got to go. They are such a wonderful family and he will truely be missed, but he left behind his strenghth in everyone he touched.

Here is his obituary.

We love you Grandpa, and I know we will see you again in the next life.

Making Strides

2011-10-13T16:26:00.001-05:00

This last weekend I went with my Sister-In-Law (Hubbys older sister), to the Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Salt Lake City. It was cold and rainy, but it didn't stop people from coming out and supporting the cause.

I don't normally voice my opinions on causes, but I have near and dear personal reasons for supporting the fight against breast cancer. It was amazing to see all the people of all walks of life that have been touched by the effects of Breast Cancer. I was only able to do half of the 5 mile walk, but next year we are planning on doing all 5 miles.

I encourage all you women who read this blog, to check your boobies once a month, especially if you have a family history of Breast Cancer. Early detection is the greated weapon we have against the desease.
Go to the Making Strides website to find an event near you.

72 Hours and MREs

2011-08-09T19:54:00.007-05:00

After several months of collecting little things for our 72-Hour Kits, they are 90% done (we are missing food and water - to be gotten this week). For FHE (Family Home Evening) this week we did some testing and packing. We went to Emergency Essentials over the weekend and picked out a few MREs to test out. We didn't eat the entire meal, we just tasted everything we got.
Here is what we tasted:
Beef Ravioli in Meat Sauce - Pretty Good, similar to canned Ravioli.
Pork Sausage with Cream Gravy - Fairly Rich, something we would share for a breakfast, with bread.
Mexican Style Corn - Ok, better warmed up.
Fudge Brownie with Chocolate Chips - AWESOME!
Stuffed French Toast - Ok
Marble Pound Cake - AWESOME! A little dry, but flavor makes up for it.
Wheat Snack Bread - Ok, we used some for the Sausage and Gravy, and it helped with richness of gravy.
Chicken and Veggies in Pesto - Ok, better warmed up.
Chicken and Dumplings - Fair.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes - Meh, probably better with gravy.
Cinnamon Bun - Similar to French Toast, but more cinnamony.
Oatmeal Cookie - Good, dry, but tasty.
Chicken with Mexican Beans - Pretty good, better warmed up.

With trying all these, we learned that if you are planning this type of food for your kit, get the heating packs for each meal for each person. It was a pretty good amount of food for each packet. We also tried the water in the pouches and the boxes. We thought they would taste funny, but they taste like softened water.

Here are our kits:Missing from picture is MREs and heaters, the rest of our water supply.It is packed full of lots of great stuff. Some of you may know that I love lists. I get it from my Mom. So here is my list of the stuff we put in our Kits:
Change of Clothes: Zip-off pants (converts to shorts), t-shirt, long johns, 2 pair socks, extra underwear, a wide-brim hat, lightweight shoes
Toiletries: Deodorant, Shampoo/Conditioner, Toothbrush/Paste/Floss, Soap, compact brush/comb, bug spray, sunblock, q-tips, wet wipes, tissues, chapstick, contact solution/case, extra pair glasses, sunglasses
Sanitation/Protection: travel TP, hand sanitizer, hand towel, scrub cloths, poncho, milar blanket/sleeping bag, hand warmers, tube tent, nylon cord, tactical cord, water purification tablets, potassium iodide tablets, feminine hygiene items,
First Aid: Tums, glucose tablets, temporary dental cap glue, ibuprofen, burn cream, surgical mask, gauze, gloves, ace bandage, tongue depressor, hand wipes, alcohol wipes, band aids, butterfly band aids, antibiotic ointment, Tylenol, aspirin, sting ease, inflatable splints, instant cold pack, paramedic scissors, prescription meds, blood sugar test kit
Misc: lighter, water-proof matches, magnesium fire starter, church key, mini can opener, P38s, mini windup LED flash lights, mini liquid parafin candles, paper soap, gorilla tape, sporks, glow sticks, notebook with pencil, pocket knife, sewing kit, booklet on knots, fishing kit in a can, booklet on dangerous plants and animals, survival book, Thumb drive with important information/pictures, small LED flashlight with extra batteries
Sustenance: MRE's, heater packs for MRE's, Water, Cat Food, Dog Food, Animal Treats, emergency meal bars
In the Bucket: Cat Litter/Box, Dog Poop bags, trash bags, toilet enzymes, rubber gloves, water filtration bottle, 5-Gal Bucket with toilet seat lid.

After that long list, I wanted to touch on a few interesting things. We are going to have a harness for Duke to carry his own food and water (plus that will help with his bouncing). Also we have long johns and the second pair of socks for winter conditions, plus the t-shirt and zip-off pants work for summer conditions. We also wanted to save our valuable information and just got a thumb drive and put copies of pictures, important documents, etc. onto it. You don't have to do MREs, we just felt that it was right for us. They are heavy on the stomach and high on calories, so keep that in mind. We would suggest you try them first before you completely commit to them.
As we worked on these, we were looking at it as though we would have to leave the house and so that's why there is so much stuff, but it all fits into our roller backpacks. The key to that is our vacuum sealer. It condenses the volume, and also waterproofs everything. We packaged things in a way to be able to open needed things and not everything.
We got stuff from Walmart, Maceys (if you live in Utah), Emergency Essentials, Recreation Outlet store, Harbor Freight, WinCo. It's all fairly accessible, you just have to want to do it and take the time getting things. We got most of it on sale, or clearance, or it was so small it was inexpensive. If anyone has any questions on our items or some items not here or if you think we missed something, just contact me and I'll help the best I can.
Our main goal with these is to not have to use them, but if we ever have to, we'll be ready for anything. I want to set goal for everyone who reads this: If you don't already have your 72-Hour Kit, put one together, even if it's just a change of clothes and food and water for three days, you'll at least be happy for that.

Predicament

2011-07-21T12:37:00.003-05:00

What do you do when you have someone who needs to travel with a piece of office equipment that isn't meant to travel?
In my case, Hubby asked me to make a bag for it. It was a paper scanner, and his coworker needed to take it on a plane, but didn't want to take it in it's original packaging because then he would have had to check it (we all know baggage handlers aren't soft handed with our luggage.) So we (Hubby and I) put our heads together and came up with an idea. I then took the idea and made it happen.

TA DA!We got some black duck canvas for the outside and a cotton print for the inside. I also made a hard foam board and soft foam to go in between the layers. It wasn't too bad getting it started, but because of the awkward rigidity of it, I wasn't able to use my sewing machine to finish it, so I had to hand sew all the layers together. I also used nylon webbing for the straps and closures.Here is the inside. One of Hubby's requests was to have robots on the inside. He is a techno guys, so robots are cool. I think it was funny, and hopefully the airport TSA people thought it was funny too.Here it is with the scanner inside. It fit perfectly (because I measured the scanner before I started, and checked my work as I went along). Hubby and his coworker were very impressed that I got it together in less than 3 days.

It will be my first, last, and only bag of this specific kind, but I'm glad it worked.

Do It Yourself Birthday Gifts!

2011-07-16T10:15:00.001-05:00

I always have a hard time picking something a bit less practical for gifts. Hubby kept asking me what I wanted for my Birthday this year, and I couldn't give him a great answer. So we ran around and did some errands, ate at a great pizza place for lunch, and went shopping (mostly window shopping). We stopped by Harbor Freight and Hubby found this bag:It's a tool bag that will stay open (because it has stiff wires at the zipper.) At the time I commented that it would great if it was in a different color, then I could use it as a purse.

Well, Hubby took that as a sign of a great gift for me. We went and got another one, and I proceeded to take it apart to make a pattern and make myself a new purse. I tease Hubby, and tell everyone that he got me a Make-Your-Own-Purse Kit.Here are the pieces from the original bag, and the pieces I cut out to make a new one. I reused the zipper and the handles (including wire) since I didn't want to spend more time finding a long enough zipper.And TA-DA! Here is my awesome green bag. We found a reminent of Olive Green Duck Canvas, and I already had an awesome print. It has three pockets on each side of the outside. and lots of inside pockets.Here is the inside. I got too excited when I got it done and loaded it up before I remembered to take pictures, so pardon some of my stuff. Do you just love the fab cotton print.
NOTE: I tried it out in the middle of typing this post, and I need to put in a shoulder strap, because I didn't realize how much I automatically sling or tried to sling my purse over my shoulder. I'll post a revised picture when I get around to actually getting the strap on. Here is Hubby's 'Tool' bag next to my new Birthday 'Purse'. I totally love it! Thanks to my awesome Hubby!
My other 'DoItYourself' birthday present was a skirt. I saw THIS super cute tutorial over at Running With Scissors. I just had to make one (minus the pockets because I didn't have enough fabric).I still want to put a few more rows of shirring, but I ran out of time to get it done. I fell in love with the print.
The actual day of my birthday was nice, we took it fairly easy, spent some time with my family, and each other. I still have another gift coming from my Dad, so I'll post again what it is and what I did with it.

Camping Season

2011-07-12T10:53:00.003-05:00

One of our favorite things to do is camping. Living in Arkansas, we were sort of perma-camping, but here in Utah, we have a lot more places to go. So far this year we've gone a couple of times.
The first time we went up American Fork Canyon and luckily found a great spot. We took the dog, and planned to be there for a couple of days, but it was so cold at night, we didn't stay the second night. He was so cold he was shivering. Hubby let him share his air mattress, and used his bed as a blanket, since I had the only two extra blankets. Other than that it was nice to be out in nature. We found great spot right by a creek, so there was a nice breeze and the humidity was higher and made it nicer. Here are some pictures:Here is our campsite. It had just enough room for our tent.Here is the path to the car and to the restroom (which is a must for me).
This is the creek by our site. It was pretty full and moving pretty quickly.Here is what the dog had to keep him entertained. You can also see a Hubby leg and a doggie leg. The 65lb dog loves to sit in Hubby's lap.
The second camping trip was over the 4th of July weekend. We went with some friends, their 2 six-year-old boys, their RV and 4-wheeler, to an RV Park in Manti. It was nice to catch up with them, but it was noisy. We were right by the entrance to the Park, and so the dog barked at everyone (cars, truck, ATV, and people) that went by. We ended up going home early to get a day of normal rest at home.
Hopefully there will be more camping this year.

Cuddling on the Couch!

2011-06-08T11:58:00.005-05:00

I've been inspired lately in my sewing. I wanted a new quilt for the couch, because I've been using a queen size one, and it's too big. So I searched the internet for inspiration. I cannot find the website that I was inspired by, but here is the outcome.This is the front (you cannot see one row of blocks because it's hanging over the back of the railing). It's 50 inches by 60 inches. I adapted the inspiration and came up with my own set of five 10 inch blocks. The original design was 80x100 and and was thinking about making it for our bed, but after then time it took for the last one, I scratched that idea and went smaller. So the way I laid out the design in Microsoft Excel, making it smaller caused an almost random pattern for the squares.Here is the back. I just took the scrapes from the front and made a band near the top.
For the material I just bought about 1/2 a yard of most of the colors and 3/4 of a yard for the darkest green (I had 5 shades of Green, 3 shades of Brown, and 2 shades of Turquoise), but I only ended up using about half of the fabric for the colors. For the tan I just bought a king sized flat sheet. That way I got the width and length I needed for the back if I did something different than what I ended up doing.Here is a close up of the front. Hubby helped me decided how to quilt it. I liked his idea better because it took a lot less time. I just ran straight stitches along the seams of the blocks. My skills are still improving in the quilting part of the process, and I look forward to my next quilt, probably another smaller one.

No Heat Curls

2011-06-06T14:30:00.002-05:00

In reading in the blog world, I came upon this tutorial for no heat curls. I like having my hair curly, but hate the work it takes to get it there. So I tried it out. It turned out okay. I think the problem is that I didn't use enough gel before I wrapped up my hair, and I need a better headband. Here is the outcome. Sorry about the bad picture. I'm not the best at taking self portraits.I am going to get better stuff and try again, but it works for now.

Garden Season 2011 is Here!

2011-05-26T14:41:00.003-05:00

Hubby was finally able to take some time off. I've been sick so I just watched him all day as he worked on the garden plots. Our Landlords/Friends already has some raised boxes, and we had planted some onions, garlic, and a cabbage (school project for one of the kids). So here is what we've started.Here is the cabbage, etc. This kids are so fascinated by the whole process.Here are the tomatoes. We bought one cherry tomato plant, and three canning tomato plants. We also planted come marigolds to help with bugs.This will have zucchini, yellow squash, and dill (it helps keep bugs away).This one will have two pickling cucumber plants, and a butternut squash plant.We also planted a bunch of herbs: Oregano, Cilantro, Sweet Basil, Thai Basil, Chives, Parsley, Catnip, Spearmint, Cumin, and Lavender.
We still want to plant some peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, and pumpkins (pie and carving) near the raised beds. We also have a huge area that still needs some work, but we are planning lots and lots of corn, peas, and I would love sunflowers, probably some other things, but we'll see.
I love having a garden, mostly because I like to see how nature works.

Hot Dogs and Silly Kitties!

2011-05-26T14:27:00.003-05:00

We've had some beautiful weather off and on, so when it's nice, we've been going outside. Duke has been doing better off the leash, so we let him run around the backyard. He's pretty good at staying on the property. He loves his frisbee, and the kids have lots of tennis balls around that he will eventually claim as his own and bring inside when he's done playing.Here is the view from the backyard. I love going out there and being able to see the LDS Timpanogos Temple. Hopefully we'll be able to visit soon. Hubby has been really, super, busy with work, so I've been trying to support him.
Desi even loves being outside. We do have a harness and a leash for her, that she totally hates. And the very first thing she does is rub all over the concrete. I just laugh at her.Here she is sitting in a camping chair next to me. I put a cover over the top of her to keep her from overheating and she just loves it. She watches the dog play, the bees buzzing by, and loves smelling the fresh air when the wind kicks up. All the kids think its funny that she would rather sit in the chair then play on the grass. I have a very spoiled cat.A couple of weeks ago, we saw this rubber chicken at the Walmart, so we got it for Duke, thinking he would tear it up since it squeaks. Well, he actually protects it. He acts like it's in distress when we squeak it, and get's mad at us. I took this picture after I was playing with the chicken (making it squeak), and he was growling at me if I got too close to him and his 'Baby'. He also has to have it next to him on his bed at night, or he'll whine, until we go and get it for him. He won't even pick it up for his self.
This one is just because it was a cute picture. Aren't fuzzy babies the funnest?!?

Inspiration for Decorations!

2011-05-26T14:05:00.006-05:00

Last week we went to dinner with my side of the family to celebrate my step-Mom's birthday. My cute Sister-in-Law and Little Brother made these cute season blocks. Each side has a letter for each season. I loved them, and decided to borrow that idea and make my own. So thank you Lil Bro and Sis-in-Law for the inspiration. Here is what I came up with:Here is the first one, since it's the current season. I just painted the blocks to match my color scheme. And picked some cute fonts, traced on the letters and painted them in, since I don't have a vinyl letter machine and I wanted to get them done.
And just a quarter turn and you get this:I brightened my color scheme colors.
Another quarter turn:I tried to use more fall colors that match some of my flower arrangements.
A quarter turn:For winter I matched the colors of my ornaments that I use on my Christmas Tree.
Another quarter turn and you start over.
Here is where I put the cute blocks. I still have to hang our clock, but you get the idea. Plus I love that they are kid friendly, because everyone just wants to go up to them and turn them. I'm thinking about putting some felt pads on the bottom to keep from scratching the cabinet surface, so it's on my very long 'To Do' list.
I've also been tweaking my other decorations, and am still working on getting more of my pictures hung up. Here is the current state of my decorations.Here is the entertainment center. There is even a change from this {really badly taken} picture. I (0r rather Hubby) re potted my plant into a green pot. So see the before go here. I also finally got some candles to go on my candle holders. I really like how it turned out. I just wish the picture was better.
I kept my 'Family Wall' the same, because I LOVE how it turned out the first time it did it. Click here to see how it turned out. This is my 'Travel Wall'. It's the wall by the kitchen. I finally got all my books from the old house and onto the shelves. I have stacked all the pictures that need to go on the walls on top of them. With this wall I want to hang pictures of all the places we've been together. I already made the center piece for the wall. There was already the white calendar holder, so I picked a picture from our Barbados trip and put text on top of it that says "Of all the places we've been together, We always find our way back home." I'll have to post more pictures when I get it all done.
That's where I'm at. I'm still working on my list of things I want to get done, so keep checking back for more updates.

7 Wonderful Years!

2011-05-16T10:26:00.004-05:00

This is a day late, but I wanted to spend time with Hubby and not on the computer.

We celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary yesterday.

We didn't do much yesterday, church, naps, played with the dog outside (because it was beautiful weather), and had some cake and ice cream (we watched, they ate) with the family upstairs, because they had a birthday yesterday too. On Saturday, Hubby took me out to Texas Road House. I {Heart} their rolls, but I did good, and got a salad. We are planning on hitting up the Temple this week. I did make sure to ask Hubby in the morning if he was feeling itchy at all. He assured me that he isn't. He is such a wonderful, loving, funny, kind man. He's been there for me whenever I need him. I am truly blessed to have him in my life.Here is to the next 7 years and beyond. I'm glad that I get to spend time and all eternity with him.

Keep On, Keeping On!

2011-04-27T10:47:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy month, trying to get settled in and starting my new diet, but I have also been crafting.
I made a few more Angry Birds. Here are all of them together. The kids upstairs love playing with them when they come down. It's fun to see their imaginations with them.
We went to St. George, Utah for Easter weekend to spend with my side (Mom's side) of the family. We all met up at my grandparents house: my Mom and step-Dad drove up from Phoenix, while two of my siblings (and their families) and Hubby and I drove down from Salt Lake. It was a fun weekend and I was very grateful to have such a wonderful family. We all got together and planned baskets for my Niece, Nephew, and young Cousin. I crocheted some cute baby ducks (pattern found here). They stand about eight inches tall and the kids loved them, especially my niece. I actually ended up making four, because the youngest of the kids upstairs saw it and fell in love with it, so I gave the first one to her. I just love seeing the faces of the kids that get joy from the things I make.
I also wanted an Easter dress and found a last minute tutorial here. It was fun and easy. I went to the Wal-Mart and found some cute fabric that I liked (only $1.50 a yard). Then I found a brown turtle neck for $1 in the clearance section (since there weren't any brown short sleeved shirts). I just made a V-neck, short sleeved shirt from the turtle neck, and followed the tutorial for the skirt. It was nice and comfy, and everyone was shocked that I made it out of some fabric and a turtle neck shirt.
On Sunday we did family pictures with everyone. Here is Hubby and me for our family picture. I like it. And it was nice to have someone else get a nice, updated picture of us.I hope that everyone had a great Easter and enjoyed time with their loved ones. We sure did.
I've got lots more projects in the works, and more weight to loose, so let's keep on, keeping on.

Couch Redo, and Decorating

2011-03-31T12:57:00.006-05:00

We have moved in and I'm working on making things homey. I managed to get pictures on the walls, and decorations on horizontal surfaces. Then I worked on repurposing the couch cushions. Our landlords/friends brought down some old couches for us to use/keep, and they said that I could do whatever I wanted to them. So here is the outcome.The before on the couch. Kind of plain, plus the back cushions would squish down and become uncomfortable. So I made new linings and covers, then took the stuffing out of the old cushions and put them in the new ones.Here is the after. I still have to make new accent pillows (I just used my old ones from Arkansas until I get it done.). I had four yards of this cute brown and white damask, so on half the pillows I did a center brown ruffle, and on the other half I did a stripe with some tan suede and green jersey.Here is the love seat. They had red pillows that came with them, but red isn't in my color scheme, so they went.Here is the after on the loveseat. The result is great. They are a lot more comfortable, and they brighten up the room.
Here are some pictures of the decorations and pictures I put up. They already had these beautiful entertainment center and movie cabnit, so I utilized them.Hubby bought me fresh flowers about a week ago, and they have opened up and are still looking good. I love fresh flowers! I am also missing some candles for my candle sticks. I keep forgetting them when I go to the store.Here is the movie case. We still have a clock that we are going to put on the wall, but it's still at the old house, and I always forget it when I go back and get another car load.d (Don't mind the cords, they go to the entertainment system, and we just deal with them there.)Here is my family wall. I put all my family pictures and family related stuff on the wall. Plus my awesome paper lunch bag wreath with the new ribbon. I used Command Hooks for hanging all these (I used the velcro picture ones-large and medium, and decorating hooks for pictures that had a spot for the hook). It was nice because I rearranged several things and it didn't leave any unwanted holes in the walls. I still have more walls to decorate, plus my bookshelves to organize and decorate the tops, so I'll post more pictures later.
And just for fun, here is a picture of the Dog on the LovSac that we put inbetween the two couches. He loves all the room we have.

The Art of Moving, A Lot!

2011-03-22T12:20:00.004-05:00

Last weekend we moved into our new place. It's so good to be here. Basement living it fun! The dog loves the kids, and the kids love the dog! He did really well meeting them. He's a jumper, so we were worried about it, but the kids took it in stride. The cat hid the first day or so, then she decided to be adventurous and explore her new home. She is curious about the kids, but keeps her distance. She's always been that way.
We just brought over the necessities to get through day to day stuff, but hopefully we'll be able to get our books, food storage, and all my decorations over soon. I'm so excited to have a normal sized kitchen, a living room with comfortable couches and a real TV. I have been working on getting the stuff we did bring, organized. There is so much space compared to the trailer in Arkansas, that I just keep rearranging everything to see how it fits best, and it's not all overstuffed and stacked on top of itself. We've been making mini trips and just loading up the car and moving it. Next on my list is the rest of my kitchen stuff. Because of my need to plan and organize, I have been dreaming about where I want to put everything, and how I want to decorate. Hubby just listens when I tell him my ideas. Occasionally he has some ideas, but he mostly just lets me do my thing. I'll post pictures as soon as I have something to take a picture of.
So, in the end {number} eleven is still in the process, but it's all good.

Holy Crochet

2011-03-11T22:55:00.004-06:00

Here are the projects I worked on this week. I wanted to get something done, but not anything too involved since we are moving, again.
One of my besties wanted a new beanie for her little girl, she had some yarn, and here is the result. I wanted to try a different pattern. I think I redid this one about seven or eight times, trying to get the right size and look. But it's cute and hopefully it will fit for a while.

And here is my pet project. I was looking for crocheting patterns with my mother-in-law, and I came across these. I got the patterns from Itsy Bitsy Spider Croche t. Oh My Heck, they were such a labor of love! And Hubby loves them too. I weighted them with dried beans and they are fun to throw at each other, and the dog.The pig is my favorite. I just love looking at it and tossing it around.Here is my very angry Cardinal.And here is my angry Goldfinch.
They are all about 5-6 inches across. It took a while to get them all put together because I had to use such small stitches, but it was totally worth the back ache and crochet hands (imagine arthritic grandma hands.). If any of you are crocheters, the Cardinal pattern was free, and the pig and goldfinch pattern were $2.00 each. They had two other bird patterns, but I liked these three the best.

Really!?!

2011-03-07T17:43:00.003-06:00

We have some exciting news!

I know what you're thinking!

Are they going to have a baby?!?!

Well. . .

Not yet, but we are Moving Again!

I know everyone thinks we are crazy to move again, especially in such short amount of time. Hubby and his work colleges need to be in the same office and that isn't panning out in the way they hoped, so we are moving in with him and his family. Well, when I say moving in, I mean they have a finished 'mother-in-law' basement and we are renting it from them. We are very excited because they are such a wonderful family and have some adorable kids, and they live right by an LDS Temple. No excuses not to visit frequently.
Hubby said that I don't have to lift anything. I told him I would help and pack the boxes we need to take with us. The nice thing about this move is that we don't have to get it all done in one day. We are going to do it piecemeal. We are taking the necessaries first, like: bedroom stuff, bathroom stuff, computers, and kitchen stuff. Anything like books, and storage can get moved as we have time.
We just have to laugh at ourselves for being nomads whenever we live in Utah. In the end I don't care where we live as long as we are together and happy.
So here is to {number} eleven!

Crafting Time: Wreaths!

2011-03-04T17:39:00.004-06:00

I have been trying out some tutorials that I've been staring at for quite a while. Here is the outcome.I found this cute tutorial, and had to make my own version. It took some time, a lot of paper bags, and two trips to the craft store to get the right punch, but I managed to get it done. I might add some different ribbon to give it some more contrast then just brown on brown. Hubby likes green, and since that is my color scheme for our living room, I was already leaning in that direction anyway. But I sure do love when Hubby gives his opinion on my projects. It makes me feel good that he takes and interest in my hobbies and wants things to look nice too.And I found this cute tutorial here. It was a little tricky to do this without a cutting machine or an easy way to crease lines to fold the stars, but I managed.
For manning my glue gun for the last week or so, I only got one burn and that is when Hubby distracted me in the middle of the paper bag wreath. It didn't hurt to bad, more shock/startled than anything. I hit up the fabric store last week and got some super cute fabric to make some pillows and some other for I'm not sure yet, maybe a table cloth or something. I'll post pictures as soon as I get those projects done.

The Road

2011-02-24T13:26:00.006-06:00

It's been over a week since we left Arkansas and arrived in our new home in Utah. It was a long drive (2 1/2 days of driving). We were pretty beat and took a few days off to recoup before the unpacking began. And I am proud to say that I'm about 90% unpacked. I mostly limited by my stupid back. It is not so fun to have back problems at such a young age, but it's hereditary, so I just deal.
So here are some pictures of the road. I was behind Hubby the whole way, so you'll see most of the pictures were taken from my perspective in the car looking at the moving truck.

I think this was in the middle of Oklahoma somewhere. The only way I knew we had crossed over into Oklahoma from Arkansas was the giant Indian Casino on the border. Oklahoma was pretty flat and boring, but a lot of toll roads.Here is the cat. She was pretty good for the ride. She only had one incident and that was only six miles into the journey. Her first try at getting comfortable for the ride.And this is where she spent 90% of the time while in the car. She got as comfortable as she could in her harness and leash that was seat-belted in for safety. It was funny to look in the rear view mirror and see just a ball of fuzz.This is getting into Texas around sunset. Because we were heading west it was very long and changed as we went with the clouds going east. It's one of my favorite pictures.We stopped in Amarillo the first night, and having two animals we didn't have the best options for less money. We thought it was funny to see a no smoking sticker on the ash tray. I guess they put it there as a reminder.Here is the cat in the motel room. She has been in hotel/motels before.Here is the dog. He didn't know what to do in a motel room. It was small and he couldn't just go run around outside. He had a harder time traveling. He get's anxious and car sick, so the vet gave us something for him before we left. Hubby said he did okay after he got used to it. But the dog would cry if Hubby got out of his sight.And here we are entering into New Mexico. They had this big sign, and nothing to back it up. There was a lot of flat, dry, sage brush covered land. New Mexico gets a 'Meh' from me.This is after we got into Colorado. I thought it was beautiful with the snowy mountains in the background. It was a nice change from the flat, red, Indian reservation we'd been looking at for a few hours. We could sure tell when we changed states though. We thought that was interesting.
Here is Chimney Rock. I had heard about it and learned about it in American History, and now we've seen it (all be it from a moving car).We drove through Colorado and stoped in Southeastern Utah for the second night. We were pretty grateful for the outside support on finding a hotel for us to stay at.
This is Southeastern Utah somewhere. I liked the contrast between the red rocks and the snow covered mountains in the distance. (click on the picture to see it bigger, and appreciate it more.)
This is near Moab somewhere. I would have liked to get a picture of the famous arch, but it fell down in the last couple of years. Hubby didn't even know that we drove by it. I did like all the red rock though.Here we are getting ready to enter the canyon (probably the hardest part of the drive). This is called the San Raphael Reef. It looks like the rocks just jutted out sideways from the earth. It stretched on for miles like that. I knew that Utah has some pretty landscape, but it was nice to experience it for myself.After driving a half day on our third day, we got our LovSac out and by bed time, this is what the dog was like. He had a toy and could see Hubby, so he was perfectly content and very tired. The cat was quick to find her favorite spot. She sits in the window in the Kitchen most mornings, because it gets the most sunlight. It's still fun to see her from the outside. And it's so idealistic for a cat to sit in the window of an old house.
Well, the journey was long, but uneventful and we made it safely. I am very thankful to the four guys who unloaded our truck (with a little help from me and Hubby). They got it unloaded in about three hours, while I sorted it all while they brought it in. I am also thankful to all the friends and family that helped us load the truck, especially Hubby's' Dad. With out him we wouldn't have made the final push and gotten all the odds and ends taken care of. We will difenately miss all our friends we made in Arkansas, but we will be back to visit. Now we are on to the next chapter in our lives, and I can't wait for what adventures we will have next.

Queen of the Cardboard Jungle

2011-02-07T11:44:00.007-06:00

We are accomplished packers and movers. Ever since we found out we were moving, we've been pulling stuff out of our hiddey-holes, sorting through everything, and packing it up (or throwing it out). The cat is in Heaven! She LOVES boxes! She feels safe in them, on them, or even next to them. This is how she has been spending most of her time.We put an empty box on the top and made it easy for her to get to for a while.She defends her tower if either Hubby or I get too close.
The Dog has been pretty out of sorts because we've been moving things around. Not too much longer and we'll get everything settled.
This week I had a friend from Church finally realized that I make purses, and she had some super cute fabric. Check out Taylor Made Designs for more details.

Down to Two

2011-01-24T11:18:00.005-06:00

Last weekend we were able to find a loving home to all the animals (except the cat and dog). We were very worried about finding someplace for them to go. Although they are just animals, it was hard to see them go, because we raised them from babies, (most from eggs). I made sure to take some pictures before they went.It snowed last week and most of them didn't like being in it. Here are the pictures.Here is the A-Frame, it only had a small window without snow on it. The Duckins didn't know what to do.Here is Rockie running through the snow. Like the others, he didn't like it on his feet.The ducks sat down and pulled in their feet to eat their scratch grains in the morning.The white house chickens didn't like the looks of snow, and refused to leave their house.The Ducks even sat down to get a drink of water.The big house chickens were torn between getting something to eat and having to get into the snow. I ended up giving them some scratch in their house.Fluffy and Chubby, wanting to get out of their cage until they saw the dog.Fluffer-nutter jumping around his cage.Duke loves the snow, but he was ready to go back inside to Hubby.Desi is in box heaven. She loves boxes, and has been spending most of her time on top of the ones we've packed and stacked in the kitchen. This one is a small box on the LovSac, but she loves it just the same. She feels safe on or in them.

It's Official. . .

2011-01-17T19:28:00.003-06:00

We're Moving! Back to Utah! Aaaakkkk! I know, not something we actually planned to happen, ever, especially me, but it's happening, and it's a good move. Hubbies work is expanding and they want us back to Utah A.S.A.P. It's crazy to be moving again (#10 in less than 7 years), but everything literally fell into place while we were out in Utah last week.
So, now begins the sorting, and packing process. Having been in the current place long enough, we have accumulated and need to throw away the extra stuff we don't need anymore. It's not like we have a ton of stuff. Living in a small area with little storage, means that we haven't got too much to go through. We just have to get it all together and sorted (and not just throw into a box to get it out of the way. We have lots of junk boxes full of random stuff). I am, by my OCD, a list maker, and a planner, so I've been mulling over what to sort through first, what's a priority to keep, what needs to be thrown out, and what can we pack first that we don't need to use in the meantime. I once saw this comic strip about the process of packing boxes to move. I couldn't find it, so here is my version.
First Day: Pack everything nicely with bubble wrap and stack nicely in boxes. Carefully labeling contents and what room they are to go in.
Second Day: Pack similar objects in box and labeling what room they go in.
Third Day: Packing anything within reach into a box and labeling it junk.
Forth Day: Dumping random drawers into a box and labeling it junk I Hate.

My hope and goal is to avoid having to go through the above process, because I'd rather just get rid of the junk to being with.
We will definitely miss all the friends we've made, and the family that we are close to, but we are looking forward to all the new opportunities we will have to live back in Utah. Wish us luck.

Finally! A Few Fishinsh Projects

2011-01-03T20:20:00.006-06:00

I finally got out of my sewing funk, and got some projects that I've been procrastinating on, done. I finally finished my first knitting project that I started in May (and redid about 5 times). My winter scarf, just in time for the really cold weather. It ended up being about five feet long, and I only did the ruffle effect on the ends, since it was taking forever.I also made a quick crochet scarf, that is about 8 feet long. It's more for fashion, than actual warmth.I also made this cute Flapper inspired hat that I found here. It turned out a little small, so I have to fix it, or something.I also made a couple of cute drawstring back packs for some friends' kids. The one pictured above is for the cutest 19 month old.I also made a suede bag for one of my Grandmothers. I used three tones of suede for the outside.And I lined it with a simple print.I also made myself a new messenger bag. It's for those days when I know I'll be sitting somewhere for a while with nothing to do, so I can bring my knitting, and a book, and any other thing I want to stuff into it. On the outside it cut up a bunch of 2inch strips and sewed them together randomly. On the inside I did pockets all the way across on both side (like I do for my diaper bags). It's getting a lot of use so far.

I also made a cute red shirt, but I forgot to take a picture of it, so I'll have to post one later.

What A Year!

2010-12-31T12:24:00.002-06:00

I can hardly believe that 2010 is almost over. Like everyone else in the world, I have been pondering over all the things that I have gotten done over the year, and all the things I wish I had gotten done over the year.
Here are some of the highlights:

On the Farm-

We have gone through-raised, butchered, lost, etc- so many chickens I don't even want to count.
We bought ducks and rabbits, and have really enjoyed their personalities.
Worked on our Gardening and Building Skills.
Had a hot, dry summer, and a cold, wet winter (thus far).

Personal Point of View-

I (Stephanie) turned the BIG 3-0-! And boy was it a hard one.
We got to visit Utah Family this summer, and even brought one home with us (for a short visit).
Worked on our Talents: Stephanie-Sewing, knitting/crocheting, general crafts, Brent-Electronics, Gardening.
Completed our Parenting classes, ALIVE! and fairly unscathed, but definitely knowing more about ourselves.
Arranged and rearranged furniture.
Learned more stuff, about different things.

Outside Influences-

Worked diligently in our Church callings, as best we could.
Made some lasting friendships.
Missed the family we didn't get to see.

As for things we didn't get done. I can only put those things on my to do list for next year, and hopefully with all the things we did get done, we can spend more time on the things we didn't.
I also want to add that I love our families dearly and miss them terrible, and are grateful to all the love and support that we get from across the country from all the ones we love. Have a Happy New Year!

A Happy Day!

2010-12-14T17:28:00.005-06:00

Hubby gets the 'Hubby of the Year' award.
He got me a dishwasher for Christmas this year!

I was so excited when he woke me up and asked if I wanted to go with him to pick it up. Now, I knew it was coming, but the shipping tracking information was very non-committal, and we weren't sure when it would actually arrive. He'd been teasing me all week that he finally got notification. But I was very excited when we actually left the house. It's not fancy and it's can't hold very many dishes (it's a basic portable model). But it washes the dishes pretty well, which means that I don't have to. Woo to the Hoo!
It is about 18 inches wide, and the same depth and height as a counter. It rolls around pretty easily. I just put the hose onto the faucet and plug it in, and it goes. It isn't too loud either. I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of it. I'm still learning on how full I can fill it and what configuration the dishes work best in it, but so far so good.
I have some canning to do this week, so it will be nice to pre-wash the jars in, and have some place to put them when they are done, to cool, without taking up my limited counter space. Yeah for Hubby! I love him lots and lots, and not just because of the dishwasher, but for lots of other reasons too.

Christmas in the Air

2010-12-08T10:29:00.003-06:00

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays (minus the being cold part). It's fun to get into the spirit of giving and celebrating Christs' Birth. The day after Thanksgiving is our traditional day to put up the tree, decorate, and break out the Christmas movies. Here is what our decorations look like.Since rearranging the furniture we have combined all our bookshelves, and I have one long stretch of horizontal space under my already hung pictures. I'm loving it! It gives me room to display things. It's a tradition from when I was little to hang up the Christmas cards we get from other people. So, instead of just taping them to the wall, I made something to display them. I took some 1/4 inch black ribbon and some mini clothes pins, hot glues the pins to the ribbon, used push pins to secure the ribbon onto the bookshelves, and just clip up the cards as they come in the mail. You can kind of see we had just a few when I took this picture, but I have lots of room for more.I also put up my nativity set from my Mom (last year's present). I saw this awesome one on Running With Scissors that her Mom made her. I feel so inspired and am trying to figure out how to make one for myself. I don't think I have the time or patience right now, maybe next year, then I can start earlier in the year, so that it's done by Christmas. I've never appreciated the simplicity of the joy having a nativity set in my home would be like, until I got married.This last picture is for fun. Duke loves the peppermint kisses. And we make him wait to eat it. I put it on the floor and he gets down right next to it and drools until we tell him 'okay'. I managed to get him to wait long enough for me to get a picture. I know it's not the best quality, but my lighting was low, and he is just too cute.

Happy Anniversary!

2010-12-01T16:30:00.003-06:00

It's been 2 years since I started this blog! A lot has changed and happened, and right now there isn't enough time to write it all down. I'll post again this week (and add some pictures of Christmas decorations).
I just wanted to write a quick note to all the family and friends (the ones I know and the ones I don't) who read my blog and keep up on the crazy things we have going on. I want to say thanks for all your love and support, and the few comments that I get every once in a while. So I put to you this challenge. Write a comment on this post telling me what your favorite post has been over the last two years. I look forward to reading everyone's comments.

I'm Thankful For. . .

2010-11-30T11:02:00.003-06:00

We had a pretty quite Thanksgiving. We invited some people over that don't have family around, or weren't able to visit their families. We were supposed to have six, but someone got sick and they stayed home, so we had four. It was pretty fun cooking with Hubby. He LOVES doing the turkey, and since I don't like turkey, it was all him. We planned our menu the week before and set a schedule of what needed to get done the day before and the day of.Now we are very fancy people, but we do break out the good stuff for holidays. Here is our table setting.It was fun making things pretty. The few days before we had rearranged the furniture to fit everyone into our living room, since our kitchen was full of cooking in dance. Here is the 'buffet' table overview. Here is a close up. We had veggies and cheese and crackers before dinner. Hubby made haricot vert (thin green beans) with cranberries and almonds. He also took care of the stuffing.Here is the other half. Hubby did the stuffing and the turkey, and I did the potatoes, 'Maddie" rolls, and the apple pie (my very first pie. I was very excited, and everyone loved it). We had plenty of leftovers and sent some home with everyone and even to the couple that got sick.

Now that we got talking about food out of the way, I wanted to share some things that I am thankful for over the past year:
1) My Wonderful Hubby-he has been a rock in my chaos, and a strong shoulder to cry on, and my comedian to get me to laugh every day.
2) Our Friends and Family-who support us from near and far, and take joy in our journey through this crazy life.
3) My Country-I am grateful to live in a place that I can do anything, we anyone, and live freely.
4) Our Soldiers-I am proud of all the men and women who have, still do, and will fight for the freedom we enjoy. I appreciate the sacrifice they make.
5) My Heavenly Father-I'm grateful for the personal relationship that I have with my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ. Without the oppertunity to talk with them in prayer I would be lost. I'm grateful for the opportunities have have to go to the Temple, to feel their presence surround me and guide me.

I hope during this season we can all take a moment and cherish what we have in our lives. To reach out and thank someone, even if it's just for their place in your life. This is my favorite time of year, because we get to share and give to those around us.

October in an Eggshell

2010-11-02T16:44:00.006-05:00

I think October is one of my favorite months. The weather here begins to cool (although I don't like being cold, I love my winter wardrobe), the leaves change colors, the animals get more active, and then there is Halloween, and I love Halloween. I like the dressing up aspect. As a child my Mom would always get us involved in the costume picking and making process. Hubby loves to hand out candy to the little kids. He aspires some day to hand out full sized candy bars instead of the snack size ones. Around the property the animals have been busy. All the babies are now six months and some of the hens have even begun to lay eggs. We are still getting 2 duck eggs a day, and the rest have tapered off a little.Here are the eggs we get in about a week. The regular chicken eggs are the four rows on the left, the duck eggs are the huge white ones, and the new ones are the three little ones on the bottom right corner. Here is the comparison with the new eggs and the duck eggs. The new eggs are about the size of the yolk in the duck eggs. They will eventually get bigger, but the duck eggs are too.

Now, here is my Halloween disclaimer, we are very unconventional people and have a weird sense of humor. So, for Halloween this year we went as the Keebler Elf, and the Keebler Tree, and we handed out Keebler brand snacks. It was quite shocking to everyone at our church's trunk-or-treat party. They first looked confused and then recognition sunk in and they laughed.Hubby was a good sport about the whole thing, mostly because it was half of his idea.
Here is the AWESOME medallion I made for Hubby. It was a fun labor of love and everyone was pretty impressed by it.Here are out hats. I knitted a pointed one for me and I glued leaves to a camo ball cap for Hubby. It was fun and everyone got a laugh.

And the last bit of an update, that is way over due. A while back I cut my hair and went back to being a blond and then a couple months ago I got glasses. So here is my updated look.

Cute Hats for Cute Heads

2010-10-21T20:22:00.003-05:00

One of my Sister-in-Laws wanted some beanies for her and her two cute girls. Here are the cute beanies that she ordered.
You can have your very own too, just comment or contact me.

UnBlocked

2010-10-12T17:09:00.006-05:00

I've finally gotten through my crafty/sewing block. All summer I was having a hard time getting in the mood to sew. My list has grown very long because of it.
Here are some things I've actually gotten done. A friend of mine wanted some beanies for her boys. I had some leftover yarn and here is the outcome.
She also needed a new diaper bag.
And here is the blanket and hat I knitted for her baby girl.It's craft season again, so I'll be getting some new stuff going for future events. That's about all for now.

Chaos Abounds

2010-09-28T11:35:00.005-05:00

It's been over a month since my last entry, and that is due to lots of distracting things going on. I've been pretty sick, and finally Hubby convinced me to go to the Doctor to find out what was going on. We suspected Gall Stones. I had an ultrasound that was inconclusive, so I went for a dye test. They put radioactive dye in me that went into my liver and gallbladder. Then they gave me something to make my gallbladder spasm (not fun). Well, I guess that didn't turn out to well, because my doctor referred me to a surgeon. He said that my test came back severely abnormal. So, I was scheduled for surgery five days later. I was scared of surgery, but all went well. It's now two weeks later and I'm still recovering. It's going a lot harder and slower than I had anticipated. Hubby keeps reminding me that it was still major surgery even though they went in lathrscopically. I'm just glad it doesn't hurt to eat any more.
I have managed to get some crafty stuff done. I threw my first baby shower, although not as wonderful and fancy as it could have been (because I was post surgery), it still served it's purpose. Everyone does those diaper cakes and I wanted to do something different, so I did a bassinet. Here is how I did it:I started with a 50 pack of size 1 diapers, tape, twine/yarn (for securing), and ribbon.First I took 32 diapers and made the middle bottom, then I took 4 diapers per side and made a boarder. I wrapped my yarn around three times to secure the diapers.I took the remaining 10 diapers and set them on time, again securing them with the yarn.I then got some 3 inch wide ribbon and taped it at the begining and end to secure it and to cover the yarn.I then took my fancy/pretty ribbon and added finishing detains. I also made mock handles by taping some short pieces to the inside of the decorative part. I also made a cute spray of ribbon on one side.
It was fun and very easy to make. Also for the shower I tried my hand at embellishing onesies. Here are the results:I had this blue flower already, so I just used a button and a scrap of interfacing (for the back) and sewed it onto the onesie.It was a little girl and here name starts with an 'A' so, I found a font I liked and traced it onto the interfaced fabric and then hand sewed it on.The ruffle bottom. I had some red knit jersey and cut it into 1 inch strips, twice as wide as the onesie, ruffled it up and sewed it on a row at a time. Everyone loved this one the most.
I've got a list of projects still to work on and get done, so there will be more pictures later. Hopefully I won't wait six plus weeks to have another entry.

Crochet Much?

2010-08-17T20:33:00.003-05:00

Things around here have been HOT! The weather is just so oppressing, that nobody wants to do anything, including me. However, I have been doing a bit of crocheting. I wanted to learn how to make baby beanies, and it went from there. Here are some pictures of what I've been up to.Here is a beanie with a flower. The crocheting started by my desire to make flowers, and went from there.A baby beanie for a friends' sister-in-law.An Alien to go to the same friends' sister-in-law. Last minute decision, made for inconsistent gift giving.On of the few flowers I've made. More to come. I put this one on a headband.An adorable Giraffe for a friends' little boy. He loves giraffes and I fell in love with the pattern.

I still have plenty of projects in the works. Check back to see the latest and greatest.

A Little Sewing, and a Sale

2010-07-31T00:51:00.003-05:00

I've been on the slow side with my sewing. I did, however, make a new purse for myself. And then I decided that I needed to do some house cleaning. So I'm having an auction on my Facebook Page, selling some of my personal - new and gently used - sewing projects. Check it out here. And here are a couple of pictures of my new bag. I picked up this super cute fabric while in Utah. I made it wider than I normally do, because I tend to over stuff my purse and it tips over.
For the inside I just used some remnant tan that matched the light colored dot on the outside fabric. I did a double layer of pockets on one side.And here is the bow. I really love this style. My favorite color is green, and I like the squareness of the bag contrasting with the femininity of the bow.

The Usual, Plus a Little Adventure

2010-07-27T16:35:00.005-05:00

Not a whole lot changes around here. We still have chickens, ducks, rabbits, and a garden. But this month we decided we needed a little excitement. We took a 'working' trip out to Utah. Hubby worked most of the week, and then we visited our families on the weekend. We went to a wedding. Oh yeah, and I turned the big 3-0. And then we brought back a little brother (Hubbies), for a few weeks. Now come the pictures (Y'all know how much I love pictures).We were able to fly out of Branson, Missouri (which is a little over an hours' drive). The above is a picture of what the airport looks like. We are in the Ozark Mountains, so, they had to make some flat land. It was pretty neat. The seating was made to look like log furniture, and there was only one restaurant and one shop, to go with the three gates and one baggage claim.Here is Mount Timpanogas Temple. We were lucky enough to stay about four blocks away. We were only able to go once. Hubby had a lot of work to get done. We have learned to appreciate the opportunity when we do get to go.Here is Hubbies, oldest of the little brothers, and his new wife. We were so glad that we were able to go and support them. Their wedding was beautiful and they both looked so happy.

Also while in Utah we visited with Hubbies family after the wedding and half the next day, then we went up to my Dad's and spent time with my family for my Birthday. No, I don't have any pictures. Turning 30 for me was hard, so my normal exuberance to take pictures was nonexistent. On Sunday Hubby and I made dinner for my family. We showed them what we'd done to a family recipe and I think that everyone was pleasantly surprised.Here is a view from my window as we were descending into Branson. It was raining, but it was so green.
Wanting to share cooking skills, Hubby showed Little Brother how to brule' bananas and strawberries. They were very careful and Hubby even pulled out the fire extinguisher "Just In Case".

Back home, we got back into the swing of things. Before we left, we transferred all the babies from the brooder to the white house. Well, we decided that they were old enough to range. They mostly keep to themselves, and some don't even leave the house. The babies are in the background and the big chickens are in the foreground.
Here is Little Brother out picking corn. It was all done when we got home, so we wanted to preserve some of it. He picked a bushel and I got about 12 cups, that I blanched and froze. Little Brother has been a great help. We've given him some chores, like chickens and garbage. Here are our little watermelon. They were about 4 inches in this picture. We found about 3 or 4, but I'm sure there are more.I also found a couple of 1 inch fuzzy cantelope. I'm looking forward to these.We've also been getting a lot of tomatoes. The peppers have suffered with the over growth of the tomatoes they aren't getting very much sun. Here are the 'Duckens'. Big Red as begun hanging around with them. I think he just likes the new hens.The ducks and new hens have began to lay eggs. They are laying in weird places so we don't always get them. They are very white and the size of the big chickens eggs. The new hens eggs are small still, but they'll get bigger.
We've got some projects in the works and are always busy with something. Hopefully I won't take so long to post again.

Knitting Up A Storm

2010-07-03T11:54:00.003-05:00

About a month ago, I decided to learn to knit, and it's been so much fun. I finally finished a project, and have started on my third. (I'm still working on the first one.) Here is a sneak peek, since it's for a friend, and I want them to be surprised. Several people have been generous and have given me some old supplied: needles and yard. I have a plastic tub I've been putting everything in, but it if gets tipped over, everything scatters. So one night while Hubby was working, I put together a needle case. It was fun to pull out some scraps and come up with something beautiful.
I did crazy/string quilting on one side, and the other is just a solid piece of tan canvas. I made it 24 inches square, then folded over a 5 inch flap for the pocket and a 3 inch flap for the tops. I tacked some ribbon on to tie it shut, and I think I need to add some elastic or something to hold the longer needles in the case.Here is the inside. I have 11 spots for straight needles and a larger pocket for round needles. Most of the pockets can fit more than one set of needle, except the larger sizes. I don't have a full set yet, but I make due with what I have.Here is my current project. It's a log cabin style afghan for my couch. I'm not sure how it's going to work out, but I'll keep you posted. I've been working on it for about a week, and I'm already about 24 inches on the longest side. Just incase there are some knitters that want to know details. I'm using a us size 11, 17 inch needle and just alternating rows: knit one, purl one, with the exception of the dark brown where I've been randomly adding several rows of knitting to give it some interest (you can't tell from the picture, but it's there).

Summer Time in the Country

2010-06-24T10:42:00.009-05:00

Life tends to get pretty busy this time of year for us. We are busy with work, church stuff, animals, the garden, and many other projects in the works. It's been a month since my last entry, so I have a lot of catching up to do. And you know me, pictures are always the best to show what we've been up to. Or to just show how cute our animals are.
Desi the Cat: she's been doing a lot of lounging and general laziness. She spends a lot of time in the office with Hubby. I think it's cooler in there and she likes it.
Duke the Dog: It's been so hot outside, that he hasn't been out much, and so when he does go out, we try to let him get ALL his wiggles out.The Hens: they are egg laying machines. We get about 10-12 eggs a day. We have one that is especially broody right now. We have thought about letting her sit on some eggs, but she keeps switching boxes, so maybe she'll have to settle for the wooden ones for now.The Chicks: Holy Macaroni and Cheese! These 35 babies are now 5 1/2 weeks. They are currently in their ugly stage, and are going through food 3 times faster than the adults. Granted the adults are mostly free range, but still, it's a lot of food. Hopefully we can get them out of the brooder soon.The Ducks: They love the swimming pool. As the weather is HOT, they like to cool down more frequently. The chickens also like to use it as a watering hole. We just keep it full and everyone benefits.The Rabbits: (No, I did not line them up, that is how I found them.) The are not liking the HOT weather. The afternoons are spent lounging under their fan, trying to stay as cool as possible with all their fur. They like my afternoon visits, because I give them treats.Since it's been so HOT outside, we've been doing a lot of Bar-B-Queuing. Hubby got this new mini grill (since there are just two of us), and he can use charcoal for it. He has been working on his grilling skills. I think he's got it down pretty well.

The Garden is doing well, considering how HOT it has been. We haven't had any rain this season, and we are desperately praying for it. We've been having some bug and mole problems, so our squash and cucumbers are on the edge of a loss.

This is the bean bed. Hubby planted several types of beans, and we have a couple of pickling cucumber plants mixed in. Hopefully these cucumbers will do better than the other ones.

This is the Tomato and Pepper boxes. They are really doing well. I found an orange tomato yesterday, so we'll see when it is done. The potato box behind these two, is now just the onion box. We harvested nearly 20 pounds if potatoes. We gave some away, ate a few and are going to store the rest and use them for seed for next year.
Here is the old chicken run. It has our sweet corn (which is now reaching 5-6 feet tall). We are very excited about having more sweet corn to eat. There is also a Zucchini plant (we have already gotten 3 from), and a yellow squash (1 from it), our cucumbers, watermelon, cantelope, and sweet potatoes. Hopefully we can salvage most of
the plants from the bugs and critters.

This is our beet box. It has beet, carrots, Brussel sprouts, and room for one more thing.

With the weather being so HOT, I've been watering every other day. It would probably love every day, but the stupid weather report, teases me into thinking we'll get rain. It's been in the mid to high 90's and over 60% humidity, so that's not fun.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to our churches Summer Young Women's Girls Camp. I was asked to go as a level leader for the 14-year-olds. It was short notice and I hadn't been to girls camp since I was a teenager. I'm a very prepared person, and like to know what I'm getting into. So, I was apprehensive about the experience. I went up on a Tuesday to help with getting things set up and arranged for the girls arrival the following day. I think my biggest personal challenge was all the hiking. I had injured my foot the previous week, so it caused extreme pain hiking up and down the hills, so much so, that I asked to drive between our campsite and the main area. That helped a lot, but there we still a lot of hiking between the dinning hall, the pavilion, the parking lot, and the swimming pool. We had some struggles with a couple of the girls taking off on their own without telling anyone, but other than that the girls behaved.
They kept the girls busy with an activity every morning after breakfast, and certification, crafts and swimming after lunch, and devotionals after dinner. It was very spiritually uplifting, and teenage girls need that. They need to be away from all the social pressures of the world, and take time to grow and learn how to be self-confident, Daughters of God.
Now as I've been away from it and letting the difference of going as a leader versus going as a teenager sink in, I understand more of what it was I was supposed to learn and take away from the situation. I had the opportunity to hear how each of the girls in my ward had grown in themselves, and in the church. I feel like I grew better relationships, and at the least a better understanding of where these girls get their inspiration and strength. A lot of it is from the example around them, through their peers, their friends, parents/family, and leaders in life. I know that as a leader, my job was not to have fun, it was to guide and set an example for these girls, whether they were in my level or my ward. I tried to be the best I could be with my physical limitations, and try to encourage the girls to do the same. I remember as a teenager, life wasn't easy, especially if you had some sort of tragedy to overshadow your growth. I guess now, looking back, I can take away the experience for what it was meant to be, and not just my personal struggle. It was meant to teach and inspire, to be better people and women, to grow up and be who our Heavenly Father desires us to be. Even as a grown up, I can learn from their example to be content in who I am, and what challenges I have in my life, and just do my best to overcome, learn and grow from the experience. I'm grateful for having the opportunity, and if I'm asked to do it again, I think I just might (and hopefully I'll have more time to prepare, and get in better shape for all the physically work). To help inspire you all. As I was driving at 5:30 in the morning to start out my week, the sun was rising and I managed to get some neat pictures. The one below is close to the river (that is the mist beyond the trees). I didn't realize it at the time, but it was a good start and a setting of the tone for my learning experience.

Where the Wild Things Grow

2010-05-26T22:29:00.020-05:00

This year has been full of fun surprises on the property. In the past years we've had some wild things grow here and there and not really do anything. This year we have several huge wild strawberry patches, a raspberry patch, grapes, a sumac tree, and lots of daisies. We have been putting a lot into the land with a garden, fruit trees, and animals, so we are excited to get stuff back that we didn't have to work for. Hubby is in love with the wild strawberries. We've managed to keep one patch from the chickens and ducks, so we are reaping the rewards.

Here is the patch. It's about 5 feet x 5 feet right under a black walnut tree.

Strawberries in the patch. Hubby has to dig for them, because they are under the foliage, but the reward is great.

Small but very sweet. These are about as big as they get.

Here are the wild grapes. There are a lot of leaves and vines, and a few bunches of flowers that look like they'll be grapes eventually. Hopefully we can get to them before the wild animals do.This is the Sumac Tree. What's a Sumac Tree you ask? Here is a link to find out more information. But you can basically turn the fruit into lemon aid, and it's used in landscaping a lot because the leaves are a bright red in the fall.
Here are the dasiess. The area is about 15 feet in diameter. Hubby said he won't mow them down until the flowers have all died. I love looking at them when we dive into the property. I've been picking a few at a time and bringing them into the house to look at there too. It's nice because they stay nice for a couple of weeks at the most in the house.
The garden is doing well. The tomatoes and peppers have really taken off this week. It's the heat, humidity, and the rain fall every three days. We planted some early growing tomatoes, so hopefully soon we'll be eating nice, fresh tomatoes out of the garden.The corn is doing great. It is almost two feet tall. The squash and cucumbers are loving the heat as well. We were too late to start watermelon inside, so we picked some up at the store that we'll plant this week. Hubby also put down some straw down around the plants (except the corn for now), to help when the fruit starts to grow. I'm looking forward to less chaos in getting through the vines. And an easier time picking the harvest.
And one non-garden related news. We have 35 new (a week old), baby chicks. We have a friend that wanted to replace their laying hens, but doesn't have the room to raise them from chicks, so we are growing some for them. We have some pretty interesting mixes and color variations. We look forward to seeing what they'll be when the get their adult feathers.

On My 'Have Done' List

2010-05-13T11:24:00.011-05:00

Life happens fast around here. Not that too much new happens on a regular basis, but we are generally busy with the normal day-to-day stuff. Hubbies busy with work as normal and I have more hours that I work (mostly answering phones), and sewing has been crazy. My Mom had a craft show last weekend and she wanted a couple of the new purses. Check them out here. Plus everyone around me is having babies again. The garden is growing, and adding things has been slow, but at least it's doing well. We got a new to us car that we've been having to fix (so not the point of getting it in the first place). Now on to some pictures of what we've been up to.Here are the three main bed (so far). The potatoes and onions are in the far bed and are really doing well. The middle bed is most of our tomatoes and the bell peppers. It's been pretty hot and humid this week so they've really begun their growth spurt. The closest bed is a few more tomatoes and the hot peppers.Hubby tilled up the old chicken run and planted some sweet corn, squash, and cucumbers. They were slow at first to get started, but now the corn is at least 3 inches high.We have been enjoying the animals as they've become more active. We generally go and check on everyone in the middle of the day when we collect eggs. The big chickens run toward us when they see us coming. It's pretty entertaining. And we've been rewarding the behavior by giving them some scratch grains.The ducks and baby chicks have been hanging out under the front porch and the front yard. The other day it rained and the ducks loved it. They were sitting out in it and cleaning themselves. I took a video so that will come soon.The bunnies are getting bigger. I've kind of named two of them. The gray and white one I've named fluffer-nutter (after a peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich). I know kind of weird, but that's what came out and it stuck. I've also taken to calling the gray one chubby bunny, because it is nearly twice the size of the other two. They get excited when they see me coming. Hubby is going to make some more cages and we are going to separate chubby bunny and moderate it's food more. It's still too early to know if we have boys or girls or both. Hopefully in a couple more weeks.Many of you know that I love to mess with the cat and dress her up. I do it mostly because she hates it, but I usually get a good laugh out of it. The other day I cut some sleeve shorter off a dress and the extra bits where on my desk. Well, the cat got a t-shirt and a hat, at least long enough to take some pictures and get a good belly laugh in. Needless to say, she was less than excited about the whole ordeal.Here is Duke and his bone Hubby got him (sorry about the picture quality. I had to take it quickly before he ran away). He carried that thing around all week long. Finally he ate most of it eaten last night.

Sewing has been super crazy. I made a wipes case wallet for a friends' daughter, a diaper bag and matching wipes case for a friend having another baby, two Scarlet bags for my Mom, tried a new stenciling project, picked up a new hobby, and I have a long list of other things that I need/want to get done.
Here is the wallet. I used some denim and turquoise blue ribbon for the outside, and two different shades of turquoise on the inside. I'm not sure if I'm going to sell these on a regular basis yet. But if you are interested you can contact me and we can talk about it.
Here is the diaper bag I made. I just did the Scarlet and then made inside pockets go all the way around. I used the lining material to cover the wipes case and added white and brown ribbon.

You can check out the other Scarlet bags on the Taylor Made Designs Blog.

I was surfing the internet looking for a new thing to try and I found a site (that I cannot remember) about bleach dyeing (or probably anti-dyeing). Here is my version. I made a stencil out of freezer paper, ironed it down, tested out some scrap pieces of fabric with different bleach and water mixtures. Sprayed my work, dunked it in water to stop the bleaching process, ran it through the dryer, and Ta-Da!
Hubby had an old T-Shirt that was too short for him. So I bleached it, cut a new neck line, removed and re-did the sleeves. I did some Canadian smocking under the bust, but it's too much for the shirt, so I need to undo it and just leave it plain. It went pretty well, and I'm excited about the outcome. I'm thinking a brighter color might have a little better results.

For my new hobby, I wanted something that I could take with me if I was sitting somewhere with nothing to do or at least needing a distraction. So, while Hubby and I were at the Walmart, we happened upon the yarn. 'How about knitting?' Hubby asks. So, knitting it became.
I have a couple of projects in the works. A baby blanket and a scarf. It's fairly easy (for now), and very relaxing, mostly. Plus it fits in my purse and I don't need my sewing machine. Hubbies Mom is pretty excited too, because she knits and wants to show me a bunch of neat patterns and things. I'm looking forward to learning more, and expanding my talent and skill base.
Amazingly that's all the sewing for now. Back to the project list.

Church has been busy, as usual, and I recently received a stake calling as well as my Ward Primary calling. I get to go to girls camp with the Young Women as a Stake Level Leader for the 3rd Year Girls(14-year-olds). I'm looking forward to getting back to camp, this time as a leader. The youth in our Ward and Stake are pretty awesome and I can't wait to learn and grow from their sweet spirits and innocent views on life.

Videos!

2010-04-29T09:24:00.004-05:00

So, I finally figured out how to get videos on here (mostly due to Hubby's insistence of doing it a certain way.).
This first video is of Duke playing with his new toy, and then he is attacked by a bug. I got a pretty good giggle out of it, and you'll be able to hear me in the video.

This one is of the Duckies first swim in the bath tub.

I hope you enjoy a little peek into our daily lives.

Ever Expanding!

2010-04-26T16:29:00.006-05:00

The most exciting thing that has happened since my last entry is that we've expanded our family (at least the furry/feathered part). About a week ago we went to town and stopped by the farm and feed store. As we were on our way out (having not purchased anything), we ran into the cute fuzzy babies. Needless to say we ended up going home with three.
They are already bigger than this picture shows, and they are a lot more active. It's fun to go out and hold them every day. We have to keep Duke away from them, because he just drools over them.

The gray one is my favorite one. It's bigger than the other two and has a rounder face. I call it my chubby bunny. Hubby is very excited to do some composting with their waste. We are hoping to have two females and one male to breed them and the like.

We also moved all the feathered babies around. We finally got all the big chickens transitioned into the big house. They seem to like it. A lot of the hens stay in there to keep away from the roosters.We are also now able to get their eggs a lot easier. On average we get between 8 - 12 eggs a day. We've also started getting eggs from the Guinea.
Here is about 2 dozen that we got in about 3 or 4 days. This next on is a picture of the Guinea eggs, it's smaller than the others and it's a tear drop shape.
Here is a picture of the variety of eggs we get from our various chickens. From left to right: Guinea egg, Lg or ExLg Brown with speckles (we suspect it's from our Rhode Island Reds), blueish, medium brown, and light brown. It's fun to go out each day and see how many eggs are out there.

We also put the ducks and baby chickens outside in the A-Frame. Hubby also set up the kiddie pool for the ducks to swim and bathe in. They love it and the chicks love it too, because it's less wet around the waterer. The ducks are fully grown now and so the kiddie pool isn't big enough to do major swimming in, but it keeps them busy. We are still unsure if we have at least one male, but we kind of suspect, because one makes a different noise than the other two. We are also thinking that we have a male in each of the chickens (New Hampshire Red, and Barred Plymouth Rock). That is very exciting for us, because then we can do some breeding and get some mixes that we like.Here they are going for their first swim in the pool.

The garden is doing well. We got our Tomatoes and Pepper in last week, just in time for the large amounts of rain we got this past weekend. The potatoes and onions have really taken off. Since I took this picture they have grown at least another foot. We are slowly but surely getting things in and are looking forward to the ease of the raised beds.I haven't been as craft as I would like, but we did get a new bookshelf for the office. I also made some custom magazine boxes out of the box the shelving came in, some scrapbook paper, and mode podge. Hubby was very impressed by my skills. We can now keep out homesteading books here, along with magazines, and current projects.

I do have some projects in the works. Check out Taylor Made Designs Blog for more details on upcoming events and our latest projects.

Life in Full Bloom!

2010-04-05T22:01:00.006-05:00

The last couple of weeks have been super crazy for us. The best thing that has been happening is the weather has finally turned to full blown spring. Woo Hoo! I just loved going outside every day last week and seeing what else had bloomed. Since a lot has happened I'll recount by categories again, because that seems to be the easiest as far as remembering everything that has happened.

Gardening - Things are slowly progressing in the garden. We are getting ready to transfer the plants into the garden in the coming week(s). The fruit trees have also started to bloom. Our three year old pear tree has beautiful flowers on it. And our cherry tree has one flower on it.

Chickens and Ducks - We did put the Duckies in the bath tub. It was so funny to see them react to it. At first they were scared and didn't know what to think. And then they began drinking the water. Eventually they figured out they could swim and went head first. It was so fun to watch them swim under the water. They swim with their eyes open. I did take a video, but I'm still trying to figure out how to get it uploaded. Here a picture of a couple of them swimming. They were in there for a good 20 minutes or so, and they got water everywhere.With the garden going in we decided to let the big chickens roam free. They love pecking through the septic field in the morning, but the afternoons are spent on top of the house and a few have made the compost heap their 'club house'. It's kind of gross, but they are eating the bugs and stirring things up.We are working on transitioning the big chickens to the big house so we can get the ducks and baby chicks out to the A-Frame near the big house, so they can all get to know each other. We also found a $30 kiddie pool with a slide (and then with non-skid bath tub stickers, it will become a ramp for the ducks to get out of the pool). I'm looking forward to some lazy tanning days, watching the ducks swimming happily in their home made pond. We'll just have to keep the dog from chasing the ducks and all the water out of it.

Personal Growth - We had the great opportunity to enjoy General Conference this past weekend, along with celebrating Easter. It was such a great conference and I cannot wait to read the Ensign when it comes next month. I really enjoyed President Monsons' talk on Saturday Morning Session when he shared a little story about his wife. It's fun to see a more personal side to the Prophet, or any of the church leaders for that matter. One thing that really stuck out to me was how many people talked about Women, and the Priesthood. It struck me to the core and I was grateful for the strong words they shared about knowing where your responsibility is, and where your loyalties and attention should belong.

Sewing - Hubby was out of commission most of last week, so I had to entertain myself. So, I got busy. Having a new purse done, I'd been also looking for a new wallet because my old one was falling apart and sewing back together reached it's limit. I notice a friend of mind had this really cute hard cased wallet and I got to thinking. Here is what I came up with.It's a wipes case that I covered and sewed insides for. I also put a tab on the front so I could make different flowers to put on it depending on my mood, or the season, without having to make a whole new wallet. I had seen people cover wipes cases before, and I just took it a step further.Here is the inside. I put a cardholder on one side and the other has two pockets and a hidden zipper for coins. It holds all my stuff and it's pretty. I love projects that involved my hot glue gun.
I also wanted to try my hand a doll making and I saw this cute one at The Black Apple and then the tutorial on Martha Stewards website. It was tedious work, but I liked how it turned out in the end. It does have one arm higher than the other, but I guess that gives it character. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but here is a picture just for you to see.Some details: I used some brown suede for the hair and shoes, (two different colors) I singed the edges so they wouldn't fray, then hand sewed them onto the fabric. I used white cotton/poly for the head and arms, tan for the body, and a stretch cotton/poly for the legs (making them like tights). I had gotten some old lace from a garage sale last fall, so I sewed it onto some of the same tan from the body in rows, added some ribbon and a bow, then tacked it onto the body so it wouldn't fall off. It still seemed kind of bland after I did that, so I found some remnants of the famous purple flower purse, cut out a leaf (because the flower was too big), and then tacked it down the middle, and then added some beads. It still needed something, so I added a ribbon and bead necklace. I saved the face for last. I wanted it simple, and easy to apply. I still might add some eyelashes and blush, but I'm still thinking on it because I don't want to over do it.

I'm looking forward to the future adventures that we'll be having in the near future. Stay tuned to see our happenings. You can also check out Taylor Made Designs for updates, new products, and coming events.

Lots and Lots of Projects

2010-03-23T23:34:00.012-05:00

We have been pretty busy people the last couple of weeks. I'll group our activities by subject so I don't forget anything. So, just a warning, this in going to be long, with lots of pictures.

Gardening - With the warmer weather starting, we've begun (mid-February) the process of getting plants started, and this last Saturday we got our potatoes and onions planted in our raised beds. Hubby decided to try something new this year: raised beds. So last week he and his Dad build some simple frames, and Hubby and I mixed up our fill.

The recipe is as follows:
1 bag/4cu. ft Vermiculite
1 bag/8cu. ft Peet Moss
2 bags Top Soil
2 bags Mushroom Compost
2 bags Compost and Humas
13-13-13 Fertilizer

We (as in Hubby) dumped everything onto a tarp and we kind of folded the mixture on itself until everything was sufficiently blended. We then loaded it into the box (set on black plastic with hole punched into) and then pushed the potatoes and onions into it. We then put up some fencing so the chickens wouldn't get in and eat the onions. We have more black plastic and mulch to get down and more boxes to build, but we are good with the progress so far.
Chickens/Ducks - Hubby and his Dad also build a new chicken coop this week. It's been a group effort on getting ideas for plans, making the plans and following through on the build. It's about 4' wide x 8' long x 7' tall. It has a people door, a chicken door, nesting boxes, and a roost for the chickens to sleep on. We still need to get the run area finished before we can get the chickens transferred. We are looking forward to nights that we don't have to pull chickens off the top of their house to keep them from becoming critter feed.We still need to prime and paint it. The main body will remain that tan color and the trim will be forest green like the metal roof (that you cannot see).Duke had a lot of fun being outside with the guys. This is how I found him when I went for my hourly check ups on the workers. He picked the sunniest, softest spot and took a nap.

The Ducks are getting so big. They are going through about 3+ gallons of water a day now. A lot does get spilled out, but still that is a lot of water. The poor chicks just kind of get pushed out of the way most of the time because the ducks are so big and clumsy. The chicks are starting their ugly stage. It's fun to go out every morning and chatter at them. The Barred chicks like to fly out of the brooder and run around on the lid. It freaks me out because I'm always afraid they will get loose and I won't be able to catch them.

Personal Growth - A couple weekends ago I had the opportunity to go to Branson, Missouri with our Stake for a Women's Conference. It was a lot of fun. We went up on Friday evening. There was this really neat program. The first lady talked about loving yourself. She really emphasized loving the beautiful person that Christ sees, and not worrying about all the outside craziness of the world around us. We are all chosen daughters of God, and we don't need to let all the magazines and society judge and belittle us. After the program we got to go around to participate in different activities. I think my favorite was the lotion making, mostly because we made some for a friend that wasn't able to attend. On Saturday they had another program and we got to hear from the 1st Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency. It was very uplifting and touched my heart. It is a struggle to find the good in myself sometimes with my insecurities. But I remind myself that I am a Daughter of God and he loves me, and I try to see myself through his eyes, and through my Hubbies eyes, because they love me just the way I am.

Sewing - A friend of mine approached me a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to help her redecorate the Mother's Lounge at church as a surprise to the other mothers in the Ward. I always up for a good sewing project, and secret service agreed. We had so much fun getting everything together and watching the other mothers (who are friends) find the surprise. Here are some before and after pictures (I can post them now because everyone figured out it was us).This was the inspiration for the whole room. My friend wanted to start with some vinyl wall art. And pieced this awesome design together. This started our color palette at Chocolate Brown and turquoise. The old slip cover on the couch was red, so that added our last color. And we really ran with the owl theme.Here is most of the room after we got it together.The mauve chair before the slip cover.The chair after. We made a slip cover for the chair. My friend got a great deal on this brown chenille fabric. I also made an owl shaped pillow for the chair out of some leftover corduroy.

The couch before.The couch after a run in with some brown dye (making the red darker), and the cute pillows I made. I found this cute tutorial for these owls, so I jumped on making the up first.A new changing pad cover was a must.

Of course being in Branson and then Springfield, we went shopping. We went into the cute boutique and I got inspired. I've really been wanting a red purse. I don't know why, I just like red. So here is my latest creation.Hubby says it looks like a petticoat. I'm not sure what I'm going to name it yet (maybe Scarlet-from Gone With the Wind), but I am going to sell them as the orders come it. It's the same size as the Ruby Tote, and it's $35.
I guess that's all for now, or at least all that I can remember for now. Be sure to check out my other blogs. Taylor Made Designs, and our Private Blog for updates on the rest of our adventures.

Spring is in the Air!

2010-03-08T11:34:00.004-06:00

The weather is finally getting warmer. And we are so excited, because that means spring is on it's way and we can get our spring stuff going. The last week has been pretty busy, but in a totally good way. Hubby and I finally got around to making the brooder for the baby chicks and ducks. It was fun building it together.Here it is sitting in the storage building. We still need to get the top finished, but it works for now. It's about 4' x 3' x 1.5'.Here is the food and water side. We build up a raised area and put plastic trays under it to help keep the spilled water and food out of the litter.Here are the babies under the heater. We put some reflective paper on the inside to help keep the heat inside the box. They are seeming to do pretty well in there.

We also worked on getting more food vacuum sealed in our jars. Pictured from left to right: Marshmallows (they expanded as we sucked the air out, but eventually shrunk back down), Chili Powder, Chocolate Chips (1.5 lbs bag per quart jar), Peanut Butter Chips (12oz bag), Carmel Chips, Italian Seasoning, and Onion Powder. For the Italian seasoning and onion powder, we just got the $0.50 containers from the grocery store and poured them into the jars. We got 4 onion powder in the pint jar, and 3 Italian seasoning in the pint jar.

Hubby also got pepper plants started for the garden. I think there are 66 plants. We are so excited for all the different kinds we are planting this year. This week we are going to start the tomatoes, and try and get the potatoes and onions in the ground.
We have a lot going on for the next while, this week we have our home evaluation (see Adoption Blog for details), we will have Hubby's Dad and Step-Mom down, and work and church stuff. I'm just glad we can open the windows and let the nice breeze come inside.

Crazy Season Has Begun

2010-02-27T12:21:00.010-06:00

So, for having no entries for nearly a month, you get two in one week. The week started out kind of slow. Both Hubby and I got sick, and that is usually when things start to get exciting around here. And I'm just warning you now that this entry will be kind of disjointed. We had a lot of different, unrelated things happen this week.
You can totally tell around here that Spring is peaking it's green head around the corner. We had some visitors on Tuesday. Duke was sitting on our LovSac looking out the back window, when he would suddenly get hysterical and want to go outside. He did that about five times and we figured he was chasing something, we had our suspicions it was deer. I eventually shut the blinds. Later in the day I peek out the window and saw something unusual. I crept out the back door with my camera and found this:
There were two does eating the green grass in the septic field, probably because it's the only green grass around. They just mozied around for a bit then walked off. It was neat, because Duke usually keeps them away.
The chickens are finally really starting to get more interesting. We've started to get eggs again, and with that, the poor hens are getting their backs scraped up by the roosters. So to help them I made them some aprons. I know you are all thinking, why would you make your chickens aprons? And what the heck are chicken aprons? Well, here are a few that I've done so far.
I thought it would be fun to paint some of them, just to give them personality. I have more to make, so I have to think of more things to paint on them.
Desi was so interested in the process that I made one just for her. She's not too happy wearing it, but I had fun taking pictures of her.Here is our Buff that gets the most attention. They actually don't seem to mind the aprons. They have elastic that hooks under their wings, so it doesn't interfere with their normal functions.Here is the dark cornish that has just a plain one on.I had the windows open this week since it's been warmer (45-55ish), the fuzzy babies really liked it. I found them doing this as I was working at my desk. All the critters, birds, and insects are coming out, and they both like to watch the going ons.We also celebrated Hubby's birthday this week. He requested a 4-Layer Yellow cake with Chocolate frosting. It turned out pretty good, and Hubby was happy. So, with Hubby's birthday, things came in the mail from various parents. He specifically wanted a break bleeder. Why you ask? To vacuum seal jars, that's why. I know it's sounds weird, but it is a much cheaper way than buying a whole big food saver for over $100.
All you need is a break bleeder from a auto store (ie Harbor Freight), the mason jar sealer accessories for a food saver, DRY, SHELF STABLE FOOD (ie. spices, dehydrated vegies), mason jars and new lids (and a labler if you have one, if not a sharpie will do). Instructions below:Pour your food into a clean, dry jar. Leave some head space, about 1/2 - 1 inch depending on the food. We have a bunch of pepper that will take us a while to use, so it was the first victum. We are planning on doing this with the spices that we a lot of, as part of our food storage (like garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, just so you know).Put the new, clean lid on. You don't need the ring at this point.
Put your adaptor on top the the jar with the metal lid under it. The adaptor comes in regular mouth and wide mouth. You can get them off Amazon.com for about $5-$10 if you cannot find them at the store.This is the funky part. If you are using the hose that came with the bleeder, you'll have to hold the hose in the adaptor. We are currently trying to get a food saver hose that snaps into the adaptor. We pressuriezed our jars to about 20. Warning: The more pressure, the more likely you will have an imploding jar! Please do not over pressurize, 20 is probably the maximum.Here is what we did so far. From left to right: the quart jar has our sun dried tomatoes from the garden a couple of years ago. They are still good, but now they'll be good longer. The middle is popcorn, mostly to try it out. And the thrid is the pepper. Along with the spice mentioned above, we are also planning on doing nuts, chocolate chips, and more dehydrated veggies. Thanks to the parents that sent it, it works great!

We did have some trauma this week. We lost the last of the big chickens: Fred, Casanova, and the two Dark Cornish. Monday morning Hubby went out to feed everyone, and found Casanova dead and the others missing. We were sad to loose Fred, but grateful we didn't have to find his body.

On the plus size, IT'S CHICKEN SEASON! We stopped by our local farm supply and picked up 9 new fuzzy babies to add to the flock. We ended up with 3 New Hampshire Reds, 3 Barred Plymouth Rock, and 3 Ducks. Yes we got some cute baby ducks. They are comfy and cozy taking a nap in their new home, and look forward to the lazy swimming pool days with the ducks.
I guess that's all for now, I'm tired and need to feed my cold some decongestant.

A Piece of Cake

2010-02-24T11:14:00.004-06:00

Life has been busy, but nothing new has happened. But, I felt like I should post something since I'm going on a month of no shared info. A friend of ours got married last weekend, and I made the cake. Oh Boy! what an experience! I wanted to try making marshmallow fondant for the first time, by myself. I had done regular fondant for my Grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary a few years back. I covered the cakes in fondant and did butter cream details. I was trying to match their original cake at their wedding.The first batch turned into play dough and wouldn't stay together. It made it's way into the trash, and I took another trip to the grocery store for more marshmallows. The next batch was better, but a bit on the rubbery side. I was still able to use it. The third batch was just right. Here is the finished product.It was chocolate cake with a butter cream filling. I did a brown cover over the bottom layer with blue diamonds. They I covered the top layer with just white and did brown and blue polka dots. Everyone loved it, and I was glad.
Here is the video to the best recipe, it's the one I used the second and third batches.

What's Up?

2010-01-31T20:42:00.008-06:00

Chicken Butt!

I couldn't resist. We've been stuck at home all weekend due to snow, so I had to get out and do something.
On Thursday night it began. It started out with freezing rain, then the snow started and didn't stop for about 24 hours. We ended up with about 8-10" of snow before it was done. It got the running board of the car. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it at least gives you an idea.In our part of Arkansas, that's enough to shut things down. Our town has maybe one snow plow and it was probably being used to clear the main roads. We don't live on a main road. The closest thing we have to getting the dirt road cleared, is if the guy up the street uses his grader to make it less deep. Growing up in Utah, snow days and cancellations weren't until we had at least 2 feet of snow. Here three inches can do it. And that mostly due to the ruggedness of our area. School buses can't drive the roads safely, so no school. We have 4-wheel drive and we don't even want to risk going out. I mean, we could if we had to, but why risk it. I'm just glad that it's already started to melt. I took the ruler out today.

It's down to 7 inches, and I'm sure it will go down pretty quickly in the 40 degree weather we're going to have this week. Duke is loving the snow, but I think that's as far as the enjoyment goes. The chickens refused to come out of their house yesterday, except to eat. There was a trail from their door to their house, and the food bucket. Today was a different story. Although they hate the snow, some braved the outside. I found 9 on the roof of their house, some on the roost Hubby made, and the others were inside. It was pretty funny to see them all lined up, so I took plenty of pictures.This is how I found them. The ones walking around eventually went back into the house and the others stayed while I took pictures of them.Here are the few that couldn't fit on top of the house. They had to settle for Hubby's roost.
The big chickens are braver, or at least don't mind the snow as much. They are sadder looking, because the melting snow drips on them and gets them wet and they look very shabby.Here is Duke playing in the snow. He likes to flip his toys. He'll set them on the ground and dig until it flips between his legs. He'll keep doing that until it's time to go in. He would have stayed longer, but my shoes were soggy and I was getting too cold. I guess that's all for now. We'll just keep watching the snow melt and get on with our week.

I've Been Bitten. . .

2010-01-28T20:20:00.005-06:00

. . . By the Sewing Bug! During my normal run through the blogs, I happened upon Running With Scissors and saw. This cute bag! And I've been wanting a new bag for church, so I rummaged through my bin of fabric and found my favorite pieces and made a new bag. I also found Accessory Ave. a blog that sales scripture covers and totes. I thought it was such a cute idea, so I made myself a scripture cover to go with my church bag. It was so fun to be back in sewing world for the day, and I was able to scratch an itch and didn't spend any money. Heck, I didn't leave the homestead! So here are my finished projects. Enjoy!Here is the front. I was going to put 'I {heart} Primary', but I wanted something more generic so I could use the bag for other things. I found an interesting tree clip art and applied my version of it with paint. It was fun to paint it and have it turn out close to what I had imagined in my head.Here is the inside. I used the same green plaid on the lining of the bag and scripture cover. I used the denim for the pockets. Here are my scriptures. It's a standard sized quad combo. I made a funky flower for the front, and it has a snap closure.Here is the inside of the bag with my newly covered scriptures and my Primary binder. I could probably fit my purse in there if I needed to. It measures 20" wide x 16" tall x 5" deep. You can check out the tutorial here.
Now here are some fun shots of the fuzzy babies and the chickens.Here is Desi. She was sleeping on the bed (as normal), so I grabbed the camera and took a picture of her before she moved. And while I had the camera I poked it under Hubbies chair and found Duke on his bed. He wasn't too excited to have a flash bugging him.Here are the chickens doing their favorite thing. The hens tend to sit on the roost, and the roosters run around fighting with each other, trying to establish dominance. Silly chickens!
Well, off to get some stuff done for the night incase this storm is as bad as everyone thinks it going to be. I hope we don't loose power, because it would be nice to be stuck at home and veg with Hubby all weekend watching movies.

Preparedness and Projects

2010-01-27T13:19:00.003-06:00

We don't have a whole lot of different things going on. But this week we are expecting some ice and so we are getting prepared for what that generally entails. We have some gas to run the generator incase we loose power, we have drinking water, cleaning water, and toiler water all ready to go. We are hoping we won't be out of power for too long, but we are prepared for it either way.
Now to the fun stuff. I've been wanting a new bag for Primary and I found this cute design. I'm planning on putting a different decal on it. Maybe 'I {Heart} Primary in Red or Blue. Still not sure about all the details, but excited to make it. It needs to carry my binder, and my scriptures, because right now I have them in separate bags, on top of my purse. I guess that's all for now, back to the dishes.

60's in January

2010-01-20T14:26:00.007-06:00

Today is such a nice day, that I got out and took some updated pictures of things from my day.My finished family tree. I finished sewing/quilting it, put it in the frame, and hung it up on my wall.These are flowers that Hubby got me 'Just Because' last week. So Pretty!Here is Duke. Since he's been hurt, he's been pretty lazy, chilling on the LovSac.Here is Desi, she took over my seat as soon as I got out of it.
Here is Big Red. He's such a pretty bird, and the king of the large flock and protects the others.Here is one of the Buff Orpington Hens.Here is the Guinea. She is such a crazy bird, and it so sketchy.Here is a Dark Cornish Rooster. Here is the Posse. It's some of the babies that hang out together, away from each other.Here is Duke and Casanova. Duke was oblivious and Casanova was very protective.

Parenting Tips

2010-01-15T18:13:00.001-06:00

Today in my email came these 'Parenting Tips'. I think this is the beginning of a parenting manual for parents to be.

I got a good laugh out of them! And gasped at some. And then Hubby came in (a while after I'd read the email), and informed me that he sent them to our Adoption Specialist and another friend. My only response to that it a heavy sigh at what my Husband thinks is funny, a little giggle as I shake my head at the antics of the wonderful man I love, and the Father of my future children. Some of this process is so crazy and convoluted that the best copping is by laughing. I hope this helps some of you out there on how to raise children, and I hope some just get a good giggle out of it.

Puppies Like Peanut Butter

2010-01-05T19:04:00.011-06:00

I couldn't figure out a real good way to start this entry, because a lot has been going on. So, a funny story is the first subject. Tonight as we were gearing up to make Peanut Butter Cookies, there wasn't much left in the jar. Hubby was just going to throw it away, but I asked for the jar and a spoon and called over the Dog. Needless to say, the dog was ecstatic. If you have ever fed peanut butter to a dog, then you'll understand the hilarity that ensued. Hubby was looking at me like I was mad as I wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes. Of course, me liking to have fun with the fuzzy babies, I made sure to get the peanut butter nicely coated to the roof of Dukes' mouth. He sat there and licked until it was gone, then came back for more. If you aren't laughing at this yet, and have a dog, go feed them some peanut butter and join in my laughter. If you don't have a dog, go borrow your neighbors and enjoy it that way. Here is a picture of Duke, just for good measure.This is one of my recent favorite pictures of Duke. He's a happy, ENERGETIC, loving dog. This last week he hasn't been his usual self. On Monday (Dec 28th) night, he came in from running around, limping. I checked out his hurt foot and didn't notice anything obvious, but the next day, he was bleeding. For the few days following that I kept redressing his foot, because every time he'd put weight on it, the bleeding would start again. Concerned about the amount of blood that had come out, we took a trip to the vet on New Years Eve. Our vet is pretty awesome, because she had left for the day, and came back, just for us. They cleaned it, shaved it, examined it, shot it full of anti-biotics and sent us home with more anti-biotics and care instructions. They couldn't stitch it shut because it needed to drain, but it has improved tremendously. Duke pulled the bandage off on Saturday and there's no bleeding, but he's still favoring it. It's funny to watch him get around on three feet.
The other tramatic events of the week (because things come in 3's). I found out the night of the 2nd that my Dad took a trip in the Ambulance to the hospital. Everything turned out fine, and he was back to work on Monday. That same night, we got a call that a friend was in the ER, thankfully they are doing fine too. I was getting tired of answering the phone last weekend, because every time I did, something else was wrong. It's never a dull moment in my house. If this craziness is an indication of how my year is going to go, I'd better invest in some football pads or something.
So, on to better, happier things. I've been super crafty, and organizationally driven this past week.
We've been making a lot of warm foods, soups, beans, pizza, and I thought I'd share some of them. Hubby found this product that is awesome. It's called 'Better Than Bullion'. It's a meat based paste that you use instead of bullion or stock. And it tastes so much better than both. They have chicken, beef, and ham flavor. We can only get chicken and beef locally, but Hubby want's to order the Ham flavor online. Looking at the year and what our goals are in different aspects, Food Storage is always a constant project. We are always looking for products that 1) we'll use, 2) taste good, and 3) have a good shelf life.
On to craftiness. I've finally had time and inspiration to finish some projects that had been put on the back burner. I finished the second piece to my wreath project from my last entry. Here are a couple of pictures.This one is of them on my living room wall. I realized that I like the shade of tan because the color of my walls match the color of the fabric I used for the background. On the left one, I found a saying that I liked, made a stencil, and painted it straight onto the fabric. It was fun and indulged my perfectionism.Here they are in the bedroom above the bed. I didn't realize it when I took the picture, but there is a sleeping fuzzy baby on the bed.
My other project is still in process. A friend of mine has this family tree art work, made from paper in her living room. I liked the idea, but I wanted to make mine out of fabric. Well, I finally found a template for it and so began the cutting of a tree and it's many leaves. I also had fun looking up family history for names to put on the leaves. It included 5 generations, including myself and Hubby, and there will eventually be 6, when we get/have children. Here is a 'in-the-works' picture of the project.I used a large weave corduroy for the tree, and two shades of green cotton knit for the leaves (dark for men, and light for women). I have all of Hubby's Mom's side, and all of my paternal grandmothers side. I'm waiting for information from other people to finish the rest of the names. Then I need to add mine and Hubby's names to the trunk, then our children will go under ours. When I have all the names I'm going to quilt it to give it some depth, then frame it. Right now it's just tack-glued to the backer fabric. I am really enjoying out it is coming along. If you want to make your own go here for a tutorial and templates.
The last and probably the most important is about the progress of the family situation, but you'll have to go here for details. One to the rest of the year, and more adventures to enjoy.

New Decor'

2009-12-29T22:47:00.003-06:00

As the New Year approaches, lots of things are changing in our household. For Christmas Hubby bought me a multi-picture frame. I think it fits 20 or so pictures, and I'm still working on finding the right ones to go in it. So I had a couple of Wally World cheapies that I didn't want to throw away because they were still in good condition. So, instead I'm re-purposing them. As you may have already read, I've really gotten into wreaths in the last couple of months, and so my next project has been completed. I got the idea from this cute blog. It was actually the first wreat I saw, and so here is my version.I tried to use colors that match my Starry Night quilt, as they are going in the Office/Bedroom (once we get the bed moved and situated). I still have another frame, the same size that I think I'm going to paint a saying onto it and hang it the same with the fabric at the top and the tan fabric as the back ground. I'll post another picture of them on the wall with the bed when I've gotten them completely finished.

Nice Things

2009-12-24T03:25:00.003-06:00

Have you ever wondered to yourself why nice things don't last in your household?

Hubby and I tease each other that if one of us has a clumsy moment and/or break or drop something, we are the reason we don't have nice things. Sometimes we just blame the fuzzy babies. Today was one of those days that we asked that question, and we got our definitive answer. It started with Hubby calling me in to show me how cute Duke was. I snapped a few pictures and went on with the day.Duke was napping and Hubby wrapped him up in this blanket. Here we are putting our horseshoe pillow on his head. I know cute, or silly, but still fun.
Well, after we'd run errands and were doing our own things tonight. Hubby called me back into his office hollering for me to bring the camera to see what Duke had done. This is what I walked in to.
At first I thought that Duke had gotten into one of my many bags of stuffing and tore it up. Well, it was worse. That cute picture of the horseshoe pillow?!? Well, that's the last anyone will see of that pillow. Duke managed to chew a hole in one end, then proceeded to pull out most of the stuffing before Hubby noticed. Laughter quickly ensued while I took lots of evidential pictures.
Here is Duke and his 'I didn't do it, you can't blame me." face.
Hubby and I looked at each other and both smiled, because we knew right then and there that Duke is the reason we don't have any nice things anymore. Now the cat will still get blame too, but Duke is always going to be first on the suspect list.
I hope this brings just a little brightness to your day. And I just wanted to wish everyone - Family, Friends, and Friends I haven't met yet - A very Merry Christmas. I'm truly grateful for this time of year and the wonderful blessing that Christ is in my life. I am very blessed to have such a wonderful, loving, supportive husband who loves me for just who I am. God Bless Everyone.

Mom's Know Everything!

2009-12-21T22:16:00.004-06:00

Last Friday I found this cute Nativity Set that I wanted to make. So this morning I hunted in the storage building for some scrap wood that would work. To my avail, none was to be found that would work, so Hubby agreed to take me to the Home Depot to get some later in the week. A little saddened (because when I get an idea, I like to jump on it so I get it finished while I'm excited), I went on with my day.
Well, the UPS man showed up about 3:30, which is early for our normal deliveries, and I remembered that my Mom was sending me a present. I was busy reading the card while Hubby was pulling stuff out of the box asking 'What's all this?' We found a cute ornament and table runner that Mom had made, then he delved deeper into the box. Wrapped in brown paper was some painted wooden figures. And low and behold it was the Nativity Set I had been planning to make. The joy and emotion that came over me was so great I hugged all the figures, set them up on my desk for further inspection, and then found the phone and placed a call to my Mom. Isn't it funny that Moms always know what we want, what makes us happiest, and especially if we are getting into trouble? I love my Mom and am grateful for her thoughtfulness and getting me a present that I didn't even tell her I wanted. I did add (or take away rather) to them, because they were way to close to the color of my walls. So I followed the direction of the tutorial and sanded the paint off the edges of the figures to add character. Then I placed them on my bookshelf on top of the table runner Mom made. Thanks Mom for the wonderful presents!Now I am timing how long it takes the cat to rearrange them, on the floor. Hopefully I can get them picked back up before the dog finds them.

How Many Pieces?

2009-12-17T00:21:00.004-06:00

We haven't had a ton going on - or at least out of our normal realm of busy. With the craft season behind us, and not a whole lot of product sold (You can check out this blog for products and pricing for last minute gifts.) my sewing projects have lessened and I can finally get to ones I've been putting off. I've been working on cutting out the pattern to make Hubbies suit I promised him last Christmas. There are 47 pieces. Half of them are big and half are small. Half of them are lining, and half of them are the main fabric. I think I have about 4-5 pieces left (all big ones). So we'll see how far I get. Maybe next week I can start cutting into the fabulous fabric for some pants at least this year. I've also wanted to work on my children clothing sewing skills, so I'm working on Christmas gifts. I don't have any pictures for this post, but believe you me, I sure will when I'm done.
Other things are busy with our private life and you can check it out here (It's a Private blog - email or comment your email address if you want to be on the list). Church is normal and we are all gearing up for the upcoming year, trying to get schedules down and such. We are looking forward to Christmas at home again this year. We miss all our families, but time, money, and animal-sitters are just not there. I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season!

Hand Quilting is my Nemsis!

2009-12-08T14:06:00.005-06:00

Last week, I spent well over 10 hours finishing up my Summer Quilting Project. Hubby was very determined to have the Starry Night quilt on the bed this winter. That was my intention too, I just got distracted by much funner, and quicker projects. I set me mind, and off I went. Here's how it looks finished on our bed. You might notice a fuzzy baby in the top, left corner. She really wanted to break it in first.It over hangs nearly two feet on each side and almost that on the end, but I made it to fit a King size, hoping someday when we get a house, we'll have a King size bed. Plus we are both blanket hoggers, so we each have enough to wrap ourselves in.
I've been in sewing world for a while now, and I've gotten a lot done. I had an order from a vendor I met at my craft show. She wanted a couple of Navy bags for herself and her Mother, because her Father was in the Navy. It was fun to make and I think she liked them. Here they are:One is a Jane with a zipper instead of a snap, and the other is a Ruby. She also wanted an extra pocket on the front for the patch. I really enjoy making purses and bag, especially when they are for someone specific.
I also broke out the faux-suede that my Mom sent. I made a line of Suede bags for her show next week. It was fun trying to figure out how to use the same fabric in different ways. Check out Taylor Made Designs blog for details. Also check out that blog for some old and new pictures of Holiday Dresses. With Christmas around the corner, holiday dresses are coming out. If you want one just contact us here. Back to sewing world for me, lots more to do still.

Christmas Craftiness

2009-11-30T18:14:00.007-06:00

I cannot believe that tomorrow is December 1st! It will be the 1 year anniversary of this blog. Man a lot has happened in the last year, but that will be another entry. This one is about being crafty for Christmas. Wreaths are really big this year, and I wanted to join in on the fun. I found three already that I love, and have made one that is seasonal/Christmasy. It's a folded paper star wreath. You can find instructions on how to make your own here. Here is mine:It took me all day on Friday to fold the stars. But while passing a kidney stone with no pain medication, it helped to take my mind off the pain. Hubby thought I was nuts for putting so much effort into something that we'd use once a year, but it was fun, and I'm proud of it.
Also on Friday we put the tree up. If you read my last entry, we enjoyed Thanksgiving before we moved on the Christmas. It is one of my favorite seasons. There is so much joy and spirit of Christ all around us. I love giving and helping those around me. Here is a picture of our tree this year. It's pretty similar to last year, just a few more ornaments, and a new tree skirt.Here is a close up of my new and permanent tree skirt for our tree. I made is with blue satin that I quilted interfacing onto to make it stiff. Then I added ribbon binding to the edge. I love how it turned out. I'm almost tempted to wrap some empty boxes to stick under it for the full effect. Hubby might think I'm even more nuts than I already am.
Check out my blog list of 'Blogs that Inspire my Creativity' to get more fun Christmas ideas.

Gearing up for Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T11:09:00.005-06:00

We are now only a couple of days before the massive cooking day is upon us. As Hubby and I are prepared people, all of our shopping is done, and we are just excitedly awaiting the time to cook it all. We may not be traditional people, but we love traditional food. I don't like turkey, but I sure want ours to taste good. We have been working our entire relationship to make our own traditions. We have been trying out our individual family traditions, and then mixing them together to make our own. As for holidays, we celebrate one at a time. We don't do Christmas stuff in our house until after Thanksgiving. I don't even look at Christmas stuff, and I've even walked out of stores if they play Christmas music before Thanksgiving. I try to treasure each moment for what it is, and not mix them together.
For this years Thanksgiving we are working on perfecting our menu. Of course there is Turkey-traditional brine and roast in the oven. Our side dishes are garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green beans with almonds, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Our recipes come from lots of different places, but if you know my Hubby, a lot is influenced by Alton Brown from Good Eats.
The most important part of the meal - TURKEY - has been very inspired in the Good Eats way of preparation and cooking. We brine the Turkey in salt and herb water for at least 12 hours. It makes the turkey very moist. We also cook hot for a short time, and regular for about 3 hours. This is the best method that we have found in our years of researching. We also use Alton's mashed potatoes for inspiration. We add and take away as our tastes differ, but we like the essence of the idea.
I'd like to hear what some of your traditions are for Thanksgiving. What do you make, who does the cooking, and what are your favorite dishes? I like to hear your comments and feedback. And if there is any recipe that you think I might have that you want, just let me know.
I also want to tell everyone how grateful I am for all the wonderful blessings that I enjoy in this life. Mostly my Husband, he is my joy, my love, and my best friend. Without him, I'd be lost. I am also grateful for my religion, for the love that I get to feel every day from my Father in Heaven. I also want to send my love out to my family (all sides). Each one has been there for us, helped us, supported us, and loved us. I'm glad that we have such wonderful parents to give us the guidance in our lives whether is was while we were young, and probably more so now as we are taking steps to move onto the next step in our life. I'm thankful for all my wonderful friends who are there to listen and laugh with me through all our trials in life. And the part I get to play in their lives. I'm grateful for all the kids in our life (nieces, nephews, and friends kids). They help hone my skills to try out on my future kids. Plus I love the unconditional love they show towards me and Hubby. Please pass the love to those around you, family, friends, and even strangers. You never know who your next friend will be. God bless you all.

Seizures!

2009-11-17T21:26:00.007-06:00

We had an eventful Sunday. As we were heading home from church, and after dropping someone off, we really began having a lot of problems. The car finally went kaput. Luckily we weren't that far from church that we just pulled into the parking lot, and our bishop was pulling out as we pulled in, and he turned around. With some inspection from him and Hubby, they determined our fears of it being the front end. We carefully drove it 5 miles down the road to a friends house. There he looked at it and we all decided that we shouldn't drive it until we could get it torn apart, and find the actual problem. We headed to another friends house that was another 5 miles away to get his help get it towed to his garage (we needed a flat surface to work on it). So we enlisted the help of another friend (or at least his big trailer to haul the car on). So by 6pm we've enlisted the help of 3 friends and our Bishop. We safely got the car from friend #1 house to friend #2 house, and returned the trailer to friend #3, and friend #2 took us home, arriving about 8pm.
On Monday, friend #1 and #2 worked on the car and found the problem to be the hub - which is the part that comes off the axle and that the brakes and wheel attaches to. Pretty much if it totally seized up, the wheel would have stopped turning. There are ball bearings in it. Not on ours. Here is a picture of our old, broken one.If you look closely, it's the part that has a bunch of dark gunk (the outer ring), but it's supposed to be little ball bearings. It was very scary to be driving (yes, I was the one driving when this happened), but I know that we had angels watching over us, and great friends in the right place at the right time to help us.
In other news: I promised pictures of the chickens. Enjoy!Here is most of the babies. You can see the one white Guinea. This is one of the six strawberry-blond babies. They stick together, away from the others.Here is Big Red. He's still the biggest of the teenagers. He's fairly mild mannered and mostly just keeps an eye out for everyone. He's a lot like his father.Here is Casanova, daddy to most of the teenagers and babies. He's still the king of the chickens, but he's the strong, silent type. We lost 5 of our hens a couple of weeks ago, Blondie being one of them, and I think he misses her.Here is poor Fred. The other still pick out his feathers. Fred just goes on like it doesn't matter. He has recently taking to flying on top of the coop to crow. It's kind of funny.
News on the Craft Show can be found here. I didn't want to do two separate posts, so I'm just liking the one to here.

Sew Crazy

2009-11-09T23:30:00.004-06:00

I guess it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted on here. It's been crazy in my home, or maybe it's that I've been crazy at home. Either way, we have lots of things going on. Hubby has been back to the grindstone of work, our callings are keeping us on our toes, lots of moving of chickens, and I've been in sewing world for the last couple of weeks and will continue for a while. The craft show is finally here (at least this weekend). I've gotten all my needed sewing done, and am putting together final touches on my display. Getting stuff sent to my Mom for her show this weekend as well, and she's sending me things. Oh the wonderfulness of UPS. I put up a post on our business blog, you can check it out here to see the bags I put together last week.
Chicken World. I don't have any recent pictures of the chickens, but I'll try and get some up next week. We have had some losses the last couple of weeks. Five of the six of our egg layers have gone missing. We aren't sure what has gotten them, because there is no trace of them. I kind of suspect something big like a dog or fox, mostly because the hens can get out of their area during the day, and that's when most of them went missing. We also moved all the teenagers and babies out to the other run, and we've let them out of the chicken tractor. It's fun to watch them at this stage because they are still discovering the world around them.
Church World. Church has been busy. I've had a Primary Activity, and year end stuff, along with next year planning. Hubby has been busy with service, and much more other business. Yesterday was our Ward conference, so all our Stake Leaders came down to visit. It was so nice to hear from them, and have their bright faces, and welcoming spirits in our meetings. I always enjoy the message they bring, and the encouraging words they share.
Sewing World. Here is a rough picture of one of the tables I've put together, or at least the table cloth and signage I've made. I'll post pictures next week of what my whole booth looked like.I sewed together my fabric funny for my second table, so I had to taylor just the one corner and was 5inches short, so I made a string patch. I also had bought fabric to make an apron, so I made a string patch for it to match. I just finished it tonight, so I haven't gotten a picture yet, I'll post it with the other stuff next week. For my sign, I wanted to duplicate the logo, just bigger. I found a scrap piece of fiber board in the storage building, cut it to size, drilled holes into it, painted it, wove ribbon through my holes, screwed in a flower, and stenciled our company name. It was so much fun to see my idea come to life in 3D. I really hope that it catches attention and people come over and buy something from me, or at least order something. I guess that's all for tonight. I'd better go to bed, because tomorrow is another busy day, but I have to get up earlier to start it.

Barbados

2009-10-26T12:04:00.008-05:00

We went to Barbados with Hubbies, Dad's side of the family. It was a blast and such a once in a life time experience. We spent a week on the beach. Our trip began on the 17th when we caught a plane from Southwestern Missouri to Chicago. Once in Chicago, we met up with one of the step-bros and his wife. While there our flight to Miami to connect to a flight to Barbados was delayed 7 hours, forcing us to take a later flight to Miami, miss our connection, and spent the night, and catch the 1st flight on the morning of the 18th. Once we got there, it was paradise. I took lots of pictures, but not as much as some, so I'll just tell the story of the week through the pictures.
Our first picture, on the first day, on the beach. We had a private entrance from the house that we stayed in. The concrete structure in the background is a drainage channel for the water to drain from the road after/during the rain.The first sunset. There were clouds on the horizon, but it was still beautiful. This was our view from the outside covered family room.This is what we got to wake up to every morning. The water was fairly shallow for a long distance, but there was a lot of coral we had to trudge over. There were a lot of battle wounds with playing in the ocean and trying to avoid the coral.We walked to the grocery store on Day 2, that was a couple blocks away, and it was across the street from the public access park to the beach.This is the sunset from day 2. The clouds were so neat.On the 3rd Day we took a tour of the island and one stop was of one of two of the Rum factories on the island. Not that we drink, but it was fun to have different things to take pictures of. The above is all the rum stacked in the warehouse.After the Rum Factory we headed to this place called the Flower Forest. They imported a bunch of different flowers from all over the world and planted them here. It was on the east side of the island. The history of the place was very interesting. The grow and export a lot of sugar cane on the island, and the Flower Forest used to be a plantation, then a farm, and finally the flower forest. Everyone took lots of pictures because it was so amazing. The above picture is one of my favorite of that visit. It was this leafy plant that looked like someone poured bleach on it.Here we are posing on one of the bluffs. The east coast is behind us, the Atlantic Ocean. Just the starkness of the deep green foliage, and the blue of the ocean and sky was amazing.One of my favorite flowers. I don't know it's name, but it looks like it was on fire.These are tree roots. Hubby took this one. He really got into taking pictures of all the beautiful nature around us.Here is (from left to right) Pappy-Hubbies Dad, SIL-Hubbies Sister, and my Hubby.I was the only one that saw this very interesting flower. It looked like cotton candy, or cotton in general. It just floated in the breeze.Here is a picture of the massive palm trees. They were so tall, and so big around. You felt small standing next to them.This is the sunset on the third day. You can see SIL, and Hubby swimming. We all liked to be on the beach at night. It was very peaceful.My writing in the sand. You just have to leave a message for those you love while you are on the beach. Of course the waves eventually washed it away.The sunset on the 4th day. Each sunset was different, mostly because the clouds came it differently. It had rained earlier in the day, so there were more remnant clouds than previously.Sorry the picture is dark, but it's me and Hubby on the beach at sunset.Here is a view of the house from the beach. We spent a lot of time on the porch you can see.On the 5th Day, we went to the Banks Brewery Factory where they make the beer for the island. It was interesting taking pictures of the old copper machines. The one above is of the control panel.Here we all are after the tour, everyone drinking a beer, but us. We tried their non-alcoholic beverages, a power drink, and a malted drink. The sunset of the 5th Day from the porch.Waking up on the last day. Some of us had an early swim, but the waves were really rough, so we just watched them from the beach or porch.Hubby and I took a walk on the beach at sunset and it was beautiful. Hubby took the above picture of the sailboat and the sunset.Another sunset picture on the last day. This is one of my favorite pictures, I've already set it as my computer wallpaper.Hubby and I on the beach. We all went to dinner together at a restaurant that was next to the public beach access.
Some of our favorite moments:

Sunset walk on the Beach.
The Flower Forest
Spending quality time with the siblings.
Meeting and hanging out with the awesome Taxi Driver, Tony.
Having all the wonderful Memories to last a long time.

We want to thank Pappy, and Fun Mom for the wonderful trip and all the hard work and effort to get us all in the same place for such a wonderfully tropical vacation. We also want to thank the siblings for having fun with us all and the general getting to know you merriment. Back to the grind. Lots of stuff to get going on. Hubby has to get back to work and I've got to get my sewing thing on to prepare for the upcoming craft shows/season beginning in 3 weeks.

Also, my post titled What Does it All Mean? is pictures from Barbados. The first one is of some white flowers we passed going into the Flower Forest, the second is of some vines that were growing on a larger tree, the third is of a hibiscus flower stamen, the forth is of a painted piece of wood leaned up against a block window seal at the Rum factory gift shop, and the fifth is of a close up of the conch shell that was on one of the buffets in the dinning room.

A New Blog

2009-10-22T08:34:00.002-05:00

I've started another new blog, but this one is a personal one about starting our family and the struggles that we've gone through. I'm making it private, so if you want to read along just leave your email address as a comment, or you can email me directly. Here is the link to get there: My Battle to Start Our Family

I hope you all come over and enjoy the crazy path our life has gone, and what we have in store for the future.

What Does It All Mean?

2009-10-21T10:43:00.001-05:00

The Saga of the Run Away Rooster.

2009-10-15T11:34:00.004-05:00

Life has been pretty busy around our home. Hubby has been extremely busy with work, and I've been busy with sewing stuff. But this entry is about chickens, and one in particular.

To set the story: We moved all of our adult chickens into the same area so that we could move the teenagers from the pool to the A-Frame coop, and the babies into the swimming pool. We moved them on the 5th, and one of the Dark Cornish Roosters and Casanova began fighting. We let it go, (because they have to reestablish pecking order), until Casanova gave up. We didn't want Casanova to get pecked to death, so we broke them up. Well, later in the day the Dark Cornish flew the coop, and parked himself by the A-Frame coop. Come Tuesday morning we couldn't find him, and it went on for a few days. We figured he was so distraught that he ran away from home, or got eaten by a critter. On Thursday late-afternoon, Hubby noticed that he was back. But he refused to sleep inside the coop and opted for under it instead. After a week of sleeping under the coop and avoiding the other chickens, the critters got the best of him and we found him dead Tuesday (13th) morning. The moral of the story: Play nice and sleep inside!

Here are some pictures of the chickens that I took last week. They aren't too exciting, but I'm posting them anyway.Casanova, Blonde, and one of the Dark Cornish Hens.Chickens everywhere. They can fly so, some of the hens get out of their area during the day to eat the grass. Usually it's Blonde, and a few of the other hens.Here are most of the teenagers in their new home. They do pretty good in there. Big Red is starting to crow a little, so it's fun to watch him be the Alpha Chicken.
That's all for now, back to the grind, lots to do and not enough time to do it.

More Sewing Purses

2009-09-28T15:36:00.004-05:00

I've been busy trying to get as many purses/bags sewn together that I can for the up coming months. Some friends and I are having a Purse party, and there are three craft shows in November that my Mom and I are going to be attending. Plus the Christmas season approaches quickly. Here's what I've been working on.A friend generously sent me her Hubby's old camouflage, so I made her a Mary Diaper Bag. It turned out so great, and she loved it. I kept as many pockets as I could and even saved the care instructions from the uniform.Here is a Jane-Denim and Green Plaid that I made for my lil' Sis for her Birthday. Here is my newest pattern. One of my besties wanted a messenger bag, and she picked out this fabric. I lined it with black cotton/poly, and the added some iron on metal studs to kick it up a notch. She loved it! And I'm glad she inspired me to make this kind of bag.Here is a Ruby Bag with cotton prints and ribbon accent for the party and if not sold then the craft shows.Here is the other Ruby I made for the purse party, etc. It has a cotton print on the outside and a cotton/poly solid on the inside.
I still have a couple more purses on my list, but hopefully I'll get them done this week, and then I can move onto something other than purses (unless someone wants to place an order - hint! hint!). Remember Christmas is coming and we are taking orders now.

Fun with the Fuzzy Babies

2009-09-26T13:07:00.002-05:00

Some nights we get bored with TV, so we decide to let the fuzzy babies entertain us. Duke is more fun, because he can do tricks. Hubby holds food and makes him wait, and he's really patient about it. He will hold completely still, except he'll lick his chops.This is such a result of the hilarity we have with the dog. We laughed about this picture for a good five minutes. So, in turn, I thought I'd let others laugh about it.Here is Duke holding still against protests. He really doesn't like his picture taken.Desi, was just watching in on all the fun, and decided it was a good time to take a bath. I got her in mid lick. It's funny because it looks like she's sticking her tongue out at me.This is after I got her to stop licking long enough to get a non-tongue out picture. She's a little more cooperative than the dog is, but not by much.

It's All About the Chickens, Baby!

2009-09-21T19:10:00.005-05:00

We have a final count on our second round of incubator chickens. Six - all strawberry blondes (Rhode Island Red and Buff Orpington Mix). They are as cute and cuddly as the others. Here they are after I took them out of the incubator. I need to get a bigger box for them, until we move the teenagers from the pool. Then they will join the toddlers. Here is a good shot of the teenagers and some of the toddlers. You can see Big Red right in the middle. He's fun to watch.Here are the two guineas, the gray and white. I've still to name them, and if it takes too long, I may not. They are about 2/3 the size of the chickens that are the same age.Here is Blondie and Casanova. They are soon to get more chickens in their coop. We are going to move the Dark Cornish flock, along with Fred into their area, so we can move the teenagers out of the pool to make room for the babies. I had a friend ask me what we are going to do with all the chickens. I told her we are going to eat their eggs, them, and/or watch them for amusement.

Sewing, Sewing, and more Sewing

2009-09-15T16:46:00.003-05:00

In my last entry I mentioned a Purse party that my friends and I are putting on in November, plus the five other things and people I have to make stuff for. I'm so excited to get to sew things for specific people and not just because I liked the fabric (although that's fun too).Here is my first Andie, a standard one is $20, but I did some beaded handles on this one so it's $27. Here is my ribbon one, I haven't named it yet, but it's running about $35. It has a woven ribbon (black, white, dark blue, light blue) outside, with metal feet, stiff bottom, black cotton lining, ribbon handles and a snap closure. I really like how it turned out. This is a picture of half the fabric I have that I'm going to make purses out of. The blue/white with skulls is for a messenger bag for my oldest and dearest bestie. It was my first online order for fabric and it came within 2 business days of ordering it. The green and brown pieces I'll have enough to make two out of, and the silver/gray/yellow pieces are for one purse. All the picture for these are yet to come, because I have to put my nose to the grindstone and get them sewn together. For more inspiration and things that I and my Mom have made check our out blog, and contact us through our website.

A week of Adventures

2009-09-11T14:30:00.006-05:00

Wow, it's been a whirlwind of a week!

We had Hubby's Dad and step-Mom down for a week. While down we visited a lot, took a day trip up to Branson. I got some stuff from the craft store for my purses. Hubby and his Dad did a lot of target practice with their bee bee guns, while us ladies watched. We had some home grown chicken for Labor Day dinner. It was just a nice relaxing visit.

We also got some more chickens on this past Monday. I know you're all thinking, MORE! Yes, we stopped by our local farm supply and they had chickens in. We went inside and found two breeds that we've been looking into replacing next year, our Rhode Island Reds, and Buff Orpingtons. We lost all but one of each in the great chicken wars of 2009. We managed to procure 4 females of each kind. They also had Guineas, so we got two of those (a white, and gray). We don't know if they are boys or girls, and won't until they grow up.The Guineas are about half the size of the chickens, but they sure are fast little ones. They kind of have to be because our older batch of chickens are 4-5X their size.Here is our kiddie swimming pool with all our baby birds (You can see our White Guinea next to one of the Dark Cornish). There are currently 23 in there. Next week our second load of incubator eggs will hatch, so we'll see how many we have after that. If anyone lives in our area and wants more chickens you can contact me and we'll get you some.Here is our one Rhode Island Red from the first incubator round. I call him Big Red, because he is so much bigger than the others. He's the official watcher of the brood.

Another plan in the works: I've been working like mad to get a lot of sewing done. I've had several people call with orders, so I've been trying to fill them. My friends and I are also planning a Purses, and etc. Party for the first Thursday in November. So I've been trying to get stuff ready for that as well. Not to mention I launched the blog for Taylor Made Desings, and planning for the possible Craft Show in Scottsdale, Arizona the end of November that my Mother will be (hopefully) attending. Needless to say the rest of the year is going to be pretty busy, but I'm so enjoying learning and sewing new projects. I've made several new clothing items for myself (sorry no pictures yet, I keep forgetting). I've made several pieces for the boutique in town, and some stuff for friends and family members. So if any of y'all out there in blogger world need Christmas Presents, contact us and we'll get your needs met.

This week, we also did a bit of traveling. Hubby had to go to St. Louis for business, so I went with him. We stayed at a Sheraton (okay, not what I expected), but we had a neat view from our room.I was reminded why we live in a small town with not a lot of people and neighbors. I truly despise traffic. I go crazy when there is a lot of it. I was grateful to get home to our sleepy town last night and drive in our minimal traffic today.

That pretty much sums up our week. Off to sew like crazy. Woo to the Hoo! I am looking forward to using all the new things I was able to get from our trip. Keep an eye out for upcoming pictures.

The Launch

2009-09-04T08:44:00.005-05:00

Dear Friends and Family, I have launched a blog for Taylor Made Designs. One there my Mother and I are going to put pictures of things we have made. I am also including some pricing. It's to help inspire you and help with options. I did my first big post about purses. Go and check it out, and if you want to order anything you can contact us at our website www.ourtaylormadedesigns.com.
We thank you for all the love and support that you have and will keep giving us.

One of those Weeks - Day 24-31

2009-08-31T11:21:00.004-05:00

It's been one of those weeks. Both Hubby and I have been sick all week, so blogging wasn't on the top of my list. But feeling slightly better today, and it being the last day of the month, I thought I'd put in a run down of my week. Although we've been sick, we've still had to get a lot of things done.We moved the baby chicks out to the swimming pool in the storage building. They were really starting to stink up the house. We also put in another round of 42 eggs in the incubator. They should be done in a couple more weeks. And by that time the current round will be hitting their ugly stage. They've already started to get their wing feathers. They are still cute and fuzzy though.We are in the process of replacing all our tires. They have gone bad and are dangerous to drive on. Hubby was great at the research thing and found the original brand that came with the car.Well, it happened again. I got a hankerin and cut off all my hair. I was hanging at a friends house while Hubby was in meetings, and we decided to chop off my hair. I think she did an amazing job. It's the shortest I've ever had it, but I totally love it. I've been doing a little sewing this week. I made this dance bag for the studio that opened last week. It was a pain to do this new pattern, so I think I'll try something different for the next one.The fuzzy babies were being cute one day, and I remembered that I haven't been taking any pictures of them. This one is of Desi. I was just trying to get her whole head, but she wanted to investigate the camera. You can really see her poor crossed eyes in this picture. They aren't that bad when she's not looking at something so close.Here is Duke. He loves chewing on his rubber toys. He just holds them in his mouth and chews like he's got bubble gum in there. It's kind of funny.This is the last picture. I took it this morning of the sweet corn we have that is probably ready to eat. It reminded me of all the things that have to get done this week, because we have company coming.
I'm off to get the house cleaned. I just have to breath and take it a little at a time.