It's Thursday Before My Fave weekend of The Month!

That's a wild Title! I'm just very excited! This Saturday is my one whole day of the month to get out of town with my very best friend and two of our greatest new friends to spend an entire day laughing, scrapbooking & chatting away. I can hardly wait.. Danette and I have a mission this time though... normally we each have like 3 SB totes FULL of stuff plus other random things! This time our goal is to get all of our scrapbooking supplies into the Scrapbook Warehouse in one trip! Haha.. I must admit, leaving home without all of the SB stuff scares me a bit.. what if I might need something i leave behind?? LOL!! So, I've picked a "theme" of pages to work on Saturday, I'll be working on our Vacation pages from back in um... crap.. I've put it off for so long that I Cannot even remember what year it was that we went.. LOL!! Anyway.. since we're leaving in two weeks to go again, I figure I should get started on the old pictures.. so that's what I'll be working on.. so I Need to only bring the things I'd need for those pages.. right? Right.. We'll see..


This week we recieved a very sweet care package from Jake's Mom. For those of you who don't know she is a cake decorator and has started making these awesome cookies... they are so yummy... here is a teaser for you..

Today is Ashley's last day of Preschool Summer School, My sanity will NOT be in tact inthe next few weeks so forgive me if I Seen a bit off in all post after this one thru to the end of August which is when she will start Kindergarten! I painted her fingernails and toes for her the other night.. she is already wanting to wear make-up and has now told me that she want to only wear dresses... LOL!! Here are her pretty toesies!

This week has been pretty boring, Nothing much to report.. I've been working on finishing up the last few pages in Ashley's preschool scrapbook, I should finish it up today, there is only a few more pages to do...

Knitting: I've been knitting us up some cotton coasters since our stone coasters aren't absorbing anymore and I started a shawl for Ashley, I'm going to start a dishcloth for Mom and a dress for Abbey.. You'll see those in blogs to come as I work on them and finish them..

That's it for today.. Everyone have a great weekend! Thanks for reading & Please comment because I LOVE them :o)

Just a few cards to Share...

I've been on a card making kick this past week. Suzy's blog got me going! Mom came over for awhile last night and we made a couple.. Here are the ones I've made...

Here was my card for card sketch challenge week #1

and here is my card for card sketch challenge week #2 This one went to Jake. It was await for him in his cereal box Friday morning!

The next three cards I made using some card sketches from Page Maps!

2 Peas Challenge: Happy

This was the 2 peas challenge for Saturday, I'm a bit late.. but I liked the idead of this challenge.. I challenge you to blog about this..

Challenge: Blog about something that makes you smile.. anything... blog about it.

how about somethingS!

My Husband telling me he loves me

watching my children grow

Starbucks

Scrapbook Stores

Yarn Stores

seeing new comments on my blog

an email from a good friend

After The Weekend Fun!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We had a wonderful weekend, The picture you see above is of our living room Saturday night.. way to small for big Birthday parties for sure.. LOL!! So Saturday was my wonderful husbands 30th Birthday. He had invited some friends from Work (Monica, Tim, Greg, David, Zack & Pam) & My Cousin Angie and her Husband Scott, we had a ball, I grilled burgers, my darn propane ran out halfway thru cooking so Zack came to the rescue with his Propane tank, Thank Goodness! And I had made Jake a huge Oatmeal Cookie for a cake and some choc. chip cookies on the side for Raisin haters like myself. We all sat around chatting, sharing stories and we even managed to squeeze in some time playing the WII! Everyone said they had a wonderful time and we did too, I was glad everyone showed up! Everyone was there by 6pm and everyone left around midnight, too fun! It was a great weekend!

We started feeding Abbey some solids a few days ago. It was time. She didn't have any qualms about eating that cereal from that spoon, she was just smiling and sucking it off the spoon! It was so cute!! She LOVES this stuff. Now they make it in flavors, like banana and apple, I wish they would have done that when Ashley was small, Maybe she would have eaten it! Here is a photo of her munching down..

Abbey is 20 weeks as of yesterday...

I'm definately on a dishcloth making kick, I'm trying to get enough of them made up so that I can stop using the store bought ones. Mom is still asking when she will get one.. LOL!! Here is my latest... It's the dayflower design, the pattern can be found here.

Not much else going on this week. We're trying to keep every extra dime that we can for vacation next month. I wish we could have saved more Money to go on, But we didn't start saving early on enough. We'll have fun though, and Jake's family will finally get to see Abbey :o)

if you are a Scrapbooker/cardmaler a very good friend of mine is holding a weekly contest of sorts on her blog. She has a card sketch there and you can read about it, I hope you'll check it out.. Check out Susan's Blog

Okay I'm off, Ashley has a friend over playing today, They are driving me bonks.. LOL!!

Bye!

Thirst 4 Thursday Blog...

I'm taking a break from working on Shawn's annual Fathers Day Scrapbook to post a blog or two, I uploaded pictures from the camera and realized I had a lot of things to show and chatter about.. LOL!!

First Up! Ashley lost yet another tooth!! That's two in almost 2 weeks time! Crazy huh? I didn't realize she would be losing them so quickly!! Her Daddy was nice and let us leave the tooth for the tooth fairy the first time at our house, So he gets the second tooth at his house, She'll go there this weekend with her tooth and her pillow :o) Here is her very- earlymorning- prettygirl- toothless look..

Second up!! We bought Abbey a walker yesterday, She absolutely LOVES it! Every time we slide her down into it, she gets a big grin and starts bouncing.. so cute! There is a mirror on one of the attached toys and she is very conceited and thinks she looks very cute.. all the time! hee! Here is our baby girl...

Third up!! I made Jake's Dad a card and we mailed him a very small care package filled with goodies from the Marietta Oklahoma Robertson's meat. They have the yummiest beef Jerky, Jake bought him a game from Amazon and had it shipped to him as well. Here is his card and goodies box.. I still need to make Jake's card and he's getting a GC from Starbucks for Father's Day. Hope he doesn't suddenly decide to read my blog.. LOL!! For those who do not know my Dad is Deceased, for 13 years now. I don't "Visit" him on this day or anything... It makes me sad for weeks to visit his Grave, not just sad from his death but sad from the time he spent living.. and not being a part of our lives. I didn't miss not having a Dad around much when I was growing up but I Miss it a lot now that I'm older and especially since I see both of my Girls with such wonderful Dad's. I wish I could make them understand how very luck they are for that.. So to me Father's Day is to celebrate for the Daddy's who are so great!! That's why Shawn gets a scrapbook every year filled with Photo's of Ashley over the past year.. and Jake will get something he loves but never buys for himself.. Starbucks and lots of love from me of course :o)

Fourth up!! Knitting!!! I'm so excited!!! I have a beautiful new Dishcloth to share and a soap bag that I made for Ashley...

This is the Meringue Dishcloth Pattern, It can be found here. This one is right up there with my Butterfly Cloth! I love it so much and it was just FUN to knit :o) I Knit it from Sugar N Cream cotton.

The soap bag I made for Ashley, I found this pattern in an older issue of Knit It! Magazine oh wait it's not so old, Spring 2007 actually :o) I'm happy to report that Ashley used it first thing this morning and it was great to not have to get soap on a rag for her, I'll be knitting her a few of these up for sure!! BTW, we don't use liquid soap for Ashley because she has sensitive skin and the only soap that doesn't break her out is the original Dial soap. knit from Peaches N Cream cotton

I think that just about covers all my pictures. I need to post to my recipe blog and get back to finishing up Shawn's book, I've done 4 pages and have like 10 more to go. I have a lot of running around I have to do tomorrow, Saturday is my Sweetheart Husbands 30Th Birthday, We're having a small get together of his friends here at the house on Saturday, We're thinking of Grilling burgers. He said he really didn't want a cake, He said he wanted his favorite Oatmeal Cookies instead made by me, So I'm going to see about turning it into an Oatmeal Cookie Cake!

Everyone have a fabulous weekend!!

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee -My Knitting Idol!

a.k.a - The Yarn Harlot. If your a knitter you already know her, But if your not check out this blogs video of her lightening speed knitting...

http://www.theanticraft.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/124-Irish-Cottage-Knitting.html

Blogging on Saturday??

Unusual for me I think... Saturday mornings there is always so many people in the house since everyone is home.. LOL!! I prefer to blog in quiet usually and without someone staring over my shoulder... *cleans throat - Jake - clears throat* he's not being nosey of course.. Just usually giving me some lovin' but for some reason I always feel silly styping my blogs up with him reading along.. LOL!! Anyway, I wanted to blog today because I had a few pics to share and I also haven't updated my recipe blog in a month and I have a couple of recipes to add to that..

First up, we have my beginning of June MonthlyDishcloths Knit-Along It turned out to be a Unicorn! Now I have to say it was fun knitting and not knowing what you were going to end up with, But I've just about decided that I'm not crazy about these picture type cloths.. I like the lace knitted ones and the yo picture shaped cloths... that brings me to the second cloth you'll see below here.. The beautiful Butterfly Papillon Cloth this is my favorite one so far... I will be knitting more of these! Lot's. More.

I started a new dishcloth yesterday, It's looking very pretty so far.. and I finished Abbey's second Halter top, I just need to get a picture of her modeling it and then I can post it! :o) I've joined a few different knitting groups over the last couple of weeks, I joined SockKnitters & Their KALGroup which I cannot participate in until I order me some Sock yarn.. that requires extra money which I don't have right now, with trying to save for Vacation and Jake's birthday and Fathers Day being next weekend! LOL!! WHAM!!! I also joined BabySweaters It will be good to get new ideas for stuff to knit!

Jake is headed to Witchita Falls, TX tomorrow with our friend Michael to see Weird Al in concert! He's very excited about it.. I just hope Michael doesn't back out on him... He's been working a lot lately and not around much. We miss him!!

Okay guess that's it for this blog.. I need to get over to my recipe blog and posted new recipes there.. Everyone have a great weekend!!! I'll spending mine working on Shawn's annual fathers day scrapbook of pictures of Ashley and cards for Jake's birthday and fathers day... oh and of course a little knitting... LOL!!!

Tired Tuesday..

I'm so groggy today, I stayed up way past my bedtime last night to get a little knitting time in and I'm exhausted today, My regular Two cups of coffee isn't doing anything for me, Ashley's at School, She started the summer school program yesterday and Abbey is still snoozing in her crib. She'll be up soon though...

When I breath in I get a wheezing sound and I've been coughing up a storm, So I know I'm about to come down with something.. We're never all well in the house at one time, Someone is always sick.. LOL!!

Life has been pretty mundane around here since I last posted. The only exciting thing that happened was with Jake's job. Jake works for Circuit City Distribution Warehouse he's been there for close to 13 years and has worked all over the warehouse the Department he's been working in for the last couple of years was called Trading Circuit, Where basically they resold things that had been returned back to the warehouse in their "Store" on Ebay. These were items returned and tested with nothing wrong or items that the store just couldn't sell. Jake would test the items, take the pictures and list them in the store online. So on Thursday they pulled his entire department into the break room and told them they would be closing down Trading Circuit. They were however going to let everyone keep a job and be moved to another department in the warehouse, managers choice, So thank goodness they didn't all just lose their jobs! No notice or anything either! Jake told me that almost all Trading Circuit employees in other Warehouse had been fired. That was a little too close for comfort for me, Especially since Jake is our only real source of income.

So on Saturday night everyone from his old department held a "wake" for Trading circuit and the leads house. There was burgers, beer a bon fire and everyone signed a trading circuit T-Shirt and they burned it.. LOL!! It was interesting. Jake and I are getting old I guess, We had a few beers (none for me, The DD) and when everyone started acting stupid drunk we came home.. LOL!!

Ashley has lost her very first tooth!!! It was crazy! She told us it was loose last Wednesday and then she pulled it out at her Dad's house this past weekend! LOL!! She left it in her Tooth Fairy pillow her Grandma Jo made for her last night and was disappointed this morning when there was only $1 left for her tooth.. for some reason she though she should have gotten $4 for her tooth.. I felt guilty even though I probably shouldn't have.. How much do you give your child for their teeth? I've never felt as much guilt as I feel raising children... I wish I didn't though. Worry worry worry...

I ended up buying all of Blake's song from American idol and I made me a disk, I LOVE it! I just love his voice! I cannot wait to hear what his first album is like!

Abbey is doing so much now, She rolls all over and is trying like crazy to get her knees up under her. She'll be crawling in no time at all!! She is teething, so she chews on her fist and anything she can figure out how to get into her mouth :o) It's sad really how quickly babies grow..

This weekend Jake has his Weird Al concert.. LOL!! He is going with our friend Mike, It's Sunday in Wichita Falls Texas. He's very excited about it.. I'm very excited that someone else is going with him & not me... Weird Al seriously gets on my nerves.. LOL!!

On my knitting needles are two dishcloths, one is a beautiful butterfly pattern I found, the other is the knit along on MonthlyDishcloths group. I also have another Halter for Abbey, a scarf for Ashley which I've been working on forever, still the afghan for the couch.. my goal is to get it at least done by winter! LOL!! A dishtowl I may end up frogging.. and that's about it.. I think.. LOL!!!

Until next time my friends....

2 Peas Challenge: Roomover

*NOTE* This is So NOT my Grandmothers Kitchen.. This is the one I want! LOL!!

If you could redo any room in your home (money being no problem). What room would it be? Share with us what you would do to this room.

Honestly we are currenty living in my Grandmother's old house and really the whole darn house needs to be renovated, But if I had to pick one room in the house to redo I'd definately pick the kitchen, It's the room I spend the most time in, I hate that it's so secluded (knock a wall out) I hate the short counters, despite the fact that my Grandfather built them and everything is very 1950's and OLD so it never looks clean no matter how much you scrub it.. Not to mention is SMALL!! It' does however have a HUGE pantry which I wouldn't want to change :o)

So that's it!! Fellow Bloggers: What room would you redo???

Abbey Gets Tickled

Memorial Weekend & Thereafter

Looks like everyone had a nice Memorial weekend from what I read on the blogs. We did our BBQ on Saturday instead of Monday since Jake had to work that day. We just grilled some burgers and had Mom & Kristi over. Jake started not feeling very well the later part of the day so he wasn't able to eat. He's still not doing great but he's stubborn and refuses to miss work for himself.. That man. Ashley got over the bug finally thank goodness. I thought a lot about our soldiers in Iraq this memorial day.. this "war"' needs to be over...

On Tuesday I'd invited Maddie to come over for the day and play with Ashley, Her Daddy picked her up earlier than I expected but they had a great time playing together, when Maddie would actually play that is.. I pretty much had to keep the TV in the living room off or she wanted to be watching it instead. Hee! Kids are funny.



I've discovered a wonderful new thing to knit!! Dishcloths!! Now I don't want to hear the groans of you non-knitters and mumbles of "old lady stuff" LOL!! I had knitted a dishcloth over a year ago when I was first teaching myself to knit, After I knitted it up I didn't think I'd like it so I stuck it in with my stash of yarn. I pulled it out of my stash the other day, Washed it and used it for the very first time to wipe the table & counters off, It was wonderful! It holds water well and I just love the way it feels in my hand. So I joined the MonthlyDishcloths yahoo group. I've since discovered some beautiful patterns for pretty dishcloths, So that is a plus for sure! So far I've knitted 2 dishcloths besides the one I Already had.



Here is the Mid-Month KAL (knit along) for the group. It's called Stepping Stones!




and here is a pattern I found here


I also finished my grocery bag holder, Which I LOVE!! I threw my old one away, Mom wants one she said.. in pink?!?! LOL!! Whatever.. I'd like to make me a second one in some variegated yarn, cotton too!

Has anyone else tried this creamer?? It's just yummy!! I used it up quick too!

I think that's about it for my update this time. My recipe blog hasn't been updated because I haven't tried anything new lately. Payday is up though and I'm ready to try some new things for sure! LOL!!

2 Peas Blog Challenge {Generous}

2 Peas Challenge from the Message board today, If you'd like to follow suit on your blog please do! I'd be interested in everyone's response..

What does being GENEROUS mean to you?????

This is what the Dictionary Defines as Generous..

2 a : characterized by a noble or forbearing spirit

To me being Generous doesn't neccesarily mean materialistic things. To me Generous means the giving of ones time, love & self. To be unselfish. I do have to say I've learned a lot about Generosity from my husband, He is the most generous person I've ever met in my life, Forth giving of himself and anything that comes along with that..

Oh Yah! Trip To Washington!

I've been meaning to share, But it's totally slipped my mind, We booked our flights for our Vacation to Washingon State! We will be leaving out on July 10th and will return on the 19th. We're mainly going up so that Jake's family can "meet" & see Abbey. It's been 2 years since Ashley and I were there. Wow, Look at how much Ashley & I have grown.. LOL!! Anyway, I cannot wait to see all of those beautiful mountains and Tree's again, oh and of course Jake's family.. LOL!! I really do want to see them, It's just that when you live somewhere as flat as Oklahoma, Washington is a dream! LOL!! I'm not sure if we'll be able to do a while lot while we're there, Since Money will be so tight. I met up with some wonderful girls the last time I was up.. Not sure if I can do that again this time.. Not that I wouldn't love to, But transportation and money are an issue! However! Elaine, anyone else?? Jake's Mom actually works in Olympia?? So maybe I could work something out for Olympia when she goes to work?? hee! Anyway just wanted to share, I'm excited to be going again.. which reminds me that I Need to be working on our pictures from the last time we went for the scrapbook! LOL!!

Ho-Hum Week...

I'm listening to Rosie's Blog while I type this up, I always try to watch her blog everyday, But I've gotten behind because I was so busy last week I wasn't on the computer much. I know a lot of people don't care much for Rosie but I've always enjoyed her. I didn't watch The View until she came on the show and I doubt I'll watch it much after she leaves, I'm sad to see her leave TV. But she must do what she must do.

All of our shows are having their Season Finale's so I've been getting caught up to them. LOL!! Honestly the only shows I'll really miss of all the shows we watch are Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters and Ghost Whisperer. Really I'm glad they are ending so we will have more free time in the evenings! Besides I'm getting tired of playing catch up on TV. I admire that some people don't even have televisions in their house.. I'm hooked now.. I could give it up if I had to, But I wouldn't want to!

Ashley's really sick, She caught a nasty germ bug going around town. She has vomiting & diarriah (sp?) poor thing, It's an awful feeling when your babies are sick and there is nothing much you can do to make them well. If she's not better by tonight I think we'll be making a trip to the ER. She's out of school for the regular school year, Her preschool does a Summer School for all the kids moving onto kindergarden to get them ready for it. It starts in two weeks, She's very excited about it and afraid that being sick will make her miss school.

On Saturday I was invited to a crop at My Midwife's house in Ada, I invited Danette to come along, It was from 9am to 12pm. 3 hours is a short crop for Danette & I. LOL!! It turned out we were the only girls to show up this time, It was Danette & I, My Mid-wife Pat and her Daughter Melissa, We had a nice time. She sells Creative Memories and I ordered the bigger circle punch since I have the smaller one. I wanted the heart punch too, But I held back, I'll get it next time. I don't care for their books, papers etc. but I do love their tools! They are awesome!

Okay, I think that's about it for now, Sorry so boring.. LOL!!

The Big 32!

Happy Belated Birthday to me! Hee! Yesterday was my official 32ND Birthday. I don't feel older or depressed... In fact I feel Wise, Happy, Young & Vital. I'm in a good place. Funny how it takes 32 years to get there right? A few trials & errors, but it's all a learning experience right? Right. That's a good thing to me.

So yesterday was nothing Grand or Spectacular, No big events or huge gifts. In fact it was a nice and peaceful day, Why, because that was the way I wanted it. If you need visualization I'll give you one here...

It involved Lot's of the things that comfort me & give me pleasure, Knitting, TV, Dr. Pepper & of course my wonderful husband at my side. (BTW) those gorgeous flowers are from him of course!

Gifts were given early, clothes of my choice from Mom. Money from Jake to spend as I needed. Cards from my two sweetest friends & Husband. I felt loved & that was worth more than any material gift.. Jake says he owes me a Dinner, at my place of choice on Friday Night, While we are child free. Sounds like a good time for Margarita's.

So it was in fact a wonderful day for me. I'm the Luckiest Girl in town!

I saw someone do a scrapbook page.. They listed 35 things they'd learned about themselves at 35. I'm only 32 so here are my 32 things...

32 Things I've learned About Myself @ 32

1. I thrive on peacefulness. calmness. Drama exhaust me.
2. I have Very Little Patience, But pray nightly for more.
3. I always feel guilty, about something I said or Did.
4. I love my short hair, It's easy & fits my personality.
5. I enjoy human touch, Hugs, Kisses, holding hands.
6. I'm a complete control freak.
7. I'm a Neat Freak of Sorts.
8. I cry easily.
9. My Emotions are scattered daily.
10. I love little surprises.
11. I like short nails, Long nails get in the way.
12. I Love food.
13. I can't watch Scary movies.
14. I like all kinds of Music with the exception of country.
15. I don't need many friends, Just one special one.
16. I don't like dirt on my feet.
17. I hate shoes, love sandals or flip-flops.
18. I must always be doing something with my hands.
19. Spring Is My Favorite time of the year.
20. I worry too much about how other people feel.
21. I cannot remember, Dates or Phone #'s.
22. I like to take pictures of my family.
23. I enjoy Scrap booking .
24. I love to knit things.
25. I'm a giving person.
26. Seafood Is My favorite food.
27. Dr. Pepper & White Chocolate Mocha are my favorites.
28. Everything needs to be clean & cleaner.
29. I Hate jeans, Capri girl.
30. everything that happens in life, does so for a reason.
31. I don't like taking any kind of medication.
32. I have so much more to learn & understand.

Blake is So Awesome!!

Mrs. Hodges Book..

Below is the book I made for Ashley's Prechool Teacher for Teacher Appreciatation Week. It was so wonderful to have such a sweet lady be Ashley's very first teacher, I made her book filled with group pictures of Ashley's class from our field trips all year long.. here are the results.. Oh & Making me this book has now given me a chip-board fetish! LOL!!

Happy Mothers Day!

I hope every Mother reading this is having or had a special Mothers Day. Every Mom deserves at least one day to call her own..

The Halter

Remember a few blogs ago I posted a picture of the progress on the Halter I was knitting for Abbey. Well I did finish it! I LOVE the way it turned out so much I've already started another one! In Green!! The color that is growing on me this season, Seems to be popular.. that sage color is my fave! So anyway here it is, I haven't blogged in awhile, I haven't been on much because I've been working on Mothers Day gifts and Teacher gifts which I will post pictures of all of those later.. But just a quick blog for now...

2 Pease Challenge: Spring/Summer

What do you do around your house to usher in the spring/summer? Anything special?

Well nothing too exciting really, During the winter the curtains stay closed, the windows and blinds shut, So I always look forward to spring, My way of welcoming spring is to open the curtains, to be left open until fall and open the blinds every morning. The sunshine just makes me feel energized and happy for the day. I love it!

I do normal spring cleaning, but I'm a neat freak of sorts so I spring clean year around really!

Even those of you who are not on 2peas join me in the challenge on your blogs! I'd love to read my blogger friends answers!!

German Weekend!

It was a fun weekend!! Mom, Jake, Me & our friend Greg headed down on Saturday to Muenster Texas for their yearly Germanfest. We all had a ball!! Greg was our designated driver so that we could enjoy a few German type beers, Although weirdly enough they didn't have German Beer at the actual "Germanfest''' only at the Resturaunt there in town. It's called The Center and that is where we stopped first, I ordered a plate of pork Bratwurst made by Fischers Meat Co. right there in Muenster, it came with Red cabbage salad and of course sourkruat, Yum! So yummy... These are a couple of shots from inside the resturaunt.

Our next stop was at the Local Fischers Grocery store & yes I did buy me some of those yummy brats to bring home, Which we had the very next night for dinner :o) hee!

Then we were off to Germanfest, It was $6 per adult to get in, Children were free, But frankly, I would not take my children to an event where I knew people were going to be drinking. But I was shocked by the number of people who did.

They had a few tents set up with shopping booths underneath, Mostly hand crafted things, They had food stands everywhere of all different kinds, They had a huge tent set up for the German foods and then another huge tent set up for the polka dancers and entertainers, Most interesting to watch.. Then there was the beer truck! You went to one building to buy your beer tickets, they were $3 each, and yes folks one ticket per beer so they were $3 a beer! Then you took your $3 ticket and went to the beer truck to choose your beer, There were taps coming out of the side of the truck... check it out...

So that was our very fun trip to Germanfest, Childfree day which was nice for some adult time and some adult beverage, Here is a photo of the four of us together oh and I promise you all of those cups were NOT mine.. LOL!