Sew Many Girls

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T06:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'm still here, my computer crashed a few months ago and we're borrowing one that doesn't have a camera card reader. I need to get one or put all 500 pictures I have on a CD. Hopefully soon so I can post all my backlogged posts and pictures!

Thanks to my secret sister for the last few month's swaps. Thanks to Olde Lady Morgan and the ornie swap. I love all my ornaments!

I need to get cracking on what I'm making for Thanksgiving dinner. Have a wonderful day!

Halloween

2011-11-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Halloween the weather was beautiful, no coats needed. We hit a few trunk or treats and than a couple neighborhoods, with a stop at Grandpa and Grandmas house and a final stop at Chipotle's for the Booritio special they do every year.

Amy was Snow White, Jaime a mummy and Melissa wore her bathrobe, pj's and carried Clifford.

Let me tell you about Jaime's costume. Three attempts to make one costume, first we started with too little pants, they fit until I sewed the muslin on the pants, found another pair apparently I don't catch on fast,..... final attempt worked and looked pretty good. But wait the top part was a black zip up hoodie, that turned out too small, ended up cutting the sweat shirt apart and sewing it onto a white t-shirt, this mama is bound and determined or just crazy.

Harry Potter Halloween

Pumpkin Patch and more

2011-10-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hay ride to the pumpkin patch and

searching for the perfect pumpkin. We had a fun day at Schaake's Pumpkin patch, Amy and I went a couple years ago with friends, the girls were out of school so we all were able to go this year.

It was easier finding Melissa at this home game (pictures from 9/30) she is by the girl in pink playing the flute with the flag right behind her.
In this one she is at the end by the girl in pink.

Break in the 3rd quarter

chowing down.

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Amy and her friend Elise at Wonderscope.

Amy at Trader Joe's pumpkin display!!!

Paint Coop class and Turner Days

2011-10-10T10:44:00.000-07:00

All the kids looked like this when the class was over.

(The pictures are crazy out of order)
It's that time again, Homecoming game was Friday night Turner beat Piper 10-8. It was a beautiful fall night now jackets needed. Amy fell asleep in the 3rd quarter. Saturday morning we started our day at the Turner Day Parade, Melissa was marching with the Marching Band and Jaime rode on the school float. After the parade we headed down to Steinger field to pick up Jaime and Melissa and take in all the festivities. Amy bounced in the bounce house and played some games, we ate lots of junk and food, cotton candy, snow cones, hot dogs, burritos, tacos and another snow cone. Jaime tried a fried oreo. We talked to friends saw people we haven't seen in awhile and watched a little mud volleyball. It was time to go I had an unhappy 5 yr old laying on the ground wailing.

Jim spent the day in Manhattan with Kaitlyn. Kappa Delta had Dad's day, they tailgated and attended the football game. He told me I needed to attend a game before Kaitlyn graduates it was quite the experience.

Family Day at K-State and Jaime's B-day

2011-09-21T14:17:00.001-07:00

We stop at the Bug Museum and what a lucky day for us!! Salsa with meal worms....yum
Stir fried crickets.....not pictured chocolate covered crickets and fried meal worms. Jaime thought they all were pretty tasty......
Amy with a bug face.
Cockroach races, glad these things are not in my house.

It was good to see Kaitlyn, she is in her second year at K-State. We ended the day celebrating her 20th birthday at Smashburgers before heading home.

Celebrating Jaime's 11th birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's house/
Jaime with her Rose Hair Tarantula, see how happy she is....

I can't believe how fast she has grown up.

Amy's first soccer game

2011-09-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

Amy had a lot of fun playing soccer for the first time, well she probably had more fun talking, skipping and boy chasing.

Secret Sister Swap

2011-09-09T07:21:00.001-07:00

Thank you Secret Sister!

First home game and summer catch-up

2011-09-05T07:49:00.000-07:00

Melissa's first home game marching in the band, she plays the flute and is in the back somewhere. I've spent quite a few nights working KC Sporting games so we can go to Washington,DC in May of 2012.

Summer Catch-up

Amy at the pool.

Jim put the girls to work painting the front porch with Restore, it has helped cut down on the slick floor when it rains.

We participated in an attempt to make the longest ice cream sundae at the Turner Rec Center and the KCKPL. A hot but fun day, you couldn't tell by that face.

Eco Elvis at the wrap up for summer reading.

Winter in August and Secret Sister Swap

2011-09-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

With all the craziness of August, I still had three swaps I had to do, all swap were mailed late. (Boo me)!

First up are these fall ornies I made for the swap on Prim Pals forum.

Than I received this wonderful "Winter in August" Swap package from Ginny.

I realized I left out one of the ornaments when I took the picture. Look at all these snowmen, thanks Ginny.

I received my secret sister swap in the mail today. Look at these wonderful goodies.
Thank you, Secret sister!!

This is the Winter in August swap I sent to my partner Lindee.

This little snowman I made from Debbie's free pattern, isn't he cute!! You can find that pattern here and check out Debbie's blog and store too.

First day of school

2011-08-17T05:15:00.000-07:00

Jaime's started 5th grade on the 15th, she was excited to get back to school. She loves her teacher which was also Melissa's 4th grade teacher. In 5th grade they go between two classrooms for all the different subjects and the other teacher was Kaitlyn and Melissa's 5th grade teacher (who we also love). This year she only has 16 kids in her class.

Melissa first day at the high school as a freshman (How'd that happen?) was the 16th, she also was excited to get back to school. She is going to keep busy this year, she's on the golf team and in the marching band.

An exciting week, not

2011-08-14T06:58:00.001-07:00

This week was going to be busy getting Kaitlyn ready to head back to K-State, we had lists made and stuff to do. We came home Sunday from a day spent with Jim's parents to find our house filled with smoke. We couldn't see a fire anywhere so Jim went downstairs to see what he could find, he was coughing like crazy. I looked out the patio door and noticed the power lines down and a Board of Public Utilities worker in the neighbors back yard. We talked to him and he said he thought it smelled like wood, not electrical which we thought it smelled like. We called the fire dept and they came out and found the fire with infared googles. It was our ground wire on fire and a wooden joist. So they only had to use our water hose to put it out. BPU pulled our electrical meter and the next day was filled with calls to the insurance agent, restoration company and a electrician. We stayed at Jim's parents and left the windows open one night to air out some of the smoke. The day we needed to get Kaitlyn back to K-State we were already running late but needed to stop by our house to see if we had power, we found two of our screens slit and someone had broke in. As far as we could tell the only things stolen were dvd's from my oldest daughters room. We could also tell they went through drawers because they were all left open, they might have found some of my state quarters and dollar coins. It could have been a lot worse so we're thankful it wasn't. Most of the kids electronic toys, lap tops, I-Pods, and Jaime's DSI were with us.
Luckily most of our damage was do to smoke and I'm glad we didn't have to deal with a major fire like we did in 2003.
We did get Kaitlyn to school for move in day at her sorority house and she had almost everything she needed. So not exactly the send-off we wanted but I'm glad things weren't as bad as they could have been.

Since every post needs a picture (in my opinion) here is a picture of one of the kittens, who needs a home. None of our cats were harmed in the fire and they apparently didn't make good watch cats. :-)

Busy busy

2011-08-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

I'd like to say I've been busy crafting but all I've worked on were my secret sister swap lately. It's been pretty hot here in KC. Over 100 for too many days and than it cooled off to a nice 90 degrees the other day. Kaitlyn's car was in the shop for almost two weeks and one of those weeks was the last week of summer college at the community college. So we had to leave the house at 7:30am and
and than back to pick up Melissa and get her to weights at 8:45 than back home for a hour, than back to get Melissa and than out to get Kaitlyn, back home for 45 minutes than take Kaitlyn to work. Four days of that made me crazy. Today we drove to Manhattan for parent's work day at the Kappa Delta house 2 hours to get there, 2 hours of work, 2 hours drive back and than we headed to the back to school bash.

I received this beautiful penny rug mat form my secret sister. I love it, thanks secret sister. I'm not sure why the picture looks like water is on it but it's not.

2011-07-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

It's been hot here in KC this month, last week and this week are suppose to be scorchers. We've been trying to stay cool, two days a week we go to programs at our local library. Jim and I have also been working at Sandstone and Livestrong stadium working towards the marching band trip to DC next year. We also had a fun time touring the Shawnee Indian Mission again.

Secret Sister Swap

2011-07-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

I received this wonderful patriotic basket from my secret sister this month.Thanks secret sister!! It's exciting to know that a swap package is arriving in the mail each month.

4th of July pics at the lake

2011-07-07T10:24:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend at the lake, swimming and went for a boat ride. The boat made a noise and threw something in the engine so our boat ride back was at 4 mph. A new used tractor so everybody can get the boat in the water without a trailer hitch! Yay!

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

2011-07-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

From every mountain side
Let Freedom ring.
~Samuel F. Smith, "America"

And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
~Lee Greenwood

Freedom's natal day is here.
Fire the guns and shout for freedom,
See the flag above unfurled!
Hail the stars and stripes forever,
Dearest flag in all the world.
~Florence A. Jones

Where liberty dwells, there is my country. ~Benjamin Franklin

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~Erma Bombeck

And the winner is.....

2011-06-30T06:01:00.001-07:00

...... BronxPrimLady if you could email me your address, I'll get your package out! Thanks everybody for all the kind comments.

Patriotic Giveaway

2011-06-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

One rag flag prim table runner, a couple Americana pinwheels and rag balls (not pictured).

Only one rule:

If not a follower please follow my blog, leave a comment to enter on this post only. This will be a short giveaway since I want the winner to get it before the 4th of July. I will draw a name at 6:00 pm on June 29th.

Prim Pal 4th of July swap

2011-06-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

The mailman delivered this wonderful swap box on Saturday. Michele was my swap partner from the Prim Pals forum. She sent all sorts of wonderful 4th of July goodies. There is a crow on a wire with a star sitting on the pillow, I need to find a good place to hang that and my girls want to make cupcakes and put those flags to use. Look at those cute Uncle Sam figures at the bottom.
Thanks Michele!!

Since Michele doesn't have a blog, I'll post what I sent her.

Here is an up close picture of the Annie I made with her little bag of firecrackers.

And just for cuteness a little kitty!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T07:15:00.001-07:00

To my husband who is a wonderful father to our daughters. As you can see from the pictures, in almost every picture someone isn't looking at the camera or is just being goofy. This is our family (minus Elizabeth who had to work), not perfect but our family.

Jim's dad and the girls-- goofy again.

All of us together, again goofy.

Blogger keeps turning the pictures sideways no matter what I do.

My dad died when I was 21 months so I don't have very many memories of him, I'm glad my mom took quite a few pictures.

My dad with his accordion.
My dad was in the National Guard, here he was at Fort Monmouth in Ocean port, New Jersey. He studied radio and than electronics. My grandma wrote on the back of the picture this was taken in the early 50's.

I love the picture of my brother and I climbing on our dad. Crank your head sideways. :-)

We had a nice day at Jim's parents --steak was on the menu and than cards afterwards.

Union Station

2011-06-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Union Station
Looking at downtown Kansas City through the walkway to Crown Center.
Liberty Memorial

Amy running ahead of us through the walkway.

Saturday was the next to the last day for the Diana celebration at Union Station, three of my girls wanted to go but one couldn't get off work. So Melissa and Kaitlyn went, Jim, Jaime, Amy and I walked around Union Station and than made a quick trip to Crown Center to check out the Rain Forest play area for kids. Of course we had to stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

Summer Swap

2011-06-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I received this wonderful swap package from Traci at York Mountain Primitives. Misi at 1890 Gable House Musings hosted the swap. In this swap we had to send a 4th of July prim, garden prim and something that made you think of summer in a hammock. I love the candle mat and candle-- very patriotic, also look at these vegetables she painted and they smell wonderful. She also sent a Rachel Ray magazine which is funny because I almost bought the same one for her and Traci also throw in a package of pink lemonade. Thank you so much for everything, Traci!!

KC Sporting Staduim-LiveStrong

2011-06-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

Wow it was pretty amazing. Jim and I worked at one of the concession stands out there to raise money for the marching band trip next year to Washington DC. We're not big soccer fans unless one of our kids are playing. I had fun but since it was opening night they had stuff going on before the game stared at 9:00pm. We had to be there at 4:30 to get the booth ready and since it was a 9:00 game didn't get done til late.
I couldn't find a picture I liked but found this link.

Secret Sister Swap

2011-06-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

My secret sister swap that Char is hosting at the Pickled Pepper Patch arrived right when we were leaving to go to Columbia. The theme for May was picnic, my SS sent these cute strawberry and watermelon plates (that my 5 year old has claimed), a wonderful smelling apple tart and a picnic or table throw. Thank you SS!

Wonderful Weekend

2011-06-06T10:12:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful time in Colombia, Missouri at the La Leche League conference. I only took one picture and it was of Lu Hanessia speaking in the session "Parenting without Trauma and Drama". I really enjoyed her sessions another one was "Why don't my kids get along". Diane West had some wonderful information on breastfeeding topics and how to help moms. The creativity session I did went pretty well and than I helped with a Freezer/Once a month cooking session. It was awesome to see all the families there and talk to friends and make new ones. I wish we took our KU shirts so I could have taken a picture of us outside a local restaurant that had Mizzou all over it. Jim and the girls had fun swimming and hanging out at Bass Pro Shop while I was in sessions.

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all the service men and women who have served our country.

Today we are planning on placing flowers on my mom and dad's grave, the one thing I like about the cemetery on Memorial day weekend is all the flags and flowers. When my dad died I was almost two and we lived in Garland, Texas, he was buried in Gladstone, Missouri and we moved to that area soon afterwards. My mom was from North Missouri and her sister lived in Gladstone. I think of the time my brother, a neighbor and me (who was probably 3-4) walked to the cemetery which was through an open field behind our house. I can still see my mom driving slowly with the station wagon looking for us, we never walked up there again.

I have plans to get some work done around our house today, hopefully my husband is in agreement. ;-) Brats and burgers on the grill is on the menu.

I've finished all my swaps that are due in May and have a June swap halfway done. Now I need to concentrate on the two sessions I'm presenting at the La Leche League of Missouri Conference coming up this weekend in Columbia. The first one is "Finding your hidden Creativity" which I'm leading by myself, so I need to do the most work on that one. The second I'm co-presenting with another lady is "Cook Once-Dine Twice" it's a once a month cooking session, I'll be doing the cooking club part. I also have to get all the items for the group boutique and silent auction together. I'm sure I'll be half crazy by the time I'm through, but it will be well worth it for the enjoyment I'll get. Lu Hanessia will be speaking, I heard her two years ago and loved her. Here is a link to an article she wrote. She also has some really cool t-shirt, I love "Don't squash my spirit", "Sometimes I amaze myself", "Love doesn't spoil", " Unconditional" and one we all need to think about "Hang up and talk to me". She has many more listed here. I'm also looking forward to hearing Diana West and Dee Kassing speak along with other LLL Leaders on ways to help breastfeeding moms. One of the most rewarding times is reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. I've been involved with LLL for over 14 years and am so glad of all the friends I made and the path my mothering journey has taken. It's also wonderful to be surrounded with like minded people and not be the odd balls. :-)

Crazy Weather

2011-05-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

The weather has been crazy here the last two days. Tornado sirens going off crazy winds and the skies have been wild looking. Our 10 year old was in Eureka Springs with her grandparents last weekend and they dove back up Sunday. They were ahead of the tornado that hit Joplin but saw the dark clouds.

	Taken from the top of Bishop-Mcann-May 24,2011 by Scott Cook- KCMO

I-29 South of Barry Rd. KC MO
around noon. by kccatdr 5-25-11

(Nothing wants to line up today)


	Today is a beautiful sunny day and the paper said the bad weather has left the area, for now. This is also the last day of school for my girls, we're looking forward to a fun busy summer.

Friendship Swap

2011-05-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

I signed up for the Friendship Swap on Tricia's blog awhile back and received my box from Margie at Hungry Hook Primitives yesterday. She packed the box full of prim patriotic goodies. I was hoping she would make me a hooked item and she did. Isn't this a wonderful prim hanging, it's my first one!!

She also included two prim boxes, they were inside this cute basket. My 5 year old quickly left with the basket and filled it up with her stuff. That girl moves fast. Margie also sent two framed pictures, a star and three pillow tucks that say Life, Liberty and Happiness. Emailing Margie we found out we both are married to Jim's, we each have a daughter named Kaitlyn, we enjoy reading mysteries and Katie Fforde books, and of course love prims. I would really love to try my hand at rug hooking in the future, it seems like I have so many crafts I already do and quite a few unfinished projects, that I can't bring myself to start a new craft....yet. :-) Margie thanks so much for swapping with me.

This is what I sent Margie for the Friendship swap.

Melissa before the 8th grade awards and dance, Friday night. In the fall she'll be at the high school, it's hard to believe how fast those kids grow up.

First year of College over

2011-05-14T06:08:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe Freshmen year is over and we all made it through okay! We're glad Kaitlyn is home. She'll be taking classes at the community college and working at the rec center this summer.

Amy's B-day again

2011-05-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

Amy's birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's. I love her expressions, such a sweet little face.

My crazy girls!

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

This will be the 6th Mother's day since my mom passed away. I love this picture of her she was always laughing or smiling about something. When she passed away she looked nothing like it. Alzheimer's is a cruel and frustrating disease. I miss her everyday. She was a wonderful mother, she was also my Campfire girls leader and she taught Sunday school for years and that's only touching on a few things. Apple salad, cheese ball, chocolate pudding cake, lasagne and green rice were a few of the dishes she made I loved. She enjoyed sewing and made a lot of our dresses. She also found time to take an oil painting class and a floral arrangement class. Mom you are missed and I'm sad that you were never able to meet Amy. Thanks for being my mom!

Catching up on May

2011-05-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

Melissa at Band A Rama-- Turner High School

Jaime and Melissa at the Mother-Daughter Banquet.

Happy 5th Birthday to Amy!

2011-05-04T13:32:00.001-07:00

My baby turned 5 today! We met friends at the park and had cupcakes. We'll celebrate on Sunday with Grandma and Grandpa.

The time flies by-- yesterday she was a baby and today she is 5. I never thought I'd have a baby in my 40's but I did and I can't imagine life without her. Her birth was the best birth and one I would have liked to have with my other girls. I had her at a new birthing center with a midwife. Her birth was the least expensive but our insurance would only cover a small percentage since they were out of network. I saved the insurance a lot of money only having a few tests, no genetic testing and no official sonogram you would think they'd be happy to save that and pay the bill.

I received my secret sister swap a couple days ago. Isn't this seed envelope cute ? She also sent this mop cap, soy candle melts (they smell good), seeds and prim magnets. Thank you secret sister!

Happy May DaY

2011-05-01T06:34:00.001-07:00

I think I'm almost caught up with my blogging. We bought a new camera and a new camera card, the pictures look great and when I tried uploading to Picasa the computer did nothing. The new card was a 4 gb and our computer wouldn't take it, so all my pictures on that card we had to get on a cd to get them on the computer. Now I need to buy a new 2 gb card, charge my batteries and we should be back in business.

Fort Leavenworth Garage Sale

2011-04-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

Memorial Chapel

Historic House

The Rookery is the oldest house in Kansas, and has a colorful history. It is still inhabited today.

French cannons over Missouri River, Fort Leavenworth
Photos from From Leavenworth Public Affairs Flickr group

We have been going to the Fort Leavenworth Garage sale for over 20 years , we have missed a few but usually make sure we are there every April. I forgot to take my camera but found these pictures to share. It's the fun of the unknown-- what will we find today? My goal is try to be there at 6:00am I don't think that has ever happened, we usually show up between 6:30 and 7:00am. Creatures of habit we hit the same street but have found in the last few years we haven't found nearly the amount of goodies we use too. They have torn down and built a lot of new housing and I think that area no longer has the families living there. Next year we're changing it up. I did find shoes and clothes for Amy and a few things for Jaime and Melissa. I also found some items I bought for my prim swaps. I bought a blue lard bucket and an Anchor Hocking glass Early American Prescut Pattern small pitcher like the one my mom use to have. The lady I bought it from told me what it was called and that it was from the 60's. I knew nothing about it but was glad to find out. I grabbed this cute bunny for $2 and some old books for .50 cents, stencils and a few other items at this one house which I scored good at last year and was glad to do it again this year.

I enjoy talking to the people having the sales and the other garage salers--it's a fun environment. The kids set up tables and sell cookies, muffins, cupcakes, water, pop and other stuff. One year we bought egg rolls that a lady was making and cooking in front of us. We usually don't leave till 2:00.

This year we stopped at the Queen's Pantry in Leavenworth. I was looking for some Golden syrup to make flapjacks. I love reading Katie Fforde books and in one of them the leading lady was making flapjacks. I was thinking pancakes but when I googled it it looks like similar to a granola bar. We were offered cupcakes and tea, in honor of the royal wedding which happened the day before, it was a nice shop and we had fun browsing around.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T06:40:00.001-07:00

Grandpa went out to help Melissa since she couldn't find her eggs,--- Jaime and I hid them in harder places since she didn't come out with us. We should have told Grandpa because he thought he was getting forgetful, since he hid them.

I've been making this salad for the last eight years or more. I also made a Spinach, strawberry almond salad. Jim's parent provided ham and Grandma's famous potato casserole and all the other fixings.

Broccoli-Cauliflower Salad

4 cups small cauliflower florets
3 cups small broccoli florets
4 green onions, thinly sliced
3/4 cup radishes
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 cup Mayo or Miracle Whip
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. prepared horseradish
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
***** I have never made it with the bacon but the original recipe calls for 6 slices crisp and crumbled

In a large bowl, layer cauliflower, broccoli, green onions, radishes and carrot; set aside.
In a meduim bowl, stir together mayo/miracle whip, sugar, lemon juice, horseradish, salt and pepper, spread over vegetables. If using bacon sprinkle it over the top. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. Stir to coat before serving. Makes 8-10 servings.

Hometown Cooking magazine-- April 2002

2011-04-23T06:27:00.001-07:00

Some pictures from our photo walk and an extra from the Legends.

Easter Swap

2011-04-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the mailman delivered my Easter swap from Tina. It was very exciting to open the box, everything was nicely wrapped. First out was the grubby carrot, than this cute bunny with a quilt pocket on it, 3 rag eggs, Bunny Blessings stitchery (Tina in case your wondering I did paint the picture frame), a cute quilt pillow, and a basket that my 4 yr old took of with, Tina also added peeps and a chocolate bunny. Thanks Tina I had fun making the swap items and reading your blog.

Here's what I sent to Tina. Tina's picture came out better than mine did so I'm sending you to her blog to check it out.

2011-04-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

Today I ran across a few old Leisure Art magazines from the 90's, these had made the cut over the years. I found a couple patterns I want to make for some upcoming swaps I'm in, so yay for finding them. I also found an old book that I ordered in the 90's with doll patterns, and a few other patterns.

I'm admitting to having those geese and all sorts of country blue in the late 80's- early 90's along with some crazy hair. It's funny how the country look can switch over to prim. I wish I still had some of my country stuff I used back then, some were probably up in our attic when we had our fire in 2003, others I discarded. A lot of the items I had bought from Home Interiors back when I had a friend selling it. It seems funny how things change in decorating, and the different fads.I've never like the modern always country style, just different kinds.

I also found a note the vice principal from Jr. high sent home with me to my mom it stated I had 16 tardies , 10 to first hour and 6 to 5th hour and if I got any more I'd be serving an in school suspension. I must have tried harder but I do remember serving a Saturday morning detention, once was enough to not want to spend my Saturdays there again.

On the 9th, it was Mother's day at Kaitlyn's sorority, we were served a light brunch, entertainment was a singing group, had a Mom's meeting, fashion show and a silent auction. I didn't get a picture of Kaitlyn and me, but did get a group picture of the girls in the fashion show.
The fashion show was all the t-shirts they had through the year and than the different parties they went too. Kaitlyn is in the back in black and white she was modeling 80's fashion from 80's date night. It's hard to believe Freshman year is almost over.

Kansas Speedway Tour

2011-04-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

This is Ray our Speedway tour guide, here we are in the presidential suites.

Amy and Ellie found the chairs more interesting.

General Admission area, they were replacing all the seats for the upcoming season.

Looking up from the ground.

Racing along in the speedway van at a top speed of 45mph!

Inside the garage area.

Winner's circle-Victory Lane

We had a wonderful time touring the Kansas Speedway today. Our tour guide was Ray. We took a look at the Presidential suites, the general admission section, we drove through the drivers tunnel in the Speedway bus, visited one of the garages, the media rooms, Winners Galley and then drove around the track at a whopping 45 miles per hour.

Than we headed over to the Legends for lunch at Panera's and the kids played in the grassy areas.

Amy picking the tulips, I wasn't paying attention even though I took the picture.

The tulips in their new home.

Beauty and the Beast

2011-04-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

Jaime, Amy and I watched our friends perform in Beauty and the Beast, all the performers were under 18. We really enjoy the musicals, and it's fun to see people we know in the show. Amy said it was scary in parts but she made it through okay.

A week or so ago we joined some friends for a photo walk at Antioch park.

Secret Sister Swap

2011-04-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

My secret sister swap arrived Monday, in the box was this cute Easter egg, a sweet little basket with a chick and two carrots. Thanks secret sister! Char over at the Pickled Pepper Patch is hosting the swap.

I've been busy trying to finish two projects, 1) is a tote of jeans, khaki's and homespun that a friend asked me to cut into squares for a rag quilt, 2) is a rag bag I'm making for a friend. I'm pretty close and hope to have both done this weekend. I will be so glad to be done.

It's lightly snowing in KC!

2011-03-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

It doesn't look like it will be sticking but you can see a mix of light snow and sleet. To make us forget the cold weather I'm posting a picture of a summertime swap I mailed out last year and never posted pictures. Have a nice weekend!

2011-03-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday, three years away from fifty now. Yikes! Kaitlyn, Amy and I had Chinese food for lunch. Kaitlyn has been wanting to get Chinese from her favorite place and said she would buy her lunch and could I buy mine. I told her she should have said "Mom I want to buy your lunch for your birthday but could you buy mine." She said that's what I meant. ;-) Last night we had 50 cent tacos with Jim's parents and all our girls. The tacos at Danny's are wonderful and we love the sauce. We had a nice time and Amy stayed in her seat, I think mostly because she couldn't get out, the seats were squished together. She likes to get up and move around after she eats and this place was busy so I'm glad she didn't.

I spent this morning finishing up my secret sister swap. I wasn't sure I would get it mailed today but I did. I was out of packing tape and had to run a few errands but I was able to get back home and wrap everything up and head to the post office. Yay.

Last year I had a giveaway on my birthday, I meant to do that again. So keep your eye out for an upcoming giveaway.

2011-03-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to do better about posting so I thought I'd share what I made for the two swaps I mailed out last week.
This was my Easter Rug Mug swap that APP hosted and it was sent to Cheryl. I made a rag mug rug with an bunny on top.

This one was sent to Debbie. I started out using a Lillie Mae flower pattern and than winged it till I was happy with the look, the cat was from Snugglebug Prims, of course I never seem to follow instructions so this is how my Fred the cat came out. Debbie didn't like real grungy so he's a little light. In the corner are some clothespins wrapped with grungy material strips.

The line under all my links is driving me crazy, I changed the Html a couple years ago when I added my background and changed the colors, now I'm trying to follow directions to remove that but can't find the right spot, hopefully soon.

Welcome Spring

2011-03-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

It's a wonderful day in Kansas City for the first day of spring!

I made this spring stitchery for a swap, the flower pattern is from a back issue of Create and Decorate. I knew I wanted to have a frame for the picture and didn't have a frame on hand, so I started thinking what to use to make one. One thing I love about making prims is you can use what you have, well in any crafting you can improvise but with prims since you want your items to look old, it's even better. I dragged in a tree branch and broke off branches the size I need to frame my piece. Than to decide how to attach it. I sewed a backing on the piece and sewed the branches to the material. Not exactly perfect but definitely the look I wanted.

2011-03-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

We toured the Alexander Majors Historic Home and Musuem today. It has a lot of interesting history and the girls were able to make candles. Looking at there website, they have some fun activities coming up. Last summer we toured the John Wornall Home and made underground railway bags. The John Wornall home recently purchased the Alexander Majors home. We enjoy touring old homes and learning the history. I left my camera at home so I didn't get any pictures today.

Today is the last day of spring break for Melissa and Jaime. Kaitlyn will be back from Manhattan tonight to start her spring break!

I'll post pictures of what I sent my swap partners next week.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

2011-03-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.
-Irish Blessing

Yesterday was a great day for mail not one package but two swaps delivered in one day.
First up was the Spring Prim swap from Debbie

she sent this wonderful black cat, a framed stitchery and a little rag doll. Thanks for the fun swap package Debbie!

and the second package

was the Easter Mug/Rug Swap. Cheryl was my swap partner and she sent me this Easter mug full of coffee and creamers along with Jelly Belly's and this cute mug rug. After I loaded the pictures I realized I should have took a picture of the other side of the mat. It has embroidered eggs on it. Thanks Cheryl!

Deadlines

2011-03-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

I seem to always find myself finishing up on swap deadline days. Always planning on starting early and mailing days before it's due, somehow my thinking and reality aren't always on the same wave length. I do plan ahead on what I'm making and make changes. Somehow I ended up with 3 swaps due the same week. The spring prim swap on Prim Pals was due in the mail today and I made it, I had one project all the way done another just needing a frame idea and than two I started and finished right before mailing.

Tomorrow my local AP group is having an activity bag swap for our kiddos. Yes again I have somewhat started and will be finishing up tonight.

Friday the Easter Mug/Rug swap I signed up for on Aunt Pitty Pat's blog will be in the mail. Again somewhat started and Thursday I will be working on this most of the day.

Should I mention next week when the secret sister swap that Char's hosting each month till November is due?

Chciken pox round 2

2011-03-14T07:17:00.001-07:00

Jaime broke out 16 days later with round two (and the final) of the chicken pox. She has had a pretty easy time, she was itchy a lot but did a good job without scratching. Her spots showed up on the first day of spring break and when school starts Monday she'll be ready to head back. She's spent her time playing games, reading and of course watching TV.

Happy March!

2011-03-02T07:07:00.001-08:00

Chicken Pox

2011-02-28T07:11:00.001-08:00

Amy broke out in spots on Thursday, she was a little itchy but hasn't had a very hard time. Two years ago we tried to get Chicken Pox three times and it never happened, we didn't try this time, we were at a friends house and her son broke out after we left. Sixteen days later spots appeared. Yay for natural immunity. Stay tuned for the next pox update in sixteen days.

A twirly skirt and a stuffed pony were a gift for a birthday party we attended. I love House on Hill Road's pattern I have made at least 10 of these skirts. I leave the ribbon off and Jaime and Amy love these skirts. The stuffed pony was a freebie from Annie's cupboards.

Playing catch-up

2011-02-21T07:36:00.000-08:00

In January I started working on "My 5 favorite things swap" that Char hosted at The Pickled Pepper Patch . Here are the wonderful items I received from my swap partner Lottie.
I love cats and these prim cats are adorable, the wooden bowl is holding this wonderful smelling candle and little smelly things. Amy says it smells like maple syrup.

This prim dress on it's own prim hanger, Amy asked whose dress it was and said I'm not wearing it, when I said it was mine she wanted to try it on.
Americana is also a favorite of mine. Aren't these stars cute?

Jaime's Valentine party -- We played three games~ Valentine Pictionary, Heart shuffle race and Valentine do what it says on the heart relay. This was the last party of the year and we had a lot of fun.
Dinner was Italian food from Alvelluto's/Italian Delight.

I sent the above items to my swap partner, Lottie.

Amy built two snowman at Grandma and Grandpa's with Daddy's help, the little one is her and the big one is her sister Kaitlyn!

Blizzard 2011

2011-02-02T13:01:00.000-08:00

This picture was from the previous week of snow.

A neighbor gave us this Gingerbread house kit at least two years ago and since the last time we made gingerbread houses I swore I'd never make one again it has set on the top of our cabinets. In a moment of insanity on a snow day I pulled it down and thought it would be a great idea to make. I started with the icing and after an hour or two it was suppose to be dried enough to decorate. The minute one of the girls touched it, it fell apart so I grabbed the tacky glue, (I couldn't find the hot glue gun) it again fell apart so I divided the parts and Jaime and Amy had fun decorating the pieces. If I ever have a lapse in memory again I think I'll let them decorate the pieces and than pull out the hot glue gun to put it together.

The kids had school on Monday but by 9:00 they had canceled school for Tuesday which I was a unbeliever because the week before we were suppose to get a lot of snow but it stayed up north and missed us. At 6:30am the snow was lightly coming down, Jim left for work and had no problem getting there and than after a few hours the flakes were bigger and the snow was coming down like crazy. It looks like we received 10 inches of snow.

Kaleidoscope

2011-01-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

We had a fun time at Kaleidoscope today with friends, than lunch at Fritz's.

Cheers to a Brand New Year!

2011-01-01T07:08:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful time at Jim's parents on New Years Day. Lunch was KC strip steak and boiled shrimp. After the eating and eating, and cleaning up we were able to play a couple games of 62.

Christmas Tradtions

2010-12-29T10:28:00.000-08:00

We did our before Christmas tradition after Christmas this year. We had burgers at Fritz's and then enjoyed the Christmas lights on the beautiful old house a block over. Luckily one of the local radio stations is still playing Christmas music so we (I) could get all the Christmas effects.
I love the Gen Dare burger at Fritz's, shredded hash browns on top of your hamburger with grilled onion and pickles.

Prim Goodies in the mail

2010-12-23T06:45:00.000-08:00

Home for The Holiday Swap ----- Patti outdid herself with this swap, I just kept pulling package after package out and when I had everything laid out I was amazed out all the wonderful Prim Christmas items. My picture isn't that great but you can click and see it closer. Thanks again Patti I had a fun time doing this swap.

I received these wonderful Christmas items in the mail from Shelia. Thank you Shelia!
Jody from Primgal's Primitive Palette sent these wonderful painted ornaments. Thanks Jody!

I made these snack mats from this tutorial at Rhythm of the Home. I've held on to this Japanese storybook material for a couple of years (it was so cute I couldn't decide what to do with it) but I figured these would get used and we could still enjoy the material.

KU laundry bag I made for Melissa for Christmas, using this tutorial.

Moving up to Girl Scouts and School Party

2010-12-17T07:54:00.000-08:00

Jaime's Girl Scout group has Daisy's, Brownie's and Girl Scout's combined, they had their bridging ceremony in December and Jaime is now a Girl Scout.

Yesterday was Jaime's holiday party at school. I searched the internet again and found some games. We started out with a box I filled with lip balm for each child and than I wrapped it in layers and than another box. The teacher turned on the music and they passed it and when it stopped that person unwrapped a layer with gloves on. Those kids were going batty with all the layers. After that was over we played a game where they threw wrapped marshmallows in a snowman face. Everybody had a fun time, Ms. Davis joined in on the fun for some marshmallow throwing.

2010-12-10T05:45:00.001-08:00

Isn't that kitty cute? He's looking for a home. Our neighborhood has a lot of stray cats running wild and we've had two females cats have kittens in our yard. I talked to No More Homeless Pets and they will fix the mom cats for a small fee and than give them back to us. I think they could both be adoptable but they said we'd have to take them with us. I would keep this little baby if we didn't already have other cats. We call him Fatty McFatty. He has two more siblings also looking for a home.
This is Luke,
and Darth Vader.

This was Princess Leia she was the runt and didn't make it.

Our computer crashed and I already had these pictures saved in this post that was waiting for another picture before I posted it. I'm hoping to get our pictures back but Picasa isn't liking us very much. It won't let me add new pictures either but I'm hoping we get it fixed soon.

Swap day

2010-12-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

It was time for our 5th annual KCAP handmade ornament swap, this is the second year we've held it at our church. There we have room for the kids to run in the gym, a place for the swap tables and of course the snack table. Since a lot of us are spread out over the KC area in Kansas and Missouri we don't always get to see so many mama's and kiddos together. It was a lot of fun talking, eating and looking at all the wonderful ornaments our friends made.

**KCAP also known as Kansas City Attachment Parenting in an online forum we meet and discuss all sorts of topics, but we also get together at different activities throughout the year picnics, coop classes, play dates, playgroups, MNO and MNI (Mom's Night In), etc.

I was in two ornament swaps-- you can click on the picture to see them closer.

This year we also had two mama swaps it was all about pampering and only spending $2-3
a piece it could be store bought or handmade. A few of my items I haven't unwrapped yet I'm saving them for Christmas morning. I made homemade organic deodorant for one swap and neck cowl/gators for the other. Look at all these goodies, it was a lot of fun and I'm already planning on what I'm making for next year. Hopefully I'll have them made early ;-).

Also there was a small playfood swap-- in previous years we had three groups but I think people are playfood swapped out. I made the salt and pepper shakers and used this tutorial.

And the last swap is a side swap of five mama's who we each make five items and than swap with each other, it's always exciting to see what everybody makes and we've never made the same things yet in the last 3 years of doing the swaps. I enjoy swaps because I can make stuff for people who will use, enjoy and appreciate what I make and I love to get handmade items in return. Sometimes I make myself and my family looney but it's all fun!!

These were the second set of ornaments I made for the swap, the other set is here.

Swap

2010-12-03T19:34:00.001-08:00

I must love living on the edge of excitement or insanity.... I could find no inspiration for my Home for the Holiday swap and time was running out. I looked at countless blogs and pictures, looked through printed out patterns and kept waiting for it to come to me. Earlier this year I was on a prim forum and the ladies posted things they were making and explaining how they made it, one lady made a snowman hat and had an arrangement of cute prim stuff inside it. When I went back a month or so later I couldn't sign in and they emailed me back and said they were making their community smaller (people who post and participate more, etc..) I was disappointed because there was a few more things I wanted to make. So I looked through the other prim forums I was on and nada, I should have just posted asking for suggestions. You can use a can and cover it with felt or other material and go from there but I wasn't feeling inspired, I also found a pattern to make a hat out of muslin and than paint and bake it to make it prim. Nothing really screamed out "make me" so I kept looking and I really love this this doodle from Bird in the Hand Primitive and wanted to recreate the stocking, but as I was looking through my much loved pile of Gooseberry Patch Christmas book and decided to make my version of these stockings. I hope my swap partner enjoys this swap.

On my list for next year is that Snowman hat and recreating that doodle into a stocking!

I love the prim communities everyone is so kind and helpful. I wish I had more time to spend on all the prim forums. I spend a lot of time on the local attachment parenting forum and FB. It's funny how before Facebook I spent a lot of time on Sewing Mamas and some other groups and now I try to check in every couple months. Blogs, how I love to read blogs, prim ones, frugal, green, freezer cooking, children crafts, sewing, quilting, natural parenting and friends blogs, etc. I never seem to have enough time. Than I have to find time to sew and craft, cook and clean and all the activities I do with my children. It's all fun!

Prim Swaps

2010-12-02T14:57:00.000-08:00

I sent Amy this snowman and gingerbread man for a secret ornie swap.

Look at these cute prim ornaments I received in the prim swap on Prim Pals Forum. They are all so prim wonderful!! :-)

Fall Days

2010-11-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

There's something about a windy fall day when there is a crispness in the air, it also helps to be a little cloudy. I love, love ,love! I love to watch the swirl of leaves as I'm driving, blowing and dancing across the street. I also love sunny warm autumn days but equally love the gray ones. I would love to have a house with a wall of windows that opened to trees and just be able to watch the leaves fall, fluttering~~through the air.

Snoopy from Worlds of Fun came to story time today. The library was packed with kiddos wanting to see Snoopy. The children were excited to sing, dance and listen to Ms. Brenda read stories, at the end everyone gave Snoopy a hug.

The fun of being four!

2010-11-16T12:15:00.000-08:00

Amy my 4 year amazes me most days, she has a mind of her own. Sometimes she talks like PeeWee Herman, she runs around crazy like Eloise, she likes to hop and jump and change her clothes at least 3 times a day. She has cut her hair quite a few times and the last time I asked her "Did you cut your hair?" Amy says "Yes Mama" pause "Do you like it?" Me "Yes I do". I asked her if she wanted to eat lunch "No Thank you Mama". She runs to daddy when he comes home from work saying "Daddy your home". I could go on and on. She did say she missed her sister Kaitlyn, who is her best friend (she's at college) she get's so excited when she comes home to visit and tells her "You are not going back". I feel very thankful that I'm able to be home with her.

Ornament swaps

2010-11-03T15:06:00.001-07:00

I made these prim gingerbread ornaments for a prim swap. I should have started a week earlier and than I would have made them darker but by the time they dried it was too late. So if any of the prim swappers are reading this coat them with more stain and spices. I used cinnamon and apple pie spices or you can have one fall in bacon grease by accident. ;-) after sending the ornaments I also realized I didn't use my tea dyed material. The blog that gave me the idea for the ornies is Oodlekadoodle Primitives , except my ornaments look nothing like hers or what I wanted them too. I think I have it figured out now, my plan now is to make my pattern fatter, sew the two pieces with quilt batting on top and stain and rub with spices.

For the local AP group ornament swap, these are one set of ornaments I made, I'm still deciding on the other set. I found this tutorial to make the ornaments on this blog. I found her blog from a link for her cute macrame doll and that was what I was going to make, until my family called them skeletons, so I was thinking about how to dress them and stumbled upon her happy girl doll. I added a scarf to my ornaments. I need to keep a look out for colored hemp or twine and see if using that makes my dolls look more like dolls and not skeletons. :-)

I received this prim santa from another swap where we just made one prim ornament and mailed it to our secret swapper. Along with the ornie she also included a prim cake that smells wonderful. Thanks Lorna, I need to find your blog.

Hopefully soon I will upload the picture of the ornament I made for my swap partner.
In case your wondering yes I did finish all the posts today the 13th of November but that's how I roll. But at my house I'm always interrupted when I decided to blog so they set for awhile.

Halloween

2010-11-02T13:58:00.001-07:00

We joined friends at Jill's house for a pumpkin carving party and than the kiddos dressed up in their costumes. It was a great way to get our pumpkins carved ahead of time, spend time with friends and have a wonderful potluck lunch. Amy is in the yellow Belle costume.

After we left Jill's house we headed to Jaime's school and helped with the Halloween party. The kids had a fun time, we played ghost balloon charades, "Waiter there's a head in my soup!" and pass the ghost with straws. I only found out on Wednesday that her class didn't have a room mother, I missed the room parent meeting (someone didn't give me the paper about it) and I was told that every class had a room parent. So after all that, everything came together and that's all that counts.

Last year after Halloween, Amy talked about Halloween every day and planned what she would be, we picked up costumes at garage sales. She wanted to be Snow White, Supergirl and the list went on and on. Fast forward to this Halloween and she's a Kitty cat witch princess the same thing she was last year. After hitting a few church Trunk or Treats, stopping at a couple friends house we went to Chipotle's. We pulled out are processed food t-shirts I made and stood in line for about 30 minutes to get our $2 Boorito well worth the wait. I didn't get pics but Melissa was an orange pop, Jaime was a slice of American cheese, Amy was a chicken nugget, Jim was a box of Mac and Cheese and I was a bag of chips. Two people had pizza boxes on their head and another lady had velvetta boxes on her arms. A very fun night!

Brithdays, Anniversary and another Birthday

2010-10-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

Well September zoomed by pretty fast and now October is almost over. Jaime turned 10 on September 12 and Kaitlyn turned 19 on the 13th of September. Melissa and Jaime spent the weekend at the Omaha Zoo with Grandpa and Grandma. We drove to Manhattan with Amy to take Kaitlyn out for her birthday. We ate at Famous Dave's and had a nice day with Kaitlyn.

Somewhere in the month of October we went to the Renaissance Festival. We all had a fun time. Amy wasn't too sure about the swing the first couple of times around but soon was smiling.

Jaime had a craft and tie-dye party at our house.

Jaime's party at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She always has crazy eye pictures, I need to make an album of all of them.
Kaitlyn came home last weekend and we celebrated at the grandparents house.

Jim and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary on October 21st and than his 49th birthday was the 22nd.

On the 23rd it was the 5th year since my mom passed away. I was wondering what had happened to my mom's big crock that I had. The next day my MIL said "You need to get your mom's crock out of the shed before it breaks". We had a fire seven years ago and apparently it has been in the shed all that time. I thought it was neat that I was thinking of my mom and her crock and the next day I have it.

2010-10-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

I always have these wonderful blog posts in my head and never seem to get them posted. The last post I started on the day it says and the pictures uploaded funky, I had to get off the computer and finally was able to fix them. So in reality I actually posted it today but started it a long time ago. I always plan on getting up early when the house is quiet and blog but get sidetracked reading blogs, local AP forum, FB and email. I need to work on that.......

I've been sewing and deciding on what to make for ornament swaps, a play food swap and a couple prim ornament swaps coming up. I need to get my Christmas list made and started for everyone I'm making gifts for this year.

A mom from the local AP forum was looking for someone to make these cute flat dolls, I had looked at them before and thought they'd be cute to make for Amy but that thought passed. ;-) These are the dolls and clothes I made for the mom. The first set I made will be Amy's after I do a little fixing. They were fun to sew except the shoes which were a little tricky. I can add that to one Christmas gift checked off my list.

Turner Days and Harvest swap

2010-10-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

Turner Days --We live in a city that has three school districts, we are in one of the smaller districts and the community turns out for the Turner Days Parade. It has a small home town feel and you can run into quite a few people you know. It was a little strange this year watching the High school cheerleaders and Kaitlyn not being with them. Jaime rode on her school float and it won best entry in the entire parade. After the parade everybody goes back to the soccer fields were they have a stage, booths for the PTA's of each school and than food booth, games and booths selling all sorts of stuff. We watched a couple games of mud volleyball, my girls thought that would be fun to do in the future.

I received my harvest swap with Julie of Dog Trot Farm a few weeks ago. Thanks, Julie.

2010-09-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

Textile swap goodies from Rene at Two Mile Creek Primitives. I love the little pumpkin pillow tuck, so cute!

Amy fell asleep sitting on the floor like this and than later she woke up and fell asleep like this on the bed.

This sunflower field is off 24 Highway, my zoom doesn't work so the pictures aren't as great as I was hoping they'd be.
Purple coneflowers in our backyard.

2010-09-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

These are a few of the items I made for the Textile swap. Since I haven't uploaded the pictures of what I received I thought I'd post a few of the items I made. I had fun making the cat, I've wanted to make one for awhile and still have one to finish for myself.

Amy and I met friends and she had a great time playing, climbing and running.

Jaime and Melissa started school the 3rd week in August. Jaime is in 4th grade and really likes her teacher, it makes me think of one of my favorite teachers. Mrs. Masters taught 4th grade and she was wonderful. She made learning fun and always had a exciting project for us to make.
I cut a friends hair that year when she toss her head and her hair landed on my desk. The things you do when you're 9. Sorry Denise!

2010-08-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn, Grandma and Grandpa

We're big KU fans and I've been trying to get a family picture with us in our KU shirts, that never seem to happen so when Kaitlyn choice K-State,what better picture than her K-State purple with our Jayhawks shirts.

What a busy crazy summer. Sunday we drove to Manhattan/K-State, our 18 yr old starts classes next week and this week was sorority recruitment. Making sure she had everything she needed kept us busy this last month and half. We were lucky to have Jim's parents and sister take her shopping, that really helped a lot. But gee books are expensive and we even ordered from Chegg and another online store, but it sure adds up fast. Our house seems different without her. We're excited for her and she's looking forward to the school year.

Her car and the back of our van!

2010-07-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun and enjoyed our free chicken from Chick-Fil-A but
I didn't get a picture of all of us together for our cow pictures this year.

Summer Swap

2010-07-14T06:56:00.000-07:00

You would think I'd be able to find more time in the summer to blog but I seemed to sleep later (okay I know 6:30 isn't that late) and than I have to share the computer with everybody,and run children everywhere.

I did Char's Summer swap with Alice and was very excited to get all these wonderful goodies in the mail.

It took me forever to get a good picture and I left out some homespun she sent.
Thanks again Alice this was a very fun swap.

Catching up

2010-06-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

The month of May has been crazy busy as you can see I haven't posted since April. Amy turned four on May 4th. It's hard to believe she's getting so big, she says the cutest things lately she has started calling me Allison.

Between band programs, swim meets and wrapping up soccer it seemed like we met ourselves coming and going.

Kaitlyn graduated on May 26th at Memorial Hall. I didn't cry during graduation but have after, it's hard to believe my baby is eighteen and ready to go to college. She's a very smart and wonderful person. She's enjoyed golf, cheer-leading, swim team, NHS and a lot of other activities. She is looking forward to majoring in Fashion Merchandising/Design in the fall. This last week she has been busy finishing up a prom dress that she is entering in Joann's contest to win a scholarship, she has to have it finished by Thursday.

Cinderella Musical

2010-04-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

We attended a Cinderella Musical Friday with friends and had lunch afterwards.

2010-04-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I finally hit a thrift store, I didn't find much but I found this Irish Blessing Stitchery for $4.99. I'll probably take the bow off of it and I'm thinking about staining the frame.

On trash day I spotted this wooden cabinet sitting out for the trash, I passed it once but on the way home it was still there so I picked it. I haven't decide what to do with it yet but it looks like I'll be scraping paint off first.

When I saw this sign that Pam from Prim in a Small Town had hanging in her kitchen, I knew I had to have one like it. Luckily she makes and sells her signs here. Now all I need to do is decide where to hang it.

Spring means soccer so we've been busy with practices and games. This weekend we had a game Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. Amy likes to run around while we're watching Jaime so we spend half the time making sure she doesn't run out on the field. Are my children the only ones who think the main event is the snack bar or the treats after the game? You'd think we never feed them.

We have a ton of projects we need to work on around our house, the main one is finishing the bedroom in our basement and than finishing the rest of it. We have a lot of junk to get rid of down there too, it's amazing the junk people want to save. Outside we have a few things I want to see get down like the partial picket fence in the front of our yard and a smaller portion in front of where will store our trash cans. Last year we picked up two van fulls of bricks for free. We want to make a meandering path through our front yard and hopefully have enough to brick under the trash cans. So many projects never enough time.

Kaitlyn graduates next month and we finally picked out graduation announcements now to get everything ordered.

2010-04-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Carol was one of the winner's in my birthday giveaway and this is what I sent her.

Easter egg hunting at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Story-time with friends

Easter egg hunt with our KC circle friends.

Kaitlyn is reading off the seniors inductee's at the National Honor Society program.

National Honor Society program

Jaime and friends at the talent show,
they were singing Party in the USA.

Melissa at the band concert.

Nemo

2010-04-10T06:13:00.001-07:00

Our poor sweet kitty, Nemo was hit by a car two weeks ago . He was about seven months old and we had an upcoming appointment for him to be neutered. We had him for about 5 months and never thought how much we'd miss him. His mom was a stray who brought her kittens to our yard, Jim caught him and he adjusted fast to living inside with us. Lately he'd been jumping up in a chair at dinner time like he was waiting for a plate. We loved his big bushy tail that he liked to swish around. He has been missed a lot.

Who won the giveaway??

2010-03-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everybody who enter my birthday giveaway. I've enjoyed reading your comments and finding new blogs to me. I'm looking forward to spending time reading through your blogs.

Drum roll and the winners are:

1.) Leslie won the quilt top
2.) Jessica won the homespun and the funny thing is her birthday is March 24th too.
3.) Candy won the pattern
4.) Carol won the spring pic

Please email me your address to a j k n i g h t 6 at yahoo.
Thanks ladies for entering, I'll be mailing out next week.
Candy your blog keeps redirecting me to different sites.

Happy Birthday to me!

2010-03-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

Today I turn 46, yikes that's pretty close to 50. I don't feel old, I guess that's all that counts. It's funny the older you get get, the age you think is old gets pushed back. Amy and I had plans to go to Target, story-time and speech today but last night when we laid down in bed she started throwing up and proceeded to do that a few more times through out the night. Sadly to say she is still not feeling good.

Tomorrow morning I will draw names for my birthday giveaway! You still have time to enter!

Happy Spring!

2010-03-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

The first day of spring and here in Kansas City we have snow. It was pretty nice yesterday and than by late afternoon the wind was blowing and the temperature had dropped, rain, sleet and snow. Amy is excited to make snow angels, so I'll be bundling her up to go lay in the snow.

If you haven't signed up for my giveaway, you still have time. I'll be drawing names on the 25th.

Last week a great group of mamas from KCAP (a local parenting forum) got together for the play food swap. We had a fun time and the kids enjoyed running through the church gym. Here is a picture of the food I went home with, there were three separate swaps and I was in two.

I've been busy working on prim bunnies and bunny heads.

Amy at the library in her Snow White outfit, the joys of being 3!

2010-03-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

I've been itching to hit a few thrift stores but my wallet tells me otherwise. I think I'll dig around in my basement to see what kinda junk I have to re-do. Reading all the prim blogs and seeing all the cool makeovers makes me want to get create.

My birthday is the 24th and I'm having a giveaway actually I'm giving away 4 separate items. I'll draw names on the 25th.

1. This quilt top I bought at a garage sale years ago and have never done anything with, it has a small hole.

2. 1 yard of this homespun

3. Spring pattern

4. A spring frame pic-- yet to be made.

The rules --- become a follower and leave a comment-- that's it. I just added my follower gadget and noticed I had 5 followers!!

Trashy Swap

2010-03-08T13:22:00.000-08:00

Kim from The Prim Schoolmarm was my swap partner in the Trashy Swap hosted by Char. I was so excited to get my package in the mail, Kim and I have emailed and back and forth and I read through her blog and she has all sorts of cute prim stuff she has made.

I love these wooden bowls and how she primed them up.

This candle mat was my favorite item. As soon as I rearrange my antique sewing table, I'm going to place it on there. My 3.5 year usually runs off with anything setting within her reach, so I find my stuff all over the house.

The Blessings stitchery will look great with my Give Thanks frame. I like the material she used for the background, it reminds me of a sweater. I would have never thought to use that for a background.

She also sent these three cute prim pillows along with the wooden tray. Everything looks great and it was exciting to open the box.

Char's swaps have pushed me to work with all sorts of items I might have bypassed because I wasn't use to working with them. I really want to make some of the wooden project tutorials she has on her blog. If you get a chance check out Kim and Char's blog.

I need to retake a couple pictures for the giveaway I mentioned the other day, hopefully I'll get the pictures tomorrow morning.

What I've been working on

2010-03-04T05:39:00.000-08:00

I made a prim bunny faux stitchery for my trashy swap partner and than made this one for myself. My swap partner's looks better, the piece of material I used should have been longer, I didn't have very much to pull tight and tape down so it's looks a little loose.

I have chicken drumsticks and gingerbread cookie dough that I'm also working on for a local playfood swap. I'm about halfway done and need to get cracking since we're swapping next week. I never was able to get a picture of all the wonderful playfood we received in the December swap. Amy has had a lot of fun playing with the wide assortment and everything turned out great.

I posted about this rag quilt I made on A Year of Christmas, read more here .

Melissa was in a Lego League competition last week and her group came in first place for presentation. They spend at least 2-3 days after school a week working on their project. She has really enjoyed it this school year.

Today I received my trashy swap and will get pictures and post soon. Kimberly sent me a wonderful swap box, I was so excited when I opened it.
This month in celebration of my upcoming birthday I'm going to have a couple giveaways. I just need to get some pictures taken and post the information soon. Thanks for stopping by and reading!

Senior Night

2010-02-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

Last night was bittersweet, Kaitlyn cheered at her last high school game. They recognized all the senior boys and girls basketball players, bowling team, drill team and the cheerleaders. All the parents escorted their senior out and they announced their plans for the future. It was nice catching up with parents we haven't seen lately. Kaitlyn went to grade school with some of the kids, others she met in middle school and others she played on the same team for softball and basketball. The cheerleader sponsors bought balloons and flowers for each senior cheerleader. They also had a poster with their cheer picture on it and a collage of cheer pictures. It is hard to imagine she's a senior and will be graduating this May. We enjoyed the game but the lady in front of Amy probably did not, Amy got a hold of Kaitlyn's balloons a couple of teams and hit her in the head. The 6 senior cheerleaders performed at halftime and than the senior drill team members performed.

It looks like our camera has been dropped one too many times, the pictures aren't very good.

Today I finally got my Trashy swap mailed out it was a lot of fun working on my projects. Now on to finish a play food swap with my local parenting friends.

Prim Rag Candle Mat Tutorial

2010-02-11T06:35:00.001-08:00

I've made quite a few of these candle mats lately, so the last time I thought I'd just share how I make them.

Get a piece of muslin,double your material, than decide how big you want your mat to be, I used my largest pan lid.When determining your size don't forget you'll be ragging an inch of your material. You also need to cut a piece of flannel or something else for the middle of your mat. Cut it about an inch and a half shorter than your muslin.

I added an inch more around my lid to make it bigger.
Cut out your material, you need a front and back out of the muslin.

Decide what you want in the middle of your mat, on this one I used a heart. I also made it a little prim by making one side shorter than the other. On the mats at the bottom I put a heart on one side and a star on the other side.

If you are only using one side pin the heart in the middle on top on the muslin, flannel, muslin sandwich. Sew about an 1/4 inch in on the heart. That part will rag too.
If you want a front and back applique than you need to sew the front on to only the muslin and the back on to the other applique. Than make your muslin sandwich.

Now you need to sew an inch in all the way around. I have scissors for rag quilting but found that using good children scissors work and you don't have to worry about cutting into your seams like with big scissors.

Washing your mat and drying in the dryer makes the ends raggedy. I also found taking sand paper and rubbing the ends helps too. (We're a little crucnhy and don't use a dryer so sand paper worked for me.)

If you want to grung your mat up -- I forgot to soak my mat in tea or coffee first and tried to grunge it up, it looked like I spilled coffee on it so than I soaked the whole thing in a tea bath. After drying I used a mixture of instant coffee, along with coffee and cinnamon and vanilla. I than baked it in the oven on 200 degrees till I liked the look.

I hope this makes sense if you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer.

This is a reversible candle mat, I made for a swap.

It's snowing in KC

2010-02-05T05:46:00.000-08:00

It's snowing today in Kansas City! Amy and I are went to tumbling this morning and the roads were pretty clear but by the time we left the snow was really coming down. Big beautiful flakes it looked like a winter wonderland, we had plans for the afternoon but decided to stay home instead.

Yesterday I went to a local furniture store that sells new and secondhand furniture. I was looking for a pie safe or something similar to replace this ugly buffet we have in the dining room. I could paint the buffet and change the handles but I'd like to go a little smaller in the length. I didn't find anything that would work yesterday but have a few more stores I'm going to check out soon. It's frustrating when you know what you want but aren't having any luck finding one that's affordable or you like.

I'm still working on the skeleton key ornaments that I posted on a Year of Christmas Blog. I don't really like the red silky ribbon, so I'm getting rid of that, I like the one with the threes pieces of ribbon/material with the heart safety pinned.
The one with just the rusty bell is too plain. Any suggestions??

I received these cute heart bowl fillers in a swap from Barbara, that was hosted by Hayley.

I'm participating in Colleen's weekly recipe swap, check out her blog and all the other great recipes.
This recipe is one of our family favorites. I'm in a cooking club with a group of mom friends and we meet once a month to swap frozen meals. This recipe is from Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer book 2.

Parmesan Garlic Chicken

6 boneless chicken breasts
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 envelope Italian dressing mix (We use Simply Organic)
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup olive oil

6 servings

Cooking day

Mix together cheese, garlic, and Italian dressing mix. Dip chicken breasts in olive oil, then coat with cheese mixture. Wrap each chicken breast individually, than place in a freezer bag.
Freeze
Serving Day

Thaw completely. Unwrap desired number of chicken breasts and place in a greased baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes until chicken is tender and no longer pink.

2010-02-01T12:47:00.001-08:00

Today was Melissa's third day back to school after having surgery in December. She gets to take the elevator and the teachers let her out early to get to class so she doesn't have to walk in the crowded hallways. The hallways was my biggest concern and I'm glad it is working out well for her. She was very excited to get back to school. The above picture is a copy of a x-ray showing the screws in her back.

I finally posted on A Year of Christmas. You can read about the Christmas tree skirt here and the snowman ornaments here. A group of moms on Sewing Mama started a blog to work on Christmas projects and presents throughout the year instead of starting a few months before Christmas. There are a lot of great projects shown, so check them out. February is comfort and joy so that is anything that comforts you, some ideas were quilts, pillows, pillow cases, rice bags, etc, etc. I do know I want to finish Jaime's horse quilt that I started a few years ago.

This picture might be a little better than the one posted on YOC blog.

I finished a baby sling for a cousin and it will be in the mail tomorrow. I also mailed out my primitive valentine swap that Hayley from Prim It Up hosted.

The picture above is a little dark and the picture below is the two candle mats I made one for the swap and one for me. The candle mat came out a little darker than I was going for but I posted on a prim forum and the ladies there said it looked great. I'm hoping my swap partner likes it too.

Goodies in the Mail

2010-01-29T12:49:00.000-08:00

These came in the mail earlier this month Book 10 and 11 of the Gooseberry Patch Christmas books. I love Gooseberry Patch Christmas books and have almost all of them. All through the year I thumb through them getting ideas for Christmas. I feel like a kid when I received my newest ones in the mail. I also ordered a few other items like these cute popcorn bowls in blue,yellow,red and green.

Gooseberry Patch will no longer have a catalog they send in the mail, you can still order online. I love to get the catalog and be able to take it with me and when I have a spare moment I enjoyed looking through the pages. Goodbye catalogs I've enjoyed you for years!

We're having a heat wave!

2010-01-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

After a week of 6-0 degree's weather, it's down right hot in Kansas City. Twenty-eight degrees feels warm. I don't mind the snow but would rather have temps in the double digits. The kids are back in school today after the Christmas break, they enjoyed their extra week off. Melissa will start her home bound work this week and should go back to school either the last week of January or first week of February.

Last week I felt like Betty Crocker baking something also every night. With no school and it being so cold you didn't want to get out I found more time for baking. I've been working on some Christmas projects and hope to finish them up soon. I also signed up for a couple swaps that I need to get started on soon.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T07:56:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful day at my in-laws for New Years day. KC Strip steak and hot boiled shrimp have become a tradition that we all look forward too. I forgot my camera to get pictures but wanted to post some random pictures recently taken.

The wonderful things a three year old adds to the tree (a Furby) and about ten ornaments in the same spot.

I've always admired Fiesta dinnerware and a friend was showing me her collection, she said she received most of hers as Christmas and birthday presents. Two Christmas ago I received Peacock and Scarlet and this Christmas Sunflower, Tangerine and Chocolate were under the tree. Don't they have a pretty harvest look all together?

Kaitlyn made this apron in her sewing class. I'm glad she gave it to me for Christmas since I had the Michael Miller Christmas material in my stash. The pattern she used was from A is for Apron.

My Christmas cards I mailed out on New Years Eve!

New Years Eve

2009-12-31T18:13:00.000-08:00

The last day of the year and I finally get around to trying two recipes I've been wanting to try for a long time. Once was this grape jelly, I read about on this blog, The Simple Green Frugal Coop. The blogger said she used grape juice and I was excited to see that it might be pretty easy. The jelly we were using had high fructose corn syrup in it and I couldn't bring myself to buy the organic jelly because my kids eat it so fast. We haven't tried it yet but it smelled good when I was cooking it up. Fingers crossed that they'll love it.

The other recipe was homemade marshmallows. I think they either wrote down the wrong size pan or I did something goofy it called for 8 x8 pan and i ended up filling 2 and half pans. Now I'm waiting three hours to try them out.

We are staying home with our kiddos tonight, eating appetizers and hopefully playing card games. Amy just fell asleep on my lap.

I've been looking for some plastic candy canes so I can prim them up for next year. I haven't had any luck finding any on clearance.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T08:42:00.000-08:00

May you and your family have a Merry Christmas!

We ended up being snowed in last night. It was 16 degrees and it felt like 1 degree. Sleet starting coming down later afternoon and than it turned to snow. My in-laws have a steep driveway and it was icy, so we would have had to park at the bottom and walk up. With Melissa just getting out of the hospital last Saturday we didn't want to take the chance of her falling and hurting herself. We were all pretty disappointed but the sun is out today and we should be able to get over there for a late Christmas dinner.

I pulled out a frozen breakfast casserole I had made earlier in the week, cooking it from the frozen state took forever. I found this recipe for Fastest Cinnamon Buns everybody liked it.

My brother and me, maybe 1967. My mom made the stuffed dogs for us.

Before my mom married my step-dad we would always celebrate Christmas at my Grandpa and Grandma Rinehart's house. It was a lot of fun with all the aunts, uncles and the best part was the cousins.

2009-12-24T11:39:00.000-08:00

Our church had Carols, Candles, Cookies and Santa last week. Jaime and Amy were singing, well Jaime was singing, Amy was just having fun.

A picture with Santa with a hooky thing right in the middle.

Today was spent baking cookies and trying to finish up a few Christmas presents.
On the list for today was

Cinnamon Toast white chocolate pretzels

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
also made were nut crescents, peanut butter balls and a cheese ball.

Peanut Butter Fudge
Puppy Chow, fudge and Chocolate Peppermint bark were all made the day before.

This is the second time I've made the peppermint bark and both times I screwed up by putting all the white chocolate on the bottom instead of half of it, maybe next year I'll get it right.

I wanted to make these but I don't think it's happening today but hopefully soon.

Update on Melissa and more swap pictures

2009-12-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

Melissa's second surgery attempt was December 15th and everything went great. She came home on Saturday, she was glad to be out of the hospital. She's still in pain and has to stay out of school for seven weeks. We're so thankful everything turned out great and she's home for the holiday.

I finally got around to taking pictures of the ornament swaps I was in this year. The first group was our local AP group.

The second group I swapped with was on the Sewing Mamas Forum.

Here are the items I received in the swap I mentioned a couple post back along with the picture of the oven fingertip mitts I made. I'm still making more but absolutely hate bias tape and it hates me especially on curves.

The stocking were hung!

2009-12-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

The stockings are hung, the tree is decorated at a 3 year old level, and a few hung at Jaime's arm length. I've been reading all my favorite prim blogs and looking at all their beautiful trees and all the other prim goodies everybody has decorating thei homes. With Melissa in the hospital and spending most of the day with her I haven't decorated as much this year. Before Amy was born I would have one big tree and than a smaller one and than 2 or 3 table top trees. This year so far it's just one tree. I took the one I usually have in the kitchen to the hospital so Melissa can have a little cheer. I'll have to take a picture of my beautiful tree soon.
;-)

This is part of what I sent to my swap partner in the Old Fashion Christmas swap. I did not send the cat leg in the last picture!

Melissa

2009-12-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

Volleyball team

Being goofy

Trying to be funny when Jaime didn't feel good

My daughter Melissa has scoliosis and had surgery Tuesday, they had to stop three hours into the surgery take the screws out and close her back up because the nerve monitor went off. The Dr. made sure she could move her hands and feet and she had a MRI and everything looks good so they rescheduled the surgery for next week.

After the nurse told us they stopped the surgery my husband wasn't feeling good and the nurse wanted him to go the ER. Since it was a children's hospital they transferred him to another hospital. Long story short it was cause by stress and he was dehydrated and had a gastric issue. They moved her from the PICU to a regular room tonight.

She's enjoying the room service, you can order your meal whenever you're hungry and they deliver it within thirty minutes.

Swap goodies

2009-12-06T18:28:00.001-08:00

These are the swap goodies I received from my swap partner Kim. The Old Fashion Christmas swap hosted by Char was a lot of fun. Kim sent a mini bread board with a wonderful smelling cake, two tarts, a santa, lighted Christmas jar, a cute snowman made from an old quilt, a fabric bag ornament,a santa ornament and two bags of bowl fillers.

Kaitlyn made this cute apron in sewing class. I think it would be cute to make a little girls skirt with the pillowcases.

These are some fingertip oven mitts I made for another swap with 3 friends. Bias tape oh how I hate you. The talented ladies made a cute picture frame, holiday kitchen towel and a fancy pin cushion.

Our local AP group had an ornament and playfood swap. This is the sugar cookie dough I made for the swap. Hopefully soon I'll get pictures of both swaps. It was fun to be able to eat good food, talk with friends and go home with new ornaments and playfood.

The kitten in Laura's box of playfood!