Summer Fun

Summer vacation is a great time for school teachers. It's a time to recharge, create and just enjoy some time at home. Every summer since my daughter was little we've created a summer fun list. It's the list of the fun things we want to do over summer vacation. Years ago we created one list for the two of us but a few years ago we started creating our own lists. Here's my 2015 summer fun list. I make my list pretty generic because it's meant to be fun. I've printed it out so I can check off items as I complete them but it's not a have to do list, so there's no guilt if things don't get checked off.
Now it's time to have some summer fun! Yay for summer!

Sweet Chunky

Being a pet owner isn't always easy; let's face it pets can be expensive. Of course, sweet moments like this make it worth every cent. Here's Chinky riding in the car with his girl, they are so sweet together! 

I love this picture. Sun bathing in the temperature controlled house is Chunky's favorite pasttime. He will follow the sun around the house, sleeping in the sun all afternoon. He actually gets a reverse tan from all the sun bathing. Since he's black to start with, his chest and belly turn brown from laying in the sun.

Doggy Fun for the Whole Family

Have you seen this doggy treat container? I've seen it in the grocery store several times but just kept walking because it was $8 for this little jar of treats. Ridiculous, right?! This weekend I found it at my local Sam's Club in a package for $3. The package had the piggy treat jar and two bags of treats to refill the little pig.  I felt like I was getting an amazing deal. Three dollars for the treats alone is a steal but what I didn't know was that this little piggy would provide entertainment for the whole family.

You push the pig's nose in, put a treat on it and wait. The pig's nose pops out and makes the treat fly. Chunky loves to play fetch, so fetching flying treats is right up his alley.  Actually, we all love to watch the treats fly and see Chunky chase them down.  Here's Chunky waiting for me to load up the pig's nose. The package does have a warning about not giving your dog too many treats, I thought that was silly but now that we've played with it I see why they put the warning on it. It's doggy fun for us all!  The girl wants to keep the pig container once we use up all the treats.  I think Chunky would be sad to see it retired.

A Girl on the Run

With the chaos at the end of the school year, I neglected to post pictures of a big accomplishment. My girl was part of Girls on The Run this year. She spent the spring training for a 5K.

Here she is with her buddy getting ready for the race.

 This was taken right before the finish line.

It was a very hot afternoon but she did it, she completed her first 5K and earned a medal for her efforts. We are so proud of her!

Number Ten is Here

Welcome to Baby T! 

 We're so excited that the baby is finally here! He arrived on May 2nd and weighted in at 7 lbs 10 oz. Both the baby and my sister are doing well. 

Baby T is the 10th child on my side of the family so he's coming into a big family that will love and adore him. As a matter of fact, we all showed up at the hospital yesterday to meet him. He's beautiful! My girl was the first of the cousins to hold him.  She is totally enamored with him and keeps asking when she can hold him again. She's working on a present for him so I'll post pictures when she's finished.

Here's Aunt Jill holding the new baby. Sorry Aunt Jenn, but I got to hold him first. :)  Poor Aunt Jenn was stuck in traffic for an hour and a half so I got to the hospital first. My husband texted her this picture with the caption "I win."

I went to my sister's house the other day to help finish the baby's room. She bought these wall stickers on Etsy and wanted help to put them up. It took us a few hours but we got them up and the room looks great. We finished just in time because she went into labor the next day.  

Remember the little elephant I made?  Look he's on the shelf in the baby's room. He looks so cute there.

Chunk in Lego Land

This is Chunk, our silly little black pug. Chunk is goofy, sweet, wild, obnoxious(at times,) a good companion and is always standing underfoot. He just wants to be everywhere we are. He snores like a chainsaw, snorts like a pig and makes us laugh with his silly antics.  He will eat anything! Even now at almost three years old he still eats things he shouldn't.  One of his favorite things is eating Legos. If there is a Lego on the floor he'll chew it.

My daughter has lots of Legos and enjoys putting together Lego sets as well as just creating on her own.  She made this Lego Land sign. Usually Chunk gets sent out of the room during Lego time, but . . .

 Chunky didn't want to miss out on a trip to Lego Land so here he is posing with the sign. Thankfully he prefers individual Lego pieces instead of chunks of Legos so the sign survived his trip into Lego Land.

Baby Gifts

This weekend we had a baby shower for my sister and her husband who are expecting a baby in May. We are very excited to add a tenth child on my side of the family.  My daughter is surrounded by cousins and we're thrilled that we'll have a new baby boy to add to the mix.

I wanted to make something for the baby.  The baby's room is gray so I created this sweet little elephant as a decoration for his room.

Here he is in the basket of goodies I had collected for the baby. I fell in love with this metal basket and decided to forgo a gift bag, instead creating a gift basket of baby goodies.

 My other sister and I planned the shower with some help from family and friends.  We wanted simple decorations that could be used after the shower to decorate the baby's room.  My sister sent me a pin and asked me if I could make this giraffe. I thought it was cute but knew I wanted to change a few things. Of course I could have purchased a pattern for the giraffe in the pin, but where is the fun in actually knowing how to make it?  :)  Call me crazy, but I think the fun is the challenge of figuring it out and creating your own. I decided I could do it, so I took some old newspaper and drew out a pattern then preceded to create this little guy.  I named him Stu, because by the time I finished him it was two in the morning and I kept saying "Stupid giraffe." My pattern worked out but the challenge was attaching his legs in a way that he could stand up on his own. I tore one leg off three times. To be honest I still think there must be a better way to attach the legs but I haven't done any research to figure it out. Of course I'm not sure I'll ever need to make another one. At this point Stu is purely for decorative purposes, as I'm sure he wouldn't stand up to a wild ride with a child on his back.

This is my brother-in -law and my sister with Stu.

Hurry Up Spring

The calendar says it's officially spring, I've seen robins in our yard and the snow is melting so I think spring might actually be here.  Looking at the the gazebo makes me long for warmer spring days.

 Our mulch beds need a bit of work but they hold the promise of new flowers this summer.

It was buried under thick snow all winter, but we can finally see the pool. We had snowflakes this morning then rain so the pool cover is finally clear of snow. Now we need some warmer weather so we can get outside.  We're ready to start going for walks in the neighborhood and enjoying our yard again.

The neighborhood kids want to be outside playing and riding their bikes or scooters too, so hurry up spring weather we're waiting for you!

Puffy Re-do

This pink blanket has been with my daughter since she was an infant.  It's a down blanket and it's name has always been Puffy. For her whole life Puffy, Blueberry and Pinky(the same bear as Blueberry only in pink) have been her three most precious possessions. Over the years Puffy has developed a few holes and required repairs. With frequent washing, wear and tear he needed repairs more often. Then about two years ago Puffy had a major feather explosion and was placed in a bag in the back of the closet until we could figure out what to do with him. He was replaced by a full size down comforter but was never forgotten.  For her birthday this winter I dug out Puffy and made a new covering to contain him and prevent future feather explosions. You would have thought I gave her the most amazing gift, she loved it.

Here's Puffy with his new blue cover. He looks a little different but she still loves him. He once again has a special place in her bed, though now she's taller and doesn't quite fit under him like she use to.

I found this is the picture in a pile of her drawings. She had drawn the new Puffy on a recent car trip when she took Puffy along to keep her warm. I guess ten years later Puffy is still one of her most precious possessions, even after his puffy re-do.

A Challenge

I love thrift stores!  The other day I stopped by Salvation Army on a whim. Anything with a white tag was half off. I was thrilled when I found this buffet and it had a white tag.  I knew it would fit in the back of the car so I practically skipped up to the counter to pay the $40. I brought it home thinking that once I refinished it I had three places in my house I could put a piece like this.  My husband gave me the "Are you serious?" look.  I explained how much I loved this piece, my plans to refinish it and the options for where we could put it. He still seemed skeptical about whether I could do it. I like a challenge so now I have to prove that I can do this. I don't like to lose and I plan on meeting this challenge. I know it won't be perfect because I have no real experience with refinishing furniture but I still think I can do it.

Armed with an orbital sander, I sanded down the outside and the drawers.  I still need to sand the inside and the trim at the bottom but I'm making progress. I made a huge dusty mess in the garage but it's way too cold to do this project outside.

Today I headed to my local Home Depot to get more sandpaper and to choose my stain.  I explained to the guy at the paint counter what I was trying to do.  When I showed him the picture of the buffet and explained my husband's challenge he laughed then walked me around the store gathering supplies.

I still have a lot of sanding to do but I've started this project and intend to finish it. I don't like to lose, plus I really love this piece of furniture. Hopefully I can refinish it on my own. Wish me luck!

Best Friends & Unicorn Fun

Christmas included a gift card to Justice, so I promised to take her shopping this week. After school we drove to the mall.  Of course a trip to Justice isn't complete without your best friend.  They laughed and perused the store for an hour, hunting for unicorn themed items.  After shopping they were hungry so we hit the McDonald's drive-thru.  Here they are eating french fries while wearing their unicorn sleep masks over their new mustache winter hats. Note the matching owl scarves and fuzzy white vests too.

Back at  home the fashion show began.The shirt reads "Just be yourself. Unless you can be a unicorn. Then be a unicorn."

They bought these matching unicorn pajamas so we planned a sleepover so they could wear them together. This resulted in a lot of dancing; including a tango.

It turns out, happiness is a shopping trip to Justice and unicorn fun with a friend.

Creative Kid

I have to say this is another duck tape post but, I'm a proud mama.  My kid is incredibly creative and crafty.  She amazes me with what she can do.  This summer we've had a good time crafting with duck tape and her creativity has shown through.  She has the vision and the creativity and with my years of crafting experience together we figure out how to do it. 

 Look at this 3-D Hello Kitty purse she made.  She created the front and back and I helped her figure out how to make and attach the sides.  It turned out awesome!

 Then she moved on to make an apron for herself.  She even put a tag on it that says Duck tape extraordinaire on it.  I think if you can make that apron you've earned the title. The plan is to use this apron as an art smock at school this year.  It was the last thing on the school supply list we needed to get but she made this one instead, so now we are officially done our school supply shopping.

 On a play date with a friend my daughter made the amazing Alice in Wonderland apron I'm wearing. Her friend made a duck tape skirt out of black and white check tape.  I just love the apron I'm wearing.  She included dice, a red heart and a red rose that is dripping paint (I helped fold the rose petals and she stuck them on.) I think it's so darn cute and incredibly creative(again proud mama talking here!)

 Today's duck tape project was flip flops.  We watched this video here to see how they were made, then worked on making them together.  They turned out cute, and yes she wanted them to be different so that they matched all of the colors from her apron/art smock.  After making them she's decided they aren't as comfortable as her regular flip flops and has decided they should be a decoration instead.

With all of this duck tape goodness I decided to make something useful for myself.  I made this little receipt keeper for my purse to hold all of the messy receipts that end up in the bottom of my purse.

Paradise

I've probably mentioned this before but I am married to the most amazing man. He is so good to me and I love him beyond belief! Not only are we husband and wife, we're friends. We like spending time together. We both work a lot which can be stressful and finding time to relax is a challenge for both of us. This year for my 40th birthday my husband took me to Jamaica. We stayed at the beautiful Couples Resort - Tower Isle in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was paradise!

The view from our room was beautiful! The sand, sun and sound of the waves were wonderfully relaxing. It was just the break we both needed. While there were many activities and excursions we could have done, we opted to remain unscheduled and just do whatever we chose to do in the moment.

That was mostly sitting on the beach, napping, eating and drinking grown up drinks. It was a great vacation!! Nature Girl stayed with her grandparents and had a blast so there was no guilt over leaving her. As a matter of fact, half the time she was too busy to even talk to us, so I knew she was having fun and was well taken care of.

It was a fabulous way for me to turn 40 and a great break from our busy lives. Now the only question is. . . when can we go back?

We had a problem with a flight getting cancelled so we received 2 free round trip flights for our trouble, that just leaves saving up for the resort and finding the time to take another break from reality to enjoy paradise. I'm looking forward to it!

Catching Up

December was a blur with school and the holidays. Now in January we're playing catch up. I have tons of pictures of Christmas goodies to post but to start our blog catch up, I'll leave you with this picture. This is Nature Girl - toothless, well as least having one less tooth than usual. She turns eight soon but this is just the third tooth she has lost. She was very excited!

More pictures and goodies to follow in January.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from our family to yours! May 2012 be a year filled with happiness and good health for all!

This was the picture Nature Girl drew for our Christmas card this year. Even naughty little Chunk made it on the card. I'm happy to report that despite his naughtiness Santa was very good to him. Chunk got lots of presents!

We're enjoying our time off together. I was busy crafting right up to until Christmas. I'll post my crafted Christmas goodies soon, so you can see what I've been up to. Happy Holidays!

Woosh . . . And November is Gone

The title says it all. Time is flying by and I'm running along like a crazy woman trying to catch up. I took tons of pictures in November but hardly posted anything. Christmas is just around the corner and I haven't shared anything from November, so here are a few highlights.

My wonderful husband celebrated his birthday this month. Happy birthday Honey, we love you! You are the best dad and husband ever! We have a couple of birthday traditions. The first tradition is that you get choose a homemade birthday dessert. He chose Tuxedo Brownies. Yummy! Our second tradition is that you get to go to dinner at the restaurant of your choice. The restaurant he choose had a super long wait so he chose a second restaurant instead. We brought him back to his first choice few days later, so he got to have two birthday dinners out.

Nature Girl participated in a Veteran's Day assembly at school. She learned to sign the words to "God Bless the USA" and performed it in front of the school with her class. She did a wonderful job and of course I cried! That song always gets me and I was so proud of her. She worked so hard to learn the signs and was very nervous about performing. She's an amazing little girl!

Nature Girl also got her report card this month. She did a great job! We took her out to dinner to celebrate.

Chunk had surgery this month. He was micro-chipped and neutered. After a few days of not feeling like his usually naughty self, he's back to normal and seems to have forgiven me. He also had his first stay in a kennel over Thanksgiving. He was a bit scared. He didn't like the other dogs barking and had to be hand fed in order to get him to eat. Needless to say he was happy to see us. Now he's back to his normal self, which means he's back to eating anything within his reach. This weeks chewing choices include socks, paperclips and a mini bottle of bubbles.

That leaves me. I've been trying to fit a few crafts into the chaos of everyday life. I've had owls on the brain so I've been making little owls from wool. I've also missed making aprons so I've made a couple of those too(I'll show those in another post.)

I crafted an owl ornament for my friend Barb.

I hosted a pincushion swap in October that spilled over into November. I couldn't stop myself from creating this little wool tree stump pincushion complete with owls. I sent this one along to Barb too. I have another tree stump that just needs an owl attached. Of course Chunk ate the wings off that owl so I need to make a new one now.

There you have it, a few highlights from November. And woosh . . . November is gone! Bring on the holidays!