Let the parties begin!

After a busy weekend last week with all our Thanksgiving activities you would think we would be ready to relax for a bit...well we just kept partying. I started out early Saturday morning with my "Funny Bunny" quilt group friends. Crystal drove from Tucson early and I treated Crystal, Bunny and Debbiesue to breakfast. I made everyone a "homemake" donut for a party favor. It was actually a pin cushion, they turned out so cute. I actually served an oatmeal bar for breakfast. I wanted to do something different and my sister gave me this idea, it turned out really nice. I took pictures on my nieces camera and can't quite figure out how to get them off, so those will be coming later. Sadly on Thanksgiving my camera dropped and it bit the dust. I was so sad and my niece kindly offered to let me use her camera. I greatly appreciated it. Thanks Katie and Mark.

Later Saturday afternoon I hosted my family annual Gingerbread House party. Everyone brings their gingerbread kit and we have fun decorating them. This year we didn't just have houses but also gingerbread boy/girls, little villages and even a train. Here is Thane with his portion of the village. Didn't he do a good job. Beth helped all the little ones color their frosting with the color of their choice. Thane picked a lime green. Looks great Thane!

Oh you are probably wondering now just how I got these pictures if I can't figure out my nieces camera. Carrie arrived early from Casa Grande with my granddaughter Jessah and brought me an early Christmas present...a new RED camera. Red being my favorite color I was very excited. Thank you so much Carrie, I love it.

Here is Beth Ann and Jessah. I haven't seen Jessah in quite a few months, I couldn't believe how long her hair is now and she is getting so grown up. It's hard to believe I have a grandchild almost 13 years old. I can't be that old can I? Love you Jessah and miss seeing you more often.

Here is Faithy and her cute little house. I like how her color is actually a color very popular this year with alot of Christmas decorations.

This is Hunters train, it was really cute but he refused to have his picture taken with it. He did a great job on it tho.

By the end of the evening we were all pooped out. Thane and Lily included but we had a bunch of cute decorated gingerbread. Next weeks parties startes on Thurs., Friday and Sat. Am I nuts?

Thanksgiving Traditions

What a busy fun time of year. I love all the traditions that my family does in the fall. One of my favorites is Thanksgiving and not only for the wonderful food. Bright and early on Thanksgiving morning my 2 nephews and niece came over to hang my Christmas lights on my house. Carrie came in from Casa Grande to help too. We started off with some cinnamon rolls that Beth Ann stayed up late the night before to make for us...Yumm, they were so good. Then it was outside to do the light while Beth stayed in to do my tree and other decorations. It is wonderful to have personal decorators. The light crew was missing one of their main men...Matthew who is serving a mission in England. I can't really remember just when we started this tradition but we were joking that we think Matthew and Nate have hung Christmas lights for my Mom, my sister Kathy and me since they were about 5 years old. Now the job has enlarged with several of them married with homes of their own. Last year we added my niece Katie and her husband, Mark's house to the line up. Nate did mention that we maybe should pay his airline ticket for coming from school in Colorado to do this. Sadly he didn't get to do much else...Thanks Nate, Katie, Mark, Carrie and Beth, you guys did a great job!
After the house was decorated we were off to my brother and sister-in-laws, Reed and Kristy for dinner. Everything was just wonderful. So wonderful I forgot to take any pictures while we were eating. Here is my Dad and Tom outdoors enjoying the wonderful weather we had.

And then after dinner we were off to do the lights at my Mom and Dad's house. Everyone got involved again this time adding Gage as a helper. I should mention those not actively doing the lights sit and watch those that are. We all have to add in a suggestion or two...not that those doing the lights pay any attention to these suggestions. By this time the weather had gotten pretty cold so we got the fire pit going...some of us stayed nice and toasty while others were on the chilly roof. Here are Mark, Dad and Gage enjoying the fire and staying warm.

Kathy, Amy, Mom and I tried to stay warm too. We ended up wrapped in blankets. What a wonderful day we had. Matthew we missed having you here.

Hope everyone else had as great of day as I did.

Happy Halloween!

What a busy Halloween weekend we had...busy but fun! We started off by doing our traditional pumpking carving with Aunt, Uncles, Grandparents and cousins. I know you probably think this is more for the little ones but not in our family. We have several "older" kids that are big into tradition and just have to partipate. It is nice tho that they still care and make us mothers feel like it was all worth it to keep our kids close to each other. We were missing a few...Nate, my nephew is in dental school in Colorado and my Matthew is serving a church mission in England. Everyone commented on how much we miss them. This is Carrie below working on her pumpkin with her witches hat on I guess for inspiration...her pumpkin has a witch carved in it.

We know when we start there are always the same two that take forever...I mean really! Below are Carrie's, Katie's (the 2 slow ones) and Beth Ann's finished products, great job guys.

Tonight we went to Brett and Julie's dinner and then out front to hand out our Trick or Treat candy. Brett made us the yummest homemade chicken noodle soup. His is the best. I made rolls and dessert. Here is Hunter in his costume...he is Darth Vader from StarWars. Kind of scary huh?

And then here is Connor with his costume on. I can't remember the names of his character but it was another StarWars person. I have never seen StarWars so I am not good at the names. Mimi, the boy's babysitter, made or revised these costumes for them. Hopefully next year they will be someone else that I know who they are.

The boys went out in their neighborhood to trick or treat and as you can see from the picutre below it was exhausting being so darn cute. Poor guy didn't make it to far. I didn't get to see my other four grandkids but I sure hope they have a fun time trick or treating too.

I hope everyone had a great Holloween...now it is time to start thinking Thanksgiving and Christmas...YIKES! It's that time of year already.

Hope everyone out there had a great Halloween`

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween everyone. I started my halloween activities last week with my grandkids. Not everyone was going to be able to be with us today, on Halloween, so we did a little get together early. We started out by making and eating "mummy" dogs along with chili...isn't it suppose to be cooler outside to eat chili?



Then it was time to make some creepy spider cupcakes for dessert. The kids loved each making their own spider. Here is Reagen and Hunter working on theirs...wait Reagen don't eat your spider legs yet!

Here is a proud Thane after he finished his. Great job Thane.

And this is Connor...I don't think his was ever complete as he was eating it as he went along. Sorry little spider.

And here is Faith with her spider. It's is almost as cute as she is.

The kids all had a fun time. They had also spent the day with our dress up clothes pretending to be in a Halloween costume shop. I love having my little grandkids looking forward to our fun traditions each holiday.

Cabin Fun!

Last weekend I had plans with my "Funny Bunny" quilt group to go up to Bunny's (our fearless leader) cabin and have a fun sewing weekend. At the last minute Bunny had to cancel out on us so Crystal and I decided just to go up to my place and sew. Unfortunately our 4th "Bunny" Debbiesue couldn't make it either. Crystal came from Tucson, we packed the car and loaded Lily (my dog) and headed up north. The weather was wonderful, we actually had to turn the heater on at night. It was great. Here is Crystal with a table runner I gave her for her birthday.

This is a close up of the table runner. It was a fun one to make, I love the fall fabrics.

I got alot done but nothing finished. Crystal on the other hand was on a roll. Here is one of the two quilts that she got the tops done on. It was the cutest monster quilt she made for some lucky little boy.

We missed our other quilting partners but had a great time.

FALL has Arrived...I think?

Fall has officially arrive and is such a fun and busy time for our family. School has been in session for a while and football season has come. We have started putting up our fall decorations but with record high temps. outside it doesn't really feel like fall. I am ready for the leaves to change and fall off the trees and cooler weather.

Fall means soccer and this year my little grandson Hunter is playing. It is fun to get up Saturday morning and head to his games. It is so cute to watch these little guys play. Hunter made a goal this weekend...yea Hunter (we won't tell everyone one it was for the other team...who cares, at this age a goal is a goal.) Way to go Hunter!

Of course little brother is always there to support big brother and make sure he gets his half time snack and end of game treat. He has a hard time understanding he can't go out on the field and play too. He loves balls so I am sure he is going to be our little sports guy soon.

We also have a number of birthday in the fall. We start out with Brett...he turned 30 this year. Amazing how he can be 30 and his mother still be 25?? Happy Birthday Brett! He shares his birthday with my friend Terry. She is my much older friend...I believe she is a whole 6 months older than me and I have to really rub it in...until my birthday hits anyway, then I just shut up about it for a while. We will be celebrating that later this week with our group of friends.

To celebrate Bretts birthday we all got together for dinner. I made eggplant and spaghetti. I have been experimenting with eggplant lately and it seems to be getting better every time. I had to show this picture of these cute little kids eating altogether. Reagen has said that she loves our family dinners. Hearing that makes it worth the effort.

I love fall, I love the colors, the fall leaves and soon it will be time to carve the pumpkins and turkey...now we just need to get this darn weather to cooperate.

Happy Birthday!

I don't want to forget to wish my niece Darcy a Happy Birthday. She and Brett were born only 8 hours apart...but on separate days. She was my old work partner and I miss working with her and seeing her everyday. Happy Birthday Darcy!

Project Finished

Here is my latest finished project. This cute pillow I made for my friend Terry to use as a class sample. This will be great to have....a finished Christmas present. YEA!

Girls Night Out

What a fun night I had. I met with 3 of my friends for a wonderful dinner out at Olive Garden. The group included Cindy, Terry, Kathy and I, we were actually celebrating Kathy's birthday. This is our former Thursday Club group minus 2 other members, Judy and Ann who couldn't make it tonight. Back when we all had little kids and were stay at home moms we would meet every Thursday(that's how we became the "Thursday Club") at one of our homes and work on our projects. Some of us did crafts, some sorting pictures and even some times sorting socks but most important we became best of friends. It is so great to be a member of such wonderful friends. We can always count on each other through our good times and even more important our bad time.

Busy Weekend

What a busy weekend. I started off by going to my grandson, Hunter's soccer game but forgot to bring my camera. I will have to post pictures after his next game. It was alot of fun to watch, those 4 & 5 year olds are so cute. After the game I went home and watched 5 of my 6 grand kids. It wasn't to bad because I put them to work for a bit. They helped me reorganize my toys. Notice I said "reorganize", I wonder how long they will stay organized this time? Here is Reagen helping out.

Faithy helped me wash the windows. She was such a good helper.

This is Connor and well he did just what ever he wanted. He has such a cute personality and loves just to do his own thing.

It wasn't all work and no play. The older boys played some basketball, yep right in my living room. Would you believe nothing got broken. All the kids spent some time coloring, watching a movie and even played some soccer outside.

And then ended up checking out the internet to see what they should be for Halloween...Humm I think one wants to be Darth Vader, one wants to be a witch that flies and the others are still undecided. I'm sure they will all change several times since we still have several weeks before its time to trick or treat.

They all had alot of fun together and when the parents all came home we all sat down for our usual "Sunday Family Dinner" but on Saturday this time. I sure was pooped when they all went home but it was fun to have them here. They all love to be together, I am blessed!

NEW ARRIVAL!

Late Friday night, after 34 hours of labor my nephew Zeb and his wife Jenn welcomed their new baby girl into the world. They hadn't found out before if it would be a boy or a girl so she was a fun surprise. They named her Eris and she weighed in at 7 lbs. 9 oz. She is absolutely darling.
Here she is with her Mommy and Daddy. Zeb and Jenn you are going to be great parents. Congratulations!

A New Adventure!

I have decided to begin a new adventure. I am going to open an Etsy shop. What is an Etsy shop you say, well it is an online site where you can go and buy and sell handmade items. I have wanted to do this for awhile and decided to just jump in and get it going. I have not yet got mine all set up and figured out (I think it's my age...takes me a little longer than most...don't tell my kids tho) so while I am still working on getting that all up and running I thought I would post some pictures of items I am selling with the prices and if anyone out there in blogland is interested just post a comment and leave your contact information, what you are interested in and I will get back to you. All prices shown are for those who are local (Mesa, AZ area) and want to pick up the item. If I need to mail anything, which I am more than willing to do, the postage will be extra. I will charge exactly what the postage is, no more. So here goes...

First I have this cute little skirt. I have had fun making several of these. These I am selling for $30 and it includes the headband. The flowers on the skirt are pinned on with a safety pin so that when you need to wash this it can be removed. This skirt is a size 5-6.


This cute bag I just finished tonight. It is approx. 18" wide X 12" long. The base for this bag is a black plastic mesh and it also has a handmade flower on it. These flowers are my new thing for the moment. I am asking $22.50 for this sweet bag.


This kitchen towel has a pieced quilt strip along the front bottom and is also bound with some of my favorite quilt fabric and I am asking $7.50 for it.

And last but not least here is what I am going to call a "Grab and Go". This is for the times you are taking baby out on a fast trip and just don't want to be caught without the essentials but don't want to drag out a big diapper bag. I have also included a matching burp cloth with it. This set goes for $10.

Here is a look at the inside of the "Grab and Go". I guess I should mention that it holds a travel size package of wipes and a couple of diaper and even a small bottle of hand sanitizer (these items are not included). The "Grab and Go" also comes in handy even for you Grandma's out there. I keep mine in my car for those special occassions.

As you can see I am selling pretty much this and that, whatever I am in the mood to make at the time. You should check back often because you just never know what I might have on here, I always have many ideas roaming around in my head. I will definately let you know when my Etsy shop is up and running.

A few more things...

Ok, here are a few more things that I am selling. These are baby burp clothes. These first one I crochet aroung the edge. I am offering the crochet ones for $5 a piece.

And these have rick rack around the edge and they are only $3 a piece.

I must be partial to blue because it seems I have quite a few that color. They make great gifts.

One day when I was doing some online surfing I found homemade pillow cases with crochet edges, so I just had to try one. Here is mine. This pillowcase is $12.00.

And last but not least here are a couple of crochet dish clothes for $3.00 each. These are something I really enjoy making. I love trying the different crochet stitches on these.

Hope you like what you have seen and if you are interested in anything just leave a comment with your contact information and I will get back with you. Thanks for taking the time to look.

ANOTHER Birthday???

I know you out there in blog land are saying, "surely they are not celebrating another birthday"...well Big family=lots of birthdays. Today is my cute little grandson Thane's 6th birthday. He is a first grader this year. We are going to celebrate this weekend by taking him to the movies and of course there has to be birthday cake and cousins too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY THANE! Grandma loves you.
Speaking of birthdays, I thought I would show this little caddy that I made for a friends birthday gift. I have sewing stuff in this one but it would be great to hold just about anything you want. It would be good for the kids rooms to hold their treasures or crayons etc, in a bathroom or even with baby items in it for the nursery. The ideas could be endless.

Here is a picture of the inside. Lots of pockets. I think I need to make me one too. I love all the pockets.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SNOOKY!

Today is Matthew's birthday. He is lovingly known to all of his nieces, nephews and sisters as Snooky. We will be celebrating this day even tho he is far away from us serving a LDS mission in England. We hope that he gets to celebrate there without us. We are so proud of you....HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER SNOOKY! We miss and love you.