Aug 19 2008
**Just because.**
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Go ahead,*try* telling me your toe wasn’t tapping!
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By the way, Shannon has split her treasures between Green Gemini’s Designs and Angel Kisses Alaska.
Think I can talk her into making some stylin’ lanyards from which my school i.d. card can dangle? Plain ol’ cotton just isn’t pretty enough for my teacher fashion:
BLECH.
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Jul 21 2008
We’ve stalled a bit indoors as I won’t be able to set up the toddler’s playroom or my craft area until my kindergarten materials, books, and decor are delivered to my new classroom later this week. Dear Husband checked the trees in our yard today instead, looking for branches that needed to be trimmed while the kids and I checked on the seeds that we planted for “filler-type” greenery and flowers for the remaining summer months.
The nasturtiums and pumpkins have sprouted, though I’m not sure if we’ll actually get any pumpkins grown in time for Halloween with such a late planting. The kids were inspired by the pumpkin photos at Chance Family Happenings:
Dear Husband trimmed back some branches that were obscuring traffic/street signs:
…and he discovered a few branches that the electric company will have to come out to cut and remove (see where the power line is?):
Later this afternoon I’ll re-pot some of my indoor plants into larger containers, anticipating what new greenery I can find to put into the newly emptied pots!
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Thanks for being green, Kermit:
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~SmittenKitchen shares a recipe for Sauteed Radishes (yes, radishes!), Sugar Snap Peas and Dill
~Paper-and-String is working on Christmas in July (check out her trees, reindeer, and puddings)
~Doug has “heavier” reading on his summer book list than I do, but I’m intrigued after reading his thoughts on Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine. NCLB is an issue that has ties that stretch much further than our classrooms, school district offices, states, even country.
~Dear Daughter enjoyed her birthday, but wanted a plain ol’ vanilla cake (with purple streaks swirled in) with strawberry icing. Guess I’ll have to wait for another celebration to try The Pioneer-Woman-Cooks’ Yogurt and Orange Marmalade Cake.
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Happy Monday!
Jul 12 2008
I hope you enjoyed greeting the surprises in our rental yesterday! To continue on with our housing adventure…
On Day Three of being back in Oz, Mother Nature gave us a rainstorm, followed by a hailstorm. I didn’t mind either as we were inside and the show was a change from the usual tumbleweed/dirt storms experienced in Texas. And look at all of that *green!*
Do you remember me mentioning the duct taped gutters yesterday? Apparently the duct tape was merely a cosmetic issue, the real problem easily obscured by the fact that I couldn’t see INTO the gutters themselves from the ground. From out of our bedroom windows, we could hear what sounded like a flood, coming off of our roof, more intense than the rain and hail itself that was falling. When we looked out the windows, we saw two rivers of water being shot up and out away from the house four or five feet before hitting the ground. With special lighting and Liberace playing piano, we would have had our own Vegas Water Show!
Sigh. Maybe not. I don’t have the epaulets for that kind of production.
Anywhoo…the gutters were clogged, plugged, full of who-knows-how-many-years’-worth of debris.
And the in-my-opinion hazardous exposed fiberglass insulation garage? Flooded.
Another call was made to the property manager, and after this pearl, “Oh, it’s normal for the garages around here to flood,” he actually produced a ray of hope: he called a Gutter Service/Repairman to come out and clean the gutters.
While Dear Husband made plans to seal the walls of the garage himself (and wowzer, can I just tell you how SMELLY, horribly NOXIOUS the fumes from sealant are?), Walt arrived. Walt got on top of the roof, and cleaned out what he called our “compost pile” that had accumulated in the gutters. Walt removed the duct tape that was holding the gutters’ joints together and made sure the assembly wasn’t dumping water along the garage walls. Walt ran some scary tubey-chompy-snakey looking thing through the drain pipe to clear out any clogs that were hiding.
And once Walt was done, he made balloon sculptures/animals for us. No lie.
Here’s a pink kitty, but if he had had an orange balloon, Walt said it would make a cute tiger:
My husband’s favorite, a motorcycle:
A sweet faced bumblebee (MUCH nicer than the wasps!):
And if you can imagine this one made out of a green balloon with a red tongue, it’s a FROG!
I’m thinking Walt the Gutter Service Repairman just might need to come in for Show and Share sometime this year!
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Want to learn more about balloons and balloon art? Check out the “Pop” Culture at Balloon HQ!
Here are ideas for balloon games and decor for childrens’ birthday parties…
…and check out balloon fashion at Secondose!
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Congratulations to Daisie and Andy! They got married in Hawaii yesterday!
(bears found here)
Jun 10 2008
It was Shannon’s birthday last week! I promised to share what we’d sent once she let us know she’d received her package…after all, I didn’t want to post photos and let the cat, or in this case, DOG out of the bag, ruining her surprise!
We picked out doggy material for her *extensive* fabric collection (and because it was so darn cute~Shannon will think of a wonderful craft for it) and found some coordinating ribbon:
Then I spelled out Angel Kisses with Scrabble Tiles, adhered them to painted tile trays, and added pretty buttons in Shannon-ey colors:
And of course, I made her a birthday card!
White cardstock, folded not quite in full thirds:
A sunny paper for the inside and outside:
A coordinating paper for the “underfold” front of the card, with extra pieces cut out to make a coordinating gift tag:
Some pretty adhesive-backed paper lace (this is some of my FAVORITE STUFF!):
Coordinating chipboard letters spelling “friend” (I made sure the “E” wasn’t glued all the way down, otherwise the card wouldn’t have opened!
Smaller ivory letters to spell “Dear” (Shannon is a dear friend, after all!) and to spell her name on the gift tag:
“Happy Birthday” for the inside of the card, on pretty paper, with foo-foo trims punched out, and corners rounded…I added lime green brads to the corners as well:
How the card looked open, from the back:
…and the front!
Talk about FUN!~
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~I’ve never been a fan of apricots, but Smitten Kitchen is tempting me to give them another try with Breakfast Apricot Crisp…
~My daughter, who puts Ranch dressing on just about everything (okay, except pancakes), will have to keep a copy of this recipe from A Pioneer Woman Cooks in her “My Parents are Kicking Me Out of the House” cookbook when she leaves for college in five years.
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Check back tomorrow when I post photos of our toddler making Daddy’s Father’s Day card… it involves PAINT!
Jun 08 2008
Bev was my first kinder-colleague and friend, thirteen years ago, while Jess became my latest kindergarten partner-in-crime-and confidante two years ago. They share a birthday today~ I can’t tell you how glad I am they were both born!
Jun 05 2008
Are you in shock? After missing two Show and Share Thursdays, here I am, rarin’ to go!
Continuing on with I Saw Red...
This is a photo of me and one of my favorite redheads, Shannon! Aren’t we oh-so-glam? We’re both holiday girls, that’s for sure, but today’s an extra special day for her~ that’s right, it’s her BIRTHDAY! It’s a “milestone” birthday too (she had a two year head start on me), which makes me even more pleased to “show and share” her with you!
Shannon is funny. Shannon is smart. Shannon is the hostess with the mostest. Shannon is Dear Daughter’s godmother. And Shannon is creative and crafty. She made me something red the last time I visited Alaska:
Dah-lings, it’s a beaded red stretch bracelet! Go ahead, ooh and aah…
…just don’t try taking it off of my wrist. It’s MINE.
Guess who has her own Etsy shop? SHANNON. It’s called AngelKissesAlaska! Some additional photos of some jewelry…. Holiday items… Another bracelet (this time, snowy white)… You can contact her via her Etsy link to ask about special orders~
Won’t you help me wish this special friend a very happy birthday? (No, I have no clue who Grey Worldwide might be or might do, but this is soooooo up Shannon’s alley!)
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Here’s a peek at the card I made for Shannon (details AFTER she receives her birthday box in the mail):
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*Have you ever played Hot Potato? Try eating one with jalapenos! Recipe from Cream Puffs in Venice.
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Tonight Dear Daughter graduates from the 8th grade. I’m off to finish my first ever banner (paper, not fabric), bake some cupcakes, and teach my husband new breathing techniques to lower his blood pressure. She’s attending “8th grade Prom” tonight. In a black dress. Without either of us chaperoning.
He’s not doing so well.
May 30 2008
Let’s just jump right in, shall we?
I found out my job placement for the fall:
Whoo hoo! Yipee! Cool beans!
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Shannon sent us goodies as well~ look at the pillowcase and toy bags she made for the toddler:
She said the patch was from JodieFlowers Shop on Etsy.
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Finally…you KNOW you’re a military family when the entire neighborhood is FULL of these:
No silly, not lamp posts! MOVING TRUCKS AND VANS! Our move in late June will be our fourth move in five years. It’s gotten a little…old…but such is the Army life.
Packing up the household and making the drive is made easier with the knowledge that friends and a kindergarten classroom are waiting for us back in Oz!
Mar 14 2008
Yes, the gussied-up photo albums my daughter gave as birthday gifts were a hit. So much so that several more friends have strongly hinted that they’d like “those cute photo storage books” too. As much as I enjoy working with scrapbooking materials (and making the much larger version of a scrapbook page, the bulletin board), I’m thinking teen girls prefer the ease of an album with slide in/slip out photo pages…after all, BFF’s can change more than once in junior high, and that cute boy from science class can turn into that creep who annoys you on the bus after school. Hello new friends, goodbye old photos, off to the dartboard with you!
Here’s the second batch, again from the clearance bin at JoAnn’s:
Cut ribbon long enough to wrap around the front cover, back cover, and a length for tying the album closed:
Start with a dot of glue (I used my low-temp glue gun) for the “tie” ribbon:
Then cover the tie ribbon and glue glob with the ribbon you’ve chosen as trim:
Glue the ribbon down along the length of the album cover, then open up and finish adhering the ribbon to the inside:
(After overlapping the ribbon on the inside of the cover, I disguised the rough edge with a green button- sorry, forgot to photograph it!)
I ribboned the other albums…
…and figured…those ties sure are handy!
Dear Daughter wanted more detail, so out came the bag of chipboard letters:
Now three more friends will be happy!
Mar 13 2008
Whenever I admire and/or purchase a quilt, I’m asked if I myself, quilt. My response is always the same: “Nope, but I’m happy to support other quilters’ nasty habit!” Smiles and laughter follow, and if the seller’s husband is around (nope, haven’t bought from a male quilter…yet!), he thanks me, then mumbles under his breath something along the lines of “great, now my wife can go buy *more* fabric, mutter mutter mutter.”
Most of my quilts are wall-hanging or crib sized, easy to use as classroom or home decor.
While I do have three or four full-sized quilts, one is my favorite: the Bear Paw made for me and my husband when we married.
While in Alaska, I worked at a school that was RICH in quilters. Almost every female teacher had a fabric stash *somewhere* and every male teacher offered up his wife’s sewing services when retirement or baby quilts were made for colleagues and their families. When asked what I would like from the staff as a wedding gift, I stammered, shocked that no one knew- of course, I had hoped for a quilt.
My colleagues had been my surrogate family for a decade, had helped me raise my children, had seen me through good times and bad. They’d even put my then-fiancé through a good-natured “application process” when we first started dating, since my mother had moved out of state. When Miss Mary Ann, quilter extraordinaire asked me to choose a pattern, I knew it had to be something my husband, a fan of bears, would appreciate. The Bear Paw it was. I loved pinks, my husband preferred greens. Batik was the answer. And as a special nod to my husband’s appreciation for all things Harley Davidson, the lining fabric was hogs on Harleys.
Each “paw” square was done by a colleague at school, and they all managed to keep their work hidden from me, right up until our wedding day. They mounted the topper as a wall display in the hall where we held our ceremony and reception, and I saw it for the first time as I walked down the aisle.
My husband and I had no idea that we’d be relocated the following year, and the quilt has traveled with us from Alaska to New Mexico to Kansas, to Texas, and apparently, *back* to Kansas this summer. It has been draped across the foot of our bed, has been mounted on the wall for display, and during the toddler’s messy stage, has been folded neatly on top of one of our shelves in our bedroom closet, easily within reach when messy fingers and drippy juice cups are out of the vicinity.
I love quilts- they’re my “grown up” blankies!
Mar 13 2008
It’s obviously Peep Humor Day! I woke up this morning, poured my first mug of coffee, and sat down to read my email…
and there *they* were...
A Peep Invasion
Peeps at (Sword) Play
A Million Peep March (for World Peeps, of course)
Television Time for The Simp-er-”Peeps”
And my favorite (check out “Joan’s” eyebrows!), NO MORE WIRE HANGERS, Mommy Peepest!
Yes, yes, there are sassier (and racier) Peep scenes and dioramas out there (one called “Peep Show” is certainly making the rounds!), but these are the ones that my friends *knew* would catch my eye and tickle my funny bone. Happy Thursday to me, and a big THANK YOU “to all my peeps!”
