Orthodontist

That's right, folks .... BRACES. Our 2nd went in today for spacers and for us to sign a contract saying we'll pay for the tortuous contraption going in my son's mouth. He has an under bite. In about 4 weeks, he'll be getting some kind of "W" shaped appliance on the roof of his mouth to help it grow. After a couple of months of that, he'll have to wear headgear to help pull his upper jaw out. Then around Feb or Mar of next year, he'll get the braces on. Derek and I tried to act excited about it; but as soon as we stepped in the place, we were reminded of the PAIN brought upon us as children. Goodbye sticky, ooey, gooey foods ..... hello mashed potatoes and Jello.

new fabric

I got this in the mail yesteray! I love the cherry fabric and really wanted to make the girls a skirt out of it, Molly doesn't like it. Maybe Anna will allow me, too. The fabric below I'm planning on making an apron out of.

Artsy Autumn Swap

I got my package from the Artsy Autumn Swap today! My partner was Marie. She sent me the beautiful box with all kinds of fall goodies inside.




Here is a close up of little pilgrim salt and pepper shakers! I love these little guys, they are so stinking cute.

Here is an ACEA card Marie made for me..... very cute (and mysterious).

An up close of 2 vintage hankies.


A turkey apron! She put a sneak peak at what she sent and I thought the turkey was a potholder, imagine my surprise when I found it was an apron .... with the sweetest turkey appliqued on.

There was also some cupcake liners and toppers, some fall stickers I can use in scrapbooking or card making, CHOCOLATE, candy corn, candles, a little wooden crow I can hang on the wall, and a bag of pumpkin potpourri type stuff. And did I tell you about how beautiful the box is that it all came in? If she likes what I sent her even half as much, I'll be happy.

Happy Birthday, boy!

Today is my baby boy's 5th birthday! He wanted a superhero cake and this is the best I could do - I told him it was SpiderMan's web . He said he wanted "5"s on his cake, so I put them around the edge .... then he decided he didn't like those so he wanted them off - hence the ugly job around the edge. Anyway, bad decorating or not - all the kids gobbled it up. Grandma picked John up today to spend the week with her and Papa .... I think that is his best gift he got!

Sarsaparilla Skirt & Vest GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Sarsaparilla Skirt & Vest GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

I want this!

Fall swap

I'm part of the Artsy Autumn Swap, and the lovely Marie is my partner. Here is a sneak peek of one of the items I'm including in my box. It's a half apron (sorry for the bad pics but all of my picture takers are watching a movie, so I tried taking it myself) that I made out of a tablecloth. I love the colors and they remind me of fall, even though it's a huge flower on it.

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Yo ho, me hearties - I be havin' too much o' a good time wit this here holiday, arrrrr.

My Hawaiian apron

I got my apron today! My dream vacation is to go to Hawaii with the fam. Jen made me this little number and when through some tears making it. She also made me a really cool shell necklace and bracelets .... I'm wearing them in the picture. I guess I should have taken a close up so you could admire her handiwork. On top of that, she sent me some Hawaiian Host Caramacs candy and made each kid a lei of dum dums. Here is a video of Charlie and John discovering their surprise ....




Thank you Jennifer! I love the apron, I would have loved the one with hole in it! You really spoiled me with all the extra goodies!

Swing!

Last night at ballroom dancing lessons, Derek and I learned how to swing dance! It was so much fun and can't wait until next week to learn more. I posted a video of us at youtube trying out some of our new moves .... so go check it out.

What we do when Derek works late

The kids dress up and chase each other around the house. It's a lot of fun.

Paris apron

I almost didn't want to give this one away. This is the apron I made for my partner in the Flirty Apron Swap. The theme this go around was "What I wish I did for my summer vacation", and my partner's dream vacation is going to Paris. I added a little pearl necklace that is just tied at the straps so she can take it off when washing .... or in case she doesn't like cleaning with pearls on.

I also sent her an Eiffel Tower and Arch de Triomph pencil sharpeners for her Paris souvenirs, because - hey - who doesn't love a good pencil sharpener?

Let's try a video

Here is my littlest playing a song ....she was singing "Mary had a little Lamb", but of course she stopped singing when I started filming.

They've redecorated!

The little ones were sure quiet the other day, so I went and found them in the bathroom. Can you see what they did to the front of the shelf? Yup, those are pantyliners ... with hair rollers stuck on them! The Lightdays went from one end to the other in a perfect row.




There is all the wrappers on the shelf, along with a tube of some sort of cream squished out. You'd think I'd learn to keep my eyes on those three at ALL times. Do you know how many tampons (and now pantyliners) my 2 year old has wasted?

The apron I received from my partner

I got a package in the mail yesterday from Nadine, my booming apron scary boo swap partner. She made me this dishtowel and potholder, and she does a MUCH better job at potholders than I do - maybe I can get her to email me some pointers.

Here is the treat bag. She cut out pumpkins and ghosts from the fabric to add to it. I can't wait until Halloween to use this to pass out candy to the little kiddos, wearing my apron, of course.

After trying to get my 4 year old to take a decent picture of the apron, I discovered the timer feature on my camera! So here it is .... my new apron. Isn't it adorable? Yes, yes it is.

Here is the side view - I LOVE how the ruffle goes all the way up to the ties. John just had to get in the picture with me ....



And then they all wanted to join in the fun!

Thank you, Nadine! What a great partner.

The apron I made for my scary boo swap partner

I loved making this apron for Nadine. It was quite fun, and I personally think it looks pretty cute on. It's safe to post the pics now since she should be getting hers in the mail today. I received my package from her today and it is such a cute apron - I'll post pics tomorrow.

Guess what we are doing!

You'll never guess, so I'll go ahead and tell you. Derek and I are taking Ballroom Dancing classes through the continuing education program at UWG! How fun is that? Well I'll tell you, real fun! Last night, we started to learn the foxtrot. The only thing I need to remember - don't wear crocs - rubber shoes stick to the floor and don't make for good gliding, striding, or twirling. We decided next week I should wear my bowling shoes ... that way I won't even need to move my feet; Derek can just push me around wherever he wants me.

Potholder

Wouldn't you think a potholder would be easy to make? For some reason, they are not for me. This is my third attempt at one. See how my fabric puckered at the edges? It's worse on the other side. It looks like quilting is not my forte. This is the potholder I made for my partner, the fabric is bright purple, but the camera didn't capture it. Can you tell what it's supposed to be?

New fabric in the mail

I got this fabric in the mail today. I ordered from a new place, Fabrics From the Heart. I think I ordered it Friday, and it came today - very fast! Also, the owner took my call and took the time to answer my silly questions. I will definitely order from her again. The flirty apron swap theme this time is "What I wish I did for my summer vacation". My partner's dream vacation is to go to Paris .... isn't this fabric perfect? Oui, it is!

Yes

Why, yes .... I have posted on my blog everyday this month. Thanks for noticing.

Treat bag for a swap

I made this little bag for my partner for the Scary Boo Booming Apron swap. We were supposed to make a bag to hold treats. This one is a little on the small side, but it's still big enough to hold a small bag of candy. I will post a picture of the apron next week. I used Pink Peguin's tutorial, it was very easy and her's is much cuter .... go check it out.

Happy Birthday, Derek!

I love ya, babe. I hope your day is good. This is my favorite picture of you, even though it's fuzzy - it captures your real smile with your big teeth (which I love).

What I've been doing today

Why yes, I do need to be cleaning my house. Who wants to clean when there is sewing to be done? This is what I've been working on last night and part of today. I'm only giving a peek because I'm making this for my partner for the scary boo apron swap. I think it's going to be VERY cute, and can't wait for you to see the whole thing.

The Lost Sea

On the way home from Pigeon Forge Monday, we stopped by another cave ... The Lost Sea in TN. It's called that because way deep under ground there is a lake. They don't know where the water comes from or where it goes. Several years ago, they put tagged trout in the lake to see if they could get out. None of them did, so they've just grown huge down there. Once you make the trek down in the cave, you ride in a glass bottom boat around the lake and see the fish. It's pretty cool! The water level was down 20 feet due to the drought we've had in the south, but it was still big.



This cave doesn't have as many pretty formations as other caves we've been in, but it did have massive rooms for the kids to run around. It also had history .... there was an Indian tribe that used to hold rituals and sacrifices there, confederate soldiers hid out in it, moonshiners did their thing, and lots more!

Above is a picture of the lake. Since it's really dark, I couldn't get a good picture; but if you look close - you can see the reflection of the lights.

Fall apron swap ...

Here I am cheesin' it up showing off the apron I made for my fall sassy apron swap partner. I hope she likes it. I really wanted to get this out earlier since it's going out of the states .... but instead I'm a couple of days late :o
This is side two. I think it looks fallish ... although for my partner it's about to be spring. I stayed with the theme anyway. Which side do you like better?

Day 3 ....

On our last day in Pigeon Forge, we took the boys to ride go-carts. That's the only thing little J asked to do all week. I wish you could see the smile plastered to his face.
The girls were too little for the go-carts, so one rode a giraffe and one rode a horse. On our way home, we stopped by the Lost Sea ... pictures of that will come tomorrow.

What a fun trip this turned out to be! Aren't they always better when you go with no plans and end up wherever? We are very glad to be home, though. Derek and I are spoiled with our king bed; and felt very cramped on an uncomfortable double. I'm hoping the boys will be able to stay awake during school tomorrow!