Baby quilt

This was my first time quilting anything on my own sewing machine. I think it turned out pretty good, and I learned a few things along the way. Minky is kinda hard because of its stretchy ability so I kinda pulled it here and there, but I was able to make it less noticeable. I really loved making this for a friend's granddaughter that will be arriving any day now. Ryann was sad to see it go, so before I make anything else, I guess I had better make her one. :) She likes poking all the minky dots in. This is the last project I needed to get done before my big surgery too. I don't know how much time I will have after surgery to work on things, so it may be a while until the next fun project. :)

How NOT to make your own indoor dirt pile

 Ingredients one should NOT use: 5lbs. Flour, 5lbs. sugar, applesauce, gushers fruit snacks, rice krispie cereal, fruity pebbles, and golden grahams.

 Don't be fooled by the ghostly figure in this picture!! There has been NO trick photography. The tracks that you see on the floor are REAL! This poltergeist was caught in the act!

My daughter has this obsession with markers, and just when we think we have thrown them all away I find her looking like this. My own mother has confessed to me that I wasn't this naughty all the time! I think they went a little overboard on that "Mother's Curse". My dad said the other night...just think she'll have one 10 times worse than her. I said I wouldn't wish that on her in a million years! :) I just want her to have one JUST LIKE HER!!! :P
The pictures are crazy now because the screen on my camera is busted, and these new cameras nowadays don't have the view finder anymore. So you get pics that have heads almost chopped off or floating. :) Notice that cute floating head pic?? Well during all this other chaos going on, Ryann decided that her hair was just in the way of all her creativity....so she chopped dome of that off too!! Not once, twice in one week. I didn't get pics, but I saved a lock of the chopped curls for her baby book. Yep...I'm saving all the evidence of the crimes. :)

What A Spooktacular Month We've had!

 Wes and Ryann ready to trick or treat

 Grammy always wanted a red-headed grandchild...LOL ;)

 Baby punkin

 tween punkin

 mama's punkin....good ol' scarface :)

 Our favorite activity at the Corn Maize.....and we notice every year the cannons get bigger and bigger

 Sling shot is daddy's favorite

 My tractor loving baby girl.....in shorts and boots no doubt!

 Wes just loves a good photo op!

Got the bull by the horns.


This years festivities have been more low key. I was still able to get out some decorations, but next year I hope that I can get it all together and have the haunted yard I always have dreamed of. ;) No...I don't care if I scare little children...especially my own.....muwhahahahahahaha. Wes is the best to scare....Ryann is no fun....she already gets it. She just karate chops the witch and kicks the scary looking things...NO FUN. She was actually scaring me in the Maize.....jumping out of the stupid corn and screaming at me. We went when it was a LOT darker than we normal have gone. YES....I get scared of the corn maze after dark! Also...if you ever want to watch a scary movie with me....I have been told I am more entertaining than the movie! Now that I have confessed....seems pretty strange that I love to scare the crap out of other people. Not really...I think it is my coping mechanism. :P I actually got to dress up and Lewis did his part too. I was a gold digger and he was the money man....I suck, because I didn't get any pics. And then of course...the previous post happened. So next year people...next year. :)

Did I just hear something break?

Seriously life can be interesting....OK well for me life is ALWAYS interesting. The latest tragedy in our family saga is the destruction of my beloved camera! :`( Yes...I am shedding a tear for it. Somehow during last nights festivities (last night being Halloween) the screen broke. I think Lewis secretly applied a ninja move or the Vulcan death grip on the poor thing and broke it so he would not have to have any more pics taken of him. He was holding the camera and swears that he was gentle the whole time. I was able to get pics of the kids in their costumes and pics of our pumpkin carvings...so I guess I can live for a bit without pics from my fav. point and shoot. I think I secretly love the camera because of Ashton Kutcher....sorry can't help it. ;) So here is the last pic from my beloved camera....and the evidence that the "guilty" party was not happy about having his pic taken. Sigh* He didn't think about the backup dinosaur camera....gotta love a prepared wife! ;)

Lost but not forgotten

 I-Spy

 Swim Party

The Plant vs. Zombies cake

 1st day of school

 OK...I had to add in a pic of the dog :)

 Ryann is a mini Lewis....she is ALWAYS outside doing something!!!

 Look at him....he couldn't be more proud!!

 My black kitty....no wonder I have bad luck ;)


I stumbled upon some pics I forgot to blog about. Imagine that...ME forgetting something. I guess I get caught up blogging about nothing that I forget about the big somethings that happen. Seriously....someone needs to keep track of me! ;) So I managed to find the pics of my I-spy squares which I am making a secret project out of. And I found Wes' b-day party. Nothing like renting out the swimming pool for 8 people!! I think summer b-day kids are totally gypped! (especially August babies whose b-days fall about a week or so before school starts!) Thank God my brother had so many dang kids!! INSTANT B-DAY PARTY! ;) Of course I can't forget about the first day of school pic! I know....I am an awesome blogger! ;) I guess in a perfect world I would have it all together....hahaha I learned at an early age that life isn't perfect, so I guess I am right on track! Hopefully I can get a little better. I have big plans and I want to share as much as I can about all the changes that will be happening. I guess I had better hone in my skills and become more regular about this blog. My "followers" may start to drift away. So until my next fabulous find...ENJOY. :)

Seeing Red ;)

I Love my tree in front of Wes' room in Autumn! Look at it! Amazing. Fall is my favorite season. :)

No Longer Safe....

I have really debated on sharing this with the world, but I finally decided that if the world is going to really know why I went crazy, then it ALL must be talked about. I have been in a pickle lately going through lots of personal (isn't that nice that I keep MY personal business my own) stuff. So what that means is that I have had to travel for doctor visits for myself and for my son Wes. Needless to say, I think that I need company when I go. I should probably rethink that after this last trip to the city. My whole little family went for a quick trip to see the eye doctor for Wes....Ryann actually maintained herself quite well...it was Lewis who was a mess. We got up early and headed out, made the visit, stopped at only one place to pick something up, and went to lunch. Pretty simple, right? At lunch, after all the other stops, I walked behind my husband to fill my plate at the buffet. There it was, sticking out for the whole world to see....his tag from his shirt. So I said, "What the heck is that doing sticking out like that." Trying hard to fix it, then slowly realizing that it wasn't a problem with the tag. OMG....his shirt was INSIDE-OUT!!!!!!!!!!! ALL DAY LONG. To which he said, "I wondered why I was having a hard time getting the collar to lay down right." I was laughing so hard. I swear I am trying to manage a bunch of loons around here! I asked him if I could take a picture of it...he said, "Why? So you can blog about it?" Hell yeah, I'm gonna blog about it....I can't pass up moments like that so you all can see the trauma inflicted upon me daily! ;) So I guess he won't be wondering too much about why I am eyeballing him as we leave the next time.

Baby quilt, make-up, muscles and more :)

 I just finished up a fun little baby quilt to give away to a friend whose wife just had a little boy. It was a surprise so I hope that they both like it and enjoy it. Cute...Cute! As with the rest of the pics here...Well what can I say! I just have to remind you all that my kids keep me entertained! Miss Ryann found the makeup bag the other night while I was working on the quilt....and let me just say....24 hour lipstain DOES work! We scrubbed this poor girl red, and it did not come off. Wes on the other hand just likes getting his picture taken, so much so that he will take my camera and go around and get pictures of himself. ex. the upside down picture :) Ryann celebrated her 3rd birthday on the 23rd of Sept. so thinking we are out of the "terrible two's" would be normal right?? I think my adventure will continue with her! ;) Moving on to more fun projects and finishing up a few leftover ones....hoping to soon post pics of the movie night quilt finished and the Halloween one(this one I am attempting to machine quilt for the first time). Then on to Christmas fun.

American as Apple Pie ;)

Here are our new family pics...Which only took us about three months to get back. Don't ask. We didn't have the brilliant idea of having pics with all our exchange kids until after some had started leaving :( So since then we have been trying to get them done when they come and visit us again. (The ones we missed) Here is our family pic with Niklas. He was our first exchange student. He was with us when Wes was four and Ryann wasn't here yet. He is still part of our family, and we love seeing him when we can.

This fun pic is all of the grandkids walking down the lane.

Here is my favorite one Grandma Barbara with all her great grandkids.

Ryann loves looking at "her" cows in Grandpa's corral.

Hot Pink Disaster

OMG....I can't leave this child alone for a millisecond. Wesley and I were discussing what to have for lunch and while that was going on, a very quiet Ryann was "playing" in Wes' room. Yup...you guessed it. I went to work on lunch only to hear Wes scream..."You're not gonna like this" He was chasing Ryann and trying to keep her from touching any and all surfaces in our house. I HATE arts and crafts supplies!!!!!!!!!!!! I swear I have an eye twitch from her and when they deem my officially crazy you all will know why!!! I couldn't see having any other kid, but I really would like to renegotiate that parent's curse.....I think they were a little too harsh on me! I wasn't THAT bad! ;) I am tremendous fear of what her teenage years are going to be like....hopefully she will have all this worked out by then...or else Lewis and I have been watching a program called Beyond Scared Straight...it will be that or the Nuns (that is what my mom scared me with and I am not even Catholic!)

One the other hand this is what Wes does when I sleep and leave the camera unattended :P I have two different kids. 

 Best duck lips ever! :)

Is that a Black Eye??

I left Ryann with Lewis for approx. 10 min. the other day and pulled back into the driveway to this.

I was freaked out because at first it looked like she had a black eye. Nope. She just managed to do what she does best...find dirt. Lewis said she had been throwing it over her head and had gotten some in her eye. She obviously rubbed her eye to take care of that problem. :) My water company loves her, and the soap and shampoo industry have been doing wonderful. Thank You Ryann for supporting such noble causes at this tender age.

I had to laugh while I was looking at Old Navy online. I had read about this mistake a few weeks back, but I think that the way they handled it with humor is awesome!! That is why I love Old Navy :) Make sure that you use your apostrophes correctly or they will get you too!!!! ;)

Back to the Grind Stone

School is back in session. This year is very different. I miss Wes a ton and I am not spending these next few months trying to figure out if the foreign student living with me likes me or not. Kinda weird. Ryann and I are hanging out and trying real hard to not drive each other insane. :) I did have a brief shining moment today when a young man from Estonia showed up on my door step. He spoke of his funny accent, which I told him it wasn't all that funny for our household. We talked about my kids and where they have all been from. Then he tried to sell me some books. I hate salespeople :( So sadly my visit was cut short. Life is different. Wes is liking his teacher and class. I cannot believe that he is almost double digits...He just turned nine, but time seems to be in hyperdrive I might just miss that milestone.