Marker Art

Gretchen got a fun new book for her birthday - it's one that she can use a dry erase marker to write on the pages. I thought she would have fun with it while I was making dinner, and it would keep her busy and away from the stove. I should have known trouble was brewing when she was way too quiet with it. Here is what she decided to do:


This has now become a supervised book - yikes! It was hard to get really mad at her when she gave me a face like this!

January 2010 Quilt - it's done!!

My first quilt of 2010 is all done. Just in time for Gretchen's birthday party! To see the phots bigger, just click onto them. Here is a look at it:
Hanging up on the wall next to Gretchen's bed, just so I can take a good photo of it! It measures about 43" square. I decided not to pre-wash the fabrics, and instead washed the whole quilt at once when it was all done. I wanted more of a puckered, well loved look to it. I like how it turned out, although I think I will use a heavier batting on my next quilt.

It was machine quilted by a friend of mine from church. She did a great job on it!

This is the backing fabric.

All ready for Gretchen to snuggle into bed!

And here she is, sleeping peacefully under her new quilt!

Starbucks Mug needed

Last year, after our trip to Portland, I bought the kids mugs from Starbucks with zoo animals on them to commemorate our first trip to the zoo. I packaged them away for Christmas presents, and even got them into each of their stockings without any problems. However, when I went to give them their first cup of hot chocolate, guess who broke the first cup? Yep, me! I'm so bummed! I got these mugs on clearance, so I can't re-order one to replace the broken one. So now, I'm just hoping and praying that I can find another one somewhere. If anyone sees one, please let me know, or buy it and I'll pay you back. I'm a little desperate!

**UPDATE 2-1-10** I found another mug! A friend of mine from MOMS Club received three in a raffle basket she won, and didn't need all three of them. So not only did I find one, she just gave it to me, so I didn't have to pay for it, either! What a blessing!

Moose Sightings

Grandpa made Moose for the boys' room, with little dowels that they can hang their jammies and stuff on. Grandpa actually has one of these in his bedroom, maybe a little larger, but the boys have always loved it. So for Christmas, this is what came out of Grandpa's woodshop! They are perfect, and the boys love them. Now, if I can just keep from hitting my head on them when I help pick up their toys - ouch!

I'm actually quilting!

On Friday night I got together with some girlfriends, and instead of the usual scrapbooking that we do, we all decided to start a quilt. We used the pattern "Yellow Brick Road" by Terry Atkinson. We all came with our fat quarter packs and started cutting, piecing and sewing. On saturday night after the kids went to bed I worked on mine some more, and got all the blocks pieced and sewn together. Last night during the season premiere of "24" I put the borders on. And today I went out and bought the backing and batting for it. And now it is ready to have quilted! I am so excited! I've done lots of quilting projects, but have never really managed to finish anything. And now, this looks like it will be done by my daughter's birthday party in two weeks! Yeah! Now my goal is to make one quilt a month, so we'll see how I do. I started cutting out pieces for Austin's quilt last night - his will be a Monkey quilt. This is fun!

What do you do when it's raining?

Inspired by a friend's blog post, I decided to take some photos of what we do at our house when the weather is not cooperative for outdoor play.
Click on the photo to see it bigger and to see my descriptions.

Pajama Program service project

The Pajama Program - read about them at this link

My MOMS Club took part in a service project recently to gather pajamas and books for the Pajama Program. We kicked it off with a pajama party, complete with moms & kids in their jammies, popcorn & juice to snack on, and stories to read with our blankies and stuffed lovies! It was lots of fun!

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Wow! 16 years ago James and I shared our I do's, and although the road has not been paved with gemstones, we have grown so much together. Here's to many, many more years together!

Daniel turns 4!

Wow! my middle child, Daniel, is 4 today.We had some friends come over for lunch to celebrate with him. It's amazing how fast time flies! Here are some photos to remember how he started out:
Daniel's 1st birthday:
Daniel's 2nd birthday
Daniel's 3rd birthday:

I ♥ Faces

This week it is hilarious outtakes, and we can share up to 5 photos for this week. Here are a few I picked out.

I remembered a photo I took of Gram at the lake on the 4th of July 2008. Gram is no longer with us - she passed away right after Thanksgiving this year. So this is a very special photo to me now - she used to so enjoy all the holidays, and went all out decorating and planning for all of them. 4th of July she used to buy us all matching shirts and fun plastic necklaces and toys for the kids. We miss you, Gram!


This next picture was taken in February 2009. Daniel got a hold of one of Gretchen's hair pretties and decided to model it in his own crazy fashion!


This was also taken in February 2009 - I laughed and laughed at the way Gretchen fell asleep at nap time that day!


This one was taken in April 2009 while trying to get a good Easter photo of my kids. Of course, no one was cooperating!


And this last one was taken by Daniel - he loves to hijack my camera and take pictures. He's not too bad sometimes! This is my Dad at Easter.


Feel free to check out more photo entries at
I ♥ Faces.

Christmas Stockings

I am behind on posting a bunch of Christmas pictures, but here is one to get started. This is one of my kids on Christmas morning with stockings in hand - the craziness was about to begin! What followed was a long day of presents, family, food and fun!


And a few bittersweet moments, too, as it was our first Christmas without Gram. So here is also a photo of our last Christmas, 2008, with Gram.


If you would like to see other holiday photos from other bloggers, please visit
Sunday Shutterbugs.

HP TouchSmart Computer

I am amazed! I just saw the new HP TouchSmart computer, and I really, really would love to have one. So very cool! You need to check out this blogMy Charming Kids - MckMama for a chance to win one for yourself. I have entered, and am now crossing my fingers and praying that I get chosen. Wouldn't that be a cool Christmas present? Yeppers!

Popcorn Tree?

Who knew there really was a "Popcorn Tree"? I certainly didn't. But when I picked up the boys from preschool today, each holding tightly to three popcorn kernels, they were adamant that we go home right away and plant them so we could grow a popcorn tree. And so we did! I got out the shovel, we found a little spot in the front of the house, and we planted the kernels. And five minutes later, the boys were out front, looking to see if it had grown yet! It took some talking before they understood that it would take a whole lot longer than five minutes for anything to grow. But soon, our pizza lunch was out of the oven, and the popcorn kernels were forgotten!

This is what a popcorn tree looks like. Not too bad, I guess, but I highly doubt that the boys' little kernels will produce a tree like this!

Another scrapbook page!

Boy, now that I've cleaned up my scrapbook room and moved things around to create more space, I've been working like crazy on my scrapbooks! I am so far behind on the kids' books, I could probably scrapbook all day and still not get caught up! Once the kids go to bed at night, I hide out in my craft room and start creating - well, that is, unless I'm trying to catch up on DVR'd shows! Anyway.....

....here is a page I did last night of Gretchen. It was for a flower challenge on scrapbook.com - the photos were taken by my sister Melissa this past June.

Scrapbook page

I worked on a scrapbook page today. I had entered a challenge online where you had to use a sketch they provided to do your page. This is my finished result. I used pictures that my good friend Susan Potter took of the kids. The page turned out really fun! Here it is:

Click on the picture to see it larger.
Here's a picture of the sketch I had to work with:

This sketch is courtesy of
Page Maps by Becky Fleck

Oh, the joys of little boys.....

This is what happens when you ask a 4 year old boy to wash his hands after playing outside, and he insists on doing it all by himself:
They're clean Mommy - really!

Uff dah!

A new gift!

On Friday I was gifted with a brand new Keurig coffee maker. I've heard so many great things about these and I'm eager to give it a try. The gift did not come with any coffees, though, so I went online to take a look at ordering some. Wow! So many choices! Coffees, teas, hot chocolates! And so many cool flavors and varieties. So now, I need some help. If you are a fan of Keurig, can you let me know what your favorites are to buy? And if you know of a good place to get a great deal on the K-cups? Or any tips or suggestions about the Keurig machine? I'd love your advice! Thanks so much!

My Singing Children

I love listening to my kids sing songs. Here are some fun clips of them.

Gretchen - Jesus Loves the Little Children


Daniel - Jesus Loves the Little Children


Austin - I Celebrate my Family

Yummy pastries!

I made homemade pop tarts with friends from MOMS Club today. They turned out yummy - we used raspberry for the insides. The recipe is here if you want to give it a try yourself. And here is a picture of the final product.

I ♥ Faces Balloons photo challenge

This week it is balloons, and I remembered a photo I took of Austin on his 3rd birthday.

Feel free to check out more balloon photo entries at
I ♥ Faces.