I’m so glad you all stopped by and enjoyed yourself. We have been recovering from a sugar rush. It was a lot of fun for the kids and myself. Wish all of you could have really been here. We don’t have a sit up straight, elbows off the table, don’t talk policy. When it come to a kids tea party. No crabby attitudes allowed, frowns are booted out. Only happy thoughts, silly voices, giggles, giggles and more giggles are encouraged. 

So, here I am standing at the door wishing you all a safe trip home and handing out little goodie bags. I’ve decided instead of picking a few random numbers, I’m going to do something a little different. Everyone who commented on the tea party post up until now, Monday morning has a chance to get a party favor.  I won’t be contacting you so All you have to do is email me your mailing address.  I’ll leave this up for a day or two.

WELCOME

Come have a seat. We have lots of goodies for everyone. The kids and I have worked hard to make you feel welcome. When I said “let the party begin”, This is what happened. Hands grabbing for the donuts.  You had better dig in too, because I don’t know how much longer these yummies are going to last.

 

I had to have the party on my favorite table and chair set. The color seemed perfect for a happy day with the kids, you and up to elbows in sprinkles and icing.

Sorry, the chocolate covered strawberries are all gone. They sure tasted good.

We still have some strawberry shortcake left.

And can’t forget your tea. What kind do you prefer? Black,white,fruit,chai.etc.  Let me know what to pour you.

Or do you prefer lemonade?  It’s a pretty hot day and I know kids just love it. I do too!

Lots of mini desserts, a perfect finger food.

And these pretzels were a lot of hard work. Not because they are hard to make, but because of the mess we caused when making them. Some of the sprinkles fell on the counter top instead of the pan we were using to catch them. No big deal. There was some water on the counter top and so the red sprinkles cause it to turn into a red mess. Still no big deal. I just grabbed a few paper towels and was cleaning it up. That’s when it happened. I accidentally knocked over a whole can of sprinkles. The lid had been off so red sprinkles went everywhere. Now these were not the big chunky ones. Oh no, These were the small sparkle ones. Well, it was a lot of work cleaning it up but we got it done between laughing. See here is some of the damage it caused.

I’m so glad you stopped by and I hope you enjoyed yourselves. I know we did. We actually left the table waddling like a stuffed goose but BOY, was it good.

I also have a few little party favors I’m passing out later. And just like most kid parties, You don’t really know what’s in the bag until you get home or in the car. So it’s a surprise. I’ll be randomly picking a few names from the comments.

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

And if you can find the time, spend a day with cookies and cupcakes, sprinkles and toys with a kid. Better yet, let them help make the party and then sit down and enjoy it with them. It will be a memory they and you will cherish.

Just thought I’d pop in to say. “Have a Nice Day”

Say hi to everyone Pippy.

Pippy: Just smiles and hides in the shadow.

She’s a little shy. 

And can you guess what this is going to be?  I bet you can’t.

There is a circus in town. Yeap! Sadly, part of the act, like the clowns and tiger and the lion tamer, went behind the scenes and ran off with a little girl. Sheesh, What’s the world coming to?  We have sent the lost and found police out to look for them.  We have no news of there where abouts at this time.

I’m also excited about an up coming tea part that Fanciful Twistis having. First time I meet Vanessa she had invited me to another bloggers tea party. We are planning a kids tea party here. Little people or just kids a heart tea party. Vanessa mentioned about give aways and masks and such. I’m sure she will come up with some great stuff that you’ll all love. And the stories behind her pictures, some times have me rolling. I’ve told her she could write & illustrate children books.  It sounds like to much fun to past up, so we are going to get into the give away and goodies too. It’s also been a time for me to just sit with the kids and play. I went to the doctor the other day and the test could be nothing, just watch the spot or it could be something no one wants to hear. More detailed tests are in the near future but it seem those simple moments with my little ones are so much more important to me than ever before. I’m clinging to them with all I have.

I also found out I may be teaching a children art and craft class. I’m really excited about that. Funny thing was, I had just been thinking that the other day. I love kids and I love crafts and I think I would be the happiest with the two of them mixed and twisted together like taffy. My jump up and down dream job would be to design children bedding.  Well, the other day I was reading this article and it ask. ~How do you define success? I know I haven’t taken the steps I want to really grab onto my dreams. Hopefully in the future. But I was answering them like I had started. One of my answer to that was, “To be ask to teach a class”. And that just happen the other day.  The Studio is still not fully done but it’s getting there. 1)Roof fixed =Check.  2)new windows=Check  3)Floor=almost a check. Still have to blow in insulation (Hello insulation guys please call us back!) and drywall the ceiling. Then the fun stuff like paint and decorate. Who knows where that little room might take me.

Thank you everyone for the comments. There was some ideas that I know my kids would love to try.  It was also nice to know that I’m not alone in kids play, like removing the couch cushions, and hose swing.

We stuck all the numbers in cute little orange basket. 

 

And Then something else orange and fluffy, insisted getting in the basket.

We dumped him and well, he just jumped back in. I tell you this little guy is fearless and has the courage of a lion.

Finally, we gave up and he pulled a number with the kitten trying to get back in the basket.  AGAIN.

We are happy to announce that comment #9 was pulled. So, Ethel and Edna send me your mailing address and we will send it your way.

Yesterday was a beautiful day so I told the kids to go out in the backyard to play and told them to use their imagination. From where I was working on some crafts for my daughters room, I could see them. I hope to finish up her room soon so I can show you. We went from our little pink garden to a little more bubbly blue. And the color of her wall is a story in itself. It’s been a long time coming too. Tell you about that later with some pictures. I was working on the white curtains she wanted. I tried to talk her into letting me do a little machine quilting on them. She told me, “Let me think about it.” And that’s all I can get out of her. So, I guess that would be a no. Well, when I looked up this is what I saw…

They had taken the garden hose, strung it over a tree branch and tied an old washing tub from the barn onto it. They do have a swing set but they seem to love this more. So for the last couple days they have almost non-stop been out here, as you can tell from the grass below it.  But I love seeing them play like this. So much better than a hand held game or sitting in front of the tube. 

I also finally got around to taking some pictures of a few craft books I’ve had for a while. A lot of them I noticed was already pretty abundant on flickr from several people so I decided no need for pictures of them. I’ve had them for a year or two so nothing new to most of you. This is one I bought when I first started my quilt and haven’t made anything from it, yet.

And I would love to make this purse from it. It’s so fresh and clean looking. Perfect for summer days.

And I like this one too.  I would change the brown colored fabric that they used in the handle to something a little happier. You can see a couple more pictures from this book here and here.

I then ran across two of these Sock and Glove animal critter craft book.  I must have ordered one online and forgot I did. Then when I seen it in the bookstore, forgetting it was on it’s way, snatched it up. So, I’m in no need for two and I’m going to pass one along to one of you lucky gals. It’s a very cute book. Perfect time too. Spend some of your summer months making these silly little creatures with or for your kids or forget the kids make them for yourself.   Click your mouse HERE to see more of what’s inside.

Just leave a comment below and I will pull out my hat. If you would like to tell me something your kids like to do using their imaginations. What keeps them occupied during the summer months. I would even like to hear about kids and there craft projects your doing. Every mom loves to hear things to help keep the long hot days of summer fun and simple.  Just drop a line of what ever is on your mind.

“Papoose”

This post is a bunch of random things into one. The papoose or baby painting was done with the illustration Friday theme in mind. I also did this trying to be as quick as I could. I’m practicing to be a little faster at things. I know the over all out come may not be the best yet but I’m trying to train myself to speed things up. From the beginning of getting the paints till the end was about 10 minutes.  I guess it’s like when your training for a marathon. Plus, this was just for fun.

Ok, with baby in mind plus I’ve been thinking a lot about Mollyand her house adventure. Mix all this in with the word Pooped from the previous post. And you get my latest thought. I feel for Molly and know completely how fixing up one home and living in another one can really wear on you and the rest of the family. Your doing great Molly and don’t let someone who is probably jealous make you feel bad. It is very hard especially when you have a little family and people who have not tried it don’t really understand. We have done the same thing twice, however I so so so do not want to ever do it again, if I can help it. The first time we completely gutted a house, we had a 1 year old in tow and expecting our second child.   Well, during remodeling that first house I had an experience that at the time I was serious horrified about. But it’s actually quite funny now and thought I’d share it. I don’t normally go to much into my life, keeping it usually sort of crafty on the blog but I thought Molly might need some cheering up and to let her know she is not alone. This is a true story. I was there as much as I did not want to be.

My husband had called me during the day and need a specific type and amount of wire. As soon as he got off work he was going to need it to finish up the electric, so I headed to our Home Improvement Store to get it. I had my 1 year old with me. Thinking I was only going to run in there, have the wire cut, and be out of there in no time. I only took my wallet, leaving the big diaper bag in the car. I get in there, find help right away and he’s cutting the wire. This is going just as I had thought and feeling good about the day. That’s when I smell my 1 year old and it is BAD! I think I mumbled something about changing your diaper, but inside I was just imagining the man thinking yeah right lady, blame it on the poor little baby.  He hands me the wire and high tails it out of the isle. I don’t blame him because it’s the worst diaper I’d ever smelled. I turn the cart around heading for the register, thinking I’ll pay and head straight for the car to clean that little dirty boy up, but that’s when I seen it. And almost stepped on it. What looked like a small cow patty on the floor. Ok, that explains the strong odor. So I checked the little boy sitting in the cart. Yeap, it was from him. It has sort of the play-dough hair making contraption concept. Baby boy sitting on bottom, baby boy has got to go potty, no where to go up out the sides and up. It was like a geyser up his back and there was even another plop of it, in the heel of his shoe. I have to admit, I panicked. My first thought was run to the register, tell them about the mess on there floor, which was going to be so embarrassing. Then high-tail it to the van. Then I looked at the mess up his back and down the back of his legs and under his foot. There was no way I could clean all that with a few wipes. Not to mention getting sited for indecent expose as I stand a naked little baby all covered in poo beside the car. They’re pretty wiggly at that age and more than likely he’d get it all over the car and myself in the process. Ok, you’ve got to remember too, that I had the first child syndrome. Ever new thing causes your emotions to be amplified. Your extremely excited about there first step, scared over the first cold, worried about the germs, proud as a peacock at there first words. Plus, I was an emotional pregnant lady to boot. So, with my emotions on over load and practically shorting out.  I turned directions and almost ran to the bathroom. Trying my best to stay a minimal of 20 feet away from people, hoping that I was at a safe enough distance to be out of their smelling range. In the bathroom I grabbed paper towels and soap and clean out one of the sinks. Looking back, I’m actually surprised I even thought of doing that. The mess on the floor really zapped all logical thoughts I had. I stripped him down, throwing his soiled clothes and sandals in the other sink. Plopped him into the cleaned sink and washed him down. Let me tell you is was not an easy job and I’ll leave it at that. After I got him cleaned, I stood there think, OK now what? I ended up standing him up in the back of the cart, and then I quickly scrubbed his sandals.  Putting the soggy footwear back on him. I washed out his clothes, which was easier than washing him but still a HUGE mess. Then I hit the wall again, OK What now? If I was smart and didn’t have first time mom syndrome, I would have just put the soaking wet clothes back on him.  So what did it matter if he was slightly uncomfortable and I dripped water all over the floor for a few minutes? Once in the car I could change him. But no, I couldn’t imagine torturing the poor boy so I came up with plan B from my teeny little brain. He didn’t have any spare clothes at hand but I did, my slip. I wrapped him up in my white silk and lace slip. Took a deep breath and open the door to face the other customers stares and the cashier. Once there I felt like a total idiot, my baby boy was wearing a toga. The look the cashier gave me was enough and I hurried out of there just wanting to escape the whole mess. It wasn’t until I was at the remodel house that I remember the mess on the floor. Inside my head I remember thinking, I hope no one stepped on it and if they did, please don’t have let them slip on it and fall. Make note to self, when I get home to call the store and tell them. 

So hang in there Molly!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

We had a wonderful one. Saturday was the birthday and cookout. All the kids had a great time. I’m glad at times like this to have a very large back yard. We had kids on our go-karts, the older ones where on the dirt bike and 4-wheeler. Even the men had to show off a time or two. The other kids were in the canoe & tube. Then after one of the girls slipped off the tube while trying to get out, it started a whole new idea. Swimming. They are braver than me, because there is no way, I’d swim in a pond.  They felt like they were at a regular camp ground. We even thought about camping out but with the storms in the forecast we decided it was best not to. Lucky for us the weather was perfect.

Some of the family that came, stayed all night. Some that lived close by came back over Sunday and we did it all again.  We grilled out again as well, making potatoes and bacon pouches. DELICIOUS.

You take a piece a foil, make sure it’s large enough to fold once you have all your food in it. Lay it flat and fill each pouch with…

 Potatoes. I like them sliced long ways. My sister-in-law likes them in circles

Bacon, cut up into small bit size pieces. It’s easier to cut if it’s been in the freezer for a while but not frozen.

Onions. Diced

Seasoning salt, a fair amount.

You can also add things like green peppers and mushrooms.

Fold up the pouches nice and secure. Place on hot grill with the lid shut. Turn them over during cooking. Sorry but I don’t remember how long we left them on the grill. Once they are done, take them off and add shredded cheese and sour cream. 

The hit at the party was our furry pets. The kitten, who is fearless. He is only about 4 inches tall but will actually chase you down, trying to grab at your ankles. He is hilarious. And the other hit was Ollie. I have to admit I was a little worried about how he acts to strangers. He is not barky like a lot of schnauzer are. He may bark once when someone rings the door bell but that’s about it. If he’s really wound up and playing hard or trying to get your attention. He will do these really weird noises. He does a ya ya ya sound where he changes the tone as he’s doing it. I know he’s trying to say something, but I have not a clue what. He’s famous around here for his weird BURRRR sound. I tried to look on youtube for a schnauzer who does a similar sound but didn’t find any. Maybe he’s wishing to be a Scottish terrier and have that wonderful Scottish accent. The thing I was worried about was how he LOVES strangers. We have really been working with him and his greeting manners. But with all those people, I thought for sure we’d have a crazy dog on our hands. He was a little excited at first but I had the people not pet him until he was sitting nice and quiet. Just after a couple people he was a total gentleman. No running in circles around there legs with his tail and whole back side wiggling. No jumping up on the people and whining to be held. He never jumped into anyone’s lap unless invited but with that said he was in every ones laps all the time, which is his favorite place. Several of them couldn’t get over how you can hold him cradled in your arms like a baby. He loves it and goes totally limp and relaxed. He will even fall a sleep like that.  I just wished I had gotten him a little trimmed up before the weekend.

I was very worn out yesterday so I just puttered around. I did organize my bloglines and add some of my favorite blogs. Hopped over to flickr and organized the rest of my pictures. I was planning on taking some pictures of several craft books I’ve had for a while but never posted about. When I was on Flickr, they were having a upload hiccup yesterday so the books will have to wait till later this week. The next thing I need to hit is my poor blog. I did feel good to get those things cleaned up.