Do you YUDU?

monday was a great {craft} day.
the rain and the cold was the perfect backdrop for sewing and experimenting with the yudu.
bob's job was cancelled due to the weather so he decided to break out his christmas present {thanks sissy}.

have you ever played with the yudu?
if not, let me just say that you too can yudu and it makes for a great family home evening activity.
he (with some help from the kids) made t-shirts.

i think he's obsessed...i better hide my t-shirts!

Hexagon LOVE

alex sent me this link and i thought you'd like to see it.

vanessa from v & co. {love her} made this...

how cute is this with the barnwood frame! the post is here and you can buy the frames here.

have a great day!!!

Dear Mom,

this is for you because i know the disaster was bothering you just as much as it bothered me...
(if we are honest...it was probably bothering you more than me :)

i wanted to settle your mind so that you could sleep better knowing that your grandchildren were not going to continue to live in the disaster that you and poppy witnessed earlier today...

the house is now clean...


the laundry is 2 loads from being completed...

the last of the christmas bins are packed and waiting to be returned to their off season home...

and your grandson, while his pj's didn't fair so well, he, too, is now clean and running naked through the house
terrorizing his sister, the cat and the dogs.

i said the disaster was handled...not the mayhem.

that will take {years!}

i love you!!! thanks for being a great mom!

The Bunny Hill Group

met yesterday...
it's almost the last class (boo hoo!)
we were working on the last block so i wanted a {snow} theme...

my sister had these cute hand sanitizer bottles left over from the craft show...(a little pink ribbon and call it good!)

brownies compliments of the perfect brownie pan,

and cute mugs filled with chocolate treats

now...if i could only get my stinkin' blocks done!

The {Perfect} brownie

have you seen it???
have you thought about getting one???
you should!

my sister bought me the "perfect brownie" pan at christmas and i LOVE it!!!

it makes perfect little squares of wonderfulness!
(not just brownies)

and if you take just a couple extra seconds to sprinkle powered sugar on them...

look how cute they turn out!
so good you can't have just one!

{Happy} Tears

giving makes me happy...
i often wish i had a ton of money so that i could give to people freely and frequently.
we don't have a ton of money, but we do have talents that we are able to share.
bob mostly, he's the one with a ton of talent that is actually practical.
me, i can quilt and bake you cookies but he's the one that can make life easier for you.

he's also the one that finds the great deals, but not this time!
this time i found the great deal and i'm happy to say that i did good!

i happened to be on facebook and saw that a friend was trying to sell her husbands dirt bike. without boring you with the details, bub's current dirt bike needs about $500 in parts and he has been driving us crazy trying to figure out a way to come up with the money to fix his bike. we help, but we do expect the kids to do most of the work and come up with most of the money. they know that we don't have money trees in our back yard...

anyway, back to my part in this...

jodi was selling it for a great deal and i decided that i would offer to make payments and quilt her quilts for her. i didn't get my hopes up, she had several other offers, all cash up front. i was shocked when i got an email from her that said one of the offers fell through and the others were from a couple of guys that were going to clean it up and sell it for profit so she'd rather sell it to me and make bub happy. she accepted my offer!!!

i was so excited i almost cried!

today, bob and i took him to pick up the bike. he had no idea what was going on. when he saw the bike and i told him that it was his and explained to him that i bought it for him and told him how much i appreciated all the help he gives me when his dads away he started to tear up. he said, "i couldn't walk, breathe, or talk. i thought i was dreaming." he was truly the happiest i've ever seen him. it was awesome and he was so grateful.

i never thought that quilting would give me such an opportunity and i am so happy that it has! so is bub!!!

Quilting Makes Me HAPPY!!!

yep...sure does!
never mind that the christmas decorations are still up, the trailer hasn't been cleaned from the new years trip, there is a TON of laundry to do, i still have a ton of projects to complete before baby comes next month...

never mind any of that...

sometimes we just need to do something that makes us happy!
quilting makes me happy, even if i did only get one block done!

Progress... {edited}

remember this photo from this post way back in June...

if not, let me quickly explain...

{three} years ago (yes THREE) bob's parents asked if we would like to buy their, way too big for them, house as they had decided to build a smaller home for themselves next door...

we said "of course".

well...{2} babies (almost) later and a ton of city complications, their home is under way.

it looks like we might be living in a new home come this summer.


well progress has been made...
for months and months all you could see were mounds and mounds of dirt...

then along came rob and cole and before you knew it...

(october '09)
things started happening

(November '09)
and a foundation was layed.

(December '09)
and boy what a difference a day can make!!!

(January '10)

all in the name of progress!

I forgot to post these...

and i would be sad if i slurped this and didn't have them...

back at the tail end of november, i took photos of the kids (mine and my sister's).
it was, to say the least, interesting. the boys were not cooperating and the little princess was full of it. bub spent most of his time chasing the the little one and complaining about his new haircut. needless to say, i got some good shots, but not many.

For all of you

who became obsessed with english paper piecing in 2009,

i found a great project for you on blackbird designs blog.

(pictures are from blackbird design)

i think i'll have to add this to my "want-to-do" list.

On They're Way to Superstition

Over the Hills and Through the Mud,
to Superstition they Rode...

before

during

and finally...back to camp (and warm showers!!!)

i personally did not join the group on this eventful trip so i will tell it second hand from the words of bob and the many stories i've heard in the mean time...

my first question was WHY?!

me: "WHY did you go through the mud in the first place???"

bob: "you mean why did craig go through the mud? because it was there...he thought he could make it"

me: "so he was the first to get stuck?"

bob: "yeah, brent's bike got stuck because it was sitting there while we were all trying to get craig's bike out. it just sank"

me: "how long did it take to get the bikes out?"

bob: "a longgg time, over an hour. did you see that stick i was holding in one of the pictures? it disappeared in the mud."

me: "what else would you like to say?"

bob: "nothing, bottom line, if craig wouldn't have gotten stuck there would be nothin' to talk about. we did it. we overcame a challenge and continued to ride. it was fun"

some note worthy comments...

the girls quickly became unamused with the situation.

bub continued to wear the underwear you see in the pictures for another day!!! GROSS!

not only that, but did you see him bent over in the muddy river? he never showered when he got back to camp! i left dad in charge and obviously you can see how well that went! DISGUSTING!!!

"it is my belief that craig faked hurting his back so that others would help get his bike out of the mud" - bob

"the girls were useless, they were all wearing uggs...you don't go on a ride wearing uggs!" - bob

"i don't want a new chest protector" - bob (apparently, he threw his off to stand on so that he wouldn't sink, but there's nothing wrong with it)

"bub, don't talk back to your father or he'll push you over when your feet are stuck in the mud!" - mom

"when your told to get wood, get logs not twigs!" - bob

i personally think i would have enjoyed watching. being 7 months pregnant, no one would have expected me to help and i could have sat back taking pictures and cracked up laughing!!!

happy days! happy times! great memories!!!
(if any of you who participated in this momentus trip would like to comment, please don't hesitate...in years from now, you'll all get a kick out of it!)

New Year's Weekend

was eventful!!!

wednesday the 30th we packed the trailer and headed out to the desert to celebrate bob's 40th birthday, karen's birthday and the new year.
the weekend was full of family, friends, laughter, a bit of frustration (keeping it real!), fix-it's, karaoke, dancing, movies, sand (lots of sand!), fireworks, sweeping (lots of sweeping!), great weather, night rides (so glad they all made it back!), boobie rocks (holy cow there were a ton!), and memories!

superstition was an event all on it's own and therefore, will get it's own post!

here's to the new year and to great friends and family!