The BOX

I had a fun adventure this morning, after taking Amy and crew to the airport to begin their vacation to Mississippi to see Jeremy and Jamie. I went to my friend Denise's house to see her new bathroom remodel and help her make decisions about "the box". I've heard about this "box" for years and I finally got to see it and it's contents ! Here it is......

You wouldn't believe the heirlooms this box contains. It has quilt top after quilt top that she has made. They aren't finished yet but they soon will be ! Here are a few of the treasures !

This is Griffin, he wasn't in the box but he sure wanted to help !

So we made stacks and piles as we pulled them out. Some she wasn't attached to and she is donating to a local group that finishes them for shelters. . .

Then there was the stack that goes back in the box for finishing someday. . .

Then the stack that is out to finish to use now. . .

Then there was the stack of get it out and "finish it to have ready to give as a gift".


They just went on and on. After we got to the bottom we had to go to the sewing room closet that had an entire shelf full. What treasures she has ! It was so fun to

see them all I just had to share a small

portion of them on here !

Here is the FAMOUS quilter

last summer as we ate at a little

cafe on our trip to Vermont and New Hampshire.

So that was the Infamous BOX, thankyou for sharing it with me Denise ! You are amazing !

I'm off to have lunch with Mindy now and head to the PO to mail my little guys something fun for their trip in Mississippi!

5 year old Golfing !

Well Papa and Aiden had a fun evening ! Ken took Aiden to the golf course to play 3 holes. This was Aiden's first time on a "real" course as he's only gotten to hit balls at the driving range. Ken's friend Brad is the pro at a local course and he let them go and play 3 holes, even helped Aiden with a little mini lesson. This is Brad and Aiden.

OK, ready to go and play, notice the little bag on the right next to Ken's big bag ! How cute is that from behind !

1st tee

He did such a great job and had such fun !

Got to play in the sand ! Ken said he hit it out straight at the pin and then the next chip hit the flag stick ! Alot of adults would love to do that !

Ken said this is the perfect swing, how nice to be so uninhibited to have a natural swing !

They called when I got off work after their little round and I met them at Dairy Queen for dinner and treats. One smiling little 5 year old showed up with all kinds of fun tales to tell and a bottomless appetite. But I"m really not sure who had more fun ! Ken or Aiden !After eating his chicken strips and fries, my chicken wrap and half my salad and his slushy he said he wants to be on a golf team. So we topped it off with a strawberry sundae and I bet he sleeps good tonight ! Yea Aiden what a great golfer at 5 !

HOT !

Ok, after having such a wonderful June of nice days and wonderful mornings and evenings we are now into summer and it's HOT 108. But compared to what I'm hearing in Mississippi it's not so bad ! My flowers I planted from seed are happy happy ! The zinneas are loving it and have grown by leaps and bounds. It'll be fun to see what colors they bloom. I scattered alot of marigold seeds off of other plants and they seem to love the heat too as they've come up and been transplanted to fill in other pots and planters. The zucchini got planted very late but it's blooming so we'll see if anything happens to that ! It seems to love the heat too.

And if you are needing anything fixed Garrett was working hard last night with his tools ! ( on the table as Ethan can't get to you there !!)
He got everything fixed up while Mommy and Daddy had a date ! The boys and I had fun playing, dinner and then Papa got home so we could all go swimming. They all inhaled one of those cans of cinnamon rolls for a snack , thank goodness for fast easy things these days!

Now it's off to work !

Happy Anniversary Alissa and Alan!!!!

Happy 5th Anniversary Alissa and Alan ! What a beautiful day it was !

Wasn't this the cutest idea ! That's Alissa ! Wishing you guys many many more happy years together ! Congratulations !

Nifty Notes

I took a moment and made a "shop sample" this afternoon for work, it's a great little notebook cover by This & That pattern company. It was fast and fun to make. All it needs is the button but I"m waiting to use one we sell at Zoe's so it will be available to the customer. This one will live at work but I can see me making more of them. You even adhear some fabric to the little 3"x5" notebook cover. I love little things like this that are fast and fun to do.

A little creating keeps me sane on the busy days that I'm not at work . . . groceries . . . little boys, boy did they do good at swimming today ! It was their last day until they are back from their vacation and they both made great progress ! What a good dive Aiden, amazing what you can do when you are 5. . .

yummmmm squirt cheese for our snack ...

Garrett swam so hard he was hungry. . . It takes alot to get those little 2 year old arms going !

Ethan napped . . . Amy escaped for the dollar store . . . The big boys had some play time while the mac n cheese cooked for lunch . . . Then I got to meet Mindy for lunch, she's working close by now so it's going to be great on the days I'm off work and can get out and meet her ! This is Mindy at her last birthday party when she finally was as old as me ! We are 6 months in age apart and I'm always "older" first so she has to give me a hard time ! Mindy and I have been friends for ages and ages !

Happy Anniversary Kristin and Kevin !!!

Happy 2nd Anniversary Kristin and Kevin ! What a beautiful garden wedding you had !
We wish you many many more years of happiness !

MMMMMM...Carmel Corn

I've been wishing for an excuse to make some carmel corn. My little boys are coming over for their swimming lesson today and we'll have sandwiches for lunch but there isn't anything else fun around here ! Carmel corn to the rescue....It's such a fun treat and in 15 minutes you have it done and cleaned up !

Microwave Carmel Corn
½ cup brown sugar
2 T light Karo syrup
1 cube butter
Popcorn- ½ cup unpopped kernals
Cook 1st 3 ingredients in microwave glass dish for 3 minutes. Stir. Cook 1 ½ min. more (Microwave should be set on high) add ¼ tsp. baking soda and stir and immediately pour over popcorn. Mix together.

While the popcorn pops in the air popper, you can measure out all the other ingredients. I move the airpopped popcorn into another bowl so I can make sure I get all the "old maids" out. Then while the ingredients are cooking in the microwave you can clean up the popcorn popping things and get it into the biggest bowl you've got. Once it's stirred together all that is left is wash a few bowls and eat the popcorn ! Fast and easy ! Just be sure to use a glass bowl to cook the sugar/syrup....Jamie could be witness to that ! MMMMM done and ready for little boys to eat !

And eat they did ! swimming makes you HUNGRY ! We finally resorted to graham crackers with peanut butter dunked in milk this afternoon ! But fun was had by all, even 2 took naps,

Ethan is enjoying "breaking in " his new blankie. They sure had fun swimming , I swam with them at 9:30 before the teacher came and she was just so impressed at their progress, Garrett is so brave now to get the rings off the last step and go deep in the water and Aiden is diving like a pro ( she said like the 8 year olds !) We got out the hula hoop and he's having fun diving thru it now.

We had a room size fort going with authentic tinker toy guns !

Off to make "real" food for dinner since the carmel corn isn't to sustaining !!!

A first Great Nephew is expected !

We are having our first Great Nephew ! He's not due until Sept. But a baby shower is planned and this is the quilt that I made just for him ! I worked on the top when I went quilting in the mountains and now it's done and mailed.

I'm so excited for Kimberly and Brian ! They live in Virginia where he is finishing dental school this next year. It'll soon be Dr. Fife ! Our time with this new baby will be daily visits to their blog ! The baby shower was this last weekend and I wish I would have been there !

A new Blankie !

I finished crocheting a new additional "blankie" for Ethan. He's decided the original one I gave him when he was born is just the "best" thing to take to bed and is his choice for something to love and cuddle. Since I still had some yarn left from the original we thought a back up might be wise. This one is a different pattern and a little more open so that the yarn would go further, but it's done now and ready to go home with him. This is the original one he got when he was born. Now there is a back up to mix in with this one to get the feel and smell just right ! I handed the new one to him yesterday at my sisters house and he did his usual grin/giggle when he sees the other one so he cuddled it and I guess it passed the test ! whew !

And here is the original one doing it's job ! Night night Ethan, I"m glad you love your blankie.

Happy Fathers Day !

Happy Fathers day to all the great dad's in our family ! I hope you had a fun day and feel honored that you are special ! So cheers to all the great "Dads" -
Gene and my Dad, Ken and Chris, Vince and Mike, Tony and Kevin and soon to be Brian !

Cailyn !!!

I got the privilege of taking care of my great niece Cailyn yesterday. This is Cailyn, isn't she cute ! She's 4 months old now. We had a great time playing with her toys...singing songs...she liked I'm a little teapot the best! She had a little cat nap in her swing after her bottle and then it was time to....

chew on our fingers....

and our toes....

She was a perfect angel all afternoon and evening ! Mike and Corissa are doing a wonderful job raising her, she's so calm and happy and you can tell her needs are well met ! She had her jammies all on and her night time bottle down , sound asleep and a big burp, then UP came half the bottle so we started over ! New jammies, wide awake and grinning at me ! silly girl, I think she just wanted to wait up for Mommy . Night night Cailyn you were a little angel for your great auntie !

Happy Anniversary Tony and Karen !

Happy Anniversary to Tony and Karen! 29 years ! This picture was from 2003, when we were at their home in Idaho for Kristin's high school graduation. They live in Washington now and we wish you two many more happy years ! Congratulations !