Bragging time !!!!!

OK, are these the cutest boys or what! I know every Grandma say's that but come on, these little angels are the best !
We had a fun day, little smiling hugs at the door this morning and we got to play while Amy did some homework things, ( actually we got a screwdriver out and took apart a calulator to see what it looked like inside !) then off we went to the mall for pictures ! And here is what we got... they were all so cute so I will just show you a few.

But you might have to see the rest another time cuz they are alllllllll so cute !

Isn't this one a gem !

So here is some of our Aiden, he's 5 and just the best little boy ! He's loving Kindergarten this year !

And HEEERRRRE'S Garrett !

I've warned you about his smile before so yep this one knocks your socks off ! He's just such a fun little character ! Such a big boy at 3 now in preschool .

And here's our Baby Ethan ! Don't you love those baby toes !

I still can't believe he sat still since he's in constant motion these days !
We surprised him with his blankie while we were there and got some darling shots of him ! I can't believe he's 1 year old now.

So can you tell I had a very fun time, we got to play on the toys for awhile and then eat lunch at the mall and go for a carosel ride ! Aiden was super brave and he and I went to the top level on the carosel ! Garrett chose a horse down below with Mommy and Ethan. Ethan clocked out on the way home so he had a great nap and the big boys had fun playing some "cave" adventure on the guest room bed during quite time and Amy was back on homework ! It was a very nice day with lots of hugs and kisses ! Thanks for letting me brag !

A fun date !

Ken and I enjoyed a great evening last night with Bob and Mary. They lease the other half of our building by the cabinet shop ,,, http://www.mastergater.com/Roxy_s_Gameroom.html ...and this month is their 1 year anniversary of having moved there and they invited us to dinner to celebrate. How cool was that ! They picked us up in his very "tall" truck complete with milk crate stool to get in with ! :-) Thanks Bob ! They wined and dined us at this great restaurant in Scottsdale . Yum it was so good. Wine, shrimp appetizers, wonderful salad bar and our entree...I ordered a dish that had 3 kinds of shrimp, Ken had his prime rib...and dessert to share ! The best part was getting aquainted with them, I'd not met Mary, and Bob keeps Ken in stitches down at the cabinet shop so it was great to get to know them better. We sat down and here the menu was printed just for the occasion. We had a great laugh when the waitress came to inquire who's anniversary it was and we said the guys..... she was really wondering ! We did inform her it was business related ! What a fun surprise to see this !

So what a great ending to a work day ( especially the part of getting YELLED at by a customer...who yells at people in a quilt store?!?!?!....it was my lucky day tho !) It was great to have such wonderful food and great people to be with !

Catchin up with the little dudes !

I had a busy day of fun. Met my folks first thing in the morning to go to some flooring stores to look at what is new in the market. Some very pretty products out there to pick from for their new room and kitchen floor. We went to 2 places and saw some georgeous things they can choose. I introduced them to a little mexican place called Costa Vida which was alot of fun, a bit like Chipoltle where you can choose a healthier mexican yummy meal as they make it at the bar! I got home in time for little smiling faces at my door ! They came straight from Aiden's school release time and were ready to jump in the pool ! Amy got a getaway and the boys and I had fun ! Here they are handing out the new "sea creatures" I found at Target for .25 ! What a deal, they played with them in the pool the whole time. Aiden was even the ocean rescue with a bag tied onto a float. They know when I take all 3 swimming we stay close to the steps and play in the shallow area, no diving in the deep end since I have the littlest dude attached to me.

Love this back side shot of the 2 little guys ! Ethan is not going to be left behind, he's gone from toddling walking to trying to run, you can tell it's almost out of control as he tries to go faster and faster !We jammied up after the swim and I made some dinner while they played.

Our old fisher price toys are still a hit, Ethan is starting to play with toys and put things into things.

Papa got home for the last hour to play so Jeremy's old garage came out and of course they had to be "up" so Ethan couldn't get them.

Still lots of fun to be had with these old toys !We sure had fun, I hadn't seen Aiden all week since he was at school so he got to tell me about his fun time being Star student and they had music and computers all in one day today ! So off they went to home and then Ken and I jumped in my car and I treated him to a blizzard to end the busy week ! whew ! off to work tomorrow but it was sure fun to play and catch up with the little dudes.

preschool day

I just had to post this fast couple pictures of Garrett at school yesterday. He was so cute joining in ! Here they are having snack.

The kids are all so cute, all the same size, all just 3, what a big adventure in their life !

Here is Ethan after his nap when preschool ended and our fast trip to the grocery store and subway ! doesn't he look like "where is my shape to sit on????"
He had fun playing while we ate lunch with MB. She got to stop in on her "visiting school" trek since she was out that way so we all enjoyed our subway lunch. One of her schools to visit is Aiden's school and his teacher is one of her teachers to visit so that is kind of neat !

Here's Ethan ready to drive !

Baked Chicken and Rice with Autumn Vegetables

Another recipe for you ! This one has been around awhile and I made it last night and remembered how tastey it was. One of those when you are glad there are left overs to take to work tomorrow ! I prepped it all in the morning and then called Chef Ken when I got off work and he popped it in the oven while I was on my drive home. Hope you like it !

Baked Chicken and Rice with Autumn Vegetables

1 pound chicken - I used chicken tenders or breasts and added some seasonings as they cooked
1 package (6 oz) seasoned long grain and wild rice
2 cups ½ inch cubes butternut squash
1 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise in half, then cut crosswise into ¾ inch slices
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces (1 cup)
2 cups water
½ cup garlic and herb spread able cheese ( look for the lower fat one and I used even less as we'd used some on some wraps over the weekend)
Heat oven to 425. Spray 10-inch skillet with cooking spray, heat over medium high heat and cook chicken about 5 minutes until brown, and remove chicken from skillet.
Mix rice, contents of seasoning packet, squash, zucchini and bell pepper in ungreased rectangular pan 13x9x2 inches.
Add water to skillet, heat to boiling, Pour boiling water over rice mixture, stir to mix. Stir in cheese. Place chicken on rice mixture. ( I mixed the cream cheese in with the hot water before adding it to the rice in the pan)
Cover and bake about 30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and chicken is cooked.

Happy Birthday to our Little Ethan !

Ethan is turning 1 year old today ! Happy First Birthday to our little sweet boy ! Here is a few of his many little expressions ! He and I had fun playing the other day during preschool !But then he decided to opt out for a long morning nap and slept the rest of the time so I had time for cleaning and folding Amy's laundry !

You are such a fun little guy, can't believe you are a year old !

This was a bit blurry but what a gem of a smile you've got Ethan ! Can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you buddy !

I went zipping down to leave this by Ethan's front door for a surprise this morning ! Amazing what all you can get done before 6:00 AM in the mornings when your day starts at 4:30 ! whew, off to work ! Happy Happy Birthday Ethan !
Chris just sent me this from his Iphone after I sent them a text to have Ethan look at the front door. How fun to see it from the other side! Thanks Chris for doing that !

Fun with my friends !

A few friends came over today to work on some applique prep. Lorene was wanting a "lesson" in how we prep our P3 applique technique so we all thought we'd get some prep done and cheer her along as she learned ! Mindy came on her lunch hour to visit and eat her lunch and she's putting pressure on me to get this up on the blog ! Denise and Judy are both busy working ! And yes those are cupcakes hidden somewhere in the mess on the table. Everyone brought their lunch so we just ate while we worked.

We solved all the problems of the world and everyone left happy with their things. Here is Lorene, she's definitely gone on to the other side of P3 with us and mastered it well ! Here is her cute little snowman BOM.

These are Denise's eagles.

and here is Judy hiding behind her turtle quilt, isn't it cute, she was making lily pads for it and will be adding lilly's on top. The picture is blurry but it's so cute with the heads and tails of the turtles 3D.

Lorene brought us each this itty bitty stainless steel bowl to put our starch in, she found them at IKEA, tooooo cute ! I got a few of my Block of the month things prepped and had a fun time visiting with some fun friends !

New BOM

Well for you Non-quilters out there BOM is actually Block of the Month. A few friends and I from my Thornberry quilting group have decided we want something new ( don't we love new projects, not that we don't have plenty of old projects to finish !) to work on and came up with a couple patterns that we figure if we tackle one block each month it will eventually get done.

So I have mine completed in my little snatches of sewing time. This first one is for the quilt called Garden Club, it is very scrappy and will be fun to use whatever I find in the sewing room. So my flag for this month is done and ready to go. Next month we are tackling an applique block. Here is the other one, it's for a quilt called Wildberry Vines and this is the first block for it. It was fun to applique these 3 pears. I'm using fabrics I have and these will be scrappy but I'm just going to use very clear tones, more of a fresh spring look. So it's good to have both blocks done for this month and now it's back to the other tasks at hand ! Little by little we'll get these done and each month will be fun to see what is next.

Fun day !

Well Marcy and I went and took my folks to the movies. Julie and Julia was fantastic ! It was a fun filled movie to laugh with and enjoy ! I wish now that Julie would come and cook for me ! We brought Mom some pretty yellow miniature roses and after the movie we went to Mimi's for lunch and reminiced about the fun movie scenes. And when the butter came with the muffins we had a good laugh thinking Julia would never think that was enough !!

Got home and the little boys came for an hour to swim so that was lots of fun. They have fun diving in together and going off the diving board ! They crammed down a fast snack and left for home. Now as Ken is finishing the yard I better go pretend that I'm Julia Childs and find some dinner !

Happy Birthday to My Mom !

Happy Birthday to my Mom today, here she is kicking up her dancing shoes at my nephew's wedding, I've always loved this picture of her and my Dad !
I thought this was kind of fun, here is a picture of her back in 1981. That is Jeremy that she's holding in the sailor suit ( wrong branch of the service huh ! Also you can see why he was nicknamed The michelin man by our little next door babysitter ! ) my Dad is in the Santa suit and that is my niece Jennifer in the corner with the ringlets. What a gem that is ! Marcy and I are hoping to take her and My Dad to the movies and to lunch to celebrate so it'll be a fun escape for all !

Our 9's !

This is another one of our Thornberry quilt group swaps. This group loves to swap and we usually always have something going. The one thing it does is make you get to something you probably wouldn't do. Over the years we've done some great things . The current one is a 9 patch, they are just itty bity ! The block finishes up at 2 inches ! That is tiny ! Sue has kept up with hers and sews them together as she gets them, mine are just into 4 patches at this point but it's coming. You can see how tiny the pieces are as her finger tip covers one square. Each month we make 5 different blocks for 7 people. We pair that with a little 2 inch square of fabric that is called "shirting". We had a few more people but they've gone to the "other side" and bailed but who knows, they may be back after a bit of a rest as a few of us die hards will go on until we have buckets of them ! We have a chart so we keep straight who turns in what since we aren't real strict and some months just aren't so good in the sewing department ! Aren't these great tho, or would you call it SICK ! Maybe just a little NUTS ! But it's just another Crazy thing I do !

Have Fun Garrett !

Today Garrett has his long awaited first day of preschool ! You've talked about being a big boy for a long time now and getting to go to Preschool ! You will love it Garrett ! I"m going to miss hangin out with you on preschool days but you are going to love going to preschool ! Your brain is so smart, I see it working just like your Mommies did, loving puzzles and the order of things, so have fun Garrett on your first day !

Halloween quilt

Well the first Halloween quilt is officially done, this one is for Aiden and the other 2 are still in the works. Label on and Emma has given it a test ! Feels good to have it all done and ready for Oct. I found the black /green bat backing at Joann's with my coupon so it sure was an inexpensive quilt since Ellen gave me everything else ! Thankyou again Ellen ! Aiden got to pick the fabric from the bag for the border so after he did that we figured out the rest ! Yea for a done project out of the sewing room !

Ethan is spending the weekend !

Ethan gets to spend the weekend with us all by himself ! For some reason he wasn't invited to go camping with his family! I think he'll have more fun staying home with us anyway ! He arrived and we played a bit ( of course in the pantry ) and then we left and went and did a little visiting...First stop was the quilt store since Denise wanted to see him so he did a bit of his own shopping...Then we went over to visit my folks and he had fun with them and the toys but mostly opening and shutting the doors on the cabinets ! We came home and he ate a HUGE lunch and then topped it off with blueberries. He showed me exactly what you do to eat blueberries..... First you put them back in your little cup...

Then you taste them... Then you dump them out again...
And then you just SMASH them in...
So he's out for the count now having a good nap so I wonder what fun we'll get in to this afternoon !