Mario!

Some time ago, guessing a year, I started this quilt. The idea came from here. I knew a quilted blanket would get finished much sooner than a crocheted one. The top of the quilt was finished relatively quickly. Then I asked Stuart to pick out the backing blanket. He picked green. GREEN!!! I struggled with his choice, so set it aside. Crafters weekend came along and I promised Jackson I would finish it. And I did. And the green does not look so bad after all! (Yes, Stuart you were right!) After washing, the quilt went up to Jackson's bed and has been there since. It is well loved. Now he asked for a Luigi one...ah, NO!

Let it Snow!

We had A LOT of snow over this past week. I am not sure of the official measurement, but A LOT works for me!

On Saturday we enjoyed the snow, on Sunday the temps decreased and made the outdoors less tolerable.

We took Jenna out of a bit. She did not enjoy it. Here she is standing in the driveway asking if she

could go in now!

It fell like this all day. ALL DAY!

Jackson was lovin' making snow forts!

It was a perfect weekend for making homemade caramels! That is my stirrer that Jackson made me last year. It saves my arm from one hour of stirring! LOVE IT - and no, he is not getting the parts of his toy back!

And the final snow blowing of the weekend. Stuart is snow blowing across the end of our driveway after the plow came though.

The Apparent Project

The mail arrived today, as always - in rain or shine, Keith delivers the mail. Today the mail was more then items to put in my recycling bin and bills to pay. Today a package from Haiti arrived. A package of pure joy.

A few weeks ago in my blog reading hours, I stumbled across a post about a project in Haiti. Not just any project. A project of crafts, business skills, and success. The Apparent Project. Teaching others to succeed and create a livelihood for themselves. The project stayed in my mind, and just how could I help? A quick decision was made to purchase 100 bracelets. Yes, 100!!!! That is what arrived today, 100 bracelets. They are beautiful. Oh, they are so neat. Each one is labeled with the artists name and a little about them. By now, I am guessing you are wondering what I am going to do with 100 bracelets. Maybe I could wear them all at once, but instead I am going to give them away!!!!! In the next 100 Guestbook Store orders that come in, each person will receive a bracelet. Starting now....

The next project...

is in the planning. And so far, so good....

ABC's

This project has been waiting for me. A creative mind block, you might say. The center panel was complete, but I needed an idea for the edges. Finally, the idea came! I love free motion quilting with a very whimsical pattern. For the border, I wrote the alphabet (with a pencil first). It look a bit to jog my grade school memory of the proper way to connect letters. The results are fun. For the backing, I picked a orange minki type fabric. LOVE IT. This is by far the softest quilt I have made so far. Of course with every quilt, I learn a lesson. This time, my backing was too dark for the white on the front, since I did not use batting. Lessoned learned. I think the little baby who will cuddling with this one will not mind a bit!

Thanksgiving...a little early.

My sister, Amy, spent time (or maybe a lot of it!) making cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes, Thanksgiving dinner cupcakes! From the ever amazing book, Hello Cupcake! This is my kind of dinner :)

Old Faithful Again...

Some patterns are just great! This Oliver & S pattern is one of my favorites. I sewed this dress for Jenna in size 3T. This is much to big on peanut now, but will fit her perfectly next summer.

Copy Cat

I really like these:

But thought that home brewed version would be simple. And it was. I love Steam2Steam applique. 30 min project and a happy kid. Jackson insisted that there were purchased at a store so I will take that as a compliment! FYI, tees were purchased for $5.99 at Target.

No pattern at all...

Sometimes it is fun to create as I go without a plan. Sometimes it works....

Hello!

I have missed blogging. And crafting. And creating. Summer has come and gone and maybe, just maybe I can find some time again. Time in my sewing room has been very little and that simply needs to change! I have piles of projects begging to be completed. Begging. So should I work on them or start new????

Halloween has passed but not without a few projects. There is so much one can make for this season.

My Mom, sister and I also spent a day cooking and crafting. We made many fun and yummy snacks.

We also made these Witches Shoes for teachers and co-workers.

Jenna as Olivia. If you are not sure who Olivia is.....

And here is my Olivia. I actually did not get very good photos of the dress. I might just need to put her in the costume again for a photo shoot.

Fun Holiday now onto the next!!!!

Day 14, Home

Iowa, Minnesota then Wisconsin. Home. The last 13 days flew by.

BUT there was still one more tourist stop to make. Spices and Ham combine to make SPAM. The SP stands for spiced and the AM stands for ham. Did you know that? Me either, until our final museum trip to the SPAM museum in Austin, MN. Very well done museum and now I know more about SPAM than I ever thought I would. Have I tried it? Nope. Will I? Don't think so. I think there is a good reason why they don't give free samples at the museum!

A short drive and we are home. Home sweet Home.

So RV life was pretty good. Without a doubt, we will do it again someday. We made it home with no major stories to tell, and that is a good thing! We learned a lot in the last two weeks, including that most gas pumps do not let you put more than $75 worth of gas in! Hope you enjoyed following along with us!

Day 13

Day 13. This really is our drive home. A few stops, but the trip is coming to an end. I could stay on the road longer, but the kiddos are ready to be done. They miss their friends, A LOT!

We traveled from NE into IA today. We stopped at the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. A museum that spans over the interstate. Inside is the history of travel from the first travels across the US until today. Very well, done. Excellent stop.

Our next town was Omaha, NE. We had just a couple hours to spend so we had to pick one activity. We narrowed it down to the zoo or the Amazing Pizza Machine (a huge arcade with rides). Since it was 90 plus degrees outside, we opted for the arcade. The kids had a BLAST! I think this might just have been their favorite part of the whole trip!

Here is my #1 family with their blue ribbons. If you think Stuart can handle an RV, you should see him knock the other little kids out of the way at Go-carts!

Back into the RV for a drive into Iowa!!!

Day 12

Today we woke up in Laramie, WY, just outside of Cheyenne. At this point in the trip, there are occasions when I ask Stuart what city we are in, or what day it is. We tend to argue about the day of the week until we just have to look it up! Guess that is the sign of a good vacation!

We spent some time in Cheyenne this morning. What a neat town. Our first stop was to a the Children's Village. A cute hands-on park and botanical gardens -- and also a puppet show stage. Stuart put on a show that Jackson enjoyed!

We also toured the train depot and rode the covered wagon for a tour of the town. We finished with a visit to the Boot Shop for a new pair of sparkling pink cowgirl boots for Hailey.

Cheyenne is a city worth a longer visit, but it was time to hit the road. We ended day 12 in Gothenburg, NE. And today marks the first sign of rain on our whole vacation! The weather has been really, really great.

Day 11

Today we traveled for about 5 hours. A quick 5 hours. Amazing what a little sleep can do! We traveled from Vernal, UT to Laramie, WY. I would show you pictures from today, but I did not take any! Stuart took 14. We stopped at an old run down gas station with potholes the size of small lakes (okay, so maybe not that big....) Anyway, when Stuart has the camera it is either to reference a sign or font or an antique or a building. I know you are bummed that I am not uploading them here, but it's okay....really, it is.

So tonight we are staying in yet again, another KOA -- except we did not realize it was right next to the hwy until now...ummm....here is to a good nights sleep!

Day 10

Day 10 has been the longest day of travel yet. We drove for 6 hours, but for some reason it seemed like 24. Really. When I fell asleep sitting up, I knew it was just too long of a day! Our drive from Jackson Hole, WY to Vernal, UT was full of hills. We knew we were in cowboy country when we stopped at a gas station and saw this sign.

Much of our drive looked like this.

and this.

Once we arrived in Vernal, UT (YAHHHH) we visited the dinosaur museum. The kids loved it. I think their favorite part was just playing with the plastic dinosaurs. I am still kicking myself for getting rid of Jackson's tub of them thinking that Jenna would never play with them, boy was I wrong.

Night 10 was spent in a KOA in Vernal, UT. We took some time to look at our remaining path. To CO or back up to WY? The WY path won. Enough mountains for one trip.

Day 9

Day 9 was spent in Jackson Hole, WY. We did drive out to Teton Village in the morning and had lunch there. We spent the afternoon walking around Jackson Hole being tourists. Jackson has been taken by the cowboy way. Here is is outfitted in is new gear. You cannot see the gun and holster, but it is there. So much for no play guns...

In the evening we went on chuck wagon ride to dinner and a show. It was fun and Hailey enjoyed helping drive the team of horses, Daisy and Duke.

Day 8

Today was our last day in Yellowstone Park. We headed out the southern loop to Jackson Hole, WY. The main sights we visited were Grand Prismatic Basin and Old Faithful. We took turns with Jackson and Hailey since Jenna slept again for 3 hours!

Otherwise, today was a little bit low key. We finished our travels around 5pm when we arrived in Jackson Hole, WY. What a neat town. Here is a photo of the Teton Mountains as you drive in to Jackson Hole.

We took a walk from our RV park into town for some Mexican dinner. Best of all, Jenna is back to her happy-go-lucky self.

Day 7

We spent day 7 touring the upper loop of Yellowstone. We had a slow start to the morning, so arrived at the park around 11am. So far driving through the park has been good, but long. I did not realize it would take so long to get from one place to another. A lot of car time for the kids.

Mammoth Springs was one of the highlights of the day.

I enjoy the wildlife. We have checked most items off our list the Park Rangers gave to the kids. Here is a bear that crossed in front of our car. (Yes, we rented a car for the day)

And one of the many, many bison. This fella was about 2 feet from our car. Wow, they are huge.

After one of our walks, I found Jackson daydreaming. I would like to think that is pondering all the nature of Yellowstone, but know that he is thinking about his friends back home and his Legos!

We headed back to West Yellowstone for the night. The kiddos had sometime to run and play since it was a full day in the car. I did 4 loads of laundry -- vacation is not all roses! And neither was the smell of those clothes :)

Day 6, Happy 4th of July!

Our day started with a short drive to Cody, WY. Right now, have put on 1150 miles.

Upon entering Cody, we found the town packed and the parade already started, so we skipped it. We picked up a few things at Wal-Mart and headed on our way to Yellowstone.

You cannot enter Yellowstone without getting the photo!

It is spectacular sight here. Everywhere you look there is more to see.

We took some time to do a little walking and visited Artists Point, a mud volcano and many cauldrons. I can do without the sulfur smell of the cauldrons! Here is the family at Artist Point. Jenna has a pretty nice ride! And notice Jackson and Hailey picking on each other -- somethings never change, even on vacation!

We then ventured out of the park to West Yellowstone, MT. We spent sometime walking around the town before heading to the city park to watch the fireworks. They kids had a blast!

Day 5

Our travels lead us from Rapid City, SD to Greybull, WY. Today Jenna was on the mend, but CRABBY! We returned our rental car in the morning and prepared for a day of travel and relaxation time for the kids, which they much needed. Our first drive was to Deadwood. We toured a museum and left. I personally, was expecting a little more than casinos and gift shops. Jenna was not herself at all, to put it nicely so we headed back on the road. Our next stretch of driving was to Devils Tower. Jenna fell asleep – yahhh, a four hour nap! Since Jenna was sleeping, we took turns with Jackson and Hailey hiking through the woods. What a sight!!

After this, it was back in the RV to our long drive to Greybull WY – though the Bighorn National Park. OH MY!!!! The way up the mountain was beautiful, the way down – well, my head was in a pillow after deciding that my brake pedal was useless! If you did not know, I hate heights. We did see lots of deer and Jackson and I saw a moose. I will give Stuart lots of kudos for driving. He did a great job with the RV. Actually, I think he drives the RV better than the car!