Sick day with a pleasant surprise!

I am not feeling good at all!  I woke up and threw up among other things.  I called my pretty little sister and she is doing the same thing!!!  She is a lot worse off than me.  My sweet girlfriend Holly dropped by some fun things that made my day though!  She gave me a box with a crown to make for my little Maranda.  Awwww Holly is the best!  I told her about an Easter egg I fell in love with on Sugar Sugar's site and told her I wanted to make one.  She showed up first thing this morning and brought me millinery flowers, an egg and other pretties so that I could make one!!! I was so happy.  Last night I finished up a Sweetheart banner for Maranda's room.  Holly had to write Maranda's name on it since my handwriting isn't so chic!!! lol

Kasey's Sewing Box

I am still obsessing over these cigar boxes!!! Kasey has been stressing a little over time lines of having to get her drapes out.  She sits and sews all day with the occasional run to the city to buy extras for the curtains to look fabulous!  I thought I would make her a sewing box.  I had some great pattern looking stamps but then thought "make it fun and cheerful!"  So I dug out some fun paper I just bought and was able to make it with only two pieces of 12X12 paper.  I love it and thought it turned out super cute!  She is about to bust out Maranda's bedding in a few weeks too!  So I hope when her back is hurting and her eyes are crossing while she sits  for hours and sews for Marnada, she can look at the box and be happy!  (As opposed to thinking "why am I friends with this girl!!")   I am dying to put Holly's invitations for her baby shower on here that I made all day yesterday!  They are so Hollyesque!  I think she will love them!  Amy and I are having a lot of fun getting it all figured out!  Anyhoo, I will save them for the shower blog!!!  And yes I have not forgot my other girlfriends who want a box and I am getting to it!:)

My new obsession is decorating cigar box's!  I got a great kit from Franc and put it together while watching the olympics.  I call it "Bird in a Dress!"  I love it and think it is so cleaver.  Then today I went to "My Heart's Fancy," (btw I heart My Heart's Fancy)  and made this adorable Catherine Moore box that was designed by the famous Lisa Bruno:).  Then of course I had to go and get a few cigar boxes so I could come up with some of my own!!!

Thanks for putting up with the last post of the science fair!  It turned out so awesome and the kids had a blast! It is amazing what the kids and their folks came up with.  I can't wait until next year!  Of course, I love any opportunity to get in front of people with a microphone!!!!

Look away the faint of heart!!!! Science Fair Time

This is definitely not an arts and crafts entry!  This is science fair time!!!  My son is in kindergarten and we discussed moving electrons to make static electricity.  We went to my girlfriends house with her kids and made our hair stand on end to make static electricity! The kids had fun playing with balloons and learned a little.  Then we got down to the nitty gritty.......THE DISSECTION OF A PIG!!!!  

Most people know of my girlfriend Kasey Jo as the gorgeous sweet mom that grows a fabulous garden and sews the most amazing bedding and drapes.  Not everyone knows that she is a secret biologist.  She has a biology degree and itches for any moment like today to display her talents.  She made neat  incisions and did a wonderful job explaining everything to the kids.  I was fascinated too!!!!  How lucky am I to have her as one of my best friends?!?!?

Valentines, Crafts and Manners/not Manners

Every Valentine's Day I make spaghetti with meatballs, breadsticks, and a dessert with the hope of teaching manners.  I use my china and make the kids get all dressed up. This year I made individual heart shaped cherry pies, and they were delicious if I should say so myself!  Luke my 8 year old said you aren't going to have candles are you!?  I said, "no, if you don't want me to."  He said, "no, go ahead."  (I knew he really wanted them.)  I made some cute Valentine boxes for my mom and mom in law.  I had the boys give Grammy and Nana flowers.  This was part of the manners lesson.  Then Ryan gave Maranda flowers and I (the beginning of ruining the night) gave my boys hovering remote helicopters!  I didn't mean for them to open them right then! However, dad and both grandads had to put batteries in them and test them out right that minute!!!  Gabe, (my 6 year old world champion pouter) crashed his into the kitchen island and it broke a wing, propeller or something like that!  He went into crazy high pitched crying and annoying bird noises!  I was trying to finish setting the table and ready to bust some butts!!! However, "Grammy to the rescue" was able to get him to the table.  Luke made annoying fart noises if we mentioned any country other than the USA when discussing the olympics.  (This was while he finished his spaghetti in a record 2 minutes and begged for more.) Gabe had another breakdown and decided to leave the table briefly.  Finally, Maranda went to get a napkin and came running back to the dinning room and fell.  She had a mouth full of Grammy's yummy chocolate cake that she had to spit into her fresh napkin so that she didn't choke.  Why did I even try to work on manners?  Once the kids left the table to go play we had a lovely conversation and I few of us enjoyed one of my favorite bottles of  B.R. Cohn wine.  I am working on the end of it now:)  Happy Valentines Day Everyone

School Valentine's Day Parties!!!!

Ohhhh how I wish I was a better photographer!  I have a pretty snazzy camera and need help to use it!  My goal is to take a class sooooon!  Any who, my girlfriend Tracy shared the cutest Valentines day rose bouquet that her sweet little boy made for her at school using paper, red paint and the inside of his fist.  I only saw Tracy's picture on facebook and tried to copy.  I think we got close and I hope you can see what it is in my lousy pictures. However,  they turned out soooooo cute! I should have made a demo up before the party to show the mom's helping me and so I would know what I was doing exactly.   Luke my oldest loves when I help with the parties.  I don't know why since I get really loud and bossy (the ole teacher in me comes out)!  It was a lot of fun.  Gabe's kindergarten class shot bows and arrows, and decorated the cutest sugar cookies.  It was a great photo opp that my camera and I couldn't get the right eye on but we tried.  Tate was a great model with her Valentine's day bouquet for her moma Kasey.  Kasey hired on to hot glue the stems (green pipe cleaners) with my nuclear glue gun as my friend Holly calls it!  I owe Kasey a new manicure! The other little girl is my new friend Lisa's little Karsyn.  Karsyn cracks me up!!!  Luv those two little girls!   My friend Erin made the cute chocolate mice for the kiddos too!  Aren't they adorable?!?!?
BTW----I confused everyone in my last blog.  We don't go to D.C. until March, and I will post lots of pics of me trying to save the world on Capitol Hill!!!! lol ;)

Paper dolls , D.C. and skiing!

Wow what a week!  We went on a great ski trip.....well  except for the first 24 hours after landing that and my two boys puked and puked with altitude sickness!  They missed the first day of skiing but made up for it the next two days.  Maranda was adorable in her little ski suit and learned to ski too.  Ryan went on a fly fishing trip one day and absolutely loved it!  It was a great time with all my family.  We were blessed to have Grammy there too to help with the pukers!!!  

Once we got back, I got a call from the American Heart Association.  They asked me if I was willing to fly out to D.C. to talk to our congressmen about heart disease.  I said sure and they booked Ryan and I a flight and rooms!!! How crazy is that!?!?!?  

What I was really looking forward to was Jackie Peter's art class tonight!  We made the most adorable candy Valentine boxes.  She is an amazing lady.  She made beautiful brownies and frosted pretzel sticks.  She also had beautiful name tags and bags!!!!  I won a door prize too!   I got one of her new Valentine paper dolls  that I had been coveting on her site!!!  She is such a sweet lady that put a lot of thought into everything!!  Can't wait to take another class.

I FINALLY get to take Donna's honeycomb class this weekend and I CAN NOT wait!:)  

Collecting to make my journal to Europe!!!

Well we leave tomorrow for a family ski trip with my side of the family plus Ryan's mom (plus other in-laws =20)!  It should be a blast!  We are headed to Keystone, CO and it is supposed to snow the whole time we are there!  Coincidentally, some of our very good family friends are taking their family of 20 to be there at the same time!  That should be so fun!  However, I am really looking forward to Ryan and I's trip to France and England this spring!!! It is our 10 year anniversary and we are going to celebrate it there with our amazing friends Jason and Tina! We would never think of traveling without them!  I am excited to see where Catherine Moore gets her inspiration, and all the other artist that call Paris home!  So I have been putting together stamps, papers, flowers and you name it to start making a journal that I can take on the trip to document what we see and have a place for my ephermera.  My girlfriend, Misti, bought me a beautiful journal, French translation card, and stickers to go in my journal!  What a fun surprise to get that from her tonight!!  I heart Misti:)

Causing my own health problems

I worked on a couple of these projects today. Tonight I made the Catherine Moore canvas with the bee hive. I finally finished 8 of these ugly science fair posters that I had big plans for but they turned out cruddy. The sweetheart banner is hanging on my fridge. I love it and made it in master artist Holly Abston's class. I wish my mind thought like hers in the art department!

What a great day! I am watching the tv from the kitchen while I cook to see if school is going to get closed last minute!!!! Please God NOOOOOO! We need them back at school! I am standing by the range cooking chicken fried steak in honor of the Zac Brown Band winning a grammy last night! My kids and I love their chicken fry song. And yes I realize I have already had one heart attack and don't need chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy, but come on they won a grammy!!!!!! lol

P.S. I can not wait for Alice in Wonderland to come out March 5th!

P.S.S. For those of you that have tried to leave a post I think I have it fixed. It will not automatically post but it will be there eventually!