denyse schmidt for holy crap that's good percent off, photo bomb turkey, and a winner

 apparently i'm lacking of a good title.

first off, thanks for the love on the dress and the love of the cute dog. he's a keeper, and we did have a wonderfully productive monday, okay well, i had a good productive day, the dog is still bumming around.  he is kind of starting to follow me and tries to hang out with me so he is getting out of her room more. i guess baby steps!
second, look what i found!!!!!
YES! that would be denyse schmidt fabric. which is nice and all buuuuuuutttt....
when i went to my joanns store. which btw i kind of cried when i saw it for the first time when i moved here because it's sad looking compared to the ones i was used to going to in utah and apparently a lot of other people in the area thought it was kind of a sad place too, because the store is moving to a much larger location and becoming more like my utah joanns. which is exciting news all by itself but that's not what's giving me all the exclamation point writing! it's that i got all that lovely fabric (what was left on the bolt) for 75% off baby!!!!! yeah! (first off dont hate me because people around here dont buy up all the DS fabric the minute it gets here, and second off dont hate me because i got it for 75% off, oh okay go ahead and hate, if i was reading this and it didn't happen to me i'd be a little bugged too.)  they are so so pretty. and they make me happy.
what am i going to make with it? who cares! love it! going to cuddle it when i need a pick me up!

on top of the fabric and the linen, i also got a bunch of notions i needed. very exciting indeed. :)  better get over there before the big store opens up and everything goes back to full price. :)

i started to go through some of our vacation pictures. we went on vacation right before school started. i hope to post them tomorrow.
while going through all of them i noticed one of my turkey's had figured out photo bombing. half of them with my good camera have either a nostril a mouth, top of a head, and so forth from this one child.

thankfully he didn't realize i was also taking tons of pictures from my phone. so i got some good ones with that.

our kids keep getting older and with that they keep getting funner. and kind of funny. i really like that they have a sense of humor. maddening as it may be at times, they do keep us laughing. apparently our dysfunctions have some purpose. and thankfully for my good phone pictures this little monster kept me laughing and will live to see another family vacation...

okay now for a winner of the stop.go.sew.quilt. book.
:)

 Lisa Marie said...

The entrance to my sewing room needs a sign that says "Enter at your own risk". It's chaos in there but I don't want anyone to mess with it!

nice! yeah, i know the feeling! 

okay the winner's info has been sent to angela thank you all for playing! :)

ps i'm working on a new quilt. :D i'm super excited about it! cant wait to show you.

V and Co: crash and burn baby

 this week i had a very exciting, sad, weird, fun, happy marker come true for me.
i sent my last child to school.
after 12 years of having at least one small person in my home i now have 6 hours where all my minions/noisemakers/things i call my children are in school.
i thought i was going to have a super hard time with it.
then i didn't.
and then the third day came and then i did have a hard time with it.

on wednesday i went and got a pedicure, shopped (where i FINALLY after TWO WHOLE DANG YEARS, found my yellow cardigan i've been searching and searching for. i found it at old navy and funny the color is "nebraska corn". the dress was found there as well on clearance for $9.99), and then went to lunch at a sit down restaurant with another mom that was celebrating "the last child going to school" marker as well.

so yes, that day was fine, i even sang "it's the best day ever" song by spongebob.
then thursday we had an eventful time of going to joann's getting something's i needed and trying to figure out exactly what project i need to work on first, and had a couple of fun visitors (hello ladies!)...went to lunch again...and then had the kids show up from school.

again. no missing them, and feeling like: "uh wait didn't i just send you out the door? i kind of really like this no having to deal with kiddo things for 6 hours straight!"

then today happened:

and well poor buck and i aren't handling our new found freedom as graciously today as we thought we would.
i guess i'm doing okay...
i'm feeling just mildly disoriented...nothing a good written out schedule wont fix...so i'll be fine, give me a couple of more days of wandering around in circles, finally getting a schedule, and then rejoicing in the fact that i actually have the opportunity to miss my children.

 but the dog, he's really missing his best friend.

he naps, and hangs out in her room most of the day, and when he's tired of that, he sits and stares at me until he realizes i'm not going to put bows, or fabric, or sunglasses on him, or play dolls on him, as the little girl noisemaker likes to do when she's around. he either then just lays down near me, or goes back to her room. poor guy.

or maybe he's like totally okay with it and is like "dude, finally, MY room all by myself with no stupid bow on my ear! i'm just going to relax."
yeah, i don't think so.
maybe i'll rent a kid to sit on him for a few hours a day while she's gone.

or maybe i'll find him a yellow cardi and a cute dress so his third day crash and burn isnt a repeat on monday.
k, that's it, target, old navy, tj maxx, lunches with friends,  and sewing....yeah, that's what i'll have him do so he can see how awesome this new chapter in our life is going to be! :)

V and Co: giveaway: stop.go.quilt.sew!

today i get to be on the blog tour for miss angela yosten's new book: Stop. Go. Quilt. Sew!
and i just have to gush a little about this lady.
she is the most delightful person, so genuine, nice and kind, and of course super talented.
as most of you know that 3 of my 4 noisemakers, aka my minions, aka my children, are indeed boys.
i know i know, they are easier in the respect of not as many meltdowns, drama and so forth. BUT when it comes to making things for them...not as easy my friends.
so whenever i see something that is cute and handmade especially for boys...i'm there. now, make a whole book about it... doubly there.

soooo lets talk about this book. shall we?

 this book has awesome designs and ideas, and has a great all around feel and look. here are a few of my faves! this adorable do not enter bag. i know sometimes i'm scared of what might crawl out or bite my hand as i open my boy's back pack...why not give a fair warning?

 this one way sign is another fave, most of the time i feel like i'm redirecting the boys...this may help them hahahaha. :)

now i have a soft spot for pillows and decor, so uh of course i'm going to love the stop sign and the the speed limit pillow and well might as well add all the other sign pillows on there! too cute, you could also frame them if you don't want them as pillows.
there are quilts, and shirt add ons, and decor, and so much more. i really love this book. good job angela!


okay now angela wants me to talk about one of MY favorite signs and a story behind it:

i've mentioned that i had 4 kids. and that three of them were boys. well the last one is a girl noisemaker.
she had a lot of ear infections her first year so her speech was a little delayed. (she's caught up quite nicely now)
and for the longest time she would make up words or have her own little language if you would, like for example pizza was "choppy", and spaghetti was "spay" those sort of things.
well for the longest time every time we were in the car she would yell in her own language something over and over again and we didn't know what in the heck she was saying. we just smiled and said "yes, that's right! sky!" or "yes, you're right! that's a car!"
YEARS PASSED PEOPLE and we just never knew what in the world the girl was saying.
well, finally the mystery was solved this last year.
see we moved from a remote area momentarily to a very populated area...then to iowa.

and then the girl now a little older and more "wordy" was able to vocalize more.
while in the car she would randomly yell out "santa was here!!"

and we would just scratch our heads and chop it up to "well she is OUR child, and have you seen the siblings? would we expect anything other than randomly yelling out things about santa in the middle of summer?"

one day we were going down a new way and she kept yelling out "santa was here!!"
and then there would be a lull and then again "SANTA WAS HERE!!!"

it took about 4 times till a light bulb came on over my husband's head.
"oh.my.gosh. i think i know what she's talking about."
i look at him like this is going to be good.
and he says "wait for it....wait for it...okay in like 3 seconds..."
and sure enough:
"SANTA WAS HERE!!!!"
i was like "WHAT IN THE WORLD? WHAT IS IT?" then the next time we came to a place where santa was in katie's world he pointed it out to me and the boys:

years people. she's been telling us for years, where santa touches down and lands his reindeer in order to deliver happiness to boys and girls.
yup. i wouldn't expect any less from one of my awesome family members.

i mean when you have a husband that explains these signs as:

"snakes ahead beware 20 Many People Hurt."

we are some kind of special at our house.

okay now:
i have a book to giveaway.

want it?
okay here you go:
for a chance to win tell me: if you had a sign, what would your sign say?

for a second chance to win:
what's your favorite kind of project, a fast one or one that takes a little more time. which is more rewarding?

**answer in two separate comments, and please include your email address at the end of each comment like this:
your email address {at}whatever server{dot}com 
 you have till this friday the 17th to enter.

please make sure to go visit all the other cool stops:

Day 1 (Monday, August 6): Stash Books (California)http://www.stashbooksblog.com/

Pit Stops…

Day 2 (Tuesday, August 7): Sarah Fielke (Australia)http://thelastpiece.typepad.com/

Day 3 (Wednesday, August 8): Blue Nickel Studios (Washington)http://bluenickelstudios.com/

Day 4 (Thursday, August 9): Natalia Bonner (Utah)http://www.pieceandquilt.com/

Day 5 (Friday, August 10): Barbara Groves and Mary Jacobsen (Arizona)http://www.meandmysisterdesigns.com/

Day 6 (Saturday, August 11): John Adams (North Carolina)http://www.quiltdad.com/

Day 7 (Sunday, August 12): Vanessa Christenson (Iowa)http://www.vanessachristenson.com/

Day 8 (Monday, August 13): Rachel Griffith (Ohio) http://psiquilt.com/

Day 9 (Tuesday, August 14): Pat Sloan (Virginia) http://www.patsloan.com

Day 10 (Wednesday, August 15): Lissa Alexander (Texas)http://modalissa.blogspot.com/

Destination...

Day 11 (Thursday, August 16): Angela Yosten (Texas)http://blog.angelayosten.com

see you there!

V and Co: clouds of the midwest

this summer we've had a couple of firsts. this was our first full summer in the midwest. this summer we went to chicago for the first time. this summer we saw our first scary storm. well scary for us because we've never heard the sirens go off before that day. there was this weird look to the sky and then all of a sudden the clouds were scooped to the side and what was left behind was the greenish dark blue sky.  the only way i could describe it was that it looked like someone was skimming their hand next the clouds and pushing them over as they folded over each other. kind of like if you had some soap bubbles on the the top of a bowl of water, and moved the bubbles over to one side. it was eery, as my neighbor and i scrambled to get the patio furniture close to the house or in the house we looked up then looked at each other, we each said "oh swear word" mine was actually that phrase as we stared at it, and then each took a picture and then she yelled at me "GET INSIDE!"
the picture i took didn't do it justice, but i had to get inside before whatever force that was pushing the clouds like that got to where i was standing.
it all ended a few hours later, and a few phone calls finally reaching my husband and son who were out at scout camp, (they were safe in a shelter) we lost power for over 12 hours.

so far the clouds keep our family in awe. i don't think we've ever experienced soooo many cool looking clouds and sky. it's really beautiful. the corn is really on the sad side i've been told due to the lack of rain we've been having...but i'm hoping to get some fun corny pictures. if i could take a picture of the fireflies over the corn fields and do it justice i would.
but honestly it's breath taking and i don't think i could get a picture to even show you that phenomenon. :)

we are really enjoying our surroundings. it's neat to see new things even as a middle aged gal like myself.

poop...
i'm middle aged.
:/
i'm a middle aged woman who says "poop"
:)

V and Co: making cute shrinky dinks

phew!
didn't mean to let so much time go by
well the last couple of weeks have gone in a flash. and honestly, if i can be so bold...i've enjoyed being lazy laid back this summer.  gosh i'm going to miss it. but the kids are anticipating school and...okay only 50% of my kids are super excited to go to school, and the other 50% wish that school was optional.
but whatever we're enjoying the last little bit of summer and when we get to first day of school there will be tears and they will be by me and that is enough to make all the kids want to get on that bus. :)
soooo...
last week we had a couple of times that we couldn't go to the pool. i know shocking, but by the end of the summer they do get a little tired of going to the pool every single day and we also had a sick kid. we stayed at home, so to keep myself sane, and the kids entertained we bought some shrinky dink making material.
and can i just say that shrinky dinks are just as fun if not funner as an adult than they were as kids? they really are.
seriously.
so much fun.
i think it ended up being more about me having fun than them. even when the kids were all done, and i was like "lets make this!" and "wouldn't this be cute!!!!" and "lets make it smaller and see how little it turns out!!!"

my kids were like "okay mom. put down the pencil and walk away from the shrinky dink."

we started off first by making our own drawings and the boys walked away with some really fun storm trooper helmets the oldest one drew for them...and then katie brought out a book and asked "can we do hello kitty?!" 

YES.WE.CAN. 

so we started to flip through the pages...

edited: for all of you asking:
i found my shrinky dink paper at Michael's (of course)
but here's the amazon link to the exact stuff i used:
Shrinky Dinks Shrinkable Plastic 

and of course there's a whole selection of pre drawn shrinky dinks as well.

so katie picked out some that she wanted to make herself and then i picked out some i wanted to make for myself for her. and then we went to town.

i thought this little croc was such a cutie.
on the package it says you can use color pencils, markers, and crayons, or pens. i tried markers...they kind of smear after they cook, so maybe if you use markers make sure you let them air dry for a little bit.
same thing with the crayons. they seem to stay a little melted for a while.
so i would say the colored pencils are you best bet.
but hey if you like smeary need to wait shrinky dinks...who am i to tell you what's best. :P

see how cute my croc is? i know right?! anyways katie did pretty sweet on her cake as well. 

she had me trace the cake and then she colored in the cake.

then i cut them all out. 

we made corn and hello kitties and grasshoppers, and puppies, and penguins, and stormtroopers, and spongebobs...man we made a lot of stuff.

any ways it was fun.

and now i have a ton of little shrinky dinks all strewn about my house.
but the memories are there. and i think we may have started something fun...only this time i'm the mom. :)
shrinky dinks rule.