Is it REALLY the end of July ALREADY!!!!!????

I simply canNOT believe this is the last week of July already!!  Summer has went by in a blur.....Here are some pictures of the last couple of weeks.....

Some might call me crazy, but last Sunday afternoon, in between packing for youth camp and church services and lunch preparations, I sewed Callie a new dress that she wore to church that evening!!  You see, I had requested to be a tester for a new pattern that was coming out. Well, the pattern designer was all filled up for that particular size.  I forgot all about it, until receiving an e-mail Sunday right before lunch.  She asked if I was still interested.  Someone wasn't able to make the size I had signed up for.  The only problem was....she needed it sewn in the next 2-3 days!!!!  Well....I was leaving for camp THAT NIGHT!!!!  I REALLY wanted to test the pattern out.....so I told her if I got the pattern e-mailed to me that afternoon I could do it.  I got it after lunch and while my dear father-in-law and sons were washing dishes I was printing and cutting out a new pattern to sew up in a flash.  Less than 2.5 hours later here was the end result.   

I just love this pattern and so does Callie.  We have fabric for a couple more waiting to be sewn up now.

 It's plenty long enough that it should last for an entire year...hopefully!!  :)

 Every year one of the local schools has an enormous garage sale.  The kids and I eagerly look forward to going.  On the last day of the sale, you can fill a bag for just $1!!!!  I stuffed 3 bags full of clothes.  Most of these clothes will be used to up-cycle into other clothes for Callie to wear this fall.  This will make her wardrobe very cheap to sew and I'll have a blast doing it! :)  I was happy to find some XL men's tech shirts that will be turned into shirts for me.  Also found 5 pairs of brand-new condition men's dress/casual pants for Duane!  Another find, not pictured, was a bean bag chair.  I needed some bean pellets for some sewing projects. They are very expensive to buy.  Now I have more than enough!!!!  The kids found some toys and the total amount spent.....$3!!!!!

All washed and drying on the clothesline.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE hanging clothes out to dry!!???;)

 Callie found a purse to add to her collection.  I don't think she quite knew what it said on the front, but it made me smile.

 This is what Seth looked like last weekend before we left for camp.  This was after 2 doses of steroids.  When he woke up on Saturday morning, one eye was completely swollen shut and the other was almost.  By Sunday night, on the medication, he looked almost normal again.  He must have got into some sort of poison ivy plant weeding the flower bed for me.

 Found some leopard print knit in the weight I use for my running skirts.  I couldn't resist buying some and making this up.  Now to make a co-ordinating shirt.  lol

Callie and I went shopping at JA's on Friday.  She had fun picking out another doll clothes pattern.  They were just .99 cents last week.  She is planning on 'helping' mommy make the denim dress in the lower right-hand corner for her doll, Jenny.  She also picked out the pink heart-shaped buttons for the dress.  The crayon fabric will be for her first day of Kindergarten dress. She wanted me to take this picture so her Aunt Sarah (in the Philippines) could see what she bought.  :)

On Friday, Samuel was invited to a b-day party the following day. Of course, I just had to sew up something for the birthday boy.  :)  I was shopping at Wal-Mart and found this fun activity pads for Hangman and Tic-Tac-Toe.  What kid doesn't love playing those games.  I bought them Saturday morning, came home, found some fabric and make this little art case to hold them in.  Also sewed up a gift bag to put it all in.  I NEVER have wrapping paper or tape in my house, but ALWAYS having plenty of fabric to wrap a gift it.....lol. 

 I would have loved to have an applique on the front of the case, but time was clicking by FAST!!!  The part was at noon....sooooo, I had to make do with just a plain outside. ;(

 Samuel, with his gift, all excited to go to the party!!

 A close-up of the card Samuel made for Caleb.  I thought it made a cute gift tag for the bag. :)

 My sister-in-law Teresa also celebrated her birthday on Saturday.  We had a fun cook-out with the family and of course, I had to see what kind of fun gift I could give this year.  I love giving gifts, this year it was a Hawaiian-themed outfit.  I found an orange grass skirt with accessories. 

 Doesn't Jerry look cute with the grass skirt!! :)

 The yummy-looking-3-different-kinds-of-candy-bar-birthday cake!!  Can you guess which 3 I used?

 We also had tons of fun shopping later that evening trying on all sorts of silly stuff.  We ended the evening with a yummy meal at Chipotle.

 Happy Birthday, Teresa!!!



~Callie's 'Tangled inspired' 5th. Birthday~

Callie's 5th. Birthday fell on a Wednesday.  Sooooo.....after a full day of music teaching and Kid's Club, her party started around 9:00PM after church.

 Blue jello 'water' with orange slice boats.

 Food served up in frying pans!

 Cheese and pepperoni boats

 Frying Pan Flynn Game

Seth drew the poster for me.

 All the cousins

 Pascal party blowers for each party guest.

 Callie with her gifts.

 A tiny Rapuzel doll with accessories.

 A beautiful dress from Grandpa and Grandma.

 Princess game from Seth.

 A pretty card and money for her doll fund.  She's saving for an American Girl doll.:)

 Pastor Mark trying to give Callie her gift.  She hid under the table 'cause she didn't want anyone to see her get the gift.  lol  It was some more money for her doll fund.

 She was pretty happy to see her cake!!  The entire family had kept the entire theme/cake a secret. 

 Can't believe our baby girl is 5!!!

 Callie wanted ice cream in her purple-white chocolate covered sugar cone that was on the top of the cake.

 This was taken just seconds after I caught her wiping her ice cream covered face on the tablecloth!!  Grandpa was howling!!!:)

 We had the Tangled movie playing for the kids/grown-ups.:)  I do not get into animated movies, but this was one I really liked.  I just love a good fairytale.

 I sewed this Rapunzel dress for Callie on Tuesday.  It was a BIG hit!!!  The Rapunzel hair was made out of an entire skein of fluffy, thick yellow yarn. 

 She flitted around the living room after the party guests had left, singing the song from the movie.

 throwing the hair up in the air....

 And of course, her doll, Jenny, had to have a matching dress.  This, I made up Wednesday afternoon after my music teaching and party preparation was finished.

 Jenny's Rapuzel dress.....

 A close-up of the bodice.  Simon helped cut out the front piece for the dress.  It was his idea to sew her doll a new outfit. I didn't think we would have time, but I made it work.  :)

 Duane and I caught the boys playing with Callie's new Rapunzel toys. :)  Just had to get a picture.....lol

This was a super-fun party to put together!!



I'm 33 today!!!!

Well folks, today I added yet another number to my every-increasing age!! lol  I just LOVE birthdays.  One never knows what suprises the day may hold!!!  Today was made special by a bunch of different people.  I thought I'd take a moment to share before bedtime......

First, let's talk about a sweet little night owl in our house.  This little STINKER kept me up until 12:30AM!!!  So I guess you could say, technically, I started celebrating by staying up very, VERY, VERY late!!!!  Well, despite the fact that I went to bed LATE....my alarm still went off at 6:00AM.  I forced myself up and out of bed and into my workout clothes.  It was off across the street to put in 3 miles of walking with a friend, Angie.  She gave me a b-day after we exercised!  My first for the day!!!!  Then, it was back home to pack Duane's lunch and make sure all the boys remembered everything they were supposed to take to school.  Callie was supposed to wake up to start her school work.  Duane tried several times.  She went back to bed and went to sleep.  He put her on the couch.  Bang....out like a light AGAIN!!!  I tried several times...finally gave up....she was NOT going to wake up!!  Man, wish I could sleep like this 'angel' below.....She finally did wake up around 9:30AM and acted as chipper as an early morning bird tweeting merrily in the treetops. 

 I started doing some cleaning up around the house and received several birthday phone calls.  My e-mail inbox was also flooded with FB birthday messages and even a birthday wish on my blog.  Amidst all that, I received a birthday wish clear from the Philippines!!!!  My dear sister-in-law and brother-in-law(who are missionaries there) called to sing 'Happy Birthday' to me in Ilocano.  That was a special treat that brought tears to my eyes.  Callie immediately had to sing happy birthday to me....She sang it probably a dozen or more times over the course of the day.  Finally I had to record it to share with you.....

There was JUST enough time for a quick shower before heading out to my birthday lunch.  My sister-in-law, Tina, had called and wanted to treat me to lunch.  I chose a new-to-me restaurant, Chipotle.  It was FANTASTIC!!!  Super YUMMY!!!!  It was a special treat to be able to eat out for lunch and I enjoyed it so much!!  My nephews wanted us to ride in their car with them, so we left my van in the parking lot and off we went shopping.  A trip to Hobby Lobby yielded no purchases but a deep desire to re-decorate our bedroom in black and white.  It's amazing what kind of ideas one gets from seeing a piece of fabric!!!  I'm thinking we should probably finish the enormouse hallway/entry project before jumping into the bedroom re-do!! lol  I was super-excited with my find at the Goodwill!!!  Some dri-fit exercise tops for $3 a piece!!!!  YAY!!!!!  I would have never thought to look there, but someone had mentioned that idea to me this very morning.  Glad I checked!  Did a few more errands and it was off to pick the boys up from school and teach 5 lessons.  One of my students, my nephew, wrote a sweet birthday message in his staff book for me to see!!!  That was extra-special to me.  After finishing teaching, I took off on a 2 mile walk.  This made 6 total miles for the day.  I had a goal of completing 33 miles in the week before my birthday and finished walking that last 6 on my birthday.  Gotta walk off some of that birthday food.  :) 
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We enjoyed a spinach/chicken salad for my birthday meal and the kids baked and decorated a cake for me.  I posed with the cake...here's what I looked like at the end of the day.....frizzy,wind-blown hair, tired-looking, but happy!!!

I blew out the candles, but didn't eat a crumb.  I try to avoid gluten when at all possible.  I had to eat some gluten-laden foods over the weekend and have really been feeling icky....so I got away with not having to taste it. :)  I did enjoy a big bowl of my favorite ice cream from Deitch's.....Buckeye ice cream is the BEST!!!

A special card from Simon.  Can't wait to cash in on this one!!

After dinner, Duane took me out to the mall to buy me a birthday gift.  I wanted something exercise related--  shoes, a running jacket or a Garmin(apparantly he looked for one of these for me, but they were not to be found here in our town.)  I picked out these new shoes at the Finish Line.  I also got some cushy gel inserts.....ahhhhh......they feel dreamy compared to the clearance running shoes I purchased 6 weeks ago.  I can't wait to try these out tomorrow morning. 

So there you have it, my birthday.....it's off to bed for me!!! 

A Party, 4 Pastors and some Pizza!

 A cake was baked and decorated....

balloons and streamers were hung in anticipation....

of a special 6 year olds birthday party!!!!

 Gifts were unwrapped.....

 The long-awaited gift from his BIG brothers, Seth and Simon.....a Ben 10 ship.....was an ENORMOUS hit!!!

 Opening up a gift from one of the four 'pastors' Samuel invited.

~Hot Wheel car and candy~

 Opening up cards from relatives and friends.

 Card and money from another pastor.

 Awwww....he got a $1!!!!!  That made his day!!!!

 The birthday boy with his siblings....

 the honored guests....

more guests....Daddy, Youth Pastor, Music Pastor, Children's Pastor & Music Pastor's wife.

I guess this is a good time to explain why all the pastor's were at a 6 year old's b-day party.  Why because he invited them!!!  All by himself.  I was told after church last Sunday, that Samuel was going around inviting people to his party.  He had counted up all the chairs we had and had figured out exactly how many were left for guests.  It was too cute.  I watched from a distance as he went around to all the Pastor's and invited them to share in his special day!!!  They all came and enjoyed pizza, cake & ice cream with Samuel.  He answered the door when each guest arrived and enthusiastically welcomed them to his party.  (Oh, and I should mention that I found out he told everyone they could bring a card with either a $1 or $10 bill inside!!!  I died laughing when I heard that.   Only a cute little 6 year old could get away with that!)

 The birthday boy with his cake and candle. 

 Blowin' out that candle!!!

Everyone singing "Happy Birthday".  Watch for the eye-roll!!!!

 Samuel's cool Ben 10 ship.

 The party guests get attacked!!!

 Boys will be boys....

 We worked hard today!!!

 The birthday boy with his gifts from Daddy and Mommy.  A turtle to sleep with(that's exactly what he wanted) and a Bible Storybook.  And, I LOVE this book and the cd's.  We listened to 2 stories last night and they were absolutely captivating!!!  The kid's were begging for another!

He's a bit tired now....

 One last smile before bedtime...