Tiff Crochets

The beach has been wonderful.  We have a day and a half left here.  The girls have been enjoying the week spent without any pressing issues outside of when to walk across the dunes to the beach.  The only downside is that the seaweed has arrived.  There are waves and waves of seaweed washing onto shore.  By the morning, we will have to walk across a mound of seaweed to reach the water.  I can handle it because we have had four days of beautiful beach weather.  Everyone is tanned and enjoying the time together relaxing.

We will be home Sunday night and I will miss waking up to the sun rising over the Gulf.  We have seen plenty of dolphins (most likely officially porpoises, must research that when I get home), even a family swimming by out in the deeper water.  Many photos to come.  The girls attempted wind surfing today and Maddie now wants to wind surf every day for the rest of the summer.  Her grandpa Pepe is now talking about getting the girls a junior wind surfing set to use on the lakes around our house.  I may be doomed!

Enjoy the rest of your week.  We are in the midst of grilling steaks and baking sweet potatoes before taking an evening walk on the beach as the sun sets.

The girls and I are currently in Houston.  In two days, we will be driving down to Galveston Island for a week stay on the beach.  I think we’re commendeering my stepdad’s laptop and wireless internet access so I hope to blog a time or two while we’re there.  I finally finished my beach cover up, but now I can barely move my hand from so much crocheting.  At least I will be able to wear it during my time in the sun!  Here’s a photo from one of our last trips to the beach, which sadly, was the summer after we moved back to Texas in 2005.  Living 30 miles from the beach for two years should have made summer trips mandatory.

We’ll be there with my mom and the most amazing dog ever, Hoover.  I saved him from a shelter while in college and he now is spoiled beyond reason by the parents.  Here’s mom with the girls:

I am so going to get in trouble for showing off this picture of her too, (Love you, Mom!) but it’s the only one I can find of Hoover in my Photobucket stash.

Have a wonderful week!!!!!

For those of you celebrating America’s independence today, Happy 4th of July!!

We’re off to a barbeque at a friend’s house, then will enjoy trying to catch as many fireworks shows in our area as possible, and there are quite a few!  The benefits of living in the “mid-cities” area between Dallas and Ft. Worth!

Here’s my favorite photos from a 4th of July many years ago (okay, about four years to be exact).

Laura survived three days at Girl Scout camp, arriving home only slightly miffed at her camping buddy and best friend.  I made them talk it out the 30 minute drive back from camp and now things are better.  Here’s Laura in her cabin, right before I left her on Saturday.

I really should have taken an after picture. She looked exhausted!  She did have a great time and learned a lot of new things.

Look at my wonderful stash of goodies newly arrived from England!  We did a swap in the Who Knits? group on Ravelry for Doctor Who items and Jelly Babies.  I have now discovered that I will never eat jelly beans again.  I will also weigh 500 pounds before the summer is out because I also discovered on the same day of my package arriving that Cost Plus World Market sells Jelly Babies.  I am doomed.  Doomed!

We celebrated Maddie’s 6th birthday over the weekend with a Star Wars party.  I was so glad to see the homemade light sabers go home.  We still have around five, but they haven’t been touched since the party.  Here’s Maddie playing Pin the Something (control panel?) on Darth Vader:

Last, but not least, I finished more tawashi!  I need to make more.  Tawashi will probably be my beach (11 more days!) projects because they’re lightweight and portable.  I made these for a swap on Ravelry.  They are now happily residing in Pennsylvania!

My camera phone does not do Laura’s quilt justice, but here is a temporary photo of her amazing work until I get my digital camera back on Friday.

From Laura’s description when she gave it to us, this is a kaleidoscope quilt pattern.  She chose all of the fabric pieces, either from her grandmother’s stash or from the local quilt store.  Her grandmother cut the pieces, but all of the sewing was done by Laura, with the exception of the backing, I believe.  This was her first sewing project ever.  I’ve put off any sewing projects with her at my house until I have a better grasp at what I’m doing myself, but after this project, I think she can teach me a thing or two!  The top pink square incorporates leftover fabric from a night gown made for Laura by the same grandmother for last Christmas.

I found the purse handle I want for my Meadow Handbag (I cheated and used my Ravelry search box, so it’s a Ravelry link), but I’m waiting until payday on Monday so that I can buy at least three handles for future purses.  Here’s the purse, with buttons temporarily attached to see how they look, and the awesome pink flamingo fabric I found.

Life had not come to an end.  My camera has been found.  It was under a bag on a cedar chest in between two rooms at my mom’s house.  Awesome.  Just had to backtrack to where I’d been and where I’d placed my stuff.

I can’t take a photo of Laura’s wall hanging until Friday.  I tried tonight but the camera phone was just no good.  I might try in the morning with better light, but most likely, it will be a Friday post.  In the same time that my daughter made a quilt wall hanging, I botched a pair of sleep shorts for Maddie.  Turned that pattern completely upside down.  I am soooo talented.  Next week, when I am not planning a birthday party, I will attempt to make the shorts right side up.  Only a photo comparing the two will explain what damage I did to the first pair. :)

I’m staying up too late yet again, but it is Saturday (technically early Sunday morning at 12:06 am) and so I shall astound you with my random thoughts at this late hour.

Disclaimer: I am aware that I rarely astound.  It just sounds good. :)

1. I’ve misplaced my digital camera.  It’s somewhere between my house, my car, and my mom’s house in Houston.  I think it is somewhere in the back seat of my car, but have yet to actually find it.  The power is out at mom’s house so she can’t look for it.  My camera case has my awesome Ravelry “Where my stitches at?” button displayed proudly on the front cover.
2. We’re busily preparing (aka spending a lot of time Googling cool ideas versus actual planning) for Maddie’s birthday party on Saturday.  It’s Star Wars themed.  I practiced making Yoda cupcakes tonight.  Andy thinks I should have gone with plain white icing, then added the yoda decoration.  I disagree.  I rather like the green background.  Maddie fell asleep 30 minutes before they were finished so I can’t ask her opinion until the morning.  What do you think? I know that the blue eyes are out.  I know Yoda is an alien, but it makes him look like my alien ornament from Roswell.
3. I made this cake with the leftover batter when I couldn’t find my other cupcake pan (I think it’s hiding with my camera).  My hopes are that Maddie won’t like it because I’d much rather it say something more along the lines of Happy Birthday Maddie.
4. Laura’s home from Montana!  She surprised us with her first sewing project - an amazing quilt kaliedoscope wall hanging.  When (notice the lack of IF) I find my camera, I’ll take a photo of my new prized possession.
5. I found the missing piece of my yarn winder in the bottom of Laura’s closet so now I can finish my Brownie hat.  I need it in order to cover up whatever my hair seems to be doing lately.  It’s not pretty.
6. I’ve been searching for the perfect purse handle for my Meadow Handbag.  I think I may end up settling for a not-so-perfect one, which will completely blow the coolness of my pink flamingo fabric.
7. Andy has been appointed to the Iowa team at work.  I don’t remember if that includes all of the recently declared disaster areas or just Iowa.  Either way, he will be working hard over the next several months helping many, many families and businesses get the funding they need to restart their lives.
8. Ack.  I was distracted by Google Reader and the sound of Andy smacking the virtual tennis ball around in the living room.  It’s after 1 am and I’ve got to go to bed.

Good night!

Andy and Maddie spent Father’s Day playing on the Wii, while I was able to sneak off to finish picking up a few items for dinner tonight. I cooked a citrus-glazed pork tenderloin, parmesan risotto and green beans for the dad in the house. Maddie helped out by setting the table and then cleaning off the table after dinner. Laura is gallivanting around Montana at the moment and has not called yet for her daily check-in. She is enjoying her two weeks of one-on-one time with her grandma.

I finished picking up the last few items for my tawashi swap at Ravelry today and found a never-before-seen (by me) magazine. Have you seen Living Crafts ? It was full of many craft options that are budget-conscious and rather eco-friendly.

I’m starting to work on a new handbag tonight while the Wii play continues (it’s their day - non-stop Zelda and tennis would drive me mad). I’m making Jennifer Fletcher’s Meadow Handbag . I’m looking forward to seeing more patterns, both crochet and sewing-related on her site Fable Handmade Goods in the future. I tried to use something from my stash, but all of my good yarn is set aside for projects-in-progress, so I picked up the new Vanna’s Choice Baby in Berrylicious while at Michaels today. I wanted to go with a green because it seems to be my new favorite color, but went with the pink after finding a perfect set of wooden buttons in the clearance aisle. I think I have the handles already, but if not, I’ll head to Hobby Lobby tomorrow before driving to Houston for the week.

The dishes are done, the kitchen semi-clean before the pecan pie gets taken out of the fridge, the family is beating their virtual opponents at tennis, and I am going to sneak off to take a bath (hot temps in Houston mean lots of swimming to be done!) while all is quiet.

Found the instructions on Knit Lich’s blog

1. A Girl’s Best Friend?, 2. Sol del guacamole, 3. WideRight, 4. Nant Ffrancon and Glyder Fawr, Wales, 5. _MG_9768, 6. Ritas, 7. heaven’s tree, 8. a fairy cake, 9. Day 106 - I am a librarian, 10. family day out, 11. You’ve got mail!, 12. madelinebuncover

Here’s how it works:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker).

There’s a group you can add it to, as well.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name. (kid version: favorite animal?)

I ran to the grocery store this afternoon to pick up the two necessary items that we cannot live without (or wait until payday tomorrow before buying) - milk and Diet Coke. The milk is so that the girls will not freak in the morning, hyperventilating over a bowl of dry Honey Bunches of Oats when they discover their dad drank the last of the milk the night before (every other day - he must STOP.IT!). The Diet Coke is supposed to stop the late night milk chugging, but does not. Anyway, back to my point! Immediately when I walked in, I was blinded by my favorite sign of late spring - strawberries under $2 a pint/carton/whatever-they-come-in. Strawberries are my biggest fruit weakness. I could eat the entire container in a day, but force myself to share (unlike Andy with the MILK!). I picked up Cool Whip Free (an attempt to be good with that creamy goodness) and a box of Angel Food Cake mix. I’ve always wanted to make angel food cake on my own so this was the first step towards attempting it. Look at our lovely shortcake goodness!

I used dark brown sugar on the strawberries instead of granulated sugar. I’m trying to switch over to the “dark” side. It’s supposed to be healthier and you definitely do not have to use as much to sweeten things.

I’ve also spent this Sunday afternoon starting on a Brownie hat for myself. I’m using Cascade Luna in a lovely green. I’ve been in love with greens this spring. My newest purse is green. My crochet bag is green (and brown and white). The last three shirts I bought were green. I would have bought a green Ravelry shirt but I was trying to control my green urges. Here’s my progress so far -

I should truly be finished by now because the total crochet time for me on this hat is about an hour. Instead, I wandered into the kitchen to make angel food cake, then hot dogs for the girls, then cut up the strawberries, washed a load of dishes, talked to Andy’s mom and my dad on the phone, engage in the neverending battle to keep my Google Reader feeds under 200, and now it’s hours later. Which reminds me! I will sit down to watch The Hours once the girls go to bed since it’s due back at the library tomorrow and I can finish my hat then.

Tomorrow and Tuesday I’m doing to try to finish the Little Acorn bag for both Laura and Maddie as a end of school present. They have both worked hard this year and have done so well in school that I am so proud of them.

Have a wonderful week!