Sunday, February 28

Brenna decided she wanted to get in on the action while I photographed my new quilt squares - isn't she just two cute - what a ham! (She also decided to take pictures of me after these were done - she took pictures of me with each of my quilt squares :-)

My new quilt squares for my quilt along :-) Can't wait to see what my sister's new blocks look like. I can't believe my mom, sister, and I are all doing a quilt along together - how cool are they to join me! I love my red block :-)

I just had to use my owl fabric (sorry, I've been dying to make something out of it and decided this block would work well for it :-)

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! I can't believe we are to the last day of February already (boy has the first two of the year flown by!). (just in case you are wondering, I didn't get my last two February projects done, bummer - hopefully, we will have better days getting to school in March and my next project list will all get done :-) I will admit that I was sidetracted with the new quilt along that I decided to do, oh well!

So after doing laundry this morning and a quick lunch, we went on a stroll to try to find Dustin's wedding ring. Dustin lost his wedding ring yesterday on his run - talk about trying to find a needle in a haystack! Dustin went on a long run yesterday, so after a 2 hour walk (about), we came home empty-handed (but hey, Brenna ran/walked a lot of the stroll so I am guessing we will have a tired child here soon and maybe even an early bedtime today). (I think Justice was very happy that we took that long walk :-) (I had looked some yesterday evening for the ring on Justice's walk too - no luck then and no luck today). I think we are just going to have to accept that it is gone... I told Dustin with my ring coming apart and him losing his ring, maybe we should just pretend to be engaged until we are back in the US (hmm - maybe I am the only one thinking that is funny - but I am trying to think positive here).

I also did my two new quilt squares this morning for my pinwheel quilt along - I think they turned out pretty well (I can't wait until I have all the blocks done to see what it all looks like put together :-)

Well, I think that covers our highlights! Take Care!

Saturday, February 27

My face painting art work. I had some problems putting the white on and probably needed to use some more dark blue, but overall, I was happy with my work... I loved Brenna's mask below - I think she just needed a cape to complete the look! She is loving her new clothes from Dustin's mom - she hasn't wanted to take the pink leotard off lately :-)

I am doing a quilt along with my mom and sister from the website P.S. I Quilt (http://www.psiquilt.com/) I tried to add the button here for it, but couldn't get it to work yet... I am really happy with how my first two blocks turned out (for being completely new to quilting other than my paper-piecing, I was really jumping up and down that these turned out nice). Thanks for all your advice on these mom! I am going to be using my scraps of fabric from over here, so don't be surprised if fabrics from my other projects start to look familiar :-) (that is also part of the reason why I was trying to get so many of my other sewing projects done). (I am not completely thrilled with how I photographed these, I will have to try something different for the next block when I do it).

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! I am very happy here to have Dustin finally home :-) (I don't think I have mentioned it here, but he was in London on Monday - Wednesday and then in Cologne on Friday). Brenna has been really missing her Daddy, so I'm sure she will be glued to him all day today (and she gets very worried when she can't see him - poor guy can't even go to the bathroom without her...I'm thinking she is starting to get to the age that Dustin may need to call her when he is away on business).

So, anyway, yesterday we did some gluing, finger painting, and brush painting (so much stuff that I ran out of room for it all to dry, oops!). Brenna and I ordered (hah, I ordered, who am I kidding) new face painting books here - here are first two faces. I am pretty sure I have already said this, but I am going to say it again that I am planning a costume party for Brenna's birthday and am thinking about including face painting for the kids as one of the activities :-) (I have some great ideas now to do :-)

I am getting ready to switch gears on my sewing and make March my quilting month (o.k., I do have two other sewing projects I want to do too - I have too much stuff I want to do and not enough time to get it all done, lol - who would have thought that would be the case!).

Well, I think that about covers stuff here! Happy birthday Karen (hope you had a great day yesterday and enjoyed our video we sent you!)

Take Care!

Thursday, February 25

Our yummy cinnamon rolls from yesterday - don't they look delicious??? (The second picture was taken by Brenna (I lifted her up to take the picture) - she did a pretty good job didn't she??) (o.k., I can see in the picture now that I needed to cook them a little more (which I did do), but they still taste really good (and poor Dustin came home and ate the doughy one last night since I didn't warn him not to eat that one!))

My new yoga bag - don't you love the Amy Butler "Love" fabric (hmm, to me I think the name is making more sense since I do "Love" the fabric).

Brenna modeling my bag and her bag :-) ( wanted to her to hold both for a picture, but she prefered to do one at a time) (we did do our daily yoga after the pictures - if anyone is looking for a good workout video that can be done with a toddler, I highly recommend the Parents Magazine Mommy and Toddler fitness video (I found mine at Target - but it wasn't in the video section, just at one of the end of the aisles) - it is fun for the kids (even when they are a little older) and good bonding time too (and a good workout for mom too))

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are going pretty well here. Yesterday, we had really nice weather so we did get out a few times for walking/running with Justice. I am crossing my fingers that the weather will be nice today as well - it is much more appealing to go out with Brenna when I don't have to bundle up so much. They closed Brenna's kindergarten for this week due to a bad stomach virus going around (Wednesday thru Friday) - we are trying out some new indoor activities with that cancellation (sounds like from my German teacher that we are lucky not to have caught that one too as it is much worse than the one we had). On Tuesday, I bought some shaving cream for Brenna to play with in the bathtub. I hadn't really expected her to coat me with it on Tuesday, but I should have guessed that skin was more appealing than anything else to put the stuff on. Yesterday, I limited the shaving cream to just Brenna in the bathtub (hmm, I would much rather have her smell like her shampoo than shaving cream (and me too), but I think she only has about one more day of cream left now).

We also made up some more cinnamon rolls - yummy! (although I think I am going to have to space my batches of these much further apart, my weight loss/exercise isn't going to go anywhere with all this baking). (I will admit that I didn't bake them long enough - the center came out too doughy, but from my success on my first batch here, I do know how to fix it for the next batch...(the reason I took them out too early on the second batch was because I thought the first batch was a little over done on the top, but maybe 3rd time will be a charm when I make these - I really like the honey/brown sugar topping that I put on the 2nd batch)).

Brenna and I made some neat artwork yesterday - we made some "fireworks" out of paper cupcake holders and then she did a paper collage (oh, how I wish I would have given her real glue to put it together, I'm a little worried that as soon as I pick it up, it will all fall apart since she used her glitter glue (which is more like paint) to stick the paper on). (I think I will let her try a new collage today with glue this time :-)

Brenna helped really well with walking/running Justice yesterday (although I think she will really miss the downhills here when we move back to the US - that is her favorite part about the running!). It was nice here yesterday - about 50 and sunny, Brenna even found a small flower at the park - maybe spring is just around the corner??

I think today's activities will include some finger painting, but I need to get the laundry all done first.

Well, gotta go! Take Care!

Monday, February 22

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here - the sun was even shining here this afternoon (with warmer temperatures :-) (although that was followed by a whole morning of rain - good thing Brenna likes splashing in so many puddles).

While Brenna was away at school today, I made a yoga bag for myself - it is such pretty fabric (from the Amy Butler Love line), I just want to look at it...(I know, there is something wrong with me, but I'm pretty sure I inherited it from my mom :-) (no offense mom - I don't mind my addiction to fabric :-) (sorry, no pictures yet - I will try to take one tomorrow). Brenna liked my new bag - she did get it out to show my parents today (she loves the huge strap on the bag too - she looks so cute when she is carrying her bag - wonder if I can get her to pose with both bags tomorrow??). (poor Dustin, now that I have the new bag, I want a new mat too, lol).

We had a TV afternoon (not sure why we weren't outside enjoying the sunny weather - I think I was too stunned by it - I just kept telling myself that at any moment it was going to start raining again, lol). After that, we took Justice out and rain him up and down the hill a few times (which was really funny - Brenna made it further and further up the hill each time - that is the opposite of what I would have expected). I think Brenna just really likes the downhill run (who can blame her) - it is so fun to see her face light up when we are out running with him. After taking the dog out, we had a bath and then I trimmed Brenna's bangs (wonder how they will look in the morning, she just kept moving her head all over the place...). I had thought we would do yoga after dinner, but I should have moved it to the afternoon as Brenna fell asleep at supper again today. As she was falling off to sleep, she was saying "yoga, yoga mama" to me... (she was dressed for yoga too!) (I will admit that I almost took a picture of her sleeping at the table with the food in front of her - I could tell she wasn't going to make it very long all through the meal, her eyes kept drooping and her head was nodding...)

A happy birthday wish goes out to my brother today (I don't think he reads the blog much - Karen can you pass along the wish to him if you read it, I knew that I should have called yesterday instead).

Well, I think that is about it!

Take Care!

Sunday, February 21

Brenna ready to dive into her pretty painted eggs (I thought this picture turned out really funny - that was all her idea on how she wanted to "pose"). Below, my last new summer top (for me anyway - I'm sure I will be sewing more for Brenna soon) completed (can you tell how badly I have spring fever??) (o.k. - there is one other top that I plan to sew soon, but I would classify it more as a spring top)

More of Brenna with her pretty eggs.

I set Brenna free with our point and shoot camera on Friday - I love the following pictures that she came up with...

(I have several more TV pictures of Martha if anyone needs some - she didn't do too bad taking them and "Martha" was a good subject for her, lol)

Our new "shoes" for Brenna - she is interested in learning to tie, but she doesn't have any laces on her shoes to wear.

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here - been busy working on making some more of my projects and keeping Brenna entertained with all the rain here. She had fun coloring eggs last week - hope you enjoy her picture today of opening the container to dive in...

On Friday, Brenna and I completed some embroideries (can you tell she picked the colors on the shoes??) (we also did an alphabet page, but I will wait to share that one until I have the binding on the fabric) and overloaded on PBS kids TV episodes... Brenna has enjoyed our short afternoon trips out for the dog - she even ran up the hill with him on Friday in the rain (I am pretty sure that both Brenna and Justice love the run up the hill by our house). On Saturday, we all made it out to the store (which was a really good thing as supplies in the house were running really, really low). I also took Justice for some longer walks on Saturday and Sunday (I have been really doing poorly this winter getting longer walks for him during the week - can I say again that I can't wait for spring and no snow (although I really don't want rain either)).

Today, I cleaned the apartment and finished one of my listed February tops :-) Now, I just need to finish my tunic, yoga bag, and Brenna's tank top and my February sewing list will be completed (although I would also like to get back to some of my quilts too - hopefully March will be a productive quilt month :-)

Well, that is it for today! Take Care!

Thursday, February 18

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here - Dustin seems to have the worst of a head cold here and Brenna is getting over hers. I kept her home from school again today - she was bouncing more today (literally - she jumped all over the couches and on the pillows - I think a sign of recovery) - I think she ran around in the living room circle for about 45 minutes today as well (maybe a sign that I needed to take her out of the house for a walk earlier??)! We tried to do a few more activities today - we colored eggs this morning (I know Easter isn't until April, but I need to use up my food coloring here, plus Dustin eats lots of boiled eggs and I thought it would be a good activity for Brenna), we made homemade cinnamon buns (yummy and Brenna loved getting her hands in the dough), Brenna fingerpainted and did some other crayola painting, and we walked to the grocery store here in town (where I probably didn't make a friend in the cashier when I gave her 14 Euro in small coins today (20 cent coins and smaller)). Brenna was so cute at the store - she took one of her new bags and really wanted the cashier to see it and then she went to the end of the counter to take her money out to pay :-) (I let her put that money in her piggy bank when we got home as we didn't end up spending it at the store...) Brenna raced Justice up one of the hills her during our walk today (one of the people walking by said it looked like we were having fun - I think Brenna's giggles said it all, lol).

Well, I think we are all going to turn in early tonight - hopefully Brenna will sleep well. Brenna fell asleep at the supper table tonight at about 5:45 (Dustin was very bummed that he missed seeing her awake).

Take Care!

Wednesday, February 17

Brenna had lots of fun modeling our new little bags today (wouldn't these make great treat bags for a birthday or the end of the school year for the kids??) - we made the bags with the idea of separating our change and putting them in the different bags, wonder how long that will last and how soon Brenna will just have them as play bags...

Doesn't she look like a great little shopper???

Brenna modeling the TV remote - not sure the exact reason, but she was in the mood to smile with other objects today...

One of the faces from Monday - hmm, no smiles Monday, but she must be feeling more like herself today...

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there. I think we are all going to get Brenna's cold bug this time - at least it feels that way today...I kept Brenna home from Kindergarten today - I have been so spoiled with having my mornings "free", it is so different when she is home with me in the mornings...Brenna's upper lip is very chapped from her stuffy nose - hopefully that will be all better soon!

So, Brenna and I didn't accomplish too much today - we sorted our money and made bags for change (we made 7 little bags today), we made pizza for supper, played a little bit of Barbies, and have overdosed on too much TV (we watched all kinds of PBS shows :-)

A few videos from Carnival on Monday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgSQoWSMDO0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IK9ig6s_Qg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4QHf4E9OdA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81sQB0i4VGU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRm_E4U91q0

Well, I think that covers our highlights - hopefully, I won't feel worse tomorrow than I do today (otherwise it will be another lazy TV day).

Take Care!

Tuesday, February 16

So, here are our pictures from the parade yesterday. So, above, were men dressed up as nuns (with shorter skirts on)...
Below, one of many teenage girls getting lots of confetti put in her clothes (they stuff the stuff up pants legs, down the back of your coat - in hoods, under hats...)

oh, note that these pictures go from the end of the parade to the beginning as you scroll down - see the white covered street here, I will try to point out the regular street here in a few pictures before the parade started, lol

Brenna did not want her picture taken yesterday - Dustin took these one and I took one when we were outside, but no smiles...

I set Brenna free with the camera for a little while yesterday - I love that she took a picture of the balloon and mask she came home from school with. We took the mask to the parade and it even went out in it for a few minutes (one of the people in the parade took it out there).

another picture of a girl being stuffed full of confetti...

Don't you love these camels??? (note the motor oil above - I'm pretty sure it was some kind of alcohol - I think we mentioned it last year, but it is worth saying again that it is crazy that they pass out alcohol to the parade spectators here - it is the only day of the year that drinking in public is completely expected (and people being drunk too)).

I love that they use tractors to pull alot of the floats (there really aren't that many floats - more just groups walking and bands), but the parade does last for quiet awhile - it was 2.5 hours long - our feet were all numb at the end!

The confetti flying :-)

Before the parade started below - note the relatively clean road (I am impressed with the clean-up crews, the roads were really pretty clean this morning, the sidewalks still have confetti, but I'm sure some will linger until the next carnival, lol!!).

Brenna had her face painted (by me) as a butterfly - I didn't do such a great job - I'm going to have to keep practicing if I want to do face-painting for her birthday party... I made Brenna a new candy bag for the parade - it is reversible - pink on the outside and cupcakes on the inside. I think it will be great for Halloween this year too :-) Brenna did wear her new pink dress that I made, but she wasn't in the mood to have her picture taken yesterday...

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! We froze yesterday at the Carnival parade, but I think Brenna had a really good time with it :-) Dustin came home early from work to enjoy the parade with us and then he had to go back in later (I'm glad it wasn't me, I was exhausted last evening and went to bed with Brenna!). Brenna's kindergarten is pretty empty this week - only a few kids in the school (I think there were about 5 kids there total this morning - wonder if more kids will come as the week goes on? - I know that Brenna is very bummed not to have her best friend there...).

So, trying to think what has been going on lately - I made a bag for Brenna yesterday for collecting candy. She sat on Dustin's shoulders so I don't think she collected as much as she could have (she still did pretty well though!). We will be cleaning up confetti all week here probably - I cleaned yesterday morning before the parade (that was silly), then cleaned again after we came home with all the confetti, and it looks like I need to clean again today as there is more confetti back again... I had German class this morning, so the rest of my week should be pretty quiet - maybe I can finish some more of my February project :-) On my walk with Justice on Sunday, I found 15 Euro, so that was a good bonus (and it wasn't even a long walk) - he really sniffed it all out - thanks buddy!

I will try to get some videos from the parade up tomorrow - it is hard to really describe the parades here. Brenna didn't sleep well last night , not sure if all the excitement (and scary masks) made for a fretful night, but hopefully we will have a good day today.

Well, I need to take Justice out before going to pick up Brenna! Take Care!

Sunday, February 14 - Happy Valentine's Day!

Our cake from Friday - isn't our decorating a mess (or a bunch of fun for a 3 year old, lol). Below, a couple pictures from Brenna today - her Valentine's gift from us - a Sponge Bob Squarepants magazine (in German).

Brenna cut my head off on purpose here - she knew it wasn't going to be there before she took the picture - but it still made me smile, so I thought I would share it here. She took so many pictures today that the card is full - I am going to need to clean it off before the Carnival parade here in town tomorrow.

I made 3 new tops this weekend - the top above, and the blue top below (they are the same pattern).

I made a matching top for Brenna too (I have one in the works for the bright blue, but need to do some additional work there as I am running low on the matching fabric). So, I bribed Brenna with "face-painting" to get some pictures - she has circles on her cheeks and blue eye shadow on (hey, I think it is a good way to use up some free samples, lol). Brenna holding me off as I tried to kiss her...

Brenna didn't get out of her PJ bottoms today - guess they were comfortable for a day inside...

I think Brenna was ready to eat all the frosting here (she left the cake behind on her piece later on...)

"Mom, I don't want to be in the picture, I just want cake..."

Hello all!!

Hope you are having a great Valentine's day out there :-) Things are good here - I have been busy making some projects this weekend (I made 3 new tops) and Dustin has been great with playing with Brenna (thank you so much honey - that was very thoughtful of you :-)

It seems I have been a little bit more klutzy lately - fell down the stairs on Friday (lucky for me, I have plenty of padding in the spot that I fell and was just sore on my bottom, lol) and then spilled my cup at the table today (I was lucky there that it was just water). (hmm - maybe I had just had a string of good luck with my natural klutzy tendency - Dustin is usually more worried about me falling and hurting myself than Brenna, lol).

Dustin and I picked up some chocolate for each other for Valentine's day - after that I am going to try to cool it on the sweets for a little while - even all my walking I can't catch up with all the sweets we have been eating in our house lately! (aka - the jeans are starting to fit tighter...)

So, I decided to wear my new tops today - just layered with a long sleeve underneath - at least I feel like it is a little taste of sunshine in this snowy winter weather. Tomorrow is the Carnival parade here in our town. It will be interesting to see Brenna's reaction this year - she is much more aware of everything going on here than last year.

Well, take Care!!