What to do...

I have literally no idea which way to go at the moment as far as what project I want to work on next.  

There are just too many fantabulously colored inspirations out there that are pulling me this way and that.

I've got all my ideas for my little tabley things I want to make.

Then I remembered all these little pretties that I faved on Ravelry here recently.

This...

this...

and this...

Here is the pattern.

Libby, it's a great pattern for the sock yarn.  hint, hint.  :)

Too many things that are just itchin' to be made and not enough time to do them all.

At least I made some serious progress on the baby blanket yesterday morning while everyone was still in bed.  I just might be able to get it done before the guy is born.  Cross your fingers.

Sidetracked...

It doesn't take much it seems to pull me towards a new idea, when I should be working on one already started.  Case in point...

The new little something something that found its new home behind the sink.

Then there is the little matchy piece that sit under my Great Aunt Myrtle's prized possession. 

And of course the table could not be left out from having its own new piece.

Now there are more "new" ideas just waiting to be planned and created.

To bad I can't just wiggle the nose and have things appear.

How awesome would that be!!!!

Very!!!!

It is raining here again today.  Not a bad thing.  Saves on the water bill.

But it does take my all too lovely sunshine away.  yippee.

The girls are going around doing their thing before lessons.

Brenna was obviously inspired by her new set of books she's been reading and had to dress Charlie the hedgehog up to look like Fancy Nancy.

Very stylin'.

Then there is to be more work on the baby blanket when things settle down today.  Can't show much you know because I never know if my SIL Teresa will be looking.  Must be a surprise!

I'm crocheting it all in one piece.  There's little bobbiny things hanging off of it all over on the back.

I think I might just have to go find something to bake that is warm and yummy since it is cool and damp here today.  One must keep up the coziness of things on days like this.

Finally!!!

It was reeeeaaally hard getting out of bed this morning.  I feel like I could use a walker to get around.  I hope this isn't a sign of things to come as I get older.  

There was alot of work done to get the garden area cleared and ready for all the little vegetables.  Being gone in April didn't help.  I usually get out at that time and clean things up before a wild jungle takes hold.  And then all the crummy, cool weather didn't help a bit either.  Trust me when I say it was bad.  But the girls did an awesome job helping.  Brenna was mostly looking for worms so she could have a worm farm for pet worms.  We finally had to take her big jar away from her and save the poor things.  We started calling her Elmira (tiny tunes girl who loved pets, but they always ran away from her) because the little worms looked tortured.

There is still a bit more to do.  But one must realize when it is time to quit for the day.  We didn't even realize it was 6pm until Glenn coming around the corner of the house where the garden is.  Thank goodness for fast food because there was no way I was in the mood for making dinner.  I don't think I could have stood in the kitchen that long.

There is plenty of rhubarb to pick already, but that is waiting until after the rain stops today.

The Wiegela bush is in full bloom in the back yard.  And the fragrance is darn awesome!

Then there are the Columbines.  They are so gorgeous this year!  The colors are so intense and the blooms are so big!  They are as big as the palm of my hand.  We have had them in the yard forever and I've never seen them that big.

I have always had them in our yard because they are Colorado's state flower and they are always a gorgeous reminder of where Glenn and I met and got married.

There are lots of little violets popping up every where.  Glenn and the girls just love them.

The little pink mini roses are starting to show off.  The blooms are no bigger than your thumb.

So sweet.

We have new garden friends this year.  Brenna got the moose for her birthday and Em just had to have the "watch" sheep.

The poor little lilacs are just about gone now.  It's so sad that these wonderful little gems only stay about a month and leave.  This is about all that is left.  Even my white one and the purple w/white edges that are out front are looking a bit sad now.  I still try to get a sniff in here and there when I walk by.

Here's to a reeeeaaally slow day today.  I'm going to need it.

early morning hours...

I found myself in my "craft" room this morning working on my last little piece that I will be adding to the kitchen.  More on the coordinating pieces later.  

It was so peaceful to be working on something while the girls were still asleep and the whole house was quiet.  It was nice to have the blinds pulled wide open, enjoying the sunlight as it started to peek in through the windows and enjoying it's warmth on a chilly morning.  It's so weird to still have the heater kick in on a late May morning though.

Chores got done after the girls crawled out of bed.  Lessons were done.  Lunch has been eaten.

And now it's for some good ole' outside yard work while the weather is good.

Today is the only good day for it.  68, lots of sun and a light breeze.

Tomorrow the rain comes back with the cooler temps.

So today the girls and I will go out and really bust some tail at getting the jungle of the garden area tamed and plant our starter plants in there.  There even seems to be some rhubarb ready to be picked.

Then we will have to see if we have time to get some flower seeds planted while we are feeling ambitious.  I'm hoping we find the time.  There are tons of new things everyone has picked out this year. We just have to find room and the right place for them all.

I'll try to remember to take pics of all the bright, pretty colored flowers and some of the gorgeous baskets we have hanging around.  I do tend to get "lost" when working in the yard and forget about doing things other than making things look good.  It's my meditation time.

Off to have some fun!

The last day of the trip...

Well, here it is.

The tale of the drive home.

The suspense is awful for you I'm sure.

We started out at midnight from Mom's so that we could get through Fort Worth before rush hour.

We got there about 4am, still way dark out except for all the street lights.

What took us over an hour before heading south, only took us maybe 15 minutes this time going north!

Yes, we back tracked the same exact way.  

Amazing what happens when everyone is home sleeping!

We hit heavy fog outside of Wichita Falls and put up with that until almost to Amarillo (at least 2 hrs).

The girls were patient with snacks and juice for breakfast in the truck.

So when we hit Amarillo around lunch time, it was time for a Chick-fil-a stop.

It was really good being that it would be our last one for quite some time to come.

There are none up here around us.

Boo.

Down the road we went again, headed for New Mexico.  We decided to change our route being that the forecast for Wyoming was snow all along the interstate.  Didn't want to deal with that.

Sorry, but there are no pics of New Mexico that are worth showing.

I've never been impressed with the state, even when we were stationed there.

To me it just looks dirty, run down and there is trash all along the side of the highway.

Don't want to see that.  Not impressive.

Before we got to Albuquerque, the winds started to pick up and you could see the clouds billowing up everywhere.  Luckily, we didn't get into any rain.  But on the radio we heard that Amarillo and SE Colorado were getting a few strong storms.  Glad that we missed that.  

We finally stopped in Gallup, NM for the night.  17 hrs on the road.  We were ready for dinner and just relaxing in the hotel.  After all of that we happened to see on the Weather Channel that it just wasn't heavy rain and wind that we missed through Amarillo and SE Colorado.  We had missed out on the...

TORNADOS!!! that went through the area.  And they all occurred during the time we would have been driving through the area if we hadn't have changed our route.

Lovely!!!

Not that waking up to snow and ice everywhere was wonderful.  The doors of the truck were froze shut from the freezing rain.  Luckily the roads were clear because of the salt that was put down.

Nothing like a little excitement to start the day off with at 5am.

So finally down the road again through the Navajo Nation to see all the rock formations along the highway.  So awesome!!  We don't get a good pic of Shiprock because of all the construction along the highway and we surely didn't want to get off track because of the time constraints.

Home was calling us.

We eventually end up in Colorado and Utah were there was still snow all along the highway from the night before.  Very pretty.  Almost had a magical feel to it all.

Just glad it wasn't on the roads.

We finally start seeing some very familiar sights in Utah that we have passed many times before on past trips.

And after stopping in Moab for and early lunch, we just couldn't pass Arches National Park up, again.

Up the side of the hill we went.

And of course Glenn had to stop to see how far up we had come from the highway below and to look at the fault line in the hill across the way.  You know I wasn't liking that with the whole heights thing you know.  :)  Especially being the edge was on my side.  yea.

We saw Sheep rock.  

It is thought that there used to be an arch there because of all the rock debris below it off to the left.

Very possible.

The girls loved this formation the most.  It was cute!

Then there were the petrified dunes.

The Great Wall.

It is one huge continuous formation along the entry side of the park.

There was Balanced Rock.

Very cool.

Hard to imagine that it is still sitting there on an eensy weensy bit of rock underneath it, as you walk around it.

We had to make a stop to see the North Window.

We met some lovely people from Sandpoint, Id. who said we really must come up to that end of our state and visit.  They even suggested that we move there.  When I when the lottery, I'll see.  They were very kind with taking a family pic for us.  Kind of sad Brendon wasn't with us.

Glenn and the girls had to go check things out even more and were climbing around the edge of the window on the right hand side.  My stomach wasn't doing so good with that.  Oh my nerves!

We left North Window, safe and sound, to see the garden area.

Gorgeous!

Then off to see Delicate Arch and then to the Devil's Garden area.

The walls of stone in this area were amazing!

Breath taking.

A short walk between the walls.

Some cheesy touristy shots.

To see Tunnel Arch.

Then it was back in the car, passing by the Fiery Furnace again.

What we thought was going to be a quick trip through the park, ended up being 4hrs!

And we didn't get to see everything.  We were rushing around like mad just to see things.

We are definitely going to have to come back again so that we can really do justice with seeing the park and all its glory.

Back on the road again, hitting Salt Lake during rush hour.  That was loads of fun.  Must do that again soon.  Not.  

Sorry Bev for not stopping by to see you.  I will surely have to get with you next time we go through the area to see if we can have a quick visit with you.

We got something quick to eat after we were well out of the Salt Lake area and then ran into heavy rain from the Idaho state line all the way to Twin Falls, in the dark.  Yea.  Then after Mountain Home, there was thick fog until we were a few miles from the edge of Boise.

To say that we were REALLY glad to get home at 11:45pm was a BIG understatement.  We only grabbed pillows and the bath bag and hit the showers.  Then the bed.  Everything else could stay in the truck until we felt like getting up the next day.  Which wasn't early I must say.

But I must say that the side trip through the park was well worth getting home late.  I would have kicked myself if we would have passed it by, knowing what I do now.

And if that wasn't all exciting, we happened to hear that the little town of Goodnight, Tx (that you have to drive right through on 287 to get to Amarillo) had a tornado pass right through it the same day (but later) we went through it on the way home.  FAB!!!

No extra long, 1900 miles trips for me for a very long time.

I'm getting to old for it.

More trip pics...

I know y'all have been just squirming in your pants just waiting to see some more pics of our trip.

It's only been a month later.

But better late than never.  :}

Alrighty then.

You know that I went down to Texas to visit a whole group of people.

But there is one new person to the family that I just had to see.

Little Miss Alex.

Isn't see just the absolute cutest thing!

You just want to squeeze her.

She is just too cute in every possible way.

And she has a temper to match!

Man, she has some lungs when she doesn't like something

or you aren't giving her the baby food fast enough.

My sister has met her match.

No doubt!

We went out to eat that night to a FAAAAABulous cajun restaurant near downtown (no, I did not drive).  And of course we all ate too much.  Abe even convinced me to eat fried alligator.  In all the years of growing up in Texas, near Louisiana, I had never tried it.  I wasn't game at first but when the baskets came to the table, everyone was asking me to share. hehehe!!!!  It has a buttery taste, but nothing like chicken.  Not sure where some people get that from.  And the fried catfish was so darn good!!!  We were all sharing bites of all the dishes we got and all were soooooo good.

So after eating so much and then getting home late, it was off to bed for the next day.

Up early so that we could get up the road to Brenham to visit...

the Blue Bell ice cream factory!

The absolute best ice cream EVER!!!!!

I'm not biased just from growing up in Texas you know.

Too bad I can't twist their arms to open a factory way up here in Idaho.

I'm not holding my breath.

I'm still questioning why they couldn't, being it sells in Ohio.  :(

I even found my new favorite flavor...

Southern blackberry cobbler!!!

We took the tour and got ice cream afterwards.

That's where I found my new favorite flavor.

Then of course there were cheesy tourist pics taken.

(Kimmy, Abe, Alex and the girls)

This is one of the old delivery trucks that was restored in all its glory.

Too neat!

Then after shopping and getting a few little lovelies at the gift shop

it was down the road to hunt down the ever elusive...

BLUEBONNETS!

I can never get enough of that wonderful blue color drizzled through all the green fields in that area.

That is what I want Heaven to be like.

The hill country around Brenham and Chappell Hill would be the only area I would

move back to Texas for.

And to have longhorns in the field was an extra bonus!

I was jumping around giggling.

Oh the excitement!

I know Glenn probably thought I was on something.

Blue Ice Cream!!!

There was more driving trying to soak up all the wonderful blueness that we could.

I was imagining what it would be like having a big country home right in the middle of some of the 

huge fields, enjoying all of the blue "sea" around me.

It was all too much.

Then back down the road back to Kim's so everyone could get ready to go to Julie and Mark's for dinner.  Wonderful meal and wonderful friends.

Too bad Mark's job won't bring him back to Idaho.  sniff. sniff

After another late night we were back up again the next morning getting ready for...

Disney on Ice!

It was Brenna's birthday present from Oma.

She loved it!

She thought it was so cool that she was there on her birthday.

I don't think she moved a muscle the whole time.

She made mention after the show that Aurora and Pocahontas were not in the show at all.

She didn't know why they could have all the other princesses but not them.

Aurora is her favorite.

The show was at Reliant Stadium.  And man is that place HUGE!!!  The show only took up about a 1/4 of the stadium and where we were sitting is normally the $200 seats for the football games.

I'll pass.  Cheapskate remember.

Oma bought lots of expensive souvenirs for the girls, even little Alex had to get a few things.

Then it was off for a late lunch

for the birthday girl.

Brenna thought it was very cool that she got sung to by everyone that worked at the restaurant.

One guy even yelled at everyone eating and told them that they had to sing also because Brenna had driven all the way from Idaho just to have lunch with them.  I guess one couple didn't take it seriously and he pointed them out and reminded them to sing.

Brenna thought it was all too funny!

The food was so darn awesome and the fresh made guacamole was my favorite.  I had to order a second bowl because I was having a problem sharing, again.  hehehe!!

Then back to the house for some well deserved relaxing and just hanging out with family.

Busy days I tell ya.

The girls and Kimmy had some good ole' chalk time with each other later that afternoon.

Some driveway pics and a heated game of hopscotch was had.  They couldn't remember how to "officially" play and Glenn had to look up the rules on the Ipad.  All three girls found out that they were doing it all wrong.  It was silly.

  Alex and I just sat on the sidelines and watched them make sillies of themselves.  I wasn't about to get up and break a hip or something.

The next days plans of going to the beach was a wash out because of all the rain.  But no big thing.  There was a good game of cribbage going on about lunch time.

Willie's.

I tell you, I would be 400lbs or more if I lived down there still.

Just waaaaay too many awesome food choices to be had.

I even ended up spilling my tea across the table, all over Kim and down into her purse.

Talent.

Then it was back to Mom's, driving in a absolute down pour (a normal rain supposively).

The next few days were quiet and settled, just getting ready for the long trip home.

More on that later.

Very exciting!

Kind of.

Busy again...

I've been MIA for a few days due to all the creating that has been going on around this place.

Julie had asked me to make a few things to put in her shop, to see what the response will be.  So my little hook has been flying, making things to sell.  We will see what happens. 

 

She's got the cutest shop ever.  It's quite addicting to go in there and see what kind of gorgeous blooms she bought early in the morning.  I've bought quite a few gorgeous hanging baskets from the shop to liven up the front door area and couldn't be more pleased.  I'll show them off later.

I've been working on table runners and really love them.  I think I'm going to have to make a few more just for myself so that I have all these gorgeous colors hanging around my place.  I'm not sure how far I will take this whole "making things to sell" because it really takes away from other projects that are on my "to do list".  Maybe I will try my hand at writing patterns for the things I create and share that way.  We will see.  Too many decisions for the moment.

All I know is I had better get my tail moving on finishing the blanket for my little nephew due in August.  I can't stand waiting till the last minute.  Drives me bonkers.  So I will have to concentrate on that little lovely before anything else is made.  Can't make the little guy wait.

I'm so excited!




I did make a little progress this past weekend in the planting dept. around here.  I got some of the buckets planted, a few planters on the deck and hanging off of it.  I didn't even touch the garden area yet.  That will have to wait until after tomorrow, after the rain, and when it cools off a bit.  I actually had to turn the A/C on last night so we could sleep.  I'm loving the cooler weather and surely don't want the hot weather to come anytime soon.  So loving the windows being open.  Wonderful fresh breezes and listening to all the little bird songs.  Heaven!

I finally broke down today and did the big spring cleaning thing around here.  I couldn't put it off any longer.  Drove me crazy.  So after busting some tail with all that, my tail is going to go sit and work on the blanket while the girls are enjoying the wonderful weather outdoors.

I remembered also that I still have to finish sharing about the trip.  Wow, has my mind wondered.  I'll get you caught up in the next few days.

Here's to a very productive week.  

What a fabulous way to start the day.

You just have to squeeze 'em and hope that you don't bruise 

'em before you stop huggin'.

A most wonderful day...

Doing catch up here. 

Way too many things that "want" to be done.

I hope everyone had a FAB Mothers Day.

Mine was wonderful.

Just what I asked for.

Relaxed and quiet.

I even thanked Glenn for making it possible for me.

Because without him, I wouldn't be a Mom.

It started with some fresh flowers from outside.

Some wonderful bits of chocolate.

And a handmade card.

Then quite a few new beaded bracelets to wear.

These are only two of the many I got.

Love them!

Then there was lunch to go eat some FAB fried catfish.

After eating too much and still having enough to bring home,

there was time out in the yard with every one for some badminton, 

then some crochet time

and then...

time for watching hockey!

Heaven!

I've got new flowers to brighten up the desk in the craft room

designed by my own personal florists

with some "crispy" flowers from Julie.

I'm still questioning the crispy thing.

Anyhoo, a FAB day was had by all.

What else could a Mom ask for?

Nothing.