I'm still here

WOW! I can't believe it's been over a week since I've posted ~ sorry guys... and Thanks to Becky for the "heads-up!".
I guess we've been busy and time has just flown. Can I remember half of what we've done? Probably not. Most of my time has been spent being a chauffeur to my children and their friends. Seems like one or both are coming or going and I always end up with an extra kid or two at the end of the day. Both kids went to an "ice skate" birthday party for Nate's friend Brian on Saturday which was a lot of fun and Nate's friend Jacob ended up coming home with us afterwards where they had a silly string fight on the pool deck I allowed it under one condition... that they pick up ALL the string afterwards. Not only did they do a great job on that they saved all the string, rolled it up into a large ball and Jacob took it home with him ~ I guess now his mom and I are even for the dead jelly fish Nate brought home from the trip to the beach from their house!
I did get some sewing time in. I finally finished the baby surfer quilt for Bryce. I can show you the pic cause Alex NEVER READS MY BLOG! I've been working on this forever ~ got started on it right away ~ even before Bryce was born ... got the top together pretty quickly and then stalled on getting it quilted. But it's done now and I'm hoping to get it in the mail this week. I was really afraid he'd be old enough to drive down and get it by the time I got it done!
I also did a secret project but it's for someone who does actually read my blog so I can't post pics until it is received later this week.
We also encountered the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile earlier in the week See those dark clouds up above ~ Yeah, I got caught in the downpour coming out of the store. I took one for the team by running out to get the car and bringing it back to the store front so the kids wouldn't get drenched too. Man ~ I could have jumped in the pool and stayed dryer!
Also had a visit this week by my sewing friend Deb and her grandson Ray He's a real cutie but can you believe he's only 1 year (to the month) older than Nathaniel. They all got along great and he even showed Nathaniel how to do a few tricks with his water board thingee
Ray says he'd like to come again next time he's in Tampa visiting with his grandma. I think Nathaniel would like that very much

Tween idol curls

Julianne and her friend Sarah have been pretty inseparable all summer. Saturday night she spent the night at Sarah's and when I went to pick her up on Sunday I ended
up bringing Sarah home with us. Sarah showed Julianne how to curl her hair and while I was a bit skeptical cause the girl has stick straight hair and the couple of times she's had it curled for weddings, it was uncurled pretty fast. They used those spongy pink curlers that have been around for ever and it turned out really cute. It's that "sorta curled" look that a lot of the tween idols wear now. She did it herself and is very proud of it.
Speaking of Julz ~ She and I made her a purse/wallet/tissue holder combo. She picked out the fabrics (I added the red for some punch) and we kinda sewed it together. She stepped on the petal while I (sitting next to her on the side of the machine) fed the stuff through. Talk about tricky! Actually she fed some of it through but she still gets a bit nervous. I think it all turned out very cute.
I also made this grab & go bag for a swap I'm doing on a yahoo group. This is the second one I made. The first one was just for practice and this time, thanks to advice from a bloggy friend (thanks Sandra)I put pockets inside and outside of this one. I think they will come in handy for a phone.Hopefully the recipient will like my fabric choices.
I've started using jars for my buttons and separating them by color Now I just need a way to cover up the jar lids. Maybe paint or fabric ~ any ideas?
Well back to the sewing room for me. I'm doing a new purse for Jen to match the dress she got to wear to her graduation. Wish me luck!

They must have been GIANTS

Don't get me wrong, I love my new kitchen... BUT whoever built it must have been really really tall. The bottom shelves of the cabinets are just in my reach and then they go up from there!
I have lots of room it was just way up there where I couldn't reach it so... I put all the stuff from the boxes on the counters and opened all the cabinets and called Richard in to help. We evaluated all the stuff and figured out the stuff I use least and put it way up high. Even he had a hard time getting stuff up over the fridge and he's 6'4". Oh well.. it'll work for now and I guess if I ever have to bake anything it'll just have to be when he's home to get the stuff down for me!

Where to begin?

Gosh, it's been a crazy few days and I've been a bad blogger. Friday night we met Jen & Jeremy at their new place in Jacksonville (Orange Park, actually) and along with their friends Larry, Dee and one of Dee's friends ~ we got the moving truck unpacked and up the flight of stairs (UGH). I had to rest a couple of times and I've never sweated so much in my life (attractive, yes?) but boy am I glad to have them closer. Afterwards we went to eat at Buffalo's. Now, this might not sound very exciting to you but to us ~ It's awesome. Buffalos was one of our favorite restaurants when we lived in Raleigh, NC. As a matter of fact every other Friday at lunchtime you would find at least half the staff of the Raleigh YMCA there. It was always good fun and good food. They have apparently branched out and now there is one literally down the street from Jen. She and I split an order of wings cause she only likes the drumstick part and I prefer the other half so we do well together... and their queso dip is "to die for!"
Saturday Rich, the kids and I spent most of the day in the pool. We now play pool frisbee. It's so much nicer to swim after a missed throw then having to run and retreive it!
I did find something disturbing... these guys eating these Any of you that now me know that I have a brown thumb when it comes to plants but these guys are pretty hardy and they are outside so I really don't have to water them much(especially in the summer when it rains for about an hour every day) and they are actually thriving! Now, along comes these two caterpillars who are literally munching away on my plants! Richard plucked them off and sent them out into the preserve where they can munch away and become beautiful butterflies and I get to keep my plants.

Speaking of plants, our new casa came with a landscaping allowance. We are still trying to figure out what to plant so on our nightly walk I spotted these and these which I thought would look nice. I've never seen a hibiscus tree with red leaves. How cool is that? I know I want gardenias. They've always been my favorite... and I'd love something like this.. I want to replace all the yukky mulch with pebbles and I really love the pots around the tree. Any suggestions on what to plant would be most welcome!

Roof Sex

Okay ~ This is a warning... While not actual people sex, it is very graphic but if you have a good sense of humor, don't embarrass easily this video is hysterical. IT IS NOT FOR CHILDREN... and the ending is priceless.

Not that I have much use for this...

I saw something similar to this bag in a magazine and it has been rolling around in my wee little brain ever since. I had quite a bit of fabric left over from my dining room decor and so I used it to make this. It's a zippered pouch with a pocket. The finished size is just over 11" x 14" and so it fits papers & folders nicely. Not sure how much use I'll get out of it but I do sometimes transport papers from place to place and I'm sure I'll figure something out. But in any case I absolutely love it! It has peltex in the pocket to keep it ultra stiff and batting in the back for softness and I added the handle just cause I wanted to. So what do ya think?
I've been thinking about Angie a lot lately ~ she LOVED all things froggie so here is one of her frogs we brought back home from her place after the funeral. Isn't it too cute?

A rainy day

It rained all day today. I'm not complaining mind you ~ we needed the rain. The lakes are still a bit low but coming up... it just means there was no pool time today but we all made the best of it. Julianne watched quite a bit of TV (no surprise there) and Nate had his friend, Jacob over and they played with their Nintendo DS's (no surprise there either). Here they are on my computer, looking up "cheats" for their game. (pardon the messy desk!) He did use ALL his game time for today and tomorrow as well.
Me, I sewed (again, is anyone surprised?). This is what I accomplished. It's a "Grab & Go bag." I'm in a Grab & Go swap with one of the (half dozen or so) Yahoo groups I belong to. This was my first one so I'll keep it. The next one will have some of the "bumps" figured out better and I'll send that off to someone else who will make one and send it to me. It's fun to see how others interpret the same design.

I also did some work on a "Laurel Birch" wall hanging for the quilt shop. Basically I cut out all the pieces and then made 28 "snowball" blocks. I promise to show pics once I get it all done.
I have a mile long list of things to get done tomorrow.. but that's another day.

If I had my way...

One of these days I'm gonna get myself a new pool boy. The current one came with the house and he's not bad but I'm thinking if I'm gonna pay for a pool boy, I want one thats a few degrees hotter... I mean what's the point, if you can't enjoy the view.

A room with a view

Okay so we have 3 (yes 3!) lovely bathrooms in the new house. One is the master bath off our bedroom, the second is located directly between the kids room and the 3rd is at the back of the house across the hall from my sewing room and leads out to the pool. This, as it happens, is everyones favorite bathroom to use. Mind you, it's the smallest bathroom in the house but... Its my favorite because it has better water pressure than the master bath. It's the kids favorite cause it has all kinds of fun body wash, lotions and body butter (all mango scented). I also love it cause it's the only room in the house with VIVID color, which I love. It is also a room with a great view. Here's the view from the throne (and no I wasn't using the facilities at the time)
And this is the view from the hallway door
The tile in the shower matches the tile in the pool and is actually used in all three bathrooms
And finally the view from the door leading to the pool...
Just ignore the pile of boxes outside the door (still more sewing room stuff to find a home for!) Doncha love the peachy color?
I hope to show you some of the other rooms as they get done... someday!

You are never too old to try something new

The something new is a shot of tequila (with salt & lime, of course). The who is my darling Mother in Law, Charlotte. It was her birthday today and we went out to dinner at Carlos & Pepe's. She and Richard both ordered margaritas ~ I was driving :( and Richard got the always wonderful idea to do a shot of tequila as well and ordered one for his mom who has never had a shot of anything ~ ever! She was a good sport about it and although she only shot 1/2 the shot she did do the second half with more salt & lime and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were not sure what to get her for her birthday since the only thing she mentioned wanting was a container for the back of her CR-V so groceries, etc. would not fly around... so we got her a big blue plastic container then decided to "fill it." We got lots of stuff she wouldn't normally get herself but would enjoy. There was a bucket of margarita mix.. the kind you mix with tequila and keep in the freezer and of course, got her the tequila and some blue corn chips with a pineapple salsa. Also some chocolates, pistachio's, a couple of bottles of wine, some gourmet rice, some body lotion, bath wash, bath scrungie, a CD holder for her car and Richard burned her some CD's to get her started, shampoo etc...
We also got her this plack, which I love. I told her she had to put it somewhere that she could see it and follow it every day.
And I guess you are never too old to act silly! Happy Birthday Mumy!

We also went out to the movies to see "Wall E." I wasn't that impressed but then I was not in a very good mood. Everyone seemed to love it ~ so there you go!

This and that

Today was a very productive day. It was Julianne's last day of science camp and I left Nate home for a while and ran a bunch of errands. Got my oil changed, ran by the library to drop off books, went by the bank, and a few more boring things... After getting the kids back I took them to the new school to register. We love the murals in the front hallway.
The kids both spent the night with friends so Richard and I did some shopping and then for dinner got a nice loaf of fresh baked bread, some fresh mozzarella and nice tomatoes and this for dinner
along with some soup and it was perfect.

Pretty Wild wildlife

I really enjoy Sandhill Cranes and I guess it's a good thing ~ I am now surrounded by them. It's the mascot at the kids new school and our neighborhood is one of their favorite hang outs. This one was on the roof of the house directly across the street.
Most of the chicks I had posted picture of are all grown up now and are the same size as their parents. They don't have the very distinctive red on their heads yet though. I hear them all through the day and managed to get a quick video of one yesterday. Hopefully you will be able to hear it alright. They actually get quite loud and you really don't want to approach them too closely as they can also be very aggressive. I saw a film one time of a couple of them backing down an alligator. YIKES!



Sorry about the "shaky" video. I was walking across the street as I filmed and those of you who know me, well... let's just say walking and chewing gum at the same time can be tricky!