JUST THE THREE OF US

2011-11-10T07:24:00.001-08:00

WIP

2011-11-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

here is a sneak peek at one of my "works in process"

this is from one of the online quilting bees i'm in. i have nine blocks in this quilt and am moving along quite nicely on this one. hopefully i'll have the top done by the end of the week and i can start quilting it soon. so far i like how it's turning out.

FINALLY A BIT OF HALLOWEEN !

2011-11-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

just a couple shots of halloween this year. each year the preperations are less and less involved.

this year we didn't concern ourselves with the costume until only about two weeks out. grandma hilbrant helped put it all together.

the pumpkins this year were carved with about ten minutes to spare.......

the candy was purchased about three hours before the big event. i again bought enough candy for about 300 kids.............yep.....i said 300. about an hour in i was digging through our kitchen cupboards looking more more. we ended up turning off the porch lights over an hour early because we ran out of candy. our neighbor was keeping track of the kids.......seems we had this year was 450.

while we were out tricking and treating the kids mentioned that it wasn't as fun as normal.....i think all three would have been perfectly happy to stay at the house in costumes and hand out the candy themselves.

GIRL SCOUTS

2011-09-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

Girl scouts has started up again the girls enjoyed their first field trip to the Figge Museum. There are many other field trips planned so it should be a fun filled year.

TAGGED AND RELEASED

2011-08-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

we tagged our monarchs this year. i was suprised how easy it was to get this done. i kept invisioning breaking a wing and harming the butterfly but so far i haven't had any problems other then a few of them taking a quick flight around my family room.

we have so far had a total of 31 catapillers that we have raised. we have only lost 3 or 4 to an early death. at the moment we have five cryslis that should be opening at any moment to release the beauty from within.

after spending a few minutes on my finger just chillin this little guy took off to rest in the tree before spreading his wing for a journey south.

we hope that at some point we will be able to hear back from the "monarch watch" as to whether any of our tagged butterflies were found and recorded. with so many out there it seems somewhat unlikely but i'd be happy to hear of the progress of just one!

ROUND ROBIN QUILTING

2011-08-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

i'm caught up with my quilting bee's for a change. this is one i've made for alex.....it only has a couple more stops to make before it arrives back home to her.

FIRST on THIRD

2011-08-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

so now i share the first day of school pictures.

aubs started third grade yesterday. she was really looking forward to starting school and her new teacher.

here are a couple pictures of the big event.

with her friend lili

aubrey and her third grade teacher mrs. nau

rock'n the first day of third day with a big smile and a new do.

BEFORE AND AFTER IN THE NAME OF LOVE

2011-08-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

somewhere out there is a little girl, sick with cancer, that will get a wig made from the ten inches of hair cut from my little girls head this last saturday..........

aubrey has been working LONG and hard to grow her hair for this very purpose. finally on saturday we deemed it just long enough to meet her goal. would you believe i didn't cry when it was cut off! maybe i wanted to....but i'll never tell! i'm just very proud of her for her gift she is giving to another special little girl out there that is in need.

GETTING THAT PERFECT SHOT TAKES SOME PATIENCE !!

2011-08-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

since i haven't taken any pictures since we came back from vacation you will all just have to settle for more from our recent colorado trip.

one of the simple little things that we did to pass the time was to take pictures of the wildlife in the area.......

especially the hummingbirds.

aubrey had the right idea. she needed all the help she could get to stay perfectly still (something she has a rough time with.....) we placed the bird feeder right outside our living room window.

she placed herself on the love seat with camera aimed at the feeder.

she lays in wait patiently.......waiting for the birds to come sip from the feeders..........

and this is mostly what she gets.......those birds are fast little flyers!

but after many........MANY shots of dead air we suceeded in a few good shots!

MEET PAL

2011-08-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

this is aubrey riding pal. she did awesome this time and can't wait to ride again sometime soon.

chuck's horse is smokey.......

aubrey taking control of pal..... he want's to stop and eat everything in site!

the cabin we stayed in was near the pasture where the horses grazed.

we went and visited the horses everynight.

LIFE ON TOP

2011-08-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

hiking this trip was soooo much more enjoyable then last our last trip to the mountains. aubrey is no longer whinny about being forced to hike. she is no longer at the age where she begs to be carried to the top either.

on this trip we hiked to the top of LILY MOUNTAIN. elevation is about 9700 feet above sea level. just over a elevation gain of 1000 feet....and about a 1.5 mile hike. (sorry the exact numbers are escaping me at the moment.) so, in mountain climbing terms it is "easy" but for those of us out of shape flat landers it was probably the prefect mountain to climb to feel like we were on top of the world without having to hike for miles and miles to reach the summit of a fourteener.

aubrey was thrilled to reach the top. then during the rest of the week everytime we drove past the mountain she would always point out the trailhead and comment "i climbed that mountain!"

later in the week we hiked to calypso cascades. we were all pretty tired at that point but knew we still wanted to get out and do some hiking. rocky mountain national park was fairly busy that week so we tried to find a fun hike that wasn't as busy.

KEEPING IT COOL..........

2011-07-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

while many of our friends and family here in the midwest were sitting indoors in the air conditioned indoors to keep from melting in the sweltering heat, we were up high in the mountains tossing snowballs and enjoying the thin cool mountain air.....

AVOIDING TEARS

2011-06-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

aubrey wanted to help cut onions..........i almost ALWAYS cry when cutting onions so she decided she wasn't going to let that happen to her!

smart little cookie, that girl......

CHIPPING AWAY AT MY SUMMER'S "TO DO" LIST

2011-06-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

eariler this summer i set a goal that i would finish all my UFO's (unfinished objects) by the end of the summer.......or early fall.....that part i didn't really pin point...i just didn't want to start ANYmore big projects until all my unfinished ones were done..........

yesterday i crossed one off the list. last year when UNI made it to the "sweet sixteen" bracket in the NCAA basketball tourney i decided that i should show a bit of my alum support and make a quilt with my school colors......something perfect for sitting around the TV while watching a game. i've made iowa state quilts (ick) and several hawkeye quilts (yeah !!) so i thought it was time to make one for my school.

GO PANTHERS !!

along with finishing my PANTHER quilt i have also be sewing away on my bee blocks.....only one left and i'll be caught up!

here are just a few of the ones i've finished this month.......

BETTER LATE THEN NEVER

2011-06-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

LAST DAY

2011-06-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

last day of second grade.

KAYAKS AND LEMONADE

2011-05-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

we had a garage sale this last weekend and aubrey set up a lemonade stand. the weather wasn't hot and sticky but she did suceed in selling about four quarts of lemonade. she sold it for a quarter a cup. three or four people even gave her money without taking their lemonade....

she had a ball! AND learned lots about running a business as an eight-year-old.

later that day we went shopping for a new kayak for aubrey. now we can all three go out in the lake at one time.

after shopping around we found one we could "live" with at the farm and fleet store. it was blue.

sunday after church we went shopping around for a paddle. as we were paying for the paddle we noticed in the sale flyer at the register that the kayaks that we had looked at the day before where now on sale.

after hunting down a sales clerk we dedided to take back the one we bought the day before and get this different one. it wasn't a hard sell for aubrey to exchange....you see this new kayak is hot pink! and you know....if your a girl, it is generally all about what color it is!

with new kayak and paddle in hand, daddy headed off to return kayak number one while aubrey and i shopped for a new life vest......

then it was time to load up the three boats and head out to west lake......

in she went paddling and handling her kayak like a pro!

all went well until the end when she became tired and hungry. hint for the next time? drinkables and snacks!

FINALLY COMPLETED !!

2011-05-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

the kitchen is finally finished! what started as a stove that was needing to be replaced ended in the replacement of also a dishwasher, countertops, sink and finally the microwave.

here chuck is installing the microwave.....he is actually "reading" the directions!

aubrey and our neighbor morgan are creating with her pottery wheel while we work in the kitchen

chuck was away for the weekend and i though it would be a grand idea to get started on the tile work.

i went to lowe's the day before to buy a few more tiles......i just had this feeling that it would be wise to have some extras on hand....just in case......

but, they were out!

so, when i got started on the project i decided to lay out all the tiles on the countertop to get a general idea if i would have plenty to work with. i ended up calling the store to find out that the reason they were out was due to the fact that the tiles were discontinued. would have been nice to know that earlier! but, the boy was very helpful and we found some in iowa city. so, with two boxes extra on hand i felt so much more comfortable about cutting into the tiles that i had............as it turns out i had only one tile left from the original purchase!

i've tiled flooring before but this to me was a bit more difficult to do. concept was the same, i just had a few more issues with gravity! i did about double what you see in the above picture then decided i needed to wait till chuck was home. i felt it was best to work on this together.

we spent two evening finishing up setting the tile..........

then finally we had a saturday free to grout. i wasn't such a fan of this step either.....that whole gravity thing! but after a bit i got the hang of it and it went much smoother.

cleaning off the film of the grout is one of my favorite steps of the whole project. it is that first time you see the completed project and it is very rewarding to step back and realize what you've just accomplished.

on the home stretch of grouting.....the final couple feet!

and then

the finished project!

with everything back in it's place and nice and clean and shiny we went out to eat!

next project? painting our bedroom and eventually the family room and this kitchen........oh and i think i do want to change out the window treatment above the sink......someday.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO................

2011-05-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago we had our AWANA award night.

aubrey had a good night......we couldn't have been prouder of her!

here she is getting her awards for book one and book two for sparkies.....

and here is her award for book three.....the JOHN 3:16 award.

since this was her first year in Sparks (which is a three year program) aubrey started with the first book and just keep working at it until she had finished all three.

she knew she would be getting the two ribbons and the trophy but she didn't have any idea that there was such an award as the "clubber of the year" award......so, needless to say she what quite shocked when they called her name for that award!

i have to say i'm quite proud of all the work aubrey did this year on her Bible memory.

on another note i have to say that i'm especially proud of the example that she is setting with her friends. each week i would drive two of aubrey's class mates from school to AWANA with us.

picture in your mind three giggly girls in the back seat....i know....not a stretch for kevin and thresea.....but for me it became quite loud at times! BUT, i devised a plan.....a scheme if you will.....that the 20 minutes that it took us to drive to church was to be used as study time. they would all whisper to themselves their verses and at time would recite John 3:16 in unison together at the TOP OF THEIR LUNGS !! one time two of them were needing to learn the books of the Old Testament......so, in goes the CD that came with the book and all three girls would sing the Old Testament song ALL THE WAY TO CHURCH !! in 20 minutes i think you can sing it about 18 times..

BUT, by the end of the year those three girls had completed eight books between them! yep, so proud!

EASTER

2011-04-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

last year i saw a tutorial on dying easter eggs using silk ties so i thought i'd give it a shot! they actually turned out pretty good!! now that i know more of what i'm doing, i'll be on the hunt for more ties that have colors maybe a bit better suited for spring!

easter morning before church, aubrey hunted for her eggs. here she is all festive wearing her christmas jammies!

easter bunny left a basket full of goodies!

i decided at the last minute that i would make aubs a new dress. although i had it cut out days ahead of time, i didn't even start sewing it together until about five o'clock the night before!

2011-04-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

since tax season is once again over i decided to join in on "Little Miss Shabby's" little birdie block of the month quilt along.....Corrie is in one of my online quilting bees. i've wanted to take part in this one but just didn't have the time until now to get started. i spent my day off after tax season getting caught up on the first four blocks. i have one more to go and i'll be completly caught up!

i haven't done any embroidery for quite some time....the stitches on these blocks are really quite easy. aubrey is even giving it a try!

i thought this would be a good project to work on while traveling on trips this summer.....

UPDATE ON THE KITCHEN PROJECT

2011-04-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago the rest of our countertops arrived.

chuck and his dad started working on them while i was at work that saturday morning.......i tried not to be there but as luck would have it i got home before the final piece was installed......

some last minute leveling........

by the end of the day the counters were completely installed, as well as a new garbage disposal and faucet..........i'm loving my new faucet by the way.....

next on the agenda.....installing the new microwave and putting on the tile back-splash........as the tone of this project has gone...there is a delay in the microwave coming in ..........so little by little we are getting some dollar bills knocked off the total cost of the redo!

Projects completed.

2011-04-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

i spent part of the weekend catching up on some sewing. the first block i finished was for Cindy in my Round Robin Quilting Bee......above is the block i made for her and below is a picture of all the blocks made for her so far. she wanted to have a neighborhood quilt.

for the same quilting group i made this block for Mona from Germany. She requested a color explosion quilt.........

below is the blocks from the other Bee members

and finally......

above is the vintage dresdens i've been working on for myself. i keep changing the layout of the quilt and te sashing involved. i found the yellow fabric online the other day that is very similar to a piece that mom and i found in her fabric stash that will be perfect for the border.....so for now this is what i've completed. i decided i needed to keep it simple if i wanted to finish it anytime soon..........

2011-04-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

we went and picked up our new kitchen countertops THIS saturday...........

and NEXT saturday we will be taking part of them BACK to the store..........we hope!

the sales guy typed in the incorrect sink into our order. when we opened the box we noticed it was completely wrong.....

so, back to the store we went......the section that was wrong was reordered for us.....and about an hour later, after much arguing we worked out a deal with the manager to receive some money back for our inconvience....hubby was not happy with the measley $50 they were wanting to give us for our inconvience.....so we continued to discuss with them the disadvantages of not having a working kitchen for another 2-3 weeks.....the cost of eating out or the fact that we had waited longer then the original time frame in the first place to get our countertops......

so, now we sit waiting for another two weeks for the replacement to arrive.....

in the meantime.......

we installed the new dishwasher......the island countertop....the desktop....and the section to the left of the stove........

the last two sections that make up the biggest chunk will just have to wait......in the meantime we RE connected the water so that we will be able to use the kitchen as a kitchen.....and not eat out every night.......

we would have liked to have ALL the work done by the end of the weekend but it just wasn't meant to be.........

instead we had an almost 80 degree day on sunday and were able to get lots of work done outside in the yard.

so, i leave you with just a sneak peak at part of my new kitchen.

DEAR JILLIAN

2011-03-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

dear jilly:

this weekend stanley and aubrey went to the hospital to visit grandpa....he wasn't feeling too good.....

stanley climbed up on the hospital sign.....it was sort of windy so aubrey held onto stanley so he wouldn't blow away.....

stanley and aubrey hop up on grandpa's bed....grandpa had an IV in his arm to help him with the pain....if there was a wheelchair sitting around in the hallway i was going to take stanley for a ride but there was none to be found.........

before we left the hospital we snapped a picture of stanley on this really really cool mobile....some area students had made the oragami cranes and hung them all together....

(if you look out the window to the left there you will see aunt shirley and uncle floyd.....they had come to visit grandpa too!)

well that is it for now....

next post will be pictures of the field trip stanley took to aubrey's school....she took him for show and tell and took a disposable camera with her....(sorry....didn't trust her with out good camera!) as soon as i develop the pictures (yes, it's film....quite old fashioned) i will post some pictures for you.

we have many things to see before it is time to pack flat stanley up and send him back to you.....we have to make a trip to the mighty mississippi river, probably head to john deere commons to see some tractors....and whatever else seems to strike our fancy.....

STANLEY GOES TO THE DERMATOLOGIST

2011-03-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

DEAR JILLIAN:

so we decided that if stanley was going to be out and about with us he needed to have a tougher skin......so off to work he went with uncle chuck to become laminated........

here he is laying down on the sheet.....ready to go into the machine..........

next he gets put into the laminating machine......there he goes!!

here he is....covered in plastic and well protected!

then....before he left uncle chuck's office that day he decided to check out hugo.....that's uncle chuck's skeleton that lives in his office....he uses him when he is teaching classes.

ANOTHER FINISHED QUILT

2011-03-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

this one has a new home........this was made for one of the ladies that works with chuck. she is a huge st. louis cardinal fan and wanted me to make her a quilt similar to the one i did in the iowa hawkeye fabric....

this is the round robin bee block i got done last night.....i'm not even close to having all of them done.....but i think i'll work on something for myself next.

that's it for now....

stay tuned for more stanley updates coming to you soon!

Meet Stanley !

2011-03-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

let me introduce you to STANLEY.....

officially his name would probably be, Flat Stanley Gipson.....or is it Flat Stanley Hilbrant? not really sure but we are so happy to have him be a guest in our home.

stanley arrived at our house on friday last week. He must have been very cold because he was quite naked! aubrey spent sunday afternoon coloring on his clothing......she has since made a few other outfits for him to wear.....and.....today he is going to go to work with daddy and become laminated!! so, in this winter weather that just doesn't want to get any warmer, stanley should be nice and cozy in his new clothing.

aubrey fixed up stanley all by herself! i had told her she could use fabric, buttons, etc. but she decided he needed to be done with colored pencils so he would be flat enough to laminate.

stanley is a project aubrey is doing for for her cousin jilly. she was SSSSOOOOOO excited to receive the package in the mail on friday and have it be addressed to only her!

we have many things planned to do with stanley......

first order of business was to take him to see the bald eagles down along the mississippi river.......

see....there is one in the tree in the backround........

and here are a few that we zoomed in on.....

all perfectly content to sit in the trees and rest or look for fish in the river........

there were hundreds of birds in the trees...many of them where quite close so we could get some really good pictures with the zoom lense....

jilly, we will try to take lots of pictures of stanley's many adventures while he is here visiting us....he will probably go to school with aubs one day.....visit the john deere center in moline, il. and maybe go to work with uncle chuck.....maybe even go to work with me! (but honesstly he would probably be bored at my office!) so stay tuned for more flat stanley post coming soon!

Catching up on some Quilting Bee Blocks

2011-03-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

here is a shot at the block i made for joan's quilt. this is for the round robin group that i'm in. when i'm finished with my blocks i send them on to terrie in california.....she adds her block to the package and then puts it in the mail for our quilting buddy in austraila.....from there it goes to germany, england, canada and back to the USA....at each stop another block is made and added. when the package arrives back to the original sender she will have enough blocks to make a complete quilt. we also send along a journal with each package....there we add little tidbits about ourselves. so along with the quilt we will have the history of the journey our blocks made on their way to becoming a quilt.

here is a group shot of all the blocks that go with joan's quilt. i really like how this block went together so it just may become the block i use for my next quilt! i think i may even have just the right fabric in mind........

as well as completing a block for my round robin group i also made some blocks for two other qulting bees that i'm apart of......these two blocks above are for Vickie in my fussy cut bee.....

and these blocks are for Jen.....she wanted to blocks, one with knomes and other with the mushroom print. i wish i could do over the one with the mushrooms.....i cut the pieces wrong and the print doesn't show up too well.......

FIRST HAWKEYE BASKETBALL GAME

2011-03-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

VALENTINE'S DAY {and being caught up in my blog.....kinda}

2011-02-25T10:41:00.000-08:00

we made valentine cookie bouquets for all the grandma's (grandpa's too) for valentine's day....

i think they turned out really nice....and they were fun to make!

i did tell them all that they weren't edible! my oven was on the verge of going to appliance heaven and i couldn't keep the darn thing turned on....so the temp went up.....then down....over and over until the cookies were nice and crispy....

we bought a new oven the other day......

AWANA

2011-02-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

every tuesday night i drive home from work, pick up aubrey, go home, eat quick, do last minute bible memory review, load back up in my driving machine, drive to marissa's house, then drive to isabella's house, drive to church across town while listening the the girls tell silly story's to each other....

we attend AWANA clubs at our church and marissa and issy are two of the friends that are in aubrey's second grade class that come with us each week......another friend that we used to take now brings a friend and two siblings so she has out grown my car.....

aubrey in front of the AWANA flag

more special friends..........

gettting ready to say the pleadge to both flags....

this is the first year that aubrey has been in AWANA clubs....she loves it!! is is a SPARKY....which is K-2nd grade.....

when she discovered that she would receive a trophy for finishing all three of the sparky books she dug right in and is now just 3 jewels away from her goal.

now, while getting all her little awards each week and finishing three books in one year is a good thing....the most important thing is what she is learning!

catching up............

2011-02-25T10:07:00.001-08:00

because i've been bad at posting to the blog lately (two months exactly) i thought it was time to do a little catching up................

these photos are just a few from the blizzard we had the first week of february.........

i don't remember the exact amount of snow we received.....17 to 20 inches i think on top of what we already had...

but the snow had to go somewhere.....

chuck's dad cleared off most of the drive way and the only place for the snow was near the shed....so it made for some great tunnels!

also made for a great way to tower to the top of the shed!

was fun to get so much snow....but only this once! i'm sure i wouldn't think so if we got this much all the time.........

MORE { st. john, usvi }

2010-12-16T09:17:00.000-08:00

more beach fun at Hawksnest on day number two. after spending the day at Trunk Bay on day number one we decided we would find a shop and buy a bucket and shovel.....when we were done with it for the week we would donate it to the inn that we stayed at. as it turns out.....while walking to the parking lot at Trunk Bay we came across a bucket and shovel that someone left by the trash can. we took it and made good use of it the rest of the week.

we buried aubrey in the sand....and made a mermaid fin.....looked pretty good until it washed away in the surf!

i think she was having fun.....

we found an awesome bay that was really calm and perfect for snorkeling. it was just under a miles hike to get to the beach. Leinster Bay/Waterlemon Bay kind of run together.....it's hard to tell where one ends and the other starts.....

it was a highlight of the week. the water was calm and the snorkeling was some of the best we had that week. the biggest highlight in this bay was the sea turtles....chuck and i saw two of them and aubrey got to see one.

on thanksgiving day we took a power boat trip to the british virgin islands.

first stop was the island of virgin gorda, famous for the Bath's. the last time chuck and i were there it was crowded with cruise ship people....this time there was no one but our group from our little boat......

in canada last june aubrey met molly.....this trip wasn't any different as she made a friend here as well....here she is pictured with nadia who is from Maryland.......

chillin

our day on the boat took us to four different british islands.....first stop virgin gorda.....then on to cooper island for lunch.....then snorkeling at norman island and finishing up at jost van dyke at the soggy dollar bar and the beautiful white sand beach......

after jost van dyke we headed back to st. john to fix our thanksgiving meal of steaks on the grill.

and....can't wait for the next trip to st. john.....already want to plan another trip for next year!

A RECENTLY FINISHED QUILT

2010-12-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

i came across the "modern quilt guild" website and found they were having a contest/challange.

you were to take a picture (or an idea) as your inspiration and design a quilt based on it.

the first thought that came to mind was pictures we have taken of monarchs during late summer. as i attempt to photogragh the butterflies i focus in on the monarch and everything else in the backround becomes blurred. i also thought that the colors of this butterfly would make a very striking quilt.

here are the pictures of the final result.

contest / challange results are announce on december 15th. at that time i'll be able to see all the other quilts that were entered and see what others drew as their inspiration.

DAY ONE IN ST JOHN usvi

2010-12-14T11:46:00.000-08:00

day one in paradise!

our first day on the island we took a cab to Trunk Bay.....one of the well known beaches on the island. the surf was a bit choppy but we still had an enjoyable day. middle afternoon was the only time during the entire week that it rained on us. it rained for less then five minutes all day!

we move in to take claim on our section of beach with our snorkel gear, towels and snacks. we always found trees to hang out bags in to prevent everything from getting wet or washed out into the bay.

aubrey's first "real" time snorkeling !!
much different then snorkeling in the hot tub!

as much as she loved being in the water....i think she had just as much fun out of it in the sand......

to finish up day one at Trunk Bay aubrey poses along the walk back to the parking lot to met out cab......

2010-10-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

2010-10-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

2010-10-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

2010-10-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

these pictures are from last weeks iowa hawkeye football game....

homecoming against penn state.....

we won!

FINISHES

2010-08-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

here are a few recent finished projects.

a mini baby quilt for some friends that delivered their baby at only 23 weeks 1 day. luke weighed in at only 1 pound 5 ounces. he was born on june 24th and is doing remarkably well. he is now over 3 pounds and is on track to come home from the hospital on or around his original due date at the end of october.

this is the quilt i was able to make from the blocks i received from my "bee in the bonnet" quilting group pals.

the quilt even has feet!

i sent along 6 inch "siggy" blocks for all to sign and send back to me with their completed blocks. i pieced those blocks together for the backing of the quilt.

here is a close up of the siggy blocks.

those are some of my completed projects for right now. this week i'm working on one of my hawkeye quilts.....i was able to sell one on etsy.com . i have until next sunday to get it completed. i'm more then half way done so just a couple week nights this week should be about it.

{first day} NOW A SECOND GRADER

2010-08-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

a first day of school tradition. pictures in the front yard.

new earrings for the first day.....a reward for taking care of her pierced ears during the summer....

her new teacher

and an old friend!

{day two} WISCONSIN DELLS TRIP

2010-08-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

on the second day in the dells we took a boat ride on the "upper dells" wisconsin river. we made two stops along the way. the first stop was at a place called witches gluch.

aubrey with daddy on the trails in witches gulch.

maddie and aubrey in front of the boat we road on.

a bit of the scenery along the upper dells.

{day one} WISCONSIN DELLS TRIP

2010-08-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

the day we arrived all 16 of us went to "moose jaw pizza" for dinner......here maddie and aubrey are posing in front of the pizza delivery cars.

our first full day at the resort was spent relaxing and playing in the water....maddie and aubrey had their swimsuits on from the time they woke up till the time they went to bed that night.

they each learned to kayak......

maddie

aubrey

the girls did wonderful out on the lake all by themselves!! they spent lots of time out there and it was hard to get them to come into shore for dinner that night!

2010-08-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

~~~

Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3, 5-6

HAS IT REALLY BEEN OVER A MONTH!!

2010-08-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

i've been a bad, bad blogger lately!

i just got caught up in everyday life and i don't find much time to sit at the computer at home long enough to post anything.

since my last post, we have been on another vacation. this time we went on our "every two year" gipson family vacation. all were able to attend but three members of the family. this time we visited the wisconsin dells. we stayed on lake delton at a cute little resort and had a wonderful time. again for this trip we "rented" an additional daughter!! we took our friend madison with us on vacation so aubrey would have someone to hang out with that is close to her age. my neice makayla brought along her friend cheyanne also. before you knew it, it was as if cheyanne and madison had always been apart of the gipson family. the week was much too short as always but fun was had by all.

next week will mark the official end to aubrey's summer vacation. on thursday she will go back to school as a second grader! she has grown so much this summer. the biggest change i see in her is her swimming.....she isn't as timid as she had once been. she will now dive underwater.....something she would have never considered doing at the beginning of the summer. i think all due in part to spending many days at the pool without either her dad or mom to cling to. she learned that if she wanted to kept up with her friends in the pool then she needed to be a bit braver and not worry about getting her face wet.

well that is just a bit to fill you in on what has been going on this summer. i'll be back later sometime to post pictures of our latest vacation......with any luck i'll have that done before christmas!

{more} PELEE ISLAND, ONTARIO CANADA

2010-06-30T15:52:00.000-07:00

new friends were made for the week.........

they would spend EVERY available minute together......

you would have thought they'd been friends for a lifetime.......

our days were relaxing and playful........whether we swam in the lake.....

tried out new snorkel gear....

combed the shores for pelee island beach glass.........

our days were always quiet, layed back, and slow paced.....

we slept in every morning.....hit the beach first thing in our p.j.'s to see what treasures may have washed up on shore over night..........

each evening usually ended right where the day began........ there on the shore marveling at another breathtaking sunset.......

then the next day...............

we'd go back out and do it all over again.........

{day one} PELEE ISLAND, ONTARIO, CANADA

2010-06-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

hitting some balls at a driving range in leamington, ontario before taking the ferry over to pelee island, ontario.

once on the island, aubrey and daddy put on their swim suits and flippers and went for a swim.

the sunset on the first night we were on the island was one of the most beautiful i've ever seen.

RECENT FINISHED PROJECTS......

2010-06-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

this is the quilt that i made mom for christmas. i like to take the pictures of my quilts outside and since it was a bit snowy in december i decided to wait till spring. on this quilt i used a mary englebriet fabric for the backing that had teapots on it.....that is what i used to match my fabrics to for the front.

this quilt in the pineapple block. it is now one of my favorites! the block is so easy to make!this is my most recent finished project. i got a wild hair one day so i repainted the living room this green and made a quilt to hang on the wall above the piano. i love dresden plate quilts....they look so complicated but the truth is they are quite easy! the quilt and the painting made for a nice weekend sewing project while the husband was out of town!

edit.....

having some problems with the sizing of the pictures....be patient with me while i try to fix it!

HOLE IN ONE !!!

2010-06-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

my dad with his twin brother.....dad got a hole-in-one on sunday at the golf course!!

i think he is still probably floating on air!!

way to go dad!!

BALLERINA GIRL

2010-06-06T17:17:00.000-07:00

our neighbor morgan also had her dance recital on the same day. her's was all ballet, aubrey's started with tap and danced to the song "singing in the rain" they pose here together before we each left for recitals.

aubrey was given flowers by grandparents and us. this was one of the highlights of the event!

pretty as a princess!

aubrey has sure come a long way since starting dance lessons. she started out shy and a bit (TONS) reserved......now although she has her moments, she is more outgoing and doesn't shy away from dancing for the crowd.

we are so very proud of her!

2010-06-06T16:44:00.001-07:00

slipp'n and slide'n the heat away!

goofiness

sweetness!

LAST DAY of FIRST GRADE

2010-06-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

to never again be called a first grader!

BRIDGE

2010-05-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

thursday night was a girl scout bridging ceremony.

aubrey graduated from being a daisy (kindergarten/first graders)to joining the ranks as a brownie. she got to wear her new brownie vest and received her brownie pin.....which by the way hasn't changed since i was in brownies some 37 years ago. i'll have to do some hunting and see it i still have that pin or the sash i wore....mom, maybe you have an idea if they are still around!

A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD

2010-05-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

just end of the school year activities, dance recital practices and bridging from daisies to brownies happening around our house.

there are only eight days of school left. can't believe that i will soon have a second grader! where does the time go! i had better start planning her high school graduation soon!

we will have a week of no school then we will hop in the car and head off on the first of two vacations that we have planned this summer. we will be heading northeast for the first trip. driving into canada and then taking a ferry to an island that is in the middle of lake erie. pelee island, ontario, canada. how did we hear about it? didn't actually. just saw it on the map, thought it looked interesting, did some internet searching and decided to give it a shot. i'll let you know later how it is!

another thing i've been doing lately is of course more quilting. i took a long arm class last week so i can rent the machine in the future. i have a feeling i just may become hooked......

also in the line of quilting, i've joined a few more online quilting bee's. one of them i was the first to send out fabric. i've been getting blocks back in from several of the ladies. when i get a couple more i'll snap some pictures for you all to see. the second one i'm part of i will have to wait till next march to send out my fabric. that should give me plenty of time to come up with something original....maybe!

and finally the last bee i'm apart of is a bit different. it is a round robin journey bee. i made a starter block, wrote up my instructions, sent along some fabric and mailed it out to the next person on the list. it will travel to 20 other ladies before arriving back in the mail to me. it will travel thoughout the US then a couple stops in Australia, England, and Germany before coming home. along with making a block we will also be making a journal page or scrapbook page to go along with the block.

i have yet to make a "holiday/christmas/winter" type quilt so this is what i came up with for my starter block. i really wanted to do a Christmas themed quilt but would you believe it was toooooooo early for fabric? and would you believe that i don't have christmas fabric in the house?

SELF PORTRAIT

2010-04-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

aubrey's self protrait......wearing a cute little purple bathing suit.......and the person in the backround? that would be me......

FUTURE PHOTOGRAPHER

2010-04-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

when we got a new camera at christmas aubrey proclaimed our old one hers. she always has the camera ready to snap a photo of something interesting......

CHECK THIS OUT

2010-04-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

for all my quilting buddies, sewing friends, crafty peeps and my mother.......

check out this blog.....they are finishing up 30 days of giveaways.....some pretty cool stuff too! i've signed up to win several of the items they are giving away. i've been winning a few things now and then from lurking around blogs....it's kind of my las vegas.....about as risky as i can get!

so, go check out this site and sign up to win!

http://ihaveanotion.blogspot.com/

THE FINAL COUNT-DOWN

2010-04-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

on friday, i will be heading here to spend a much needed weekend with three of my girlfriends!

we are going to be scrapbooking from 3:00 p..m. friday till sunday noon.

i'm sure there will be much talking, giggling and eating during the time as well!

here's to hoping we don't have a run in with the law like the last time we were there!

four days to go!!

THE HUNT

2010-04-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

easter morning wa met with the typical easter basket filled with fun little goodies.....but this year the easter bunny did something a bit different with the easter egg hunt.

there was an arrow of eggs pointing to an empty puzzle box and a note telling aubrey to look for 80 plus eggs. in each egg was one or two pieces of puzzle the puzzle. the easter bunny thought this would be a fun little way to have a hunt without the candy.

EGGS

2010-04-04T16:26:00.001-07:00

our yearly egg dying event. this year aubrey did two dozen! after the first dozen hard boiled eggs she talked her dad into letting her die the un boiled ones.....only one was dropped!

i saw on someone elses blog as i was lurking about, a tutorial on how to die your eggs using silk ties. we were planning to give that a try....but the goodwill store closed up before i had a chance to get over there to purchase some.....and the few extra neck ties that chuck had in his closet that he could part with were only polyester....so maybe next time we will try that out.

2010-04-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

wishing you all a very

HAPPY EASTER!

I'M A WINNER!

2010-03-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

there is a blog that i follow on a regular basis and on every tuesday i think it is, she runs a list of blogs that are having give-aways. so i usually check them out. i don't enter all of them.....just the ones that i like what they are giving away. so, basically the only thing you have to do is leave a comment to have a chance of winning. this week i entered for a chance at six of them. so far two have had their drawings and of those two i've won one of them!! yippee! more fabric!!

i have won three charm packs!! here is the link to what i won. LA Quilter: Charm Square Give-Away

DANCE CLASS

2010-03-25T04:59:00.000-07:00

last night was parent observation night at aubrey's dance class.....this is the part of the post that i puff my chest out and proclaim that i am the proudest parent on the planet!!!!!

some of you know already that aubrey has had issues in the past getting up in front of people and preforming.......we have come a long way indeed! she made it her entire class with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step.....and wasn't shy at all.

i thought it was cute.....the teacher would hold up a CD jacket of Justin Bieber if she wanted the girls to behave.....i guess Justin Bieber is the latest greatest tween star there is.....so i ask you....who is Justin Bieber? i'll have to ask aubrey! getting to dance to his music was to be the girls reward for behaving......it worked.

aubrey and the other girls are excited for their recitel. they do a tap number to "dancing in the rain" and they get to use umbrellas during the show. they practiced both there tap routine and the ballet routine last night. WOW! it should be a wonderful recital!

IOWA vs IOWA STATE

2010-03-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

where is my UNI panther quilt? can't find the fabric......

the Iowa State quilt is not making it's home in our house. aubrey has informed us that it needs to go and it needs to go quickly!!!

those that know me know that the ONLY reason i would make something so vile would be if it was only fiscally sound. in other words.....the check is in the mail! cha-ching.

edit: if anyone has come across some northern iowa fabric let me know! i would love to make a panther quilt for myself!!! GO PANTHERS!!

EGGS

2010-03-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

decorated easter eggs.....

aubrey and i made these earlier this week.....i'm not sure if it was more fun decorating the eggs or picking off the modge podge from our hands when we were finished.

FIELD TRIPPING

2010-03-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

two weeks ago aubrey was able to go on a field trip with the entire first grade from her school. the school buses five classes to the "Wapsi Environmental Learning Center". there they got to learn about wild animals and birds in our area. but i would have to say the highlight of the trip was learning to walk with snow shoes. one of the other moms went along an snapped some pictures of her class. the first is of aubrey after she fell into the snow.....the second looks like her class getting there instructions on how to put the snow shoes on.

the second field trip aubrey went on was last week.....the went to the high school to see Ballet Quad Cities in a preformence of "The Ugly Duckling." she loved it!

at the end of the month she will get to go to the Putnam Museum and see the egyptian exhibit. she can't wait to go on that trip as well.

last year she only got to go on one trip.....thanks to some extra funding and a couple grants the school is able to do a bit more this year.

FUTURE BUILDERS

2010-02-22T17:38:00.000-08:00

aubrey and madison outside in the snow on sunday.....they were out there for hours! every so often i would trade out gloves, mittens and hats for warm dry ones straight from the dryer....

PIECES FROM THE PAST

2010-02-17T19:28:00.000-08:00

this is a new little project i've started......not that i'm finished with other projects.....just felt the need to start yet another so it can sit unfinished now and then!

these are some dresden flowers.....not sure of the "official" name of them but that's what i'm calling them. my mother gave them to me because she knew she would probably never get to them. we believe they were made by her grandmother coder.....some maybe made by her mother....we aren't completely sure...... there are many fabrics that are included in the flowers that brought back memories of dresses that mom had when she was little.

so my plan is to use the blanket stitch on my sewing machine to attach the flowers to my blocks......i know....for some of you out there this would be considered a sin....to use my machine instead of stitching by hand....but here's the deal.....i either machine stitch and save a bit of time or just keep the flowers in storage....never to end up on a quilt because there is never enough time to sit and hand stitch.

i'm going to also make blocks to go in between each of the flower blocks.....i'm going to make the irish chain blocks to do that......so far i'm on my third try.....squares were too big on the first block....got it right on the second but have since seen a quilt along on someone elses blog that pieces the irish chain together in a different way then i've done....it appears to be a much cleaner block then the one i've come up with....less seams....not as busy.

so when i've mastered my irish chain blocks i will cut the blocks to attach my flowers to.

oh yeah....the fabric for the irish chain blocks is also old....sorry...."vintage".....i went thur mom's stash and pulled out many that look like they are from the same time as the flowers......and no aunt alice....i didn't even make a dent in the stash......but have come up with many ideas of other quilts that i could make with what she has on hand.....

i guess now is when i tell you to tune in later to see the finished quilt.....hope you enjoyed the little sneak peak !

2010-01-22T12:13:00.000-08:00

i finally completed the quilt top for aubrey that my "bee inspired" buddies helped me with......now all that is left to finish is the quilting. that will have to wait till after tax season i guess. aubrey on the other hand would much rather i did it NOW. i guess that's a good thing.....means she likes the quilt!

seventeen of these blocks came from all over the country, alaska to maine and many other states in between as well as new zealand, germany, british columbia and denmark! i also made three blocks of my own to finish it off and make it a bit bigger.

along with this project will come a new paint job in aubrey's room.....new window treatments dust ruffle, etc. she is very excited! BUT, pictures of all that will have to wait till a much later date!

BORN AND RAISED TO BE A HAWKEYE!

2010-01-17T06:20:00.000-08:00

aubrey was born in black and gold country. she is being raised to be a true hawkeye!

GO HAWKS!

and yes, she stayed up to watch more then half of the orange bowl game!!

LONG OVERDUE CHRISTMAS PICTURES, part one

2010-01-15T15:46:00.001-08:00

aubrey opens her new hawkeye cheerleading outfit that i made.....(more picture coming soon in another post!)

mom and dad each get to open a few gifts!

aubrey opens more gifts and stops to smile for the camera!

we opened our gifts for each other on christmas eve. daddy had to work on christmas day so we knew we would have very little time in the morning on christmas to spend unwrapping......

aubrey and i spent the day playing with new games and doll clothes....i also finished up some sewing i had started for aubrey that i just couldn't quite get done before christmas.

christmas was more relaxed this year. we couldn't leave town because chuck was working and on call all week. so we stayed around the house and just took it easy. we also make the decision early on that we wouldn't be getting aubrey so much this year. last year it seemed that she got bored before she was done with all the presents.....we just thought that there was no better time then now to set the tone for years to come....while she was still young and didn't know the difference.

Number 200

2009-12-27T12:16:00.000-08:00

hard to believe that this is the 200th time i've posted something on this blog!

as the Christmas weekend comes to a close and i prepare to head back to work tomorrow i just wanted to take a minute and share a thank you..................

thank you to all who shared gifts with us. they are greatly appreciated.

thank you to my parents who drove up to see us in the snow.......i'm so glad you could make it and am happy you made it home safely...........

but mostly i want to say that you to my heavenly father.....for without you we would have nothing to celebrate or be thankful for. many times during the Christmas season this year i have found myself thinking of how i take that all for granted..........struggling at times to put first the true reason we celebrate this time of year.

~~~~~~~

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

2009-12-24T11:25:00.000-08:00

christmas eve greeting to all!

THE TROUBLE THAT THIS ELF CAUSES!

2009-12-24T11:04:00.000-08:00

this little christmas elf has out done himself yet again. this time he is going out with a bang.....he spent all last night cutting out snowflakes and scattering cotton balls all over. the snow flakes are all over the floor, on the mantle, and hanging from the ceiling fan!

tonight after aubrey goes to sleep and all the lights are turned out for the night, jasper will make his way back to the north pole with santa...........

it has been another enjoyable year of tricks and hijinx......can't wait to see what he thinks up for next year!

JUST YOUR AVERAGE OUTDOOR WINTER SPORTS...........

2009-12-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

while most people think the ski slope, sledding or ice hockey is the place to be outdoors in the winter......

this guy has a much different idea of what winter fun is.........

now this girl on the other hand likes to stick with normal snow activities!!!

ANIMAL HOUSE

2009-12-18T05:40:00.000-08:00

this is the scene we awoke to on the morning of aubrey's birthday..........

seems JASPER rounded up all of aubrey's stuffed animals and dolls and through a big party!

they tossed streamers, blew up ballons and carried on with their party all night while the rest of us slept.....

aubrey was thrilled to say the least that jasper had gone to so much trouble for her birthday! now what will he think of next?

ANOTHER YEAR OLDER

2009-12-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

tomorrow aubrey will turn seven......

she has accomplished so much this year......

she has danced in her first ever recital! in front of tons of people!

i was SO proud of her that i cried .....

she danced in her teachers wedding.....

again i was so proud i cried.........

she got her ears pierced...........

she cried.........

she spent good times with LOTS of cousins.........

she laughed and played...........

~~~~~~

as i look back at the year i can't help but be proud of what this little girl has accomplished......for the most part she is shy....a bit timid at times.....
~
she wanted to take dance lessons....she knew that a recital was in the future and that she would have to get up in front of others and perform.....she became determined and in the end she did not fail.....she has since dance in her teachers wedding....in front of several people......she has danced at festival of trees, also in front of other.....lots of them.....and she was wonderful! little by little she is coming out of her shell to do the things that will only make her a better person later on as she grows up.
~
one day she informed me....yes "informed" me that she was going to be getting her ears pierced.....i knew she would cry because she had NO clue that it would hurt.....she almost didn't let the girl do the second ear.....but when i "informed" her it would make her walk lopsided she carried on and finished the job.

~
aubrey, as you grow older, remember this one thing.....I LOVE YOU! i love you unconditionally.....there is nothing you could do or say to me that would make me feel any different. i know that in times to come you may say or do things i don't approve of....you may fail at something that you've tried so hard at but i will NEVER hold any of that against you, but will just love you all the more for trying.
~
i hope you can see the love i have for you as you grow older that my own mother has shown me. i want to be the mom to you that mine is to me....the one that LOVES me unconditionally.
~
so, now it is time to wipe away the tears and tell you one more time....
I LOVE YOU!
hope your birthday is a special one!

OUR VISTOR HAS ARRIVED

2009-12-14T10:45:00.001-08:00

jasper has returned.

this is the second year he has come to the house......arriving by mail staight from the north pole itself!

here for only a short time.....he came on one of the biggest (only) snow storms of the year so far.....bringing with him a child sized snow shovel just for aubrey.

since arriving about a week ago he has ventured out and about while aubrey sleeps......we usually find him in the morning stuck in the christmas tree, head first in a stocking and hiding behind the curtains......with two weeks left before returning to the north pole with santa, jasper has much time left to play fun little tricks on aubrey while she sleeps.................

stay tuned for all the jasper shananagains to come...........

edit: almost forgot! the toothfairy was here on the same night! lets just say that someone is having a hard time keeping track of it all our vistors this year!

GINGERBREAD ABODES

2009-12-14T10:36:00.000-08:00

another year another eight gingerbread houses!

we arrived home from a trip to las vegas late on friday evening.....cleaned up the house on saturday and decorated the tree......and generally made the house all christmasy cozy.

on sunday mom's, daughters and friends arrived for our third annual gingerbread house rising!

saturday night i decided that i needed to make everyone aprons.....i love my new sewing machine with all it's cool varity of stitches!

aubrey did great on her house again this year.....she was bouncing off the walls so i'm sure there was much candy consumed behind my back.

I'VE CREATED A MONSTER!

2009-11-18T18:32:00.001-08:00

i have been trying to talk my friend joni into starting a quilt for some time now......i've told her that she would love it and the final results are very rewarding......

she told me i was crazy....or something like that.....

so she finally decided to give it a try......and she enjoyed it!

here she is sitting at my machine with the walking foot in place working on the quilting.....

and here is the almost finished piece......i wasn't able to get a picture of the quilt with the binding turned and hand sewn in place....it was after all 2:00 in the morning and i was getting ready to kick her out for the night!! i was tired but hated for her to stop working on it until she was at a place where she could finish up at home with the hand stitching.......

so what do you think??

she is now thinking she needs to make something to hang on the wall behind her sofa in the family room.....were trying to come up with some ideas that won't be too overwelming for the second quilt!
~

so.....joni if you are reading this....i am very proud of you!! i've taught you to sew and now we are starting you on the quilting! you are a natual. it is always so much more fun sewing when you have someone to sit and visit with!

NEVER TOO LATE TO SHARE

2009-11-17T17:05:00.001-08:00

it's been awhile since my last post! i know all you die-hard fans of my blog out there have just been waiting for something new!

since it's been awhile i'll just quickly share a few pictures.

aubrey had two costumes this year for halloween. she was minnie mouse for her daisy troup (girl scout party)party.....and she wore her hawkeye cheerleader outfit for the actual trick or treating.....

and of course the fall just woundn't be fall without getting some photos playing in the leaves.....

and finally this fall.....we didn't go to our usual pumpkin patch as we have done EVERY year since aubrey was 10 months old.....it was just tooooooo cold this year and after some sickness in the house we thought it best to avoid it this year.....it has also gotten VERY expensive to go there now.....

instead we went to a friends farm and and picked some pumpkins from his patch for FREE!

as for what we have been doing that has seemed to keep us so busy? ...............between the three of us we have been working, playing, sewing (sorry, can't share pictures.....christmas is coming you know!) taking classes (chuck at the u of iowa and aubrey at dance), going to school, halloween parties (three of them), daisy troup meetings and homework (who whould have known that a first grader would have so much!)

so, you will have to bear with me as there is lots more planned for the holiday season.....i promise to find the time to share lots of photos of all the upcoming seasonal festivities.

SICK KID

2009-10-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

i got called today by the school nurse. aubrey had a temp over 100 degrees which means she had to leave school. i left work about 12:30 to go get her. when i got to the school office she was ready to leave. her teacher just happened to come into the office while i was there. i asked her if there was any work she needed to take home but she said that the kids were dropping like flies and she wouldn't really do too much "real" school work the rest of the afternoon.

so....home we went. aubrey spent the afternoon napping and i spent the afternoon sewing.

lets hope that her temp is low enough tomorrow to return to school!

STEALING CINDERELLA

2009-10-16T10:06:00.001-07:00

october 10, 2009

the day of miss becky's wedding (aubs dance teacher)

miss becky had asked all her students in aubrey's class to dance down the aisle at her wedding. anyone who wanted to come could. she told them that they could wear ANYTHING they wanted....whether it was just a dance class outfit or a past recital costume.....

being that aubrey one and only recital outfit is turquoise blue and florecent pink, and that all of her dance class outfits are mostly garage sale finds or just plan too small, i came up with an idea. i would make skirts for all the little dancers. most of the other mom's loved the idea....one really couldn't spend the extra money....so we put our heads together and came up with a plan. most of the girls already had the pink leotard, skirt and tights combination so i desided to make a little flower/bow thingy to make them all look the same. we knew that miss becky's colors were brown and other fallish tones so i found some creamish gerber daisies brown ribbon at hobby lobby and and we were set to go. only thing was, miss becky wasn't to know of our plans until the day of the wedding......that ment the girls didn't know either! come on.....who would really tell a six year old a secret and expect her to keep it!

so........

the day of the wedding we had much to do to get ourselves looking beautiful! curls where what aubrey wanted to add that special little touch!

life with bone straight hair means........if you ever want curls you either need a perm.........or you need velcro rollers, a very hot curling iron, and alot of patience (about three hours worth)!

the ballet shoes....

the flowers.....

a few dancing buddies......

and the complete ballet class.....

all dressed alike as a surprise for their dance teachers wedding.......

makes for one very touched ballet dancing teacher at her wedding.....

(sorry group picture didn't turn out so well!)

dancing down the aisle at miss becky's wedding to the song stealing cinderella.......

dancing with miss becky at the reception......

and finally dancing with her prince charming towards the end of the reception.

SOON

2009-10-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

i have pictures to share of the wedding aubrey was a part of this past weekend, but have been having problems logging onto the internet from home. therefore i can't load pictures to this site....so, for my less then ten faithfull blog followers, please be patient! i promise i'll have stuff to share with you soon!

2009-09-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

just a few apples to peal!

(we actually weighed them....approx. 150 pounds!)

aubrey is in the center of the action!

here she is directing giving out orders and making "rules" on how the apple pealing process will take place!

what fun would the day be if we didn't do a little "bobbing for apples"!

then finally the finished product!

12 pints of apple butter pictured here.

8 bags of apple sauce was put into the freezer

5 - 1 gallon bags of pie filling was made

AND.....not a dent made in the baskets of apples......so, guess i'll be making more applesauce tomorrow!

SPIRIT DAY

2009-09-13T18:38:00.001-07:00

GO HARRISON HAWKS !!

aubrey's school has spirit wear day at least once a month. this year i bought these cute little flannel shorts. i just love them complete with the "H.A.W.K.S" stamped across the butt!

COMPLETED PROJECT

2009-09-13T18:34:00.001-07:00

here is a look at a couple completed projects i was telling you all about a few weeks ago......i'm just now getting around to sharing.

i love how easy these little blocks went together. i will differently be making more sometime soon.

A CONVERSATION WITH A FIRST GRADER.

2009-09-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

so today aubrey and i had a conversation. i am always trying to start a dialog with her on...how was your day....what did you learn at school....did you have fun at the birthday party you went to.....and so on and so forth......

today i asked her if she heard any bad words at school? no.....i haven't she said.....so that could mean A. she hasn't or B. i wouldn't tell you if i had.....

then i asked her if she knew any bad words......silence....

then....well i do know one....at this point i simply waited and thought i'd let her tell me if she wished....

is it okay if i tell you she says? well, sure, i won't be mad this one time....

well i won't say it but i will tell you what it rhymes with grass.

okay....plenty good! i guess that means i need to get off my "grass" and share the story on my blog!

DAISIES

2009-08-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

aubrey is now a daisy..........
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a girl-scout daisy that is.
kindergarteners and first graders are called daisies. next year if she chooses to stay in girl scouts, she will become a brownie.
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so what does this mean for all of you folks? GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!
YUMMMY!
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we had a mom's meeting last night and picked a meeting night. next thursday will be her first official daisy meeting! she is just too excited!

FIRST DAY PICTURES

2009-08-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

aubrey meets her teacher, mrs. guy at unpack your backpack night

the morning before the first day of school.

bff......aubrey and lili

one of the girls from aubrey's class last year. they are both in mrs. guy's room this year.

FIRST DAY

2009-08-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

today aubrey is a first grader!

where did the summer go! seems like just yesterday that we were taking her to kindergarten.

she did really good when i took her to school this morning. last night was "unpack your backpack" where we take all her school supplies to her class room and she meets her new teacher. we also got to see who will be in her class. i was a bit disappointed that only two others from her class last year are in this years class. BUT, as she did last year she will make new friends in now time at all...........

stay tuned for pictures later today. i'll add them when i get home from work.

MAKING PROGRESS ON MANY SEWING PROJECTS!

2009-08-18T17:45:00.000-07:00

today, this is where i've been sitting ........

all day....

i have been working on these little guys........

it's called the pinnapple block.....

48 of them put together look alittle something like this...........

................

and from further away the stars appear!

then......

part of the day (or the last two days) i have been organizing my "bee inspired" blocks.
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many of them where a bit too small so i've added some fabric around them and will eventually trim them all up to be the same size.....
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the blank spot there in the corner is patiently waiting for terri's block.....it's in the mail and i'm hoping to get it real soon!!

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and finally.....
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this little number is a runner that will be used in my bedroom. it has been pieced and quiltied and the binding is sewn on and the hand stitching is all that is left to do....

that will be done in a little bit....

but first....

this little girl and i are going to go play in the hot tub!

A SEWING VACATION!

2009-08-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

here is a peak at what i'm working on this week!

while the hubby is away at a class in kansas city for the week i'm taking three days off as vacation days. even though i'm not "going" anywhere i'm still in heaven as i have time to complete a few quilting projects that have been piling up.

the black and brown blocks above are a stack i'm working on right now. i have squared them up and am about half way finished setting the blocks.

the pink and brown block shown below are all layed out right now on my living room floor. these are my "bee inspired" blocks sent from my quilting buddies. i have one more block that should be arriving in and mail any moment now! i also needed to make three blocks of my own for this quilt. i have two of them done and one left to finish but have run out of cream fabric. since i was at the fabric store first thing this morning for other supplies i'm kind of putting off another trip until tomorrow. don't want the employees at joann's to put me to work if they see too much of me.

and finally, the picture below is a grouping of "cotton blossom" blocks that im using to make a runner for a piece of furniture in our bedroom. this morning i finished up the blocks, set them and finished up the quilting. i'll share photos later after the binding is stitched into place. that's a job i wait to do in front of the TV tonight when i'm too tired to sit in front of my sewing machine!

so....that is all for now! my basement and machines are calling my name!!

2009-08-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

MONARCH DUTY !

2009-08-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

we don't have a pet of the feline variety, nor do we have a pet of the canine variety and i have long since killed off our bird by way of burning sticky buns in the oven, setting off the smoke alarm, giving the poor creature a premature heart attack......and we have yet to get any fish that we have talked about for some time...............

instead the pets we have are temporary. each one is only with us for a short time. it's the perfect solution for a child that wants to care for something and parents that don't want to do all the work when said daughter finds other interests to occupy her time.

so what is our solution for getting aubrey a pet? callapitters (yes, spelled incorrectly..... spelled just like the way aubrey pronounces them)

tonight was time to let two of her callapitters go. for the last two weeks we were on cocoon watch. patiently awaiting the time when they would mature into what i think are some of the most beautiful butterflies around.
morgan, our next door neighbor, releases the first monarch. it flapped it's wings for a bit then was spooked by a couple giggle girls that were anxious to release the next one.
we have two more that should come out of there cocoons in the next day or so and four other callapitters (well maybe only three.....i can't seem to find the fourth one in the case......as he is only about a half inch long) that are happily munching away, preparing themselves for the next leg of their journey.

ANOTHER COUPLE POSTS FROM OUR FAMILY WEEKEND!

2009-08-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

the only thing that would have made this event better was a day that would have had temps in the upper 90's ! but we all know what kind of summer we have had this year.

grandpa, chuck, and brian headed to the golf course and us girls had a tea-party and a water balloon fight. not sure who exactly got me all wet, probably ava, but the seat of my shorts ended up soaked. carson and aubrey thought it best that i was the target. and, as you can see from the last picture, ava really gets into the game!

2009-08-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

carson, aubrey and ian on the way home from our family photo session at wild cat den.

earlier in the day we all went to the "great river days" parade. like most small town parades it was short and lots of space in between entries. one of the highlights was seeing all the WW2 veterans. way to go ROGER !! these were the veterans that got to go on the last honor trip to washington d.c.
that's roger in the very back on the far right!

as for the kids, their favorite part of the parade wasn't any ww2 veteran but the candy that was to be had! each had their own bag and could grab as much as they wished. of course they all shared if one in the group couldn't get their share.

the fashion at this years parade was over the top! the first day of august and you would have thought it was october already. jackets for everyone! even grown-ups. AND check out that head band on holly ! boy do five/six year olds have a knack for style!

as the parade ended aubrey convinced her cousin carson that it would be a good idea to give her a piggy-back ride! aubrey will do anything to get out of walking!

SUNDAY AFTERNOON TEA-PARTY

2009-08-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

here is another selection of photos from our family weekend get together. these photos of are after kevin and family had gone home to chicago and the rest of the "boys" had headed out to the golf course. we started the afternoon with a tea-party.

aubrey and carson baked a cake and frosted it with sprinkles.

carson served up the tea.

here we need a group photo before sitting down to eat and drink our tea.

FIRST TIME IN FOUR YEARS !

2009-08-02T19:31:00.001-07:00

it has been a total of four years that our entire family has been together all in one location. we spent the entire weekend together getting family photos done, eating, playing and catching up with everyone.

saturday started with watching the muscatine great river days parade. (pictures of that later maybe). from there we all got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to wild cat den state park for our family photo session. when i get those pictures back from our photographer i'll be sure to share them!

after picture time we spent the rest of the late afternoon and evening playing and eating in back yard.

the girls hung blankets on the clothes-line and made it their stage. they did little snippet performances for us. jillian was the announcer and carson the producer, director, costume coordinator, boss.

the kids ate on a big blanket on the ground. perfect spot for them to bond and be to themselves!

here brian and chuck take a breather. dinner was a seafood boil with iowa home-grown corn, potatos and onions. shrimp, crawfish and sausage topped it off our feast.

the boys did most of the work. chuck is here supervising brian and dad as they cut potatos in half.

the girls spend their time at the blanket eating hotdogs and corn on the cob. notice my daughter doesn't have an ear of corn on her plate. this is where her great-grandma hilbrant would be rolling over in her grave because she isn't acting like a proper little hilbrant!

brian and shannon digging in to a hearty meal.

chuck, theresa and kevin eating their share. mom and dad are in the backround.

dad is manning the gas grill while chuck is taking care of the seafood boil. chicken for mom, hotdogs for the little kids and more corn that wouldn't fit in the boil pot.

and one of the last pictures for today. a sweet moment between my youngest two nieces. hadley and ava share a toy. don't blink because this moment won't last long. that was a VERY popular toy this weekend!

as the weekend came to an end i thought back on the highlights and what i enjoyed the most. it was the time that we just spent together. kids running around playing and enjoying being with their cousins, the adults just sitting around talking and catching up on plans for the future and chatting about old times.

here's hoping it doesn't take so long to do this again.