Wonderful Weekend!

Hey...hope you had a great weekend. We certainly did. Spent Friday and Saturday nights at the lake. Weather was a bit iffy, but pretty much okay. We're still dealing with bare floors in the kitchen of the park model. The estimate to have it replaced was enormously-large a bit more than we expected, so we're going to do it ourselves. (Oh boy!)

Son No. 2 went swimming while Crafty Mom and Dad sat in the sun and looked at magazines. Which just happens to be one of my favorite things to do. It is total relaxation for me. And the wife and I needed some of that. My wife cooked chicken over the open campfire and it was EXCELLENT. As she was tending to it, Grandma and Grandpa Cook (no relation to either of us, but two of the nicest people we've met at the lake. My kids have 'adopted' them and we call them Grandma and Grandpa) pulled into our site on their golf cart and gave us some wonderful chocolate dessert. Not sure what all was in it, but it had a yummy crust with pecans or walnuts...chocolate pudding and Cool Whip. It was g-o-o-d. Along with chicken, we had green beans, a baked potato and a very simple (I like simple) salad of Romaine lettuce hearts.

Sunday was the family celebration for Son No. 2's birthday. He turned NINE. (Holy cow, where does the time go? Famous parental question, right?) This fall we'll have a high school freshman and a fourth-grader living with us. Geez. He got lots of greenbacks which (I'm sure) he'll spend on baseball, football or basketball trading cards.

The family get-together was a hit. The weather cooperated so we spent the afternoon outside on the patio. The kids played on the swings, kicked a soccer ball around and had a great time. The grown-ups sat around and chit chatted about all the things grown-ups chit chat about. Then it was time for ice cream and cake. Son No. 2 is a big Colts fan, so the cake was white icing with blue trim and a Colts emblem on it. He loved it!

Here are few photos from the weekend:

[Click on the collage for a larger version.]

1. Rose bush that's LOADED with blooms this year.
2. A peony bush...almost all done with blooms..but still pretty enough for a photo.
3. Up close and personal: peony flower.
4. Sleepy boys on Sunday morning at the lake.
5. Crafty Mama's open-fire chicken (YUM-O).
6. Grandma Cook's chocolate dessert (also YUM-O).
7. Son No. 2 in the pool.
8. Salsa, chips and some other goodies.
9. Simple: Romaine lettuce (love that stuff).

For the Love of Babies and Baby Bibs

Hey....I have another reason to make baby bibs. My cousin Amy had a baby girl justa few weeks ago. Her name is Mya (that's A-M-Y with the letters re-arranged). How cool is that?

Here's my Little Guy holding Mya at the

birthday party we attended on Saturday.

And this is "Mr. Teenager" holding her.

It's great to have a new baby in the family and it gives me great pleasure to make some itty-bitty baby bibs. Here are the three that I made and gifted this past weekend.

Hearts, Frogs and some Japanese Fabric bibs.

A closer look.

Wow! An Actual CRAFT Project

Yesterday was Hannah's 11th birthday party.

My latest craft project.
The Cricut and I had fun with this one!

Some scrapbook paper, cardstock, a few white buttons

and a little bit of pink thread turned into a fun project

And...(I didn't tell you, but last month, on the 22nd, was MY birthday) I used my new toy (cough, cough, I mean TOOL) to help me create a birthday card. Yep, I bought a Cricut and I LOVE it. What a fantastic little machine.

Hannah is a big, big fan on Hannah Montana and she was ECSTATIC when she tore the gift wrap off the Hanna Montana Back Stage Pass book from Disney. Wow...that girl was jumping up and down on the sofa like a kangaroo. She devoured every page.

Inside the book was a door hanger. I told my oldest son that I should have one like that for my cubicle at work. He rolled his eyes (he's 13, so that happens frequently these days) but he did assist me in the photo op. What do you think?






And a very yummy chocolate cake too:

Hannah's mom cut out a paper plate and decorated the top. Pretty nifty, huh?

I was good: only one piece of cake and one scoop of ice cream.

Hope you had a good weekend!

More Patio Love

More photos from the Little Guy's birthday party on Sunday. The weather was very cooperative so we spent as much time outside as possible.





A good time was had by all.

Catching Up a Bit ... 3-31-08

I'm behind. So what else is new? But I wanted to acknowledge a special day at the Crafty Dad house: my wife's birthday. I won't tell you that she turned forty-something, because that's just not something you do: talk about a woman's age. Okay, let's get back on track.

So yeah, Monday was her birthday and while I usually don't send her flowers for her special day (we mutually agreed upon that a long time ago), I thought they might brighten her day. Especially with all this crap she's been going through with the headaches, and all. And...I ordered her a cake too. White with buttercream frosting. Yum-my.

I had the bakery make the cake from the boys.



Son No. 1 made a backstitch pillow for his mom.

According to my wife, she had a very special birthday. Woo Hoo! Love ya Honey!

Fabulous Friday -- Gearing Up For the Parties

Woo Hoo....it's Friday! Go do the happy dance and then come back for more.

[Everyone stands up and does the happy dance.]

Okay, welcome back. Yes, it's the start of another weekend. And it's gonna be a busy one. My oldest son is having a birthday party on Saturday evening. His official birthday is May 1st so, yes, that makes him a "May Day" baby. He's invited seven or eight classmates to share in the celebration. There will be food, fun, and (crossing my fingers for good weather) frolicking in the backyard amongst soccer balls, bean bag toss games and other pre-teen-appropriate activities. Assuming I make it through the ordeal, I'll let you know how it goes.

Then, on Sunday, it's the official "family birthday party". More food, fun and outdoor activities. One of his favorite foods is sloppy joe sandwiches. So that's what we're having (along with some homemade macaroni and cheese, and other party food). I'm hoping for a sunny day on Sunday too.

Wow. Twelve years old. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12. Where has the time gone? It's crazy. Okay, I'm going to stop now before I get all weepy and stuff.

Have a Happy Friday!