Thirty Years

Me and the HUBBY have been married for 30 years and are celebrating by taking a River Cruise up the Danube.  Looks like the weather is going to cooperate with us and we are in for a fun filled, beautiful vacation. 

Michael and Stephanie will hold down the fort with help from K, A, D, K.  Thanks guys!! (Water those thirsty, bright fushia baskets.)

We start in Budapest, Hungary and go to Bratislava, Vienna, Durnstein, Melk, Salzburg, and finally to Passau, Germany. 

I'm bringing along the best photographer I know and so my pictures are sure to be awesome.

I'll do show and tell when I return home in a couple of weeks. 

In the Merry Month of May

Time to go OUTSIDE and play in the sun and pool. Lena is having fun just dipping in and looking at all the sites. That duck looks pretty cool, but alas the water was also pretty cool to begin with so patience wore thin.
Lexy got used to the water a little faster as Aunt Stephanie entertained her with initial dives into the cool, (cold for me) clear water. Thanks GPa for making the pool so perfect all the time.

Here are Gramvi's finger and toenails all painted courtesy of Lexy. This from a B-day present of nail polish the opinionated granddaughter picked out for me.

Getting Ready to GO

I have been asked to help with CRAFTS at "Girls Camp" this summer. It is in one month, right after the kids get out of school.  

This is one of the paper color waves that I found on sale. Cute huh?

There are two of us involved in the planning and I told my partner I had to get the main plan and materials figured out this week so I can relax next week during an amazing anniversary trip.

Our theme at camp this year is "The SS Friendship."

The 3 main crafts are going to be:

          1. Friendship Bracelets

    2. CD Folder Mini Photo Albums

             3. Temple Etched Mirrors

I am putting together the paper for the albums. I got 3 different color waves that the girls will be able to choose from and I'll do some initial cutting of paper and then they can mix and match for some creative differences. We will also do some photography, editing, and printing so we can send them home with a finished product.

I'm sure they will love all 3 projects and they also can make an assortment of other things that are in our supplies, such as lip gloss, shrinky dinks, feather/flower pens, bead work, jewelry, etc.

We have the main supplies already purchased and so I can now get ready to GO on my special trip next week!

This is one of the examples. I found it on my friends "Stampin Up" site.

Yes....I Bowl

Every Tuesday at noon I go to lunch at LeBoulanger with a couple friends. Then we go t o the bowling alley across the street for our league.

The gal that got me into this was Carolyn, (left) and here she is with her team Becky (right) and Sarah (center).

Here is a look down the alley at the 16 teams we compete against.

Judy and I have been partners for almost 5 years now. We have had 3 other partners along the way, but have been the stable part of our 3 person team.

Here's Becky in great form. She is one of the better bowlers in the league.

This puts a fun little spark in the middle of the week.

Good times.

Gift of Confidence

Today in RS our lesson was on "The Gifts that We Individually Receive from our Father."  We talked about feeling positive in what we have been given as talents, spiritual gifts, etc that we use in our lives.  Many of us feel like we can't do things as well as the other people, and tend to feel inadequate.

I was sitting next to my Stephanie who just drove home from college yesterday. (thankfully safe and no worse for wear after a 12 hour ride alone) I said to her," I never don't think I can do things." She agreed that, "Yes Mom, you always think you can do everything," with a cute little devilish smile.

Okay, maybe I don't do things perfectly, or even very well sometimes, but I always know I can try and can eventually learn and do them pretty well. I decided that is my GIFT. I've always said I'm a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. 

(Picture of Joyce MK surrounded by some of her progeny (in the teal turtleneck))

So... just as I was trying to think of what I should write about my sweet Mother on this beautiful day, I thought, "well she gave me the GIFT to think I can tackle anything before me."

She too can do anything, but does it all very well. She instilled in me the confidence to follow that direction. "Thanks Mom!"

Here is a list of just 10 things my Mother does well:

1. Smiles and spreads good cheer to everyone she meets

2. Loves my Daddy with all her heart

3. Makes sure her 5 children, 19 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren know they are loved

4. SINGS beautifully

5. Cooks

6. Sews, knits, creates stained glass

7. Nurtures and supports

8. Thoughtful in remembering all the birthdays, and does thank yous so well

9. Has impeccable taste - making a beautiful home

10. Is the prettiest 80 something women EVER

 

Butterfly Dress

Such cute fabrics they have these days and I just don't think most people I know want a bunch of quilts, so this is a great way to mix and match the many materials into something that will get used. Plus my cute little Granddaughter will look adorable in this. 

I got the pattern from a new book I bought called, "Kari Mecca's Sewing with Whimsy."

The pattern is "Color Me Happy," and I did.

The little rick-rack flower corsage and matching barrette took me about 6 hours after I thought I was pretty much done with the dress, but they do add a lot of character to the ensemble. 

Top it off with butterfly lace appliques that I bought 

with Kathryn and Austin in Brussels and you've got the finished product.

I did have some fun making this. I started it several months ago for an Easter dress, but changed my mind so that the 3 Easter dresses would all match. 

After a couple of other pressing moves and paint jobs I was able to sit down this week and knock it out.

New Job

I went shopping for invitation ideas for a party to be thrown for my friend Carolyn's sister.

Carolyn has great taste, so I tried to just let her take the lead on what she wanted, and I was trying to give her ideas and available materials to use for the invite.

There are so many great papers and stores to get them, but sometimes the manufactures don't make the one(s) that I have in my mind. I do the some thing when I'm shopping for clothes and want a particular color and style. I guess I just will have to become the next Vera Wang. Then I can just throw out ideas and my "team" will just whip them up.

We settled on beautiful pastels in sparkly paper, with ripped mulberry off white paper thrown in between the layers. We added a small sand dollar to a ribbon running along the bottom of the invite.

Kathryn addressed them in her beautiful hand and they turned out pretty elegant.

Woo Hoo!!

More BABY Sweaters

I figured out how to take a picture using my computer cam and these are a result. Most of them turned out pretty good, so perhaps that will be another way to add pictures to my blog.  I do like using the Nikon 200 and have been learning more about its use, so that is still my primary media provider. I also need to figure out how to do a collage at some point.This is a little "Feather and Fan" baby sweater and hat that I made out of a silk/wool fingering weight yarn that is wonderful to work with.  The lacy pattern works up super fast, and I'm going to make another one in just lavender. I made one last year as well. I don't think I've made anything 3 times before except the felted wool slippers, socks for different people, and felted wool purses that knit up so quickly.

You can find more specifics here.

I continued helping my DIL paint their new rental house this week. She and her little helpers painted every square inch of this needy house except one bedroom which had just been painted in the past couple years. I hope she posts before and after pictures because the change is dramatic. She has really turned this humble abode into a home. I just helped for about 4 of the days, but she had a crew going for 2 weeks before they moved in this past weekend. Good job gals and guys!!! Check it out here.