Latest Bouquet and Footed Jammies!

It’s that time of the year again….time for footed jammies to make their reappearance!  Tonight it is going to be very chilly so we broke out the first footed jammies of the year!  Look how adorable out little man is!

 

My latest bouquet creation!  I made this for our neighbors.  I tried something different and made the cupcakes from my poppyseed bread recipe…YUM!  Then I flavored the frosting with almond extract.  I found a cheap (under $1) plastic flower pot and spray painted it with bright red glossy paint.

Emily’s Bday, Trash Day, and Batter Up!

I haven’t driven around on a "trash" day in a long time.  This morning I decided to make a "trash" run on the lookout for one thing….a giant rug for our kitchen.  I know the odds aren’t in my favor to find a huge rug in great condition….but I tried anyway.  The funny thing is that I did end up finding a beautiful rug!  It is in pristine condtion and was even still rolled in plastic!  It isn’t quite large enough for the kitchen, but it looks really nice at our entry!  Take a look!  Noah was helping me vacuum it and get it all set up in it’s new home!  He’s such a good helper!

 

Dog Love!

 

Today is Emily’s birthday, which gave me a great chance to try making another cupcake bouquet!   We enjoyed some pizza at the Swartz house tonight…… thanks Swartz’s!   For this bouquet I used a wicker basket and spray painted it pink!

 

Noah helping me out by taste testing the bouquet!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!  The big 13!!

 

  Noah was learning how to bat tonight (using a plastic bowling pin!) and it was hilarious!  You MUST watch this 2 minute video!! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d9wQe_qaOE

 

Rain, Rain and more Rain

It has rained almost this entire weekend.  Noah is feeling better so we decided we needed to get out and let him play outside.  He wanted to put on his "dino boots" and "pay in water".  We found lots of great puddles for him to splash in!

 

Change pf Plans

We were supposed to be camping this weekend, but we have had a change of plans.  We went up to Gary’s paretns house Wednesday night, as we had planned, and then we were going to leave for our camping trip Thursday morning.  However, Noah’s cold took a turn for the worse Wednesday night and Thursday morning and we decided it would be best not to go camping.  We packed up and headed home.  Noah has a terrible cough and a lot of congestion, and has been coughing to much that it causes him to throw up.  We took him into the doctor and they confirmed that he seems to have a virus and possibly has had back-to-back viruses since he has been coughing for three weeks now.

 

He slept well last night.  We stayed around the house last night and watched a family movie and had some popcorn.  He enjoyed the movie "Madagascar".  Today we were going to go on a bike ride, we loaded the bikes up and were going to take them over to a path about 20 minutes from our house.  Between leaving from our house and trying to get to the bike path Noah threw up 4 or 5 times in his carseat from coughing.  We pulled over twice to clean it up….and decided to head back home.  Poor baby.  Gary and I both agree that we have cleaned up more puke in the last couple days than we have since he’s been born!

 

Tonight we went to our town’s "Friday Night Downtown".  Noah actually did pretty well as far as coughing goes, but you can tell that being sick is wearing on him.  He is tired and his eyes just look tired and sick.  We are going to hang out around the house tomorrow and watch some Buckeye football.  Hopefully he will feel better tomorrow.

 

Movie Night and Popcorn!  We took a nice Fall walk in the rain sprinkles.

 

Friday Night Downtown

 

This is my favorite building in our downtown!  It looked so pretty tonight in the sunset!

 

Hot Diggity Dog!

I just got done making Noah’s hot dog costume.  I wasn’t about to pay $50 for a hot dog costume….so I got creative and made my own for about $6!  I used an old sweatsuit and glued felt onion, relish, and mustard on it.  I knew the "hot dog" part of the costume would be easy, it was the bun that was giving me trouble.  I just couldn’t figure out how to do it….until I found the perfect remnant of vinyl fabric at the fabric store!  It was the perfect size and color for a bun!!  I cut a pool noodle in half and glued/rolled it to look like the front of the bun, then I cut arm holes for Noah.  I am going to Velcro it to his sweatsuit.  Here is a preview!  What do you think??

 

“From the Cockpit”

My brother (Aubre’s) is a Senior at the University of Arizona and is a very gifted journalist/photographer.  He recently took an assignment "in the air "and boarded a twin-prop plane for an adventure he won’t soon forget!  His article and pictures made the front page of the Arizona Daily Wildcat (campus newspaper).  Here is a copy of the article!  I am such a proud sister!!!

 

By Mike Christy

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Published: Friday, September 18, 2009

Updated: Friday, September 18, 2009

Mike Christy/ Arizona Daily Wildcat

Capt. Rick Birt, a pilot in the United States Marine Corps, peers into the cabin of a King Air 200 twin-propellor aircraft before take-off on Thursday morning at the Tucson Jet Center on South Plumer Avenue. Capt. Birt took a group of four students and one professor up during a training session in which the passengers each took turns controlling the plane during mid-flight.

Daily Wildcat photographer Mike Christy went along for the ride aboard the King Air 200 with several other UA students as part of the free Marine Corps Flight Orientation Program. The program gives college students and faculty the chance to fly a plane.

But even though Christy got a chance to take the controls, there was a price to be paid.

My adrenaline was pumping when we took off. Here I am riding at 9,500 feet in a twin-prop airplane at 8:30 a.m., hours before classes would start.

There are eight people aboard including the reporter and myself. I figured that I would only have to sit through about six turns of students flying before we began the descent back down. Not too bad.

But when the first student’s turn at the controls hit the 10-minute mark, I was sheer sweat, like seven-rounds-with-Mike-Tyson-sweat.

Everyone was staring.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

The Marine (Corps) pilot turned around to look at me at this point and asked me if I was okay.

I gave a feeble thumbs-up while simultaneously grabbing a Ziploc bag from behind the seat next to me and turned to hide my shame so I could hack up the breakfast I didn’t eat.

Two vomit sessions later; the pilot asks us if he can do some “dynamic” maneuvers.
They all looked at me for permission. I said to hell with it, just go for it.

That’s when the plane’s wings went from a level, non-nausea-inducing position, to nearly straight vertical.

Of course, I’m the only one on the plane having problems. Enter Ziploc bag number three.

But heck, at least I got to fly the plane.

Farm Chores Day!

  Today Noah and I went to Stratford Ecological Center.  It was about a 30 minute drive from our house so we headed out early.  From 9:30-11:00 we helped with all the morning chores around the farm.  We fed the chickens, barn cats, pigs, goats, llamas, sheep, and baby chicks.  Noah loved the barn cats the most, even though one scratched him…he still wanted to hang out with them the whole time!  He really loved going up to the hay loft in the barn and throwing the hay to the goats waiting below!  He did a great job feeding the chickens but wasn’t too sure what to think once the chickens came out of their coop in a frenzy to eat.  He just stepped back and watched them.  He was able to hold a baby chick…..the entire time I kept saying "gentle Noah, don’t squish the baby".  He was very afraid of the pigs even though they were behind the gates of their enclosure.  I think the mommy pig was just too big and scared him.  I enjoyed seeing the pigs, I haven’t been that close to pigs before.  I was very surprised at how course their skin and hair is, they are not soft at all.  Noah also was able to attempt to milk a goat named Lilly.  He was a bit hesitant but gave it a try.  Of course he didn’t get any milk out but our guide proceeded to milk her and Noah was amazed to see the "milk come out". 

 

  It was a wonderful experience and we can’t wait to do it again! 

 

As we left for our farm morning Noah wanted to take Daisy’s stuffed bear along.  We left the dogs up at Gary’s parents house since we are going back up there tomorrow.  Noah really misses them.  He said he needed to "hug Daisy’s bear".

 

Our arrival at the Stratford Ecological Center.  This is the beautiful drive we took to get back to the farm!

 

This is where we met when we first got there so we could get instructions.  One of the barn cats was the center attraction!

 

Noah and I wandered around while we were waiting for everyone else to arrive.  we found a neat Children’s Garden, some goats that were very friendly, and a gazebo!

 

Then we headed to the barn to start our chores!  Noah loved the barn cats!

 

Then the kids all helped get the feed for the goats!

 

Then it was off to feed the chickens!  Noah loved putting the feed in the feed holders.  After the feed was in place they opened the coop and the chickens came out in a frenzy to find their food!

 

Then it was time to head up to the hay loft in the barn.  Noah first wanted to visit the cats again.  Then we went to the loft and the kids helped throw hay over to feed the goats, sheep, and llama’s!  Noah loved climbing around the hay and even found another cat to pet!

 

Then we went back down to the bottom of the barn so Noah could milk a sweet goat named Lilly!  She was very patient while the kids tried milking her.  Noah gave it a quick try but enjoyed watching instead.  He kept saying "mommy, look, milk come out!".

 

Another visit with the cats….and then it was off to feed the mommy pig and her babies!  I loved seeing the pigs but Noah wasn’t so sure.  He was afraid and almost started crying, but I started singing a funny pig song (yep, made it up on the spot) and he was okay.  I was surprised at how course the hair and skin was, they weren’t soft at all!  They sure were cute though!

 

We wandered around the Children’s Garden a little, ate some berries, and then headed back to the car.  Noah was tired out and ready for a yummy sandwich!  What a wonderful morning we had!  Then we headed to the park to meet daddy for lunch! It was the perfect day!

 

 

Farewell “Doc”….R.I.P.

Today our beloved (well not really beloved….but liked alot) fish Doc passed on to fishy heaven.  He had been going downhill for a few weeks now and it was just a matter of time until he kicked the bucket.  Noah doesn’t know that Doc is actually gone, I sent him to fishy heaven via the toilet while Noah was napping.  I will need to pick up another "Doc" tomorrow before he notices.  Good thing fish are rather inexpensive.  I have a feeling we will go through a bunch of Doc’s.

 

Goodbye Doc.  We will miss you…..at least until we pick up another Doc tomorrow.

 

 

Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa’s

We spent this past weekend at Gary’s parents house.  Gary, Grandpa, Uncle John, and Alan drove to Cleveland for the Ohio State football game.  Noah, mommy, Grandma, Aunt Dawn, and Emily stayed home and went to "Harrison Rally Day".  It was a fall festival of sorts.  There was a parade, jumping toys for kids, lots of fine arts, live music, and lots of food.  Noah enjoyed watching the parade with Grandma.  We walked around and looked at some of the artwork and listened to the live music.  Noah was pooped out and fell asleep on our walk home.

 

 

Getting his face painted.  He choose a firetruck design!  Of course he touched it right after getting it done so it didn’t look much like a firetruck….more like a big red mess!

 

Pooped out little man.

More fun projects!

I have been working on a couple projects the past couple weeks in preparation for my dear friend Bridgett’s birthday this weekend!  The first project was using an old window I found on the side of the road and making a special frame for her girl’s pictures.  I had her husband send me three pictures and then I spent WAY too long at the scrapbook store finding the perfect paper to go behind the pics in the frame!  Then I glued each and every single pearl on the window frame to outline the girls’ pictures!  I think it turned out beautiful!  I just love all the things you can make with old windows!!

 

Before

 

After

 

I also wanted to make her a special cake for her birthday….and spent a couple days looking at tons of pictures on the internet.  Finally I came up with the PERFECT idea….a birthday cake bouquet!  Since it was my first time making this I used my friend and neighbor Amy as my "trial run".  It turned out beautiful…..so then it was time to make Bridgett’s! 

 

This is the first bouquet I made.  My friend Amy loved it!  This was my "trial run" and I am really happy with how it turned out.  Here are some pics of the prep work!  That was a lot of frosting colors to mix up!

 

The finished project and my friend Amy seeing it for the first time!

 

Then it was time to make Bridgett’s!  I mixed up even more frosting colors than I did for the first one.  I wanted it to be really colorful!