So I only had one beer last night and felt terrible afterwards ~ must've been the cold that I feel like I am getting today. . .

We did receive some good news last night! Chris is the head coach for Taite's football team this fall. I thought for sure he would be excited ~ he's nervous, nervous, nervous! There are 14 kids on the team, so he'll have 26 parents (Taite's parents won't be a problem) that he'll have to try and keep happy! He's stressed about there being so many fundamentals and how will they get them all taught and perfected before the first game! Two things are for sure coming about because of this:
1. He and Taite are "picking it up" with their conditioning because Chris wants him to be the "good" coaches kid :~) I'm not too worried. hehe
2. He said he is NOT letting work get in the way of this coaching ~ he will do his damnest (sp?) to make sure he is not traveling and will make practices and games!

Yea for him! His first trip comes next week when he'll be in Chicago, but comes home Tues night and there is a coaches meeting on Wed night.

Our boys are too spoiled. . . Taite came to me this morning and told me he saw a commercial where you can take in any car and get $4500 for it so we should take the (sorry Greg. . .) "rust bucket" and trade it for something nicer. Chris keeps telling the boys some people only have cars like that to drive and if it "gets you where you want to go. . . " (man I hate sounding like my parents!). Plus, I like the payments! NONE!! We had talked about trading in the old van, but ironically, we like to have that just because we can take all the seats out (can't in the Honda) and haul all kinds of "stuff" without having to worry about the rain or dust getting to it! It's been perfect for the game table, love seat and many other things like garage sale items ~ I mean the ones I was selling on the garage sale we had at Steph's house!

A funny story ~
For NI Midstar, we have 2 credit cards (one for "always" use and the other "just in case"). Well we received a letter that the one credit card (back-up) was being cancelled because the funding/backing for it was being pulled from the credit card company ~ had nothing to do with us as users. The other day Chris took a call and he was on the phone for about 20 minutes. He comes out and tells me "I don't have any credit!" The one credit card he had applied for had looked at his credit history and his score is fine, but I have signed up for the cards (I thought jointly) and Chris is just an authorized user! She suggested he might want to sign up for a card all on his own, but don't go "crazy" ~ as if we would all of a sudden stop paying off the balance. . . He was sure I had set him up so that if I kicked him out that he wouldn't even be able to rent an apartment ~ man, his mind goes crazy sometimes. . .

It's done!!!! I am celebrating tonight!!!

I'm not quite sure why I put so much pressure on myself or had so much doubt, but the camera bag is done and ready for the trial run! After a panic session last night when I sewed the handle on and the bottom of the bag hit the back of my knee. . . But, Monica came out today so we could measure it on her and she loved the length. So I finished it up and she was on her way! She was very excited and I'm relieved that she'll have a whole week to come up with "feedback" :~) I am expecting that there will be some things to resolve, but one thing I pointed out that could be another selling feature is the whole bag can be thrown into the washing machine if it gets dirty! So, I am breathing a huge sigh of relief for completing this project (finally ~ the first due date was the end of May) and will get prepped for making the next bag for Monica's friend, Shana. The cool thing about this bag is that if someone doesn't want it so big, we can just make the squares on the outside smaller and downsize the rest as I go!

So, here is a quick mock-up of the camera bag. I had to use the lining fabric in a lot of places because there wasn't much left on the thing at JoAnn's so for 1/2 off, we took it all. Here is the inside of the bag. The lower right corner has the camera pouch and on the left side is the lens pouch. Across the back are the pockets, but I wanted to see for sure where I should place them (up off the bottom or along the bottom) and I think I like them up off the bottom. Across the top is the zipper! I was really nervous about getting this done and I think I was just over thinking it. After doing some research today, it was a breeze (well, minus the time I had to undo my first try because it wasn't wide enough). The next step is to have Monica bring her "stuff" so we can see if it will fit in the pockets and such.

Last night during supper I said that I felt like playing Boggle (we bought a new one because I couldn't find it at any used place ~ Saver's, Goodwill, Craigslist and it was $15! I was thinking it should be more like $6 because there is nothing to it, but whatever) and Chris said he felt like watching a movie. He and Taite are not the game players in this house. But it was decided that we'd play Boggle. After a few rounds, Brayton was getting a little frustrated because he didn't know many words (can't argue with that) so I suggested that we open the Electronic Monopoly game we've had in the closet since last December. . . It was Monica's suggestion that prompted me to buy it (it's also Chris' favorite game and since it's electronic, it's supposed to be quicker ~ to finish) :~)

We really had a BLAST playing this game! We each get a credit card with 10 million dollars (so real life too!) and the property on the board has been updated, so Mall of America is on there, Disney World, etc. The boys thought the player pieces were cool too ~ segway, flat screen TV, a purse w/a dog, baseball hat and some others. What the boys really enjoyed is that the property is offered to the person who lands on it and if they don't want it, it goes up for auction. I will try my best to describe how this went~~

As soon as Chris would say auction, Brayton's face would light up and he'd raise his hand (ready to bid) the whole time nodding. Taite, on the other hand would get caught up in the bidding and after he would bid was hoping that another person would outbid him so he wouldn't have to "spend" that money! It was too funny!!! I tried to capture it on the video below, but you are more than welcome to come to our house and play with us sometime to get the full effect. We did a lot of laughing and the boys didn't go to bed until 9.

Here is Brayton deciding if he should bid. . .

Taite won the bid and then didn't want to have to pay:

Getting oriented with the new game.

After the late night last night, the boys were not too excited for our big moving day. . . Taite was grumbling the whole time he had to help and wanted to know why Chris was doing what I wanted ~ he should've just said no. Of course Chris didn't tell him that he and I had discussed this together and it wasn't all my idea!

The easiest way to show the big move is to do before and after pictures, so here it goes.

BEFORE: This is my sewing room/utility room.

AFTER: This is the utility/ exercise room. The treadmill is tipped up here because the metal is cracked and will eventually break, so Chris is going to call the guy we bought it from, again (the very first treadmill we had, the same bars broke right off and that was within a week of when we got it!)

BEFORE: The exercise/storage room

AFTER: My sewing room/storage room. I can open my table ALL the way up and we went and got a conference table from the office that we weren't using to use as my new sewing table. I have so much more room I can hardly believe it!

BEFORE: The garage

AFTER: The garage/weight room. We sold the game table to Steph & Brian and cleaned up the garage to put the weight bench out there. There are more extensions and stuff that we couldn't use on the bench downstairs, we just have to find where we are storing them. . .

Here is where most of the stuff from the sewing room was while we moved all the big stuff.

There was also some stuff in the hallway and one chair mat made a tunnel type structure which Brayton thought was cool to crawl through to get to the bathroom. They decided that they'd make their own little fort back there and had pushed a tote sideways to create a corner. They took their Gameboys and were quite content until we had to kick them out so we could move some more stuff.

Day #2 of bag production

So today didn't seem too productive, but let me tell you that this is the only handle you will see ~~~okay, time out. . . I need to take this moment to complain about Vista (not that I'm sure Vista is the cause of my problems, but they are getting the blame!) On this new laptop, I have to continually disconnect from the wireless network and reconnect (to the same network) because it will all of a sudden not be connected! I signed into my blog and then went to upload the pictures and in that time, it didn't work. It is such a pain!

Okay, anyway, I apologize for my outburst ~ I'm a little tired. So, back to my day. It seems that I wasn't very productive on the bag, but after 2 failed attempts at the memory card pocket, I wanted to get it just perfect! Oh, and you will not see another bag with the detailed stitching like this one! It took wayyyy too much time. And then I couldn't use the amount of batting that I wanted to while doing the decorative stitch, so I had to sew the padding in with the straight stitches on the sides. This is how the handle will look on the outside (brown) and the inside of the handle (blue). I still am so in love with these fabrics!

One thing that Monica thought would be so cool is to have a little pocket on the handle that held the memory cards, so when needed, it didn't require a digging through a bunch of other stuff. So, without further ado ~ I present to you the Memory Card pocket (Monica, don't pee ~ hehe)

It's obviously not sewn onto the strap yet because I don't have the straps ready to sew together yet ~ not to that step. I hope it works just how she wanted it too. In hindsight, the pockets could've had a little less space in the heights of them, but I'm not taking it out now. . . :~) Sorry, Mon, you'll have to live with it. Tomorrow my plan is to get the pockets and compartments figured out for inside the bag (one for the camera, one for the lens and a few along the sides of the bag for other stuff (wet wipes, remotes, etc.) Wish me luck!

A Bag is Born. . .

So tonight I went to town to get an iron (yes, just a plain clothes iron, but it's heavier and nicer than the cheap one I got from Walmart and it was only $5 on CL) and to have Monica pick out the material for her Camera Bag. She got some really great fabrics (if you like brown and aqua blue!) and so far tonight I wasted too much time trying to make a pocket with a flap for the front of the bag and I ended up with the bag being a little wider and not quite as tall as she had hoped, but I think it's close so she'll like it :~)

I am combining my most recent bag pattern with some ideas of my own. I started out with just squares and then sewed them to make the two outsides of the bag. This is a picture of my new favorite tool ~ I have no idea what it is called, but it has markings so I can make squares ~ in this case 4 at a time ~ just by cutting and turning and cutting again! REALLY speeds things up when it comes to making the same size squares.

Here is a picture of one of the sides and the fabric on top will be the inside lining and the brown on the side is going to be the handle and short sides and bottom of the bag. The camera didn't really capture the colors all that well, but you get the idea.

Tomorrow I will continue to work on the lining and figure out all the little pouches and stuff that will signify this as a camera bag. . . Wish me luck!!!

The naming goes on, along with some other things

So, I'm sitting at the office and it's not too busy, so I update my blog.

Amber came up with another name (or names) ~ Patchwerks or I could put the 2 dots above the 'e', but I'm not sure how to do that in the font. . . Chris also came up with "Lisa and Stitch" instead of Lilo and Stitch ~ kind of cute and fun. It got me thinking that that's what I want ~ a name that will grab someone and they'll say "Hey, I bet this is a fun person ~ what do they do??" I just need to pick something (no one else has gotten back to me on ideas) and make my cards. I take my new purse everywhere to "advertise" :~) Unfortunately, Chris doesn't think I need to be shopping all the time because that's not effective advertising ~ whatever! Have I mentioned how much I love my new bag??? I don't have to dig for my cell phone anymore and the pocket is SOOO perfect that I don't have to worry about my phone falling out either!!

So, with my new bag business blooming (okay, 'blooming' might be a slight exaggeration) it got me thinking of how to use the space in our house a little more efficiently. Maybe not more efficiently, but I could sew without the water heater, water softener & dehumidifier running all in the same little room that I sew in. . . I shared this idea with Chris and he was thinking the same thing ~ kinda creepy since we haven't been married for like 50 years, but we still think the same things quite often ~ okay, not creepy, just sweet?

So here is how the shift of things will go:
~ Move the game table out of the garage (either sell it or move it to the office's back room for the boys)
~ Move the weights from the basement (storage/exercise room) to the garage and put together the whole weight bench (currently the room is too small for the whole thing to be put together)
~ Move the treadmill and exercise bike into the sewing/utility room
~ Move the sewing machine, fabric, tables, etc. to the storage room and have a whole lot more room!!! I can't wait!

This of course requires us to get rid of a bunch of things (stuff we don't use anyway) and that is always a good thing. I need to take before pictures (well, sort of ~ I've already started to clean out the storage room, but just to see how the space gets utilized is kind of fun to watch :~)

Gotta run ~ will keep you posted

Free purse/bag?

OMG ~ I totally wasn't prepared for the oh so cool names that you (okay, just Amber) would come up with for my business!!! She was on a roll and even came up with names for "lines" of bags (may be a stretch at this point) :~) I am really impressed! Here is what she came up with (let me know what you think!)
Just Patchy
Sew Creative Custom Carry-All's
It's a Stitch Creative Carry-All's
Me Sew Crazy
Sew Fabulous
And for the product lines:
Purse line ~ Sew-bo (HoBo)
Diaper bags ~ Sew, Baby
Camera bags ~ Sew Clicky

Don't you just LOVE those??? So, she mentioned that she took the "assignment" seriously and that got me thinking that I should've offered up a free bag of choice if I pick your name suggestion! I'm thinking Amber might get one anyway for her effort without the "carrot" :~)
I am so excited to get this "thing/business" off the ground and get one of our (Monica's idea, my creativity) camera bags out there!! I have been thinking of making some business cards so I can hand them out (as can those who have one of my creations) to drum up more business. I want to add pictures of previous creations and to do that, I thought I'd print them up on photo paper! I still haven't done that yet either, but am excited, nonetheless!

So, onto other subjects. . . FOOD! Yesterday for supper, we made a pot pie. I am the absolute worst person when it comes to trying to make crust! My FAVORITE product??? Pillsbury roll-out crust! It is the BEST (I even like it uncooked) and if you liked pot pies from the freezer, this is the way you can make it from scratch (and probably have it be healthier). It gets to flaky and yummy that I'm tempted to see if my dad can tell that I didn't make it (he's the King of anti-box/pre-processed stuff).

This morning we all took part in the Football conditioning practice. Brayton didn't participate the whole time, but could run ladders considerably fast with Crocs on. . . Taite was tired, but still did the workout and it was fun to be able to participate together like that! We decided that we should get Taite's shoes for football now, so he can get them broke-in before the actual season happens.

Pride. . .

I know as a parent, we all think that our own kids are the best. But feeling proud of you children is something they have to earn. I am so very proud of Taite. Last Wednesday he had weigh-ins for football. I think they divide the teams up after knowing the sizes of the kids, which seems fairer than how they did basketball (all the kids on the traveling team were on the same team, which was coached by the guy who put the team together. . .). Chris also said he would help coach and they were telling the guys who volunteered for that that there would be a form coming via some sort of mail and if they really wanted to be a coach, they had to pass the background check ~ sounds good to me!! So, anyway, back to my pride for my son. . . Chris told Taite that to get ready for football, they should start conditioning. So every morning since Thursday, Taite has woke Chris up at 6:30 (today was 7:30 ~ slept in by Chris' request) dressed and ready for their workout together. They both come in sweaty, but feeling good about themselves. Taite asked if he needed to exercise to lose weight, but I told him, his heart and lungs need to work up to the ability to play football for a long time. I know people think we are crazy, but being healthy should be a lifestyle for us and our boys and they're already champs at eating their fruits and veggies. Besides, this isn't any different than if they were having phy-ed at school and it's too easy in the summer in the country to sit in front of the tv (speaking from personal experience). So, I'm proud of Taite's drive and his pride in himself for losing a pound (added bonus) :~) He weighed in at 100.7, which surprised me, but I had no idea what he weighed.

So, obviously I haven't been in on these workouts so you are wondering what I've been doing. (maybe, maybe not, but I'm going to let you know anyway) I've been sewing. I still haven't finished my mini-laptop bag and after looking at it, couldn't believe I put a price on it so high. Anyway, I'm not worried about that ~ I found a new purse pattern and fell in LOVE with it. The pocket on the outside of the bag is like it was made specially for my phone! I also would like to show you what a difference some good matching fabric can do. This is a purse that I threw together but didn't have enough of the main fabric (it's cute coffee fabric). Ever since I finished this bag, I hated it. I hated the color around the top and the handles were too short. I hated to throw it all away because I love the textured black on the bottom (perfect for not showing dirt), so I took it apart all the way back to one of the first steps so I could replace that gaudy fabric on top! So, here is my new bag now. I found some fabric that matched the coffee fabric perfectly (AND I didn't even remember to bring the coffee fabric with me to match it!) and I made some new longer handles and used my favorite stitch on them and now I LOVE this bag and I used it the other day and got a lot of comments on it.

I still don't have a cute name to put on some business cards (in case people comment on my purse ~ I'll give them a card) so if you have something, let me hear it! I just don't want a name that says what I do ~ I want a catchy name and then I will put in the description that I create custom bags and purses. Speaking of custom bags, I also met with Monica about our camera bag adventure. I am psyched to get one of those done and on display :~) (she's also the one who was giving me a hard time about not updating my blog ~ hehe) The most difficult part about creating bags for someone else, though, is trying to figure out the fabric! I pretty much have the plan in my head and on paper of how I am going to construct the bag, but I don't want to put it all together and have her hate the fabric. Oh well, that is an easy enough fix.

This weekend was Byron's Good Neighbor Days. It was a terrible weekend to be so dang cold!!! My cousin, Rhonda, came home for a week so she could go to her class reunion and coming from Hawaii, she didn't have any warm clothes! We found some and sent them over with Sandy so that Rhonda wouldn't have to buy so many, which I was glad to do because I would hate to have to do that! Friday night we went to the parade in town (I got to use my new purse for the first time ~ the new pattern one ~ the old/made new one I used garage saling that morning and got comments!) The boys were upset because we told them we were going to send the large bags of candy they still had from the parade on the 4th to Grandpa's work, so they decided they just wouldn't pick up much candy. The reason we were giving away the parade candy is because sometimes when we are just going over to the office for a short time, they boys are okay to stay home (it's only 2 miles away and they have our phone numbers and the dog I don't think would let anything happen to the boys!). Chris discovered the other day that when the boys are home alone, they've been attacking the gummy worms that they got last Halloween ~ yes, they've been up in the cupboard ~ a lady that dad works with lives at the end of their street and she always has a HUGE bowl of candy for Trick-or-Treater's and they don't get any! Just our boys go down their long driveway and then she always lets them pick from the bowl AND she gets them something special too! One year it was gummy bugs with a light up tweezers thing to eat them with. Well, last year, she got them each one of those huge tubs of gummy worms and sour worms! I mean, these things remind me of when we used to go fishing on Memorial Day weekend (when I was a kid) and at the resorts in the Lodge, they would have candy to buy and you could get like 2 gummy worms for a nickel, well, that's how big the canister thing was that the boys got. So anyway, before I forget my point, the boys had been eating the gummy worms like crazy and they were almost all gone (like within a week or so. . .). Taite said they didn't know they couldn't have them, but when I asked if they ate them when we were home, he said 'no', so then I asked why he didn't eat them when we were home, if he didn't know it wasn't okay. . . no answer.

Last night we took the boys to their first Demolition Derby. They had a blast and LOVED it!!! I took some pictures on my phone and they are supposed to put them on their blog, but I haven't seen Taite smile that much for 3 hours ;~) Chris said he'd like to take them to the races in Kasson sometime, but I said we could camp in Racine and the races are right there OR we could camp up by Elko and go to those races because I've heard they change it up a lot up there and would have other things that would interest the boys. It was very crowded, but the boys thought it was the best thing they had ever been to!

I suppose you are wondering what Brayton is up to ~ playing his GameBoy. On Friday when I stopped at some garage sales, I found GameBoy Games!!! They are so rare to find and then I got a good price on them too. I picked up Yoshi World (Super Mario Bros ~ I thought I'd like to play that one ~ hehe) and Warioland 4 (also another SMB character) for $3 each (these games aren't made anymore and to buy them at Gamestop, they get $20 - $25 each still!!!) And then I found a PayDay, Life and some other board game for the GameBoy for $1!!! This was exciting because Brayton's favorite game to play is Life and I'm the only one who will play with him and I don't like playing that game :~) So now he can play Life anytime he wants!! He was as thrilled as I was LOL

Chris has been busy trying to sell stuff. He decided he wanted to downsize and thought we'd camp much more if we had a pick-up camper with a generator. After discussing it (I still don't think we'd have enough space) I thought it's only fair since I have had my dream camper, he could get his and we'd see which one sucked less (LOL). Our current camper is too long and to get into some campgrounds is impossible (well, not impossible, but it's very trying to get it maneuvered into a spot sometimes). Chris had dreams of driving up to Northern Minnesota and upon finding some inviting spot, just parking it and camping :~) Unfortunately, no one will take our trade in (well, they will, but we might as well look for an old pickup camper and just have 2 for the loss we would take on a trade) and to get the size of pickup camper that is most commonly for sale, we'd have to get a long box truck too :~) Since we had the camper updated with stronger axles and tires (most campers are under-equipt with that and we got Pilgrim to replace ours) Chris has been trying to sell those on CL. EXCEPT, he just found out how cheap steel is, so now he's thinking he will use them and build a trailer. . . It changes almost weekly what he is doing LOL He did decide to buy Greg's old Saturn that was headed for the junkyard and that will be our little beater car ~ well, it'll be Chris' little beater car since he told me he likes not having to worry about being all greasy and dirty after working somewhere and then hopping into a vehicle. I, personally, don't like driving in "work" vehicles because I don't know what the backside of me looks like once I get to where I'm going!!! (Dad's truck is one of those such vehicles) :~)

Well, I suppose, I had better do something productive and I will let you get on with something else in your day too ~ hehe! Hope you have/had a good one!!

Bag anyone?

Well, here it goes. . .

After making my wonderful laptop bag (not sure if I mentioned that it fits my 17" laptop, so way too big for a purse-type bag!) and getting so many rave reviews about it (okay, so there were a handful) I decided to try and shrink the pattern to make a purse-like messenger bag. After my trip to the fabric store last weekend, here is my 2nd attempt (the 1st one was way too small!). This one is still a little smaller than I was looking for, so if someone else is interested in it, I'm asking $25 and you will get to customize it to your liking. . .

Here is the sample of the flower that I can applique on it. That is similar (scaled down) to my laptop bag.

Or. . . If you don't like the flower, I won't put it on and you can just leave the flap as it is.

I think this is my favorite part! I love the leaves sewn around the border of the flap! I can also do this on the handle or can change it to something else if you prefer! The colors on the plaid are kind of washed out from the camera flash. The top pictures are a better representation of the actual colors. And speaking of colors, on the picture above this one, on the lower left corner, the lighter pink/rose you see is what I used for the inside pockets.

Here is a picture of the inside (you will not see the white that is in this picture when it is all done ~ I haven't finished this one so I can customize it for whomever wants it. I will make the handle the plaid color (or if you see another one you like better on the bag, I can do that as well ~ I've just found that you want the bottom and the handle to be darker color (dirty hands, make dirty purses). The dimensions of this bag are 10" wide and 7" tall and 2" deep. I will make the handle longer like a messenger bag, unless you have a desired length ~ I aim to please! :~)

Okay, so for those of you not interested in bags, here is a funny joke someone emailed me last week ~ I laughed, so hopefully you will too hehe

An Irish woman of advanced age visited her physician to ask his advice in reviving her husband's libido. 'What about trying Viagra?' asked the doctor 'Not a chance', she said. 'He won't even take an aspirin.' 'Not a problem,' replied the doctor. 'Give him an 'Irish Viagra'.. It's when you drop the Viagra tablet into his coffee. He won't even taste it. Give it a try and call me in a week to let me know how things went.' It wasn't a week later when she called the doctor, who directly inquired as to her progress. The poor dear exclaimed, 'Oh, faith, bejaysus and begorrah! T' was horrid! Just terrible, doctor!' 'Really? What happened?' asked the doctor. 'Well, I did as you advised and slipped it in his coffee and the effect was almost immediate. He jumped straight up, with a twinkle in his eye and with his pants a-bulging fiercely! With one swoop of his arm, he sent me cups and tablecloth flying, ripped me clothes to tatters and took me then and there passionately on the tabletop! It was a nightmare, I tell you, an absolute nightmare!' 'Why so terrible?' asked the doctor, 'Do you mean the sex your husband provided wasn't good?' 'Feckin jaysus, 'twas the best sex I've had in 25 years! But sure as I'm sitting here, I'll never be able to show me face in Starbucks again!'

I did forget to mention that the highlight of my weekend was at the bonfire. One of the kids there (I think he was 19) asked me how old I was (I didn't care, it wasn't like he was looking for a date!) and when I told him I was 30-something (didn't do the math) he said "oh, you don't look that old!" Gotta LOVE that!! :~) Hey~ I'm getting old, I have to take compliments when I can get them! hehehe

Well, since I was woke up with heartburn, I have been shopping online for the last hour and decided I could at least be productive and update our blog. After reading all the updates from the blogs I follow (seems like just the other day that I updated ours and now everyone else has already added something new since that time!) my update seems so boring. . .

I learned from Monica's blog that there was a Twins camp in Kasson on Saturday morning that we totally missed out on. . . I guess that's one of the downfalls to not reading the paper or the news. (I won't tell the boys)

From another blog, I saw a group of friends (maybe family ~ I don't personally know her ~ she's a friend of a friend) who had a fun filled weekend together and looked very happy in the picture. We did get to go to the bonfire for Sonja's birthday on Friday night, but after that, it was all work. And with that, it all seems so boring because you don't really want to hear about how I moved flowers from one place to another, or how we mowed lawn or cleaned stuff. . .

You see, this is why I really don't enjoy Facebook. Oh sure, I go on there once in awhile to check things out, but if I'm not careful, it can be very depressing. . . Chris has read many articles on FB (imagine that) and apparently I am not the only one that feels this way. It seems everyone on FB (or at least those who update it) is doing all this fun and exciting stuff and those who just read and don't post anything (me) aren't doing so much of that. Now, I'm not whining about having a boring life, it's just that our entertainment revolves around camping and if we don't go anywhere with that, we don't go (or so it seems). Maybe it comes from the reminder (used to be constant) of the cost of the camper and what we could've done differently with that money, but my fear has always been that if we weren't "forced" (mentally) to go camping, we wouldn't take those weekend getaways to here and there because there will always be something we can be doing around the house. Now occasionally my husband will thank me for making him do something because otherwise we are both guilty of just hanging around and not getting the boys out into the world to experience things. . .

Okay. . . so maybe updating our blog at 4 am is not such a good idea ~ guess I'm better off shopping where it's not so depressing (no, buying is NOT even happening) :~)

A Big Update!

Do I have any readers still with me? :~)

Here is the last 2 weeks in a nutshell. . . (I may have forgotten some things, so I'll add more later when I recall them) :~)

Sewing Machine
I did decide on a BabyLock because of the options you can have for the money (compared to other brands). I did end up getting a new one because they didn't tell me when I was looking at the used ones that the brand new ones were only about double the price of the used and when you buy new, you get the full manufacturers warranty! I even got one that can do a little embroidery! I'm so excited, but I will wait to take my classes (come with the machine purchase) so I don't wreck something. I did manage to find a pattern and material that I absolutely LOVED when we were camping over the 4th in Lanesboro, so here is my first creation on my new sewing machine. I was up until 2 am on Monday night, but got my laptop bag completed in one day and I can't wait to make a smaller version to use for a purse!! (note the stitching on the handle and around the flap ~ all cool things that my new machine can do!!)


4th of July Weekend

We didn't have reservations for anywhere, so our options were the park in Lanesboro or the fairgrounds in Preston (a guy from the City told Sonja if you are the first ones to get there, you can have the water hook-ups). Mom & dad and us headed out on the 1st at "the butt-crack of dawn" (Greg's favorite "Chris" saying) to get sites for the weekend. Sonja and I had discussed going to Preston because we'd never been there before, but I guess neither of us shared our thoughts with mom. . . There was construction, so we were separated from mom & dad and when I called them to see for sure where the fairgrounds were, she said "FAIRGROUNDS?! We're at the park in Lanesboro!" Well it all worked out because normally getting into the park there is a challenge, but we camped up by the dam and the boys thought it was the best! Chris and Taite were practicing a lot of football (the high school field is right there and lots of wide open spaces) to which Taite improved tremendously in short time they played. It was good exercise for Taite though because he would come back all sweaty, but happy :~) One day it was raining, but only a mist type of rain, so it was perfect for the boys to play in. They played in it for over an hour and didn't get soaked. They collected rain water from the awnings and Brayton filled any can he could find that wasn't smashed and tried to "sell" the beer and soda rain water. hehe They had bowls and cups to fill and then pour from one thing to another.





I'm not sure what happened to them from being in the rain, but Taite hiked his pants up and started acting like Irkle (sp?) Of course it got a lot of laughs, so Bray had to join in.

Bray's teeth
Today I took Bray to the Orthodontist (as recommended by the dentist) and he told us there really isn't anything to panic about yet. I am very happy that we went because I thought for sure he was going to give us a list of what needed to be done and he told me that now they start monitoring these situations when the kids are smaller and can take proactive approaches to things so everything might just work out in the end and nothing major needs to be done. For right now, he has his two baby eye teeth kind of taking over space that his permanent teeth are trying to come through, so the solution will be to shave off some of the baby eye teeth to make room. He said the shaving isn't a big deal since they are only doing this to baby teeth, but he said he doesn't want to pull them just because they are baby teeth (yeah!!) He also said that we will watch his under bite to see if it evens out when his permanent teeth come in before making adjustments. Now we just have hope things look good again in Jan!