More Family Time

We had our last Christmas party today.  My dad's family came over to celebrate.  We didn't get a group photo, but I did take some pictures.  It was really nice to see everyone!

Family Time and Fun in Frankenmuth

Every Christmas we spend the day with my mom's family in Bay City. This year we set the camera timer and got a great picture to remember the celebration.   

We also saw my cousin, Lisa, and her baby, Elizabeth.  Here is Elizabeth and her great-grandmother, Elizabeth.  

While we were at my Grandma's house, I wandered into her bedroom and found this beauty. Isn't it something?  She loves it!  She told me that she bought it 20 years ago for $5.  And she says that it works so much better than the new plastic ones!  She even pulled out some scrap fabric and showed me how it works.

We spent today in Frankenmuth and had lunch with Katie and Rob.  We started this tradition a few years ago and we really enjoy seeing them.  We have a routine...we meet at Zehnders for lunch and then we go to a few of the little shops.  Last year we discovered a shop that had 40% off the entire store!  And they have fabric!  Katie and I love it.  This year we went back and we were so lucky again.  We both got some great new fabric to add to our stash.  Happy sewing Katie!

Christmas!!!!

Since we'll be in Michigan for Christmas we decided to open our presents a little early. I'm blogging about my gifts. I got a couple books from my wishlist; and some new undershirts and undies (I needed them and don't like to buy them for myself). I also got some iTunes cash and shaving supplies and some snazzy new socks. But the coolest gift I got and the one Jenee told me I'd never quess was this:



Jenee adopted a BEAVER for me!!!

I named him Timber. And he came with a stuffed beaver for our home and a little reading material about beavers. It's so great, it helps the Lincoln Park Zoo and we get a little plush guy. It's Win/Win!

We're going to have to visit the real one soon, when it's not -30 wind chill. Oy, that's cold!

Plush Timber and Me:



SWEET!!!!

Memories

Jason and I have been cleaning up my old laptop and we found some pictures. I thought this one was appropriate to post...since it was taken at Christmas six years ago. Looking forward to seeing everyone in MI soon!

Finally Done

The gloves are done! I am so glad (and Jason will be too). I have been working on them - on and off - for a few months.

Had to take a few breaks to work on some other projects (shown below) and a few more that I can show after Christmas.

I Love Renegade

We went to the Renegade Holiday Sale today. Renegade is my favorite. There were over 150 vendors and I just love to see their handmade items. It gives me such inspiration. Here are my goodies from today.



There is also a Renegade Craft Fair each fall. This year, Katie and Rob were in town and joined us. It was so much fun...even though it rained the whole day. Here are my goodies from the Renegade Craft Fair.

Jason and Rob waited so patiently while Katie and I ran from booth to booth in the rain. Such great memories!

Can't wait to go next year!!

Happy Holidays!

We had a nice relaxing and productive weekend...we did some shopping, crafting (I'll have to add pictures after the holidays), and we put up our Christmas tree! Isn't it great! Now we really have the Christmas Spirit!


And Jason blew bubbles!

Thanksgiving Day + Parade = Thanksgiving Day Parade!

We are thankful for all our family, our friends, our health and all the opportunities we have that so many others don't. Like the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Yesterday Mom, Jenee, and I went to the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was busy and people were pushy. I have a feeling Jenee and I were the only locals in the 400,000-ish people there. Seriously. Lots of people threatening to take their kids back to the hotel. Which... doesn't seem like such a bad way to watch the parade, if only because it is less cramped. But it was a pretty good time, not too cold. Here are a couple of pictures of things we saw from our corner by the VIP area... and the little gas-powered generator that left us feeling a little queasy. Again, it was a good time... we'll just plan a little differently if we go again.


Mom and Me


Jenee and Me



Three story tall turkey



Elmo with Dorothy (that's the fish)



Budweiser Horsies


Cookie Monster acting like he doesn't still owe me money. Addict...




CM PUNK. Grand Marshal. Wrestler Extraordinaire.


And finally Animal!

Good stuff. Everyone should come for next year's parade.

Nice Weekend

Yesterday we went to an Italian dinner party hosted by someone we used to work with. It was so nice to see everyone again! We offered to bring an Italian dessert and after a failed attempt at Italian Lemon Knot Cookies, we decided to make Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie. Not really Italian...but it tasted far better than the cookies.

Today we took the Metra train south and visited my cousin Marcy. She recently moved to Frankfort and is much closer to where she works. She also has a nice new apartment and some of the wonderful luxuries that are so much harder to find in the city (dishwasher, washing machine, heated garage, lots of space). Her place is very nice. We took her this little gift to add to her kitchen.

Back from Vacation

We're watching the election and FINALLY updating the blog. We returned from the most wonderful vacation in Kauai recently. We attended Jenny and Josh's wedding and had so much fun vacationing. Here are a few pictures.

I am gloved... erm, loved

Hey, everyone. Just wanted to put up a picture or two of my new glove. One day it will have a mate, but untill then I will wear just the one. Gaze upon it and be jealous. Oh, and have I mentioned that Jenee is absolutely amazing? 'Cause she is, and cute, too.

Pretty cool, huh?

Special Wedding Gift

After navigating through the US Postal Service for over a week, it finally made it! This is a special wedding gift made for Jenny and Josh. We are getting so excited to travel to Hawaii and witness this wonderful event. Only two weeks away!

Day Trip

We took a day trip today - to Oak Park and Forest Park - about 10 miles West of Chicago. We went to an art festival, ate at a diner (Jason really likes diners), and looked at some shops. Just a little getaway from the city.

Test Blog

What's up inter-webs? I'm testing this to see how my posts will look. Did you see the gloves? Friggin' sweet! Did you know you can't spell gloves without love? Yep, the more you know...

And now for a picture:















When my sweetie wants a punkin, I don't care if it is a half mile walk with a huge unwieldy gourd-thing. My punkin gets a punkin if she wants one. I just hate to watch her try to cut it open. I worry for her fingers. This was last year and she loves her some seeds.

That is all. Auf Wiedersehen.

Latest Project

Welcome to our Blog! I'm working on these gloves for Jason's birthday...he has been watching me work on them so it won't be a surprise...it is a challenge to make special gifts while living together. Here are some pics of my progress.