Monday, January 31, 2011

1/30- We Went To The Beach-In Wisconsin

Sunday~
January 30th~
Lake Michigan~
Wisconsin~
looks like
THIS...
google image of Lake MI
And Little Lulu plays in the sand... Oh wait..
What do you mean
this doesn't look like
Wisconsin in the winter?
Well...
There's a reason for that..
Land sakes alive..
Don't get all cranky on
me here..
I lied..
Okay?
I lied!
That was JULY 31st...
Below is the
truth..
the raw and
unrelenting truth...
and
nothing but the truth...
THIS is
January 31st in
Milwaukee, WI..
Right on the
shores of
Lake MichiganMy son-in-law,
TheIslandScout,
snapped these
pictures from his
IPhone..
cuz he was driving
and my daughter,
BabyE
and I
were crammed
into the back seat..
Can you move over a
half-inch
was a common
request yesterday..
A resounding
NO
was the answer..
Anyway..
after we ate
HEREWe needed an extra
foot in the back seat
(rather than the
original inch requested)
cuz the food was
good, folks..
Seriously
GOOD.

Which brings me to
another question to ponder..
Why is it that
when two couples go
out for a drive..
the men always
sit in front and the
women always
sit in the back...
with the babies..
crammed in like
sardines in a can?

I.CAN'T.BREATHE.

So, for a little
diversion.
after we had
stuffed our faces..
and then stopped
at
Dunkin'Donuts..
cuz we don't HAVE
a Dunking'Donuts..
we rode along
Lake Michigan..
down to the
Summerfest area.
My daughter,
Mimi, is
The Beverage Manager
for Summerfest.
We are talking
18 to 19 hour days...
supervising
700 employees..
spread out
in 7 tents..
when
THE FEST is going on.



It is hopping down
at Lake Michigan then..
but now..
it looks like
THIS...And THIS...And baby boys
named
Ethan,
that go outside
on days like this..
look like
THIS
Can my daughter take a picture,
or what?
Can you see his breath?
He can.
Can you see him looking at his breath?
Can you see his eyelashes?
Doesn't that make you want to
weep for all the girls
with sparse eyelashes..
cuz boys never really care
about eyelashes.
However,
he is much happier
in his warm house
showing Nana
how his firetruck works...
and pretty soon..
he will ask
MOOOVIEEEE?
MOOOVIEEEE?
And we will plug in
Baby Einstein
and watch
our own
Baby Einstein
take it all in.
And me?
Well, I am headed home
to crawl into
my
BIG.WARM.BED.
Cuz I am
beyond tired.
Amen~
your photo name

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tutorial On Crafting With Kids (Grand-and not-so-grand)




First you must hang a
banner
INSIDE..
So that the
GRANDKIDS
will know
which Holiday
they are
celebrating.
Just a word of caution..
If you hang one
that looks like
the one below..
SOMEONE
(who shall remain nameless)
will be sure to ask..
Is him's
NAKED?
Your reply should be
Absolutely..
That is why he is
carrying an envelope.
This is sure to produce
a giggle from at
least 2 or the 3 grandkids..
The third one doesn't
giggle.
She doesn't giggle
because she doesn't
"get it".
She is
trying to figure out where
HIMS
got that BHIG of an envelope. Secondly..
You must lay out supplies.
These will cost somewhere
in the neighborhood
of $500.00...
and..
after you buy
ALL THAT STUFF,
you will realize that you have
forgotten at least one or
two crucial supplies..
Like...
Elmer's WASHABLE glue.
Lord help you
if you buy the
REGULAR ELMER'S GLUE
because it will
NOT
be pretty.
Now that you have
your supplies home
and have signed
the bank loan
to cover the expense..
you must lay out the goodies...
Lay them out nice and neatly.. Sigh over the paper-Oh So SweetlyNext---
Hang a flag outside
your door..
A cute little cherub flag
to greet them with a smile
is perfect.
Love Mary Englebriet's flags.Then they arrive...
bringing presents.
Bringing PRESENT?
PRESENTS
For ME?


Yep-these are for Nana..

and they made them

all by themselves..Inside are beautiful little

hearts made with love..

One from Ria.

Two from Lulu...

and one from SweetCheeks.Of course I must put them all on..

I pick up SweetCheeks...



What does this say, SweetCheeks?



Dass jus' sumbuddy ehlse's name



on there...Doan't pay eny



attenshun to the name...



jus' putt it on..Whereupon I am informed



by Lulu that



"I told SweetCheeks



NOT to give you that one".



Whereupon SweetCheeks says



NOAH.YOAH.DIDN'T.LULU



an' I doan't kare cuz I is gifving



it to hers enyway. Hmmmf.



Great.. We are off

to a nice, calm start...



NowWhere were we?
Okay..girls..

Let's get started...

Who wants to make a

Valentine?

Everyone's hand shoots into the air.



In short order everything



looks like this.....

and this....and this...
Little Lulu is busy..
Making this.....
And Dear Little Ria is busy making her own..

She loved the self-stick hearts...

And SweetCheeks has now changed into her third
Princess Outfit...and has busied herself..And Oh, Dear Lord In Heaven...
Pray tell WHO left HER alone
with the glitter there?
There is glitter glitter everywhere..
On the floor and on the chair..
I could go on and on with the
rhyming thingy but I'm afraid
the Dr. Suess police would get me.An especially nice touch was the globs of
glue that had dropped here and there
that were now shining brightly up
from the chair...and the table...
and the floor...and the countertop...
Did I say floor? Ah..yes...
Nothing like glitter on the floor
that can be tracked from
room to room..
Leave NO ROOM untouched
seems to have been the motto
of the day.
I decide I need a bathroom break
to dispose of the 3 gallons of coffee
that I have downed in an effort
to keep up with this
CRAFT DAY WITH THE KIDS.
Lo and behold,
in the small reading nook
(where the old steps used to be)
I see
THIS...How did all these books get off
the shelf and on the floor?
I ask ever-so-sweetly
between slighthly gritted teeth.
Uh-oh---Here it comes...
Welllll...says SweetCheeks..
Ria taked a few books off
the shellff and then I hulped her
and taked the rest offf..and
we jus' put 'em here for now.
Yeah? Where do you think
your gonna put them later?
Wellll...I sayed it was Ria's idea.
I dunno how they gonna
go bahck on there.
Hmmmm...I dunno where YOU'RE
gonna go either if you guys don't put
these books back.
(Let's just say that big sister, Lulu,
helped the process along).


Soon, the day is winding down.
My dear daughter-in-law,
TheSecretAgent, is going home
and taking her tags with her.
The photos do not do these justice
for coloration..
And, I just want to say...that if you ever
get a daughter-in-law...I hope you get
one just like her...cuz trust me..
you don't want a bad one...
And we made a few coffee filter roses..
and dyed a few of the white coffee filters
pink for some pink roses, too.

At the end of the day
CRAFTING WITH KIDS
we had this....and this....
and a few cute tags....The button on this one was
from my Mother's sewing box...
And the bling on this one was from
the girl's great-grandmother's shoe..
I love that she saved everything and
had it neatly organized and labeled.
And, after the glue and glitter were
cleaned up...the three girls put
their new dresses on so we
could take their picture...
and remember the day..
at Nana's...
where even if you were
a little bad...
you had a pretty good day..
We took a
STAND UP PICTURE...
And then I told them we'd take
a SIT DOWN PICTURE..
(Only MY family...would sit like this)
Well, the story isn't quite over yet...
My oldest daughter, TPot,
took a picture of her sister, Mimi,
all dressed as a ballerina at age 4
and made it into a tag that is
glitzed and glammed up
with another shoe decoration.
Mimi couldn't be here this year
for our
CRAFTING WITH KIDS day..
But we have decided to make
it an Annual Valentine's Day
tradition...
Maybe next year she will
be able to join us..
Just to finish up
the weekend...
MyHero and I drove down
to Milwaukee today
and delivered her tag to her...And because this little guy
missed out on all the fun
with his cousins...I made a special
Valentine just for
BabyE....Cuz he is just
THAT kid!Now I will tell you
that this tutorial
is NOT for the
Faint-Of-Heart..
and please do
not attempt this
at your own home..
or...if you do...
proceed with caution!
your photo name

Saturday, January 29, 2011

A Quick Little Teaser...Can You Figure It Out?

You know I'm a
TEASE..
and
TEASERS
like to
TEASE
others and
keep them
in
suspense.
Yes.They.Do.

So...
What do you think this flag
all about?
And why
is it
flying outside
my front door?
Hmmmm...And what is this
banner all about?And why are these
three little
girls..
dressed in
matching
pink
SPIN dresses..
(ya gotta have spin
dresses at Nana's house)
WHY
are they dressed up?
AND
Why are they smiling?And how does a
pile of this...Turn into something
as sweet
as
this?Well, I guess you'll
just have to stop
by tomorrow
to see for
yourself!
Have a
wonderful
Saturday
night!
your photo name

Friday, January 28, 2011

Winner...Winner...Fabric For The Sinner...

Ha Ha Ha!
This is NOT the
picture of
The Sinner...
NOR is this
the picture of
The Winner!
That sweet face belongs
to my friend, Elyse.
She tinkers up the
cutest little
treasures you ever saw.
You can find her here~
A while ago~
She had a
GIVE AWAY!
Don't you just
LOVE
Give Aways?
I do!
I love
Give Aways..
Especially when
I WIN!!!
Ding...Ding...Ding..
I won!
I won some fabric.
Please lean away from
your keyboard.
This is a preventative measure.
It will prevent you
from drooling into
your keyboard...
which can cause problems..
Like serious problems..
Like...like...like..
You know...if you had a cold
or something..
You might give your
computer a
VIRUS.
You've all heard about them,
right?
Well, believe it or not..
that's how you get them.
I learned that somewhere.
Guess what?
If I told that to my
grandkids?
Yeah?
They'd believe me..
cuz I am that good!

Anyway..
The picture that Elyse
showed on the
give away looks like this....
And...to win...you had to
tell them what you would
do with it if you won...
Hmmm..
I saw this picture..
and I thought..
yeah, man..
pillows..
gonna make me some pillows.


I arrived home from
work today to find this
propped up by my front door.
The Postman Never Rings Twice..
(old movie-remember it?)
Nope...The mail carriers today..
They ring once..
drop the package by your door
and run away.
Anyway..
Here is what I found..
The inside packaging
was almost too sweet to
RIP OPEN..
but I did..
and
INSIDE
was this...The pictures do NOT
do it justice.
And let me tell you..
it is has the silkiest hand to it..
OH MY!
I want to roll myself up in it..
and smile..
and smile..
and smile..Well...I KNOW I said
I was gonna make
pillows...
so I started looking...
This one is pretty cool...
Simple and sweet...
And then there is this pillow
with the nice little edge
around it..
At this moment..
I can hardly bear to think of cutting
into it..
And I know I promised a pillow..
Well...It was NOT
a PINKY SWEAR..
I just said I would
PROBABLY make a
PILLOW..
But then...
I got thinking about it..
and I kinda like
THIS!

So...

THE SINNER

that lied about what she

was going to make..

may just redeem herself

after all.

With careful cutting and

measuring..

I think I can still get a pillow

out of it..

or..

Maybe Not!:>)

your photo name