VEGAS!!!

Had a little get-away last week to Las Vegas.  Dave was out there for work for the week, and I flew in and joined him for the weekend.  One of my oldest and dearest friends also lives in Vegas and we got to hook up with her over my stay. 

 

The stars did not align themselves to allow us to bring home more money then we left with, but it was a good time non-the-less!  

How can you really go wrong when you have...

• Your husband
• A good friend
• Warmer weather than you left at home
• Lots of lights and glitz and bling all around
• Good food (that I didn't have to cook - or clean up after)
• Getting your picture taken with an Elvis Impersonator, an Elvis Big Head, and a walking Fabulous Las Vegas Sign
• A great hotel room
• A little gambling (a few wins, but unfortunately we ended up donating it back to the local economy!)
• The kids home safe and sound with Grandma and Grandpa C
• Lots and lots of People Watching (one of my favorite sports)

 And the highlight of the trip was the Cirque Du Soleil - Mystère show we saw.  If you have never seen it and get the chance I highly recommend it.  We even had front row seats... AWESOME!!!  You can check out a You Tube trailer for the show here. 

Inspired to Create...

Saturday was my birthday - I won't say what number birthday - but my birthday none-the-less... I share my birthday with one of my best friends and "cousin-in-law" Lori. Lori was celebrating a "milestone" birthday this year (the big 40), so her family threw her a party. So we went to the party to help her celebrate.

Lori is an amazing artist and illustrator. Although it was her party, she painted me this canvas for my birthday.I just love my new picture!!!

She even put red polka dot ribbon along the edge of the canvas to finish it off...

She is such a talented artist!!!

Doesn't it look great in my sewing area - it matches perfect with the sewing table I made earlier this year.I am now inspired to start sewing some new creations...

Busy as a Bee

My summer has been crazy busy as I'm sure everyone else has.

Had my garage sale - which was pretty much a bust - hard to get traffic back in our little cul-de-sac, and when we did, no one was buying. The economy must be worse than I thought if people are not even buying at garage sales!

The spring broke on our garage door with all my garage sale stuff sitting on my driveway - cost me over half of what I made in the entire sale to fix that.

I've "misplaced" the charger to my camera battery, so no pictures of any of my recent creations... I finished my vintage sheet zig zag quilt. Stared on a hammock cover for the new hammock we got Dave for fathers day - it is basically a big quilt that will have gromets in the corners and sides to tie to the new 3 person rope hammock that is to be delivered next week.

Have spent quite a bit of time at the lake - entertaining friends - check out Jenni's blog post about her visit to the lake a few weekends ago. She is an amazing photographer and took some great pictures... Thanks Jenni for all the nice compliments too!!

Have also spent a lot of time up there trying to get the treehouse finished (inside painted, screens installed, etc) so the kids can sleep in it this coming week while we are up there for vacation. I will be glad when it is finished - what was suppose to be a "summer project for Dave", has turned into a 3 year ordeal for the entire family. You can read some of that saga here.

Kids have been doing various camps and sport which means I have spent most of my summer driving here and there.

Well, sorry about the lack of pictures, hopefully I will find my camera charger soon! We will be at the lake from this afternoon though the 4th of July weekend! Hope to post more after that.

The Pony Party

My neighbor and good friend Jenny W. always has the best kids birthday parties, but she even outdid herself this year. Her youngest turned 5 and she had a Pony Party. But not just 1 pony but three ponies, and kittens, and bunnies, a pot bellie pig, lambs and a chicken!!!Here is the birthday girl with a soft fluffy bunny.

All the kids got to hold the animals and ride the ponies around the cul-de-sac. What a hoot!!!My friend Jenny V. from Point of View Lens is trying to get a good shot of her little M. riding the pony!

My girls loved the bunnies!Even the adults got into it...

A good time was had by all...

Happy Birthday A!

Over the Rainbow

Yesterday we went to the annual "River Greening". The fire department turns the St. Mary's river green in honor of St. Patrick's Day and has an all day family fun fest.

The river was quite swollen and muddy due to the recent flooding in the area, so the green dye disipated quite quickly, but I loved how the sun hitting the green stream formed a rainbow!

The girls did not want to go this year. C our middle child's response was... "I don't want to go watch all those Amish people with their ukuleles". I think she meant Irish people with their bagpipes, but I could be wrong. Maybe there were some rogue Amish people playing ukuleles last year that really frightened her. I must say, I would be frightened if I saw that too!!!

We just took P and a friend of his and we had a great time...The boys participated in the Lucky Charms eating contest
We ate Irish Stew
The boys attempted to pull a firetruck
And we even got to see and hear the "Amish Ukulele" players...

A Weekend Away

My DH and I spent the weekend with his high school (yes, I said high school) buddies. This small group of guys has remained friends for all these years.


We got together at the "farm". One of his friends married into this "farm" that consists of 23 acres, skeet shooting range, a pond, trails, pens for live birds (for hunting), woods, etc... There are actually crops (soy beans and feed corn) that are grown on the property, but that part is leased out to a real farmer.

It was a couples only weekend, and we had lots of fun reminiscing,

playing games,

laughing,

eating,

shooting,

and drinking.

A good time was had by all. We already have the date for next year's get-together planned...