Category Archives: making stuff

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welcome to october


Happy October!

Well, it seems this has turned into a once a week blog. There’s been a lot of the above going on lately. Our life right now is soccer five days a week. We enjoy it, but I will be very ready when the end of the month arrives and games are over until next Spring.

- Chloe is now showing an interest in taking some dance classes, so that might be the next thing we get involved in. Also, thinking about signing her up for some piano lessons. She won’t listen when mom tries to teach her. ;)

- Jake went to Austin, TX the week before last for a business trip. He really enjoyed it and got to visit the Capitol building and eat at some great restaurants and see the millions of bats that fly out at dusk each night from under a bridge downtown (creepy!).

- We went to my high school’s homecoming game this year. I haven’t been back for a game since I graduated 20 years ago (yes, that’s right. 20!). It was fun to be there again and see familiar faces and root our team on. They didn’t win (boohoo!), but it was a fun time anyway. My brother Rick came along and we reminisced about our high school days.

- I got to hang out with my childhood BFF, Karleen, on Friday. Her daughter was on the homecoming court for Hastings and I tagged along to the homecoming assembly and took a bunch of pictures of her being announced on the court and performing a routine with the cheerleading squad. It was a lot of fun.

- Too much sad news the past two weeks. A couple of my friends had family members involved in serious car accidents. My heart just ached so much for them as they said goodbye to a sister and a father-in-law. If you would, please pray for the Miller family and the Haidle family.

- Jake’s dad went to the hospital last week with some pain in his lungs and trouble breathing. They found some blood clots in the lungs and one in his leg. Please pray for healing for him. He stayed there for several days and was put on blood thinners, and now he is home. We’re praying the clots go away and never come back.

- Spent our Sunday morning at the fairgrounds for TVC’s (Thornapple Valley Church) Celebration service. TVC has three services in Hastings and two in Middleville. All the services combined for one big service in the grandstand. It was a lot of fun having everyone together, praising God outside while the early morning sun warmed our faces (our toes were another story since it was like 40 degrees out), we sang choruses, and a few horses at a farm next door pranced across the field. It was a beautiful sight. Afterwards, there were all sorts of fun things for the families to do: lunch (pulled pork served in the swine barn. hahaha!), inflatable bounce houses and slides, face painting, hay rides, and lots of snacks. It was a fun time.

- Went to my parents farm in the afternoon. The guys all worked to help Dad get one of the barns prepped to become a garage. Mom made a delicious roast and some pies for dessert. It was a very nice day!

- The trees are starting to change color here now. There are little pops of color here and there. I LOVE fall.

- I’m still keeping up with our weekly Project Life photo album. I have a text file on my computer desktop that I open at the end of each day and type out a brief summary of what we did that day. It’s really helping me when it comes to writing in the album and it’s also become a little mini journal. It’s fun to read back through some of our days from earlier in the year, and it’s such a quick and easy thing to do. I literally spend five to ten minutes on it each day, just enough time to type the events of the day and anything else I want to remember to record in the album.

- With this colder weather arriving, I’m feeling the urge to knit again. Time to pull out those needles and decide what to make.

a digital layout share


A few pictures from the first day of summer break.
Did a quick little layout last night.
Been a while since I made a page.
Feeling inspired to do more.

If only my back didn’t hurt so bad that I can’t sit at my computer for more than fifteen minutes at a time. :(

a list on monday

• Going through pictures from Scarlett’s bday party and found this one of Chloe. Played with a bunch of textures using Photoshop and got a few fun versions. I think I like the one on the lower right the best.

• Went to an anniversary party on Saturday for Laurel & Steve, my neighbors growing up. It was nice to see them and their daughters, April and Holly. We had a good time reminiscing about the good ol’ days.

• Did something to my back this weekend. Not sure what, but I am in a lot of pain. My lower back is extremely stiff and sore. Hurts to sit for long periods of time and when I do sit and then try to get up … it makes me wants to cry. Hope it gets better quickly.

• Watched “Facing the Giants” yesterday. A little family time! That movie is so wonderful.

• Lots of storms this morning, so we’re having a quiet day indoors watching TV, knitting, playing on the computer. Chloe and I sat on our front porch for a while watching the storms. She read some books and I knitted her a headband. It was nice.

• Hoping for some nice sunshine this week so we can spend some time in our beloved “Big Blue” pool.

Happy Monday everyone!

this day

Making • Doing a little knitting this week. Made a headband for myself. Kind of fun. Might make some more and put them up on Etsy maybe.

Listening to • Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield. Just watched the movie “Easy A” again the other day. Must make this song my ringtone. :D

Watching • How I Met Your Mother: Season 3 – Jake and I are working our way through the seasons. Love it!

Shopping • I have two words for you. Garage. Sales. Every summer I think, “I should go to some garage sales this year and find the kids some clothes.” Well, mom and I went to some the last week of school and then again last week we took the kids. Chloe is pretty much set for the next year or more. We found her so many nice things. Haven’t been as lucky finding things for Zach, but he does have some new jeans and shorts and a couple shirts. Garage sales are awesome! Mom and I usually have a sale each year, but we just haven’t gotten around to it this year. Maybe later in the summer.

Happy First Day of Summer!

rhubarb


Yesterday, Mom and I stopped by the local farm market in Middleville. We had driven by and noticed the sign saying they had rhubarb and mom said when she was little, Grandma would make rhubarb sauce (like applesauce). So we decided to stop there and she picked some up. I said we should show Chloe how to make it, so we went out to the farm this morning and Chloe helped cut the rhubarb into little pieces and put it in the pan to cook it down. Mom and I did the stirring on the stove. Then Chloe helped stir in the sugar. I think we’re going to find some good recipes and make some more rhubarb goodies while they are still in season. Summer fun!

crafts, airports and snow days


Last Sunday afternoon (feb 21), Chloe, Mom and I went to GR to Joann Fabrics and Michael’s. A girl trip, which Chloe was very excited about. She had a little money from her birthday, so I let her look around to see if there were any little craft projects she would like to buy. She saw these Rock Bands bracelets at Michaels and snatched them right up. She also picked out this American Girl craft sewing kit. It’s these adorable little orange and pink owls that you sew and stuff. Very cute.

After meeting Jake in GR and sending him off to NYC for a business conference (his first time in NY, btw!), we went back to my parents house and played games. Chloe decorated up her bracelets, we had some dinner and then played Blokus for a while.

Had a ton of snow that night, so Monday was a snow day. No surprise there. I spent a while shoveling that morning and cleaning the 8-10 inches of snow off our cars. I think I must have pulled something in my back because I’ve had a pinch every since. ugh!

Jake was so excited about this trip to New York, and they almost didn’t get to go because of flight delays in Chicago. But a nice travel agent found them a direct flight to Newark on another airline so they were out of GR before the snow storm on Sunday night. He called me every night to tell me about his day and where he went and what he saw. I’m so happy he got to go and experience that. He wants to take me now, so we might have to plan a trip later in the year for our anniversary. I’ve never been to NYC, so I’m looking forward to that someday soon. After more mixed up/cancelled flights on Wednesday, he made it home safe and sound. I am glad he had a wonderful trip, but we missed him so much and it’s good to have him home again.

Friday night, in the midst of more nasty snow, we headed to my parents house to celebrate! My brother Tim got a new job! We are all SO HAPPY since he’s been looking for a job for a while. I keep saying that 2010 is going to be a good year for our family and it’s starting out to be just that.

Lego cable guy


We recently decided to get Dish Network after having struggled with the stupid rabbit ears on our TV for the past couple years. The guys came for the installation last Saturday. One of them was inside with us getting stuff set up. We were chatting with him and Zach walked in the room and held out this little Lego guy (the one on the far right below), pointed at the satellite guy and said “This is you.” It was hilarious. It looked just like him. He was wearing a hat and an orange jacket. Then the other guy came in and a few minutes later, Zach returned with another creation of them getting the dish hooked up on our garage roof. They loved it! Even got out their cell phone and took a few pictures. I love this kid! :)

knitting


Been practicing my knitting. I’m getting pretty good at it. Nothing I’ve made so far has come out perfect, but I’m still working on it and just sort of playing around. My only finished projects so far are a washcloth and a little case for my iPod touch (picture above). That was kind of fun to make. I learned how to stitch two pieces together and how to make a button loop. Having fun with this new hobby! :)

spring break 2008


I have been wanting to make a photobook from our ’08 trip to Florida for a long time and I finally finished it last week. Here are a few of my favorite layouts from the book:



To view a slideshow of the entire book, CLICK HERE then choose the full screen option to see it best.

I used several of Heather Ann Designs quick fill templates and papers for the design.

a very cool concept


This new Project Life kit from Becky Higgins looks so awesome. It’s such a great way to document your everyday life for a whole year in a simple way without stressing about scrapbooking every single picture you take. Just print your photos, slip them in the album, write a little description on the journaling cards. Done. There is even a new digital version that you can make online and then have printed and bound into a Photobook at year’s end. I’m still trying to decide which one would work best for me. I love digital, but the kit looks so nice, too. Decisions, decisions. Click the above image for more details.

Here’s a video that Becky Higgins put on her blog introducing and explaining what’s included in the kit as well as the concept of Project Life. Enjoy!

You can order the kit HERE on Amazon.

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