A Little Red, A Lot of Fun

The guys had a blast at Jeff's mom and dad's house while everyone was in town. They were doing things I had never heard of and that, quite honestly, sounded like the most red-neck activities I had ever heard. Beside going carp-shooting, they went mattress surfing behing a four-wheeler.




Deciding on a game plan?

Jordan K. and cousin Michael jump on.





A couple of the girls gave it a try too!

 Jeff's cousins are from Houston so they don't have this kind of acreage to cruise around in. It sounded like they all had a really good time and were wondering why their parent's chose to leave this area! ;)

Today's Technology...with a little of Yesterday's

One day downstate, the scene at my Mom and Dad's:

Even Dan was in on it. That is a CD player in case you forgot what one looked like. ;) Dan loves Harry Potter and often refers to it as "HP."

Katie's Softball Game

Let's rewind a few weeks back to when Adrian and I first made it downstate...
It was hot, hot, hot and back home was cold, cold, cold. I think there may have been snowflakes in the air. We picked a good time to head south (not like we actually picked the time). Katie (Jeff's sister) had a softball game and she was pretty happy that we came to watch.

They played one of the best teams this game but a couple of  the players were gone so Katie was really hoping they would win. If I remember correctly, they did!

Adrian had a chance to practice his pitching.





Well, Hello there!

I'm back!
I took an unexpected trip downstate to visit my family; Jeff and I were visiting some friends one evening a couple weeks ago as he helped them put up their pool and I ended up getting a ride downstate the next morning. Yikes! I don't usually do too well with such spontaneous decisions but this time I decided 'what the heck?' I might as well exercise the freedom I have as a stay-at-home mom! I had planned to be down for a week, from Sunday to the following Monday but on my last day I got a call from my father-in-law to say that Jeff's grandpa had passed away. He had been battling complications from diabetes for the last several years so it was news we had all been preparing ourselves for. It is still a little strange to think about since we have been warned several times that this might be 'it,' and yet, he always pulled through. His health had been the worst this year by far. He was able to make it to Dave and Jenna's wedding much to everyones surprise. A couple weeks after the wedding (while I was downstate) hospice had been called in, that was a Tuesday. He passed away Saturday night. I don't think any of us expected it to be that soon since it would have seemed so expected...does that make sense?

Jeff was a on a road trip for work in South Dakota and because of the weather he didn't end up getting home until very early Monday morning. I can imagine the most frustrating part was that he was stuck in Chicago--3 hours from our parents' homes--for many hours before he made it back to our home with a 7 hour trip ahead of him. He left right away even though I didn't want him to since he would be driving alone. When I called him in the morning he was an hour from our home. He made it that far before pulling off  the road to sleep.
We spent most of the following week with his family including his aunt and uncle who came in from Texas for the funeral. At one point, I was telling my mom what we had been up to and my little sister Jeanie commented, 'It sounds like you guys are having fun...isn't it supposed to be sad?" I guess it was like any other time the cousins get together, lots of good times and laughs with a few serious moments thrown in. It was so nice to see everyone especially considering we don't get to see the Texans ;) very often.

More updates and pictures soon...

gettin' my craft on

Jenna and her bridesmaids

My sister's Sara and Jennifer are doing a craft show this summer in their town. Hearing (or reading, rather) their excitement is motivating me to get my own craft on! I have been so frustrated with myself for procrastinating with my Etsy shop and I seriously felt like something was holding me back yet, I couldn't figure out what.

Pretty cupcakes decorated by my mom-in-law and me

I'm trying to get rid of some of my scrapbook supplies--I'm keeping the ones I can still use for packaging and most of my tools--but I'm not having luck. I'd like to sell them because, as anyone who has ever scrapbooked knows, they are expensive! I'm too cheap to drop them off at the nearest thrift shop. I have them on craigslist right now but I realize that isn't the best option for that sort of thing. A garage sale would be best but uh, that's kind of hard when we live in an apartment!

Anyways, the point is, I'm using a desk for my sewing machine that I don't like anymore, it's full of things I don't use, and it's in my bedroom which isn't my favorite place to sew. Other than that, I've been trying to make items that are very size specific and frustrating when I'm still kind of a beginner. Yesterday, I started working on a knit top restyle and I am all excited again! I realize that I should stick to something I can actually do pretty quickly and easily right now. I'm having fun again and hopefully I'll have a few items for my shop soon so it can actually open.

Dave received a gun from the groomsmen.
BTW, look how handsome my husband is, I love that smile! :)

 Until then, I'm trying not to stress about the fact that I already created it and therefore, that date is shown even though I haven't actually started listing yet. (I really wish they would change that.) I'm not setting a date for the 'grand opening' because I'm pretty sure that just makes me procrastinate more. It will happen when it happens. Right now, I'm going to have fun making things that I know how to make!

Pictures are the very few that I remembered to take at the rehearsal dinner.

Keeks and Dan the Man

I cannot believe I forgot to post this! On Thursday afternoon, I was chillin' in my room (we have been keeping our computer in there as a way to cut back on our internet time...not working btw), the windows were open and I heard a very distinct voice yell "Heid!" from the parking lot. There was no mistaking that voice! It was Dan! Keeks had been up north job hunting and Dan was able to tag along. They stopped by for a visit on their way back home.

I love when my sibs stop by!

Just Something I Made

I restyled this dress for the wedding:

I didn't have much time to resize it so I did a few simple changes for the time being. I added a few inches of elastic to the back to bring it in. I would have taken it in the 'right way' but there is a zipper on the side and I didn't want to mess with that just a couple days before leaving town. I rolled the sleeves under to shorten them and added a green sash that I've had since standing in my friend Cindy's wedding--the 'sash' was used to wrap around the stem of my bouquet. I wanted to dress the skirt up a little and shorten it so I tucked the hem under and threw in a few stitches to give it a bubble look. It didn't turn out quite right, I had at least 2 people ask if my skirt was tucked up...embarrassing right? I ripped the stitches out as soon as I got home. This is the only picture I have of the finished (for now) dress.