Zoo day and a drop

We had to run into NOLA to figure out paint colors for Dean's office so decided to make it a fun trip by going to the zoo.

First off, we went to the member center and dropped the washcloths I'd made for crafthope's latest project.

The girl graciously accepted them and said the donations have been POURING in.

She also told me they've found fewer sea turtles of late and think it is because it is later in the summer and they have moved out of the area. (I genuinely hope this is the case...sea turtles are horribly endangered.)

Then we took the same photo we take each zoo visit..makes me want to put them all in order to look at age progression!



I love how this zoo puts the animals RIGHT in your face....you can't even see the plexiglas in this photo...

we ran into the Reptile Room and did a toy society drop...this little bean bag frog


then we were off for some fun....check out the babies!



with more on the way...

I just love this guy's 'do'


there were lots of monkeys...hee hee


and REAL monkeys too


this pair of Rhea kept pecking at the bottom of our shoes....we'd walked through a bit of mud and they must have found it yummy...


We took a breather outside monkey hill


and got a sweet couple to take a family photo of us in the Mayan jungle.


OH! you know that saying 'boys will be boys'???....yeah.....well Dean and Ripstick Boy had a little fun on the way OUT of the zoo...

On lookers were either horrified or howling as they walked by. Mom's were horrified, dad's were howling.

Me? I'm so used to this sort of stuff that even I find it funny. We had a really good time, we did a lot of silly stuff, cutting up and generally misbehaving....Gunter would have LOVED it.

by the time we headed home, the kids were bushed...

I love how a plan comes together!

Behaving Badly

Meet Gunter.



Gunter is a Black Forest gnome from the toadstool clan. Black Forest gnomes are happy, helpful creatures who like beer.

Here's the problem: Gunter can't HANDLE beer.

So I sat Gunter down and we had a little talk about the get together we were having over the 4th. We talked about how much beer he could have.....which is NONE. We talked about the bad gnomes here and here and how he had better not behave that way.
Gunter gladly agreed and told me that if I just made sure to have some good music, sparkling conversation and yummy snacks, he would be on his best behavior.

Gunter is a liar.

Shortly after our guests arrived, I saw him doing THIS!



And THIS! I didn't even KNOW he liked margaritas!



Then he started hitting on the ladies







Then the complaining started....

He did not like the music because we didn't have any good drinking songs.

He did not like the spinach dip because he doesn't like the color green.

He did not like the sparkling conversation because no other gnomes were present. Now in his defense, he did request I bring Gretchen gnome because he had the hots for her.
When invited, she politely declined saying she had a 'headache....'
(When pressed after the party, she admitted that she KNEW Gunter was a liar. I asked why she didn't warn me and she said "ALL gnomes are liars." She was REALLY adamant about it. I got the feeling she'd been hurt in a bad gnome relationship so I just let it go.....yikes.)

I decided he had gone too far and shoved him into my birdcage for a much needed time out.

After much begging and pleading, I let him out...only to catch him later looking for leftovers!


The next morning I found Gunter snuggling up to Ginger. He apologized profusely and said he would never, ever, ever do it again.


But I think Gunter is a liar. What do you think?

Flirty swap revisited

I was in Shawnee's latest apron swap. Everything had to be cupcake, cherries and Mary Engelbreit.

I showed you what I received here but couldn't show you what I sent because I was afraid my partner would figure it out! Her favorite color is green (like me) and she lives on a working farm which made me think of plaid.

The front is a clothespin apron and I used M.E. fabric that has cherries on it.
I ADORE this style apron, with its giant pocket. The plaid in the couch matches the coordinating plaid fabric I used.



We had to have cupcakes on the apron too so I made it reversible and created a cupcake applique. This side is my favorite!






Staci does what she calls 'flip flop farmin'...so I included a batch of my bath salts so she can soak her tired feet...after a hard day's work.
I also added a cupcake pincushion, some cute painted clothes pins, cupcake toppers and a couple really good recipes.


I am thrilled that Staci liked everything :-)

behaving badly

Meet Gunter.



Gunter is a Black Forest gnome from the toadstool clan. Black Forest gnomes are happy, helpful creatures who like beer.

Here's the problem: Gunter can't HANDLE beer.

So I sat Gunter down and we had a little talk about the get together we were having over the 4th. We talked about how much beer he could have.....which is NONE. We talked about the bad gnomes here and here and how he had better not behave that way.
Gunter gladly agreed and told me that if I just made sure to have some good music, sparkling conversation and yummy snacks, he would be on his best behavior.

Gunter is a liar.

Shortly after our guests arrived, I saw him doing THIS!



And THIS! I didn't even KNOW he liked margaritas!



Then he started hitting on the ladies







Then the complaining started....

He did not like the music because we didn't have any good drinking songs.

He did not like the spinach dip because he doesn't like the color green.

He did not like the sparkling conversation because no other gnomes were present. Now in his defense, he did request I bring Gretchen gnome because he had the hots for her.
When invited, she politely declined saying she had a 'headache....'
(When pressed after the party, she admitted that she KNEW Gunter was a liar. I asked why she didn't warn me and she said "ALL gnomes are liars." She was REALLY adamant about it. I got the feeling she'd been hurt in a bad gnome relationship so I just let it go.....yikes.)

I decided he had gone too far and shoved him into my birdcage for a much needed time out.

After much begging and pleading, I let him out...only to catch him later looking for leftovers!


The next morning I found Gunter snuggling up to Ginger. He apologized profusely and said he would never, ever, ever do it again.


But I think Gunter is a liar. What do you think?

Monday's musings....

This is a rather long post so be warned!





My sister Sheri came over this weekend so we could see Eclipse together. We get to there about an hour before it starts to get a good seat and chat We read the books so we talked about the virtues of Team Jacob or Team Edward.

I'm Team Jacob...always have always will be. I mean, come ON:

1. I'm cold all the time, so just the thought of a nice hot body to warm up with is too much to turn down.
2. I love tall men....Dean is a foot taller than me (okay, Taylor isn't that tall..but Jacob in the book is HUGE.)
3. I'm an animal lover and wolves are animals, am I right?
4. Shape shifting is cool....and I love wolves...I mean, if he shifted into a goat or something, maybe not so much.

Sheri is Team Edward:



1 She is menopausal and is hot all the time so Edward being icy cold really appeals to her.
2. She adores the victorian era and their old fashioned values.
3. She likes gorgeous houses and Edward LIVES in a gorgeous house so that works too...right?
4. She faints at the sight of blood...oh wait, that's a negative, hmm. Okay, she is REALLY white....whiter than me, except for the freckles...She is white enough to be a vampire so she would look good standing next to a vampire. Yeah, that works....

Now, just so the stars don't fret over middle aged ladies choices, let me clarify. We made our choices while reading the novels. You two boys that PLAY Jacob and Edward are both hot....so is Jasper and so is Emmit...oh, and the girls are cute too. (okay so Pattison is hotter in Harry Potter but that's another story...too bad they killed him off )

So, now on to the REAL reason I blogged about this.....I want to whine a little.

WHY oh WHY oh WHY do people take little kids to movies that are NOT suitable for them to watch?

15 minutes before the movies starts this is what we hear in the row behind us.

"This movie is gonna be SCARY, I wanna sit by my mommy!"
Everyone in the theater turned around to see a little girl of about 7 years old WAILING. I mean, she is REALLY freaking out. She is sitting amongst a LONG row of kids and a couple women. All the kids were young.....too young to be watching Eclipse of all things. I mean, do these women READ the books and KNOW what happens in this movie? Even dumbing it down to be a movie...come ON.
Vampires? hello!

Anyway, this one little girl is HOWLING for quite some time until everyone tells her to shut up. I hear shuffling and sniffles....and sneak a peek behind me. Apparently, she got to sit by her mother because she had moved and was snuggled up next to one of the ladies.

My sister and I were cracking up because it was just so ridiculous bringing such little kids to a vampire flick. Sheri kept saying "I hope that kid has nightmares for a month to teach her mom a lesson. " (I know, we're awful.)

Some folks sit next to us. It was another couple of ladies and with them they had a little girl about 3 years old. She is really loud and happy and munching her popcorn. They settle down and visit until the movie starts and then everyone gets quiet....for a moment.

Opening scene (if you've seen it, you know)....the little girl gets wimpy.....then:

"I DON'T LIKE VAMPIRE MOVIES MOMMY! THEY'RE SCARY!!!!!!!"

Now, this was a really quiet part of the film, and most everyone in the theater busted out laughing because this little girl SHRIEKED those words....I swear, people you could hear it in the next state. She put the guy in the opening scene to SHAME.

Let me tell you, once that little girl started it never stopped and once she started up, the little girl behind us started up again too. I'm telling you, it was a wail fest.
Dang, I thought the only howling would be on the big screen, not behind and next to me....talk about your surround sound.

Now, there is nothing like being on the edge of your seat watching a much anticipated movie just so you could hear shrieking the entire time. Well, I mean, shrieking in inappropriate places by young terrified kiddies...I was hoping to do a little shrieking myself but was so preoccupied with the kiddie shrieks I never got scared enough.
I did think Jacob looked good with his shirt off though. Oh, and the kissing scene in the bedroom was pretty good too....but I think the kissing scene-slash- punch was great even better. Oh, and the tent scene....totally nailed it....

Oh wait, I'm supposed to be whining....

Now, please don't lecture me and say parent's with kids have a right to go to the movies even if they can't get/can't find/can't afford a babysitter.

My husband and I didn't see a movie for MONTHS because of those same reasons. In fact, we didn't watch certain TV shows at home either. There are just some things you give up for awhile when your children are really little.

I keep getting side tracked...sorry...

When I was a kid, it didn't matter WHO took you. Not even PARENTS could take you to movies that were not appropriate. If they DID manage to sneak you in somehow, they either had the courtesy to leave when the kid freaked or they got booted out.

They have ratings for a R.E.A.S.O.N.

Which brings me to Breaking Dawn. I hear it is going to be rated 'R' (ya think?) I mean how in the WORLD are they going to pull THAT one off? BTW, I hope Edward gets to REALLY smile in that one...after all he is gonna be one 'lucky' guy...wink, wink.

I sure hope they don't bring little kids to Breaking Dawn.
Can y0u imagine the sex scenes? (well, I mean humans don't normally DESTROY houses while having sex...or do they... am I missing out?)

How about the birthing scene. I can just hear it now. "Ewww! Mommy, I don't WANNA have a baby when I grow up!" or "Mommy, did I eat my way out of your tummy too!?"

Good grief.

Happy 4th of July!

Florida part 2!

Saturday was my brother's birthday and he LOVES to cook so I planned on making him an apron. Since he watches Fawlty Towers and Monty Python, I decided to mesh the two interests.

I made him this apron with "The Ministry of Silly Walks" stenciled on it. (The Ministry of Silly Walks is a skit with John Cleese. If you don't know who he is, shame on you. A comedic icon at the very least.)
The apron isn't fitting poor April correctly....Art is MUCH taller than me


But it fit him just fine and he loves it!

and Art doing his own 'silly walk'

BTW, I got the stencil and directions HERE. The tutorial rocks...she even has one on youtube. She also has one for all you Cullen fans out there!


The next day we all went to lunch before everyone went their separate ways. While out, we did a toy drop for the Toy Society.

I made this cute amigurumi snake for the drop


and we tied him to a rail outside The Bay Cafe in Fort Walton.

It was gone when we came out a couple hours later. We all said goodbye with tears in our eyes and went on our way.