Remember the Alamo!!!

After all the graduation celebrations were over we still had the weekend to spend in San Antonio.

Our favorite place to go is the Riverwalk and the area around the Alamo. We ate, we shopped we walked and we talked. The weather was beautiful after the freak icy weather of the day before. It was amazing to see how much my son had grown and matured in the short time in the Air Force. It was great to see him still goof off with his little brother Adam. Seeing him with his girlfriend Jamie was a treat too. They are really in love!! We had an amazing time with him and being back in San Antonio again.

We stop at this historic old hotel (1859) called the Menger. It had some amazing antiques and Christmas decorations. So here is a partial family Christmas picture. Adam, Abbie and me. And for you Joe, ( step father) Abbie and the Nutcracker.

Jimmie's Graduation

Jimmie has just finished his Air Force Basic Training and is ready to graduate on December 5, 2008. Abbie, Jamie and I are going to fly to San Antonio, Texas to see him. He has been gone for 7 weeks and I don't know who misses him more; mom or girlfriend !! We left on Wednesday Dec. 3rd and managed to get there, rent a car and get to the hotel. That was a major accomplishment on its own. I don't do well out of my comfort zone and being the responible adult on this trip was making me a little panicky. Driving in Texas is quite an experience on its own. By the second day I had made friends with Texas turnabouts. I got lost everywhere I went but these turn abouts were great for getting me back on track. We were never late and always got where we wanted to be so I'd say it was a success. Thursday morning....early... we headed out to the Base for the Airmans Run. The is a 1.5 mile run where you first get to see your son again. If you are lucky! 300 bald boys wearing exactly the same thing run past you down the street. They all look the same!! Later that day was the Coin Ceremony where they received their honors and got to wear their dress blues. Finally after that we got to hug and touch Jimmie !! (Hoping Jimmie never reads this) I swear it was as good as the first time I ever held him 19 years ago!! (and he had the same amount of hair both times!! ) We got to see his dorm, his shiny latrine and spend the rest of the day with him. Of course we had to share him with Danny and Karie ( my ex-hubby and his wife) and we had a wonderful time. Next morning it was the official graduation ceremony. It was cold. It was VERY cold!! It was 32 degrees with a windchill of 22 degrees. Graduation was 2 hours long, outside and very windy. Of course we Californians didn't have anything more than sweatshirts to wear. Jimmies flight got to be Honor Gaurd so it was easy to pick him out of the hundreds of new Airmen standing....freezing out on the Parade ground. Here is a picture of my Airman standing in front of the plane he will be assigned to. Yeah Jimmie, we are so proud of you!!

10 Labradoodles

Molly really came through with the puppies!! She had a total of ten curly little fuzz balls, 6 girls and 4 boys. If you don't know about Labradoodles I have just started another blog all about them, http://lancasterlabradoodles.blogspot.com/ . Doodles are large dogs. A cross between a labrador retriever and a Standard Poodle. Why??? Doodles are extremly mild mannered, smart and hypo-allergenic. They were originally "create" in Austraila as Guide dogs, Service dogs for people with allergies. Even as puppies they are very calm, mellow and devoted dogs.

To learn more about what makes them so special check out the other blog.

We are Having Puppies!!

Our adorable Standard Poodle Molly is under my desk having ( very soon) here first litter of Labradoodles !! I will update later as our new babies arrive!!

HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY

HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY ADAM AND CRYSTAL DOLAN. May you have many, many

years as happy as you were on your wedding day. Love you, Mom and Dad !

Air Force Logo - Silver and Blue 3D, with text

Air Force Logo - Silver and Blue 3D, with text
Originally uploaded by super_pilot

Sorry for the long absence. We have been busy preparing to send Jimmie off to the Air Force. He left for Boot Camp today. I am so proud of the man he has become. I am going to miss him so much. Since my hubby became a truck driver, Jimmie has become the man of the house. He is my right hand man, I'm already feeling lost without him around. I am proud of you Jimmie and love you with all my heart. You are a kind, generous and very smart man with a brilliant future ahead of you.





Jimmie also left behind a wonderful girlfriend, Jamie, that he gave a sweet promise ring to. They have a wonderful strong relationship that I really feel will last the seperation and have a wonderful future together.

ApronWOZ

ApronWOZ
Originally uploaded by shawneeh

I just snooped and found out Shawnee made this for me!!!!
Isn't it amazing!!! This is for our Wizard of OZ swap. I decided to make dolls for my partner. I'll add more pics later. Thanks Shawnee
I love it!!

I love Paper Dolls

Should I tell you or not??? I know where there is a great Paper Doll Giveaway, but I want to win so I guess I won't tell!! LOL !! www.Sweetoldvintage.blogspot.com/ is having a giveawy for these beautiful vintage handmade paperdolls. Hurry over to enter. And good luck to everyone....just remember to let me come over and play too!!

Witchy Give Away

Look at these mini potion bottles !! Aren't they cute?!!

These are part of a give away at http://www.auntmannys.blogspot.com/

Stop by her blog and see all her incredible fall creations
and patterns. I love the eyes on this scarecrow couple.




Of course I fed my addiction to Halloween dolls and bought 3 of her patterns. Each have adorable faces and costumes.

Go check out her grubby potion bottles. The perfect kitchen accessory for Halloween.

Apron Passions

I just received a link to a website for a pincushion pattern and WOW!! I found so /sew much more. The site is http://livingcreatively.com.au/ . There are some incredible aprons on that site with amazingly clear instructions. There is a polkadot I Love Lucy style apron with an underlayer of tulle for extra fluff. GLAMOUR in the kitchen !! There is an AMAZING Paris Apron. It has an embroidered Eiffel Tower on it. It is machine embroidered with just straight stitching. It comes with a step by step full size template of the Eiffel Tower. I can't wait to try this one because my embroidery skills are limited to primitive stitching. And of course there is a cupcake apron. It doesn't get much better than this.

OMG !!!! Do you realize September is almost here???? I mean REALLY close???? Do you see all these logos???? They are my swaps due on or about the first. But wait there is more!!! There is my Yahoo groups too......A favorite Literary character, a fall pincushion, a primitive Halloween doll and a Fall doll to a buddie in Australia ( which by the way her birthday is tomorrow so theres a little somethin' in the mail to her too.) And do you think I would have all these completed by now??? I can proudly say they are almost done, some just need sewn, or cut or shipped or designed but all in all they are all in some form near completion. I can't wait to share the finished projects with you!!

My New Toy

Last weekend I loved my husband for loobing and greasing, and oiling and cleaning my squeaky old machine to get me through a few more projects. This week I love him for surprising me with a new machine!!! I have been professionally sewing for decades and never had a machine that did more than zig-zag. See that number 66??? Thats how many different stitches this baby does!! It actually has a button thatmakes it so you can sew with NO FEET !! No power pedal on the floor!! It is such a great idea but I had the hardest time NOT using my foot. So I still do but it is a really cool option!! It also has an automatic needle threader. Once you figure it out its nice but figuring it out was pretty funny. It came with DVD instructions. So I am freeze framing, taking off my glasses to see the needle, putting on my glasses to see the next step, taking off my glasses to see the needle, backing the DVD up because I forgot step one, realizing I lost my glasses when trying to thread the needle and then throwing everything off the table and accussing family members of stealing them and then finding them in my hair. Ok back to step one....... it really isn't hard to do once you know what you are doing. It was me not the machine!!
She also purrs so quietly I can sew in the middle of the night and no one will know.

It may not be my mother-in-laws $10,000 sewing machine but it is the best one for me.....and so is my husband!!!! I love you Malcolm!! Thank you!!

Greetings from California

To all my rain drenched friends on the East coast,

Greetings from SunnyCalifornia !!

Sunday brought a sun filled adventure for me and my little buddie. We went to California Adventures and Disneyland ( again ). I think this is about Abbie's 25th trip this year. I have not been on a few rides that I was really excited to try. Of course I had to try the brand new Toy Story Mania ride. That was the BEST ride EVER!!!!!! It is 4-d, interactive and just so COOL !!!

The other ride I was really excited to try was Soarin' over California. This is a beautiful 3D flight over the mountains, orchards, deserts and beaches of the state we live in. Almost made me happy to live here until it flew us over the desert and I remembered what it was like at home.....brown and dirt!!

Of course we rode on Pirates of the Caribbean ride and had the most fabulous clam chowder bread bowls in New Orleans Square. ( Ok, truth is I just wanted to put a pic of Johnny on my page!! While looking for a pic I read that Johnny is going to be Barnabas Collins in Tim Burtons Dark Shadows....eeek.....scared me as a kid and he is going to be the Mad Hatter in a Disney 3D Alice in Wonderland.....can't wait until 2010 !! )

Next trip to Disneyland will be next month to look for Halloween decorations and costumes.

Aprons and Annies

Besides my addiction to aprons, my other passion is doll making. I have joined a group of incredible women all with the same passion. I am learning so much from them about the primitive style that is so popular now. When I was designing and selling dolls and patterns back in the early 90's everything was "cute" . Its been exciting to see the path this art has taken.

Primitives are to look ....well old, used and loved. I have been busy sewing staining and stuffing for challenges and swaps with my new friends. Maybe soon I will go back into production and sales but for now I am just enjoying all the great patterns I have been finding on line. I hope to offer a freebie pattern link to my blog every week. Here are some of my latest dolls that I have made an received.

Out Smarted the City

Our lovely desert city of Lancaster does not allow home businesses to put signs in their yard to advertise a business. Well I am a daycare located less than a block from a school. When I heard the afterschool programs were all full and Arnold ( the governor ) cut back on aid to some of my daycare families I knew I had to do something to drum up business and help out our community at the same time. We are allowed to have signs on our vehicles but they really aren't that noticable when driving down the road. Think BIG !! One of my best friends and also a daycare parent donated a 15 passenger van to us to use for feild trips. Aha!! The van is now my billboard for my daycare. As you can see we did some creative painting on it and parked it between the house and the school. I added flags to the yard and have had the big bounce house inflated all week. You can't miss us now!! So far we have enrolled two new afterschool kids because of the van !! Neccessity is the mother of invention right!

Back to school

Agust brings us back to school time. We only have two of our own still in public school. Adam starting 11th grade and Abbie starting 4th grade. Our grandaughter, Roxy also goes to Kindergarten this year all to the same school that all my older kids went to many, many years ago. We are so lucky to live close enough for the kids to walk to and from school.

Our Own Gold Medalist

Our Beautiful Gymnast, Abigail, wowed them at her first competition ! She scored a perfect 10 in each of her 4 events. We of course are as proud as possible with her progress. She advanced from beginner to level 3 in just 6 months. She is blessed with the greatest coaches and support team, Jimmie and Crystal who make sure she gets to practices and cheer her on.

Next stop the Olympics!!!

Halloween Apron Swap

Halloween Apron to Kathie V
Originally uploaded by QuirkyKim

Sorry about just sticking a photo on with no explaination.

This is an incredible apron I received from my friend Quirky Kim for our Booming Apron Swap. One side has Mardi Gras masks and a monogrammed pocket. My first Monogram!!!

The other side has the sexiest Pinup Witches ever!!!

I love this fabric so much. I don't think its proper for daycare but after hours....I'll be Bewitching!!!

I just received my second apron from the same swap. We ended with an extra person so I played twice! This one from Jen is just right for daycare. It is bright orange with appliqued jack-o-lanterns on it. Jen said this is her first full bib apron. Great job Jen.

Of course I will have to bore you with the pics of the ones I sent out too.

Pin Up Girl Apron for Kathie V!

Pin Up Girl Apron for Kathie V!
Originally uploaded by QuirkyKim

Is this not the HOTTEST apron you have ever seen??

This is the Opposite side of my Halloween apron from Quirky Kim
It is as sexy as any apron could ever be.

This is the apron I sent to Kim. Horrible picture it was much cuter in person. I draped a black and silver boa around the shoulders because Kims is such an elegant lady!

Jen requested Fall not Halloween. I chose this pattern i had never done before. It is Emmeline by Montessori by Hand. This side is a delicate pumpkin on a vine pattern and the reverse is a green and rust plaid with gold leaves. i hope they both like theirs.

Meet Miss Stella

A friend at http://shabbyscraps.typepad.com/ is throwing a party for all of our much loved companions...our dress forms. To read more about the origin of the story please pop over and read the story of Nadine.

So, I would like to introduce to you Miss Stella. Stella talked to me from behind a glass window at a local vintage store. She managed to sashay closer to the window as time went by. When my birthday came and with much encouragement from my mother I decided to meet Stella one Saturday afternoon for tea. Actually I was looking for teacups and Stella kept whispering to me. She talked of how good of a listener she would be. How handy she would be holding my supplies while I sew. She assured me she would be a great asset to my business while modeling the newest creations. But mostly she would keep me company during the wee hours of the morning when the muses are most busy. Well being quiet the feminine being that she is, she managed to convince me that we were made for each other. She grabbed a few vintage hankies, a pair of pink kid gloves and a little beaded purse, all the things a true lady would never be caught with out, and together we headed to her new home.




Stella and I became fast friends. We shared a lovely little sewing room full of frilly girly things until one day we had to give up our room. Its former roommate was reclaiming his space ( my son Jimmie) and I was not going to leave her there with my quiet dashing son so she moved into the living room. Often we spent time together in the kitchen modeling the newest apron creations or my newest vintage finds. Let me show you Stella as she enjoys being a true frilly girlly.



This was the wedding dress of my dreams. I fought hard for it on e-bay. I was having a garden wedding and this dress was going to be perfect. According to the seller it would fit perfectly.

It is a one-of a kind, hand painted, never been worn, dream come true...until it arrived. It would have been perfect if I had no breasts. Well I do and a whole lot!! I loved this dress so much that even though it couldn't be altered to fit I still can not part with it. I am so happy that when I finally pulled it out of storage it fits Stella perfectly. She was right all along....we were meant to be together.

Vintage Thingies Thursday

Oops I nearly forgot to post my Vintage Thing Thursday items! Coming back from Virginia I have tons of new Vintage Thingies !! Vintage means "Old with a Purpose"!! These are just a few of my finds I brought home. From the top before anyone gets upset....No she is not a real baby! I make reborn babies and found this beautiful old nursury scale to use as display and weigh my babies for accuracy when weighting them. It was also fun to weigh the new puppies on after not seeing them for 10 days. Also is a mint green and mint condition Handy Hannah Hairdryer fron the 1960's. A few old tins, an old train case , miniture baking tins for my little kitchen ( see previous Vintage Thursday ) and a stack of old books, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm 1903, History of Virginia for Boys and Girls , 1933, Elements of Arithmatic, 1893, and Etiquette by Emily Post 1927. Maybe I should post from that book so we can all get some class!! Vintage Thursday Thingies is sponsered by Confessions of An Apron Queen @ http://anapronaday.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow is a big day so be sure you stop by and meet Stella and her friends.