Raise the Roof!!

Because of a hail storm in October we are getting a new roof on our house. And the banging is driving me nuts. But I think it is bothering Matt even more because every. single. time. there is a bang Matt thinks it's one of the kids falling. And the kids aren't even home. My old shingles were no longer available so I had to find something else I liked. I think I drove my roofer a little nuts driving around looking at roofs and calling him as asking him to look at that one and tell me if it's available. It's a good thing he's my neighbor and my girls and his little girl are friends otherwise he might have said that he couldn't work with me. I loved the roof on our house but I think I will like this one too. I can't wait to see the new roof completed. Though I will not miss the hammering and banging nosies that the roofers are making. I am sure that I will have a lot of clean up after they leave no matter how good they are about cleaning up after themselves. There will probably be lots of nails and shingle scraps that I will find as we start our spring routines in the garden.


On another note though slightly the same, we are hopeful that with this new roof we will finally get our dining room to stop leaking as well. We have been dealing with that since September. Right before Halloween we thought it was fixed and then it leaked again and again and again. They still haven't figured out what is causing the leak and the leak keeps moving. The gutters will be replaced as well and our roofer thinks that if it is anywhere it is probably something there that is causing the leak. I still think it is somewhere behind the bricks. But these guys should know what they are doing. If all this other work doesn't take care of the leak then the bricks will be coming off next.

Gold Belted Gabe

This past weekend was an extremely busy weekend for us but a good one. My parents came to visit and brought my sister's kids with them. The kids all had so much fun playing together, like they always do. Though the highlight of the weekend for Gabe was testing for his Gold belt in Karate. It was that much sweeter for him since he was unable to test the first two times. He was so excited that he was ready to head to the girls' basketball game in full Karate attire. He did such a good job during his testing and Matt's worries that he wouldn't be focused because of his cousins proved to be fruitless. Here are a couple of pictures of his kata.

Things I Made For Christmas Gifts

This year I made a lot of the Christmas presents we gave to family, teachers and friends. I had so much fun choosing fabric that I thought would suit each person. And all that sewing was a lot of fun too. Here are the coffee cozies and Composition Notebook Covers I made for the kids teachers. I was going to include some Spiced Tea in mason jars but ran out of time before school got out. Maybe next year.

I made this Taggie Blanket for a friend's nephew. I had made her son some and she called to see if I had any extras that she could buy. I didn't but I found this really cute fabric and made some up for her.
I also made several Camera Strap covers for myself, my sister and Matt's siblings as well. I've been wanting one and finally made one for myself. And I love it! I'll have to get a picture of it soon.

I've been told by several people lately that I need to start a business selling my sewing projects. I'm thinking about it. What do you think?

Nothing Like a Cold One, Reindeer Style

My niece and nephews all love Root Beer. So for Christmas I packaged up some Root Beer just for them. These little guys were just too cute to pass up on making. And they were definitely a hit with my niece who started taking pictures of them when she discovered them.

Elizabeth Turns FIVE!!!

It's been such a busy time for all of us here so, I am just now getting around to posting about my precious little girl who turn two weeks ago. We all had so much fun at her birthday party with her friends. But that wasn't the only celebration she had. We also celebrated again on her birthday a couple of days later as a family.

Elizabeth had been telling us that she wanted to have her birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. So we finally broke down and sent the invites to all her friends at school and several of her neighborhood friends. As it turns out, 4:00 on a Friday evening is the perfect time to have a party at CEC. We had to place pretty much to ourselves until about 5:00. And at that time we were in pizza and present mode so the crowd wasn't bothering us any. Everyone had such a great time and Elizabeth absolutely loved doing the ticket blaster.

Gabe and a couple of boys from the party enjoying Skee Ball.

Abby, Elizabeth and Elizabeth's best friend from school.

Elizabeth opening her presents.

Elizabeth in the Ticket Blaster. She had so much fun gathering tickets. She got over 1000!!!

Elizabeth blowing out the candles on her cake.

Group picture time!!

Elizabeth, Mommy and Chuck E. Cheese.

Elizabeth also had lots of fun celebrating with all of her family.

This free picture collage made with Smilebox

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY, ELIZABETH!!!

Thirty Days of Being Thankful Day 16, 17, 18 and 19

I am thankful for....

A visit from my parents. It's always fun when they come to visit. They even brought their dog Shadow and the kids have had a blast playing in the yard with him and taking him for walks around the neighborhood.

My extended family in Matt's siblings and parents. I am so blessed to have good relationships with all of Matt's family.

Beautiful fall weather. We have had a lot of beautiful, warm/cool fall days this month. It has been wonderful being able to spend time outside playing with the kids and just enjoying the weather.

Starbucks buy one get one free. Yes, I know this one isn't touchy, feely but I love a good cup of Starbucks coffee and what's better getting one free and sharing it with a friend?