Happy Halloween!

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic night of Trick or Treating, I know we did. The day was pretty chaotic for me. I spent all morning finishing my last minute cards for the craft portion of the base Autumn festival. I wanted to do more but time was limited and I wasn't quite sure what to expect turnoutwise. I was leaving the costume prep to Tim. He had to get Jacob to the base for 4:15 for the annual kids costume parade and Trick or Treats as the different booths. I arrived around 2pm to meet my craft table partner, Angela. It was "blustery day" to quote Winnie the Pooh. I thought it would rain at any minute but it didn't. Parking was a nightmare as it usually is with these events. I found my table and Angela found me and we set up. Tim and Jacob arrived around 4:30 and we got to go to the different organization booths to get some candy.

I stayed at our booth until a little after 7:00 and headed home to get at least a little door-to-door trick or treating in. I came home to find Tim already let Jacob get into some of his candy. . .greeeeat! We headed out and Jacob was all excited telling us which way to go. He kept telling up "I want another house to say trick or treat" soooo cute. He really got into it this year! We recycled his Spider costume from last year, which was a big hit again. Even though we got started a little late, there weren't a lot of houses giving out candy this year. I think the festival had a lot to do with it. Jacob had a great time though, and when we tried to each hold his hand to cross the street he screamed thinking we were trying to take his candy. LOL! Don't stand between a preschooler and their candy!

When we got home Jacob sat down and empty out his bag taking out each piece of candy saying "this is the perfect treat" he kills me with the stuff he says!

Note: I will post the pics later when blogger or the laptap decided to cooperate.

Boo!

Jacob wanted to wear his "Boo" jammies to bed tonight. Aren't these just the cutest?! My parents sent them in his Halloween box. He has a Turkey pair as well. So after his bath, he wanted to "go scare daddy" so we went downstairs as quitely as we could (have you ever tried quiet with a 2 year old?). Jacob found Tim and said "boo!" Of course Tim played along :) Then I tried to get a few pics. I think Jacob might have a future in modeling. You should have seen the poses he was trying out. I should have snapped a few more pics but I was getting a little frustrated. Enjoy!

Christmas Cards

I've been getting ready for a craft fair I am doing with one of my club members next week at our "Autumn Fest." I am really excited about this since it is my first! I hope it is successful.

Here are a few Christmas cards I have come up with so far. The pictures don't look that great but I am happy with the cards in person. Christmas tree on the top left was done with my BigShot. Having so much fun with that machine.

The "Post Card" card, was done with the SU "Winter Post" stamp set, which I LOVE! It has that vintage feel. The die cut was the top notes die that is exclusive to SU. The final card is the SU Level 3 Hostess set "Window Dressing." This window is so versatile. All papers and ink are also Stampin' Up! products. If you need more details let me know. Thanks for stopping by!

Blogger Illiterate

After about an hour of unsuccessful attempts to add a counter to this blogg I found a tutorial. After needing to open about 3 tutorials to find what I needed I finally added a hit counter. yay! It was so simple after I found the correct tutorial! I started with a rather low number so I hope to see the numbers climb.

More Birthdays!

This is a crazy time of year for my family and birthdays. The majority of us have them August-Nov. just nuts. So whose is it today. . .

Happy Birthday Amanda and Chris!

My sister and brother-in-law are both 26 today. Amanda is older though by a few hours. So the joke is that Chris married and "older woman" LOL.

I am very excited they are coming to visit next month for Thanksgiving and a trip to Rome. I cannot wait!

So above is a pic of Amanda and I at her wedding last summer. Of course I was the Matron-of-Honor (I don't like the word Matron--makes me feel old) Wasn't she a beautiful bride. And yes, though I am 4 years older I am shorter. I see blogger has now decided to act up so I will not get to post a pic of Amanda and Chris right now. Oh well.

Random Pictures of Jacob

I discovered I have neglected to post pictures of Jacob for a while. So sorry. Actually I have not taken any pics recently. Funny how when it's your child's first year the pictures are snapped 100 times and day and as they get older the camera sits for longer intervals.

The story with Jacob and the Sunglasses. . .He came down stairs one day when he was suppossed to be napping with these silly plastic sunglass upside down. Waves at Tim and says "hi daddy" it was so funny and cute the way he did it and he looked rediculous. We refer to the picture as "The Elton"

Now the other pic to your left with the dive paraphanalia. As many of you know Tim has taken up diving since we have lived here. Jacob is fascinated by the gear. He found the flippers and mask and decided he too, wanted to be a diver. So this is what he did. Guess he needs a little snorkel set when we move back to the states next year.

What a day!

Yesterday was my 1st day volunteering at the Elem. school. Jacob slept while I got myself together, which was great! That never happens anymore. I leave the house at 7:40, get in the car, turn the key and nothing. I try again. . .nothing. Ahhhh! Why on a day I have to be somewhere at a certain time does my car not start? We just changed the battery about 2 months ago so I was sure this was not the problem. I went back in the house and woke up Tim and Jacob because now they had to bring me to the school. Our Alfa is a stick and I don't drive stick. I tried twice and didn't like it. Now I see why I should know how. Anyway they dropped me off at 8:05.

I found the office and the clinic and had a short wait while the nurse finished up a meeting. I quickly found out the School nursing is not a sit down job! I didn't expect it to be. My taste of school nursing in nursing school required us to be at the school for only 4 hours once a week. Plus, we had a teaching project to do so that took most of our time planning that. Without going into details, yesterday we were busy all day between our screenings and patients the day flew by. It is very different from floor nursing which is what I am used to. So, I am going to try and go in once a week if it works out with child care, etc. It was great to be doing something I went to school for and haven't done in several years. I felt like I used my brain in ways I haven't in a while. Now, I will admit I did have a touch of guilt in the morning as I walked up to the office, even though Jacob was going to be home with Tim all day.

After school, Tim and Jacob met me for a late lunch at Applebee's we finished some errands and headed home. I can see at the moment that if I worked M-F from 7:30-2:30 how it's a pretty good schedule esp. with little ones because there is still time for playing and catching up before dinner and bed routine.

I had a break in the middle of my day. I used this time to do some things that needed my attention but of course the people I needed were not available. At least I got some good exercise running from one end of the base to the other.

Car Update: Now today, we brought my car to the local Sicilian mechanic who did a stint in NY. I think that is why I like him since I am from northern NJ (I say northern since there is a big difference in southern vs. northern NJ) . It was the battery in my car that was bad. That was good news since I was planning on it being the starter or alternater. $$$$ parts if you have to replace them and certainly something I don't want to replace from here since we would have to order the parts from the states and have them sent here. Takes forever. I am happy I have wheels again!

It's Finally Finished!!!!

Pinwheel Pattern. Look at the Dark Green. . . see it?



Hand work on the boarders. Ugh! This was the worst part, but most rewarding in the end.

Corner folded over so you can see the back.

Yes, the quilt I've been working on since March is finally done! Yippie! Can you see me jumping up and down with happieness? I am happy with the end result. There were mistakes along the way but I learned a lot and look forward to the next one that I start at class tomorrow.





The pics you see are of my Log Cabin Quilt. I went with the "Pinwheel" pattern. I didn't see it at first but from the pictures it now stands out to me. Log Cabin quilts typically have a red center square symbolizing the heart of the home. My greens were chosen because that is Tim's favorite color and the purples because that is my favorite. Now I have an heirloom. It is a full size meant to snuggle on the couch with or throw on the bed on a cold night when I just need one more blanket. I'm sure Tim will just love that since I already like a ton of blankets.





After all this I have a new found appreciation for quilts. The time, thought and money put into them is quit a task.





Enjoy!