Nap Time = Craft Time

Today, during James' two naps I got a whole lot done!  I have a couple baby showers to attend in the next few weeks, and since I've been feeling a little crafty lately, I wanted to try my hand at some embellished burp cloths and pretty bows.    I will do a few things different next time, but I'm pretty pleased with the results in my 4 hour time span today!  yay!  I'd like to take credit for the ideas myself, but I can't.  Erin made a few last week and I copied her ideas, but hey, that's where most of our good ideas come from...someone else!

I started with a few strips of fabric that coordinate, ironed down the seams and then sewed. 

I sewed the gingham before i attached it to the cloth, but the polka dots piece i sewed directly onto the cloth.

Next time I'll use brown thread instead of pink, but it's all part of the learning curve.  I then ruffled and pinned the gingham and sewed it with one big zig-zag stitch down the middle so the sides are nice and frilly. 

I turned it over and closed the seam with a quick sew down the back side.

I made two burp cloths with this fabric.  No ruffles on this one, but still quite pretty!

I had a little left over fabric and decided to try a new pattern.  Again, copied this idea from a dress Erin made for her daughter, but i think it's super cute here too.  The edges will fray a bit, but I like that, kind of a whimsical feel. 

I finished with a few bows.  I attached them to little alligator clip barrettes....sometimes when I'm feeling crafty I wish James was a Jamesette....  :-)  just kidding!

Date Night...

This Saturday Steven and I had a quadruple date night with our friends.  Erin called last week and said one of her friends, Lindsay, generously offered to watch all of our kids so we could have a night out! We just planned to go to The Blackhorse for dinner together, but when we got there, Erin saw a flyer for a little beer festival they were having downtown.  So, after an amazing dinner we ventured out to Strawberry Alley where we enjoyed some great live music and delicious local beer.  We bought a few $1 tickets and each ticket got us a 6oz sample of whatever beer we wanted.  There were probably 15 vendors there with two beers to choose from each.  Dont' worry, we didn't sample all 30 beers, just a few!  The weather was absolutely perfect and the company was wonderful!  Erik returned from Afghanistan just a few weeks ago and it was his birthday, so it was really great to get to spend time with him, too!  Thanks for such a fun night everyone!  Cheers! 

from left:  Steven, Jenae, Erik, Lisa, Keith, Mary, Erin, Daniel

 Strawberry Alley Beer Festival

Erin and Daniel

me and Steven

Keith and Mary

Erik and Lisa

Halloween Wreath

Now that the holiday season is almost among us, Erin and I decided we need to do a craft a week until Christmas!  This week we decided to do this amazingly beautiful and not so spooky Halloween wreath.  We shopped for the goods yesterday and put it all together today.  We had a blast and besides a few glue gun burns, it was very fun and easy! 

First we got all of our gear set up.  I busted out Steven's old sewing machine that, thankfully, worked very well, and Erin brought hers over. 

Next we spray-painted the wreaths black and the "BOO" letters orange. 

glitter next, of course. 

We chose 10 different types of ribbon and cut them into 12 x 4.5 inch strips. 

Next, loop the ribbons and sew them together with enough seam allowance to split the ends so you can hot glue them to the wreath. 

Cut the ribbons apart and then start gluing them to the wreath.  Watch your fingers, that hot glue burns! 

We attached the letters right to the ribbon with the glue as well.  We're pretty pleased with our work!  Fun little project! 

Now the question is....what to do next Thursday? 

Check out that belly!

The kid is getting huge!  I took him to the doctor today for a follow up appointment from last week and he weighs 22.5 lbs!  This whole month he's been struggling with allergies and breathing...mainly just sounds like he's got stuff in his throat he can't clear.  Anyway, last week he started wheezing and I took him in to see the doc...who said he had Bronchiolitis which is swelling and mucus buildup in the smallest air passages in the lungs usually due to a viral infection.  They gave him an inhaler and put him on Zyrtec and he's doing much better this week.  In fact, he's off the Albuterol inhaler now, but Doc's keeping him on the Zyrtec just to be safe. 
I snapped these pictures of him over the weekend.  Virus and all, he's a happy boy...never a fever or fuss.  Can't ask for more! 
Check out that big belly!!!

He cannot get enough of this little car.  He walks it all over the house, runs over anything in his way, rams it into the walls and couches, just has a ball.  He even takes his hands off and stands on his own for a few seconds before grabbing back on and walking some more! 

I'm gonna get ya!

The nurse gave me this little mask to help pound on his back to loosen up the junk in his chest, supposed to resemble a cupped hand.  However, James finds it much more amusing to wear than for me to bang it on his back!  hahaa. 

At Erin's house a few days ago James played in this little car...I call it the Flinstone-mobile because you have to use your feet to get it to move.  James could actually do it, just backwards though! 

I love his cute little feet in this picture. 

80's Party!

This past weekend our friends Keith and Mary threw a 1980's themed party to celebrate Keith's birthday.  It was an absolute blast!!  It was seriously one of the best  parties I've been to...ever...and I was the DD!  Super fun! 

James wanted to try on his Daddy's wig...I hope he doesn't look like this when his hair finally grows...yikes!

The extremely stylish and fashion forward females.

A hillbilly, a few rockers and a preppy...lookin good!

Keith and Mary, the amazing hosts and stars of the party! 

Ya, we look THAT good!  Now you can see where James gets his coloring!  check out those white legs!  oh baby!

  The super hot rocker couple, Erin and Daniel.  And yes, Daniel is wearing skin-tight zebra pants!  they were awesome and proved extremely efficient for the break dancing that took place later in the night.

Jess and Steve, the FlashDancer and Rocker.  These two are so much fun, wow, we need to hang out with them more! 

Joe and Christina, the preppy couple! 

Jess and Christina.

Keith and his tight rolled pants.

Mary made these delicious desserts from scratch:  Banana Cheesecake, Tiramisu, and Chocolate Cherry Cake.

Mary presented these amazing tiramisu martini desserts to Keith and I for our birthdays and everybody sang, it was so sweet.  Thanks for thinking of me Mary, it was so nice! 

So someone got the great idea that since we were all looking so fine, we should go show ourselves off.  We ended up going to O'Connors Pub, dancing our tails off, and having a blast! 

Daniel's dancing skills were on point!  He was tearing up the dance floor!

Awww...who is this gorgeous couple?  ;-)