Things I like to do for fun gifts.

I forgot to take a picture before it was wrapped!

So, I always thought I wasn't very crafty or talented in that way.  My sister Lynette could knit, crotchet, do needlepoint, cross stitch.... Me, not so much.  

Acouple of years ago I had some left over diapers and knew someone who had just had a baby so I decided to see what I could do with them.  Thanks to the internet, I got some ideas on how to make a diaper cake and dove right in.  I will admit my first few were very rough and while they were much appreciated I knew I needed to improve so I kept working on it.  

Here are pictures of two that I did in 2009 for a double baby shower. Both moms looked delighted to receive them and were amazed when they truly unwrapped them how much work went into them and that they were hand made by me. (I know, it still surprises me that maybe I do have some creative talent in me.)

I think I have improved even more since these two were done.  I am now expected to bring a "diaper cake" to every baby shower I am invited to and they are always met with some wonderful comments.










My next challenge came when my mother-in-law was invited to a wedding shower and didn't know what to buy or bring.  I decided that maybe I should try and make a wedding or kitchen cake.  I have made a few of them since that time.  I made one today for a family friend that is getting married tomorrow.  I sure hope she likes it! She didn't do a wedding registry so I was guessing on colors and thought these kitchen towels were pretty snazzy - there are more neutral ones inside.

 Maybe, just maybe, I might be good at cookies and "cakes".

Strange happenings

Today when we returned home from a meeting a church and some errands, we parked in the pack of our house.  When Brian was carrying in things from the car he noticed something strange looking under our deck and close to the basement wall.  We went to investigate.  At first he wondered what I was doing.  Then as he got closer, he realized that the suitcase he saw was not one of mine (why he thought I would store one under the deck is beyond me!).  Yes, some stranger had placed their packed suitcase underneath our deck - wedged between the air conditioner and the basement wall.  This was a large rolling suitcase, too big for a carry on.  What is even stranger was that the suitcase belonged to someone who at least at one point lived just a few houses down from us.

So, after finding some mail with a name and address in it and realizing that the house has been a problem in the neighborhood, I decided to call the police.  They made me call 911.   When the police came they decided to attempt to return the suitcase to the person at the address I found in the suitcase.  What I found funny was that the didn't put the suitcase in their car, they put it on the trunk of the car and then drove the long way around he block to the house.  Don't know what happened from there.

Two weeks ago a tornado.  This week weird suitcases. What is next?

On a positive note, over 2,000 volunteers went around the tornado damage zone and helped with clean up.  There is still a lot to do, but parts of the city are starting to look much better.  And some of the stoplights are now working!  Sadly, I hear many landlords are refusing to repair the damaged homes and apartments and are ignoring calls from the tenants yet waiting them to continue to pay rent. Wish everyone would be honest and responsive!

Minneapolis Tornado

As many of you know, Minneapolis experienced an F1 or F2 tornado on Sunday May 22, 2011. It happened in the afternoon while most of my family was at church. It was terrifying to hear that a tornado hit the area of our home and at first not know if we even had a home to go to. Austin was home sick at the time so we did receive word that the home looked okay but there were 3 large trees blocking the street just a few houses down from ours and we had no electricity. Our home is without damage. We were without electricity until Tuesday night. On Tuesday night May 24th we lost phone and internet service. They were finally restored the afternoon of June 2nd.

On Sunday, we had taken an investigator to church with us and it took probably an hour or more just to get him home as his home was in the "damage zone". Most of the streets in his area were blocked by large trees or downed power lines. We finally got him home and his home only sustained a small amount of damage with 2 window broken out and a tree uprooted. His older teenage kids were okay. It was hard to see all the home damages, businesses destroyed and trees down. Made me really nervous to see how our immediate neighborhood looked. It was not easy getting home either. The good thing was we needed to eat all the ice cream we had so it wouldn't go bad (a great lesson I learned from my smart mother!) That was yummy!

On Monday I kept the kids home from school since the roads were nearly impassable in our neighborhood. Sierra and I walked around the neighborhood, going only a few blocks and we took lots of pictures. Some, like this one, were kind of funny (in a sad way). It was found about 2-3 blocks from the Beauty Salon where it use to be outside. Instead it was blocks away in a church yard.

Yes, the tornado could be classified as a "Super Blow-Out"!

I can't believe how many trees in our neighborhood were completely uprooted. Beautiful trees that were probably 60-100 years old are now just piles of lumber. Lots of sidewalks were displaced by the huge tree roots too.

Tree roots flipped the sidewalk over.

 

The sidewalk piece just flipped over!

From reports I heard today, Minneapolis has removed 4,424 dump truck loads of tree debris.  And there is still alot left to remove. There are still homes without power or even water.  Red Cross drives the streets every day delivering free bagged meals for families. I am really impressed with their services and friendliness! Apparently they have delivered over 60,000 meals and snacks so far. Lots of churches have free meals they have done.  


Keep everyone in Minneapolis in your prayers.  There is still much to be done. Hopefully when the work is done, the area will be greatly improved and the strength and friendship the community has developed will continue.

Zachary's adventures

Zachary loves the computer still. But it is ohhh so tiring......!
Can't stay awake to finish...

My future is so bright I gotta wear shades, even inside the house.








Help! I've shut myself in the dog crate (yes, he does this by himself if we don't keep it locked! I guess he thought if it was good enough for the dog it was good enough for him.) The kids thought this was pretty funny and, of course, were encouraging him.

Thanksgiving 2008

We spent Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Nightingale. It was a great meal and fun afterward. We took some pictures but somehow managed to miss any with grandpa or grandma! We'll have to fix that soon!

Sierra helped set the table so we could all eat. She is usually a great helper.


Zachary really enjoyed grandma's piano. He knows that you can't play the piano without music (sometimes it is upside down, but hey, he's only 2!) He loves anything musical. He won't let us leave church on Sunday until he has played on the piano. Might have to start lessons sometime soon. I'm told he should know some numbers and letters first (at least 1-10 and a-g).






Everyone took turns sitting in Grandpa's chair. Good thing grandpa was otherwise busy or he would have kicked them out. Zachary loves sitting with his best friend and biggest brother Austin. Those two are really close and just absolutely love each other!





Most of all, I forgot to take a picture of the feast. No Norman Rockwell photos for me. Oh well. The food was excellent, conversation was wonderful and best of all, I didn't have to cook anything other than some pies. (Sorry Troy and family, we were told to take all the leftovers home before you got there.)

Halloween

Every year our church ward has a Halloween party. This year Zachary went as a dresser. In my humble opinion, it was the best costume of the night. However, he really hated to put the costume on and we had to fight to get it over his head! It seemed okay when he got candy though....

Everyone thought his costume was adorable and couldn't believe I would put that much work into it. It was alot of fun!









We have an annual tradition of trick or treating on Grandma and Grandpa Nightingale's street. It allows them to see the kids in costume and the kids get tons of candy since not many people trick or treat on the street - maybe because it is a cul de sac without any streetlights?


Sierra brought a friend this year to show off their matching costumes (a hershey candy bar wrapper and the chocolate inside.) Last year Sierra was the Hershey wrapper - a costume I made. This year she and her friend Lyshae decided they had to have matching costumes so she mad me make a costume of the chocolate inside. As many of you know, I do not claim to be crafty so it was tough for me. I guess they came out okay and they had fun wearing them.


Carson decided to be a hospital patient who needed to have
his head reattached. The day after Halloween when went shopping at Old Navy (they had his favorite thing on sale - hoodies). Well, we forgot to remove the tattoos from Halloween. It made it a very funny shopping experience! The clerk asked if he was feeling okay - Carson didn't understand why at first. I guess we should have removed them prior to going. Oh well, it was fun to laugh about it!







Austin was Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. (I love www.freecycle.org which made Austin and Carson's costume's possible.) He isn't wielding his sword in this picture.










Zachary was much more willing to get in his costume to go trick or treating. I guess he learned that if he wore the costume he got candy. He loves candy. Especially suckers!
When I made the costume I didn't think about having to wear a coat underneath. It barely fit. It also made it impossible to carry him so he only trick or treated at a few houses. He still ended up with plenty of candy and he was very happy.

It was a fun night for all. I am proud to say we still have plenty of candy left. I am the ultimate candy scrooge- I only let them have a few peices of candy a day and only if they ask for it. Last year Carson had candy all year long. I told him he couldn't go trick or treating this year unless it was all gone. Boy did he eat it fast! He even shared it to get it gone.

Welcome

Okay, so I am new to this whole blogging thing but I decided to give it a try. I guess I'm trying to keep up with those young nieces and nephews that are much more technically saavy. I will admit this sounds fun so welcome to the ride.

Like many of the relatives, I think I have the cutest baby ever! Zachary is such a joyful addition to our family and it has been a blast to see the older kids with him. He loves pizza and water bottles1