Like, It's A Party Dude…

The Annual Mower Dinner party was a blast this year. Tawna chose an 80's theme and everyone had lots of fun with that. Sadly, Grumpy and I both had clothes we wore in the 80's, so dress was not a problem for us. We all got together and laughed over our dress of choice, took lots of pictures and read all the 80's trivia Tawna had put up on the walls in her house. She, Taya and Summer looked just like they did as junior high students all those years ago. Summer and I went and got our nails done and painted neon. My friend Nancy got me nails for my 30th birthday (in the 80's), so nails seemed appropriate for the occasion. I still have a love/hate relationship with acrylic nails. Love the way they look, and wear but hate that they get "in my way" so much. I will keep them and hopefully enjoy them for awhile before I rip them off and have ugly hands again. I went to Jade's school and a girl there did my hair all big and poofy (and sprayed) like the 80's. It was amazing. That was on Friday, so by the time I slept on it and redid it for the party the next day, it was a bit tamer. The pictures say it all for everyone else. We all had a good laugh over our vintage choices.

R.B. and Stacie definitely look the part. She was laughing because she was only 10 in the 80's, so had fun picking out stuff to wear for both of them.

Tawna in character and Nathan as the surfer boy he was then.

Taya and Kevin bringing back memories of "the good old days". Kevin too had clothes from the decade. Too funny. Some of us like to hang on to our stuff. See, it does come in handy now and then.

Robert went to Goodwill, which is where many of us shopped for wardrobe. He was pretty young in the 80's, so he had to research a little to figure out what went in that decade. Jade went for the look and rocked it. A dark haired Madonna. She had a student at school do her makeup so it was really fun.

Not to be outdone, Summer and Jamie showed up with "the look"! Jamie could pass for Bret Michaels for sure. They looked awesome.

Everyone had a good time talking and enjoying being a little different for a while. Tawna and Nathan do this as their Christmas gift to their siblings annually and I love that they do. Every year we have so much fun and can really visit and talk and be a little crazy.

For the Dinner part, Tawna chose to have a fun Nacho bar and completed her food tables with all kinds of other "movie food". It was like a refreshment counter, but free (for us anyway. I'm sure the Mowers used up a fair portion of the weekly food budget on us!)We loaded up our plates and went back for seconds and thirds, some of us. The food was served on her patio which was convenient for the "movie theater" she had set up in the back yard. Lawn chairs, a projector and a sheet on the fence for our screen. It was a nice night and we were treated to "Back to the Future". Marty made it back and Professor Brown was not killed…again. It was fun.

(Yes Stacie, I fixed it!)

Thanks Mowers for another fond memory, a fun time and the chance to shop for decade appropriate clothing. And hair it would seem.

So who played Ferris Bueller's sister?
What Planet was Spock brought back from?
There was Miami Vice…
Starksy and Hutch…
Top Gun…
So many fun things to remember.

Days Gone By

The picture below is not Grumpy's mustang from long ago. I saw this one at Mattas the other day and it took me back to the good ole high school days. About the middle of our senior year Grumpy's parents were trying to decide what to get him for graduation. I of course felt the need to put in my two cents, so I mentioned what a great gift it would be if they could look for a car together and they could put in the down payment with Grumpy doing the monthly payments on his own. They thought that would be a good gift so they set about finding the right car. It was an icky grayish 1965 Mustang with a white vinyl top that was really dirty because it had been sitting under a tree for awhile. The price was right, so the deal was done. Grumpy got the vinyl top cleaned up and sanded down the worn-out paint. He got a quote for a new paint job and had it painted. It was '68 Dodge Roadrunner Red and the vinyl top looked brand new after being cleaned up. (not a convertible like this one) It was his car until he left on his mission. Lots of fun times and fun places in that car. Yes, we had our share of making out in it too. Awesome. Gas was down to 25¢ a gallon once in a while and that was really awesome too. Those were the days.

He wanted me to drive it while he was on his mission, but I didn't want to be responsible for it. He ended up selling it to his sister. Sadly, she was in a car accident in it and it was totaled while he was gone. She was okay, but the car was history. It will forever live on in his mind's eye though.

I still remember how excited he was to have his first real car.

I was pretty happy for him too. No more borrowing his Mom's car for dates.

It was the best.

A Visit to Nana and Curt

Spring is always a good time to put new flowers out for Nana and Curt. The cemetery people collect all flowers and dispose of them the middle of January, so if we miss going out in February spring is a definite. I love going out with Papa and this time with Tracy and Lacy to put pretty flowers on the headstones. A time to be together and remember them. Of course we all remember them everyday, but being there is a physical way to remember for a bit. Quiet and reverent. That's how I feel when I go there. I miss them still so very much and I know we all do. I love being able to do the flowers that stay there to make their places lovely.

Love them both, so much.

Quilts and Cleaning

More Quilts than cleaning I'm afraid. I found some cleaning tips on Pinterest, so thought I would try some out. Me and the mouse in my pocket (as Nana would say). I did the cleaning the oven door tip and was so pleasantly surprised I did the oven floor as well. Now it's just the sides that need cleaned, but they aren't very dirty. The floor and door were quite horrible. I wish I had done before and after pics. The oven was so awful (courtesy of the people we bought from) it was embarrassing. Not enough apparently since it took me 8 months to get around to cleaning it. It is finally good. The mouse in my pocket (Robert) got some white vinegar and sprayed the weeds outside. It was supposed to be this great weed killer. We must have extremely strong-willed weeds. Maybe we should give it another try before going after the commercial weed killer again. Again with the "we". Good Luck with that Robert - let me know how it goes with round 2.

I had so much fabric left-over from Nick and Katy's baby quilt, I decided to do another one for them. I don't know anyone else with nursery colors of orange and brown, so they benefited from my over-purchase of fun baby prints in those colors. Katy had the baby while we were at the Dunes. She and Nick named him Samuel Danger. Now as he grows up he can truthfully say Danger is his middle name. Too funny.

I did this quilt like the one I saw that Malea made for Chelsey's Milo. It was fun to work on and I have found I love to do rag quilts. Good news for Stacie. She cut out a rag quilt a number of years ago in an Americana theme, but never got around to assembling it. We decided to get it out and see what was what. She brought over her quilt in a bin and we got it out. She wanted to do it for Austin's room slash guest room. It is a queen size bed. What she had cut wasn't quite enough to do that size, so off we went to -yes- JoAnn's! We found some great Americana prints that were not only cute with her current prints, but on sale. Wheee Hawwww! We got more fabric and went back home to cut more blocks. Before cutting we laid out her blocks on my king-size bed to determine how many more we would need to cut. We cut more blocks and filled in the rows to get a good over-all random mix of prints.

The layout before sewing above.

Stacie sewing the "quiltlets" above and the sewn X's below.

The blocks all stacked and ready to jigsaw together again on the bed to get the rows ready to sew together. After sewing the blocks together to make rows (lengthwise) we sewed two lengths together to make four long sections. We laid it on the queen bed in the sewing room at my house and decided it needed a border to truly make it the right size for a queen-size bedspread. We thought a border of just two of the more blue fabrics alternated would be a good look. Back to JoAnn's. I should buy stock in that place. It took two different JoAnn's to find the rest of the yardage needed (I have to have enough left for shams and pillowcases, right?). Back to the cutting boards. I put together the border squares and got them sewn together in rows. When Stacie came the next time to work on it, we were able to get the border finished and the long (heavy) seams done. It took both of us to get it through the machine. She held and guided the heavy quilt part and I sewed the long seams. Teamwork is great.

Here it is (above) all sewn together. Stacie took my spring-loaded scissors home to clip all the seams into fringe. She sent me a text message the next night that she was half done, but couldn't move her hand. So true. She has since finished the clipping/fringing and will take it to a laundromat to wash for the first time. Home machines just aren't equipped to handle the amount of frayed threads coming out of it the first time washed. Plus the over-sized machines available there are better for the bigger size quilts (queen and king). I can't wait to get a pic of the finished quilt that I can add to this post. Meanwhile, there are shams and pillowcases to make here in Midland to take back on my next trip home. I love good projects. I hope Austin enjoys his room and the labor of love that goes into making our kids rooms special for them. Even when they share it with the occasional guest. They will look back and remember how pleasant their surroundings were growing up. I love that. I love that Stacie and I were able to spend some time together making a quality bedspread for her home. We had fun talking and creating. I love that too. Of course I added a few more prints to my own Americana collection I have growing in a bin for a future quilt for me. I even managed to find a few red, white and blue flannels for a sleeping quilt in the future. I will have an Americana room in my house or (hopefully) cabin someday. Right now I'm collecting. I really should look into buying stock in JoAnn's.

Easter In California

This year I spent my first Easter in a long time away from Grumpy. Our March and April were pretty far flung this year, but enjoyable nonetheless. After our Dune Trip with RB & Stacies family, and Robert, Grumpy had to return to TX. That work thing really gets in the way sometimes, but the things it provides is great! I stayed in AZ and did stuff. Grumpy would say I mostly shopped at JoAnn's Fabric Store but that's not really true. I can do a lot of damage in very little time there. I went to "The Hunger Games" with Tawna, Jade, Summer, Stacie and RB, Austin, Megan, Rylee, Faith, Taylor(?) and lots of Tracy's family too. A friend of Tawna's rented a theater and we got advance showing tickets. So nice. They did a good job with the movie, I was glad there wasn't too much gore. I don't think it would have been quite as coherent if you hadn't read the trilogy though. Good times to be there with so much family.

On to California to stay with Taya and Kevin's kids while they went to play in Utah. Kevin did the snowmobiling and Taya did the relax in the hotel and read. They had fun and so did I. Easter was the weekend they got home, so we got to spend it together. Before leaving for Utah, Taya and I spent some time shopping "on the way home from the airport" and got some fun things. Went to "So Good" jewelry shop and had a lot of fun there! Taya bought me a couple of great necklaces for Mother's Day and I got some other things as well. I don't do that very often, so it was doubly fun to play in the jewelry store. While Taya was gone I got out the sewing machine and set it up in the vanity. It was funny to be sewing in the bathroom, but it worked just fine. I made Easter pillowcases for Lauren and Emersyn since they were probably the only ones who really cared about Easter pillowcases. They loved having bunnies and chicks on their beds.

Easter dinner was a group effort this year. Kaitlin was trying to pass off a YW goal, so she was doing a lot things new to her. I made a potato salad, Taya made a ham and broccoli salad. Kaitlin wanted to make some cute deviled eggs she saw on Pinterest. They were supposed to look like chicks coming out of their shells. She did a good job, but I think she learned a lot too. Planning ahead as to presentation, and really researching the recipe and how-to's are important steps. They were a fun learning experience and they tasted just fine.

Madison was in charge of the table setting. She did an awesome job creating her own centerpiece from peeps and skewers, and setting the place settings up complete with notes of affirmation for all of us. She is a hostess in training for sure.

I got a pic of the family on their way in from church. I only got a snap or two and then they scattered like chickens. I nabbed Kaitlin and Daron for a shot with Taya before they ran away. She doesn't get many shots of her with any of the kids. She is usually holding the camera.

The whole group.

Daron Schmoozing.

Kaitlin and Taya.

It was a great time. I went to my favorite little quilt shop there and got a couple more books for holiday projects. I spent some time with kids I don't see as often as I would like (although that is true of all the kids now) and hopefully made some good memories for them too.
Grumpy spent Easter in Midland and that was the down-side to my holiday. I missed him so much. He is a good sport to be so pleasant about our time away from each other. Have I said before what a good man I married?

The Dunes

We finally made it back to the dunes this year. It's been awhile. Grumpy took some time off and we headed to the Imperial Sand Dunes with RB & Stacie's family.  Robert got to go to, so even better when more can come. The weather cooperated and it was really nice. Megan had a friend with her so she wasn't so outnumbered by the boys. She was a fun, cute girl and it was nice to have her along.

 

I don't have a shot of Rylan alone. He rode the most, so was probably out on his quad when I took these.

Here we are getting ready to go the "Wall".

Of course there is lots of refueling. Especially when we go back to "The Wall". It's a nice tall wall for the riders to go up. Scares me to death, but they seem to love it. It's taller than it looks in pics, and the kids seem to like to climb it as well as ride up the face. Crazy.

Grumpy at the top of the Wall watching Megan and her buddy climb up.

R.B. going over the bigger "whups" at the base of the Wall.

Robert and R.B. playing on the "whups". They love to jump them and catch a little air. I'm not good at catching the airtime with my camera though.

Robert going up the Wall.

This is what it looks like when we get close to camp (above). It's a nice ride, not too far for the wimps in the group (me) and fun to watch when no one crashes or rolls down the wall with the quad rolling on top of them (Grumpy). That was hard to watch.

Our Friends, Leigh and Farrell Pettit came down for a night and a day for their first time at the dunes. I hope they had good time. It was fun to have them there. We flattened our truck tires and put a flag on it and went with the group to the AZ/Mexico Border to see the iron fencing defining the border. Quite the sight. I was indescribably glad we made it back to camp without getting the truck stuck in the sand.

We had quite a group at the border fence. I think the kids had fun going out there too. It's not all that far from where we camp at Buttercup. Stacie made great meals, we had fun around the campfire at night and we got to spend some quality time with each other. No one was hurt, all the toys worked until the very end of the trip and no one got stuck. All in all, a good trip! Thanks R.B & Stacie for hosting and making this a fun time.

Can't wait to do it again.

Extremely Blessed and Incredibly Grateful

Yes. I am. This year for the Relief Society Birthday we decided to have a meeting about being grateful. It all began with an invitation to come and be part of our celebration of the Relief Society. As soon as I figure out how to do it, I want to make some printable files people can click on in case anyone wants to use our idea and the handouts we did. More learning for me.

We wanted to give each of our sisters a Grateful Journal so they could write about things they are thankful for. I had recently seen the movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and I loved the journal the little boy kept. It wasn't just for writing in, but rather a collection of things as well as writing that he put into his journal. Tickets stubs, photos, pieces of things, drawings, and all manner of paraphernalia that meant something to him. We decided to give the same sort of composition notebook entitled Extremely Blessed and Incredibly Grateful to our ladies. We chose eight different quotes mostly obtained from Pinterest that I re-typeset and made copies of. The are set to cut into 1/8 sheets, a finished size of 2.75" x 4.25". I ran 1 set for each book, so we had eight quotes for each journal.

We placed them on random pages throughout the journal so as the sisters went through their pages they would eventually find the quotes. I made labels for the outside front with our theme so they would be reminded every time they see this little notebook to be thankful for things.

And a little bookmark to mark their progress through their journal.

I did some water bottle labels because I had room on the page I was running the journal front labels on, and it was fun to have our water bottles in keeping with our theme that night.

We took a silver paint marker and wrote each sister's name on the first page. This way we knew who had picked theirs up and who we still might need to deliver journals to.

Our speaker for the evening was incredible. She too referenced a movie for her inspiration. Polyanna. I remember it as one of my favorite movies growing up. She remarked that she had never seen the movie as a child, but that as an adult had come across it and it made a lasting impression on her. She and her family play the "Glad Game" all the time. Putting that kind of optimism out is amazing. We are such a blessed people and so much more individually. She was very inspiring and I find myself falling way short of the kind of gratitude she lives every day. Need improvement. I took some pics of our room at the church. It was a great meeting and I hope everyone left feeling a little more thankful for all that we have. I intend to use my journal and when it is full, look back on all the blessings that will be in there for me to enjoy yet again.

 We ran out of containers for flowers, so we taped the flowers to the blackboard. We wound a bow through the stems to hide the tape and drew a chalk frame around it. It looked better than just an empty blackboard up by the speaker.

 The wall behind the refreshment table still looked plain after the table was all set, so we took the cute black and white polka dot napkins we were using and cut some big polka dots to tape to the wall. I do love polka dots.

As soon as I learn how to link for a printable type file, I will put our ideas out there for anyone who wants to use them. It was a good meeting and I know we hit the mark with everyone. Meanwhile if any of my family/friends want any of these files to make their own gratitude journal, I will be happy to email them to you.

Now all I have to do is learn to be more grateful everyday. everyday. everyday.