I Love My Dad

Dad, my life wouldn't be the same without you in it. You are witty, handsome and loving. I'd like to think I get my smarts from you. :)

I wish I could spend the day with you! I hope this post dedicated to you kind of makes up for that. :)

Thanks for being such a great Dad. For always being there for us and for being a real dad. We couldn't have asked for a better Dad if we had the chance. Your girls wouldn't be the same without you.

I love you Dad! Happy Father's Day!

Days Before Travelling to the UK

The two weeks leading up to my trip to the UK was bittersweet. Luke and I spent a lot of time with both our families and with each other (obviously). I felt like I could cry at any moment because I was thinking of recent events and how much I would miss each one of them while in the UK. I took a lot of pictures at this time, not necessarily with the thought that I could have them while I was here, but because Marissa had just given me her camera and I hadn't used it much before so I wanted the practice. The weather was also beautiful and we couldn't resist being outside. Its fun for me to look through the pictures while I'm here because the memories are so sweet. :)

Thank God for pictures!

Winter Wonderland

Oh how I love my mom.

I brought my parents' camera for my trip to England because I don't have a nice one of my own. We went to a pub last night with a live band and I wanted to take a picture, so I did. It didn't turn out well at all but that's not quite the point yet. I took another and the camera said the memory was full. Hmm, funny. I checked the memory stick and sure enough its the smallest one we (they) own, 256 MB. No big deal, I'll just put the pictures on my computer shortly after I take them and I'll also use the other camera I brought with (also not mine but one of my sweet sister's).

This brings us to the current time. I transferred the pictures I had taken to my computer and was browsing through the remaining pictures on the camera. A lot of them are from at least six months ago, some are newer. I removed all the pictures and videos and saved them on my computer for later. Come on, its a 256 MB card, I need all the room I can get. Hmm, did you notice anything? Yep, I said videos.

One would think that if a video is made, it is made for people to see, right? So if one refers to "your dad" while making a video by one's self, you could assume even further it was made for certain others to see, no? Well, here it is and hopefully it works! It put a huge smile on my face and made me giggle. Quite a bit actually. Let's just say Christmas isn't Christmas only in December.

Hope you all enjoyed! Let me know if it takes forever to load or isn't working properly - I'll do some editing. Love you Mom!

Project Complete: Letter T

In other news, I completed another project! Its been done a couple of weeks now but I haven't gotten around to posting about it. It was a project for the little baby I knit a baby sweater for, who I got to meet less than two weeks ago. Its crazy how time flies.

A friend and coworker of mine planned to do the same project for a baby girl born the same day as Tyson. I thought it was such a cute idea I wanted to do it myself. Who doesn't love something a little homemade? Especially when its easy!

I bought a large letter "T" from Hobby Lobby, probably twelve inches tall, from the home goods section. I originally planned to get an unfinished wood letter but the options they had in store were quite small and cheap looking, not very thick, so I opted for this instead, which cost only a couple dollars extra.

The letter is made out of some sort of pressed board I think. Maybe. It was heavier than a regular piece of carved wood would feel but sort of sounded plastic-y when you tap it with your finger. I guess that doesn't really matter much. I thought acrylic paint would cover well. I chose a white color. I also bought white and brown striped ribbon to tie around the top to hang it from (or make it appear to be hanging by the ribbon) but it didn't look as good as I thought it would so I left the ribbon off. Here it is after one coat of paint.

A few more layers of paint and a couple hours later it was completed. I think the crisp white will look great on baby Tyson's darker lime green walls.

Makes me want one for myself! Miss you little Tyse!

A New Addition!

Luke's sister Katie and her hubby Cory had their baby. He's here! Tyson Lee was born Friday, May 20.

Check out that proud uncle! Luke and I went home this weekend to meet him. He's so adorable! Neither of us have seen a baby only two days old before, except for our sisters but that's not the same thing.

We are glad we got to meet you, Tyson Lee! You're so handsome!

To My Mom

You are the best mother anyone could ever want (especially me!). If I had to pick which mom I would have I would have chosen you.
You are the definition of a mother's love in every way possible.

We all love you as big as the whole world and will love you forever and ever.

I LOVE you Mom!

Happy Mother's Day!

Project Complete: Painted Frames

Two Project Completes in a row! I know. I'm just that far behind.

Back to the birthday weekend. Saturday was Katie's baby shower and Beth's birthday. We spent the day with Luke's family playing games, eating delicious food, and enjoying conversation, then ate supper at a supper club.

Sunday was my big day. April 17 to be exact. Luckily I only had to blow out one candle. Let it be known, however, that (according to my mom) it was an Advent candle. What?? Mom made a delicious homemade chocolate cake - from scratch! Along with homemade chocolate frosting. It was delectable.

Earlier in the day my mom, Luke and I finally painted the pictures frames that were in the trunk of my for two years! They are frames my mom had around the house or in the basement. We maybe bought one at a thrift store but we couldn't remember. They were originally gold, which I really liked, but when I first brought them to my apartment they looked too big and bold for the small space, which is why I loaded them into my trunk. I hoped I could paint them someday and also get glass cut to make them into real picture frames. Well, this was my lucky day. We painted them and I got glass cut. They are ready to go! Have I mentinoed I love how they turned out?!

We scrounged around for paint and mixed our own. This special concoction was made of brown, purple and white. It turned out just as I had imagined it would. I wanted something light greyish but with color to it.

After finishing the frames (and because it was such fun and turned out to be pretty darn easy), I thought it would be fun to go to the yard waste to look for a big ol' stump. More on that project later. Our yard waste visit was successful! There were plenty of large chunks of wood to choose from so we chose the piece below. Unfortunately, while running back to the car to join my patiently waiting family I stepped in a giant mud swamp-mess with my cute new shoes! Oh the drama. No worries, they washed up just fine and I survived.

For supper, we had T-bone steaks! Yuuuuuumm. Grilled to perfection by my dad.

The next day Dad and I installed his bicycle computer. What a weekend!

Have you noticed anything peculiar about all my projects? Well, my mom has. She pointed out to me that she is involved in all my projects! She helped me (start) with the big, huge yarn balls, the scarf was for her, she wrapped the knitted baby sweater, and now this! I say the reason she helps me with all of them is because she is so good at it. Who better of a person to help you do things than your mother?! I do love my mom. :)

Thank you Mom and Luke for helping me with these beauties. Your help is much appreciated and I obviously could not have finished this project in such little time without you. Can't forget Dad! He took care of Caboose while we painted. :) I'll post more pictures of the frames when they are on my walls, which will be another project in itself.

Project Complete: Katie's Baby Sweater

Way back when...ok a few weeks ago...I told you I had a busy weekend. Here is a brief recap: Katie's baby shower, Beth's birthday, dinner with Luke's family, my birthday, painting picture frames, cutting wood disks, steaks, and installing a bicycle computer! Whew, what a mouthful. Let's start with the baby sweater.

I have pictures! The baby sweater I knit for Luke's sister was finished mid-April and I'm finally sharing pictures. Its May, people! May! I need to work on project-to-blog timing a bit I think. Back to the sweater. It started as a small ball of yarn, or four balls rather, Cascade Cotton Club.

After a full Sunday and a few week days after work of knitting it turned into this (wrapped by my wonderful mom).

Mom-to-be, Katie (due any day now!!) and Luke's other sister, Beth.

The finished sweater! It is Trellis from knitty.com. I think its absolutely adorable and so easy to knit. Ok, easy as in I wouldn't call myself a very good knitter, mostly due to my lack of years of experience under my belt, but its possible for me to knit so its got to be pretty easy.

I will definitely be knitting this again. In fact, another one of my good friends is prego so I might have to start another sooner than I think. Geesh! Its all about the love.

Cheers to a finished project! Even if it is two months late... :)

I Love My Family

My family and I met at Applebees in Hudson, WI for our Easter meal. My sisters are busy finishing things up in their last year of college. Wahoo to them, right?!! All of our schedules were a little crazy so to make things a little easier, we decided we could meet in the middle. After all, though Easter is important to us, it is just another day. We decided to spend the day together, relaxed and ourselves, fully enjoying the love (or at least I fully enjoyed it!), even if it meant we didn't eat a fancy schmancy ham.

What a beautiful family! Inside and out.

Cateye Brain

What a weekend! I have so much to share. I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll just skip to today and share the other fun things when I'm at my own computer. I decided to take today off and stay at my parents' house for an extra day because the next few weekends are going to include a lot of coming home (as in to my parents' house) and traveling, and I wanted to start it out nice and slow without having to rush around every weekend.

Let's go back two years to Christmas 2009. My sisters and I got an odometer computer for our dad to use on his bicycle because he rides it all the time in the summer and never knows exactly how far he goes. Well this sweet puppy tells you distance, time and speed, among other things. Fast forward to today - we finally installed it!

It started out as this with parts and plastic pieces all over the place. I kind of felt bad for my dad because he was about to take his bike out for a spin when I suggested we install this baby. When I looked at the directions it was a bit overwhelming.

And ended with one happy dad and me pretty dang excited too. Yep, I took the bike around the block just to see how sweet it is. Never fear, it didn't take as long as I thought it would to install. Joy!

Cateye CC-RD100N

Dad's out for a spin now. I hope it works for the whole trip and hundreds more!

April May Bring...

Quality time with one of my all time favorite four legged friends.

Let's just say 'Over the Hill..."

Easter egg hunt with the fam. Oooh, last year we did egg on spoon races with our parents, Luke, and Aunt Steph and Aunt Cheryl. Hope we can look forward to that this year!

Maybe some bubble blowing or chalk drawings. Yep, we can still be kids and enjoy the joys of life.

Maybe some of this, minus the snow of course.

Hopefully some of this! My very own bike/scooter/moped and its awesome! Just needs a little loving before she hits the road.

Hopefully some beautiful flowers, colors and fresh air.

Probably none of this for me. Its still a little early yet and April is already packed to the brim with plans of all sorts.

If you haven't already guessed it, it will be filled with family, family and more family! Yayy I can't wait! Love, laughter, Spring, and the outdoors in many ways.

What are your plans for one of the greatest months of the year? Yeah, I think I might be a little biased. I must admit, the good ones are born in April.