First *finished* pair of socks

I finished my first pair of socks.

Now it needs to be winter so I can wear them.

They're soft and squooshy and warm!

and...

the next pair is already started.

Draw-er

This kid can draw.

Yes, he did Plankton all by his own self.

I'm envious of his skills.

Wheelie stools

The boys were having a fun time with Boompa's garage stool while they were here...

Stuck in a crack..

So much fun, in fact, that Boompa had to join in!

Boredom leads to Creativity

When one has nothing much to do on a semi-long car ride, one makes entertainment out of what's at hand.

In this case, the armrest covers from one's booster seat.

They become slippers.
Drink holders.
Elephant noses.
And oh, so much more.

Lilies in bloom

The lilies are blooming...and they were doing a great job keeping themselves upright. UNTIL a torrential downpour came along, as well as high speed winds. Then, the biggest and prettiest ones all tipped over.

They're still gorgeous, though.

Flora

a weed, indeed.

But its a pretty one.

Nephew #2 calls them 'I love you' plants.

Columbine

These lovelies have a habit of overtaking the front garden.

Dewdrops

Went out to look at the garden early one morning.

Happened upon this without warning.

Tops

This little pile o' stuff was fun to pick but a bit smelly...Chive tops, plucked off in an attempt to keep the green parts a little tender.

Chicago girls' weekend

Us girls had a great time in Chicago the first weekend of June. We even took squatty body pictures in Cloudgate. And ate lots of goooood food. And giggled and guffawed.

Two weeks

Two weeks from now, I will be boarding a plane to London. It will be my first trip to the UK and Jen's (my travel companion) first trip to Europe. We've been discussing and planning this since the beginning of May and we can't hardly wait two more weeks.

Love

My sister loves her boys. She loves them when they're silly, gross, sad, happy, grumpy...and like most mothers, she has lots of photos of them. But not of them with her. This one made me grin when I saw it again.

Kitty cat closeups

I like closeup shots. Its especially fun to TRY to take closeups of living things. The cat is a favorite subject. Have you ever looked really close at a cat's nose? It looks like little tiny tastebuds. Sahsa was being pretty cooperative for these photos. She didn't even growl at me!

December flashback-Mexico

This is digging WAY back, but I realized I'd never posted any photos from Mexico. Here's one!

Mom and I had a great time in Puerto Vallarta. We only had 3 nights there, but we packed the days with walks on the beach, a whale watching cruise, and knitting by the pool...

March flashback-Truman Union

I thought I'd add a couple more of my favorite photos from Heidi and Logan's wedding.

March flashback-Doug's 40th

In which we travel to Minneapolis for my uncle's 40th birthday...and then hit the Mall of America...for the kids' sake.

We had a long wait at the Olive Garden before dinner.

The boys and I scavenged for bottle caps and then washed them in a puddle.
He was surprised!

Surveying Legoland.

Playing at Legoland.

March flashback-NYC

Mikaela and I met Ray and Norman Long and a few others in NYC at the beginning of March. You will note that there are not hordes of people in Times Square...it was a little cold some of the time. Other parts of the time, it was pretty warm.

Mikaela was excited to be in Times Square.
We got on the bus. Here, we are overly excited because it was WARM in the bus.

Leftover from the WTC.

We made Ray get on the boat to see the Statue of Liberty.

Went to see dissected bodies...

And overall, spent some time with a pretty neat group of people!

March flashback-Camera tryouts

In March, I decided to buy a new camera. My old digital had been faithful to me for a long while, but after using a very fancy Nikon at my cousin's January wedding, I was drooling for a DSLR. I wasn't sure, however, which brand to go with. I'd fiddled with both Canon and Nikon at the store, but wanted to really try a Canon out. One of my co-workers had one, so she let me borrow it for a week. These are some of the results of the Canon affair.

Fluff.

Clamdigger.

Grandpa's hat!

February Flashback-Stampin' meeting

I belong to a great group of ladies called Jen-uine Spirits. We get together around twice a year for a group meeting. Ideas are shared, demonstrations done...and then we all go home and buy a whole bunch of new Stampin' Up products. This one caused me to buy a die-cutting machine.

Cute animals--all made with Stampin' Up punches.

Reverse technique.

Yep. You guessed it. I have the die to make this now...amongst a few other dies.

There were tons of cute and inspiring projects.

February Flashback-Heartland of America Band

February in Iowa is quite blah.
We tried to spice it up a bit with this concert. The guys were quite entertaining, telling jokes between the songs. And the music was great.
I'll admit I knitted during this concert. And lost one of the mitts I finished....it was never to be found again. Alas.

January flashback-Girl's Cruise

Heidi, Kerry and I decided awhile back that we needed to have a roomate reunion. And Kerry wanted a vacation. After chatting about it a bit, we agreed to try cruising...a first for all of us.

We met at my great-aunt Norma's house in the Ft. Lauderdale area. My dad's cousin Janet was also there. We had some fun times with these ladies.

The crew on Sunday.

With our ship.

BAHAMAS!

Chilling at Half Moon Cay.

Dinner companions. We had fun mocking their drunkeness.

With Peter.

With Jose.

Aaaahhh...what a trip. AND, it just HAPPENED to be Heidi's bachelorette trip, though we didn't know it at the time. We'll have to do it again in a few years...when the newlyweds can tear themselves away from each other for a few days!

January flashback-CO wedding

I'll admit I was a bit freaked out about driving to Colorado in January. It was fine...gorgeous, actually. The wedding was perfect, taking photos was fun...most of them I took were taken with a borrowed camera. And I still haven't seen them. :)

Aunt Karen and I had to stop and photograph the breathtaking sunset.

Mexican the night before the wedding. Heidi wanted ice cream.

We decided to be adventerous and tried cross-country skiing.

The adventurers. Myself, Aunt Karen and Gary.

Cookies and flowers.

Purty flower and rings.

Aaaannnd...a crazy snowboarding bride and groom.

Congratulations, Chris and Heidi!