Carving and Cookies

More Halloween fun...anyone tired of pumpkins yet? Then i guess you dont want any of our delicious, homemade pumpkin cookies :) Okay, so they come out of the package that way and you just put em on a tray and cook em up...they're quick, easy and actually pretty tasty.

Jordyn carved her very first pumpkin last night and she really enjoyed it! I thought she would get bored after a while, but she enjoyed the entire process...she even tried to shove some of her dolls in the pumpkin when we were finished. We made this jack o lantern for Great Grandma as a surprise. We added a candle, tip-toed across the meadow to her window and waved him around in the window till she spotted him :) She loved her little surprise and let him burn all night. He's pretty cool...what do you think?

All Halloween Weekend!

Be warned...this is a photo intensive blog...
As mentioned earlier, we headed off to the city for some Halloween fun. On Saturday we went to my Uncle's VFW for a kids Halloween party. Jordyn had a great time with all of the kids, and she really enjoyed hanging out with her Godmom Christy. Here they are with her and her stepcousin Parker, lining up for the costume contest. I think folks had a tough time choosing a winner, so all the kids won a prize :)

They also received a bag of yummies...what would a Halloween party be without a giant bag of candy! Here is Jordyn inspecting her loot...

She played her first game of hot potato...or i guess hot pumpkin. She didnt quite grasp the idea of the game, so the kids on either side of her did most of the work.

She did win a prize for bowling and getting a strike on the first try, by throwing (not rolling) the ball. It was a wonderful party, and everyone had a great time!

Afterwords, we all headed to the house for pizza and beers, while the kids ran around in the backyard enjoying their sugar high :)

On Sunday we headed out the the Denver Zoo...

this was my first experience with Boo at the Zoo, and it was AWESOME! If you ever get the chance you should go!

There were 30 booths set up all around the zoo for the kids to trick or treat...some fancier than others, but all fun!

It was jam packed, but the weather was great and all the parents, as well as the kids, were in great spirits. There was fun everywhere you looked...they had jugglers and other entertainment, food and drinks, and if that wasnt enough, there was always the animals :)

We missed bird world last time, so we made sure to check it out this time. Besides, Daddy was cold and wanted to warm up in the "tropical climate".

The sea lions were basking in the sun, barking up a storm. Jordyn thought they were hilarious! We had a blast!

Hope you enjoyed a peek at our fabulous weekend!

Over the River and Thru the Woods....

To the post office i went...to mail off my ALQS miniature to ___?_____! Of course, its a secret, so i wont let the cat out of the bag till my receivers package arrives :)
Anyways, im sure by the sneak peeks i gave over the last few weeks, that it was pretty obvious what the quilt looked like, but here it is again..."Wonky Pineapple Blues", being modeled on our glorious woodpile! Its 20 X 20, and was paper pieced with a washable leave in paper (that makes the quilt a little stiffer, and nice for hanging). I also finished and mailed out the Halloween table runners to my sisters in California, so that should be a nice surprise for them (i can mention them here, because they never read my blog :)
And lastly, i sent out a little "thank you" to Anne, for her generous gift of I-spy fabrics a while back. Sorry it took me soooo long to get it out to you Anne, what can i say...im lame. Anyways, now that all my latest deadlines are met, i can relax this weekend...which is great because we have a full weekend of Halloween fun planned, including a kids party at the VFW, and Boo at the Zoo, which i am quite excited about!

So stay tuned...

Photographing A Two Year Old

Its that time of year again...the annual portraits of my daughter in her Halloween costume. We take our holiday seriously, so no ordinary photos will do :) But photographing a two year old is no easy feat!

Of course, the first challenge is to get them into their costume...no, no Jordyn, leave your hat on...dont take off your tights...stop pulling your dress up...hold still, i need to get your shoes on...hurry up, we're going to miss the good light (okay, this is every photographers challenge).

The next thing is to get their attention...keep their attention...and get them to smile! No, Jorydn, stop spitting, smile for mommy...please....hey...look over here...smile...yoohoo! Finger snapping is sometimes a good technique! Yelling, however, is not.....

okay sweetie...im sorry, just look over here...you look so pretty...come on baby...cheese! smile! over here....

no...dont take your hat off...leave it on...c'mon Jordyn, look over here...hey, where are you going...

okay Jordyn, stop looking at the cat and look over here...hey, ive got an idea...lets call the kitty over here for a shot...come here Lump...come on kitty kitty...

okay, Lump...stay still...Jordyn stay still...hey you guys, look over here....
(great, now im herding cats)

okay, maybe some fun time to lighten the mood...as im not sure i got "the" shot yet, and she has way to much balled up energy! Spin Jordyn, spin! Weeeeeee!

Okay, how about we climb up here on these logs...c'mon Jordyn, you looks so cute..."mommy down...mommy down"....wait just a second, i almost got it, the light is great....no Jordyn, hold still...all right, fine...then sit here with this pumpkin!

No,i said sit still...why are you crying (probably because her moms a psycho)...hey, its okay kiddo...look up at mommy...c'mon...stop crying...please! Okay, fine, while you settle down ill take a photo of your pumpkin.

Only a few more...im almost done...hey....where are you going...get back over here!
I mean it!

After 200 photos and much frustration (for both of us), i am happy to report i did finally get a decent shot!

Dont ya just love the holidays!
My Little Witch :)

Flashback Friday - 1982

Here's a shot from my junior high yearbook, i was in the 8th grade, and voted most athletic! For any of you from California, you will immediately recognize the striped Dolphin shorts, very hip in the 80's!(I think Richard Simmons still wears them) :) Im also sporting a T-shirt from my very first concert, Oingo Boingo who opened up for the Police (Ghost in the Machine tour) at the Forum. A most excellent concert! I was never very popular in school, but i was a bit of a tomboy, so i imagine thats how i made it in the yearbook :) Enjoy the trip down memory lane...i know i did.

Binding Madness

Looks like ill be hand sewing for a while...i have 3 table runners and one miniature quilt with the binding sewn on one side, waiting for them to be hand sewn to the other side. Then my ALQS quilt needs a hanging sleeve and a label and its done. Woohoo!

New Quilt for Jordyn

Well, i did quite a bit of quilting, binding, and pinning on several projects this weekend. My cousin Christy, aka Jordyn's Godmom, was up for a visit, so we took turns entertaining her while we worked. I captured this very sweet moment of them coloring together, both almost falling asleep in the process.
Christy finished this fun flannel quilt for Jordyn, and as you can see, she loves it!(as does daddy). And what perfect timing...its been in the 20's every morning...brrrrrrr!

I finished quilting my ALQS quilt, but i dont have any photos...perhaps later today? I was planning on hand quilting it, but decided to try out my cousins Pfaff machine while she was here, and WOW...does that thing sew like a dream. So smooth and quiet...very fun indeed. I should have tried out some fancy stitches, but since the design is rather busy, i decided a simple stitch in the ditch was what it needed.

And finally, here are some I-spy fabrics i received in a swap on about.com. There are roughly 150 squares here...and with the ones Anne sent me, and the blocks from my neighbor, i should have enough to make a few I-spy quilts. Thanks again ladies!
Now im off to do some more crafting, as its my free day (Jordyn is at Grandma and Grandpas)...so perhaps ill have more goodies to post soon!
cheers~

First Snow of the Season

Well, here it is...our first snow! It was only an inch or two and melted right away, but we still had time to enjoy it. Christy is visiting, so we hung out, watched spooky movies, quilted, drank hot buttered rums, and chatted away the chill...well, maybe it was the hot buttered rum that did that :)

Christy brought Jordyn some cute new pj's and a little pumpkin to decorate, so she has been coloring her pumpkin (and anything else she can get her hands on) and eating pumpkin sugar cookies all day. Lets just say the sugar overload is crashing hard right now on the couch :) Here is my bragging moment...this is our little doodle, and i must say, i was quite impressed with Jordyns little ghost, so i had to post here, since most of you wont be dropping by to see it on my fridge!

We had a chance to taste some of the first snowfall before it melted(or involuntarily turned yellow). Looks like the sweet days of winter are approaching :)
I have several quilting projects in the works right now, so stay tuned for pictures next time. Warm Wishes!

ALQS (round 2) teaser #3

If you havent guessed by now, Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday! Christmas is wonderful, but Fall being my favorite time of year, and October 31st also being my fathers birthday...it brings back fond memories of my childhood and the silliness that is Halloween! Not to mention I love any excuse to wear crazy clothes and costumes!
This is our newest addition to the festive decor, and for those of you that commented about the bear, we are hoping the little bells on witchy-poo will spook him off. (fat chance) She looks spectacular blowing in the breeze, and at night she is quite scary. Jordyn loves to peek out the window at her and see what shes up to.
Speaking of Jordyn, she is enjoying her visit at grandma's right now, so i am sewing away and enjoying the peace and quiet. This is what i worked on today...

Not much of a teaser i suppose...but a peek nonetheless. I am undecided on the binding...the dark blue, or the light color? I kind of like the openness of the light color, but i know some folks would probably hate to have a light edge due to dirt, etc. Any of you out there have a preference? I am pleased with the way this turned out, and may try it in some holiday colors for Christmas, however, im not a huge fan of paper-piecing, so i would probably stick with the washable stuff i used in this one. I cant imagine doing an entire bed quilt like this....yikes!

and finally, here is Jordyn having a very serious discussion with my garden gnome the other day. He's probably reprimanding her for stepping on all of his flowers!
Cheers~

Spooktacular Shopping!

Look at these fun fabrics i scored in town today...50% off! I usually try to buy a few Halloween fabrics each year, and this time i stocked up on some costume fabrics as well. They're perfect for crazy quilting :)
Tomorrow is my "free day" so i hope to get lots of sewing done...i plan to work on my ALQS miniature and maybe finish up some Halloween table runners i started last year, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, here is another shot of yogi raiding our garbage...they are so persistent at this time of year...and a little scary! (notice its broad daylight) doh!
Happy quilting everyone!

Happy Autumn!!!