ROBYNS NEST

VALENTINE'S DAY LOOT

2012-02-15T08:28:00.005-06:00

Candy from school.

We got Daddy an Adventure Time tshirt and framed photos for work.

Every night before bed, for the last few weeks, Violet and I have been practicing writing letters. She likes to spell words she sees or asks how a word is spelled. She's at the point now where you can spell the word out to her, slowly of course, and she'll write it out. She no longer needs to see the letter to write it. The only letters she's having trouble with are k and y.
So we decided to make Daddy a Valentine with pictures and frame it.

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Chris and Violet got me a new camera bag so I don't have to haul my big backpack one around. This will be much nicer to carry around at the wedding in July.

Fancy inside!

Fun box it came in.

Magnetic wood dress up doll from Grandma Fabsits.

We got her some plush Disney princesses from the Disney Store.

I made her a fleece blanket too. This is one of those "no sew" blanket kits you can buy at Joann's but I decided to sew it together rather than tie the ends. I sewed around two of the borders and around the princesses in the middle.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

2012-02-14T08:30:00.002-06:00

Crazy heart braid!

Snow White candy box. Two of Violet's favorite things in one package.

Is eating one right now. :)
Last years valentine's day dress still fits. However a bit shorter.

SOCK CURLS

2012-02-10T08:08:00.003-06:00

I've tried curling Violet's hair with a curling iron and it just doesn't work. Her hair is so fine it just slides right out. Last night after blow drying her hair I decided to try sock curls. I divided her hair into two sections, used two knee socks, wrapped her hair around them then tied the sock together. She went to bed with two buns high up on her head. I was pretty sure she'd take them out while she slept but she didn't. I think they didn't bother her because it was soft to lay on plus it wasn't much different than putting her hair up in a scrunchy like we do every night. Yes I said scrunchy. I actually made a scrunchy about a year ago. She gets hot and doesn't like sleeping with her hair down. I made the scrunchy because it's gentler on her hair than a ponytail holder.
Notice the bags under her eyes. Not a morning kid.

I'm not sure how long they'll last or how her hair will look this evening after playing all day and nap time. I expect difficulty combing it out tonight.

New dress too. I'm working on a bunch of spring/summer dresses, tops and shorts. This doesn't look bad with a long sleeve shirt and leggings.

C IS FOR COOKIE

2012-02-09T10:22:00.003-06:00

How much of this cookie can she shove in her mouth.

Apparently the whole thing. ugh.

NICELY ORGANIZED

2012-02-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

Now don't mess it up!

Bins for everything.

OUCHY!

2012-02-01T08:44:00.000-06:00

Inside right ankle.

MORE RAINBOW GOODNESS

2012-01-31T07:49:00.006-06:00

I bought these white keds for $5 last summer hoping they'd fit this spring. But it looks like they're not going to make it till spring. I don't like white sneakers in the winter. They start looking gross quickly. So I decided to paint them. I figured I only payed $5 so if I messed them up I wasn't out much. The above pic was taken right after I finished painting them. The trick to this watercolor/tie dye look is to soak the whole shoe in water for a minute or two then begin painting. I just used watered down acrylic.
TIP: any paint that gets on the rubber can be rubbed off with the mr. clean magic eraser.

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I let them dry over night and then doodled on them. I used a skinny sharpie. Because the shoe now has a thin acrylic coat of paint on them, the sharpie did not bleed and the drawing was smooth.

I had some orange shoe laces laying around.

RAINBOW PANCAKES

2012-01-30T08:28:00.003-06:00

Violet helped me make rainbow pancakes yesterday morning. She put the drops of food coloring in each bowl and mixed them. She had a hard time comprehending that the panacake batter was not icing. She kept wanting to lick the spoons.

HAPPY SONG

2012-01-25T08:22:00.002-06:00

Not the most exciting video. She really only knows the chorus. But still cute.

MARY POPPINS BIRTHDAY DRESS

2012-01-23T10:18:00.002-06:00

Birthday dress is complete. Violet also wanted a hat. I found a white Easter hat at Target this weekend. She told me I needed to fix it because it "doesn't have the white thingy on her neck" and "where are the flowers". I think Violet's inherited my attention to detail. That or I've trained her unknowingly. Guess I'll be fixing the hat.
I thought I could get away with not getting an umbrella. Wrong. Violet reminded me it's not complete without the umbrella. Now I need to find a cheap white umbrella.
We tried this on last night. She spun around the room like a crazy person.

PURGING AND ORGANIZING

2012-01-20T08:03:00.003-06:00

Our 11yr old washing machine decided to stop working on New Years Eve. I'd have to reset the spin cycle 2 or 3 times. So off to Nebraska Furniture Mart (no we didn't go to Nebraska) to look at machines. Found one at a good price. We went with a stackable unit. Of course it took two weeks to get.

It was a bit intimidating at first. But it is awesome! Compared to our old unit this looks like a space ship.

A domino effect occurred. The new machines led to reorganizing the laundry room. Which led to reorganizing the hall linen closet. This then led Chris to want to overhaul the unfinished part of the basement and me to want to organize the kitchen pantry. Lots of trash, stuff to donate and the selling of our dining room table and chairs that's been collecting dust for 2 years. Up next, Violet's closet and my studio closet. I feel lighter.

Monday we went and bought an unfinished cabinet and counter top for extra storage and a work area. I did paint bubbles on it. I thought it would be fun to match the bubbles I painted on the wall 6 years ago. Luckily I still had paint.

All towels are now in the laundry room. We built these shelves when we moved into this house and they weren't organized very well.

SPELLING

2012-01-18T11:32:00.002-06:00

Right now Violet is very interested in how things are spelled. She wanted to know how to spell Willow and I told her. No help from me writing it out. Maybe we should get more serious about practicing site words.

She's also obsessed with what things are made of. It's like 20 questions all day long. Bed time is the worse. I think she does it to delay going to bed.

BIRTHDAY DRESS

2012-01-17T08:48:00.001-06:00

Can you guess what it'll be?
I actually finished it this weekend. Just have to add the zipper.

DANCING

2012-01-15T21:19:00.002-06:00

We signed Violet up for a 4 week dance class with LS Parks and Rec. We'll see how this goes and if it's something we really want pursue. I don't mind dance as long as it's not involved.

She listened and took direction really well. She stayed in her spot and didn't once wander away.

BIRTHDAY CAKE TOPPER

2012-01-12T10:45:00.000-06:00

More images can be seen here.

4th BIRTHDAY INVITE

2012-01-11T09:30:00.000-06:00

DS MASTER

2012-01-09T07:58:00.002-06:00

I'm amazed how quickly she figured out how to use the DS. Chris traded in a bunch of his old games for Dora, My Little Pony, Build a Bear and Cooking Mama.

DRAWING VIOLET

2012-01-05T09:38:00.003-06:00

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Tried something a little different this time. Drawing with thread. Still think I like sketches best.

UPCOMING BIRTHDAY!

2012-01-03T14:23:00.003-06:00

Violet's birthday is coming up in 2 months. We're planning a party this year, not at the house, where we invite the girls from school. This is less than 2 months away.
I asked Violet what kind of birthday she wanted. Her response...a Meet Me in St. Louis party. I told her to pick again because I thought that would be to hard. So she said Mary Poppins. That I can do!
In one year her taste has gone from Dora to Mary Poppins.

Doodle for invite.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2012-01-01T22:32:00.003-06:00

Another get together at the Bray's. It's nice to only have to walk across the street.
Lots of food, fun, friends, games, and kids.

The girls played dress up, of course.

Violet finds a Snow White dress wherever we go.

BOWLING

2011-12-31T11:23:00.003-06:00

Violet and Jackson's first time bowling.

FABSITS CHRISTMAS

2011-12-30T17:55:00.002-06:00

Nerf fun!

Violet got a ballerina jewelry box.

Jackson, Gillian and Violet.

"RUSTIC" CHRISTMAS DINNER

2011-12-25T22:41:00.005-06:00

House smells like turkey.

Here's what 10lbs of potatoes looks like all mashed up.

Yummy. Neighborhood dinner at Miss Juvy's house.

Little kids playing in the basement.

Big "kids" in the garage. Moms in the kitchen.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-25T17:02:00.005-06:00

I think she was in a bit of shock when she this first thing this morning. She wasn't sure what to do. The first thing she grabbed was a bag of treats for the dogs.

I wish this pic wasn't blurry. Look at that face. This is something she saw at Target but didn't ask Santa for and thought since she didn't ask him she wouldn't get it.

Sparkly shoes for her doll.

She played quietly all day!!

HO HO HO!!

2011-12-25T16:59:00.001-06:00

Pic from last night.
Santa on his way to other houses. ;)

SANTA STOPPED BY

2011-12-24T23:31:00.002-06:00

All Santa gifts are wrapped in the plaid red paper. This is his special wrapping paper. I bought 9 rolls of it last year and I've used only 1 1/2 rolls.

CHRISTMAS PUPS

2011-12-24T22:52:00.001-06:00

COOKIES OVER SHADOWED BY CARROTS

2011-12-24T22:44:00.003-06:00

Violet picked out that many carrots. Since feeding the "reindeer" the other day, I think she was more interested in knowing they'd have a treat when they come to the house.

GRINE FAMILY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-24T22:27:00.004-06:00

Violet got a soccer ball, cash register, microphone, camera, pick up stix game, reindeer marionette, and tickets to see Paul Messner Puppets!

Grandma and Grandpa Grine over at our house before heading over to Aunt Shannon and Uncle Jason's.

One awesome Harry Potter robe.

MRS CLAUS HAS BEEN BUSY SEWING

2011-12-22T21:14:00.002-06:00

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Here are the dresses for Violet for Christmas. The bright red haired doll is Ariel and Violet will be getting her too. She came with fins and a purple top. I found a pink suitcase at HobbyLobby and will put the dresses and doll in it.

FEEDING THE REINDEER

2011-12-21T21:34:00.002-06:00

This morning we decided to head over to the Native Hoofed Animal Enclosure near Missouri Town. It's located about 10min away near Lake Jacomo. It was a gamble if they'd even be around. The area they live in is huge and most of the time you can't see them.
The elk (reindeer to Violet) were right up at the fence. We brought along a bag of carrots and they came right over.

We stayed for about 25 minutes and hoped the Buffalo would come up to the fence but they did not. They just stared at us. But it was still fun to watch them. Sorry, no pics of the buffalo.

Violet was a bit timid at first, but soon warmed up to feeding them.

NAUGHTY ELF

2011-12-21T21:31:00.003-06:00

Our elf rearranged the gifts and stockings this morning. He was in the tree hanging upside down too. Chris overheard Violet telling the elf he was bad and that he was in trouble.

GINGERBREAD PUPPETS

2011-12-21T21:26:00.003-06:00

Last night we made gingerbread puppets. I sewed up some blank puppets for the girls to decorate.

I only had to buy the felt. It's nice to have a studio stocked with just about any kind of crafty supplies we need.

I think they turned out great! Notice they are all Gingerbread girls.

NUTCRACKER

2011-12-18T11:13:00.004-06:00

We went to the Nutcracker yesterday with Miss Juvy and Hailey. It was a lot of fun and the girls did really well.

NATIVITY PLAY 2011

2011-12-17T11:15:00.005-06:00

Yesterday morning was Violet's school christmas play. Her class were sheperds. Next year they'll have bigger parts. This pic is of her class walking in.

Violet being shy. She refused to look at me and kept hiding her head the whole time.

She bit her bottom lip the entire time. This is what she does when she's nervous or uncomfortable.

Grandma and Grandpa Young were able to make it.

DON'T EAT THE YELLOW SNOW

2011-12-14T21:32:00.004-06:00

Fun melting snowmen cookies for work party tomorrow.

MISS IVY'S NEW SPOT

2011-12-13T08:13:00.002-06:00

BIRTHDAY/CHRISTMAS COOKIES

2011-12-12T08:00:00.002-06:00

Saturday was Chris's birthday. He wanted cookies instead of a cake. So we made sugar cookies with icing.
I also made a big lasagna for dinner that night.

I've learned that I can not tell Violet what gifts we are getting people anymore. Saturday morning I called her upstairs to wrap Chris's gift. Before heading up she ran to Chris and said "It's a surprise Daddy. We're wrapping your coffee mug." I told her we're not supposed to say what the present is and that it's supposed to be a surprise when they open it. Her response was, "It's ok. We can still hide it". I don't think she quite gets it.

2011 SANTA VISIT

2011-12-08T19:17:00.001-06:00

It took some coaxing this year.

BLENDING IN

2011-12-07T22:15:00.002-06:00

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE STYLE

2011-12-02T21:16:00.002-06:00

TREE IS UP

2011-12-01T07:50:00.002-06:00

New spot for the tree this year.

The plastic Santa, that I found at the antique mall last year, has found a spot inside this year.

I decided to add garland and lights around the mirror this year

I'M WATCHING YOU

2011-11-30T08:22:00.002-06:00

The second day our elf showed up on the kitchen light. Maybe he will get Violet to eat. If that works we might use him all year long.

Our elf looks a little different because I decided to plus him up a bit by adding some fur and a bell.

ST. LOUIE

2011-11-29T07:49:00.002-06:00

2011 FAMILY PHOTOS

2011-11-22T08:56:00.000-06:00

SPECIAL PACKAGE FROM MRS. CLAUS

2011-11-20T21:20:00.003-06:00

I made an apron for Violet that matches my Christmas apron. I decided to make it a gift from Mrs. Claus. Rolling pin and measuring spoons are from Hallmark. I made a letter that was signed by Mrs. Claus, stamps and a north pole seal for the package. It was all wrapped in gold paper.

Two small elves delivered the package ;). Chris went to put some dog food in our garage fridge and then ran around front to ring the doorbell. He then ran back in from the garage yelling that he had seen some elves. Violet froze. I went to the door and excitedly said something was on the front porch. Wide eyed and cautious Violet looked out the door. I went out the front door and asked Chris which way the elves went. I looked around the house to act like I was looking. We took the package inside while Chris still talked about the elves.

Violet was very excited when she opened it and found the apron. I've told her that my apron was also made by Mrs. Clause, so when she took hers out of the package she yelled "Mommy, we match. I have one too"! Very cute.

Chris read the letter. It basically stated that Mrs. Claus saw her Friday night, knew she's been a good girl and likes to make cookies with Mommy. The letter also mentioned how our Elf on the Shelf will be coming to visit us soon and to keep a look out for him.

Look how excited she is!!
We made 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies. We'll make some sugar cookies in a couple weeks too.

SANTA DOWNTOWN

2011-11-20T21:02:00.002-06:00

Friday night we went to see Santa arrive at Downtown Lee's Summit. We had hot chocolate and cookies at the coffee shop before he arrived.

Santa arrives in on a fire truck.

It was also the Mayor's Christmas Tree lighting that night.

Checking out some windows as we headed back to the car. Violet was kind of upset on the way home. We didn't stay to sit on Santa's lap because the line was crazy long and besides we go to Bass Pro to see him. We'll see how enthusiastic she is when we actually go to see Santa.

NEW XMAS JAMMIES

2011-11-18T08:12:00.002-06:00

I found some cute xmas flannel on sale. Total cost of jammies, $7.00!

STATICY

2011-11-15T10:37:00.002-06:00

The scene, just about everyday, when we pick up Violet

NEW SKIRTS

2011-11-12T20:52:00.003-06:00

Violet was very excited to wear her new skirt to school yesterday. She wasn't happy that it didn't spin enough. But she's got seven other skirts that spin. I thought I'd make something different. I finished up three skirts that are like the skirt she wore when we took pictures with Jackson and Gillian.

2011 SCHOOL PICTURES

2011-11-11T07:08:00.000-06:00

Not the greatest pics this year. I'm not sure where her neck went. I don't usually buy the package. I'm not a fan of the faux backgrounds. I did buy one 8x10 of the above pick to put in her book.

TEENY SWEATERS

2011-11-10T08:31:00.003-06:00

I commissioned my friend at work to make some sweaters for Violet's doll for christmas. What she came up with was AWESOME! Look at the attention to detail. I wish I had the patience to knit and crochet. Can't wait to give these to Violet. BIG thanks Cathy!!!! You can check out her process photos here.

This one was knitted.

This one was crocheted.

CHUCK E CHEESE

2011-11-09T09:42:00.002-06:00

Over Halloween weekend we also went to Chuck E Cheese. I'm not a fan of places like this but Chris really wanted to take Violet. We went on a friday and got there as soon as they opened. Violet loved every bit of it.
We coated ourselves in Purell as we left. ;)

VIOLET DOODLES

2011-11-08T09:10:00.002-06:00

I haven't posted any Violet art work in a long, long time. This summer she wasn't into doing much drawing or coloring. Maybe because we spent most of our time outside. But lately she wants to color all the time. She's even drawing on her chalk board a lot more. She's moved from stick arms and legs to what we call sausage limbs.
She's really into details right now too. The above drawing is wearing glasses and I love the tongue sticking out. It's also a girl because the dress is a triangle.

Violet told me this one was Daddy because of the spiky hair. Haha!

This one is a lion. Looks like he has one peg-leg.

HALLOWEEN PARTY

2011-11-04T13:45:00.002-05:00

Forgot to post these. Just a few pics of Violet from our neighborhood Halloween party, I didn't have time to take many. These are the cupcakes I made.

HALLOWEEN VIDEO

2011-11-01T12:57:00.000-05:00

HALLOWEEN 2011

2011-11-01T09:56:00.005-05:00

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One good lookin' pirate family!

Violet doing her best pirate impression. Arrgh!

We went through 98% of that candy.

We had chili dinner next door before heading out.

The only way to drink a beer with a beard and mustache.

Counting all her "booty".

Our new guy in action. I took video but haven't looked at it yet. If it's decent I'll post it later.

NEW GUYS

2011-10-31T14:36:00.004-05:00

New stirring skeleton. Full size. Made from PVC, plastic skeleton, one large cauldron and a rotisserie motor.

Life size.

We took our old smaller cauldron and added little skeleton heads. The heads are glued together and spin with the help of a windshield wiper motor.

Bought this guy. He hangs onto tombstones. He glows and speaks.

Real deer head from out neighbor Mr. Steve.

Bought this guy too. He hangs above the kids heads. He's sound activated. So when you clap or scream his wings flap and eyes glow red.

TEDDY BEAR

2011-10-31T11:16:00.002-05:00

Ready for the Halloween party at school today. Took last years costume and revamped it to make a Teddy Bear.

DORA PUMPKIN

2011-10-30T21:50:00.002-05:00

I asked Violet what kind of pumpkin she wanted and of course she said Dora. So we've got one Dora and one pirate skeleton. I carved the pirate out of a white pumpkin. First time I've ever carved a white pumpkin and probably my last. It was about 3" thick and smelled funny. I had to scrape a ton out of the inside to make it manageable to carve. It also doesn't glow as nicely as the orange pumpkin. The inside of the white one is more green than orange.

SPIRITS OF THE PAST

2011-10-29T13:58:00.003-05:00

Last night we went to Missouri Town and did some Trick or Treating. This is the same place Violet and I went in Aug. I don't think there is any electricity in the village. The village was lit with fire pits, candles and luminaries everywhere. Very cool atmosphere. All the villagers wore mid 1800's attire but painted their faces white. Kinda creepy. They told old ghost stories and played banjo music through out the town. The old church had Edgar Allen Poe readings. We went from building to building to listen to stories and get candy. Then at the end we took a hay ride back to the parking lot. A very fun evening. Violet was scared at first but warmed up by the end.

I think we'll have to make this guy next year.

LIL' PIRATE

2011-10-25T08:26:00.003-05:00

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All costumes are complete! Violet was very excited last night to try her whole costume on. She was totally hamming it up. She really understands Halloween this year and can't wait.

ANOTHER PIRATE

2011-10-21T12:25:00.000-05:00

Complete! See the rest here.

PEARLY WHITES

2011-10-18T08:20:00.002-05:00

I forgot to post these. These are from about a week ago. Everything checked out fine. See Violet twirling her hair, she does that when she's nervous and when she sleeps.

HARRY POTTER PARTY

2011-10-17T13:35:00.001-05:00

Lauren and Grandma Young

Thomas turns 8.

LET'S COMPARE

2011-10-11T12:18:00.005-05:00

3 1/2 Not only is she getting bigger, but so are the pumpkins.

1 1/2 ........................................... 2 1/2

3 1/2 They repainted the horses this year.

1 1/2...................................... 2 1/2

3 1/2

1 1/2........................................... 2 1/2

WHAT'S COOKIN IN THE GARAGE

2011-10-11T11:20:00.002-05:00

Working on a new Halloween animatronic.

JOHNSON FARMS

2011-10-09T07:31:00.001-05:00

First ones in the field.

New baby pigs, born Tuesday.

SKELETON DOLL

2011-10-07T14:00:00.000-05:00

Chris has been working on some Halloween stuff in the garage and he has a bunch of skeletons and skeleton pieces laying around. While outside last night, Violet grabbed one of the little ones and ran off with it. I quickly snapped pics before she noticed me. She was singing and making the skeleton dance and bounce around. Very funny

SCALLYWAG

2011-10-06T20:57:00.003-05:00

More here.

HALLOWEEN TIME!!!

2011-10-05T21:21:00.003-05:00

Follow along here.

TUBBY SOFT SQUEEZE

2011-10-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

We now own nine foot Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in our front yard. I typically hate most yard inflatables. Chris saw this and had to have it. Now we are those people.

HUZZAH!!

2011-10-02T13:18:00.005-05:00

Fun at the Renaissance Festival yesterday. This weekend was pirate weekend.

First time getting her face painted.

Some fairies came by and gave Violet a magic stone. They told her to make sure she hid it from the pirates.

The king stopped to talk to Violet.

Showing off her fairy crown.

She said her favorite part was the horses and the jousting. She thought it was funny when they'd fall off the horse.

BABY HOLDING

2011-10-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

Violet holding baby Gillian for the first time.

LAUMIER SCULPTURE PARK cont.

2011-09-30T11:18:00.004-05:00

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LAUMIER SCULPTURE PARK

2011-09-30T08:39:00.003-05:00

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Sometimes they don't cooperate.

Love this one.

STL ZOO

2011-09-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

Lagging behind. He was not a fan of the hill or the fact that Mom was having fun with another kid.

Mommy!! Look!!...

...I see Zebras!!

Taking pictures of...

...the lions. She really enjoyed playing with Jackson's camera. They took turns taking pictures. I think will have to put that on our xmas list for sure.

New baby elephant Kenzi. She just made her public debut last friday.

Inside the butterfly house.

She found a flower on the ground in the butterfly house and had to have it.

Lunch time.

MONKEY JOES, PIZZA & PRESENTS

2011-09-28T10:53:00.004-05:00

Face plant.

Can I open them now? How about now?

Violet, the child that never eats, ate 2 cupcakes, pizza, toasted ravioli, some salad and three pieces of bread. Now she's full for the rest of the month.

Had to wait to give him our present back at his house.

EXTRA LONG STL WEEKEND

2011-09-27T14:03:00.002-05:00

Baptism, birthday party, Monkey Joe's, Spanky's ice cream, Imo's, BBQ, Zoo...I'm tired.

BABY GILLIAN

2011-09-25T20:39:00.004-05:00

Shhh.. I'm seepin'.

SKINNY JEANS!!!

2011-09-22T12:48:00.000-05:00

They are a little saggy in the butt. She did not inherit my butt.

HALLOWEEN TIME!!!!!

2011-09-15T08:25:00.002-05:00

Target has most of its Halloween stuff up. Violet had fun trying on the masks.

You would think this mask would freak out a three year old. But not Violet, she actually laughed. Stuff like this doesn't seem to phase her. I think we've desensitized to stuff like this. However she is afraid of the unknown. She won't go in a room if the lights are off and rarely goes upstairs by herself. She asks every night before bed if it's going to rain and thunder and her closet door has to be closed.

VIOLET AS A MUPPET

2011-09-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

ICE CREAM, CARS, & MUSIC

2011-09-13T21:16:00.004-05:00

Last night we went to Lees Summit North HS to watch Mr Joe conduct the the highschool orchestra. They had a classic car show, ice cream and hotdogs all as part of a fundraiser for the music dept.

Mr. Joe in action. They sounded great.

Cheeto sharing.

LSN is over by our old house. We could see the back of our old house from the school parking lot. We used to be able to hear and watch the marching band practice in the parking lot. You could hear the announcing of football games inside our house. Glad we don't have to worry about that anymore. The most we hear now are fireworks from LSW games.

Waiting patiently for the marching band,

IT' A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE...KINDA

2011-09-08T07:43:00.002-05:00

This flew over the house monday. We thought he was going to land in the backyard. I'm guessing he took off from somewhere over near Longview lake. It's basically a kite with what looked like a bike attached to it and a small motor. It was very windy monday and this thing was bouncing all over the place.

BACKYARD LUNCH

2011-09-06T09:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was so nice, we had our lunch outside.

FORT GRINE

2011-08-30T20:20:00.001-05:00

What our living room looks like when we don't go outside to play.

I'LL TRACE YOU THEN YOU TRACE ME

2011-08-30T17:47:00.003-05:00

After the kids finish tracing themselves, our driveway looks like crime scene. A very bad crime scene.

INVERTED FRENCH BRAID

2011-08-27T18:11:00.000-05:00

Having fun with Violet's long hair.

NEW FALL CLOTHES

2011-08-24T18:21:00.004-05:00

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Made some new jumpers for this fall. This one is my favorite.

Left over fabric from the skirts I made last year.

A-line tops with short or 3/4 length sleeves. Long sleeve tshirts to be worn under them.

This one is wool.

It's hard to tell in the photo but the collar has three ruffles.

I decided to make some pants this year. These are corduroy. It's very hard to fin pants that fit Violet because she's a 4t or 5t in height but a 3t in the waist. The pants and jeans I do buy all have the adjustable waist band. However, I have to cinch them in so much that they look all bunchy around her waist. I have yet to hem the length on these. I'm waiting till it's time to wear them.

Apron style dress.

THAT'S A LOT OF KIDS

2011-08-23T21:18:00.003-05:00

This was taken last wednesday, the first day back to school for most of the neighborhood kids. We had our big pancake breakfast, thanks to Miss Angie and Mr Mike, before the kids head out to school. Of 16 houses on our street, 14 have kids.

NURSE VIOLET

2011-08-18T12:34:00.000-05:00

HALF-PINT

2011-08-14T17:37:00.008-05:00

This morning Violet and I headed out to Missouri Town over near Lake Jacomo. We got there at 9:30 and were the only ones in the town. It was a lot of fun and kinda creepy. It was like stepping back in time. The weather was unbelievable and I got some great photos of Violet.
We will be heading back in the fall when they have some scheduled events. Sept 10 they have a Civil War re-enactment that might be fun to go to.

We saw sheep, that were very active and loud, horses, cows, steer, and elk. Some of the sheep even run free along the road.

Last summer I made Violet a bonnet to add to her play clothes box. I decided this would be a great photo opportunity so I took it along.

She looks like Holly Hobby here.

They had lots of gardens and wild flowers growing. I let Violet pick flowers that weren't enclosed in any fencing.

The only thing missing in this photo is a fishing pole over her shoulder.

Cute photo... except she's looking at poop. It was kind of a problem everywhere. That's what happens when the sheep run free.

One of my favorite photos.

Moo! Violet said they stink.

My second favorite photo.

Mr Elk.

WORK CUBBY

2011-08-10T13:42:00.001-05:00

A small article in Ink Magazine (a KC culture & entertainment mag) about what I do all day. If you're dying to see what an office cubicle at Hallmark looks like take a look ; )

PINK KITTY

2011-08-09T13:26:00.001-05:00

Piece for this years Art Unleashed. More here.

NAKED BABY NEEDS A RIDE

2011-08-08T19:25:00.002-05:00

Getting a little fresh air. We've been cooped up in the house for way to long because of the heat. It was not too bad tonight, just a little humid.

VIOLET'S SPECIAL SPACE

2011-08-01T18:19:00.003-05:00

We made a little work space for Violet down in the basement. It's nice to have a space for her to work in while we are working. I debated about bring down her little table that we keep upstairs, but decided not to because she uses it so much. We found this one at Target.

I bought some cute fabric to cover the area where the mini fridge is and above the tv. The tv is an old tv but will do. We plan on hooking up a dvd player to it because it doesn't receive cable.

I also moved one of the bean bags over there. It's nice place to just chill out and have some quiet time.

AN AUNT AGAIN

2011-07-29T09:31:00.001-05:00

New family addition.
Gillian Rose (Fabsits) Dormeier
7 lbs. 3 oz. and 20 1/4 in
Cute dresses are coming your way!!!

BEATING THE HEAT

2011-07-25T08:14:00.003-05:00

Yesterday afternoon we got outside a bit. It was 93, still hot, but not 103 hot. Everyone's getting a little antsy by constantly being insie.

Violet does not know how to eat anything fast. Of course she was the last one to finish and her ice cream was mush. I actually hosed her down after this.

CHICKENHARE FULL ARTICLE

2011-07-20T10:00:00.001-05:00

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