Naples City Beach

(The Hubby at) Imaginarium and Manatee Park

At Lover's Bay State Park in Florida

We are having a good time so far. This might be the only hot, sunny day. But as long as it's not cold snow I will take it.

New Hair Color

Not sure how well you can see the dark purple streak in the front. There are two in the back as well. Maybe some natural sunlight pictures in Florida will show it better. Anyways, my friend Caitlin who is a professional colorist was willing to play kitchen beautician for me and color my hair & I LOVE IT!. She did an all over color of medium blond then went back and put in the purple streaks and hand painted in blond highlights all over with bigger chunks framing the face.

I always wanted to do some kind of fun color in my hair but never had the guts. This year I decided that if there is something I want to do and it is financially feasible, I am going to do it. Life is too short to not try things and live your life.

Making Bows

I made the light pink ones last night and then made the dark pink & blue-striped bows tonight. I made these for Isabel & 3 of her friends. I just thought Isabel needed some new bows and thought I would make bows for her friends whose moms borrowed me some things during my pregnancy and/or for Henry.

Isabel is going to love that she has a bunch of new bows made by mommy. I have not made her any in a while. I am going to make her some korker bows next, but I need to go buy a dowel and some think grosgrain ribbon.

Snowshoeing 2010

Today we went snowshoeing at River Bend Nature Center. It is much more work to snow shoe with a 16-pound baby strapped to your chest that without. But we did have fun!

Even More Homemade Gifts (To Come)

I need to take pictures of them yet, but Andy received some new pajama pants that his mom made and Isabel got a new jumper that his mom made her. And Henry got a new hat from Andy's great grandma. And I also need to see if I took pictures of the homemade gifts Isabel gave to her godparents (beeswax rolled candles & fire starters in a homemade gift bag.) Oh! And she made a homemade coaster & candle holder out of plaster of paris for grandma M. And together we made hot cocoa mix & soup mix for grandparents. And I gave gifts of crabapple jam, apple butter, & pear sauce to different people. I also made Henry a fleece tie pillow that coordinates with the blanket I made him as a "birth" day present.

Hopefully, I did not forget to mention any of the homemade gifts we received or made for others. We appreciate all the gifts we have gotten this holiday season, but the ones that people put time & effort into are always special to us.

More Homemade Gifts

This hat & scarf was made by Isabel's great grandma.

I made this princess hat & wand for Isabel for Christmas. She loves them. I did made a couple more to give to some friends' daughter who wanted to make them as well, but couldn't get over that night.
These are some stationary sets that Isabel & I made for her teachers at preschool that include a notebook, pen holder & flower pen and homemade cards.

Homemade Gifts

This is a collection of gifts I made for the kids that include: mittens for Isabel & Henry, mittens for dolly (obviously, dolly belongs to Isabel), pillow & blanket for dolly, leg warmers for Isabel.

Crocheted boy dolly lovey for Henry from my mom.
Chef's hat & oven mitt for Isabel made by my mom.
These are some crocheted wrist cuffs my mom made for me. She first made the single one, but wasn't sure she liked it when she added the single stitch around the edge, so ripped that out and started on a new set. I did like the initial one w/o the edge, so I now have a matching set and a single wrist cuff. This will be a nice accessory for someone who is allergic to nickel and can't wear many bracelets to wear.
My mom made this roll-up tool pouch for Andy. She made this custom because he wanted it a certain style with specific features. Kudos to her for reusing items for the canvas & denim material.

Happy New Year & Merry Christmas

Andy does a better job of getting a decent picture of my dad. Every time I take a picture of him I get his eyes closed. Seriously, EVERY TIME! Andy took all these photos of him.

Kudos to my mom for the creative idea on reusing an old football jersey to make a remote control holder & pillow.