Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Shadow Box Assemblage - A Work in Progress...

Hands reaching out from the cross
 ... here are some components of the assemblage art piece I've been working on lately ...







Decorative feature on one side.

Holy water font on the side.

This little guy will go inside
the box probably...
I'm still searching in my bins of treasures for a glass globe I know I have somewhere... I think I even have a couple of them?

This assemblage has taken me awhile... seems to be a struggle for me to finish it... maybe because it's been so long since I've be able to get to making these again.... hopefully this one will get finished soon!

MORE TO COME....

Monday, July 30, 2012

Dinner - Yummmmm!!

 
Dinner tonite was yummmmmy, yum-yum!!   Before and after....

Stuffed chicken breasts with cheddar and broccoli, wrapped in bacon, and roasted potatoes, onions and brussel sprouts!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Busy Week ... and He's Baaaackkkk... my Turkey Friend!

Not much time to do anything besides work ... newsletter crunch time had me busy all afternoon Monday, and most all day Tuesday and Tuesday night and Wednesday too!  Glad that finally was finished and transmitted... and also thankful to LPI for calling me less than 24 hours later to tell me they already had it printed and ready to be picked up!!  WOW...that's a new record for turn around time! Thanks LPI!!

gobble, gobble, gobble...
My turkey friend was also back hanging around our yard this week too....
I think he's gotten even bigger in the last week!  He better watch out come November if he's still around... someone is liable to grab him for Thanksgiving dinner! *lol*


On the way to pick up the newsletter, in New Berlin, late this afternoon, I snapped a couple of photos from my car of the storm rolling in ... looks horrible, but thankfully it wasn't as bad here as it looked from the clouds!

We have gotten a bit of rain the last few days, and the grass has a little green in it in some places too! Yay!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Sunday School, Family Fun & More....

Clothes Relay Race

Relay Race - Josh and Jake
 We were up early to get ready for Church and Sunday School ....

Fun game times to teach lessons were part of the morning...

God doesn't necessarily look at the outside of you, God reads what is on the inside of you; what you think and how you love and care for others...  if you "put on Christ", you are beautiful inside and out.




Popcorn Catch Game

Popcorn Game.
Popcorn catch game ... not so easy to catch when you are far from each other, distance away from each other make a difference... So too with God, the closer you are to God, the easier it is to "catch" what God might be saying to you and helping to guide you.

The lesson for today also focused on Jesus telling us that we should take time for some rest and relaxation... time to refresh our souls and body.


Sidewalk art with the Sunday School kids

Jake with his art

Jeff with his art


Josh with his art

We talked about things we did this summer to rest and relax, and the kids used sidewalk chalk art to draw pictures of some of those things ... after church the parish members came out to see their artistic renditions.


John, Jeff, Kasey, Jake & Josh playing

Jake, Kasey & Josh being goofy.

John-John and Jeff playing.
Then it was time to head home ... John and Janel came and brought pizza and chicken for a late lunch, we had fun with the bottle tops game again (Sure am getting my .99 cents worth out of that Goodwill game!)... it was another great day with family! 

Thank you Lord!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Grandsons - FUN, FUN, FUN!

We have all three grandsons today, Saturday, and on Sunday, and are having a great time doing all sorts of fun things!

Josh & Jake - steady, steady...

Jeff showing off his strength
 After a game or two of bottletops, we had to head to the grocery store to stock up on juice and things to make for dinner and breakfast, then of course a fast stop at the Dollar Store! I got some cheap finger paints there for the boys to be artistic on each other... *lol*



Josh, Jake and Jeff
After a late lunch I pulled out the storage bins that the boys "swim" in on the deck, filled them with water,  pulled out the paint and foam brushes and the boys went to work on each other and on themselves...
Body Painting Fun

Making sure they got their bellybuttons!

Jake - Bean
Good thing we had the hose handy nearby!
Starting to get messy!

Rinsing off - well somewhat...
Time to really get cleaned up .... since all the paint didn't come off so well in cold hose water, it was shower time upstairs for all three .... and then time to husk the sweet corn they picked out for dinner...
husking sweetcorn

They had to try some of it before
it was cooked, and decided it was better
cooked! *lol*


Then it was time for some wagon fun in the yard before coming in to do more dinner prep.....

Older brother Jake makes the younger
brother Jeff pull him around..LOL

The idea, I guess, was to pull one brother up the hill, then run him down it, let go and see what he will crash into!

Yikes!!! *L*

Look at how brown and dead our grass is too... sure need rain!
Run at breakneck speed down the hill
and then let your brother lose to
fend for himself, and crash into stuff!

Duck Jeff!!


Now Jake has BOTH brothers pushing

Add the cornbread mix & ingredients

cutting up hotdogs...
 And then it was time to clean up again and make dinner!

Corn dog muffins, fries and corn on the cob.. yum!
adding applesauce in place of some
of the milk to the cornbread mix.

arranging waffle fries on the pan

Stirring well....
adding hotdogs...


Larger corn muffins got two pieces
of hotdog added...
 And then it's time to pour the mixture into muffin tins, add the hotdogs and bake the corndog muffins and fries.


Great dinner was had by all of us!!  These grandsons are going to make some great husbands someday!

Grandpa John with Jake,
Josh and Jeff

After supper Grandpa John gave them all some hats he had, ... we enjoyed some movies until it was time to make some
"nest beds" in the living room with blankets and pillows and then sleep!

I know, I, for one, am more than ready for sleep!

Friday, July 20, 2012

The Squirrel Whisperer ... (more like the Squirrel Shrieker! *LOL*)

I talk to squirrels..... yep, every time I see one I make this noise that either scares them away, or in some cases, makes them come and see ... wonder what it is that I am saying to them?!  haha

This morning there were a couple of squirrels playing around on our front porch ... I peeked out the screen window and started talking ...wish I would have had my camera with me right away!  One ran immediately, but the other one came almost to the screen to look at me!   I snuck away and grabbed my camera, the inquisitive one stayed around, and so I did manage to get a short video of him.   My "talk" sounds more like a scolding, but it was fun to see this squirrel's reaction.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Some projects & an assemblage in the works...

FINALLY!!  I have found some time the last couple of days to be able to be creative with some of my treasures here!  I've so missed being creative, even though I have two door projects I started months ago, that are still NOT finished .. I need some cooler weather and a chunk of time (like 4 - 5 hours) to sand those larger pieces down and stain them more, etc.




Cute chair bench with decorative wood

But here is an easier project (at least I am hoping it will be)... I found this cute little chair bench at a rummage sale at the end of June.  It was pink and dirty, a bit distressed.  So I washed it down, then painted it red, I still have to sand the edges, then put a coat or two of darker stain on it (let it sit then wipe it down so the red shows through still)... then maybe a few coats of polycrylic. 





I will either make or find a cushion for it too.  I have no idea where I'll use this, but it's cute and maybe something Kasey can use for a photo shoot down the road too? 
More photos to come once I get it sanded and stained....




This cross with hands reaching
out will be attached to the back of
inside of the shadow box.

The map is mod-podged on the back of
this shadowbox frame, which once it
dries will be attached to the back.
And here is an assemblage I have in the works too...

Still waiting for the stain to dry, and need to find a treasure or two to add to it yet .... so far, so good...

More on this one in a day or two.....