Country Chic Bridal Shower

Has it been a week since Sonia's bridal shower already? Wow, time is flying. I think I need to get started on my bridesmaid dress because the wedding is coming up quick. ;) 

So. Want the lo-down on party details? (you're supposed to nod your head 'yes' at this point) I don't blame you. 

And in case you're wondering, much of the inspiration for the decorating and whatnot came from pinterest. It's pretty simple to get the gist of what the bride wants when she has a board for wedding plans ;) 

Emily H. made up these gorgeous biscotti! We dipped our double-baked goods into chocolate, let it solidify, them piped on the words and doodles. :) Super easy, super cute.

And how can you have a country chic shower without a chalkboard, boots and a pitchfork?

A close up of the centerpieces

And mason jars. Can't forget the mason jars.

The bride isn't huge on everyone staring at her while she opens the presents, so we recruited the guests' help for assembling the wedding favors while she unwrapped the gifts

For an activity, guests created a country song for the bride and groom via 'mad-lib' style.

These paper lanterns get used in just about every party now. Lol!

And when the bride has food restrictions, you make sure that she has something to eat at her own shower. ;)

A better view of the centerpieces

The devotion was a time of prayer led by a good friend of the bride

Favor making

And now for pictures of everyone's smiling faces. :)

This picture makes me laugh. A lot. 

She has that glow about her. :)

This also makes me laugh.

Can't you tell that they're sisters? :D

Flower toss!

All pictures courtesy of Christi

Sebastian the Hedgehog Plushie

Sometimes when you see a project, you just have to make it. Thus is the story with this little dude. 

Let me introduce you to Sebastian the Hedgehog Plushie. 

I was perusing some handmade toy pattern lists, when I found this little gem here. He was begging to be made. 

And sew him up I did. I had some micro suede left over from a vest, and bunches of little brown and tan scraps laying around. Whipped out the pinking shears and snagged some of the safety eyes from my crocheting sister's stash. I'm debating whether or not to give him legs, attach some ears, or embroider on a nose. :shrugs: He'll probably get those eventually.

Conveniently, it's my sister's b-day, and she was asking for a hedgehog and an otter (it's a BBC Sherlock fandom reference. There's also a hedgehog in 'The Hobbit' which is where his name comes from). Well, dearest, you're getting your hedgehog. I couldn't find any otter patterns.

'Down on the Farm' Baby Shower

Remember the wedding I was in last year? Well, the happy couple is going to join the ranks of moms and dads in just a few short weeks! Yep, they're going to be parents. A neighbor and I organized a shower to help welcome their little boy.

Decorating was easy once we decided to do a farm theme. ;) 

The excited grandmas-to-be did the devotion

There was a noticeable theme when it came to the gifts. ;) 

Corn-fed baby

All pictures courtesy of my good friend, Seriah

Baby Quilt Top - 'Spring Chicks'

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Back-to-back weekends: a bridal shower and a baby shower. Mix in daily life, and you have a good idea of what I've been up to. ;) I'll post pictures once I get them pulled together. 

One of my goals was to have this quilt project done by the baby shower for the mamma-to-be... but I didn't get it finished. (Big surprise there) I got the quilt top finished though! I'd say that's a step in the right direction. 

I've been working on the embroidered blocks all winter (when you have ADD and there's a TV or Shakespeare class going on in the background, well... let's just say that I'm not a very fast worker. ;) ), and the quilt blocks are simple 'shoo fly' which were easily finished in an afternoon. The original pattern that I was working from called for teeny-tiny 1.5" blocks all put together for the sashing, but that became really tedious really fast and they didn't line up. :face palm: Needless to say, I got to spend some very good one-on-one time with my seam ripper. I think that tool needs a name, actually; I use it so much. Since I took these pictures, I've been able to get this all quilted up, so now it just needs some binding then it's done! :) 

Trip to the ER: part 2

His bike handle

To see the beginning of the story, go here. I think leaving you on a cliff hanger for a week is mean enough.

Where was I? Oh yeah. We were leaving Urgent Care to go to the emergency room at a different facility. I left my copilot sister in charge of the cell phone. :boring ring tone: It was the parental units. They were at home, and apparently Emily relayed the story in a tizzy. We were going to meet them at the ER.

Well, we beat them there. By a very long shot. ;) And it wasn't F1 racing down the highway either. We pulled up to the special ER entrance and headed in. We did the same thing as before - I headed in to get the process started, Jess helped Jake in. When the gals at the desk saw Jake teetering in, they stated (in a very nonchalant way), "Can you get him a wheel chair?" What if I want the wheel chair ride? Oh well... We sat him down and carted him into the back. After a quick general assessment and some questions, they gave him his bracelet with his info in it and directed us to the ER floor. I'd never been in the ER before. Jake hadn't either. I would ask who was more bewildered - me or him. But he was still pretty dazed with a 'deer in the headlights' sort of expression and not remembering much. The nurse helped him onto the bed, got him a hospital gown, and hooked him up with the electrodes.
And in come Mom and Dad. I told 'em my part of the story, just as I had told the nurse, then headed out to the lobby to bring my heart rate down (I'm pretty sure that my pulse was racing five times faster than his).

Back in the waiting room with Jess and Oma, we did just that. Waited. I've decided that even though 'emergency' is part of the ER's name, they're not in any sort of a hurry. While chilling out and sucking down water bottles that we found in the cafeteria, Jess told me that she had never seen Mom run as fast as she did from the car to the hospital. Even with all the rodeos that we unintentionally have when animals escape or we're running after coyotes. I chuckled at the mental image that I got of Mom sprinting. Since we were just waiting... I thought I would call our neighbors (Jake had spent the afternoon playing games with them) to see what time he had left their place and to fill them in on what was going on. It appears Jake was only 'missing' for about 30-45 minutes - the time that he left their house and the time that he walked in the kitchen.

The life-saving helmet

Meanwhile, Em and Eli held down the home front. Very well might I add. They got dinner finished, animal chores done, and they were playing games.

Dad decided that we could probably head home since we were just playing the waiting game at this point. I just needed to retrieve my car from the Urgent Care and get Miss Jabberwocky feeling full again. ;) Once home, we packed dinner for Mom (we all have wonky food restrictions - hospital food has become a big no-no) and sent it back via the Oma-express. We got the goats milked, the last of the chores wrapped up, Eli to bed, and settled in for a chick flick (Pride and Prejudice anyone?). The crew at the hospital was gearing up for a late night of more waiting.

Well, long story short, they ended up taking Jake up to another ER because the CT scanner at the hospital they were at was 'under maintenance.' After more waiting, a scan, stitches in his chin and an x-ray later, it was time to go home. It was about 1 o'clock when they came up the driveway. The doctor's diagnosis? A concussion. And a pretty decent one at that since there was memory loss. But there wasn't any internal bleeding, broken bones, etc, etc, etc. When looking at him, he should have at least broken his cheekbone and possibly chipped some of the bone around the eye socket.
After a while, he was able to recall someone stopping to ask him if he was okay. He soon remembered leaving our neighbor's house and turning onto the road. Then he remembered sitting in a grassy patch in the sun. But the actual accident? Nothing. Maybe it's for the better.

Come that Monday, he headed off to classes for midterms. I guess he got quite the reaction from everyone. ;) Our chiropractor couldn't believe that he didn't break any bones. The natropath couldn't believe how well he's healed in the short time that has lapsed since the accident; within 5-7 days after crashing, you could hardly tell that he hit his face as hard as he did. We've come to the conclusion that we must be on the right tract, diet and supplement-wise, since he healed up so fast.

So. After the lengthy, drawn out retelling of this tale, what did we learn? Two things:
1) ALWAYS WEAR YOUR HELMET! No matter how much it clashes with your colors, makes your face look fat, or leaves your hair in a funky, sweaty mess. It could mean the difference between a headache and the drastic change in your lifestyle.
2) If you see a biker on the side of the road, you need to stop and start asking questions beyond, 'You okay?' Start by asking what year it is. ;)

Spring is coming!

I can't help it. The sun has decided to make an appearance; the bulbs are peeking out, there's a warmth in the breeze promising that spring is just around the corner. I can't wait. ^_^

PS - I promise I'll get you off of the cliff hanger that I left you on with my ER post. My computer situation hasn't been conducive to blogging as of late. 

February Barnyard

Well, someone is strutting his stuff. 

Oh yes, you, sir, are handsome, and you know it. ;) 

Someone needs to lay off the raisins, me thinks. 

And how could I forget our Mr. Collins?

LIZZY! Crazy goat... :D

Trip to the ER: part 1

Whew... It had already been a long week. By Friday afternoon we were all pretty beat and ready for a quiet weekend. Mom and Dad were in town finishing some errands, Jake was out on his bike ride, Eli hanging out in his room, my sisters and I just chillin'... nothing much.

I was getting dinner started when Jake comes staggering in the kitchen, "What day is it?" I turned to look at him... I think my jaw hit the floor and my eyes became the size of dinner plates. "What happened?" was all that I could manage trying to take in the sight of my brother in a very bloody state (I could use a more descriptive word... but I'll try to keep this rated PG). His knees were thrashed, his gloves had been shredded, and his face had a serious case of road rash. "What day is it?" he kept asking Okay. Umm... after a few moments of starting to clean up the wounds, my sisters and I realized that this was more serious than our first impressions. Just getting him to sit still was a challenge - he kept trying to see what day it was. I started asking him what day of the week it was. He didn't know. What month? Still drew a blank. Okay, how 'bout year? "2012." :blink blink:... What happened? He couldn't recall anything that happened that afternoon. He hit his head harder than suspected. We tried calling Mom and Dad but to no avail... we called oh, about a dozen times in 2 minutes with texts thrown in for good measure. Inhale. Exhale. Think. Delegate. Umm... You - stay with Eli and hold down the home front and try to get a hold of parental units and Oma. You - come with me, Jake might need more help than what we can offer. We get Jake situated in my car and start down the driveway, lo and behold... the empty tank light was on. Oh snap. At least everything is downhill from our house. ;)

I would have flown down the mountain, but the curvy road proved painful for Jake. All the way there, I asked him basic questions that he would know the answer to. Everything that he could remember was very slow in the coming with major points missing... At least he remembered having 'evil geese.' I whooshed into the parking spot closest to the door that wasn't for handicap. Although, in retrospect and considering the situation, it might have been fine...I rushed in to the front desk to get him signed in while Jess helped him hobble up. "Was he wearing a helmet?" "When did it happen?" "Does he remember what happened?" So many questions. When they found out that he was having memory issues, they said he needed to go to the ER for a CT scan. I think my car can get there... it's already sucking fumes though... And in walks Oma. I think I heard a fanfare when those doors opened. After they checked his vitals, we loaded up in Oma's car and headed around the mountain to the nearest ER. We still hadn't gotten a hold of Mom and Dad...

...to be continued...

Super Bowl

Okay, I'll admit it. I've never sat through an entire game of football in my life. Ever. But some friends of mine threw a party for the not-so-into-football-people. I went. ;) And strangely enough, I sat through the entire game. Remind me again who's playing? I think I learned more about football in that one game than I have over years of 'gleaning' tidbits from my die-hard friends. I mean, really, did you see that 109 yard spring across the field? Jaw dropping moment in the sports world. Granted, we were jumping all over the place (I love tivo). To let the game time buffer a bit, we watched Princess Bride (Inconceivable!). Then we skipped all the random commentary fillers and jumped right to the plays. And since Beyonce was doing the half-tiem show, that was skipped completely. When it came to commercials, we held the power to skip if we so decided. While the stadium power was out, we watched Avengers blooper reels. There was also a card game going on in the next room. I think we're ADHD football fans. 

In the thick of all the craziness and commercialism, there were a few moments of fresh air. Most notably of all, the Ram truck commercial featuring Paul Harvey's, "So God Made a Farmer." It was beautiful. Except for the Ram truck at the end; it should have been a Ford. :P

A little bit behind the commercial