Music Videos

It's been awhile since I've posted any videos.  Well today while out on a walk I captured these moments.  Rubes makes up these little songs all the time.  The conversation varies only slightly from the following...
Rubes : "Would you like to hear a song?"
Me : "Sure."
Rubes : "A happy, sad, or scary one?"
Me : "I'll take a happy one."
Rubes : "1, 2, 3, or 0."
Me : "2"
Rubes : "O.K. I have to remember it now.  Are you ready?"
Today, when she was ready,  Teo and I were treated to this....

And then Teo, who loves almost all the things his sister does, treated Rubes and I to this...

I realize now how truly "pooky" Halloween can be and, yes, we're excited about it!  My favorite part has to be when Rubes whispers lyrics to Teo.  Nothing  more frightening than a "pumpkin with fire in it".  Or as Teo sings... a dinosaur.

A Long Time Ago...

O.K. so it was really only 3-4 years. (Before blogging for myself.) Anyway, I made a denim-patch-front-fleece-backed-blanket for Rubes for Christmas. Whew, what a mouthful. I recycled jeans from myself, the Husband, and my Dad.  Added details include: machine embroidered patches on the 4 corners (courtesy of my sis, Aurora), pockets on some patches, and a corduroy patch from my favorite pants as a child.  I made a second one for Teo about 2years ago.  Finally "Big Pillows" to match.  Why post about them now?  Well, I'm feeling a bit under the weather, simply congestion mixed with a sore throat.  Blah.  Which gets me to thinking in a nostalgic sort of way... Rubes' blanket was the first sewn item I made or created.  Prior to this it was fixing my Hubby's torn pockets or hemming pants. He's responsible for getting me a sewing machine.  I'd talked about it (for round 3 years) but couldn't make up my mind and thus never got around to buying one.   Twas Christmas of 03' I believe when he purchased one for me.  I left it in the box for over a month. 
I'd been going over the directions and finally took it out of the box.  Then it sat there for probably another month while I looked at it and finally turned it on.  Silly I know, I was afraid I'd break it.  Seems like forever ago, cause now I'll try sewing just about anything.  Denim projects are usually thick and often needle breakers if you're rushed and uncertain.  These are twin size and heavy, I guessing they were my confidence builders.  (I like a blanket, with substance.)  I'll have to post the pic of  the childhood me in my favorite corduroy farm print pants.  If memory serves I'm wearing a matching shirt and holding my pet,at that time, a guinea pig named Mittens, in the photo.  Yep,  I had style.

Rubes loved roosters/chickens at 2 years of age.  Teo simply liked all animals so I went with the paw print.  My thinking was that these blankets would last many, many years so there were limits to the prints available.  I still love them and so do the kids.  They came out of storage and onto the beds about a week ago.  Autumnal weather brings out the blankets and memories for me.

A Morning to Myself

I had the morning all to myself with no plans. As a result I made some headbands, another wiener dog shirt and fixed a "Halloween" item I made last year. The latter is part pants, part skirt, and a bit prom dress. We're talking "Frankenstein" sewing.  If you look closely there's glittery spider weds on the leggings   Rubes wore it last year and the netting got tore while riding trikes in gym.  Now seemed like the time to fix it.

I also hit the scrapping store in search of more Creative Imaginations paper for September's Sketch Challenge.  Then the bank for I'm on the path taking small steps towards opening an Etsy shop.   Slowly but surely.  I have to say I'm really liking having both children in school this year.  I'm a better person all around when I have some me time.

Shirts, Headbands & Sisters

At it with the fusible web again. My nephew, Ben, had his first birthday and part of his gift was a running wiener dog shirt. (He has two wiener dogs in his family so it seemed very fitting.)  Since I had all the materials out I made one for Mateo as well.

Coming and going.  Your front should always look as good as your back, right?

Since I was seeing most of my sisters, I whipped up some headbands for them. 

They were happy.  Yes, we do all smile alike.  Full sets of teeth.   When we're happy it's very easy to tell.

Feline Playful: 200 Followers Blog Candy

Discovered a new blog to follow and there's also some "blog candy" or a giveaway going on as well. Feline Playful  is a sweet site for current challenges going on in the card/scrapping world.  Karen Howard collects them and posts her favorites all in one spot on Feline Playful.  Nice.

There's a ton of sweet stuff here up for grabs. So, if you're looking for a bunch of challenges to spure those creative juices go here.

Athens Fair 2010

Finally.  Warning: Lots of photos.  I tried to pick my favorites from the 4 day event but really,  it's hard to show small town goodness in only a few shots so there are 12. 
Here goes. we"ll  start with a view of the strip.  They rides are set up on a blocked off side street.  We're talking of a town with maybe a 1,000 folks.  I think it quadruples during fair time.

We rode some rides.  Well, Rubes and Teo did.  Anything that spins makes me sick just looking at it.  Thankfully we've reached heights that do not require me to ride along.

Lots of exhibits on display.  Look at this cake!   Fondant at it's finest.  Not only a blue ribbon winner  but "Best in Class".

Let's not forget the animals.  Rows upon rows of rabbits were shown this year.  Rubes face shows how she felt about this HUGE rabbit.  He's a Flemish Giant and could get a bit bigger.

There's quite the Draft Horse show on Friday evening.  Unfortunately the kids were way tired so we didn't stay.  We did watch them get their baths before hand.  (There's a guy standing between the two on the right who's about 6 feet tall.)  Big animals.  I'd say the average draft horse has a hoof the size of a dinner plate.

We participated in the Fun 5K Walk/Run on Saturday.  We all had fun but it started at 11am and thus was a tad miserable near the end.  Rubes totally ditched our group to run ahead and actually finished about 15 minutes before us!  We'll definitely do it again next year.  The goodie bags had a t-shirt, $5 food coupon for the church food stands, free ice-cream cone, and snacks!  Super cool!

Which brings me to soup.  St. Anthony's Catholic Church has a large food stand that sells amazing chicken noodle soup for $1.75 a bowl among other items.  I do have to say that the Luthern Church has better pie, so our family frequents both places.

Now I'm not a participant in the following but my brother-in-law played on one of the 40 teams during this years 10th Tournament of Holey Board.  They throw large plumbing washers at holes cut into boards covered in shag carpeting generally while drinking beer and talking.

Played in the bounce house.

And rode some more rides.  This is Rubes's new smile...a cross between being frozen and a skeleton.

Sunday afternoon brought the parade.  My favorite float, "The Age of Asparagus" was from local vegetable farm.  All the folks on it were dressed as veggies and danced around while walking.  (Mind you the parade route is 3.5 miles with a few hills and usually takes an 1 1/2 hours to complete due to the number of participants.)  It was very hot and they were still giving  their all at the end of the route which is where we were sitting.

My sis, Tawnie, roller bladed again this year dressed in her Patriotic Rodeo Gear.  That heat I was talking about actually peeled her face paint off when she cleaned up!

I've been coming to this fair since I was little.  It's where I showed my first horse.  We've made it a Family Tradition and an event we look forward to each year.

First Day of School 2010

So this year was another new step taken as a Mom. Teo is now officially going to school. He's in PreK and wow, I can hardly believe it. Which means Rubes is in first grade! Yikes!
So this is the best shot of the morning. Seriously. Rubes wouldn't smile or pose for she 's claiming to be "shy". What? Huh? Since when, I ask. So this is as good as it gets and it'll do.

We ride the bus and love it.  Teo's been waiting since birth, I swear.  Last year he cried the first two weeks of school when Rubes rode and he had to come home with me. 

Then I had a gathering of Mom Friends over for a "Boo-Hoo" Breakfast to celebrate or cry about the first day of school.  We held most tears back with lovely food made by my Hubby and fun conversation.  I enjoy these gatherings as the sharing of mothering stories brings inspiration, relief, and hope for me.  Sometimes I wonder if my kids are the only ones doing whatever and it's nice to bounce things off others.

Teo had a great first day!  I got this picture when he got home after he hugged me... he melts my heart.

As much as I missed him I am looking forward to some "me" time during the week.  I'm so glad they both love school!