Favorite Little Princess

There is a man in my life who is currently infatuated with Angry Birds . This man happens to be all of 5 years old.  So, in honor of his recent birthday I created some special gifts for him, but I've been asked to call them "Mad Birds". These are done amigurumi style - which is a Japanese crochet meaning "in the round". Basically, you crochet continuously without joining each round.   W hen I decided to do these, I didn't even bother to look for a pattern because I'm cheap creative like that.  To begin, I found a picture online. http://gadgetsin.com/angry-birds-green-pig-plush-toys.htm Then I just started crocheting, but this time I remembered to write down the pattern as I went along. I typically forget to do that. Oops. Voila, here is my artistic interpretation of the pig for you. Please note that this pattern has not been tested by anyone, so if you want to try it out I would love to hear back from you. Cranky Pig Materials: Size ‘G’ hoo

I think I may have just done the craziest thing ever.  Seriously.  I tried to get people to talk me out of it, but they instead turned on me and encouraged me.  Maybe it was time.  I've been participating in 5k races for a year and a half now, so maybe I needed some motivation to kick it up a notch. What did I do? Image from runDisney website I signed up for the runDisney Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-miler .  Yep.  10 whole miles.  Not a 10k.  Miles.  My head is still spinning.  So now what?   Now I start training.  In the Florida summer heat.  I told you this was insane.  Baby steps...ok, my goal is to finish.  I'll settle for last at this point, but I'm hoping that attitude will change as I progress in my training.  No big deal, you say?  Uh, for someone who has physical activity induced asthma this is a HUGE deal.  Back to wearing the heart monitor to make sure I don't over-do it.  Time to become best friends with my doctor to make sure my inhaler keeps

Where do you get your inspiration from?  Pinterest has been a huge part of my life lately when looking for inspiration. However, it's not the only place I look.  I purchased a small camera not too long ago so that I could take it with me where ever I go.  That way, when I see something that I like I can take a quick photo.  Instead of buying, I almost always say, "ooh, I can make that!" This way I have something to refer to. People  look at me funny sometimes, but it's quickly forgotten.   During spring break we headed to EPCOT.  I am a huge Disney fan and they have these adorable new "ear" headbands.  So stinking cute!  However, they aren't cheap and I think they would be fun to make. Feathers must be the new trend.  They seem to be everywhere. And Kourey fell in love with these purses. They look like princess skirts, but closed on the bottom and finished off with a zipper. And then we found these little coin purses in China.  Adorable!  These were

There are few things that the heat in Florida is good for with the exception of strawberries.  I love this time of year.  I almost feel bad for others across the country who have to get strawberries shipped to them because they are no where near as fresh and sweet as we get here.  We take our strawberries pretty serious.  Heck, my daughter's school is named Strawberry Crest for crying out loud.     Every year, Wish Farms  comes out to the University and sells these beautiful strawberries as a scholarship fundraiser.  It's a big hit and it draws crowds for two days straight.  I was sure to get mine early.  Of course, my husband thought I was crazy when I bought a whole flat and wanted to know what I was going to do with all of them.  Oh, I have plans!  First up...strawberry shortcakes! It's time to start preparing those berries.  First, cut off the top (make sure you use a sharp knife). I know this may seem like it wastes a little of the berry, but I have guinea pigs that lo

We try to go to the Bay Area Renaissance Festival every year.  Mostly because my kids love any excuse outside of Halloween to dress up.  Lately, my 15 year old had been wanting to learn to sew and she's always liked the costumes we see there. The make-up and clothes are just stunning. So, I picked out a pattern that I thought she could handle with little help from me.   This was was perfect.  Lot of straight lines and very little frills.  We did the dress in a cotton blend and the over-skirt we chose to do in a cotton lining.  The pattern called for satin or taffeta for the skirt, but I wasn't willing to invest that type of money plus I thought it would slip on her.  It was actually a better choice for us to do the lining, because it's silky to the touch, doesn't wrinkle, and it extremely light.  The temperatures are already up in the 80's here in Florida, so we have to take that into consideration.  I think she did an awesome job on it and she thinks she's

So the Internet is all a buzz with Hunger Games chatter.  Everywhere I look I see someone posting something.  Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are all full of reviews, comments, and just plain excitement.  Have you seen it yet? Are you planning to?  I'm still trying to decide if I want to go this weekend or wait until the crowd dies down. On a more personal note, I received a package in the mail yesterday.  I've been waiting on this one for a little over a week now and the anticipation has been killing me!  What is it?  Well, a few weeks ago I was notified that I won a contest I signed up for.  I was pretty sure I wouldn't win this one, so I was REALLY surprised !   It came wrapped in a little bow! So cute.   Do you recognize it?  I know some of you entered the contest to win this beauty, too.    Ok, this is a horrible picture from my phone, but I was too excited not to post this right away. I would never make it as a hand model.  I had taken another picture in the wee hour

Yesterday I shared how I took over 180 photos from our trip to the Bok Tower Gardens . It's not easy choosing which photos to use.  Usually.  Sometimes, my family chooses for me.  Not literally, but I don't think you want to see my family being goofy all of the time.  So, I thought I would share with you some of the photos I didn't include and why. I love these tender moments photos.  They remind me why I love my crazy family.  I didn't include this touching moment because it's really only special to me AND it's not in great focus.   Oops. He will probably fuss at me for posting this, but it's not unusual to find my dad catching a few zzzz's. Hey, so is that stranger in the photo, too! Ah...kids.  Get one to smile and the other one won't.   Three is even more impossible.  Now she's being goofy and pretending to be her grandma with her glasses down her nose.  Yep, that's my kid.  Oh, this will be fun.  Maybe she won't go up  too high or