As you have probably seen before in my blog, I have been making Tag blankets as gifts for friends. We do not sell these in our shop at this time but I have made them at the request of people or as gifts. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, keep reading or you can check out these: Kieren and Makenna’s, Makiah’s and Kylie’s

Another friend of ours from church is getting ready to have her first boy (She already has two girls.) and I am not able to make it to her shower. I was planning to make her a tag blanket, so I got it done this week so that I could deliver it before her shower.

Tag Blanket

I also decided to try and put her son’s initials on a washcloth and his name on the matching towel. It was something I had in the closet and never gave as a gift. Sadly the machine messed up on his name on the towel and it didn’t turn out right. The washcloth turned out okay, but I didn’t give it to her because I thought it would be silly to just give her the washcloth.

Washcloth

As I was wrapping up the tag blanket, I realized that I didn’t have a card to go with the gift. Seeing that it was after 9pm and Little Monkey was in bed and Little Monkette was hanging out with me, there was no running to the store to get a card. I checked my stash and noticed that I didn’t have anything that would really work for a baby shower either. So I decided to take some card stock and make a card. I had never tried to do what I was thinking in my head so it was kind of a trial run. Thankfully it turned out okay!

Card

I just the letters from some leftover fabric scraps we had and used a glue stick to get them in place. Then I did a zigzag stitch around the letters to help keep them on the card and make it look fun. I took a piece of construction paper and cut it to fit on the inside of the card to cover up the thread and holes from sewing. Then I wrote a message inside. Simple but quite cute if I do say so myself!

This past weekend, Big Monkey, Little Monkey, GrandMom and I went camping. We went to a park that is about 30 minutes from our house. Once again, not a big trip but good to get away and get our feet wet with the use of the camper some more. We headed out around lunchtime on Friday and got set up for the weekend. Little Monkey and GrandMom went “fishing” while Big Monkey and I hung out around the campfire. It started to rain and I was tired anyhow, so I went for a nap. Once I woke up I learned that Big Monkey and GrandMom had been discussing moving the location of the camper and they were considering doing it with me inside! Thankfully they didn’t but once I was up, they did move it (without breaking everything down). I would not recommend this method even though it did work.

Little Monkey enjoying an Oreo in his camping chair.

We knew another group was also camping there the same weekend, although they were all in tents! We hung out with them some and played volleyball and hung out around the campfire making smores and talking. Little Monkey had a great time with one of the kids that was there with them too. Big Monkey and I played Scrabble Express each night (and I won every time!). We also played Battleship one day by the fire. I was sure he would win but we both won one game each.

Bacon cooking for breakfast! Yum!

Overall it was a good weekend and mostly relaxing. While we were out camping, Roland was staying with some family members and Little Monkette was with her Grammie, Pops and Mimi at the beach. Currently our next camping trip is scheduled for April and EVERYONE will be going for the first time (Me, Big Monkey, Little Monkey, Little Monkette and Roland!). It should be interesting. Big Monkey would love to take another trip before that one if we can and we are looking at February for a possible trip with Big Monkey’s family. Of course they will have to sleep in tents!

Little Monkette sporting her Halloween outfit at the beach house.

Blockbuster Express is really trying to drum up some business by letting you try them out for free.

The following codes are now available:

Promo Code: GW9SB1 This code is good for Rent One Get One Free. It expires 11/10/09.

Promo Code: GER9A2    This code is good for One Free Night. It expires 11/14/09.

Promo Code: 9PM This code is good for One Free Night. It expires 11/30/09!

Enjoy your movies!

Are you up earlier than you need to be? Did you make it to the early service at church? Are you wondering why the wrong show is on television?

Guess you forgot to set your clock back an hour then! Better go around the house and make sure all your clocks are set for the correct time. Not sure what the correct time is? You can go here to see the Offical US Time. While you are changing clocks don’t forget to check your watches and the clocks in your car.

Oh…and as the wife of a firefighter, I should probably remind you to also change out the batteries in your smoke detectors.

We will not be doing anything Halloweeny this year (unless you count camping as Halloweeny). Enjoy your Halloween and be safe! Save some of your chocolate candy for me!

Today we are packing up the camper and heading out for the weekend. Originally it was going to be just Big Monkey, Little Monkey and GrandMom, but now I am going too. I didn’t really want to go, (I was going to stay home with Roland and Little Monkette) but I do see the value in going. It will give Little Monkey some much needed time with just us (no Roland and no Little Monkette to distract us). He has been bounced around a bit since Little Monkette’s arrival and could use the individual attention. Little Monkette will go with Amy to the beach house for the weekend. The weekend should also give me some time to kind of clear my head again and just relax. No computer to use, just hanging out with family and friends in the great outdoors. I will have my phone, which means limited access to Facebook and some texting or phone calls, but for the most part, we will try and remain rather technology free.

I’m sure it will be a good weekend and it will be nice that we won’t have to worry about dealing with trick-or-treaters all night long on Saturday!

Blockbuster Express has released more free rental codes. I posted two codes here, one of which is still good. Here is that code and some others that are available.

Promo Code: GW9RA4    This code is good for Rent One Get One Free. It expires 11/4/09.

Promo Code: G29RA3    This code is good for One Free Night. It expires 11/4/09.

Promo Code: GER9A2    This code is good for One Free Night. It expires 11/14/09!!!!

After having a really good day this week, I thought things were looking up. Maybe there really is a light at the end of the tunnel (I know there is…I just can’t always see it.).

Friday Big Monkey had to work and so my sister came over to hang out with us for the day and night to help out with the kids. We had a couple of special orders for our shop and we decided that we would work on those during the day. We started by finding all the fabric we would need and got everything done in steps. Before too long, the special orders were all done, as well as Little Monkette’s “House Divided” Football onesie. (Football shaped applique, half Florida State and half Florida Gators.) Amy had also cut out the fabric for Little Monkette’s name bean bags and got the letters ironed on. Amy’s college roommate was in town with her little girl at her parents’ house, so we decided to go for a visit. We packed up Little Monkey and Little Monkette and headed out. It was good to get out of the house and Little Monkey had someone else to play with. After visiting with her friends, we made a stop at Sally Beauty Supply to see if we could exchange some hair clips that Amy bought since they were not the kind we really like. Thankfully they had the ones we wanted and did an exchange. Now we can really get into our hair clip making craze since we have 200 hair clips! Check out these cute pumpkin clips Amy made the other day.

Pumpkin Hair Clips!

Saturday started out as a very different day. I suddenly was feeling very anxious and unsure about the day. Amy was leaving for the day but my mother-in-law was already here before she left. I tried to relax and calm down but it wasn’t really working. I was still really anxious. I took a shower and then some of the new medicine that my doctor gave me this week. I was still feeling a bit iffy about the whole day but the medicine did its job and I was feeling better. It is nice to have the medicine if I need it and the day was a bit better after that.

It was very hard that Saturday started out so rough since Friday was so good. I was thinking that things were getting better (which they are) but it seems that this will still be a bit of a process and I certainly will not be better overnight. I understand that it is a process, but I was definitely hopeful after having a good day. I know there will be more days like Friday and probably still more days like Saturday, but hopefully the “Fridays” will start to out number the “Saturdays.”

The wedding festivities are finally over and we are back home. We had something everyday starting on Thursday. Everything went well and the ceremony and reception were very nice. I think it all turned out rather well. I did what I could and tried not to push myself too far.

Sunday morning we got up and Big Monkey took me to the house where all the girls were getting ready for the wedding. They were already in the process of hair and makeup and had some breakfast. When it was my turn for my hair, they asked me what I wanted done. I had planned on a half up/half down hairdo. Everyone else was planning to have their hair all up. The hair stylist had an idea and ran it past Aunt K, who approved it and we got started. The matron of honor helped make some hair accessories for everyone. My hair was pulled back some and straightened. I really liked how my hair turned out. We put a headband type ribbon in my hair and added a fun flower pin. Sadly, I don’t appear to have a picture of it. After my hair was done, I got my make up done. I had never had airbrushed make up, so it was interesting. It was cool though and it looked great after it was done. Once we were all just about ready, we packed up our stuff and headed over to the events center to get dressed and have pictures done.

The Beautiful Bride!

Since we had a lot going on, it was easy to keep my mind focused on the wedding and getting everything ready to go. Amy and Little Monkey were at the events center when we arrived and we got dressed. Little Monkey was a stud in his tux. We were able to take some of the pictures before the wedding. Then the wedding started. Little Monkey did a great job walking down the aisle. The ceremony went well, no one passed out or tripped over themselves. After the ceremony, we went outside and took more pictures with both the bride and groom. I can’t wait to see some of the photos. Once they were done with Little Monkey’s portion of the photos, Amy and my parents took him and snapped some cute pictures of him. While we were taking pictures, the guests were eating and mingling around the building. It was a great location for the wedding. We took Little Monkette around to meet some people, she slept the whole time!

Our Little Stud

After the reception started inside, Little Monkey and Little Monkette headed home with my Mom, Dad, and Amy. We of course stayed for the reception, danced a little bit, toasted the bride and groom and had cake. We also blew bubbles to see off the bride and groom and then got to work on changing clothes and helping to clean up. Once everything was done, we headed back to the hotel so that Big Monkey could change clothes and then we headed out to dinner with the family at Dexter’s. Eventually we ended up back at our hotel, watched the football game and then went to bed. (Well Big Monkey fell asleep during the football game and slept a good portion of the night on the couch because I couldn’t get him awake or moved!)

The Family

Friday we got up and moving and headed over to Uncle K and Aunt S’s house to help out with some preparations for the wedding. Big Monkey, Amy, Little Monkette and I all headed over and Little Monkey was there waiting to see us. Big Monkey helped his Mom put together an arbor/archway that was for the wedding. It was an interesting project and it was coming along rather well. After everyone had worked on the arbor a little bit, we decided to split up and go work on some other stuff.

Big Monkey went with his Dad to get a new watch battery and get ready for going out with the boys. Amy, Little Monkette, Little Monkey and I headed over to my mom’s school to introduce Little Monkette to her fellow teachers who had been asking to see her since she was born! After visiting at the school, we headed back to Mom and Dad’s house to drop off the kids with Mom and then ran a couple of errands. We brought dinner back to the house and then got ready to go out for the evening. Friday night was Aunt K’s lingerie shower and bachelorette party. Amy and I went for the lingerie shower but then headed back to the house and hotel. The lingerie shower was fun and everyone had a good time I think. I came back to the hotel and spent some time online while Big Monkey was still out with the boys.

The Girls

Saturday was another day filled with activities. Big Monkey was headed out for breakfast and golf with the boys. The girls were all going out for pedicures, a luncheon and making bouquets. I started out the day a bit rough and sad. Big Monkey offered to spend the day with me instead of going golfing but I didn’t want to keep him from it and I had my sister to go hang out with. I got moving and headed over to Mom and Dad’s house to spend some time with Amy. Thankfully when I got there Mom, Dad, Little Monkey and Little Monkette had already left to go to my grandparent’s house for part of the day. We did a little shopping, looking for hair barrettes and ribbon. We also checked out the new H&M store in the Sanford Mall. Before I left for the bridal luncheon, my Mom, Dad, Little Monkey and Little Monkette came back to the house. I wasn’t quite prepared for them to be there but it was okay. I left very shortly after they got there.

The bridal luncheon was nice. It was at the Hart Sisters Tea Room in Sanford. I had never been there before. We had a quiant room and all got to wear fun hats. We had a nice meal with scones, fruit, sandwiches and lots of dessert. We also had some tea. It was nice to spend time with everyone and just relax but it was still hard to try and be “normal.” After the luncheon, the bridesmaids were going to go make our bouquets for the wedding. I decided not to go along but instead went back to my Mom and Dad’s house. Amy and I worked on learning to make some barrettes. The first ones were okay, but when we tried our hand at a ladybug, she didn’t turn out so well. A little bit of practice should help out. I also finally got my nails done. Saturday night we had a big dinner at Red Lobster with lots of people that were involved in the wedding or who were in from out of town. After dinner we headed back to our hotel and watched some tv for a little bit before going to bed.

The Bride

Sister in law and Sister