Look what I made!

My mom and dad bought me creative suite two years ago. There were some technical difficulties getting it on my laptop that slowed things down, and then Lydia arrived and I got distracted from it. I have learned that I am very project oriented, so i decided to dive in on the invitations for my "Black Hat Society" themed halloween party. For now, photoshop seems easier for me than illustrator, so maybe I will hang out there for a while. I have a book on digital scrapbooking that I am using as a teaching tool and adjusting to meet my needs.
I am so proud of my meager little attempt shown here. You have to realize that the background wasn't just "copied and pasted". I layered and altered 3 different images. Then copied the swirl again and layered it agian. Then I added the witch, whom I also altered to give a more hand drawn look. Finally I got to play with different fonts, which I LOVE, love, love!

Iowa Cousins

So it took a little effort, but we actually got all the cousin kids together in one picture! (Thanks Megan for helping wrangle toddlers!) We had a lot of fun hanging out with Becky, Dave, Kay, Bill, Matt, Megan, Cait, Erik, Sarah, Dennis, and all the kids last night. (Thanks Sarah for letting us drink all your sodas and dirty up your house!) We grilled burgers and hot dogs and had some really amazing shortcake. All of this was after Jen, Cait, and I ran 12 miles (part of which was the Bix 7 race in Davenport) (Thanks Becky for driving 3 sweaty girls around all morning!)
One more pic of the little kids playing in the sand box. Lydia LOVES the cars and pushing them around in the sand is a big hit!

Hanging out with the cousins

Lydia and Zach and Fin are all having fun playing together while Jen, Cait, Sarah, Becky, etc, etc, also have fun hanging out together. Today we took the kids to the pool and are having pizza tonight. Too tired to type, having fun!

Sorry!

Mama has been obsessively looking at used cars while dada has been obsessively working, not leaving much time or energy for picture taking or posting. Traveling to Iowa on Thursday. I promise to take pictures!

The birthday dress and swing set.

As promised, here are pictures of the dress that I made and the swing set we bought and PJ built for Lydia's birthday. The dress was pretty easy to put together. The swing set was a whole different story! While it was a kit. that only meant that you had to try to figure out instructions that were obviously not originally written in English. All of the pieces looked alike and you had to keep double checking which was which because nothing was labeled. To make things worse, it was really hot the week of her party and the mosquitoes were terrible. PJ slaved away on it for two days solid so that it could be up and safe on the day of the party. Then it was so hot that most people stayed in the house during the celebration. Oh well, Lydia loves swinging and sliding on her swing set. We even put her hand print and foot print into the concrete before it set.

Coat of many colors

This is the finished winter coat. I was able to sew a lot yesterday, while Lydia napped and recovered from a virus that caused her to have a rash and fever, probably roseola. The coat is embroidered polar fleece with a green cotton lining. It is extra roomy so I am hoping that she can wear it for two years. I ended up with extra polar fleece, so in a few years I may remake this coat again for her. I started with a pattern, but altered it to make it a swing coat and added the trim. I was copying the style of the Corky and Company gorgeous coats. They are a little pricey for my budget and a little thick for our Tennessee winters. Besides, I really liked the challenge of finding trims and reworking the pattern. Hopefully the coat will show up in a few photos this winter. Lydia felt like attacking my keyboard, so here is her first typed sentence!

vv`v` rd90jp;fd7ufuf.d.dffc

Fun on the 4th!

We went to Jeremy and Christy's parents house to hang out, swim, see the new baby, and show off our red, white, and blue. After we got home, PJ wanted to shoot off fireworks in the worst way. Lydia watched a sparkler or two, but then it was time for bed. After it got dark, he tried again, but the roman candles were so noisy, I was afraid we would wake the baby. Oh, well! Maybe next year!

Playing Outside

We have been enjoying time outside, except for the mosquitoes! Lydia loves water and was having fun moving the hose up and down and listening to the change in sound when the water splashed in different places.