Ribbit Ribbit

Its a frog filled day around here!

I just found out that my Big Headed Frog Pattern will be in the 2010 Crochet Pattern a Day Calendar. I've never been published, so that's pretty neat.



Its also funny that I found out today because if the ami for the toy drive that I just finished up. How cute is this guy? He's way bigger than I expected him to be. You can easily stick him in a baby carriage and doll clothes because of his size. I think my favorite part about him is the curly arms and legs. Gives him character.



He's done with a G hook and Carol pounders in 2 shades of green.

I have no idea what booklet he is from. It was an old and beat up when given to me. The covers are gone, as are some of the titles of the toys. There is a lion in that book named Laurie the Lion. Maybe that will help narrow down what booklet it is, if anyone needs to know.

So, I need a little help. Like I mentioned before, the kid is having a birthday party in mid July. I want to make cute favors for the kids that are coming to the party, but don't know what. I want to do a little more than the average candy bag. Any ideas?

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Dad, Grandpa, and to my Hubby! I love and appreciate you guys.

I expressed my love with sweets. :)


Walnut chocolate chip cookies


Rainbow cake with buttercream frosting.

Hope all the dads out there had a great day!

Adios 3rd Grade!

My little baby finished up 3rd grade yesterday (finishing on the honor roll, yay!)and bridged groups in Girl Scouts too. That's just a fancy way of saying she's graduated from one group into the next one. In Pip's case, she left the Brownies and is now a Junior.

I made these cake pops for the Girl Scout closing ceremony. I didn't make them cupcake shaped though. Just round balls dipped in chocolate and we made our own cream cheese frosting from scratch. Man, I could have eaten them all by myself, they were so good.

I'd love to show you pics of everything, but my head was somewhere in the clouds and I forgot my camera. I don't get an E for effort, apparently. Oops!

I didn't screw up completely though, because I made the teacher a Lots of Pockets Tote as her last day gift. Pip picked out the purple and brown combo. Unlike the first one I made, this one turned out nearly perfectly. There was some major bag mojo going on.



I've been wanting to make another one of these for my mom in the silky fabric I bought, but was nervous because I'd screwed it up the last time I tried. Now that I've done it in the nearly free cotton and have a better sense of how to make things work, I'm ready to tackle mom's bag.

In Mom updates, she's doing way way better. Her bronchitis is almost completely gone and I took her to have her catheter removed this morning. She's been walking around and cooking by herself too.

Oh and I finished up my first week of work in the new building. I've had some time to explore the area at lunchtime and all I have to say is Holy Cow, the SHOPPING! Every store you could ever need (except Dunkin Donuts) is within walking distance. There's only one thing that could really present a challenge to my cheap ways...Purl Soho and Purl Patchwork are a 5 minute walk from me. Gotta leave the wallet at home...gotta leave the wallet at home. Repeat it with me now.

Tuesday's Tribute

Today's Tuesday's Tribute is to unexpected guests and the joy they (sometimes)bring.
Normally, I'm not one who gets excited over an unexpected guest. Usually, I'm miffed that they didn't call first to let me know they were coming. This probably wouldn't be such a huge issue if I chose to change out of pj's during the weekend, but that's neither here nor there. When a guest is expected, I'll have nice things waiting like cupcakes, snacks, and drinks. If you're unexpected, good luck getting fed. There might be some Rice Krispies Treats or scrape-the-bottom ice cream if you're super lucky. I don't always stick to these rules though. Sometimes, an unexpected guest is very welcome. Like when they bring pizza or wine. You can come right on in then! Once in awhile, an unexpected guest (or two) will show up with no food or wine, but they bring an immense amount of joy just the same. These little guys showed up at my house today. I'm just a pit stop for them along the way. They plan on staying here just about a month before heading off to Kristie's Toy Drive. They were worried that I was stressed about making my 20 toy goal, since I've been preoccupied with my parents' medical issues, and decided to join my toy parade to boost the number of toys I had. Obviously, they couldn't mail themselves, so we have to thank the Kansas Hooker for helping them make their way here. The pattern for these guys is HERE Who knew an octupi (octupuses?) could provide a much needed boost? I was filled with a tremendous amount of warmth and joy to be reminded that there are people are filled with kindness. They give of themselves for the sake of giving and not expecting a thing in return. Thanks so much amiga! Your kindness really made my day...and will make the day of two kiddos who will adopt them August. Two more toys decided to join the ranks for the toy drive as well. I'd completely forgotten these finished amis were in the closet. While looking for a particular ball of yarn, they jumped out at me, apparently tired of living in the stash. The fairy is a pattern I tested and not sure if it is available. The frog is my Big Headed Frog. You can find the pattern for him on my sidebar. That brings the current toy total to 11! Woohoo, more than halfway there thanks to my unexpected guests!

You're Invited!

Little Monster's birthday is next month. She's going to be 9, so I suppose she's really my Big Monster now, but I don't want to think about that yet.

Every other year, we have a big-ish party. Last year was small with just my immediate family, so she wanted to do something that included her friends this year. After a lot of debating, she decided on a bowling party.

The bowling alley gives you invitations to hand out, but man, they're plain and ugly. Not girly (ie: Piper-like) at all. I saw this idea over at Small Fry & Co. and was instantly in love. (I can't link for some reason...I'll try again later).

I'm no paper crafter, but they seemed simple enough and I already had card stock and scrapbooking paper at home. Pi approved of the idea and this is what we came up with. This project is really kid friendly and Pi did a good deal of the steps on her own.



We cut the bowling invitations to fit and glued them on the inside of the card, so all the vital information was there.

I couldn't find lollipop bags that were large enough or even cellophane (no craft stores around here) to wrap them in. There is a card store that makes favors, though, and they carry yards of tulle. 2 yards was more than enough to wrap all the invites.



I think they're adorable and Pi loves them.

Update with Sucky Pictures

The last few days have been exhausting. Mom came down with bronchitis while she was in the hospital, which is making her recovery that much slower. She's coughing like crazy and can't breathe. The coughing can do some damage to her stitches, so she's using a pillow to brace herself and downing cough medicine plus antibiotics.

She was allowed to come home yesterday morning, though she's been armed with a nebulizer, oxygen, and an albuterol pump. Her breathing was so bad last night that my dad nearly called the ambulance but some oxygen did the trick. She's also dehydrated from throwing up. Her recovery is so much harder with the bronchitis. She's tired, in pain and stressed out to the point that she's been crying.

I brought her a little something to try and cheer her up. Its a bell so she can ring for whatever she needs. Finding a bell in the Spring is not easy. so I had to go to an all year round Christmas store and even then, it was a NY apple bell. It had a leaf but it fell off in my bag. Mom thought this was the funniest thing and laughed as much as she was able.


Bad cell phone pics, sorry.

In the midst of all this craziness, Non-dirty Grandma celebrated her 67th birthday. She loves chocolate but two of my sisters can't eat it. So a half and half chocolate and butter cream cake it was! I used cookie cutters to make the sprinkle hearts.



Inky and I had been taking turns watching the twins while Dad went to spend time with Mom in the hospital. This old girl, Penny, was definitely a help with stress relief. I think she can tell something has been up and she was my shadow the entire time I was with the girls.



On the work front, we finally moved offices on Friday. I went into work this morning to unpack and check out the new place. Its honestly a lot more roomy that I'd thought. I'd prepared myself to hate it, but I actually really like it. My commute is about 15 minutes longer, but I won't have to transfer trains, so I'm more than happy with that trade-off. One straight train means a lot more crafting time on the subway.

Speaking of crafts, I've been keeping busy. All the traveling back and forth made for a lot of on-the-go stitching. I have a lot to show, but just haven't had a chance to take any pictures yet.

Hope everyone's having a good weekend.

Update

Mom is out of surgery and awake. Her blood pressure dropped when they gave her pain medication, so she is in a lot of pain right now, but otherwise the nurse said it went well, thank God.

Mom's sister is having a hysterectomy today too, at another hospital. Crazy coincidence.

I'm just so so relieved she's awake now.