Friday, July 30, 2010

Ready for the world

She was so ready to see this world.

She came 4 weeks early, on July 22nd.

Weighing 6 lbs. 8.7 0z, 19 1/2 inches long.


It was a rocky beginning, but as her Momma puts it...she's their little fighter!

Meet my beautiful Scarlett!
Isn't she just precious?!!!




Thursday, July 29, 2010

White Trash

July's Bunko theme:
Teri went all out with the decorations!
She put on her best nightgown to host this party!
Kristy, pregnant with twins, again, drinking her Coors.
Beth loves to show off those panties.


Shawna had to pick up the baby from day care & the baby's daddy gave her that black eye.
Slutty trash?!!
Sunny needed to brush her teeth & Becky, she just looks cute!
Michelle & Naomi, trashy stuff! (These two and me all got 3 bunkos....Naomi ended up winning the money...so close!)
I brought some deviled eggs to the party & what's a white trash party without some Purple Passion (thanks, Michelle) which by the way.....tasted great in high school....eh, not so much now.

It was yet another wonderful time with my Bunko group!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

She saw it happen

My daughter, Meg, was driving home in a thunderstorm on July 12th. She thought she saw a rodent run across the road in a very busy intersection. Upon further notice, she realized it was a very small kitten. She pulled over and in the wind and rain she freed this tiny baby out of a tree that it had climbed up for safety. Soaking wet and scared to death she brought the little one home.

We were eating dinner when she walked in the door. She said, "You're going to kill me, but I just found this baby kitten and just had to save her and bring her home." John & I were both like...great, another cat! (we have 7 outside) Then John said, "well, at least she will be well fed and loved here until we find her a home."

John named her Alice...he said she saw Meg was getting off early and she planned her rescue. (you Twilight fans will understand) We started bottle feeding her because she was around 4 maybe 5 weeks old.
We all started falling in love with this tiny little girl. We decided to keep her & would keep her indoors....we haven't had an indoor cat in 8 + years.


She has many different cries...one for hungry, bottle, sleepy....it's funny how much she is like a human baby. Speaking of bottle, she LOVES her bottle time. Meg bought a can of kitten milk replacer and we've been giving her that on top of her food. I am weaning her off of it soon.



She is a lot like the dogs....we come home and they greet us at the door, she is right behind them jumping up & down with them. She climbs up on the couch and takes a nap with them....sleeps in their beds and even tries to eat their food. She'll even beg for a piece of cheese like them & she eats it!

She is a huge snuggle bug....she would rather be right up on someone or in your lap while she is sleeping. If you sit down she is right there with you.
Sweet, sweet Alice.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Surprise

So I orchestrated a surprise birthday party for my mother's 67th birthday.

I asked her to dinner (normal thing I always do) but instead of picking her up I had my brother bring her to Little Rock. I told her I was running behind due to an appointment. When she walked in to Boscos....we all stood up and sang Happy Birthday! She was surprised and started crying. Didn't expect to see half her family there. (some had to work, others in another state)

Here she is with me, daughter-in-laws Becky & Diane, sister Kristy

Pictured here with three of her 4 sons, Mark, Chad & Timothy as well as my husband, John.


Just a handful of the granddaughters....Kayla, Elise, Tori, Emily & Meg.

Grandchildren & great-grandchildren!

I was happy it all worked out. It was a good time!
I hope all her wishes come true!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Healthy Yummy Cookies

I was in the mood for something sweet today but didn't want the calories that go along with it...thanks to the insane amounts of butter, sugar & flour that go into baking sweets. My craving was getting the best of me so I sat down in front of the computer and started looking for a healthy low-fat cookie recipe on my favorite food blogs. I was so delighted when I found the perfect one! This cookie recipe is butter-less, flour-less, egg-less, and potentially sugar-less. It's melt in your mouth delicious!!

This is a must try recipe!!!


HEALTHY YUMMY COOKIES

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 350°

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes.


Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

*You can make your own almond meal by pulsing almonds in a food processor until it is the texture of sand - don't go too far or you'll end up with almond butter.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Nocona

I finished 2 out of the 5 quilts I am working on this summer. (I did stop work on these to sew the quilt panel for the Parkinson's quilt....so I guess it's 3 out of 6)

(front of King quilt)

Meg's best friend, Jessica, and her husband Simon, are having a little boy. She asked me awhile back if I made quilts on commission. At that time I wasn't really sure if I was ready to start making quilts to sell.

(back of King quilt)

Jess was in her last semester of nursing school (school was draining their income) & I knew how badly she wanted a quilt for the baby. So I told her to pick out some material, let me know the name & lot numbers and I would make the quilt as a gift!


The nursery theme is "Arkansas Wildlife." These colors match the nursery perfect. Jessica is an amazing artist...obviously, these aren't your typical nursery colors...only an artist would think this far out of the box. But I love that! Baby Nocona is going to love his room.


(front)

I had so much material left over I decided to make a second quilt for Nocona.

(back)
You might be wondering about the name, Nocona....well Jessica is Cherokee Indian & Mexican....Simon is British.....the name Nocona means, the wanderer. I wish I could remember the story of how they came up with the name....I think it is beautiful.

Meg gave her a baby shower yesterday and she loved the quilts. I was happy to see her reaction....she wasn't expecting two. It's so weird to me that Meg & Tori have friends that are married & having babies.

"Those who sleep under a quilt
sleep under a blanket of love"

Thursday, July 8, 2010

A stitch in time, saves nine

I have made this quilt panel in honor of my father-in-law, Brad, who is battling Parkinson's disease. This panel will be sewn together with 15 other panels to make one huge 8 foot block. The blocks will be sewn together to make one gigantic Quilt for the 1st Global quilt project to focus the world's attention on this progressive disease.
The quilt (no one knows yet how big it will get) will be on display at the 2nd World Parkinson's Congress in Glasgow, Scotland on September 28th - October 1st, 2010.

Brad was diagnosed in December of 2007. He was forced to retire from his job but has not let the disease get in the way of him enjoying God's green Earth. I decided to add a fishing pole & a fish because of Brad's love for the sport. This is one of the things he can still do that the disease has not robbed him of enjoying. Bagel is what my girls call Brad instead of Grandpa. A nickname that Meg coined when she was just 2 1/2 years old. It stuck and they still call him Bagel to this day.


Brad nor I may never touch the completed giant quilt but I hope, nonetheless, that it will touch the lives of many others.

It has been my honor, to honor my father-in-law, & to be a part of this project...& in this small way I helped in raising awareness!

To Brad- I pray that you will keep enjoying life to it's fullest! That you have many, many more years of fishing ahead of you.That you will never lose heart and when you get down just know that God will carry you.
With love- Betty






Tuesday, July 6, 2010

One day...

My dream is to own all three of these one day.

1.

I would love to have a GO! by Accuquilt and all the Dies that go with it. Ah, It would be so nice to cut several pieces of fabric at once. No more rotary cutting, slicing my fingers, hurting my back....I could make some amazingly beautiful quilts if I had this product. Cutting out the strips is the most time consuming...with this contraption it would cut down hours of work.

2.


An Embroidery Machine. Just a small, simple one.

3.

A Lenni Longarm Quilter!! Oh, this is my dream machine! Look at the low price of only $9,900! That's a steal....seriously, that's cheap! I could quilt the most beautiful designs instead of just doing straight or wavy lines on my quilts as I do now.

One day...

Friday, July 2, 2010

Twilight Saga

June's Bunko theme---Twilight Saga

The hostess for the month of June was Sunny. She did an awesome job with the decorations & gave some of the best party favors.

Blood drip anyone?

The party favors were filled with vampire teeth, glow sticks, twilight band-aids & Twilight chocolate! She made that picture of her & Edward at faceinhole.com

We had a chocolate fountain! Yum!


She asked us what Team we were on...and made us all our own Martini glasses.

Jacob & Edward crashed our party! We were thrilled!!! :) Hey don't judge me in this picture...he's 18 now!!

Marie was Team Jacob

Jennifer couldn't decide so she was Team Jacward.

Sunny was loving her some Edward.

Becky & I laid in bed with Jacob. He was so stiff....hahaha wait...that doesn't sound good.


I didn't win again, as usual. But I sure did have a lot of FUN!!

I saw Eclipse with my mom on Wednesday. It was hands down the best one yet! The actors did a better job, the make-up was better, I'm more in love with Edward & Jacob now....ah, I can't wait for Breaking Dawn. Was it just me or was Victoria a different woman? That was the only thing I didn't like about the movie.