Enjoy!
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Ronnie came to visit!
Since we have moved to Arizona, we have not had many visitors. However, Ronnie's work provided a conference for him in Scottsdale, and that meant that we got to visit! We had a great time catching up. I only wish we had more time to spend together, that the random rainstorm didn't come while he was here, and that we could've seen the rest of his cute little family. While I didn't get the camera out for pictures, I did capture this spontaneous fun Ronnie had on the trampoline during a break from his conference and a break in the weather...
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Monday, February 11, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Chess
Kara joined her school's Chess team... she's been going to tournaments. This past Thursday was at the Jr High closest to our house (although it's not the one she attends). I decided to go and watch her play.
She is new to the game of Chess, and like most things she feels a lot more confident than maybe she ought to be. She has a hard time being patient enough to think through her moves, so in tournament play she rushes and has not had much success.
However, this tournament was a little different. It was the first tournament after she had been working with her Russian Chess champion coach, Nikolai. I helped remind her of some of the strategies she was taught by Nikolai. She came away with her first win in a tournament! :) Her smiling face says how excited she was to finally win in a tournament setting!
She is new to the game of Chess, and like most things she feels a lot more confident than maybe she ought to be. She has a hard time being patient enough to think through her moves, so in tournament play she rushes and has not had much success.
However, this tournament was a little different. It was the first tournament after she had been working with her Russian Chess champion coach, Nikolai. I helped remind her of some of the strategies she was taught by Nikolai. She came away with her first win in a tournament! :) Her smiling face says how excited she was to finally win in a tournament setting!
over 10 years in the making...
I finally finished Brooke's baby blanket!
I was excited while we were expecting Brooke to know ahead of time that she would be a girl... that meant that I could skip the gender neutral colors that I used for Kara's baby blanket. However, in doing this project, I learned that I like working on projects that are all one piece, even if you have to change colors. This blanket required making 35 octagons, 20 squares, stitching them together, then filling in the gaps and putting on a border. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was still working and put on bedrest. Having a 2 year old at home didn't help much. I finished the octagons, but put the blanket away to finish another time before I was all the way done.
Fast forward a couple of years... I found the pieces to the blanket, but I had lost the pattern book. I tried searching craft stores and online for it for the next couple of years, but had no luck. At one point I decided I would stitch together the octagons and make up my own pattern from there. I got stuck and frustrated and put it back away.
Two moves later, I found the pattern again! And the pieces! So finally last week I set out to finish this... Brooke was very excited to see me working on it!
And here are the pictures of the finished blanket! I'm going to wash it and then Brooke can enjoy it! One more seriously old project that's finished nagging me!
I was excited while we were expecting Brooke to know ahead of time that she would be a girl... that meant that I could skip the gender neutral colors that I used for Kara's baby blanket. However, in doing this project, I learned that I like working on projects that are all one piece, even if you have to change colors. This blanket required making 35 octagons, 20 squares, stitching them together, then filling in the gaps and putting on a border. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was still working and put on bedrest. Having a 2 year old at home didn't help much. I finished the octagons, but put the blanket away to finish another time before I was all the way done.
Fast forward a couple of years... I found the pieces to the blanket, but I had lost the pattern book. I tried searching craft stores and online for it for the next couple of years, but had no luck. At one point I decided I would stitch together the octagons and make up my own pattern from there. I got stuck and frustrated and put it back away.
Two moves later, I found the pattern again! And the pieces! So finally last week I set out to finish this... Brooke was very excited to see me working on it!
And here are the pictures of the finished blanket! I'm going to wash it and then Brooke can enjoy it! One more seriously old project that's finished nagging me!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Happy Halloween!
I sometimes surprise myself with how long I go between blog postings. I have some updates for the past two months to do, but for now, we'll start with Halloween day (more postings later will come with carving of pumpkins, Trunk or Treat, Jeff's class party... they'll be dated earlier, so scroll backwards for those updates later!).
This year Kara wanted to be a "dark fairy" and had to dictate much about how to make her tutu and how her eye makeup should be done. Brooke let us keep it simple and chose a costume on clearance we found a couple of months ago. Even Kara agrees that Brooke made the cutest Little Red Riding Hood ever! Amber was a hot dog once again and stole all of the attention while trick or treating with the girls. Jeff even got in on the act this year - other teachers at his school convinced him he needed to dress up and get the kids excited (which completely worked!). He was kind of a tough guy... I'm not sure what to call his costume for sure, but the kids loved it!
Some pictures:
This year Kara wanted to be a "dark fairy" and had to dictate much about how to make her tutu and how her eye makeup should be done. Brooke let us keep it simple and chose a costume on clearance we found a couple of months ago. Even Kara agrees that Brooke made the cutest Little Red Riding Hood ever! Amber was a hot dog once again and stole all of the attention while trick or treating with the girls. Jeff even got in on the act this year - other teachers at his school convinced him he needed to dress up and get the kids excited (which completely worked!). He was kind of a tough guy... I'm not sure what to call his costume for sure, but the kids loved it!
Some pictures:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
