Auction Project Nearing Completion

Yes, the class auction project for Carlie's school is nearing completion.
I may think twice about volunteering to do this again,
but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

We (another mom and I) came up with the idea of doing adirondack chairs that we would
paint and have zebra print pillows with the kids' names embroidered on one side.
Since they are studying Africa this year,
the class project had to have something to do with that, hence the zebra print.
Ambitious? Yes!
Took way longer than I thought it would? Double Yes!!

If bidding goes well, I could probably be talked into doing it again.
Although Mike and the embroidery machine from Satan may have other ideas.

This is my Mom's "Embroidery machine from Satan"...



My Mom was a big help getting this project done by donating her time,
embroidery thread and supplies, and patience to not
throw her "embroidery machine from Satan" out the window.
So, Thanks Mom!

Why do I keep referring to it by that name? Because it would just stop.
Shut off.
Right in the middle of a name.

The machine was not being our friend.

You would have to shut down the machine, go back,
realign, and hope you weren't off on your measurements.
(*You would also have to reheat your coffee you forgot about in the microwave,
get a shoulder massage to relieve the tension,
and avoid putting your fist through the machine's monitor.*)
This happened continuously until finally it shut down.
Completely.
With only 3 names left.



Scream!!!!

Thankfully, when I took the EMFS to the repair shop,
the lovely ladies at Make It Sew allowed me to finish the remaining
three names on one of their machines at no charge!
That was pretty awesome.

Since I was making the pillows with removable covers,
I had to install zippers.
After several attempts at putting in the zippers "my way" (and ripping it out),
I made the wise decision to follow the instructions that came with the zippers.
Who knew??
Wow, did that work out well.

I blurred the last names for privacy reasons, but here are the finished pillows...

I think they look fabulous!

Here are the chairs before we painted them (after priming)...



And after...


One thing we learned very quickly is that if we do this again,
we will paint the slats before assembling the chairs.

But hold your zebras, we're not quite done.
Tomorrow, I am throwing caution to the wind
and allowing the 2nd graders to stencil the zebra print
onto the accent table...


This could be interesting, but I have faith (and touch-up paint ;-)
I'll try to get pics posted tomorrow or by the weekend
of the finished product.

Better Late Than Never

With March Madness 2012 bracket challenge approaching at warp speed, we figured we needed to finally congratulate the winner of the March Madness 2011 bracket challenge.

First, let me explain that our bracket challenge has nothing to do with skill or knowledge of any college basketball teams whatsoever.

**If it did, I would win every year. **

So, we have to level the playing field.
All teams are placed into a hat, and we draw until all teams have been picked.
Whichever team ends up winning it all, that person gets to select the restaurant to go to.

In order to give everyone a "fair shot", the #1 seeds are picked in a separate drawing, so we each get one.
Of course, being the oldest, I go last and inevitably get stuck with a team that never plays up to potential come tournament time like, oh I don't know, KANSAS!

Well the 2011 winner was none other than Noah. ((The boy who wins everything. Next time I go to Vegas he's giving me numbers to play.))



He doesn't pick McDonald's.
No, he picks Red Lobster.
One of the only places that doesn't have a "Kids Eat Free" night. Ouch.

Like I said above. We finally went, and yes, they do have excellent cheddar biscuits... always imitated, but never duplicated. Yum-O!







If he ends up drawing The Orange this year, the commish may be making some changes.
Stay tuned.

Christmas Post

I guess I'm a little late, as usual, getting this stuff posted. I've been working on Carlie's auction project for school. As that winds down, I should have more time, and a beautiful post of the finished product.

We spent Christmas in Kentucky. I was going to try and attend a Wildcats game while we were there, but the tickets on Stubhub were just ridiculous, so I decided to pass. Oh well, it's not like they won't be on television quite a bit leading up to March Madness.

We got to see Buddy throw some pottery at the Kentucky Artisan Center...

We celebrated Cousin Keegan's 1st Birthday...

And Jesus Christ's 2011th (or thereabouts) Birthday. Maybe we should have made Him a cake too because He was definitely present. The Candlelight service at the First Baptist Church in Richmond was really well done. And, the play that Carlie and Noah (and Buddy the stagehand) performed provided nightly entertainment.

We even walked off some of those cookies by hiking in Berea.
The kids were troopers and made it all the way to the top.

I'm getting a new blog design, stay tuned...