A Little Humor

This is knee slappin' funny. Yes, H@ck is a bad word in our house, but this is too funny not to share:)

A Fork in the Road . . .

March 1st is quickly approaching and we are madly finishing projects and packing up the shop. It is sad to leave our cozy pad as it has suited us well, but we had no choice. We did not wish to purchase the building because it was not ideal in the long run. However, it seems that as one door closes another opens . . .

Well, we are hopeful that it is going to open in a month or so. It would be handy to show up at the "other" door and unload all this junk - but for now, we have to be patient.

Pallets full of boxes and tools, bound together with miles of shrink wrap.

Susie arrived to help us with this "fun" process. We enjoyed a "Susie appreciation" moment at lunch.

For some reason, she takes offense at being called a tech geek. However, here she sits amidst a laptop (one of the two), ipad, iphone, and dog shocker. If this is what it takes to be a 4.0 nursing student, I guess I'd better zip it.

A warm fuzzy to share: beside our building, sits a large cabinet shop that has been in business for years. Due to the economy, they were forced to close their doors recently. As a parting gift to their longtime employees, they designed and built each one a new kitchen. Makes my heart smile:)

Friday Fun

The girls have become avid OSU gymnastics fans. Last night was "Pink Out" (a breast cancer benefit) and OSU tied for 1st. Maren went all out - even using pink hair spray.


Their favorite part - getting autographs after the meet. The gymnasts mingle with admirers and happily sign posters for swarms of girls.

A favorite of theirs - Olivia Vivian, from Australia.

Spaghetti and a Hair Cut

27 kids for dinner

And Haircuts

And hair coloring

Before a District swim meet, the tradition is to get creative with clippers or dye or a combination of both. Then before the State swim meet (one week later), shave the head completely to lessen the resistance.

This year's preferred wacky do was the mohawk - featured here on Mr. Victor

As seen here on Jake and Zach.

Now, don't scream . . . but do you recognize the blond? Where is his mother???

My job tonight is to make 7 pairs of swan wings for the senior boys as they finish their high school swimming career with a choreographed "swan dive" tomorrow:)

Add to the Collection

My addiction to home decor magazines has nearly been quenched by Pinterest, but this one is different. It is a must buy, must sit down and read, must keep fo'eva kina thang. Keep your eyes peeled - it will hit the newstands soon . . .

Easy Peasy Sign Making

I adore signs. Most of the signs I make are freehand lettering - but I wanted to try this method. It is fun and my mind is whirling with possibilities.
Print out a saying in the font of your choice. Pssst - shorter sayings take less time (yup yup, I'm a brain surgeon) Prepare your board. This is just fiberboard (pegboard minus the holes). It has been painted and distressed. To add patina, you can dry brush another color onto the initial color or roughly add contrasting color, achieving the desired "look" when the paint is wet (I like to use my hand to spread the paint where I want). The idea is not to mix the colors, but make it look like it's been faded and weathered. For example - this board was primarily cream, but I added a mustard brown color to give it depth and make it look old.

Then, transfer your image onto the wood using carbon paper (a nearly extinct office supply). Oh yeah, you may want to make sure everything is straight and lined up close to perfect. But that's not the fun part. Grab an eensy paint brush and start coloring in your letters.
Once the paint is dry, rub lettering with fine sandpaper to distress. To age it even more, I used a dark walnut stain over all. It's a no-fail recipe. Honest.

Can u spot the Differences?

I wanted to use this picture, but that light pole in Abraham Lincoln's face irked me. We had picked up this camper in Dix Nebaska in the early afternoon (June 2007) and were thrilled with our teeny RV. As the day came to a close, we were at Mt. Rushmore for their evening ceremony which I highly recommend. I have to say from the parking lot, I was slightly disappointed. But when you sit at the base of the massive granite structure and they gradually illuminate those faces, in tandem with "America the Beautiful", it is impressive and gives you goosebumps (and a lump in your throat).

For the record. Settled at our campsite, later that evening the kids were first class ROTTEN, and we questioned our logic in buying a unit for such cozy (did I mean miserable?) family togetherness.

Enter Susie. Photoshop wizard. She removed 5 things. Can you find them?