Karen

I Love A Vacation II

DSCN2727 — Emily and Sarah in the motel lobby.

Monday started early, with Emily showing up at the motel at 8 a.m. We loaded up all the girls and headed out for a fun day out without the guys. We had breakfast in the lobby, then headed out to the nail shop to get manicures and pedicures.

DSCN2734 — FabGrandma and Sarah at the nail shop.

Little Sarah had never had a mani-pedi before. She was a little “weirded out” by the massage chair, and laughed when the manicurist was working on her feet, but she loved every minute of it. (the big girls did, too!)

DSCN2730 — Little Sarah, Emily, Big Sarah at the nail shop.

We all loved the pampering. We kept the folks at the nail shop pretty busy. Although I don’t like to wear nail polish on my fingernails, I do love the color on my toes!

Apparently, blue nail polish and flowers are really “IN” for the eleven year old girlie crowd.

DSCN2744 — Three generations of purty toes!

After all the toes and fingers were done, we went next door to the Coldstone Creamery for some sweet refreshments. Did you know that you can get cake batter ice cream, that has no wheat or gluten in it, AND they will put some buttercream frosting on top? Now THAT was a delicious way to end the day!

0 Shares

I Love A Vacation!

Karen · 2 Comments

Our vacation started out with a drive to Birmingham to the VA Eye Clinic for FabGrandpa’s one week post-op check up. Everything looked fine–the doctor said to just keep using the eye drops until they were gone. After the check-up, we headed on over to Georgia.

We checked in at the Holiday Inn, our home away from home for the next week. Got settled in, then I went to pick up our granddaughter. We had a giggley spend the night party that night, with her telling us about her friends, her school, things she likes to do, and things she likes to eat. I think we got to sleep finally at around mid-night.

Sarah playing on the Webkinz website on Fabgrandpa’s computer.

The next day, we got up early and met Aunt Emily and cousin Spencer for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel across the street from the motel:

DSCN2668 — Sarah and Spencer coloring at Cracker Barrel

After breakfast, we had a day of shopping at the mall. Because we don’t see her very often, we tend to spoil Sarah rotten when we do. We got her some new jeans, 3 new shirts, a new purse, and a new hoodie. Then we went to Aunt Becky’s beauty shop where we all got haircuts.

DSCN2686 — Sarah getting her hair shampooed by Becky

The afternoon was spent at Monkey Joe’s, an indoor playground in town. There are lots of things to jump on, lots of room to run and work off some energy.

Monkey Joe's

The kids needed to be active, and the adults needed to rest. I was already exhausted by walking all over the mall.

Dinner that night was at Longhorn Steaks. Mmmm. FabGrandpa, Sarah, and I were joined by Emily and her husband, Tommy, Spencer, and Becky. Just about the time desert was served, my son, Seth, called and said he was almost to the motel. So, we all hurried up so we could get back over there.

That’s my son, Seth–he is in the Air Force and lives in Maryland. The last time we saw them, we were working in Gettysburg, about 100 miles from where he lives. Owen was only two months old then.

He is now a rambunctious two year old. He is so sweet and cuddly, so much fun to be with.

Michael is now a teenager, (YIKES! I have a teenaged grandson? how the heck did that happen?)

We stayed up again, until past midnight, talking and catching up and just being with our kids. We slept late on Sunday, then the kids took the grandkids to the aquarium in Atlanta, while FabGrandpa and I went to meet Becky’s future in-laws.

I did not take pictures of Rafe’s parents, but I can tell you we had a pleasant visit. We met them at O’Charley’s for lunch, then headed over to Rafe’s house, where Becky will be living after they get married next year. His parents are very nice people, we liked them very much. And the house has a nice guest room, where FabGrandpa and I can stay when we are in town. I teased Rafe that it was big enough for a “mother-in-law” suite–it really is, but I don’t really expect to live with them.

We went back to the motel, where we met up with Seth, and his family. Then we all went over to my Mom’s for a short visit. I was ready to drop when we got back to the motel, so I went to bed “sort of” early, about 10 p.m. to get rested up for the next day.

…to be continued…

0 Shares

Give Away Winner

Karen · 1 Comment

The give away for the matching zippered pouch and business card wallet had 40 comment entries (44 total comments, but 4 were made by me replying to commenters on the post). The winner is Lily Kwan, comment # 34. I used Random.org to pick the winner. Lily has been notified of her win. Thanks to everyone who came by to enter the give away.

0 Shares

Not Feeling Well

Karen · 1 Comment

I haven’t been sick with a cold in I can’t remember when. Kidney stones, arthritis pain, that persistent lump in my arm? yeah, all those, and I can still function. But this head cold? has knocked me on my butt.

I slept most of the way home from Georgia on Sunday. Then, I slept the day away yesterday and today. I took some of that “effervescent cold relief” medicine. That stuff tastes horrible, and makes me sleep even more. So, all the news I want to tell you about will have to wait until I am feeling better. I have lots to tell about my vacation, about seeing my friends and family, about seeing my in-laws up in the north Georgia mountains. But for now, I can barely keep my eyes open. I have so much to do: I have a mountain of laundry; need to go through cabinets and drawers; I need to start putting things away in preparation for going to Arizona in 13 days.

But the most important thing I need to do is make a page in my shop for my mother-in-law’s jewelry. That is coming soon, as soon as I can stay awake long enough to do it. She is very excited to have an outlet to sell the things she has made. Stay tuned, it is coming soon.

0 Shares

The FabGrandchildren

Karen · 7 Comments

These little people are the ones who make me FabGrandma. They are all the loves of my life, after FabGrandpa and my own children, who just happen to be their parents. I am always amazed at how much they have grown since the last time I saw them, although I shouldn’t be since it has been two years since I saw my son’s children.

But this time, I saw more than physical growth. They had each grown in maturity in ways that I had not noticed before. Spencer, the little guy on the left in the yellow shirt, was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome in October. Because we now know what it is that makes him different and unique, we as parents and grandparents have been better able to help him understand why he has tics and why other children sometimes find that scary. He is doing lots better at being able to interact with others, and because of that he is doing better in school. Yay, Spencer!

The last time we saw Owen, he was just two months old. So, yes, seeing a physical growth was expected. That he was able to call me and FabGrandpa by name by the end of the week was awesome. He knows several songs, like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and The Wheels On The Bus, and proudly sang them for us.

Sarah is an amazing artist. She can draw very awesome pictures in just a couple of minutes. She told me she knows she wants to go to college, either at the University of Kentucky or at Harvard. She made the Honor Roll at her school this semester and is in the Beta Club. I was really impressed with her when we went out to eat. She made very good choices from the menu, and ate what she ordered. The day we went to Longhorn Steaks, she ordered the chicken tenders with steamed veggies and ate every bit of it. At the Thai food place, she ordered sweet and sour chicken. The waiter tried to talk her out of it, but she said “I’ll just stick with the sweet and sour chicken, thank you.” She ate all of it.

Michael, the oldest grandchild, also made the Honor Roll. I was really proud of him for that, because he was expelled from school when he was 10 for his behaviour, and was home schooled for more than two years. He only went back to public school after Thanksgiving, so for him to make the Honor Roll was a really big deal. He was a good helper, too. On the day they left, we were all sitting in the lobby of the motel. His father gave him a key to the room, and told him to get a cart and bring their luggage down. Michael went up, loaded the cart, and brought it down all by himself. This was a big improvement over two years ago, when anything we asked him to do was met with him throwing a fit.

I am proud of all the FabGrandchildren, and I love them all so much!

I didn’t make anything this week, because I was on vacation, but wanted to brag about my grandchildren. Thanks for stopping by.

0 Shares

A Visit With The Fab Grandchildren

Karen · 10 Comments

Sarah and Spencer at breakfast with FabGrandma and FabGrandpa at Cracker Barrel.

On the way to the mall for some shopping. Emily, Spencer and Sarah.

Sarah is a great artist already! Here she is drawing monkeys at Monkey Joe’s, an indoor playground place.

And Spencer is into racing!

FabGrandpa took a pizza break.

Then we headed over to Aunt Becky’s shop for haircuts.

Spencer patiently waited his turn in the chair.

Sarah struck a “fashion model” pose to show off her new cut and style.

When we got back to the motel, the rest of the crew had arrived from Maryland. Here I am chatting with “Big” Sarah and Owen.

And here are Michael and his cousin Spencer saying hello. Gotta love those boys!

Michael was so proud of making Honor Roll he brought his certificate all the way from Maryland to show me! Go Michael!

Owen’s favorite word is “Hello”

FabGrandpa getting some tickle time with Owen–they both loved it!

0 Shares

In Honor of St. Patrick’s Day

Karen · 4 Comments

I decided to make some corned beef and cabbage. In the past, I usually just cooked cabbage with some bacon, and that was that. But recently I started adding other things to it. Today’s cabbage looks like this:

I started out with 3 tablespoons of bacon grease in the skillet, then added one head of cabbage, chopped, 3 cloves of garlic, an onion, and six small red potatoes. After everything is in the pan, add 2 cups water, cover and cook until the water is gone. Yum!

I cooked the corned beef according to the package directions: 350 degree oven for two hours, seasoned with the packet in the package. Very simple, easy and gluten free.

0 Shares

Today’s Project

Karen · 6 Comments

I have had this mini ironing board for about 10 years. I have used it so much that the cover is worn thin and has some holes in it. And it has started to make the things I iron look dirty.

I started looking for a new cover for it a few years ago, but while they do make them for full size ironing boards, I could not ever find one for the table top size in the store. Then, a few months ago, I found a tutorial for making one in a magazine. Today was the day for me to tackle this project.

First, you lay the ironing board upside down onto some batting, and draw around it with a marker. Cut the batting on the traced line. Then, cut the same shape out of your cute fabric, only 4 inches wider all around than the batting.

Make a casing around the entire edge of the fabric. Stitch around starting at the straight back end. Gather at the curved edges to ease in the seam. Leave an opening about 3 inches wide. After stitching, thread some elastic through the casing. Put the cover on the ironing board, and adjust the elastic to fit. Take the cover off, then sew the ends of the elastic together, then stitch up the opening. Put the batting on the ironing board, then the cover, and adjust to fit.

If you want one, I will be glad to make one, $15 + free shipping. Email me and we can discuss the details. I can’t make one for full sized ironing boards because I don’t have one to trace. But if you have a full size one, and want to trace it for me on paper, we can talk!

I found the tutorial for making this ironing board cover in Craft Stylish Magazine. I don’t know what issue it was because I tore out the instructions for my file.

To see more lovely projects, click on the “I Made It!” icon below to go to Everything Etsy’s blog party:

Pin14

14 Shares