Coco the neurotic chihuahua!

For your chuckle of the day, here’s a video featuring our chihuahua Coco -

Have a great weekend!! Happy Crafting!!

Rhino LOVE!

See that smile on my hubbie’s face?! He is HAPPY!!!! This is our new toy (notice the emphasis on our) – it’s a Yamaha Rhino. We want to do more things together as a family and oh-boy is this going to be family-fun…and…apparently it will make hunting much more enjoyable. hehe. (Like that isn’t already fun…) It is also ok to drive these on the streets in our town. So I’ve brought it to the recycling center (way more fun!), the grocery store, a local craft show, and the hardware store. AND we got a plow that attaches to it! I NEVER have to shovel the ridge of snow the snowplow leaves ever again!!! Oh happy day. That was the biggest selling point for me – well that and the fact that Abby and I can drive all day without trouble. Ahhhh…

Little Falls Craft Show!!!

Going to the Little Falls Craft Show has been a tradition of mine for about 20 years now. The only time I missed going was last year…but that was so I could go to Montana instead. I’ve gone with a bunch of different people over the years and even went alone for a few years, this year Carmen went with me and we had a great time!! I think we walked about 800 miles…and I’m still wore out today…but I got some treasures! Apparently what I was drawn to was outside decorations and not inside decorations. Weird…just wasn’t drawn to any of the other stuff this year…

The above picture is of a hanging-rope-swing/chair/hammock. Go here for some better pictures. I’ve been wanting one of these for a long, long time!!! As you can see I got it in the lovely color of camouflage. hehe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a wonderful little yard decoration. Actually it isn’t so very little…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

Then we have a little metal flower and a flying pig…very cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS ONE IS MY VERY FAVORITE!!!!! Isn’t he FUNNY!!! This little dude is going to make me smile every day and come winter he will definitely come inside to cheer us up! hehe! Ahhh, it was fun…can’t wait until next year!

End of summer…

*Picture taken while camping this weekend. Can you believe how big my boy is? Sometimes I can’t believe he’s really mine…

I cannot believe how fast this summer went! We stayed so busy it just flew past – we went to Oklahoma, Abby went to camp twice, Gabe participated in the summer reading program (and Abby and I volunteered), Gabe went to two different bible schools for two weeks, we went camping twice, and Devon had many friends over and over and over…we had a 4th of July party and a french fry party…and our usual Tuesday night campfire nights…plus we started having friends over to hang with us in the garage most Friday evenings, we celebrated three birthdays this summer, and had to say good-bye to Rusty…it has been action-packed. Phew. Tomorrow the kids go to school – you might hear me singing, and I probably won’t answer the phone between the hours of 8 AM and 3 PM just to enjoy the silence. Happy School Year! to all the other mom’s out there who have been with their kids 24/7 for the summer and loved almost every minute of it…but can’t wait for a little bit of silence!!!

My Hubbie’s Day Off

Here is what we do when my hubbie has the day off (or I should say this is what we’d like to do –but don’t get to all that often).

Hubbie got a new toy! This is an AR 50 and it is LOUD and HEAVY! He is just getting the feel for it in this picture…cause you definitely need ear protection. My son and I plinked around with a .22 – it is just so much fun!

Just look at the smile on his face. I used to be a little scared of guns but taking the permit to carry course really helped me. I decided I better learn a little bit about guns and give them a try cause they are so important to my hubbie. If you can’t beat them – join them! To my amazement I have a LOT of fun with him at the shooting range. We giggle like little kids.

Here are some videos of my hubbie and a good friend shooting this monster. Um, the first video is a bit shaky cause I just didn’t realize how much I’d JUMP. By the time the other video was shot I had propped my camera up on a garbage can and some sand bags so it is much steadier.

Happy Crafting!

Camping ups and Downs…

We are home again…Camping was good but I am sad because we had to have our Beagle, Rusty, put down. We had him for 13 years. I have spent more time with him than any other man or beast.  And… to be honest…these later years he was a real pain in my butt…but I loved him dearly, and the hole that he has left in my everyday life will be slow to heal.  While I am at peace with the fact that he couldn’t go on as he was, the finality of death chokes me up. There are no do-over’s people, love your people, love your pets…and give them all an extra hug.

Rusty, if I could I’d tell you that even though I was always tripping over you in these later years…and you constantly got into the garbage…I miss you. You were a good dog.

Danish Wedding Cake

This is one of my favorite things in the whole world to eat!!! I was at a lovely wedding this weekend and this was served. It is called Kransekage or Danish Wedding Cake.

My aunt made this one – it is so yummy!!! The wedding took place on a Paddle Boat…

And we had a four hour ride on the Mississippi…wonderful views the whole way… while on the river…

And before we got on…

I felt very special to have been invited as it was a truly special event!

Happy Crafting!!

And to Austin, my prayers are with you!!!

Ooooooooo

Dragonfly in my yard...thank you Julie for moving it to this pretty flower for me!

Spider beauty…

When I let the little dogs out in the morning I usually take a turn around the flowers to see what’s happening…and came across this…while spiders aren’t for everyone…I think this is an awesome picture!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!!

Who has time to craft?

Really – our weather has been absolutely beautiful!!! I’ve spent the past three days working in the backyard…and I have the pile of laundry to prove it! I’m not kidding – that pile has to be bigger than me by now – gotta get the kids to do more laundry. I’ve been working with Abby to do the laundry but I just can’t trust her yet. One time she dumped the ENTIRE bottle of fabric softener in the machine. We had slimy towels for a month. I don’t think I’ll ask her to go solo just yet. We have a few pine trees and a couple oak trees in our back yard and some trees from the neighbors drop needles/leaves into our back yard too. And we have a fence. Love the fence…but if a needle/leaf drops in the only way it’s going to leave is if I rake it. Can’t just wait for a strong wind to blow it to a neighbor’s yard…not that I’d ever do that…hehe!

We deep-fried a turkey this weekend too. I think it might have been a bit overdone. I don’t think a turkey’s skin is 1” thick – cause that is how deep the crispy part went. It must have tasted good though because there isn’t much left from a 24 lb bird!

I also fired up the wringer washer for the first time this year. It was wonderful to wash all the rugs. There is still so much to do – I want to sift through the compost this year and get to the good stuff on the bottom. I have a bad feeling this is going to be quite the job…the compost bin is “hidden” behind a tree and wedged into the corner of the fence – it seemed like a good idea at the time to “hide” it – now I’m not so sure….

Blog name change...

OK - did you notice my new blog name? What do you think? If you remember way back I picked UberCrafter because I couldn't think of anything else that wasn't already taken. I explained that I wanted to become an UberCrafter, not that I already was one. Well, enough time has gone by that the odds of someone reading that post from long ago are slim. So, everyone probably thinks I think I am an UberCrafter. Too pretentious. So this is what I've come up with. I got the idea because at Abby's confirmation open house my sister was cleaning up the kitchen and she said "Do you want to save this pickle jar...geez - dumb question - of course YOU want to save this pickle jar!!!" Yup, that's me. Then my friend Julie threw away an olive jar after emptying the olives onto the tray. I didn't know it until later. And when I found out she threw away that olive jar I gave her a hard time. Sorry Julie. Then there is all the stuff I "rescue"... like that cabinet from the last post. Well, Save That Pickle Jar seems to describe me very, very well! My web address will remain the same. Duh - or you wouldn't be here - but the name is different. I will be working on a new blog header picture in the future. Small steps.

Otherwise I'm a crafting machine. I've made lots of bags, pouches, and ornaments for the upcoming craft fair. My house looks like the proverbial tornado hit it. "Less crafting and more cleaning" doesn't apply when you've committed to a craft fair - ha ha!

So leave a comment and let me know what you think of the name change. I know you're out there. I have google analytics and it tells me that about 50 of you come every day to see what's up. It isn't hard - ha ha. I have had a couple people email me and tell me they were having problems leaving a comment so I changed a couple settings. And a quick tip - I've had trouble on other blogs and if it doesn't work I'll click the preview button a couple times and wallah - comment published!!

Thank You!

Yesterday was the big day! Abby has been going to confirmation classes at our church for the past three years to be able to be confirmed.  Abby was confirmed – confirmation to us is an affirmation of baptism. It is also now a public affirmation of your faith in God. I am so glad I didn’t have to stand up in front of the church when I was being confirmed, and give a speech like the young people today have to. I would have died on the spot. But the young people today have been prepared very well and even though you could tell some of them were very scared – they all did a beautiful job.

Now, as most of you know Abby is special. Abby has special needs. Abby cannot talk. At. All. Abby will be a young person for her whole life. Abby is a light into my heart. My feelings for Abby run so deep that I rarely let them come all the way to the surface because I get swept away. Well, that happened yesterday. Pastor Paul asked the confirmands to come up, one family at a time. We were sitting in the front and got up and stood in the isle to wait our turn. I turned around to make sure our families were coming with us and I saw everyone coming up and I lost it. This huge group of people was making it’s way to the front of the church - my sisters, my brother, my parents, Grant’s mom, my sisters-in-law, my grandparents, and more… just everyone… I thought “All these people are here to show their love for Abby – she’ll never be alone”. Special. Abby. Sweet. Abby. Pure. Innocent. Abby. My feelings came all the way to the surface and I started shaking like a leaf and I started to cry. Apparently I started a chain reaction. We are an emotional family. I tried as best as I could to contain it but sometimes all that love spills over. I remember putting my hand on Abby along with a lot of other hands, and the people who couldn’t reach her put their hand on the person in front of them and we blessed Abby. I felt that love of God and family come through me to Abby. It was amazing.

Then we had an open house at our home. My wonderful friend, Julie, had stayed behind to get everything ready so I could just come home and visit with the family. My wonderful friend, Carmen, stayed to help me clean up. My wonderful friend, Mona, made some amazing food to share… It was a great day. I am surrounded by awesome people. Who love Abby too. Everyone came together to celebrate Abby. Geez – excuse me while I go get a tissue - and God Bless all of you. Thank you.

Side note: Our confirmation program is such a wonderful program. Our kids are influenced by so many things in the world today that it is sometimes hard to get our point of view across to them – we have to be heard through the noise of computers, friends, MTV... Well, confirmation helps tremendously. It is a couple hours a few times a month and they learn about God, our doctrines, and being a good person. They are not going to forget it. They will carry, if not the exact lessons learned, the feelings of church for the rest of their lives. Ach – it is hard to explain.

Ceiling Fan Tag

Did you know you can live in a house for 10 years and still not remember which chain on your ceiling fan is for the light and which chain is for the fan? Geez. Here is how I’ve solved the mystery once and for all!!

Can you see it? I stamped FAN into a piece of metal and wired it onto the pull. Not very fancy – but right now I don’t have time for fancy – just need air!!