That's My Girl!

For the second year in a row my niece Anna Kathleen has made the cut!  She is just too stinkin' cute!

Anna in Parenting 2008

Anna in Parenting 2009

Coasters and Burp Clothes

I actually have a lot of things to blog about.  Joel and I have been super super busy!  When are we not?  But I thought I would do a quick post to show you all something I made recently!


I recently took a stab at making quilted coasters for my secretarys birthday gift.  Sue always makes me something for my birthday. In the past she has made me two sets of earings and my last birthday she made me a beautiful bracelet.  I wish she sold her stuff online so you guys could all enjoy it. I actually had her make me a pair of pear earings to match a necklace my husband bought me.  :-)  She is so talented.  She even made jewlery for a whole bridal parties.  The cool thing she also does is makes the boxes she puts the jewlery in.  Se is a skilled lady at origami and makes beautiful boxes for her masterpieces. 

This year's bday present

Last year's bday present.

The earings she made me to match my necklace.

Here are the coasters....

I also made some burp clothes for my friends baby (the one I made the quilt for)!  These were fun to make.  I'm not happy because the set is not all pink.  I ran out of time and wanted to do pink ribbon, but I made a purple one made a long time ago, so I just threw it in there.  They are so easy and fun to make and are great gifts.

I've always thought about making some blog posts tutorials on how to make some of the things I'm venturing into.  I love how other people blog about their creations and share how to do it.  However, like the way I cook, I look at the directions and then wing it myself. :-)

Elementary Days

Everyone seems to be reconnected with their friends on Facebook. I've found old High School friends, College friends I've lost touch with, and even friends I've made through other church connections. But recently, I've been receiving friend requests from my Elementary School friends. It has been awesome. I moved after Bloomfield, NJ when I was going into 7th grade. So I actually was able to graduate from Elementary School there and then move NY for middle school. Back then I kept in touch with a few which then dwindled down to one. Last week there was a Brookdale Elementary School reunion about 40 minutes away from where we live now. So, spontaneous me (hahah) decided I should go and see everyone. We had a great time. We talked for hours and reminisced about teachers, kids we haven't seen for a while, funny things, softball games, birthday parties, and of course what we were doing now. I'm looking forward to seeing them all again.

The Girls

Class of 1995...atleast those that showed up :-)

Now for funny pictures of me in Elementary School...

My softball days

 Me and my favorite teacher, Ms. Booth

       My best friend Anna from Elementary School's wedding Last September

My attempt at creativity!

For a while now I've been baking and cooking for fun. I love it and it's relaxing for me. I love cooking for other people. It is fun to do things for people that I know they will enjoy and especially make their bellies happy. I've recently been trying to get a little more creative with my cooking, but especially with my baking. In the past I've made several cakes for my nieces' and nephew's birthday parties, which has been really cool. My niece always has special requests. :-)

Eliza's 2nd Birthday - M & M Butterfly Cake

Eliza's 3rd Birthday Party at the Carousel in Central Park - Carousel Cake

Hudson's 1st Birthday - Number 1

Just recently, my very good friend was having her god daughter's dedication and wanted to do cupcakes for the party after. She was worried she wouldn't have time etc, so I offered to do it for her. I made 60 cupcakes, but not just any cupcakes...marshmallow flowered cupcakes. They were so much fun to make. It took me about 5.5 hours from start to finish. AHH...but how cute are they???

People at the party loved them so much that someone asked my friend if I would make them for a baby shower the next weekend and they would pay me! WOOHOO...So I made more cupcakes for the next weekend. So much fun :-)

Hungry now?

The Search is on!!

Since my beloved Dog Cosmo went to doggie heaven the end of June, the debate has been about how long to wait before you get another dog. How long is the grieving process? Is there a dog code? Is this like how long do you have to wait to date again after a break up? (good thing I don't have to worry there)

Putting my dog down was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. He was getting old and losing weight rapidly on top of other on going medical issues. We had to take care of him in the most humane way possible, even though it meant losing him. My parents and Joel stayed in the room with Cosmo till the bitter end. I cried for days after that.

Cosmo was my first dog. We bought him when I was a freshman in High School. We took him home from the breeder on Valentine's Day 1998. My mom, brother, and I all shared him. We shared the love, the responsibility, and the vet bills. Even though he was an expensive little guy he was part of our family and anyone who has lost a dog knows that when you lose a pet it leaves a big hole in your heart.

It's been about two months since then and my husband is constantly sending me links to different dogs. My family is pretty allergic to animals so that really limits our choices and we could never get a dog from the pound because they are never hypoallergenic. :-( but the pound does break my heart.

So the doggy search is on! I have no idea if we are ready for a new dog. I keep telling Joel we can look after we go to Ocean City or after another event is suppose to happen. I guess there is no good time, so we might as well bite the bullet. I once had a friend say, referring to another couple, that a dog is not a good idea as a first child. I beg to differ! Bring on the pooch!

I made the count down as of four days prior to this post because that's really when Joel and I started emailing some sites and people about their dogs. I'm also secretly looking for a dog for my parents as they miss Cosmo so much and are not keen at this point about another dog. But I know I can win them over with some cute little guy!

So we shall see...We'll keep you posted.

Quilting!

Well it seems like my friends just keep having babies! It's so exciting! :-) Congrats to all the new moms out there and the moms to be. So I ran out of gift ideas and decided to start making quilts! I've crocheted in the past a blanket for my niece when I was in college, but I wanted to do something different.

My mom is part of a sewing class on Wednesday nights here at work which is a perfect time because the Hubby places basketball every Wednesday night! And what a perfect mother daughter bonding time! (brownie points please) My wonderful friend Pam is having a little girl the end of August so I decided to make her a quilt. Check it out! :-)

Close Up!

The Front

The back

The quilt!


Here is a beautiful quilt my mom made for my Aunt's birthday. My Aunt Brenda loves butterflies.

Kettles can be fun!

Goal: Raise $100.00 in an hour

Prize: Walter will do a little dance.

Hey...whatever it takes. Go Walter and Lila!!!

The Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff

The Jonas Brothers perform at the Dallas Cowboys Halftime show on Thanksgiving day kicking off The Salvation Army Kettle Campaign. Not a huge fan of the Jonas Brothers, but it was still pretty cool that they did this for the Army! Woohoo

Best Commercial Ever...too cute...

It's a girl!!!

My sister-in-law Lori gave birth to my beautiful niece. I'm an aunt again for the 5th time!! Anna Kathleen Russell came into this world on April 15th at 1:39 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 2 ozs and was 18 inches long. She's is just adorable and such a sweetie. I was able to hold Anna just a few hours after she was born. Welcome baby girl! You have a great name ;-).

Anna Kathleen

Paige & her new sister

Mommy & Paige

Jonathan, Charlie, & Anna

The beautiful family


Papa & Anna

Grammy & Anna

Aunt Kathleen & Anna Kathleen :-)

lovin' her already :-)

He's Here!!!

My sister Christine had her baby yesterday! I'm an Aunt again! He is so beautiful, little Hudson Edward Pritchard. He was 6 lbs 3 oz & 19 1/4 inches. Joel and I went to the hospital yesterday to hold him. He is so sweet. My niece just adores him. Welcome baby!!

Great Girls Weekend

This past weekend I went with my friend on a Women's Spa weekend with her church. We had such a great time. We went shopping and caught up on lots of stuff. :-) The Inn we stayed at was really nice. It was so nice to see everyone and get to know them even more. We had devotions every day and ate together. My room stayed up really late every night and had tons of girl talk. :-)

It was a relaxing and great weekend.

(Joel had fun with his guys weekend too :-))

My Sister's Keeper

I just finished reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. WOW. What an intense book. Ms. Picoult wrote this in such an amazing way, I still can't believe she pulled it off. Each chapter was told by a different person's point of view. It was incredible. I would not recommend this to everyone, it was heavy. But it was all around a great book. I have two other of her books on my shelf waiting to be read. I'll keep you posted.

Synopsis - "Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate - a life and a role that she has never questioned… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister - and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable… a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life… even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? "

California (A post that is way overdue)

Two weeks ago Joel and I went to San Diego to visit my college roommate. Two of my other college friends met us out there. We had so much fun. It was so nice to see everyone. The weather was nice! We crammed as many activities as we could into the time that we were there.

The first day we went to Disneyland the whole day. We saw the parade (day and night) and the fireworks. We hit every ride we wanted to and acted like we were 5 again. I have too many goofy (no pun intended) stories to tell.

The next day we went to California Adventures and Hollywood at night. Honestly, I've been to LA before and its kind of seedy. However, California Adventures was pretty cool. We went on this awesome ride called Soarin'. It made you feel like your were flying over oceans, bridges, deserts and fields. It was so cool. They also had smells "shot" out, so when we were going over the forest it smelled like the most amazing pine.

The next day we went to the beach, Old Towne San Diego, and San Diego city. It was so much fun to be with my friends again and reminisce about the funny things that happened to us in College as well as make memories and funny times with them again.