Where did it go?

Ok, so the link at the end of my posts for comments has disappeared! I have looked and looked but can't seem to figure out how to get them to come back. If you have any idea how to fix this, comment on another entry and let me know! I'm lost!

Snugglywink isn't really dead

Although it sure seems that way.

I have spent very little time on my Snugglywink Blankets over the past school year. With getting to know a new district and everythign that entails, I have neglected most blanket making. I have done a few for friends, either my friends having babies or making blankets for friends to give. I still have a few people that I have been meaning to make blankets for, but just haven't done so yet. Hopefully soon - before their little ones are walking!

At any rate, I have a customer in Ireland who orders blankets for all of her friends having babies. Two of her good friends had babies within the last two weeks and she was back to order. I enjoyed making these blankets as the fabric is one of my favorites and I love how they turned out. They are soft and ready for a babies love.

She asked for matching fabric if it was still available at the store - three of her friends now have little ones with the same fabric! I think they turned out pretty cute. :)

Here is the latest.

When I look back at my first blankets, it's clear, I have come a long way!
It's definitely been a learning process.

I wonder what the next year will bring!

Visiting with the Maguires

Our dear friends came to visit us last night while they're in town. It was great visiting with them while the boys played and enjoyed each other (once Mac warmed up to us again). Since I'm in charge of posting the excitement from the evening for KC & Brian, there are going to be a few extra pictures this time around! :)

The only thing we didn't do was a take a couple family pictures! That would have been a good idea. Oops! Oh, and Kathari, I have quite a few really cute pictures of the boys. I will send them to you later! They're cuties!!!!

KC and Bratyon were all smiles!

McColley finally came around and would smile for me. I have quite a few cute shots of him, but this one sticks out for some reason. :)
Brayton and B were having a great time too. I tell you, that kid was all smiles! Such a cutie. Must be the birthday (he was born on Eli's second birthday).
Brayton was having fun playing with the cars like the big boys.

The boys started out upstairs...

It didn't take long before our deck to turned into a race track

This cracked me up. Eli had to come tell me Colley was driving his car, but that he'd give it back before they left.

This was actually before they arrived. Eli was so excited to have his friends come over and play.

Playing with Photoshop

I took a class this morning that focused on some of the basics of Photoshop Elements. Yes, I know, basics. However, there were some thing covered that were new so I played with one picture while Eli was napping because it's something I've been wanting to figure out.

Now I know!!!!

I can't wait to play with this more!

Maple Valley Days Part 2

This weekend celebrates Maple Valley Days with a parade and various activities down at the lake. We walked down with our buddies, Dusti and Liam. The biggest hits for the kids was the slide and the emergency vehicles. Eli especially enjoyed "driving" the firetruck. He was still talking about it today and his eyes and voice were screaming with excitement.

This was the highlight of Eli's afternoon, driving the firetruck.

Maybe he has a future in firefighting, who knows!

He can do whatever his heart desires

Eli couldn't get enough of the firetruck. He had fun showing Daddy all of the equipment in the truck.

Hopefully this will be his only encounter of "riding" in an ambulance. Although, he looks like he sort of fits in with an ambulance ride...

Dusti, Liam, Eli and I went down the slide together.

At this point we were all laughing hysterically. It was great!

Eli and Daddy just got off the slide. Look at the excitement on his face. He couldn't wait to go down again.

For the first time EVER, Eli enjoyed the swings! His typical response includes screaming and crying, on this day he asked to swing and enjoyed every minute of it. We couldn't pass up taking lots of pictures. Who knows if it will happen again or not.

Dusti and Liam having fun. Aren't they cute?!?

Fighting Times

We have had a pretty evenful couple of days! I am busy with the final touches of the 2008-2009 school year and have been keeping busy with assessments, report cards and packing my classroom for my move to the north 40. I will be in one of the portables next year, so have to get everything ready to head out there. What a project! I thought I had a lot of stuff last year when I moved to my new school, good grief, I have to triple that with all the curriculum and everything that is in my current room that has to accompany me out.

We enrolled Eli in his first round of swimming lessons. Jess and I are lucky to be able to join him during his lessons as he's in the Parent/Tot class. It's pretty cute. We've been working on getting used to being in the water, kicking, pulling (arms), and trying to get comfortable with putting our head under water. Mommy is the mean one who dunks him...but I warn first!

Thursday evening after swimming lessons, we were getting jammies out to get ready for bed when he took quite the trip. Literally. He tripped and fell right into the corner of his door, splitting his eyebrow wide open. We ended up at Urgent Care for a few hours and got three stitches out of the deal. Eli was quite the little trooper though. The only time he cried while we were there was when the doctor was injecting more anesthetic into his cut. What a tough kid! We were so proud of him for being so brave.

Today was the Maple Valley Day parade and we went down for the first time since we've lived here. Honestly, I had NO idea it was such a big thing. We've lived here for 4 years and had never made it to it (let alone known when it was!). We walked down with some good friends and enjoyed all of it. Eli's favorite parts were the fire trucks, ambulance, and tow trucks. He was quite attentive from start to finish though, all 75 minutes of it!

Here we are waiting for the parade to start. The opening police motorcycle was on its way, so Eli was much more interested in that than getting his picture taken. But this is proff that we were all there!

Watching and waving to the tow trucks.

They really were THAT exciting! HAHA

Eli was watching Drew play wallball. He was really into it. He is really tired in this picture though, he was more than ready for a nap.

He is such a handsome boy
even with a bruise from his forehead to chin with stitches in between.

Good times with good friends...and family!

The past two weekends have been spent with family and friends. This past weekend we ventured up to Sedro Wooley to celebrate a good friend's second birthday. It's amazing how fast these past two years have gone. It doesn't seem like that long ago that we were meeting Alexis for the first time as a very tiny newborn. Now she is a running, jumping, vivacious little girl. The kids, Eli, Alexis and Natalie, had a wonderful time playing together and the adults enjoyed catching up and playing too.

While we were there, I had a fun time playing with our camera and ended up with some shots of Steph and the girls. I haven't had the chance to play with the pictures yet, but wanted to share a few pictures from our visit.

I love this shot of Steph and Alexis. It is one of those "caught in the moment" pictures that just makes you smile.

Of course, I had to get one of her and the girls. Yes, there's no Peter. He and Jess were off playing somewhere.
Eli had a wonderful time running and playing in their HUGE yard. They even had some of the big Tonka trucks to play with. He was in seventh heaven!
Natalie loves playing with Eli. She would hold his hand and try to make him play with her. She had a difficult time understanding that he wasn't a baby anymore, but that he also wasn't as big as herself. He was a good sport though and loved playing with her.
Of course, there has to be a picture of the adults here too.
And of course they boys had to play around!




MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

On Memorial Day weekend, my aunt, uncle, cousin and her family all drove out from eastern Montana. We spent a few days together and ventured to Snoqualmie Falls. It was a beautiful day which meant the falls were packed with people. Dad and Jess never did make it out of the truck, we saw the falls and walked back out before they ever found parking! Unbelievable. The amount of water cascading the cliff was amazing. There was quite the layer of mist in the air as well - you couldn't stay in the covered lookout very long because it was practically raining in there! Eli finally warmed up to his Great Uncle Darwin and Great Aunt Darlene and half-way smiled in a picture. Of course, now I can't find this particular picture...hmmm, I'll have to do a little searching!

I love this picture of Darwin and Eli. This family has always held a special place in my heart. When I was a kid, we spent holidays and summers together at their ranch in eastern Montana. I haven't seen them since my cousin Raleigh's wedding 5 years ago!
On our way home from the falls, we stopped at the train "museum" in North Bend/Snoqualmie. Eli LOVES trains (planes, cars, trucks, helicopters, you name it) and we saw these, so we let him look. A nice gentleman pushing his sleeping daughter in their stroller offered to take a picture for us. It's not often we get a family shot so we take what we can get!

I have a lot more pictures from their visit, but want to play with some of the pictures and adjust the exposure and colors a bit.

While we were at Gramma and Papa's house waiting for the guests to arrive, he figured out the doggy door and thought it should be used as an Eli door.


I wanted to include this picture to show Eli's big, brown eyes. Jess and I are both amazed at his beautiful brown eyes. Jess has blue and I have more of a greenish hazel. He got his Papa's brown eyes somehow!