11/29/10

thanksgiving weekend and giveaway winner

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We spent our Thanksgiving in Odessa this year with family and it was so fun. It is always so good to see my sweet Granny and get to spend time with family that we don't get to see often. Ella had a blast playing with her cousins and I'm so sad I didn't get one picture of them all together! My hands where busy crocheting attempting to crochet most of the time. (more on that in a sec)
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My mom brought some gingerbread houses for the kids to do and Ella had so much fun with it. It was a very relaxing Thanksgiving spent with wonderful family and delicious food.

Now on to the crocheting...
I have spent many hours (like 15!) practicing this dang circle scarf that Kristen just pops out with left and right. I have made them and unraveled them a million times and I finally got it right! Woohoo!
My first two scarves that I crochet had problems all over the place! They looked weird, fit weird and just didn't look anything like Kristens. I watched youtube video after youtube and finally figured out I was doing the double crochet stitch completely wrong! I was going through the wrong hole every time! No wonder they looked so horrible! 
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I am so excited that I finally figured it out. I mean it's still no where near perfect but such a big improvement from my first scarf:)
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I'm still trying to work on my closing seam line...

Speaking of scarves, we have a giveaway winner! 
Thank y'all so much again for all the wonderful heartfelt comments. We enjoyed reading them all. We did a random number generator and the lucky number was 25. Comment number 25 was Kristen who said "Hey there, 
I am thankful for my sweet twins, my sweet baby boy, & my hubby. I am also thankful that I get to be a stay at home mom. I love your scarfs...:)"
Congrats to Kristen! Please email one of us and let us know what color combo you would like in your scarf and your mailing address.

Weekend in Pictures

Let me just start off by saying, y'all's comments just made our whole weekend.  They were so sincere and sweet, i know that they just lit up my face everytime I would get one.  Thank you so much for being so honest and thankful, even in the midst of some really difficult situations.  Thank you guys for sharing with us and letting us into your lives.  We cant tell you how much we appreciate it and yall.
My gracious sister in law, shannon, was so sweet to let me take her pics in some of the newest things over in the shop...
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isnt she so beautiful! and we have a few more ideas going up soon, so go on over to etsy if you have time...
the rest of the weekend was amazing.
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the first half was spent with my mom's side of the family and it was so much fun to catch up with my cousins and help make thanksgiving (well, jeff didnt get to come because he had to work so I didnt really help that much with the cooking...but these ladies were amazing and their cooking was so good!).
All of my cousin's fiances (and wife) were there and it was just so much fun to talk their ears off about weddings and their exciting lives.
Shannon bought everyone aprons that said "kitchen crew" on them and they were such a hit! of course I dont have any pics of them, but we love them and wore them the whole time!
My mom, of course, made sweat shirts for everyone (see where I get it???).
Then, of course I dont have any pics of the rest of the weekend but we went to Jan and Bob's and spent the night with my niece and I am pretty sure all the kids thought they had died and gone to heaven.  Jan and Bob played with them non stop and they made necklaces, colored, made masks, played hide n go seek and pretty much never sat down.  It was so much fun to see them.
Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!!
We will back later with a recap of al's weekend and the winner of the giveaway!!

11/25/10

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic thanksgiving, eating tons of turkey, pie, and rolls (i love rolls...).  
We can not tell you guys how thankful we are for yall. You are so encouraging and supportive, no matter what.  We just cant believe it and are just so so thankful for it.
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To say thanks to you guys we are going to giveaway (you guessed it) a circle scarf!  You can pick whatever color combo you want!  It is a custom made giveaway!!
Leave us a comment with something you are thankful for and we will let yall know next week who the winner is!
Thank yall so so much, again and hope yall have tons of things to be thankful for today.  I know we do 

11/24/10

Gobble til you Wobble

 Do you guys remember the turkey shirts we made last year? This year we combined a little of the two.
Ella's turkey shirt was hand made with fabric paint last year cause I didn't have a sewing machine yet and Kristen made the cutest turkey shirts that I was so excited to copy this year! 
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The turkey body and feathers are all made with fabric and the eyes and feet are embroidery thread. On the back I screen printed a list of things that Ella is thankful for this year. 
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and i (kristen) did mine last night, kinda late, well, really late, so they are maybe not perfect...
maybe a little off center and i didnt use as many colors as last year, but I do just love a ruffled turkey.
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I did ben one too.  Last year I did a pilgrim hat, but this year he loves animals and birds so much and I knew he would love to have the turkey, so i tried to make one a little more manly.
And, of course, my sweet son was the only who would pose for the pictures.  (aves was sweet and did do it, but maybe barstad hair is not the best when we wake up...)
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I did not have time to do the back and that is my favorite part!! I love how allison added that and I am just so sad that I didn't do it!
Hope everyone is having a great pre-thanksgiving (I feel this is the day that you really get ready and stretch your stomach out with a good meal.  Always have to be prepared).
And tomorrow we have a fun giveaway to thank you for all of your support and encouragement!!
See yall back here tomorrow, fat and happy.

11/22/10

Etsy Shop

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Well, we finally did it.  We set up shop over at etsy.  Right now we only have scarves in it, but we lots more ideas of things we want in it, and we have stuff that we just need to put in the store.  Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement.  It is totally because of you guys that we even have this store and we could not be more excited about it!!  So, head on over and check us out!

11/21/10

oh what a night

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! 
It's been a while since we have posted anything and this is nothing exciting. Next week we will have some good crafty stuff to share:) 
This morning was a very exciting one for Ella. Santa made his grand opening at the Lubbock mall and we were there to welcome him.  The first 50 kids to the mall this morning got free chick-fil-a breakfast and got to eat with Santa. It was so fun! 
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Ella was a little shy at first, but she has a deep love for Santa. Do you guys remember last years Santa pics? We didn't do the official Santa pic today, but we will soon. 

Even though Kristen and I are not in the same town we still managed to spend a very exciting Saturday night together:) 
Have you guys seen Kristen's amazing scarfs yet? Well she is hand crocheting the cutest circular scarfs and I thought it was about time I learned how. Lindsay and Brycie are pros already so I am a little behind.
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So for hours tonight, (and I mean hours) I ichated with Kristen (yes thats Kristen on the computer screen rockin Mocha Splash hair color) and Brycie as they taught me the ropes to crocheting. It was hilarious! I wish the convo had been recorded! 
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Ella tried to follow along until it was her bed time and she did such a good job at unraveling my whole ball of yarn:) 
Let me just say that crocheting might not be my talent in life. I am still giving it a good try but man Kristen sure does make it look and sound easy! I hope to be making the famous circular scarf soon but we will see...

11/17/10

HP

So I spent most of today making Harry Potter shirts. I only had to make 12 of them but for some reason it took me forever. Screen printing is a process and if one little thing goes wrong sometimes you have to start over from the beginning. Which has happened to me many a times. Sometimes it's a hard hobby for a perfectionist like me:)
Anyways, I had two different designs to make so I had to make one set first then wash and re-coat my screens for the second design. First I dyed all the shirts a Wine color using RIT dye. Something I learned this time around is that if you have shirts that are not 100% cotton your dye will have a heathered look to it. You can see in the pics the color difference between some of the shirts. 
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I made these shirts for my sister and her friends. I put HP7 on the front pocket area and this quote on the back. The gold ink didn't show up as bright as I was hoping on the back but oh well...
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Then my friend Carrie came over with some yummy homemade chicken noodle soup and she helped me with the second batch of shirts.  We had some good laughs and slowly but surely got all the shirts done. 
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Carrie came up with what she wanted on these shirts. She wanted the symbol on the front to have a hand drawn look to it so I used the screen filler/fluid method for that part. Then we screen printed this quote on the back. 
 I have no idea what any of these symbols or quotes mean but I feel like more of a HP fan after today:) Hope all you true HP fans love the new movie coming out this weekend.

11/15/10

crochet bear

hello, my name is kristen and i am a crochetaholic.  i cant stop myself.  when i am not making scarves (which, guys, i am.  i just took a small break.  dont worry.  they are coming in the mail and i am still working away and getting more orders everyday!! thank yall SO SO MUCH!!) i am making booties or, now, toys.  it really is just such an easy and relaxing thing to do and you can watch videos on youtube and they are great instructors.  
ok, enough of the shpeal on how crocheting is fun for all.
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i made this yesterday, and clearly it is a little lopsided and not perfect, it is super fun to do and my kids love her.  gray and pink and red is not my fave color combo and i realized that later, but overall, it looks like a bear, so thats good.
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i bought the pattern off of etsy, here.  she was so so great and her patterns are amazing.  i def bought a few more so look for more animals in the making...
hope everyone had a great weekend!

11/12/10

happy friday!

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We have become more Tech fans than Cowboy fans this year. Ella still likes to wear her cowboy cheerleader outfit but it obviously brings them no luck. 
I have helped a few people with screen printing shirts these last couple of weeks and it has been so fun!
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We went to the Texas Tech football game last weekend and it was SO fun. Ella made it through the whole game and would have even stayed longer. She was cheering on Tech and Mickey the whole time. We made shirts to wear the the game to show our love and support for our good friend Mickey who plays for Tech. 
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We put I love Mickey on the front and his last name and football number on the back. I didn't ever get  a pic of the back.
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Then I made shirts for our sweet friend Leslie. You should go check out her fantastic blog and buy some of her beef! (how cute are her twin boys in the shirts?!)
I am also making some Harry Potter shirts for some friends that are going to the midnight showing next week. Those should be done soon:) We dyed them with RIT dye last night and they are a fantastic wine color. We are using gold ink to screen print them, I think they are going to turn out great! If I knew anything about HP I would totally making shirts and going to the midnight show all decked out, I love that kind of stuff! 
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

11/10/10

yep

Today I took part of a motion capturing study for pregnant women. 
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Bob saw a flyer for the study last week while we were at one of my doctor's appointments.  It paid 20 bucks an hour so I thought,  sure why not?
 I didn't really know what it was that I signed up for and I assumed it was going to be with lots of other pregnant women. Well I was wrong. Way wrong.  It was only me. Standing alone in the middle of a room while Mechanical engineering students watched my every movement. For almost 3 hours!  I just wish I would have done it with a friend so I could have had someone there to laugh with. It was hilarious and such a bizarre experience.
So if you live in the lubbock area and are over 18 and between 6 and 9 months prego you too can be apart of this study. They need 40 people and I was only the 4th one. It really wasn't as bad as I make it sound, at least you kinda know what you are getting into now.  Amiee is the girl you call if you want to sign up. Her number is (940) 453-6023
I would like to say thank you for the sweet comments on the post from earlier today. You guys are so encouraging and it made my day.

7 years

Kristen found this fantastic shirt for me last year and I have been waiting all year to wear it on this day. Who would have known that I might have needed it in a couple sizes bigger. Oh well, I will just have to save it for next November 10th.
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Click here to read the story behind the shirt.
I would like to add a disclaimer- I find humor in this shirt and in no way am I wearing it to be offensive to anyone involved in the accident with me. It's been 7 years now and I'm just trying to continue the healing process by adding a little laugh to November 10th for a change:) 

11/9/10

colors

so i said no more yarn posting, but lets be honest, i am not very good at getting off of a kick early :)
so, i found some more colors today and i put most of the colors together so you can see what options there are.  
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(orange is not pictured)
thank you everyone for your sweet encouragement and orders!!
if you email me your order, go ahead and put what colors and design you want and i will start cranking them out!!

11/8/10

when i think of a name for these things im gonna open a shop

brycie came to visit yesterday and i put her to work. we were a couple of old ladies who stayed up late watching (you can go ahead and say it with me) friday night lights and oprah and crocheted until two. you know, a dream night for 80 year olds who like watching high school football.
here are some combos we came up with to show you guys our color options
cream and navy (shown in small)
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im calling this one "harvest" (shown in medium)
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a long blue & black one that is a smidge skinnier (shown in large)
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and this one is not my fave but it shows you the purple and navy and gray (small, again)
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i have  few more colors that i am trying to crank out and i want to dye some yarn because i do not have a happy place with the green, pink or yellow that are available to me.  im going to a yarn shop tomorrow to seek out other venues.
so, if you have ordered one from me, these are your color options so far and i can do long, short, skinny, fat, multiple stripes, no stripes, solids, etc.  just let me know what you want.  i know the black and gray is a crowd pleaser, so i am always happy to do that one too. and of course acl. its a classic.  it started this whole shebang.  and when i can come up with a good name for these then i will put it out on etsy.
hope everyone had a great weekend and i promise more exciting posts that dont deal with yarn, in the near future.

11/6/10

crochet madness

a few people have contacted me about making the scarfs, so i am trying some new stuff.  this one is not that new of an idea, but i made a black and gray one for a new friend that wanted one for her mom (that just makes me so so happy.  thank yall so much for all of your sweet comments and encouragement) and then she wanted the original acl scarf.  i need a fun name for the black and gray...hmm.  ill be thinking of that...
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i sent them to her with some swedish fish, because that is my favorite candy, and i thought she might share the love.
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i also saw the cutest baby booties and made a couple for my cousin (christopher and tiff, you know, the party planners) and jennifer, who are both having girls.
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they were super fun and easy. i used this tutorial.
my other cousin andrew and his wife, abbi, just had a boy and i am not sure yet what i want my crochet boy present to be...boots, instead of  booties?  baby legs?  i dont know.  her blog is so so cute and she has made the cutest things for her baby boy, luke.  ill get back to yall on that one.
this week we had our friends shaun and julie over with their little girl katelyn who is just a doll.  they brought over the disney wii that is like american idol on the wii but with disney songs.  as much as avery loved it, i think the adults loved it more.  we knew most of the songs and it was so much fun!!
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hope everyone has a great weekend!!

11/4/10

what a weekend...

 It's Thursday and I'm still recovering from the weekend. We had a fun filled packed one with lots going on. 
We spent last Thursday and Friday in Oklahoma where Bob had an interview for residency. The interviews are usually a two day deal. They start with a dinner where the spouse comes along and then the next day is about an 8 hour process that only Bob goes to. Ella stayed with Bob's parents while we went to Oklahoma so while Bob was away all day Friday interviewing I had the day to myself in Oklahoma city. I'm a bit directionally impaired so I didn't really explore around too much on my own. We stayed in an area called bricktown that had a lot of things to walk around and see so I stayed on foot most of the day. I went to the movies by myself and just relaxed. (with popcorn and candy of course) It was so nice. 
We drove back from Oklahoma and stayed in Dallas for the rest of the weekend for Halloween. It was so fun and all the kids had a blast seeing each other! 
On Monday morning we left Ella with my parents and Bob and I flew to North Carolina for an interview in the residency program there.  It was so fun! We went to the dinner part Monday night and then Bob did the long interview part on Tuesday. I didn't mind having the day to myself in Chapel Hill, NC at all!  It is so beautiful there!  We flew back Tuesday night which ended up taking a little longer than planned. Southwest doesn't do a direct flight so we had a couple of connections along the way. During our first connection the latch on the cargo door broke so we had to switch planes. I'm kind of a nervous flyer to begin with so when you throw something like that in the mix along with a rain storm (lots of bumps) and then put being pregnant on top of it, I get a little nervous and poor Bob has to suffer though lots of arm pinching as we fly:) 
We drove back to Lubbock yesterday, went straight to a sonogram appointment (baby McKenna is doing great) and we were all in bed by 8:00 last night. What a crazy but fun weekend! 
Now I need to figure out what to make for dinner tonight...
Last week I was on a tortellini kick and made these two dishes that were delicious!
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The first one is fried tortellini. It is a recipe from the food network that actually calls for ravioli but I just changed it to tortellini. Recipe here. Then the next pic is a tortellini sausage soup that was so good! It is from the fabulous Our Best Bites blog. Recipe here.

11/2/10

lil' flappers

since we had just had a 20's theme party, we decided to keep the theme going and get the kids some flapper/gangster attire for halloween too.  we had ours on hand just in case we all wanted to dress up...that did not happen this year, unlike last, but it was just as much fun.
we met at aly and matt's and aly had done some great set up with pumpkins and "boo yall" napkins and cups.  allison made the spiders rice krispies.
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we decided to use their awesome neighborhood as our trick or treating terrain.  it was a good plan.
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we took wagons and strollers and walked to adalyn's fall festival at her school.  i mean, we had to have a little work out to work off our candified calories, right?
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then we took it to the streets for some real trick or treating.
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i think they couldnt believe this was for real-best friends, bounce houses and free candy-best holiday ever.
overall it was a fantastic evening.
hope everyone had a great sugar induced coma halloween.
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