Story Book Land

Welcome to Story Book Land! After a day or so of rain and wind, we were lucky to be able to head up to SBL on a very nice evening. We only go once a year and the little girls are still young enough to like the place. Sarah went along to enjoy a few rides and Mom was looking forward to all of the lights!!! I love this place because it's small and cute and very organized and clean!


So we arrived at 4:35!

And we met up with my friend Alice and two of her children! We rode the train first! And the lights came on just as we were pulling out of the station!



Next we rode the monster trucks! Brooklyn drove me!

After a potty break, we headed over to the roller coaster. Brooklyn opted out as did dh and myself!!!
Can you see them???
Then we walked thru Alice in Wonderland....see the cute bunnies?


Then we checked out Snow White and the 7 dwarfs!
Then the balloon rides. Brooklyn didn't want to spin but the others just laughed and laughed on this ride!


Then we headed over to the carousel! I opted out...too spinny for me!



Then we checked out the trains inside of this building!

And the Reason for the Season.....Baby Jesus! I quizzed the kids on who everyone was...they all passed!!!!
By now, two hours had passed and we decided to get going before the kids got too overly tired. It was a school night afterall! A few last pics....here at the north pole...it was really made of ice!
And by the big tree...

And of course Mother Goose!
Then we headed out by the Gingerbread coffee and treat shop!
I just wanted to thank Alice for coming along and bringing yummy pretzels too! It was a fun night and I think the kids enjoyed the fun!

*******************************************************************************
And then we were hit with more wind and rain! Seriously. So today, Saturday, I got up and finished sewing an outfit for tomorrow's Breakfast with Santa. We found out about half way through the day that the Christmas Parade scheduled for the evening is being changed to Sunday. So that left me with cleaning and laundry! Ack!

I got the girls busy with an art project and got started on my chores.....

So check this out...how embarrassing. I went to take the sheets off the girls' bed to wash them and look what a disaster their room is...stuff everywhere!!!!!!


So I took some before and after pics. I organized their shelves and drawers and put everything away. Made the bed with clean sheets and set out their stuff for tomorrow. What a job! Even my hubby helped for a little while. I took out a whole trash bag of stuff! Now its ready for vacuuming and dusting and decorating for Christmas:


***************************************************************************

And here are their outfits for tomorrow. I made a Precious dress (Carla's pattern) with fabric I bought from a friend (thanks again Shannon!). I added a candy cane that is removable (made of felt) and put a red long sleeve tee underneath. The other outfit is Carla's Peasant top and easy fit pants (you can kinda see them behind the top).
Confession...it's from last year but I made it big so it still fits. I don't think they wore the top more than a few hours last Christmas!

So there you go!!! I started updating my trip report with day 2. CLICK HERE.
Will post more tomorrow between activities!!! And I have a bunch of cleaning to do and labs to grade. Boy the weekend is going by too fast!!! Be back soon with more updates. Have a great weekend!!!

Graham Cracker Houses!

I had an enchanting afternoon! I was invited by my daughter, Devon, to go to her school to decorate... you guessed it....gingerbread houses. Actually they were graham cracker houses with a milk carton under-structure! It was a blast to watch Devon put her house together!

Here she is putting on the icing...

Then doing the crackers and colored icing:

And look at all of these yummy decorations!!! I felt like I was in the game Candyland!!

About halfway done...working on the walkway and yard..

Finishing touches...

Still decorating...most of the kids were done at this point but we were having so much fun we kept going!

All Finished!!!

A picture with her teacher!!! (hmm... just ignore that icing on Devon's shirt...lol)

All happiness and joy!!! Doesn't that face just warm your heart??

A quick picture with mom...

Since it was almost the end of the day, I brought both kiddos with me so I wouldn't have to go wait for the bus and I picked up Sarah too!

Fun poses leaving school... it was a bit chilly out today but sunny for a change!

And the best part of all....getting home and eating it!!!! LOL!!!

Happy Decorating! Be back soon with pics of our next event!!!! Stay tuned!

A quick update!

Hello! Just a quick update before I get back to sewing and grading papers! I updated the trip report with our first Magic Kingdom Day! Now the whole thing is posted! Here's the link Trip Report and I learned how to do these finally!



So my latest sewing creation is the SisBoom and Scientific Seamstress collaboration of a line of baby clothes...so adorable! And its reversible! I tested this out and only Carla could make something so complicated so SIMPLE. Just follow along and its done before you know it! It's appropriately called the Sis Boom Baby Bubble! Buy here! Don't you just LOVE this fabric?






And finally, Jennifer Paganelli is hosting an Open House...her home is just amazing! Here is a little video about her holiday sale coming up! She is soooo creative and fabulous thinking of such original ideas for Christmas decorating! Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving meal! I just want to thank my family and friends for all of the special memories! I am blessed and thankful for so much!!!


We had a simple meal for Thanksgiving...it was just us this year. Devon made a table for her stuffie friends...Cowy even got a Thanksgiving sweater to wear!
Setting the table...I went and found fabric scraps...lol. I also cleaned off the fridge...there were about 5297297 things posted all over it!!
The kids at school who are taking the "flower shop" class made this centerpiece! It was supposed to have yellow flowers not white. Darn. Oh well...it brightened the table anyways.
The girls made Turkey napkin rings. I love kid-made stuff!
Desserts are ready!
We watched football and ate snacks for lunch....
All junk food! and the kids were amazed they were allowed to eat OUTSIDE of the kitchen!
Every year we have the kids point at the turkey before we carve it!
Just in case you missed it the first time! Darn about that blank wall. I have a quilt for it...started it...gotta finish it...hopefully by Christmas!
Everyone ready to eat????
After thanksgiving prayers everyone read their "What I am thankful for" lists...so sweet!
We all took a break for a few hours and came back for the yummy desserts!
Making faces! LOL
**********************************************************************************

Have a wonderful weekend! Tomorrow is Black Friday! Don't spend all your money in one place!!! We are keeping the holidays low key this year...instead we have a calender filled with fun inexpensive family things to do. Don't worry...you'll get to see and hear all about it!

P. S.
Oh and just a little bit about my sweet Sarah...she did a great job this past quarter at school...she is such a hard worker! I made her a cake to celebrate the other day!

*****************************************************************************

I am taking all orders for Christmas pj pants....I can make adults and children's in any length. Let me know since I am getting fabric (flannel) for them this weekend. ;) I will post about my latest sewing projects and I think tonight I will dig out my poor quilt and see if I can figure out where I left off last Feb....ahhh!

Getting Ready for the Holidays!

I added this pic in....forgot it originally!!!

Hello Everyone!
After our trip I feel like I am out of sync with the sudden change into the holidays. For those of you waiting for a trip report update...I will be doing that today after I clean. Gotta get the sick germs out of this house for good. Had a very stressful week but this weekend has been so relaxing! Yesterday we hung out with our friends and went to Lime Ricky's Christmas Party and then we went into Cape May to the Physick Estate Christmas Tree Lighting and house tour. Kind of touresty (I know...not a real word) things to do but fun and it is definitely helping me get into the spirit of things!

The boardwalk was empty..and the beach has recovered after a 4-day Norester!
Edmund has bunny ears...wrong holiday...whopps!
They had lots of good eats at the party!
Desiree put a dollar in the nearest machine and beginner's luck...she hit the jackpot! 1000 tickets and a chance at the wheel!
It took forever to get all of the tickets!!!
We chanted...lucky, lucky, lucky!
Getting more quarters from daddy!
Sarah won a special drawing and was able to pick out a card in Santa's special mailbox!
Here we are with the manager Chris....what did she win????
Believe it or not....she won a TomTom GPS!!!! I was so excited! Now I can wrap it up and give it to Edmund for Christmas!!! LOL!
They had a tree and everything!
Later, Sarah had to wear the Lime Ricky suit and sing a Christmas carol in the microphone!
She sang Santa Clause is Coming To Town!
Winning tickets and spinning the wheel...everyone say Lucky Lucky Lucky!

Then all of the sudden...Santa Clause arrived with plush for everyone!!!!

One last hug from Brooklyn. Of course, Devon would have no parts of the guy in the red suit. I don't blame her...Santa still scares me! LOL!
Now, I left the camera home for the second part of the evening because it was dark out and there is no photography allowed in the Physick Estate home. But it was a perfect evening. The moon was a crescent, the stars were out....it was mild. The trees were lit with lots of lights and there were carolers and hot chocolate and Christmas cookies. Mr and Mrs Clause came. There was no line to see Mrs. Clause so the girls talked to her for a while! It was the perfect evening!
*****************************************************************************

So now its time to get ready for Thanksgiving! We are so blessed and I have so much to be thankful for!!! I hope everyone has a great week and Happy Thanksgiving!!!
.

Guess What????

Disney Here We Come!!!!




Yep...you guessed right....I started the trip report...its just the introductions and all...nothing earth shattering but once one starts a trip report, they HAVE to finish even if no one reads it!!! Nothing more annoying than an abandoned trip report...lol

So here is the link....bookmark it!!!

TRIP REPORT ON DISBOARDS _ CLICK HERE!!!

Thanks everyone!!!

And Leanne...we need to get together Sunday!!! ;)

We are home!!!

Hello everyone!!! Greetings from the Tree of Life!!!!

Disney was awesome!!!!! We arrived home at 8 pm Sunday night! We had a great flight home but I literally have had no time until tonight to even think about updating the blog! In short, I must say we all had a wonderful vacation. I really hope my family and extended family and friends all enjoyed themselves!!!! It was so great meeting so many people while in Disney!!! And Tour Guide Mike was right on about everything!!! I only took about 550 pics but I also made sure to get lots of photopass pics (taken by Disney photographers). Also my wonderful friends, Leanne and Marlo, (and my sister in laws too) also took a bunch of pics so hopefully between all of us, I will have enough to retell the tale!!! I should be getting the photopass cd week or two. I spent about 5 or 6 hours editing and adding borders and such to those.

So this is what I was thinking about doing. I would post a few pics here on the blog and direct you to my official trip report which I will probably do over on the Dis boards. This blog is not very picture/user friendly. And so for such a big job as a trip report, I think it would be faster for me to use the old Disboards. Is that ok? I am hoping to update each weekend but don't hold me to it!!!!

By the way, can you tell in the pic I am wearing a belt??? My friend Marlo made it for me and it's fabulous!!! Thanks again Marlo!!!! This weekend I am also busy testing a new pattern coming out....so exciting! And did you know that Carla released a new pants pattern for adults??? Here's her blog link: http://scientificseamstress.blogspot.com/2009/11/easy-fits-for-everyone.html I plan on picking up some flannel and making Christmas pj's with this awesome pattern. So cool!

OK thats all for tonight! Duty calls! So, I am off to deal with Brookie who has an ear infection again I think. Thank goodness for Urgent Care!!!