Computer Got Soaped, Died and is in the Hospital

Kasey got on the countertop Tuesday and took the liquid dishwashing soap and poured it all over my new laptop. Yes, the one I got in February. So Mark took it all apart and tried to get the soap out, but it wouldn't come back on. So I took it to my favorite computer shop and they are looking at it for me. I hope it can be salvaged. Most of my stuff was backed up except for about a month of Kasey's pictures and videos.

I am so upset you can't even image.

So here was my original posting when I got my computer. I was so proud of it.

Followup From Mark's Gall Bladder Posting

Well, I posted a while back that Mark was having gall bladder problems and after a lot of medical tests, gall bladder, pancreas, EKG, stress test, Mark self-diagnosed himself. He thought he had been drinking too much of the sugar-free Koolaide with the artificial sweetener in it. We had bought the Wal-Mart stuff and I would make a pitcher at night and he would drink most of it the next day. That's when most of his chest pains and sleepless nights started. So he quit drinking the diet sodas and the sugar-free Koolaide. Now he feels great, no chest pains and has been sleeping good at night.

I don't have any trouble with that stuff. I guess some people's metabolism isn't the same and it affects them differently.

Interesting Blog Information

I found this information on a site about mistakes that Bloggers make. One that annoys me is the music on the site. I like music but I just think it's really annoying and then I can never find a way to turn it off quick enough.

Well, I got my keyboard from Dell and replaced it. Wasn't too hard to do, took 2 screws off the bottom, then took the top part off the laptop where the on off button is at, then slipped the keyboard off and replaced it. The P key works now! Yeah.

I sure haven't done much sewing lately. I've just been too lazy and it is so nice outside, we have just been playing outside all the time.

Kasey spent the day with Grandma today while Daddy was helping Grandpa side their house. I would call over there to see how they were doing and Kasey would kiss the phone. It was so sweet.

Back Porch "Take Two" and "P" Key Quit!!!

Well, I was going to show this "Take Two" of the Play Center Back Porch, but as I was trying to update on my new Dell laptop, the "P" key quit working!! Can you believe that? So I had to call Dell and request a new keyboard. It should be here Wednesday and then I will replace it! It's really simple to do and Dell always has really good step-by-step instructions. I think Mark did something today to it, but he said he didn't!! He was trying to do a search for some medicine he takes and it started with P so he couldn't look it up. I guess we can copy and paste the P in any time we want to use it, but what a cumbersome thing to do!

Well, here's "Take Two" on the play center back porch. Mark went to Lowe's and got a big rope and tied it on the awning of the porch and hung the tire swing on it. Then he laid out all the puzzle floor mats. I think it all looks so nice. The floor mats will only make it one season, but they will help Kasey cushion when he falls. Kasey is really enjoying the sand box too.

We rode scooters out to some friends house tonight, Stephanie and Doyle, and went to eat at a little restaurant out in the country. I need to take some scooter pictures and some scenery that we see during our ride. It's really pretty. Next time we go out, I'll take my camera with me. Stephanie has been reading my blog but she hasn't started one of her own. I'm hoping that she will leave a comment for me sometime! Stephanie has a scooter too.

I am going to ride the scooter to work next week and log my mileage and gas down and see how much it cost me. The scooter gets about 80 miles to a gallon. I probably ride it a little too hard, so might not get that good.

Our economic stimulus check

So what did you spend your Economic Stimulus check on? We got $1500. We've been looking around for a play center for Kasey and just can't find anything we like. We didn't really want to spend the full amount on that (I like to spend a little on what I want... HA!). We couldn't find anything less than $500 for what we wanted to get. So we decided to build something off our back porch. You never see anyone doing that, but we tend to do things different than anyone else anyway!

We went to Lowe's and they had a 10 foot slide, it was about $160.00. The one they had out had scratches on it and wasn't really aesthetically pleasing. The lady said she could discount it, so we were thinking about $20 less. She said she would take $86.00 for it! Woohoo! So we bought it and then we bought a rock climbing wall.

Mark took the slats out on the porch and we put both there. We also have a little swing on the porch too for Kasey. Here's a picture of Connor and Kasey playing.

I thought it turned out really good. Kasey loves it. We put a mat down at the bottom so he lands on that. He's really not using the rock climbing wall yet. We'll have to keep an eye on him, of course, so that he doesn't try to jump off the rock wall....

Here was Kasey helping Daddy put the rock wall together. He would put the screws in the holes. He seems to be really mechanically inclined. Just wait until he learns how to use the drill!

Last Night's Camping Adventure

We had fun camping last night. I didn't make it all night though. The tent we had came from my dad, he bought it at an auction or somewhere, so when you get something from my dad, you never know if it is going to work or not! (Disclaimer to my Dad when he reads this: we love the tent, so keep all the free stuff coming....)

Well, the tent poles that hold the rain flap up on the top of the tent were all broke. Dad had another tent, but we didn't want to go over there and get those poles. So last night, because that flap didn't have the poles in it, they flapped and flapped every time the wind blew. It was really annoying. So I couldn't make it, I had to go back in the house and sleep in my nice quiet cushy bed. I do like sleeping when it's real cool out though. We'll get the poles from Dad and try again. If not, I looked them up on Coleman's web site, they are only $15.00 to replace, so that's really cheap for a free tent! Plus it's a 8 person tent and those are anywhere from $100-$180. We got a pretty good deal on our tent.

Kasey really had a good time sleeping in the tent. He had never slept with all of us like that before. Our nephew Connor came over too. I think he had a good time too. He is 10 and had never slept in a tent before outside. Nicky was going to sleep with us too, but she had a friend who wanted to hang out with her, so ditched us for her friend. She said that NOTHING will stop her from tenting with us next time except family emergency... Ah.. teenagers...

We are Camping Tonight

Well, we have decided to go camping outside tonight in our backyard. Here's an overview picture of the tent and Mark's fire he started. We're going to roast some marshmallows and make s'mores. This is the first time we have taken Kasey camping, so we thought it might be best to camp in the backyard first so we could go back in the house if we want to. It should be a cool night for sleeping too.

Here's Kasey and Daddy sitting next to the fire.


I'll report more in the morning about how the night went.

Miranda Bag Almost Finished

I worked Sunday evening on my Miranda Bag. I got everything done but the flap and the handles. I am not sure when I will get them done, probably this weekend. I know this picture makes it look crooked, but it's really not.. I really like how it looks and it WAS really pretty easy to put together. I did sew one thing wrong and had to rip it out, but it wasn't too bad.

This is the inside, I don't have anything to put in the bottom yet, so I put my 6 X 12 ruler in there and it worked pretty good. I have some heavy plastic that was used for a yard sign, I think I will use that for a while until it falls apart! I had a hard time with the interfacing when I ironed it on the liner, because the liner puckered up. I tried just pressing down on it without going back and forth and it seemed to do the same thing, so I am not sure what I did wrong. The only interfacing I had was the kind with the grid lines on it, but I would think that would be ok.

I'll post the finished picture once I get it done. I am going to make one for my mom too for a late Mother's Day gift, so I think I'll do a lot better on it.

All Mark could say was "Are these cheaper than the ones you buy?" Ha!! I just said, it doesn't really matter, I will still want to buy purses......

Saturday's Mother Day Surprise

Mark had a surprise trip planned for today for Mother's Day. We went to Springfield (which is about 50 miles away), ate at Galloway Station and made a personalized Pottery item from FireHouse Pottery with Kasey's hand print on it. We were going to ride bikes, but it ended up being a cold and rainy day. But we had a great time anyway. I got some good shots too!

Kasey was ready to go, he had never seen the bikes on the jeep before. He hurt his hand on something on the bikes and wanted Mommy to kiss it. Wouldn't it be so sweet if I could kiss all of his hurts away? Life would be so simple!

This is at the FireHouse Pottery, we painted a little pencil box, it's a purple color with black specs, once they fire it, the purple will be really bright. Here it just looks white, but it was actually a light purple. We painted Kasey's hand black and then put it on the front. He was so good, they were impressed with what a good hand print we got.
Here's the pencil box. We put Kasey's name on the back of it and Nicky's name.
While Nicky and I were painting, Kasey wanted to play outside in the rain. So he and Daddy had to stand outside and play. When I went out to get them to get Kasey's hand print, Kasey was running around with a green water bucket. Nicky took this picture, he had the cutest look on his face. He's cutting a couple of teeth and seems to be having a lot of saliva right now (which is why his sweatshirt is really wet.. )
We stopped at Sequoia Park and fed the ducks and geese some left over popcorn. They ate right out of Mark's hand.
Kasey tried to get them to eat out of his too. One of them hissed at him and he just looked at them like they were crazy and threw the popcorn at them. He was really funny.
Then here are the kids sleeping in the backseat coming home. It was a long day for them!

Well, that's it for today. Happy Mother's Day everyone! Happy Mother's Day Mom! You are the best and I am lucky to have you in my life and Kasey to have you for a Grandma!!!

Kelly

Early Mother's Day

When I got home from work today, Kasey met me at the door and wanted me to pay attention to him and he kept dragging me toward the kitchen. He wanted me to see the surprise he and Daddy got me. I had a cake, 12 pack of Diet Coke and flowers. Kasey put a couple of his stuffed animals on the table for me.

The card said

"Mom, this Mother's Day card is from both of us,

One Card, Twice the Love, Half the Cost! Happy Mother's Day".

I thought that was cute. Kasey couldn't wait to get into the cake.

They have another surprise for me on Saturday. Not sure what it is, but we are going somewhere. I think it's probably a bike ride somewhere, but we will see. I will probably guess it before we go, which always makes Mark mad, because he has a hard time surprising me. Course he usually says something to give it away.

Kelly

Miranda Bag Pattern Here and Fabric Purchased

My Miranda Bag pattern arrived. So I found some fabric at a quilt store today. It's XOXOXO, The Cat by Wendy Slotboom for In The Beginning Fabrics.

I am going to make the body of the bag out of the black flower print, then the green will be the bottom. The light dot fabric is going to be the inside lining and the pink is the pockets inside. The handles will be longer handles made out of the green. I am really excited to get started on it. The pattern looks really complicated, but Lazy Girl Designs has pictures of everything, so it should be fairly simple.

Kelly

More Prom Pictures

Here is everyone that was in Nicky's group. All the girls were really pretty. We took pictures for about 40 minutes, they were all sick of smiling!

Here's Nicky and Kasey. He kept his shirt clean for pictures, but right after this, he started playing next to the pond and got dirt all over his shirt. Typical boy.

Here they are getting in their limo. They were packed in like sardines! This car came from a local funeral home......

Getting Ready For Prom

Today is Prom! So the first thing that happened was Nicky got her hair done. Here's the front picture.

View from the back. Our hairstylist, Lori put glitter in her hair, not sure it shows up but it really looks good up close.
Here she is putting on makeup. Nicky and I are both Bare Escentuals fans. Between the two of us (and my mom, who's a fan too) we have a ton of colors. Nicky's dress is plum (picture to follow) and she used a light lavender on her eyes as liner.
Here she is in her "going out to dinner" dress.

So at 3:00, we're heading to take pictures of her and her friends. I'll have some pictures to post after that. Then they are heading to Springfield to go out to eat. After that, they come back to town, dress up in their finery and head to the prom. It's a big deal to walk into prom, we'll watch that this evening and take pictures. Then after prom, they go to "after prom", which is a big, non alcohol party sponsored by the parents and a lot of the community supports. The purpose is to keep kids at a location where they are safe. They have a ton of giveaways for the kids to entice them to go.

We're hoping Kasey does pretty good tonight. This evening may be hard for him because it will be after his bedtime when they walk into prom. I'm hoping he doesn't get too upset and tired.

Free Rice to Hungry People

www.freerice.com

We donated rice today to feed hungry people in the world, it's through the UN World Food Program. It was fun just to see how well you could pick the answers to the questions. I bet my Grandpa Bob would like this. (Post what your vocabulary score was on here!)

Nicky is the one that showed me the site. She donated 8,000 grains of rice one time. Not sure how much rice that really is, maybe a bowl full?

Blog Giveaway

Well, I have been reading quilting blogs for a while and it seems that people are always winning stuff or giving stuff away. It is so fun to see what they win. One of my favorites that I read is ~CowGirlQuilter~. She lives out in the country in a beautiful spot in Kentucky and has 2 boys. She is a great poster and was the very first blog I ever read, I'm not even sure how I even found her blog. So I read for a while and then thought I would try it, so I could say she was my inspiration. She's posted her 300th posting on her blog and is giving some quilt stuff away. She wants you to post a comment on her site and then post a link on your site back to her site. I think I will give something away on my 100th posting. Maybe some of my holiday plastic cups. Ha! Just kidding.

One thing about blogging is that I love to read what people are doing. I have about 30 I read all the time and subscribe to bloglines.com which shows me what posting each person makes as an unread post. So it doesn't take that long to read. It is so much fun to read what people are working on in quilts, what they have done and what their family is doing. I really like Kristie's site the best because she has such a great heart and is really funny.