Merry Christmas Quilt

I'm almost finished with Brad & Candy's Christmas quilt. I just need to iron the top, sew the back and have it quilted. Then I'll bind it, give it a big hug and send it off to Brad & Candy.

Since Nicke and I finished the star the block of the month quilt, I just love making stars, and Candy just happens to love stars, too - what a stroke of luck!

The next quilt on my list is a baby quilt for the Captain. I need to hurry up already, or he's going to be here before his quilt is finished! And - if I've jinxed myself, and that turns out to be the case, I'll send it to his Auntie Nicke to finish. :)

Countdown: Days Seven & Eight

Day Seven: Catch of a Lifetime

Fishing tackle box full of fish candies. How cool is that? The bright fishes are really yummy!

Day Eight: Hot Lips

Just a little sack of heart shaped junior mints and red foil wrapped heart and lip shaped chocolate candies. Candy two days in a row is a bit much, so I've decided that the gifts for the next few days have to be candy free. I think I have a serious sweet tooth going on!

Countdown: Days Five & Six

Day Five: I love you more than cookies!

I love p-nut butter blossom cookies, but for whatever reason, I never really think about making them other than around Valentine's Day. Must be like Easter and Easter eggs. I decided to go all out on the Day Five love note with this line "I love how I know for a fact that you will be better than me at changing poopie diapers." What do you think...too much romance??

Day Six: XOXOXOXO

Today's gift was six construction pencils. It's enough pencils to last 10 years, but hey, they're only 19 cents each. Since today is the Super Bowl, I hid them in the garage beer fridge. It was a pretty safe bet that he'd find them at some point today. Turned out to be around 2:00. :)

Countdown: Days Three & Four

Day Three: I Choo-Choo-Choose You! (I know - a bit silly, but it's a classic Simpsons reference. You'd have to go way, way back to the 90's to find the reference - holy cow, I'm getting old!) Although, my brother Brad could probably tell you the season and exact episode without much thought. :)

The day three gift was a ratchet set. I'm thinking that Darin has a ton of ratchetey, tool-type things, but I'm hoping they're like the girl equivalent to candles - you can never have enough!

Day Four: Bee Mine (Simpson's reference here, too!) Valentine's Day M&Ms in a fun container from Crafties. Most of the M&Ms - but certainly not all - made it into the container. Yummy!

Valentines Day Countdown: Day Two

Day Two: I'm Hooked on You!

- Krispy chocolate fish from Target

- Ribbon and heart from Joanne's

- Ooey, gooey love note written on the back of the heart

Hope I get a taste of that crispy crunchy chocolate candy fish - sounds fantastic!

Valentines Day Countdown: Day One

I l-o-v-e Valentine's Day, so this year instead of celebrating a single day, I'm planning 14-days of sweeter than sugar, lovey-dovey goodness. By the time Valentine's Day rolls around, Darin's going to be leaving honey in his footprints.

So, I spent some time over the weekend searching out 14 days worth of budget-friendly little gifts that I'm hoping Darin will enjoy. First stop - Home Depot $1 bins! Funny thing is though, this weekend they were more like $5 bins. Anyway, every time we hit Home Depot, Darin totally gets suckered into checking out all the chotskies in the bins - just like I do at Bath & Body Works! It prooved to be a good stop primarily because I actually just paid attention to all of the items as I walked down the isles, and I found a bunch of different things for $5 or less. So - here goes:

Day One: You Fit Like a Glove

- Workgloves from Home Depot

- Container from Crafties

- Ribbon and heart from Joanne's

- Sugary sweet love note written on the back of the heart. :)

New Family Member

Howie has a new roomie and dog BFF. Her name is Sage; she's a three-year old Llewellin Setter, and I think she's gorgeous. Howie, you need to visit us and bring Sage, too!