THE QUEEN OF QUIRK: celebrations

our halloween

...was so much fun! In the past we never dressed up with the kiddos but for the past couple of years we have been and it's been so much more fun! I've re-connected with my obsession with costumes and we have so much fun getting into character! :)

Lara was so proud of her Hermione costume. She really looked the part, too! Mia is either a witch or a cat every. single. year. It's too funny. And Norah...Norah is a princess. Naturally. I am a huge dork but, in my defense, I'm not as huge a dork as my husband.

It's pretty awesome to go shopping with the Swedish Chef, though. Especially as he hums and "bork"s the entire time.

I hope you had a fantastically spooky Halloween!

Posted at 06:58 AM in celebrations, family, germany, holidays, noisy chubkins | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

christmas 2010 recap :)

We got some really sweet photos during Christmas and I wanted to share them here. :)

Found Lara reading " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to her sisters. :)

Our gingerbread community.

Christmas morning

Opening the big gift from Santa.

Our first puppet show.
Since Christmas we've just been alternating between relaxing and purging this house of things we don't need. I mean...seriously. I had 3 whisks and over a dozen pans just in the kitchen. And we had enough candy in the pantry to host Halloween for a small town. So, we've been busy busy. I have a mountain of ironing to do today. :) I hope you're having a fantastic Tuesday!

Posted at 07:00 AM in celebrations, holidays | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

where does the time go?

Not only is our oldest daughter now 9 years old...I've also completely forgotten to blog about it. What kind of mommy am I?!?!

Lara actually got to have 2 birthdays this year. Since her birthday almost always falls on the long Memorial weekend, we had a small party for her with just us and then she had her first sleepover the following weekend.

Her big gift this year was a new bike. She couldn't have been happier. She zoomed around for hours that day. :)

I still can't believe my little Lara is 9 years old. :)

Posted at 07:00 AM in celebrations, family | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

33

Colin turns 33 today. :) We're having some low-key celebrations tonight with the kiddos and then on Friday night I'm taking him for a night out on the town. :)

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband. :)

Posted at 07:15 AM in celebrations, family | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

gearing up for father's day

I've seen a couple of images floating around blog land for a seriously cool Father's day gift and I knew it was the thing we had to make this year.

Tori over at js.com made this super elven kit for her husband. We are BIG TIME LOTR fans around here so I was happy to see such a geeky twist on this idea.

image from jessicasprague.com

Every Thursday is Hybrid Thursday and it is really inspiring. I just love seeing what the gals come up with!

The original idea was created by Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day! and it is absolute genius.

image from jordanferney.blogspot.com

So, being the super geek that I am, I decided to make my own nerdy version for Colin. We are big fans of Star Trek (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before!) and that was the theme we went with. It's a UFC ration box packed by 3 very special little cadets for Captain Crowley's long road ahead during the Borg war.

I know everything looks similar and it's definitely not as cool as the previous two, but it is supposed to be a ration box. I wanted it to look a bit uniform and standard issue-ish. :)

We're driving to Legoland in the morning so I'm going to sneak this into the car and we'll surprise him with it on Sunday morning.

This isn't his only gift, though. For his heroic efforts during the Borg invasion, the Klingon high council has bestowed quite an honorable gift upon Captain Crowley. Only the finest warriors are given the Boar Flagon.

Yes I know how freaky it is. What's really scary is how much Colin will love it. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Father's Day on Sunday!

Posted at 02:54 PM in celebrations, family, js.com | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

back...sorta

Well, I've been back a week now and I'm still playing catch up. I can't stand that feeling, but as soon as I'm away from the computer it's very hard for me to get back into the groove of things. I always wonder why that is. Maybe I just don't want that vacation feeling to end. :)

I had such a good time with my family, though. After I get over my initial apprehension about meeting new people I always have a blast. I got to meet my new sister-in-law who is an absolute doll. She makes me laugh and she and my brother are so in love. I am so happy for them. I got to see my parents, too, but we were all so busy that we didn't really get a chance to really be with each other. I did get to hug on them though, and that's all I needed.

I wish I had photos but I completely forgot to bring a camera with me. I know!! What kind of scrapbooker am I!??! So, I'm waiting for my brother to send me some of the wedding photos. :)

I'm also working on some stuff to sell. I've been invited to sell at a completely amazing store that I adore and is owned by one of my scrap idols. So excited. Can't wait to spill the beans on that one. :)

So, right now, I have my head ducked down trying to get as much work done and product designed as possible. Til next time, I leave you with this.

Posted at 08:03 AM in celebrations, noisy chubkins, travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

my brother's wedding

I'm heading out to Wyoming today. My little brother is getting married. Man, that is a really freaky thought. I'm sure everyone goes through this with younger siblings when they get hitched.

I just remember him as a scrawny little thing. He was so shy and quiet and I used to chase down kids who picked on him. Never mind that I was a good 8-9 years older than those kids. hee hee. Those times still make me giggle.

It's just crazy to think of that little kid growing up and becoming the man he is today.

So, I'm flying out there to spend 3.5 days with him, my parents and my brother's in-laws. I always get so nervous meeting new people. So, I have to admit I'm a bit on the edge of my proverbial seat right now. It will be so nice, though, to meet the girl he's fallen in love with.

I'll be back on the 9th. Ciao, all. :)

Posted at 11:00 AM in celebrations | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

i would...

turn 30 every day if it meant all my friends had to spoil me and wear dress up clothes. :)

I had such a lovely birthday.

Remember this post? My husband is so good to me. :)

And I had a little surprise party with some of our closest friends. They all showed up blasting "Dancing Queen", wearing kids' dress up jewelry and streamers. :) It was really sweet.

I love, though, that every year Colin makes me a cake. This year he made it from scratch (including the icing) and every last bit of it was yummy.

It was a very fun night and I'm so happy we have good friends here. It makes me less homesick. :)

Now it's back to reality as I need to get a ton of laundry done so I can pack my suitcase with something other than pj's for my brother's wedding. :)

Gotta dash!

Posted at 08:17 AM in celebrations, family | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

norah's 4th birthday

You would have thought it was Christmas around here with all the parties for Norah. One at school, one the evening of and one on Valentine's day with our guests form England. It was insane. But she loved every minute of it.

When we asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said she wanted a pink cake. That's it. No toys, no junk. Just a cake. I love that kid.

So, we had a tea party with sparkling pink apple juice, little sandwiches and tons of baked goodies. Lara's best friend, Chloe, and her mom were here with us so we had a lovely time.

The two best friends sporting their matching hats. Lara hasn't taken it off her head since Chloe left.

It was a lovely weekend and we've been working like crazy ever since. And then for some crazy reason we decided to wallpaper the living room Saturday night. Then we painted the dining room all day Sunday. And Colin only has to work a half day today so we're heading to the hardware store later to pick up the lovely blue-green paint for the living room. And then we'll finish painting the hallway as well. Yay! The main floor is finally coming together.