.gran-MA.

The Koch gals and Gramma Marcial went to get our nails done today….we go to the same place (LA Nails and Spa on Gage Blvd across from Costco) for about 4 or 5 years now. I like the familiarity and they do a great job! We’ve become “friends” with the nail techs…I’ve ordered pizza over the phone for them, helped explain their daughter’s report card for them, and gave them advice about when to take their daughter out of school to go visit family.

Their son, Tom, has grown up in the nail salon, from being in his exasaucer , to toddling around, to now playing his DS and shooting “guns.”

and he LOVES “Gran-MA”. Loves her. L.O.V.E. LOVES her.
If she doesn’t come with us, they all ask, “where’s Gran-MA?”

He thinks her hair is something amazing and wants to touch it…and says, “What’s that?!”

Today we went in there and he barely left Grandma’s side.
He sat on her lap while she got her nails done…

and while her nails dried.

 

So funny! 
He gives her a BIG hug and barely will let go!

She just loves it – and it makes the nail experience more fun!

.disaster strikes again.

I went down to the craft room on Thursday night and found water on the floor and rain coming from the ceiling.

This is where it was coming from. I quickly got towels to put on the floor, tried to take a bunch of stuff out, saved some fabric that had gotten wet, and called my Dad to figure out where to turn off the water.

 

This ceiling tile was ready to burst at any second, so I moved everything away from under it and placed buckets under it for when the inevitable happened.

 

These drawers were full of water…there was water EVERYWHERE!

My Mom called the insurance company on Friday morning and by Friday afternoon, restoration experts were here and a plumber came to fix the problem. There was a malfunction in a piece of the pipe coming from my Dad’s bathroom.

The water leak was above a wall separating the craft room from the main area of the basement, so there was water damage on both sides of the wall plus in our freezer room. The restoration company cleared everything out along the wall (including 2 sets of shelves and 2 desks)  and in the main area so they could pull the carpet back. They moved it all into the living room area of the basement. When I went down there yesterday morning, this is what it looked like:

 

 

Mom and I spent 3-4 hours on Saturday purging and cleaning out a bunch of this stuff. It had needed to be done for a LONG time. We took a pickup load to the garbage and have a load to take to Goodwill today. It feels really good to finally have that done. There is still much to be done before we can move back into the craft room. Part of the drywall has to be replaced, for one. We’re planning to get some new shelves at IKEA that I’ve been wanting for a while, so that part is exciting!

Today, I’m going to pack up my sewing machine and bring it upstairs for a while. And look around Pinterest for craft room organization…time for some inspiration since we get to change it up a bit! :)

.st patrick’s day.

Last night was our Beta St. Patrick’s Day party! We had yummy food, fun games, and lots of laughs, as usual!

Melissa and Amy

This picture is so funny! Melissa was taking a self-portrait of her, Mom, & Amy…Maren jumped in the back and Kate surprised them in the front! Mom’s face is priceless!

 

Kate and I

 

Karlye was invited to join Beta and the party was her first event. I think she had fun and she fit right in!
Melissa, Marcie, Mom, and Karlye

 

Maren likes to join in as an honorary Koch girl, so we let her jump in the picture! :)

 

Fun night – thanks Jess for starting this fun tradition!

.my favorite tool.

I was reminded tonight as I sewed the binding onto a quilt (that I just picked up from the quilter this afternoon – love seeing what kind of magic she’s worked!), how much I love this tool.

I have had a difficult time with my binding since I started quilting. I saw this tool when I was online shopping and decided to give it a try.

It has changed my {quilting} life. I’m not even kidding.

It took watching and re-watching a YouTube video before I figured out, but now it works like a charm….every single time.

I can’t bind without it!

Just had to share the love. It’s on sale here: http://www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/browse_item_details.asp?Store_Id=499&Page_Id=23&Item_Id=55246 this month.

Run. Don’t Walk.
Thank me later. :)

.craft room helpers.

These two came and wanted to sit on my lap while I was trying to sew!

 

They were not very helpful, but so darn cute!

Bunkbeds! :) Coco loves to invade Samson’s space…look how much he loves it! The look on his face says it all.

 

.10 on 10.

Time for another 10 on 10…have you noticed, this is one regularly scheduled post I’ve managed to keep up with three months in a row now? Applause Applause!

Here we go!

1. Loving time with Kamryn right now…she is so funny! She was here the other night and was spinning spinning spinning to keep herself awake. She was loving rocking in the little Kamryn-sized rocking chair my Mom has…singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and rocking so she could see her reflection in the glass on the entertainment center. She’s into high fives, pounding it, and exploding (in that order). She even did it to Samson! She is demanding…”sit” “hugs” “piano.” Who can resist?!

These pictures are from before they left for Europe. They got a backpack for her, which should have kept her busy for hours with the multiple buckles!

I love this picture of her!

 

Kate got her a little book of flash cards with a letter from the alphabet along with a picture of an animal that starts with that letter, then the animal’s name in English and Spanish. The funniest one that she can recite is “newt.” Seriously, what 23 month old knows the word “newt?!” Last weekend, she was identifying the newt and I asked her who she was voting for for President…”NEWT!” haha….

2. It was a sad sad day last week when I noticed I’d blown a hole in my favorite gray TOMS. I wear those a couple times a week and they were my most comfortable shoes EVER! And I’m picky about shoes! I quickly ordered a new pair and they arrived on Thursday.  Hallelujah!

3. The class I’m an advisor for at the high school sponsored a MORP dance last night. Instead of having formal pictures, we had these casual, fun pictures. These are two of the fun groups of couples!

4. I went to Spokane today with Amy, Jessica, and Fran! It was a lot of fun to be with them today and shop for kids clothes, get lunch at The Onion, go to Nordstrom, and get pedicures! The most fun was the trip there and back….those girls can make me laugh!

5. This week is the Reading and Writing HSPE at school….I seriously cannot believe it is March and already time for that. I really cannot believe it! The countdown for Spring Break is on and I’m already thinking about being at Priest Lake in a few months!

6. My Mom & I went to a student production at Richland High School last week called “And Then They Came For Me.” It was a drama production about that Holocaust…the student actors interacted with documentary film. It was really thought provoking and very well done. I read the book that it was based on in one day…and my Mom went to see it again last night with Bonnie. I think the theater productions Tri-Cities schools produce are amazing!

7. Random likes this months:
Song: He’s Mine by Rodney Atkins and Over You by Miranda Lambert
TV Show: Smash & GCB
Nail Polish: Designer…De Better by OPI (I’ve been wearing it for 4 months at least!)

8. I’m pretty excited that flip flop weather is so close…I wore them out of the house for the first time in 2012 yesterday. It was a little cold, but it won’t be long before that’s all I wear!

9. Lamb Weston has been making garlic fries this week. I think it’s terribly unfair that they don’t provide free samples along the roadside or at least a drive through! They smell delicious!

10. I’ve been working on finishing a lot of quilts lately….but I’ve almost made it through my quilt top box…which means I have free range to start new ones! Good thing because I’ve got a bunch to complete! Stay tuned…as if you have a choice!

(That was incredibly pathetic….why don’t you send me some ideas of things I can include on my 10 on 10?!)

.pint sized.

Here’s another quilt that I completed at Priest Lake last summer!! There is just one quilt left to complete from last summer!

This quilt is from the Pint Sized pattern by Thimble Blossoms.

It is made from a Simple Abundance honey bun.

 

Jelly Filled is my very favorite quilt pattern ever. This is the mini version of it! I think it was meant for a baby, but these colors don’t really say “baby” to me.

 

I think my Mom has claimed it for a lap quilt.

 

I love the back. :)

I quilted straight lines 1/4” from the seams going both directions. I just love straight lines!

 

YAY! To another completed quilt!

.wip wednesdays.

Here’s what I’ve been working on…

Another “I saw it on Pinterest” – blah blah blah. :)

Here’s the link to the website: http://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/cutting-corners/2011/08/16/gather-love-baby-quilt-pattern/

 

I love the gathered block in the middle – so fun! And, the tutorial shows an easy (and fun!) way to gather fabric.

I used up some more of my Bliss & Ruby scraps on this quilt…I can’t wait to see how it comes together!

.recipes from pinterest.

This past week, I made two recipes that I found on Pinterest.

The first one was this Oreo Layer Dessert. This picture doesn’t do it justice, but the picture on the blogpost with the recipes does!

http://mycupcakejourney.blogspot.com/2011/06/oreo-layer-dessert.html

It was really easy to make and was soooooo delicious! I want some right now! (Good thing there are two pieces left in the fridge!)

I also made these Nutella No-Bake cookies.

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-no-bake-160655

 

My version didn’t set up like they’re supposed to. They were quite runny when I was plopping them (is that a word?!), but comments I read on the blog said not to put in extra oatmeal even though you’ll want to. So I followed those instructions and was left with too-soft cookies.

They taste darn good though! I’d like to try them with a combo of oatmeal and rice krispies. I think that would be yummy! 

.a few of my favorite things.

Last night at Beta, Kate & I led the program. We asked everyone to pick a favorite item that sells for $6 or under…and then bring five of those items. When everyone got here, we had them write their names on five slips of paper.
We went around the room and everyone had a chance to share what they brought, why it’s their favorite, and where they can buy it. They then drew five names and those five lucky ladies each received one of the items!
I think everyone had a lot of fun – I know I did!

Here’s what everyone brought…

Maren brought Paparazzi jewelry…

 

Amy brought bracelets…

 

Kate (and Kamryn) brought strawberries and dipping chocolate…

  

I brought The Body Shop’s Coconut Body Butter…

 

Kara brought chocolate chip cookies and the recipe…

Jennifer brought ice cream…

 

Amy brought Bailey’s Irish Cream and hot chocolate packets…

 

Melissa brought Naked Berry Blast juice…

Martha brought Scentsy…

 

Mom brought Starbucks cards and her favorite pen…

 

She made such cute gift card holders, I had to share:

Jessica brought Neutrogena Lip Balm…

Jeanne brought yarn and a crochet hook…

 

Eileen brought note pads….

 

Donna brought scrapbooking supplies…

 

Sharon brought note pads too!

 

Kamryn got to come to Beta too! She kept us entertained all night long, as usual. She loved Samson last night, more than usual. Perhaps it was because he was wearing his sweatshirt and more mellow than usual. She kept getting down on Samson’s level to give him kisses. So cute!

 

After the program and meeting were over, Kate & Kamryn stayed to hang out. Melissa was giving her hosey rides…and then Kamryn was trying to ride Samson and said “Giddyup!”

 

I love that girl!

Such a fun Beta evening! I can’t wait to do a favorite things program again!