what a weekend!

I think I am still recovering from our whirlwind of a weekend! Steph and Kyle arrived on Friday from Portland while I was in DeWitt attending an adoption party. It is official, my step-sister has two new kids and I have two new members in my family- welcome Makayla and Ayden!!
Friday night we hosted our first Karaoke party after purchasing the American Idol Karaoke game. Jeremy and I really cannot sing but we love a good competition and that's exactly what this game is all about. Singing for points and humiliating yourself along the way. We had 14 singers on Friday night. Two of them walked away as Karaoke Champions!

Here is a photo of the winners: Left Kris Miller (no relation) and right Megan Matthews (no relation to the other Megan Mathews)

So Saturday night we attended Roller derby in Cedar Rapids. We killed the Chicago Team we played. They couldn't even skate, let alone score... it was great to watch.There was even a small fist fight... Stephanie and discussed our dreams of being on the roller derby team that will never happen. She claims she is not fast enough on wheels. I know that is true for me but my real problem is my fear of knocking out more teeth! yikes!!! Check out Roller derby here... they play again in August if anyone is interested in going with us next time.

It gets even better on Sunday- I know you are thinking what can beat getting a new niece and nephew combined with karaoke and a chocolate fondue fountain (oh yeah, we had that at the party too) and roller derby.... where are we off to on Sunday at 9:30 am???


No, not the rodeo... but good guess! We went tubing on the Wapsi River all day with a cooler of beer, rum and cokes, Oreos and trail mix, and not enough sun screen (for my poor knees)
What a blast we had floating down the river, tipping each other over and maneuvering around trees and rocks occasionally. We ended the evening with pizza and Harry Potter to get geared up for the new one which I believe comes out tonight!!!!!!

Thanks Steph and Kyle for coming to visit and bringing your fabulous sister and brother-in-law along. LOL to you!!!

LACMA

When we were in California in June, we went to the
LA County Museum of Art
Outside the museum, was this fabulous installation of plastic containers.
If you are ever in LA, I recommend checking out this museum!

These light up at night and were amazing!

Workers were draping this cloth on the building as we entered.
Next to the museum is the La Brea Tar Pits another great place to visit!

Violet

We had a little celebration of Violet's great life on Friday with
specials doggie truffles and cookies

We put Violet to sleep on Friday afternoon. Our vet came over on his way home and we buried her in the back yard. I am very sad but relieved that she will no longer be suffering. I am going to look for some old pictures of her this week to share.
In 2001, Jeremy and I adopted her at the no-kill shelter in Washington, IA where I taught 4-6 art at Lincoln Upper Elementary School. She had been hit by a car and did not look good. Our heart went out to her immediately and we decided to adopt her rather than a puppy like we had originally intended. She lived with us for eight wonderful years before she developed bone cancer.

Good-Bye Brenda

I have spent the last month working with the director Brenda Currin who founded What Girls Know, a theater company for adolescent girls. We have been working together at the Iowa Juvenile Home In Toledo, IA. Wednesday we performed our play with the girls. It was such an amazing experience.
Brenda leaves tomorrow to go home to NYC! We will miss her. The pictures below are of the progressive dinner we held for her in Mount Vernon.

The Lovely Violet

Violet has been diagnosed with cancer and will not be with us much longer. She has had ten wonderful years on this planet, eight of those with us. Here she is enjoying the warm sunshine this week as I weeded the garden.

Guess who's famous?

My very own cousin Laurie- that's who!!
Check her out here, she's in this month's issue of Martha Stewart Wedding magazine.
Congratulations cuz!

marissa and sophie sleep over

My nieces came for a visit this weekend and we went for a hike in Palisades State Park which is about a mile from our house.

Sophie and Marissa enjoyed working in my studio in little sketch books I bought them. Here are a few of my favorite pages they made.



Sophie brought over a friend for Dottie but she did not seem thrilled by this.

what have I been up to for the last few months??

Here are a few snap shots from May and June... to tide you over as I sort through a year of events! Thank God for iPhoto!

Chalk the Walk.....
Kirsten and I created a chalk piece about the upcoming Mount Vernon Community Theater musical " A Funny Thing happened on the Way to the Forum".
Sophie came to help us!


Jason and I took a quick trip to NYC to celebrate our birthdays and the fact that I made it through this crazy year! We had way too much fun there.

We went to California to visit Jeremy's family, here is a sweet picture of our darling niece and nephew.



Joy ( my sister-in-law) is a photographer in California did a fabulous photo shoot of us.

Here is her link to see more of her fabulous photos! I will post more later on this week.

so it's been a while...

I know, there is really no excuse for a year long break from blogging. I guess switching careers and going back to school was harder on me then I anticipated.
Good news though, I am committed to blogging again. I have made a pact with my friend, and mentor Rachel to blog and require our students to blog and collect research on blogging. It will be great. But for now I will post a few catch up photos and enjoy summer!
LOL Wendy

lazy Days...

Check out these comfy kitties....

look at those hands!

LOOK - Jeremy's healed! Just kidding! This was taken two days before the surgery... but it was so sweet I thought I would share it (in memory of Jeremy's hands..) He is actually doing quite well. He drove the car to work today!

Carpal Tunnel

Jeremy and I will be laying low this weekend as he recovers from Carpal Tunnel surgery in both hands. He is doing really well considering how little he can use his hands right now. Hope he recovers quick since school starts Monday for him! I know that sounds crazy but after he was diagnosed with it late this summer, there just didn't seem like a good time to do it so.... he just got it over with! I mean frisbee golf season was ending soon anyways!!!

Mom's Birthday!

Today is my mom's Birthday! Happy Birthday MOM! Here are some photos of the gifts I made her. I love making things for my mom. She has so many interests and loves all things handmade!
Below is a set of cards I made her of photos of the Lake house. After that is a needle wallet that I made her from great fabric from Home Ec Workshop. Kirsten was so kind to help me figure out how to make it. We had so much fun making one for my mom, we made one each for ourselves! My mom is very crafty too. She just finished a yo-yo quilt. I am hoping she will send me a picture of it so I can post it. It is beautiful.



I took a pillow class at Home Ec too. I made a pillow I am quite proud of. Why haven't I posted it yet? Well- it is going to be a gift for some lucky person!!!!

Martini anyone???

I met up with my sister, my mom, and and my three aunts this week for lunch at Graze, a fairly new restaurant in our area. It had a fabulous assortment of martinis to choose from. We all just had to try one! Surprisingly, the one I picked came out bubbling and smoking..... you can see it above. It is called the Valentini and I highly recommend trying it!




A little toast to my mom's birthday and that we were all able to get together!
Summer is ending quickly for me and my new job and graduate school will soon be starting. It has been such a nice relaxing summer, I am thankful I have gotten to spend so much of it with my family and friends! The kittens had their little operations this week. They are doing OK. Mabel has a little cough from the anaesthesia and is taking antibiotics.

Guess who wore the lamp shade last night?

We had some friends over for dinner last night and Roosevelt drank too much! I won't say for sure, but I think he overheard our conversation that he and Mabel will both be having surgeries this Thursday.
I guess it was one last drink to his manhood!

Zucchini Fest 2008

We grew 14 zucchini and yellow squash last week and were a bit overwhelmed with what to do with it all. You can only eat so much zucchini bread and zucchini stir-fry. Jeremy and I looked up 10 recipes and got busy one afternoon ( creating what we now refer to Zucchini Fest 2008).
Here are a few recipes we enjoyed:

Lemon Zuccini Bread

Zucchini Cornbread Casserole

Gnocchi in Pesto Sauce

What a mess!

We made 6 different recipes in one afternoon to share with company and for the weekend at the Lake house! We froze some for later dinners and all were delicious!

my new Mac

I got a new MacBook this summer to start my new job.  I have really been enjoying playing with the photo booth and iphoto editing features. Here are a few fun ones!!!

Great Garden goodness!