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!

summer fun!

We got an old air hockey table for the summer and have put it to good use!  Everyone wants to come over and play.  We have had several drunken double tournaments.

Jeremy's sister Anna became quite skilled in the game as long as she remembered to keep her other hand off the table!
Mabel and Roosevelt love the air hockey table as well!  It  can be difficult to get through a game without a kitten landing on the table.

We have spent a lot of time with Anna.  Here is her first trip to the Iowa City public library.  We had a great time. Afterwards it was off to pizza at the Airliner and then last a splashfest at the fountain in the Ped Mall.  She loved it!

Happy Summer!!!!!

Nieces and Nephews....

Here are some sweet shots of my nieces and nephews this summer. Starting from the top is little Elaina a sleep at the Arts Festival and below is big brother Mitchell looking especially tough ! Below him is Celsie intently watching her daddy put on a roof at Grandma's house and last are Sophie and Marissa after their dance recital. Wow... summer is going by so fast!

check out these great pictures!

This just popped up outside of Mount Vernon last week.

I found these great monkeys in Rockford IL, home of the Rockport Socks which sock monkeys are made from!