vacation part 4: the beach!

Our ultimate destination during the epic vacation of 2010 was Topsail, NC. We met up with 5 other couples that I met in an online group for twin moms due at the same time. We met last year, just the moms, in Hot Springs, AR, but this was the first time the husbands got to meet. We had a blast! Did a whole lot of nothing and ate and drank lots and lots. It was so nice! And did I mention there were NO KIDS?!

We stayed in this little house right on the beach.



Lots of chatting, lots of sun!









The guys decided to treat us with wonderful dinners! I'm not sure if it was out of boredom or what, but it was good!



Here we all are!


Of course, we had TONS of fun and, of course, I took pics of everyone! You can see more over HERE at the Jennifer Pinkerton Photography blog.

vacation part 2: making our way through the Carolinas

Part two of our journey involved lots of driving, but it was good driving! We went up, over and through the Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway. Such pretty mountain scenery! Our destination at this point was Charleston, SC, but along the way we stopped to meet my longtime online friend Hope and her husband before doing a little drive-by of my old house in Columbia.



We were up in the clouds!


When we stopped to visit with Hope and her hubby Carl, they took us out on their pontoon boat. It was so nice to take a moment to do something fun! We also managed to find some good Mexican food.



I took Scott by my old house in Columbia, which we lived in from about 1989-1993. I have to say, it's become kinda ghetto! It did not look good at all, but I guess that 20 years can change a place. Oh, well. The entire area had grown so much, I hardly knew where I was!



I'll leave you with a little video of the husbands going across the floating dock. Haha, I was hoping one of them would fall in! Dangit.

the cutest freaking thing on the planet!!!!!

All I can say is...HOLY CUTE!

Several months ago, I stumbled upon the work of (my now blogger friend) Venus. I think I first saw her crafting genius on flickr and later found her etsy shop Happy Find and her blog.

From the moment I saw these little necklaces, I knew I had to have one! They are tiny little pin cushions hanging from a silver heart. !!!!!LOVE!!!!! I managed to maintain my self control until they went on sale last week, but I would have paid the full price, especially now that I've seen one in person! I love, love, love it! Seriously!


And to make it even better, Venus is a packaging genius as well! She has created some tutorials on her blog for folks who might be interested. She definitely puts the PinkPooka to shame in the packaging department!

Look how cute this is...she stamps and stitches this stuff herself!





Thank you Venus! This necklace is probably my most favorite gift to myself ever! xoxo

Happy Find has the cutest pincushions and aprons as well, so be sure to check it out! You can also check out her blog for info on a giveaway that's going on!

sew, I've been a little busy...

I have a good excuse for not blogging - I have been sooooooo busy sewing! It's been great b/c I can certainly use the extra cash for decorating the house, but I haven't had time for much else lately. I've done 12 skirts and 10 aprons in the past month, plus 3 super hero capes and a zillion camera strap covers. I kept thinking I'd put some of these items in my shop, but my wonderful online friends kept me busy enough so that I didn't have to do that. :)

I'll be posting a tutorial for the skirts soon!

fifty followers (pssst....it's a giveaway!!) TIMES UP!

Really?! I have 50 followers???!! Awesome! When I started this blog, it was just to keep my family (most of whom never even check the blog) up to date on the kids and our goings-on. Early on, I posted to a group about blogging saying that one day I'd like to get to where I had 20 or so people regularly checking the blog, and that I'd like to branch out and blog about crafty stuff, tips, and cooking, etc. I've gone through periods of neglecting my blog and periods of blogging mania, but in the end, I am happy with what I've accomplished! Of course, I think I could be doing so much more, but for now it works for me!

One thing I pride myself on is never, ever, not even once, have I asked anyone to be a follower. And now I have 50! I am so humbled and grateful and promised myself that once I hit 50, I'd do something special to celebrate. Soooooooo......

I would like to GIVE AWAY one of my photographs! I've had a few for sale in my etsy shop, but no takers yet. They would make a wonderful gift or a nice little decoration for your bathroom. :)


You can choose any photo you like and I'll print it in an 8x10 for you. You can choose from the pics listed in my etsy shop or you can go browse my flickr for other shots. I have a folder of nature shots which would be a good place to start.


The GIVEAWAY will end on Sunday night, Dec. 6th at 10pm and I'll announce a winner Monday morning. Just leave me a comment...maybe mention which pic you'd like!

Thank you all so much for your support! I love blogging and sharing all the crazy things I do with you!!!

Camera Strap Cover GIVEAWAY!!!

TIME's UP!

I've just restocked my etsy shop with new camera strap covers (click on the widget to the right>>>) and am having a GIVEAWAY over at HomeSpun Threads!

While you are over there, be sure to check out her other posts. Aimee's full of great ideas! She has also started a new blog devoted to reading to children, which is truly a labor of love for her. Readers are Made on the Lap of a Parent.

Hop on over to HomeSpun Threads and enter to win! The contest ends Friday, Nov. 13th.

fun links

Just thought I'd share a couple of fun things I saw today...

Over at HomeSpun Threads Aimee made mini caramel/candied apples. They are like little caramel apple lollipops! How fun is that? I am so impressed with the idea b/c the regular sized ones take me like a week to eat, so I never make them or eat them. These are much more fun and manageable! Go check them out HERE.

One of my crafty idols, Heather Bailey is doing a fun halloween blog-a-thon with other bloggers. At the end of her posts, you can click to go to other participating blogs and they have links from their blogs to more blogs - it goes on and on! So fun! And a great way to discover new blogs. I think these are mostly food related, but I came across a great giveaway in the process. Definitely worth checking it out! Lots of yummy seasonal food goodies! You can find Heather's blog HERE.

And if you need something fun to do with the kiddos, I have a tutorial for haunted gingerbread (graham cracker) houses HERE

It's GIVEAWAY time!

Hello! The girls and I are visiting down in TX, but I wanted to let you all know about some great GIVEAWAYS that are going on!

Over at HomeSpun Threads she is hosting a giveaway until Tuesday for a gorgeous ring of your choice from Tungsten Wedding Rings.

The winner can pick any Titanium ring, any Ceramic without an inlay, or Tungsten ring with a value up to $120!

Head over to HomeSpun Threads and check it out before it ends!

AND

Over at The Maternal Lens we are giving away some super cute custom bottlecap magnets! They are all the rage on fashionable fridges these days! They also make great gifts for family and teachers!

saying goodbye

FYI - we've moved!! We made it to Nebraska, alive and well.

Last week we said our good-byes to our friends in Peoria. The kids had play-dates will all of their little friends and we made the most of those last few days with them.

The church was our surrogate family and, conveniently, vacation Bible school took place during our final week in town so we were able to spend quality time with our loved ones there. It's always an exciting time for the kids, and the twins were especially excited to participate for the first time.


The last night of VBS, the kids put on a program for the parents. Ellen was the "good one" as usual, but Phoebe stole the show in true drama queen fashion. Sarah was the old pro, belting those songs out!(you can click the pics to see them larger)

Despite crummy weather, we spent lots of time at the park with our friends. (Sorry I didn't get pics of everyone!) This is Tommy, one of Sarah's BFF's. It's funny to think they've known each other almost all their lives...


The twins think he is the coolest thing since Sponge-Bob!

{T} has new baby twin siblings and Ellen thinks they belong to her! I think she's still convinced she's moving to their house instead of Nebraska.


Here are the girls with their other BFF's, {K} & {E}.


I'm still tickled that when I used to babysit {E}, people would ask if Sarah and {E} were twins. It's even funnier now that I really have twins!


Before we left, we even had a nice grown up's night out playing miniature golf with our friends Freda and Chad. We love all of you guys and will miss you tons!

And finally, we said good-bye to our first house. We moved in when I was pregnant with Sarah, not knowing anyone within an 8 hour drive. We built our life there and brought our babies home to it, which will always make it a special place. We loved it, but are excited to move onto bigger and better things. :)