Mike's made it to Primm...

So, the cars are there...now it's up to me to get the drivers to their cars!! I have a few last minute items to pack and then one last set of eight measley hours (while Nick and A.J. are at school tomorrow) of real PEACE and QUIET - time to myself, doing last minute stuff before we get on a plane tomorrow afternoon.
I took a little time today to finish up on a few items that I've started. I received a package of stamps from Stamping Bella and I have to confess that I immediately thought of Terri when I saw the Cosmobella...had to do a little gift set for her. Wanna see?

Then...I needed a little Thank You for our vet for all the things that she does for us... Wanna see?

So...I finished these a little while ago but did I get any of them mailed - NOPE!! But they're DONE for next year!! AH-HA!!

AND lastly...but my least favorite - - not sure why, but the card in my brain didn't translate so well in reality!! Oh dear!!

(I didn't realize how BLURRY that photo was...it looks a little better that way!!)
Well...the two FINAL pairs of dancers are on the Dancing With The Stars. I'm looking forward to the end of this show - I have a "love/hate" relationship with it...I love the last few shows but the getting up to that point seems to take FOREVER and I don't invest that kind of time into a t.v. show - unless it's ER!! Will post from Nevada! Keep those fingers crossed for the boys to have a great weekend!!
~ Susan

I'm finally getting around to sharing on my blog today!!

I've been shampooing carpets and getting back into creating things for friends and family - call it a hiatus, took some time off, just plain busy, busy. Mike's been out of town for over a week now...he's in Arizona working - (or so he wants us to believe!!) He worked for a couple of hours on Saturday before calling it a day and going to a big boat race!! Man, heavy intensive labor!! He's expected home for Thanksgiving and then it's off to Primm, Nevada for the boys' final race of the year. I'm supposed to be getting a bunch of stuff done for that but I uh...just can't find the motivation today!!

We've attended a couple of birthday parties in the past two weekends and I have a few photos to share... November 10th - Justin Francis' birthday party:


Then on the 17th - Keaton Westhoff's birthday party at the Family Fun Plex in Longmont.

Nothing like a day of swimming in the middle of NOVEMBER!!
So on to Thanksgiving!! Mike finally comes home only to share that he has to go back and finish the job! UGH!
We leave for Primm, Nevada in just a few days for the boys final race of the season.
AND - - - we get to hang out with the Stanley's again!! The Stanley's make our boys' race cars. Wish us luck!!

More to come!! We'll keep you posted!!

OOPS...I forgot to post the "INSPIRATION" boots - sorry!!

Pammie - Yes!! We made those boot from Sculpey - but the "base" was a product called Rigid Wrap - way cool stuff. It's basically gauze with dry plaster and you dip pre-cut strips into warm water and layer it - allow to dry and you end up with a cast!! I decided that this is going to be HUGE for me in the future...lots of craft ideas ran through my brain when I was working with it. I need to add, in reading the instructions for the Rigid Wrap I gotta tell you...they've totally covered any possible law suit - their directions for making a mask for someone's face is so HILARIOUS!! SO...here's the "original" boots I replicated for the costume - - >>

LOTS!! To share...

I've got a few requests so let's see if we can cover them ALL!! First, I've had a request to share just how I made the "Dragon" boots for Nick's Gene Simmons' costume - I just gotta add here that I. HAVE. NO. IDEA. HOW. I'LL. TOP. THIS. COSTUME. EVER!! But we have these photos for the memories and well...who knows what "our" imagination will come up with...
Step-by-step boots in the making:


Secondly, my calendar for this year - it's time to get on the next one - - hope this inspires someone!!


...the photos on the December page are totally blowing my mind!! We're going back to that exact same place in just a few weeks for the Primm, Nevada race!! I can hardly believe that since the photos posted in last year's calendar...these two spoiled boys are in not just TWO brand new cars BUT FOUR!! OYE!! I need sleep. I'm overwhelmed from looking at this little blast from our past...we've had one heckuva great year!!

November has arrived!!

I'm soooo happy to have Halloween DONE!! I get all excited but the lack of sleep in working late into the night on two costumes for the boys to wear only a couple of times...it's enough to kill a girl!! I have to start by saying that with the two boys - one is a festive, "really get into it" kinda kid and the other (A.J.) he's just in it for the candy and would probably be happy wearing an orange t-shirt that says "This Is My Costume - Fork Over The Candy" - hmmmmmmm...next year, maybe??

So, I went all out and bought A.J. the works for a Pirate Captain costume. I stayed up late and sewed him a really nice Captain's jacket with trim and pleats in a fancy velveteen fabric and we got the eye patch, beard, mustache, spirit gum to put the facial hair on his face, etc., etc., etc. He refused to have anything on his face including the eye patch and well...I got him to wear the costume. Don't get me wrong - he made a fabulous looking kid in a pirate's costume. Nick, on the other hand, WAS GENE SIMMONS!! He really enjoyed the make-up, black nail polish, fancy boots, leather vest, spiked collar and bracelet, and he really worked the hair! Everywhere we went - school, trick-or-treating in the Antelope Hills subdivision, at the racetrack in Pueblo...Nick gained FANS!! At school, all of the kids flocked him when he walked in and he ate up all the attention. He made the rounds by shouting out his friends' names, the moms and dads, past and present teachers...he wanted for everyone to see!! When we took them out for trick-or-treating...both boys filled their treat bags (Mike and I ride along in the Expedition and let them go from house to house) and Nick came up to the truck and said, "I need to empty out some of this candy...there's a few houses I still need to go." A.J. (to my utter SHOCK) said, "Mom, I have enough candy. Can I wait in the car?" Nick continued on to a few more houses and we had them bathed and in bed by 8:15. Nick had a school assignment where he had to calculate the number of different types of candy he'd collected for a math project. So, you wanna see photos???