Christmas presents that I made

I was busy getting ready for Christmas, but I couldn't post these until the girls got them. And we had a delayed Christmas yesterday, so that everyone could be here.

I made clothes for the fancy Nancy dolls that I gave a couple of years ago, or rather pajamas and a robe.
Three different sets.

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2.

3.

Then, I found leggings and shoes at Walmart, and added t-shirts to complete the outfits.

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3.

Then, Cordelia wanted a doll bed.  Boy, those things are expensive!  Even on Amazon, for the American Girl sized dolls.  So I found instructions on the internet, and this is what Grandpa and I came up with.  He made the trundle bed and painted it, then I painted on the decorations, made the mattresses and pillows and quilts.

Turned out quite nice I thought.

Isis didn't have a skirt made out of this tinkerbell material, and I had a pair of purple clogs, so I finished it off with a pink peasant top.

Then Luna wanted a Disney Princess doll, and they were reasonable.  (I mean, American Girl dolls are expensive, and Fancy Nancy was discontinued a couple of years ago, so they are also expensive now).

I got her a Belle doll (they are toddler versions of the princesses) and are smaller than the Nancy dolls.  There are also NO. PATTERNS. for making these doll clothes.  I had to adjust the 15' baby doll patterns to fit.  Hopefully, by next Christmas that problem will be remedied.  So this is what I cam up with:

t-shirt and pants:

A dress cut down from the 18' doll patterns, and the sunglasses, straw bag, and hat are accessories for the 18" dolls that I found at Walmart, but they fit just fine.

And pajamas from the baby doll pattern:

So, the 4 girls now have some fashionable doll clothes, and I'm done until next year.
Or maybe I'm just done!

September 29, 2013 Misc

Another month almost gone, and I didn't post but once.

So here's some pictures I took to post, and never got around to.  The flowers a couple of weeks ago.  The sunflowers are gone, I've chopped down the stems, and what heads that were left with seeds on them are on the ground for the squirrels and the small birds.

Petunias:

We took the kids to feed the ducks one weekend.  We've gotten smarter, and now I have a 50 pound sack of cracked corn in the garage to feed to the birds.   Much better for them than the stale bread.

Molly being stylish--she had a new beret from the Army Surplus Store, and her cowboy boots on.  Sometimes I really love their choices!

The trees in the morning as the sun rises.  I like the way the sun hits the tops, making them glow and the way the glow progresses as the sun comes up more.  This is a sweet time for photographs because the light is so good, and gives everything a golden glow. 

Even the horses!

I had planned to post pictures of our trip to Castlewood Canyon today.  I thought the trees would be turning and it would be pretty.  This was a major park visit fail.

The dogs haven't been walked since sometime in February.  They were very bad.  Gnarly pulled out of his collar and took off.  Rosie tried to take off, but I managed to hold on to her.....barely.  She was freaking out because Gnarly was gone!

As I was trying to get Rosie back into the truck so I could help Clyde chase Gnarly, I overheard several people coming up the trail talking about this big Newfoundland that looked just like a bear!  Well, I knew that Clyde and Gnarly were still in the park!

I finally got Rosie to jump into the truck, and I shut her in and took off after Gnarly.  They were back up by the visitor center. 

Clyde yelled to me to get the truck.  Oops, Clyde had the keys, so he dropped them in the road for me to come and get, and continued on after Gnarly, who was now heading east towards the entrance to the park and Highway 83.

I snagged the keys and ran back to the truck.  No easy feat on the uneven terrain with the cactus scattered all around!.  Got the truck, and headed to the entrance.  Gnarly recognized the truck, and stopped as I pulled up next to him and got out.

Poor Clyde wasn't very far behind, he came up and put the collar and leash on Gnarly and guess what?
Gnarly was ready to go for a ride!

Needless to say, Clyde and I were huffing and puffing, so the trip ended then.  No pictures, no walk.  Just Gnarly merrily leading us on a chase thru the park!

I'm calling a dog trainer tomorrow and we're starting lessons.

August 31, 2013 ZOO Day!

Grandma scored a win today at the zoo.  Got up at 6:30, and saw that this was the first day of the balloon fest.  No competition at the zoo today!  Plus it was Saturday, and they open for members only at 8 am.  So we would have an hour with the zoo almost to ourselves.  So.........I woke Grandpa and the kids, and announced "We're going to the zoo today!"

And I was right.  The place was deserted.  And the animals were moving around.

Following is pretty picture intensive.  The flowers were still blooming.

We saw a pea hen with her baby......

The bamboo was growing.....

The plane beside the black rhino exhibit.  Jumbe, the rhino has only made it out to his display pen a couple of times.  He is very shy.  We watched the two attendents try to coax him with food, but alas, he heard a motorcycle, and turned and went back inside!

The meerkat sentry.  I called "here kitty, kitty" and he turned and looked at me!

The zoo is populated with life size sculptures of the animals, and the kids really enjoy playing on them.  Here Gabe is sitting on the baby elephant's head while Connell plays monkey with the tusks.

This elephant has ears that flap, and you can talk for him....they like this one too!

Here is a realistic statue of an elephant walking out of the plants at the elephant exhibit.  It is actually a part of the fence, and he seems to really be walking out.

Molly and Connell sitting on a leopard....

Molly by herself..

The wallabies were out, and very friendly.  We could get really close to them, and a zookeeper brought out a couple of babies.

Petting the Wallaby.

The mountain lions were out and about.  Usually, by mid-day it is hot and they are all asleep.  Not this morning.  We even saw one growl and hiss at another one.  Big surprise for the kids, they actually are cats!

Molly....

Connell....

One of the lowland gorillas clutching it's food.  They had just been fed, and were all grabbing up their food and making off with it.  They were definitely not in a sharing mood!

Gabe in the airplane.  This is one of those things that you can play in, and it's right over the rhino exhibit.

Had a really good visit!  And after, they all spent their allowance money in the gift shop, the highlight of their trip!

August 27, 2013 White

Today's word is "white" and what is whiter than clouds, especially here in Colorado in August?

This is an everyday occurrence in Colorado during the monsoon season in August.  The sky starts the day a brilliant blue, and cloudless.  Around noon, the clouds start to build to the west and move eastward all afternoon.

On a day like today, they are light, fluffy and white--no rain.

The only thing whiter is the new fallen snow on a sunny day in winter!!

August 26, 2013 Refreshing

Back to the word for the day, something I have completely missed for the last couple of months!

Today's (Monday) word is "refreshing", and after a long hot day, this margarita does fit the bill!

 When we got to 3 Margaritas, Clyde went to back into the parking space.  It's a really narrow parking lot, only 2 rows of parking separated by a drive.  We back into the row across from the restaurant so that we didn't have to back out of a spot, we could just pull forward when we left.  But there was someone coming, so Clyde backed in quickly.

Me:  Uh, Clyde, you missed the parking space.

Clyde:  I know, I'll fix it after this guy goes thru.

Pulls out, and repositions the truck and backs up.

Me:  Uh, Clyde, you're on top of the line on this side.

Clyde:  Ok

And he pulls forward, moves over some and backs up.

BAM!!

Me: Uh, Clyde, you hit the fence behind us.

Clyde pulls forward a little,  gets out of the truck, goes to look at the damage, and promptly drops his phone.....

Me:  Uh, Clyde, you dropped your phone.

Clyde:  I KNOW!!

I think he was glad to get inside and get himself a margarita.  The evening went a lot better after that!

August 25, 2013 Surprise

Today was Brandi's baby shower.

 I have been working on this quilt for about 6 weeks now, and I just finished it at 11am today.

 The shower was at 2pm so I had time to spare!

Brandi with her new baby quilt.  Good thing she's having a girl!

What isn't shown in the pictures, is that the backing is a very bright yellow.  I really like bright colors, and for kids, it's a must.

August 13, 2013 Above, in between, and below

This is what we see above us every morning.  By mid afternoon, it's become darker and covers the sky.  Then it rains.  Again.

Gabe rode Squirt again today.  And, Robert let him help work cattle so that Blinky could get some cutting practice in.   Mostly, Gabe just pushed the cows back into the herd, or turned them so Blinky could follow them and keep them cut.  (If you've ever ridden a cutting horse on cows you will understand what I just said, if not, don't worry about it.)

Here Gabe is warming up Squirt.  He loped him for a long time before we started on the cows.  That was good, because one of the cows was a runner, and when Gabe went to push it back into the herd from the other end of the arena, it took off.  Being the cowhorse that he is, Squirt took off also.  I have to hand it to Gabe, he stayed on and managed to stop Squirt.  But, boy, were his eyes big!

 

Here is Rosie trying to get Lily to play.  Lily is Rosie's mom, and she wasn't having anything to do with the playing.

Now for the below.  I took pictures of our flowers for you.  The pansies are doing great.  We have two boxes of these, and they grow so well.

We planted marigolds in a pot and in the bottom of the sunflower garden.  The ones in the garden are doing great, the ones in the pot not so much.

The sunflowers are growing just great, like they do every year.  We even have volunteers growing in the driveway from seeds that fell last year.  And, yes, I've let them continue to grow there even tho I pulled out all the weeds.  They look so cool!

And this plant (oats, I believe) is growing in the bed of the truck again this year.  We take our garden with us when we go places.  I don't know anyone else who does!!