Ocean Beach Pier

Click on pictures to enlarge
Emily & Ava with their Cousin Bird (Jon's niece) and Aunt Jessica (Jon's sister, Bird's mom) at the Ocean Beach Pier.

Below is Bird and her friend Jennifer.

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I forgot to post about these little memo pads I had made months and months ago. They are from artscow.com

I had them made when they were having a $1.99 each including shipping sale. The only crap part is they aren't sticky and I had some made with photos of the girls and if you don't get the transparency just right your photo can be so washed out on the pad that you can barely see it.

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See what this car is called?

I would want it except it looks like a short bus.

Emily the other day on the way to school.

I tried to squeeze in some sewing between cleaning but only got a little done.

I can find time to blog and cruise the Internet though.

San Diego Zoo

I got my hair cut and colored with highlights while in the states! Do you know how long it has been since I've had my hair done in a nice salon and paid lotso $$ for it? 7 years! I had it done (almost just like this) the week before I moved here. My friend Mary H had been cutting my hair for a couple of years now but since we're moving I decided to get it done in the states and then I'll go to a salon in Schweinfurt for upkeep...hopefully...I'm kind of lazy when it comes to my hair..

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Sorry if the photo is kind of creepy. I don't really like photos of people looking at the camera, kind of creeps me out (doesn't apply to all pictures of people's faces, just some) but I wanted to show my new do! I made it small so as not to scare:) This was taken the day it was done at my parents house.
I want I want I want!! I think though it would be better to buy it than make it. I'd only want to use wool felt and a big piece would be about $32 at a childsdream.com and it would only be 36"x36". This sells for $49 at Landofnod.com and the diameter is 48".

I LOVE these!

I so wish I had a cricuit or we had larger alphabet die cuts at the store.

This is so cute!
*all the above from landofnod.com

The World Famous San Diego Zoo.

I just wanted to say that.

hippo

grumpy looking hippo

Emily, my parents neighbor and my nephew Jevin at the Zoo.

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I wanted to show the chicken pot pies I made the other night. I finally used these weird shallow dishes I have had for years. They are perfect for pot pies becasue you get more crust and less filling! Below are the tiny ones I made. They are only about a 1 cup size. I froze these for later. And you know what made these all so good? No vegetables!!!!! I bought the wrong kind so oops! I couldn't use them. Awww, too bad.

Tschüß when you leave not when you enter

I'm writting this post only becasue it hit me today that I only have 3 weeks left in Stuttgart before we move to Schweinfurt (above). Stuttgart is all I know, meaning it feels like home and like I've been here forever not just 7 years. I'm scared and most of all I'm sad about leaving my friends. I currently have some people in my life who mean so much to me. Friends who are irreplaceable. Who have inspired me and make me happy and I love them to death. I had better stop before I start crying!

*embroidery from badbird on etsy
I have only been cleaning and getting rid of stuff so the crafting has been small. I've nothing to show...except some stuff I bought and some inspiration. I got the above and below embroidery pattern for my airplane ride home but sadly I was just so tired and worn out from Ava that I didn't do one bit of embroidery the whole 3 weeks.

*embroidery from polkaandbloom

I want these portraits below baaad. Except they would be of me, Jon, Emily & Ava. But I'm not so sure about one of Jon. He shaves his head. I can't imagine it looking good. All you would see is skin. I'm laughing just imagining it!

*Custom Silhouette Prints by ellothere on etsy

How cool is this soap?!

*soap from hellocrafty on etsy


I sooo wish I could wear headbands. Not only do they give me headaches but this particular kind (stretchy) won't stay on my head. I just don't have a big enough bump at the base of my skull to hold them on. I'm guessing that's why. This is so cute. I hope I can get Emily or Ava to wear headbands.

* headband from lindsayharmony on etsy

This shirt screams Nicolas Allen!! And Emily.

*shirt from rockrivertees on etsy
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Tschüss means "bye" in German. When I first got here, Jenny B was my first friend. She has 3 kids and her youngest would say Tschuss when we'd leave a store. I kept thinking she was just making a weird sound (like kids do) but it turns out it's really a word! Can you say Ra-Tard? But in my defense I had just moved to Germany! It reminds of this one time on Friends...when someone (who Kelly? Christina Appelgate, Rachels sister?) thought someone else was just making a weird sound when that person was actually saying Phoebe. Something like that. Does anyone remember that episode?Or did non of that makes sense?

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And just to clear up what my post title means (becasue i haven't already written enough and bored everyone to death) it has to do with my brother-in-law Steve. When he visited in 2008, we was saying tschüss when he'd enter a store. We didn't know he was doing this until we saw it once. It was so freaking funny telling him that you say it when you leave not as a greeting. It's like walking in to a store and saying to everyone "bye!". He said, "oh, that's why I was getting funny looks!". It can still make me laugh.
Anyone else experiance a language Faux pas that's either embarrasing or funny?

Disney California and Misc.

Finally posting my Disneyland photos.

In front of Disney. From left to right is:

Ava, Jon, Steve the Fire Fighter and my brother-in-law, Emily, My sister Julia the Teacher, my nephew Jevin, his dad and my brother Jeff the Sky Diver and me.

Above photos: Ava in front of It's a Small World, Julia, Steve Jeff and Jevin in the front row of the ride called The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (I cannot believe I went on this. All it was was free fall in an elevator shaft over and over again) Emily & Ava with Jessie and soldiers, me and Emily and Steve and Jevin on Autopia, and a bugs life ride.
Steve and EMily on another bugs life ride, Jeff, me and Jon on the Matterhorn, me and Emily on It's a Small World, Emily & Ava getting soaked, Jeff, Julia & Steve on the Matterhorn, Emily.
Emily chillin and asleep, the Matterhorn again, and again, Emily & Ava meet a fairy, me & Jon.

A slightly different pose in front of Disneyland, Princess Tiana and Emily, Julia and Emily on It's a Small World, Matterhorn again, Nemo Submarine Ride, and once again the Matterhorn.

Adorable Ava giving Emily the stink eye because Emily wanted to sit on "her" bench.

I had to take a picture of this bag at Disneyland because it looks just like the Frenchy Bag by Amy Butler! Almost like it..

My beautiful sister and Ava:)

We ate there 5 times. Really.

I'm dreaming about pretzel bun chili cheese dogs...sigh..

Ava after a crying fit. She's passed out!
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This video is not really that interesting except for the fact that Jon insults me at the end. He tells everyone to look at the Canadian Mountie (or what ever it is) because it has "mama's chompers". So not funny!
We're in "It's a Small World"..after all..in case it's not obvious.

We had such a good time at Disneyland although it was HOT. I owe that good time to my sister and her husband. They watched our girls so we could go on big people rides. Jon and I LOVE roller coasters (just not free falls) so that was huge that they did that for us. We want to go to Paris Disney but it would be a waste unless we went with someone like them. Anyone game? Julia, you've got about 2 years to come over here and go with us.

1st day of school and show and tell

Emily had her 1st day of kindergarten this past wednesday. She was SO excited!
She calls the school cafeteria "the restaurant".

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Now on to some stuff I got while in San Diego!

I'm so excited to share my awesome finds!
This ginormous alligator from Z gallerie.He got his very own suitcase for the ride back (nothing fancy, just a duffel bag). He's almost 6 ft long and the girls love him.

I found this picture (click on link then scroll down through the pictures of Z Gallerie till you see the alligator) of it in the store.

I got several of these while home. I LOVE these. Does anyone else? I had been dreaming about these for years!! Now that I have a picture of the wrapper I can have family mail them to me. If you've not had one let me describe...it's a pastry pocket with chocolate pudding inside. They also come with fruit inside but who likes those?! These have 470 calories each. I don't care.
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Converse Star Players for kids!!!!

I'm so in love with these shoes! If you know our family you know we all have and love converse! I own 3 pair of this style (Star Player) and had no idea they made them for kids! I found them at Disneyland of all places. At kitson. Zappos has them though.
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I fell in love with Vans all over again but this time for the girls.

I got them both a pair.

How stinkin cute are these???
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Next up is the coolest little lamp ever! I actually got two lamps but the other is in the mail. It's this lamp and it matches the girls Pottery Barn Kids Brooke bedding perfect! Both lamps are from Target. I love target...I think I went there about 6 times while on vacation. I hit up almost every location in and around San Diego. Anyway, the mushroom lamp is a rechargeable night light. You just barely have to tap the top and the light goes on or off and it's made of a silicon material.

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My sister-in-law had the clock below that projects the time onto the ceiling or wall. I've seen them before and always wanted one so when Jon saw it and got all excited about it, we went and got ourselves one. I love this thing.
*that's the ceiling you see below. I only have to turn over on my back to see the time. Genius.

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The last thing is this travel scale with measuring tape. It's not new, in fact I've had it for many years now but this particular trip it really saved us. I bought so much fabric and other bulky heavy stuff that I needed to know BEFORE I got to the airport whether my bags were over weight and for one suitcase, whether it was too big measurement-wise (the duffle bag with alligator). I've even weighed boxes with this.

I highly recommend this if you come back from trips with more than you went with. The morning we flew, Jon and I had all 4 suitcases lined up and we weighed them them moved stuff around to make each suitcase under 50lbs.

I can't show the fabric I bought because it's being shipped.
I got lots of knits, swiss dots, plaids and some stretch cotton to make pajama shorts for me. I also got a bunch of new patterns. Emily got some new school clothes and they both got lots of toys. They each got a Sea World barbie. This one and this one.

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It's good to be home here in Germany although I actually miss the weather in San Diego and I'm shocked I just said that:)

Pink Bricks

Quilt is Another Brick in the Wall from Carolina Patchworks. Started 4 months ago and finally quilted right before we left for San Diego. I didn't get a photo of it quilted but it is hanging in the store for a while so you can see it there.

It's about Twin size. I started out following the pattern (in terms of how the rows are arranged) but towards the end I was so tired of this quilt I just threw them together. You can't tell though.

Fabrics are all random from my stash. These are not scraps! I own at least a 1/4 of a yard of these fabrics. Sad, huh? Jon's worried about how much my fabric will weigh when we move. Because you know we are only allotted 11 thousand pounds! or something like that.

I will post again when I have bound the edges. I will definitely post when I bind it becasue you have to see the backing!

La Jolla Shores & Mt. Soledad

A lot of pictures from La Jolla Shores Beach.

My sister & Emily
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My parents below


My brother-in-law Fire Fighter Steve and my Cousin jevin

Emily LOVED the water but Ava did not!

All of the above were taken with my sister's underwater 35mm camera.

Aren't they cool??

I altered the color although they didn't need it.
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A tribute to my father on Mt. Soledad (La Jolla) - A way to recognize veterans. It's a beautiful location overlooking San Diego Bay, the pacific and the city itself. We are very proud of him:)

We're having fun and I have lots of pictures to prove it!