Happy [belated] Halloween!

I am still sorting through all my Quilt Market photos, so I thought I'd post my Halloween pics so there wouldn't be such an empty lull on the blog. Oh, and I also owe you all the 2nd sneak peek of my book. It's all coming this week, I promise. But for now... here is our little freak show...

Sydney was a Fairy Devil or Devil Fairy (it fit her personality oh so well!)



Sophie was Ginny Weasley (Harry Potter's girlfriend)



Jon and I went as The Walking Dead...



I even spent a few minutes playing with Photoshop to create this nifty screen saver for Jon. It fooled a few into thinking it was real! mwa-ha-ha-haaaaa



If you want to use the above photo as your screen-saver, just click on the image, which will take you to Flickr, and download the largest size.

Summertime

... and the living is easy.

You know you've been slacking on your social media when out of town relatives start asking what's going on because you haven't updated the blog in weeks! Ooops, sorry, everyone! But you know how it is... kids out of school, work, work and more work, then some fun stuff mixed in here and there.

This Summer we've decided not to enroll the girls in a Summer camp, so they've just been spending a lot of QT at MODKID HQ. It's not as bad as it sounds, though. Jon built them a little playroom in the back. It has books, a flat screen TV, a Wii game console with a ton of games and an art table. They go back & forth between reading, drawing and playing most of the day. Then at 3 p.m. every day (weather permitting) we go for a walk around the center square and visit all of our downtown neighbor stores. They've all gotten to know the girls quite well! ;) We usually end up coming back with some sort of trinket... or a smoothie!

Then every once in a while, we take little day trips here & there to break up the monotony...















On the work front, I do have some fun announcements coming up, but have just been waiting to tie some loose ends before I can reveal everything. So stay tuned, everyone! And have a fantastic Summer!!!

Another hairy situation

A couple of years ago, our sweet Sophie donated more than half of her beautiful red hair to Locks of Love, a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss. Well, this weekend she decided to do it again and we couldn't be any more proud of her! Here's a little step-by-step documentation of the process.

One last look at her long locks...





Sophie's hairdresser, Brooke, had to divide her hair into two pigtails because it was too thick to cut through one...



And so it begins...



Chop, chop, chop one side...





Chop, chop, chop the other side...



DONE!



Now, getting ready for a sweet, new, more "grown-up" do...







Mission accomplished!



Thanks, Brooke, you did a fantastic job and Sophie is so, so happy with her new hair! :)



Sophie's locks of love are currently in a zip lock bag and ready to go out to a new recipient tomorrow. :) Happy Sunday, all!

Blizzard 2011

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who voted in last week's poll. Your feedback is very much appreciated and I simply cannot wait to put all these findings to work. Our next pattern release is already well under way and I'm happy to report that a lot of your requests are already being addressed, but in the following one we hope to get to the rest of the requests. This is all so fun! (a lot of work, but tons of fun!)

Well, I don't know about you, but Jon and I have been spending A LOT of quality time with our kids this week. Unless you've been living under a rock (and believe me, sometimes I feel that way) you most likely have heard all about the BLIZZARD OF THE CENTURY! We totally predicted it was going to disappoint, but believe you me, it lived up to all that hype. We picked up the kids from school Monday afternoon and already the snow was coming down by the bucketfuls and the wind gusts were out of this world. All I can say is that I was extremely thankful for our brand new tires and for a hubby that can take command of the road like nobody's business (this tropical girl would've crashed into someone in no time!)

This was the view from the passenger seat on the way to school that Monday afternoon...



The next 3 days were spent here at home doing some mega cooking, mega baking, mega dancing, mega Wii playing and lots of mega sleeping. Oh and crossing our fingers that the power would stay on so we could do all of the above, well, except the mega sleeping.

After a major case of cabin fever I insisted we go outside and brave the circumstances today but I was pleasantly surprised when we saw clear skies and the sun shining brightly through the snow covered branches... it was the calm after the storm.

The girls immediately wanted to climb this mega snowdrift in front of our house. This thing is taller than me!! (yes, I know, bring on the short jokes.)



Queens of the mountain!



Don't let these smiling faces and the sun rays fool ya... the temps were still in single digits! I only stayed out long enough to snap these few shots then my little (ehem!) Costa Rican butt ran back inside as fast as it could...











This was the view out our back door. Yes, the snow is almost up to the top of that table and our grill -- the same one that was ice skating all by itself on the porch at the beginning of the storm -- is now buried somewhere under all that! I guess we won't be grilling for a while...



I know this storm affected lots of you out there, so I am sending big hugs and warm wishes across all of the Midwest and Northeast regions!!! Tomorrow, it's back to school for the kids and back to work for us!! Can't wait!

NINE!

Once upon a time, nine years ago to be exact, a little baby girl entered this world. She was tiny, beautiful and perfect in every way and we loved her so. She had a crazy, wild tuft of red hair atop her head which was a sign of a most unique personality just waiting to blossom... and blossom it did!

The years went by and when her ninth birthday approached she wanted to celebrate, with all her closest friends and family members, in a place where she could climb to great heights and face her wildest fears.





During this joyous occasion, our ginger-headed princess learned a few valuable lessons. In life sometimes you have to listen to your elders and follow directions...



... and if you play by the rules you’ll be safe and have fun.



If you’re afraid to just go for it, sometimes it helps to start small...



... and if at first you don't succeed, it’s no big deal.



You just get back up, dust yourself off and try again.



Then when you’re ready for the real thing, you’ll have the confidence to push yourself.



And if you start to doubt yourself and look back, you’ll always see us cheering you on. Because we believe in you!



And guess what? Just when you think you’ve reached the top of the summit, there’s an even higher mountain waiting just ‘round the corner.



But you’ll soon figure out that after you conquer your first real mountain, each one after that will get easier and easier.



If I had one wish for you, it would be that every one of your wildest wishes will come true.



And of course, that you can have your cake and eat it too!



Happy Birthday, my sweet Sophie!!!

Love, Mama & Daddy

P.S. I don’t follow you around with my camera to purposely annoy the crap out of you. I just want to record every waking moment of your existence... is that so wrong?

It doesn't seem fair...

I know I've said it before but I'll say it again, all work and no play makes Patty a dull girl. I have literally less than a week till the biggest deadline I've ever had is upon me but I needed to get out of the house and do something mindless for once. So, I dragged myself out of the dungeon and on down to the Clinton Apple & Pork Festival today. This was our first time attending this fair so I wasn't sure what to expect. Boy was I surprised when I encountered dozens of true artisans demonstrating their craft right there for all to see!

I was fascinated with this woman knitting this big fat scarf with this big fat wool and these big fat needles.



She had pictures of her sheep at her booth and she said she hand shears them. I was immediately reminded of this blog post by my pal, Betz.



I have never learned how to knit before but when she said you could make a scarf in just a few minutes with this big fat wool method, I was almost tempted to take up knitting right then & there. But instead I just bought a super cute scarf & hat set from her. Who's got time for another hobby? Not me!



Then I saw this woman throwing pottery on a foot-operated wheel.



Again... sooo cool for us to see. There she was just pumping away with her foot as she shaped these awesome pieces with her bare hands.



I'm not a potter or scultor either, so maybe that's why I find these crafts so interesting.



Then I came upon these kids making rope (???)



Yeah, just like this. Not sure why. Just for fun?



Then there was this man stirring a huge old smoky cauldron full of beans.



So witchy! LOVE IT!!



We also saw this man so carefully oiling and cleaning is vintage engines.



The rust and textures were out of this world! I thought of my buddy, Melissa, and how much she'd enjoy this.



Of course, there was the usual fair stuff, like petting zoos...

I was particularly fond of this guy...



And I think he was fond of me too... or maybe just of my camera...



See what I mean?



Pony rides...



And face-painting... (not the best face-painter, if you ask me, haha, but Sydney wanted it nonetheless)



And yes, Sophie was with us too, but she thinks she's too big for pony rides and face-painting, sigh.

We did attempt to take a family picture...



yep...



"attempt" being the operative word.



For those of you who were expecting to see skateboarding pictures today, sorry! We need to go out and buy some safety gear before we attempt this. Maybe next weekend? I'll be ready to celebrate once the patterns are off to print and the first manuscript of the book is off to the publisher. Oh, wait... but then there's Quilt Market.... argh... it never ends!